The Primal Hunter

Blood flew into the air as Jake managed to slice the neck of Minaga, making him stumble back. His one arm already hung limply at his side as he tried to retaliate with the other using a blast of fire, but Jake dodged under it and stabbed Minaga in the arm.

A final eruption of power sent Jake stumbling back as a rain of lightning bolts struck him, making his entire body tingle from the impact and his scales crackle with energy. Minaga himself looked spent as he stood there, leaning on his staff.

Jake pulled out his bow, showing no mercy as an Arcane Powershot hit Minaga square in the chest, sending him flying into a wall with another hole in his chest. Activating his Arcane Charge from the Mark, he made Minaga flash with arcane energy as he groaned momentarily.

Still embedded halfway into a wall, he looked at Jake.

”Heh… good fight. I at least had fun. You are also the first one to win, so take pride in that! Good luck with the rest of our battle,” Minaga said as he smiled. ”See you soon.”

With those words, Minaga’s clone turned into wisps of energy that moved and created three portals, each with the figure of one of his party members above it. The one not showing was the Sword Saint’s, and Jake knew why, as the old man had informed them of his special ”lesson” with the Unique Lifeform. After he had informed them of that, there had been radio silence, but considering they had not gotten any notifications about failing the bonus objective, he should still be fighting.

Jake felt happy but was not really proud of being the first one to finish his fight. In fact, it was completely expected. The clone he fought was weaker than the real Minaga by a great deal, but it was still level 275, which meant his Big Game Hunter skill remained active as powerful as before, and all of his skills that allowed him to do more damage to higher-level foes still worked. He was truly the best in fights like this.

Focusing on where to go next, he looked through the portals as he quickly reached out using the Golden Mark.

”Done with my clone. Where should I head next? Anyone needs help badly?” Jake questioned, unsure where to go. They had not communicated much as they were all busy with their own respective fights, so Jake didn’t know the situation in the other rooms.

”Ree!” Sylphie complained through the link, clearly not happy with how things were going on her end.

”I can hold on for a while longer,” Dina said.

”Leave me be,” the Fallen King said dismissively, sounding almost offended by Jake even daring to ask if he needed help with handling the other Unique Lifeform.

No answer from the Sword Saint. Not that it mattered, as helping him was not an option.

Jake didn’t delay as he jumped through the portal with the figure of Sylphie depicted above it, and the moment he arrived on the other side, he was buffeted by powerful winds as he got a lay of the land.

If Jake’s fight had been a focused fight with emphasis on micro-strategy that led to little impact on their surroundings, Sylphie’s fight was the exact opposite. The entire room was thoroughly torn up all around him as magic of a massive scale ravaged through. With no party members to watch out for, Sylphie let loose and became a living whirlwind of destructive winds, filling nearly half of the room.

Minaga had clearly responded in kind as massive magic circles floated around him, large-scale spells thrown out as if mana wasn’t even a resource to him. Giant freezing tornadoes met Sylphie’s winds as they canceled each other out, both parties trying to land smaller and more deadly attacks whenever an opportunity presented itself. That usually took the form of Sylphie occasionally attempting a fly-by, with Minaga sometimes finding an opening to land a beam of light or a highly-condensed ice shard or metal spike.

truly had no idea who would win if it continued. He had no interest

of whirling flames. A giant inferno exploded from their impact, and the fire was rapidly dispersed by the powerful winds. Just as Minaga prepared to strike

”Well, shi-”

in the side, blasting his barrier apart and sending him reeling back with blood trickling down his side. A stable arcane arrow had penetrated deeply into his shoulder, and he did not have time to pull it

followed up as she unleashed a giant blade of wind, sending the Unique Lifeform tumbling back even further. Minaga stabilized

anything. Rather than dodge, Minaga tanked several attacks as dozens of magical circles popped into the air around Sylphie. She tried to get away, but a few of the circles lit up, sealing the area. The rest of the circles began glowing with increasing intensity, and even when an

pulses of dark energy that washed over Sylphie. A screech echoed throughout the hall, making Jake worried. He moved to make sure Minaga could do nothing more as he blasted the Unique Lifeform

explosions of dark magic had not just hit her but all of the wind that was connected to her. Her entire body seemed to give off black smoke as it had invaded her body, almost like a poison consuming her from within. Jake did not register it as poison, but he

Coupled with what injuries he had taken from Sylphie during their one-versus-one fight, Jake and his

as his body faded into wisps of

took out a small

She was also a bit low on other resources from Minaga’s magic and her long fight, but she

down as he telepathically confirmed that the Fallen King still

of magic to deal with Dina was clear. It seemed to be working pretty well, too, based on how much ash was spread everywhere, making it appear as if an entire forest had been burned

herself, Minaga chasing after her as he released fireballs, blasted out flamethrowers, and summoned what looked like living creatures of pure fire to chase after her. Dina kept calling green barriers or vines to defend herself, even if they got

as she near-perfectly defended herself from the constant barrage

meaning a Minaga that was utterly screwed as the three of them teamed up, and with Dina helping out the two of them, they could be far more offensively-minded. Knowing one had a healer on their side did wonders for one’s self-confidence, and in this case, it even allowed Sylphie to get

compared to the real thing and didn’t have the same powerful composite magic. Or maybe he did, and Minaga just chose not to use it. Hearing that the Sword Saint would fight Minaga in a ”special way” just confirmed something Jake and the others already knew: the Unique Lifeform

one-hundred percent was - they wouldn’t stand a chance at all, even if his stats were heavily reduced. Just through sheer experience and skill, they would have been fucked. That he held himself back to a certain threshold was only to be expected and that the old man had convinced Minaga to slightly let go of these self-imposed restrictions was indeed risky as fuck.

for around five minutes, it, too, bowed out as it summoned one final portal, which they promptly headed through. What

side was a Minaga who had lost both an arm and a leg, with his entire body truly telling of

voice echoed in

clone smiled. ”I say always, even if I don’t really know you, as honestly, all of us Unique Lifeforms are the same, aren’t we? All arrogance. With actual power to back it up, mind

dodging it. The second hammer

making him float to the side as fast as he could. Just as the bubble was burned through, the beam barely missed him, allowing the Unique Lifeform to counter once more.

up, hitting Minaga who tried to block, flinging him across the room. Jake thought it hadn’t done much, but

Soul magic.

taken a lot of damage. That hammer had not just hit Minaga’s physical body but

count yet, as a magical circle appeared below him. It accelerated him forward, flying towards the King as he infused mana