The Primal Hunter

Jake found himself teleported onto an identical metal disc within a small hall. Sultan, Miranda, Arnold, and Sylphie appeared together with him shortly after, and just as they stepped off the teleporter, it activated again.

A familiar figure appeared, and Jake turned and gave the Unique Lifeform a look.

[Fallen King – lvl 196]

The level of the King was approaching peak D-grade. Unique Lifeforms were truly cheats… then again, the King only had his race to progress while Jake had both profession and class. Furthermore, the Unique Lifeform had been busy as far as he knew, forming an entirely new faction on their planet as well as doing his fair share of hunting. Not everyone liked being ruled, after all.

“You have been busy,” Jake said.

“So have you, little hunter. I feel the remnants of a C-grade signature upon your soul. A very recent one. Perhaps the cause of your unsightly state?” the King answered, Jake once more being reminded he was wearing tattered clothes and still had quite a bit of blood on him. To be honest, that no one had commented on it yet was kind of crazy.

“Your assumptions would be correct,” Jake said with a confident smile. The King had sent out his telepathic communication wide and had regarded them all. Therefore Jake also responded openly. For the next thing, however, he said it to the King using telepathy.

“You are approaching peak D-grade,” Jake simply stated to the King covertly. “Won’t you be kind of fucked by me being behind?”

“You worry needlessly,” the King dismissed him. “I am in no rush for C-grade and see no purpose in sabotaging myself for temporary gain. I have been D-grade for over a century already, but most of that time was spent doing nothing worthwhile. This King also needs to fully comprehend his new reality. So no, I am not in a rush. Just don’t make me wait another century.”

Jake sent a mental nod in return as he ended their secret conversation. It was good to know even Unique Lifeforms had shortcomings they wanted to square up before evolution.

“I am wondering what kind of Path you are looking forward to seeing?” Jake asked the King. “Though I do have at least one guess..”

“A guess I would presume you correct about. In fact, I have two prominent possibilities in mind. One is if I never chose to participate in the Tutorial but stayed on my pathetic homeworld instead. The other – the one I presume you guessed – is if I had chosen to kill a certain little hunter and not died due to my own folly.”

That certain little hunter smiled and joked. “Live and learn. Or die and learn in this case.”

“A lesson I have taken to me and a reason why I am in no rush.”

A few more words were exchanged, but their conversation quickly drew attention. The tree-like willow form of the Unique Lifeform and the hunter wearing tattered armor and covered in blood did stand out a bit. Heck, Sylphie and the King stood about by themselves quite a lot, being the only two non-humans from Earth that had keys.

The unwanted attention made them move on, but not before Jake fixed up his state a bit. He went to a corner and summoned a stable arcane barrier and even used Arcane Stealth to stay undetected as he deposited all his armor in his inventory. He quickly stirred his energy to clean the blood off, releasing a wave of destructive mana that ran across his body. He was still not in top condition after the fight with the Panther and still felt pain from all over, but at least he was mobile and could function normally. Fighting was not the best idea, though.

Feeling adequately clean, Jake put on his non-combat party outfit from the Order. He had worn it at the World Congress too, and it was certainly better than his other things. Or being naked. In time all his equipment would be repaired within his inventory, and those that required some extra help, he helped.

Dispelling the barrier, he saw the others had waited. He hadn’t even taken thirty seconds, so it wasn’t like he had made them stand there for long. Jake did notice the King had left, not one to wait around for others.

“What are you guys planning on doing?” Jake asked the group once he went over. “I personally intend to go and do this event right away. Who knows how long it will take, and we only got seven days. Also…. I am curious.”

“I do believe it is wisest to go now and do it,” Miranda agreed. “If this is truly a possibility to meet those from other planets, I have no doubt some diplomacy will be carried out, but the event is a priority for sure.”

Arnold just nodded but did not seem in a rush. In fact, he seemed more interested in their surroundings. Then again… it was Arnold, and it wouldn’t be that surprising if he found the space station more interesting than a system event.

