The Primal Hunter

Every single universe in existence was filled with life, planets, stars, and incredible opportunities. Yet the thing it had more of than anything else was nothingness. Empty spaces that seemed infinitely large, so big that some S-grades would struggle to pass through it in their entire lifetimes.

One of the largest empty spaces of all could be found within the second universe.

And at its center, one could find it: Nevermore.

A floating flat landmass that looked like a continent just sitting there in space at first look, but once one came closer, it became obvious it wasn’t one. Instead, it was a ring. This donut-shaped object truly didn’t look like much to an onlooker, but once one got near, things changed. Beneath the hole, darkness stretched, coated in nothingness surpassing even the blackness of space all around it. Stretching down what felt like infinitely.

Not even the most powerful of gods could pierce this dark pillar. This dark space. An indestructible concept blocked their path, with the only way in through the large pit on the floating ring. When looking down this endless pit of darkness, it looked like certain death, but in reality, it was an entrance to the single-largest dungeon in the entire multiverse. Floor after floor extended downwards, and entire cities on ”safe” floors were interspaced throughout.

Despite the floors making it sound like it was a linear path, this wasn’t even true. The pit allowed you to fall to where you belonged, and when the system decided where to send you, you simply appeared there. Nobody could even know one truly appeared in a space inside this pillar.

Nevertheless, this place was a place no faction in the multiverse could neglect.

Even the ring itself had become home to a massive city, barely any space unoccupied as every single faction had made their own compounds, and merchants had taken what was left. All this was under the purview of the Wyrmgod of Nevermore – the dungeon master of this World Wonder.

And on that day, a party of five appeared in the ringed city that had aptly been dubbed Nevermore City.

Nevermore.

Jake had heard so much about it for years. William had used it at D-grade to get a huge level advantage, and many D-grades who weren’t considered top-tier talents went there to get an edge and often to try and overcome their current limitations. Nevermore was a well-spring of Records, surpassing other dungeons by quite a margin as the mega-dungeon had something none others did:

Unique titles.

The deeper you went, the better the title, so if you had little confidence to reach far into D-grade, going to Nevermore after evolving was a great way to ensure you would at least have some progress. For these people, C-grade was still a long shot, but Nevermore would at least give them a chance.

To people like Jake and his party members, they went there only at C-grade to compete on the Nevermore Leaderboards. These Leaderboards mattered not only for reputation and to show off to others but would give tangible titles based on how well you did. How the Leaderboards worked was also simple as could be.

Rack up points based on how you did in Nevermore. All scores were individual, and points could be gained both during solo portions of Nevermore and group portions, with the final score being cumulative, meaning to be the best, you had to be good at both. With a time limit of fifty years, it was a marathon to get as many points as you could.

The easiest way to gain points was to clear floors, do quests, complete challenges, get achievements, and participate in events. Simply killing a lot didn’t necessarily give any rewards, though level-gain during this period did also reward points. The fact levels gave points was also one of the reasons it was generally considered best to be at close to 200 as possible, though being at a higher level could help allow you to dive further down.

Getting to Nevermore was also far easier than one would expect. The Wyrmgod himself had set up teleportation beacons that were incredibly easy to hone into even for forces that didn’t have any gods, and through direct aid by the system, even the cost of teleportation was significantly reduced. During one of their long conversations, Jake had briefly talked to Villy about the Wyrmgod, and the Viper had revealed that out of every single Primordial, if not all gods, period, the Wyrmgod was the top expert when it came to space magic.

This is to say that Jake and his party of five arrived at Nevermore City without any issues. More accurately, they appeared within the compound controlled by the Order of the Malefic Viper. Even if the Order had become derelict throughout the ages, they had still maintained this compound, and it still remained one of the largest in Nevermore City since the day it was established in the second era.

”Welcome to Nevermore City, Chosen of the Malefic One and his comrades in arms,” an attendant spoke as soon as they stepped off the teleportation circle.

released a pulse immediately to scan the area. He saw a massive compound that looked like it could house millions, if not billions, without issue, though it appeared mostly empty. Besides that, he felt quite

dozen gods here, Jake quickly realized. All of them were within the Order compound, too, indicating they were members. A few seconds after he detected these auras, they all pulled back, leaving

greeted the attendant.

odd party moved through the halls of the large building they had appeared in as Jake took the chance to ask

need to

but the sandals looked the same, and his sword was his old ancestral weapon. Jake naturally couldn’t see the old man’s jewelry, but he knew that if he had to rely only on

that won’t be necessary,” the Sword

really? Damn, for me, it was quite a challenge to hit the stat cap,” Jake commented. ”Did you have Reika get you

is that I don’t need equipment to hit any stat cap,” the Sword Saint explained. ”Or, more accurately, I cannot get stats from equipment. I instead simply get stats when I am wielding my sword, roughly equivalent to the stat cap. A limitation of

even know that was a thing, but I

I shun away from upgrading what I wear. The robe still offers good protection and even increases my resource regeneration, my bracers are defensively focused, my sandals increase the effectiveness of my movement-related skills,

is

me after our last duel,” the old man

that work inside the dungeon?”

Dina.

asked but still nodded. ”Yeah, Bobo is

as,” the Sword Saint said. ”Though there will likely be some restrictions considering it is an item I cannot fully control, so I cannot promise we will have another combatant, just that he should at least be able to give out some advice. Not that

Monarch of Blood at all times… yeah,

made them Companions – hence why he could take her along to the Treasure Hunt – but that did not mean they could do the same for Nevermore. They each took up a slot, as while they were linked, they were still entirely separate entities. One thing Jake had

directly tied to the ”owner” in question. This made them closer to permanent

in a gray zone, and there were so many damn gray zones one single rule simply could not exist. This ultimately resulted in every situation being judged on a case-by-case basis, where the system decided if it was okay or not. Luckily, there were several ways to test it before already being at the dungeon. This was mainly an issue for tamers who, more

horde of ten thousand beasts into a sewer dungeon also probably wouldn’t

in the Order compound where their final preparation would be done, and a basic strategy would be formed. In reality, they had not discussed much internally about how they planned on approaching the dungeon and tackling the challenges,

accurately, they were overqualified for the

floors that got progressively more difficult, so it only made sense for the first ones to be far too easy for a party like theirs. It was possible to skip floors altogether, but Jake and the others had no desire to do this even if they could

some synergy and truly learn how the others fought. Jake knew the most in their party about how the others approached combat, and even his knowledge

and of course, it was a chance to

they were all in a meeting room, and he had sent the attendant away. ”First of all, Sylphie, come here for a

the United Tribes for you. It is the feather of a super strong bird, and if you eat it, you can absorb

”Ree?”

it will taste like, but probably not too bad. Also, you will have to eat it rather quickly based on what the phoenix goddess who gifted

”Ree,” Sylphie acknowledged.

opened, and powerful energy radiated into the

*Gulp*