The Primal Hunter

Jake’s eyes slowly adjusted as he sent out a Pulse of Perception, trying to get a read on what exactly Minaga had done when he exploded the giant orb. What met him was a mental image he had not seen coming.

The entire room outside of the now mostly bare floor was gone – even the tiles having disintegrated from the odd shockwave. The walls and ceiling had been blasted apart, leaving large floating platforms all around them, just there in empty space.

Because that is all Jake saw outside of the central platform and the many floating pieces of debris: empty space. The environmental mana also changed significantly and appeared far more empty. Hollow. Nearly all of the affinities were gone, leaving them only with pure mana.

His eyes slowly adjusted as he noticed how much darker it had gotten. As they finished adjusting, he finally got a good understanding of what had happened.

Stars all around them provided little light as Jake and company found themselves floating on a large stone platform in the middle of space. The only other physical objects besides the large stone platform they were planting on were the broken parts of the walls and ceiling that had survived the giant orb’s explosion, now floating all around them, suspended in space as gravity had also shifted.

The orb had been entirely made to blow up the room and had done nothing to Jake and the others. It was just a fancy way to introduce this arena where the final phase would take place.

As for Minaga himself, he was floating on a small platform right in front of them, both staves ready.

”Let us have this final fight amongst the stars! Come, challengers, and face me in my most powerful state! Okay, my most powerful state within the C-grade portion of Nevermore, anyway. Wait, also outside of that special lesson with the old swordsman. Ignore those. This is my most powerful state nevertheless!”

They stared up at the Unique Lifeform as Jake had a premonition.

”He is going to use more… complicated forms of magic now. At least space magic, probably also other kinds,” Jake sent through the Golden Mark, warning the others.

None of them seemed surprised, as there had to be something different about this final phase. Jake experienced an odd mix of emotions as he wanted to see what Minaga was now capable of, but on the other hand, he also wanted to win.

Jake smiled as he looked tauntingly at Minaga, getting a grin in response.

”Now, let us begin!”

Minaga’s words became the starting shot as his body began to glow with power. Jake felt his aura heighten, and he instantly understood there was more to this phase than just more complicated magic.

The Unique Lifeform had finally used his own boosting skill.

Jake instantly retreated, as the Sword Saint and Dina did the same while she kept healing him. The Fallen King, despite being damaged, dove forward. Considering his boosting skill was fully active from the get-go, he seemed keen to get into the action. Sylphie followed suit as she circled around their foe, waiting for an opening.

Smiling, Minaga stomped his foot. The platform below him cracked as he kicked off it, all of the stone catching fire and shooting towards the Fallen King. He blocked it with a barrier in front of him, but Minaga had already released another attack before the King had time to react. This one struck from above, completely avoiding the summoned barrier as dozens of ice shards fell upon the Unique Lifeform.

Minaga was about to do more when an Arcane Powershot struck him, forcing him to retreat slightly. Jake did not let up as he kept shooting, fully making use of the wide-open space. He had already found his way to some of the debris, using it as a foothold while shooting.

“You really are the biggest threat. Or maybe just the most annoying,” Minaga praised Jake. At least he saw it as praise. The Unique Lifeform spread out his arms, and suddenly, Jake felt like the stars above shone slightly brighter than a moment prior. He jumped as he felt a sense of danger, and just in time as a beam descended from above, obliterating where he had just been standing.

Using a hand motion, Minaga made the stars above shift. Jake was still staring as what looked like a bull was formed as lines were drawn, and the entire figure began to glow. Sylphie tried to stop Minaga, but he teleported – meaning space magic was now also on the table – and appeared too far away for any of them to interfere.

Up above, the constellation flashed one final time as it began moving. For a brief moment, Jake felt like the constellation connected to a higher concept, one far beyond anything in a C-grade dungeon. It was gone as fast as it came, but Jake had used Identity on the constellation on instinct… and he was not sure if he regretted that decision.

[Eldenstar Bull Monarch – lvl ????]

