The Primal Hunter

It didn’t take long before they used the access code to finish off the seventy-first floor, having done so quite a lot faster than floor seventy. Also, while it was true these floors were quite a lot bigger than those before, everyone in the party had also gotten quite a bit faster, and when fighting didn’t slow them down as much, it added up.

Activating the Revitalization Protocol took place within one of the towers as all five of them stood together as Jake pressed the big red button. When he did, all of the towers hummed to life, sending beams of light into the sky as they released waves of mana that washed over the landscape. All of the satellites in orbit also began to shoot down beams that infused the world with mana and different affinities, doing just as the protocol said it would. Soon, the satellites would run out of energy and shut down, and the towers were also quickly emptying themselves, putting an end to the experiment once and for all.

With time, the planet would recover, and the towers would just become empty relics that would eventually break down due to environmental factors. Jake and company naturally had no intent to stick around for that long as they saw that behind them, where the teleporter taking them to different towers was, a door had appeared right beside it.

“Well, this floor could have gone worse,” Jake muttered as they all entered the door to the in-between room. Sadly, this one was as boring as the prior ones, with only Minaga having had interesting ones. It still had the same features, such as a door to the latest city floor, one to the next floor, and, naturally, the one they had just entered through.

“The Nevermore Points are adequate, if fewer than I expected,” the Fallen King said.

“I just think our sense of what we should get was warped by the Challenge Dungeon’s rewarding so many,” the Sword Saint responded as Jake also checked over all the Nevermore Points they had gained from the floor – minus the two bonus objectives Jake completed early on.

Seventy-first floor completed. 14200 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Activate five tower teleporters within a month (30 days) of each other. 3000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement Earned: Never once allow any of the Researchers to enter the top floor of a tower. 3000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Defeat the entire command structure of the Researchers. 5000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Defeat the Chief Overseer without ever allowing it to trigger any of the satellites. 5000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement Earned: Do not cause needless destruction or kill unnecessary wildlife. 1000 Nevermore Points gained.

Achievement earned: Activate the Revitalization Protocol. 10000 Nevermore Points earned.

Achievement earned: Complete the seventy-first floor within 500 days while triggering the Revitalization Protocol. 7000 Nevermore Points earned.

Current Nevermore Points: 1,296,125

Overall, the floor had given just a bit over 50,000 Nevermore Points, making it quite good. Less efficient than the Challenge Dungeons, yes, but those had honestly been overpowered when it came to getting points, just as the Sword Saint said. Speaking of points from the Challenge Dungeons, Jake wondered:

“So, I need to ask… do I have the most Nevermore Points with-“

“Yes you do, Jake,” the Sword Saint cut him off before Jake had a chance to unsubtly humble-brag. “Now, do we need a recovery period, or should we proceed immediately?”

Jake was a bit bummed, but with the other wanting to get a move on, he agreed as they went to floor seventy-two.

Right as they entered the door, they found themselves in the middle of what looked like a hastily constructed city square, as the floor description popped up.

Welcome to the Seventy-second floor of Nevermore: Settlers of Kantaan

Jake quickly skimmed the rest of the description, and to sum it up… this was a city-defense floor, at least for the most part. The story was that a faction of different enlightened species had sent people to this planet far away using some special teleportation measure to set up a city in preparation for the rest of the citizens to arrive in a big ark at a later date. The problem was that they had kind of fucked up when measuring what kind of beings lived on the planet already and how receptive they would be to these new settlers.

Because the natives were not happy with these unwelcome guests.

Their job was to defend this city from rampaging beasts from different monster factions present on the planet while even expanding and placing two new settlements for when help arrived. This help in the form of the arc would arrive after five years based on the description, but through different means, they could speed up and have them come faster.

There was probably more to it, but Jake and company didn’t have much time to think as soon after arriving, an attack arrived from a horde of rampaging monsters. They were a mix of dinosaur-looking beasts and based on what Jake and the others later learned, the beasts generally came in four flavors: lizards, mammals, elementals, and even undead.

“There is probably some moral question here regarding settlers just coming to a new planet and trying to take it over unceremoniously,” Jake said, the Sword Saint nodding.

“It’s effectively a form of colonialism,” the old man nodded. “Though the matter is complicated by these settlers having been forced to go here by their faction. They don’t have much of a choice but to go here, effectively making them refugees.”

