The Primal Hunter

Jake had a lot to think about. Annoying things to think about.

He knew he wasn’t the most moral of people, considering his rather liberal approach to killing. He did not hesitate when he went out into the world and hunted down sapient C-grade beasts simply for experience points, and he had killed plenty of other humans during his Path so far. Some were more deserving than others, with quite a few just being at the wrong place at the wrong time or having chosen to trust someone they really shouldn’t have.

But that didn’t mean he was entirely amoral, and he had some things he wouldn’t do. Likely due to his upbringing and the culture of Earth and because, quite honestly, these things had nothing to do with his Path. They were unrelated to his goals. One of those things he wouldn’t do was use his position to take advantage of others. It just felt icky and wrong to him to even consider it.

Miranda, Meira, pretty much anyone in the Order… it just felt wrong to even consider any kind of relationship that was more than friends. Meira more than anyone else. He had watched enough movies to know she may feel attached or something due to not being treated like shit, which just made it even slimier.

Perhaps more importantly than anything else, Jake didn’t want any romantic relationships. At least nothing serious. It didn’t even have to do with his bad prior experiences anymore, but just that he didn’t have time and didn’t want to dedicate the necessary mental energy to it.

Jake had already talked a lot with Caleb and how he struggled with balancing family and his role as Judge of the Court of Shadows. Caleb did not regret his way of life, and if he had to choose between the Court and his family, he would pick family every time. Jake could honestly not say he was the same. In other words, he would be a shitty partner.

There was also the entire thing about his insane innate fear of betrayal, but that was a whole other can of worms he really didn’t want to address.

In conclusion, Jake wanted to avoid relationships, and if acting oblivious made that easier, he would continue doing so. It was honestly just easier to never try and read more into anything others did, and he would rather assume people were being friendly and not make any conclusions. The result would be nothing happening, no matter what.

The whole thing with Meira was a complicated issue and one Jake was far from qualified to deal with. All he knew was that entertaining her emotions would be unhealthy for both of them. He could handle casual relationships, like the one with Carmen, but anything more would be too much.

These annoying emotions were a lot to deal with and, quite frankly, not worth the mental energy. Hence, he moved on to something far simpler:

The ritual circle.

It took him about a week to fix the most outrageous of issues with the ritual circle, and while there was still room for improvement, it wasn’t anything important. All they really resulted in was the circle being less efficient and draining the many cores of energy faster, with more energy going to waste, but Jake didn’t really care overly much about that.

During this week, Jake tried to approach Meira to talk, but she seemed to try and avoid any long conversations as much as possible. At the very least, her actions allowed Jake to consider excuses to talk to her, which was when he handed her the list from Arnold that he had totally remembered. Having her do all that shopping and then confirming all the purchases afterward would be a perfect segue into the conversation he wanted to have with her.

Additionally, it set a deadline for Jake to get his act together. Luckily, it seemed like it would take a bit of time to get everything together as some of the things the scientist had asked for weren’t readily available.

After the week of ritual circle work, Jake moved on to another important task. The improvement of cores. For this, Jake had the Advanced Core Manipulation skill, one of those skill choices Jake had semi-neglected but now felt more than happy about having picked.

amplify certain effects. Having taken it further, you

the Harbinger of Primeval Origins profession and recent

core. It even allowed him to merge several cores to create a more

Jake would need a few powerful natural treasures, but more importantly, a core of pure Records. Records that

be fine too. He wasn’t in a rush and wanted to get this one right. As

some cheaply bought cores. Insectoid monsters were far from rare, and getting the cores was easy and cheap. Compared to most beast cores, ectognacores were a dime a dozen, and from just clearing one hive, thousands, if not millions,

a variance to them, and Jake did have some better

its Records within. Can be used as an alchemical ingredient for many types of creations but is

wanted some C-grade cores from the Queen and to get some revenge on the Termite King. But that

really needed a break from

clear there: the two gods wanted to see what

Jake was against this

he observed the landscape before him. Ice covered everything, and he felt the intense mana in the air. What had the humans called this… the pole, he believed? An odd name, but the naming sense of humans often struck him

took in the environment for a moment, and he felt slightly affected by it. The cold was so intense it required him to keep his barrier constantly active or risk his movements being affected, which bode well that he would find worthy prey. Flying inwards, the cold within the desert of ice and snow only intensified, and soon enough,

put together. One larger one with four smaller blocks functioning as feet, the entire body made of

Ice Elemental –

next emotion he felt. He had hoped for something better. 226 was

get levels. Not truly. He knew of Nevermore, the witch of Haven, having told him about it. He knew he had a level limit of 210 until the humans were ready, but he still wanted to test himself during this time. He wanted to properly understand his own power

he practiced, and everything he could do was one of those three or a combination. Was this limiting? Perhaps, but with enough power, anything was possible, and the

but was just named for the color. In reality, it could be more closely compared to an arcane affinity,

C-grade, his energy had spiked. He had far more mana,

the first type of magic he could now use. Force magic could be used as a form of telekinesis, and it allowed him to control objects directly or form constructs or waves of force. He would do the same

as a golden translucent barrier appeared. With his other hand, he attempted to create a spear, but he felt its weakness. Force magic and the concept of piercing never worked well together, as while focusing the power on a singular point

a golden orb about a meter across. He slightly began to reform it and discovered that if he remained in contact with his construct through a constant stream of energy, it was far easier

movement of life within the icy plains, making him

he sent the barrier of gold flying toward the elemental. It slammed into it with force capable of making mountains crumble, and the King followed up with the orb. Golden energy still extended to it as he swung it like a flail, slamming it into the side of the huge C-grade in front of him. The impact lifted the living iceberg

Adequate.

with room

that came to mind. A weapon he rarely saw people