“Ree!” Sylphie also agreed. Jake looked at her and gave her a good head rub as he wondered what kind of event the hawk could even be offered. She wasn’t even a handful of years old yet, so how many big choices did she have time to make? Maybe choosing to be blessed by Stormild or not was one? Or choosing to leave Jake and Haven altogether at some point? Who knows? He would have to ask her when both of them were done.

“Let’s go then,” Jake said with a smile.

While he did want to talk with his brother and the Sword Saint, it seemed like both had already left towards where the event would be held. At least they had exited the small entrance area belonging to Earth with the teleporter in it.

The party from Haven moved onwards and soon enough exited the room. They found themselves on a large platform, or perhaps balcony would be a more accurate word. Jake curiously went forward to the edge of the balcony and saw they were probably a few hundred meters up. More platforms were below them and above them.

The entire tower that was the Seat of the Exalted Prima was built like a circular atrium with several hundred floors. Looking straight ahead, he stared onto another balcony and saw several people stand there too. None of them were quite human either. They all had a greenish tint to their skin but otherwise looked mostly human. Well, okay, the four arms were a bit different than humans. Using Identify, he saw a race he had not seen or heard of before.

[Kolbar – lvl 131]

He checked out several of them and got the same race response. The man at level 131 stood in the front of all the others, and Jake saw his level was the highest of them all. This man also saw Jake and stared back with two odd eyes. One of them held two pupils and the other none at all.

Jake nodded, and the man did not seem to understand his gesture. Looking a bit around, Jake saw so many different races, most of which he had never heard of, but nearly all of them humanoid. There were also elves, dwarves, beastfolk, and all the usual suspects, along with two very interesting groups that only consisted of Risen and other undead creatures. Did they hail from undead planets, perhaps?

Miranda and the others – besides Arnold, who was busy checking out the metal on the railing – all looked around curiously. This was truly a clash of cultures as over a thousand different civilizations had their first meeting within an atrium in a space station.

However, Jake also noticed something else. Something odd.

Why are they all so weak?

He had only seen one or two above level 150. That was incredibly low, wasn’t it? Jake knew he had been slacking off a bit too much with levels and had only begun to get back on track recently. That is why he was so confused… wouldn’t people who rushed levels or had cities level faster? Jake wouldn’t be surprised if someone like Jacob was already peak D-grade by now and close to C-grade.

Miranda noticed his frown, and Jake felt a mental probing as she tried to speak to him telepathically. Jake allowed it in as he heard her voice.

“You are surprised by their average level, right?” she asked.

Jake threw her and glance and nodded. “A bit. Did Earth have special opportunities or anything like that for us to grow? You know, something more than everyone else?”

She shook her head and smiled a little. “Answering that is a bit complicated, I think. I have been to the Verdant Lagoon many times with my dream skill and talked to many people, and I have come to realize Earth is truly a special place. Not because of what but who. Records have a way of congregating and building off each other. So I would say that in some ways, it had special opportunities by having the possibility of interacting with individuals on a level far above the norm.”

“Can it really be that simple?” Jake asked skeptically. He already knew there was some truth to it, but it was hard to believe the only reason so many strong people appeared on Earth was that other strong people appeared. It reminded him a bit of the old catch-22 where you can’t find a job without having experience and can’t get experience without finding a job. Just in this case, a lot of strong people would only appear if there were other strong people, yet you need strong people to get truly strong yourself. Okay, not exactly the same, but close enough.

“Probably not that simple, no, but at least it is a partial explanation. Jake, I want you to remember that you are used to interacting with figures far above the norm. To become a member of the Order of the Malefic Viper already makes someone a supreme genius in the eyes of the average resident of the multiverse, while I am sure you view the average members of the Order as not worth much.

“Heck, take me as an example. I was no one before you spontaneously wanted me to be City Lord for you. It is questionable if I would even have reached D-grade without that happening – assuming I even survived that long. Me being near you and working for you changed my Path entirely. I got a Blessing and was taught by gods. I got artifacts I could never dream of. All because of you making that one choice that day… and I am certain that is something I will be shown in the upcoming event: what would have happened if I had rejected to become City Lord back then.”

He listened without interrupting, not completely agreeing. Jake frowned as he didn’t feel like it was entirely fair to give him all the credit.

