The Primal Hunter

Jake was no expert in friendships. He would never claim to be. But what he did know was that the scalekin called Nella was definitely not a friend of Meira. Now, while Jake did want to just barge in and raise hell, he chose to listen to Izil and acted with thought. At the very least, he should give them a chance to explain themselves.

The door was already ajar, and they soon detected Jake as he got closer. It was almost comical how the facial expression of the scalekin changed when she detected Jake and Izil coming. Rather than a sneer, she turned to a neutral smile, trying to look like less of a bitch.

“My Lord,” Meira greeted her once he entered. He had seen her running back and forth collecting books, and yet she didn’t carry even a hint of discontentment.

“Ah, good to meet you-“

“Shut the fuck up,” Jake said to Nella the moment she started speaking. His aura flared for a moment with killing intent as Izil took a step back along with Nella. The only one of the newcomers who stayed unaffected was the half-ogre, and the reason for that was simple enough.

[Scalekin – lvl 152]

[Half-ogre – lvl 190]

Utmal, as she was called, was far stronger than any of the others, and Izil’s assertion she was more of a bodyguard than anything else was very likely accurate.

Nella still stood frozen as Jake spoke and Meira looked extremely surprised, if not downright horrified.

“Meira, have you ever had any friends before?” Jake asked her.

The poor elf now looked even more confused as she stuttered. “I… I don’t think so?”

“Then let’s have a brief lesson on what friendship is,” Jake said as he turned to the scalekin. “Tell me, do you consider Meira here a friend?”

Nella, surprisingly enough, didn’t raise a ruckus but merely responded honestly. “What a nonsensical question. Of course I don’t. Now, if you weren’t so rude despite it being our first meeting, I would maybe consider offering you the honor of my frie-“

“You can shut up again,” Jake cut her off once more, getting a very angry glare from the half-ogre, which he completely ignored.

Meira looked entirely taken by surprise after Nella answered. Jake nearly felt like she was about to cry, but instead, she just nodded with realization and bowed. “I apologize if I misunderstood, and-“

“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jake also cut Meira off.

Izil finally decided to also get involved after the initial shock of the situation. “Nella, at least admit you did purposefully make her believe you were friends, even explicitly stating it to make her give you things.”

“You just have to get involved?” Nella scoffed. “And yeah, I did. What of it? This is the Order of the Malefic Viper, if you haven’t noticed. Are you seriously trying to act like lying for personal benefits is some kind of heretical sin or something? You people are beyond me; it is her fault for being a gullible idiot, not mine.”

She then turned to Jake and smiled. “Don’t blame me for taking advantage of your little pet project. Is it not your fault for being too wasteful?”

more observant of the trash I allow her

a bit frustrated as he knew

can treat you however you want. Stop thinking you are lesser than them. I am not having you learn and take lessons for fun but for your own sake. It is about time you have some damn self-confidence and take some charge of

two are nothing. Trash by the wayside. If you allow trash to treat you as lesser than them, what does that

to be to survive. Not just in the Order but in the multiverse. If his gentle approach didn’t work, he would go a bit harder. Even after everything, Meira still viewed herself as lesser than practically everyone else. He hadn’t really picked up on this as the only ones he really ever saw her interact with were himself and Duskleaf, and expecting her to be casual with them was a hard ask.

just disappointing to

squashed, the two unwelcome visitors clearly weren’t fans of Jake’s

People like you tend to just squander and have their feeble egos broken as they begin to fail. So what if you have a backer? You are still nothing,” Nella said with a smile as she motioned toward

bother with a little whore like her. You waste time and resources on useless things. I don’t even get what you are trying here? Sure, yeah, sorry for hurting your fragile ego by messing with what’s yours. I had my fun with your whore while it lasted, and I

you-“ Izil began

scorn. “I wanted to approach you to do some networking with the Altmar empire, but you are just too damn infuriating to deal with. Always having to be the hero and protecting the

Jake allowed her to keep talking. The reason was simple enough: he needed Meira to hear. While she had initially seemed like she wanted to explain things away and even excuse Nella, he now saw a far different expression. It was hard to read but definitely a mix

for Meira. Jake chose not to judge this particularly harshly as at least it seemed like she had her heart in the right place. He also

the confidence,” Jake said with a smile. “The confidence to walk into my home acting like this and expecting nothing

were allowed to come here. Are you so daft to not even know the rules of the

the side, also sent Jake a warning using telepathy. “Be careful. Any violence, especially killing, goes against the rules, and even if you have

this a tragedy but merely a teaching moment. Believe it

was listening, he explained what he and Izil had talked about. “Izil and I spoke just before coming here. She offered to buy your freedom and make you a part of the Altmar Empire. Even take you back there. With the status of a citizen of the Empire, it will allow you to finally take charge of your

subject change, and surprisingly, Nella and Utmal also seemed

has an official decree to free any elven slaves, and the second I found out you were one, I knew

- for the complete annulment of the contract. We can discuss the details, sure, but I do

surprised, but not as much as Meira. She stared between Jake and Izil before asking Jake. “You

with you that my initial plan was for you to become a member of the Order and then annul the contract. I want you to be free and make your own choices, and this will be the first time where I will truly ask you to choose after I made you choose your own lessons. You don’t need to pick right now, but can take however

want to stay with Lord Thayne,” Meira said decisively, shocking Jake a bit. She had not only interrupted Jake but said: “Lord Thayne” and not any of her usual go-to’s. Her

a chance for freedom. Here and now. If you need funds, I will help you and make sure you can go to the Altmar Empire safely. You will be able to finally be your own person. Meira, you are far more skilled than you

said decisively again

this is all so damn touching,” Nella finally burst out as she turned to Jake. “Damn, you must be a good shag to have her wrapped around your finger like that,

with a man,” Meira said, standing up for herself for the first time. In a weird way, but hey, it was

Nella said, faking amazement. “And that declaration just makes this all the more pathetic. Seriously, is your dear master some limp-dicked loser who can’t even get it up? Or does he swing the other way and bought the wrong product when he went slave shopping? This must

you suck!” Meira practically

just found it amusing and shook her head. Jake was still looking on a bit proud before nodding. “If that is your choice, fine. But the part about being freed and becoming a member of the Order is non-negotiable unless you can find another way to safely be freed. We can talk about all that another day, though, as we have some trash to take out first. Tell me, Meira, what kind of punishment do

her. Also, while he wasn’t exactly keen on the two of them, the one they had wronged the most was Meira, not him. So even

anything? Want to call your backer or what? While I don’t want to talk badly about my seniors, I am beginning to question what error in judgment one must have made to pick you. I also find it laughable how you think you are some big-shot who is in charge

Jake had the clear read on them that they were truly just taking this as some

a few seconds of no one talking, Nella finally shrugged and looked at Jake. “I am bored of this. Oh well, fun while it lasted, and I shall consider sending someone to ask for compensation for wasting my time. The level of delusion you people have is astonishing. I hope your backer comes to their senses and gets rid of you because anything else would