Hunter 1

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http://web.archive.org/web/20230810223438/https://www.royalroad.com/fi
ction/36049/the-primal-hunter
The Primal Hunter
by Zogarth
Original STUB LitRPG Progression Anti-

Hero Lead Ruling Class Psychological Action Adventure Fantasy GameLit
High Fantasy Magic Male Lead Mythos Strong Lead Supernatural
Warning This fiction contains:
Gore
Profanity
Sexual Content
Traumatising content
Book 1 now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited & Audible

On just another normal Monday, the world changed. The universe had
reached a threshold humanity didn’t even know existed, and it was time to
finally be integrated into the vast multiverse. A world where power is the
only thing that one can truly rely on.
Jake, a seemingly average office worker, finds himself thrust into this new
world. Into a tutorial filled with dangers and opportunities. In a world that
should breed fear and concern, an environment that makes his fellow
coworkers falter, Jake instead finds himself thriving.
Perhaps… Jake was born for this kind of world, to begin with.
Release Schedule:
5 chapters a week.
Average chapter length: 2500
Tags and content warnings are mainly to give me creative freedom later on.
This is my first novel ever, and English isn’t my native language, so go easy
on me chaps. Any feedback is more than welcome, of course. Also, this
novel is only posted on Royalroad, Patreon, and my Amazon releases, so if
you are reading it elsewhere, it's pirated and you suck if you keep reading.
Chapter 440 - A Case of Bad
Communication
The hours quickly passed as Jake just sat back and chatted with Carmen.
After a while, the two of them went to talk a bit with the old man too, but
he was busy being the leader of the Noboru clan and all that. Honestly, Jake
wasn’t a big fan of this entire World Congress as there were two votes that
didn’t matter at all to him personally. He was also annoyed at so many
people staring at him constantly, including this guy who kept trying to be
sneaky about it and even used some weird scouting skills.
Nevertheless, he was still glad he had attended due to the appearance of the
King, and he still had a good talk with Carmen, but he sure wouldn’t
classify it as productive or a good way to spend his time. Once the political
maneuvering was coming to an end, Jake gathered with Miranda and Lillian
again, with Neil still busy with other space mages, having occupied a booth
by themselves while not allowing others to interfere.
“So, what is the expected outcome of the vote? And what should I vote
for?” Jake asked Miranda once in their booth, and they had isolated it
properly.
“This one is hard. Many want the Independent Worlds, some want the
Devoted Ones. Many also want the Unusual Unions, but it is honestly hard
to get a feel for the room, and many keep their cards close to their chest. I
have a feeling no one can truly know before all the votes are cast,” Miranda
answered, shaking her head.
“What do you want?”

“Honestly, if I am truthful, the Paths of the Recognized Supremes will
probably be best for Haven, considering your presence and just overall what
we are going for as a city. We focus on the powerful and the influential, not
the masses. Most who want to live in Haven are those who do know their
Path already, and those who don’t would probably do best by taking
advantage of your Records, or maybe even the Records of Arnold or me,”
Miranda answered.
“I have a feeling not many other factions shared this sentiment,” Jake said,
shaking his head a bit.
“No, in fact, it was futile to even bring up, so I didn’t. The second best
would probably be Unusual Unions based on the general interpretation of it,
and that is a fine choice for us. It is also a popular one. It may even be the
most popular.”
“So, we voting for it?” Jake asked
“I believe that would be the wisest,” Miranda nodded.
“You talked to the King about it?” Jake then also asked. Hey, a thousand
extra votes were always welcome.
“I only heard that he would abstain… Jake, what exactly is your

relationship with that… thing?” she asked a bit nervously. “You told me
about your Tutorial, and I have put together that was the former King of the
Forest, but didn’t you kill him? And if you did kill him, how did he come
back to life?”
“Remember that Soul Renewal from the Auction event? Well, the King
managed to survive by hiding a bit of his soul within my mask that I got as
loot from him, and using the Soul Renewal, I then healed that part to fully
revive the King, who has now changed from the King of the Forest into the
Fallen King. I am pretty sure the name change is due to some Unique
Lifeform stuff,” Jake explained.
“Wait… why would you go so far to resurrect a Unique Lifeform that you
have slain prior?” Miranda said as she looked at Jake critically. “The mere
fact the King didn’t try to kill you first-thing is already a miracle, and who
is to say he won’t try and get rid of you subtly now? Moreover, even if he
leaves you alone, what exactly do you have to gain besides putting an
extremely powerful new contender into play on Earth, that may or may not
negatively affect Haven and everyone else?”
All good questions Jake honestly had no answer to. He was silent for a bit
before answering.
“I did not know about the nobility title before the resurrection, and as for
what I get out of it… well, a good fight for one, and as I still have the mask,
I made a gamble it would improve the item. Even though it didn’t turn out
that way, I don’t regret resurrecting him. I don’t think he is an enemy, let
me just say that, as he can’t really kill me or make me too pissed for reasons
I won’t share,” Jake just said.
“It was questionable at best,” Miranda just sighed. “You took a massive
gamble… wait… the King was resurrected shortly after the Auction, wasn’t
he?”
“Yeah?” Jake said.
“How long after?”
“Not that long. It was shortly after I left for the Insect Plains I decided to do
it. I did think enough to do it outside the city, and away from any
settlements in case things went south,” Jake explained a bit defensively.
Miranda frowned deeply. “That is about the time the Great Famine
arrived… could it have been a response somehow to the King’s
reawakening? The timing seems too convenient.”
“Great Famine?” Jake asked, a bit confused. He hadn’t heard of this.
“You know, whenever everyone suddenly began to become gluttonous,”

Miranda said, making Jake realize what she was talking about.
Now that he remembered… he had never told anyone he did that. Based on
Miranda’s words, he also seriously doubted if he should tell anyone he did.
Well… anyone besides Miranda and Lillian. Miranda was the City Leader
and blessed by those Verdant Witches, and Lillian was bound by a contract,
so it was all good, right? Not that he really wanted to explain it
“I may or may not know how it happened…” Jake said a bit meekly as he
explained what had happened as he made Cursed Hunger.
Miranda looked at him surprised in the beginning before her surprised face
turned into a frowning one before finally looking rather pissed.
“What the hell were you even thinking?” she eventually blurted out when
Jake was about done explaining how he had gotten the curse under control.
He didn’t go into details, but Miranda clearly knew enough about curses to
know how risky it was.
“I was confident I could make it work… and that even if I fucked up, I
could handle the consequences,” Jake defended himself.
“Based on what? Pure ego? Jake, that was not risky; that was just downright
moronic. The amount of energy in that curse was not something you could
have any reasonable confidence level in handling. And then you even
decide to seal away a portion of the curse within your own soul… it is just a
matter of time before it awakens some kind of ego or basic instinct if you
keep in there,” Miranda scolded him.
Now Jake really didn’t want to share Eternal Hunger already had this basic
instinct and had taken the form of a chimera within his Truesoul. Though to
be fair, that wasn’t Jake’s fault but the Chimera Weapon he had used as a
base to fuse the curse into.
“I know it was risky, but I had my reasons to be confident, okay?” Jake said
a bit sternly. “While I will admit I did not know the global effects my
crafting session would have and that and that large parts of the crafting
process were unintentional, I will not apologize for the outcome.”
“What Miranda is trying to say is that your stunt had a negative effect on
every single individual and faction on the planet and that if it was
discovered you or Haven were in any way involved with it, our diplomatic
situation on Earth would become a lot more complicated. Our talks of
neutrality would go right out the window as we had effectively just
launched unprovoked attacks on every other faction. Intentionally or not,”
Lillian said. “And to do something so massive and then not inform us of
any of that is a shitty thing to do if you expect us to handle Haven. What if
someone knew it was you? In fact, does that Risen Casper not know? He
asked how you were doing as if a bit worried just now, and considering his
proficiency in curses, it wouldn’t be surprising he put two and two together.
Not to mention how your friend Casper nearly got blamed for what you
did.”
Jake stood with his mouth open a bit as he took the words in. He wanted to
argue but didn’t really come up with any good arguments that wouldn’t
make him come off as either an idiot or an apathetic asshole.
“Jake, I don’t care much what you did, but that you didn’t at least inform us
you would do it, or even just a quick update after the fact. Even if it hadn’t
helped us, it would have allowed us not to spend time and resources trying
to discover the source. A single sentence could have saved everyone from a
lot of work and even allowed us to potentially help obscure what had
happened if someone came close to finding out. I had an idea it was maybe
you behind it, but when you never mentioned it made me reconsider. The
only thing you told me back then was that you were “handling it” or
something to that effect,” Miranda added further.
He felt more and more shitty the further she got. It really felt like he got
scolded, and the worst part was that he had fucked up.
The weekly meeting he and Miranda had in the start had stopped all of this
from happening. She had always been updated about what he was doing,
and Jake had been updated on everything related to Haven. But recently,
they had drifted a bit apart, with Jake having so many of his own goals and
Jake’s presence in Haven no longer being a necessity.
“I fucked up,” Jake just recognized. “Sorry… yeah, it just slips my mind. It
is no excuse, but I tend to just focus on other things and not even think
about informing you unless directly asked or anything like that…”
That they hadn’t even talked about the Great Famine properly was an
obvious sign of bad communication. Miranda had known a bit, but Jake had
been dismissive back then and hadn’t wanted to explain as he was busy
dealing with the curse. He had just brushed her off to deal with it and then
never brought up the topic again, and Miranda had no doubt felt his
unwillingness to talk about the topic.
“Would it be possible to reinstate those weekly meetings?” Jake finally

asked. “I know it is a bit harder, but if you can contact me with that ritual,
can’t we set something up? If you need materials to do the ritual, I will
naturally cover the cost.”
Miranda smiled a bit as she answered: “I think the weekly meetings are a
good idea. We can even make them monthly or bi-weekly if we are busy. As
for covering costs, those altars from Yalsten more than cover everything.”
“We got an agreement then,” Jake nodded. “And while we wait for the vote
result… let me tell you about the newest drama in the Order of the Malefic
Viper.”
Jake decided this would be a good time to finally mention one secret he had
kept from them both so far: the fact that he had a Bloodline. The entire
Order would soon know, and it would be odd for Miranda not to. He would
still keep all details a secret, but he did reveal he had one and that it was
related to presences. He even used it to explain away a bit of how he
controlled the cursed weapon.
She was surprisingly not very surprised. In fact, she said she had already
guessed he had something like that, especially as she knew Eron had a
Bloodline and that Jake seemed to “get along” well with him, if that was the
right phrase.
Overall, Jake realized how dumb it was that they had never actually
discussed it before, but it was good to get it all out in the open. She did
show quite some schadenfreude when Jake told her about the many people
who would be hounding him in the Order but did give him one good piece
of advice.
“You need to move the target off your own back, and the fact everyone
believes you have a backer is a great way to do that. Just make it clear that
you cannot make the decision on your own but need the permission or
maybe even command of your mysterious backer. Make it clear that
convincing you is a waste of their time and that they should aim to convince
the backer instead, as without his involvement, you are unable to choose.”
“But my backer is the Viper…” Jake began as it clicked. “Who no one can
discover, and even if they think they find out, they won’t actually believe it
possible for the Malefic Viper to be my backer. So I would just put them all
on a wild goose chase while everyone else leaves me alone to not further
annoy me.”
“Which will at the very least buy you some time until they find out your
backer is too hard to find, begin to believe you somehow never had one, or
do realize it is the Viper, in which case I am sure you have progressed
enough to handle that. I am certain it will leak at some point either way,”
Miranda said.
Man, those meetings were going to be a good thing. Jake wanted to ask her
about Meira too but was interrupted as the system said they only had a
minute left to vote.
“Unusual Unions?” he quickly asked.
Miranda nodded as Jake placed all his votes on it. A minute swiftly passed
as the second and only “real” vote of the Second World Congress ended.
The vote for Paths has concluded!
With 32% of the total votes, the chosen System Event is the Paths of the
Unusual Unions.
The event will begin in 1 month (30 days), and all eligible participants
will be invited at that time. Additional information will follow.
It was short and simple with nothing concrete. A bit like the Treasure Hunt.
It seemed that the votes had been damn tight, with the winner only taking
32%. It was clear many factions had tried to go for something else. The
overall percentage of actual votes probably also went down due to the King
abstaining. Either way, this was not an event Jake would participate in, but
the next one sure was.
System Announcement
Quest Received: The Call of the Exalted Prima
As the world progresses, the Prima Watcher of Earth has been

observing. Soon the Seat of the Exalted Prima shall appear on Earth
and invite in all those who have managed to form keys to allow their
entry. Anyone entering the Seat of the Exalted Prima can participate in
the Path of Myriad Choices event, as well as gain access to the other
benefits offered within the Seat of the Exalted Prima.
However, beware, for the Seat holds dangers that the current warriors
of Earth may not be ready to face yet. Should they unleash this danger
and come out victorious, it shall reward the entire planet, while should
you fail, it may fall to ruin.
The Seat of the Exalted Prima will appear on Earth in three months (90
days). Be prepared.
Objective: Obtain a Key of the Exalted Prima by combining three Key

Fragments of the Exalted Prima.
Current progress: 2/3 Key Fragments of the Exalted Prima
Jake read it over and only thought for a moment before he pulled out two
small items he hadn’t thought about for a very long time.
[Key Fragment of the Exalted Prima (Unique)] – A key fragment to the
Seat of the Exalted Prima. Collect three fragments to form the Key of the
Exalted Prima to gain access.
Well then, I guess Prima hunting season just started.
A note from Zogarth
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Chapter 441 - The Right Path
"Do you have any of those keys?” Miranda asked Jake first thing after she
had also read the message. It appeared she had gotten the quest too.
“Nope, but I got two fragments, so I think I can get one more quite easily,”
Jake answered. “But hey, we got the vote we wanted. Well, kind of
wanted.”
“It is indeed one of the better options, though, to be fair, most would be
good options,” Miranda nodded approvingly.
“Speaking of options,” Jake said as he removed the isolation around their

booth to hear all the discussion going around in the hall.
“This is a blatant attempt at forced integration!” someone yelled.
“It says Unusual Unions, not Forced Integrations. A union takes at least two
willing parties to function,” another guy yelled.
“Mere semantics. Unions can be forced as much as they can be voluntary,

and for a union to function, the parties need some level of equality!” the
first guy repeated.
“Then work on getting good enough to be recognized as at least worth

looking at and stop being shit?” Carmen suddenly joined the discussion.
Jake couldn’t help but smirk at the bickering going on. People unsatisfied
with the vote appeared to be aplenty, but that only made sense considering
the low percentage that the winning choice had. He didn’t really bother
listening in much, as he noted there was an hour till the Second World
Congress would end.
Ten or so minutes more passed with senseless bickering and useless
complaining until, finally, the conversation switched a bit towards the quest.
It was a quest that it appeared far from everyone had gotten. In fact, it
looked like the vast majority of cities had several, if not all members, not
receiving the quest based on their confused responses.
As they talked, Jake and a few others made eye contact as they gathered.
They had an hour, and the quest contained things that pertained to them all
collectively. They decided to gather on the platform of Sanctdomo, and Jake
saw that even the Fallen King decided to float down from his mighty booth
and join the lower rungs of nobility.
Jake, Jacob, together with Bertram, Fallen King, Carmen, Sword Saint,
Casper, and even Eron came together to discuss it. It was the group that had
also faced the Monarch of Blood, plus Jacob. Eron looked a bit out of place,
too, as he stood as far from the Fallen King as he possibly could, something
they all noticed.
“Relax, human, I do not seek to end your life despite your past
transgression of overstepping your boundaries,” the Fallen King said to
Eron, the man freezing up a little. That is when Jake understood why Eron
was afraid of the Fallen King. It was the same reason the man didn’t want to
mess with Sultan… they countered him. The King more than anyone else.
The Fallen King could kill him. Permanently. Jake had theorized Eron more
or less had an infinite health pool, but even an infinite health pool wouldn’t
matter if you had your soul crushed. It was the difference between someone
slowly draining the water from a jug and someone just smashing the jug
altogether. The King could attack the container of health while everyone
else only attacked the inside.
“I apologize for past misunderstandings,” Eron said as he bowed. “I

misread the situation and allowed curiosity to get the better of me, and for
that, I seek your forgiveness.”
Jake felt like the apology was a bit out of character. Like it was practiced
somehow. However, it appeared the King truly didn’t care as he waved his
ivory claw dismissively.
“An action done cannot be retracted, only acknowledged as misguided or
wrong. I accept your apology and wish not to dwell on it further than is
necessary,” the King dismissed him outright as the group could finally
move on to the real topic at hand.
“So, let’s do a tally. How many keys or fragments do you all have?”
Carmen asked the group. “I got two fragments.”
“One fragment,” Bertram said. “Others in Sanctdomo or the Church may

have more. We will do a survey when we return.
“Zero fragments or keys,” Eron said with a tone making it clear he had
never cared about collecting them.
“One key, two fragments,” the Sword Saint answered. “I know others in the
clan may have a fragment or two more.”
“Two fragments,” Jake answered, feeling a bit embarrassed answering after

the Sword Saint flexed on all of them.
“One key, zero fragments,” the King said, making Jake feel even worse.
The damn Unique Liveform had gathered more than Jake had in a few
months. Damn.
“A single fragment,” Caleb said, making him a little happy his little brother
hadn’t beat him.
“In all cases, it looks like most of us, if not all, are going to attend this
event,” the Sword Saint said with a smile. “Assuming a few people here can
scrounge together the fragments.”
The last part was said primarily towards Jake for some reason despite others
having less than him.
“I am just wondering,” Jacob said, “how many people will each key give
access to? Only one seems unrealistic, and an entire city would also be too
much.”
“Maybe just a party of five? Like a dungeon?” Carmen asked.

“Potentially,” Jacob nodded. “However, even that would be low unless this
event is truly aimed at the elite and the elite only. Additionally, these
creatures with Prima in their name are not that easy to find, but I believe it
will be possible to locate quite a few.”
That is when Jake realized something. While he had confidence in killing

Primas, he still needed to find them. Meanwhile, he had a living cheat in
front of him when it came to finding stuff. Something he clearly knew.
“I shall focus my efforts on locating these Primas and ensure that we can
get as many keys as possible in the next three months,” Jacob smiled. “For
all of us. The vote was for us to become an Unusual Union, was it not?”
“And I assume you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart?” Caleb
asked with a wry smile.
“Now, while there may be much kindness in my actions, using my

divination abilities does not come cheap for me. I simply cannot justify
sacrificing for others and burdening my faction without proper cause,”
Jacob said, returning the smile in kind.
“Man, you remind me of those damn soothsayers on the streets looking for
naïve tourists,” Carmen commented.
“Except my abilities are real,” Jacob answered. “We can discuss potential
partnerships for any who wishes to enter one. I will be in Sanctdomo
waiting.”
“Sure, that sounds like a good idea; let me just enter a city that literally
burns me to be within,” Casper commented sarcastically.
That turned the mood a bit awkward as Jake learned Risen got burned by
entering a holy city. It was almost like those old tropes. “Better avoid holy
water,” Jake joked.
“Well, yeah, holy affinity liquid does sound an idiotic thing to touch,”
Casper said with a deadpan face.
“Anyway, it’s been nice seeing you all again,” Carmen said as she turned to
the Fallen King. “Besides maybe you, as I am still not sure if you are some
evil entity who plans to lead the world into ruin.”
“I believe such would be meaningless, and I would face all those gathered
here, something which I have no interest in doing nor believe is a wise
choice. Not that more than the hunter is needed,” the King answered, not
properly getting Carmen was semi-joking.
“Yeah, if he gets out of line, I got this,” Jake answered as he gave a thumbs
up. “His weakness is so obvious you will all kick yourselves for not
realizing it earlier.”
“Overwhelming power?” Casper asked.
“That would work,” Jake approved.
The mood after that was a bit more relaxed as Carmen left with the former
King of the Forest disappearing soon after. Eron left hastily, too, as he still
seemed uncomfortable after spending time around the King. Caleb and the
Sword Saint also bailed as they had some stuff to attend to, leaving only
Jake, Bertram, Jacob, and Casper.
That is when Jacob did something Jake had not seen coming.
“Casper, the Holy Church is going to advocate for the expulsion of the
Risen from Earth and not allow them into any kind of unions. It may result
in an outright attack with the goal of pushing you off the planet or
annihilating you outright,” Jacob said when it was only the four of them.
“Huh?” Casper said, a bit surprised.
“The Holy Pantheon is determined. They place a lot of importance on Earth

due to the presence of so many powerful factions here. The Court of
Shadows, Valhal, the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, someone with a Divine
Blessing given by Stormild, another by Aeon, and of course a
Transcendent… now also a Unique Lifeform. To give up the planet would
be moronic. The Church can accept the presence of all these, but the Risen
are the mortal enemies of the Church, and co-existence is not acceptable to
the leadership at all,” Jacob explained.
Jake also stood surprised as Jacob just said a lot of things he had not
expected to come out of the Augur and leader of the Holy Church on Earth.
“Why are you…?” Casper asked, equally confused.
“Within a system event such as this, we are entirely cut off from the rest of
the multiverse. There are no observers, and they have no control over us, so
I need to say it here where we can speak truly freely. You need to be
prepared, Casper. And while I am the leader of the Holy Church on Earth, I
am not the leader of the faction. My protests will do nothing but make me
lose influence, and it may even result in losing my position,” Jacob
answered.
“Still doesn’t answer why you are telling me all this to begin with,” Casper
frowned.
“Because I’m not a complete asshole, and even with my position in the
Church, I don’t need to agree with everything that is happening. Publicly I
will need to be against the Risen and even lead a campaign against them,
but privately I honestly don’t care. In fact, if I actively helped to destroy a
friend, that would go directly against my Path,” Jacob sighed. “Casper, you
may now be Risen, but you are still a friend and the same lazy employee
who spent more time complaining about being unable to get a good date
than actually working.”
“Now that is just harsh…”
“You once told me you liked hanging out with Jake because he couldn’t get
a girl either,” Jacob continued.
“Wait, what?” Jake blurted out.
“It wasn’t like that! You know I just liked hanging out with someone who
didn’t always go on and on about their perfect relationships,” Casper said, a
bit embarrassed.
“Anyway, Casper, I just wanted to warn you. Be ready, for something will
come. The Church will likely order assassins soon to go after you and other
influential people, spread more propaganda against you, and try to insert
people into your cities to cause civil unrest. In fact, many are already in
your cities. Once the universe opens up more and people can be brought
here, forces will likely descend. Even if it isn’t possible to bring outside
help, the forces of the Holy Church grow every day,” Jacob explained
further.
“Will the Church really go to war?” Jake asked. “Don’t they fear the
consequences?”
“There will be a justification. Perhaps claims they are killing and forcing
people to become undead. That they murder the living to fuel themselves.
Essentially slander to make the living side against them. At the same time,
they assume you and others will stay out of it as the Malefic One never
tended to get involved in other conflicts. He isn’t involved in the one that is
currently going on. As for Valhal and the Court of Shadows, it is entirely
possible they will be hired. For Valhal, we just need to hire individuals as
mercenaries, and the upper echelon of the Church may negotiate with the
Court of Shadows and force your brother to side with us.”
Casper looked grave for a moment as he sighed. “Thanks for the heads-up.”
Jacob nodded. “Just take care of yourself. Please don’t spread anything
about our talk. Needless to say, this is not approved by the Church in any
way and may even be considered treacherous.”
The last part was also partly directed at Jake, and he, of course, nodded.
Casper also nodded as he muttered: “Well… I guess I need to speed up that
project a bit.”
William sat in meditation atop the block of metal as he slowly absorbed the
energy within. He was thrown out of meditation and lost his focus when the
system message suddenly appeared and informed him that he had just
received a quest.
“Master?” he asked as he felt the presence of Eversmile descend upon his
mind. It felt like his head was on fire from the pressure, but he resisted and
gritted his teeth as his Master spoke.
“Such an event is not right for you. Seeing a second potential Path will only
confuse you and risk making you stray from your current one. The right
one. I have said it before, but all these system events are nothing more than
distractions that will ruin you down the line. Just keep walking the Path
paved before you, and you will find what you seek, my dear disciple.”
William felt the presence disappear again as he breathed out in relief. He

tasted a bit of blood in his mouth, and his eyes were red from the stress.
Talking with his Master was no easy feat but a necessary one. His Master
always gave him advice on what was best for him and had led him towards
several opportunities already. Nevermore was just one of many, and when
he had stood before the Judge from the Court of Shadows and been
superior, it had proven his Path was the correct one.
He still didn’t know exactly what his Path was or where it would lead him.
However, he had not been led astray so far, and Kimmie and little Seo had
also been able to live peaceful lives in a small city he had claimed.
Not that there weren’t setbacks. Recently the of the Unique Lifeform from
their Tutorial had appeared and was close to the area William usually
worked in, creating some issues. The monster had dominated a huge region,
far larger than he believed humanity knew, and the monsters William had
gotten close to were now doubtful if they should also join this Fallen King.
While this may be a wrench in the works, William also believed it an
opportunity. He and this Unique Lifeform had a shared enemy, after all.
Stretching a bit, he decided to get up from the slab of metal. He needed a

few more skill upgrades and to make some more preparations before he was
ready to make the final push to C-grade. He had already made so many
preparations, and he would have nothing get in his way. Because while
William knew little of what Master wanted, he did know that he and Master
had one shared goal:
To overcome the karmic curse laid upon William by the one who had slain
him.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 442 - Golden
Opportunities Only A Moron
Would Waste
Jake spent the rest of the World Congress checking in with the Sword Saint
to tell him that Reika was doing fine at the Order and just chatted with a
few people. He had expected Arthur to talk to him at some point, but it
never happened. Jacob’s dad had approached nearly every other faction but
had stayed clear of Haven for some reason.
The last five minutes were spent chatting with Miranda as they set up a time
for the next meeting. They had to plan it around Jake’s lessons and also
Miranda’s meetings and work. Scheduling was hard work.
As Jake just waited to be transported out, he mentally went over his near-
future plans. Participating in the Path of Myriad Choices event was going to
happen, so he needed another fragment before that. He also had a current
list of classes in the Order he wanted to finish before heading back to Earth.
On that subject, he had to figure out how easy it was to travel back and
forth from Earth and the Order, so he would have to chat with Villy about
that. As things were currently, he couldn’t leave far from Haven if he
wanted to be able to return to the Order on short notice, and he naturally
couldn’t attend classes if back on Earth or make use of other benefits by
Order offered. Those teleportation gates in the Order were fancy but not
that fancy to work cross-universe.
Hopefully, the Viper would have some convenient method to allow Jake
easy travel. His ideal situation would be to be able to both attend lessons he
wanted and go to Earth whenever while also being able to leave Haven to
head out and hunt. He even had another plan.
Carmen had asked him to help her track down some family members, and
while he did want to help, he had little confidence. So… wasn’t Prima
hunting a good opportunity? He could use the hunting trip to improve his
tracking skill and get another Prima under his belt to complete the key.
Win-win right there.
With those thoughts, Jake said his temporary goodbyes to Miranda and
Lillian. Neil had just been gone and holed up with other space mages with
no one daring to interrupt their work.
Thus the World Congress ended, and Jake’s vision flashed for a moment as
he found himself back on the couch in the living room of the mansion.
“Eik!” he heard a weird yelp as he saw Meira sitting right beside him,
having jumped away the moment he teleported back in.
She looked at him in fright before she finally calmed a bit down and got off
the couch. “Sir, I did not know you were returning so soon!”
“Pretty sure nobody knew how long it would be,” Jake shrugged. To be fair,
he had told Meira he would probably be gone for around ten hours as that
was how long the First World Congress had taken, so he was back four
hours early.
As for why she was sitting on the couch? He wasn’t sure. She usually
resided in her own residence when preparing for lessons or meditating, and
it wasn’t like she had any work in the main mansions. Things like cleaning
weren’t a thing in magical mansions.
“But it is good you are here. Things are ramping up a bit back on Earth, and
I will need to return pretty soon, so I will be around less than before,” Jake
said. “I still plan on attending some of the lessons, but it will be less. I just
need to find a good way to travel back and forth first.”
Meira seemed a bit disappointed but didn’t voice her thoughts. “I shall
make sure the mansion and the gardens remain in perfect condition so Sir
can return at any time without discomfort.”
It was a nice roundabout way for her to say that he should keep coming to
the mansion. She also seemed to have one more thought. “Shall I also end
my currently planned lessons?”
“No, of course not,” Jake said, shaking his head. “Keep going as before;
you have full access. Keep learning and improving as much as you can,
okay? Don’t worry; I will be sure to check up on you once in a while, and
you are also to select new lessons yourself if you run out.”
That is one thing Jake had learned... Meira borderline needed him to check
up on her. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t do any work if he didn’t, but that she
seemed to have some odd mindset where if Jake didn’t see and recognize
her results, she didn’t make any progress.
Meira nodded enthusiastically at his words as Jake dismissed her with a

look they both knew: he was about to talk to Villy, and she didn’t want to be
anywhere near when that happened due to the god’s tendency to descend
with mildly alcoholic beverages.
Once she was gone, Jake opened his mouth. “Hey Vil-“
“Sup,” a god popped into existence right in front of him, sitting on another
couch - two glasses filled with some weird blue liquid already on the coffee
table between them.
“Done the World Congress,” Jake said casually as he gave Villy a quick
breakdown of what had happened. How the King had appeared, the vote for
no World Leader, and then the second vote and the quest he received right
after.
Villy silently listened and nodded along here and there. When Jake finished,
the Viper made his thoughts known after getting a quick sip of the drink,
Jake mimicking his actions. It tasted a bit of strawberry despite the blue
color.
“That no World Leader was elected makes sense, as it would be hard for
your planet to select a single uniting leader without a huge war first,” Villy
said.
“Just to make sure, you aren’t advocating I should take up the position?”
Jake asked.
“No, quite the opposite. Doing so would be a waste of time and likely set
you down a path where nobility holds a great impact. You will be required
to participate in certain things, and while that isn’t an issue currently, it
would just be an annoyance down the line. You would waste a lot of time
on things I know you have no interest in, and for what? To lead a small
planet? Even if the influence expands and you take over the galaxy, so
what? Become a god, and you can waltz into most empires, kill a god or
two, and bam, you own a country larger than the budding kingdom on Earth
instantly,” Villy shared his thoughts.
“Well, I still kind of care about the planet and have friends and family
there,” Jake said. “Abandoning them outright is not an option.”
“So, just make that known and ensure whoever is in power knows you have
that viewpoint and that all hell will break loose if they go after anyone close
to you. If push comes to shove, evacuate those you care about. Bring them
here or somewhere else of your choosing if the hotly contested territory of
Earth isn’t worth the real estate. You could then even choose to make Earth
an example of what happens when someone makes you an enemy. Quite a
common tactic that one,” the god explained. “Or, you know, just put
someone loyal or at least not antagonistic in charge.”
“Sounds like you are suggesting I put in Miranda or the Fallen King,” Jake
said.
“Or most others, honestly,” Villy said. “Not many on Earth view you as an
enemy, and the only problem is that many of your friends and family belong
to factions that are not exactly on friendly terms. But it is up to you; I have
no skin in the game.”
“Yeah. I guess I will figure it out,” Jake nodded. “So, the system event?”
Villy turned a bit more serious. “This is not a normal event; just know that.
The ability to change one’s path is not at all simple, and especially the
opportunity to experience a secondary one is once-in-a-lifetime. Needless to
say, I would heavily advise you to do it; only a moron wouldn’t. However, I
am also very interested in this Seat of the Exalted Prima.”
“How so?” Jake asked. He had just assumed it was some place on Earth that
would appear as part of the system event. Maybe some kind of hidden
world like Yalsten?
“The Primas existed on Earth from the start. A Watcher of Earth… this feels
like part of something bigger. Moreover, I have heard some rumors that
other factions have investigated it already and come up short. What little
they have found points to this Exalted Prima not being something simple at
all, and these Seats of the Exalted Prima are appearing on every planet with
sufficient life across your entire universe,” Villy explained.
“Is that abnormal? I would reckon system events appear for everyone.”
“It is just the entire way it is designed,” the Viper shook his head. “A Seat
of something is often only the first stage. An introduction of what is to
come.”
“You sound like you have an idea what it may be all about?” Jake asked.
“I do, but I won’t share more than I already have. Just focus on the events
as represented and participate in all those you can. All of these system
events are golden opportunities to a new universe, and missing even a
single one is a huge waste,” Villy said.
“I have been thinking,” Jake began, “how hard are titles to obtain? I got one
from the Tutorial and one from the Treasure Hunt, all giving percentage
stat-increases, so won’t someone who has done dozens of these events just
be downright overpowered for their level?”
“They would be,” the Viper agreed as he grinned. “Such as the Chosen
sitting right in front of me. You underestimate how hard titles are to obtain.
Every single chance to get one is an unmissable event. This even ignores
the massive amount of Records associated with every title gained from
these events.”
“How rare are system events outside of system integrations?”
“Rare, but it, of course, varies. Some are small, some are large, some can be
attended at all times, some are time-limited, but most are once-in-forever.
Many titles do exist that just give minor benefits with no percentage
increases, but perhaps a few stats or other small bonuses. Some titles are
gained by everyone, such as the evolution titles and the dungeon-related
ones,” the snake god said. “Not that it matters much. As you are right now,
you are well ahead of the curve, and if you just keep doing as you are right
now, you will stay ahead.”
“I do feel like my level has stagnated a little, though,” Jake admitted.

“Many people at the World Congress were catching up.”
It was the truth. Especially someone like the King. Jake and the King had
been at the same level only a few months ago, but now the Unique Lifeform
had him beaten badly. Jake knew the reasons why, as he was shoring up
weaknesses and “solidifying his fundamentals,” as people kept saying, but
it still felt bad.
“You haven’t stagnated. Trust me, stagnation is when you stop gaining
levels at all, or it becomes difficult and takes a long-ass time for every one
of them. Level-up rates also vary. You will come to experience that as you
shore up your weaknesses and shortcomings, the levels will come to you
faster and easier, and you won’t hit a wall. Many of those who rush their
levels will hit a wall or end up taking a worse evolution.”
“So, you are saying the Fallen King will be in trouble?” Jake asked a bit
teasingly.
“Maybe,” Villy said, fully serious. “Even a Unique Lifeforms will reach
walls and have to overcome challenges. Every evolution is difficult for
them, and if they fail to live up to expectations, they will be stuck in their
current grades forever. No one has an easy path to godhood; all need to
struggle.”
Jake sighed. “Guess I do feel a bit better now.”
“Ah, but I would advise you to begin to get some levels under your belt.
You are so far off stagnation as you are right now that it isn’t a worry.
While it is true that rushing might bite you in the ass, that will only happen
to you if you overdo it. So I think it is time for you to make a push in levels.
Meanwhile, I will work on a better solution for when you go to Earth and
back here,” the Viper said. Jake didn’t even have to ask. He had planned on
asking for a better teleportation solution, but the Viper clearly inferred this
from the talk before.
“One that can work outside of Haven?” Jake asked.
“Well, that is the plan. Your little friend I blessed will need to help, though.
I still need that monument as a beacon, so I guess it is time to put him to
work again,” Villy said with a smirk.
“Wait, what has Chris even been doing all this time?”
“Eh, a bit of maintenance work, I guess? I don’t really bother with him,” the
Viper shrugged. “Jake, after my return, I gave out blessings in the millions.
I don’t keep track of every minor insignificant character.”
“No, I am just saying, the guy was lost, and you put him on a Path. Only
feels right to take some responsibility,” Jake argued.
“Then bring him to the Order once he is done with his tasks on Earth,” Villy
just shrugged again. “Here, he can find plenty of things to do. He still needs
to remain in your little city for now, but in the future, just bring him along.”
“Alright,” Jake agreed. Originally he didn’t want to bring Chris as he went

to do alchemy, but by now, he realized it wouldn’t matter. Even as a
Builder, Chris could easily find his place in the Order. “Now, with all of that
settled, I guess it is time to get some alchemy done.”
Jake only had lessons for the next week. After that, he hadn’t booked more
as he had predicted the World Congress would lead to some changes. Even
the ones the rest of this week, he didn’t really need to attend. There were so
many lessons that it really didn’t matter when Jake took them or even if he
delayed. He also had infinite Academy Credits, so he didn’t care about
missing stuff.
“Just one piece of advice,” Villy said. “Pay a visit to the Nalkar House.”
“The vampires?” Jake asked as he remembered. “The High-tier Token.”
He instantly took it out as the Viper nodded.
[High-tier Alchemy Token of the Malefic Order (Legendary)] – A token

created by the Order of the Malefic Viper. This token represents a deal
made with the Nalkar vampire line to grant a set number of the Nalkar
Clan vampires membership to the Order and includes a set number of
benefits. This token has never been turned in, and doing so may lead to
certain rewards. Gives off an aura that encourages growth in toxic
alchemical products.
“If you are going to do a leveling push, you need materials. You obtained
that token yourself, so go use that to exchange it with the Nalkar House.
Trust me, they will be more than happy to,” Villy explained as he made a
slightly mischievous smile.
Jake suddenly remembered the original plan to use this token when he
originally entered the academy as a cover of sorts. It turned out that was
utterly unnecessary due to the plans the Viper made and how the Order
worked. Jake had just been swept up by everything and completely
forgotten it. Reika had obviously forgotten too, making him feel a bit better
about it.
“Well, then I guess it is time to visit a vampire house.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 443 - Vampire Visit
Ah, vampires. If any race had been truly marginalized and suppressed
throughout the history of the multiverse, it was them. The Risen and Holy
Church both hated them, and most humans, elves, and other humanoids also
weren’t fans due to the racial skills they possessed.
For a good reason too. Vampires had the ability to drain the lifeforce of
others. In fact, they had to do this due to a massive drawback associated
with their race: the lack of natural regeneration.
Pretty much all other races could live without any kind of sustenance until
they died of age after reaching a certain grade. You could put Jake in a box,
and he would keep living until he ran out of lifespan. If you took the same
box and put a vampire in it, the vampire would eventually die due to
starvation simply due to passive energy expenditure. They did have some
racial skills to alleviate this drawback, such as the Eternal Slumber skill, but
it wasn’t perfect, and there were many times Eternal Slumber truly did turn
out to be an eternal rest.
Now, the usual way to drain lifeforce for a vampire was through drinking
blood. It was easy and straightforward, but it had the issue of harming the
victim that was used as food quite a lot and could easily result in a casualty.
Even if the target didn’t die, they would lose resources, and continued
exposure to vampires would result in a temporary reduction in stats and
prolonged periods of weakness. It was like Jake overdrawing his own body
with Arcane Awakening except far worse, and often items or extremely
skilled and specialized healers were required to fix the ailment.
Jake had already learned all of this during his time in Yalsten, and he had
now learned even more by reading a few basic tomes on vampires that were
already present in his library. He had even called Meira, who had given him
quite the negative input if he said so himself.
“Vampires are always part of powerful families and really ward their
legacies and power. They also buy a lot of slaves to use as food and simply
for pleasure. The most positive outcome for a slave sent to a vampire house
is the vampires liking the taste of their blood and deciding to use them for
crafting blood potions. Well, they would also get really lucky and one day
become a vampire themselves… if that is even considered a better fate.”
So, yeah, Meira wasn’t a fan. Yet she didn’t seem alarmed or surprised
when Jake said he would go and visit the Nalkar House. Jake learned the
reason for this was quite simple: there was no way they would ever dare
drink a single drop of his blood. No, not because he was blessed by the
Viper or had a backer or something like that, but because drinking his blood
would be what in the vampire world was known as a very bad time.
You see, it turned out that drinking from someone with highly toxic blood
courtesy of Blood of the Malefic Viper wasn’t the most pleasant experience.
It involved a lot of corroded flesh and overall just made the entire action
futile as the vampire would lose more blood energy than they would gain.
The exact polar opposite of someone like Jake were slaves or servants bred
to be used as food. Viewed as livestock or pets, these people were trained
and nurtured all their lives to be valuable blood banks. It was somehow a
recognized Path of the system, and they even had skills and professions
focused on providing better and more tasty blood while not being
susceptible to the weakness after a vampire used them.
For classes, they tended to still have one focused on combat, but nearly
always of the physical variety for better stats-distributions. These were also
specialized and worked in synergy with vampires, making them potential
soldiers.
The classification for these people was Blood Thrall for the weaker and less
recognized ones. Blood Servant was then used for the more qualified and
influential non-vampires, and finally, the Blood Disciples. Blood Disciples
were those who had the potential of joining the main family and becoming
vampires themselves.
Jake had decided to read a bit more up on modern vampirism as he didn’t

wanna go in with knowledge many Eras old from Yalsten. In fact, it was a
bit funny to read the books from Yalsten and compare them with more
modern ones. One difference was that in Yalsten, merely consuming health
potions and potions made with herbs was considered adequate to regenerate
blood energy, but in modern times, consuming such potions was only done
in combat.
The Path of vampirism was inherently tied to the consumption of blood and
life, so to try and substitute it was to stray from that Path. Short-term, it
didn’t matter, but long term, the effects on Records became significant.
Maybe some vampires in Yalsten knew this, as they still kept live
humanoids to drink from, but Jake knew only the elite were able to indulge
in this. Keeping the fact that using health potions was harmful in the long
run secret made sense if the supply was limited and to quell dissent.
Now, needless to say, Jake wasn’t a big fan of how vampires did things. He
could totally understand why many races and factions distrusted or were
outright antagonistic towards a race that literally required the subjugation
and consumption of other humanoid races. The worst part was that it had to
be humanoid. Beast blood and such only worked for vampiric beasts, and
often the best blood was the blood of the race you had transformed from.
Human-turned-vampire would do best drinking from a human, and so on
and so forth.
At the same time, Jake also saw the vampires take some level of
responsibility. One big thing was how few there were, even with their
ability to transform others. The Risen more or less had an open-door policy
for any living who wanted to become a Risen, but for vampires, it was far
different. You had to be part of a family or be hunted down and slain, as
they did not want rogue vampires out there. They cared a lot for lineage,
and the only way for an outsider to become a vampire was to join the family
as a powerful expert deemed worthy or to be a Blood Thrall that managed
to climb to Blood Disciple and then be gifted vampirism.
This did result in the average vampire being far more powerful than most
other humanoid races, but it also meant they were more restrained and few
in number. They were careful and wanted to avoid vampires causing
trouble. The vampire families associated with the Order of the Malefic
Viper were also incredibly loyal, not a single family having left. Ever.
So, yeah, to conclude, the vampires were truly a mixed bag of evil nature,
loyalty, and odd social dynamics where family was everything. That entire
thing where only the talented could become vampires also led to every
natural-born vampire being the child of talented individuals. The weakest
vampires were born at D-grade, the majority in C-grade, and the Nalkar
House, as an example, had four S-grades and dozens of A-grades currently
alive. This did not sound like a lot for a “faction,” but one had to remember
this was merely a faction connected to the Order and did not contain all
Nalkar vampires that existed. They were also just one of six houses.
Anyway, their strength meant they had resources, and Jake needed
resources. As he researched them, he also concluded that him going there
and receiving benefits would help obscure who his backer was, maybe even
making some factions assume the Nalkar House or a member from there
backed him.
The way of getting there also wasn’t as simple as merely taking a

teleportation gate. Jake had to put in a request to be able to enter their area
as it was always sealed off, which had given him even more time to
consider his approach once he got there.
It had only taken him half a day to hear back and get a positive affirmation
that he could come, which also unlocked his token and allowed him to
teleport to them. He got no other information besides an approval, and the
second he got it, Jake headed off.
He didn’t wear his fancy party clothes but stayed in his good old combat
outfit. Jake didn’t think he would get into a fight, but he wanted to be in
what he felt most comfortable with.
Jake used the token on the teleportation wall in his mansion, and after a
brief goodbye to Meira, he stepped through, finding himself in an entirely
new area. Jake stepped out of a large rectangular monument in the middle
of what looked like a city square as he instantly felt hundreds of eyes land
upon him.
Through his sphere, he spotted dozens of individuals staring at the

newcomer. All of them were either elves, humans, a few beastkin, and some
mixed races. Compared to everywhere else in the Order, there was a distinct
lack of any scalekin. No vampires either.
All of the people around him looked relatively normal, and the entire area
seemed like the outer area of a large medieval city. The only thing really
distinguishing this place from anywhere else was the oddly familiar sky. It
was red, and something that looked like the Blood Moon the Monarch of
Blood had summoned using the divine artifact hung in the sky above.
Before Jake had any time to figure out where to go now, a dark red swirl
appeared in front of Jake as a humanoid form condensed from mist. It was a
young man that looked about Jake’s own age with black hair and one of
those slightly androgynous yet also often considered handsome faces.
However, the most striking feature was the two red eyes that met Jake.
[Vampire – lvl ???]
It was undoubtedly a C-grade, and Jake had a feeling that he was not a
weak one either. The vampire looked at Jake briefly before smiling,
revealing his fangs. “Welcome to our humble abode, Hunter. I am Alcor,
and I am to act as guide without you becoming too uncomfortable."
The moment the vampire had appeared, Jake felt all the people observing
back away while bowing deeply. The vampire Alcor didn’t even recognize
their existence but just looked at Jake. The vampire also let his aura really
go off, as if trying to assess Jake.
“I would sure hope for a pleasant stay,” Jake smiled in response, not getting
intimidated.
“Then it seems my job will be easier. Now follow me; the Patriarch is ready
to see you,” Alcor said as he opened his hand to reveal a rune of blood that
then conjured a frame of red mist, where the center of the frame took on a
mirror-like surface before it condensed into a gate.
Jake looked at the spooky-looking mirror portal for a moment before

stepping through. He felt no sense of danger from it, and quite frankly, the
C-grade wouldn’t need to use weird tricks if he wanted to kill Jake.
The other side of the portal revealed a giant, fully furnished hall, and Jake
instantly felt dozens of auras far more powerful than himself. At least
twenty C-grades, and one that was far above anyone else present. Below a
god… but not by far.
Jake turned and looked at the figure, who gave off an aura that seemed to
almost tinge the very atmosphere around him red.
He looked a lot like Alcor but was middle-aged and wore an old-timey suit.
He had a well-kept beard and the same deep red eyes. The vampire was
currently sitting on a large lounge chair with two barely-dressed women
standing at his side – an elf and a human, both C-grade.
“Hunter… what a peculiar name, but not one chosen out of pure hubris, I
believe,” the vampire said in a deep tone as he got up and began walking
towards Jake. “All wish to be the hunter in any situation, but never the prey.
And as you stand here, I come to believe that you do indeed adopt this trait,
at least in concept. Immune to presences of those stronger… unwilling to
recognize himself potentially a prey before a predator. You are a hunter
indeed, with all the bravado that comes with it, young Bloodline Patriarch.”
Jake looked at the vampire, who stopped right in front of him. He was a
good head taller than Jake and looked down at him, as he too was feeling
Jake out, just as his junior had done mere minutes ago.
“You seem to have done your research,” Jake said, as he clearly didn’t need
to explain who he was. When he had sent his message to the Nalkar House,
he had only informed them that he had obtained an old item related to their
lineage and the Order. He had not gone into any specific details, but it was
evident that they had looked into him before inviting him over.
“I do appreciate the luck involved in me living through the phase of a new
integration. Always such an exciting time bringing about change like never
before. The Order itself has changed more than thought possible with the
return of the Malefic One. A truly momentous and equally surprising event,
do you not agree?” the vampire said with a searching tone while also taking
a few steps back and walking towards his seat.
Jake felt the subtle waves of mental energy in the air, ever so slightly
affecting Jake, but more than that, reading him. He only felt them due to
how on alert he was and his sphere, making it clear the vampire had no
intention of revealing his actions.
Alcor, the young vampire, also just stood silently back with his head
lowered, same as everyone else.
“I don’t believe many would call the return of a Primordial anything less
than momentous,” Jake just answered.
“But not surprising?” the vampire said with an inquisitive look.
“Of course it was, but why would it be more surprising than other events?
We natives of new universes know nothing of the rest of the multiverse
upon integration. The mere existence of gods was a massive surprise,” Jake
again answered, speaking only the truth. Something the vampire recognized
as he nodded.
“Perhaps as difficult as it is for me to recognize the possibility of a creature

not living with the system,” the vampire sighed. “I am Fairleigh, current
Patriarch of the Nalkar House. I do believe we skipped the formal
introduction, did we not? Now tell me, Hunter the hunter, what is it you
bring from your nascent universe you claim is related to my lineage?”
Without any further ado, Jake pulled out the High-Tier Alchemy Token of
the Malefic Viper. Fairleigh looked at it deeply for a few moments before
he sighed.
“Such items truly belong in the annals of history. They come from a time
when we vampires were on our way to becoming a truly multiversal force.
Able to stand toe-to-toe with the Holy Church and the Risen. Yet it is also a
reminder that the Malefic One and his Order were our allies even in those
times,” the vampire said with a melancholic tone. “Where did you acquire
it?”
“During a system event, I went to a world once known as Yalsten. An old

hidden world once inhabited and ruled by vampires. It had been destroyed
due to its isolation, but the system does as the system does and brought
back Yalsten of many, many eras ago,” Jake answered truthfully. “I found
this specific token in a vault set up by the Nalkar of Yalsten, one created
with the hope of passing down some of their treasures. When I got the
treasure, I was asked by a projection left behind to have positive
inclinations towards the Nalkar, so here I am.”
“A hunter that also keeps his word, it seems. Very well, if you treat me with
honesty, I shall return the favor. Now tell me, what is it you desire of us in
exchange for an old relic of the past?”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 444 - The Sentiment of
Vampires
Jake had many questions and doubts as he stood before the vampire. First of
all, why was the Patriarch of the Nalkar Family there, and not just some
lower-level leader? Heck, why was there a leader to begin with? Even if
Jake assumed the vampires just placed a lot of importance on history and
lineage, this still seemed like overkill.
Based on the line of questioning, it was possible they suspected him of

being more than he represented himself as. The poking into his views on the
Viper’s return seemed very deliberate, as if they wanted him to reveal
something, but even that made little sense. If Jake was the Chosen, would
using lie-detection and trying to make him reveal his identity be a smart
choice and not just one that would piss him off?
No matter the case, the Patriarch was willing to negotiate, and he did seem
interested in the Alchemy Token.
“An old relic perhaps, but still one that would be honored,” Jake answered.
“The Order of the Malefic Viper would undoubtedly adhere to its promise,
making it more than just an interesting trinket.”
“While true, we do not need such a token to enter the Order anymore. It was
of a time when we Nalkar were spread all over the multiverse, and to enter
the Order was a sign of success. Now, all the Nalkar able to join are all
members already, making the primary function of the token null,” Fairleigh
said.
Jake couldn’t really argue with the fact that they could enter without the
token, but he still knew the vampire wanted it. The current act of
downplaying the value of the Alchemy Token was only proof to Jake that
the Nalkar were interested. If they weren’t, why bother and not just buy it
cheaply and be done with it, and if Jake refused, then just tell him to bugger
off? At least, that is what Jake was banking on.
“In that case, perhaps it would be better to save it and find Nalkar
unassociated with the Order,” Jake sighed as he faked disappointment.
Fairleigh looked at Jake and smiled. “Please, let us stay in the realm of
honesty. While that was no outright lie, we are both aware of the value such
an item holds to my family. Even if it is not purely based on the benefits it
offers, but the sentimental value. In fact… come, let me show you
something.”
Jake couldn’t even resist as he was forcefully teleported and appeared

within a massive chamber of sorts. On a second look, it reminded him more
of a museum, with glass containers and complicated magic arrays guarding
many mundane items spread throughout.
“Remembering history has always been important to our kin. Perhaps we

merely enjoy living in the glory of the past, or maybe it is a way to not
repeat our mistakes. Either way, we preserve, and we collect. That token
you hold may not be a treasure to most, but to us, it is invaluable,” Fairleigh
explained.
Looking around, Jake saw a lot of rather, well, boring items. One area had a
dining set sealed away, another section was filled with old paintings and
pictures, and a third was bookshelves stacked upon bookshelves with old
books in them.
“We have items from all eras, even some from before our fall. In fact, we
value anything from before then, as it speaks of what once was, and the
Records it contains matter. Perhaps not to you or anyone else not of our
lineage, but to us, there is power in history,” he continued his explanation as
he went over and pointed out what looked like a fountain pen.
“This pen was used by a scholar of the sixth Era to write letters back to his
family. It managed to reach epic rarity back in the day but has returned to a
mundane item after this long. Items such as that Alchemy Token have yet to
return to mundanity but still contain such powerful Records, making it even
more valuable.”
Jake nodded along as he couldn’t help but think about the ludicrous amount
of resources expelled by that one chamber he was in. It was humongous,
larger than any museum Jake had ever seen or heard of on Earth. At the
same time, it was incredibly densely packed, with every single item sealed
away with incredibly powerful and intricate formations. These formations
were able to freeze time itself for the item and allow them not to turn to
dust through the passage of time.
“Tell me, do you find our obsession with the past foolish?” the vampire
finally asked him.
“No, not really,” Jake shrugged. He had never been the type himself to
collect old antiques or care much for cultural inheritances, but he knew it
was a perfectly normal hobby. “Even on my planet before the system
arrived, we collected pieces of history, families had heirlooms they warded
with their lives, and I know of at least one old man who picked up an old
heirloom his clan possessed and turned it into a monstrous weapon.”
“But you seem to not personally share the sentiment?” Fairleigh asked once
more.
“No,” Jake shook his head. “While I do understand placing sentimental

value on objects, I rarely do it. Not that I entirely avoid it… I still have the
first potions I ever crafted stowed away, and all the equipment I wear I
earned myself one way or another. I do value these items more than they are
necessarily worth and value some more than others, but that is due to the
story of how I got them.”
The vampire nodded. “An understandable view for a hunter. Now tell me,
what kind of compensation are you seeking in return for the token? It
cannot merely be the extra alchemical ingredient associated with
enrollment. If it was, you would have no need to come here.”
“I am in need of alchemical ingredients of higher value, most specifically
ones of the hemotoxin nature,” Jake said. Vampires were damn good at
hemotoxins. A massive surprise that vampires, wielding blood magic and
using blood energy, were good at blood poisons.
“And?” Fairleigh asked.
Jake took out his second item as he revealed his necklace by un-fusing it
from his body and holding it up. “I need this improved. I know the Nalkar
Family have long been part of the Order, so I assume I am correct when I
believe you can do this?”
[Prodigious Alchemist’s Necklace of Holding (Epic)] - An amulet

awarded to a prodigious young alchemist upon completion of a trial. An
ornate creation of high craftsmanship made of metal attuned to the space-
affinity, holding a spacegem in place. Allows the user to store items in a
small pocket dimension found within the gem. Due to the nature of the
gemstone used, living, non-sentient entities can be stored without harmful
side-effects in temporal suspension. Enchantments: Alchemist’s Spatial
Storage. +25 Wisdom. Requirements: Soulbound
It was Jake’s first piece of epic equipment and probably still one of his best
items to date. By sheer usefulness and convenience, it was at the top as
nothing beat spatial storages. However, Jake was also acutely aware that the
item had fallen off big time. The stats it gave were great when Jake was
level 26, but now? Now they were irrelevant.
He could probably have gotten a better spatial storage, probably even one
with the same Alchemist’s Spatial Storage enchantment. Maybe not as
good, but at least close. It had to be noted that each person could only hold
one spatial storage item under normal circumstances, so Jake couldn’t have
swapped for another without choosing to “unbind” his Prodigious
Alchemist’s Necklace of Holding. Now, even if it was Soulbound, this
wouldn’t destroy the item but just make it completely inert. Of course, it
would still be Soulbound, as one cannot get rid of that connection without
breaking the item altogether.
So yeah, maybe him holding onto it was for purely sentimental reasons.
Jake had to admit he had briefly considered if upgrading the item was even
worth it, but…
“How exquisite,” Fairleigh said as he looked at the necklace. “Truly ancient

craftsmanship, incredible attention to detail, and that stone used… I am
amazed someone would choose to give that to someone of such a low
grade.”
Even if the vampire could not see the description, he was still an ancient
vampire in S-grade. He looks at it a bit more before nodding. “Finding a
suitable crafter should be possible; we have some very talented jewelers
among our ranks. Do note that unlocking the full potential of the gem will
not be possible with your current strength and the necklace being
Soulbound.”
Jake nodded. “Just seeing it improved is all I hope for. Also, just to check, I
want to make sure there are no risks of breaking it if I choose to improve
it?”
Fairleigh smiled as he chuckled. “If I can find a D or C-grade capable of

breaking that item, we would have our new Patriarch or Matriarch in the
making. You seem to not fully comprehend. That item was made by
someone far above C-grade and was then directly modified by the system to
be in its current form, sealing away the Records and power within. An
incredibly rare thing that is not worth doing. These items can also only be
obtained from system events. Well, in your case, I assume it was a Tutorial
Challenge Dungeon?”
Jake nodded once more. “Yeah, I was lucky to find one associated with
alchemy and got this at the end.”
“Just alchemy?” the vampire asked inquisitively.
“More or less,” Jake said, shutting down the topic.
Fairleigh smiled again as he took out a token. A moment later, he dispelled

it again. “The young lad who brought you here has been tasked with
fetching a suitable jeweler I have in mind. Now tell me, you went to a realm
known as Yalsten? I must confess it is not a name I am familiar with, but we
had many such worlds back then, and if it was hidden as you claim, it was
customary to keep it secret to limit leaks. Did you happen to obtain any
valuables from there besides this token? One’s related to our race?”
That is when Jake remembered. During all of his fights with the Counts of
Blood, Jake entered their chambers. All of them had been preserved and
filled to the brim with valuable-looking and expensive objects. Furniture,
paintings, candle holders, chandeliers, pretty much all of the fancy stuff the
Yalsten vampires loved. For some reason, Jake had decided to just gather all
of the fanciness because why the hell not? He needed furniture for back
home, and it looked good. Now, that seemingly random choice appeared to
have been an unexpectedly wise one.
Jake waved his hand as a dining table appeared in front of him together
with eight chairs to go with it.
Fairleigh looked at it as his eyes opened wide. “This… did you obtain this
in Yalsten too?”
“Yeah,” Jake answered. “It was in a chamber of sorts that looked to have
been preserved.”
“This dining set dates back dozens of Eras… as old as the token?”
“It is at least from before the eighth Era,” Jake said. Based on the Monarch
of Blood, the Viper had not gone into isolation yet when Yalsten fell, and
Jake knew Villy had done that during the seventh Era. So, naturally, this
item had to stem from before then.
“Truly?” Fairleigh asked. “I will have to have a chronomancer confirm the

exact age, but we would be more than willing to buy this set if you are
correct. We would naturally pay handsomely.”
“I got more,” Jake said, not wanting to miss the opportunity.

“Oh?” Fairleigh exclaimed, letting a bit of excitement leak out. “Can you
show me?”
Jake looked a bit around and noticed how most of the floor space was
already filled.
“We’re gonna need a bigger room.”
Vilastromoz was busy as always, multitasking doing all sorts of important

things. Having your mind split and being in many places at once was
helpful, but he nearly always kept one part of himself reserved on
observation duty, also known as Jake-watching.
However, today he wasn’t alone. And no, it was not Duskleaf visiting
either.
“Katherine, I do wonder why you don’t simply choose to reveal your

presence to your kin,” the Viper said to the woman sitting with him, sipping
on a wine glass filled with a red liquid a bit too red to be wine.
“I will in due time, but not now. I am more intrigued by your choice of
Chosen. I have been observing, but so far, I truly cannot see why you have
picked him. His Bloodline does seem peculiar and powerful, but even if it
was utterly monstrous, I see little reason to bless a lowly F-grade as you did
and not wait for him to at least reach B or A-grade. The chance of him
dying without giving a return on investment would be far lower if that was
the case,” the vampire goddess said.
“Are you questioning my decision-making skills?” Vilastromoz turned and

asked her with a raised eyebrow.
“No, of course not; I am merely perplexed and unable to comprehend the

reasoning behind the choice,” she quickly backtracked. Failing to realize
the reaction she just had was a big part of the reason why Vilastromoz liked
Jake. He would have remarked that the Viper did have a shitty track record
and probably even included a self-deprecating joke about how the Viper had
fucked up by blessing him.
“Keep trying to comprehend. I personally fail to comprehend your sense of
secrecy, but then again, I guess you would prefer not to get tracked,” the
Viper shrugged.
Katherine, also known as the True Ancestor of the Nalkar lineage, was the
most powerful vampire of the Nalkar-line. Sanguine had experimented
much to make different kinds of vampires, and Katherine was the first
vampire of the Nalkar line that ascended to godhood, giving her the title of
True Ancestor. She wasn’t actually the first Nalkar vampire, but many
believed she was - it was that kind of rumor that appeared and that no one
bothered to correct.
She had left during the seventh Era to protect her kin elsewhere as those
that remained in the Order were safe due to the presence of Snappy. Back
then, they had not been official parts of the Order but were more like the
local branches of Dragonflights. Closely tied to the Order, but not members.
Something that, in retrospect, probably turned out to be a mistake. Once
Sanguine fell, the vampires were unassociated with any factions and
couldn’t decide on joining one but tried to stay independent. By the time
they realized they had needed to be part of something bigger, Vilastromoz
had already entered isolation.
Today, Katherine and many other vampires, including the closest thing the
vampires had to a pantheon, now resided in a hidden realm that not even
Vilastromoz knew the location of.
The Holy Church and Risen didn’t know either, as if they did, the Viper
reckoned they would have already attacked. These vampires had nothing to
do with the Order and were not at all under its protection.
This leads to the question of why Katherine had visited and the old snake
god had his suspicions. A suspicion that would prove correct as the vampire
spoke.
“What are the future plans of the Malefic One? I am aware that the True
Ancestor of the Balnar lineage has already made contact, but so far, he is
tight-lipped. We are aware of the movements that have recently been
happening, and the council has had discussions but has yet to-”
“Ask the real question,” Vilastromoz interrupted as he looked at her sharply.
“Is the stance of the Malefic One the same as it was back then?” she asked.
“Have I ever said otherwise? When did my word stop mattering?”
He smiled as Katherine finally asked. “Will the Malefic One allow the six
clans to fully join the Order of the Malefic Viper?”
“Five clans,” Vilastromoz corrected. “The Balnar have already sworn

fealty.”
Katherine looked surprised before she stood up and bowed. “Then may the
Nalkar be the second clan to do so. I shall return to the council and relay the
information.”
“Just a second,” Vilastromoz said as he raised a hand. “How many of you

are there now?”
“A hundred and eleven, including us six True Ancestors,” she answered.
“Not bad, more than one an Era,” Vilastromoz nodded. “Bring them all
before me, and we can continue this conversation.”
“As you command,” Katherine nodded enthusiastically.
Vilastromoz watched as she disappeared and smiled a bit to himself. Yet

another batch of gods was ready to join him. He knew the vampires had
struggled for many Eras and had latched onto him as a lifeline. In fact, he
felt like the entire multiverse was much more consolidated into enormous
factions than back in the day. So, perhaps it wasn’t too stupid for the Order
to also become more than it had always been. To truly expand it and make it
into a multiversal force to be reckoned with. A faction that controlled
territory and dominated more than just a few small pieces of land spread
throughout the multiverse for their small branches.
Adding nearly every vampire left in the universe to his faction would be a
good start. Of course, the Holy Church, Risen, and probably a few dozen if
not hundreds of factions wouldn’t approve. This was why no faction had
ever allowed them to join them despite their relative strength.
Sadly for them, Vilastromoz didn’t really give a shit.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
Usual end of month warning. May want to wait till the 1st before
becoming a Patron to avoid getting double-charged.


Chapter 445 - Vampire Hoarders
”This one too?” a large vampire asked as he lifted a coat hanger very
carefully.
“Definitely that one,” Fairleigh said as he nodded.
“Where to stash the tablecloths?” another vampire inquired.
“Set the tables like they used to be on the seventeenth picture.”
“Understood,” the attendant said as she began carefully using telekinesis to

move the tables and chairs into their exact positions, as shown in some old
picture. A second vampire joined in only to double-check all the
dimensions and distances were absolutely correct. A third came to put down
the forks, knives, smaller forks, tiny spoons, large spoons, medium spoons,
and all kinds of the different and utterly superfluous fancy-ass tableware.
Jake just stood back as he watched all of this happen. At first, he had just
thought the vampires were eccentric collectors of old items, but by now, he
realized… they were just straight-up hoarders. Organized hoarders with
relatively fastidious taste, but hoarders nonetheless.
Fairleigh, the S-grade Patriarch, even personally chose to oversee as the

many vampires worked to recreate a dining hall exactly as it was shown in
one of the pictures Jake had found. It wasn’t even something from a
painting, but a picture in a book on proper table manners.
Not that Jake chose to complain. In fact, currently, he was just waiting for
the jeweler to arrive along with his agreed-upon goods being collected and
prepared for him. The Alchemy Token had somehow ended up not even
being that big of a deal. The paintings of old vampires from Yalsten, the
books from the library telling their history, and the many random items Jake
had swiped turned out to be far more valuable in the eyes of the vampires.
The reason for this was ultimately simple. The Alchemy Token was not
truly an item of the Nalkar vampires but merely a gift they received from
the Order. It was an item nearly identical to many tokens still created today
and had little to do with the culture and history of the vampiric race.
Jake couldn’t help but consider what would have happened if he had shown
up with the divine artifact the Sword Saint had gotten. In some ways, he
was actually happy he hadn’t gotten that necklace as he feared the level of
insanity these vampires would show upon seeing it.
The negotiation process had already been a lot as-is, and Jake had no idea if
he got scammed. Though, to be fair, he felt like he was the scammer, selling
off old furniture and mundane items he had no use for and would probably
just have given away or used for a fun-time bonfire or something.
After looking on a bit longer, Fairleigh finally turned to him. “I just got
word the crafter is ready to help with the necklace. Are you prepared to
leave, or do you wish to stay and observe the recreation some more?”
“Upgrading the necklace takes priority,” Jake said, not having the heart to
tell the ancient vampire that he really didn’t want to see a group of powerful
vampires set a table as if their lives depended on it.
“Very well,” the Patriarch said, looking only slightly disappointed as he

teleported the both of them.
They appeared in what looked like an area of the city Jake had first arrived
in. Except this place was clearly part of the commercial district as Jake
stood before a massive shop.
That C-grade vampire that initially brought him to the Patriarch was already
there waiting. The Patriarch gave the young lad a nod before he teleported
away, leaving Jake with the vampire called Alcor.
The vampire seemed a lot more respectful now than the last time they met
as he motioned for Jake to follow. “Please follow me; the mistress has
already prepared all the suitable materials for the crafting session.”
Jake nodded as he was led into the shop. He noticed how the street was
devoid of people, and Alcor clearly noticed his confusion. The only people
he saw were himself, Alcor, and a single other person currently within the
shop.
“We cleared out the area in preparation for your visit to not have any of the
livestock gawking during the crafting session and to avoid disturbances,”
Alcor explained nonchalantly.
“Livestock, huh,” Jake just commented.
“I am aware they can be annoying, but sadly, they are necessary,” Alcor
sighed, clearly not understanding Jake’s comment.
“You know,” Jake said just as they entered the shop, “I once fought what
happens when livestock reaches a breaking point and gets the power to
resist and fight back. It doesn’t turn out pretty for the oppressors.”
He was clearly talking about the Minotaur Mindchief. The circumstances

back then had been very different, and Jake would argue the vampires were
running a far greater risk. Then again, what the hell did he know? The
vampires had managed to persist for Eras.
“I think it can turn out quite well,” he heard a female voice say as the
woman within the shop regarded them. “I didn’t kill anyone when I
received the gift. I did have a few who needed to be put in their place, but
now we are all family.”
Jake looked over and saw a female vampire standing there to welcome
them. She had long black hair, the usual red eyes, and the equally
commonplace beauty he had come to expect from all vampires. In fact, all
vampires he had ever seen took the whole “look better with every
evolution” concept to an entirely new level.
Not that she wasn’t more than just pretty to look at. While she didn’t feel
that powerful, Jake still felt a strong aura, making him relatively certain
right off the bat that she was a pure crafter. One at the cusp of C-grade.
[Vampire – lvl 199]
As for the words she spoke?
“I take it you were a Blood Disciple?” Jake asked her.
“Correct,” she said, clearly showing pride at that fact. It was probably for a
good reason, too, if she had managed to get recognized and become able to
become a vampire through her own efforts. Considering she was the jeweler
Fairleigh had brought her to see, he didn’t doubt that she had been
recognized and been given “the gift” through merit.
“This is Mistress Rubylake, one of the most talented jewelers of this

generation,” Alcor introduced her. “And yes, she was formerly a human but
has since ascended.”
“Ascended is a strong word,” Jake just commented again as he shook his

head. Insulting the jeweler he wanted to help him probably wasn’t a good
idea, so he cut it out there. Instead, he just took out his necklace and
presented it to the woman called Rubylake. Jake assumed it was some kind
of title or maybe just the naming convention of where she came from.
“This is the necklace in question,” Jake said as her eyes were already
trained on it.
“May I look at it closer? I only got descriptions, so I will need to inspect it

myself to see if I believe I can do the job,” she asked.
Jake nodded and handed it over. He felt his connection to it slightly fade as
it left contact with his body, making him unable to use the spatial storage.
He still had the stats, but he innately knew he needed to touch the necklace
to use the storage.
Rubylake looked at the necklace as she took out some weird box. She
placed it inside as she began infusing blood energy into it. She looked
almost in a trance as she sometimes nodded, other times frowned, and
finally looked elated.
“This item… it qualifies!” she said with extreme delight. Alcor, standing
with Jake, also smiled from ear to ear.
“Congratulations, mistress,” the male vampire said.
“Qualifies for what?” Jake asked, being more than a little confused. He
assumed it was good, but he was more wondering that she didn’t mean that
she qualified, but that his necklace qualified for some mystical objective.
“Apologies,” Rubylake said. “This item qualifies for my Evolutionary

Quest, and I just failed to hold back my excitement. I have been looking for
an opportunity for a few years while making preparations for this day.”
“Villy… what the hell is an Evolutionary Quest, and please don’t tell it is
something incredibly basic and common knowledge I have somehow
entirely missed?” Jake quickly asked the Viper mentally as he had a strong
feeling asking the vampires would make him look like a moron.
“Gotta do some questing to advance to C-grade along with usual

requirements. This is indeed pretty basic knowledge, so basic that no one
actually bothers writing about it, and the quests are individualized, so it
isn’t like telling people about it matters. You will learn more about it later,
so stop worrying your pretty little head about it and instead get that bling
upgraded. Maybe she can turn it into a giant gold chai-“
Jake began ignoring Villy as he followed suit in congratulating her, not

wanting to look like an ignorant idiot. Or a rude one. “Congratulations are
in order, then.”
“Thank you. It is still a bit premature as I have yet to succeed, but I have a
high level of confidence. Now, Do you have any questions? Don’t worry,
there are no requirements of you besides allowing me to modify the
Soulbound item,” Rubylake asked.
Jake nodded in acknowledgment. He was aware that as it was a Soulbound
item, Jake had to give consent before any modification could take place. He
was ultimately still the master of the item, and he merely allowed another
outside force to modify and hopefully improve it.
“How long will it take?” Jake finally asked.
“I should be able to do it within a day, maybe one and a half days. I have
made too many preparations, and the magic circle is already fully
charged… if I take any longer, it will likely result in failure,” she honestly
answered.
“What are you planning on doing, if I might ask? If you won’t answer, it is
fine. Trade secrets and all that,” Jake asked further.
“No, I will gladly explain. My primary objective is to awaken the Space

Heart – the name of this type of Spacegem used. Currently, only a small
part of the full space is utilized, and its powers are generally sealed. Once I
awaken it, I can pull on the Records and energy to forge and awaken latent
energy in the rest of the necklace, and while there will probably be no
cosmetic changes, the item will improve significantly if I succeed. Just so
you are aware, I aim for a legendary rarity for my own quest. It is not a true
craft, but to perform an upgrade at this level of complexity should qualify,”
Rubylake explained.
Jake nodded in understanding. “I assume you will want peace and quiet
during the crafting process?”
He knew he tended to want to be left alone while crafting.
“That would be preferable. However, I will need you to still stay close.
There is a waiting room next door you can choose to stay in, but as long as
you stay within a kilometer or so, it should be fine.”
Nodding once more, Jake decided to just go next door as he would also wait
for something else: his alchemy ingredients.
He said his goodbyes and was led by Alcor into the building next door. It
was a large lounge room with not a single other person in sight. There was
still no one within his sphere either. As he was next door, he could still see
into the store of the jeweler. She had gone down to the cellar and activated a
lot of wards and formations to hide, but of course, none of that mattered to
Jake’s Bloodline-powered Sphere of Perception.
Jake saw her carefully place the necklace on an alter as she prepared several
ingredients in a magic circle around it. He looked on a bit more before he
stopped, choosing to respect her privacy. He also had no idea what she was
doing.
Ten minutes or so passed, with Jake just entering meditation. Alcor was not
talkative either but just quietly stood in a corner with his eyes closed,
waiting. After those ten minutes, Jake spotted movement outside the
building as he saw Fairleigh appear, holding two crystals in his hands.
Fairleigh entered as Jake looked up, identifying the two crystals before the
old vampire walked over and had a chance to speak.
[Alchemist’s Bloodgem Spatial Storage (Rare)] – A gem containing a

spatial storage that is especially suited to any blood-affinity herbs and
natural treasures. The energy of the gem is slowly leaking, giving it a
severely limited lifespan.
[Memory Crystal (Common)] – A crystal containing infused information.
One was a gem no-doubt containing all the herbs and such they had agreed
upon. The other was something a bit more unexpected, and Fairleigh
quickly explained.
“I took the courtesy of creating a Memory Crystal from the input of a

talented alchemist from the family who is specialized in hemotoxins. It
contains his insights into the agreed-upon materials as well as some tips and
tricks. I hope this addition is a welcome one,” the vampire said with a
smile.
“And, of course, the ingredients you requested. It took quite a dive into the
gardens to find them all, especially in such quantities and all suitable for D-
grades, but we managed to do so. I once more took a bit of liberty and
placed them within this Bloodgem for you to transport the ingredients while
making sure they lose none of their potency. It is far worse than a true
Alchemical Spatial Storage, but it will make do. Just know it will only last a
few more decades.”
Jake nodded in acknowledgment.
“I have no plans of taking that long before using the ingredients. The crystal
is also more than welcome,” Jake said. The vampires had treated him pretty
nicely so far, even if they did have some inherent cultural issues.
“Now, I would offer you one more thing, but I guess I already know your
answer?” Fairleigh asked in a not very hopeful tone.
“No, I have no interest in becoming a vampire,” Jake shut it down.
“A shame. Truly a shame. You would fit right in,” Fairleigh sighed but was
not truly disappointed. Clearly had had low or no expectations to begin
with.
“Why would you reject such an offer?” Alcor suddenly butted in, genuine
confusion in his voice. “Would it not be purely better? It would allow you
to only focus on either a class or a profession without sacrificing strength,
solidifying your Path.”
“Child,” Fairleigh said as he turned to Alcor. The young vampire froze in

fear as Jake felt a bit of bloodlust leak out of the old vampire. “When a gift
is rejected, you graciously accept the other party’s decision. Anything else
is unacceptable. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes… Patriarch,” Alcor said, barely getting the words out as he looked
like he could barely breathe.
“Temper your arrogance,” Fairleigh sighed. “We vampires are not

necessarily superior. No enlightened race is. For all, vampirism is a choice,
and if the hunter does not deem vampirism part of his Path, we should never
claim to know better or falsely believe ours more powerful.”
“I understand,” Alcor repeated as he stared down at the ground. Jake,

however, felt that the guy didn’t entirely agree.
“Enough of that,” Fairleigh said as he smiled again and sent the crystal and
Bloodgem floating towards Jake.
Jake caught them both and didn’t hold back as he inspected the spatial
storage gem, a large smile forming on his lips.
He was about to have a bloody good crafting session.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 446 - Heart of the
Alchemist
Jake had asked for alchemical ingredients with hemotoxin properties as

well as those with blood affinity. Most blood affinity ingredients were
easily translated into products with hemotoxin properties, making it an ideal
material to use. The other function of the blood affinity was in Blood
Potions which vampires very much enjoyed. As well as quite a lot of beasts
that could actually use them as natural treasures to gain experience and
levels.
This led to the vampire clans cultivating these herbs in spades. Hemotoxin
was also a preferred poison of the vampires as it synergized with many of
their skills. An ability that thinned the blood of a foe and made it more
difficult to control one’s vital energies just worked incredibly well with
blood magic for rather obvious reasons.
So Jake had high expectations. He had asked for the good stuff but had not
been overly specific besides mentioning a few herbs he knew he wanted.
Jake was not foolish enough to believe Fairleigh wouldn’t know better than
himself, and Jake was also confident in the vampire not wanting to scam
him too much. Even if he scammed Jake a little, it would be fine as Jake
already felt like a scammer after pawning off so much useless shit from his
spatial storage.
However, when he peeked into the gem, he realized he had indeed

miscalculated: those damn vampires valued their old antiques more than he
had believed. There were fifteen different kinds of herbs and natural
treasures, with six of them at rare rarity or above. All of them were exactly
the kinds he had hoped, and more surprisingly, Jake actually knew about all
of them from prior research and the classes he had taken on hemotoxins.
Well, it probably shouldn’t be that surprising, considering the vampires
were a major supplier of hemotoxin materials for the Order.
Looking at these six high-value items, Jake was very pleased as he quickly
scanned through them.
[Crimsonwood Ash (Rare] – Ash of a burned Crimsonwood. Even if much

of the potency has been lost, the ash still contains some qualities of the
Crimsonwood. If the ash is inhaled, it will enter the bloodstream and
cause internal damage as it binds with the blood of its victim, making it
incredibly difficult to dispel. If too much is inhaled, the individual will
combust, spreading even more ash.
Jake had read a lot about Crimsonwood Trees. They were an entire
categorization of trees, but this one came from one of the more valuable
types. The Blood-Combusting Crimsonwood was a tree that quite literally
set itself on fire to spread its deadly ash and kill everything within huge
areas around it. The weaker ones could level entire ecosystems, while the
more powerful Blood-Combusting Crimsonwoods were known to wipe out
all vitality-based life in whole solar systems. Of course, the materials of
such a tree would be used by A or maybe even S-grades.
The ash that was left over and found close to the trunk of the tree was rare
by itself, and as far as Jake knew, any part of the actual tree would be
ancient or maybe even legendary rarity. However, it made no sense to kill
these trees, as the ash itself was valuable. Jake assumed the vampires had a
few of these stashed away and fed them beasts or something like that to
make them self-combust and leave behind ash. It was good stuff.
The next three were all also good stuff but considered relatively
commonplace. Yet they did still stand out due to the high quality and rarity
of the specimen Jake had been provided.
[Spikestalk Root (Rare)] – The root of a Spikestalk. Spikestalks are plants

that hide under the earth and strike any that get too close with blood-
draining spikes. This blood energy is then deposited into the roots, where
it is further refined into a liquid containing large amounts of life affinity.
Has many alchemical uses.
[Bloodshade Flower (Rare)] – A flower growing in the soil of the freshly
slain. This flower has absorbed large amounts of blood from vitality-
based lifeforms and has evolved to what it is today. To better feed, it exude
pollen that will make any vitality-based lifeform it comes into contact with
bleed from any orifice. Has many alchemical uses and has a potent
hemotoxin nature.
[Red Moss (Rare)] – Mutated moss that has become red due to being in
an environment with potent blood affinity mana. The energy within has
potent hemotoxin qualities but can also be used in restorative potions.
Consuming the Red Moss in small quantities will temporarily grant
resistance to hemotoxins, while large amounts will lead to an overload
causing hemorrhage.
They all more or less did as their descriptions said but had no interesting
qualities over that. The only reason these were even rare rarity was due to
how old they were and the amount of energy each of them contained. Red
Moss, as an example, was just mutated Green Moss and was relatively
simple to make if one had a cave with arrays to constantly pump in blood
mist or placed it among many Bloodshade Flowers. The stalk was just one
of many carnivorous plants that liked to eat people. This one just did it by
draining all their blood, a bit like the Indigo Fungus Jake had fought so long
ago.
These were all the rare herbs Jake had gained. Next up was an item that
wasn’t a herb but was nevertheless extremely valuable.
[Crystalized Blood Essence (Epic)] – The crystalized Blood Essence of a

powerful C-grade vampire. Contains an incredibly potent blood affinity
energy. Consuming the Crystalized Blood Essence as a vampire will
restore Blood Energy, while if any other race consumes it, it will act as a
hemotoxin. Has many alchemical uses.
One thing that was common for all living creatures was that natural
treasures would often be condensed when they died. For vampires, it was
often their heart and their blood, and for someone like Jake, it would
probably be his eyes that would be infused with his Records. The
Crystalized Blood Essence was one such treasure as it had come from a
dead C-grade vampire.
There were some discussions to be had about using the blood of a brethren
to do alchemy, but the vampires had no qualms. In fact, they viewed it as
respectful to make use of the corpse of someone who died. Across the
multiverse, many who closed in on their deaths made wills concerning what
they wanted to be done with their bodies. Thinking about it, it was a bit like
organ donation before the system.
Anyway, this Crystalized Blood Essence was a great material and could be
mixed into most hemotoxins to make them better. Each Crystalized Blood
Essence could also be used dozens of times in crafts before it would run out
of energy, making it suitable for alchemy.
The final item was the most interesting one and the one Jake knew the least
about.
[Crimson Dawn Lotus (Epic)] – The Lotus spawned after a Crimson

Dawn. Contains incredibly potent blood affinity energy mixed with time
affinity mana. Has many alchemical uses but is incredibly volatile.
Blood and time. An incredibly potent combo, and Jake was a bit surprised
this had even been included considering he hadn’t asked for it. He had
briefly come across the mention of Crimson Dawn Lotuses during one of
the lessons, but it was only related to how they only spawned during a
Crimson Dawn. Jake had no idea what a Crimson Dawn was.
Luckily, he had a vampire right there with him.
“What is the Crimson Dawn?” Jake asked Fairleigh.
The old vampire smiled a bit as he pointed upwards to the huge red celestial
object hanging above.
“What you see above is an ancient artifact crafted by the True Ancestor of
the Nalkar Clan many Eras ago. It allows vampires to not feed as much and
empowers us in every way while under its crimson light. However, as with
most objects, it does not hold infinite energy. Every millennium there is a
single month where the Blood Moon is down, and we have to perform a
ritual to reawaken it. Once the ritual has been performed, it will rise again,
bringing about a Crimson Dawn as its light washes over our lands. These
lotuses only bloom during a Crimson Dawn, so they are quite valuable. The
ones you have are from three hundred years ago but have been fully
preserved,” Fairleigh explained, giving Jake some more interesting vampire
lore.
Jake nodded in understanding. “Thank you for the trade.”
“No, thank you. I am not blind to us taking advantage of you by having a

young talent use your necklace as an opportunity to complete her Evolution
Quest even after you have given us so much. I hope the alchemical
ingredients are at least acceptable, and please, do not hesitate to visit again.
I have permanently unlocked your token to allow you access,” Fairleigh
said with a smile. “Now, if there isn’t anything more, I sadly have other
responsibilities to attend to.”
“Alright. I may stop by again at some point,” Jake nodded as the vampire
disappeared in a puff of red mist.
Only a few seconds passed before the other vampire in the room asked in a
rather odd tone. “How do you do it?”
“Do what?” Jake asked, confused.
“Speak to the Patriarch so casually. You show such little care and – no
offense – lack decorum and grace. Is it truly to do with your Bloodline?
Something about being a hunter?” Alcor asked. He seemed genuinely
interested.
“Something like that. It allows me to ignore the suppression caused by their

presence,” Jake answered, telling the truth while not wanting to explain
further.
“Even so,” Alcor protested. “Do you not realize your way of acting could
be viewed as disrespectful? That if you cause someone of such a higher
status even the mildest level of annoyance, they could end your life with a
touch… no, a single thought?”
“Sure I do,” Jake just shrugged.
“Then why act with such… arrogance?”
“Why not?” Jake just smiled. “What’s the worst they can do, kill me? Man,
you really think too little of those more powerful. Just don’t be an outright
dick, and things should be fine, and if they kill you due to being some
butthurt cry-babies, well, it is what it is, and I will at least go out like a
champ.”
Alcor just stared at Jake in disbelief as Jake just grinned without

elaborating. What he said was once more the truth with some tiny
modifications. Jake didn’t solely rely on being lucky to not meet a
powerhouse that would kill others just for looking them in the eyes. He
relied nearly solely on his intuition and sense of danger.
If he did meet someone who would go apeshit if Jake treated them as an

equal, Jake would probably get a sense for it and just keep his damn mouth
shut. Of course, if the person began acting like a pompous asshole, then
Jake could potentially risk failing to hold himself back and get swatted into
the river of reincarnation – or, more accurately, the Truesoul Recycling
Center, if Jake’s understanding of life after death was correct.
Anyway, considering Alcor just sat back, Jake decided to inspect the
Memory Crystal for some advice and tips on how to use his newly-obtained
ingredients. Once he infused energy into it, he felt a wave of information
enter his head, and Jake quickly became aware that Fairleigh had heavily
downplayed it. The one who had infused knowledge into the crystal was an
A-grade alchemist who specialized in hemotoxins and had not held back at
all with including tips relevant for a D-grade.
Jake dove right in and began devouring the information. At some point, he
felt a small poke on his soul, and knowing it was Rubylake needing his
approval to improve the necklace, he just accepted and kept studying.
Before going to the vampires, Jake had planned on taking a few more
lessons on hemotoxins and some other minor subjects, but as he sat there
going through it, he realized that wasn’t necessary. At least not for now.
The knowledge within focused on utilizing only the fifteen alchemical

ingredients Jake had received. It was a hyper-specialized course on making
basic hemotoxic potions with a whiff of an improved version Jake was very
interested in attempting.
He even considered if he shou-
“Hunter, I believe the mistress is done,” the voice of Alcor suddenly said.
However, even before Jake heard him, he was thrown out of his state of
concentration. Something had changed.
He felt a connection to something just on the other side of a few walls and
down in a cellar. At the same time, he felt like he had just leveled up many
times as he experienced an influx of stats through that same connection.
Rubylake had succeeded.
Without even thinking, Jake held out his hand, and on his palm, the
necklace appeared, looking just like before. It was still made of platinum-
like metal with the green gem faceted on a beautiful chain. The design was
relatively simple, but Jake felt it practically humming with power. He had
even somehow managed to summon it to himself through its innate space
magic and his Soulbound connection.
Jake saw Rubylake rush out of the cellar through his sphere, and before she
had even made it to the waiting room, Jake had inspected his new necklace.
[Heart of the Alchemist (Legendary)] – Once merely proof you were a

prodigy, now even more as you have shown you have the heart of an
alchemist. An ornate creation of high craftsmanship made of metal
attuned to the space-affinity, holding a Space Heart Gem in place. Innate
power still dwells within the Records of the necklace yet to be uncovered.
Allows the user to store items in a medium-sized pocket dimension found
within the gem. Due to the nature of the gemstone used, living, non-
sentient entities can be stored without harmful side effects in temporal
suspension. Allows the user to directly deposit beneficial products into
their own bodies with a slightly improved effect (can only be used once an
hour). Enchantments: Alchemist’s Spatial Storage. Innate Consumption.
+500 Wisdom, +450 Willpower, +400 Intelligence.
Requirements: Soulbound
Jake carefully studied every word of the improved description. There were
a few changes, but the overall item was the same. The storage no longer
said it was small but was now medium-sized, it had thrown in some more
cryptic stuff about more Records within, and it had even added a new
ability of sorts to directly consume things like potions through it for
improved effects. Moreover, it gave an absolutely massive 1350 total stats
from one item. It felt utterly insane, especially considering it also had all the
other effects. He had thought the Altmar Signet was amazing for giving
1000 total, but that was also all it did.
Then again, this was an item he had gained at a far higher level. And as
Rubylake stormed into the waiting room and saw Jake hold the necklace,
she also shed some more light on the upgrade.
“I did not expect you to be able to summon it! Such a strong connection
despite your still young age. I am impressed,” Rubylake nodded in
approval, a huge smile on her face. “I was actually afraid it would become
too potent, but I felt no resistance or like it burdened your soul at any point.
Hard to imagine anyone not already peak D-tier being able to use it.”
Jake just returned her smile. His level was still hidden, so she thought he
was level 183, making it even better than she imagined. “I can see the craft
succeeded. Did your quest too?”
Rubylake’s grin grew even more. “I am evolving just after this.”
Alcor, who had been silent after Jake had summoned the necklace, also
seemed happy. “Congratulations, mistress! What are your expectations?”
“High, but time shall tell if they are met,” she said, returning her attention
to Jake.
“Some things do still confuse me… the time it took was not as I expected,”
she said, and Jake also checked how long had passed as he frowned.
Only a bit over five hours had passed while she had said it would take at
least a day.
“How come?”
“I… everything just felt right? The materials resonated with the necklace
nearly right away, the energy was effortlessly absorbed, and the Records
and energy within the necklace seemed almost primed to be awakened.
Have you had it attempted before?” Rubylake asked.
“No,” Jake shook his head. “You are the second person ever to lay a hand
on it besides me.”
“Any idea who originally made it? Or if it was used by someone before it
was transformed into what it is today?” she inquired further.
Jake just kept shaking his head. “I got it as a reward from the system.”
Rubylake frowned a bit but eventually just sighed in resignation. “Oh well,
it doesn’t matter. Just… take care of it, okay? That necklace is no simple
item.”
“Of course,” Jake said. “And thanks for your help.”
“I should be the one thanking you for giving me the opportunity. There is
no way I would have succeeded this easily without you bringing such a
wonderous item,” Rubylake bowed as she took out her token, and Jake felt
his own within the necklace in his hand resonate. She had put her contact
information into it.
“Simply call me if you ever need a jeweler,” she said.
“Sure thing,” Jake said as he returned the favor and also gave her his
contact information. Mainly because if he wanted to contact her, it would be
a bit awkward if she couldn’t answer. Wait, maybe she could answer? He
wasn’t entirely sure how the call feature of the token actually worked now
that he thought about it
“Anyway, good luck with the evolution,” Jake finally said as he felt like he
had gotten all he had come for.
After a few more pleasantries, Jake put on his necklace and fused it with his
body once more. He then promptly headed back to the mansion, and after a
brief exchange with Meira, he dove into the laboratory.
He had no plans of exiting anytime soon. Because if there was any question
if Jake had been scammed, the answer was a resounding no. Because the
true value of the ingredients didn’t lie in their rarity alone but in the sheer
quantity of what he had received.
That’s right, Jake was about to waste an absolute shitload of expensive

materials.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 447 - Momentum + Wealth
= Progress
Meira went over some material from her latest lesson as she gazed towards
the mansion. Sir had said he would be around less, but she had believed he
insinuated he would leave the Order to return to his own universe, not this.
He had entered the laboratory and then just stayed there after giving Meira
the task of handling anyone who came looking for him. He had even done
so everyone who tried to contact him through the token would instead reach
her, making Meira more than a little uncomfortable.
She had to tell off a newly advanced C-grade vampire, the succubus in
charge of his group from the ninety-third universe, and dozens more who
wanted to speak with him and had somehow gotten his contact information.
Meira the fact that he had a Bloodline that had leaked, and it seemed they
all wanted to discuss it with her Master, but the only one they would reach
was her.
Meira had to steel herself every time the token activated, and she had to
answer only to inform them that her Master was in seclusion doing
alchemy. The only lucky thing was that everyone accepted this answer, and
coupled with no sightings of him anywhere, they had no reason to doubt
her.
She herself was still busy going to lessons every day and learning. Meira
was honestly still unsure of the reason why she had been tasked to do it, but
she naturally would try her best. She did realize that with every day, her
value increased, and she began to have the pet theory that he was actually
nurturing her into a long-term slave. That he wouldn’t discard her but keep
her around.
This was also confusing in its own right, though. It was normal to get new
slaves once you advanced a grade to have more useful subordinates. Of
course, you couldn’t have slaves beyond your own grade, so real talents like
the Chosen naturally had to switch out often as there was no way for a slave
to keep up in levels, much less be able to have the same level of Records to
keep advancing.
Maybe he was planning on having her serve his descendants? It could also
just be that he was eccentric and wanted to see how far she could go. If that
was the case, Meira would certainly do her best, and hopefully, that would
be good enough.
However, for every day that passed, she actually began doubting if he had
just stopped bothering with her. She had originally hoped for this scenario
before meeting her new Master, but now it gave her conflicting emotions. It
wasn’t that she truly believed he had forgotten, but that small tinge of doubt
never left, no matter how logical she tried to be. It was true that he was in
seclusion, after all. The problem was that his way of doing it was a bit
abnormal.
It would be fine if it was only in there for reasonable periods when he

entered seclusion. When it came to alchemy, a highly intense type of
crafting that required a high level of focus, it was normal to at most be in
seclusion a week or so at a time while in D-grade, take a few days to rest,
and then go back into the laboratory. This was to renew focus and get rest,
as many couldn’t properly relax within the laboratory.
This was the normal way… and him doing alchemy in seclusion was
normal… the problem was that he hadn’t taken a single step out of the
laboratory for over two months.
The entire area was tinged red as the scent of blood dominated the air. Most
vitality-based creatures in early D-grade would find themselves bleeding
from every orifice if they entered this dense cloud of crimson mist, truly
turning it into a domain of death.
Luckily it was contained within a shielded room. A room where only a
single alchemist sat in the center, unbothered by the mist. No, the opposite
of bothered. He reveled in this environment as it fueled his regeneration.
This was naturally Jake, who was sitting within his alchemy lab. He had
been busy crafting hemotoxin after hemotoxin, going through the net worth
of some D-grades every single day as he spent the valuable materials he had
received from the vampires.
To Jake, gaining levels was very easy when compared to others due to his
overwhelming amount of already accumulated Records. He could spend a
few weeks within a forest and probably get a dozen class levels just killing
more powerful foes and taking advantage of all his class bonuses.
This was relatively normal as most everyone could quickly gain class or
even race levels by slaying those of significantly higher levels. Jake did not
doubt this was how the King had gained so many levels so quickly. Of
course, one should do this with moderation to not hurt one’s Records, and it
also came with the inherent risk of death, but sometimes a burst of potential
was truly what one needed.
Crafting like Jake did, splurging on materials with no care for cost in the
face of progress, was in many ways similar to hunting far more powerful
enemies in quick succession for levels. Rather than necessarily needing to
be perfect when he made a poison, the value of the ingredients alone could
help uplift the rarity.
Within the first week of Jake’s isolation, he had already gone through
hundreds of rare materials and even more common and uncommon ones.
Yet he kept pushing on without the slightest care as he felt the progress like
never before.
Concepts that would have taken him far longer to grasp before he
understood instantly. When he encountered a minor problem, he would
often have a eureka moment, remembering something mentioned in lessons,
skimmed in a book, or recalled due to Sagacity and Palate. He was truly
harvesting the fruits of his labor.
He had not truly crafted anything since coming to the Order. He had barely
gotten any levels but had just fortified his fundamental abilities, and now it
was time to build that damn tower higher. Jake had chosen hemotoxins as
his method of doing this because he wanted something that would be
effective when hunting beasts. Necrotic Poison also helped, but Jake knew
Hemotoxic Poison was better in prolonged combat. Besides, he already had
uncommon rarity Necrotic Poison, which was pretty good.
Jake also used his blood in every creation, which was more potent than ever
before, not to mention all the stats that just helped with everything. Things
had just gone so smoothly, and after the first week, his experience and talent
in crafting hemotoxins rivalled his best kind of poison prior, Necrotic
Poison, as he crafted an uncommon rarity version.
*You have successfully crafted [Potent Hemotoxic Poison (Uncommon)] -

A new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned*
[Potent Hemotoxic Poison (Uncommon)] - Greatly increases bleeding on

infected entities and makes any injuries significantly harder to heal. The
poison must be introduced directly into the bloodstream to have any
effect. Spreads throughout the body of the inflicted foe near-instantly,
making it even harder to dispel.
To most alchemists, using several rare ingredients and even using the epic
Crystalized Blood Essence to further improve the process and then only end
up with an uncommon rarity product would be viewed as an utter failure.
But what had Jake done? He made another batch. And then another.
He just kept pumping out concoction after concoctions with no regard for
wastage as he rapidly improved. When he got tired, he slumped over and
slept. When he was in doubt, he entered Serene Soul Meditation to calm his
mind and refocus on his task. No outside interference got in his way, and
even Villy seemed to understand as Jake had not heard the god ever since
he had entered the laboratory.
Weeks passed by fast, and he had barely noticed when it had been more
than a month since he entered seclusion. Yet he didn’t feel tired at all as he
kept pushing, still finding new inspiration and improvements every day, no,
every hour. He even recalled the times he had fought the vampires in
Yalsten and some of their blood magic. Especially the magic of the
Monarch of Blood, and he remembered when he had bitten and consumed
the blood of the ancient revived vampire. Blood that had now mixed into
him with Palate, as it qualified as toxic simply due to the level of sheer life
energy it had contained.
Every day was just great, and he produced piles of Potent Hemotoxic
Poison. One good thing about the Order was the limitless supply of glass
bottles. He had thrown a buttload into his new and improved spatial storage
already, with it barely taking up any space.
On the sixty-third day after Jake entered seclusion, he had been crafting his
most difficult creation yet. It contained the Crimson Dawn Lotus and pulled
on all of Jake’s insights he had gained so far and his understanding of the
concept of time. This was far from the first try, but he had a good feeling as
Jake became more and more familiar with the concept due to his class skills
and further improved his level of comprehension as he researched the
lotuses.
By researching, he meant he ate them for Palate, something he had done

with all of his obtained herbs.
If others saw this, they would be spitting up blood, but Jake didn’t care. He
knew he was wealthy, and he knew he could earn back his wealth again.
Hoarding materials without progressing made no sense. And progress Jake
did, as he on that day finally managed to succeed – just before he hit the
two-month mark since entering the laboratory.
*You have successfully crafted [Accelerated Hemotoxic Poison (Rare)] -

A new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned*
[Accelerated Hemotoxic Poison (Rare)] – Time heals all wounds, or so the

saying goes, but to some alchemists, time can become yet another weapon.
Greatly increases bleeding on infected entities and makes any injuries
significantly harder to heal. The poison must be introduced directly into
the bloodstream to have any effect. Spreads throughout the body of the
inflicted foe near-instantly, making it even harder to dispel. Forcefully
speeds up the flow of blood within the foe, forcefully accelerating the
effect of the poison, making it deal damage faster over a far shorter
period.
Seeing the notification had put a massive smile on his face. The poison was
exactly what he had hoped and avoided one of the biggest weaknesses of
the Hemotoxic Poison, which was the slow-acting effect. By mixing in
some time affinity from the Crimson Dawn Lotus, the process would be
sped up and make the poison even better. The ash from the Crimsonwood
tree would then make the poison bind with the blood more thoroughly,
making it even harder to get rid of too. It was one nasty poison, and one
Jake was very happy about making. Especially as it was followed by
another system message.
[Concoct Poison (Uncommon)] - While most focus on the aspect of giving

life through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the
concoction of uncommon-rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable
materials and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds a small increase
to the effectiveness of created poisons based on Wisdom.
-->
[Concoct Poison (Rare)] - While most focus on the aspect of giving life
through their craft, others prefer to take it away. Allows for the
concoction of rare rarity poisons and below. Must have suitable materials
and equipment in order to create poisons. Adds an increase to the
effectiveness of created poisons based on Wisdom.
When he had gained the upgrade, Jake was more than elated. He had
wanted Concoct Poison to reach rare before he evolved to C-grade. He had
evolved it to uncommon rarity in E-grade and now rare in D-grade, so he
had to keep the streak going, right? He knew this was already far better than
the average, making him smile as he read the changed description.
As expected, it was much of the same, just pointing out he could now make
rare rarity poison. The only other benefit was that it increased Wisdom
scaling, now making every poison he created slightly better. More than
anything, upgrading a skill like this was a feel-good moment and not a
purely practical one… okay, it apparently did have a great impact on
Records and potential profession evolutions, but Jake had a feeling he
would be fine in that department either way.
Speaking of Records, there finally was the big one. The one other goal Jake
had when he entered seclusion: to get some god damn levels. And levels he
got.
*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper]

has reached level 153 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 153 - Stat points
allocated, +15 Free Points*
Sixteen levels in his profession in only a bit over two months. It was
roughly one level every four days, which quite frankly was insane and proof
of how many materials he had burned through as well as the level of
progress he had made. He knew this had been him building off the
momentum he had amassed for the last few months before the crafting
sessions, but during it all, he also realized how much he had to pull on for
knowledge even before he went to the Order.
One had to remember Jake had undergone the Trial of Myriad Poisons. He
had been injected with – as the name suggested – myriad poisons, and even
if this didn’t help much in his daily life, it allowed him to more easily
understand things when he came across them. He got a sense of deja-vu
whenever a poison he had consumed prior popped up. As with most
knowledge, he didn’t just remember everything, but the knowledge only
appeared when in the right context.
With the levels also came two other benefits. One was Path of the Heretic-
Chosen getting another charge, and the second was skill selection. To cut a
short story even shorter, Jake picked the best skill of the bunch.
[Advanced Core Manipulation (Ancient)] – To touch upon a core of pure

energy and Records is to touch upon the broken shell of a soul. Allows the
alchemist to far more easily manipulate cores and the Records within the
broken soul shells with the goal of refining them. Refined cores will, in
most cases, be more effective, and you can also choose to amplify certain
effects. Having taken it further, you have learned that the layers of souls
can be malleable in some circumstances, and applying this knowledge,
you have learned to fuse cores containing similar Records and even
change their nature in some circumstances as your own soul influences
the core. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of Advanced Core
Manipulation based on Wisdom and Willpower.
The reason why he had chosen this skill was two-fold. First of all, it was
something he felt like he needed, especially as he had decided that it would
soon be time to awaken the Pollendust Bee Queen. Okay, Jake-soon, as he
still didn’t feel even close to ready. Additionally, he also knew that core
refinement did not work very well with Touch of the Malefic Viper, as that
was more core corruption. After all, touch did not really “improve”
something; it just changed it. He needed a dedicated skill, so when he saw
the option, he was instantly intrigued.
This was clearly an upgrade to the rare Refine Core skill he had been
offered at level 120. Back then, he had skipped it due to its low rarity but
also because he didn’t have any immediate use. Both of those things had
now changed.
As for the skill itself, well, as far as he could tell, it pulled a lot on his
experience with Shroud of the Primordial. It had something to do with soul
shells or something, and to be fair, Jake was not entirely sure what it was
talking about. Either way, he had a strong feeling the skill would be very
useful, and it would also offer him more diversity when it came to alchemy.
Oh, and being able to fuse the thousands of insect cores he had would make
the ritual to awaken the Pollendust Bee Queen way simpler and likely also
more effective. The skill also came with a lot of innate knowledge, giving
him confidence in using it.
Anyway, that was the first reason he had picked it: because it was good.
The second reason was that everything else offered was shit. Like, so shit,
he didn’t even want to think about it. Every single one of the four other
options related to Jake being either a Chosen or a Heretic. All of it was
about Jake being back at the Order of the Malefic Viper and offered him a
leadership skill, a skill granting knowledge of the Order, a skill to grow
dissent and make more heretics, and some fourth bullshit skill Jake would
never pick in a thousand years. Rather pick the god damn geology skill at
inferior rarity than that.
And this more or less was Jake’s progress over the last two months and a
bit. He had kept crafting a few more rare poisons until the evening of the
same day he had made the first one. That is when he was finally contacted
by the one person he had allowed to.
“Carmen contacted me a while ago and asked me to inform you she was on
her way to Haven and would arrive within a day or two. She found clues on
where her family might be and a trail to start following. More details to
follow when you get back.”
The moment Jake heard the message, he also felt like now was a good time
to stop. He hadn’t entirely burned through all his momentum, but it was
best to stop now anyway. He had reached his goal, and he was tired anyway.
So Jake sent back an affirmation as he prepared to leave seclusion for the

first time in over two months. On a side note, Miranda had known he was in
seclusion, and, for that reason, they had skipped their agreed-upon
meetings. They did have a small talk before he entered seclusion and agreed
on her giving him a debrief once he returned to Earth.
At the same time as he exited the laboratory, he also reached out to the
Viper and got confirmation: the snake god had made a better method for
Jake to return to Earth.
That settled everything as finally, it was time to return to Earth. He would
not return to the Order until after the next system event either, but he would
have to hunt down a Prima before that. Something he had also made prior
preparations for with the help of Miranda and a little-known mad scientist
called Arnold. He also had to help Carmen, so he had plenty of things to do.
Things he wanted to do.
Jake smiled to himself as he smelled the fresh air outside the laboratory,
happy with everything he had achieved and even happier as he thought
about visiting Earth again and finally getting in some good stretches by
killing something.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 448 - Unexpected New
Paths
A note from Zogarth
Happy Independence Day to all the Americans, and happy Average

Monday to the rest of the world!
Before returning to Earth, Jake needed a proper method to travel back and
forth that didn’t rely on being in Haven. Luckily, he had already talked
about this with Villy quite a few times and knew the snake god was on it.
They both wanted to give Jake the possibility as there were still many
things to be done back on his home planet and in his home universe as a
whole.
So a quick telepathic phone call later, the snake god popped into his living
room – Meira being away at a lesson. Jake not even having talked with her
yet since exiting his little isolation session.
“Had a nice time doing alchemy?” Villy asked when he appeared, smiling.
“Pretty good if I say so myself, lots of levels, skill upgrade, a new skill,
hemotoxins for days. You know, all the good things in life,” Jake joked in
response.
“Nice to know my dear Chosen at least enjoys what I am known for. Well,
known for in an at least a semi-positive light,” Villy answered with his own
cheeky smile before continuing. “I remember you mentioning you took a
skill for rituals, right?”
“I did,” Jake confirmed as he had a suspicion about why the Viper asked.
“Well, that entire travel-between-universes issue will require a bit of ritual-

making from your side to function,” the Viper explained as he fished out a
crystal he promptly tossed to Jake. It was similar to the one the vampires
had given him and contained knowledge.
Jake quickly scanned it and saw it was a guide for some kind of ritual or
array. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what the Viper was asking of him.
“I need to set up my own teleportation circles?”
He did not like the sound of that. Jake had no experience with magic circles
at all, and even if he now had a skill that helped a bit, he had no confidence
in setting anything complex up without a long period of practice first.
“Yes and no. You do technically need to make a magic circle, but not a
teleportation circle per-se. What you will need to do is make a subordinate
circle to the primary teleporter placed in the city. Think about it as a
receiver with the monument in your city as the sender. You just need to tap
into the signal and remote-activate the monument, and off you go through
the void between universes,” Villy explained.
Jake nodded a bit as he kept scanning the Memory Crystal. It really didn’t
seem that complicated, but Jake could still see setting up the circle would
take a bit of time, not making the teleportation anything instant.
“Thanks, man, this should come in handy,” Jake said as the snake god also
threw him a bunch of stones, as well as an odd green orb.
“Use those stones to activate the circle and feed it power together with your
own mana. As for the orb, give it to that little verdant witch of yours. It is a
gift from her Patrons,” Villy said.
Jake inspected the two items he had been given right away and frowned a
bit.
[Energy Stone (Common] – A stone containing energy.

[Verdant Orb (Unique)] – An orb made to be used only by those
compatible.
It was one of those cases where Identify did nothing. He was a bit surprised
at getting common rarity stones from Villy to power the circle, but then
again, what the hell did he know?
“Anything else I should bring back?” Jake asked.
“Now that you mention it, I do have this nascent plague I would like to ask
for you to spread and then report back on the general deadliness,” Villy
grinned.
“I could take it and just eat it with Palate,” Jake commented.
“Funny that you mention it… that is actually quite a normal tactic. A
specific poison or disease designed to kill anyone and anything, while being
especially weak against Palate, making all those with the skill survive,”
Villy said nonchalantly.
“Is that actually something people do?” Jake asked, not sure if he wanted
the answer.
“Plague theory is not really a big branch of the Order. If I am perfectly

honest, it is due to its generally low level of power. It is only good at killing
those significantly weaker, and even then, it is often easily thwarted by
talented healers and others finding ways to combat it. But yes, it has been
used. More by the Risen than the Order, though, as it is a good way to clear
life-affinity energy from an area to kill off all the weak critters, turning it
into a land of death,” the god explained. “Now, if you really wanna kill a
planet without having to kill everything by yourself… ah, never mind, we’ll
save that one for another time. Just know you already possess the necessary
tools, even if you lack the power to pull it off.”
“I will not mind, no, as I have no plans of destroying any planets,” Jake
shook his head.
“Yet,” Villy foreshadowed with a cheeky smile.

“Anyway!” Jake cut the conversation all. “How the hell do I get back to
Earth?”
“Oh. Yeah. That. Well, I already installed the teleporter in your secret
sealed-off basement room.”
“I have a secret sealed-off basement room?”
“As of ten minutes ago, Yes,” the god said as he motioned for Jake to
follow him.
They went over to the library, where the god went over and pulled on a
book that made a bookshelf swing open, revealing a stairway. One that had
definitely not been there before.
“A little basic,” Jake commented.
“What can I say? I am a fan of the classics,” Villy answered with a shrug.
“You just infused mana into the entire shelf, didn’t you?” Jake asked,
having felt the flow of energy.
“Oh yeah, totally. The book is just for show. The activation mechanism is
bound to your mana, well, and mine, but mainly yours. An array covers the
entire place, making even most gods unable to locate this area,” the snake
god further explained as they both walked down into a small chamber with
an intricate teleportation circle in the middle.
Jake looked at it for a moment and the scripts that covered the wall. “I take
it you facilitate the teleportation from this universe and back to the ninety-
third entirely?”
“Precisely. You just need to step on the platform, put a bit of mana in, and
off you go. It even works with others, but only up to a dozen or so at a time.
More than that, and, well, some might get stuck in the void mid-teleport.”
“AKA a bad time,” Jake nodded.

“Well, not really an anything-time, as it would just mean ceasing to exist,
but that is another conversation my poor little D-grade Chosen is too young
to have. By the time you are ready to enter the void yourself, you won’t
even be my Chosen anymore,” Villy said with a smile. “Now, better get
going.”
“Aight. Thanks for this time, and see you soon,” Jake said as he got on the
teleporter. He infused mana into it as he, at that very last moment,
remembered: he had forgotten about Meira.
Sadly, he was already swept away before he could stop it as he disappeared

from the first universe and went back towards Earth.
Back on Earth, the planet had experienced what many would classify as a
second renaissance after the system had arrived. The system event that
allowed individuals to revitalize themselves and find a new path had
passed, with it bringing about incredible change.
For many, the event didn’t affect them personally. Individuals like Miranda,
Jacob, Carmen, Neil, and his party, or any elite really, weren’t affected in
the slightest. This event was not for them. No, the true change was found in
the level 30 construction worker who had not received a level in months.
The warrior who discovered he wasn’t suited for fighting beasts in close
range, the mage who learned he was not talented in magic, or just those
who had never truly found a Path.
To these people, the event was a second chance. Classes and professions
were changed, people found new hope, and a sense of life enveloped every
city as progress returned to many. Simply finding a new path and doing the
event had also resulted in Records, allowing those who had changed to get
an initial period where they almost sprinted, fast getting stronger and more
assured in their choices.
For some who were stuck, this event led to no changes, not because they
had failed, but because they were already set on their Path – even if that
Path was a mediocre one. The small restaurant owner who was satisfied
with his life, the smith that enjoyed just working a few hours a day and then
relaxing the rest with his family. These people had chosen a Path, even if it
wasn’t one to power.
Nevertheless, this led to growth across the planet. The average level of
humanity grew, and more and more D-grades appeared as the native
humans got a second wind. To make it even better, these people who had
just gained another chance could potentially also participate in the next
event less than a month away. If not the Path of Myriad Choices, then at
least participate in whatever Seat of the Exalted Prima was.
The cities that benefitted the most were naturally the large ones. Sanctdomo
had a massive spike in power, but the fringe groups like the Court of
Shadows and Risen also got a boost few had expected: re-alignment of their
citizens. Many had picked professions and classes during their tutorials with
no knowledge they would end up working with shadow assassins or the
living dead, but now that they got a chance to change? They adapted.
Among the Risen, Necromancers, death mages, crafters specialized in

death-attuned materials, and even people who decided during the event they
wanted to become Risen. For the Court, the same was true as many became
more specialized in what the Court needed, with a similar thing playing out
all around the planet.
Haven didn’t actually experience that much growth overall. Most who went
there were already settled in their own Paths, so while some did make use
of the event, the vast majority of them didn’t. However, there was one large
exception.
Miranda sat in the office and drank some coffee with the man in front of
her. The last time they had spoken had only been a week ago, but he had
grown significantly yet again. Back then, he had just reached D-grade, and
now he was already level 110. However, more surprising than anything was
that the man had been stalled for so long beforehand.
“You are looking better than ever, Phillip,” Miranda smiled at the former
military man and leader of the Fort.
“It sure is a strange time,” the man said as he also took a sip. His face no
longer looked sunken, and he was no longer a tired man at the end of his
rope. Miranda had come to understand him quite well with time and come
to realize that while he was strong for his level when they first met, it
wasn’t because he really wanted to be strong.
He had been part of the military. He had been the leader and sent into a
tutorial with people from his camp, and they had all turned to him for
guidance. When he got out of the Tutorial, he had appeared in the old base
camp, and yet again, all had turned to him for guidance as he was the
highest-rank commanding officer present.
Out of a sense of responsibility, he had accepted. Then they found a

sanctuary, saved citizens, made the Fort a fortified settlement, and he just
kept going because he had to. But then Jake had turned up. A magical bird
had rebuffed a force he and his men would get slaughtered by. Miranda
came and helped take over the management of the Fort. Suddenly he no
longer had any responsibilities and was lost.
Phillip had, by all accounts, retired. He was already a middle-aged man

before the system arrived and was tired of the constant pressure and
expectations. His sense of responsibility was so ingrained in him that he
kept working even after he “retired” as a representative of the former
soldiers and those who stayed at the Fort. Not that they needed a
representative, he was just the kind of man that couldn’t sit still.
And then… then this system event came. Miranda had expected a lot of
people to find their Path through this event, but Phillip was not one of them.
He didn’t seem to have the drive anymore, but it appeared she had
miscalculated.
The man before her could barely be compared to the old Phillip. No longer
was he a man constantly wandering around with his rifle to look “official”
or with a profession to lead the troops and defend the Fort. Instead, he sat
there with well-defined muscles, skin that had an odd semi-metallic tinge to
it, while only wearing a thin shirt and normal pants. He wore no equipment
at all, yet Miranda felt his body brimming with power.
Alteration Mage. No, to call him a mage was perhaps incorrect. He was
more a fighter than a mage, even if he did use magic as his primary tool of
combat. The difference was that the only target of his magic was himself
and his own body. His profession had also changed to be some kind of
enchanter. Miranda was not privy to the details, but she knew he was no
easy opponent, especially not after reaching D-grade.
“Are you sure you want to fully step down from all of your positions?”
Miranda asked to confirm. Phillip had still been a part of many endeavors
but had slowly phased them out. Now he came to get entirely uninvolved
with everything Haven and Fort-related.
“I am,” Phillip nodded. “I have done enough for this place. For others.
From now on, I will focus on myself and myself only. I plan on leaving
soon to travel around a bit after the event, but before that, I want to get
enough levels to properly do the dungeon beneath the city.”
She also liked how he looked when he talked about exploring the planet. He
looked happy, perhaps for the first time since she met the man over a year
ago.
“It is your choice,” Miranda said approvingly.
“For the first time in a long time… it truly does feel like it is,” he smiled in
response.
Back with Jake, he was still making his way to Earth.
Jake felt himself flow through the void once more. He closed his eyes and
tried to seal off his Sphere of Perception to not be overwhelmed by the odd
sensation the place gave him as he hoped for it to pass quickly.
However… it didn’t.
It took longer than before. Jake suddenly felt like a gaze landed upon him,
and he sensed himself stop. At the same time, he felt an overwhelming
sense of danger for a fraction of a second before it disappeared just as it
came. At the same time, Jake’s sphere no longer felt overloaded… in fact, it
felt like whatever space he was in had suddenly turned stable and un-void-
like.
Jake opened his eyes and saw the pitch-black darkness of the void as cold
sweat appeared, and an innate fear swelled up from deep in his soul. He saw
only the darkness that high enough Perception could perhaps one day
pierce, as he had no idea what or who was watching. He was unsure what
was happening as he felt something besides Villy just staring, with Villy’s
attention on him being far weaker.
He felt a bit nervous as suddenly a single eye appeared within his vision. A
human eye with an odd multi-colored iris. Then another. Then ten eyes, a
hundred, thousand, million. The entire void was replaced by a rainbow of
colored eyes before they all merged together and formed what could be
described as a malformed head that appeared small yet filled his entire field
of vision.
“Deliver. Gift.”
A voice echoed in his head made up of a mix of distorted voices as blood

began pouring out of his ears and eyes. Jake had to grit his teeth as he
slowly felt his consciousness slip away as if his mind was shutting down to
protect his psyche. Something impacted his chest as he began blacking out
while floating through the void again.
The final thing he saw before slipping out of consciousness was the entire
void suddenly gaining a dark green tinge as a familiar presence descended.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 449 - Oras
Vilastromoz made sure Jake had safely passed through the void and back to
his planet before he regarded the being before him. Today had been a stark
reminder that even with all of his preparations, there existed beings in the
multiverse that could circumvent them.
The Viper had used several methods to hide Jake traveling through the void.
The biggest one was, of course, Shroud of the Primordial, but the
teleportation itself should also help hide him. These preparations should
have been unnecessary anyway, as locating anything traveling through the
void in such a brief period was beyond even the Viper himself. Finally, why
would some ancient and powerful being even bother with interfering with
someone teleporting through? Trillions went through the void every
moment, so what was one in so many?
Yet none of that mattered before the being in front of him. It was the same
being that had originally spotted Jake when he traveled to the Order. The
fact he had been spotted the first time around was no surprise, as the being
saw most everything that ever passed the void, with the only surprise being
Jake noticing the gaze. Well, not a surprise to Vilastromoz, but probably the
creature.
“Snake Who Holds Forgotten Knowledge, you seek compensation?” the

voice of the being echoed as the ever-shifting reptilian eyes moved before
him.
“I first seek answers,” Vilastromoz said, not minding the title the being had
assigned him.
“Traveler of the void, passing the veil of the new world. A gift given to be
delivered to that which I gaze upon,” the Void Dweller answered as
cryptically as ever.
The Viper frowned at the answer. For the Void Dweller before him to gaze
upon someone was just a fancy way of saying it had blessed them.
Normally that would be whatever, but the situation was different when
dealing with beings like this. A god’s Blessing would affect the target, yes,
but the Blessing of a Void Dweller, much less one like the one before him?
The effects would be significant. Merely seeing a Void Dweller could make
mortals lose their minds and have their mental faculties irreversibly
corrupted, so it was no surprise a Blessing did even more.
“What did you ask to be delivered?” the Viper asked.
“Gift. Knowledge. Power.”
“And who is it supposed to be delivered to?” Vilastromoz kept pressing.
“He Who Commands The Many Eyes That Dwell Within the Soulless
Vessels of Metal and Lightning. Seeker of knowledge like I,” the Void
Dweller explained without much care for the overly long title.
Vilastromoz finally turned his gaze towards Earth and quickly did a scan.
He had never bothered to scan the ones around Jake much, just a cursory
one. He had assumed none could hide from his probing, but upon a deeper
inspection, he noticed there was indeed one person with a Blessing he
hadn’t noticed before, making him frown even more.
“You could have asked before making my Chosen a mule,” the Viper
protested as he stared into the many eyes.
“Yes… decision made in haste. Apologies, Keeper of Lost Knowledge.

Compensation will be made,” the Void Dweller answered, as the eyes
shifted a bit in apology. Vilastromoz could read this particular Void Dweller
as it wasn’t one of the mindless beasts that usually roamed the endless void,
but one most gods of any repute had found themselves in contact with
several times in the past.
“What do you offer me?” he asked.

“To the Primordial? None shall be given. Compensation for He Who Hunts.
An equal, is he not? Nascent seeds will be planted, more futures planned.
Outcomes predicted falsely before, corrections required,” the Void Dweller
answered.
Vilastromoz just sighed as the eyes kept shifting. He felt movement from
afar as he stood in the middle of the void as the attention of more beings
began gathering as the Viper had let his aura flare. “Fine. Just don’t have
this repeat itself. Even if you want a favor from him, ask through me.
Finally, why are you playing with the minds of mortals? I never figured you
to be the kind of being to break a weak mortal like that.”
“Interpretations infinite, minds of unlimited variations. Comprehension of

He With Eyes of Steel, mortal yet mind untouched. Corruption minimal,
patterns recognized; seeks only knowledge. Compatible.”
He understood the answer as most of the communication did not come in

words but in shapes and expressions made by its body. The Viper didn’t ask
further but just looked at the Void Dweller and the ever-flowing ocean of
eyes it consisted of. It was a physique not like any other creatures in the
multiverse, and these Void Dwellers could only reside within the void. Well,
most of them anyway.
“I shall trust your discretion then,” the Viper nodded. “May your gaze land
upon all of existence, Oras the All-Seeing.”
“May your will shape reality, Malefic Viper of the Primordials.”
With that, the eyes all disappeared as Vilastromoz sighed again. Oras was a
difficult one to deal with. A creature as ancient as could be, a true god of
the void, unlike the majority of its void brethren.
Speaking of Void Dwellers. The Viper chose not to leave right away as he
felt the many creatures close in on him, their auras dominating the vast
nothingness, every single one of them able to slay gods like were they
children before men. The weakest Void Dwellers in the void were a match
for a newly ascended god, with the ones closing in on the Viper being far
above that level, able to slay Godkings and Godqueens easily.
Predators of a domain that should not be threaded by those belonging to the
universes. The mere aura of a god attracted them as they sought to feast and
grow from the slaughter of energies not of the void.
Vilastromoz had to admit he felt angry. So far, he had predicted most things,
and those he had failed to predict, he had at least had a sense would happen,
or they had led to positive outcomes above expectations. However,
someone like Oras was not predictable. VIlastromoz did not understand the
Void God like he understood his fellow Primordials. Something that
annoyed him severely.
Hopefully, the deaths of the approaching Void Dwellers would quell that
anger just a little bit, also giving him a chance to get a good stretch in.
Jake woke up with a start as he quickly oriented himself. The entire area
around him was filled with his own mana as he found himself in a defensive
position. Instinctually he knew that he and everyone else had gotten lucky
that nobody had entered his laboratory, where Jake had returned to upon
arriving on Earth.
As he observed his sphere, he noticed something out of place. On the floor

in front of him lay a small black cube with magical patterns on it and what
looked like eyes marking its surface. He instantly recognized the faint
energy it gave off as the same as the creature he had encountered in the
void.
Just thinking about that thing made his head hurt as he groaned in pain. He
tried to find out how long he had been out of commission instead and found
out he had been knocked out for well over an hour. He checked his status
and saw he had lost health, mana, and stamina from the encounter,
indicating soul damage. Soul damage from just looking at the damn thing.
The box on the floor suddenly caught his eye. Where had that come from?
It had the same energy as the being he saw in the void and-
A headache assaulted him again. Without thinking, Jake pulled off his cloak
and threw it over the cube on the floor, making his headache instantly
subside. At the same time, he remembered everything far more clearly. That
damn box was able to make him forget it even existed? What the actual
fuck was it?
“Villy… what the fuck is going on?” Jake finally asked. A few seconds
passed as he got an answer.
“You met a Void God… again. Oras, as it is known. An ancient creature

born of the void.” Villy answered, sounding annoyed.
“How did he spot me with Shroud? Also, are you okay? I remember seeing
you appear just as I blacked out…”
“I am fine. And Oras spotted you because the Shroud and everything else I
do isn’t good enough to hide you when in the void. Not from Oras,” the
Viper explained.
“What the hell does that thing want? Something about a gift? Who for?”
Jake asked, even more confused.
“Traveling through the void isn’t easy. Going out of the ninety-third
universe is especially hard, and going back in? I reckon only a few can even
facilitate this return trip. Oras spotted you and decided to have you bring
something into the ninety-third universe. The gift you received is not for
you, but the one Oras has “blessed.” I use that word very carefully as the
usual result from someone getting blessed by a Void God is a cult that
makes the Order of the Malefic Viper look like the good guys in
comparison. Luckily, Oras cares little for anything besides knowledge and
seeing new things… at least as far as I can tell. I don’t fully understand the
creature.”
Jake nodded in understanding. “So, who is this god-forsaken box a gift

for?”
“Arnold.”
Hearing the name, Jake’s eyes flashed for a moment. For some reason, the
answer didn’t surprise him, even if he did find it confusing why some being
from the void would bless Arnold, a guy who liked making machines.
Confusion the Viper clearly detected.
“I don’t know why Oras blessed that man. That is for you to discover, but in
my experience, the logic of a Void Dweller is not worth trying to
comprehend. However, it does seem like Arnold is mostly unaffected… I
would look into why that is. His mind seems to accept the Void Dweller,
which is quite peculiar,” the Viper said.
“So, should I deliver the box?” Jake finally asked.
“Go ahead. Oras said you would get some kind of compensation, and while
I do not understand the creature, it somewhat understands mortals. So his
compensation should be worth it.”
Jake nodded again, and after a few more words, they ended their
conversation. He felt that the Viper seemed somewhat distracted during
their talk, but that wasn’t anything new. What was new was the Viper
actively using the name of another mortal. This indicated that Villy actually
viewed Arnold as someone with some level of importance now, showing
that this Oras was a big deal.
Wanting his cloak back, Jake closed his eyes and pulled it off the box.
Luckily he could look at the box using his Sphere of Perception without
feeling like his head was about to split open. He took out a black piece of
cloth from his inventory and wrapped the box in it before putting it inside a
wooden barrel he normally used for water. The entire thing was only about
the size of a shoebox, and when he tried to lift it, he noticed how it didn’t
weigh anything. That wasn’t an exaggeration either; the metal-looking box
with eyes on it literally didn’t weigh anything. It was honestly just creepy.
At least he could put it in his spatial storage while still in the barrel. Jake
proceeded to walk up to the lodge above and over to the pond, where he
quickly washed the blood off his face from bleeding out of his own orifices.
He wasn’t in a hurry to deliver the box and decided to get a few things done
first.
Firstly he checked in on the troll down in the cavern. Rick, as he had been
named, was still just chilling with what was now a sprawling garden down
in the biodome. His kids were also there, having grown a little since the last
time he saw them.
Next up, he headed for the city center of Haven and met up with Miranda.
They had a good talk with Jake getting updated on recent happenings in the
city. He even remembered to give her that Verdant Orb Villy had handed
him - primarily because she reminded him to.
He wasn’t entirely sure how to feel when he got told that his absence hadn’t
really had any impact and that most assumed he was just in the valley doing
alchemy or out hunting or something.
The city itself had grown even more since the last time he was there. He
was informed that the Fort had expanded yet again as more and more
sought the larger settlements. He learned about the outcome of the first
system event and how many had begun progressing again, including Phillip.
Jake honestly didn’t care overly much, even if he was happy that others
were finding their own roads to power.
Their meeting was interrupted about an hour in as suddenly Jake felt a gust
of wind enter through an open window, and the next moment, a bird was
standing atop his head. Jake had felt her coming but didn't react, allowing
the hawk to get her small moment of triumph as she screeched and flapped
her wings happily.
Jake raised his hands and lifted her off his head as he gave the bird a hug.
“Hey Sylphie, long time no see.”
The hawk looked up as she snuggled up to him, Jake just stroking her small
head. He smiled, yet he had a somewhat mixed feeling when he used
Identify and saw her level.
[Sylphian Eyas – lvl 163]
For the first time since her birth, she had surpassed him in levels. Jake
would lie if he said it wasn’t somewhat expected. Sylphie was still growing
rapidly and was still just identified as an Eyas, meaning that even if she just
slept and did nothing, she would keep leveling. Combined with her Blessing
from Stormild, her connection to Jake, and her own efforts, it was no a
surprise she had kept progressing so fast.
As he held her, she made some cute chirping sounds as Jake nodded along,
getting the gist of what she was saying. She even summoned a medal of
sorts with the same symbol on it as Jake’s Altmar Signet, meaning his little
hawk had also gotten the highest evaluation too – or at least been evaluated
to be impossible to evaluate.
One thing also quickly became clear. Sylphie was not back in Haven just to
say hi to Jake but because Carmen was coming. Jake was totally fine with
the two-person journey to track down Carmen’s family turning into a three-
person trip.
“I will always be amazed at the growth of Sylphie,” Miranda said as she

looked at the hawk. Jake nodded but didn’t really think she was one to talk,
seeing how her level had also grown significantly.
[Human – lvl 158]
She was nearly at his own level. Jake knew a large reason for this was her
profession leveling damn quickly, but she also clearly farmed some class
levels here and there. If Jake had not just gotten a lot of fast levels, he
would be way behind. He was also certain Carmen had to have surpassed
him in level by now.
Not that Jake was worried. In fact, he found the sentiment exciting. He had
never feared not being the strongest, and if everyone else got more
powerful, didn’t that just mean he had more people to fight?
Sylphie felt his thoughts and squirmed herself free as she screeched in
approval. He felt her intentions, and he was more than happy to oblige
when the time was right.
“She is a real talent, isn’t she,” Jake said to Miranda as he smiled, Sylphie
once more letting out a ree of agreement. “I am going to head over to
Arnold now to check what information he has gained on the locations of
any Primas and the route to this port city.”
“Have a nice journey. I will remain here in case Carmen shows up. Not that
I doubt we won’t both notice her arrival, she isn’t exactly the stealthy type,”
Miranda answered with a chuckle.
With that, Jake got up and headed off to the Fort. He teleported together
with Sylphie, who had decided to stay with him, and reached the now
buzzing city within a few minutes of leaving Miranda’s office. The
teleportation circles had been moved yet another time as Jake looked
towards the central citadel and saw that the metal sphere had expanded not
just in width but in height as the mad scientist had obviously noticed he was
running out of horizontal real estate.
As he looked towards the metal sphere, he faintly felt the odd box that had
been forced upon him vibrate within his necklace, dispelling all doubt that
Arnold was truly related to it. Jake just had a hard time figuring out how the
many-eyed freak of a Void Dweller was related to a mad scientist. Well,
besides the entire theme of madness.
Oh well, I guess I can just ask him.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 450 - Comprehending the
Incomprehensible
”So, Arnold, what made you decide to get blessed and enter a pact with
some sort of otherworldly being of the void that usually turns people insane
merely by laying their eyes upon it?”
Jake had barely entered the sphere of metal and made his way to the mad
scientist before he popped the question burning in his mind. He hadn’t even
taken out the creepy cube yet. Jake had just been invited in by Arnold’s
assistant and walked into his workshop asking about his Void God pal first-
thing.
Arnold, to his credit, didn’t get fazed and didn’t even look up from his
workbench as he answered: “By all estimates, being blessed by a god is
superior to not being blessed by one, and the offered benefits outstripped all
other offers at the time.”
It was the kind of answer Jake had expected, but he still pressed further.
“But… have you seen this god?”
“Naturally,” Arnold nodded, still unbothered as his hands kept working.
“And? No comments on the appearance of a floating thing of infinite

eyeballs?”
“The appearance of Oras shifts according to the observer,” Arnold shook

his head. “I saw not an eye but a string of numbers. All perceptions one can
have are related to the act of observing. You saw a representation of a visual
organ while I saw a language able to relay what is observed.”
“Are you trying to tell me you see the world as being made up of numbers
or what?” Jake asked further, wondering if Arnold thought he lived in a
simulation or something.
“No. Just that all can be reduced to numbers. Even the system itself,”
Arnold nonchalantly answered. He soon stopped his work and looked up at
Jake. “I do not believe you have come here to discuss divine alignments?”
“No, I came to ask about something else… okay, just one more question, do
you talk to Oras?” Jake couldn’t hold himself back from asking.
“Talk? No. Communicate? Yes. Conversation through spoken words such as

the one we are having right now is a severely limited and highly inefficient
way to relay information from one source to another. The communication
thus happens through images, arrays, patterns, and formulas, which is far
more efficient and helpful,” the scientist explained.
Jake couldn’t help but imagine the two biggest nerds in the multiverse
talking with each other by using god damn formulas to spell out stuff.
But… Jake began to understand how Arnold could deal with Oras. “Okay,
final question. What is Oras to you?”
He had a hunch and wanted to confirm it.
“Unknown as of yet,” Arnold shrugged.
“What is your best guess?”
“Knowing when you don’t know something is knowledge in itself. I don’t

need to guess when I know I can’t comprehend something yet. I still have
many steps to understand before I can comprehend a being such as Oras,
making my lack of comprehending the creature a natural conclusion,”
Arnold answered. “The human mind is limited in scope, and we must
accept there are some things we are not meant to understand. However, that
doesn’t mean we can’t try to comprehend them and observe the impact they
have on phenomena we can see. Through those observations and evolution
brought upon us by the system, perhaps one day we can transcend our
current limits. But that day has yet to come.”
Jake nodded along as he kind of got it. He remembered talking to an old
acquaintance from school during a reunion who was studying physics at the
time. The guy talked about quantum mechanics and how there were so
many things we simply didn’t understand and concepts that just seemed
beyond the human mind to comprehend.
Yet he also talked of tools to measure what these incomprehensible things

did. He talked about how humans tried to make theories and formulas to
explain what happened, even in situations where imagination had long
conceded.
Jake didn’t really get it… but he did get the simplified explanation Arnold
gave.
“Humans couldn’t see ultraviolet light before the system, yet we could
make devices that could. We couldn’t see gravity, but we could measure
what it did. That has changed now, as the body has evolved to, in many
ways, become the best measuring device in existence and the mind the best
computer to simulate hypotheses and confirm theory. I have already become
able to understand flows of energy, comprehend patterns not understandable
to the human mind before, and I am certain you are the same. Your senses
now also encompass mana. You can feel the flow of energies within your
own body, and even metaphysical concepts are now understandable –
something we couldn’t even observe before the system. In due time, even a
being like Oras will be understandable as our scopes expand.”
It was the most Jake had ever heard Arnold talk, and he actually heard some
passion in his voice. Jake felt like he had gotten a far better understanding
of Arnold during this brief talk and, in concert, also understood Oras a bit
better.
Arnold was just a damn nerd, and Oras was a nerd-loving knowledge-
seeker, AKA also a mega-nerd. Simple as that. At least, that is how Jake
chose to summarize it.
“Anyway, I brought this for you,” Jake finally said as he pulled out the
weird box the eldritch abomination of eyes had given him.
Arnold stared for a while as he asked. “I am uncertain why you brought me
a barrel.”
Jake quickly reacted as he opened the barrel and pulled out the bundle of
cloth containing the box. “I would advise you to close your eyes or
something. Looking at this thing is highly unpleasant.”
He followed his own advice as he began unwrapping the bundle. Arnold

reacted by taking out a pair of spectacles and putting those on. Jake was
anticipating the man to fall over or grasp his head in pain when the box was
revealed, but he just stood there and looked at it.
“Ah. A puzzle box. Thank you,” Arnold just said as he went over and took
it off Jake’s hands. Jake himself just stood there with closed eyes as Arnold
carried it over to a glass container and put it inside.
“I have contained it now,” Arnold said, making Jake open his eyes, and
instinctively he looked towards the box.
He saw it clear as day as it was within a display case of sorts. It looked like
only a thin layer of glass separated the cube and himself, yet he felt no
headache but could inspect it freely. The box was just black without any
patterns on it, and there were no shifting eyes or weird energy surrounding
it. It was just a black box, with its only extraordinary feature being how
black it was.
Jake kept staring at it a bit as he just put it out of his mind, seriously not
wanting to bother with it anymore. “So, Primas.”
Arnold nodded as he moved his hand and a large screen appeared on one of
the walls displaying a map. Jake instantly saw a few familiar markings on
it. Haven, Skyggen, Sanctdomo, and several other cities he recognized were
marked on it, as well as some noticeable landmarks such as the Insect
Plains and the large mountain Jake had passed on the way to Skyggen, now
dubbed the Frostpeak Mountain.
Waving his hand again, the scientist made a few areas light up. At the same
time, the map drew attention to a small mark at the far side of it, right at the
edge of a large mass of nothingness – the ocean, Jake assumed.
The lit-up areas were all on the way to this marking, and based on the
distance, Jake saw it was about four times as far as his journey to Skyggen
had been. Luckily there appeared to be other settlements along the way, but
the final stretch looked like it had to be passed by foot.
“The highlighted areas are ones where the energy signatures corresponding
to Primas have been detected. This indicates they either live there or have
lived there previously. Based on the signals and times of death of the eagle
Prima and the monkey you have slain previously, we have a rough estimate
of this Prima energy half-life. Primas all give off unique energy, same as
races such as humans or elementals of specific affinities,” Arnold
explained.
Jake nodded along, knowing this already. Every single living thing had an
energy signature entirely unique to themselves, but the same races also
shared some common traits. This was all tied to Records, and needless to
say, then all humans had the Records of being humans. In the same vein, all
Primas had the Records of being Primas, making that the thing Jake would
use to track them down.
“I have also marked zones with creatures of interest and the fastest routes to
follow,” Arnold further explained.
Looking at the map and the level of detail, Jake couldn’t help but ask:
“How did you map this? Satellites?”
“No. I have attempted launches, but the upper layers of the sky have proven
impossible to break through with my current methods. Even that is
secondary to making anything able to survive in space for a prolonged
period without getting destroyed. This map was done with drones flying
approximately ten kilometers in the air, just below the dense cover of
clouds.”
“Must have been quite the operation,” Jake commented.

“An ongoing one,” Arnold just said as he motioned for Jake to follow. “I
have also worked further on the requested weapon. However, as of yet, it
isn’t ready.”
Arnold opened a container as a slick Nanoblade was revealed. It was just

the blade, but Jake could practically feel the energy infused into it. It was as
thin as ever too, and Jake wondered what it needed to be ready.
“The blade is mostly done, and the box you brought should help me finalize
the product. We both share the fact that Perception is our primary stat, and I
aim to infuse the Nanoblade with abilities taking advantage of that,” he
explained.
Jake nodded along but suddenly got a very bad feeling when he heard
Arnold mention the box. Wouldn’t that mean Jake would eventually run
around with a cursed blade seeking to consume all of existence in one hand
and a blade forged using methods passed down by some eldritch
monstrosity in the other?
Actually, on second thought, that sounded pretty cool. “It looks damn
impressive already. Keep up the good work, man.”
Arnold nodded as he handed Jake a tablet of sorts, not unlike one of the
ones Arnold normally ran around with. “Within this tablet is general
information of the areas you will encounter on your way, such as
settlements and noteworthy territories of certain creatures. The map is
naturally also included, and if you hold onto the tablet, it will track your
location on said map. Any further questions?”
“Any advice on the journey?”
“Avoid the red zones or explore them carefully. Those are areas where I
have detected C-grades,” Arnold answered, adding. “However, you will
have to pass such an area to reach the port city. This place is known as the
Grand Mangrove River, and it does contain Primas. Plural. However, I
would suggest quickly passing as it also contains C-grades. Once more,
plural. Flying over is not an option either. The reason for this should
become rather obvious when you get near there.”
Jake checked the map and did notice a river-like area that seemed to cut
through the terrain between the city closest to the port and the port itself.
“Got it. Do you need me to bring you fragments from Primas too?” Jake
also asked. He hoped Carmen had all hers, as it could get a bit tight on time
if he had to-
“No. I shall acquire all I need in cooperation with the City Lord,” he
answered, shaking his head.
“Wait, Miranda got three already?” Jake asked, surprised. She hadn’t
mentioned that even after they had spoken for so long. He knew Sylphie
had two fragments, but that Miranda had three?
“No, we have four between us. The last two are already in progress of being
acquired during this very moment,” Arnold just said, not explaining further
on that topic. “Also, head towards the east for the Ambermill settlement. A
powerful individual is currently passing through with an energy signature
matching that of a member of Valhal. You intend to go with that woman,
correct?”
To preserve his pride, Jake didn’t ask about the Prima fragments further.
From the last sentence, he could also see Arnold really wanted him to leave
by now, so Jake didn’t want to overstay his welcome more than necessary.
Once outside of the big metal dome, he met up with Sylphie again, who
hadn’t wanted to go into the dome. Apparently, she had tried to sneak in and
cause havoc in the past, and Arnold had somehow managed to throw her
out using some built-in defenses, impressing Jake. He still got the feeling
Sylphie could have broken out and caused destruction, but neither party
wanted that. This had inadvertently led to Sylphie really disliking Arnold
but also kind of respecting him.
Another reason she respected him was explained as he got outside and saw
her. Jake found Sylphie eating out of the hand of Arnold’s assistant, who
had kept an eye on her in a small building outside. Arnold was smart, after
all, and knew bribery with food was a true and tested tactic when it came to
placating powerful beasts.
“Sylphie, are you ready to head out?” he asked the hawk that was happily
snacking away.
“Ree!” she answered with enthusiasm, flapping her wings. After a quick
screech at Arnold’s assistant thanking her for the food, Sylphie flew up and
landed on his head again.
“Arnold found Carmen, so how about we go meet her on the way?”
That got another happy flap from Sylphie as the man and bird headed
towards this little place called Ambermill.
Once his visitor was gone, and he was alone, Arnold activated all of the
interior barriers to seal off the dome. At the same time, the entire laboratory
shifted as the sensitive devices were retracted into the walls, leaving only
himself, a single worktable, and a display case with the gift from Oras
within.
Bringing the case to the center of the room, Arnold activated a small laser
and cut off the top of the light-refracting glass. Just a hole large enough to
put a finger through would be enough. He moved back as he took out a
chair and sat down in it as he risked losing his balance with what happened
next.
On the ceiling, a single laser appeared and fired down onto the cube, and
the very next moment, it was as if Arnold had been transported into an
entirely different world. The light reflected off the cube distorted all senses
and made him perceive reality as different from what it was. Yet even if it
changed, a pattern remained.
As he sat there, finding himself surrounded by lights with millions of colors

and shapes he did not even know the name of, he began to decipher
whatever mystery his Patron god had left within the cube. It was the type of
mystery that perhaps didn’t even have a solution, but merely attempting it
would lead to newfound discoveries. Or, perhaps the conclusions would be
based solely on the eye of the beholder.
Either way, there were patterns, and a theory adequately explaining this
pattern could be made. There was meaning somewhere in the madness, and
if there wasn’t, then Arnold would just have to refine his theory until it was
correct anyway.
Such was his Path. There was always a pattern, always a formula to
describe reality, always an answer. With the system, everything was
possible, even understanding the system itself.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 451 - Ambermill: A
Quaint Little Town
There were few kinds of people in this world Carmen hated. Scratch that,
there were a lot of people she hated, but some she hated far more than
others. Towards the top of that last was anyone who reminded her of a
certain someone. Someone who relied solely on their status, their family or
backing, or whatever else vain bullshit to lord over others. In fact, she just
hated people who liked throwing their weight around to have others do
what they wanted if they couldn’t even back up their words.
Carmen had entered Ambermill like any other small Pylon-less settlement.
It was relatively large for not having a Pylon, and due to its proximity to
Haven, there weren’t many strong monsters around. This made Ambermill a
popular place to settle down. She didn’t get why they didn’t travel the rest
of the way to the Fort, but oh well.
She saw no problems with any of that. No, the problems came later.
Carmen had been on the road for around three days without any rest and
seriously needed a god damn shower before making it the rest of the way. It
would take her only an hour to reach Haven from Ambermill, so she
decided it was a good place to get all the things done to not look like a hobo
when she finally made it there.
The first thing she noticed upon entering Ambermill was the presence of
several people wearing what looked like police uniforms. Way too many of
them. She considered if maybe they had some problems with crime, and in
the beginning, they seemed nice enough. Carmen had gained a ring that
helped hide her level, and she was just asked to not make trouble as she
entered. One of them even pointed her toward a motel.
So far, so good.
She had barely managed to settle down and get a room when she noticed
some commotion outside. Looking out the window, she saw several people
being rounded up by the police from a nearby house in what looked like the
slum quarters. Carmen naturally failed to hold herself back, and without
even taking a shower, she had gone to investigate. However, the owner of
the motel stopped her and said curfew was in place and to please return to
her room until morning.
So Carmen slipped out a window instead and followed after the people
from the house, and when a police officer saw her, he yelled at her to join
the group. She complied to figure out what was going on as she blended
into the crowd. Something she did easily as she was still wearing a dirty
cloak and hadn’t had time to clean herself up.
They were all led to a large building. Carmen tried to talk to some of the
other people, but they looked at her like she was insane for just attempting,
and the police officers also gave her a stern warning that talking was not
allowed before they made it to the hall to “not wake up the ones sleeping.”
Who the fuck still slept?
Carmen found this ordeal incredibly fishy, and she instantly concluded that
some nefarious cult or something like that existed in this small town.
Looking at the other people with her, she noticed it was primarily women
and children, with a few young men also present.
For some reason, the mood did seem generally positive despite the secretive
methods. Carmen decided to not act out as they all entered a large hall
before the door was closed, and she felt isolation barriers be activated.
“Welcome, everyone,” a suited man said as he went up on a stage. Everyone

around looked at him with mixed feelings, and she detected outright hatred
from some of those present. Plenty of killing intent, too, something she had
gotten very sensitive to due to her heritage. So, not a popular figure. Got it.
“I apologize for bringing you all here on such short notice, but we just got
word that Haven and Sanctdomo opened up their borders once more, and
we have been allowed slots to send people there,” the man on the stage said,
making many in the crowd sigh in relief.
“We had to do this secretly as the slots are limited, and I am not blind to the
struggles of those less fortunate. This is an opportunity for those deemed
worthy of joining a powerful faction and finally get a stable and safe home
with wealth and comfort,” the man continued. “Representatives of
Sanctdomo and Haven are both here, so please, apply if you are interested
in this opportunity.”
Needless to say, this entire shit was getting shadier as fuck by the second.
However, the people around her seemed excited, making her doubt herself.
“Hey… this is my first time hearing of this. Is this for real?” Carmen asked
a woman with her young daughter right next to her.
The woman smiled and answered. “It happens once a week or so and is
always secretly. An open secret I guess. I heard it is to not cause too much
dissatisfaction or something as normally only women and children are
allowed to join the powerful factions. I do find it mighty kind of them to
help us.”
“Can’t you just go to Haven or Sanctdomo without getting a slot or

whatever?” Carmen asked, a bit confused.
“No, of course not; you need to be invited, or you will be get rejected at the
gates. That is why they send these representatives out to other smaller
towns,” the woman answered, shaking her head. “Don’t worry, though; I am
sure you will get selected.”
Carmen nodded as she just went with the flow as people were brought to
interview rooms one by one. A few people returned dejected, while some
didn’t return, having been selected according to what others said. She just
stood around as soon enough, an officer went over to her. “It is your turn.
Good luck.”
Curious, Carmen walked into the interview room and saw a man and a
woman sitting at a table with a few chairs in front. Looking about, she saw
that three other women were there together with her, all around her own age
from the looks of it.
She took a seat as the man at the table began talking, first introducing
himself as a representative of Haven, and then he asked them to please take
off their robes and get comfortable.
Carmen found it weird but did as asked. The others did the same as they all
took a seat. The man and women talked a bit amongst themselves and asked
some basic questions such as what class and profession people had, family
and friends in the city or among other factions, as well as their ages. Again,
just basic stuff.
Nothing was really that weird until the two spoke between them again,
using some magic to hide their conversation. “I am sorry, please leave
numbers three and four,” the woman then said, making two of the other
women exit the room dejected, leaving only Carmen and a blonde woman.
Carmen did note how they were the two who said they had no family or
friends around. Curious.
“Congratulations on getting selected,” the man said with a bright smile.

“Please follow me to the others.”
By now, Carmen knew something was off. The man in front of her was
level 121 with the woman level 114, making them both solidly in the D-
grade. Meanwhile, the woman with Carmen was only 32, and Carmen had
lied, saying she was level 101, but only due to her profession and said that
she had given up on her class.
She followed troop and did as she was told. They went out a back door, and
she felt the magic on the other side before even going through it. The
blonde woman was big smiles and chatted with Carmen excitedly until the
moment they stepped on the other side of the door, and both instantly felt
the shift.
They had walked into another large room, and the doorway behind them
instantly got sealed off by a barrier as a large shirtless man stood up after
sitting on a stool in a corner. “New batch, eh? Two young ones?”
“Excuse me, what is going on?” the blonde woman asked nervously.
The man smiled. “I am going to take both of you to somewhere much nicer
than here. We just need to sign some paperwork first.”
“Paperwork?” the woman asked
“Just a tiny little slave contract. No biggie,” the man kept smiling. Carmen
saw him clearly enjoy himself as she herself tried to look neutral.
“Haven has slaves?” the blonde woman asked with fright, her eyes wide
open. Okay, perhaps Carmen gave the gal a bit too much credit for her
ability to read the situation.
“A bit of a dumb one, but I am sure some people like that,” the man
shrugged. Finally, he turned his attention to Carmen. “A fiery-looking silent
type? A personal favorite of mine. Let me make it clear, you two don’t have
a choice, and if you are good and obedient little girls, I will be sure to get
you nice brothels. Any questions?”
“Left or right?” Carmen asked.
“What?” the man asked tauntingly.
“What arm do I rip off first? Actually, never mind.”
The man didn’t even have time to speak before Carmen stood right in front
of him. Despite him being level 118, he couldn’t even react as Carmen just
ripped downwards, tearing both his arms off at the shoulders.
“Argh!” he yelled as his eyes opened wide in despair. Carmen caught him
by his skin-shirt before he could fall back onto the floor. “Now tell me what
the actual fuck is going on here?”
Jake and Sylphie flew through the air towards the small town of Ambermill.
Studying the tablet a bit on the way, it looked like Ambermill was a small
town of about five or six thousand but had a steady flow of new citizens
who were looking to enter either Haven or travel further for Sanctdomo.
It was neutral and didn’t have any teleportation gates connected to it,
making it a little isolated but otherwise safe. The leader was some level 120
dude who had been the first to stumble upon an old mill that had been
transformed into a natural treasure, and since then, he had taken it as his
home and would use it to harvest and generate wind affinity crystals. This
was also the primary export of Ambermill and where the name came from
as the wind crystals looked like they were made of amber.
A quaint little place, Jake reckoned. This is why he was confused when he
got closer and saw smoke in the distance. The mill that stood atop a hill was
broken in half, and Jake felt intense energy emanating from the town. As he
got closer, he began to smell blood too, and he activated his tracking skill
instantly to search for Carmen.
Something that turned out to be utterly unnecessary as he felt her familiar

aura without having to use any skills. Jake swiftly got a look at the city
from above and saw dozens of broken buildings, more than a hundred
corpses wearing what looked like police uniforms, and Carmen punching a
bunker-like construct. Every punch sent shockwaves through the town that
had already shattered every single window in the vicinity and cleared out
the area.
Well then,Jake thought as he headed down, followed by Sylphie, who also

seemed interested in exploring these odd happenings.
He quickly detected people hiding inside houses and a general sense of

panic in the city. The entire central square and what looked like the mayor’s
office were utterly ruined. Corpses were smashed to pieces in the rubble,
and in the center of those ruins was what Jake assumed was a panic room
that Carmen was currently punching.
Jake landed a bit away with Sylphie landing on top of his head. Carmen
instantly turned around, still on guard, but stopped when she saw them.
“Why the fuck are you here?” she asked, clearly annoyed. “Did this fucker
really call you?”
“I tend to not have fuckers on speed-dial, so no. I came looking for you,”
Jake shrugged. “Why? Did whoever you are trying to kill make up some
bullshit?”
The people hiding within the bunker also heard Jake, and one of them
quickly yelled out from within: “Lord Thayne, you are here! This maniac
began to-“
“Who are you?” Jake cut him off.
“Ah, we have never met in person, but I have-“
“Why are you trying to kill this guy?” Jake cut him off again, asking
Carmen this time.
Carmen looked at Jake a bit suspiciously for a moment, but a screech from
Sylphie seemed to dispel her doubt. “This entire fucking town is just a front
for slave trading.”
Jake frowned as he looked at the bunker guy. “Explain?”
“Please, it is not just me; we were all forced to assist them! They had D-
grades and people far more powerful than us; what were we supposed to
do?” the guy asked from within his bunker.
Looking inside the bunker with his sphere, Jake saw a total of five people.
The guy who spoke wore a ruined business suit, while the four others had
full combat attire on. He also saw one of the four working on what looked
like a magic circle.
“If you want to talk, get out with your little friends and tell them to stop
trying to put down a teleportation circle to escape,” Jake said casually. He
didn’t actually know it was a teleportation circle, but he seriously doubted
anyone inside that little bunker wanted to fight a pissed-off Carmen.
Within the bunker, he saw the mage stop for a second and look back at his
comrades. The one who appeared to the leader – not the suit guy –
motioned for him to continue. The suit guy also looked at this leader and
nodded after they exchanged a look.
“Alright, but it takes some time to deactivate all the wards, and we will also
need some insurance of safety before we-“
“Have it your way,” Jake shrugged as he went over to the bunker.
“It is sturdy as fuck,” Carmen warned.
“To your attacks, sure. But if you know the right spot to poke-“ Jake began
as Touch of the Malefic Viper activated and what looked like dark green
lightning spread all over the magic barrier, “it isn’t that hard.”
Within seconds, the barrier broke down as Jake successfully ruined what
kept it together. What? It was a basic defensive formation, and Jake had
studied enough about anti-mana poisons to know what worked well against
such barriers.
This was clearly not the expected outcome for those hiding within as
Carmen flew forward and shattered the entire bunker with a single punch,
sending debris flying and revealing the five people within. The guy in a suit
looked absolutely horrified, but the four others moved fast as four attacks
were tossed Carmen’s way.
She ignored all of them, and within ten seconds, three of the four were
dead, and the last one – the leader – lay broken in the middle of the square
with both his legs missing. It all went relatively fast, and Jake honestly had
no skin in the game or bothered to interfere. Why would he? This was
Carmen’s crusade and a justified one, it seemed.
The man on the ground without legs managed to get his bearings somewhat
even with his friends dead as he turned to them.
“Do you have any idea what you have done? The people that back us?” he
threatened, trying to puff himself up. “Even if you two manage to survive,
what about your cities? Families? If we reach some agreement, I am sure I
can make all this go away.”
He spoke to both Jake and Carmen, and Jake did believe the guy had some
pull. He had a high level, after all.
[Human - lvl 139]
Carmen turned to Jake, but Jake just shrugged.
“Please do tell, who exactly backs you?” Carmen asked the guy.
“Slaves are in high demand all around the planet for various means…
someone needs to provide them, and we are those people,” the man just
said.
“Ah, gotcha,” Jake nodded. “So people we would also kill if we came
across them.”
“I second that,” the still bloodthirsty member of Valhal said.
“Please wait!” The guy in the suit suddenly yelled before Carmen could
crush the legless guy’s skull. “If he dies here… we…”
He stopped talking as Jake and Carmen both stared him down.
“Hah,” the legless guy said as he turned to the suit guy with a devilish
smile. “You were the one who came to us first. You were the one who
offered those useless people in the slums in exchange for cash to expand
your little settlement. You enjoyed quite a few of the women, too, didn’t
you? At least die like a man with some pride intact.”
“Says the guy who begged for his life a minute ago,” Carmen rebutted.
“Fuck off and just kill me already,” he just scoffed.
Something Carmen gladly did as she kicked his head so hard it exploded in
blood and gore.
The suit guy looked absolutely horrified. He began to open his mouth to
explain himself, but before any words came out, his chest separated from
the rest of his limbs and head as it flew into a nearby wall, splattering all
over it.
“I already knew he was a shitbag,” Carmen muttered as she looked at Jake.
Jake, in turn, looked around the place as he scratched his head.
“What? Got any complaints about how I handled things? Every single
motherfucker had it coming,” Carmen said defensively.
“Nah, not that,” Jake shrugged. “I was thinking about what to tell Miranda.”
“Just tell the truth,” Carmen said with a deadpan face.
Miranda was working in her office as a walkie-talkie on her table suddenly

rang. She saw it was Jake and instantly responded.
“Hey Jake, I heard you went out to meet up with Carmen. How did it go?”
“Know Ambermill?” he just asked.
“Yeah?” Miranda answered, perplexed. Ah, had she stopped by there? That
made sense to-
“Well, apparently they were running a slave business, Carmen found out,
and she may or may not have killed the entire leadership structure and
pretty much every single member of their local law enforcement. Oh, and
left the town in ruins.”
Miranda was silent for a moment before she just sighed. “I will send some
people…”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 452 - Friendly Advice &
Competition
Sultan stood in the old ruins of what had once been Ambermill as he looked
at the departing former citizens. Four large barges able to accommodate
every person had been brought from the Fort and would help transport them
all back to the settlement.
He had been asked by Miranda to go to Ambermill together with a crew of

others to handle the situation. She had heard slavery was going on, and
people had been forced into contracts, so she wanted someone with
knowledge of slave contracts to go and hopefully help annul those already
signed as well as track down potential leads. The first one he had gladly
done, but the second job was a bit more… complicated.
“I did tell that idiot this was too close to Haven,” Sultan smirked as he
shook his head. He had known about the operations going on in Ambermill
for quite a while but had naturally kept quiet. It wasn’t anything that
affected him, and he had already left the entire slave-trading scene for good.
That didn’t mean others had, though.
As he stood there alone, a person slowly became visible as he exited the

shadow of a nearby house. “Libra took it too far, attempting to take
advantage of the gap in the market left by Haven and Sanctdomo, both
cracking down on slavery. I do agree it was wise to take him down a peg.”
The shadowy figure soon became fully visible. He wore a dark cloak and
was enveloped by shadow magic Sultan naturally recognized.
“I am surprised the Court of Shadows didn’t try to defend one of their

clients,” Sultan said with a teasing smile.
“We are by giving him the advice to not fuck with this area and hiding all
evidence of Libra’s involvement in this shithole,” the assassin sneered.
“The other constellations have already requested an emergency meeting.
Have you been informed?”
Sultan nodded. “Naturally.”
“Great, then my job here is done. Now for my pay,” the assassin turned
instigator of town destruction said with a smile.
Returning his smile, Sultan transferred the sum as per the contract for a job
well done.
If Carmen had been there, she would have recognized the cloaked man as
the same police officer that had brought her to the town hall. The same man
who had coincidentally chosen a house right outside the motel Carmen was
staying in as a great place to round up potential slaves and the person who
had “screened” Carmen as being part of the slums.
Sultan had predicted Carmen to raise a ruckus, but it had become a bigger
issue than expected, more or less leading to the end of the entire town of
Ambermill. It wasn’t really a big deal, though, as with the biggest asset of
the town destroyed – the mill – it held no value anymore.
However, more importantly… he managed to toss out a competitor from his

very own backyard and, if things went well, possibly get rid of him entirely
in the near future.
“Pleasure doing business with you as always,” the assassin said as he

slowly faded back into the shadows, his presence disappearing entirely.
Sultan summoned his small black book and circled a name in it as he

nodded. With his work done, he summoned his ship to travel back to Haven
– after a little detour and a covert meeting, of course.
“Do you seriously just do that every time?” Carmen asked Jake as the two
were running leisurely through the plains. They had already returned to
Haven, teleported a few times, and were now running from a small-ish
Pylon city with a teleporter in it. It was the settlement closest to the port
city, and thus they had to run the rest of the way.
The problem was that Carmen kept giving Jake grief over Miranda’s
response. When they returned to Haven, Jake, Sylphie, Miranda, and
Carmen had met up briefly for them to exchange greetings and for Jake and
Carmen to explain the situation in Ambermill more in-depth.
Carmen found it hilarious how little Miranda seemed to actually care or be

surprised. Miranda had then made it worse by telling her about all the times
Jake had forgotten things, been late or nearly late to events, and how he just
kept doing unpredictable stuff. Case-in-point when they went and said hello
to Rick because Carmen really wanted to know if they were just pulling her
leg when they talked about the “troll gardener.”
What was so weird about a troll gardener?
“Ree?” Sylphie asked with a confused screech, coming in with the clutch
assist.
“As Sylphie said, I wasn’t the one who did anything this time. You did,”
Jake shot back.
“She did not say that.”
“Ree!” Sylphie huffed.
Carmen looked at the bird. “Touche. How the hell do you even understand
Sylphie? Like, I can get general intent and stuff, but not anything even
halfway complex.”
“I did hawk language courses when I went to college. Damn those unrelated
electives,” Jake teased.
“With how fucking useless college was for all my friends, I could believe
that was an actual thing,” Carmen scoffed. “But seriously, how? We both
got that language translation skill, but I don’t think it translates anything
that isn’t considered an actual language.”
“To be honest, I have no idea myself. It’s mainly guesswork and just
intuition as well as reading the intent as you said,” Jake shrugged. “It helps
when you spend a lot of time around the other person. Sylphie and I also
have a weird contract and a connection of sorts due to said contract.”
Carmen looked sharply at Jake. “What kind of contract?”
Jake instantly knew what she was thinking about. Beast tamers – which
Valhal had plenty of – used contracts or forced bonds to pretty much
enslave beasts to use them in armies. Not that some beasts didn’t also
willingly join these tamers, but the fact that they were bound to a master
was still a thing.
“A Union Oath, and it wasn’t even me who initiated it but Sylphie,” Jake
answered.
“Ree!” Sylphie confirmed as she happily flapped her wings and circled
around the two running humans a few times, being faster than the both of
them by quite a bit.
“Good,” Carmen sighed in relief.
They kept running a bit more in silence as Jake considered their merry
band. It did come as a bit of a surprise, but Carmen had not surpassed him
in level as he had thought. She was level 153, seven levels below himself,
and the explanation for this was the same as his: she was consolidating her
Path.
She had focused on her profession as her class had gotten too far ahead, and
she had pursued improving other aspects of herself, such as forging her fists
through weird rituals and magic – something she still did. She said that she
had to take a few hours every week and submerge her hands in some golden
concoction she had brought with her to forge her hands. Jake was very
much looking forward to seeing this process.
This did mean Sylphie was the highest-leveled among them, and damn did
she flex it. She flew around them in circles as she made noises to taunt
them, and she sometimes sped ahead and then laid down on the ground
pretending to be asleep until they caught up. All juvenile things that Jake
and Carmen both found absolutely adorable.
Sylphie had only grown faster and was naturally also the fastest of the
bunch. Her sprinting speed had always been extreme, but even her normal
flying speed now exceeded Jake’s by a large margin, and while he could
keep up with her by using One Step Mile, he would be far slower in actual
combat.
Not that he could use One Step Mile, as Carmen didn’t have any long-
distance movement skills to travel with. Flying up in the air also wouldn’t
be faster for either of them as the energy expenditure was far larger doing
that. So they were stuck running with Sylphie enjoying herself by flying
around them.
The little feather ball did help them a bit as they always ran with a tailwind
and a refreshing breeze blessed their way forward, giving them a bit of
speed and reducing their energy expenditure.
Jake kept an eye on the tablet given by Arnold and tracked their movement,
and about two days after departing from the small town, they came to one
of the areas marked with orange and a P. Orange meant there were high-tier
D-grades, and the P meant the energy signature of a Prima had been
detected.
“I never got to ask, do you have a full key for that Seat of the Exalted Prima
thing and the system event?” Jake asked Carmen as they took a small break
before heading into the orange zone.
“I had a key…” she said and seemed oddly reluctant to talk about it.
Jake quickly caught on. “Had a key?”
“Well, Sven came out of the dungeon that he had been stuck in for a long
time right around when I left… three members of his party died, and he was
in shit condition. He would have no chance to get three fragments by
himself, and I had easily gotten my key, so I thought I would just hand him
mine,” Carmen admitted.
“Wait, then why the hell didn’t you focus on getting another one?” Jake
asked, perplexed.
Carmen just shook her head. “It just isn’t that important to me, I guess?”
Jake raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. “Bullshit.”
“Whatever,” she just scoffed. “Why do you even care?”
“Well, I just wanted to know if we are collecting one or four more

fragments. It seems we are going for four, so it may get a bit tight on time,
but I am sure we can manage. There should be several Primas in and around
this Grand Mangrove River,” Jake shrugged.
“I said I don’t care about getting a key,” Carmen insisted.
“And yet you will. Why are you afraid of the system event?” Jake asked
pointedly.
“I’m not fucking afraid. I just don’t need it.”
“Neither do I, but I will sure participate anyway for whatever rewards it

may give. You should do the same,” Jake insisted.
“We are back to asking why you even give a fuck,” Carmen kept being
combative. “I don’t want to get told how much I fucked up my life already
and how I could have been way smarter in retrospect or suddenly be forced
to choose some other class or something, wasting all the effort I have put in
so far.”
Jake looked at her and thought for a bid before he just shrugged. “You like
punching stuff, right?”
“Duh,” she said, almost offended.

“Then just keep punching stuff and keep walking a Path where you punch
stuff. Heck, I can see myself being shown a Path during the event telling me
I am an absolute moron for choosing to use a bow, but I like my bow, so
that event can fuck right off. I will instead just use what I learn to improve
what I currently do. You should do the same, and fuck what is optimal or
considered the best. Just pick what you like the most,” Jake said.
“Sounds like a good way to end up stuck at early C-grade if you even
manage to evolve,” Carmen shook her head.
“Quite the opposite. You know Valdemar, right?” Jake asked.
“Alright, now I am just assuming you are purposefully being an asshole,”

Carmen said, glaring at Jake.
“Dumb question, sorry. Anyway, Valdemar was, well, just a dude who liked
swinging his axe and apparently didn’t think too much about stuff, but he
still ended up reaching godhood in a time where it was far harder than now.
All he had were balls of steel and a drive to get stronger,” Jake said.
Carmen now looked at Jake with quite a glare. “Valdemar was a warlord
who managed to lead countless battles and dictated the rise and fall of entire
intergalactic empires. He was a hero who managed to unite the enlightened
races and brought them recognition in a time where humans and most other
enlightened races were struggling to gain a foothold.”
“Being that and a hardheaded dude who likes to swing an axe isn’t mutually
exclusive,” Jake pointed out.
“Are you trying to start a fight or-“
Carmen suddenly just stopped talking as she stood with a blank stare for a
few moments. Jake wondered what was going on, but Carmen quickly
snapped out of it. “Well fuck me.”
“What happened?” Jake asked.

“Valdemar’s fucking wife just laughed and said you were right on the
money,” Carmen said with disbelief.
“See?” Jake just said triumphantly. “So just do whatever feels right.”
It looked like the god who had blessed Carmen – Gudrun – spoke to her
again as she stood there with a blank stare. Jake saw a faint hint of gold in
Carmen’s eyes and noticed how she was pretty much in a trance. Like she
wasn’t really there.
A few seconds passed before she “woke up” again and shook her head as
she groaned a bit. “Fucking hell…”
“What?” Jake asked.
“Just… nothing,” Carmen said, having clearly been told something by the
god she didn’t want to share. “Fine, let’s collect those damn fragments
already. Let’s go.”
“Ree!” Sylphie agreed, obviously bored of their, in her mind, boring

conversation.
Jake was the slowest to react as he suddenly got a few system notifications
he had not in any way expected.

At first, he had no idea why the hell he had just gotten a level out of
nowhere, but he quickly connected the dots: Legacy Teachings of the
Heretic-Chosen Alchemist.
Jake hadn’t really used the skill for anything before but had clearly just
done something related to it during his talk with Carmen. Which had to
mean Jake had taught her something. On accident. Something related to his
unique Path of being blessed and, at the same time, a bit of a heretic.
Shaking his head, Jake followed after Sylphie and Carmen, who had already
run into the tunnel in front of them. As he ran, he focused on his tracking
skill together with Sense of the Malefic Viper as he fished out one of the
key fragments to get a feel for the energy signature.
Shortly after, he caught up to the woman and bird.
“I can definitely sense a Prima somewhere,” Jake said, a bit surprised at

being able to actually detect anything.
“So you do know how to track stuff,” Carmen nodded, a bit of relief in her
voice.
“Kind of. And I have a feeling tracking down a few Primas will help make
me better than just kind of being able to track stuff. For the record, I sense
the energy in the center of this very tunnel, right in our path if we keep
going straight,” Jake explained.
The tunnel was carved into a mountain chain and was the fastest way to
their destination. Arnold had marked that they could take another path
through a smaller passage, but they decided to go straight through
considering they needed to hunt some Primas anyway.
It was a huge tunnel that was several hundred meters in diameter and had a
rather winding path and several tunnels leading in all directions. Jake
managed to really put his tracking skills to the test as he followed the
energy down certain paths, slowly closing in on their target.
Five minutes into the incredibly long tunnel, they both noticed the lack of
any other life present in the tunnel. Not even plants. It was just blank stone
walls on all sides. At the same time, the level of earth affinity mana in the
air also spiked with every passing step, making the conclusion obvious.
“Earth elementals,” Jake said.
Carmen nodded, with Sylphie trying to mimic her nod, just looking a bit
silly.
Jake soon felt some subtle movement down beneath. It was not an attack
but instead felt like something traveled through the earth to get behind
them. With deeper probing, he noticed presences, in other words, living
beings, in the simplest words, earth elementals.
“I feel them below,” Jake said. Carmen once more nodded in

acknowledgment as they both put together the plan of these elementals.
Taking advantage of the terrain, they planned on attacking from both sides
while at the same time using the tunnel walls themselves as weapons
against Jake, Carmen, and Sylphie.
The three of them soon stopped as the earth in front of them rumbled.
Behind them, the tunnel was cut off as a large wall of earth sprung up, and
vaguely humanoid forms began emerging from the ground, walls, and
ceiling. Jake identified a few of them quickly as he got a feel for what they
were facing,
[Earth Elemental – lvl 179]
Carmen had clearly done the same, and the two of them exchanged a look.
Sylphie also joined in, looking between them excited.
“Most kills win?” Jake asked, getting a smirk and a “ree!” in response
before all three of them made it absolutely clear that these earth elementals
had just seriously fucked up.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 453 - Earth Elemental
Prima
Martial artists had a long history of chopping down on stones – or tiles - to

show off how strong they were. Now, this wasn’t actually the martial artist
having tougher hands than the tile but just someone that took advantage of
physics and generally weakly-constructed and brittle tiles to make
themselves look cool. Some did it with bricks, too, even though that also
didn’t make sense as these bricks were not constructed to resist force
applied to the edges, making them rather brittle too.
Lots of tactics were applied to do this. The simplest of which was to always
make sure there was a small gap between the surface and the object before
hitting. This increased the force applied significantly as the object was
smashed down and thus breaks more easily – the fact that there are always
small gaps between stacked tiles is for this exact reason.
All of this is to say that actually smashing rock with your hand isn’t going
to happen. No martial artist before the system could break a normal
everyday rock with his or her bare hands. What would break instead was
the hand of the person. The reason for this was basic damn physics. For
every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction and all that.
This law of physics was also mostly true after the system. There were
magical ways of making it not really a thing anymore, but when punching
someone or clashing using weapons, it mostly existed. There were some
examples of martial arts being able to circumvent these laws, such as when
the Sword Saint blocked Jake’s weapon back during their duel and more or
less nullified or fully redirected the force.
Carmen clearly didn’t have any such skill. Neither did the Earth Elementals.
With how the system worked, one would also think that the bodies of the
Earth Elementals were, on average, more durable than the exposed fists of a
human.
But… well, looking at what was currently happening, Jake wasn’t so sure,
at least not when the elementals were compared to Carmen’s fists.
She flew forward as her fist smashed into an elemental, sending it flying
back as shards of rock flew everywhere. It rapidly regenerated as the tunnel
itself seemed to attack her with dozens of spikes erupting from all sides.
They all hit a golden set of phantasmal armor as Carmen kept up her
attacks, utterly annihilating the Earth Elementals. Jake had to admit that she
was a lot better at melee fighting than he, not just in that she had higher
Strength, but her technique was also far superior.
Some blows were large and flashy, but others were far more complicated.
When an elemental charged her, Carmen countered by landing three quick
jabs that each left microcracks on the elemental before she followed up with
a straight to shatter the entire central part of its body.
Jake, for his part, wasn’t slacking off either. He teleported and sometimes
floated through the tunnel as he fired off arrows, went into melee, used
magic attacks, and was just generally switching it up for whatever was
appropriate. Needless to say, he couldn’t use his full power when with
others and in an enclosed space. If he was alone, the entire area would
already be filled with poison mist and arcane explosions.
However, the one who was thriving the most was a little murder bird who
was like a tornado of razor blades just shredding the elementals one by one.
Sylphie flew around faster than the poor elementals could handle as they
were cut to pieces.
As for the elementals themselves, they were a lot like the Cloud Elementals
Jake and Hawkie had fought. They were pretty slow but incredibly durable
and annoying to put down for good. They kept re-constructing themselves
until they ran out of mana, and the only good way to kill them was to just
break them repeatedly.
Offensively they were a bit meh, primarily manipulating their surroundings

to strike at their target or by just hitting with their huge bulky bodies
consisting of stone and soil. They weren’t a threat to anyone in the party of
three and were, on average, very low-tier creatures. The same as most
common natural-spawning elementals, actually.
Elementals were a bit interesting in how their races worked. Basic

elementals like Fire Elementals, Earth Elementals, Wind Elementals, and
even Cloud Elementals could vary pretty widely in power even within the
same level. The way the race gained stats per level could vary, and one
Earth Elemental could gain 100 stats per level while another got twice that.
This was more or less always tied to the area in which they were born and
resided, and sometimes maintaining this growth required them to remain
where they had spawned.
Measuring the strength of an elemental was still pretty easy, even without
Jake’s instincts. You just had to measure the mana levels they gave off and
compare that to their level. As mentioned, these Earth Elementals were on
the weaker side, making the three of them do quick work.
They began diving deeper and deeper into the tunnel as they killed anything
in their path. Another general trait of elementals was their lack of
intelligence, making them little more than environmental hazards with a bit
of instinct tossed in. Needless to say, elementals were often the prey and not
the predator. The cloud island was a great example of this, and the only way
they tended to survive long was if they dominated an area like the tunnel
Carmen, Jake, and Sylphie were currently tearing apart.
Soon they were practically sprinting as they barely bothered to finish off the
annoying elementals. They took too long to kill and would keep chasing
anyway, so they just let them pile up and then took down bigger groups.
When they got further in, the entire tunnel also expanded to a large cavern
with several pockets in between narrower tunnels. Carmen began making a
few stops and made Jake and Sylphie follow to loot some precious metals
and other natural treasures she needed for her profession.
Jake was all-good doing this as these open spaces where the precious
materials existed in were also ideal hunting grounds for Jake. It allowed
him to get more distance as he began bombarding the elementals with
explosive arrows and even began testing some things on them, primarily
with Touch of the Malefic Viper.
He didn’t have any poisons that were good against Earth Elementals. Heck,
he didn’t have anything good against most elementals. Lightning poison
was pretty decent against many elemental types, but following pocket
monster logic, electric-type moves didn’t work against rock and ground
types. Of course, the poison type didn’t work either following this logic, but
luckily poison in this new world wasn’t quite as restricted as before, and
Jake soon began making some progress as he used the poor elementals as
test subjects.
Honestly, what worked best against them was perhaps what one should
have expected: corrosion. Stones were durable and steadfast but also slow
at adapting and expelling energy. A stone could not easily change shape or
shake off acid, and the elementals were always forced to take solid form in
some way or another. Of course, if he just doused an Earth Elemental in
acid, it could just shear off its outer layer. This would still do some damage,
true, but it would be minor at best.
But what if you spread the corrosion into the body of the elemental?
Infecting not only the physical body but the mana itself with the power of
corrosion? Jake didn’t have any good anti-rock corrosives he had any
experience with, but he did know a few basic types from lessons, all of
which proved somewhat effective.
Sure, it was less effective than just using destructive arcane mana, but Jake
still found it worth his time to learn and improve this aspect of his
profession. It wasn’t like these elementals would put up a good fight
anyway, and Carmen was damn slow at times getting the metals she needed
as the extraction processes weren’t always as simple as just smashing the
ground and grabbing whatever gave off the most mana. It was a bit like
collecting some herbs, though Jake tended to swipe them up swiftly
anyway, even if it lost some efficiency.
Ah, who was he kidding? He just scammed ancient vampires with antique
furniture whenever he needed stuff.
“You good?” Jake asked as he finished off the last elemental that tried to
stop Carmen from slowly getting the small gem out of the stone. She had
carefully taken it out after rubbing away the surrounding stone with her
palm like was it made of sandpaper.
“Yeah, I got it. Last push for the Prima?” she asked.
Jake nodded as he sensed the air and took a deep breath, practically
smelling the unique mana of the Prima. “It’s up ahead… one, maybe two
caverns. Honestly, hard to tell with how dense the mana is.”
“Ree!” Sylphie complained as she puffed herself up in anger. She really

didn’t like the heavy earth affinity in the air hampering her wind mana. Jake
knew she had to spend more mana than usual, something Jake luckily didn’t
have to due to his arcane mana being so closely connected to affinity-less
mana, something there was still plenty of.
“Alright. We make the push then, no breaks till the Prima is down,” Jake
said, getting quick confirmations from the others. None of them were tired
out yet, and Jake had naturally shared his potions with the group, being a
good team player and all that.
Two minutes later, they departed for more Earth Elemental slaughtering and
to reach the Prima. Many Orbs were collected along the way containing
pure earth mana, too, making it not entirely a waste of time, even if the
experience was subpar.
As Jake had guessed, the first cavern they reached was devoid of any
Primas, making them swiftly move through. By now, the areas were getting
pretty big, and it especially began opening up when they got closer to their
goal.
“It is right up ahead,” Jake said with great confidence.

His words were proven true as they reached a new expansive cavern.
However, this one was different from the others. The occasional crystal
lined the walls, giving off a faint light, and in the middle was a pillar of
crystals that seemed to hold the ceiling of the cavern up. It was humming
with power, and Jake instantly recognized the pillar as a natural treasure
similar to the lightning tree on the cloud island. The tree did give off more
power, though, and Jake was certain the tree was a better treasure. The giant
elemental that was currently siphoning off its energy certainly didn’t help it
either.
The Prima itself looked like a large bulky golem with blocky but faintly
humanoid features. It was more than fifteen meters tall as it stood with both
its arms on the pillar and was practically pulsing with power. Jake and the
others used Identify on it, and it was indeed the strongest thing around and
had the Prima tag.
[Earth Elemental Prima - lvl 185]
Jake tossed Carmen a look, and she just snickered as she knelt down and
pressed her fists to the ground, giving Jake a nod as he also began to
prepare his opening attack.
He did so as he whipped out his Bow of the Apex Hunter and began
charging his Arcane Powershot. Sylphie also began glowing green as a
small whirlwind began revolving around her. Their actions truly got the
attention of the Prima as the entire cavern began moving. Dozens of
elementals emerged every second, and the Prima itself reached out a hand
to attack.
It wasn’t a fully charged Arcane Powershot, but it was good enough. Jake
let go of the string as he exploded with arcane power, and at the same time,
Sylphie flew forward with speed matching his arrow.
“Sacred Battleground,” Carmen spoke as a golden pulse went through the

entire cavern. She stepped forward and blocked a barrage of stone
fragments heading for Jake, who was already charging his second Arcane
Powershot while at the same time beginning to condense an Arrow of the
Ambitious Hunter within the special space in his quiver.
Two things impacted the Earth Elemental Prima a second later. One of them
was an explosive arcane arrow that sent shards of rock flying, and the
second was a hawk that just pierced straight through, surpassing the power
of Jake’s arrow by quite a bit.
However, the elemental healed near-instantly as it kept pulling power from

the central pillar. Its outer shell also began changing and taking on a
crystalline form as Jake noticed the many shards embedded in the walls of
the cavern give off similar energies to the Prima.
Some kind of resonance? Jake asked himself. One thing was clear, this
entire cavern was the domain of the Prima and would make it a lot harder
to-
Jake then saw Carmen make a weird hand sign as she punched the ground.
A shockwave traveled all throughout the surfaces of the cavern, and within
an instant, thousands of crystals exploded, taking away a large part of the
elemental’s home-field advantage while making crystal dust rain down.
The pillar in the middle still stood strong as the Prima displayed a level of
intelligence Jake was not used to seeing from elementals. It retreated by
sliding up the pillar as it sent the many regular Earth Elementals after Jake
and Carmen as it focused on Sylphie.
An endless barrage of rocks went for Jake and Carmen, making her unable
to fully defend Jake, forcing him to fire his Arcane Powershot to blow up a
few elementals. Meanwhile, Sylphie engaged with the Prima that had begun
changing its form. It transformed into a long snake-like creature instead of
its humanoid form as it coiled around the crystal pillar. It opened its mouth
and sent out sharp barrages of rock, each one of them the size of a human
forearm.
Sylphie tried to attack, but her smaller attacks had a hard time breaking the
crystalline outer shell of the Prima, while the larger ones were instantly
healed anyway. Jake kept an eye on everything as he and Carmen killed the
elementals one by one. He didn’t see them losing, but if the situation
continued, it could get tricky… the pillar more or less seemed to give the
Prima infinite energy to absorb. It was a situation Jake had seen before, and
he knew just the thing to fuck the Prima up.
“I need a path to the pillar,” Jake said as he flew next to Carmen.
“Got it,” she nodded as she smashed her fists together, making her entire
body glow golden. She stormed forward and began clearing a path that Jake
quickly went through, switching position with Carmen, so she covered his
back while he went for the pillar.
“Cover me,” he said as he went up to the base of the pillar. He also sent a
mental message to Sylphie, and she reacted by beginning to fly around the
pillar. Jake felt the wind pick up all around him as a whirlwind of green
energy formed, covering his form and keeping the projectile attacks of the
elementals away. The only way for them to actually attack him was to come
with their true bodies, but Carmen had that covered.
Jake placed his hands on the pillar as Touch of the Malefic Malefic Viper
activated along with Arcane Awakening in the balanced state. He focused
his energy on the pillar as he pulled out two items he quickly began
consuming to aid the process. One of them was a rare rarity Refined Dark
Orb from a powerful Dark Elemental that had been refined into a catalyst
for dark affinity magic, and the other was an all-purpose amplifier for
transmutation magic called a Transmutation Stone.
[Transmutation Stone (Uncommon)] – An uncommon stone used to aid in

the transmutation process, functioning as a catalyst. Using a
Transmutation Stone makes harmonically fusing energies easier.
It was the kind of item that Villy would describe as “a crutch” that wasn’t
good to use under normal circumstances, but it did make the process
slightly faster.
Jake’s attack on the crystalline pillar was quickly noticed by the Prima
absorbing energy from it, and it promptly reacted. The ground beneath Jake
began pulsing, but Jake was ready as he stomped down, sending a wave of
pure, stable arcane mana through it. The mana lingered, making the
elemental unable to manipulate the earth, buying him time.
Sylphie also picked up the pace and began attacking more viciously, even
trying to pull the Prima away from the pillar altogether. It didn’t work, but it
brought Jake even more time as he worked fast.
Both his items were rapidly consumed as Jake pumped mana into the pillar.
Dark cracks began spreading as the dark mana consumed everything it
could, and Jake happily helped it along, giving him flashbacks to his days
with the Quintessence in the boar dungeon with the lake.
Back then, it had taken him many hours for a lake with far less energy than
this pillar to be corrupted… but the Jake of back then was not the same as
now. He pushed in the mana as the cracks began spreading several meters
up the pillar every second, and when the Dark Orb cracked, it reached the
Prima coiled around the pillar.
When it did, the Prima knew it was screwed. It rapidly uncoiled itself as it
tried to flee to the ground, but Sylphie managed to create a wall of wind
that sent it tumbling down in Carmen’s direction. Jake also stopped what he
was doing and went on the offensive again. The pillar would no longer help
the elemental, and it knew it.
The Prima changed shape again mid-air into a panther-like form as it met
Carmen’s fist with a claw. They were both blasted back, but before the
Prima had any chance to stabilize, it was attacked by Jake and Sylphie. One
was an archer that fired explosive arcane arrows that broke the outer
crystalline defensive layer, and the other was a hawk that attacked and sent
what may as well by air shotguns into these exposed areas.
It kept trying to retreat, but they simply didn’t give it a chance. The Prima
kept struggling, but when Jake pulled out and hit an Arrow of the
Ambitious Hunter, it seemed to know its days were numbered. Its form had
reduced significantly, and with reluctance, the Prima suddenly flew towards
the central pillar again. Jake, Carmen, and Sylphie had placed themselves to
stop it from fleeing away from the cavern, not run towards the very center
of it. This meant none of them able to react as the elemental smashed into
the pillar. It seemed to almost merge with it, and Jake felt his corrupted
mana be affected within the pillar… but it wasn’t getting weaker. No, it was
being purposefully fed as it grew in power.
Jake’s eyes opened wide.
“Defenses, now!” he yelled as a huge surge of energy erupted from the

pillar, making it explode into millions of shards as cracks formed all over
the cavern walls. A huge rumble shook the ground as Jake, and the others
got notification of the Prima’s death. it had consumed itself in an attempt to
take down its attackers…
By bringing down the entire fucking mountain on top of them.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 454 - The Great Escape
Was it a sign of intelligence to willingly kill yourself to try and take down
your would-be killers with you? It was undoubtedly a sign of ego and proof
the Earth Elemental Prima had been no simple-minded creature. Calling it
smart would perhaps be a bit too much, but it certainly did have some level
of intelligence not found in its regular brethren. They just died when they
ran out of mana and fought the same way from the beginning till the end.
They simply didn’t have the mental faculties to display desperation.
They displayed this as even with the entire place coming down, they kept
attacking Jake, Sylphie, and Carmen, putting extra pressure on them as they
tried to make it to one of the tunnels leading out of the cavern.
“Blocked off here!” Carmen yelled.
“Here too,” Jake noted as he quickly surveyed their surroundings. “Fucker

managed to direct the force to collapse the entrances first.”
He also sent out a string of mana as he tracked the mana of the fragment
dropped by the Prima. It was currently falling to the ground along with the
broken pieces of the pillar, making it easy enough to snatch it along with the
Orb dropped by the Earth Elemental Prima.
“Plans?” Carmen asked while smashing an elemental to pieces as she

looked up at the rapidly cracking ceiling, clearly knowing it was only a
question of when, not if, the entire mountain would come down. “I have an
escape talisman, but it only works for me.”
Jake looked up too as he held down and destroyed another annoying

elemental. “We break out of here.”
“How?” Carmen asked with exasperation. “While I don’t see myself dying,
it will take a long-ass time to dig myself out of this fucking place, and if
these elementals survive and keep attacking, it could get dangerous.”
Sylphie agreed as she kept killing elementals, clearly waiting for Jake to
decide what they were going to do.
Jake held out his hand as a transparent flame appeared. “Trying to trap an
alchemist under a rock without any will of its own is pretty dumb; that’s all
I’m gonna say.”
He manipulated the flame as it revolved around him and shot it off towards
a nearby wall. It simply seemed to remove a part of the wall, confirming his
theory. Jake had taken lessons in using his Alchemical Flame, and he still
vividly remembered the one about Soulflames and properly merging your
flame and your will. Jake was far from that stage, as the dragon back then
would have just snapped and made the entire mountain disappear, but he
could at least manipulate his flame well enough to dig them out.
Above, a large section of the cavern ceiling cracked, and a massive boulder
fell down, causing a chain reaction as everything began collapsing at once.
“To me!” Jake yelled, and the two complied, disengaging from the
elementals still causing them trouble.
In an act of irony, the elementals were crushed by boulders falling down on

them, making them lose their forms and become unable to assemble
themselves again. Jake spread out his hands as he manipulated his
Alchemical Flame and formed a barrier of transparent fire around them. A
rock fell down on top of the barrier and was consumed as it made contact
with the fire, draining Jake’s mana in kind.
“Let’s go!” Jake said as he walked to the wall and began walking into it,
creating a new tunnel with his flame. The stones weren’t that tough, and he
had managed to burn through the incredibly durable stone back in Yalsten
to steal the doors back then, and this mountain couldn’t even hold a candle
to the mountain towers back in the hidden vampire realm.
Even within the newly-formed tunnel, the cracks kept spreading, and it kept
collapsing upon them.
“Can you keep this up?” Carmen asked as she cradled Sylphie close to her
chest and walked close to Jake, who had been forced to make the bubble of
Alchemical Flame smaller to reduce mana expenditure. They were
practically huddled together as Jake and Carmen slowly moved forward.
“That fucking Prima did something… or maybe the pillar was just holding
this entire mountain up,” Jake muttered, annoyed. “Depending on how deep
we are, I may run out of mana.”
“Got it. Say if you need any help,” Carmen said, nearly hugging him from
behind as they moved forward. They soon began going at a bit of an
upwards angle as Jake closed his eyes and focused on not only his magic
but also his mana sense and intuition. He went for where the earth mana
became thinner, meaning what was closer to the outside.
Jake’s flame didn’t give off any light unless he used it to heat up an object
and set it on fire. However, what he was doing currently didn’t really utilize
any heat as he infused his flame with destructive arcane mana. The
malleable flame accepted it without complaint or resistance.
In complete darkness, they walked. Jake could still see due to his high
Perception and his sphere, but it was clear that Carmen had a hard time.
Sylphie managed by not having to move at all, just relaxing in Carmen’s
arms.
Forty minutes passed as Jake took out a potion with the new special
enchantment of his necklace, allowing him to consume it right away. The
way it worked was a bit… off. Jake literally had a bottle placed in his
stomach as far as he could tell, but the bottle disappeared instantly as it was
consumed, allowing the mana potion to rejuvenate Jake.
This forty-minute figure became critical. It was the time it took Jake to
consume the full amount a potion could restore, meaning he was constantly
losing mana. As the hours passed, Jake’s mana pool slowly dwindled, and
they began to discuss alternate strategies.
“We could punch and blow ourselves out?” Carmen proposed.
“Potentially,” Jake said. “But if we do that, we need to spread out. The

shockwaves you send out would end up causing issues for Sylphie and me
and will surely cause cave-ins. This is also assuming the new tunnel or path
you make is in any way stable. At least now the ceiling is collapsing at a
slow and steady rate.”
It was collapsing a bit, making Jake constantly have to consume soil falling
from above, but as they kept moving forward, it wasn’t as bad. However, if
he began making big moves, it could make everything above collapse and
put intense pressure on them. No, the only good way would be to more or
less slowly muscle themselves upwards, practically trying to “swim”
through the stone, which would take ages.
“Why are none of you a space mage…” Carmen muttered, and Jake
couldn’t help but smile a bit himself. If Neil was there, he would have just
teleported them all out or created a spatial bubble and then put down a
formation to get them out.
“Ree!” Sylphie complained, incredibly offended, getting a quick apology

from Carmen, who made it clear she was complaining about Jake.
“I do agree we need to speed this up,” Jake said unbothered. He had

actually hoped to improve his efficiency and thus speed, but he didn’t get
any worthwhile progress using Alchemical Flame, and a skill upgrade was
definitely out of the question. He would just have to keep going and hope
they got out in time, but it was looking grim.
Taking a break would mean the tunnel collapsing down on them and slowly
drowning them in soil and stone, so that was out of the question. Jake could
stabilize the surroundings with mana, but what was the point of what if the
entire purpose of the break was to regenerate mana?
“Ree?” Sylphie suddenly asked.
“Say that again?” Jake asked.

