The Primal Hunter

Jake sighed as the entire trial was rapidly coming down on his head. Usually, a collapsing cave wouldn’t really be a problem, and it would, at most, annoyingly trap him for a while, but this place was a bit different. It was clearly rigged to explode and kill whoever was inside, and releasing a Pulse, Jake saw that the pathways he had taken to enter the chamber were rapidly collapsing. If he really hurried, there was a chance he could still make it out the way he came, though it would be far more dangerous than the way down there. Even then, it was a risk, and he predicted he would get trapped at quite a few points and would have to do his fair share of digging.

He could do all that… or he could just go straight up and not waste any more time than he needed to. Summoning his wings, Jake began to rapidly infuse energy into them before he had an enchanted rock fall on his head. A green mist began to come out as he manipulated it to slowly surround him. Jake’s body soon enough began to turn a dark green color as he took a deep breath before activating the emergency escape ability of Wings of the Malefic Viper.

Shooting upwards, Jake had little control of his movements, as he just focused on going up. He felt himself pass through solid matter as if nothing could stop him. Even the enchantments placed on the chamber didn’t manage to impede his ascent, as they were ultimately made to strengthen the material, not stop someone using a skill like Jake’s to travel straight through.

Everything was warped as Jake wasn’t sure exactly where he would end up. After a few seconds more, Jake figured it was good enough as he deactivated the skill and appeared in the real world once more. Once his eyes and body refocused, he found himself standing in mid-air, above the clouds, with the ground far beneath him.

The wings on his back slowly withered away, and Jake felt the backlash as he could no longer activate the skill. He probably wouldn’t be able to for a good while… at least a few days. Jake had purposefully not kept the skill going for longer than necessary to avoid the cooldown being too long, even if he could have continued for a good while.

”Well, the Nine Seals Demon was a dud,” Jake sighed again. He had honestly been lucky he had discovered she was a secret ally of the dragon tribe because that had definitely been a risky gamble. Had Jake known for sure she was an ally of them? No, he just felt like things felt a bit off with her responses and lack of surprise when Jake mentioned the world getting invaded. Almost as if she had expected it to happen. Her concern also felt completely fake.

When he then accused her of being an ally, her response had also seemed off. She had frozen and just looked at him before asking what he meant. If she truly was an ally of the Founder who had fought the dragon tribe, wouldn’t she be extremely offended that some C-grade accused her of working with her hated enemy?

Nothing was definitive proof, but Jake had risked big and won. The fact she had crumbled so quickly and confessed everything had been very lucky for sure. As for her explanation about how the dragon tribe was actually the wronged party and the entire ”you’re actually working with the baddies” spiel… yeah, Jake honestly didn’t care. He was the Chosen of an evil snake cult. If he cared about being associated with the ”bad guys,” he would have had a faction change a long time ago.

The conversation did bring up one more annoying question he had to ask himself, though… was the Phoenix Queen an ally? The Founder had mentioned this Nine Seals Demon as an ally before, so there was a chance she had switched sides recently, and the Phoenix Queen had no idea. It could also be that the Phoenix Queen was also an enemy who would stab them in the back, which could be disastrous if the Founder trusted her. At this point, there was no way to determine her allegiances, and Jake had no idea how he would go about things.

Either way, shit was messy, and Jake was definitely not equipped to handle it. He considered what to do but ultimately decided to return to the Guild. Whenever in doubt, he returned to the core objective of this Challenge Dungeon: to complete Courier Jobs. So, if he could ”trust” anyone, it had to be the Founder who made the Guild.

Luckily, the trial hadn’t been that far from a major city, and a few hours of using One Step later, he arrived back in one. After a few more teleports, Jake was back in the capital city of the Human Kingdom, where he headed to the Guild to hopefully contact the Founder directly.

He ended up having to wait half an hour inside the Guild office before he could finally talk with the S-grade.

A projection appeared, and Jake saw the form of the Founder. He looked a bit worse to wear and was sitting with his legs crossed, likely also using this conversation to restore some energy. ”Courier, thank you for helping get the Blademaster here. I heard from the Phoenix Queen you went to recruit the Nine Seals Demon? Her abilities would be a great help in fortifying our defenses.”

