The Primal Hunter

Chapter 971: The Cost of Saving A Friend Chapter 971: The Cost of Saving A Friend

The Viper said there would be pain… and that had definitely been an understatement.

Jake was usually very good at dealing with pain. Most C-grades would find themselves unaffected by pain when wounded and just soldier through. To Jake, pain was just another point of feedback informing him what his next action should be, not much different from all his other senses.

However, what Jake felt when the Viper got to work was different. It was unlike any kind of pain Jake had ever felt before, counting both bodily harm and soul damage. This type of pain wasn’t just informing him of damage taken but of something far more… existential.

Like what was causing his pain could truly erase him entirely in both body and soul.

The Viper had barely gotten started as his body erupted with power, putting pressure on Jake’s very being.

“Small note: don’t try to fight back; it will only make my job harder and the end result worse and far more painful. Be advised some things might break during this process,” the Viper spoke, seemingly not even purposefully infusing his voice with energy.

Jake did as he said, despite every fiber of his being screaming at him to escape the situation. But there was no escape, as he could only grit his teeth. What he felt besides the pain, Jake couldn’t comprehend at all either.

Villy lifted a hand, and all Jake saw was a dark green color that made no sense to him. Instinctively, he knew this was made of pure Records, and as the Viper looked at it, he sighed. “You really did a number on yourself.”

Parts of the Malefic Viper’s form began turning into wisps of light that merged with the summoned mass of Records, as something was clearly happening. Jake felt everything so vividly mixing with the pain that muddled his mind, yet he couldn’t help but try and understand, and he knew the Viper was making it this visual for his sake.

Time slowly passed, as the Viper’s body kept disappearing, his entire lower half soon done, leaving only his upper body above his stomach, with one side also entirely faded, leaving mostly a head, a shoulder, and a single arm.

“Fuck me, this is even worse than it looks,” the Viper muttered. “And get those thoughts out of your head, I‘m also learning here. This is uncharted territory, but unlike you, I have the actual ability, skill, and knowledge to back up my actions.”

Jake wasn’t saying anything as the Viper lifted his one remaining arm toward the sky of Jake’s Soulshape.

“You better be grateful, for no other god would go this far for their Chosen,” the Malefic Viper said, looking up. His mouth opened, and Jake only had time to hear a single word. “Malefic-“

WARNING!

[REDACTED]

WARNING!

[REDACTED]

[REDACTED]

…

Jake blinked, the pain gone. In front of his eyes, an ocean of warnings and redacted messages, and a feeling that only let him know that some time had just passed. Time he had no memory of. Staring, he saw the form of the Malefic Viper standing there, nearly fully tangible, as he turned to Jake.

“There. Patched you up best anyone in the damn multiverse could. Even went a bit above and beyond and was nice enough to preserve that broken half of a Planetary Core you had in there. Despite sealing the stomach, you should still benefit from that thing, at least, though really fucking slowly. The good news is, you have a potentially infinite amount of time to fully absorb it because you sure as hell can’t take anything in and out with how it is now. As for the rest of the effects of Palate, they should stay the same. Oh, and for the soul damage, that’s up to you to deal with; I think I’ve done enough,” the Viper said, his form already beginning to fade away.

Without being told, Jake knew he had done more than he first promised.

“Thank you,” Jake muttered. “But… what happened there? What did you do?”

done, but it wasn’t enough, so I needed a little extra. System didn’t like that,

own Soulspace as he just clenched his fists and nodded. “Again… thank you.

piece of charity work into a brilliant investment,” Villy said jokingly, shaking his head. “I should stop dilly-dallying. Good luck with the system event, and have fun recovering. Oh, and remember to thank the healer who kept you alive during all this. Without him, you would have been fucked

Above, the sky was still cracked in many places, and the ground had several fissures. The drop of

by the Malefic Viper within his Soulspace. It felt different from anything he had ever felt before from the Viper. More… powerful? Unfathomable? Jake wasn’t sure how to classify it, but it certainly felt

was something else in the lingering presence. A unique kind of signature

used a

Jake couldn’t remember what had happened. It explained the warnings from the system. He only now realized that

Jake slammed his fist on the ground of the Soulspace despite the

Fuck.

didn’t just use a Transcendent skill. It came with a cost. It potentially had a permanent cost, and even if it wasn't, it still dealt a lot of harm. For the Viper to use it to save Jake, he would have had to lose something in return, and all because

now than ever before… Jake owed Villy even more now than ever before, and the next

had continued to battle with the desolation despite the utterly suppressing aura that pressed him down and actively dealt damage to his

flickered, weakened, and began to look far more unstable as it was replaced and consumed

Amazon, note that it's taken without permission

long after, the presence also disappeared, and all Eron had to do was

and stability returning to the spark, it was still damaged. Severely so. From

fully opened his eyes and turned his attention to the outside world, he gathered himself a little. He would have to reflect a lot on what had happened, and there were a few things

upgraded his Scales of the Malefic Viper, which had come with a few levels. To see them, he did have to scroll by a bit over

Malefic Viper] has reached level 279 - Stat

[Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 280 - Stat points

has reached level 288 - Stat points allocated, +45

that he had unlocked another use of Path of the Heretic-Chosen and was ever closer to level 300, where he would have his suspected meeting with the

thoroughly damaged soul, Jake finally opened his eyes and saw Eron standing there, looking down at him. The man

nod, genuinely grateful. As Villy had said, without him there, Jake wasn’t sure how any

pleasure, genuinely, and I believe this a mutually beneficial situation. Experiencing desolation in C-grade was very valuable, and I made some good progress. One skill upgrade and three levels, in part due

better than we went in,” Jake said with a small smile, trying to press down the pain. “I will admit, I wasn’t even sure you would show. I kind of assumed desolation wouldn’t mesh well with your Path and be one of the most dangerous concepts to

would be unbelievably dangerous to encounter, but not in this passive form. In this form, all you need to beat it is a superior quantity of energy. However, if it’s controlled it’s a whole other beast,

what Eron meant. One could compare it to fighting against all the water in the ocean. If it was just there, one could easily work on evaporating and get rid of it over time, with the only real threat the water held being its innate concept

me, you should assess yourself more closely,” Eron said in a slightly scolding tone. “Your soul is damaged severely. From my diagnosis, it does not look like your stats

The sad state of that part of his status menu, reflecting the damage he

Status

Points (HP): 141,365/153,099

Points (MP):

Stamina: 9203/185,041 (222,170)

--

his resource pools were nearly empty, the maximum pools had been reduced. Stamina and health both only by around 20% or so –

was honestly the best outcome from

the outer extremities will be the first to go, which, in the instance of the soul, are the resource pools. Contrary to the physical body, where often an amputation would be required, the resource pools are also the part of the soul most easily recovered should the soul damage be significant enough to cause any semi-permanent damage,” Eron gladly explained, Jake not interrupting despite already knowing these things from

a good idea of his situation, which also made him