The Primal Hunter

Each step bent space as Jake ran through the landscape. It had already been a day or so since he left Paradise, with nothing especially interesting happening so far. A few mediocre D-grade areas had been explored, but nothing worth hunting.

He checked his map and saw he was approaching a new area marked as a danger zone. This particular area was exactly the kind of environment Jake loved to hunt in. It was a vast swath of greenery with tall trees dominating the horizon and dense foliage covering the ground, making it impossible to see far. It was not a forest but something even more filled with nature mana: a jungle.

While some areas of the forest Haven was placed in the outskirts of could qualify as jungle-like, this place was on another level. Jake checked the intel from Renato and even double-checked with what Peter had given him as both had mentioned this place as it was both a danger zone and a very popular hunting spot.

Reading the intel, it seemed like a great spot. In the very outskirts, a few E-grades could be found, but just a bit in, D-grades began dominating. This was still only talking the outer ten percent as none of the intel mentioned what was further in, just that it was dangerous. Renato’s information did note the risk of C-grades, so that was positive.

The opponents one could expect ranged from beasts, plants, and a few scarce mentions of elementals, primarily water elementals due to the high humidity. Nature elementals weren’t a thing as far as Jake knew. Nature mana tended to just seep into living things attuned to the affinity instead of coalescing into elementals, creating monster plants or treants and stuff like that.

Jake felt satisfied after studying the notes and headed in. It didn’t take him long to notice several beasts and creatures all around him through his sphere. All of them E-grades, hiding either in bushes, in trees, or even below the ground. There was a high level of verticality to the jungle, with plants and trees reaching hundreds of meters into the air, even in the outskirts.

Needless to say, Jake did not care for these E-grades as he swiftly ran forward. He didn’t cut a path but just dodged through the dense vegetation, taking this opportunity to practice his stealth a bit. He also pulled out the Prima fragment once more and didn’t get any immediate response when he tried to search for the energy signature. Then again, the mana in this area was dense, making it difficult unless he got really close. His newly upgraded tracking skill also didn’t work as, well, it wasn’t like he knew what kinds of tracks Primas left behind. Scanning every track for signs of the Prima signature sounded like a nice way to spend his two weeks before the event accomplishing jack shit.

About half an hour later, he finally encountered his first D-grade. It was a ferret-like creature that hid in the underbrush, and while Jake did scan it briefly, he did not engage. In the area ahead, he found dozens of these creatures hidden, making it clear this was their territory.

As he got further in, the space did begin to open up a bit. Not because there was less nature mana or plant growth, but because of what was happening there. Fights between D-grades didn’t always leave the environment intact and often entire areas were torn apart.

Due to the high mana density, new plants would grow back within days, if not hours, but the sheer number of beasts meant entire caverns within the foliage were formed. Jake spotted a cat-like creature battling a large mantis-like monster as both rapidly dodged and weaved in between trees, only for a third opponent to interfere and kill them when they were weakened.

Jake’s hopes were heightened as he finally felt something. A gaze upon him… an unfriendly one. Finally, a beast was able to see through his stealth and decided to make him the target. Acting like he hadn’t noticed, Jake kept going waiting patiently for his foe to strike. He didn’t need to wait long as the creature entered his sphere from above. He saw it was a snake-like monster, but it was made up of vines, bark, and plant parts rather than flesh, blood, and scales.

It stalked him from above and waited to strike, but Jake didn’t give it a chance. He turned around mid-jump, pulled out his bow, and fired a barrage of explosive arcane arrows, tearing up the surrounding greenery.

The snake was startled but still continued its assault. The head didn’t actually have a mouth but was shaped like a halberd of sorts, allowing it to sweep and stab. Jake dodged a bit away as he fired another arrow into the creature and continued bombarding it with arrows, not allowing it to ever get close before it died. It had only been level one-fifty, meaning it didn’t even give experience.

He had barely slowed down during this time but kept pace as he traveled inward, and that first snake would prove to set the example of what was to come. Ambushes happened frequently, but it was nothing Jake couldn’t easily handle. He did begin putting in a bit more effort and even used poison on his arrows when the levels grew to above one-sixty and especially when he started to get experience.

