The Primal Hunter

Jake could admit he had not been looking forward to this part. He had already talked a bit with Nevermore about his feelings of inadequacy as a teacher, but they had never really discussed the outcome of Jake’s teachings. Never talked about how “good” of a submission Temlat’s Path was… and, by extension, how well what Jake had taught was viewed. Assuming one could even call what Jake had done teaching.

“We have discussed your feelings on the matter before, but be aware that your thoughts on everything are not in any way deciding factors in the evaluation of the submission. The Path of your student is judged instead from my point of view, and his growth in Records, power, and the overall outcome of your teachings are what truly matters.”

“Which is why I’m surprised it’s rated so highly, considering the outcome was his death.”

The Architect sighed. “The outcome of nearly all Paths is death, and it has to be compared to what else your student would have accomplished. Temlat, the young man you picked up, would have died at level 199, never succeeding in reaching C-grade. His death would occur in an attempt to attack a major conference approximately nineteen years from the time you picked him up as a student, killed by a casual attack from a C-grade security captain.”

Jake remained silent, which the Architect took as a prompt to continue.

“He would never have accomplished any of his goals, and his Path would end there. Instead, you changed his Path entirely the day you took him in. You helped him gain power far above anything he should have ever been capable of reaching. You nurtured his curse to the level it could evolve into a Sin Curse, you made him refine his mindset through your resistance training, and last but not least, you made him realize the true power he held and the limit of his potential. The true power of curses. At the same time, you gave him confidence in pursuing what he would have otherwise thought impossible, and you even opened his eyes to the concept of plagues.”

“Temlat did nearly all of those things by himself,” Jake protested. “I was just around, and he put in all the work. He taught himself.”

“It is rare that people argue their evaluations should be worse,” the Architect sighed. “Alas, that isn’t how this works. Whether you want to accept it or not, you changed the outcome of Temlat’s Path from being someone who died a meaningless death to someone who evolved into an incredibly rare variant creature wielding the power of cursed plagues. Perhaps you can argue this was all him and his own innate talents, which allowed him to reach the power he did. However, you cannot argue your influence in the most outstanding part of your student’s evolution.”

“What do you mean?” Jake asked, unsure what she meant.

“Cursed Plague Remnants are not beings who retain sentience. Not truly. They are nothing more than a jumbled mixture of thoughts and desires focused on whatever the curse is about. There is no ego. What Temlat became wasn’t that. Through your training and the influence you had on him, Temlat managed to remain himself not only through the evolution process, but until the very end. He was allowed to determine how his own Path ended after he accomplished all he had set out to do. In other words, you allowed him to choose not only the direction of his Path but even its endpoint. Something that is incredibly rare in its own right.”

Jake simply listened, frowning a bit.

“What he became and what his goals were also doesn’t matter from a moral perspective in this evaluation. With that in mind, the fact you managed to uplift someone from being incapable of ever killing a C-grade to being able to wipe out a planet filled with them within a week is a great achievement. All accomplished in such a short time span. And, once more, it has to be reiterated how impressive it is that he remained himself even after he was done with his slaughter and could resist his very nature and choose to die.

“In conclusion… you uplifted Temlat from a nobody to what he became, allowed him to redefine his Path to one far more ambitious, and then stood alongside him as he carried out all his goals. Once completed, he then chose his own ending, his Records now living on through you. That is a fate I think you fail to understand how many would envy.”

The room went silent for a few moments as Jake still just stood there, thinking. After five or so seconds, he finally sighed. “I still can’t help but feel like shit for how things went down.”

“And that is fine. Just don’t feel sorry for your student, for he never had a single regret and only held gratitude toward you for allowing him to accomplish his goals. More than anything, do not feel pity, for nothing would be more disrespectful toward someone who decided their Path and fate.”

By now, the topic had been beaten like a dead horse, but Jake still couldn’t help how he felt towards things. He didn’t feel pity, though. It was more that he felt annoyed at himself for not having done things properly, and despite Nevermore’s words, he remained adamant that he wouldn’t take on any students in the near future, if ever. And if he did, he would make it very clear he was at most a sparring partner for questions and in no way a real teacher.

“I get the feeling you don’t have more questions regarding your final Creation,” the Architect said after Jake didn’t say anything for a good while.

“Right,” Jake nodded. “I guess, if nothing else, I can be happy that despite how much I believe I suck as a teacher, at least others value what Temlat managed to accomplish highly.”

