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.

Jake’s mind. “Thank you for your permission to speak

happy to not look at the nightmare creature the snake had transformed into. He was also surprised at the telepathic voice of the snake. It sounded… old? Most beasts Jake spoke

looking for the mistress?” the

work down here, as I didn’t know what it would look like, but it is quite impressive. Are you involved in making the magic circle?” Jake asked the

he faintly felt the space affinity from the snake. Secondly, it was down in the tunnel where the formation was being made,

utmost of my abilities,” the large brown snake said in an overly polite and submissive tone. He could try to convince the snake to treat him more normally, but

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

to be attuned and rely on the True Blessing of his Chosen so only he can teleport and

and where? Please lead the

had not seen coming. It managed 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 winding tunnel system of runes and magic. As he moved through, he did notice spots where his ritualism skill made him aware things were missing or unfinished, making

after this

plans beyond a simple teleporter requiring your presence but wishes to

any further. One thing was clear, the current formation was already far more potent than what Chris had managed to make. Then again, this 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 could even make the monument, to begin with, was impressive. Now, as much as

they reached what Jake assumed to be the center of the formation. At that center was an intricate circle with vein-like green pulsing fissures leading away from it and 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 a natural treasure of some kind but had no clue as

if you would do me the honors of stepping into the center circle and blessing

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 his

his own presence be mimicked by the pillar. He felt a pull on the part of himself that made him a Chosen, the natural treasure taking everything in. A few minutes passed as

as parts of it fell off. The shards that fell floated in mid-air

grabbed it, making him instantly know what it was. It was there to control this entire magic

much happiness. “Truly marvelous! I thank the Chosen for blessing us with his presence and displaying his prowess. From my understanding, the shard you just received shall function as the control catalyst for theformation and

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 in the center circle but that

bit longer and analyzed 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

“It’s been a while. I am sorry for not

was far 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

a shy teenage

stood nervously as she twisted some of her hair

Chosen would expect of me, you know…” she

or not. For that, I am naturally grateful and owe you one. I heard you even spent quite some time with Miranda and the others. I hope they were pleasant guests?” Jake asked, still smiling in what he hoped was a welcoming

the snake girl insisted. “Ms. Wells was very nice and taught me a lot. She even helped me with making this settlement and stuff, and I wanted to go visit Haven, but I can’t teleport due

what it is,” Jake shrugged. “How about we get out of here and

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

been working on