The Primal Hunter

Meira went over some material from her latest lesson as she gazed towards the mansion. Sir had said he would be around less, but she had believed he insinuated he would leave the Order to return to his own universe, not this.

He had entered the laboratory and then just stayed there after giving Meira the task of handling anyone who came looking for him. He had even done so everyone who tried to contact him through the token would instead reach her, making Meira more than a little uncomfortable.

She had to tell off a newly advanced C-grade vampire, the succubus in charge of his group from the ninety-third universe, and dozens more who wanted to speak with him and had somehow gotten his contact information. Meira the fact that he had a Bloodline that had leaked, and it seemed they all wanted to discuss it with her Master, but the only one they would reach was her.

Meira had to steel herself every time the token activated, and she had to answer only to inform them that her Master was in seclusion doing alchemy. The only lucky thing was that everyone accepted this answer, and coupled with no sightings of him anywhere, they had no reason to doubt her.

She herself was still busy going to lessons every day and learning. Meira was honestly still unsure of the reason why she had been tasked to do it, but she naturally would try her best. She did realize that with every day, her value increased, and she began to have the pet theory that he was actually nurturing her into a long-term slave. That he wouldn’t discard her but keep her around.

This was also confusing in its own right, though. It was normal to get new slaves once you advanced a grade to have more useful subordinates. Of course, you couldn’t have slaves beyond your own grade, so real talents like the Chosen naturally had to switch out often as there was no way for a slave to keep up in levels, much less be able to have the same level of Records to keep advancing.

Maybe he was planning on having her serve his descendants? It could also just be that he was eccentric and wanted to see how far she could go. If that was the case, Meira would certainly do her best, and hopefully, that would be good enough.

However, for every day that passed, she actually began doubting if he had just stopped bothering with her. She had originally hoped for this scenario before meeting her new Master, but now it gave her conflicting emotions. It wasn’t that she truly believed he had forgotten, but that small tinge of doubt never left, no matter how logical she tried to be. It was true that he was in seclusion, after all. The problem was that his way of doing it was a bit abnormal.

It would be fine if it was only in there for reasonable periods when he entered seclusion. When it came to alchemy, a highly intense type of crafting that required a high level of focus, it was normal to at most be in seclusion a week or so at a time while in D-grade, take a few days to rest, and then go back into the laboratory. This was to renew focus and get rest, as many couldn’t properly relax within the laboratory.

This was the normal way… and him doing alchemy in seclusion was normal… the problem was that he hadn’t taken a single step out of the laboratory for over two months.

The entire area was tinged red as the scent of blood dominated the air. Most vitality-based creatures in early D-grade would find themselves bleeding from every orifice if they entered this dense cloud of crimson mist, truly turning it into a domain of death.

Luckily it was contained within a shielded room. A room where only a single alchemist sat in the center, unbothered by the mist. No, the opposite of bothered. He reveled in this environment as it fueled his regeneration.

This was naturally Jake, who was sitting within his alchemy lab. He had been busy crafting hemotoxin after hemotoxin, going through the net worth of some D-grades every single day as he spent the valuable materials he had received from the vampires.

To Jake, gaining levels was very easy when compared to others due to his overwhelming amount of already accumulated Records. He could spend a few weeks within a forest and probably get a dozen class levels just killing more powerful foes and taking advantage of all his class bonuses.

This was relatively normal as most everyone could quickly gain class or even race levels by slaying those of significantly higher levels. Jake did not doubt this was how the King had gained so many levels so quickly. Of course, one should do this with moderation to not hurt one’s Records, and it also came with the inherent risk of death, but sometimes a burst of potential was truly what one needed.

of progress, was in many ways similar to hunting far more powerful enemies in quick succession for

he had already gone through hundreds of rare materials and even more common and uncommon ones. Yet he kept pushing on

he understood instantly. When he encountered a minor problem, he would often have a eureka moment, remembering something mentioned in lessons, skimmed in a book, or recalled due to Sagacity and Palate. He

that damn tower higher. Jake had chosen hemotoxins as his method of doing this because he wanted something that would

used his blood in every creation, which was more potent than ever before, not to mention all the stats that just helped with everything. Things had just gone so smoothly, and after the first week, his experience and talent

Hemotoxic Poison (Uncommon)] - A new kind of creation has been made.

significantly harder to heal. The poison must be introduced directly into the bloodstream to have any effect. Spreads

improve the process and then only end up with an

just kept pumping out concoction after concoctions with no regard for wastage as he rapidly improved. When he got tired, he slumped over and slept. When he was in doubt, he entered Serene Soul Meditation to calm his mind and refocus

hour. He even recalled the times he had fought the vampires in Yalsten and some of their blood magic. Especially the magic of the Monarch of Blood, and he remembered when he had bitten and consumed the blood of the ancient revived vampire. Blood that had now mixed into him with Palate, as it qualified as toxic simply due to the level

supply of glass bottles.

after Jake entered seclusion, he had been crafting his most difficult creation yet. It contained the Crimson Dawn Lotus and pulled on all of Jake’s insights he had gained so far and his understanding of the concept of time. This was

he ate them for Palate, something he had done with all of

others saw this, they would be spitting up blood, but Jake didn’t care. He knew he was wealthy, and he knew he could earn back his wealth again. Hoarding materials without progressing made no sense. And progress Jake did, as he on that day finally managed to

[Accelerated Hemotoxic Poison (Rare)] - A new

but to some alchemists, time can become yet another weapon. Greatly increases bleeding on infected entities and makes any injuries significantly harder to heal. The poison must be introduced directly into the bloodstream to have any effect. Spreads throughout the body of the inflicted foe near-instantly, making it even harder to dispel. Forcefully speeds up the flow of blood within the foe, forcefully

on his face. The poison was exactly what he had hoped and avoided one of the biggest weaknesses of the Hemotoxic Poison, which was the slow-acting effect. By mixing in some time affinity from the Crimson Dawn Lotus, the process would be sped up and make the poison even better. The ash from the Crimsonwood tree would then make the poison bind with the blood more

of giving life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the concoction of uncommon-rarity

-->

the aspect of giving life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the concoction of rare rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable materials and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of created poisons based on

to C-grade. He had evolved it to uncommon rarity in E-grade and now rare in D-grade, so he had to keep the streak going, right? He knew this was already far better than the

only other benefit was that it increased Wisdom scaling, now making every poison he created slightly better. More than anything, upgrading a skill like this was a feel-good moment and not a purely

of Records, there finally was the big one. The one other goal Jake had when he entered seclusion: to get some god damn levels. And levels he

[Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached

…

reached level 168

has reached level 153 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free