Ree! Ree!” Sylphie repeated. Jake nodded along at her suggestion as his
eyes flashed.
“That… could work… definitely…” Jake muttered, deep in thought.
“I feel left in the dark here,” Carmen sighed. “In more ways than one… I
can’t see shit.”
“Carmen, are you up for doing something incredibly risky but also
potentially cool as fuck?” Jake asked as he shared the idea with her. The
woman at first had a look of utter disbelief with her mouth wide open
before it just turned into a huge grin.
“That sounds so fucking dumb. Of course, I am up for it, and if it fails, well,
I guess we will manage.”
Jake snickered too. “Sylphie. Fire it up!”
The lizard stalked the small rodent that was hiding within its burrow. Both
were merely early-tier E-grades, but on this desolate mountain, no other
predators existed. The lizard was only the size of a house cat, with the
rodent being nothing more than an overgrown hamster. Both were able to
utterly slaughter a human pre-system, but in this new world, they were
weak, and they knew it.
Sneaking forward, the lizard used its sleek form to enter the burrow. It had
barely gotten halfway down as suddenly everything began shaking. The
burrow collapsed from the tremors, and the lizard rushed out in panic.
It looked around with fright as its instincts told it to run. Without hesitation,
it stormed down the mountain as a huge explosion sounded out behind it,
and a tornado of earth, wind, and transparent flames erupted from the
mountain. It sent the lizard tumbling and rolling down the mountainside as
it just tried to escape with its life intact from the three monsters that had
appeared. One of them even yelled something with great vigor, making the
lizard even more scared.
It definitely wasn’t going to go rodent-hunting on this mountain again, that
was for sure.
Why hadn’t they done this from the beginning? Well, the reason was partly
that they hadn’t thought about it and that Sylphie had been low on mana
when they began their escape. The biggest reason was the lack of thought,
though. Also, it was kind of stupid and risky, but it wasn’t like that had ever
stopped him before.
As for what they had done?
“This is the drill that will pierce the heavens!” Jake yelled the moment they
erupted from the mountain, getting an eye roll from Carmen, who flew up
alongside him.
“Ree!” Sylphie screeched as she got free from Carmen’s grip and took to
the air, flexing her wings.
“Seriously?” Carmen asked the moment they were down on the ground
again.
“Are you saying the Sylphie-Jake Wind-powered Mountainpiercing Drill

isn’t a great technique?” Jake asked, faking offense.
“Ree?” Sylphie screeched sadly as she landed on top of Jake’s head.
“No, I…” Carmen said as she looked at Sylphie, who was giving her sad
puppy-hawk-eyes. Carmen finally gritted her teeth as she made a strained
smile. “It was a great idea…”
“Ree!” Sylphie happily flapped her wings at her own genius. Jake had to
admit she was a smart little hawk. She had actually been observing Jake’s
flames and had managed to analyze them. She noticed that his flames didn’t
work against types of mana with intent or, more Sylphie-accurately, “person
mana.”
So she asked why Jake didn’t just make a lot more fire, and then Sylphie
would just make it rotate super fast like a tornado to burn away all the
stone. As Sylphie’s mana was filled with intent, Jake’s flame wouldn’t work
against it, and Sylphie had good enough mana control to not accidentally
fight the flame. Then they could just travel upwards and ignore everything
else until they would finally get out.
And worked it did! They were finally out, and it had taken like six or seven
times longer to use the shortcut tunnel than if they had just moved over or
around the mountain. It was totally worth it, though, as they had yet another
Prima fragment, making Jake now able to form a key.
“Take a break?” Carmen asked.
“Yeah… I am spent,” Jake said. And he really was. The amount of mana he
had pumped out during their escape was insane, and Jake was down to less
than five percent when they finally made it out.
“Alright,” Carmen nodded. “Did you happen to grab the Orb from the
elemental?”
“Yeah?”
“Do you need it, or can I have it?” Carmen asked a bit nervously. “I will
compensate you for it if that is the-“
Jake took out the Orb and tossed it to her. The Orb was epic rarity, so it was
a pretty good one, but not one Jake was desperate to keep. Heck, Jake had
kept the Prima fragment, so this was only fair.
“Thanks,” Carmen nodded with a smile as she took out two candles and a
small altar. She placed the Orb on the altar as she knelt before it. “I tribute
this victory and bounty to Valhal.”
With those words, the Orb turned to golden dust and disappeared, and for a
fraction of a moment, Jake felt some kind of divine presence that
disappeared just as it came. Carmen got up and re-deposited everything
back into her spatial storage as Jake looked at her with a questioning gaze.
“Part of my profession,” Carmen answered. “Dedicating battles and loot
helps me in various ways, the most obvious of which is experience gained,
but it also gives some other bonuses. It allows me to have “recognition”
within the halls of Valhal, which empowers many of my skills. Honestly, it
is more that I fuck myself over without any tributes.”
“Huh, you learn something new every day,” Jake shrugged. “When I meet
up with my god, he is usually the one who brings tributes in the form of
beer.”
“You and the Malefic One have a fucked up relationship, you know that,
right?” Carmen asked with a deadpan face.
“Funny,” Jake chuckled. “I think we are the only ones who have one that
isn’t fucked up.”
Carmen just shook her head. “Weren’t you supposed to be meditating so we

could get moving again?”
“I was,” Jake smirked. “I guess it would be too much to ask you to carry me
like Sylphie?”
“If you allowed me to first squish you down to be her size, sure,” Carmen
shot back.
Jake just chuckled as he closed his eyes and entered meditation to

regenerate. He still kept an eye out with his sphere, and he saw that after a
brief rest, Carmen and Sylphie began playing around. It was a mix between
play-sparring and actual sparring, but they didn’t use any skills or serious
magic but were more just playing “block the bird peck.”
A few hours and potions later, Jake was in pretty good condition again, and
with the two others also chugging down some potions, the three of them
were ready to head out again.
They grouped up as Jake pulled out the tablet Arnold had given him. He
brought up the map as they all studied it. “Okay, so if we go down this
mountain this way and pass this small patch of forest, we only have that
plain left, and we reach the Grand Mangrove River. After we pass the river,
we only need to cross a few flood plains, and we are in the port city of
Changhul.”
“Are we going for that orange zone?” Carmen asked.
“No P,” Jake pointed out. “AKA no Prima. I think it is better to aim for the
Grand Mangrove River for Primas.”
“How many Primas do you think there are? Not just in that Mangrove
place, but on Earth in general?” Carmen asked.
“Arnold says that based on his algorithm made from data on all the Primas
he has surveyed so far and locational data of how far spaced out they are,
there should be around eleven-hundred within human-occupied land on
Earth. He did say it is a bit shaky due to many beings underground or high-
up, but it shouldn’t be too far off. If these Primas exist all over the globe…
well, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were in the tens of thousands at least.
Knowing the system, the number of fragments and keys likely correspond
somehow, so maybe thirty thousand? It has to be something that can be
divided by three.”
Carmen nodded along. “So, there are quite a lot of Primas. Got it. Now let’s
go kill some.”
“Already looking forward to it,” Jake smiled as they set out towards one of
the few red danger zones identified by Arnold and a place Jake was certain
he would find a good fight.
Maybe even a C-grade or two.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 455 - Grand Mangrove
River
Earth had some damn beautiful vistas after the system arrived. Grand
forests with multi-colored trees, endless sprawling plains with groups of
deer jumping across them, passing tens of meters with every single leap.
Jake, Sylphie, and Carmen traveled through this land as they kept a good
pace. They didn’t get into any fights for the next two days as none of them
saw any need to bully far weaker creatures. Even the playful Sylphie had an
instinctive repulsion to killing anything below herself in grade and level. A
usual thing, as killing a bunch of E-grades while in D-grade could
apparently have negative consequences on your Records based on the
circumstances it happened under. Mainly in the sense that it could bring you
in a bad direction evolution-wise.
This meant it was a peaceful time where they mainly just chatted about
different things, and Jake also finally got to see Carmen “forge” her fists.
She did so by making a golden liquid that seemed to almost have acidic
properties, but Jake didn’t sense any poison from it. When Carmen
submerged her hands, this golden liquid would slowly drill itself into them,
and based on Carmen’s gritted teeth during this entire process, it was in no
way pleasant.
Afterward, she told him that she had to control the energy and use it to form
runes of sorts into her very Soulshape. It was incredibly complicated magic
tapping into many different concepts, and Carmen also made it clear she
only knew what the outcome of the rituals were and not how anything
actually worked. However, she did say this golden liquid also had to do
with the tributes, as the unique energy gained from doing them helped the
forging ritual along.
It was interesting magic, that was for sure, but nothing Jake could use or
even gain any real inspiration from. It required things Jake simply couldn’t
get, and he also learned that forging her hands led to some changes Jake
would not be a fan of – such as the inability to channel mana through them.
Something that didn’t matter at all to Carmen, considering she didn’t even
have mana, having converted it all to stamina.
The two of them did have some interesting discussions regarding the
application of stamina, and Jake found out that Carmen really had no idea
how to properly manipulate her own Soulshape or even properly perceive it.
She just used the methods she had been taught.
She likened it to when she was training to be a boxer. She was no

nutritionist or had any education in biology or physiology, so she just did as
she was told and saw the results. Carmen said she didn’t need to know why
something happened, just what she had to do to make the outcome she
wanted possible. Rather than learn what lifting weights did to muscles, she
would just lift weights and build the muscle.
Jake disagreed with this approach somewhat. He had always been all about
feeling the changes on the deepest level possible. Even if he didn’t know all
the biology about building muscle, he would still understand the process by
feeling it. He would feel the muscle fiber break down and rebuild itself, feel
the nutrients and protein feed his muscles to make them stronger and faster.
Comprehending concepts was also essential to upgrading skills. While it

was possible to upgrade them without learning how they truly worked, it
would never be to your own upgraded versions. Carmen would only be able
to follow the teachings of others and upgrade through a linear Path defined
by whoever trained her. Jake was very much the opposite, at least when it
came to his class. He did follow the teachings of the Malefic Viper,
especially with Path of the Heretic-Chosen, but his way of learning wasn’t
by following a training regimen but by comprehending and understanding
the skills. The true versions of these Legacy skills were also just so all-
encompassing that borderline anything Jake learned using them was already
an aspect of the “true” version.
This all resulted in an interesting dynamic where they each had something
to teach the other - Jake teaching her a bit about Soulshapes and Carmen
teaching him a bit about fighting.
“You have the most unbalanced melee fighting style I have ever seen,”
Carmen said as she looked at Jake after they had a brief spar. They had
decided to take a break, but their breaks often didn’t include as much rest as
they probably should.
“How so?” Jake asked, but he already had an inkling himself.
“Well, first of all, you suck at attacking,” she said curtly.
“A bit harsh,” Jake muttered.
“No. Not really. Come at me, try to land a hit,” Carmen taunted him. “You
can use your swords and daggers and all that too.”
Jake complied as he shot forward, Eternal Hunger and Bloodfeast Dagger

ready. He swung, and Carmen dodged to the side but didn’t counterattack.
Jake swung again, and he tried to pin her down as Carmen just kept dodging
and weaving in between his hits, not even trying to strike back a single
time.
He kept pushing as he picked up his pace, but he somehow couldn’t land a

hit even when he was faster than her. Jake kept swinging until finally,
Carmen leaped back, making Jake stop.
“You are good at dodging,” Jake nodded.
“No, not really. I am decent, sure, but the primary reason is how utterly
predictable you are. It is like fighting a beast. You don’t fucking think. You
are just swinging your weapon towards the nearest vital area. No feints, no
baiting, no combos… nothing,” Carmen shook her head.
“Is it really that bad?” Jake asked. He had this conversation before, and he
honestly felt like he had gotten better with Fang of Man. It was true the skill
didn’t actually give him any fighting experience; it just allowed him to
properly use any weapon he did pick up. There were no techniques or
anything. Jake felt like it was fine as overcomplicating things just seemed
dumb.
“It is,” Carmen nodded. “You have no technique at all.”
“Shouldn’t that make me less predictable?” Jake muttered.
“No, it just makes you suck. You know how to use your body and your
muscles. Every swing is powerful and would be potent if it hit. You just
have no way to make it hit,” Carmen shook her head.
“Any advice?”
“I am not good enough to give any,” Carmen shook her head. “I am a

pugilist. I can teach you how to punch things and be a boxer, but I don’t
know shit about using a blade or any weapon for that matter. No, it is better
you find someone more qualified. You got a lot of the things down that
most find the hardest, like proper footwork and efficient movements, so you
just need a good teacher.”
Jake nodded in understanding. It seemed like he would actually have to get

some lessons in proper fighting when he returned to the Academy.
“But… just one thing, how come I did manage to land hits on people before
then?” Jake asked, still a bit confused.
“Well,” Carmen began, “ because while you suck at attacking, you are a
fucking monster defensively. Attacking you is a nightmare, and that will
inadvertently lead to exposed weaknesses you take advantage of… I don’t
get how you don’t understand this? Actually, don’t answer that. I don’t
wanna know.”
Jake just nodded. “I get it… I will find someone to give me some pointers.”
He actually felt a bit bad as while Carmen did give some serious advice,
Jake couldn’t actually give anything proper back. Explaining how to “feel”
something related to your Soulshape wasn’t really easily described, but they
did make some progress. Jake advised her to try and feel the stamina
moving through her body – something she already had experience with – to
map out her Soulshape and slowly imagine it.
Sylphie also chipped in asking what a Soulshape was, at which point Jake
learned that Sylphie didn’t have one… well, she did kind of have one, but
not really. She had several “states” of Soulshapes as far as Jake could tell,
but honestly, it was all a bit too complicated for him. Sylphie’s own
explanation was that she could just be windy and not windy, so that was
very useful.
On the third day, they finally made it to the red zone known as the Grand
Mangrove River. They had seen the mangrove much earlier, and Jake
finally understood why Arnold had said flying over it wasn’t possible.
“How the fuck is that even possible?” Carmen asked as she stared at the
sight before them.
“Magic, system-fuckery, and probably a bit more magic,” Jake answered,

also staring.
“Ree!” Sylphie explained very accurately.
What they saw was indeed a mangrove. The trees that made up the
mangrove had large root nets and crowns that began rather far up. This
meant that above the surface of the river, there was space between the many
roots to move. The problem appeared further up where the crowns of the
many trees were.
The many branches had formed an impenetrable wall that shot into the sky
further up than Jake could see. It was a barrier of pure greenery that seemed
to extend infinitely, and Jake quickly formed the personal theory that the
mangrove that gave name to the Grand Mangrove River connected to
something up there. Potentially another cloud island.
From what Jake could see, the only way to pass the river was at the bottom
and through the net of roots. At least there was a lot of space there. The
roots had different sizes, with some being as thin as a finger and others
nearly four meters in diameter. At places, the roots were also well-spaced
out, and with how much they wound and bent, traveling on top of them and
avoiding the river below was entirely possible, if not kind of easy.
“This seems like such a shitty place to travel through,” Carmen complained.
“No other way,” Jake shrugged. “The river cuts off everything. According
to the notes in the tablet, this mangrove even makes teleportation incredibly
difficult, explaining why no network has been established with the port
city.”
“Has anyone made it through before?” she asked.
“A lot. If you go straight, use stealth skills, and just generally try not to
cause a ruckus, it shouldn’t be too dangerous as the local denizens shouldn’t
be that aggressive. That is if we want to stick to the safest path.”
“Which we don’t,” Carmen nodded. “Oh well. Just to check, how are you in
water?”
“I can swim,” Jake answered.
“I mean fighting in it….“ Carmen said, taking a deep breath. “Does your
archery work underwater?”
“No, not really,” Jake said. “I would definitely prefer to stay out of it. How
about you, Sylphie?”
“Ree!” Sylphie screeched.
“She isn’t a fan of water either?” Carmen asked. She had an oddly hopeful
gaze as she waited for Jake to confirm or deny.
“Yep, something like that,” Jake said, getting a small cheer out of Carmen
as she triumphantly celebrated her increased ability to understand Sylphie.
“Ready?” Jake asked as he checked the tablet. “We are heading straight for
a Prima that should be the closest to our side of the river.”
Carmen and Sylphie nodded and flapped their wings respectively as they
headed into the danger zone.
Jake scanned his surroundings as they dove under the canopy of the many
mangrove trees. Somehow it didn’t turn dark as he noticed how sunlight
seemed to some-fucking-how still make its way through the many-
kilometer wall of leaves and branches. Perhaps it was absorbed somehow
and then released at the bottom? Jake could feel the sun affinity energy
coming from the leaves as he reckoned they somehow emitted it for the
river below. Likely to feed its own roots and underwater plants to not kill
the ecosystem in the river.
“Ree! Ree, ree, ree,” Sylphie suddenly chirped.
“Okay, I did not get any of that,” Carmen muttered, disappointed, while
Jake realized how the sunlight reached them.
“She said that she can feel the wind pass down from above… meaning the
sunlight reaches us through a net of reflected sunlight,” Jake explained,
having understood and confirmed this himself by inspecting the structure of
the leaves.
“How the hell is that possible?” Carmen asked. “Are you telling me these
trees all agreed to set up a huge net of reflective leaves or what?”
“No,” Jake shook his head as he inspected some of the trees very carefully.
“There is no need for agreement… this entire mangrove is one single plant,
or at least this section is.”
Carmen just looked at him. “That is just-“
“Left!” Jake yelled as his danger sense warned him.
A few spears of wood flew straight toward Jake and Carmen both. Carmen
just caught one with her hand, and Jake dodged the others easily as he saw
where they had come from.
A small, lithe form was sitting on a root as it looked towards them. It was
surrounded by five of its brethren as they just stared. Jake recognized the
creature as he sighed. “Really?”
[Mangrove Monkey – lvl 140]
The monkeys seemed to have heard him as they bolted off, frightened in the
other direction. Sylphie screeched towards them, making the monkeys pick
up their pace even more.
“I thought you said the wildlife wasn’t that aggressive?” Carmen asked as
she snapped the small sharpened wooden spear she had caught.
“Monkeys are assholes,” Jake just answered, shaking his head as he

motioned for them to move on.
His assessment did prove to be correct, and luckily the monkeys didn’t
make Jake commit another monkey genocide. They weren’t attacked at all
for the next hour or so as they slowly made their way through the Grand
Mangrove River, though they did have a few times where they had to
diverge their path.
The biggest danger didn’t come from the roots or hidden in the lower layers
of the canopies but could be found down in the river below. Incredibly
powerful beasts roamed down there, but they luckily seemed to primarily
compete amongst themselves.
Jake had taken out one of the Prima fragments again. He hadn’t merged his
three into a key in case it made it harder to track the energy signature of
Primas. He wondered if he would find another monkey, but he and the
others hadn’t encountered any of the fuckers besides in the outer perimeter
of the Grand Mangrove River.
By now, they were perhaps a third of the way to the center of the danger
zone – a sixth into the river as a whole - and the levels had already grown
significantly. Jake saw several beasts around level 170 in the waters below,
and he could feel the presence of a C-grade somewhere further in. Maybe
more than one.
“Are we avoiding C-grades?” Carmen asked.
“Do you have confidence fighting one?” Jake countered.
“Alone? No. But with you and Sylphie, maybe we can take one down if it is
on the weaker side,” Carmen assessed.
“In that case, I am up for giving it a shot,” Jake nodded. He did believe they
had a chance, and Sylphie seemed to also agree.
As they kept moving forward, Jake felt several presences five hundred
meters or so in front of them. “Be careful. Potential ambush ahead.”
Carmen’s face turned more serious, but she didn’t change her pace. Jake
and Sylphie also followed as their guard was up. Soon enough, they reached
the area Jake had noticed, and his guess had proven true.
A torrent of water fired out from the river below, making Carmen block as
she was blasted up into the leaves and branches above. At the same time,
Jake was forced to dodge as a pink appendage shot towards him, barely
missing as it smashed into a root, breaking it into splinters before retracting
again to its source.
Sylphie also dodged her attack as Jake saw the beasts that had attacked
them. Three large and fat frogs were hidden just a bit below the river’s
surface as they launched their ranged attacks again, Jake barely managing
to Identify them.
[Acidtorrent Frog – lvl 191]
[Pummel-tongue Frog – lvl 194]
[Acidtorrent Frog – lvl 192]
Two green and one brown frog. Jake checked on Carmen and saw her skin
had been seared by the acid, but she didn’t seem to care as she shot down at
one of the frogs. Jake also pulled out his bow as he prepared to engage.
This would prove to be the first fight of many, as clearly, the natives of the
Grand Mangrove River didn’t see the three of them as anything but prey, all
trying to turn this mangrove into a man-grave.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 456 - Bend!
Frogs in all shapes and sizes, birds that ambushed with pecks nearly as fast
as Jake’s arrows, and a plethora of other annoying animals hounded Jake,
Sylphie, and Carmen as they made their way deeper into the mangrove. The
first frogs they encountered were a good indicator of what they would face.
They were all specialized creatures adapted to their unique environment.

They all made use of the many ambush possibilities offered by the dense
branches and leaves above or the river below. Granted, Jake was the worst
kind of opponent for them as the current him would never fall into an actual
ambush, but some attacks were difficult to deal with even if you knew they
were coming.
The mangrove was also more than a little annoying fighting in, especially
for an archer like Jake. The creatures made full use of the winding roots for
cover or hid away underwater to avoid his blows. Sylphie didn’t care much
and was able to maneuver well enough to sometimes even take advantage
of the environment herself. Carmen could do the same, just hiding away
behind cover until her opponent was forced to get close or give up.
Jake still managed pretty well with melee attacks and could land some
arrows here and there, but the deeper in they got, the more his archery fell
off. When they reached their first target within the mangrove, his archery
felt borderline useless.
The first target was a Prima Arnold had already scouted out before. It
wandered with a small flock in this part of the mangrove and was a terror to
most wildlife. When Jake finally saw it, he could get why. It was a bird with
incredibly long and slender legs, a smallish body, a long neck, and an even
longer beak. Identifying it, he confirmed it was indeed a Prima.
[Spearbeak Ibis Prima – lvl 190]
Its most notable feature was the beak. It was long, almost to the point of
looking impractical, but Jake soon saw why that didn’t matter. The two
humans and hawk made a plan as they engaged the Spearbeak Ibis Prima
and its flock that consisted of seven more ibises, each of them around level
180.
“Same tactic as always?” Carmen asked before they engaged.
“Will try,” Jake said, a bit miffed at how it usually went. He felt like his
opening salvo of Arcane Powershot often ended up just missing or being
fired way too early as the opponent either noticed him or was just moving
already, and with cover never more than ten or so meters away, most beasts
could quickly escape his arrows.
The opening attack did go as expected, but Jake was forced to switch his
target to one of the followers of the Prima as the damn Ibis walked behind a
large root just before he released the string. The arrow tore off one of its
legs and made it fall into the river below. Sylphie attacked the Prima
together with Carmen but were pushed back as it was joined by the others
in its flock near-instantly.
This was also when Jake learned the reason for the long Prima beak. Rather
than fight, it escaped behind a root, but it still pecked forward as its beak
simply bent around the root and pecked Carmen in the shoulder, sending
out a shower of blood.
Jake and the others had fought one other group of Ibises before and knew
they were all fast and had powerful attacks, but they had hoped to take
advantage of their low durability. The ibises walked on water like it was
nothing and could even run and kick off roots to launch themselves around
at incredible speeds and even use their wings for further speed and
maneuverability while in the air.
The Prima took this to an entirely new level as their group of three fought a
foe that had truly made the environment it lived in its own.
There was never a moment when it was exposed as the Prima switched
between the trees and dove under the roots all the time. The bird was only
about two and a half meters tall, but the beak could extend to be more than
fifteen meters when it pecked forward, truly proving the name Spearbeak.
“I can’t get close,” Carmen said as they all retreated a bit and hid behind a
mangrove tree. “I go for the weaker birds?”
“Alright,” Jake nodded as he looked up at some of the branches above

where Sylphie was hanging upside-down. “Help Carmen finish them off. I
will try to handle the Prima for now.”
“Ree!” Sylphie agreed.
“Sure that is a good idea?” Carmen asked. “If I can’t get close, can you?”
Jake shook his head. “Maybe… but that isn’t why I want to handle the
Prima alone. I see an opportunity.”
Carmen stared for a moment before nodding firmly. “Got it.”
She understood the sentiment even without Jake having to explain.
The words Carmen had said about him sucking at attacking had echoed in
his mind all throughout this travel through the mangrove. He honestly
didn’t notice it when he fought the beasts… at least not before now.
Usually, he would get changes to counterattack or at least use Gaze to get
an opportunity, but this damn Ibis didn’t give him the chance to.
In some ways, the Ibis fought similarly to Jake when he used archery. It
always tried to keep itself at a distance and attack with ranged attacks. The
difference was that the Ibis had solved one of the biggest issues: line of
sight. Arrows could only fly in a straight line for obvious reasons, and a
peck could also normally only go straight… but the Ibis Prima clearly
didn’t subscribe to his logic.
Jake observed the beak bend at impossible angles as it pecked forward.

Every bend was uniform, and that somehow allowed it to retain all its
power. One would think a strike curved into a crescent would be weaker
when it hit, but for the Ibis Prima, it clearly had no negative effects.
In order to get a good one-on-one fight, Jake summoned dozens of arcane

orbs and exploded the area to force the Prima away from Carmen and
Sylphie as he pursued it. The long-legged bird didn’t seem to care as it
allowed Jake to chase, perhaps happy itself to finally get rid of Sylphie,
who had managed to land a few scratches with her superior speed.
Jake shot off arrows as he chased, missing every single one. At the same
time, he was forced to block or dodge the spear-like beak repeatedly. Their
fight was incredibly basic, with one person just shooting arrows and the
other pecking while dodging and flying through the mangrove forest.
Seeing the Ibis Prima had given Jake inspiration. The beak was a solid
object, yet it seemed so everchanging. He didn’t actually want to make his
own blade somehow long and bendy… no, it was the concept behind what
the Prima did that intrigued him.
Soon enough, the two of them were several kilometers from Sylphie and
Carmen. Jake kept trying to land a hit and accomplish what he was
attempting to do, but something was missing. Missing to do what one might
ask?
Controllable arrows.
It was something Jake had theorized a long time ago. He could do

telekinesis, so why couldn’t he control his own arrows mid-flight? The
problem was that arrows in flight tended to be quite resistant to being
affected by, well, anything.
Jake trying to influence the trajectory would often just result in him forcing
it to slow down. This would make it not hit as hard, if at all. Slower objects
were obviously easier to dodge.
He had even looked up some books on archery while in the Order. He saw
several guides on controlling mana bolts and tried a few of those out, but it
always came with the caveat of reduced power for any piercing attack.
There were methods, though, just none that Jake found fitting. Some were
simply because Jake found himself in quite an unfortunate situation with his
arrows in particular: they liked to destroy stuff due to his arcane affinity.
This included any “strings” of mana Jake wanted to attach to the arrows.
He had also tried to change the arrow design, but that hadn’t worked either,
as his arrows just flew too fast. The passive destructive abilities of his
arcane arrows also helped alleviate the effects of wind resistance or any
other resistance for that matter. This was awesome for making arrows go
fast and straight, but not that good if you wanted them to do anything else.
Other books recommended simply bending space or manipulating time to

make the arrow’s flight unpredictable, but for obvious reasons, that wasn’t
quite doable for the current Jake. No, he would need to find another way…
because there had to be a way.
The fight with the Prima continued, and finally, something happened that
changed the situation. Jake jumped away from a beak spear as suddenly
another flew for him. He managed to bend his body, but he was confused
because the first peck hadn’t fully retracted yet.
Then a third came, but this one was too fast as Jake was pecked in the chest,
sending him flying back with a hole through his right lung about the size of
a fist. Jake just stared as he had no idea what had just happened. How could
it have two beaks at once? Three?
Despite his surprise, he still managed to stabilize himself and avoid any
follow-ups. The Ibis Prima had entered open space to pursue him, and now
Jake truly saw how it attacked. Before, he had thought the break actually
extended, but it wasn’t quite like that. In fact, he seemed to have
misunderstood the creature entirely.
Every time the Ibis Prima attacked, it pecked forward and sent out its beak
at such a speed it fired off a mirror image of sorts that looked like the
physical beak… a mirror image so “real” it actually appeared like a
physical object in his sphere and to all Jake’s senses.
Before every attack, the Ibis Prima slightly shifted its head, and Jake felt the
sheer level of focus that went into the attacks. The beak was extended and
curved, always at a consistent angle based on the starting position of the
Prima’s head. There was never more than one bend either.
He finally understood why he had taken inspiration from it. It was a

beautiful technique. He saw the straight beak be aimed towards him once
more, but it suddenly seemed to bend as it came from an angle, forcing Jake
to dodge away, but not before he loosed an arrow to counter.
The arrow floundered as it flew at an odd angle and crashed into a tree. Jake
was not undeterred as he shot again, with every arrow just harmlessly
hitting roots or falling into the river below. The Ibis Prima had already
hidden away again and used the cover of the trees to counter as Jake just
shot his arrows into said trees.
By now, Jake was fully focused. He analyzed the Prima’s every move as he
tried to mimic what it did in his own way.
Bend, Jake thought as his arrow bent mid-air and cracked into small
crystalline pieces.
Bend.
The arrow flew off to the side even if he had fired it right in front of him,
smashing yet another innocent root.
Bend!
As the string moved, the arrow seemed to slightly turn, but as it was loosed,
the arrow lost its course and once more did nothing.
Bend!
Jake’s eyes opened wide as he focused. He released his arrow but, at the
very end, also infused a large wave of Willpower into it, infusing the arrow
with a bit of his intent. It merged with the arrow and bow effortlessly, just
like all his prior attempts. When the arrow was pushed forward by the
string, it seemed to bend until it was finally let go and did exactly as Jake
intended.
In a glorious crescent, it traveled around the massive root the Prima was
hiding behind, and he heard the beast cry out in surprise as it was hit on the
right wing.
Jake had tried to do it like the Ibis Prima but found it impossible. The Ibis
Prima retained that connection between itself and the beak all throughout
the attack, something Jake could not do. No, he had to find a better way.
He did try and realized fully controllable arrows weren’t something he

could do. He would lose momentum if he tried to control them too much…
so what if he didn’t guide them? What if he just gave them a slight nudge
and changed their fundamental trajectory, still making them fly “straight,”
but defined that as a “straight arc.”
Or, the easiest explanation: he changed the trajectory before he even shot it.
He re-defined what a straight line was using his own Willpower, just like
the Prima had. Rather than try and “program” the arrow to follow an
advanced trajectory, he just infused this one intent, making it shoot at a
certain angle, following a simple vector.
The blow was still predictable… it bent predictably. This did perhaps seem
like a flaw, but it was quite the opposite: it preserved speed and momentum.
Jake smiled as he heard the notification that signified he had progressed his
archery skill, but he saved looking at it for later. For now, he had a Prima to
kill. The beast quickly adapted as Jake began whipping arrows around the
roots at awkward angles.
What was perhaps most surprising was the lack of any magic or mana
involved in the process. It looked like Jake was just firing arrows like
normal to any outside observer, but they all flew at different angles and bent
around the roots. Granted, this did result in them traveling a further overall
distance, making the time it took to hit the target longer. This would be a
flaw under normal circumstances, but in this kind of environment? Well,
there was a reason why the level 190 Ibis Prima could dominate any
opponent it found.
Getting his spirits up, Jake attempted to fire an Arcane Powershot and used
the same technique. The arrow did bend slightly, but when he released it, it
only diverted by a few degrees, passing the root the Prima hid behind,
flying into the distance before it exploded upon impact with another
mangrove tree.
Okay, doesn’t work with Arcane Powershot.
The attack was just too fast and too powerful. Jake could not infuse enough
intent into the attack to make it do as he wanted… but he did have an attack
that would work.
Jake dodged around as the Ibis Prima began adapting and counterattacking.
Neither party was ever within the line of sight of the other even as they
exchanged blows. Jake was attacked several times as he did the mental
calculation before he fired his bow once more.
A single arrow bent around a root, but just as it did, it split into five. Jake
repeated this as he fired another arrow from the opposite side that also split.
The Ibis Prima was forced to retreat backward but was still caught in the
explosion that came from ten explosive arcane arrows colliding.
Jake took this opportunity to sprint forward and give chase. He shot off two
more arrows as the Ibis Prima prepared to jump away, but suddenly it
stumbled when its foot hit the water, making it get hit by another arrow.
The beast looked confused and then terrified. It had clearly been too
distracted to notice what had happened to it. That first arrow Jake had hit
hadn’t just been another regular stable arcane arrow, but one thoroughly
soaked in Jake’s new and most powerful Hemotoxin.
Wounds had accumulated on the Ibis Prima. Wounds that would typically
have already healed. It had noticed too late as Jake was upon it, ready to
deliver death.
Jake jumped to the right as he shot to the left, making the arrows curve
around to hit the Ibis Prima. In mid-air, he charged Arcane Powershot, and
when he made it around the network of roots and landed his sights on the
bird, he used Gaze of the Apex Hunter.
The Ibis froze and barely became able to move again to try and block the
Arcane Powershot with its beak, sending it reeling back and bleeding from
its head. Three more arrows had also hit it from Jake’s curved shot, and by
now, the Ibis Prima only thought about escape. Something Jake wasn’t
going to give it.
It was time to finish this as Jake finally pulled out his final weapon. Arrow
of the Ambitious Hunter emerged from his inventory, and the Ibis Prima
instantly fled. Jake just looked as it escaped behind a net of roots. Jake
didn’t care as he released the finisher.
The arrow bent around several trees as it struck the Ibis Prima that had
already lost its senses. It fell forward into the river as Jake got the kill
notification.
*You have slain [Spearbeak Ibis Prima – lvl 190] – Bonus experience
earned for killing an enemy above your level*
Jake flew forward and quickly swooped up the Beastcore and the fragment
the Prima had dropped as he also checked and saw he had gained levels.
Plural.
*’DING!’ Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter] has reached level 154 - Stat
points allocated, +10 Free Points*
Jake was surprised at seeing two levels. He wondered if it had to do with

the skill upgrade, but skill upgrades didn’t tend to give him class
experience. The fight had not been overly dangerous, even if Jake did have
a few holes in his body by now. In fact, he would say that overall, this
Prima was on the weaker side, being a one-trick pony.
It was also entirely possible he had just been mega-close to a level-up

already and now just barely passed the threshold to gain two.
“Got what you needed?” Carmen asked as she finally went over together
with Sylphie. Jake knew they had been observing from afar to not interrupt
his fight and take away Jake’s chance to get the inspiration he had been
seeking.
“Yeah, thanks,” Jake said.
“So?” Carmen asked.
Jake just smiled and nodded as he checked out his newly upgraded skill.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 457 - The Depths of the
Grand Mangrove River
Jake’s attachment to archery didn’t exactly stem from anything logical.

Sure, one could argue the fact that his Bloodline gave Perception made it an
obvious choice, but Perception was a stat highly beneficial to nearly all
classes and professions. Heck, Arnold had said himself that Perception was
his highest stat, and he didn’t even use a gun… or any weapon for that
matter.
Many types of magic were also based on Perception. Jake could become a
melee fighter with a focus on the stat too, or do so many other things. Some
would maybe even be more effective as there was a dissonance between his
Sphere of Perception and the fact that he preferred to stay at long range to
land arrows.
So, why did he focus on archery anyway? Well, because he liked it. It had
been the first sport he had gotten into. It was linked with many positive
memories of his life. Times he went to tournaments or the archery range
with his father, memories of his brother cheering whenever he hit a
bullseye. When he got introduced to the system, he had instantly known he
wanted to do archery once more.
This didn’t mean he wouldn’t also do other things. He was fully aware he
was a bit of a Jake of all trades, but archery was still a centerpiece of those
trades. With all of that in mind, it only made sense to upgrade his archery
skill, even if said archery skill also pointed out Jake’s vast toolbelt of
fighting methods.
[Archery of Vast Horizons (Rare)] - An Archer’s best friends are the bow
in his hand and the arrow in his foe’s heart. Unsatisfied with merely
becoming an expert, you have sought beyond mastering common
bowmanship, and do not shy away from using magic to enhance your
technique. You seek to cross all horizons with your arrows, and your
target shall be pierced, no matter the distance, no matter the means. Adds
a small bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a ranged
weapon. Adds a small damage bonus to all arrows based on distance
traveled and Perception.
-->
[Archery of Expanding Horizons (Epic)] - An Archer’s best friend is the

bow in his hand and the arrow in his foe’s heart. As your horizons
expand, you realize flaws and build upon a foundation to make that
expansion everpresent. You do not shy away from mixing archery with
magic and making your arrows arbiters of your will. Your arrows will
cross all horizons and bend over any obstacle to pierce your target, with
only your own will limiting the possibilities. Allows you to apply your will
to control the trajectory of arrows before releasing them. Adds a small
bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a ranged weapon.
Adds a small damage bonus to all arrows based on distance traveled and
Perception. Arrow trajectory control based on Willpower.
Jake read over the improved skill a few times. Out of all the ones he had,
this one had quite a bit of flavor text, which probably made sense
considering its role as a general archery skill. When he had gained the skill,
Jake had also surprisingly gained some instinctual knowledge, making him
more aware of how it truly worked.
When he fired a bending arrow, Jake infused it with a small pack of

Willpower along with the usual energies he threw in. This pack of
Willpower would work on the arrow to effectively nudge and push it in a
certain direction with a constant force, making it follow the trajectory Jake
intended. This was also why something like Arcane Powershot didn’t work
well with it because the pack of Willpower he would have to infuse into the
arrow was above what Jake could do at his current level of power.
Due to the Willpower being a part of the arrow upon firing, this did also
mean he could copy it with Splitting Arrow. The packet of Willpower
would remain within the arrow even when it was split. Looking at the skill,
he also became more and more certain… true arrow control was a
possibility in the future. Guided arrows. Just thinking about it, countless
ideas entered his head for future improvements, but all of those were for the
future. For now, they had more targets to hunt.
Jake briefly explained to Sylphie and Carmen about his upgrade, got his
congratulations, and then they took a quick break to chug down potions
before moving on.
The map given by Arnold stopped giving any useful information about a
third of the way into the mangrove, meaning the entire central part of the
Grand Mangrove River was a complete mystery. The central part was also
the most dangerous area.
According to the map, the entire river was about two hundred kilometers
wide and didn’t have any significant places where it became more narrow –
in fact, it was wider in most places. There were also safer places to pass
than others, but the mangrove forest was everpresent, showing how utterly
massive the ecosystem was.
This did perhaps seem overly huge, but one had to remember that the forest
Haven was placed on the outskirts of extended for thousands upon
thousands of kilometers into the distance. Arnold hadn’t even been able to
map a small part of it yet, and it was likely the largest forest in the region of
the planet humans currently occupied.
“Are there more Primas nearby?” Carmen asked Jake as their group took a
small break up amongst the branches and leaves of the mangrove trees.
Jake had a fragment in his hand as he searched for similar energies but
shook his head. “There was one, I think, but the energy is faint. It either
moved or was killed. One thing is for sure, it is no longer in this area.”
“Ree?” Sylphie asked.
“Yeah, it could be connected,” Jake agreed.

They had noticed a general lack of beasts in the area, at least above the
river. Down in the deep water below, an entirely different world still
existed, separate from everything else. Some creatures did live on the edge,
such as the frogs that did dive a bit below water or other beasts that used the
river to ambush foes, but these were not considered part of the true river.
No, those creatures lived deep beneath, likely kilometers down.
“Do you think a C-grade swept through?” Carmen asked, a bit concerned.
“Doubtful… I don’t feel the lingering aura of one. That doesn’t make it
impossible, though, as it could just be one that is good at hiding its
presence,” Jake said.
“Guess all we can do is move on,” Carmen sighed as they did just so.
By now, they had already agreed to just try and make it through the Grand
Mangrove River as peacefully as possible if there were no more Primas. It
wasn’t really a good place to hunt, even with Jake’s archery upgrade. Some
annoying opponents also fled underwater if they got in trouble, betting on
surviving the deep-river creatures over facing Jake, Carmen, and the little
murderbird.
They kept going forward as the general mana level in the air grew. An
extreme level of nature, water, and wood affinity also dominated the air,
making them all a bit more on edge. It was normal for the mana density and
affinity to grow and change based on the environment, but this case was out
of the ordinary.
It far surpassed what was found within the tunnel with the Earth Elemental
Prima. High mana density didn’t really mean much for humans besides
affected mana regeneration and sometimes slightly stronger or weaker
attacks based on the affinity of said mana, but one type of creature it did
affect significantly was monsters.
Sylphie seemed to enjoy being there, at least. Mana density could help
beasts level faster merely by absorbing it, and it would also lead to beasts
and other creatures naturally spawning at a higher level, including anything
born from eggs or even living births – hence why rituals were often used to
nurture eggs and pregnant animals. It also resulted in more natural treasures
appearing, and those that did appear were stronger and would grow in rarity
and power faster.
Most notably was perhaps the “level” of the treasures and materials
spawning. Two flowers could be uncommon rarity, but one would be far
more suited for E-grades and the other for C-grades. They could have the
same name, but the amount of energy contained within the one for C-grades
would be far more powerful.
It worked like this for all kinds of natural treasures and herbs. A D-grade
would not benefit from treasures in low-mana areas suitable for E-grades
unless it consumed ludicrous amounts. In the same vein, then a C-grade
would also not benefit much from treasures suitable for D-grades. What did
this mean? That often, mana density in an area could be used to determine
the level of creatures one would find there.
In all ways, beasts benefitted from higher mana density areas, which is also
why they loved being in them, and the stronger beast got, the more this
became almost required to keep progressing for all the reasons stated above.
Hence, high-mana areas tended to be dominated by and become the
territory of powerful monsters.
And the mana density in this area of the Grand Mangrove River was enough
to support not just D-grades… but something above that. Jake could feel
that there were C-grades ahead. He could not pinpoint them, but he felt their
presence, and soon enough, they would enter an area where he knew there
were some.
“Careful,” Jake said. “And if you have any stealth skills, use them. If not,
just try to stay low profile. If we are going to get into fights, let’s be the
ones starting them.”
Carmen and Sylphie both agreed as Sylphie quickly asked Jake if he wanted
her to make a big whirlwind to hide them. She only sulked a little when he
said no.
They snuck through the mangrove quietly. At times they heard noises off in
the distance and felt the reverberations of energy as powerful entities
clashed, but they tried to ignore it and moved slightly away from that
direction. Jake would check it out if he was alone, but with Sylphie and
Carmen, he didn’t want to take the chance.
Facing C-grades shouldn’t be done half-arsed, and if Jake had to face one,
he didn’t want it to be within this mangrove. Any C-grade able to make the
Grand Mangrove River their home had to have adapted to the environment
and be masters of using it to their advantage, making fighting them there
too reckless, even for Jake.
So they wanted to just pass by. Humans had passed before, according to
Arnold. C-grades shouldn’t bother with a small group of three… but Jake
had made one miscalculation. They maybe didn’t bother with humans, but
if there was one thing other beasts enjoyed, it was consuming Beastcores…
especially from more powerful beasts. Killing a D-grade wouldn’t give a
core worth much, but what if it was a beast of an even higher tier that
simply hadn’t grown up yet?
The Records contained in the core would lack quantity, but the quality
would be supreme. Hunting these beasts was often seen, which was why
dragon hatchlings were protected by their brethren, and beasts of powerful
heritages were so tight-knit.
Jake and Carmen weren’t currently traveling with a dragon hatchling but
something that was perhaps even more precious to an ambitious C-grade: a
Sylphian Eyas.
That is when Jake saw it. Almost a moment too late.
“Dodge!” he yelled as suddenly a thin line of water moved across the

mangrove. They all somehow managed to get some height as the needle-
thin wave of water passed. Jake’s eyes were open wide as behind and in
front of them, thousands of roots had been severed in two by the water
cutter, the mangrove trees now only held up by their branches.
And this was only the beginning.

Bullets of water rained upon them from off in the distance, most of them
aimed at Sylphie. They all dodged back as several trees were shredded, and
Jake didn’t hesitate for a moment as he went all out. Arcane Awakening
fully activated as he had already spotted their attacker more than two
kilometers away through the path it had created with its own rain of bullets.
It was hidden well, but not well enough… not that Jake was sure it mattered
as he managed to land an Identify.
[Torrent-Tongue Frog King – lvl ???]
It was a fully-fledged C-grade. Jake communicated this to Sylphie, and

Carmen clearly already knew as she also activated several boosting skills.
The frog in the distance fired off a few more attacks, but suddenly the
attacks stopped.
The frog had disappeared below the surface of the river, but Jake had
managed to use his Mark on it the moment he saw it. He felt its movements
as it moved at a ridiculous speed underwater towards them.
“Below!” he yelled again as they all spread out and sought up towards the
branches of the mangrove trees for cover.
He used Pride, Scales, and Wings as he triggered every single skill he

could. Jake quickly began charging an Arcane Powershot and fired where
he believed the frog would emerge – a guess that was right on the money.
The frog leaped up from the water just as Jake fired. It got hit by the arrow
but didn’t seem to care as it went straight for Sylphie, ignoring both Jake
and Carmen. They were not the food it wanted.
“Ree!” Sylphie screeched as she summoned a green shield and fired a blast
of green wind to counter the frog leaping towards her, trying to gobble her
up. Together with Jake’s arrow, it managed to throw the frog off-course as it
smashed into the branches above, but their relief was short-lived.
The entire body of the frog exploded as it sent bullets of water flying out,
striking the three of them. Jake managed to rapidly form a barrier of mana,
and combined with the natural barrier from Arcane Awakening and Scales,
he shrugged it off as he fired off a barrage of arrows.
Once more, he was ignored as the river below seemed to come alive.
Torrents of water flew up and enveloped Sylphie in a bubble of water as the
frog kept attacking her. Jake flew forward but was smashed back by the
frog shooting a blast of water his way, making him fall into the river.
Jake got out of the water, bleeding from his chest, as he went for the frog
again. The beast was nearly upon Sylphie as Carmen appeared at its side
and punched it hard, sending it slightly off-course. She followed up with a
combo as she hit it over a dozen times in rapid succession, but Jake could
see it wasn’t doing as much as Carmen would have liked.
The frog seemed more annoyed than anything as it released its tongue and
wrapped it around Carmen’s waist. It swung her around and smashed her
through more than ten trees before it finally let go and tossed her into the
distance.
Sylphie had broken out of the water prison and looked like she was about to
go all-out together with Jake, but at that moment, they both felt something.
The frog did, too, as it froze and abandoned all its current plans.
But it was too late for it.
A white form suddenly shot out of the river below, not giving the frog any
time to react. It reached the beast in a second as Jake saw two shining fangs
sink into the amphibian’s body. Jake didn’t even take the time to think as he
made use of this opening to run towards Carmen as he mentally
commanded Sylphie to follow him.
They were getting the fuck out of there, that was for sure.
Carmen had been flung five hundred meters away after being smashed
through two more trees, and she looked more than a little beat up. She
looked relieved when she saw them, but her eyes opened in fright soon
after, and Jake knew why.
He stopped on a root as he slowly turned around, seeing the same white
form rise out of the river. He also felt the aura of the frog was gone along
with the Mark placed on it. It had been killed within only a few seconds. He
looked at the beast before him and its familiar form.
[Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake – lvl ???]
The beast had a long and slender body. It looked to be around thirty meters
long with an entirely white, almost albino look, especially with the two red
eyes that looked like gemstones. The head was only about the size of Jake’s
torse, and it truly was a thin animal… but that didn’t mean Jake would
underestimate it.
Even standing there, he felt it. Within the snake was venom at a level far
above anything Jake had ever faced. He was instantly aware that his Palate
would offer little help. This was no simple C-grade, and Jake was confident
this creature was on a whole other level than anything else he had ever seen,
surpassing even the Termite King by quite the margin. It was likely a mid-
tier C-grade.
Jake’s only focus now was on escaping as the snake regarded their party of
three. Carmen was heavily injured, and Sylphie seemed scared and leaned
on Jake for support. The thought of summoning the Fallen King using his
mask appeared, but before he had to do anything, he heard a voice as the
snake extended its tongue that seemed to vibrate in a way that produced it.
“What brings one who walks the Path of the Forefather here?”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 458 - Making "Friends"
Jake stared up at the white snake that, in turn, regarded him, waiting for an
answer to its question. It had mentioned something about a Forefather, and
the hamster wheel in Jake’s mind spun as he put two and two together… the
snake had to be talking about the Malefic Viper. It did confuse him a bit,
though.
The snake didn’t have any Blessing as far as Jake could tell, and he couldn’t
see any connection between the C-grade and the Viper at all. Well, besides
them both being highly venomous snakes. Also, why had the snake come to
begin with?
One thing that did put his mind at ease was the lack of hostility. The snake
had helped them and now seemed friendly and curious. Considering that
was the case, Jake decided it would be wisest to be honest about what they
were doing there.
“We are simply passing through and had no plans of getting into any fights,
but the frog attacked us,” Jake answered truthfully.
The snake regarded Jake and then tossed Sylphie a look. “To bring a young
one from such a heritage through this area is unwise.”
“We realize that now,” Jake nodded. He still had no idea why the snake was
so friendly, though. At least not for the next half a second before he felt a
certain snake god send down a message.
“Divine teacher coming in with a quick lesson because this isn’t really
anything taught anywhere as it is considered pretty common knowledge. I
got shit-all to do with this particular snake. At least not directly. Without
going into a lengthy explanation, then I am in some ways connected to
nearly every single snake in existence due to how Records work, and while I
may not know of this snake, it clearly knows of me simply due to its
heritage. Beasts have heritages like humans do, and this one may walk one
related to me. This all leads back to how we ancient beasts more or less
raised the Records of our entire races and hence became known as
Forefathers. So yeah, the snake can see you walk a similar Path as herself.
Good luck making a new friend!”
Jake got the entire message from Villy within a few seconds as he got a
better understanding of what was going on. Currently, Jake still had his
scales summoned and his wings out. He didn’t look very human, and the
snake potentially didn’t even think he was one.
It was a bit risky, but he wanted to dispel that illusion right away as he
dismissed his scales and wings, returning to being more human. Normally
you could barely see the scales, but Jake currently had quite the gnarly
wound on his chest with his armor entirely tattered from absorbing the
blow, revealing his upper body.
When the scales and wings disappeared, Jake felt the snake be surprised as
she moved her head closer.
“Human?” she asked, perplexed.
“I apologize for any misunderstandings, but even if I am human, I too walk

the Path of the Viper – your Forefather,” Jake explained to the female
snake. He wanted to make it clear he was still her “kin,” so to say, as he
really didn’t want the snake to turn hostile. Jake was unsure if he could
escape himself and certain Carmen would be unable to unless she had some
item to help her. Sylphie was also a big question mark. No, better to try the
diplomatic approach for now.
Also… the snake had yet to turn antagonistic, and she even seemed
disinterested in Sylphie despite clearly being aware of the hawk’s heritage.
“I was merely surprised,” the snake answered. “I sensed the blood in the
river and came as I feared one of my own had been attacked, but I see now
it was you. It is interesting to see a human with the blood of the
Forefather… are you a descendant of some sort? No, you are a pure
human... tell me, how do you walk the Path of the Forefather?”
Jake’s mind blanked for a while as he had just discovered a giant gap in
knowledge. He had believed himself to be the ignorant one – in his defense,
he usually was – but clearly, the snake before him was also unaware of
many things considering common knowledge. She didn’t seem to have any
experience with Blessings and possibly even the way humans worked with
their classes, professions, and races. Which… well, it made sense she
didn’t.
If he assumed the Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake was a native of Earth and

had only awakened true sapience in C-grade, how would she have learned?
Jake did know that when an animal would awaken, sapience was deeply
related to their intelligence before. Reptiles tended to need C-grade at the
very least, while some smarter animals would awaken it far earlier. Hawkie
had already been damn smart at E-grade, and Sylphie had been a smart little
bugger from birth. He also knew beasts had inherent knowledge based on
their Heritages. This was likely how the snake even knew of the Viper, but
that knowledge hadn’t covered this it seemed.
“Are you familiar with the concept of Legacies and Blessings?” Jake asked
the snake.
The snake looked at him a bit with her deep red eyes before answering.
“Legacies… yes. Heritages and Legacies are closely related, correct? I have
heard of Blessings, but I am uncertain of its effects. A competitor of mine
speaks of possessing a Blessing, so I assume it is beneficial?”
“They are, but they also come with some expectations. Tell me, what do
you know of your Forefather?” Jake asked, wanting to make sure they
weren’t speaking past each other.
“An ancient snake who rose to unrivaled power and sent echoes throughout
existence as he embraced eternity. I am not certain what more you expect
me to know?” the snake asked, and Jake could sense a bit of annoyance but
also expectation.
Jake just smiled as he manipulated his Shroud of the Primordial. His
Blessing that was otherwise suppressed to the level of a Lesser Blessing
flared as it grew to that of his True Blessing. He had a hunch that proved
true as the snake recoiled a bit as she stared.
“What are you?” she asked with fright but also an even stronger sense of
curiosity.
“Gods have the ability to give out Blessings to those they want, creating a
bond between themselves and the blessed individual. This usually just
resolves in the blessed one getting access to the Path related to the god, and
the gods themselves gaining a presence among mortals as well as some
other benefits I am not entirely clear on,” Jake began as he explained. “In
my case, I am very closely related to the god that blessed me. Said god
naturally being the Malefic Viper, also known as your Forefather.”
The snake seemed to take a moment as she absorbed the knowledge, giving
Carmen time to also chip in. She had been hanging back and had clearly
been on guard in case things went south. In fact, Jake saw now that she was
holding some golden medallion of sorts behind her back even as she spoke.
“What Jake said is true. Gods bless all kinds of creatures and races, and
Jake and the Viper just happened to be highly compatible, so the Malefic
One made Jake his Chosen. Ah, a Chosen is like a prophet or something
and is the highest level of Blessing possible, more or less making Jake the
most important mortal in existence from the viewpoint of the Viper,”
Carmen explained. Perhaps overexplained.
Jake could feel her nervousness. He understood why, as the C-grade was far
above what any of them could handle. Even Sylphie was hiding away. In
her anxiety, she had just opened the floodgates and had spoken, wanting
Jake to look as good as possible without really thinking much.
For the first time, Jake felt a tinge of hostility from the snake.
“Most important? A human?” the snake hissed as she raised her head a bit.
“A D-grade human being deemed more important than any other snake-kin
in existence? I only came here out of curiosity, not to be made a fool of.”
Carmen froze as she. “I just meant that-”
“Hey!” Jake interrupted Carmen as he stared up at the snake. “Is that really
so hard to believe?”
The snake sneered once more as she stared him down. “The Forefather
would never view a human as more worthy than any of his kin. On account
of you carrying some part of his Legacy, I will let you go, but don’t believe
I-”
“Are you calling me a liar?” Jake interrupted the C-grade, getting a

frightened look from Carmen, who had just begun to look relieved after the
snake said it would let them go.
Jake released his own presence as he stood in opposition to the snake. She
glared at him as she subconsciously retracted her head a bit in front of his
Bloodline-powered aura. However, he wasn’t done yet.
“Villy. Beam me a Blessing.”
“Jake, I can’t just go around casually giving out Blessings to any random
creature you meet,” Villy promptly answered. Jake had known the god had
looked on with interest, and now it was time to make himself useful.
“Yes you can,” Jake shot back.
“True. Alright, I guess this little one isn’t so bad.”
“Get your head down here,” Jake commanded. “You did help us, so I guess
some kind of compensation is only right.”
“What are you planning?” the snake sneered as she showed her fangs. Jake
felt the venom within them and got even more sure that he would probably
be in for a very bad time if any of that entered his body or even touched his
skin.
“Repaying the favor and setting the record straight. Why, are you afraid
some measly D-grade human can harm you?” Jake taunted the snake. He
believed he had read her right, and he turned out to be correct as she
reluctantly lowered her head, her curiosity winning out over her
cautiousness.
Jake placed his hand on her snout as his hand glowed green. He had asked
Villy about giving the Blessing before, but he vaguely felt that he didn’t
need to when he began infusing his energy. Need to ask, that is. He felt a
connection be formed and his ability to give a Blessing without Villy’s
consent or input. He could only give a low-level Blessing, but it opened his
possibilities and implications that Jake wasn’t quite sure what to think of.
He didn’t need to use this new discovery this time as he felt Villy bless the
snake by using him as the conduit. A pulse of power went through his hand
and entered the snake, and he saw the crimson eyes flash dark green for a
moment as the snake froze and just looked dumbstruck.
A second turned to five as Jake just stood there with his hand on the snake.
None of them moved, and only a good six or seven seconds after it turned
awkward, the snake finally reacted as she retracted her head in a sudden
yank.
The more than thirty-meter long C-grade snake just looked down at Jake as
she swayed slightly, and Jake saw what he could only interpret as an
embarrassed blush as she spoke:
“Please don’t be mad…”
Meira went through the library as she searched for a specific book she had
been asked to find. Well, she needed to find a book with a topic she had
been asked about. She was sure she had seen it before, she just wasn’t
entirely clear on the name, but she had skimmed its description briefly a
few months ago.
As she was looking for the book, she saw one of the tables in the library and
the books that lay scattered all over it. She hadn’t touched it because it had
been left like that by her Master. He was a bit messy, but she remembered
hearing a teacher of her explain how some people were able to comprehend
chaos and didn’t need order. Perhaps her Master was the same and simply
didn’t need to put things in boxes and organize them in order to remember
things.
Meira finally located the book she was looking for and checked the index.
She soon enough found the section she had been thinking of and quickly
went towards the entrance hall again, where she activated the gate. She
walked through it and appeared inside a small study where a group of three
were already waiting for her.
“Took your time,” Nella said once she finally saw Meira.
“Apologies, it took longer to find than expected,” Meira apologized as she

handed over the book.
“Don’t make dallying a habit, or your sponsor might drop you,” Nella
scoffed as she took the book and opened it.
“Chapter eight,” Meira added, getting an annoyed scowl. She didn’t mind; it
was normal. Nella was a true member of the Order after all, along with the
two others.
“Don’t be so hard on her,” Izil commented. Meira liked Izil. She was even
nicer than the others. It was probably because they were both elves, though
Meira naturally couldn’t compare to a student hailing from the Altmar
Empire.
“Hey, little elf, got any Whispersnite Fruits left?” Utmal, the final member
of their group, asked. She was the child of a dwarf and an ogre and
identified as a half-ogre. This made her about the size of a regular human or
elf, even if she had a very powerful constitution.
“I already began the incubation experiment with half and planned on using
the rest in case it fail-“
“Wait, I’m confused,” Utmal interrupted. “Did I ask? I don’t care, just don’t
fail and give me yours. I ain’t spending Credits on more than what we were
given.”
Meira was a bit uncomfortable but agreed nevertheless as she summoned
the three uncommon rarity fruits and gave them to Utmal, who swept them
up while shaking her head and muttering something about Meira being
slow. She was slow sometimes, so that made sense.
“Shouldn’t have rushed into the experiment and ruined your own fruits,”
Izil commented.
“Now, let’s not fight,” Nella stopped the two before they began bickering.
Meira was glad she did as she didn’t like it when the two got into fights,
especially not when it was related to Meira herself.
Nella was the leader of their group and the one with the greatest
background. She was also the sole scalekin of their group and had two B-
grade parents. She had been born at D-grade but still needed to study to
build up her foundation and would likely reach C-grade within not that long
simply by growing fully up. It still took half a century to grow to be a fully-
fledged C-grade, but at least she wouldn’t need to do anything besides just
reaching the threshold and doing the Evolution Awakening.
She had a good status, and Meira wanted to be sure to get on her good side.
Izil was the one with the second-greatest background as she came from the
Altmar empire. Meira didn’t know who her parents were or anything as she
didn’t talk about it like Nella did, but she had to have a good status if she
had come to the order, right? In any case, she couldn’t offend them and
make trouble for her Master.
“Meira, you should make your sponsor give you some more Academy
Credits to pay for the next level of this course,” Nella suddenly added.
Meira was a bit meek as she answered. “I have not been given permission to
use the credits for anyone but myself.”
“I am sure you can figure something out,” Nella smiled. “If not, just ask for
some actual Credits or contribution points and treat us to something nice to
compensate, alright?”
“That would be hard…” Meira said as she tried to explain herself without
revealing anything about her Master. She already felt a bit bad about lying
about having a sponsor, but technically her Master was a sponsor, so it
wasn’t really a lie, right?
“Oh, come on,” Utmal sneered. “Just spread your legs a bit wider, and I am
sure your sponsor or whatever will gladly reward his little who-“
“Utmal!” Izil butted in.
“Fine,” the half-ogre said as she raised her hands and continued ignoring
Meira.
Meira threw Izil a thankful glance but just got a helpless look and a shake
of the other elf’s head in return. Meira wasn’t sure how to respond to that…
but at least they weren’t fighting anymore, and for the next half an hour, no
one really said anything bad. In fact, they didn’t even talk about or with
Meira at all. Meira knew that the situation was a bit strained, but she would
keep doing her best, and she was sure she wouldn’t give her Master trouble
when he returned. She just hoped she was doing okay in the meanwhile.
This was her first time making friends, after all.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 459 - Port City Changlun
Carmen knew she had messed up when she accidentally spilled a bit too
much to the snake and ended up offending it. She was ready to use the
talisman she had prepared to hopefully temporarily distract the snake
enough for them to make an escape, but she was relieved when the snake
said it would still let them go.
And then Jake decided to piss off the C-grade even more by acting all
offended himself. She nearly wanted to smack him over the head and drag
him away while apologizing, but a few moments later, she could only stand
there dumbstruck.
She knew people who had high-level Blessings or a class or a profession

related to their Patron could give Blessings with the help of their gods, but
this usually only happened after a long process. Not just casually when Jake
decided to one-up the snake by proving himself by giving it one.
The situation after that only made it worse. Carmen still didn’t get at all
how they had gotten to where they were currently.
Jake, Sylphie, and Carmen were sitting on a small wooden barge as a large
brown snake that had to be well over a hundred meters long dragged it
across the Grand Mangrove River. Now, this would usually be hard due to
all the roots and trees and whatnot, but the snake got around all this by just
fucking bulldozing through and creating a path.
How did it do this, you ask? By being another god damn C-grade. After
Jake had given the snake the Blessing, the white Alabaster Crimsoneye
Snake seemed to have an entire shift in personality and began acting all shy
and careful. The damn snake had then nervously asked them if they wanted
an escort and transport through the rest of the river, which Jake had
accepted.
The C-grade had then somehow summoned not just one but five god damn
C-grade snakes, leading to their current situation where they sat on a barge
constructed by a C-grade snake able to manipulate wood while being
escorted by a total of six C-grades.
But this wasn’t even the worst part…
“Are you sure?” the snake asked nervously as she swam alongside the
barge.
“You already apologized enough, and this is more than enough to repay the
misunderstanding,” Jake once more tried to assure the C-grade. He had to
admit that he hadn’t expected what was currently happening to take place. It
turned out the Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake wasn’t a sole operator but had a
small crowd of C-grade snakes following her around – likely the kin she
talked about earlier.
“But-“
“I said it’s fine,” Jake repeated as he tried to calm down the snake. “I was
the one returning the favor for the save from the frog.”
“Okay…”
Jake had made quite a few miscalculations. He had thought the C-grade
Alabaster snake had to be some kind of old entity and probably at least have
the age of someone, well, adult, but it appeared he had been a bit off the
mark. The snake had just been acting all mature before, and only now did
Jake realize he was dealing with an overgrown teenage C-grade snake.
She had found and consumed a natural treasure that had allowed her to
rapidly grow and, at the same time, accepted a quest of sorts. A quest that
clarified a lot of things when she finally described the details of it. Jake had
known these special natural treasures had appeared on Earth, allowing
beasts rapid growth, Mystie having found the Mystbone, a far less potent
special natural treasure.
These more special natural treasures also came with limitations. It had
allowed some of the creatures of the Grand Mangrove River to reach C-
grade but at the cost of limiting them to the river and ocean beyond. This
limitation was only temporary, and she didn’t know when it would end. All
she knew was that the natural treasure she had consumed was still being
digested, and if she left the restricted area, it would begin acting up, and if
she was outside it too long, the treasure could potentially end up killing her.
This explained why no C-grades had attacked any cities or caused any true
trouble so far. Jake knew the system had restricted them, but only now did
he know the details. This was perhaps also part of the reason why the
Termite King had not pursued Jake more than it had – it had gone beyond
its restricted zone.
“Excuse me again?” the snake asked Jake after only giving him roughly a
minute of silence.
“Yes?” Jake asked. He really didn’t wanna be mean to the snake… it felt
like talking to a teenager talking to her favorite pop idol.
“Is there, like, anything I can do to help? Even if I am a bit restricted, I can
maybe sneak out and-“
“No. Just no. Focus on yourself. Remember, the Path of the Malefic One is
about embracing freedom and striving for more power through your own
Path. Rather than thinking about how you can help me, think about how you
can help yourself and gain more power. Then, when the restrictions lift, you
will be able to expand your horizons even more. By then, you can decide
for yourself what you want to do in an open multiverse of possibilities. And
the more power you have, the more possibilities,” Jake explained.
“Actually acting like my Chosen for once,” Villy couldn’t help himself.
“Hey, this is as much my philosophy as it is yours,” Jake countered.

“I had it first and called dibs before your universe was even born,” Villy
joked back.
Jake just smiled a bit at their brief exchange as the Alabaster snake seemed
to have gotten his message.
“Okay, I will keep doing my best and improving,” she said with conviction.
At least he thought she got it, but she seemed a bit… too determined? Either
way, it wasn’t bad to want to get stronger.
Their party kept traveling through the Grand Mangrove River as the snake
did ask some more things related to the Malefic Viper, and Jake also knew
the other snakes were listening in with interest. He hadn’t spoken directly to
any of them as the Alabaster snake had said they weren’t that good at
speech yet. Jake was pretty sure they were just shy, though. For every
second he spent with them, he became more and more assured they were
just a bunch of C-grade teenagers with all the teenage angst. At least
socially. When it came to their abilities as beasts?
They ran into two C-grades when they passed the midway point of the river,
which allowed Jake to see two birds more than twenty meters tall getting
ripped apart by four C-grade snakes, their barge-dragger, and the Alabaster
snake hanging back. The Alabaster snake explained how they didn’t really
spend much time at the surface due to most stuff being weak outside of
certain areas.
Besides that, nothing bothered them as the rest of their trip through the
danger zone was a breeze. It turns out that being escorted by a group of C-
grades, including a mid-tier C-grade considered one of the most powerful in
the entire Grand Mangrove River, meant not many beasts dared make a
move.
When they reached the final parts of the river, the Alabaster snake had them
all stop as she looked at Jake with a bit of regret. “We can’t go much
beyond here without leaving the restricted area… I can go a bit further,
but-“
“You have done enough,” Jake said as he smiled at her. “Thank you for the
assistance once more.”
“Ah, uhm, my pleasure!” the snake said, embarrassed. Jake knew she still
felt bad about questioning his identity and all that, even if Jake was long
past it.
The other snakes also all bowed their heads as they seemed almost scared of
Jake. Even the one who had been dragging their barge using vines bowed. It
hadn’t looked back at him even once throughout their entire journey and
even now had its head halfway hidden underwater. This made it look a bit
silly when it tried to bow gracefully like its brethren.
Jake smiled at them all once more as he spoke a final farewell before
heading off with Sylphie and Carmen, with Sylphie giving them a “ree!” in
thanks too. Carmen was a bit quiet but did nod in their direction as they
took off.
They had been dropped off at the outskirts of the Grand Mangrove River,
and it only took them twenty minutes to reach shore once more, exiting the
danger zone altogether.
Only when they were out of the mangrove did Carmen speak. “That was…
something.”
“Hey, it went pretty well, and we got out of the mangrove ahead of
schedule,” Jake said jokingly.
“We nearly got killed by a C-tier snake,” Carmen shot back.
“Nah, we were never in danger. She was a real softie, that one,” Jake said
dismissively.
“The first thing the snake did was to kill something when we met.”
“Details, details,” Jake jokingly said. “In all seriousness, yeah, it got a bit
risky. I think we should avoid any danger zones. At least ones with
unfavorable environments.”
“Agreed,” Carmen said. “Let’s reach the port city already?”
“Let us,” Jake said as they took off once more and traveled towards the port
city of Changlun.
On the way, Jake kept the Prima fragment close and tried to scan for any
energies but found nothing. Only a bit over a day later did they reach
Changlun, and Jake had to admit, he had underestimated the place.
Jake and Carmen stopped atop a hill overlooking the plains leading up to
the city, and both just stared a bit. In front of them was plenty of farmland
with large crystal pillars spread throughout for kilometers leading up to the
city itself.
The city had a wall more than twenty meters tall surrounding it, and from
the looks of it, this wall even extended into the ocean, defending them from
any maritime threats. When Jake had first read about Changlun, he thought
it was a small place, but seeing it in person made it clear this was no minor
settlement. There had to be at least hundreds of thousands living there.
“Damn,” Carmen said. “This is quite something.”
Jake nodded as he considered the placement of the city a bit more deeply.
Changlun was quite an isolated city. To one side, it had the Grand
Mangrove River that cut it off from everything else, with the river itself
leading into the ocean. Due to the layout of the shoreline, there wasn’t even
that much land area to the other side. It was like Changlun was placed in its
own little cut-off plain.
“It looks like it goes on forever,” Carmen continued. Jake was confused for
a moment before he realized. She wasn’t speaking of the city but what lay
beyond it. The vast ocean.
“Yeah,” Jake nodded once more. With his Perception, he could see all the
way to when the water fell below the horizon with not a single thing in
between. It just kept going for thousands upon thousands of kilometers. The
oceans covered around seventy percent of pre-system Earth’s surface, and
he had no reason to believe this had changed. With how big Earth was
now… it was hard to imagine just how humongous the body of water truly
was.
Much less to imagine the creatures dwelling within. The Alabaster snake
had said that the oceans were entirely open to all C-grades, and it made
sense. There were no enlightened species to protect, making the open
oceans a true hunting ground for all. There had to be so many C-grades
dwelling deep beneath. Heck, he felt like there were even C-grades pretty
close to the shoreline. They still seemed to keep a safe distance, though,
probably due to the aforementioned restrictions.
“Ree?” Sylphie asked.
“Yeah,” Jake repeated.
“Ree, ree?” Sylphie continued.
“There was a teleporter in Changlun, right?” Jake asked Carmen to confirm

Sylphie’s question.
Carmen looked a bit zoned out before finally answering: “Uh, yeah. There
should be. Just two jumps, and we should make it to the other continent. We
need to stop by an island about halfway before teleporting all the way due
to the distance.”
Jake nodded. He was aware of many of the intricacies with long-range

teleportation gates and knew that even with the favorable conditions offered
by the ocean, a mid-way point was probably for the best. In the same way
that a barrier like the Grand Mangrove River could disrupt teleportation,
then a path without any obstructions – such as over an ocean – would offer
no issues and make the process far more manageable.
“Let’s head in,” Jake finally said after they had stood there for a good
while. They barely managed to get down the hill before Jake sensed
someone approaching. A second later, he felt several gazes land upon them,
making it clear they had triggered some kind of security measure. Jake was
surprised he hadn’t detected it, but then again, he was certain there were
plenty of ways to make trip alarms he didn’t know about.
“Incoming,” he said casually, getting a nod from Carmen.
Jake spotted them a few moments later as three cloaked figures approached.
The one at the front was a bearded middle-aged man wielding a bow,
instantly making Jake think he couldn’t be that bad of a guy. He also had a
decent level.
[Human – lvl 142]
The man stopped together with his two companions a good hundred meters
away as he regarded them. “Lord Thayne and miss Carmen, I assume?”
“That would be correct,” Jake confirmed, not really that surprised they
knew they were coming. Them going wasn’t a secret, and Jake knew both
people from Valhal and Haven had been in talks with them about when the
teleporter was up and running.
“Aight. Just one thing, the boss said he wanted to invite you for a visit
before you head off,” the man said.
Jake thought it would only be polite as he agreed, and Carmen didn’t care
either. There was just one thing. “Before that, can you point us in the
direction of a hotel or something? I need a damn shower after spending
days within a damn mangrove.”
“Aye, just follow me back, and I can show you some of the fancier places,”
the man nodded.
Jake and Carmen followed the man as he led them through the plains and
the farmland as they went towards the city, getting a brief history lesson on
the way.
“Changlun was founded by a party of five from the Tutorial. We began

recruiting everyone interested nearby while fortifying the city. Ah, why
build so close to the ocean? Because while that big puddle is a bit
dangerous, it is also filled with good stuff. Parts of powerful beasts
sometimes wash up on the beach, natural treasures are plenty in the coral
reef just a few hundred meters out, and the ocean is also like a big infinite
mana battery able to power all the stuff the crafters need,” the man
explained.
That were just the major points, but it was clear Changlun was not made
without thought. After they entered, they saw the well-paved roads, clean
streets, and modern-looking buildings. It did look a bit industrial, but
otherwise, everything looked nice. The main building material was a kind
of white limestone bricks, making the city have an interesting color scheme.
They were led into a hotel, where they quickly booked rooms and got
washed up. They naturally got separate rooms, and Jake had fun playing
with Sylphie in a bathtub as the little featherball loved splashing him. He
did toss her out as he showered, though, as it wasn’t proper for a young lady
to be present.
After that, he met up and had some food with Carmen before they headed
back to the hotel again and decided to have a good rest while arranging for
the archer to meet them the next day. Jake and Carmen had agreed on
getting a good rest before heading to the other continent as they settled in,
and for the first time in a while, Jake got a good night’s sleep with a
bundled-up bird lying on his stomach.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 460 - Crossing the Great
Pond
Jake woke up the next morning to a bird nipping at his hair. Sylphie clearly
hadn’t been able to sleep as long as he had – assuming she had slept at all –
and had gotten bored. Shaking his head to get her off by scooping her up as
she put on a fake struggle.
“You’re a little bully, aren’t you?” Jake teased with a smile as she looked up
at him.
“Ree!” she answered defiantly.
“Excuses,” he chuckled as he let her go. She flew a few rounds around the
room as Jake used his spatial storage to get on all his armor. Just in time for
Sylphie to finish her morning exercise and landed on his shoulder.
Apparently, she had decided that today was not a bird-on-head day.
Being up and about, Jake knocked on the wall to Carmen’s room, quickly
getting a knock in return. They had no plans of staying in Changlun more
than that single night and promptly headed out to meet this boss their escort
mentioned. Jake was a bit interested as the presence of a boss contradicted
the narrative of a party of five founding the city.
However, as Jake and Carmen met up with the escort and went toward the
waterfront, Jake began to understand. He and Carmen were led into a pretty
well-sealed-off room where half of it was water, with an underground
connection leading straight into the ocean.
“Seems like we will be meeting more C-grades,” Jake chuckled, getting a

surprised look from both Carmen and their escort. The escort due to Jake
figuring it out and Carmen due to, well, surprise. The archer, knowing the
gig was up, said his farewell as he headed out.
The surface of the water within the sealed-off bunker suddenly churned as
Jake saw a figure rise from it. A humanoid form of pure water soon took
shape as Jake used Identify but got nothing in return. This was just a
summon of sorts, or perhaps remote manipulation.
“I welcome you, Malefic’s Chosen and warrior of Valhal,” the creature that
Jake assumed to be an elemental said.
“Hello there,” Jake just said, wondering what the presumed elemental
wanted.
Carmen just waved, equally restrained. The amount of mana he felt from
the apparition wasn’t extreme, but it did carry the faint aura of a C-grade. It
only seemed to be early-tier, though, not quite matching up to the Alabaster
snake or even the Termite King.
“I apologize if I disturbed your travel plans, but I believed it would be a

waste to not at the very least make your acquaintances,” the elemental said.
The more the elemental spoke, the more Jake became certain it wasn’t any
usual elemental, primarily due to its level of intelligence.
Elementals were notoriously stupid, and even if they awakened some

sapience, they tended to be a bit on the childish side, often having the
mental age of a child at most. Not in the same vein as Stormild, who just
had a childish nature, but more like Sylphie and her general naivety due to
her genuinely young age.
So, if an elemental displayed high levels of intelligence, it often stemmed

from it either being a powerful variant or related to an affinity that naturally
lent itself to high intellect. Assuming this was a water elemental of some
kind, Jake assumed it was the previous option.
“It’s all good,” Jake just answered the elemental. They didn’t really get to
say anything more as Jake felt six people enter the bunker through his
sphere. It was the archer from before walking with five other men. For a
second, Jake wondered if this was some poorly planned ambush, but he
didn’t feel any sense of danger coming from them, and they clearly didn’t
even try to hide their approach.
Carmen and Sylphie also noticed them as the three turned around. The five
men all looked to be in their late thirties to early forties, with the one in the
middle wearing a white robe. Jake vaguely felt the space affinity float
around the man, making it clear he was a space mage like Neil. His level
was also pretty good.
[Human – lvl 151]
The four with him were also all between 145 and 150. It didn’t take a
genius to guess this was the party of five that had founded the city of
Changlun.
“I believe it is only proper we also greet the Chosen and the warrior of
Valhal,” the space mage said as he bowed. The others mimicked the motion
as Jake nodded in acknowledgment. “I am sure you have questions about
why we are working with a C-grade monster, but I assure you it is nothing
malicious.”
“No, I really don’t,” Jake just shrugged to the group’s surprise. “But let me
guess, the elemental helps protect the city and give you natural treasures
and materials from the ocean, and in turn, you assist the elemental through a
variety of means. Probably things such as giving land-bound treasures the
elemental can’t get due to the restrictions C-grades are currently imposed
with.”
In fact, he would argue this fit pretty well with the entire Unusual Unions
theme from the World Congress. Of course, to Jake, this wasn’t really
unusual but just logical. Why would humans and monsters not work
together when it was mutually beneficial?
His deduction also seemed to prove correct as the elemental responded. “It
appears we underestimated the insight of the Chosen. I apologize for our
hubris, we merely wished to avoid any misunderstandings, and I would
personally prefer to not get a mark on my back but retain my and my
follower’s friendly relations with humanity.”
“Ah, no worries,” Jake just dismissed it. “You just keep doing you, and as
long as you don’t act like an asshole, I don’t see why we would have
trouble. Well, some humans might dislike you, but I am sure you and your
pals can handle that.”
“I can’t really speak for all of Valhal, but we wouldn’t just begin hunting
down an ally of an ally without reason,” Carmen added.
“I thank the Chosen and the warrior for their honesty,” the elemental said.
“In that case, I shall not delay your travels any longer. Godspeed.”
With those words, the summoned figure of water was dispelled as the water
collapsed and became one with the rest of the ocean once more. Jake wasn’t
sure if this entire conversation had been necessary, but he assumed the
elemental was just the careful sort.
“Lord Thayne?” the space mage said. “I just want to clarify once more that
we are allies with the elementals, and my companion here even shares a
Patron god. I believe that such an alliance can bring great benefits to
humanity and Earth in the future. Even if we are not directly aligned with
Haven or the Order of the Malefic Viper, we have no desire to stand in your
opposition. No, we wish to try and remain neutral and friendly with all, no
matter what happens.”
“I said it is fine,” Jake said. He hadn’t noticed the shared god, but now that
he scanned a bit, he saw one of the men gave off a faint aura similar to the
elemental. It didn’t have to mean they shared a Patron, just that they shared
some parts of the same Legacy.
Carmen also seemed to honestly not give a shit. They had never planned to
make this into any kind of diplomatic mission, so this entire thing was just a
sidetrack. This did turn the situation a bit awkward as Jake broke the
silence.
“You have made a nice city,” Jake said, doing the most cliché thing you can
when visiting someone – complimenting their home.
“Thanks,” the space mage said with a smile. “Now, let me lead you to the
teleportation chamber.”
They happily accepted as the space mage led them through the city while
making small talk. This particular teleportation chamber was placed
underground and quite far toward the sea. The mage explained it was for
safety reasons and because they used the powerful mana of the ocean to
power the teleportation. In fact, the type of space magic deployed by the
mage wasn’t the same branch of space magic as Neil’s.
No, the City Lord of Changlun somehow mixed water and space magic.
This led to travel over water being far faster and easier, even potentially
allowing underwater cities with working teleportation gates. He even said it
would be easier for him to teleport to an underwater settlement through
water than teleporting through the air.
The island they were supposed to teleport to was roughly a hundred

thousand kilometers from Chunglun, making this the longest teleport they
would ever do. This was only possible due to the unique talents of the space
mage to borrow the water affinity mana given off by the ocean.
Meeting this man and hearing his explanations was a reminder of the
hidden talents all over Earth. He clearly had his head on right and was,
without a doubt, a far more talented mage than Neil, at least from a
technical standpoint.
When they got to the teleportation chamber, they saw there were only three
circles active. One to the island and two leading to smaller cities inland in
the other direction than the Grand Mangrove River. The man did explain
that he hoped to get past the blockage that was the mangrove, but currently,
it was beyond his abilities.
“Thanks for the talk, and good luck with everything,” Jake said as he,
Sylphie, and Carmen stepped onto the teleportation circle.
“It was my pleasure,” the man said just before the party of three teleported
away.
Jake felt his vision shift, and for a moment, he felt like he was one with the
water all around him. An image of the endless ocean flashed in his mind
before he suddenly found himself standing on a new teleportation circle.
The teleportation had gone more smoothly than expected except for one
thing.
“Why are we wet?” Carmen asked.
“Ree!” Sylphie complained as she shook her feathers to get the water off
her. Jake was also surprised as they were all utterly soaked from the
teleportation. As he began considering if it was a side-effect of the type of
space magic used, he had it confirmed.
“I apologize for them still not having fixed the issue with the teleporter,” a
female attendant said as she entered the hall they had been teleported into.
She was only E-grade and didn’t seem to recognize them at all. “May I
know your business on Saint Helestras? It is unusual for visitors to come
outside of the travel window.”
The travel window she mentioned was something that had been established
to avoid constant people coming through. It was to make administration
easier, and there was an hour each day for people to use the teleporters, with
it being off-limits at all other times besides special circumstances.
“We are merely traveling through and get to… what was the place called
again?” Jake asked Carmen.
“Pebblerock or something,” she answered.
“Puddlerock?” the attendant asked, a bit confused.
“That one,” Carmen nodded affirmingly.
“I will still need to know your order of business and file out a visitor’s pass
and register your arrival,” the attendant said apologetically. “This is all
following basic protocol and for the safety of everyone.”
Jake sighed a bit inwardly as he knew this was obviously just a half-truth. If
the name of this island – Saint Helestras – didn’t make it clear, then this city
was one established by the Holy Church. The fact that the Church was in
charge of an island that was fast developing into a central travel point
between the two continents was a bit concerning, but it was the kind of
concern Miranda would deal with.
“No need for that,” Jake just said, in no mood for some annoying screening
process.
“I must insist on performing the required interviews or-“
“No,” Jake once more said. “And tell the guards to stop hiding. What are
they doing anyway? Trying to cosplay the Court of Shadows? Doing a real
shitty job if so.”
He had already felt seven people hidden within a side room behind a barrier
and some fancy-ass light magic that naturally didn’t work versus his Sphere
of Perception. They realized hiding was useless when he called them out
and exited the room with their guards high. Not that it mattered… Jake
didn’t even need to use Identify to know none of them were even halfway a
threat.
“Comply with regulations, or we will have to take you into custody and-“
“Mate,” Jake cut him off. “Rules apply only to the applicable. Now point
me in the direction of the teleportation circle to Puddlerock and stop
wasting my time. We will be gone before you know it.”
“Sir… these rules are imposed by the United Cities Alliance, and we have
to follow them or-“
“Actually, no need,” Jake cut her off again as he began walking towards a
teleportation circle. They had tried to hide it, but Jake had seen them toss it
a look when he mentioned Puddlerock. He knew how the teleporters
worked already. As he went towards it, he felt the guard take out a token,
but Jake tossed him a look as the man froze due to Gaze of the Apex
Hunter.
“I wouldn’t,” Jake said as he and the others stepped on the platform and
activated it. To the bewildered looks of those present, they were whisked
away as finally, the group of three made it to the other continent across the
great pond.
The teleportation was as smooth as the last one as they appeared even more
drenched IN seawater within the port city known as Puddlerock. A
downright terrible name, but what could be expected of a city part of the
United Cities Alliance? Even Jake didn’t like the name and found it too
damn generic, and that was coming from a guy naming a hawk Hawkie and
his own city Haven.
Jake and Carmen were once more approached by people the moment they
appeared. A man and woman both wearing what looked like police
uniforms very reminiscent of what actual officers wore pre-system.
“May I see your travel passes?” the man asked.
“Ain’t got any,” Jake just said as he and Carmen began walking out of the
teleportation building. Jake saw this one was also placed relatively isolated
and had plenty of barriers defending it.
“Sir, I need you to cooperate,” the female officer said.
“Never been good at that one,” Jake shook his head as he turned to them.
“Fine, I guess we do need some directions. Carmen, where to next?”
“Well, there should be a guy called Clinton who used to travel with the
people we are tracking,” she answered.
“Clinton. Got it,” Jake nodded as he turned to the officers. “You guys love
your administrative stuff, so where can we go look up where this guy
lives?”
The two just stood there frozen, both incredibly tense due to the hawk
sitting on Jake’s shoulder, menacingly staring the two poor officers down.
Luckily for them, they didn’t need to do anything as Jake felt a new
presence approach rapidly.
The man teleported into the room as he appeared right between the two
officers with a bright smile on his lips. “Welcome to Puddlerock! Excuse
the silly name; I wasn’t the one who decided on it. A pleasure to meet all
three of you.”
The young man wore silver armor and had two blades strapped to his back.
He smiled confidently as he stood there, and Jake could see why. He was
level 157 and didn’t look like a chump at all. Moreover, Jake was certain
the guy was blessed by some god. It was just a feeling, but a feeling was
good enough for Jake.
“Hi there. I take it you got some clout in this city?” Jake asked the man.
“Considering my old man runs the place, yeah,” he answered as he looked

at the officers. “Shouldn’t you two be leaving or at least show some
respect? We are in the presence of quite the personages.”
The officers looked frightened as they bowed before nearly running out of
the teleportation hall. By now, a few more people had also appeared in the
lobby that housed over a dozen teleportation gates. “Go somewhere easier
to talk?” the silver-armored young man asked.
“Sure,” Jake agreed as they headed off towards some public office. Jake and
Carmen got a quick look at the city but had little interest as they were
focused on the task at hand: tracking down Carmen’s family.
And probably a few more Primas along the way. Just for good measure.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 461 - City-Hopping
Jake and Carmen stood outside of the small brick house. It looked cheaply
built, which made sense as this was squarely in the slums of Puddlerock.
Apparently, many of those who lived there had been exiled from Saint-
something island due to breaking some of their stupid Holy Church rules.
Or maybe they just had a bit too much independence to fit in.
“This is the place?” Carmen asked as Jake checked the paper in his hand.
“Definitely looks like it,” he nodded. “How did you find out about this
Clinton guy anyway?”
“The Holy Church isn’t the only faction with people able to divine stuff.
Valhal has Rune Seers and stuff like that. I just got in touch with one of the
better ones, and she used my Records to track my family by linking me to
them. This is how she found this guy, too, as his karma is deeply tied to
theirs,” Carmen explained.
“I see,” Jake nodded. He still wasn’t clear on how Carmen wanted him to
track her family, considering he had yet to see anything to go from that
wasn’t just good old detective work. For the Primas, he could use their
energy signatures, and he would need something similar if he was to track
humans.
“Why are we stalling, by the way?” Jake then asked.
“I wasn’t,” Carmen said defensively as she raised her hand to knock on the
door. She hesitated a bit before she finally built up the courage.
She knocked two times as the two of them waited. Jake wasn’t worried
about no one being home, considering he could already see the man inside
sitting in a chair reading a book. He was on the older side, probably in his
late fifties to early sixties. Also, inside the house, Jake had already spotted a
lot of fishing gear, and overall the guy called Clinton just gave Jake the
impression of an average retired man who liked to fish.
When Carmen knocked, the man looked up, frowned, and placed the book
on a table as he went to open the door. It didn’t take long before he was
there, but he didn’t open it right away.
“Who's there?” he asked carefully.
“My name is Carmen… I am looking for some people you used to travel
with, and I heard you could provide some information,” the warrior of
Valhal said a bit nervously.
The man instantly responded as he opened the door slowly at first, but was
surprised and swung it open rapidly when he saw her. “Who are you?”
Carmen looked a bit surprised herself. “I already told you my name.”
“Your voice just reminded me of someone else… sorry. Ah, where are my
manners? Come on in. I hear you are looking for someone?” the man called
Clinton said, finally calming down.
That is until he saw Jake wearing his mask and the hawk sitting on his
shoulder. He stared at them a bit as Jake just raised his hand to give a
friendly wave, Sylphie mimicking him as she raised her wing to also wave.
Cuteness won out as the man couldn’t help but smile at the sight and was
further calmed by Carmen’s explanation. “He is a tracker I work with to
help me find the people I am looking for.”
Clinton nodded once more as he invited them in, and after the usual
pleasantries of being offered a drink and politely declining, they finally got
to the main topic.
“I can already guess who you are looking for… you look just like her. Your
mother is called Marcia, right? Your father, Antonios?” Clinton asked with
a light smile.
Carmen frowned a bit as she nodded, but Jake also felt a faint sense of
relief. If it was because of the use of present tense implying they were still
alive or the confirmation the man named Clinton knew about them, Jake
wasn’t sure.
“They were also traveling with several others from my family, right?”
Carmen asked.
“Oh yes, quite a few. I think it is lucky that an entire family could enter a
Tutorial together. I remember your father mentioning you and saying how
you were away at college at the time and therefore weren’t present at the
annual dinner. It must have been tough,” Clinton said apologetically.
“Unlucky… yeah,” Carmen muttered as her gaze turned a bit cold. “I am

currently looking for them and heard you know more. But before that, how
come you left their group?”
Clinton sighed. “While it was a very cohesive group, there was also a lot
of… drama. Being an outsider, I had no influence, so when I finally came
across a safe settlement, I chose to make it my home. I also must apologize,
but I am not sure exactly where they went, just that they went towards the
western city of Longchester.”
Jake finally decided to also enter the conversation as he asked: “Do you
have something related to any of them? An item they crafted or used that
hasn’t been bound to someone yet, or maybe something similar?”
“Hm,” Clinton frowned, not questioning why Jake asked for it. “I may have
something. Let me look.”
The man got up and went to check in another room. Jake had decided to
butt in for two reasons. First of all, because it needed to be asked, and
secondly, because he saw how hard Carmen was clenching her fists below
the table. He found it a bit weird but still decided that changing the topic a
bit would be for the best.
Jake had no idea why Carmen was even looking for her family. He had
never asked but had assumed it was similar to his own reasons. Having no
plans to pry into her personal business, he would just let her handle it, and
even if there was some bad blood between her and her family, it was for her
to deal with. All would come to light if they found them anyway.
“Ah, here it is!” the man said as he brought out a wand. Jake looked at it
and instantly felt a mana signature from it. “This wand belonged to
Antonios. He got a better one when we entered this city, and I didn’t have a
high enough level to bind it to myself at the time… when I finally did, I
realized I had no plans of fighting anymore.”
With a string of mana, Jake floated the wand over and scanned it. The mana
within was faint, but Jake was sure of it. It belonged to a person that wasn’t
Clinton. Carmen was looking at him, and Jake nodded as she sighed in
relief, muttering something about the Rune Seer not scamming her.
“How much for it?” Carmen asked Clinton.
“You can have it,” the man just smiled. “Your father and mother helped me
out a lot in the Tutorial, and I owe them at least that. It was your father’s
anyway, so returning it to his family only seems right.”
“Alright,” Carmen nodded with mixed emotions.
“If you do find them, please give them my greetings. I hope they are doing
well,” Clinton said as he leaned back and took a sip of coffee.
“Just one final question… was there a woman called Beatrice with them?”
Carmen asked in a serious tone.
“Of course!” Clinton said with a cheerful smile. “She was such a nice
young woman. Beatrice is your cousin, right? You are about the same age,
but I hear that you drifted apart due to some differences. I hope you two can
reconcile. After all, family is more important than ever in this new world.
Do say hi to her for me, alright?”
Carmen just frowned but nodded. “I will be sure to greet her when we meet,
that I can promise you.”
“You guy’s ready to go?” the silver-armored warrior said as he escorted
Jake, Carmen, and Sylphie to the teleportation chamber once more. He had
actually been way more helpful than Jake had first thought he would,
having more or less stalked them ever since they entered the city.
The man had even handed him a map of quite a large area that had been
created by the United Cities Alliance. It was a lot like Arnold’s map, just
about a hundred times worse and less detailed. A lot of it was rough
estimates with no proper identification of where dangerous beasts resided.
This did partly make sense, as to the United Cities Alliance, an area filled
with level 160 monsters was viewed as pretty much the same as one filled
with C-grades, marking them all as danger zones.
It did give some insight into areas worth investigating, though. But before
they would have time to head out and check the danger zones – hopefully
finding two Primas on the way - they would head off to this Longchester
place and continue their tracking mission.
There was just one minor problem… the young man in silver armor really
wanted to come with them and had even made a decent case for why they
should bring him along. He was well-known and had knowledge of all the
areas they were heading to. With his reputation alone, he would remove all
potential barriers to their travels just by being present.
“You sure you really wanna come?” Carmen asked skeptically, with Jake
getting why. The guy looked young, probably barely in his twenties. He
also just struck Jake as a bit green, even if his level was high. He was too…
cheerful. But then again, Jake wasn’t the best at reading people if they were
good at hiding their emotions.
“I can carry my own weight,” he smiled. “Trust me, I will be of use, even in
a fight!”
Jake just shrugged. “Just know we aren’t your babysitters.”
“Naturally not,” the warrior kept smiling. After a bit more convincing and
the man even pulling out a small satchel with snacks for Sylphie, their
group was convinced. If nothing else, then he was a damn good planner.
They continued their journey that had rapidly turned from a three-man
journey into a four-man one.
This did change the dynamic quite a bit, as Jake and Carmen were the kinds
of people who could run through the plains for twenty hours straight
without exchanging a single word. But this guy? It was like he had a
condition that would make him explode if he shut up for more than ten
minutes straight.
Anyway, this guy was called Peter, the kid of the city leader of Puddlerock.
At first, he seemed a bit… well, dull, but the more the guy talked, the more
Jake’s opinion changed. Even Carmen seemed to shift her perception quite
a bit.
Peter was originally a member of the Holy Church. The plan had been for
him to get good relations with the massive faction on the planet to help out
his father and because he genuinely wanted to make Earth a better place.
The Church was present on both continents from the start, with its influence
spreading from the beginning.
At first, the young man had fit in well. His affinity for light magic was high,
and he was quickly recruited as a potential paladin. He had risen through
the ranks, gained power, had his own elite party, and generally just been a
real asset. He actually enjoyed his time there and thought the Church a
force of good… until something happened.
Peter had been part of the Treasure Hunt. He had left pretty early on due to
getting into a scuffle with vampires a bit above his own league, but some
members of his party had stayed behind. One of them was a mage that the
young guy clearly had a crush on despite not admitting it even with all his
blabbering.
She never returned.
This in itself was not that suspicious. Many died during the hunt. Peter had
kept going as normal for months after that until one day, he had
coincidentally met up with her parents and heard them talk about how much
of a hero their daughter had been. Peter had agreed, but when they talked a
bit more about her, he found out that she hadn’t died in a fight or anything
like that. She had sacrificed herself in a ritual to create a sword.
Jake remembered the Sword Bertram had used on the Monarch of Blood
but only now knew how they made it. He remembered the power Bertram
had displayed, and only now did it make sense how they had managed to
create it.
Peter had been distraught, and he only felt more messed up when no one
around him thought it that weird. They praised her sacrifice and said she
was just in the Holy Land now. He had even been brought and spoken to
her spirit… but even so. She had even explained how she had reached the
end of her Path and had trouble gaining levels, and she had gone out doing
what was best for everyone.
Even if Peter could see the logic, he just didn’t like it. He had heard about it
happening but, like an idiot, never believed it would happen to someone he
cared about. His faith was broken, and it was almost as if his progress
stopped from one day to the next.
When the system event of Unusual Unions arrived, he participated and

became what he was today. He had even renounced the god from the Holy
Church that had blessed him. This had all led to some fallout between
Puddlerock and the Holy Church, and honestly, Jake put two and two
together pretty quickly that Peter’s old man hoped to create good relations
with Valhal and the Order of the Malefic Viper through Jake and Carmen as
the bridge to the Holy Church was more or less burned.
Since the event, Peter had progressed more than ever and began leveling
again. He was not associated with any faction besides the United Cities
Alliance and was more or less a lone wolf. Now, for the final question, how
was he in a fight? Well, that was yet to be determined as none of the guards
or officers they met as they teleported around wanted one. And boy did they
meet a lot of guards.
The next days were spent teleporting to a city, going to the public office of
the city, and then tracking down Carmen’s family in the records. Luckily
they were a group of nearly thirty people, making them stand out quite a bit,
but it was still damn annoying.
Peter helped immensely by cutting away all the red tape and giving them
instant access. It still took a while to get around and put together
everything, but finally, they got confirmation after visiting city number
eleven.
The family was found.
They were in a city without a teleportation circle in it and had lived there
for about two months. Now, while this city didn’t have a teleportation circle
currently, that didn’t mean it never had one. It had been deactivated about
three weeks back due to what an official described as “political differences
that were currently being resolved.”
Talking to a merchant who had been there recently, things became a bit
more clear.
“Eh, they had some issues with the guy running it not wanting to contribute
taxes or something last I heard… or maybe it had something to do with all
the workers. I honestly don’t know, but the place is a damn mess and keeps
raking in money. I would generally stay away,” the merchant had said.
“Why?” Jake asked.
The merchant looked at Jake and shook his head. “the place is just a bit
messed up and serves a certain clientele… but hey, if you are into whores,
gambling, and doing some messed up stuff, you may enjoy it. I sure know I
ain’t going back. If I did, my wife would kill me.”
For some reason, Carmen smiled upon hearing this description. As for
Peter, he just frowned, clearly not aware of the place. As for the name of the
city… well, it had the most on-the-nose name Jake had ever encountered:
Paradise.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 462 - Tracking & Danger
Bird
Paradise. A city with a quite apt description for certain kinds of people. It
was the kind of place that the United Cities Alliance didn’t truly recognize
as a member but still wanted in their circle. A necessary evil, so to say,
where all the weird and controversial shit could be done. A center of
debauchery, wealth, and whatever the heart desired – and that came from its
own marketing.
Peter had gone and gathered all the intel he could on the place. Considering
what he got was clearly a watered-down version of the actual place, Jake
was impressed the ”civilized” United Cities Alliance hadn’t denounced it
yet. They didn’t exactly promote or endorse it but just acted like Paradise
didn’t really exist, and their stance had led to some recent trouble resulting
in the teleportation circle being cut off.
This meant they would have to travel there on foot, which the clerk heavily
advised against. Apparently, one would have to pass quite the dangerous
zone where these gazelle-like creatures roamed, and they were known to be
rather aggressive towards anyone invading their territory. Hearing this, Jake
naturally knew they had to check it out.
There was still one thing bothering him, though.
”Any idea why your family would choose to settle down in that kind of
place?” Jake asked Carmen the second they were outside the city.
She looked in thought for a moment before answering. ”I don’t really want
to know, but if I had to guess, then it is because they thrive in that kind of
environment. My aunt and uncle made their fortune by running a casino,
and I know my grandparents were heavily involved in the medicinal
industry, so producing drugs or shit like that is right up their alley. As for
my parents, they probably just followed whatever my grandparents, uncle,
and aunt wanted.”
”Sounds like a pretty messed up family dynamic,” Jake commented.
”Yeah,” Carmen just said as she fell silent.
”Whatever the case, I hope they are safe,” Peter tried to comfort her. It
didn’t seem to work very well as Carmen just ignored the guy.
While Jake did believe Carmen wanted them to be ”safe,” he had an odd
feeling about why she wanted that. She seemed to carry a lot of animosity,
yet she also clearly wanted to meet them again. Jake knew he wasn’t even
halfway qualified to try and figure out what was going on, but he did know
that Carmen certainly didn’t come from a typical family.
”Let’s just get moving,” Carmen said, making them drop the topic as the
four of them headed off. Jake took out the Prima fragment as he also
thought to ask Peter.
”You killed any Primas or gained any fragments?” Jake asked.
The young man sighed and shook his head. ”Yes to the first one, no to the
second. While I was still with the Church, we killed a Prima, but the
fragment was given back to the leaders. I haven’t killed or even come
across any since then.”
Jake nodded in understanding. ”Alright. Just gonna say right now that we
still need two for Carmen, so even if we come across any, she has them
reserved.”
”Naturally,” the young man agreed. Jake didn’t detect any hint of
disappointment from him either, so he nodded as they headed forward with
great speed, only slowed down by Peter a little bit. Being a warrior with
light magic, he was actually relatively fast, but his movement skills were
more focused on instantaneous movement than long-range travel.
Sylphie helped as always with her wind magic, and only now did Peter
seem to truly take notice of this small hawk. Jake hadn’t really thought
much about it, but he now realized that most people probably just viewed
Sylphie as an extension of Jake. An animal companion or something akin to
that.
”I don’t think I ever properly introduced you to Sylphie, did I?” Jake asked,
way overdue.
Peter just smiled and said. ”I do not believe you did.”
”Well, Sylphie is Sylphie, a pretty young little hawk, and probably one of
the strongest creatures on the planet at her level, with less than ten humans
alive able to fight her,” Jake quickly introduced her.
The young man froze a bit as he chuckled and looked at the hawk. ”Nice to
meet you.”
”Ree!” Sylphie answered a bit offended. Even she was able to detect his
lack of belief in what Jake had said.
”I am not joking,” Jake said in a serious tone. ”She is higher level than both
Carmen and I, and she is a high-tier variant.”
”Yeah, I’m gonna be honest; I would probably lose in a fight,” Carmen

shrugged. ”She is faster than any of us, incredibly elusive, hard to pin
down, and has incredibly potent attacks.”
Sylphie began circling them as Jake could feel how much she enjoyed being
praised and spoken highly of. Peter looked at the cute little hawk with
newfound respect and a bit of fear as he seemed to finally understand they
weren’t joking. It did help that Sylphie was circling them faster and faster
and created a small hurricane that they were in the eye of, even while
running at high speed.
The guy also finally didn’t speak for more than ten minutes as more than an
hour passed in silence. He and Jake ended up opening their mouthes at
nearly the same time as they reached the outskirts of a grassy plain:
”I feel a Prima.”
”We reached the territory of the gazelles.”
Jake and Peter exchanged gazes as Jake smirked. ”Well then, seems like this
won’t be a waste of time. I am a bit confused, though. How come no one
has bothered hunting down this gazelle?”
”It and its pack moved in-”
”A group of gazelles is called a herd,” Jake corrected him.
”It and its herd moved in only a month or so ago, and they are fast and
difficult to track down while also being rather powerful,” Peter explained
correctly.
Jake nodded as he felt for the Prima. He knelt down and sensed the faint
energy left in the air by the gazelle Prima as he and the others began
making their way into the plains. While usually referred to as a mana
signature, it was more accurate to call it an energy signature, as even
someone like Carmen without mana had this identifiable trait. It was tied to
the soul, and even with evolutions, it remained more or less the same. In
many ways, it could be viewed as the DNA of the Truesoul.
There were ways to obscure it, and for the first time, Jake felt something
like that. The trails of energy left by the Prima were muddled. It was like
the beast had gone in both directions at the same time while also giving
Jake a hunch it had actually gone in neither.
This was one way to hide trails better: making false ones. Jake’s stealth
would hide his energy signature, and most stealth-related skills worked like
that. Due to the way energy was related to the body, it was effectively
entangled with the soul, meaning that when Jake used a stealth skill, it hid
all the mana in his surroundings, even the traces he had passively left before
going stealth.
What the gazelle did was far more complicated than merely hiding. A false
trail combined with stealth skills would mean the gazelle could easily create
ambushes and whatnot while never itself falling into a trap. Moreover, when
Jake felt the presence of other gazelles than the Prima, he felt their trail be
identical to the Primas.
”This thing is good,” Jake muttered.
”What is it?” Carmen asked.
”The Gazelle Prima is able to mask its tracks and lay down false ones…
Peter, have other people tried to hunt it?” Jake turned to the young man.
”Yeah, quite a few, but they never find it or never return. That is also why
we didn’t even know it was even a Prima,” he said worriedly.
Jake nodded. He inspected the energy signatures but simply had no way to
properly distinguish them and track down the gazelles using them. Usually,
this would be where Jake was fucked, but there was one more thing he
could do.
He waved his hand as strings of arcane mana were woven and cut away
some of the tall grass in front of him. He went forward as he scanned the
area with Sphere of Perception until he finally found what he had been
looking for.
”Please stay back,” Jake said to the others as he carefully condensed mana
under his feet and went forward, avoiding stepping on the grass. With the
strings of mana, he cut away more grass as he finally found what he had
been looking for: physical tracks.
Tracking in the new world was quite a bit different from old-world tracking.
Tracking in the old world relied on actual tracks, analyzing feces, and just
looking for any physical evidence left behind by the traveling animal. A lot
of these methods were made harder with the system. One such example was
the fact that trampled grass was far more resilient and would simply make
itself stand again and regenerate with a bit of mana mere minutes after
being trampled.
However, the ground below did not even itself out. It became covered by
the grass, but Jake could still see the earth below had been dented. Hoof
marks had been left and using them, it became clear the gazelles had gone
through there. Unsurprisingly enough, there was no trail of energy despite
them clearly running there, but one leading off in another false direction.
Now, it would be a difficult thing to determine where the tracks were

pointing. Physical tracking was rarely done, and Jake could only really do it
due to his incredibly high Perception allowing him to see minute changes
coupled with his Sphere of Perception, but even that did not grant him the
knowledge to read and analyze the tracks. This is where Jake had one final
card up his sleeve: he used to really like binging those TV shows about
guys drinking their own piss and walking around in the wild while
explaining stuff.
”One has larger hooves than the others… but is lighter,” Jake muttered. He
followed the trail a bit and became more and more sure this one was
relatively recent. The soil would still smoothen itself out with time due to
the grass and when it rained and whatnot, and he could see the absolutely
minuscule smoothening of the hoof marks by only traveling half a kilometer
or so.
”That way for sure… and recent. Hm…”
Jake closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. No matter how good the
gazelle was, it was only D-grade like him. Even if it had a powerful skill
and was talented, Jake had something even better: a high as fuck Perception
stat.
Releasing some of his own arcane mana, he introduced stability into his
surroundings. Everything seemed to almost freeze as Jake scanned the mana
in the air and around the tracks. He discovered what he was looking for
down inside the hoof-print he had been looking at, or more accurately,
embedded in the soil. It was just a faint wisp of energy that did not belong
there. But it was enough. Once thoroughly scrutinized by Jake, it revealed
itself as the kind of energy he had been looking for.
That of the Prima.

It was like the entire technique made to hide the Prima unraveled as he
found this. The false tracks now correctly appeared false in his mind, and a
true track emerged, leading into the distance.
”Got you.”
[Hunter’s Tracking (Uncommon)] - The hunter does not sit silently in his
lodge but actively hunts for his prey. Unlocks proficiency in tracking
down prey based on limited clues left behind. Also allows the hunter to
more easily identify characteristics of the game, including mana
signatures and aura. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Perception while
tracking.
-->
[Traditional Hunter’s Tracking (Rare)] - The hunter does not sit silently
in his lodge but actively hunts for his prey. Unlocks proficiency in
tracking down prey based on limited clues left behind, including both
magical and physical ones. Also allows the hunter to more easily identify
characteristics of the game, including mana signatures and aura. Allows
the hunter to more easily distinguish and analyze physical tracks. Adds a
bonus to the effect of Perception while tracking.
Jake smiled as he got the upgrade. This one came as no surprise as Jake
finally advanced the skill. He knew the tracking skill was a lot like the
weapon skills or even the stealth skill. Abilities with identical names could
have different effects, and Jake knew he had gone in a rather mundane – or
traditional - direction with his tracking by using conventional methods, but
it clearly had been good enough. Others would mix in odd stuff like
analyzing space or the two perhaps most popular paths: karmic analysis and
time magic.
Those were a bit too fancy for Jake to dabble in quite yet.
”You got it?” Carmen asked.
”I got it,” Jake smiled as the party of four took off to kill themselves
another Prima.
The silent wind swept through the plains as a group of three people stood
on the plains and gazed upon their handiwork.
”Well. That was a disappointment,” Jake muttered.
”Are you sure this was a real Prima?” Carmen asked.
”It dropped a fragment, so… yeah?” Jake said, equally perplexed.
Peter stood and stared all around him at the scattered body parts. Sylphie
was busy plucking out all the Beastcores and even ate a few of them as
snacks.
”You gotta do that ritual thing?” Jake asked.
”I only do that for good fights,” Carmen just scoffed. ”This barely – if at all
- qualified as a fight.”
”Fair,” Jake nodded as he managed to swipe up the core of the Prima before
Sylphie got to it.
Anyway, it turned out the Gazelle Prima was weak as fuck. It was a bit fast
and good at hiding itself, but considering Jake could track it and they had a
hawk that was even faster than it had been, the fight had been over in less
than a minute. The Prima had also only been level 139, making it so weak
that any one of them could have taken it in a one-on-one, even Peter.
”This does explain why it hid away when strong parties came looking,”
Peter mumbled.
”Yep,” Jake nodded.
”Ree!” Sylphie said as Jake had to walk over and pat her on the head.
”Yeah, you did well!”
She really had. She had managed to cut off one of the legs of the Prima and
then proceeded to slice and dice it about fifteen times before finally
decapitating it with a fly-by to cut through roughly ninety percent of its
neck. Then it just took a pair of talons penetrating the skull of the Prima,
and a good yank later, the head was off.
The poor guy Peter hadn’t really had a chance to show off but had just
killed a few of the normal gazelles part of the herd. He also looked at the
small hawk with new eyes as he clearly thoroughly believed Jake had not
been joking about her being a little ball of cuteness and death.
”Ree...” Sylphie screeched faintly as she acted all worn out as she looked
up at Jake with begging eyes. Jake knew the spoiled bird just wanted to be
cuddled and praised as he picked her up and held her like a cat, much to her
pleasure.
He kept stroking her as she nuzzled up to him as he looked at the two

others.
”Anyhow, with all that done, let’s get to Paradise.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 463 - Paradise
”It looks pretty normal,” Jake said as he looked down at the city known as
Paradise. ”Very well-defended too.”
”The question is if those walls and barriers are to keep monsters out or the
people in,” Peter said with a frown.
”Perhaps a bit of both,” Carmen added.
They were all currently standing on top of a cliff, looking at the city below.
It was defended by many natural barriers and had tall cliffs on nearly all
sides. Finding it had actually been a bit difficult due to how well-hidden the
city was, and one of their defensive barriers also had a stealth component. It
was pretty crap compared to what Skyggen had, but it was likely good
enough to fool most people and beasts.
”Just saying, we’ve been spotted,” Jake said as he noticed a presence lock
in on them. Well, to call it a presence was not entirely accurate as when
Jake looked around, he noticed a crystal embedded in a large boulder not
too far away. It was from that the gaze originated, and Jake assumed it came
from some magical surveillance system.
Jake turned towards the crystal and looked at it to make it clear he knew. He
wasn’t if the crystal could also communicate audio, so he waved at it once
as he waited.
”What if they attack us?” Peter asked, a bit concerned.
”Then we show them why that would be stupid,” Jake answered with a
shrug.
He did not feel any presences within the city that he felt especially
concerned about. Though he had to admit, he felt far more powerful auras
within than he had expected.
The city of Paradise was a well-built city with large houses and mansions of
stone and wood. It had one of those mixed styles between medieval and
modern, but it was clear this place was far more wealthy than most other
cities. The houses were incredibly high quality, and the builders had even
added many cosmetic touches to make the mansions look more expensive.
There were still a few less-than-fancy buildings scattered about. They

looked a bit like apartment complexes, and Jake guessed this was where the
workers lived.
In the center of Paradise was the largest of all the buildings. It was a tall
stone building, probably about fifty stories high, and with far more fancy
construction than any other place. It was massive and dwarfed every other
building in its surroundings. It was surrounded by several other high-rises,
all about twenty stories and in similar styles.
”This looks like one of the places my dad used to own a vacation home,”
Peter mumbled.
”Yeah…” Carmen said as she stared, lost in thought. ”Jake, when we go in,
can we try to be a bit… subtle? I want to take this slow and not raise a
ruckus right away unless we need to, okay? I want to find out what is going
on before my family knows I am here.”
Jake threw her a glance and nodded. ”Alright. I want to investigate this
place, too, so we probably shouldn’t just start blasting. Also, incoming.”
Over a dozen cloaked figures were rapidly approaching them, and Jake at
first thought they were perhaps related to the Court of Shadows due to the
dark magic used by one of them, but on closer inspection, it was just regular
dark magic and not the special branch of shadow magic used by followers
of Umbra.
While their stealth skills were far from good enough to hide from Jake even
before they entered his sphere, it was clearly good enough to fool Carmen
and Peter. Sylphie seemed to have also noticed them only a bit after Jake,
but he knew she had her own weird Sylphian methods.
The figures appeared around Jake and the others a moment later, with only
five of them revealing themselves. Nine others spread out in the area
surrounding them. They kept a safe distance and stayed in stealth, ready for
if Jake or the others turned out to be antagonistic.
“Quite the welcome party,” Jake said the moment the five figures appeared.
All of them wore dark cloaks and entirely black masks with only holes for
the eyes. They were not that much different from Jake’s own mask
aesthetically beside the color and wooden texture. Jake obviously used
Identify on the man at the front right away and got a not-that-unexpected
response.
[Human – lvl ???]
The man looked at Jake and the others for a moment as his eyes lingered on
Jake. Finally, he smiled and removed his mask, revealing the face of a man
in his thirties. “I apologize. We were not informed or aware of the Malefic’s
Chosen visiting Paradise.”
Jake wasn’t surprised they knew who he was and had honestly been more
busy looking at the guy as he finally got around it. There we go.
[Human – lvl 141]
It was a bit like Phillip way back in the day. Jake just needed an extra
moment to circumvent whatever the person used to hide their level.
Considering the guy was at a lower level than himself, it wasn’t that hard.
“I didn’t exactly announce my travel plans anywhere,” Jake quipped back.
“Understandable. May I ask your purpose in visiting Paradise?” the

formerly masked man asked.
Jake tossed Carmen a glance, and she nodded as she spoke up. “He is here
with me. I am looking for some people that I heard reside within the city.”
“Hm, I am not able to share any personal details of any residents per the
law of Paradise, not even if the ones you are looking for do indeed reside
there. Do not misunderstand; it is not that I am unwilling to share but
unable. We simply do not collect any information as subtlety and anonymity
is a cornerstone of the city and a necessity due to the clients we serve,” the
man explained.
“They are in the city,” Jake just said. He could feel the mana signature
similar to Carmen’s father’s wand somewhere down in the city below. Jake
was unable to pinpoint where in the city due to the barriers defending the
pace, be was certain he got a response from there. In other words, Carmen’s
father was there.
“There you have it,” Carmen said.
“I see,” the cloaked figure sighed. “ May I know what your business is with
these people? Needless to say, we would prefer to avoid any issues or
disruption of daily operations.”
“No,” Carmen just shut down the line of questions.
The man looked a bit troubled as Jake just waved it off. “Are you going to
show us the city or what?”
“Very well,” he finally relented as he took out two masks from his
inventory. “Here, have these free of charge for your two companions. Using
masks within Paradise is customary, and they assist in hiding your energy
and identity. They even have an enchantment capable of blocking out most
mundane Identify attempts.”
Jake swept them up with a few strings of mana. He inspected them briefly
and found them working as advertised before tossing them to Carmen and
Peter. Both of them put on the masks after also briefly examining them.
“May I know what kind of role the hawk serves?” the man also asked.
“What do you mean?” Jake asked, already ready to get angry at the man
calling Sylphie a pet.
“Just merely if it is a companion capable of combat or a pet of some sort. I

assume it is the prior due to the hawk’s power,” the cloaked man explained
further. “In either case, the hawk will be bound by the same rules as
everyone else, but be advised there are certain… activitiesbeasts are unable
to partake in.”
Jake had no fucking idea how to respond to that as Carmen looked

mortified after putting two and two together, with Peter looking a bit
confused.
“Ree?” Sylphie asked, equally if not more confused.
“Nothing,” Jake just said before throwing the cloaked man a glare. He
seemed to get it as he backed down and continued.
“Please follow me if you will,” the man said as they followed him down the
cliffside. “Paradise offers all kinds of amenities for those willing and
capable to pay. Please let me know if there is anything in particular you are
interested in.”
“First, show us a good place to stay. We plan on being in Paradise for a bit,”
Jake explained. This seemed to put the man at ease. Jake could see why as
he was probably wondering what the hell the Chosen of the Malefic Viper
was doing visiting this city so far away from Haven. Unannounced even.
“Naturally,” the man nodded gladly. “Just a few things for when inside
Paradise. Murder, thievery, extortion, and violence of most forms are not
allowed unless consented to. Besides that, expect liberal rules and the
ability to do whatever you wish. I do not doubt the Chosen is well-off, so
you will find most of the city more than willing to welcome you with open
arms.”
Jake just nodded, pretty sure there weren’t that many things Paradise
offered that Jake was interested in. Well… there was one thing, but that was
only if they had time. He would have to discuss more with Carmen once
inside as he wasn’t entirely clear on her plans. Though, to be fair, he had a
feeling Carmen wasn’t either but was just making things up as they went.
Making it into the city was easy with the five cloaked figures escorting
them. The other ones who had been hidden had just slipped away without
revealing themselves- Their entrance did get a few glances as clearly new
people usually didn’t enter through the front gate.
“I heard you had some teleportation issues?” Jake asked once inside. From
what he knew, Paradise was a city sustained by visitors, so he would
assume the lack of teleportation to the city would cause issues, but from the
looks of it, he was a bit off.
The streets were some of the cleanest he had ever seen. People walking on
the road were well-dressed, and the storefronts and large buildings were
immaculate. He was sure that things were not as rosy in the poorer
residential areas, but clearly, the buzz was still on.
“Heh, sure, they like to say that, and the hypocritical United Cities Alliance
did cut off the teleporters… the public ones, that is,” the man said with a
smile as he pointed towards a large building in the center of town squished
between the high-rises. “That is the teleportation station. While many cities
cut off the public teleporters, there were often back-ups placed elsewhere or
simply ones hidden and reserved for the elite. Those they sure didn’t bother
to cut off. It is all just empty posturing.”
Jake would lie if he said this information surprised him. People in power
acted like absolute assholes, and politics was a shitshow before the system,
so why would giving people superpowers change that? Shit, wouldn’t
adding personal power on top just make it worse? And speaking of worse,
Jake had one thing he wanted to check.
“What kind of wares does Paradise offer? Of the more… controversial

kind,” Jake asked.
The cloaked figure looked back at him and shook his head. “If you are
asking if we sell slaves, then no. I cannot speak to if any slaves exist or if
such deals occur under the table, but there is no public trade, and selling
and purchasing slaves is officially banned. Now, If you are looking for
drugs of any kind or even people willing to sell their services for special
experiences, we have those aplenty.”
Jake narrows his eyes a bit at the response. Is Sultan somehow involved in
Paradise? Or the people who run it?
The response clearly communicated the guy knew Jake’s stance, which he
had only openly really talked with Miranda, Sultan, and a few others about.
It was also possible he was just aware of the rules of Haven, but Jake had a
feeling it was more than that.
Following the man, they got a quick tour of the city and were introduced to
several establishments. As expected, the three primary industries in
Paradise were drugs, prostitution, and gambling. Below that were the high-
tier hotels and other forms of entertainment such as a circus, something akin
to a theater, and even a cinema. Jake had thought the cinema a bit silly until
he discovered something interesting… they had actual movies from before
the system. Primarily older films.
When the system had arrived, it had wiped out most technology, but film
rolls had apparently survived. Jake also learned that day that the film
industry had used film rolls a lot longer than he had expected, and it was
only barely a decade before the system the industry fully phased them out.
It was interesting hearing and seeing the city, and Jake didn’t know if he
should be surprised or not by the lack of any so-called “fucked-up shit” so
far. Sure, they had passed a few strip bars, stores openly selling recreational
drugs, and plenty of casinos, but that was it. There was no one openly
propositioning people in the streets or people being tortured on the streets
or anything like that.
Finally, they made it to one of the biggest buildings in the entire city. A
grand tower of expensive marble stone and glass. Jake could see it was
expensive and extravagant just by looking at it and staring into the lobby.
There were even two security guards outside, and Jake was sure this was
the equivalent of a five-star hotel in the old world.
It was a hotel… and a casino. Of course it was also a casino.
“We shall take our leave here,” the masked figure said. “For transparency
reasons, I must inform you that the leadership of Paradise has already been
made aware of your arrival and where you are staying. The Chosen will
likely be contacted during your stay.”
Jake nodded, having already expected something like that.
The cloaked men disappeared after that, and the four of them made their
way into the casino-hotel hybrid. Jake actually found it a bit refreshing that
his accommodations were not just given for free or covered by the
leadership of the city, making him pay for it himself. He paid for them all as
he booked three adjacent rooms on one of the highest floors, and they made
their way up the elevator.
“This feels so… normal,” Peter frowned as they made their way up the
elevator. It was far slower than just jumping or flying themselves, but hey, it
was a fun novelty and reminder of the old world. Thinking about it deeper,
the last time Jake was in an elevator had been the day the system arrived.
Quite a lot has happened since then, huh, Jake thought as he kept quiet.
When they made it to their floor, they walked through the well-lit and
decorated hallway before making it to their rooms. Each room had a
keycard, but rather than chips inside, they each had a small array and used
the mana signature of the person with the card. Once more, it was kind of
well-made and smart, proving the people behind Paradise had some real
talents among them.
The four of them decided to enter the room Jake and Sylphie would share as
they closed the door and took their seats at a table. Jake decided to swipe
some bottles of alcohol from the bar in the room, knowing full well he
would get scammed by how expensive it was. He ignored the pills and
powder also on offer.
Carmen took out a small token of sorts and was about to activate it when
Jake shook his head. “No one is listening in or observing us, and the room
is enchanted quite competently.”
“Are you sure?” Carmen asked skeptically.
“Yeah. I am also a bit surprised, but it seems like Paradise at least sticks by
its own rules of respecting anonymity,” Jake answered, adding. “So, what
are your plans now?”
They were there for Carmen and her business, after all.
“I think I just want to look around a bit alone for now… as long as you can
show me where they stay,” Carmen answered as she looked at the mask she
had placed on the table. “I doubt they will recognize me, and I want to meet
them without them knowing it is me.”
Jake nodded and looked at Peter, who answered after thinking a bit. “I guess
I will go scout out the place a bit. I know nothing of Paradise, and I am sure
my father would be more than interested in knowing how it operates.”
“What about you?” Carmen asked Jake.
Jake just smiled. “It’s gambling time.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 464 - Gambling Time
Ah, gambling.
Who doesn’t love gambling? Well, okay, many people don’t like gambling
due to the innate predatory nature of the practice and its proneness to
exploiting and preying on those with addictive personalities. So, in fairness,
gambling was actually more an epidemic that ruined lives and split up
families. But, there was one crucial aspect required to make gambling a
negative experience: losing.
Gambling was designed to always favor the house. There were ways to
cheat the system, so to say, like card counting or even just straight-up
cheating. Jake never really thought card counting should be viewed as
cheating as that was just someone not purposefully sabotaging themselves
by not thinking while playing. Then again… casinos would prefer if people
didn’t think, which explained why they happily handed out drinks left and
right.
To summarize, gambling was a loser’s game. Because it was designed to

make you lose. Anyone going into it should do so with the expectation of
losing all or most of what they put into it. You went gambling for the
experience and the fun of it, not to make money. Making money was a
lucky coincidence but never an expectation.
The way casinos always made themselves the winners was just simple
statistics. They tipped the odds in their favor. Roulette was a great example
of this. Let’s say you choose to bet on either black or red, so that should
mean a fifty-fifty percent chance to win, right? Except no, because there
was the added 0 option. Some casinos even added 00 as an option to lower
the chances even more. This made it close to fifty percent… but not quite.
And by the law of large numbers, the casino would win big in the end. So
what if someone won once in a while when there were far more losers? The
casino needed these winners to make everyone think they could be the next
one to hit the big jackpot.
Gambling in the system worked pretty much the same as pre-system. In

fact, some could say it was fairer in some ways than before. Jake had gone
to check out the casino after guiding Carmen and seeing Sylphie and Peter
off for their own exploration, and he was honestly impressed. He saw
people play roulette, and one would think that with magic, stats, and all
sorts of skills, it would be easy for either party to cheat… but it wasn’t. The
explanation for why that was lay in one of the fundamentals of the new
world:
System-fuckery.
The system recognized gambling and gave skills to facilitate it. It was like a
system-bound contract bound every single interaction done during
gambling. Cheating simply wasn’t possible in most cases. One such
example was playing cards. Each person would get their cards just like
usual, but each person would only be able to view their own cards and those
laid out by the dealer. The face would just be blank to anyone but the owner
of the cards, making it look a bit weird when Jake saw people sit there with
face-up cards while playing blackjack, only for their cards to be revealed
once it was time.
Jake had to admit that it was an elegant and easy solution by the system. It
still allowed some forms of tipping the odds in your favor. In the end, it was
still people playing the games. If you played poker and wanted to bluff or
read your opponents, nothing stopped you. Jake was sure some mental skills
and social skills could help here, but it was also a double-edged sword as
people learned how to fake responses.
People clearly realized this, and the place was flooded. Hundreds were
there, people at every table and dealers working overtime. They even had
god damn slot machines and nearly everything Jake would expect from an
old-world casino. The entire atmosphere was also spot-on. Jake had only
been in a casino once before in his life during a company outing, and back
then, he had only played the slots.
Now, to bring the topic back to why gambling is bad… all the system-
imposed rules and regulations only made this more obvious. Someone could
set up a lottery that was one in a thousand, and sure enough, it would truly
be one in a thousand that would win. The same was true if a slot machine
was designed with an eighty-percent payout rate for over a hundred
thousand games… it would truly have that payout rate. It limited risk,
making it a sure win.
There was no way around this. The rules of the system in this regard were
absolute. You just couldn’t use any skills to cheat besides perhaps the
aforementioned social skills. Skills were all blocked…
Skills.
Jake didn’t use any skills.
“He does it again!” the dealer yelled as Jake tapped his cards, revealing a
straight. The seven other masked players at the poker table groaned as the
dealer pushed their chips over to Jake. Jake was grinning from ear to ear as
he just stocked up on Credits.
Another hand was dealt, and Jake checked the cards. Average at best, but
better than his last hand. The flop came, and his cards were still good. One
pair, highest card. No straight possibilities, but two spades.
Jake thought a bit as he raised. Most had already folded, but big blind
stayed in together with one other guy. He still felt like he had it and was
keeping a poker face as the two called. Then the turn then came. Hearts.
Low card. Not a threat; still no straight possibilities either quite yet.
He looked at the two others. Both looked stoic, and Jake did not have the
slightest chance to read them. Luckily he didn’t need to read them to know
what he would do. A slight feeling welled up in his stomach, but Jake
stayed in even after one of the others raised with only big blind.
Then came the river. Two pairs for Jake, but also another spade. The only
thing that beat him was a flush, but…
Jake instantly knew. No one at the table told him, but he knew. As Jake had
been small blind, he decided to check. The big blind checked. The last guy
raised the pot by double. Jake looked at him for a moment… he knew he
would lose this hand. Now he could either choose to fold, call or raise. Jake
looked at the relatively small pot and decided to do what any good cheater
would do: he made himself not look like one. Jake called as big blind
folded.
Both revealed their cards as the other guy had a flush, just as expected. The
man cheered as the others padded him on the back for taking down the big
evil Jake. Jake, in turn, just mulled to himself, acting all dissatisfied.
Another hand was dealt as they kept playing, Jake thoroughly enjoying
himself while making some money. He liked poker as even with his
abilities, he didn’t instantly know if he would win or lose. Roulette was too
easy as Jake knew the moment the ball began spinning, but for poker, he
would only know in the moment.
It allowed nearly all the excitement to remain. Now, how did he do it?
His sphere did nothing as the cards were blank even to that. Likely because
the display on them was entirely magical. He could not really use it to read
the other players either. Danger sense only went off a few times when
another player really looked like he or she wanted to smack Jake.
No, it was all intuition. All gut feeling. To fully get the gut feeling, he
would have to be right at the moment things were decided. Jake had a
theory the deck of cards only “decided” what card to deal the moment it
was dealt. This did mean burning cards was just for show, but hey, it made
the experience authentic.
Jake kept playing a bit more before he saw a very well-dressed man
approach. He also felt an aura from the man that actually gave him pause as
Jake turned his head. The newcomer was wearing a white suit and tie. He
looked like a clean-cut man in his mid-forties and was flanked by a man
and a woman, clearly acting as bodyguards. Not that Jake believed the guy
needed it.
[Human – lvl ???]
He could not see his level, and even when he tried to get around the
obfuscation, he failed. The presence the man gave off was the most
powerful Jake had felt from another human he didn’t already know about.
He was stronger than Peter or anyone else Jake had met on his travels, but
he still fell behind Carmen… at least it appeared like that.
Jake felt like he should not fight the man. Not within Paradise. This made
him quickly reach a conclusion. A domain-type fighter.
It was the same as Miranda. Someone not necessarily supremely powerful

in regular combat, but fighting them within their own domains was an
uphill battle. Jake scanned the man a bit more, and it was clear he was the
City Lord of Paradise just by feeling how in-tune he was with the
atmospheric energy.
“I see the Chosen is enjoying my establishment,” the suited man said as he

went over to Jake, who stayed seated. Jake felt the dealer tense up as the
game paused. The other players at the table also looked on with wide eyes
as their gazes darted between the City Lord and Jake.
“Please, keep playing,” the man said to the dealer and players.
“Yes sir,” the dealer said as she began dealing a new set of cards. Jake
looked at his and just folded right away before turning to the man.
“It has been a while since I had a good game of poker,” Jake said as he
looked at the man.
“And yet you do indeed seem to be an experienced player,” the man said
with a smile. One thing to note was that he was one of the only people not
wearing any mask when even his bodyguards were. He was clearly not
interested in hiding his identity.
“I have dabbled,” Jake explained as he waved his hand. He wasn’t lying

either. He had utterly annihilated his family in poker several times in the
past during family game nights to the point of them never wanting to play
with him anymore.
“Under usual circumstances, I would accuse you of cheating after your

display at the roulette earlier, but as I am unsure how you did it, I shall
refrain,” the man in the suit said with a big smile. “I just hope you are
satisfied with your winnings for now and perhaps have time for a more
private discussion? I would love to get to know the Malefic’s Chosen a bit
better.”
“I guess I got some time,” Jake smiled as he got up from the table while
swiping up all his chips. “Been a pleasure playing with you, ladies and
gentlemen.”
Pleasure ripping you off, Jake thought as he smiled a bit to himself. All the
people in the casino were clearly loaded. Not a single E-grade was in sight,
not even the dealers. Jake had no shame ripping them off, even if they knew
who he was. What would they do, go complain that the Chosen of the
Malefic Viper had dared rip them off in a poker game? Shit, it would
probably just be a cool story for them to tell.
Jake followed the suited man as he spoke. “I must say, I do appreciate you
chose to play against other visitors and not the house directly. Limited our
losses.”
“Do not misunderstand. I didn’t do it to spare your wallet. I just wanted to

play some poker,” Jake answered curtly. He felt the bodyguards didn’t
appreciate his disrespect, but he wasn’t too worried about it.
They walked through a few hallways as all the employees bowed toward
the suited man. A swift elevator ride later and Jake found himself within a
spacious office. “You may excuse us,” the man said to his bodyguards, who
both bowed and went to stand guard outside.
The man went over to a small bar and looked at it. “Any preferences?”
Jake shrugged as he said a bit cheekily. “Whatever is on the house.”

“Bourbon it is then,” the man nodded as he poured two glasses. “Ah, I also
believe it is due time I introduce myself. I am Renato, owner and City
Leader of Paradise. Follower of Dyonsy, god of debauchery and a proud
member of the Golden Road Emporium.”
The man called Renato brought over Jake’s glass and sat down on a couch
across from Jake. Jake took a swig and quickly concluded it was good stuff.
“So, Renato. A bit on the nose for a god to classify themselves as being of
debauchery, isn’t it?”
“Ah, but what is debauchery if not merely indulging in one’s desires and
embracing one’s Path? The world is cruel and relentless. Is it not far crueler
to then also deny others the freedom to truly express themselves?” Renato
asked, giving Jake the feeling this was another guy who believed he had
Jake all figured out. Why did everyone assume he was some guy who didn’t
really care much about what others did?
Well, probably because he was that kind of guy. For the most part.
“I do not believe you invited me here to discuss your ideology,” Jake just
stated.
“Indeed, I did not. I am sure you are familiar with the Golden Road
Emporium, correct?”
“Remind me,” Jake said. Why the hell would he know that?
“Surprising... Sultan has not spoken of his Patron? The leader of the Golden
Road Emporium?” Renato asked, surprised.
Jake looked at the guy as suddenly things made a lot more sense.
Carmen spied on the mansion intently as she sat in a small cafe not too far
away. Jake had shown her to the mansion in which her father lived, and it
had only taken a minute or two before Carmen saw someone she
recognized. It was a cousin she hadn’t seen in more than half a decade…
before Carmen had a “falling out” with her family.
Soon after, she saw more familiar faces. It also quickly became clear that
they owned the place. It was a large mansion, four stories tall, brick-
construction, with a massive garden. All of it was surrounded by a fence
and a gate, both enchanted.
The fence was the type where everyone could look in. Carmen expected
nothing less from the narcissists. They wanted to show off their home and
their wealth. They wanted everyone to know they were of high status.
Usually, Carmen hated that, but today, it was welcome. It allowed her to
just sit there and observe who went and who came. She had yet to see any
of the people she was truly looking for, but she was confident they were
there.
But more than that, she saw a lot of women come and go. Dozens every
hour entered the mansion and left again. Most of them were not the most
dressed, and none of them wore masks, indicating they were workers or
residents of Paradise. Probably workers.
Carmen had figured out black masks were for the ones in charge. The
important people. Her family members she had seen so far all wore black
masks or no masks at all, while it seemed like employees did not use them
normally, and when they did, they had white masks on.
As she was putting things together in her head, Carmen saw her. Carmen
was sitting in the café as suddenly she tensed up and the glass in her hand
was squished so hard she managed to compress it. Yet she didn’t notice as
her eyes were trained on the person that had just exited the mansion.
She was wearing an expensive one-piece red dress, hair styled perfectly,
with not a single speck of dust on her body. She walked in high heels down
the pathway leading out of the mansion as all the employees bowed to her.
Her posture was immaculate. Four men wearing black masks flanked her,
too, signifying her importance.
But more importantly, was her face.
A perfect unblemished face with not a single scar or deformity left. No

signs of what Carmen had done to her and what had landed her in prison.
Not a single fucking mark. Her cousin was back to her perfect self… no,
she was even more perfect now.
Beatrice… Carmen thought as she held herself back. No… be calm… be

rational for once in your fucking life… figure this shit out first.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 465 - The Importance of
Keeping Up Appearances
Jake had not talked that much with Sultan recently. He knew the merchant
was still busy and operating out of Haven while making liberal use of the
teleportation network. In fact, he had been a pushing force to integrate more
cities into the network and establish more connections with factions like the
Holy Church and independent cities.
Miranda had been the one keeping Jake up-to-date on this, but clearly, she
had no idea about everything the shady merchant was up to. Jake was
already aware the guy had a Blessing due to earlier conversations, but
Sultan had divulged no details when it wasn’t necessary. It also didn’t seem
like something worth bothering Villy over.
“I do not tend to pry in the personal business and work of the citizens of
Haven,” Jake just answered Renato. It was the truth and also a way to not
just make himself look more ignorant than he actually was.
“An understandable and respectable position. I have already shared more

than I perhaps should then,” Renato sighed. “Oh well, in for a penny in for
a pound. Sultan and I both belong to the same organization, and both have
ties to the Golden Road Emporium. I guess you can call the Emporium a
Pantheon of sorts, even if it is merely merchant gods banding together in a
mutually beneficial alliance.”
“And Sultan is blessed by the leader of this Emporium?” Jake asked with
raised eyebrows.
“Midas, the Golden God,” Renato answered with clear respect in his voice.
“Midas, huh,” Jake mumbled as he shook his head.
“One of the cases where the Records of the multiverse bled into our
unintegrated universe, a bit like Valhal and many other such cases. Our
world’s connection to a mercantile system and focus on wealth and
capitalism no-doubt only strengthened this bond and resonated with the
Path that Midas and other merchant gods followed,” Renato said. “Of
course, this is merely my interpretation, even if it is one I am confident
about. Please do enlighten me if the Chosen has other insights.”
“No, it seems reasonable,” Jake agreed. He did know that the multiverse as
a whole had affected their world. Shit, just looking at all the mythical
creatures should be proof enough. Dragons, phoenixes, and just the
existence of entire races of monsters were already legends before the
system. That was too much to be a coincidence.
Renato nodded as he smiled. “I do hope that today and this visit can lay the
groundwork for a long and mutually beneficial relationship. While you may
not be a fan of some of the things we do here in Paradise, do know we are
no slave traders. We merely have a more liberal and open market than
anywhere else, allowing those who offer more questionable services to find
clients.”
“Through my initial exploration, I did not find much… so do share. What

kind of controversial services? And please hold nothing back. I came back
from the Order of the Malefic Viper recently, don’t think anything we
Earthlings get on will surprise me,” Jake asked. He wanted to make himself
appear more like the Chosen than he probably had to, and sharing his ability
to travel to the Order and back was also very deliberate.
“It is no secret that we have no set rules besides the obvious ones you have
already been informed of. As long as the cornerstone of consent has been
reached, we do not interfere. Even if one party consents to get killed by the
other. As for some anecdotal examples, we have some individuals with
certain interests. Fantasies they like to carry out. Before the system,
carrying out these fantasies would involve some rather unfortunate
consequences, but now with healing magic and the human body being far
more resilient, they can indulge.
“One frequent client enjoys the fantasy of assaulting and killing women,
something he, to my knowledge, carried out even before the system to great
cost and inconvenience. Another is a woman who has specific fantasies
related to a concept called vore, I think, or perhaps we should just call it
cannibalism. She likes to eat the member of her partner after intercourse.
“These are just some of the sexual ones. Others simply want to experience
beating someone beyond recognition or torture others. For some, Paradise is
merely about being themselves and partaking in whatever drugs they so
desire. With overdose being no risk with a good healer and an alchemist
with an antidote on hand, you can imagine how many substances they can
experience at once.”
Renato held nothing back as he continued talking about Paradise. He also

added on his justifications for the city needing to exist. The powerful tended
to also be the unique, and unique people would have very varied tastes. Any
Path could legitimately lead to power, and staying true to yourself was
fundamental to avoid stagnating. Renato viewed himself as nothing more
than a businessman who facilitated a required service under the best
conditions possible.
Jake knew he couldn’t argue about some points. There were many fucked
up people within the Order of the Malefic Viper, and Jake had no interest in
being an arbiter of justice. He was not interested in making the world a
better place… at least not all of it. As long as his small world – himself and
those he cared about – could live a good and comfortable life without the
negative influence of others, he was fine.
His and Renato’s conversation was somewhat enlightening, and he knew

the man did have limits for what he allowed. Jake was not particularly
happy learning that slaves did exist in the city, as the law only prohibited
selling and buying them. The rule did also extend to slaves being unable to
offer services and be pimped out to others, meaning they could only act as
personal servants. Jake was repeatedly assured every individual who
worked there did so with consent… even if he did admit some did so out of
desperation and to get some semblance of safety. Others were just as fucked
in the head as the clients they served.
This was the kind of place Jake didn’t like but also wouldn’t actively move
to get rid of. It did not interfere with him at all, and Jake had a feeling this
was exactly what Renato wanted to make clear. Paradise was no threat to
him or his interests, and he would prefer if Jake just left them alone.
This brought them to the principal topic of this conversation:
“I am aware you are here together with Ms. Carmen from Valhal. I do not
know the details, but I want to know if Paradise can expect any… trouble
coming from this visit?” Renato asked.
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that she was looking for
people; I am uncertain what her intent is once she finds them.”
It was a half-truth. Jake did know who she was looking for, but he truly
didn’t know her intentions. That was for her to decide… it was her family,
after all.
Renato sighed at Jake’s response. ”I will not get in the way of you or the
Runemaiden, but I will ask a favor. Please inform me before anything
violent happens. Just a bit before or right when it begins, and it should be
fine.”
Jake raised an eyebrow as the man explained:
“Paradise exists in its current form because my employees and I have

created a balance. We are the ultimate authority that none dare stand
against. If my base is shaken and a seed of doubt is sown, it can mean the
end of my city. So, if the unfortunate happens and killings take place, it will
need to look like these are approved and accepted by Paradise. In other
words, I will justify whatever actions you choose to take. Retroactively if I
have to.”
That was… not what Jake had expected him to say. He had expected him to
maybe ask them to take it outside of the city, try to be subtle about it, or
even outright tell them to leave if they planned on killing anyone. There
was even the possibility the man would choose to oppose them. It turned
out he would just sweep things under the rug while acting like Jake and
Carmen were just cleaning house and doing Paradise a favor.
“Even if it is high-status allies and friends of yours?” Jake asked.
Renato shook his head. “You misunderstand. Sultan and I have many
disagreements, but one thing we share is that we do not have friends. If it
was people other than you and the Runemaiden who had come, I would
have already mobilized everything to kill the both of you. However, as it
stands, there is none within the city I value enough to face the consequences
such a confrontation could bring.”
Jake nodded in understanding. He was also not dumb enough to not

recognize the jab against Sultan, more or less telling Jake they were not
really allies but just temporarily partners of convenience. But oh well, such
was the world of merchants, and Jake already knew. Everything was a
calculation of risk and benefits, viewing people and personal relationships
the same as a business would view deals and partnerships. In many ways,
life was just cheaper now.
“Fine,” Jake agreed.
“Thank you,” Renatos said as he tossed over a small device. It looked like a
pager of sorts, the kind they used before cellphones were a thing. “Merely
activate the device when something happens. It will briefly scan your
surroundings and send it to my chief of security. After that, we will analyze
it and come within a few minutes.”
“Got it,” Jake said. They had more or less been granted free-pass in the city
to do whatever they wanted. Which also meant…
“I will head back to the casino then,” Jake smiled deviously. “I think I have
some time before Carmen is done for the day.”
Renatos surprisingly smiled. “Naturally. Do note we have recently changed

the rules to have maximum betting amounts and limited games allowed per
hour on all house-run games.”
“I feel like this is targeted,” Jake protested.
“I apologize if you feel that way,” Renatos joked in kind. “Perhaps sticking
to poker would be preferable? I am certain many rich folks are more than
willing to play a few hands against the Chosen of the Malefic Viper…”
Jake looked at the man before he just shook his head and decided that
ripping off rich folk who probably also had some messed-up hobbies was
acceptable.
Peter scouted through the streets as he made sure to fulfill the task he had
been granted. He held a small crystal in his hand as it took in his
surroundings and recorded everything. He went towards the seedier areas as
a few members of security spotted him, but they left him alone once they
recognized who he was. He could only smile, knowing they did not actually
know him and had purposefully refrained from investigating him further to
not incite the Chosen.
All they knew was that he had come with the Chosen and the warrior from
Valhal, Carmen. Peter did feel a bit bad about deceiving the two of them by
just acting like a follower, but he had a job to do. Paradise had long been
growing beyond what was healthy. As he scouted around, he confirmed it
had indeed grown not only in size but also in power. Below the
cobblestones on every street were runic circles and formations. The walls
were immaculate too.
He had a feeling that even if an early C-grade attacked, the city of Paradise
would be fine. The defenses were just that powerful. It was lucky he had
been let inside with open arms, and from the looks of it, everyone assumed
he was working for the Chosen as he did his job. The ignorance and apathy
of the Chosen were truly beyond what the United Cities Alliance had
expected based on the intel.
Peter snuck inside a larger mansion as he used his magic to hide. Light
refracted around him as he became invisible, and his epic-rarity stealth skill
activated to make his footsteps, aura, and everything else disappear.
Nobody noticed him as he recorded everything. People got careless when
they thought they were safe and removed their masks without any worry.
Within ten minutes, he already had recordings of over a dozen individuals
that surely would prefer to not have anything made public about them.
He swiftly left and made it to more places spread around the settlement.
This was an opportunity the United Cities Alliance could just not miss.
Peter praised their luck and the guy who had given them a tip that the
Chosen and the woman from Valhal were coming towards Paradise to track
down those people. It had given them the perfect opportunity to integrate
Peter into the group as a guide no one would suspect.
With the woman busy dealing with her own matters, the Chosen occupied
in the casino, and the hawk out of the city flying around to scout the
surrounding wildlife, Peter could do as he wanted without suspicion. Even
if he was caught, he could just claim he was working for the Chosen.
The next hours were spent as Peter collected information on hundreds of

individuals. He saw sights he would much prefer to do without, but his task
had to be done. Even if taking down Paradise entirely was not an option,
they could use this against the ones who had been there.
More importantly, what would happen if recordings from all over Paradise
spread? The trust in the anonymity and integrity of the city would be
broken. It would hurt Renatos significantly and weaken his position when
negotiating with the United Cities Alliance. Removing Paradise was not
preferable. No, they just wanted it to be controlled.
As for the Chosen… well, making him their ally was never the purpose…
no, it was not even a possible goal. At most, they could hope that he simply
left Earth to never return. That would be the optimal outcome. Luckily for
them, it appeared he had already gone to another universe before and would
leave again soon based on what he had talked about with Peter and Carmen.
Wanting him to leave was the official stance of the United Cities Alliance.
Peter actually began to see the Chosen as more than just his reputation. He
was surprisingly normal and easygoing and didn’t at all seem as their intel
implied. This did make Peter feel a bit bad about the deceit.
While he had spoken many lies, his history was not one. He had been part
of the Holy Church but not in any regular party. Like any organization, the
Church needed those acting covertly. Assassins, scouts, and rogues
handling the dirty business. Peter had been good at this, which is also why
he felt genuinely betrayed when one of his party members decided to
selfishly sacrifice herself.
It threw off many of his plans and did derail him emotionally. She had
joined the Church together with him. They were not meant to truly fall for
the promises of the Church. At the time, he had been genuinely unsure what
to do. Split between two camps. One was ruled by his father… and the
other was ruled by someone Peter had always looked up to. Yet now, he
found it hard to truly recognize him. He looked the same, and his demeanor
was similar, but he had changed.
Peter didn’t blame his brother, though.
His brother had always been one to easily convince himself something was
the right thing to do. He was steadfast once his opinion was made and loyal
to a fault at times. He wasn’t a bad person… but he would do bad things for
the greater good. Something Peter understood from a logical standpoint but
didn’t agree with.
Something like the Holy Church was like a cancer on Earth along with
every other major religious faction. Everyone knew each and every one of
them wanted to conquer the planet. Assimilate everyone forcefully if they
had to. Earth’s culture and history would be wiped out, and Earth would
become nothing more than a single planet in the endless line of planets
ruled by the Holy Church. An unacceptable fate.
The purpose of the United Cities Alliance was to preserve the identity of
Earth. Peter’s goal had been to join the Church and figure out if it was
possible with them. It was not… that much was obvious. Even if Peter’s
father had hoped it was. For his family.
Ah… one other thing Peter had not been entirely truthful about. Peter’s
father was indeed quite high in the hierarchy of the United Cities Alliance.
In fact, his family seemed to have a tendency to always reach the top.
Especially considering his father, Arthur, leader of the United Cities
Alliance.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 466 - The Salvento Family
Jake and Carmen sat on the balcony and looked out over the city. Jake saw
the mansion in question as Carmen also stared intently. Due to the
enchantments placed on the construction, everything was vague, and he
could only barely see some people moving within. When he didn’t focus,
that is. A bit of squinting, and he saw around the formation and could see
the large lawn and even in the windows clear as day.
Peter and Sylphie were still out, with Sylphie being on a super-secret
special assignment as she wasn’t interested in gambling, drugs, or sex. She
was too young for all those too, and Jake was glad to keep her away from
the degeneracy. If he didn’t, he was sure Hawkie and Mystie would
somehow find a way to kill him.
“I saw most of them,” Carmen muttered as she also looked down at the
mansion, even if it was still blurry to her. “They looked so… carefree. Like
everything was fine.”
Jake just kept silent as she talked.
“My grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, parents… everyone was there.

Just one big happy family,” she said again. “And… my cousin… the one I
told you about… she was just so fucking perfect. Again. Not a single mark,
like nothing I did ever mattered. To any of them.”
When she returned that day, Carmen had been a mess. Jake had done
nothing more than just allow her to vent as Jake learned everything that had
happened. How Carmen grew up in a toxic family that cared more about
reputation than not being shit people, how her cousin had always been
perfect and pretty much bullied Carmen, and how no one had ever done
anything to address this.
How Carmen had finally found a calling only to get that dream shattered
when her cousin decided to just straight-up assault her. How the legal
system had failed. Jake had to admit he was unable to hold back a small
smile when Carmen told him about the day she had smashed in her cousin’s
face so hard the other woman had nearly died – and on her wedding day, no
less.
Then came the fucked up prison where Carmen had managed to make it by
fighting even more. Even guards. They all left her alone as her hand only
got worse from her using it to hand out beatdowns. She even confessed she
had just considered ending it all at times. Her future was one where parole
was something that would likely never happen with her family’s influence,
and if she did make it out, she was effectively disowned.
She had been saved by the system like so many others. Finally, she could
confront her family. She talked about how she had been looking forward to
seeing them all struggling. None of them were fighters, but all were just
socialite assholes. They had to have suffered, right?
But no, they were thriving.
“The one thing that kept me going every day was that at least that bitch
Beatrice was also suffering. But now… now she is just healed. No, better
than healed. You saw her, right?” Carmen turned to Jake
“I did,” he admitted. In fact… Carmen didn’t even have to point her out.
“And?” Carmen asked with a fiery glare.
“She looks like the kind of person an army of rich middle-aged men would
pay top dollar to make their sugar baby,” Jake answered. He wouldn’t lie…
she was one of the most attractive humans Jake had seen. However…
“But… meh, I doubt looks will get her that far in a few years,” Jake added
on. While she was hot, Jake had seen more than what Earth had to offer. Irin
and Meira both had her beat handily if Jake went by pure looks. Personality,
too, if even a fraction of the things Carmen said were true. This was, of
course, disregarding people of higher grades.
Carmen nodded but still looked down with an empty gaze.
“What is the plan?” Jake finally asked. It was the part she had never
addressed. He could not figure out what she actually wanted. Revenge?
Justice? Just to mess them up a bit or the full nuclear option? Maybe even
some kind of reconciliation. No matter what, Jake could see she was
conflicted.
“I don’t fucking know,” Carmen sneered. “Why does everything just work
out for them every fucking time?”
“You know, we could just leave. Within a few minutes, we could be through
a teleporter and in another city, never to return. You could forget all about
them forever,” Jake proposed. It was only a half-honest proposition as Jake,
more than anything, just wanted Carmen to think about what she wanted.
He had no real advice to give because what the hell did he know? This
sounded like something a therapist was needed for – something Carmen had
never attended as her family “didn’t believe in therapy,” whatever the hell
that means.
“And just let them get away with everything?” Carmen asked, staring
daggers at Jake.
”Get away with what?” he asked.
“Fucking… everything. Being the scum of the Earth who can just go about
their day unbothered. How the hell do they still do so well even now? How
the fuck is my aunt D-grade when her only talent is to be a stuck-up bitch
and a terrible person?”
“She must be supremely talented at being a stuck-up bitch I guess,” Jake

shrugged. Okay, he was legitimately unsure if the system recognized that as
a Path. Being a manipulative person who used others for her own gain…
now that was probably something you could gain plenty of progress with.
Carmen just fell silent again as she kept looking down at the mansion. One
moment she looked like she wanted to go pummel the place into dust, and
the next, like she just wanted to leave. She clearly didn’t know what she
wanted. Carmen’s planning and strategy had ended upon seeing them… and
Jake had a theory.
She had wanted to see them be utterly fucked. She had wanted to see them
living a terrible life while she had managed to rise up again and gain power
and status. To experience their situations being reversed. But what she had
instead gotten was them still being wealthy, privileged, and everything just
being fine and dandy. However…
“Must be pretty miserable being them, huh,” Jake mumbled.
“What?” Carmen asked, confused.
“They have nothing worth anything,” Jake just shrugged. “All they have is
their social clout. Take that away, and what are they?”
“A bunch of rich bastards who are nearly all still D-grade?” Carmen shot
back.
“To be more accurate, they would be a bunch of weak D-grades with just
wealth, which will do them no good when faced with a superior force. Have
you seen a single fighter among them worth anything? I haven’t during all
this time sitting here looking at them come and go. So how do they survive?
By them being viewed as valuable enough to be kept around by the City
Lord or other backers,” Jake answered.
“Right, but why the fuck does that matter? Do you think the City Lord will
just throw them to the wolves for no reason? They may be fucking assholes,
but they also know what they’re doing when making connections,” Carmen
rebuffed him.
“Funny,” Jake said. Due to how this entire flow of conversation had gone,
Jake had no time to tell what he had been doing. Including his meetings
with Renato. “The City Lord seems to not care about them at all.”
“Explain,” Carmen just said.

Jake smiled as he told her about his talks with Renato. Carmen seemed to
have a hard time believing it, as she looked at him skeptically.
“So you are saying I can just do whatever I want?” she asked skeptically.
“Essentially, yeah. Renato clearly doesn’t want to go against the

Runemaiden of Valhal,” Jake said, a bit teasingly.
“Or the Chosen of the Malefic Viper,” she shot back.
“Well, of course not. I got a big angry snake with really nasty poison
backing me, but you also got an angry guy with a really big axe as well as
all his drunken god friends behind you, so I think we are both pretty damn
scary,” Jake joked.
“None of which are in this universe at all and won’t be for a long-ass time,”
Carmen argued.
“True, true. But they will be one day, and people like Renato are in this for
the long game and have godly backers themselves. If he pisses us off, it
reflects badly on his backer,” Jake said. “So do not question the fact that
when it comes to status, you have them thoroughly beat.”
She still looked skeptical as Jake kept piling on.
“Also, in personal power, you are far beyond them. They can’t touch you in
any way. They are forced to comply with what you want or face the
consequences. They have no one to complain to or seek justice from. Not
now or ever, as you will keep getting stronger.
“Think about it like this. Positive thoughts. You will reach C-grade and
beyond, and in the meanwhile, they will all grow old and rot away while
you live on and gain more and more power. By then, they will be nothing
but an annoying memory of your younger days,” Jake finished.
A few moments of silence followed as the warrior from Valhal just took in
the words. She had a personal struggle to overcome. Minutes more went by
before she finally seemed to have made up her mind.
Carmen took a deep breath as she looked down. “I will meet them and
confront them. If I just leave and act like nothing, I will beat myself up over
it forever. I… I want to hear them out… or at least hear something from
them. Closure, maybe… before they die of old age, you know.”
Jake smiled as he asked: “Want me to come with you?”
She looked at him and slowly nodded. “Yeah… just promise me one thing.”
“What?” he asked.
“Let me do the talking, and if things get weird, give me a reality check,
okay?”
Jake nodded once more. “Sure thing. Want Sylphie around too?”
“No,” Carmen shook her head. “Let her continue doing whatever she is
doing… wait, what is she doing anyway?”
“Oh, I asked – or well, bribed - her to keep an eye on Peter as the guy was
acting shady, and so far, it seems like he is indeed up to some shady stuff.
Went all stealth mode and began running around with a crystal. Probably
recording or scouting for the United Cities Alliance or something. I will
probably talk with the guy later and figure out what he is up to,” Jake
shrugged.
“Wait, he was shady?” Carmen exclaimed, surprised.
“Oh yeah, for sure. Not sure exactly what the deal is with Peter, but he did
seem genuine in most things, and honestly, what he is doing doesn’t seem
like my problem. Renato can figure that one out, and even if he arrived in
the city with us, it isn’t our fault if everyone decides he is somehow the
fourth guy among the three musketeers,” he joked.
“We are the three musketeers now?”
“Look, it was the fastest analogy I could get on with three people,” Jake
laughed. The mood was instantly lightened as they sat there just a bit.
“We should go now before I chicken out,” Carmen finally said.
“Let’s get a move on then. I’ll send a quick message to Renato and update
him on the way, so no worries if you see some shady cloaked figures
around,” Jake said with a smile as he practically dragged Carmen out of the
hotel before she had time to change her mind.
Jake knew whatever Carmen was dealing with could be bad in the long run.
The Viper had told him that being hung up on things could lead to
stagnation and issues. His fellow Primordial, known as the Daofather,
dubbed this kind of thing a heart demon or something like that, which just
sounded like a metaphor for having doubt or insecurities by someone trying
to sound more profound than they actually were.
Either way, Carmen would do best by confronting it. No matter how things
turned out. All he could hope for was that things didn’t end too badly.
Who knows, maybe they had turned into at least marginally less shitty
people than Carmen described them to be? He knew she was a biased
source, and they couldn’t be that bad, right?
--
“The Salvento family… why?” Renato asked himself in a confused tone

once he got word from the Chosen who they were going to visit. His chief
of security was also there with a slightly worried look.
“I am uncertain, but it was clear that was their target. No other place fits the
description,” the man answered. He wore a worn-out police uniform a
looked a bit sloppy, but he was nevertheless one of the strongest people in
the city.
“But out of everyone, why them?” Renato asked, a bit worried. The reason
was simple… out of every faction, they were one of the ones Renato
preferred not to make an enemy. Not because of the family itself, but who
they had managed to bring into their fold through the age-old strategy of
deploying a honeytrap.
That woman Beatrice had him wrapped around her finger, making him little
more than a loyal dog even if he was incredibly powerful and used a tricky
kind of magic Renato would prefer not to get involved in.
“Maybe it is some moral mission? It seems like this is for the Runemaiden,
not the Chosen,” the chief of security chimed in.
“Perhaps, but it is still odd they chose them out of everyone. It also feels
personal. The Runemaiden sat outside the mansion for nearly an entire day
just scouting it out with a frown on her face, and now they decide to go.
Who are these people to her?” Renato wondered out loud.
“People who wronged her? Wouldn’t be a first; the Salvento’s aren’t the
most popular,” the other man shrugged.
“No… no, if it was that simple, she would have just attacked.”
Renato kept pondering the issue a bit more. He did have some theories, but
none that could be confirmed, and it was possible they had simply wronged
her. The Salvento family had done everything under the sun, including
slavery, before they entered Paradise. They currently ran several brothels
and high-level escort services, not just in Paradise, as well as produced
nearly a third of the entire drug supply of the city, and that was the part that
wasn’t exported. They had a major influence but also a horrible reputation
for one simple reason…
They treated everyone they viewed as below them like absolute shit and had
a triple-digit body count of people who “offended them.”
Carmen stood around the corner and stared at the imposing gates of the
mansion. They felt so much larger than the last time she had come there and
looked utterly indestructible. She felt nervous and had second thoughts, but
when she looked around, she saw Jake who was judgingly staring at her
behind his creepy mask. Well, she also wore a mask while in Paradise, so it
was fair.
She felt a bit more assured seeing him there, so unbothered and relaxed. She
quickly composed herself, and with Jake in tow, they silently walked
towards the gates.
Carmen didn’t truly know what she wanted. She had fantasized and
dreamed for years about what she would do. While in prison, she dreamed
about getting out and somehow making it big to then return home in an
expensive car to make her parents and family look at her with recognition
and pride. To view her as good enough.
It was stupid. No matter how many times they put her down and ridiculed
her, she still wanted to get their approval. She only had a handful of
memories where she thought her family actually felt proud of her. All of
them in her youngest years. After she entered her early teenage years, it was
all downhill from there.
They had wronged her so many times. They made her life hell. Made her
want to kill herself several times, took away any little joy she found, and
never acted like she was worth anything more than dirt. Dirt to be pushed
into a corner when guests came over. When she went to prison, it was like
she was dead to them. No visits or calls, with the only thing she ever got
being a card from her father saying he was disappointed while also
outlining how she had been taken out of all wills and barred from any
inheritances.
And now, even with the system, it seemed like they had just written her off.
If they let it slip that she existed, they could just lie. Clinton seemed to
believe she had been off to college, and it was implied she had probably just
died due to that. That part was likely true… they did just assume she was
dead. How could they possibly think the useless Carmen could survive?
So… what did she want? Did she want them to see how far she had come?
To be impressed that she was now a Runemaiden of Valhal, a high-ranked
warrior? Did she want them to praise her and welcome her back with open
arms and apologize for their past actions? Say she truly was family after
all? For her father to say that he was proud of her?
Did she just want to brag? Show them how wrong they had been and then
make them know she was so above them that they weren’t worth her time?
To look Beatrice in the eyes and say she would enjoy watching her die of
old age as she would forever stay young? Call them all out for the shitty
people they were before walking off, now their superior?
Or… did she just want to kill every single last fucking one of them?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
END OFMONTH WARNING. May consider to wait for the first to not
get double-charged.


Chapter 467 - Peak Family Drama
Jake walked with Carmen towards the large gate with two guards out front.
The two guards had clearly already seen them and noticed the black mask
on Carmen and Jake wearing his own rather unique mask. Both were
identifiers that they were guests of Paradise and likely wealthy individuals,
which also meant the guards took a polite demeanor by default.
“Good afternoon, sir and madam. May I know your purpose for visiting the
Salvento residence?” one of the guards asked courteously.
Carmen looked at the man for a moment before just saying: “Tell them that
Carmen is here.”
The guard looked confused and exchanged a look with his partner. They
didn’t argue back but just decided to do as asked. He felt the other guard
keep an extra eye on Jake, making him guess the guy probably had some
way to gauge people and how strong they were beyond merely using
Identify - an ability like beasts had, making them know who not to mess
with.
A few minutes passed before a few more guards made it out of the house
before finally, Jake spotted someone that was clearly a member of the
family. It was a man wearing a tailored tan suit who walked beside a
woman in a relatively modest dress. Both looked to be in their forties to
early fifties, and looking at Carmen’s conflicted reaction to seeing them, he
had a good guess who they were.
Her parents.
Jake didn’t know what he expected, and neither did Carmen. He just stood
back as they observed. Carmen looked at the two of them as they came
closer, with the man clearly not in a good mood.
“Who are you?” he asked the moment they were within earshot. “What the
hell do you want? Money? How dare you use the name of my dead
daughter to-“
Carmen didn’t hesitate as she ripped off her mask and stared daggers at the
man. “Who the fuck is dead?”
The man stopped with his mouth still half-open. His expression was odd,
but the woman – Carmen’s mother – had the kind of reaction Jake would
have expected from someone finding out their daughter was still alive.
She brought her hands to her mouth as she ran over and past the security
guards, tears in her eyes. “Carmen? Is it really you?”
Carmen had no idea what to think. She saw her mother run over without
any hesitation while crying like she was actually happy to see her.
Meanwhile, her father still just stood there dumbstruck. She hadn’t seen or
heard from her mother since her last court date. Sure, her mother had also
been crying then, but she hadn’t visited her a single time in prison. She
hadn’t even once made a call or sent a letter or done anything. How did she
dare to suddenly act like she was happy to see Carmen after willfully not
going to see her for nearly two years?
“What, surprised I am not dead?” she sneered at the both of them.
Her mother stopped a few steps away as the tears just kept streaming down.
“I… I’m so sorry… about everything. I…”
“You what?” Carmen shot back.
“Carmen, do not speak to your mother like that,” her father said as he had
now composed himself. “Stop making a scene and come inside if you want
to talk.”
Glaring, she shot him a look as she felt her anger build. “What the fuck are
you going to-“
She then felt a slight tap on her shoulder. She whipped her head around and
saw Jake who was just shaking his head. Carmen looked into his eyes for a
moment before taking a deep breath. Don’t get too emotional… you are in
control here.
“Fine. Lead us inside,” Carmen finally said. Her mother seemed relieved
while her father nodded, still looking deep in thought.
The two security guards just stared as she saw her father raise a hand. “Hold
it. Who is this man, and why are you bringing him along?”
“I am a companion, and I am coming along, no discussion,” Jake just

answered. “I have been hired to and have no intentions of shirking on my
promises.”
His answer was short, but it seemed good enough as her father only looked
at him briefly before ignoring him. The moment he had said the words that
he was hired, Carmen already knew that her father had passed judgment and
now didn’t see him as anyone worth anything… he had always been an ass
to service workers, but it had clearly only gotten worse.
Yet her mother seemed so happy. She wouldn’t stop crying and looked like
she wanted to just give Carmen a hug. What the hell is up with…
everything?
Man, if this wasn’t peak-level family drama. Jake could see Carmen about
to lose it right away, but he noticed quite the discrepancy. Her father did
indeed look like an utter asshole, but her mother’s relief and emotions felt
incredibly genuine. Moreover, the glances the man tossed his wife were
proof he wasn’t happy with how she acted.
Carmen had asked Jake to help ground her and give her reality checks, so
he would do that. Jake had the lucky advantage that he quite frankly didn’t
give a fuck about what happened to any of these people. All he cared about
was Carmen not making a kneejerk reaction that she would come to regret.
She was effectively holding a loaded gun at all times, and a single moment
where she lost control could kill either one of them, something they clearly
weren’t aware of.
Wordlessly they were escorted inside as Carmen walked beside Jake, her
mother a bit off to the side, and her father at the front. The woman looked
like she wanted to say something or at least get closer, while Jake saw the
man with a deep frown on his face that he probably believed none of them
could see as he had his back turned.
Jake exchanged a look with Carmen, who just had a stony face. He tried to
give her an assuring look, and she nodded a bit stiffly. For now, they would
let her family take the lead and see what they planned on doing and what
they would do. Jake took his time to scan the mansion with his senses and
quickly noticed a vast underground complex. He also felt someone
powerful in the house… but it was odd. Like, the aura was powerful, but it
also felt almost fake? Now Jake was also curious.
Once inside the mansion, her father exchanged some words with a servant
of sorts before leaving, practically dragging his wife along. Jake and
Carmen were then led into a lounge room of sorts, where they sat down.
Jake took the initiative as he summoned a barrier of stable arcane mana,

isolating them from the outside world entirely.
“What the fuck is wrong with them?” Carmen instantly shouted as she
looked at Jake the moment he was done with the barrier. “And why did you
stop me? Do you understand any of this shit?”
“No, not really… but your mother seemed genuine. There is definitely more
going on than you know,” Jake shook his head. “I think hearing out their
side can be beneficial. Not for them, but for you. If you don’t figure things
out, you may discover something in the future that will make you look back
at today with regret. If they prove to still be absolute assholes, you will
always be able to turn the situation around to your advantage. Remember,
you are in the right here. You decide what happens today, not them.”
Carmen finally sat down and stared at the expensive-looking coffee table.
“What will you do if things turn bad?”
“Depends on what you want me to do,” Jake shrugged. “Ah, but I did place
a Hunter’s Mark on each of your parents to keep an eye on them. To be
safe, ya know.”
She just shook her head and smiled a bit. Jake knew she still had no idea
what she wanted to happen and that it all depended on what her family
chose to do. It was all a complicated reason, and Jake was just happy
nothing was really up to him. He would just do his simple task of making
sure Carmen made choices with an at least partly clear mind.
Minutes passed as they sat there, just chatting a bit. Carmen decided now
was a good idea to discuss how many people undervalued good form while
in the gym and how important it truly was when building muscle, especially
when focusing on building specific muscles. Jake had rarely seen someone
so obviously just talking about a random topic to take their thoughts off
things, but he nevertheless listened and engaged.
It took more than twenty minutes before anyone even addressed them aside
from the first servant. Jake had noticed many attempts to probe them and
observe or listen in, but Jake’s barrier was too good for their bad scouting
attempts to work. This wasn’t only because Jake was good, but because the
attempts were half-arsed at best.
The door to the room opened, and in came another servant. “The family will
receive you now,” the woman said courteously.
This choice of words was not lost on Jake, but Carmen didn’t seem to care
much as she just got up. Jake had dispelled the barrier when he saw the
servant approach and followed her out. Their welcome so far had been less
than welcoming… they weren’t even offered tea and cookies.
They were led through the grand mansion and into what Jake guessed was a
banquet hall. Jake already saw the gathering of people in the hall before the
double door was opened. “Prepare yourself. It looks like they are pretty
much all there,” Jake said, infusing his voice with a bit of Willpower to
only let Carmen hear.
More than fifty people were gathered. Around thirty of them were suits or
dresses and other such fancy clothes, while twenty were guards or servants.
It was quite something. Jake saw Carmen steel herself as the doors were
opened, revealing the entire hall and the many people gathered. It reminded
Jake of the most intimidating job interview imaginable, with all of them just
staring at the maskless Carmen.
Now, Jake had expected many opening questions… but not even he could
predict this one.
“Child, what on god’s earth are you wearing?” a woman who looked to be
well in her seventies with frilly hair and a baggy dress asked.
Carmen was wearing her combat outfit. Cured leather, metal bracers, heavy
combat boots, and generally, she looked ready for a fight at any moment.
The only skin she revealed was her face and bare hands. Meanwhile, every
other woman in the room wore dresses or other “elegant” clothes.
“Mother, cut her some slack. She must have had a hard time traveling all
this way,” another woman cut in.
“Doesn’t excuse her lack of proper etiquette,” a third woman cut in.
“Also, who is this man? And look at those… things on his feet. Do the
servants not vet any random homeless person who wanders in?” a man
chimed in.
“Now, now, let’s all calm down,” a fourth woman finally said as she raised
her hand. Jake recognized her instantly as the woman Carmen had
mentioned was her hated aunt, the mother of her most-hated cousin,
Beatrice. To note, then Beatrice was not present in the room currently, but
Jake saw her in another room off to the side, clearly observing them through
some monitoring device. With her was a relatively thin and nerdy-looking
man with glasses. He was currently giving her a shoulder massage as she
looked at the confrontation between Carmen and the rest of the Salvento
family.
“Carmen, it truly is you,” the aunt said as she was all smiles. “I cannot tell
you how much of a surprise this is. We had feared the worst when we failed
to get in contact with you after so long, and I cannot tell you how happy we
are to see you return to us. I am sure that if you work hard, then our family
can find it in our hearts to forgive you and move on. With the world in such
turmoil, isn’t it a great opportunity to give new chances?”
To her credit, Carmen didn’t lose her shit but just stood with a steely face.
“That’s it?” she finally asked after a good five seconds of silence.
“Carmen! Be respectful, and do not make this more difficult than it has to
be!” her father yelled from across the room. He was red-faced, and Jake
noticed how Carmen’s mother was just standing all the way in the back,
looking down with tears in her eyes.
“Nothing is difficult here,” Carmen shot back.
“She is right,” the aunt agreed. “Now, Carmen. I must know, why did you
come now? Why come at all?”
The mixed messaging could not be more clear. On the one hand, the aunt
welcomed her back with open arms while simultaneously questioning why
she would come back as if it was obvious she wasn’t welcome.
“I felt like I had to,” Carmen answered truthfully.
“Daft as ever,” the old woman – Carmen’s grandmother - said. “After all the
trouble you caused, you dare show your face like this again? You dare show
up covered in dirt, ignoring all etiquette and social norms by just barging in
the door? Without a single apology? You should be on your knees begging
for forgiveness from your aunt and your cous-“
“Enough!”
Jake had expected Carmen to be the one yelling, but while the voice was
similar, it wasn’t her. Her mother broke out of the crowd and ran towards
Carmen as she stood in front of her. “This is… enough!”
Carmen stared confused at the woman’s back. While it made a bit more
sense to Jake, he chose to stay silent as he curiously observed.
“Maura, what in god’s name are you doing!” Carmen’s father yelled. He
looked both worried and infuriated at what was happening.
“This isn’t right or at all what we agreed! You promised-“
“Maura,” the aunt cut her off as she stared down at Carmen’s mother.
“Think very carefully about what you want to do or say next.”
The woman hesitated as Jake decided to get a little involved. He infused his
voice with a bit of Willpower and whispered into the woman’s ear.
“Just speak. Do not underestimate your daughter, and share the truth. Have
no doubt that the side you now stand on is the superior one.”
No one but her heard his voice, and she looked bewildered for a moment,
but it seemed to have given her the confidence. She gritted her teeth as she
yelled:
“Why should I trust anything any of you say! I already lost my daughter
once, and I will not do so again! You promised me she would be out of
prison within a year and be back with us! You swore you were doing
everything and that as long as we kept our distance, we would be fine! You
never did anything!” the woman practically screamed.
“Maura, shut your mouth right now and apologize! Get back here and-“
“No! I am not leaving my daughter again!”
The situation had turned tense a lot quicker than expected. The woman
called Maura had only managed to share a few details, but Jake could see
Carmen was shaken. She looked unsure of what to do, and Jake placed a
hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
Carmen looked up as she collected her thoughts. She seemed to make a
decision as she stepped forward. “I think there are some things I need to
know. Mother, please follow me so we can-“
“Dear, I will need you to stay so we can talk this out,” the aunt interrupted
her, and Jake saw the guards move to cover the door. “Having you and your
mother simply leave like this will just cause issues no one wants, wouldn’t
it?”
Jake just sighed internally. What a fucking moron.
And, of course, they just had to make it even worse as the side door swung
open.
“Now, what is all this ruckus? Is my retarded little cousin causing a ruckus
again and in need of another lesson?”
The cousin entered, and with her was the nerdy-looking man that gave off
quite an odd aura. Finally, all the related parties were gathered in one room
for the highest stake game of family feud imaginable.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
END OFMONTH WARNING. May consider to wait for the first to not
get double-charged.


Chapter 468 - A One-Sided Family
Feud
Jake’s attention was firmly on the two newcomers, especially the scrawny-
looking man. He was thin, pale, wore glasses, and even in D-grade, he still
looked like someone who hadn’t left his basement for half a year. Yet he did
have an aura of confidence, and Jake could see why.
[Human – lvl 165]
He was actually higher leveled than Jake himself, and it wasn’t spoofed or
anything either. However, even so, Jake got weird vibes from him. His aura
was oddly inconsistent, and his mana signature had an odd, well, signature.
It was a bit familiar to Jake, but he wasn’t entirely clear where he had felt it
before.
The other newcomer was the woman called Beatrice. She wore the kind of
dress Jake would expect out of a high-society gala, and she clearly cared a
lot about her looks. Jake also felt an aura from her as well as a domain of
sorts. His senses heightened, and he quickly noticed how the subtle domain
only affected Jake and the other man that stood next to her as well as all the
male guards. Somehow it excluded family members and women. Jake did
recognize this kind of aura as he had seen a familiar one before, though that
one had been far less potent and controlled. It was a seduction aura of sorts,
and Irin, the succubus, had a similar one.
Her level was also quite a bit lower, to say the least.
[Human – lvl 131]

Carmen looked at the two of them, and Jake saw her one hand slightly
shake. Jake did not do anything to interfere but would let things play out
how they should. Whatever happened, he would just follow Carmen’s lead,
and from the looks of it, there was also her mother around now with far
more insight into who was a bastard and who wasn’t.
With impressive calmness, Carmen looked at her cousin as she scoffed.

