The Primal Hunter

Jake had wanted to just focus on making a Grimoire. He truly had. The problem was that he couldn’t just do as he usually did and experiment until he pumped something good out for one simple reason he had kind of forgotten, even if it was expressly mentioned in the skill description. It was only when Jake tried to craft one he brought up the skill description again and was reminded.

[Grimoire of the Heretic-Chosen (Unique)] – Expand your Path and allow others to walk in your footsteps. Allows the Heretic-Chosen to craft a Grimoire related to his Path, allowing another of the enlightened races to consume it, granting them either a class or profession. The nature of the Grimoire depends on a multitude of factors, including crafting ingredients, the will of the creator, and several unknowns. Requirements to use the Grimoire vary. A cooldown period is required between each crafting attempt, and a longer cooldown is triggered after a successful Grimoire craft. Due to your unique Path, every Grimoire created will be more potent by default and receive additional Records based on all your stats.

A cooldown period. Yeah, that one definitely threw a spanner into the works. To make matters worse, the failed Grimoire Jake had tried to make while experimenting just turned into ash, wasting all of the materials. Materials that were in no way cheap at the Merit Point Exchange, as stronger Paths required better base ingredients, and Jake felt fairly confident the reason he failed the first time around was due to his attempt to cheap out.

The cooldown period wasn’t even short. It was an entire damn month, even if Jake failed, making him wonder if it wouldn’t be over a year when he succeeded. The only good thing was that the Records Jake tried to pour into the Grimoire were fully refunded even when he failed the crafting attempt, so nothing besides the ingredients was wasted.

On that note, Jake read in the books that the good thing about Grimoires was that the Records gained from crafting one always equaled out with those poured into it, meaning one never truly lost anything. It could still easily turn into a bad investment as making a Grimoire wasn’t cheap, and some jackass could get and waste the evolution granted, but luckily that wasn’t of any concern to Jake, considering he would just give the final product to the Architect.

Anyway, with the longer cooldown, should he succeed, he would likely only have one real shot, though, so he had to be careful.

With Grimoire-crafting temporarily shelved due to cooldown-related delays, Jake focused on other projects he also needed to get done. One of them was naturally the entire Temlat matter, but things had gone a lot more smoothly there than Jake had initially anticipated. He had sought out Jake only three days after he got back with a significantly better demeanor than before.

After some rest and reflection, he even seemed thankful for the experience in the centaur world. He had learned he had abilities he didn’t even know about and applications of curse energy he hadn’t ever considered. Jake wanted to hear more as he got Temlat to explain what had happened inside of the centaur world more in-depth and what the young half-elf had discovered.

“I always thought of my curse energy as just another kind of energy to kill with, a way to improve my destructive power. That it was the essence of my own hatred toward others… but I never really considered how much it can affect others outside of combat. I did know it made my opponent more reckless when we fought, but they obviously knew that was due to the curse and would work to eliminate it once the fight was over,” Temlat explained as Jake encouraged him to continue.

“But… one day, in that world, I killed a centaur hunter who spotted and tried to hunt me down. We ended up fighting, and I won in the end, killing him. Right after, I heard its allies nearby and ran to hide just in time for them to find the corpse of their friend. I saw their rage and anger as they picked up the corpse and brought it back to a small temporary camp they had made nearby. That is when I noticed the curse energy on the corpse still seeping out and influencing the centaurs and their own anger. What’s more, none of them made any efforts to eliminate it, almost as if they didn’t even notice.

“Following them to their temporary camp, I saw them have heated discussions. I don’t know what they were saying, but I felt something I hadn’t ever imagined. My curse energy within them was growing despite me doing nothing. They fueled it all by themselves. I knew that if I did something, they would notice, so I just kept watching. A few hours later, the hunters decided to head back to their main encampment, and on their way, they encountered a pretty powerful beast. Even if they won, you could see how frustrated they were with one another. Every minor mistake was scrutinized, and by the time they returned home, they clearly hated each other.