“While I may have helped, that was only in the beginning. Since then, I have done close to nothing, and it feels like what I have done often just creates more problems for you. You have run Haven more or less alone, and those you found to help you were selected and trained by you. I know nothing of your magic and barely understand how your class or profession works. Don’t sell yourself short; you are plenty talented in your own right,” he sent to her encouragingly.

Miranda smiled at him but shook her head. “It is odd, isn’t it? Why can I figure out this magic when who I was before the system should in no way allow me to? Why do I understand things I shouldn’t? I have come to believe that it isn’t always that those with talent get Records, but that Records can birth talent… you know, like how one says a child can inherit the talent of their parents, so can you benefit from the talents of others. Nurturing it of sorts. The Witches of the Verdant Lagoon have mentioned something like that but never truly confirmed it. Either way, this is all a sidetrack. Just know that Earth is special and that you cannot judge other planets using ours as the standard. But that doesn’t mean we are at the peak… you never know which monsters may be out there.”

“That we can agree on,” Jake answered. Their conversation had been telepathic and taken far less time than using words, but a solid ten seconds had still passed. People were still curiously observing others, and he himself got quite a lot of attention… wait, no, it was Miranda who got it.

Her level was the highest of anyone around. This also made Jake realize why no fighting was allowed. Chances are the ones arriving from Earth could massacre most other “powerful talents” from other planets in their own galaxy, instantly wiping out much of their potential future competition.

Jake looked down towards the bottom of the atrium and saw hundreds of people gathering down there. From the looks of it, all of these balconies and floors of the Seat of the Exalted Prima were merely for those from different planets to enter, and the true Seat was at the bottom.

“I will head down,” Jake said.

Being not the most patient person, Jake merely stepped forward and teleported several hundred meters down and appeared on the ground floor. A few surprised and frightened gazes landed on him, but luckily the King was also there and took the attention away from him.

Not even when Sylphie swept down did they get attention. Then again, a Unique Lifeform above level 190 was bound to attract attention, especially as the King didn’t even try to hide his level. Jake was damn sure he could, considering he was an expert in soul magic, which meant he chose not to. Probably to show off.

Oh well, that was all well and good for Jake. With Sylphie on his shoulder, he made his way past the crowd that tried to suck up to the King. In the center of the atrium was a pillar that Jake saw several people walk into like it wasn’t there, and Jake saw several complicated scripts on it. As well as words.

Seat of the Exalted Prima Simulation Room

It was clear this was the entrance. With his sphere, Jake saw this metal pillar registered as just one huge mass of mana. Danger sense was also silent as he went over and, not wanting to make any queues, walked straight into the pillar like everyone else.

He phased through it without even feeling anything as only whiteness met his eyes. At the same time, he felt his connection to Sylphie disappear, with the bird now gone off his shoulder. Jake stood there for a moment before a menu popped up in front of him.

Welcome to the Seat of the Exalted Prima

Due to still being in the early stages of the ninety-third universe’s integration, simulation options are limited.

Options available:

System-tier events:

Path of Myriad Choices

It was the most barebones menu Jake had ever seen. Had they been offered an early alpha version of the Seat of the Exalted Prima or what?

Oh well. Not wanting to delve too much into the questionable actions of this Exalted Prima, Jake selected Path of Myriad Choices.

On one of the top floors of the atrium, another teleporter activated. A figure appeared, followed by over a hundred more. All of them stayed behind their leader, not a single daring to walk in front. These were clearly part of a singular force rather than a collective of individuals who participated in the event.

The leader was a man with deep orange skin with blue tattoo-like patterns running across it. He wore an intricate red robe and equipment that would put most others to shame. His face had near-perfect features that made him look androgynous yet also inhuman.

This figure, leading his entourage, exited their own hall as he looked down towards the bottom, ignoring all of those staring at him and his followers with wide eyes. He smiled upon seeing the Unique Lifeform he knew as the former King of the Forest.

He also spotted several other figures of interest as he failed to suppress a smile. How could he? There was so much to look forward to. So many things to do and such interesting stories to be told.

Soon… soon it would be time to meet his fellow Chosen and begin the first chapter of their legend.