“You’re still as big of a bitch as back then, huh? Nice guy you got yourself
there by the way, I see you are still at least good at whoring yourself out.”
The nerdy-looking guy instantly turned aggressive, but Beatrice held his
arm and shook her head. “No need to get mad, babe. She is just jealous.
Look at that pathetic guy she managed to drag along.”
Okay, why am I getting attacked? Jake questioned but still chose to hold his
mouth.
“I understand that the concept of having a man around and not fucking him
is foreign to you. Oh wait, is that why you’re so popular in the family? It
wouldn’t surprise me to learn you fucked half your cousins and uncles
you-”
“Do not utter another word! How dare someone like you come in here and
act like this!” a man Jake recognized as Carmen’s uncle screamed as he
turned to her father. “Didn’t I tell you you shouldn’t have married that bitch
and had a devil spawn like her!”
Jake saw Carmen begin to shake more and more before she finally just
stopped. She took a deep audible sigh as she looked at her mother.
“Mom, who here would you prefer not to see dead?”
The woman called Maura looked bewildered before she turned afraid.
“Please, let’s just leave; I am sure that if we send a message to the
authorities, they will-“
“They already locked down the room,” Carmen sighed. “They don’t plan on
letting any of us leave. So tell me… who do you prefer to leave alive?”
Maura didn’t answer but just looked dumbstruck as she stared up at the rest
of her family. Jake saw the cold gazes they sent in return, and Jake honestly
found it impressive. The sheer level of cohesion in this family was insane.
Even her own husband, Carmen’s father, looked back with disappointment
and anger.
“At least you realize the situation you are in,” the aunt said with a smile.
“Now, we aren’t heartless enough to kill our own family. But house arrest is
certainly the least of the consequences you will face. Beatrice dear, do you
have any ideas on how we can involve little Carmen more in the family
business?”
The cousin just smirked. “We always need more little whores. We can even
take the mother.”
“No,” Carmen’s father finally spoke up. “I shall handle my own wife.”
Jake saw Maura shake a bit as she backed away. Honestly, looking at this
entire situation… yeah, these people had a seriously lacking ability when it
came to probing others. Jake took out the beeper he had gotten from Renato
and sent a message, more or less making it clear that murder was going to
happen.
“You are all fucking insane,” Carmen sneered. “And equally fucking
delusional to think you can in any way tell me or anyone around me what to
do when I am here.”
“Heh,” Beatrice laughed when she saw Carmen clench her fists. “Are you
still doing that silly boxing thing? Think a little girl like you can fight? I
thought you had learned your lesson the first time around, but it seems like
you need another one? Ah, I just got a nice little idea for where you can
work; we just need to chop off those useless arms. I am sure we have plenty
of clients looking for a little para-play.”
Jake saw Maura look horrified, with Carmen’s father also frowning deeply,
but the others barely reacted. He decided to finally get a little involved as he
felt Carmen was about to make her move.
“Excuse me, what am I to do?” Jake asked. Carmen threw him a look, but
he just tossed her a glance, and she seemed to get it.
A few people finally looked at him as they barely seemed to register him.
“You are trespassing and are not family. Guards, apprehend him already and
put him in the dungeon for dear Alberto to play with,” the aunt spoke, and
Jake instantly guessed the guy with Beatrice was Alberto based on his
creepy smile.
The guards reacted, and Jake threw Carmen a look. She just nodded, so
Jake smiled as two men flanked him on each side.
Two heads fell to the ground before anyone else in the room reacted as Jake
now stood with a black blade in his hand. He could have just blown their
heads off, but Eternal Hunger hadn’t been fed in a while, so why not use
this opportunity?
His display instantly stopped them in their tracks. Carmen’s mother stared
at Jake in disbelief as Carmen just laughed out loud, getting the attention of
everyone. “Fine. You attacked first.”
Carmen stepped down and flew forward with incredible speed. She
appeared right in front of her aunt a moment later and mercilessly chopped
down on her shoulders. Blood erupted as two arms were severed, and she
screamed bloody murder.
Not a single other family member moved to help but just ran away as some
of them took out expensive-looking items to defend themselves. Carmen
showed no mercy as she moved again and kicked her uncle so hard in his
stomach that her foot went through. With a whip, she tossed him away as he
smashed into a wall, blood flowing down the pristine marble.
“Alberto!” Beatrice screamed, and the man reacted. That is when Jake
learned why the aura of man felt familiar yet also fake. He instantly lit up
with red energy as power flooded the room and five summoning circles
appeared. He saw that deep below, similar circles appeared as five creatures
were teleported from below.
They all looked humanoid and wore armor and wielded weapons, but Jake
felt nothing human about them. The reason why he found the energy so
familiar was because he had felt it before – demonic energy. He identified
one and found them all around the same level.
[Demon-Possessed Human – lvl 164]
Now he knew his fate if he was to be captured. He had a fully-fledged

warlock on his hands, it seemed. It was a class Jake had become faintly
familiar with. The demons that were summoned moved for Carmen right
away as Jake still didn’t move. Alberto kept an eye on Jake as he also didn’t
move from Beatrice’s side. Jake, in turn, stayed to protect Carmen’s mother.
Carmen was surrounded by demons in a moment as Beatrice yelled.
“Tear that bitch apart!”
“Fucking idiots,” Carmen scoffed. Golden runes lit up on her body, and
Jake knew she had finally activated just a few of her boosting skills. “Do
you have any fucking idea who I am?”
Golden light erupted as she moved. A possessed human chopped down with
an axe as Carmen just caught it and proceeded to punch the man so hard in
his chest it exploded, sending him flying back. Dodging under another
blow, she landed a low kick and put another off-balance as she punched him
so hard that his head was embedded in the stone below.
It was an absolute slaughter. They were simply not on the same level, and
Alberto knew this. Jake was aware the man would make a move as he went
over to Maura. “Apologies.”
He tapped her head and sent in a bit of Willpower, instantly knocking her
out with a mental attack. He had a feeling it was better he got involved now.
Of course, he still had to ensure Carmen’s mother was safe. And well… that
was a task for the third musketeer.
From above, what looked like a green bullet fell. A section of the roof
collapsed as the hawk smashed down and cut one of the possessed humans
in two from head to groin before swiftly flying over and joining Jake. Jake
had communicated with her the task she had been given as he left Carmen’s
mother in the hawk’s care.
Beatrice, to her credit, seemed to notice things had gone south. She looked
at Jake as she backed a bit away, with Alberto taking a defensive position in
front of her. Jake felt that the man had already gathered some energy within
his body and could release the prepared skill at any point. Moving to attack
would be smart, but… this was not Jake’s fight. It was Carmen’s privilege
to kill them.
“Hey… hey, how much is she paying you? I am sure we can figure
something out,” the woman said as she released her seduction skill at full
power, all of it directed towards Jake. He felt the level of mental influence,
and it was at quite a high level if he had to say so himself. Still useless, of
course.
“I don’t believe you can offer anything I want,” Jake just shot her down. “
And if I wanted a prostitute, I would go to a brothel.”
The woman looked shocked as Alberto was furious. He should probably

have expected it, but his comment triggered the man enough to also make
his own move. It was a bit premature as Carmen had only barely gotten
done killing the second-to-last possessed human as they were actually
respectably tanky with potent regeneration skills.
Jake felt the man’s aura flare as he knelt down and pressed his hands to the
floor. The magic responded as Jake felt a gateway open. Jake briefly felt a
connection be established with something far more powerful than anyone in
the room as the man fully activated the trump card of most warlocks.
“Demonic Transformation!”
His body bulged as muscles erupted on his body. His skin turned red, and
Jake saw a faint mirage behind him of a similar-looking demon. A true
demon.
Demons were a rather unique race in the multiverse due to one of the racial
skills possessed by all demons in C-grade and above. The Demonic
Contract. It was the ability to make a contract with those significantly
weaker than themselves and allowed the contractee to pull on their power
and, in extreme cases, even allow the demon to possess them or someone
else for a limited time, making them far more powerful. This was a very
common path to power for demons, and these contracts could take many
forms.
That was a simplified version, but Jake had no time to go through all the
information in his head right now as the transformation was complete. From
a small and scrawny nerd, he had become a three-meter tall demonic mass
of muscles with an axe of bone.
Feeling the bellowing aura, Jake understood why even Renato was careful
around the guy. Warlocks were notorious for being powerful at their levels
due to the nature of their Path. It was a Path that had plenty of drawbacks
too, but none that mattered at the current time.
Jake dodged as the axe swung down, and he retaliated with Eternal Hunger,
getting a good stab in. The bulky demon barely cared but kept swinging
wildly with every single axe hit tearing up the hall. A few shockwaves even
reached the family members of Carmen and Beatrice, ripping them apart.
Carmen swiftly finished off the last possessed demon and charged over.
Jake graciously bowed out and allowed Carmen to have her fun with the
demon guy. At the same time, he made sure no one else left the room,
including Beatrice, who had managed to flee into the room she and Alberto
had entered from.
He followed her and appeared in front of her with One Step Mile in an
instant. “And you folk talk about etiquette. Isn’t it rude to leave in the
middle of a party without notice?” Jake taunted her.
“What the hell do you want!” she screamed. “What has that witch given
you? Who even are you?”
“Lord Thayne, Chosen of the Malefic Viper and perhaps the most powerful
man on Earth,” a familiar voice said as Jake saw the man in his white suit as
he teleported into the room. Renato quickly glanced about and saw the
carnage, while he frowned at seeing the fight between Carmen and the
demon. While the demon probably had Carmen beaten in pure Strength,
Alberto clearly had no idea how to fight, and it didn’t look like he knew the
Demonic Avatar skill either to have the demon actually possess him.
Carmen quickly wore him down as her fists fell like rain and sent blood
flying.
Beatrice stared at Renato and actually looked relieved. “Mr. Renato! I am

so glad you are here; these lunatics came in here and-“
“Shut it,” Renato cut her off with a death glare before turning to Jake. “Lord
Thayne, thank you for informing me of the decision you and the
Runemaiden reached. I have already made the necessary preparations, and
the Salvento family will be punished according. If you and the Runemaiden
choose to leave any survivors, that is.”
“That will be up to her,” Jake shook his head. He waved his hand and sent
out strings of mana and tied up Beatrice, who was once more trying to
sneak away. She fell to the ground and struggled, her stats pathetic for a D-
grade. Jake had also tied shut her mouth for good measure.
The situation was firmly under control. The family members who had
survived were huddled up in a corner, Carmen was beating down the only
fighter worth a damn, and Jake had Sylphie bring over the unconscious
Maura, who Jake entrusted to Renato.
And then he just observed the fight between the large demon and Carmen.
He saw how she didn’t really use any skills but was just pummeling the
transformed man. Jake felt how she let out all her frustrations and anger by
using him as a living boxing bag, and honestly, good riddance.
Jake only knew a bit about what went into creating demon-possessed
humans, and it wasn’t nice. It required you to completely break down
someone enough to have them willingly take in a demon, effectively killing
themselves to come hosts. Currently, he could see a lot of what was beneath
the mansion, and it appeared like it had primarily belonged to Alberto and
housed his workshop.
“Should send some men to the cellar,” Jake said to Renato. “And bring
some healers.”
The man nodded gravely as Jake just stood there and kept watching Carmen
let out all the pent-up emotions. Sylphie also joined him as they just let her
do her thing before the demon finally died a slow and probably very painful
death.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
NEW MONTH = BEST TIME TO BECOME A NEW PATRON!
Also a brilliant way to skip current cliff to get to the next cliff 50
chapters later.


Chapter 469 - Catharsis
Carmen stood over the body of the demon. Blood dripped onto the floor
from fists that didn’t even have a single scratch on them. She breathed
heavily as she kicked the corpse in frustration at the fucker dying so fast.
She knew it wasn’t all fair that she had let out everything on a man she had
only met less than an hour ago, but from the looks of it, he was a fucking
asshole. Fit right into the family.
At least he had been worth more than her pathetic uncle and aunt. They
could barely handle anything, and she was relieved to see at least one of
them still alive despite her injuries. They were still D-grade after all, and
anything short of blowing up their entire torso or ripping off their heads
wouldn’t lead to instant death, which is why it was maybe overkill to tear
her uncle in two, though that shouldn’t have killed him instantly.
Anyway, it was good the demon guy had at least been a bit durable to let
her vent, considering the rest of her family were too pathetic. And they
were pathetic. She wanted to kick herself for being so scared before coming
that day. These people were nothing more than bottom feeders.
She looked into the room and saw Jake stand together with the shady City
Lord Renato, but she also saw her mother lay there unconscious. Jake gave
her a nod to make her know she was okay, and even Sylphie mimicked him,
making her smile a bit internally. Finally, she saw the tied-up Beatrice.
I’ll save her for last.
Carmen turned her attention to the other family members in the room. As
she looked at them, her anger flared again. No… they deserve worse than
death.
“Get the fuck over here!” she yelled at them.
“Little Carmen, please, this is all a big misunderstanding!” she heard her
grandmother, who had managed to survive, cry out. She even had the gall to
use the name she used to call Carmen when she was like five.
“I told you all to get the fuck over here,” she said again. It seemed to get the
message across the second time around as she also pointed at her aunt.
“And drag that bitch along. If any of you are healers, fix her up too. At least
enough so she doesn’t die too quickly.”
They did as ordered without another complaint or word spoken. Only now
did Carmen truly recognize how fucked up their sense of authority was. The
moment she had the upper hand, pretty much everyone just rolled over and
did as told. It was pathetic.
Jake and Renato then walked over, with Jake dragging the bundle of mana
strings containing Beatrice. The woman was wriggling, trying to get loose
as she looked up at Carmen with fright. Carmen had to hold herself back
from just stomping on her head then and there as she turned to Renato.
“Is this all of them?”
“Everyone from the Salvento family present in Paradise, yes,” the man
confirmed.
“And you really have no issues with everything that happened today?” she
also asked.
“I have major issues with it. I lost a major source of income and an
important part of our infrastructure. Your family – or former family – were
at least decent at their jobs, and it will take a long time to find suitable
replacements,” the man answered honestly but added. “However, this is a
preferable outcome to dealing with the fallout of making you an enemy.
Moreover, it was only a question of time before they tried to reach beyond
their station and would no doubt go for the position of City Lord eventually.
So, truly, good riddance.”
Carmen just sighed as she wondered what to do next. She considered if she
should just kill them all, but then she saw her mother. Still unconscious. She
gritted her teeth as she sighed and looked at Renato and Jake. “Can you
help me contain them or something? I think I need to have a talk with my
mom.”
Jake nodded and smiled as he tossed her a few potions. “Good luck.”
“Thanks,” she smiled as she went into the other room with her mother and
shut the door, trusting Jake to make sure no one escaped. Even if they did,
she had confidence he could track them down again.
Jake stood in the large central banquet chamber and saw it all torn up and
destroyed. Renato stood silently at his side as the man just seemed happy
with everything being contained within the mansion and that nothing spilled
outside to impact the rest of the city.
“You allowed them to get away with a lot,” Jake finally said, both men
knowing what he was referring to.
“A balance is required,” Renato just said in defense of himself.
“They have a fucking dungeon full of prisoners. Human experiments. I am

pretty sure this goes against the so-called rules of Paradise,” Jake shot back.
Renato sighed. “I was aware of some of it. Slaves were brought in from the
outside. While slave trading is illegal, owning them is not… and even if it is
frowned upon, we simply didn’t have the means to investigate and-
“Bullshit,” Jake said. “You just didn’t think it was worth it.”
“As I said… a balance is required,” Renato just said as the two of them
stood in silence. “But do know that I shall strive to improve things.”
“I hope so,” Jake said.

And hopefully, whatever Peter does will light a fire under your ass and
make you get your shit together.
Hours passed.
Carmen had woken up her mother and heard the whole story. Between sobs
and apologies, Carmen became a bit more clear on what had been going on
back then. When Carmen gave her dear cousin a good pummeling and was
charged criminally, her mother had fought for her with her father also kind
of supporting her.
However, due to the pressure from other family members, they were told to
back off. Her mother was finally promised that Carmen would say
incarcerated for a year or so before they would agree for her to get out.
With the family’s power, she hadn’t doubted it was possible, but the
promise did come with some limitations.
First of all, they could have no contact with her during this time, and her
mother had agreed. Carmen did learn that some things did not line up. The
letter disowning her was news to her mother, making her cry even more at
learning that it had indeed never been their plan to let her out.
Her mother also said that things got worse after she went to prison. Her
father got more aggressive and short with his wife, and her freedom was
limited. Her father and mother had apparently been threatened to be cut off
from the family entirely, and at that moment, her father had chosen the
family over Carmen and his wife. It was a fucked up situation, which just
led to the ultimate question:
“Who of them is worth keeping alive?” Carmen asked her mother.
“I…” her mother said with hesitation. “Carmen, we shouldn’t stoop to their
level. Please, enough people have died today, don’t make it worse.”
Carmen just sighed at her mother’s naivety, yet it also made her a bit glad.
She also decided that she wanted another perspective on this as she
dispelled the barrier in the room and spoke a bit loudly. “Can you come in
here? I need some common sense.”
Jake was not a good person to ask for common sense, but nevertheless, he
entered the room where Carmen and Maura were sitting. The woman
looked like a mess, and Jake greeted her with a wave. He took the initiative
and made his own mask invisible when it was just the three of them.
“Not sure you want me for common sense,” Jake commented.
“You are the best I got,” Carmen just scoffed with a smile. “You have been
keeping an eye on my “family,” any thoughts so far?”
“They are trying to figure out who to throw under the bus, but it seems like
they all agreed on the uncle, aunt, and Beatrice as well as that grandmother
of yours. A few more, too, probably. They are all kept in the room so you
can figure out what you want to do with them,” Jake answered.
“What do you think I should do? No… what would you do?” Carmen
asked.
Jake took a moment to think. Would he kill them all? Maybe. It seemed like
a waste of time to do so. Would he let them go? Fuck no. But if he wasn’t
going to let them go…
“I don’t think I am the best to ask. I don’t know them well enough… but
think about it like this. What are the consequences of leaving them alive,
and what do you want out of their deaths? Remember, this is not about them
but you. If you genuinely believe killing every single one of them will make
you feel better, do that. That would also remove all karmic ties and potential
future issues one of them could bring. If you believe that leaving them alive
- and that they are no future threats - will make you feel best, do that,” Jake
answered honestly. He did not know what he would do if he was in the
same position. He would just go by his gut in that situation.
Carmen looked like she considered her words before asking her mother.
“Do you want your husband alive or not?” she asked a bit coldly.
“Your father-“
“He is not my father,” Carmen cut her off. “And I am not a part of that
shitty Salvento family. They lost the privilege for me to recognize them
long ago.”
“He… I don’t know,” her mother shook her head.
Jake sighed as he saw the woman so… lost. Her entire life had been
upturned in just a few minutes, and all the conditioning would take far
longer to fade away. It was a difficult situation, and Jake could only watch
from the sidelines as, luckily, Renato entered the conversation.
“Ms. Carmen, would it perhaps be best we find a peaceful place for your
mother to rest for now? We have plenty of healers and individuals with
experience dealing with injuries not necessarily of the physical nature,” the
man asked.
Carmen hesitated before finally nodding. Maura didn’t even try to argue but
did say one last thing. “Please don’t kill your father… even with all he
did…”
With that, she was led away, and Carmen looked at Jake and Renato for a
moment. Jake understood at that moment what she had decided. “Have
everyone leave the hall,” she said, with Renato complying as he ordered his
men out.
“Meet you back at the hotel?” Jake asked.
“Yeah,” Carmen nodded as she closed the gate and entered the central hall.
Carmen wiped her hand with a cloth. It was still red even after she cleaned
it, but with a bit of water and soap, it should come off. Around her lay more
than twenty corpses of people she had once called family. Once. She
realized that forgiveness was just not in her heart. Carmen was not going to
justify anything to anyone. She killed them purely out of selfish revenge,
and fuck her, did it feel good.
Now there were only four left, as her chair moved a bit as her dear cousin
struggled. She really was a sucky chair.
“Pipe down,” Carmen said as she grabbed her thigh of Beatrice and let her
fingers sink into the flesh as the woman made muffled screams.
The other two people were her aunt, grandmother, and father. Sadly her
uncle had died during the fight with the demon, leaving only four of her
primary targets. None of them spoke for good reason as they all lay on the
ground, every single limb broken.
Her grandmother had not even reached D-grade, and it was a miracle she
still lived. Carmen stood up and made sure to do a back-kick into her
cousin’s stomach as she walked over to the vile old woman. Carmen
squatted down in front of her.
“Never imagined this day would come, huh?” Carmen asked as she held up
the woman by her frilly white hair. The woman only glared back as she
muttered.
“Devil… spawn…”
“A bit hypocritical considering your favorite granddaughter’s boyfriend

literally summoned demons,” Carmen sneered. “Not that I would argue.
Devils are demons who have reached the realm of godhood; did you know
that? No, probably not based on how fucking ignorant you have shown
yourself to be. Either way, I shall take it as a compliment, so good
riddance.”
With that, Carmen simply extended a finger and poked the woman on her
head. Her finger penetrated the skull and sank into the old hag’s brain as her
eyes opened wide before going blank and lifeless.
“And now for my favorite aunt,” Carmen said as she sprung up and walked
over. “For you, I really have no grand speech. I always fucking hated you.
You are a coward and an utter failure as a parent and a person. The mere
fact you managed to pop out that cousin of mine is a sin worthy of death
alone, so I am giving you just that.”
“…” the woman struggled, but Carmen had already ripped out her tongue
and broken her jaw as she wouldn’t stop yapping on begging for mercy
earlier.
Carmen turned and looked at her cousin as she dragged her own mother
over to her by her hair. “I wondered for a while If I should kill your own
daughter in front of you… but honestly, I prefer it the other way around.”
She stomped down with her foot as she kept hold of the long hair on her
aunt’s head. All the hair was ripped out as the woman was smashed down.
Carmen had actually planned on ripping the head off, but oh well.
Another good stomp later, and all that remained of her head was a mass of
blood, skull fragments, and brain matter.
“Now the finale. Beatrice, oh Beatrice. Do you have any idea how long I
have looked forward to this day? I am actually a bit sad I wasn’t better back
on that fateful day. If I was as skilled then as I am now, I would have killed
you in time. I did try to kill you, you know?” Carmen said as she stared
down at the crying woman – who naturally also had her tongue ripped out.
“Ah, wait, here, let me help you answer,” Carmen said as she pulled out a
potion and fed Beatrice. She instantly healed with the head going first, and
within less than a minute, a new tongue had regrown.
“You psychotic bitch,” Beatrice screamed. “You absolutely fucking psycho!

You are never going to get away with this!”
“Get away with what? Fixing a minor family issue?” Carmen scoffed.
“I hope you get raped to death you-“
“And tongue privilege is revoked,” Carmen interrupted her as she ripped it

out again. “You really don’t know when to shut the fuck up.”
Beatrice kept trying to scream as Carmen just took a deep breath and closed
her eyes. She put a hand on each side of her cousin’s face and lifted her up.
Opening her eyes, she stared straight into the eyes of Beatrice and saw only
defiance meet her.
Carmen began squeezing as soon the eyes changed from defiance to pain
and then finally despair. Gradually she increased her power as she didn’t
lose eye contact for even a second. She wanted to make sure Beatrice
suffered until the very last moment.
“Goodbye, and may you rot in whatever hell a bitch like you ends up in,”
Carmen said as she increased the pressure and, like a melon, Beatrice’s
head exploded, splashing blood all over Carmen.
Carmen couldn’t help but smile as she, for some reason, felt relieved. Yet
she also felt tired, like she had just won a fight against her most powerful
opponent ever. She looked at her bloody hands before she was brought out
of her thoughts by the muffled cries of the final person left alone.
She turned to him and scoffed. “Be lucky my mother asked to keep you
alive. That is the only reason you leave alive today. Don’t fucking ever
contact me again, and if you do, I will not be as nice, even if it goes against
my mother’s wish.”
The man didn’t even answer as he looked to be in a state of shock. He just

kept screaming.
Carmen ignored him as she threw the corpses a final look before leaving the
hall. Outside she saw the same guard that had first escorted them into
Paradise.
“Ms. Carmen,” he bowed.
“I am done,” she just said.
“What are we to do with the survivor?” the guard asked unbothered.
“I honestly don’t care, as long as he doesn’t die,” Carmen said dismissively.

“Very well. What will the Runemaiden do now?”
Carmen thought for a second. “Well, first of all, I need a damn shower.”
“Honestly, that saying is just bullshit,” Carmen said as she took another
shot. “Revenge is never the answer, my ass.”
“But an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, didn’t you know
that?” Jake teased her as he also took a drink.
“Well, I can live with that; I got confidence in my self-healing,” Carmen

joked in return.
It had been a few hours since everything had ended. Renato was doing
clean-up, Peter was nowhere to be found, and Sylphie didn’t like sitting
around in a hotel room, so she had decided to scout out the surrounding area
of Paradise.
Jake and Carmen had met up in the hotel room as they were currently
liberally emptying out the minibar while chatting about everything that had
gone down. Carmen was now just sitting in a bathrobe with damp hair as
she drank, her clothes still full of blood after the happenings earlier today,
with Jake having also switched into something a bit more casual.
“It’s weird. Based on all the movies and tv-shows and whatnot, one would
think only some hollow feelings would remain. You know, how it is often
shown where some guy gets their revenge and then they just become empty
husks without purpose,” Carmen said as she stared up at the ceiling.
“I feel just the opposite. It was cathartic. Like finally, I am free… am I a

bad person for that?”
Jake shrugged as he took another drink. “Good or bad… I don’t know. Is it

really worth thinking about? Freedom is what allows you to be and do
whatever you want to. So what if others think you are a bad person if you
and those you care about don’t?”
She was silent for a while. “Do you think it makes me a bad person? Killing
them all, I mean.”
“No, not really. It was merely a consequence of their own actions. They
lived their lives killing and taking advantage of others while never even
being willing to risk their own hides. It was just a matter of time before
reality caught up to them, and they pissed someone off they shouldn’t,”
Jake shook his head. “Not sure about others, but I may have done the same.
I truly don’t know.”
Carmen smiled and nodded as she fell silent for a bit as she stared around
the room. She adjusted her hair a bit and took another drink as she took a
deep breath.
“You know, for nearly four years, I have either been stuck in a fucked up
women’s prison or been busy running around killing things by myself for
the most part,” she said. “I know I have major trust issues… I don’t like
others having my back. Sylphie was the first living thing I think I ever
really trusted, and that was just because she was so cute and innocent I
couldn’t see her backstabbing me.”
Jake kept silent as he let her talk.
“I don’t like all the pressure Sven put on me, or the importance people place
on some stupid title like Runemaiden. Shit, I ended up going through
several gods before I found one I stuck with due to my own damn
insecurities more than anything else,” she continued.
“I get it,” Jake said. “Trusting people sucks. In my tutorial, I was naive and
trusted people, and that nearly got me killed. But at the same time, you need
to trust some people, or life just gets too miserable. I guess I did get lucky
with who I met.”
Carmen smiled and looked at Jake. “I guess I could have been more
unlucky with who I met.”
The two of them fell silent as they just drank. Carmen finally sighed and
leaned forward as she grasped Jake by the collar as she muttered something
about Jake being dense under her breath.
She looked him straight in the eyes. “Wanna hook up?”
Jake's brain short-circuited for a moment before he nodded and was

promptly thrown towards the bed.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 470 - The Morning After
When fighting, Jake liked to be in control and dictate the momentum. He

liked when he decided what would happen next, and the flow went as he
predicted.
That night did not feel particularly in control, and if he was candid, he was
totally fine with it.
Not that he didn’t also seize the momentum here and there as the battle
continued, making it a big back and forth.
After their battle, Jake found himself lying on the bed as he relaxed, with
Carmen leaning against the headboard next to him, still stark naked. He
looked over and saw her relaxing. Her short blonde hair was a bit more
unkempt than usual, and her defined muscles, especially on her stomach,
were still visible even as she relaxed them. She noticed his gaze and didn’t
bother to hide anything as she spoke.
”I guess I should make it clear this doesn’t mean we are getting married or
anything,” Carmen said.
”And here I was just thinking about picking out a good ring and wondering
if Sylphie should be a bridesmaid,” Jake joked back in return as he also sat
up in the bed.
Okay, Jake had to admit, he could be a bit dense at times. He had not at all
expected what happened to happen, but he wasn’t averse to it. He just went
with the flow and would be a damn liar if he said he wasn’t a huge fan. If
this was pre-system, he would definitely classify Carmen as someone way
out of his league, especially factoring in the aesthetic improvements from
evolutions.
”Don’t get me wrong, I do like you, but there is no way I am looking for
any kind of relationship right now, okay? So let’s just keep it casual,”
Carmen further clarified.
”I didn’t expect anything else,” Jake nodded. Life was too complicated for
both of them, and they each had their own stuff to deal with to get into any
kind of meaningful relationship. A relationship would mean either or both
parties had to sacrifice something to make it work, and Carmen and Jake
were too selfish to want that.
”That doesn’t mean this has to be a one-time thing,” Carmen said

suggestively.
”Technically, it already isn’t,” Jake smirked in return.
Carmen threw him an even more suggestive look, but Jake sadly shook his
head. “While I would love to, I have already had to make five excuses to
Sylphie about why we were busy, and by now, she seems to think we are
performing some grand ritual.”
“Too bad,” she shrugged as she jumped off the bed and had armor appear
on her body. “What are your plans now? I will stay in Paradise a bit to sort
things out. I still need to figure out what to do with my mother. Taking her
back to a settlement belonging to Valhal would be best, but getting there
isn’t that easy right now.”
“You could always wait for the teleportation gates to be fully established. I
am not sure how long it will take, but it shouldn’t be that long with how fast
the space mages are progressing,” Jake said. “It may also be possible for me
to help by doing a bit of roundabout teleportation by first going to the Order
and then back to Haven, but I’m not sure if I can even do that.”
“No need, I will figure this out myself, but thanks for the offer,” Carmen
rejected as she went over and gave him a kiss, adding. “Still only friends.”
“With benefits,” Jake smiled as he promptly got a chop on top of his head.
He also decided to finally get up and was dressed in moments through the
power of his spatial storage. As he took on his clothes, he also took out an
item. It was a Key of the Exalted Prima.
[Key of the Exalted Prima (Unique)] – A key to the Seat of the Exalted
Prima. Allows entry to the Seat of the Exalted Prima.
“Here, take this,” Jake said as he tossed Carmen the key.
She caught it and looked at the key with a frown. “Don’t you still need
another fragment? The only reason I didn’t have a key is that I gave mine to
Sven, so it really isn’t your problem.”
“I just gave you loot priority for the three Primas we killed,” Jake shrugged.
He knew Carmen wasn’t a fan of charity. “And I plan on spending the rest
of my time before the system event just exploring this continent. I am sure
Renato has some good information on nearby spots with dangerous foes,
which will likely include a Prima or two. Even if he doesn’t have a map, I
still got Peter’s.”
“Sure you trust that guy? Didn’t he disappear after doing some shady shit?”
“Eh, trust or not doesn’t matter; the map is at least legit based on what I can
see,” Jake said, shaking his head.
“You aren’t angry at him lying to our faces this whole time?” Carmen asked
with a raised eyebrow.
“Thinking about it, did he actually lie? We never asked, did we? Sure, one
could argue he lied by omission but by that logic, we also lied to him about
the nature of why we were going to Paradise. As far as I know, he didn’t do
anything against either of us and will only cause trouble for Renato, which I
quite frankly don’t give a damn about,” Jake explained his point of view.
Carmen thought for a while. “I guess you have a point, and it isn’t like
Valhal or Haven is allied with that city alliance either.”
Jake nodded as he went over to the balcony. “Okay if I let Sylphie in now?”
“Go ahead,” she shrugged. The bedroom was still a bit of a mess after their
nightly battle, but it didn’t matter much.
Jake opened the balcony door, and the moment he did, a green form flew in
and quickly circled the room. She zoomed a dozen rounds before finally
landing on a table, knocking over a bottle.
“Ree!” she shrieked.
“Yeah, we discussed the situation,” Jake nodded with a serious expression.
Sylphie looked at Carmen a bit suspiciously.
“Eh, yeah, we finished the discussion. Adults only you know?” Carmen
played along.
“Yep,” Jake reiterated. “Carmen will stay here for a while to handle the rest
of her matters while the two of us can head out for a bit of hunting. We will
meet up at the system event anyway, so-“
“Ree, ree, ree?” Sylphie asked.
“I guess?” Jake said, a bit surprised as he turned to Carmen. “Can Sylphie

stay here with you until you got everything handled?”
“Why?” Carmen asked, confused.
“Well, according to her, she found some sky-anomaly around twenty

kilometers in the sky hidden above the other clouds, and she wants to eat
it,” Jake shrugged.
“Eat it?” Carmen asked, confused.
“Yep. Sylphie’s words, not mine. Well, her insinuation, not mine.”
“What is this anomaly?” Carmen asked, a bit curious.
Jake turned to Sylphie, who made a few more screeching noises.

“A very windy one,” Jake explained very accurately.
Carmen seemed to understand she would not get a proper answer, and Jake
had also given up. From the sounds of it, it was perhaps some kind of
natural formation or jet stream or something. Sylphie seemed to want it, so
the rest didn’t really matter as he trusted her instincts for what she could
and couldn’t absorb.
Anyway, it seemed like Jake would have to head out alone. Sylphie and
Carmen both had their own Prima keys, and Jake only needed one more
fragment to form his own. He had over two weeks to get that done and also
get some great hunting in.
Before he left, he went by Renato and talked to the man to clear some
things up. First of all, he washed his and Carmen’s hands of Peter by
making it clear they didn’t know the guy, and he even managed to come out
looking like the good guy by “warning” Renato about Peter once Jake
claimed he couldn’t find him.
The visit also gave him some good information about the surrounding area.
Renato had mapped out some areas where his elite was hunting and – more
importantly – areas his elite avoided as it was too dangerous for them to
hunt in. Jake also learned that the man didn’t even have a single fragment
himself and was fully aware he would not get a key. He was running a full-
on turtle strategy which meant hunting wasn’t something the man was
skilled in.
With everything in Paradise done and dusted, Jake headed out for a danger
zone about a day’s travel away. For Renato’s men. Jake could probably get
there within a few hours.
Once he was outside, it finally came. Something he had waited for since last
night. A presence descended as Jake heard the voice.
“I am so proud of my Chosen,” Villy’s voice echoed in his mind. “To lay

with a Runemaiden from Valhal? Truly my man. Tell me, who’s next now
that you have finally abandoned your days of celibacy? You know it is
entirely possible to-”
Jake tried to ignore the god as he ran but finally felt compelled to answer
after Villy began talking about setting up blind dates with other influential
women from other factions.
“You are way more invested in this than I thought you would be,” Jake
mumbled.
“Oh, I am not; I just like to make fun of you. Good for you to finally get
some tail, even if your partner in question didn’t have a tail,” the god kept
joking. “Ah, but just to make sure, you didn’t, you know, went for making
more mini-Jakes?”
“No, and if you keep asking, I will from here on out live a life as a eunuch,”
Jake said. Okay, he wouldn’t. That was too big of a sacrifice to make, even
to spite Villy.
“That would include you cutting it off, you know? But okay, okay, I’ll leave
you be. Just one piece of advice, don’t get too attached to anyone, alright?
You are both only D-grade, and if I am being frank, then chances are not a
single person you have met from your own universe will live as long as you.
The amount of talents who have fallen due to sentimental reasons isn’t few
and being able to live with seeing everyone around you wither and die is a
requirement if you want to go all the way,” the Viper explained in a serious
tone.
“I know,” Jake just answered, the god bringing down the mood. “But that
sounds like something I will consider when it becomes relevant, not now.”
“Just remember to prepare yourself mentally,” Villy reiterated.
Jake nodded as he kept running. Not wanting to end the conversation on

such a somber note, he smirked and took a jab of his own: “I am impressed
you actually stopped being a peeping tom.”
“Alright, I am many things, but a voyeur is not one of them, especially not
when it is my mate. That would just be weird, man. Well, unless I am part of
the deed, in which case, seeing things is unavoidable, you know? It is a
possibility, depending on how free-spirited and open-minded you are,”
Villy answered in jest. At least Jake hoped it was in jest.
The two of them chatted a bit more about random, somewhat unrelated
things before Villy had to get back to “work,” as he called it. It appeared
that Jake having a nightly escapade made Villy decide that now was a good
time to have a status meeting with the three Witches of the Verdant Lagoon
– for entirely unrelated reasons, Jake was sure.
Checking out his map, Jake went towards the closest danger zone worth
looking into. He also pulled out a fragment to scan for any Primas. He had
spent the last while with others, and honestly, Jake was a bit glad Sylphie
had found something that made her stick around Paradise, allowing Jake to
go off solo.
With only a couple of weeks till the system event, Jake smiled as he looked
forward to some solo hunting and hopefully some more class levels under
his belt. He had noticed the lack of experience gained when with others and
was relatively sure by now that he got a lot less experience when fighting
with others than by himself. Even less than the usual penalty of shared
experience and the battles being made easier as a result of partying.
Who knows… if the hunt was good, maybe he could even find a “weak” C-
grade worth killing.
It was shortly after the Second World Congress.
Casper checked the Magiscript one final time. A vast tapestry of runes and
symbols revolved all around him as he scanned it for any flaws or missing
parts. He had already messed it up a few dozen times by now and had to
debug what was effectively ultra-complex computer code. His many years
working before the system in research and development with software came
in very handy as he was more or less just coding in a magical language
infinitely more complex than any computer code humans could ever invent.
Something only made possible by his now superhuman abilities.
Taking a deep breath, he activated the testing core and ran the simulation. It
started up as expected, and soon enough, the entire structure stabilized. The
energy flow was up to the hoped standards, with the density even
surpassing what he had calculated prior by about half a percent. Casper
grinned as time passed, and half an hour later, a perfect equilibrium had
been reached.
Having confirmed the result, he took out the real thing. The unique item
hummed with power as Casper knew he was in possession of something
even peak-level factions would go far to acquire. A real dungeon core.
[Intermediate Dungeon Core (Unique)] – A Dungeon Core offered

directly by the system due to Earth’s performance during the Treasure
Hunt event. This Dungeon Core is of the intermediate level and can
support monster spawning up to low-tier C-grade. Must have a suitable
environment to activate and spawn the dungeon. Requirements:
Soulbound
After looking at it for a while longer, he went to the prepared cavern.

Several guards were in place, and when they saw him, they knew. Priscilla
was notified and sent a communication to Casper asking if he was ready. He
confirmed as he entered the cavern and made everyone else leave the area.
He would need silence and focus to implement the core and create a true
Dungeon. Casper sat in the middle of the cavern and took out the core, and
the moment he got the go-ahead to initiate, he began infusing his
Magiscript. The entire cavern responded as the process started. Beneath
him, another ritual was also going on as hundreds of D-grades fed a ritual
that supported him and the cavern with energy, all led by Priscilla herself.
Casper had begun preparing this cavern the very day the city was founded.
He had worked on the scripts, directed thousands of workers to assist him,
and out of everyone in the city, if not the world, he had been the one to use
the most resources on such a singular goal. Casper had even been trained by
an S-grade Archlich specializing in Magiscript and dungeon-making.
Heck… he even had pointers and was blessed by a Primordial to do this job.
There was no room for failure.

Days passed as Casper was in a constant state of focus. The walls were
slowly filled with scripts as the cavern expanded. Space was distorted, and
a week in, only Casper and the area a few meters around him remained
stable. On the outside, the cavern was about two hundred meters in
diameter, but in there, it had expanded to tens of times that. Anyone trying
to go inside would also swiftly find themselves rebuffed as a barrier had
been made by the dungeon core itself.
Casper had lost count of the number of potions he had consumed and even
time itself. Lyra’s encouraging words helped keep him awake and keep
track of everything as she fed him energy through their connection. His
body had difficulty enduring the process, but Lyra began defending him and
healing his wounds.
Two weeks passed. Three weeks. A month.
Casper was haggard, but he knew he was nearly done. The script was
perfect. He had only found a few minor flaws to perfect. He had worked
with this kind of thing before… he was a damn talented computer scientist
before the system, and now he did not doubt he was a damn proficient user
of Magiscript.
Day thirty-three, it happened. The core was fully stabilized, and suddenly
Casper’s vision shifted as he felt himself overseeing an entire space. He felt
like he was a god in control of his own world but quickly pulled himself
back to reality to not lose himself as he disconnected from the core.
When he opened his eyes again, he found himself with his legs crossed in
front of the entrance to the cavern, a white mist-like barrier blocking the
way inside. He broke out in smiles as Priscilla arrived behind him.
“Did you…?”
Casper just grinned. “Damn straight, I did.”
He went to stand up but found himself stumbling. His mind was still in a
daze as he focused on all the notifications he had gotten, them being the last
thing he saw before he passed out from pure exhaustion.
*’DING!’ Profession: [Blight-Touched Dungeon Architect] has reached
level 172 - Stat points allocated, +8 Free Points*


*’DING!’ Race: [Risen Human (D)] has reached level 154 - Stat points
*’DING!’ Race: [Risen Human (D)] has reached level 162 - Stat points
Title acquired: [Progenitor Dungeon Master]
Title earned: [Progenitor Dungeon Master] – A master of reality itself,

you have created your own little world. For doing so while still in D-grade
and within three years of the integration of your universe, you have
shown yourself to be a true Progenitor Dungeon Master. Increases your
ability to create dungeons and manipulate self-created world spaces. +25
all stats, +10% all stats.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 471 - Jungle Hunting
A note from Zogarth
Oh, just a quick notice, then the chapters for book 3 will be taken down
in two weeks (the 15th of August) for the upcoming KU release on the
30th of August. This includes Chapter 138-205 as well as the Meira
intermission.
Now then, enjoy the chapter!
Each step bent space as Jake ran through the landscape. It had already been
a day or so since he left Paradise, with nothing especially interesting
happening so far. A few mediocre D-grade areas had been explored, but
nothing worth hunting.
He checked his map and saw he was approaching a new area marked as a
danger zone. This particular area was exactly the kind of environment Jake
loved to hunt in. It was a vast swath of greenery with tall trees dominating
the horizon and dense foliage covering the ground, making it impossible to
see far. It was not a forest but something even more filled with nature mana:
a jungle.
While some areas of the forest Haven was placed in the outskirts of could
qualify as jungle-like, this place was on another level. Jake checked the
intel from Renato and even double-checked with what Peter had given him
as both had mentioned this place as it was both a danger zone and a very
popular hunting spot.
Reading the intel, it seemed like a great spot. In the very outskirts, a few E-
grades could be found, but just a bit in, D-grades began dominating. This
was still only talking the outer ten percent as none of the intel mentioned
what was further in, just that it was dangerous. Renato’s information did
note the risk of C-grades, so that was positive.
The opponents one could expect ranged from beasts, plants, and a few
scarce mentions of elementals, primarily water elementals due to the high
humidity. Nature elementals weren’t a thing as far as Jake knew. Nature
mana tended to just seep into living things attuned to the affinity instead of
coalescing into elementals, creating monster plants or treants and stuff like
that.
Jake felt satisfied after studying the notes and headed in. It didn’t take him
long to notice several beasts and creatures all around him through his
sphere. All of them E-grades, hiding either in bushes, in trees, or even
below the ground. There was a high level of verticality to the jungle, with
plants and trees reaching hundreds of meters into the air, even in the
outskirts.
Needless to say, Jake did not care for these E-grades as he swiftly ran
forward. He didn’t cut a path but just dodged through the dense vegetation,
taking this opportunity to practice his stealth a bit. He also pulled out the
Prima fragment once more and didn’t get any immediate response when he
tried to search for the energy signature. Then again, the mana in this area
was dense, making it difficult unless he got really close. His newly
upgraded tracking skill also didn’t work as, well, it wasn’t like he knew
what kinds of tracks Primas left behind. Scanning every track for signs of
the Prima signature sounded like a nice way to spend his two weeks before
the event accomplishing jack shit.
About half an hour later, he finally encountered his first D-grade. It was a
ferret-like creature that hid in the underbrush, and while Jake did scan it
briefly, he did not engage. In the area ahead, he found dozens of these
creatures hidden, making it clear this was their territory.
As he got further in, the space did begin to open up a bit. Not because there
was less nature mana or plant growth, but because of what was happening
there. Fights between D-grades didn’t always leave the environment intact
and often entire areas were torn apart.
Due to the high mana density, new plants would grow back within days, if
not hours, but the sheer number of beasts meant entire caverns within the
foliage were formed. Jake spotted a cat-like creature battling a large mantis-
like monster as both rapidly dodged and weaved in between trees, only for a
third opponent to interfere and kill them when they were weakened.
Jake’s hopes were heightened as he finally felt something. A gaze upon

him… an unfriendly one. Finally, a beast was able to see through his stealth
and decided to make him the target. Acting like he hadn’t noticed, Jake kept
going waiting patiently for his foe to strike. He didn’t need to wait long as
the creature entered his sphere from above. He saw it was a snake-like
monster, but it was made up of vines, bark, and plant parts rather than flesh,
blood, and scales.
It stalked him from above and waited to strike, but Jake didn’t give it a
chance. He turned around mid-jump, pulled out his bow, and fired a barrage
of explosive arcane arrows, tearing up the surrounding greenery.
The snake was startled but still continued its assault. The head didn’t
actually have a mouth but was shaped like a halberd of sorts, allowing it to
sweep and stab. Jake dodged a bit away as he fired another arrow into the
creature and continued bombarding it with arrows, not allowing it to ever
get close before it died. It had only been level one-fifty, meaning it didn’t
even give experience.
He had barely slowed down during this time but kept pace as he traveled
inward, and that first snake would prove to set the example of what was to
come. Ambushes happened frequently, but it was nothing Jake couldn’t
easily handle. He did begin putting in a bit more effort and even used
poison on his arrows when the levels grew to above one-sixty and
especially when he started to get experience.
For the first time in quite a while, Jake began to have a feeling well up
inside him. He had spent long periods doing events, going to the Order,
traveling, and being in cities. He had been around others all the time. But
now… now he was alone.
It was almost like his senses sharpened, and he stopped thinking about
anything irrelevant. He felt more comfortable than he had for months. There
was only himself and an environment filled with things wanting to make
him their prey.
An environment he would show exactly who the real hunter was.
A small smile crept onto his lips as Jake dodged the attacks of two treants
trying to seal his movements. Jake moved on the offensive as he bombarded
the treants with explosive arrows and, with a beat of his wings, sent a cloud
of miasmic poison down towards them. They struggled for a while before
Jake finished them and moved on but barely got a hundred meters before he
was attacked again.
Few predators moved through this area, and those that did, these creatures
knew about and did not attack. They didn’t know Jake, making them all
attack him if they felt like they were at a higher level than he was. This
resulted in a path of destructive arcane mana being carved into the jungle as
he traveled. Nature would fix it soon enough, but for now, only destruction
was in his wake.
Two primary types of enemies dominated the jungle: beasts and Vinewood
creatures where he currently was. Vinewood creatures were like the snake
before. It was more often than not just a plant lifeform in the shape of a
beast, given life due to the dense and potent nature mana, making them
effectively nature elementals. The beasts were… well, the usual beasts one
could find in jungles.
One type of enemy could bleed and die to Jake’s poison, and the other could
be destroyed by the power of arcane mana. Jake had no poison dedicated to
plants like the fungicide he had made back in the day, but his blood did a
banger job anyway. While he had learned how to make an inferior rarity
poison during his studying just to shore up his foundation, the poison would
be way worse than his blood, even against weak foes.
Weak foes who slowly grew stronger as the days passed, and Jake
continued his hunt.
*You have slain [Vinewood Viper – lvl 166] – Bonus experience earned
for killing an enemy above your level*
*You have slain [Deathfang Sloth – lvl 169] – Bonus experience earned
*You have slain [Vinewood Mongoose – lvl 175] – Bonus experience

*You have slain [Spiketail Lizard Devourer – lvl 182] – Bonus experience
As his foes grew stronger, so grew the difficulties of the fights. In the
section he had just entered, primarily the Vinewood creatures existed, with
all beasts daring to roam there at a high level themselves. Vinewood
creatures did not attack one another, meaning the chances of being ganged
up on were high.
With the increased difficulty Jake faced also came levels. Every singular
kill did not give much experience, but over the course of the next week, he
had slain hundreds above his own level – not a single one of them yet able
to put up an equal fight.
Jake felt himself grow in power and familiarity with the foes he faced. Even
as he enjoyed himself in the euphoria of the hunt, he stayed calm enough to
remember his primary goal for going hunting besides leveling.
A goal he met in the beginning of the eighth day as finally, his Prima
fragment got a response. Jake’s eyes lit up as he stalked towards the Prima.
It quickly became clear what kind of foe he would face as he saw no regular
beasts for nearly fifty kilometers of the jungle while running towards the
energy signature. It was all Vinewood creatures dominating and basking in
ever-increasingly dense nature mana.
Soon enough, he even began seeing traces of his prey. Torn up ground,
dried blood of beasts that looked like they had been dragged, and even a
few pristine bones with every single trace of blood and flesh already
devoured. Jake wondered what he was dealing with, but as the energy
signature of the Prima felt like it was right in front of him, so did his prey
enter his Sphere of Perception.
Vines… wood… the usual stuff, but rather than an animal, this just looked
like a large bush. It slowly crept across the area with small roots dragging it
forward as its body wrapped around the trees and larger plants while simply
devouring and assimilation smaller ones. Jake used Identify on the Prima
right away.
[Oakwood Brambleshrub Prima - 191]
It was more than forty meters across and ten meters tall as the huge mass of
shrubbery moved, it being more of a moving mini-jungle than an actual
creature. Jake stalked it for a bit as he prepared to make his move. He
would use his blood as his poison of choice and keep a safe distance due to
its low mobility.
Jake placed his Mark on the Prima as he scouted out the immediate area to
make sure no other powerful creatures were nearby. Jake had noticed that
Primas tended to be surrounded by those of their own race before, so he was
a bit careful. However, this one seemed to be a solitary one, meaning it was
likely also on the stronger side of the spectrum.
After checking out the area and finding no other living things, Jake
wondered how to get a good vantage point. Due to the dense foliage, being
more than a hundred meters away would obstruct his arrows, and even if he
could now curve his arrows, it didn’t really work that well with Arcane
Powershot. He would need a clean line of sight and-
Wait, why not just…?
Jake looked upwards and summoned his wings, and jumped as he quickly
emerged from the dense jungle. As soon as he got above it, he grinned.
Large trees and some plants still emerged, but the jungle itself was only
really a few hundred meters tall due to its high density, and due to the
jungle constantly regrowing, each plant was not as powerful as, say, the
trees around Haven.
The creatures of the jungle were still well-protected down there due to
having a “roof” over their heads, obstructing vision and functioning as a
barrier to many types of attacks. Moreover, there was much cover inside the
jungle if an opponent attacked from above.
That last point only really mattered for beings able to actually move and
dodge. A category the Prima squarely did not fall into.
He flew up nearly two kilometers but didn’t go any further to still stay
below the faint clouds floating about and dodge the flocks of birds
sometimes coming by. He would prefer not to get interrupted. As he was up
there, he did notice some other predators clearly also using the jungle as
their hunting ground. One of them was a bit close to him – a silver-colored
owl with large eyes that stared at him for a moment.
[Silvernight Owl – lvl 188]
Jake stared back before the owl decided to fly off, showing that owls were
indeed pretty smart birds. He shrugged as he pulled out his bow and
focused on his Mark of the Avaricious Hunter below. Arcane Awakening
activated in the destructive state, boosting all his offensive stats by 50% to
give himself some extra firepower. With a mental command, he activated
Pride of the Malefic Viper and began condensing dozens of explosive
arcane bolts in the area all around him. They were not made with the intent
of actually doing damage to the Prima but merely removing the upper
barrier of greenery.
The Prima was still moving slowly below, oblivious to what was about to
happen. Jake nocked a stable arcane arrow with some of his blood poured
on it – his quiver already full of pre-prepared arrows. He began charging
Arcane Powershot and, at the same time, launched his arcane bolts. He
didn’t do so with much power but more or less just let them all down
towards the jungle as he charged his attack.
He held nothing back as he infused energy into Arcane Powershot with

dense arcane power soon swirling around him. Nearby clouds distorted and
were dragged in as Jake focused on the shot. He charged the attack for
nearly fourteen seconds with his entire upper body searing in pain before
finally releasing it to an explosion of pure power.
Half a second before he released the arrow, the arcane bolts reached the
jungle, and an explosion that would put nearly all pre-system bombs to
shame rocked the jungle. Each bolt sent out destructive arcane mana for
hundreds of meters around itself, and with more than fifty of them hitting at
once, a jungle area of several square kilometers suddenly found itself with a
large part of the upper foliage destroyed.
The Prima below reacted as it was hit by remnant arcane energy, but none
of it was strong enough to harm it. Jake had focused on destroying the
jungle and not actually killing anything, after all.
The same thing could not be said about the next attack.
Parting the arcane energy, a single arrow descended along with a storm of
destruction that tore a hole straight through the massive bush-like creature
before impacting the ground below. Jake heard what sounded like an angry
roar but had already released the follow-up as explosive arcane arrows
rained down courtesy of Splitting Arrow.
Another carpet-bombing session was initiated as even larger sections of the

jungle were destroyed with the Prima right in the middle. While it didn’t
feel like he did much damage due to its large size, his Mark of the
Avaricious Hunter made him aware he indeed did, as the Arcane Charge
was building fast.
Jake fired off a few more barrages as finally, the Prima seemed to have pin-
pointed its attacker. Before he could shoot again, he had to dodge to the side
to avoid tens of wooden spears shot at him. This was followed by hurled
stone and boulders in massive numbers as the Prima’s tendrils just tossed
everything it could find in his direction, including entire damn logs.
Not that any of these had a chance to hit as Jake kept his distance and
dodged as he released destructive arrows. The Prima tried to defend by
intercepting his shots but found itself unable to as the arrows curved in
unpredictable directions
Come on, pal… you need to have more than that, Jake thought as he dodged
the many projectiles. Each of the spears would pierce deep, but they simply
didn’t have a chance to hit.
Below the destruction continued as the Prima defended itself while

counterattacking as well as it could. Jake did notice how little damage he
seemed to do and noticed it was constantly absorbing energy from the soil
below. Lower parts of the jungle hundreds of meters away that had survived
began wilting as the Prima absorbed energy to rejuvenate itself, but Jake
quickly cracked down.
He took flight as he swiftly flew in a circular pattern around the Prima,

spreading poison mist to kill the plants and make the creature unable to
heal. Jake never stopped attacking either, but as he got closer to the ground,
the Prima did find more ways of fighting back.
Vines shot up towards him as Jake dragged the fight out and just built up
damage. He did get a few minor cuts as the bramble part of the Prima’s
name was shown. Each vine did not aim to merely wrap him up or stab him
but was lined with sharp thorns that would rip anyone apart like a chainsaw
while draining their blood.
Jake managed to build his advantage for several minutes before the Prima
made its move, clearly aware it was losing badly.
His sense of danger reacted as Jake was forced to quickly flee upwards as
more than a hundred tendrils emerged from the soil below. Jake released a
blast of arcane mana to destroy some tendrils but suddenly realized how
useless that was.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed another tendril rise in the distance.
Then another, followed by ten more. A hundred more. Like the jungle itself
was rising towards him, thousands of tendrils reached towards the sky and
tried to catch Jake – and he had no delusions that being caught would be a
good time.
As he flew upwards, the cloud of poison bathed the many tendrils chasing
him. Some of them began withering but were rapidly replaced by others,
forcing him to repeatedly release arcane explosions behind him.
Somehow the tendrils kept chasing even as he reached a kilometer high, but
clearly, the Prima was running out of ones long enough. Jake took the
chance and rapidly moved to the side to dodge away and nocked an arrow.
Arcane Powershot charged as the tendrils came again, but Jake just tossed
them a glance with Gaze of the Apex Hunter, making them eerily freeze
mid-air. At the same time, his sense of time slowed due to Steady Aim as he
focused intently.
The arrow he had knocked was larger than any of the others, as it looked
more like a spear and was nearly entirely purple and pulsed with power.
With the Prima infected with his poison, he had rapidly gained an
understanding of it good enough to condense an Arrow of the Ambitious
Hunter.
Jake released the arrow down towards the defenseless Prima and saw it sink
into the creature just as it became able to move again. It writhed in pain,
and the many tendrils swayed in mid-air as they seemed to lose strength.
With a mental command, Jake activated the Arcane Charge from Mark of
the Avaricious Hunter that had been charged more than Jake had ever done
before.
For a brief moment, a flash lit up the world.

The swaying tendrils all began to wither, and the Prima below slowly
turned black as it fell apart and began turning to ash.
*You have slain [Oakwood Brambleshrub Prima - 191] – Bonus

experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*
Jake stayed in the air as he gazed below. An area several square kilometers
big had been utterly decimated and left bare with remnant arcane energy
still lingering here and there. Without further ado, he flew down and
quickly located the loot, which included the expected Prima fragment and
an odd seed of some sort. He tossed the seed in his inventory for further
inspection later, but for now, he had another matter to attend to.
*Avaricious Arcane Hunter class skills available*
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 472 - Skills, Statuses, & A
Stealthy Future
Finally, it was skill-selection time. It had been a good while since he had
last selected a class skill. Shit, the last time he picked one was when he got
Steady Focus of the Apex Hunter during the Treasure Hunt. It felt like ages
ago. Since then, he had gone to the Order and mainly focused on alchemy,
so his class had really been put on the backburner. Not that this time spent
hadn’t also benefitted his class. Through his profession, he had gotten a lot
stronger, especially when it came to his magic and energy control.
Jake did not know what he wanted from this skill selection. He considered
if he needed a good melee skill but still wasn’t entirely certain on what Path
he wanted to walk there. Not that what he wanted necessarily mattered
anyway when it came to what the system offered… well, it did to some
degree due to Records and all that, but for the most part, it was down to
what he had done and experienced not what he wanted.
So, without further ado, he opened the menu and, as was customary, saw a
disappointing first offer.
[Looping Arcane Bolt (Epic)] – The only thing better than one arcane
bolt is two arcane bolts. Allows the hunter to summon a large arcane bolt
that will passively drain mana to recharge itself and release arcane bolts
every few seconds towards any designated targets. The large arcane bolt
can be detonated at any point, releasing destructive arcane mana. Adds a
bonus to the effectiveness of Intelligence when using Looping Arcane
Bolt Arcane Orb.
Arcane Bolt, but now self-firing or something? From how he understood it,
he could summon a bolt that would then shoot more bolts, allowing Jake to
set up remote towers to bombard people. He liked the idea… if it
summoned a bow that shot arrows, that is.
True, this could have some practical applications here and there, such as the
fight he just had with the Prima, but it wasn’t like he needed it, and he
viewed it more as a bit of direction for what he could do by himself without
getting a skill.
As it was, this skill was just proof Jake had continually improved his mana
control enough for the system to unlock this skill. Something the next skill
also did.
Arcane Lance (Epic) – Just a bigger Arcane Bolt. What did you expect?
Yeah, that wasn’t actually what the description said, but it was exactly what
it was. A big Arcane Bolt that was now an Arcane Lance that took longer to
charge but did a lot more damage. Jake could already do that and sometimes
even did, and considering he had no interest in gaining the extra stat-scaling
from having it as a skill, he moved on.
[Twin-Fang Whirlwind Strike (Epic)] – May your fangs embrace the wind
as a whirlwind is born from your strikes. Allows the hunter to infuse both
weapons with potent wind mana and perform a circular strike to create a
whirlwind that cuts and rebuffs all foes around you. Twin-Fang
Whirlwind Strike can be repeatedly performed to further empower the
whirlwind and persist for a small period even after the skill is no longer
performed. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Agility, Intelligence, and
Strength when using Twin-Fang Whirlwind Strike.
Three epic skills in a row… but this one did not include anything related to
arcane energy, something Jake more or less felt used to at this point. No,
this was pure wind magic, a school of magic Jake hadn’t really dabbled in
at all outside of that one bow he got in the Tutorial, and that had just been
an item. So the question was… how did he get it?
His first guess would be that his class just liked to offer some melee skills,
and Jake had the affinity with his second guess being that a certain green
murder bird was the cause. In any case, the skill itself looked interesting
and clearly took some inspiration from Fang of Man. However, it didn’t
really click with him. It required him to be in melee, and when Jake fought
in melee, it was usually against foes he overpowered or when he did so
defensively. This skill did have some defensive applications, but it struck
him more as a skill that affected a large area and needed some charge-up to
work, which was not the kind of melee skill Jake wanted. He could already
imagine himself beginning the spinning to use the attack only to get
smacked away.
So, yeah. Jake was not keen on it as he moved on to a skill that was a lot
more interesting.
[Arcane Stalker (Ancient)] – A true artisan of stealth, you skulk your foes
as they remain none the wiser to your presence. 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 move stealthily. You are
hidden from nearly all forms of magical scans, and when standing still,
your arcane mana will automatically create a barrier, making you appear
one with the environment, even to the sense of touch. Adds a bonus to the
effect of Agility, Perception, Willpower, and Intelligence while
successfully remaining undetected.
WARNING: This skill is unlocked by and will serve as an upgrade to your
existing Arcane Stealth.
Jake had made some progress with stealth himself already. From a sucky
inferior rarity skill to a rare one so far, so for the system to finally recognize
it and offer him a skill was no surprise. The skill itself also clearly built
upon what he had already done before. Currently, he could make himself
invisible when standing still and actively focusing on using his arcane mana
to hide, but this skill would make it all more automatic. It was without a
doubt a good stealth skill… but…
He didn’t know why, but he didn’t like it. Logically he knew the skill was
good, but something made him think picking it was a bad idea. Jake
frowned as he closely read it a few more times but found nothing that
indicated to him it would have any downsides compared to what he
currently had. Yet the feeling remained.
For a moment, he considered asking Villy but ultimately decided not to. His
gut feeling told him to not take it, and he would trust that even over the
advice of a god. He did consider why he felt as he did, and he only had one
real guess.
I got the other upgrades myself…
It was comparable to if he was offered an archery skill. Jake seriously

couldn’t see himself picking a skill during the selection that upgraded his
archery proficiency skill. He did remember some conversation with Villy
about wasting skills by choosing to upgrade one in the past, so perhaps this
was also part of it. Picking a direct upgrade would also inadvertently result
in the skill not being as familiar to you compared to a skill you upgraded
yourself, hence making it less powerful in nearly all cases. Finally, maybe
this would lead him down a Path of stealth Jake shouldn’t walk.
Anyway, he didn’t feel like picking it, so he wouldn’t as he moved on to the

final option. He saw the legendary rarity right away… and then the rest.
[Thousand Voices, Million Eyes, Single Mind (Legendary)] – Resist and

perhaps even channel the whispers of the void as your soul finds serenity
in madness - solace in the unknown.
Sometimes you can come across a skill you kind of understand why you get
offered, but also nope the fuck away from. This was one such skill.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out why Jake had been offered this. Even so,
it did surprise him. It didn’t make much sense to him that merely meeting a
creature of the void would warrant unlocking a legendary skill. If that was
so, wouldn’t peak factions just have a god bring an entire army to gaze at
one for a bit before leaving? Then again, would this skill fuck people up
somehow? Or was it rare to get it offered? Did he gain the skill offered by
not losing his mind?
Jake had many questions but only one answer: fuck no. He got a headache
just remembering Oras, and the skill itself also had some shady-ass
wording, making him believe it had a great chance of having… unforeseen
effects. His guts also told him to stay the hell away from it.
To summarize, there were five skill options. Two related to arcane magic
fitter for mages than Jake, one melee skill, one stealth skill that did seem
great but made him apprehensive, and one with fuck-no-void-stuff. None of
them were skills he wanted to pick up, which begged the question… what
would he pick?
He decided to scroll up through the list and checked skills he had

considered prior but skipped for better options. One that quickly came to
mind was one he had skipped at level 140 in favor of upgrading his
Hunter’s Mark: Barrier of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter.
[Barrier of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Epic)] – Stability is a

cornerstone of your arcane affinity, making barriers an obvious
application of your arcane. Allows the Avaricious Arcane Hunter to
summon a barrier of pure, stable arcane energy, blocking out all kinds of
direct attacks that attempt to pass through – both physical and magical
attacks alike. Mana or stamina will be consumed depending on the nature
of the blocked attacks. All concepts not deployed by you will be
significantly weakened within your barrier. Adds a small bonus to the
effects of Wisdom and Endurance when using Arcane Barrier.
Currently, Jake did not have any real defensive skills. It also had the
concept-suppression effect, which Jake found interesting. The thing that
made him a bit reluctant was how much his own barrier magic had already
progressed without any skills. Also… a pure magic skill like this just didn’t
feel like it “fit” with the rest of the skills for his class. All the ones he
currently had, at least from the ones gained in D-grade, were related to
archery in some way, while this one would have no relation. Sure, that was
only two skills so far, not counting the ones gained from the evolution
itself, but even those he had from his earlier grades all fit a hunter “theme”
more than an arcane barrier would.
Also… the big reason… Jake felt like he could do what the skill did himself
with practice. His mana control was improving every day and had
especially taken a jump after he went to the Order. As he got more familiar
with his arcane mana, he would learn all these things soon enough, same as
the many Arcane Bolt skills.
Due to that, Jake kept looking through the list. A few interested him, but he
also noticed some had disappeared, such as the Basic Nature Affinity
offered all the way back at level 30 and the mental defense skill from level
40.
As he scrolled through the list, one suddenly jumped into his eyes. A skill
Jake had skipped over back at level 50 in exchange for Bestial Survival
Instincts – a skill that instantly became Moment of the Primal Hunter.
Perhaps he had not thought much about this skill back then due to how
curious he had been about what would happen if he picked Bestial Survival
Instincts… but… wasn’t this skill damn good? Like, really fucking good?
[Stealth Attack (Common)] – The strongest blow is the one not seen
coming before it is too late. Increase the power of the first attack made on
an otherwise unaware foe. Works with both ranged and melee attacks.
Adds a bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using Stealth
Attack equivalent to Arcane Stealth.
It was only a skill at common rarity. That alone was usually enough to make
Jake skip it outright, but this one felt different. While it seemed like a super
simple skill – stealth attacks do more damage – he now knew far more than
back then. While on paper it seemed simple… it truly was not. While it
wasn’t some fancy or showy skill, it had something even more important:
conceptual power.
Like his Mark of the Avaricious Hunter, it did something theoretically

possible to do without a skill, but would be so hard that Jake had no chance
to. Anything that gave direct damage or directly increased something
without any drawback was naturally useful, and this one was an all-around
improvement to Jake’s repertoire.
He could also often strike when unseen due to his high Perception and
ability to locate his foes with Mark and his Sphere, making it immediately
useful. There were only so many ways to make his Arcane Powershot more
powerful, and this was one of them.
But equally as important, it could be upgraded. Jake’s stealth skill had been
shit when he got it. His archery skill had also been at inferior rarity yet was
now epic. While he right now had no idea how to upgrade it easily… he had
time.
Villy had told him a long time ago how valuable skill slots were, and having
some kind of stealth attack was something Jake was certain he would one
day want. To get it at common rarity meant he could mold it, and it would
likely be a better skill for him at whatever rarity he upgraded it to, than one
he just picked up at an already high rarity. That was no doubt one of the
reasons why his Arcane Powershot was arguably still his most powerful
offensive skill despite being only at epic rarity.
Having convinced himself, Jake picked up the common Stealth Attack skill.
A bit of knowledge entered his head, but it was damn minimal and just
made him aware that only the first attack would ever count, as it would
count as if the foe was “aware” of him after that.
With it picked, Jake cracked his neck and took a deep breath. He checked
his status for the first time in quite a while to see his progress so far.
Status
Name: Jake Thayne
Race: [Human (D) – lvl 164]
Class: [Avaricious Arcane Hunter – lvl 160]
Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper – lvl 169]
Health Points (HP): 35682/46250
Mana Points (MP): 39888/72825
Stamina: 19369/33750
Stats
Strength: 3279
Agility: 6133
Endurance: 3375
Vitality: 4625
Toughness: 3358
Wisdom: 5826
Intelligence: 4703
Perception: 10243
Willpower: 4936
Free points: 0
Titles: [Forerunner of the New World], [Bloodline Patriarch], [Holder of a

Primordial’s True Blessing], [Dungeoneer VII], [Dungeon Pioneer VI],
[Legendary Prodigy], [Prodigious Slayer of the Mighty], [Kingslayer],
[Nobility: Earl], [Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist],
[Perfect Evolution (D-grade)], [Premier Treasure Hunter], [Myth
Originator]
Class Skills: [Stealth Attack (Common)], [Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra

(Uncommon)], [Traditional Hunter’s Tracking (Rare)], [Arcane Stealth
(Rare)], [Enhanced Splitting Arrow (Rare)], [Arrow of the Ambitious
Hunter (Epic)], [Arcane Powershot (Epic)], [Big Game Arcane Hunter
(Epic)], [Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Epic)], [Archery of Expanding Horizons
(Epic)], [Descending Dark Arcane Fang (Epic)], [One Step Mile (Ancient)],
[Fangs of Man (Ancient)], [Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter
(Ancient)], [Moment of the Primal Hunter (Legendary)], [Gaze of the Apex
Hunter (Legendary)], [Steady Focus of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)],
[Arcane Awakening (Legendary)]
Profession Skills: [Path of the Heretic-Chosen (Unique)], [Herbology
(Common)], [Brew Potion (Common)], [Alchemist’s Purification
(Common)], [Alchemical Flame (Uncommon)], [Craft Elixir (Uncommon)],
[Toxicology (Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)], [Concoct
Poison (Rare)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Epic)], [Soul Ritualism of the
Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)], [Advanced Core Manipulation
(Ancient)], [Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Sagacity of the Malefic
Viper (Ancient)], [Wings of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Sense of the
Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Legacy
Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Legendary)], [Palate of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Pride of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],
[Scales of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Fangs of the Malefic Viper
(Legendary)]
Blessing: [True Blessing of the Malefic Viper (Blessing - True)]
Race Skills: [Endless Tongues of the Myriad Races (Unique)], [Legacy of

Man (Unique)], [Identify (Common)], [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)],
[Shroud of the Primordial (Divine)]
Bloodline: [Bloodline of the Primal Hunter (Bloodline Ability - Unique)]
--
As usual, it had expanded, not only in length, but naturally, numbers had
also gone up. Jake liked it when numbers went up. He had gained a lot of
profession levels since last and upgraded his necklace, so he had especially
gained a lot more Intelligence, Wisdom, and Willpower. Skill-wise he had
gained some upgrades here and there, such as his tracking skill and archery
skill. Fundamental hunting skills, really.
On the topic of Free Points, since the last time he took a good look, Jake
had invested 200 stats in Agility, 200 in Strength, and the rest in Perception,
as he still had to put some points in it. Investing in Agility and Strength did
not feel super good, but Jake kind of knew it was necessary at this point.
Having Strength as his lowest stat wasn’t that bad as it was still high
compared to many other humans his level due to all his bonuses and Fangs
of the Malefic Viper, but he still felt “weak” against pretty much every foe
he faced. That was fine in most cases, as he could beat them with Agility
and magic, but he still wanted some more Strength to not bottleneck himself
too hard.
Closing his status, Jake flew up into the air again as he looked out over the
jungle. He smiled a bit to himself as he continued this hunt.
This time with a focus on stealth.
More accurately, stealth attacks.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 473 - Covert Wills
Jacob sat in his office and stared at the item lying on the table in front of
him. He picked it up and felt its metallic surface. Their smiths had already
tested the metal and found it completely unrecognizable. Even those who
had Patrons said they were unable to identify the metal, meaning it either
had to be new to the universe or made by the system specifically for this
item.
Prima. Allows entry to the Seat of the Exalted Prima.
The key belonged to the Church, as most items of value did, and Jacob was
the current safekeeper. He stared at it for a while as he considered… well,
everything.
The upcoming event was all about different Paths if one had made different
choices. Jacob had made many choices that he questioned himself about, all
the way back to the day the Tutorial began. Shortly after entering the forest,
Jake shot a boar that attracted a larger level 10 boar that had attacked them.
While Jake had killed the beast, Joanna had come away crippled.
Back then, Jacob had admonished the man for his decision. He had blamed
Jake, and Jacob believed that decision had been what initially had torn a
wedge between him and the rest of their group. Then when Jake defended
himself and killed three men… they all blamed him again.
He couldn’t blame Jake for leaving the group and going off on his own
when confronted by Richard. If he had stood up for Jake then, things would
have been different, but Jacob’s bad decisions didn’t end there.
Jacob had been used by Richard, fooled by Caroline, and ultimately tricked
by both to lead Jake into an ambush… he had stood by and done nothing
worthwhile as all the people he felt responsible for had been killed one by
one. He had been cowardly and stuck by his own rules of non-aggression…
he had decided the fate of so many people.
That had “rewarded” him with the class of Augur. A fate Jacob was quite
comfortable with. He liked who he was now for the most part, but he still
couldn’t help but wonder: what if he had done differently?
What if he had pushed Caroline and maybe started an uprising against

Richard? What if he had tried to keep Jake close? What if he had killed
William when he had the chance?
He did know that even if he did end up killing William back then, it would
only have led to everyone dying later on due to a beast tide when Jake
eventually progressed far enough in his quest to defeat the King of the
Forest. However, would that truly have killed them all if they had done all
they could to progress and fortify their settlement?
So many doubts haunted him, and they had for a long time. He couldn’t
even claim that he now only did what was best for the Holy Church. He
made decisions not necessarily beneficial for the Church but for his own
personal feelings. Jacob had warned Casper about the goals of the Church
and that plans were being made to crack down on the Risen. Needless to
say, then sharing such information was clearly not in line with the goals of
his faction.
Jacob even had to do so during the World Congress, too, as it was only
there the gods could not peek at his conversations. He was fully aware there
was already much scrutiny on him from several internal factions due to a
number of factors. His friendship with Casper was just one of them, but that
he still stayed relatively close to Jake was even more of an issue to many.
While the Order of the Malefic Viper was not an enemy of the Holy
Church, they were definitely not allies either. They were more of a faction
that the Holy Church ignored and left alone - an approach they had wanted
Jacob to take with Jake too. Add to that the fact that the Holy Church was
losing more and more influence on the planet and their ever-falling chances
of becoming the World Leader… things were rough.
What if I had made different choices? Jacob repeatedly asked himself.
Chances are he would be dead. He was reasonably sure he would be dead,

actually. That wasn’t the most important thing, though. It was a question of
if the planet would be in a better state if he had died. Without him, the Holy
Church would still be there, but he knew they would be far smaller. He at
least gave himself that much credit.
The work of the Church had also only become easier in recent times. The
former King of the Forest seemed to have reined in the wild beasts quite
well, and attacks on settlements had practically dropped to zero. The system
event of Unusual Unions had also helped immensely with many beasts and
monster factions now even working with human settlements. There was still
conflict, and many humans did not want monsters in or too close to their
cities. Attacks on settlements also still happened here and there, but such
was unavoidable. In the same vein that humans could attack beasts in their
habitats, so did humans have to accept the fear of being attacked in theirs.
Feeling the key in his hand, he considered using it. He knew he could. He
found it a bit hypocritical that his job was to guide others to their ideal Path
while he so often questioned his own… but perhaps that was part of it.
No… I have made my choices.
A future had been realized partly due to his choices. Jake had become a
Progenitor, Casper an influential figure of the Risen, and Bertram still lived
by his side. Even his own survival mattered as he knew things that would be
beneficial due to his class. He knew that undercurrents were building and
that the independent factions were preparing something. Something big.
Putting the key down on the table, he decided it would go to Maria, the
strongest fighter in their city – possibly excluding Bertram - even if she was
only a mercenary and not a member of the Church. It would benefit her the
most. She had been part of the hunting teams for one anyway, and Jacob
knew she wanted one. Bertram had already made it clear he had no desire to
get a key himself.
It was probably a decision that would once more land scrutiny on him.
Nothing would be said or done openly, but just small whispers in the
corners questioning him. He could seek to silence it, but he saw no point.
No, he would stop questioning himself as he reaffirmed himself. He closed
his eyes and sighed.
I know my task.
To choose the best Path for Earth. The best Path for the most people.
Even if that Path did not include the Holy Church.
As a Malefic Dragonkin, Draskil had killed his first C-grade when at level
173 or 174. Needless to say, Jake wanted to beat that by killing one even
earlier. While Jake wasn’t entirely confident he could beat Draskil even if
they were the same level, he had a large advantage when fighting higher-
level foes due to his class and even his profession. Alchemy allowed him to
often come out on top in drawn-out fights – something any bout with a C-
grade was bound to become – and his entire class was about punching
above his weight class.
With his new Stealth Attack, he had even more confidence. Not right away,
necessarily, as he planned on spending the next few days practicing and
trying to improve it. He checked the time for the event and saw he had nine
days left till the system event with the Seat of the Exalted Prima began.
Nine days of hunting.
Thus, his journey as a stealth archer in practice began. Before when Jake
hunted through the jungle, he would tear up a path and kill everything that
attacked him, but now Jake went slow. He would slowly stalk through the
greenery and always stayed hidden.
The only times he struck, he did so when not seen. His senses made him
know if his foe was aware of him, allowing him to more easily land stealth
attacks. Except he quickly ran into one issue.
Danger sense was not something necessarily unique to Jake. Honed

warriors and nearly all beasts also had some form of danger sense, and even
if it was far weaker than Jake’s Bloodline-empowered ability, it was still
there. This meant that the moment Jake released his attack and his arrow
headed towards the beast, the beast would be aware, canceling out the
effects of Stealth Attack.
That sucked. Big time. At least Vinewood creatures seemed to have no

proper danger sense but allowed Jake to easily land sneaky attacks. He did
notice that he could get stealth hits in melee for beasts, but only if he struck
when they were right next to him. He managed to barely land a Stealth
Attack on a pig-like beast that wandered right next to a Jake hidden with
Arcane Stealth.
Also, magic attacks did not count as ranged attacks. Only physical blows
did, which the scaling with Agility and Strength only should have been a
hint to. Funnily enough, throwing a rock would trigger Stealth Attack, but a
stable arcane bolt would not. Ignoring the absurdity of that, Jake quickly
found more and more lacking aspects of the skill. Then again, what could
he expect from a common rarity skill? He did not doubt it would have been
way better back at level 50 and E-grade in general, but it was pretty damn
hard to use in D-grade.
However… when it did hit. Jake did not know what he had expected when
he had picked it up. Maybe a few percentages more damage? Five to ten
percent seemed fair enough to him. Oh boy, had he been wrong.
Stealth Attack effectively increased damage by a third when it was

triggered. Thirty-three fucking percent damage bonus from a common rarity
skill. Sure, it was hard as hell to actually land a Stealth Attack, and it was
limited to one a fight, but it was so much more powerful than he could have
ever expected. He did regret not picking it up earlier in some ways, but then
again, he had not really picked any skills he didn’t like. A few had fallen to
the roadside like Descending Dark Fang, but he was confident he could
improve them with time. Shit, it even had fang in the name.
Now, thirty-three percent was great, but landing an Arcane Powershot with
it triggering was borderline impossible. The energies it gave off just made it
too easy to notice for anything with halfway decent senses, making it only
applicable against foes such as elementals. And even if it did land, Arcane
Powershot was partly magical, so yeah.
Needless to say, Jake would work on improving that. To do that, he first had
to figure out what exactly did Stealth Attack do? Not what its effect was,
but why there was an effect at all? Jake quickly bit onto the fact that he did
not expend any extra energy at all, but that did not mean there wasn’t
anything extra added to his attacks.
There was… something. It was subtle. Jake would not quite call it energy,
but more like all the energy already in the attack was affected subtly. The
energy did not truly change but was somehow “primed” to work as a Stealth
Attack. Jake reckoned this was done by the concept behind Stealth Attack.
These were the things Jake could swiftly discover himself, but it was only
the first step. Even if he saw changes, he also needed to know what
happened with these changes when actually used. How could this changed
energy and concept suddenly disperse the moment a creature was aware it
was being attacked?
Not just aware of the attack itself or its nature, but just that something was
attacking it. Jake was lucky and found two foes fighting and confirmed that
his Stealth Attack did work, meaning the foe just had to not be aware of the
attack he launched.
The next day was spent experimenting even more, as he killed quite a few
beasts and Vinewood creatures, but his hunting speed had definitely slowed
down in comparison to the week prior. Not that his time was fruitless as he
finally got a good idea of what to do with the Stealth Attack skill. A skill
that truly was limited, making the entire common rarity tag make more and
more sense.
So, Jake had several goals and avenues of improvement:
First of all: Magic. He needed his stealth skill to work with attacks of a
magical nature. Right now, what was considered a magic attack or not was
highly arbitrary. Arcane Powershot was only partly physical, but his
explosive arrows were not at all; hence the explosion didn’t benefit from
Stealth Attack; only the small initial impact of the arrow did.
Secondly, he needed some kind of consistency against different foes. He

needed it to trigger even if the opponent became aware of his attack, as
quite frankly, the skill was just useless as-is against some enemies like
beasts. There were two ways of doing this: obfuscation or a change of
trigger requirement.
Changing the trigger requirement was simple enough in theory. Jake just
had to do so that even if the enemy was aware of a blow coming, it had to
know more of the attack or attacker than the current rules required. Either
by requiring it to know that Jake was the attacker and maybe even locate
him, or by doing so that Stealth Attack worked as long as Jake fired the
attack while the foe was unaware.
Obfuscation was a bit more tricky. The goal here would be to hide Jake’s
attack until the moment it hit. Jake knew a thing or two about danger
senses, as he had quite a potent version himself, but that didn’t make his
danger sense fundamentally different than others. For the danger sense to
trigger, some part of you had to be able to sense it. In Jake’s case, it was
primarily with his Sphere picking it up or his even more overpowered
intuition warning him. Most often, these two worked together along with all
his other empowered senses, and that resulted in his overpowered danger
sense. For beasts, it was much the same.
Perception-related abilities were not rare at all, and Perception as a stat

allowed most creatures to sense things around them, especially mana.
Everyone could sense mana in their environment, and Jake firing an arrow
that disrupted energy within his foe’s “Sphere of Perception” would make
them aware of his attack, rendering Stealth Attack useless. So Jake would
have to hide it somehow.
This did not deal with the intuition part. Many actual danger sense skills
used intuition, even if it was considered far less reliable. The description of
Bestial Survival Instincts back then had even said: “has a small chance to
feel a distinct sense of danger from any attack,” which was – as the name
suggested – a common ability of beasts.
Naturally, an ideal solution would be to change both the trigger

requirements of Stealth Attack and hide the attack for maximum effect.
Now the issue was just figuring out how to do that, as well as allowing it to
work with magical attacks.
One thing was certain: it had to do with the odd sensation of concept he got
from his attacks. The invisible concept was something only he could see
and feel. His first issue was figuring out how to actually engage with it. It
was untouchable to energy, and no matter how Jake tried to somehow affect
it, he failed.
Yet he did not give up but kept trying different approaches. He figured out
more and more nuances of the skill, such as how the blow did not count for
his poisons at all, but only the initial impact, and the one time he managed
to land an Arcane Powershot from stealth on a Vinewood creature that
seemed to be in meditation while hidden in a tree-canopy, he saw how the
damage amplification was a lot less than it should be according to his
“adding a third” assessment, confirming his prior theory that Arcane
Powershot would be limited. This made Stealth Attack increase overall
damage by way less than a third, not because the amplification did not
scale, but because of how much “magic” was involved in Jake’s archery by
now, especially with poisons mixed in too.
Time passed as another day went by, with Jake using his new skill
repeatedly. He did not consider much else than merely figuring out how to
improve Stealth Attack. How to apply the concept to the magical aspects of
his fighting style or how to make it more reliable. He used it on different
foes, sometimes failing, sometimes succeeding, and he did get a sense of
improvement and like his success chance increased.
His only method of improvement was to simply use the skill over and over
again to observe what he did when the skill was used. One had to remember
that the user was the cause of every skill; the originator. This meant Jake
was the one who infused the concept into his physical blows, and as long as
he could figure out how and why he did that – something the skill currently
did without Jake consciously noticing – he would be able to control it.
The breakthrough came in an unexpected way. As Jake was hunting a boar-

like beast while in deep focus, he sat hidden with Arcane Stealth as he
nocked an explosive arcane arrow. He was so focused on drawing his bow
and trying to observe the process as the Stealth Attack concept was applied
that he didn’t even notice himself mutter under his breath before it had
already been done. He muttered his so-far unspoken hope towards the
arrow.
“Be stealthy…”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 474 - Stealth Archer
Training
Willpower.
Out of all the stats, it was the one Jake understood the least. Intelligence
made him a bit faster at calculating stuff and probably helped with other
mental things while making magic more potent. Strength made him
stronger. Wisdom made it easier to remember things and increased his mana
pool.
All of them made sense and had some form of scaling in combat.
Perception was also a difficult stat to understand at times. It increased all
his senses, even if he suppressed most of them the majority of the time, as
knocking yourself out from every bad smell seemed like a bad idea. But…
Jake knew what it did, with it also improved his reaction speeds and such.
Jake also noticed a very noticeable correlation between high Perception and
increased energy control. However, another factor for energy control was
Willpower.
Willpower as a whole was weird. Every single action someone performed

included aspects of Willpower. Of the more tangible aspects, It also
increased mana regeneration, but Jake would definitely say the primary
benefit of Willpower was assisting in controlling energy. It was the primary
stat together with Perception when it came to controlling pretty much
anything. That was why when Jake used the domain part of Pride of the
Malefic Viper, he could summon far more magic in his immediate area as
his Willpower was “buffed” inside the domain, so to say.
This was a very overt and obvious application - the conscious use of
Willpower as Jake actively tried to control something. However, when Jake
was merely swinging his weapon or firing an arrow, he did not actively
infuse Willpower into the process but just went through the motion. As
these motions were willful, Willpower would naturally come into play and
enhance the effects. It was subtle, but Willpower more or less made
everything done more powerful, as long as the action was done
intentionally.
Then there were Words of Power, the absolutely most direct use of pure
Willpower there was. It was when you only used Willpower and a bit of
energy mixed in to make something happen. You quite literally imposed
your will upon the world and made your words law to make it obey. Be it
by forcing something to move a bit or ordering an entire planet to explode,
both things were possible depending on how much Willpower an individual
had and their ability to apply it.
Words of Power were to speak your will to further amplify and focus it. It
was incredibly standard, and the most common use of Words of Power was
when speaking the name of a skill or an incantation related to one. Some
skills even required one to speak to muster enough Willpower to make it
possible. The Sword Saint was a good example of this, as many of his skills
made use of Words of Power. This did not mean speaking the skill was a
good idea every time. Jake, as an example, had no skills where it would
help with anything, and Words of Power also had the downside of
increasing the cast time of skills. Also… it would look stupid if Jake went
around screaming “Arcane Arrow!” every time he shot one.
The one place where it made sense for Jake to use Words of Power was
when he was practicing using his Willpower or ordering a pen to fly to his
hand while working. This incident happened to fall into the first category,
albeit accidentally, as Jake finally found the trigger for Stealth Attack.
One so simple it was stupid.
He just had to will for it to happen. To actively infuse his Willpower into an
attack to make the stealth attack concept appear. He did this instinctually
with physical attacks due to the common skill, but not with magic skills.
Jake naturally tried and willed for his magical attacks to work with Stealth
Attack, but it was not enough without him actively focusing on that aspect.
It was not a matter of stats either, as influencing more energy naturally
required more Willpower.
However, the concept was reinforced when he spoke – no, ordered – the
explosive arcane arrow to work with the skill. Not just the small physical
impact, but the entire arrow was thoroughly infused with his will and intent
for it to be a Stealth Attack.
He saw it fly forth as the concept remained strong until it finally hit the
unsuspecting Vinewood beasts that looked like a mix between a bear and a
horse with long thin legs. The resulting explosion was more powerful than
any explosive arcane arrow Jake had ever landed before without using
Arcane Powershot or Arcane Awakening.
About a third more powerful.
The Vinewood Beast was enraged at being attacked, but Jake was not in the
mood to play. Arcane Awakening activated at 30% as he engaged it and
quickly finished the level 172 creature off before he retreated and once
more returned to being a stealth archer.
He searched for his next foe and nocked another explosive arcane arrow.
This time he did not speak but merely focused on the arrow, as there was no
way he would make speaking a habit when trying to be stealthy. That would
be utterly moronic and look very, very stupid.
And a little bit funny… but mostly stupid.
Jake focused on infusing his Willpower into it as he spoke and willed in his
mind for it to work. He soon enough felt the same sensation as before. He
released the string the moment he did, and as the arrow flew forth, a
notification appeared.
[Stealth Attack (Common] -->
[Enhanced Stealth Attack (Uncommon)] – The strongest blow is the one

not seen coming before it is too late. Increase the power of the first attack
made on an otherwise unaware foe. Adds a bonus to the effects of
Enhanced Stealth Attack dependent on the nature of the attack. This
effect is further improved by the level of Arcane Stealth.
An explosion sounded out once more, with Stealth Attack working exactly
as he intended. The word intended was crucial here. As with all skill
upgrades, it had to come through conscious thought and not just
happenstance and accident. Of course, there were some cases where it was
arguable if something was truly intended, but the system did what the
system did.
Jake smiled as he flew forward and finished off his prey before properly
looking at the upgraded skill.
The upgrade seemed like the most straightforward kind there was, just
adding an enhanced tag. All Jake had done was add magic, but from reading
it, he now guessed it was all attacks, no matter what kind they were. It also
changed the scaling of the skill dependent on the nature of the attack while
still retaining the tie-in with Arcane Stealth.
Usually, people would be happy and lay off a bit when getting a skill
upgrade, but Jake felt the exact opposite. He was already so engaged in
upgrading and analyzing the skill that stopping now would be a complete
waste of momentum. While he would test the new version and confirm his
theories, he would also move on to the next task:
Make it more consistent. Now that Jake had added power to the skill, he
needed it to actually work. More power didn’t matter if it remained useless
against beasts and enemies with even halfway decent senses and Perception.
Using his newfound discoveries of the importance of controlling and
infusing this “stealth concept,” he began the next step.
A step that included the wanton slaughter of foes more than a dozen levels
above himself as he enthusiastically tried to find a path to an upgrade.
The Vinewood creature rapidly moved on its four legs as vines and thorns
spread out to attack the group, but several barriers sprung up to block the
ranged blows. Most of the barriers broke, but the hunting group managed to
hold on through collective effort.
Arrows, spells, thrown weapons, and even non-projectile ranged attacks

rained down on the Vinewood lizard. Individually only a few of these
attacks would deal noteworthy damage, but together they proved highly
effective as the creature was forced to retreat, allowing the group leader to
make his move.
Sterling pushed his palms together as magical scripts revolved around him.
Space compacted as the Vinewood creature was suppressed by the spatial
bindings, allowing the melee strikers to launch the final assault.
A man and a woman, each carrying a massive sword, attacked with their
blades raging and burning with deep red flames as they smashed the
creature. Fire damage was highly effective on Vinewood creatures, and the
lizard struggled as nobody in their group let up before it was dead for good.
“Good job, everyone,” Sterling said as he nodded at his group.
Taking down a level 171 beast with their group consisting primarily of
individuals between 120 and 130 was an achievement, even if he was 143
himself. They were twenty-two total in this party, quite a lot more than the
customary five, but Sterling had always found the number five needlessly
arbitrary. As long as you avoided dungeons, it was better to have more
people.
He watched as the scavenger began taking all the useful parts of the
Vinewood creature for their alchemists back in the city. His brother was the
City Leader and had emphasized the importance of keeping their progress
and power up. The United Cities Alliance had a lot of internal competition,
and even if Sterling was highly valued due to being a space mage and was
even a central figure in the largest hidden project of the United Cities
Alliance, he could not slack off. In fact, he had to keep progressing to keep
that position as their success would have a huge impact on deciding their
planet’s fate
After they were done cleaning up and relaxed a bit, they moved on. Two
archers functioned as scouts, and a few minutes later, they found their next
foe. It was a large sloth-like beast at level 179 – a bit above what they
usually went for – that was lazing around in a tree.
“Alright… prepare to strike,” Sterling said as everyone knew what to do.

The archers had their arrows enchanted, the mages prepared spells, as the
melee folk got into position.
However, just before he gave the order to engage, something else happened.
A pillar of powerful energy descended from the heavens as the entire tree
exploded, with something impacting the sloth itself. It was smashed onto
the ground as the ground shook from the impact. The beast managed to
stand, but another pillar fell as the sloth nearly lost an arm trying to block.
Several more attacks fell as the beast tried to flee, but the attacks kept
finding it no matter where it went. Sterling finally managed to see the
attacks and saw… arrows? They bent around the trees and struck from
unexpected angles from above, making the sloth utterly unable to escape.
Moreover, he saw the sloth bleed far more than usual, and the repeated self-
healing he would expect from a beast did not happen.
Sterling just stared as he made his group pull back. Only he and the two
warriors remained as the sloth finally succumbed to its injuries. The
moment it died, a figure descended. Black wings of death and a body
burning with powerful energy akin to the arrows landed right before the
sloth, his presence alone making Sterling fearful.
The space mage instantly knew who it was. Sterling froze and took a few
steps back as the man turned towards them. Beastly yellow eyes stared him
down as Sterling bowed and retreated fully, cold sweat running down his
back. The warriors did not hesitate for a moment either and followed suit.
As he ran, he failed to hold himself back from taking a peek and saw the
man penetrate the body of the beast with his hand and pull out the bloody
Beastcore. Barely audible, he felt like he heard the man speak to himself
under his breath.
“Still not there yet…”
Jake had felt it that time. For an incredibly brief moment, less than a
hundredth of a second, the stealth attack concept had persisted even after
being discovered. It was such a short time, but it was there. Jake would not
fault anyone for believing their senses had merely been off, but Jake
wholeheartedly trusted he was on the right track.
He threw a quick glance at the retreating hunting party as they hastily ran.
He didn’t bother with them but did judge them a little as he found that
hunting in a big crowd like that was highly inefficient. Five was the sweet
spot for a reason, and having more than twenty was just overkill outside of
wars. Okay, to Jake, the optimal number was one, but he did recognize
some did better in parties. Still. Twenty was not a party but a god damn
rave.
Turning his attention back to his failed Stealth Attack, he finally believed
he was onto something. It had soon been a week since he upgraded the skill
to uncommon rarity, and while that seemed like a long time, his growth had
been meteoric when it came to improving the skill. He had even figured out
how to time attacks to hit two Splitting Arrow shots within the same
moment for both to benefit.
Yeah, that part was not that useful.
What Jake had also learned was that the stealth concept was very… fragile?
Ephemeral was probably a better big boy word for it. Few potent concepts
would just disappear like that, but this one clearly did not matter what he
did. However, there was some progress, as he did discover that the Stealth
Attack did linger for such a short amount of time that even Jake could not
notice the concept disappeared when the beast became aware. That it was
not instant meant that he had a path. He just needed it to linger longer.
Jake had tried many things to do this. He had infused more of the stealth
concept and tried to make it more prevalent but found that useless. Many
other methods had even been attempted, like trying to somehow “copy” his
Arcane Stealth effect to make the arrow not look like an attack and meld
into the environment, and while that seemed possible theoretically, it was
not something Jake could figure out in any short amount of time. It would
probably be easier to upgrade Arcane Stealth somehow when he thought
more about it.
He kept trying out things, but during a brief round of Serene Soul
Meditation, he remembered something. Arcane Barrier.
It had talked about suppressing concepts. Jake did not want to suppress a
concept, but he did want to influence it, and clearly, his arcane affinity
could. Concepts and affinities were heavily interlinked, after all. Jake’s
arcane affinity could also be called his arcane concept, and within that
concept were primarily two parts. Destruction and stability.
And what did Jake’s Stealth Attack need, if not a bit of stability?
With that idea in his head, he got to work. His recent kill was proof it was
possible to extend the Stealth Attack for a fraction of a moment without
losing any of the effects, so he would just need to do what he did best:
Continually smash his head into a wall until it worked.
It was a bit like mixing a concoction or an alchemical brew. Jake needed to

find the right mix and achieve balance for him to avoid “washing away” the
stealth concept. At the same time, he had to make sure the Stealth Attack
got enough stability to do what he wanted. Now, mixing two affinities
outright was not easy, but the Stealth Attack did already contain some
stability within. It had to.
Stability as a concept was in no way unique to Jake’s arcane affinity, and he

had to truly separate it from his affinity before it worked. He needed to
reinforce the stability of the Stealth Attack and not try to mix in anything
more related to his arcane affinity. It did take some time to truly figure it
out. He just had to really get the infusion of Willpower down. With every
try, it got slightly better until finally…
Jake took aim at the owl that sat on a tree. He was once more flying above
the jungle with the owl marked so he knew where he was aiming and had
perfectly remembered its surroundings. He took aim as Arcane Powershot
charged. The concept of Stealth Attack appeared automatically due to the
skill as Jake mobilized his Willpower more to try to stabilize it.
The moment he felt it was good, he let go of the string. Before it even hit
the target, he knew, and the following fight was just a slaughter as the owl
lost a wing from the initial impact – an impact that was fully empowered by
Stealth Attack despite the beast noticing the attack just before it hit
Another upgrade in the bag!
[Enhanced Stealth Attack (Uncommon)] -->
[Superior Stealth Attack (Rare)] – The strongest blow is the one not seen
coming before it is too late. Increase the power of the first attack made on
an otherwise unaware foe. Has a brief grace period between the foe being
aware and the effect still triggering as long as the foe is still not conscious
of the hunter’s position or the nature of the attack. Adds a bonus to the
effects of Superior Stealth Attack dependent on the nature of the attack.
This effect is further improved by the level of Arcane Stealth.
Jake looked at the skill upgrade and smiled. Once more, it was viewed as a
more or less straightforward upgrade, and he was totally fine with that.
In less than two weeks, he had managed to bring the rather useless skill
from common to rare, now making it a powerful and reliable skill that
suited him nicely.
A skill upgrading journey that had also resulted in quite a body count as he
had found unwilling test subjects.
And a big body counts meant experience and levels.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 475 - Phantomshade
Panther
Jake decided to find a nice tree and take a seat as he opened his notification
window to go over the last few days of hunting. There were many kill
notifications, all of them giving experience as naturally a stealth archer was
always the one engaging, and why would Jake choose to engage lower-
leveled foes?
As for levels… well, it was pretty good as his hunting speed kept picking
up, and in his fervor to upgrade the skill through trial and error, he probably
ended up hunting faster than before. Especially when he considered the
ever-growing level of power of his prey.
Checking it out, he was at least satisfied.
Jake looked at the notification and saw his level. 166. Having gained four
class levels and two race ones from that. This has to be enough, right?
He believed it was. Draskil had done it at 173.
That’s right…
With a bit over a day left till the system event, it was time for this stealth
archer to take down his biggest prey yet:
It was C-grade hunting time.
Now the issue was just finding one. No, not just finding one, but finding
one suitable to hunt. One Jake was good against would be preferable. This
meant it needed to be flesh and blood, probably a beast of some kind, and if
it was not on the more durable side, that would also be nice. He wanted to
avoid prey with healing powers if possible, as Jake knew that he would risk
running himself dry. Fighting any C-grade would require Arcane
Awakening to be active from start to end, putting him on a timer, so facing a
foe able to turtle down and wait him out would suck.
The reason why It needed to be flesh and blood was naturally for his rare
Hemotoxin Poison, his most potent toxin to date. He had made it with C-
grade hunting in mind, so finding an elemental or something like that would
be inadvisable.
His other requirement would be a good hunting ground, but honestly, the
jungle was fine if not downright great for him. He had a lot of space to kite,
and he had already tried and tested the effectiveness of striking from above
to land Stealth Attacks with excellent results.
With all of that in mind, he set out on his hunt.
--
The Malefic Viper had naturally observed as always and nodded as he saw
Jake’s recent skill upgrades. Nothing was overly unexpected so far, not
because what Jake was doing was normal, but because Vilastromoz had
gotten used to it. Pointing out the fact that usually it could take months of
deep meditating to identify and become familiar with the conceptual
changes brought on by such a skill would be a waste of time. Jake’s level of
perception was truly disgusting, and the Viper was not just talking about the
stat.
He had a policy of never giving Jake direct advice on picking skills or

upgrading them. Doing so would only lead to adverse effects down the line.
Perhaps it would help him upgrade it now, but the next upgrade would only
get more challenging, and the god fully expected Jake to one day reach
godhood on his own anyway. Trying to “help” would only risk hampering
that.
Vilastromoz failed to hold back a small smile as he recalled his old days. A
skill starting at low rarity was just that – a starting point. While getting one
that was higher rarity was all fine and good - in most instances the
preferable choice - there were also cases where it was not. Stealth Attack
was a case where picking it was clever. The Viper had never wanted to ask
or question Jake about getting the skill, and he had to admit seeing Jake
pick it was a pleasant surprise.
Back in his day, he remembered not picking up quite a few skills… one of
them he had skipped for a long time had been called Scale Armor.
Instinctually the Viper had passed it back in F-grade before he even had
anything close to sapient thought. Back then, it had been useless as the
Viper was small and an ambush predator. Chances are, if he was caught and
hit, he would lose anyway, so running away was better, making more robust
scales useless.
Naturally, it was skipped in E-grade and D-grade too. The useless inferior
rarity skill was ignored, and the Viper had already gained other defensive
means. The Malefic Viper had always been a magic-focused beast, so
getting magical defenses just made sense. Who needed stronger scales with
a powerful mana shield and a cloud of miasma warding off any foes daring
to engage in melee?
It took all the way to C-grade. Late C-grade that is. His decision-making
then had spawned from interacting with some humans who had theorized
these low rarity skills could be worth it. As he had no other skill choices he
truly wanted at the time, Vilastromoz took a gamble and picked up the weak
skill. The day he got it, he was disappointed as it did nothing besides
making his scales a bit tougher to physical attacks… but he recognized
something in it.
A concept spawned by the system. Simplistic damage reduction. A flat

damage reduction on every blow that is. Its effect was so weak right when
he got it, but it got stronger and stronger as time progressed. He adapted the
skill, made it his own, fused it with Dragon Scales when he reached B-
grade and refined it more… until one day, it became a skill many alchemists
and followers of him knew today:
Scales of the Malefic Viper.
It was quiet. Incredibly quiet. Far more so than in any other areas of the
jungle. Rather than encountering beasts or Vinewood creatures every few
minutes, he now barely saw any, and those he saw were all towards the
peak of D-grade. Jake hunted a few, but they were not his target, and even
the stronger ones didn’t offer a good challenge.
None of these foes were beings born of struggle or created from

extraordinary circumstances. They had just grown up in an environment
with high mana density, making them grow powerful just by time passing
and hunting each other. Nothing compared to genius-level beasts like
Sylphie or the hydra Snappy had been back in the day. They were just
regular beasts… and so were the vast majority of C-grades.
Jake was not looking for a powerful C-grade. All C-grades were already
powerful to him, and he knew he didn’t stand a chance against something
like the Termite Hive King. No, he needed a lower-tier C-grade, and as he
spent the next many hours searching, he thought he had found one.
He had seen several already. A massive treant that towered above the jungle
and made all the greenery sway and wave in its wake. An owl that looked to
be made out of metal and used light magic that Jake did consider as a target,
but it had taken off before he got a chance to properly assess it. A third had
been a Vinewood Elephant that was also utterly massive and looked to be
made entirely out of bark. As he did not want to fight a being that was not
of flesh and blood, he quickly moved on.
Until finally, he had found his current target that he had been tracking for
nearly an hour.
The beast was no larger than a regular specimen of its species. Its entire
body was black with sleek fine hair covering it. Four paws soundlessly hit
the underbrush as it hunted peak D-grade beasts and creatures and
consumed their cores or other natural treasures, with Jake covertly
observing from a distance.
Identifying it, the name fit.
[Phantomshade Panther – lvl ???]
Jake had been keeping an eye on it to get an idea as to how powerful it was
and what it was capable of, and he had to say… it was weaker than
expected. It was undoubtedly a C-grade, but the fact that it hunted peak D-
grades should already be evidence enough it was struggling to fight others
of the same grade. Compared to the three other C-grades he saw, it was far
behind. Still stronger than any of the peak D-grades, but still.
In an hour, he had seen it kill three opponents of the Vinewood variant. It

seemed to use a mix of dark and space magic, coupled with incredibly high
Agility to take down its foes. The Panther was a bit of a glass cannon,
though, and he saw it take a few minor wounds here and there, and even if
these did rapidly heal, the mere fact that these D-grades could hurt it was a
testament to its relative weakness.
He did find it peculiar how its flesh, even beneath the hair, was black and
how it bled entirely black blood. The way the wound healed also looked
weird, but who was Jake to comment on what kind of physique made sense
for a C-grade?
Checking the time, Jake had around eleven hours left till the system event.
Smiling a bit, Jake knew it was enough time as he made all his preparations.
He marked the Panther as he kept tracking it and waited as he took to the
air. It had just engaged a beast to fight, and he would wait till the moment it
stopped to relax after the kill – something it had done every other time.
It did not take long before the Panther had won, and Jake felt his Mark stop
moving. He could not make an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter as he had
yet to understand its physique, but he could still land quite the opening
blow. He had prepared his arrows already with his rare Hemotoxin Poison
and now pulled one out. He activated Arcane Awakening in the offensive
state and began charging Arcane Powershot.
The Panther was still unaware as arcane wrath descended upon it. It reacted
only a moment before impact as it rapidly dodged, but the arrow was too
fast, and the beast was hit in its side, opening up a deep and nasty wound –
Stealth Attack naturally fully triggering.
Jake followed up, but his next attacks were dodged as the Panther instantly
locked in on him. He had just nocked an arrow as his danger sense
exploded, making him stop what he was doing and step down just in time.
A claw emerged where he had just been as the Panther had teleported right
up to him. Jake quickly stepped down again as the beast rushed him with
anger in its eyes. Space distorted in its wake as it charged, bending
everything between them as a dark streak cut across the sky.
Luckily Jake was far gone and managed to land a potshot before rapidly
flying upwards to get some distance. He glanced back at it, and just before
it charged, he turned and shot an arrow again as he used Gaze of the Apex
Hunter, finding it worked even better than expected as the Panther froze for
a moment. His arrow, already in the air, hit the Panther, infecting it with
even more poison.
Come on, you can do better than that, Jake thought.
The Panther stared at him for a moment before it began to emit black
smoke. The smoke absolutely obscured the form of the Panther as it
charged once more. Jake smirked a bit as it entered his Sphere, and he
easily side-stepped the beast as he pulled out Eternal Hunger and managed
to stab the C-grade in the side before he stepped down, teleporting away
once more.
He teleported, but the Panther seemed to have read him and followed a
moment later. Jake blocked the paw and found his arms buckling as he was
pushed back. Another swipe left a nasty cut on his arms as his bracer was
torn apart, but before it could land the third blow, Jake used Gaze once
more and, with a Descending Dark Arcane Fang, smashed the Panther down
towards the ground.
Before it could stabilize, Jake fired a barrage of Splitting Arrows that

exploded in a torrent of arcane energy, sending it tumbling down even
further. Four black crescent waves were sent in return as a swipe tore up
space itself, but Jake managed to dodge between two space tears as he fired
an Arcane Powershot rapidly charged through the use of Steady Aim.
The beast tried to dodge, but Jake had predicted its movements as the
Powershot slightly curved and smashed into the Panther’s stomach, sending
it barreling down towards the ground, creating a crater on impact.
His foe had taken great damage, but there was no way a C-grade would go
down that easily… no matter how weak it was. And damn, this one was
weak. The mere fact that Jake had time to properly consider how weak it
was during the fight was proof of that. It reminded him a bit of his first
“true” D-grade kill against the giant lightning bird.
It was disappointing.
However, he would not let his guard down as Jake kept up the assault. The
Panther was already healing as its black flesh wiggled, but the Hemotoxin
Poison clearly did work. Its speed was incredibly impressive, and it could
make itself invisible and attack stealthily – skills Jake already knew about
from observing its prior fights. All things Jake could easily deal with.
Finally, it did something new.
He faintly felt space around him be affected as the Panther did not move
from down on the ground. Jake shot several arrows but found them all bent
away from the Panther as it stared up at him. Looking back, he met its gaze,
and the moment he did…
Everything went dark.
No, he was not knocked out, but all his senses were thrown for a loop. His
eyesight disappeared, all sound was gone, all smells, even Sense of the
Malefic Viper was entirely cut off. Dense black energy had invaded his very
soul, and Jake rapidly began cleansing it, but it was not something he could
get rid of instantly. Even so, Jake did not panic. He still felt the space
around him bend through his Sphere, and he quickly adapted and made a
plan. Acting as if his senses were all gone, Jake began flailing helplessly.
The Panther took the bait.
Jake felt the same charge attack as before. In an instant, the Panther
appeared right in front of him and cut down with its paw to shred him into
several pieces. The moment it committed to its attack, Jake stopped acting.
He dove forward under the paw of the beast and got below the Panther as he
stabbed Eternal Hunger upwards and penetrated the Panther’s belly. He then
firmly held on with one hand as he placed his other on the beast and
activated Touch of the Malefic Viper.
His senses returned just in time to hear the Panther hiss in pain as it tried to
get him off. Something made even more difficult by Jake pulling out strings
of mana to wrap around the beast as it tried to stretch its body and bite Jake
as he just kept pumping poison into the C-grade. Fang of the Malefic Viper
was naturally fully active on Eternal Hunter as it pumped out venom into
the beast from the inside, and Touch pumped it in from the outside.
Finally, the beast managed to muster enough energy. Jake swiftly

disengaged as the Panther’s body exploded with space magic, leaving
hundreds of small scratches on Jake’s body from the torn space. The
Panther looked spent as it stared angrily at Jake.
Let’s finish this.
Jake stepped down and teleported to dodge a blow as the Panther tried to
attack. The Panther teleported away when it failed to land a blow, but Jake
was ready and stepped down once more and managed to appear above the
beast. With a blast of arcane mana, he sent it tumbling down, and an Arcane
Powershot blasted it into the jungle below once more. Explosive Arcane
Arrows then fell like rain as the jungle, along with the Panther, was torn
apart.
Looking down, Jake felt disappointment as he activated Mark of the

Avaricious Arcane Hunter. The Panther that was already on its last legs
flashed with arcane light before it finally succumbed as he got a
notification. The beast rapidly began decomposing, and within a few
seconds, its entire body turned to black smoke as Jake frowned.
He flew down and landed where he had killed the Panther but did not see
any signs it had ever been there. No loot, no nothing. He got a feeling
something was very off as he checked the notification.
*You have destroyed [Phantomshade Panther Clone – lvl 204]*
Wait, what!? Jake thought as his eyes opened wide.
Before he could properly grasp the situation, he suddenly felt more

presences nearby. In the clearing created from the fight, Jake stood as four
figures appeared. Four identical Panthers surrounded him on each side as
Jake’s frown changed into a serious expression as realization struck him.
He had only killed one of five clones.
Arcane Awakening fully activated a moment later as all four Panthers

charged.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 476 - In the Jungle...
Jake launched himself into the air to avoid the charge of the four clones,
and just in time, as the space he had just occupied imploded from the
impact of four paw-swipes infused with potent space magic.
He pushed his wings to fly faster as he felt the approaching beasts. Twisting
his body, Jake turned and shot off blasts of arcane mana as he also landed a
Mark of the Avaricious Hunter on all four of them. Not for the damage
necessarily, but as much to keep track of them.
Four forms flanked him during his ascent. A part of Jake had hoped they
wouldn’t bother chasing him, but clearly, they were out for blood. Two
usual responses would appear in this kind of scenario. Fight or flight. Jake’s
survival instinct was by far his most potent one… and not a single doubt
was in his mind at that moment.
Fight.
Blasting arcane energy to one side, he propelled himself into one of the
Panthers and took it by surprise. In mid-air, he took hold of its pelt and
tossed it towards another of the beasts as he began flying sideways, his
wings leaving poison mist in his wake. Taking out his bow, he fired arrows
directly ahead of himself, away from the beasts. The arrows flew straight
for a while but soon began bending as they did a one-eighty turn and flew
back in Jake’s direction as they also split into five each.
Jake flew between several arrows as the Panthers chasing him were hit by
arcane explosions. They blocked it, but it bought him enough time to
properly turn and shoot a well-placed Arcane Powershot into one of the
clones.
It hit the beast, and right away, the poison entered its body. When it did,
Jake quickly noticed a difference… these clones were stronger than the one
he had destroyed earlier. Not by overly much, but probably around ten
percent.
Clones… split power somehow?
Jake wasn’t sure, but what he did know was that the Panthers were done
playing around. Before, they had chased him rather cautiously, which
indicated they did not have a proper measurement of Jake… which
furthermore probably meant there had been no shared memory or memory
transfer from the clone. All they knew was that he had killed one.
However, even so, it was clear that the clones could communicate, at least
while in close proximity.
Space around Jake suddenly seemed to shrink as he didn’t really move

forward as he flew. Dark mana began collecting all around him as black
bolts appeared in the warped space. None of which Jake had time to address
as he had to rapidly dodge to the side as a Panther teleported in front of
him, only to find another one trying to take advantage of the opening. He
barely managed to dodge between the swipes of two beasts by twisting his
body and creating a platform of mana to step off.
He tried to get away, but the dark bolts bombarded him, and as space
constricted even more, he found it difficult to move as he wanted. In melee,
the two panthers continued their assault as Jake was on the backfoot, not
getting any chances to retaliate.
Need to get distance, Jake gritted his teeth as he tried to break out of the
contained space one of the panthers had created. Both melee weapons had
appeared at this point, and he managed to land a few minor wounds on the
two beasts, but they also managed to hurt him as several claw marks marred
his body.
In a gamble, Jake dove forwards between the two Panthers. He spun around
as arcane edges expanded from both blades to try and scare the Panthers
away. It worked on one of them, but the one he tried to scare off with
Bloodfeast Dagger simply swept the edge away and attacked instead.
Jake ducked at the very last moment, turning his body to block with one of
his wings. The Panther tore up the flesh on it and promptly bit down on the
joint. The teeth sank into the flesh as pain ran through his body. The
Panther bit down even more, ready to rip off the wing entirely. He knew the
wing was a lost cause, so he decided to make use of it.
Stamina and mana both flushed the wing as Arcane Awakening was
directed to overflow it with energy. In a flash, it began burning with pink-
purple energy before promptly exploding in a blast that sent both Jake and
the Panther flying away.
Blood sprayed all over the Panther and into its mouth, not to mention the
damage caused by the explosion itself. Jake himself had lost a wing, and if
that was all, he would be ecstatic at the outcome of the exchange, but sadly
he was not fighting a single opponent.
The second Panther went in for his neck, and Jake barely blocked with an
arm that he pushed into the feline’s mouth to avoid the sharp front fangs. It
still hurt like hell, but scales covered his arm just as he blocked to lessen the
damage.
With his other arm, he managed to make a barrier of arcane mana to protect
himself from dark bolts bombarding him. He did so long enough for the
Panther currently biting down to begin shaking him violently, trying to rip
off his arm entirely. He was tossed around, but he managed to not lose the
arm as the Panther eventually let go due to the poisoned blood soaking its
throat. It tossed him towards the jungle below, with several dark bolts
bombarding him on the way down.
With a tattered arm and a lost wing, he fell as he blocked the bolts as best
he could. On the positive side, he had gotten out of the compressed space,
but on the negative side, he had taken a lot of damage. He had managed to
also do some damage to the Panthers and had infected all but one with
poison. However, the winner of this first exchange had clearly been the
clones.
He took notice of how one of the clones stayed back, not engaging him at
all. It had just done some space magic, with the one using dark magic being
the one he injured earlier with Arcane Powershot.
Jake landed on the ground below, and before the Panthers could follow up,
he sprinted into the dense jungle. Fighting them up in the air had been a
terrible move as it quite frankly gave him too much space. He had no
natural obstacles he could use to block and was just surrounded up there,
while in the jungle, he had the advantage.
One had to remember… Jake was now a stealth archer as well as a hunter.
Using his Marks, he kept track as they all followed him. Jake would
honestly accept the result if they chose to disengage, but he failed to hold
back a faint smile when he saw them chase. His body was hurting, and
Arcane Awakening was still burning his energy and health away at a steady
pace, putting him on a timer. That is why he didn’t wait long before he went
back on the offensive.
Taking a lot of ninety-degree turns, he managed to get them off his track for
a moment. Enough for him to enter stealth once more as they lost track of
his position. Jake had already noticed earlier how they needed a moment to
locate him whenever he had teleported, proving they clearly didn’t have a
good tracking skill or particularly high perception. This was fixed by them
fighting together and one being at a distance to observe, but such was not
the case right now.
Sneaking around, the Panthers were tracking him and had split up a fair bit,
with one of them still flying in the air far above – the uninjured one. It had
not moved but stayed far up, nearly at the clouds. At that distance, not even
an Arcane Powershot would reach before it could dodge.
That left three in the jungle, all spread out in a triangle pattern as they
searched. Pulses of dark mana passed over him as his Arcane Stealth
managed to keep him hidden as he stood still whenever such a pulse came.
Just as another pulse had passed, Jake found an opening. A Panther had
found an unsuspecting D-grade trying to hide and had decided to rip it out
of the ground and tear it apart. Jake took the chance and fired an Arcane
Powershot from behind.
The Panther reacted too slowly as it was blasted in the back and was sent
flying through several trees with an arrow now stuck in it. The moment he
attacked, all of the Panthers became aware of him, and without hesitating,
he retreated into the dense foliage again.
Just as he retreated, he found himself forced to lay flat on the ground as a

ripple of space passed over him. Less than a second later, a black crescent
wave passed, followed by several more as the Panthers tore up the area to
find him. Jake just lay there, Arcane Stealth active as he blended in.
Clearly believing he had escaped, the Panthers assaulted another area, only
for Jake to pop up again and land another Arcane Powershot on an
unsuspecting Panther.
The best part about all this? Stealth Attack bloody worked every time they
completely lost track of his position.
Once more, he tried to retreat, but clearly, the beasts were not interested in
being made fools of three times in a row. All three charged him at once,
ignoring their wounds and the poison running through their bodies.
Jake knew fighting them straight on was a losing battle, so he tried to dodge
as he ran. Pride of the Malefic Viper activated for the first time as mana
began condensing in his surroundings. Repeated arcane explosions sounded
out in his wake, but the Panthers ignored them all to keep chase.
He tried to shake them off, but he was chased by one and flanked by two
others. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a faint distortion in the air as
Jake jumped just as a Panther appeared. He managed to get over the attack
and condensed a platform of mana to stop his momentum just in time to
dodge the second beast.
Flooding the platform with destructive mana, it exploded and launched Jake
backward towards the chasing Panther. Taking it by surprise, Jake managed
to land a cut with Eternal Hunger before fleeing once more. However, just
as he thought he would get away, he suddenly spotted a problem.
Fuck.
In front of him, space was already distorting as it became clear he had once
more been trapped within some kind of spatial seal. However, this one was
far more of a barrier to keep him from escaping than the space seal prior.
With reluctance, Jake was forced to change direction, but that resulted in
him not being as fast as he should have been. A Panther teleported, and
Jake barely managed to block as two more appeared. The second one he
dodged by the skin of his teeth while he was forced to simply take the hit
from the last one as his back was ripped up. His cloak and armor, together
with the passive shield of Arcane Awakening, managed to take much of the
blow, but his equipment was shredded, with five deep gashes still left
behind. Jake managed to capitalize on the situation to stab a Panther with
Eternal Hunger as he froze another with Gaze. Using all his strength, he
spun around and used the impaled beast as his shield so the Panther that
tore up his back couldn’t strike again.
He was forced to let go of his weapon as he jumped back and landed on the
ground just as he teleported away. The clones chased him quickly as
different spells flew all around him. Jake gritted his teeth as he repeatedly
teleported in tandem with the Panthers, always a single step ahead.
Pulling out his bow, he began firing arrows in all directions. One right in
front of him, one a bit to the side, one above, and so on. The arrows curved
around to hit the Panthers, with most of them missing but a few landing as
intended here and there. The Panthers adapted swiftly and grouped up to
make a barrier, rendering his assault useless.
Eternal Hunger had already been ripped out of the one Panther’s body and
left behind somewhere on the ground. At least it was left behind as Jake
suddenly felt its call. He didn’t think but just wished for it as it appeared in
his hand. It could do that?
Not bothering to think about it, Jake manipulated the shape of the blade
slightly as he made it larger and firmly a two-handed weapon. He then
dismissed it, ready to summon it again when it was time.
From behind, a dark pulse went through the jungle, followed by a wave of
black smoke that seemed to drown out everything. Jake could barely see
through it, and it even absorbed sound. However, even more importantly,
Jake noticed the smoke infiltrate his body.
It was poison.
Dark poison.
This kind of trap would surely work on many types of foes. A black mist
that blinded them and weakened their senses, as well as poison seeping into
their bodies to amplify this effect further. A real nasty combo, actually.
Well, except for Jake, who failed to hold back a grin as all he felt was his
mana regeneration spike. He did notice that the Panthers also absorbed
some of the mist to counteract the Hemotoxin Poison and other toxins he
had inflicted them with, but it was far from enough.
The Panthers waited a dozen or so seconds for Jake to lose his senses.
Which he did. His vision was blurred with dark spots, his hearing muffled,
and even his sense of touch was all off. To really sell it, Jake began firing
arrows into the air, having already noticed that the odd spatial seal didn’t
affect his arcane arrows. It was likely just meant to seal living beings in,
and not all energy as that would make the cost skyrocket.
Satisfied with the result, a beast charged Jake. He purposefully reacted just
in time as he blocked with his bow, the legendary weapon more than
durable enough. Jake was smashed back and into a tree as the same Panther
followed up. Two more hung back, with one of them expelling the mist and
the other seemingly trying to speed up its healing.
He took a few more blows that he barely blocked before he made the
Panther smash him into a large tree. The idea appeared, and he instantly
executed. As expected, the beast charged him, and just as it leaped, Jake
used Gaze of the Apex Hunter, barely still able to see the Panther through
the mist due to his insane Perception.
It flew through the air as Eternal Hunger appeared. Using the tree as a
counterweight, the Panther smashed into the sword head-first, impaling
itself entirely. Instantly, the other Panthers reacted, but Jake was too fast.
Bloodfeast Dagger appeared, and he stabbed down on the skull of the beast
rapidly dozens of times before finally breaking through. The moment he did
so, the entire beast just turned to black smoke.
Two down… three to go.
Jake felt like he just had a major victory but then noticed how little the
Panthers seemed to truly care. The one who had been healing still waited
for the one pumping mist to stop as they realized it was useless. Instantly,
the poison mist began dispersing, and he saw the two injured beasts stare at
him as Jake’s Eternal Hunger changed back to its regular shape again.
A two-second staredown later, Jake decided it was a good time to return to

being a stealth archer as he stepped down and teleported back. He had just
appeared as the two Panthers followed him, and instantly he noticed.
Faster.
A swipe hit him from the side, and as he blocked, he found himself sent
flying away even more than before.
And stronger.
It was confirmed. For each clone he killed, the others got stronger. It was
only a little… but it wasn’t good. Far above still was the third Panther,
clearly still not interested in joining, and Jake could only begin to imagine
what would happen when it was down to the last one.
Kind of exciting, wasn’t it?
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 477 - The Mighty Jungle...
Clones… Jake knew a bit about them. Making a clone was something
many, if not most, would learn to do eventually. In most cases, making a
clone was to more or less cut off part of yourself to act autonomously. It
could also be to just create a copy that shared all senses and that you still
had to somewhat control, but these were often classified as puppets instead.
This varied further from illusion or mirages, which were entirely fake and
often only existed for brief periods, while many clones could persist
permanently. Illusions and mirages did not need to be intangible either but
could often interact with the world around them to some extent. Naturally,
they were usually far weaker than the main body, but they could help.
What the Phantomshade Panther did was a high-level cloning technique.

Each clone could exist independently, and from the looks of it, the Panther
used them for hunting on their own, indicating shared experience. It was
pretty much just one beast split in five for improved hunting speed and to
consume five times as many natural resources. A brilliant optimization,
even if each copy was weaker.
Splitting in five did not necessarily mean splitting power five-way either.
Each could easily retain half or more of the primary body’s power from
before the split. Considering how much stronger they had gotten after he
killed the first and second one, Jake reckoned each had around seventy
percent of the true body’s strength… maybe closer to sixty. High-level
clones did also mean they were far harder to form, and it likely took a long
time to make just one for the Panther.
Either way, considering just killing one clone was a pain when there were
five, it only got worse with three. It was limited how much synergy four or
five beasts fighting together could reach even if they were the same creature
simply due to the limitations of the jungle and to avoid hitting each other. It
wasn’t like one was a support Panther and the other a ranged attacker. In
fact, their pure magic kind of sucked.
But… reduced to two fighting purely in melee, they no longer had to care as
much. With the two of them now even more powerful in addition to this,
Jake soon found himself pressured more than before. Their level of
recklessness had also increased as they chose to sacrifice their own bodies
to try and injure Jake.
Jake was continuously pushed back by two aggressive felines swiping and
biting at him as space warped all around. He held Eternal Hunger and
Bloodfeast Dagger tight, but his arms were hurting from blocking, and he
got no indications of the Panthers stopping their assault or saw a path to
escape.
He tried several times to disengage, but every time he did so, space around
him contracted, and when he used One Step Mile, he teleported a far
smaller distance than he wanted with the two cats still hot on his trail.
Worse yet was that even if he handled these two, there was still the one
flying in the air above the jungle. A completely uninjured copy, and with
the energy transfer from the clones, Jake understood why it did this.
Wounds did not heal when a clone died, so if he had managed to damage all
of them heavily and then killed them one by one, he would win far more
easily. By saving one clone, the Panther would always have a spare to
absorb everything and return to full power.
As for if it had a sixth one hidden somewhere, Jake was certain it didn’t. He
had spent enough time interacting with them to feel the subtle connection
between them. It was faint, but it was clearly there, and he only sensed the
three remaining ones. There also had to be some limitations to using clones
and the energy transfers. If not, why would the Panther have even shown up
with all its bodies and not kept one far away? Even with his senses, he
could not rule out the connection was only there due to their proximity…
but his intuition told him he was right.
This won’t work, Jake still gritted his teeth as he was pushed back by a
Panther. He dodged its next attack and managed to stab it before he was hit
on his shoulder by the second one as he was knocked away. A nasty gash
was left there, but Jake had accepted that to get a chance.
He and the beasts had exchanged many blows, and while he was winning
the battle, he was losing the war.
When he landed, he instantly jumped as he resummoned his wings and flew

upwards. The Panthers chased, and Jake barely dodged one as the other
teleported right next to him. He chose to take the hit as he kicked it hard.
That backfired as the beast rapidly reacted and bit down on his foot the
moment he kicked… and that is where the poor cat fucked up. Some things
were not meant to be chewed. The saying that something was like chewing
leather when it was too tough did not come out of nowhere, and when the
Panther bit down, it encountered an impossible opponent.
Jake’s old leather boots.
With incredible pressure, the Panther bit down, and Jake felt incredible pain
as the bones in his foot broke, but at the same time, he heard something else
break. One of the long fangs of the Panther had snapped in half when it
failed to penetrate the leather, making it yelp in pain.
Without even a moment’s hesitation, Jake swept up the broken fang with a
string of mana and caught it in his hand. He kept flying upwards as the
beast refused to let go, so he tossed the fang he had already made into a
weapon with Fang of Man. He hit one of the Panther’s eyes, finally making
it let go as he managed to get some height. The second Panther was already
hot on his heels when he made it out of the jungle to the open air above,
where he headed straight for the uninjured Panther.
This was clearly an example where injuring or killing all opponents at once
would be the most effective. Classical boss mechanics. The two other
Panthers were already heavily injured and were infected by quite a lot of
poison. Taking them down was not too difficult. The problem was the final
one. If he killed those two, he would be left with one fully powered and
uninjured Panther while he could be in a worse position.
So he wanted to at least get an edge now before he would have to face it.
Maybe he could even goad the Panther into engaging him with the two
remaining ones. Jake flew towards it with great speed and saw it just stood
still in the air far above him, staring down.
Two Panthers flanked him as they teleported, but Jake himself began
running vertically upwards, every step hurting like shit on the injured foot.
He even managed to inject the two cats with even more poison and get
some distance by activating both their Marks, making them flash with
arcane energy as they roared in pain.
About halfway up, the Panthers suddenly stopped. Jake took two more steps
as his danger sense suddenly spiked. Spiked intensely. Not realizing why,
Jake took out his bow and drew an arrow as Steady Aim activated, slowing
down his perception of time significantly. He did not do so necessarily with
the intention of shooting an arrow… he just needed the time.
With everything slowed down, he perceived it. Space was contracted and
was cut off all around him. A cylinder-shaped path had been formed
between the Panther up in the air and the two chasing him, no more than
five meters across. When within it, Jake didn’t even notice it. Not even his
Sphere picked it up as space didn’t even distort more than what usually
happened with continued teleportation.
He also realized that power was building up both behind and in front of
him. Jake was, at this point, forced to release his arrow as his senses
returned to normal. There was no more time. He understood what was about
to happen at that very last moment, and his eyes opened wide as he roared.
Space magic colliding never led to good results. The backlash on the caster
was also absolutely immense… which would matter if the casters suffering
the backlash in this situation weren’t clones. From below, small black
tunnels of dark magic and space formed before each Panther. Ahead of him,
the uninjured one prepared itself.
It all happened at once.
Something cracked.
The sky was torn as if a plane of glass had been cut down the middle. A
black bullet-like form was the cause of the crack, and as reality shook, a
second crack formed that shattered the horizon, caused by a second bullet.
A cross-shaped rift in space tore the entire airspace above the jungle
asunder for dozens of kilometers in all directions - a single winged human
figure caught in the middle.
The remaining two Panthers were dead. Two clones were sacrificed to
create a technique that could prove lethal or at least heavily damage many
mid-tier C-grades. The remaining Panther stared down at the cracked space
before it - the rift perfectly torn in a straight line. The only remnants of the
human having ever been there, a single arrow fired just before the collapse.
One that flew harmlessly by the Panther.
However, as seconds passed, the beast clearly noticed something was

wrong. There was no notification or sign of the human’s death. The beast
realized this a moment too late.
A tear in space was cut open as Jake suddenly appeared right in front of the
Panther, space reforming right behind him. He stabbed forward and left a
nasty cut on the beast’s face as it recoiled and retreated, disbelief in its eyes.
On the other hand, Jake just stared at it as blood bled from his eyes, and his
entire body was filled with cracks, blood seeping out of them, with
scattered broken scales spread throughout his skin. One of his arms was
gone as several holes marred his chest, some of them even cutting straight
through him so you could look through his body. His wings had naturally
also been torn off.
As he stood there, he quickly used the ability of his necklace to summon a

healing potion into his mouth and consumed it for extra effect. He also
activated the Second Wind enchantment from his pants. His body was
flooded with vital energy as he began healing, his mind still racing from
what had just happened.
Scrolling back a few seconds, Jake had found himself in deep shit.
Space around him had suddenly become incredibly rigid. Then, without any
warning, a Panther teleported up right next to him. It didn’t even attack, but
its entire body was burning with black flames as space distorted around it.
The beast blew up the very next moment as Jake lost an arm, and
everything around him began shattering and falling apart.
Then a second Panther appeared and did the same to his other side. He was
caught between two collapsing spaces within a rigid space tunnel that also
collapsed. Everything imploded and shattered down upon him as he felt like
he was about to be torn apart… and then time had slowed down.
Moment of the Primal Hunter.
Reality seemed to freeze. Jake felt like he was in the most extreme maze of
mirrors imaginable. Like his own remaining arm was several meters long.
Like his body was not truly solid but merely made up of many small
fragments with holes in between. Nothing made sense… but it didn’t need
to.
Jake just needed to survive. He did not need to understand, just trust his
judgment and not hesitate.
So, he stepped down. Space seemed to warp once more as Jake forced the
skill by pouring in all his energy. Stable arcane mana enveloped his body to
keep himself whole as scales also appeared. Pride helped stabilize what
space he could… enough for him to see it.
No matter the situation, reality was still there. If it was not, it would be the
Void... something no C-grade could bring forth. And as long as there was
reality, there was some space to travel through. His step landed as Jake’s
body unraveled. Holes in space - small vacuums - were unavoidable. It felt
like he was riddled with bullets as holes formed all over, and yet none were
lethal. His body swayed, moved, and dodged through a reality his mind
could barely comprehend, but with everything slowed down and his
survival instincts at the highest they had perhaps ever been, he managed to
minimize the damage.
His Sphere of Perception fed information about the path, his danger sense
made him angle and dodge the most dangerous vacuums, and his intuition
made him aware this was the only way. The only path forward was not
“out” of the spatial tunnel but through it – straight towards the Panther.
This path would normally be near-impossible to find… but Jake had a

guide. A single arrow that had been fired. One soaked with poison that had
made it out of the most tumultuous space and was ahead of the tunnel
collapsing. It became his guiding light as he found his way out, and the
moment before time resumed to normal, he pulled out Eternal Hunger – a
weapon that not even the collapse of space could harm. He cut through the
final barrier of space and entered stable space once more, right in front of
the Panther.
This brings us back to the present. Jake stood in front of the beast with only
one arm, and the blade pointed forward. His bloodshot eyes still bled, and
he was a mess, but his gaze was firm. The Panther stared back in disbelief
and took a few moments to collect itself, allowing Jake to take advantage of
his potion and Second Wind.
The Panther got out of its stupor and, for the first time, looked at him with
new eyes. Rather than the indifference and hint of disdain, he now only saw
respect. Jake returned the gaze in kind.
He had believed the Panther a C-grade on the weaker side. An assessment

that was clearly off. The C-grade frog he had met in the Mangrove River
was nothing compared to the beast before him. He was confident beating it
back then, even in an unfavorable environment.
Mutual respect was given. They both knew they faced another predator and
that neither of them had any intentions to back down or retreat.
And showing respect, the Panther did not give its opponent any more time
to regenerate as it attacked, Jake finally facing the beast at full power.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 478 - The Hunter Sleeps
Tonight
Jake did not have time to consider anything but the battle in front of him,
not even the notification he had gotten after he escaped the collapsing space
tunnel. His body was marred with wounds, and the only injury on the
Panther was a single cut left with Eternal Hunger. A cut that had benefitted
from Stealth Attack as he had been hidden in the folds of space.
A swipe came from the right as Jake managed to block. A follow-up from
the left forced him back as the beast rapidly pushed its advantage. Lacking
an arm made fighting incredibly difficult, especially considering the foe he
faced.
Stronger. Faster. Every single spec of the Panther had been heightened.
However, he was certain of one thing… it lacked energy. While the Panther
had not fought in melee, it had used large-scale magic, especially with that
final attack. Additionally, chances are it had portions of its energy reserved
due to the clones, and even if it gained its stats back, that didn’t mean it also
gained mana, stamina, and health.
That is the reason why it didn’t use any complex magical attacks right
away, coupled with a potential adaption method. At least Jake guessed that
was why as he was smashed downward by a swipe. His left arm was rapidly
regenerating as he focused on his vital energy to make it happen. The holes
covering his body would have to wait for later, and he managed to stop the
bleeding by blocking off the wounds with the passive barrier of Arcane
Awakening.
Jake fell down as the Panther charged him. A swipe sent crescent waves of
dark space mana towards him, making everything vibrate. Jake stopped his
fall as he stepped down on his one good leg, teleporting away. He found
himself traveling further away than usual but didn’t question it as he quite
frankly didn’t have the time.
The beast did not have any interest in letting him escape and teleported in
pursuit. A pulse of dark mana was emitted, but Jake felt no sense of danger
from it. The pulse somehow hit the fabric of space itself as several small
cracks appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the airspace.
Tendrils of dark mana emerged and lashed at Jake, forcing him in specific
directions. He knew the Panther planned this but was forced to comply. A
spatial prison was slowly formed around him… yet he didn’t feel like it was
an issue. Jake stepped down and, with no fanfare, teleported straight past
the spatial lock and out of it.
This was clearly not a part of the Panther’s plan, and Jake took the chance
to fire off a blast of mana to accelerate himself towards the ground. Picking
up on what Jake intended, the Panther tried to stop him as it chased.
Another pulse and more cracks in space appeared, sending tendrils out to
stop him. Jake looked down and saw the ground half a kilometer away,
tendrils blocking his path. Without hesitating, he stepped down and
appeared below, once more passing any obstacles.
One Step Mile definitely upgraded, he thought as he jumped forward,

dodging a blast of space mana that blasted a several-meter deep hole in the
soil. Jake got below some trees and attempted to hide and give him more
time. His arm was slowly regrowing, but he was no Eron and couldn’t just
instantly regenerate. He needed a few minutes and fighting while healing
was a bad idea. Any half-arsed attack on the regenerating arm would set
him back, just wasting the vital energy.
Jake sprinted as every step hurt like hell, but he could not slow down. A
pulse passed, and just as it did, he stood completely still and used Arcane
Stealth to hide. It worked, as he began running again, but then suddenly a
figure entered his Sphere.
The Panther ran a bit off to the side of him and would luckily pass, so as
long as he stayed sti-
A second Panther entered. Then a third. And a fourth. Dozens of Panthers
appeared and scouted the jungle, and Jake was in disbelief… until he finally
felt their energy signatures. It was weak. Each of them was barely tangible
as they scoured the greenery for him.
Rather than clones, these were illusions or mirages. At first glance and even
to his sphere, they appeared real, but they were effectively just energy
constructs. But even if that was the case, Jake knew they weren’t
harmless… especially not with so many of them.
Even if they couldn’t hurt him – which he was certain they could – their
presence alone made hiding near-impossible. They scouted around, and
while Jake was confident in his Arcane Stealth when standing still, he did
not believe himself infallible.
Something that was proved correct as an illusion approached. It sniffed the

ground and moved past him at first but stopped just as it did. It turned
around and walked towards Jake, and lifted its paw to swipe at the stable
barrier covering Jake with suspicion.
Jake did not give it a chance as he stabbed forward. Eternal Hunger

penetrated the illusion, and instantly the construct turned to black smoke.
As he ”killed” the illusion, he felt the true body of the Panther above
instantly lock in on him. It was prepared, and Jake’s sense of danger
exploded as he used One Step Mile.
He teleported only fifty or so meters as even with its upgrade, he was in a

jungle filled with trees and other greenery. Fifty meters would usually be
good enough, but in this case, it wasn’t. The Panther had fully locked onto
him, and Jake noticed a small mark left by the illusion just a moment before
the beast struck.
Everything around him shimmered. Space itself seemed to contract as a

tunnel was formed. The very next moment, a Panther was before him with
its claw bathed in dense black energy. Jake tried to block but was sluggish
from the odd movements of space. He had no time. The beast went straight
for his neck to sever his head, but in the final moment, he leaned forward.
A paw smashed into his face as Jake felt bones in his neck crack, and he
was only saved by the impact also knocking him back. His entire head
would have been carved apart if not for the wooden mask on his face that
allowed him to survive.
Jake smashed into a tree, but quickly landed as he teleported away again
and fled. He didn’t think but just went in the opposite direction of the Mark
indicating where the Panther was and navigated with his sphere. Using his
eyes was not an option, as even if the mask had blocked the impact, the eye
holes were still there. Eye holes that had allowed the dark space energy to
utterly annihilate both his eyes and much of the flesh surrounding them.
His Gaze of the Apex Hunter had been removed as an option, but luckily he
only needed a bit more time. Flesh wriggled as most of his left arm had
reformed by now. The Panther attacked once more, and Jake was forced to
face it with his right side to protect the left, resulting in him getting knocked
away with yet another gash.
Without the healing earlier, he would likely be dead by now, but he held on.
His skin was flaying more than before due to Arcane Awakening having
been active for so long. He was in an incredibly precarious situation as the
beast kept up the constant assault until finally, he was ready.
Jake blocked a blow as the Panther tried to take advantage of his weak left
side. Instead of meeting no resistance or making Jake dodge, the paw
impaled itself on a dagger as a newly formed arm held it, the skin being
covered with scales as they fought.
When it recoiled for a moment, Jake took the chance. He stepped down and
appeared several hundred meters in the air above and, with a second step,
teleported to the side as he spun in the air, taking out his bow. He managed
to only get a single arrow off before several figures leaped out of the jungle
towards him.
It was the remaining illusions summoned earlier.
Not wanting to give them any chance, Jake’s empty eye-holes opened wide
as Presence of the Malefic Viper intensified. An arcane barrier was formed
that instantly exploded, destroying all the illusions. Something that proved a
wise decision as all of the illusions also exploded upon destruction,
functioning as Panther suicide bombers.
His primary target was still below. Jake did have the minor issue of no eyes,
but he could still track it with Mark and his sphere and feel the poison
ravaging its body. The Panther seemed to believe he was unable to find it as
Jake felt dark magic move below, and his Sense and Mark both got
obscured partly. While he could not see it, he imagined the beast had
created a dark mist or something to cover itself. It appeared that it wanted to
deal with some of the poison while charging up another deadly charge
attack.
Sadly for the Panther, it made one mistake. While it had clearly analyzed
his sphere and many of his abilities to some extent, it had failed to realize
how bonkers his Perception stat truly was. The winner was clear in a battle
where it tried to hide from his Mark that scaled with Perception.
Jake charged and shot an Arcane Powershot as he tore up the jungle below.
The Panther was surprised and partly hit as it jumped away and teleported
into the air. Jake felt some of his poison infect the beast and followed up.
Curved arrows blanketed the air as he consecutively activated Splitting
Arrow to try and catch out the cat.
It teleported away from most of them but was hit by a few exploding ones
here and there as it seemed to have a difficult time differentiating between
exploding arrows and the stable ones. The unpredictable curving didn’t help
either.
Teleporting back a few more times, Jake tried to keep a distance as he

attacked. The Panther chased and teleported too, trying to lock him down,
but his upgraded One Step Mile seemed to primarily be about breaking
through such restrictions, letting him escape again and again.
Their battle quickly moved across the sky, wayward blows tearing up the
jungle below. Jake even got a kill notification at one point as an Arcane
Powershot missed and struck something else. Naturally, he had no time to
check it as he pressed his momentary advantage.
The Panther knew it would lose a ranged battle, so it picked up the pace.
Jake felt its body suddenly burn with energy as mana impacted his body. He
suddenly felt like his sphere was full of stuff… mana. It brought him back
to the first time in the Forgotten Sewers rat dungeon. He reacted a bit slow
when his danger sense warned him, resulting in Jake getting blasted back by
a space bolt of sorts.
Adapting quickly, Jake analyzed the domain unleashed by the Panther.

Shortly, he saw a cat-like figure charge him from the side, and he reacted
promptly. Believing the Panther did not expect him to adapt so quickly, Jake
swiftly dodged under the claw and stabbed Eternal Hunger upwards,
penetrating through the head of the Panther.
Which proceeded to explode in his face.
Jake was tossed back as his right arm was filled with wounds, and his chest
burned with black spatial energy. Five more figures then appeared in his
sphere as the beast was back to using exploding illusions. All of them were
shrouded by the domain of black mana, making Jake unable to distinguish
between them.
Five charged, and Jake sent out stable arcane bolts towards each after
failing to summon a barrier like before. Four dodged while one was hit and
exploded. The remaining ones closed in, and Jake tried to release more
attacks, only getting one before the last three were upon him.
One of them is real, Jake thought. His intuition was clear. All three of them
attacked from different directions, and it was a pure matter of chance… he
would think usually. Because he also felt something else that conflicted
with that thought. No matter which he chose, he felt like he would be
wrong.
Jake gritted his teeth and stepped down to teleport away. A Panther
managed to follow him, and Jake blocked as he was sent tumbling back by
what had to be the real one. Another of the three illusions then came, but
Jake once more blocked as that too was real. He realized this when he
tracked not only Mark of the Avaricious Hunter but also his poison. It was
moving.
It can swap between them, Jake instantly realized. Likely another benefit of
the domain.
An incredibly annoying ability that put Jake on the backfoot as more

wounds covered his already mangled body. The Panther was not doing that
well itself, poison ravaging its body and the many blows Jake had landed
during some of their scuffles doing work. Jake was certain he had been right
about it lacking energy. It had low health points, stamina, and mana from
the get-go. Contrary to Jake, it also had no potions to swiftly regenerate a
bit.
Illusions closed in once again, but this time Jake was ready. He had gotten
some distance and instantly drew his bow and nocked a special arrow. He
had plenty of time to condense an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter by now,
even if the stamina and mana consumption to summon it was intense.
Jake knew he had to hit as he drew his bow and charged Arcane Powershot.
He had only one shot as his resources were dangerously low.
His perception of time slowed as three figures closed in, now with a
cautious approach. The Panther knew this attack would be powerful, and
Jake constantly felt it shift with the beast not just charging in but keeping its
distance to dodge. One in three… no, lower. It would no-doubt be dodged
in the final moment. So he would just have to stop that.
Gaze was out of commission, but he had one more method to lock down an
opponent for a moment’s time. His presence flared as it blanketed the sky.
For a moment, he pushed back some of the domain, and Jake focused
everything on the illusion the Panther was currently in. Pride of the Malefic
Viper was on full display as Jake attacked the psyche of the beast. He had
begun to feel its desperation as it repeatedly failed to kill him and
capitalized on it. Jake made it feel the full brunt of his unshakeable
confidence that he would win.
It hesitated for less than half a second.
His string was released as the arrow flew forward. The Panther reacted only
a moment too late as the attack sank into its body and sent it blasting back.
It had done good damage, but not enough. Rather than retreat or do
anything else, the Panther unhesitantly used Jake’s elation to strike.
It swapped places with a copy close to Jake and warped space as it charged,
the other two illusions disappearing as the Panther dedicated all its energy
to killing him. Jake was indeed taken by surprise and tried to block with his
left arm. Bloodfeast Dagger was caught between two claws, and with a tug,
it was ripped out of his hand and fell to the jungle below.
Striking again, Jake felt the claws sink into his newly-regenerated arm. It
cut to the bone as he didn’t wait to strike back. Eternal Hunger swept in
from the right and cut the leg of the Panther before it could fully separate
the arm from the rest of his body.
He swung again but found his blade blocked. He retreated a few steps in the
air, trying to get more distance. The Panther once more struck, and Jake
swung Eternal Hunger down. Rather than dodge, the Panther angled its
head and did something unexpected. It caught his sword in its mouth and bit
down tight, trapping it. It then yanked its head to disarm Jake.
Jake didn’t hesitate. He simply let go of his blade and moved in closer. He
jumped forward with both arms spread out and wrapped his arms around
the neck of the Panther. Jake got to the top of the beast and held it tight in a
neck hold as Touch of the Malefic Viper activated.
The Panther tossed his sword away as it roared. Jake refused to let go, and
the Panther responded by sending itself flying downward while trying to get
him off.
They both smashed into the ground, Jake taking most of the impact as the
beast landed on top of him. Rather than let go, he wrapped his legs around
the Panther’s body and held it tight, poison pumping into the C-grade.
Its body began burning with dark mana as Jake’s scales and passive barrier
fought against it. The two wrestled on the ground as the energy invaded his
body and ravaged him from within, but he refused to let go.
He was smashed into several trees as the beast roared and scrambled. The
fur around his hands fell off, and the flesh began rotting. Yet no matter what
the beast did, it only made Jake hold on tighter. It was a death grip that
would either end when he ran out of health, or the beast did.
At least it would, but Jake had one more option. He used his head as he bit
down on the neck of the Panther, pumping in his venom using his canines.
At that moment, it would be difficult for an outside observer to tell who the
real beast of the fight was.
Jake felt his own body losing strength as it began giving up. He knew he
was soon out of time, but he had one final thing. He activated Mark of the
Avaricious Hunter as the arcane charge triggered. The Panther roared in
pain, and Jake let go with his hands and his mouth as the beast froze. He
held up both hands as Eternal Hunger that had been tossed away earlier
appeared, Jake sitting on top of the Panther holding it in both hands.
Roaring in tandem with the Panther, he stabbed down through the neck of
the beast, impaling Eternal Hunger into the ground below. The beast
struggled a bit as it finally fell limp to the ground, Jake collapsing on top of
it as he got the notification.
Arcane Awakening finally deactivated as Jake’s broken and battered body

stopped burning with energy. An insane wave of weakness invaded his
mind, and for a moment, he feared his body would give in, but the tenacity
of his physique was not that easily overcome.
Jake managed to form a faint smile as he was still lying on top of the
Panther. He didn’t even have the energy to push himself off the corpse as he
lay there covered in blood with a happy expression. He won.
Tired as fuck, Jake closed his eyes and took a well-deserved nap.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 479 - A Step Forward For
the Universe
An annoying ringing sound reminiscent of his old alarm woke Jake up from
his nap. With a start, he sat up only to groan in pain as his body still hurt
like hell. He wondered what was going on as the alarm kept blaring in his
head until he finally found the cause.
“Villy… are you cosplaying as an alarm clock?”
“I was going more for a phone alarm with the most annoying option
selected, actually,” the god answered.
Jake was about to ask why the god was doing that, but he instantly realized
the reason, and Villy also gladly reminded him.
“Let us just ignore the fact that you effectively just demoted your own
Patron – a Primordial – to a damn alarm to remind you of your own damn
scheduled system events,” Villy said in a half-joking, half-scolding way.
“Not that I am surprised. In fact, I am beginning to see a pattern here. Do
you just like hunting dangerous prey while under time pressure? Either way,
you got ten minutes till it begins, so get going with all the stuff.”
“If it is worth anything, then you are the best alarm clock I have ever had,”
Jake said with a smile as he stood up. He had been using the now rapidly
decaying corpse of the Panther as a bed, and he was a little bit dirty. Not to
mention how his armor was shredded and his body filled with holes that
were still healing.
“It is not,” Villy said. “Now go on with what you have to do. We will talk
more after the system event. If my guess is correct, this one will be like the
others and not necessarily only concern Earth. Good luck with it all… and
good fight, mate.”
Jake nodded in appreciation, a smile still on his lips. He hurt all over, but he
felt elated. Killing a C-grade was not easy, and the Phantomshade Panther
was not a weak C-grade either. Checking his notifications, he saw that
while the beast had been C-grade, it was only barely. Also, the clone level
had been right.
*You have slain [Phantomshade Panther – lvl 204]–Bonus experience

Jake had gained five levels from that one fight. Killing a level 199 didn’t
even give him a full level anymore unless it was a particularly strong
specimen, so seeing how much he got truly demonstrated the difference
between D and C-grades.
Jake turned his attention to the beast in question and began using
Alchemist’s Purification to remove the last of the remnant poison lingering
behind. Once done, he checked for loot and found a C-grade Beastcore
attuned to dark and space affinities and something even more interesting.
It was a black fang that hummed with intense energy. Jake frowned as he
looked at it but quickly realized what type of item it was.
[Partly Digested Phantomshade Fang (Unique)] – A Phantomshade Fang
granted by the system to the newly integrated ninety-third universe.
Contains a vast amount of energy and Records that will allow any
compatible beast that consumes it to grow far faster and gain magical
skills and abilities related to dark and space magic. This fang is already
partly digested, having only a bit of the original energy left.
It was something like the Mystbone that Mystie had absorbed to quickly
reach D-grade, but a far more potent version… perhaps one good enough to
push a beast to C-grade. It had clearly helped and forged the Path of the
Panther, that was for sure.
Jake picked it up and put it in his inventory along with the corpse of the
fallen beast. The pelt was not worth much, but he still wanted to take it with
him and not leave it rotting on the ground. A C-grade corpse had to have
some innate value, and this one had even been strong.
After his looting, there was just one more thing. When he had escaped that
spatial tunnel with Moment of the Primal Hunter active, Jake had managed
to go above and beyond anything prior and had upgraded One Step Mile.
With great excitement, he saw the notification.
[One Step Mile (Ancient)] – A single step is sometimes enough to cross

vast distances. It is said that the very space between the user and their
foes shrinks with every footfall. By drawing on the concept of space, this
skill allows the user to cross far longer distances with every step than
otherwise. Note that there must be a clear path between you and your
target. Grants a noticeable bonus to the effectiveness of Endurance and
Agility when using One Step Mile
-->
[One Step, Thousand Miles (Legendary)] – A single step is sometimes

enough to cross vast distances. It is said that the very space between the
user and their foes shrinks with every footfall. By drawing on the concept
of space, this skill allows the user to cross far longer distances with every
step than otherwise. Note that there must be a path between you and your
target. Grants a noticeable bonus to the effectiveness of Endurance and
Agility when using One Step, Thousand Miles.
Jake had to have a few takes as he looked at the descriptions… a

description where nothing had changed. Okay, saying nothing was not
accurate. One fucking word was gone. It had gone from “there must be a
clear path” to “there must be a path,” which was so damn minuscule it
barely counted. Was that all his improved ability to pass through barriers
and such boiled down to?
But… the rarity had upgraded along with the skill name. Jake wondered
what was up with that as he quickly pinged the Viper, knowing the god was
still watching.
“Hey… One Step Mile, or well, One Step, Thousand Miles as it is called
now… what is up with that skill?” Jake asked.
“What do you mean?” the god gladly asked in return.
“It just upgraded, but nothing really changed?”
“Isn’t it better now? What did you expect to change?” Villy once more
asked. It wasn’t even in a teasing tone but a very serious one.
“I am just used to skills kind of, you know, changing when upgrading. This
one just got a bit better, and nothing else,” Jake shrugged, but he began to
understand what the Viper meant. What would he expect to change?
“I believe I have mentioned this before, but the One Step-line of skills is far
more powerful than you give it credit for. It is a skill known to pretty much
anyone of power and influence, gained by far more individuals than you
would expect. It is simple, elegant, and a core skill that has been around
since… forever. It is a skill with a clear upgrade path all the way to a rank I
have never heard of anyone reaching,” Villy explained.
“So, it is a bit like your “Of the Malefic Viper” skills?” Jake asked.
“Yes and no. Those are Legacy skills bound to me and my Records. One
Step is a skill that originated from the system itself, as far as I know. It is
not bound to any individual or any Path; it merely is. The skill is one that
you can keep upgrading and using all the way to the pinnacle, going from
simply stepping a bit through space for a few meters and, with a single step,
appearing anywhere in existence you so desire. However, fundamentally it
will never change and always be about the simplest of actions and concepts
– to take a step, moving you towards your destination.”
Jake nodded along at the explanation as he began to appreciate the simple

skill even more. Thinking about it, didn’t it fit him quite nicely? It was
simple and easy to use and understand, just the way he liked it.
“Thanks for the exposition on the deep lore of my movement skill,” Jake
thanked the Viper, only half-joking.
“No problem. Goodbye again. For real this time. You got like five seconds.”
“Yep,” Jake said, having already seen the timer, and as it expired, the quest
Jake already had updated.
Quest Updated: The Call of the Exalted Prima
As the world progresses, the Prima Watcher of Earth has been

observing. Soon the Seat of the Exalted Prima shall appear on Earth
and invite in all those who have managed to form keys to allow their
entry. Anyone entering the Seat of the Exalted Prima can participate in
the Path of Myriad Choices event, as well as gain access to the other
benefits offered within the Seat of the Exalted Prima.
However, beware, for the Seat holds dangers that the current warriors
of Earth may not be ready to face yet. Should they unleash this danger
and come out victorious, it shall reward the entire planet, while should
you fail, it may fall to ruin.
Having obtained a key, you shall be allowed entrance into the Seat
during its opening hours. May fortune be with you, and may your
world come out stronger. The Seat of the Exalted Prima will remain
open for one week.
Objective: Using the Key of the Exalted Prima, enter the Seat of the
Exalted Prima that has appeared on Earth.
Jake took out the key from his inventory and used Identify on it once more.
He had expected it and was proven correct as the description had updated.
Prima. Allows entry to the Seat of the Exalted Prima. Use the key to open
a portal only a Prima Key Holder can use, leading to the Seat of the
Exalted Prima when it is available.
One thing was sure… this event was different. Jake was not just teleported
to it after accepting a system prompt but could choose to teleport there.
Nothing said he had to go right away either. Oh, but he would.
Jake deposited a healing potion into his mouth, and looking like someone
who had just survived a fight to the death with an incredibly powerful
opponent, Jake used the key. A portal opened up in front of him, and feeling
no sense of danger, he stepped through.
It was finally time to find out what all of that Prima stuff was all about.
Caleb stood in front of the two people who had managed to get keys along
with himself. Nadia, the sniper, and Matteo, the second-in-command, had
teamed up and hunted down seven Primas together, with Caleb naturally
taking care of his own key.
“According to Umbra, this event has a high likelihood of allowing us to

meet or even potentially pit us against individuals from elsewhere in our
universe,” Caleb explained to them. “This quest is far from unique to our
world, and other planets have also been tasked with hunting down Primas to
gain keys. All of this is to say, do not engage with anyone not from the
Court. While we may be viewed as at least a little influential on this planet,
we should not ever underestimate what other monsters may lurk in a near-
endless universe.”
The two of them nodded. They had this conversation before, but he
believed it prudent to reiterate.
“As for the Myriad Paths event, simply do as you see fit. Though I would
prefer if you don’t come out the other end ardent followers of the Holy
Church after truly seeing the light,” Caleb joked, getting a chuckle out of
Matteo.
He smiled at them and nodded as they all took out their keys, and he opened
a portal.
“Let’s go then.”
Miranda had to admit things had gone a lot more smoothly than expected
when it came to collecting keys and was honestly amazed at how many
people from Haven would go. Herself and Arnold made sense as they had
teamed up, but Sultan had also managed to get one. Neil and his party had
only gotten a single fragment, but that had been put to good use… kind of.
Sultan had also gained three fragments and thus a key. Rather than hunt for
them himself, he had simply bought one from Neil and his party along with
fragments from two other independent parties. This meant that counting
Jake and Sylphie, five people from Haven would go, matching if not
exceeding many of the major factions.
They did not have any plans going in like the other factions as they were
effectively five independent people who just lived out of Haven. Arnold and
Sultan were very much their own men and not people Miranda could tell
what to do in any capacity. Sylphie and Jake were… well, Sylphie and Jake.
Let us hope this event offers something valuable, she thought as she went
through her own portal, Arnold and Sultan no-doubt also going through
their own.
Carmen looked at the key and smiled a bit. She turned her head to her
mother and gave her a nod. Things in Paradise had stabilized, and Carmen
had spent the time since parting with Jake hunting in the surrounding area
and making sure everything went smoothly back in the city. Her mother had
taken over operations and the employees her family controlled before, all
with the blessing of Renato, who gladly offered a helping hand.
Not that Carmen cared particularly much about the family business. She
cared much more about the upcoming event.
“You ready to go?” Carmen asked the green bird currently lying flat on the
bed.
“Ree!” Sylphie answered with Carmen naturally not understanding at all.

Sylphie had been busy doing… something up in the air and had come back
very happy, so Carmen assumed she had succeeded in whatever she was up
to.
Carmen just smiled and summoned the portal.
“Take care,” her mother said. Carmen nodded in response and said her
goodbyes as the warrior of Valhal and Sylphie went through the portal.
All over the planet – and even on other planets – individuals had collected
keys and entered their respective portals. Rather than an event limited to a
planet, it was one involving the entire universe. Future overlords of the
world, leaders of the largest factions, and champions of their time would
enter their own respective Seats of the Exalted Prima.
It was an event that would be the start of much conflict and lay the
foundation for alliance to come. It was the first opportunity for factions to
potentially meet up with members from other planets. For trade relations to
be formed. Grudges be born. Friendships formed.
And fated enemies having their very first meeting.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 480 - Seat of the Exalted
Prima
Bright light entered his eyes as he stepped through the portal. Jake instantly
felt several powerful auras all around him, recognizing most of them. They
came through their own portals that rapidly appeared and disappeared all
around him within what he found to be a large spherical room.
Metal plates covered the walls and floor, with nothing of note visible
anywhere besides the people. That is until Jake noticed that the room was
split in two by a large, fully transparent plane of glass. All of the humans
were on one side, along with Sylphie and the Fallen King, but on the other
side, Jake saw other beings appear. All of them were beasts or monsters of
various forms, with there being no rhyme or reason to what appeared. One
was a large elemental crackling with lightning, and another a rabbit-like
creature only a bit larger than Sylphie.
Speaking of Sylphie. The little murder hawk flew over to him once she
located him, and Jake quickly found Miranda and Arnold, who both stood
together. Sultan also walked over as they all met up.
”Been a while,” Jake said with a smile as they gathered and had some
small-talk to quickly catch up. All around them, other factions also found
each other. Jake did notice how a lot of people he would expect to be there
were noticeably absent. Jacob was nowhere to be found, and neither was
Eron. The Sword Saint and a few people from the Noboru clan were there,
but one thing quickly became clear: this was no factional event.
No faction had more than a few people each. Casper and Priscilla were the
only Risen, the Sword Saint was with three other people, his brother had
come with two from the Court, and the King had appeared alone. Carmen
and Sven were also the only people from Valhal. Most powerful people
from independent factions had appeared alone, and the only faction with
more than ten people was the Holy Church. They just had so many people it
was possible. Overall, around one-fifty people had entered this event from
the looks of it, meaning close to five hundred Primas had been killed.
”Lord Thayne,” Sultan greeted Jake as he regarded him. ”I take it you came
straight from a battle?”
”Yeah,” Jake just said, not wanting to elaborate further. Too many people
around. ”Good job getting keys, everyone. Anyone figured out more about
this event?”
Nobody answered or didn’t have time to as something finally happened. A

fluctuation in space caught his attention, and Jake whipped around as a new
figure appeared. A floating orb of metal had teleported into the room,
getting the attention of everyone.
The orb looked like it was made out of polished aluminum and had no
noticeable traits except for a glowing blue eye-like fixture. Jake felt nothing
but a bit of energy coming out of it as he used Identify.
[Prima Watcher of Earth - ?]
It only had a single question mark as level. Jake did not think this was
because its level was in the single digits, but quite the opposite. It was
strong, yet Jake felt no danger. As he thought this, he suddenly got a quest
notification.
Quest Completed: The Call of the Exalted Prima.
Reward Received: Key of the Exalted Prima has been upgraded and
become Soulbound. One entry into the Path of Myriad Choices event
granted.
He quickly skimmed it, something it looked like everyone did, considering

they all stared blankly for a moment. A few kept their attention on the
floating orb, clearly ready for a fight. Yet it just floated there for a solid ten
seconds before addressing them.
”Welcome to the Seat of the Exalted Prima located within the Milky Way
Galaxy. To both the Prima Slayers and surviving Primas. All Prima Slayers
have been awarded a single entry into the system-tier Path of Myriad
Choices event. Following will be some basic information pertaining to the
Seat of the Exalted Prima and your stay.
“All violence is strictly forbidden while within the Seat of the Exalted
Prima. Breaking this rule will lead to instant expulsion and a temporary ban
from the Seat, along with the deactivation of your key. All Seats are
managed by the Exalted Prima, and events can only be entered if the user
has permission and meet the requirements. The Seat of the Exalted Prima
will only remain open for one week in this initial trial phase.”
The orb spoke in a very mechanical voice that was neither male nor female.
Jake looked at the thing as he saw many frowns all around him. The orb
attracted way more attention than the bloody and savage-looking Jake, so in
some ways, that was lucky.
When it stopped speaking, Jake also got a new quest. Something he once
more assumed everyone did.
Quest Received: Seat of the Exalted Prima
Entering the Seat of the Exalted Prima, you find yourself with
opportunities before you. For collecting a key, you have been granted a
semi-permanent key able to conjure a portal and enter the Seat.
Additionally, an opportunity to enter the Path of Myriad Choices event
has been granted. But hurry, for the Seat is not available to visitors
forever.
Objective: Participate in the Path of Myriad Choices event. Time limit:

Until the Seat closes.
The quest once more cemented that this entire thing was different than any
event prior. It was clear that Jake could enter and leave this Seat of the
Exalted Prima if he wanted to and return once more. The portals made by
the key went both ways and only seemed to have a short cooldown time
between uses. There was also the fact that the quests and general
information so far were lacking. He got way more information from prior
quests, and something like the Treasure Hunt had a whole slew of rules.
Meanwhile, this Seat of the Exalted Prima seemed not to be a system event
but rather a place that simply housed one.
“Excuse me,” someone Jake did not recognize asked. The orb turned
towards him with the glowing eye focusing on the poor dude, clearly
intimidating the man a bit, but he still went through with his question:
“What kind of opportunities does this Seat of the Exalted Prima offer, and
can we be given any more information regarding the Path of Myriad
Choices event?”
It was a question many no-doubt wondered about, but no one had asked.
The orb more or less instantly answered with the same mechanical voice as
before.
“The Seat of the Exalted Prima is a satellite station established with a direct
connection to the Exalted Prima. All opportunities offered by the Seat will
take place within simulations of reality performed by the Exalted Prima.
Opportunities vary depending on their nature, and a singular fulfilling
answer cannot be given. The Path of Myriad Choices offered is a simulation
of reality wherein a different Path resulting from a choice not made earlier
in life is shown. More detail will follow upon engaging in the event.
Additionally, for safety and privacy concerns, all outside communication is
limited or entirely cut off both ways while within the Seat,” the orb
answered.
Everyone listened, with Jake being a bit surprised. Simulation? A station?

Looking around at the walls and the glass panel and the weird orb itself, he
kind of understood. This was some kind of high-tech facility created by the
system, or at least brought there by the system, right? At least that was his
first guess.
“What is this Exalted Prima?” someone else asked.
“The Exalted Prima is the core directive consciousness of all Seats of the
Exalted Prima spread throughout the universe,” the orb said without
offering further details.
“If I may ask, what are those monsters doing here?” a third person also
inquired. He referred to the many beasts behind the glass panel, all of which
were acting relatively calmly. Weren’t they Primas? Jake asked himself
before the orb answered.
“Two ways of entry to the Seat of the Exalted Prima were provided. One
method was through the integration of a Prima Fragment by a monster
found compatible with the core directives, and the other collecting three
fragments and forming a key. Those creatures are Primas, and all Primas
shall be offered a unique opportunity separate from those who obtained
keys.”
Jake nodded along. It seemed like the Primas had effectively been given a
quest to survive long enough with their fragments to enter this place. It was
a trade-off, a classic case of risk and reward. On the one hand, they got a
target on their backs, and on the other offered an opportunity.
Before anyone else could ask any more questions, the Watcher was clearly
done as it spoke.
“Introduction has been completed, and the facility shall now open up. Once
more, violence is not allowed within the Seat of the Exalted Prima. More
information can be found within the facility where deemed a necessity.”
With those words, the orb disappeared. Jake barely felt the fluctuations of
space as it teleported. He turned to the others around him. Most of them
were taking in the information, with Miranda looking deep in thought.
However, the one he took most notice of was Arnold, who had his tablet out
while nodding.
“Did you discover anything?” Jake asked the man.

Arnold looked up after looking through a few more things and nodded. “We
remain within the ninety-third universe but have still been cut off from the
outside world. System-imposed, I would presume, even if the Watcher
claims it is caused by the Exalted Prima. Indicating this Exalted Prima is a
conjuration of the system.
“Are you sure?” Jake asked with a frown.
He could not feel Villy at all; that was true, but so had it been during all
events. But all those events had taken place in a seperate space that none
could truly locate, not just somewhere in their universe.
“My conclusion is within a critically significant margin of error, making me

certain, yes. I cannot say where we are, but I would assume, based on
information provided, it is within the Milky Way Galaxy,” the scientist
answered.
Jake nodded in response.
He began to have some idea what this entire place was more and more. If he
was right, this whole Exalted Prima thing was bound to be significant not
just for Earth but the entire ninety-third universe. Not just for one system
event either, but for a long time to come. Perhaps this place would even
hold significance for the multiverse as a whole.
A few moments passed as everyone discussed. A few began to get impatient

as a segment of the wall began opening up, leading into an even larger area.
On the other side of the glass panel, the Primas were led somewhere else
too. Jake had spotted a few of them out the corner of his eye that got into
conflict, and he noticed how the moment any one of them tried to attack
another, they instantly just disappeared. He hoped for their sakes that they
had the same rules as those with keys and weren’t just vaporized.
People began walking towards the opening, and Jake followed with the
others. Carmen threw him a glance from across the room, and he gave one
back. Silently, all the humans and the two monsters – Sylphie and the Fallen
King – exited the large dome-shaped room.
Jake had expected a portal leading into some other room where these
simulations would happen or something in that vein but instead found
himself in a large lounge that looked incredibly casual. However, more than
anything, he stared at what truly lay before him – and above him.
The lounge had no roof. All Jake saw when he looked up was a sky full of
stars, planets, and an endless world spreading out before him. Others also
stopped and gawked at the expanse above. Jake stared for several seconds
before looking to the side and saw several similar hemispheres to the one
they were currently inside in the distance. Looking behind him, he saw they
had exited a small box with an opening in it, the entire thing no larger than
a large elevator. Spatially expanded for sure.
Each of the hemispheres surrounding their own was at least a kilometer in

diameter and all of equal size. The inside was filled with furniture and
several screens that no one seemed to know how to control or what they
were even for.
Nothing immediately caught Jake’s attention as he got a feel for the place. It
was clearly just a meeting area of sorts. Likely a place for those who came
from Earth to meet up and enter through. Looking at another hemisphere,
he saw what looked like a wire hanging from it. Their own also had a wire,
he was sure. All of them did.
Jake walked forward with the others and went to the edge of the
hemisphere, where it felt like he stood at a cliff leading down into the
infinite vacuum of space. Only a thin barrier, barely a few millimeters thick,
blocked him from being in space. Not that Jake feared such a thing. First of
all, he felt relatively certain he could survive there, and secondly, that no
one present could destroy that barrier. Or if anything could, for that matter.
“This is quite something,” Sultan said as he stared out.
“Yeah,” Jake agreed. Others had also joined them and looked out. Even
after all the progress Jake and others had made, all their levels and all their
power, there was a feeling of powerlessness in standing there. There were
stars and planets in the distance so far away that Jake was certain he would
die of age before even getting halfway to one if he decided to fly. It was
such an impossibly large scope it was hard to imagine. Yet he knew that to
gods, all of this was nothing. With a thought, anything within his field of
view could be reduced to ashes. It was power out of this world. It was hard
to picture Villy being that powerful, even if Jake knew he was.
Yet it was also exciting. To see such a vast world of possibilities. An

infinite world. And this was just part of one universe… no, part of one
small galaxy out of billions of planets. The multiverse was so vast and filled
with things to explore that Jake couldn’t help smiling. He caught himself
and dispelled the thoughts.
You got a long way to go, Jake. You barely beat a damn cat just a few hours
ago, he reminded himself.
Turning his head to the side, he also finally got a look at what these wires
from the hemispheres connected to. It was a cylinder-shaped structure that
floated with wires coming out of it. Jake saw nearly a thousand wires
connecting hemispheres and the cylinder that he assumed was the actual
Seat of the Exalted Prima. This entire setup was a massive structure in its
own right.
He then saw some people go over to what looked like a metal disc with
complicated scripts on it. Jake didn’t recognize them and didn’t have time
to use Identify before the group disappeared. Guess I found the teleporter to
the actual Seat.
Seeing no reason to wait, he began leading his group towards it. Tossing a
final look at the endless expanse, he stepped onto the platform and was
teleported into the true Seat of the Exalted Prima.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 481 - Unrealistic Planetary
Standards
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.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 482 - Path of Myriad
Choices
Jake had selected the only thing possible, and a new menu popped up,
finally giving him a better idea of what the event was all about and how it
would work.
System-tier event: Path of Myriad Choices.
Simulation Description: The participant will be shown a minimum of

two and a maximum of six choices made prior that significantly
impacted their current Path. This simulation allows the participant to
see a potential reality wherein that choice was not made. Dependent on
the results of the simulation, the participant may be offered rewards
related to the actions of the simulacrum of the participant during the
simulation. The scope and length of all simulations vary but shall never
simulate past current Realtime.
Note that no actions can be performed during the simulation outside of

observing or ending the simulation. Only one choice can be selected.
Rewards may or may not be gained from this event. All participants
are encouraged to take inspiration from the simulacrum and a
potential other Path than that which they currently walk.
Initiate Path of Myriad Choices?
Y/N
Jake read the description carefully before entering. The Watcher had not
given much information, but this sure shed some light on things. It truly
was a simulation, and considering the system-tier event tag, Jake reckoned
that the simulation would not be anything simple.
It seemed insane to think that the system would more or less create an
entirely different world and show it to the participants. How much had to go
into that? And how accurate could it be? Jake was sure as hell curious as he
accepted the prompt.
Instantly, changes happened. Within the whiteness, four scenes appeared

out of nothing, simply existing there in the space contained within rooms of
sorts. One of the “rooms,” if it was even correct to call it that, was of
himself walking through a dark tunnel. Jake instantly recognized it as the
one he had found during the Tutorial after splitting up with his colleagues.
The one leading to the Challenge Dungeon.
The second scene was one that came quite a lot later. It showed Jake and the
King of the Forest standing before one another. It was before the fight had
begun.
But… from there, it got weird. The two other scenes were not at all what
Jake expected. The first one was of him standing before his compound bow
back in his parent’s old house. He was a teenager back then and had big
dreams of going pro with his archery, and from the looks of it, this was
before his accident. Back then, he ended up tearing several tendons,
suffered severe damage to his shoulder, and was told by a doctor that he
could no longer practice for over a year. That had made the dream
impossible as it put him out of the competition for so long and had resulted
in Jake studying more and ultimately going to university.
The fourth scene was something Jake did not get at all. He didn’t even
remember it. It showed who he assumed to be himself standing in the
entryway of a house Jake barely remembered as being the one his parents
used to own. The one they moved out of when he was five years old to get
closer to a better school and for his dad’s job.
Jake in the scene was nothing but a toddler - less than three years old for
sure, as his mother was heavily pregnant with Caleb. Jake was clearly
throwing a tantrum in the scene, and his father and mother were frantically
trying to calm him down as his grandmother, who had probably come to
babysit, stood confused in the doorway.
I don’t get it, Jake thought as he looked at it. What choice did he make back
then? Sure, he kind of understood the others, but what decisions could a
damn toddler make? Luckily for him, the system of the Seat had more
options available. He saw that four options had appeared before him, each
with a small description attached. Treating it like a skill choice, he started
from the top.
Choice 1: Turning back and never entering the Tutorial Challenge

Dungeon, resulting in you never meeting your Patron god or obtaining
your current profession.
See preview?
This one was straightforward, and Jake pressed the “see preview” button
with interest.
The moment he did so, the entire world around him changed. Jake watched
himself stand in the dark tunnel before cursing, shaking his head, and
turning around.
It shifted again and showed Jake looking at Jacob and the others in
Richard’s camp. Jake kept an eye on them and noticed William and Richard
meet.
Next, he saw himself shoot an arrow through the head of Richard, killing
him. He saw himself surrounded by dark magic as he did so.
The next image was of Jake killing the Nest Watcher – the third of four
dungeon bosses before the King – and barely coming out on top moments
before the Tutorial ended. A brief flash was of him standing with more of
his old colleagues, with Jacob still an Augur and most having still died.
Then came what was almost a montage. It showed Jake making it to

Skyggen, meeting his parents, and formally joining the Court of Shadows,
also making it clear Jake had accepted the Blessing of Umbra. It showed
him and his brother hunting through several flashes, them fighting beasts
together, entering a different system event than the Treasure Hunt, and
generally just Jake a lot closer to his family than before.
The preview ended there as the room turned white again, only showing the
four scenes. The entire thing had taken only a minute or two and shown
Jake snippets, but damn, was it interesting. So many things changed.
Not wanting to dwell on it too long, he saw the next.
Choice 2: Choosing to not fight the King of the Forest but bow out and
leave the Tutorial there and then, thus not ending the reign of the King
of the Forest and allowing him to return to Earth for a rematch one
day.
See preview?
Jake selected it, and the simulation changed once more. This one proved a
lot more boring than the old one. It was just Jake leaving the Tutorial and
many of the same things happening as before, but everything was just…
lesser?
He had killed a D-grade later, gotten fewer levels from the looks of it, and
had just been far less impressive. Haven was also far more boring. Towards
the end, Jake barely paid attention as he just shook his head. He knew why
this one sucked.
Him backing down back then was backing down from everything he was.
Surrendering like that was not in his nature and a rejection of his Bloodline.
The only result of not fighting the King would be Jake not becoming a
Progenitor and being far weaker. He would lose several titles, get worse
skills from the Tutorial Store, and overall just seeing it made Jake annoyed
at watching such a version of himself.
It was especially hammered home how much this version sucked when he
saw the King and the Sword Saint fight to a standstill as he could only
support from behind, not quite at their level.
Yeah, fuck that.
Next option.
Choice 3: Choosing to not practice archery that day but instead stay
home, thus never suffering any injury allowing you to continue
practicing.
See preview?
The third simulation… was weird. The preview was weird. It showed a few
flashes of Jake doing archery, him standing with a trophy, him in an entirely
different Tutorial – one with Caleb also in it. Jake saw a brief flash of
himself standing before what he assumed to be Umbra, but her form was
obscured. It showed him becoming the Judge and returning to Earth.
Jake was surprised at many things that happened, but one of them more
than anything else. It showed Jake killing Bertram before forcing Jacob into
a teleporter that took him off the planet.
It also showed him fighting the Sword Saint, but the moment the man
realized his Transcendence, Jake was demolished and saw himself be saved
as several members of the Court gave their lives to allow his escape.
It ended with Jake somehow teaming up with the Sword Saint and fighting
the King of the Forest, who stood side by side with William of all people.
“What the fuck did I just watch?” Jake asked himself as he stood there and
stared as the scenes still flashed before his eyes. The simulation room had
returned to normal as it waited for his next input.
No, seriously, what the fuck did he actually just watch? There were so many
things to take in. Him the Judge of the Court and, from the looks of it, an
utter beast with the bow. Sadly Jake saw no details, just clips, the Seat not
giving away any juicy stuff, just showing possibilities. Fighting Jacob and
the Church… losing to the Sword Saint… so much to take in.
However, this weirdness did make it an attractive option. To see the
possibilities of mixing dark magic and archery. There was the issue of Jake
being pretty damn committed to his arcane affinity by now, but he could
still learn a bit for sure.
Shaking his head, Jake decided to give the fourth preview a shot.
Choice 4: Obeying your parents and choosing to let them leave.
See preview?
This one was barebones. Jake frowned a bit as he began the preview. Jake
instantly remembered that day as the first scene played out. It was odd he
remembered with Jake still too young to truly form memories back then, but
now he remembered it clear as day. He remembered the emotions, at least.
His parents were leaving to go to a hospital check-up for his mom. Jake had
gotten a horrible gut feeling when they were about to leave and had stopped
them by throwing such a large tantrum, so they had to stay and reschedule.
It was something Jake did not even remember… but was that decision
really that big?
As the simulation began, he realized it was.
He had chosen to ignore his gut and let his parents leave after only a bit of
placating. The next scene was of Jake at a funeral - the next of him living
with his grandparents, who soon passed away also. Then a foster home,
another foster home… the scenes just kept changing rapidly as all that
stayed constant was Jake getting older.
Then… everything became almost incomprehensible. A scene showed Jake

in his early teenage years standing over a body. The next of him with a
knife covered in blood and wearing a hoodie. Then him in a jungle-like
environment, fighting other humans.
It kept repeatedly changing as nothing made sense until it reached a scene

where he finally saw something familiar. The same Tutorial Caleb had gone
to and one Jake had also been participating in during the third preview.
But things were very different this time around. The version of himself Jake
saw was different to a level where Jake could not recognize him. Moreover,
there was no bow to be seen anywhere. This version of himself was so
different from who Jake was today; that much was obviously clear from just
the preview.
The preview ended almost prematurely, shortly after Jake entered the
Tutorial, showing him fighting several shadow beasts.
Being done with all the previews, Jake needed a moment to process
everything. Because damn, was there a lot. Watching a movie of yourself
doing things you have never done was just fucking weird, man.
Ultimately, these previews were lackluster and only allowed one to form an
idea of what it was about. Jake considered all four of them and quickly
filtered out the second version. That one was just a more cowardly version
of himself who didn’t become a Progenitor.
Next up, he filtered away the first choice. He wasn’t a fan of it, and it
included Jake doing much of the same but without poison and with more
dark magic. It did have the bonus of Jake spending more time with family,
but… that wasn’t exactly something Jake could learn from. Okay, he
probably could, as he really needed to go visit more and be a better son and
brother.
That left the third and fourth, and of them, there was really only one option.
The fourth one was just too impactful and the one Jake understood the least.
The Path was so different from who Jake was today. It was a Jake who
fought entirely without a bow or poison. Moreover… the vision ended
shortly after he entered the Tutorial. Did that mean he would die according
to the simulation? Or was it something else? Curiosity alone made him feel
forced to pick it.
However, before he did that, some considerations should be made.
One thing was clear from all these previews. Even without showing him
anything substantial, Jake could infer some things, and the constant relation
to the Court of Shadows couldn’t be a coincidence. Even when his entire
life was different from childhood, he ended up there. Yet now, Jake had no
relations to it besides through his brother. He didn’t even use his dark
affinity for much.
That should maybe the initial takeaway. My dark affinity is excellent, and I
should be able to make some use of it, Jake noted mentally.
There was also one very notable absence of choices Jake would have
expected – what would have happened if he had become a Malefic
Dragonkin? It was such an obvious one Jake was surprised it wasn’t there.
Why had it chosen these four? It couldn’t be due to how significant their
impact would be, could it? All Paths ended up somewhat similar – either
with the Court or Villy – and there was none where Jake even went with a
third god as far as he could see.
So, why was it? Jake fought a version of himself back then. He knew he
could have absorbed the power back then and changed significantly. Why
was he not shown that? System limitations? No, that was out of the
question. It could show even pre-initiation events, so thinking it couldn’t
figure out how to show him as a Dragonkin was moronic.
Wait… ah… yeah, that is possible.
Jake got on a potential explanation. These choices he had been offered had
one thing in common: the lack of knowing their impact before making the
choice. The only one that one could argue he did know was the one with the
King and leaving the Tutorial, but did he really know? He had no frame of
reference for what was good or the true reward for victory.
So maybe it just showed choices one could have made that would have had
a significant impact without you realizing it. If not, wouldn’t all the options
offered be evolutions? It was a given that if Jake had chosen a different
class or profession during evolution that it would change his Path.
It was just a theory, but it seemed kind of right. Either way, he had no way
to confirm or deny this theory, not that it truly mattered. Jake had four
choices and had already picked one mentally.
Without hesitating anymore, Jake chose the fourth option. The second he
did so, a new message appeared.
Initiating simulation of Choice 4. All simulated content will be curated,

and low-impact events and actions will automatically be filtered out or
swiftly passed over.
With that message, the entire world changed. Jake found himself standing in
the old entryway as if he was truly there, staring at a toddler version of
himself throwing a tantrum.
“No!” little Jake yelled as he refused to let go of his dad’s leg.
“Just stay with grandma, okay? We will be back soo-“
“NO!” Jake yelled again, tears in his eyes as he yanked the leg.
Jake remembered it now, clear as day. He had kept it up long enough for
them to stay… but this time, it was different. He saw this version of himself
relent, abandoning his trust in his instincts in favor of obeying his parents.
He had let them go, despite feeling something bad would happen if he did.
Two hours later, a phone call came. A major car crash.
Less than a week later, the funerals - his parents both dead. His brother
never born.
When Jake was five, his grandmother died, and he now no longer had any
family he was still in contact with, meaning Jake became an orphan. Time
quickly passed, but one thing was different from the start. He was no longer
growing up in a loving family with parents and a little brother but in an
underfunded and apathetic system where children were more often than not
viewed as burdens.
Jake more than anyone. For there was one major difference between this
child and Jake from back then. Something separate from the trauma and
hurt. As he grew, it only became more apparent.
He had never suppressed his Bloodline… instead, he had embraced it.

