The Primal Hunter

When Jake said he was good at zoning everything out when he focused on something, he meant he was really good at zoning everything out. Even the notifications he had gained during this time had gone unregistered. Luckily he hadn’t pissed off this party by missing some crucial messages, as the Fallen King had honored his wish of not contacting him outside of emergencies. Something that the Unique Lifeform hadn’t found necessary to do a single time.

Still… Jake could see why the Unique Lifeform was a bit unsatisfied when he finally checked his notifications.

Opening them up, the first thing he saw was that they had apparently gotten another bonus objective without him even noticing.

Bonus Objective Gained: Find a way to unlock the seal obscuring your path into the Dark Descent created by the Dark Witch leading toward the core of the planet.

Current Progress: Dark Descent unlocked (0/1)

So this one confirmed the theory that the Dark Witch had indeed gone toward the core and even created a way to get down there. Of course, they likely had to also get rid of all three Living Seals before-

Bonus Objective Completed: Destroy all three Living Seals. 1000 Nevermore Points earned.

Right, they had also gotten that done, but hopefully, Jake could at least help with that seal on the-

Bonus Objective Completed: Dark Descent unlocked. 500 Nevermore Points earned.

Okay, Jake was beginning to realize he had indeed taken a bit longer than he probably should have, but it seemed like things were going well!

Though there was still much to be done if one looked at the remaining bonus objectives they had gained during Jake’s minor mental absence.

Bonus Objective Gained: Discover the fate of the Dark Witch.

Current Progress: Dark Witch’s fate discovered (0/1)

Along with:

Bonus Objective Gained: Assist the New Beast Alliance in taking over the faction formerly known as the Beastfolk Alliance by helping to eliminate all enlightened beings remaining in their territory.

Current Progress: Enlightened Beings Remaining (2.093.778/9.421.400)

His party had clearly been up to quite a lot, with the Fallen King seemingly mid-genocide in the area formerly controlled by the Beastfolk Alliance.

“So… I apologize? Anyway, where are we? What is the status of things?” Jake questioned. “I am especially interested in what is up with this New Beast Alliance.”

“The two other factions are entirely destroyed. Well, mostly destroyed. We found out that beasts are actually entirely unaffected by the Karmic Plague. It only works on those considered enlightened, so the Fallen King formed an alliance with the beasts there to wipe out all the enlightened, especially the Otherworlders,”Dina explained.

“Are you sure they are unaffected? The Fallen King and Sylphie were both affected when we first got here, as far as I could feel,” Jake asked, a bit confused.

“Only in its inactive form. The Karmic Plague cannot properly affect anyone not considered enlightened, so once it exits hibernation, it will just fizzle out. The Fallen King already confirmed the beasts that were part of the Beast Alliance were not affected,” Dina continued explaining as the Fallen King jumped into the conversation.

“Beasts that were all suppressed by the beastkin otherworlders summoned here. They did manage to reach some level of balance with the otherworlders but never liked them. My arrival became their impetus to claim power and wipe out the enlightened. To reject such a purely beneficial objective seemed foolish, so we naturally accepted it. Should we fail, it is doubtful the Wyrmgod would penalize us, and should we succeed, it is merely bonus points,” the Fallen King explained.

“And the Risen Kingdom?”Jake questioned.

there who sought to find a way to corrupt the Karmic Plague into something that would effectively mind control every enlightened being into desiring to be Risen did not survive such unfortunate weather,” the Sword Saint answered. “As for a status on current events, the Fallen King and I are both on our way

like he had missed a lot. “How

weeks and three days,” the Fallen

on you as me for flying so slow you didn’t need me during all this time for anything,”

isn’t how things work,”

zoned out a bit too hard… so, Sylphie,

Jake nod. Seems like they had done quite well too. Found the old faction the Dark Witch had created and killed a bunch of beasts that had taken over the area, including a mini-boss monster that guarded the former capital. From there, they gathered

time finding a way to unseal the barrier by researching what the Dark Witch had left behind and were now making their way down the long winding tunnels leading into the core of Tri-World. A task made quite a bit harder by the hordes of monsters in the way they had to fight through, but Dina

considering even I can see the finale of this floor will play out down at or around the core, I

arrive at the entrance to the caverns in roughly a week, while the Sword Saint will be four

himself. “Want me to join Sylphie and

“Or do you need some more time to practice? Perhaps familiarize yourself with your new skill?

with testing it out properly in real combat, so I will make my way to Sylphie,” Jake answered, not responding to the slight tone

asked, just wanting

but if there are any big caverns or anything, it would be

“Ree.”

himself, waiting for Sylphie to give the

one of the reasons his party had been fine with leaving Jake behind was because of

he could paint an area and “save” a moment in space that he could then travel to. This meant he was the fastest at returning somewhere he had been before as long as you

a lot of practice with

his Wings of the Malefic Viper. An often-ignored aspect of the skill but one incredibly useful. Usually, Jake wouldn’t use it as a means of travel, but the circumstances of

allowing Jake to easily zone in on her. Over long distances, things like the Golden Mark or even his Hunter’s Mark sometimes got a bit fuzzy, but

and a slightly worried comment from Dina if he

things go slightly sideways, what’s the worst thing that can happen? That I get stuck in a wall or something? I’ll be fine,” Jake said, trying to calm her

his body. Taking a deep breath, he began to charge them with energy as he activated the escape method of Wings of the Malefic Viper. Mist poured out and began to stick to his body as his entire

his instinct to guide him. Sylphie’s location felt so close, yet so far

pool rapidly depleting. Luckily, it took less than ten

had waited a fraction of a second too long to disengage the skill. The entire world turned dark as Jake felt a deep pressure all over his body the second

about a kilometer above him, and from a quick Pulse, he saw that there was even a small cave

asked, having

stuck. Gotta take

his body as he was dragged upward through the path it had created. He did still have to deal

earth like that?” Dina asked the moment she dragged him out of the ground. “It was

Jake smiled, having not really gone into

back at the vine she had dragged him up with and the signs of it rotting from the remnant poison left after the use of Wings. “Fine, a Legacy skill from the Malefic One. Are you ready to go, or did the skill take a

he was all good to go. He wouldn’t be able to summon his Wings of the Malefic Viper for a few days, but that should be fine, considering he was underground. The slight feeling of weakness after using such an escape skill also wasn’t that big of a deal either, as Jake had joined them

trek towards the center of Tri-World continued. Sylphie and Dina had already gotten pretty damn deep by the time Jake arrived, nearly thirty percent of the way already, but that still meant there was a lot to go. Luckily for them, Jake was a good guide when leading them through the elaborate tunnel system created by the Dark

tunnels, it was clear these ones had been dug. Magical reinforcements could be found here and there, and waymarkers were placed at certain intervals, with there even being a few sealed-off rooms hidden away off to the side of the

Guard Captain they met upon first arriving on Tri-World had warned them about. These Tunnelers came in many variants and sizes, and they could be threats if one was taken by surprise or got swarmed, especially in an environment that was so beneficial to them. Being stuck in

Tunnelers did little more than slow down their descent, especially when they decided that trying to collapse a part of the tunnel on them was a good idea. Even when mini-boss versions appeared,

deeper down. Elementals of the earth and lava variety, some insectoid monsters, and even a few fucking mushroom bastards that Jake called dibs on as he utterly annihilated them.

weeks as they kept getting deeper and deeper, and Jake hoped that they would soon