The Primal Hunter

Considering there was only a handful of S-grades in the entire world, it didn’t take long for the people present to realize who the man Jake had arrived with was. His overwhelming aura suppressed every single one of them, his power simply at a whole other level, even compared to the peak A-grade Lord Protector.

”Ge… General…” the Lord Protector stuttered as the Founder’s form also changed. Jake already knew he had transformed his body, so it didn’t really come as a surprise when he turned into a slightly older-looking human man. It did surprise everyone else, though.

Also, Jake learned that, apparently, the Founder had been a general back in the day.

”I must admit I find myself disappointed,” the Founder spoke as no one else dared open their mouths. ”I truly, for a brief moment, believed this could be resolved without my involvement. Alas, I was proven wrong. Despite all the evidence and the testimony of a high-ranking courier with a borderline-perfect track record, your response is to do… nothing.”

”We… we will conduct a thorough investi-” the Duke of Blades tried to say but was silenced with a single glance.

”Do you think me a child? That I could not see through such an obvious attempt to suppress the truth by all parties involved?” the Founder shook his head as he looked at the Lord Protector. ”Are you also going to tell me I’m an idiot, Colonel?”

”No… no, Sir,” the formerly awe-inspiring Lord Protector said as he bowed. ”It is just as the General observed.”

”At least someone besides this Courier is capable of telling the truth,” the Founder scoffed as he turned his attention back to the king. ”You, too, lived during the war. Many of those here today did… yet you all seem to have forgotten what happened then and the aftermath. Why I made the Guild in the first place. Do I need to remind you, little king? Remind you of the oath your kingdom swore? The promise you made!?”

The king looked down, almost ashamed. By now, the tides had truly turned, and things were not looking good for the Dukes. The Duke of Flames, who had wiped the blood off his lips, clearly also noticed this as he tried to not be fully suppressed.

”Lord Founder…” the Duke of Flames began as he tried to get his bearings. ”I truly apologize for how things turned out… but… is the Guild not also breaking protocol by getting directly involved in an internal conflict of the Human Kingdom? While it is true we were partly to blame, we were also fooled by this Courier as he plotted against us all, and he was the one who initiated today’s conflict with his widespread accusations. I can admit I hired him through the Guild to use against my political foes and to get rid of the terrorist organization harassing me… but is that truly so wrong? Is that truly a crime deserving of the Guild Founder’s wrath?”

The Founder let out a loud sigh as he looked directly at the Duke of Flames.

”You just admitted to your biggest crime… how you used the Guild. In truth, I do not care for the internal conflicts of the Human Kingdom. The internal disputes of any country, for that matter. But this entire thing has been made possible by exploiting the nature and good reputation of the Guild. For years, the Dukedom of Flames has pressured the Guild into accepting Courier Jobs to hide its dirty dealings, and the other dukedoms are no different. You have viewed the Guild as nothing more than a tool for you to abuse without ever considering the consequences or when things would reach a breaking point… so let me just make it clear. That breaking point was well and truly reached today when you tried to make such an exemplary Courier into your accomplice,” the Founder said in a loud voice with an undertone of anger. Jake even saw a few of the people present shiver as a bit of bloodlust emanated from the S-grade.

Jake had to do his utmost to hold himself back from grinning. The people who had been calling him a fucking moron only minutes ago were now shivering because the Founder had shown up. He alone was strong enough to utterly suppress every single person in the room, and in truth, his actual words barely mattered. His arguments were meaningless in the grand scheme of things.

It was the same as when Jake had spoken up. It didn’t matter if everything Jake said was the truth. Before a bunch of A-grades, his words simply didn’t matter as he was only some C-grade whelp in their eyes. Perhaps this wasn’t the lesson one was meant to learn from this Challenge Dungeon, or maybe it was… but it reaffirmed something Jake already knew but had foolishly disregarded during this dungeon. Power still came first and foremost before everything else.

