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.

said, I need you available. Once we 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 transpire,” Miranda said. “I have already contacted the Chosen of the Lord Protector, who will assist in transporting the team. That way, even if we’re slightly off, the group should be able

is restricted somehow?” Jake asked with a

who’s absorbed system-given unique items on the entire planet

up a good fight, though a big part of him

still much to do,” Miranda said as she and Lillian stood up. She also looked at Vesperia who

shall help with the suppression of the regular Primas or take part in the battle against the Prima Guardian,

Miranda nodded. “Having your assistance will prove most beneficial

the most obvious in the world. The witch

from Arnold. He said you had some weapon at his place, I believe? Everything should be ready for collection,”

I had nearly forgotten he was working on stuff,” Jake admitted with a smile, happy for the reminder. “I’m gonna head there tomorrow. Gonna give Arnold some

the day to himself so he could just relax, and he got the impression Arnold could also do well

this tale on Amazon, it's taken without

and Lillian left to continue working hard. Meanwhile, Jake

if Jake couldn’t run off to his laboratory all the time, he could still do

promised and headed off toward the Fort to meet up with Arnold. With a Pulse of 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

as Arnold really had made a giant underground complex by now. It nearly reminded him of an

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

workshop he usually did most of his work in. It had also barely changed since the early days and

Arnold ever invited anyone to his room. Instead, he went to a far larger workshop where the poor space

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

bit surprised you didn’t wanna participate in the World Congress. No, actually, I guess it’s more accurate to say

like a pain, and from what I heard, it was super boring anyway,” Sandy said, being entirely accurate

to Arnold next. “Is Sandy really still that

at all times,” Arnold said as he didn’t look away from the screen in front of him. “The data obtained

agreed. “You should

was strictly professional. Still, the thought of Sandy and

you, every single system event isn’t tailor-made for me to stand out and look cool on Leaderboards or through getting

have any titles?” Jake questioned, actually

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

Jake smiled. “Titles are still

later, a shaft opened in the ceiling as a drone flew down, carrying a case that looked just about the right size to contain what Jake had

spoke. “The weapon has been