The Primal Hunter

Chapter 972: Doctor's Orders Chapter 972: Doctor's Orders

Jake stumbled back to his lodge in Haven alongside Eron, who decided to go with him as they kept talking. The healer was also doing what he could to speed up Jake’s recovery time, though he could only do so much.

While Jake’s resource pools turning to shit was definitely his biggest immediate problem, that didn’t mean it was the only one he was actively dealing with. Jake felt like he had just overused his boosting skill way above any extremes prior, as he had severely strained himself. Eron informed Jake that having his body repeatedly emptied of energy and then healed again hadn’t exactly been healthy either.

On the way back, Jake had explained some basic things to Eron about what had happened. Mainly because the guy had already figured out most things himself, including even guessing Jake had failed to upgrade a skill using the same kind of unique energy he used to help create Vesperia. Sometimes, Jake forgot the healer could be wicked smart.

There were still a lot of things he naturally didn’t know, and he hadn’t detected the use of Villy’s Transcendence either, something Jake, of course, didn’t share. He did seem to have an almost morbid curiosity examining Jake’s body, though. Which, according to him, was because seeing this kind of soul damage was a rare encounter, especially when it was the soul of someone as powerful for their level as Jake. Eron also told Jake that despite his soul clearly being weakened, it still burned brighter than the vast majority of people his level, so that was a kind of nice compliment.

“So, doc… what’s the prescription?” Jake asked in a joking tone once he was home and resting in a chair on his porch.

“Rest, meditation, and to stay active, at least mentally, to stimulate recovery,” Eron answered in his usual serious tone. “I estimate this extreme weakness you are experiencing should last at most two weeks more, while fully healing your soul will take a lot longer. Naturally, avoid facing anything with soul attacks as you are very susceptible to those, and before fully recovering, I would be careful about overusing your boosting skill and any kind of time dilation has to be avoided no matter what, as it can hamper your natural recovery. If you wish for a more pleasant recovery, using soul-soothing natural treasures or alchemical creations might be an option, but they will not assist in your recovery, and I would advise you against trying to speed it up using any kind of external support. The most complete recovery is the one your body will naturally have.”

Jake nodded and, after a bit of hesitation, asked: “Any insight on the damaged skill in question?”

Eron chuckled in response. “It’s good to see you can remain humorous despite your circumstances.”

… so that was definitely a no.

“Gotta stay positive,” Jake just laughed along before sighing. “I sure did mess up badly this time around.”

“Yes, you did,” Eron agreed. “You’re almost as bad as the morons who rode motorcycles before the arrival of the system. Did you know those death machines were dozens of times more prone to accidents than cars, not to mention the death rate should you get into an accident? Like you, those idiots also tended to significantly overestimate their own abilities, all the way up till they landed on my table.”

“Not sure how good of a comparison that is, and I get the faint feeling you weren’t a fan of motorbikes,” Jake smiled.

“I despise death, and I abhor people who put their lives in danger for no good reason,” Eron scoffed. “At least you have the excuse that should you succeed, you would achieve significant gains in your Path. All a damn biker would earn was slightly better fuel economy, assuming they were driving alone.”

“You know, my dad wanted a bike at one point, but my mom forbid it,” Jake commented.

“A wise woman,” Eron nodded in approval.

“Yeah, she thought the insurance was way too expensive,” Jake smirked, earning a disapproving look from Eron.

“I don’t think you understand the damage not addressing such a dangerous method of transportation caused to-“

For the next twenty minutes, Jake repaid Eron for his help by allowing him to rant about motorcycles, just nodding along during it all. He definitely had a lot of thoughts on the subject, and Jake couldn’t remember a time the guy had talked so much while remaining so normal.

Luckily, Eron was able to stop himself after a while, at which point he seemed to realize he had other things to do.

leave now,” Eron said, having vented his hatred of motorcycles and their continued legality all the way up the integration. “I wish you luck in your recovery and remember to stay somewhat active even if it hurts. If you need

a grateful tone. “And I promise to never ride a motorbike for the rest of

and Jake alone. With him gone, Jake sighed and slumped back on the chair while grimacing. “Should have asked for some

Jake was pretty sure something like that didn’t exist… besides maybe taking something soul-soothing, as Eron had mentioned. That was perhaps worth considering, but for now, he annoyingly did have a few things he needed

and get others up to speed with what he learned about this “I” figure. There was also his connection to the Fallen King that felt odd. Jake was confident that the Unique Lifeform had been affected by what Jake did; he just wasn’t sure how. So, talking to him once the

people… when it came to his Palate of the Malefic Viper and the internal stomach, it was just as the Viper had said. Jake couldn’t even look inside it, and it felt like the space was utterly sealed off. The only trace it was even there was the incredibly slight feeling of something being absorbed. The half-a-Planetary Core was

it. In its current state, Jake couldn’t be able to get any upgrades no matter how much insight he got about the skill. It was locked at legendary rarity, which wasn’t the worst, but he would need it fixed at some point, and he doubted even an evolution to B-grade would help anything. Shit, maybe an evolution would even

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would find a solution while Jake finished up this damn system event. That… or the meeting he

now,

the local witch. Just infusing the item with mana to make the

heard reports you returned to your lodge

giving me a headache,” Jake said, really not liking the sensation of using his mana to speak right now. It was like the magical variety of having a

said, Jake shutting off the connection after that as he saw no reason to continue straining himself by keeping

waited for her to arrive, lying down and resting. He felt like shit, and he couldn’t help but admonish himself for the shitty timing of doing this during a system event with a limited duration. Especially not one that also included interacting with other factions, including

the planets outside the alliance. This should be a prime time to go around killing Prima Guardians

care about being caught in some silly trap, as he was confident in escaping or fighting

had his Jake Juice and could use it on himself to put up a good fight, and he did believe doing so would remove all that currently ailed him… at least for a while. But after, shit was bound to be even worse than they were now. Exactly how bad things would be, Jake didn’t

could help out once he’d recovered a bit, but even so, he wasn’t sure if he should. If Ell’Hakan noticed Jake had severe soul damage, he would

as easily be a ploy to bait in

he had also felt forced to reduce in

an old sofa. She looked him over and

I guess,” Jake said with a wry

you encounter on that planet?” Miranda asked,

of what had gone down, of course leaving out some of the details he probably shouldn’t share. He did share just enough for her to

happen at some point, you know that, right?” she said

the same thing,” Jake could only

“People will notice your absence. Especially Ell’Hakan’s goons, who seem to have been tracking you and where you went. We can, of course, do nothing, but that may only lead to speculation… and it isn’t like

will impact the system event,” Jake shook his head. “We were competing

condition. Did Eron have any suggestions for a quicker recovery? Does

Jake answered, not hiding that he wasn’t happy about it. “At least for the first couple of

everyone else relevant and figure out how we’ll deal with this. Once Sylphie, Vesperia, and the Fallen

he found the notion of having a protector insulting… but did he really have