The Primal Hunter

In the sky, there had once been a cloud island. It had been quite large, too, with a few elementals spawning here and there. Using past tense was very important in this case, as now there was no island to be seen anywhere. It turned out that clouds and giant tornadoes did not mix well. Or, well, it could be said they mixed really well, considering how the entire cloud island had been swept up, and Sylphie tried to use all the cloud mana to amplify her own attack.

It hadn’t worked, but it was a nice attempt. In fact, their fight was constantly marred by the same thing: not much working for either side. Jake could not deal any significant damage to Sylphie due to her newfound ability to be half-ethereal and turn into wind at will, and while Sylphie did have attacks more than capable of dealing severe damage to Jake, actually hitting him was another story. What few chances she did get, she ended up abandoning or dodging as Jake happily countered. After the first use of Eternal Shadow, she didn’t retry.

Neither had been fully serious and gone all-out, or the outcome would have been different. If Sylphie was willing to take a few blows to land one on Jake, it could get dangerous for him, and if Jake began to use poisons, it would get dangerous for Sylphie. Ultimately, the likely outcome of their fighting would be Sylphie retreating or losing, something she realized, much to her annoyance. At least Jake saw her occasional pecking as a sign of annoyance.

“Hey, it was a good workout,” Jake smiled as he slowly flew through the air back toward Haven, with Sylphie refusing to fly herself. She was a bit tired too, which was another difference between them. Jake could last far longer in a fight, and he didn’t waste as much energy with his attacks. Sylphie had a large mana pool, and her wind attacks didn’t seem to cost much mana, but that was just her normal wind magic. Her attacks using her physical body were large and flashy, which ended up still consuming a lot.

More than that, it took a lot to turn herself into wind and become corporeal again. Something she did perhaps a bit too much as she loved showing it off.

“Ree!” Sylphie complained with another peck.

“If you wanted to win, you should have come for me before I also evolved,” Jake teased her.

“Ree! Ree!”

“True, that would have been very not-nice,” Jake nodded, his slight head movement making her peck him again. It didn’t actually hurt; he just smiled and stopped himself from shaking his head at the bird’s antics.

To conclude their fight, Jake had decided Sylphie was more than fine to bring along to Nevermore. She was by far the strongest C-grade Jake had ever met for her level, and she also didn’t seem to have any large weaknesses. Her magic was limited, yes, but her wind magic was not simple at all. The green wind did things Jake could not quite understand, sometimes easily tearing through an arcane barrier and other times assisting or even healing Sylphie herself. It could even heal Jake a bit. Far from what an actual healer could do, but it was something that added to the mystery.

One thing that had made Jake apprehensive was her lack of survivability. She had a small frame, and he was sure that a mega-dungeon like Nevermore would have enemy types capable of locking her down. To know that she could turn herself into wind at will and that destroying her body didn’t actually matter much to the small hawk had alleviated nearly all of these worries. Jake was honestly not confident in being able to kill Sylphie even if he tried, and she decided to run away. As for her offensive prowess… it was there. Her charges were capable of tearing Jake apart if he wasn’t fast enough at dodging, and even her area of effect magic was impressive.

Now he just needed to confirm with three more, and he would have a full party for Nevermore. Jake already knew the King had evolved to C-grade like him, so that shouldn’t be an issue level-wise, but the Sword Saint and Carmen were both unknowns. This was why Jake was heading back to Haven to talk to Miranda and have her check in with them. Also, it was an excuse to delay going to Arnold.

Getting back did not take long, and he headed straight for her office. Ten minutes of scolding with Jake and Sylphie both getting an earful later, and Jake got an update on what the other major characters of Earth had been up to. Firstly, she told him the King had evolved the very same day he had, likely within the same hour, making Jake know he would also get some snide remarks from the Unique Lifeform about how he had delayed the King’s evolution.

Secondly, the Sword Saint had yet to evolve but was working on something himself. Hearing that gave Jake mixed feelings as he hoped for the old man to evolve soon so they could go to Nevermore together, but it also felt nice to know Jake had evolved first.

Thirdly was Carmen. She had not evolved either, but was killing a lot of things and “figuring stuff out” the last Miranda had heard, which was about four days ago. That one was kind of expected, as she had fallen a bit behind after the whole Ell’Hakan thing and the actions of Valhal during it.

After getting his update, Jake prepared to head over to Arnold to check in about the Nanoblade and if he had any other projects Jake could take advantage of now that he was evolved. However, what Miranda said next made him stop.

“Arnold contacted me right around the time you and Sylphie decided to create widespread panic, mentioning that you forgot to leave the materials you promised to bring him the last time you visited,” Miranda said nonchalantly.

and searched

“Shit.”

said a bit

I promised him like… decades ago,” Jake said, trying to use his time-dilated training session as

even more overdue than I first thought?” Miranda teased him back. “Be happy it wasn’t a loan with

off. “Hey, Sylphie, it seems like I am

“Ree!”

Jake shrugged at her refusal. “Just don’t go and level too much. You need

“Ree?”

your skills seems like a good idea,” he approved. Sylphie seemed full of determination as she jumped off his head

can interpret anything from those screeches,”

more about intent or something like that. I dunno,

bit late, but congratulations on your evolution. Looks like you… didn’t change at all.

after taking his mask off. He hadn’t noticed anything himself, but maybe Miranda

honestly don’t know. You are the person I know who changes the

going back to the Order and pick up the stuff for Arnold. Might be a bit as

made his way back to the lodge and down to the laboratory below. He honestly felt a bit bad about having commissioned it, considering how little he used it. He had planned for it before he knew about the whole mansion ordeal at the

go to the Mangrove and use the main one, but he wanted to place one back in Haven anyway. Unsurprisingly, it was far easier to set up now that he was C-grade. In fact, everything just felt easier. His energy moved more fluidly, his mana felt denser and more potent, and his

he activated it, and a quick trip through the void

multiverse,” a voice said behind him a second or so

sadly it was just the same old. His instincts still just

another metamorphosis and get closer to truly shredding

said. “It doesn’t feel different than any prior evolutions, outside of this one being the most potent yet. But I assume that is only to

it is a point of pride,” the Viper said. “C-grade is when life truly begins for most beasts. It was when I, for the very first time, had true intelligence. When most monsters for the first time experience sapience. By now, the Path is mostly set, and what they have going for them now is what they will use to eventually grasp for godhood. Their foundation is built, and it is now time to create a pillar that will stand eternally. So, do you feel confident in the Path that you

has changed on that front either. Why wouldn’t I be confident? Since day one, it has been godhood or death, and dying seems like the worse

the mindset. To become immortal is not just about power but being the right kind of person to live that long without

maximum anyway. I read C-grade humans tend to live well into

to reach this lifespan, you will need some natural treasures, alchemical goods, or to just be a race that lives this long naturally. For reference, elves naturally live about five times longer than humans on

taking a hundred to reach C-grade doesn’t seem that bad,

bla, you know the deal,” the Viper waved it off. “I just wanted to come by and congratulate you. Also, to try and see if I can feel anything when up close… and nothing. You still give off the aura of a perfectly average human. Bar the Bloodline,

Jake said, feeling a