The Primal Hunter

Jake definitely felt like he had unlocked some secret quest chain or something. Delivering to a B-grade through a Special Courier Job this early on was already a pretty big achievement, but now even an A-grade had appeared before him. Plus, because Jake did know a bit about the world he found himself in, he understood how important someone like a Duke was.

The specific country Jake found himself in had only three total dukes and one king. All the dukes and the king were A-grade, with the strongest fighting force of the entire kingdom being part of the duke factions or directly under the king. This is to say, someone with the Duke title was pretty much at the top of the Challenge Dungeon world both in power and influence.

There were also some S-grades out there, but they were few and far between. Some were hidden Lord Protectors, some were like the Founder of the Guild and did their own stuff, while others were in isolation or had left the world for the stars, with no one knowing where they were.

However, despite all this, there was still one tiny problem with the Duke showing up.

”It is a pleasure to meet you,” Jake said with a nod. ”But I still have to make my delivery first… and despite you being his father and the true client, my job doesn’t specify any of that. Would it be possible for you to give us a moment alone? I am certain we can discuss after.”

The Duke seemed taken aback as he looked Jake up and down for a few moments. The Baron also stared daggers at Jake, and looked like he wanted to blow up the magic circle beneath Jake any second. There was definitely tension rising until the Duke let out a slight chuckle that turned into a full-on laugh.

”Good! Even before me, you refuse to compromise in the slightest! Very good! I shall do as asked and give you a moment. My son here will signal me when we can return to the true discussion at hand,” the Duke said as the flaming figure faded away, and a second later, Jake confirmed he was no longer peeking, actually sticking to his word.

”You are lucky you weren’t reduced to a mere pile of ash,” the Baron said with a scoff. ”To dare show such disrespect toward the Duke…”

”I showed no disrespect, merely the professionalism I was hired to display,” Jake said in an as professional voice as he could. ”Now that it is just the two of us, let us confirm the delivery.”

Waving his hand, Jake took out Eternal Hunger. ”Let me just retrieve it right quick.”

Considering Jake had eaten the item, he also needed a way to get it out again. While forcing himself to throw it up was certainly one possibility, he felt like it was a bit too nasty to show in front of a client. Stabbing himself in the stomach and pulling out the Sealed Elemental direct was definitely more polite, right?

The Infernal Baron looked on as Jake gutted himself, frowning a bit when Jake pulled out the orb. Jake assumed he was just nervous that the item had been ruined, which was almost offensive. He was no amateur Courier who would ruin the delivery in such a reckless manner. Shit, Jake even made sure not to spill a single drop of blood on the Baron’s floor but kept it all inside, and what little did drop out was burned away with destructive arcane mana before it ever reached the ground.

With the item successfully extracted, Jake quickly removed the stable layer of arcane mana around the Sealed Elemental and used Identify on it just for good measure… because the result definitely took him by surprise.

[Sealed Elemental (Unique)] – A sealed elemental of the fire affinity can be found within. Due to the shoddy work of the ones who sealed it, this item is slowly deteriorating and will reach critical failure in less than a week (6 days). Any attempt to interfere with this item may result in the seal breaking prematurely.

and a half days passing, it said the seal would still last another six days. Jake suppressed a frown as he didn’t outwardly display any of his surprise. Internally, he did wonder what was

in the Order? he considered after a bit, and the more he thought about

just turning into inert objects worth less than the raw materials it was made up of. It would take a long time, with equipment pretty much always outlasting the lifespan of whoever originally wore it, but it was inevitable. With maintenance, an item could be kept active for an even longer period, if not nearly indefinitely, by effectively replacing the enchantments with new identical ones, using the same framework set by the original creator. If one could get an equally skilled crafter with a similar Path to the original creator, of

with items of legendary rarity or above. Finding someone capable of re-enchanting these items was often borderline-impossible due to the Records in the item and the difficulty of finding a crafter with a similar enough Path. Luckily, they would last a long time by themselves anyway, but even they would lose their power with time. In these cases, the best way to preserve them was to

used complicated formations to make this possible, each creating a beneficial environment for every individual item, but for some, all they could do was isolate it from all outside

item was breaking down primarily due to system-fuckery, but seeing it work was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. He knew that even with total isolation, deterioration would still exist, but to see how effective his stable arcane

the ping-pong ball-sized item flew toward the B-grade. Once he had the item in his hand,

pleased. “And now that I have the item, I presume

is

and less than a second later, the flaming figure of the Duke of Flames flared back to life. “I

this story is not

as he held up the item. “An early C-grade fire

attention back to Jake. “Now for you, Courier. I remember you saying you met some challenges along

for a moment if he should explain everything or not and in the end, saw no good reason not to. Plus, based on the words the Duke of Flames had said about Jake being what they had been looking for, he was pretty damn sure this was the start of a major quest chain, and withholding information could potentially lead to him

briefly explained what had happened. He included how he had met the adventurers, fought and killed the Silent scalekin mage, and the subsequent appearance of the shadowy figure that used – or had someone use – karmic magic to kill every witness. To finish

were much as we had expected,” the Duke of Flames said after Jake was done talking. With a serious gaze, he looked directly at Jake. “Let me ask you first, Courier… are you willing to take on work that may be more risky than any you have encountered prior? Jobs that may very well prove lethal if the slightest mistake

“If the job is worthwhile doing, I see no reason to reject it. Of course, I

Jake again, clearly not happy he would even insinuate he wouldn’t downright agree with anything his father wanted. The man in question, on the other hand, didn’t

level,” the man said with a smile. “Do not worry. Everything I will ever ask you will naturally go through the Guild. You are

I will temporarily agree,”

description incoming. “The elemental you have just brought us is not for me or my son, but my daughter. Our Legacy revolves around consuming elementals to progress and refine the powers of our flames, and the more powerful and higher-tiered the variant of the elemental, the better. Many do not agree with this Path, some of which you

nodded along. He did know such things existed, and there were even quite a few alchemists who consumed numerous Soulflames. Actually,

were just a minor nuisance, creating some ultimately inconsequential challenges, but in the recent decade, they have grown in power at a frightening speed. Especially the last year has resulted in more trouble than ever before. I believe powerful forces have gotten involved, but I cannot prove anything or have uncovered any evidence… I need someone like you to help me with just

that badly. Are there not more powerful and skilled

residence in peace without potentially causing a conflict with another faction, and as you come to learn more details of what I need your help with, my limited abilities to act will become even clearer. My family, for the most part, also suffers the same fate of inability to assist, as does all those officially part of the dukedom. While I do have some hidden cards, their affiliation with this kingdom is impossible to hide. You, however, I have looked into. You are related to no one and nowhere. A clean slate that even my best spymaster nor the Guild could find a single detail about