The Primal Hunter

There were few kinds of people in this world Carmen hated. Scratch that, there were a lot of people she hated, but some she hated far more than others. Towards the top of that last was anyone who reminded her of a certain someone. Someone who relied solely on their status, their family or backing, or whatever else vain bullshit to lord over others. In fact, she just hated people who liked throwing their weight around to have others do what they wanted if they couldn’t even back up their words.

Carmen had entered Ambermill like any other small Pylon-less settlement. It was relatively large for not having a Pylon, and due to its proximity to Haven, there weren’t many strong monsters around. This made Ambermill a popular place to settle down. She didn’t get why they didn’t travel the rest of the way to the Fort, but oh well.

She saw no problems with any of that. No, the problems came later.

Carmen had been on the road for around three days without any rest and seriously needed a god damn shower before making it the rest of the way. It would take her only an hour to reach Haven from Ambermill, so she decided it was a good place to get all the things done to not look like a hobo when she finally made it there.

The first thing she noticed upon entering Ambermill was the presence of several people wearing what looked like police uniforms. Way too many of them. She considered if maybe they had some problems with crime, and in the beginning, they seemed nice enough. Carmen had gained a ring that helped hide her level, and she was just asked to not make trouble as she entered. One of them even pointed her toward a motel.

So far, so good.

She had barely managed to settle down and get a room when she noticed some commotion outside. Looking out the window, she saw several people being rounded up by the police from a nearby house in what looked like the slum quarters. Carmen naturally failed to hold herself back, and without even taking a shower, she had gone to investigate. However, the owner of the motel stopped her and said curfew was in place and to please return to her room until morning.

So Carmen slipped out a window instead and followed after the people from the house, and when a police officer saw her, he yelled at her to join the group. She complied to figure out what was going on as she blended into the crowd. Something she did easily as she was still wearing a dirty cloak and hadn’t had time to clean herself up.

They were all led to a large building. Carmen tried to talk to some of the other people, but they looked at her like she was insane for just attempting, and the police officers also gave her a stern warning that talking was not allowed before they made it to the hall to “not wake up the ones sleeping.”

Who the fuck still slept?

Carmen found this ordeal incredibly fishy, and she instantly concluded that some nefarious cult or something like that existed in this small town. Looking at the other people with her, she noticed it was primarily women and children, with a few young men also present.

For some reason, the mood did seem generally positive despite the secretive methods. Carmen decided to not act out as they all entered a large hall before the door was closed, and she felt isolation barriers be activated.

“Welcome, everyone,” a suited man said as he went up on a stage. Everyone around looked at him with mixed feelings, and she detected outright hatred from some of those present. Plenty of killing intent, too, something she had gotten very sensitive to due to her heritage. So, not a popular figure. Got it.

“I apologize for bringing you all here on such short notice, but we just got word that Haven and Sanctdomo opened up their borders once more, and we have been allowed slots to send people there,” the man on the stage said, making many in the crowd sigh in relief.

“We had to do this secretly as the slots are limited, and I am not blind to the struggles of those less fortunate. This is an opportunity for those deemed worthy of joining a powerful faction and finally get a stable and safe home with wealth and comfort,” the man continued. “Representatives of Sanctdomo and Haven are both here, so please, apply if you are interested in this opportunity.”

Needless to say, this entire shit was getting shadier as fuck by the second. However, the people around her seemed excited, making her doubt herself.

“Hey… this is my first time hearing of this. Is this for real?” Carmen asked a woman with her young daughter right next to her.

The woman smiled and answered. “It happens once a week or so and is always secretly. An open secret I guess. I heard it is to not cause too much dissatisfaction or something as normally only women and children are allowed to join the powerful factions. I do find it mighty kind of them to help us.”

“Can’t you just go to Haven or Sanctdomo without getting a slot or whatever?” Carmen asked, a bit confused.

“No, of course not; you need to be invited, or you will be get rejected at the gates. That is why they send these representatives out to other smaller towns,” the woman answered, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, though; I am sure you will get selected.”