A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 483 - A Very Different Life
Jake looked on as the life of the other Jake progressed at a steady pace, far
more detailed than before, and it even included sound now. In fact, it was as
if Jake himself was present and standing in the room and could even move
around.
Many of the first memories after simulation-Jake - or sim-Jake for short –

went into the foster system were of him being thrown into new
environments surrounded by other children in equally unfortunate
situations.
Such children tended to not be the best. They were emotionally

underdeveloped and immature and often had no way of handling their
situation besides acting out. So when a new kid entered a foster home of
twelve kids – one younger than many of them – it was natural to make him
a target.
A scene like this was one of the first major things that the simulation
deemed an impactful event.
Sim-Jake, no more than seven years old, stood surrounded by children

between the age of seven and ten. There were six of them in total. Jake was
smaller than all but one of the other kids.
”Give!” one of the larger kids screamed as he reached towards sim-Jake’s

toy. It was a foam dagger that Jake remembered his grandmother getting
him before passing away. It appeared that it was a gift he would receive in
both the simulation and real life.
Sim-Jake pulled away but didn’t say anything. But Jake saw the eyes of the
other version of himself. He was ready. The larger kid moved in closer and
pushed the far smaller child, sim-Jake stumbling backward. The other kids
just laughed at the bullying as sim-Jake fell to the floor. Another kid came
over to try and take the foam dagger while the large kid walked to Jake and
prepared to kick him.
Now, even children have some kind of natural limiter on them. Grevious
injuries when children were in scuffles rarely happened, as even when so
young, they understood not to do it. Be it out of a fear of getting in trouble
or inborn empathy, or perhaps a limiter imposed by society and early
nurture.
Something sim-Jake clearly did not care about.
Out of nowhere, a dinner fork appeared. The kid trying to take the foam
dagger didn’t even have time to react as he was stabbed in the arm, making
him scream out in pain. Rolling up, the far smaller child-version of Jake
caught the leg of the bully and stood up, making him fall backward. Most
would end there, but the small Jake ran over and stomped the larger kid in
the head repeatedly as the ten-year-old started crying.
It only took a few seconds before a disheveled woman came yelling into the
room and dragged Jake off the kid. Still holding the foam dagger tight as he
stared daggers at the kid nearly twice his age on the ground.
As the scene was about to end, Jake noticed that the small version of
himself seemed to almost look in his direction. Hm? Jake questioned, but
the scene had already been completed.
A few more scenes appeared after that of Jake growing up. Each scene was
of a different foster home, and all of them were of others trying to make
trouble for Jake, and Jake using what could only be described as the use of
excessive force in self-defense.
Where usually a kid would shove someone, Jake tackled them to the ground
and began punching. Where one would punch someone, Jake broke an arm
or a leg. His violence landed him in repeated trouble… but it was also
effective. One instance was all it took, and no other child dared cause
trouble for him.
Jake – the real one – had to admit he related to a few of these things. He
didn’t remember exactly when he began to truly suppress his Bloodline, but
he still had it in some parts of his childhood. Even after it was suppressed,
some of the effects were also still retained but far weaker. However, rather
than slowly suppressing it more and more, this version of Jake embraced it.
He grew into it.
Scenes continued, and the next most noticeable scene was of a fifteen-year-
old sim-Jake. Rather than be in a foster home this time, he lived in an old
abandoned warehouse. Homeless, most likely. Maybe the authorities had
given up on him, or he had run off himself, but either way, he was clearly
out of the system.
Jake first noticed the body of this version of himself wasn’t what one would
expect of a homeless fifteen-year-old. He had more muscles than kids of
that age and looked more like an athlete in training. In the scene shown, he
was also doing push-ups as two men walked over. Both looked to be in their
thirties and were not happy.
”Hey kid, get the fuck up,” one of the men sneered.
Sim-Jake barely reacted and kept training as he just turned his head. ”What
do you want?”
”I heard you made trouble for our boys,” the other man said a bit more
calmly.
”Funny, I remember it being the other way around. Them trying to rob me,”
sim-Jake said as he finally stopped training and stood up. He was smaller
than the two men by quite a bit, but not a trace of fear was on his face.
A teenager before two large men would usually be viewed as a foregone

conclusion. Facing little more than a child, the adults naturally didn’t take
sim-Jake very seriously as one of them reached towards him.
”Listen here ki-”

His wrist was grasped as sim-Jake looked him in the eye. ”I am listening,
am I not?”
The man did not take kindly to this. He wrested his arm free and took a
swing. Sim-Jake effortless dodged it as he took a step back to avoid a
follow-up. The man looked like he had some minor boxing experience, but
it was far from good enough.
Sim-Jake caught his arm as the man made a wide swing and twisted it. The
attacker yelled in pain as sim-Jake just pushed him away, making him fall
to the ground.
“Just fuck off already, man,” sim-Jake said, annoyed.
The other man who had yet to attack looked at his fallen comrade.
”Kid, you stole thousands from us. We aren’t leaving,” he said.
Sim-Jake raised an eyebrow and frowned as the other party pulled out a
switchblade. The man raised it threateningly and spoke again. ”Stop being
an idiot.”
The real Jake saw his simulated version take a clearly defensive stance. The
man with the switchblade looked like he had hoped to just intimidate. No
one wanted to kill someone and potentially land themselves in legal trouble
over what could not be that much money. Yet when the man saw Jake
clearly wanted to fight, he sneered and jumped. Sim-Jake dodged the blade,
but one thing quickly became clear:
Sim-Jake was fighting someone with actual experience.
A cut landed on sim-Jake’s arm, and he was forced to back away. He began
retreating more and more as he took several wounds. When he made it
behind a pillar, the man with the blade followed… only to have a rod of
rebar smash towards him.
The man leaned back and dodged, once more showing he was no push-over.
The first man had also gotten up again and pulled out a knife of his own.
”We really doing this?” sim-Jake asked as he stood there with his rebar rod.
None of the men answered but had clearly decided to kill him. It was
answer enough. The simulated version of Jake dove forward, taking the
men by surprise as he managed to hit the guy he had injured earlier on the
arm.
He dropped his blade as sim-Jake tried to swing again but had to stop and
jump back to avoid getting stabbed in the gut. The second man came at him
again, and sim-Jake managed to keep him away with his metal rod.
Jake – the real one – who looked on noted how mundane the battle was. It
was almost weird seeing three people who were just average humans go at
each other. His simulated version was in many ways at a disadvantage but
held his own, despite being younger and smaller.
The situation changed when sim-Jake managed to tackle the second man,
and they rolled to the ground. Sim-Jake got up but was bleeding from his
thigh, while the other man… didn’t get up. He was lying there with the
knife stuck in his own chest, straight in the heart, with a look of disbelief on
his face.
This took both of the two remaining survivors by surprise. It was clear sim-
Jake had not done it on purpose. The real Jake also saw how it was just
”luck,” if one can call it that. Sim-Jake had tried to block while the man
tried to stab and had hit Jake on the thigh, but it didn’t cut properly, and he
ended up falling on his own knife.
”You! Fucking cunt!” the first man said but did not engage. Instead, he
began retreating. The man was not the fastest, but neither was sim-Jake. He
just stood there for a moment and stared at the corpse… before something
clicked.
He looked at the fleeing man and picked up the metal rod from before. With
an impressive toss, he hit the man on the knee as he tried to flee and
stormed over, his bleeding thigh leaving a trail of blood after him. Sim-Jake
picked up the fallen rebar rod again as he went to the fallen man.
The man stared back as sim-Jake lifted up the rebar rod, and the man yelled
another curse as sim-Jake swung down, hitting him in the head. A few more
blows sealed the deal as sim-Jake dropped the weapon and wheezed. He
looked at his hands and started shaking a bit as he cursed.
”Fucking fuck. Shit… just… fuck…”
The real Jake noted how they both had the habit of cursing a lot. He also
understood the frustration… this was his first time killing anyone. The
simulacrum, that is. But… it was a necessary kill. If he hadn’t done it,
things would have no-doubt ended worse. They would have been back with
reinforcements. Taken revenge.
Jake saw his simulation version limp away as he kept cursing and looked
incredibly panicked. For some unknown reason, he also kept looking
nervously around, primarily in the direction of where the real Jake was
standing within the simulated space. The scene ended there as everything
changed once more.
The next scene was of sim-Jake sitting in a room, clearly older now. An
older-looking gentleman in a suit handed him a picture that the other Jake
looked at, nodded, and handed back. He then got up and left.
It switched again, now showing Jake standing over a dead body with a knife
in his hand. He cleaned the weapon a bit with a cloth before sheathing it
beneath his clothes and prepared to walk out of the decrepit apartment
building like nothing had happened.
At least he tried to, as there was movement in adjacent rooms.
The real Jake felt everything. Even in the simulation, his Sphere was fully
functional and showed him the world as genuine. He could see an actual
world for hundreds of meters in every direction, and from the looks of it,
his simulacrum also had this ability.
He stopped at the door and waited, clearly sensing someone walking

through the hallway. The person stopped at the door as he knocked. ”Hey
boss, one of the corner girls was caught trying to stiff us again. Want us to
handle it as usual?”
Yep, this entire joint was clearly a hidden brothel of sorts, and it appeared
like simulacrum-Jake had just killed the boss of the establishment. Real-
Jake honestly felt a bit relieved that if sim-Jake was a killer, then at least he
killed assholes.
The guy outside the door knocked again before finally opening the door a
bit nervously. ”Boss?”
He barely had time to step inside before sim-Jake snuck up from behind and
slit his throat while he covered the guy’s mouth. He fell limp to the floor as
sim-Jake shook his head and went out the door casually, wearing a black
hoodie.
This version of him was probably eighteen or nineteen tops.
Similar scenes repeated, and Jake quickly became clear what kind of person
he was. He was not necessarily a contract killer but just a mercenary for
hire. There was even a brief stint overseas where he worked for an arms
dealer but left soon after.
Throughout these scenes, Jake came to realize there was a lack of guns. Not
used by the other side, but by sim-Jake. He used it overseas but quickly
discarded it. Instead, he tended to use knives, wires, improvised weapons
found at the location, or just his body.
He would sneak past police with his supernatural Bloodline abilities every
time. Like a ghost, he would enter, kill, and leave again. Gradually he
moved up the food chain and went from killing low-life pimps to high-
rollers in the criminal world. He even took out a corrupt judge at one point.
Real-Jake observed and went along for all these scenes. Weeks had passed
for him, but time moved differently within the simulation room. Some of
the scenes were incredibly impactful, while others were just more of the
same. What they all had in common was an ever-growing Jake both in skill,
physique, knowledge, and just overall ability. Compared to other humans,
he seemed borderline unstoppable. He was the type of person to bring a
knife to a gunfight and utterly annihilate the other side.
The most impressive scene was one of the times sim-Jake was in legitimate
trouble. He had been in a motel room but was clearly restless. He was on
the run from the goons of a recent target and had chosen to lay low. Yet he
felt like they had found him.
It turned out that the one who hired him decided to try and get rid of sim-
Jake and had informed the goons of his location. Knowing showing up in
force would not work, they had simply placed two snipers focusing on the
room’s exits.
Sim-Jake exited one day to move to the next safe house. He looked semi-
aware of what was happening.
For a bit of trivia… sniper bullets before the system traveled faster than the
speed of sound. Many modern firearms did. This meant that one would not
hear the gunshot before the bullet had already hit the target. Realistically
there should be no way to react or know it was coming.
Which is why the sniper was sure bamboozled when sim-Jake swayed to
the side and avoided the bullet before taking cover and eventually making
another miraculous escape.
Jake had to admit… this version of himself was so different from who he
had been. From a university-educated financial worker to a top-tier assassin
and killer. Comparing the two was like night and day.
Yet it did not feel foreign. To the current Jake, this made sense. This version
of himself just embraced what made him, well, him. He became a hunter,
and Jake was certain sim-Jake did not only choose targets based on money
or prestige… he did it for the challenge.
He was a Primal Hunter, after all.
It was odd, knowing this could have been a version of him. Assuming the
simulation was truly as accurate as it seemed to claim – and it did seem like
it was so far – wasn’t this version of Jake just… superior?
There was a lot to think about. He would just have to see what happened as
the simulation progressed.
A new scene soon appeared, one Jake could not see the significance of right
away. It was just within a hotel room with his simulacrum, sitting on a chair
in a bathrobe, drinking some water. He had a tablet at the side, and the
entire place looked expensive as hell.
What skin was showing made the life of this version of Jake clear. Even
with his abilities, injuries were unavoidable. Sometimes one had to take a
hit to avoid a lethal blow, and this had resulted in dozens of scars covering
his body - from knife wounds to bullet holes.
From the looks of it, this was happening not long before the initiation
would begin. Real Jake peeked at the tablet and saw the date was displayed
and nodded when he saw it was around two months off. It would be
exciting to truly see how he would handle that.
But…. Then something weird happened.
Something very weird.
Sim-Jake looked deep in thought. He stared at the ceiling before finally

sighing, steeling himself, and then looking straight at where Jake was.
”I do wonder who or what you are, oh silent observer.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 484 - Understanding
Thyself
A note from Zogarth
Just a heads-up, there will be no chapter tomorrow (24th of August,

2022) due to private circumstances. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Odd. The world was odd. Jake hadn’t noticed it much – at least not to begin
with - but as he grew up, it became more and more apparent. It was as if
someone was watching him. Not all the time, mind you, but this observer
appeared at important events. That feeling of a gaze and a feeling of
wrongness. It was also only in those moments he felt observed he truly felt
this oddness of the world.
It was no security camera, no satellite locking in on his position… it was as

if the observer didn’t truly exist, yet could observe him. Jake chose to
ignore it for the most part as his instincts told him he could do nothing
about it, and so far, this observer had no impact on his life.
Perhaps it was a guardian angel given to him after his parents died? Or was
it a god? Some extraterrestrial being? A creature existing in a world
separate from his own? Many theories dominated his mind, especially as
the gaze felt so familiar. Familiar, yet different.
As time passed and he grew older, this silent observer seemed more and
more familiar. He even began wondering if it was his unborn brother’s
ghost. It would make sense if his brother would have been like Jake, right?
That he would have the same abilities and be born with the same innate
talents?
Sitting in a chair within the extravagant hotel room, he stared at where he

faintly felt this apparition was. He shook his head and spoke out loud into
the room, expecting nothing in response.
”I do wonder who or what you are, oh silent observer,” Jake muttered

randomly.
And surprisingly enough… it felt like this apparition had heard and
understood him.
Jake stared at his simulacrum for a moment as he felt the other familiar yet
foreign man stare back.
”Wait… did he just talk to me? Nah, it shouldn’t work like that,” Jake said
as he shook his head.
”You understand me?” sim-Jake asked, equally confused.
Two Jakes stared at each other. Both were in utter disbelief. The real Jake
because his simulacrum, an apparition of the system or the Seat or the Seat
of the Exalted Prima, was suddenly aware of him. Sim-Jake for talking to
what he probably assumed to be a mere delusion giving him the sense it
understood his words.
”What or who are you?” sim-Jake asked as he stood up and went over to
where Jake was standing. He moved his hand, and it passed straight through
Jake. Yet when it was around his heart, his hand stopped for a second as he
frowned.
Jake also felt it. A recognition or resonance of sorts. Sim-Jake removed his
hand and backed away as his frown only grew deeper. ”You’re like me?” he
asked almost with a look of realization. He then smiled before he started
laughing.
”I fucking knew it. I now know why this all feels so damn wrong. I’m not
meant to be here, right? What the hell happened? Did I get thrown into a
separate dimension or universe or some shit? Am I even human? Are you?”
sim-Jake asked, with a lot of excitement.
The real Jake stared as he considered the questions and decided to answer
despite the other version not being able to hear him.
”Eh, I guess I am not meant to be you? But there was no accident, just a
different choice. And yeah, you are human. We both are. Just more human
than anyone else, perhaps,” Jake said. Inside he was asking just as many
questions as sim-Jake.
Firstly… how the fuck was this possible?
This was a simulation. The system was clear on that. Which just raised even
more questions. This other version of himself had everything Jake had,
including his Bloodline. He was Jake in every sense of the word, even to
the level of being aware he was being observed by an outside force he
should in no reasonable way be aware of.
Jake knew that the system itself made this simulation – it had to – and that
it could be considered a real world for everyone in it. Maybe the system did
just go above and beyond, and straight-up create a parallel universe to
simulate what would have happened.
Then again, would that even be going above and beyond? For an
omnipotent force, was there truly a difference between creating a speck of
dust and a universe? Omnipotence was omnipotence, after all. A one or a
trillion was equally insignificant before something infinite.
So… if it had just made a new world to simulate that one choice, why not
do it perfectly? And a perfect Jake would know he was in a simulated world
if he was. Well, he wouldn’t know-know, but he would be aware something
was off and that he was being observed.
Villy had mentioned before that the system did not create Bloodlines, but
never that it couldn’t. Just that it didn’t. Actually, that wasn’t even entirely
true, as if the system controlled everything, wasn’t it also the system
“creating” new Bloodlines when two people with Bloodlines had a child
and their Bloodlines fused, making a new one? Or at least it allowed it to
happen.
Jake shook his head as he considered all these questions he would perhaps
never get a straight answer to. Even Villy made it clear he didn’t know. All
he knew was that the system didn’t create new Bloodlines outright but
recycled old ones for some system events, so for it to copy a Bloodline
temporarily for such an event was not overly surprising.
What was a bit surprising was that this Bloodline in question allowed the
other copy to recognize the event itself.
Recognize the “real” version of itself speaking to it.
“I’m… wrong?” the copy asked after Jake answered that they were humans
and that he was meant to be there. The ambiguousness of the answer still
seemed to confuse the simulacrum. Especially considering he didn’t
actually hear any answer but had to go by pure intuition.
“No, not entirely,” sim-Jake concluded. “Alright, yes and no questions.

Hm… how to confirm answers.”
The real Jake got an idea for this as he began moving back and forth while
keeping an eye on sim-Jake. He, of course, noticed and picked up on it
instantly. Jake knew he would. They were both Jake, were they not?
“I understand. To confirm, can you move to the left? My left.”
Jake did so.
“And right?”
Jake did so too.
“Alright, method of communication with a creature from a separate

dimension established,” sim-Jake joked. Real Jake knew he would have
made that exact same joke. Sim-Jake then followed up as the real
“conversation” began.
“A step to my left is no; to the right is yes, alright?”
Jake stepped to the right to confirm.
“Okay. First of all, are you human?”
Once more, Jake confirmed that, yep, they were both humans.
“And so am I?”
Yep.
“Hm. But we are different, aren’t we?”
Confirmed.
“Odd. Very odd. Are there others with abilities like mine?” sim-Jake asked.
Jake thought for a second. Well, there were others with Bloodlines, but not
others with his Bloodline. So… yes, but also not really? Not knowing what
to say, Jake just stood unmoving as his simulation waited for him to decide.
After a good five seconds, the simulacrum frowned and asked. “You don’t
know?”
Jake chose to say yes to that one.
“So you do know?”
Yep once more.
“But yet you will not say there are others like me. Us. Hm…”
The next few minutes passed with sim-Jake asking questions and Jake
trying to answer as best he could. It was damn weird having a conversation
with himself, but it was also way smoother than it should be. Jake naturally
understood his own logic, and even with how differently they had lived and
grown up, he understood his simulacrum. Perhaps that was telling of how
much the Bloodline truly had worked on forming him… or it was an
argument that nature mattered more than nurture.
Either way, he ended up properly communicating that while there were

others who were special, there were only those two who were Jake-special.
It was also a bit awkward when sim-Jake asked if they were related
somehow. Jake had chosen just to stand still and give a “maybe” to that one,
as he wasn’t sure people would consider what they were as related. He
knew he would not, so of course, his simulacrum wouldn’t either.
The questions eventually turned away from the question of“who” and
moved on to the question of “why.”
After a few preliminary questions where Jake confirmed he was unable to

actually interact and influence the world outside of the communication they
were currently having, his simulacrum began to understand.
“So you are here to observe me?”
Big yes to that one. It was all he could do.
“But you are only around at certain times… do you choose when?”
An equally big no there.
“Is someone else dictating what you are allowed to see?”
Eh, a no to that one. It wasn’t someone, and his simulacrum quickly picked
up on his answer.
“A set of rules then?”
Yes.
“Hm… okay, so you are here to observe me according to a set of rules.

Which means you are here to see something specific about me. Considering
that you mainly appear in or before combat situations or at other major
events… is the reason related to our shared special ability?”
Maybe for that one. Yes and no. Jake was there to observe everything he
was, and his Bloodline was certainly part of that.
“So partly, I guess. Is it related to combat?”
Also, a maybe, as that too was only partially right.
“Not combat either? At least not fully? Is it related to my targets

somehow?”
Nah, it wasn’t. Jake didn’t really care who he killed, only how he did it.
“So it is only related to me?”
Big yeppers.
They went on a bit further as they narrowed it down. Dozens of questions

later and a conclusion had been reached that Jake could confidently answer
yes to.
“You are here to observe me passively to learn, not necessarily from me, but
about me. Who I am, why I do as I do, and pretty much just see my life and
how I develop and who I become?” he asked clarifyingly, to which Jake
said yes.
“I think I kind of get it now. Okay, not really. But you do say this will be
beneficial to me?”
Jake confirmed that. They were the same person, after all. Help me, help
you, which is actually me. It made sense.
“I don’t get the feeling that is a lie either… alright. Let’s go from here, then.
You want to learn about and from me about who I am? Well, let me teach
you without holding anything back. You have seen everything anyway, so
the more information, the better, right?”
Which was once more confirmed by Jake. His simulacrum was about to
open his mouth and say more as the scene then skipped forward, much to
the frustration of Jake. The next scene was of sim-Jake in a dark forest-like
area with lights in the distance leading up to a remotely located mansion.
The moment he appeared, sim-Jake noticed and smiled.
“Been a week since last. I was beginning to wonder if you were done,” sim-
Jake said. He was in a camouflage outfit, and his mouth was covered as he
spoke incredibly softly. During their questionnaire, they had already
confirmed that sim-Jake could speak in the lowest of whispers and real-Jake
could still hear it. Not due to simulation stuff, but just because Perception
was the best stat.
His simulacrum then began to speak. Almost rantingly.
“You know, I never really liked humans and found it a bit disappointing
when you said I was one. I felt like I could never relate to other people. Not
truly. They were all so different from me from the get-go. They were stupid,
made moronic decisions, and their instincts were so pathetic it disgusted me
on a fundamental level. I was superior to every one of them. Granted, I am
not the smartest when it comes to books, but hey, you don’t judge a fish by
its ability to climb a tree, and you don’t judge an apex killer by his ability to
discuss philosophy. Besides, all that shit is just needlessly complicated, you
know? I always manage with the same plan:
“Make things simple… and take the complications as they come.”
Jake’s eyes opened a bit wide at that sentence. The sentiment. It was
something he often thought to himself and was almost a motto of his, once
more making it clear they were indeed the one and the same person.
“Anyway, this all makes me dislike other humans more. I hate working with
them and being around them. They want plans or strategies, and if
something – anything – goes wrong, they fucking panic and do nothing
useful. Even if they are trained and don’t panic, they still don’t adapt. Not
properly. Not like we do. I guess another way of looking at it is that I feel
like I am a wolf living amongst sheep,” sim-Jake rambled on.
“None of them are aware of me or other dangerous entities around them.
Perhaps I envy their ignorance as they can die with a simple shot to the
head or a knife in the neck before they even notice. Perhaps I envy that they
can belong somewhere and not always be the odd one out. It may sound
narcissistic of me, but I do think I am better than everyone else. Not at
everything, but at what I am and what I do. Overall, this does make me
superior. Makes me more than human. Perhaps the next step in evolution or
simply the apex of what humanity can reach. It isn’t even a guess anymore.
I know I am objectively superior from the core of my being. Even when I
try not to feel superior, I feel disdain towards those weaker than myself…
which is everyone. It is worse with those who don’t even try.”
Jake listened on. His simulacrum whispered beneath his breath as he snuck
forward and passed over a fence. Security cameras were covering most
spots, but sim-Jake picked up a small stone and, with a piece of cloth,
launched it towards the one covering his entrance point, breaking it
instantly. He then quickly ran over and tossed a dead bird at the base of the
mansion as he ran across the side of the large building.
“Don’t get me wrong, I also like to laze around once in a while and do
nothing, but how can you live a life doing that? How can you not improve
yourself? More than anything, how can you live with yourself standing in a
crowd, knowing the majority there could end your life if they so desired?
Would that realization not make you strive for power more? I know, I know,
this doesn’t apply to them. They don’t feel the inherent danger others can
pose. They just embrace their feeble safety given by others. Maybe that is
why I like what I do.”
Guards reacted to the broken camera as they made their way to investigate.
Sim-Jake easily took advantage of this and scaled the building on another
side as he reached an already open window. Clearly, the one living there
feared little. It was located in a remote forest with Jake counting more than
forty guards total and a top-of-the-line security system. Not expecting
someone to climb four stories in less than half a minute with absolute ease
was also reasonable.
“A lot of the “powerful” in this world is just the opposite. They are weak.
Feeble old men are elected leaders of countries, institutions, and large,
influential companies. Even leaders of cartels and criminal enterprises tend
to be on the older side. They are viewed as the brains of the operation, or
maybe they are just leveraging who they used to be and their reputation.
Logically I understand. You want the one in charge to know what he is
doing… but does he really need to be at the top? Why is he at the top when
a simple reality is clear.”
Sim-Jake had small breaks in between whispering as he hid from guards

who patrolled. They found the broken security camera and noticed the dead
bird, perhaps concluding that it had flown into the camera and destroyed it.
In the midst of night with low visibility and with nothing else going on, this
was an easy and frankly lazy conclusion.
Jake’s alternate version finally made it to a door guarded by two men.

Thinking quickly, sim-Jake retreated a bit and quickly dispatched one of the
patrolling guards. Once the man was silently eliminated, sim-Jake took on
his clothes, which included a nice pair of night-vision goggles perfect for
hiding your face.
“They like to hide away. Use others as shields. They live in a reality that
simply isn’t true, and they hold a worldview I love to shatter. They think
they are the superior ones. I feel it. They genuinely believe they are better
than everyone else. That they are apex humans, who are untouchable.”
Sim-Jake walked casually towards the two guards who lazily stood there,
not really commenting on the approaching disguised figure. It was only
when sim-Jake was within striking distance one of them noticed something
was off, and by then, it was too late. A knife was thrown, and another man
was stabbed in the neck as they both fell to the ground, unable to even
resist.
Inside the room was only a single man sitting at a desk with a computer. He
looked up as the door opened and saw the bloody sim-Jake who had already
taken the mask and night goggles off as he smiled, his clothes splattered
with blood.
He spoke the last part out loud to both Jake and the man who stared at the
approaching sim-Jake.
“Even with all their wealth. All their influence and their grand reputation…
they are still weak, feeble humans.”
The man behind the desk finally reacted as he pulled out a gun and aimed.
Sim-Jake just smiled as the man shot, but he had already dodged the bullet
before it was even released from the chamber.
“Weak, feeble humans that, despite everything they have-” sim-Jake said as
he dodged the final bullet of the chamber and now stood before the scared
shitless old man. He tried to speak, but a single fist hit the side of his head
as he fell, his eyes glazed over.
“-still die by my hand. Because that is true power.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 485 - A Lonely Existence
Jake watched on as his simulacrum made yet another miraculous escape by

leaping out a window and rapelling down four stories before swiftly making
it over the fence to the forest. The guards were a bit distracted by the
gunshots from their boss earlier and had, of course, gone to investigate only
to find the man dead.
Back in the forest, sim-Jake kept running as he spoke once more, a smile on
his lips.
“I wasn’t even paid for this one, you know? I just didn’t like the guy. He
tried to hire me a year or so ago, and when I refused the job as the target
wasn’t my kind of thing, he threw a hissy fit and tried to have me killed.
Naturally, he failed, and I killed the people he sent, and the idiot probably
thought that was the end of it. Or not, based on the guards, but hey, I enjoy
the added challenge. Sometimes you got to sneak a bit as not even I can
survive the barrage of an entire squad of gunmen. Too many bullets. Even if
I can feel the trajectory of every one of them, it would be like trying to
dodge the rain itself.”
He talked about himself more and explained things that Jake, of course,
understood. Ah, but the rain was dodgeable; he just had to get strong
enough. If it wasn’t, Jake would have been torn apart by the Sword Saint.
As for the philosophy of his simulacrum… Jake also understood.

Understanding and agreeing were not the same, though. He himself had felt
and still at times felt similarly. His Bloodline was, in the end, partly about
being at the peak of the food chain, and looking down on others was just
inherent to him. Be it an unwanted side effect or a necessary part of his
ability to ignore presences, it was there.
Jake could only imagine how it must have been to grow up with his
Bloodline on full display. The real Jake could at least meet actually
powerful individuals after he fully awakened his Bloodline to get some
perspective. People so strong he would not be able to land a single injury on
them no matter what methods he deployed. Those so powerful they could
wipe him from existence with a mere thought. Looking down on those
individuals was something not even Jake could do. However, that was still
different from recognizing them as superior. To Jake, someone being
stronger than him was just a temporary state of things. One day, he would
stand at the top, or he would die trying with a smile on his face.
Sim-Jake did not have that kind of perspective at all. It was entirely
possible he was the strongest individual on the planet. That there truly was
nobody, he couldn’t kill, and Jake could understand why that could be…
boring. But, something else was also readily apparent:
This Jake had way less empathy than the non-simulation Jake, and damn,
Jake was not the most empathetic person to begin with. Never had been.
But his family had ensured he had some “humanity” in him. He could
confidently say that he truly loved and cared for his brother and parents. His
simulacrum never had anyone that he judged worthy of recognizing as
worth caring for. Especially not if he disconnected himself from humanity
early on. Jake had seen no signs of lovers or even friends in any of the
visions he had seen. Sim-Jake was always alone. In some ways, it was a bit
sad.
“I sense a trace of disapproval. Why? I know you understand. Don’t get me

wrong, it isn’t that I like to kill humans for sport. There is no sport in
committing a senseless murder. It would be like a pathetic loser sitting back
with his rifle to shoot a rhino. There is no danger, no challenge… no
meaning in such an action. I also do have some rules. I will not kill people I
believe genuinely contribute to making the world a better place or if I
believe their deaths will cause too many issues for too many innocent
people. The last rule is the reason why I haven’t killed nine out of ten
politicians,” sim-Jake said. The last part was only half a joke.
His simulacrum ran through the forest a bit more before making it to a boat
at the edge of a river. He jumped on and started the surprisingly silent motor
as he sailed the thirty-odd meters to the other side.
“You may ask if I couldn’t look for my challenges elsewhere… and I did.
Underground fighting rings, hunting in the wild, or even fighting animals.
None of it was able to truly scratch that itch. Sadly I could never do
anything official or even try to perhaps compete with the peak of humanity
in sports as I have not been viewed favorably by the law since I was a
teenager. I don’t even think I am officially alive anymore. And even if I
competed in sports, it would all just be too fake. A challenge without
consequences is just not as good, and fencing competitors don’t want to use
real swords during combat. What true combat I could find, such as in the
underground fighting ring, was not interesting either. They were too weak,
and even their rules ruined the fun. Ah, but I did have a handful of life and
death fights, but after four opponents, no one wanted to fight anymore.
Understandable, I guess,” sim-Jake further explained in a defensive tone.
Getting off the boat, sim-Jake went up a hill and into a camouflaged
getaway vehicle.
“I would never claim to be a good person, but I would not call myself a bad
one either. I am just me. I don’t kill without reason, but I also don’t spare
those I find undeserving. I have rules I abide by, even if they conflict with
what society believes I should do. I fight, I kill, and I try to challenge
myself. I do what I want, eat the best food I can get my hands on, and go
wherever and do whatever I want. So let me ask you…“ the simulacrum
said as he turned to Jake, who sat beside him on the passenger seat, flying
along as he couldn’t actually sit on the seat.
“Why do I feel so fucking miserable? Why does this world feel so utterly
meaningless? Why do I feel like I am just waiting for something to happen?
For true meaning to appear? Tell me, oh silent observer… will things ever
change, or am I doomed to live in this meaningless reality surrounded by
weaklings till I die of boredom? I do not expect an answer, I ju-“
The real Jake had already floated in front of sim-Jake by this point. As the
simulacrum drove the vehicle, Jake appeared In front of the window. Jake
then moved to the right to answer a confident yes. Jake saw his simulacrum
smile through the windshield with relief as the scene changed abruptly once
more.
Jake saw himself standing within an entirely white room that he instantly
recognized. A humanoid figure that wasn’t quite human sat in a chair with
sim-Jake right in front of him.
It was the Introduction. This was the very moment the integration began,
and the Tutorial was about to begin. Sim-Jake seemed to instantly notice
and turned around. He looked at Jake, but Jake was more focused on the
apparition of the system that ignored him entirely and directed sim-Jake to
select a class or profession like Jake had – minus the possibility of a
profession - but his simulacrum instead asked the system:
“Are you aware of someone else than us in the room?”
The system-construct answered instantly. “Yes. Now please select a class or

profession.”
“Was this the change you spoke about?” sim-Jake instead asked Jake. Jake
moved to confirm, and the man smiled. “You are telling me life gets better
from here?”
Once more, a solid yes.
Sim-Jake turned to the system construct again. “I choose light warrior.”
With that, two daggers and a set of basic armor appeared on the table just as
the scene ended.
As the transition to the next scene began, Jake noted how the first major
difference in the Tutorial was already made. Firstly, he could pick either
class or profession, something the real Jake could not do in his.
Additionally, his simulacrum had chosen light warrior, which made sense
based on his prior fighting style.
The new scene appeared soon after. A huge hall, filled with individuals
wearing their starting gear, with dark elves and other high-level individuals
scattered around. Jake instantly realized this was the Tutorial he had seen in
the preview and the one Caleb was meant to be in. This was further
hammered home when he saw the two people Caleb had entered the Seat of
the Exalted Prima with, called Matteo and Nadia, if he remembered
correctly. What he did not expect was the next scene.
A circle was formed. A circle around a certain individual. Jake had been
told this Tutorial included a lot of former assassins and contract killers.
Criminals. It also seemed like people quickly realized who he was and
backed away as the Organizer of the Tutorial stepped up on a platform
overseeing them all. Jake was amazed at feeling the presence of an S-grade
there, and when the aura of this entity bathed the area, all of the assassins
were affected by it.
This was clearly a moment to establish dominance. No mere newly initiated

G-grade could stand against a mere fraction of an S-grade’s presence, as
everyone was forced to their knees.
Everyone except for one.
Sim-Jake stood tall, surrounded by over a thousand kneeling or squatting

individuals. Even all the dark elves were pressured, leaving only two
entities in the entire Tutorial standing at that moment.
The S-grade stared at sim-Jake as sim-Jake just looked back and made a
toothy grin. Jake felt the excitement. One he had felt himself. However, his
moment was when he saw the Malefic Viper during his vision from the
mural back in the dungeon.
It was an emotion born from standing before something so much more

powerful than yourself you couldn’t truly comprehend it. It should lead to a
feeling of powerlessness or inadequacy, perhaps humility, but to both Jake
and sim-Jake, it meant only one thing: a new goal. A new mountain to
climb and a peak to shatter. Jake could imagine his simulacrum thinking: “I
want to beat that person one day.”
“What are you?” the S-grade asked as it looked at sim-Jake, all attention
gathered on them.
Sim-Jake just kept his smile as he answered. “A hunter.”
The scene ended a mere moment later, sim-Jake not even acknowledging
Jake in this particular scene. Then again, it was a relatively short, if
impactful, one.
A brief flash showed the next scene: sim-Jake standing before who he
assumed to be Umbra. No words were spoken that Jake could hear, but he
saw sim-Jake extend his hand as the being of pure shadows humored him
and shook it. The scene ended just as sim-Jake turned around to look at
Jake.
As the scene changed again, the environment was very different. Sim-Jake
stood in a dark cave, with the dark mana almost palpable in the air.
Monkey-like creatures hid in the crevices as sim-Jake turned his head
towards where Jake had just appeared.
“It’s been a while,” he smiled. Jake could already see the changes. His
smile was far more genuine, and looked far happier than before. “In case
you are wondering, this is about a month into this Tutorial. You truly did
not lie. Tell me, is your presence here related to this system and the
multiverse?”
Jake smiled a bit himself as he did his old dance routine of stepping to the
right to confirm.
“I see,” sim-Jake nodded. “Are you a god?”
That one Jake had to deny. He wasn’t a god. Not yet, at least.
“I kind of figured you weren’t based on not even that god Umbra being able
to detect you despite being quite impressive according to, well, everyone.
Which must mean the system is directly involved, am I right?” he asked.
“Ah, by the way, no one is watching or listening in right now, but I reckon
you already knew that. I made it clear to Umbra I knew and shut that shit
down instantly.”
Another change. Jake felt the level of distrust from his simulacrum was as
intense as ever, and from the looks of it, he was hunting alone. Nothing
wrong with that, but Jake had a feeling this Jake was always alone. Again,
solitude was nice, and Jake liked his alone time, but that didn’t mean he
never wanted to interact with others.
Sim-Jake was the opposite. He distrusted everyone else heavily, which was
a bit odd if you thought about it. His Bloodline offered him an intuition that
allowed him to quickly get a gut feeling about others, so shouldn’t that help
him trust people a little more? Sure, Jake had been wrong about people, but
he had also been right often. Miranda had given him a good feeling, and he
felt like he had hit the jackpot there.
Meanwhile, he did not see his simulacrum ever forming a city. At least not
without being the City Leader himself and ruling it with an iron fist. He
would also no doubt be shit at running the city as he didn’t trust anyone, so
he wouldn’t delegate and, of course, wouldn’t do stuff himself as he was too
busy hunting.
Such an existence had to be lonely, as Jake noted before. Lonely but also
limiting. Jake had gained a lot from talking with Villy, sparring with others,
and fighting people like the Sword Saint. Would sim-Jake also learn a lot
through fighting? Yes… be he would not have an enlightening conversation
afterward with his opponent.
Sim-Jake would also be far less receptive to feedback and would have
probably just ignored all he had been told during the D-grade test dungeon
in the Order of the Malefic Viper. A lot of issues could crop up from that…
but it would also lead to something unique. Sim-Jake would perhaps forge a
far more unique Path, and at least it did seem like he took pointers of some
kind or at least embraced the skills of Umbra based on his aura.
Anyway, Jake confirmed the question of the system’s involvement, making

his simulacrum nod in understanding as he followed up.
“Is this part of some test or something?” he asked.

Hm… Jake thought. It wasn’t really, but then again, it kind of was? Maybe?
The system event description wasn’t very clear on that, and Jake was unsure
if he could describe what happened as a test. So he stood still.
“Partly, huh? Odd. But the objective stays the same, right? Observe and
learn about and from me?”
Jake confirmed that one.
“Well then. Let me teach you,” sim-Jake said. Dark mana began revolving
around him as Jake saw dark veins appear on his skin.
“No, let me show you my Path.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 486 - Profession??
From all the things Jake had seen so far, his simulacrum wasn’t that much
better at fighting in melee than him. He was better for sure, but it was more
from experience than pure fighting technique. One could say that to beat
other humans, sim-Jake didn’t need to learn anything advanced. He just
needed to attack with one quick blow and end their lives.
With the system, enemies did not go down as easily. Especially not foes
above himself in level. Even a blow to the brain didn’t necessarily mean
instant death, so Jake finally got to see his simulacrum in extended combat
against several foes. From this, Jake truly understood: this version of
himself was far superior to the current Jake in melee combat. Far, far
superior.
Jake followed sim-Jake for days as his other version went through the dark
caverns, ascended a set of stairs and entered a grand hall, fought there, and
then ended up within a decrepit old village after going up another set of
stairs. Jake was a bit confused as sim-Jake explained the Tutorial a bit.
“I am in what is called the Shadow Trials, which is the combat grounds. It

is split into several floors, and I am currently on the twenty-fifth floor. I
have killed two bosses of sorts so far, but neither have been that hard. As
you know, I was blessed by the god known as Umbra and offered the
Legacy of some god known as Tenlucis who died or something like that.
Quite potent if I say so myself, even if I do find it questionable to accept the
Legacy of a god weak enough to have died, but oh well. I will take what I
can get, and I do get the feeling Umbra is worth working with. For now,”
sim-Jake explained rather casually.
These were words that most other mortals would scoff at, if not scream at
him for blasphemy. Not only did he offend a dead god, but he also put
himself on the same level as Umbra by insinuating they worked together
and that he was no follower. Naturally, Jake expected nothing else, and
from the looks of it, Umbra was also fine with it. Jake was not told what
level of Blessing his simulacrum had gotten, but he knew he was not a
Chosen. Potentially a Divine Blessing.
Dark lightning began revolving around sim-Jake as he recognized some of

the abilities Caleb had. It was a bit odd seeing a version of himself be
surrounded by that same black lightning. Sim-Jake dove forward toward a
zombie-like creature. It lunged towards sim-Jake, but he hit it through the
head with a dagger before it had time to do anything. It struggled and tried
to strike sim-Jake, but every attempt was foiled as it soon died.
He then stepped back and seemed to sink into the shadows. Jake still saw
him with his sphere, but it was like sim-Jake melted into the shadows to
anyone else. He ran over to the next zombie that didn’t notice him before
getting stabbed through the head. Flailing around, the zombie used its claws
to tear at the ground and collapse the building it had been hiding in, but
sim-Jake was already out of it and proceeded to throw a bolt of black
lightning at the collapsing house, making it explode.
Everything shown so far had been simple and easy like this. Sim-Jake
dominated everything he came against so far. This made Jake initially think
these foes were just low-level monsters… but no, they were all several
levels above sim-Jake himself. In fact, sim-Jake was many levels ahead of
where Jake had been about a month into the Tutorial. In Jake’s defense, he
had focused on Alchemy for nearly all that time, but Jake also soon noticed
something else.
Through the days Jake observed his simulacrum, he didn’t see him do
anything that was not fighting or meditating to prepare for another fight.
Jake frowned at his and began moving a bit and forth to get his
simulacrum’s attention.
“Hm? What?” sim-Jake asked. “I must say, this the longest you have been
around so far, so I guess this entire combat thing is quite important. Is that
why you are moving around? Do you want me to explain more of why I
fight like I do and such? Sure I guess.”
“Well, no, that wasn’t what I meant,” Jake said out loud but still stood still.
What? He still wanted him to explain more. Sometimes telling was just
better at delivering information than showing, especially if one wanted to
learn the intent behind something.
“Not right, huh? Or only partly?” sim-Jake asked as he proceeded to take

out a potion. Jake saw it and rapidly moved back and forth, making sim-
Jake stop just before drinking it.
“What?”
Jake tried to move a bit more as he wanted his simulacrum to just give him
some damn information on his profession. He was really curious by now
what this version of himself would do. Jake himself had no idea, honestly.
He had ended up becoming an alchemist to not die and had come to like it
only after getting the profession. What would this version have chosen?
Any kind of social profession was out of the question, so it had to be
crafting-related, right? What interests did sim-Jake even have besides
fighting and killing? Maybe something to make things that made that
easier?
“I am blanking here. Something to do with the potion?”
Stopping his movement, Jake stood still to confirm that was partly it.
“Is anything wrong with drinking them?” sim-Jake asked. “Hm, I have
theorized that they are too good to be true and may have some long-term
demerits that I have yet to notice, so-“
Jake quickly denied it. Potions were awesome, and he was almost offended
at his super-distrusting simulacrum talking shit about them.
“Good to drink? Then does it have something to do with this particular

potion?”
Jake stood still.
“Is it the effects?”

Nope.
“Where it comes from?”
Yep!
“I traded it with an alchemist fo-“
Jake began moving quickly again the moment he said the word alchemist.
“What? You want to know about this alchemist?” sim-Jake asked, looking
genuinely confused.
They went through a few more questions before sim-Jake finally asked a
question Jake could work with.
“Are you asking if I am an alchemist?
It wasn’t actually what he wanted to ask, but that question would lead to a
natural follow-up, so Jake answered yes.
“No, I am not. Oh… yeah, I should have understood this way earlier. Of
course. You are here to learn about me and my Path, so it is relevant. You
want to know what my profession is, right?”
Yes! Finally!
Sim-Jake just smiled and shook his head. “Why the hell would I have one?
Sure, the stats would be nice, but that just isn’t me.”
Jake froze at that. What?
“I know, I know. I have been told plenty of times I need to get one, but I ask
again, why the hell should I? They want me to sit on my ass making
swords, or what, pick up painting? Make magic formation and spend hours
on making something that is still fucking useless to me as I am currently?
Become an alchemist and sit with a stupid pot like some second-rate cook
who only knows how to make fucking soup? No, fuck all that. I am a god
damn hunter, not a good little craftsman making my masters happy. I am the
damn master. They can spend their time learning how to make things, and I
can spend mine using their creations to get stronger and do what I was born
to,” sim-Jake explained passionately.
Now, more than ever, Jake saw the difference between them grow. The
thing is, Jake did not disagree with much of what he said, besides his words
on alchemy, which he forgave sim-Jake far, as he knew it came from
ignorance. He had a hard time imagining himself doing any profession
either when he first entered the Tutorial. He just wanted to hunt. If he had
not found the dungeon, he would have waited a long time before getting
one, and if he did get one early, he would have half-arsed it.
The only reason Jake appreciated alchemy in the beginning – after using it
to not die, that is - was because he saw its usefulness. He saw how it made
him stronger. The skills related to the Malefic Viper were skills that did
have alchemical effects but were also combat skills. Sure, Scales of the
Malefic Viper could be used to touch toxic substances and resist fumes and
such, but its true value was in combat. Villy knew it, Jake knew it, and the
system also knew but allowed it.
Not having a profession this early also wasn’t an end-all, be-all. Sim-Jake
was only a month into the system. Sure, it would make him lack some easy
race levels early on, but he could always get a profession that would fit him
later. There were near endless possibilities, so-
“Just to reiterate, I don’t plan on ever getting a profession. The lack of

instant gratification through easy levels is a sacrifice I am willing to make
to follow the Path I have chosen for myself. It may sound stupid, if not
outright moronic, but I believe this is truly the best decision. Even if I can
somehow get a profession that fits me well and doesn’t feel like a waste of
time, I wouldn’t do it. But I have a plan. One I even discussed with Umbra,
and while there was some disagreement, you, of all people, should know
that those like us can be stubborn. What I plan to do is evolve. To evolve
out of this pathetic human form and become more than I am now. I need the
class still, but there are enlightened races that only have either-or of class
and profession. I want one such race. Till then, I shall walk a Path of purity.
One of pure combat and dominance. Also… while I said I may sacrifice
instant power, it isn’t like I have encountered anyone worth fighting
amongst humanity quite yet, and the multiverse runs on a timescale far
different than our pathetic old world,” sim-Jake explained further.
Jake stood with his mouth open for a while. When he heard the first part
about never wanting a profession, Jake thought his other self was indeed a
moron, but… could Jake really say sim-Jake thatwrong? At least he had a
plan, and what he planned was entirely possible. So far, Jake had already
had the possibility of evolving into a vampire or a Malefic Dragonkin,
which would allow him to only have a class or profession, so who was he to
say sim-Jake would not get similar options down the line? Even if he did
not get any of these extraordinary evolution chances, there was a good
chance he would get one for his D-grade evolution.
Now, to make one thing clear, Jake still thought his simulacrum was being
stupid. Clearly, he had some inborn hatred of being human, one Jake did not
have at all. In fact, he thought being human was pretty darn awesome. Also,
after seeing Valdemar tear Villy a new one, how could he ever proclaim that
humans weren’t great?
“I still sense disapproval, but my mind is set. I may crash and burn and
ultimately adapt my Path, but I doubt it. Now come, the boss is ahead,”
sim-Jake said.
Yet just after he said that the scene ended. Clearly, the upcoming fight was
not viewed as at all impactful by the system. He then saw a few brief
scenes. Sim-Jake was fighting in nearly all of them, where he faced
different progressively stronger monsters and eventually had duels with
humans. Jake saw him easily beat both Matteo and Nadia in duels, making
it clear he was the strongest in the Tutorial. Even without his profession to
gain race levels, he stayed ahead of the curve, and what levels he did have
were probably more valuable due to a powerful class.
Jake watched on as soon it settled on a scene once more. Sim-Jake noticed

him the moment he appeared and smiled at him.
“Not just popping in briefly this time, eh?” he asked with a light smile. His
equipment had entirely changed since the last time Jake saw his
simulacrum. He wore dark leather armor now of high quality and even had
a spatial item from the looks of it.
“I guess it makes sense… we are at the end of this Tutorial, after all. With a
day left, we stand before the final fight,” he laughed a bit as he looked at
what was in the horizon.
Jake followed his gaze and saw a spider-like creature sitting on a massive
web. He instantly knew it was a D-grade. Looking at sim-Jake, he
wondered if he was up to the task… but quickly realized that it wasn’t even
a question.
He was level 66. If he still had no profession, it meant he had pushed his
class all the way to the cap at 99 and then kept getting experience to level
his race about a dozen more times. In a bit over two months. It was a speed
that completely put Jake to shame in every way.
Moreover, this Jake was not facing a King of the Forest but a regular D-
grade. He also didn’t seem to have any special items; even if he did, Jake
knew sim-Jake would not use it. He simply didn’t have to. One had to
remember that Jake had been around level 80 when he had killed his first
D-grade back on Earth, but that fight had been rather easy. And while this
version of Jake was not as strong as Jake was then, he could surely put up a
big fight.
But before he engaged in the fight, sim-Jake turned to Jake with an odd
gaze.
“You know… I always felt something was off about this world. I believed
for a long time it was simply due to my uniqueness. Then I thought it was
due to your presence. Finally, I believed it was due to the initiation not
having happened. But even now, things just feel slightly off,” sim-Jake
suddenly said as he smiled at Jake.
“Yet I choose to ignore it. I chose to suppress that emotion even now… so
please observe as always. From the very first time I laid my eyes on this
creature, I wanted to fight it, and now that I stand before my goal, I will
reach it. I will prove my Path to you, and after I win, we can discuss…
everything. If I survive, that is,” sim-Jake added, his smile oddly
melancholic.
Dark magic began revolving around him as weapons appeared in both

hands. At first, Jake thought they were daggers, but at a closer look, they
were more… fist-blades?
The weapon had an H-shaped horizontal hand grip that rested against one’s
knuckles. Each weapon had one blade, and the blades themselves were wide
triangular blades. The blades themselves were straight and roughly 40 cm
long, making them rather long.
“These are called katars. Classified as push daggers, they are highly
efficient stabbing weapons. However, they are also rather impractical in
battles usually and inferior to a dagger or a sword, much less a spear.
However, they do also have advantages. First of all, using them is very
natural and similar to punching. Secondly, you can put your whole weight
behind every hit. They can also be used for slashing, but it is a bit less
practical, while the handle itself can help block, albeit not that well.
Defensively, it is a weapon inferior to most others you will see. I shall show
you why these weaknesses truly don’t matter.”
With those words, shadows surrounded sim-Jake as he prepared to face a D-

grade in the Tutorial. No gimmicks. No special quest items. Just a natural
predator that had grown through hunting to reach that stage in two months.
And what followed was indeed a display of what that natural predator was
truly capable of.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 487 - A Path To Survival
”As we both know, the Bloodline offers abilities that are on a qualitative
level at the peak of the multiverse. Merely doing by instinct, dodging
anything and everything is simplicity itself, but that does leave one obvious
flaw: attacking. Don’t get me wrong, the instinct to attack weak points is
still there, but such a simple instinct may do more harm than good. When
attacking, you are forcing a reaction, not being the one to react, meaning
our predictive instincts are far less useful,” sim-Jake explained as he flew
towards his foe, Jake easily keeping up.
“So let me show you how I truly fight. Ultimately, that is what you are here
for, isn’t it?”
Jake didn’t confirm as they both knew the answer. He stopped a bit away
from the spider-like creature that had already noticed the approaching
human. It was sitting on a massive web with hundreds if not thousands of
eggs beneath it. Its many eyes were shining purple as it looked at sim-Jake
and didn’t do anything until sim-Jake stepped his foot onto the web. It was
likely due to a system restriction of some sort, or maybe it was just a
territorial creature.
“One word,” sim-Jake added under his breath as his body exploded with
power as the sky above darkened and thunder rumbled.
“Counter.”
A spider several times faster than sim-Jake descended upon him. A leg
bathed in deep shadows shot forward, but rather than block, Jake dodged
under it and stabbed the side of the leg, using the creature’s momentum to
make his katar sink in deeper.
The spider made a screaming sound as it attacked again, but the same
pattern repeated as several blows were exchanged. Sim-Jake was clearly
using a very intense boosting skill at this moment, and Jake saw him begin
to take damage as the intensity of the dark sky above increased. When the
web below began shining silver, sim-Jake did not hesitate to jump into the
air away from it and floated backward. The spider followed him into mid-
air, where he finally blocked a blow, but as he was in the air and already
going backward, all that truly happened was that he was sent flying.
“Two objects colliding will result in damage from the sum of their speeds
upon collision. Two objects hitting each other, each going forty kilometers
an hour, is the same as a single object smashing into a solid object at eighty.
Simple physics, really, and even if this law doesn’t truly apply anymore in
its elegant simplicity, it is still a thing. It is hard to stop an attack mid-swing
no matter what, and the blow will deal more damage if you hit it mid-swing
as not only will you hit it – your foe will hit itself upon your weapon,” sim-
Jake communicated as he landed on the ground below. He clearly knew the
spider did not want to follow, as he sat down and stared at it, drinking a
potion. His boosting skill was also deactivated, but the dark clouds above
persisted.
“Winning in a single engagement is naturally out of the question. This beast

is far too durable and even has energy stored inside the web. However, it is
also territorial to the level of making it a fatal weakness. It will not leave its
net and the eggs it protects unless absolutely necessary. The unique dark
lightning I use is a perfect weapon for a situation like this. The dark mana
hampers regeneration and lowers its perception while the lightning burns its
mana. An additional effect gained from merging these two concepts also
means it burns stamina,” sim-Jake explained as he regenerated.
Jake looked at the spider and did detect the dark lightning still lingering.
The dark clouds above seemed to also pressure the entire area, something
that only affected the spider.
Ten minutes later, sim-Jake rose once more. “Second round.”
He stormed forward as he engaged the beast in yet another bout of melee

with his boosting skills fully active. His fighting style was like before. A
mix of dodging and then the occasional stab whenever an opening presented
itself. It all looked incredibly simple, but the more Jake watched on, the
more confused he became.
Wait, that was such a good opening? Why stab there? Wait, did he delay the
strike? Why? Now! No? What?
Jake was very engaged in the fight, but he didn’t get it. It seemed, well, not
random, but arbitrary when sim-Jake chose to strike. He let obvious
openings pass and instead went for tiny, tight openings to land a hit.
Yet the result was clear as the spider slowly got whittled down. Sim-Jake
retreated several times until, finally, the spider seemed to realize this could
not go on. The entire web began glowing and moving as the energy stored
within was fully absorbed, making it fall apart.
The spider, with renewed vigor, attacked sim-Jake and left the web. Its eight
legs carried it forward at a swift speed as it followed Jake when he tried to
disengage. This forced their brawl onto the ground, where Jake saw how the
dynamic instantly changed.
This time, sim-Jake went on the offensive. Power revolved around his
weapons as lightning roared forward. It covered the spider, but as a D-
grade, it was far too durable to take any noticeable damage. Sim-Jake
nevertheless went close to attack with his weapons. The spider retaliated as
suddenly sim-Jake pulled back. He delayed his attack by a mere moment,
making the spider miss with a dark lance of magic, allowing sim-Jake to
land a blow uncontested.
Once more, the spider tried to attack its attacker, and it missed by a narrow
margin yet again. Jake observed and stood there dumbstruck. The spider
was missing, despite its far higher speed and power. No, sim-Jake did not
dodge… it was the spider missing. In every exchange, its timing was off.
Like they were dancing, following set steps in the choreography, but sim-
Jake was almost half a second behind, making the spider off-tune.
The spider was, purely stat-wise, probably three or four times stronger than
sim-Jake. It was a wider gap than any opponent Jake had faced during his
Tutorial besides the King of the Forest. In all of Jake’s fights, he had been
struggling, he had overcome his limits, and he had come out victorious.
Sim-Jake did not need to overcome any limits. He had spent his entire life
pushing himself towards perfection, and the system had only allowed him
to flourish more.
This did not mean he wasn’t struggling. Jake saw how his simulacrum was
running out of energy and had taken many minor wounds - sacrifices made
to avoid more dangerous blows or land a counterattack. Of course, these
would build up and, with time, become an issue.
If the spider had simply fought from the beginning and not allowed sim-
Jake to constantly reset and consume potions, it would have no doubt won.
But… it hadn’t. It had allowed itself to be slowly whittled down. Sim-Jake
had targeted one leg many times and finally managed to sever it. This led to
a chain reaction as it stumbled, only to get another near-fatal stab with the
katar into one of its eyes. It retaliated, but sim-Jake turned to lightning,
dodged behind it, and stabbed again.
He moved from blindspot to blindspot and landed puncture-wound after

puncture-wound. It couldn’t heal due to all the dark lightning, and finally,
sim-Jake landed the final blow. He stabbed the katar through the weakened
skull of the spider and pushed down, the creature finally breathing its last
breath.
Less than a second later, the dark clouds above dispersed like they had
never been there. Sim-Jake himself shook for a moment as he spat out
blood and fell backward onto his back. His eyes were now bleeding, and
Jake saw his arms and legs begin to turn purple, along with several dark
spots appearing on his body.
“Another tip,” sim-Jake whispered in a coarse voice. “Never show

weakness and give your prey hope.”
He then turned his face and looked towards Jake, who stood near the corpse
of the slain D-grade. “Thank you for observing what may be my final
fight.”
With those words, the scene ended. Jake frowned deeply. What? Final
fight? Why wou-
Jake then felt something odd. Like a pull was on him or something. A
summoning. He tried to figure out what it was, and his eyes opened wide as
he accepted.
“Granted.”
Jake found himself standing inside the same old white familiar room. The
Guide had been the one to just speak, sitting in a chair across from sim-
Jake. Confused, Jake looked at what the hell was going on. Him appearing
there was not a usual scene transition at all… it was instead as if he had
been asked to be there.
“For my third tutorial purchase… I want to reveal and become able to

interact with him within the confines of this room until the Tutorial Store
expires,” sim-Jake said as he turned and looked at Jake. The system
acknowledged, and Jake knew his simulacrum got some system prompt that
he accepted.
Once more, Jake felt himself be “asked” to approve of this. With a thought,
he could reject it, but he chose to accept it once more.
He felt solid ground beneath his feet for the first time in a long time as Jake
knew…
For the first time, he truly met the eyes of himself – of sim-Jake. No longer
a mere observer but a physical entity now within the room. They stared at
each other for a moment as sim-Jake smiled.
“Hey me,” he said in a melancholic voice. “Good to finally meet you… me.
Us.”
Jake looked at his simulacrum and nodded in recognition. “When did it

click?”
“I guess I always had my suspicions, but it was when I met Umbra I truly
understood. We have the same Bloodline. I am a Bloodline Patriarch, which
means I am the only one with it… except you. Which means you are either
some descendant from the future, or you are me. I still had that tiny sliver of
doubt, but just a few minutes ago, I confirmed it using my first of five
purchases from the Tutorial Store,” sim-Jake answered.
He was calm. Awfully calm, if not too calm. Jake would have been at least a
little distressed or, at a minimum, weirded the hell out. Then again, perhaps
his simulacrum had already gone through all that before during a scene Jake
did not see. Or, he was just that much calmer than Jake.
Jake had also not seen the usage of the Tutorial Store coming in. Jake
remembered the custom option back then could offer anything. Even
information, it seemed. There did appear to be some limitations as it had to
ask Jake for permission before bringing him there and making him visible,
but that could also potentially just be due to the way sim-Jake made the
purchases. Had to be cheaper if Jake went along with it.
“I will be honest; I am unsure how to handle this situation,” Jake said. “But
I guess an explanation would be a start?”
“Before that, let me ask you a question,” sim-Jake said. “Are you stronger
than me?”
“Yes,” Jake just answered.
“But you are also older, aren’t you?” he followed up.
“Yeah.”
“So… if I had the same time as you, who would be stronger?” he asked
with a raised eyebrow.
Jake smiled. It was exactly the kind of question he would ask if he stood
before another version of himself. He also knew the answer.
“I would. But if we switched situations, I am sure the answer would be the
same. You are stronger than me in certain areas while I have you beat in
others. You have abilities and skills from growing up I do not, but my
upbringing also means I have some things you don’t,” Jake said with a
smile.
“And what would that be?”
“Friends,” Jake just said as he stared his other version in the eyes.
His simulacrum, surprisingly enough, didn’t protest that answer but instead
asked: “Do you trust them?”
“I do.”
“Well, I guess that is a stark contrast to who I became. I haven’t trusted

anyone besides myself since I was a child. Besides you… which should
maybe have been a clue too. Trusting you is just trusting myself, after all.
Now, if you will enlighten me what exactly is going on,” sim-Jake asked.
Jake decided to just be completely honest. “You are in a simulated world of

sorts created by the system as part of a system event showing what would
have happened if I made a different impactful choice at some point in my
life. In your case, it was not stopping mom and dad from leaving the house
the day they died. I did that in my world, and it resulted in me growing up
with a family, a brother, and overall it completely changed my trajectory of
life.”
“For the better or worse?”
“Better, I would say. Granted, I did end up suppressing my Bloodline to fit

in and more or less made myself depressed since I was a child, viewing the
whole world with apathy and boredom, so that part did suck, and I never
really did form any meaningful relationships with anyone outside of my
family either, but it was sure as hell better than you,” Jake said with a laugh.
“I guess we are dysfunctional no matter which choices we make,” sim-Jake

said with a wry smile before turning a bit serious. “But this does mean I
never truly existed, doesn’t it?”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t know how this entire thing works, to be
honest.”
Sim-Jake turned to the figure of the Guide, who was still just sitting there,
unbothered. “Which one of us is real?”
The system entity looked at them. “Both are parallels of the other and hence
both real.”
“So, what would happen if I just leave this store like this and go on back to
Earth and act like nothing happened? Will I cease to exist one day
randomly? Will I just have never been?” sim-Jake pressed.
“Negative. Simulacrum will persist in the simulated world until destruction,

at which point the simulation will be closed.”
“I guess that answers it,” sim-Jake sighed. “Kind of pointless, isn’t it? Man,
living in the simulation, knowing you live in a simulation, does suck. Tell
me, is it possible for me to be transferred into the real ninety-third universe
right now?”
“Negative. Parallels possess identical Truesoul signatures, and multiple

separate copies are unable to exist in the same universe.”
Jake heard this and remembered something from quite a while ago. Back
when he wanted Rick, the gardening troll, out of the dungeon. It was about
how multiple versions of the same creature could not exist in the same
universe. Remembering this, Jake also knew the answer to the follow-up
question.
“Can I then just fuse with my other version?” sim-Jake asked before
throwing Jake a look. “I gotta ask. If I can "survive" I sure as hell want to.”
“Fair enough.”
“Negative,” the system once more said. “Secondary Truesoul signature

shall be automatically delegated and potentially assimilated into the original
with no impact on Records.”
“Bummer,” sim-Jake said as he looked onto the ceiling. “Hey, original,

what did you even hope to gain from this kind of event? Was it really as we
discussed?”
“I wasn’t sure in the beginning, but it was truly just learning from you.
Especially your melee fighting skills, which are quite a bit better than
mine,” Jake answered.
“Huh. While I would love to give you a crash course, I am pretty much
dead, and it seems pretty pointless. Besides, this tutorial store business will
end semi-soon,” sim-Jake shrugged.
“Sorry,” Jake muttered.
“Eh, not your fault. Shit happens, I guess, and as fucked up as it seems, you
were the only friend I had throughout my life, even if you turned out to be
me,” he shook his head. “Besides, I have one more gamble.”
“System, I would like for my fourth purchase to be a method on how to exit

this simulation and enter the true ninety-third universe while remaining who
I am and staying a unique and separate entity,” sim-Jake asked.
“Unable to provide an acceptable result with current funds,” the system

responded, surprising Jake and sim-Jake a bit.
“What?” sim-Jake asked, confused. “Fuck. I hoped there was a way…”
Jake stood there and stared a bit as he felt kind of shit about this entire
thing. However, as he stared, he got an idea.
“Guide is the reason transference cannot happen due to the requirements of

unique Truesoul signatures?”
“Correct.”
“In that case, is it potentially possible for the Records of this other version
to enter the ninety-third universe through some other medium? In other
words, making his existence tied and dependent on our shared Truesoul
while still allowing him to remain unique and separate?” Jake asked.
The system paused for a while. Sim-Jake also looked at him oddly before
the system finally answered.
“Positive. Transference of Records into a non-living Soulbound entity that

is tied to the primary being is possible through storage within a suitable
vessel. Additional limitations may apply.”
Sim-Jake looked at Jake for a moment as he also understood. One would

think another person would be angry or offended at what Jake insinuated,
but instead, sim-Jake just shook his head and sighed.
“I guess this is a start?”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
WARNING: NEW MONTH IN A FEW DAYS, SO MAY WANT TO

WAIT TO BECOME A PATRON.


Chapter 488 - The Faint Line
Between The Virtual & Reality
A note from Zogarth
Book 3 release day hype! Check next "chapter" for details.
There was potential. Jake nodded at the system’s answer as he asked to

clarify: “What kind of limitations may apply? And what do we need to do
to make it happen?”
The system entity answered as monotone as ever: “Limitations include

absolute separation from the material realm and interacting with other
entities, limiting the transferred simulacrum to the Truesoul. All expression
must be made through an inanimate Soulbound object. Requirements to
facilitate this process include a vessel able to house the transferred
simulacrum as well as expenditure of all other material Path of Myriad
Choices event rewards.”
“That is the name of the event?” sim-Jake asked. “A bit on the nose.”
“Oh, it totally is,” Jake agreed as he regarded the system entity again. “Do I
have a vessel able to house the simulacrum?”
“Negative.”
“Not even this?” Jake asked as he pulled out Eternal Hunger. That had to be
good enough, right?
“Negative.”
“Okay, then this!” Jake tried as he spat out the Root of Eternal Resentment
from his internal storage using Palate of the Malefic Viper, getting a weird
look. He had confidence this item could be used, it had housed a curse and
was meant to house energy, so surely-
“Negative. An incompatible vessel will result in destruction, alteration, or

complete erasure of the simulacrum as well as the vessel. A unique vessel
created to facilitate the process is required,” the system answered.
“Do I possess enough Tutorial Points to create such a vessel?” sim-Jake

asked. “Also, is it possible to elaborate on these limitations? What does it
mean that I will be limited to the Truesoul?”
“All rewards given by Tutorial Points within the simulation are limited to
the simulation, and no reward given can be transferred or persist within the
true world. Limitations result in absolute non-interactability with the world,
with the simulacrum permanently confined to the Soulspace. The
simulacrum’s existence shall remain permanently tied to the simulation to
ensure continued autonomous existence. As such, the simulacrum will
continue to exist as a simulacrum only viewable and detectable by Origin.”
Sim-Jake looked in thought a bit. “Okay, I am just confused now.”
“Wait,” the real Jake said. “Will it mean he more or less is just what I am
now, but in the real world? As in, he will be a silent and undetectable
observer to everyone that isn’t me? Like, we turn the situation one-eighty?”
“Interpretation acceptable. Limited manifestation outside of Soulspace

potentially possible but will remain detectable only to the Origin and
remain non-interactive with the world,” the system answered.
“Huh,” sim-Jake said with a frown. “So I will just be… what? Unable to do
anything?”
“Simulacrum will have free movement and interactability within the

Soulspace,” the system answered.
“Guess it is about time I ask… what is this Soulspace?” sim-Jake asked,
clearly not happy to admit he didn’t know.
“Like, a world inside the soul? I am not entirely sure how it works, but I
can meditate and enter there and have trapped energies within, including an
ancient curse that could probably destroy the planet. Definitely could
destroy the planet,” Jake explained nonchalantly.
“Sounds like you have had quite the fun so far, huh?” sim-Jake smiled. “But
I guess any option is better than just dying. Because the alternative is dying.
I can’t see myself living within a virtual world I know only exists because I
do… it would make it all feel so utterly pointless knowing nothing I do is
real. No, rather have a small impact on reality than dominate a fantasy.”
Jake just nodded in understanding. While experiencing a simulation

temporarily would be fine, knowing that nothing you ever did would carry
over had to be hell. It was a perfect case of “ignorance is bliss,” and once
the veil had been lifted, there was no going back.
“Besides,” sim-Jake added. “We are the same person. So me helping you is
helping myself in every sense of the word, isn’t it? Also... if I do get
transferred into an item of some sort, it won’t be permanent, will it?”
The last part was addressed to the system, which confirmed his question.
“Resonance and equilibrium may eventually be reached, making the
simulacrum and Origin one.”
“Hear that?” sim-Jake smiled. “Who knows, I may even be able to take over
your mind and become the real version?”
“Isn’t it more like we will eventually just be so similar in every way a

natural fusion kind of just happens?” Jake asked, looking at the system.
“Correct.”
Jake and the simulacrum nodded in sync. Neither truly understood but were
still guessing. All Jake knew was that sim-Jake was looking for some sort
of Path to survive, and Jake wanted to help himself – his other self - and
potentially even benefit from it.
“Alright. What kind of vessel is required to store the simulacrum?”
“Vessel must originate from the original universe yet contain innate ties to
specific virtual universe. The vessel must meet parameters, including, but
not limited to, durability, storage ability, non-attuned, energy signature
resonance, Record-compatibility, and Origin-compatibility,” the system
entity answered.
“Wait, will I be able to transform any of my items into a compatible one?”

Jake just asked with a bit of hope.
“Negative.”
Jake and sim-Jake threw each other a look as his simulacrum groaned. “So
we just had this entire shitty conversation to say that I am fucked either
way?”
Frowning too, Jake considered a bit more as he got an idea.
“You got two purchases left, right?” Jake asked.
“Yeah?”
“Hm. Hey Guide, when will the Path of Myriad Choices end for me?” he
asked the system.
“Due to developments within the simulation, the final scene is currently

being displayed,” it answered.
“And if I leave here, will I ever be able to go back so-to-say? As in, could I
go back and get my simulacrum out later.”
“Improbably.”
“But not impossible,” Jake murmured. “If my simulacrum does leave with
me to the original universe, what will happen to the simulation?”
“Simulation shall persist as long as simulacrum remains.”
“Huh,” Jake considered again.
“What are you fishing for?” sim-Jake asked.
“I am getting here,” Jake said dismissively. “I happen to be buddies with a

god who loves semi-breaking or at least bending the rules of the system a
bit, and I guess it rubbed off. Guide, the rewards of the system event are
based on the performance of the simulacrum during the simulation,
correct?”
The system confirmed.
“Alright then. Do these rewards include physical items?”
“Potentially,” it just answered.
“Okay… considering this is the final scene, are the rewards already
calculated, and how will they be given?”
“All rewards will be given and calculated only at the conclusion of the
event,” the system confirmed once more.
Jake just smiled.
“Hey… for the fourth purchase, how about you buy that your performance
will award me a compatible vessel?” he asked him simulacrum.
“No fucking way that works,” he shook his head and turned to the system
entity. “Does it work?”
The system paused for a moment. “Partial consumption of Path of Myriad

Choices event reward required.”
Sim-Jake froze for a moment as he looked at Jake.
Jake just nodded. “Can the fifth purchase then be for the Records of the
simulacrum to temporarily be safely stored within my Soulspace to then be
transferred to the vessel upon exit? Without causing any harm to him, that
is?”
Once more, it paused for a moment. “Partial consumption of Path of Myriad

Choices event reward required. Requires total temporal suspension to
facilitate effect. Acceptable.”
“Do I have enough Tutorial Points for these two?” sim-Jake asked with
concern.
“Vessel can be adjusted to minimum requirements, allowing the process.”
Sim-Jake just stared for a moment. “I truly have no idea what the hell we
are doing here or why this is even allowed. It feels like we are somehow
cheating the system and using an exploit or something, which makes no
fucking sense if the system is supposed to be omnipotent.”
Jake shrugged. “Eh… listen. Think about it like this, why are we allowed to
do this? Talk like this? This is all due to how you performed during the
simulation. Your actions led to this possible outcome. If you hadn’t
dominated the tutorial and hadn’t become aware of me and done as you did
now, it wouldn’t have happened. Remember, we are still in the simulation
right now, and even this conversation is part of the event. So… in some
ways, isn’t it pretty normal to reward a simulacrum, becoming aware it is in
a simulation, with a way to somehow find a way to break out of the
simulation? For the system to not at least leave a Path? So… yeah. It is
allowing this to happen and is within expectations.”
Sim-Jake tossed the system entity a look. “I guess that makes sense…
would also explain why the hell nothing has happened despite the time for
this Tutorial Store thing having elapsed.”
“Yep,” Jake agreed despite not actually knowing. He did recognize the
absurdity of the situation that sim-Jake pointed out, but he also vehemently
believed in what he had said. The system clearly facilitated these sorts of
things to happen. It allowed sim-Jake to be an autonomous person, and thus
Jake also believed it would allow him a Path as a reward for his
performance. A true Path that he so desired.
“So, to summarize, I will be transformed into a form suitable to be
transplanted into an item and deposited into your – our – Truesoul,
suspended in time to not disperse and forcefully remerge with the Truesoul
and stay me. Then this event will end, you will be rewarded an item I can
merge into, and you will do that fast as fuck before I cease to exist. I got
that right?” sim-Jake asked clarifyingly.
“I think that about sums it up,” Jake confirmed.
“And, just to be clear, you have never done anything like this before, right?
Has anyone?” Jake asked. The last part was addressed to the system entity.
“Yes,” it answered. “Prior divergent simulacriums have appeared and

through contact with their Origin merged into the true multiverse.”
“Alright, so only semi-uncharted territory. You confident?” sim-Jake asked

Jake.
“Believe it or not, yeah, I am. I have to be,” Jake answered.
Sim-Jake finally sighed. “Aight… let’s get this show on the road. If I don’t
make it… never mind. You already know.”
Jake smiled. “Let’s go.”
“For my fourth purchase…
The last two purchases were made. One to make sim-Jake into something
capable of surviving the transfer and one to make sure Jake got something
to transfer him into. With that, the scene finally ended, and Jake got a few
notifications as he appeared in the white room, but he didn’t pay them any
mind.
As he appeared, so did a new item appear in his inventory. It was a black

bone-like item, and Jake instantly took it out and did a quick Identify.
[Bone of the Virtual Gap (Unique)] – A bone created from a human rib
belonging to a world that exists yet does not. Specifically made to house
the simulacrum of Jake Thayne.
Requirements: Soulbound.
Having confirmed, Jake entered Serene Soul Meditation as he appeared in

his Soulspace. The moment he did, he saw the distorted human form of pure
energy. It looked halfway broken. Jake knew this was because it wasn’t
meant to exist and was only held together due to the direct interference of
the system.
Jake got to work as he controlled his Soulspace. In the outside world, he sat
in meditation with the bone in his hands while he in the Soulspace
forcefully collected every single fragment of the Records that had been sim-
Jake.
Gritting his teeth, he focused as he knew sim-Jake would only stay together
for that long. At the same time, he felt the energy itself almost move to help
him. It wanted to be gathered and become one again. The energy that was
the simulacrum resonated with the Soulspace itself as he felt everything
pulse. With focus, he began collecting faster than before. Soon enough, a
foot appeared, then a leg, two legs, a torso, arms, and finally a head. This
version of sim-Jake was slightly different than the simulacrum from before
but also wasn’t a copy of Jake himself. It was instead more like sim-Jake
having undergone his D-grade evolution.
When the full form was collected, Jake moved on to the next stage. A black
bone appeared in his hand, and Jake did not hesitate the stab the human
form in front of him right in the heart, letting the bone sink in deep and take
the place of one of the ribs. At the same time, he began infusing the bone in
the outside world. He had done something similar with Eternal Hunger, and
frankly, this was far easier. Sim-Jake was primed already, and rather than
fighting him like the curse energy had when he made Eternal Hunger, this
energy actively wanted to work with him. Almost as if it had an instinct of
its own.
Throughout this process, he poured energy into the bone and established a
connection between the two. The bone would serve as an anchor to the
world as it still existed partially in the virtual simulation. Some parts of
sim-Jake had to always exist there, or he would cease to be a simulacrum
and thus his own person.
This entire merging process was complicated, but out of everyone in D-

grade, Jake was probably one of the best. Not only had he made Eternal
Hunger, but he had consumed and slowly absorbed knowledge from the
Root of Eternal Resentment for a long-ass time and had learned close to
everything he could about it. The Root was a marvel when it came to all
kinds of energy, and Jake was certain that if it wasn’t because of the
peculiarity of the simulation, it would have worked. In every sense of the
world, it was a top-class natural treasure when it came to energy
transference and storage.
As he pressed on, Jake felt the temporal suspension applied to sim-Jake

about to wear out. It was clear that while the system had allowed this entire
ridiculous situation to happen, it would not do it for them. If he fucked up,
sim-Jake would simply disperse and become one with Jake. All this would
do was probably just add some Records with unknown effects later down
the line… perhaps just adding a skill option or two, something he obviously
didn’t want.
Stabilize,Jake thought as sim-Jake’s body was fully assembled. It looked

complete, and the bone had completely merged with his body. Jake gritted
his teeth as suddenly the temporal suspension completely expired and
something went wrong. The arm of sim-Jake suddenly disappeared, and his
entire body turned transparent and began leaking.
“Fuck,” Jake muttered as he pushed his Willpower to the extreme. A barrier

of pure arcane mana covered a huge portion of his Soulspace as he
compressed it together to keep the energy in. To his relief, the dispersing
energy that was about to be reabsorbed by the Soulspace was slowed down,
and he managed to force back most of it.
His entire Soulspace began shaking as he expanded the barrier even more to
try and put back all he could. Every piece of Records had to be there, or
sim-Jake would not be sim-Jake. In the outside world, blood began dripping
out of his nose as he strained every fiber of his being.
Finally, something fell into place. The energy that had begun dispersing
collected once more and formed around sim-Jake, but… some had been
lost. His body was slightly transparent compared to before, and Jake cursed
himself inwardly. There was no more energy to collect as the entire
Soulspace fell still. Nothing happened as Jake stared at the figure that still
had his eyes closed, yet to wake up. It was stable… but what the hell did
that help if what he had made was just an empty husk of a simulacrum?
“Come on, man… don’t let this all be a waste.”
Jake stood nervously as suddenly the figure in front of him opened his eyes.
Yet what Jake saw was not the gaze of sim-Jake but something far more…
primal. The figure moved before Jake could react, and the next thing he
knew, his arm was gone. Yet he did not react as his danger sense had yet to
make even a single peep.
The arm reappeared instantly as he was within the Soulspace. The arm
taken by the simulacrum was absorbed into the figure as his body rapidly
turned far more corporal. Jake stared as he understood.
“It replaced the Records with mine…”
One had to remember that Jake and sim-Jake shared a huge percentage of
their Records. All that was innate to them was shared… and it appeared that
when some were lost earlier, it was parts that could be replaced.
Jake smiled as the simulacrum blinked, and he finally saw familiar eyes.
“Welcome to our Soulspace.”
Sim-Jake stared a bit at his hands as he clenched his fist. He looked up at

Jake as he smiled. “Is this where I declare my intent to take over your mind
and become the true owner of our body?”
“Sure, just after I throw you into a trashcan,” Jake joked back as he was
inwardly incredibly relieved. He felt the same relief from his simulacrum
but did notice something else.
A bit of knowledge had appeared in his head… and a few memories he did
not quite recognize as his own, even if they did feel like his own. His
simulacrum also seemed to have noticed.
They both looked at each other with understanding.
This entire thing was temporary… they were one, after all. As time passed,
they would slowly meld into one another until one day, there would only be
one Jake left in the Soulspace. A bit had already leaked during the
formation, and chances are it would continue to, had there been issues with
the process or not. Of course, this led to the question: who would he
become? The original? Sim-Jake, if he managed to somehow exert
influence?
Or was it a question that didn’t even matter, as there was no him or me?
Perhaps they were naught but two parallel Paths that had briefly split up
after making a choice and would always one day rejoin to form their true
Path.
The Path of the Primal Hunter.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Book 3 the Primal Hunter now out
on Amazon/Audible!
A note from Zogarth
There was a chapter just before this... ah, but still check this out!
That’s right, Book 3 of the Primal Hunter is out today on Amazon and
Audible! As always, any support for the book is highly appreciated and
means a lot. Just a few ratings and reviews here in the first days of a new
book release matter massively. You can make them even without buying the
book. If you download it for free, if you have Kindle Unlimited anyway, it
counts as a purchase for the best seller rank too, which is damn nice. Also a
sweet ass cover I am a huge fan of personally.
The book covers from just after Jake met Hawkie for the first time until just
after he evolved to D-grade and went on monkey genocide. So the book
covers sky island fun, Abby and Donald, the Fort and the Minotaur
Mindchief, and of course, all the evolution stuff.
If you are interested, go check it out!
Links:
Kindle: https://mybook.to/primalhunter3
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/The-Primal-Hunter-3-
Audiobook/B0B6JM8KKV
Once more, just a simple review, download, rating, or anything like that
goes a long way here on release day. And as always, thanks for reading and
enjoying the story.
Chapter 489 - Internal
Developments
However… even if the two Jakes would someday become one again, that
day was not today or any day in the near future. For now, they were quite
different. One thing they did agree on was a bit of quick experimenting,
though. The first item on the list was the bone in the real world. Jake had
already confirmed that sim-Jake could see everything Jake could and shared
all senses, but it appeared that sim-Jake couldn’t talk to him in the outside
world, so all communication had to go through the Soulspace.
All detailed communication had to, at least. Jake still kind of knew what
sim-Jake was thinking, and it was honestly a bit weird as most of his
thoughts were the exact same as Jake’s. However, one thing they did not
agree on right away quickly appeared as the bone began ever-so-slowly
warping and growing. Minutes passed as Jake decided to let sim-Jake do
with his new “body” as he wanted and for them to talk about it later.
Instead, he would get a look at the system notifications he had delayed

checking. The first of which was the good old flavor text.
Congratulations on fully experiencing the simulation of Choice 4!
Due to the exceptional performance of your simulacrum, you have

earned the highest-level award. Not only did your simulacrum excel
before the initiation, but it also managed to become Progenitor in the
Tutorial, similar to Origin, despite different prior choices that resulted
in significant divergence. Finally, the simulacrum managed to realize
its existence within a simulation and successfully partially remerged
with Origin. Each Path you walk is truly unique and powerful, making
you a true Progenitor of Myriad Paths.
Rewards Gained: 1x [Bone of the Virtual Gap Unique)]. Title Earned:
Progenitor of Myriad Paths.
Jake read it all over carefully and nodded. The system recognized
everything that had happened and seemed totally fine with it. No, more than
fine; it rewarded him for doing what he had done. Though, to be fair, Jake
should not really be surprised. The system had also rewarded him back
when it helped make Moment of the Primal Hunter and by giving him the
title for making a legendary skill even if he had cheesed it. It was a bit of
the same when he made Eternal Hunger which was only possible because
Jake’s Soulspace was ridiculously powerful, something also primarily
caused by his Bloodline.
He saw that he had received just two things from the event. The system had
told him material rewards would not be given due to making the bone, but it
appeared that he still got a title. With quite a bit of excitement, Jake
checked it out.
[Progenitor of Myriad Paths] – A Progenitor through and through, you

are born to walk unique and powerful Paths. You have earned the
recognition of the Watcher attached to Earth and thus the Seat of the
Exalted Prima. All bonuses gained are dependent on the simulacrum
during the Path of Myriad Paths. +100 Agility, +100 Strength. +5%
Agility, +5% Strength. Recognized as a potential Administrator Candidate
for the Milky Way Seat of the Exalted Prima.
Jake had added yet another Progenitor title to his portfolio. It was beginning
to compete with the prodigious tag and seemed to be of a generally high-to-
peak tier when it came to titles. The details of the title were also a happy
surprise. Jake didn’t have many speculations on potential rewards, but a
title was certainly one of the best. Moreover, it gave percentage increases
along with just a pile of pure stats. The only thing a bit different from what
he usually got was that everything was added to Strength and Agility.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out why they gave these stats. This reward
was based on sim-Jake, and sim-Jake had been a melee fighter focusing on
Strength and Agility. In all honesty, it was pretty good for him to get some
points for both, and considering the bonuses he already had, the 100 in each
stat actually added 150 to Strength and 160 to Agility. That wasn’t even
counting the new percentage increases. Even with just 5% more in a stat,
with more than 6000 Agility, it translated to more than 300 free stat points,
equivalent to several levels.
Then there was the second part of the title: “Recognized as a potential
Administrator Candidate for the Milky Way Seat of the Exalted Prima.”
Now, Jake naturally had no clue what this was actually about, but he could
infer some things and quickly formed a theory. This Seat of the Exalted
Prima was not just some system event location or something spawned and
created just for the new initiates. It was something far more… and
something one could come to influence.
Additionally, it was not limited to Earth but their entire galaxy. Candidates
would come from all sorts of races, and Jake would compete with not just a
few billion other Earthlings but potentially hundreds of billions, if not
trillions of sapient creatures spread across the Milky Way Galaxy. Also…
one more thing. The existence of a Milky Way Seat of the Exalted Prima
indicated that other galaxies with life also had Seats. If that was the case,
was there somewhere or something that controlled it all?
Perhaps this Exalted Prima itself. Perhaps some headquarter that

commanded millions of Seats of the Exalted Prima spread across an entire
universe. If it truly was like that, Jake knew what to talk to Villy about
when he exited. Well, that, and to talk about his new best friend in sim-Jake.
Jake was truly a Prodigious Progenitor in everything, even being his own
friend.
Jake smiled a bit goofily to himself and closed his notifications, satisfied
with what he had gained. The bone he was holding was still slowly molding
itself, and it looked like changing the shape would take a while. Popping
into his Soulspace, he saw sim-Jake in deep meditation as he had immersed
his consciousness in his new “body.”
Guess I will just wait here to make sure, Jake thought. The space he was in
was clearly the meat of the Seat of the Exalted Prima. Looking around, he
wondered how one was supposed to exi-
Do you wish to leave the simulation room? Possible destinations:
Simulation room entrance cube.
Administrator’s Terrace.
Alright, never mind. Also, Administrator’s Terrace? Looks new. It must be

due to the title,Jake thought, already knowing where he would go. After
sim-Jake was done, of course. For now, Jake would meditate a bit and
actually fill up his resources. He was surprised at seeing they were still low
after his fight with the Phantomshade Panther – a fight that seemed like it
was ages ago.
It appeared Jake had only been in the simulation for half a day or so, even if
it had been way, way longer on the inside. Just counting the elapsed time of
the actual scenes, Jake had to have seen at least a few months’ worth, most
of it spent watching Jake fight both pre-and post-system.
Jake meditated for a bit, deciding to do so using Serene Soul Meditation to

enter his Soulspace to also see when sim-Jake was done. About half an hour
later, sim-Jake opened his eyes and smiled.
“All done.”
Real-Jake also opened his eyes and finally got a good look at the bone that
was now no longer a simple rib. Instead, it had changed into an H-shaped
handle with a blade attached.
“This is a katar?” Jake asked inside his Soulspace as sim-Jake summoned

an identical copy to the weapon in the real world.
“Yep.”
“You do know I use swords and daggers, right?” Jake asked.
“I know you did. This whole partially shared memory is far from one
way… in fact, I would say I got a lot more of you than you got of me. From
this, it is clear you have yet to make proper use of our abilities and, most
importantly, have yet to actually develop a proper melee fighting style for
yourself,” sim-Jake explained.
“Well, you suck with a bow,” Jake countered.
“Oh wow, great burn, very clever of you. I am not even fucking criticizing
you; I am saying it in a positive way. It is good you never had anyone else
teach you how to fight in melee because, quite frankly, they all suck
compared to what I will teach you. Don’t get me wrong, that old
swordsman you fought in vampire land is an absolute fucking monster with
his sword, to a level you can’t even begin to appreciate, but we also both
realize we will never reach his skill level. Not that it would be worth trying.
I spent years training with people, fighting experts, and it quickly became
clear that nothing suited me. Not because they were weak, but because
fighting my instincts constantly while fighting would be a fucking pain.
No… the style I began developing is not about fighting my instincts but
making full use of them,” sim-Jake explained.
“Developing?” Jake asked. “From the fight with that D-grade, it seemed
pretty damn effective already?”
“Yeah, no. Dude, stop making us look stupid by thinking that was in any
way good enough. That stuff was developed in a few months and is just the
basics that were built off my experience before the system, and I had only
just begun integrating these concepts into a more magical framework. I
guess one can say that all the time you spent training magic, I spent training
melee combat, but I had a massive headstart due to the lives we lived before
the initiation,” sim-Jake answered.
Jake nodded as he asked further: “Am I right to assume the core concept is
about controlling the flow of the fight?”
Sim-Jake smiled. “Right on. We are not experts who have trained for a
hundred years. We are ultimately little more than beasts in human skin that
rely on our instincts above anything else. However, the problem is that
while we can use these instincts to survive due to us responding to complex
attacks, we cannot form our own complex attacks, which is why I began to
question if I even have to? Why not just tab into those god-like instincts and
use them to counterattack and control the momentum of the battle from start
to end. Anyway, my point is that the katar is the best weapon I found,
though I guess if you had become a Malefic Dragonkin, that would have
been just as good. Though I get why you didn’t get it… would have been
weird with the Viper.”
“Hm, any reason why claw weapons aren’t good?” Jake asked.
“What kind? The kind where a few come out of your wrist and get stuck in
things while cutting or your flesh ripped apart by something getting wedged
in between them or someone simply slashing down the length of the
extended claw, or the type that is basically a glove?”
Jake scratched his hair. “The glove?”
“Also a great idea. Here, let me just tank the impacts with my hands while
believing my weak-ass human finger won’t snap like a broken twig if the
attack hits slightly wrong. If I used glove claws, I would be a grappler, but
that would just be a damn waste. Both types of claws commonly used just
don’t fit as well and sorely lack the penetrative effect of the katar. Also,
they are fundamentally slashing weapons and not stabbing weapons.
Stabbing is best in my opinion, and with your poison, I reckon it will be
even better,” sim-Jake explained while shaking his head.
“You know what? I will leave this up to the expert. When does the training
session begin?” Jake asked.
“Not now. I still need to figure stuff out and get a feel for this place. Rather
than asking, I would prefer to just absorb the knowledge directly. Also,
more than anything, I need to do one absolutely critical thing,” sim-Jake
said in a serious tone.
“Take a nap?”
“Right the fuck on once again,” sim-Jake grinned. “Molding that bone I am
in was tiring as hell. I will also take this time to observe you a bit to really
get a feel for where to start, though I already have a good idea. Also, this
just feels fair. You have been staring at me like a creepy stalker for my
entire life. Now it is my turn.”
“Blame the system, not me. And have a good nap!” Jake snickered as sim-
Jake waved him off as he waved his hand and summoned a bed and a
blanket out of nothingness. He got cozy under it as Jake disappeared from
the Soulspace and returned his full attention to the outside world.
The first he did when outside was to Identify the black bone once more…
and to be honest, Jake was not sure if he should be disappointed or not.
Okay, he was a little disappointed.
[Bone-weapon of the Hunter (Epic)] – A weapon containing the

simulacrum of Jake Thayne. Can be molded by the simulacrum.
Extremely tough and near-unbreakable as long as the simulacrum
persists. Highly upgradeable.
Requirement: Soulbound
It was… kind of bad? The system had done as it said and made the item
only meet the bare minimum requirements. In every way, it was just a really
tough bone that had now taken the shape of a katar, through a process that
was both slow and tiring.
However, that was only now. According to the description, the weapon was
highly upgradeable, and it was even possible he could combine it with
something else in the future. Naturally, it couldn’t even begin to hold a
candle to Eternal Hunger, but it was a start.
Putting it in his inventory, Jake thought about leaving as the option popped
up again. He picked the one for the special kids who had done well.
Administrator’s Terrace.
He was swept away a moment later and, to his surprise, appeared standing
on grass. He felt the soft soil under his feet and looked around as he saw a
beautiful garden surrounding him. However, rather than a cloudless sky and
a sun, he saw cloudless space and a lot of stars.
He was clearly within a hemisphere, but one different from any of the
others. Seeing nothing above them but stars, Jake guessed they were
perhaps at the very top of the Seat of the Exalted Prima. The air in the
garden felt incredibly refreshing, and the mana density was insanely high
and extremely pure. He nearly wanted to sit down and do alchemy there and
then but decided against it. One, because it would be a bit weird and there
were still more pressing things to do, and two, because he wasn’t alone.
Standing on the grass towards the edge of the hemisphere stood a single
figure, gazing out into the vast cosmos, clearly admiring the stars. The
figure looked over when he saw Jake and smiled.
“Ah, welcome. You are the first person besides me to arrive,” he said
courteously. Jake gazed at him with a bit of suspicion. He was not human
but had orange skin with blue tattoo-like markings all over it and had quite
an otherwordly look. Jake met the man’s eyes and saw they had no pupils
but instead reminded Jake of the stars beyond the faint barrier sealing them
in. They did have a faint red tint to them, though, making them only stand
out even more.
Jake naturally used Identify as he knew the man also used it on him.
[Nahoom – lvl ???]
He failed to pierce the man’s protection from Identify, and Jake knew the
other party also failed to Identify him. It was honestly to be expected. Jake
felt the man in front of him was strong… real strong. But he also didn’t feel
threatening in the least. In fact, he gave off incredibly good vibes to Jake
and did not at all register as an enemy. He seemed like an even more
approachable guy than even Jacob.
Oh, and there was one more important thing about the guy.
He had a Bloodline.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 490 - Beneath the Stars
The Path of Myriad Choices was an event quite a bit different than any
prior. It was not one that was decided by simply being strong or one that
could be teamed up for a strategized to beat. All you had was who you were
fundamentally and simulations showing you what your choices could have
changed.
To some, no simulation shown made them more than what they were. One
such person was Miranda. She saw five previews. One where she died
because she led them in another direction than where Haven would
eventually be founded, resulting in Jake never saving her, Hank, and the
kids. Three more were about choices in the Tutorial, only one of which
ended at least a little happily as she saved Hank’s wife and left the Tutorial
with them to settle down in a small settlement ruled by the Holy Church.
That was the one she had selected, as the fifth choice was her trying to take
over Haven from Jake and getting herself killed. With all these choices
being, well, bad, Miranda did not get any particularly valuable reward.
Except for one thing that was perhaps better than any minor item or title.
Confidence. Confidence in her Path and the choices she had made to get
where she was. Many had this happen to them as all they saw were worse or
maybe equal outcomes from making different choices. They experienced
newfound belief in their own decision-making and Paths, which would no
doubt help move them forward. To some extent, Jake was also in this camp.
Then there were the ones who saw only utterly negative options. One such
person was the former King of the Forest. All of his choices included him
not becoming the Fallen King. He had three options. One where he stayed
on his old planet and nothing of particular interest happened for the entire
period until Realtime, one where he killed Jake during the Tutorial and
returned to Earth only to overconfidently try and take over the planet,
resulting in death by humanity. Finally, a third choice of fleeing the fight
with Jake during the Tutorial, resulting in him still getting hunted down just
a year or so later back on Earth. All choices meant a far worse outcome, and
the Fallen King despaired at seeing how fortunate it was for him to get
killed.
A whole other segment saw Paths that were just… meaningless. Ones
where no choice was made truly had any major impact at all. All the
examples were of faintly similar scenes with only slight variation unless
some just led to early unfortunate deaths.
And then… then there was one person who got three options of so little
consequence the system should have been embarrassed for even offering
them. Sylphie had been given these minimum three, and none of them had
any impact whatsoever. Even the one where she rejected getting Stormild’s
Blessing ended up with Sylphie accepting it the next day after getting a
minor bribe from Jake to at least consider it.
Second-to-last, there was one more person with just outstanding choices.
One person who was offered six choices, but all had only minor variations
of their Path. It was the Sword Saint who, no matter what choices he made,
would end up with a sword in hand and one of the strongest on Earth.
Finally… there was an anomaly. A person that stood out from the get-go.
The thing is, the Path of Myriad Choices event was based on, well, choices.
Singular events with huge impact. So, what happens if said person had
never made a choice without considering everything about it first and
rapidly evaluating the outcome and course-correcting? You would get a
person who kept re-aligning his Path again and again.
You would get Arnold.
He and others also appeared within the Administrator’s Garden. Soon

enough, he was joined by the Sword Saint and a lot of individuals from
other worlds. All-in-all, around two hundred people ended up in the
Administrator’s Garden, making them Candidates.
“Hm?” the Sword saint suddenly said as he looked towards the far end of
the hemisphere garden and saw two people already there. Talking as they
gazed out into the vastness of space, both of them were clearly in an
excellent and friendly mood as they chatted away heartily.
--
Before anyone else made it to the garden, Jake and the man sized each other
up after the other party greeted him, as Jake finally replied. “It does indeed
appear I am the second to arrive. I assume you also did the system event?”
“I did. Quite an interesting experience, wouldn’t you agree? Did you find it
enlightening? I personally found much inspiration from seeing how much
impact a simple choice can have on one’s entire Path,” the alien man
answered in a friendly tone.
“Definitely an experience,” Jake agreed as he began walking over. The

other party gladly took a step to the side and invited Jake to join him at the
edge of the hemisphere.
“I have to ask, is nahoom the name of your race or something else?” Jake
asked. It was probably a bit rude of a question, but Jake had never
encountered the race mentioned anywhere before.
“We are a rare breed, it seems. I have not found any mention of my race in
any records either, so perhaps we are native to the ninety-third universe.
From what I have gathered, we seem to share most of our traits with elves
and the starborne. Naturally, we are not born as powerful entities like the
starborne, but we seem to share some affinities with them,” he explained.
Jake was amazed at the man’s willingness to share information and found it
only proper to respond in kind.
“I assume you already guessed I am human?” Jake asked.
“That one isn’t hard. You humans are quite widespread across the
multiverse, so not knowing about you would be a challenge,” the man
smiled and chuckled. “But rather than races, how about names? Ah, I mean
no offense if your culture does not use such things.”
Jake shook his head at the overly polite nahoom and answered. “Jake
Thayne, a pleasure to meet you.”
“Ell’Hakan. And the honor is all mine,” he bowed, and Jake returned the
bow politely. “Now, do tell, what kind of world do you hail from? What
exists in the cosmos has already interested me greatly.”
“I come from somewhere named Earth,” Jake answered. “A quaint little

place that got quite a bit larger after the initiation.”
“Sounds pleasant. Is it a blue or a red planet? What I mean is if it is a world

of greenery and vast oceans or one of dust and rock,” Ell’Hakan asked
further.
“Definitely on the blue side, even after the changes,” Jake answered.
“Plenty of greenery too. Heck, I live within a city placed in a forest called
Haven. Well, I live there sometimes. I am more the traveling kind and don’t
really have a set home, I guess?”
“Having a home is important,” Ell’Hakan disagreed slightly. “I hail from a

planet that is more on the red side. Most of our water is found underground,
but we made it work, and I live in a beautiful city myself. One that I also
rule, just as you do. Of course, without my companions and friends, I would
not be able to handle such responsibility, and it pains me to stand here
without them by my side.”
“Definitely essential to have good help. I have a friend called Miranda who
handles most, if not all, city-related things for me and have several good
friends that I made mainly through fighting. At least I consider them
friends. Shit, I even killed one, and we are now kind of on friendly terms?”
Jake explained with a bit of a chuckle.
“Having friends, especially those that one can trust, is more important than
anything. I myself try to be as trustworthy and genuine as possible. Though
I do have to admit that when I look back, most of my greatest allies right
now are there due to our shared Patron. Do tell, are you also blessed?”
Ell’Hakan asked in his continued friendly tone. Jake definitely got the
feeling that the guy was trustworthy just from their brief conversation. He
was like a capybara: friend-shaped.
“I do happen to have a Blessing,” Jake answered. He considered if he

should share more, but it wasn’t like he usually bothered hiding it, and
Ell’Hakan seemed like a good dude, so why not? “I am blessed by the
Malefic Viper. Ah, but don’t misunderstand, while he does have quite a bad
reputation, we get along very well.”
“Judging others solely based on the accounts of their detractors is never

wise. Better to meet them and reach your own conclusions. My Patron also
has unsightly rumors, but I shall not base my own judgment on that but
rather how the relationship we formed ourselves shape up,” Ell’Hakan said
understandingly.
He truly didn’t seem to care about Jake’s identity at all and didn’t view him
badly due to it. Yet he also clearly knew of the Viper, which would only
make sense if he was blessed by another god. The twelve Primordials were
pretty hot topics as far as Jake knew.
The entire conversation was interesting, and Ell’Hakan was undoubtedly a

character worth knowing. Jake definitely got a good feeling from him all-
around, like he was making an ally for life. He didn’t even bother when
other individuals appeared on the other end of the Administrator’s Garden,
and the man in front of him set up a quick isolation barrier. It was a nice
gesture.
“Sometimes I wonder why our Patrons chose us,” Ell’Hakan muttered out
loud after the barrier was formed to give them some more privacy. “Is it our
power or our persons? Tell me, how powerful are you? Truly?”
Jake shrugged as he felt like bragging a bit, especially as the barrier was
now there and no one untrustworthy could listen in. “Eh, I am actually 169
in both race, class, and profession level, so that is pretty damn nice. I also
got my own fair share of titles adding up further.”
“Impressive!” the man complimented Jake. “Now… this may be

presumptuous of me, and please do forgive me if I am wrong, but you are
the Chosen of the Malefic One, are you not? I heard from my Patron he
chose a mortal from this new universe, and with how impressive you are, I
cannot help but wonder if it isn’t you?”
Grinning, Jake confirmed. “I am his Chosen, yeah.”
Ell’Hakan smiled in return. “Another thing we have in common, it seems.

My Patron also chose me to make his Chosen. He has helped me a lot, but I
also know it is because of one of our other… commonalities. I have never
met anyone else with one, so I may be wrong, but you have a Bloodline,
right?”
There was really no reason to hide it. They could both detect it due to how
Bloodlines worked, so Jake naturally confirmed. “Sure do.”
“As one would expect of the Chosen of a Primordial. I cannot say my own
Bloodline is one that offers a lot of power, but I do wonder if yours does.
Tell me, what does this Bloodline of yours do?”
“Oh, it is called Bloodline of-“
*THUMP!*
A pulse went through Jake as he felt his own heartbeat. It stopped him
before he could answer further, and with the heartbeat came another feeling.
Clarity.
Ell’Hakan looked at Jake expectedly, and his smile only deepened when
Jake stopped himself. “Impressive indeed, Malefic’s Chosen. Few, if any,
manage to regain themselves.”
Jake stared at the guy as all of his previous feelings began dispersing.
Feelings that now seemed odd and ungenuine to him.
“What the fuck was that?” Jake asked as he clenched his fists. His danger
sense flared as he was about to charge forward to attack, not necessarily due
to Ell’Hakan but the rules of the Seat. He stopped, but he still stared as his
fingers dug into his palms.
“A greeting, Jake Thayne. Our first exchange. One made under the stars as
we both get to know the other and begin our shared story. It was truly an
enlightening encounter, and I must say I look forward to meeting you again
under less… let us say regulated circumstances,” Ell’Hakan said, his smile
never changing.
Jake was more focused on analyzing what had happened internally. The
question of “what the fuck was that?” was as much to Jake himself as the
man before him. A conclusion was swiftly reached: Bloodline. The guy had
some weird Bloodline that had affected Jake.
Addressing the words of Ell’Hakan, Jake grit his teeth. “Sure you want
that?”
“I am most certain I do,” he confirmed. “Our next meeting shall be far more
enlightening and eventful than this one, that I promise. And do not worry…
it will come earlier than you think.”
“If you ever-“
“Jake, do not misunderstand,” Ell’Hakan interrupted him. “You are not the
one who decides anything here. I do. Your role is already written, and so
far, I must say you are a brilliant actor. And with that, my part here is done.
Goodbye. For now.”
Before Jake could say anything else, the figure of Ell’Hakan disappeared
like it had never been there. Jake clenched his fists even harder and
punched the ground where the alien fuck had just disappeared from. His
level of anger was intense as he just stared at the now broken ground
ignoring the gazes of others directed at him.
What the fuck is that Bloodline? Jake asked himself as he considered what
had just happened. His emotions had been affected somehow? Was it mind
magic? A mind magic Bloodline? Was it something else? Emotion-control
of some sort, which would probably also be considered mind magic?
Jake was only happy that he had caught himself in the very last moment
before he revealed his Bloodline or any details. However, before that, he
had already overshared way too much. He had no idea what he had thought
when he just blurted out his damn levels and information on Earth like it
was nothing. Okay, he kind of knew… he did it because he truly felt in that
moment that there was nothing wrong with it and that he was talking to
someone genuinely trustworthy.
Well, that was a fucking lie. Jake cursed inwardly as he kept considering the
nature of the other person’s Bloodline. The only truly good thing was that at
least Ell’Hakan didn’t know Jake’s either. One thing was also for sure: he
would have his revenge the next time they met.
Jake shook his head and looked upwards with frustration. He just stood
there for a while staring into the cosmos within a massive space station
among the stars - the stars themselves, uncaringly staring back at him.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
New month! You all know what that means :D Best time to become a
Patron!


Chapter 491 - Meetings & Leaving
the Seat
Jake wanted to punch someone in the throat as he was still internally raging.
More than anything, his lack of understanding frustrated him the most. He
hadn’t felt anything was off until the very last moment when Ell’Hakan
perhaps went a bit too far with his questioning.
He had been complacent… Jake knew others had to constantly watch out
when it came to social skills and keep their minds steeled. Jake never did
that, as he always felt when someone tried any mind magic shenanigans.
Things would feel “off,” and his Bloodline would warn him, allowing him
to easily ignore or snap out of it. The Minotaur Mindchief was a prime
example of this early on his journey and had set a precedent.
However… against another Bloodline, Jake had no defense, at least not his
usual one. Whatever the Bloodline of Ell’Hakan did, it could affect his
emotions and make him trust someone for no god damn reason. Actually,
thinking more about it, the man had asked Jake several questions first that
he would have asked without anything shady going on, such as sharing he
was indeed a human and had done the same event and whatnot. Even asking
about his planet seemed pretty damn normal. Why wouldn’t you be curious
about what other worlds were out there?
He had slowly eased into more personal questions and asked about subjects
Jake would usually keep a secret, yet Jake had at the time felt like he was
just answering mundane things to a trusted friend. No, perhaps more than a
trusted friend as he would never share details of his Bloodline with anyone,
even with Villy.
Wait… maybe that is why it crossed a line.

Bloodlines would never be all-powerful. There was no way the guy could
just make Jake trust him fully, and even if Jake did trust him fully, he would
never share details about his Bloodline. That was the one thing that no level
of trust would make him share. So maybe that was it… he could make
people slowly trust him somehow?
It felt too simple, but it was all Jake truly had for now. Either way, if that
was truly what it did, Jake would make sure that Ell’Hakan could trust that
Jake would turn him into a pin-cushion with arrows the next time they met.
Jake was thrown out of his thoughts as the Sword Saint walked over.
Everyone had seen Jake punching the ground, and a few had backed away,
afraid, but the old man clearly wasn’t the frightful type. “It appears you
have made a new enemy?”
Sighing, Jake turned to look at the old man. “If you ever see him, watch out.
He has a Bloodline with some kind of emotional control, or at the very least
one that makes him somehow feel trustworthy. Also, he appears to be the
Chosen of some god.”
The Sword Saint frowned. “Disturbing to have an enemy with unknown

powers. However, the most important thing is to prepare for what may
happen. Do you believe he may target Earth?”
Jake shook his head. “No idea, but it seems improbable. He would need
some way to get to our planet, and even if we are in the same galaxy, that
seems challenging. It is more likely he personally views me as an enemy for
some god damn reason. Probably related to the Viper.”
The old man nodded. “I see. Now do tell, I heard you returned to Earth
recently, leaving the Order, which makes me wonder. How is my great-
granddaughter doing there?”
Contrary to what many would expect, Jake actually knew as he answered.

“I checked with the Viper a week ago while hunting and was told she is
making slow and steady progress. She isn’t in any danger if that is what you
are afraid of. The Order is rather stringent with its rule of not killing other
members. As long as she doesn’t accept tea from anyone, she should be
good.”
“As expected then,” the Sword Saint smiled before turning more serious.
“Do not baby or even attempt to help her unless absolutely necessary. Reika
has always been good at everything, to the detriment of her own
development. She always had the best of everything, and I believe she
needs to face others who are superior to truly progress.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “A bit harsh. I already think she got a wake-up call
as she didn’t do that well in the entrance test, and it seemed to motivate her
more than anything.”
“Motivation can be a fleeting emotion after what one believes to be only a

minor momentary setback. Reika needs to see others outdo her and for her
to chase behind them, feeling like she will never be able to catch up no
matter what she does,” the old man explained in a stern tone.
“Again, sounds harsh. Isn’t that more likely to just make her hopeless?”
Jake asked.
“If such a situation is enough for her to despair and surrender, then so be it.
With a lacking mindset dependent on comparing yourself to others for
validation, she would never reach the top. Reika is one of the smartest
people I know, but that does not instantly make her the fastest learner or the
best at everything. I firmly believe she can reach far… but she will be slow.
Her caution and perfectionism will lead to greatness only if she has the
patience and will to realize her potential without believing she also has to
beat others in the process,” the Sword Saint answered.
“Tough love then,” Jake reckoned. He didn’t disagree necessarily, and even
if he did, it wasn’t his place to argue or decide what the old man wanted for
his family..
“You can view it like that. Moving on to other topics, are you satisfied with
your gains from this event?” the old man asked.
“Oh yeah, definitely,” Jake answered, finally smirking a bit. Sim-Jake was
still being a sleepy Jake and would be for a bit, but Jake was really looking
forward to him and his simulacrum’s future.
“Then do not dwell on a single negative encounter but look towards the
future. Remember, you are the one who decides how a potential next
meeting plays out. If you are stronger, that is,” the old swordsman smiled
encouragingly.
“True,” Jake nodded and smiled. “How about you, good rewards?”
“Naturally. I must say, this entire event was very enlightening. Did you
know that in every single scenario, we ended up fighting? The outcome did
change some of the times. The time and place also changed, but we always
ended up in a duel,” the Sword Saint chuckled. “I am not a believer in fate,
but perhaps we were fated to fight.”
“Or, more likely, we are just two humans pushed together by system events
and relatively close to each other geographically, while both being overly
competitive and battle-hungry, making our desire to eventually duel
natural,” Jake countered.
“But is that not fate? A foreseeable future based on who we are? I would
think the Augur would argue that is exactly how fate works. Never a
guarantee but a prediction with high likelihood.”
“Maybe, but I really don’t wanna talk about fate or any of that crap right
now… reminds me of that orange fucker from before,” Jake shook his head.
“I also need to get going. I wanna catch Casper before he leaves.”
“Very well. Greet the Risen from me, and godspeed. And remember… if
any outsider does come to Earth, you are not the only one able to defend it,”
the old man assured him.
Jake said his goodbyes and willed himself to leave the Terrace after also
noticing Arnold had already left, clearly not interested in exploring some
garden.
He appeared back where he and the other Earthlings had originally entered
the Seat of the Exalted Prima. Jake hoped Casper was still around as he
began tracking and searching for his old pal’s mana signature. Luckily,
Risen were pretty darn easy to track down as all that death affinity made
them stand out. It did not take him long to get a scent, and based on how
fresh it was, Casper had to still be around.
When he began moving towards where he felt Casper, the scent got
stronger. Maybe even too strong, and a bit of scanning picked up hundreds
of similar mana signatures. So, the Risen are having a meeting, huh?
Jake didn’t hesitate to walk in, getting a few odd stares as he noticed many
others kept their distance. Even in the Seat of the Exalted Prima, the Risen
clearly weren’t popular. He didn’t particularly care and walked into an area
belonging to another planet.
When he got closer, he noticed several guards outside. They threw him a
look, and one of them raised his hand. “Please do not go any further and
create problems. We are merely having a meeting, nothing insidious.”
He stopped and Identified the man.
[Risen Elf – lvl 126]
“I am just here to see a friend before he leaves this event,” Jake explained.
The two guards looked at each other with suspicion as Jake elaborated. “It
is to give him something.”
“Alright,” one of the guards relented. “But please allow one of us to escort
you.”
“Sure,” Jake shrugged. They couldn’t fight, so why even have guards?
Couldn’t people just walk in anyway? Jake sure could have. He was just
being polite to not piss off Casper’s new pals.
The elf joined him as an escort and led Jake into a room filled with Risen.
Priscilla and Casper were both there, along with who Jake guessed were
other leaders. Jake’s presence instantly drew attention as they all turned to
him. Now, they had taken precautions and were within an isolation barrier,
but Jake had his sphere, so he noticed their very suspicious looks.
Luckily, Casper acted quick and excused himself as he went outside the
barrier. “Jake, I did not expect you to come.”
“Having a meeting about how to take over the universe and turn it into a
land of death?” Jake asked jokingly.
A joke that did not land, as instantly, he felt everyone within the barrier be
on guard. He saw Priscilla nervously begin to explain and calm the others,
but Casper just laughed and went along with it. “Damn, you caught us; I
guess I will have to start a zombie apocalypse on Earth now.”
“Over my dead body. Wait, no, that would only be playing into your plans!”
Jake smirked. “Good to see you again. I don’t want to disturb your meeting
for too long, but I just came to give you this.”
Jake took out the Root of Eternal Resentment and presented it. He had
already had it within Palate for a long time and learned nearly everything he
could. With the curse energy also absorbed, Jake had little use for it, even if
it was a great treasure. He also knew Casper wanted and needed it, so he
decided to finally hand it over.
Casper stared at it for a bit before asking: “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
Casper nodded and took it. Jake saw him scan it magically as he looked at
Jake. “You madman, you actually used all of it!? I expected you to use a
portion or do a slow infusion or something like that, but everything!?”
Jake scratched his head. “Well, yeah? It was good stuff, and everything
worked out well, didn’t it?”
“Sure did. Let’s not talk about that little incident, right? Anyway… can I
see it?”
Smiling proudly, Jake pulled out Eternal Hunger and presented it to a
visibly excited Casper. The man moved forward and touched the blade as
his eyes widened. “This is just insanity and very much the sort of thing I
would expect from you.”
“I shall take that as a compliment.”
“It was a compliment; I love it. That weapon is a pure marvel,” Casper
smiled. “Thanks for the root, man. I promise I will put it to good use. If you
get the time, you should come by and visit. I have something new and
interesting to show you.”
“What is it?” Jake asked expectedly.
“A secret. You can see it if you come,” Casper teased.
“Fine, keep your secrets,” Jake joked back as he gave his mate a bump on
the shoulder. “Nice meeting up. Oh, and I should say hi from the old man.
I’m gonna leave you be and allow you all to continue planning for world
domination.”
“Do begone pathetic being of life,” Casper smirked as he waved Jake off. “
And good to see you again, Jake.”
Jake left the secret undead meeting and went to see a few other people,
including Miranda and his brother. He checked in with Caleb to see how his
family was doing and, contrary to expectations, was told he shouldn’t hurry
to visit but focus on himself. His parents understood and were patient, just
making Jake want to visit more.
With all meetings done, Jake tried to look for Carmen but found she had
already left, so he entered the simulation space once more, where it quickly
became apparent the Seat of the Exalted Prima had nothing more to offer
for now. Standing in the simulation room, Jake considered if it was time to
leave.
Sim-Jake was still asleep, and he had done everything he needed. He sighed
as he remembered the talk with Ell’Hakan again as he willed himself to
leave the simulation room. He then returned to Earth’s hall and teleported
back to Earth once more.
Jake appeared back where he had entered the Seat of the Eternal Prima
from, still standing in the broken jungle not far from where the
Phantomshade Panther had been killed. It did not take long for a familiar
presence to descend and the expected question to be asked:
“So, had fun at the Seat of the Exalted Prima?” Villy asked a bit teasingly.
“It was certainly something,” Jake answered. “I will tell you about it later,
but first… do you know of anyone named Ell’Hakan?”
“I cannot say I do. Why?”
Jake proceeded to explain what had happened. How he had nearly revealed
his Bloodline due to the other’s Bloodline and how the other party had
acted as if everything had been planned out and made threats. It didn’t take
long before the Viper had an answer.
“Sounds like the Chosen of Yip of Yore,” Villy answered.
“So?” Jake asked.
“Yeah?”
“So what the hell is up with him? Who is this god? Who the hell is his
Chosen and why is he after me, and do you have something, anything, more
to add?” Jake exclaimed, a bit frustrated.
“Jake, what you are dealing with is called a mortal issue, not a god issue.
Figure shit out yourself. I will tell you that Yip sees this as a fight by proxy,
and as my proxy, I choose to trust you to handle it. The only real piece of
advice I will give you is to not let your guard down and that this kind of
opponent fights in a less straightforward way than you are used to. Do not
expect him to just pop up and fight you in a duel, but something far more
elaborate. As the Chosen of Yip, this mortal will clearly be one tricky
bastard, but this is where my input ends. Ah, I forgot to add the most
important piece of advice. Don’t die, alright?” Villy explained.
“I will try,” Jake muttered as he shook his head. “Enough about that weird
fuck. Allow me to instead introduce you to my new best friend and tell you
the glorious story of how we met…”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
New month! You all know what that means :D Best time to become a
Patron!


Chapter 492 - Great Wonders &
Wondering What To Level
A note from Zogarth
Break announcement: https://www.patreon.com/posts/71540652
TLDR: Taking October off, Patreon payment will be paused during the
month.
Jake narrated his brief trip to the Seat of the Exalted Prima and talked about
the event. Villy asked several questions along the way, even some technical
ones, about how the simulation worked and what Jake had learned while
experiencing it. He was especially interested when Jake got to the
conversation he had with the system together with sim-Jake. Of course,
what he was most interested in was sim-Jake himself.
”So, it appears you entered what we call a Parallel World Simulation

rather than a Dreamscape Simulation. The difference between these is that
one is ”real” while the other one is ”fake,” if that makes sense. Parallel
worlds are pretty damn rare but do offer more opportunities and are
actually accurate, while a dreamscape is nothing more than a fantasy
constructed primarily with pieces from your own mind and inaccurate
details, all based on the Records of the one who experiences the
simulation,” Villy explained. ”This also does mean the simulacrum you
have eaten is truly his own person and even had his own Truesoul while in
his own universe.”
”I have figured out that last part,” Jake nodded. ”But, do you have any
experience with what happened? What it may mean in the future, any risks,
and what I might gain out of it? Also, can you interact with the
simulacrum?”
”Yes, maybe, some, depends, and no. You really need to get better at asking
singular questions. I have had experience with other simulacrums from
Parallel World Simulations crossing over. Not myself, but people I have
known in the past. What you will gain out of it and any risks is ultimately
dependent on the simulacrum in question, but from the looks of it, there
won’t be any issues there. The worst thing I have seen happen is that
someone gained a split personality and suffered extreme delusions and even
parallel senses. That eventually led to him going utterly insane and
destroying a few dozen solar systems, believing that nothing was real and
that he was stuck inside an illusion before finally getting put out of his
misery. And one of the reasons why no one could ever help him was because
no, I cannot interact with your simulacrum. He does not exist in our world,
only within your Truesoul. He is still anchored to the simulation as without
the simulation, he would not exist, and without him existing, neither would
the simulation. They are conceptually entangled in every possible sense,”
Villy answered, giving Jake quite a bit more insight into sim-Jake and
echoing much of what the system had said.
”Are there risks of me also fucking myself up?” Jake asked as he had bit
onto the part about someone going insane.
”Probably not. May this simulacrum slightly affect you? Sure, but not to an
extreme level. The primary difference was that in the example, both believed
themselves to be the real person and the other the simulacrum. Whenever
one was in charge, the other one believed they were possessed and would
fight for control resulting in a fucked up Soulspace. In your case, you are in
agreement on who is real and who is a simulacrum and that one day you
will rejoin,” Villy answered.
Jake nodded along before asking further: ”Are there ways to make my other
self persist?”
”Before I answer that, I want to hear why you even consider that something
that should be done?”
”Just to, you know, allow him to be him,” Jake shrugged.
”Look at it like this. Right now, he is effectively a clone you separated from
yourself at a certain point in life. While bringing a simulacrum to the real
world is not normal, reuniting with clones is. Some even purposefully create
a clone to send them into areas cut off from the outside to allow them to
develop by themselves for a while. Then, later on, the real version and clone
reunite and merge, gaining from what each has done in the meanwhile.
Granted, this method is risky and leaves you weakened while your clone
exists, but it is more common than you would think. In these cases, both are
fully aware of who is real and who is the clone from the get-go, and
remerging is a given. They both want to remerge. No matter what, this
simulacrum will not die as long as you live, for he will be you in both body
and mind, and he too will want to merge. Your souls want to be one. To gain
all you can for now and benefit for both your sakes,” Villy said, giving
good insight as always, adding in the end.
”Just do know there is an innate power imbalance, and it isn’t that you will
gain all his memories or Records. So training with him is best. Out of
everyone, no one understands you better than yourself, so take advantage
while it lasts. Also, I gotta add, having yourself as your teacher is the
epitome of ”fuck it, I’ll do it myself,” and I applaud it.”
”Alright,” Jake nodded and smiled a bit at the last joke. Believing they had
enough simulation talk, he moved on. ”So, the Seat of the Exalted.”
”Definitely one of the Great Wonders of the ninety-third universe. Well, not
this Seat itself, but what links it all together. The true headquarters of this
massive undertaking. Perhaps this Exalted Prima is even a Bound God,”
Villy answered rather confidently.
For some context. While in the Order, Jake had bumped into the mention of
Great Wonders quite a few times and had wondered – pun intended – what
they were all about. It turns out that with the birth of each universe came
places created not just for the native universe but the multiverse as a whole.
Chances are the Seat or wherever the Seat led to was one such place.
Jake knew of a few other famous Great Wonders. The most famous one was
Nevermore, where the Primordial known as the Wyrmgod had ended up
effectively taking it over and ruling the dungeon, but others included the
White Sun, a massive star and one of the largest celestial bodies in the
multiverse, or the Mothership of Null, a giant spaceship of sorts where no
magic could exist. There were many others, but some disappeared with
time, some only appeared at set times before fading away for a period
again, and most importantly, most were not aimed at anyone on Jake’s level
but those who had reached far higher. A place like the White Sun would
instantly kill even weak gods just by them getting near.
The second thing was Bound Gods. Bound Gods were not living beings
with Truesouls but gods born out of objects or places. They would be real in
every way but be limited severely and most often served a function of sorts
rather than possessing truly free will. Many believed these Bound Gods
were merely apparitions of the system like the Guide, but others believed
they were creatures born by the system to run certain places or even as
protectors of some zones.
Another reason for a Bound God to exist was also simple enough –
deterrence. Most Great Wonders in the multiverse were claimed and
controlled by factions, but those with Bound Gods were often different. A
Bound God would often have total control over what they inhabited, so
even if they were weaker than a god, they still had the ultimate defense of
merely making the Great Wonder useless by stopping its functions.
Destroying a Bound God was also impossible unless one destroyed the
Great Wonder, and destroying one tended to be a good way to make a lot of
enemies. Some had been destroyed throughout history, but it was incredibly
rare as with every time one was lost, it was lost forever and considered a
major setback for the multiverse.
Of course, this assumed anyone was strong enough to destroy a Bound God.
Some Bound Gods in the multiverse were more powerful than even
Primordials.
”I do find it probable it is a Bound God of some sort and that it is a Great
Wonder,” Jake answered. ”Having been there, it was clear that it wasn’t just
made for this one event; it even existed in the universe itself and not some
hidden dimension. Moreover, with its competitive element, I believe the
plan is for someone to gain at least some partial control of these Seats, and
with that in mind, there would have to be some protections in place, or this
whole Administrator Candidate business would be useless.”
”I second that. It is a massive opportunity to get system-sanctioned partial

control of any Great Wonder if it truly is one,” Villy agreed.
”So… this is one of the reasons why so many gods want to get involved in
new universes, right?” Jake asked, understanding a bit more.
”Right on. This event is only open to you natives, and you have a first-
mover advantage. Having just some influence will allow one a better
position to negotiate and form alliances or even sell off eventual rights,”
Villy said.
”So, you want me to try and claim this Seat of the Exalted in the Milky
Way?” Jake asked.
”I would recommend for you to at least try, not for the Order but for
yourself. You said you got a title just for doing this event; imagine what you
would get for taking control of something even factions like the Holy
Church want? Of course, this doesn’t mean you have to actually want the
Great Wonder. You can always just use it as a bargaining chip. Also, for full
disclosure, I would one-hundred percent benefit from you doing well as you
are my Chosen, so definitely a good idea,” the Viper said a bit shamelessly.
”Aight… finally, do you think the Chosen of Yip of Yore is a legitimate

threat right now? Like, can he come to Earth?” Jake decided to ask. He
genuinely didn’t know. Considering how much they struggled with making
a teleportation network on Earth, it seemed unlikely, but one could never
know.
”Why would the answer to that question matter?”

Jake frowned. ”To know if I need to get as many levels under my belt fast
in case it comes to a fight.”
”That is up to you. My only advice is that you are truly in no rush for
anything. What is the worst that can happen? Either you win, or you should
be strong enough to just not engage no matter what you do. Worst case, just
leave the planet and go somewhere no one knows who you are. With Shroud
of the Primordial, no one would find you,” Villy answered. ”All of this
assuming he can go to Earth in the first place and can actually fight you.”
Jake considered the Viper’s words for a bit. He was currently level 169 in
both his class and profession, meaning he could focus on either. Focusing
on his profession was slower for sure, while he could get quite a few quick
class levels if he went hunting for a couple of weeks.
However… the more he thought about it, the less wise it seemed to focus on
his class levels at the current time. Recent happenings made Jake reconsider
many things, and he knew he would need a lot of live combat to properly
learn to fight in melee, which would include a lot of hunting. However,
before that, he would need sim-Jake to be ready to teach him and for Jake to
probably practice with his simulacrum for quite a while.
It has also been a while since he had been back at the Order and done some
alchemy. He had many shelved projects like the Bee Queen ritual he needed
to get going, and he could always use more time doing alchemy. If the
orange asshole did come to Earth, it wasn’t like the planet was defenseless
either. Shit, who was he even to think he was the protector of their world?
There were many C-grades stronger than him, and even the King had him
beat. The Sword Saint also felt more powerful than ever when they met in
the Seat of the Exalted Prima.
To summarize… Jake would just focus on himself and what he needed to

do. He wanted power, and he was playing the long game to get it. He would
need to get his profession leveled up anyway, so why not now? He could
then save his class for when he and sim-Jake began their melee training
session.
”I am planning on heading to the Order again then,” Jake said. ”Let’s hope
some good lessons are coming up.”
”I will have beer ready,” Villy just said as the connection faded.
Jake shook his head and began retreating a bit from the jungle. He was
lucky to find a hill with a cave in it and promptly headed inside, where he
got to work. He pulled out a small pamphlet given by Villy on how to set up
the teleportation formation.
Reading it carefully, Jake quickly got the gist of it and began working. With
the ancient skill Soul Ritualism of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist, Jake
figured things out far faster than expected as it filled in the gaps where
needed, and in less than an hour, the formation was complete. He was
surprised when it was done as it seemed to become one with the
environment, and he could barely feel it was even there.
After a bit of testing, he stepped into the middle of it. ”Oh well, here goes.
Let’s hope no Void Dwellers decide to poke me along the way,” Jake said a
bit jokingly.
As he activated the formation, he felt Villy assist with energy. Before long,
he was teleported away, his final thought before disappearing being about a
certain elf he hadn’t seen in a while.
I wonder how Meira is doing and if she is keeping up with her lessons.
--
Meira studied the tome carefully to make sure she understood everything
properly before she had to go take care of the garden. The book was about
the energy circulation systems and physiology of different creatures in the
multiverse. It was complicated, but her teacher had emphasized that she
memorize as many diagrams as she could before the next lesson.
It was a bit harder than usual as she had to copy down some parts. Nella and
Utmal had asked for her to do it for them, and Meira had naturally agreed as
they were friends. She had discovered that the books in her Master’s library
were a notch above what others had publicly available, and many of the
tomes were considered of the highest tier. Naturally, she couldn’t take out
any books of real value but only the most common ones, so she had to copy
down anything important to show the others. Nella and especially Utmal
had pressured her a bit to just bring the books, but Meira was hesitant as she
didn’t have permission.
Contrary to what many would perhaps expect, Meira didn’t question her
Master’s absence in the slightest. It was natural that his residence within the
Order was but one of many, and she was sure he had plenty of servants and
slaves elsewhere. Anything else would just be weird for someone as
esteemed as the Chosen of a Primordial. She knew he wanted to keep his
identity a secret in the Order, which was why he only had a single slave, but
he no-doubt had more on his home planet.
She still, of course, hoped he was doing well and that he would return
someday. Until then, Meira would just keep up with her studies, and
hopefully… maybe… her Master would even be a bit proud of how well
she had done and even that she had made some friends.
Meira smiled a bit at the thought as she finished copying down the final
diagram and got up to head towards the garden. On the way, she checked
the mansion was in good condition as usual and didn’t think much as she
opened the door to the living room.
The moment she did, she froze on the spot as her eyes opened wide.
”I am just saying Jake should have stayed longer the first time around, and
he needs a good talking to about staying firm and the true importance of
alchemy! He didn’t even get to study any proper ritualism or formation
magic. Just look at how slow he is setting down that magic circle!” the
Grand Elder and leader of the entire Academy, Duskleaf, said
disapprovingly.
”And I am arguing that going back finally got him laid, which is invaluable
for his personal development,” the Malefic Viper, the almighty Primordial
and leader of the Order, argued.
Meira didn’t even have time to properly register what they were talking
about before she passed out from the sheer presence of the two gods.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 493 - Not Blackmail
Jake stood with his hand covering his face in a solid facepalm as he stared
at the chaos that was his living room. Using his sphere, the very moment he
teleported into the garden, he saw everything. The trip had been smooth, if
a bit nauseating as usual, with no void stuff along the way, and he had
entered with expectations of finally relaxing a bit, only to come home and
see two honored gods acting like children.
In the doorway to the room lay an unconscious Meira, and on the sofa, Villy
was busy arguing with Duskleaf about Duskleaf wanting a ”temporary leave
of absence” from the Academy to do a minor experiment that would “only
be a few thousand years tops,” with Villy telling him that he would take
away his cauldron if he did. Jake really didn’t want to get involved, and
luckily they both stopped arguing when Jake entered the house and went
towards the living room.
”Should I expect an explanation?” Jake asked the moment he entered the

room.
”It is a welcome party,” Villy said as he lifted up and showed a can of beer.
Lifted from a pyramid of beers made on the sofa table.
”I wasn’t gone for that long, only a few weeks,” Jake commented.
”Which is basically forever for you mortals, isn’t it?” Villy cheekily
countered.
Jake shook his head and looked at the plump Duskleaf sitting on the couch
just looking at him. ”Hey Duskleaf, been a while. I didn’t take you as the
sort to join in for these kinds of things.”
Duskleaf looked a bit embarrassed and combed his beard with his hand as
he tried to look wise. ”I am not here due to this welcome party but to
discuss your recent commitment issues. I saw you headed back to your little
planet not long ago after only being here for a short while, and I firmly
believe that was a gross miss-prioritization of your time.”
”Oh. Well, I was asked by a friend to help out, so I had to head back,” Jake
just shrugged.
”While that is an understandable sentiment, you must remember that

alchemy always takes precedent!” Duskleaf argued with great fervor.
”I also needed to head back to gather the necessary items to participate in a

system event that may eventually lead to taking partial control of a Great
Wonder,” Jake added, shrugging again. ”But I guess you got a point. Titles
giving percentage bonuses to stats and controlling Great Wonders probably
isn’t worth my time.”
”I…” Duskleaf said as he just shook his head. ”Naturally, it is healthy to

sometimes take a brief break to reflect on recent experiments and obtained
data. But that break is over now, right?”
”I am back, aren’t I?” Jake just smirked. ”Thanks for the concern. I do plan
on staying for a while. Now, with all that handled, why is everyone ignoring
Meira just lying there?”
He finally decided to address the fainted elf in the room as he went over to
her.
Villy shook his head and sighed. ”You know that is entirely your fault,
right? Suppressing one’s aura and presence takes conscious effort, and as I
said, it doesn’t really work if the individual knows who you are, and no way
I will bother making myself invisible when visiting. We have gotten used to
not needing to hold back our auras in your presence, so it is one-hundred
percent your responsibility to make sure she can handle it.”
Jake looked over to Villy as he levitated Meira over to a chair and sat her
down on it as he argued: ”And how do you expect for me to handle it?”
”Well, by either not caring that she faints or by training her not to,” Villy
answered, giving a surprisingly reasonable response. Jake wasn’t really sure
why he hadn’t considered using his special ”talents” to help Meira train her
resistance to presences. It would make life a lot easier if she didn’t
constantly faint whenever Villy stopped by. Then again, maybe she would
still faint, presence or not? Either way, it seemed like something he should
do.
”Are you confident that would be wise?” Duskleaf asked Villy. ”The elf is
commonly known as Jake’s, and any development in resistance to presences
such as the one he provides is outside the norm. Considering it is also
known that his Bloodline offers resistance to presences, it wouldn’t be an
overreach to conclude others would infer that he can also, at the very least,
train this resistance to others if the elf gets it. Right now, only Umbra – due
to Jake’s brother - and the two of us truly know. A few others may also, but
it may spread and become public knowledge if he does teach her. Jake has
chosen not to do so yet to hide this ability of his, right?”
Duskleaf asked Jake the last part, and he felt a little bad at seeing the level
of belief the old alchemist had in him. Villy threw Jake a knowing smile as
Jake just scratched his head a bit and chuckled. ”Eh, I don’t think it is a big
deal if people know? Isn’t it actually pretty easy to hide the real truth? I can
just say it requires a slave contract or something to share the resistance due
to a skill or something.”
”That will work until people become aware of your brother,” Duskleaf
argued.
”Do you really think Umbra will openly share it? I am sure people can
come on a hundred different explanations as to why he is resistant,” Jake
shrugged.
”Oh, I do think that would work, except you also helped train some of his
people when you went to their city, who now also know,” Villy snickered.
”The dragon will be out of the egg soon no matter what you do, so I truly
don’t think it is that big a deal. You may even be able to turn it to your
advantage.”
”Ultimately, it is your decision,” Duskleaf sighed.
Jake smiled at him. ”Thanks for the concern either way.”
He then went over and began picking up some papers that Meira had
dropped. Jake did find it a bit funny she still wasn’t used to the spatial ring
he had gotten her, as he saw the papers all contained rather complex
diagrams.
Duskleaf also noticed when Jake brought them over and looked interested.
”Oh, are you teaching the girl alchemy?”
Jake nodded. ”Well, not really me per-se. You see, I have this plan…”
He explained his plan of making Meira a real member of the Order by

properly teaching her and how he had her attend lessons and do her own
thing. Duskleaf nodded along and motioned for Jake to hand him the
papers. Seeing no reason not to, Jake handed him the diagrams.
The god looked them over and nodded as he muttered mostly incoherent
words under his breath. ”Shoddy… acceptable… no… hm…”
Jake and Villy both just stared at him as Villy asked teasingly: “So, is the
girl some hidden genius you just have to take a student?”
“Hm?” Duskleaf grunted as he looked up. “No, not at all. Her dedication to
detail is respectable, but she made several mistakes, and her notes are all
over the place. She does have a healer class, though, doesn’t she?”
“Yeah,” Jake confirmed, not knowing why it mattered.
“Those are rare at least,” the old alchemist nodded.
“Wait, why are they rare?” Jake asked, confused.
“Not rare in the context of the multiverse, even if they are the rarest type of
class. We are talking about here in the context of the Order,” Villy butted in.
“If you haven’t noticed by now, we here in the Order tend to be self-serving
assholes, so who would waste their class on being a healer? That is for
those who even have classes. A lot only have one or the other, and
considering they are in the Academy, they likely have an alchemy
profession.”
“Oh,” Jake realized. “Makes perfect sense. I assume that gives her some
advantages?”
“Some,” Duskleaf answered. “Minor, but there is synergy and overlap. Her
knowledge of physiology is at a high level, likely from her class and
learning how to be a better healer. However, her general skills when it
comes to learning, studying, and taking notes are atrocious. I guess you
cannot expect anything better from someone who has lived in servitude
their entire life. Does seem at least a bit worth training if you think she has
the dedication and mindset to progress.”
“I see,” Jake sighed as he got an idea and tossed Duskleaf a sly look.
“Guess I will add teaching her some general stuff to my to-do list then,
along with the resistance training. Going to be a busy stay.”
“What?” Duskleaf asked in shock. “Absolutely not. You need to focus on

alchemy when here, not messing around. The resistance training is fine as
you can do that passively, but spending dedicated time on teaching her is
out of the question.”
Jake looked at Duskleaf and tilted his head. “She will have to be taught.”
Villy smirked in the background and nearly failed to hold back a laugh as
Duskleaf shook his head. “I am not foolish enough to fall for something that
childish.”
“Man, and here I was hoping I could do some more shenanigans with my
arcane affinity and Bloodline in a ritual with the Bee Queen to make
another creature a bit like Sylphie,” Jake sighed. “I was even hoping to ask
you for advice and have you help and naturally observe the entire process.”
Duskleaf gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. “Are you blackmailing
me?”
“What?” Jake said, acting shocked. “I would never do such a thing. I
merely realize that due to my workload, I will have to re-prioritize my tasks
and abandon the ritual. Such a bummer. I was really hoping to see what
kind of being I could make now. Especially after I have evolved and even
partly merged with a simulacrum from a Parallel World Simulation that
realized it was in a simulation with whom we, together, reached an
agreement by negotiation with a system entity.”
“After you did what?” Duskleaf jumped a bit.
“Eh, nothing. I already talked with Villy about it, and seeing how busy you
are, I don’t want to waste any more of your time talking about such boring
topics,” Jake waved him off as he made another exaggerated sigh.
“Jake,” Duskleaf suddenly said, turning far more serious than before.
“Trying to blackmail a god will never end well.”
“Pretty sure I already clarified I am not blackmailing anyone?” Jake asked

with a big smile. “And you keep forgetting that acting threatening has no
effect when I feel more animosity and danger from the countertop than
you.”
“Fine,” Duskleaf finally relented. He then stood up and took out a green
fist-sized seed and prickled his finger to put a single drop of blood on it.
The seed sprouted instantly and, within five seconds, formed a fully
humanoid form that looked like an exact copy of Duskleaf himself.
“This is one of those high-level cloning techniques I told you about, Jake,”
Villy said with a smile from the sofa as he asked Duskleaf. “How much of
your power did you put into that?”
“Nothing. I improved the seeds,” the newly sprouted version of Duskleaf

answered. “However, they have a limited duration as it runs on the seeds
alone.”
“How long?” Villy asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Around two billion years,” Duskleaf answered, looking disappointed.
“Takes about the same amount of time to grow one.”
Jake listened in, and while some might feel bad about how he roped in
Duskleaf and even made him spend a seed he had grown for longer than
humanity on Earth had existed, Jake was totally fine with it. “So, that clone
will stay here?” he asked.
“What? No. While it will be available, I can’t waste it too much. It can still
display around ten percent of my full capabilities, you know,” the clone
once more answered.
“It is as I said,” the real Duskleaf said. “I will leave this clone here and
teach both the girl and you. Just remember to include me in the ritual.”
Jake gave him an affirmative nod before the god teleported away without
any detectable spatial disturbance.
Villy just grinned and looked at the cloned Duskleaf. “You can still drink
beer even as a little beansprout, can’t you?”
“Naturally,” Duskleaf – or Sproutleaf if Jake wanted to be cheeky –

answered as he took a seat on the sofa where the real version had been
before. Once he was sitting down, he looked at Jake. “And now you tell me
everything about that system event and let us go over your plans for the
ritual with the Queen Bee.”
Jake nodded and smiled as Villy tossed him a beer can. He popped it open,
took a whisk, and began. “As I said, then Villy and I think the event may
have taken place in something linked to a Great Wonder…”
Within a throne room on a planet far away from Earth, the servants waited
expectantly. At times, some would appear, teleported there by the system
itself, as they too joined the other servants in awaiting the return of their
king. The grand palace in which they kneeled was a marvel of pre-system
engineering and was created from a bronze-like metal native to their world.
A material only allowed to be used by the royal family.
Soon, the room was filled with servants as finally, their leader appeared.
Ell’Hakan was teleported right in front of the throne, and he had a big smile
on his face. Minutes passed as he seemed to have an internal dialogue – or a
talk with his Patron – before he turned and briefly regarded his
subordinates.
”Has everything been delivered?” he asked one of the servants standing at

the front – one of only fourteen people only kneeling on one knee.
She nodded. ”Everything has been prepared, and they signed the agreed-
upon contract as expected. They are fast proceeding on their end but will
still require some time to fully prime the array. It will be ready in time.”
Ell’Hakan thanked her, adding. ”We cannot expect too much from them.
Even with the guidance of my Patron, there are limits to the competency of
the lesser. However, I believe they shall play their role adequately.”
The woman nodded. ”Even if they are less skilled, they still possess
heritages allowing them to do it. Humans are an adaptable breed after all.”
”That they are,” Ell’Hakan smiled, remembering his brief encounter with
his fellow Chosen. His smile deepened as he looked forward to their next
encounter. After assuring everything was as it should, he headed towards
his chambers in the highest tower and the tallest structure on their planet –
the Celestial Spire.
The top of the spire was the place closest to the stars, and only the king and
his most trusted servants had ever been allowed there.
Standing on the balcony, he waited only a few moments before his most
competent and vital companion appeared.
Ash and transparent flames shifted form as the air shimmered from the heat.
Rapidly, an elemental-like being was condensed out of ash and transparent
flames, taking a vaguely humanoid form. Space shifted ever-so-slightly in
its surroundings as it appeared fully formed next to Ell’Hakan.
”So?” the being asked in a deep, echoing voice.

”Your kind truly does come in all shapes and sizes,” Ell’Hakan merely said
as he added on. ”Like you, this creature that wanders the human planet was
no doubt more powerful than I or even the Malefic’s Chosen. You shall
have what you desire.”
”That we are supreme is a given, for such are the laws of the universe.
Remember your promise, and I shall do as sworn,” the being said before
it dispersed into nothingness, leaving only a faint shimmer in space behind
along with a small pile of ash.
Ell’Hakan just smiled and shook his head. He gazed up at the burning red
sun above and the two faintly visible moons only detectable due to his post-
system improved senses. Some companions were harder to deal with than
others, and the Ashen Phantom Devourer was certainly the hardest. Not that
it was unexpected.
One couldn’t expect Unique Lifeforms to be loyal subjects. They were too
prideful, too assured of themselves. One could never truly make them trust
another fully. But they were easy to figure out and thus make use of.
He smiled as he gazed upon the cosmos above, enjoying the sight. “I hope
you look forward to our next meeting as much as I, oh Malefic’s Chosen.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 494 - Learning Styles &
Internal Struggle
Meira slept as her eyes rapidly darted around below her eyelids, having a
nightmare. She felt like she had been thrown deep underwater and had
constant suffocating pressure on her. At the same time, she felt like she
heard the raised voices of others. She tried to escape and swim away in her
dream, but she only kept getting pressed further and further down into the
deep and overwhelming darkness.
Finally, the pressure lessened, and she began floating upwards towards the
sunlight. Meira felt relaxed and comfortable as she slept comfortably for the
first time in a while - the last time being when she was knocked out by the
previous divine visit. She had many odd dreams during her rest, and
everything kind of blended together… but they were generally good
dreams.
After having been deep in slumber for several hours, her mind finally
stirred as she woke up. She opened her eyes and saw she was lying on the
bed in her bedroom. She looked to the side and saw Grand Elder Duskleaf
sitting at her small desk, looking in one of her notebooks. Meira turned her
head back to the ceiling and sighed. Yeah, she was definitely still dreaming.
With that thought, she closed her eyes again, but it didn’t work. She felt the
pressure. An unsettling emotion. Her eyes shot open again as she stared to
the side again, meeting the eyes of the Grand Elder.
They stared at each other for a bit as Meira tried to comprehend what was
happening. She was only thrown out of her stupor when the door to the
room opened after a knock. She abruptly sat up in the bed as her Master
entered with a smile.
“Good morning, sleepyhead,” he said casually with a smile. “Sorry about
the lack of notice I was returning, but in my defense, I also didn’t know
those two would invade my living room.”
“I am sitting right here,” the Grand Elder grunted before turning to Meira
herself. She sat there frozen and tried to comprehend what was happening
as he spoke. “Our first lesson will definitely be regarding proper
categorization and organization of information and general note-taking.”
The god held up some of her papers, and she spotted the diagrams she had
made for her friends. Meira then remembered she had been on her way to
meet them before passing out… not that it mattered with what else was
currently happening. She wasn’t even sure if she should answer him or if
that would be disrespectful. She just nodded, unsure how to act.
“Liven up, girl,” the Grand Elder said loudly. “I am not going to teach an
unresponsive statue anything. Focus and get over here to make sense of this
utter mess you call a notebook.””
Meira nodded and quickly got off the bed before the words properly
registered. She was confused as she realized and asked out loud on
accident: “Teach?”
Jake had attended many classes in university during his studying days and,
of course, gone through well over a decade of mandatory school. He had
thousands of lessons overall with kids and adults of all ages. Hundreds of
teachers.
But this lesson had to be the most awkward and weirdest by far.
The teacher was overqualified, while the primary student was overly-
receptive to the point of being non-receptive due to pure nervousness. Jake
quickly just became an observer as he found the scene of the alchemy god
teaching the poor elf novice far more entertaining than he should.
Duskleaf and Villy had made it clear early on that they would have no
impact on Jake’s learning method as neither would ever be able to fully
understand how he best absorbed information. Jake was a very instinctive
learner and had to learn by doing to fully digest anything, but when he did
things, he also caught on quickly. That didn’t mean he got nothing out of
reading or being told what to do, just that it wouldn’t “click” properly in his
mind before he actually saw – and more importantly felt – theory working
in practice.
Meira was far more typical in the learning department. She did best with a
varied approach to learning and was totally fine just reading and being told
something. Naturally, she also needed some practical experience, and
luckily – or unluckily if you considered the emotional damage – she had
gone through plenty of “learning” with her body. She had built up her
resistance to poisons through a long period of exposure where she had to
learn to control her own energies to survive, and through this had also
gotten to know her own body very well. Knowing her own body’s
metaphysical shape had then served as a gateway to also comprehend those
of other creatures.
However, Meira had something far more valuable than something

experience or teachers could teach her. She had a powerful survival instinct.
Jake had noticed it after interacting with her so much that her entire
mentality was about survival and doing all she could to keep living a
relatively “safe” life. It was odd in some ways. Jake wanted power to be
free and do what he wanted and was willing to die on his journey, while
Meira wanted to desperately avoid death by gaining power.
Of course, it was natural to not want to die. It was the most basic of all
instincts and a primary driver for many to try and get stronger. Each
evolution offered a massive boost in lifespan and natural treasures, and
created products that increased longevity were incredibly popular and
expensive. Many even turned to becoming vampires or undead to live just a
little longer… not to mention the entire concept behind the Holy Church
and the Holyland.
Meira was not like those who just wanted to live as long as possible. Her
instinct was all about immediate survival. To survive till the next day. The
next week. Next month. She took it one step at a time, and her long-term
plans now revolved around Jake being satisfied with what she was doing.
While it was maybe a bit cruel, Jake wanted her to keep this mentality. It
had an air of desperation, and for Meira, desperation led to dedication.
Though he would also be a bit encouraging… and maybe even give her
some work to get some practical experience. Currently, she was just doing a
bit of gardening here and there for him, but he knew she wanted to do more.
“Duskleaf, there is quite a big crossover between the metaphysical

constructs of beasts and Beastcores, right?” Jake asked the god as he had
just gotten done correcting a very nervous Meira.
“Beastcores are ultimately just remnant Records of a beast as well as a

portion of their energy, so yes, one can say that,” the god nodded. “I assume
you are considering its link to core refinement. Core refinement is
essentially trying to construct a metaphysical framework within the core to
allow it to house and store more Records with the core itself as the base.
That is why you had such a profound effect on the Sylphian hawk when you
made her. You created a catalyst that housed many of your Records. Though
that was only possible due to the Malefic Viper’s Poison triggering and
stabilizing it using the Records of the Viper. If not, you would have
probably broken the ritual.”
Jake nodded, having already realized these things far earlier. He then turned
to Meira. “What would you say to assist in a project of mine? The goal is to
create a Pollendust Bee Queen variant, and to do that, I have a lot of cores
gathered. To use them properly, I will need to have them all refined. Trust
me, I have a lot of them.”
That was something Duskleaf had told him during their talk while having
beers. Jake had just gone off the ritual with Sylphie and thought that having
as many cores as possible would be best, but the alchemy god had shut that
down hard. While there was some value in quantity, the biggest challenge
was to make all the cores properly work together.
As mentioned then each contained Records and energy. Simply trying to

smash it all together in a massive ritual would only result in disaster, so you
needed to do something else. You needed to make sure that each core would
complement and not conflict with one another.
One had to remember that when Sylphie was born, only a single Beastcore
had been used, and the rest were orbs from elementals. Elemental orbs were
quite a bit different to Beastcores as the orbs were pretty much pure mana
with no Records that could conflict, so as long as they were all of the same
affinity, things tended to be fine.
So, for the ritual to go well, Jake needed to refine every single core to
ensure they would resonate. He already had a good start as each core was
from the same kind of insect, and he wanted to use the cores to empower an
insect. This removed a lot of conflict in Records already, but each termite
had still been slightly different from another, making refinement a necessity.
There was also the option of first filtering out all the Records from the cores
and only using the energy – something that you often did when using cores
while concocting – but that wasn’t what Jake wanted. After all, he wanted
to improve the Records of the Bee Queen to get a variant.
Meira looked at Jake with a bit of confusion as she stuttered. “I… I am not
sure I will be of much use…”
Duskleaf also threw him a questioning look and sent telepathically: “I fully
understand if you don’t want to spend time refining so many cores, but there
are many far more qualified to assist you in the process than she.”
Jake heard him but was already determined as he talked to Meira. “I want
you to help. Don’t misunderstand, I just think you will be the best because I
don’t plan on you doing it in any usual way. It will be coupled with
presence resistance training.”
Meira looked confused as he had yet to bring up the idea of resistance

training yet, but Duskleaf opened his eyes in realization. “You plan on
infusing the Records of presence resistance into the cores to give it to the
Bee Queen and thus resonate better with the Records of your Bloodline
while also hopefully granting the Queen an innate resistance? Smart to not
only seek to implement the concept of resistance but the process in which it
is granted.”
“Bingo,” Jake agreed. Okay, that wasn’t precisely what he had in mind. He
had only hoped to maybe give the Queen some increases to aura resistance
like Sylphie had if he combined the two by having Meira refine cores
during resistance training, but Duskleaf made it clear his idea was even
better than he first thought.
Poor Meira still looked a bit confused as she mustered up her courage to
talk. “I… I have no experience in core refinement…”
She spoke in a tiny voice as if scared she would get scolded. However, Jake
just shook his head. “No problem, I didn’t expect you to. Also, this request
is outside of your usual lessons, all of which I still expect you to keep up
with. This is just if you have leftover time as we will have to do the
resistance training anyway.”
Meira nodded, but Jake noticed something. He had believed he missaw

earlier, but Meira seemed to slightly shudder every time one of them
mentioned resistance training. Jake quickly understood as he reassured her.
“This resistance training we are talking about is resistance to presences such

as the presence of gods. Duskleaf here is trying really hard to suppress
himself, and yet it is still clearly affecting you. I can help you train to be far
less influenced,” Jake explained to her with a relaxed smile.
He saw her nervousness reduce slightly, but she was still afraid. Oh well, it
will be a bit unpleasant, so I can’t lie and say it will be a walk in the park
either. Better she is relieved at it being not as bad as expected than lower
her expectations so much she gets a rude surprise.
“I will do my best!” she finally answered with determination.
Jake smiled. “I know you will. And there is no rush; we won’t get started
yet. You need to first learn and practice core refinement, and I have a few
matters to handle before the cores can even be used.”
Meira confirmed she understood with yet another nod but quickly looked
nervous again. Seemingly having gotten some more confidence, she spoke
once more: “Uhm… before the esteemed Grand Elder and the Malefic One
graced us with their presences, I was on the way to visit some of those I
study with… my friends…”
Jake opened his eyes wide as he had to know more. He had no idea Meira
had any friends. Okay, that came out very wrong, but he had no idea she
had any people she would actively call friends. “Oh, friends? Well, that is
nice to hear. So that is why you copied things down from the books to show
your friends?”
She nodded and quietly spoke. “I know it is Master’s boo-“
Jake stared her down for using the M-word.
“My Lord’s books… I apologize for overstepping and not ask if I was
allowed to copy anything,“ she said while bowing.
“I was going to say that if you want to look over some books together, you
have my permission to ask them over and just look at the library,” Jake
shrugged. It was Meira’s home too, and he wasn’t going to tell her she
couldn’t even have friends over.
Duskleaf shook his head a bit as he spoke: “Master stocked the library with
quite a few tomes not commonly available and-“
“Duskleaf,” Jake interrupted him. “That word is banned in my house.”
“I have been calling him that since I was a mortal,” Duskleaf protested.
“Well, social norms develop, and things that were acceptable in the past
become frowned upon. More importantly, this is my house and my rules, so
no M-word,” Jake said, adding on with telepathy. “I also don’t want to
make Meira think it is okay. You know, she may begin taking after you.”
“You don’t want the elf girl to take after a god? One of the best alchemists
in existence?” Duskleaf countered.
“Oh, she can definitely take those parts, just not the one where she uses
banned words,” Jake shut it down with a grin.
Duskleaf grumbled something about Jake being lucky he had seniority as
Villy’s friend, as he seemed to agree. “What I was trying to say is that the
Malefic One put books in your library not to be handed out mindlessly.”
“I understand that,” Jake answered, inwardly celebrating his minor victory.

“Which is why they will have to come by and look at them in the library.”
“Acceptable,” Duskleaf sighed. He shook his head and turned to Meira

again. “Now, where were we… also, Jake, are you joining in?”
Jake shook his head. “Nah, I got something else to deal with right now.”
“Oh?” Duskleaf raised an eyebrow.
Jake just shrugged. “Yeah, so apparently, a big fight is going on inside my

Soulspace, and I should probably check it out.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 495 - Two Geniuses
Making Plans: Me & Myself
The ground shattered as the two beings clashed. Mountains were torn
asunder, and space shuddered with every impact as their bout seemed to go
through a neverending cycle of change. The larger of the two figures
repeatedly adapted and transformed in response to the attacks of its small
attacker, while the small combatant seemed to always be able to counter
whatever the monster did.
Jake stood back and observed this all as huge areas of the Soulspace were
ripped apart. It was a fight clearly far beyond D-grade, and yet sim-Jake
didn’t even seem that pressed. The level of power Jake could display inside
his Soulspace had always been a bit of a mystery to him. It wasn’t a real
world, but just one created from his Records and his own mind. Kind of. It
was real and yet imaginary - a dreamscape.
What sim-Jake was fighting was naturally the chimera made up of the curse
energy from Eternal Hunger. The hulking monstrosity of pure energy had an
ever-shifting body that constantly tried to adapt and improve to better kill
and consume sim-Jake, but even with everything it did, it was a losing
battle. Not that it cared, considering it was just pure instincts with not a
shred of thought within. It just saw sim-Jake and wanted to eat sim-Jake,
because that is what it did. One could almost call it eternally hungry.
The fight finally reached the zenith as sim-Jake vaulted over its massive
form and, before it could adapt, smashed his katar down into its head. The
blade extended in an explosive way on impact and blasted the chimera into
the ground below, where it took a bit to re-condense its body. Mind you, no
energy was actually lost by either of them, and this battle could truly go on
forever or until Jake himself died, thus making the Soulspace disappear.
Getting a feeling it was time to interfere, Jake stepped forward and once
more wrapped up the chimera in mana strings and re-sealed it. Primarily so
that it would stop trying to constantly eat Villy’s blood only to hurt itself
and actually risk getting destroyed.
Sim-Jake nodded at him in approval once the job was done. “I must say,
that arcane affinity is nifty.”
“Definitely better than the boring dark affinity,” Jake said in return.
“Spoken like someone who never bothered to explore it properly,” sim-Jake

shook his head. “Also… an elf slave, really? How fucking stereotypical can
you get?”
“Villy set me up,” Jake shook his head in the exact same fashion as sim-
Jake had. “But I am handling it. More importantly, you seem to be having
fun playing with that little bundle of very hungry joy.”
“Definitely worth it,” sim-Jake nodded. “It is better at fighting than most
beasts I have encountered and is pretty damn interesting in the way it
constantly adapts. Forces me to stay on my toes, you know? How come you
never trained against it?”
Jake scratched his hair. “I maybe should have… anyway. How was your
nap? Feeling rested and good to go?”
“Adequately rested, sure. I have been awake for a few hours now and just
sat back and watched,” sim-Jake shrugged. “I really don’t have much
interest in all of that alchemy crap, and based on how clueless I still am
when it comes to it, I haven’t merged with any Records related to your
profession.”
“But do you get the attraction?” Jake asked.
“Kind of?” sim-Jake answered, pondering the question. “I get the attraction
in the complexity and that it can offer a different sort of challenge, though
the lack of life and death makes it a bit less interesting.”
“Eh, a bit, but it makes up for it with pure complexity. The field of alchemy
is so damn broad, and there is so much to learn and so much to craft. I feel
like I would be able to keep doing alchemy forever while still progressing,"
Jake smiled. “But enough about me. This version of me. What is the lay of
the land?”
Sim-Jake sighed. “A mixed bag. First of all, my skills are gone. All of them.
This is partly to be expected, but I don’t even bloody remember how the
skills worked anymore. I tried recreating some, but anything even remotely
complex is completely lost to me. I have a feeling the system purposefully
did it like this, but I am not sure.”
“That sounds plausible,” Jake nodded. “It probably deemed it too much to
borderline hand me a bunch of skills to learn. Sure, they wouldn’t be skills,
but that level of knowledge would make doing what the skills did a lot
easier and make me learn them far faster.”
“True,” sim-Jake concurred. “However, there is one exception. After

coming here, I naturally lost my Blessing and all connection to Umbra as
well as anything related to Tenlucis… but I got a skill related to Umbra very
early on. Before I was blessed.”
“You mean?” Jake asked with realization.
“Shadow Vault,” sim-Jake smirked as he jumped backward and used the

skill as he turned into a shadowy form for a second before fully
reappearing. “This one I can still use… but my version was at a higher
rarity. As it is, this Shadow Vault doesn’t really jell with us anymore.”
Jake nodded. He hadn’t really used Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra for a
long time, and the reason for that was simple: it was prone to do more
damage than good. If he encountered anything while using Shadow Vault,
he would lose heath, mana, or other resources, and at his current grade, it
was hard to travel in a straight line without anything getting in the way. If
he had a clear line to where he wanted to go, One Step was just better.
“Any thoughts?” Jake asked, but he kind of knew the answer already.
“We gotta use it with this,” sim-Jake said as he condensed a small arcane
bolt. “And yeah, I can, of course, use the affinity too. Though I must say, I
don’t quite understand it… I can just use it. Weird that one. Like, I get the
destructive parts of it, but I have a hard time balancing it with the stability
and making it useable.”
As he said that, the arcane bolt looked a bit unstable and soon scattered by
itself as sim-Jake shook his head. “Anyway, we need to make Shadow Vault
work with our arcane affinity, but without losing what actually makes
Shadow Vault so great. More importantly, we need to get rid of its
connection to Umbra.”
“Being a bit harsh towards your old Patron,” Jake joked, but he got it.
Having skills related to several gods at the same time wasn’t necessarily a
bad thing, but it could lead to some conflicts, especially when it came to
upgrading the skills. One of the primary reasons Jake so easily upgraded his
“of the Malefic Viper” skills was because of his deep connection with Villy,
flooding him with Records related to the Primordial and hence his skills.
One could say that as his Chosen, Jake was playing life on easy mode in
regards to upgrading his Legacy skills. In the same vein, then the less
connection Jake had with Umbra, the harder upgrading it would become.
“I am not being harsh, just realistic. Either way, I have some thoughts in
regards to Shadow Vault and will focus on improving it. Or at least find a
good direction,” sim-Jake said.
Jake nodded once more. “Now for the main dish. Melee combat. I assume
you lost the skill you had made with your fighting style?”
“I never really had one,” sim-Jake just answered blankly. “I got that starting
weapon skill to uncommon rarity, after which I didn’t even try to upgrade it
anymore. I thought it would be a bad idea to upgrade an existing skill if I
wanted to make my own style…”
“That isn’t how that works,” Jake said with exasperation.
“And I know that now. Major trust issues, remember?” sim-Jake scoffed, a
bit offended. “Not that you should complain. That just means I retained one
hundred percent of that knowledge. Again, that was probably helped along
and approved by the system.”
“What more knowledge have you lost?” Jake asked, a bit concerned.
Sim-Jake fell silent a bit as he sighed. “A lot… but it is more like they are
being replaced. I remember taking a university exam despite never going to
university, but I do also recall the university itself as I once followed a
target while there. The only things still clear in my mind are all the things
after the system and mainly events related to fighting. If I stand here and try
to remember details of mundane things, I instead just remember what you
did. It is weird, man.”
Jake felt a bit guilty as he knew part of this was caused by him fucking up a
bit during the infusion process of the bone. Yet he also knew this was an
inevitable conclusion to two people with the same Truesoul sharing a
Soulspace. Well, that, or be like the guy who went insane that Villy
mentioned.
Nevertheless.
“Sorry,” Jake apologized.
“For what? For replacing memories of digging through dumpsters alone

while avoiding adults wanting to take advantage of me with new ones of
begging mom and dad to get fast food at the drive-through? Sure, both
resulted in us eating trash, but at least I had a family and a brother in one of
those memories,” sim-Jake joked, but then turned more serious. “I am being
genuine here. You clearly made the better choices and ended up better off
than I did. All I had was being strong and good at fighting. Sure, you are
still a broken-ass human with major issues, but you are less broken than I
was. Did you know I was a damn virgin? Not due to lack of opportunity, but
because I thought it too risky to get vulnerable with another person. How
pathetic is that?”
“Dude, too much information,” Jake said, trying to lighten the mood.
“Considering I got flooded with very vivid memories of sleeping with a
certain Runemaiden, I don’t think you have much to say,” sim-Jake
smirked. “At least I now have memories that I actually find positive. Ah,
the one with Carmen included. I am becoming you more and more by the
day, and I fully accept that. The day you learn everything I can teach you is
also the day I will finally become a real boy. By becoming you.”
“Already beginning to inherit some humor at least,” Jake also smiled. They
looked at each other for a bit before sim-Jake spoke once more.
“Well then, enough sentimental bullshit. Come at me,” sim-Jake said as he

spread his arms wide.
“Unarmed?” Jake asked.
“That you think it makes a difference already proves how much you suck,”
sim-Jake confidently said before taking a more relaxed stance. “Alright, the
first lesson i-“
Sim-Jake charged forward, barely giving Jake time to react as he managed

to block. A follow-up came, but he was able to dodge it. However, as he
tried to avoid the third blow, sim-Jake managed to grab hold of his clothes
and swung him over his back, smashing Jake into the ground.
“First lesson is to always seize the momentum,” sim-Jake smiled as he

backed away.
Jake stood up and didn’t hesitate to attack. He went for a punch that was
dodged, and as he tried to land a kick, his leg was caught. Sim-Jake just
smirked again as he tossed Jake away, making him land on the ground with
a thud.
The entire “fight” had been without either of them really using any
superhuman abilities, and even then, the difference was clear.
“As you see, you do way better defensively. It is also pretty stupid to make
such wide moves against someone with your instincts. So, let us say the
second lesson is to not just go in swinging without thinking,” sim-Jake said.
Jake stood up again and cracked his neck. “Let’s go again.”
Sim-Jake just laughed. “Man, you are going to make people believe we are
into self-harm.”
The next half an hour or so was spent with Jake fighting sim-Jake, or more
accurately, Jake getting his ass whooped by his own simulacrum. After half
an hour, Jake decided he wanted a win, so they changed up the rules by
removing all rules.
Arcane explosions, arrows, shadow magic, and all sorts of methods were
deployed. The two of them were perfectly evenly matched in power as they
shared the same Truesoul, making it a truly “fair” fight. There were still
differences in skill-set, though.
Sim-Jake was very good at dodging arrows, but real-Jake was very good at
landing them too, and his curving arrows coupled with magical attacks
made it undodgeable even for him. Meanwhile, sim-Jake would come out
on top whenever he got close enough to land blows with his katars before
Jake could disengage. Overall, Jake won most of the time, which was only
to be expected as he ultimately had more experience due to having lived
with the system longer.
Eventually, they both stopped as sim-Jake sighed. “This was actually a little
productive as I have a better sense of your fighting style now. And a
newfound hatred for bows. Those fucky curvy arrows are just annoying.”
“Guess we still got some way to go before we are perfectly similar,” Jake
laughed at his simulacrum’s dislike for bows. Bows rocked.
“Anyway, go back to the outside world,” sim-Jake said.
“Is my life that entertaining?” Jake asked jokingly.
“No, not really, but it is the best I got, and I at least find the company you
keep interesting,” sim-Jake answered. “Don’t worry, I will also be busy
practicing and maybe having a few bouts with the chimera.”
“Suit yourself,” Jake shrugged as he disappeared from his Soulspace and
opened his eyes in the real world. He was sitting on his bed within the
mansion and stretched as if he had just woken up.
“Hey, Villy,” Jake spoke out loud. “Is the inside of the Soulspace
considered a Dreamscape Simulation?”
A small hole in space was opened as a head poked out. “It is a version of
one, yep. Took you long enough to figure that one out.”
“Oh… I think I get it now,” Jake nodded. It had been bothering him but he
kind of understood now. “Sim-Jake can keep being a simulacrum because
he just went from one simulation into another… with the difference being
that I am running the new simulation. Or, well, my Truesoul is the one
powering it.”
“Close enough to be true,” Villy, the floating head, said. “So was that
everything?”
“Yep. See you around.”
With that, the head popped back into the hole in space and disappeared. It
was just a small realization Jake had reached and wanted to confirm.
Still sitting on the bed, Jake could see the entire mansion through his sphere
and saw Meira and Duskleaf in the library, still working hard. During their
earlier talk, Duskleaf made it clear that while he would teach Jake about
formations – only because Jake was pretty much a total novice – he would
not touch anything else.
So, Jake still needed regular lessons. With that in mind, he took out his
Order Token and began looking through everything that was on offer. He
hadn’t been gone for that long, but long enough for him to not really be able
to follow the old lessons he had been enrolled in. Fortunately, there was
never a lack of willing teachers, especially not in the lower grades, making
it easy to find replacements.
The next hour or so was spent picking out lessons about concocting poison
and brewing potions with a few general lessons about miscellaneous topics
mixed in as well as two related to elixirs. Coupled with the lessons Jake
would have with Duskleaf, and his planned resistance training sessions with
Meira, Jake’s schedule was packed moving forward.
Looking at the many lessons planned and what they were about, Jake had a
feeling he never thought he would ever have…
He was actually happy to be back in school.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 496 - A Counter+Intuitive
Fighting Style.
Multitasking. Everyone loved multitasking, and it was one of those great

buzzwords people often used when they attempted to do fifteen things at
once poorly rather than just do a few well. Multitasking also wasn’t truly
doing more things at once. It was just rapidly switching between several
tasks or starting tasks that could automatically continue or finish on their
own while then spending the meantime on something else. Like an author
putting food in the oven that would take forty minutes to cook and then
using that time to also focus on writing.
Jake’s ways of multitasking were at a level far above this. He had found a
way to not only train with sim-Jake but also train Meira at the same time. It
was quite honestly genius and not at all an accidental discovery found when
Meira walked by his room while Jake had a fun spar with his other self.
It appeared that when Jake was fighting himself or just straining himself
within the Soulspace, his aura flared as he was effectively having an
internal struggle. When Jake also began to purposefully amplify this effect,
it became highly effective to the point of Meira barely being able to move.
It was just too good not to use.
So currently, Jake was sitting in the library on a pillow in Serene Soul

Meditation while Meira was anything but serene. Duskleaf was trying to
teach her as sweat poured down her face, and she was out of breath from
the presence. The old alchemist god was unaffected due to the sheer
difference in power but did admit that it was a very impressive aura when
they began this kind of training. He had even added that if Jake was a god,
it would maybe have been a little intimidating.
However, as things were, they did conclude that Jake could only do this
kind of resistance training with those significantly weaker than himself.
There was also some passive resistance to auras gained from just being
around him frequently, but it was meager in comparison to a full-on training
session where he was just blasting.
Anyway, while Meira was struggling in the outside world, Jake struggled in
his inside one. He and sim-Jake had been training for a few weeks now
since their first bout, and it was no longer just “fights,” but there was some
actual teaching going on.
“Don’t let it adapt, move faster,” sim-Jake said as Jake was busy fighting
the massive monstrosity of pure curse energy. “If you let it get used to your
patterns, you will be screwed.”
You said that ten fucking times, Jake grumbled as he dodged and punched
forward with his kater – a weapon he was still very-much getting used to
still. He hit the arm-like appendage of the chimera but was soon pushed
back by several spikes claws flying towards him, followed by a whipping
tail.
“Momentum is key. Seize it,” sim-Jake spoke once more as Jake moved to
attack. He delayed his actions by a fraction of a second, making the tail
miss before he truly attacked, managing to land several blows before the
beast could adapt and strike back. Jake was pushed once more and had to
find a new way to counter as their endless cycle of switching advantages
continued.
Jake had made himself weaker than the chimera on purpose to make it into
an actual fight that he could lose. All other times he had “fought” the
chimera had been merely using overwhelming power. He had blasted it
around and sealed it, never truly engaging in combat.
And now that he did… he concluded that the chimera was far stronger than
he had ever thought it would be. It was so adaptable it was insane. Its body
would evolve on the fly to counter its opponent and its instincts were
absolutely top-notch to the level of Jake suspecting it tapped into his
Records a bit.
While sim-Jake had made the brawl with the monster look simple, Jake was
struggling as he simply couldn’t keep up. Which, in some ways, was a good
thing as it showed how much room he still had for improvements.
The key to the fighting style sim-Jake had developed was all about seizing
momentum and using the opponent’s own fighting style and instincts
against them. Jake had not truly considered it before… but this style was
incredibly Perception-centric. It was all about reading the flow of combat,
reading your opponent, and understanding the tempo of your foe instantly.
It was about reacting, and to react, you had to see and be aware of what was
coming. Jake’s Bloodline-empowered instincts leaned towards always just
avoiding danger and not attacking, meaning that while his instincts could
help him read his enemies, it wouldn’t help with what kind of response he
had to formulate.
Reading your opponent during a fight also wasn’t a one-time thing but
something you had to repeatedly do as the fight progressed. The entire
concept of controlling momentum and understanding the one you were
fighting wasn’t anything new either. Everyone did it, and it was the basis of
most martial arts. Someone like the Sword Saint was a prime example of
someone who was already a master at this, and as Jake recalled their fight,
he did notice how the Saint became able to counter and strike him more and
more as the fight went on.
“On the surface, a fight can seem simple. It’s just about hitting the right
timing and then swinging your weapon or landing that punch, right? While
technically true, it is a harmful oversimplification. One of your other major
flaws is overextension. When you see an opening, you pounce on it without
considering the next step. Sure, you may land your blow, but won’t it just
end with you getting smashed in return? I am not saying trading hits can’t
be a good strategy, but it has to be an intentional choice and not the result of
you fucking up and still managing to get out on top,” sim-Jake had also
explained, continuing.
“Every single move in a fight revolves around making choices. How much
power do I use? What angle do I strike at? What will the opponent do?
Follow-ups? You always need to consider the fight as more than just that
singular exchange. Our Bloodline is a bit limited in that sense. It will make
it appear smart to take advantage of an opening, even if doing so can lead to
getting screwed five moves later. The same is true for dodging. It is all
about dodging every individual move, sometimes a few consecutive moves,
but the pre-cognitive danger sense is simply not able to predict far enough
ahead. Once an enemy picks up on this, they can begin to take advantage.
That isn’t really a problem in D-grade yet as even your flawed style has so
many adaptions it would take a peak-level genius to figure it out… like that
Sword Saint.”
Jake and the chimera kept fighting as Jake stayed close to it, trying to keep
up with its ability to adapt and change to better combat what he was doing.
It could go better as Jake repeatedly lost out.
“We have better senses and instincts than anyone else… which also leads to
my next point. It is something I am working on myself, but that you may as
well also begin considering. Right now, we adapt and react instinctually and
“stop” the instinctual reaction when we want to counter. This leads to a very
small and minor delay compared to merely following along with what our
body wants to do. I have been wondering… why does our body dodge the
way it does? If you noticed, our ways of dodging are slightly different, and
you borderline instinctually form mana barriers and use magic. Something I
certainly do not. The cause of this lies in what is essentially the system
version of muscle memory. Soul memory, maybe? So imagine if we could
train our muscle memory. Actively, that is. Currently, we are still training it
just by fighting, which is why battling the chimera is a good way to spend
your time,” sim-Jake had also added. “It would lead an entirely new world
where can instinctually make perfect attacks… theoretically.”
Jake pushed back the chimera in their fight and got the advantage. He kept
pressing and adapting faster than this foe could adapt to him. He stabbed it
over a dozen times as he countered its blows before finally choosing to
release his power and reseal it.
“That was better than before,” Jake commented with a proud smile, looking
at the wriggling form the chimera within its prison of mana strings. It
stopped struggling after only a few seconds and just went dormant.
“Yeah, if you weren’t us. You got a long way to go before you get on my
level,” sim-Jake shook his head. “But you are improving for sure. Fighting
our instinct is hard, isn’t it?”
Jake nodded. It bloody was. Countering wasn’t a natural reaction for him,
so he had to always register a blow, want to instinctually react by dodging,
stop that reaction, and then counter instead. He would then, of course, need
to quickly decide how to counter based on how he had wanted to dodge and
what he sensed from his opponent. Jake needed to take in a whole lot of
information and decide on it near-instantly. Something made easier by
being able to quickly gather that information.
This was as mentioned a fighting style intrinsically linked with Perception.

It was about not only reading your opponent but reading your opponent
better than they could read you, and if you saw them do the slightest
adaption or shift, you had to pick up on it and counter-adapt. Always be one
step ahead, never allowing the other side to get an advantage or get any
momentum.
To summarize the fighting style… It was about always knowing what your
opponent does and taking advantage of those moves. It was such a simple
concept made complicated by the sheer level sim-Jake, and now real-Jake
wanted to take it. Theoretically, this would be an unbeatable style as long as
he wasn’t beat handily in stats, but reality was not that simple. There were
too many variables in any fight, and often one didn’t know the variable
before the very final moment.
A hidden skill, a saved trump card, a new item, a boosting skill, help
arriving, the environment changing, everything could happen. Sim-Jake had
naturally recognized this, which was why the goal was never to know
everything – just more than your opponent. Coupled with senses good
enough to react to any trump card, sim-Jake believed that the most
important thing was to be able to quickly seize back the momentum after
surviving the trump card. Needless to say, simply expecting to instinctually
survive these trump cards was only possible due to Jake’s Bloodline, and
honestly, the entire style could only really be called a fighting style due to
the Bloodline. It wasn’t something Jake could teach someone else as there
were no “moves.”
Everything was reactionary. Well, okay, maybe there were kinda moves, but
the moves were just all based on reactions and tended to be simple and vary
from opponent to opponent.
“Any progress on the Shadow Vault front?” Jake asked sim-Jake after
discussing melee combat a bit longer.
“Some,” sim-Jake said. “But nothing worth sharing, just trying out some
things. It isn’t like I can upgrade the skill myself, and honestly, I have a
feeling if you just copied the progress I have already made, you would get
an upgrade. Don’t do that, though. It is still not there, and I don’t want it to
be a skill with a dead-end or one near-impossible to upgrade further.”
“Very forward-thinking for a simulacrum that will one day in the not-so-
distant future cease to be,” Jake morbidly joked.
“I will be immortalized through that skill and your melee style,” sim-Jake
waved it off. “I naturally assume you will become immortal. Anything else
would just be a fucking embarrassment.”
“Maybe I just die to some random critter?” Jake teased back. “Or maybe I
find an opponent your super style is utterly useless against, and I get
killed.”
“Well, that would be all on you for not further developing it then,” sim-Jake
smiled. “Even after I am gone, it will not be done… remember, I made it
with melee and katars in mind. We now have far more methods than that.”
Jake shook his head. “One thing at a time.”
He knew what sim-Jake meant. All Jake was learning was pure melee
combat. There was no use of skills or any other means of combat besides
just brawling. In actual combat, Jake would, of course, be different, and he
also had some minor adaptions to make based on his use of poisons. While
sim-Jake wanted to land a deep wound to do a lot of damage, it was more
important for Jake to land a blow that was good at injecting some poison.
“I am just saying,” sim-Jake said. “You know, you can even add archery in
and make it an absolute god-tier style.”
“Or, even better, I can take it one fucking step at a time and not bite off
more than I can chew and fuck myself over,” Jake shot it down. That was
one thing Jake knew he was better at than sim-Jake. While Jake would
overextend in combat, sim-Jake would overextend in adding to his own
workload, making him stretch himself thin. “Anyway, just keep it up with
the melee practice and Shadow Vault. I am going to see Meira now and got
a class to attend in a bit too.”
“I know,” sim-Jake just said with a deadpan face. “Remember. Same body,
shared senses, partially shared memory. Ah, but do give Meira a thumbs-up
from me. She is doing well.”
“Already planned on doing that,” Jake nodded and smiled as he disappeared

from the Soulspace and opened his eyes as he exited meditation.
Duskleaf noticed he had woken up, and Meira also breathed out in relief as
he stopped openly releasing his presence into the library. “Had a good time?
Any good progress?” Duskleaf asked.
“Plenty of progress as always. I have the best teacher in existence, you

know?” Jake joked. “I guess that sometimes if you want a job done well,
you have to do it yourself.”
“Ma-“
“Hm!?” Jake interrupted promptly.
Duskleaf groaned and corrected himself. “The Viper has made jokes nearly
identical to that one nearly every time he summoned avatars, and I was
around…”
“Great minds think alike,” Jake smiled cheekily.
Meira, for some reason, nodded along with a serious expression like he
wasn’t joking. Jake turned his attention to her, making her tense up a bit
before Jake calmly spoke. “How are you handling the presence training
these days?”
“Uhm…. Better?” Meira asked. “It is difficult, but I am doing my best!”
The sweat on her brow had quickly disappeared after Jake stopped releasing
his aura, and she had calmed down a lot. Meira hadn’t even noticed that she
didn’t have any adverse reactions to Duskleaf’s presence despite him
purposefully leaking out a little. Jake met the gaze of the old alchemist god,
and he nodded approvingly.
Jake, fulfilling a promise, gave her a thumbs up. “You are doing great.”
She smiled a bit shyly as Jake exchanged some quick words with Duskleaf
before leaving the two be. He went towards the entrance hall and the wall to
teleport to lessons. Meira still had some ways to go, and despite it being
nearly four weeks since Jake said she could bring friends over, she had yet
to bring any. Not from a lack of opportunity as she had still copied some
notes from books for them. Maybe they didn’t wanna go?
Jake did see how it could be intimidating entering the home of another
member of the Order of the Malefic Viper due to the rules, so maybe it was
them not wanting to go? That explanation would make sense.
Shaking his head, Jake didn’t think about it anymore as he used the Order
Token to open up the gateway to the lesson hall. This was one of those big
lessons only held rarely for newer students, and Jake felt he would see
many familiar faces there. It was the first time it had been held since he
entered the Academy, and the teacher was also a familiar face.
It was Viridia, the S-grade Hall Master Jake had met briefly way back in the
day when he astral projected to the Order by accident. The highest-ranked
mortal within the Order of the Malefic Viper.
Well, besides himself, that is.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 497 - "So, you want to join
the Order of the Malefic Viper?"
Some lessons in the Order of the Malefic were limited to certain members.
This was one such lesson, limited to individuals who had been in the Order
for less than a year. The lessons were also held once a year, making it one
you could only attend once. Jake heard that the Hall Master had missed
some lessons in recent times due to being away training, but it didn’t have
that huge of an impact who taught it. Rather than teaching much, it was an
orientation of sorts, and Jake honestly only attended because it would be
suspicious if he didn’t. Well, that, and one kind of ulterior motive.
As for the topic of the lesson? How to become a true member of the Order
of the Malefic Viper. Currently, they were all members of the Academy, but
they were not truly members of the Order. One had to remember that many
who attended the Academy came from different factions from all across the
multiverse. Risen, who were loyal to the Blightfather and the undead
faction, people from the Altmar Empire, or even the Endless Empire of
insect-like creatures. That wasn’t counting all those from minor factions.
Reika was still a member of the Noboru Clan and was loyal to Earth with
no real sense of loyalty to the Order as far as Jake knew. Jake didn’t really
know if he would consider himself a true member of the Order, even if
everyone else would, for one simple reason: he had a Blessing. That was, to
many, a clear indication he was a true member. Even if no such rule existed,
those blessed just tended to be. Jake was sure it would be touched upon how
easy those like him had it with Blessings from the Viper.
With plenty of knowledge of what he was about to experience, Jake walked

through the portal to the lesson hall, and to call this one huge was an
understatement. But it was more than that. It was not one of the regular
lesson halls but was clearly one specialized for this kind of thing. Carvings
of the Viper lined the walls, and at the podium in the center was a massive
statue of the Malefic Viper. It was a huge coiling snake wrapped around a
dragon and sinking its teeth into the neck of the larger beast, with the aura
given off by the snake far more profound than the dragon. It was almost a
statement that the Viper as a snake was superior to dragons.
On the ceiling was an equally impressive mural depicting the founding of

the Order. At least, that is what he assumed it was about. It showed the
Viper in human form followed by a huge swathe of people in robes as he
demolished an army of beasts and, with a wave of his hand, created a
massive hole in the ground to begin building the mostly underground
headquarter of the Order of the Malefic Viper.
The entire hall was pretty much an advertisement for how awesome the
Malefic Viper and the Order were. As mentioned, then Jake didn’t feel like
he would get much out of this lesson, but he did also go for one other
reason: to see familiar faces.
Being the hunter he was, he used his tracking skill to find the aura
signatures of those he was seeking. He quickly spotted Reika with the other
alchemists from the Noboru Clan, sitting with a bunch of other people and
chatting away already. Jake had to admit that the other alchemists looked a
bit haggard, but Reika looked full of positivity as she chatted with a female
beastfolk Jake didn’t recognize.
Seeing as Reika looked a-okay, he left them alone. Jake scanned the room a
bit more and spotted Draskil by himself, as always. By choice, mind you, as
there were many who wanted to get close and talk to him. His Divine
Blessing was just too effective at making people want to suck up to him and
make him an ally or even friend.
Jake looked around and spotted a few more people he had seen or met
before, including quite a few with whom he shared lessons. Ultimately, he
decided to just go over to Draskil and sit with him.
One had to remember that Draskil had a standing higher than pretty much
anyone there. He was no-doubt known as a loner who was too haughty to
bat an eye when anyone approached, and those he would bat an eye at
wouldn’t approach him.
So Jake got quite a few stares as he casually walked over and took a seat
next to Draskil. It was naturally unoccupied as no one had dared sit and risk
angering him. The Malefic Dragonkin regarded Jake as he sat down, with
Jake taking the lead.
“167.”
“What?” Draskil asked, confused, before his eye widened in realization.

“Was it a weak one? Barely evolved?”
Jake shook his head and grinned beneath his mask. “It was pretty newly
evolved, yeah, but not on the weaker side at all. Wielded both dark and
space magic, with the ability to clone itself and a bunch of other tools.
Definitely not weak.”
He was naturally talking about his successful C-grade hunt. The last time he
and Draskil spoke, they had discussed Draskil killing a C-grade while still
in D-grade, and Jake had now managed to kill one while a few levels lower.
He had to brag about it, and the Dragonkin seemed more than interested in
engaging him in conversation. Much to the dismay of many of the observers
who probably wondered how the guy with a lesser Blessing managed to get
so friendly with Draskil.
“Good!” Draskil grinned as she patted Jake on the back, clearly elated at his
kill. With great interest, he leaned a bit closer. “How was the fight?”
“Damn good,” Jake also grinned. “Man, it had this one attack…”
The two of them kept discussing as the stares of dozens inspected Jake
carefully. Not many of those in this lesson were aware of who Jake or even
Draskil was before attending. All the get-togethers so far had consisted only
of those from the ninety-third universe, and that was certainly not the case
for the lesson hall they were in now.
Jake even felt several C-grades present within the hall. Considering the
Order recruited and allowed entry of people of all grades, Jake assumed
there were separate lessons for them. It usually wouldn’t end well to mix B-
grades with those significantly weaker as their auras alone would crush
those present. E-grades – which there were a few of – already felt the
pressure from the C-grades and stronger D-grades, making them all
congregate at one end of the hall.
Soon enough, about fifteen minutes had passed, and it was time for the
lesson to begin. Everyone had taken their seats and the gates on all the walls
closed. Down on the podium, in front of the statue of the Viper, a green
portal opened as a green-haired human-looking woman stepped out. Her
aura instantly blanketed the entire lesson hall, making everyone know she
was firmly in the S-grade. But there was more mixed in. It was like her aura
carried a concept of authority, more than just something born of power.
Jake did not have a shadow of doubt in his mind. She had an incredibly
potent social-type profession. Probably even one called Hall Master or
something.
“Welcome all newcomers to the Order of the Malefic Viper,” Viridia smiled
as she regarded everyone in the room. Her eyes stopped on Jake for a
second, clearly aware beforehand he would be there. She also lingered on
Draskil a little but quickly moved on.
“I hope you have all settled in during your time in the Order, or more
specifically, the Academy. It is a pleasure to see so many attending, even
more so in a time of celebration of our Patron’s return. No more words need
to be said to fully establish that the Order is not the weak shell it was
merely a few years ago but is now truly a pinnacle faction within the
multiverse once more. It is an Order that I must emphasize barely anyone
here is actually truly a member of,” the Hall Master of the Order said.
A few confused murmurs were heard around the room, primarily from those
who hailed from the ninety-third universe but also some who had merely
applied to the Order by doing an entrance test. Jake felt a bit good about
others also being clueless about things they should seriously know. Even
Jake knew this.
“While all here are members of the Academy, that does not make you
members of the Order. As students, you are offered temporary membership
while within the confines of the Order, but outside our territory, you are not
considered one. This lesson today is about your status in the Order, how to
improve that status, and how to potentially truly join the Order of the
Malefic Viper,” she continued as she waved her hand.
A projection of a hieratical structure appeared above her. It outlined the

general power structure of the Order in a simple fashion. At the very top
was naturally the Malefic Viper himself, and right next to him – but placed
a bit lower – was his Chosen.
Beneath that were other gods of the Order, then the Hall Masters, followed
by Branch Leaders, and then a bunch more ranks Jake didn’t bother to
remember before finally getting to the bottom. Temporary outer members.
This rank was highlighted as Viridia spoke again.
“For now, you need not consider the top. The Malefic One stands supreme,
his Chosen second, especially among us mortals,” she spoke as Jake felt her
attention briefly on him, but her eyes didn’t even move, nor did she in any
way indicate she was talking about him. “No, the ranks you can reach for
are those at the bottom. Right now, the majority of you are the highlighted
temporary outer members, which, as I mentioned, means you are not truly
part of the Order.
“However, this sort of membership also offers benefits. As temporary

members, you do not need to formally join or have any true responsibility
towards the Order. You can remain part of any other faction as long as they
are not enemies of the Order, and we will have no control of your actions or
if you choose to leave. Not that we tend to exert much control over our
actual members, but some responsibility is expected.”
Being a temporary outer member was the end-point for most students of the
Academy. Jake already knew that. Not necessarily because someone
couldn’t join but by choice. As mentioned many times, factions often sent
talented individuals to the Order to study for a time, and these would
naturally only be temporary members. While in the Order, these people
were formally recognized as members, and their status from their home
faction decided how they were treated, making them even sometimes
viewed as having a higher status than true members. If the Chosen of the
Blightfather chose to attend the Academy, he would still only be a
temporary outer member, but his actual status would be far above his rank.
“As a temporary outer member, also know that your membership will end
the day you stop attending the Academy or are made to leave. If you wish
to remain a member, you will have to become a non-temporary outer
member of the Order of the Malefic Viper,” Virida continued.
“Now, many of you here will easily be able to do this. Simply being able to
enter the Academy makes you individuals with some semblance of
potential, already making you pass the first hurdle. In fact, I would reckon
that becoming an outer member within the week would be possible for the
vast majority of those present. If you wish to also take upon you the
responsibility membership includes, that is.”
This led to more murmurs, and a few were clearly interested. Most knew
these things, and Jake kind of knew, but her just stating it outright was
something different. Many of those unaffiliated with any faction probably
wanted membership in the Order and knowing that was a possibility was
great news. Especially for those from the ninety-third universe… not.
“Naturally, this near-guaranteed acceptance into the Order does not extend
to those who entered under extraordinary circumstances, such as those who
recently arrived from the ninety-third universe,” Viridia said, making
hundreds deflate a bit all across the lecture hall. “Again, to make it clear,
nobody here is guaranteed membership even if they want it. Except for one
group: the Blessed.”
Jake knew this part was coming as Viridia lit up the next stage of ranks
above outer members. “Anyone who carries any Blessing from the Malefic
One will automatically become an inner member if they so choose, and
dependent on the Blessing, perhaps even higher. Those with Blessings from
gods loyal to the Viper or members of the Order are also automatically
offered to become inner members of the Order.”
More murmurs, more talking in hushed voices, and more speculation
sounded out. Quite a few looked at Draskil, too, as he sat there with his
Divine Blessing.
“Membership and your rank in the Order will naturally also bring many
benefits. You will gain more resources, more Academy Credits, and some
new lessons will become available to you. All that is asked of you in return
is to help the Order as they help you. This may include missions, providing
materials for the Order, completing commissions, or just assisting it in other
ways. We are not a charity, but neither do we expect slave labor from you.
We have actual slaves for that,” Viridia joked, getting a few chuckles from
around the room.
“However, more than some resources, you become able to finally claim
yourself a member not just within the Order, but in the multiverse as a
whole. If you wish for it, you can leave behind a Soulseal in the Order that
will detect if anyone slays you, marking your killer. People will fear your
very presence, and no faction will dare make a move against you lest they
invoke the wrath of the Order. Many foolish forces have fallen through the
ages by daring to make us an enemy, and do trust in that – your enemies
will become the enemies of the Order. Ah, not to say we will simply deal
with any issues for you. That is ultimately still up to you. What it will mean
is that someone a few grades above you will think twice before killing you.
If you die to someone around your own level… tough luck,” Viridia further
explained.
Jake smiled a bit under his mask. That did sound like how Villy would run
stuff and pretty much what their personal agreement was. If Jake lost and
died to someone around his own level, Villy would not interfere, but if
some god decided to kill Jake, he would. The Order would probably not
save someone in time, but at least it sounded like they would take revenge.
The second best thing.
“Now, as for the ways to officially become a member. Quite frankly, you
just apply with any official through the Humanoid Resources department –
you should each have a contact person linked to you – and they can get your
application started. Tests and such will be performed on an individual
basis,” Viridia quickly also added.
Jake, at this point, began zoning out a little as Viridia continued explaining
what one could do if they became true members. She took some questions
too, but none of it really interested him. Instead, he focused on the statue
near Viridia, and as he stared at it, he remembered something.
Wait… whatever happened to that insane sculptor from the Primordial

Church back in Haven? I heard he was trying to make a statue of the Viper,
but surely… surely he can’t still be doing that?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 498 - Minor
Misunderstandings & Dungeon
It wasn’t good enough. It was never good enough. With disappointment in

his own incompetence, the sculptor shattered his half-made creation. Only a
bit of the material was lost as he could still use the marble-like rock by
refusing it, but some material was gone forever. Fortunately, the City Lord
understood the importance of his task and provided him the funds necessary
to do what had to be done.
Felix had not left his workshop for… a long time. He wasn’t actually sure
how much time had passed. All he knew was that nothing was more
important than making the perfect sculpture. The only breaks he took were
those forced upon him. It was good that he had at least evolved to D-grade
so he didn’t have to really sleep anymore but could keep focusing on his
work exclusively.
The image was still vivid in his mind. The sculpture displayed by the
Chosen of the Malefic Viper depicting his Patron had been near-perfect. It
held meanings Felix could not understand and profound concepts he would
not even dare to try to comprehend. He did hold questions such as what the
purpose of the bottle was and the link between it and the mushroom, but
such were not his questions to ask or his task to understand. He was merely
the sculptor – a tool to bring about magnificence.
If only he was more talented. Even if his skills upgraded and the system
called him a “prodigy,” he did not view it as enough. How could it be? All
that he created was trash. Poor imitations. Not a single one was even close
to being able to house the presence of a Primordial infused by his Chosen
adequately. He didn’t even aim for perfection… just adequacy.
This was a task given to him by the Chosen of the Malefic Viper himself.
Felix knew he had the backing of the entire Primordial Church behind him,
and his Patron had even upgraded his Blessing to Divine in recognition of
the importance of this task. The Malefic One had not had a statue made by
one of their own for a long time… much less had the chance to have the
Primordial’s Chosen infuse it.
Felix collected himself and prepared to start again. This time… this time, he
would surely do it. If not, he would just have to wait a bit and get his level
180 skill in his profession. If that wasn’t enough, he would just have to wait
for C-grade. Felix was not in a rush. The Chosen had not given a deadline,
and he would rather see himself die of age than present a subpar sculpture.
Because if he failed, he truly did believe he deserved death just to make up

for a fraction of the sin that a failure would be.
Yeah, that sculptor guy probably moved on to other things by now or asked
Chris about what kind of statue he should make, Jake thought as he stayed
zoned out during the boring orientation marked as a lesson. It wasn’t as if
Jake had actually ever shown that Felix guy what kind of statue to make.
Anyway, refocusing a bit on the lesson, Viridia kept explaining stuff and
taking questions, and from the vibe, Jake got the feeling a huge portion
wanted to officially join the Order. Those who weren’t interested fell into
two camps – those with existing backings or those who were just on the
fence.
Jake understood from a logical standpoint why one would join the Order. In
the simplest of terms, it offered safety. It was why many factions could
function. Even if it didn’t lead to someone not killing you, it would make
them think twice before doing so.
It was also important to note that many in the Order were faction leaders or
at least highly influential figures on their home planets. While returning
was maybe not currently possible for them, if they did return in the future,
they may want to make their planet part of the Order.
There were, in general, quite a few draws when it came to joining a major
faction. Some had likely already applied to become a member. One of
which was the guy sitting beside Jake.
“Hey… have you officially joined the Order?” Jake ended up asking
Draskil.
The Malefic Dragonkin looked at him. “Of course. It got me free stuff.”
Jake nodded at the reasoning of his dragonkin buddy. As Viridia had

explained, then members would passively just get more things. They got
more Academy Credits, had access to certain stores that no one else did,
and even got a stipend of sorts to further their own power. All in all, if you
had no other obligations, joining just made sense. As a member, you also
had a lot of freedom.
Most other factions were largely restrictive of what their members could do.
There were high levels of expectations when it came to loyalty, and going
to wars for your faction and risking your life was simply a given. The Holy
Church was the most extreme example of this, as when you were part of the
Holy Church, leaving it again would get incredibly difficult, especially as
your entire planet was often part of the Church, and you were born into it.
However, with restrictions also came benefits. The Order of the Malefic
Viper would not just shower their talented members with help. They would
not assign them teachers or give them all the materials they needed. In the
Holy Church, you would never want for anything as long as you stayed
loyal and fulfilled all expectations. In the Order, you would get tossed out if
it was decided you sucked too much and was a leech.
It all came down to the fundamental difference in ideology. The Order

believed in freedom over everything else - to always offer the choice. If the
Order wanted something from you, it would be far more transactional.
Naturally, the Order would come out on top in these transactions to not fuck
itself over in the long-term.
Now, it has to be mentioned that this kind of model could only really work
with the Order due to how they operated on a multiversal scale. The Order
did not engage in wars or chose sides in larger conflicts. Their members
could join as mercenaries on either side, and there were several examples of
Order members even killing each other on the battlefield. Something the
Order of the Malefic Viper naturally didn’t do anything about. If you joined
a war and got killed, that was on you.
Jake knew all of this just by doing a bit of studying and listening to
Viridia’s lesson. But there was still the question…
“Did you join?” Draskil also asked.
“Did I?” Jake instead just asked the god observing them.
“At this point, no one would believe you if you said no. You have acted like
a member, got way too many AC not to be a member, and I am pretty sure
that when one of the Verdant Witches had you registered in the Humanoid
Resources Department, she did as a member of the Order,” Villy answered.
“Not to mention what happens when you eventually slip up and reveal
yourself as my Chosen. Actually, you denying to be a member after that
happens would be hilarious, so maybe just act like you aren’t?”
So, yeah. He was. Maybe. Jake looked at Draskil. “Yeah, I did. Kind of. It’s
complicated.”
Draskil shrugged at his response. “This lesson is boring. You also think
that?”
“Oh, that isn’t a complicated answer. Yeah, very much a waste of time with
no real information for me or you. But it seems like it is good info for
many,” Jake said.
“Hm,” Draskil just hummed as he fell silent again for a few moments
before changing the subject entirely: “What is your real level?”
Jake was still hiding his level and showing it far higher than it actually was,
but Draskil had quickly picked up on it being off, especially as Jake openly
discussed a few things to make him suspicious. Ultimately, Jake prioritized
a good conversation with Draskil over hiding his true level, and Draskil
didn’t seem like the type to share it around either.
“169, all three balanced,” Jake honestly answered.
“Profession holding you back,” Draskil shook his head. Jake faintly felt
approval from a certain simulacrum within but ignored that guy as he didn’t
know better.
Jake just smirked in response. “I don’t know… I killed one before you.”
“I am stronger now,” Draskil shot back.
“Arguably. And even if that is true, I will be stronger than you in the
future,” Jake kept arguing.
“Bah, I would beat you,” Draskil scoffed. “Power is supreme.”
“You never know how a real fight will end,” Jake smirked. He actually
didn’t have much confidence against Draskil, but he was sure he could at
least escape or put up a good fight, especially considering his recent
advances. One also had to remember that Draskil had not done the system
event due to being in the Order, meaning Jake had probably grown more in
power simply due to his new title.
Draskil observed Jake a bit more before smirking himself. “Then prove it.
You are a member of the Order, so join a mission.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “What do you have in mind?”
The Dragonkin pulled out a piece of parchment – yes, old-looking

parchment – from his spatial storage and presented it to Jake. Jake stared at
it for a moment. “I’m in.”
He only had to read the first few parts of the mission. It was a dungeon run,
but not just any dungeon run: an alchemy dungeon run. Kind of. It was a
dungeon designed and created by the Order for their late to peak D-grade
members, and considering Jake still needed his fair share of Dungeoneer
titles, it would be silly not to use it.
Alright, that was another thing to add that factions could provide their
members: access. Every faction had its own dungeons and general areas.
That the Order would have a bunch of dungeons was just to be expected.
Draskil nodded at Jake agreeing to go. “We leave in three days.”
“Who is we?” Jake asked further.
“The succubus, me, you, and two more alchemists if we bother,” Draskil
shrugged.
“What kind of dungeon is it?”
“Combat mixed with alchemy tasks. Unique plants need to be crafted into
toxins to pass areas. Maybe potions too or other stuff. Not sure. I just
needed alchemists,” the dragonkin explained.
“Is Irin an alchemist?” Jake asked, a bit confused. He was pretty sure she,
as a demon, only had a social profession and her race without any class to
speak of. Sure, she could learn alchemy, but-
“No, but she is hot,” Draskil just answered blankly.
I guess that is kind of an argument to bring her, Jake laughed a bit

internally. “Fair enough. Any other alchemists in mind?”
“Can’t do it alone?” Draskil asked with a frown.
“Maybe, maybe not. How would I know? But even if I could, wouldn’t it be
faster to bring more?” Jake pointed out.
Draskil looked like he hadn’t considered it much before nodded. “Okay.

