The Primal Hunter

Jake walked out of the terrace and through the Order compound while making sure to swipe a dozen or so beer bottles from the somehow endless ice bucket on the way out. He had a few places to visit before it was time to head back to Earth. As Villy had talked about, he at least needed to make it look like he was actively forging and maintaining relationships with other factions, especially Valhal. That’s also why he would visit there last, as he planned on spending a few days in their compound. He needed a few days anyway, as he came to learn on his way out of the Order’s base.

Two messages had been left for him. The first of which was by someone associated with Aeon Clok, who was to deliver a present for winning the bet for the time mage on the final City Floor. Jake had honestly forgotten it, but now that he was reminded, he looked forward to seeing what the mage had that could help his time banana not-a-tree at home.

The second message was from the Cerulean Demon, saying where to find him and asking if Jake was still interested. If he was, a disc detailing the ritual and the preparation the demons had made was also included for him to look through, which was part of the reason he would need to spend a few days at Valhal’s compound. He needed to look through it and familiarize himself with the ritual, and he may as well do that there.

Okay, Jake did kind of lie about there only being two messages… there were actually a few dozen, but only two of them were actionable. The rest were just pleasantries and invitations for different things, most of which Jake planned on just entirely ignoring. And by ignoring, he meant having someone else send back a diplomatic message, a job that would likely fall to some poor administrative worker from the Order who would be all stressed out about responding for him. Oh yeah, and he also told them to respond to the Demon Prince first and say Jake was interested and would come by within the week.

With all that done, Jake ventured outside as he first went to a small shop in Nevermore City that the first letter directed him toward. It turned out to be a small job on the outskirts of Nevermore City, far enough away so that Jake had to use a teleporter to get there, as flying would simply take too long.

Before he even entered the shop, he saw it was buzzing with customers. Enough so that there was a line out the door, making Jake reconsider if maybe he should come back later, but he didn’t get that chance as he got a telepathic message while he was considering his options.

“I have been expecting you, Chosen of the Malefic One. Please, come in through the back entrance,” the voice said, as he felt the one speaking to him inside the building. Sadly, he couldn’t see them with his sphere, as the inside was spatially expanded, distorting everything.

Doing as asked, Jake snuck his way around back and through a small door. Once inside, everything expanded as expected, and Jake saw himself standing within a pretty large workshop with a dozen hobgoblins working. None of them even looked up as they all looked deep in focus, but one hobgoblin did walk toward him from across the room.

“Welcome to our little shop, Chosen of the Malefic One. And congratulations on your performance… to think the new champion of the All-Time Leaderboards would visit my humble little shop,” the hobgoblin said with a sigh as he smiled.

Jake instinctively did an Identify, and confirmed what he kind of already knew. This was another follower of Aeon Clok, and a B-grade one at that.

[Hobgoblin – lvl ??? – Greater Blessing of Aeon Clok]

The fact that all of the hobgoblins were working on watches of different kinds should definitely have been a clue.

“I got your invite and was told you had something for me,” Jake said, not really super interested in sticking around longer than necessary.

“Of course, of course,” the hobgoblin said, still smiling. “The young master said you helped him acquire quite the wealth, and we were even allowed to reward you from his own stash. Please, I hope this item can be of utmost assistance and suit your needs.”

The hobgoblin waved his hand as more than a dozen large plastic bags about the size of a human torso appeared and fell on the ground. Jake instantly realized what he was looking at as he used Identify on the contents of the bags through the clear plastic.

[Primed Manure of the Timeless Simiiform (Legendary)] – Manure created by A powerful B-grade Timeless Simiiform variant, a monkey-like beast that infuses its manure with the concept of time to defeat its foes. This manure is infused with powerful time energy and has been primed to be easily absorbed by any plant with the time affinity by an outstanding crafter. Limited alchemical uses due to the priming.

to help his banana musa? Also, he found it oddly coincidental this manure came from a monkey,

a bit nervous as

good,” Jake nodded as he swooped up all the bags. “I do have a question, though. Is there some form of correlation between monkeys

based on what I know,” the hobgoblin said, looking confused. “Maybe there

“Thank you for the bags; I will

around, prepared to leave the same way he came in, as the hobgoblin

this may be too much to ask, but would you honor us by fulfilling a simple request?” the hobgoblin

wasn’t in the mood for more work, but before he could say anything, the hobgoblin continued. “Could you maybe leave through

not really thinking much of the weird request when he did hear it.

time mage said as he motioned for

had gotten a lot more bags than he expected, so he just did this small and insignificant favor as he walked out through

appropriated; report any instances

turned to them as the attendant manning the counter backed away. The store was filled with customers who saw Jake and the hobgoblin… okay, they mainly saw Jake, and damn did he feel glad he had worn

the Malefic One,” the hobgoblin said again as he led Jake out of the store as the sea of people opened a path for them. Jake just followed along as he heard people murmur while they all looked at him before. They

free to ever come again, and

he decided to just be nice and

as he smiled. Yeah, Jake was pretty damn sure he had just lost out on this transaction, even if he had been given

his day as he headed for his next destination. He wanted to avoid being on the streets as much as possible because, quite frankly, he attracted a bit too much attention. No one actually approached him, but

shop visit, Jake decided to go to a small base belonging to the Altmar Empire next. He only went there briefly to thank them for their congratulations and was naturally met by some high-ranking young talents from the faction whom he briefly interacted with. He did the same with a few other factions, including those he knew people in. He spent a few hours at both the Risen’s base and the one belonging to the Court of Shadows while he tried to

void-related people such as Arnold didn’t have some big base either, seeing as they were so rare, but he still tried to make it a point to

way too much socializing and politicking, Jake finally reached his final

arena smack in the middle of everything, not to mention the many personal residences spread around the outskirts, all sealed behind thick walls and magical circles. The amount of spatial expansion was also minimal, allowing Jake to get a good look at everything before he even entered using a Pulse of

sort, and the guy instantly

presences appeared within only a few seconds. He recognized none of them, but from their auras, it was clear the man in the center was in charge. The man was two full heads taller than Jake and had a pretty slim build compared to the three around him, who were all bald, muscular dudes wearing fur and leather clothes. The man in

– lvl ??? – Divine

his hands and bowed. “Welcome, Lord Thayne. I am

name, his god must really hate him. Secondly, they called him Lord Thayne and not any of his other titles. Jake felt like this wasn’t merely coincidental, almost

would have me,” Jake simply answered politely, taking extra note of the many scouts who had an eye on him. He counted… about four hundred people? With more than a dozen of those gods, not counting Villy who had definitely enjoyed Jake’s day of