Dina looked a bit confused as they talked. “Why is it complicated? Isn’t it normal to want to spread out and expand even if you are not forced to? This faction merely wishes to grow and has sent a seed to sprout on this planet.”

“On our homeworld, the act of expanding and forcing out the natives already living there has a very negative history, and for good reason,” the Sword Saint answered her calmly.

“But if any living being needs to keep expanding to realize their Path, it’s natural that others will be pushed away. A tree’s growing crown steals sunlight from those in its shade, and there is limited mana for all to share in the ground below,” Dina said, not sounding like she was trying to argue but was simply confused about why Jake and the Sword Saint even discussed morals in this case.

“Humans from Earth are always keen on discussing the rights and wrongs of a situation. I learned that plenty by attending the World Council we established. Yet they are also utter hypocrites in many matters, including happily encroaching on nature to expand their settlements and industries. As long as they don’t hurt other humans, they tend to show little care,” the Fallen King chimed in.

“Isn’t that fine? Humans are a social species who live together and their Path is to grow through working in unison and sharing Legacies and whatnot. To care about the preservation of humans over the lives of others is just natural,” Dina said.

“You know what, now we’re getting all philosophical again, which we frankly don’t have the time to as the attack arrives in… like thirty seconds,” Jake said. “So, quick vote, do we do the objective and defend the city or try to look for an alternative solution?”

Jake wanted to put things to a vote to finish things quickly, but… well, it turns out no one really wanted to vote, as they simply didn’t have any strong feelings either way, making everyone abstain in case someone did have an opinion. Jake also didn’t particularly care if these settlers were evil colonialists or desperate refugees; he was just there for the levels, and if defending the budding city gave more levels, he was all for it.

On a side note, Jake did think his leveling had been a bit slow on the prior floor, even if he had admittedly avoided combat when he could, as the hunting teams and whatnot weren’t that interesting opponents. Also, the Path Jake walked was one where he wanted to be challenged, so he wanted to avoid easy fights, but still, levels had come slow.

Well, it turns out part of the reason Jake had leveled slowly was that he was just before a level-up when they killed the Chief Overseer… which translated to Jake also getting a level only within an hour of arriving on floor seventy-two.

*’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 260 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*

Jake got the level, and after only a bit more fighting, all the attackers were dead. At this point, he had already informed his party of his level-up. Everyone gave him knowing looks as Jake retreated from the frontlines and found a little spot to sit and chill while smiling and opening the system menu. That’s right, it was time for an old tradition.

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*Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge class skills available*

It had been quite a while since Jake had his last new class skill. Back then, he had selected Arcane Supremacy, which had been a great boon, and he was definitely looking forward to what was on offer this time around. With all the Challenge Dungeons, there had to be traces of Records from those in the skills available.

With great expectations, he proceeded as usual and went through his options one by one.

[Superior Arcane Kick (Rare)] – You have shown yourself an experienced martial artist, allowing you to-

Jake kept smiling even if he was saddened to see there were only four new skills available because fuck that shit. So, he moved on to the first real option, even if it wasn’t that much better.

[Cursed Arcane Bolt of Hunger (Rare)] - Allows the hunter to summon bolts of arcane mana containing curse energy to defeat your foes. Two kinds of bolts can be summoned: a stable and a destructive version. The destructive bolts will explode upon impact, and the stable version will be tough and piercing. Stable cursed arcane bolts will have the curse energy be slow-acting, while destructive cursed arcane bolts will act aggressively. Due to the Sin Curse of Hunger, the overall damage of the Cursed Arcane Bolt is reduced in exchange for all damage dealt, now stealing a slight amount of energy. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Intelligence when using Cursed Arcane Bolt of Hunger.

This was one of those skills Jake had no intention of ever selecting but still valued as it gave him some insight into what was possible. It was clearly gained due to his research and improvement of his control of curse energy during the House of the Architect and was an interesting merging of curse energy and Jake’s arcane affinity. Having life-stealing arcane bolts definitely did seem intriguing, even if he wasn’t sure how useful it would actually be if it came at the cost of overall damage done.

Either way, cool skill to look at, but not really an option. Especially not with such a low rarity. Not that the next skill was that much of an improvement either, even if the rarity at least went up.

