The Primal Hunter

”When you say that you didn’t cut the feed off… what exactly do you mean? Did the system interfere directly, or was it something else?” Vilastromoz asked. If it was the first, then he would have many more questions, but if it was the latter… well, he would still have a lot of questions.

”Certain… concessions had to be made in order to gather all the images I wanted. When the system assists in extracting an image and downgrading it to F-grade, the targeted entity will have the ability to interfere with the aim of vetting what the left image will be capable of,” the Wyrmgod explained. ”This was primarily made with the intent for the god to filter out certain hidden abilities they wished to keep hidden, but it has also been used to implement certain things that didn’t necessarily need to be there. I have actively chosen not to attempt to moderate this, as I do not see any tangible downsides, and overall see the benefits outweighing the losses.”

Vilastromoz frowned at the explanation. He had already been aware that these images weren’t actually copies of people at F or G-grade. No, if that was the case, Jake would have been able to simply kill every single one easily. While someone like the Soulfist had been powerful in F-grade for sure, he simply didn’t have the time to gain insights anywhere near the level of even a weak C-grade.

No, the images were instead created directly from living gods with the assistance of the system. The image would then be downgraded to have insights roughly to the level the gods had in early or mid-tier C-grade before making them level 0 - all done with direct assistance and management from the system to ensure balance.

For certain gods to not just accept having such an image made without any input was understandable. Vilastromoz would not have accepted to have an image made without controlling how it would turn out. However, as the Wyrmgod said, this method did make it possible for images to have things implemented by the gods who made them… or even someone close to these gods.

”So what you are saying is that the Daolord implemented something that would trigger an opportunity for him to deliver a personal message to a combatant winning the fight? Naturally, with this trigger also including a blackout for any observers, something that you agreed to?” Vilastromoz asked. ”And I assume that means you know what was said?”

”A part of the agreement was that I would not be listening either, so no,” the Wyrmgod shook his head.

”The Daofather is behind it, huh?” the Viper nodded. ”Wonder what he is up to these days to want to deliver messages directly to random powerful Nevermore attendees. Is he desperate for new monks or something?”

Concluding that the Daofather was involved wasn’t difficult. While every one of the Daolords was a respectable figure in their own right, for the Wyrmgod to agree to not even listen in on a conversation within his own dungeon wasn’t something he would do for any of them. The Daofather was different.

Vilastromoz had to admit that out of every Primordial, the Daofather was the one he had the least interactions with throughout the eras. The Daofather wasn’t a very active participant in the happenings of the multiverse, so it wasn’t overly surprising, and the Viper barely heard anything about what he was doing. When it came to fights he joined, information was even more scarce.

In conclusion, he was an enigmatic figure that no one knew much about, not even his fellow Primordials. Vilastromoz had heard that he and Eversmile had interacted quite a bit throughout the eras, but that was about it. He tended to do his own things, and if the Dao Sect ever got involved, he would simply send one or more of the ten Daolords. Each of them was considered a pinnacle existence in their own right, and together, they could even stand up to Primordials. No need for him to ever get personally involved when that was the case.

”I believe there is a misunderstanding,” the Wyrmgod corrected Vilas after a slight pause, making him frown.

”What did I get wrong?”

”The message was not left for random participants but for a select few only. Your Chosen among them. Also, while I cannot tell you what was said, I am sure you can simply ask your Chosen once he leaves Nevermore.”

The Viper’s frown deepened upon hearing these messages were targeted. What was the Daofather up to? It wasn’t like this was a unique case, as he was used to the Dao Sect doing things he couldn’t fully comprehend, but it was rare that it ever involved people like the Chosen of another Primordial.

Moreover, was this a good or a bad development for Jake? Was it even something meaningful he left behind… or was he just planting a seed?

Only time would tell.

arena after giving the corpse of the Benevolent Monk one final bow. The referee had promptly announced his win after the monk had died, the announcer and audience all going wild. He even saw Polly and Owen both look incredibly relieved through his sphere, with several

a person of interest

did have nine more opponents to go before he would be able to do his promotion match and become a Champion, and based

to the Battlemaster, who looked happy

second there. Either way, good job, though it was sad to see such an interesting fighter fall in combat. He fought well and died an honorable death, which is the best most of us can hope for,” the Battlemaster said with a sigh. ”Now, want me to schedule your next Paragon match a week from now, or did you take too

and he definitely planned on buying one of those recovery potions to make sure he would be, but he had been in a far

Also, do remember you are allowed one Show Match a week, too, the earliest of which can be done tomorrow if you so desire. It usually takes a bit of strategy to know when to have these Show Matches to make sure you are ready for your Paragon ones,” the Battlemaster further explained. ”And before you ask, there will be a break of a week between your tenth Paragon win and the Championship Match if you make it that far, so even if you wait a few days for the Show Match, you should be fine with getting in all your possible matches for optimal Colosseum Points gain. You

you’ll excuse me, I need a potion and to go get my ruined

the equipment, but take this,” the Battlemaster said as he tossed a potion to Jake. ”On the house. You can view it

time from the looks of it. Owen was understandable as he had advanced to Gladiator just recently, and as he didn’t do any show matches at all, he quite frankly didn’t have a lot else going on. Polly was still not advancing

his promotion match before he reached Gladiator. While the guy had become pretty skilled with his spear, he was still only considered “okay” by Jake’s standards. His base stats were pretty high, though, which was what

why Owen had been so intent on hiding his abilities. His lightning had an odd deep blue color that was apparently unique to a special school of

huge twist that

were multiple who had managed to reach the Champion rank, though it was less than ten. So, Jake

could figure out who the rest of these

Jake reflect on his fight with the monk a bit more closely, especially regarding how the Colosseum operated in regards to

he wanted to kill someone be forced into a life-and-death match like that.

comment only confirmed those feelings were well-founded. He didn’t like being forced to kill someone he had no animosity with, especially when it didn’t even give any experience points. At least when he hunted for levels, it was with a purpose and not just to kill someone. But with the monk, he had only killed him because the rules made it pretty

walked into. It was a duel between two willing opponents who were there just to fight one another. It had been

actually killed someone, and with that final message, it even seemed like the Benevolent Monk had wanted him to win. Or, at least, whatever had taken over toward the end had wanted

before falling over with his soul extinguished. Then again, dungeon-fuckery was a truly powerful concept that he had learned not to question too much

got back to his little home, Jake

objective: Be promoted from Paragon to

Current rank: Paragon (1/10)

Colosseum Points: 709,210

Lives remaining: 10

victory had earned him a total of 25,000 points, up from the 6,000 his final win as a Warlord had

honestly did put into perspective just how many more points fights gave now than when he was in lower ranks. This single match had earned him more than all the ranks below Gladiator combined…