The Primal Hunter

Vilastromoz made sure Jake had safely passed through the void and back to his planet before he regarded the being before him. Today had been a stark reminder that even with all of his preparations, there existed beings in the multiverse that could circumvent them.

The Viper had used several methods to hide Jake traveling through the void. The biggest one was, of course, Shroud of the Primordial, but the teleportation itself should also help hide him. These preparations should have been unnecessary anyway, as locating anything traveling through the void in such a brief period was beyond even the Viper himself. Finally, why would some ancient and powerful being even bother with interfering with someone teleporting through? Trillions went through the void every moment, so what was one in so many?

Yet none of that mattered before the being in front of him. It was the same being that had originally spotted Jake when he traveled to the Order. The fact he had been spotted the first time around was no surprise, as the being saw most everything that ever passed the void, with the only surprise being Jake noticing the gaze. Well, not a surprise to Vilastromoz, but probably the creature.

“Snake Who Holds Forgotten Knowledge, you seek compensation?” the voice of the being echoed as the ever-shifting reptilian eyes moved before him.

“I first seek answers,” Vilastromoz said, not minding the title the being had assigned him.

“Traveler of the void, passing the veil of the new world. A gift given to be delivered to that which I gaze upon,” the Void Dweller answered as cryptically as ever.

The Viper frowned at the answer. For the Void Dweller before him to gaze upon someone was just a fancy way of saying it had blessed them. Normally that would be whatever, but the situation was different when dealing with beings like this. A god’s Blessing would affect the target, yes, but the Blessing of a Void Dweller, much less one like the one before him? The effects would be significant. Merely seeing a Void Dweller could make mortals lose their minds and have their mental faculties irreversibly corrupted, so it was no surprise a Blessing did even more.

“What did you ask to be delivered?” the Viper asked.

“Gift. Knowledge. Power.”

“And who is it supposed to be delivered to?” Vilastromoz kept pressing.

“He Who Commands The Many Eyes That Dwell Within the Soulless Vessels of Metal and Lightning. Seeker of knowledge like I,” the Void Dweller explained without much care for the overly long title.

Vilastromoz finally turned his gaze towards Earth and quickly did a scan. He had never bothered to scan the ones around Jake much, just a cursory one. He had assumed none could hide from his probing, but upon a deeper inspection, he noticed there was indeed one person with a Blessing he hadn’t noticed before, making him frown even more.

“You could have asked before making my Chosen a mule,” the Viper protested as he stared into the many eyes.

“Yes… decision made in haste. Apologies, Keeper of Lost Knowledge. Compensation will be made,” the Void Dweller answered, as the eyes shifted a bit in apology. Vilastromoz could read this particular Void Dweller as it wasn’t one of the mindless beasts that usually roamedthe endless void, but one most gods of any repute had found themselves in contact with several times in the past.

“What do you offer me?” he asked.

“To the Primordial? None shall be given. Compensation for He Who Hunts. An equal, is he not? Nascent seeds will be planted, more futures planned. Outcomes predicted falsely before, corrections required,” the Void Dweller answered.

Vilastromoz just sighed as the eyes kept shifting. He felt movement from afar as he stood in the middle of the void as the attention of more beings began gathering as the Viper had let his aura flare. “Fine. Just don’t have this repeat itself. Even if you want a favor from him, ask through me. Finally, why are you playing with the minds of mortals? I never figured you to be the kind of being to break a weak mortal like that.”

Eyes of Steel,

and expressions made by its body. The Viper didn’t ask further but just looked at the Void Dweller and the ever-flowing ocean of eyes it consisted of. It was a

your discretion then,” the Viper nodded. “May your gaze land

will shape reality, Malefic Viper of the

eyes all disappeared as Vilastromoz sighed again. Oras was a difficult one to deal with. A creature as ancient as could be, a true god of the void, unlike the majority of

he felt the many creatures close in on him, their auras dominating the vast nothingness, every single one of them able to slay gods like were they children before men. The weakest Void Dwellers in the void were a match for a newly ascended god, with the ones closing in on the Viper being far above that level, able to slay Godkings

to the universes. The mere aura of a god

least had a sense would happen, or they had led to positive outcomes above expectations. However, someone like Oras was not predictable. VIlastromoz did not understand the Void

a little bit, also giving him a

his own mana as he found himself in a defensive position. Instinctually he knew that he and everyone else had gotten lucky

of him lay a small black cube with magical patterns on it and what looked like eyes marking its surface. He instantly recognized the faint energy it gave off as the

of commission instead and found out he had been knocked out for well over an hour. He checked his status and saw he had lost health, mana, and stamina from the encounter, indicating soul damage. Soul damage from just looking

caught his eye. Where had that come from? It had the same energy as the

subside. At the same time, he remembered everything far more clearly.

asked. A few seconds passed as he got

is known. An ancient creature born of the void.” Villy

he spot me with Shroud? Also, are you okay? I remember

spotted you because the Shroud and everything else I do isn’t good enough to

does that thing want? Something about a gift? Who for?” Jake asked, even more

I reckon only a few can even facilitate this return trip. Oras spotted you and decided to have you bring something into the ninety-third universe. The gift you received is not for you, but the one Oras has “blessed.” I use that word very carefully as the usual result from someone getting blessed by a Void God is a cult that makes the Order of the Malefic Viper look like the good guys in comparison. Luckily, Oras cares little for anything besides

understanding.“So, who is

“Arnold.”

a moment. For some reason, the answer didn’t surprise him, even if he did find it confusing why some being from the void would bless Arnold, a guy who liked making machines. Confusion the

for you to discover, but in my experience, the logic of a Void Dweller is not worth trying to comprehend. However, it does seem like Arnold is mostly unaffected… I

I deliver the box?”

and while I do not understand the creature, it somewhat understands mortals. So his compensation should be worth

they ended their conversation. He felt that the Viper seemed somewhat distracted during their talk, but that wasn’t anything new. What was new was the Viper actively using the name of another mortal. This indicated that Villy actually viewed Arnold as someone with some

a black piece of cloth from his inventory and wrapped the box in it before putting it inside a wooden barrel he normally used for water. The

least he could put it in his spatial storage while still in the barrel. Jake proceeded to walk up to the lodge above and over to the pond, where he quickly washed the blood off his face from bleeding out of his own orifices. He wasn’t in a hurry to deliver the box and decided

checked in on the troll down in the cavern. Rick, as he had been named, was still just chilling with what was now a sprawling garden down in the

up, he headed for the city center of Haven and met up with Miranda. They had a good talk with Jake getting updated on recent happenings in the city. He even remembered to give her that