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.

Leader, you support the Order of the Malefic Viper, dedicating the lives of all 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 dominion. However, be warned that should the planet be destroyed, you will not escape unscathed. Stat bonuses per level: +35 Vitality, +35 Wisdom, +30 Willpower, +60 Free Points. WARNING: Skills pertaining to Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper may be lost or changed upon becoming a Planetary Leader of the Malefic

it had just been an annoying responsibility he chose to take on, 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

Viper possess. If the Order had a lot of planets under their control, that is. Jake really didn’t know as he wasn’t overly invested in his friend’s

more in C-grade, bringing the maximum a profession could give from 80 to 240. 160 put the profession above average but still pretty

Saint perhaps getting an annoying option to

from the heretical, creating a Path few would willingly follow. Your skills in Alchemy remain, but you create not for yourself

what world had the system observed Jake and everything he did during his entire journey and reached the conclusion that, yeah, Jake would for

include stuff related to the Malefic Viper but was also about leading others onto the Path of a Heretic. Just an

pretty good, at 205 per level. It would still be a quality downgrade compared to his D-grade profession, but 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

Moving on.

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 you. Stat bonuses per level: +70 Willpower, +40 Vitality, +40 Wisdom, +20 Perception, +15 Int, +30 Free Points. WARNING: Skills pertaining to Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper may be lost or changed upon becoming

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 the looks of it. The stats were good, at 215 per level, which was only 25 short of the theoretical maximum. This did mean it firmly fell within the realm of having some drawbacks besides the whole heretic-chosen

definitely the

not 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 it. It was definitely a no from him just based on that. He did consider maybe using curse

professions to go, Jake was pleasantly surprised with the next

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 a heretic, the Legacy of the Malefic Viper is no longer contingent on

some more stuff in there, especially the part about also learning about

D-grade version gave 74 stat points per level total, while this one gave 230. If it had just been a straight upgrade, it would only have given 222. Probably 225, as the system seemed to like sticking

amount of stats a profession could offer in C-grade, putting him only 10 stats per level away from it. Pretty

and it was damn good… but that only made him wonder. There was one more evolution option available. What exactly could that offer which was better? Jake checked it out with

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

profession Jake had ever seen or read about – partly because the truly powerful ones were always kept secret. It practically oozed potential, and

240.

drawbacks. Severe ones, from the looks of it, as Jake read