The Primal Hunter

Earth had some damn beautiful vistas after the system arrived. Grand forests with multi-colored trees, endless sprawling plains with groups of deer jumping across them, passing tens of meters with every single leap.

Jake, Sylphie, and Carmen traveled through this land as they kept a good pace. They didn’t get into any fights for the next two days as none of them saw any need to bully far weaker creatures. Even the playful Sylphie had an instinctive repulsion to killing anything below herself in grade and level. A usual thing, as killing a bunch of E-grades while in D-grade could apparently have negative consequences on your Records based on the circumstances it happened under. Mainly in the sense that it could bring you in a bad direction evolution-wise.

This meant it was a peaceful time where they mainly just chatted about different things, and Jake also finally got to see Carmen “forge” her fists. She did so by making a golden liquid that seemed to almost have acidic properties, but Jake didn’t sense any poison from it. When Carmen submerged her hands, this golden liquid would slowly drill itself into them, and based on Carmen’s gritted teeth during this entire process, it was in no way pleasant.

Afterward, she told him that she had to control the energy and use it to form runes of sorts into her very Soulshape. It was incredibly complicated magic tapping into many different concepts, and Carmen also made it clear she only knew what the outcome of the rituals were and not how anything actually worked. However, she did say this golden liquid also had to do with the tributes, as the unique energy gained from doing them helped the forging ritual along.

It was interesting magic, that was for sure, but nothing Jake could use or even gain any real inspiration from. It required things Jake simply couldn’t get, and he also learned that forging her hands led to some changes Jake would not be a fan of – such as the inability to channel mana through them. Something that didn’t matter at all to Carmen, considering she didn’t even have mana, having converted it all to stamina.

The two of them did have some interesting discussions regarding the application of stamina, and Jake found out that Carmen really had no idea how to properly manipulate her own Soulshape or even properly perceive it. She just used the methods she had been taught.

She likened it to when she was training to be a boxer. She was no nutritionist or had any education in biology or physiology, so she just did as she was told and saw the results. Carmen said she didn’t need to know why something happened, just what she had to do to make the outcome she wanted possible. Rather than learn what lifting weights did to muscles, she would just lift weights and build the muscle.

Jake disagreed with this approach somewhat. He had always been all about feeling the changes on the deepest level possible. Even if he didn’t know all the biology about building muscle, he would still understand the process by feeling it. He would feel the muscle fiber break down and rebuild itself, feel the nutrients and protein feed his muscles to make them stronger and faster.

Comprehending concepts was also essential to upgrading skills. While it was possible to upgrade them without learning how they truly worked, it would never be to your own upgraded versions. Carmen would only be able to follow the teachings of others and upgrade through a linear Path defined by whoever trained her. Jake was very much the opposite, at least when it came to his class. He did follow the teachings of the Malefic Viper, especially with Path of the Heretic-Chosen, but his way of learning wasn’t by following a training regimen but by comprehending and understanding the skills. The true versions of these Legacy skills were also just so all-encompassing that borderline anything Jake learned using them was already an aspect of the “true” version.

This all resulted in an interesting dynamic where they each had something to teach the other - Jake teaching her a bit about Soulshapes and Carmen teaching him a bit about fighting.

“You have the most unbalanced melee fighting style I have ever seen,” Carmen said as she looked at Jake after they had a brief spar. They had decided to take a break, but their breaks often didn’t include as much rest as they probably should.

“How so?” Jake asked, but he already had an inkling himself.

“Well, first of all, you suck at attacking,” she said curtly.

“A bit harsh,” Jake muttered.

“No. Not really. Come at me, try to land a hit,” Carmen taunted him. “You can use your swords and daggers and all that too.”

Jake complied as he shot forward, Eternal Hunger and Bloodfeast Dagger ready. He swung, and Carmen dodged to the side but didn’t counterattack. Jake swung again, and he tried to pin her down as Carmen just kept dodging and weaving in between his hits, not even trying to strike back a single time.

He kept pushing as he picked up his pace, but he somehow couldn’t land a hit even when he was faster than her. Jake kept swinging until finally, Carmen leaped back, making Jake stop.

“You are good at dodging,” Jake nodded.

“No, not really. I am decent, sure, but the primary reason is how utterly predictable you are. It is like fighting a beast. You don’t fucking think. You are just swinging your weapon towards the nearest vital area. No feints, no baiting, no combos… nothing,” Carmen shook her head.

“Is it really that bad?” Jake asked. He had this conversation before, and he honestly felt like he had gotten better with Fang of Man. It was true the skill didn’t actually give him any fighting experience; it just allowed him to properly use any weapon he did pick up. There were no techniques or anything. Jake felt like it was fine as overcomplicating things just seemed dumb.

“It is,” Carmen nodded. “You have no technique at all.”

make me less predictable?”

suck. You know how to use your body and your muscles. Every swing is powerful and would be potent if it hit. You just have no way to make it hit,” Carmen

“Any advice?”

am not good enough to give any,” Carmen shook her head. “I am a pugilist. I can teach you how to punch things and be a boxer, but I don’t know shit about using a blade or any weapon for that matter. No, it is better you find

to get some lessons in

come I did manage to land hits on people before then?” Jake asked, still a

“ because while you suck at attacking, you are a fucking monster defensively. Attacking you is a nightmare, and that will inadvertently lead to exposed weaknesses you take advantage

nodded. “I get it… I will find someone

serious advice, Jake couldn’t actually give anything proper back. Explaining how to “feel” something related to your Soulshape wasn’t really easily described, but they did make some progress. Jake advised her to try and feel the stamina moving through her body – something she already had experience with – to map out

one… well, she did kind of have one, but not really. She had several “states” of Soulshapes as far as Jake could tell, but honestly, it was all

third day, they finally made it to the red zone known as the Grand Mangrove River. They had seen the mangrove much earlier, and

even possible?” Carmen asked as

system-fuckery, and probably a bit more magic,” Jake answered,

explained very

that made up the mangrove had large root nets and crowns that began rather far up. This meant that above the surface

further up than Jake could see. It was a barrier of pure greenery that seemed to extend infinitely, and Jake quickly formed

of roots. At least there was a lot of space there. The roots had different sizes, with some being as thin as a finger and others nearly four meters in diameter. At places, the roots were also well-spaced out, and with how much they wound and bent, traveling on top of them and avoiding the river below was entirely possible, if not

shitty

According to the notes in the tablet, this mangrove even

it through before?” she

and just generally try not to cause a ruckus, it shouldn’t be too dangerous as the local denizens shouldn’t be

we don’t,” Carmen nodded. “Oh well. Just to check, how are

swim,” Jake

Carmen said, taking a deep breath.

definitely prefer to stay

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched.

isn’t a fan of water either?” Carmen asked. She had an oddly

like that,” Jake said, getting a small cheer out of Carmen as she triumphantly celebrated her increased ability to understand

Jake asked as he checked the tablet. “We are heading straight for a Prima that should be the closest to

and flapped their wings respectively

he noticed how sunlight seemed to some-fucking-how still make its way through the many-kilometer wall of leaves and branches. Perhaps it was absorbed somehow and then released at the bottom? Jake could feel the sun affinity energy coming from the leaves as he reckoned they somehow emitted it

Ree, ree, ree,” Sylphie

get any of that,” Carmen muttered, disappointed, while Jake

us through a net of reflected sunlight,” Jake explained, having understood and confirmed this himself

you telling me these trees all agreed to set up a huge net of reflective leaves

carefully. “There is no need for agreement… this entire mangrove is one single plant, or at least

just looked at him. “That