[Destabilizing Arcane Explosion (Epic)] – Remain unimpeded as you destabilize the world and all that seeks you harm. Allows the hunter to erupt in a destructive arcane explosion with the aim of disrupting all energy constructs and the concept of stability itself in your immediate surroundings. This arcane explosion will significantly weaken all environmental mana and objects and is incredibly effective at dismantling enemy energy constructs. Adds a bonus to the effects of Wisdom, Willpower, and Intelligence when using Destabilizing Arcane Explosion

He wasn’t quite sure what to think about this one. Was he going to pick it? No, definitely not, but the concepts in play were a bit surprising. The description told him that it was possible to directly attack the concept of stability itself using his arcane mana, which was… well, wasn’t that pretty much what the acid Jake had made also did? It kind of was.

Definitely another one of those skills to keep in mind for future freeform magic and when considering other upgrades. He was a bit surprised at one thing, though. This was the third skill, and it was only epic rarity. He had kind of expected better with his high-tier class. Then again, he probably shouldn’t be that surprised.

Jake remembered something he had read a good while back, which made him theorize that the reason the skills weren’t that awesome was due to Jake having improved some himself already. Seeing an upgraded version of Mark was definitely something he could have imagined, along with a better stealth skill. So it seemed like the system had to make skills more from things Jake had done rather than the innate Records of the class itself. Not to say there weren’t any skills like that… the next one available being one such example.

[Barrier of the Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge (Ancient)] – Embrace stability as you become impervious. Allows the Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge to summon a barrier of pure, stable arcane energy, blocking out any kinds of direct attacks that attempt to pass through – both physical and magical attacks alike. This effect is further improved when blocking attacks made from a far distance and from higher-leveled foes. All affinities not of your creation will be significantly suppressed within the barrier and a slight area around it. Mana or stamina will be consumed depending on the nature of the blocked attacks. Adds a bonus to the effects of Wisdom and Endurance when using Arcane Barrier of the Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge.

Definitely the first “real” skill to consider. It was very similar to the barrier skill that had been offered back in D-grade, even having the same concept-suppressing effects. This one was quite a bit better, though. He especially liked the part that made it better, the more powerful and far away the attacker was.

Admitedly, Jake did kind of lack a good defensive skill. Right now, he relied on freeform stable barriers and Scales of the Malefic Viper whenever he had to block an attack he couldn’t simply avoid. Then again, that was also the biggest reason why he maybe didn’t need the skill: Jake would rather just dodge. So this skill would only be useful when there was no other choice.

That led to the question of how much better it even was than just a few layers of freeform stable barriers coupled with Scales. Jake naturally had no way to determine that, but it was a valid concern in his mind.

Ultimately, Jake wasn’t that keen on the skill, even if it could be useful in some cases. He was more interested in just improving his freeform arcane magic instead, perhaps taking some inspiration from this skill. He had taken inspiration from the last barrier skill offered, too, partly in his Unseen Hunter skill, where the barrier he could create when not moving was capable of suppressing concepts.

Moving on, Jake honestly felt a bit disappointed so far. However, when he saw the final skill … yeah, Jake still wasn’t sure how to feel. The rarity at least looked great.

[Brave Presence of the Emerging War God (Mythical)] – As you step foot upon the battlefield, let none hold doubt that a god of war has appeared. Having proven yourself and received the personal recognition of Valdemar, you have shown yourself to truly have the bravery and presence required to one day be recognized as a true War God. Allows you to emanate a Presence of Bravery by infusing it with inner energy, increasing the physical stats of all allies nearby while putting mental pressure on your opponents. Any allies fighting in the presence of the Emerging War God will be near-impervious to all forms of mental attacks. As bravery fills their spirits, retreat is no option, as even when resources are lacking, bravery remains. All effects of Brave Presence of the Emerging War God scales with Willpower and Endurance, as well as your overall level of power.

There was no need to try and theorize how Jake had unlocked this skill choice. It said why right there in the description. This was born of the Records from Jake clashing directly with Valdemar, probably coupled with the Primordial’s genuine intentions of having Jake join Valhal. Records recognizing Jake could be an Emerging War God.

