The Primal Hunter

Jake watched on as his simulacrum made yet another miraculous escape by leaping out a window and rapelling down four stories before swiftly making it over the fence to the forest. The guards were a bit distracted by the gunshots from their boss earlier and had, of course, gone to investigate only to find the man dead.

Back in the forest, sim-Jake kept running as he spoke once more, a smile on his lips.

“I wasn’t even paid for this one, you know? I just didn’t like the guy. He tried to hire me a year or so ago, and when I refused the job as the target wasn’t my kind of thing, he threw a hissy fit and tried to have me killed. Naturally, he failed, and I killed the people he sent, and the idiot probably thought that was the end of it. Or not, based on the guards, but hey, I enjoy the added challenge. Sometimes you got to sneak a bit as not even I can survive the barrage of an entire squad of gunmen. Too many bullets. Even if I can feel the trajectory of every one of them, it would be like trying to dodge the rain itself.”

He talked about himself more and explained things that Jake, of course, understood. Ah, but the rain was dodgeable; he just had to get strong enough. If it wasn’t, Jake would have been torn apart by the Sword Saint.

As for the philosophy of his simulacrum… Jake also understood. Understanding and agreeing were not the same, though. He himself had felt and still at times felt similarly. His Bloodline was, in the end, partly about being at the peak of the food chain, and looking down on others was just inherent to him. Be it an unwanted side effect or a necessary part of his ability to ignore presences, it was there.

Jake could only imagine how it must have been to grow up with his Bloodline on full display. The real Jake could at least meet actually powerful individuals after he fully awakened his Bloodline to get some perspective. People so strong he would not be able to land a single injury on them no matter what methods he deployed. Those so powerful they could wipe him from existence with a mere thought. Looking down on those individuals was something not even Jake could do. However, that was still different from recognizing them as superior. To Jake, someone being stronger than him was just a temporary state of things. One day, he would stand at the top, or he would die trying with a smile on his face.

Sim-Jake did not have that kind of perspective at all. It was entirely possible he was the strongest individual on the planet. That there truly was nobody, he couldn’t kill, and Jake could understand why that could be… boring. But, something else was also readily apparent:

This Jake had way less empathy than the non-simulation Jake, and damn, Jake was not the most empathetic person to begin with. Never had been. But his family had ensured he had some “humanity” in him. He could confidently say that he truly loved and cared for his brother and parents. His simulacrum never had anyone that he judged worthy of recognizing as worth caring for. Especially not if he disconnected himself from humanity early on. Jake had seen no signs of lovers or even friends in any of the visions he had seen. Sim-Jake was always alone. In some ways, it was a bit sad.

“I sense a trace of disapproval. Why? I know you understand. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t that I like to kill humans for sport. There is no sport in committing a senseless murder. It would be like a pathetic loser sitting back with his rifle to shoot a rhino. There is no danger, no challenge… no meaning in such an action. I also do have some rules. I will not kill people I believe genuinely contribute to making the world a better place or if I believe their deaths will cause too many issues for too many innocent people. The last rule is the reason why I haven’t killed nine out of ten politicians,” sim-Jake said. The last part was only half a joke.

His simulacrum ran through the forest a bit more before making it to a boat at the edge of a river. He jumped on and started the surprisingly silent motor as he sailed the thirty-odd meters to the other side.

“You may ask if I couldn’t look for my challenges elsewhere… and I did. Underground fighting rings, hunting in the wild, or even fighting animals. None of it was able to truly scratch that itch. Sadly I could never do anything official or even try to perhaps compete with the peak of humanity in sports as I have not been viewed favorably by the law since I was a teenager. I don’t even think I am officially alive anymore. And even if I competed in sports, it would all just be too fake. A challenge without consequences is just not as good, and fencing competitors don’t want to use real swords during combat. What true combat I could find, such as in the underground fighting ring, was not interesting either. They were too weak, and even their rules ruined the fun. Ah, but I did have a handful of life and death fights, but after four opponents, no one wanted to fight anymore. Understandable, I guess,” sim-Jake further explained in a defensive tone.

Getting off the boat, sim-Jake went up a hill and into a camouflaged getaway vehicle.

“I would never claim to be a good person, but I would not call myself a bad one either. I am just me. I don’t kill without reason, but I also don’t spare those I find undeserving. I have rules I abide by, even if they conflict with what society believes I should do. I fight, I kill, and I try to challenge myself. I do what I want, eat the best food I can get my hands on, and go wherever and do whatever I want. So let me ask you…“ the simulacrum said as he turned to Jake, who sat beside him on the passenger seat, flying along as he couldn’t actually sit on the seat.

meaningless? Why do I feel like I am just waiting for something to happen? For true meaning to appear? Tell me, oh silent observer… will things ever change, or am I doomed to live in this meaningless reality surrounded by weaklings till I die of boredom? I

As the simulacrum drove the vehicle, Jake appeared In front of the window. Jake then moved to the right to answer a confident yes. Jake saw his simulacrum smile through the windshield with

room that he instantly recognized. A humanoid figure that wasn’t quite human sat in a chair with sim-Jake right in front

began, and the Tutorial was about to begin. Sim-Jake seemed to instantly notice and turned around. He looked at Jake, but Jake was more focused on the apparition of the

you aware of someone else than us in the

instantly. “Yes. Now

about?” sim-Jake instead asked Jake. Jake moved to confirm, and the man smiled. “You

more, a

to the system construct again. “I choose

daggers and a set of basic armor appeared on the table just as the scene

the first major difference in the Tutorial was already made. Firstly, he could pick either class or profession, something the real Jake could not do in his. Additionally, his simulacrum had chosen

and other high-level individuals scattered around. Jake instantly realized this was the Tutorial he had seen in the preview and the one Caleb was meant to be in. This was further hammered home when he saw the two people Caleb had entered the Seat of the Exalted Prima with, called Matteo and Nadia, if he remembered correctly. What he did not

It also seemed like people quickly realized who he was and backed away as the

was clearly a moment to establish dominance. No mere newly initiated G-grade could stand against a mere

Everyone except for one.

all the dark elves were pressured, leaving only two entities in the entire Tutorial standing

grin. Jake felt the excitement. One he had felt himself. However,

yourself you couldn’t truly comprehend it. It should lead to a feeling of powerlessness or inadequacy, perhaps humility, but to both Jake and sim-Jake, it meant only one thing: a new goal. A new mountain to climb and a peak to shatter. Jake could

you?” the S-grade asked as it looked at sim-Jake, all attention

just kept his smile as he answered. “A

scene ended a mere moment later, sim-Jake not even acknowledging Jake in this particular scene. Then again, it was a relatively

before who he assumed to be Umbra. No words were spoken that Jake could hear, but he saw sim-Jake extend his hand as the being of pure shadows humored him and shook it. The scene ended just as sim-Jake turned around

mana almost palpable in the air. Monkey-like creatures hid in the crevices as sim-Jake turned

case you are wondering, this is about a month into this Tutorial. You truly did not

smiled a bit himself as he did his old dance