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.

purposefully, mind you. He had been fronting himself as a powerful individual with this

thought I might as well get things

”Now, could you confirm the nature of the item the Infernal Baron wanted you to deliver? Show it

that, let me just explain things a bit from my viewpoint,” Jake said as he leaned forward and looked directly into where he suspected the eyes of the hooded figure would be. ”I am right now stuck between two factions. Some nobleman Baron, and a shadowy organization that has been semi-threatening me from the get-go. I am entirely neutral toward this Baron as I, quite frankly, don’t know shit about him. Meanwhile, you have made less than a stellar first impression, which I would heavily advise you to address. Especially as I also get a strong impression you want more than just to buy a delivery

few seconds, they spoke again. ”Very well… how much do you know of the Infernal Baron and the family he

”Fuck all,” Jake shrugged.

me to enlighten

same things the Duke of Flames had. It mentioned how it was a big family, how their patriarch was a duke and near the peak of A-grade, and how their Path included consuming – thus killing – elementals as part of their Path. Of course, the tone of the explanation

It was clear they didn’t like the family at all. Fact-wise, things were pretty

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

from Royal Road; report any instances

pushover. He hadn’t been entirely subservient, which was exactly how he wanted 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

as he dug into a pocket in his cloak and took out the Sealed Elemental, which he had re-cast a stable arcane barrier on. Quickly erasing the barrier, the shadowy figure used Identify on the item, confirming its authenticity but making no

before we continue, may I ask you. If you were to choose between supporting the dukedom that I told you about or an organization you knew borderline nothing of but who opposed this dukedom, who would

if Jake was lying using it, naturally failing upon encountering Shroud. It would under usual circumstances, that is, but this time around, Jake let it go through as his honest

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, he didn’t include

precedence, I see… but let me ask. What do you think of elementals? How do you

I can’t tell you how I feel about an elemental before meeting them, now can I? People are different, and

on all the context clues, Jake was pretty damn sure this organization was very pro-elemental and cared a lot about them, so

I hope you realize how rare that

demeanor. ”I mean, considering I have a niece of sorts who is an

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

a bit more about who we are and what we stand for, and with

was lore dump time. As expected, the group that hated the Duke of Flames could be summed up as a hardcore elemental rights organization. Not the peaceful protest kind either, but the type to actively try and kill every 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 help only came in the form of being a

about them doing for nearly a century were things like this elemental rights organization slaughtering thousands of E

to care when the organization began to mess with his ability to collect rare elemental variants. Oh, by the way, rare variants tended to also be the sapient sort and not the regular

about this scenario

They both fucking sucked.

the Challenge Dungeon to pass judgment, and