The Primal Hunter

Weird notifications all around. Well, except for the first one, as Jake had finally gotten a level. So that was nice, even if it was only one.

*’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 201 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*

However, that was not the notification bothering him. It was another message he had gotten shortly after slaying the Hive Queen, one he had never seen before. A weird one at that.

*You have been branded a heretic of the Endless Empire by the Fourth Desert Queen*

Now, Jake had no idea what all of this was about, but he reckoned that seeing how the Fourth Desert Queen was the one that had blessed the Isoptera Queen, then he had gotten this heretic branding from slaying her. However, that branding felt weird as he was already a heretic, which at least made the next message make more sense.

*Branding failed: True Heretic status already present*

Jake was apparently not just a heretic but a True Heretic. Did this mean he was an all-rounder heretic according to the system, hereticing all over everyone and anyone? He did find the notion a bit funny. Heretics did come in many forms, with the most common one being heretics of a specific Pantheon or god, branded by them like the Fourth Desert Queen had tried. The Holy Church especially liked doing this.

A general heretic – or True Heretic as Jake was called – was one that was just seen as a heretic against all gods. Someone who refused to acknowledge them or get any Blessings and perhaps even worked against them. It was people who conceptually hated gods. Jake didn’t entirely fit in this category as he just didn’t care much for them being gods, but few had the privilege to have that mindset.

Oh, but branding someone a heretic did have some limitations. Such as being impossible if the person already had a high-level Blessing from another powerful god, which is what made the next message even funnier.

*Branding failed: A Chosen cannot be branded a heretic*

Jake could not be branded a heretic because he was a Chosen, but also because he was already a heretic – which he couldn’t be because he was a Chosen. It was truly a nice little paradox. Not that either status mattered with the next message.

*Branding failed: blocked by Shroud of the Primordial*

Sure, Jake had only gotten the skill from his True Blessing, so maybe that shouldn’t count either, which left the last “branding failed” message.

*Branding failed: Successfully suppressed*

This one Jake knew was all him. How did he know? His gut told him. It was naturally the Bloodline coming in and being mad some damn god dared try to brand him. Seeing as this branding was likely a system feature of sorts, it probably didn’t directly take into account the power level of the people in question but relied more on qualitative and pre-decided factors to determine if it failed or succeeded.

As for worries if the Fourth Desert Queen knew all this had happened, the final message dispelled that.

*All tracking successfully blocked*

So, yeah, that entire thing was a nothing-burger, but it was something he hadn’t seen happen before, so at least it was a little interesting. He would definitely have to joke about it with Villy later, but for now, he saw no need to discontinue his hive dive.

At the entrance to the chamber, he felt remnants of

orbs condensed. With a mental command, he sent them all out into the chamber. Hundreds of explosions later, not a single egg remained unbroken, making Jake nod as he looked towards the opening leading further down the hive. Ah, but not before looting all the natural treasures in the chamber, all placed there to nurture the eggs. He was sure

were multiple D-grades made him relatively certain that there were also more C-grades, so he doubted that to be the case. There was also the fact that the hive kept expanding so much downwards, so it would be weird for the egg chamber

a snapshot he had taken earlier, leaving only one way rather than a fork.

he created cracks on the ground from the impact but quickly stood up and continued. Later down the tunnel, he found the same thing as before. Tunnels had been sealed off, leaving only a single path deeper down unless he wanted to start blowing holes in walls… but he didn’t even have to

if he didn’t realize that he was being purposefully directed further into the hive. This pretty much confirmed that there was at least one more Hive Queen, but it did make Jake wonder… why? Why would it lead him further

prepared? If that was the case, Jake welcomed the attempt. He wanted to see what these damn insects were capable of, and if that required him to walk into a trap, so be it. Picking up speed, Jake began running faster, speeding up his freefalls and teleporting when there were long straight tunnels. No termites got in his way, but some did hide out of his way, with others scrambling to run once they saw him. He left them alone as his curiosity grew with every second. They seemed almost too non-hostile. Were they trying to bury him

on the walls of the hive here and there, helping keep it down. Pockets of magma

large cavern in front of it. A massive cavern, in fact, and natural-formed as far as Jake could see based on

the snapshot, he tried to see if one was there, but he couldn’t. He was pretty sure she was, but all he saw was a mass of energy a few hundred meters across, making it look

further, following the only path available to him. By now, he estimated he was nearly ten thousand kilometers down, which seemed like a lot, but one had to remember the planet was now nearly the size of the freaking sun pre-system. That

cavern in front of him. Within, he heard the clattering of termites, but more so than that, he felt two powerful auras. Two auras that actually made

Actual threats.

entered the cavern, letting the dense mana within wash over him. At the entrance, there was only a single termite waiting. It looked like the

Guard

Jake obliged as he walked after it, sending out a new pulse. He counted

walked to the center of the giant cavern. Once there, Jake saw a giant pillar of sorts extending from the bottom of the cavern to the top, pulsing with power. It looked like it contained giant crystals within, each glowing with a yellow light, giving off intense earth-affinity mana. High-tier earth-affinity natural treasure. Maybe helped these termites evolve

it, he saw them. Two forms stood on it, waiting. One was a creature Jake recognized as the Hive King that had whopped his ass the last time he had invaded the hive, looking stronger than ever. Using Identify, he could see that he

Hive King

either, meaning it could no doubt offer Jake a proper match. But the other creature on the platform still stood out more. He used creature and not termite as it looked quite a bit different from anything Jake had seen before. It was a lot smaller than the Hive Queen he had just killed and looked a bit similar except for one thing. Rather than a head with mandibles, the body just ended, and out of the top grew… a humanoid upper

Queen – lvl 272 – Greater Blessing

around. A female upper body with long hair, generous proportions, and not a single shred of clothes stared back at him, her skin brownish like the

Her voice sounded oddly sweet, and he knew there was some passive mental-fuckery going around. Even then, Jake saw no reason not to answer, as this Queen had shown no

Jake simply answered, surprising the

Patron assured me such a thing happening was nearly impossible. Your species is not known to be very exceptional,” the Queen said, not a hint of mockery in her tone but more as if she was just

such outlier,” Jake shrugged. “You even asking that makes me wonder

above ground is of little interest,” the Queen said dismissively. “Perhaps a mistake if beings such as you are up there. Human, are you

why the Queen was not hostile. “I am a leader of sorts, yes. At the very least, I have an open line of communication with leaders

of making decisions for your

for others. If you told me what you wanted, it would be a lot easier to

man are of no interest to us, and thus we offer you the chance to avoid a war. We are willing to offer humanity a small area of Earth to live in but ask that all major factions backed by divine forces leave or risk facing extermination. Others are also free

more, the tone was impersonal

you, really,” Jake said dismissively. “Not to say I am not open to some level of negotiation. Extermination isn’t necessary as long as healthy boundaries can be