The Primal Hunter

Flying on the Sandy Express was definitely faster than riding the Jake Carriage, even if Sandy wasn’t in top form. After only about a day, they returned to Earth, where Sandy dropped off Jake at Skyggen before heading off to head back to the Order. Jake did end up asking how Sandy even traveled back and forth, as he usually had to use his connection to Villy when teleporting, and the answer was as obvious as it could be. The teleportation circle made by those snakes had just been altered a bit to allow Snappy to do the same thing the Viper did.

With Jake and Sandy split up once more, Jake made a quick visit to his family, who were all surprised to see him back so soon. Luckily, the moon being haunted was a universally good explanation for why he hadn’t wanted to stick around there. It did have the slight downside of Adam being very suspicious of the pretty rock Jake had brought back, and it took a lot of effort to convince him that particular rock wasn’t haunted.

Jake ended up staying in Skyggen for another day before he decided to head back to Haven. This time around, he didn’t have any stops on the way, so he just took the teleportation circle back. Honestly, the best new thing Jake had gained during all his time in Nevermore was definitely the Unseen Hunter skill, as it allowed him to travel around without being bothered by anyone. He could even take public teleporters and stuff without a whole crowd gathering to stare at him.

Plus, he could skip queues. A bit unethical, but a perk of being invisible for sure.

As Jake had already talked to Sandy about, he truly didn’t have plans set in stone. Yet it felt like he didn’t really need any plans either, as the Prima Guardian stuff was right around the corner. Having spent fifty years in Nevermore had changed his perspective on time quite a lot, and waiting not even two years was barely worth mentioning. It was a few good alchemy sessions at most.

Once back in Haven, Jake started out by quickly stopping by Arnold’s place. The man wasn’t surprised when Jake came at all, clearly able to see through his stealth skill. Truly, further proof Perception was the best stat.

“Hey there,” Jake said after he was let in as he joined the scientist in his workshop. As always, Arnold was working on stuff Jake didn’t at all understand, but a lot of it seemed themed around space exploration stuff. Jake got the feeling this was the topic the guy obsessed the most over these days.

“My satellites spotted you returning from space. Did you arrive on the moon safely?” Arnold asked with a genuinely curious tone.

“Well, we did arrive safely,” Jake scratched the back of his head. “Can’t say it ended well, though.”

Arnold raised an eyebrow, clearly communicating he wanted Jake to elaborate. So Jake did and told Arnold everything that had happened on the moon, including the presence of the Ghostvine and how Sandy believed the B-grade had merged with the core. Likely irreversibly so. He also included his future plans.

“Hm. If this was before the arrival of the system, I would call anyone wanting to destroy the moon someone aiming to doom this planet and humanity. Now, I am not even certain the gravitational forces applied to us by the moon have any tangible effects, nor that there will be any noticeable fallout should the moon cease to exist,” Arnold said after thinking a bit.

“I kind of assumed you would have told me trying to blow up the moon was a bad idea,” Jake muttered.

“I have no attachment to the celestial object. Meanwhile, I can see the risks associated with an instinct-driven antagonistic planet-sized plant living this close. Especially one that seems to carry an innate hatred for life. Getting rid of, or containing it, might be a necessity, not a matter of your vanity,” Arnold said, fully on board with Jake’s brilliant plan.

“You wouldn’t happen to have a bomb capable of blowing it up lying around, would you?” Jake asked.

“No,” Arnold shook his head. “I will not be able to make one before B-grade either.”

The way he said it made it clear the guy had already very much considered the limits of how destructive bombs he could make. Jake wasn’t sure if that should make him worried, but he decided not to be. Just to make a small mental note to not piss off the guy unnecessarily.

you still have the Blackpoint Nanoblade Katar?” Arnold asked

surprised, as he took out the weapon

touched by the void. A coating on the blade

in

it serve you well during Nevermore, or did you switch to another weapon?” the scientist asked, as he took the katar from Jake without

“I even had it repaired… three times? All done through system stuff or on city floors. It did a good job, but – and don’t take this the wrong way – it did fall off quite a lot toward the end. Especially the Blackpoint Burst was barely

than even Eternal Hunger, though by now, there was a vast gulf between the two weapons, with the

it from the many years of

is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report

again?” Jake said with a big

it down and make an entirely new one,” Arnold shook his head. “The methods used during this one’s creation process aren’t up to par anymore. However, I shall

more than happy to get a weapon upgrade before the Prima

wall see-through, revealing the giant spaceship behind it, with robot arms poking it all over, doing science stuff. Jake had naturally already seen it in his

thanks in advance,” Jake smiled. “I’ll be in Haven

“Very well,” Arnold nodded.

and back to his little lodge. He was still impressed by how utterly massive Haven had become, and it was honestly to the level where it made Jake a bit uncomfortable. One thing was for sure, it was good Miranda was the person actually in charge of everything and not

he hadn’t really checked out every room, but this time, he did. One room he had remembered was the basin room or whatever it was called. It was a room with a lot of different basins

it, but now, he believed it would be perfect because he knew what he wanted to spend the next two

Acids.

alchemy. It would be a waste not to explore it further. The large basin

the Treasure Hunt. Arnold had helped make it with the glass walls and stuff, and it being glass walls was honestly perfect. That meant Jake only had to put down a glass bottom of every basin, and he

few were, and one of them even had water inside it. That’s when Jake remembered what he’d done when he was here way back then. Checking out this particular section, Jake saw

This stone was eventually acquired by a powerful vampire and brought to Yalsten, where it has been ever since. Will passively transform surrounding water by infusing the

said to himself as he also

them to more easily focus while suppressing the effects of most mental afflictions. Will restore a bit of mana, health points, and stamina upon consumption. Continued consumption

guess it grew more potent over time,

the system improved memory. You had to think about something to remember it, and Jake sucked at thinking about stuff not related to his immediate surroundings or

maybe I should clean up my spatial storage at some point,” Jake said to himself before quickly dismissing the idea. That sounded way too much like work. Better to just leave everything in there till he randomly remembered something. It wasn’t as if he had anything important stored away that he should really be

basin room and taking a swig of the Serene Water for fun, Jake finally went to the large glass bubble serving as the main lab. Inside, things were as pristine as ever, and he was happy to be back in the laboratory. Thus, he

than what he’d made in the House of the Architect,