The Primal Hunter

It ended up taking Reika another few hours to reach a point where she felt confident letting the three of them roam free. Draskil hadn’t really taken that much convincing when it came down to it, something Reika partially explained away by him also coming from the newly integrated universe.

Bastilla and Irin were much harder to reach as they had grown up with the system and the status quo, making ignoring someone being a Chosen an entirely foreign concept to them. Reika ended up giving a lot of examples of Earth and anecdotes relating to Jake to ensure them that he really wasn’t the type of Chosen they assumed him to be.

Irin seemed to have the takeaway that she had just found the opportunity of a lifetime. Draskil seemed competitive, and Bastilla was… yeah, Bastilla was still rather shell-shocked and seemed to not really get the situation outside of ”keep it a secret, that is what the Malefic One and his Chosen wants.”

Reika just hoped that with time she could have a proper conversation with Bastilla about it… and hopefully not have a really shitty roommate experience in the future.

Jake was woken up from his Serene Soul Meditation when he felt Reika approach. He opened his eyes and saw that she looked slightly worn out, having fought a valiant battle for him.

When she got close enough, Jake asked: ”So… how screwed am I?”

”I believe it is manageable,” Reika answered. ”At least I believe they all understand that keeping it confidential is best and that treating you too differently due to you being the Chosen isn’t what you or your Patron wants. If they are actually able to overcome a lifetime of conditioning and cultural teachings and not act too differently is an entirely different thing.”

”Thank you either way,” Jake smiled a bit sadly. ”This entire thing does suck.”

”I understand them,” Reika added. ”At least partly. Me telling them to treat you like you don’t have status is a far more extreme version of someone telling me not to treat my great-grandfather with a high level of respect. I am not certain I could stop doing that, at least not on a whim. So the best thing to do now is to give it time. Don’t treat them differently than before, but also don’t try to put a lid on who or what you are. Instead, normalize it and make it clear that to you, it is simply part of who you are, and while you are naturally proud of it – as any Chosen would be – you also don’t want it to be your primary defining trait. That them respecting you as a Chosen and as a person means not making you only the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.”

” Alright… so just give it time, huh,” Jake sighed. ”Let’s get over there. Any tips for things I should or shouldn’t say?”

”Don’t downplay your identity too much, but as I said, make it clear you do not want it to impact their treatment of you. Not too much at least,” Reika once more emphasized. ”Also, do not talk about your odd relationship with the Malefic Viper. That is between you and your Patron, and definitely don’t think that you talking about how casual you are with the Viper will make them understand they can treat you casually. Also, when we go greet them, you should say…”

Jake nodded slowly as he took her words to heart. He had enough social awareness to know that he sucked at having social awareness, and even if Reika was not some expert, she was far more adept than Jake.

The two of them walked back to Draskil, Irin, and Bastilla. They did all look at him weirdly and for sure differently than before, but at least they were all standing up and not kneeling. Jake sighed again as he got close and said what Reika had told him.

”I do hope this incident won’t cause an unnecessary rift between us. I am still the same person as before. The way I have treated you till now is the same as I would have even if you knew, and I will continue to treat you as friends and not merely subordinates, even if I do recognize a difference in status. I can only hope that you will do the same. Also, I hope you all understand that keeping my identity a secret is something I would very much appreciate,” Jake spoke, nearly saying verbatim what Reika had told him to.

The mood was still a bit tense and awkward for a few seconds before Draskil finally spoke up with a grin. ”Makes sense now how you killed C-grade before I did.”

Jake felt relief as he answered. ”Now you are just looking for excuses for losing.”

”Bah, only to be expected you win; you are Chosen,” Draskil dismissed him before smiling. ”But I am still stronger.”

”For now, for now,” Jake acknowledged with a smirk.

”Excuse me,” Irin said, a bit too polite compared to her usual demeanor. ”We do have a problem. I am required to report what happened during this dungeon run to my superiors… what should I say to them?”

are you required to report?” Jake asked. ”How

obfuscate the truth, it may have repercussions… and I doubt I will even be able to hide

nodded and thought for a moment before finding a solution. ”Alright, then just do as usual and report the truth. I

out his token, Jake dialed the highest of the higher-ups when it came to the mortals – the Hall Master.

I be of assistance?” Viridia

bit too excited he had called, but nothing he could do about that. ”My identity as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper has been discovered by three new individuals, and I will need

wish for me to do it while cleaning them of karmic bonds?” she promptly

what happened during a dungeon run we just had, and I want you to intercept that report and make up an excuse that you wanted to keep track of Draskil’s progress or something

further worries. Is there anything else I can help with?” Viridia said, not missing

all for this

mine, Lord Thayne,” Viridia said

He had only taken a few seconds talking to Viridia through the power of

”How?” Reika asked curiously.

Hall Master deal with it. She naturally already knows who I am,” Jake said

surprised. ”Thank you, my lord,” she bowed before stopping herself. ”Oh, I mean, I am

to fret over minor things like that. Take your time and just treat me normally, okay? And a better thing to do than talking about this situation would be to address the loot we got from clearing the dungeon. But I must warn all of you… while I have not seen the properties of these items, only their appearance, I can already tell you they

was a scepter just like the one the Mushroom Man King had used, while the other one was just a mushroom cap

with the Lifecore of a once mighty fungus. Through time it has further been improved by the Mushroom Man King and empowered by the Indigo Caverns. Allows the user to directly manipulate and take control of fungi, using them as their weapon. This scepter can be attuned to specific fungi to further improve this effect. Significantly

in any

intimidating and hold authority over other Mushroom Men of a lower level than yourself. Allows the wearer to far more easily manipulate fungi using any form of magic. Significantly more powerful when used by one

lvl 180+ in any humanoid

sheer level of disgust only increased after reading what they did. Without hesitation, he voiced

”Not me!”

”No,” Draskil muttered decisively.

for them,” Reika quickly made

feel inappropriate to take anything,” Irin

not spoken a single word since Jake had come out as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. She looked bewildered

at the very least sell them for dismantling,” Irin pointed

fine with just destroying them

as she swept them up. Jake threw Reika a glance, and she gave him a look making it clear that the beast woman was still not entirely on

and done, they could still bond over their shared hatred for mushrooms. A true

smile. ”Let

and Jake tried to make some casual small talk with the succubus on the way back, but all the responses were a bit strained from Irin’s side. Draskil was a pleasant surprise as he seemed to have come to terms with

race this time around. They made it back to the teleportation station before splitting up. Jake didn’t know how everything would be whenever they met again, but he could only do as he always