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.

Blackpoint Nanoblade Katar?” Arnold

Jake nodded, surprised, as he took out the weapon and quickly checked it

void. A coating on the blade allows it to have an incredibly high level of

lvl 200+ in any

did you switch to another weapon?” the scientist asked, as he took the katar from Jake without

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 worth using anymore, as I could, in many cases, do more damage without it, and the slight wind-up time made it

gulf between the two weapons, with the mythical Eternal Hunger having far surpassed the

be expected,” Arnold said as he inspected the weapon, finding quite a few chinks in it from the many years of use. “Do you need it currently, or may I have it

of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon;

it again?” Jake said with a big

down and make an entirely new one,” Arnold shook his head. “The methods used during this one’s creation process aren’t

get a

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

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

“Very well,” Arnold nodded.

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

room, but this time, he did. One room he had remembered was the

ever really used it, but now, he believed it would be perfect because he knew what he wanted

Acids.

during the House of the Architect and realized how well his arcane affinity synergized with that particular branch of alchemy. It would be a waste not to explore it further. The large basin room, with several different square

shown off during his tour of the place after Jake came back from the Treasure Hunt. Arnold had helped make it with the glass walls

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 a stone lying at the bottom of the water as

by the combined effort of a group of water nymphs to help heal a close friend. This stone was eventually acquired by a powerful vampire and brought to Yalsten, where it has been ever

had completely forgotten about that,” Jake said to himself as he also checked the water

focus while suppressing the effects of most mental afflictions. Will restore a bit of mana, health points, and stamina upon consumption. Continued consumption will help heal some soul

I’m pretty sure that was only rare rarity before. I guess it grew more potent over time,

a surprise at all, but Jake blamed the way the system improved memory. You had to think about something to remember it, and Jake sucked at thinking about stuff not related

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

the 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

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