The Primal Hunter

Jake found himself teleported onto an identical metal disc within a small hall. Sultan, Miranda, Arnold, and Sylphie appeared together with him shortly after, and just as they stepped off the teleporter, it activated again.

A familiar figure appeared, and Jake turned and gave the Unique Lifeform a look.

[Fallen King – lvl 196]

The level of the King was approaching peak D-grade. Unique Lifeforms were truly cheats… then again, the King only had his race to progress while Jake had both profession and class. Furthermore, the Unique Lifeform had been busy as far as he knew, forming an entirely new faction on their planet as well as doing his fair share of hunting. Not everyone liked being ruled, after all.

“You have been busy,” Jake said.

“So have you, little hunter. I feel the remnants of a C-grade signature upon your soul. A very recent one. Perhaps the cause of your unsightly state?” the King answered, Jake once more being reminded he was wearing tattered clothes and still had quite a bit of blood on him. To be honest, that no one had commented on it yet was kind of crazy.

“Your assumptions would be correct,” Jake said with a confident smile. The King had sent out his telepathic communication wide and had regarded them all. Therefore Jake also responded openly. For the next thing, however, he said it to the King using telepathy.

“You are approaching peak D-grade,” Jake simply stated to the King covertly. “Won’t you be kind of fucked by me being behind?”

“You worry needlessly,” the King dismissed him. “I am in no rush for C-grade and see no purpose in sabotaging myself for temporary gain. I have been D-grade for over a century already, but most of that time was spent doing nothing worthwhile. This King also needs to fully comprehend his new reality. So no, I am not in a rush. Just don’t make me wait another century.”

Jake sent a mental nod in return as he ended their secret conversation. It was good to know even Unique Lifeforms had shortcomings they wanted to square up before evolution.

“I am wondering what kind of Path you are looking forward to seeing?” Jake asked the King. “Though I do have at least one guess..”

“A guess I would presume you correct about. In fact, I have two prominent possibilities in mind. One is if I never chose to participate in the Tutorial but stayed on my pathetic homeworld instead. The other – the one I presume you guessed – is if I had chosen to kill a certain little hunter and not died due to my own folly.”

That certain little hunter smiled and joked. “Live and learn. Or die and learn in this case.”

“A lesson I have taken to me and a reason why I am in no rush.”

A few more words were exchanged, but their conversation quickly drew attention. The tree-like willow form of the Unique Lifeform and the hunter wearing tattered armor and covered in blood did stand out a bit. Heck, Sylphie and the King stood about by themselves quite a lot, being the only two non-humans from Earth that had keys.

The unwanted attention made them move on, but not before Jake fixed up his state a bit. He went to a corner and summoned a stable arcane barrier and even used Arcane Stealth to stay undetected as he deposited all his armor in his inventory. He quickly stirred his energy to clean the blood off, releasing a wave of destructive mana that ran across his body. He was still not in top condition after the fight with the Panther and still felt pain from all over, but at least he was mobile and could function normally. Fighting was not the best idea, though.

it was certainly better than his other things. Or being naked. In time all his equipment would be repaired

like he had made them stand there for long. Jake did notice the King had left, not one

do this event right away.

believe it is wisest to go now and do it,” Miranda agreed. “If this is truly a possibility to meet those from other planets, I have no doubt some diplomacy will be carried out, but the event is a priority

not seem in a rush. In fact, he seemed more interested in their surroundings. Then again… it was Arnold, and it wouldn’t be that

old yet, so how many big choices did she have time

go then,” Jake said with

to talk with his brother and the Sword Saint, it seemed like both had already left towards where the event would be held. At least they had exited the small entrance area belonging to Earth with the teleporter

a large platform, or perhaps balcony would be a more accurate word. Jake curiously went forward to the edge of the balcony and saw they were probably a few hundred meters up. More platforms were below

entire tower that was the Seat of the Exalted Prima was built like a circular atrium with several hundred floors. Looking straight ahead, he stared onto another balcony and saw several people stand there too. None of them were quite human either. They all had a greenish tint to their skin but otherwise looked mostly human. Well, okay, the four arms were a bit different than humans. Using Identify, he saw a race he

[Kolbar – lvl 131]

The man at level 131 stood in the front of all the others, and Jake saw his level was the highest of them all. This man also saw Jake and stared back with two odd eyes. One of them held two pupils and the other none

heard of, but nearly all of them humanoid. There were also elves, dwarves, beastfolk, and all the usual suspects, along with two very interesting groups that only consisted of Risen and other undead

all looked around curiously. This was truly a clash of cultures as

Jake also noticed something else. Something

are they all

wasn’t it? Jake knew he had been slacking off a bit too much with levels and had only begun to get back on track recently. That is why he was so confused… wouldn’t people who rushed levels

felt a mental probing as she tried to speak to him telepathically. Jake allowed it

by their

and glance and nodded. “A bit. Did Earth have special opportunities or anything like that for us to grow? You know, something more than

many people, and I have come to realize Earth is truly a special place. Not because of what but who. Records have

but it was hard to believe the only reason so many strong people appeared on Earth was that other strong people appeared. It reminded him a bit of the old catch-22 where you can’t find a job without having experience and can’t get experience without finding a job. Just in this case, a lot of strong people would only appear if there were other strong people, yet you need strong people to get

far above the norm. To become a member of the Order of the Malefic Viper already makes

– assuming I even survived that long. Me being near you and working for you changed my Path entirely. I got a Blessing and was taught by gods. I got artifacts I could never dream of. All because of you making that one choice that day… and I am certain that is something I will

frowned as he didn’t feel like it was entirely fair to give him all the

done close to nothing, and it feels like what I have done often just creates more problems for you. You have run Haven more or less alone, and those you found to help you were selected and trained by you. I know nothing of your magic and barely understand

can birth talent… you know, like how one says a child can inherit the talent of their parents, so can you benefit from the talents of others. Nurturing it of sorts. The Witches of the Verdant Lagoon have mentioned something like that but never truly confirmed it. Either way, this is all a sidetrack. Just know that Earth is

ten seconds had still passed. People were still curiously observing others, and he

allowed. Chances are the ones arriving from Earth could massacre most other “powerful talents” from

there. From the looks of it, all of these balconies and floors