You know any?”
“Eh, I can think of at least one,” Jake answered. Wasn’t it about time to see
how far Reika had come in her alchemy? It would also give them a chance
to catch up and do some alchemy together. Jake had glanced at the
parchment a bit more, and it seemed very much like a dungeon all about
learning and effectively housed puzzles.
Jake still recalled how he had met Reika doing a puzzle in the Treasure
Hunt and how well they had jelled working together back then. So why not
invite her? Maybe she even had another friend to bring, or they could find
another fifth person.
Meira was not an option for hopefully obvious reasons. She was busy with
her own stuff anyway, and Jake didn’t want to drag her into a dungeon.
Especially not with Draskil around. He was a bit of an intimidating guy
until you got to know him. Reika should be fine, though.
“Then you find more alchemists,” Draskil nodded. “You have my contact
information.”
Jake nodded. “Yeah, just send me the information.”
“The succubus will,” Draskil confirmed.
Their conversation just devolved into small-talk after that until, finally, the
lesson ended. Throughout Jake and Draskil’s conversation, the two of them
had sealed themselves within an isolation barrier made by Jake that made it
impossible for others to listen in but also for others to see them. Viridia or
even some of the C-grades could easily go through it, but none had, so that
was nice.
It could be argued the two of them chatting during a lesson could be

considered rude, but they were far from the only ones. Many barriers had
appeared as friends, small factions, and groups discussed potentially joining
the Order.
Not long after, the lesson came to an end. Jake prepared to leave as one of
the first ones as he felt a telepathic connection. “Chosen, may I have a
word?” he heard Viridia ask him.
Jake considered for a moment before nodding. “Thank you. Please simply
come to my office once it suits you.”
With those words, Viridia also disappeared from the lesson hall, none of
their conversation leaking out. Jake got up and went for one of the gates
and, just like usual, activated his token and stepped through. The difference
this time was his destination.
Viridia had sent to him what was essentially an address through the token.
Seeing no reason not to go, Jake headed through the gate and appeared in a
large luxurious office. He instantly spotted Viridia already standing in front
of her desk, bowing as she saw him.
“Once more, thank you for offering your time,” she spoke while bowing,
making Jake a little uncomfortable and reminding him why he wanted to
keep his identity as the Viper’s Chosen secret. If he didn’t, everyone would
treat him like Viridia, if not even worse.
“No need to be so overly courteous,” Jake said, trying to be both dismissive

but also understanding.
“I apologize,” Viridia still said but also had enough awareness to move the
conversation forward. “It has been a while since our last meeting, and it is
an honor to finally have you within the Order of the Malefic Viper.”
“It’s been a while for sure,” Jake nodded. The Tutorial felt like it had been
ages ago. “Now, why did you want this meeting?”
“Firstly, I wanted to formally introduce myself to the Chosen. As the Hall

Master of the Order, I find it only fitting that I make my loyalties clear,”
Viridia began. “Secondly, to ask if the Chosen requires any assistance with
anything? I have heard of your current considerations from the Verdant
Matriarchs and wish to help as much as possible.”
Jake was a bit confused and frowned. “What considerations?”
“I fully understand if you wish to keep it under wraps for now. Just know
that I will do my utmost to find candidates from within the Order,” Viridia
just continued.
What the hell is she on about? Jake thought, now more confused than ever.
What candidates? Had she somehow listened in when they talked about the
dungeon earlier? No, that should be impossible. He would have sensed it.
“Please be clear what considerations you are talking about,” Jake said.
“Ah, my apologies,” Viridia said apologetically. “I am naturally talking of

your plans for propagating your Bloodline. To my knowledge, the Malefic
One relayed his wishes to the Verdant Matriarchs, and I have been tasked to
assist you wi- excuse me, my Lord?”
Jake had already turned around and began walking towards the gate again.
“Dispel whatever plans you had,” Jake just said as he used his token to
make a gate. “You are misinformed, and I have no such plans.”
Viridia seemed taken aback as she asked, confused. “I apologize if I am

overreaching or if there are any misunderstandings… but where is the
Chosen going?”
Jake tossed her a final look before stepping through the gateway. “Just
gonna have a small talk with my Patron.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 499 - Oversharing & One
More Beer
Jake stared at the god, who had a rare look of slight embarrassment.
”Would you believe me if I told you that this is all a misunderstanding?”

Villy asked a very angry Jake the moment he stepped through the portal and
stood face-to-face with the god who was currently leaning back in a chair
with a book.
”Should I?” Jake asked sharply.
”You know, I mess with you in many ways, but this is actually not one of
them, I swear!” the god said very earnestly. Jake at least interpreted it as
such. ”You know I already told you to avoid tossing out any baby batter
until you are at a higher grade and when you are really sure it is something
you wanna do, didn’t I?”
”Explain,” Jake, agreeing that it did seem off.
”So, I was having some fun with the Verdant Witches after you had fun with
your little Runemaiden, and I may have said something that made them
believe you wanted to, how can I say it, be more out there. Or at least that I
believed you should be more liberal,” Villy explained.
”What exactly did you do?” Jake asked, piercing daggers.
The Viper then smirked a bit. ”You know what, wouldn’t it be better if I just
showed you?”
”I am not sure I want tha-”

”Too late!” Villy smiled as the entire room disappeared, and Jake knew he
was thrown into an illusion. He still saw the room and everything with his
sphere… but what his eyes perceived and his ears heard was out of his
control. Even the smells.
And damn, did he wish he could turn off those senses only a few seconds
later.
A scene appeared before Jake. A large bed with silk sheets lay messy on the
floor as three fully naked women were leaning on and pleasuring the Viper
lying on the bed. All of the green-haired women looked nearly identical,
and all were more than eager. Jake had to admit he was momentarily taken
aback at how they looked but quickly flashed back to reality. Or, well,
illusion.
One of them, who was snuggling up to his chest, asked. ”It is rare you take
the initiative,” she said in a sultry voice.
“What can I say? I felt in the mood?” Villy smirked as he clearly enjoyed
himself.
“Oh? Did something good happen?” another of the sisters asked as she ran
her fingers across the Viper’s fine scales.
“You can say that. My Chosen finally managed to have a major

breakthrough in the arts of not being as dense anymore and got laid,” the
Viper laughed a bit. “Not that it is anything serious, but some casual fun is
just healthy. He should definitely get himself out there more. It should be
good for him.”
The three sisters looked at each other but didn’t say more as they proceeded
to get more aggressive. It was at this point Jake would have preferred the
illusion to end, but nope, it kept going as Jake sighed. “Villy, I do not need
to see your willy in action.”
As if it had never been there, the illusion faded, and Jake was back in the
room. The Viper looked at Jake with a shit-eating grin. “Oh, did I misread
the situation again?”
Jake shook his head and took a jab in return. “I don’t know what is weirder.
You needing me to get laid to get it up, or you enjoying making others
watch.”
“Now that is just a blatant misrepresentation,” Villy shook his head. “I like
to make you watch because I think it would be funny. I also want you to
remember that I used to be a snake and that you humans are the ones who
are weird when it comes to copulating. It isn’t that big of a deal, ya know?
As long as everyone enjoys it and is willing, who cares what others think?”
“I guess I am just not as free-spirited as you,” Jake shrugged. “And also not
as unperceptive if you didn’t even notice the glance they exchanged.”
“Oh, I did notice,” the Viper said. “But I honestly didn’t think they would
do anything this fast or make plans with the Hall Master. At most, I thought
they would try to push that City Lord on you or make plans behind the
scenes to set you up with those they liked. Believe it or not, I am not
watching everyone all the time, and even I respect the right to privacy
everyone has. Well, unless I have a reason not to respect their rights, in
which case I do whatever I want.”
“Very noble of you,” Jake said. “But can I trust you to shut down this entire
thing?”
“Maybe,” Villy smirked.
Jake looked at the Viper a bit more seriously, making Villy fully capitulate.
“Alright, alright, but just be aware that even if I tell them to stop, that is no
guarantee. They know you have a Bloodline, they know you are my
Chosen, and they know we have a rather unique relationship. They are
socially minded and will want to take advantage of all that, maliciously or
not. So they may or may not still do some things behind the scenes that
neither of us is aware of before it is too late. Witches are nefariously good
planners; you should know that.”
“If I am perfectly honest, then I don’t really know how the witch class even
works or how their magic operates,” Jake chuckled.
“Totally fair. I barely get it myself,” the Viper said, surprising Jake. Villy
clearly noticed and elaborated.
“Witchcraft is an entire branch of magic that is awfully separated from

borderline anything else. Their rituals follow a logic that nothing else does,
and their magic is wholly unique. Sure, they do things that are a bit like
curses but are actually called hexes. Oh, but hexes can actually create
curses, but only if certain criteria are met. What are these criteria? No one
fucking knows. It can feel so random at times. Maybe the trees need to be
placed in a certain way, the stars form a certain pattern, or a number of
highly specific items need to be in the proximity of the ritual.”
“I have noticed they have a lot of… remote magic, I guess is the term?”
Jake chipped in.
“Sure. Sometimes. The requirements can once more just be so odd, and
even if it is true that they are not as affected by distance as they use
mediums for most of their magic, I wouldn’t say it is an inherent trait of the
school of magic. Witchcraft can tap into so many other concepts too.
Anyway, enough about that, trying to understand witchcraft – or worse,
voodoo – is just a great way to mindfuck yourself and lead you astray on
your own Path of magic.”
“Got it,” Jake said. “But it is a pretty rare school of magic, isn’t it?”
“Yep,” Villy nodded. “And the best part is that you often won’t know you
are fighting a witch before the trees around you suddenly turn into spiders,
and the sky begins to rain exploding frogs that insult your hairstyle.”
“I want that to be real more than you can imagine,” Jake laughed.
Villy didn’t flinch as he looked Jake straight in the eyes. “It is. I shit you
not, the Verdant Witches wiped out a planet solely by the use of exploding
frogs that insulted people before going boom.”
Jake slowly nodded. Note to self, do not piss off witches for any reason and
bring back a nice gift for Miranda when you return to Earth.
“Ah, but don’t worry too much. Witches tend to suck in direct combat and
rely on hiding and avoiding confrontation. You are close to a direct
counter,” Villy added on, giving Jake a bit of relief. “Anyway, was this all
you came to talk about?”
“Yeah,” Jake said. “Oh, actually, I am going to a dungeon with Draskil

soon. Any tips?”
“Eat things,” Villy just said. “No, seriously. Eat a lot of things. Dungeons
are great ways to duplicate ingredients and materials for free, but some of
the stronger ones are placed with limitations. I am sure you noticed how
things like those Golden Mushrooms from the Undergrowth couldn’t be
brought outside the dungeon… the same is true here. But what you can do
is eat them, and the knowledge gained from Palate is permanent.”
“Makes a lot of sense,” Jake nodded. He already kind of knew this. He also
knew that while it was an “exploit” of sorts to place valuable things in
dungeons, it also came with many restrictions, and balancing what could
and couldn’t be in dungeons was an entire art. Art for the dungeon
architects and dungeon engineers to figure out. He did know that the
dungeons tended to require some level of combat before one could access
the valuables, which was probably why Draskil was still good to have
around. That the Order had made a dungeon that mixed alchemy and
combat made sense too.
All factions had their own dungeons designed, often specifically to fit their
own needs. Shit, Casper and the Risen planned on making a dungeon on
Earth that he would no-doubt design to be helpful when training Risen.
Villy proceeded to give Jake a few more general tips but not much
substance.
“Thanks for the tips and for handling your witches with benefits.” Jake
finally said, adding on. “You got anything on your mind?
“Eh, just one thing,” Villy said. “Can I check out that bone weapon you got
from the system event?”
Jake was a bit surprised and couldn’t hold himself back from asking.
“Why? More specifically, why now and not when I got it?”
“I want to check something,” Villy just said. “No worries, it won’t do

anything to your other self. The reason I waited was to make sure it was
truly stable before checking, and it clearly is.”
“Eh, sure then,” Jake said as he took out the bone katar and handed it to
Villy. The god took it in his hand, and Jake felt that Villy was trying to scan
it. He could resist the scan and make it impossible even for the Primordial
to see anything – due to system-fuckery, of course – but Jake allowed him
to scan away.
Villy checked it out for a dozen or so seconds before he nodded. “Thanks,

mate. Coming across items like this is rare, and I wanted to make sure of
something while also scanning it for future reference.”
Jake got the bone katar back and took note of how sim-Jake didn’t even
seem to have noticed, probably busy fighting or training in his Soulspace.
“No problem, any time.”
The two of them had some more small talk and shot the shit a bit before
they said their goodbyes as Jake did the next thing on his list. He pulled out
his token and dialed Reika. It didn’t take long before he got a response.
“Hey there, how are you doing?” Jake asked her once she picked up.
“I am doing well, thank you… but what made you decide to contact me?”
Reika asked in a confused tone, clearly not expecting the call.
“It is easier to ask in person. Can you give me your address and I can drop
by? Ah, I can also give an update on stuff that happened on Earth and with
the system event while we’re at it,” Jake answered.
A few seconds passed before she answered again. “I can, but maybe we
should meet somewhere public? As you know, then I live in dorms of sorts,
and while we do have our own private chambers, I would not want to create
misunderstandings by you visiting.”
“Eh, it should be fine. I don’t care as long as you don’t care,” Jake sent
back.
“Alright, fine. When do you plan on coming by?”
“Right now?” Jake asked.
He heard a sigh in answer, followed by a small break. “Alright, but wait at

least five minutes, okay? Maybe a bit longer is also okay.”
“Sure,” Jake confirmed.
Still standing in Villy’s room, Jake put the token back into his inventory and
looked at the god who looked back at him. They had already said their
goodbyes, but Villy read the situation as two bottles of beer appeared.
Well, I do have five minutes…
Reika hurried to clean up her chamber as it was frankly a mess. She even
called in her roommate, a beastfolk, to help her get it presentable. She
regretted saying five minutes less than five seconds after she said it, but it
was too late now. With a bit of panic, she stacked the textbooks in a corner
before remembering she had a spatial ring and began tossing them in there.
“Will he even care?” Bastilla asked as she helped put away some glassware.
Reika shook her head at her friend. “Maybe, maybe not. Either way, it
needs to look presentable if a guest comes over.”
“Sure,” the beastfolk just shrugged.
“Thanks for helping,” Reika smiled.

“Eh, it wasn’t like I had anything better to do, and this guy got gold in the
test, right? Sounds like a good guy to get friendly with,” Bastilla waved her
off.
Reika shook her head as she kept cleaning up. Before coming to the Order
of the Malefic Viper, she would never have imagined the situation she was
in now. She was ashamed to say it, but she was very uncomfortable around
anything and anyone that wasn’t human or at least very close to a human
when she first got there.
Elves, dwarves, and whatnot she was fine with. But Dragonkin? Beastfolk?
Demons? Weird elemental creatures? She was very averse to their presence.
Reika wouldn’t say they scared her, but they were off-putting. It took her a
while to begin to truly view them as people rather than just… monsters.
Bastilla had been the one to truly open her eyes. Her father was a winged
lion-like beast, and her mother an elf. Reika had wrestled with how that was
even possible until she learned Bastilla’s dad could take human form and
was in late C-grade when she was born.
Her heritage meant Bastilla had a very lithe form and cat-like features, as
well as fine golden hair covering her entire body, even her face. She even
had two moth or butterfly-like wings she could summon. She didn’t look
like the oft-fetishized cat girls of the old world that were pretty much just
humans with cat ears, but a true fusion between man and beast. Reika had
not liked her in the beginning as Bastilla was crude, always stared with her
beastly eyes, and was generally overly curious. Yet with time, she came to
learn that Bastilla was just inquisitive and highly skilled in alchemy. She
had a talent for it, and she had a Perception-based build, making her great at
analyzing and seeing the crafting process.
By now, they were genuinely good friends, and as they had the same shared
living space connected to their personal chambers, they often interacted and
even had many of the same lessons.
Reika and Bastilla continued to clean, and Reika saw five minutes had
passed. Yet he was not there yet, nor had he pinged her to show he had
arrived, so they kept making the space more presentable. Ten minutes
passed as it was close to perfect.
A quarter of an hour.
Half an hour.
Only forty minutes later did Reika get a ping on her token that Jake had
arrived at the gate… now standing in a completely spotless room.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 500 - Spontaneous
Decisions Are The Best Decisions
A note from Zogarth
Five hundred chapters. Yay. Now let’s go for a thousand!
Jake hadn’t set foot in a dorm for years. Counting time-dilation, close to
decades. This wasn’t the dorms of the old world with underfunded shitty
facilities and shared bathrooms and only one washing room for several
people, and every time you had to wash clothes, all the laundry machines
would be taken, and even if they were not taken and you got the rare chance
to start washing your clothes, some absolute asshat would stop the machine
and take your clothes out halfway through the cycle.
No, it wasn’t that kind of dorm, but the dorm for those with bronze tokens.
It was significantly nicer than what those with white ones got, as far as he
knew, but even the white token ones had to be better than the shit Jake lived
in for a few years back in university. All in all, the Order tended to be pretty
generous with accommodations, even if he was a bit biased as a black token
himself where he got his entire huge residence.
When Jake first stepped through the gate to enter the dorm, he found
himself in a circular room with eight exits leading into long hallways. Each
hallway had nearly ten meters to the ceiling and was made of marble-like
rock with bronze engravings and setpieces placed here and there. It looked
damn good for dorms, that was for sure.
Many individuals went and came from the different hallways, walking
towards the wall with gates on it or into the different hallways. No one took
note of Jake as he stood there and tried to figure out where Reika’s room
was.
Checking the address Reika had given him, he saw it said “4-121,” and it
didn’t take long before he understood what it meant. Each hallway was
numbered, and then each room also had a number. It was a simple system.
Going down the fourth hallway, Jake quickly found the right place. It also
quickly became clear as he walked through the hallway that behind every
door wasn’t actually a room but more like a small pre-set gateway. He also
felt severe distortion of space, likely meaning that each chamber was
spatially expanded. Which they would have to be considering there were
only three or so meters between each door on both sides of the hallway, and
with thousands of rooms in each of them, each room would be mega small
if not for space magic.
Jake raised his token to the door and pressed the doorbell, so to say. A few
seconds passed before it opened, revealing a large living room with Reika
walking over to invite him in with a beastfolk woman behind her peeking
curiously.
“Hey, glad you could make it,” Reika said with a smile as she invited Jake
inside.
“I was beginning to think he wouldn’t come considering he said five

minutes more than half an hour ago,” the beastfolk commented. Jake got a
good look at her and saw that she had some kind of cat heritage. Very shiny
golden fur too.
He was a bit surprised at the comment, though, as he looked at Reika.

“Didn’t you say at least five minutes? I got the feeling you kind of wanted it
to be more than five, so I stayed a bit longer and had a drink with a friend.”
“Ah, yeah, no worries,” Reika said, a bit embarrassed.

The beastfolk was about to speak up again as Reika cut in. “So, what
brought you here, by the way? A meeting of some sort? What about?”
“Maybe we should talk more privately?” Jake asked, nodding towards the
cat lady, who seemed very interested in their conversation.
“Alright,” Reika agreed without hesitation. The beastfolk didn’t protest but
just shrugged and waved them off.
“Have fun!” she said with a suggestive grin.
Reika groaned and led Jake into her own personal room and closed the door
behind her, activating the seal on it. Feeling they were isolated, Jake finally
spoke freely. “So, how have you been enjoying being in the Order of the
Malefic Viper so far?”
Okay, not the most pressing question, but Jake was interested. Reika came
from quite a different culture and, contrarily to Jake, didn’t have a good
buddy who also happened to be running the entire place. She had a far more
raw experience without any real help, and Jake genuinely wanted to know
how she was doing. The old swordsman had also asked him to check in
with her, so it was only right.
“It has been… better than expected?” Reika answered. “Not to be insulting,
but I had expected things to be far worse and even less professional if that
makes sense? Everything feels above board. Well, ignoring the fact that
there seem to be far fewer restrictions on everything compared to the old
world. I also do not particularly enjoy the fact that I have had a dozen
people so far try to sell me slaves or questionable organs and body parts
clearly belonging to humanoids.”
“Does indeed have its issues, true,” Jake agreed.
“But overall, I find it incredibly generous that the Order gives so much and
demands so little. I have been able to attend lessons with experts I could
only ever dream of learning from. All I have given up in return is some
labor by selling some things I crafted,” Reika continued. “I would think this
entire setup was too good to be true if I didn’t experience it myself. I can
only imagine how much better it is for you.”
“Well, glad to hear you are settling in nicely,” Jake smiled. “And the reason
why I came today was actually to ask you if you wanted to participate in a
mission with me and a few others, so that should earn you some more
Academy Credits too. It is a dungeon run, and I have been asked to look for
alchemists to join.”
Reika looked surprised when Jake pulled out the paper detailing the
mission, but she instantly shook her head. “This one is designed for late D-
grades… I am not quite there yet.”
“Eh, you are level 154; it should be fine. Your profession is late D-grade,
right? That counts. The dungeon itself just requires the one entering to be
D-tier, and all we will need of you is your alchemical knowledge,” Jake
said. He was already pretty determined that if Reika didn’t wanna go, they
would just do the dungeon as a three-person team as he didn’t want to spend
time getting to learn and work with a stranger.
“Are you sure these other people would be fine with that?” she asked,
concerned. “Who are they, by the way? Ones I know?”
“So far, it is me, Draskil, and Irin going,” Jake answered.
“Oh?” Reika exclaimed, surprised. “Irin? The succubus? How and why? I
would assume she had already completed the dungeon or has she truly
never done it before? And even if she hasn’t done it… why go now? She is
not an alchemist as far as I know, nor a good fighter. At least not someone
who would be useful with you and the Malefic Dragonkin around.”
“I was surprised too,” Jake answered, not sharing Draskil’s reason why he
wanted to bring her along. “And I actually think your how and why are
related. Why would she have gone before? The only reason now is because
Draskil decided to ask her, probably just to not go alone or make her recruit
alchemists to join or something.”
“Hm,” Reika answered, clearly a bit unsure. “So it will be the four of us?
Sure I will be of help?”
“Why not? You have been focused on alchemy and were already pretty
good before you went to the Order. I would rather work with you than some
random,” Jake shrugged. “Draskil also doesn’t know shit about alchemy, so
I would have to handle everything without you around, and that sounds like
a bad and very tedious idea.”
“I see,” Reika said and nodded in confirmation, a bit more assured. “It
would be my honor to attend then as long as all of you are fine with it.”
“Great, we go in three days” Jake smiled, not giving Reika time to comment
on the short notice. Jake had also gotten short notice, so it wasn’t his fault.
“Moving on… I see you made a friend?”
“Bastilla,” Reika nodded. “Yeah, we get along well. She is also an

alchemist and rather talented. A bronze token like me, and I think she will
upgrade to silver within a few years at most. Where she came from, no one
really taught her anything making her progress fast after entering the
Academy. She is a bit like myself in that regard, even if our methodologies
vary widely. Her methods are far closer to yours than mine.”
Jake nodded as he got a brilliant idea. “Do you think she wants to come
too?”
“Come to what?” Reika asked, genuinely confused.
“The dungeon.”
“I… would that be wise?” Reika muttered. “To bring along two bronze
tokens… the disparity in the group will be massive.”
“Eh, it should be fine,” Jake brushed it off. “Just try to convince her to
come so we fill the group. Not to brag, but I would probably be able to do
most of the alchemy myself anyway, so I just need you two to help speed up
things by pointing out obvious things I am too dumb to notice.”
Reika shook her head and smiled. “Fine, I’ll try. Anyway, you talked about
a system event back on Earth?”
“Well, not on Earth,” Jake began. “It was in this giant space station of sorts,
and I think it may even be a World Wonder…”
Jake began recounting the system event and how it had worked, Reika
being very interested in the details. He also shared his brief conversation
with the Sword Saint and let her know things were fine back on Earth.
Reika herself began talking more about her experience in the Order, how
she had felt incredibly insecure initially but had begun to find confidence
again in her skills and talent, and how she had managed to get along with
her roommates. Jake even told her of his bout with a C-grade – not because
he wanted to brag or anything. He didn’t talk much about his trip with
Carmen as he didn’t want to share the Runemaiden’s personal details.
It was a nice chat, and he ended up leaving a few hours later and headed
back to his own residence. He got quite a few stares from Bastilla when he
exited the room, and he saw that other people who shared the living space
had also shown up to glare. Jake didn’t particularly mind as he headed
home for some more alchemy and to prepare for the dungeon dive.
Jake got confirmation less than five minutes after returning to his residence
that Bastilla was in the dungeon group. Didn’t take much convincing, it
seemed. With a team assembled, Jake pinged Irin and let her know.
In what should not be a surprise at all, Irin didn’t even know Draskil had
asked Jake and was more than pleased to hear he would come along. She
also didn’t mind the two tag-alongs and sent over some more information
on the dungeon to Jake, which he then also sent to Reika.
With everything done, Jake got back to work with his usual schedule as he
waited for the dungeon run to begin.
Draskil and patience apparently didn’t go well together. Jake had barely
gotten started on his alchemy when Irin pinged him again very
apologetically. She explained that the second Draskil heard Jake had
already found two other alchemists, he saw no reason to wait three more
days as the wait was originally for Irin to find alchemists. So he wanted to
go… now.
Others would perhaps get mad at this, but Jake’s response was a shrug and a
quick call to Reika. Now, Reika liked to plan, and when she was asked to
spontaneously go to a dungeon only hours after learning about it, she was
hesitant, but her roommate Bastilla convinced her.
This is how the group of five ended up meeting only half an hour later
within a large meeting room of sorts made for exactly this kind of thing.
Draskil had been the first to arrive, impatiently sitting there waiting. Jake
was second as he didn’t have better things to do – or, well, chose not to
begin doing important things. Reika and Bastilla came a few minutes later,
with Irin the last to arrive as she had to prepare some materials and
ingredients they would need in the dungeon.
“Everyone is already here?” Irinixis asked with surprise after she stepped
through the gate. “Well, that does make things simpler. I know it is on short
notice, but has anyone managed to read the supplied material?”
Jake quickly scanned it before nodding, Reika also agreeing along with
Bastilla, who looked weirdly out of it. Draskil was just staying mute as his
tail moved back and forth impatiently. Jake noticed that Bastilla kept staring
at Draskil, who didn’t even glance her way in return.
He also took note of how the one at the highest level present was Irin at
level 193, followed closely by Draskil at 190. The dragonkin hadn’t gotten
many levels recently, probably on purpose to strengthen his foundation
before C-grade.
“Okay then… brief explanation only. The dungeon we are about to enter is
made for late-to-peak D-tiers and features monsters above level 170 as
challenges, up to and including a weak C-tier final optional boss. The
dungeon itself contains nine floors total, all of which need to be cleared to
battle the optional boss. Each floor has unique herbs, natural treasures, and
materials one needs to obtain to craft a required product to pass the floor
and move on to the next. All of these aforementioned things are guarded by
monsters of various kinds, and often some materials from the monsters
themselves are also required in the alchemical process. That is about all.
Any questions?” Irin finished up.
“How long is it expected to take?” Reika asked. “Also, a pleasure to meet

you. I am Reika from the Noboru Clan of Earth.”
“The pleasure is mine,” Irin nodded. “The expected duration is around two
to three weeks total, but for this group, trying to go on any averages seems
pointless. So the real answer is… I don’t know. Ah, but the maximum
duration we can spend in there is four weeks before the dungeon itself
collapses.”
Reika nodded at the answer, and Jake followed up with one of his own.
“What kinds of monsters will we encounter?”
“Assorted ones. The floors tend to vary in affinity and design, meaning I
once more cannot say. Besides the general design, I do not know the
specific details. No one does due to how these dungeons work. It is only
once inside things become clear,” Irin shook her head.
Jake nodded, guessing there was maybe some element of random

generation going on? Either way, with that information, there was just one
more thing to say.
Draskil stood up and stretched his wings as he smirked. “Then let’s just go
and find out ourselves!”
In agreement, the party of two humans, one demon, one dragonkin, and one
beastfolk headed out for their dungeon run.
Jake had at least prepared himself in the most important way for this run:
He hadn’t eaten breakfast for weeks and was ready for a feast.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 501 - Girl Time & Guy
Time
Irin took the lead as she led Jake and the others toward the location of the
dungeon. It wasn’t as simple as Jake had thought it would be to get there.
He had kind of just assumed it would just be another gate, and then boom,
they would be teleported straight in front of it.
However, reality was a bit different. They went through a gate and appeared
in a small waystation of sorts within an utterly massive damp cavern with
the gate itself within a structure carved into the stone walls.
“We are currently within the first layer of Primordial-4. This part of the
layer is usually safe in this area, and we shouldn’t expect any C-grades to
appear. The dungeon itself is placed deeper within this cavern. In case any
of you are wondering, then not placing the dungeons in natural
environments more suitable for the dungeon in question would just be
moronic and waste resources unnecessarily. You need the mana density to
reach a certain level, too, for the dungeon core to operate properly. This
dungeon is also on the older side, making its placement a bit more
inconvenient than usual,” the succubus explained once they made it out of
the small waystation. Jake saw that only a single person was present there,
inside a hidden meditation chamber of sorts. While he could not be sure, he
had a feeling this person was firmly in the C-grade and acted as a defender
of sorts.
Not thinking deeper about the issue, Jake followed Irin as they began
making it deeper into the cavern. The place was utterly huge, and when they
made it out of a small cave system, they came to an even larger chasm-like
cavern where Jake couldn’t even see the ceiling. Below them were blue
pools of water with beasts and monsters of all kinds everywhere, fighting
and bathing in the water.
Jake felt that the water was some kind of natural treasure or perhaps the by-
product of one. But this trip was not to collect water or fight beasts but to
head to the dungeon. Besides, the beasts below were only around 120 to
140, so they were not worth his time at all.
“The blue water in the pools may look attractive but is actually completely
useless by itself when it comes to alchemy. Instead, we allow the beasts to
soak in it and refine the energy so that when they are killed, their cores can
be harvested,” Irin explained once more, as both Reika and Bastilla looked
curiously at the happenings far below. “Ah, but some members of the Order
with heritages that allow them to make use of the pools also come by once
in a while, so do watch out if you ever go hunting here. Would be
unfortunate to kill another member of the Order.”
Irin gave a few more explanations of the local environment and what one
could expect to find there if one decided to go exploring at one point or
another. Jake considered if he should go at some point but probably
wouldn’t.
On the topic of getting to the dungeon, they had chosen to fly there as that
was faster. There were some flying creatures in the cavern too, but none
were threats. Hell, none of these flying monsters even bothered the party for
one simple reason – Jake wasn’t trying to hide his presence at all. The
beasts all avoided them as they instinctually knew not to mess with them.
Not that it was necessarily even needed for Jake to be the one to scare them
off. Draskil’s aura was plenty scary all on its own.
“The dungeon is located at the end of this cavern, pretty much just straight
ahead. It shouldn’t take us more than half an hour to an hour to get there,”
Irin said with a smile. “I do not expect us to meet any beasts or foes that are
of any danger to us.”
Draskil turned to Jake once he heard this and smiled. With a toothy grin, he
spoke: “So, how fast is your flying speed?”
Jake wasn’t surprised in the least as he smirked in response. “Are you
looking for a race?”
The dragonkin didn’t even respond as his wings began glowing with energy.
Jake, in response, slightly raised his foot and got ready to step down. “No
one says it needs to be flying, right?”
Draskil shook his head. “Loser owes a drink.”
With those words, he exploded with power and took off. Jake threw a
glance at Irin and got a nod in response as he stepped down and warped
through space. He appeared over half a kilometer away before stepping
down again. Slowly building up momentum, he chased after Draskil, who
had a small headstart.
Irinixis sighed as she saw the two of them run off like two children let
loose. She had been working in the Order for a long time now and had
managed many individuals… but this was her first time getting such
important people as two black tokens that even had a Malefic Dragonkin
with a Divine Blessing among them.
Quite honestly, it was all luck. Then Humanoid Resources assigned

managerial staff to those from the ninety-third universe; the groups they
would manage were chosen entirely at random. Most others who handled
groups from the new universe had gotten mediocre to slightly above
mediocre groups. Having a few gold tokens would be considered
exceptional, and a few of her colleagues had bragged about it.
So when Irinixis had been assigned two black tokens, she was ecstatic. Not
to misunderstand, she still was ecstatic to be their primary contact person.
This was a huge opportunity for her. There was just the minor issue that she
felt completely out of her depth with both of them. She was used to
powerful young masters throwing their weight around and caring about face
above all else, but these two just did whatever. They were more like
children than highly talented geniuses blessed by the Malefic One.
Perhaps their laidback attitudes are part of the reason for their growth, Irin
thought, unsure if that could be the case. Either way, understanding Draskil
seemed impossible at the current time, but as for the human? She had a
great opportunity right there and then.
“So girls, I guess it is just us till we reach the dungeon. Better get going so
we don’t make those two wait too long,” Irin said to the two of them with a
smile.
“Let us,” the woman called Reika agreed. She began condensing a board of
ice that she stood upon as a mode of transportation, having just flown using
pure mana before. The beastfolk woman followed as she primed her wings
with energy, Irin doing the same.
The three of them set flight, Irin being the fastest, but not by much. She was
surprised at the level of magic deployed by the human, especially
considering her limited time to train. She will advance to a silver token
within not that long simply due to her talent in magic,Irin reckoned. I
should not doubt the judgment of a black token… Jake believed she was
worth bringing along and knows things I do not.
As for her beastfolk companion, she clearly had an Agility-focused race due
to her feline heritage, making her on the faster side. She was about as fast as
Reika, which in reality was just proof of Reika’s talent, considering she was
firmly in the mage category.
While flying, there was no reason not to get to know one another as they
would spend some time together in the dungeon anyway. It wasn’t like they
were in a real hurry either, as Jake and Draskil could just spend some guy
time together while they spent some girl time.
“Man, those two sure are something,” the beastfolk woman commented as
she looked at Irin. “I am called Bastilla, by the way; a pleasure to meet you.
Are you one of those management demons?”
“I am,” Irin replied, not thinking it worthwhile to further elaborate.

“Damn. That dragonkin one of those you help manage? What is he anyway,
a gold token like that Jake guy?” Bastilla asked, confusing Irin.
“Neither of them has gold tokens?” she exclaimed, noticing Reika looked a
bit embarrassed.
“Wait,” Bastilla said, glaring at Reika. “You said he was gold, though. With
his own residence and all that.”
“I… didn’t want to… you know…” Reika muttered, Irin finding it a bit
endearing as she smiled, fully understanding the situation immediately.
“She didn’t want to come off as a braggart and downplayed her

connections. To clarify, both Jake and Draskil have black tokens and are
both blessed by the Malefic One, the dragonkin – as you rightly pointed out
– a Malefic Dragonkin carrying a Divine Blessing,” Irin explained.
Bastilla looked weird for a moment before she opened her mouth. “For
real? Isn’t that like… a big deal? A super big deal?”
“Anyone with a black token is considered extraordinary and big deals, as

you so eloquently put it,” Irin said in confirmation.
“I am beginning to feel the pressure here,” Bastilla shuddered. “Why am I

part of this group again?”
“That I am not certain of,” Irin answered as she looked at Reika, who had
some time to collect herself.
“As Irinixis said before, I didn’t want to show off, you know? It is also a bit
embarrassing he is so much more skilled than me despite us spending an
equal amount of time doing alchemy and learning energy control,” Reika
confessed. “It is infuriating…”
Irin just shook her head. “Listening to all of you complain is infuriating.
That you managed to get bronze tokens is already more than the vast, vast
majority of the multiverse can ever achieve, and you are both early on your
Paths. So just keep working hard, and you can go far. Meanwhile, I am
hoping to make those two black tokens my ticket to C-grade as, currently, it
is still a toss-up if I will make it.”
And wasn’t that the truth. Irin had been D-grade for close to a century and
had only recently gained a single level. The path to C-grade was even
harder, and while she did have some confidence, it wasn’t a sure thing. She
downplayed it a bit to the two girls, but she was truthful that she wanted to
make Jake and Draskil – or at least one of them – her ticket to C-grade. It
was what her profession was all about, after all. As for if she would also
progress her succubus race… now that was a whole other question.
“Still didn’t answer why I was asked to join,” Bastilla muttered, making Irin
refocus on the conversation.
Reika just sighed. “In all honesty? I think the primary factor was proximity.
Jake wanted a fifth, and there you were.”
Irin nearly flailed a bit while flying as she heard the reason. I truly don’t
understand these geniuses… but I should take the chance to.
“Reika, I have been wondering about the planet you and Lord Thayne hail
from,” she began with a smile. “I strive to know more of those I am
assigned, so I would love to learn more about you two and your origins.”
It was a perfect time to learn about at least one of the two geniuses when he
wasn’t within earshot.
The two “geniuses” managed to turn what should have taken half an hour
into a less than a five-minute trip. Jake had used One Step Thousand Miles,
while Draskil had a legendary movement skill related to flying. Jake won
out in the skill department when it came to traveling as One Step was a line
of skills used for traveling and not necessarily for combat, while Draskil’s
skill was more combat-oriented with a focus on instantaneous movement to
escape and attack.
However, the level disparity meant that Draskil could make up for it. He
was just faster, and Jake failed to catch up in the short time it took to reach
the dungeon. Without the headstart Draskil had, Jake could have likely
caught up.
Ah, but Jake still won. The race was to the dungeon… and Draskil flew
straight by it while Jake picked up the unique mana signature emanating
from a hole in the ground. Draskil quickly noticed Jake hadn’t followed and
put two and two together.
Which led to their current situation.
“I was faster,” Draskil said.
“That wasn’t what we were competing about. It was who would make it to
the dungeon first. Which I did,” Jake argued.
“Who cares about who got here first when I was faster,” Draskil sneered,
clearly dissatisfied.
“If it wasn’t about who got here first, then why get a headstart? And didn’t I
slowly catch up to you?” Jake argued further, feeling like he had Draskil
cornered.
“Does not matter. I was the fastest to pass by the entrance and won,”
Draskil refused to back down.
“If you run past the finish line, it doesn’t count,” Jake smirked. “And if it
wasn’t for me, you would still be flying right now.”
“She said half an hour,” Draskil then decided to blame a third party.
“Sounds like bad excuses,” Jake laughed. “Just take the loss.”
“I didn’t lose.”
Jake was beginning to believe that this was not an argument that could be
won as the other party simply chose to deny reality. Okay, in some fairness,
all Draskil had asked was how fast Jake was, and there were no formal
rules, but Jake only found it reasonable that their race was to the dungeon.
Having decided to not pursue it further, he properly inspected the chasm the
hole had led into containing the dungeon. The entrance to the dungeon
looked incredibly out of place as it was just a black metal door embedded in
a stone wall, and it looked like one could easily break it or take it away.
However, with further inspection, it became clear the gates were somehow
entirely locked in place.
Jake inspected them with Draskil still moping, proving that he did
recognize his loss. He just was just too shy or prideful to admit it. At least
that is how Jake chose to interpret the actions of the dragonkin. Feeling
good about himself, Jake began to consider ways to pass the time as they
waited for the rest of their party to arrive.
About forty minutes went by before the others made it to the dungeon, and
in the meantime, Jake had time to craft a batch of health potions just for
good measure. Draskil had also gotten bored and began to meditate.
“Sorry for the wait,” Irin apologized when she made it into the chasm along
with Bastilla and Reika.
Draskil just made a slightly dissatisfied noise while Jake waved it off.
Having no need to exchange more words, they all went over to the gate, and
as Jake lay his hand upon it, a system message appeared.
Dungeon: Nine Floors of the Indigo Caverns.
Requirements to enter: D-grade
Requirements to enter met
WARNING: Only 5 challengers are allowed per party attempting the

dungeon.
Enter Dungeon?
Y/N
Not a single one of them hesitated as all five entered the dungeon. Jake felt
excitement as he was teleported by the system, but his excitement died
instantly when he appeared in the dungeon.
His smile faded, and his eyes opened in horror as he gazed out upon the
first floor and what they could expect this dungeon to contain. “Fuck me,”
Jake exclaimed out loud, realizing this whole thing was a mistake. Because
he saw them.
Mushrooms.
So many fucking mushrooms.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 502 - Mushrooms... So
Many Mushrooms.
Jake had to question if it all was just one cruel joke that everyone but
himself was in on. Had Villy put them up to his? Was he the one who had
tipped off Draskil to choose this dungeon? Maybe influenced Irin? There
had to be more to this than pure randomness. Because what Jake saw was
just a hellscape.
The expansive cavern Jake stood before contained a large forest, but it had
massive mushrooms rather than trees. The underbrush was just moss and
mushrooms, mushroom spores covered the sky and floated in the air, and
there were even mushrooms growing on the mushrooms.
And if that wasn’t enough, then the first movement Jake saw was of a large
mushroom with mushroom arms and mushroom legs, holding a mushroom
shield and wielding a mushroom stalk as a club. The figure was about three
meters tall and on the bulkier end, but was overall clearly a low-tier
creature, even if its level was decent.
[Mushroom Man Warrior – lvl 171]
“I hate this place,” Jake said as the first person to speak after entering the
dungeon.
“Smells like shit,” Draskil snorted, clearly not enjoying the mushrooms
either.
Irin looked a bit confused while Reika understood Jake’s hatred. Not
because she carried it herself, but because Jake had ranted plenty of times to
her about the evil shrooms. Bastilla was even more confused than Irin and
just asked.
“Why? Aren’t mushrooms great for poisons?” she spoke in her infinite
ignorance.
“Great for poisoning people who don’t know better too,” Draskil muttered
before looking at Jake. “We kill everything?”
“Wait!” Irin cut in. “Please do not destroy the corpses too badly as we may
need them for materials or to get their life cores. Do we have anyone here
with scavaging or dismantling abilities, by the way?”
Bastilla raised her hand. Jake was a bit surprised but didn’t show it. Irin
looked at Jake momentarily with approval before nodding. “Very well, then
you take care of dismantling all the corpses.”
“I will begin to collect materials and search for them then,” Reika said, but
Jake decided to cut in as he looked at Draskil.
“Will killing any of these mushrooms even give you any experience worth
mentioning?”
“No, but I would enjoy it,” Draskil answered bluntly.
“Totally fair. I was just thinking that we should have Reika and Bastilla kill
those here on the earlier floors while we collect stuff and pass the test.
Besides, we have four whole weeks total, and we both know we won’t need
that time, and if we do need the time, it is due to the far more time-
consuming alchemy aspect and not due to killing things slowly, so better
you help me out,” Jake said.
Draskil clearly didn’t like the idea but grunted in approval anyway. “Fine…
but if any of those damn mushrooms get in my way, I kill them.”
“Again, totally fair,” Jake nodded with a smile before turning to Bastilla
and Reika. “Time for you two to put on your hunting boots and get killing.”
“Alright,” Reika agreed without arguing.

“I… I’m not really the fighting type of gal?” Bastilla said, seeming a bit shy
for the first time since they met. She was obviously not a fan.
“Too bad, but sometimes you gotta fight to survive. You are a beastfolk.
You are innately a fighter. Just tap into some of that primal instinct and go
rip those damn shrooms to pieces,” Jake said encouragingly.
It wasn’t like it would be dangerous either way. Jake had a very good feel
for the mushroom warrior, and it was clear it was damn weak, just as one
would expect from a mushroom man. Mushrooms all sucked, after all.
“Okay…” Bastilla agreed after a comforting look from Reika.
“I shall help guard them while they hunt,” Irin added.
“No,” Jake shut the sentiment down. “Unless some hidden boss or a horde
of those shroomy fucks pops out of the ground, it is their fights, and no one
interferes.”
Bastilla looked like she wanted to protest, but Reika spoke up first. “I must
agree. It is no proper fight if we have someone constantly guarding us. I
have not fought for a while, and it is about time I get in some proper
practice. Without a true element of danger, it wouldn’t be as worthwhile.”
Jake nodded in approval, seeing some of that Noboru blood leak through.
Irin looked a bit concerned, but Jake wasn’t. One had to remember that
while Reika was not considered a peak fighter on Earth, then she was
considered a single tier behind. And the peak fighters of Earth were out of
the ordinary, to say the least.
They all watched as Reika pulled out a white scabbard and pulled out a
sword. Jake felt the immense cold emanate from it as her mana stirred and
infused the blade further. “I am ready.”
Her aura had changed and was now both colder and sharper than before.
Irin looked surprised, while Draskil seemed far more approving than before.
Bastilla was the most surprised as she just stared before collecting herself.
“Fine… let’s go.”
They all watched as Reika took the lead and approached the mushroom
man. White cold air revolved around her as she stepped forward and
charged. It looked like a simple charge, but Jake saw how the concept of ice
enveloped her feet in icy mist, making her footwork faster and far more
unpredictable.
The Mushroom Man Warrior turned to the human twenty or so levels below
himself… itself… whatever. The mushroom swung his club, displaying a
respectable amount of Strength and speed. Reika didn’t even flinch as she
dodged the attack and swept her blade upwards, leaving a cold trail. The
mushroom man was cut deep into his mushy flesh and made an odd roaring
sound as he just kept swinging the club haphazardly.
Reika took a bit to really get in the zone, and Jake saw noticeable
improvements in her movements with every exchange. Having seen her
fight before, Jake knew she was just getting into the swing of it. The
mushroom man was nothing more than a training dummy for her to refind
her fighting instincts after a long time of just doing alchemy and living in
safety.
It took her only five minutes until Jake saw she was done with her
opponent. She took a single step back from her opponent and fanned the
sword in a circular pattern as it left afterimages behind. These afterimages
froze in the air and turned into blades of ice that Reika sent barraging
towards the mushroom man. It was impaled by dozens of them before Reika
sheathed her blade again, and the moment she did, all the frozen blades
exploded, blowing the body of the shroomy fuck apart into seven frozen
parts.
“That felt refreshing,” Reika smiled as she walked back to them, not a
single trace of dirt on her clothes.
“You know how to fight. You are skilled,” Draskil said, speaking to Reika
for the first time.
“I try my best,” Reika bowed. “But I still have long to go before I would
call myself skilled.”
“Don’t compare yourself to the old man,” Jake joked.
“Who is this old man, if I may ask?” Irin asked curiously.
Jake gave Reika a look, signaling that if she wanted it to be shared, it was
up to her. She nodded and chose to answer.
“My great-grandfather and a true swordsman,” Reika answered with a

smile, clearly proud.
“Is he strong?” Draskil asked again.
“Yes,” Reika just answered. “He taught me just a little bit of

swordsmanship, and it has served me more than well.”
Draskil looked like he wanted to ask more, but Jake cut in. “Anyway, how
about we actually do the dungeon now? As you can see, then Reika knows
how to handle herself, so let’s leave the two roomies and go find out how to
pass this floor and get to the more exciting parts of this accursed place.
Hopefully somewhere with no mushrooms.”
Irin nodded in agreement, even if she did throw a few more curious glances
at Reika. “Let us. We should look for the passageway to the next floor. The
requirements to pass must be there.”
They better be, Jake thought. So far, all he had seen in the dungeon was
mushrooms, and he wanted to pass this floor fast. The system message
when he entered the dungeon wasn’t very useful either.
You have entered the dungeon: Nine Floors of the Indigo Caverns.
Objective: Pass at least four floors of the Indigo Caverns within the 28-
day limit.
The only new information here was that you only needed to pass four floors
to complete the dungeon, meaning everything after that was optional for
better rewards. The time limit of four weeks was likely there to ensure that
people couldn’t just enter, find out what they needed to do, and then leave
the dungeon to make detailed plans or spend insane amounts of time testing
and experimenting until a solution was found. Sure, one could leave the
dungeon, but Jake knew that time kept passing inside even after one left. At
least it did so for a period of time, making it unfeasible. There was also one
more thing… Jake couldn’t find any exit. Not that he planned on leaving,
but he had kind of gotten used to there being an exit from where they
entered, while in this dungeon, there was just a cave wall.
Leaving Reika and Bastilla behind, Jake, Irin, and Draskil flew further into
the dungeon floor. The first floor wasn’t actually as big as Jake had initially
thought, but only a few dozen or so square kilometers at most, with two
kilometers to the mushroom-covered ceiling.
With that in mind, it didn’t take them long to find the passage to the next
floor. It was a gate like the one they had entered the dungeon through, and
in front of the door was a large cauldron with a lid on it. Furthermore, on
the wall beside the gate, an inscription could be found.
An inscription with pretty easy instructions.
Create three different kinds of poisons of at least inferior rarity from

the materials found on this floor and place them all in the cauldron. In
order to open the lid of the cauldron, at least one hundred Mushroom
Man Warriors must be slain.
Progress: Mushroom Man Warriors killed: 3/100. Poisons placed in the

cauldron: 0/3
As expected, the first floor was easy peasy. They just had to kill a hundred
Mushroom Men, and with Reika and Bastilla already killing three, it would
get done pretty quickly by itself. So all Jake had to do was to make the three
poisons.
“Well, this is easy enough. Just get some different ingredients, and I will
toss them together and make a few different poisons,” Jake said.
None of them had expected much difficulty to begin with, and all set out
again. Draskil and Jake both had Sense of the Malefic Viper, and Irin also
had her own skills to search for valuable items. Amidst the many normal
mushrooms spread throughout the forest were many special ones that
counted as items, and Jake also quickly noticed how peculiar the fungi
were.
The spores in the air all around them at all times weren’t just for ambiance
and released from the mushrooms – it was a unique feature of the dungeon
and something all the ingredients there relied on. Nothing could be taken
out of the dungeon without wilting, and Jake noticed how these spores even
seemed to “enter” his spatial storage whenever he put a mushroom in it.
Jake also became aware of this from eating a lot of mushrooms. He hated
mushrooms, but he still recognized that eating them was a good idea due to
their uniqueness. Every single mushroom inside the dungeon could not be
found on the outside but was specifically made for the dungeon.
Pulling out some old tricks, Jake made mushroom soup and went around
just eating as he collected stuff. In the distance, he heard fighting, and at
times a dark green pulse of power went through the floor when Draskil
killed a Mushroom Man Warrior that got in his way.
What was a little disappointing was that all the mushrooms were common
rarity at most, but it had to get better as they progressed through the floors,
right? He damn well hoped so, as finding nearly only inferior rarity stuff
sucked.
After an hour of eating and searching, Jake headed back to the passageway
and plopped his ass down to do some alchemy. He had already gotten some
ideas, and quite frankly, it was an easy job anyway.
If this had been before Jake had ever gone to the Order, it would have taken
him a lot longer to confidently say he could successfully create three
poisons that easily, but his general knowledge had come far. Taking out
some mushrooms and some of the moss, Jake tossed it all into the cauldron
along with some purified water and a few drops of his blood to act as a
catalyst.
Irin returned and checked in on him ten minutes or so later as Jake sat there
and let the cauldron simmer. She clearly didn’t want to disturb him, but that
was a needless worry.
“Found good things?” Jake asked.
“Not really,” Irin answered after getting the go-ahead to talk. “This is the
first floor. There aren’t really ingredients I think anyone would consider
good.”
“Fair,” Jake said.
“Are you confident in making the three poisons by yourself?” she asked.
“Well,” Jake said as he dispelled his Alchemical Flame. “Got one already.”
He opened the cauldron and nodded as he took out a few bottles. Once
everything was in them, he inspected the final product.
[Weak Necrotic Mushroom Poison (Inferior)] – A poison created from

the unique mushrooms of the Nine Floors of the Indigo Caverns
dungeon with necrotic properties, infecting and killing off biological
material in the affected area. Wounds caused by necrotic poison are
somewhat difficult to heal. The poison takes effect upon any contact
with any biological material.
Jake instantly knew that even if it had added a bunch of things about the
dungeon, this was really just normal necrotic poison. He also knew he could
bring it outside no problem and use it like normal.
“That was fast,” Irin exclaimed.
“Of course,” Jake laughed a bit as he began his second concoction. Looking
at the engraving, he saw that the hundred Mushroom Man Warriors were
already dead, and the dungeon cauldron was open. To test, Jake tossed a
bottle in the cauldron and saw the progress tick from 0/3 to 1/3.
“Well then, second poison,” Jake smiled as he threw in the ingredients. “In
the meantime, can you do me a favor?
“What is it?” Irin asked curiously.

“Can you roast the mushrooms or something to eat? The taste is driving me
nuts,” Jake said spitefully.
Irin surprisingly smiled as she took out a small canister of sorts along with a
large bowl. She then deposited all her collected mushrooms in the bowl and
opened the container as an orange liquid covered the mushrooms. She
tossed the mix a bit before nodding.
“Try one now,” she offered, and Jake promptly responded by extending a
string of mana. He swooped up a mushroom and put it in his mouth as his
eyes opened wide. How could he have forgotten the secret to making
horrible salads edible?
Tasty dressing.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 503 - Truly Evil Dungeon
Design
It didn’t get better. Jake had hoped that the second floor would be less
mushroomy, but it wasn’t to be. In fact, there were even more mushrooms,
and some of them were even aggressive and attacked them. Mushroom Man
Mages had also been added to the list of enemies, usually wandering with
their warrior kin.
The second floor ended up proceeding much like the first. Jake hadn’t even
needed any materials gathered by others from the first floor, and he and
Draskil had ended up just having a mushroom feast prepared by Irin, who
shared that she had a skill related to cooking. Why would a succubus have a
skill related to cooking, one might ask? Jake didn’t truly know, but he did
know that he and Draskil both liked her better after she began making their
mushroom meals far tastier. Perhaps she had only become a cook to
integrate herself with others not only through social interactions but through
their stomachs. A truly insidious strategy that Jake was totally fine with.
Anyway, the second floor was also rather dull. All it required was for the
party to kill at least two hundred mushroom men and craft at least three
different resource-restoring potions using the materials found in the
dungeon. Jake once more did all the crafting while Reika got some combat
done with an already tired-looking Bastilla joining in.
Draskil was just wandering about eating stuff, and Jake did see him at one
point juggle three Mushroom Man Warriors in boredom. No, not juggle in
the figurative sense but the literal one as he tossed them up in the air before
catching them again.
On a side note, then Jake and the others also finally found the exit to the
dungeon. Inside every passageway leading to the next floor was an exit that
could be used, but it was only available in the passageway. If anyone
entered the next floor, the exit would cease to function, and one couldn’t go
back to earlier floors once one had been successfully passed.
The third floor was once again more of the same, but at least there was
something more than mushrooms present. Several flowers and plants had
begun to grow together with the mushrooms, and one part even had a small
lake with water plants inside. The challenge on the third floor was to craft a
poison using the lake water. The poison itself had to retain all the toxic
effects of the lake water but without any of the restorative properties. In
essence, it was a test of purification rather than true crafting. There was one
small snag, though – the water had to also increase in potency enough to be
recognized as a common rarity poison.
By default, the water was of inferior rarity, and if the restorative effects
were removed, it was questionable if it would even qualify as an item. This
floor was the first time Reika proved her skills as she quickly figured out a
way to distill the water, and Jake quickly realized that if he then just added
some mushrooms also present on the floor, he would be able to make it.
On this floor, Bastilla also had to stop joining in on the combat or at least
only fight with Reika. Reika herself was also struggling as the mushroom
men got stronger, and the mages and warriors now also had something
called defenders, which carried two mushroom shields.
Ah, not that there was any cause for concern if they could pass the floor or
even subsequent ones. Draskil still ripped every single opponent apart with
ease, and Jake had only killed a few himself who got in his way, all of them
with only a few moves with his two katars.
From the fourth floor, the dynamic became more how they initially planned
to do the dungeon. Draskil was in charge of the killing, with Bastilla
primarily dismantling the corpses using skills Jake had never seen before.
Usually, any creature killed only dropped its core or one other item, but
Bastilla could dismantle a corpse and gain far more. Using her skills, most
parts of the creature would turn into items of some variety, but her greatest
ability was how she could redirect the Records of a slain creature. She
could change it so that rather than the orb storing all the energy, it would
instead enter another or several other parts of the body. Sure, crafters could
already infuse cores into materials from a monster, but Bastilla didn’t just
infuse the core into something – she infused the whole damn corpse. It was
a bit weird seeing an entire mushroom man be reduced to a small piece of
white mushroom flesh teeming with energy, but who was Jake to argue with
system rules?
Reika and Jake also began to team up from the fourth floor and did all the
alchemy. The challenges got quite a bit more complicated, and it was clear
that the fourth one had a spike, likely due to being the last required floor
one had to pass to complete the dungeon.
Oh yeah! The fourth floor also had a boss. Mushroom Man Commander. It
was a bigger than usual mushroom man surrounded by many other
mushroom men. Jake needed a piece from the boss to pass the floor, so he
had Draskil be nice and not destroy the mushroom too much so Bastilla
could still use her skills properly on it.
Needless to say, nothing seen so far could even touch Jake or Draskil. The
Mushroom Man Commander had only been level 185 and wasn’t even that
strong of a D-grade. Jake could likely have killed it with one well-placed
Arcane Powershot and one hundred percent killed it with an Arrow of the
Ambitious Hunter. Draskil also only needed a few moments to kill it with
his claws.
Jake had yet to really see how Draskil fought even after going through the
floors with him. Seeing the dragonkin kill mushroom men by swiping his
claws casually didn’t give much insight, but at least did let Jake know
Draskil was a melee fighter. Granted, Draskil didn’t know Jake’s fighting
style either, as he had yet to pull out his bow.
Even if the fourth floor was a bit more difficult alchemy-wise than those
prior, it still only took Jake and Reika a few hours to find out how to
properly combine the Lifecore from the boss monster with the other
ingredients. This floor was primarily made hard by only having one real
shot at succeeding with the Lifecore, but at least they could practice the
craft with lesser Lifecores from the other mushrooms before the real
attempt. On the note of crafting, then Jake was the one doing all of the
actual alchemy, with Reika taking more of an advisory role. She did still do
some crafts, but it was only exploratory ones to figure out stuff for Jake to
reference.
Only a bit over twenty-four hours after entering the dungeon, they stepped
foot in the passageway to the fifth floor, having officially “completed” the
place. They all stopped as a system message appeared before all of them.
You have successfully passed four floors and have officially completed
the dungeon.
However, if the quest ends here or not is up to you. Five more floors
await you as you delve deeper into the Indigo Caverns, with challenge
and opportunity growing hand in hand. Perhaps you may even see
what dwells at the bottom of the caverns and obtain the true reward…
Do you wish to continue delving into the Indigo Caverns?
“I must admit… we got here faster than expected,” Irin said, shaking her
head in slight disbelief. “I had estimated it would take us around two days,
maybe closer to three.”
Jake had to agree with her assessment… shit had been easier than expected.
Granted, it would have taken him a bit longer if he was alone, but Jake
could have definitely passed the place solo in between two and three days
easily.
“Well, we do have two absolute monsters here,” Bastilla muttered.
“Yeah, Reika and Irin are damn beasts at what they do!” Jake agreed, failing
to hold himself back from making a joke. The two of them had been
incredibly helpful, but it was obvious that the two main contributors had
been Jake and Draskil. However, one should not discount the absolutely
essential job Irin had.
She made mushrooms actually edible. The succubus did complain at one
point about being reduced to a cook but still kept making mushroom feasts
nonetheless. Okay, calling it cooking was maybe a bit much as all she did
was season the mushrooms. Ah, but it was special seasoning. Not only did
it make the mushrooms taste better – it had synergy with Palate of the
Malefic Viper.
It made the knowledge obtained more… digestible and allowed Jake and
Draskil to absorb it faster. It was a small and near-negligible effect, and the
true worth was in making the mushrooms edible, but it was something. Not
that the two of them would have cared if all her seasoning did was make
mushrooms somewhat taste good as that was sure as hell a requirement
because the god damn mushroom nightmare continued floor after floor,
only getting worse.
On the note of eating copious amounts of mushrooms, Jake learned that

while Draskil was not an alchemist, he still kind of was? He didn’t concoct
poisons the usual way but instead told Jake how he made it inside his body.
He had what could almost be called an organ where he cultivated poisons
using Palate and pretty much crafted toxins for him to use on his claws,
fangs, and even to refine his blood.
Draskil thus needed to also eat a lot of poisons to both expand the scope and
depth of his poison. Jake could only imagine the nightmare if he was the
only one eating all that Irin prepared, so he was glad to have someone to
share the pain with.
“Are we going to keep up the pace?” Reika asked, ignoring Jake’s “praise.”
“Yes,” Draskil just stated.
Jake shrugged. “The big bad dragonkin has spoken. I want to reach this
final C-grade boss too.”
“Will we actually fight it?” Bastilla asked with a bit of worry.
Draskil and Jake both looked at her and answered in concert. “Yes.”
“Yeah.”
They had both killed C-grades before – well, Jake had killed one – so not
trying to at least fight it would be silly. Irin had even mentioned how it was
weak, so it would be a shame not to.
Having decided to continue, they entered the fifth floor after all agreeing to
continue. The system prompt was not really a vote but more just an
opportunity to leave, and Irin explained that if anyone did choose to exit,
they could get their rewards then and there and be out. The rest of the party
could still continue.
This floor was more of the same, even if the difficulty had spiked. Jake
decided to finally join in on the action and helped kill some foes as they
now had to slay five hundred mushroom men to proceed and craft a weird
type of poison Jake had never come across before. A poison that seemed to
erode water somehow. Not absorb it, but just make it disappear. It was
weird, but Reika came in clutch again and helped find a solution, making
the fifth floor take only around ten hours total.
Sixth floor? Same shit, more mushrooms. Took them twenty-two hours as
the alchemy challenge was actually quite hard.
The seventh floor was next, but this one was at least different… in a bad
way. It was a fucking water level with mer-mushroom men, which looked
exactly as abominable as one can imagine. This floor was by far the hardest,
and everyone hated it, even those who didn’t carry the justified hatred of
mushrooms Draskil and Jake did.
Irin complained about her magic feeling weaker and her wings getting
soggy, Reika hated how her ice magic sucked in water, Bastilla how she had
fur and how she wasn’t made for swimming, and Jake because he was a
sane human being who knew water levels sucked.
Draskil though… Draskil didn’t really hate the water. No, he was more just
uncomfortable. Jake wondered why but it got worse as time passed, and
Jake finally realized after about half an hour. He was terrified. Jake felt
legitimate fear from the mighty dragonkin as he swam in the underground
cavern full of water. There had to be a story there, but Jake didn’t want to
pry. There was a time and a place for everything, and an underground
cavern where the likely stronger than him dragonkin was already on edge
was definitely not that time and place.
They still passed the dungeon, but it took a grueling two days and three
hours. The poison they had to craft was also just a god damn nightmare to
make. They had to make a bloody fire affinity poison using only water and
earth affinity mushrooms found in the water. This was all while getting
chased by horrifying mushroom men with squiggle tails and octopus-like
tentacle arms trying to kill them.
Passing the gate to the eighth floor, they all took a small breather in the
passageway. They dried off and decided to make camp for the first time
there and then to all recover. They had just been running on potions and not
really expending any resources due to how easy it was on all the prior
floors, but the seventh water level had been hell.
Irin took out a massive party tent of sorts that barely fit in the rather large
passageway and pulled out furniture to allow them to sit down and relax.
“I fucking hate water levels,” Jake muttered as he sat on a couch in the large
tent. He got a few approving nods as Irin asked inquisitively.
“Oh, you got a term for these kinds of challenges?”
“Yeah, that term is called shitty design. At least I tend to view them as proof
the creator of the game ran out of good ideas and just decided to make
something shitty to pad the time. I guess the creator of this dungeon wanted
to spice things up and added a water level but ended up just making this
dungeon go from a mushroom-filled hellhole to a soggy and wet
mushroom-filled hellhole,” Jake said only half-jokingly. Not even half-
jokingly… maybe quarter-jokingly.
Irin stared for a moment before regaining her composure and smiling. “I am
sure the previous floor was well-thought-out. Knowing how to adapt to a
new environment is an important trait that the dungeon creator wanted to
teach us.”
“Sure. Doesn’t mean it didn’t suck,” Jake countered, getting a reluctant nod
in return.
“I will need to go meditate for a while,” Reika added in with a sigh after
their useless quipping about water levels. “Just wake me up once everyone
is ready. I should be able to manage either way.”
“Same… for the meditation part, not the manage either way part,” Bastilla
also said, a bit downtrodden.
Irin nodded. “I shall rest too. Please do not hesitate to wake me.”
Jake nodded at them before finally turning his attention to Draskil, who had
taken a seat on the ground, just staring out into space. He had been very
mute for a long while. In fact, he had barely spoken during the floor at all
and only now seemed to relax, making Jake decide this was the time and
place.
Putting up a quick barrier so only the two of them could hear, he asked the
dragonkin:
“You okay, mate?”
The dragonkin looked at him instantly, his eyes filled with bloodlust.
“What?”
Jake didn’t feel intimidated but just shook his head. “If you want to talk,
just talk. If you don’t… then don’t. Just wanted to let you know that if you
want to, we are both here, and I am at least decent at listening.”
Draskil didn’t say anything but just turned his gaze away and stared into the
wall of the tent. About a minute passed before he spoke.
“Water brings death,” he began as Jake soon learned an excellent reason for
aquaphobia.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 504 - Heroes of the Ninth
Floor
”Underground… water is not like up above,” Draskil began, speaking far

more than usual. “We sought long and far for it. Digging. We needed water
to live… but the water was also a bringer of death. The skilled ones tried to
be careful, but they failed. Sometimes. If they made a mistake…”
Draskil stared into the air again as he sighed and spoke in a serious tone.
“They fucked up. Made a hole into a large reservoir of groundwater,
flooding everything. It spread through our caverns and into our homes. So
many drowned… I was the only one left. Family dead. Alone. Stuck for
days with the water rising… had to swim.”
Jake saw the now so powerful dragonkin shiver as he stopped talking. He

had known that Draskil had been a mole-type creature before the system
and what Villy had described as half-human-like. Something with intellect
between that of a human and a chimpanzee. Smarter than any normal
animal for sure and smart enough to form societies and have full sapience.
“Happened often… but we needed to dig. Water fine, but being in it is not,”
Draskil finally shook his head as he stared down. A few more moments
passed before he looked at Jake. “Fear makes me weak?”
“Being afraid of something and being weak has nothing to do with one
another,” Jake said with a shrug. “What matters is what you do when afraid.
You swam alongside us, you fought, you killed. Even if you were afraid,
you didn’t show weakness. So no, that doesn’t make you weak, but quite
the opposite.”
Draskil was clearly skeptical as he sneered. “I was weaker because of fear.”

Does he want me to scold him or what? Jake asked himself but still didn’t
fully agree.
“We were all weaker. You have already shown that even in the face of fear,
you don’t back down, and even if you are afraid of it now, you can
overcome that fear,” Jake said, trying to be convincing. He hoped for
Draskil to accept the answer and feel relieved, but it didn’t go that way.
“What do you fear?” Draskil instead just asked.
Jake opened his mouth and was about to answer but stopped. What was he
afraid of? If he was thinking back… he felt a bit scared of Oras when he
saw him in the void? No, that wasn’t’ really him being scared but more an
instinctual fear. But there was…
His silence seemed to annoy Draskil as the dragonkin asked. “Don’t

know?”
Jake took a moment longer before shaking his head. “I don’t. Not really.”
That was… a lie. Jake just didn’t want to say it as he realized he did have
one fear. It was a weird thought, but Jake was legitimately scared of one
thing – losing control. Not in the sense of momentarily being unable to do
something or being forced into doing things, but truly losing control of
himself. He remembered one time that had truly scared him.
It was the time he thought Miranda had tried to take over his Pylon. The
anger and bloodlust he had felt at that moment. Those emotions that now
felt so foreign. He had not been in control then but acted on pure impulse
and emotion. Jake feared those kinds of emotions. And there was one other
recent time where that happened.
During his meeting with Ell’Hakan within the Seat of the Exalted Prima,
Jake had lost his wits and trusted someone for no god damn reason. He had
been furious afterward but knew deep down it was due to fear. He was
afraid of that kind of power that could make Jake lose, even just
momentarily, control of his own emotions… because he knew that even
without any outside sources interfering, his own emotions were scary.
It was honestly a stupid fear. Fearing your own strong emotions. Or maybe
it was a normal fear that many people had. Perhaps it wasn’t truly the
emotions themselves he feared either, but what he would do while feeling
those emotions.
“Or you do… and don’t want to share,” Draskil accurately read Jake. For
some reason, this seemed to make the dragonkin feel better as he regained
his old toothy smile. “All things to overcome.”
Jake wryly smiled as he nodded, not sure if his fear was something one
could truly overcome. Especially not with his bloodline. Perhaps it was
closer to something you just came to accept and live with. Something to
manage.
The two of them didn’t speak much more but just relaxed and meditated a
bit. Hours passed as they all got back into optimal condition, just needing a
potion or two to top themselves up. The break was ultimately more to
replenish mental energy than anything else and have them have a mental
reset before the eighth floor.
Entering the eighth floor, it instantly became clear this was more of the
same as those before the seventh, making Jake think that his theory of the
water level being a failed attempt to diversify was correct. The only real
difference on the eighth floor was how everything had just gotten massive
in scale. Even the mushroom men had changed.
[Mushroom Man Giant Warrior - 183]
It towered more than fifteen meters into the air but otherwise looked the
same. They all felt like they were miniatures of themselves. It was a pretty
fun and novel experience.
Not that it had any effect on the outcome. Draskil still tore the big bastards
apart with ease, and Jake blew them up with Arcane Powershots as he killed
in droves together with the Malefic Dragonkin. Reika and Irin also joined
in, but Bastilla could well and truly no longer participate meaningfully in
combat. Reika barely could, but at least her ice magic helped slow down
foes for Irin to sometimes finish them off. The problem was that Irin didn’t
really have many offensive skills or abilities.
Her race offered her skills mainly related to subterfuge and illusion magic,
as well as other things one would expect of a succubus. Skills that were
obviously not useable inside the dungeon unless Irin wanted to get really
freaky with a giant mushroom. And that was a mental image Jake really
didn’t need.
Making their way through the cavern, they soon reached the next gate and
saw the challenge to pass the eighth floor. Once they read it, Jake nearly
wanted to laugh.
Create a hemotoxin, necrotic poison, or neurotoxin of at least

uncommon rarity from the materials found on this floor and place it in
the cauldron. In order to open the lid of the cauldron, at least eight
hundred mushroom men must be slain.
Progress: mushroom men killed: 78/800. Poison placed in the cauldron:

0/1
“Quite a spike in difficulty,” Irin said after reading it. And she was
technically correct. While the seventh floor had also required them to make
an uncommon rarity poison, the materials provided had been far better as
there were even a few rare rarity mushrooms they could use. On this floor,
based on their initial observations, the best one could get was of uncommon
rarity, and mushrooms with any of the required properties would take a
good while to find.
However…
“Well, this will be easy,” Jake smirked as he pulled out two types of
mushrooms he had already picked up earlier. “I will need more of these two
mushrooms. Also, I need some of that red stalk you picked up earlier,
Reika, and get the cores of those big stabby-arm mushroom men.”
They all looked at him a bit as Jake just shrugged. “What? Not my fault the
dungeon decided to suddenly get easy. I wanted to gather all this stuff to eat
anyway, as I am always looking to improve my hemotoxins and necrotic
poison.”
Draskil nodded in approval showing himself a true man of culture. “Good

poisons.”
With those words left to collect what Jake had asked for and Reika handed
him the stalks before going to find more. Jake ate some of the materials he
had gathered to absorb some knowledge through Palate as he got to work
while the rest of his group killed things. Occasionally they would return
with materials as Jake slowly refined the process. He made a common rarity
hemotoxin in the very first concoction, and less than four and a half hours
after entering the eighth floor, he got it.
Jake grinned as Draskil returned with some more materials, only to see Jake
toss the poison bottle towards the cauldron. It landed on the lid still on top
with a clank as Jake shook his head in an overly dramatic way.
“Man, you guys are sooo slow,” Jake failed to hold himself back from
saying. He looked at the cauldron as he felt very good about himself.
Progress: mushroom men killed: 771/800. Poison placed in the

cauldron: 0/1
“Only because we bring you stuff,” Draskil scoffed.
“What’s that? Us doing our assigned jobs with me excelling?” Jake kept
laughing as he got up. Draskil looked slightly annoyed but didn’t complain
more. In fact, he looked happy even with all his grumbling as the floor had
gone far faster than expected.
Jake joined the dragonkin as they headed out and got killing. There were
around a thousand giant mushroom men on the floor total, and they ended
up slaying most while collecting materials. Even if they could have been
out of the floor within less than five hours, they ended up staying for ten or
so more simply to take full advantage of the place. Each floor held
mushrooms Jake had never seen or heard of before, just as the dungeon had
been described, and it would be foolish not to eat as many as they could for
Palate.
Bastilla and Irin were the only ones really working for the last around seven
hours as Irin was making their food and even mixed some salads using the
mushrooms. Bastilla frankly had too many corpses to dismantle and ended
up only bothering with those who had Lifecores within. If they had to wait
for her to dismantle nearly a thousand corpses – well, realistically, nine
hundred as Draskil had taken his frustrations from the water level out on a
few – they would have been there for well over a day. Probably longer. This
time also allowed Draskil to get back in top condition as he had expended
quite a bit of energy. There had been a lot of them, after all.
“One floor left,” Irin smiled after they had ended their break and now stood
before the passageway to the ninth floor.
“And that C-grade optional boss floor,” Jake added on.
“Technically, every floor after the fourth is optional,” Reika correctly said.
“I feel like I should be paying to be here,” Bastilla said self-deprecatingly.
Draskil just grunted as they opened the gate and went through the
passageway. Jake dearly hoped the designer hadn’t decided to make the
ninth floor a water level and was relieved when he saw it was just more
mushrooms without the water. It was a bit of a mix between the giant stuff
on the eighth floor and all the prior mushroom floors with regular-sized
foes. Regular-sized being the three-meter tall mushroom men.
One thing that was different was the sheer number of foes. Just standing at
the entrance to the floor, Jake saw thousands of them. Some were
Mushroom Man Healers, Mushroom Man Warriors, Mushroom Man
Defenders, and Mushroom Man Mages. All kinds of mushroom men. And
in the middle of them, standing on a large mushroom, was the boss of the
ninth floor.
[Mushroom Man General – lvl 199]

With the General were naturally its commanders, which were just copy-
pasted versions of the boss on the fourth floor with a few more levels on
top. Four of them.
[Mushroom Man Commander – lvl 195]
“The level of enemy diversity in this dungeon is just utter shit-tier,” Jake
said, stating facts. Recycling older bosses as semi-regular enemies. Really?
“I must admit, it does seem rather uninspired,” Reika agreed.
“I am sure there is a reason it is like this,” Irin tried to defend the dungeon
designer again even if she had to know, deep in her heart, that the dungeon
designer had kind of sucked.
“Anyway, let’s get to the gate on the other side and figure out what the
objective is this time around,” Jake said.
They all agreed and followed as they avoided the central part of the floor to
not engage the boss. Not because they thought it was a threat, but because
they wanted to avoid killing the boss only to figure out they needed to do
something special to reach the next floor.
Only a few mushroom men were killed on the way to the cauldron placed in
front of the gate. Another set of instructions was naturally also there, and
this time there really was a spike in difficulty.
Create a poison using the Lifecore of the Mushroom Man General and
from the materials found on this floor, and then place it in the
cauldron. This poison must be at least of uncommon rarity and must
primarily contain life affinity energy. In order to open the lid of the
cauldron, at least two thousand mushroom men must be slain.

cauldron: 0/1
“Only one real attempt… a complex affinity to have while still making it a
poison…” Jake muttered as he read it.
“Uncommon rarity too,” Reika added with some worry. “We will need to
make the life affinity energy highly volatile, that is for sure. If not, it won’t
be recognized as a poison.”
“The problem is that the general’s core will likely lean far more towards a
very stable and controlled life affinity considering its Records as a general,”
Jake pointed out. “We will also need some cores from healers, but that
energy is obviously of the healing kind.”
If Jake could add some of his own materials, it would be fine, but he
couldn’t. The only thing he seemed allowed to add was his blood, as it was
semi-qualified as dungeon material due to parts of it stemming from the
dungeon courtesy of eating a lot of mushrooms.
“Before we decide anything, we need to get a proper understanding of what

we have available,” Reika said, shaking her head.
“You can do it?” Draskil asked.
“Well, I think so, yeah, but I need to have the core of the general first,” Jake
said. “Also, the core of the commanders are likely just lesser versions of the
general, so we can use them for practice crafts.”
“So the first objective is to collect what this floor has available to get a
scope of what we need?” Irin asked clarifyingly.
“And eat a mountain of mushrooms to figure out which ones are best,” Jake
sighed.
“We go?” Draskil asked.
Jake summoned his wings and looked at Reika and Irin. “You two take the
perimeter and hunt the stragglers?”
The two of them nodded as Bastilla added: “Then I will stand and cheerlead
uselessly on the side, waiting for them to kill stuff I can dismantle.”
He gave her a pity thumbs-up as he and Draskil got to work. Jake and the
dragonkin took to the air and flew towards the army of mushroom men.
Every floor had grown in size as they progressed, and this one was no
different. The large Mushroom Man General sat upon its mushroom
uncaringly and unaware of the two monsters on their way to slaughter it.
Nay. Not monsters. Monsters did not act to set the world right by killing
abominable existences that should have never existed. These were truly evil
beings that deserved only death to make up for the sin of being alive. There
was another name for those like Jake and Draskil who selflessly became
arbiters of justice:
Heroes.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 505 - Mushroom Massacre
& Friend Visit
It was war. On one side was a general with his four commanders and an
army of soldiers willing to fight and die for their leaders. An organized
group that worked together and used synergy to become more than what
they were individually. There were thousands of them, every single one
towards the end of D-grade.
On the other side were two people. A hunter with a bow and a dragonkin
who seemed to finally have found an opportunity to let loose. These two
were naturally the heroes of this fight. The brave men who would stand
against the evil mushrooms.
It was also a display of something else… the disparity of power even in the
same grade and level bracket. Jake was at a lower level than most of his
opponents, and Draskil was still lower than a few of them. One would think
their numbers would matter, that their synergy would allow them to fight. It
didn’t.
Maybe if they had actual tactics and not just sometimes tried to take hits for
one another, it would matter. Maybe if they had ritual magic or complex
formations. Had healers working together to form large barriers. However,
as it was, they had none of these things, which made what transpired next
only describable by one word:
Massacre.
Two words?
Justified massacre.
Explosions of arcane power lit up the cavern as Jake bombarded his
opponents.
A dense mist of poison hung thick in the air as Draskil and Jake both
pumped it out of their wings. Jake killed primarily using explosive arrows
that tore mushroom men apart with ease and followed up with occasional
kill shots with stable arrows, while Draskil had a far simpler style.
He was more the rip and tear sort of fighter. His entire body was a weapon
that none of their opponents could even scratch. His scales offered defenses
to nearly all magic, his attacks unstoppable to the mushrooms as he tore
their limbs off and ripped up their flesh, leaving rotting wounds behind.
Draskil also showed fighting methods Jake could never even attempt. His
tail was like a fifth limb that whipped around and sometimes even impaled
his foes. If not, he used it for movement, yanking himself back or using it to
push himself, or while he was mid-air as a counterweight to allow him to
rapidly reposition.
The dragonkin did not show any magic besides some to strengthen himself.
Jake did notice how he also had the Pride skill like Jake, but his version was
clearly far more focused on the mental attack aspect and making a domain
of intimidation without any of the mana-control amplifying aspects.
Jake was actually pretty certain Draskil had all the of the Malefic Viper
skills. He had believed it for a good while, but after the dungeon, it was
more obvious. He clearly had Palate based on all he ate and Sagacity to
properly store the knowledge. Jake did think Sagacity was still at a
relatively low rarity, and Draskil did say that he had some bad skills he was
working on. Besides that, he clearly had the wings, claws, and scales skills.
These were likely unavoidable racial skills for any Malefic Dragonkin.
Sense of the Malefic Viper was also obvious based on how well he found
mushrooms. That just left Blood and Touch. Jake was most unsure about
Touch, honestly. Draskil also had Blood based on how he had used some of
it as a weapon once, but Jake had yet to see the dragonkin use the familiar
glow of Touch of the Malefic Viper. It was possible he had it and just never
used it, but it was also possible he didn’t have it or had changed it to a form
very different from what Jake used. Like a purely non-combat version or
something.
Now, Jake could just ask him, but where was the fun in that? He would
rather just try and figure it out himself while slaughtering an army of
mushroom men. The human and dragonkin had already killed hundreds
before meeting up as Jake turned to Draskil.
“You want the big boss?” Jake asked. “Just remember we need all the
Lifecores intact.”
Draskil grunted in confirmation before asking: “We need the small ones?”
Jake shrugged. “Some, but not all.”
Draskil then grinned. “You wanna see my breath?”
“I guess?” Jake asked. He wasn’t sure what Draskil meant initially but soon
understood.
The dragonkin took a breath, and for a moment, Jake felt all the mana in the
environment stop before getting dragged in like Draskil’s mouth was a
vacuum. Intense mana gathered at a level far above Jake had ever seen
anything in D-grade do.
Then he released it. A green beam was emitted from his mouth that swept
across the cavern below. It was only a few meters in diameter when it hit
the ground and made a grand sweep from one end of the cavern to the other.
Not a single mark was left on the ground where it hit… but everything
between the dragonkin and the ground was gone.
A line had been made through the entire dungeon. For a few dozen
kilometers, a rotting black line that emanated death and decay had been
formed as everything the breath had touched had decayed to nothingness in
an instant. It did not matter if it was a plant or mushroom men over level
180. They had all just ceased to be.
Jake stared a bit at the sight that was both impressive and unimpressive at
the same time. It was not an impressive-looking attack. There was no grand
explosion, no massive scar left by the breath… just an eerie nothingness. It
had simply killed everything it hit, and even more scary was how Jake did
not feel a single whisp of mana from where it had hit. It was just…
desolation. Jake didn’t know for sure, but he had a feeling no mushroom
would grow on that black line for a very long time.
All in all, the breath had killed only about ninety mushroom men that had
been hit. Mind you, it didn’t matter where they were hit. As long as a single
part of their body had touched the breath, their entire bodies had turned to
black sludge in an instant.
One thing was also clear… if Draskil ever used that attack on Jake, he
would have to dodge it using his precognition. The beam moved faster than
any attack Jake could make, and if he didn’t move before it was released, he
would have no way to get out of the way. And if he didn’t dodge in time?
Well, then Jake was just happy he still had Moment of the Primal Hunter
because that would sure as hell activate.
“Impressive?” Draskil asked with a satisfied grin.
“Definitely wouldn’t wanna be hit by it,” Jake agreed. “Ah, but don’t use it
on essential foes… it didn’t leave even a single Lifecore behind. Or
anything, really.”
“Bah,” Draskil jokingly dismissed his words. “I kill the general. No breath.”
Jake motioned for him to go ahead as he instead targeted the commanders.

He saw that Reika and Irin were doing fine on their own, too, killing a few
here and there themselves. Compared to Jake and Draskil, they barely made
a dent, but they were never meant to anyway. This dungeon was made for
members of the Order, not just those who were supremely talented. Jake
and Draskil were way above the expected power level of anyone expected
to do the dungeon, even on the ninth floor, and only the C-grade could
potentially offer them a good fight. Shit, this was a dungeon where the
alchemy portion was the real challenge, so maybe it was silly for them to
expect a good fight to begin with.
But before alchemy, it was always good to get some killing done. Always
got Jake in the mood to do some concocting, ya know?
Meira was incredibly nervous as she waited. Master had given her
permission, that was true, but she still felt unsure about actually doing it. In
the end, she agreed to it after she and her friends had completed a lesson
together and began working on an assignment where some of her Master’s
books could be useful.
The Grand Elder had also made it clear he didn’t care if she invited people
over and had told her that he would just not be there if she did. Meira was
still perplexed why someone like the Grand Elder even bothered spending
time on her, and it made her even more confused when she considered that
her Master had clearly been the one to make him accept such an
arrangement.
She just tried to not think about it too much and instead did her best in
everything. Her Master clearly had plans, and Meira would do her best to
follow his will and try and make them a success. If inviting her friends over
was something he had explicitly given her permission to do, and if even the
Grand Elder had voiced his lack of concern about doing this, perhaps it was
just their way of telling Meira to do it? She wasn’t good at subtle hints and
trying to interpret commands, but maybe it was possible he didn’t just allow
her to bring people but wanted her to?
That is why when she was asked to bring some books, she then spoke up
and said she had been allowed to bring them to the library. Meira felt proud
of herself for that and was happy that the three of them had agreed to come.
The only one a bit reluctant was Izil, but Nella and Utmal had both agreed
that it was about time she invited them over. Maybe it was? Meira didn’t
know… she had never invited friends over for anything before.
Or had friends at all, really.
About five minutes later, a gate opened, and out stepped Izil. The elf
instantly saw Meira and smiled.
“Thank you for the invitation,” she said courteously as she took out a small
basket with flowers in it. “A token of my appreciation to you and the Lord
of the mansion. Native flowers of the Altmar empire, all with their roots
intact for potential planting.”
Meira was surprised at seeing the gift but quickly understood. It wasn’t that
odd to bring something for her Master, considering he was far above the
four of them in status as a black token. Ah, Meira had told them her Master
had a black token as he had allowed her to do so.
“Thank you,” Meira bowed as she accepted it. “I am sure my Lord will
appreciate it.”
“Is he present?” Izil asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Sadly not. My Lord had other engagements,” Meira answered. She would
not have dared to invite them if her Master was there… she barely dared to
when he was not.
Izil just nodded and followed Meira as they entered the mansion to place
the basket of flowers. Just as they entered the house and she had stored the
basket properly, Meira saw that the gate outside activated again, with Nella
and Utmal stepping through.
Meira hurridly ran outside to greet them and got a disapproving look from
Nella as she approached. “I hope you treat your owner better than guests,”
she scoffed once Meira got close. “Or maybe you just consider it acceptable
to not greet guests?”
“I apologize!” Meira said with a bow. She really didn’t want to be a bad
host, especially not if it would reflect badly on her Master.
“She was just inviting me inside,” Izil said as she walked out of the
mansion, glaring daggers at Nella. “And if you two had been here on the
agreed-upon time, there would be no issue.”
“Relax, I was just joking around,” Nella said dismissively, Meira now
feeling even more awkward as she had apologized. She still wasn’t good at
jokes or that sarcasm thing… or was it called irony? She really didn’t quite
know the difference.
“Nice place your Master got,” Utmal then spoke, throwing Meira out of her
thoughts. “You didn’t lie about him being a black token, it seems. Where is
he?”
“He is busy elsewhere,” Meira once more explained apologetically.
“Oh? That is unfortunate,” Nella said with a smile. “I would have loved to
meet him. Now, if he is not here, let’s just get going. Where is the library?”
“Right this way,” Meira said, motioning towards the large mansion. The
three of them followed as Meira wanted to keep the mood good, but Izil and
Nella had been less and less friendly recently, and Meira really hoped they
could get along better.
As they walked through the mansion, Izil asked: “Are there no other
servants or occupants?”
“There is-“ Meira began but quickly cut herself off. The Grand Elder had
been staying there most of the time, but he wasn’t there now and wasn’t
truly living there. Also, she shouldn’t share he was there at all. “There is
currently only me here. My Lord doesn’t have any other servants or slaves
residing within the Order of the Malefic Viper as far as I am aware.”
Meira saw Utmal and Nella both frown a bit as Izil just nodded. “I see.”
Then suddenly, Meria felt a mental probing from Izil. She was confused and
accepted it as a telepathic connection was formed. “Meira… I didn’t want to
ask before but are you a slave of the owner of this mansion?”
Now Meira was even more confused. “Yes?” she answered instantly, using
the connection. Didn’t they already know that by now?
Izil frowned even more than before. “If possible, can I meet the owner of
your contract?”
“I can maybe ask…” Meira answered, more than a little unsure. She didn’t
want to bother her Master needlessly with matters that were clearly her own
to deal with.
“That is all I can ask,” Izil responded as she smiled again and spoke out
loud just as they entered the library. “What an incredible library. Could you
point me towards the tomes you spoke of?”
Meira responded positively but was still not sure what Izil had actually
wanted… but what she did know was that Utmal and Nella were both
looking at her quite a bit differently than before. It should be fine, though.
They were friends, right?
A great wrong had been set right. The abominable mushrooms were now
dead, slain by the two heroes as their bounty had been harvested. Jake and
Draskil had disengaged after a good period of fighting to collect materials
from the areas they had cleared of mushroom men and then taken a small
break.
By now, Jake was sitting at the exit of the ninth floor together with Reika,
trying to figure out a solution. Both of them had their crafting equipment
out, Jake using his cauldron and Reika having a far more advanced setup
with several flasks, bottles, filters, and whatnot… still surrounding a
cauldron, though.
It had been over two days since they entered the floor, and Jake and Reika
had been busy as hell. Jake was eating and experimenting at all times with
the different materials on the floor, but making the required poison wasn’t
as straightforward as one could hope.
Draskil was off hunting alone again with the alchemists working while
Bastilla was dismantling corpses, having Irin protect her.
During this time, Jake decided to enter Serene Soul Meditation as he

experimented to also check in on a certain someone.
“Could you do me a favor and spend less time sitting hunched over a
cauldron and more time watching that dragonkin fight?” sim-Jake asked the
moment Jake popped into his Soulspace.
“What?” Jake asked, confused as he oriented himself. He saw that sim-Jake

had resealed the Eternal Hunger chimera using some kind of shadow barrier
and had been standing impatiently waiting for Jake to enter.
“I just want you to reflect on what you gave up on,” sim-Jake shrugged. “I
would have one hundred percent chosen to become a Malefic Dragonkin.
And no, giving up on alchemy would not be a loss.”
“Oh, are you getting jealous you can’t be a scaly boy? I thought you wanted
to learn from his fighting style or something,” Jake smirked.
“Heh,” sim-Jake scoffed. “Not much to learn there. His style is simple and
effective but far below what I am aiming for.”
“But you are jealous of the claws,” Jake still pointed out.
“Fuck yeah, you bet I am! Those things are insane,” sim-Jake grinned.
“Now I will excuse myself and allow you to do your alchemy… but just
one quick question. If you want the life affinity energy to be more volatile,
isn’t it enough to just mix in a bit of our arcane affinity? Just the destructive
aspect. If not the affinity, then at least the concept you know?”
Jake shook his head. “Thank you for pointing out your utter lack of
knowledge when it comes to alchemy. Won’t work. We need it volatile but
still with a direction to cause harm using the life affinity energy. Life
affinity does not deal damage by destroying… it is more like it grows stuff
wrong.”
Sim-Jake nodded. “Yeah, I have no idea what the fuck I am talking about. I
am gonna play some more with the chimera. Now that thing is a good
example of a bundle of energy turned very antagonistic and full of life even
when getting smacked around!”
“See you arou-“ Jake began as he got an idea. An idea he had not even
considered before now, and it was an incredibly novel one.
Curses were all about emotions… powerful emotions… so what if they

could add some of that to the mix? Make a curse poison? One making use
of an emotion Jake had plenty of:
Hatred for mushrooms.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 506 - United In Hatred
Jake didn’t really know all that much about curses. But he did know a bit.
He had the Root of Eternal Resentment in his Palate for a long-ass time, and
it had housed a shitload of curse energy. Now, as for infusing that concept
into a poison? Well, that was something entirely different.
He shared his idea with Reika and got a very skeptical response initially.
She did point out some rather glaring issues. Curses tended to be born from
strong emotions, yes, but they are also extremely hard to control as they
were essentially emotions so strong they had tangible effects on the world.
To contain a curse within a poison should not be easy, especially while
avoiding it overpowering the life affinity aspect of the finished product. So
that would be a bit of a challenge, but at least he was a bit better at another
aspect of the task.
Jake had some experience with something that was kind of a life affinity
poison. Well, one real experience - all the way back in the challenge
dungeon where he had created his Unstable Amalgamation of Malefic
Vitau. He now knew in retrospect that it was pretty much just a vitality-
increasing elixir on crack and made unstable as fuck, but he also knew that
this wasn’t possible to do with the materials he currently had available.
Firstly, the amalgamation had not been made from life affinity energy but
more a vital affinity. They were closely related but not exactly the same,
and changing it into a vitality-increasing energy type would likely result in
it no longer counting as truly life-affinity.
Secondly, the only reason it had worked back then was due to Malefic
Viper’s Poison triggering and upgrading the poison to above what it would
usually be. It had been a direct impartment of Records by the Viper himself
and not something Jake could replicate even if he wanted to.
Jake thus spent a good while considering how to make it, and Reika also
came with plenty of input. One thing quickly became clear: if he wanted to
use his curse energy, they would have to find a way to infuse it without
overpowering and dominating any other part of the concoction.
Transmutation was quickly ruled out as its transformative effect likely
wouldn’t work well with the curse energy.
There was the possibility of infusing a catalyst but there tended to be rather
stringent requirements before one could infuse an object with curse energy.
One requirement tended to be time and connection to the curse. Infusing a
mushroom with a curse related to hating mushrooms sounded like a good
way to just make it implode. The same was true for doing it to a Lifecore.
Yet this did not deter Jake or Reika as they began working on another way:
ritualism. And for this, Jake had a skill that he hadn’t really used much but
would no doubt prove useful.
[Soul Ritualism of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)] – As a master

of your own path, the power of your Soulspace and authority of self is
unquestionable. Grants knowledge of and allows the Heretic-Chosen
Alchemist to perform rituals pertaining to the soul. Soul Rituals must be
performed both within the Soulspace and the real world. As a forger of
your own path, Records infused during any soul ritual will hold more
weight. Effects of the ritual are based on the nature of the ritual
performed as well as the materials used during the ritual. All rituals will
scale with Willpower in addition to other stat bonuses applied according
to the nature of the ritual performed.
While this skill primarily revolved around souls, it also gave some general
knowledge about rituals. Curses were also deeply related to the soul
anyway, as they were born from it. Most curses came into being when
someone died, as it was the remnant emotions in one of the layers of the
soul that managed to collect and take a form with intent. Most often, it was
due to a lot of people dying with similar grievances and thus empowering
each other. However, the part of the soul that would turn into a curse upon
death could also be focused on and extracted to forcefully make a curse. An
oversimplification, sure, but this was effectively it.
This is what Casper did. He focused, extracted, and infused his own
emotions into vessels that he then used as weapons. That he could also mix
it with mana was the kind of technique that Jake was still very unsure of
how he did. Anyway, none of this was that important as Jake didn’t plan on
making a truly cursed item but just a poison with a bit of curse energy
mixed in to give it direction.
It didn’t take him long to figure out how he wanted to infuse the energy. He
was limited to materials from the dungeon, but as he discovered earlier, he
could also use his blood. He could naturally also use his own mana and
energy as that was just a part of the crafting process, and one could argue
Jake was technically part of the dungeon as he was within it, so his plan
should work.
With enough focus and a ritual to further amplify the effects, Jake believed
he could make his blood into essentially a cursed liquid that would mix with
an otherwise non-damaging life affinity item. Life affinity was by itself not
damaging unless made volatile or, as Jake hoped to do, self-destructive.
Because yes… when Jake considered earlier how infusing a curse would
just make the life affinity item self-implode, Jake saw that as an
opportunity.
What he wanted to do was to make the life affinity latch unto the vital
energy of the mushroom man, making it self-implode in self-hatred upon
entering the body out of pure disgust, turning it into poison. Would this
work? Maybe. Was Jake going to try, hoping to see a mushroom man
consume itself and effectively commit suicide? Fuck yeah, he did.
Reika was supportive of his idea, and the two of them began experimenting
in this direction. He had decided to begin by just making a highly dense
life-affinity liquid using the mushroom juices of slain foes and further
infusing that with Lifecores. He also had to remind himself that the final
concoction would require the Lifecore of the General, which actually
worked out perfectly with his plans. He wanted it to be a controlled self-
implosion, after all.
It was one of the most ambitious things Jake had ever done, but he felt
confident, and he really wanted to do it.
Hours passed as iteration after iteration was made. Soon they settled on a
stable version of highly focused life energy in the form of a flask. Reika
was the one who crafted it using her skills and managed to create several
common rarity flasks for Jake to experiment with. She added that when it
came to the real thing, she should be able to make an uncommon flask using
the best materials they had.
Jake, on the other hand, focused entirely on the poison aspect of the
creation. He planned on making a ritual where he would infuse his own
blood into the Lifecore using a ritual. However, as he attempted to do this
several times, he repeatedly failed to actually create a curse. He didn’t
understand why as he kept trying until a realization struck him. One he
never thought possible.
My hatred isn’t strong enough…
How it was even possible, Jake didn’t know. He did hate mushrooms; of
that, there was no doubt. But… he had to admit his hatred was not as strong
as the level he had seen from others. It wasn’t like mushrooms had killed
his family, cut off his Path, or removed his freedom. They had just made
Jake mad and annoyed, and there was that one time where it tied him to a
toilet for far too long.
Casper had an extreme natural affinity to curses and initially channeled his
anger toward those who killed his now-ghost-girlfriend Lyra. That was
some real anger, and Jake knew that while Casper was a very introverted
person, he was also the sort of person go to all in when he felt something.
Jake could not claim his hatred of mushrooms was at that level. Feeling a
bit distressed at the thought of failing, Jake remembered: he was not alone
in his hatred.
“I need Draskil,” Jake spoke. ”I need his hate.”

Reika raised an eyebrow. “Wouldn’t it be best if we all joined in and
contributed to the ritual?”
“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate mushrooms?” Jake asked.
“Well, I guess it depends on the type of-“
“Already disqualified by not instantly saying eleven,” Jake shot her down.
“Now you are just being unreasonable,” Reika argued with a sigh. “It is
utterly illogical to hold such a level of hatred towards fungi.”
“Hate is illogical by nature. And it is in my nature to hate mushrooms.

Always has been. From the time I was a kid, and my mom tried to make me
eat those shitty white button mushrooms or whatever the fuck they are
called, I have despised them. They bring nothing good to the world, and
their only use is when they are destroyed and their juices are squeezed out
to kill things. Because even in death, mushrooms bring only suffering,”
Jake said, getting a bit flared up and feeling like he was a step closer
already to successfully creating the curse.
“Okay…” Reika said, shaking her head as she went off to contact Draskil as
Jake made modifications to the ritual. He needed to bring Draskil into the
fold and not just make his hate part of the curse. Curses were naturally
inclined to combine similar negative emotions, so it wasn’t a difficult
adaptation.
A few minutes later, Draskil appeared together with Reika. Jake looked at
him and asked.
“On a scale of one to ten, how much do you hate mushrooms?”
“Not worth giving number, not deserving of the thought energy to

consider,” Draskil sneered.
Jake looked at Reika, who reluctantly resigned herself and went back to
making a flask good enough to use in the final concoction, or at least in one
of their four available test concoctions using the Lifecores of Mushroom
Man Commanders.
“Draskil, our plan is to-“
“I don’t care,” Draskil cut him off.
“Fair. I need you to pour all your hate into your Blood of the Malefic Viper,
put it in my cauldron, and then join me in my hatred of mushrooms for the
ritual,” Jake shortened his speech down to only what the dragonkin needed
to do.
“Make curse?” Draskil asked, clearly a little interested even if he said he

wasn’t. Jake understood. It was about hating mushrooms, after all.
“Yep,” Jake nodded.
Draskil nodded, fully understanding without needing any more explanation.

Jake began the ritual without further ado as Draskil and Jake mixed their
blood together with the Lifecore of a dead Mushroom Man – and by now,
Jake was beginning to realize that he was pretty much doing a blood ritual
with what was effectively the heart of a monster.
It was a bit morbid… but nothing was off the table when it came to slaying
mushrooms.
Jake instantly felt the difference as he realized that Draskil’s hatred for
mushrooms seemed to rival or even surpass his own. That, and Jake also ran
into the issue of Draskil’s blood being far more potent than Jake’s. And it
wasn’t just due to the level disparity, but clearly, Draskil had Blood of the
Malefic Viper at a higher rarity than himself.
It was a challenge to overcome, but one Jake gladly took on. Draskil was
incredibly patient, far more than Jake would have expected, and assisted
Jake with rituals throughout the next two days as he improved more and
more. At the end of the second day, since he began making rituals together
with Draskil, he made a Lifecore.
[Cursed Mushroom Man Mage Lifecore (Common)] – The cursed core
of a Mushroom Man Mage. This Lifecore contains a large amount of
life affinity energy that has now been contaminated with a curse of
immense hatred towards its own kind. The core is slowly degrading due
to its inherent nature caused by the curse making it seek to consume
and destroy itself.
It wasn’t much, but it was honest work. Sure, it would self-detonate within
an hour or two, as far as Jake could tell, but it was good enough. They
didn’t even need the finished concoction to last very long, just long enough
to pass the floor.
Draskil also seemed pretty happy at the finished creation and decided to
stay and help. During the last two days, he did go off once in a while to
hunt some more mushroom men, but he always returned quickly and got
really engrossed in the process.
Only about a day and a half later, Jake got frisky and tried to use one of the
Commander Lifecores. The first attempt failed, but feeling that he was
close, he tried again, only to succeed the second time around,
[Cursed Mushroom Man Commander Lifecore (Uncommon)] – The

cursed core of a Mushroom Man Commander. This Lifecore contains
an immense amount of life affinity energy that has now been
contaminated with a curse of immense hatred towards its own kind.
The core is slowly degrading due to its inherent nature caused by the
curse making it seek to consume and destroy itself.
With that, he and Reika began the final part of the process – fusing the
Lifecore and flask. One would think this would be hard, but it was actually
incredibly straightforward. Jake just had to place the Lifecore in the liquid
of the flask and slowly diffuse it into the concoction while controlling the
process.
He did also have to keep infusing some of the curse energy during the entire
thing, needing Draskil present at all times. About a day after the first
Commander Lifecore was made, they also made their first uncommon rarity
concoction using it. If this had been the General’s, it would have been
enough then and there… but Jake was pushing for more.
Refining the process more and more, it finally culminated nearly a full day
later. Using a large ritual and with Reika and Draskil both assisting in the
process, they gave birth to liquid justice.
[Desired Fate of the Mushroom Men (Rare)] – On the border between a

flask and a poison cursed by intense hatred, a bane of the mushroom
men has been created as this very liquid desires nothing but their
demise. Contains an intense amount of life affinity energy that will act
to help those who seek to slay mushroom men. If consumed while
actively killing mushroom men, this concoction will temporarily
increase health regeneration as the life affinity helps you on your quest.
If injected or consumed by any mushroom man, the effect will be the
opposite, turning natural regeneration into active degeneration and
flooding the body with intense amounts of hostile life energy as long as
the will of the curse remains or the concoctions runs out of energy. The
concoction is currently stable but, with time, may slowly begin
degrading due to its inherent nature caused by the curse making it seek
to consume and destroy itself.
With great satisfaction, he looked at Draskil and Reika. Reika just seemed
relieved and Draskil happy upon seeing the completed product. Inspecting
the item itself, Jake was more than satisfied. He was happy to see it was
even somewhat stable, even if it did carry a warning that it was temporary.
Was this kind of poison actually useful in practice, one might ask? No… no,
not really. It had taken far too much effort to create, it was unstable, and
Jake could quickly see that one would have to infect the foe with pretty
much a full bottle’s worth to get a proper effect, contrary to normal poisons
where just a little would be highly effective. This was more the kind of
poison you had to fool a mushroom man into drinking, which Jake had a
hard time seeing.
This didn’t make Jake any less satisfied with what they had made, though.
It was objective proof of his and Draskil’s hatred of mushrooms and a rare
rarity item.
Now for the moment of truth. Would the concoction they had made qualify
as poison and allow them to pass the floor?
With much anticipation, Jake placed the concoction in the cauldron in front
of the final gate as he stared intently at the progress bar on the wall beside
it.

cauldron: 1/1
After the obligatory round of high-fives and waves of relief, their entire
group took a well-deserved rest.
Well, besides Bastilla, who kept dismantling, and Irin, who kept making
food for Draskil and Jake. But before eating, Jake decided it was high time
to get a bit of meditation done and check something he had neglected over
the last few days: his notifications.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 507 - Reflecting On Stats
& Supreme Final Boss
Jake sat down and relaxed while recuperating before moving on to the final
optional boss. He felt pretty damn good about himself and, while he was
sitting there, reflected on the progress he had made recently. Level-wise, he
had gained one level in his profession during the period of nearly a month
before they entered the dungeon, but after entering, Jake had now already
gained four whole levels… which was actually an insane speed.


What made it all even more insane was that Jake had not only been doing
alchemy but also fighting. Though, to be fair, the fighting hadn’t been
difficult. Even so, it had netted him two levels.
The combination of easy fights and the monotonous type of enemies made
every foe barely give any experience, but he had killed enough to still get
some levels. It did help that usually Jake had to actually go looking and find
enemies, while in the dungeon, there were ten mushroom men around every
corner.
With these levels also came a few race levels.
Now… finally, with levels came Free Points. Jake wanted to just throw it all
in Perception, he really did, but a voice at the back of his head that totally
wasn’t sim-Jake screaming within his Soulspace made him reconsider.
With great reluctance, Jake did something that disgusted him as he invested
280 Free Points into Strength. Instantly he felt a hot glow go through his
body as his muscles seemed to almost bulge for a moment before settling
down. He had exited meditation at this point and sat here opening and
closing his fist.
It was more than a 10% increase to his total Strength just by investing those
points. It was an actual tangible difference, but Jake also knew that a 10%
increase in Strength did not mean he now hit ten percent harder. The system
and reality just didn’t work like that, and the only time where Strength was
the only real factor was when in a tug of war or when trying to push
someone.
Not that it wasn’t massively helpful to him, especially his melee skills. Sim-
Jake had made it clear Jake needed more Strength, but also that Agility was
still by far the most important stat. Something like a 60-40 split was best,
according to him. Jake chose to trust his other self in that department.
Looking over his stats as a whole, they were relatively balanced, and he was
beginning to get close to the optimal Strength-Agility split.
Stats
Strength: 4146
Agility: 6761
Endurance: 3626
Vitality: 4828
Toughness: 3521
Wisdom: 6207
Intelligence: 5067
Perception: 10720
Willpower: 5252
Free points: 0
Toughness and Endurance were both really falling behind, but Jake wasn’t
that worried as both stats were still considered high for his level.
The highest amount of stat points one could possibly gain per D-grade level
– counting race, profession, and class- was around 250 total. 100 from
class, seventy from race, and eighty from profession. This was all, of
course, only in the case of a human. In reality, it would always be lower,
and even in the top tier, one was considered close to the apex at 220 stats
per D-grade level.
Below D-grade, it was a third for E-grade, so around 75 stats total per level
was the top, and then it was even lower at F-grade below that. All in all, if
someone gained around 60 per level in the first 100 levels – or 6000 total
stats at the point of evolution to D-grade – it would already be considered
close to the theoretical maximum for pure stat gains while leveling.
Jake had over ten thousand total stats the day he evolved to D-grade – even
without counting his equipment.
In reality, it wasn’t as simple as just a pure equation due to all the other
factors like titles, equipment, and elixirs, especially not counting percentage
bonuses which Jake had plenty of. The “of the Malefic Viper” skills also
added on extra stats, making it even more skewed.
Even then. If one stayed with the simplified math, then someone powerful
at Jake’s level, 172, would end up with 6000 stats for the first 100 levels
and 220 for the next 73, for a total of 22,000 stats. Dividing that out in nine
parts, then around 2500 in a single stat would be considered average. With
Jake having a thousand more than that in even his lowest stat, it honestly
wasn’t bad, especially considering this example was of someone with a
powerful Path. Again, oversimplified, but it was still clear Jake was far
above the expected durability of the average D-tier at his level, despite
never investing much into Toughness.
Ah, on a final note, Jake also just realized that he had surpassed 50,000 total
stat points counting everything. Having a nearly 60% overall stat increase
amplifier really was nice. To summarize, then Jake was just good in pretty
much all aspects, and in Perception, he was in the realm of being a little
bonkers with how much he had.
Abandoning any more thoughts about annoying math that Jake honestly
couldn’t be bothered with, he returned to meditation. The dungeon group
meditated and recuperated for the better part of a day before it was time to
take on the final challenge.
“We passed this a bit faster than expected,” Irin said. “I expected us to take
at least a little longer, and our speed is especially impressive considering the
potentially needless over-complication of the ninth level.”
“Hey, we passed it, and it allowed us to bond over shared hatred,” Jake
grinned at Draskil.
“I must also admit it was a very interesting method. I would never have
come up with using a curse. Instead, I think I would have mixed some of
the death affinity mushrooms into the concoction along with the life affinity
energy and then just had it be stabilized and dormant using the Lifecore.
Using a catalyst or just having the balance between the energies be very
reactive, we could then do so it was activated upon entering another living
foe, making the life and death affinity clash. It should have counted as a
rather effective poison,” Reika added on. “But I guess there are some
pitfalls I missed since Jake rejected the idea.“
“Nah, it would have totally worked. I just really wanted to go with my

idea,” Jake waved it off. “With my method, Draskil also got involved!”
Reika stared at Jake for a moment before just shaking her head in slight
disbelief. “Honestly? I think I learned more from your method too, so screw
it.”
Draskil and Bastilla just stood silently in the background and didn’t seem to
have anything to add, even if Jake could see Draskil had enjoyed Jake’s
method. After Jake’s and Reika’s brief talk, Irin took the lead again.
“Anyway, time to tackle the final floor. Now, let me warn you, this is a
fully-fledged C-grade we are dealing with,” she said as she put a hand on
the gate. A notification appeared before all of them once more.
You have successfully passed the ninth floor and gone above and
beyond expectations!
Now only one more challenge remains. A single more floor is sealed
away at the bottom of the dungeon, only available to those who have
proven themselves exceptional. But be warned, for the final floor
houses an entity far more deadly than anything you have faced so far.
Do you wish to explore the final floor of the Indigo Caverns?
“I… should probably just leave,” Bastilla finally said. “I will just get in the
way, and from what you said earlier, the final floor is pretty much just a
single fight. Not much I can help with there, and I am unsure if I can even
use my dismantling skills on a C-grade.”
“I concur in that I doubt I would be of much use,” Reika shook her head. “I
couldn’t do anything to the General before, and a C-grade is bound to be a
lot more powerful. I think it better I sit this one out.”
Irin also ended up nodding. “While I am confident I can stay hidden if the
foe is distracted, I must admit I also don’t see myself making any
meaningful contributions. I am not a fighter, as you have probably noticed.”
Jake exchanged a look with Draskil before he smiled lightly. “Well… I

wouldn’t mind either way. If you want to come along to watch and maybe
get some better rewards, I am all for it.”
Draskil grunted in approval. While he wasn’t the most talkative, Jake had a
feeling he could actually be a bit of a softie and genuinely had taken a
liking to their three other party members.
“I can try to hide us using illusions,” Irin wondered out loud, not even
trying to be subtle that she wanted to enter the final floor with them. Reika
also clearly wanted to go, and Bastilla fell to the peer pressure as she made
a huge animated sigh.
“Fiiine! Let’s go and possibly die due because the two of them forget we
exist and accidentally blow us up or something without even noticing,”
Bastilla moaned in resignation.
“Wouldn’t happen. My Perception is too high to not notice,” Jake rightly

defended himself.
“I am not even going to argue that,” Bastilla signed again. “Let’s just go,
alright? I already feel like I am some young mistress getting escorted
through this dungeon, so I may as well stay shameless and finish it.”
With that, they all agreed to continue the dungeon and began going through
the passageway. It was a bit longer than before, and while Bastilla did throw
a second glance at the exit in the middle of the passage as they passed it,
she stayed with the group.
Exiting the passageway, they came to yet another large floor… but this one
was also very different from any prior. A blue hue dominated the entire
place, and while it was filled with mushrooms, they weren’t the usual
diverse kind. There were only glowing blue mushrooms spread throughout,
and in the middle of the floor was an absolutely massive mushroom
towering more than a kilometer into the air.
It gave off an intense sheen, and the cap was clearly illuminated as Jake saw
something that looked like a throne on top of it. A small throne that barely
registered as a small bulge on the mushroom cap. It looked like a throne for
a child, which made sense when Jake saw what was sitting on it. It was a
small mushroom man with a cap vaguely shaped like a crown.
You gotta be fucking kidding me.
[Mushroom Man King – lvl ???]
Defeat the supreme leader of the mushroom men: the Mushroom Man
King.
Jake just stared in disbelief at the “final boss.”
It was just a small mushroom man no more than a meter tall, holding a
wooden scepter with a glowing mushroom growing out the tip. On a scale
from one to ten, it was a solid zero when it came to representation and
intimidation.
“I…” Irin muttered as she stood there. “An unexpected opponent for sure,
and-“
“Irin,” Jake interrupted her. “Just admit it already.”
She looked reluctant but finally sighed. “Okay… okay, I admit, the design
of this dungeon could be better, and maybe some questionable decisions
were made during its creation.”
“It’s shit,” Draskil just muttered.

Reika and Bastilla also didn’t hide their contempt. Jake decided to take
charge and spoke: “Nevertheless, it is still a C-grade. With that in mind, we
must go all out from the very beginning and utterly destroy this
abomination. So stay back.”
Draskil understood as he moved forward. Jake joined him as he pulled out

his bow and instantly began making an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter in
his quiver. Irin and the others stayed at the gate many kilometers away from
the throne of the Mushroom Man King as she set up a barrier making them
invisible and hiding their presence.
“It is a mage of some kind,” Jake quickly said as he felt the mana from the
Mushroom Man in the distance. “And this entire place is that little bastard’s
domain.”
“Hm,” Draskil grunted. “Not strong.”
“No,” Jake shook his head. “No, it is not.”
Draskil grinned as his wings unfolded and his body began burning with
power. Jake responded in kind as Arcane Awakening activated, and they
both took flight towards the Mushroom Man King, who only now became
aware of their existence.
The entire cavern began humming with mana as the little mushroom got off
his throne and lifted the scepter. Every single mushroom present seemed to
resonate with the scepter, and even the large mushroom beneath the little
king responded.
Bolts of mana condensed by the thousands as the king attacked. Scales

covered Jake’s body as Draskil just flew unbothered towards the boss.
Beneath the king, the flesh of the mushroom cap began changing and
seemed to almost liquefy and come alive as it moved to defend.
Jake had already stopped in mid-air and nocked an arrow to shoot. He

avoided a few mana bolts before releasing it towards the Mushroom Man
King but found his attack blocked by the tendrils of mushroom. However,
even if he was blocked, he did his job as he made an opening.
With the tendrils out of the way, Draskil disappeared as he reappeared right
in front of the Mushroom Man King. He swept his claw upwards and sent
the little creature flying through the air with a few new claw marks on its
shroomy body. Yet Draskil still frowned as the mushroom king healed
before he even hit the cavern wall.
Jake did notice a very slight dimming of some of the mushrooms on the
ground far below, as he understood. He should have known it was another
case of kind of shitty design. Every time they dealt damage to the
Mushroom Man King, it would absorb energy from the many mushrooms
spread throughout the cavern to recover, making it effectively one tanky
motherfucker.
“Gotta destroy the mushroom!” Jake yelled to Draskil, getting a roar of

recognition in response. He didn’t really do as Jake expected but just
charged the Mushroom Man King again, smashing it down towards the
ground.
The little abomination was ready after the second strike and summoned blue
barriers to defend himself, but Draskil just tore straight through them and
grabbed the Mushroom Man King. He proceeded to tear the final boss in
two and threw the pieces away.
Only for both of them to regrow a little crowned mushroom man holding a
scepter.
Fuck me do I hate this place, Jake cursed. He proceeded to bombard the

area with explosive arcane arrows but found the effect underwhelming. As
he thought about others ways to fight, he got an idea as he reached into his
inventory and took out three bottles.
On the ninth floor, the batch of poison had been put into four bottles total.
One for the cauldron to pass the level and three that Jake had kept. Looking
at them, Jake decided to see how good they actually were as he wrapped all
three in arcane bolts and sent them into the massive blue mushroom before
proceeding to explode the bolts and spreading the poison.
Instantly the poison took hold, and Jake saw parts of the mushroom begin to
wither and die. The Mushroom Man King – both of them – lifted their small
scepters, and instantly the mushroom began to regenerate and the poison
rapidly eliminated.
Draskil turned towards him and threw him a glance as they both knew what
had to be done. Jake acknowledged as Draskil went for the two Mushroom
Man Kings as Jake beelined it towards the large blue mushroom. During the
dungeon, Jake had used most of his alchemy skills, but one skill he hadn’t
used yet was absolutely perfect for this situation:
Touch of the Malefic Viper.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
End of month warning. Oh, and remember I go on break all throughout

October (with payment paused).


Chapter 508 - A Rude Interruption
Everyone knew by now that mushrooms sucked. No, they didn’t just suck;
they went above sucking. Their level of suck was so high they were endless
vacuums of suffering. One of the reasons mushrooms sucked so much was
because of how they worked.
Jake had encountered it before and knew that fungi were sneaky fucks.
They liked to hide in things and make it look like there totally was an entire
cavern full of mushrooms when it was actually just one single god damn
fungus. This final boss floor was the same as Jake quickly came to realize.
He tracked his poison in the large mushroom as it spread throughout the
entire system of the fungus - the curse energy was divided and conquered
by what had to be millions of mushrooms.
This made the entire fungus have an absolutely massive body covering well
over a dozen square kilometers. And all of this was somehow linked to the
Mushroom Man King. No, this wasn’t a case where the huge fungus was
actually the body of the little guy, but far more likely one where the small
Mushroom Man had stumbled upon an incredibly powerful natural treasure
and then grown it to the huge fungus Jake and Draskil were now seeking to
destroy.
Based on what Jake could see, it was possible to just repeatedly kill the
Mushroom Man King until the massive fungus ran out of energy, but it was
far faster to kill both at once. It would probably take Draskil in excess of
two hours with the current speed he was expending the energy of the
mushrooms, and Jake wasn’t even sure if the dragonkin would last that long
if he had his boosting skill active. This approach of destroying the fungus
also fitted way better with the theme of the dungeon as it wasn’t as much a
fight against an individual as it was a task to poison an entire ecosystem.
Jake used One Step to get to the stem of the massive mushroom as he was
surrounded by the blue glowing fucks. Spores were released from all of
them, trying to poison Jake, but all it did was make him more aware of the
nature of the fungus.
Kneeling down, Jake blew away some soil as he took hold of the massive
root system beneath the ground. The largest roots were around the massive
mushroom, and Jake would use that as his point of entrance.
Above him, explosions repeatedly sounded out as the Mushroom Man King
tried to get Draskil away from him, but the dragonkin shrugged it all off as
he continued his assault. One party released dozens of different spells every
second while the other simply ripped and tore with his claws and tail, with
Draskil dominating it handily, giving the Mushroom Man no opportunity to
address Jake.
Jake had grasped hold of the massive mushroom and closed his eyes for a
moment. Touch of the Malefic Viper activated, and with his high
Perception, he quickly came to understand the massive network of roots.
The cursed concoction had nearly run out of power while Jake got in
position, but some of it still remained. He decided to take advantage of this.
Poison was pumped in as Jake sought to strengthen the cursed poison. At

the same time, he delivered some more common fungicide to deal massive
damage to the entire root system. He didn’t need to use any of the aspects of
subtlety from the soul poison he used on the last big blue mushroom he
killed but could just go all in.
A barrage of spells was then released down towards him, but Draskil moved
to intercept as he teleported with a flap of his wings. Jake would have been
fine either way, but his dragonkin buddy had clearly decided that the little
king was not even getting a sliver of a chance.
Focusing on his task, Jake kept poisoning the monstrosity of a fungus. He

believed he was doing a good job until suddenly he felt something… a
push. Usually, when one used Touch of the Malefic Viper, it was an
infusion. But to make an infusion, a connection had to be formed, and
through this connection, the fungus now attacked.
Dense energy flooded through the fungus’ roots and into Jake. He
considered letting go but knew that the fungus was now awake and would
rapidly destroy the poison he had used if he gave up now. Even more
importantly, then Jake didn’t want to lose out and give up when his
dragonkin buddy was watching and doing a splendid job himself.
Gritting his teeth, Jake felt the energy invade his body and begin to ravage
him from within. The fungus contained far more energy than Jake did… far,
far more energy. It was like a massive battery of pure power, and Jake’s
only saving grace was that it couldn’t discharge much of it rapidly. The
closest comparison Jake had to the fungus was the curse energy in Eternal
Hunger, but that was a pretty bad comparison considering the curse energy
had not been actively antagonistic towards Jake and was also on an entirely
different level in both quality and quantity. This fungus did contain a lot of
energy, sure, but if what was within Eternal Hunger went rampant, Jake
knew entire planets could be consumed by its hunger.
Jake and the mushroom continued their battle of push and pull as both tried
to combat the energy they were injected with. Jake felt that the energy
flooding him was surprisingly pure, not having any affinity. It was still
trying to kill him, but he was now sure it was all controlled by the
Mushroom Man King.
Draskil and Jake were fighting the same foe in the battle of attrition as Jake
pushed in more and more energy. He allowed the mushroom to attack him
in kind, believing in his body’s ability to take it. Considering the lack of
affinity in the mushroom, Jake also began to pump in some dark mana. The
nature of dark mana was to consume other types of mana and propagate
itself, and Jake happily helped it do that to consume more of the
mushroom’s energy storage. He controlled the poison through Touch and
tried to attack the most essential parts of the massive fungus to kill it faster.
It was a game of cat and mouse. The fungus tried to eliminate the toxic
energy Jake poured in, while Jake wanted to keep pumping. In the
meanwhile, he also needed to keep avoiding getting what he had already put
in eliminated. If the massive fungus could lock down what toxic energy he
injecting, it would be able to instantly just flood it with mana and destroy it.
Hence Jake controlled it. He condensed the toxic energy as he focused. A
vivid image of a giant network of paths appeared in his mind, and he
instinctively knew it was a representation of the Soulshape of the fungus. It
almost felt as if Jake was a small yellow circle with a mouth running around
a maze being chased by ghosts as he slowly consumed more and more of
his foe.
Realizing the fight was not going its way, the Mushroom Man King began
trying to change its tactic. It saw Jake as the primary threat, and the now
four versions of the little king began waving their wands and making
tendrils of shroom emerge to attack Jake.
Jake, still holding into the roots of the massive fungus, kept his eyes closed
as he focused. The tendrils flying for him suddenly began withering and
turned into black dust that promptly scattered. More came, but they all met
the same fate as Jake smirked unknowingly.
Every time the fungus moved, its Soulshape shifted slightly to represent it.
All Jake did was split off some energy towards these moving parts,
essentially sending toxic payloads into the tendrils to instantly destroy
them. With the lacking ability of the Mushroom Man King to properly
focus on taking down Jake while fighting Draskil, it had a tough time
combatting this.
Jake kept up his part of the battle as he manipulated the toxic energy within
the fungus like never before. At the same time, he also managed to do
something else he usually didn’t: amplifying the existing toxin he had
injected. Or, more accurately, thrown on top of the giant mushroom.
He felt like he had more control than ever before and felt like he was
touching upon an opportunity. Rather than infusing toxins into the creature
itself… what if he injected it directly into the toxin he had already placed
there? Sure, it had to go through the fungus, but currently, it was more like
Jake connected a facet of toxins to the fungus and just let it drain into the
maze-like Soulshape of the fungus before finally taking control of it. What
if he instead shot it directly towards the toxic energy already in there? So
rather than connecting a facet, he shot a water beam straight towards his
target.
Combined with Sense of the Malefic VIper and mayb-
*You have slain [Mushroom Man King – lvl 201] – Bonus experience
Jake’s train of thought was interrupted by the entire Soulshape suddenly

withering and breaking. His mind took a second to process what had
happened as he looked up and saw Draskil with his mouth still open and a
large black line cutting the large mushroom in two along with a few black
rotting parts of the many Mushroom Man Kings falling to the ground.
He still stared as the dragonkin teleported down. ”It died,” Draskil said, a
bit disappointed.
Jake felt the crumbling roots of the fungus in his hands as he sighed.
”Fuck me… be right back.”
Do you wish to experience the Legacy of the Malefic Viper? Uses

remaining: 3
With that, Jake flashed out of existence for a moment as he went on a

journey to experience the Path of the Malefic Viper – or at least a little
snippet of it.
“Alright, we are closing in on the den,” a male elf wearing golden armor
said as he lifted his hand, signaling those behind him to stop.
Four men and six women followed him closely, all wearing different
equipment and wielding powerful weapons. Jake, who was observing this,
instantly knew all of them were C-grade… mid-tier C-grade, he guessed.
Out of this group, many would perhaps put most of their attention on their
elven leader, but Jake focused on someone else. A human-looking male
with long black hair, wearing a relatively simple robe. He didn’t appear
particularly threatening, and from how he was in the back and his
equipment, he was clearly a caster of some kind.
However, the reason why he stood out to Jake was his familiar eyes and
aura. This was the weakest iteration he had ever seen of him, but it was
clearly the Malefic Viper fully disguised as a human.
“Strolas, do you have the flasks ready?” the elven leader asked as he turned
to the one who would one day be known as the Malefic Viper.
“Yes, sir,” the Malefic Viper – going by Strolas – answered in a meek tone.
“Just remember not to take too much damage, or the flasks may lose their
effect.”
“I trust you,” the elf said with a smile. With that, the Viper handed out
flasks to everyone in his group. They headed closer to the den, and once
they did so, another caster of the group cast some magic before nodding.
“It’s in there.”
The elven leader nodded. “Let’s go.”
Everyone drank their flasks. A few were a bit hesitant, but Strolas
consumed his own instantly, making everyone else follow suit. Jake barely
noticed a glint in the eyes of the Viper as the hunt began.
A massive beast firing out intense lasers of pure light magic emerged from
the den and attacked. Jake watched on as the battle raged with what he
quickly identified as a late-tier C-grade. It was a real struggle and a damn
close fight from the looks of it, but the party of eleven persevered.
Everyone took damage and was hit back, and Jake had to admit that any
person shown in this vision would be able to kill him.
After nearly two grueling hours – that had felt more like a minute due to the
entire fight getting fast-forwarded through - the giant beast lay dead, with
not a single one in the group falling. The elf in his golden armor now had a
bare chest as his armor had been broken, and one of the mages was missing
an arm. The one healer in their group was spent, and everyone looked
exhausted. All of them had done their utmost and pushed themselves…
everyone but one person.
Jake had noticed how the Viper had gone easy. He had avoided nearly all
hits and only allowed some attacks to hit him, making it look like he had
taken significant damage with his singed cloak and scarred upper body, but
in reality, he was in near-top condition.
“Good job,” the elven leader said as they all celebrated. He praised all the
members with a genuine smile and also turned to the Viper. “Strolas, you
have gone above and beyond once more. Those flasks surpassed my
expectations. You truly are the best alchemist in the empire, and I will make
sure to mention your performance to my father.”
The Viper seemed thankful as he went closer to the elf. “Thank you, sir, but
if I may have one request…”
“What is it?” the elf asked, still happy as he got close to the Viper.
“Would you all kindly die?”
Pride of the Malefic Viper – or what would be known as Pride – descended

as a domain appeared. The entire group of celebrating party members
became alert as the Viper’s head flew forward and bit into the neck of the
elf. At the same time, he lifted his hand into the air as it began glowing a
dark green color… and Jake’s Perception of time slowed as he felt it.
Within every single person in the group, a toxin stirred, touched not by his
hand but his domain. It was the flask they had all consumed before. Jake
did not know what it was made of, but clearly, it had been an incredibly
potent toxin in disguise.
The Viper ripped out the neck of the elf before he was blasted back by a
flaming sword from the stumbling group leader. He looked at the Viper with
shock as black scales emerged on his body and his body morphed into a
large black wyvern in seconds.
He froze and didn’t properly react. Everyone did. Their mental states were
disturbed, their bodies broken from the battle with the beast before, and
their resources spent. They even came to learn that the potions they had
consumed contained more hidden poison, making them all despair further.
It was a group that Jake felt the Viper could never beat alone in a fight. The
elven leader was a match for Villy alone, and if he hadn’t been the main
fighter against the beast before, they would have had a close fight. But with
the element of surprise, them consuming an incredibly potent poison and
their already weakened states, the outcome was obvious.
Even then, the Viper took damage as he killed them one by one. His wing
was severed and his scales bleeding as he finally stood before the elven
leader, who managed to hold on till the end.
“Why… what are you? How?” the elf said in disbelief as he was unable to
stand any longer.
“The line between what is a poison and something helpful can be very
narrow and blurred. Deceiving the Perception of an amateur in alchemy is
not an impressive feat in the slightest. As for who I am… ah, it doesn’t
matter, now does it?” the Malefic Viper said with a light smile. The elf had
already closed his eyes and succumbed to the poison.
Time rewound.
Jake once more saw the moment he activated Touch of the Malefic Viper.
He focused on the process and, the second time around, felt that the simple
motion had been a marvel of control. He didn’t just activate the poison
within them all but manipulated it. Amplified it. Sense of the Malefic Viper
allowed him to see, Pride allowed him to extend his influence, and Touch to
control.
Time rewound.
He felt it all again as more things became clear. He saw all their
Soulshapes, and it was like a connection was made to each of them.
Through Pride, it was formed...but Pride was not truly what created this
connection. It was formed by Touch using Pride as a proxy, the two skills
working flawlessly in synergy.
Time rewound.
Again and again, he saw it. He had already been on the precipice before and
was just hammering out any flaws. He wasn’t even sure if he would have
needed to use Path of the Heretic-Chosen to get the upgrade… but he had
the uses, so why not? He also feared that the inspiration could leave him if
he didn’t finish the upgrade there and then.
After thirteen rewinds, Jake got the notification as everything clicked into
place, and he felt himself return to the real world once more.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 509 - (Un)expected
Situation
This vision had definitely been on the shorter side, and compared to his last
one where Villy got smacked around by Valdemar, it was also far less
valuable. Then again, that vision had consumed two charges of the skill and
allowed him to see two future Primordials duking it out with a focus on
more than one of the Malefic Viper skills.
Jake was teleported back into the dungeon as expected and was excited to
get to his new skill but noticed something was off. Draskil was staring at
him weirdly, and Irin was flying over together with Reika and Bastilla.
Reika looked surprised more than anything, while Irin and Bastilla looked
utterly dumbfounded.
As he was still wondering what was up, Reika poked him mentally and
informed him: “Whatever you just did released a wave of a presence or
something… it was yours but different… I think they know you are the
Chosen of the Malefic Viper.”
His brain took a while to process what she had just said as it clicked. Oh…
fuck.
Path of the Heretic-Chosen.
When he used the skill, he tapped into his direct connection to Villy and
momentarily seized it to gaze upon the Records of the Primordial. He
hadn’t even considered what that could do as all he knew was that he
momentarily disappeared… unaware of what he left behind when he did
that.
Still unsure what kind of explanation he should try and come up with, Irin
made him fully aware he was way past the point of explaining it away the
moment she got close.
Without any hesitation, she kneeled in front of him and pressed her
forehead to the muddy soil as she spoke in a voice that seemed both
pleading and apologetic. “This one greets the Chosen.”
Fuck me,Jake cursed internally as he realized he had truly fucked up. As he

was about to say something, a prompt appeared in front of Jake and
everyone else.
Congratulations! You have cleared the Dungeon: Nine Floors of the

Indigo Caverns
Objective: Defeat the supreme leader of the mushroom men: the

Mushroom Man King (Completed).
Dungeon shutting down in: 00:00:03
He saw the three seconds left just as two boxes appeared in front of them.
Jake was quick and opened them both, taking the items in his inventory
before he was whisked out of the dungeon.
Jake and the four others appeared outside the dungeon, Irin still kneeling
and Draskil still staring. Reika and Bastilla were both in the air when they
had exited and were now standing unmovingly on the ground. The
unmoving part was not something unique to them as everyone was frozen.
Even the air itself had stopped moving.
“Just some simple time magic,” he heard a voice say as Villy appeared right
beside him. Jake turned to the Viper, who patted him on the back. “Quite
the pickle you just made for yourself. You know, every time you use Path of
the Heretic-Chosen, you leave behind your anchored Truesoul… but that
anchored Truesoul does not have the protection you worked so hard on
making with Shroud. Not that it would have mattered as you tapping into
my Records clearly leaves behind some traces, and those familiar with me
are bound to notice. Now, what was the vision about? We can deal with this
entire thing after, I care more about what you saw.”
Still uncertain what to do, Jake just gave the cliff notes. “About Touch. It
was you with a party led by an elf in golden armor, killed a late C-grade
beast, you poisoned all of them with flasks and poisons, killing them and
stealing the corpse as well as everything they owned.”
Villy failed to hold back a smirk. “You know I am not a believer in fate, but
this coincidence is a bit too perfect, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?” Jake asked, his brain still trying to make up a plan.
“You see a vision of me killing my own party after a hunt and now find
yourself in a situation where you must choose if you want to do the same,”
the Viper said. “With them alive, I do not see you hiding for long. The girl
from Earth managed to solve this issue by having all those humans she
brought with her sign a contract, but that isn’t an option here. The demon is
bound by a contract already, and signing one of confidentiality in this
matter would go directly against that. So, Jake…. what will you do?”
“Oh,” Jake said after hearing everything Villy said, not really caring about
the last part. “Guess I am kinda screwed then.”
“You can still kill them,” the Viper shrugged. “Sure, the dragonkin may be a
bit too much for you to handle, but you can go through official channels and
use some of that Chosen clout to get him killed. Just ask Viridia, and I am
sure she would gladly remove him or anyone else from existence.”
“The chances of that happening are nil,” Jake shut it down instantly.
“So you value their lives above your own secrecy?” Villy raised an
eyebrow.
“Well, yeah. I can just keep trying to hide or tell people to leave me the fuck
alone or something. At the very least, ask them to keep it a secret. Also, you
said Irin had another contract, right? Does that contract really require her to
report any secret the Malefic Viper or his Chosen told her not to divulge?
Sounds like a shit contract.”
“Got me there,” the Viper said, putting up both his hands defensively. “But I
am serious when I say you just made another weak point when it comes to
your hidden identity. She will be forced to report something. Soon the
cracks will spread, and your mask will shatter entirely, revealing the ugly
mug of my Chosen beneath.”
“I will handle that when it happens,” Jake shook his head. “Also, quick
question, does this count as time dilation?”
“Nope. I just stopped this cavern; time moves normally everywhere else.
Localized time stops are pretty damn basic tools of the god toolkit.
Anyway, you made your decision to just come clean to these three, right?”
“Seems like that is what is happening, yeah,” Jake nodded.
“Great. Then introduce me to your friends already,” Villy said with a

teasing smile. The moment he was done speaking, time returned to normal
as everyone looked confused. Draskil’s eyes quickly darted to the person
now standing next to Jake and knelt down instantly, joining Irin, who was
still pressing her head to the ground.
Reika and Bastilla stared confused for a moment before Jake realized
neither of them had seen the Viper in his human form before nor were
Blessed and thus felt his presence. It was like with Meira, and they would
only truly be affected once they knew who he was, so if they-
“Hello there, my name is Vilastromoz, but most people call me the Malefic
Viper, your pleasure to meet me,” Villy said with a grin.
The effect was almost instant as Reika began shaking a bit before failing to
stay upright, with Bastilla making an odd scared whining noise before just
straight-up laying down in a fetal position.
Irin, now finally noticing something was off, looked up and saw the Viper
standing there. She made eye contact for a fraction of a second before
slamming her head down onto the ground again. Not a single word was
spoken by her, and it was Draskil who opened his mouth first.
“Draskil greets his Patron,” the dragonkin said in a tone Jake had never
heard before. Rather than his usual domineering attitude and tone of
confidence, he now seemed as meek as a baby lizard before a true dragon.
“You really wanted to play this casual, huh?” Jake muttered as he looked at
Villy.
“No, I actually just wanted to fuck with you a little and have some fun
when meeting your little friends,” the Viper chuckled, clearly in a good
mood. “And now that I have met them, I can’t be arsed to stay. Since you
decided not to kill them, I shall leave the rest to you. See you again a bit
later, and by later, I mean in two days as I got some new ale done brewing
by then.”
“Can you just leave already to not make this worse than it already is?” Jake
exclaimed with exasperation, knowing that the Viper was saying and doing
all those things just to mess with him.
The Viper didn’t even respond as he disappeared without a trace, leaving

Jake and his party behind with only a final mental message to Jake sent
mentally: “I made a barrier covering this entire cavern so go wild talking.”
Jake took a few seconds to gather his thoughts and, in a glorious attempt to
not address the elephant in the room, began talking. “So… ahem, we should
discuss how we split the dungeon loot. I hurried to pick it up and-“
“Jake,” Reika spoke as she looked up with red eyes and sweat pouring
down her face, unable to be nice by not pointing out the damn elephant.
With a big sigh, Jake sat down with his legs crossed on the ground. Nobody
else moved, and they were all either lying prone or kneeling. “So… yeah…
I got the True Blessing of the Viper. We met under weird circumstances, got
along well, and here we are. Sorry for keeping it a secret, but things tend to
get weird when people know, and if possible, can we just act like I don’t
have it or at least not think about it too much? Let’s just return to ten
minutes ago mentally, alright?”
He knew he was reaching and knew it was a losing battle. Even after
speaking, he knew he was not helping his situation. Jake felt utterly fucked,
but he had neglected to consider that there already was one person in the
group who knew and didn’t act all weird about it.
Reika stood up and took out a handkerchief to clean her brows as she shook
her head. “The mere presence of the Malefic One is truly something; I can’t
understand how you manage to stay upright and so casual.”
Jake picked up on what she was trying to do and responded jokingly. “It’s
mainly the Bloodline, but plenty of practice sure helps.”
Their casual demeanor seemed to slightly affect the others as Draskil finally
looked up with questioning eyes. He stared at Jake as he frowned. “Why
hide?”
At least he asked an easy question, Jake thought as he answered. “Due to

exactly what is happening right now. I want to actually have normal
interactions with others and not whatever you guys are doing.”
Draskil still seemed confused and again asked: “Why?”
“Because that is who I am,” Jake just said. “I didn’t treat you differently
when you thought I had a lower-leveled Blessing than you, did I? I want it
to be like that with how you treat me. Also, Irin… why is your head still
glued to the ground?”
Irin barely reacted as she shook a little. Jake was about to talk again as
Reika stopped him. “Jake… can you go over there for a moment?” she
asked, pointing to a corner rather far away.
Jake was confused before he looked at Reika, who gave him the kind of
stare that told him he should really agree.
“Alright…” he said as he walked away. Shit, I am bad at this.

Wanting to take his mind off things, Jake sat down in the corner nearly a
full kilometer away from Reika, who set up her own barrier. He had put it
off due to the “situation” but now found the time to finally go over his
upgrade and what he had at least gained out of this entire thing.
As expected, the notification he had heard was Touch of the Malefic Viper
finally upgrading.
[Touch of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – With a single touch, the Malefic
Viper has slain countless foes. Attempt to inject poison into a being
through physical contact. The nature of the poison is determined by the
user. The alchemist can only use toxic effects he has concocted or created
prior. Can be used with all compatible types of mana affinities, further
altering the effects. This effect is especially effective using your arcane
affinity. Vastly increases the potency of transmutations made using Touch
of the Malefic Viper at the cost of partly binding them to your soul. Some
effects cannot be replicated. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of
Touch of the Malefic Viper based on Intelligence and Wisdom. Passively
provides 1 Intelligence per level in Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the
Malefic Viper. May your touch be the catalyst of corruption as you bend
the world to your will.
-->
[Touch of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] – With a single touch, the

Malefic Viper seizes control of the world. Attempt to inject toxic energy
into a being through contact. The nature of the toxic energy is determined
by the user. The alchemist can only use toxic effects he has concocted or
created prior or to further empower an existing toxic effect within the
target. Allows the alchemist to far more effectively control all toxins he is
in contact with when using Touch of the Malefic Viper. Can be used with
all compatible types of mana affinities, further altering the effects. This
effect is especially effective using your arcane affinity. Vastly increases
the potency of transmutations made using Touch of the Malefic Viper at
the cost of partly binding them to your soul. Some effects cannot be
replicated. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of Touch of the Malefic
Viper based on Intelligence and Wisdom. Passively provides 3 Intelligence
per level in Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your
touch be the catalyst of corruption as you bend the world to your will.

Jake once more considered how damn long those skill descriptions were
getting. It was truly proof of how utterly bonkers the Malefic Viper Legacy
skills were. The description itself only had minor changes but impactful
ones. It no longer said “through physical contact” but merely “through
contact,” no-doubt reflecting the synergy with Pride. It also added the
effects of empowering existing toxins and even the part about increased
control. Rather than one major improvement which he often saw with
upgraded skills, it was several smaller things that Jake had been working
towards for a long time. The part about empowering toxins was something
he had already done before. He had, of course, also trained to improve his
control at all times, and the only truly new thing was the use of Pride. Even
then, it wasn’t entirely new, considering all the training Jake had done when
it came to Soulshapes.
The level to his profession was also welcome. As Jake looked at his status,
he noted that he was now more than halfway through upgrading his nine
Malefic Viper Legacy skills to legendary. He still needed Blood, Wings,
Sagacity, and surprisingly enough, Sense of the Malefic Viper. For Wings,
he had a good idea what to do, Sagacity, he had a feeling was heavily linked
to the drop of blood in his Soulspace, but with both Blood and Sense, he
wasn’t that sure where to take them. He decided that he should definitely
dedicate more time to them as he wanted to get all four skills to legendary
rarity before reaching C-grade, just like he had gotten them all to Ancient
before D-grade.
As a final thing, Jake checked and saw that his Dungeoneer title had also
upgraded once again.
[Dungeoneer VIII] – Successfully clear a Dungeon suitable for your

level. +14 all stats.
It was just three to all stats, but everything was welcome.

Having gone through all his menus and some internal reflection, Jake
considered what to do now. He didn’t want to go through the loot from the
dungeon alone and looked over towards the barrier that was still up and
wondered what they were talking about as he sent some encouraging
thoughts their way.
Go Reika! I believe in you!
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 510 - Reika & the
Insurmountable Task Of Trying To
Explain Jake
”Your actions were needless and just made unnecessary trouble for him,”
Duskleaf said as Vilastromoz teleported back to his usual chambers. ”Your
intent, I assume.”
”You know me so well,” the Viper smiled at his disciple.
”Are you disappointed?” Duskleaf asked. ”You would have killed all four
of them in a heartbeat just to avoid the slightest inconvenience. A choice he
didn’t even consider.”
”No… if I wanted him to be a mirror image of me, I wouldn’t like him

nearly as much,” Vilastromoz shook his head. ”Sentimentality can be
healthy as long as he doesn’t overdo it.”
”His Path is not yours and never will be,” Duskleaf sighed. ”He is far more
controlled than you ever were.”
Vilastromoz smirked. ”You say that… and yet I wonder what happens when
he is truly pushed. I believe we shall come to discover that his and my
extremes are not that different. That the lines he is willing to cross are far
less controlled and restained than you believe.”
Duskleaf frowned but didn’t speak further. Not entirely able to disagree.
--
Reika had been at many social gatherings in her life and done plenty of
convincing and negotiating. She had worked for her clan and even argued
for more research funding… but trying to convince three fanatics that
meeting their god and someone who was essentially a prophet wasn’t that
big of a deal was way out of her league. To make it worse, then they had
hung out with Jake and been casual with him for quite a while already, and
this seemed to only hit them harder as they, in retrospect, viewed their
actions as insulting if not downright blasphemous. This was clearly not
something where logic could win.
After she had made the barrier and Jake was gone, it put a dampener on the
mood, and Irin finally lifted her head as she stared at Reika. ”You knew?”
”Yes,” Reika just answered.
”For how long?”
”Since before we entered the Order. Jake’s identity is hidden here but not on
our planet,” Reika explained. ”Back there, everyone with any status
knows.”
”How…” Irin muttered as she fell silent again.
Bastilla still looked at Reika with disbelief without speaking as Reika

sighed. She considered her approach to try and salvage the situation they
found themselves in. She knew that her own casual demeanor was already
way off from what the three of them would expect of her and would use that
in her approach.
Rather than attempt to spin a tale of lies or a new cover-up, she decided to
just go with the truth… a slightly modified truth with a good deal of her
own conjecture mixed in, but the truth nonetheless.
”You must remember that Jake and I come from a planet that hasn’t even
had the system for a few years yet. I didn’t even believe gods actually
existed before the system arrived, and there is a good chance Jake didn’t
either. Moreover, we come from a world with a modern culture focused
heavily on individualism and a belief in personal freedom and equality. At
least the parts of the world we were from. No one was inherently superior to
others, at least we believed they weren’t, and anyone claiming to be better
due to their inborn traits was heavily ostracized and looked down upon,”
Reika began explaining as the three of them listened.
”The concept of others being superior is so foreign to us and also why I

personally have a hard time adapting to a world with literal gods. It is a
slow process, but I am getting more acclimated to it these days. I know they
are superior; I know that a being such as the Malefic Viper is an existence I
can barely dream of approaching, and I feel it deep in my bones every time
I am confronted with a creature of superior strength and grade. But Jake
does not feel this fear. You all know he has a Bloodline, and that Bloodline
offers him innate resistance to auras and presences. Due to it, he does not
feel the suppression of a god’s presence and coupled with his upbringing
and inherent values and culture, he simply doesn’t share the same sentiment
as most everyone in the multiverse. He does not experience fear nor
reverence towards those superior to him, and in turn, he does not wish to be
viewed as superior either simply due to what or who he is. Let us also be
fair, Jake is not the most normal person, even on his best days. I do not say
that to criticize him in any way either. Would anyone expect the Chosen of
a Primordial to be normal? Has any of you ever met one before? I do not
know if it is just me, but if each god can only have one Chosen, is it not
only to be expected that person will be unique? And that the Chosen of a
Primordial will be more special than any other?”
She needed to speak rather carefully and avoid saying anything too
incendiary. While Jake could get away with blasphemy, Reika didn’t
believe she could. Not in a million years. She also wanted to kind of excuse
why Jake acted as he did.
The thing about his Bloodline was something she had pre-approved by Jake
a long time ago. She had been told the properties of his Bloodline before
and knew it allowed him to resist auras. Parts of her wondered if it had
other aspects as well, but it wasn’t something she would think about too
much and definitely never ask about.
Reika tried to reach them but had a hard time reading the three members of
the Order, especially the dragonkin, as she quite honestly had no idea what
expressions they made or what emotions those expressions represented.
Bastilla also just stared blankly as she likely tried to process everything, and
Irin looked deep in thought.
I don’t need to convince Bastilla or even Draskil. As long as I get Irin on

board and we reach an understanding, she can rope in the two others. Jake
will also likely be able to convince Draskil himself, Reika thought as she
talked directly to Irin.
”Irin… what are you thinking about right now?” she asked the demon. Even
if she had an idea, she still wanted to confirm.
”I… I just saw the Malefic One in person and have spoken to his Chosen
several times,” Irin said as a stupid smile covered her face.
Not what I thought, Reika quickly realized as Irin kept talking.
”I even approached the Chosen with the intent to…” Irin said as her eyes
opened wide. ”What have I done? How could I not have realized? My
behavior has been utterly unbecoming… should I beg? No, I don’t deserve
forgiveness; I should just-”
”Hey!” Reika yelled as she chopped the head of the succubus, hurting her
hand a bit. ”Snap out of it already. Didn’t you hear a single word I said
before? That he said before leaving.”
Irin finally looked up, and with her attention, Reika spoke again. ”You
know what is really unforgivable? Thinking that if the Chosen and the
Malefic One wanted to hide his identity, you could figure it out on your
own. Or you believing that any actions you have done while interacting
with the disguise he purposefully made weren’t something he wanted.
Consider it for a moment. Jake already told you why he wanted to hide his
identity before. Are you questioning his judgment?”
”I would never!” Irin said dismissively, if not a bit mad.
”Then you still don’t get it. This part is primarily my own conjecture, but
while we know why Jake wanted to hide his identity, have you considered
why the Malefic One approved?” Reika asked, getting a few interested
glances.
”While I do not dare claim I understand the thoughts of a Primordial, would

it not make sense that this is related to the Path of his Chosen? Perhaps it
has been deemed that he benefits from interactions with others without
them knowing his true identity. Perhaps it is something entirely else. Either
way, the Malefic Viper likely wants us to question his Chosen. Judge his
Chosen. Allow his Chosen to grow. For him to make his own choices and
walk his own Path not affected by his status. Do notice how the Malefic
One even asked the opinion of Jake and seemed relaxed with him.
Machinations far above our realm of understanding are taking place, and if
we truly wish to show our loyalty, the best we can do is to act as they want
of us by not seeing Jake as the Malefic One’s Chosen. Even if we do at least
recognize it, then we should not use it as an excuse to treat him differently,”
Reika explained to Irin.
”When I first learned he was the Chosen of the Malefic One, I had a hard
time comprehending it, and after coming here to the Order, I have to remind
myself every day that treating Jake like Jake the Chosen and not Jake the
person goes directly against what he himself and the Viper wishes. So at the
very least, try to treat him like a normal person. You have his permission
and the permission of the Malefic One to do this,” Reika said, only lying a
little bit as she didn’t ever really struggle with his identity. She also chose to
add on one more thing that she only sent to Irin.
”And consider the possibilities. You have an open invitation to approach

and interact with the Chosen in a casual way. Are you really going to throw
such a golden opportunity away?”
If Reika had learned one thing while in the Order, it was that everyone was
inherently selfish. Irin was worried for several reasons, most of them to do
with self-preservation and fear of what could happen to her if Jake was
genuinely mad or offended. So rather than Irin seeing it as a negative that
she now knew, Reika wanted her to see it as something to take advantage
of. Jake could deal with whatever the outcome of that was.
Her words clearly reached the demon as Irin seemed to focus and think it
over. A few seconds passed before her eyes darted up. ”Are you certain that
this is truly the will of the Malefic One and his Chosen?”
”Well, no,” Reika answered honestly. ”But I have yet to be smitten for
blasphemy, and I have treated Jake normally ever since we met. He even
asked me to join for this dungeon run showing that he clearly isn’t offended
by my presence or how I act.”
”So you just act like you don’t know he is the Chosen?” she asked
clarifyingly.
”It is more accurate to say that I act like him being the Chosen isn’t really
that big of a deal. I recognize it, I know it, but I don’t make it be what
defines him. That is also his wish, and I respect that,” Reika once more
answered.
”Still don’t get why he hides it,” Draskil muttered, finally speaking.
Can’t tell them Jake doesn’t actually think it is that big of a deal and just
annoying to be a Chosen… Reika thought as she instead made a roundabout
answer. ”Who are we to even try? If that is the Path Jake and the Malefic
One has chosen, the most respectful thing we can do is to honor their
wishes.”
She felt like she was talking in circles, but sometimes repetition could be
helpful. Reika felt like she had made some good process, but there was still
work to do before she felt confident ”releasing” the three of them upon
Jake.
Jake, in the meantime, had chosen to run away to a place no one else could
go.
”Why did you even bother trying to hide your identity to begin with when
you can’t be arsed to actually keep hiding?” sim-Jake asked the real Jake as
they both sat in the Soulspace.
”I just prefer it if people don’t know I am the Chosen. It isn’t a make-or-
break-it kind of deal,” Jake shrugged.
”It is more the lack of decisiveness,” sim-Jake criticized. ”You half-ass so

many things. You start doing something only to quit halfway through, or
you just stop bothering.”
”So I should have killed all four of them?” Jake asked with a scoff.
”I am saying you should have never bothered hiding your identity at all or
have been fully prepared for it eventually coming out when you barely try
to stay under the radar. You are not going to change the entire multiverse
and their views on gods or their Chosen. It is natural to submit to those
more powerful than yourself, and they all know it. It is the law of the
multiverse, and there is a reason why natural suppression between grades
exists. There is a reason we do not feel it either, as we are born to stand
beside or above everyone. Better to just embrace that you are indeed
superior and then go from there,” sim-Jake said.
”We are not having this conversation again,” Jake sighed as he stood up
within the Soulspace.
”You spent your entire life trying to fit in and adapt to a world you never fit
into. Yet now, when you finally find a world you fit into, you try to apply
those useless values that only led to the suppression of your Bloodline – of
who you are,” Jake’s other self kept talking. ”Why not just accept it? It is an
inevitability anyway. With time we will reach levels of power where being
Chosen or not has no meaning.”
”And at that time, it will at least be earned and not merely given because
Villy decided to give it to me,” Jake shot back.
”Fair, I at least get that. You don’t want to borrow his clout, even if I will
say it is earned. Villy has recognized that we are worth it, and I get him.
Like I just said, then he also views us reaching the apex as a foregone
conclusion, and when eternity is the timeline you are used to working with,
why not get ahead of the curve and just recognize us as worth viewing as an
equal right away?” sim-Jake said.
”That or die,” Jake pointed out.
”True, true. Definitely shouldn’t do that,” sim-Jake chuckled as he also

stood up. ”Anyway, enough about that, let’s talk about what actually
matters. I have been busy while you were playing alchemist, and I wanted
some input.”
”No, you don’t need my input,” Jake said.
”Heh, true. I just want to show off my progress,” sim-Jake smirked.
”So, you beating up the chimera again?”
”Nah, this isn’t about the fighting style this time around but my other
project,” sim-Jake explained. ”Watch this.”
Sim-Jake closed his eyes and focused for a moment. He knelt down and
jumped forward as suddenly he turned all shadowy. Several copies of sim-
Jake then appeared in a line between him and his destination before he
finally appeared more than a hundred meters away.
”Space magic,” Jake quickly concluded.
”Bingo," sim-Jake said. It is far better than Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra
but far from useful yet. So yeah, hold back on upgrading it. Mixing in space
magic like I am is already pushing it away from its Origin in Umbra’s
Legacy, but I need far more to properly make it our own.”
Jake nodded. ”Alright. Keep up the good work. Anything else to add? If
not, I want to go study the drop of blood I stole from Villy a bit.”
”Just one thing,” sim-Jake said. ”Fight some more C-grades with space
magic if you can. I got a lot of ideas from reviewing the fight with the
Phantomshade Panther.”
Jake nodded in understanding as he went towards the red marble floating

inside his Soulspace in a desolate area. He hadn’t really interacted with it
actively that much but thought it was high time he began studying it
properly. A full analysis was out of the question, but he should be able to at
least figure something useful out.
He didn’t know how much time he had either and, quite honestly, was more
occupied with passing the time than anything else, so he didn’t have to
think about the outside world that he would have to deal with pretty soon.
Jake sincerely hoped that Reika would succeed. If she didn’t, it would really
suck. He had enjoyed the dungeon quite a lot despite the shitty mushroom
theme only because he had good company. Not to misunderstand, Jake liked
his solo adventures, but he also liked to at least have the option of teaming
up. It also had many benefits, as Jake had learned quite a few things from
his party members.
If Reika failed, Jake wasn’t even sure what his plans were. Would he cut
them off? Distance himself? Accept them no longer treating him like
before? He genuinely didn’t know.
All he could do was hope that it didn’t come to that.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 511 - Friendships & The
Question Of Why They Are So
Damn Hard.
It ended up taking Reika another few hours to reach a point where she felt
confident letting the three of them roam free. Draskil hadn’t really taken
that much convincing when it came down to it, something Reika partially
explained away by him also coming from the newly integrated universe.
Bastilla and Irin were much harder to reach as they had grown up with the
system and the status quo, making ignoring someone being a Chosen an
entirely foreign concept to them. Reika ended up giving a lot of examples
of Earth and anecdotes relating to Jake to ensure them that he really wasn’t
the type of Chosen they assumed him to be.
Irin seemed to have the takeaway that she had just found the opportunity of
a lifetime. Draskil seemed competitive, and Bastilla was… yeah, Bastilla
was still rather shell-shocked and seemed to not really get the situation
outside of ”keep it a secret, that is what the Malefic One and his Chosen
wants.”
Reika just hoped that with time she could have a proper conversation with
Bastilla about it… and hopefully not have a really shitty roommate
experience in the future.
Jake was woken up from his Serene Soul Meditation when he felt Reika
approach. He opened his eyes and saw that she looked slightly worn out,
having fought a valiant battle for him.
When she got close enough, Jake asked: ”So… how screwed am I?”
”I believe it is manageable,” Reika answered. ”At least I believe they all

understand that keeping it confidential is best and that treating you too
differently due to you being the Chosen isn’t what you or your Patron
wants. If they are actually able to overcome a lifetime of conditioning and
cultural teachings and not act too differently is an entirely different thing.”
”Thank you either way,” Jake smiled a bit sadly. ”This entire thing does
suck.”
”I understand them,” Reika added. ”At least partly. Me telling them to treat
you like you don’t have status is a far more extreme version of someone
telling me not to treat my great-grandfather with a high level of respect. I
am not certain I could stop doing that, at least not on a whim. So the best
thing to do now is to give it time. Don’t treat them differently than before,
but also don’t try to put a lid on who or what you are. Instead, normalize it
and make it clear that to you, it is simply part of who you are, and while
you are naturally proud of it – as any Chosen would be – you also don’t
want it to be your primary defining trait. That them respecting you as a
Chosen and as a person means not making you only the Chosen of the
Malefic Viper.”
” Alright… so just give it time, huh,” Jake sighed. ”Let’s get over there.
Any tips for things I should or shouldn’t say?”
”Don’t downplay your identity too much, but as I said, make it clear you do
not want it to impact their treatment of you. Not too much at least,” Reika
once more emphasized. ”Also, do not talk about your odd relationship with
the Malefic Viper. That is between you and your Patron, and definitely
don’t think that you talking about how casual you are with the Viper will
make them understand they can treat you casually. Also, when we go greet
them, you should say…”
Jake nodded slowly as he took her words to heart. He had enough social
awareness to know that he sucked at having social awareness, and even if
Reika was not some expert, she was far more adept than Jake.
The two of them walked back to Draskil, Irin, and Bastilla. They did all
look at him weirdly and for sure differently than before, but at least they
were all standing up and not kneeling. Jake sighed again as he got close and
said what Reika had told him.
”I do hope this incident won’t cause an unnecessary rift between us. I am

still the same person as before. The way I have treated you till now is the
same as I would have even if you knew, and I will continue to treat you as
friends and not merely subordinates, even if I do recognize a difference in
status. I can only hope that you will do the same. Also, I hope you all
understand that keeping my identity a secret is something I would very
much appreciate,” Jake spoke, nearly saying verbatim what Reika had told
him to.
The mood was still a bit tense and awkward for a few seconds before
Draskil finally spoke up with a grin. ”Makes sense now how you killed C-
grade before I did.”
Jake felt relief as he answered. ”Now you are just looking for excuses for
losing.”
”Bah, only to be expected you win; you are Chosen,” Draskil dismissed him
before smiling. ”But I am still stronger.”
”For now, for now,” Jake acknowledged with a smirk.
”Excuse me,” Irin said, a bit too polite compared to her usual demeanor.
”We do have a problem. I am required to report what happened during this
dungeon run to my superiors… what should I say to them?”
”What exactly are you required to report?” Jake asked. ”How in-depth?”
”I will have to submit a report and then do an interview,” Irin said. ”If I lie
during it or obfuscate the truth, it may have repercussions… and I doubt I
will even be able to hide it due to my contract.”
Jake nodded and thought for a moment before finding a solution. ”Alright,
then just do as usual and report the truth. I will handle it on my end.”
Taking out his token, Jake dialed the highest of the higher-ups when it came
to the mortals – the Hall Master. She picked up instantly.
”How may I be of assistance?” Viridia asked.
She sounded a little bit too excited he had called, but nothing he could do
about that. ”My identity as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper has been
discovered by three new individuals, and I will need you to help cover it
up.”
”Very well, are they already slain, or do you wish for me to do it while
cleaning them of karmic bonds?” she promptly answered.
”No killing,” Jake shut down the murder-hoboing. ”One of the people is
Irinixis from the Humanoid Resources department and another the Malefic
Dragonkin Draskil. Irinixis will need to file a report of what happened
during a dungeon run we just had, and I want you to intercept that report
and make up an excuse that you wanted to keep track of Draskil’s progress
or something like that. Maybe use his Divine Blessing as an excuse.”
”As you command, I will handle it, so have no further worries. Is there
anything else I can help with?” Viridia said, not missing a beat.
”No, that is all for this time. Thanks for the assistance.”
”The honor is all mine, Lord Thayne,” Viridia said as Jake cut off the
magical phone call.
”Alright, I got that angle covered,” Jake said as he put his token away
again. He had only taken a few seconds talking to Viridia through the power
of telepathic efficiency. If not, it would be rude to make them all wait
around.
”How?” Reika asked curiously.
”I am the Chosen, am I not? I had the Hall Master deal with it. She
naturally already knows who I am,” Jake said a bit jokingly, seeing no
reason to mention that her finding out had also been a complete accident.
Irin nodded with some relief, not at all surprised. ”Thank you, my lord,” she
bowed before stopping herself. ”Oh, I mean, I am sorry, I-”
”Irin, just take it slow, alright?” Jake smiled. ”No need to fret over minor
things like that. Take your time and just treat me normally, okay? And a
better thing to do than talking about this situation would be to address the
loot we got from clearing the dungeon. But I must warn all of you… while I
have not seen the properties of these items, only their appearance, I can
already tell you they fucking suck.”
With a very necessary warning, Jake summoned the two items. One of them
was a scepter just like the one the Mushroom Man King had used, while the
other one was just a mushroom cap formed like a crown. With disgust, Jake
identified them.
[Scepter of the Indigo Caverns (Epic)] – A scepter crafted from unknown

wood that has fused with the Lifecore of a once mighty fungus. Through
time it has further been improved by the Mushroom Man King and
empowered by the Indigo Caverns. Allows the user to directly manipulate
and take control of fungi, using them as their weapon. This scepter can be
attuned to specific fungi to further improve this effect. Significantly more
powerful when used by one also wearing the Mushroom Cap Crown of
the Fungal Lord.
Requirements: lvl 180+ in any humanoid race.
[Mushroom Cap Crown of the Fungal King (Epic)] - The crown of the
Mushroom Man King. Contains elements of his authority, making you
inherently intimidating and hold authority over other Mushroom Men of
a lower level than yourself. Allows the wearer to far more easily
manipulate fungi using any form of magic. Significantly more powerful
when used by one also wielding the Scepter of the Indigo Caverns.
His sheer level of disgust only increased after reading what they did.
Without hesitation, he voiced his own stance as he disowned them both.
”Not me!”
”No,” Draskil muttered decisively.
”I have no need for them,” Reika quickly made clear.
”It would feel inappropriate to take anything,” Irin said.
All of them turned to look at Bastilla, who had not spoken a single word
since Jake had come out as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. She looked
bewildered for a moment as she stared at the items and the party. ”Really?”
she finally spoke.
”I believe you can at the very least sell them for dismantling,” Irin pointed
out.
”If you don’t want them, I would be fine with just destroying them here and
now,” Jake added on.
”I'll just take them…” Bastilla muttered as she swept them up. Jake threw
Reika a glance, and she gave him a look making it clear that the beast
woman was still not entirely on board and handling the situation properly.
But, as her roommate, Jake believed Reika would have plenty of time to
figure things out.
He was at least happy that even after everything was said and done, they
could still bond over their shared hatred for mushrooms. A true unifier.
”Alright, thanks, everyone,” Jake said with a genuine smile. ”Let us head
on back to the Order?”
All of them agreed, and Jake tried to make some casual small talk with the
succubus on the way back, but all the responses were a bit strained from
Irin’s side. Draskil was a pleasant surprise as he seemed to have come to
terms with things rather quickly and acted almost the same as before.
Reika walked with Bastilla as they made it back as one group, no one
bothering to race this time around. They made it back to the teleportation
station before splitting up. Jake didn’t know how everything would be
whenever they met again, but he could only do as he always did and just
take things as they came.
--
Jake stepped through the gateway and walked to the living room before
sitting down, exhausted. He had already seen that Meira and Duskleaf were
busy inside the library, and he had no interest in interrupting them as he just
took a breather.
He got half an hour of rest by himself before he saw Duskleaf whisk out of
existence within the library. A few minutes later - after cleaning up - Meira
also left and went straight for Jake in the living room, likely having been
informed by Duskleaf.
”Lord Thayne,” she bowed upon entering the living room.
”Hey there,” Jake said with a smile. ”How have things been while I was
gone? Duskleaf treating you well?”
”The Grand Elder has treated me very well, and I have made much
progress,” Meira said enthusiastically. ”I also did as you said and invited
over some of my fellow students.”
That made Jake perk up. He looked at Meira with surprise and motioned for
her to elaborate.
”We only went to study in the library due to the many tomes Lord Thayne
has available, and I swear that not a single book has left the residence. I
thank you once again for allowing me to invite them and also offer thanks
from them,” Meira explained.
Jake felt genuinely happy that at least Meira seemed to have some real
friends. It was good to know that she could at least have some healthy
relationships considering Jake’s recent issues in that department.
”I would love to meet them the next time they come over,” Jake added.
Meira seemed quite a bit happier recently compared to how she was when
Jake first met her, and there was a good chance that had something to do
with her friends, right? Her just having friends was a major improvement.
He did notice that she seemed a bit hesitant when Jake asked to meet them,
but he didn’t really dwell on it. It was normal to be a little nervous when
introducing your friends to who was essentially your boss.
Now, Jake was not entirely ignorant and knew that Meira likely didn’t have
the same understanding of what friendship was as he did. This was part of
the reason why he wanted to meet her friends, also to see if they were good
or bad influences.
”I shall relay your wish,” Meira said, as she added on a bit nervously.
”Uhm, one of them, named Izil, also said that she wanted to meet you if
possible…”
”Oh?” Jake asked, surprised. Why would she want to meet Jake? Okay,
there were many reasons. She knew he had a black token, so that was likely
it. But he didn’t want to judge right away and think that she was just after
his status or trying to take advantage of him. Heck, she maybe had a status
of her own.
”Who is this Izil?” he asked.
”She is an elf from the Altmar Empire,” Meira explained, adding on with a
smile. ”She has helped and taught me a lot of things.”
Okay, so she does have some status of her own and doesn’t seem like a shit
person, Jake noted.
”Well, I already said I would love to meet your friends, so of course, I will
also talk to her,” Jake said, still smiling comfortingly.
”Thank you,” Meira bowed again. ”I shall let you know when next they
request to come over.”
Her phrasing did make Jake frown a bit, but he didn’t dwell on it. The two
of them talked a bit more before Meira had to leave for a lesson, and Jake
also quickly got busy himself. He had a few Malefic Viper Legacy skills he
wanted to work on improving and he also kind of wanted to take his mind
off things and be by himself a bit.
At least until Meira would have friends over.
A day that came sooner than expected as Meira told him they would come
the very next day, not even two days after Jake returned from the dungeon.
A note from Zogarth
With this, we go on break! I will be back the 1st of November!
I want to thank you all for your continued support, and I hope you all
continue to enjoy the story as much as I enjoy writing it. You can
probably still catch me on Discord here and there during the break, but
otherwise, I will primarily be on my couch watching TV.
Oh, and finally, if you get bored during the break, check out the new
novel by my mate Actus. I talked a lot with him about it and gave him
some advice here and there, and it would be great to give him some
support. No pressure.
Link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/58668/advent-of-eternity-a-
tactician-litrpg
And, finally, as always.
Thanks for reading.
--
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/Zogarth
Discord:: https://discord.gg/XKzpuBw6A5
Chapter 512 - An Offer Difficult To
Refuse
A note from Zogarth
We are back from break!
Felt good to rest, my wrists are doing a lot better, and of course, a
European team won The International, so things are looking up.
And, as always, enjoy the chapter.
Jake had seen a more nervous than usual Meira off as she went to one of her
classes. He knew it was because she wouldn’t be returning alone but had
agreed to bring her friends along. It would be a lie if he said he didn’t find it
endearing and waited expectantly as he also worked on his own progress in
the meantime.
He had appropriately begun scouring the library for books related to the
Legacy of the Malefic Viper and had also searched for lessons related to the
skills but quickly found a rather glaring issue on both these fronts. There
were no books directly about the Legacy skills, only legacies in general,
and on the lesson front, there were only really some related to Palate of the
Malefic Viper. Jake did stumble across a scarce few related to Sense and
Blood too, but both of these were incredibly low-level ones and seemed to
be more about how one could obtain the skills. Quite a bit away from
finding a way to upgrade it to legendary rarity.
So rather than looking for direct sources on how to upgrade his skills, he
began researching the more general methods of upgrading Legacy skills and
ways of upgrading skills close to what Jake had. Perception-based sensing
skills to find herbs or toxic materials and whatnot were extremely common
and well-researched, so Jake happily dove in and began reading. He decided
to first focus on ways to improve the far less impressive Poison Sense Jake
had merged into Sense of the Malefic Viper, hoping to find some
inspiration.
His enthusiasm quickly dwindled as Jake went into the section on practice
methods. As with most things, the best advice given was just to get practical
experience. However, the books heavily advised against the alchemist
trying to test and improve sensing skills during combat for a variety of
reasons. Firstly, it was overly risky to try and focus on it during a fight.
Secondly, you wouldn’t know your opponent properly and what skills they
had to avoid your senses and their poison resistance, making progress far
less reliable. Third, it was just hard to properly focus and think logically
and analytically while in a battle. Using the poison on someone far weaker
than yourself wasn’t as helpful when researching as using it against
someone of equal or superior power, which is why the alchemists who had
written the book recommended the same thing: living test subjects.
They suggested ”investing” preferably in a slave or a bound creature to do

this with. As you needed someone or something stronger than yourself, it
even mentioned that renting one was possible, but emphasized that another
great benefit of living subjects was the ability to use the same one and track
the progress that way. It reduced the number of factors that came into place
with using new test subjects every time, and if one got a sapient slave that
was professionally trained, they could even have skills to convey the effects
of the toxins – something especially useful when experimenting with mind
affinity poisons.
As Jake read all this, he was a bit taken aback. Not by what it said, but by
how it was written. It was clearly considered normal and not at all
something anyone would question. It mentioned using these subjects with
the same phrasing as one would use about any other type of tool like a
cauldron.
Needless to say, Jake was not going to get any test subjects, and the more he
read about it, the more he understood why Meira had kind of assumed that
would be part of her job when she first met Jake. It was, in the eyes of the
Order, considered a task akin to tending the gardens or any other service the
slave could offer.
Jake still wanted practical experience with his Sense of the Malefic Viper
and ended up finding some good things. There was a training dungeon set
up by the Order that one could spend AC to enter that housed a lot of
different toxins with innate properties to hide as well as some beasts and
monsters to practice on. Making a mental note, he decided to visit one of
these places.
On the subject of Blood of the Malefic Viper, it was a bit of a dead-end as

the lessons were either about how one could possibly gain the skill or how
to use the skill in alchemy. There was one lesson that seemed worth
checking, and Jake also mentally noted that.
As Jake was still researching and doing some light alchemy, whenever he
got bursts of inspiration, he felt movement within his sphere. In the
entrance hall of the mansion, four figures stepped out. One of them was
naturally Meira, with the three others an elf, a scalekin, and a very tall
dwarf or small ogre. Half-ogre, Jake guessed.
He didn’t move to greet them as they all headed to the library as expected.
Jake saw them all walk and talk, and everything seemed nice. A cursory
look made it clear the half-ogre was primarily a close friend of the scalekin
while the other elf stuck closely with Meira. Meira did seem a bit out of
place, but Jake saw her smile whenever she answered, making him a bit
happy.
They entered the library, and Meira began finding some books as the other
elf helped. The scalekin and half-ogre just sat down at a table as they
waited. It almost looked as if they hurried Meira, but he wasn’t sure,
considering he could only see and not hear anything happening.
After locating the books, they took their seats and began discussing things.
Jake simply looked on as nothing noteworthy happened for the next fifteen
or so minutes. Finally, Meira said something to the other elf, her customary
nervous face on full display. The other elf nodded as the two of them left
the library, the scalekin seemingly yelling something after them.
At that moment, Jake cursed the ever-present enchantments on all the doors
and walls that isolated sound, effectively making every room the inside of
an isolation barrier. Meira and the other elf headed straight for Jake’s
laboratory, where he had spent the last few days. They talked a bit more,
and just before Meira could knock on the door, Jake made it open
telekinetically.
What? He wanted to show off a bit in front of Meira’s friend.
”My Lord,” Meira bowed the moment she saw him. Jake was sitting in a
rather comfortable chair behind a table, feeling a bit like a boss about to
interview a new employee.
”Hello there,” Jake greeted them with a smile. One they couldn’t really see
as Jake had chosen to keep his mask on. Turning to the other elf, Jake
nodded. ”You must be Izil?”
The other elf confirmed as he bowed slightly. ”Indeed. It is a pleasure to

meet you, Hunter, was it?”
Oh yeah, I used that pseudonym. Kinda forgot about that, huh? Jake
thought. ”Just call me Jake, and please, come in and take a seat,” he simply
answered. He honestly couldn’t be arsed trying to conceal his real name.
Irin knew it, which meant the entire Humanoid Resources department knew
it, which meant anyone with just the slightest level of clout could find out.
”Thank you,” Izil answered as she entered the laboratory. She looked back
towards Meira and then back at Jake. ”If possible, can we speak just the two
of us?”
Jake wasn’t that surprised, considering she had asked to meet him. He did
wonder what she wanted and really hoped it wasn’t something weird.
Chances are she wanted to take advantage of his status even if she only
believed he was a black token alchemist.
”Of course,” he still answered. ”Meira, if you will.”
She nodded and bowed but did look a bit nervously at both Jake and Izil.
Meira was naive but not stupid and likely had some of the same thoughts as
Jake… or maybe she was just afraid Izil would offend Jake, making Jake
kill her. She knew who he really was, after all.
After she left, the isolation barrier activated, making no one able to spy on
the two of them anymore. With great interest, Jake allowed Izil to speak
first after sneaking in an Identify.
[Elf – lvl 141]
”Firstly, I must thank you for meeting me. I am aware you are a busy
individual,” Izil said courteously, but Jake already knew there was a ”but”
coming down the line. ”I am Izil, a royal associate of the Altmar Alchemy
Association and currently a gold token outer member of the Order of the
Malefic Viper.”
Jake nodded, having already introduced himself before. He didn’t see any
need to explain he had a black token, as she clearly knew, though he was a
bit surprised at her being a gold token.
”I believe you already have an inkling as to why I am here?” she then

asked.
In a hurry, Jake tried to figure out if he should know why she was there.
Nope, I have no bloody idea why or how I should know, but…
”It is related to Meira, right?”
It had to be. She was the only commonality between them.
”Correct. Just to clarify, then Meira is a slave which you own or at least
have the ability to decide ownership of?” Izil asked very matter-of-factly.
Jake nodded.
”Firstly, and this may be overreaching, may I ask why you are having her
attend lessons as she currently is? From the research I had done, then you
have a backer making you able to afford some splurging when it comes to
Academy Credits, but even so. What is your intent?” she asked, making
Jake feel like he was being interrogated.
”You are overreaching,” Jake dismissively said. ”You do not need to know
what I intend, but if you are worried, then I can at the very least assure you
I mean no harm to Meira. All I want right now is for her to learn and grow.”
”How about the future?” Izil asked. ”I am aware you are from the new
universe, so it is understandable if you do not know this, but the Altmar
Empire has a standing order in place to free and help return elves found in
involuntary servitude to the Empire.”
Okay, Jake did not know that. He was a bit skeptical, but when he thought
on it further, it made sense. The Altmar Empire was an empire of elves, and
according to what he knew, a bit, eh… ”judgemental” towards those who
were not elves. For a race believing themselves superior to not want their
brethren to be slaves or maybe even viewing it as an insult if some were
wasn’t surprising. It did raise some questions as to why there clearly were
many elven slaves around, but that wasn’t a discussion he wanted to start.
However, even if such a standing order was in place from the Altmar
Empire…
”I do not see what that has to do with me,” Jake answered.
”I mean no offense,” Izil quickly made clear. ”I am merely saying that the
reason I approach you is backed and supported by the Empire, and so will
any eventual compensation. In essence, I am asking for the possibility of
buying out Meira’s slave contract.”
”Oh?” Jake asked, a bit interested. His plan had always been to find a way
of freeing Meira. Currently, he wanted her to become a fully-fledged
member of the Order by herself, but if there were alternatives, he was open
to it.
Izil understood that Jake was not entirely against the idea and smiled.
”This proposition is not only to benefit the Empire or you but Meira as well.
She has shown quite the talent from the moment I met her and seems to
only be growing in potential. Especially very recently, she has had
tremendous improvements. For her to remain a slave is simply wasteful in
my eyes. If she was free, she could also return to the Altmar Empire, where
even more possibilities exist. Additionally, and this is merely my own
personal feelings, then I am fond of her and wish to see her grow and forge
her own Path. One where she is free.”
Jake listened on, and while he didn’t say anything, he was debating it quite
a lot internally. If Izil told the truth, it was a truly good offer. It would allow
Meira to get her freedom and stop being a slave, and it would even allow
her to go to the Altmar Empire. All around good stuff and a difficult offer to
refuse. Oh, and of course Meira had made a lot of progress in recent times.
She was being privately tutored by a god.
”it is worth discussing,” Jake concluded. ”But it is not something I believe

the two of us should ultimately decide. It is Meira’s choice.”
Izil looked surprised at Jake’s response but still nodded a bit tentatively.
Jake then stood up and motioned for Izil to follow. ” I will admit, I have
kind of been hoping to meet her friends, so I shall come along when we go
fetch her.”
Izil now looked even more confused and surprised. ”Those two people in
the library with her right now aren’t her friends. Nor mine, for that matter.
We were asked to group up for a collaborative project for sparring purposes,
and the two of them made her an easy target. I stuck around at first to try
and recruit her, but I was hesitant due to her meek personality. And as I
said… I have grown fond of her. But those two are definitely not friends, I
can guarantee that.”¨
Jake frowned. ”Explain.”
”The scalekin is called Nella and is the daughter of a true dragon who got
together with an influential B-grade member of the Order of the Malefic
Viper, while the half-ogre Utmal is nothing more than an attendant of her
family who managed to enter the Order due to sheer nepotism. Her status is
not to be underestimated, and she knows it. I hear that she has even more
powerful relatives, some even reaching above B-grade. In other words, they
are not to be offended, even if you are blessed by the Malefic One and have
a black token,” Izil explained. ”While I am not sure if I can call their
treatment of her outright abusive, they…”
Sighing, Jake listened as Izil explained their group’s dynamic. Nevertheless,

Jake was still insistent on going. He couldn’t say he was surprised that
Meira’s interpretation of friendship wasn’t normal, but he was still a bit
disappointed. But more than disappointed, he was just sad. From what Izil
said, they were just taking advantage of her.
Taking advantage of him.
”I implore you to not make any rash decisions,” Izil said as they exited the
library, and she sensed his negative emotions.
”I won’t,” Jake said.
The two of them walked toward the library as Jake observed it in his sphere,
and now with some context, Jake saw that the scalekin’s yelling likely
wasn’t just friendly banter. The snickering of the half-ogre also clearly
wasn’t innocent.
Still, Jake wanted to keep a cool head and not pass judgment only based on
the words of another. He would judge the situation himself and ask Meira to
figure out what was going on. As they got close enough to the library, Jake
noticed the door had been left slightly ajar, allowing some sound to escape.
”How fucking incompetent can you be? I can’t comprehend why the hell
that owner of yours bothers to keep you around,” he heard the scalekin say
as Jake froze.
Froze - and considered if Viridia’s offer of corpse disposal was still

available.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!
NEW MONTH! BACK FROM BREAK! BEST TIME TO BECOME A

PATRON!


