The Primal Hunter

Chapter 926: A Very Black Blade Chapter 926: A Very Black Blade

Time was a cruel mistress… but so was Miranda when she told Jake he couldn’t just run down to his laboratory and keep playing with poisons while ignoring the world around him. They only had a few weeks before the Prima Guardian event began, and apparently, that meant Jake had to be “mentally available” or something like that.

At least, this was what she said after returning to his lodge from the World Congress. Jake had appeared first, with Miranda, Lillian, and Vesperia popping in only a dozen or so seconds later. They all chose to take this time to sit down and briefly talk over what had happened – after Miranda stopped Jake from sneaking off to the lab, that is.

Once she had assured Jake wouldn’t run off, Miranda let out a loud sigh as she relaxed her shoulders and found a chair to lean back on. “That congress was exhausting, but I guess it went as well as could be expected.”

“Would have been better if there wasn’t that one guy…” Lillian sighed, shaking her head. “It seems extreme, but it had to be done.”

“Do not pity a fool who dared go against rules explicitly explained to him,” Vesperia said in a rather harsh tone. “He is lucky death was his only punishment. A rather light sentence if I say so myself. Having him imprisoned and his soul serve as fuel or a seedbed would have been more appropriate for having the audacity to show such disrespect toward Sire.”

“When you say seedbed…” Jake muttered.

“Some wasp Hive Queen variants are parasitoid in nature and use the bodies of other races to lay eggs in. It’s quite effective, and if the body and soul of the target are well-maintained, you can use the same one for quite a while,” Vesperia explained casually with a smile. “I can look into spawning one of these Hive Queens next if you are interested?”

“… no need to go out of your way for my sake,” Jake said as he raised both hands. “Just do what you feel is best, okay? Totally fine if that doesn’t include any of those variants.”

Jake had to try hard not to say “scary as fuck” variants. Also, once more, he wanted to reiterate that Vesperia was a little bit terrifying at times. Just a bit.

“Very well, then I shall put it off for now,” Vesperia nodded. Jake wasn’t sure if she read his discomfort or if she noticed Miranda and Lillian both pulling back from her a bit when she began talking about imprisoning and laying eggs in people.

“Anyway, back on topic… to be honest, of everyone you could kill, someone loosely affiliated with the Holy Church was probably the best,” Miranda said, everyone happy to move from one horrible fate to another – at least from Jake’s point of view. “I did briefly confirm that he was baptized, so at least he will go to the Holy Land as a spirit to live out the rest of his days. Still not a great fate for sure, but this incident isn’t enough to damage our relationship with any factions either.”

“I definitely didn’t assume he would just die for good,” Jake said with a light smile.

“Even if he had, his death would have been a necessary sacrifice to reinforce your rule and position on the planet,” Miranda said nonchalantly.

Jake nodded as he looked out of the window at the pond. For some reason, he couldn’t help but remember when Miranda, Hank, and his two kids had just arrived here in Jake’s small valley and offered to build this lodge for him. He also remembered the conversation way back then he had with Miranda, where he casually mentioned he had killed people and how horrified she had been at the notion. How she had believed he would kill her, too, simply because he was now a killer or something.

Things sure have changed, Jake thought with a wry smile. Now, she viewed killing someone during a political meeting as nothing more than another potential tool to gain an advantage. Lillian had always been a bit rougher, but she had also gotten far less soft… everyone from back then had. Well, besides maybe himself. Jake didn’t really feel like he had changed that much.

Then again, he probably wouldn’t really notice any subtle minor shifts that happened over long periods of time. He couldn’t with full confidence say he was the same person he was before Nevermore, as he had learned a lot during that time, especially when it came to working with others and relying on their skills. Before the World Wonder, he rarely fought with others, while now, he had nearly spent more time of his life fighting alongside others than alone – though he did find quite a few openings to do some solo hunting during Nevermore.

Either way… they had definitely all changed quite a bit since the early days of the system. If not in personality, then at least what they were now capable of and willing to do.

“Do you need me to do anything while we wait for any updates from Jacob regarding finding where this Prima Guardian will crash down?” Jake asked Miranda after a bit.

have a better idea, the plan is to gather the elite team nearby where the boss will appear and strike as quickly as possible once we get a clear understanding of how exactly the event will

Sandy is restricted somehow?” Jake

single creature who’s absorbed system-given unique items on the entire planet seems too much,” Miranda explained. “With all that said, we will also

big part of him had some doubt. But, who knows, maybe there was some way to make it harder for themselves

also looked at Vesperia who had been sitting silently. “Also, I have been meaning to ask, but

the regular

Miranda nodded. “Having your assistance will

without a trace of arrogance as if Miranda’s statement had just been the most obvious in the world. The witch didn’t take offense as she and Lillian headed toward

place, I believe? Everything should be ready for collection,” Miranda also added as she looked at Jake. “So,

with a smile, happy for the reminder. “I’m gonna head there tomorrow. Gonna give Arnold some time to wind down

just relax, and he got the impression Arnold could also do well

on Amazon, it's taken without the

and Lillian left to continue working hard. Meanwhile, Jake stayed back

Joke’s on Miranda; even if Jake couldn’t run off

Perception, he also confirmed Sandy was there, chilling and eating stuff, he reckoned. The arrangement the two had found was kind of funny but definitely mutually beneficial, as Arnold used Sandy as inspiration

grown even larger once more, as Arnold really had made a giant underground complex by now. It nearly reminded him of an ectognamorph hive,

and it was hard to believe everything was made by one man. Well, one man who

enough, he still had a pretty small-ish workshop he usually did most of his work in. It had also barely changed since

though. In fact, Jake doubted Arnold ever invited anyone to his room. Instead, he went to a far larger workshop where the poor

the doors opened for him on the way before he stepped inside the workshop. Sandy was lying on their back, as Arnold had connected a lot of patches with wires to the big worm’s skin. A bit of mana constantly emanated from Sandy as several devices measured everything, and Jake spotted the air almost shiver a bit around the worm as the environmental space

two are having fun,” Jake commented with a smile as he looked at Sandy. “I’m a bit surprised you didn’t wanna participate in the World Congress. No, actually, I guess it’s more accurate to say I’m surprised no one forced you to take part in the congress to

going, but it sounded like a pain, and from what I heard, it was super boring anyway,” Sandy said, being

much,” Jake shrugged, turning to Arnold next. “Is Sandy really still that useful of a

infinite spatial layers that surround us at all times,” Arnold said as he didn’t look away from the screen in front of him. “The data obtained so far has already proven invaluable, and while I am impossibly far from applying the concepts of the Cosmic Genesis Worm in any meaningful setting, I have begun to extract aspects that may prove

wholeheartedly agreed. “You should also praise me more.

well, even if their relationship was strictly professional. Still, the thought of Sandy and Arnold traveling space together, with Sandy constantly mocking the scientist’s

needs affirmation sometimes. Unlike you, every single system event isn’t tailor-made for me to stand out

you don’t have any

don’t get them from constant system events,” Sandy quickly clarified. “Besides, titles are overrated. I’d rather collect

is a good pursuit, too,” Jake

few seconds later, a shaft opened in the ceiling as a drone flew down,

Arnold finally spun around on his chair and stood up as he spoke. “The weapon has been complete for thirty-two days now, but I wanted to keep