The Primal Hunter

Chapter 928: An Emotional Plan Chapter 928: An Emotional Plan

William wasn’t the type of person Jake thought much about. Not anymore. After he had turned his back on Eversmile and become a heretic, Jake didn’t really hear much about the young metal mage who had turned his Tutorial into a shitshow anymore. Sure, in the back of his mind, Jake probably knew he was doing stuff somewhere, but he hadn’t been someone worth dedicating much brain power to consider.

So it came as a genuine surprise when the mage wanted to meet Jake. His timing was also highly suspicious, being this close to the Prima Guardian event. Jake didn’t think he was there to sabotage them, though, as if he was, going through Miranda and wanting to meet Jake was perhaps the dumbest strategy.

Nevertheless, Jake was suspicious.

As promised, Miranda and William arrived not even ten minutes after he was informed they were coming over. Miranda had even deployed some kind of stealth field as she walked alongside the metal mage. When Jake saw them enter the valley fully, he instantly Identified William as there was one thing he wanted to confirm first and foremost.

[Human – lvl 276 – Heretic]

Still a heretic, Jake thought with a bit of relief while also noting the guy’s level was pretty good. Still behind Jake and the other top elites, but only by half a dozen levels. He also didn’t believe William could have spoofed the identification in any way. Besides, posing as a heretic tended not to end well, and Jake didn’t doubt quite a few people would outright attack William upon seeing the tag.

Jake also noted how William looked a lot calmer. Serene, almost. Or perhaps it was just because Jake was used to the guy having quite an intense and somewhat crazy look in his eyes, and now he appeared a lot more normal and put-together. In any case, it definitely looked like getting out from under Eversmile’s boot had done him good.

It wasn’t like Eversmile seemed to give a damn Jake had turned William to the dark side, either. Sure, he wasn’t friendly around Jake, but he hadn’t been outright hostile either. He genuinely didn’t seem like he cared much. Then again, maybe Eversmile just viewed it as another interesting development for his research. Yeah, that totally seemed like something Eversmile would do.

Sitting on the porch, Miranda and William approached, with Miranda being the first to speak. “Sorry for the lack of warning before the visit.”

“It’s my fault,” William spoke up, indeed seeming a lot more mellow than usual. “I just returned to Earth today from Nevermore, having entered the World Wonder quite late.”

“Speaking of Nevermore… you went there in D-grade, so how much time did you lose in C-grade?” Jake asked. Probably not the most pressing question, but he was curious.

“Just the time I was there in D-grade,” William shook his head. “Though it did disqualify me from competing on the Leaderboards, not that I ever planned on doing that in the first place. I didn’t have a party to go with, but I just found a group in Nevermore City. Ended up joining six different parties during my time there, and that isn’t even to mention the members swapped out while in each party.

“Sounds tough,” Jake commented, though to be honest, he didn’t really care overly much. He did care about the timing of this visit, though. “Quite a day you decide to return. Either you are extremely talented in timing when you would be done with Nevermore, or there’s something fishy going on here.”

“I didn’t finish… I had about a year and a half left, but I knew I couldn’t delay my return any longer. In truth, I already cut it a lot closer than I originally planned to, as I had a contact in Nevermore who was delayed,” William explained, Jake not detecting any clue he was lying. Still, he remained highly suspicious.

“Alright, fine. I also get that you probably want to participate in the Prima event, but needless to say, you aren’t going to be part of the strike team,” Jake wanted to clarify quickly. He simply wouldn’t trust his back to someone like William… well, alright, Jake wouldn’t care much about his own back, as he would definitely see the backstabbing coming, but he didn’t want people who didn’t have an overpowered Bloodline to trust William either.

“That’s fine,” William said. “That’s not why I’m here.”

“William disappeared from Earth around the same time you went to Nevermore, and I confirmed he was no longer on the planet,” Miranda chimed in. “This meeting is because of where he went during that time.”

Jake’s attention as

the bush. “I did this during the time Ell’Hakan and the majority of the

before and found nothing. Even the Viper didn’t actually know where his homeworld was. The abilities of the gods to peer into the ninety-third universe remained limited, and while the Viper would easily see any area around Jake or others he had blessed,

annoying. There was one pretty reliable

came to Earth. I formed a faint karmic connection with him, and I held onto that bond. Using it to find his planet was far easier than I expected. Far

“Explain,” Jake frowned.

would call natural. The karmic connections have been formed through genuine emotion. The bond between friends looks like

kept quiet as the young-looking

Ell’Hakan has specialized further. His Bloodline is almost tailor-made to create powerful karmic connections between himself and others, and it’s through this karma he exploits them. As the Chosen of Yip of Yore, they both gain power based on others’ belief in their legends, and the more strongly others believe their legends, the more real these legends become. The more power they get,” William continued

just fucked up. Effectively, the entire population shares one singular karmic bond, more powerful than any other. A singular stronger connection than their parents, partners, and children. Above everyone else, there is Ell’Hakan, the Celestial

this

him more as a god… no, a being even higher than a god. They genuinely love and revere him. His word is truth, his actions just. They even believe he is unbeatable and that even if an actual god tried to slay him, they wouldn’t stand a chance. Honestly, Yip of Yore’s Path fits him so

this tale has been

Jake’s theory had been that Ell’Hakan had a skill not that dissimilar to Jake’s Big Game Hunter, except rather than being triggered by higher-leveled opponents, it was triggered

this kind of skill, though. Especially as a boosting skill like this could very

is built on a lie. If we

people and showed them the truth, including some things he said to me that directly contradicted his own doctrine. It had absolutely

brainwashed, there must be some people to disagree with his rule or people who managed to break out of this delusion,” Jake tried

silent for a bit, before asking a question Jake had never considered. “Do you know when he

system arrived… but I have the feeling that isn’t right,” Jake

years before the integration. For twenty years, Ell’Hakan had already ruled his planet. Unified all the factions and countries under his own banner as the Celestial Child while doing a purge of anyone who dared not view him as a being above any other. To them, he is the literal son of the twin moons and the

from literal stars,” Jake joked as

ones to raise him, despite the biological connection,” William continued. “I want to reiterate. Everything I’ve said is something every single person on the planet believes with utter unswayable conviction. They are completely fanatical.

Holy Church,” Jake said,

they still act somewhat selfishly and logically, believing their deaths either serve a greater goal or help their family and friends,” William disagreed. “What is happening on Ell’Hakan’s planet isn’t that

thought for a bit before asking the big question: “I appreciate this information, but I’m still not sure why you needed this urgent meeting or exactly what you want me to do with this knowledge. You don’t sound like you’re offering

me get to the crux of it. Ell’Hakan’s Bloodline allows him to manipulate emotions, something I’m sure

hated that Bloodline. His

you to imagine what continued exposure can result in, especially when the feelings they foster are never contradicted or argued against. It makes the emotions utterly engrained in your being and something you don’t question. But it’s more than that… because these emotions weren’t born naturally but forcefully empowered through the influence of a Bloodline. Empowered to a whole new level of emotions – a new conceptual stage - I don’t even think we can imagine, and that’s coming from someone who’s been introduced to quite a

them more than logic, and this takes that to an extreme. These emotions become so strong there is no way to sway them. They embedded themselves in the soul, becoming core parts of a person. I’m not saying disillusioning someone from Ell’Hakan’s manipulation is impossible, but you will need far more than merely showing