The Primal Hunter

Jake and Draskil left Draskil’s residence soon after, with the Malefic Dragonkin making sure Jake once more walked through and saw his entire damn harem that Jake was pretty sure had grown by a few people in the short time they were in the chamber.

The conversation with Helen had been short and matter-of-fact, with Jake wanting to finally set up a damn meeting. He honestly hadn’t cared where it was, so he didn’t question when Helen proposed meeting at one of the local headquarters of the Emberflight Dragonflight. It was only after Jake had already agreed and planned to meet Helen to take them there that he became aware of where they were going.

He came to learn that the Emberflight Clan apparently had quite the local presence on the Great Planet known as Primordial-4, right in the vicinity of the Order. Close enough so that there were teleporters between the Order and the land controlled by the Dragonflight nearby, though they were locked for anyone, not of the Dragonflight.

The place they were supposed to hold the meeting was called Firebound City. From what Jake had gathered – by asking Draskil – the leader of this Firebound City was a dragon god from the main clan who resided on something called the Firebound Peak close to the city.

Yes, their names were less than imaginative. Jake blamed the translation skill.

As they prepared to teleport away, Draskil turned to him. “What happens if you piss off one of their elders or something, and they decide to just kill us? Or, well, at the very least, kill you.”

Jake just shook his head. “Well, then that would suck, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

Chances also are Villy would take that as an opportunity to show himself and force Jake to reveal his identity. Not that Jake would disagree with that approach, as he found being known as the Chosen publicly a slightly preferable fate to being dead.

“Would suck,” Draskil agreed as the two of them teleported towards the common area they would meet Helen in. When they appeared, Jake instantly spotted the dragonkin woman in his sphere, but he also noticed her aura.

She hadn’t evolved to C-grade yet.

[Dragonkin – lvl 199]

Jake also got an idea as he looked at her. His Identify skill had upgraded to also allow him to see if people had Blessings, but Jake didn’t use it normally due to not really needing to. A lot of people could detect when someone used Identify on them, and a lot of skills protected the user from Identify. The less information one tried to Identify, the easier it was to do and the harder it was to discover. Hence, his default was not to also look if people had Blessings or try to see what else he could get out of the Identify skill. Finally, it was kind of considered rude by some to just go around Identifying people all the time.

Of course, with it being Helen, he didn’t really care about offending her, so he gave his improved Identify a try.

[Dragonkin – lvl 199 – Intermediate Blessing of Matriarch Fireplume Emberflight]

“Hey, Draskil,” Jake sent telepathically. “You know who a god named Matriarch Fireplume Emberflight is?”

The dragonkin looked at him briefly. “The Grand Elder of Firebound Peak, the place we are going. She is the de facto leader of this branch of the Emberflight and one of their Matriarchs. Don’t tell me this girl is blessed by a Matriarch of the Emberlflight?”

Jake threw Draskil a smile and looked toward Helen.

By now, she had spotted them, and Jake saw the surprise on her face. Not just from seeing he had evolved to C-grade, but from Draskil being with him. Oh yeah, he didn’t bother telling her he would bring a friend along either.

He waited for her to approach, and it didn’t take long for her to walk over. “I congratulate Mr. Thayne for reaching C-grade. The same to you, Lord Draskil; I apologize for not having prepared for you to join too.”

The way she spoke them made it clear she viewed Draskil as someone of higher status. Sure, they wanted more from Jake than the dragonkin, but they also seemed to be under the impression that offending Draskil was worse than offending Jake.

“Why would I reject orders from above when they’re to help a friend?” Draskil smartly answered.

I am pretty damn sure he has gotten smarter since reaching C-grade… or maybe he has just finally integrated and learned stuff about the world, Jake thought. One thing was for sure, Draskil had become a lot more articulate… in most circumstances.

“Also, when I heard it was to meet you, I at least knew there would be something pleasant around to look at,” he added needlessly.

first sentence. “Bringing both should be no issues. Ah, I also forgot to mention that Albaromoz Emberflight will join us. I am sure you remember him as the

that this Albaromoz – not that he remembered the name – was an A-grade, someone quite unexpected

from the Emberflight, so we thought it the simplest,” Helen

totally wasn’t a weird mix of intimidation tactics, having someone around who could probe him, and a show of respect. It was totally just because Jake had

usual gates used by the Order. This was one capable of teleporting out of the Order and over greater distances, though it required a key of sorts

she had given Jake. He felt it give off some energy, and he planned on using their time queuing to study it a bit closer.

task to escort guests by order of the

wanted to offend this young mistress, especially not after noticing she was

Draskil to join her with a bright smile. She looked

because he was with Jake,

actual

in the queue who had given way stared at him and Draskil as they stood before the open path to the teleporter. Jake just mentally yelled at Helen and praised the fact he was wearing a

so get back

didn’t respect the culture of queuing. If Jake hadn’t liked Helen before, he sure as hell didn’t now after learning she didn’t respect one of the most important social norms in the civilized world. What would

shame in her eyes soon after as she gritted her teeth and slowly

better at this politics stuff than me; that was such a powerplay. Have you also been taking classes?” Draskil sent to him telepathically as he flashed him an

to come back and join them. They stood for another fifteen minutes in awkward silence, with only Draskil trying to make some small talk before it was their turn, and Helen once more took out the token and activated it. The teleporter charged up for a good thirty seconds before they teleported

as could be, and soon enough, they arrived on a large platform. Sunlight and fresh air washed over Jake as they found themselves standing on a large platform that extended out from what looked like a massive palace in the center. A palace clearly not built

head, he saw more platforms were higher up, with some

Helen said, having regained some of her composure upon entering her home turf. “I am not from here originally, but I was sent here by the main branch due to my Bloodline and talent in alchemy and was taken under the wing of Grand Elder Fireplume and given her Blessing, so I have called this place home for the last few

at Jake and Draskil as if they should be impressed. Jake was about to ask if this Fireplume would join them for their discussion but stopped himself. Gods joining in on conversations like this wasn’t really a thing. Usually. Villy was just weird and liked

One good thing about his publicly known Bloodline being about resisting

quickly regained her gusto. “If Mr. Thayne desires to head straight for a meeting, we can do that. A tour of

thanks,” Jake rejected the offer. He wasn’t

the main

directed their attention down at Jake and the

that it was a massive atrium of sorts, everything made in huge sizes to accommodate dragons staying in their true forms. Only on the higher floors, though. Towards the

He looked up and saw a dragon several hundred meters long fly down toward them. Its red scales glistened from the sunlight above, and its form practically radiated

logical reason for him to swoop down in dragon form like this while blaring his presence all over them. The dragon landed

once more, young Bloodline Patriarch,” Albaromoz said with a smile as he walked forward to greet him and Draskil. “I am also pleasantly surprised

standing at the

don’t I?” Jake sighed. “Let’s just head to the meeting room,

the space distort around him as he was forcefully teleported along with Draskil and Helen. They all appeared before

enter, and he invited Jake and Draskil inside, with Helen entering last. Even something as small as entering a damn room had to be politicized by these people. The same was true

all sitting, Albaromoz spoke. “This meeting was on quite short notice, so please excuse me if I am not fully up-to-date on what the issue may be.

“Let me first ask Helenstromoz why she decided to

facilitate any agreements. In order to find out who this backer was, I decided to ask someone who may know who the backer was

mistress,” Jake shut her down.

was the thing Jake had done that day that seemed to stump her the most. Even the damn A-grade dragon

taking mistresses is not common practice, even for the strong, and he doesn’t have any interest in the practice,” Draskil came in with the

him let a sigh as the dragonkin did not look like he