The Primal Hunter

The scalekin sure hadn’t been the most talkative, so Jake hoped to get some information out of the bearded man who originally greeted him. He and all his friends were trying to run away right now after the mage had died, knowing that they didn’t stand a chance even if they got involved.

Power differences, especially at higher grades, weren’t just a simple math equation. Two people with half of Jake’s stats wouldn’t be equal to one Jake, and even if a few hundred of them came at him, Jake was confident in smacking them all down. There were certain conceptual gaps caused by higher stats and grades, resulting in far less damage being dealt by those who were a lot weaker.

Jake had ways to close the gap between himself and someone at a higher level, but such a thing was generally considered quite rare based on what Jake had seen. Likely because, in order to get stronger against higher-leveled opponents, you had to get used to only getting anything out of higher-leveled opponents.

All of this is to say that despite there being around thirty of them, the fact Jake could fight, let alone kill, the scalekin mage meant they wouldn’t be able to even touch him, Assuming he was in a condition to fight, of course. Jake did have the minor problem that he was on a timer as he flew toward the village.

Arcane Awakening had been suppressed down to the more stable 30%, but he had to keep it going, or he would enter a period of weakness. While he could re-trigger Arcane Awakening even while in this period of weakness, it would lead to an even worse backlash afterward, so he would very much prefer to avoid that.

Chasing down the bearded man didn’t end up taking long, especially with the stat boost active for some more stats. On the way, he also manipulated his cloak to entirely cover his body, and after a bit of quick cleaning up, he made sure to look like he hadn’t even taken minor wounds but was entirely uninjured after the fight. That should add a bit to his intimidation factor.

The man and his companions had fled through an underground tunnel to a hideout disguised as a small hill about ten kilometers from the village. From a distance, it looked entirely normal, as the ones who crafted it had transformed an actual hill and then placed all magic formations on the inside. Quite clever and a lot harder to spot that way, and most C-grades would definitely miss it.

Reaching the hill, Jake pulled out his bow again, nocked an arrow, and drew the string as he yelled, infusing his voice with mana and Willpower. ”I will count down from ten. When I reach zero… well, you can guess what happens. Ten, ni-”

Before Jake could even say nine, the bearded man along with two others, flew out from within the hill, their bodies phasing through it seamlessly. They all had their hands up above their heads, and Jake didn’t feel the slightest threat from any of them. ”Don’t shoot!”

Jake slightly relaxed the string but didn’t withdraw his bow immediately. ”See, that wasn’t so hard. Now, I believe we have some things to discuss, including why you decided that attacking a Courier who is just trying to do his damn job was a good idea.”

”We… we got a job… I am not sure about the details, so-”

”So you’re gonna tell me everything you do know? Great!” Jake said in a cheerful tone as he kept his eyes on the three of them. He also looked inside the hill, wondering if they were maybe trying to set up an ambush, but they were all just hiding… potentially hoping Jake thought only the bearded man and the two who exited with him were hiding there.

”We’re just middlemen. Adventurers,” the man hurriedly began to explain. ”I don’t even know who the job is from! That mage was the one who brought everything and hired us for his bosses. He had a letter with instructions, part of the payment, and everything like that. We were just here to make the presence of the Silenced less suspicious.”

Jake took in what he said, as that word toward the end stuck out due to the emphasis the man put on it. ”Silenced what? I know the scalekin wasn’t a big conversationalist, and I didn’t get anything out of him besides the occasional small grunt, but I’m not sure making his lack of talking his defining trait is polite.”

a bit confused at Jake for a moment

to, so he tried – and failed – to play it

or even properly communicate entirely sealed away and are primarily used by those who want them to accomplish tasks they really don’t want anyone to talk about or for anything to be tracked back to them,” the adventurer explained. ”Rare to see

too long and thorough, making Jake think he had hit some intended dialogue option. Especially the last part that struck Jake as unnecessary added information. Alas, it told him everything he

with a letter telling you to stop me in my path, and you did so without thinking that maybe, just maybe, the Courier wasn’t just some

we were never necessarily meant to kill you! Just incapacitate and intimidate. Look, all I know is that you are transporting something someone really doesn’t want the Infernal Baron to have, or at least not come in possession of, without this employer of ours knowing what it is. We didn’t even necessarily have to obtain what you are transporting, but just confirm what it is and report it,” the adventurer elaborated, once more saying more than Jake thought any good contractor should about a clearly confidential job. Also, for someone just meant to incapacitate, the scalekin mage sure did like to go

Jake questioned, feeling this

put us in contact with the Silenced! He should be able to at least find a representative of the employer! I have a

he decided to put his bow

this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report

kind. He infused some energy into it as a semi-transparent screen appeared in mid-air. Seconds passed, as the bearded adventurer looked more and

was a response. The screen began to warp and got big enough to show an entire person as a figure

are you!?

felt the

I see you failed. How

the voice was male or female, and the hood hid any clues as to the

did

had served his purpose… and so have you served

alive within the bearded man as he exploded like a popped balloon. The two at his side followed suit as Jake saw even the people in the hideout suffer the same fate. Within less than three seconds, all of them had died, and in the

magic… well, fuck

second, and he wasn’t going to do so now as he stared at the figure on the other end. He didn’t doubt they were, at the very least, well into B-grade, if not higher.

couldn’t feel their power. So he would prefer to front that he was maybe stronger than he actually

an antagonistic attitude will earn you nothing, Courier. Our quarrel is not with you, and

scoffed. ”Seemed pretty damn antagonistic to me

approach. Capture was ordered as a preferential resolution, but it seems like that was far beyond the capabilities of the Silenced,”the disembodied voice answered. ”However, that matter has already concluded.

wanted to strike a deal with Jake instead of just issuing threats was a good start, as Jake crossed his arms. ”What exactly are you

do not seek out the Infernal Baron. Instead, go to the Guild and inform them you lost the delivery on the way. We will then send someone to find you, and once the item is confirmed, post a Courier Job you are to accept. It shall be ensured that there will be no negative impact on your reputation. If