The Primal Hunter

Chapter 984: After the Fall The interior of the lodge was silent as a wood-like mask lay on the table in the middle of the living room. The Sword Saint, Sylphie, Miranda, William, Eron, and Sandy were all inside the room, looking at the mask.

Jake had been knocked unconscious for nearly three days after he returned from Earth, having entered what Eron described as a coma-like state to protect himself. He had strained his soul too much during the fight, resulting in his healing journey being set back by a little, but honestly, Jake didn’t care about that right now.

They had all gathered once Jake was awake, and the Sword Saint had returned from saving another planet in their galaxy. It had only been appropriate to wait for him, as the old man had spent several decades with the Unique Lifeform, and while Jake couldn’t say they had been close, they hadn’t been unfriendly either.

All of them were silent for a while until the expected blame game began, and everyone had only a single person they believed was at fault: themselves.

”I should have been able to get back faster,” the Sword Saint said in a severe tone while frowning. ”Not until it was too late did I realize how severe the situation truly was…”

”I shouldn’t have been a fucking moron and gotten myself injured. If I only I had been a condition to properly fight, I could have been the one to buy us time,” Jake also said, feeling like he was far more responsible than the Sword Saint, who hadn’t even been there.

”Ree…” Sylphie sadly let out a small screech. She was sad and angry at herself that she hadn’t been faster or stronger. That she hadn’t heard the whispers of the wind earlier and made their escape or that she hadn’t insisted on running right away when the Desolate Child of Loss had not been overtly aggressive.

Out of everyone, she was perhaps the one who blamed herself the most, as she had been there from the beginning. They had been a team going around together, taking down Prima Guardians and saving planets, and she felt like she’d let her teammate down and left him for dead.

”And I should have had better intelligence so that all this could have been prevented,” Miranda agreed and sighed. ”But blaming ourselves won’t help anything, and while I can’t say I knew the Fallen King that well, I at least knew him well enough that he would have called us all foolish for dwelling on the past and not focusing on the future.”

Jake kind of wanted to protest but kept quiet as he could almost hear the admonishing words of the Unique Lifeform that they dared waste time sitting like this together just staring at a damn mask rather than spend their time productively.

Looking at the mask, it hadn’t changed in appearance in the slighest. Then again, it hadn’t really changed ever since Jake got it. Thinking back, wasn’t this the piece of equipment he had the longest if one didn’t count his boots and necklace that he’d upgraded several times using different items? Wasn’t the mask the only thing that had remained mostly unchanged, at least when it came to its effects?

Jake couldn’t remember anything else he still had from all the way back in the tutorial which he actively used. Maybe his cauldron and bed… but they weren’t the same as something he wore on his face all the time.

Despite its lack of changes in appearance and effect, the description of the Mask of the Fallen King had undergone some changes whenever something major happened with the Unique Lifeform he originally got it from… and this time was no different as it had once more been updated.

[Mask of the Fallen King (Unique)] – A mask containing the Records and Truesoul of the Fallen King, a mighty Unique Lifeform. The mask is made of a wood-like material unique to the lifeform it comes from and it does not obstruct vision when worn and regenerates itself from any damage taken. The Truesoul and final intent of the Unique Lifeform remains within, allowing this item to continue growing as you grow in power. Enchantments: Truesoul of the Fallen King. Passively absorbs mana in the atmosphere, increasing mana recovery rate by a large amount. Increases maximum mana by 25%.

Requirements: Soulbound

He had made it so everyone could see the description as he quite honestly didn’t care to keep it a secret, and it didn’t have much in there that he believed was worth keeping hidden in the first place, even if he knew the mask – purely as a piece of equipment – surpassed even Eternal Hunger in some areas. Anything giving percentage amplifiers was incredibly rare, after all, and he knew it was only possible because of the unique nature of the mask.

the description… Jake wasn’t exactly sure what it all truly meant. He remembered the conversation he had with the Fallen King shortly after

Lifeform, and it had since the very beginning. In some ways, the mask could be

time around meant he truly died… and this time, he had died once more. This left some hope, as Jake saw a way to once more bring the Fallen

natural, and the healer took a

simply a law of the world… but they tend to have more than a soul. A Soulshape. An actual physical or even metaphysical body, but no matter what, they have something that exists within reality. The Unique Lifeform known as the Fallen King had neither of these… when I healed the vessel he called his body, I noticed how foreign it was to anything else, which was a big reason why I couldn’t truly heal it. The Soulshape had been

itself a creature. It’s all in reverse done through what I can only describe as methods worthy of being called unique and not

first time around?” Jake asked with a high level of hope as he looked at the mask, not entirely understanding what Eron had said. ”Chances are his soul is just slumbering and slowly regenerating within, and given enough time, he should be back… maybe with another item like the Soul Renewal, we could resurrect him

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very different. I’m unaware of what led to the circumstances of the Fallen King back then, but clearly, he had prepared for his own resurrection and planted the seed for it to happen. He had transferred all the required parts of his Truesoul into the mask before his death, either on purpose or on accident… but this time, he couldn’t. He burned away all

be able to resurrect himself given enough time. I’m sure an arrogant

a severe look as he kept staring at the

Hunt, Eron had recognized Jake’s mask was special because he sensed the faint spark burning within it. If there was none

the mood

before. That’s why

knowing exactly what is going

there clearly is still something in there,” the healer agreed with a nod, silence once more overtaking the lodge as Jake just kept staring

wearing the corpse of a comrade on his face. It was already a bit weird before that he was wearing the ”body” of the

transference of energy, maybe it was a final parting gift to allow the item to keep existing, or maybe it was the Fallen King planting a small seed of faint hope… no one knew, and as the Sword Saint and Eron said, right now not knowing

knew for certain the King had no way to ever return. Also… he had considered using his Primeval Origin abilities to see if they could help heal the King, but he truly had no idea how that would work

by destroying the mask and sending the Truesoul back to the system. That, or perhaps he did somehow end up resurrecting a Fallen King… but not the Fallen King. Maybe he would create an entirely new Unique Lifeform sharing the same abilities as the King but without his memories and personality, and

a good chance he would have tested his Jake Juice without much apprehension, and that could easily have ended even more disastrously than Jake merely dealing severe soul damage to

up the mask before bringing it to Jake and putting it in his lap before looking

the item would continue to grow in power as Jake got more powerful… and he would be damned if he didn’t at least keep the Truesoul of the Unique Lifeform fully saturated at all times so that if he was ever brought back he couldn’t give Jake a scolding for slacking off too much.

still the matter regarding the Desolate Child

the death of the Fallen King was

The Desolate Child of Loss fell into an uncomfortable in-between. It was clearly sapient and yet not truly intelligent enough to properly comprehend

know if it was dead or alive, though, and this wasn’t a situation where