The Primal Hunter

“Is he…?” the plump old alchemist asked as he looked at the screen.

”Yep,” Vilastromoz confirmed.

“This scene is a bit odd, isn’t it?” Duskleaf questioned.

“Not gonna question it,” the snake god shrugged, not seeing anything wrong with the admittedly weird-looking scene.

They were naturally watching Jake give Vesperia head pats, the prideful True Royal sitting perfectly still but, based on the antennas shaking slightly, clearly enjoying it. If any outsider saw this, it would look like a younger man patting the head of an older woman, perhaps even finding the entire scene indecent.

“You know what Jake and I talked about?” Vilastromoz asked his disciple. ”About him coming out as Chosen?”

“Yes, and I also know what you are going to argue,” Duskleaf shook his head.” Him revealing it purposefully does not mean you win our bet on when he would leak it on a technicality.”

“Well, he can’t leak it if he openly reveals it, now can he? Something already well-known can’t be leaked, can it? Or did the definition of the word leak somehow change within the last few minutes?”

Duskleaf just looked at him for a few moments before shaking his head.” Fine, you win, happy?”

“Not really when you act like that,” Vilastromoz pursed his lips. Still kinda happy.

“Our stupid bet is meaningless before what Jake managed to accomplish today anyway. I had assisted him in the ritual and based on the Sylphian and that cosmic worm, I had begun to hope he could perhaps even hatch a Quasi-Royal, but to see a True Royal be born… one of a fallen Lineage too,” Duskleaf said in awe. ”This truly is unprecedented, and I feel fortunate to have been involved in her creation. Rewarded too.”

“Wait, you don’t mean?” the Viper asked, surprised.

“I did not expect to gain levels from a C-grade succeeding in a ritual I assisted with either,” Duskleaf shrugged and smiled.

Vilastromoz nodded and smirked to himself. So I wasn’t the only one.

Jake had to admit that his thought process when he decided to pat Vesperia on the head had not been all that sound. He had spent far too long considering what he wanted to say and not what he would do, but as he saw Vesperia clearly feeling sad, he did the first thing that sprung to mind: head pats.

pats… so…

her slightly lean into his hand, and her antennas shook oddly as she just sat there, eyes closed. Jake had no idea how long

considered if she needed a hug, but that seemed a bit too much. Jake had never been the type to show much physical affection, and head pats were already a

speak but just stared. Jake, sensing some confusion, shook his head

but what does the rubbing of the head

eyebrow and did the only thing that made sense. He patted her on the head again. ”That you needed

needed him to calm down. It worked back then, and it worked still. He felt like it was a nice middle ground between

and Jake had to also

spent with the two of them just talking while looking around the rest of the mansion, Jake telling her about himself, and Vesperia sharing her own thoughts on different topics. Being a True Royal only born that very day, Vesperia had a personality primarily formed from her Lineage Knowledge and innate disposition, making her appear aloof and straightforward while viewing herself as a

had spent his entire life working on not acting on this feeling. This was simply the coping mechanism

feelings and manipulate others, but considering Jake sucked at manipulating others socially, he just went with

a good middle-ground by not thinking he was innately better than anyone else while also not thinking anyone else was better than him. This went against his nature and even Bloodline, but shaking off his entire upbringing was not that easily done, and he

suppress her feelings of superiority. As a True Royal, it would even be detrimental. She was born to lead her Lineage, born to be a decisive leader that would put their own existence over others. If she died, her hive would die, and she had

seemed to think

act with a certain demeanor. You are second only to the Primordial himself in the eyes of many, and if you act meek or like others are equal to you, it can prove detrimental to both yourself and your Patron,” Vesperia voiced her thoughts. ”Others will grovel, so just accept it with stoicism. Some will give you gifts, so accept them. These gifts are as much for the giver as they are for you. It is to openly display their support and respect towards you and the Order, and to reject these gifts due to your own personal

to his personal feelings on the matter. He had little sense of decorum or knowledge on how to act like a proper Chosen, and he knew that he would never truly be able or want to act like one. Jake was still Jake, after all. But it would probably be a good idea to begin putting some thought before some of his actions when

and always wore a mask. Going out in public while staying incognito was still an option as long as everyone wasn’t actively looking for him. He would just have to either

make the big

Yeah, fuck that.

at dealing with social situations, but that didn’t mean he felt comfortable at some big announcement where he was the center of attention. While he

did make him look more intimidating. A lot more like the Chosen of some snake god of questionable morality, that was for

available, she still

wanted to warn those he knew in the Order about what was about to happen, so they at least had

for warning the Emberflight… yeah, he wasn’t going to do that. They could learn the truth at the same time as everyone else and hopefully scramble in panic. He did want to be a fly on the wall for whatever emergency meeting they would have, but he would just have to ask Villy for an update as he was sure the Viper

he really had to do for now was address his equipment. Something he had honestly neglected for a while. He was missing a lot of potential stats, and the defensive capability of of his current equipment was less

what he already had, fully aware he would probably have to replace or upgrade everything. Starting from the top, he

of 110, with the enchantment to hide him better and change color while self-repairing. Verdict: utterly useless for a long time and only functioning outside of combat. He would just replace