“I couldn’t follow them all the way into their settlement… but I could still feel their curse energy even from far away. So, I kept observing for two days until the curse within one of the three disappeared. I was afraid they had discovered the curse and would all soon be cured… until I found the cursed one’s corpse being buried outside of the encampment along with two others whom I felt very faint traces of the curse also on. That is when I began to understand the true power of my curse. Of my power.”

Temlat told his story with excitement that was almost childlike. He was proud of what he had done, and even if it wasn’t Jake’s style, he wasn’t going to judge Temlat for how he achieved things. He did things the best he could, and it was indisputable that Temlat would have never had a chance against the centaur settlement in a direct confrontation.

Jake kept listening as Temlat kept explaining how he managed to spread the curse slowly through the encampment by killing some of their hunters and even once threw a head into the encampment filled with even more curse energy. Not to mention all the times he threw in normal fireballs and set fire to their houses just to make them even more mad.

It took him around three weeks before he had the settlement fully on edge. Their hatred of this unknown enemy who killed their kin and even sometimes burned down their homes was truly staggering, and he didn’t plan on giving them any outlet. Temlat had fully waged a psychological war fueled by curse energy until, one day, it boiled over.

Temlat saw his chance and “ignited” much of the curse energy in the camp all at once during what he viewed as a huge and very heated town square meeting. Maybe some of them noticed something was wrong and identified the curse, but they didn’t have time as others went berserk. A brawl broke out that soon escalated into a deadly fight where dozens died.

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The violence only spread from there, and Temlat took this chance to try to sneak through the settlement and get to the platform on top of a small rocky hill sitting in the middle where he knew the portal was located.

On the way, he set fire to things to mask his presence even more, but things hadn’t worked out as he expected. The C-grade Centaur Warlord, who had otherwise barely shown itself, came out at that very moment to quell the conflict and, in the process, quickly identified Temlat as the source of everything.

Jake’s student had to run with all his might. He flew up to the rocky platform as the Centaur Warlord chased, and those around it attacked with ranged weapons. That was partly how Temlat had gotten so injured, as he was hit by several things in those final moments, and with the halberd practically touching his back, he had stumbled through the portal.

That was also why he had been so on edge when Jake walked in. He had nearly just died and was – for lack of a better word – in shock. However, that didn’t mean the feelings he had poured out during their talk were any less genuine.

After hearing Temlat’s story, Jake didn’t really have any advice. He realized that Temlat had reached his own conclusions when it came to a different kind of Path he wanted to take. Rather than someone who used his curse energy as a destructive force with his black flames, he wanted to be far more of a schemer. A far more classical curse user, if you may. This was a Path Jake was definitely not qualified to give any advice on, so he could only encourage his student to do whatever he deemed best while still helping him to nurture and make his curse more powerful. Because no matter the Path, the curse Temlat nurtured was still the core.

Jake did have one piece of advice he wanted to give, though.

“Right now, your only goal is revenge, right? I believe it is time to also think beyond that. What happens when you’re done exacting your vengeance? What will you do, and what will you become when that happens? What person do you want to be, and what Path do you want to take? While your curse is the source of your power, do not let it be the only thing that defines and controls your actions. In the end, it is nothing but a tool for you to use, not the other way around,” Jake said, trying to give some actual advice that he honestly wasn’t sure was good or bad.

He just had the feeling that Temlat would gladly shoot himself through the chest to hit the ones he hated in the head. And while that could work, Jake wasn’t sure that kind of approach was best. This was also why Jake insisted on keeping up his presence-resistance training, as that helped Temlat remain “grounded,” even as his curse grew in power.

“I will keep your words in mind, Lord Thayne,” Temlat bowed. “Also… I have a question… are there poisons or something like that I can use to better spread my curses?”

Jake considered for a while. The short answer was yes, as the curse energy Temlat had would be totally useable even in poisons, unlike Jake’s, as long as he made the mix right. The problem was that Jake doubted the half-elf could make anything useful even if he had a couple of years. He didn’t have any alchemy experience, after all, and with usual poisons, you were kind of forced to start from the bottom.

