The Primal Hunter

“You know we can’t allow him to actually bring that Mimicry World Core out of that floor, right?” the Wyrmgod questioned the Malefic Viper.

“Does seem kind of counterproductive if he decides to reintroduce a Karmic Plague that was wiped out a long time ago back into the multiverse,” Minaga nodded in agreement.

“Relax, he isn’t gonna actually bring it out,” the Viper waved them off. “He is just going to eat it and consume all the knowledge of how to make plagues within.”

“And… that’s a good outcome?” Minaga said in a deadpan tone. “Totally seems like a good idea to teach him about them… especially considering his track record of always making well-thought-out decisions.”

“Come on, would he really be my Chosen if he didn’t at least know how to create a plague?” the Viper smiled. “Not saying he should make one, but nothing wrong with learning how to.”

“I am confident nearly every other faction in existence would disagree with that assessment,” the Wyrmgod sighed.

“And I am confident at least half of those have a rule written somewhere that one of the reasons they shouldn’t fuck with me is out of fear I will throw a plague at them,” Vilastromoz shook his head.

“Hm,” the Wyrmgod thought for a while. “I will reclaim the World Core if he brings it out, but should he consume it or sufficiently alter it, I shall allow him to leave with it as long as there is no chance of reintroducing the plague.”

“Sounds fair enough,” Vilas shrugged.

“Also, to be fair, I think most factions wouldn’t fuck with the Malefic Viper even without the plagues,” Minaga said. “And I do guess there is value in knowing how to make one, as there are some very interesting concepts at play. Speaking of which, seeing as you are the expert here… would it be possible to make a plague that wipes out Bloodlines that allow those possessing it to ruin any and all interesting labyrinth experiences? Asking for a friend.”

Just to clarify, Jake wasn’t planning some over-the-top double suicide or anything when he asked the old man to stab him. He just knew that was he was about to do wouldn’t be something he had confidence in pulling off under normal circumstances, so he decided to indulge in a bit of clever use of system mechanics.

“You want me to trigger that defensive skill of yours that activates from a lethal blow?” the Sword Saint questioned, having quickly picked up on what he was getting at.

“Ah, that one,” the Fallen King nodded in understanding, having also experienced that one himself.

“Exactly,” Jake smiled. “And I reckoned that Erosion thing is the best skill to use as it seems pretty easy to dodge compared to the slash, considering it is just one line of water. True, using the Transcendent skill may be me overestimating my durability, but I want to assure the system will consider it a lethal blow.”

The Sword Saint considered for a moment before nodding. “Fair enough.”

Jake thanked him as he turned to his other three party members. “Better make some distance to not get hit by anything. Ah, but Dina, probably stay close. Someone might need healing. On second thought, someone will definitely need healing.”

“What exactly are you planning on doing!?” the Dark Witch butted in rudely. “And what exactly did you do with the Mimicry World Core? It needs to be destroyed, or all of this is in vain… wait, do you plan on keeping it? If that is the case, I will-“

“Relax, jeez,” Jake waved her off. “Trying to figure out a way to destroy the Karmic Plague without you dying in the process.”

my fate,” the Dark Witch said dismissively. “And unless you can call down a god, do you honestly

have things work out for me in the end. And my guts are telling me I can pull this off,” Jake tried to assure her. Not

your gut? Don’t be ludicrous. If the Karmic Plague is unleashed within you,

here. I also know quite a bit about plagues and even Karmic Plagues. At least, let me give it a shot. Worst-case scenario, you

the Karmic Plague may not be

everyone’s time,” the Fallen King said in an annoyed tone. “Jake here is the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, so you

the Unique Lifeform mentioned Jake was the Chosen as the lizard woman’s eyes opened

He was a bit annoyed at the

her eyes, which only reinvigorated his desire to pull this off. Deep inside, he knew it didn’t really matter as they were in

World Core inside of my stomach right as the Sword Saint hits me with a lethal blow. This will make time slow down for me as the Karmic Plague is destroyed, at which point I will manipulate the karmic energy going from within my stomach into you. Before this, I will infuse the plague within you with a toxin that will react with this karmic energy

what you mean with that final analogy, but I believe I

and focus on protecting your own soul. It may get hairy,

will need to set up some stuff before I begin, so it may take a bit before I need you to

smiled as he stood to the side of Jake, making sure that his stab wouldn’t also hit the Dark

her back as he subtly activated Touch of the Malefic Viper, pouring in a tiny bit of poison as

at all, even suppressing her natural vital energy, Jake quickly found the portion of her Soulshape infected. Her case was by far the best of anyone Jake had seen, but she was still in a precarious situation. Usually, the Karmic Plague would inhabit the entire soul, but the witch had managed to isolate it to somewhere around her stomach region. At least most of it. Small slithers also

Firstly, he pumped more poison into the witch using Touch as he “infected” the plague. This was to allow him some influence over it as he more or less tried to usurp control over the Karmic Plague. This was sadly also where his lack of power

he couldn’t just destroy the Karmic Plague his own this way was due to the innate difference in level between Jake and the creator. If Jake was A-grade, he was confident in being able to cure her entirely without having to take any major risks or even needing

to influence the Mimicry World Core within his stomach. Something he couldn’t really do currently. Of course, Jake already knew how he wanted to do this: through Touch of the Malefic Viper. His problem was that the only skill his

really necessary. He never used it. Instead, he used Touch of the Malefic Viper for most things. So, the question was: why even keep them separate? The answer was even more obvious. He wouldn’t. And he believed

more than will for a fusion as he tried to influence the swallowed World Core. It barely took any effort on his part, almost as if the system had been waiting for him to

*Skill Fusion Detected*:

[Touch of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] --> [Touch

it worked the way he wanted it to. He didn’t dwell on the unchanged rarity either or the fact he felt

World Core, proving he had been correct. He looked within his Soulspace and observed the ”stomach” of Palate and the core pulsing within as Jake slowly influenced it. It was naught but a slight nudge, and he felt the Karmic Plague fight back at

as long as he could slightly influence the plague to act differently when it encountered the other influenced plague energy within the Dark Witch, it should be enough. With a deep breath, he moved on to the next stage once he felt that trying to prime the core more wasn’t

began to feel slight doubt about his plan as he slowly absorbed knowledge about the Mimicry World Core, becoming aware that things weren’t entirely as

true it would just collapse and not actually explode and harm anything around it. The problem was that Jake had decided to eat it…

and change it from a harmless explosion to something a bit more destructive. This did still mean one thing, though:

Sword Saint as he saw the old man get in position –

was something he understood, he was confident in handling it. Well, having a part of him handle it anyway. The amount of energy that would be released

looked like a massive orb of glass with the World Core floating in the middle, yet the shadow simply stepped through this glass and entered the glass bubble. This version

”Now.”

did his