The Primal Hunter

Jake reluctantly exited his Soulspace and addressed the projection first. He was inside a dungeon and wanted to avoid things turning awkward by suddenly getting teleported out or something. Opening his eyes, the projection that had been silent for a few seconds after noticing he was meditating spoke again.

“Honored Chosen, I want to congratulate you on your victory over the Lord Protector’s image. It was a marvelous display,” it praised in what Jake could only describe as an ass-licking tone.

He simply nodded at it as he looked at the corpse of the hydra. “It was a good fight.”

“It pleases me to hear the Chosen enjoyed himself. May I know if the Chosen intends to battle any of the other projections stored here?”

Jake shook his head. “No, I already know this one was the strongest. Defeating it should count as a win, right?”

“Indeed, however, defeating all projections will result in the opportunity to get even better rewards, especially if you face the five strongest,” the projection offered.

“Not interested,” Jake dismissed. He really didn’t care. It was still a D-grade dungeon, which meant the most it could offer was D-grade equipment or crafting material. Jake was at the crux of C-grade and didn’t need any of it.

“Very well. May your Path lead to the pinnacle, all by the glory of the Malefic One.”

He just nodded, not wanting to make a snark comment but just get a move on. He was teleported once more and appeared at the same entrance hall as before, a treasure chest in the center with the exit right behind him.

Congratulations! You have cleared Dungeon: Order of the Malefic Viper: D-grade Legends of Old.

Dungeon shutting down in: 00:59:23

It was the fastest dungeon Jake had ever done, mainly by just skipping to the last boss right away through cheating with his status. But, hey, at least it also gave a title upgrade, so that was 1 more to all stats…

[Dungeoneer IX] – Successfully clear a Dungeon suitable for your level. +17 all stats.

Jake looked at the treasure chest but decided to wait a bit and check everything else out first since he had an hour before he had to be out. The first thing he wanted to look at was Eternal Hunger.

[Eternal Hunger (Mythical)] – A weapon born of eternal hunger - a living sin of consumption, forever starving, forever seeking sustenance. Given form by the [Redacted] Hunter, this new myth still holds properties of its Origin as a weapon created by vampires from the core of a Chimera, allowing it to change shape and adapt to the will of its master. Origin has been further altered by [Redacted], giving birth to the Eternal Shadow of the [Redacted] Hunter. This weapon is eternally Soulbound to its creator; their souls are one and the same, making Eternal Hunger indestructible as long as the Hunter persists. Any attack made with this weapon will absorb energy from the target. Foes slain by the owner of this weapon will have their souls absorbed. Can consume absorbed souls. Take pride as you wield hunger incarnate. Enchantments: Curse of Eternal Hunger. Souldrinker. Soul Consumption. Eternal Shadow

Requirements: Soulbound

No change in name, it seemed, which kind of made sense. The description had just gotten longer, with a few more [Redacted] added in there for good measure. It also specifically mentioned the Eternal Shadow enchantment… even if it was damn weird to call it an enchantment. It also became clear that Eternal Hunger was no longer just a mere weapon. It was now tied to Jake through-and-through, even if the requirement still just called it Soulbound. Then again, Soulbound was eternal by design, so it made sense there was no reason to change it.

What had changed was the part saying it was now indestructible. Jake reckoned this did not mean unbreakable but that it could not be utterly destroyed like it could before. Destroying Soulbound weapons was damn hard, but methods did exist in the multiverse. As an example, then Jake could probably have some craftsman dismantle and “break” his cauldron if he wanted, and one also had to remember that when he had that vampire crafter improve his necklace, she was able to modify it. She could even potentially have destroyed it if she had wanted to.

Jake could also have – in theory – destroyed Eternal Hunger using his Alchemical Flame before. That would – not in theory – have released the massive amount of curse energy in a completely uncontrolled state and probably ruined the solar system or something, but now that wasn’t even an option.

He didn’t know why he felt a bit sad about that. Oh well.

Next up was something Jake kind of already knew about. He had felt it a bit during the battle, but now that he had winded down, he truly experienced the change. His stats had all grown… and the source was obvious. Jake checked the notification and was a bit surprised to see that while he hadn’t gotten a new title, one had upgraded.

