The Primal Hunter

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

No forest was meant to be like this in Jake’s opinion. There was no wind to rustle the leaves, no movements whatsoever anywhere to cause even the slightest song. No sign of any small wildlife hiding in the bushes or on top of the trees either, or the occasional sound of a bird chirping. It was just silence and stillness as if the forest was frozen over.

Jake walked through the blue forest as he took in the environment and felt just how corrupted the mana was all around him. No D-grade would be able to exist within the forest, and even weaker C-grades would find themselves negatively affected as the energy seeped into their bodies, corrupting them. Perhaps one would even turn into some kind of Lunewood creature if one spent too long there. He would almost compare it to an area hit by nuclear fallout, and he could only begin to imagine the devastation a Wood Meteor could cause if it ever struck down on Earth and remained unattended.

Then again, Jake wasn’t even sure a Wood Meteor would be able to enter Earth due to the powerful atmosphere. It definitely wouldn’t if they also added some additional barriers to empower the planet’s natural defenses, something he would need to talk to Miranda about doing when she was back from Nevermore. The thought that random objects from space like Wood Meteors existed that could fuck up a planet was definitely a newly unlocked fear for Jake.

Anyway, back to Jake, even without defending himself from the environment, he managed to remain unaffected as he made his way deeper and deeper into the forest under the cover of Unseen Hunter. He kept a lookout for any odd herbs or natural treasures born in the environment of the Lunewood Forest, but nothing really caught his eye, and what he did spot wasn’t anything he had any interest in using. The entire place really was a shithole, and Jake got the feeling that this particular Wood Meteorite was uniquely horrible.

At the very least, the brief time he had spent inside the forest only further strengthened his desire to get rid of the Wood Meteorite for good. Also, wouldn’t the moon just look too weird if it was filled with a blue forest? Yeah, it definitely would, so best to get rid of it before the forest could spread too far.

Getting deeper than ever, he spotted many more Lunewood Stalkers, all just doing… nothing. They looked like beasts but didn’t at all act like them. They were lying down but not even doing the beast-version of meditation, nor did they move to hunt anything. It felt more like their movements were robotic and pre-programmed to set patrol patterns. Entirely unnatural. A lot of them also just stood still like statues, with the only movement visible their pulsating vines filled with life energy.

Luckily, this did help with Jake not getting detected even if he walked right up to one. He did consider trying to give a Stalker a poke but reckoned that wouldn’t go well for him. Unless his definition of things going well was to fight another horde of Lunewood Stalkers, that is.

Maybe later, Jake told himself, as he kept running forward into the forest. Soon, he finally spotted something noteworthy: another creature.

It was a large monster standing on four legs, but not like a horse or dog would, but more like a spider. Its upper body was vaguely humanoid, as it had four arms, each holding wooden staves. It definitely gave off stronger vibes than the Stalkers, even if it was still a very low-tier creature.

Using Identify, he also confirmed its level was higher than most Stalkers, at least by a little.

[Lunewood Keeper– lvl 322]

There was also one other difference between these creatures and the Stalkers. These Keepers actually moved around and did stuff, casting some form of magic on the ground all the time and tending to the trees and other plants. The name Keeper was very apt, but seeing that a part of their skillset was clearly reserved for tending to the Lunewood Forest, Jake guessed these would only be on the level of the Stalkers when it came to combat, even if they did feel overall stronger.

Ignoring the creatures and continuing, Jake only now seemed to realize what kind of exploration trip he had dedicated himself to. If his guess was right, and the Lunewood Forest covered a massive part of the far side of the moon, it wouldn’t be fast to reach the center. It would take a few days, even if Jake hurried. Considering he also wanted to check out anything interesting he found on the way, it would likely end up taking an entire week.

time he would just spend

pretty sure had time. Despite Jake not reaching out as much, he knew Villy had an avatar or something watching at all times. Or, at the very least, he was aware of what Jake was doing, which should also mean he was free

still want to talk to me from time to time,” Villy said in a mock-offended tone. “I thought you had forgotten all about the snake

to get used to it again,” Jake answered. “Besides, I got another limbless, long-bodied companion I could

deeply. “At least it’s a unique and interesting worm who got quite a few things wrong during their

“Such as?”

Viper joked. “Not going to spoil the fun for you. That would be rude of me,

to him. It would be a lot more exciting to explore the Lunewood Forest and

in, what are the chances the system planted it here directly? And if so, wouldn’t it be a massive risk to Earth if a B-grade is just chilling this close to the planet? A B-grade should be able

Meteor wouldn’t have had any chance to mature in the brief time the ninety-third universe has existed. They tend to float around in space for at minimum a few hundred thousand years before they

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in the future. This isn’t rare at all, and if you went further into space, I reckon you would encounter even god-level creatures who currently find themselves sealed to certain areas – a confinement that may be permanent, but that’s beside the point. My actual point is that while a B-grade this close to a planet could be a problem, it would only be one if the planet was too weak to give birth to its own B-grades. And I would personally be very disappointed if that was

that’s good to know,” Jake said with a bit of relief at hearing that the B-grade was likely restricted to being on the moon. Not only because he was afraid of the possibility of it deciding to attack Earth any day, but because it gave him more confidence to see

but what if it decided to chase them? Or it had some way to track them down after the fact, which would lead it straight to

anymore, at least. So, a test-fight at

the Fourth Hell has made him his new Chosen, and the other hells have also begun to show some interest, not just in the newly born Cerulean Demon Lord, but the one capable of pulling off a ritual to give birth to

another term than giving birth? Feels hella weird when you say it like that,” Jake muttered. “But, hey, happy to hear he is doing well for himself.

your abilities, and all the ritual did was confirm some of the possibilities behind your ability. There was doubt if you could only birth new creatures like with the Vespernat Hive Queen, but now you’ve birthed the idea that you can also assist pre-existing beings in experiencing a rebirth

have you reported to the Humanoid Resource department,” Jake

the god said in an evil voice. “Remember, perfect memory. So good

to

would argue I am not the most moral of snakes,” Villy

them kept chatting, Jake gladly using the god to help pass the time. It was a bit like making a phone call in the car on

the Viper helped get him caught up on some multiversal politics and stuff. Jake also learned that a few of the people who placed well in Nevermore who didn’t belong to any large factions had begun to find new homes. One example

after Jake and Ell’Hakan, had ended up going to the Altmar Empire. Why an ice elemental wanted to join the

and Villy’s talk was just shooting the shit. They even ended up discussing the controversial ending of

and on the power scale, they ranked above anything else he had seen before. Not by much, though, and the

was a creature that made Jake chuckle. It was a large snake-like creature made up entirely of pulsating blue vines, and the