The Primal Hunter

Sandy was definitely the most lopsided creature Jake had ever come across. Okay, maybe something like the Termite Hive Queen was equally lopsided, but Sandy was definitely so specialized and weird that it boggled his mind.

Most creatures Jake knew could fight. Like, fighting was a basic skill of the multiverse, right? Jake had yet to come across a single C-grade that couldn’t at least fight back in some way. But Sandy? Sandy and fighting were not a thing at all.

And yet, out of every C-grade, Jake did not want to mess with Sandy and make the worm an enemy. Because he was damn sure that would only result in everything he held dear getting eaten and the worm flying away unbothered.

Sandy was good at three things. Like a Sand Worm, a Cosmic Genesis Worm was incredibly good at moving about. Jake thought his new Wings skill was good at escaping, but Sandy had several skills that allowed escape.

Secondly, Sandy was incredibly resilient. The rock-like hide was not for show, and Jake found that even with Arcane Powershot, he could not break through, even if Sandy did say “ouchie” when he hit the massive worm. That was the upgraded version of Arcane Powershot too.

Thirdly was finding and collecting resources. Jake could sense natural treasures due to his boots and Sense of the Malefic Viper, but damn, Sandy was on a whole other level. The worm picked up on things of value up to thousands of kilometers away, and Jake had a feeling it could be even further.

What Sandy was not good at was fighting, but the worm also sucked at detecting enemies. Luckily, or unluckily, it was nearly impossible to find a natural treasure not guarded by something powerful, and Sandy had a good sense of how valuable a natural treasure was and, thus, what kind of power-level one could expect the protector to be. Sometimes Sandy was still wrong, but that is where numbers one and two came in, allowing the worm to just leave. Even the one time they accidentally bumped into a mid-tier C-grade, probably around level 250. Sandy just flew away as the beast chased for a while until it realized it was wasting its time.

All of this is to say that Sandy was only good at running – worming - and eating. But damn, the worm was good at it. He had pimped himself the best ride around, and he clearly felt he was getting closer to Sylphie with every passing day. Now that they found themselves crossing the ocean, Jake also saw an entirely new part of Earth.

Amazingly enough, Jake had avoided underwater combat for the entire first day since they began their journey. This part of the trip would be a lot faster than the one prior as Sandy quickly realized that unless you were willing to dive into the depths, there were few treasures in the open ocean.

Sandy had only found a single island that didn’t even have a C-grade on it but only a whole bunch of D-grade birds, making them avoid it. No reason to mess with the local wildlife without any rewards.

This resulted in Jake spending a lot of time within Sandy’s stomach just working. He considered working on upgrading some more skills, but without fighting, Jake had a tough time doing it. Jake’s entire fighting style was also just so damn instinctual, so trying to take a logical approach and researching a skill seemed too foreign to him.

Thus he focused on alchemy once more. Everything was just peaceful as nothing tried to attack Sandy, and what did try did not have the slightest chance of catching the Cosmic Genesis Worm. At least everything was peaceful until the third day when suddenly Sandy called out to him.

“Out. Now,” the worm said as Jake was thrown out. He didn’t even have time to stabilize himself before his eyes opened wide, and he turned his head and saw it.

Still only half-emerged, an utterly massive creature exited the infinitely deep ocean below. Its skin was blue and rough, with fins and a massive tail still hidden in the water below. It looked like a blue whale, just oversized to the extreme, with its emergence reminiscent of a large island choosing to take to the skies.

[Sky Whale – lvl ???]

Jake estimated it to be a bit over ten kilometers long, and it was by far the largest creature Jake had ever encountered. As for if he would fight it? No fucking chance because the aura it gave off was also far above anything.

It was a late-tier C-grade, well-beyond level 300. No matter how many skills Jake upgraded, he had no confidence in facing such a foe. This was also why Jake froze and gritted his teeth as he felt the whale’s attention on him. The beast was still over a hundred kilometers away and moving incredibly slowly, but he still saw its stadium-sized eye turn to look at him.

”Sandy, why are we stopping here?” Jake asked the worm.

you,”

Jake asked with

us for a while and wanted to talk… I did want to run, but it seems friendly enough, you know? Anyway, I was promised a treat if I got you out, so get talking,” Sandy said, having just sold him

accepted, wondering what the beast could possibly want from him outside

head. It sounded like the whale was talking to him from inside a large cave or something. The voice

animosity but instead a lot of

you would allow me to speak frankly?” the whale

it,

From the beginning, we were aware a war would come, and it has already spread to our waters. Factions have been born, and lines formed. I do not mean to ask you for anything,

this planet so far,” Jake also

myself could leave behind this world and explore the wider universe, but many trusts in me and hide under my fins for protection. What I am asking of you is not assistance in any task but simply to allow us to stay once the time comes. In return, we shall support you in taming the parts of the world you do not wander yourself, Malefic’s Chosen,” the

had been observing them besides Villy, and he had a hard time seeing Villy informing a C-grade Sky Whale about him out of the blue. Yet clearly, it had known he was coming and intercepted him. The whale was also aware of the entire Ell’Hakan and

did you track me and know we were coming? Who told you? How do you even know the situation on land when you reside within the oceans?”

forward with both the Chosen and his Patron. What I can share is that my Patron is no threat to

whale had a Patron that wasn’t a god Jake had heard of before. Potentially not even that powerful of a god, but simply one that hoped to foster a

had to be to facilitate such an enormous creature to live within it. Much less the treasures

simply answered, feeling the

godspeed in your journey. Allow me to offer you and your companion tokens of goodwill,” the Sky Whale said as it opened its ridiculously large mouth. Out flew two objects, one being a large pearl the size of a volleyball and the other a crystal container about the size of Jake himself. It looked naturally

blood is toxic to

forward and eaten the Pearl without a

is backing you would also help, but I can accept it if you want to stay secretive,” Jake said with a

indeed far more aware of you than others, and you have briefly brushed Paths before. You and your Patron have both

met or interacted with. He was

the whale took to the air. Yes, rather than dive down underwater, it flew upwards into the vast skies above, doing whatever Sky Whales

a nice whale,”

very whalecoming,”

you

fin-ish this conversation here,”

gulped him down. Jake did not resist as he was tossed into Sandy’s stomach, still

god that whale was associated with,” Jake wondered out loud. It was a mystery that would likely take a long

that is the god that blessed the whale and apparently a shitload of other beasts on your planet,”

of guy? Why would he say I helped him, and moreover, why would he say you helped him? Well, unless you did help him… is this

charge on paper. Which means he got rewards based on the performance of the participants. You becoming a Progenitor was a major boon to him. Then afterward, I killed the Brimstone Hegemon, an enemy of this god. One can say that we both changed his life. You allowed him