The Primal Hunter

The very next second, the orb of steam above Minaga exploded, bathing the entire room in dense white fog. What’s more, this steam had some of the concepts from the mist in the labyrinths infused into it, meaning that within a second, he had severely limited the sense of everyone. Well, everyone except Jake, that is. With his Mark of the Avaricious Hunter and Perception, he was pretty much unaffected, considering the size of the room.

“Dina, left, fire,” Jake warned her, and she responded just in time as she turned and manifested a wooden shield right as a staff slammed into it, exploding in a huge inferno that blasted her backward. She slid across the ground as Bobo had managed to help shake off the last of the damage, dozens of tendrils of wood extending from her body.

Minaga was about to strike again as a stable arcane arrow pierced through the mist, hitting him in the shoulder and penetrating through his robe.

“Man, how bloody high is your Perception stat?” Minaga questioned as he telekinetically pulled the arrow out just before it exploded, once more making it clear he knew what Jake and company were capable of. Except he seemed to have underestimated Jake’s Perception.

Jake also had a bit of a theory as he shot another arrow. Minaga reacted a bit slowly but managed to block it with a barrier he summoned with one staff as he pointed the other toward Dina, who was about to cast some magic of her own.

“Dina, dodge to the left.”

Without hesitation, she stopped casting and jumped to the left, just in time to avoid a beam of light that burned a tunnel through the mist. Minaga seemed a bit surprised she reacted in time but was even more surprised when two arrows flew around his barrier, hitting him in the shoulder and arm.

Both were once more pulled out telekinetically instantly, but Jake had confirmed his theory. The mist is also limiting his Perception somewhat…

Minaga was less affected than anyone else, though. Even Jake was hit harder by the mist; he just managed to overcome it through sheer stat points. To continue his testing, Jake loosed another arrow, this one of the destructive variety. It was blown up in mid-air halfway toward Minaga as he shot a small beam of light at it.

Another flew right behind it that Minaga was forced to sidestep, the Unique Lifeform looking slightly annoyed at Jake interrupting him. With Jake distracting him, he had lost his chance to deal damage to Dina before the Fallen King, Sword Saint, and Sylphie could reenter the fight.

A massive tornado gathered as Sylphie addressed the dense steam that hampered everyone except Jake. The tornado lifted all the steam just as the Sword Saint and Fallen King got close to where Jake told them Minaga was standing, the old man attacking with a more cautious approach this time around.

From behind, the Fallen King summoned a large massive ball on a golden chain that he swung from the side, timed to arrive at the same time as the Sword Saint’s attack.

Minaga saw the attacks coming and smiled as he sunk into the floor, making both attacks miss entirely.

Jake’s eyes opened wide.

“Dina, behi-“

It was too late as the Unique Lifeform popped up right behind Dina, who was decidedly not ready to respond. In one hand, he held a ball of fire, and in the other, an orb of frost, both giving off intense energy. He brought them together as he did a double-palmed strike only a meter behind her. The moment the fire and ice met, Jake’s danger sense exploded, and he instinctively used Gaze of the Apex Hunter on Minaga to try and delay him.

It only managed to freeze him for a minuscule moment, but it was enough for Dina’s guardian to at least respond. Bobo counter-attacked instantly, as hundreds of roots shot out to meet the mixed fire and ice attack.

Jake was incredibly glad he had given Dina a chance to

was sent flying, her entire form encased in a mix of flames and ice. She smashed into the other side of the massive room as Minaga stood still

response from both of

not pop into the ground as the entire

unbothered, but the old man was intent on being a threat. Water surrounded his blade as he did an upwards slash, and Minaga moved to block again, only to find himself feinted when the sword abruptly shifted direction. The Unique Lifeform was ready and had already moved to block the sword… only for the entire blade to vibrate as it seemed to rewind in time for but a moment. It threw off all timing as the Sword Saint

good one!” Minaga smiled as a faint trickle of blue blood dripped from his stomach, with only a light cut left there. Jake had already had his suspicions, but

more durable than expected…” the Sword Saint said just as

Saint engaged Minaga as Jake offered range support with the Fallen King as the two of them

Bobo is hurt badly,” Dina communicated through their telepathic link as she dislodged herself from the wall. Her robe was torn, and the wooden armor usually covering her body was broken in several places from a mix of frost and flames. ”I will need

that frost-fire attack again,” Jake answered as he kept shooting arrows. Talking and fighting at the same time was not particularly hard with

she still had to keep the tornado active to keep it up there. The Fallen King was also cooking as Jake and the Sword Saint fought Minaga, who was not particularly pressured. Jake did notice that he

didn’t seem to have any healing spells as he slowly began to push back the Sword Saint. Jake’s fellow human was simply

on his face, he was pressed into the ground as everything around him seemed to vibrate. He slightly buckled as all the tiles around him cracked, and a dent in the floor was made in the area

of what the Fallen King had practiced during his time on the city floor. Usually, he was always the direct source of all his force magic, resulting in it often functioning more as direct ranged attacks rather

of not only shooting it out from his body but could strike from even

suppressed, the Sword Saint and Jake made their moves. The old man pointed his blade as he used his erosion

pretty good too!”Minaga grinned as his eyes began to glow. The golden veil of energy started lifting off him just as the Sword Saint and

to point his staff and meet the stab head-on, resulting in the Sword Saint getting sent flying back from the sheer feedback of his sword hitting metal. As for Jake’s blow,

”Nice tr-”

constant stream. Sylphie had hidden within her own giant tornado, successfully proving it was a superior method of stealth than any other, making Minaga not notice even as she prepared her attack. Mentioning the fact that the steam was mixed

down on Minaga. Jake did not sit idly by and already had an arrow nocked as the

would get

floor, a massive amount of rock speared out and momentarily blocked off the wind long enough for Minaga to jump out of the attack. Just as he did this, three ranged attacks arrived at once, but he clearly had all his

Sylphie had frayed his robe and left Minaga just in his pants. His upper body was covered in small cuts here and there from the slashing winds, with a few small holes on his arms and the cut from the Sword Saint being the only other outward

her attack

but before anyone else could make a

“Batter up!”

hard as he hit the magical circle. The moment he did, a more

all hit the meteor, but they failed to have any impact, forcing her to dodge out of the way. At least she tried to. Below, Minaga pointed his

Sylphie summoned her Green Shield as she flapped her wings as best she could, and at the very end, she managed to get mostly out of the way. Emphasis on mostly. The side of the meteor still hit her, sending her tumbling as her