The Primal Hunter

Setting up a ritual circle was a bit like making a painting, but in order to make the painting, you had to program every stroke using some illogical programming language that also, for some bloody reason, had to follow weird rules reminiscent of feng shui. Concepts had to play properly together, which could be likened to mixing colors to get the optimal palette. Some colors did not mesh well together, and if all colors mixed haphazardly, you would get a muddy brown. AKA, you would get shit.

All of this also had to be done while painting within the lines if one was following some pre-set ritual circle and trying to make a very specific image. Not following a pre-set ritual circle was far beyond anything Jake could do quite yet.

When Jake initially set up the ritual circle, all looked well. The colors were adequately separated, and things seemed to be meshing well. However, with a higher Perception stat, he could begin to see the flaws. This could be likened to seeing the borders where the different colors mixed. To the naked eye, perhaps it looked fine, but if digitalized and someone zoomed in and saw the individual pixels, small flaws could be spotted. A bit of color may have gone over a line, the intensity of a certain color may be off, or a faint shade darker in one place than another.

The problem is that any minor change would echo throughout the rest of the formation. To once more bring it back to the programming analogy, fixing one bug could create another. Jake slightly changing a shade of color could push some paint over a line at the opposite end of the formation, and if he messed with too many things, he could even end up ruining one of these lines altogether, making the entire ritual collapse.

All of this is to say that Jake’s usual approach of just trial and error did not work with ritual circles. At least he did have the ritualism skill that gave him some ideas and faintly hinted at what he should do here and there while also giving warnings when he was about to do something dumb. It was far from enough, though, and there simply wasn’t a ritualism skill with enough innate knowledge to make you a good ritualist. In the end, everything took time and practice, and luckily for Jake, he had some time for that while waiting for the others to be ready for Nevermore.

More than that, he had a library full of high-level books and someone, quite frankly, way-overqualified willing to teach him.

“Your analogy is good, but it still has some flaws. You cannot simply view a ritual circle as a two-dimensional creation but as something that functions in a mesh. It is part of a three-dimensional world and has to interact with it through catalysts and energy absorption. This even ignores the fact that this specific ritual interacts with an egg of a living creature possessing a soul, making it pass into the metaphysical,” the old alchemist said after Jake voiced some of his thoughts.

It was naturally Duskleaf, someone more than happy with teaching Jake here and there. Though he did limit himself to basic things and did not want to comment directly on the ritual circle Jake had made for the Pollendust Bee Queen. At least not outside of the aspects that weren’t considered basic.

“So, a 3D painting of sorts,” Jake muttered to himself. “Though I am beginning to also run into some issues with the final energy infusion. I had not properly taken into account the qualitative difference in power between D and C-grade when making the ritual, and I fear it may be overloaded and fail at the final moment.”

“To redraw the lines of a circle is entirely possible, but you have to delve beneath the paint. Remember, you are working in far more than two dimensions. You view it only from one direction and not as a mesh where you can focus on small singular aspects, even if one looks to be covered by other. The surrounding constructs will need to be stabilized before the redrawing, and adaptation of the paint is necessary afterward, but I believe you are more than able.”

Jake thought for a while before opening his palm and making an outline of the ritual circle. He studied it for a while before shaking his head.

“It just all feels so interconnected,” Jake complained. “Stabilizing certain elements with my arcane affinity does seem doable, but controlling this stabilization while also redrawing seems bloody hard.”

“It is,” Duskleaf smiled. “Ritualism and formation, in general, are not simple. Formation masters can spend lifetimes creating and mastering a single formation. I know that usually, the circles you make are simply following a blueprint, but this is different. Hm… to use your analogy, then usually you are just acting like a printer and not actually doing any proper painting yourself, while now you need to pick up the brush yourself. You do have it a bit easier as this ritual is still based on a well-studied one, but that also means the changes you make need to be well-thought-out.”

had some more context on the difference between all the terms. Ritual circles, magic circles, and

cases, needed an active caster, and if the caster died, the ritual would cease to be. The main guiding energy of a ritual was thus nearly always the caster or casters who would actively participate for it to work. More than that, rituals were often considered shorter endeavors and not long-term installations. They were created with a purpose, and once the ritual

leaned more into math. They were highly calculated creations that were more like a grand circuit board made to run one specific computer program. They could activate autonomously, be self-controlled, and the really high-level formations were even capable of showing AI-like behavior. More importantly, they did not necessarily require a controller but could function purely off external energy sources. In fact, if the creator had to

defend cities were just another form of formation. The teleportation circles made to allow

aspects of a ritual. To call one more complicated than the other also wouldn’t be right, as it often depended on the person

reason they were separated as they were was because of just how damn complicated formations and rituals were. Miranda could

books about. This was even without mentioning all the researchers arguing about it and their different

that he should

kind of guy who liked math with numbers, while formations were all about that high-level math that wasn’t even real math. Real math had numbers, not letters, and yes, he had fought with Casper about that several times. Speaking of Casper… that dude was one of the few who truly did do both rituals and formations to a very high level. Jake hoped he was doing

due to Eternal Hunger. The old alchemist god had some good points, including how he could use the weapon as a powerful catalyst to do some amazing things, especially as the weapon

and Duskleaf had only been at the bee ritual for about half a day when someone else

as soon as she exited the mansion

approaching C-grade yourself too. Ah, but one warning. You have to, at the very least, attempt to officially join the Order before evolving, okay? Of course, I am also

talked to her about it during his last visit, but Meira had picked up even more classes on her own. Jake had kind of expected it, but more just that she would continue down the Path they had talked about. Seeing her take the initiative and pick up entirely new topics was only a positive and only more proof she was more than ready. Based on what Duskleaf had said, she was also skilled enough by now to join. Jake wasn’t entirely sure what her hang-ups were, but he felt

at Jake forcing the issue. She looked

have any concerns, just ask me,”

a moment of hesitation. “I apologize for disturbing Lord Thayne and

bow, she left towards her own residence, walking at quite

it,” Jake

is there not to get?” Duskleaf

she wants? I also know that she has the opportunity to go to the Altmar Empire. Both must be better than being

scoffed and shook his head. “You truly are clueless. While this may be overstepping, and I am usually not a fan of getting involved in personal business, I guess I have no choice. First of all, you view her as far more naïve than she is. She is still a D-grade and isn’t stupid. She knows the benefits her current station brings. Just look at her. Unlimited lessons, me teaching her, and this mansion to live in with you, someone who does not care at all what she does. The only negative is her status as a slave, but considering that is never used against her, all she truly lost is her own sense of pride from not being free in principle. For someone who has never truly been free,

said after thinking a

change anything, but if you want to convince her the status quo has to, a conversation is needed. If not, it will be nothing more than a punishment. To you, perhaps freedom is the ultimate