The Primal Hunter

Jake went back to his mansion and decided to head outside and check up on Vesperia first thing. He walked out the door and saw a large magic circle placed on the lawn not far from where Vesperia had been born, the Hive Queen sitting in the center. A cocoon of energy surrounded her, and Jake felt she was in deep meditation. Looking at the circle, he was sure she would notice if he got closer, so he slowly backed into the mansion and closed the door after him, deciding not to disturb her.

Meira was out of the house, so Jake headed for his laboratory. On the way, he inspected all his new gear, feeling pretty damn good about everything he had gained. He nearly had all the equipment he would need for Nevermore with only the Altmar Signet left to address, but he hoped to bring that up with Izil if Meira could invite her over. At the same time, he would also reveal to the elf that he was the Chosen so she would not get taken by surprise at the announcement.

Now, Jake did encounter one problem with his new and upgraded gear. He was getting close to the stats-increase limit one could get from equipment, which had resulted in him actually hitting the cap in one instance. With the new gloves, he noticed how he got fewer stats than he should have, making him frown. More specifically, he got nearly 200 less Strength than he should have, making him wonder what was wrong.

He looked through his status and poked around before he remembered a system rule that frankly hadn’t been relevant for a while. One could only ever gain a maximum of 20% extra in a single stat and a max of 15% extra overall stats from equipment, and Jake had hit the limit for Strength.

Staring at it for a while, he knew things would change when he got a new ring or upgraded his Altmar Signet, but… well, he did also have 635 Free Points he hadn’t bothered to put anywhere after his levels from the whole Vesperia ordeal.

And he did also need more Strength as the stat was falling quite a bit behind.

So, in classic Jake fashion, he didn’t overcomplicate things and tossed every single point in Strength, getting him above the cap and giving him a massive boost. The moment he put the stats in, he felt the rush, and he couldn’t help himself from clenching his fists. He felt like he had just done some powerlifting and like he could lift anything, but the feeling faded within seconds as he adapted. Still, it was a damn solid boost.

Having nothing more to do, Jake decided to do some alchemy while he waited for Meira to come back. Jake still needed to get a good stock of poison before Nevermore began, and he also had to talk to Draskil to let him know he would go public soon. Lots of stuff.

Jake moved to sit down as he took out his cauldron. As he sat down on the floor with his legs crossed, he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. The design of his boots meant there was a small flap around on the boots, both of them slightly ruined. Coupled with the leather that was thoroughly worn down, it had been well hidden, and it was only due to the odd angle when his legs were crossed that he spotted it. What he saw looked almost like some kind of writing, and as Jake looked closer, he saw it was extremely small text edged into the leather itself.

He was sure it hadn’t been there before but had appeared after his latest boot upgrade. Jake had been a bit disappointed no new lore or hint had been revealed about the owner in the item description, so he got excited something new had happened after all as he read it:

I look forward to meeting you once more; our meeting brief yet impactful. Hopefully, sooner rather than later. Your Path truly intrigues me.

- A curious admirer.

“That’s… odd,” Jake said, confused.

Jake frowned a bit as he checked the description of the boots once more, seeing it was the same. He just thought it was a bit of a weird message to leave when the boots said:

Boots once offered to an alchemist before setting out on a journey to experience the world outside at the behest of his master.

Why would a master write something like this on the inside of the boots? Or was it the alchemist who wrote it at some point? Maybe he gave the boots to someone else… but… actually, why did Villy even have these boots?

Jake was pretty damn sure they did not belong to Villy, Duskleaf, or anyone alive. He also had a hard time seeing Villy write that kind of message. Also, when had the boots been left there? Jake wasn’t sure how the rewards of Challenge Dungeons worked and if gods could change rewards given or if they were set upon the dungeon creation. If they were set, then these boots stemmed from the first era, which would limit the number of potential people even more.

somehow? No, that seemed off too. Monsters could not wear equipment, right? Also, why would the First Sage leave that message to Villy when he was actively teaching him? Why leave a message at all in the form of writing and not just say it? It would also be weird for Villy to leave something he had gotten from the First Sage as a dungeon reward, considering how much he

kind of lost about what was going on with

cheating, and he wanted to figure it out himself. Shaking his head, Jake stopped

the doubt or any underlying issues but just to

that if she returned to the office, her colleagues would instantly notice and question what had happened, and it would invite unwanted speculation. Best she kept herself away from most others for the next month or so until after

fast at responding and used the token she had given Irin to locate her. Irin felt space in her immediate

”Mistress,” Irin instantly kneeled.

so urgent;

and saw the woman of such beauty she couldn’t even properly describe it. Her entire being exuded charm, and Irin understood why even gods failed to resist her advances. No matter how many times she saw her

dear disciple… if I remember correctly, you were supposed to be assisting Lord Thayne during these last couple of days, am I correct?” the Velvet Mistress

Irin said, forcing herself to look at the

”So, my assumptions were correct; he is indeed the Chosen of the Malefic One. Curious why a Primordial would choose a human, but I am certain the Malefic One has knowledge we are not privy to.

led them both towards the large bed as she asked in a curious tone.

suddenly just agreed, and they had gone into the hotel. She also

looked incredibly interested and happy throughout, especially when she mentioned it was just the two of them and their

the Velvet Mistress looked at Irin after she was done talking and leaned in to whisper in her ear. ”Now, you never told me the most important part… how was he? Was

”I… I believe that should be

giggle. ”Interesting… and he wants to see you again too. Oh my, that is

once more

hold his interest… marvelous. You have gone above and beyond, my little Irin,” the mistress said with

she had been recognized and returned the smile.

would be? He is still a newly integrated young human man from the ninety-third era, after all, and even as a Chosen, he is still a C-grade man,

herself as she looked in thought for a moment. Then, she smiled even more than before and spoke words that made a chill run

visit and have

eyes opened wide as her

could invite him here for a private lesson.

Order of the Malefic Viper to prepare for the ceremony, so did the rest

was the first event open to the public that the Order of the Malefic Viper would hold since the return of the Primordial, which in itself was

was someone from the new universe and was at least in part a reason why the Malefic One even returned to the multiverse, which just

often brought up, while others pointed at other powerful entities. There were a lot of scalekins from a snake Lineage as examples, all of which

was an opportunity, and all factions – big or small – knew this was the time to strike if they wanted to forge a new and powerful relationship or simply strengthen the one

gifts were all aimed at