The Primal Hunter

”It looks pretty normal,” Jake said as he looked down at the city known as Paradise. ”Very well-defended too.”

”The question is if those walls and barriers are to keep monsters out or the people in,” Peter said with a frown.

”Perhaps a bit of both,” Carmen added.

They were all currently standing on top of a cliff, looking at the city below. It was defended by many natural barriers and had tall cliffs on nearly all sides. Finding it had actually been a bit difficult due to how well-hidden the city was, and one of their defensive barriers also had a stealth component. It was pretty crap compared to what Skyggen had, but it was likely good enough to fool most people and beasts.

”Just saying, we’ve been spotted,” Jake said as he noticed a presence lock in on them. Well, to call it a presence was not entirely accurate as when Jake looked around, he noticed a crystal embedded in a large boulder not too far away. It was from that the gaze originated, and Jake assumed it came from some magical surveillance system.

Jake turned towards the crystal and looked at it to make it clear he knew. He wasn’t if the crystal could also communicate audio, so he waved at it once as he waited.

”What if they attack us?” Peter asked, a bit concerned.

”Then we show them why that would be stupid,” Jake answered with a shrug.

He did not feel any presences within the city that he felt especially concerned about. Though he had to admit, he felt far more powerful auras within than he had expected.

The city of Paradise was a well-built city with large houses and mansions of stone and wood. It had one of those mixed styles between medieval and modern, but it was clear this place was far more wealthy than most other cities. The houses were incredibly high quality, and the builders had even added many cosmetic touches to make the mansions look more expensive.

There were still a few less-than-fancy buildings scattered about. They looked a bit like apartment complexes, and Jake guessed this was where the workers lived.

In the center of Paradise was the largest of all the buildings. It was a tall stone building, probably about fifty stories high, and with far more fancy construction than any other place. It was massive and dwarfed every other building in its surroundings. It was surrounded by several other high-rises, all about twenty stories and in similar styles.

”This looks like one of the places my dad used to own a vacation home,” Peter mumbled.

”Yeah…” Carmen said as she stared, lost in thought. ”Jake, when we go in, can we try to be a bit… subtle? I want to take this slow and not raise a ruckus right away unless we need to, okay? I want to find out what is going on before my family knows I am here.”

Jake threw her a glance and nodded. ”Alright. I want to investigate this place, too, so we probably shouldn’t just start blasting. Also, incoming.”

Over a dozen cloaked figures were rapidly approaching them, and Jake at first thought they were perhaps related to the Court of Shadows due to the dark magic used by one of them, but on closer inspection, it was just regular dark magic and not the special branch of shadow magic used by followers of Umbra.

While their stealth skills were far from good enough to hide from Jake even before they entered his sphere, it was clearly good enough to fool Carmen and Peter. Sylphie seemed to have also noticed them only a bit after Jake, but he knew she had her own weird Sylphian methods.

The figures appeared around Jake and the others a moment later, with only five of them revealing themselves. Nine others spread out in the area surrounding them. They kept a safe distance and stayed in stealth, ready for if Jake or the others turned out to be antagonistic.

“Quite the welcome party,” Jake said the moment the five figures appeared. All of them wore dark cloaks and entirely black masks with only holes for the eyes. They were not that much different from Jake’s own mask aesthetically beside the color and wooden texture. Jake obviously used Identify on the man at the front right away and got a not-that-unexpected response.

[Human – lvl ???]

eyes lingered on Jake. Finally, he smiled and removed his mask, revealing the face of a man in his thirties. “I

who he was and had honestly been more busy looking at the

[Human – lvl 141]

like Phillip way back in the day. Jake just needed an extra moment to circumvent whatever the person used to hide their level.

announce my travel plans anywhere,” Jake

your purpose in visiting Paradise?” the formerly masked man

tossed Carmen a glance, and she nodded as she spoke up. “He is here with me. I am looking

per the law of Paradise, not even if the ones you are looking for do indeed reside there. Do not misunderstand; it is not that I am unwilling to

similar to Carmen’s father’s wand somewhere down in the city below. Jake was unable to pinpoint

have

know what your business is with these people? Needless to say, we would prefer to avoid

Carmen just shut down the line of

waved it off. “Are you going to show us the city or

two companions. Using masks within Paradise is customary, and they assist in hiding your energy and identity. They

few strings of mana. He inspected them briefly and found them working as advertised before tossing them to Carmen and Peter. Both of them put on the masks after also

know what kind of role the

ready to get angry

hawk’s power,” the cloaked man explained further. “In either case, the hawk will be bound by the same rules as everyone else, but be

that as Carmen looked

asked, equally if not

cloaked man a glare. He seemed to get it as

amenities for those willing and capable

Jake could see why as he was probably wondering what the hell the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was doing visiting this

inside Paradise. Murder, thievery, extortion, and violence of most forms are not allowed unless consented to. Besides that, expect liberal rules and the ability to do whatever you wish. I do not doubt the Chosen is well-off, so you will find most of the city more than willing to welcome you with

in. Well… there was one thing, but that was only if they had time. He would have to discuss more with Carmen once inside as he wasn’t entirely clear on her plans. Though, to be fair, he had a feeling Carmen wasn’t either but

the city was easy with the five cloaked figures escorting them. The other ones who had been hidden had just

he would assume the lack of teleportation to the city would cause

had ever seen. People walking on the road were well-dressed, and the storefronts and large buildings were immaculate.

a smile as he pointed towards a large building in the center of town squished between the high-rises. “That is the teleportation station. While many cities cut off the public teleporters, there were often back-ups placed elsewhere or simply ones

acted like absolute assholes, and politics was a shitshow before the system, so why would giving people superpowers change that? Shit, wouldn’t adding personal power on top just make it worse? And speaking of worse, Jake had

of wares does Paradise offer? Of the more… controversial

you are asking if we sell slaves, then no. I cannot speak to if any slaves exist or if such deals occur under the table, but there is no

a bit at the response. Is Sultan somehow involved in Paradise? Or the people who run