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.

being able to create high-Records items. In fact, creating them is not necessarily difficult, and you don’t actually need to make any permanent investment, though permanent investment does make the end result

Malefic-something and even be relatively powerful for its level too. 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 intent, results in Records in some form or shape. Even you could probably create items allowing a

answering. “Because then that bead will be the sole source of all the beast’s Records, right? And that sounds like a serious issue when you

The Viper nodded tentatively.

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,

is found within these natural treasures

within. Any weapon you use that is crafted by someone does, so you rely at least partly on their Records. This does not harm you in any way but only benefits them, at least in nearly all circumstances. The issue comes when the Records of an outside source supersede your own. You have experienced

when I created Eternal Hunger?” Jake asked,

simply nodded, allowing Jake

fight, Jake would have 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

one else has figured out before. Beastmasters belonging to armies breed hordes of beasts using these methods, some alchemists specialize in it, and even cooks make special dishes for monsters and humanoids alike containing powerful Records related to

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

entire concept of permanently losing something just doesn’t strike me as something I would want to do, but I guess I see your point. If I

miss 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 to come out better on the other side. This entire Primeval Origins thing

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 than any after, but of course, there is still a huge element of randomness. Additionally, no matter what, there will always

that why everyone talks about waiting with kids

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. Again, things get far rockier when

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 no answers. There was one more

a Path based on my Records. Not with Sandy either. Shit, if that was

Records between individuals. It is a form of karmic magic, one any god is capable of. Do you know what your connection with

can see, as I don’t know

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