The Primal Hunter

As Jake had been briefed on earlier, then the majority of presents would not be handed to him directly. Most would go through the Order and simply be delivered to his residence, or somewhere else he designated, with Miranda or Viridia briefing Jake on any important things he may want to bring along to Nevermore.

Only gifts from the top factions would be handed over directly and opened in front of everyone. Even if the gift was not one that could just be handed over, they would still voice what it was. This was not really for Jake but for the factions handing over the gift. It was their way of showing intent toward the new Chosen of the Malefic Viper and, at the same time, flex on other factions. In some ways, this did benefit Jake as the gifts given openly had to be impressive in some way, or it would be an embarrassment to show everyone how shitty gifts you could give.

Viridia led Jake to one side of the room as the tiled floors raised themselves to form a small platform. Jake honestly thought this was overdoing it, but he knew these kinds of theatrics mattered to others. The many people present all observed him as Viridia invited him up to the stage before the Hall Master turned to address them.

“I do wonder what the denizens of the multiverse wish to gift our Chosen, considering his rather unique status as someone from a new universe and still a C-grade. Even more so when you consider his upcoming trip to Nevermore,” Viridia said with a big smile, pretty much hinting to the faction they better have something useful.

“Now, who would like to go first?” Viridia asked.

Jake was pretty damn sure this wasn’t a real question, as only one person responded. A Risen wearing a golden crown and immaculate robes stepped forward and bowed. “The Risen would be more than honored to do so.”

The man wasn’t some low-level person either. He was an S-grade and even had a Divine Blessing from the Blightfather himself.

“One of the Ghost Kings of the Risen. A title given to those who are deemed to have a high chance of reaching godhood,” Viridia informed him with telepathy.

“Considering the Chosen’s affinity to alchemy, we made some inquiries and believe that these gifts will be more than fitting, especially considering your adventure to Nevermore. Specialties from the depths of the Ghostlands itself, the Blightsea,” the Ghost King said as he kneeled and presented two items.

One of them was a box, and the other a black flask. Jake used telekinesis to accept both items as the Risen retreated a bit, giving Jake the opportunity to check out his things. This was pretty much mandatory, and something Jake had been briefed on. He needed to “show off” the items to everyone. That was part of the deal.

As he opened the box and saw ten black roots within, intense death mana was released, and he flashed a pleased smile beneath his mask after using Identify.

[Blightroot (Legendary)] – A root found on the shores of the Blightsea. Contains incredibly dense death affinity energy and is extremely potent when mixed with necrotic toxins. Has been pre-primed for alchemy, making it easier to work with than usual Blightroots. Direct consumption for non-Risen is not recommended.

They were pretty fucking good. Without delay, Jake also checked the flask

[Dead Man’s Flask (Legendary)] – A flask containing Blightsea Shore Water. Indestructible to anyone below S-grade. The water within will never lose potency, no matter how much time passes. The Interior is spatially expanded.

He lifted it up and took the small cork off, and poured out a single droplet which he also quickly Identified.

[Blighttsea Shore Water (Ancient)] – Water that has been taken from the shores of the Blightsea. Contains incredibly dense death affinity energy and is extremely potent when mixed with necrotic toxins. This water is primed for alchemical use, making it far easier to work with. Direct consumption for non-Risen is not recommended.

The liquid floated there for a while, long enough for everyone around to see it, before Jake put it back into the bottle and the cork back on before he nodded.

“I hope the gifts are to your satisfaction, Chosen of the Malefic One,” the Ghost King said.

thank the Risen for their gift. I am certain they will all prove useful,” Jake said, getting a smile from the man

managed to receive a gift that was actually useful. They quickly moved on as Viridia introduced the next guest

that…

is only proper: assistance in establishing your dominance within the newly integrated universe. Thus we would be honored to offer the Chosen one thousand D-grades and one million E-grade slaves who are all natives of the ninety-third to help populate and expand the Order of the Malefic Viper. Naturally, they will come with resources to make the transition as easy as possible, too,” the merchant said as he

but a million fucking people? That was just… insane. How was he even supposed to house them? Luckily,

man smiled as he bowed out and walked down from the stage, getting more claps as people clearly thought it was a great gift. Why they thought this

count of new slaves to five million. Naturally, they had to praise others giving slaves if they had the exact same fucking idea

those three, it was then time for someone Jake actually wanted to receive a gift from. A high elf woman wearing a white

princess from the Altmar Empire. Her father is an S-grade system-recognized king who rules several galaxies, with her mother also an S-grade from one of the highest-level noble

spoke. “Per the wishes of the

that the Altmar Empire had talked with him beforehand and that they had a personal connection while also explaining their gift and why it was so special. She also sprinkled in that she was family with Izil, though from what Jake remembered, Izil

hoped to get to replace his current Altmar

He was not disappointed.

(Legendary)] – A ring presented by the Altmar Empire to the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. This ring is made of an unknown but extremely energy-dense metal, with an unknown gem of immense power embedded in it. This ring was originally based on the Trial Signet design but has been further refined and improved to make a fitting gift for a Chosen. The first time the wielder equips the ring, they will become able to distribute the signet’s energy into whatever stats they desire. Distributing any of the stats will make the ring Soulbound. A brief recharge period is required between each re-distribution of stats.

in any

but better in every conceivable way. Five thousand fucking stats packed into one small ring was utterly insane and surpassed all items he had seen prior. Then again, the ring only gave stats with no other functionalities, which was probably why packing so many into it

be set once, and then it would be Soulbound and locked forever. This one he could re-configure on the fly if he needed some other stats or to play around with stat caps. Jake wanted to play around with it there and then but knew he would have to wait till later. One thing was certain, though: with this ring, he had hit the stat cap from equipment and even gone well beyond, allowing him to get more and more out of

insane, and Jake did all he could to not have a

as she slowly retreated away. More claps all around, though, for some reason, people seemed to think this gift was somehow lesser

knew the ring

because why not? Jake had honestly not believed it when Izil and everyone else had mentioned that the majority would offer slaves, but that did turn out to be

thing was that because so many offered it, Jake could act less and less thankful every time and simply nodded when they mentioned the gift of slaves. After these four, the ones who only gifted slaves didn’t even want to come up to the stage anymore,

fifteen fucking million slaves. More than many countries pre-system. Jake

was also from some merchant group, he wanted to scream, but then she mentioned which merchant group. Golden

elf that Jake naturally didn’t know, but Viridia informed him he was one of the people working on issues related to the

Emporium spent a long time considering what kinds of gifts we fought suitable for the Chosen. Anyone can simply offer slaves, but we would like to offer something even better. Knowledge and training for those who join the Chosen,” the dark elf said with

that can be used to summon a projected expert from the Golden Road headquarters, capable of teaching those interested in their crafts. Dungeon engineering, construction, enchanting, any

something entirely different for Earth as a whole. Granted, Jake didn’t really care overly much about how everyone else was doing, but he could see it give him some good PR to pretty much create public system schooling. If they had these experts teach others who could then go on to teach themselves… yeah, that could be useful. Throwing a glance at Miranda, he saw her eyes were practically

these formation discs as the dark elf looked

would like to offer the Puzzle Box of the Seeker. A box created by the famous god of puzzles and secrets, the Seeker, filled with mana puzzles. This one is designed for mortals but is not one

as people seemed to question a gift such as this. Jake himself was also confused about what kind of gift

is filled with a total of 10000

was incredibly surprised. Then he read the rest of the description. He stood there and