The Architect didn’t comment on what Jake said but simply waved her hand as ten projections appeared floating in the air, depicting all of his Creations.

“Then let us wrap this up with the final overall conclusion of this evaluation,” she said. “This is also the only part where I will actually compare you to others, as the Grand Achievements given are ultimately relative, comparing your performance to that of others.”

“Moment of truth,” Jake smiled as the Architect continued.

“While some of your Creations were classified as mediocre in our earlier discussion, they are certainly not seen as such from a more general viewpoint. If compared to the average Nevermore Attendee who has completed the House of the Architect, they would all have been considered high-tier Creations that even the average genius would be proud of. Your Path as the Heretic-Chosen of the Malefic Viper and a hunter is not only unique but both your class and profession are high-tier variants, which naturally lends itself to better final products. What’s more, the fact you have crafted a mythical item before, giving you the Myth Originator title has been a tremendous boost to all your Creations,” the Architect began, with Jake feeling pretty good about all the praise and what it would mean for the Grand Achievement. Also, Jake had totally forgotten he even had that Myth Originator title from back when he made Eternal Hunger. It was one of those passive things he never thought about.

“But…”

There is always a damn but…

those with Bloodlines to have said Bloodline color most of what they do, for you, the case is almost too extreme. Everything you touch carries traces of your Bloodline… which almost makes this evaluation one of

just… regarding that last part, how would you rate my Bloodline compared to others?” Jake

rate it,” the

if you had

“I don’t.”

“Hypothetically speaking-“

Now, do you have any

a bit defeated as he just sighed. “No, not

the Architect nodded. “Then this officially concludes

have completed the House of the Architect Challenge

Architect added to the system message as a Grand Achievement popped up in front of Jake. He quickly skimmed it, hoping

narrative is on Amazon

Achievement earned: Successfully completed House of the Architect, showing both great skill and diversity in your Path. Through a mixture of innovation and improvement of your existing skills, you have created ten worthwhile Creations, with a few outstanding among them. In the realm of uniqueness, few can match you, and even in a competition of pure crafting ability, with your Bloodline guiding your hand, you have difficulty meeting an equal. Be proud of your creative mind. 86.109 Nevermore Points earned. Due to completing a Grand Achievement, you

he had gotten two times 25%, it wasn’t lost on him that getting such a score was far from average. He was still curious,

complaining, but what would it have required for me to get a 25% amplifier?” Jake asked, genuinely

say, ten Creations on-par with at least the legendary skill upgrade, Grimoire, your student, or the Arcane Marble while naturally maintaining the same level of diversity and uniqueness

Jake muttered. He couldn’t even get on

across that line is exactly what the 25% achievement is for,” the Architect said with a smile. “You should know that, considering your prior performances.

guess,” Jake shrugged, glad to hear

Architect said as what looked like a coin appeared in her hand. With a

looked down

the city floors and

Requirements: Soulbound.

a trace of disappointment on your face,” Nevermore said as

sounds all fine and good, but it isn’t like I spend much time in the cities anyway, and since only I can enter the domain, it isn’t like I can even use it as a secret meeting spot or anything. Also, my time in Nevermore

be missing the primary benefit of this personal domain,” the Architect said, shaking her head. “This domain will exist within Nevermore. That means it will be under the influence of the time dilation inherent to the World Wonder. So, now imagine you want to grow something in your personal domain or nurture

for a moment as he considered her words. “So what you’re saying is that I get my own

accurate assessment, yes. If that is

best way to spend my limited time in C-grade when I want to

help of an architect to prepare your domain. Do note I only do

now, then…

said it in the description of the Mark you’re holding. Ah, but to note, they cannot leave

pretty much just a small pseudo-dungeon within the larger mega-dungeon known as Nevermore.

help me design this domain?” Jake

set templates, that is. I am not going to personally customize everything, but I can take

will this work?” Jake

to claim your

asked, a bit

in the

gave

a few seconds before Jake sighed and flicked the coin back

chamber around Jake disappeared, replaced with an entirely white void. Then, in the center of the void between Jake

domain template that I assume would interest you. It includes a star and is primarily nature affinity, thus a good environment for plants to grow within. Underground, there are vast cave systems, with some caves having their own more unique affinities for you to grow other alchemical ingredients such as mushrooms and whatnot. By the way, I choose this