Jake wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

Ignoring everything else and just looking at the skill, Jake had to recognize it was a damn powerful one. It would allow him to make everyone around him more powerful simply by being near him, put pressure on enemies, and even make all allies borderline immune to certain forms of magic. Based on that thing about bravery and lacking resources, Jake also read it as allowing those influenced by him to keep fighting despite not having stamina and mana left. All in all, it was a mythical skill through and through… but not one fitting Jake’s Path at all.

The skill never once mentioned making Jake himself stronger. Even if it did, the skill still had a stamina cost Jake didn’t doubt would be high. He didn’t need all the mental resistance stuff, either. This skill was, without a shadow of a doubt, absolutely incredible for someone leading an army or even a party leader, but Jake was neither of those. He was a hunter who was solo most of the time. He was no god of war, and quite frankly, he didn’t want to become one.

In the short term, this skill would probably still be useful as he was fighting in Nevermore with his party, but what about when they were out? Jake was going to be alone for the most part again, out hunting more and more powerful foes. This skill would be nearly useless in that case.

Not to mention how Jake felt it would “pollute” his Path as a hunter to have a skill like this. He feared it could end up unlocking a bunch of other commander-like skills in the future, something Jake definitely didn’t want.

No… no, while the skill was interesting and even a bit flattering, it wasn’t one Jake wanted. It didn’t fit him, no matter how powerful it was.

This left Jake with a bit of a problem when the usual strategy of just picking the highest-rarity skill at the end of the list didn’t work. It didn’t help that he didn’t like any of the other skills on offer either

However, where one sees challenges, there can also be opportunities. Because, while none of these five options were any good, they weren’t the only ones he had to choose between. Jake still vividly remembered the skill he had skipped for Arcane Supremacy when he reached 230, and when he checked the list, it was still there, just as he had hoped.

He was naturally talking about Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizon’s Edge.

[Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizon’s Edge (Ancient)] – No defenses shall stop your arrows as they pierce the foes that dare impede your Path toward the horizon. Allows the Hunter to create a Penetrating Arcane Arrow that will pierce through nearly any natural barriers and have a far higher penetrative effect on any defenses made by the target. Will temporarily lower the defenses of the foe if they are struck successfully. These effects are more powerful the higher the enemy’s defenses and the higher the level disparity between you and your opponent. On an internal cooldown, the Horizon-Chasing Hunter can push himself beyond his usual abilities and infuse the concepts of the Penetrating Arrow of Horizon’s Edge into another self-created arcane arrow. Doing this will temporarily make the skill unavailable, with this period dependent on the power of the arrow you infused. Due to their conceptual synergy, Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizon’s Edge receives significantly increased bonuses from Unblemished Arrows of the Horizon. Adds a bonus to the effectiveness of Agility, Strength, Wisdom, Intelligence, and Perception when using Penetrating Arcane Arrow of Horizon’s Edge.

Reading this skill once more, Jake felt certain. He had wanted it back then already and had only skipped it because Arcane Supremacy was just too good in comparison. Now, there was no clearly superior other choice, and Jake was more than pleased with selecting this one, as it would finally give him proper armor-penetrating attacks. Especially the ability to infuse the skill into another self-created arrow interested him, as he looked forward to seeing it mesh with Protean Arrow.

After barely any more thinking, Jake selected the skill as the instinctual knowledge entered his mind as he closed his eyes and took everything in. Once he had fully internalized all the knowledge, he opened his eyes again, as the Sword Saint had come over to check in with Jake as they waited for the next attack to arrive.

“Got a good new skill?” the old man asked with a smile. He still had a couple more levels to go before it was his turn, but it wouldn’t be long.

“Yeah,” Jake nodded as he stood up.

The Sword Saint smiled even more as he raised an eyebrow. “You know, while you were selecting a skill, the others and I discussed this floor, and we agreed that perhaps it would be wise to send one of us out to scout the area and perhaps see if we could slay any leaders or commanders in charge of-“

“Yes,” Jake cut him off as he grinned. He wasn’t going to say no to a chance like that.

“How lucky you agreed; I was just thinking you would be suitable for the job,” the old man chuckled. “Now, get going as we hold down the fort. Stay in touch and keep us informed of what you find.”

Jake didn’t need to be told twice that he could go play and took to the air. He briefly exchanged a glance with his party members as he passed, who waved him off as he heard the Sword Saint’s voice through the Golden Mark.

“Happy hunting.”