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

and the majority of the other high-ranking individuals were gone to Nevermore. I spent over a year there, exploring the

the Viper didn’t actually know where his homeworld was. The abilities of the gods to peer

could be extremely annoying. There was one

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.

Earth right now, karma is an endless web. It’s a confusing mess of different connections between people, and it’s what most would call natural. The karmic connections have been formed through genuine emotion. The bond between friends looks like friends, lovers like lovers, and so on. It isn’t

quiet as

himself and others, and it’s through this karma he exploits them. As the Chosen of Yip of Yore, they both

on Ell’Hakans homeworld, it’s 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

does this mean?”

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

this tale has been

deepened the more William spoke. For a long time, 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 by the belief in his legend. If that was the case… did that mean he had a powerful passive boosting skill active at

pretty damn simple potential method to overcome this kind of skill, though. Especially as a boosting skill like this could very well come with some form of backlash should Ell’Hakan lose belief

a lie. If we reveal the truth,

truth, including some things he said to me that

to disagree with his rule or people who managed

detect a single one,” William said before he was silent for a bit, before asking a question Jake had never considered. “Do you know

arrived… but I

view him as a being above any other. To them, he is

are born from literal stars,” Jake

they seemed to believe they had only been the 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

the Holy Church,” Jake said, really not needing more people like that in his

the Holy Church at least know they can go to the Holyland if they die or they get some other benefits. In the end, they still act somewhat selfishly and logically, believing their deaths either serve a greater goal or help their family

bit before asking the big question: “I appreciate this information, but I’m still not sure why you needed this urgent meeting or

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

that Bloodline. His own was way better and

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 few entirely new emotions throughout his life,”

rule 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