He saw this Identify result only for a brief second as it suddenly changed – even his system log was no longer the same.

Bull

stars above as it descended upon them. Its body was made up entirely of stars, making it take on an ethereal appearance. The power it radiated was also not to be underestimated, especially if one considered it was some kind of

down for Sylphie as space seemed to warp around it. Minaga also quickly began moving again as he pointed his staff towards Jake. Stepping down, Jake teleported away just in time as all the debris

had to dodge this solid ball as Minaga threw it at him. High above the platform, Sylphie had engaged this Sign of the Bull monster. The beast used some kind of astral magic as space warped and small stars appeared, exploding to dispel Sylphie’s wind. Sylphie did not want to see herself outdone, though, as she began to tear into the creature of stars. It seemed very effective, too, as the winds alone

didn’t know… but then again, Sylphie’s Sylphian Winds

Golden blasts lit up the darkness of space, blocking out the lights of the stars as Minaga summoned a dense barrier to

as it took on the appearance of a spear, and lighting bolts flew from its form. A golden hammer soon descended,

one

the Fallen King. Problem was… there

“Dina, watch out!”

lightning flying past Jake and the King –

her to respond just in time, and she acted without hesitation. Her entire form exploded in green light as a projection of a grand tree appeared above her, Dina

tree!” Minaga grinned. Dina’s body had also changed just as she cast this spell, her small antlers growing, and her clothes changed. She had entered her most powerful form, putting them on even more

better shape now than when they first entered the room, that blast of intense life

stuck in

he flew to the side to avoid a golden blast and

the Sign of the Bull that Sylphie was fighting, blasting it back and allowing Sylphie to land a solid blow of her own. Minaga saw this and cursed to himself a bit. He began flying upwards to help the beast, but Jake and the Fallen King

dodged all the attacks by flying through the air and deflected a few arrows with his staff. Exactly three seconds after he had thrown the lightning spear, he teleported away when

thoughts with the group.

pressured as Sylphie was slowly winning above, and the Sword Saint and Dina prepared themselves to rejoin the fight. The projected tree was still there, and Dina had briefly shared through the Golden Mark that she could not move

Lifeform had already been damaged after the second phase, and now he was even worse off.

into the Fallen King as he retreated and summoned a barrier, only for a burning ray of condensed light to descend from above, burning into

the stone around him warped, creating a small

with Gaze and a Powershot, but it only delayed Minaga slightly as he simply tanked the arrow, accepting

final trump card through the Golden Mark. Yet just as he was

the light gather far up in the sky as the faint projection of

a moment as he appeared right in front

“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

like butter. A large crescent wave spanned the horizon as blood spewed into the air, and the aura of the moon above

a massive wound across his chest from shoulder to hip – the kind that would have had guts spilling out if the Unique Lifeform had any. He

Lord… why did I agree to give you a lesson again?”Minaga asked rhetorically as he teleported away from Jake’s attempt to follow up. Something Jake was totally fine with, as he knew one of the Sword Saint’s weaknesses with the Glimpse of Spring was that he could not move immediately after

make me wonder…

was healed, as the old man

excited here,”the Unique Lifeform laughed in

who had managed to break out of his tomb of stone.

Sylphian Winds seemingly countering the constellation beast quite nicely. Once she was done, she would rejoin the fight against Minaga, and with the Fallen King and Dina also there, Jake saw their

and Sylphie had their boosting skills going at full power now, and while Minaga also had one active, Jake

With just the

defensive profile. He did use that weird painting once, but in most cases, he could only use his sword or weak water barriers to

slice through it, the magic dispersing. He even cut a blast of wind apart, making it scatter harmlessly around him. Whatever the hell had happened during that “lesson” of his had made the old man come out… sharper? Like the power

the constellation beast was slain by Sylphie as she dove down and joined the assault. Minaga did prove a lot better defensively in this final phase, as he liberally teleported around and used spatial barriers, but he was still just only one being against five. When it was just two or even three of