The Primal Hunter

Jake did not have time to consider anything but the battle in front of him, not even the notification he had gotten after he escaped the collapsing space tunnel. His body was marred with wounds, and the only injury on the Panther was a single cut left with Eternal Hunger. A cut that had benefitted from Stealth Attack as he had been hidden in the folds of space.

A swipe came from the right as Jake managed to block. A follow-up from the left forced him back as the beast rapidly pushed its advantage. Lacking an arm made fighting incredibly difficult, especially considering the foe he faced.

Stronger. Faster. Every single spec of the Panther had been heightened. However, he was certain of one thing… it lacked energy. While the Panther had not fought in melee, it had used large-scale magic, especially with that final attack. Additionally, chances are it had portions of its energy reserved due to the clones, and even if it gained its stats back, that didn’t mean it also gained mana, stamina, and health.

That is the reason why it didn’t use any complex magical attacks right away, coupled with a potential adaption method. At least Jake guessed that was why as he was smashed downward by a swipe. His left arm was rapidly regenerating as he focused on his vital energy to make it happen. The holes covering his body would have to wait for later, and he managed to stop the bleeding by blocking off the wounds with the passive barrier of Arcane Awakening.

Jake fell down as the Panther charged him. A swipe sent crescent waves of dark space mana towards him, making everything vibrate. Jake stopped his fall as he stepped down on his one good leg, teleporting away. He found himself traveling further away than usual but didn’t question it as he quite frankly didn’t have the time.

The beast did not have any interest in letting him escape and teleported in pursuit. A pulse of dark mana was emitted, but Jake felt no sense of danger from it. The pulse somehow hit the fabric of space itself as several small cracks appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the airspace.

Tendrils of dark mana emerged and lashed at Jake, forcing him in specific directions. He knew the Panther planned this but was forced to comply. A spatial prison was slowly formed around him… yet he didn’t feel like it was an issue. Jake stepped down and, with no fanfare, teleported straight past the spatial lock and out of it.

This was clearly not a part of the Panther’s plan, and Jake took the chance to fire off a blast of mana to accelerate himself towards the ground. Picking up on what Jake intended, the Panther tried to stop him as it chased. Another pulse and more cracks in space appeared, sending tendrils out to stop him. Jake looked down and saw the ground half a kilometer away, tendrils blocking his path. Without hesitating, he stepped down and appeared below, once more passing any obstacles.

One Step Mile definitely upgraded, he thought as he jumped forward, dodging a blast of space mana that blasted a several-meter deep hole in the soil. Jake got below some trees and attempted to hide and give him more time. His arm was slowly regrowing, but he was no Eron and couldn’t just instantly regenerate. He needed a few minutes and fighting while healing was a bad idea. Any half-arsed attack on the regenerating arm would set him back, just wasting the vital energy.

Jake sprinted as every step hurt like hell, but he could not slow down. A pulse passed, and just as it did, he stood completely still and used Arcane Stealth to hide. It worked, as he began running again, but then suddenly a figure entered his Sphere.

The Panther ran a bit off to the side of him and would luckily pass, so as long as he stayed sti-

A second Panther entered. Then a third. And a fourth. Dozens of Panthers appeared and scouted the jungle, and Jake was in disbelief… until he finally felt their energy signatures. It was weak. Each of them was barely tangible as they scoured the greenery for him.

Rather than clones, these were illusions or mirages. At first glance and even to his sphere, they appeared real, but they were effectively just energy constructs. But even if that was the case, Jake knew they weren’t harmless… especially not with so many of them.

Even if they couldn’t hurt him – which he was certain they could – their presence alone made hiding near-impossible. They scouted around, and while Jake was confident in his Arcane Stealth when standing still, he did not believe himself infallible.

Something that was proved correct as an illusion approached. It sniffed the ground and moved past him at first but stopped just as it did. It turned around and walked towards Jake, and lifted its paw to swipe at the stable barrier covering Jake with suspicion.

illusion, he felt the true

trees and other greenery. Fifty meters would usually be good enough, but in this case, it wasn’t. The Panther

a tunnel was formed. The very next moment, a Panther was before him with its claw bathed in dense black energy. Jake tried to block but

was only saved by the impact also knocking him back. His entire head would have been carved apart if not

smashed into a tree, but quickly landed as he teleported away again and fled. He didn’t think but just went in the opposite direction of the Mark indicating where the Panther was and navigated with his sphere. Using his eyes was not an option, as even if the mask had blocked the impact, the eye holes were still there. Eye holes that had allowed the dark space energy to utterly annihilate both his eyes and much of

as most of his left arm had reformed by

but he held on. His skin was flaying more than before due to Arcane Awakening

Instead of meeting no resistance or making Jake dodge, the paw impaled itself on a dagger as a newly

and, with a second step, teleported to the side as he spun in

the remaining illusions

arcane barrier was formed that instantly exploded, destroying all the illusions. Something that proved a wise decision as all of the illusions also exploded upon destruction, functioning as Panther

The Panther seemed to believe he was unable to find it as Jake felt dark magic move below, and his Sense and Mark both got obscured partly. While he could not see it, he imagined the beast had created a dark mist

it had clearly analyzed his sphere and many of his abilities to some extent, it had failed to realize how bonkers his Perception stat truly was. The winner was clear in

into the air. Jake felt some of his poison infect the beast and followed

as it seemed to have

teleported too, trying to lock him down, but his upgraded One Step Mile seemed to

Jake even got a kill notification at one point as an Arcane

Panther knew it would lose a ranged battle, so it picked up the pace. Jake felt its body suddenly burn with energy as mana impacted his body. He suddenly felt like his sphere was full of stuff… mana. It brought him back to the first time in the Forgotten Sewers rat dungeon. He reacted a bit slow when his danger sense warned

Shortly, he saw a cat-like figure charge him from the side, and he reacted promptly. Believing the Panther

proceeded to explode in

his sphere as the beast

while one was hit and exploded. The remaining ones closed in, and Jake tried

and it was a pure matter of chance… he would think usually. Because he also felt something

A Panther managed to follow him, and Jake blocked as he was sent tumbling back by what had to be the real one. Another of the three illusions then came, but Jake once more blocked as that too was real. He realized this when he

between them, Jake instantly realized. Likely another benefit of the

blows Jake had landed during some of their scuffles doing work. Jake was certain he had been right about it lacking energy. It had low

a special arrow. He had plenty of time to condense an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter by now, even if the stamina and mana consumption

as he drew his bow and charged Arcane Powershot.

The Panther knew this attack would be powerful, and Jake constantly felt it shift with the beast not just charging in but keeping its distance to dodge. One in three… no, lower. It would