For the first time in quite a while, Jake began to have a feeling well up inside him. He had spent long periods doing events, going to the Order, traveling, and being in cities. He had been around others all the time. But now… now he was alone.

It was almost like his senses sharpened, and he stopped thinking about anything irrelevant. He felt more comfortable than he had for months. There was only himself and an environment filled with things wanting to make him their prey.

An environment he would show exactly who the real hunter was.

A small smile crept onto his lips as Jake dodged the attacks of two treants trying to seal his movements. Jake moved on the offensive as he bombarded the treants with explosive arrows and, with a beat of his wings, sent a cloud of miasmic poison down towards them. They struggled for a while before Jake finished them and moved on but barely got a hundred meters before he was attacked again.

Few predators moved through this area, and those that did, these creatures knew about and did not attack. They didn’t know Jake, making them all attack him if they felt like they were at a higher level than he was. This resulted in a path of destructive arcane mana being carved into the jungle as he traveled. Nature would fix it soon enough, but for now, only destruction was in his wake.

not just a plant lifeform in the shape of a beast, given life due to the dense and potent nature mana, making them effectively nature elementals. The beasts were…

destroyed by the power of arcane mana. Jake had no poison dedicated to plants like the fungicide he had made back in the day, but his blood did a banger job anyway. While he had learned how to make an inferior rarity poison during his studying just to shore up his foundation, the

stronger as the

slain [Vinewood Viper – lvl 166] – Bonus experience earned for killing an

lvl 169] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your

[Vinewood Mongoose – lvl 175] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy

182] – Bonus experience earned for

so grew the difficulties of the fights. In the section he had just entered, primarily the Vinewood creatures existed, with all beasts daring to roam there at a high level themselves. Vinewood creatures did not attack one another, meaning the chances of

Every singular kill did not give much experience, but over the course of the next week, he had slain hundreds above his own level – not a single one of them yet able

Arcane Hunter] has reached level 156

…

reached level 159 -

[Human (D)] has reached level 163 - Stat points allocated, +15

level 164 - Stat points

he enjoyed himself in the euphoria of the hunt, he stayed calm enough to remember his primary goal for going hunting

It quickly became clear what kind of foe he would face as he saw no regular beasts for nearly fifty kilometers of the jungle while running towards the energy signature. It was all Vinewood creatures dominating and basking in

and flesh already

a large bush. It slowly crept across the area with small roots dragging it forward as its body wrapped around

Prima

Jake stalked it for a bit as he prepared to make his move. He would

Primas tended to be surrounded by those of their own race before, so he was a bit careful. However, this one seemed to be a solitary one, meaning it was likely

checking out the area and finding no other living things, Jake wondered how to get a good vantage point. Due to the dense foliage, being more than a hundred meters away would obstruct his arrows, and even if he could now curve his arrows,

Wait, why not just…?

above it, he grinned. Large trees and some plants still emerged, but the jungle itself was only really a few hundred meters tall due to its high

the jungle were still well-protected down there due to having a “roof” over their heads, obstructing vision and functioning as a barrier to many types of attacks. Moreover, there was much

actually move and dodge.

As he was up there, he did notice some other predators clearly also using the jungle as their hunting ground. One of

Owl – lvl

smart birds. He shrugged as he pulled out his bow and focused on his Mark of the Avaricious Hunter below. Arcane Awakening activated in the destructive state, boosting all his offensive stats by 50% to give himself some extra firepower. With a mental command, he activated Pride of the Malefic Viper and began condensing dozens of explosive arcane bolts in the area all around him. They were not made with the

was still moving slowly below, oblivious to what was about to happen. Jake nocked a stable arcane arrow with some of his blood poured on it – his quiver already full of pre-prepared arrows. He began charging Arcane Powershot and, at the same

him. Nearby clouds distorted and were dragged in as Jake focused on the shot. He charged the attack for nearly fourteen seconds with his entire upper body searing in pain before finally releasing it to an explosion of pure

arcane mana for hundreds of meters around itself, and with more than fifty of them hitting at

energy, but none of it was strong enough to harm it. Jake had focused on destroying

same thing could not be