The Primal Hunter

Jake’s theory – that barely even qualified as a theory – did have some major flaws. Primarily, he had no idea if this hypothetical transfer of Records would be the extremely negative and permanently damaging kind to the user.

It also wasn’t even certain he could do what he wanted. During the things with Sylphie and Sandy, Jake had, at least indirectly, infused a Unique natural treasure of the system that already included hefty Records aimed at allowing a monster to get a better evolution. Sure, with Sylphie’s ritual, Jake had not directly used anything on the Mystbone, but the ritual had mixed all the energies, so he had definitely influenced it.

Say Jake had truly just influenced the Records in these natural treasures through some form of transmutation, thus still at least partly abiding by the system’s rules, then his own upcoming attempt could prove quite precarious if he had to supply all the Records himself. Once more, assuming it was even possible.

Finally, Jake found himself clueless when it came to actually controlling this Record infusion. He had no idea how to direct it, even if he did have a damn good idea on how to infuse the energy portion, which should, in theory, make the Record-part quite simple. The problem was that he had no bloody idea what the outcome would be. It was just him blindly tossing a bunch of this Primal Energy at the innate Records and energy of a core, hoping for a good outcome. He didn’t even know if any evolution he helped bring forth would be a good or bad one. Sure, the two he had been involved in had both been pretty darn good, but that could once more also just go back to the fact that system-provided Unique items were involved in both prior processes. Perhaps they added some system-fuckery for protection.

This is… risky.

Jake saw too many uncertainties. Too many dangers. His primary issue was that in most situations, Jake could get a feeling of what the best approach would be, but in this case, he was dealing with Records. Something complicated as fuck.

And messing up would not just result in him taking some damage. He risked permanently hurting his own foundation without even knowing if he was doing it. What if Jake succeeded and created a Bee Queen only to find out he had screwed himself over in a hundred years?

So, Jake did something he didn’t usually do. He decided not to just jump right into it despite being able to, but instead ask someone who might have an idea: Villy. He could also ask Duskleaf, but Jake had a feeling the Viper would be better to ask, as it wasn’t really pure alchemy, and it included many of his secrets. Secrets Duskleaf did not know about.

He reached out mentally, and it did not take long before the god popped in.

“Run into an issue?” Villy asked the moment he appeared. “The ritual circle looks complete, so I assume it is with the cores?”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “So, here’s the deal…”

Jake explained his thoughts and the many pitfalls he saw, the Viper listening attentively as he nodded along.

necessarily difficult, and you don’t actually need to make any permanent investment, though permanent investment does make the end result far better,” Villy explained as he opened his palm. A

For me, creating this bead took nothing but pure condensed energy and intent. You must remember that any energy you put into anything, any action you take, any

all in as he stared at the bead. He considered for a moment before answering. “Because then that bead will be the sole source of all the beast’s Records, right? And that sounds like a serious issue

The Viper nodded tentatively.

placed into a framework you use to progress. Improving your Records by doing more things also related to what you already have is thus following your Path, as you raise the quality of your Records as well quantity. This does also mean that if you change your Records, you can change your Path… and if your Path changes too much, you risk it no longer being truly yours,” the Viper said, shaking

is what is found within these natural treasures given by the system or are naturally spawning?” Jake

is crafted by

blood and when I

nodded, allowing Jake to

been forcibly transformed into a Malefic Dragonkin. He would have grown directly from an E-grade into a C-grade, probably after some incubation period, and his Path would have been forever tied to the Viper. With Eternal Hunger, he had battled the curse; and if Jake had lost his marbles to the mythical cursed blade, it could have pushed him down a Path he did want to walk, potentially even leading a class change. It was less severe than the blood but

growth in beasts and monsters is not in any way unique. You are not trying something wholly original that no one else has figured out before. Beastmasters belonging to armies breed hordes of beasts using these

than you think it is. At least permanently losing them. As long as you stay true to your Path, what you do lose can often be restored in a short period. One example is the drop of blood you stole. I put some “permanent” Records into that and did experience a loss for a period of time, but I got that investment back with time from you being my Chosen. That is something else you need to consider. Records can be viewed as a resource, so let me ask you this: why would it be so bad if it required a permanent loss of Records to help birth an incredibly powerful, potentially never-seen-before variant?” the Viper asked

strike me as something I would want to do, but I guess I see your point. If I succeed, the Records from accomplishing

that everything you do technically requires a permanent investment in Records. Namely, the investment of time and effort. Even if you end up losing Records on something or spend an extremely long time accomplishing it, as long as it aligns with your Path, you can expect

with the birth of every child, but the Records are very, let’s just say, specific. Tailored to reproduction. It does not hurt your Path in any way to lose these Records, nor does it benefit you unless your Path already revolves around nurturing and making kids. This permanent loss is why the first child is nearly always more powerful

why everyone talks about waiting

a child in C-grade and another at S-grade, the one you had at S-grade will still get far more Records from you, but in relative terms, the one from C-grade would have gotten more.

as he considered the Viper’s words. Was it possible that whatever Records Jake gave to Sandy and Sylphie worked like this pool? Maybe it was the same as the one he would pull on if he ever decided to have kids? So many questions with

ritual is not that unique or special, at least not in principle. However, I don’t get the feeling that Sylphie is lacking in potential due to her walking a Path based on my Records. Not with Sandy either. Shit, if that was the case, would Stormild and Snappy have blessed them? I would assume they could detect if something

“You aren’t exactly an expert in it, but there is a way to see the connection of Records between individuals. It is a form of karmic magic, one any god is

I can see, as I don’t know shit about karmic magic,” Jake said in a

gave you some insight?” Villy grinned as he shook his head. “Your connection to the two of them was… feeble. It was there, yes, but it was not the karmic connection one would expect. What I am ultimately saying is that despite their evolution so clearly being reliant on your Records, it didn’t seem to actually leave the same drawbacks. Sandy owns their Records all on their own, same with the Sylphian Hawk. Their Paths are their own,