The Primal Hunter

The gods watched the screen as Jake just relaxed on the floor while yawning lazily. In space, the Forsaken Dragonkin was rampaging, truly motivated by a promise of a potential Path to godhood. No one in the room really said anything as they simply observed events unfold until, finally, Minaga chimed up.

“So… another note in the development log?”

“Yes,” the Wyrmgod simply responded.

“Alrighty then,” Minaga smiled, clearly not upset with the situation. Looking at Vilastromoz, he couldn’t help but give a big thumbs up.

“I fail to understand… how did your Chosen even do that?” the Blightfather questioned the Viper after a bit. The Wyrmgod had shown the screen to everyone in the inner circle –the Primordials, Nature’s Attendant, and Artemis – so he was fully aware of the shenanigans Jake had been up to. This was naturally with the Viper’s permission, as he found their reactions very amusing, and what was better than bragging to old acquaintances?

“Do what?” the Viper asked, feigning confusion.

“Project your aura… or at least a cheap imitation of it.”

“Oh, that… yeah, Jake ate a drop of my blood infused with my Records and power a while back and has thus far not volunteered to give it back,” Vilastromoz answered nonchalantly.

There were a few raised eyebrows around the room as the Holy Mother also joined the conversation for once. “Impressive. To be able to handle such Records without seeing his own Path broken is not something you see often, and it truly shows his dedication. It isn’t something I would expect many mortals to be capable of, much less a C-grade.”

“C-grade? No, he ate it in E-grade, and my guy didn’t even ask,” the Viper sighed as he shook his head.

Eyebrows were raised even higher than before at the revelation. The only one that seemed entirely undisturbed was Valdemar. Unsurprising. He and Jake had many similarities in this regard, as Valdemar was also known for eating stuff he really shouldn’t be capable of while he was still a mortal. Even now, as a god, he would just gobble down natural treasures other Primordials were wary of nonchalantly.

“In any case, Jake did pretty damn well,” Minaga said, carrying along the conversation. “He even gave us so much good feedback on the Challenge Dungeon, outlining many things to address for the next era. Of course, most of the stuff he pulled off was things I wouldn’t really expect many others to be capable of, but there were some good data points anyway.”

Minaga was in a great mood, and the Viper couldn’t help but take a jab. “Feels good to see another Challenge Dungeon be utterly exploited after your labyrinth, eh?”

“I have no idea what you are talking about, and such accusations are utterly unfounded and unwelcome,” Minaga tried to shut him down with a deadpan face. “Minaga’s Endless Labyrinth is a marvel of dungeon engineering that is perfectly balanced with no exploits.”

“Right, right,” the Viper nodded as he kept smiling.

“You speak as if the Endless Journey Challenge Dungeon was an utter mess, but I believe its self-correcting mechanisms did well. The Viper’s Chosen also adequately adapted to the situations he was in, and even if he had unique advantages, he also faced some extra challenges due to them. Ones he overcame, mostly due to these same unique advantages, true, but if one can say one thing, it is that he is good at exploiting said advantage,” the Wyrmgod finally said after a while.

of problems, though,” Minaga pointed out. “Admit it, this entire Challenge Dungeon was a bit of

some would argue that nothing truly scenario-breaking happened, and the overall performance was fully acceptable. A few individuals being able to exploit a Challenge Dungeon does not make the entire project a failure. If it did, we would have had to decommission your entire labyrinth many eras ago,” the Wyrmgod said in his usual dry tone as he

his head. “But hearing you talk about how it isn’t a total failure… I wonder, how are Jake’s team members doing

after the god nodded, the Wyrmgod turned back to the Viper. “Three of them have already completed it, with only the Unique Lifeform yet to

hand, the Primordial summoned four new screens. Each showed one of Jake’s party members inside the Endless Journey in a highly sped-up fashion, showing their entire

let’s see how they did,the Viper thought as he

conference hall, talking to the many figures present. Among them were dragons in human form, the Founder, and a few other S-grades, including beings Jake had never encountered or even knew existed. This was clearly the end of his run, and the mere fact he had gathered all these individuals was impressive in its

established. A clear political victory, achieved in an entirely intended

Path of swordsmanship, that didn’t mean he had to throw away the political abilities

one. Perhaps he could have done slightly better if he had not lost two lives trying to set up this political meeting and if he hadn’t had to make as many concessions in the

to peck them, too,

Courier on her second job with a lengthy criminal record, something she didn’t like, which got her killed as she

bit better but still got mad when a woman tried to scam her, making Sylphie retaliate by having a tornado rip a small village to pieces. In the Courier World, this was considered bad business and Sylphie failed her job. This she did not like and raised a ruckus in the Guild, and ended up getting chased away from the city again. Having decided to just explore a bit, Sylphie eventually ended up in a too-dangerous area while searching for something tasty

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the son of the Infernal Baron. The difference here was that this man didn’t want to

as she did manage to scam some natural treasures out of PETE before she left. She ended up with a Rare Medallion only, despite having

on a vast grassland as the plants swayed with her steps. The entire land was alive, pulsing with power, reaching the very peak of S-grade as the living planet allowed her presence. All across the massive planet, portals had opened as the enlightened races entered, the Guild Founder and many others among them as they prepared to establish

the Nine Seals Demon returned and managed to get the Forsaken Dragonkin on their side with promises of telling him of a place in the universe that could give him the final push to godhood. Luckily for them all, Dina had managed to work with a seed sent out from this new planet that had landed on the

of summons to

conversations she had with the Sword Saint about the art of Leadership had really come in handy there. This all led to an ultimately great performance, even

King was still doing the Challenge Dungeon, as he had done the same as Jake and saved this one for last. He had struggled a bit with being treated like a mere

utterly failed to get one over him. When it came to the Special Courier Jobs, he also performed great. In

far away. This did seem to get the job done for the most part, as he progressed steadily and kept everyone on their toes while making them hesitant to make aggressive moves toward him. This status as a king would also have its very own note in the Endless Journey Exploits Log, but ultimately

did have in this Challenge Dungeon was his lack of speed when delivering goods during the regular Courier Jobs, and while he did alleviate this a bit through

the gods observed, Jake soon enough had visitors. The Forsaken Dragonkin was returning, but he was not alone. With him were several others, including the Guild Founder, Phoenix Queen, and even the Nine Seals Demon, who looked a bit worse for wear while leaning on the

him in naturally faded as Jake stepped forward and saw the S-grades approach. “I take it matters have been

an exhausted but happy smile. “It will take a long time to rebuild… but with the dragon tribe no longer lurking as a threat, I have hope our future will be

any of that… you have a promise to keep,” the Forsaken Dragonkin interrupted as

to make completely sure Jake was telling the truth. It was certain that should he try and bullshit his way out or lie, the situation would

that I will share with you the true Path to godhood soon. The method every single one of the dozens of gods I am aware of have in