The Primal Hunter

”It was far more powerful than our initial assessments. I believe it possesses a Nascent Dragon’s Heart, too, which is what ultimately led to our defeat,” the middle-aged vampire said in a serious tone as he reported to the raid organizer. “We may need to reconsider our approach or reach out for assistance.”

“I see,” the organizer said as she wrote in her report. “Did you get any indication of the beast’s inclinations for the upcoming event?”

“Nothing concrete, but what little interaction we did have made it clear the wyvern is incredibly arrogant. I have a hard time seeing it submit even to a far more powerful being, and with its aggressive nature… I believe leaving it be is far too risky.”

“Very well,” the organizer said with a nod. “I will refer it to the upper brass. Now go to your team… I reckon they need you right now.”

“Thank you,” the middle-aged vampire said as he stood up. “But... once more, I must warn you. The wyvern is far more powerful than we believed, so make sure not to just send anyone to be slaughtered.”

“It’s fine; if worst comes to worst, the Patriarch has returned from Nevermore,” the organizer said with a smile, making the vampire’s eyes open wide at hearing his grandfather had returned.

“In that case, I can go rest with a peaceful mind,” the vampire said as he left to rejoin what remained of his failed raid party. Losing so many people was a horrible experience… but it had to be done, even though he regretted the outcome.

Preparation for the Prima Guardian’s arrival was already well underway, with the World Council having made a strategy plan. Based on the knowledge provided in the original system message regarding the event, it was clear that beasts who had consumed system-provided natural treasures had to either sit out the event or join the Prima’s side.

Additionally, It was theorized that when the Prima Guardian event truly began, all protections of human lands would be lifted. Putting these together, it had been decided to address certain known powerful monsters living close to where humans lived, while actively exploring the unknown zones of the planet.

One of the most powerful examples of a known powerful beast was the Northpeak Wyvern. It lived in between Skyggen, Haven, and two other smaller cities, all so close that the wyvern could reach them in a very short time if it decided to attack. To leave it unaddressed would be the same as leaving an enemy behind your own frontlines.

Originally, the vampires hadn’t even gone to fight the wyvern but to try and reach some kind of compromise. Perhaps have the wyvern sign a system-bound contract making the wyvern agree not to fight for the Prima Guardian during the system event.

However, they hadn’t even gotten that far before the beast attacked them, forcing the vampire squad to switch to plan B: simply killing it.

It was something they wanted to avoid when possible, but the Northpeak Wyvern had left them little choice. Plus, based on reports, this wyvern was incredibly aggressive toward anyone who entered its domain. It would kill without even asking any questions, so even if it wasn’t going to ally with the Prima, getting rid of it was probably for the best, as keeping such a dangerous beast that couldn’t even be talked to was simply too risky, especially with its domain being so close to human settlements, and its high level of power.

Sadly, it seemed that even with their high assessment of the wyvern, they had underestimated it. His party had been one of the elite teams that hunted down these known high-level monsters, so they had genuinely believed it was a done deal and that there were few monsters they couldn’t handle, at least on the ground. The Sky Whale was leading the assault on the underwater creatures to ensure there wouldn’t be an invasion from the depths during the arrival of the Prima.

As with many others, the vampires all had gone to Nevermore but not stayed the full fifty years. They were all fully aware they were not competing for any kind of Leaderboard position, so they had only gone there for the leveling and stayed a couple of decades until they exhausted most of their potential after evolving to C-grade.

The middle-aged vampire had returned not even a month ago and had already disappointed himself and the family immensely. Alas, with the return of the Patriarch, they hopefully no longer had to hold any fear of these powerful creatures hidden across the planet.

Especially when one considered that his return would also mean the return of all those who had competed in the Leaderboards alongside him. With all those elite members of Earth, he had a bright view of the future and foresaw a less-than-bright future for the wyvern.

Jake walked through the icy cave but remained unbothered as he channeled arcane mana through his veins and protected himself with an outer layer of arcane energy. He saw the wyvern ahead of him within its cavern, in prime position to launch a breath at the entrance. Seeing this, Jake had already made a resolution.

If it dares attack, I kill it.

No arguments or discussions. Jake wanted to talk, sure, but he did say he wanted to remind it of how rude it was to use its breath on people without warning. If, even with this warning and the wyvern’s wounded state, it still decided to attack, Jake would rule this particular beast a lost cause.

large frosty cavern. Instead, it just raised its head and looked at him with wary eyes, seemingly considering if maybe it

stood still as he observed the wyvern for a moment. It was pretty large, about nine meters in length, which, in retrospect, probably wasn’t that large. Or maybe it was; Jake’s only comparison was the Viper back in the day, and he knew sizes between wyverns, dragons, and pretty much all kinds of

wyvern’s injuries weren’t actually that bad. Sure, they weren’t great, but the frost wyvern seemed to have a lot of

in its chest had been entirely emptied of gas and would take a while to fully recover. Which made Jake wonder why it had unleashed all of the mana at once into one attack. Did it have to? Or was it to ensure the vampires became

the side of the cavern, he had already spotted all the frozen vampires, with the wyvern throwing glances toward them as if afraid

remember me?” Jake

familiar, but no, I do not remember any creature such as you,” the wyvern said in a cautious

source, this story is not meant

What the wyvern had done before was more or less mana-speak, if one can call it that. It was sound produced solely through magic, not any physical movement

want?” the wyvern asked, not bothering with

encountering a wyvern in the wild. Imagine my dismay when said wyvern proceeded to unleash a breath on me before I could

do you have the slightest idea how little that narrows it

far, all information pointed to

“For an inferior creature to invade my

smile entirely fading, and instead of using words, he answered with actions as he fully unleashed his aura upon the cavern, even going so far as to use Pride of the Malefic Viper a

it stopped itself as its eyes opened wide. It had felt Jake’s

I’m seeing here is you,” Jake said as he stared down the wyvern. “And not just because you’re a wanna-be dragon.

but close its mouth as it lowered its

“Of course, you fucking don’t. Because if you did, you wouldn’t have decided to kill a group that clearly came here and sought you out specifically. Much less flee back to this lair as if

that the raid party carried – and the fact they had shown up with a raid party in the first place – it was apparent to Jake that they had

the Sword Saint’s clan and failed their raid, it also wasn’t hard to see what would come next. They would send an even stronger party… or the old man himself. Even if the wyvern was pretty strong, even for its level, it wasn’t peak-tier genius. Jake reckoned he could have killed this wyvern even if he was a lot lower level than he was now, and the Sword Saint would also be able to slay it without

it would also be kind of weird if some peak-genius wyvern appeared on a random mountain on Earth. The mere fact a wyvern with the potential to

do you think is going to happen now with that group of vampires who came to kill you?” Jake asked

was silent for a moment before answering. “They will have learned to not attack my domain again… or report to their kin

– what do you plan

“I shall defeat the-“

next attack, the one after. The enlightened races operate like that. If you kill one member of their faction, they will keep coming back until they wipe you out, and the people who attacked you belong to a faction where I’m aware of at least one person who could easily

of

Jake shook his head. “Not

was silent for a while before Jake sighed. “Seriously, you have a Greater Blessing

with

to not stay in the same place if you piss off people you shouldn’t. Makes you a sitting

wyvern

means your death?” Jake

ambition,” the beast said, once more not leaving

on stuff like mountains. All the