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.

soul shells with the goal of refining them. Refined cores will, in most cases, be more effective, and you can also choose to amplify certain effects. Having

offered the Harbinger of

It even

would need a few powerful natural treasures, but more importantly, a core of pure Records. Records that would allow him to improve this Origin somehow. Jake wasn’t sure exactly how

a priority, but if he didn’t manage to do it, that would be fine too. He wasn’t in a rush and wanted to get this one right. As Villy had said, this would be Jake’s first time intentionally trying to create some super variant using

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

and Jake did have some better variant versions. Like

Ectognacore (D-grade)] - An Ectognacore left behind by a D-grade Isoptera Queen’s Guard, containing remnants of its Records within.

a visit to the termite hive to obtain more cores. More specifically, he wanted some C-grade cores from the Queen and to get some revenge on the Termite King. But that was only for when he was ready

really needed a break from doing

any tips, but the god had categorically refused and told Jake he was one hundred percent on his own. The intent was clear there: the two gods wanted to see what Jake could come up with himself without any feedback. He and Villy both wanted to see what exactly Jake would come up with through his reckless

that Jake was against this as he got

as 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,

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, he spotted

iceberg appeared to be moving as five bulky blocks were put together. One larger one with four smaller blocks functioning as feet, the entire body made of pure bluish ice. It was over five hundred meters tall, and the snow below it seemed to almost solidify

Ice Elemental –

he felt. He had hoped for something better. 226 was low, but sometimes he

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

the three schools he practiced, and everything he could do was one of those three or a combination. Was this

not actually related to metal but was just named for the color. In reality, it could be more closely compared to an arcane affinity, but naturally, Unique Lifeforms could not possess arcane affinities. They were born with their inborn magical powers,

he was in C-grade, his energy had spiked. He had

form of telekinesis, and it allowed him to control objects directly or form constructs

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

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

plains, making him stand out

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 off the ground for a brief moment before the orb managed to pierce all the way through and

Adequate.

room for

him. Ah, but there was one that came to mind. A weapon he rarely saw people use but that the