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.

warped back to the old snake visage as a voice echoed in Jake’s mind. “Thank you for your permission to speak in this fashion; I am not as adept as the others in the art of human speech and have neglected

into. He was also surprised at the telepathic voice of the snake. It sounded… old? Most beasts Jake spoke to telepathically sounded very young, but

you come looking for the mistress?” the

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

snake was 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, and

do the task to the utmost of my abilities,” the large brown snake said in an overly polite and submissive tone. He could try to convince the

you are doing a splendid job,” Jake praised the snake.

of the Malefic One. The circle will need to be attuned and rely on the True Blessing of his Chosen so only he can

and where? Please lead

follow me, my Lord,”the snake said and did something Jake 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

is the formation functional after

is far from done. The Malefic One has plans beyond a simple teleporter requiring your presence but wishes to allow it to hold more functions that will be helpful to the Chosen

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

not exchange any more words before 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.

lord, if you would do me the honors of stepping into the center circle and blessing the pillar with the Touch of the Malefic Viper,” the snake

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 energy into these channels as the metal began to

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 Jake simply infused his energy as the treasure naturally guided him to do until it stopped

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

reached out and grabbed it, making him instantly know what

understanding, the

knew he could activate and be teleported to the first universe if he so wished. He even felt like he

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

back as he lightly smiled and bowed his head briefly in gratitude. “It’s been a while. I am sorry for not stopping by earlier and thanking you for keeping Miranda

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 human form did have one major drawback compared to her snake

demeanor as a shy teenage girl

Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake, the mid-tier C-grade, stood nervously as she twisted some of her hair

eh, I just did as the Chosen

expected of you 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 and comforting

and stuff, and I wanted to go visit Haven, but I can’t

here and get up to the main office? I think we are done

part was addressed 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

has been working on it so hard,” the snake girl