The Primal Hunter

Jake was still within the vision of the Viper repeatedly doing alchemy but no longer focused much on it. As odd as it was to say, then Jake didn’t really have much to learn from the current Viper within this Record Fragment. Jake was better than him already when it came to making potions, and he had already seen all he needed to see during the first few rewinds.

Checking his notifications, Jake saw the level-up.

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 199 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 197 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

197, Jake thought. He could almost taste the evolution now. With this level and his reaching the peak of D-grade, he also got one more thing: his very first evolution quest. Jake checked it, and if he was being honest, it was pretty much exactly what he expected.

Profession Evolution Quest

To walk the Path of a Heretic-Chosen is to not simply be given but to claim the power of your Patron. With every step, you move closer to the Malefic One, yet you remain a heretic, unswayed by the Records of a Primordial as they fail to supersede your being. Go forth, claim the Legacy of the Malefic Viper and make his Records yours to wield.

Objective: Upgrade skills related to the Legacy of the Malefic Viper to legendary rarity (8/6)

Jake had already completed it. It could be called anti-climactic, but as mentioned, Jake had expected this outcome. Why wouldn’t he have?

Evolution quests were not about pushing the person to their limit – it was to test that the person had reached the expected achievements of the class or profession. If it required Jake to do something insane for even him, all it would have been proof of was that Jake had not lived up to expectations during his journey to C-grade.

Not that this one was easy… it required Jake to upgrade at least six skills to legendary, and based on the ”8/6,” it seemed to still count more upgrades he got now. He read that as an indication that the system still recognized him upgrading more as part of the quest. Especially because the quest was still there and had not just been completed automatically.

Jake knew he could evolve his profession there and then if he wanted. Needless to say, he had no interest in this as he was aiming for the Perfect Evolution and also wanted to upgrade the last skill anyway.

Smiling to himself, Jake closed the quest menu just as he felt the vision was also about to end. He had barely been paying attention and still found himself merged with the Viper, but as had happened before… the vision extended a bit beyond the usual during this final time.

Still merged with the Viper, Jake felt the would-be Primordial’s happiness at his success, and he celebrated a bit by himself. Jake just smiled alongside Villy, happy for his buddy’s success, even if it was just a peek into history. Yet, mere moments before the vision ended, he felt something observing him – observing Villy.

A powerful presence that Villy did not at all notice but that Jake naturally picked up on. A familiar gaze that Jake had felt during a previous vision.

The First Sage?

The vision ended just as Jake became sure of the source and returned to the real world.

Scarlett felt all giddy as she guided the Chosen around the Mangrove. The thought of getting invited to the sacred Order of the Malefic Viper had never even crossed her mind, but the more she considered it, the more excited she became.

The Chosen was also nice and allowed her to stay with him during his visit to the Mangrove. She knew she had much to learn from him and would observe his every action whenever she could. Scarlett also noticed how the other humans of the Mangrove looked at him, and she felt their emotions. Their odd mix of emotions.

Fear and nervousness were two of the strongest senses other humans got from watching the Chosen. It was only right to feel fear before a superior being, and she could only approve of their understanding to not approach and needlessly annoy or delay the Chosen in his matters.

he was done with his business, they went to the largest building in the Mangrove, where she led the Chosen to a

did he really trust her that much to allow her to use her venom on him? It was all a bit too much for her, and she was happy that he decided to meditate for a while so she could observe him a

as whispers of a presence that did not belong on a small planet like Earth appeared. Her eyes opened wide as she recognized it and stared wide-eyed at the Chosen as her heart began pounding from the pressure. Then, at the very next moment, he disappeared, leaving only a lingering presence

herself from shaking. That had been the presence of the Malefic One… the Forefather of her entire race.

for a moment before it dispersed like it had never been there, leaving only the Chosen

said that the first time they met was when the Viper tried

of seeking out the First Sage had more to it than the Viper knew. Had he been led into seeking out the man? If so, for what purpose? Did he just want

the final one being the most likely. Shaking his head, Jake decided not to mull it over too much. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted to ask Villy about it… maybe it was just better to keep it to himself and hope that a future vision could give some insight. Villy clearly cared a lot about this First Sage, and Jake didn’t want to pollute a memory for no reason.

snake girl in the room, who was staring at him with

the presence of the Forefather. What happened? Did you go

one of my skills as a Chosen, that

for allowing me to witness it! I

tell her that he just didn’t really see any reason to hide

out the presence of himself and the Viper whenever he used the skill. In his defense, he had not actually planned on just using the skill right away, but when he focused on stuff, he kind of tended to forget

mind if I did some alchemy?” Jake then asked the snake girl. It was more

heading back to Haven before the World Congress,” Jake informed her, Scarlett naturally not voicing

thing to craft: Perception Elixirs. He did have some already in storage, but he wanted to craft some more before

get started right away. The moment Jake summoned the cauldron and laid his hands on it, he instantly felt the difference from

the very air within it. He felt the different affinities and, out of curiosity, focused on them. Water, wind, space, time, nature, wood…. so many affinities he recognized. Jake chose one as he strained himself, and in the middle

as

what the difference truly was. In all honesty, the upgrade did not help much during crafting like this, as there really weren’t many details he couldn’t already catch with his Perception. It was far more effective during experimenting, that was for sure. He also faintly considered trying out the soul-merging effect but decided against it

would survive, he was certain it would be damaged and be in need of repair afterward. It had the rune on the bottom to accomplish this, but it would take time, and as mentioned,

did with

to head back to Haven, Jake went on

a

+5 Perception.

a strong energy

+5 Perception.

You have…

to Scarlett. She graciously accepted but only wanted a single one, which was a bit weird. Especially as she looked to have no interest in drinking the elixir but simply held onto it for a while

in the bag, Jake smiled after he was done drinking. Over just a few days, Jake had gotten around one thousand more Perception from the skill upgrade, elixirs, and Free Points, making him feel quite good about himself. Jake knew that stat distribution also greatly impacted evolutions, and he wanted to make it absolutely

least, that is what he told himself

me,” Jake said to Scarlett as he prepared to head back. ”After the World Congress, I will come back here, and we will travel for

Scarlett enthusiastically nodded. ”Will you need me to do or

about a few details related

”I once more thank the Chosen for