The Primal Hunter

Countless factions dominated the multiverse, but few were as unique as the Risen. They were the living dead, and that came with both bonuses and demerits. Some bonuses included a natural lifespan equal to your True Soul’s natural lifespan, meaning you would live as long as possible, and aging would only come to pass due to the person wanting it. Combat-wise, they truly did not have many differences from other enlightened races, besides some changed natural affinities and stats. They were neither stronger nor weaker, and history had also shown that their natural average level of talent was roughly comparable to humans and elves.

As for demerits, the largest inherent one was probably their inability to procreate naturally. Two Risen could not simply make a child. Instead, it took a far more complicated process. It was possible, mind you, but not as easy, and it required a specially created item that both would-be parents poured a part of their essence into. Even then, it wasn’t like an actual child would be born and grow up normally. They would be born in their full adult form, albeit with a nascent consciousness like that of a child.

Their other way to procreate was for others to willingly become Risen. However, this, too, was not as simple as some common misunderstandings and prejudices that existed in the multiverse had made it out to be. One of the most widespread beliefs was that the Risen could forcefully create more Risen by raising the dead.

It did not work like that. The only way for someone to become a Risen was to willingly accept to become one, and only while still alive. You had to participate in a ritual, during which the system would allow you to change. It always required the person to willingly choose, and the ritual would even fail if the individual taking part was being mentally manipulated in any form.

Sadly many still thought the Risen could forcefully make more of themselves by killing others. True, they were talented in raising undead, but while the Risen were classified as undead, no raised undead could ever be classified as Risen or an enlightened species. They were all monsters, unable to possess a class or profession.

Most undead in the multiverse naturally hated the living and wanted to consume them. They were scourges and natural disasters more than anything. A beast or elemental would not choose to hunt down those significantly weaker than themselves for no reason. Meanwhile, an A-grade undead monster would gladly consume several planets with nothing more powerful than a C-grade on it just to kill everything there. This was also due to another trait of the undead – a lack of intelligence. They were, more often than not, still only pure instinct, even when reaching S-grade.

So publicly making an enemy of the Risen for also being undead was easy as pies. And the Risen knew.

Casper and Priscilla had known it too, which was why they had planned for the eventuality that they would be pushed out of Earth from the very beginning. This was why they had wanted to create the dungeon, as it was part of their plan, and when the Treasure Hunt happened, they got the chance to get a damaged World Core by combining all the fragments they had found there.

It was a golden opportunity they had leaped at, and it had gone far better than expected. It had truly given them a path of survival far more viable than any of their other plans, and while Casper did admit he would miss Earth, he had no regrets.

Casper was flying far in the air as he stared at the black skies with only a few clouds here and there. No stars were visible, but they would work on that with time. Down below were rolling hills of soil, and familiar grass was growing, identical to that of Yalsten.

Turning his head, he saw the edges of the realm and knew it was still slightly unstable. The usable area was only a few hundred square kilometers right now, but it would expand with time as everything stabilized - as the tree grew.

So, what had the Risen done?

They had made a new world using the World Core from the Treasure Hunt. One that now existed within the infinite void, like Yalsten, but this one was still linked to the ninety-third universe.

Each world had to be anchored somewhere in the real universe, or it would be forever lost in the infinite void, effectively killing everyone within as they had no way in or out. Unless someone managed to become a god, that is, but chances of that were non-existent. These anchors could be detected and destroyed by outside forces if they located them all and doom all who resided in the world. So the Risen had done something smart. Something classified as clever use of system mechanics.

The anchor had been placed within the cave they had then turned into a dungeon, effectively making it inaccessible as when the dungeon was created, a barrier would form that was impenetrable to nearly anyone. The way anchors worked meant that one could still get out as the anchor was more of a coordinate, and if they wanted to teleport out, they just had to place the person a bit to the side of this coordinate, thus having them outside. As for if they didn’t, then the person would just appear within the cave, but oops, the cave is now the location of a dungeon, so the system would kindly relocate you just outside the dungeon entrance.

