The Primal Hunter

Jake had spent another month rapidly progressing since his shopping trip. The most monumental event was when Jake finally laid down the ritual circle framework for the Pollendust Bee Queen. He had prepared enough cores, and with some of the materials he had bought, could begin the initial stages.

It was a bit like how Mystie had used her ritual for a long time before Jake came along. Jake would do something similar but at an even higher level. The ritual circle itself was about ten meters in radius and was placed on his lawn, surrounded by a barrier he cheated to get made by just having Duskleaf erect it. This initial stage would last quite a while and was likely going to be the longest.

Besides the ritual, Jake had just been slamming out potions and had been working on a special kind of soul poison he really wanted to make. It was harder than he had thought it would be, but he still felt he was getting closer to his goal.

With this also came some levels. It felt like they had been coming even faster than before recently, and Jake theorized it was due to how expensive the materials he experimented with were. Again, he didn’t know; all he knew was that three levels in a month was pretty damn good.

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 181 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 182 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 177 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 183 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

One other thing Jake had also done during this time was a lot of heavy drinking. Only a bit of it had been alcohol, with the majority being Endurance-increasing elixirs. And damn, had it paid off.

Status

Health Points (HP): 54011/54050

Mana Points (MP): 95231/100484

Stamina: 47021/48320

His stamina had increased by more than ten thousand points since he went shopping, the main contributor being 555 stats gained from elixirs, maxing out his current limit for his levels when it came to consuming them. This was before percentage bonuses, so he had to add another 45% to that. All in all, good stuff. As for his free points… Jake had been weak and, in a moment of indulgence, tossed all the 175 stat points he had saved up into Perception.

He had no regrets.

Yet even after all of these things had gone so well and Jake felt like everything was going great, he felt uneasy that day. It was a terrible feeling he could not pinpoint; he just knew something was wrong. Off. Jake felt restless and couldn’t focus as he asked Villy, who didn’t provide any useful answer. He then turned to Miranda to ask her how things were on Earth and was told nothing was amiss.

Next up was Sylphie, and while they couldn’t exactly speak, she also wasn’t worried. Sylphie was still hanging around with Carmen too, so it shouldn’t have anything to do with her either. Jake then checked everyone in the Order he knew but just got confused responses. Nothing was wrong anywhere… yet Jake felt as he felt. Something was horribly wrong, and it frustrated him to not know what the issue was.

And for every moment, that feeling of wrongness was building.

Miranda felt flustered after Jake had contacted her for the second time that day to tell her that something was wrong. He gave no details or even an idea of what the issue was; he just said something was wrong. Miranda had gotten to work and checked in on everyone, having even contracted Caleb, Jake’s brother, to make sure things were calm. He said nothing was wrong. Same for Casper and the Risen.

The Noboru Clan also didn’t have any issues. She was well and truly lost and considered if perhaps she had to go to the Holy Church and the Augur to try and figure out if there truly were any problems. She even went as far as to check where the two hawks, Mystie and Hawkie, were, but they were still in the forest. If they were in danger, then Miranda had no idea what to do anyway.

In all honesty, then Miranda was worried about Jake. What if something had happened to him that caused some kind of mental disturbance? That didn’t seem to be an issue, though, as he was perfectly lucid. Lucid… but troubled and worried.

She kept trying to find the problem and did recall Lillian, Hank, Hank’s children, and most people she and Jake both knew. He had said that his feeling of wrongness was likely connected to someone he knew being in danger, but that was it. All she could do was take precautionary actions.

find out what was wrong as suddenly the ground shook. Are we under

disturbance. The teleportation building

tokens in her inventory vibrated. With bated breath, she checked them and saw the

“Under attack-“

“Teleportation circles-“

“Cut off-“

Noboru Clan, Court of Shadows, Valhal, Risen, and even the

realized one thing: in an instant, the entire teleportation network of

An hour earlier.

must choose

his watch and saw it was time. The researchers and space mages had been hard at work

circle,”

a dozen space mages complied as they got into position. Soon, the circle began pulsing with power, a cube in the center functioning as the anchor to connect two very far-off places. The cube had been given to him during the Myriad Choices event for this exact purpose. The magic circle would only be active for

helped perform the ritual all fell unconscious to the ground as healers rushed in to take them out. The formation was

was that – leading the entourage of new arrivals said. His orange skin made it clear he was not human, and neither were any of his comrades. Arthur knew every single figure that had

title he had been informed the alien named Ell’Hakan

smiled as he looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce the several hundred meters of

the bargain,” Arthur nodded. “By the end of the hour, everyone will need to be in position, so

nodded with a smile as Arthur led

be made, and Arthur had simply seen no other path than the one chosen. A cancer had invaded their planet in the form of divine fanaticism. And like cancer, these organizations would fight each other to eventually leave the body they inhabited dead, broken, or

the chamber above, Ell’Hakan turned to three of his

of them nodded as they all teleported away. Space mages, all three

for them to do?” Arthur

“Do not worry. I will keep my promise, and their task is of no consequence to our plan. Once

“Very Well. The Disciple

into the room. Arthur once more felt pressured as he knew this person was at the very peak of D-grade already. Just a single step away from his evolution

Ell’Hakan greeted the young man with a bow. “Have

he looked at the being of ash. “I take it you

human,” the rumbling voice

felt. Despite not a single one of them being in C-grade, they had a chance. But the Chosen was powerful, and so was

comforted him. “As long as you do your part, so will we do ours. Remember who

itself in contrast to his inner calm. He had been contacted earlier by Ms. Wells of Haven and informed that Jake

Saint would not disregard the hunter’s judgment

the security forces moved to find those responsible or identify their city’s attacker.

people?” he spoke as two figures appeared. Both with orange skin. He frowned as he felt their power. These people… stronger than the

the Celestial Child, Ell’Hakan. By his grace, we offer you the opportunity to surrender and to join us in our

does

as puppets,” the other one of his two visitors answered. “We do not

war,” Miyamoto said, his frown deepening. “One that neither Noboru Clan nor I will take any part