The Primal Hunter

Jake just sat and stared into the wall for a good few seconds, wondering what the actual fuck had just happened. It was as if the vision had been interrupted somehow or maybe forcefully ended. Or, maybe it was always meant to end in this fashion? Though that would also be incredibly odd.

The skill had allowed Jake to do something he thought was impossible. He had experienced a Transcendence, a skill that should be outside the system. Based on what Jake knew, a normal skill like his Path of the Heretic-Chosen should not have allowed this, in the same way that no skill would allow someone to hide from Jake’s Bloodline-made Sphere of Perception.

Yet, it had. Maybe it was because Jake experienced Records of the past as they were? Though this experience did make him wonder if it truly was like that. Jake remembered how it felt like Valdemar had, in some vague way, been aware of Jake. Meanwhile, this time, the First Sage had one-hundred percent been aware.

Did this mean that all the way back in the first era, these two actually saw him? If that was the case, didn’t it kind of play into the whole theory of pre-determination as it would mean that the system knew, all the way back in the first era, that Jake could be born in the ninety-third era and then get a skill to view these Record Fragments?

Or maybe it created a new kind of reality if they noticed, a bit like the simulated world sim-Jake came from… it was hard to tell.

Then there was the entire Transcendence itself. Villy had said the First Sage had several, and this was Jake’s first time seeing one. What it actually did, Jake had no idea, but he reckoned it had something to do with skill creation or modification somehow. If that was the case, it was a damn strong one, especially as it could be used on other people, though it did make Jake question the repercussions of using such a skill. The First Sage had clearly wanted to avoid using it and had said he would only help once, indicating there was a good reason to not overuse this Transcendence.

Though Jake could not argue with the result. Even now, Jake remembered the feelings he shared with the Viper. The sheer level of comprehension as he felt like every book was at his fingertips. How his mind was clearer than ever, and only his desire to create the skill mattered. To call it enlightenment was not quite accurate, as it felt… different. Like it was more than that.

Jake shook his head as he tried to focus on what he could control and what mattered. To upgrade his Sagacity. While this vision had been the weirdest one he had ever experienced by quite a margin, it had done its job quite efficiently.

Visualizing a skill was not anything new to Jake. He was pretty good at visualizing things, his Soulspace being proof of that with a massive cursed chimera monster roaming about. Jake was a very visual person by nature, something his insane Perception should maybe have indicated. Seeing the library that the First Sage had Villy build made Jake understand far better what Sagacity truly was.

And allowed him to upgrade his own version.

Jake sat down in meditation as he got to work to properly condense all he had learned and all he wanted into the skill. He felt right at the cusp even before the vision and was now more sure than ever. In fact, he felt a bit bolder than before.

It still ended up taking nearly a full day for Jake to get what he wanted, but he got it in the end.

[Sagacity of the Malefic Viper (Ancient --> Legendary)] – Blood containing Records, personal teachings, insights from a sage, and the knowledge of a traditional alchemist. Combined, you bring honor to your Patron as you strive for omniscience. Allows the Alchemist to extract knowledge from a fragment of the Malefic Viper’s Records to claim his knowledge as your own. Grants the Alchemist of the Malefic Viper a far better understanding of mana and of most affinities. Grants the Alchemist knowledge of a myriad of alchemical ingredients, allowing him to far more easily Identify them. Allows the Alchemist to make creations he does not have the associated crafting skill for (does not receive stat effectiveness bonuses without associated skill). Passively provides 3 Wisdom per level in Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your search for knowledge be as inexhaustible as the Malefic One.

Jake felt like an influx of knowledge slammed into his head the moment everything fell into place. It was like a library - akin to the one Villy constructed - appeared in his head and was being reorganized to be more systematic and useable. Almost as if all the alchemical knowledge Jake had before had come from a massive pile of books that had now all been sorted and categorized.

This knowledge was also far more than what he had before. One had to remember that Jake only really had knowledge of herbs and toxic materials, with the Identify skill also being restricted to these two categories of alchemical ingredients. What would have been the geology, metallurgy, and several more skills were part of Sagacity now.

It was all sorted into this metaphorical library, the books ready to be pulled out whenever Identify found something it corresponded to. It was not like Jake suddenly knew a shitload more about rocks, just that he could now at least pull out the knowledge.

This part of the upgrade was great, even if it was more wide than deep, with Jake not immediately seeing much value from his newfound abilities as he couldn’t exactly use rocks and metal for much with his usual alchemy methods.

gone, but both had been intrinsically

Jake partly recognized was his fault for never truly trying. Now that it showed signs anyway… Jake dove in

could be protected against, but Jake had found ways to circumvent this protection before using his high Perception, so that was the first thing he thought about. Secondly, Jake had spent over a decade practicing how to sense and thus veil his own Blessing. It made no sense for

would have been harder to upgrade the skill… but surprisingly enough, it took little

the smallest of children of the myriad races. The skill allows you to

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attempt to identify any object or creature you are focusing on. Allows for the detection of Blessings. The identity level

compared to before. Seeing the limitation of still being unable to Identify anyone above his grade, it wasn’t like being able to see a potentially higher level-cap mattered either. Though hopefully, it would be useful

the Blessing detection part. Jake knew how to detect

satisfied by his results. Upgrading Identify had not been on his to-do list but doing it was definitely a welcome addition. He had even gotten some ideas as to how other alchemy skills could maybe be merged with the Viper’s Legacy skills with time, but that was not something he would pursue. No, for now, he was more than

nine Legacy skills at

had to be considered quite the feat, right? Jake at least assumed it would have a positive influence on his upcoming evolution. Jake knew that his profession was unique, so anything he did now could result in a better version that gave more stats

pull up all his profession skills to check if he had missed something

(Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)], [Concoct Poison (Rare)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Epic)], [Soul Ritualism of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)], [Advanced Core Manipulation (Ancient)],[Blood of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Sagacity of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Sense of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Wings of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Legacy Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Legendary)], [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],

and Cultivate Toxin were two obvious ones. However, Jake firmly believed upgrading either of these wouldn’t matter much for his evolution, especially not as Jake now believed that Cultivate Toxin would one day become one with the Legacy

for the rest of D-grade. Now, it was time for his class and the goal of creating

were indeed arrogant idiots who thoughts creating a mythical skill was far easier than it actually was. However, more than arrogant idiots, they were stubborn idiots who would

see himself missing a certain Prima Guardian coming to Earth, all his friends reaching C-grade and getting well into it, and not seeing his family for too long… Shit, maybe there would be a bunch of other timed system events he

to do was

a moment and entered his Soulspace. He saw sim-Jake

was figuring out how to have time pass

“Vil-“

up right behind the couch once more, even faster than last time. “This time,

at the Viper seeming to actually care so much. He decided not to hide anything as

done talking, the Viper was sitting in an armchair across from

Transcendence, though it does sound like you didn’t truly feel its effects. I can promise you that what you went through is nothing compared to me. First of all, for me, it felt like I was in that other world for... I would

me… though it explains how you could do everything swiftly and perfectly from my point of view. But how about the fact that the First Sage saw me there? Could even see things about

of pre-determination, but more to the theory that the world you see is the same world from back then. It is a mirror of it. If it is a simulation like the Seat of the Exalted Prima event,

Tell me, have you ever felt someone observing you? Besides me, of

a deep frown. Yeah… Villy had a point. If Jake had been observed, he would have damn well noticed it. At least, he believed he would have. So the only explanation would be that no one had traveled back and looked at him. He saw a few reasons that could be. A: Jake never made it to godhood and was thus not worth looking at. B: He couldn’t notice