The Primal Hunter

Jake looked through the drawers, trying to find anything suitable as his mom stood at the door. He had never been a fan of his mom’s tendency to buy clothes, as she had a horrible habit of not really remembering what size people were, but in this one instance, that came in handy as Jake quickly found a T-shirt and jeans that seemed about his size.

“I told you there would be something for you,” Debra said in an almost proud tone.

“Not sure you should be bragging about buying things in the wrong size for Dad or Caleb,” Jake smiled and shook his head before shooing her out of the room so he could change.

It probably shouldn’t come as a surprise, but Jake didn’t own any normal clothing. He had his armor, a few party outfits he used at the Order, and some more clothing that really didn’t fit with a modern setting. With that in mind, Jake had decided to raid a drawer with clothing no one used, finding his current outfit that fit nicely after putting it on.

Looking at a mirror in the room, Jake felt like he looked weird.

Since when did looking normal become weird, and looking weird become normal? Jake questioned. In the multiverse, people really just wore whatever, and finding people walking down the street in full plate armor, or armor obviously made from a dead beast, was considered entirely ordinary. Not to mention polymorphed monsters that didn’t even need equipment with enchantments, making them wear even weirder stuff at times.

Jake did still look a bit off, though. He had undoubtedly changed physically after the system arrived and with a few evolutions under his belt, but nothing was as notable as his eyes. While he hadn’t exactly tested it, he was pretty sure they glowed in the dark now, or at least reflected light like the eyes of a cat, and if he tried to evaluate them objectively, they did make Jake look a bit… he wanted to say dangerous, but volatile was probably more accurate.

Wearing sunglasses was one option, but one Jake quickly dismissed. Firstly, because wearing sunglasses inside makes you look like an idiot or a blind person, and secondly, because his nephew would definitely end up seeing his eyes at some point anyway, so there was no need to hide them.

Exiting the room in his average outfit, his mom waited on the other side and looked at him from top to bottom, stopping when she reached his feet. “You’re still wearing those old boots? According to Caleb, you should be doing pretty well for yourself, so couldn’t you get some new ones? They certainly look like they have seen better days…”

“These are the best boots in the multiverse, and I will hear no objections to that statement,” Jake said with a tone of utmost certainly. He wasn’t really joking, either. Finding awesome mythical rarity boots like this wasn’t exactly commonplace.

“Alright, not going to argue with you, but you should look into buying some product to treat the leather,” Debra still insisted.

“I doubt it would work,” Jake shook his head. “They haven’t changed appearance no matter what’s happened to them.”

“If you say so,” his mom finally gave up as the two of them walked into the living room to wait for Caleb and Maja. Jake could already see them next door, preparing to leave.

“Look at him; not wearing dark clothes and looking all grim,” Jake’s Dad said the moment Jake entered the living room. He had to admit that the blue t-shirt with what he was pretty sure was the logo of some company printed on it did make him look much less serious and grim than usual.

“I’ll have you know cloaks and leather armor are quite fashionable,” Jake defended himself as he took a seat at the dining table.

His Dad didn’t say anything but just looked at the projector that was playing what looked a lot like a TV show of some kind. Except it was clearly one made after the system arrived, making Jake look at it with interest. It was a show about a tailor struggling with finding enough materials because a merchant union had recently moved in and increased the prices, but oh wait, a new shop just opened up on the street with a blacksmith who refuses to back down to the evil merchant’s demands…

like it’s your first time watching a

my first time watching one produced after the system… not gonna lie, I didn’t even know it was a thing,” Jake readily admitted. Then again, all Paths were viable, so maybe stuff like this was too… though he had a hard time seeing how one could take acting to a particularly high grade. Like, what would the difference between a D-grade and a B-grade

some people are trying to bring back a feeling of normalcy, and producing things like these is part of that,” his mom added. “Not to say there isn’t an entertainment industry, they just don’t really do produced shows like this. A lot are recording and showing off spars, hunts,

Order, but most of the time it was done with the purpose of teaching and not entertainment. Sure, the teachers who were also entertaining were the ones who did best, but the primary objective was

He looked toward the door just before they knocked, and his

his Dad just letting out a

he saw Debra open the door as he heard them greet each other. It was pretty clear that they visited often, which

non-intimidating and normal

she came over for a light hug before pulling away. “It has been years! You really need

lot calmer than he had in the get-together of all the people who placed on the Leaderboards. While he hadn’t really shown it much, Jake could really see now how tense he had been then, and it was great

case of theft: this story is not rightfully

it. Adam looked as one would expect of a kid, and he stared at

introduced Jake to his nephew. Caleb

said with a smile as

kid stared at him for a moment, as Jake felt a bit uncomfortable but tried to

“Your eyes are weird.”

said in a scolding tone, as Jake

Jake just confirmed.

shyly, much to

annoying or disruptive; he just didn’t really know how to act around them. It didn’t help that he had zero experience with kids of any age. The system had surely also changed things, as based on what his mom had briefly mentioned

away just like Dad, but he visited when you were little,” Maja said

in that as he stared up at

taken aback as he

stronger than Dad?” Adam asked

making Jake consider his answer carefully. “Your Dad

answer seemed to satisfy Adam’s curiosity, as Caleb also threw Jake a thankful look. Jake got it. Flexing in front of his son would be a bit too much, and what

the second his grandma brought out some

saw his brother with a content smile on his face as

missed more than three of his most important years being away in Nevermore. What’s more, for me, fifty passed… it’s like I’ve been away an entire lifetime. It will take a bit to adapt before I really feel like I’m back. Adam will also

hard for both parties, and no one could pretend fifty years was a short time, even if Caleb could live for thousands at the very least as a C-grade. One had to remember all of them were still very young in a multiversal context, and he was pretty sure Caleb had spent less time than Jake in time-dilation, meaning Nevermore