The Primal Hunter

For the longest time, Jake had found Sylphie’s version of stealth very endearing and silly while also naturally being utterly useless. She believed that by simply making a giant tornado and hiding within it, no one would notice anything was amiss and just ignore it. She thought the same when it came to hiding sound: just make so much noise no one can hear anything, and you’re good.

Well… it turns out Sylphie had kind of been correct all along? The problem all along had just been that Sylphie didn’t do her stealth technique on a big enough scale.

If a small tornado was ripping apart an area, someone would notice it. However, if a giant gust of wind flew by, while people would surely notice it, few would instantly connect it to a small green hawk. Especially not when said small green hawk was merged with the wind itself, effectively making her a natural phenomenon. At least it did work on this planet, as no one bothered Jake and Sylphie during their travels.

Jake could already imagine the horrors of Sylphie’s stealth technique when she got even stronger. Giant hurricanes would wash across planets just in her attempts to hide within.

Of course, Sylphie’s stealth did have the issue of not really working when not traveling swiftly, as a giant gust of wind not moving or just flying in circles creating a tornado was definitely suspicious. The giant gust did have some advantages unforeseen advantages, though, such as allowing Jake to ride alongside it.

Even with all Jake’s improvements to One Step, Thousand Miles, he was still not as fast as Sylphie, so having her adjust her speed to boost Jake was a big help. It allowed the two of them to travel across the Vast Plateau swiftly as they headed for the capital closest to the battlefield while the Sword Saint and Fallen King stayed back with Dina to protect her.

Jake didn’t doubt the two of them would still mess a bit with the battlefields, but they would definitely show restraint. The reason the two hadn’t come along for this scouting mission was partly because someone needed to stay with Dina and simply because they were both too slow. Plus, neither had good stealth skills, and if they did end up getting into conflict during their travels, Jake and Sylphie were the two best people in their party at escaping.

Alright, maybe Dina was equal to Jake, as they both had trump card escape skills, but Sylphie was second to none with her incredible speed and elusiveness. In either case, Jake was the king of stealth and was thus the best at trying to get a good look at this Twin Emperor to figure out what they were dealing with.

As Jake was the best at stealth, Syplhie sadly had to hang back when they got close to the capital. They found a small forest not far from the capital where Sylphie found a nice branch to sit on while Jake headed to the capital itself to check things out and learn more about the Twin Emperor. Who knows, maybe he could even manage to sneak into wherever the emperor lived and have a look around.

Setting off, Jake flew into the air with his stealth skill already active. He wanted to get some height first to get a good look at one of the two capital cities of the Vast Plateau, and when he did… honestly, he felt a bit disappointed.

It was so damn small.

Alright, it was still pretty big, probably large enough to house around fifty thousand, but compared to what Jake had come to expect from capital cities in the multiverse, it was pathetic. The Fort part of Haven was way bigger than this small capital, and when compared to some of the cities they had seen even on prior floors – or especially the Neverending Journey Challenge Dungeon – it barely looked like a town.

However, as Jake scouted it from afar, he did notice one thing. After using Identify more than fifty times, Jake had yet to see a single individual below level 280. And there were a lot of people in the city, most of them crafters, though. The weapon industry was definitely in full swing, as well as large alchemy labs and others who worked on supplies for the war efforts. The city was clearly still underpopulated for its already smallish size, but he reckoned a few thousand should be living there, which also truly attested to how many were already on the battlefields.

In the center of the capital was a large burly tower, only about ten stories tall but damn wide. Jake wasn’t even sure if he could call it a tower, as it pretty much had the shape of a cake. He didn’t hold any doubt this would be where the Twin Emperor could be found, and not just because it was the largest central building in the capital, but due to the magical runes covering the entire thing.

Jake even felt a faintly familiar energy to the one in the bone spheres, making him certain this emperor was indeed involved.

Entering the city, Jake covertly made his way toward the large building. If the emperor was home, he wanted to avoid entering the building if he could. If the Fallen King was correct and they were dealing with a witch doctor or something similar, things could quickly get hairy if Jake entered. Casters like that were very similar to witches like Miranda and liked their well-established magical domains a bit too much.

Luckily, he didn’t enter before confirming the emperor was home. After circling the building a few times and sitting watch, he saw a figure at a window. There was a barrier to make one unable to look inside, but Jake didn’t face many issues to Perception-check it as he saw the full form of one of the two floor bosses.

clothing and demeanor of a mage. His race was also a bit of a surprise, as Jake had fully expected to see an orc, considering they were the most

a bit risky, but Jake still decided to go for an Identify, partly to confirm he was indeed looking at

–

seventy-five had been level 325, so this one had to be stronger. One also had to remember that level wasn’t everything. This Twin Emperor was clearly a powerful variant, making it

even if it would be a damn difficult fight, Jake gave

Jake used Identify before, he felt as if something was off. His Identify hadn’t been detected by the Twin Emperor, but something had still interfered

wouldn’t be odd if he could

Road; report any

Primal Gaze partly activated as his eyes began to glow, and ever-so-vaguely, Jake felt as if he saw

head around and peered out the window straight at where Jake was standing using stealth. Due to

Well, shit.

process. A staff appeared in his hand as Jake summoned his wings and quickly

to the side, Jake narrowly avoided a descending lighting bolt aimed straight at where he had been standing. A massive explosion from the impact sent him tumbling

getting suppressed but the air actively working against him. Moreover, Jake felt as if his body was beginning to get heavy as even more concepts came into play. Far more than Jake wanted to try and

and elemental magics closing in on Jake, he still felt everything around him stabilize as his foot found solid ground, allowing him

Even if Jake kind of wanted to strike back, he avoided doing anything, as this was no time or place to fight. He was still in

he felt the pressure on him lessen. The ogre behind him

felt relieved until something impacted his Shroud of the Primordial, as well as his soul in general. Energy had somehow appeared in his body that tried to

A hex…

the hex, purging himself while feeling very happy he had been the one to go and not Sylphie or any of the others, as they would have had a way

could only breathe a sigh of relief as he got further and further away. He didn’t dare

out of here. Fly back toward the party immediately, and keep a steady pace till I catch up,” Jake warned the

screeching telepathically into Jake’s

it above 30% so he could avoid the period of weakness.

told the four others. “What do you want

news,” the King

didn’t manage to infiltrate the main building controlled by the Twin Emperor, and I ended up getting chased away when he noticed my presence. So, still not entirely sure exactly what his plans are, and I doubt I can

good news?” the

own, which must mean the event boss is even stronger, so we’ll have a good fight ahead

and what else?”