That is when Jake remembered one book he had stumbled upon when doing his own research. However, he quickly discarded it after reading in the introduction that his Sin Curse wouldn’t be compatible with most of the methods discussed within. Looking at the stack of books nearby, Jake sent out a string of mana, picked it up where he remembered he had left it, and checked the cover.

An Introduction To Curse Proliferation: Methods Based On Practical Demonstrations of the Malefic One.

It was a damn long cover, with the author bragging he had attended one of the many times Villy liked to show off way back in the day. Jake did remember that the book mentioned that the Sin Curse of Wrath was compatible with the methods discussed in the book, so it should be useable for Temlat even if he didn’t have a Sin Curse quite yet.

“Check this one out,” Jake said as he handed Temlat the book, and he pointed to a stack of books off to the side of the big pile. “There are about thirty more by the same author right there, so if this one is a hit, probably check those out.”

“Thank you, Lord Thayne,” Temlat said politely as he accepted the book gracefully and quickly went to study it.

Jake watched him leave with a smile, wondering if he would figure out the methods within. It would be very interesting if he did… because Jake really wanted to see if Temlat could actually use plague theory as a way to spread his curse.

What?

He had read the introduction that clearly mentioned plagues as one of the primary methods, and Jake was curious, so who could blame him. Making plagues himself seemed like a bad idea, but he did want to see someone study it, and what place was better than a Challenge Dungeon where, no matter the result, there wouldn’t be any permanent consequences? Was he potentially creating a living natural disaster that could kill countless people? Sure, but at least the living disaster would be strong, and considering that was what his student had asked him to help with, Jake would consider it a job well done even if Temlat turned into someone who would be on a multiversal watch-list.

Speaking of doing a job well… Temlat’s approach to that entire training mission hadn’t actually been what Jake expected. He had instead expected Temlat to take a far stealthier approach. The young half-elf already had pretty good stealth skills, and it seemed like an opportune time to improve those if he had to sneak past the centaurs.

Jake’s original intention was to help Temlat become a good assassin of sorts. To give him the skills to sneak in and kill those he wished dead. Things had changed now where Temlat had taken a more, let’s just say, holistic approach to spreading his curse energy, but Jake still thought his stealth idea was good.

Which had got him wondering… why the hell did Jake suck so much at being stealthy himself? Shit, his skill was still only rare, even after all this time, and as he opened the description and read it over, he felt a bit conflicted.

[Arcane Stealth (Rare)] – An upgraded version of the Expert Stealth skill, retaining all benefits while infusing in additional abilities related to your arcane affinity. You find it easier than ever to blend into the environment, making your presence, mana, and nearly all traces of your existence hidden as you wait for your prey to be vulnerable. You have enhanced your stealth capabilities through magic, allowing you to mask your physical shape to become one with the environment, even to the sense of touch and most magical scans. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Agility, Perception, Willpower, and Intelligence while successfully remaining undetected.

In truth, it wasn’t like the effects of the skill were bad. It was a good skill that did its job, and it saved Jake’s ass when he used it to hide from the Termite King, but it was definitely a skill that was due for an upgrade.

Jake had been putting off upgrading it for far too long as he simply never found a good chance while doing Nevermore with a party of five. There weren’t many good excuses to sneak around solo, and more often than not, being sneaky had no big benefits.

However, what time was better than now? He wanted to submit improved skills as Creations, and he believed Arcane Stealth was a prime candidate. He even had a few good ideas for good stealth skills, and one upgrade path especially tickled his fancy. Funnily enough, it had even been told to him by a person who also happened to tickle his fancy: Artemis.

As a more “traditional” hunter, she also had many traditional skills, and during their practice sessions, she often complained about how Jake so easily saw through it when she tried to use the concepts of her stealth skill to hide. These were definitely concepts Jake quite liked when he heard about them because they relied on something that mega-tickled Jake’s fancy… the one and only Perception stat.