Carmen nodded as she just went with the flow as people were brought to interview rooms one by one. A few people returned dejected, while some didn’t return, having been selected according to what others said. She just stood around as soon enough, an officer went over to her. “It is your turn. Good luck.”

Curious, Carmen walked into the interview room and saw a man and a woman sitting at a table with a few chairs in front. Looking about, she saw that three other women were there together with her, all around her own age from the looks of it.

She took a seat as the man at the table began talking, first introducing himself as a representative of Haven, and then he asked them to please take off their robes and get comfortable.

did as asked. The others did the same as they all took a seat. The man and women talked a bit amongst themselves and asked some basic questions such as what class and profession people had, family and friends in the city or among other factions,

two spoke between them again, using some magic to hide their conversation. “I am sorry, please leave numbers three and four,” the woman then said, making two of the other women exit the room dejected, leaving only

getting selected,” the man said with a bright

with the woman level 114, making them both solidly in the D-grade. Meanwhile, the woman with Carmen was

the other side before even going through it. The blonde woman was big smiles and chatted with Carmen excitedly until the moment they stepped on the other side of the door, and

a barrier as a

is going on?”

going to take both of you to somewhere

“Paperwork?” the woman asked

little slave contract. No biggie,” the man kept smiling. Carmen saw him clearly enjoy himself as she herself tried to

Okay, perhaps Carmen gave the gal a bit too much

attention to Carmen. “A fiery-looking silent type? A personal favorite of

or right?” Carmen

man asked

do I rip off first? Actually,

even have time to speak before Carmen stood right in front of him. Despite him being level 118, he couldn’t even react as Carmen just ripped downwards, tearing

yelled as his eyes opened wide in despair. Carmen caught him by his skin-shirt before he could fall back onto the floor.

of Ambermill. Studying the tablet a bit on the way, it looked like Ambermill was a small town of about five or six thousand but had a steady flow of

it a little isolated but otherwise safe. The leader was some level 120 dude who had been the first to stumble upon an old mill that had been transformed into a natural treasure, and since then, he had taken it as his home and would use it to harvest and generate wind affinity crystals. This was also the primary export of Ambermill and where the name came from as the

was confused when he got closer and saw smoke in the distance. The mill that stood atop a hill was broken in half, and Jake felt intense energy emanating from the town. As

from above and saw dozens of broken buildings, more than a hundred corpses wearing what

headed down, followed by Sylphie, who

houses and a general sense of panic in the city. The entire central square and what looked like the mayor’s office were utterly ruined. Corpses were smashed to pieces in the rubble, and in the center of those ruins was what Jake assumed was a panic room

landing on top of his head. Carmen

are you here?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “Did this fucker

no. I came looking for you,” Jake shrugged.

also heard Jake, and one of them quickly yelled out from within: “Lord Thayne, you are

you?” Jake cut him

met in person, but

guy?” Jake cut

looked at Jake a bit suspiciously for a moment, but a screech from Sylphie seemed to

looked at the bunker guy.

were all forced to assist them! They had D-grades and people far more powerful than us; what were we supposed to do?”

The guy who spoke wore a ruined business suit, while the four others had full combat attire on. He also saw one of the four working on

Jake said casually. He didn’t actually know it was a teleportation circle, but he seriously doubted anyone inside that little bunker wanted

– not the suit guy – motioned for him to continue. The suit guy also looked at this leader and

it takes some time to deactivate all the wards,

way,” Jake shrugged as

sturdy as

spot to poke-“ Jake began as Touch of the Malefic Viper activated and

the barrier broke down as Jake successfully ruined what kept it together. What? It was a basic defensive formation, and Jake

the expected outcome for those hiding within as Carmen flew forward and shattered the entire bunker with a single punch, sending debris flying and revealing the five people within. The guy in a suit looked absolutely horrified, but the four

last one – the leader – lay broken in the middle of the square with both his legs missing. It all went relatively