The Primal Hunter

Jake was rarely nervous, but on that day, he really was. Logic be damned; he was still a bit afraid his parents wouldn’t be okay with him coming, even if Caleb had only ever said they wanted him to. He had to admit that this was one of the reasons he kept trying to avoid going… Jake was very different from before, and with every day, he truly grew further from Jake, a boring salaryman in finance, and into Jake, the hunter. Despite how much he had been assured by Caleb, the nervousness still stayed, making him feel like this was a repeat of their first meeting all over again.

To add on, there was one more element. A person who had looked forward to meeting Jake’s parents even more than Jake himself… or, well, equally as much. It was naturally his other self, sim-Jake.

Sim-Jake last saw his parents the day they died. To him, it had been decades, even if he had been able to experience the real Jake’s memories. However, as he still maintained an ego, it just wasn’t the same. That is why when Jake entered the real Skyggen, he instinctively knew Sim-Jake had stopped his training and was alert and watching.

Who could blame him for being nervous? Both of them? All of this resulted in Jake slowly making his way toward the large residence where Caleb and his parents lived, with his head full of doubt. The guards didn’t stop him at all but took out tokens to let him in without even speaking a word, Jake knowing they had been informed of him coming. He hadn’t tried to hide this time around, so they all knew he was in Skyggen, meaning there really was no way to back down.

Jake approached the house and saw them within through his sphere. Waiting. He took a deep breath and walked up to the door before knocking. Within the house, mom instantly shot to her feet and rushed towards the door. He was thinking about what to say or how to act as she hastily opened the door and saw him.

In the next moment, Jake realized how dumb he had been.

Without any hesitation, his mom pulled him into a hug. His anxiety washed away as he just returned the hug. Neither of them spoke as he smiled, a well of emotions also coming from within his Soulspace.

He really should visit more.

“How long did you think you could hide it from me?”

The Augur looked out at the vast golden city from atop the spire. A deep frown adorned his face as he felt the changes in the tapestry from the faraway planet. The mix of hope and fear from his home planet reached him even in another universe, proof of his increased power after his evolution.

“Until you discovered it yourself,” the B-grade Bishop answered with a sigh. “I am not foolish enough to think that I can obscure the truth from an Augur for long.”

Jacob’s frown only deepened at the answer. “Why was this necessary? What happened on Earth?”

“Movements and machinations above what we mortals are meant to comprehend. The game of the gods is not ours to interfere with; all we can do is try and make the outcome as acceptable as possible. Yip of Yore, a god recognized as at the pinnacle, challenged the Malefic One, and their battle was extended to also include their Chosen. The Chosen of Yip of Yore invaded your planet with the help of a faction of natives and battled the Malefic’s Chosen. This happened only shortly after you arrived here and recently concluded with the Chosen of Yip abandoning the planet and the Malefic’s Chosen coming out on top,” the Bishop explained, Jacob not sensing a single trace of falsehood in his words.

“Why would all of this require me to leave Earth and come here?” Jacob asked.

“It is not only you. The faithful will all be evacuated from the planet as the Holy Church has decided to abandon it unilaterally. A decision that should not come as a surprise to you, considering the state it was in and the turmoil it faced,” the Bishop answered.

Holy Church was a monolithic faction that either controlled a planet or didn’t. They had rituals and effectively terraformed planets to be better for themselves and natively spawn holy energy that strengthened the power of faith for all who lived there. Sharing with other

event, it was obvious that taking control of the entire planet would not be feasible,” the Bishop continued. “Considerations of placing an embassy of sorts there were brought up but ultimately decided against. As things are looking right now, it looks like the Malefic One’s Chosen will end up victorious. Something that I also feel does not come as a surprise,” the Bishop said, a hint of accusation in that last

been asked to distance himself from Jake and also that he hadn’t followed that advice quite as the Church would have hoped. Jacob also knew that the hope, no, expectation, of Jake was that he would leave the planet altogether. There truly was little reason for him to stay from the perspective of the Church, so they assumed he would just teleport to the Order. Something he had done. Except he also kept coming back, and based on how he seemed to have made a home on Earth,

me everything that happened in my absence?” Jacob finally asked. While the Bishop

that his father had been the leader of this native faction, he could only sigh. His sense of helplessness deepened when he learned that the Church had known about this Ell’Hakan coming well ahead of time and had even been warned, hence sending Jacob away beforehand. They had indeed planned on leaving Earth all along and just wanted the Risen gone, too, something Jacob would have been an obstacle to accomplishing. Which

you expect me to respond to all this?”

reach of the Holy Church is boundless, and there are numerous places that can benefit from an Augur of Hope. Numerous places for you to exert your Path. Could you truly guide Earth towards a feasible Path with so many elements on it

how do you expect me

that chapter of your life. People need help and guidance everywhere. People need hope everywhere. With time, I believe you will come to understand that no one has tried to slight or betray you. They simply guided you as you now guide others. Towards a better future,” the Bishop finished saying, leaving

of light work, but it was only reading, meditating, and helping Caleb out with some minor stuff. During meditation, Jake began working more with sim-Jake, but both of them dedicated most of their attention to their holiday. He had even made it clear to Miranda that he was only to be contacted in the case of an emergency, and Villy seemed to get the

with Caleb and his parents. Everything with Ell’Hakan and Arthur had made quite the ruckus, and especially Caleb had seemed nervous Jake would get mad at him for the whole assassination thing. Jake didn’t know why… it wasn’t like his little brother killed anyone Jake knew, and while it did indirectly help an “enemy,” Jake couldn’t exactly get mad every time his brother took a job. It would be like if he got mad that his brother went to buy potions from

to sink in. It was a bit like how they didn’t entirely get what it meant that he was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper or really understood the multiverse and

thrown out there. It didn’t really make any sense to most people as it was too far removed from their everyday lives, so

make a big deal out of it. In either case, it was probably for the best, as it allowed Jake to just be himself. For better or worse. Both he and his brother knew

about. What he did like to think about was the last

strings, and while Maja wasn’t keen on it, she allowed Jake to make a swing of pure, stable, arcane mana. The moving parts were a bit tough, but he got it working pretty damn quickly and rapidly expanded - from a swing to a slide to a makeshift rollercoaster to

happen to

by faster than Jake had expected. Before long, it was the evening before Jake would have to head back to Haven, and they had all met up for a final dinner

avoid certain topics during most of this time – topics delegated as work topics – but as this was the last night, all topics were valid. So, naturally, the conversation fell on what Jake wanted to do after

heard you are planning on leaving and going

food on his plate. “I have something I want to do there

it related to that alchemy of

it. I can fight the strongest D-grade version as long as I go there before I evolve. I lost the first time around and want a rematch,” Jake said with

grin. “Damn, I didn’t know you could even do that. What did it do, eat all your arrows or

did,” Jake answered with

teasing Caleb, but Jake doubled down. “What?

more serious as he inquired:

as he took a bite of the food that his mom had just handed him. “This hydra later