Chapter 513 - A Teaching Moment
Jake was no expert in friendships. He would never claim to be. But what he
did know was that the scalekin called Nella was definitely not a friend of
Meira. Now, while Jake did want to just barge in and raise hell, he chose to
listen to Izil and acted with thought. At the very least, he should give them a
chance to explain themselves.
The door was already ajar, and they soon detected Jake as he got closer. It
was almost comical how the facial expression of the scalekin changed when
she detected Jake and Izil coming. Rather than a sneer, she turned to a
neutral smile, trying to look like less of a bitch.
“My Lord,” Meira greeted her once he entered. He had seen her running
back and forth collecting books, and yet she didn’t carry even a hint of
discontentment.
“Ah, good to meet you-“
“Shut the fuck up,” Jake said to Nella the moment she started speaking. His
aura flared for a moment with killing intent as Izil took a step back along
with Nella. The only one of the newcomers who stayed unaffected was the
half-ogre, and the reason for that was simple enough.
[Scalekin – lvl 152]
[Half-ogre – lvl 190]
Utmal, as she was called, was far stronger than any of the others, and Izil’s
assertion she was more of a bodyguard than anything else was very likely
accurate.
Nella still stood frozen as Jake spoke and Meira looked extremely
surprised, if not downright horrified.
“Meira, have you ever had any friends before?” Jake asked her.
The poor elf now looked even more confused as she stuttered. “I… I don’t
think so?”
“Then let’s have a brief lesson on what friendship is,” Jake said as he turned
to the scalekin. “Tell me, do you consider Meira here a friend?”
Nella, surprisingly enough, didn’t raise a ruckus but merely responded

honestly. “What a nonsensical question. Of course I don’t. Now, if you
weren’t so rude despite it being our first meeting, I would maybe consider
offering you the honor of my frie-“
“You can shut up again,” Jake cut her off once more, getting a very angry
glare from the half-ogre, which he completely ignored.
Meira looked entirely taken by surprise after Nella answered. Jake nearly
felt like she was about to cry, but instead, she just nodded with realization
and bowed. “I apologize if I misunderstood, and-“
“You have nothing to apologize for,” Jake also cut Meira off.
Izil finally decided to also get involved after the initial shock of the
situation. “Nella, at least admit you did purposefully make her believe you
were friends, even explicitly stating it to make her give you things.”
“You just have to get involved?” Nella scoffed. “And yeah, I did. What of
it? This is the Order of the Malefic Viper, if you haven’t noticed. Are you
seriously trying to act like lying for personal benefits is some kind of
heretical sin or something? You people are beyond me; it is her fault for
being a gullible idiot, not mine.”
She then turned to Jake and smiled. “Don’t blame me for taking advantage
of your little pet project. Is it not your fault for being too wasteful?”
“I guess you could argue it is my fault for not being more observant of the
trash I allow her to drag home,” Jake said in a cold voice.
“My Lord, I-“ Meira began, and Jake was honestly a bit frustrated as he
knew what she was about to say.
“Meira. Stop. Stop putting yourself down and stop thinking everyone can
treat you however you want. Stop thinking you are lesser than them. I am
not having you learn and take lessons for fun but for your own sake. It is
about time you have some damn self-confidence and take some charge of
your own Path,” Jake said in a rather scolding tone as he pointed at Nella
and Utmal.
“Those two are nothing. Trash by the wayside. If you allow trash to treat
you as lesser than them, what does that make you? What does that make me
who choose to believe in you? What does it make your teacher?”
Jake felt like he had been very patient with Meira so far, but her mindset
was simply too different from what it had to be to survive. Not just in the
Order but in the multiverse. If his gentle approach didn’t work, he would go
a bit harder. Even after everything, Meira still viewed herself as lesser than
practically everyone else. He hadn’t really picked up on this as the only
ones he really ever saw her interact with were himself and Duskleaf, and
expecting her to be casual with them was a hard ask. But she had gotten
better with Jake, making him hopeful.
It was just disappointing to see that hope squashed.
And speaking of getting squashed, the two unwelcome visitors clearly

weren’t fans of Jake’s words.
“Big words from some new initiate who just entered the Order. Do you
think you are suddenly a genius unlike any other just because you managed
to get a black token? People like you tend to just squander and have their
feeble egos broken as they begin to fail. So what if you have a backer? You
are still nothing,” Nella said with a smile as she motioned toward Meira.
“You are already showing your weakness when you bother with a little
whore like her. You waste time and resources on useless things. I don’t even
get what you are trying here? Sure, yeah, sorry for hurting your fragile ego
by messing with what’s yours. I had my fun with your whore while it lasted,
and I will of course respect it if you don’t want me to mess with your
property.”
“Nella, you-“ Izil began but was cut off.
“Oh, shut up already; you are even more tiring than the human,” Nella said
with scorn. “I wanted to approach you to do some networking with the
Altmar empire, but you are just too damn infuriating to deal with. Always
having to be the hero and protecting the little elf but never even daring to
really speak up. At least you were smart enough not to make unnecessary
enemies, unlike the human.”
Now, one might ask why Jake allowed her to keep talking. The reason was
simple enough: he needed Meira to hear. While she had initially seemed
like she wanted to explain things away and even excuse Nella, he now saw
a far different expression. It was hard to read but definitely a mix of anger
and crying. What he was certain of was that she was hurting.
He did also see Izil look ashamed when Nella pointed out her own lack of
truly standing up for Meira. Jake chose not to judge this particularly harshly
as at least it seemed like she had her heart in the right place. He also wanted
to keep making it a teaching moment.
“I can at least respect the confidence,” Jake said with a smile. “The
confidence to walk into my home acting like this and expecting nothing to
happen.”
“Heh,” Nella laughed. “Last time I checked, we were allowed to come here.
Are you so daft to not even know the rules of the Order?”
Izil, off to the side, also sent Jake a warning using telepathy. “Be careful.
Any violence, especially killing, goes against the rules, and even if you have
some influence, so does she. Keep calm.”
“Oh, I do know the rules,” Jake said as he walked over to Meira. He saw
her still looking utterly lost with tears in her eyes as he spoke. “Meira.
These two aren’t your friends. They never were. Don’t consider this a
tragedy but merely a teaching moment. Believe it or not, in spite of our
unconventional relationship due to the contract, I consider you a friend,
which is also why I want to give you a choice before we go any further.”
She looked up at him, and once Jake was certain she was listening, he
explained what he and Izil had talked about. “Izil and I spoke just before
coming here. She offered to buy your freedom and make you a part of the
Altmar Empire. Even take you back there. With the status of a citizen of the
Empire, it will allow you to finally take charge of your own life.”
Izil seemed relieved at the subject change, and surprisingly, Nella and
Utmal also seemed interested.
“That is correct,” Izil said with a smile. “The Altmar Empire has an official
decree to free any elven slaves, and the second I found out you were one, I
knew I had to talk to your owner. While we have not discussed any details
yet, I-“
“One Credit,” Jake quickly added. “That is the price for her freedom - for
the complete annulment of the contract. We can discuss the details, sure, but
I do not want anything for it.”
Izil and Nella both looked surprised, but not as much as Meira. She stared
between Jake and Izil before asking Jake. “You want me to leave?”
Jake sighed. “It is not my choice. But I can share with you that my initial
plan was for you to become a member of the Order and then annul the
contract. I want you to be free and make your own choices, and this will be
the first time where I will truly ask you to choose after I made you choose
your own lessons. You don’t need to pick right now, but can take however
long you need to-“
“I want to stay with Lord Thayne,” Meira said decisively, shocking Jake a
bit. She had not only interrupted Jake but said: “Lord Thayne” and not any
of her usual go-to’s. Her decision was also not what he had expected,
especially not for her to make it so fast.
“Think it over,” Jake said. “This is a chance for freedom. Here and now. If
you need funds, I will help you and make sure you can go to the Altmar
Empire safely. You will be able to finally be your own person. Meira, you
are far more skilled than you think and can make it on your own. You don’t
need to rely on others.”
“I want to stay,” she said decisively again before finally turning a bit meek.
“Please?”
“Oh, this is all so damn touching,” Nella finally burst out as she turned to
Jake. “Damn, you must be a good shag to have her wrapped around your
finger like that, or is she really just that pathetic?”
“Lord Thayne and I have never slept together, and I have never been with a
man,” Meira said, standing up for herself for the first time. In a weird way,
but hey, it was something.
“So you can talk back?” Nella said, faking amazement. “And that
declaration just makes this all the more pathetic. Seriously, is your dear
master some limp-dicked loser who can’t even get it up? Or does he swing
the other way and bought the wrong product when he went slave shopping?
This must be one of the funniest days in my life.”
“I… you suck!” Meira practically yelled, red in her face.
Nella just found it amusing and shook her head. Jake was still looking on a
bit proud before nodding. “If that is your choice, fine. But the part about
being freed and becoming a member of the Order is non-negotiable unless
you can find another way to safely be freed. We can talk about all that
another day, though, as we have some trash to take out first. Tell me, Meira,
what kind of punishment do you think these two deserve?”
She was still new to the whole making choices thing, but Jake believed in
her. Also, while he wasn’t exactly keen on the two of them, the one they
had wronged the most was Meira, not him. So even if Jake had a way he
wanted to handle the situation, he would respect whatever Meira wanted.
“This is a fucking joke at this point,” Nella laughed out loud. “Actually too
funny. Seriously, what the fuck are you gonna do? Do you think you can
even do anything? Want to call your backer or what? While I don’t want to
talk badly about my seniors, I am beginning to question what error in
judgment one must have made to pick you. I also find it laughable how you
think you are some big-shot who is in charge here. If you truly try to start
shit, it won’t just be your ass, but your backer’s on the line, as I am certain
my ancestors will happily raise hell. So go ahead, make my day even
better.”
Meira still stared at Nella and Utmal as the scalekin spoke. Utmal just
smiled at Nella’s side, making it clear she also found this entire situation
funny. Jake had the clear read on them that they were truly just taking this
as some kind of entertainment. Perhaps messing with Meira had just been
some way for them to pass the time while getting some benefits. They had
never considered it a big deal to begin with.
After a few seconds of no one talking, Nella finally shrugged and looked at
Jake. “I am bored of this. Oh well, fun while it lasted, and I shall consider
sending someone to ask for compensation for wasting my time. The level of
delusion you people have is astonishing. I hope your backer comes to their
senses and gets rid of you because anything else would truly make them a
moron.”
“Punishment…” Meira muttered as she looked at the ground, still standing

with Jake. Her speaking made Nella and Utmal wait with anticipation as
something finally happened. Meira then turned to Izil with searching eyes,
but the elf just looked down at the ground, making it obvious she would not
involve herself further. A bit cowardly, but again, Jake would not judge her
as she was essentially a representative of her faction.
Meira instead looked at Jake, who just waited for her answer. “I don’t like
them. They did wrong… but more importantly, they insulted Lord Thayne,
and… the one behind him… that is not just wrong, but unforgivable. I…”
she continued, looking towards Izil.
Nella smiled, and Utmal beside her also chuckled. They still had the same
confidence. Jake had not asked them to leave, and they both felt safe. The
rules of the Order protected them, they had backing, and Utmal was at a
higher level, even compared to what Jake was falsely displaying. They had
every reason to feel confident. They had just made one major fuckup– one
with such a minuscule chance no one could really fault them for missing it.
Jake understood what Meira meant by looking at Izil as he smiled. Before

anyone could react, he was in front of Izil and used Gaze of the Apex
Hunter. He placed his hand on her forehead as Touch of the Malefic Viper
activated, sending in a pulse of soul-soothing poison, instantly knocking her
out.
“Now that I did not see coming,” Nella said with some surprise. “You also
didn’t like that bi-“
“You know,” Jake cut her off as he saw Meira look worried at Izil and with
genuine hatred at Nella and Utmal. “I am nearly grateful to you. It is good
for her to learn that shit people exist and to be careful of them, and you two
are prime examples of shitstains.”
Nella wanted to speak, but Jake didn’t let her as he released his aura along
with Pride of the Malefic Viper.
“Now, you talked about rules earlier,” Jake said as he walked slightly closer.
Utmal placed herself in front of Nella defensively as she prepared herself.
He could only laugh at her horrible stance, showing that while she was
probably strong, her actual level of fighting experience was limited.
“While this isn’t a rule I remember being stated explicitly, what are the
punishments for blasphemy of the Malefic One?”
“Death,” Meira answered instantly.
“Come the fuck on, just because you have a lesser Blessing, you think
insulting you is-“
“Nah, not at all. But calling the Viper a moron for choosing to back me?
Now that I would say is very much in the camp of being questionable,” Jake
smiled. “But I don’t know. I am not the one making the rules or even the
one enforcing them, so let’s ask someone more qualified.”
Jake took out his token and sent a simple message before putting it away
again. “She should be on her way, but in the meantime, I believe I shall
make the executive decision of doling out some punishment of my own.”
Seeing as they were in his library, Jake thought it preferable to first get
them out of there. His aura flared as he used Pride and Gaze to launch a
mental attack, stunning both of them momentarily as Jake teleported
forward and punched both of their faces as he tossed them into the hallway,
smashing into the wall. The construction of the mansion was at a level
where he had no way to even damage it, resulting in both of them coughing
up blood from the impact.
Utmal got up to respond in a hurry, but Jake was already there. His katar
flew forward and stabbed her in the chest just as a large hammer appeared
in her hand. His other katar punctured her dominant arm holding it as he
tore the one in her chest upward, slicing her chest badly. The half-ogre tried
to counter but, despite her level, made a pathetic attempt.
She was stabbed multiple times in the chest before Jake finally finished her
off with an uppercut through her chin and out the top of her skull. Utmal
never got a chance to fight back.
Jake didn’t even bother with the notification as he turned to the stunned
Nella, who held her token in her hand.
“You are fucking insane!” she screamed. Just then, there was movement as
two auras descended. A man and a woman, both wearing robes with the
motif of the Malefic Viper, appeared inside the hallway as they observed
what had happened. Jake knew what they were. Enforcers.
“This madman went insane and killed my companion!” Nella screamed the
moment she saw them but still had the energy to throw Jake a glance with
glee at the misfortune she expected to overcome him.
Yet no such thing happened. Both of them merely bowed as a third person
teleported in.
Nella stared at the Hall Master as Viridia didn’t even acknowledge her
presence before bowing towards Jake, joining the two other enforcers as she
spoke. “I greet the Chosen.”
It was at that moment Nella knew - she fucked up.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

PATRON!


Chapter 514 - Two Very Different
Fates
The entire hallway was silent. Jake couldn’t help himself as he enjoyed the
look on Nella’s face. She looked so utterly horrified and confused. It was a
wonderful contrast to her formerly smug and overly confident demeanor
that made it clear she believed no one could touch her and nothing she ever
did was wrong.
“Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Jake greeted Viridia with a
smile. “I take it your two colleagues are also in the know?”
“They are both bound by a contract with the Order and have absolute
confidentiality,” she answered assuredly as she finally addressed what was
happening. “Can you explain the situation?”
“You know what?” Jake said with a rather sinister smile as he motioned
toward Nella. “I think we will have her explain it. Nella, would you be so
kind as to explain what is happening here?”
Nella simply sat frozen as she stared for a few more seconds, not even
recognizing Jake had spoken to her. She finally seemed to collect her senses
somewhat as she stared at Jake. “You are the Chosen of the Malefic Viper?”
“Now who is the daft one?” Jake asked jokingly as he quickly turned to
Viridia. “Oh yeah, that is one of the reasons why this entire situation is as it
is. She called me dumb, and I am pretty sure she also called the Malefic
Viper a moron at some point?”
“I… you misunderstood, I-“ Nella tried to explain but quickly shut up after
getting a stare from Viridia.
“To summarize, she offended the Chosen and potentially the Malefic One?”
Viridia asked.
“When you say it like that, it sounds bad, but yes, that Is exactly what she
did. The one I killed didn’t really say anything but was just her silent
cheerleader,” Jake answered casually. He had to admit, he was probably
enjoying this way more than he should, and it was only helped by Meira
looking completely fine with everything that was going down. Happy, even.
Viridia simply nodded and asked. “What are your plans with the two
remaining visitors?”
“Leave the elf alone; I knocked her out to avoid her seeing any of this. As
for our dear scalekin, I shall figure that out promptly, as you quite honestly
arrived far faster than I had anticipated. So if you would do me the favor of
waiting outside until we are done, it would be great. Afterward, I may need
a bit of a clean-up crew,” Jake explained to them.
“As you wish,” Viridia bowed as she and the two enforcers simply
teleported into the garden in front of the mansion. This left Nella, Jake,
Meira and an unconscious Izil left alive in the hallway. One could ask if it
was necessary to call Viridia there, but he decided to do so to make it
absolutely clear how much Nella had fucked up. It was pure vanity and,
honestly, just the fastest way to convince her he was actually the Chosen.
Nella looked up at Jake and did exactly what he expected her to: beg.
“I… I didn’t know,” Nella said as she fell to the ground and pressed her
forehead against the floor. “I beg for your forgiveness and will do anything!
Please, my family can compensate you handsomely and… I… I can even
become your slave!”
Jake just sighed. “You still don’t get it, do you? I don’t give a shit about
you. Never did. The one you need forgiveness from is not me but Meira.
She is the one in control here.”
Nella’s eyes darted to Meira instantly, and groveled at her feet. “Meira, I am
sorry; I would have never done those things if I knew! I beg you, please, I
will do anything you want.”
Meira looked at Jake with misty eyes as he asked her: “So, Meira, what do
you want to do? These are your enemies, not mine. True, I did take the
initiative with the half-ogre and got my own personal frustrations out, but
this one is all yours.”
“Won’t… won’t it expose you as the Chosen if she goes free?” Meira asked
with concern.
“Maybe. But I already told you that no matter what, I will respect your
choice… though, no, I will not have her become a slave,” Jake answered.
“She doesn’t deserve to be either,” Meira muttered as she looked deep in

thought before finally asking him. “Lord Thayne, why are you being nice to
me?”
Jake was taken aback by the question. His usual response would just be not
to bother with her. If he had just wanted her to be a member of the Order
and get out of his hair, he wouldn’t do what he was doing with Nella either.
While he certainly had felt a considerable amount of responsibility for her
as she had been dumped on him by the Viper, he didn’t act solely out of
duty. He considered Meira a friend, even if he did know that was entirely
one-sided as she viewed him as her superior in every way. So… the real
reason was probably as simple as they came: he didn’t really have one. He
just wanted to.
“Because I decided to be,” Jake answered with a smile. “You don’t need
some profound reason for every decision. Sometimes you just go with your
gut and see where that leads you.”
Meira nodded as she looked down at Nella before looking back at Jake. She
finally gritted her teeth as she stammered out. “I… I suffered a lot before I
came to serve Lord Thayne. But after coming here, I have been treated so
well, and I even did things for myself. I then met Izil, Nella, and Utmal, and
I thought I had finally even gotten friends… but they were just using me.
That hurt more than even the poison resistance training… and when I was
being tortured back then, I hoped every day that my torturer would just drop
dead.”
Nella opened her eyes wide as she continued begging. “I never did anything
that bad to you! I just did what everyone would do, and it was never
personal or done to hurt you! Please believe me, if I had known, I would
have never-“
“You would have never even spoken to me if you knew I was a slave…”
Meira said sadly. “I didn’t think I had to hide it, but after you and Utmal
found out, you treated me worse than before… why did you need to be
cruel? If you had actually been a friend, I would have helped anyway.”
“We can start over! I will never disrespect you again, no matter what!”
Nella said, grasping for straws. “Please!”
Meira just sighed sadly as she looked at Jake. “I have never killed anyone,”
she said in her usual meek tone.
Jake didn’t answer but just acknowledged with a nod. It made sense she had
only ever killed mindless beasts, if even that, considering her healer class.
“I am not sure I want to either…” she muttered as she seemed to finally

have made up her mind. “I think we should hand her over to the enforcers
and the Hall Master and have them decide on a punishment.”
Jake failed to hold back a small smirk. They all knew what that meant.
“Please! Meira, don’t do this. Didn’t you say you considered me a friend?
Can you really do this to your friends, I-“
She didn’t get to say more as a robed figure appeared within the hallway
and instantly knocked her out, with Viridia and the other enforcer appearing
a moment later. Jake had naturally let them know that Meira had decided
and conveyed her choice.
“Are you sure you want to leave the last elf be? We will be able to cover
this incident up rather easily if all loose ends are removed,” Viridia said as
she motioned toward Izil.
Jake looked at Meira even if he knew the answer, and she vehemently
shook her head as expected.
“Nope, leave her be. It may lead to complications down the line, but it is
what it is,” Jake answered her.
“Very well. How do you want these two to have died? With honor or
disgraced? We can even make it a scenario leading to severe punishment of
their ancestors and families if you so desire,” Viridia asked.
Meira looked incredibly uncomfortable at the mention of going after their

families, and Jake also thought that was overdoing it.
“Meira, you are still in the arena of decision-making here,” Jake informed
her.
“I don’t want their families to suffer because of what they did… they
already lost someone, and that is enough…” Meira said in a rather weak
voice.
Jake nodded. “Have them die with a modicum of honor. I will leave it up to
you how to handle it.”
“Very well. I intercepted the scalekin trying to send a message out of this
residence with her token earlier, and I will use that to make up a story by
sending messages to relevant parties. How about them bringing back a
valuable item to the Order but dying in the process? That way, we will offer
slight compensation to their families on account of their deeds. I doubt they
will ever raise a ruckus with this approach, and if they do, well, I shall also
handle that,” Viridia offered.
Meira nodded after Jake threw a questioning glance at her. Also, he really
wanted to ask about her intercepting messages sent from the token and
apparently being able to doctor messages too. Jake had not heard anything
about that being a thing, as all official information indicated it was an
absolutely safe form of communication within the Order. Turned out that
was a fucking lie.
“That will be fine, and once more, thanks for your help. Just to let you
know, I don’t plan on making this a habit,” Jake said a bit jokingly.
“I would not complain if you did,” Viridia smiled as she bowed.
After a few more pleasantries and thanks from Meira to Viridia, the Hall
Master and two enforcers left, bringing along the unconscious Nella and the
corpse of Utmal. They even made all traces of them having ever been there
disappear - corpse and all.
That just left the minor problem called Izil. Now, Jake had absolutely no
plan on how to hide his identity from her. Not because he didn’t want to
hide it, but because he had made a spontaneous decision to knock her out to
at least give himself a chance. He considered what kind of story they could
spin but came up short.
If he said he killed them and had his backer cover it up, she would instantly
know that was either a lie or his backer had to be really far up in the
hierarchy within the Order. It would almost have to be a god and
considering his Blessing, he could see her figure it out. Gods did not back
someone blessed by other gods, which is why the basic assumption had
always been that Jake had a mortal backer, as any god would have to be the
Viper, and that surely couldn’t be a thing.
“How long will she be unconscious?” Meira asked with a hint of worry.
“Eh… not long? Hopefully. The poison isn’t harmful by itself but is good at
knocking people out and making them calm as can be. It shouldn’t take
more than an hour or two, I reckon,” Jake said with a smile and a relatively
high level of confidence.
Something that would later turn out to be a mistake.

Irinixis sat and stared into thin air while waiting to be called into the
chamber. Her time since returning from the dungeon and figuring out Lord
Thayne was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper had been anything but calm,
and she had been flung into a whirlwind of bureaucracy and intrigue.
For the top brass to involve themselves in the dealings of a D-grade or even
C-grade was incredibly rare, if not downright unheard of. So when an order
came down from the Hall Master’s office to report anything related to
Draskil and his group directly to them, it raised quite the fuss. When it
became clear that Irin had been part of the dungeon group with him, the
fuss turned to her as she was swarmed by colleagues and superiors,
eventually leading to her being called by the leader of the Humanoid
Resources Department. The mortal leader, that is, as one of the Witches of
the Verdant Lagoon now sat at the very top.
Irin understood why a god would not get involved as that would make it
clear that someone in the group was well and truly out of the ordinary. As it
was, then one could at least find explanations for why the Hall Master
wanted the report directly. With the Order undergoing a renaissance after
the Malefic One returned, a lot of things were done differently than before.
Nevertheless, she was nervous about what her superior would ask her.
Would she try to probe and figure out details about Draskil? The Malefic
Dragonkin was at least an excellent red herring, and with the Hall Master
actively helping by specifying interest was on him and not Lord Thayne,
she hoped the Mistress wouldn’t ask too much about him. While Irin had
plenty of confidence in herself, she didn’t at all believe she could resist the
probings of the Velvet Mistress. She was an S-grade succubus, and Irin had
heard she was approaching the demi-god tier. For someone like her, Irin
was like an open book.
“Irinixis, please enter,” she suddenly heard a voice as she was thrown out of
her thoughts. She hadn’t even noticed the attendant approaching her.
“Thank you,” Irin bowed to the attendant as she got up and walked through
the gate in front of her. She appeared within a mostly red room with silk-
like cloth hanging from the ceiling so far above she couldn’t even see it.
The room was filled with a thin red mist as Irin saw a woman lying across a
bed on a slightly raised platform.
“Irinixis, my child, I am so glad you had time to come visit me,” the Velvet
Mistress spoke as she sat up on her bed and tapped the spot right next to
her. “Come over here and join me.”
Irin was incredibly nervous but didn’t dare argue as she went over. When
she got closer, she finally properly saw the Velvet Mistress. She was a
succubus like her, but Irin did not dare compare herself to the woman in
front of her. One could only describe her as a personification of beauty, and
even Irin found her face reddening as she approached.
The Velvet Mistress was a famous figure and was known to have many
lovers from all sorts of places. There were even gods on her list of usuals,
and her personal network of information could rival that of some factions.
Yet she had chosen to be the leader of the Humanoid Resources department
of the Order of the Malefic Viper because apparently “the one who got
away” was part of the Order. It had long been a topic of discussion among
the demons who this mysterious man could be, but none had figured it out
quite yet, and the Velvet Mistress certainly wasn’t sharing.
Irin, who had found herself lost in thought again, finally found herself in
front of the Velvet Mistress. The Mistress took her hand and made her sit on
the bed beside her as she smiled. “I am sure you have many questions as to
why I asked you to come. Contrary to what you may believe, I am not going
to question or interrogate you. Things are changing within the Order, and
everything is telling me you are finding yourself rather close to the
epicenter of this change. While I cannot be sure, I feel confident enough to
bet on it.”
“What does the Mistress need of me?” Irin asked, unsure and a little bit
uncomfortable being too close to the woman. She felt her face heat up as
the Velvet Mistress smiled again and leaned closer.
“I want you,” she said in a teasing tone before giving Irin some space as she
stood up, leaving the young demon beet-red in the face.
“I am serious. If you are truly close to the epicenter of this, you will need to
be up to the task. We cannot lose out simply because we miss our chance,
now can we? So I have an offer for you, my dear. I haven’t had a disciple in
a few thousand years, but what do you say?” the Velvet Mistress asked in a
tempting tone.
Irin didn’t even need to consider it before nodding, as she was in a state
halfway between shock and elation. Within only a few days, she had gone
from just being just another random employee of the Humanoid Resources
Department to sitting in the room of the Velvet Mistress being offered to
become a disciple.
All because she had been randomly assigned to a certain group from the
ninety-third universe. One that happened to include a certain extraordinary
human that had become the impetus of change for the Order of the Malefic
Viper by making their Patron return to the world.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

PATRON!


Chapter 515 - “You are never going
to let me live this down, are you?” -
Jake Thayne
So, some good and some bad news. On the good side, Jake had now figured
out how to put other people in a coma that they didn’t seem to wake up
from by themselves even after three days. On the bad side, Jake had now
put someone into a coma and didn’t really know a way to wake them up.
Izil had been “sleeping it off” on the couch for a full three days, and Jake’s
initial assessment of it only taking a few hours tops for her to wake up had
been a little off. In his defense, he had kind of gone in with the assumption
that Izil had some kind of innate poison resistance like everyone else
seemed to, but Meira made it clear Izil never worked with poisons at all.
She had come to the Order to learn about poisons exactly because she
lacked knowledge in that area. So yeah, pretty big oopsie there.
The type of poison he had infused was inspired by the ethtoxin he had
killed the big blue mushroom under Haven with – the kind that was
incredibly hard to detect and eliminate. So hard to eliminate that Izil’s body
didn’t seem to register it as harmful and had just absorbed it all into her
very soul within a short period.
At least it appeared to be slowly losing effectiveness by itself, but with how

slow it was, Jake reckoned it would be measured in months and not days
when she would wake up by herself. Maybe, in hindsight, it wasn’t a good
idea to infuse so much damn poison that fast just because he wanted to
knock her out instantly?
Meira was beside herself with worry, and all Jake could do was assure her
that Izil was technically fine. It wasn’t like she was in any danger from the
toxin, and as a D-grade, she didn’t have to drink or eat. Jake had, on the
third day, turned to Villy despite really not wanting to because he knew
what was coming. He had chosen to do so during a time when Meira was
out and attending a lesson in case the Viper decided to do exactly what he
did next.
The very second Jake tried to contact the god, Villy popped into his living
room like he had been waiting. “Finally, you come crawling! Fucked up a
bit, now have we?”
“Yeah yeah…” Jake muttered, having already accepted the incoming

mockery. “I messed up and now must ask my honored Patron for any advice
on how to fix it. I considering infusing her with more poison to counteract
it, but that just seems like a bad idea.”
“Definitely something you should only do if you have confidence in your

abilities and full knowledge of both poisons. So yeah, that is totally out of
the question, considering your recent track record,” Villy smirked.
Jake sighed again as he tried to briefly change the topic. “How did it go
with those two?”
Villy knew what he was talking about and shrugged. “Viridia handled it.
She made some smoke and mirrors, sent some fake messages, and reported
to the family that the scalekin was from that she died during a mission. She
then gave them some compensation and what is essentially an entrance
ticket to the academy for any youngster they want to send here.”
“Are you sure there won’t still be trouble down the line? I can’t see them
not investigate and raise a ruckus if they find something amiss,” Jake said, a
little worried. Mainly for Meira as she had interacted with them for a long
time, and he feared that they would approach her to investigate.
“I think you severely overestimate how much these factions actually care
about some D-grade dying. Even if they suspect something is amiss, they
won’t do anything about it. The only reason large families like that would
make it an issue was if they felt slighted or to save face. What you did is
quite the opposite, and one of their members dying for the Order only
reflects well on them. In fact, I have a feeling they will gladly play into the
story and make use of it,” Villy explained. “While the bond between parent
and child may seem strong to you as a human from a newly initiated
universe, it matters little to most who reach high levels of strength. I guess
you cannot fault them, as when you outlive your child number one hundred,
it gets hard to care for each one individually, and you begin to view them
more as assets than people. It is only if they prove themselves and become
strong that the parents will begin to actually care. Well, that, or have talent
making them worthy of recognition.”
Jake frowned as he heard this. It was hard to grasp parents not caring for
their kids at all. Okay, maybe they did care a little, but still. Maybe it was
just his pre-system mindset and his relatively young age that made him
think that. For someone that had lived for tens of thousands of years and
had hundreds of children, perhaps it was just a natural reaction to seeing
your children die to begin caring less. A defense mechanism, perhaps.
“Ah, but I do want to note how funny it is that you go so far to hide your
identity as my Chosen and yet freely and happily make use of the benefits it
offers,” Villy teased.
“Well, I wouldn’t want to hide it if it didn’t come with my life turning into a
damn circus of clowns wanting to suck me off. I never hid on Earth that I
am your Chosen and happily answered anyone who asked because people
there didn’t have the insane reaction to it everyone has here. Believe it or
not, I am not embarrassed to have that True Blessing,” Jake smirked in
response.
Villy smiled for a moment before he shook his head and looked at Izil, who
was sleeping on the sofa. “Alright, let’s get on with the topic on hand. If
you want to wake up that elf, you have a few obvious choices. Here, let me
play teacher a bit: what are your options from your limited point of view?”
Jake had already been ruminating on the topic for the last three days and, of
course, had a few ideas. “With my newly upgraded Touch of the Malefic
Viper, I can try to control the poison and extract it from her by isolating it
somehow. I could also try to make an antidote that directly targets the
energy of the ethtoxin to make it go away faster. Lastly, I considered
making a toxin and then controlling that poison to wake her up by attacking
her soul to get a response.”
The snake god listened on as he nodded. “All very good solutions, except
for the fact that the poison has entered and been integrated with her soul,
making it far harder for you to do anything with it.”
“Exactly,” Jake agreed, having already figured that out. Usually, a poison
would operate within the Soulshape and physical body of a target, but this
poison had entered a deeper layer of Izil’s soul, and Jake couldn’t truly
detect or feel it anymore. He only vaguely got a sense of how much there
was remaining from Sense of the Malefic Viper. And even that was only
because he had made it and thus had a far easier time sensing it.
“So, you are all out of ideas that you fear won’t end up causing more harm
than good?” Villy asked.
“More or less,” Jake said with resignation.
“Alright… Jake, I must admit, for a simpleton that usually does the simplest
shit to solve a problem, you have really gone above and beyond yourself
this time,” the Viper said as he failed to hold back a laugh. “Tell me, what
does the poison you injected do?”
“It soothes the mind and makes one relax,” Jake answered.
“Okay. So what would be the best kind of antidote to that?” the snake god
asked leadingly.
“Something that un-soothes the mind and makes you unable to relax?” Jake
asked, a bit confused before it finally clicked.
“Oh… fuck me,” Jake muttered as he face-palmed. “You are never going to
let me live this down, are you?”
“No. No, I am not, oh my dear Chosen. So, what is the complex solution to
this absolute mind-bender of a conundrum?” Villy asked with a massive
grin.
“A slap or a solid shake…” Jake said, embarrassed.
“What is that? Oh, I think if you yelled loud enough or splashed some cold
water on her, it could work too,” the Viper laughed as Jake wanted to crawl
into a hole.
He had not put her into a coma… she was just fucking asleep. A long sleep,
sure, but any external stimuli should wake her up in a jiffy the moment her
soul had finished absorbing all the poison. He had essentially only
“knocked her out” for ten minutes, with the rest just being her sleeping.
“Okay, change of topic. When do you think Meira is ready to apply and
become an official member of the Order?” Jake asked, desperately not
wanting to talk about his fuck-up anymore than necessary.
Villy, in his infinite mercy, agreed and answered with a shrug. “I am not
really following her progress as I quite frankly don’t care, but I am sure
Duskleaf knows. However, chances are, she could join on her own merits
by now. The only real thing standing in her way is her mindset and absolute
co-dependency on others.”
“I thought you didn’t care to know about her?” Jake asked.
“I don’t, and yet I know that. But enough about her, you should get back to
work and actually get some levels under your belt and upgrade some of
those skills. Chop, chop, I didn’t give you infinite Academy Credits and an
entire Academy to play around with for you to waste time on sleeping elves
and petty drama between D-grades,” Villy said, his voice quite a bit more
serious than usual.
Jake frowned a bit at the sudden sense of urgency. “Is there something
coming up?”
Villy just smiled. “You are in a newly integrated universe… there is always
something coming up. Now get moving, and good luck. I still got that ale
ready for next time when you aren’t so preoccupied.”
“So, a sense of urgency, but I still have time to drink with you?” Jake asked
jokingly just before Villy left.
“Naturally. Being my drinking buddy is an absolutely essential task as my

Chosen,” the Viper said before waving. “Bye!”
With that, he was gone, and Jake was left alone with Izil in the room.
“Gotta make up a bullshit story for Meira,” Jake muttered. He was not
going to tell her that Izil had been sleeping for three days just because no
one had bothered to wake her up.
Jake waited for Meira to come home before he woke up Izil, feeding her
some bullshit story that he had found a solution and eliminated all the
toxins. Once she was awake, Izil looked confused around before going into
a flurry of questions.
A lot of lying, deceit, and convincing later, and Izil left. She definitely knew
the story they had fed her was false, but at some point, she had just stopped
questioning them and accepted their horrible tale. He had tried to go with
the official version that the Order had made and said that he had knocked
her out as he revealed who his backer was and wanted to keep it under
wraps, and after a heated discussion, Utmal and Nella left.
They had then promptly accepted a mission, done it super quickly, but died
in the process within just a few days. Yeah, the more Jake thought about it,
the more clear it became that the story was absolute crap, and everyone
knew it. Jake didn’t think Izil knew he was the Chosen, but she definitely
knew something was way, way off. Enough wrong for her to stop probing.
“Do you think Izil and I can still be friends?” Meira had asked after the
other elf had left.
“I don’t see why not,” Jake answered truthfully. “Just always be a little less
trustful of others, okay? Even Izil. Be on the lookout for her probing for
information and maybe even call her out on it if she asks. At some point,
me being the Chosen will be revealed to everyone, and I am sure she will
understand why you chose to hide it then.”
Meira didn’t seem entirely sure about it but still nodded and thanked Jake
for his help. Over the last three days, Jake had noticed some subtle but very
welcome changes in Meira. Firstly, she used “you” way more when
addressing Jake than before. She also came and asked for stuff at times and
didn’t seem to try and hide away most of the time when Jake was around.
While he wouldn’t say she appeared confident, she was at least a little less
timid. Still super timid overall, but baby steps and all that.
The following days were thankfully without any distractions or blowback

for anything that had happened recently. He didn’t hear anything from Irin,
and all he heard from Reika was an update that Bastilla was still freaked out
but way calmer. Draskil had chosen to leave on a solo mission not long after
they returned from the dungeon and would likely be gone for the
foreseeable future.
This allowed Jake to once more focus on what he had come to the Order to
do: alchemy. Alchemy and improving his profession skills. Jake quickly fell
into a schedule that consisted of research, crafting, practicing skills, going
to lessons, and having the occasional resistance training session with Meira,
often if not always coupled with Duskleaf teaching him about formations.
On top of that, he had a certain simulacrum to deal with whenever he
meditated.
It was understandable if one viewed this as overwhelming, but one had to

remember that Jake had all twenty-four hours every day. He never slept or
rested and just kept working. If he ever got tired out from a certain task, he
would simply switch to something else. Slight headache from reading hard-
to-understand tomes or just returned from a lesson about improving sensory
skills aimed at a level far above D-grade? Do some mindless crafting. Low
on resources from mindless crafting? Work on improving skills. Lack of
violence? Go train with sim-Jake and fight a chimera.
Like this, days turned to weeks as weeks soon turned into months. There
was little change in what he did, but the sheer scope of tasks made things
never seem samey, and he always had something interesting to pursue.
Halfway between the second and the third month of this particular session,
there was one shake-up of the usual schedule. One Jake had been waiting
for and looking forward to.
The final skill selection for his profession in D-grade.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

PATRON!


Chapter 516 - A Real Anomaly
The levels had come faster than Jake expected during this particular training
session. Maybe it was because he was actually crafting a lot this time
around, but it could also be due to him simply progressing in so many areas
at the same time. Not that he had any way to truly find out, as the system
wasn’t very liberal with sharing information on exactly how experience
worked. Shit, for all he knew, the recent “D-grade drama,” as Villy called it,
could have helped him progress. Anyway, it got him to 180 in his
profession, which gave him another skill selection that he had very much
been looking forward to.

Jake liked skill selections, even if he had to admit a lot of the initial
excitement and enjoyment had begun to wane the more he got. It was rare
that he was offered more than one or two skills he would even consider, and
the only truly interesting skill choice he had recently was the last one for
Avariocious Arcane Hunter which made him go back and pick up the
common rarity Stealth Attack skill. That one had actually taken some
thought and not just to pick the highest rarity one every time. After skipping
the fucked up ones, like the curse or slavery-related skills, of course.
But the level 180 skill selection was a bit different for one simple reason: it
was the last one before C-grade. Each profession or class came with some
built-in skills that would be offered no matter what, and often the best was
saved for last. For his class in E-grade, it had been Arrow of the Ambitious
Hunter, a skill that was still extremely potent now.
He hadn’t really had one for his profession in E-grade, but that was due to
him hunting down the nine “of the Malefic Viper” skills, making him not
really care about anything else. But this time around, he had no such thing.
In fact, the last two skills he had picked for his profession had been about
rituals and core refinement, both things that weren’t part of this core skill
set. Truth be told, Jake didn’t really need that many more alchemy skills
due to how all-encompassing the Malefic Viper Legacy skills were. This
did also mean he had no idea what to expect when he saw the prompt and
opened it.
*Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper profession skills

available*
Jake would usually go through the options one by one at this point. He
would write some off for being weird and more just view his offered skills
as representations of the progress he had made. But this time was also
different in that aspect.
The offerings were the usual ones. There was an upgrade to Graft Plant that
seemed a bit interesting, a skill about creating special acids that he maybe
would consider, another one about curse magic that he didn’t want, and
finally, a fourth one related to Jake leading group prayers for the Viper that
he noped the fuck away from.
He barely registered these as he went to the bottom skill. As said, then Jake
had no idea what to expect from this final skill offering, and he had to
admit, it was a surprise. A good one… maybe?
[Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen (Legendary)] – Heresy and

orthodoxy united in one body, power claimed from both. To be both a
Chosen and a Heretic requires not only mental deviancy but a truly
anomalous soul to reconcile opposing concepts. A soul that only grows
more unique as you walk further on your Path as a Heretic-Chosen. Due
to your connection to your Patron, your mana will begin to carry faint
hints and morcels of the Records of the Malefic Viper when crafting
poisons, making each creation more potent. Due to your identity as a
heretic, this is not granted but taken, resulting in significantly increased
mana expenditure during this process. As your soul mutates, so does it get
empowered, allowing it to break convention. Going forward, every stat
point in Wisdom increases your Mana Points by 12.5 rather than 10. May
your very existence become an anomaly that shuns normalcy for power as
you continue paving your own Path as a Heretic-Chosen. Note that this
skill results in a permanent change. Losing your status as a Heretic-
Chosen or your profession will make the skill further mutate and
transition into a race skill.
It was weird. Just weird in so many ways. This was a skill of a type he had
not been offered before, that was for sure. It was entirely passive from what
he could see and did something Jake always looked for in skills – it had an
ability he could not in any way replicate himself.
But this one felt a bit out of the left field, even if he should ask himself if it
truly was. Jake walked a very weird Path, and he intermingled many
concepts and Records with himself at all times. The mere fact that his
Soulspace was as powerful as it was proved that Jake was an anomaly, as
Villy had made it very clear that sealing something like the Eternal Hunger
chimera in there was not something a D-grade should ever be able to. He
knew this was likely just a side effect of this Bloodline, but his choices also
had to have contributed. Integrating sim-Jake had only strengthened him
further, too.
The actual effects of the skill were in the simple department, at least from
the looks of it. It was essentially an all-around buff to all poisons Jake
crafted, with the downside being an increased mana cost during the crafting
process. On top of that, it granted an overall increase to his mana pool. The
biggest part of the skill was clearly the mana pool from Wisdom, and this
was also what he was the most worried about.
This skill would permanently alter his soul. It would give him 25% more
mana, which was even more together with the existing 25% bonus from the
Mask of the Fallen King. However, he knew that these kinds of alterations
did not just come for free.
His soul as it was could already be considered fully utilized, so to somehow

expand it had to come with losing something in return. There had to be
some consequences. The system had some innate sense of “balance,” and
even if gods like Villy found ways to slightly skirt around these balancing
mechanics, Jake was not at all at a level where he could do that. At least,
that is what Jake believed. He wasn’t sure at all, though. Gritting his teeth,
Jake delayed his choice for a moment as he asked his Patron god:
“Villy… is skills that permanently alter your soul generally considered

good or bad?” he asked his dear Patron god after reaching out.
“I will need some more information than that,” Villy asked in return near-
instantly and seemed very interested right from the get-go.
“I am offered a skill that allows every point of Wisdom to give more mana
than it already does, but it permanently alters my soul in return,” Jake
answered.
“Do you, in turn, lose some of your stamina or health?”
“No,” Jake answered. “It also allows some of your Records to get mixed in
when I craft to make poison better at a higher mana cost, but it doesn’t
seem directly connected to the Wisdom part. And it is the Wisdom part I am
worried about.”
“So, you are wondering what else you will lose to allow you to get this
increased mana pool?” Villy asked.
“Yeah,” Jake nodded.
“Firstly, did you know that while the 10 points per stat are pretty standard,
it isn’t universal? In fact, it is only really a thing for the so-called
enlightened races. Many beasts have innate racial skills, especially those of
massive size, that make each point of Vitality give them far more health
points per stat. How else do you think a massive mushroom that is around
your own level can have a mana pool ten times your own? Or how a
massive whale the size of a planet doesn’t waste all its vital energy to heal a
minor wound? But you are right in your case as an enlightened race; it
usually comes with a trade-off. The trade-off is built into the races who gain
these racial skills, but for you, as a human, you have no such thing. But I
think I see a way and an explanation for you to be offered it anyway without
the usual trade-offs,” Villy said after explaining something Jake honestly
had kind of figured out a long time ago. If not, then it made no sense how
he could fight and damage beasts for so long without them dying.
“What way?”Jake asked curiously.
“You are walking your own Path that is already incredibly hard as it is.
Your soul is already ridiculously powerful as it is, and you can handle this
mutation without losing yourself at all. That is why you get it offered, I
reckon, as, without a powerful soul like yours, the system would never even
give you the choice of risking such a mutation. As for the price of the skill…
I think it lies in proving your Path. To put it in simpler terms, you increase
the Records you need to progress, and you have to prove yourself more than
before to gain each level or evolution. Along with that, then faltering in
your Path may lead to downright disastrous results. I am talking a full-on
soul implosion or you evolving into something very unpleasant,” Villy
explained.
Jake listened as he tilted his head. “Doesn’t seem like an actual drawback?
Or more just something I already deal with as a high-tier profession? Wait,
will it make each level slower to get experience-wise?”
“It is an extreme drawback for most, and no, it will not make each level
easier or harder. At least, I don’t think so. Jake, I need you to understand
that you are really walking your own kind of Path here. You are forcefully
channeling the Records of a Primordial through your soul without dying,
you experience true Records of a time long passed, and you have a
Soulspace far more powerful than any D-grade I have ever encountered.
You are a heretic and a Chosen at the same time while getting away with it.
Your sheer level of ego is forcing two opposing concepts to unite within you.
So I do agree… the actual drawback a soul mutation brings likely won’t
negatively affect you as you are already a damn anomaly and a freak,”
Villy said. Jake was not entirely sure if the god was praising him or not, but
he chose to take it all as a compliment. Also, Jake had not shared the name
of the skill, but Villy still called him an anomaly, so clearly, he agreed the
skill fit Jake.
“Anyway… good skill? Also, how come you didn’t pop in this time but
chose to keep the conversation telepathic?” Jake asked two questions at
once.
“Of course it is a good skill. Very upgradeable, too, I reckon. Don’t worry
about evolving it, by the way. Improving it should not increase the
drawback at all. Why do you think all my Legacy skills can only be obtained
at Ancient rarity and below, where they only give one stat point per level in
your profession? As for why I didn’t pop in, well, I got my own stuff to deal
with sometimes. This is one such time where I don’t want to dedicate an
avatar to visit,” Villy explained.
“Fair enough, mate. Thanks for the help as always, and good luck with
your endeavors,” Jake said his goodbyes. He had a feeling Villy didn’t
wanna share what he was up to and naturally respected that.
“See you around, and keep up the leveling,” Villy said in return as the
connection was cut off.
Without delaying further, Jake selected the skill.
Are you sure you want to select [Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen
(Legendary)]? This skill will lead to permanent alterations to your soul.
Another prompt asked him if he was really sure, once more putting
emphasis on the skill not being a casual choice. With resolution Jake
confirmed. The moment he did, he felt an odd sense of vertigo. His Sphere
of Perception momentarily retracted entirely into his own body, and all of
his senses were completely cut off. It was only for less than a second before
his sphere spread out again like before, and all his senses returned.
He expected more to happen, but it didn’t. The only thing that felt different
was Jake now feeling a slightly larger pool of energy he could pull from and
control. Jake wanted to make sure nothing had somehow gone wrong as he
checked his status.
Status:
Stamina: 31851/37060
Yep, his mana had increased from around 80.000 total to over 100.000. It
was so odd that having his soul change and mutate didn’t do more than it
had. So very odd. Jake stared at his status for a good while longer before
reaching a conclusion.
“My stamina is way too fucking low compared to my mana points now.”
Okay, not a conclusion as to why he didn’t notice a soul mutation more, but
as to what a big future issue would be. Currently, Jake never really ran out
of mana during a fight as he already had a large pool and further increased
regeneration from the mask. Then there was the occasional poison he was
infected with or the mana from the Scales of the Malefic Viper legendary
upgrade, which allowed him to absorb a bit of energy from magic attacks.
This meant his current bottleneck when it came to Endurance was his
stamina. Rather fitting considering the name of the resource pool. Still an
issue, though. But he had just the solution - he just needed for Meira to
return first.
He spent the next few hours testing out stuff and drinking mana potions to
fill up his pool to see if that felt different. Jake had wondered if maybe he
would feel it when it went above the 80.000 he had before the skill, but
nope, not a problem.
After four hours, Meira came home, and Jake quickly approached her in the
hallway. “Hey Meira, wanna come shopping with me?”
Meira was taken aback at the sudden question. “Are you sure you don’t just
want me to go out and acquire the desired products as usual?”
“Yeah, I’m sure I want to go myself this time and wondered if you didn’t
wanna come,” Jake answered with a smile. “I also wanted to take you
shopping to finally get you some proper equipment. You are above level
140, so there have to be some good things available for your level by now
that you can hopefully use for the rest of D-grade.”
While Jake had leveled a lot, Meira’s speed was far faster. When Jake had
first met Meira, she was level 109. So even if her skill was not meteoric, it
was still pretty damn fast, and one had to remember that she was not
grinding levels through fighting and nearly only with her profession. She
had mentioned getting quite a few class levels, too, due to her healer class
benefitting from some things, but it was only three or four levels.
“Equipment?” Meira asked with genuine confusion. “Why?”
It was a pretty good question. Meira could borrow everything she needed
for alchemy, and Jake had gifted her a spatial item quite a while ago for
convenience’s sake. So why the equipment?
“The world sucks, and you will need to learn how to fend for yourself a bit
better, so I think getting some practical experience under your belt would be
healthy,” Jake said.
“I… is Lord Thayne sure?” Meira said nervously.
“Yeah. Don’t worry, won’t have you join a war or something, just do a few
dungeons or go hunting a bit with a party. You will be fine,” Jake said to try
and calm her down. Didn’t work very well, but what can you do?
“Okay…” Meira muttered. “What does Lord Thayne need to buy?”
Jake smiled. “A whole lot of elixirs.”
What better way to get more Endurance than that?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 517 - A Small Shopping
Trip
The last times Jake went shopping, he had either gone to the vampire place
because he also wanted to sell stuff or went with Villy to get new clothes.
All other shopping was done by Meira after that for a few reasons. First of
all, it saved Jake time. Secondly, Meira was incredibly insistent on doing it
as she was almost desperate to prove herself useful – something that had
gotten better recently – and lastly… Jake had no idea where the hell to go
shopping in the first place. Like, he had some ideas, and he could just go
where he went last time with Villy, but he didn’t feel confident. The
problem was that the place he and the Viper went was fucking huge, and
Jake really didn’t want to wander around for hours on end to try and find
what he was looking for. Could he ask someone for directions? Probably,
but that was also something Jake really didn’t wanna do. Asking strangers
for directions sucked.
So dragging Meira along and buying some equipment for her was just
killing two birds with one stone. The two of them left only about an hour
later, with Meira taking the lead and first bringing him to a place primarily
dealing with alchemical products.
The Order of the Malefic Viper didn’t have any official stores, and as far as
Jake knew, there was no massive trade emporium run by them either. All
the stores one could encounter were run by individuals or other merchant
organizations that simply operated within the Order. All the Order really got
out of it was a small tax added on each product sold and payment for the
spaces they occupied. This system allowed individual merchants to use the
Order to progress and for alchemists from the Order to easily earn money
by selling their products to one of many merchants eager to work as their
broker. A bit like how Sultan had helped Jake.
He would probably love it if I brought him to the Order and had him get a
store here, Jake thought as he entered a large street from one of the many
large gateway-obelisk-things spread throughout this part of the Order.
Jake had gone to the same general area as he had gone with Villy. This was
pretty much the epicenter of trade for the Order and filled with shops
catering to every kind of customer. To call it an entire city was no
understatement as Jake reckoned it was larger than any metropolis on Earth
had ever been. This city was split into several districts that were then split
into grades, and each district was further split into smaller portions based on
product type. Jake had gone to the D-grade part of the trade city.
“I have gone to this store many times when Teacher or Lord Thayne asked
for me to get alchemy ingredients,” Meira explained as they walked on the
street. Jake chose not to comment on her using what many would interpret
as a less formal name for Duskleaf by just calling him Teacher compared to
calling Jake Lord.
“I will be in your care then,” Jake answered with a smile. It was honestly
nice having someone just lead you around when shopping, so he didn’t have
to go scouring himself and probably end up getting scammed as Jake had no
idea what the hell anything was worth. Not that he doubted he would still
come out fine. With the exchange rate of Credits from the ninety-third
universe and his already massive amount of funds, calling Jake loaded was
an understatement.
While alchemists did tend to be on the wealthier side, they rarely got truly
rich as they also spent a lot. Buying materials for experiments that led to no
useable products was just a pure money-sink but a necessity to progress in
your craft. Jake felt very fortunate he had yet to run into any issues in that
department as he just gave Meira however many Credits she needed and
didn’t think about it much.
It was a bit weird that Jake had worked in finance before the initiation, but
after the system really didn’t care much about money. Perhaps that was a
testament to how little he actually cared about his job and life before the
system. Sim-Jake hadn’t cared about money either but rather preferred jobs
that challenged him, indicating that perhaps this sort of apathy towards
money was just natural.
To Jake, money was just a means to an end to allow him to do what he

wanted. Maybe he would care more if he actually needed money, but as
things were, it was an absolute non-issue, and something was also telling
him that he could make a lot of money if he truly needed it. If he became
absolutely desperate for funds, he could probably just sell the autograph of
the Chosen to some fanatical A-grades or something.
Jake was thrown out of his wayward thoughts on the importance of money
as they finally reached the store Meira had wanted them to go to. It was a
large building that was beautifully decorated with a very gaudy-looking
sign in front depicting a cauldron surrounded by mushrooms and plants
with dark green mist coming out of the cauldron. It was even magically
animated.
Besides the sign that made Jake question the artistic sense of the creator as
the idiot had included mushrooms, the building looked nice. He followed
Meira inside, where a female scalekin attendant wearing a suit-like uniform
greeted them
“Welcome to the Cauldron’s Dream; how may I be of assistance?” the

scalekin asked courteously.
Meira looked at Jake as he answered. “I am on the lookout for Endurance-

increasing elixirs and, if possible, some ingredients containing ethtoxins or
at least ones useful when creating soul poisons. I also just need some
natural treasures related to soul magic in general.”
The ingredients were self-explanatory as Jake really wanted to get better at

soul poisons due to their potency, but his desire to buy Endurance elixirs
could be questioned. Primarily to ask why he didn’t just craft them himself,
and the reason for that was pretty simple: he didn’t want to. He could; it
would just take a lot of time, and making elixirs truthfully wasn’t that
stimulating for him.
“How many elixirs are you in need of, and will they be for D-grades like
yourself or ones of lower grades?” the attendant asked.
“Just for me, and I need enough to add approximately six hundred stat
points total,” Jake answered.
“Certainly, I shall have an offer ready in a few minutes. If you would please
follow me so we can look at our stock for the soul items. Please do not
hesitate to make me know if anything catches your eye and you have further
questions,” she said with a smile as she led Jake and Meira into another
room. Meira had explained that it was pretty normal that no price was
offered right away on products but that there would be a brief waiting
period. Jake guessed this was due to variable pricing or maybe just to do
some paperwork.
“Is there a specific type of material you are looking for or products of a
certain grade?” the attendant asked once they entered a far larger room than
before.
“For rarity, I will need uncommon rarity and above, but some rare and
above would also be welcome,” Jake answered. “As for if I am looking for
anything specific… not really.”
“Very well, let me see what I can do. If desired, I could also ask one of our
resident alchemists to assist you in selecting ingredients?”
“No need,” Jake said. Not to be an ass, but he trusted his own senses more
when assessing if he wanted ingredients than some resident alchemist.
The attendant simply nodded before motioning for Jake to follow her over
to a large tome on a stand. She directed Jake to simply look through their
inventory as the pages changed. One page of the open tome depicted an
alchemical ingredient with a three-dimensional picture that even gave off a
faint aura and scent, while the other page contained written information on
the ingredient displayed. As he changed the page, he saw that natural
treasure also appeared, and if he wished to, he could open an index. No
matter how many pages he turned, the book didn’t change either, making it
look like the tome had infinite pages.
Jake was very engrossed in this as he began looking through the different
offerings and ended up spending nearly two hours looking before he was
done and had decided on what he wanted. The attendant seemed perfectly
patient and ended up just chatting with Meira.
The elixirs also came rather quickly, and it was only after Jake was done
browsing he got to see them.
[Patientia Elixir (Common)] - An elixir created from a mix of common

ingredients, along with a few uncommon ones along with a Beastcore of
unknown origin. Allows any who drinks this elixir to receive some of the
innate power of the materials, enhancing one’s Endurance. +5
Endurance upon consumption.
Requirements: D-rank or higher.
It was just as Jake had expected when he was shown the one hundred and
twenty bottles. All of them were exactly the same and clearly mass-
produced to sell. All Jake saw when he looked at them was saved time and
proceeded to make it clear he would buy all one hundred and twenty.
For soul items, he ended up buying way, way more. Way more than he had
expected to. The reason why he even wanted these items was that he had a
few goals in mind. Firstly he needed some of it for the rituals with
Duskleaf, and secondly, he wanted to work on making a certain kind of
poison, and for that, he felt like he needed as many different kinds of
ingredients as possible. So, yeah, he had chosen to get a lot of ingredients –
around a hundred different kinds – with plenty of stock for each of them.
Seventy-one were of uncommon rarity, eighteen rare, six epic, and one
ancient rarity natural treasure. The ancient rarity one and most of the epic
rarity ones were the only items he only got one of each. He had all of this
written down on a magical sheet of paper that the big book of browsing
“printed” out.
The attendant stared at the final list when Jake showed it to her for quite a
bit. She looked up at Jake with puzzlement. “Sir, did you make a mistake? I
count over four thousand individual items here…”
“Sounds about right,” Jake nodded.

She looked at him with judging eyes and stared him up and down as if to
assess him. “I mean no insult, but before we proceed, I have to be certain
you possess the funds for a transaction of this size. The final tally for all
these items is… over one-point-two billion Credits.”
Despite saying the number, the attendant seemed shocked, and Jake was
also somewhat surprised. Cheaper than he had thought.
One had to remember that Jake left Earth with about four billion Credits
after the Treasure Hunt auction. But that was Credits from his universe.
After exchanging them for Credits used in other universes – all of which
had the exact same going rate – he had, in actuality, about four hundred
billion with the 1-100 exchange rate. So to spend a billion or two on
alchemical stuff wasn’t that big of a deal to him. What else would he spend
money on anyway?
“Yep, that seems fine,” Jake just said. “Does that include the elixirs?”
“Yes…” the attendant said, taken aback. “Is sir certain?”
“Yeah,” Jake once more confirmed as he proceeded to use the system-

feature-thing to show that he indeed had the Credits available.
The attendant did a one-eighty in attitude as all her doubt disappeared, and
she displayed a massive grin. “In that case, allow me to process you, sir.”
With the attendant smiling giddily, Jake completed the purchase and got all
of the stuff he had wanted. It was delivered in a special spatial storage bag
which Jake quickly emptied to put it all in his own inventory as the herbs
would do better in there.
Jake and Meira left after that, and Jake failed to hold back a grin as she saw
the attendant dancing with joy inside the building behind them. Never had it
been more obvious that the store had a commission policy.
“That is all I really came shopping for,” Jake said to Meira on the street
outside. “Now it is all you. We need to get you a full set, excluding the
spatial necklace, right?”
“Lord Thayne, is it really necessary?” Meira asked nervously.
“Meira, I just spent over a billion Credits while you waited patiently for me
to finish. You have worked for me for quite a while now, and I have yet to
really give you anything, haven’t I? So don’t hold back. Even if it is not for
fighting, then good equipment can help you with everyday tasks,” Jake said.
“Okay…” Meira relented, having learned that there was no real arguing
with Jake once he had made up his mind. Also… while it was faint, Jake
did feel a bit of happiness in her voice.
The two of them headed back towards the gateway obelisk they had
teleported into the trade city and walked through a gateway leading to
another part of the district. After waiting for a few minutes for the queue to
clear, that is. Despite having many obelisks and each obelisk having four
gateways operating at once, there were still people waiting simply due to
the number of people that came through. To say that the city was buzzing
with activity was an understatement and Jake understood why shops
absolutely loved being placed there. Even while inside the alchemy shop, he
had seen several people come and leave.
After passing through the gateway, they found themselves in a new area and
headed towards some shops Jake and Meira had picked out before coming.
Meira had asked Izil for advice, and Jake had asked Reika to ask Irin. He
had considered contacting Irin personally but had stopped himself as he felt
like that would lead to an entire conversation, and he really had just wanted
to go shopping.
Anyway, they headed to the shops Irin had suggested first as Jake reckoned
she had to know the good spots. Out of everyone Jake knew who was
around his own level of power, Irin was the one who had been in the Order
for the longest, after all.
Reika had given Jake a list of three from Irin, and it did not take long to
find the first one. It was a large red building and was actively having many
customers going in and out. Most of them were women, but some had men
accompany them.
A women’s clothes shop, Jake quickly concluded as he headed inside with
Meira. Once inside, Jake saw that it truly was a high-tier establishment and
an incubus quickly walked up to greet them when they entered.
“Welcome! You two look like new faces. First time coming here?” the
incubus asked in a friendly tone.
“It is,” Jake confirmed.
“Were you referred by someone?” he asked, still friendly.
“A succubus friend named Irinixis mentioned the place,” Jake said

truthfully. Not a referral, but he had learned about it from her, and Jake
didn’t think she would recommend a place for Reika to visit if there was no
way to get in. Oh yeah, that is what Reika had done – asked Irin where she
could go if she went with Jake to get some equipment.
“Ah, I see!” the incubus laughed. “Come on in then! What are you two
looking for? Something for the gentleman or the lady?”
“Equipment for her,” Jake said as he motioned towards Meira. Meira looked
pretty nervous and looked around at the high-class entrance hall. Jake
himself also scouted the rest of the building with his sphere but found that
everything on the second floor was just a distorted mess while everything
on the first floor was just a bar of some kind, a few meeting rooms, and
overall nothing interesting. The reason why it was distorted was due to the
liberal use of space magic to expand all the rooms and save on real estate. It
had been the same thing at the alchemy shop.
“I understand,” the incubus said as he looked Meira over before glancing at

Jake again. “Just follow me, and I am sure we can find just the right
things.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 518 - Equipment For Him
& Her
Jake had a confession. He had never actually been shopping with a girl
before in his life. Well, besides with his mom, but that wasn’t really
shopping together but more going shopping at the same place separately.
Even when he had a girlfriend, it had never happened. Perhaps another
indicator of how poor that relationship had actually been.
This meant he really didn’t know how this sort of thing usually went down.
Like, what was he supposed to do? Just follow along? Should he wait
outside? As he was utterly clueless, he chose to simply follow the incubus
as that guy seemed confident in what customs were. Meira looked as
clueless as he as she had likely never actually gone clothes shopping due to
her life before coming to the Order, making them both absolute newbies.
The incubus led the two of them into a private room. It was as lavish as
every other place Jake had seen in the establishment, but the entire room
was a bit off compared to what Jake had expected. It was large and had a
few couches, with a mannequin as a centerpiece. That part was semi-
normal, but Jake had no idea why the hell there was a king-sized bed in the
room. It gave him a bad feeling, but he tried to explain it away. Probably
just doubles as a hotel or something.
He knew he was just grasping for straws, and his final attempt to deny he
had gone somewhere very unplanned was shot down the very next moment.
“Considering it is your first visit, let us start out light,” the incubus said as
“clothes” were summoned on the mannequin. He used the words clothes
very loosely as there wasn’t a lot of it. What was displayed was a mini-
dress with a few crucial parts missing, especially in the chest region.
Jake just stared as Meira turned red like a tomato.
“Basic, yet irresistible in its simplicity. This one is a very popular item
amongst humans and elves alike, so what say you? If you want to, you are
even allowed to test out some of the items we offer in the room provided,
but you must buy them if anything gets damaged,” the incubus said with a
polite smile.
“…If Lord Thayne wants me to…” Meira said in an almost whispering

voice before Jake spoke up.
“Big misunderstanding!” Jake exclaimed. “Huge one. We are not like that at
all and came for actual equipment, not… this. You know, things that give
stats and stuff and help when something attacks you.”
The incubus seemed taken aback at what Jake said and asked clarifyingly:
“You were referred by Irinixis, though? I apologize if there is any
confusion, but we deal not in armor but equipment with quite a different
use– one I dare claim just as important as combat.”
“Not questioning that, just saying it isn’t what we came looking for,” Jake
quickly said. “I apologize for wasting your time.”
“No worries, young man,” the incubus said unbothered. “If you change
your mind, you are free to visit once more. Both of you. Now, if you are
looking for equipment for the young lady, may I ask what type? What does
she specialize in?”
“Healer and alchemist,” Jake answered, happy that the incubus didn’t make
a bigger deal out of the awkward situation than he needed to.
“In that case, I can recommend a quaint little store just down the street run
by a friend of mine,” the incubus offered as he waved his hand and
displayed a magical 3D map.
Jake recognized it instantly as one of the stores Irin had also recommended,
making him clarify: “Just to make sure, they just sell normal equipment,
right? Gear for the battlefield, you know.”
“They do indeed, though I would once more argue that the battlefield of the
bedroom is one often too neglected,” the incubus said semi-jokingly.
Jake didn’t comment on it but just excused himself once more as they left,
getting a few light jabs on the way out and stares from other patrons who no
doubt made assumptions about the human and elf exiting a private room.
Once they were outside on the street, Jake couldn’t help but joke with Meira
a bit to relieve the tension. “Well, that was a screw-up. Sorry for that; we’re
never going back there, that is for sure.”
“Yeah…” Meira nodded. He felt like she almost seemed disappointed, proof
that he still wasn’t that good at reading social cues sometimes. Not paying it
any mind, Jake and Meira headed to the second shop. It was a lot smaller
than the establishment they had just been in and also had a lot less traffic.
It was small and quaint, with only a single story, and Jake and Meira headed
inside right away. It was just as small and homey inside as it was from the
outside, and it had fabric stacked on shelves all around. Jake had been in a
few tailor shops in his life, and this one sure fit the bill.
He had already seen the one person in the store through his sphere, and she
also noticed him and Meira when they entered. A small dwarf came out of
the backroom with a smile a few seconds later and greeted them. “Ah,
welcome! What can I do for the lad and lassie?”
Jake briefly scanned her and took note that she was C-grade. Contrary to
other dwarves he had met, she was wearing a light dress and was far from
as bulky. Still bulky by human standards, but probably considered a stick by
dwarf standards.
“I need some equipment,” Meira said. It was something they had talked
about while going there – that Meira needed to ask for herself. Jake thought
it was awkward to act like he was out shopping with a kid who couldn’t
speak for herself on what she wanted. He knew it was because Meira didn’t
want to actually decide what to get as Jake was paying, but he hoped he had
put those doubts to rest.
“What for?” the tailor asked as she looked Meira up and down. Mostly up,
considering the height difference.
“Uhm, everyday stuff and probably some fighting, I think…” Meira said,
looking at Jake.
The dwarf nodded as she asked Meira some more basic questions, like what
stats she was looking for and what special effects she wanted. Jake just
listened in as Meira answered everything and, as subtly as he could, began
making his way towards the door. Meira noticed him, and Jake just smiled
and gave her a thumbs up before leaving her to do her own shopping. He
already had enough awkwardness for one day and wasn’t going to be forced
into a changing room or anything like that.
Considering he had some time to kill and was in a shopping area anyway,
Jake decided to do some shopping of his own for a bit of gear. He had a few
pieces of equipment he had been walking around with for a while and
quickly settled on one of his older pieces – gloves.
[Gloves of Quintessential Arcane Manifestation (Epic)] – Gloves made

from a powerful synthetic cloth. These gloves are incredibly thin, nearly
unnoticeable, and are incredibly resilient against all attacks. Will become
immensely more durable if infused with arcane energy. The Crystalized
Essence has been fully integrated. All constructs using your arcane
affinity and your hands will last longer and be more potent. The gloves
can store a large amount of arcane energy that can be released
immediately. Channeling unattuned energy into these gloves will grant it
your arcane affinity. Enchantments: +125 Intelligence, +75 Wisdom, +50
Willpower. Quintessential Arcane Manifestation.
Requirements: lvl 115+ in any humanoid race. Quasi-Soulbound
They were good. Arnold had gone above and beyond when he made them,
but frankly, their effect just didn’t cut it anymore for the most part. The
blast he could shoot out of them was pretty much the same as what he could
do by himself, and the only true value was how durable they were when he
infused them with arcane energy. There was also the part about arcane
constructs made with his hand becoming stronger, but as with most things
in the system, that was all relative. When he got them, it was noticeable, but
now that he was several times stronger, it was utterly irrelevant. In ten or
more levels, borderline none of the effects would do anything besides the
stats.
So, Jake decided to check out a shop he himself had been looking at before
they went. He had said that the Order did not run any stores themselves, but
that did not mean members of the Order didn’t run their own stores and that
members didn’t tend to have the biggest ones.
Jake headed for one of these shops that he knew were run directly by
talented members of the Order. It was new and had a pretty special
requirement for those who were allowed to shop there – you had to be
blessed either by the Malefic Viper or a god subordinate to him. He feared
that he was walking into a madhouse of fanatics, but he also knew they had
good stuff in there. Draskil had even mentioned it once during their
dungeon run and said he got a legendary item from there.
Before he left Meira alone, he had placed a Mark of the Avaricious Hunter
on her. He had zero confidence in finding her without it.
After going through another gate and walking down a large street even
more filled than those before, he saw the building he was looking for. It
wasn’t hard, considering it was a massive castle-like building with the motif
of the Order of the Malefic Viper proudly displayed right above the
entrance. A massive tower shot up from the center of the castle, too, making
it a landmark. Quite impressive considering the building had only been
around for about a year.
Not many people went there, but all who did were stared at when allowed
entrance. With a sigh, Jake headed for the castle, and once he got close to
the entrance, he felt a faint pulse scanning him. He was not blocked and
simply walked through the entrance to enter a large hall. The moment he
stepped inside, he felt many presences all around him, not from people but
from the statues lining the hall on each side depicting different gods. At the
end of the hall stood the statue of the Malefic Viper. It depicted a massive
simple-looking black snake coiled up and faced towards whoever dared
enter the castle.
Well, if this isn’t a way to try and humble anyone who enters, I don’t know
what it is, Jake thought, getting flashbacks to the lesson with Viridia and the
statue of Villy there. As usual, Jake didn’t care about the presences but
quickly still understood what was happening. He chose to walk slowly
through the hall before reaching a new gate and entering, trying to at least
look a little worn out from the endeavor.
Only after going through the gate could he see the new area due to how
spatially expanded it had been. And oh boy, was it expanded. Jake entered
an utterly massive curving tunnel of sorts, extending what seemed like
infinitely upwards. He also felt that his Mark on Meira felt far further away
than before, way, way, further.
“Greetings, Blessed by the Malefic One,” a voice said as a figure teleported

in. Jake instantly felt the pressure and knew this individual was a fully-
fledged B-grade. The person wore a hooded robe with the insignia of the
Order on it, but nothing else was visible, not even their race.
“Hello there,” Jake said in return with a nod.
“What has the young master come looking for?” the hooded attendant
asked. Jake had studied a little and knew this place was quite unique, and
Draskil had also said that the ones running it were high rollers of the Order.
“Equipment, preferably gloves. Also, if there are any items capable of

awakening Records within an item to further enhance them, that would also
be supremely useful,” Jake said. While Jake had come looking for new
gloves, he wouldn’t say no to also finding a way to upgrade his boots.
“The second request may be hard to fulfill as such items are rarely found in
D-grade,” the B-grade said. “But for the gloves, we have plenty on offer.
Please, do tell, what kind do you need? And do you walk the Path of the
Malefic One, having embraced the Legacy?”
Jake wasn’t sure why the second question mattered but answered both. “I
do possess the Legacy skills, and I need gloves primarily to help boost my
physical stats, and if they are highly durable, it would be the best.”
The attendant nodded and spoke: “Please follow me.”
Using a few hand motions, a portal appeared right beside the B-grade, and
the person motioned for Jake to step through. Jake felt no danger or like
anything was amiss and did so as he found himself inside a far smaller area
reminiscent of a trophy room. There were pedestals all over with items on
display, all of them behind barriers a bit like what the vampires had used to
preserve their items. It was the kind of barrier that helped items not lose
their enchantments and power.
Jake could not even Identify any of the items due to these barriers. It wasn’t
that he couldn’t properly see or sense them, but that the barriers themselves
messed with whatever Identify did. Rather than getting full information, it
only gave a brief snippet.
After using Identify on a few of the pedestals, all of them holding pairs of
gloves, Jake got the gist of it.
[Gloves – Ancient - Medium Armor – Magical – Pride of the Malefic

Viper – Requirements Not Met]
[Gloves – Legendary - Medium Armor – Magical – Touch of the Malefic

Viper]
“Do note that the young master may only purchase a single item,” the
attendant said. Jake was about to ask why but quickly understood. Resale
value. But he was a bit confused about the descriptions provided still.
“Can you explain what the information given means?” Jake asked.
“The first three, I believe self-explanatory, while the fourth says if the
gloves give physical or magical stats, with the final one displaying which
Legacy skill the item is tied to. Do note that in order to use the gloves, you
need the Legacy skill at the same rarity as the gloves. If none here are
useable, we can visit a lower floor. Do note that if you do not possess the
required level to wear any item, your Identify should reflect that,” the
attendant explained.
Jake nodded once more in recognition Made sense. He looked at a few
more items before one truly caught his eyes.
[Gloves – Legendary - Medium Armor – Physical – Scales of the Malefic

Viper]
They were all black gloves and looked incredibly light despite being
classified as medium armor. Thin black scales covered the item, looking
almost just like a pattern on the leather. Jake liked how they looked, and the
description made him very hopeful it would do just what he wanted. It gave
him good vibes.
“That one,” Jake said as he pointed to the gloves.
“First, I must make sure the young master has the funds. Each legendary
item here is priced at a billion Credits. Also, be aware that once the item is
revealed, you must either purchase it or leave with nothing,” the attendant
said.
Jake quickly displayed that he had the funds and didn’t see any scenario
where he wouldn’t buy the gloves for a measly billion Credits. With a nod,
the attendant took out a token. The barrier shimmered away, allowing Jake
to finally properly Identify the item.
[Gloves of the Malefic One’s Grace (Legendary)] – By the grace of the

Malefic One, your scales shall be your instrument of invincibility. Created
by an incredibly skilled crafter possessing the Blessing of the Malefic
VIper, these gloves contain but a fragment of the Primordial’s Records.
Made from the hide and scales of an apex wyvern, infused with its toxic
blood, and enhanced by a powerful, refined core, these gloves are
incredibly resilient. Allows Scales of the Malefic Viper to be cast directly
upon the gloves at a significantly increased effect. While using Scales of
the Malefic Viper, the effect of all stat points granted by these gloves are
increased by a significant amount. Only one who has shown sufficient
proficiency in Scales of the Malefic Viper may wear these gloves.
Enchantments: +300 Toughness, +300 Vitality, +300 Strength, +300
Agility, +300 Endurance. Scaled Hands of the Malefic One
Requirements: lvl 175+ in any humanoid race. Skill: Scales of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary+).
While Jake did have a limited understanding of how much things were
worth, he did know that legendary items were always priced in the billions
within the multiverse. The Auction had allowed everyone on Earth to get
banger deals on stuff, but this offering was at the same level in pure value.
One billion was a steal.
“Satisfied?” the attendant asked.
“Very,” Jake smiled. “But is it truly only priced at a billion? This may be
presumptuous of me, but the materials alone must have cost more than that
severalfold.”
A part of him even wondered if maybe the item was cursed or something,
but the attendant explained:
“These items have a limited userbase, and it is not in our interest to keep
them vaulted up. They are for those who have been recognized by the
Malefic One or those loyal to his excellency, and it is only in our interest to
help them on their way. For you to already have achieved legendary rarity
in Scales of the Malefic Viper despite being in D-grade is incredibly
commendable already and proves you are worthy. So yes, they are
underpriced by the standards of many but priced exactly right by our
standards. This place was never made to make money to begin with.”
Jake nodded in understanding, not one to say no to a good thing. “Well, I

am for sure buying them.”
The attendant nodded and bowed. “May they serve you well, he who is
blessed by the Malefic One.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 519 - Something Wrong
Meira was nervous after Lord Thayne left her alone. She had been shopping
many times before, but never for herself. Wasn’t it just a waste of money to
get her equipment? Currently, she only got a bit of Wisdom from her spatial
necklace, with the rest of her items not even counting as equipment.
Receiving that necklace had already been far more than Meira would
expect, but at least she saw the usefulness in that. It allowed her to more
effectively transport materials for Lord Thayne as it even had a storage
specifically enchanted to store alchemical ingredients.
“Follow me, lassie; let’s get you sorted,” the shop owner said as she hurried
Meira into the back room. Meira just followed along with the far smaller
woman, still not sure if all of this was a good idea.
“Relax there,” the dwarf said with a calming smile. “Young masters like
that like to treat their girlfriends nicely, so you better take advantage while
you can.”
“I… he doesn’t think of me like that,” Meira denied, embarrassed. He had

made that clear when they had gone to that other shop. She was mad at
herself for thinking that Lord Thayne had taken her there with those kinds
of intentions. Nearly as mad as she was for feeling dejected that he hadn’t.
“Really?” the dwarf asked. “Well, color me surprised. Either way, he gave
me the heebie-jeebies, so there is no way he is average, and people who
aren’t average got money to treat those they care about. And he does care
about you. Any damn idiot can see that. So stop dilly-dallying, and let’s get
you a proper set, alright?”
Meira looked at the dwarf for a moment, considering her words. It was true
that Lord Thayne didn’t think of her “that way,” but it was also true he had
always been very nice to her, so maybe he did care? Just in another way?
And if he did that, it should be fine to get some equipment if he asked her,
right?
“Okay,” Meira said with a smile as the dwarf got to work, and the two
discussed what kind of equipment would suit Meira best. They spent a good
while going over everything, and the dwarf even showed her different
pieces of jewelry she had in stock that would go well with what Meira
needed. It was all a bit overwhelming as many of the items were probably
more expensive than Meira would have been if the Order had just decided
to just sell her to someone over giving her to Lord Thayne.
Yet it also felt oddly liberating – a feeling she thought she would never feel
– to be there alone. Buying things for herself. She hoped to make Lord
Thayne proud and to want to keep her around, which was the primary
reason she worked so hard. But after the entire incident with Nella and
Utmal, she had been thinking if maybe it was okay if she did some more
things for herself? Izil also tried to convince her she should be more selfish,
or at least not as selfless.
Maybe she could begin to get stronger for herself? If Lord Thayne wanted
her to no longer be his slave but instead be a full member of the Order by
her own merits, she would need to be more independent. She would need to
make her own choices and be a member because she wanted to. But she was
afraid that becoming a member would mean that Lord Thayne would have
her leave. Have her get her own residence or enter the dorms or something.
Meira desperately didn’t want that to happen, so she would have to selfishly
find a way to make Lord Thayne want to keep her around even after she
was no longer bound by a slave contract.
She wanted to stay no matter what she had to do to make that happen. It
was selfish of her to want more from him than what he had already given
and promised to give her… but he did want her to make her own choices
and do what she wanted. And what Meira wanted more than anything was
to stay, so this selfish wish of hers was okay… right?
--
Jake walked out of the castle-like building wearing his new cool gloves. On
the way out, he had already done a bit of experimenting and found that they
were actually very similar to his old gloves. He could instinctively use
Scales of the Malefic Viper only on the gloves, and he instantly felt the
scales already sewn into the gloves be filled with energy and strengthened
to an insane level. The gloves stayed flexible like before, but he felt like his
hands had become near-impenetrable. Of course, any blunt force would still
hurt like hell, and if he tried to block a sword, he would find his fingers
broken, but for anything magical, it would be insane. He could also use it to
grab sharp edges and whatnot, as he had already done with his old gloves.
The stat effect was also interesting. Whenever Jake used Scales of the
Malefic Viper, he felt a slight increase in power based on how big a part of
his body he covered. It was super small when he used it only in local areas,
but Jake reckoned that if his entire body was covered, he would get what
would amount to roughly 100 more in each of the five stats the armor gave.
It was small, but there, and frankly, the biggest thing about the gloves was
the insane amount of stats they offered to begin with, along with their sheer
level of durability when Scales were used.
He considered if making an entire set of armor like the gloves would be a

good idea but discovered that maybe it wasn’t the best as the mana drain
when he infused the gloves was rather intense. A full set of armor would be
able to drain dry even Jake and his anomalously large mana pool at an
alarming speed.
Feeling good about himself, Jake saw no need to delay as he headed back
towards the shop Meira was in. His Mark worked as a guide after he went
through the teleportation gate to the same area she was in, allowing him to
quickly make it there. She was still inside the shop, and Jake decided to
wait outside until she was done.
He leaned against the wall of the building and closed his eyes as his mind
sank into his soul. Once inside, he was met with the sight of an almost exact
copy of himself who was, for some reason, repeatedly hitting the ground as
dark pulses of energy were released from him, blasting him into the air.
Sim-Jake had changed to look even more like Jake than before. Looking at
him felt a bit weird to the real Jake as he knew his other version was slowly
disappearing. His personality had become more and more like Jake’s own
over the last few months. It had already been similar, but now they barely
talked anymore as there was no need to. They now only discussed two
things: melee combat and Shadow Vault. And melee combat had become
less and less as of late as Jake quickly picked up on sim-Jake’s teachings
the more assimilated he became.
Jake looked at his simulacrum, who was naturally aware he was there. His
other version stopped his practice and turned to Jake. “Don’t look glum like
I am dying or something; we both knew this was the ideal outcome.”
“Still,” Jake sighed.
“It is what it is,” sim-Jake shrugged. The next moment a katar appeared in
both of his hands, and Jake mimicked his motion as they charged each
other. Their weapons clashed as if mirrored with two katar tips perfectly
impacting each other, sending both of them stumbling back.
Sim-Jake moved faster for the follow-up, but Jake was ready as he
countered, getting the upper hand. He managed to land a minor wound but
was pushed in return when he tried to capitalize on the one hit he got in.
Their fight continued for about twenty minutes, with both of them slowly
taking damage. It looked very even until Jake made a minor slip-up and was
cornered. He had slowly been losing ground, and after a combo more than a
hundred hits long had found himself unable to respond before a katar
penetrated his skull.
“Fuck,” Jake muttered, thinking he was gonna win this one. Both their
wounds had also already healed. They weren’t real wounds anyway.
“Still improving,” sim-Jake smiled.
True, Jake thought as the simulacrum turned around and continued

whatever he was doing before. Jake had no idea what it was doing but knew
that the simulacrum focused nearly one hundred percent of its time on Vault
now. He had to, as his memories of the simulated world were slowly fading,
and continuing to improve the fighting style was now meaningless. Now all
he had to do was pass down the final pieces before fully handing the mantle
to Jake.
He stayed a bit longer to look at his simulacrum, genuinely having no idea

what he was doing. It was like all the Records pertaining to Shadow Vault
had been integrated into sim-Jake for him to perfect. It was to the level of
the real version of Jake feeling unsure about even using the skill. He got the
sense that he was lacking some of the instinctual knowledge the skill gave
about how to use it but naturally couldn’t know what he didn’t know.
However, what he was sure of was that the day sim-Jake ceased to be would
be the day his Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra upgraded, and in the same
way, then the day Shadow Vault upgraded, sim-Jake would lose his
remaining basis of existence that kept him separate from Jake.
“Keep up the good work,” Jake muttered with a sigh before he left his
Soulspace, having felt Meira and the dwarf exit the back room within the
store.
Jake opened his eyes and went inside the store just in time. He saw Meira
carrying a whole bunch of things, all placed in separate boxes. They also
saw him enter the store as Meira looked somewhat nervous. “Lord Thayne!
Please inspect the items and let me know if these are acceptable.”
“You are the one shopping here, not me. Whatever you picked is fine as
long as you didn’t get a full set of legendary gear in an attempt to bankrupt
me,” Jake joked.
“I would never do that!” Meira semi-yelled with indignation before finally

realizing it was a joke, making her blush in embarrassment. She clenched
one of the boxes and asked in a nearly whispering voice: “Please look at
them a little, please?”
Jake resigned himself and nodded. Meira took out a white dress from one of
the boxes and proudly showed it off. It didn’t look that much different from
the usual dress she wore, at least not in design, but the item was clearly far
superior. Identifying it, he actually felt a little proud of her.
[Sorcerer’s Dress of Merciful Intent (Epic)] – A dress crafted from the
silk of a juvenile Ethspawn Spider, further enhanced by a talented crafter.
Grants impressive resistance to most magical attacks and dissipates a
portion of the physical force of all blows made against the wearer.
Passively absorbs a portion of all attacks, be they magical or physical in
nature. This energy can then be infused into a healing spell to empower
it. Enchantments: +250 Wisdom, +100 Intelligence, +100 Willpower.
Merciful Intent.
He had to admit that when he had left Meira alone to shop, he had feared he
would have returned to her having selected a full set of common rarity
equipment with a few inferior rarity items mixed in. Jake was happy to see
she had selected equipment of proper value. It wasn’t overly extravagant
either. One had to remember that Meira was not a monster like Jake and
needed far fewer stats than he did from his equipment. In many ways, then
a full epic set of gear would be just as good for her as a full legendary set.
Sure, the legendary gear would be better overall and have better special
effects, but the difference wasn’t massive, and there was also the fear of
making Meira a target if she had too good stuff.
“Looking good,” Jake approved with a thumbs up.
“Should get the little lassie all settled for a good while,” the dwarf said with
a smile. “Gives above her total stat limit, leaving some room for her to
grow into. The rings are both purely defensive, too, so don’t worry about
her getting targeted as a healer. They will all find themselves dead before
getting to kill her. And if all else goes wrong, the earrings have an
enchantment to automatically teleport a distance away if she is in mortal
danger. Limited uses with recharge time, but a real lifesaver.”
Jake nodded and thanked the shopkeeper. He did not doubt she had done
her job to try and convince Meira to get better stuff. Okay, sure, it was her
actual job to make Meira spend as much as possible, and it was a bit weird
for Jake to be grateful to her for making him spend more, but such was life.
“How much for everything?” Jake asked.

“Full set of epic armor, an ancient ring, epic ring, and a set of ancient rarity
linked earrings with emergency-teleportation ability… comes down to
roughly one-point-nine billion Credits for the entire thing. If we cut the
most expensive item in the earrings, it will only be-“
“Nah, it’s good; we’ll take it,” Jake smiled as he paid the shopkeeper. The
dwarf looked a bit surprised at how fast he had just paid’ without any
comments. Not that Jake thought much about it. He had spent nearly that
much on alchemy items earlier that day, and this was a full set for Meira
that she could use for a long time. Totally worth it.
He saw the shopkeeper lean in and whisper something to Meira Jake

couldn’t hear as the C-grade dwarf hid it. Meira turned entirely red in her
face before quickly backing away, making Jake wonder what the dwarf had
said, but looking at Meira, she didn’t look like she had any intentions of
sharing. She didn’t even dare look at him for some reason.
“Thanks for your patronage,” the dwarf said with a big smile. “And do
come again. I love big spenders.”
Jake chuckled a bit at the shamelessness as he said his goodbyes and headed
out of the shop. Meira put all of the boxes in her spatial storage, intending
to take them on once they got home. Something they did right away as
neither of them had any more business in the city for now.
The two of them headed back to one of the gateway pillars and teleported
straight home to the mansion. Jake went to the living room as Meira went
off to her personal residence to change into her new clothes. That was also
when Jake learned that Meira had never learned how to rapidly use a spatial
storage to switch equipment or even equip a weapon. He should definitely
teach her that.
With some time to spare, Jake took inventory and began making some plans
for his next period of crafting with all of these new materials. He also now
had ingredients for some ritual stuff with Duskleaf, and he was ready to
begin the initial parts of the ritual for the Pollendust Bee Queen. There
would be several stages to the ritual, and this first part was pretty much just
about filling the creature with energy and Records to further build upon.
After thinking about his plans for a while, Meira returned to the main
house. Jake saw her in his sphere long before she reached the living room,
but he was still taken aback when he saw her with his eyes. She wore the
white dress she had shown him along with the jewelry he had been told
about. Before, she had only been wearing her simple clothes, but now she
truly looked like a young elven mistress from an influential clan.
“Does it look okay?” Meira asked shyly.
“Yeah, you look great,” Jake smiled as he gave her not one but two thumbs-
ups, only making her blush more. It was clear she wasn’t used to
compliments from her reaction, and Jake had to admit it was kind of cute.
Nonetheless, Meira seemed happy. Jake was just happy she was happy, and
the two of them once more dove into their routine of alchemy and practice.
Everything was going smoothly, and Jake felt relaxed during this time until
one day… something felt wrong.
Very wrong.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 520 - In An Instant
A note from Zogarth
Just a little warning that chapters for book 4 will go down next Friday,
the 18th (up to chapter 281).
Jake had spent another month rapidly progressing since his shopping trip.
The most monumental event was when Jake finally laid down the ritual
circle framework for the Pollendust Bee Queen. He had prepared enough
cores, and with some of the materials he had bought, could begin the initial
stages.
It was a bit like how Mystie had used her ritual for a long time before Jake
came along. Jake would do something similar but at an even higher level.
The ritual circle itself was about ten meters in radius and was placed on his
lawn, surrounded by a barrier he cheated to get made by just having
Duskleaf erect it. This initial stage would last quite a while and was likely
going to be the longest.
Besides the ritual, Jake had just been slamming out potions and had been
working on a special kind of soul poison he really wanted to make. It was
harder than he had thought it would be, but he still felt he was getting closer
to his goal.
With this also came some levels. It felt like they had been coming even
faster than before recently, and Jake theorized it was due to how expensive
the materials he experimented with were. Again, he didn’t know; all he
knew was that three levels in a month was pretty damn good.


One other thing Jake had also done during this time was a lot of heavy
drinking. Only a bit of it had been alcohol, with the majority being
Endurance-increasing elixirs. And damn, had it paid off.
Status
Stamina: 47021/48320
--
His stamina had increased by more than ten thousand points since he went
shopping, the main contributor being 555 stats gained from elixirs, maxing
out his current limit for his levels when it came to consuming them. This
was before percentage bonuses, so he had to add another 45% to that. All in
all, good stuff. As for his free points… Jake had been weak and, in a
moment of indulgence, tossed all the 175 stat points he had saved up into
Perception.
He had no regrets.
Yet even after all of these things had gone so well and Jake felt like
everything was going great, he felt uneasy that day. It was a terrible feeling
he could not pinpoint; he just knew something was wrong. Off. Jake felt
restless and couldn’t focus as he asked Villy, who didn’t provide any useful
answer. He then turned to Miranda to ask her how things were on Earth and
was told nothing was amiss.
Next up was Sylphie, and while they couldn’t exactly speak, she also wasn’t
worried. Sylphie was still hanging around with Carmen too, so it shouldn’t
have anything to do with her either. Jake then checked everyone in the
Order he knew but just got confused responses. Nothing was wrong
anywhere… yet Jake felt as he felt. Something was horribly wrong, and it
frustrated him to not know what the issue was.
And for every moment, that feeling of wrongness was building.
Miranda felt flustered after Jake had contacted her for the second time that
day to tell her that something was wrong. He gave no details or even an
idea of what the issue was; he just said something was wrong. Miranda had
gotten to work and checked in on everyone, having even contracted Caleb,
Jake’s brother, to make sure things were calm. He said nothing was wrong.
Same for Casper and the Risen.
The Noboru Clan also didn’t have any issues. She was well and truly lost
and considered if perhaps she had to go to the Holy Church and the Augur
to try and figure out if there truly were any problems. She even went as far
as to check where the two hawks, Mystie and Hawkie, were, but they were
still in the forest. If they were in danger, then Miranda had no idea what to
do anyway.
In all honesty, then Miranda was worried about Jake. What if something
had happened to him that caused some kind of mental disturbance? That
didn’t seem to be an issue, though, as he was perfectly lucid. Lucid… but
troubled and worried.
She kept trying to find the problem and did recall Lillian, Hank, Hank’s
children, and most people she and Jake both knew. He had said that his
feeling of wrongness was likely connected to someone he knew being in
danger, but that was it. All she could do was take precautionary actions.
Miranda was still researching and trying to find out what was wrong as
suddenly the ground shook. Are we under attack?
Without any hesitation, Miranda activated one of her skills to get the status
of the city and saw only one place with a disturbance. The teleportation
building connecting Haven and the fort had been utterly destroyed. Even
the usually well-protected one at the Fort was now nothing more than
rubble.
She instantly teleported down to her ritual chamber to prepare for an attack
as several tokens in her inventory vibrated. With bated breath, she checked
them and saw the same message from everywhere.
“Under attack-“
“Teleportation circles-“
“Cut off-“
The Noboru Clan, Court of Shadows, Valhal, Risen, and even the Holy
Church.
Miranda scrambled to understand the situation and quickly realized one

thing: in an instant, the entire teleportation network of the planet had been
destroyed.
An hour earlier.
Sometimes, one must choose a lesser evil.
Arthur checked his watch and saw it was time. The researchers and space
mages had been hard at work for the better part of a year, and finally, their
hard work would be realized.
“Activate the circle,” Arthur said.
The more than a dozen space mages complied as they got into position.
Soon, the circle began pulsing with power, a cube in the center functioning
as the anchor to connect two very far-off places. The cube had been given to
him during the Myriad Choices event for this exact purpose. The magic
circle would only be active for a few seconds… but it was enough.
Eighteen figures appeared, and a second after, the entire underground

chamber shook as cracks formed all over. The mages who had helped
perform the ritual all fell unconscious to the ground as healers rushed in to
take them out. The formation was well and truly broken too, but it had done
what it was supposed to.
“We meet again, Arthur,” the man – if he even was that – leading the
entourage of new arrivals said. His orange skin made it clear he was not
human, and neither were any of his comrades. Arthur knew every single
figure that had just appeared could singlehandedly battle the strongest party
that the United Cities Alliance possessed. But such a force was necessary,
especially their leader and the odd shifting elemental-like being of ash.
Both of them were figures he knew few could rival.
“Welcome to Earth, Celestial Child,” Arthur bowed, using the title he had
been informed the alien named Ell’Hakan went by.
“A single sun and a singular, powerful moon,” Ell’Hakan smiled as he

looked up, his gaze seeming to pierce the several hundred meters of soil
above them to gaze at the sky. “I thank you for your welcome, and I believe
all preparations are in place?”
“We have held up our part of the bargain,” Arthur nodded. “By the end of
the hour, everyone will need to be in position, so we must not delay.”
“Naturally,” the alien man nodded with a smile as Arthur led him to the
chambers above.
A hard decision had to be made, and Arthur had simply seen no other path
than the one chosen. A cancer had invaded their planet in the form of divine
fanaticism. And like cancer, these organizations would fight each other to
eventually leave the body they inhabited dead, broken, or mutated beyond
recognition. So he had chosen to battle this cancer by introducing a
metaphorical chemo-therapy – a harmful method that he at least had a
semblance of control over. One he hoped would give their planet a new life.
Once they reached the chamber above, Ell’Hakan turned to three of his
followers. “Go.”
The three of them nodded as they all teleported away. Space mages, all
three of them.
“What do you intend for them to do?” Arthur asked.
“Something for the future. Only a fool doesn’t plan for tomorrow,”
Ell’Hakan said with a comforting smile. “Do not worry. I will keep my
promise, and their task is of no consequence to our plan. Once our business
concludes, and if we are successful, you shall have this world, just as the
contract dictates.”
Arthur nodded, feeling assured. “Very Well. The Disciple should arrive
soon.”
As if he had predicted the future, a young man walked into the room.
Arthur once more felt pressured as he knew this person was at the very peak
of D-grade already. Just a single step away from his evolution and a vital
piece in their strategy.
“Greetings, Disciple of Eversmile,” Ell’Hakan greeted the young man with

a bow. “Have you made the preparations? Assembled them all?”
“They are ready,” the young man named William simply said as he looked
at the being of ash. “I take it you will be the one to lead them?”
“Such is the arrangement. Lead me to them, human,” the rumbling

voice of the Unique Lifeform said.
The more time passed, the more assured Arthur felt. Despite not a single
one of them being in C-grade, they had a chance. But the Chosen was
powerful, and so was this Fallen King. There were also many other
factions…
Ell’Hakan noticed Arthur’s doubt and comforted him. “As long as you do
your part, so will we do ours. Remember who stands before you. Now… let
us begin our story of conquest and liberation.”
Miyamoto sat in meditation within his chambers. The wind was blowing
hard as the flowers swayed, the world itself in contrast to his inner calm. He
had been contacted earlier by Ms. Wells of Haven and informed that Jake
believed something was wrong.
The Sword Saint would not disregard the hunter’s judgment and was
prepared.
He opened his eyes as the ground rumbled. Yells went through the entire
compound, and the city of Saya was in chaos as the security forces moved
to find those responsible or identify their city’s attacker. All he heard in the
distance was that the teleporters were all destroyed. Miyamoto slowly stood
up and sighed.
“Who are you people?” he spoke as two figures appeared. Both with orange
skin. He frowned as he felt their power. These people… stronger than the
Judge of the Court.
“We come at the behest of the United Cities Alliance as well as our lord, the
Celestial Child, Ell’Hakan. By his grace, we offer you the opportunity to
surrender and to join us in our quest to purge this world of divine
influence,” one of them said.
Miyamoto frowned. “What does this purging consist of?”
“The death or escape of all those who serve their gods as puppets,” the
other one of his two visitors answered. “We do not care for those blessed by
gods with no alliances or factions, such as the Primordial you call your
Patron.”
“You are starting a war,” Miyamoto said, his frown deepening. “One that
neither Noboru Clan nor I will take any part in.”
“Very well,” the first person spoke again. “It shall be told you died with
honor.”
Miyamoto drew his blade as the two were upon him, and in an instant, he
was blasted out of his personal compound, flying through the air and out of
the city. He landed in the plains outside the city as the two figures appeared
to his sides
The Sword Saint got into a defensive position as the two charged again, the
old man ready this time.
Caleb had instantly put the true Skyggen in full lockdown after Miranda
contacted him. A choice that would prove incredibly wise as not long after
the attack arrived. The fake Skyggen had its teleportation arrays all blown
up in an instant, and even the secret circles set up by the Court were
destroyed.
He moved quickly as he evacuated his parents, wife, and child to a shelter,

and just in time, too, as he got reports of incoming attackers. Yet they did
not move to actually attack but had simply stationed themselves outside.
As the Judge of the Court of Shadows, Caleb was usually informed about
something like this happening… but he had been taken by surprise, and
from the sheer level of coordination, this was not some minor attack. They
had simultaneously struck nearly every settlement and every single faction
at once. He had no idea what these people were planning, but he soon got
an idea as more and more intel arrived.
It was a full-on attempt at a planetary takeover.
All over the part of the planet inhabited by humans, similar scenes took
place. Armies appeared in cities out of nowhere as residents showed their
true colors. The United Cities Alliance had long been considered the largest
singular faction and was now showing it. In many places, they simply
caused civil unrest. Others went and directly attacked the local City Lord to
take control, effectively expanding the scope of the alliance
In the cities that were too powerful or with a populace that could not be
infiltrated, far more common forms of warfare were deployed as each city
was cut off. Many City Lords that had simply allied with a religious group
surrendered immediately once under pressure as they had no way to get
swift reinforcements and feared for their lives.
Within less than half an hour, the once well-connected planet with a
sprawling teleportation network was turned into a planet of isolated islands
with vast distances between each of them.
“Earth under attack, teleportation network down planet-wide, Sword Saint

MIA, Caleb isolated, and yet to establish any contact with other cities,”
Jake heard from Miranda as his feeling of wrongness was at an apex. The
message almost gave him relief as finally, he knew what had caused it.
There was not a hint of hesitation as Jake went to the teleporter in his
residence. The moment he reached it, he tried to activate it but felt like the
connection was slightly unstable.
“Villy, something is wrong with the teleporter. Can I still use it?” Jake
asked with slight panic.
“It will take you to Earth if that is what you ask. It will even take you to
your city,” the god answered promptly. As if he had been waiting.
“What is happening on Earth?”Jake asked, knowing the god knew.
“Jake, there are things mortals and gods have to deal with. This is not
something that involves me. But… good luck, I believe in you, do your
best,” Villy said as he cut off the connection, leaving Jake frowning even
more than before. Villy seemed almost worried? But he did understand the
part about this not being an issue for the god to deal with.
Without hesitation, he activated the teleporter and was sent through the
void. The journey was thankfully uneventful as Jake touched down right in
front of the monument erected to allow his teleportation and-
BOOM!
Right behind him, the monument exploded. Debris and rock flew around his
ears as he took in everything his sphere saw. Flying pieces of the broken
monument, soil and dust spewed up from everywhere, and red flames
soared up into the sky from the attack that had broken the installation.
Jake turned his head almost robotically as he saw three figures land
amongst the rubble of his now cut-off way off Earth. He stared at what the
man in the front was holding as that something was thrown toward him. It
landed a few meters in front of Jake and rolled on the ground as he stared
down at the lifeless eyes of the monument’s creator’s severed head. Chris’
head.
“Welcome home, Chosen of the Malefic Viper,” a familiar voice said as

Jake looked up and saw the Chosen of Yip of Yore – Ell’Hakan.
“I did tell you we would meet sooner than you expected,” he spoke in a
calm tone. “My condolences for the builder; he was useful while it-“
Jake didn’t give the man a chance to speak as he charged. A few hours ago,
he had been doing alchemy in peace. Everything had happened so fast, and
Jake barely had time to properly register what was going on. But… he
didn’t need to.
His eyes burned with pure anger as a katar appeared in each hand. Arcane
Awakening activated at full power immediately as there was no hesitation
or doubt.
He was going to kill every single one of them.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 521 - Celestial Alignment
of Yore
Jake had not really known Chris that well. He was just a guy Jake had saved
by coincidence when he killed Abby and her father after they attacked
Haven. Later on, he had then given the young man a Blessing from the
Viper, and Chris made the monument to allow Jake to teleport out of their
universe. To call him a friend wouldn’t be entirely correct… but he was
Jake’s guy. He had worked for Jake. He had only been targeted because of
Jake.
So Jake would get revenge for him.
Ell’Hakan was ready for Jake’s attack despite how instant it had been. So
were his two followers as both of them exploded with power, activating
their boosting skills while moving to intercept. One of them had a sword
and a shield, with the other one a healer based on the magic she deployed.
Jake didn’t care about these two but headed straight for Ell’Hakan. He
teleported past the warrior and met a barrier from the healer as Ell’Hakan
took out a staff and slammed it into the ground. A wave of red flames hit
Jake, but black scales already covered his body as he, with a single hit,
shattered the barrier. But before he would land a blow, he was attacked from
behind by the warrior.
Fuck you, Jake just thought as he completely ignored the blow and kept up
his assault. He stabbed forward and managed to scratch his opponent before
the orange fuck turned into flames and flew backward at a rapid speed. In
return, Jake got an annoying cut across his back before he spun and kicked
the shield of the warrior, blasting him away.
Charging again, he chased after Ell’Hakan with reckless abandon. Spears of
flames flew towards him, but Jake once more ignored it as dodging would
only slow him down. The only thing that mattered was killing the person in
front of him.
Yet the fuck kept fleeing, and the warrior and healer kept getting in his
damn way. For every second, his anger grew. Like a volcano constantly at
the edge of an eruption, the heat was just building up. He ignored
everything that would not lead directly to damaging Ell’Hakan as nothing
else would give him the slightest reprieve.
The damn healer made his life difficult as even when he stabbed the warrior
several times, he just got up again, and Ell’Hakan was constantly just
turning into fucking flames to run away. What was worse was the constant
taunting. Jake did not truly register the words; he just knew they were
taunts.
His vision turned red as he felt on the edge of eruption. His inability to
simply kill his opponent only angered him even more. At this point, nothing
else mattered.
His body pulsed with power as he prepared to push himself further. He was
about to increase Arcane Awakening above 60% as suddenly a feeling of
danger emerged from within. As if cold water was thrown in his face, Jake
suddenly felt a bit of clarity. In the middle of a chase, he closed his eyes.
He is controlling your emotions, you fucking idiot, he told himself as he

experienced a moment of clarity.
Jake remembered what his opponent could do. His emotions were still out
of control and flaring up. He felt angrier than he likely ever had… but from
the anger came an odd sense of calm once he realized why he was mad.
Jake opened his eyes again and locked gazes with the Nahoom in front of
him.
Seeing he had stopped, Ell’hakan also got a break. “The wild beast has
calmed. Once more, you show unique restraint. Though I must confess, I
expected more than a charging, mindless-“
“What do you hope to accomplish with this shit?” Jake asked, genuinely
unsure. Why the hell would he bother invading their planet in the first
place?
“We each walk our Paths. While you might be a hunter, I am not. In this
instance, I am only here to work as a liberator. Did your world not like this
sort of thing? Foreign countries invading others at the behest of freedom
fighters merely to exploit the land? War under false pretenses for personal
gain? That is all I am here to do. To free this world from you. At least, that
is the story that is told. Truth is subjective, and all that matters is what one
can make others believe,” Ell’Hakan said, more talkative than Jake would
expect. The problem was that he was just talking, nothing else.
“You didn’t answer shit,” Jake spat out.
“Fine, I shall give you one hint,” Ell’Hakan smiled. “Third World
Congress.”
Jake wasn’t sure what the guy meant until his eyes opened wide. Was this
fuck trying to get voted World Leader by placing his own City Lords or
something? Was that even possible? And did it matter? No… because he
would die there today.
His katars disappeared as he equipped his bow and took out a poison bottle
he quickly tossed in his quiver, having learned to soak the arrows within a
long time ago. The warrior and healer were behind him, ready to engage.
Jake marked all three of his targets as he took a deep breath and looked at
Ell’Hakan. “You are right about one thing. Our Paths do differ. You are
good at talking shit, and I am good at killing shit talkers.”
He then felt what was almost a wave of pure anger hit him, trying to flare
up what was there before. But Jake barely registered it as he stepped
forward and teleported. Rather than teleport towards Ell’Hakan, he went
backward more than three hundred meters as he appeared behind the healer
and warrior. An arrow was already nocked as a Splitting Arrow was
released towards the woman.
The warrior moved quickly to the side of the healer to defend her, as Jake
stepped once more and teleported before shooting again. A barrier emerged
around the healer and warrior as Jake stepped and shot three more times
from five different angles.
He stopped and shot one more time. The first shots were all explosive
arrows, and the barrier was blown up right away as the two were pelted
with arcane energy. The very final shot Jake had released was the one stable
arrow of the bunch and curved under the shield of the warrior to hit him in
the abdomen, making him stumble back.
Ell’Hakan did not stand still as he raised his staff. It was only now that Jake
noticed something odd. While it was in the middle of the day, the sunlight
was far more intense than usual. It had a red glow, and the air almost
shimmered from the sheer heat.
Sun affinity magic,Jake concluded as he dodged back just in time before a

beam of burning light descended from above. It burned a hole nearly a
dozen meters into the ground right where he had been standing, making
Jake frown. The attack was a lot stronger than expected, and from how
Ell’Hakan felt, it was clear the man was at a higher level than Jake. Not just
one or two levels, but at least over a dozen. His two companions were
similarly all higher level than Jake.
But he was not deterred.
In his anger, he had activated Arcane Awakening fully, putting himself on a

timer. This was just another fight. One he could win.
The warrior hit with the arrow earlier quickly got healed as Jake continued
his attack. He wanted to take down the healer first, but the warrior clearly
knew his task was to protect her, so he decided just to kill both of them at
once. It was problematic that he was facing the ideal three-man party of a
damage-dealing caster, a defensive warrior, and a healer. With none of them
being significantly weaker than the others, it made it hard to exploit a weak
link.
Magic sprung up all around him as Jake put that larger mana pool to use.
His wings appeared and pumped out poison to create a mist covering the
entire area. Ell’Hakan himself was too damn hard to lock down and
damage, but the healer and warrior? Not so much.
He bombarded them with arcane bolts and exploding orbs, not to damage
them but to obscure their vision and give him openings. The first Arcane
Powershot landed on the healer not long after, but the woman recovered
quickly even after the stable arcane arrow tore off a large part of her chest.
The second Powershot hit the warrior, only penetrating deep into his
shoulder and making him spin in the air before he stabilized.
Arcane charges were building in both from his marks, and his special little
bottle from earlier carried an extra toxic surprise. Ell’Hakan himself failed
to hit any attacks no matter what he did. His attempt to manipulate Jake’s
emotions also failed. Jake was angry. Utterly pissed. But he kept his head
cool anyway as he had quite the practice with rampant emotions.
“I admit, you are stronger than our prior conversation, as well as our intel,
led me to believe,” Ell’Hakan spoke just as Jake blasted away his two
companions with an arrow stuck in each. Both of them looked tired and,
having had their boosting skills going for all this time, had clearly worn
them out. Jake, on the other hand, with his monstrous mana pool and
massively improved stamina pool, managed fine. The only one not really
pushed yet was Ell’Hakan, who seemed oddly disinterested in the fight. He
was just participating in the background to help his companions if it got too
dangerous or to keep Jake on his toes and keep the fight at a standstill
where the healer could keep up with Jake’s damage output.
“When are you going to stop pussying around and fight me?” Jake asked
the fucker.
“When the time is right,” Ell’Hakan smiled. Jake saw straight through the
bluff. He felt more confident than before and knew that the orange fuck
wasn’t that much stronger than his companions. The magic he used was
also big and flashy, consuming a lot of mana. Even if he had a boosting
skill, Jake would be fine.
Jake moved again to push his advantage as he wanted to finish off the
healer before any of them had the chance to escape. It wasn’t time yet to
activate his secret weapon… no, he would save that for the very end and
take them by surprise. It wasn’t like he needed to hurry anyway with how
big of an advantage he had, so even if he could admit he was not entirely
sure as to the efficacy of his poison, all should be fine.
In fact, he would barely even consider it a fight anymore. He was so much

superior and-
Jake’s eye opened wide in realization. His emotions had once more been
influenced, making him overly confident… but he realized it too late. In an
instant, he felt his entire body freeze. He looked upwards and saw an
absolutely massive magical circle and two more people floating far above,
having been hidden out of his Sphere all this time.
“A profound sense of danger towards attacks, a spherical detection skill

with a range between two and five hundred meters in radius. Powerful skills
making you a hard opponent to take by surprise… but not impossible,”
Ell’Hakan spoke as Jake now saw he was holding some kind of orb in his
hand that was linked to the magic circle above as they pulsed in
synchronicity.
Space itself seemed locked down around Jake as he struggled to release

himself. He felt isolated from the outside world, as if he did not belong
there, and yet did not feel like he was in any danger. Jake could not even
step down to teleport away… if that would even work.
“In the outskirts of the first Pylon city of Earth, the Chosen of the Malefic
Viper and the Celestial Child battled. In a fight almost equal, the Celestial
Child, Ell’Hakan, came out on top. In a moment of cowardice, the Malefic
One’s Chosen fled in fear, abandoning not just his city but humanity itself,”
Ell’Hakan said. “A selfish coward indeed… one not worth ever rallying
around.”
Jake wanted to talk but was unable to. It was as if he wasn’t even in the
same space as everyone else. Like he had been shifted to a different reality
while still being able to see and hear everything.
“I do hope you hurry,” Ell’Hakan said with a smile. “The World Congress
shall be your deadline to set history right.”
Space began to shift and move as far above, a projection appeared. It was
an entirely blue moon, far smaller than the moon of Earth. It began to move
at a visible speed as Jake faintly felt himself be linked to it. Chained to it.
Like the tide was controlled by the moon.
“Celestial Alignment of Yore.”
The orb on Ell’Hakan’s orb shattered as he spat out blood, and Jake felt
himself be pulled. He wanted to yell but could not move a single muscle.
He wanted to move his mana, but it refused to respond.
Just as he was about to be dragged away, Jake’s eyes focused as the space
around him faintly distorted. The very second he began to be dragged, he
could move once more, and in that very final moment, he raised both his
hands towards his opponents as they glowed green.
Touch of the Malefic Viper.
He also detonated his arcane charges from the Marks but was unable to see
the result. Within half a second, he lost sight of Ell’Hakan, the Fort, Haven,
and everything else. He kept accelerating as if dragged by heavenly chains
across the landscape. Everything blurred and distorted as all he saw were
moving colors and silhouettes, his mind unable to process everything.
Then suddenly, it stopped.
But the momentum was not gone. Jake fell to the ground like a meteor at
speed surpassing one. He saw the ground a millisecond before he impacted
it, only able to slightly angle himself as he hit it. Jake took a rolling fall as
he bounced off the ground and flew several more kilometers before his
second bounce. He felt his shoulder dislocate from the first impact, but after
the second one, he could slightly deaccelerate himself with blasts of mana.
After a few more bounces, Jake landed on the ground and saw that he was
lying on a large dune of sand. He breathed heavily as he rolled over and
tried to stand up as he spat out some sand that had gotten into his mouth.
Jake spat it out along with a good deal of blood from his internal injuries as
he tried to orient himself. Trying to understand what the hell had just
happened.
Jake, trying to get an idea of where he was, felt for Sylphie’s location using
their Union Oath. His eyes shot open as he stared directly down at the sand
below him. She was… nearly straight down. Very far too.
It took him a few moments to comprehend what had just happened, and the
moment he realized, he gritted his teeth in frustration, not even caring about
his injured body.
He had just been flung to the other fucking side of the planet. Jake cursed
and clenched his fists as he tried to calm himself own. It was then that he
felt a connection be formed.
“Jake, what happened?” he heard Miranda’s voice.
Jake then realized where he had just been fighting. “Tossed to the other side
of the planet… get out of there now. Escape Haven and move towards the
center of the Grand Mangrove River. Say I sent you.”
“Alright,” Miranda answered without any hesitation. “We shall… they’re

here, cutting off the ritual. Will contact once safe.”
With that, the connection was severed, and Jake was alone. He flopped
down on the sand again as he smashed his fist into it.
Everything was fucked. His only consolation was that Jake had at least
given those two annoying fucks a nice parting gift.
Ell’Hakan breathed with difficulty as his head pounded him using the orb.
The item was now broken, but it had done its job. He smiled as he saw the
Chosen be sent flying away. But at the very last moment, he felt it. An
overwhelming determination as the human raised both of his hands as they
glowed.
But… he was isolated in the space of yore, so nothing should-
Cao’Estill and Ult’Oriel, his best healer and third-best warrior, suddenly
collapsed to the ground as their bodies began bleeding from every orifice.
Their blood pooled like thin water, their flesh rotting, and their eyes glazed
over.
All he could do was look on as both of their bodies decayed and turned to
nothing but mush in front of him within seconds, leaving only rotting,
unrecognizable shapes behind.
Ell’Hakan narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply. Plans… must be adapted.
But they were still on track. This was only the first step, after all.
He turned his gaze towards the direction of Haven as his two companions
who had worked on the array joined him.
“What are your orders?” one of them asked.
“Follow me,” Ell’Hakan said. “Let us finally pay this Haven a visit.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 522 - Across The World
Miranda had been observing the battle from afar until suddenly, a huge
magic circle appeared and blocked out her view. When it disappeared, Jake
was gone, and she hurriedly contacted him with worry only to discover he
had been put out of commission and was now somehow on the other side of
the planet.
Having seen the battle, Miranda was confused about how Jake had fought
but did not question it. She knew their opponent had a Bloodline that
influenced emotions in some way, so she wrote it up to that. Not that it
mattered right now as she had more important things to do.
Jake’s warning before any attack arrived had allowed her to gather people
in time. Hank, his children, Neil and his party, Lillian, and Phillip, had
arrived in her underground ritual chamber. When Miranda saw Jake and the
alien invader fight, she moved right away to have Neil prepare their escape
path in case anything went wrong. She only vaguely remembered Jake
mentioning this Grand Mangrove River and how he had passed through and
met some friendly C-grades, but he seemed adamant that going there would
be the wisest.
“I will need more time,” Neil said as he worked at high speed to set up the
teleportation circle within the chamber. It was the same kind he had used all
the way back in E-grade to reach Haven in the first place.
“Alright,” Miranda said as she sat down with crossed legs in the middle of
her own ritual circle. The altars all around her flared to life as she began to
work her magic, first creating a massive green barrier that protected the
main city of Haven. Her eyes began to glow green as she took out several
orbs and tossed them onto each of the altars and prepared to show the
invaders why attacking a witch’s lair was considered a bad idea.
Casper frowned deeply as he looked at the approaching army. Priscilla
joined him in the city spire with a worried look on her face. “Most of the
Ghastpillars are already destroyed, and we won’t be able to get the
defensive array up and running in anything less than a week.”
“I know,” Casper said as he kept staring. He had known this day would
come. They both had. It was something that repeated itself time and time
again. An event that every new universe seemed to go through, a tribulation
the Risen always had to overcome.
They were hated by default. As undead, pre-conceived notions about their

existence were always present, and they were viewed as evil simply for
existing. So for the natives of a planet to seek their destruction should not
come as a surprise, even if Casper, Priscilla, and all the leaders of the Risen
on Earth hoped they could finally have a peaceful integration. With Jake
and others having so much influence and no negative feelings towards the
Risen, they had hope… but alas, the cycle repeated.
“The Holy Church joined them too, huh,” Casper said with disappointment
as he saw some of the people approaching. A large group. He counted at
least ten thousand D-grades from the Holy Church alone, backed up by
even more from the United Cities Alliance. Even if Jacob had warned him
during the last World Congress the Holy Church was planning something
against the Risen… he did not expect this.
“Did you hear more from the Augur? I thought he would stop an attack, or
at the very least warn us,” Priscilla asked.
“Nothing from him at all. I can’t even contact him anymore,” Casper shook
his head. By now, they had an okay understanding of the unfolding
situation, and for whatever reason, it seemed like the Holy Church had
made some kind of pact with the United Cities Alliance to wipe out the
Risen. This did not mean they had allied with the United Cities Alliance…
just that they were willing to help an enemy to crush an even more hated
enemy.
It should not be surprising. It was simply history repeating itself.

Casper closed his eyes as dark energy revolved around him. He looked
behind and saw their own fighters begin to gather, preparing for battle.
They were outnumbered significantly and were not truly an army like the
Holy Church or United Cities Alliance. Especially not after many internal
issues had popped up due to plants from the damn Alliance, including the
destruction of many defensive buildings.
“We just need to buy time,” Priscilla assured him.
“I know,” Casper nodded. But he couldn’t help but wonder… what the fuck
was Jacob doing? What was he planning?
“This time is crucial for you to ensure your C-grade evolution is as

successful as possible,” the Bishop said as he guided Jacob through the
grand hall. “As an Augur of Hope, you may be able to feel when people
walk astray or need guidance, but to also know of what options they then
have is entirely different.”
Jacob nodded in recognition as he followed the old man. Despite looking

like just an average priest, he was a B-grade Bishop of the Holy Church and
the leader of the Chapter that Jacob found himself in. Bertram was also off
with some of the local templars to train, making them both busy men.
For a long time, the Holy Church had worked on a solution for people to
potentially leave the ninety-third universe, and only a week or so ago, the
first gate was successfully made. It was still limited to D-grades and could
only send through a few people every day, but it was something. There was
also the issue of it being one-way, but that was only a temporary challenge
that mages both on Earth and in the wider universe were working on
overcoming.
“The students you will meet are all struggling and performing below
expectations. Some are veterans of many years, while others are new blood
who showed great promise but suddenly began to squander. These were
carefully curated, and we believe in your ability to set their fates right and
lead them to the best Paths possible for them,” the Bishop said with a smile.
“We expect much of you, Augur of Hope.”
Jacob once more nodded. “I shall do my utmost.”
“Good. It is also time you begin to look outwards. To not only focus on the
small planet from which you originate. The Holy Church can be found in
every universe, and there will always be places that need hope,” the man
followed up.
Jacob agreed, but he would want to return to Earth anyway as there was lots
of unfinished business there and many people he cared about.
The reason why he had left Earth was to ensure a successful evolution to C-
grade. Earth was limited in many ways, and Jacob was implored to go after
the gate was established. While he did have some reservations, he also
knew he would only be gone for a few months at most, and considering the
peaceful state of Earth, it was limited how much the council could mess up
in that time, right?
Two flickering wisps observed the movement across the vast mountain
range. Monsters of all sorts had assembled but not to fight. To observe. An
army had arrived, teleported by what had to be a powerful C-grade. They
had appeared extremely close to the Fallen King’s territory and not
hesitated to attack. A few Pylons were stolen before the King made his
move and tore the pathetic cretins to shreds.
But they kept coming, all led by another powerful leader. The monsters of
Earth were no monolith. There was no dominant faction, no agreed-upon
alliances or customs for how they would operate and interact. Unlike
humans, they had no rules. There was only power. Power would get you
followers as other monsters would seek to be under your wing. Be it for
Records, treasures, or simply safety. This was why they gathered around
powerful leaders.
The Fallen King was one such powerful leader with many beasts,
elementals, and other monsters loyal to him.
Loyal until another monster presented itself capable of challenging his

position. The Fallen King had never truly viewed this as a threat. C-grades
would not come to challenge him as while there were no set rules, there was
simply nothing in it for them to hunt down a D-grade. Even if that D-grade
was strong enough to challenge a C-grade. There was also the fear of failing
to kill him and the Fallen King returning for revenge. With the enhanced
intelligence all C-grades experienced, it was no surprise none had been
foolish enough to challenge him yet.
Until that day.
The army that had dared invade his domain was led by a creature, unlike
anything the Fallen King had met before. Shifting ash, a living storm of
half-burning embers, and a form that remained ever-changing. The Fallen
King recognized this foe as the creature assembled itself into a form
floating in between two mountains.
A Unique Lifeform. Like he.
[Ashen Phantom Devourer – lvl 199]
At the same level as him too. Both standing at the precipice, refining
themselves and reaching for perfection. Proving their Paths.
“A Devourer by choice. Your Path is apparent to all. Laughable, as it is a

foolish one,” the Fallen King spoke, his voice spreading throughout the
mountain range for tens of thousands of monsters to hear.
“A King who has already Fallen once dares speak of foolishness. Be

honored, and become sustenance for my Path,” the Ashen Phantom
Devourer spoke as the sky trembled as it released its power.
“Fallen… and having learned from his fall,” the King answered back as his
own power manifested, and the trembling sky was pushed back, space itself
cracking from the clashing power of two Unique Lifeforms at the peak of
D-grade.
They had no true reason to fight. They had never met, knew nothing of each
other. And yet there was no doubt or hesitation in either of them. It was not
a question of why or intent – neither needed any reason or justification. All
there was left was the fight to discover who of them was supreme.
Jake felt like shit and just wanted to charge into the horizon to get back, but
before doing anything else, he had to heal. Arcane Awakening had ravaged
his body quite a bit, and the entire flung-across-the-planet thing had
certainly not helped. He felt lucky he had landed in sand and not rock or
maybe smashed into a mountain, but a part of him also doubted it was luck.
The words Ell’Hakan had spoken made him believe the plan was never to
kill him.
He quickly chugged a healing potion and entered meditation as Jake

considered what kind of bullshit skill had been used on him. It did not seem
like something a D-grade should be capable of at all. Was it due to that orb?
The ritual circle? Or was it just a skill of an insanely high rarity? It had
Yore in the name, so what if that was the skill granted by Yip of Yore from
his True Blessing? Jake had gotten a divine rarity skill, and even if
Ell’Hakan did not get that, it had to be at least mythical or something, right?
Maybe above mythical but below divine, assuming there were rarities in
between.
There were so many doubts in his mind, but one thing was clear as day:
Jake had been countered. From the very moment he appeared, he had been
playing along with whatever Ell’Hakan had planned. He hated the thought,
but chances are killing Chris was done only with the intent to piss him off.
If he had not done that, Jake would have just appeared confused about why
the orange guy was there. But with the death of Chris, Jake had blown his
fuse immediately and attacked like an absolute idiot. He had not acted
according to anything he had practiced at all but just been tunnel-visioning
from start to end. It was an utter failure on his part.
What made it even worse was that Jake had no fucking idea what it was all
about. If the plan had always been to fight him, only to toss him away, why
fight in the first place? To buy time? Did they even need to buy time with
fighting? If Ell’Hakan had just talked, Jake would have been delayed
plenty. And what did he hope to accomplish by sending Jake away? To take
over Haven? Hurt those who lived there? If that was what he wanted, he
could have just broken the monument before Jake could return to Earth. He
clearly had time.
No, he had wanted Jake to return, and he had wanted to send him away to
where he was now. But for the life of him, Jake could not figure out why
the fuck he would want that. Just to try and spread rumors and ruin Jake’s
reputation? Why the fuck would he think Jake would care about that?
Jake was annoyed beyond belief as he tried to focus on something more

positive. Like the fact he at least got in a nice blow at the end. He had killed
two of them, and he knew from their level of power they were not weak,
and to cultivate people of that power this early on in the integration meant a
significant investment. No matter what, it had to have been a loss that
stung.
Checking his notifications, he saw he also gained a level.
*You have slain [Nahoom - lvl 191 / Sworn Celestial Mender - lvl 183 /
Servant of the Celestial Child – lvl 199] – Bonus experience earned for
killing an enemy above your level.
*You have slain [Nahoom - lvl 187 / Royal Shield Guard - lvl 175 /
Servant of the Celestial Child – lvl 199] – Bonus experience earned for
killing an enemy above your level.
He was a bit confused at seeing them both have the same profession, and
both have it maxed out. Jake had heard from Miranda that she had gotten
skills related to Jake, so was this the same thing? It had to be, right? Or was
Celestial Child just some title Ell’Hakan stole from someone else? More
questions he had no answers to.
As for how he had killed the two of them…. well, let’s just say he had
gotten some good stuff out of his long alchemy sessions and his extreme
spending.
Jake had made a little extra something shortly before returning from the
Order. He only had a few bottles so far and had just used one, but the effect
had been more than satisfactory.
[Sleeping Night Toxin (Rare)] – Sometimes, the most potent poison is that
which is never felt or seen before it is too late. Mixing eth, hemo- and
necrotic toxins, a potent yet harmless poison has been made. Will be in a
hidden sleeping state by default, making it near-undetectable. If injected
into a foe, it will simply linger within the Soulshape, slowly dispersing
harmlessly. However, if awakened, the toxins will all spring to life,
seeking to kill their target with necrotic and hemotoxin properties. Will
cause direct damage to both the Soulshape and physical body of those
infected once awakened. Has an increased effect if the target is unaware
of the infection upon activation.
It was Jake’s magnum opus so far when it came to poisons. It had combined
everything he had learned and was far more challenging to make than
anything else he had. Jake’s own success chance when concocting it was in
the single digits percentage-wise, and each concoction only gave him one or
two bottles. Not to mention the cost. The toxin was far more complex than
anything he had made prior too. Shit, he had even somehow mixed in a bit
of that stealth attack concept.
As with other creations, the poison’s weaknesses and limitations translated

to more overall power once these aspects were circumvented. Rather than
slowly infect someone with poison and damage them little by little, this
poison was instant. It would spread throughout harmlessly until Jake
activated it using his newly upgraded Touch of the Malefic Viper. He had
considered making a poison like this for a long time but had only truly
begun after upgrading the skill.
He continued his meditation for a while longer and felt in pretty good shape
again. He had only really expended stamina and mana during the fight, and
his health was fixed quickly with the earlier potion. Opening his eyes, Jake
stood up and stretched a bit. Rustling his cloak, he also got out all of the
damn sand as he finally got a good look around and just saw desert all
around for what had to be thousands of kilometers in each direction.
Jake knew there was nothing else to do but get moving.
Yet as he stood there and considered what direction to move in, he felt faint
tremors below. He wondered if it was coming for him but felt the
movements go elsewhere. Looking out into the desert, he saw some stones
spread around but nothing else.
Suddenly the ground rumbled as three yellow pillars that seemed to meld
into the background shot up from the ground as if coming up for air. Large
wriggling forms more than a hundred meters long, all three of which Jake
quickly Identified.
[Veilskin Sand Worm – lvl 197]
Jake stared at them a bit in awe as he saw something else out of the corner
of his eye. Hundreds of kilometers away, it looked as if a tower was
suddenly erected as a massive form emerged. Its length had to be measured
in kilometers.
[Behemoth Sand Worm – lvl ???]
Similar scenes played out around him as Jake realized he had found himself
smack in the middle of Sand Worm territory… which made him realize that
sometimes you have to find the good in the bad. Jake had a lot of pent-up
frustration and a long journey ahead of him.
The worms wouldn’t help with the distance, but they sure as hell would
help with the frustration as he took out his bow. He knew he needed to
figure out how to not get fucked over again by Ell’Hakan… but no matter
what, more power would help whatever anti-fuckery method he found.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 523 - Just Sand-Witch
Things
Due to the suddenness of the attack, many of those behind it still remained
within Haven. They believed they could simply lie low and hide, acting like
normal citizens until their side came out on top. It had worked for a time…
but only because Miranda had been distracted.
Every action carried intent, and this intent followed you like a dark fog. Not
to normal people… but to Miranda, there were traces left behind at the
broken teleportation circle for her to track. Creatures that existed only in the
minds and dreams had seen what they had done. It did not take her long to
locate those who had been behind the destruction of the teleporters.
They were just mostly normal people, some not even D-grade. Miranda
could admit that the security around their teleporters had been shit. No one
expected an attack, and she still found any potential explanation for the
attack nonsensical. Haven had done all it could to stay neutral, so why the
hell target them?
Annoyed but pressed for time, Miranda did not have time to interrogate
them. Considering their goal of escape, she would not have time to either as
she made the call.
The man hid his face as he walked through the busy panicked streets.
Everyone were confused as they had only heard that the Viper’s Chosen had
returned to Earth and engaged the alien invader. This confusion turned to
something akin to panic when the fight stopped, and a barrier encompassed
the entire city.
None of it was his concern. The citizens were safe; they were never the
targets. He saw them as victims, the lot of them.
People sought their homes, and so did the man. He got inside and quickly
closed the door, and activated what defensive measures each house was
equipped with. After taking off his cloak, he headed toward his living room.
Plopping down on the couch, he let out a sigh of relief. He and the others
had not been discovered yet, and considering the lack of response, he
doubted they would. All he had to do was wait now.
Feeling relatively safe, he got up again and went to grab a bottle from his
fridge. Well, it was just a box with a magic circle to cool it down, but it
worked as a fridge.
He walked over and opened it just as he heard a knock on his door. The
door to his bedroom. His eyes opened wide as he whipped his head towards
the door, with his hand still reaching for the bottle stashed in the back of the
fridge. Yet rather than a bottle, he felt his hand meet something soft.
The man barely had time to turn his head before two hands grasped his
wrist and dragged him into the fridge, slamming the door behind him. A
faint sound was emitted from within before the door opened again – the
only thing remaining a severed hand clutching a bottle.
--
Miranda quickly eliminated all of them after summoning the Drowned

Swamp Maidens, using one of her more efficient rituals to kill those
significantly weaker than herself and within her domain. How the skill
worked exactly wasn’t something Miranda entirely knew. What she did
know was that it called upon the spirits of the Drowned Swamp Maidens,
which were more conceptual apparitions than anything truly real. They
were living ideas.
Getting rid of the terrorists – because that is what they were – had only
taken her around a minute. In that time, Ell’hakan and his two followers had
not rushed over but simply walked up to the edge of the barrier at a
leisurely pace.
She observed as the man stopped in front of the barrier. He raised his hand
and touched it for a faint moment and waited five or so seconds before
speaking. “Ms. Wells, I believe you should be able to hear me, am I
correct?”
Miranda briefly opened her eyes and saw Neil was still hard at work,
having even put his party members to work placing down materials in the
circle. Closing them again, she decided to buy time. At that moment, when
she felt his hand touch the barrier, she felt a pulse go into it, making her
tremble. She did not know what it was and decided that if the guy wanted to
talk… she would talk. Well, shewouldn’t talk.
Focusing, she took out a small doll and infused some magic into it. Placing
it in the middle of the circle, she said an incantation and immersed her
mind.
In the outside world, a figure faded into existence. A human-sized doll

looking quite a bit like Miranda appeared, looking more than a little scary
with its oversized buttons for eyes and amateur craftsmanship. Miranda had
to sew it herself, and damn was she bad at sewing.
But the doll worked as its mouth moved. “Is it not a basic skill expected of
a City Lord to have some level of perception within the domain they rule?”
“It is. I must say, this is my first time ever meeting a witch, and I am
already intrigued,” Ell’Hakan spoke, looking at the doll. “I would like to
apologize for before. I believed it necessary to show that I have ways to
break barriers such as this to make you come out for a talk. Ah, on that, I
would advise you to not rely too much on the Pylon for city defenses. As a
noble with a significantly higher rank and a profession that allows it, I
possess skills to combat it quite effectively. Instead, I would work on
making your own skills the primary basis of the barrier, with the Pylon only
acting as an auxiliary energy source.”
Miranda looked confused at the man speaking. Enough to doubt if
Ell’Hakan could influence her through the puppet. But she quickly ruled
that out simply by how she assumed it worked. If his ability was to
influence emotions, he had to influence the soul, and the puppet she had
sent did not contain anything to influence. Which begged the question:
“Why are you telling me that?”
“Friendly advice from one ruler to another,” Ell’Hakan answered. “And a

good icebreaker that shows my intent. I want to make an educated guess
and say you are currently working on a method of escape or some kind of
counterattack. Probably escape, considering I just defeated the Chosen of
the Viper.”
“You did not defeat him; you just delayed him and pissed him off,” Miranda
countered in a curt tone.
“I did what I intended. Today was not the time for an actual fight,” the man
nodded in recognition. “I will just lay the cards out on the table. I have no
interest in causing you any harm, Ms. Wells, but I have made a deal with
the United Cities Alliance, as they call themselves. They very much would
like to see you dead.”
“Are you really going with the “it’s not personal” line?” Miranda scoffed.
“Not really. I am going with the line of saying that you should escape. I will
not stop you. But I will warn you that the United Cities Alliance will try to
take you down. From what I heard, the Chosen’s influence on this planet
would be significantly weakened and his current political position ruined if
you were to die,” Ell’Hakan explained.
“Doesn’t sound like a reason to suddenly spare me and not break in here
and now,” Miranda answered. She briefly disconnected from her doll, and
Neil signaled her that he was soon ready. Entering it again, she saw
Ell’Hakan shake his head and chuckle.
“We both know that entering wouldn’t lead to a pleasant experience. For
either of us. What you are capable of is not pertinent information, and I
would prefer not to take such an unnecessary risk. The Verdant Witches are
notorious for their mysticism, and you are none the different. With me
having no interest in attacking you, simply waiting for you to leave seems
like the best cause of action. Ah, but do be warned that if you choose to
stay, I will have to act at one point or another,” Ell’Hakan warned.
“You want me to just leave Haven in your hands?” Miranda shot back. That
was exactly what she was going to do, but she had to at least act like the
man didn’t have the upper hand. Also… she wanted to know what he was
planning.
“I will lay no claim on anything here today. Someone from the United
Cities Alliance will come and take charge for now. No one has any interest
in killing the citizens, so rest easy,” Ell’Hakan assured her.
“Grand words coming from someone who is all about bullshit lies and
making up stories.”
“But I do speak the truth, as no story matters if there are none to remember
and tell it,” Ell’Hakan simply said.
“A story that is a lie. What are you even hoping to accomplish? Ruin our
reputations? Even if you succeed in doing that, how will it matter? Can you
truly call that an actual victory?” Miranda asked. “To me, it all seems like
the pathetic actions of someone too weak to battle Lord Thayne head-on.”
Miranda hoped to get a bit of a rise out of the guy. Maybe make him
temporarily lose his cool and overshare. She had confidence that even if he
wanted to attack now, she could hold him off long enough for Neil to be
done.
“Fighting… holds little meaning,” Ell’Hakan spoke. “A fight is always just

a single line in the history books. A declaration of the outcome after the
fact. Tell me, how many were truly aware of our brief battle here today? A
few dozen? Add on a few bored gods gazing upon events they truly don’t
care about, and it is little more than a handful. My words of the battle will
echo more true than anyone else. All they know is that a fight took place,
and it ended up with me left standing and the Malefic’s Chosen gone. I
know what you are hoping to accomplish, but let me assure you; a story is
better told if not spoiled beforehand. Killing the Chosen would have been a
waste. I am not telling a small tale but a true epic.”
“One where you try to define what is the truth,” Miranda said.
“Precisely,” Ell’Hakan smiled. “I have enjoyed our brief conversation, even

if it was rather one-sided. I would advise you to leave now or show your
hand as I can delay no longer before my partners get dissatisfied with my
dallying.”
He snapped his fingers as Miranda’s doll caught fire and burned down in an
instant, throwing Miranda back to her real body. In the middle of the ritual
circle, her small doll had now turned to ashes. She only had time to orient
herself before she felt a pulse go through the barrier. The pulse seemed to
attack not the barrier’s energy but the very framework.
“How long?” Miranda asked.
“Done, was just waiting for you,” Neil said.
Miranda nodded as she hurried over to the teleportation circle. Just before
stepping on it, she briefly spoke a final spell before getting teleported away
along with most other notable characters in Haven – besides Sultan and
Arnold.
No one liked sand. As spoken by a not-that-wise man long ago: It’s coarse,
rough, irritating, and gets everywhere. And that was normal sand. Magical
sand was even worse. Not because it was finer and somehow more
everywhere, but because it sure as hell was coarser and rougher by a
significant magnitude.
And then there were sandstorms. Sandstorms on Earth before the system
could be devastating, but a post-system sandstorm was on an entirely
different level.
Jake was already in an even worse mood than usual when it arrived. He had
tried to hurry through the desert while hunting down sand worms, but the
fuckers were borderline impossible to kill. Even the peak D-grade ones Jake
could not easily get rid of. Their bodies were massive, and they clearly had
an equally massive health pool, but the worst part was their behavior. He
had yet to have a single one even try to fight back. He had even tried to
attack a C-grade, done all the preparations, been as ready as he could, only
for him to land a single Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter before the worm
dove straight down and swam away for him to never see it again.
That is when he truly realized… these worms did not at all care about
fighting. They just ate stuff. Jake had wondered how that would even work,
as the surface was bound to run out of natural treasures and high-energy
items at some point.
Which is where the sandstorms came in.
It was like the very horizon had moved towards him. A towering wall of
sand reaching into the sky for several kilometers had barreled towards Jake
as he tried to fly through the desert. He had reacted quickly and tried to
mimmick the worms by boring into the ground and hiding until things blew
over. This should work, right?
Wrong.
Because this sandstorm was a true marvel of the elements. It was a zone of
earth and wind mana that mixed and created what could almost be called a
moving domain. A true wonderland for creatures that relied on these
energies. Or one to spawn such creatures.
Elementals simply came into being within the massive sandstorm, and
while the sand worms did not want to fight, these elementals sure did. Like
as if a giant vacuum cleaner had been turned on, several elementals sucked
up all the sand around Jake and pulled him out of the desert.
He felt sand hit his body and himself take damage as it impacted him with
near super-sonic speeds. Sand even found the eyeholes of his mask and hit
one eye, forcing him to close it. Jake was well and truly pissed as he used
his one good eye to Identify one of the elementals attacking him.
[Sand Elemental – lvl 184]
One would maybe think that this kind of environment was bad for Jake.
And they would be right. But that did not really matter much when all he
faced were D-grade elementals.
Arcane Awakening in the stable mode activated as a faint arcane barrier

covered his entire body. This passive shield was usually not a big deal, but
when it blocked thousands of small “attacks” every second? It allowed him
to effectively ignore the environmental effects and move to kill his foes as
he did the one thing that always worked: blow them the hell up with
destructive arcane arrows.
Meanwhile, Jake made his way out of the sandstorm. As he traveled

through it, he saw entire sand worms had been dragged out of the ground
and into the storm, as well as hundreds of other creatures. The sand worms
seemed to make it out, though, as they worked together and used sand
magic of their own to help others escape. Elementals consumed the
creatures that could not get away, and it was as if the sandstorm itself
absorbed some of the energy whenever something died.
However, while the sandstorm took, it also gave, as it left behind treasures.
Treasure generated from the sandstorm itself that simply dropped onto the
sand and was left behind. If not for being stuck in the middle of the damn
storm, Jake would have marveled at the ways the ecosystem had evolved.
After more than an hour of struggle, Jake finally made it out of the
sandstorm and saw the massive natural phenomenon just continue sweeping
across the desert. His momentary sense of relief from being out was
promptly broken as he realized he had been flying back in the direction he
had just come from to get out of the damn storm.
“Fuck me,” Jake muttered as he wondered what to do. As he was flying up

in the air, he saw dozens of sandworms begin to emerge below to consume
the natural treasures dropped from the sandstorm. As Jake stared at them,
he got an idea. An idea that just might work.
He just needed one of them to eat him first…
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 524 - Into the Ground
Getting a massive sandworm to eat you was actually way easier than Jake
had expected. Not that Jake should have expected much from the get-go, it
was a stupid expectation. All he had done was just land on the sand, get
semi-close to a natural treasure while using Arcane Stealth, and boom, a
worm popped up and swallowed him. It was a level 198 worms, so damn
close to evolution too.
The worm nearly instantly noticed it had caught something it didn’t want
and tried to spit him out. However, Jake held on inside its massive maw as
he spoke. ”Hey! Worm! Make a deal!”
It did not react but kept trashing and trying to spit Jake out. That is when he
realized that the sand worms had no ears and probably not even a sense of
hearing, making him switch to telepathy.
”Worm. Make deal. You help me, I help you. If not, death.”
As he said the words, Jake took out a handful of earth affinity herbs and
tossed them down the gullet of the worm. It was a gamble… that paid off
immediately as the worm stopped moving. By now, Jake was hanging onto
the flesh walls of the giant worm’s mouth as he spoke again.
”If you help me get that way,” Jake sent telepathically as he poked the side
of the giant worm’s mouth with a weak arcane bolt. ”I will feed you.
Okay?”
It should not come as a surprise that the giant worm could not speak. Jake
was really gambling on this idea as he assumed that these sand worms were
dumb as bricks and-
”I apologize; I think there is some kind of misunderstanding. I did not mean
to try and eat you… actually, what are you?” Jake heard a deep rumbling
voice in his head.
Wait, what? Jake questioned himself.
”You understand me?” Jake asked, confused.
”I think? I am more questioning how you can speak. You aren’t a worm. Or
are you? You don’t look like one, but I have seen weird worms before…” the
creature spoke.
”I am not a worm, no,” Jake made clear. ”I am human and ended up here
on accident. All I am looking for is a way out of the desert.”
”Human? What are those? And why leave? You can’t move properly
outside. A few tried. Oh, unless you get stronger and evolve, I saw one able
to do it. Are you evolved?” the overly curious worm asked.
Jake had to admit, when he began his plan, he had not expected to have a
conversation with a worm. He had more hoped to communicate his intent
and perhaps find a way to nudge the worm in the right direction while
bribing it with stuff.
”I am not evolved, no, but I can move properly outside. I cannot move
properly here, though, which is why I need your help,” Jake said. ”If you
can help me get out of the desert, I can give you good stuff in return.”
The worm fell silent for a few moments, still just sitting there while poking
out of the sand like a tower with its mouth wide open, making it so Jake
could fly out at any moment. ”What kind of stuff?” it finally asked.
Jake smiled a bit to himself as he took out one of the orbs he had looted
from one of the many Earth Elementals he had killed while traveling with
Carmen. ”Things like this,” Jake said as he threw the orb down the long
tunnel that was the worm’s mouth.
Seconds passed before the worm answered. ”Okay. I will help you, human.
Also, don’t I have to? If not, I will die.”
He had kind of forgotten he had threatened death before. Jake had only
really done it, as that kind of intent was something animals tended to
understand.
”I promise I won’t hurt you at all. Instead, let’s make this something to
benefit us both.”
”Sounds better than death, that is for sure,” the worm said, Jake detecting a
hint of sarcasm in the voice. Had he found himself a sassy giant sand
worm?
The next few minutes passed as Jake talked with the worm and got a better
idea of how their species worked. The worms were actually damn good at
magic and moved primarily through some kind of earth telekinesis to push
them forward using the sand, allowing them to travel at frankly insane
speeds for their size.
To hunt for treasures better, the worms all stayed in contact through some
kind of telepathy network. It worked by them linking up with one another
while in the area, and often a single C-grade always stayed close to the
larger groups of worms to help them in case anything went wrong. There
were creatures besides the Sand Elementals that hunted the worms, but
most never chased down into the sand, so as long as the worms could warn
others in time, they stayed safe. All in all, Jake learned to not disrespect the
intelligence of giant sand worms.
In return, Jake told the worm of things outside the desert as he also guided
where they should go.
Using threads of stable arcane mana, he anchored himself to the side of the
worm’s mouth and got into a comfortable position. Contrary to what one
would expect, the inside of the worm was not moist at all but dry as the
desert outside. The walls of the mouth were also rough and tough like rock,
likely from repeatedly swallowing sand. Something the worm would avoid
doing with its passenger along.
That is how Jake managed to catch a ride inside a giant sand worm as he
traveled what had to be a few kilometers under the sand. They shot forward
with the speed of a bullet through the desert, and Jake faintly felt a few
worms around them at times, but being inside of one made them all ignore
him. The worm did say that a few detected him, but the worm just
explained it away somehow. Jake chose to trust his driver in this, as
honestly? It seemed like a stand-up worm. Would definitely rate it five
stars.
He felt good enough to enter meditation, where he finally found time to

rummage on one of his most pertinent issues: what if Ell’Hakan could do
that weird transportation skill again?
It didn’t seem likely, but Jake saw no reason to gamble on that one. Even if
he didn’t have more orbs or a ritual circle, it was a huge risk anyway,
simply because Jake had no way to currently combat whatever concept the
skill relied on.
While there were aspects of it, it wasn’t space magic. Jake had a strong
feeling that even if he managed to break through and use One Step, he
would not have been freed. Maybe he would have moved a bit, but the skill
would still have taken effect and flung him away, making the few hundred
meters he managed to teleport insignificant.
One Step was a skill that was purely space magic. It relied one hundred
percent on the concept of space to travel, so if space magic was just a part
of it, it wouldn’t allow him to get out. He needed something far different.
Considering his first escape skill was Shadow Vault, Jake popped into his
Soulspace and-
”No,” sim-Jake said the moment he appeared.
Jake exited his Soulspace again and considered his second option. One he
had seen be used to escape a very perilous situation before when used by its
maker.
He was naturally thinking of Wings of the Malefic Viper.

The attack on the Risen had started as expected. The weaker individuals
took the frontlines from the side of the Holy Church and United Cities
Alliance while the Risen tried to preserve their numbers and strength. They
tried to only send out the stronger parties from their side as this was not a
battle they could win. Only delay. Priscilla stayed back to organize
everything while Casper had chosen to take to the battlefield.
It’s a bit weird when I think about it, Casper thought to himself as he
released his curses upon the opposing army.
He was a Risen and what many would call a bringer of death and misery
with his specialization in curses. Yet, Casper realized that he hadn’t actually
killed any humans since the Tutorial. Not even during the Treasure Hunt
had a taken a single life due to how the Risen had approached the event.
Until today, that is.
War was a common occurrence in the multiverse. He knew the Blightfather

and the undead faction as a whole condoned these kinds of wars and viewed
them as a good thing. It helped weed out the population and, in turn, gave
rise to not only more powerful, but more talented individuals. War was far
more than a single fight. It was a long struggle and something that forced
you to not only train your skills but your mind. Those who came out of a
war on top either had their mentality steeled or broken.
Casper himself was an example of the latter. He had already been broken
once during the Tutorial. He knew he was not made for war. He hated it. He
despised the senseless killing of people fighting for things that were either
lies or that they barely believed in. Most of the invaders from the Holy
Church or United Cities Alliance were only there because of what their
factions had lied about or due to sheer ignorance. They had no personal
reason. Casper hated every moment he spent on the battlefield… which
only made him stronger.
It didn’t help that he was really fucking good at it.

Curses were fueled by emotions, and the battlefield was a very emotional
place. Casper simply had to fuel the fire as he took advantage of the area.
One had to remember that the Risen were the defenders, and even if many
of their defensive measures had been sabotaged, far from all had been
struck. The most potent defenses only a handful were aware of. One of
these defensive items was called the Thousand Splinters Pillar. To the naked
eye, it looked like a giant rotten treetrunk, but to Casper, it was a battery of
infinite weapons.
Casper flew above the battlefield with the large pillar floating behind him as
he sent splinters raining down towards the battlefield. Every time a splinter
hit someone, they were struck by a mental attack. Those unable to resist
lashed out and began attacking those around them mercilessly as their
perception of who was an ally or friend changed. To make it worse then, the
curse energy in each splinter would be amplified every time the person
attacked someone.
Within the first half of an hour of the battle, Casper killed hundreds. Within
the first day, over a thousand. It slowed down with time as they adapted, but
Casper was just stronger. Some were not even D-grade, and Casper quickly
realized something was off but kept fighting. At the beginning of the second
day, after a long rest where others had to take to the battle, he pushed
forward as he killed more and more, soon leaving behind the other Risen. If
he was ahead of the others, he could limit casualties on their side.
Keeping up and pressing his advantage, Casper soon found himself close to
enemy lines. He stopped, and as this moment, his Spirit Mark resonated,
and he heard Priscilla speak.
”Retreat for now. They are just throwing bodies at us to tire us out both
mentally and in resources.”
Casper Instantly agreed as he began to make his way back. He stared at the
battlefield below and saw corpses everywhere. Most were from the Holy
Church, but Priscilla was right… these were just meat shields. Proof once
more of the ruthlessness of the Holy Church when it came to war. They
were willing to make any sacrifice as long as they won. Their own elites
also had cowardly stayed back from the moment Casper rejoined the battle.
One of the defensive measures they still had on the side of the Risen was a
single Orb of Second Awakening – a one-time use item that would send a
specially attuned death mana pulse out to reanimate those who had died as
undead. Not risen, just mindless monsters. But the Church and United
Cities clearly knew this as flames constantly swept across the battlefield,
burning the bodies of the fallen, followed by pulses from the priests of the
Holy Church to ”purify” the souls. It was cruel but effec-
”Watch out!” Casper suddenly heard mid-retreat.
He did not react in time, but a shield still appeared and blocked a beam of
light that had been headed straight for him as one of his pre-prepared spells
activated. Casper’s eyes opened wide as a second attack arrived, this time
from directly below. He retreated away, towards the battlefield once more,
as a sword of light cut the area he had just stood. The air shimmered as a
figure was revealed from invisibility. As he appeared, so did his comrades.
”Thousands dead to isolate me in an ambush…” Casper muttered.
Five people had appeared, and he recognized three of them as the party
members of Bertram. It was the healer Noor, the swordsman Lucian and
mage Joshua. Notable absent were the two strongest people in the party,
Maria and Bertram.
The two replacements were also an archer and a warrior.
”Thousands of fates realized as they enter the Holyland with honor,” the
priestess, Noor, said.
God damn fanatics, Casper cursed as he saw no need for further words.
With the pillar still floating behind him, Casper counterattacked as he
prioritized getting back to safety. Lucian cut him off and tried to strike
Casper but was intercepted by a wooden barrier that exploded in his face.
Joshua released a beam of light that forced Casper to dodge as he sent

cursed stakes in retaliation. The archer and warrior also joined the fray and
tried to pressure the Risen, but the difference was clear. Which only made
Casper frown more as they should know they didn’t stand a chance. Which
meant it was as he and Priscilla expected…
”Do you need my help?” Lyra asked him from within his pendant, but
Casper refused.
”Save your energy in case they have a trick up their sleeve. They have
something planned, and I may need you to get us out of here,”Casper
answered. He had not overextended without a backup plan.
Lyra acknowledged as she was ready to unleash her power if anything went
awry. Casper handled the fight fine on his own, but killing any one of them
was an issue. He lacked in the damage output department as he was the type
of fighter to slowly build up curses in his foes or lead them into traps. With
no time to set up traps, Casper just had to fight with his wooden stakes and
general curse magic as he ever-so-slowly tried to get away.
The group had only revealed themselves the moment Casper had begun
retreating, so it was clear something was up. He tried probing out responses
as he used a boosting skill and pressed Lucian hard. Giant stakes appeared
all around Casper as he made them connect to the pillar floating behind
him, sending out pulses of pure curse energy.
Casper was about to explode the entire thing as he felt something was off.
”You fucking bastards,” Casper muttered as he looked down. Thousands of

motes of light had appeared, floating in the air as Noor spoke an
incantation.
”Holy martyrs, heed my call!” the insane priestess yelled as the many
motes of light began moving.
Casper had underestimated the depravity of the Holy Church. These people
were not just meat shields; they were straight-up sacrifices. He knew this
kind of magic; it was something the Holy Church had deployed before.
Each of the killed members from the Holy Church had carried on them a
mark that effectively turned them into dead people walking to bring out
more power, and when they then died, all their remaining energy would be
focused into the mark. The holy ”purification” earlier was not to cleanse
their souls or whatever either, but simply a way to prime the motes.
The motes of light flew up and entered a mark on the swordsman Lucian.
Casper was perplexed for a moment until he realized what they were doing-
These people are batshit insane.
Lucian began glowing with intense light as Casper tried to back away, but
the four others moved to stop him. Each of them had activated all their
boosting skills to try and keep him still as Lucian’s aura grew with every
moment.
Just as he was about to unleash it all, Casper snickered a bit.
”Lyra. Now.”
Casper’s body suddenly glowed green as a ghostly form appeared above

him. Lyra opened her mouth and let out a fitting unholy scream that sent out
a wave of soul energy. At the same same, the pillar exploded, sending
splinters in every direction. Everyone were stunned and pelted with
splinters as Casper’s entire body turned green and transparent before he
flew straight down towards the ground.
Lucian broke through the stun effect and chased him, surpassing Casper’s
speed and catching up to him rapidly. The Risen pressed himself even more,
and he felt his body burn from the man’s sheer presence as he looked like a
miniature sun. Lucian’s blade closed in just as Casper reached the ground…
and continued.
The blade impacted the soil as a huge explosion shook the battlefield,
sending shockwaves out. A bright light flashed before it subsided, leaving
only a deep hole in the ground as well as a struggling Lucian. He tried to
strike again, but his arm broke mid-swing as his body started to turn to
motes of light. A few seconds later, not a single trace of him remained as
his body had been consumed by the holy power.
Back behind the walls, a ghostly green figure emerged right next to
Priscilla. It was naturally Casper who quickly turned corporal again before
slumping to the ground. ”Those absolute maniacs actually fucking did it.”
”We expected it,” Priscilla sighed, still clearly troubled by the sheer level of
fanaticism displayed by the church.
Casper nodded as he looked over at a certain cave. ”Is it time we make our
grand exit?”
”Most have already been evacuated,” Priscilla answered.
”Go now,” Casper said. ”I will help the rest retreat from the battlefield as
you lead the last ones in there.”
”We’re really doing this,” Priscilla said, uncertainty clear on her face.
”We tried and failed,” Casper said. ”So let’s just stick to the original plan.
We should have just accepted long ago that Earth would never be a home
for us anyway.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 525 - Making (Unpleasant)
Business Deals
Wings of the Malefic Viper was honestly a bit of a weird skill in Jake’s
repertoire when Jake thought about it. Mainly in that he didn’t really need
one of its primary functions anymore: the ability to fly. Jake could fly just
using mana manipulation already.
This meant the skill now only served as a way to pump out poison mist. It
did add a bit of maneuverability while flying, but it was not that major. Jake
knew that a lot of the skills Records went into simply summoning the wings
in their phantasmal form and adding them to the Soulshape, but that wasn’t
exactly something Jake ”needed” either.
Jake still used the wings a lot due to their relatively low upkeep, which
meant the only time he really spent resources on them was with the initial
summoning and when he pumped out poison. The poison pumped out also
wasn’t exactly impressive. It mostly just served as a way to keep his current
poison active and the occasional area of effect attack.
Upgrading the poison mist aspect of the skill did not appeal to him either.
Besides, if he upgraded his Blood of the Malefic Viper, he would
inadvertently also upgrade the mist. There was also the approach of trying
to make them more durable or perhaps increase the maneuverability and
overall flight speed. There was even the approach of going the same
direction as Draskil, where his wings allowed him short-range teleports and
speed-ups in battle. His version was clearly one specialized for movement
in combat and taking advantage of his existing physical stats. But that
wasn’t the direction Jake wanted to take it.
During his vision, where he saw Villy get smacked by Valdemar, he had
seen Wings of the Malefic Viper be used as an escape skill to great effect.
He had felt how the wings had somehow been activated, and a ”tunnel” of
sorts had been formed that allowed him to escape. Jake wanted something
like that.
He wanted an escape skill, not necessarily to run from a fight he could not
win like Villy had, but to escape situations that rendered him stuck or sealed
in some way. Like the skill, Ell’Hakan had used that had seemed to isolate
Jake from the rest of the world for its duration.
One Step was already better at long-distance movement anyway. It was a

legendary skill specialized in travel, while Wings had so many other
aspects. There were some issues with upgrading it, though.
Having already been shown the skill twice, Jake was not sure if he could
see it again. It did say that he could only view a vision of a skill once, but
did the one he had count? It felt more like that one had been about Fangs of
the Malefic Viper rather than Wings.
Nevertheless, Jake tried to use the Path of the Heretic-Chosen skill as he

focused on Wings of the Malefic Viper. Not necessarily to use it, but to see
if he even could, and to his disappointment, the skill did not activate right
way. This left him even more unsure as he still didn’t know if it was
because he didn’t fulfill some requirement to see the vision or because he
had used his one chance on the skill.
He also tried to reflect on the feeling back during the vision he had before,
but it was all too blurry for him to remember. His focus back then had been
on Fangs of the Malefic Viper and Fang of Man and not Wings, so even
when he had felt the escape technique, his mind had partly been elsewhere.
”You busy?” the worm suddenly asked Jake as he meditated on the issue.
”Only a little,” Jake answered. ”Why do you ask?”
”You said you wanted to hurry, right? The problem is that up ahead is the
territory of scorpions, and they like to hide in the sand and attack if we try
to go through, so we tend to avoid them. Avoiding them and going around
will be slower, though… but if the human is strong, then maybe…” the
worm said very leadingly.
”Let me guess, they have a C-grade leader of some kind?”Jake asked.
”Yep, and it is very dangerous. One of the big worms tried to scare them off
once but was hit, and it took weeks to recover from the nasty venom. We
aren’t that good at fighting, if you haven’t noticed, and trying to swallow
them wouldn’t end well as they have tough bodies and are very poisonous
even when eaten. A few worms have eaten some of them, and it never ended
well,” the worm explained.
”So I guess this all for the well-being of worm society?”Jake asked a bit
teasingly.
”Their leader may or may not also be guarding a very tasty-looking rock
that I wouldn’t complain if I happened to eat,” the worm admitted, making
its intentions clear. Even if worm society was very altruistic and they
believed in sharing, then there was still some greed when it came to unique,
powerful natural treasures. The C-grades tended to monopolize these
according to what the worm had told him, and the only exception was when
a treasure was found that would allow another worm to break through to C-
grade. Another C-grade among them was far more valuable than the limited
growth of one of the existing C-grade worms, and often these treasures
didn’t really benefit one already in C-grade that much.
The rock the scorpion guarded was one that fit the criteria of both C-grades
and those wanting to evolve being able to use it, according to his worm
buddy. It was also one that no other worms dared go for due to the
scorpions guarding it. Jake considered it for a moment before agreeing,
”Fine. Tell me everything you know about them,” Jake answered as he at

least wanted to go in with information.
While Jake had not lost his ”fight” with Ell’Hakan because he was weaker,
being stronger would potentially have allowed him to avoid getting thrown
away entirely. No concept or advanced magic truly mattered before
supreme power. If Jake had been a C-grade and just released a massive
wave of destructive arcane mana, he would have broken any spell
Ell’Hakan could ever conjure up.
Also… Jake still wanted levels, and doing some killing would surely do
him good. He felt like he needed it too. Besides, he had the excuse of
helping out the worm that was already helping him and the worm even
mentioned this way would be faster. Did the worm specify how much faster
or how much of a detour it would be? No, not at all. And he didn’t ask
either.
”Okay! So, the scorpions are not that large, only a few times bigger than
you, and the most dangerous part is their stringer. The pinchers look
dangerous, but they aren’t actually that bad as they can’t really grab our
skin… oh, but they could probably cut off your small parts. So also watch
out for those. To make it worse is that their skin is not really skin but more
like rock, and…”
Jake listened along as he considered if maybe fighting them wouldn’t just

be a quicker way to find out as, quite frankly, they just sounded like normal
scorpions. Massive scorpions, but still scorpions.
Soon to be dead scorpions.
Caleb sat before the man that he knew had been the impetus of this entire
conflict. Why the hell he had asked for a meeting was beyond him, but
Caleb had agreed nonetheless. As the Judge of the Court of Shadows in this
branch, he was obligated to. The reason was that the leader of the United
Cities Alliance had not come to invade the Court. He had not even
necessarily asked Caleb to meet.
He had simply approached them as a client.
Arthur sat across from Caleb in a small tent constructed between the group
from the United Cities Alliance and Skyggen. Both had men stationed
nearby, but Caleb wanted to avoid a fight if necessary. He had to admit that
looking at Arthur, he wasn’t sure if he could kill him. Not because he was
strong or anything but due to the many items he possessed. Not that Caleb
would let that show as he confidently spoke.
”I find it brave for you to meet me under four eyes like this,” Caleb said.
”Why?” Arthur asked. ”I am not meeting Caleb Thayne, the brother of the
Malefic Viper’s Chosen, but the Judge of the Court of Shadows. I am here
as a client looking to hire the Court. Nothing more, nothing less.”
”And yet you show up with an army,” Caleb said a bit mockingly.
”I had to gauge the response. Let me make it clear right now, I feel for you,
but your brother is not the man you once thought he was. I am sure you are
aware of what the Order of the Malefic Viper is. It is an organization that is
not about working together and prosperity but one of domination and death.
Recently, after their Patron returned, what did they do to strengthen
themselves? They forced every other faction on the planet that the Order
was placed on to submit or die. Those who refused they slaughtered or
enslaved. While you may hold the belief that your brother is not a person
who would do that, I do not. I look at a history spanning trillion of years
and see a pattern,” Arthur said.
Caleb fell silent for a moment before answering. ”I do not contest that the
Order of the Malefic Viper has unpleasant means, but for there to be any
conquest, there must be intent. Jake has absolutely no interest in taking
control of this planet. He would rather have someone else become the
World Leader than manage any of it himself. He is a fighter and a hunter
through and through.”
”As long as he remains, no other faction can gain control as he will always
be here. Always hold influence. Even if he truly does not care, it doesn’t
mean others won’t. Being the Chosen, there will be significant interest in
our planet once they are aware he is from here. His lack of interest will only
fuel their desire to take over our world if just to say they did. But let me
concur for a moment that Jake Thayne is no threat. He is not the only
reason for this. Can you say that others will not try to dominate our world?
The Risen? Or, worse yet, the Holy Church?” Arthur asked.
”I don’t know them that well,” Caleb confessed. ”The Risen, that is. The
Holy Church will try to take over the planet; that is something I have no
doubt in my mind about. It has been their MO since the very first Era.
Which leads me to… isn’t Jacob your son? You know, the leader of the
Holy Church on Earth? Are you willing to kill your own son for fear of
losing control of… what, a piece of rock floating in space?”
”Jacob is a prime example of what is wrong with these ideologies spawned

from religion. He is now nothing more than a puppet. But you are right.
Even if I got the opportunity, I could never bring myself to kill my own son,
which is why I made sure he was not on the planet when all of this began.
He is just a cog in the machine, and the Holy Church will gladly make use
of him by just deploying him elsewhere. I hope he finds peace but never
returns,” Arthur explained.
Caleb listened along, not even aware that Jacob was off the planet. It kind
of made sense based on the recent movements of the Church. Even so…
Caleb still wasn’t certain what the man wanted of him. ”You still haven’t
said what you mean by coming here as a client.”
Arthur smiled and took out a piece of paper. ”I want to clarify that it is not
that I despise all organizations run by gods. I would actually argue it makes
sense in this world to have the highest echelon be made up of gods. My
problem is with the religious aspects. The missions of these gods. The
Court of Shadows is more a business than organized religion, and you
operate not based on faith but a far more understandable concept: money. I
am here to hire the Court of Shadows to assist the United Cities Alliance in
our mission to take control of this planet by having you get rid of certain
problematic characters that will stand in our way come voting for World
Leader.”
He handed Caleb the paper, which turned out to be a list, and Caleb took it
almost instinctively. He skimmed some of the names but recognized only a
scarce few as City Lords belonging to the Holy Church and City Lords who
had refused to join any other faction. Notably absent was anyone Caleb
actually knew.
”As I mentioned, then I understand. Even if this is all business, we are still
humans. Asking you to hunt your own family or friends is something I
know you couldn’t do, even if it conflicts with the mission of the Court,”
Arthur said apologetically.
”But you still want me to assist you. You, who have allied with someone
intending to kill my brother,” Caleb said.
Arthur raised an eyebrow and shook his head. ”Kill? No, no. Killing Jake
Thayne would be utterly moronic. I am not willing to gamble on someone
from the Order of the Malefic Viper not suddenly deciding to pay us a visit
in a century and blow up the planet just for slighting their god. But force
him to abandon the planet? Now that is a whole other story. Now, if
Ell’Hakan does manage to somehow slay him, I do not see it necessarily
leading back to us but to him. This would not be my ideal outcome, but an
acceptable one”
Caleb considered it for a moment and could see Jake just leave Earth
altogether if he could no longer find a good reason to stay. He had already
gone to the Order several times. There was still one problem, though: ”Bold
plan that still does not address the elephant in the room: Ell’Hakan.”
”A means to an end. His intentions and mine are aligned in this, and he and
his comrades will get what they want without it impacting humanity too
negatively in the long run. There truly is no need to worry about Ell’Hakan.
Don’t think I allied with him out of desperation. Everything is in a system-
enforced contract, and so far, he has stuck to the plan,” Arthur said with
little concern.
Caleb sighed, not believing Arthur had even a tenth as much control of the
situation as he believed. ”Let’s say you succeed in forcing Jake off the
planet, and your alien helper sticks to all his promises and leaves too once
all this is done. What stops Jake from just coming back in the future? What
stops the Order from still wanting to claim it?”
Arthur smiled confidently. ”I do recognize that the multiverse is not a place

where some fledgling faction can just emerge on its own without finding
itself conquered. So I have found an ally. An ally that does not care about
conquering the Earth and one with its Origin in humanity.”
It took him a moment to figure it out as Caleb frowned. ”Why the hell
would they agree to that…”
”All want a foothold, and I offered them good terms. As long as I become
World Leader, our deal stands,” Arthur explained. ”And Valhal is more than
welcoming of any outside forces wishing to invade their land. Be it the
Holy Church or the Order of the Malefic Viper.”
Caleb frowned even deeper. He wanted to protest, but just then, he felt a
prickle for the first time in a while. A divine message. As he heard the
words, his eyes opened even wider than before as he gritted his teeth.
”As the Judge of the Court of Shadows, I accept your contract… but we are
increasing the fee. Significantly,” Caleb said with annoyance.
”If there is anything we do not lack, it is Credits,” Arthur answered as he

extended his hand for a shake. ”May this be the start of a great working
relationship.”
Caleb looked at the hand before swatting it away. ”I have no interest in any
kind of relationship, professional or not. You are making a huge fucking
mistake, and it will come back to bite you in the ass. The only reason I am
accepting the contract is because I am the Judge. Being nice about it isn’t in
the job description.”
Not seeming offended in the least, Arthur simply nodded. ”Sometimes, we

must do business we are not particularly fond of. Accept losses and do
things we are not proud of in the moment, but that will lead to a greater
future. That is what true leadership is about. I thank you for meeting me
here today, Judge of the Court of Shadows. Be it with your blessing or not, I
wish you luck in your task, and I genuinely do hope for a fortuitous future.
For all of us.”
With those words, Arthur took his leave as Caleb was left with a long list of
names. He took out a special token and checked, only to quickly see that a
contract had indeed been signed, not by him, but by another Judge of the
Court of Shadows. One not even in their fucking universe. All with the
approval of Umbra.
”Fuck me,” Caleb sighed as he stood up and went back towards Skyggen.
Sometimes it really sucked to be a for-hire guild of assassins.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 526 - Painting the Desert
Blue
Factions in the multiverse varied widely. Some factions integrated

themselves nearly everywhere quite easily, such as the Court of Shadows.
The Court of Shadows found themselves present even in territory and
planets run by the Holy Church as long as they kept themselves covert. It
was an unspoken agreement that the two factions had agreed upon for many
eras and allowed the Church to get rid of individuals they would prefer not
to send members after themselves. Let’s just say there were many
circumstances where having assassins for hire was just more convenient.
Valhal was also the sort of place that could have ”halls” or small groups
operate within other’s territories without dominating land themselves. They
did occupy some land – unlike the Court of Shadows, where none knew the
true location of their headquarters – but not as much as others. The reason
for this was simple.
One could be born into the Holy Church. Born into the Risen. Born into the
Altmar Empire. But this was not true for Valhal, the Court of Shadows, or
the Order of the Malefic Viper for that part. One could have an easier way
in, but that did not mean one was born into it. They were organizations that
people could join and leave, closer to companies or guilds than empires and
countries. Granted, their member contracts could be limiting, but there was
always a way out.
Most organizations were also reasonable to some extent. They respected

some universal rules set in the multiverse. But… some organizations could
not truly be classified. One, in particular, stood out largely due to its power.
Ell’Hakan had been warned that in Haven, there was one person he was not
to interfere with no matter what. One person he should even actively make
sure the United Cities Alliance did not bother either.
Because some factions were what could only be classified as utterly insane.
Usually, factions like these would crumble and break apart as insanity was
not a good attribute for a leader to have, but there was one major
organization in the multiverse that, despite its insane methods, managed to
thrive.
An organization that had wiped out entire species for looking too much like
one of the gods they prayed to. One that willingly had its members go to the
domains or sacred sites of their gods despite half dying in the process. One
that would be crazy enough to start a war in which trillions would die and
swear an eternal blood oath to wipe out you and anyone with a karmic
connection to you from the multiverse… over a statue. A work-in-progress
statue.
It was naturally the Primordial Church. And the one person Ell’Hakan had
been warned about was none other than Felix, the sculptor who was
apparently working on a statue of the Malefic Viper - a statue shown by the
Chosen himself. This mattered particularly much because the Chosen had,
according to rumors, been the first person to see the Viper in Eras. This
meant that in the eyes of the Eternal Servant, the Chosen was the only one
who had truly ”seen” the Malefic One as he had met him both before and
after he returned.
Ell’Hakan had been told all this directly by his Patron after the Eternal
Servant himself had come to warn him. Warn him that the sculptor was to
remain undisturbed until his task was complete. The Nahoom had not
known what to think about this as he had honestly not even heard about this
sculptor before arriving on Earth. In fact, he had been on his way to meet
someone he had heard about and taken a particular interest in.
A certain man of technology by the name of Arnold.

