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.

what it all truly meant. He remembered the conversation he

the Truesoul of the Unique Lifeform, and it had since the very beginning. In some ways, the mask could be viewed as the ”true” body of the Fallen King, but it

Fallen King the first 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 King back to life, and he even had a healer in the room who knew more about souls and healing

the healer

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 created from scratch, every part of it meticulously designed and infused with what felt like parts of the Fallen King’s Truesoul, which shouldn’t be possible according to what I know,” the healer said, speaking

but a soul that made itself a creature. It’s all in reverse done through what I can only describe as methods worthy of

understanding what Eron had said. ”Chances are his soul

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and continued. ”The situation was 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,

be able to resurrect himself given enough time.

no spark,” Eron interrupted Jake with a severe look as he kept staring at the

stopped himself as he clenched his fists. Back in the Treasure Hunt, Eron had recognized Jake’s

mood

Unique Lifeforms are called unique for a reason. The Truesoul of the Fallen King is still sealed in the mask. Usually, when something dies, every aspect of the soul disperses except for the Truesoul which returns to the system, but the Fallen King’s Truesoul didn’t. I have never heard of someone dying without their Truesoul being reclaimed before. That’s why when truly resurrecting someone, it’s very important to act quickly, as it needs to

is going on is a good thing,” the Sword Saint

did say there is no spark, there clearly is still something in there,” the healer agreed with a nod, silence once more overtaking the lodge as Jake just kept staring at the mask. He clenched his fists and felt the pain shoot up his arms from

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

own, and nothing really explained that. Maybe it was just some final transference of energy, maybe it was a final parting gift to allow the item to keep existing, or maybe it was the Fallen

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 or if it even would work. After the Palate disaster,

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 if he did that, was it

wouldn’t do anything stupid. In some ways, maybe his prior stupidity was a good thing in that aspect because if he hadn’t had his ”accident,” there was 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

for a while longer, Sylphie went over and picked up the mask before bringing it to Jake and putting it in his lap before looking

powerful… and he would be damned if he didn’t at least keep the Truesoul of the Unique Lifeform fully saturated at all

up… but there is still the matter regarding the Desolate Child of Loss,” Miranda

that had caused the death of the Fallen King was mentioned. Sylphie looked angry, and Jake wasn’t happy either. He still felt weird about the

with no proper sapience or intelligent opponents who knew what they were doing. The Desolate Child of Loss fell into an uncomfortable in-between. It was clearly sapient and yet not truly intelligent enough to properly comprehend why it did everything it

if it was dead or alive, though, and this wasn’t a situation where not knowing was good. There was one thing that led them