The Primal Hunter

To call the settlement in the Grand Mangrove River a city wasn’t quite right. It was more of a small village, though it had been expanding in recent times, especially after the teleporter was installed. The reason for this was also quite obvious.

It was a prime hunting ground.

A settlement like this was rare as one could teleport directly into a place with D-grades all around you while still being safe. One had to remember that only a handful of people on Earth could fight C-grades, and the vast majority thus still needed to hunt D-grades to progress. Even the people considered elite struggled with stronger D-grades.

Additionally, it was a great place for those with the wood of water affinity to fight. Finally, it had one other advantage that Jake hadn’t really considered: it was a place where C-grades could go if Jake wanted to meet with them there. Thinking about it deeper, it was probably the place Jake would meet with whatever final council member the King found.

All of this being possible was naturally due to a certain snake. A snake Jake was now on his way to meet once he felt done scouting out the village. It did have an interesting setup due to the environment, and there were quite a lot of people around, all of them pretty high-level D-grades. However, what he cared most about were two buildings.

The first of which was the largest building and a main office of sorts. The second one was a small but well-guarded building that Jake saw led into a pit of sorts going deep inside the Grand Mangrove River water. Not sure which one to check out first; Jake went for the pit after sensing the aura from it.

By the way, when Jake said well-guarded, then it wasn’t by any of the C-grades but just two humans. There were also barriers that would no doubt make everyone aware if someone tried to break in, but none of that was an issue for Jake as the guard recognized him and opened the entrance to the pit without a word.

As for why Jake wanted to explore the pit so badly? Because he felt a familiar aura from beneath. One that reminded him a lot of the monument that Chris had built that allowed him to teleport to the Order of the Malefic Viper…

Jake felt a flare-up of anger, but he quickly suppressed it before the guards even noticed and entered the pit.

I swear, that orange fuck is gonna get what he deserves, Jake said to himself as he began going down the pit. It looked more like a deep well than anything else, and Jake didn’t hesitate to jump down and allowed himself to freefall.

He fell for a bit over twenty seconds, putting the depth of the hole at around a kilometer. Upon landing, Jake found himself in a dug-out cavern with several tunnels leading away from it. He noticed that all of these tunnels had engravings on the walls and hummed with magic. Feeling curious, Jake began making his way through a tunnel and saw it lead into another similar chamber, though without the entrance. Closing his eyes, Jake used his senses to get a feeling for the space.

It’s a magic circle, he swiftly concluded.

The pattern was far too purposeful and distinct for it to be anything else. Jake wondered if the creator was anywhere nearby but soon got his answer. A presence made its way through one of the tunnels, and Jake turned to face it. A long brownish snake slithered in his direction, its size filling out nearly half of the tunnel, putting its diameter at nearly four meters. Jake guessed the beast had to be several hundred meters long, and its head was large enough to eat a human whole. Not that Jake felt any threat as he recognized the snake as one of those who followed the Crimsoneye one.

“Hey there,” Jake greeted the snake as it got close. It then did something utterly terrifying.

The face of the snake began warping. Bone cracked, flesh twisted, and a vaguely humanoid face straight out of a nightmare emerged, still on the body of the massive snake.

“Grrrreetingsss Maeeelefic’sssss Chooossssennnn,” the snake spoke, showing off the prowess of Jake’s translation skill by even allowing him to comprehend what the snake had said through the hissing.

“Good practice with the transformation, but how about we keep this conversation telepathic?” Jake offered. He really didn’t want to insult a snake that was clearly trying so hard.

in Jake’s mind. “Thank you for your permission to speak in this fashion; I am not as

telepathic voice of the snake. It sounded…

for

here. Well, not specifically the work down here, as I didn’t know what it would look like, but it is

for a few reasons. First of all, he faintly felt the space affinity from the snake. Secondly, it was down in the tunnel where the formation was being made,

I thank the Chosen for this opportunity. I hope to do the task to the utmost of my abilities,” the large brown snake said in an overly polite

you are doing a splendid job,” Jake praised the snake. “But I heard a part of the

circle will need to be attuned and rely on the True Blessing of his Chosen so

me and where? Please lead the way, and let’s

to turn around in a narrow tunnel as space around it seemed to warp and twist. A second later, the snake had done a one-eighty and began moving, Jake following the old snake through the

the formation functional after this

the work is far from done. The Malefic One has plans beyond a simple teleporter requiring your presence but

was created by a C-grade with innate talent, while the other one had been made by a low-level D-grade. Thinking about it further, the fact that Chris

into the tunnels. The very epicenter held a pillar of metal Jake did not recognize with even more advanced scripts on it. Jake could feel it was

the honors of stepping into the center circle and blessing the pillar with the Touch of the

circle and activated Touch of the Malefic Viper as he touched the pillar. The moment he did so, he felt a response from the pillar, and the energy Jake injected was guided through magical channels in the metal. Jake gladly complied and infused

the part of himself that made him a Chosen, the natural treasure taking everything in. A few minutes passed as Jake simply infused his energy as the treasure naturally guided him to do until it stopped

The shards that fell floated in

it, making him instantly know what

snake said with much happiness. “Truly marvelous! I thank the Chosen for blessing us with his presence and displaying his prowess. From my understanding, the shard you

center circle, he knew he could activate and be teleported to the first universe if he so wished. He even felt like he didn’t necessarily need to be

the formation as best he could, but he did not have long before something else caught his attention. An aura approached through the tunnel, one far faster than the old brown snake had been. Far stronger too. He smiled as the presence was a very familiar one, and soon enough, an albino figure appeared before him… though she did look quite a

head briefly in gratitude. “It’s been a while. I am sorry for not stopping by earlier and thanking you for keeping

from just a useless garment, but no doubt had quite the defensive properties. Was the form made to be aesthetically pleasing to humans? Yes, but it was also made with function in mind. Some sacrifices had been made to make her look more human, but overall it was incredibly well done for her to refine her humanoid form that much. However, her human form did have one major drawback compared to her snake

as a shy teenage girl was

the mid-tier C-grade, stood nervously as she twisted some of her hair around a finger, looking like she didn’t quite

the Chosen would expect of me,

one. I heard you even spent quite some time with Miranda and the others. I hope they were

settlement and stuff, and I

what it is,” Jake shrugged. “How about we get out of here and get up to the main office? I think we are done

brown snake that nodded. “Yes, my lord, you have more than done your part. I shall no longer delay you

working on it so hard,” the snake girl asked with a questioning