A common misunderstanding was that spiders are insects. They weren’t but
were instead distant relatives of insects, being classified as arachnids.
Another common misunderstanding was that scorpions were insects, but
they were arachnids and far closer related to spiders than something like an
ant.
On second thought, most people probably did know this, but Jake didn’t. At
least not the second part about scorpions being arachnids.
Post-system, these things were often mixed together, and these

classifications kind of stopped mattering, but it was fun trivia nonetheless.
One difference also did remain in the number of legs. Like spiders,
scorpions had eight of them, and like spiders, these legs were honestly kind
of weak and their joints rather exposed.
Jake leaped backward as he dodged the incredibly fast stinger aiming for
him, quickly gaining distance from his large foe.
The scorpion had a sand-colored body, and its stinger stood more than
twenty meters tall. It was an utterly monstrously large body, and the pincers
were large enough to snap a human in half if caught. Several humans at
once, probably.
Plating covered its entire body, making it look like an invulnerable tank,
and Jake did indeed discover that trying to damage its armored parts was
useless, with even his Powershot blocked and only leaving a nick. Now, for
the far smaller scorpions, Jake could still blow them apart, but the C-grade
in question was the real deal.
[Giant Sandstream Scorpion Lord – lvl ???]
Jake slid back across the sand after dodging another attack and heard the
cheerleading voice of the worm in the back of his head, despite it hiding
several hundred meters down and kilometers away. Yes, these worms had a
very impressive range when it came to their telepathy, and no, it did not
want to contribute to the fight at all. Not like it needed to.
Throughout the battle, he had landed dozens of stabs with his katars, and it
wasn’t hard to hit the gaps between the armor with the occasional arrow.
Their fight had been going on for a good while by now, and the difference
was quite clear, even if there were some issues.
Streams of sand – probably what gave the massive scorpion its name –
whirled around the scorpion and gathered as spear-like weapons that
stabbed forward to try and catch out Jake. He easily dodged backward and
took to the air as he bombarded the scorpion below with stable arcane
arrows.
The scorpion angled itself to block with its chitin armor and formed a dome
of sand around itself to stop his attacks while it tried to heal itself of some
of the poison in its body. Jake smirked and simply began charging Arcane
Powershot, having already seen the scorpion’s lack of ability to block it
with its sand magic.
As expected, it penetrated the wall of sand and struck the scorpion in the
stinger, making it screech in pain as even more poison was delivered into its
system. Now, Jake mentioned issues, and one issue was that he had wasted
an entire bottle of his special soul poison.
Turns out that it sucked against large foes due to the far larger Soulshape,
and the scorpion also had significant innate poison resistance. Enough for
him to not be able to build up a proper charge before triggering it. This is
why he had just returned back to hemotoxins to at least make it bleed a bit
more. Oh, another funny fact was that scorpions had blue blood. This had
no impact on the fight besides the sand taking on a new color. It was just a
bit of trivia.
Thinking about it, this was Jake’s third time fighting a C-grade. The first
had been the Phantomshade Panther and the second the mushroom man he
obliterated together with Draskil. No, he didn’t count the termites. And as
the fight with the scorpion continued, it became clear this specimen was
weaker than both of the C-grades he had truly faced before.
Moreover, Jake was stronger than he had been then. To add further, then the
scorpion was not that well matched up against Jake due to his ranged
options. It seemed that these scorpions nearly only fought melee foes, and
those they fought with ranged options, their sand magic could face. He had
noticed a distinct lack of flying creatures anywhere in the desert, but that
was likely due to the one-sided nature of the environment. Birds with the
earth affinity were super rare for hopefully obvious reasons.
So just flying around and keeping his distance allowed Jake to whittle down
the massive scorpion a little at a time. Still, it wasn’t entirely one-sided and
definitely not a fast fight.
Jake shot a barrage of explosive arrows as the scorpion had dispelled its
wall of sand and moved to attack. The stinger struck forward and penetrated
into the sand Jake had just been flying above. A black liquid was excreted
that somehow pulsed through the sand, and Jake felt it continue through it
to hit anything hiding below ground.
All he had to do to avoid it was not touch the sand, making Jake never stay
on the ground. It was also smart to not stand on it as it gave him more time
to dodge the sand manipulation.
The scorpion wasn’t stupid – no C-grades were – and knew it was in a very
disadvantageous situation. After Jake managed to blow one of its legs off,
the scorpion decided it was time to leave as it attempted to dig into the sand
and get away.
Jake reacted quickly and did something many would probably find
incredibly wasteful. Flying down, Jake smashed both his fists into the
ground as he released massive amounts of stable arcane mana into the sand.
The scorpion tried to manipulate the sand but found itself unable to move it
as Jake had effectively frozen the ground with pure stability. This did not
mean the scorpion couldn’t use sand anymore, as it was able to summon it
out of thin air, but it sure as hell wasn’t going to dig anywhere.
Also realizing that Jake was faster, it chose to stand its ground as it finally
went all out. Its entire body suddenly began shaking as Jake saw parts of it
turn into sand. Jake frowned as the stinger seemed to disintegrate and
simply become one with the desert below. Soon after, its pinchers followed.
His danger sense exploded as Jake jumped, only to barely avoid a stinger
emerging. A stream of sand went towards him, and he dodged out of the
way, only for a pincher to pop out of the sand flying in mid-air.
Looking down, he saw the scorpion’s stinger, and both claws were entirely
gone as it just looked like just a big mound of armor, its joints also gone.
Yet it still moved its amputated limbs, and in tandem, these limbs were
summoned from any sand all around Jake.
It was actually a really cool trick and probably how it had hunted down so
many worms who dared enters its area. Too bad its sneak attacks didn’t
work on Jake as sneak attacks tended to not work on Jake.
Deciding to finish the fight, Jake dove down towards the main body of the
scorpion, dodging all attacks on the way. Arrows didn’t do the job as its
armor seemed even stronger in this form, leaving not a single opening. All
it had were a few stumps sticking out, which were also covered in armor,
making it like trying to hit a safe.
Jake had a way around that as he landed on the scorpion and pressed his
hands to its body. Touch of the Malefic Viper activated, and the poison went
straight into the armor and began corroding it. Dark green cracks appeared
within seconds, and Jake felt it turn brittle enough for a good punch to
break it.
To the scorpion’s credit, it also swiftly reacted in a way that Jake had not
expected. Sand appeared on both sides as two massive pinchers appeared
and tried to rip Jake off, making him dodge under them and smirk as he
kept pumping in poison. The stinger then regrew instantly, but not on the
tail as expected but out of the damn armor right behind Jake. It was a far
smaller version of it, but it also moved faster than Jake was ready for.
He was hit on the back as the stinger pumped deadly venom into him. Jake
reacted by pumping more poison into the scorpion. While Jake found his
poison relatively ineffective at actually doing damage to the scorpion, the
C-grade also quickly discovered it had little luck.
Jake did have to admit that the venom was stronger than anything he could
make as his skin turned black and his insides began turning to mush.
Emphasis on began. Nearly all other D-grades, even peak D-grades, would
find themselves turned into piles of goo within a second of being struck
with the stinger. It was a true kill-move that sadly relied on something Jake
was very resistant to.
Both of them pumped toxins into the other for several more seconds before
Jake had to disengage. Eternal Hunger – in its katar form – was summoned
as he punched straight down. It penetrated the armor of the scorpion after it
had been weakened and made cracks spread. Several more hits shattered a
huge part of the armor as Jake finally cut off the stinger and took to the air.
The scorpion tried to roll over and protects its newly-made weak point, but
Jake was not having any of it. He used Gaze of the Apex Hunter as a large
arrow appeared from his quiver. One he had been saving for this moment. It
was naturally Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter.
Frozen, the scorpion could not move in time as Jake shot down the arrow. It
hit right in the weak spot and sank into the scorpion’s body, creating an
even bigger hole and sending out an intense wave of energy that ravaged its
insides. Jake followed up with a few explosive arcane arrows that hit inside
the hole and hence exploded inside the scorpion’s body.
It struggled and writhed in pain, but it was too late. Jake activated Mark of
the Avaricious Hunter as the scorpion flashed with arcane light for a brief
second, making it screech out in pain more. All it took after that was a few
more well-placed arrows and a bit of time.
A minute later, the building-sized scorpion finally collapsed on the sand as

Jake got a notification.
*You have slain [Giant Sandstream Scorpion Lord – lvl 202] – Bonus
experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*
He didn’t know if he should be annoyed or not at only getting a single level
from a kill on a damn C-grade. Then again, it had only been a good half an
hour’s work. A bit longer if you also counted the forty or so D-grades, Jake
had to kill before he faced the Scorpion Lord, but he barely counted those
due to how easy they were.
Sitting down on the sand, Jake took out a health potion and quickly drank it
as he closed his eyes and focused on eliminating the venom still in his body.
It would take a while, and during the process, he had to keep Arcane
Awakening active, so he was in a bit of a hurry. He had not taken that much
damage during the fight itself besides the last attack, but he was still tired as
hell and would need some rest.
Focusing while in meditation, Jake practiced actively using Palate to

eliminate the poison in his body as he waited for a certain worm to be brave
enough to come over.
Minutes passed as Jake stabilized himself enough to move properly. He had

still taken immense internal damage from that last stinger attack and felt
like it would probably take a few hours before he was back in peak
condition.
”You did it!” he heard the happy voice of the worm say from afar. Jake had
also finally stopped tuning the worm out, as it had constantly been
bombarding him with: ”Watch out!” and ”Hit now!” and… well, that kind
of thing. He had never had a backseat warrior while fighting before, and he
would prefer to never ever have one again.
”That I did,” Jake answered. He already felt the worm move closer, making
Jake also head to their target.
A large stone was standing there in the middle of the desert. Somehow it
stood upright and looked like a tall, slender boulder that someone had
placed there. On it was a few natural markings, and it did give off an
intense amount of earth affinity energy as well as something else Jake could
not quite recognize, even if it did feel like a familiar concept. Jake had no
idea what it was, but he could see why the worm wanted it.
”Now that the Scorpion Lord is dead, you got all you wanted, and we can
move on?” Jake asked.
”Well… about that…” the worm began, embarrassed.
”There is more than one C-grade scorpion, isn’t there?”
”Maaybe? A few?”
”And more stones too?” Jake asked with a sigh.
”Now, that would be a happy coincidence… imagine if there were several of

these stones which were kind of maybe linked or something, and getting all
of them would be super good or something like that. That would be crazy.”
”Are you still trying to claim this way is faster?” Jake asked with
exasperation but also had to admit he found the entire situation amusing. He
had planned to take advantage of the worm to transport him, and there he
was working as a mercenary for his driver.
”Well, that depends… C-grades are a lot faster than D-grades, you know?
And I am sure I would be super fast if I somehow happened to reach C-
grade, which would definitely speed up the journey, and to do that… you
know, you can kill scorpions, and I can eat stones. Seems like a perfect fit,”
the worm argued.
Jake just closed his eyes, tilted his head, and stared at the sky above.
Guess I am painting the desert blue with scorpion blood.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 527 - A Sandy Sand Worm
After the initial panic from having the entire teleportation network
destroyed, things in the many cities across Earth were pretty calm again for
a while. Most didn’t even know why the attack had happened, and those
who did quickly moved to apprehend those responsible or to calm the
masses. The cities belonging to the United Cities Alliance also willingly
destroyed their own teleporters to sabotage the forces of Earth after making
sure that they were ready internally.
Food had been stocked up if they still needed that, and defenses had been
strengthened. They also had enough materials stocked up for their crafters
to tide over the coming conflict. In time the teleportation network would be
re-established, so they just had to wait.
One of the issues the teleportation network had helped address was the
beasts and other monsters attacking settlements, but that wasn’t really that
big an issue anymore. The beasts had been united by stronger alphas, and
large groups had been formed, none of which attacked human settlements.
Especially not after the last World Congress, where they had voted on the
Unusual Unions Path, which had resulted in many people evolving into
classes that worked well with beasts or professions that could make things
beasts wanted. This had even formed diplomatic relationships between
many cities and beast hordes as they had begun to be called.
All of this is to say that the only beasts who bothered cities were solitary
ones or smaller packs. Sometimes natural phenomena also spawned
elementals or the like that attacked cities, but nothing large or organized.
There were also many D-grades around by now, and even the weakest cities
had a few. This is why what came next was a massive surprise to many.
A guard stood bored in a tall watchtower and looked all around. He hadn’t
seen anything try to attack for over a month, and his only real job these
days was to report whenever caravans or something, anything, approached.
He had thought that with the destruction of the teleporters, he would have
more work, but that clearly wasn’t the case. Not that no work wasn’t good.
They were just a small settlement who were lucky to have a Pylon with
about four thousand people living there, of which only five were D-grade.
So nothing was probably the best outcome.
As he stretched a bit and looked to the side, he saw some dust being kicked
up. The land was dry all around, and he wondered if it was another dust
storm. Those could be nasty and sometimes even had a few elementals in
them.
Yet as he saw it come closer, he froze. A massive form emerged from the
dust cloud, tens of meters tall. It looked like a massive moose and was no
doubt well in the D-grade. Behind it, hundreds of smaller beasts were
revealed, all charging with their leader. All of these were E-grades, but
some D-grades were also there. The guard doubted his eyes for several
moments before he collected himself and yelled: ”Attack! We’re under
attack!”
With slight panic, he sounded all the alarms as the town went into
lockdown. The D-grades present, who had simply been working on their
professions, hurried out, and the City Lord rushed up the watch tower.
Standing beside the guard, he stared out and also saw the beasts.
”Get everyone ready,” the City Lord said with fear as he gritted his teeth.
--
Similar scenes played out all over the planet. No beast tides had been seen
for many months, but now they had suddenly restarted. The fragile peace
that had been established by the most powerful monsters crumbled in
seconds as if a spark had been lit.
Or, more accurately, like what had been holding them back had
disappeared.
Thousands of cities suddenly found themselves unprepared after having
relaxed their defenses following the last World Congress. Armies of
elementals, tides of beasts, and other monsters took advantage of the
stockpiles of resources in all these cities. Their attacks were
indiscriminatory and went for every faction. The Holy Church, Noboru
Clan, United Cities Alliance, or completely unaffiliated factions or
individual cities found themselves under assault.
Nobody seemed to know the trigger for this, and quite frankly, most didn’t
have time to care. All they knew was that the monsters humanity had finally
begun to soften up to suddenly did a one-eighty and once more viewed
human settlements as nothing more than food and experience sources.
Jake didn’t know why it kept happening… okay, he did know; he just felt a
bit weird about it. Why was it that whenever Jake entered a new area with a
new type of monster, it turned into Jake effectively committing genocide?
The worm was happy, sure, and Jake wasn’t that sad about it as they still
made good progress. Both in levels and distance. All the Scorpion Lords
were of roughly equal strength, and what little variance they did have
wasn’t of any consequence as Jake grew stronger and more accustomed to
them between every kill. Moreover, after the first kill, Jake was familiar
enough with the scorpions to open every fight with an Arrow of the
Ambitious Hunter, instantly giving him an advantage.
There ended up being a total of nine stones and nine C-grade Scorpion
Lords. Along with the hundreds of high and peak tier D-grades Jake also
ended up killing, he had truly done a number on the local scorpion
population. In some ways, he had been lucky to stumble across so many
weak C-grades to hunt. They were barely evolved, he was a good matchup,
plus they were weak for their grade.
This hunting spree had also naturally led to quite a few levels gained.
As always, his leveling speed slowed down the more of the same enemies
he killed, and the fights got easier. But it was inarguable that hunting C-
grades was way, way more effective than D-grades. Not once had he gained
a level after a D-grade kill despite killing hundreds, and every level came
after a C-grade.
Now, finally, they had the stones the worm wanted. Jake had taken the
second they came across for himself temporarily as he had eaten it with
Palate of the Malefic Viper to get an idea of what they were and how they
worked. He had it eaten for around six days before they reached the final
rock, and during this time, Jake got some idea of what they were.
Meteorites.
The concept he had felt from them was some kind of space affinity or
maybe astral affinity. Gravity affinity? A mix of it all, probably. Either way,
they contained powerful energies. Jake could likely find some ways to use
the meteors himself, but it would take a lot of work, and he had already
promised the worm.
The entire hunt had only taken roughly a week, during which they made it a
few thousand kilometers into the scorpion territory. Each of the stones was
above five meters tall and one and a half meters across, making them small
enough for Jake to store in his spatial storage. The worm had made it clear
that all of them had to be gathered before eating.
Standing before the final stone with a dead Scorpion Lord in the
background, Jake turned to the very excited worm. It had only popped out
the top parts of its body, making it look like a hill had just emerged next to
Jake with the worm’s mouth closed.
“So, here we are,” Jake said as he stood in front of the meteorite.
“Yep…” the worm said a bit nervously.
“Relax, I am not going to take your meteorites. I feel these were once part
of one large meteorite and broke part when they entered our atmosphere.
Or maybe something else broke them,” Jake shared his observations and
some insight from Palate.
“Yeah, one of the big worms said that these stones were once united, and to
bring out their full power, one had to bring them together again. The
scorpions were just dumb and didn’t like each other, so they never shared.
Not like the stones aren’t good individually, just best together,” the worm
answered.
They had spoken only a bit over this last week, but it was mainly about
random unrelated topics and for Jake to learn about worms. Jake had spent
most of his time meditating and trying to figure out how to upgrade Wings
of the Malefic Viper between recovering between fights, leaving not enough
time to have any long talks.
“I have been thinking,” Jake asked. “Do worms have genders?”
He knew that earthworms pre-system were hermaphrodites, and he had

been wondering if maybe these worms were too.
“Worms are worms,” the worm answered very accurately. “Ah, but the big
ones can decide, I heard. They got a skill to change shape or something and
using that skill, they kind of make a preferred form that can have a sex. Not
sure why they would. Do humans have genders? Wait, let me guess, they do,
and you are a… female?”
“Missed the fifty-fifty,”Jake chuckled.
“Really? I thought you had to be a female due to your mushy and soft form.
Males are meant to look strong and rough, right?” the worm asked. The
words sounded a bit insulting, but Jake felt not the slightest amount of
mockery in the tone, just genuine curiosity.
“Females are even mushier and softer,” Jake answered, feeling a bit weird
about saying that out loud. Telepathically. Wanting to change the topic, he
asked something else. “I don’t think I ever got a name either. What do other
worms call you?”
“What?” the worm asked, even more confused.
“You know, a name. A way to identify who you are and differentiate you
from other worms,” Jake clarified.
“I am a Sand Worm,” the worm asked before it seemed to get it. “Wait…
oh, I think I get it! Like, what we call stuff we find or something? A made-
up term, umm, name?”
“Exactly!” Jake said, glad he got through.
“We don’t have those. Seems kind of dumb; why do you need them? Any
worm can differentiate another worm in the network, and our soul
signatures are entirely unique, so if we want to mention a specific worm, we
just relay their soul signature. Way better than names, I think,”the worm
explained.
“I… that is actually super fucking smart,” Jake admitted as he thought

about it. He could identify people using only their mana signature, which
was part of their soul signature and was utterly unique. If the worms could
relay this signature using telepathy and only spoke using telepathy, then
why the hell would they need names? At least not between them. They only
had to give names to dead objects and Identify provided ones for free just
by using the skill.
“Right?” the worm said happily.
“But I still want you to have one,” Jake stated.
“Why?”
“For when I meet other people in the future, and for my own internal
thoughts, I want to have a name to refer to you as,” Jake explained.
“Humans are weird. Do all humans have names? What is your name?” the
worm asked.
“My name is Jake, and yes, all humans have names. At least all humans I
know,” he answered.
“Oh… so does that mean I should call you human Jake? Or, wait, are you a
Jake and not a human then? Like, my Identify does not work on you, and is
that because you are a Jake? And are there more Jakes out there like you?”
the worm asked, clearly not entirely getting the concept of names.
“No, no. There is only one of me, and Jake is nothing but a name. I am a
human, and my name has nothing to do with my strength or anything; it is
just something my parents gave me. That is how names work. They are
given by someone close to you, most likely your parents, and then you have
that name until you die or decide to change it,” Jake tried to explain.
“So I could just get a name if I wanted? Just by saying I am suddenly

supposed to be called something else and not Sand Worm?” the worm
asked very interestedly.
“Yes,” Jake said.
“What should I pick then… how about Super Sand Worm? Or maybe Best
Sand Worm? Oh, I know, Awesome Sand Worm!” the massive worm spoke
out loud as Jake saw the mound that stuck out of the ground wriggle
slightly.
“… maybe think about it a bit more after you have heard other names to get
an idea?” Jake asked with exasperation.
“Are my ideas bad? Oh well. Wait, you said that names are given, right?
Can’t you just give me one?” the worm asked.
“I am not sure that would be a good idea. I have repeatedly been told that I
am bad at giving names,”Jake tried to argue.
“So you have given names before! That must mean you are experienced at
it. Just give me one then,” the worm said. “But after you give me a name,
can you let me have the tasty rocks? You said that people give names to
those they care about, so if you give me a name, it must also mean you care
about me, right? Or doesn’t it work both ways?”
Jake felt like there were several leaps in logic with that argument but didn’t
bother trying to correct it. Instead, he thought of a name. The first thing that
sprung to mind was Wormie, but his vast experience of naming things made
him know he was not allowed to do that. Not anymore.
He also knew it had to be a unisex name. Thinking long and hard on the
issue, Jake took inspiration from the environment and the worm in front of
him as he settled on a perfect name. A name that was actually a real name, a
historically unisex name, and a name that would truly fit the worm in his
eyes.
“Let’s just call you Sandy,”Jake said with pride. Truly his naming sense had
improved by leaps and bounds since the day he named Hawkie.
“Doesn’t sandy mean that something is made of sand or is like sand? I am

pretty sure it is. Like, this place is sandy,” the worm asked, confused.
“Ah, but it is also a name,”Jake said. “And even so, aren’t you kind of
sandy? So it even helps describe you, doesn’t it?”
“Hm, I am sandy… okay! I am Sandy from now on. Hello human Jake, I am
worm Sandy!” the worm, now named Sandy, greeted him as he heard
something akin to a giggle. “He he, this is weird. Sandy, Sandy, Sandy…
what happens if I forget it, though?”
“I will remember it for you,” Jake assured the cutely nervous worm. “Now
for the true bounty. Are you ready for your stones?”
“Yep!” the worm said expectedly. “Sandy is ready!”
Sandy had managed to reach level 199 over this last week primarily by
stealing things from the dead scorpions, and Jake had a strong feeling it was
ready for evolution. Sandy was also certain it was ready to evolve, and the
meteorites certainly weren’t ordinary items.
Jake took out the meteorites from his inventory, and the moment he did,
they flew towards each other right in front of him. Jake was sent scrambling
back as a loud crack was heard, and the meteorites merged into each other.
Taking precautions, Jake stepped back the moment he took out the final
meteorite from Palate, but luckily it simply flew to the larger one and
merged with it.
The second all the meteorites were gathered, a pulse was sent out, and the
entire area seemed to shake. Jake was curious and walked closer to it,
feeling pulled as he got closer.
“You won’t take it?” Sandy asked nervously.
“No…” Jake answered. “But give me a second.”
“Hurry! I can already feel that others are coming,” the worm warned.
Jake nodded as he placed his hand on the meteorite. It felt hot to the touch,
and it was as if his hand stuck to it. He wouldn’t say he felt connected to it,
but he did feel a call of sorts. He now realized the meteorite didn’t only feel
familiar due to the affinities of energy. There was something else.
Something that resonated with him.
Closing his eyes, Jake activated Touch of the Malefic Viper almost
instinctively as he sent some of his energy into the meteorite to connect
with his energy. He wanted to make it better, and he felt part of himself be
drained. Like in a trance, he infused it with energy until a distinct sense of
weakness overtook his body.
He fell to his knees as he was knocked out of his trance and checked his
resources in horror.
Status
Mana Points (MP): 249 /102437
--
What the fuck did I just do? Jake asked himself.
“What did you just do?” the worm also asked him.
“I am not sure,” Jake said with furrowed brows. “But hurry up.”
“Okay!” Sandy said as it dove underground for a moment before emerging

right in front of Jake, swallowing the meteorite whole. It had not grown
despite them merging but had turned into a darker color.
Jake tried to stabilize himself and looked as Sandy froze. Minutes passed,
and Jake quickly took out a mana potion to at least be able to stand up
properly and look intimidating if other beasts came. It was good that the
corpse was still near, and Jake could pose until Sandy was ready.
“So?” Jake asked the worm after it seemed frozen for over five minutes.
Another minute passed before Sandy’s entire body shook.
“Be right back!”
With that, the entire Sand Worm disappeared, leaving a large hole in the
ground that rapidly began to get filled with sand again. Sandy was entirely
gone, having no-doubt gone to that special evolution place.
And not even Villy knew what Sandy would return as.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 528 - A Whole New Worm
Jake waited expectedly for Sandy to return. As he waited, he also

considered an option he hadn’t even thought of before… what if Sandy
turned hostile? There was a legitimate risk that the worm would return
stronger than Jake was as the evolution could lead to intense power growth.
No, it would definitely lead to immense power growth.
Moreover, Sandy didn’t need him anymore. He had helped the worm reach
C-grade and even went and did something incredibly stupid like pour all his
mana into the damn meteorite. Oh, and then there was the issue of C-grades
apparently coming, and as he stood there, Jake could even feel a few
approaching auras.
Did I fuck up badly? Jake asked himself.
He had originally only approached the worm to give him a lift. Their entire
relationship had been transactional. Shit, Jake had even threatened Sandy.
He knew that if someone else had threatened him to either help or die, Jake
would have fought or at the very least looked for every opportunity possible
to strike back.
Feeling genuinely nervous, Jake considered just taking off on his own. He
was damn low on mana and didn’t wanna fight any C-grades showing up,
so leaving would probably be safer. Logically, he should leave or at least
hide.
Yet he stayed there, waiting. Because despite his worries, he had a good
feeling about Sandy. Sandy seemed like a decent worm, and unless
Ell’Hakan could somehow mess with Jake’s emotions across the planet, he
felt confident in that assessment. Not that he would have time to get away
as Sandy was back.
A figure appeared, slowly fading into existence. Instantly, Jake noticed the
difference. First of all, Sandy’s body had actually grown a little smaller,
now “only” about a hundred meters long. The body was also less bulky,
with the entire form quite slender. Color-wise, Sandy had taken on an odd
black-purple hue with the occasional small glimmering dot here and there,
looking like small diamonds were embedded in the skin. The skin itself also
looked far tougher than before, now more like rock than simply very rough
skin.
But what struck Jake the most was the aura. He felt as if the area around
Sandy was bending slightly and looked off, and he saw some of the sand
slowly begin to float up towards the worm. Sandy noticed and stopped
attracting it and began to twist and turn to check out its own body. Another
difference was that all of this took place up in the air, Sandy moving as if
somehow still “swimming.”
Jake used Identify on Sandy, trying to get a feeling for what he was dealing
with.
[Juvenile Cosmic Genesis Worm – lvl ???]
Jake stared at the name, not at all sure what to make of it. First of all, it was
long. Were long names good? Probably. But more than the number of words
were the words used. Cosmic and Genesis were both words that certainly
held a lot of “power,” and the juvenile part hinted that a fully grown Cosmic
Genesis Worm had to be at least B-grade. Those trying to become dragons
became true dragons at B-grade, indicating that a Cosmic Genesis Worm
was likely at or around the level of a true dragon.
And true dragons were damn strong.
“Hey, Sandy. You well?”Jake asked as he saw Sandy keep twisting and
turning.
“It looks funny when it moves,” Sandy answered in a very amused tone.
Jake looked confused around and saw nothing move besides the giant worm
as he asked again.
“What does?”
“The air sand. Umm… just a bit, checking the skill… hmm, cosmic dust it
calls it. And sand is pretty much dust, right? You can’t see it? It is
everywhere, even all around you, right now. Look, like this,” Sandy said.
As Sandy said this, Jake faintly felt space around him faintly begin to
harden as if it became denser. He wrapped his hand in destructive arcane
mana and swept it sideways as he destroyed whatever Sandy was doing.
“You can see it! Or maybe feel it? Hm, weird. Anywho, what did you do
with the meteorite before? The amount of earth affinity was near-
eliminated, and some foreign concept I am not familiar with was just
overflowing. Ah, don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining or anything. I
am way better now. Oh, did you know I had five evolution options, and only
two of them didn’t have sand in the name? Also! Who is the Malefic Viper?”
Sandy asked with rapid-fire telepathy.
Jake couldn’t help but just smile a bit. He had to admit that Sandy felt
strong now, but Jake didn’t feel the slightest hint of danger. It wasn’t
necessarily because the newly born Cosmic Genesis Worm couldn’t
threaten him, but there was not a hint of animosity. All he felt was relief at
Sandy not changing.
He answered her questions, explaining who Villy was in quick terms, and
was glad that Sandy knew what gods were as apparently a few worms had
been blessed. As for why Sandy asked… some-fucking-how, an option
called “Malefic Transport Worm” had appeared, and it was better than any
of the three “expected” evolutions. The description had talked about turning
Sandy into a living transportation vehicle or some shit like that, and thank
fucking Villy Sandy had not picked that.
“Cool, so you are the Chosen best friend of this god? Sounds super nice,”
Sandy said. “Oh! Bummer! I totally forgot!”
Jake knew what Sandy had forgotten as the many auras had been
approaching for a while, and now one was close enough. In the distance, a
large form rose, far larger than Sandy despite them both being C-grade
worms. It was one of the massive C-grade Sand Worms, and it faced the
flying worm for a while as they no doubt talked telepathically.
Now, it had to be noted that all Sand Worms were blind. Blind and deaf. But
they had some magical sense that gave them a huge sensory range anyway.
For the Sand Worms, it was through the sand, and Jake guessed that Sandy
had retained that same sense… sand, having been replaced with this cosmic
dust, which was essentially space? He wasn’t sure.
Time passed as Jake just stood there waiting. Sandy sometimes made some
slight movements but was otherwise completely frozen. He felt a bit out of
place but didn’t want to disturb their talk. Things seemed to get heated as
both worms wriggled at each other before Sandy spoke to him:
“We’re leaving!” the former Sand Worm said in a huffy tone.
“What happened?” Jake asked, confused.
“Get in my mouth!” the worm just angrily said, clearly more than a little
upset.
Jake didn’t want to argue. Sandy opened its mouth and breathed in as Jake
felt himself be dragged. He could resist it but wanted to see what kind of
new things the worm could now do. Yet, at the same time, Jake felt a faint
telepathic connection be established with the massive C-grade in the
distance. It was only one-way and just translated to a brief message: “Thank
you and take care of them. Show them the world.”
Not sure what to make of it, Jake allowed himself to be dragged in, and he
noticed that despite Sandy growing smaller, the inside hadn’t. It looked like
a massive dark cave as Jake stared down the worm’s gullet, but the moment
he fully entered the mouth, he felt himself shift and next-up found himself
within an odd circular room that looked like it was made of stone.
A spatial pocket of some kind, Jake noted.
Inspecting his new surroundings, Jake quickly realized there was no way
out. No doors or openings in the dark-purplish rock anywhere. Yet he also
got a feeling that he could break these walls if he really wanted to by
overloading the walls with destructive mana - overloading the entire pocket
with destructive mana.
After roughly a minute, he heard Sandy talk again.
“I would never! Jerks, the lot of them! Sand Worms suck!” Sandy said first-
thing.
“Will you tell me what happened now?” Jake asked.
“Okay… I was so excited, right? Just evolved, everything seemed great, and
then my old safe keeper appeared, and I am so excited to share my own
awesome evolution, but do you know what the bastard said? That I am no
longer a Sand Worm and have to leave! That the desert isn’t a place for me
anymore. I just got disowned by my own family because I am a better
worm! Humph!” Sandy raged.
Jake frowned a bit but now understood the other C-grade worm. Sandy had
grown beyond the desert. Rather than being confined to sand, their world
was now everywhere in the cosmos.
“This is your fault? I could have become a Massive Veilsand Sand Worm,
you know?” Sandy said, sounding sad. “Now, where am I supposed to go?
Can I even go anywhere? My quest says I am still not allowed in certain
areas of the planet.”
“The world is far larger than you think,” Jake said. “You are a Cosmic
Worm now, not a Sand Worm. The entire universe is your home, and while
there are some areas you cannot go to right now, that is only temporary.”
“Still your fault,” Sandy insisted. “Guess it all works out for you… now I
have nowhere else to go and no other plans. So, where are we going?”
Jake couldn’t help but smile at the speed Sandy just adapted. “Before that,
can you do it so I can see the outside world?”
“See? Oh yeah, you got those eye things; I remember someone mentioning
that some creatures have those. Here, let me try something.”
The entire cavern-like dome he was in began shifting colors and expanded
and retracted a bit. Then, finally, parts of it began to turn transparent. It then
spread and encompassed the entire cave, walls, floor, and everything. From
Jake’s point of view, it was like he was floating in mid-air.
“That works?” Sandy asked.
“Yep. I do wonder, why do you have a skill to transport people like this?”
“Oh, it is not to transport people but to trap and super slowly eat them.
Like, I can do this,” Sandy said as Jake began to feel something change. He
noticed that his mana, stamina, and health were all being drained at an
incredibly slow speed but drained nonetheless. It stopped just after as Sandy
gave some more insight.
It was a bit like Villy’s Palate, where one could slowly absorb energy and
even some remnant Records, except Sandy would drink the energies of
living beings eaten and actually extract experience from that. From the
sounds of it, Sandy still got little to no experience from killing things
outright but was more about finding and eating natural treasures. And
eating living creatures to slowly extract energy from them, it seemed.
“How many can you eat at once?” Jake asked.
“Depends on how many rooms I make… but probably around a hundred

rooms right now? Not sure; I am going by my guts. Heh, guts when I am
talking about my stomach skill. Anyway! Where are we going?” Sandy
asked again after making a terrible pun.
“That way,” Jake said as he telepathically conveyed a direction. Sandy

picked up on it and began worming through the air. It was like Sandy could
swim through the air itself, though Jake to admit the speed was not that
impressive right off the bat.
Jake decided to not rush Sandy as he could feel the worm was getting used
to the new evolution. Instead, he wanted to test something else out as he
took out his cauldron and began crafting a batch of mana potions. The
process was simple as usual, but his goal wasn’t really to brew it but test the
effect it had on Sandy.
“Hey, Sandy, can you absorb the extra mana from me doing alchemy?”
Jake asked the worm as it wormed its way forward.
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I do feel something in the stomach. I have to absorb it

manually as I don’t have that effect active right now,” Sandy said. Jake
once more felt the suction effect from the walls, and the mana that had
spread in the room from Jake’s crafting was absorbed.
“Okay, now let’s try something else. Do be on alert and tell me if anything
bad happens,” Jake then said as he tried to craft something a bit different.
Whenever Jake made poison, it had the effect of leaving the surrounding
area a bit… contaminated. Back in his valley, he had his circle of death
where he killed all grass in a large area, and in the Order and even his lab
back in Haven, the entire place was designed to resist and contain his
poison. This entire effect only got worse as time passed, and Jake knew that
if an S-grade crafted poisons without bothering to try and contain the
environmental effects, entire planets could find themselves contaminated.
He began his crafting as usual and felt that Sandy was keeping an eye on it.
The toxic vapors soon entered the air without the worm saying anything
about it. As he kept going, he felt a bit of it be absorbed into the transparent
walls and disappear. Still nothing. Jake finished his crafting and finally
asked:
“So?”
“All fine? The energy took a bit to filter, but otherwise, it was all good,”
Sandy answered. Jake felt relieved and nodded.
“How far are we going anyway?”Sandy asked.

“Hm… far,” Jake answered. He had not actually truly reflected on how far
there was… and damn, was there far.
Due to the size of the Earth having grown to ridiculous levels and him
having been flung to the other side of the planet, Jake estimated he had a
little less than two million kilometers back to Haven.
Now, this did seem extreme, but it wasn’t actually that bad. Jake could
easily travel faster than a thousand kilometers an hour using One Step Mile
repeatedly, so without rest, he could pass around twenty-four thousand
kilometers a day or just shy of one hundred and seventy thousand a week.
Factoring in fights and some issues, along with a bit of rest here and there,
passing just a hundred thousand kilometers a week was likely more
realistic. This would mean it would take Jake around five months to
return… which happened to be just shy of the World Congress that would
happen in roughly four months. At least he remembered it being in around
four months. He did not have a timer counting down or anything, and he
had to admit that his time-keeping when highly engrossed in alchemy
wasn’t the best.
“Damn far. I have around two million kilometers, and I am not sure how
much of that you can come along for, being a C-grade and all,” Jake
answered.
“Hm, okay,” Sandy answered. “Do we have to hurry?”
“A little? But I also think it would be a good idea to make some stops along
the way to hunt some C-grades,” Jake said. “It all depends on how fast you
can travel.”
“So I can go fast?” Sandy asked.
“Well, yeah. Is it fine if I just do alchemy and meditate meanwhile?”
“Is alchemy that the thing where you make the mana come out? Sure! It is
tasty. I want to practice too,” Sandy answered.
“Alright,” Jake said with a smile. Sandy was currently flying only about
two hundred meters a second, which was slower than Jake using One Step
by a lot. He hoped that Sandy would be fast-
Everything suddenly seemed to warp as Jake saw the terrain all around
them move incredibly fast. Sandy shot forward as if digging through reality,
carried by space itself. He had no way to estimate how fast they were
going… but it was fast. Faster than Jake could travel even if he pushed
himself fully with One Step and Arcane Awakening.
“Can you keep up this speed?”Jake asked, wondering if Sandy was pushing
it.
“Yeah? This isn’t that fast, is it? Definitely faster than before, but I am an
awesome worm now, so it makes sense, right? I can go faster but not for as
long, and I am still learning, okay? So no judging,” Sandy explained very
logically.
“Alright. Don’t hesitate to contact me if there is anything,” Jake said.
“I will tell you when I need someone to kill another C-grade so I can steal
its stuff, and I can get some proper compensation for you getting me
disowned,” Sandy said with the usual joking sassiness
“You do you,” Jake kept smirking as he watched them fly for a little longer.
Even if their speed was a lot faster, it was still just desert with a few large
red rocky mountains all around for as far as the eye could see. Even Jake’s
eyes.
Closing said eyes and entering meditation, Jake began once more working
on upgrading Wings of the Malefic Viper. Over this period, he had gotten
some good ideas, but the problem was he had no way to practice. In order to
truly practice and figure out if his ideas would work, Jake would need some
kind of isolated space which he could try and escape from, but where the
hell would he find something like tha-
Wait a second…
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 529 - Searching for a Path
At the higher grades and levels of power, the scaling of survivability and
damage output was not balanced. Killing an F-grade human as another F-
grade human was easy. Just stab them in the heart, and they die.
For an E-grade, you had to stab them a few times in the heart and maybe
land a few more blows before they went down for good. D-grade it got even
harder, and nothing short of blowing off the head of another man would
work as an instant kill. And even then, many could survive losing their head
dependent on their skills and stat distribution.
C-grades losing their head rarely meant death. The Soulshape became
stronger and easier to regenerate, and each part of it was less vital than in
prior grades. Even the functions of the brain were all gone by C-grade,
allowing one who had lost their head to keep moving. Sensory organs still
mattered, and regenerating the brain and head was a huge burden, but most
humans could overcome it.
Now, this was humans. Beasts were even harder to kill, with elementals
harder than beasts. Due to how survivability scaled, it meant that the other
party escaping was the likely outcome unless one party was at least a good
deal stronger. Assuming the losing side decided to flee, that is.
All of this ultimately resulted in that when two beings of similar or equal
power met, there would be no true winner. This was doubly true when the
two beings facing off were Unique Lifeforms at the peak of D-grade. Both
of them could slaughter weaker C-grades easily, and even higher-tiered C-
grades wanted to avoid them due to their uncertainty in killing a Unique
Lifeform. For failure would mean a delayed death just a few years later
when the Unique Lifeform caught up, and victory would mean nearly
nothing as even if their strength was equal, then killing an opponent in a
lower grade wouldn’t be rewarded by the system.
What they would instead do was take a side and support the Unique
Lifeform for future benefits. That is unless there was more than one. If the
supremacy of the Unique Lifeform was challenged. There would be sown
doubt if supporting the Unique Lifeform was worth it, and even more so,
then this would be a good chance to break off and attempt to do your own
thing. To pursue personal goals… to get revenge.
The Fallen King and the Ashen Phantom Devourer had battled for nearly
four hours with neither getting any advantage during the first encounter.
The mountains were torn asunder, and thousands of unlucky observing
beasts died in the process. After the fourth hour, the Ashen Phantom
Devourer chose to disengage. A day later, it attacked again, and their fight
resumed.
It was like a neverending cycle. The Ashen Phantom Devourer was a being
that was near-impossible to kill. Its body was more like a living domain
rather than an actual physical entity, making dealing damage incredibly
difficult. At the same time, the King of the Forest had a powerful,
constantly active barrier, and even if one managed to break it, all one found
was a bark-like armor that offered incredible resistance to all damage.
This made it all a battle of endurance, and with both of them able to escape
easily, no true winner would be found unless one party made a
breakthrough or found something to truly exploit. They both knew this,
which is also why they wanted to keep fighting. It was rare that a Unique
Lifeform could find a being able to stand up to them and even rarer to find
another Unique Lifeform. Other Unique Lifeforms were the closest they
could ever get to kin, and this sparked an intense innate desire to prove
themselves. Prove their Paths and prove that they were superior Unique
Lifeforms.
Neither cared that their fight left a power vacuum ripe for exploitation and
that those who before found themselves held back now chose to act.
William stared at the ritual circle as he operated it, karmic magic revolving
around him. The oversized squirrel sat in its middle for a moment before
openings its eyes, anger burning within from what it had just experienced.
Not directed at William, but someone it had forgotten and now
remembered. It bowed towards him before leaving, going towards the
teleportation chamber.
What am I even doing?William asked himself for what felt like the umpteen
time in the last… year? Years? A long time that is for sure.
Shaking his head, he decided not to think about it too much. Whenever he
made his own decisions, things just turned to shit anyway, so it was better
for him to just do as was told by someone wiser: his master.
The ritual circle he was operating on was one he had been working on for a
good while. It had been the final requirement for his Profession Evolution
Quest, and taken all of his skills to pull off. Of course, it wasn’t the only
thing he could have made; all it required was for him to make something
related to his profession at a sufficiently high level.
His Class Evolution Quest had also been easy. But his Race Evolution
Quest was just… he didn’t get it.
Race Evolution Quest
As you reach the end of D-grade, you have walked a Path seeking
perfection. A Path of discovery of yourself and what you want to be.
Yet you have not found it. Without determination and vision, there is
no Path. Without desire, there is no progress. Without willingness,
there is no life.
Objective: Find your Path (0/1)
William had found his Path already, so he didn’t get why the fuck he hadn’t
completed the quest already. If he had completed it, he would be C-grade
and one step closer to being useful to his master. But no matter how much
he tried to figure it out, the quest remained uncompleted. It made absolutely
no sense to him, and he had asked his master, but his master just said that he
had taught William enough to figure it out on his own. This only frustrated
him more as he felt like he was disappointing his master.
Just focus on your work, and you can figure it out later, he told himself as
he prepared for the next somewhat confused beasts to enter the ritual circle.
William worked his magic as he pulled on the karmic strings and increased
their strength. He gathered them almost into a ball which he used to weave
a tapestry and allowed the beast to see. And see, it did.
Its eyes filled with animosity, and it even threw William an angry glance.
Not that he could blame it. He had allowed it to experience something that
most would perhaps want to live without, but these beasts had all requested
it. Not knowing had simply been more painful than now finding out.
As for what he made them experience? Memories. Memories of their lives

before the system arrived.
To say that humans had treated animals shitty before the system was an
understatement. William knew that he was the furthest from a saint back
then, but the crimes he had committed were nothing compared to some
others. Individual researchers had killed thousands of mice, and just how
many fish were caught every day? How many deer were shot and killed?
How many animals hunted or farmed simply for their hides or horns?
The answer was a fucking lot. Humans had been fine treating animals like
shit. What would happen if you decided to kill a mouse that snuck into your
home? Nothing. What would happen if you decided to use your BB gun to
shoot down two squirrels? Nothing. There were no laws against it, and if
there were, the worst that happened was a fine.
At least there was no true punishment before.
Now you had a small baby squirrel that remembered seeing its parents
killed by teenagers. A baby squirrel that had grown to late D-grade.
William’s job was only to make them remember their entire lives and then
give them an outlet and a new goal. He would find anyone related to the
beasts using the karmic connections. Anyone who had hurt them or those
who injured them before the system. The C-grade jellyfish would then
teleport them to the vicinity of this area for them to carry out their revenge
on humanity.
But… there were still questions that haunted him. He knew what he was
doing. He knew what the purpose of what he was doing was. He knew the
goals of Ell’Hakan and his master’s expectations. He knew what the beasts
were planning and about so many things.
Yet he still didn’t know…
Why am I even doing this? Why am I helping some alien? Why is all I am
doing still not enough? Why am I still afraid and still have nightmares?
And was another thing that bothered him a lot. One that had annoyed him
ever since the time he went to see the Augur of Hope. A man he had killed.
The Augur had greeted him without a care for their history and had shown
only pity. He had then helped William find some people, but the last words
he spoke as they parted still rang in his mind.
“I hope you find your Path once more. You were climbing a mountain back
then, but all I see before you now is a bridge with the ropes cut.”
William hated that the Augur had to speak without actually saying anything.
The last time they met, he had said that William already had a Path and now
he suddenly didn’t, despite finally finding meaning with his master. Then
again, the Augur was still some D-grade; what the hell did he know
compared to a Primordial?
No, he just had to work on the tasks given by his master, and he was sure he
would find his Path. He had wanted to visit this former girlfriend of the
Malefic’s Chosen but simply did not have time due to the many tasks he
was given. Not that it was a high priority.
According to Ell’Hakan, their recent encounter should put the Malefic

Viper’s Chosen out of commission for at least three and a half months, with
the expected time being over half a year. William did not fault the alien for
not fighting the Malefic One’s Chosen outright. He was a damn monster.
But he did think it a bit stupid to just piss him off like that. In fact, he was
pretty damn certain Ell’Hakan’s plans would fail miserably as if there was
one thing William was sure about, it was that when it came to that monster
nothing ever went as expected.
Not that it was truly any of his concern. William just did as he was told.
Jake considered for a moment where he was.
He was trapped in a different space… one where One Step would not
simply allow him to step out. One would have to do something special to
get out – or just go crazy with destructive energies in Jake’s case – but if
not, he was trapped.
Jake grinned and summoned his wings. Time to upgrade these bad boys and
escape Sandy’s stomach!
He didn’t know if it was just dumb luck, but this was a perfect opportunity
for him to practice. He informed Sandy of what he wanted to do, and Sandy
responded by playing along. Jake felt the walls harden and the space
stabilize even more than before.
Jake instantly knew escape just got a lot harder. If it was just space magic,
Jake could maybe find a way with One Step, but it wasn’t just space magic.
There were other concepts mixed in too. If there wasn’t, Sandy would be a
Genesis Space Worm and not a Genesis Cosmic Worm, after all.
He could still probably overload Sandy with destructive mana or go ham

with poisons or something, but even then, he wasn’t sure how much damage
that would even do to the worm. Sandy had honestly become a bit of a
monster. The sheer level of power this stomach skill required was immense,
and he reckoned nearly no D-grade would be able to escape on their own.
All he could say was that he was glad Sandy was on his side. Because
damn, would it be annoying to have a worm kidnap friends and family and
fly away if you pissed it off. Which reminded him not to annoy Sandy too
much.
Dispelling his wayward thoughts, Jake refocused his mind on the task at
hand. Wings of the Malefic Viper upgrade. He knew that he had to take it in
a quite different direction than it currently was. There was not a hint of
space affinity or anything like that in the wings currently, and if he was
being totally honest, he wasn’t even sure the upgraded version was all about
space magic either. Likely there was some space magic involved, but as
with many things, it was just never that simple.
Jake once more tried to correctly remember how he felt during the vision
where he experienced the skill. He had definitely felt the wings be filled
with energy. Way more than usual. Back then, the Viper had summoned
them as phantasmal wings just to use the skill too.
As he remembered more and more, one detail stood out. The Viper had
changed color to green during the process, and at first, Jake had just thought
that an effect of the then-S-grade’s immense mana. But the Viper was far
too good at energy control for that. So why had his body turned green? Jake
also vividly remembered the Viper shooting into the distance, meaning it
was not teleportation but more just insanely fast movement - movement that
made space part… not helped by space as one would expect from a skill
using the space affinity. Perhaps it was more related to Shadow Vault? No,
that didn’t seem like it either, especially after sim-Jake said he was of no
help.
He felt a bit stuck. It was clear he was missing something crucial, and he
was a bit mad at himself for not focusing on the skill more during the vision
back then. Okay, then again, Fang of Man and Fangs of the Malefic Viper
upgrading from one vision was great, and he couldn’t fault himself too
much, but still.
Jake began trying many different things as time passed. About a day went
by before Sandy found a big C-grade sand lizard guarding some kind of
natural formation of crystals or something. Jake had no idea what it was,
but Sandy got excited and practically spat him out like he was a damn
pocket monster to fight for his worm master.
Anyway.
A good bit of exercise later, and Jake was back in the stomach, where he
began testing again. He tried to infuse different concepts and see if that felt
right, but nothing did. The entire idea of infusing something entirely new
into the wings also felt wrong. Every other upgrade had built upon what
was already there. Expanded it. If it added something new, Jake could at
least see it be linked with everything else in the skill. None of his current
ideas were linked to any of the core functions of Wings.
As time passed and he practiced, he kept coming back to the issue of

nothing he tried building upon what was already there. He tried to see if
there was some hidden feature he had not discovered, some mighty flapping
technique he had missed, but there was nothing. All infusing mana did was
create more poison. As Jake thought this, he had a eureka moment.
He considered if the Viper hadn’t actually used any of what Jake

expected… what if he had done the exact opposite? Used only what the
wings already had, but in an entirely different way. In a far more extreme
way.
What if he had simply pumped out a poison removing everything between

him and his destination, corroding a hole through reality itself?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 530 - A Logical
Conclusion
It was an absolutely crazy thought. Poisoning space itself… no, poisoning

reality. To target every single facet of reality and effectively create a
vacuum of concepts between you and your destination.
That is also why the mist was used. The mist was from Blood of the
Malefic Viper and thus contained Records of all poisons Jake had ever
interacted with. With the Trial of Myriad Poisons, Jake had interacted with
countless, and it wasn’t like he had slowed down much after that either, still
eating everything slightly toxic in his path.
Jake began his science and tried to work on how one would supercharge the
wings the way the Viper had done, but also found it a problem to control the
mist and form a tunnel between himself and where he wanted to escape to.
Did he need to make a cylinder of poison or something that isolated
everything around it? No, that would take way too much power…
What about shooting a canon of poison in the direction and then diving after
that? It could work, but space tended to reform too quickly, and if his
opponent was actively trying to stop him, he would need an insane amount
of poison mist to do that. The mist also kind of sucked, to begin with.
He then returned to the very important detail of the Viper turning green.
Why had he done that? Some shield to protect himself from the poison?
A few theories popped up immediately, but none fit. Jake was deep in
thought and tried a few things as his wings pulsed with power, sending mist
out. Ultimately, he decided that he first needed to make some kind of poison
able to corrode through reality. Saying it so casually was damn weird, but
he was serious.
Passive mana tended to not be that strong as long as you targeted the right
things. This was why Alchemical Flame was so damn good at breaking
down objects, as it directly targeted the passive mana and the concepts
keeping things whole.
So, Jake needed a poison that targeted passive mana that didn’t fight back.
Maybe he could apply concepts from Alchemical Flame directly there….
yeah, that actually seemed doable. There were many plants and poisons
potent at naturally corroding things. Acids found that went through stone
that a C-grade could not even scratch like it was nothing, poison mist that
would turn a block of metal an S-grade would dream of crafting a weapon
from into swiss cheese. These existed everywhere, and Jake had consumed
plenty.
But even if he made this, what about non-passive mana? Like where he was
trapped right now? That kind of mana would fight him actively. Could he
even make something that eroded the wall of Sandy’s stomach? He knew he
probably could with Touch, but as mist?
Jake groaned in annoyance as he felt himself be mentally pinged by Sandy.

He obliged and found himself outside once more, instantly noticing that the
area had changed to rocky terrain and before him was a large C-grade bird
of some kind.
“Go human! Use bow attack!” Sandy said with excitement as Jake pulled
out his bow and added another C-grade to his list of slain foes before
getting back in his pokeba- stomach.
He did have to admit that Sandy was damn good at analyzing his strength
and picking opponents.
Back in the chamber, Jake felt more relaxed after a bit of killing, seeing the
entire thing with new eyes. It was like having a good night’s sleep and then
waking up to look at your project again. Jake considered different poisons
he would need in the mist, and it quickly became clear he would need damn
many concepts at once. No, he could not have all be active at once; he
needed to make an adaptable mist that targeted everything at once but only
actively targeted what it encountered.
And then he came back to that damn green color. Why the hell was the
Viper glowing? Was it because… no… it made sense?
Jake had been looking at it all wrong. The Malefic Viper had not made a
path of escape using the mist. He had not made a poison mist that eroded
everything - he became the poison mist. Rather than dripping acid on the
evil to get through, the Viper became a semi-solid ball of acid that was
dropped onto it. So even if the metal above reformed, he would still get
through.
The Viper had wrapped himself in it. Like a cocoon, the poison mist
wrapped around him in a supercharged state. That was why the Viper was
glowing green; his entire body had turned into toxic mist, and he used his
power to keep it strong.
As Jake realized this, he felt like something clicked in his mind. He

instantly checked Path of the Heretic-Chosen and saw that his intuition had
been correct.

remaining: 3
Did Jake think he could upgrade the skill without experiencing another
vision? Sure. Probably. But Jake also kind of feared that he would lose the
skill with his C-grade upgrade or maybe lose the uses. So he wanted to use
all of them, even if it was a bit of a waste.
Ah, who was he kidding? He just wanted to see Villy get embarrassed, have
his ass handed to him, and be forced to escape.
Even with everything happening on Earth, the inside of the workshop

appeared entirely undisturbed. Arnold was still working on his latest
creation as he got an expected visit from a recent arrival to their planet.
Ell’Hakan had to admit that he found the entire construction quite novel. A
massive metal dome with impressive enchantments all over. The material
itself also looked incredibly tough, and he doubted that anything mundane
could break through. It was truly a defensive stronghold, and even he would
have issues breaking into it within any reasonable timeframe.
Luckily, he did not have to break in.
As he approached, the dome simply opened up to him as he met the

assistant to the machinist, as the human named Arnold had been dubbed.
“Welcome, sir; how may I assist you?” the assistant asked. She was
obviously aware of what was going on and knew that trying to keep
Ell’Hakan out would only delay the inevitable. Besides, it was simply
smarter to allow him access.
“Impressive construction, and even more impressive techniques present on

the inside. I thank you for allowing me in without any needless delays. Do
tell, is the machinist available?” Ell’Hakan asked.
“I will inform him of your presence,” the assistant said with a bow and a
smile as she briefly left the welcome room. Ell’Hakan felt the doubt and
hesitation in her but also some relief. A good emotion to amplify as it could
lead to other positive thoughts and feelings. Having the assistant possess a
good view of him wasn’t necessary, but a nice to have. No, the one he truly
cared about was Arnold.
Ell’Hakan had done his research and found this man far more outstanding
than anyone seemed to give him credit for. He was blessed by Void God
Oras, something that even his Patron found utterly baffling as no D-grade
human should be able to handle that. The ones a Void God usually blessed
were either incredibly powerful members of the enlightened races and at far
higher grades, or they were creatures explicitly suited to them, such as rare
elementals or other monsters.
The reason why he approached this machinist was obviously for his mind.
Because one other thing he discovered was that the man had no true loyalty
to the Malefic’s Chosen. He simply worked for him and did some
commissions. There appeared to be no true relationship there; it was purely
transactional. The fact that he had stayed even after the City Lord left was
further proof that Arnold simply did not view himself as part of the Malefic
Chosen’s faction. So if he was offered good enough terms and his emotions
swayed properly, there was no reason for him not to switch.
“Sir, he is ready to receive you,” the assistant came in and said with another
bow less than a minute after leaving.
Ell’Hakan thanked her as he entered the workshop. He had prepared for a

trap just in case but found nothing even as he scanned his surroundings. The
moment he was in the workshop, he found himself overwhelmed by the
sheer number of projects going on. It was astonishing one man could do so
much at once, and the complexity of every project was incredible.
The planet Ell’Hakan came from was not a very technologically advanced
one. He had learned that quickly after the integration. So this all served to
overwhelm him more but also strengthened his desire to recruit the man.
The Celestial Kingdom lacked people like him as no natives were
technologically minded, and Ell’Hakan had a feeling this man alone could
lead to a technological revolution.
“It is truly my pleasure to finally meet you,” Ell’Hakan said as he saw the
machinist. He did not look like much, but as mentioned, then it was not his
body but his mind that was worthy of respect.
“What do you want?” the man asked curtly. If not for his Bloodline, he
would have thought the man was hostile, but no. There were no such
emotions. In fact, the emotional spectrum he felt from the man was
incredibly narrow and muted.
But it was there. Ell’Hakan had a faint fear that the man somehow didn’t
possess emotions at all, as that would partly explain his ability to have a
Void God as his Patron. It turned out that even if he was peculiar, then he
was still a human with emotions to bite onto and manipulate. To Ell’Hakan,
the slightest thing was enough.
“I am incredibly impressed by your work, and I come with an offer,”
Ell’Hakan said, knowing not to mince words with the man to avoid testing
his patience. “I am aware your ties to Haven are shallow at best, and you
are primarily here due to the resources offered, yes?”
He did not even need the machinist to answer to know it was true. His
emotions gave it away.
“If that is the case, I can offer you something better. The backing of not just
a single city but an entire world. A planet full of natural resources for you
to explore and exploit to your liking, with near-endless funds. And all I ask
in return is a bit of conditional loyalty,” he offered with a smile.
That is when he felt just the emotion he wanted. Desire. Greed. This man
was stoic, but alas, still human and would fall to human desires like any
other. But there was also a lot of distrust. Arnold seemed to be in thought as
Ell’Hakan tried to soothe his worries.
“To show my sincerity, we can start with a temporary working contract.

Simply let me hire you for a while. Come and see my planet once I return,
and if you refuse to work for me anymore, I swear I will help you gain
passage to anywhere else,” Ell’Hakan said convincingly. He also took out a
small star-shaped token and handed it to the machinist.
“At the very least consider the offer.”
Arnold looked at the token and took it. A faint sliver of trust had wormed
in. It was weak and only trusted that Ell’Hakan would give him time to
think and was not there to cause him harm, but that alone was a
springboard. He amplified Arnold’s emotions and used his Bloodline
liberally to the level of getting a slight headache. The machinist was a tough
one compared to the Malefic’s Chosen. If Arnold was a faint candle of
emotions, then the Malefic’s Chosen was a roaring inferno.
“I will,” Arnold finally answered with a genuine nod.
“To further show my sincerity,” Ell’Hakan said as he summoned a number

of metals from his planet that none of his current crafters could work with.
Instantly he felt the man’s interest, and Ell’Hakan could not help himself
but smile as he subtly left.
He had a good feeling Arnold would make the right choice.
Arnold sat alone after the alien left. He felt a strong sense of trust in the
man but paid it little attention. Checking the recording of the conversation,
he did not necessarily find anything amiss either. Arnold considered the
offer and checked some provided information in the token. It even included
a potential draft of an offer as well as a method to contact Ell’Hakan.
The offer was good. Brilliant, even. Far more than Lord Thayne and Haven
had or likely would ever offer him. Their resources were limited, and it had
primarily been the merchant Sultan helping him out by selling Arnold’s
products and buying raw materials. To say he was supported by Haven and
Lord Thayne would be simply incorrect. At least not in an institutional
capacity. Lord Thayne had personally helped him, but that had been
transactional in nature.
If Arnold went by his guts, the answer was a no-brainer. He had far more
trust in Ell’Hakan supporting him than Lord Thayne losing interest and just
leaving for good. Arnold would definitely accept the offer if he had to
choose.
But he didn’t choose. Because truly, what he felt didn’t matter and should
never be a factor in his decision-making. Arnold started out with the most
obvious and made a detailed analysis of his own thought patterns,
identifying that his emotional responses had been adversely affected, further
cementing that he should not use his flawed mind to decide.
Additionally, he analyzed the offer, truly finding it worth it even from a far
more objective standpoint. The benefits would be more than Haven would
offer, but that was only in the short term. Using his current working model
for predicting behavior and going by all the information he had, there were
few positive outcomes.
Ell’Hakan had made the Malefic’s Chosen an enemy, and it did not take an
Eye of Oras to see all the potential risks involved in that. Lord Thayne was
simply too unpredictable in every aspect for Arnold to make any
conclusions or properly assess him. He did not make the decisions Arnold
would expect in nearly any situation. He was an utterly illogical human.
And if there was one thing Arnold wanted to avoid in his calculations, it
was high-variable outliers ruining the entire model.
Looking over the data one final time, Arnold simply nodded and returned to
his work. The decision he came to was simple.
Just don’t choose a side.
Lord Thayne would not ask for him to choose one, and Ell’Hakan had a
standing offer, so why decide now? The only reason he would be forced to
make a decision was if either party lost. In which case, he would choose the
person not losing.
With Lord Thayne, however, the only valid parameter to rule him the loser
would be his death, while for Ell’Hakan, it would also include him fleeing
the planet. The reason for this difference?
All data indicated he could survive an angry Ell’Hakan coming after him.
All data indicated he couldn’t survive an angry Jake Thayne hunting him to
the ends of eternity.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 531 - Just Winging It
Jake was rubbing his hands as he looked forward to seeing Villy in a

perilous situation that forced him to escape. Entering the vision, he was not
sure what to expect. Maybe Villy getting beaten up? Him waltzing into the
territory of some far more powerful monster, making him tug his tail
between his legs?
As the vision appeared, it was neither of that. He saw Villy flying through
an odd area with purple-ish mist everywhere. Comet-like balls of ice flew
all around him, some of them several kilometers across while others were
far smaller. Jake also saw that sometimes space itself seemed to crack, and
small vacuums opened up, sucking in mist and some of the smaller comets.
He had a hard time figuring out what was going on. Villy was in his C-
grade Wyvern form and looked incredibly distressed as he dodged comet
after comet. It was like he flew aimlessly. A few minutes passed before a
giant comet suddenly exploded, only to reassemble again but into a vaguely
humanoid form. Villy did not hesitate and released a breath on the newly
born… comet elemental? Ice elemental? Either or, he quickly dealt with it,
but that didn’t at all give him a reprieve.
Finally, Villy seemed to spot something. With high speed, he flew to the
side and, to Jake’s surprise, encountered a massive wall of purple ice.
Flying alongside the wall, Villy soon found a small cave and stopped before
it.
His body began morphing and shrinking, and within five seconds, the
familiar humanoid form of Villy appeared. Familiar, yet foreign. He looked
young in the vision, and Jake had a strong feeling this was the earliest
vision of the would-be Primordial he had ever experienced.
Villy collapsed and leaned against the inside wall of the small ice cavern
and breathed heavily. He closed his eyes for a moment before summoning a
large metal plate of sorts to block off the hole, sealing himself within the
cavern.
Sitting back down, the Viper surprisingly fell asleep as time accelerated.
Once the Viper woke up again, he quickly took out some kind of magical
device. It looked like a compass of sorts, and Villy frowned as he looked at
it. After a bit, he took out another few weird devices as his frown only
grew.
“Fuck,” he just said as he groaned and brought both his hands to his head.
“The exits should have remained for at least another week… did that
bastard lie to me? I swear…”
Just those few words made Jake put two and two together and realize what
was happening. The Viper was in some kind of minor world or dimension, a
bit like Yalsten but probably far smaller. Also, clearly far more unstable
compared to Yalsten in its heyday.
Jake knew about these kinds of places. They were often small dimensions
that resided in the infinite layers of space. One could not break into them,
with the only way in certain natural entrances that sometimes opened, and
one could also only exit through these small holes. These dimensions
tended to be of incredible value exactly because of this. Any small world
that had been isolated for a long time was bound to have given birth to
several potent natural treasures, especially as many of these small worlds
rarely tended to have beasts or monsters and had singular dominating
affinities. There would still be enemies, but it was often only very
specialized creatures like the elementals or creatures born to guard the
treasures.
It appeared that Villy had entered one such place with bad information and
found himself screwed over and trapped. Which maybe didn’t sound that
bad if the world would open up again, but there were a few minor issues.
First of all, how long would it take? It could take longer than Villy’s natural
lifespan. One had to remember that Aeon Clok had killed people far more
powerful than himself by sealing them in a world a bit like this and just
having the passing of time kill them all.
Then there was also the issue that these places could get far more dangerous
during their lockdown period, and based on the comets going wild and Villy
seeming panicked, Jake assumed this was the case.
“I need to get out of here,” Villy talked to himself as he stood up and took
out some more magical devices, including the compass.
“It hasn’t been that long… or is the layer meant to be this weak?” he
muttered as he considered his options. Jake saw the Viper deep in thoughts
before steeling himself. “It could work.”
Wings appeared on his back, making him look a bit like Jake with his wings
out.
“Those fuckers… they somehow accelerated and sealed the entrances,”

Villy said as he double-checked some weird magical circle on a map. “At
least halfway sealed them.”
Jake was beginning to question if a C-grade Villy could truly escape a

naturally sealed-off world like this. One had to remember that after Yalsten
was sealed off, no one could escape, not even the A-grades. But if this was
not a natural sealing but one simply accelerated by mortal hands, then it
should still be possible.
Villy sat down in meditation with his wings summoned as Jake felt the
energy and toxic blood move within them. Time seemed to move in odd
ways as days passed with the Viper focusing on his wings. Jake got the
feeling this was not some sudden burst of inspiration but him picking up the
work on an ongoing project. The Viper had either worked on an escape skill
like this before or had already completed several elements of the skill.
However, what was important was that it was not done, allowing Jake to
feel part of the process. The first thing he picked up on was that each wing
was different. It was like the Viper poured different energies and
manipulated the blood with variance, with each wing having different mixes
of concepts as a result. Jake felt them both and noticed what differed.
One wing held blood that would be able to corrode passive energy, and the
other wing held blood that would corrode mana with intent. Jake was
momentarily confused but instantly realized why this was actually brilliant.
Poisons of similar natures tended to amplify one another, while those of
opposite natures would attack each other. This did not fully apply due to the
sheer variety of concepts in each wing, but it eliminated most of the
potential conflicts that could arise. Also, the Viper’s infused intent in each
wing was now physically removed from one another, and focusing his
intent to accomplish the two tasks in separate wings was far more efficient
and easier.
Next up was the process of creating the cocoon. On this note, then Jake had
thought that the fast movement Villy had displayed in the first vision was
part of the skill’s effect, but that was quickly proven wrong. Nothing done
would actually make him faster, but due to the nature of the magic, it would
rapidly increase speed momentarily. The mist would erode everything in his
path, making it like he was effectively flying in a vacuum of concepts.
Considering the limited time the cocoon would last, fast movement right off
the bat was also a necessity, and then one just had to let the momentum
carry forward.
The vision progressed more or less as expected as Jake saw the Viper adapt
and make the Wing’s skill effect on the fly – pun intended. Feeling it like
this, Jake had to admit that the Viper had truly been a monster. The toxic
concepts that had taken Jake days to identify were found within hours by
the Viper, and his level of energy control when it came to the toxic energy
was utterly insane. He was at least slower than Jake in some places, but
they were few and far between.
After what Jake estimated to be roughly five total days in the cave, the
Viper opened his eyes and got ready. Scales covered his body as he flew out
of the cave and into the storm of comets. He dodged them more easily now
due to his smaller humanoid form, but it was clear he was not as fast in this
form.
He flew for a quarter of an hour, periodically checking the compass he had
brought until he was at the right spot. It was a weird fractured point in space
that looked almost like a broken phone screen with microcracks
everywhere.
The Viper took a deep breath as he got close and slowed down. That is
when time slowed down, and Jake felt the skill be used for the first time.
Both wings were infused with a lot of energy as Jake’s eyes opened wide at
discovering how he infused so much energy… he summoned several wings
pretty much on top of each other at the same time.
An explosion sounded as both wings blew up from energy overload, Jake

feeling the pain as he experienced Villy’s body like it was his own. The
Viper rapidly gathered the energy and wrapped it around him like a barrier.
When he did so, Jake saw his body turn green and knew it was not due to
his body changing… it was simply Jake seeing the effect of everything
being corroded all around him.
A second explosion sounded out as the Viper shot forward towards the
broken space. A faint trace was left in his wake as he went into the
fractured exit point. The poison around him revolved at nearly impossible
speeds, each particle of mist able to break down the fundamental laws of
reality itself.
Once the Viper entered the fractured point, he simply phased into it. Even if
the Viper was strong, he was not strong enough to break a space tunnel like
this… but he could burn a small hole into it and pass through. Space
reformed behind him like he had never been there, and Jake only saw a faint
glimpse of darkness before Villy appeared in the outside world, surrounded
by large snowy mountains. Behind him, a crack in reality had been formed,
but it healed within a fraction of a second, so fast a simple blink would miss
it.
The cocoon of mist dispersed nearly instantly, and the Viper began to fall to
the ground, clearly exhausted. Jake felt a profound sense of weakness all
over, and moreover, like a part of his Soulshape had been sacrificed to make
the escape possible… which is when Jake found the final piece of the
puzzle.
What he had been stuck on was how to control the poison. He now realized
he didn’t control it at all; it would control itself. What the Viper had done
was sacrifice the wings themselves to infuse parts of himself into it. His
own will and desire.
The last thing Jake saw was Villy turn in a certain direction, murder in his
eyes. Clearly out for revenge against those who had dared to try and trap
and kill him.
Everything then rewound, and Jake saw the vision again. Even if it
appeared long, the entire vision had only been about fifteen minutes total,
considering all the fast-forwarding.
Jake slowly hammered out the errors. He was confident and smiled as the
vision ended, and Jake returned to the real world.
He appeared sitting inside Sandy’s stomach, and instantly the worm was on
him.
“Wow, what did you do? I felt something super weird just now, like, you
were gone and then back or something? That was sooo weird… you were
still kind of there, but not really, you know?” Sandy launched into a tirade.
“I did special magic,”Jake just answered jokingly.
“Boo, you should share,”Sandy answered.
“How about I share with you the results? Can you stop for a moment, so I
can test this out? Just be warned, I will try to get out of here, and I can’t
promise this won’t be a little painful. I may just make a hole or something
on my way out,” Jake answered.
“Oh, go ahead; I will try and stop you, right?”
“Go ahead,” Jake answered confidently.

Jake focused as his wings appeared. The skill had already upgraded the
moment he returned, and the learned knowledge turned instinctual.
Everything happened instantly with the system’s assistance, as dozens of
wings superimposed upon each other and exploded, forming a cloud of mist
around him. He then sent himself flying forward towards the wall of the
stomach chamber.
He observed everything carefully. He felt and saw himself impact the

stomach wall, and the moment he did, it seemed to simply disintegrate.
Everything turned black for a moment as no concept reached Jake, not even
light. He felt entirely isolated from everything, and even his Sphere went
haywire for a second. He felt the mist fight against everything and slowly
consume itself to burn him a path, and then…
And then he was in the outside world.
Jake stopped and saw he was still in rocky mountainous terrain as the mist
had already dispersed upon escaping. He took a moment to collect himself
and saw the giant worm flying just above, and as he looked up, he also felt
Sandy’s attention on him.
”You escape- I mean, got out!” Sandy said with surprise.
”That I did,” Jake answered. He had to admit that he had expected the
fatigue to be more prominent. Then again, he had a monstrous mana pool.
There were no marks anywhere on Sandy either, and Jake wondered why
that was.
”That was so weird!” Sandy said, explaining to him what had happened. ”I
was just waiting and wondering what you were doing until you disappeared
again and then just popped right out of my skin! Like, it makes no sense; it
was like you weren’t really inside me at all…”
Jake considered it for a moment before he understood the explanation. He

had not even interacted with the physical body of Sandy, only the
Soulshape, and one couldn’t even say he had done that… it was more like
he had been spat out of the Soulshape. He had to admit, even now, he still
didn’t entirely understand how the skill worked, and he had a feeling the
Viper hadn’t one hundred percent either when he made it.
Not that Jake would complain. He finally opened his messages and saw the
upgraded skill.
[Wings of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – Refusing to remain earthbound,

the Malefic Viper sprung wings to devour the skies. You, too, refuse to be
earthbound. Allows the Alchemist to summon two phantasmal wings and
take flight. While active, you can burn the blood within the wings and
release potent toxic fumes. The toxicity and effects of the poison are based
on Blood of the Malefic Viper. Toughness and maneuverability of the
wings and speed are based primarily on Agility but receive a bonus from
all physical stats. The wings count as part of your body for all relevant
skills. Passively provides 1 Agility per level in Prodigious Alchemist of the
Malefic Viper. May the sight of your wings be the harbinger of death.
-->
[Wings of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] – Refusing to remain

earthbound, the Malefic Viper sprung wings to devour the skies. Refusing
to be bound or trapped anywhere, the wings of the Malefic One shall
always leave a path of escape. Allows the Alchemist to summon two
phantasmal wings and take flight. While active, you can burn the blood
within the wings and release potent toxic fumes. The toxicity and effects
of the poison are based on Blood of the Malefic Viper. Toughness and
maneuverability of the wings and speed are based primarily on Agility but
receive a bonus from all physical stats. The wings count as part of your
body for all relevant skills. Allows the Alchemist to further infuse and
sacrifice both wings to create an opportunity to escape if in a perilous
situation. Doing this makes resummoning the wings impossible for a
variable duration, dependent on Agility and the amount of energy infused
into the wings upon the sacrifice. Passively provides 3 Agility per level in
Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May the sight of your
wings be the harbinger of death and instruments of escape to feed
another day.

Wings was a contender, if not a winner, for longest skill description by now.
The added description did not say much he didn’t already know but did
explain one thing he was unaware of… he couldn’t summon his wings
again. It was like the Soulshape framework itself had taken damage from
using the skill. The more Jake looked at it, the more insane it seemed. The
Viper had found a way to summon a new appendage to the soul and then
used that added appendage as a way to sacrifice a part of the soul. Jake
knew it was possible before as a concept but had never seen it used like
this. The most common variant was severe boosting skills that could leave
long-lasting damage to the soul.
The problem with the soul was that one really had to just give it time to
heal. While there were treasures to hasten it or very special things like the
Soul Renewal he had used on the King, the best medicine was truly just
time.
Oh, and then there was the added Agility which Jake would definitely not
complain about. Two levels in his profession were also a welcome addition
if a rather expected one.
”So…” Sandy said after a while.
”Sure, sure, go ahead and gobble me up again,” Jake sighed as the worm
happily ate him like a tasty snack. Once he was inside, Sandy began moving
again, continuing their adventure across the world.
”Hey, human Jake, can you tell me more about that weird magic before?”
Sandy asked.
Jake wanted a break anyway and obliged. ”You see, my good friend Villy,
the Malefic Viper we talked about before, has given me a Legacy that has a
lot of skills and…”
They talked and relaxed as Jake only had one thing he felt a bit sad about.
The vision of Villy had not really been the embarrassing moment Jake had
hoped for, but more just the snake god showing off how skilled he was.
Oh well, better luck next time. There had to be a vision where Villy was
caught in a really embarrassing moment, right?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 532 - Godly Interference
& Advice
”This is complete bullshit,” Carmen said as she stared at the golden

projection.
”It wasn’t my call, but it comes all the way from the top,” the projection of
Sven said, shaking his head. ”This may sound curt, but it is partly because
of you. Your personal relationship with the Malefic’s Chosen is both a merit
and a demerit. On the one side, it ensures us a spot in this world, but on the
other hand, then if someone else gets in charge, we may be ostracized.”
”Still complete fucking bullshit,” Carmen now raged. ”Do you really think
Jake will just be all fine with us supporting this orange Cheeto fuck? Do
you think he will just go: ”oh well, what can you do?” and let us go about
our day like nothing? Fuck no, there will be hell to pay.”
”You are talking as if his victory is a given,” Sven answered. ”Even if he is

stronger than this Ell’Hakan, it does not mean he will beat him in the
political arena. Besides, it is not even Ell’hakan we are supporting, but
Arthur, another human. We are not betraying anyone, for we were never on
the side of Lord Thayne, to begin with. He will get even better terms than
Arthur if he comes out on top, and with Miranda likely around, she will be a
voice of reason.”
”Funny,” Carmen scoffed. ”You think he gives a shit about some terms or
benefits? Jake is an impulsive kind of guy, and if he thinks you slighted
him, that is the only thing that matters.”
”Carmen, we are not getting anywhere if we talk in circles,” Sven sighed.

”The decision has already been made, and none of us can do anything about
it. All we can do is make the best out of the situation. The top brass thinks
this will have the highest overall chance of success, so that is why we are
going with it. You can agree or disagree, and it changes nothing. If you
want to do anything, it should be to make sure Jake stays positive towards
us if he wins.”
Carmen just kept frowning as she abruptly turned off the projector with a
huff, still thinking it was fucking bullshit.
”Ree?” Sylphie asked, still sitting beside her, not entirely getting everything
that was going on.
Sylphie had chosen to stay with Carmen during the time since Jake left, and
the two of them had used Paradise as a home base while exploring. Renato
was the kind of two-faced asshole Carmen expected and did not choose any
side at all, only fortifying the city itself in case anyone chose to target them.
Not that she cared, he let her and Sylphie do as they wanted, and Carmen’s
mother was doing way better. She had settled down and now just worked as
a tailor. The original plan of bringing her to an area Valhal controlled had
been delayed due to the Salvento family having a lot of assets to claim and
Renato being very good at convincing them to stay ”just a little longer” all
the time.
”I don’t know, Sylphie,” Carmen sighed. ”This entire situation is fucked up,
and they just expect me to sit tight and do nothing? You know what, how
about we go fuck up some of their cities? Go punch some City Lords to
give them a bit of their own medicine.”
”Ree!” Sylphie screeched excited, probably just wanting to get in a few

good fights.
”Let’s do i-”
Carmen’s eyes opened wide as she felt a headache come on. She knew what
it was and gritted her teeth as she heard the voice of Gudrun.
”Carmen, I understand your feelings,” she heard the voice of Gudrun say
as the god launched into a lengthy explanation. ”You remind me much of my
husband, you know? Like Valdemar, you never see the bigger picture
because you personally don’t have to. But this entire scenario is quite
delicate. Earth is a melting pot right now and in an untenable situation if
one has even the slightest foresight. The Holy Church and Risen would
never get along, and not even the Viper’s Chosen could create peace among
two factions that have warred for trillions of years. In the same way, then
some humans will never come to accept the Order of the Malefic Viper
either. They will never be able to disconnect the Chosen from the Order, for
historically, there has never been any such separation. You know him as a
person; they know him as a symbol. Conflict is inevitable and healthy, and
this entire conflict will only lead to Earth entering a more stable state. No
matter who wins. All we want to make sure of is that no matter who wins,
we keep an opening. If the Chosen chooses to close this opening, then so be
it. Removing ourselves as an organizational presence from Earth is truly
not that big of a loss, and as per the doctrine of Valhal, you would be able
to stay if you wanted. Anyone would. And remember, we have not actually
chosen a side; we have, in fact, done the opposite and said that we will
support either side that wins. If the Malefic’s Chosen is the kind of
individual that will make a ”me or them” ultimatum, then I will only feel
strengthened in this decision. For that is not the kind of man we would want
to work with in the long term. So, Carmen, all I am asking of you is to do
nothing. For remember, what you do will be the actions of Valhal. I cannot
tell you what you can or can’t do, but I can implore you to think about it. If
you are truly confident the Malefic’s Chosen will win, then just sit tight and
keep trusting in him to handle it.”
It was a damn long message that came like a huge package. Carmen took a
while to process it all and wasn’t sure what to think… Gudrun had been
incredibly hands-off for Carmen, and she was surprised any god from
Valhal would suddenly contact her, much less the wife and de-facto leader
of the day-to-day operations of Valhal.
This is why Carmen found it suspicious, and even if she had a damn
headache from receiving a divine message, she still responded.
”You do care about Earth… if not, you wouldn’t go this far as to contact me
and try to explain things,” Carmen answered.
Carmen got an amused chuckle in return as Gudrun answered. ”No, we care
about the people on it… which is also why I mentioned that you could stay
on Earth even if Valhal was made to leave. People like Jake Thayne care
about the people they choose to care about. He has chosen you as someone
he cares about. So even if Valhal leaves Earth and you stay, we won’t have
lost anything worth mentioning. And if the Malefic’s Chosen loses, I think it
wise for you to bring your loved ones and leave Earth altogether, even if we
do enter a partnership. For the safety of both you and the potential new
leader of your planet.”
”The way you talk makes it sound like there is even a chance Jake loses,”
Carmen still argued.
”There is. Maybe not this time, but the Chosen of Yip of Yore is not one to
be taken lightly. Yip of Yore isn’t either. He is a very unknown character to
many, and what many do not know is that he showed up to Valhal and
challenged Valdemar to a duel not that long ago. The mere fact that he still
lives today should be proof that he is not the jester many believe him to be
but can represent a genuine problem even to gods who stand at the
pinnacle,” Gudrun explained.
Carmen wanted to argue more, but her head was pounding. Gudrun also
knew this and retracted her presence, leaving Carmen alone. She gritted her
teeth and clenched her fists as she turned to a worried Sylphie.
”Change of plans. Fuck those cities and let’s just go slaughter something
else,” Carmen said with much annoyance. She was pissed off and really felt
like getting her frustrations out on some unsuspecting beasts. Besides, she
and Sylphie should be able to handle a few weaker C-grades by now.
Someone else was also finally contacting his Patron after quite a while of
no talking. After having a lot of long conversations, Jake finally initiated
contact with a certain god.
”So, got another vision,” Jake said as he reached out to Villy.
”Related to Wings, I see,” Villy just answered.

”Yep.”
”Are you busy or something?” Jake asked, feeling like Villy was far less
talkative than usual. He had not reached out, even after Jake got his Wings
upgrade, which he usually did. Nor when Jake had helped ”make” Sandy.
”I am just waiting for you to address… you know,”Villy said.
”Oh. That. Yeah, alright. So, it is quite clear to me that this Ell’Hakan guy
had prepared for a long-ass time and clearly did not hold back when it
came to divine guidance. I am going to guess that this Yip of Yore had
blessed people on Earth that helped to act as mouthpieces and relay
messages for a while,” Jake said, sharing his thoughts.
”That is precisely what they did,” Villy answered with relief. ”I will admit,
I had expected you to be a bit angrier. You were taken by surprise, and
someone died, with Earth being thrown into quite a situation. All something
we both know I was aware of and could have warned you about.”
”Well, yeah,” Jake said with a shrug. ”And you kind of did by telling me to
stop slacking off, didn’t you? Also, we had this talk before that this falls into
mortal affairs. The one thing I am wondering is, why does this Yip not care
and help his Chosen so much?”
”His goals for his Chosen are different from mine, and his Path is also very
different. I cannot give you the exact reason as I don’t know it, but he is up
to something,” Villy shared.
”I see,” Jake answered.
”There is also the fact that you two are not equal. You are the Chosen of a
Primordial. My Chosen. This was never a fair fight, to begin with, and he
was just trying to even the playing field, expecting me not to do the same
out of pride. I also trusted you to handle it yourself. Even if you suffer
temporary setbacks, you should be able to overcome them. People may die,
but as harsh as it may sound, that is something I am fully willing to see
happen as long as you keep moving forward,” Villy explained. ”And about
Yip himself, I will have him handled. I can feel he is cooking up something,
but he is not the only one skilled in the kitchen.”
Jake considered the Viper’s words for a moment. ”Is that also why no one
else was warned? Aeon should have seen it coming. Or Stormild, if that
damn elemental was paying attention. Shit, didn’t you say Oras is the
master of seeing stuff? Did none of those really warn their own people on
Earth?”
”Nope, not a single warning was given to anyone. Mind you, the Witches of
the Verdant Lagoon also noticed it would happen but said nothing. And I
hadn’t told them not to either. You just must understand that giving
warnings like that isn’t really a thing and is even frowned upon by the
system. Not even for the Holy Church. It goes against convention, and if a
settlement falls and a few billion members of a faction die, so what? It is a
minor loss of no consequence, and in the eyes of many, just a healthy
culling of the masses,” Villy further added on.
”I get it, jeez,” Jake said with a sigh. ”Let’s move on to a happier topic.
Thoughts on my new ride?”
”I will admit, it is not actually a race I am familiar with,” Villy confessed.

”Mind you, Cosmic Worms are nothing new and only semi-rare across the
multiverse, but a Cosmic Genesis Worm is a first for me.”
”Any idea how I made it happen?” Jake asked.
”A few, but nothing concrete. Ultimately, we both know it is related to that

monstrous Bloodline of yours as well as your arcane affinity. Rather than
me trying to come up with theories, I find it better you just figure out the
truth and then tell me,” Villy answered.
”That I can do. Oh well, back to killing stuff and flying with my wormy
friend until it is time to kick Ell’Hakan’s ass and boot him off the planet,”
Jake said with a smile.
”Sounds like a plan. But I will give you one warning, as Yip clearly doesn’t
care about conventions. People like Yip and Ell’Hakan are annoying fucks.
They are planners, through and through, and a head-on approach tends to
never work out well. Their victory conditions also tend to vary widely. If his
goal is just to institute a World Leader, then why would he ever fight you?
There is no need to. So think about why he does what he does far more.
Think about what his plan may be. I am not telling you to try and be a
planner yourself, as quite frankly, you would suck at it, but I am telling you
to broaden your field of view. You killing Ell’Hakan would be your best
victory condition, and he knows that. Thus he will act and plan according to
that. Additionally, then this kind of planner tends to have strategies with
multiple win conditions, some better than others, but all acceptable, with
more fail-safes than you can imagine. Chances are the final confrontation
with him will not happen on your terms, and I am not sure you can do much
to change that besides making sure that even if it is on his terms, it is also
on yours and you are not taken by surprise. Anyway, that is all I am gonna
say, and good luck,”Villy said, sharing his final nugget of wisdom.
”Thanks, and good luck to you too,” Jake said in return, having a feeling
Villy was also up to something behind the scenes. He did say he would
handle Yip of Yore, after all.
Their connection faded, and Jake reflected on how Villy had actually been
relieved at Jake not blaming him. Jake did not see why he would. Villy had
not been the one who told Ell’Hakan to come to Earth; he had not been the
one who made the United Cities Alliance morons, and he had not sent Jake
to the other side of the planet. True, Jake was targeted because he was the
Viper’s Chosen, but that too was something Jake had picked to be. He could
have renounced the Blessing at any time before reaching D-grade, and now
as a Heretic-Chosen, he had already embraced the Path and whatever issues
it could bring to be a Chosen. Sure, he still wanted to avoid the
responsibilities, but that was only to be expected, as who likes
responsibilities?
No, the only ones Jake blamed were the United Cities Alliance and
Ell’Hakan. They were the ones who had started shit, and Jake would gladly
throw that shit right back in their faces. He just had a bit of a distance to go,
and some progress to make.
”Hey, Sandy, be a bit less picky for hunting spots,”Jake said.

”Hm? Why?” Sandy asked curiously.
”I need one level for something good,” Jake said with a smile. He had
killed one weak C-grade without getting a level and knew the next one
would give him that level-up. Which would mean it was finally time to get
his last class skill from Avaricious Arcane Hunter.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 533 - Hunter Level 180
Skill Selection & Being Hunted
It had only taken Sandy about a day to find good prey for Jake, and it
wasn’t even guarding that good of a natural treasure according to the worm,
heavily insinuating he should feel thankful.
His opponent had been this weird wooly thing that Jake had no idea what
was about, but it bled and suffered from necrosis the same as everything
else, and with it only being level 201, Jake quickly took it down. Quickly
being a relative term as the damn ball of wool had still been damn tanky.
Anyway, with it finally dead, the last level came.
And it was skill-selection time.
*Avaricious Arcane Hunter class skills available*
Jake was naturally excited. These last skill selections always felt special,
and this profession skill had not disappointed with his freak soul mutation
skill. Jake did not necessarily want a similar skill for his class but
something more directly related to combat. Maybe an upgrade to Arrow of
the Ambitious Hunter? Oh, how about a skill, any skill, that scaled with
Perception? He would very much like that. He had some Free Points saved
up, and if he happened to get a skill that scaled with Perception… well, he
had an excuse.
So, without further ado, he dove in and saw five options. It was as expected,
and true to tradition, he went through them.
[Minor Arcane Seal (Rare)] – Through the concept of stability, none shall
find a path of escape. Allows the Hunter to create a seal by infusing stable
arcane mana into a chosen target or area around the Hunter.
Consumption of mana is dependent on the object or area the Hunter tries
to seal. The durability of the seal is dependent on Wisdom and mana
expenditure. Adds a minor bonus to the effects of Minor Arcane Seal
based on Wisdom and Willpower.
And the first one was a solid dud that Jake quickly skipped over. He knew
how to infuse stable mana into stuff already.
[Hunter’s Blade-Fang Style (Epic)] – To you, your weapons are your

fangs, and your fangs are your ultimate shield. A defensive combat skill
that revolves around countering and dodging your foe to keep distance
and minimize damage taken. Unlocks intermediate proficiency in the
Hunter’s Blade-Fang Style and adds a small bonus to the effects of
Agility, Strength, and Perception when using a bladed weapon.
The first interesting option. It was an actual melee fighting technique skill.
It had a slight overlap with Fang of Man, with the stat effect increasing
while wearing a weapon. In cases like that, the strongest skill would take
priority, and while you would gain a small bonus from the other one, it was
minor. As for if he wanted to pick the skill? No. There was a chance Jake
could upgrade it to the style he had made with sim-Jake, but there was also
a risk the innate knowledge from this skill could lead him astray. One had to
remember that Jake’s fighting style was dependent on his Bloodline, so no
normal skill would ever be offered that truly fit him. Unless it actually
referred to Jake directly in the description, he wouldn’t even consider it.
Hence he moved on.
[Grand Arcane Explosion (Epic)] – Through sheer power and an

abundance of resources, you can overwhelm your foes. Overload your
surroundings with unstable arcane mana and detonate it all to create a
massive explosion. This attack is especially effective against the
environment but also causes significant damage to anything else caught
in the blast. Adds a bonus to the effects of Intelligence and Wisdom when
using Arcane Explosion.
Skill makes Jake go big boom; Jake no need; Jake already knows how to go
big boom.
[Arcane-Shadow Vault of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Ancient)] – Your

prey believes it can escape your avarice, foolish in its assumptions as your
pursuit is endless. Through practice and sheer power, the Avaricious
Arcane Hunter can turn into an Arcane-Shadow to either attack or
defend. Allows you to vault forward a short distance between you and
your destination. Phasing through physical or magical obstacles will
result in either destroying the obstacle or impeding you entirely. Your
methods are crude and destructive, allowing you to create an arcane
explosion at your target destination based on the distance traveled. Adds a
bonus to the effects of Agility, Endurance, and Intelligence when using
Arcane-Shadow Vault of the Avaricious Hunter.
WARNING: This skill is unlocked by and will serve as an upgrade to your
existing Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra, resulting in the loss of the skill
And there it was. Jake had expected to see this kind of skill offered, and it
came as expected. This was the reward for sim-Jake’s work so far, but it
was clearly not good enough. He knew that sim-Jake would not accept his
Legacy merely being some ancient rarity skill. In fact, he was pretty sure
his simulacrum would want to beat him senseless if he picked it. Hence he
moved on just as everyone would expect. Because, as always, the best was
saved for last.
[Relentless Hunt of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Legendary)] – The

Avaricious Arcane Hunter is relentless in his pursuit of a stronger foe,
and it only ends when he so desires. Once a target is found, the hunt shall
only end in death. When hunting prey, you only grow in deadliness.
Allows the Avaricious Arcane Hunter to accumulate momentum during a
hunt by slowly finding an opportunity to strike. This momentum can then
be turned into a tangible weapon. Successfully landing blows while not
taking damage yourself hastens the accumulation of hunting momentum.
Can consume all hunting momentum to significantly empower a single
attack to deal devastating damage. Momentum can carry over if a new
hunt begins shortly after another one ends. All skill effects have an
increased effect the higher the level your foe is. The base speed at which
hunting momentum is accumulated as well as the maximum amount of
momentum possible is determined by Perception.
Jake read the skill over carefully.
If one asked Jake what his biggest problem was, it would be huge finisher
attacks. Arcane Powershot was damn strong, but not some massive finisher,
and while Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter had filled that role for a good
while, it wasn’t at the level of what some other attacks he had seen. Carmen
had her Fist of Ragnarok, his brother had that huge lighting attack, and
many beasts also had supremely powerful attacks they could only release as
a final gamble. Shit, that weird space-tunnel attack by the Panther had been
insane, even for its level. Jake had kind of wanted something like that, and
while he realized this skill would not give him some massively powerful
blow, then it was good too. Dependent on how effective it actually was, of
course.
There was only one huge plus. It was a skill that scaled purely with
Perception and was a skill that allowed Jake to translate his Perception into
actual damage. Some of his class skills and his archery skill already did
this, but this added another layer. Moreover, nothing said it required one to
use a ranged weapon, so Jake could also land a far more powerful melee
blow using this Hunting Momentum. Yes, that was now the official name of
the momentum Jake accumulated during the fight.
Needless to say, Jake picked the skill because why the hell wouldn’t he? It
was a no-brainer and clearly the best. The moment he did so, he felt the
instinctual knowledge enter his head. Honestly, there wasn’t much to it, and
he knew that to truly get a feel for the skill and how good it was, he would
need some actual combat. What he was sure of was that his overall damage
output had just increased a lot.
After his talk with Villy, Jake had also changed his mind about just charging
back. It seemed like Ell’Hakan and Arthur did have lines they refused to
cross, and he had to trust other people in his life to be able to fend for
themselves. Caleb should protect Jake’s family, and Miranda could handle
herself, especially if she managed to get to the Grand Mangrove River. In
there, she should be absolutely safe. He also wondered why, even now, no
one had tried to take the Pylon in Haven yet. As long as he wasn’t put on
that thirty-day timer, he truly wasn’t in that much of a rush. And if it was
taken, he could just get it right back.
Speaking of Miranda. Jake had already reached out for her to contact him
once available. If Ell’Hakan was making some plans, so would Jake.
Ell’Hakan had clearly done a lot of research into Jake and even had his
Patron help, but his research was limited. There were things not even the
gods knew or could find out.
So why not make use of that? Of course, for him to truly figure out a
method of approach, he would need to speak and strategize with Miranda.
He just hoped she had gotten to the Grand Mangrove River safely.
Miranda regretted not forcing Sultan along. Not to have his companionship
or fighting power, but solely due to that flying ship of his. Neil had
managed to teleport them far, and they were making good distance with him
teleporting them a few more times, but outside of these teleports, they were
slow.
The problem was with Mark and Louise, Hank’s son and daughter. Neither
of them had reached D-grade, making them far slower than everyone else
and forcing Hank to carry one and Christen, one of Neil’s party members,
the other. Miranda was not at all a physically proficient fighter, but even she
outclassed the two of them several times over.
Now, being slow would be fine if not for the fact they were being chased. It
was clear that the United Cities Alliance wanted her dead, just as Ell’Hakan
had warned, and a group was in hot pursuit. Clearly, then the United Cities
Alliance had some teleporters still around somewhere, or at least some way
to teleport around, as they quickly chased after, despite teleporting so far
from Haven.
This meant that despite their headstart, they were slowly getting caught up
with. It was unsure if they could fight this group, but Miranda doubted it.
Neil and his party were good fighters, but not at all at the level of true
elites, and information on them was also abundant, making her sure Arthur
had factored them in. Miranda herself also wasn’t a good fighter in a
straight-on battle like this.
Luckily for them, they reached the Grand Mangrove River before they were
fully reached by the other group.
“Shit,” Neil cursed the moment they entered the mangrove. “I felt a teleport
about… more than a kilometer, less than ten, right behind us.”
“Can you teleport us further in?” Miranda asked with concern, looking at
Hank and the others.
“No, this place is messing with my space magic quite badly, I can use it
locally, but it is like the entire area is warped slightly,” Neil shook his head.
During this time, they never stopped running as they dove further and
further in. In far enough for monsters to appear and hassle them, but
fortunately, Neil and his party were there to handle with. Eleanor, Levi,
Silas, and Neil handled most everything, with Lillian also offering some
support, but it was limited what she could do.
The water below them stirred as Miranda felt movement behind them
through it. It was lucky the area was swamp-like, giving her some benefits
as a Verdant Witch but far from enough to fight without proper preperation.
Thinking quickly, Miranda took out some bottles she had gotten some Jake
a long time ago for experiments. They all contained his blood infused with
Blood of the Malefic Viper, and she had nearly forgotten she even had them
after she discovered how useless they were if anyone else than Jake used
the blood.
Crushing all the bottles, she spilled the liquid all over the water. She knew it
could attract something they didn’t want to attract, but it could also do just
the opposite. Just after she did this, a large crocodile emerged from below,
one nearly at the peak of D-grade.
“Hank! Take Mark and Louise and keep running!” Miranda yelled to the
builder as Christen tossed Louise to him. Hank complied and started
running further away. Not only because of the croc, but due to what came
from behind.
Sadly, he did not get far. The water rose in front of him like a barrier as it
crackled with lightning. Hank turned back in a panic, and so did everyone
else who was not too busy with the crocodile.
A group of five appeared, all of them giving off strong auras.
Miranda recognized them as the group with Arthur during the Auction, and
all of them had powerful equipment, and there was even a caster with the
Fulgarian Deepcaller class Jake had sold the Akashic Tome to. He was also
the one who had made the barrier of water. She identified a few of them and
knew they were in trouble.
[Human – lvl 174]
[Human – lvl 178]
But she still believed they could at least put up a fight until more presences
appeared behind the wall, having circled around with incredible speed.
Miranda saw them as she squinted and gritted her teeth.
[Infernomaw Hound – lvl 199]
[Frostmaw Hound – lvl 199]
[Thundermaw Hound – lvl 199]
Three large dog-like creatures, each of them more than five meters tall,
guarded their path of escape. Miranda prepared her magic to hold them off
as she released a pulse of Verdant energy. It entered the water below, but the
Fulgarian Deepcaller slammed his staff into it, sending a pulse of lightning
through, nullifying her mana.
He smiled confidently as Miranda frowned.
“A pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Wells. I am Mahowny, leader of the

first advance party of the United Cities Alliance. Took us quite a while to
finally catch up, but here we are,” the man spoke with confidence. Not that
Miranda could fault him. He turned to the others in the group and smiled.
“We are not merciless. It is only the City Lord of Haven and her assistant
we are after, and the rest of you are free to leave. But should you choose to
stand in our way, we will show no mercy,” Mahowny said, almost
tauntingly. He was full of himself, and Miranda wanted to do something.
Just then, he opened the barrier a bit, and all three Hounds jumped in and
killed the crocodile. It was an obvious show of strength, and they all knew
one side was superior.
“I still don’t understand why you find this all necessary. You are choosing
to work with an unknown Chosen from another planet, and for what? Do
you truly think this will end well, even if all your plans work out? He is
using you, not the other way around,” Miranda said.
Mahowny just smirked. “One of the good things about being a soldier is
that my job is not to think about those things. I just follow orders and get
the job done, and in this instance, my job is to kill you. Truly, it is nothing
personal. Now, you can either decide to give yourself up and have your
followers here leave or fight. I am fine with either option.”
Miranda tried to look like she was deep in thought. She felt herself being
closely monitored by the party in front of her. All five of them were above
170, but the biggest problem was the three hounds. If she tried to use any
magic, she did not doubt they would react and pounce. The other side
clearly knew that they risked taking a loss or two if Miranda or the others
had any trump cards, making them prefer if she just surrendered.
All Miranda could do was to make use of this and drag out the time. All she
remembered about the Grand Mangrove River was that Jake had made a
friend there, and she had hoped to draw them closer using the blood.
“Time is up,” Mahowny said after Miranda did her darndest to look
conflicted for around a minute. Miranda prepared herself along with the rest
of her group as the other side was about to engage. “You have made your
choice, and now it is time to-“
He didn’t get further as he clamped up. Everyone stopped in their tracks,
with the three hounds suddenly lying down on their respective branches,
whimpering. An aura had swept into the area, making Miranda’s eyes open
wide. It was stronger than anything she had ever felt on Earth, and she had
no doubt the source was well in the C-grade.
She slowly turned her head and saw the figure that was the source of the
aura through the thick roots of the mangrove. Miranda did not know what to
expect, but it was not that. A young woman with snow-white skin and
scattered scales across her body walked on water like it was solid ground.
Her hair was long and white like the rest of her body, and her eyes were red
with reptilian pupils. She wore a dress that looked like it was made of
snakeskin, swaying behind her as if weightless. She looked like something
out of a fairytale.
[Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake – lvl ???]
The young woman - no, C-grade monster turned humanoid - watched them
all as she seemed to be looking for something. Or someone. Finally, her
eyes landed on Miranda.
“Who are you?”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
I kinda forgot the end of month warning this time around... but it is the
30th, so...


Chapter 534 - Snake Girl = Danger
Noodle
A note from Zogarth
Hello there boys and girls, a little service announcement for you all!
Azarinth Healer book 1 finally out on Amazon (KU) with the audiobook
coming next week. I think I have menioned it quite a few times before,
but AH was one of the major inspirations for my own story and my
favorite story on RR besides my own. As a fan and a fellow "borrower"
of stuff from the Elder Scrolls universe, I find it only proper to point out
his release and encourage you all to go check it out. Not that I don't
assume most you didn't know this already... AH is the most popular
novel in this site for a reason.
Miranda’s mind was a bit jumbled from the powerful aura, and it took her a
moment to formulate a response. This resulted in her not being the first one
to answer.
”I sincerely apologize for disturbing your area,” Mahowny said as he

bowed. His party members followed suit, their nervousness palpable. Sweat
was pouring down their brows as they also realized that the monster that
had appeared was more than any of them could handle.
It had to be mid-tier C-grade… which meant it was above level 250. The
group from the United Cities Alliance could probably handle a weak C-
grade using their hounds, but the snake was an entirely different issue. It
was leagues above anything they could even touch.
”We are only here for this woman and will leave once done,” Mahowny
further said. “And we are more than willing to compensate you for allowing
us this.”
The snake did not even turn to him but kept staring at Miranda. Miranda felt
the pressure and finally came up with an answer. ”Miranda Wells… I work
for the Malefic’s Chosen.”
As if a switch had been flipped, the humanoid snake’s eyes opened wide.
”Really? Is he here?”
”No, sadly not,” Miranda said, the pressure on her instantly alleviated.
”Oh…” the snake deflated.
Miranda saw the Mahowny and the others had turned white as sheets, now
matching the complexion of the snake girl. They looked like they were
about to plan their escape already, having realized they were in a very
perilous situation.
”I was being chased here by enemies of the Chosen,” Miranda quickly

pounced on the opportunity to remove the elites from the United Cities
Alliance. ”They aim to kill me and hurt the Chosen through that.”
This got a response out of the snake as she turned her head to the party of
five.
Mahowny instantly raised his hands in defense. ”This is all a

misunderstanding, I-”
He didn’t get further. Miranda wasn’t sure what happened, but one moment
he was talking, and the next, there was no head on his shoulders. The
movement had been too fast for her to see. It wasn’t even certain if it was
teleportation or just incredibly fast movement.
”Did you know that humans have these unwanted movements in their aura
when they lie? I learned that from the ones I acquired to perfect this human
form,” the snake said in an insidious voice. It looked like she hadn’t even
moved as she now stood there with a severed head, parts of the spine
hanging out.
Her rhetorical question did not have a chance to be answered as movements

came from below. The aura of the Alabaster Snake had completely masked
them as three C-grade snakes shot up from the water, and within less than
five seconds, the hounds and human party were all dead.
Miranda could only stand there and stare as it happened. She had hoped for
assistance, but the response had been prompt and unexpectedly harsh. There
was no questioning or doubt in the snake; she had simply acted and wiped
them out unceremoniously.
She saw that Hank looked incredibly worried, and Neil’s party still had
defensive positions. It was a sloppy one, as they all knew that if any of the
snakes that had just appeared chose to attack, none of them would survive.
Are these the “friends” Jake talked about? Miranda asked herself, already
knowing the answer. He had mentioned it so casually like it was no big
deal… but the snake in front of them was far more powerful than anything
she could have imagined.
The three C-grade snakes that had appeared were all far larger than the
small and delicate-looking Alabaster Snake, but they all showed respect to
her and bowed before ducking their heads underwater once more, dragging
the corpses along with them.
“Humans are really questionable,” the snake said with scorn before looking
at Miranda. “Ah, but not you. Just the normal humans, if you know what I
mean. Anyway! You said you are here because of the Forefather’s Chosen?
Why are you here if he is not?”
Miranda was not sure what to answer but quickly read the mood and
emotional state of the powerful C-grade. “There is a conflict going on right
now, and the Chosen is preoccupied with handling other matters, including
an enemy Chosen that serves a god who is antagonistic towards your
Forefather. Due to this, the city I managed for him could no longer properly
protect itself, and he asked us to go here.”
The snake listened attentively before tilting her head. “But why here?”
Smiling, Miranda was happy the C-grade asked. “Because he trusts that you
can keep us safe while he is gone.”
The snake reacted a bit more strongly than Miranda had expected. With
starry eyes, the snake clenched her fists and put on a massive smile that
looked more than a little odd. “Re… really? He trusts me?”
“If not, he would not send us here,” Miranda promptly answered. “It is truly
my pleasure to meet a confidant of the Chosen. As I said before, then my
name is Miranda Wells. May I ask what your name is?”
Miranda had to admit that a cold shiver ran down her spine as she asked the
question. If Jake had met this snake, there was a chance he had also given
her a name, and no matter how dumb it was, she didn’t doubt the female
snake with her personality would be all giddy and proud of it. She swore
that if he had named the snake Snakie or Scaley or anything like that, she
would be unable to hold her poker face and would smack him over the head
the moment they met again, Chosen or not.
“A name?” the snake asked, still all happy about what Miranda had said. “I
sadly do not have one of those. Most simply call me by my race as I am the
only one in these parts. You can refer to me as it too if you so desire.”
It was almost funny to see how the female snake now tried to act all
professional and like she was welcoming guests into her humble abode.
Which was exactly what she did in her mind, Miranda reckoned.
“Please follow me back to the center of the mangrove. Ah, we even have a
few humans there and lodging for your kind,” the Alabaster Snake said.
“Really?” Miranda asked with genuine surprise. Humans living in a C-

grade infested danger zone? She had a hard time seeing that.
“Yep, you will see when we get there,” the snake girl smiled. She looked
towards the water for a moment before the three large snakes emerged
again. Alongside them, a wooden barge had also appeared, seemingly out of
nothing. “Get on for a quicker trip. Ah, did you know the Chosen rode it
too? We helped him the last time he was here, and he was so nice.”
“I can imagine,” Miranda said, having to fake her smile a little. How in the
hell did Jake end up making friends with nearly every monster he didn’t just
kill? Heck, even the ones he killed, he somehow ended up making friends
with posthumously in the case of the Fallen King.
She and the others got on the barge and got through the Grand Mangrove
River far faster than expected. The snake girl ended up joining them on the
barge and was incredibly talkative once she learned everyone there had met
Jake before. Neil was the first to truly reciprocate and asked curiously about
the area and the odd spatial fluctuations he felt.
It turned out that the mangrove truly was a mysterious place. The water was
far, far deeper than it should have any right to be. It was likely spatially
expanded somehow, and so were some areas of the Grand Mangrove River
in general. Small clearings from a distance could turn into large open areas
once one entered them and vice-versa.
The place they were being taken was one such clearing. It was close to the
center of the Grand Mangrove River and the lair of the Alabaster
Crimsoneye Snake. Miranda also learned along the way that the snakes had
pretty much fully taken over the entire Grand Mangrove River and had
hunted down all powerful C-grades that could prove threats. The rest they
had left alive, effectively to fatten them up for future slaughter.
It didn’t take them long before they reached their destination, and Miranda
was astonished when she saw it. After entering a clearing, the area opened
up and revealed what looked like a massive clear lake with sunlight coming
down from above. Floating barges and platforms with buildings filled the
clearing, making it look like a small city had been constructed.
Miranda saw well over a hundred people walking on the barges, and there
was clearly too much space for the number of people. She also noticed
something else… the moment they appeared, all the humans rushed out of
their homes and sat down on their knees at the edge of the barges, many of
them shivering.
“How come these people are here?” Miranda couldn’t help but ask.
“Oh, I had them brought here. It is humans who tried to pass the river but
were captured. After the Chosen was here, I realized that I didn’t truly
understand the world or the humans, so I decided to get some. While
humans are dumb, they can also know a lot. Oh, I even got this form after
studying humans a whole bunch!” the snake shared with a big smile.
“So they are staying here against their wills?” Hank asked curtly. Miranda
threw him a glance to shut up, but the snake had already heard him.
“Well, I brought them here against their wills, but I guess they can try and
leave? Not that I see them make it out without getting eaten or recaptured,”
the Alabaster Snake laughed, clearly finding it funny.
“I see,” Miranda said before anyone else could speak. “Could you please
bring us to a place where we can relax? We have been on the move for a
long time.”
“Of course!” the snake girl said enthusiastically. “I prepared a special place
in case the Chosen returned! Humans are really good at making things, I
will admit that.”
Miranda nodded along, glad to have everyone else stashed away. She had a
feeling that the snake girl wasn’t going to leave them alone, though, so she
would bite the bullet and handle the C-grade. She feared what any of the
others could say, and if the snake got mad for just a single second, it could
tear any of them apart.
“If you are interested in learning more about the Chosen, I am more than
willing to share. In fact, I will have to contact him soon using one of my
skills, and you are more than free to come along. I can even relay a
message,” Miranda offered.
“Really?” the snake asked with glee. “I would love to!”
She was almost swaying as she sat there happy, and it bought Miranda
enough time to get the others off the barge and into a mansion-like building
that did not look like it should be able to float. Once they were all gone,
Miranda and the Alabaster Snake headed towards another large unoccupied
building for Miranda to finally get back to Jake.
And probably have an incredibly long conversation with an overly

enthusiastic, highly erratic, and incredibly dangerous C-grade snake.
While waiting for Miranda to get back to him and hopefully having reached
the mangrove safely and met up with the albino snake, Jake decided to have
some fun.
One of the things Jake liked the most about new skills was the honeymoon
period. He remembered when he had just gotten One Step Mile or when he
had gotten Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter, and the fun time he had
experimenting and using the skills for the first time, truly pushing them to
their limits.
Relentless Hunt, as Jake had chosen to shorten yet another overly long skill
name to, was a skill he naturally also looked forward to having fun with.
There was much to figure out, and Jake went in with glee as he stood before
a large bear. A large bear breathing fire. Oh, and there was lava coming out
of its mouth at all times, and even some running down its hide.
Finally, it was about the size of a warehouse.
[Emberdust Magmabear – lvl ???]
Jake estimated it to be around level 210 and was probably the strongest C-
grade he would face so far in pure power – though he had a feeling he was
facing a good matchup. Observing it from afar, he saw it bathe in a volcano
and then soak in the sunlight for a few minutes before eating some metal
out of a mountain. Not a single creature dared get near. Sandy had told him
that something good was hidden within the lava of the volcano, and the
worm acted all coy like it was doing him a favor, while Jake knew Sandy
just wanted whatever was in that damn lava.
Now, while this was undoubtedly a fight, it was also a journey of
exploration. A chance for Jake to see what he was truly capable of. An
opportunity to fully explore his new skill and learn its limitations and when
it was best used.
The massive beast looked like it could give him just that opportunity.
Jake engaged it from afar with a fully charged Arcane Powershot, blasting a
hole in its body right off the bat. The blood that came out was thick and
burned like lava, but the hemotoxin Jake had poisoned the arrow with
infected it nevertheless. His Sense of the Malefic Viper also made him
aware the poison worked as intended, proving it was truly a being of flesh
and blood despite its appearance.
As his strike hit and the bear roared, Jake also felt it right away. Odd energy
welled up inside of him, and it even seemed to now exist in the atmospheric
mana - always being there, he was just unable to see it before. He knew
right away it was this Hunting Momentum.
He did not hesitate to pour just a little bit of it into his second attack. The
bear tanked the hit just like the first, and Jake did notice the effect. The
Hunting Momentum was not a concept or an idea like Stealth Attack or
even the Mark of the Avaricious Hunter that just added extra damage. It
made all aspects of the attack stronger. The arrow flew faster, it penetrated
deeper, dealt more damage, and even the poison on it appeared to have a
slightly heightened potency. The momentum’s effect on the poison was
slight, and Jake noticed it was also brief.
Several more attacks were released as the bear charged, leaving a path of
lava behind it. The ground itself erupted as the lava shot up towards Jake
and forced him to retreat. The bear was incredibly durable, and even as he
inflicted injury after injury, it was still barely affected. It also quickly
became clear Jake was not the only one “building momentum,” so to say.
The bear was heating up. Its very skin began to glow red as its lava-like
blood boiled, and it soon began to give off an orange mist that burned the
very air. This mist spread quickly and was carried by the wind. The bear
roared as the mist was sent out like a shockwave, combusting any time it
encountered a physical object, setting that unlucky object on fire.
Jake retreated further and further as he kept attacking from range. His
arrows flew through the mist, and he did notice to his annoyance that it
burned off the poison, but the arrows themselves – the stable versions at
least – managed to survive.
His opponent was far larger than him but also far slower. As long as Jake
kept his distance and bombarded it with ranged destruction, his Hunting
Momentum would build, his Arcane Charge from the Mark would build,
and the poison he did manage to land would accumulate. He had a feeling
this kind of beast was one that excelled in battles of attrition by simply
outlasting and slowly burning down its foe. Too bad that it had met Jake.
No, too bad Sandy had decided the worm really wanted to eat its treasure.
Looks like we are in for a long one, Jake thought as he smirked to himself.
He was definitely not complaining.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
NEW MONTH!!!


Chapter 535 - Taking Status &
Making Plans
Jake breathed heavily as he stared out at the vast landscape before him. An
area the size of a semi-large city was scorched and burned as the remnants
of the battle remained. In the middle of it all lay a giant beast, its very blood
only adding to this environmental destruction. Even in death, its blood
retained the same destructive properties as it burned the ground.
The final attack of the bear had been quite something. It exploded and
released an attack reminding him a bit of the Scorched Plains attack from
the bow he lost when the Sword Saint cut it in two at the finale of their
duel.
Seeing this destruction made him reflect a bit. During the vision with Palate
Jake had seen, Villy and the C-grade fighter had ended up destroying a
massive city and the surrounding environment, and Jake did have to confess
he had wondered why he felt so far from being able to do that despite
approaching C-grade himself.
This fight gave a bit of insight into how close he was actually getting. If he
truly wanted, he could cause absolutely massive destruction with his arcane
energies. The thing is, he didn’t, as that was a waste of energy.
Villy had mentioned this before and said that massive, flashy attacks that
caused widespread destructions were not proofs of strength but proof of
horrible control. Now, some attacks did get big due to their naturally
chaotic nature, and a part of the attack’s power lay in pushing yourself
beyond your limits of control, but this was only the case for rare attacks that
often couldn’t be used more than once a fight.
No, rather than make a large explosion that covers a large area, make a far
more intense explosion in a small area. That way, as long as you hit, the
attack would deal way more damage. Someone should really have taught
the bear that, as it was certainly a victim of making huge flashy attacks…
then again, what if it was used to only fighting massive foes like itself? In
that case, large attacks were probably more effective.
Anyway. The fight had taken nearly an entire hour, and Jake was all the
happier for it. Because, oh boy, did he have some data on Relentless Hunt.
Firstly, on the accumulation of Hunting Momentum. While Jake was

fighting or just even observing his enemy preparing to fight it, the
momentum would build. While in the tracking and observation phase, it
was incredibly slow, dozens of times slower than when he was actually
fighting. During the fight itself, the Hunting Momentum would accumulate
passively, but the speed at which this happened varied.
If Jake landed blows and did the damage, it would speed up, while it would
slow down or even halt entirely if Jake was hit, with the slow-down based
on the severity of his injuries. If it halted or slowed down, it would slowly
pick itself up again as time passed, and he kept avoiding blows, while it
would speed up very quickly if he began to land attacks.
That was how the accumulation worked. Now for the actual effects of the
Hunting Momentum.
The first thing here was the maximum amount he could have at any time. It
was natural there was a cap because if not, couldn’t Jake just silently
observe a peak C-grade for a year or two, build up an utterly insane amount
of Hunting Momentum, and then proceed to launch an arrow that could
break the moon in half.
Yeah, so it made sense there was one. However, this is not to say the cap
was low because one had to remember one detail: the maximum was
determined by his Perception. All parts of the skill were determined by his
Perception. And if there was one thing Jake had a lot of, it was Perception.
Now, Jake did not know what the expected cap of Hunting Momentum was,
but he felt like his was quite a bit higher than that. A lot higher. He had
managed to cap it out during the fight because he tried to not use it and had
released one single attack expending all of it. This brings us to the actual
effects of the skill.
The effect was varied based on the attack it was applied to. It wasn’t just a
percentage amplifier, but in some ways, it still kind of was. Jake could not
turn a normal stable arrow into an arrow of certain doom, but the benefits of
Hunting Momentum it received percentage-wise were more than Arrow of
the Ambitious Hunter. Overall, though, Jake would say Hunting Momentum
was best used with his already powerful attacks because, holy hell, had that
Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter been powerful.
When Jake had used the Hunting Momentum, he had felt the oversized
wood-like arrow almost thrum with the concept. Like an invisible wind
embracing it, he had felt the power within. Further using Arcane Powershot
had only made it stronger, and when he let go of the string, it flew forward
faster than anything Jake had ever shot before. It seemed unimpeded by
anything, and even the remnant destructive arcane energy left by Arcane
Powershot was empowered, allowing it to pass unbothered through the
combusting mist.
It had hit the bear before it could even react, and the giant beast had been
blasted back, lifting it off its feet and launching it several hundred meters
backward. It had survived, but it was heavily injured, and Jake had finished
it off shortly after that. As for how much it made the attack stronger
percentage-wise, Jake couldn’t tell for sure… but it was significant. It
wasn’t just the increased damage that mattered but the increased speed, the
increased energy around the attack, and the momentum making it more
penetrative and more resilient to getting whittled down by barriers or
domains.
He had also discovered one other major thing. The momentum worked on
an “attack,” which came with both some good and some bad traits. Good
traits? A melee strike counted as an attack. This did not just mean the attack
did more damage but once more also that it was faster. His punching motion
simply sped up, allowing him to truly take his opponent by surprise. It
meshed very well with his counter-style.
Bad traits from it working only with attacks? Touch of the Malefic Viper
did not work with it at all as it was not classified as an attack. Activating his
Arcane Charge from Mark did not count because, again, not an attack.
Activating or amplifying a poison using Touch also didn’t work. Moving to
block, even if it is with the intent to counter, did not work, even if the
counterattack follow-up was affected.
Anyway, there were more things to the skill, but Jake believed he would
have ample time to use it moving forward. He and Sandy had made plans,
and those plans included a lot of killing during their travel. But to fully
carry out their plan, Jake would need to talk to Miranda first.
Speaking of Sandy, the worm had decided that eating all the lava in the
volcano was also a necessity, so he was stuck waiting even more for the
hungry worm to get done. Waiting anyway, Jake chose to take a look at his
full status for the first time in a while.
Status
Name: Jake Thayne
Stamina: 10938/50240
Stats
Strength: 4689
Agility: 7656
Endurance: 5024
Vitality: 5514
Toughness: 4129
Wisdom: 6684
Intelligence: 5814
Perception: 11867
Willpower: 5709
Free points: 0

Primordial’s True Blessing], [Dungeoneer VIII], [Dungeon Pioneer VI],
[Legendary Prodigy], [Prodigious Slayer of the Mighty], [Kingslayer],
[Nobility: Earl], [Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist],
[Perfect Evolution (D-grade)], [Premier Treasure Hunter], [Myth
Originator], [Progenitor of Myriad Paths]
Class Skills: [Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra (Uncommon)], [Traditional

Hunter’s Tracking (Rare)], [Arcane Stealth (Rare)], [Superior Stealth
Attack (Rare)], [Enhanced Splitting Arrow (Rare)], [Arrow of the
Ambitious Hunter (Epic)], [Arcane Powershot (Epic)], [Big Game Arcane
Hunter (Epic)], [Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Epic)], [Archery of Expanding
Horizons (Epic)], [Descending Dark Arcane Fang (Epic)], [Fangs of Man
(Ancient)], [Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Ancient)], [Moment of
the Primal Hunter (Legendary)], [Gaze of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)],
[Steady Focus of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)], [Arcane Awakening
(Legendary)], [One Step, Thousand Miles (Legendary)], [Relentless Hunt
of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter (Legendary)]
Profession Skills: [Path of the Heretic-Chosen (Unique)], [Herbology

(Common)], [Brew Potion (Common)], [Alchemist’s Purification
(Common)], [Alchemical Flame (Uncommon)], [Craft Elixir (Uncommon)],
[Toxicology (Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)], [Concoct
Poison (Rare)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Epic)], [Soul Ritualism of the
Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)], [Advanced Core Manipulation
(Ancient)], [Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Sagacity of the Malefic
Viper (Ancient)], [Sense of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)], [Wings of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],
[Legacy Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Legendary)], [Palate
of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Pride of the Malefic Viper
(Legendary)], [Scales of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Fangs of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-Chosen
(Legendary)]

Man (Unique)], [Identify (Common)], [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)],
[Shroud of the Primordial (Divine)]
--
Looking through it, Jake mostly took notice of the ever-expanding length,
but another thing was that many rarities stood out, especially in his class.
While for many, an epic skill would be considered excellent, to Jake, it felt
lackluster by now. The rare and below skills were even worse. Enhanced
Splitting Arrow was one he often used yet had not upgraded since shortly
after reaching D-grade, and despite it being a common attack in his arsenal,
it was still only rare. Arcane Powershot was his go-to archery skill, and that
was also only epic rarity. He could excuse himself for not upgrading
Shadow Vault as he had sim-Jake on that, and his tracking skill was also
one he felt like he would upgrade when the time was right, but many of the
others he felt like he really needed to work on before evolving. At least his
core skills needed to be refined and upgraded.
All more tasks he would take this coming hunting period to address. He had
a feeling that many of the skills wouldn’t even necessarily be that difficult
to upgrade as long as he consciously tried to do so. He had already refined
many of the skills significantly just by how much he used them, so a bit
more effort and some experimentation and it should be possible to at least
get a few good upgrades in.
As Jake was considering all these things, he suddenly felt a small nudge. He
instantly smiled and responded.
“Miranda? Good to finally hear from you. Did you arrive at the Grand
Mangrove River safely?” Jake asked first thing.
“Don’t worry, we got here safely,” Miranda answered promptly. “We were
saved by a certain snake that you seem to know. One with a humanoid form
resembling a young girl or woman. Is that something you might know
about?”
Jake thought for a moment before frowning. “Does not ring a bell… wait, is
the race of the snake Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake?”
“Yes.”
“Oh damn, and she already got a human form? That is actually
impressive,” Jake said in admiration. “I knew she was talented just due to
her high level, but it seems like I underestimated her. Maybe the Blessing
also helped, but I reckon it is mostly her effort.”
It was the truth too. One thing Jake had learned about monsters while he
researched the Pollendust Bee Queen was that their abilities to make use of
natural treasures varied widely and were highly dependent on the talent and
ability of the monster to actually refine and make use of these treasures. A
bit like how one craftsman could turn a pile of ingots into a legendary
sword, while a far less skilled smith would only be able to make it epic.
Other factors like compatibility with the treasure also factored in, but talent
and skill were also considerable elements. The most important skill was
naturally energy control to properly absorb a treasure, and as with many
things, good energy control carried over and also mattered when it came to
using the universal Polymorph skill all monsters got at C-grade. Villy had
told him that it often took years for a beast to properly design and refine its
humanoid forms to be useable. So for the Crimsoneye Snake to do it in only
a few months? Very impressive.
Oh, on a side note, Jake had no idea how good Sandy was at energy control
or absorbing treasures. Not that it seemed to mattered as the glutton would
just make up for it with quantity.
“I should mention the snake is currently listening in and very pleased by

your assessment,” Miranda answered. “I was told to relay that she very
much appreciates your praise and would gladly welcome you to visit if you
ever get the time. Not those exact words, but that is the sentiment, at least.
She very much wants you to visit.”
“Alright. Keep up the good work, both of you. I will definitely visit when I
come to get you and the others after all this is over. Now, can you tell me a
bit of what happened after I was thrown away? Give me the down-low.”
Miranda proceeded to give Jake a description of all that had happened

recently. How the snake had killed the pursuers from the United Cities
Alliance, how Ell’Hakan had not wanted to kill her but even warned her,
and he even learned that Arnold had contacted Miranda using one of his
communication devices to say that Ell’Hakan was still staking it out near
Haven, likely waiting for Jake to return.
Jake considered all this and began asking some things of his own. He knew
Miranda had ways to contact the Sword Saint and many others around the
world. She had said that the old man was missing in action after presumably
getting ambushed in his residence, but Jake didn’t put much stock in it.
There was no scenario where he saw that old monster die to a bunch of
goons, even if they were the top elites of Ell’Hakan.
Which begged the question, why attack him without using their full force?
The answer was simple: they didn’t know how strong he actually was. One
has to remember that the only time the Sword Saint had revealed his full
power was during the duel at the end of the Treasure Hunt, and only a
handful of people had been present then, none of which would share it
publicly.
Miranda agreed with Jake’s assessment and even added to it. People did
know a duel had taken place, but only the “result.”
The result being that the Sword Saint was apparently crippled for a long
time afterward. In reality, he had simply been recovering from using his
Transcendence, but in the eyes of the world, he had lost and taken grievous
injuries. That is at least what Miranda believed the public interpretation
was, and Ell’Hakan was right about one thing. If enough people believed
something, it became accepted as the truth.
Jake knew that he himself was not some grand strategist, and neither was
Miranda, but they didn’t need some perfect plan either. They just needed a
plan that was good enough and relied on things they knew Ell’Hakan could
not predict. Relied on gaps in his knowledge.
“Say, the Fallen King and that other Unique Lifeform are still engaged in
some kind of battle, right?” Jake asked Miranda.
“Yes, according to what I was able to gather, they were still locked in a
standstill,” Miranda answered.
Jake nodded and considered for a bit. “I have an idea.”
If there was one thing Jake was certain of, it was that Ell’Hakan expected a
rematch with Jake. The man likely believed Jake was the only human on
Earth that stood a chance against him, with all C-grades locked away. The
only other entity who could threaten him would then be the Fallen King or
maybe Sylphie, but Sylphie was far removed from Haven.
So Jake’s plan relied on one simple concept.
Just don’t fight him.
He shared his idea, and Miranda seemed somewhat receptive, even if there
were things to refine. They talked for a while longer until Miranda made
him aware the Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake had left, finally prompting her
to ask:
“Jake, just to make sure, you have not named this snake yet? Not even in
your own head?” Miranda asked.
“No?” Jake asked with confusion. But he soon got it and smiled. “If you
want me to think of a name, just ask, and I wi-“
“Definitely not. Actually, wait… no, do think of a name, but I have sole
discretion when it comes to accepting it or not, alright? And promise me not
to share your name ideas with anyone else but me until the choice is final,
alright?” Miranda said.
“I guess?” Jake answered, thinking she was overdoing it. He had gotten
better at naming things; one just had to look at Sandy. Sandy was a real
name! That was definitely an improvement, right?
Unluckily, Jake did not have more time to talk as his ride arrived to eat him
up once more. Jake said his temporary goodbyes to Miranda, forgetting to
mention his “faster way back than expected” was within the stomach of a
massive C-grade worm and going on his merry way.
For his plan to succeed – or for any plan to get more probable – he needed
one thing. Levels and power.
It was power-hunting time.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
NEW MONTH!!!


Chapter 536 - Schemers
Across the planet, the chaos brought on by the United Cities Alliance and
Ell’Hakan continued. Beasts attacked like never before, and millions died
within only a week as many settlements fell, unprepared and too weak to
resist. Those who held on still took losses, and the survivors all had a
newfound hatred. The work that had been made to establish positive
relations between monsters and humanity was thoroughly broken.
The problem was that people did not see the actions of beasts as those of
individuals but that of a monolith - as a tribe. They put all monsters in a box
and vilified them in their minds as aggressors. This was not much different
from what humans did to other humans before the system. People loved to
hate others, and it was just easier to hate an entire religion, country, or
appearance than recognize that each person was an individual making their
own choices.
And this feeling was reciprocated by the monsters.
They, too, viewed humanity as something they wanted to wipe out. Their
reasons varied, but their goal was the same. Some saw humans as
destroyers, having ruined their natural habitats before the systems and thus
nothing but a scourge on the planet. Others had been mistreated and abused
by humans all their lives. A small part just looked down on humans as weak
and pathetic creatures not worth keeping alive. Others still did not truly care
much; they just wanted to hunt without restrictions. As with any good hate
group, they didn’t need a unified ideology, just shared hatred.
With every beast that killed a human, humanity’s hatred of beasts grew.
With every human that killed a beast, the beasts’ resentment of humanity
grew. One would maybe think that monsters getting angry at humans killing
beasts while defending themselves wasn’t fair, but how was it different
from what humans usually did?
Human hunting parties entered the territory of monsters often. They killed
hundreds of beasts or elementals or whatever they came across that gave
them experience before retreating to their cities. It was so normalized no
one questioned it. The monsters didn’t even question it, as fighting and the
law of the jungle were just the rules of the multiverse.
What they did question was the Fallen King then coming and trying to tell
them they had to leave all human settlements alone. Leaving some alone
was fine, but all of them? Would the humans have accepted the same terms?
A unilateral ban from entering and hunting monsters within their homes?
The answer was no.
This was not a question of right or wrong but simply reality. Humans and
monsters both needed to kill to progress, and humans had a tendency to
want to avoid killing other humans, making them target monsters instead.
This was how the universe had worked for Eras, and there would never
truly be peace between all the different races. Especially when the
enlightened races kept their sense of superiority, thinking the life of a
human or elf was more valuable than that of a beast. War and conflict were
simply inevitable.
Unless, of course, a powerful enough influence could make humanity and

all monsters back down and search for prey elsewhere than their own
planet.
Miyamoto felt the token in his spatial storage vibrate once more and
decided to take it out this time. He had chosen to wait out and assess the
situation before making any further moves, but it appeared it was time to
discuss their circumstances.
“Ms. Wells, to what do I owe the pleasure?” he answered, allowing her to

take the initiative.
“It pleases me to know you are doing well, Sword Saint. To the world, you
are still considering missing in action and potentially dead,” she said.
“I am aware,” he answered as he smiled to himself. “And it is intentional.

So please, do me a favor and keep it as such.”
“Alright?” Ms. Wells said with some confusion. “May I know what
happened after you were presumably attacked?”
“A fight followed by information,” the Sword Saint answered as he

remembered what had happened.
Two powerful individuals charged at him. The Sword Saint had his blade
ready as they circled him. Both of them were melee combatants like him,
and from their small initial clash, he became fully aware they would not be
easily taken down.
One of them wielded two blades of ice while the other was a pure fighter
without any obvious magical characteristics. Seeing the opponent using ice
magic, he quickly realized these people were aware of his abilities. One of
the greatest counters to water was not extreme heat but extreme cold. It
would make his attacks rigid and impede the flow. This opponent was here
to counter him directly; that much was evident.
Flanked on each side, he blocked one as he stepped back to avoid the blow
of the other. His original assessment that they were about as strong as the
Judge from the Court of Shadows was correct. The difference was that they
were both already using their boosting skills, wanting to finish this battle
quickly, and even if that made their strength explosive, it was far from the
level of the Judge when he went all out. They were more at the level of his
usual fighting strength.
Blades of ice began to revolve around him as the ice swordsman took a step
back, and the other engaged with a curved sword in each hand. The man’s
speed was impressive, and the Sword Saint was forced to block until one of
the ice blades attacked from behind. Angling himself a bit, he was hit in the
lower part of his back. A non-vital area.
Using his boosting skill, he only activated it at a low level. His opponents
still attacked with an upper hand as they pushed themselves to their
extremes. The Sword Saint took injury after injury as trump cards were
revealed from the other side, and soon enough, he was blasted back as his
left arm was severed.
“We expected more,” one of them said as he approached with the tip of his
ice blade pointed at the Sword Saint. Injured and a bit tired, but otherwise,
fine. The man had continually frozen and interrupted Miyamoto’s magic
and stopped his attacks for the other side to get the advantage.
“Why are you even doing this… the Noboru Clan is not part of any
religious faction. We are an independent force. Would the United Cities
Alliance not want us on their side?” the Sword Saint asked with heaved
breath.
“No one cares about your pathetic little clan,” the other attacker spoke.
“You are the only one worth killing here. With you gone, they will fall into
shambles, and we are already aware of the internal struggles your family
faces. It won’t be hard to convince them to back the alliance with their
Patriarch dead and gone.”
The Sword Saint nodded before answering with gusto. “I will never let that
happen!”’
He released a massive wave of water that pushed back the two of them and
temporarily allowed him to escape their sights and retreat. The old man ran
through the plans, but he was simply too slow. A blade of ice flew from
behind and hit him in the shin, making him fall over. He rolled to the side to
avoid the non-magical warrior’s scimitar but still took a nasty cut. In a final
gamble, he tried to take down one of them with him, but he was too slow.
He managed to cut the shoulder of the ice warrior but was stabbed in the
heart by a scimitar. The old man tried to do something, but before he could,
the second scimitar swept up and severed his head.
“Got the notification?” the ice warrior asked.
“Yes,” the second warrior nodded.

Acknowledging, the ice warrior took out a token and seemed to
communicate through it. A few seconds passed before he smiled. “It has
been conveyed. Let’s get out of here before-“
The corpse of the old man suddenly moved as a spear appeared in his hand.
The second warrior was stabbed in the back as his eyes opened wide. The
corpse quickly stood up as he healed, a head regrowing and his body
changing. Rather than an old man, a figure with red eyes and black hair
stood there. He smiled as his fangs showed.
Swiftly, the ice warrior took out the token again, but before he could relay
anything, his arm flew into the air, still holding the token. He screamed as
he turned and saw the Sword Saint standing there, an arm still missing but
otherwise looking unharmed.
The ice warrior tried to retaliate as the old man bent his knees.
“Thousand Waves Slash.”
A wall of ice appeared but was cut through like paper as the warrior was
blasted back. The Sword Saint followed up and landed several blows before
cutting off the head of the man he identified as a Nahoom. Turning to the
other warrior who was struggling with the former Monarch of Blood, he
quickly went over and teamed up, cutting off the man’s legs and arms.
After knocking him out but keeping him alive, the Sword Saint looked at
the former Monarch, who sat down on the grass, breathing heavily.
“Who would have thought me acting as your doppelganger for so long

would come into play like this,” Iskar, the former Monarch of Blood, said.
Miyamoto and Iskar had, for a long time, acted together. Both were old
souls and had a lot in common, with Iskar having a wealth of knowledge
stashed away in his head. He did not remember everything, but with time,
the former A-grade recalled details. His existence was an interesting one
due to its link with the Divine item left by Sanguine, but he was a fully-
fledged lifeform when outside of it, and not a weak one either.
His skill set was incredibly vast and varied and included high-level illusion
magic coupled with hypnosis. Enough to fool the two attackers into
thinking they had actually killed Miyamoto.
“Let us leave,” the Sword Saint said as he saw movement from the direction
of the Noboru Clan. He planned on staying dead in the eyes of the public,
and leaving behind only one unrecognizable corpse should keep up the
illusion, at least for a time.
Moreover, leaving just one corpse meant he had a prisoner - a prisoner

likely holding a lot of valuable information.
Miyamoto explained this to Ms. Wells, not believing there was a need to
keep it a secret from her. Jake trusted her, and so far, she had shown herself
worthy of that trust.
“I don’t understand why you need to fake your own death even to your
clan… do you fear it would leak if they knew?” the City Lord of Haven
asked.
“Yes and no. The main reason is quite a bit more straightforward. The
Noboru Clan is not truly a faction but just people rallying behind me; at
least, it has begun to feel like that. They require me to be their Patriarch to
continue their existence and rely on me far too much. Moreover, there have
been more internal struggles as we have grown. There were even those
pushing to join the United Cities Alliance. So I wish to see how the clan will
act when I am believed dead. I want to see if the clan is worthy of keeping
alive as it currently is or if I will have to reconsider my approach,” the
Sword Saint answered.
Miyamoto had considered it for a long time. After his duel with Jake in the
Treasure Hunt, he realized he needed to be more selfish and truly pursue
what he cared about. His power would be the power of the clan, but it had
become too much. They had begun to treat him as more than an elder.
However, he still did not want to rule the clan with an iron fist. He could
have, but he wanted autonomy and for himself to have some freedom. He
wanted to know his clan would not crumble if he was to die.
After a bit, Ms. Wells asked: “There is bound to be an internal struggle…
and with the recent beast attacks, many will die. The Noboru Clan may not
survive without you.”
“Death and life are simple realities of the system. No faction is not built
upon a mountain of corpses, and should the Noboru Clan fall simply due to
my absence, then as much as it pains me, then I must recognize it is
unworthy of existing. Even if it ceases to be, our heritage will not. However,
should the clan come out whole, it will be stronger than ever,” Miyamoto
explained.
“I see,” she simply answered, recognition in her voice. She seemed to

understand.
“Now, Ms. Wells, I do not believe you contacted me only for an exchange of
information. I have interrogated one of my ambushers and learned of their
plans to make Arthur the World Leader, as well as Ell’Hakan’s desire to
defeat Jake. From what you tell me, Jake also seems to have a plan, so
please, do share. What do you intend to do to handle this Ell’Hakan? He
seems like a tricky one to deal with,” the Sword Saint asked.
“So, Jake proposes to…”
She explained, and the Sword Saint could not help but smile after she was
done. It was simple, and it gave the Sword Saint something he would very
much like. Hence, he was more than on board. “It shall be my honor and
privilege.”
Vilastromoz observed as Jake began his hunting spree, not wanting to

interrupt. He was busy with his own matters anyway as he also had to make
preparations for what was to come. This was part of the reason he had not
contacted Jake for a while, though the primary one was that he was unsure
how Jake would react. The god had to be honest… feeling genuine worry
about how someone else would react was something he hadn’t felt in a long
time, and he had kind of missed it.
The Viper would lie if he said he didn’t feel a slight level of responsibility
for what was happening, but he would equally be lying if he said he didn’t
think this conflict was a good thing. Strife would push one forward, and a
slight level of urgency could be healthy at times. Not that he feared Jake
would become complacent as he seemed to still have the same internal
drive for progressing he had the day they met, but it could help speed him
up without any negative consequences.
Simply forcing Jake to think a bit differently was good. He would meet
many who were like Ell’Hakan in that they didn’t have any interest in
fighting him in a fair fight but still wanted to make trouble for him. The
Viper had many such foes during his rise to power and even had many such
foes now. He also understood that this entire conflict with Yip of Yore’s
Chosen was entirely due to Jake being the Chosen of the Viper.
Yip and his Chosen relied on stories. Legends. It gave them power, made
them progress, and the Viper saw the mirror image that was being made.
Because he knew that Jake was not the only one being targeted in this
conflict. While the Chosen wanted to fight and likely kill Jake to prove
himself and his Path…
So did Yip of Yore aim to kill a Primordial to prove his. And Villy was his
chosen target for that - a logical one too. He was the perfect target if he
evaluated it a bit himself. Yip needed a villain, and the Viper was quite
villainous when he wanted to be if he had to say so himself. The Viper also
knew that Yip was not doing this haphazardly. Everything was part of a
greater framework. A larger story.
A grand epic, if you will.
Honestly, it made Vilastromoz a bit sad he was targeted. Because while Yip
and his Chosen were very similar, Jake and Vilastromoz were most
certainly not. They were nearly exact opposites.
Jake preferred to face his opponents head-on. As for Vilastromoz? Well, so

far, all he had done since returning from seclusion had been to handle his
issues head-on. But this was not because he preferred to do it this way; it
was just simpler and faster.
However, if he faced an opponent worth the effort?
That is why he found it sad that Yip had chosen him. Sad that people had
forgotten who he truly was.
Because if Yip of Yore thought he was a meticulous planner, he had not met
the schemer known as the Malefic Viper.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 537 - Rebuilding & Lots of
Killing
A note from Zogarth
Book 4 release day :)
Countless factions dominated the multiverse, but few were as unique as the
Risen. They were the living dead, and that came with both bonuses and
demerits. Some bonuses included a natural lifespan equal to your True
Soul’s natural lifespan, meaning you would live as long as possible, and
aging would only come to pass due to the person wanting it. Combat-wise,
they truly did not have many differences from other enlightened races,
besides some changed natural affinities and stats. They were neither
stronger nor weaker, and history had also shown that their natural average
level of talent was roughly comparable to humans and elves.
As for demerits, the largest inherent one was probably their inability to
procreate naturally. Two Risen could not simply make a child. Instead, it
took a far more complicated process. It was possible, mind you, but not as
easy, and it required a specially created item that both would-be parents
poured a part of their essence into. Even then, it wasn’t like an actual child
would be born and grow up normally. They would be born in their full adult
form, albeit with a nascent consciousness like that of a child.
Their other way to procreate was for others to willingly become Risen.
However, this, too, was not as simple as some common misunderstandings
and prejudices that existed in the multiverse had made it out to be. One of
the most widespread beliefs was that the Risen could forcefully create more
Risen by raising the dead.
It did not work like that. The only way for someone to become a Risen was
to willingly accept to become one, and only while still alive. You had to
participate in a ritual, during which the system would allow you to change.
It always required the person to willingly choose, and the ritual would even
fail if the individual taking part was being mentally manipulated in any
form.
Sadly many still thought the Risen could forcefully make more of
themselves by killing others. True, they were talented in raising undead, but
while the Risen were classified as undead, no raised undead could ever be
classified as Risen or an enlightened species. They were all monsters,
unable to possess a class or profession.
Most undead in the multiverse naturally hated the living and wanted to
consume them. They were scourges and natural disasters more than
anything. A beast or elemental would not choose to hunt down those
significantly weaker than themselves for no reason. Meanwhile, an A-grade
undead monster would gladly consume several planets with nothing more
powerful than a C-grade on it just to kill everything there. This was also due
to another trait of the undead – a lack of intelligence. They were, more
often than not, still only pure instinct, even when reaching S-grade.
So publicly making an enemy of the Risen for also being undead was easy
as pies. And the Risen knew.
Casper and Priscilla had known it too, which was why they had planned for
the eventuality that they would be pushed out of Earth from the very
beginning. This was why they had wanted to create the dungeon, as it was
part of their plan, and when the Treasure Hunt happened, they got the
chance to get a damaged World Core by combining all the fragments they
had found there.
It was a golden opportunity they had leaped at, and it had gone far better
than expected. It had truly given them a path of survival far more viable
than any of their other plans, and while Casper did admit he would miss
Earth, he had no regrets.
Casper was flying far in the air as he stared at the black skies with only a
few clouds here and there. No stars were visible, but they would work on
that with time. Down below were rolling hills of soil, and familiar grass was
growing, identical to that of Yalsten.
Turning his head, he saw the edges of the realm and knew it was still
slightly unstable. The usable area was only a few hundred square kilometers
right now, but it would expand with time as everything stabilized - as the
tree grew.
So, what had the Risen done?
They had made a new world using the World Core from the Treasure Hunt.
One that now existed within the infinite void, like Yalsten, but this one was
still linked to the ninety-third universe.
Each world had to be anchored somewhere in the real universe, or it would

be forever lost in the infinite void, effectively killing everyone within as
they had no way in or out. Unless someone managed to become a god, that
is, but chances of that were non-existent. These anchors could be detected
and destroyed by outside forces if they located them all and doom all who
resided in the world. So the Risen had done something smart. Something
classified as clever use of system mechanics.
The anchor had been placed within the cave they had then turned into a
dungeon, effectively making it inaccessible as when the dungeon was
created, a barrier would form that was impenetrable to nearly anyone. The
way anchors worked meant that one could still get out as the anchor was
more of a coordinate, and if they wanted to teleport out, they just had to
place the person a bit to the side of this coordinate, thus having them
outside. As for if they didn’t, then the person would just appear within the
cave, but oops, the cave is now the location of a dungeon, so the system
would kindly relocate you just outside the dungeon entrance.
Oh, also, even if their world had been cut off, they still had one final
failsafe: Casper himself. He carried the Blessing of the Blightfather, so even
if they were lost within the infinite void, the Blightfather could use the
Blessing as a beacon to locate them.
Casper could never claim this had been his own ingenious idea. It truly
wasn’t something revolutionary either, as many factions had done this, and
truth be told, there were still ways to mess them up. Just not for anyone on
Earth. Not yet.
There was still the risk of Earth being taken over and them just becoming
sitting ducks, which was when the other part of the plan came into effect.
The Risen had worked on raising ghosts since the day they returned from
the Tutorial and made the city. Ghosts had a few properties, but one of them
was that they were pure energy. Pure energy and very effective rocket
thrusters in large enough numbers.
That’s right, the dungeon that the Risen had made had already left Earth
right after they evacuated everyone. The Holy Church had been busy still
advancing to catch a large sphere rock being lifted into the air by hundreds
of thousands of ghosts. By the time they reacted, the sphere was already too
high. Every single ghost had died during the ascent, and there were many
risks that they would be stopped by beasts or that the ghosts would die in
the hazardous environment closer to the edge of the atmosphere during the
journey, but they had made it.
Made it and were now nothing but a rock floating through space like
another unsuspecting meteor. Right now, they had no direction or control,
but with time they would. This world was one they would use long term and
would be one of the new major home bases of the Risen in the new
universe.
With the former Root of Eternal Resentment planted and hopefully able to
create a new tree, Casper was hopeful. They had the backing of the
Blightather and were currently working hard on a teleporter directly from
the hidden world and to the Ghostlands, entirely circumventing the ninety-
third universe and still giving them a place to go and progress.
Casper smiled as he saw Priscilla busy far below. Lyra appeared at his side,
joining him as they saw their new city slowly being constructed. They only
had around a hundred thousand people with them, and space was a bit tight,
but they would live. Live and prosper.
To commemorate where they had come from, they had also picked a very
unoriginal but fitting name for their world:
New Yalsten.
Jake sat chilling on top of a massive tree as he stared out onto the ocean in
front of him. Sandy was busy eating an entire field of fruit trees, and Jake
didn’t bother the worm as he smiled to himself. Life had been good.
By now, it had been about a month since he had his first talk with Miranda
after she reached the Grand Mangrove River, and the thing that surprised
him the most was that nothing had surprised him during this time. At least
he did learn some stuff that explained things.
The Pylon of Civilization at Haven had been hidden even more than before.
It had not been moved, but Miranda had created a decoy Pylon of sorts and
placed it under her main office, sealed beneath her ritual chamber. She told
him that she had felt people try to get to it, but nobody had succeeded yet.
Jake had not even known about her doing this, but honestly, it made sense.
Not even Ell’Hakan would think Jake had hidden the Pylon under his lodge
in a nearly unprotected state.
They had also discussed Miranda talking with the Sword Saint and the old
man being on board, having even faked his own death using the power of
the former Monarch of Blood. However, she had failed to get in contact
with Casper as the token he had was no longer reachable – he was still
around, mind you, just out of range. Where he was, Miranda didn’t know,
but from what they had learned, the territory of the Risen was effectively
gone, having been successfully invaded by the Holy Church and United
Cities Alliance. At least, that was the official story. Jake wasn’t entirely sure
what to think after Miranda told him there was now a big hole in the ground
where the Risen had once been.
Jake was sad to see Casper gone, but he should still be alive. Villy had at
least told him that. Well, okay, not alive, technically, but still around.
Caleb had been suckered into working for the United Cities Alliance, and
honestly, Jake didn’t really see the problem. He was just doing his job, and
it wasn’t like what he did would hurt Jake or those he cared about. The
Court of Shadows was a business, and Jake knew that Caleb refusing could
only result in him having to leave the Court.
The Court of Shadows was what could be classified as a true neutral faction
in that they only cared about money. Villy even mentioned that if Jake
wanted to slap some fat stacks on the table, he could just hire them to also
target the United Cities Alliance, including Arthur himself. However, there
would be one thing holding them back in the future.
A rule they had was that they would not accept the task of assassinating the
leader or someone part of the leadership structure of a planet they operated
on. This was simply a concession to allow them to stay on planets without
conquering them themselves. Jake also reckoned this was why Arthur was
fine with keeping them around. If the United Cities Alliance won and he
became World Leader, they would not target him but only function as an
asset operating out of Earth as there was an element of deterrence if people
knew the Court had a branch stationed somewhere.
So even if Jake was not a fan of what was happening, he understood why it
was like that and wouldn’t blame Caleb for what he chose. He did what was
best for his family – their family. Jake also knew that while his brother
believed in him, it was best he made decisions for his nuclear family first
and foremost. Maja and Jake’s little nephew were his priority, and if Jake
somehow ended up dead or forced to leave the planet, Caleb needed the
Court to back him.
It was all complicated. Valhal had also taken a complicated stance on the
matter. One of absolute inaction. He was informed that they had been hired
or brought on by several cities to help defend them from the attacking
beasts, but that was it. Villy had once more talked with Jake and offered that
they did have an approach they could take if they wanted: offer them a deal
too. But Jake had no interest in this either.
No, he had been thinking and was beginning to make some realizations.
Some things he had to do if he wanted to stay on Earth or even be able to
call it a home he could visit. Things to allow those he cared about to find
safety there and not have it be what it currently was: a mixture of forces
with era-old conflicts that would never get along, with some newborn
factions tossed in that also vied for control. Jake would have to make some
decisions.
Anyway, the Holy Church was also still acting all shady, and from what he
had heard, they were planning something of their own. The Noboru Clan
had fallen into shambles over the last month with lots of internal conflicts,
and it was all messy as hell. Speaking of messy, even the Church apparently
had problems, and Jake had not heard a single peep about or from Jacob. It
was like he was gone. Then again, something must have happened because
he would definitely not have authorized an attack on the Risen.
Another person Jake had not seen or heard from was one other quite unique
character on the planet. Eron. The now third person with a Bloodline
residing on the planet after Ell’Hakan had arrived was notably absent from
everything. Miranda had tried to figure out what was happening, but she
had no idea… all she knew was that no one had seen him for quite a while.
Jake had been curious enough to ask Villy only to get an unexpected
response. Not even the Primordial had any idea where he was and found
himself unable to locate him. People with Bloodlines were harder to find by
default, but Villy clarified that he should still be locatable. Unless, of
course, he had been hidden by someone at or around the level of Villy
himself. It was enough to interest Villy and make him do some independent
research, and what the Viper found out was that he was definitely gone
from Earth and likely from the ninety-third universe. As for where he had
gone, along with all of his followers, Jake had no idea. Truth be told, Jake
had never really talked with or about him that much outside of their brief
interaction in the Treasure Hunt. Eron had just been doing his own thing
until he was suddenly gone.
Oh, and as for the question if he was dead… Eron? Dead? Yeah, Jake
definitely couldn’t see that happening, and his guts also told him the insane
healer was still kicking.
To summarize, a lot had happened over the last month, and Jake could
probably have been back in Haven already if he had wanted to. He had
purposefully waited and wanted to make sure everyone was ready. He had
even managed to get word to the Fallen King about his plans, with the
Unique Lifeform now on board. Though the Fallen King had apparently not
at all been in a rush either but oddly happy with the stalemate that he faced
with another Unique Lifeform. Then again, how often could someone like
the Fallen King find someone of equal level that was his equal? Well, every
day, if he stayed around Jake. Not that Jake would bother to fight him all
the time. He was too busy killing to just do fighting.
During this month, Jake had not slacked off at all. He did discover the
oddity that it felt like he progressed faster again for some reason. In
between killing n C-grades or while waiting for Sandy to get a treasure,
Jake would usually either talk with Miranda, recover from a fight, ponder
on some issue, or do alchemy. Alchemy was what he did if none of the
others were required, which is why he was surprised at getting three entire
levels.



A level every ten days from not even being that focused on alchemy was
odd. Granted, Jake had primarily been crafting items and not really
experimenting, but it was still a lot. Jake had even spent a bit of time
checking in on sim-Jake and pondering how to get his last three “of the
Malefic Viper” upgrades when he was meditating anyway. No real progress
there, though. Some initial ideas began to form, but he was not really that
focused on them.
His true focus had been hunting and improving his class skills. As for how
that had gone? Well, in the hunting department, the levels spoke for
themselves.
And with that naturally came the race levels.
12 levels gained in his class and 3 in his profession over a span of thirty or
so days was incredibly good and nearly brought him back to his early D-
grade days. Jake had been surprised several times at getting a level, even if
he had killed a few dozen C-grades by now - C-grades more powerful than
anything he had faced before.
Relentless Hunt was truly a powerful skill and gave Jake far more damage
than he had initially expected. It allowed him to break stalemates, land
unexpected blows, and far more easily control the flow of a battle.
Moreover, the longer he kept the fight going, the larger his advantage
became if he didn’t need to use the Hunting Momentum.
He was also beginning to realize that the skill was quite a bit stronger than
it was meant to be. For several reasons. Its innate balance came from
assuming one would still get hit once in a while, hence slowing the
generation of Hunting Momentum. Something Jake was very good at
avoiding due to his Bloodline.
Additionally, then it was probably not intended for the person using it to
have a Perception stat at the level of Jake’s. He had, of course, tossed every
free point gained in it without any regrets and was now close to having
thirteen thousand Perception, making it nearly as high as his two second-
highest stats combined. Stats that were already highly inflated due to Jake’s
many stat amplifiers.
Jake truly felt justified now in going so hard on Perception and proving all
the nay-sayers wrong. Perception was, and would forever be, the best stat.
As for class skills… Jake had gone even further above and beyond
expectations, and the results spoke for themselves.
Naturally, his success was partly due to his high Perception.
Because. Again.
Perception best stat.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Book 4 released on Amazon &
Audible!
A note from Zogarth
There was a chapter as usual just before this.
Seriously, this is the fourth time. You people should have figured this out
by now.
BOOK 4 release day! I know I am probably more excited than anyone else
here, but I wanted to announce it anyhow. This is the longest book so far
and covers from when Jake just evolved to D-grade until just before the
Treasure Hunt. 800 pages, according to Amazon, and a good 20+ hour
audiobook, so it is a chunky boy.
Anyway, check it out if you want a refresher or enjoy a reread with an

edited verson (or hear it in audio format), and as always, any support is
highly appreciated! Shit, you are fully allowed to just download it on KU
solely to support me. My top book so far has reached rank 10 on Amazon
(was book 2), and getting into those single-digits would be amazing, very
much stroking my ego in an extremely satisfying way.
Kindle: https://mybook.to/primalhunter4
Audible: https://www.audible.com/pd/Primal-Hunter-4-
Audiobook/B0BK9W82PQ
Reviews, a download, a rating, or anything like that goes a long way here
on release day. I want that top 10 man :P
Oh, and of course, the cover depicting the Undergrowth dungeon:
Chapter 538 - Chronicles of Skill
Upgrades
A note from Zogarth
Book 4 hit top 10 (rank 9).
Upgrading skills was always a difficult and time-consuming process. You

had so much to evaluate and so much to do, and Jake’s method of upgrading
was considered even harder than the standard approach. He insisted on only
doing it during combat and only reflected on how to upgrade the skills on a
surface level in between fights.
This would usually be an incredibly ineffective, if not downright horrible,

method as it carried so many more risks. Especially when you did this only
while fighting enemies at a higher grade. However, to Jake, this added
element of danger only made him focus more. It allowed him to truly feel
and experience the movements of energy in a more profound way, and his
senses felt sharpened. Probably because they partly were.
It was not a joke either when he said Perception was a big reason why he
could upgrade the skills the way he did. Rather than do a long time of
experimenting and theorizing, he could feel and perceive the skills and how
they worked and potentially find snags and room for improvement, along
with discovering potential areas to build upon for an upgrade. Perhaps more
importantly, it allowed him to faster rule out dead ends and ideas that were
too hard to pull off with Jake’s current level of skill and grade.
As for how many skills Jake had managed to upgrade during this month?
Three in total. Each upgrade used different methods and approaches but
resulted in the same: Jake growing stronger. All were skills parts of Jake’s
usual toolbox and perhaps his most essential ones in a fight.
He had been a busy hunter, and the first skill was one he used all the time.
Splitting Arrow, or more accurately, Enhanced Splitting Arrow. Currently

sitting at rare rarity since just after Jake evolved to D-grade, where he had
upgraded it from uncommon rarity to allow the split to work with his
Arcane Hunter’s Arrows. That upgrade had allowed the arrow to split and
retain innate magical properties.
It was a simple yet effective skill.
[Enhanced Splitting Arrow (Rare)] – A skill most often used by

archers, now usurped and reformed by the Avaricious Arcane Hunter.
Allows you to clone your arrows while in flight, allowing them to retain
innate magical properties. Each arrow strikes with the power of the
original. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Agility and Wisdom when
using Enhanced Splitting Arrow.
Paths of improvement? Several. Jake had many ideas. Some of the first that
sprung to mind was to allow it to clone even the poison on the arrows and
other external magical properties. As an example, then Jake could not split
an Arcane Powershot as the Powershot added properties to the arrow that
were not innate. Okay, while he could probably still split it, all it would do
was make the attack weaker, so it wasn’t worth it.
However, this method of improvement quickly hit a snag in that one of the
biggest strengths of Splitting Arrow was speed and how subtle it was to use.
If Jake wanted to make it so much more powerful, the skill would require a
lot more energy to use as Jake did pay mana and stamina when he split
arrows, and dependent on the poison, the cost could get insane. Sleeping
Night Toxin would be so darn expensive to clone. Jake was not even sure he
had the mana pool for it. So he quickly moved away from doing that.
Which is when Jake remembered his most important motto. Keep things
simple. Why would he need to really change the skill? He just needed to
improve it. Make it better than what it was. So why not just do that? Focus
on improving every aspect there already was – something that would
become a theme with these three upgrades. For Splitting Arrow, he felt like
he needed to truly understand the process that caused the arrows to split and
improve upon that.
Jake did have utterly bonkers Perception, so it was only right to put it to
use. He thoroughly analyzed the moment his arrows split and the entire
process from start to end. Since gaining it, the skill had gotten a lot stronger
already. The resource cost was lower per split than the day he got it, and he
had an easier time splitting more arrows than before. This alone was
perhaps enough for an upgrade if he pursued it more actively, but Jake went
in another direction. One he also believed would shore up even more room
for future upgrades and improvement. A path where Jake had taken a lot of
inspiration from the Sword Saint and the duel they had. The result had been
better than expected.
[Splitting Arrow Rain (Epic)] – A skill most often used by archers, now
usurped and reformed by the Avaricious Arcane Hunter. Allows you to
clone your arrows while in flight, allowing them to retain innate
magical properties. Each arrow has variable strength and can be
further split into less potent versions. If the original arrow is shot
upwards, it can be split to create a far more potent arrow rain. Adds a
small bonus to the effect of Agility and Wisdom when using Splitting
Arrow Rain. Increased damage based on Perception and the distance
the arrows fall from when creating an arrow rain.
Jake did not have a good area of effect skill before besides just a lot of
arcane magic. Now, Jake had what could thoroughly be classified as a
disaster-level attack. Pre-upgrade, each Splitting Arrow had the power of
the original, but with this version, Jake could vary it. He could make ten
arrows with the power of the original or a hundred arrows with about
twenty percent of the originals… because, yes, they actually retained more
power than math would otherwise suggest.
The upgrade had come during a fight with a massive water elemental while
crossing a small part of one of the oceans of Earth. It had been larger than
any creature Jake had faced before and relied solely on its massive resource
pools to survive. Jake had bombarded it with thousands of arrows every few
seconds and shown it that he, too, had a lot of resources to spend. And
mana potions.
Something had to be said about watching a rain of arrows that each

exploded upon impact. With a bit of practice, Jake could truly make it look
like it rained as he shot the arrows into the air and let them rain down on his
foe. His archery skill was also an important aspect of this skill, allowing
him to bend the original arrow and make it fall faster and at slightly
different angles than just straight down.
The elemental had died simply due to being bombarded for long enough
and from far enough up in the air – because, yes, Jake just flying really high
up in the air and him then shooting down counted as creating an arrow rain.
Granted, Jake would have been screwed against the elemental if it had just
run away underwater, but Sandy had done Cosmic Generis Worm stuff and
made it so the elemental could not flee underwater by messing with space
itself to effectively solidify the liquid. The more Jake spent time with the
worm, the more he realized how messed up of a creature Sandy was.
Anyway. Splitting Arrow was the first skill Jake improved, and once that
was done, he moved on to another staple.
Arcane Powershot.
If there was one skill Jake would say truly was the core of his fighting style,
it had to be this. Jake had gotten Powershot all the way back at level 10,
right after he got out of the Challenge Dungeon. Since then, it had been his
best archery skill, if Jake said so himself, but more than anything, it was his
skill. He had upgraded it twice himself already, and out of all his skills, he
didn’t have one he felt more familiar with. Without lying, he would
probably want to keep Arcane Powershot over all other archery skills he
currently had, even if that would be illogical.
Either way, it was probably his best combat skill. All others had conditions
or only worked well when used with others, but where would he be without
Powershot? Probably at a far lower level, if not dead. It was only right to
give the skill some love, and this time around, Jake took a note out of a
Primordial’s book: Valdemar.
The thing about skill upgrades was that there were several ways to do it.
The most usual way was to add more to the skill, like how Jake had just
improved Splitting Arrow to be able to split more and added the arrow rain
function. But there was another way.
Refine and improve. Do not change the core of the skill itself but simply
make everything about it better. Concepts did not even need to be added;
you just had to better understand those that were already there. Out of all
the Primordials, Valdemar was the best at this. He was a simple man, and as
a simple man, he had simple skills.
His go-to was a simple chop. Jake had seen this simple chop smash through
the barriers of the Malefic Viper and tear his flesh and bones apart as space
and reality itself bent and buckled under his power. This was not simply
because he was strong but because of the skill the would-be Primordial
used. It looked like a common rarity skill, but in reality, it had likely been
mythical or beyond during their confrontation at S-grade.
Jake had gone in a similar direction as Valdemar and thoroughly analyzed

Arcane Powershot. As mentioned before, Jake was already intimately
familiar with the skill and only sought to improve every aspect. Arcane
Powershot was inherently a bit chaotic due to the destructive arcane
energies, but that was primarily due to Jake’s lacking control. The more
stable energy he could actively control and pour in, the more destructive
energy he could stabilize and infuse into the attack. The end result would
still look chaotic, and the purpose was still to push himself to his utmost
limits – something Arcane Powershot had not really allowed him to do for a
while.
He wanted to go back to those days when he felt his own muscles burn, his
skin peel off from destructive energies, and his bow struggled to not break
apart from the sheer level of energy infused. After days of slowly refining
the skill and dozens of dead C-grades that became victims to his Path, the
system rewarded his efforts.
[Arcane Powershot (Epic)] – Stamina the fuel – Mana the guide – Arcane
the power. Evolved from Infused Powershot, it now uses a higher concept
of mana to amplify itself. The higher the magnitude of the charge, the
greater the stamina and mana expenditure. Arcane Powershot’s power is
dependent on the charging duration, but due to your Arcane Mana’s
inherent power, the base power without any charging is significantly
higher than Infused Powershot. Adds a small bonus to the effectiveness of
Agility and Strength as well as a medium bonus to the effectiveness of
Intelligence when using Arcane Powershot.
-->
[Arcane Powershot (Ancient)] – Stamina the fuel – Mana the guide –

Arcane the power. Using your arcane energy, charge a devastating attack
using a bow that pushes your body, will, and control to their limits. The
higher the magnitude of the charge, the greater the stamina and mana
expenditure. Arcane Powershot’s power is dependent on the charging
duration but has a powerful baseline due to your arcane affinity. Adds a
medium bonus to the effectiveness of Agility and Strength as well as a
substantial bonus to the effectiveness of Intelligence when using Arcane
Powershot.
There was no interesting fight that spawned this upgrade. Jake had not
made it to battle a certain foe like the massive water elemental. The upgrade
had come during one of his many times using it to first engage a foe, and
everything had just clicked and fallen into place.
The change in the description was intriguing. Primarily how nothing had
really changed functionality-wise, yet it was quite different word-wise. All
references to Infused Powershot were gone and now replaced with their
own text, indicating that the skill was now more divorced from Infused
Powershot than before. The changes were so few that not even the skill
name had changed; the rarity had just upgraded.
Did Jake complain about this? No. No, he did not. His only possible area of
criticism was in that there was still no inherent Perception-scaling in the
skill, but it was acceptable for now. The skill did still kind of scale with
Perception simply because it empowered attacks that did scale with the stat.
In that fight where it had clicked, the energy had moved more smoothly
than ever before. First, a stream of pure stability had entered his muscles,
bones, skin, and bow. A fraction of a second later, the destructive energies
had come, but Jake had protected himself already. The two energies
interacted and rapidly reached equilibrium as Jake mixed stamina and mana
far more efficiently than before he began practicing the upgrade. His efforts
were rewarded as the skill upgraded and system assistance kicked in.
The Arcane Powershot Jake had released had been by far the strongest he
had ever used outside of one using Hunting Momentum, and Jake was
already beginning to see a path to a goal he had formed for himself.
Something he had done in E-grade and wanted to repeat in D-grade if
possible:
Kill prey a grade above himself with a single shot.
The final skill to be upgraded was a bit of a surprise. Arcane Hunter’s

Arrows.
This one honestly wasn’t one Jake had been actively going for; it had just
kind of happened as he worked on his other skills. This skill was one of
those semi-passive ones that he didn’t think actively about, but seeing as it
was his source of projectiles ninety-nine percent of the time, he probably
should consider it more.
The skill was honestly a bit… meh? Like there wasn’t much to it, and it
barely fit him as an Avaricious Arcane Hunter. It fit the Arcane Hunter part,
but there was nothing avaricious about it. The avaricious tag usually just
meant he dealt more damage to foes above his own level and sometimes
less against those at a lower level. Most often than not, the tradeoff was just
that the upgrade only worked on those at a higher level, making it a demerit
by omission.
What Jake had gone for this time around was to better introduce his class
into the skill along with his increased level of control. Once more, he dove
into the vast treasure trove of Perception and better analyzed the arrows.
Jake had already applied many concepts to them before and was rather used
to them. He had found ways to infuse the Stealth Attack Concept better and
now worked with Hunting Momentum. and began to practice a bit by first
making a bunch of Arrows of the Ambitious Hunter since the skills were a
bit similar. The difference was that the Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter was
a singular, far more powerful arrow and one that also contained the concept
that allowed him to deal more damage to enemies of a higher level. Jake
wanted to take that element and apply it to Arcane Hunter’s Arrows.
Jake did have to be careful not to change the skill too much, though, as one
of the best things about the Arcane Hunter’s Arrows skill was the
instantaneous summon. If the skill lost that functionality, he would probably
have to switch back to just using a quiver that conjured arrows, which
would suck.
As he was trying to work this concept into the arrows, he also began to ask
himself why he only ever shot arrows that were either stable or destructive.
Like, he knew it was best to go all-in with one element, but why have it be
all static? Jake could make stable balls of arcane energy and then make
those explode. His arcane bolts were stable at one moment and then
destructive the next. That shouldn’t be too hard to also do with arrows,
right?
Nope, it wasn’t. Considering Jake had spent an entire month focusing on

upgrading skills, his mindset was already well-adjusted mentally to focus.
And after he began to be able to change the equilibrium of the arrows, he
tried to also apply the avaricious element. He thought it would be hard, but
that very day, he had gotten the upgrade.
[Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Epic)] - A mage and a hunter both, you

combine your talents as you conjure your tools of destruction. Allows the
Avaricious Arcane Hunter to conjure arrows made of highly-condensed
arcane mana, focusing on either destruction or stability. A stable arrow
will be sharp and durable, while a destructive arrow will explode upon
impact. Conjuring arrows consume mana, and the conjuration is instant.
Adds a bonus to the effectiveness of Intelligence and Wisdom when using
destructive Arcane Hunter’s Arrows. Adds a bonus to the effectiveness of
Wisdom and Perception when using stable Arcane Hunter’s Arrows.
-->
[Avaricious Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Ancient)] - A hunter embracing

control over all energy, you combine your talents as you conjure your
tools of destruction. Allows the Avaricious Arcane Hunter to conjure
arrows made of highly-condensed arcane mana, focusing on either
destruction or stability during the creation process. A stable arrow will be
sharp and durable, while a destructive arrow will explode upon impact.
Conjuring arrows consume mana, and the conjuration is instant. The
user can change the balance of the energy within the arrow remotely.
Deals slightly increased damage against foes at a higher level. Adds a
bonus to the effectiveness of Intelligence, Wisdom, and Perception when
using Avaricious Arcane Hunter’s Arrows.
Jake had to admit that this one was the cheapest upgrade out of all of them.
The amount of system assistance that came in was insane. This was one of
those instances where the upgrade path had been pre-determined already,
almost just waiting for Jake to discover this way to improve it.
The result was slightly more powerful arrows that were better against foes
at a higher level, which naturally meant more damage to everything. The
ability to change the balance of destruction and stability on the fly was also
a great addition for quite a few reasons. Where Jake applied this upgrade
the most was, of course, by shooting a stable arrow, and once it was close to
its target, he made it explode. No, Jake could not blow up an arrow already
embedded in his foe. He tried, and it failed every time.
This one was still a new addition, and Jake had more science to do before
he had figured out everything.
Every single skill upgrade also improved all existing properties, even if new
ones were added. This month of hunting had been perhaps the most fruitful
period Jake had ever had in D-grade when it came to improving his fighting
power. Jake still wanted to improve some things, but time was limited. Soon
enough, he would have to resolve everything going on with Earth.
”I am done eating!” Sandy said to Jake as the giant worm flew over, having
consumed the entire field of fruit trees. Jake stared out over the ocean and
smiled at the worm as he shook his head, telling himself to focus on what
lay ahead. They were about to head across the ocean for the first time.
The geography of the Earth had truly changed a lot, and one of the changes
was the placement of land and ocean. You could walk nearly anywhere
without crossing an ocean as paths connected almost everywhere, but there
were still parts without a reliable way across. These narrow points were all
they had crossed so far, but to go further, they had to head straight through
the open ocean. That, or potentially take a long way around. Jake would lie
if he said he wasn’t looking forward to their sea trip, at least a little.
On a side note, the ”ocean” Jake had crossed with Carmen was not truly an
ocean. Jake realized that now. It was more just a massive lake still
connected to the ocean, though, by old-world standards, that lake was
indeed ocean-sized.
”Did you know that even before the system, we knew so little about what
hid in the depths of the ocean? Had so much of it still unexplored? Some
even said we knew more of space than the depths of our own seas,” he
asked his wormy companion.
”No?” Sandy asked as Jake felt the mental version of an eye roll. ”How
would I know? I am a Sand Worm. It would be very weird if I knew what
you humans were up to before the system.”
”My point is,” Jake said, waving off the worm, ”I am looking forward to
seeing what monsters may roam over the vast oceans.”
”I am more wondering what kind of tasty things these monsters are hiding
away,” Sandy said with glee. ”But no going into the water. No way we are
doing that.”
”That we agree on,” Jake said.

There was no fucking way he would willingly face a C-grade in underwater
combat.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 539 - Sky Whale & Old
Acquaintance
Sandy was definitely the most lopsided creature Jake had ever come across.
Okay, maybe something like the Termite Hive Queen was equally lopsided,
but Sandy was definitely so specialized and weird that it boggled his mind.
Most creatures Jake knew could fight. Like, fighting was a basic skill of the
multiverse, right? Jake had yet to come across a single C-grade that
couldn’t at least fight back in some way. But Sandy? Sandy and fighting
were not a thing at all.
And yet, out of every C-grade, Jake did not want to mess with Sandy and
make the worm an enemy. Because he was damn sure that would only result
in everything he held dear getting eaten and the worm flying away
unbothered.
Sandy was good at three things. Like a Sand Worm, a Cosmic Genesis
Worm was incredibly good at moving about. Jake thought his new Wings
skill was good at escaping, but Sandy had several skills that allowed escape.
Secondly, Sandy was incredibly resilient. The rock-like hide was not for
show, and Jake found that even with Arcane Powershot, he could not break
through, even if Sandy did say “ouchie” when he hit the massive worm.
That was the upgraded version of Arcane Powershot too.
Thirdly was finding and collecting resources. Jake could sense natural
treasures due to his boots and Sense of the Malefic Viper, but damn, Sandy
was on a whole other level. The worm picked up on things of value up to
thousands of kilometers away, and Jake had a feeling it could be even
further.
What Sandy was not good at was fighting, but the worm also sucked at
detecting enemies. Luckily, or unluckily, it was nearly impossible to find a
natural treasure not guarded by something powerful, and Sandy had a good
sense of how valuable a natural treasure was and, thus, what kind of power-
level one could expect the protector to be. Sometimes Sandy was still
wrong, but that is where numbers one and two came in, allowing the worm
to just leave. Even the one time they accidentally bumped into a mid-tier C-
grade, probably around level 250. Sandy just flew away as the beast chased
for a while until it realized it was wasting its time.
All of this is to say that Sandy was only good at running – worming - and
eating. But damn, the worm was good at it. He had pimped himself the best
ride around, and he clearly felt he was getting closer to Sylphie with every
passing day. Now that they found themselves crossing the ocean, Jake also
saw an entirely new part of Earth.
Amazingly enough, Jake had avoided underwater combat for the entire first
day since they began their journey. This part of the trip would be a lot faster
than the one prior as Sandy quickly realized that unless you were willing to
dive into the depths, there were few treasures in the open ocean.
Sandy had only found a single island that didn’t even have a C-grade on it
but only a whole bunch of D-grade birds, making them avoid it. No reason
to mess with the local wildlife without any rewards.
This resulted in Jake spending a lot of time within Sandy’s stomach just
working. He considered working on upgrading some more skills, but
without fighting, Jake had a tough time doing it. Jake’s entire fighting style
was also just so damn instinctual, so trying to take a logical approach and
researching a skill seemed too foreign to him.
Thus he focused on alchemy once more. Everything was just peaceful as

nothing tried to attack Sandy, and what did try did not have the slightest
chance of catching the Cosmic Genesis Worm. At least everything was
peaceful until the third day when suddenly Sandy called out to him.
“Out. Now,” the worm said as Jake was thrown out. He didn’t even have
time to stabilize himself before his eyes opened wide, and he turned his
head and saw it.
Still only half-emerged, an utterly massive creature exited the infinitely

deep ocean below. Its skin was blue and rough, with fins and a massive tail
still hidden in the water below. It looked like a blue whale, just oversized to
the extreme, with its emergence reminiscent of a large island choosing to
take to the skies.
[Sky Whale – lvl ???]
Jake estimated it to be a bit over ten kilometers long, and it was by far the
largest creature Jake had ever encountered. As for if he would fight it? No
fucking chance because the aura it gave off was also far above anything.
It was a late-tier C-grade, well-beyond level 300. No matter how many

skills Jake upgraded, he had no confidence in facing such a foe. This was
also why Jake froze and gritted his teeth as he felt the whale’s attention on
him. The beast was still over a hundred kilometers away and moving
incredibly slowly, but he still saw its stadium-sized eye turn to look at him.
”Sandy, why are we stopping here?” Jake asked the worm.
”It asked for you,” Sandy simply answered.
”What?” Jake asked with surprise.
”Said they had been tracking us for a while and wanted to talk… I did want
to run, but it seems friendly enough, you know? Anyway, I was promised a
treat if I got you out, so get talking,” Sandy said, having just sold him out to
the massive whale.
As Sandy as said, he felt the whale reach out to him mentally. Jake
accepted, wondering what the beast could possibly want from him outside
of eating him. Wait, blue whales were herbivores pre-system and pretty
chill creatures overall, so maybe this one was too? Let’s hope.
”I greet thee, Malefic’s Chosen,” a deep voice echoed in Jake’s head. It

sounded like the whale was talking to him from inside a large cave or
something. The voice was also obviously male.
”To what do I owe the pleasure?” Jake responded in kind. He felt no

animosity but instead a lot of caution from the massive Sky Whale. Clearly
not fearful of his power but his identity.
”If you would allow me to speak frankly?” the whale asked.
”Of course,” Jake allowed it, now even more curious.
”We have felt the waves of change for a long time. We, being those who
reside within the vast waters of our planet. From the beginning, we were
aware a war would come, and it has already spread to our waters. Factions
have been born, and lines formed. I do not mean to ask you for anything,
but I do have a request,” the massive Sky Whale said.
”What could I possibly do for you that you cannot do yourself? You are the
most powerful creature I have seen on this planet so far,” Jake also spoke
frankly. If the whale asked him for help in a fight or something, then he had
to admit he was way out of his depths. Pun intended.
”The ones who will ultimately take control of this planet will not be those
like me. When that happens, I fear what our fates will be. Perhaps I myself
could leave behind this world and explore the wider universe, but many
trusts in me and hide under my fins for protection. What I am asking of you
is not assistance in any task but simply to allow us to stay once the time
comes. In return, we shall support you in taming the parts of the world you
do not wander yourself, Malefic’s Chosen,” the whale said.
Jake frowned, even more confused. He felt like this all came out of
nowhere, and he wasn’t even sure how they had tracked him or known he
had been inside of Sandy. No one had been observing them besides Villy,
and he had a hard time seeing Villy informing a C-grade Sky Whale about
him out of the blue. Yet clearly, it had known he was coming and
intercepted him. The whale was also aware of the entire Ell’Hakan and
United Cities Alliance situation from the sounds of it. He had to know how.
”This has nothing to do with your request, but I have to know… how did
you track me and know we were coming? Who told you? How do you even
know the situation on land when you reside within the oceans?” he asked
the massive whale.
”I apologize sincerely, but I am unable to answer that question. Just know

that neither my Patron nor those following me are against you. All we seek
is a path of survival and, hopefully, a healthy relationship moving forward
with both the Chosen and his Patron. What I can share is that my Patron is
no threat to you nor the Malefic One, and he realizes his station,” the Sky
Whale answered, now fully emerged from the water.
Jake pondered and couldn’t figure out who or what it could be. What he
could do was guess, and his guess was that the whale had a Patron that
wasn’t a god Jake had heard of before. Potentially not even that powerful of
a god, but simply one that hoped to foster a good relationship with Jake and
Villy. Why he had chosen to back Jake and not this Ell’Hakan if he knew
both, Jake had no idea. Maybe he just wasn’t a moron?
He admired the massive body of the whale for a moment as he wondered

how damn deep the oceans had to be to facilitate such an enormous creature
to live within it. Much less the treasures it had to hold for such a monster to
reach its level of strength.
”I understand,” Jake simply answered, feeling the nervousness of the

whale decrease.
”I thank you, Malefic’s Chosen, and godspeed in your journey. Allow me to

offer you and your companion tokens of goodwill,” the Sky Whale said as it
opened its ridiculously large mouth. Out flew two objects, one being a large
pearl the size of a volleyball and the other a crystal container about the size
of Jake himself. It looked naturally formed, but an odd dark blue liquid was
contained within that instantly triggered Jake’s Sense of the Malefic Viper.
Needless to say, he could not hold himself back from identifying it.
[Lifeblood of the Emperor Urchin (Ancient)] – The Lifeblood of a slain

Emperor Urchin, an incredibly poisonous creature only found in areas
with extremely dense water affinity. Its very blood is toxic to consume and
especially toxic if directly injected. The Lifeblood is of a neurotoxin
nature. Has many alchemical uses and is especially when combined with
other neurotoxins or poisons with the water affinity.
Jake was not one to say no to a good thing and gladly accepted his gift.
Sandy had already zoomed forward and eaten the Pearl without a care in the
world. Jake shook his head and put the crystal container in his inventory.
”Thank you, from both of us. I am sure we can figure something out if you
are sincere. Me knowing who is backing you would also help, but I can
accept it if you want to stay secretive,” Jake said with a smile
”No, I am the one to thank you. I have been allowed to say that my god is
indeed far more aware of you than others, and you have briefly brushed
Paths before. You and your Patron have both helped him, perhaps
unknowingly, and he wishes to pay back that favor,” the Sky Whale said.
Still no idea who it could be, Jake thought. Considering the whale said
unknowingly, he assumed it truly was a god he had never met or interacted
with. He was also confused at Villy having helped this mystery god.
Moreover, he didn’t get the feeling the whale was lying. Why would it lie?
What would it get out of it?
They exchanged some more pleasantries before the whale took to the air.
Yes, rather than dive down underwater, it flew upwards into the vast skies
above, doing whatever Sky Whales do.
“That was a nice whale,” Sandy said.
“Yeah, very whalecoming,” Jake agreed.
“That was bad… like, I can feel you snicker through the connection, and
you should not feel proud about that one at all,” Sandy scolded him with
exasperation.
“Whale then, I guess I will fin-ish this conversation here,” Jake said, unable
to hold back a grin.
The worm did not respond but just cut the connection and gulped him
down. Jake did not resist as he was tossed into Sandy’s stomach, still
smiling proudly to himself.
“I do wonder what god that whale was associated with,” Jake wondered out
loud. It was a mystery that would likely take a long time to sol-
“Hey Jake, remember that god Karroch that was in charge of your
Tutorial? Yeah, that is the god that blessed the whale and apparently a
shitload of other beasts on your planet,” Villy came in, spoiling the
mystery.
“Wait, that beastmaster kind of guy? Why would he say I helped him, and
moreover, why would he say you helped him? Well, unless you did help
him… is this him paying you back a favor or something?” Jake asked
instantly in return.
“Not really. As the god in charge of your Tutorial – despite him being
trumped and just working for Eversmile, the Holy Mother, and others – he
was the one in charge on paper. Which means he got rewards based on the
performance of the participants. You becoming a Progenitor was a major
boon to him. Then afterward, I killed the Brimstone Hegemon, an enemy of
this god. One can say that we both changed his life. You allowed him to
break through and no longer stagnate in strength while I removed an enemy
trying to hunt down and kill him,” Villy explained. “He truly got lucky by
crossing paths with you and me.”
“Huh, guess you learn something new every day. So, what is he trying to
do? Get on your good side through me? Or just repaying some perceived
favor?”
“Bit of both from the looks of it. Just let him; Karroch is an unaffiliated god
that does not belong to any Pantheon, and honestly, him helping you out
can be very beneficial. As a beastmaster, his Blessing can help beasts
tremendously, and the guidance he can offer is also better than what most
other gods can. You must remember that one of the primary abilities of
beastmasters is to make their beasts stronger and allow them to grow in
strength. If that Augur is a guide for the enlightened to find their Paths, a
good beastmaster is a guide for beasts,” Villy further explained.
“I see,” Jake said. “But are these beastmasters not effectively just tamers
forcing beasts to fight for them? Is it a good idea for a beast to be
influenced by someone like that?”
“Beastmasters tend to have two classifications of beasts. Tamed beasts and

companion beasts. Companion beasts have a connection more like the one
you have with the Sylphian Hawk, while the tamed beasts are indeed just
expendable chess pieces. Companion beasts are naturally what these
beastmasters care about the most and the kind of Records you can expect if
blessed by one,” Villy said.
“Good to know,” Jake said.
“Anyway, I just thought I would let you know as it was something god-
related. I shall let you get back to your travels. Keep up the good work,”
Villy said before cutting off the connection. It was just a brief talk but rather
enlightening. He also failed to hold himself back.
“Hey Sandy, can you do me a favor and tell the Sky Whale to say that I am
happy Karroch benefitted from my Path?” Jake asked the worm.
“Who is Karroch?” Sandy asked.
“A mutual acquaintance of the whale and me.”
A few moments passed. Sandy always made the walls transparent and
allowed Jake to look outside, and he saw the Sky Whale, now far up in the
air, react as Sandy spoke to it. A few more seconds passed.
“The whale talked about you truly being a monster or something like that,
which makes no sense as you said you are a human, right? Humans aren’t
monsters,” Sandy relayed to him.
Jake just shook his head. “Who knows? Maybe I am also a giant whale in
disguise.”
“Doubtful, considering whales aren’t scared of water,” Sandy scoffed.
“I am not afraid of water,” Jake argued. “I just recognize I am not adept in

fighting in it.”
“Sounds like something someone who is scared of water would say.”
“It is not about fear, but-“
“Maybe you are… what was it… a chicken? Yeah, maybe you are a chicken
in disguise? Because you sound like a chicken right now,” Sandy cut him
off.
“No, it is not that, I-“
“Chickens also don’t like water, right? What a coincidence…”
Their “argument” continued… Jake not realizing he had fallen into a trap –
or being too stubborn and prideful to back down - until it was too late.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 540 - Teaching How To
Human & Angry Shark
She had to ask herself if maybe she was the one who had something wrong
with her. Yeah, maybe it was her? Miranda just couldn’t see any other way
for everything to make sense. Because if it wasn’t her, then what the hell
was wrong with everyone Jake introduced to her or made friends with?
They had spent over a month in the Grand Mangrove River by now, and
things had been mostly fine. Emphasis on mostly. Because the Alabaster
Crimsoneye Snake was far more peculiar than Miranda had initially
estimated. She had to admit that she was originally afraid of the snake girl
and had to constantly be on guard and act confident. Facing a C-grade,
especially a mid-tier C-grade, was no easy task for her, but she had to
endure it for her comrades.
That was a month ago. After spending a month with the snake?
“No, you can’t just eat one of their arms to teach them a lesson. That is not
how humans learn at all,” she said with exasperation as the C-grade snake
sat on her knees, attentively listening.
“But big sis, what if they are being really bad? Like, at least eat the hand,
right? It grows back, so it isn’t that bad, is it?” the snake girl argued.
“It is still a no,” Miranda said with a sigh. “If you want to be a good ruler,
do not use fear as your only tool. That is what idiots do, and you aren’t an
idiot.”
“Okay…” the C-grade said as she seemed to reconsider what kind of

teaching methods would be good for humans. Ah, but not human adults,
mind you. The snake girl seemed to be under the impression that the best
way to teach human kids was corporal punishment. Some idiot had
mentioned to her that kids sometimes had to touch a hot stove to learn it
was hot, so the brilliant snake naturally interpreted that as the best way to
teach a kid about heat is to smash their faces onto a stove repeatedly until
they were deathly afraid of kitchen appliances.
As for why the snake cared so much about learning “how to human,” as she
put it? Because she was clearly obsessed with Jake and proving herself
useful to him. Miranda was not even sure how to interpret the snake’s
emotions… love? Infatuation? Neither felt right. Obsession was truly the
only word she thought fit.
One good thing about this obsession was that she wanted to do all she could
to make Miranda happy and her level of respect for the City Lord was
through the roof as she seemed to view Miranda as a “senior” in the Jake
fan club.
Her respect for Miranda was good, though… because the snake girl had a
lot to learn before Miranda would dare unleash her on the wider society.
She had done a lot of questionable things, and Miranda would be far more
frightened of the C-grade if she didn’t have the demeanor of an unknowing
teenager. One area she had really messed up was in her recruitment
methods.
At first, Miranda had assumed the snakes had maybe helped or rescued
people who had been trying to cross the Grand Mangrove River and found
themselves in trouble. Nope, it turned out that the snakes were the trouble.
They swooped up any humans they came across and forced them back to
the center of the mangrove, and had them construct the small settlement that
could now be found there.
If this wasn’t bad enough, then the Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake’s method
of studying the human body had been to literally study the body. She had
initially consumed several women and girls to learn about human
physiology, and once she felt more familiar with the form, she forced
women to help her refine it. This was partly done by her investigating how
the human women’s bodies looked and having them explain things… which
included cutting them open with a healer on standby.
It was only after this she began to learn a bit about humans were supposed
to act she stopped. No one had ever even mentioned to her what she did was
wrong by human standards because who the hell would dare tell a C-grade
when she was out of line? Who would dare claim her actions were wrong
and that what she did would be morally reprehensible by any reasonable
moral standard? Well, that person ended up being Miranda.
Things in the settlement had improved after their arrival, and the mood had
relaxed after Miranda had effectively taken charge. She still vividly
remembered when a dozen or so humans had seen her tell off the Alabaster
snake in public and their looks of utter horror for what was about to happen
– because, yes, the snake girl’s usual response to dissent was just to kill
whoever disagreed.
People were dumbfounded when they saw that the snake girl just nodded
enthusiastically and asked what she was then supposed to do. From that
point on, they were all incredibly friendly whenever Miranda was around,
and the fact that the snakes no longer killed people who messed up was a
huge improvement. The young snake still needed to learn that simply
attacking people wasn’t in any way constructive.
Miranda sighed as she saw that the snake girl was a bit down after being
told what she was doing wrong for the umpteen time that day. It was
probably time to “reward” her.
“We can continue this tomorrow, okay?” Miranda said in a soothing tone to
the snake. “Also… I have a surprise for you.”
The snake girl just looked up and tilted her head to the side.
“A surprise from the Chosen,” Miranda clarified.
The eyes of the girl instantly lit up as she jumped to her feet. “What! What
is it!?”
Miranda smiled at the nervous and excited girl. “A name.”
Jake and Miranda had agreed that this time around, Miranda would help
him decide, and she quickly realized that Jake was obsessed with using the
physical appearance or attributes of creatures to name them. It made her
question that if Jake ever had a kid, he would name him or her Humany or
something else dumb like that… alas, at least Miranda was there this time
around to shoot down any downright horrible name ideas. Because Jake had
a lot of dumb ideas.
After a bit of time, they narrowed the names down to a few. All of them
were still real names, and all of them were even acceptable names for a girl.
However, all of them also partly included parts of the Alabaster Crimsoneye
Snake’s race name or physical attributes. Miranda personally thought that
using parts of the race name for the naming scheme was moronic, as when
the beast evolved, the race name could entirely change. So calling the snake
Alabastie – an actual suggestion by Jake – the name would just come off as
incredibly dumb-looking if she ever evolved.
She really hoped he had been joking, though, as Jake could not seriously
just take the first word of a creature’s race name and slap on an “ie” or “y,”
right? Yeah, that was too much for even him… even if he had kind of done
that with Sylphie. And Mystie… yeah, okay, he had been absolutely
serious.
Good thing Miranda was there. Anyway, the final battle of names came
down to Scarlett, after her red eyes, and Allie. Allie, because of Alabaster
and because it still fit Jake’s obsession with names ending in “ie” or “y”.
Both of these were at least real names, and both were short and sweet. Even
if the snake ended up changing race, later on, the names would not be
questionable.
“A name!?” the snake girl gaped. “Me, named by the Chosen? Really?”
She was almost dancing, and Miranda had to admit she looked rather cute.
If she hadn’t seen the girl rip the head off a man without flinching, she
would even have gone as far as to call her innocent-looking.
“Yes, but he had two suggestions, so you need to choose yourself,” Miranda
made clear. Miranda had to admit she was not actually that comfortable just
naming another person herself. She wanted them to at least have some
choice over the matter. Not that any of the beasts Jake had named
complained about their names no matter how bad they were… Miranda just
wasn’t comfortable doing it.
“What are they!?” the snake girl said, practically jumping up and down.
“One of them is Scarlett. It comes from the red color of your eyes, and the
color red often symbolizes courage, passion, heat, and force. It is a
powerful name. Some also think it a violent name, something that is fitting
for your rather fiery personality,” Miranda said, the snake girl listening
attentively.
“The second name is Allie. Parts of the name stem from your race and that
you are an Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake. The name is considered fair and
symbolizes harmony and nobility, and was originally the name of a saint.
Moreover, it is often a nickname, so if you wish to have a longer, more
formal-sounding name, you can also do that and retain being called Allie by
friends and family,” Miranda explained. “If you are not satisfied with any of
these naming ideas, do not hesitate to voice it, and we can go back to the
drawing board.”
“No! No, I love both of them!” the girl instantly said as she waved her
hands back and forth.
“Alright,” Miranda said with a smile. “Just think carefully about it. A name
is important and isn’t something one should just choose haphazardly.”
Future Scarlett/Allie fell into deep thought as she seemed to think very
deeply about what name she wanted. Doing something that Jake should
maybe do once in his damn life as he had a tendency to just jump straight
into a dumb decision.
Heck, for all she knew, he was probably doing something reckless and
stupid at that very moment.
Fooled. Bamboozled. Entrapped. Completely and utterly let behind the light
and taken advantage of. That is the fate that befell Jake after he argued with
the Cosmic Genesis Worm. He had fallen for the dumbest thing ever: the
good old “then prove it” argument.
Prove that he was not afraid of water.
Jake was not afraid, and even if he knew he was being baited into it, he had
gone along with Sandy’s taunts. It wouldn’t be that bad to just dive down
under the water for a little bit and maybe fight a few D-grades or
something, right? He just had to avoid any C-grades. Heck, he could even
practice stealth a little and sneak his way down there and find whatever it
was he was looking for!
He had so much belief in himself… so how the hell had he ended up in his
current situation?
Jake constantly shot arcane blasts behind himself to catapult forward faster
as the large shark chased him angrily. He had to continually break through
barriers as the water itself tried to stop him and slow him down long enough
to be devoured by the monstrous beast. A beast that was naturally a C-
grade.
[Razorstream Shark – lvl ???]
As for where the hell Sandy was? Well, Sandy was busy eating an entire
fucking coral reef that the shark protected and seemed to use to create some
natural formation. Jake had gone there after being told by Sandy it looked
like a great spot to find valuable things, and since he wasn’t a chicken, he
could totally go there and get some herbs, right? There were indeed good
herbs there, no way around it, but there was also an angry shark. A shark
Jake had made even angrier after he stole some kelp.
Spinning around in the water, Jake took out his bow and charged an Arcane
Powershot. The water fought against him as always, but he managed to
overpower the natural environment and launch an arrow nevertheless.
It flew forward and hit the side of the twenty-meter-long shark, ripping off a
piece of flesh and making it even angrier. Jake rapidly shot again before
stepping down with One Step, teleporting to the side just before the maws
of the shark snapped shut.
The arrow he had shot had no velocity at all, as Jake had released it with no
power. Yet just before the shark shut its mouth around the singular arrow, it
suddenly split into ten, with those ten further splitting into ten each for a
hundred total.
Its mouth snapped shut just as all the arrows exploded at once, ruffling the
large beast a little as Jake even saw the arcane energy flash up through its
gills. Once more, he had done more to annoy it than actually damage it.
Charging again, the shark seemed to be getting a bit serious. The water
around it warped as several teeth-shaped projectiles were summoned and
shot towards him. Jake avoided and shot another arrow, but the waters
around the shark moved as a powerful current began revolving around the
beast.
Jake’s arrows were thrown off-course with the shark charging again.
Having no time to release another ranged attack, Jake decided to face it in
melee combat. From within his Soulspace, he felt Sim-Jake’s attention as
his simulacrum observed attentively.
One would think that a shark had few close-combat options besides simply
trying to bite its target to death, and one would be correct if it was a normal
shark. But this one was an early-tier C-grade with a healthy repertoire of
magic.
The sphere of water around the shark began warping as teeth-like objects
appeared within it, and Jake’s eyes opened wide as he focused. The shark
barreled forward, and Jake entered the sphere as he swayed. Several attacks
flew by him, but as the current only flowed one way, they all came from the
same direction, giving him a chance to dodge. He dodged and used his
katars to slightly veer some teeth away from him as soon enough, the shark
was upon him.
Rather than try to bite him, it tackled with its snout that now had even more
damn teeth growing out of it. Jake met it head-on as he punched forward
with his full power. A mix of dark and arcane energy revolved around the
katar as Jake used Descending Dark Arcane Fang for the first time in quite
a while. The shark had no doubt willingly decided to trade the blow as
Jake’s hand too was hit by several razor-sharp teeth, but rather than cut
through his gloves and puncture his hand, the gloves remained undamaged
as Jake had already poured mana into the legendary item to strengthen it.
Their clash sent a wave of pain through Jake’s arm as he was shot backward
due to the sheer level of size and momentum the charging shark had, with
the bones in his arm hurting, a few cracks having formed here and there.
Not that the beast came out of it unharmed. It now had a deep wound in its
snout that penetrated nearly three meters into its head as he had extended
the blade with Descending Dark Arcane Fang. Sadly, he had failed to hit the
brain.
He felt the faint approval of sim-Jake, but also some criticism in his failure
to hit the brain and how he hadn’t properly transferred the impact through
the rest of his body to lessen the strain on his arm. Jake took it in as he
decided that if he was going to be forced into underwater combat, he should
at least make something out of it.
None of them knew how long sim-Jake had left, but to Jake’s surprise, he
felt like his simulacrum had gotten back more personality recently after he
had regressed to be nothing but a nearly mindless machine improving
Shadow Vault.
I guess sim-Jake never got to do any underwater combat… better get his
take on this afterward. No, not afterward. Right now.
Jake smirked as the annoyed shark charged once more, a pulse of dense
water affinity washing over him. A few thin cuts appeared on his body as he
felt a concept of sharpness within the water itself, only making him smile
more.
What human hadn’t dreamt of fighting a shark?

