The Primal Hunter

To be strong… was something that truly didn’t matter in the world before the system. One could be the best swordsman in the world or the best martial artist, but the difference between the bottom and the top was never that significant. Even the greatest fighter would lose against a few average men who teamed up on him. If they had weapons, even fewer. If they had a gun… a single shot could end the journey of a martial artist who had trained his body and skills to perfection over decades of struggle and hard work.

Due to this, and the peace of society as a whole, being able to fight rarely mattered. It was more done for sports or to stay in shape rather than any practical applications. Sure, the army did also teach hand-to-hand, and being able to stand your ground could come in handy when situations got tricky, but that was about it.

Yet Miyamoto had dedicated much of his life to training with a sword. Despite how many people told him he was wasting his time, he kept training whenever he could and only laid down his sword the day his body no longer allowed him to lift it.

It had simply been a passion of his, pursued for no other reason than the fact he enjoyed it. He worked most of his life, and it became his one selfish pastime where he could just be himself and ponder. His one childish pursuit…

And when the system arrived, he realized indulging in this childish pursuit was no longer that childish. Instead, it became a true Path to power, and no one looked down on him or questioned if he was wasting his time whenever he trained. One other thing did change, though, and that was the reason for his training.

Miyamoto had always been ambitious. It was simply an innate trait of his. During the Tutorial, he had simply fought, doing his best together with the allies he gathered as he struggled to survive. His body was weak in the beginning, but as time passed, he got stronger and stronger, and he still remembered that one fateful day.

It was a rather large fight, and one of the youngsters was struggling. Miyamoto had a breakthrough as he hurried over and managed to kill the opponent in the nick of time. The young woman who had been lying on the ground had called him something then. Something reminding him of a rather childish concept as she said he was like the Sword Saint of history…

The title stuck with him, as others also began to call him it, and Miyamoto never corrected anyone. Instead, he took this new title as a promise. To be the Sword Saint was to be at the peak of swordsmanship. To be the strongest…

And as of this moment, Miyamoto didn’t feel like he lived up to that promise. He hadn’t for quite a while, especially after he returned from the Challenge Dungeons and heard how others had done. Even if others said he hadn’t done badly, he was still far from satisfied.

The Sword Saint had done quite a lot better overall than Sylphie and finished with a final multiplier of 70%. His 10% in the Colosseum of Mortals had very much been a disappointment to him, as it turned out to be one of his worst despite, on the surface, looking like one he should have done well at. However, he had also gotten very unlucky. His “basic state” was that of an old man who had been a single step away from death before the system. When he entered the Colosseum and had his stats reduced, he was far more negatively affected than someone like Jake. His brittle bones made him take more damage every time he tried to block. His old muscles made him slower, and especially his striking power was negatively affected by his aging physique. He simply didn’t have a body that could make full use of his stats.

This wasn’t a problem when he had his full stats… but in the Colosseum, it became a severe limiter, in many ways making it impressive that he even managed to get 10%. He did feel sad about having had to use his Transcendence to beat Umbra, though, as it meant he could barely walk when he faced Valdemar for the final fight… but at least the backlash had been minimal due to the special circumstances of the Challenge Dungeon. By the time he had finished the Test of Character afterward, he was all good.

Speaking of the Test of Character, the Sword Saint did a lot better there. In fact, it ended up being one of his best-performing Challenge Dungeons with a 20% multiplier. Despite still being “young” in the context of the system, he felt like an old man, and he was very much set in who he was. He was good at judging situations and adapting when necessary, no matter what story he experienced.

A place he did a lot better than expected was the House of the Architect, where he got a 10% multiplier. He had expected not to get much here, but he had ended up surprising himself. In many ways, it had been a good respite as he had done this one last and had spent longer in it than any of the others. This allowed him to spend plenty of time working on his painting skills while naturally also upgrading some class-based skills, making it a very pleasant experience.

had also been another Challenge Dungeon he had very much enjoyed. Doing the menial jobs as a Courier reminded him of the jobs he had when he was young, especially while in the military. The later happenings and dealing with the political turmoil reminded him of what he had to deal with in his later years. Except, the political arena was too… simple. Easy. Simplified. There were a lot of twists and turns, but in the end, nothing ever felt too complicated, and he ended up challenging himself by aiming to broker a

he got 10% in Minaga’s Endless Labyrinth. There was not much to say here. He was fast; he managed to decipher many of the clues given and even deployed some

to “only” be a genius was far below the promise he had made and the burden of the title he had taken upon himself. He felt far below the realm of monstrous existences like Jake and even Ell’Hakan, whom he had faced in combat once and came out with a minor victory. Yet even then, knew there was more to the Chosen

floor, Miyamoto simply observed as Sylphie ravaged the land in front of Miyamoto, showing that she had also improved. A figure sat beside

too harsh on yourself,” the former Monarch of Blood,

but only be in an intangible form only the Sword Saint could see as

hawk. Her personality is utterly whimsical; she never seems to take any situation seriously, and she appears to only be playing around… yet her rate of improvement is unquestionable. Despite it looking like she isn’t trying, you

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coming at different intervals, but more importantly, in different spurts. Remember, the Path to power is not a sprint but a marathon

had listened to so many times before. He just kept watching Sylphie as she battled the pack of beasts while considering if he

added after a while. “One of the things that are holding you back is

the Sword Saint

that maybe there is just something to be looking at there. You have a lot of untapped potential you never

Sword Saint sighed as he closed his eyes. He feared his Path becoming murky again if he tried to diversify himself too much… but perhaps the former Monarch of Blood had a point.

Even so, the hunter wasn’t worried. He knew he would find his

tracking while making sure to mark any potential future prey along the way. Every time he marked one, he became able to see them even through solid

their defensive formation as they consumed herbs in a small clearing. Without missing his chance, the

as it formed an arrow. Pulling back the string, more arcane power appeared

slightly curved around all the trees in the way as it slammed into the side of the first beast’s head before

However, sadly for them, they were all already marked. The hunter didn’t even care to pursue as he sprung

blasted out as it hit one of the fleeing deer now over thirty kilometers away. The damage was even greater than the first deer the hunter had hit as he promptly nocked another. A second powershot in rapid succession was released, hitting a third deer for more damage yet again. It wasn’t an extreme amount, and the reason for the extra damage was

was slightly damaged, letting the hunter

his eyes and spotted a scout in the distance. Instantly, he marked the target, and even when the scout tried to use his stealth skill, the hunter still easily kept track as the scout failed to dispel the mark completely, its