The Primal Hunter

Mission: Mysterious Organization Double-Agent Infiltration went much more smoothly than Jake had expected. After he left the Baron’s place, Jake went and just relaxed in the city for a day as he sat down and did a bit more crafting. After this day, he left the city again, still disguised as a scalekin.

Once a good distance away, and when he was sure no one was watching, he changed himself back to looking like – and Identifying as – a human before flying back toward the city with his stealth skill active while also wearing his usual getup. Once he got close to the mid-sized city again, Jake dispelled his stealth skill while still flying up in the air, instantly feeling many gazes on him.

This time, he showed no subtlety but just flew into the city. During the conversation with the mysterious hooded figure, the person had told him to go to the Guild and say that he had lost the package during transportation, and while Jake wasn’t a fan of doing that, the Baron and Duke assured him they would still report the job as completed successfully to not impact Jake’s reputation negatively.

However, as it turned out, this wasn’t even necessary…

Shortly after Jake entered the Guild, and before he even had a chance to approach one of the employees, a regular-looking guy sitting off to the side of the room sent him a telepathic message.

”Excuse me, you’re a Courier, right? Might you be coming out of Hillspring City? I have an aunt living there, and I heard some bad news…”the person said. Disregarding how weird it was to send a telepathic message to say something like that, Jake knew this was just a probing question.

”I am indeed. The trip was long, but when you have an important delivery to an even more important client, you cannot slack off too much,” Jake replied. ”One in high places, both figuratively and literally.”

”You have arrived earlier than I expected,” the person said when he affirmed Jake was the one. ”I am here representing a mutual friend. Please play along.”

Due to the speed of telepathy, Jake had barely entered the Guild as the man sitting close to the door stood up and opened his arms wide. ”Bloody hell, you’re finally here! Lizzy has been on my ass since she heard you were coming. Good to see you, buddy.”

The man went over and dragged Jake into a hug, Jake naturally playing along. ”You know how it is with work and everything. Can’t always know my schedule ahead of time, but hey, I’m here, aren’t I?”

”That you are! Now, let’s get going before she rips both of us a new one!”

Jake did as asked and nodded as the two walked out together while making idle chatter. No one seemed to care about the reunion of two old friends, and Jake and the other guy quickly got away from the Guild as they headed toward a large mansion close to the outer walls, no one following them.

The man Jake had met was barely C-grade, and someone Jake later came to learn was pretty much just a middleman who worked for a wealthy lady – Lizzy - in the mansion. However, in order to appear less suspicious, the two of them acted as if they were in a relationship. These were the first two people Jake met, who he confirmed were part of this organization, even if they were auxiliary members who pretty much carried out direct orders without questions while knowing pretty much nothing about the organization that employed them.

Once in the mansion, Lizzy and the man introduced themselves and, after some probing questions, fully confirmed Jake was who he said he was. Jake was subsequently led into a cellar beneath the mansion, where he was left alone with a token and surrounded by quite a powerful barrier. One definitely not made by the two C-grades living there.

Down in the cellar, Jake activated the small token the pretend-couple had given him, and soon after, a familiar hodded figure appeared.

”I am glad to see you are reasonable, not only in your decision to take us up on the offer but by not delaying your arrival needlessly,”the figure said right away, not even saying hello or anything.

out a chair before he used the token and was currently sitting in a relaxed pose. Very purposefully, mind you. He had been

I might as well get things

hope you continue to make wise choices,” the figure answered. ”Now, could you confirm the nature of the item the Infernal Baron

shadowy organization that has been semi-threatening me from the get-go. I am entirely neutral toward this Baron

consulting with someone. After a few seconds, they spoke again. ”Very well… how much do you know of the Infernal

”Fuck all,” Jake shrugged.

me

patriarch was a duke and near the peak of A-grade, and how

had presented everything with a sense of pride and matter-of-fact, this figure had a lot more emotion. It was clear they didn’t like the family at all. Fact-wise, things were pretty much the same, though, and Jake got the impression neither party

world, and cleansing it of their presence would be a blessing,” the figure finished. ”As for details… I will need to see

from Royal Road;

things to be. Same as with the Duke of Flames. Jake was a contractor, not an employee, so the person who hired him wasn’t allowed to say jack-shit about how Jake did things, and he wanted to make it very clear he always had the option of giving them the middle finger and quitting, if just out of pure spite if they tried

a stable arcane barrier on. Quickly erasing the barrier, the shadowy figure used

If you were to choose between supporting the dukedom that I told you about or an organization you knew borderline nothing of but

the ability to discern lies. At least the figure tried to find out if Jake was lying using it, naturally failing

whoever offers me the most. I became a Courier to challenge myself and to gain as much recognition as possible as I grow my reputation and rank. Who I work for doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things as long as I benefit,” Jake answered genuinely. Of course,

selfish approach where pragmatism takes precedence, I see… but let me ask. What do

said with a smirk. ”But in all seriousness, I can’t tell you how I feel about an elemental before meeting them, now can I? People are different, and I

clues, Jake was pretty damn sure this organization was very pro-elemental and cared a lot about them, so making himself appear sympathetic toward them would prove beneficial. Also, it was pretty easy

as people… I hope you realize how rare that is,” the figure

up his casual demeanor. ”I mean, considering I have a niece of sorts who is an elemental, it would be very weird for me not to

technically, Sylphie wasn’t just an elemental but a weird mix between beast and elemental, but that did make her at least partly

see… I believe I can explain a bit more about who we are and what we stand for, and with this explanation, you

single member of the dukedom in what they felt was a justified position. The figure even explained how killing anyone who helped the dukedom in any way was the right thing to do. Even if that

”inconsequential challenges” the Duke of Flames talked about them doing for nearly a century were things like this elemental

collect rare elemental variants. Oh, by the way, rare variants tended to

he had learned about this scenario was

They both fucking sucked.

the Challenge Dungeon to pass judgment, and he was in