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.

last month just wandering around, unsure of where to go and what to

that much, but in the end, he knew it was for the best. It just sucked to feel like he was walking

gone, clarity washed through his mind, and he even felt like his body underwent a cleansing. That is when he

all ongoing influence was dispelled. While William could not be sure, he had a fear that

lost he was. William was still afraid of the Chosen, yes, but it wasn’t the same kind of fear… in fact, standing there in the World Congress, he had no particularly negative feelings. It made William wonder

during this month as a test, and for the first time since the Tutorial, he didn’t have a nightmare. That at least somewhat confirmed

the speech of the Chosen also made William realize one thing. The Chosen truly didn’t care about a lot of things, and he probably didn’t care about William at all either, unless he made direct trouble for him. It was comforting

Viper. At most, he was a curiosity to the man. Their disparity in power was large,

around thinking for so long. The Chosen was one. The Sword Saint. The Fallen King. But William? William

endless net of toxic karma 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 what he himself wanted to do. Find out what he actually

Race Evolution Quest

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

Find your Path

*Race Evolution Requirements Met*

during ongoing system

saw the system message as the quest completed, and he could only sigh at how stupidly

back to Earth after seven damn hours of super engaging political discussions that sometimes disturbed Jake and Sim-Jake’s far more interesting conversation. Sadly, he went straight from the pan and into the fire as he had another damn meeting at the main office of Haven just after the World Congress. The Sword Saint, King, and Miranda had been teleported back to

off, but just before he did so, the old man at the

erected an isolation barrier around them. Jake wondered what it was about but soon learned as the

a misunderstanding. Jake, when you fought him, how powerful did you think he was? How would you evaluate him?” the Sword Saint asked

for a moment. ”Elusive, fast, resilient, but overall not a major threat in direct combat. He mainly used his goons against me and took more of a supportive role as a caster. Don’t get me wrong, he is strong for his level, but he is a pompous dick using tricks over

think he faced you

thinking for a few seconds, Jake shook his head. ”No, definitely not. His plan was always to throw me to

the same feeling when he fought me,” the Sword Saint said. ”At least in the beginning. However, as time passed, he did have a genuine desire to kill me. We fought for longer and more seriously than you did. Is

”True. What are you

believe one can learn a lot about someone from fighting them. My understanding of this Ell’Hakan from all the explanations before I encountered him was that 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, even refraining from using his Bloodline for

he is stronger than I initially thought? Does

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 weakness, as I fear that

was the Sword Saint, probably the human Jake

with a serious nod. 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

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