The Primal Hunter

“That must have been cathartic,” the Sword Saint said after they had made some good distance between themselves and the northern arenas. “I take it no one is following us?”

“Nobody, as far as I can tell. And yes, it felt damn good to finally tell that fucker off,” Jake wholeheartedly agreed, though he scratched his chin a bit embarrassed as he asked:. “But… eh… was that entire speech a bit overboard?”

“Hm, it was adequate and communicated what had to be said,” the old man shook his head.

“Good, good,” Jake nodded. He had pretty much made up the speech on the spot and let out a few pent-up feelings, so he wasn’t sure how it came off.

“It was an interesting encounter, I must say,” the Sword Saint commented. “More so than your speech, I believe your recent actions in relation to Vesperia are the real issue for this Yip and his Chosen. His attempt to try and find a solution that does not include killing you seemed genuine. I believe they fear the potential backlash of other factions if they kill you outright, and chances are they will attempt to discredit or spin that ability of yours, such as claiming that it cannot truly benefit others. Or perhaps say you refuse to help anyone.”

“I had considered that and also planned a counter-strategy of sorts to that bullshit story, but all of that is for after Nevermore. I truly couldn’t go and affect another evolution here and now even if I wanted to,” Jake sighed. He was still annoyed at having to deal with Ell’Hakan, but he had also decided to take it seriously.

“In either case, today was a win. You turned the narrative from you pursuing him to him being the one chasing you. You threw the ball in his court to prove himself worthy of even competing with you. I do not doubt he can spin it to still be a position he can work from, but one thing I do believe is that you managed to change part of the discourse. You swept him up in your own tale, and forcing any storyteller to adapt and change his story to fit a new reality leaves it open for plot holes and mistakes,” the Sword Saint said.

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “Thanks, by the way. You handled things pretty damn perfectly. I did not expect that line about great-grandson-in-law. Sure threw me for a loop, and I guess my confusion and embarrassment was a great veil to block Ell’Hakan from gleaming anything.”

“Ah, yes,” the Sword Saint nodded. “But it was genuine. I had hoped something would develop there, especially after the two of you got along during the Treasure Hunt. Sadly, it seems you and little Reika aren’t meant to be.”

Jake nearly tripped at the old man talking so frankly. “Well… sorry to disappoint. I only ever viewed her as a colleague and a friend.”

“Perhaps for the best,” the Sword Saint nodded. “ I reckon she would not be accepting of any extramarital affairs with succubi or elves.”

Glancing at the old man, Jake saw the cheeky smile, making him know the bastard was joking around. “You make it sound like I plan on building a harem.”

The Sword Saint glanced back at Jake. “If you planned on having one, I would advise against it. It is exhausting and leads to needless drama if you want to keep everyone happy, and once children become involved, it is a nightmare. Better to settle for either one life partner or not truly commit to anyone.”

“Wow, you almost make it sound like you’re talking from personal experience,” Jake teased the Sword Saint back.

The old man just smiled.

“Wait, seriously? You had a fucking harem?”

“Life is a journey. Looking back and focusing too much on the past will never lead to happiness. Instead, we should focus on present issues and the recent past. Such as you owing me a new robe,” the old man said in a fake sage tone.

“Hold up, let’s get back to the fact you apparently had a damn-“

“Ah, would you look at that? The southern arenas are on the horizon,” he cut Jake off.

“You aren’t getting that robe,” Jake muttered.

“A sacrifice I will have to make.”

Jake shook his head and walked silently, and decided to do something he probably should have handled earlier. At the very least, it should help take his mind off the exploits and the mental images of the Sword Saint in the past.

Walking, Jake finally got around to fixing the stats on his newly gained ring from the Altmar Empire. He had 5000 stats to distribute but only around 2500 stats till the cap, so he chose to only place 2500 of them for now. Considering Strength and Agility were already close to their caps, and Jake not feeling like he needed the other stats that badly, he made an executive decision.

+2500 Perception.

After that, he still had 59 stats to the cap and decided to put 100 into Strength just for good measure to not have any waste. Due to the awesome design of the ring, he could always fix it later. Opening his status, he did a quick check-over.

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

(C)

[Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge

the Malefic Viper

Health Points (HP): 88340/88340

Mana Points (MP): 174703/174703

Stamina: 89012/89110

Stats

Strength: 8536

Agility: 12496

Endurance: 8911

Vitality: 8834

Toughness: 7389

Wisdom: 11181

Intelligence: 9276

Perception: 23246

Willpower: 9385

Free points: 0

[Kingslayer], [Nobility: Marquess], [Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist], [Perfect Evolution (D-grade)],

(Epic)], [Arcane Powershot (Epic)], [Steady Aim of the Apex Hunter (Ancient)], [Arcane Awakening (Ancient)], [One Step, Thousand Miles (Ancient)], [Fangs of Man (Ancient)],

[Sense of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Wings of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Legacy Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen

of the Malefic Viper (Blessing -

of the Myriad Races (Unique)], [Legacy of Man (Unique)], [Wisdom of the Hunter (Unique)], [Identify (Rare)], [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)], [Shroud

of the Primal Hunter (Bloodline

finally got fully capped out on equipment. Strength

with the northern ones where they had met Ell’Hakan, this was an entire complex, but also, as with Ell’Hakan, it wasn’t hard to find the one they were looking for. Because in this place, there was also one arena with far more attention than any of the others, and as

Saint quickly confirmed their suspicions after entering the stands of the large colosseum and seeing the creature that was down below with an entire party of challengers standing before him. Or, well, three people were standing. Another was embedded head-first into a wall, and the fifth one was just two legs sticking out of a large

humans, and the last three still standing were a man with a large sword, a woman with

the Fallen King said as he floated slightly off the ground, opposite of these humans. “Nevertheless.

he released a blast of force toward the mage. Jake was surprised to see the guy capable of teleporting away in time as he reappeared nearly a hundred meters away and slammed his palms together as a massive pillar-like

to cover for the woman with her spear. Ice condensed all around her as she stabbed forward, only to hit a transparent barrier. The entire spear bent from the

body as he jumped and cleaved the sword downwards onto the barrier of the King. Once more, the Unique Lifeform didn’t even budge. The warrior’s eyes opened

battle it shall

to watch the Fallen King manhandle the three of the remaining members, and less than a minute later, they all teleported out as

a Unique Lifeform… is that barrier even breakable by a C-grade around his

five were all considered pretty damn good; they won four party battles just yesterday,”

to a bunch of humans just isn’t

before throwing Jake a glance. “Would you mind if I go retrieve the King as you

said. He felt Sylphie through their Union Oath and knew she was halfway across the filled stands. He began to make his way over, trying to not bump into anyone, as he watched the

spoke. “Are there any more challengers, or will the Unique Lifeform

comments from people about how no one wanted to go embarrass themselves before the

have a challenger! An

idiot,” someone muttered as Jake walked by,

Sword Saint appeared,

“Let the battle begin!”

the weak-looking old man away the moment the announcer declared the match had begun, the Unique Lifeform instead spoke. “Ah, you are done dealing

came to fetch

would be a waste to give up a chance like this. I know of the power wielded by the others, but please, humor me. Let me feel the blade