The Primal Hunter

Chapter 977: A Good Faction & Developing Situation ”This definitely isn’t looking good,” Jake muttered as he stared at the projected map of the galaxy. A few weeks ago, Arnold had sent over a drone capable of copying the map within the Prima Vessel to allow Jake to keep track of everything happening, so he tried to check it out once in a while. So far, keeping track hadn’t been the most uplifting of experiences.

”I do wonder what the response of the major factions shall be,” Vesperia agreed, though she didn’t look overly concerned. Likely because the few planets she cared about had already destroyed every teleportation circle they had, stopping anyone from going to or from the planet. The members of the Endless Empire living there would then simply get in contact with the faction through their divine connection after the system event was over and work from there without having to interact with the rest of the event.

Jake could only see this as a good plan considering the development on the map. It had been over two months now since Jake had his unfortunate accident, and he was still healing… but while he was getting better, the galaxy was getting worse.

Over a dozen black flags had appeared, and the number of planets Jake could only assume got consumed by desolation was now up to twenty-one. A single entity had managed to destroy that many planets within only a couple of months, and Jake definitely didn’t have a good feeling about it. Not just because someone or something capable of destroying planets wasn’t the best to have in your local galaxy, but because of what this meant.

The creature was bound to be growing stronger with every passing day. It had to be getting quite a few levels, as the Records associated with its actions were far from insignificant… and in the meanwhile, what was Jake doing?

Well, not any leveling, that was for damn sure. One of the side effects of this kind of soul damage Jake hadn’t even considered was the complete inability to gain any experience or levels at all while hurt. At least he wouldn’t be able to gain any levels before he was fully healed.

Jake still needed to remain active, though, just as Eron had said. That was another way of saying that Jake had to keep doing stuff to keep gaining Records despite not really getting anything out of it besides his healing not slowing down. Jake’s way of doing this had naturally been through his Puzzle Cube, which had served nicely, and it had led to his recovery doing pretty well, in his opinion.

Status

Mana Points (MP): 139,556/293,099 (442,484)

Jake’s mana pool was nearly up by a hundred thousand now, and according to the last time he spoke with Eron, he should be healed within a few more months. Even the healer couldn’t fully say anything with confidence, though, as this kind of recovery was far from linear, and every soul healed differently than others. Eron did comment that Jake was healing a lot more rapidly than first expected, which was a nice surprise.

The healer theorized this was potentially due to Jake’s arcane affinity and its innate concept of stability, and seeing as his affinity was born of his Bloodline, it certainly was also a cause if Eron was right. However, despite his Bloodline being awesome, it still wasn’t omnipotent and he was still on what was effectively house arrest for now.

All while the galaxy was facing a living calamity leaving desolate planets in its wake.

”None of the planets Miranda is in contact with have been hit, right?” Jake asked with furrowed brows.

”Not as far as I’ve heard,” Vesperia shook her head. ”No one is even sure how this creature travels around. Obviously, it’s making use of the teleportation network, but would anyone truly be foolish enough to accept this entity that has killed so many planets before? The only reason this could realistically happen was with planets not in active contact with any other planet who’ve killed their Prima Guardian yet… or an ally of an ally who has… which is a rapidly waning number if such even exist anymore.”

Jake said, still confused. He couldn’t help but look down at his ring and wonder if it was the reason ”I” could travel around, assuming this creature also had such a ring.

had now turned green, with not even a hundred left. Kindroth and Miranda had been busy sending teams to help out everywhere as the system event only got easier and easier, and Jake had heard that quite a big alliance had been formed

to the alliance made by Ell’Hakan, it was far smaller. In fact, they had even lost a few of the planets that had been seen as loyal to Earth,

it. They had all come to learn that Ell’Hakan wasn’t just expanding to make his

Way under their control even before the system event began. These highly organized planets had helped become the backbone of Ell’Hakan’s campaign and fortified his position as the leader of the alliance. What’s more, they offered something no one else could, which was also the reason why

than any other faction

since the system arrived, this was a great opportunity. Joining the Holy Church meant that not only would you get the backing of the biggest faction, but it was also pretty universally agreed that for the common person, the Church was the best faction to be a part of. What other faction could offer a life after death? For people who had risked their lives every day to

still preferred living believers. They had a very solid track record of evacuating people from planets facing danger, Earth being a good example, as they invested a lot of resources to bring members

without consent; if

them. Chances are they had a deal that was also very beneficial to Ell’Hakan, allowing him to grow his own power in tandem with the Church. Jake already knew from all the Nevermore stuff he had a deal of some kind… he just really hoped

highly suspected Ell’Hakan already knew. All it would do was force him to kill a lot of people he had no interest in killing in the first place from a faction that had many bad elements for sure but ultimately wasn’t even worse than all the others. Many would even argue it was the faction doing

dared outright attack them, as they were, again, the largest in the multiverse, and they had

could admit that something like the Holy Church or Holyland – which really was their big selling point - didn’t appeal to him personally, but if Villy came to Jake and offered that his parents could get the same deal members of the Holy Church got, he wouldn’t say no. What son would say no to his parents being offered a life after death? It was selfish and hypocritical that he wanted them to be safe despite risking himself so much, but he’d never

of why so many of the enlightened joined

actively thought about do you become able to look at the bigger picture,” Vesperia said with a sigh before quickly clarifying further. ”Of course, I do not mean that individualism is always bad; I just believe it shouldn’t be a universal

Church works,” Jake pointed out with a smile. ”Are the Endless Empire and Church really that much different in that aspect? Both like

that’s what’s required to ensure its survival. That is their purpose. Members of the Holy Church do not die because it’s their duty. They only give their lives in the first place because they know that is not their true end, making it not a true sacrifice either. It’s ridiculous that they need it, but without the Holyland, the entire Holy Church would not be able to function as it is. Also, there is a good reason those who give their lives are hailed as martyrs and heroes after their deaths, despite how meaningless their sacrifices ultimately are. It all comes back to ego… an innate desire to be praised and recognized despite insignificant contributions. They see others hailed and believe that dying such a “noble” death would be worth

to argue, he did find her words a bit funny, though. ”Does that

needs to be earned,”

smile. ”To me, you being you is more than enough to earn a bit of

Jake hated being unable to

and some-fucking-how ending up without much conflict. Nearly every time he returned, he even brought back diplomats who were definitely far more loyal than those part of the Prima Guardian Alliance from

the teleporter made by Arnold, something Jake could only empathize with. From the sounds of it, Arnold hadn’t prioritized making the experience smoother either but had focused on other aspects he believed were