The Primal Hunter

Okay, Jake had perhaps been a bit too excited about his evolution when he had gone to visit Arnold, and it was probably also not a good idea to annoy the guy you wanted to make stuff for you. Even if Jake didn’t want favors from him – which he did - pissing off a mad scientist with an army of drones also seemed unwise.

To make things worse, Jake planned on going to visit him to ask about the Nanoblade after all his evolutions were done, but now he had just turned things awkward. He could go and apologize then and there, but wouldn’t that just make things worse? He had no idea, and he failed to resist using his Sphere Pulse – the official new name - once more. He took a new snapshot only to see Arnold back at work, his neutral facial expression the same as ever.

At least he didn’t seem bothered, so Jake would just let it rest for now. He had evolutions to do, didn’t he?

He could evolve either his class or profession first, and while the order didn’t matter whatsoever, Jake did recall evolving his class first at D-grade. As a supporter of equality, Jake found it only fair to go with his profession first this time around.

Without further ado, Jake got started as he willed the message to appear, and his profession evolution could officially begin.

*Profession Evolution Requirements Met*

Living paradoxes tend to be transient beings, unstable amalgamations of circumstance that cease to be once the feeble balance is broken and one side has to give in. Yet you remain a heretic and a Chosen. The two sides are perhaps not equally represented in your Path, but a balance has still been struck that allows both to persist in harmony, amplifying one another. Your heretical actions instead seemingly bring you closer to your Patron, as you have gladly embraced the Legacy of the Malefic Viper. Not that you shy away from less-used means, willingly deploying curses to further your goal. Your alchemy has also only grown, your poisons ever more potent, yet something else has appeared too. Something that causes Origins, Records, and Paths to warp in your wake. To what extremes will you go?

Begin evolution now?

Y/N

WARNING: Postponing evolution for too long may have adverse effects, and no further profession-experience can be earned before the evolution is complete.

The system just kept being so nice in all these long messages describing his Path and whatnot. The message itself was as expected, primarily about Jake being a heretic and a Chosen, at least until the last few sentences. It mentioned Jake’s curses, his alchemy getting better, and then that ominous final part about warping Origins and Paths and whatnot. Definitely related to all the things Jake had done that created things like Eternal Hunger – both versions – and of course, Sandy. A bit of Sylphie, too, for sure.

He already had a good idea of what kind of profession upgrades he would get and stopped delaying as he jumped right into it.

The first option was indeed one he had expected.

who live on your planet to the Order and the Malefic One. Planetary Leader is a profession focused on managing and guiding a planet to glory. Grants skills related to management, economics, leadership, and control, as well as methods to protect your new

and in all truthfulness, the quality of this upgrade reflected that. It was a pretty bad version of World Leader and didn’t even include any of his Chosen or heretic stuff in

the Order had a lot of planets under their control, that is. Jake really didn’t know as he

the profession above average

being Ministers and on the council, with even the Sword Saint perhaps getting an annoying option to skip. Which was, of course, exactly what Jake

in

would think the system was trolling him with options like this. In what world had the system observed Jake and everything he did during his entire journey and reached the conclusion that, yeah, Jake would for sure love becoming a prophet. It would be the most awkward shit Jake could imagine if he

onto the fact it did not only include stuff related to the Malefic Viper but was also about leading others onto the Path of a Heretic. Just an

not horribly so. He did have a suspicion that there existed way better versions of this, and a bit like with the World Leader one above, he just didn’t get it offered as it didn’t suit him. At least this one didn’t make him lose

Moving on.

the Malefic Viper – Corruption is at the core of the Malefic Viper’s Path, but can it be taken too far? It is your aim to find out. You have begun to deviate from the Malefic One, implementing the power of curses into your Path – something even your Patron rarely did due to the innate volatility of curses. Your skills as an alchemist wane as you specialize in only the act of transformation and transmutation through the art of corrupting anything and anyone. As a heretic, the Legacy of the Malefic Viper is no longer contingent on retaining any blessing from the Malefic Viper. May your touch be as feared as that of the Malefic One, and your mind stay true to your Path, lest the curses consume

Jake had expected to see at least one option talking about curses, and this sure fit the bill. Looking at it more closely, Jake was a bit surprised at how different it still was compared to his expectations. It wasn’t even an alchemy profession anymore but was all about corrupting things. It was some extreme version of transmutation from

definitely the curse

really against using curses on a fundamental level, but that didn’t mean he wanted to go down a Path only revolving around them. He also liked his alchemy, and this profession would cut that away entirely, it seemed, with him potentially losing skills just from selecting

to go, Jake was pleasantly surprised with the next

by the Malefic One. Allows one to combine the natural treasures of the world, and make potions, pills, transmute one material to another, with a slew of other mystical means to be discovered. This rare type of alchemist specializes in the production of poisons, contrary to the craft of potions. As

was his good old friend, Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. The description was very similar but had sprinkled some more stuff in there, especially the part about also learning about his mortality. Clearly, the skill referred to Path of the Heretic-Chosen with many of these references, making him already sure it would be one of

the system seemed to like sticking to numbers ending either in 5 or 0 during this evolution, but even so, this was better for sure. Was this a reward for surviving his Path, or perhaps just

in C-grade, putting him only 10

this option, and it was damn good… but that only made him wonder. There was one more evolution

You shall be the Harbinger bringing forth that Origin. Allows you to awaken the Origin of other creatures and objects as you awaken primeval concepts within, resulting in the birth of things never seen before or long forgotten. As you embrace this Path, so will you affect the Origin within yourself, embracing it fully as you shun all else but what lies within. With it shall come power, and all those around you will bathe in a presence that will forcefully passively affect their Records, pushing them toward their Primeval Origin. Grants skills related to the nurturing, improvement, and manipulation of Records in all living beings. Be the Harbinger of Primeval Origins and awaken all. Stat bonuses per level: +65 Will, +40 Vit, +40 Wis, +20 Tough, +75 Free Points. WARNING: Skills pertaining to Heretic-Chosen Alchemist

yet so little. What he did know was that it was powerful. More powerful than any profession Jake had ever seen or read about – partly because the truly powerful ones were always kept secret. It practically oozed potential, and he did the rudimentary math to know how many stats

240.

it came with drawbacks. Severe ones, from the looks of