[Legendary Prodigy] – A true talent standing at the pinnacle of his generation. Young yet showing promise above even the elders of yore. Due to your immense accomplishment of creating a legendary skill while still below D-grade, you have proven yourself a true legendary prodigy. +10 all stats +10% all stats.

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[Mythical Prodigy] – A genius ahead of the curve, not even the mythical eluding him. It feels as if your Path has barely begun, yet you refuse to be confined to the expectations of your station. Creating a mythical skill while below C-grade is no easy feat and the achievement of a true myth in the making. Be proud, affirmed in your Path. +100 all stats +20% all stats.

Jake read it over and smiled. In reality, it didn’t matter much if it was a new title or an upgrade to his existing one: the bonus was massive, nevertheless. 90 flat points and 10% more to all stats. Actually, on second thought, not getting a second title was nice, as that meant this was now his best title, even beating out the Progenitor one, making it feel like an even bigger accomplishment.

title like this mattered. There was some diminishing return as these percentage titles were all additive, but it still helped tremendously and was what allowed Jake to fight things so much stronger than

didn’t even know what the next rarity was yet. Either way, that was stuff to think about after

But they

the menus and stuff, Jake decided to take a good look at this full status – the last time before he made the push

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

(D)

Hunter –

the Malefic Viper – lvl

Health Points (HP): 65841/68240

Mana Points (MP): 85010/130218

Stamina: 16859/58990

Stats

Strength: 5456

Agility: 8744

Endurance: 5899

Vitality: 6824

Toughness: 4929

Wisdom: 8334

Intelligence: 6913

Perception: 15247

Willpower: 6904

Free points: 0

[Prodigious Slayer of the Mighty], [Kingslayer], [Nobility: Marquess], [Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist], [Perfect Evolution (D-grade)], [Premier Treasure Hunter], [Myth Originator], [Progenitor of Myriad Paths],

Expanding Horizons (Epic)], [Descending Dark Arcane Fang (Epic)], [Fangs of Man (Ancient)], [Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Ancient)], [Avaricious Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Ancient)], [Arcane Powershot (Ancient)], [Moment of the Primal Hunter (Legendary)], [Gaze of the Apex Hunter

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)], [Pride of the Malefic

of the Malefic Viper (Blessing -

Man (Unique)], [Identify (Rare)], [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)],

[Bloodline of the Primal Hunter (Bloodline Ability

in Wisdom and Perception, partly for the same reason and partly for different ones. They shared that he had upgraded skills related to the Malefic Viper giving him stats in both, but the primary reason for the growth in Wisdom was just the sheer amount of levels he had

many damn elixirs as he could to push the stat further. Seeing he had over 15000 total now, it was totally

them were still a bit lacking, but all good things in due time. Tracking, Arcane Stealth, and Stealth Attack

to Jake’s Path. Maybe some would argue that things like tracking and stealth were core to the “hunter” archetype, but Jake was not the type of hunter to track a target for a long time and then kill it. That was just one aspect of him. His core was that of a fighter able to hunt those

and closed all the system windows, finally turning his attention to the final thing in the room. The treasure chest. It was quite ornate and impressive, making him raise an eyebrow. Without waiting further, he went over and touched it, only to see it

(Legendary)] – The scales of a peak D-grade Two-Headed Hydra of Perennial Consumption. These scales retained their durability even after the death of the beast and have even been improved slightly by the Records of their former owner. These scales are incredibly durable, and if they are used as armor will make the equipment near-impenetrable by physical damage. They are incredibly hard to work with. Due to their nature, these scales

really mattering to him also proved true. Maybe a really skilled crafter could make these scales into C-grade equipment, but if that person was skilled enough to do that, then having them just use actual C-grade materials

or mid-D-grade, he would have gone and had some armor made right away. As it was now, they were

the projection appeared once more. Jake turned to it, prompting it to

such a reward, but it is not I who decide what is given. Nevertheless, you have my apology,” the projection

off. “Sorry for my earlier attitude; I was in a

simply nodded. “As expected of the Malefic’s Chosen. Let me congratulate you on your

“I will be

and brought him away at his own request, and he now found himself in a hall. The hall was empty, but through his sphere, he saw a lot of people behind a gate leading into the hall with the dungeon entrance, all of them

noticed Jake staring at the gate. “I took the liberty to seal off the dungeon a bit ago to make sure you could enter

Jake muttered to the snake

him off. “Who cares about them. Anyway, let’s get out of