The Primal Hunter

The meeting room was silent for several seconds as Albaromoz stared at the spot where the Bloodline Patriarch had disappeared from. No, he had been teleported away. For a moment, the dragon had felt a divine presence before the teleportation, making so many questions appear in his head, but it did dispel one doubt.

Albaromoz felt ashamed of even questioning the urgency of the Bloodline Patriarch’s issue. He had thought it was just one of the oldest tricks in the book that people used to get out of meetings early, something he himself had even done several times. However, it clearly was something far more serious than Albaromoz could understand when it was deemed necessary for a god to directly interfere and assist in bringing the Patriarch back. That meant it was a situation where every second mattered.

But… Albaromoz was still perplexed. Why was the Bloodline Patriarch even involved in something of such importance? Who was the god that had acted? Likely his backer.

The formation used to defend Firebound City was created in part by Patron Fireplume herself, a powerful god in the seventh circle of divinity. For someone to so effortlessly teleport a mortal without even triggering an alarm or their presence being recognizable… they had to at least be of the same level or perhaps a god specialized in space magic.

“Uncle… what just happened?” Helenstromoz asked, having also felt the divine presence.

“Something far out of our league,” Albaromoz said with certainty. One thing he knew now was that the Bloodline Patriarch had far more to him than the Emberflight had initially concluded. Sure, they recognized he had a powerful Bloodline, and Helenstromoz even admitted it was more powerful than her own, but that had been it. He had just been a junior who carried something valuable with an unknown S-grade backer.

But now… now Albaromoz was not so sure. We may have severely underestimated the Bloodline,he considered, especially as it seemed like the secrecy around it was enough for gods to get involved. Luckily for the Emberflight, they were not entirely cut off from the Patriarch. They had an in right there in the meeting room.

“Lord Draskil, would you be willing to shed any light on what happened?” Albaromoz asked the Malefic Dragonkin.

“I apologize; I am not,” the young dragonkin answered. The question was asked very specifically if he would be willing to, not if Draskil was able to. It seems their appearance of friendship was not entirely a ruse, he concluded with his lie-detecting skill.

Albaromoz nodded in understanding. “May I ask how long you have known the Bloodline Patriarch?”

“Met him when we entered the Order,” Draskil answered honestly. “We both carried the Blessing of the Malefic One and were two of the most powerful there, so it would have been odd for us not to talk.”

“I see,” Albaromoz kept nodding, the answer making sense. “I heard you two even went on a dungeon dive together.”

“We did,” Draskil confirmed.

“You are both from the new universe, so you two bonding shouldn’t come as a surprise. Do tell, how are you integrating with the Order?” Albaromoz asked.

Draskil just grinned in response. “A needless question.”

Smiling, the true dragon thought for a bit. “I must say, I have not encountered any Malefic Dragonkin before you. Your race is incredibly rare, and I am rather curious.”

The malefic dragonkin’s grin just intensified. “Isn’t it a bit early to ask such a question? Though maybe I would share with Lady Emberflight… she did offer a tour of the city earlier; is that still available? I am sure plenty of conversation would happen during that.”

Looking over at Helenstromoz, she simply nodded. “I had my day cleared for this meeting, and seeing the unfortunate departure of Mr. Thayne, there is no reason to decline.”

Good answer, child,Albaromoz approved.“This old one shall take his leave then. May you two have fun and enjoy your time.”

While they had not achieved their goal, getting closer to a Malefic Dragonkin with a Divine Blessing wasn’t a bad thing either. It was unfortunate he had joined the Order of the Malefic Viper fully, making it impossible to recruit him, but it still offered the opportunity of strengthening the bond between the Emberflight and the Order.

way toward the Firebound Peak. He had not been called there, which mattered a lot due to what had just happened, as

had been under the interpretation that the Bloodline Patriarch was backed by an S-grade… but now, that was practically disproved. That still left the question of why the Malefic One would

hidden gods. Recently, Albaromoz had heard rumors that many gods had returned to the Order of the Malefic Viper, rejoining the Malefic One. Many of these gods were notorious figures, some hunted by major factions or powerful individuals, and some outright viewed as cursed creatures to be killed on sight. Perhaps it was even a vampire god, which fit both these descriptions to many. If the Bloodline Patriarch had carried the Blessing of one of these shunned gods, it would have led to many questions and potential issues. Many of them preferred to stay hidden to the level of never giving out Blessings to even hide

the most sense to Albaromoz. It fit quite nicely, and even the timing seemed right, though no one besides the gods truly knew when these hidden gods rejoined. It also made sense to bless him with a lower Blessing as it was just a mark to communicate to other gods to not try and bless him. Finally, the fact the Patriarch had not joined the Order fully backed this even more as many hidden gods

the progress he displayed, his presence, Identify-obscuring skills, and his ability to have a Malefic Dragonkin with a Divine

act far more carefully and not antagonize him in any way. Especially if the second

was the rumored Chosen of the Malefic

problem was that they didn’t know… and without knowing, Albaromoz was lost as to what they could do without potentially making a huge mistake or pissing someone off even the main clan of

Villy smiled, shaking his

at the recording of the dragons just sitting there staring at the place Jake had disappeared from. “Though it was a

to detect it happening while not necessarily knowing who did it,” Villy dismissed Jake’s concern. “Now, that would probably let her know it was me through the process of elimination, as not many can do that in her presence, but this Fireplume isn’t exactly a

apprehensive. At the same time, he had given them a distraction in the form of Draskil, making them focus on him instead. Getting on good terms with him should be something they wanted, and Jake had also tacitly given his approval to use Draskil to try and learn stuff about Jake. Plus, Jake had noticed the way Draskil stared at Helen’s

come out as my Chosen eventually,” Villy then said. “At some point, you will stand out too much and have too much attention on you. Something will slip, and once just a few people realize, the

it as long as possible by trying to haphazardly duct-tape all the cracks on

you are overexaggerating the problems it will bring,” Villy shrugged. “Though I guess

I would

they are well-prepared and give them

with the metaphor,” Jake interrupted the Viper. “Anyway, I

up and reveal yourself,” Villy said in a joking tone. “Sadly, the damn dragons didn’t cross any lines or annoy you too much. Oh well, there is always

questioned. “What do

There are rankings and stuff. Tell me, are you planning on going there and being mediocre or doing your damn best to try and go as far

latter, duh,” Jake said without

guy with a lesser Blessing from the Malefic Viper shows up with someone carrying a Divine Blessing from Aeon, a bird with a Divine Blessing from Stormild, a Unique Lifeform, and whoever

a good

with that much exposure,” Villy shrugged. “I am also surprised you

respond before slowly closing it

ask him, didn’t

got distracted by politics,”

thing either way, as it would put him in an awkward spot to reject

He already got a

require much of its members, representing it in places like Nevermore is expected of them. A full team of people from the Order of the Malefic Viper will naturally be formed, and Draskil is one of the strongest of this generation, so naturally, he will go with other Order members. Even if you were revealed as my Chosen, your performance in Nevermore would be colored by those you go with, and it would never be called a group from

does make sense; I just didn’t know the Order cared much about the social credit doing well

is still powerful, especially now that we are

“Oh well, thanks for the

if I hadn’t bothered teleporting you away?”

me through your little livestream, I damn well expect some kind of payment for the broadcasting rights,”