The Primal Hunter

The entire room appeared frozen as Jake and Villy grinned at each other, Jake finding the prank from the Viper funny. He had, of course, seen him act like a servant, as Jake’s sphere didn’t care about the illusion the god had placed upon himself. From the Viper’s grin, Jake had acted just as predicted, resulting in a great prank.

At least Jake thought it was a good prank… the problem was, someone else clearly didn’t.

”Are you mocking a Primordial?” the Azure Dragonkin practically roared as he stood up. Scarlett tried to stop him as she realized, but she was too slow. The Dragonkin went not for Jake but for the poor waiter as he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off the ground.

”A mere servant using the name of the Malefic One in vain to mock him and his Chosen in the very same breath,” he seethed, tightening his grip. ”Fucking heretic. I should kill you on the spot.”

The jovial smile of the Viper slowly faded as he looked at the dragonkin. He did not speak as his illusion slowly dissolved, revealing the humanoid form of the Malfic Viper. At the same time, Jake felt a wave of energy pass through him, and on the floor below, he saw those eating suddenly freeze halfway through their actions; time itself stopped.

Then came the presence.

The arm of the Azure Dragonkin began turning to dust as he tried to scream, but he couldn’t get any words out as he was slammed into the ground. Blood poured out of his eyes, mouth, and nose, and his face warped from an expression of overconfidence to pure terror.

”You just had to go and ruin a good time,” Villy stared down at the shaking dragonkin. Jake, for his part, released his own presence to try and protect the others at the table as he saw everyone else besides himself freeze up.

”The Venerated Azure Dragon, huh. You are blessed by a mere whelp of the true Azure Dragon Patriarch, and believe yourself above everyone else,” Villy shook his head before looking up and addressing everyone else in the room. ”It was a fun prank, right?”

Everyone nodded, not a single person daring to disagree. Even Jake nodded, not because he felt compelled like the others, but because he genuinely agreed.

”See, you just have no sense of humor,” the Viper said. ”Now, if that isn’t blasphemy, I don’t know what is.”

”F… forgive…” the Azure Dragonkin tried to stammer out as Villy just sighed.

”Forgiveness? Alright, off you go. I am already done with you,” the Viper shrugged, waving his hand as the Azure Dragonkin disappeared from the room. Jake considered if Villy had killed him, but he didn’t feel like he had.

”A mere mortal whelpling isn’t worth killing; better for him to learn a lesson,” Villy said, clarifying he wasn’t dead as he went over and took a seat at the other end of the table opposite Jake.

”What did you do to him?” Jake asked curiously, wondering what the Viper meant when he said he had taught him a lesson. He didn’t believe for a single second removing an arm and giving the guy a fright was enough for the Viper.

”You saw what I did; I destroyed his arm,” the snake god said with a grin. ”Oh, but not the usual kind of destruction. Let’s just say he will have to enjoy the rest of his journey through C-grade jerking himself off with his other hand.”

was curious why Villy hadn’t just killed the Azure Dragonkin outright, but he could always ask about that later.

in conversion, Scarlett managed to collect herself as she stood up and bowed deeply. ”I greet the

else followed suit, bowing deeply or kneeling in front of the Viper, with Jake being the only one not doing anything besides focusing on keeping his mouth shut and not trying to convince them that it wasn’t necessary. He knew that was a losing battle, and ultimately, what did it have to do with him how they

something out, her gaze filled with fear. It did make sense; she was the only one not a friend or at least acquaintance of Jake left in the room, with the one who had brought her – someone Jake assumed

really give a shit about her, or really any of them as individuals. Jake wondered why the Viper had even come, and a thought quickly appeared… but

this visit, I wonder?” Jake asked Villy after he

personally for your upcoming journey to Nevermore and noticed someone mocking my Chosen, and thus me, so I felt compelled to teach him the

handed it to Jake. Jake accepted and put it in his inventory without even checking

Chosen, at which point it would be too late,” Jake saw through the ancient

don’t act like we aren’t equally to blame, so just play along and enjoy the damn

useful,” he spoke,

the room. ”Carry on with your matters. Oh yeah, and keep your mouths shut about Jake here until after the

away as time resumed to normal in

for several seconds as Jake broke the tension with a joke. ”Relax, the big bad

work as Irin breathed out in relief. Only now did he see she had been clenching her fists so hard her nails had dug into her hands, making blood spill

Scarlett, probably asking something telepathically, as she stared at Jake with wide

she is the only one left who didn’t know I was the Chosen, Jake reminded himself. That was probably another reason why Villy had so casually intruded: they all knew who he was already. Proof

still labored. ”I still find it difficult to comprehend how you can be

serious and tense all the time,” Jake just answered, getting

it’s all very much… something,” Irin

break it. Luckily, at that moment, a waiter – a real one this time around – entered, also holding a tray of drinks. He was a scalekin and stopped

I apologize. Did another attendant already take your

before shaking

wanted. The waiter coming now turned out to be damn great timing as it brought a

out of place and even offered to leave, but Scarlett wanted her to stay, and Jake didn’t care, so she remained even if she didn’t really speak at all unless asked something. Once the food came,

truly was, but it was still damn tasty. After his visit,

been up to. Reika had unsurprisingly just been doing lessons and steadily progressing, having even upgraded her token to a gold token, giving her a private residence she had brought Bastilla to. Her alchemy had clearly progressed, and

new friends. She had met the Thundervenom Adder during one of her lessons, and seeing as they were both snakes, they had connected, and the Thundervenom had later introduced Scarlett to the Azure Dragonkin. This was also when Jake learned that the Adder was effectively working for the Azureflight,

even punish her and place

Scarlett, you are also invited along with her to the ceremony next month, and I hope you can attend,” Jake said with a smile as