Oh, also, even if their world had been cut off, they still had one final failsafe: Casper himself. He carried the Blessing of the Blightfather, so even if they were lost within the infinite void, the Blightfather could use the Blessing as a beacon to locate them.

factions had done this, and truth be told, there were still ways to mess them up. Just not for anyone on Earth.

becoming sitting ducks, which was when the other part of the plan came into effect. The Risen had worked on raising ghosts since the day they returned from the Tutorial and made the city. Ghosts had a few properties, but one of them was that they were

to catch a large sphere rock being lifted into the air by hundreds of thousands of ghosts. By the time they reacted, the sphere was already too high. Every single ghost had died during the ascent, and there were many risks that

they would. This world was one they would use long term and

Resentment planted and

hard on a teleporter directly from the hidden world and to the Ghostlands, entirely circumventing the ninety-third universe and still giving them a

he saw Priscilla busy far below. Lyra appeared at his side, joining him as they saw their new city slowly being constructed. They only had around a hundred thousand people with them, and space was a bit tight, but they would live.

they had come from, they had also picked a very

New Yalsten.

busy eating an entire

the Grand Mangrove River, and the thing that surprised him the most was that

had created a decoy Pylon of sorts and placed it under her main office, sealed beneath her ritual chamber. She told him that she had felt people try to get to it, but nobody had succeeded yet. Jake had not even known about her doing this, but honestly, it made sense. Not even Ell’Hakan would think Jake had hidden the Pylon under

he had was no longer reachable – he was still around, mind you, just out of range. Where he was, Miranda didn’t know, but from what they had learned, the territory of the Risen was effectively gone, having been successfully invaded by the Holy Church

see Casper gone, but he should still be alive. Villy had at least told him that. Well, okay, not

United Cities Alliance, and honestly, Jake didn’t really see the problem. He was just doing his job, and it wasn’t like what he did would hurt Jake or those he cared about. The Court of Shadows was a business, and Jake knew that Caleb refusing could only result

if Jake wanted to slap some fat stacks on the table, he could just hire them to also target

part of the leadership structure of a planet they operated on. This was simply a concession to allow them to stay on planets without conquering them themselves. Jake also reckoned this was why Arthur was fine with

– their family. Jake also knew that while his brother believed in

was informed that they had been hired or brought on by several cities to help defend them from the attacking beasts, but that was

if he wanted to stay on Earth or even be able to call it a home he could visit. Things to allow those he cared about to find safety there and not have it be what it currently was: a mixture of forces with era-old conflicts that would never get along, with some newborn factions tossed in that also vied for control.

messy as hell. Speaking of messy, even the Church apparently had problems, and Jake had not heard a single peep about or from Jacob. It was like he was gone. Then again, something must have

after Ell’Hakan had arrived was notably absent from

Villy himself. It was enough to interest Villy and make him do some independent research, and what the Viper found out was that he was definitely gone from Earth and likely from the ninety-third universe. As for where he had gone, along with all of his followers, Jake had no idea. Truth be told, Jake had never really talked with or about him that much outside of their brief interaction in the Treasure Hunt. Eron had just been doing his

dead… Eron? Dead? Yeah, Jake definitely couldn’t see

now on board. Though the Fallen King had apparently not at all been in a rush either but oddly happy with the stalemate that he faced with another Unique Lifeform. Then again, how often could someone like the Fallen King find someone of equal level that was his equal? Well, every day, if he stayed around Jake. Not that Jake would bother to fight

slacked off at all. He did discover the oddity that it felt like he progressed faster again for some reason. In between killing n C-grades or while waiting for Sandy to get a treasure, Jake would usually either talk with Miranda, recover from a fight, ponder on

of the Malefic Viper] has reached

Viper] has reached level 187 -

(D)] has reached level 184 - Stat points allocated, +15

the Malefic Viper] has reached level 188