The Primal Hunter

He had hoped it would end… but no. The World Congress was a cruel mistress and allowed them to stay within the system event for the remainder of the allotted time. Jake wanted to leave, but a sharp look from Miranda made him know that he better stay. Alas, it was probably for the best, as seeing the newly-elected World Leader run away prematurely probably didn’t inspire confidence.

However, even if he was forced to stay physically, no one had told him to not go on a mental journey to somewhere better. Even if he did try to stay engaged and at least feign interest. Hey, he had tried, okay?

Jake would firmly classify the rest of the World Congress as a waste of time. Miranda would probably disagree and call it a ”valuable opportunity to calm the doubters and display unity to the many City Lords of Earth, thus inspiring confidence in the council.”

In fact, those had been the exact words she had used.

Anyway, Jake had nearly eight hours to listen to mundane chatter, and by the time the subject of tax codes was brought up, Jake completely zoned out and went into his Soulspace to talk to a way better conversation partner: himself.

Within his Soulspace, sim-Jake and the cursed chimera both sat calmly as sim-Jake had a hand on the huge monster. It did not react but let him stay there, and Jake knew what he was doing. Some kind of attunement. The details were still a bit fuzzy, but Jake knew that the curse energy and Eternal Hunger were instrumental to the mythical rarity skill he and sim-Jake hoped to make.

After waiting a while, sim-Jake was done, and the moment he released his hand, the huge beast of pure curse energy attacked, forcing sim-Jake to seal it again. Once that was done, his other self turned around and regarded the real Jake.

”This entire deal with World Leader is a waste of time. Why bother? Just evacuate everyone to the Order of the Malefic Viper and leave this stupid rock behind,” sim-Jake said, commenting on recent events. ”All you are doing is creating distractions for us.”

”Maybe, maybe not,” Jake shrugged. ”In either case, I don’t plan on making it into a distraction but an opportunity. We don’t know what benefits being World Leader may offer in the future, but I am willing to risk it leading to nothing for the chance to gain something unique.”

”And if it doesn’t?”

”Then I will have wasted a bit of time. How much lifespan do we have by now? Do you even know? I reckon at least a thousand years or something, and probably ten times that at C-grade. So what is a few years chasing a bad lead?” Jake argued.

”Ultimately, the choice is yours,” sim-Jake shrugged. ”You are the one who will have to deal with all of the annoyances. I just don’t want you to dilly-dally and end up stuck at S-grade because you decided to fuck around and not focus on what truly matters.”

”If I get stuck at S-grade, I will just have to hunt a few gods or something,” Jake grinned, unafraid. ”Or die trying. Both are acceptable.”

Sim-Jake just shook his head. ”Anyway, we will need a lot of time to prepare, and especially with this Prima Guardian arriving… do we have time? Can you figure something out with the Viper?”

Jake nodded. ”Should definitely be able to. Once we go to the Order, we can look into it. But you are certain that this Path you have chosen to walk down will work?”

His other self just smiled. ”I am betting my entire existence on it.”

Everything was wrong… at least it had been. Suddenly everything looked so clear; the muddiness of reality washed away as the many strings that held him down were forcefully severed by the system itself.

had a hard time describing it. He had joined the World Congress as he had practically been ordered to, not sure what he could even get out of it. He had spent the last month just wandering around, unsure of where to go and what to do. Ms. Kim had told him

he knew it was for the best. It just sucked to feel like he was walking

washed through his mind, and he even felt

nothing could influence him… and all ongoing influence was dispelled. While William could not be sure, he had a fear that Eversmile had placed several karmic

yes, but it wasn’t the same kind of fear… in fact, standing there in

the Tutorial, he didn’t have a nightmare. That at least somewhat confirmed that the cause of his

was comforting but also disturbing as William realized that the strongest emotion he could

a curiosity to the man. Their disparity in power was large, and seeing the other people around him, like the Sword Saint and the King, only made it

one. The Sword Saint. The Fallen King. But William? William was just a karmic mage who could hopefully one day be helpful

and pressure. He wasn’t really anyone special… and he didn’t need to be. He just had to be who he wanted to be and do

Race Evolution Quest

end of D-grade, you have walked a Path seeking perfection. A Path of discovery of yourself and what you want to be. Yet you have not found it. Without determination and vision, there is no Path. Without desire, there is no progress. Without

your

*Race Evolution Requirements Met*

Evolution unavailable during ongoing system

saw the system message as the quest completed, and he

interesting conversation. Sadly, he went straight from the pan and into the fire as he had another

find an excuse to sneak off, but just before

into another room and erected an isolation barrier around them. Jake wondered what it was about but soon learned

I gathered, I believe others here have a misunderstanding. Jake, when you fought him, how powerful did you think he was? How would

but overall not a major threat in direct combat. He mainly used his goons against me and took more of

you think he faced you seriously at the

his head. ”No, definitely not. His plan was always to throw

”At least in the beginning. However, as time passed, he did have a genuine desire to kill me. We fought for

”True. What are

we were dealing with a politician born with a golden spoon. Yet when I fought him, I met something entirely different. I met a seasoned fighter who has wielded his weapon for decades. A warrior born through slaughter. He also enjoyed our fight far too much,

he is stronger than I initially thought? Does

did appear to end with my victory, I had far from won. He still had far more to show me, and he was far too calm. I truly believe now that without inviting springtime fully, I would have died if we had kept fighting. So do not mistake his schemes as a sign of

else saying all this, Jake could have probably brushed them off or maybe even considered that Ell’Hakan had messed with their heads. However, this was the Sword Saint, probably the human Jake respected the most as an equal. If he thought Ell’Hakan was more than met the eye, he could only

He still firmly believed he was stronger than Ell’Hakan bar any tricks or schemes, and he would keep thinking that until the orange fucker proved him wrong or was dead. But… there was a chance

Now continue your journey. I shall remain here a bit before I, too, head out and finish the final