”Yeah, about that… turns out the Nine Seals Demon is on the side of the dragon tribe,” Jake said with an apologetic look. ”I luckily discovered this before summoning her here, so a crisis was temporarily averted.”

”What?” the Founder asked, confused. ”Impossible… she was… no, I believe you, you have yet to lie to me. What exactly happened when you contacted her?”

explain everything about their conversation and how he had to escape the collapsing cave, sprinkling that in to make it clear she had tried to kill him, likely to bury what he knew. The Founder frowned even more deeply than before when Jake told him she said that the dragon tribe were the planet’s original inhabitants, and the enlightened races were nothing more than refugees who took over. His interpretation of history was a

as slaves after their homeworlds were destroyed by the tribe. It was no rebellion toward a benevolent ruler but a revolution against a tyrannical one that took place over centuries. We did also get some help from other enlightened who arrived, but to paint us as the aggressors and not us simply defending ourselves… either the

it came to telling him what actually went down, but he held his tongue. Instead, he waited for the Founder to give him some time to think. As this happened, Jake also saw he

once more done us a huge service. If the Nine Seals Demon had been summoned to the planet and attacked from behind, dismantling our defenses, the consequences would have been disastrous. I also understand your concerns about the Phoenix Queen, and I will make sure to confirm if she is also a spy… but I doubt it. For now, do keep what happened with the Nine

definitely a flag of some sort, and Jake

Nine Seals Demon joins the invasion force at some point, and if the Phoenix Queen is actually on our side right now, the shock of seeing someone she was once close with may turn her to the side of the dragons. If, on the

not meant to

interpretation that the Nine Seals Demon

Founder agreed. ”Very well; I shall

I accelerated her betrayal,

the frontlines? And is

has been a massive help and bought us a lot of extra leeway. However, nothing has truly changed.

like he was hesitating a lot, unsure if he wanted to

responsibility to try and assist. So if there are any jobs, never hesitate to give them

unsure, the Founder considered for a bit before finally sighing. ”Very well, you have yet to fail so far. There is one person you could approach, but it is no ally or an old friend. What I am about to tell you is not something many know, and not even the Phoenix Queen is aware. Around twenty thousand years ago, I discovered an unknown aura. I noticed as

more hidden lore and a very special job. More special than the

The reason I am hesitant to try and make contact is that, truthfully, I do not know what his intentions are now. I do not know if he will even side with us or perhaps even choose his own kin and be our end. All I know is that without him,

understand,” Jake nodded. ”A huge risk with a potential enormous reward. How am I to find

not entirely sure. All I know is that he is either on this planet or one of the inhabited moons. When it comes to his exact location, all I have is a runic horn he left me with when I encountered him back then. He claimed that the runes on it could be deciphered to find his exact location, but I never really even considered messing with it, as I feared he would know if I did, and admittedly, I fear this dragonkin. Now, my fear is no longer a consideration. Also, while I

right. Jake’s chance of deciphering something made by an S-grade was borderline impossible, especially

their locations when I transfer the Special Courier Job. Pick up the horn from my vault before you leave, and guard it with your life. Oh, and finally… due to the nature of the runes on the horn, it cannot be put in spatial storage, and with its draconic traits, I do not doubt for a second it will release an aura recognizable to dragons or their allies… so be careful as you travel, alright? There is a good chance the dragon tribe is also aware of their lost prince, so I doubt this will be a smooth journey. I

At least, he thought it was just

meet the Lost Dragonkin and convince him to

one more left and Jake would be done… though he got the feeling this one wouldn’t be all that easy or fast. Without hesitation, he went by the

the size of a goat’s horn and slightly curved. It had a brownish color but was covered in golden runes all over. Picking it up, Jake tried if he could analyze the runes at all, but

horn, he quickly confirmed it was

that must be deciphered in order to unlock its true function. Cannot be put in any

of the Guild, he took a small over-the-shoulder bag to carry it in. It