As the Viper had said a long time ago, if you were strong enough, your word became truth. Your interpretation of a situation became the correct one. As a Chosen, Jake was usually capable of always borrowing the influence of the Malefic Viper, and in many cases, people even believed his opinion mirrored that of the Viper, making them take him more seriously. In cases where he interacted with his peers who didn’t necessarily care about his status or had an equally high status, Jake was still considered one of the stronger people, so he could still be part of the conversation as an equal.

In this Challenge Dungeon, Jake was no equal to the Dukes he had tried to call out, and it was shown when everyone sided with the A-grades to just sweep everything under the rug. Power meant everything, which was once again shown when suddenly everything Jake had said was given a new level of legitimacy and taken far more seriously because the Founder popped up to tell them to take Jake seriously.

”I…” the Duke of Flames began, as he looked like he tried to come up with a counter-argument, only to have the Lord Protector stop him.

your stupidity,” the old man scoffed as he looked at the Founder and kneeled. ”I am ashamed that something like this could have happened under my watch…

of these crimes of the dukedoms were taking place, yet I did nothing. I even knew they abused and threatened the Guild to do their bidding and used the Guild Founder’s institution as if they owned it. I reneged on my responsibilities and can only be ashamed of my own incompetence and failure to do what I must. For this, I can only beg

didn’t make any excuses but just took responsibility while admitting things that had otherwise not come to light already. Finally, he promised to better himself

take

Duke of Flames and the Duke of Blades along

before the king threw him a sharp gaze and spoke even louder than

permitted

a moment, Jake thought the Duke of Flames was going to fight it out, but he ultimately didn’t. Jake had a feeling that should the Founder not be present, the power-hungry Duke would have escaped, leaving behind everything to save his own hide. Even if the Lord Protector was stronger than him, the Duke of Flames was still a close second and was more than capable of getting away, even from a space mage. Of course, with the Founder also there, his chances of escape were non-existent, so he ultimately

has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story

had been lifted from the king and Lord

guest would be a great honor,” the king bowed as the royal guards and Lord Protector began to escort out the two dukes along with a bunch of other nobles. All of them already had pretty bleak facial expressions, and when the Founder proclaimed he would stay in the kingdom for a while, things only got worse for them. That pretty much killed all escape plans, and especially the Duke of Flames looked like a plan

bowed or full-on kneeled at some point, nor carried an unmistakable sense of reverence for one of only five known S-grades. Jake hadn’t needed to say anything after he had already done his assignment and laid out the evidence, and that honestly felt pretty

the Lord Protector wasn’t happy with the status quo… but Jake sure as hell had no idea how to make it

He said this with many nobles and the king still present as everyone looked at them. ”Without you, this would have been much more difficult, and your actions

bowed as he kept up his persona as the perfect employee. ”And I am just

laughed as he patted Jake

the Guild Founder himself and worked with him, upended the political landscape in one of the countries, and even had an A-grade killed and several imprisoned. However… for some reason, Jake didn’t feel like this was

thank you once more, but I also know you must be eager

gotta be kidding

Job

many Courier Jobs available, even for someone of your skill, and as I work to restore order and remove corruption, I may

tell the guy to just fuck off, but instead, he smiled. ”As long as there

remain here and speak to these fools a bit longer, but you are free to do whatever you wish,”

royal palace. On the surface, he was smiling, while on the inside, he was cursing loudly. He just thought, for the briefest of moments, he had ”beaten” the

keep going at it, and at some point, you’ll run out of jobs or become

his strategy worked out somehow… or maybe it’s that weird instinct or intuition or whatever that helped him along. Who knows? For my own sanity, I will just call

usually didn’t bother saying much, actually spoke

as bullshit but held his tongue. He didn’t deny luck was a thing, but to call it a skill

just when preparation meets opportunity,” the Blightfather chimed in. ”Many of those who dare claim others just got lucky are those incapable

Mother also decided to get involved… likely just