Probably most humans.
The thing is, Jake wasn’t most humans. Never had been.
He dove forward as human met shark, the two clashing as the water filled
with blood and a happy worm ate an entire coral reef in the background.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 541 - Angry Shark, Doo
Doo Doo Doo Doo
When fighting a larger foe, one had to always make use of that against
them. The shark’s size made it far stronger in direct clashes, but Jake’s
smaller size offered him more mobility and allowed him to make his way
around the shark and be more maneuverable.
Not that the shark was slow. It did not only use its body but its magic to
move in unpredictable ways. Jake had to constantly adapt as the entire body
of the beast was its weapon, teeth-like scales protruding from its skin, all
angled to cut him simply by brushing against the body of the beast. This
meant that Jake had to constantly back away and make sure only his
weapons touched his opponent. To make matters worse, then the
Razorstream part of the shark’s name was not a joke. The currents of water
around the shark cut him like it was filled with tiny razorblades, putting a
constant strain on his Scales of the Malefic Viper.
The passive barrier from Arcane Awakening also helped – a skill he had
been forced to use right off the bat to just put up a fight. Fully activated,
too, as his body was flushed with power and every attack dealt a bit more
arcane damage, and the passive shield took off a bit of the power from the
razor-like water.
Jake clashed with the beast several times as he was slowly forced back,
sim-Jake always at the back of his mind. As if Jake had two minds, they
both analyzed their opponent on the fly and adapted their strategy. Fangs of
the Malefic Viper made sure every stab included a good dose of poison, and
his Hunting Momentum was slowly building up, but the Razorstream made
it, so he constantly took damage, and he was hit all the time as the moment-
by-moment fight had him the back back foot.
Fighting in water was just a lot harder, and even if he could use his wings to
maneuver better than a human normally would, it was still far worse than
what a creature naturally operating underwater could do. All of his attacks
were weakened, too, as he always had to fight against the water to do
anything. However, even so, Jake did not feel any true mortal danger
because he always had one thing he could do to end the fight right there and
then.
Retreating. Jake could easily get away at any point unless the shark wanted
to chase him above water, in which case Jake would happily fight it up
there. He was convinced the shark could fight above water if it so desired,
and he could make the battle far easier by simply flying up a few
kilometers, but he wanted this fight. Sim-Jake wanted this fight.
Jake was forced back by a powerful torrent of cutting water as his scales
and arcane barrier both clattered from the thousands of small cuts. His
armor was slowly getting torn to shreds, but in return, he managed to land a
hit here and there.
Cuts from Jake’s katars quickly proved ineffective as the natural armor
offered by the teeth-like skin proved highly resistant, meaning only
stabbing would work. And katars were really good at stabbing things, so it
worked out.
A large summoned maw of teeth tried to close around Jake’s leg as he

barely managed to avoid it and charge towards the shark. It whipped its
body around to smash him with its tail and push him away, but Jake had
seen that move before. He ducked under the tail and stabilized himself to
not get caught up in the resulting wave of pressure from the water. He then
rapidly dove forward and stabbed the backside of the shark with Eternal
Hunger before it could once more blast him with a wave of water magic.
Jake tried to summon mana strings to bind or restrain the massive C-grade,
but the teeth on its skin moved and tore off whatever he used. Moreover, it
began to release these teeth out of its skin like projectiles, each of them far
more powerful than the magically summoned teeth in the water.
Both of them quickly seemed to realize that finishing the other off quickly
was not an option as the shark dedicated its focus to whittling Jake down as
Jake slowly wounded and poisoned the shark. The hemotoxin poison he
used made the beast bleed even more than it should and colored the entire
area of their fight red with blood. Not that the shark seemed overly bothered
even after hundreds of liters had been drained. Its Vitality was above
expectations. However, he also noticed one other important thing.
While Jake was not confident fighting underwater, the shark wasn’t
confident fighting someone Jake’s size either. Something that had quickly
become clear upon diving beneath the waves was that the scale of most
creatures down there exceeded that of the land dwellers. Chances are, the
only creatures that were small were weaklings that the shark could simply
swat away or eat in a single gulp, making it completely unaccustomed to
someone his size.
They both needed to adapt and overcome the holes in their fighting styles,
and in this department, there was no competition.
Jake once more dodged a tail-swipe as he landed a small stab on the base of
the tail. The beast rolled around to try and cut him like a meatgrinder, but
Jake had already teleported back and pulled out his bow. A single Arcane
Powershot was rapidly charged, blowing off many of the teeth acting as the
shark’s armor and leaving a nasty wound. The beast knew it could not allow
him to attack uninterrupted and conjured several ranged attacks to stop him.
Shooting off one more arrow, Jake made it split and explode as a cascade of
blasts rocked the water and hid Jake from the shark’s sight. Jake took this
chance to land another Arcane Powershot before the beast could locate him.
With speed surpassing anything prior, the shark was upon him as the sphere
of cutting current around it expanded and grew in power. Jake responded in
kind as Pride of the Malefic Viper flared to life, and Jake infused arcane
energy into his surroundings to faintly stabilize it.
Resource-wise, Jake was nearly on par with a C-grade, at least when it

came to mana. He directly engaged in a battle of environmental control with
the shark as he met it in melee once more. Jake had a good few exchanges,
and it had allowed him to build some Hunting Momentum, but it was not
time yet to use it.
The two of them clashed several more times, both taking damage, with Jake
being slowly pushed back by the larger foe. While he was building up for
something, he knew the shark was too. However, as things were, he would
gladly take advantage of learning some of his foe’s patterns.
An attack he had seen many times before was used. It was one where the
shark tried to smash him with the side of its body to then follow up with a
quick spin and a tail-swipe, with the spin actually just a feint. Jake allowed
himself to be hit, even if he could have easily avoided it, and used the
momentum from the blow to get shot a bit deeper into the water.
Already having committed to the move, the shark was not fast enough to
react as Jake used One Step Mile and appeared right beneath its belly. With
one hand, he stabbed Eternal Hunger into its body, and with the other, he
stabbed once to break the teeth armor. In a fluid motion, Jake dismissed the
katar on that hand and punched forward again, penetrating the wound he
had just made with his hand.
He felt the muscles of the shark close around it, and his arm got stuck. Jake
gritted his teeth as Touch of the Malefic Viper activated, and toxic energy
was pumped directly into the guts of the beast. At the same time, Jake took
control of the hemotoxin energy within it and forced it towards its heart. He
had already thoroughly scanned and understood its physiology and where to
hit. All of this was simply a setup for the final blow.
Realizing that Jake was doing far more damage than expected, the shark
reacted violently. It began spinning around in the water, with the current
sphere flowing in the opposite direction of the spin. The teeth on its skin
also began shooting out toward Jake, and the shark shook his body in
violent ways.
Jake held on as long as he could. However, the arm inside the shark’s body
was fully stuck, the shark still not wanting to let him go. The teeth on its
skin began growing towards the arm and dug into it. But it didn’t stop there
as the teeth began growing into the arm itself, and, more frighteningly, Jake
felt an odd sensation in his body.
Like his very blood was being manipulated. Blood began pouring out his
nose and eyes as Jake made an executive decision. Without any hesitation,
he used Eternal Hunger to cut off the still-stuck hand that had been
embedded into the shark just below the elbow. The blood manipulation
stopped instantly as Jake kicked off the massive body of the shark,
swimming away from it.
As he flew back, Jake used his necklace to deposit a healing potion into his
mouth, which he naturally consumed instantly. Dense vital energy entered
his body as Jake felt it flow through his bloodstream and into the severed
arm as it worked to reconstruct it.
Jake momentarily stopped up. Blood and healing… fuck, not now.
The shark came for him again, trying to press its advantage. Jake’s plan was
slightly thrown off course, but he could correct it. Retreating, Jake bought
time for his arm to regrow as he attempted to not get pinned down and
eaten. Unable to properly use his bow, Jake switched to mainly using arcane
magic and Eternal Hunger. One had to add that the healing from Eternal
Hunger was one of those things he usually didn’t notice due to its passive
nature, but it was not something to underestimate. Granted, Jake was
underutilizing the mythical weapon and was far from able to properly make
use of it, but just the lifesteal effect brought his longevity in combat to
another level.
He ended up tanking many hits as he protected his left side, where an arm
and hand were slowly growing out. Jake spent mana like it was no object
trying to keep the shark at bay, shooting off endless barrages of stable
arcane bolts. The explosive ones did nothing, but he had found that hyper-
sharp stable bolts penetrated the teeth hide and caused damage.
One Step was also used liberally to take him away and constantly create
distance too. In the end, it was impossible to avoid taking any damage as
his body was littered with wounds after only a few minutes. But it was good
enough.
The shark, drunk on momentum, did not show any caution as it charged.
Jake, having regenerated his arm and hand, pulled out his bow. Surprise
flashed in the eyes of the C-grade as Jake grinned and charged Arcane
Powershot. Having already committed, the shark did not slow down but
instead sped up as it opened its maw. A dense barrier of water was made as
the entire sphere shifted and gathered in front of the shark. It churned and
spun, aiming to cut everything apart, including any arrows Jake would
shoot at it.
Jake focused to the extreme as Steady Aim activated at its fullest. The
Arcane Powershot was charged to near-full power as he released an
explosive arcane arrow. The super-charged arrow hit the barrier and
exploded as Jake had already pulled out a second, far larger arrow.
This one looked nearly like a drill. It was entirely white and far longer than
the one he shot before, with several odd markings on its body. It was an
Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter, and with the barrier gone, he shot it fast
without even using Arcane Powershot.
The shark was ready and prepared to dodge. Jake had been waiting for this
moment as he, through the arcane energy filling the water, laid his eyes
upon the large shark and used Gaze of the Apex Hunter for the first time in
the fight. The C-grade froze, unable to dodge the Arrow of the Ambitious
Hunter… but this attack was not the true finisher.
Jake charged forward after the arrow, pushing both of his wings to the
extreme to build up speed. The shark was not ready at all when the arrow
entered the shark’s mouth. It was even less prepared when a charging
human was about to do the same. Just as Jake was at the mouth of the beast,
he took out both katars and activated all his Hunting Momentum built up so
far.
His entire body filled with the concept as he shot forward even faster into
the mouth of the C-grade shark. The arrow had done plenty of damage, and
Jake bee-lined for his target: the heart. Just as he was in the body of the
shark, Gaze wore off. The beast had only been stunned for a second, but in
that second, the battle had entirely changed. The momentum had switched.
Upon entering the shark’s mouth, it became clear why it was keen on eating
things. Jake had entered a maelstrom of teeth and incredibly fast currents as
his entire body began getting cut apart. With full power, Jake used the bone
katar to punch forward and released a Descend Dark Arcane Fang to cut
through the inner walls of flesh to make his way to the heart.
The Hunting Momentum was all spent, but it allowed him to reach his
target. Jake finally saw the heart and stabbed Eternal Hunger into it. The
bone dagger disappeared from his other hand as Jake used Touch of the
Malefic Viper with it to control and redirect all the hemotoxin poison in the
C-grade’s body to the heart.
What hemotoxins did pre-system was primarily to thin the blood. Post-
system, it had a similar effect but on vital energy. Blood was a vessel for
vital energy and remained thinned, but the vital energy itself was also far
thinner and flowed more easily out of the body, along with its decreased
efficiency. So what happened when Jake plunged what was effectively a
metal straw into his opponent’s container of highly-thinned vital energy?
He finally gave Eternal Hunger a good meal.
Razor-sharp teeth still flew all around Jake as he was cut up, but each
wound healed as fast as it came as Jake stood his ground. The vital energies
of the shark streamed into Jake through Eternal Hunger as the shark
thrashed and tried to kill him. Intense pressure, long teeth trying to kill him,
and even the flesh walls themselves closed in on him, but the shark was
fighting a losing battle. Eternal Hunger greedily enjoyed its feast as slowly
the shark’s struggles stopped.
Jake felt the stream of vital energy stop as everything went silent. The teeth
around him began floating harmlessly as the body of the shark began
withering and wrinkling from the inside.
*You have slain [Razorstream Shark – lvl 202] – Bonus experience

With ease, Jake cut his way out the top of the shark. With the beast dead, its
body was weak and unable to resist even a casual slash. Jake looked at the
shark and scanned it for any treasures and found… nothing. No, wait, on
closer inspection, he found an uncommon rarity tooth.
He had felt it from the aura of the beast, but this hammered it home…
Razorstream Sharks were low-tier beasts. They were firmly on the weaker
end of C-grades. Jake just sucked at fighting underwater. This had been the
toughest fight since the Phantomshade Panther… and it was an opponent he
would have trashed if they had fought in the air.
“Are you finally done?”Sandy asked him as the worm happily swam over.
Well, the worm did not really swim but seemed to still partly be swimming
through space. Was a bit slower, though.
“Yes, I am done…” Jake said with exasperation.
“Would it make you happy if I said I was proud of you for killing the fish?”
“No, not really,” Jake said curtly.
“Good, because I am not… you move so weirdly down here. You really
gotta work on that at some point,” Sandy lectured him.
“Just eat me already; let’s get out of here. And no more underwater
adventures,” Jake shook his head.
“Fine, I don’t really like the stuff down here anyway. Too watery for my
taste,” the worm agreed, making Jake want to smack the worm for
convincing him to go down there to begin with.
Sandy ate him up, and once Jake was inside, he deactivated Arcane
Awakening and let the weakness flood him. Okay, even if he complained,
the fight had actually been good practice, and it had allowed him to test one
of the many techniques he had theorized. The entire Touch-controlled
hemotoxin into big slurp by Eternal Hunger was not made up on the spot
but something he had considered for a while.
He had also gotten a flash of inspiration related to Blood of the Malefic

Viper. All in all, it had been a worthwhile fight, but he still wanted to avoid
doing that shit again. At least until he had a better way to fight down there.
Jake took a deep breath and got on with things as he felt a certain someone
waiting for him in his Soulspace. Not wanting to make himself wait –
because Jake knew he could be a bit impatient – Jake used Serene Soul
Meditation to enter his Soulspace to talk to his other self.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 542 - A Bloody Mystery
"The fighting style itself cannot reasonably include a method to nullify

negative environmental effects… we will need something else for that.
There was potential in Pride of the Malefic Viper, but we need a proper
method to not find ourselves in a similar situation,” sim-Jake said.
“Easier said than done, considering these kinds of enemies rely on their
environments and will actively try and break down any defenses you have
made against them. I could likely have made an arcane barrier isolating
myself from the water pressure, but the shark would instantly try to destroy
it for its magic to work,” Jake argued.
“I never said it was easy, just that it needs to be done. Maybe figure out
how others do it. Though I will admit that it is a major hurdle. Moving in
water is simply not optimal with the human body, and it eliminates all
footwork and weakens every attack,” sim-Jake mulled over the issue. “I can
see using the destructive arcane energy as a way to partly eliminate the
pressure at all times, especially when striking, but that also creates
problems.”
“Sustainability,” Jake nodded.
“Exactly.”
The mana cost from infusing every movement with mana would be too
much for him to bear, and they both knew it.
“A solution will have to be found at some point,” sim-Jake concluded.
“Naturally,” Jake agreed before asking something that had been on his
mind. “What happened, by the way? Not to be rude, but you were on your
way out the last time we met. Now, you are more you once more. What
changed?”
“Honestly,” sim-Jake said. “You should know it. I am you, and you are me,
and not existing is one of the thoughts that we fear on a very base level.
When I did feel myself begin to fade away and become nothing, something
triggered in me. A sense of survival, even though I know that remerging
with you is still me surviving. I guess you can just say that I don’t wanna
die. After meeting Sandy and seeing Earth transformed and not just that
boring mansion in the Order and the occasional mind-numbing alchemy
lesson, I realized that I still want to enjoy at least a few more adventures.”
Jake had indeed kind of known this was the case but wanted to ask anyway
as he wasn’t entirely sure what his other self was thinking. “But this doesn’t
mean the merging stopped.”
“No, that it does not. But let us just say that I will immortalize myself one
way or another. You won’t be rid of me that easily. Luckily too, because
there is more to improve in our fighting style than I originally estimated,
and two heads are better than one,” sim-Jake said. “Ah, and don’t worry,
our new Vault skill will come, even if I know that the Records of that skill
keeps me alive right now. Keeps me, me.”
“Just don’t begin to get any fancy ideas about taking over the body and
replacing me,” Jake smirked.
“We both know that won’t happen. I can’t. Your Records trump mine so
many times over it isn’t even funny. Being best buds with Villy is just
cheating,” sim-Jake snickered in return. “Now go back to Sandy’s stomach
and get to work. I have business to attend to.”
Jake shrugged and complied as he exited his Soulspace, leaving sim-Jake

behind.
Sim-Jake did not immediately begin practicing but went towards the
chimera of pure curse energy. It looked satisfied after having a feast and
didn’t even react as sim-Jake laid a hand on it. Closing his eyes, energy
moved between them for a few minutes before he nodded and returned to
improving the Vault skill.
Jake, in the outside world, had not seen any of this happen but was busy
getting back the glove he had lost in the body of the shark. Rather than
needing to retrieve the physical object, Jake could use the remaining glove
to regrow the other one on his formerly severed hand. It would have been
cheaper to just retrieve the glove, but he had honestly forgotten about it as
the item had turned inert after he cut off the hand. Sandy had already shot
above the water and was flying through the sky, so turning back was not an
option either.
Watching it reform on his hand over the next hour was relatively
interesting. It was all system-fuckery to the extreme, but he was not
complaining. Once the glove was back in his hand – and put on his hand -
Jake turned his attention to something perhaps even more important.
During the fight with the shark, he had a eureka moment. More accurately,
as he felt his blood flow and carry the vital energies, he questioned
something.
Blood was a damn great vessel for energy. It was what made Blood of the
Malefic Viper such a potent skill and why there were many creatures you
could slay, and their blood turned into valuable items. Vampires consumed
blood due to its richness and purity of vital energy too. All in all, blood was
essentially a naturally-occurring treasure-tier liquid found within most
biological lifeforms.
Its usual effect was carrying vital energy through the body more efficiently.
Heck, this was why regenerating dozens of holes in the body was easier
than healing a severed hand, even if the pure mass of flesh one had to heal
was larger. Regenerating the hand relied mostly on transporting energy
through the Soulshape, while holes in the body could be supplied with
blood in the nearby area to heal faster. Healing potions also instantly
attached themselves to the blood of the body and used that to find where it
was most efficiently used. Because the body naturally knew where the vital
energy was needed.
Blood was clearly tied to vital energy, and vital energy comes from Vitality.
Blood of the Malefic Viper even gave Vitality, and it was a fact that
someone with more Vitality could produce more blood than someone that
had a lower stat. All of those things were true, and yet Blood of the Malefic
Viper had nada to do with vital energy at all.
[Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – The blood of the Malefic Viper is
a toxin more deadly than most poisons. Allows the Prodigious Alchemist
of the Malefic Viper to turn their blood poisonous, imitating their Patron.
It has been further improved, even carrying traces of the True Blood of
the Malefic One within. The blood can be used as an ingredient in
alchemy and as a deadly weapon against your foes. The nature of the
poison is determined based on the Records of the Alchemist. The blood’s
toxicity level is based primarily on Vitality and Wisdom but receives an
increase from all physical stats. Passively provides 1 Vitality per level in
Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your blood be forever the bane of all
that wishes you harm.
The more Jake thought about it, the less it made sense. The skill gave him
Vitality, but nothing about the skill seemed to truly indicate it had anything
to do with the stat. For all other skills, he saw it make far more sense, but
not with this one. Heck, the toxicity of the infused blood scaled with
Vitality andWisdom. They were equal when it came to scaling, but with all
other skills, the stat it offered was also the one that empowered the skill the
most.
Jake reflected a bit on the skill. He had first gotten it at epic rarity and then
upgraded to Ancient after the Trial of Myriad Toxins by absorbing the drop
of blood from Villy. That had been the catalyst, and what was that drop of
blood?
It was a fragment of Records. It was knowledge given physical form, which

could also be seen with how it was tied to Sagacity. So the upgrade path
Jake had gone back then was by making the blood better when used and
giving it far more scope. The part about carrying traces of the True Blood of
the Malefic One was a buff when it came to alchemy too. All of this made
Jake think he had missed something obvious.
He began experimenting right away as he tried out his theory. Jake could
not truly control the blood he infused, and he had always used it as an
external tool, either as an ingredient or a weapon. However, blood was
meant to be inside the body the last time he checked, so would there not be
an application there?
Focusing, he infused the blood inside his body as usual. This time, he tried
to control it – something usually not needed as the blood adapted according
to his will after being added to a mixture. It was more difficult than Jake
expected, and he ended up having to apply some methods from his usual
alchemy as he effectively turned his body into a cauldron and the blood in
his body into the batch. But rather than a poison, Jake wanted to make a
health potion.
The result? Him spending the better part of an hour only experiencing
failure. The worst part was that Jake knew what he was missing; he just
couldn’t fix it. He needed to properly infuse more active vital energy into
the blood, but he couldn’t control the process, at least not satisfactorily. As
he wondered what to do, Jake got a brilliant idea.
Taking out Eternal Hunger, Jake proceeded to cut off his hand once more
and consumed a health potion. Vital energy flooded his body and, as usual,
bound itself to his blood. Jake then began the process again, but rather than
trying to infuse vital energy from scratch, Jake used the energy from the
healing potion as a base and guide. He poisoned the healing potion liquid
and tried to make it better. It went okay as he focused on healing the
severed hand for the second time that day.
Once it was healed, Jake kept experimenting until the potion cooldown was
ready, and he cut it off again. This continued for nearly an entire day as he
slowly began to form a coherent idea and became more familiar with his
blood and vital energy both.
He was still not quite certain what the purpose of what he was trying to
achieve was besides making more active vital energy to make his blood
better when it came to healing. Jake did feel like he made some progress,
but he needed the healing potion every time to properly do it. The highly-
active energy in healing potions was the apex of vital energy due to the
amount of system assistance it got, and Jake knew he could not actually
replicate it, but he wanted to at least make some progress…
Or just make his usage of the healing potion better.
Another day passed, and Sandy didn’t ask him to come out a single time,
even if the worm did find some stuff to steal here and there. It was
understood that Jake did not want any more water combat, and Sandy, quite
frankly, also didn’t seem to enjoy being underwater that much either.
This day was spent with Jake cutting off his arm a good forty or so times
total, sometimes choosing not to use a healing potion as he healed it. He
also tried inflicting injuries on himself in other places. He even took some
of the venom from that Emperor Urchin that the whale had given him and
consumed it. It was potent enough to deal noticeable damage, even if it was
primarily of a neurotoxic nature. He needed it for Palate either way, so why
not?
He began to feel like he was touching upon an idea, but he was still missing
something. Jake was certain that with another week or so, he would have it
down… but he wasn’t that patient when he had other options.

remaining: 2
Jake did not know if the charges would carry over to C-grade or if the skill
changed, so he should use them all now, right? Also… he kind of liked
learning about Villy. It was a bit like stalking your friends on social media
for embarrassing photos from their teenage years, and Jake was all for it to
get some ammunition to make fun of the god with.
With that in mind, Jake activated the skill as he experienced another vision.
“I am once more incredibly impressed with your continued progress,” the

old man said as he smiled proudly. “To do all this without any dedicated
alchemy skill…”
“Saying it is entirely without a skill isn’t correct, Master,” the Viper in his
human form said. “While it is true they are not dedicated alchemy skills,
there are stark similarities.”
“True. However, you specialize in poison as per your heritage. This is the
exact opposite of that,” the old man shook his head. “And yet it isn’t. As
unsightly as it is, an old man like me does find it enviable to have such
heavenly gifts. A body that is an alchemical ingredient in itself.”
Jake was confused as he observed the scene playing out in front of him. He
saw the Viper sitting with a cauldron inside of a large stone chamber, with
the old man scrutinizing his work. Moreover, the Viper said a word Jake
could have never imagined the Viper would say… he had called the old
man Master. He also felt like the Viper was pretty young in this vision, but
he wasn’t sure if it was the youngest he had seen him. It had to be close.
“And I wish I had Master’s knowledge of alchemy,” the Viper smiled.
“Heh,” the old man chuckled. “I have no doubt you will surpass this old
man in due time. You will learn all I have to teach with the time I have left.”
A sense of sadness came over the room as the Viper frowned.
“There is no reason to be sad,” the old man soothed the Viper. “Time will
claim all, but we enlightened races have our own Path to immortality. As
long as our knowledge remains, so shall we remain. The Records of the
multiverse are forever. Any who dies; any who has lived and will ever live
is eternal.”
“Easy for you to call knowledge eternal… why not pursue actual
immortality?” Villy scoffed.
“Because knowledge can be both a curse and a gift, and your old Master
had decided his Path,” the old man shook his head at the would-be
Primordial. “Now stop dallying and explain to me the process of what you
are attempting to do.”
“Fine,” the Viper said as he looked down at what he had just brewed. “So,
the thought process behind this attempt was to…”
Jake listened but began to zone out even if he knew he should be listening.
He couldn’t stop himself as he stared more at the old man and faintly
noticed something. Something that was barely detectable, perhaps due to
the nature of the vision… the old man had a Bloodline. That in itself was
noteworthy, but what stood out more was that it felt familiar. He had seen it
before, which made no sense. Because the one who Jake remembered
having the Bloodline was also present in the room.
This old man had the same Bloodline as the Malefic Viper.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 543 - What Even is a
Health Potion?
Jake was absolutely certain of one thing: two identical Bloodlines could not
exist. Even if someone with a Bloodline had a child, the child would have
their own Bloodline with its own unique signature. One would be able to
feel the difference between two family members even if the effects of their
Bloodlines were identical.
But the old man had the exact same Bloodline as Villy. Jake was completely
zoned out of the vision where the two discussed as he tried to figure out
how the hell this was possible. It was impossible for the Viper to somehow
be the kid of this old man, and one could not give their Bloodlines to others
as the Bloodline resided in the Truesoul. Only the system could give a
Bloodline, the Viper had said to himself. So Jake saw only one explanation.
The Viper had gained this old man’s Bloodline sometime after he had died.
Assuming the Viper had been truthful when he said he got his Bloodline
after reaching godhood, then it had to be a lot of time afterward. However,
this also raised some questions. Had the Viper requested this Bloodline? If
he had, then it had to be a powerful Bloodline, and if it was a powerful
Bloodline, then why was the old man stuck at peak C-grade and talking
about his time soon being up? Maybe it was just Jake being biased, but he
assumed anyone with a truly powerful Bloodline should at least be able to
break through to B-grade.
I will definitely have an interesting talk with Villy after this, Jake confirmed
to himself as he began to actually focus on the vision at hand.
It was just the Viper explaining what he was doing, and what he was doing
was trying to make a healing poison using his blood. The Viper talked about
how it was hard to fully isolate the vital energies in the blood both before he
put it in the cauldron and when it was in there.
Jake listened in attentively and quickly got the gist of it as he had been
struggling with the same thing during the last few days. His issue was that
the Blood of the Malefic Viper infused blood was so tied to him it was
difficult to make it more untied. This was not a problem with poison
usually, as it was just a catalyst and got infused into all the other materials,
but in this case, he wanted it to be a primary ingredient.
As for why he wanted it? He wanted to make a “better” health potion that
acted faster and maybe didn’t even trigger the potion cooldown. One that
could help him heal a wound incredibly fast and resonate with his Blood of
the Malefic Viper. He also just wanted to see if he could upgrade Blood to
allow him to heal faster in general.
The health potion was more a representation of what he wanted and a way
to practice isolating and controlling the vital energy in his blood, not the
primary objective. The Viper said the same as he explained how he wanted
to better control his vital energies and blood in general.
“Heh,” the old man chuckled. “I find it interesting how you try to create a
health potion when that is not truly what you want to make. Controlling
your blood better is only one piece of the puzzle, and you will never be able
to infuse enough vital energies into the blood to heal fast enough for what
you want. If you want that, you need to heal yourself in the ethereal realm –
heal your Soulshape – and not your physical body. But we both know the
inefficiency in that… so what you truly want is a way for your body to do
what you want it to and for more vital energy to work at once. A healing
potion does supercharge you with vital energy, true, but what is the biggest
obstacle when trying to infuse your blood to heal you faster?”
“Time,” the Viper instantly said. “But a health potion fixes that; I just need
it to-“
“Why does it need to be a health potion, and why do you need to infuse
your blood every time?” the old man asked pointedly.
“I am not sure I get it,” the Viper said. “I need a health potion for it to
heal… I have tried making toxins that heal me, but it never works. And I
need to infuse my blood every time for the vital energy to be properly
carried in it.”
“Is that because your blood is bad at carrying energy?”
“Well, it is good at carrying energy, but only toxic energies… but… I think
I understand what you are getting at. You want me to attune my blood to
better carry vital energy, but won’t that just be a step backward after I
improved it to better carry mana?”
“Vital energy, mana, stamina, why do we have to put a label on everything?

Why do we need to define what a poison and a healing potion are anyway?
The system shall handle all the definitions we need; we just need to force
our own understanding. Who is to say a poison cannot be a healing potion
and a healing potion cannot be a poison? Ask yourself, who is it meant to
heal? If it only needs to heal one person, why does it matter if it is poison or
not? As long as it to you is a healing potion, the system shall respect your
will,” the old man smiled.
He opened his palm as an orb of energy appeared. Jake felt the intense vital
energy from it as it suddenly changed into mana, and then into stamina, and
back into vital energy again. With a swipe of his hand, the vital energy
suddenly spread out throughout the room and hit the walls, making cracks
appear all over them. Another pulse of pure stamina was released that
somehow repaired the walls. No, had it not been mana there right at the
end? Jake wasn’t sure…
“Energy is energy; as long as you have one, you have them all. You think
too much about making your blood work with one or the other when you
need it to work with all of them. Your body is your temple, and you decide
the design. Your blood is a part of your body, just like any other element. If
you can control how your hand moves, how fast your heart beats, and know
how to smile like you are right now… so can you dictate what your blood
is,” the old man said. “Within reason, of course.”
Jake barely considered the words as he was still stuck on what the actual
fuck the old man had done before when he demonstrated the energies. The
level of energy control he deployed was… not normal as in, absolutely
bonkers. Jake had no idea how the hell he had done what he did. Jake could
also change mana into vital energy and vice-versa, but that was a long and
arduous process when crafting. Not what the old man had just done where
he morphed the energies effortlessly in seconds. No, less than seconds.
The Viper also stared at the old man as his eyes shone with enlightenment.
Jake then felt himself truly merge with the Viper and instantly noticed some
differences. Jake’s blood was not toxic by default but infused with heavy
doses of vital energy, while the Viper’s blood primarily had poison in it. He
naturally healed from vitality-based poisons in his body, whereas Jake
healed from regular vital energy.
It was nearly the opposite of Jake, as Jake had to put effort into making his
blood toxic, and Villy had to put effort into making it non-toxic. But what
the Viper did now was more or less to prime the blood. Make it far more
malleable to other energies, using the system’s assistance to make it all
possible. This instantly made the level of toxicity in his blood rise, and Jake
did not hesitate to join in as he mimicked the Viper – but with the opposite
result.
His blood became more filled with vital energy as he repeated the process
of what the Viper did. Yet he also felt like all poison made from it would be
more potent. What Jake did when he infused Blood of the Malefic Viper
with mana and turned it toxic was just to use the mana as a catalyst to
change the vital energy. It was all process that was now being refined and
improved.
One could almost say the blood became thicker. Better at carrying energy
than before. It did come with the cost of each drop of blood being more
valuable, and hence Jake or the Viper losing more health points upon
wounded and bleeding… but the tradeoff was worth it, and it wasn’t a one-
to-one increase either. Because Jake also felt that each health point now
counted ever-so-slightly more.
Moreover, the total capacity of the blood changed as it was ready to receive
energy at any point.
The old man came with a few comments here and there as Jake and the
Viper both meditated. About half an hour passed before the Viper opened
his eyes, smiling from success. Jake was still not there and was about to
curse as time rewound till just about when the Viper began meditating,
skipping the first conversation.
This time around, Jake got it, and as he willed it, the time rewound the third
time to show the entire starting talk. The Viper and old man chatted as Jake
just listened in, still feeling the changes in his body. A bit later, the vision
ended, and Jake returned to the real world with an upgraded skill and a lot
of questions.
Jake appeared within Sandy’s stomach with the worm not even asking
where he had gone this time. Without further ado, he checked out the
upgrade.
[Blood of the Malefic Viper (Ancient --> Legendary)] – The blood of the
Malefic Viper is a toxin more deadly than most poisons and the lifeblood
of an immortal being. Allows the Alchemist to infuse their blood with
energy to turn their blood poisonous, imitating their Patron and even
carrying traces of the True Blood of the Malefic One within. The blood
can be used as an ingredient in alchemy or as a deadly weapon against
your foes. The nature of the poison is determined based on the Records of
the Alchemist. Allows your blood to carry more energy than usual,
including vital energy, passively speeding up regeneration. This effect is
further amplified when consuming a health potion or other sources of
beneficial vital energy. The blood’s toxicity level is based primarily on
Vitality and Wisdom but receives an increase from all physical stats.
Increase in natural regeneration based on total health pool. Passively
provides 3 Vitality per level in Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic
Viper. May your blood be forever the bane of all that wishes you harm
and that which brings you eternal life.

It was as expected for the most part. The two levels were a nice surprise, as
Jake had only expected a single one. For the skill itself, a bit of the wording
had changed here and there, but the big takeaways were that it specified the
blood now carried more energy than before, and that effect was further
amplified when using a healing potion. But, it still specified that what Jake
did when he infused his blood was to turn it poisonous. He could not simply
infuse it with more vital energy if he wanted to when he used the skill.
To add on, due to his blood now passively carrying more vital energy, it
increased his natural regeneration. He could feel it wasn’t by much, but it
was there. The big thing was that this effect was amplified after using a
healing potion, and the entire increase in regeneration was based on his total
health pool.
Finally, there was also an increase in Vitality for each level. Considering
Jake was towards the end of D-grade, the instant influx of stats was huge,
especially considering Vitality was the stat in which he had the second-best
percentage amplifier due to the Bloodline Patriarch title and Blessing of the
Malefic Viper both including it.
With a bit of excitement, Jake cut off the hand for the hundredth or so time
over the last few days. Instantly he felt his vital energy move as it began
naturally regenerating. It healed faster than before, no doubt about it, but it
wasn’t like it just suddenly popped out. He would estimate about twenty-
five percent faster, with the vital energy consumption about ten percent
higher, to achieve the same effect. Health Point-wise, he lost about the
same.
After he fully healed the hand, he repeated chopping it off again and then
drank a potion. This time around, the change was noticeable. Before the
upgrade, it took Jake a few minutes to heal a hand, but now?
He watched intently as what appeared like blood vessels grew into thin air.
Soon they transformed into bones, flesh grew on the bones, and his hand
reformed. The entire process took only thirty to forty seconds, and Jake
nodded, knowing this was not the best it could be.
Taking out his cauldron, he got to work. The vision had not been solely
about transforming his blood but also about how to use it. To make full use
of it. One of the objectives had been to make a healing potion, after all.
When Jake usually made a healing potion, he didn’t use any Blood of the
Malefic Viper. His blood was inherently a poison, there was no way around
it, and even this upgrade did not change that. Jake made healing potions
according to the methods he had read in books and followed the recipes to
the T as, well, it worked. He had never even considered using his blood
over purified water when making a health potion. Not that Jake hadn’t tried
to make beneficial things with his blood, as he had done just as the Viper
and tried to make a vitality-based poison that could help heal him. One that
could even circumvent the potion cooldown.
Jake now realized that the entire thought process was flawed. Health
potions worked because they were health potions, not because of all the
ingredients put into them. When Jake tried to make these poisons of vital
energy, he – and the Viper from the sounds of it – had missed the most
essential ingredient of a health potion: a truckload of system-fuckery.
Without further ado, Jake began the crafting process of a health potion. The
only true change was that Jake poured in his blood as the base rather than
water. He knew that he first had to prime the blood and make it focused on
vital energy, which was indeed what he started out by doing. Once the
liquid was ready, Jake just did as he usually did when making a health
potion, following the recipe to the letter.
And as usual, the process was straightforward. Perhaps a bit more

challenging than usual, but it was not much, and after only failing two
brews, Jake succeeded.
*You have successfully crafted [Malefic Health Potion (Common)] – A

new kind of creation has been made. Bonus experience earned*
Jake looked at the batch and bottled up some of the liquid. It was red, just
like a normal health potion, but he did get a slight reaction from Sense of
the Malefic Viper when looking at it, making it clear this was poisonous..
Using Identify on the potion, he was surprised, though.
[Malefic Health Potion (Common)] - Restores 22310 health when

consumed. Will cause damage to anyone besides the creator if
consumed.
Jake stared at it for a while. Everything was pretty much as expected, and
what Jake had made was poison to any who was not him. The rarity was
common as expected too. Jake knew that rarity was based solely on the
amount of resources a potion restored, and after entering the academy, he
had learned that the minimum for uncommon rarity potions was a hundred
thousand resources restored. Yet the number still stood out.
This was the first health potion Jake had ever made that restored over
twenty thousand health, and it had instantly jumped to twenty-two
thousand. It was about a twenty-five percent increase from his usual max…
about the same as what his natural regeneration had increased with.
After putting all the liquid in bottles, Jake – once again – cut off his hand.
With great expectations, he chugged the new health potion. It did not
disappoint.
Instantly blood vessels sprung out into thin air, and a red hand shape was
formed where it was supposed to be as flesh grew on the bones within
seconds. The red shape was filled out, and skin grew over it all. Finally,
with a simple mental command, Jake equipped the glove.
Seven seconds.
From drinking the potion to fully regenerating a hand, it had taken him
seven seconds. Jake grinned from ear to ear to himself at the result as one of
his biggest weaknesses – amputation - had been significantly addressed. He
was more than happy with the upgrade and also felt that the blood was just
overall more potent now in every way, which would empower all poisons
he made by a little. All in all, great stuff.
With all of that done, Jake moved on to the final thing. His talk with Villy.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 544 - The First Sage
He reached out and instantly felt the connection form. “Hey Villy, I-“
“Jake, just know that Duskleaf and I are both here for you in your time of
need. You do not need to resort to self-harm like that, okay? We are willing
to talk, so you can stop cutting your hand off. It has suffered enough… no,
you have suffered enough,”Villy’s voice descended with the fakest tone of
concern Jake had ever heard.
”Ha, ha, very funny,” Jake responded to the quip from the Viper. Just
because Jake had cut off his hand a hundred times or so over the last few
days didn’t mean he was into self-harm.
Well, except if it was productive self-harm, in which case he was all for it.
“Heh, so, got a good upgrade this time around? From a cursory glance, it
seems like you finally managed to upgrade Blood. I had quite honestly
expected that to be one of the first ones considering you stole a drop from
me,” the Viper said.
“Yep, I got it, as well as a vision…” Jake.
“Spill it. What kind of embarrassing moment did it show you now? Oh, I
know. Is it this time I filled an entire lake with my blood and turned it into a
“healing potion” to help the local wildlife, only to poison them all and end
up killing off an entire army, to then just get pushed out of the area by a
giant weasel that was immune to my toxins?”the Viper asked.
“No, but I am sure there is an interesting story there. This vision was quite
a bit more relaxed but far more intriguing. First of all… I didn’t know you
once had someone you called Master?” Jake asked a bit teasingly. ”You
seemed to respect him a lot too. Truly a loyal disciple.”
A few seconds passed. “I have had several people whom I would call
Master throughout my life. But based on me actually showing genuine
respect, only one comes to mind. The original owner of my Bloodline.”
“That is the one,” Jake said. “So, what is the story there? I have so many
questions.”
“You know, Jake… you are the first one besides my wife to ever know about
him. Not even the other Primordials are aware he existed,” Villy said in a
very out-of-character serious, and melancholic tone.
“I never even learned his name, only knowing his title. He was simply
known as the First Sage. For reference, the country he belonged to had
sages as their elders of sorts, and he was naturally the highest-ranked one.
He, too, was alive when the system arrived and was already an
accomplished, if troubled, man. I took quite a bit longer to progress through
the grades than many others and, quite honestly, fell behind. The area of the
planet I was from was considered weak and desolate, so by the time I
reached C-grade, the world was already full of them. However, on my
planet at the time, there was no doubt who the most powerful person was.
He was a man who I believed I could fool, and I wanted to take advantage
of him to teach me alchemy. The old man saw through my disguise like
nothing and instantly knew I was the feared Wyvern of the Desolates. But
what did he do? He invited me in for tea.”
Villy spoke with far more emotion than Jake was used to, making him just
shut up.
“He was intrigued by my skills and wanted to learn more about me. Tell me,
Jake, from what you saw did he strike you as a talented alchemist?” Villy
asked.
“For sure,” Jake said. The old man had been insanely talented and was no
doubt-
“He wasn’t one. In fact, he never truly chose to specialize anywhere but
always ended up pursuing new things. On top of that, he was not a fighter,
not because he couldn’t fight, but because he chose not to. I understood
why. There was not a single entity on our planet that stood a sliver of a
chance against him.”
“I don’t understand… if he was this strong and talented, along with having
a Bloodline, why didn’t he evolve into B-grade? Or did he end up
evolving?” Jake asked.
“No, he died still in peak C-grade,” Villy answered, exasperation clear in

his voice. “To this day, it still troubles me. I actually think meeting him was
one of the reasons I even managed to become a god. Jake, you are talented,
but this man… was something more. Your talents are bizarre but
specialized, while he was a universal genius. A jack of all trades, master of
all. With no effort, any skill he had would reach legendary rarity and
beyond. It was like he didn’t truly exist within the world like the rest of us.
As if he stood above it and observed. By the time I was in peak C-grade, I
knew I still would not have stood a chance against him. Not that I would
have after just evolving to B-grade either… he was a monster. Far more
than I.”
“I am just getting more and more confused here,” Jake said. “Why not
evolve then? What stopped him?”
“Nothing except his own will. He… chose not to evolve. As I said, to this
day, it still troubles and frustrates me. He could have evolved, and
truthfully, I do not doubt he would have become a god. But he had no desire
to be one. He had barely any desire at all. Like such desires were beneath
him, or perhaps just not something he cared about,” the Viper explained. “I
partly understood why, for he was also pained. Tortured. He did not wish to
keep living, and to him, perhaps immortality would have been a curse.”
Jake’s frown only deepened, but he didn’t interrupt without getting asked.
“The First Sage taught me only for about a decade. During this time, I
never left his side and took in everything like a sponge. My alchemy
reached levels I had never even imagined, but more than that, he helped
refine my mindset. If you haven’t noticed, I like to find ways to take
advantage of the system. This man was the one who originally instilled
those thoughts into me. He was also the first one to teach me what a
Transcendent was. He was a premier scholar in all things system and what
he discovered back then is now common knowledge throughout the
multiverse. The knowledge that man had was out of this world… and before
you ask, then yes, he was a Transcendent. Not just one either… I learned of
four Transcendent skills he possessed, but he might have had more I never
knew about. Wanna hear the funniest thing? One of them was made with the
express purpose of shortening his lifespan.
“If you think that one of the reasons for his blight was his Bloodline, then
you would be entirely correct. I have told you it is not one that offers
combat power, and that is entirely correct. In fact, many would call its
effects rather mundane if not useless. I have never told you what it does,
and I guess it is about time I tell you, considering how much I know about
yours.”
Jake would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. Especially after hearing so

much about the original owner.
“Its name is short and sweet. Bloodline of the Immortal Mind. It gives no
stats, no boosts to anything… besides one thing. It gives perfect memory,”
Villy explained, leaving a pause for Jake to ask.
“But don’t you get that already with high enough stats?” Jake asked
predictably.
“You do, which is why many find the Bloodline useless and unnecessary. I
will also admit that I was critical of it, as the First Sage explained, but I
have come to believe it was a big contributor to his power. Allow me to
explain. As I said, like me, he existed before the system arrived, and yet he
had a Bloodline that allowed perfect memory, which makes me question if
perhaps this allowed him to know and remember things the system never
intended for anyone to be aware of.”
“Is that why you wanted it? Wait, how did you even get it?” Jake asked,
confused.
“As I said, I got it from a system event after becoming a god. It was a bit
like your Tutorial, and in the end, you could request a reward. I asked for
the Bloodline of the First Sage, and to my surprise, the system gave it. Not
cheaply, but cheaper than expected. Once more, I felt like the old man had
expected this to someday happen,” Villy explained.
“I see,” Jake simply answered. “Why did you leave your first master? I
cannot believe you learned everything from him in only a few years.”
“I did not,” Villy said, hesitant to continue.
“Then why?”
“I told you my first Master was peculiar, and it was only at the end I
realized his true purpose in making me his student. You see, he was
obsessed with Records to a probably unhealthy level and wanted to ensure
that even after death, they remained known. To him, they were the truly
perfect form of memory. The memory of the world itself. I don’t know how
or why, but he clearly believed that I would be able to reach the pinnacle
and thus chose me. He wanted to immortalize his existence through me and
through the system,” Villy said as he sighed.
“The old man had only ever asked me one favor, and it came in those final
days. The only thing he ever asked me was to remember him and absorb his
Records once and for all. He asked me to kill him,” the Viper said, sadness
in his voice.
“It was also only then I truly became aware of how much he suffered. You
see, usually, memories are controlled. Your brain only pulls something up
when you need to remember it, but for the First Sage, it wasn’t like this. He
remembered everything all the time. Don’t even begin to think you can
comprehend what that is like. He spent ages simply becoming able to
function. But what truly made him suffer was remembering all that once
was. Every little negative thing, every setback, every period of grief he
experienced every day. Do you think negativity bias is bad for normal
humans? For him, it was all-consuming. He never showed it, not truly, but
after I got the Bloodline myself, I understood. It is said time heals all
wounds, and trauma and grief eventually fade? To him, every second of
every day was filled with those emotions, like he had experienced mere
moments before,” Villy explained, but Jake got an odd feeling.
As if he was not only talking about his old Master but himse-
“Before you say it… yes, I experience this negative downside too. However,
there is a stark difference between him and me. First of all, I got the
Bloodline after becoming a god and can handle all this far better. Second of
all, I was not born with it and thus had ways to still separate it from the
core of my being. Thirdly, and perhaps the most important one: his mindset
differed from mine. He was more emotional on a base level, and he grieved
more than I ever did. Even when I suffer, my first thought is not to grieve
but to try and fix the problem. I comfort myself with pretty lies of being able
to find a solution. And I can admit that even if the Bloodline has downsides,
the benefits it brings are also exemplary. I wanted it for a reason,” Villy
said.
“Did you… you know?” Jake asked.
“Yes. How could I not fulfill the one request my Master ever made of me? I
did not want to, but I respected him too much to refuse. However, as I said,
then I like my pretty little lies. He wanted to be immortal but not alive, and
he found his Path through me. Today he is forever immortalized through the
Records of the multiverse, and to him, dying was simply a form of
transcending above the mundane world. Transcending through me. I still
remember his smile as his life faded, and that is the memory I choose to see
over his times of suffering,” the Viper said, Jake practically seeing his sad
smile on the other end.
Jake just sat silently, not saying anything. He had never heard Villy speak
this highly of anyone before, not even his fellow Primordials. There was
always a quip in there, a joke about their shortcomings… but with this First
Sage, there was only sad recognition.
Neither of them spoke for a while, even as the telepathic connection

remained. Jake did not ask any of his usual questions, like if the Viper
thought Jake would be able to match the old man if they were the same
level or anything like that. Jake already knew that the answer wouldn’t be
one he wanted to hear… not necessarily because it would be a no but
because of how pointless it was. A minute or so more passed before Villy
sighed.
“The First Sage is the apex of why motivation and drive are important. He
had the talent of a thousand geniuses but the will to claim power of none.
There was no passion in anything he did, and he truly never cared to get
stronger. There was only a sense of hopelessness, like the Path he once
followed was impossible. Or, perhaps, in death, he got exactly what he
wanted. I truly don’t know, as even now, his mentality and mind are above
my level of comprehension. All I know is that he was perhaps someone that
was never meant to have existed, but that I am glad he did,” Villy finally
finished.
“Next time we meet,” Jake said with a smile. “Let’s share a toast for the old
man. While it was brief, I also learned some good stuff from him, and you
are not the only one grateful he lived.”
“Let’s do that,” Villy said on the other side with a smile.
No more words were necessary as the connection was cut off soon after
that, leaving Jake alone inside the stomach of Sandy. His mind was still
filled with thoughts as he considered everything. While Jake had to
recognize the old man had him beaten in energy control… Jake was not
aiming to be the best at everything.
He was fine with just being the best at killing things.
Feeling his distance from Sylphie and Haven, Jake triangulated it and
concluded he would soon reach his goal. The mountains the Fallen King
had made his home were close to the ocean, and they would get straight
there as long as they continued straight ahead.
But before he reached his destination, he had some alchemy to do in

preparation.
Villy cut off with the connection with Jake as he smiled a bit to himself.
Parts of his memory he had sealed away were now unleashed and flooded
him as he remembered times he had chosen to forget. There were many
things he did not tell Jake this time around, and he truly believed that was
for the better.
Knowing of the First Sage was not necessarily a good thing. The comment
he was perhaps someone that never meant to exist was not just an offhand
one. It wasn’t that it was bad he existed, but that his existence was never
intended.
Because something he had not told Jake was that the day he had killed the
old man was not the final time he had seen him. The system took many
forms when it appeared in front of people… Jake had described it as a
humanoid monotone figure. Others had described the system as a giant
floating orb, some as winged beings and others like other humanoid forms
reminiscent of their own races.
As for Villy? Every time he saw the system appear in any form, he met his
first Master. If it was truly him, Villy did not know as it didn’t act
differently from any other system entity.
But he liked to think that the old man had achieved his goal and had
achieved his own form of immortality.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 545 - Annoyingly
Complicated
Jake and Sandy continued their journey over the ocean as Jake worked on
the upcoming battle. His talk with Villy about the First Sage had been
enlightening, and the upgraded Blood of the Malefic Viper would surely
help with what he wanted to do. However, it was far from enough.
Unique Lifeforms were annoying opponents; Jake had no doubt about that.
This particular Unique Lifeform he would encounter was one of ash and
space magic as far as he could tell. It did not have a physical body but was
more like a living domain. The domain was its Soulshape and seemed to
encompass a large area at a time, allowing the Ashen Phantom Devourer to
move its body – ash – anywhere within. The domain itself could also move
at a fast speed if it so desired, making it a truly nightmarish being to face.
There was probably more to its abilities, but Jake got enough of an idea of
what he was facing just from what he had heard so far. What he was facing
would effectively be a giant elemental without many of the usual
weaknesses of elementals. It would be a master at fleeing, too, according to
the information Miranda had given him, so simply attacking it would not
end well, even if Jake and the King somehow got it in an ambush and went
all out.
The plan Jake had formed was to not fight Ell’Hakan but instead kill the
Ashen Phantom Devourer by teaming up with the Fallen King. However, to
do this, they needed to make sure they could actually kill the damn thing.
Jake did not know how strong Ell’Hakan truly was or if he would even be
able to successfully kill him, as he was an annoying bastard who relied on
more than just fighting. He had an annoying gut feeling that even if he, the
King, and the Sword Saint went after the orange guy together, they would
fail in killing him.
This is why Jake would instead try and take out the greatest asset this other
Chosen had. No matter what, successfully recruiting a Unique Lifeform into
your employ wasn’t easy, and losing it would be a major hit to his fighting
power.
Going back to having to actually kill the Ashen Phantom Devourer, there
was one major problem. It was a creature specializing in ash and space
magic. Jake had seen what Neil could do and now what Sandy was capable
of, and he was completely certain he would have no way to chase down a
peak D-grade Unique Lifeform using space magic, even if it was injured.
The Fallen King had also mentioned this as the biggest obstacle as,
apparently, the King found himself slightly superior during their fights,
primarily due to his home-field advantage. One had to remember that the
King was, well, a King. He received benefits from an area he had claimed
which allowed him to come out on top. Far from enough to actually get a
victory and they were still nearly evenly matched. A single slip-up from one
party could break the balance, or if one of them managed a breakthrough of
some kind by upgrading a skill could result in either of them dying… the
King the more likely to fall exactly due to this issue of the Ashen Phantom
Devourer being far better at escaping.
This is where Jake came in. More accurately, his ability to be more than just
a simple hunter with an arrow and bow. With his current toolkit, he had no
way to kill this Ashen Phantom Devourer, and even teaming up with the
King, they had no way to stop it, so this issue is what Jake would work on.
Like with the big blue mushroom once upon a time, Jake put on his thinking
cap and began to theorize a solution. He needed to find a way to slow down
the Unique Lifeform, but it couldn’t be something that would instantly
make it want to run away.
Sleeping Night Toxin was out of the question. That poison was frankly only
good against human-sized or smaller foes, and this Ashen Phantom
Devourer was the opposite of small. By sheer volume, considering it was a
living domain, the only creature he had met with a larger Soulshape had to
be the whale. Probably the giant sand worms too, but he would not know
before actually seeing his foe. Which led to another problem.
Jake did not know what he was facing. Not truly. It wasn’t like he could
research his opponent either, as Unique Lifeforms had this annoying
tendency to be unique. Samples were awesome when trying to make a
counter to something, and getting a sample was absolutely impossible.
What he would make had to be a general poison not aimed at any particular
enemy but be able to affect all Soulshapes. It had to be able to limit the
mobility of this Ashen Phantom Devourer, hopefully making it unable to
flee with its giant domain-like body. If not, then at least slow it down
significantly.
To do this, Jake would clearly need very high-level material. He would also
need a good quantity of it. As for the type? Well, hemotoxins would not
work. Necrotic poison was also out of the question as his opponent was not
biological. So he would need it to be an ethtoxin – soul poison – or a
neurotoxin. Ethtoxin and neurotoxin often went hand in hand, as ethtoxin
was more classification of many different kinds of soul poison.
Neurotoxin would definitely be good. He had also been researching it quite

a lot, so he had some confidence.
As stated many times prior, Jake was not a fan of fate-talk, but… some
things were just too much to be a coincidence. Jake needed a good source of
natural neurotoxin, and what had he just been handed not long ago? A
whole crystal container full of the stuff.

nature. Has many alchemical uses and is especially when combined with
other neurotoxins or poisons with the water affinity.
By now, he was beginning to suspect there was some kind of foul play
involved. Even if the Viper did not spy, had this Karroch god been watching
the situation on Earth? While Jake could feel if people observed him, it was
entirely possible the god had just kept an eye on everyone else.
Not that Jake would complain even if the weird beastmaster god had
decided to help him out. Ell’Hakan had spent a long-ass time preparing and
had his god help liberally, so it was only fair Jake also did a bit of cheating.
It wasn’t even Jake cheating… just someone else giving him an unexpected
hand.
It wasn’t the case either that this neurotoxin was enough and would
instantly be able to accomplish his goal. The Lifeblood of the Emperor
Urchin was required to be injected to work correctly, so if Jake decided to
use the poison as is, he would accomplish nothing. Chances are it would
just harmlessly fall through the domain of the Unique Lifeform, and the
only losses the Unique Lifeform would face would be whatever ash was hit.
Jake would need to make this Lifeblood into a workable ethtoxin that did
not require injection but could be directly applied to an area. One way to
often do this was by making it into a mist that was passively absorbed along
with atmospheric mana or having it be naturally antagonistic towards
anything with a soul in the area. Both options would work in this case, but
Jake was not sure making a mist would be wise. First of all, what if the
Unique Lifeform, just, you know, moved out of the mist? It would also very
obviously telegraph he was using poison. While Jake could try to mask it
with the poison mist from Wings, he was not sure it would fool the Ashen
Phantom Devourer.
So, he would have to find a subtle way to administer it while still fighting
with the Ashen Phantom Devourer. A way to directly apply it to the
Soulshape. As long as he administered enough, it should be adequate with
his upgraded Touch of the Malefic Viper, then controlling the poison.
Before he began doing anything, Jake consumed a bit more of the poison
from the large crystal, making use of the large quantity he had. He knew it
would not be a poison made in a day, but luckily he had a bit of time before
he reached his target… and even if he was too slow, well, he could just tell
Sandy to enjoy eating some more stuff.
Heck… maybe he could even make the worm find some stuff he needed for
the concoction.
Caleb leaned back in his office chair and read over the recent reports. Four
hundred and twenty-four. That was the number of City Lord or other high-
level leaders of cities that the Court of Shadows had eliminated over the last
many weeks, only to have them replaced with leaders from the United
Cities Alliance. It was… a lot. All of these cities where they had killed
people were also fringe members of the Holy Church or independent cities
that did not ally with anyone. Needless to say, the influence of the United
Cities Alliance was growing rapidly, and they had prepared for this
takeover for a long time.
A knock on the door made him look up as he raised his hand and made it
swing open.
Matteo walked in and handed him a token. “Job’s done.”
“Good work as usual,” Caleb acknowledged as he took it. The soul

remnants in the token confirmed the kill. The way the tokens worked was
that they recorded the actual notification of a given kill, something which
resonated with the Truesoul of the target. It was a truly foolproof form of
authentication that nothing less than a Transcendant skill or a Bloodline
could circumvent.
“How many more targets?” the most efficient assassin in the Court asked.
“Only seventeen without people already on the contract,” Caleb said with a
sigh. “Four of which ended with the given assassin dying, so security in
those locations will be heightened. Once done, chances are Arthur will just
come with more, though.”
“Are those four close enough for me to take them all?” Matteo asked.
“No, only two of them are. I will have Nadia take one of the others and
send team one to handle the last one once they return,” Caleb shook his
head. He considered going himself, but he was frankly too busy these days.
At least the levels were good.
Matteo nodded as he held out his hand. Caleb took out the given tokens
with the information on the targets and their locations and handed them to
him. The man looked them over but didn’t leave. Instead, he took a seat in
another chair and looked at Caleb from across the table.
“What?” Caleb asked.
“Are you really okay with all this?” Matteo asked. “We are indirectly
working against your brother no matter how we spin this. Compromising
your personal values like this cannot lead to anything good.”
Caleb sighed and leaned back.
“What was the state of the last city you went to?” Caleb asked Matteo.
“It was an utter shithole,” the assassin answered without hesitation.
“Yeah, see, that is where all of this gets a bit more annoyingly complicated.
The reason why these takeovers from the United City Alliance have been
successful is that they are taking over from someone worse. Who would
have thought that a system of governance decided solely by who was the
best at killing stuff would lead to not-so-ideal City Lords?” the Judge of the
Court said.
“If we were further fucking over the people of Earth just trying to survive, I
would have less conflicted feelings, but as things are, I cannot say what
we’re doing isn’t… good. Say what you want, but the United Cities
Alliance cares about the approval of the public. They are also generally
growing, and anywhere they go tends to improve for the better. I have even
heard some leaders voluntarily reach out to join the United Cities Alliance
and allow actual administrators from the Alliance to take over, leading to
better-run cities. Who we're killing aren't pillars of the community, it is
more that we are removing a few moldy support beams threatening to ruin
the stability of the entire structure.”
“Doesn’t change the fact you are working against the interest of your
family,” Matteo said.
“No, it doesn’t… but it does make this entire shitshow a whole lot more
complicated. Also, rather than think of it as working against Jake, I would
rather see it as doing him a favor, you know?” Caleb said with a slightly
cheeky smile.
Matteo frowned. “How is any of this doing him a favor?”
“See, I would agree that usually making life harder for someone is a dick
move, but for my brother, he tends to enjoy it. Moreover, when he returns
and gets into action, I hope that a better future can come from it. He will not
take this lying down.”
“What if he does not return in time? What if he does and Arthur still gets
voted World Leader?” Matteo asked.
Caleb considered for a while. “I see three scenarios. The least likely is that
we will simply remain. My brother leaves, and we all handy dandy hang out
on Earth and use it as a branch, with Arthur being a nice ally. The second
one is Arthur winning, and we leave. Even if the Court is against this, then I
am willing to simply leave the Court altogether and take my family with
me. Hopefully, the Order of the Malefic Viper will take us, and my gut tells
me that the Malefic One would hide our family even if Jake died as a final
gift to him. Finally, the most likely thing to happen if Arthur does become
World Leader? This planet goes to shit, and Jake hunts him down and kills
him; any kind of advantages granted by being World Leader be damned. I
don’t see Valhal doing shit about it either, as while I didn’t see the contract,
they are not dumb enough to not leave themselves an out and force them
into a fight with the Order of the Malefic Viper.”
“Neither of those options appears particularly positive,” Matteo shook his

head. “What about if the Malefic’s Chosen does return? Earth will not be
the same after this, no matter what. Who will become World Leader?”
“That,” Caleb said as he tried to sound smart, “I don’t know.”
Ell’Hakan stared at the sun slowly descending towards the horizon as he

focused. Soon it would be time. Taking out his trident, he made sure it was
in top condition. He had made a small house in the middle of the plains
outside of Haven and away from anywhere the humans lived. The reason
was simple: he needed the Chosen to fight without any distractions.
The sun above bared down on him as he absorbed its light, the surrounding
plains faintly glowing gold from the potent energy of the star. Everything
was prepared, and he was ready for the fight. The plains were ready, and his
domain was set.
Looking out the corner of his eyes, he saw one of the two servants stationed
in their area make their way over. They had been placed in Haven to keep a
look on things and make sure everything was going according to plan.
“My Lord,” the woman said as she stopped in front of him and kneeled.
“The natives are still unable to break through the defenses created by the
Verdant Witch and take control of the Pylon. I do not believe our
interference is required unless the Malefic’s Chosen takes longer than
anticipated to return.”
Ell’Hakan nodded. “As long as they do not manage to take control before
there is less than a month to the World Congress, there shall be no worries.
By then, it will be too late for the humans to claim it in time. Keep up the
work and ensure things continue as they are.”
“Yes, my Lord. May I know what the intent is if the Malefic’s Chosen does
not return according to predictions?” the servant asked.
“Predictions. Plural. Only a feeble plan fails if a few factors are out of
place. The framework shall remain, and the objective accomplished. Have
no doubt either… I believe he will make it back just in time,” Ell’Hakan
simply said.
“Now go. Sunset approaches.”

The servant nodded as she rushed back towards Haven. Ell’Hakan did not
look after her but instead stared at the orange glow on the clouds above and
the sun slowly descending below the horizon. He sat down and marveled at
the beauty of the celestial object.
Faint rays of sunlight licked his skin, and the orange glow faintly
intensified. Minutes passed as the sun fully disappeared below the horizon.
Staring upwards, he saw the clouds obstruct him. Gripping his trident, he
raised it and felt the resonance as a beam of faint light descended. The
clouds parted as the moon appeared, lighting up the blue tattoos lining his
body. The plains themselves also took on a faint blue color and glowed.
Power filled him as he smiled and bowed his head towards the moon before
turning and bowing towards where the sun had gone down. “Your child
thanks you. Mother. Father.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 546 - Sandy's Personal
Aquarium
“I feel bad for them. Imagine just living your happy life in the water, and
then suddenly, this naked monster comes down and forces you to stab them
several times as you try to get away in fear. But the monster refuses and just
keeps smashing his body into you in a ridiculous display of self-harm. The
confusion when he then just leaves with several of your spikes in his chest
must only make it worse, too,” Sandy said in a highly judgemental tone.
Jake was sitting on a jagged rock sticking out of the deep ocean, completely
naked. Well, naked, as long you didn’t count the many quills sticking out of
many places on his body. He ignored Sandy as he meditated, feeling the
venom from the many quills course through his body. He purposefully did
not eliminate it right away but slowly integrated it into his body.
He had gotten super lucky, and they had come across an area filled with sea
urchins. No C-grades were around, but thousands of D-grades dwelled
below, and Jake had jumped into the water with glee once he discovered
them. Sense of the Malefic Viper had detected them even from a distance as
they were all highly toxic and had powerful neurotoxins on their quills.
From how the venom felt, Jake assumed these were all weaker versions of
the C-grade he had gained the Lifeblood of. Probably also weaker variants.
However, what mattered was that their venom was similar in nature.
This meant Jake had just stumbled across a living treasure trove of potential
ingredients. It was also a great way to feed Palate and allowed him to get
more familiar with the Lifeblood of the Sea Urchin Emperor. Consuming
the actual liquid was only worth it in small quantities due to the diminishing
return of Palate when eating something new. Yet he still wanted to become
more familiar with it, so these lesser D-grade variants were perfect.
There was the negative side effect of Sandy being bored of waiting. Jake
had spent about a day here at the many sea urchins, and he knew Sandy was
getting more and more impatient. It was weird that a C-grade was so much
in a rush for no reason, but Jake assumed it was just in Sandy’s nature.
“I told you to find a solution then,” Jake said in return, briefly exiting
meditation. “As long as the sea urchins are here, we stay here. At least for a
while longer.”
“You just wait!” Sandy said with indignation. “I will show you!”
“Do just that,” Jake said teasingly. “Back to meditation.”
Sandy tried to say more, but Jake blocked the worm out. He opened a single
eye and saw Sandy wriggle in anger up in the air, making him smirk as he
reentered meditation. The poison still flowed through his body, and he
absorbed it all over the next hour or so before diving under the waves again.
The Sea Urchins were all large porcupine-like creatures and were pretty
much just oversized versions of the pre-system animals. The sea had many
parts where it was not as deep, and this was one such place as they are close
to a few islands, meaning he could make it to the seafloor only by diving a
few hundred meters down.
Jake happily swam down to a big crowd of the animals, and annoyingly
enough, they now no longer attacked him on sight but instead just hunkered
down and erected their spikes. Not to worry, Jake could make them attack
him anyway as he just barrelled into one and got himself impaled. Well,
okay, not impaled, more stabbed a bit.
Each sea urchin’s main body was about the size of a small two-person car,
with their spikes a bit longer than that. Their sizes did vary a bit, and there
were some variants here and here with different forms of venoms. Jake
wanted the ones with white tips on their quills while avoiding the ones with
blackened quills. He did try to get stabbed by them a bit, but they just had
necrotic poison, so it wasn’t that exciting.
Mind you, he hadn’t gotten stabbed on purpose the first time around. These
sea urchins hunted as a flock, and the first time he dove down, they had all
attacked him. Their tactic was to form a barrier of themselves all around
him and slowly incircle him before stabbing their prey to death.
Jake reckoned this was also the cause of their mixed toxins. Neurotoxins
would make it harder for the prey to flee, while the necrotic poison would
slowly whittle down and kill it. It was a good strategy, and Jake could even
see C-grades die when a thousand sea urchins decided to attack. Especially
larger C-grades would find themselves injected with ludicrous levels of
venom.
However, this strategy of theirs quite frankly sucked against small targets. It
was clear that Jake did not fit in the underwater meta where most powerful
creatures were massive, and those of small size moved in huge groups. He
was a singular small person, so only a handful of urchins could prick him at
once. If all of them struck him at once, Jake could not come out of it alive
simply due to the sheer physical damage, but as things were, they were
simply not a threat.
This time around, Jake spent a few minutes down there before coming up
again and integrating the venom. The last time he went down there, he
killed a few to consume their Lifeblood, but sadly the system was annoying
in that regard. He already knew that when a creature died, its remnant
Records would be infused into select parts of their bodies. If it was weak
enough, sometimes no item at all would be born, but in most cases,
something would come out of it. The most usual thing was a Beastcore, and
so was it with these sea urchins. If they had a Beastcore, the Lifeblood
would be useless, and one of the spikes could only get infused, making it
into great material for a spear but shit-tier material for Jake. He even had
one of them not result in an item at all, indicating these were low-tier
creatures. He could kill enough and get some blood, but he didn’t feel
comfortable killing hundreds for only one or two to give him Lifeblood.
Hence why Jake continued this process of diving down, getting stabbed,
and going up to integrate it.
The next day Jake also began to forcefully extract some venom from some
of them for further testing. On the third day, it appeared that Sandy had had
enough.
As usual, Jake was sitting on his rock and meditating as the worm swept
down and pushed him hard, sending him splashing into the water.
“Stop ignoring me!” Sandy yelled, finally getting Jake’s attention.
“What?” Jake said as he stopped ignoring the worm and got out of the
water. “Didn’t you say you were fine with waiting a bit longer yesterday?”
“That was yesterday!” Sandy once more yelled madly. “Also! Since you are
not killing these things, do you need to stay here?”
“Well, I gotta go where they go,” Jake answered with a shrug. He had
taunted Sandy for a reason and hoped he had gotten through to the worm.
“Great!” Sandy said, suddenly sounding a bit happier as Jake got a feeling
he had indeed managed to get his point across.
Sandy flew past Jake and down into the water as he saw the worm suck up
seawater like a vacuum. Space distorted and warped as the C-grade went
further down until finally, Sandy reached the seafloor where all the urchins
were. The vacuum then got stronger as a whirlpool formed, sucking in
hundreds of tons of sand along with several hundred of the sea urchins.
Jake caught on quick and smiled. “I only need the ones with the white-
tipped quills.”
Sandy kept sucking for a minute or so more, eating close to a thousand of

the D-grades, all of them between level 150 and 170. After being done
sucking up, the massive worm closed its mouth for a bit before opening it
again, spitting out large sea urchins like they were watermelon seeds. Jake
counted them all and saw nearly nine hundred had been tossed out.
The worm then swam up and also chomped down on Jake, sending him
back to his usual cave-like stomach. Outside, Jake saw Sandy land and lay
down on the large rock Jake had been sitting on earlier.
“So…”
“Ugh…” Sandy groaned. “I think I ate too much. My stomach hurts… give
me a moment.”
Jake patiently waited for ten or so minutes. Throughout this time, Sandy
sometimes spat out some water, some of it containing a few quills here and
there. After these ten minutes, Sandy once more rose up and took to the air.
“Better thank me for making a water stomach,” Sandy complained.
“No one asked you to,” Jake chuckled. He had just heavily implied they
should do something like this.
“Coercion through boredom is literally torture, and how is torturing

someone not forcing them?” Sandy retorted.
“Rather than discuss the definition of torture, how about you explain what
you did?” Jake asked curiously. In all honesty, even after all his time, he
had no idea how Sandy worked.
“Fine, fine,” Sandy agreed. “I spent these last few days figuring out how to
make a bigger stomach. You see, I thought that since I can eat you and get
stuff when you do the alchemy, why can’t I eat other creatures and maybe
get something for that? Even if it doesn’t work like this, I can keep them
around, and you can stop being so boring.”
“So I can go there somehow?” Jake asked, unsure how the setup of Sandy’s
stomachs worked. His Sphere of Perception looked outside of Sandy while
inside, only revealing the room he was in. He assumed this was linked to
him being unable to see inside of people’s bodies, even with his sphere.
“Yeah… two seconds,” Sandy said. Two seconds passed before, off to the
side, and a hole appeared in the floor. It looked like a manhole without the
cover, and Jake saw water within.
“Is this a portal?”

“I guess you can say that,” Sandy answered shruggingly. “I don’t really
know. I am just going by feel, you know?”
Jake did know and decided not to argue further. Jumping into the manhole,
Jake felt like he was in the ocean again. His sphere instantly spread out, and
Jake was taken aback. The stomach Jake was usually in was about the size
of a large room, but this place put any aquarium on pre-system Earth to
shame… shit; it put all of them put together to shame.
Jake’s sphere could fully spread without him being able to see the bottom.
Swimming downwards, he soon got a scope of things, and Jake estimated
the entire stomach was around a kilometer deep and spherical in shape. The
bottom was covered in the eaten sand, with the walls the usual rock-like
surface Jake’s stomach had originally been before Sandy turned them
transparent.
“This is larger than I thought,” Jake said. “How many of these can you
make?”
“A few, max,” Sandy answered. “It drains quite a lot of energy if I want to
keep the environment healthy. I also probably shouldn’t keep those things in
there for too long, though they do seem docile enough.”
“Probably shouldn’t, no,” Jake agreed. It was good they were solid two out
of ten in the smarts department. The one point was only given due to their
teamwork. Jake wasn’t sure how to feel if Sandy began abducting more
intelligent species.
Jake quickly left the water stomach again and entered his own stomach. The
manhole that was there remained to now give him easy access to materials.
Sandy, in the outside world, could finally fly forward, albeit a bit slower
than before, as the worm got used to having eaten so much stuff.
As he looked at Sandy fly, Jake could only begin to imagine what kinds of
things the Cosmic Genesis Worm could do in the future. How large spaces
could the worm have if they were already this spacious in C-grade? Would
an S-grade Cosmic Genesis Worm have entire solar systems within its
stomach?
The thought was insane but not out of the question based on what he had
seen so far.
Shaking his head, Jake returned to the task at hand. He was getting better at
using neurotoxins with every passing day, but more than that, Jake was now
finally forming an idea of what to do. The sea urchins had given him quite
the inspiration as Jake had asked himself a question… what if, instead of
trying to subtly inject the neurotoxin into the Ashen Phantom Devourer
over a long period of time, he would do the exact opposite?
What if he bombarded it with ungodly amounts of neurotoxin all at once in

an attack it could not avoid? For him to, metaphorically speaking, attack
with a thousand smaller doses all at once?
The Fallen King focused on regenerating the severed leg as it slowly

regrew. Reforming it was far more difficult than for a normal biological
lifeform – if he even was one - as the Fallen King did not possess any
Vitality. Or vital energies at all, for that matter. His body was not truly flesh
and blood, after all.
He had fought this Ashen Phantom Devourer dozens of times by now.

Every exchange ended with the other Unique Lifeform fleeing after taking
significant damage. Every time he came out on top. He was winning the
battles… but… losing the war.
The Fallen King had yet to fully recover for weeks now. He still had a few
golden orbs remaining to recover himself, but those had been running out
fast too. His issue lay in the fundamental difference between himself and
the Ashen Phantom Devourer.
While he had to heal using time, the Ashen Phantom Devourer healed by
being true to its namesake. It devoured other beasts in the surrounding area
and dove beneath the earth to consume those who resided in the
subterranean world. As a result, the other Unique Lifeform recovered
slightly faster every time.
And it knew it, gladly fighting the month-long battle of attrition.

Losing a leg had been the biggest loss so far he had taken. The Fallen King
had attempted to conserve resources and ended up losing the leg in the
process. He knew he should have used his golden claw, but a moment of
hesitation had nearly proved fatal.
Neither of them had shown any trump cards either. They simply consumed
too much energy, and both knew that they risked leaving an opening. There
were also some good things, such as the King now far more easily dealing
damage to the Ashen Phantom Devourer and Telekinesis was now solely a
defensive tool. What truly mattered was striking the soul of his foe.
Despite all this, the King was not overly worried. Alone, he would perhaps
lose after a long time. Even that was uncertain as he still had his most
powerful attack remaining, which should give him a high chance of at least
ensuring mutual destruction. Again, this also assumed the King would even
die if he was killed, considering his peculiar relationship with the hunter.
Not that the Fallen King wanted these fights to end just yet. Neither of them
did. Killing the Ashen Phantom Devourer was one goal, yes, but a more
important goal was proving himself superior to the other Unique Lifeform.
A goal only slightly surpassing enjoying fighting a foe of equal level able to
fight on equal footing with himself.
Sadly, the fight would end in due time, as the King did have one more
weapon to deploy. He was a King, after all, and while he was not a subject,
the little hunter was certainly someone worth having assist you.
He had spoken to the little witch already, and he was more than prepared. In
fact, he was excited to see what the little hunter had cooked up.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

Chapter 547 - In This Time Of
Change
The days passed one by one as Earth had finally begun finding some
semblance of stability. Settlements and larger cities had survived the many
beasts attacking and made adequate defenses in preparation for more
attacks. Some cities still fell here and there, but for the most part, there was
peace.
Some smaller teleportation networks had even appeared, linking allied

cities to one another. The Holy Church had some up and running relatively
fast, allowing them to quickly move between their cities to assist in case of
attacks. They were working towards something, and none knew exactly
what it was, but it did include many high-level members of the Church
making their way back to Sanctdomo - likely one of the reasons why they
had rushed to re-establish a teleportation network. Out of all the factions,
the Court of Shadows was perhaps the most effective, primarily with their
ability to quickly not necessarily link allied cities but link locations of
different networks close to each other, and then just melding in and making
use of other’s teleporters to move around fast.
And move fast they did. Because another source of stability was,
surprisingly enough, a huge number of assassinations. Anyone who wasn’t
blind could see this was done with the United Cities Alliance behind the job
based on how they always had a candidate ready to take control within mere
hours of the current City Lord dying. Candidates who had been in the cities
for months and slowly gained a following and influence.
To the surprise of many, the alien invaders that the United Cities Alliance
worked with did nothing during this time. They were spotted here and there
and did, in some rare instances, step in and help protect cities from attacks.
Even then, no one knew what their goal was.
The faction with the biggest change was the Noboru Clan, which had been
split into three separate internal factions. One of them supported the United
Cities Alliance, one surprisingly wanted to join the Holy Church, and a
final one wanted to stay fully independent. Some fringe members also
remained, including a group who still believed the Patriarch lived.
This split led to them losing many cities to outside forces and even invading
each other using non-violent methods and political scheming. They also
dealt with beasts far worse, and the base of the once powerful clan was
shaken. Without a singular, powerful leader to unite them, it looked as they
were headed towards collapse or, at the very least, being split into smaller
factions. So far, at least no significant violence had taken place, and
differences were being worked through, but it was a losing battle. Each
schism simply had too different goals.
The only place that could be said to have been oddly unaffected was Haven.
Even with the City Lord gone, things mostly continued as usual. People
from the United Cities Alliance had come but had yet been able to take over
the Pylon.
There was also the issue of Miranda having been a very popular City Lord.
Surprisingly, then the majority of citizens were indifferent to the true owner
of the city as he was never really around. They knew he existed, but that
was the end of his involvement. Well, besides that, they did know that
Miranda had been appointed by him, meaning he couldn’t be that bad in
their eyes.
All of these and more were the reason why the temporary City Lord had not
become a member of the United City Alliance but an old leader. Phillip, the
former leader of the Fort, had with reluctance agreed to take up the mantle.
His reluctance was part of the reason why the United Cities Alliance
agreed, and he was also generally not considered part of the Malefic’s
Chosen’s entourage. Another reason was the understanding that it was only
till an actual City Lord was deployed there.
Be it by the rightful one returning or a newcomer taking over.
Besides that, there was the Fort. A place where nothing at all had happened.
There was not really a true local leader of the Fort besides Phillip in Haven,
but most would look towards Arnold if they had to name one. Look towards
him both figuratively and literally as a large part of the city was a metal
dome that housed his personal workshop.
In the section of the world already controlled by the United Cities Alliance,
it was also mostly calm. Paradise was a sore spot for many City Leaders,
but none dared to challenge them, especially not after Renato made ample
use of Sylphie and Carmen both residing there. Even if saying they resided
there was somewhat fallacious, considering they had not been there for a
long time since leaving for the jungle to hunt.
Finally… we had some people on Earth who didn’t truly know where they
belonged, with this conflict only shining a brighter light on that fact.
--
”You need to,” the woman said in a comforting tone. ”Not for anyone but
yourself. You can prepare a thousand more things, but you knew this day
would come eventually. You are ready, William. You say the system says
you have yet to find your Path… I think this is the final piece you are
missing.”
William listened to Ms. Kim, his former psychiatrist, but he still felt a
shiver run down his spine. He knew she was right and that she was telling
him only confirmed it. He felt like she was the only person he could ever be
open around, and it had been hard not seeing her for so long due to all the
tasks Master had sent him to do.
“But the nightmares still haven’t stopped,” William muttered. “The random
visions here and there…”
“Because all you have is an idea built up in your mind. He is nothing more
than a concept, a representation of fear. If you confront him, you will see
that reality isn’t as scary as the monster your imagination has created,” Ms.
Kim tried to further comfort him.
With a sigh, William just nodded. Logically he knew it. The monster was
not immortal or unbeatable; the alien had shown that. Even if it was not a
decisive victory, he had come out on top. However, that didn’t mean
William would stand a chance.
“If you don’t rid yourself of your fear before evolving, you risk
internalizing it further, truly making it part of who you are. Is that really
what you want? No one says you have to beat anyone, just that you have to
confront him. I have met him, and while I do agree he is intimidating, he is,
in the end, still human,” Ms. Kim kept encouraging him.
William’s Master had been silent, too, in this recent time. In fact, he had not
spoken to William since his last conversation about being stuck at D-grade,
where he had been told to figure it out himself. This had only added to his
anxiety as he would at least have confidence meeting the monster if that
meeting had been planned by Master.
He had done all he was told with the beasts, and they were on their own
now. William had never been tasked with fighting anyone or anything
during this time, and he had barely leveled his class. Not since returning
from Nevermore. In Nevermore, William had killed enough to nearly reach
the D-grade cap of his class and made significant progress in his profession.
By all accounts, he should be ready after another long period of refining
himself. Did he think he was the strongest human on Earth? No, no, he was
not, but he was not that far off. The Judge of the Court was about the peak
of humanity outside of that monster, and William had confidence against
him.
“Okay,” William finally relented.
Ms. Kim smiled. “Just remember there is no shame in retreat and that you
do not go to fight. You go to confront your fears and find your Path.”
William nodded again as he sighed. It wouldn’t be that simple, would it?

“Ms. Kim?” William asked.
“Yes?” she asked, a bit confused by his tone.
“Thanks for everything,” he said. He knew it wasn’t true to their agreement,

but he couldn’t help himself from giving her a hug. “Say hi to little Seo for
me, okay? Just in case.”
Ms. Kim, to his surprise, returned his hug. “As I said… just retreat if it gets
too dangerous, okay?”
She let go of him, and William also backed off.
“You are not the same person you were back then, William. You can
overcome this.”
William nodded again, not entirely sure about that. Not the first point, but
the second one.
Saying his goodbyes, William went towards the nearby teleporter as he

appeared in a damp cavern. He felt the presence of the C-grade space
jellyfish wash over him as it emerged from the water.
“You have come to a decision?”the C-grade asked him.
“Yes,” William said. “The moment that he appears send me there. No

matter where or who that monster is facing.”
“So it shall be,” the C-grade agreed without arguing anything. William sat
down on the ground as he meditated and prepared himself. He did not know
how long it would take before the monster made his presence known, but
William knew he had to go there. Not because he feared the monster would
die, making him lose his chance to face him. No, that sentiment was utterly
ludicrous to him.
He would go because… Ms. Kim was probably right. The monster was the
reason he could not evolve, and he would have to face his fears if he wanted
to prove his Path.
Days had turned to weeks as the pair of human and worm had journeyed
across the ocean. One had done alchemy, and the other flew while they
talked and discussed whatever sights they came across. Jake had only
gotten into a single more fight, and Sandy had mainly digested what had
already been eaten earlier on their trip. However… all good things must
come to an end.
Sadness was in the air as the shoreline entered their sight. Jake had already
been spat out of Sandy and was flying alongside the worm at a leisurely
pace.
“It is beginning to hurt a bit,” Sandy said as they got closer to the
shoreline. “Not actual pain, but more a warning that it will come…”
Jake nodded. They had both kind of known this would happen and had
accepted it. Only a dozen of kilometers from the shoreline, Jake saw vast
mountains rise, and he knew that in there the Fallen King currently was. It
was at the edge of the ocean… and the edge of what was effectively a safety
zone for humanity.
The small territory humanity occupied was not much compared to the rest
of the globe. Outside of that territory, there were no limitations on C-grades
or anything like that, but inside there were. Jake and Sandy were
approaching this safe zone where Sandy, as a C-grade, could no longer keep
going.
Soon, they both stopped, just floating in the air a kilometer from the
shoreline.
“Stupid system rules,”Sandy complained.
“Yeah,” Jake agreed. He really didn’t want to split from Sandy for several
reasons, the first of which was that he had no way to find his wormy friend
again. Sylphie he had a bond with, but Sandy was an entirely different sort
of animal. A Cosmic Genesis Worm also traveled a lot around due to its
nature of consuming natural treasures in insane quantities, making his C-
grade pal even harder to pin down and find again.
“You gotta go?” Sandy asked. “Why not just ignore all the stupid human
stuff and keep hunting? Does it really matter? Oh! We could even maybe
just go somewhere else? Like, there is an entire universe to explore, right?
Let’s go there! After you evolve, though…”
Jake could not help but smile. “I need to go. I have been thinking about this
situation a lot, and honestly, this entire conflict is partly my fault. It is time I
made a decision and finally decided. But I would be more than up for
exploring with you another time, okay?”
Sandy wriggled a bit, clearly not happy. Jake just rubbed the side of the
massive worm, not even sure if they could feel it. If not the physical touch,
he was sure Sandy could at least feel his intentions. He honestly would like
to just fly around and adventure with Sandy and even just head straight up
and into space. Shit, even just exploring what was up there in the sky before
reaching space would be…
Wait a fucking minute.
“Hey, Sandy… you wanna try something?” Jake asked with a grin.
“What?” Sandy asked, perking up a little.
Jake looked towards the sky. “See if this damn restriction has a vertical
limit.”
Sandy took a moment to comprehend what he meant before getting it. Jake
barely had a chance to react before the massive worm bent its body and
chomped down on him. As he didn’t resist, he was thrown into the old room
again, as outside, the surroundings were already moving.
The water below was getting further away as the clouds above approached
with alarming speed, as it was time to see how far they could go. Jake
assumed that a long cylinder of restricted space didn’t just extend endlessly
out of Earth, and he had already seen that the restrictions lessened the
deeper you went into the ground, so why should it not be the same when
heading upwards?
“I will admit it is a creature I have not seen before,” the scaled god said
with skepticism. “But that does not mean much when they are still in C-
grade. For such special beasts, I can see many Paths that only result in
death.”
“Very insightful,” Vilastromoz said with a smirk. “You know, I thought

something similar once upon a time when I stumbled across this incredibly
stupid lizard with a few too many heads rolling around in a swamp. Turns
out that lizard became this little lizard became a slightly smarter lizard with
way too many heads. Oh, and a god or something.”
“Master…” Snappy – or the Lord Protector as some liked to call him – said
with exasperation and slight embarrassment. “I am simply saying that it is a
gamble that I am uncertain of if I should take. There are risks involved, you
know that. You chose to make a bet because the human truly was
extraordinary, but this creature is not in the same realm as him.”
“I would never force you to do anything like this,” the Viper did agree. “But
I am saying that I see potential. I have never come across a creature like this
before either, and from what it has displayed so far, even you must admit
you are impressed. And… getting in on the ground floor, especially before
some other god swoops in, is a good idea. The worm is hidden by Jake’s
Shroud due to its current proximity to him, but that may very well change.
If you act now and your gamble succeeds, the gains will be that much
better.”
Snappy fell silent for a bit, with Villy just staring at him. He had made the
Lord Protector observe all his recorded memories of the worm – perfect
photographic memory and the ability to playback those memories being a
perk of his Bloodline. That is what his old friend had done over the last few
days as he evaluated the worm.
As for why Vilastromoz was having Snappy do it? Because his Path was
more closely aligned with the worm than the Viper’s own. The Path of
consumption and devouring all in his Path was far more like Snappy than
the very selective Viper.
“Perhaps,” Snappy sighed, “perhaps it has been too long since I had one of
my own, and in this time of change, perhaps taking a bit of a risk is only
right.”
Vilastromoz failed to hold back a smile. He truly did not believe his old
friend would regret it.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Sick.
A note from Zogarth
Copied from Patreon. Wanted to let you all know.
Hello there. TLDR: No chapter, I am sick, may not be any new chaps for
the rest of the year.
It sucks, but I have been sick since the weekend, and it sadly has only
gotten worse. Not covid for those wondering, more likely a bad case of
influenza or a throat infection.
While I could try to soldier through, I really don't want to. Especially not
with Christmas in only a few days, where it would suck having to stay
home. So I want to rest and hopefully feel better.
I had planned on taking a few days off between Christmas and New Years
anyway, but it seems I will push that forward. Dependent on how I am
feeling, there may not be any more chapters this year, but if I get better I
hope to post a chapter or two still before the new year. We will see.
Apologies everyone. I know it sucks. Either way, I wish you all happy
holidays and hope you have a good one. I will go back to bed now.
- Zogarth
A note from Zogarth
You can join the Discord for potential updates:

https://discord.gg/XKzpuBw6A5
Chapter 548 - All Hail Sandy
A note from Zogarth
It is a bit late, but happy New Year and Christmas. Not gonna lie, and I
am still not 100% back on top, but I am mostly fine now, so we are back
to the usual chapters.
They had just made it above the clouds as Jake felt a ping by Villy. “Hey,
Jake, can I borrow you for a second?”
“Sure, what’s up?” he asked.
“No, I mean in a more literal sense. Can I borrow your body to do

something?”
“I guess?” Jake kind of agreed.
“Great!”
Jake felt the Viper descend. It was like Jake’s aura got mixed with
something else, and he then felt a third presence enter, confusing him even
more. At that moment, was very happy that he had a strong soul before he
felt the sheer level of pressure upon it as he channeled but a fraction of the
Viper’s aura. Sandy also noticed as the worm stopped in mid-air before
asking him in a confused tone.
“Uhm, I just got some weird pop-up, and I think it might be a scam?”
“What is it?” Jake asked curiously, soldiering through. Had Villy decided
to bless Sandy? That would actually be awesome, and he was mentally
slapping himself for not having thought of giving the worm one earlier.
“You see, I got this Blessing thing offered like you have, right?” Sandy
asked with doubt.
“Yeah?” Jake asked. So it was Villy giving a ble-
“And… well, I just feel like if you have to include that something is True in
the description, isn’t that kind of red flag that it isn’t? Like, if it is real, why
do you need to put so much emphasis on it you know?”
Wait, what? Jake asked himself, utterly perplexed at what Sandy was
asking. Include True? Did it maybe say something about it coming from
someone with a True Blessing?
“Can you explain what it says in detail?” Jake asked Sandy.
“Okay, it asks if I want to talk to this god or something about receiving a

True Blessing? It is very weird,” Sandy answered.
Jake, even more confused, asked: “What is the name of this god?”
“The Boundless Hydra.”
Who the fuck is that? Jake asked himself for a moment before a lightbulb
went off. Sandy: likes eating stuff. Snappy: likes eating stuff. It all suddenly
made sense; they were a match made in heaven.
“Hey, Villy, is Snappy really offering Sandy his True Blessing?” Jake asked
the Viper.
“Yes, but an emphasis on offer. It will be up to them to reach an agreement

if your wormy friend agrees to a conversation on the topic,” Villy
explained. “You will have to function as a conduit during this process, and
it will be a bit straining, but you should be fine.”
Jake nodded, totally fine with that, before talking to Sandy: “Yep, I know
who the Boundless Hydra is. The offering is a True Blessing, the same as
what I have but from a different god. I would recommend for you to have
this talk with the guy, okay?”
“Oh, okay,” Sandy agreed. “As long as it isn’t a scam.”
Villy’s presence intensified as Jake felt the god channel power through him.
He allowed it all to go through as he got a slight headache. Jake closed his
eyes as Sandy had also completely frozen in the real world as the Hydra and
Cosmic Genesis Worm spoke.
--
Snappy had disappeared and returned to his own realm for the conversation.
Forever true to tradition and all that. Then again, giving a True Blessing
could not be done the usual way. The two souls had to meet as the
transference was more intimate and intense than any other Blessing. Doing
it in the divine realm of a god was the easiest for both parties.
Vilastromoz smirked as he wondered what kind of monster he was helping

to create.
Worm and Hydra met.
The Lord Protector – also known as the Boundless Hydra – had assumed his
true form. A mass of heads too difficult for a mortal mind to comprehend
appeared before the insignificantly small Cosmic Genesis Worm. The
Hydra soon collected its form to only be a nine-headed hydra.
Two figures simply existed for a few seconds before the worm opened its
mouth and began sucking.
“This place tastes weird.”
“You are within my divine realm, and what you are consuming is my energy.
I am known as the Boundless Hydra, Lord Protector of the Order of the
Malefic Viper,” the Hydra spoke.
“Wow!” Sandy said, impressed. “That is such a long name! I am just
Sandy, pleased to meet you, the Boundless Hydra, Lord Protector of the
Order of the Malefic Viper.”
Silence followed as neither spoke for a period after. Sandy just sucked in
some more of the atmosphere and looked around, clearly unsure how to act
or what to do. The Hydra, on the other hand, just observed.
“Tell me, Sandy. Why do you travel with the Chosen of the Malefic Viper?”
the Hydra asked the worm after a few minutes.
“What a silly question,” Sandy scoffed. “We’re friends!”
“That is now. The Chosen of the Malefic One will keep walking a Path of
conquest and power. He will grow in power without end, and his true stage
is not your small planet but the multiverse as a whole. Are you willing to
follow him that far? Are you willing to do what is necessary to remain
someone useful to him even as he soars towards the apex?” the Boundless
Hydra asked.
“What do you mean when you say do what is necessary? I am just doing
what I do. I eat stuff, grow and get stronger and better at eating stuff. I am
not doing that to be useful to him; that would be super silly, wouldn’t it?”
Sandy asked in return.
“Does that mean that you intend to abandon the Malefic’s Chosen if you
find it convenient?” the ancient god asked the mortal worm.
“Maybe? Who knows? We are friends, and Jake says that friends don’t owe
each other anything. They help because they want to, not because they have
to. Also! I remember him once saying never say never, so I am never going
to say never. Wait, I did just say never a lot of times… anyway! Jake is my
friend, so that is that. Stop talking about silly stuff like abandoning others.
If anything, he was the one about to abandon me just now!” Sandy said
with much gusto, not a shred of fear within the worm.
The Hydra fell silent for a few seconds, seeming to contemplate the answer.
“Would you give your life for the Malefic’s Chosen?”
“No, I am pretty sure that would kill me, and I wouldn’t like that.”
“If you are given the choice of betraying and backstabbing the Malefic’s
Chosen for a tremendously powerful treasure, would you do it?”
“That sounds like a dumb thing to do and also super impractical. How do I
even stab him when all my teeth are gone?” Sandy perfectly answered.
“Also! I am pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to stab him in the back even if I
had teeth. He is mega good at knowing when something is trying to hit him
from behind.”
“Do you ever think you will be sated? When will you be satisfied with
devouring treasures? Is it truly a Path you want to follow for eternity? A
never-ending cycle of consumption?” the Hydra kept questioning.
“Maybe not? Sometimes I also like to lay around and digest and stuff. But
after that, I will definitely need to head out for a snack. Why would
someone not want to keep eating stuff? Eating stuff is the best. Oh! And I
can even find different ways of eating things, like making food-making
stomachs and stuff by eating living things! That is infinite food right there.
Doesn’t sound boring at all,” Sandy once more answered without
hesitation.
“Now! Why are you the only one asking me questions? So, why are you
called the Boundless Hydra? Did you use to be bound or something?”
Sandy asked.
“My Path was similar to yours, and in my pursuit of power, I expanded

every part of myself and grew. We Hydras tend to be more powerful the
more heads we have, and my goal was to reach the apex. Turns out the apex
is realizing there is no limit, only one’s abilities holding one back,” the
Lord Protector answered truthfully.
“Cool! I am fine with only one head, though,” Sandy made clear.
“I would assume as much. But we do share the Path of consumption, even if

there are differences. Nevertheless, my Records do compliment yours. So,
finally… would you, Sandy, the Cosmic Genesis Worm, have the honor of
becoming my Chosen?” the Lord Protector asked the C-grade worm.
“Chosen… oh! Like Jake and his friend Villy!? Yeah, we can totally be
friends if you want to! You seem like an okay Hydra.”
“Friends… yes, you can view it as that,” the Lord Protector chose not to
argue. “With it will come responsibility and power. It will allow you to go
further, but should you fall, it will, in turn, harm me. It is both a
responsibility and a privilege. You will come to possess an Identity that will
be recognized in the wider multiverse too. It is truly no decision to make
lightly,” the Hydra made very clear.
“Sounds like a lot of things just for becoming your friend, but I guess all
that stuff is fine. Though, actually, can you explain it all a bit better? Jake
did also mention that only idiots don’t properly take their time to
understand an agreement before accepting it. That is how you get scammed,
and I am not here to get scammed. So! Details, please?” Sandy did ask,
showing a bit of doubt for the first time.
“Gladly,” the Hydra answered in a pleased tone.
Jake felt damn weird; no two ways about it. He felt his body flooded with
the two presences as Sandy’s body had gone entirely limp. He instinctively
knew their soul had been projected elsewhere, probably into the realm of
Snappy.
Considering Jake was unable to move or do anything, he just had to ask

Villy how things were doing.
“So, are those two having a nice chat?” Jake asked the snake god.
“That is between them, and not even I can forcefully listen in. Sure, Snappy
would just allow me to, but I won’t,” Villy answered. “But I will share a bit.
You are probably wondering why Snappy is suddenly here talking about
giving away a True Blessing. Snappy has not given out his True Blessing for
many Eras by now; he has barely given any Blessings out, in fact. Firstly it
is not really part of his Path, and secondly, there is risk and responsibility
tied to having blessed ones out there. Snappy has been cooped up in the
Order ever since I went into seclusion, and I believe it’s high time he begins
to get a bit more out there.”
“Doesn’t exactly explain why you want him to give out a True Blessing,
especially not why Sandy would be a good candidate. Like, I see it kind of,
but have you not talked repeatedly about how giving a True Blessing is a
huge commitment?” Jake asked.
“It is, which is why I am not the one deciding if he chooses to bless the
worm, and he may just decide on only giving a lower-level Blessing. What I
did suggest to him was that maybe the worm was worth gambling on. So
yes, it is a massive gamble, but one I think is worth taking for him. Plus, it
will give him a stronger connection to the outside world,” Villy explained.
“I guess,” Jake semi-agreed.
He had to admit it, but… Sandy was not exactly the kind of being Jake
thought of when someone mentioned a Chosen. Not that he was, either.
“Think positively, with any Blessing from Snappy, that worm will gain a
huge boon,” Villy said. “Okay, finally, I will admit that I want to see what
exactly a Cosmic Genesis Worm can turn into as it grows in power. It is an
interesting beast and one I think can be useful to you for a long time if it
can keep up with you. A True Blessing from someone like Snappy will help
with that tremendously. More than that, the guidance of the Boundless
Hydra would prove invaluable.”
“As long as Sandy also wants it,” Jake said.
“Jake, you are the only one I know that cannot renounce a Blessing, and
also the only one I know who would not instantly jump at the opportunity of
a True Blessing. Anyway, the worm can just choose to throw it away if it
turns out to be something they don’t want,” Villy reminded him. “The bond
between a Chosen and their god is not one of equals but is closer to that
than any other Blessing.”
The two of them didn’t get much more time to speak before Jake felt a
change. The presence of Snappy intensified to an entirely new level, forcing
Jake to metaphorically grit his teeth. It was as if his insides were burning,
and the epicenter of this presence was Sandy.
Seconds passed before it subsided, and Jake felt Villy and Snappy both
retract their auras as Villy spoke in a joking tone. “All hail Sandy, Chosen
of the Boundless Hydra, the Devourer of Dimensions.”
Jake did not pay it mind but instead focused on Sandy. The first thing he
noticed was how the worm’s aura had changed. Grown. Not by a small
margin either, but significant growth. Jake knew this had to be the titles
added by being blessed, along with the bonuses of the Blessing itself.
“So… Sandy, how are you feeling?” Jake asked the worm.
“Huh? Oh, hey there, Jake! That was so wild but also kind of fun. I made a
new friend with the super big Hydra guy, and we agreed that I would get
Blessed by him and stuff, so now I am a Chosen too! Isn’t that cool?” Sandy
asked with glee.
“Moreover! I am faster and even more durable now! I got boosts in all
stats, and my tummy ache is entirely gone after that. Definitely a nice
Hydra.”
Jake felt genuinely happy for his wormy friend but had one burning
question in his mind.
“You also got a skill, right?”
“Yep!”
“Great. If you don’t mind me asking, what rarity is it? And could you tell
me what it does, at least for me to get an idea?” Jake asked. He knew it was
a lot to ask, but he was damn curious. Jake had a strong feeling there
existed a rarity beyond mythical but below divine, and he wasn’t sure if
Sandy would get a Divine skill as Snappy was no Primordial.
“The skill is divine, and as for what it does…” Sandy said, really dragging
it out for dramatic purposes.
“Yes?” Jake asked, prompting the worm.
“It does so that…”
Jake felt like smashing something.
“…I can not tell you what it does!” Sandy said in a loud and cheerful tone.
“What?” Jake asked.
“Yep, my new friend told me not to tell anyone. So, sorry. Your fault for
telling me that friends have to keep promises,” Sandy said, still annoyingly
cheerful.
It was not a discussion Jake wanted to take up as there was no winning.

Instead, he would focus on moving forward. Or, well, upwards.
“Well, anyway, that was a nice little intermission to our journey,” Jake said,
changing the topic entirely. “Are you ready to truly go and explore what
resides in the upper layers of our planet’s sky and hopefully allow us to
travel together for a bit longer?”
“Yeah, that was definitely a fun time,” Sandy agreed. “And also, yeah, let’s
go! Oh, but one thing first.”
Sandy spat Jake out as he appeared a bit confused in the real world. Sandy
then seemed to focus before spitting out a small sphere that looked like a
mix between stone and metal, giving off odd energy. It was about the size of
Jake himself, and he could only stare at it with bewilderment. Especially as
it contained Sandy’s presence, meaning it was part of the worm.
“Can you keep that with you? It can go in your spatial storage,” Sandy
asked.
“What is it?” Jake asked.

“I made a promise not to tell, but I need you to keep it safe, and it will be
super useful even when I can’t follow, okay?”
Jake stared at the stone and shook his head as he stored the item that was
clearly a product of the newly gained divine rarity skill.
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Chapter 549 - Strategizing
Vilastromoz grinned as he waited for Snappy to return. Genuinely, he

hadn’t been sure if Snappy would actually give his True Blessing to the
worm. He had gone with the tried and tested strategy of starting with the
most extreme example of a Blessing while only expecting a Divine
Blessing. A Greater Blessing also wouldn’t have been that off from his
expectations.
He would lie if he said it didn’t please him. Then again, Snappy was better
at judging the abilities of the Cosmic Genesis Worm than the Viper was. As
mentioned, then while they both walked Paths where consumption was a
big part of it, Snappy walked one where eating things was the primary
element. If Villy was a master, then Snappy was a grand master.
As expected, Snappy returned soon after handing out the Blessing, looking
a bit worse for wear. Giving out a True Blessing was never easy, and it quite
literally ate your Records when you did it. If giving out a normal Blessing –
even a Divine one – could be said to consume a limited resource pool, then
giving away a True Blessing was giving away a portion of your maximum
energy pool with the hope that the one you gave the pool to would improve
the maximum. That, or die too early, making you permanently lose a
portion of this pool that you would then have to make up for. Losing a
single Chosen prematurely was a significant loss, even if it wouldn’t
necessarily result in any loss of combat prowess.
What it would do in every case was limit the potential of a god and make it
harder for them to progress. In the same way, then if the Chosen did well, it
would also help the god. Records mixed, too, giving other benefits. While
Jake enjoyed plenty of the Viper’s Records, then Vilastromoz too enjoyed
the Records of Jake’s achievements. The exchange was not equal but
heavily favored for the Chosen, at least in the lower grades. What an S-
grade did simply resulted in more meaningful Records for a god than nearly
anything a D or even C-grade could possibly achieve.
This was why most gods waited to A or S-grade to make someone a

Chosen. The chance of the person dying then was just lower, and one would
nearly always get their investment returned. Especially as many gods hoped
for the ultimate bounty of their Chosen reaching godhood, resulting in not
only a huge return on investment but a new loyal god joining them in their
factions.
However… the gains from someone you blessed even earlier on their Path
reaching these levels of power were nothing compared to what the Viper
would get from Jake. While the Viper had made Jake his Chosen rather
impulsively, it wasn’t as if he had done so without any thought.
“Had an enlightening conversation with the Cosmic Genesis Worm?”

Vilastromoz asked Snappy.
“Moreso than expected,” Snappy answered. “I must admit, I had not

expected the level of presence resistance to be that high. It went above and
beyond anything I have seen of any C-grade before. A result of your
Chosen, I believe?”
“Yep,” Vilastromoz confirmed. “This is that Sylphian Hawk all over again,
though slightly less potent as far as I can tell.”
“Sandy was still affected,” Snappy agreed. “Just able to ignore it far better.
Stoic is not the word I would use, but perhaps willfully ignorant is more
accurate.”
Vilastromoz nodded, having his thoughts reaffirmed. “So, what made you
decide to give the True Blessing?”
Snappy was silent for a moment. “No singular factor was behind it.
However, I had feared that Sandy would have been bound to your Chosen
too tightly and not have enough independence. It was good to have it
confirmed that is not the case. Moreover, as the Cosmic Genesis Worm was
in my realm, I could feel its conceptual level of digestion and analyze how
their inner world works.”
“And?”
“I found it acceptable to make Sandy my Chosen,” Snappy simply said with

a smile. “The worm also had an acceptable personality and demeanor.”
Vilastromoz also smiled and shook his head. “Keep your secrets, then.
Though I must add, I am surprised Sandy could get the divine skill you
chose to give. As far as I know, the compability requirements are through
the roof on that one.”
Snappy sighed. “How do you already know?”
Villy just kept smiling as he kept an eye on Jake and the worm. “Happy
thoughts. At least you don’t have to be that worried about Sandy dying to
any unforeseen circumstances now.”
When Jake thought about it, he had never actually gone that far into the sky.
The furthest he had gone was with Hawkie while exploring the cloud
continent, and that had still been in the lower layers of the world above. He
had, for a long time, theorized one could find many powerful things up
there, and that theory was soon proven true.
Earth had several layers of clouds, and entering each layer was like entering
an entirely new world. Clouds above and below made it look like one was
within a cave of clouds in the sky, and as Jake and Sandy entered one of the
extremely far-up layers, Sandy suddenly stopped to shudder.
“This place is good,” the worm said.
“Really?” Jake asked rhetorically with delight. “That is great! Now see if
you can move to the side too. Towards the west, that is.”
They still needed to make sure Sandy could actually enter the airspace
above where the Fallen King was before they could call this a success.
However, Jake had a strong feeling it would be fine. This feeling primarily
stemmed from the many beasts already in the area to the west, and far in the
distance, Jake saw something extremely large move. So large it had to be C-
grade.
As he had hoped, Sandy encountered no more problems but made it clear

that going downward through any of the cloud layers was not an option.
Jake asked Sandy to spit him out, and the worm did so.
Standing in the air outside, Jake stared downwards.
They were approximately two hundred kilometers from the surface of the
planet. The cloud continent had been around twenty-five kilometers from
the surface, so he was now around eight times higher, which made sense
considering the presence of C-grades there.
“I guess we will have to say goodbye too… I can’t follow you down from
here,” Sandy said with some sadness.
“Wait a bit,” Jake said as he kept looking down and focusing.
He squinted his eyes and strained himself. Faint traces of stamina entered
his eyes to empower them. In his vision, the layers of clouds thinned,
turning into only a faint mist. Focusing more, the mist began dispersing as
layer after layer disappeared, and a mountain valley entered his eyes.
And people laughed at full Perception builds, Jake smiled to himself. Okay,
no one had really laughed about his stat build to his face, but plenty of
people probably wanted to!
Looking around, Jake soon spotted what he was looking for. A mountain
peak with gold on top – the residence of the Fallen King. It was a bit far off
to the side, though, but he had time to get in position. Nothing was going on
all the way below as far as he could see, meaning no fight was happening.
“What are you looking at?” Sandy finally asked.

“The mountains below to figure out the best spot to prepare,” Jake
answered.
“You can see all the way down there?” Sandy asked with confusion. “That
is like super far, isn’t it? And isn’t all the stuff in the way annoying?”
“It is, but I can handle it. I also think I may have to go a bit lower while I
prepare as I don’t want any C-grades to interrupt me,” Jake answered.
“So it is goodbye…” Sandy said with sadness. “Oh well, I guess nothing
can be done about that.”
Jake frowned a bit as the last part sounded far less sad than the first. It took
him a moment, but he got it. “You detected something tasty?”
“Maaaybe? The sky is way better than the water, that is for damn sure,”
Sandy said cheerfully. “But do say hi again when you are done dealing with
human stuff, okay? Just take the egg- I mean, rock-thing, I gave you earlier
and infuse some energy into it, and I will come if I can.”
Jake smiled as he patted his wormy friend. “I will. See you around, Sandy,
and happy hunting. Treasure hunting, that is.”
“You too! Good luck killing stuff and all that, and I hope that weird stuff
you prepared works. Unique Lifeforms sound scary,” Sandy also said their
goodbyes.
With those words, Sandy left to do wormy adventures of their own. Jake
would lie if he said he wouldn’t miss the giant gluttonous worm, but such
was life. At least he now had a method of contact, and even if he didn’t,
then he could at least contact his fellow Chosen through Villy.
Yes, it still felt weird that Sandy was now a Chosen of an extremely
powerful god and that there was absolutely no change in the worm despite
that. Not that he complained, as he preferred it that way. He did wonder
what that entire egg business was about, as that wasn’t something Sandy
could do before, meaning it definitely came from the skill granted by the
True Blessing.
This meant the egg had to come from a divine skill, even if it felt rather
mundane. Villy had said that no combat-oriented skills could be given, but
that didn’t mean Jake had any idea what the worm had gotten. I guess I will
find out at some point. For now, let’s focus on the task at hand.
Jake dove downwards for a good while until reaching around the hundred-
kilometer mark. He timed himself and estimated he would be able to reach
the ground in around two minutes if he went at full speed. This put his
speed somewhere around two and three times the speed of sound, closer to
three.
Taking some more notes, Jake scoured the mountain range below, waiting
for something to happen. As he did this, he also took out a token and
activated it. A minute passed before he felt Miranda make contact.
Miranda had activated the ritual circle to establish a connection with Jake,
and it formed effortlessly.
“I am in position around a hundred kilometers above the mountain range

now. I have visual contact with where the King resides,” Jake said,
surprising Miranda a bit. Not only with how fast he had gotten there, but
that he was so far up in the sky.
“Is that within feasible striking distance?” Miranda asked with doubt.
“Yes,” Jake simply answered.
She did not even try to argue it. Jake knew far better than she did when it
came to these kinds of things. “Very well, I will now form the three-way
connection. Wait a minute.”
Miranda quickly took out a few more items that she placed on the circle.
Pouring her mana in and controlling the ritual, a second connection was
formed. Focusing, Miranda took these connections and channeled them first
through herself and then into the circle as he connected them all with
herself as the central medium.
“It has been a while since we last spoke, little hunter,” a voice spoke to not
only Miranda but everyone else part of the ritual. Jake being everyone else
in this case.
“That it has,” Jake agreed. “I hear you have been struggling with some ash
guy or something? Do you mean to tell me that this other Unique Lifeform
is superior to you?”
“Superior is a strong word to describe a creature of equal class. That

neither of us can kill the other is only a testament to the power of Unique
Lifeforms,” the King scoffed.
“Sure, a testament to their power. I guess to take down such a powerful foe,
you need an expert in killing Unique Lifeforms. I guess I can consult,
considering my vast experience on the subject?” Jake teased.
“I must disappoint you; I sadly do not have several system-granted items to

make this Unique Lifeform weak enough for you to stand a chance.”
“Too bad, guess we will have to just kill it the old-fashioned way then, huh?
Oh wait, you also tried that and failed? Damn,” Jake said.
“Boys, be nice to each other,” Miranda finally cut in to mediate the two
bickering… eh… peak powerhouses of Earth? The peak of D-grade, at
least. Anyway.
“Jake is in position now in the air far above the mountain range. Am I
correct to assume that both of you are ready to engage the next time the
Unique Lifeform shows up?” Miranda asked.
“Yes,” the King answered.
“I would prefer to wait until the time after that. You say it comes by often…
make it so that this time is shorter than the others. Make it believe you are
truly struggling and soon unable to keep up. You already said you are
slowly losing out; make it believe you are truly at your limit. Then make it
retreat, fully heal up, and return for the killing blow,” Jake said without a
hint of teasing, surprising Miranda a bit at his patience. She had assumed he
wanted to rush in.
“Why the delay?” the King asked, no longer joking around either.
“For me to properly assess the Unique Lifeform and make use of some of
my skills. Will it be a problem to do this?” Jake asked. This was no jab but a
genuine inquiry.
“Yes, it should be feasible. I have been facing mounting pressure recently,

and I can play it up,” the King answered.
“Alright,” Miranda agreed. “Allow me to contact and bring in the final

member of this little plan.”
Miranda had already prepared as the two spoke and activated yet another
token. She repeated the process from before and had to sacrifice quite the
energy to facilitate what was essentially a group call. The old man she
wanted to bring in had been waiting and nearly instantly reacted.
“Greetings, Ms. Wells, Jake, and… the Fallen King, is it?” the Sword Saint
spoke as he too took part in their little strategy meeting.
“Well met, swordsman,” the King greeted.
“Hi there,” Jake also said hello.
“I am glad you could join us,” Miranda finished. Channeling the presences
of four people in a ritual like this wasn’t easy, especially not considering the
distance between some of them and her having to make sure the connection
was secure.
“I take it the time is approaching?” the Sword Saint asked.
“Yes, we are soon ready and want to make sure you are in position and able
to engage when called upon,” Miranda asked the Sword Saint.
“You need not worry; I am ready. Simply say when,” the Sword Saint
confirmed.
“Great. Jake, if you would explain your plan of engagement to the others?”
Miranda asked.
“Okay, so I thought that-“
Jake went on to explain as Miranda just listened in and focused on the

ritual. The King asked a few questions as he was the only other one directly
involved in the fight with the other Unique Lifeform, with the Sword Saint
more there to offer advice. Jake also gave the Sword Saint some tips as they
all knew the old man would have potentially the most dangerous job of all:
Keeping Ell’Hakan busy during the takedown of the Ashen Phantom

Devourer.
It took in total about half an hour to go over everything, and by then,

Miranda was also plenty tired. They said their goodbyes, and, with relief,
she disengaged from the ritual and let it fade. Not having the energy to
clean the circle then and there, she went to relax in another room and found
a certain snake sitting by the door.
“It went well?” the Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake asked.
“As expected,” Miranda just answered. “What about you? Have you
decided on a name yet?”
“No… it is too hard. But I thought, what if we combine them?”
Miranda was a bit surprised, but after thinking about it, it wasn’t a bad idea.
Allie Scarlett or Scarlett Allie. Maybe make it Allison, or-
“How about Scallie to-“
Miranda instantly raised her hand, making the snake shut up. “Back to the
drawing board on that one.”
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New month! New year! Best time to become a Patron!


Chapter 550 - Assessment &
Preparation
Jake spent the next day or so refining and making more of the poison that
he would use to take down the Unique Lifeform as he waited for it to
appear below. It took about twenty-six hours before Jake spotted the Ashen
Phantom Devourer move roughly a hundred kilometers below himself.
Its form was truly massive, and to Jake, it looked like the sandstorm he had
seen in the desert but made of ash and not sand. Without knowing better, he
would not even have thought it a living creature. Black ash simply swept
across the mountains as if a strong wind carried it. As it approached the
residence of the Fallen King, the ash began to condense itself into a vaguely
humanoid form a bit more than five meters tall.
The figure raised a long log-like arm as space seemed to distort. A giant
bullet of ash was collected that was fired out of the domain and towards the
residence of the King. The King responded as a barrier appeared, and the
Unique Lifeform emerged.
Ash can leave the area, forcing it to generate more, Jake quickly concluded
as more ash just seemed to appear within the domain. Focusing, he tried to
look deeper and get a feeling for what he was facing. His high Perception
had already allowed him to look past the clouds that blocked out his vision,
but now he wanted to see something not visible to the naked eye.
The domain of the Unique Lifeform was its Soulshape, which meant it had
to leave something there. Some part of itself, at least in the metaphysical
realm. Usually, Jake saw the Soulshape of a creature by relying on the
poison running through their bodies and using Sense of the Malefic Viper.
However, in this case, he could not feasibly poison the Unique Lifeform to
do this without it discovering his presence.
According to him, the King could see the full body of the Ashen Phantom
Devourer. His sight was not the same as that of a human’s but far more
magical in nature, and Sandy could likely also have sensed the body of the
Unique Lifeform. The environment it occupied simply had to be different in
some way, even if it was not currently within his visible spectrum.
The human eye had limitations. Examples were such as how it could not see
infrared or ultraviolet light and overall had a relatively narrow spectrum of
wavelength visible to it. Probably a good thing, too, as being able to see
outside of it would be a miserable experience considering all the
wavelengths in the air at all times stemming from phone signals, radio
waves, the internet, and whatnot. Yet humans had found ways to still see
these things. Measure them using devices to translate them into something
humans could see and understand.
Jake had none of such measurement devices, and post-system, they likely
wouldn’t even work either. What he did have was a superhuman body and
Perception above anything a D-grade human should ever have. He could
see mana of different affinities, use tracking to detect things that weren’t
truly there, and even adapt and get used to these things, such as when he got
used to dark mana. So why should he not be able to also see outside of the
visual spectrum of humans and see the metaphysical? Gaze of the Apex
Hunter already allowed him to “see” his opponent’s soul based on the
description, and that skill had permanently modified his eyes to allow this.
Shit, at times, he felt like he had seen someone’s soul, such as when he tried
to get around Identify protection.
At this point, it was no longer just a theory that he could do it but a

conviction that he simply hadn’t found the proper method.
The battle below continued as the two powerful entities crashed repeatedly.
The Fallen King purposefully played it defensively and blocked most
attacks with his powerful telekinesis while allowing the weaker blows to
merely fizzle out upon encountering his barrier.
Ash formed into different shapes appeared to be the primary method of
attack deployed by the Ashen Phantom Devourer, but Jake quickly saw it
wasn’t that simple. The ash was not simply compressed but layered in odd
ways. A single spear of ash looked like it was made of obsidian, making it
far more condensed than what made sense. To add on, the ash could also
change shape even when in flight, and rather than fly straight, it often
seemed to teleport.
Because it did teleport.
Another thing the King had already mentioned was the ash’s ability to not
only do damage but multiply by itself. Jake was not entirely certain what
affinities ash existed of, but he assumed it had to do with fire of some kind.
Now that he observed it in action, he became more and more certain of one
thing that also made the Phantom part of the Unique Lifeform’s name make
sense.
Dark mana. The ash is heavily infused with dark mana, Jake concluded.
The dark mana materialized as the ash consumed the mana of the King
whenever they clashed, and a reason why ash constantly filled the huge
domain was due to the Unique Lifeform absorbing energy from outside into
its territory at all times.
Every particle of ash also had dark mana within, absorbing some of the
King’s simply by passively touching his barrier. This dark mana appeared
weaker than its space and ash magic and pretty much only included the
assimilation parts of the dark affinity. From Jake’s initial assessment, the
King was superior in both power and resources, but the Devourer won out
in durability and endurance.
Not that either of them wasn’t considered pinnacle creatures, even in their
weak areas.
The more Jake understood his opponent, the more he knew what he was
looking for. Focusing, he began to see an outline. Following that path, the
outline turned entirely black as huge parts of the mountain range suddenly
got covered in complete darkness.
It was… massive. Jake knew this was the true body of the Unique Lifeform,
and he now also knew he had severely underestimated the size of his foe. It
truly was nearly as large as the C-grade whale had been, but he also saw
something different. Its size shrank whenever it launched attacks to then
grow in between attacking or defending.
Size represented by resources remaining, Jake then also concluded.
The entire domain could also naturally move. The King retreated out of it
several times, and that was when Jake noted down one more crucial aspect.
It moved using physical ash. In order to move the domain, the ash had to
“push” the perimeter of the domain by flying in the direction the Unique
Lifeform wanted to go, meaning that a physical barrier would obstruct it.
Jake breathed out a sigh of relief upon realizing this as that ruled out the
Unique Lifeform fleeing below the ground by simply moving its domain
downward.
Jake kept refining his vision as the dark blob began to become more
transparent. He then began to see that light also refracted here and there
within the domain whenever space magic was deployed, and more ash
appeared.
Golden light and waves of pure force met ash as the two Unique Lifeforms
fought, leaving the entire area broken and destroyed - even more than it
already was. The King’s golden attacks seemed to do significant damage to
the Ashen Phantom Devourer whenever ash was destroyed, and sometimes
the entire domain seemed to move in order to try and avoid attacks.
However, more often, the other Unique Lifeform moved to block. At nearly
all times, it also kept a figure condensed somewhere, and Jake also realized
the reason for this.
It needs a focal point of energy. Like a catalyst at the center of a ritual

circle, condensing a body allows it to focus its energy into a single entity to
then further condense and launch attacks.
Another potential weakness. Destroying this condensed body would do

more damage than striking anywhere else, as it contained more energy than
anywhere else. If the Unique Lifeform had been C-grade, it could likely
have made far more of these forms or perhaps not had to at all, but as things
were, this was a limitation in its abilities.
The entire battle between the Unique Lifeforms ended up taking around an
hour. After an hour, the King began to launch larger and larger attacks,
damaging the Devourer more and more. Yet it also left him open, and the
Devourer struck and tore off some of his natural bark-like armor and
smashed the King back several times.
Yet just as the King looked like he was about to unleash some final attack,
the Ashen Phantom Devourer simply retreated. The domain moved away
the same way it had come, and Jake stared after it as he saw it reach a large
hole in the ground more than fifty kilometers from the King. When it
reached the hole, the entire domain shrank and entered. The domain was
only about sixty to seventy percent of its regular size at that point, too,
visualizing the damage it had taken. It had clearly gone to absorb more
energy again and return at full power, while Jake could see the King had
taken far more damage and would need longer to heal.
A good strategy if you are not in a rush and play it safe… to bad it read the
situation wrong.
Jake took out his token again, and as he saw the King retreat to his
residence, the connection was formed.
“Hey Miranda, that was fast. So, how you holding up down there?” Jake
asked the King
“As predicted. The Ashen Phantom Devourer should estimate that I am at

about half resources now, and by the time it fully recovers, I would barely
be able to reach around sixty to sixty-five percent. I used my boosting skill
liberally this time around to appear more desperate too. In reality, I can
consume a few Soul Marbles, and I should be back to over eighty percent.
Before you ask, potions do not help; besides, potions barely work on Unique
Lifeforms. My guess is that the Devourer shall return within the next twelve
hours in an attempt to finish me off. In fact, I think it wanted this battle to
be the last but decided to retreat to fully secure the kill without being
harmed too much itself.”
Jake nodded. “Twelve hours is plenty enough time. Miranda, be ready to
inform the Sword Saint. I will eat my bow if that orange bastard doesn’t
have some method of coming to help fast, so we need the old man on his
toes.”
“Of course,” Miranda agreed. “I will leave you to your preparations now.
Neil has also prepared, and if everything goes as hoped, we should be able
to also return to Haven promptly.”
Jake once again nodded. “I have a good feel for what this Ashen Phantom
Devourer can do now, and I believe it will be in for quite the surprise. You
have confidence in fulfilling your part even with your injuries?”
The last part was naturally asked of the King.
“More than ready,” the King responded confidently.
“Very well. See you when the Ashen Phantom Devourer arrives. I will prick
your soul when I engage. Jake, over and out.”
With that, the conversation ended, and nothing more needed to be said. All
that was needed now was execution, and Jake had twelve hours to make
sure everything was perfect. Luckily, he had already done most of these
preparations by creating the one crucial factor to make their strategy work:
A working neurotoxin.
Due to the lack of time, Jake had not held back when it came to using
ingredients. Jake had sought deep and taken out everything he had stored
and bought from all around. He had experimented a lot and found one
ingredient that mixed incredibly well with the kind of toxin he wanted to
make. It was an old gift from his little brother.
[Umbral Lotus Leaf (Ancient)] – The leaf of a legendary rarity Umbral

Lotus. This leaf is incredibly poisonous and releases dark-affinity mana
all around it. Consuming it may lead to adverse effects. Many alchemical
uses and creations will have neurotoxin and perception-limiting effects.
Jake had kind of forgotten he even had the lotus leaves. As he didn’t have
enough of them to actually experiment, Jake had one in Palate since the day
he began working on the neurotoxin and instead used lesser dark mana
poisons. His control of dark mana proved invaluable during this process and
allowed him to get better far faster than expected.
The second ingredient was naturally the Lifeblood.

nature. Has many alchemical uses and is especially potent when
combined with other neurotoxins or poisons with the water affinity.
Then, for a third ingredient, he also pulled out something he hadn’t really
ever made use of. A reward from the entrance-exam dungeon of the
Academy in the Order.
[Refined Manticore Stinger (Epic)] – the refined stinger of a high-tier D-

grade Manticore. The venom within is now more powerful than ever, even
compared to when it was alive. This toxin is of the earth affinity and will
petrify anything it comes into contact with. Slowly produces more venom
when infused with appropriate energy. Has many alchemical uses.
Jake had carried it around with him for a long time, producing plenty of
venom passively during this time. He had found that only natural passive
mana seemed to work with it, meaning Jake could not infuse it himself…
but Sandy could. So, Sandy had been nice enough to dedicate a stomach to
storing the stinger and constantly infusing it with energy to pump out more
and more venom.
The petrification effect was good at adding a certain rigidity to the

neurotoxin. He did not need the petrification effect, but just making it a bit
harder to move was more than fine. Just as he ended up refining away the
water affinity part of the Lifeblood, so did he remove most of the earth
affinity of this one.
Finally, to finish off the concoction, Jake naturally added his blood as well
as some good old moss. Moss was always good in these kinds of
concoctions.
It had taken many days of experimenting and many failed products. Jake
did make several neurotoxins, but every time he made one, he ran into the
same issue of how to deliver it properly. Making a poison that had to
contact the ash itself was not feasible based on what the King had told him
during his preparation phase, so Jake had gone in a direction where it
simply needed to touch the Soulshape.
This meant Jake sacrificed a lot of potency for easier delivery. He also
sacrificed a lot of other aspects of the poison. It did not need to deal
damage; it did not need to even be particularly potent… it just had to work
and be hard to deal with in a short amount of time.
Making a poison like this in only a few weeks was not easy, but Jake
luckily had enough good ingredients with him to waste. What he didn’t
have enough of, Sandy helped him find. Finally, three days before they
arrived at the mountain range, he had made the first batch of poison.
[Soul-Petrifying Shadow Poison (Rare)] – A special poison created by

combining several powerful ingredients with the singular goal of creating
a potent neurotoxin able to affect the soul. This is a soul poison that will
actively attempt to affect any Soulshape it touches due to its nature. Once
infected will make the Soulshape more rigid, severely limiting all mobility.
The dark energy makes all movements of energy more difficult for any
affected target. This poison is incredibly difficult to cleanse and has a
slight ability to self-replicate if not actively challenged, and it will
strengthen itself the more poison is injected.
The poison looked good and had a long description, but quite frankly, it was
atrocious. It was weak as hell, and Jake would prefer to use common rarity
poison on his arrows over this new neurotoxin. Each dose was just so weak.
However… it did its job. Because it had an element of scaleability beyond
any other poison he had ever made.
More importantly, it was relatively easy to make as long as he had all the
ingredients. The rarity was only what it was due to the ingredients used, and
the level of difficulty – or rather lack thereof – was also reflected in him
having only gained two levels.


These levels included all the batches Jake had made. He only had three
leaves, but luckily each leaf had enough energy for several batches of
poison each. This meant Jake had managed to create a total of fourteen
batches of the poison, resulting in seventy-one bottles. He had only failed a
single concoction, and that had been his third-ever attempt, once more
reflecting the easy crafting difficulty.
Compared to his Sleeping Night Toxin, this poison was shameful, and he
would gladly forget he had ever made it once done… but for this fight, it
should be enough. If he had more time, perhaps he could have made it
better, but he didn’t.
One good thing, though. After this fight, he wouldn’t have any more of the
poison because all of it was getting used today.
With twelve hours or so to the fight, Jake began preparing. He would show
that while the two Unique Lifeforms could perhaps match or even beat him
in a straight-on fight, the game changed when he had preparation time.
The Ashen Phantom Devourer was about to learn why messing with an
alchemist, or worse, an alchemist-hunter, was what many would classify as
a very bad time.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 551 - Broken Sky
It was a fight that he knew they could not lose. One that could perhaps
decide the fate of the planet he had now come to call home.
The King meditated as he healed himself as much as possible. He wished he

was skilled in formations to set up a proper one to help him in his
regeneration, but sadly that did not fall within his skill set. Having anyone
else make such a magic circle also wouldn’t prove very effective due to the
uniqueness of a Unique Lifeform.
Consuming a Soul Marble, the King slowly absorbed it, and he felt his body
fill with energy. He would take another one just as the Ashen Phantom
Devourer attacked again, but that would also be his final one.
One might ask why the King stayed in a losing war for months. There truly
was no logical explanation for this besides an unwillingness to retreat and
abandon his claimed territory. He was a King, and an enemy had invaded
his domain, so he had a natural urge to defend it. That he also knew the
benefits he could gain from killing another Unique Lifeform also played a
huge factor. Finally, he still had a good chance due to his ultimate move.
Hours passed by as he progressively felt better. He purposefully did not heal

his natural armor fully but allowed cracks and missing pieces here and there
to properly look like he had been unable to properly recover. One might
also ask if using these underhanded tactics wasn’t above a Unique Lifeform,
but the King would find such a question utterly foolish. To purposefully
give up an advantage and act with overconfidence was how he had found
himself slain once already, and he had no desire to repeat that.
His prediction of twelve hours turned out to be slightly off as only nine and
a half hours later, he felt the other Unique Lifeform approach. The Fallen
King could only hope that the little hunter was ready despite the pushed-up
timescale, and if not, the King would simply have to hold on a bit longer
than expected.
The King teleported out of his residence and saw the approaching mass. A
soul equally as powerful as his own approached, its size and power nearly
fully recovered in such a short time span. The giant cloud of ash moved
ever closer as the taunting words echoed.
“Yet you remain guarding your pathetic kingdom in your ignorance.

Behold the result of your folly: death.”
It had almost become a ritual by now that the other Unique Lifeform would
start by saying something taunting and slightly annoying. Not that the King
had ever been bothered by such childish words. Like before, he simply
engaged but made sure to hold himself back a bit this time around to appear
weaker than he actually was.
The Ashen Phantom Devourer struck with full force right from the
beginning. Evidently, the intent was to slay him as soon as possible and
overwhelm him so that the King would use his trump cards while the
Devourer was still close to full power.
Staying defensive was difficult even if the King knew he was just buying
time, and he did launch the occasional attack to not be too suspicious.
Luckily, the other Unique Lifeform could easily misunderstand his
carefulness as doubt and weakness, making it appear less out-of-place than
it actually was.
Massive waves of ash crashed against the telekinetically formed barriers of

the King like the tide of the ocean crashing into a dam. With every second,
they grew in power, and the King felt the constant eating away of his energy
from the dark affinity of his foe.
Nevertheless, he was far from defenseless. Both his claws glowed golden as
he tore the wave apart and unleashed several golden waves of pure force,
breaking apart the body of the Devourer. It rapidly condensed a new one as
a mountain of ash formed and crashed down towards the King. Hanging on
with his barrier, he was sent down, smashing into the ground as hundreds of
tons of ash fell upon his body.
With annoyance, the King raised two fingers and sent out two thin waves of
force that he swiftly moved in a circle, cutting a hole in the ash. He barely
got through before the hole closed, the King avoiding being crushed. Yet
just as he was out of it, the King was struck by a blast of ash, sending him
tumbling back. Sometimes the Devourer infused the ash with pure space
energy, making it look like a transparent flame despite it simply being pure
kinetic force infused into ash.
An annoying but highly effective attack.
About five minutes passed as they fought, the King getting forced back
more and more. A vague sense of doubt began to enter the King’s mind as
he feared the little hunter was not ready. The King would have to pick up
the pace himself and use his boosting skill prematurely if he was not soon
ready. That could potentially throw off the plan.
Just when that doubt set in, he felt a weak attack on his soul from far above.
It was the hunter’s gaze that had briefly landed upon him and attacked.
Too weak to damage him or even affect him, but just strong enough for him
to sense.
It was the agreed-upon signal, and the King did his part.
Activating his boosting skill, the King attacked with massive waves of
force, making the Ashen Phantom Devourer defend. While it was still
defending, the King spread his presence and focused all his power on
restricting the domain.
He hoped that whatever the hunter had prepared would be enough to-
The King felt a shockwave. Both he and the other Unique Lifeform
momentarily stopped as their senses sought the sky.
A sky that looked to have been shattered and fell as crystals in shades of
purple.
The shade of the hunter’s arcane affinity.
Perhaps this clash could be the last, the observer noted with hope. He had
been stuck in the mountains for months now at the orders of the Celestial
Child, and while he did have some complaints about his station, he did not
complain. It was the will of heaven’s child; who was he to argue? Besides,
he knew he was the weakest of those who had been brought to this new
planet.
He had looked at this battle play out so many times already, and he had
noticed the shift. The first time the Ashen Phantom Devourer had lost pretty
handily, enough for him to assume that perhaps this Fallen King was
superior. However, as time went on, the momentum shifted, and the
Devourer slowly began winning out. Once more, he, as a servant, could
only admonish himself for questioning the actions of the Celestial Child.
This time around, the fight was indeed much more fierce as both seemed to
go all out. Then, suddenly, the Fallen King seemed to stop. He pulled out
immense amounts of power as he seemed to hold the Ashen Phantom
Devourer still. Is this perhaps his trump move?
He got his answer at that very moment. As a servant, his skills were limited,
but one thing he did excel in was Perception, and yet he had not noticed
something had been brewing far up in the sky. When he saw it, he instantly
recognized the energy signature.
The Malefic’s Chosen.
The servant quickly took out a token and fulfilled his duty as he infused his
message that the Chosen was there before crushing it. He took out another
token in preparation to relay what was about to happen but suddenly felt a
shift in space behind him.
He quickly turned and saw a figure had appeared only a kilometer or so
behind him, having been teleported in.
Who!? Wait…
The figure rapidly made its way over as the servant spoke:
”What are you doing he-”
The words got stuck in his throat as nothing more than a hiss came out. He
stared with wide eyes as strings wrapped around and neck, but surprisingly
they didn’t harm him. Why would they harm him, now that he thought
about it? Why was he even…
His thoughts didn’t go further as his mind slowly gave out, and he fell to the
ground, unconscious.
--
”It is time,” the C-grade jellyfish spoke as William opened his eyes.
”Has he appeared?” William asked with a mix of anticipation and

reprehension.
”Yes,” the jellyfish answered without explaining further. William knew that
he couldn’t delay and had already spent many days steeling his resolve.
”Take me there,” William said as a magic circle appeared on the platform in

the cave. The metal mage promptly flew over and landed on it as the space
magic around him warped everything. The teleportation was truly
marvelous, and only a few seconds later, William found himself standing on
a small cliff on the side of a mountain.
Instantly he felt the wave of pure power descending. He did not know who
it was initially, but soon he realized.
Yet another thing also caught his eye. A nahoom was hiding not far from
him, holding a token and also observing. William did not know why, but his
first reaction was to charge the alien. The other party had already seen him,
but before he could finish asking why William was there, strings had
already wrapped around his neck.
William sent through a powerful pulse of pure karmic energy. He

manipulated the man until he fell. Knocked out but still alive. Seeing the
token that had fallen on the ground, William just shook his head. He knew
he had just helped the monster… but it was necessary. William needed to
confront him, and Ell’Hakan showing up would ruin that. Moreover, he
would prefer for no one else to know he was there or what he was doing.
As for the fight between the Unique Lifeforms and the monster… William
already knew it was not anything he should get involved in. Whatever the
hell that monster had done was exactly the kind of thing one could expect,
as the entire mountain range was bathed in a hue of purple.
--
Approximately nine hours earlier.
Prep work for any large project was always hard work, but Jake had
enjoyed his time doing it. Twelve hours to prepare wasn’t a lot, but to Jake,
that was eleven mana potions right there and a whole lot of mana. After his
conversation with the King, he got to work.
Using Avaricious Arcane Hunter’s Arrows, Jake summoned a stable arrow

and proceeded to take out a bottle of his sweet neurotoxin. He carefully
soaked it in poison and, using stable arcane mana, covered the tip as he
dripped a bit more poison onto it before covering it up, leaving a hollow tip
with a bit of poison inside.
After that, he tossed the arrow in his quiver and summoned another, only to
repeat the process. Hours passed as Jake kept making arrows and putting
them in his quiver where they would remain effectively frozen in time. He
did use his quiver to store poisoned arrows usually, but this was the most
extreme case of him ever doing it. Frankly, the quiver was one of those
things Jake barely thought about in his daily life but was actually incredibly
valuable to him.
[Quiver of Perriniality (Legendary)] – A quiver created from the leather
of a powerful B-grade beast with the ability to create minor
subdimensions within its skin where it stores different natural treasures to
use as weapons. Made into a quiver, it now retains those same effects.
Allows the wearer to infuse mana into the quiver to conjure arrows.
Allows the wearer to store conjured creations classified as arrows within
the quiver without experiencing any energy decay for an extended period
of time. The inside of the quiver is spatially expanded, allowing the
wearer to store arrows of varying sizes. The wearer will have innate
control of the inside of the quiver when bound. Enchantments: Perrinial
Quiver.
He was glad that the arrows stayed classified as weapons even after he
modified them slightly with a toxic payload. Jake had made sure that he
didn’t break integral parts of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter’s Arrows skill
either because he would need a function of that skill later.
A hundred arrows were soon stored. Then two hundred. Three hundred. The
bottles of poison emptied one by one, as Jake had to consume a mana
potion here and there as he began the second aspect of the project. Inside
the quiver, an arrow began to appear as Jake closed his eyes and focused.
It was entirely purple but had green threads running through it. Its size was
incomparable to anything Jake had ever made before, and he was happy to
see that his willpower did slightly help him also affect the shape. It was
naturally an Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter, and the one he was
summoning was incredibly thin for its size and close to five meters long.
His time observing the Unique Lifeform had been primarily to make this
exact arrow.
Once it was fully summoned, Jake began the third part. In the real world,
Jake began weaving a net of mana strings and wrapping it up tight in
preparation. He could sadly not do it in the quiver, so this had to be enough.
Hours kept ticking by as Jake was ready after the seventh. He knew there
was a chance the Unique Lifeform would come earlier, and his guts told
him he wouldn’t have the full twelve hours. He trusted himself as always
and went with seven to prepare in order to be safe.
Jake then spent the next hour summoning stable arcane bolts. During this
time, Jake had never been topped up with mana and consumed a mana
potion every time he could, primarily to ensure he was always close to full
in case the fighting began.
Soon, Jake spotted the Ashen Phantom Devourer emerge from its
underground hunt. Jake did not hesitate for a moment. Arcane Awakening
activated at its full 60%, and he unleashed Pride of the Malefic Viper to
better control his mana.
Hundreds upon hundreds of arrows were taken out of the quiver as he threw
them out. Using Pride, he froze them all and made them levitate as he
finally reached the final arrow. The massive Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter
emerged, and Jake’s many magic strings instantly sought towards it and
wrapped around it. These strings then flew out from the large arrow and
wrapped themselves around the hundreds of smaller arrows.
His head was pounding, and his body was overflowing with mana as he
finished his massive tapestry of arrows. In the sky hung a vast spiderweb of
interlinked arrows with stable arcane bolts also mixed in here and here. As
a final thing, Jake infused stability into all of the strings to make sure they
didn’t break.
Taking a deep breath, Jake finally took out his bow and nocked the massive
Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter that all of the other arrows were attached
to. He began charging Arcane Powershot as the energy flooded the Arrow
of the Ambitious Hunter but didn’t harm any of the strings on it.
Today Jake also learned something else about Hunting Momentum. While it
did build up when he observed a target and stalked it, that charging was
usually incredibly slow. But preparing to strike like this? It had been
building far more than expected, and while it was far from maxed out, it
was an added bonus he would in no way say no to as he infused it all into
the Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter.
Go.
The strike contained everything he had, and the opponent wasn’t even
aware it was coming, making Stealth Attack also further amplifying the
power of the strike. Jake released the string as an explosion rocked the sky.
The clouds parted all around him as the massive arrow began descending,
dragging along with it over four hundred other arrows and well-over a
thousand arcane bolts.
It did not stop there. Jake unhesitantly began flying downwards, chasing his
arrows.
Nothing could stop the attack and a few unlucky creatures that got in the
way died simply by being too close to the descending strike. Jake kept
pushing himself as the arrow naturally flew far faster than he, and soon
enough, it exited the final layer of clouds just above the Ashen Phantom
Devourer’s domain.
Jake gritted his teeth and strained himself more than ever before. Blood
began pouring out his nose and his head felt like it was about to explode.
Yet he grinned as he knew he could do it. He felt the connection to every
single arrow, all four hundred and eleven of them, as he used every shred of
his willpower to use the skill, even using Words of Power.
“Splitting Arrow Rain.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 552 - Unique Trump
Cards
One became ten.
Each arrow split ten times each, making what would only have been light
rain into a storm flood. Each arrow was still purely stable arcane mana as it
fell. The Ashen Phantom Devourer reacted quickly as it tried to move away,
but the King strained himself to contain the Unique Lifeform.
Not that he had to constrain it for long, as the arrows hit less than a second
after becoming visible. The Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter hit the domain
and instantly just disappeared as it sank into the Soulshape of the Unique
Lifeform. This left the more than four thousand arrows and the many stable
arcane bolts to just fall into the domain.
Jake, with blood running from his nose and a toothy grin, acted. The
connection with the arrows had never been lost, and it took nothing more
than a mental command. Every single arrow crackled with instability as, in
an instant, they shifted from pure stability to pure destruction.
And then everything exploded.
From up in the air, Jake saw the entire world flash purple. Even with his
high Perception, it took him a second to see again, and what was revealed
could only be described as a cataclysm. What had once been a mountain
range was now still kind of a mountain range, but with a massive crater in
the middle.
However, Jake had no time or attention to spare on observing the

environment. He had known that even if this attack went above and beyond
his expectations, it would not be enough to kill a peak D-grade Unique
Lifeform. And he had been right.
All the ash had been destroyed, but the domain remained. The King had
managed to shield himself as he was not the primary target and did not
hesitate to engage as the domain stirred. Ash began appearing as a figure
assembled itself.
Jake pulled out his bow while flying down and released another barrage of
arrows. A wall of ash appeared and blocked them all, but this left an
opening as a golden wave cut across the domain and destroyed the
assembled being of ash.
Another one appeared, but there was no time to rest. The domain had
shrunk by nearly forty percent from that one opening attack, and as Jake
released his second attack, the barrier did not manage to be assembled in
time. It instead was conjured just after the arrows passed, allowing arcane
explosions to destroy even more of the ash.
The neurotoxin was beginning to really kick in. Jake was also certain that
every bit of ash now had an even higher cost to being summoned. The
Unique Lifeform had also naturally noticed the poison and began
eliminating it from its soul.
Oh no, you don’t!
Touch of the Malefic Viper activated as Jake controlled the poison from up
in the air. The King also did his part as explosions rocked the domain and
golden waves constantly ripped apart the creature. Soon, the Unique
Lifeform tried to escape, but Jake slowed it down enough for the King to
easily keep up.
Jake followed along as the domain ash moved across the vast mountain
range, focusing solely on Touch of the Malefic Viper. With every second,
the domain shrank by a little, and the King seemed to only increase the
fervor with which he attacked.
After a minute or so of this, the Ashen Phantom Devourer seemed to realize
it was actually in trouble. Big trouble.
“Pathetic to require the help of a mere human! An utter

embarrassment to call yourself a Unique Lifeform! If you truly think
this is enough to-”
“Funny,” the voice of the King echoed out as it interrupted the Devourer.
“You sound like me just before this very same human killed me.”
The Unique Lifeform seemed shocked for a moment as Jake felt it stop
fighting his poison for a fraction of a second. Yet it quickly collected itself
as an odd calmness overtook its form. Jake felt the shift instantly, and a
sense of danger appeared, telling him to stay the fuck away from the
Devourer.
“I see.”
That was all the Ashen Phantom Devourer said as it stopped completely.
The King kept attacking, but Jake rapidly threw him a look and used a weak
Gaze to warn him. Just in time too.
Everything warped. Space itself shattered and distorted as the domain

collapsed in on itself, releasing a massive wave of energy, sending Jake
flying upwards and pushing back the King who had barely managed to get
out of the domain.
Then, with the push came a pull. The entire Unique Lifeform was now
nothing more than five meters across and looked like a miniature black
sun… no. What could happen to a star after it collapsed.
At that moment, the Ashen Phantom Devourer had become what Jake could
only describe as a black hole. And as a black hole, it sought to devour
everything.
Space itself bent, light refracted, and the mountains surrounding them
began cracking and collapsing in the distance. The ground below rose as
Jake felt a pull on not only the physical realm but even in the metaphysical
one.
Mana, affinities, everything was being pulled in. Jake had to resist it as he
flew upwards with all his might, and he even felt the poison be rapidly
consumed and devoured as the black hole grew. Gritting his teeth, Jake
stopped himself in the air and reached out, his hand glowing green.
Black veins spread up his arm as he infused his hand with even more
energy, intensifying the glow. The poison within the black hole got new life
as the suction lessened and became more unstable. The black hole was still
growing, but it had slowed down.
As Jake considered what to do next, he saw the King move. Rather than
retreat, the Unique Lifeform flew forward as his barrier glowed golden.
Power revolved around him, and Jake realized what he was about to do.
Without a doubt, this was the trump card of the Ashen Phantom Devourer.
It was well-known that all Unique Lifeforms were innately born with one
such unique skill. The Devourer had one… and so had the Fallen King.
The King did not stop as he reached the black hole, and Jake helped as he
channeled Touch to the extreme. He suddenly heard a crack. A deep scar
had been formed on his mask before many smaller cracks and crevices
appeared.
Below, Jake saw the King enter the black hole as the mask slipped off his
face, falling towards the ground. Falling, because the very moment the King
entered the domain of the Ashen Phantom Devourer, the suction stopped.
The world seemed still. Everything that had been floating in the air before
had stopped, and Jake felt even his own poison be unable to move. Unable
because what it resided within – the Soulshape of the Devourer –
shuddered.
Shattered.
An invisible wave erupted from within the black hole. Jake summoned a
barrier of stable arcane energy and, to his surprise, managed to entirely
block it out, making him realize this was mere remnants of the actual attack.
Jake stared as everything the Devourer was consuming fell down again.
Where the black hole had been, a single figure remained as an ivory claw
reached out. The shattered mask, still falling, re-assembled in mid-air and
was telekinetaclly called over as the King put it back on. In the other hand
he held a small black orb that promptly disappeared.
The black hole was gone. The domain was gone. And all Jake felt were
broken remnants of what had once been a soul floating in the air before
dispersing – a bit of it entering Eternal Hunger, as always.
*You have slain [Ashen Phantom Devourer – lvl 199] – Bonus experience
Jake kept staring. The notification was there, but a hint of doubt still
remained in his mind. It felt too… easy?
He began flying down as the King also descended to the ground. The
Unique Lifeform landed and sat down as Jake felt the energy fluctuate
within the King. He felt weak, far weaker than usual, and looking at the
mask on the King and Jake himself, he was indeed damaged on a
fundamental level.
“Is it dead?” Jake asked as he landed.
“You unleash an attack capable of destroying an entire region upon a

creature that is effectively a living domain, further adding a massive toxic
payload to the mayhem you created, and you question its efficiency?” the
King scoffed. “The Devourer is dead. The soul was weakened and capable
of destruction, so I capitalized on the weakness and went in for the kill.”
Jake considered for a moment before grinning. “Turns out you Unique
Lifeforms aren’t all you are hyped up to be.”
The King did not even bother responding to that. “I, too, had to use my
trump card and will find myself weakened for a period. I apologize. You will
have to deal with the rest of your matters by yourself.”
“That was the plan,” Jake said with a nod.
And he already knew the first matter to deal with. From up in the air, he had
spotted a little nahoom rat keeping an eye on the King and the Devourer
fighting.
“How unexpected, but not entirely unpredictable,” Ell’Hakan mused to

himself the moment he got the message from the servant observing the fight
between the two Unique Lifeforms. He had now sent a message that it
appeared like someone else had also joined the fight, with the only likely
culprit the Malefic’s Chosen.
Needless to say, he could not have an important bout between two Unique
Lifeforms going on without keeping a constant eye on it. It was sad he
could only get a brief message without any details, but just knowing it was
happening was good enough. He did expect a more thorough report from
the observer soon, but there was no need to wait for that.
Ell’Hakan had expected the Malefic’s Chosen to prioritize returning to

Haven over engaging the Unique Lifeform. That the Ashen Phantom
Devourer had yet to defeat this Fallen King was as to be expected, and he
didn’t have his servants interfere for a reason. Either Unique Lifeform
winning was simply not of particular interest to him, at least not if one won
too fast.
The one winning would have to be the Ashen Phantom Devourer, though.
With both the Fallen King and the Malefic’s Chosen there, the Unique
Lifeform should be pressured, giving Ell’Hakan quite an opportunity if he
said so himself. Keeping a Unique Lifeform loyal was difficult, but if he
could get it to feel a sense of debt towards him, that would be more than
welcome and extremely exploitable.
Now, as said, then he would naturally not allow such a battle to go on

without having a method of keeping an eye on it, and in the same vein, he
would not allow such a battle to take place without giving him a way to get
there.
The house he had constructed was not just for him to reside in while
waiting for the Malefic’s Chosen but also created to serve as a small hub for
teleportation. Taking out a token, he called for one of the two people
stationed in Haven to come over and operate the teleportation circle for him
to use. The distance required for the teleportation made it a necessity to
have someone on this side.
Ell’Hakan waited as very soon he saw his servant rush towards him. Just
before he could begin to gather the energy from the Sun and Moon array, he
stopped. Something had suddenly appeared in the plains, looking like a
rectangular wall or…
A painting?
Out stepped a figure Ell’Hakan did not immediately recognize, and his
servant clearly didn’t either as she continued running. It was only a few
seconds later that Ell’Hakan realized who this newcomer was. The
Patriarch from the Noboru Clan.
Unexpectedly, a second figure then also appeared out of thin air. A red
liquid that Ell’Hakan surmised had to be blood formed a human-looking
figure that promptly intercepted the servant. To his surprise, his servant was
actually stopped in her tracks as a large wall of blood appeared and pushed
her back.
The old man from the Noboru clan didn’t even look back but began
wandering through the plains towards Ell’Hakan. He looked relaxed, far
more so than he should, and their eyes met as Ell’hakan frowned. He felt
the emotions from the man, and they were not as expected.
He felt as if he was staring at a still lake and not a human being.
Nevertheless, even if it was so, that didn’t mean much in the grand scheme
of things.
Ell’Hakan walked down the steps of his residence towards the old
swordsman. Neither had their weapon drawn, and he saw no reason to be
the first to do so. His servant dying would be an annoyance, but if push
came to shove, the teleporter could still be activated and bring Ell’Hakan to
his destination if he was fine with destroying it in the process and having
the servant on the other side suffer the backlash.
However, that would put him far away from Haven, allowing the Malefic’s
Chosen to potentially retreat and make his way there before Ell’Hakan
could. He still had things he wanted to be done here in Haven, and more
importantly, it could only be activated in these plains outside of the small
city. Besides, even if he lost this one servant to what he guessed was an
unknown blood mage, there was another stationed in Haven he could call
upon.
Needless to say, something had to be done before that was an option.
“Patriarch of the Noboru clan,” Ell’Hakan spoke. “Your presence here

intrigues me. Last I heard, you were dead, but I reckoned something was off
about that, considering I haven’t heard back from your killers-to-be.”
Ell’Hakan estimated the human must have spent the last few months
recuperating. After the fight during the Treasure Hunt event Earth had
undergone, the Sword Saint, as people called him, had been cooped up and
injured for several months. The only thing capable of leaving such harm
was severe overuse of a boosting skill or soul damage. He guessed it was
the overuse of a boosting skill, and it looked like he had to use that boosting
skill once more to handle the two servants. If not, why would he not have
handled internal matters of his clan?
“I apologize if it inconvenienced you that I killed the two of them,” the old
man surprisingly apologized. Not that there was a hint of actual regret in his
emotional spectrum. Not a single ripple disturbed the lake.
“They went knowing death was a potential outcome. I do wonder why you
have appeared here. Please, do enlighten me? From what I heard, your clan
is in shambles and could very much need their Patriarch right now. Some of
them have even reached out with interest in an alliance. It is not too late to
reconsider,” Ell’hakan said convincingly, trying to throw a rock into the
lake.
“A shameful display, and only proof a cleaning of the old clan is required,”
the swordsman sighed, for the first time showing a faint hint of
disappointment. It disappeared as fast as it had come, but it confirmed the
man could not fully control his emotions. No human could. No… no living
entity with emotions could fully control them. Not even gods.
Nodding, Ell’hakan believed he should stop wasting time. “Your attempt at

buying time is valiant; however, I must disappoint you. While I would love
a conversation, I have other, more pressing matters to attend to. I truly hold
no interest in you or your clan, and I will give you the choice of leaving
now or accepting the consequences of staying.”
“Tell me, Ell’Hakan, was it?” the swordsman asked. “What do you think of
this planet? Its lands and its residents?”
“Chaotic but malleable,” Ell’Hakan answered, humoring him for a moment.
“Chaotic… yes, to that, I agree,” the man nodded and smiled. “Secondly,
you fought Jake Thayne, the Malefic’s Chosen. What was your assessment
of him?”
“Chaotic fits him very adequately too. Powerful, yes, but chaotic. I fail to
see the purpose of this line of questioning outside of simply delaying me by
piquing my curiosity?”
“I was curious too,” the old human said as he slowly unsheathed a sword.
The blade looked simple and unassuming, but Ell’Hakan felt uneasy when
he looked at it. “Curious how far I have come. Please allow this old man the
honor of your assessment, you who has conquered another world.”
Ell’hakan was about to answer as the lake of emotions rippled and moved.
His eyes opened wide as serenity was replaced with pure devotion, and an
aura washed through the plains as the old human bent his knees - the mental
image of his emotional state replacing a lake with that of a sword.
More than a distraction, Ell’Hakan realized as he took out his trident and
got into a defensive position.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 553 - Sun & Rain
Sword met trident as the clang of metal sent them both back. The blade rose
again as the robed nahoom retreated with measured steps. Miyamoto
pressed forward as several more blows were exchanged, his opponent
backing away with every attack.
The mana in the air began to heat up as the swordsman dodged to avoid a
beam of concentrated sunlight descending from far above. Around the alien
invader, a ring of golden light formed as the very plains around them
seemed to resonate with him. The ring moved to be in a position in front of
Ell’Hakan as the trident stabbed forward, releasing an explosion of golden
flames and forcing Miyamoto to leap back.
”This planet keeps perplexing me,” Ell’Hakan spoke as he spun his trident,
leaving trails of flames behind it. ”The information on you was limited. I
genuinely expected those two to be capable of killing you, and even if they
failed, to at least put you out of commission for a good while. It appears I
was way off.”
”To reach for true power is to subvert fate and expectations,” Miyamoto
simply spoke as water droplets formed around him as if it rained around
him.
Ell’Hakan responded by sending out a wave of golden flames as the

sunlight above intensified. Several golden orbs appeared in the sky, all of
them burning with deep flames. The Sword Saint countered as a thin mirror
of water appeared and blocked out the flames entirely.
The nahoom had taken this brief chance to move as he turned into golden
flames and appeared further back. Rising into the air, a magic circle
appeared above him as he pointed towards the Sword Saint.
He wanted to move, but Miyamoto suddenly found space itself acting up.
Like he got separated from reality itself.
”I must apologize, but I simply do not have the time to be fighting you right
now,” Ell’Hakan spoke. ”Please be so kind as to begone.”
The magic circle above him intensified in energy. Miyamoto had heard of
this, and even if it was far weaker than what was used on Jake, it was still a
very potent skill.
“Celestial Alignment of Yore.”
Everything spun as the Sword Saint was sent flying. While in the air, he
pointed his blade forward and closed his eyes. A plane of water condensed
as he inserted his sword into it. Colors began to appear on the plane, and
soon it depicted plains with a lonely small house sitting in the middle. The
painting was not made from memory but one he had painstakingly painted
only the day before.
Miyamoto willed the plane of water to move as he also stepped into it,
appearing standing on the plains only a few hundred meters from where he
had been before, a confused Ell’Hakan whipping around to see him stand
there.
”I must also apologize,” Miyamoto said, not a hint of being sorry in his
voice. ”My hobby happens to be painting.”
”That was not space magic,” Ell’Hakan said with a frown.
”No, it was not,” Miyamoto spoke.
”Then was it-”
The Sword Saint charged forward without answering as water condensed

around his blade. Ell’Hakan frowned even more as he was forced to block
and sent backward. Miyamoto did not give him time to rest as the water
droplets condensed even more around the tip of his blade as he stabbed
forward.
A single droplet was shot forward, drawing the first blood of their battle. A
thin cut tore through Ell’Hakan’s robe and left a slit on the side of his arm.
Miyamoto moved to attack again, but his opponent’s body language made
him reconsider as he stepped down hard and jumped back.
Just in time, too, as a massive beam of sunlight shot down and left a huge
scorch mark just where he would have been standing. Opening his eyes
wide, the Sword Saint swept his blade upwards and sent out a crescent
wave of water that encountered another massive beam.
It was cut in two, leaving him unscathed as the water refracted the light.
However, even so, Ell’Hakan was clearly done playing around. A dense
aura of heat spread from him as the plains themselves were set ablaze. The
sun seemed to almost turn entirely red as the sky above resonated with the
burning plains below.
”This time, I genuinely apologize. I shall take you seriously.”
The sun above pulsed as a wave of red light descended upon the plains.
Miyamoto opened his eyes wide as suddenly the sun seemed to disappear
from the sky above, only to reappear below the horizon far behind
Ell’Hakan.
”Sunrise.”
A blast of flames forced Miyamoto back. A barrier of water protected him

as he smiled. He landed on the ground and shifted his stance as he held the
handle of his blade with both hands. His boosting skill activated as he also
got serious.
”Rainblade.”
Water met fire as their two domains clashed. Ell’Hakan turned into red
flames as he stormed forward, the Sword Saint responding in kind. They
exchanged several blows, the Sword Saint slowly winning out as the
nahoom was pushed back.
So far, the only wound given had been that minor cut, but that all changed
now. Several small scratches began to appear on Ell’Hakan, but Miyamoto
did not relax. The gaze of his foe was calm and collected. He did not panic
in the slightest, even as he took a cut on his shoulder, forcing him to retreat.
Swiping his blade, the Sword Saint sent a long crescent wave of water out,
making Ell’Hakan vault over it. He pointed his trident forward and shot a
condensed beam of light, singeing the Sword Saint’s left arm slightly as he
failed to dodge in time.
Not feeling deterred, he moved forward again and pointed his blade.
“Ten Thousand Droplets.”
As he willed, ten thousand small droplets appeared and shot forward. A vast
wall of red flames met them, evaporating most, but some got through as
Ell’Hakan was hit and stumbled back with dozens of minor puncture
wounds covering his chest.
Yet he seemed relatively unbothered. The trident moved again as the middle
of the three forks lit up. The sun behind him then began rising as the
temperature rose, and the sky itself began burning. An endless inferno
descended upon the old man as he met it with the serenity of an undisturbed
lake.
Water whirled around his sword as Rainblade made his sword an instrument
of the element itself. He slashed as a wave of water appeared that rapidly
multiplied and countered the fire descending towards him. In the same fluid
movement, he positioned his blade and blocked the trident of Ell’Hakan,
feeling that the alien had gotten even stronger than before.
Physically, the Sword Saint was perhaps superior, but Ell’Hakan did not
simply rely on his physical stats. Every attack was infused with a powerful
concept. Not that the Sword Saint found himself on the backfoot due to this.
Their weapons flew through the air and clashed multiple times. Miyamoto
analyzed his opponent and slowly began to once more gain the upper hand.
With an upwards strike, he made Ell’Hakan attempt to dodge, but the blade
pivoted to the side and turned the slash into a sideway sweep.
The alien tried to teleport, but droplets of water had landed upon him to
restrict his movements ever-so-slightly. The blade sank into the side of
Ell’Hakan, but he managed to turn to flames, leaving a spray of blood in his
wake.
He appeared again a few hundred meters away, his side entirely cut up. His
left lumbar was halfway cut through in what would have been a lethal blow
pre-system. Miyamoto considered charging again but held himself back.
“The sharpness of that blade… you cut through my bones like they were
nothing,” Ell’Hakan spoke in a contemplating tone. “I wonder, why is
someone like you working for the Malefic’s Chosen? What do you have to
gain by doing so?”
The Sword Saint just smirked a bit to himself as he sheathed his blade.
“What do you have to gain by invading the planet of another Chosen? Much
less one who has nothing to do with you. You are the only one who chose to
make an enemy, not him. In my eyes, the questionable decisions in this
entire conflict are one-sided. There is an aggressor and a defender, with the
natural inclination of man being to side with the defender.”
Ell’Hakan looked at the Sword Saint a bit more before shaking his head.
“You have no reason beyond personal sentiment? Do you honestly see your
clan thrive more under the oppressive rule of the Order of the Malefic Viper
compared to the United Cities Alliance? An alliance that is even protected
by Valhal from outside forces. Meanwhile, the Order tends to make the
areas they control living hells for those not part of their cult.”
“I fail to comprehend the purpose of your words,” Miyamoto smiled. “He

who stands before you is nothing more than a simple lone swordsman.
Order, Alliance, gods. Nothing else matters when two warriors meet. Unless
you choose to continue this meeting as non-warriors, then cease your
needless words. I say this assuming you came here as a warrior, to begin
with, of course.”
The nahoom’s smile faded as Miyamoto knew something was coming.
Underestimating his foe was something he would never do, and he prepared
to draw.
Ell’Hakan raised his trident towards the sky. A beam of light descended
upon him as Miyamoto saw the air shimmer. His water droplets began to
evaporate, and his skin burned as the temperature rose even more than
before. Up in the sky, the sun now hung right above his head.
“Scorching Noon.”
Miyamoto also exploded with power as he fully activated his boosting skill
to stave off the constant exposure. Ell’Hakan also clearly did something
similar as his skin began glowing orange. The plains – now entirely clean of
vegetation - also glowed, and the Sword Saint felt the area itself feed
whatever skill the alien was using.
Fighting a foe in their territory is always more complicated.
Taking a stance, the Sword Saint drew his blade once more and, with the
draw, released a torrent of water as if he had just opened a floodgate. The
nahoom was taken by surprise and sent blasting back as Miyamoto followed
the flow of water and made a downward cut.
His blade encountered the trident, making the feet of his foe embedded in
the ground from the impact. The water covering his body allowed
Miyamoto to ignore the sunlight for now, but he felt the draw on his
resources.
Ell’Hakan responded as the trident seemed to explode, sending Miyamoto

back a few steps. Refusing to lose momentum, the old man attacked again
but was blocked. Blocked and countered. His speed fell behind his foe as he
took a minor cut on the arm and another minor scratch on his thigh. Both
wounds burned with golden flames, forcing him to expend even more
energy putting them out.
Yet he attacked again. The flow of water was relentless, and so was he.
After dodging an attack, he found an opening and stabbed forward. The
blade extended and penetrated into his foe, but as it was just a blade of
water, it failed to cut through bone.
Ell’Hakan groaned and stumbled back as his eyes burned. He raised the
trident and slammed it into the ground with both hands.
“Ember Chains.”
The flames all around the old man suddenly condensed and formed chains
as they came from all directions. He cut through several, but two managed
to wrap around his one leg, tethering him to the ground and burning him.
“Sunwrath.”
The entire world seemed to turn golden at that very moment. From above, a
massive pillar of pure light and fire descended upon the lone swordsman as
he stood chained. He knew it was too late to dodge, so he used one of his
rare defensive skills just as the attack hit.
Sunlight seared into the ground as everything around it burned, yet no one
was caught within.
Miyamoto landed on the ground a few dozen meters to the left of it while
taking a deep tired breath. He had many nasty burns all over his body, and
what little hair he had was already seared off. Where he had landed was
where he had been only ten or so seconds ago.
“Time magic,” Ell’Hakan recognized out loud. “Who the hell are you
really?”
“A swordsman,” Miyamoto simply answered. This did not please his

opponent as another dozen or so, albeit far weaker, sunbeams shot down
from the sky aimed at the old man. Not seeing himself be outdone, he also
began releasing ranged attacks, putting the alien on the defensive and
leaving a few cuts here and there on his body.
He felt a hint of tiredness from constantly fighting under the intense

sunlight, and he knew his foe was also getting tired. He knew by now he
had more than fulfilled his task, and Ms. Wells had already tried to contact
him once.
The old man had not answered, but he knew the outcome. One attempt to
contact meant victory, two meant it was a draw, and three would have
meant failure. Seeing as they had won, there was truly no reason but his
own hubris to continue the fight.
But had Jake not said a bit more selfishness was healthy? If so, the old man
would relish this opportunity to face a strong foe and show him that he, too,
had not stopped growing stronger. A Chosen was a multiversally recognized
title only given to supreme talents. Something many also apparently
considered him. Miyamoto found it weird to call himself a talent,
considering it was usually a title given to juniors, but he still wanted to
prove himself.
For the longest time, he had been resistant to having a Patron. Aeon, the
Primordial of Time, convinced him that his stance was, in many ways,
nonsensical. A Patron did not need to be someone you worshipped as much
as they could be subtle guiding lights. Moreover, the Sword Saint had found
that he and his new Patron was more alike than one would perhaps expect.
While he had not taught Miyamoto much, the old man had learned a few
things. The concept of time was vast and neverending, and comprehending
the nomological was as much about understanding yourself and your goals
as it was understanding the world. In the same way, it also requires one to
understand their position within this world.
Miyamoto knew he was a man that arguably should not even be alive. He
had seen death more than once, and each time he had overcome it, or it just
hadn’t been his time yet. He had been granted one more season. After his
fight with Jake, he realized that in this changed world, it was no longer
about accepting what you had been granted and making the best use of it. It
was as much about taking from the world.
His realizations had led to enlightenment and Transcendence. A

Transcendence was viewed as the pinnacle of what one could achieve, but
Miyamoto knew that wasn’t the case. Nothing could ever be truly perfect,
and there was nothing that could not be honed. Nothing that could not be
trained with and be used in different ways.
This was the second thing his Patron had taught him. A Transcendence was
far more than a single skill. It was a gateway and a Path. A recognition from
the world itself.
Ell’Hakan regarded him as the alien levitated into the air. Miyamoto knew
something big was coming, but he did not hold any fear. He sheathed his
blade and bent his knees as he got into position.
“Well then, swordsman,” Ell’Hakan spoke. “Please also assess me as I

assess you. Shatter my expectations more.”
His words were not spoken in a tone of mockery. There was genuine respect
in his voice, and his request was not a joke either.
The old man would oblige.
In the sky above, the sun turned entirely red. The sky was bathed orange,
and the world was set aflame. The only place untouched in the plains was a
small bubble around the Sword Saint as he stood with closed eyes,
focusing.
All of the fire and heat then began condensing above the floating figure. A
second celestial object slowly formed as a small sun was born. Ell’Hakan’s
entire body burned as he stabbed his trident into it, turning it entirely
golden.
Lowering the spear, the sun followed as it began descending towards the
Sword Saint like a giant fireball of certain destruction.
“Sunfall.”
The heat was overwhelming, and the soil and sand all around the old
swordsman began to change. Small pits of lava appeared, the sand turned to
glass, and everything that couldn’t burn melted. Yet as everything was at
the zenith… the sky darkened.
A drop of water fell upon the lava that had formed, turning it into black
obsidian. Clouds appeared and blotted out the sun as the Sword Saint
changed. His wrinkled hand turned smooth, black hair grew from his
temples, and for a moment in time, he was in the prime of his youth.
“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”
He unsheathed his blade as the heavens shook and the clouds parted.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 554 - Miscalculations & A
Third Meeting
The heat dispersed as the sun was severed in two. The world flashed as it
exploded, blanketing the entire plains in flames that washed over the old
swordsman. His stance held firm as all the fire soon enough stopped.
Clouds above were parted as if a giant blade had cut them open. Miyamoto
lowered his blade as his body wrinkled again, and his black hair turned
gray, with most of it falling off. At least the burned-off eyebrows and what
little hair he did have before getting it burned off had returned.
“A Transcendent…”
The rain had already stopped falling, and the sun above dimmed. The
Sword Saint frowned and squinted as he saw the form of Ell’Hakan be
revealed. A part of his thigh and his entire left arm had been severed, but
his stance remained strong.
Miyamoto had hoped to do more.
Ell’Hakan regarded his injuries as flames licked the wounds. The sun was
no longer red, but gentle flames still descended as Miyamoto saw them heal
the enemy Chosen. The Sword Saint considered his next move. To have a
single Glimpse was something he could do without any significant
backlash, but more than that would lead to consequences. To fully use
Springtime Advent was also an option, but one he would naturally prefer to
do without.
Just as he considered all this, his opponent dismissed his trident and floated
down, and landed on the ground.
“You called it a glimpse,” Ell’Hakan spoke. “Which must mean that should
you truly call upon it…”
The alien sighed. “You asked for my assessment. It appears you entirely fell
outside of any I could have possibly had before we fought, but now that we
have clashed, I believe I understand. You are truly just an old swordsman,
in all its purity and all its power. I thank you, but continuing this battle
would be detrimental to both of us, wouldn’t it?”
Miyamoto did not disagree. “You, too, asked for my assessment. While you
are powerful, you seem to walk different Paths. Writing a story and trying
to form a legend is not something one can force but something that is born
from truly monumental events. You can try but never guarantee success. No
strategy or plan will ever work perfectly… but I have a feeling you already
knew this.”
Ell’Hakan smiled. “Several minutes ago, I already got the message that the
Ashen Phantom Devourer has fallen. If your primary objective was to delay
me, then I will wholeheartedly admit defeat. Several miscalculations were
made, the biggest of which being the Malefic’s Chosen’s speed at getting
back and, perhaps more importantly, your existence. I heard the natives of
this world call you the Sword Saint. An earned name.”
The old man simply nodded in recognition, seeing no need to speak

anymore.
“Considering all this, I must say my goodbyes and bow out. Once more, I
thank you, this was an enlightening encounter. However, I will leave you
with a warning. While you may not see it happening now, the Order of the
Malefic Viper is a faction to be wary of. The Malefic’s Chosen may strike
you as a person worth trusting, but I felt his instability. He would not make
a good leader, and I find it highly probable that other forces will simply
make use of him until those with actual power in the Order steps up and
takes over. So decide. Either give this planet to the Order of the Malefic
Viper or find a way to push them off it entirely,” Ell’Hakan said.
Miyamoto frowned, not due to the words but what was lacking. He felt no
emotional manipulation at all, and while it was possible he could just not
detect it, he didn’t feel that was the case.
“Another miscalculation you have is in regards to Jake Thayne. I do agree

he is not a good leader, and I do not see that changing. Leading is simply
not his Path, but you view him as solely chaotic. I see more than that. You
are not the only one who has clashed with him and made an assessment, and
it is my turn to apologize now. I trust my own assessment far more than
yours, young man,” the Sword Saint answered.
“Fair enough. I hope, for your sake, your choice turns out for the best. If
not, then I am sure countless factions in the multiverse would gladly offer
you a position. Perhaps my biggest miscalculation was to focus so much on
the Malefic’s Chosen and not those who had chosen to gather around him,”
Ell’Hakan said.
“Now, I had more I wanted to do and say, but staying here only puts me
further at risk. It would be silly for me to stay only to figure out the
Malefic’s Chosen somehow had a teleportation circle set up or something
akin to that, leaving me to face a battle between two monsters. So may we
meet again, Sword Saint. It truly was a pleasure,” the nahoom spoke.
The house had been broken during the fight, but it appeared that a
teleportation circle had still been protected beneath the rubble. Ell’Hakan
turned into flames and appeared atop it, and Miyamoto made no attempt to
stop him as he teleported away, the circle exploding in his wake.
A minute or so passed as a figure of blood condensed beside the Sword

Saint. Iskar, the former Monarch of Blood, looked at Miyamoto and spoke.
“He left? I should have figured after that servant woman decided to end
herself.”
Miyamoto nodded. He took out a token and crushed it as he waited for Ms.
Wells to contact him. He reckoned by the time he did so, Ell’Hakan would
already be far gone from Earth.
Perhaps for the better. Because Ell’Hakan was not the only one who had
made major miscalculations.
Jake was about to leave towards where he had seen the nahoom as he
remembered something even more important.
“Wait, where is the loot?” Jake asked the King.
The King just looked at Jake. “It is mine. I can make far better use of it,
and this entire scenario only took place because of you. Killing the Ashen
Phantom Devourer means a victory for you against an enemy Chosen, while
it does little for me. Therefore, is it not only reasonable that I, at the very
least, get the tangible bounty?”
“You could have just said you ninja-looted it. No reason to try and justify
yourself. This is why I don’t do group hunting, by the way,” Jake said with
quite a bit of snark as he unfolded his wings and took to the sky towards
where he had seen the little observer.
He was still waiting for word from the Sword Saint on how his
confrontation with Ell’Hakan had gone. Jake was not afraid of the old man
dying in the slightest, but there was the risk of him overextending himself
using his Transcendence. Ell’Hakan dying was not even a potential
outcome in his mind.
Flying over, Jake detected a presence there. One far more powerful than
what he would expect of some nahoom scout or observer. One that also felt
oddly familiar, though he could not place where he had felt it before.
As Jake got closer, he saw a surprising sight. A nahoom was lying on the
ground, clearly unconscious, while someone in a suit of armor stood by
him. On a second inspection, the suit of armor was more like that of a
golem or something with no openings anywhere.
That was when Jake recognized him. More accurately, he recognized the
armor. He recognized the feelings of smashing that armor into the ground,
bending and tearing it apart as the person inside of it was made into a
mushy soup of flesh, blood, and bones. Jake Identified him as he flew
closer and landed a dozen or so meters away.
[Human – lvl 199]

He had to dig into his memory a little to recall the name. Thinking about it,
this was only their third-ever time meeting, and Jake reckoned it would go
the same way as every other encounter. Maybe… because he didn’t feel
anything from the other party. Not a single shred of hostility or bloodlust.
Due to the armor, Jake could not actually see the person himself, so it was
hard to really say anything quite yet.
Hence Jake opened with the most relevant question.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
And a relevant question that was. Because what the hell was he doing
there? Why had he knocked out the nahoom? Why had he clearly just been
standing back and not trying to interfere with the fight? Based on his track
record, trying to strike Jake mid-fight would totally be something he would
do, so why hadn’t he?
The young man didn’t answer, making Jake consider if maybe he had read
it wrong and he had just left the armor there, but his senses told him that
there was a human inside of it. Jake then considered if he should just rip it
open and see for himself but the young man finally spoke.
“…confront…” he said in a meek voice that Jake could barely hear even
with his Perception. He did pick up that one word, though.
“To confront me?” Jake asked. “Well, what are you waiting for then. I am
right here. Shit, shouldn’t I be the one confronting you? Did you just come
here to get your skull bashed in again, or what? Make some goddamn
sense.”
He did really consider just attacking, but he held himself back. The
situation was just too weird. William was strong. A level 199 human, a
talented mage based on all Jake had heard, and he had briefly faced Caleb
and come out on top. Yet, even so, he had done nothing ever since returning
to Earth besides that one time he decided messing with Jake’s family was a
good idea. He had missed every single World Congress despite clearly
having a Pylon. He hadn’t even taken part in the Treasure Hunt or the
Myriad Paths event, which once more made no fucking sense.
Finally, the biggest reason was the psychologist lady that Jake had spoken
with at the end of the first World Congress. He still remembered their
consersation vividly due to how weird it had been. She had been almost
apologetic about what William had done. It was not outright said that he
was a changed psycho back then, but it was heavily insinuated he was, at
the very least, not as bad as before.
Oh, and the fact that she explicitly stated that William’s experience in the
Tutorial had given him PTSD, something Jake honestly had a hard time
seeing. To suffer from something like that was far less common due to the
system, and it wasn’t like it was just something that naturally happened due
to death. Jacob had died once, Bertram had died dozens of times as far as
Jake had heard, and even the King had been killed by Jake once.
Moreover, it was the kind of thing that would disappear with time usually.
Sure, there could still be remnants, but this felt way too extreme.
Yet, as he saw the mute armor in front of him, it was hard to deny. Also, if
he did suffer from PTSD and was afraid of Jake, seeing the fight he just had
with the Ashen Phantom Devourer probably hadn’t helped the matter.
“I…” William stammered, making Jake shake his head.
“Take off that damn armor already. It didn’t help you last time, and trust me
when I say it won’t this time either.”
To his surprise, the young man obliged. The armor seemed to turn liquid as
a young human was revealed, looking very much the same as the first time
Jake saw him in the Tutorial. Visually, that is. The aura he gave off was far
removed from the one he had back then. Far more muted and meek.
Jake did not talk but just stood there staring at the kid. William didn’t even
look up but just stared at the ground. While Jake had deactivated Arcane
Awakening and was currently suffering from a period of weakness, he also
knew he could activate it right away if need be.
Not that he thought he needed to. William was about as scary as a wet
noodle the way he currently was.
“…orry…” Jake once more heard a meek voice say.
“Do you want me to go closer, or do you want to speak up?” Jake asked.
“Sorry,” the young man repeated, still staring at the ground.
“Sorry is such an easy word, isn’t it?” Jake scoffed. “What are you sorry
for? Come on, say it out loud.”
Did Jake know he was being a dick? Yes, yes, he did. Did Jake care that he
was being a dick towards William? No, no, he did not.
William had only ever been an annoyance at best to Jake. At worst, he had
been the person Jake had perhaps ever hated the most. Yet, as Jake stood
before him like this, he just felt weird about it. If someone had asked him
earlier that day what Jake would do if he met William, Jake would have first
asked who William was again and then proceeded to clarify that he would
replay their last meeting by curb-stomping him.
“The Tutorial…” William began. “Your parents… brother… Reika…

Sultan… the Church… Ell’Hakan… City Alliance… everything.”
Jake was about to say something after the first three but stopped. Reika,
Sultan, Church? Had he even helped Ell’Hakan somehow? Did he work for
the United Cities Alliance now? Rather than just get an apology, Jake felt
like he got a bunch of questions.
Realizing things were a bit more complicated, Jake wanted to get to the
bottom of it. But before all that, one more question still needed to be
answered.
“You never properly answered: why are you here? What are you hoping to
accomplish?” Jake asked.
William hesitated but finally answered. “I… am stuck.”
“I am going to assume you don’t mean literally stuck as you seem to be able
to move perfectly well, so how are you stuck?” Jake asked sarcastically.
“Evolution quest,” William muttered. “Can’t find my Path.”
Jake listened and quickly got it. Considering how much he had talked to the
Viper and how much he had heard from lessons and others, he did get the
general gist of people being stuck and unable to advance. Having a mental
block was a very common obstacle of progress. That William had Jake as a
mental block that he needed to overcome was surprising, but it probably
shouldn’t be.
“And you hoped that confronting me like this can help with that,” Jake
explained for the kid. “Which begs the question, what do you want from
me? To see if you could beat me? See if I would kill you? Well,
congratulations, you are wrong on all fronts.”
William finally seemed to stir a little as Jake kept going. “Quite frankly, I
don’t care about you. The only times your existence has even crossed my
mind was when you annoyed me. Today I had to remind myself who you
even were. You mean nothing to me and are nothing more than a bad
memory at this point. So if you want a clean break or whatever, it is entirely
one-sided, as I broke away from you long ago. But now that you have
shown up in front of me, you got me curious. Tell me what you have been
up to all this time and why the hell you thought it was a good idea to keep
fucking with the guy who already killed you once.”
Did Jake know by now that William was scared shitless of him? Well, yeah,
of course.
Did he actually care and had a desire to help William overcome this fear?
Fuck no.
He just wanted to know how big of a mess the moron had made.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 555 - 0/10 Master, Would
Not Recommend
What the actual fuck, Jake thought as William finally started stringing
together sentences more than a few words long. He began to explain what
he had done since returning from the Tutorial, and it all just felt so odd to
hear.
Right after returning, he had met up with the psychiatrist – not a

psychologist, Jake still kinda didn’t know the difference – as well as her
child. They had then set off, and William had leveled, gotten a Pylon, and
done all that one would expect someone to do in the early days of the
system.
Besides going to the first World Congress, that is. Both because William did
not want to go, but his Master had also discouraged it.
From that first mention of his Master, Jake began to notice the pattern.
William had then kept doing what he did, and… well, he had done a lot
more than Jake knew. He had met with Reika and talked to her while she
made her way to Haven. He had met Sultan at some point too, and he had
even met Jacob several times. As for what he had done with them? Well…
asked them questions and talked to them or something like that?
Jake asked why he did what he did, and his answer was consistent. It was
what his Master had recommended. Not even William knew the purpose of
much of what he did; he was effectively just reading a script. As time went
on, it also sounded like he started to question Eversmile less and less.
The Treasure Hunt? His Master had also told him going to that was a bad
idea and that it would be better to head for where Jake and Caleb’s parents
lived to learn more about Jake.
Second World Congress? William had considered going, but his Master had
once more said it would be a waste of time.
William had also helped Ell’Hakan by proxy as he helped awaken

memories in beasts. Why he had done this, the young man admitted he
didn’t know. He said as much quite clearly, yet one thing lacked. There was
no real questioning anymore, just an admittance he didn’t know.
He also mentioned the nightmares. From the time William had nearly died
while killing Richard, he had suffered from nightmares whenever he slept
and even sometimes while he meditated. After Jake had killed him for real,
the nightmares had only gotten worse, and Jake was apparently the primary
topic of these nightmares.
So that explained why the PTSD just kept trucking along and seemed to not
get better even with a professional like Ms. Kim around. Oh yeah, William
talked about Ms. Kim a lot. Enough for Jake to feel weird about it.
The final thing that really put the nail in the coffin was the Myriad Paths
event. His Master had said that William already knew his Path and didn’t
need it. It was with this last one Jake especially caught on. That he truly
took note of the one commonality in all of William’s horrible decisions after
the Tutorial.
“Holy shit,” Jake said after William was done talking. By now, he had taken
a seat on a stone with William having barely moved besides shifting his feet
here and there.
One thing was clear from all of this. Clear to Jake, but not William, that is.
Eversmile, William’s Master, did not actually give a shit about William or
his progress in the slightest. No, that wasn’t even right. It was more than
that. Eversmile had been actively handicapping William for some
inexplicable reason, and Jake had no idea why.
“Did you never stop to think for yourself for a single second?” Jake asked
William. While William was a naïve moron, the young man had not given
Jake the impression he was a complete idiot. Was the fact that he was being
fucked over not evident enough?
William seemed confused by the question. At this point, Jake’s annoyance

at encountering the young man had nearly been entirely replaced with
curiosity to figure out what the hell was going on. Almost. He also wasn’t
quite at the stage where pity became a thing.
“Eversmile, or Master as you call him, is clearly the reason why you can’t
advance in your Path,” Jake easily concluded. “Seriously, what the fuck is
wrong with you? He has been cutting off your legs beneath you at every
turn to handicap you. Jeez, how blind are you?”
“I… Master is the only reason I even made it as far as I did and-“ William
tried to argue, actually showing a bit of spirit.
“Bull-fucking-shit,” Jake scoffed. “Who the hell can’t evolve to C-grade

with the kind of start you got, being blessed by a Primordial and all that?
Shit, even without the events, you should have been able to. Think for just a
single second here. If your dear Master guided you so thoroughly, then why
are you still stuck? Why is the Path he has shown you not one that works? I
would begin to question my GPS if it made me drive into a wall.”
William did not answer but just looked confused. He also looked up for the
first time, made eye contact with Jake, and promptly proceeded to look
back down. In that brief second that they exchanged glances, what Jake saw
in William’s eyes surprised him a bit. There was only fear and what Jake
could almost describe as hopelessness.
It reminded him a bit of Phillip, the man who used to lead the Fort. He, too,
had given up and more or less retired, with no desire to really do anything,
and approached everything half-heartedly. Yet he had bounced back. Even
now, he was holding down the fort in Haven while keeping all those from
the United Cities Alliance in a political chokehold.
Jake just signed. “Alright, let’s go over things a bit. First of all, why did you
go to Nevermore? What did you gain from it? You did not use the power
and temporary advantage for anything as far as I can tell.”
“Master said I would need it…” William muttered.
Jake just sighed again.
“You know, I asked the Viper if I should maybe head to Nevermore. Wanna
hear what he said? That the only reason one would go to Nevermore in D-
grade was if one didn’t think they would make it to C-grade, had no true
confidence in their ability to compete as a C-grade, or because they were
fanatics part of the Primordial Church that went there for scholarly reasons
or whatever. I, of course, asked why, and he explained that Nevermore has a
few rules and restrictions. Due to this, then while one can enter at D-grade,
it is smarter to wait for C-grade. Also, one can enter some competition or
leaderboard or something like that if entering still in early C-grade, but if
one went in D-grade, that isn’t possible,” Jake explained.
“That…” William hesitated. “Master never mentioned that, I-“
“If you don’t trust me, then maybe ask yourself why Ell’Hakan hasn’t gone
either. Why no one from Earth has gone beside you. The answer is simple:
because it is a bloody dumb idea,” Jake reiterated. “You are aware I have
been outside of the universe. I spent months at a time away. Why would I
not have gone to Nevermore? I am waiting for C-grade, that is why.”
William kept quiet as Jake kept going.
“Also, you talk about nightmares. Pretty funny now that I think about it. I
have only had one real nightmare since the system arrived, and you know
why that was? Because Eversmile was the one who caused it to mess with
me. And now you say you are suffering from nightmares? What a
coincidence, eh?” Jake said, shaking his head.
“Skipping all of the system events was also moronic. You kept saying your
Master said they were not needed or a bad idea, which just leads me back to
the same question from before: did you ever stop to fucking think? Why did
my Patron recommend going? Why did Valhal, the Court of Shadows, Holy
Church, or every single faction with just a fraction of knowledge of the
multiverse put such importance on these events? Because they do matter. It
isn’t about having found your Path or not; it is about the sheer amount and
level of Records offered from these events. They are our advantage as a
new universe.”
“It… makes no sense,” William actually argued. “Why would Master spend
so many resources to revive me? Why bless me? Why spend so much time
just to harm me? What could he possibly gain from me not taking part in
events?”
“Fuck if I know,” Jake admitted. “Eversmile is insane. He is a scientist who

just does shit to see what happens. But I do know why he wanted you out of
events.”
It was actually quite simple. Others had already made use of this “feature”
of the system events, such as Jacob when he warned Casper about the
planned attack of the Holy Church on the Risen.
“The system restricts all outside connections during these events, including
divine ones. While in the World Congress or Treasure Hunt or whatever,
you can’t talk to them, and more importantly, you can’t be influenced by
them,” Jake explained. “So that is clearly why he didn’t want you there.
Geez, how much did he fuck with your mind, I wonder? Any idea?”
The last part was not spoken to William. The two of them had been there
for some time, and that seemed to have attracted the attention of a certain
Unique Lifeform. The King had appeared from below the ledge close by
and landed on the ground.
“The metal mage,” the King simply said. “I remember him. He killed one
of the Beast Lords during the Tutorial, did he not? Ah, yes. I observed him
too for a while until he met his end to you. How does he even live? All I
remember was seeing him die, and then I was unable to observe the area for
a period.”
The King had spoken to both William and Jake despite clearly not caring
much about the young metal mage. Jake did not want to explain either but
just gave the cliff notes. “Killed by me, resurrected by a Primordial who
loves karmic magic, and now it looks like the disciple of the karmic fucker
has become the one being fucked with.”
“Explains some things,” the King merely said.
“Like what?” Jake asked curiously.
“His pathetic state,” the King pointed out, his interest in the conversation
waning by the second.
Jake considered what the King said and nodded. “True, he does seem like
an entirely different person, and not only in a positive way. He is like a
damn husk of nothingness.”
William did not argue any of this as he just looked to be deep in thought.
Jake decided to change the topic a bit as he pointed to the knocked-out
nahoom on the ground.
“What’s up with him?” Jake asked. “I can see you knocked him out, but
why did you do that? I thought you worked with Ell’Hakan.”
“I did,” William said. “Maybe. I helped guide the Ashen Phantom Devourer
towards this mountain range, and I helped bring together some powerful
beasts and stuff.”
The King finally seemed interested again. “You work with those
annoyances? Explains why they came together if a third party was
facilitating it.”
“Back to the nahoom,” Jake said. “Why knock him out?”
“I didn’t want him to know about this,” William answered, confused.
“What I was asking was not necessarily why you stopped him from
observing but why you knocked him out. Not to unnecessarily bring up the
past, but your go-to tends to be just killing people without any particular
reason, doesn’t it?” Jake asked curtly.
“I… try not to kill…” William said. “Ms. Kim said that taking a life needs
to be a deeply considered action, not just something you do.”
“Now I feel like you are calling me out,” Jake shook his head, not sure to
even believe it. “So, the psycho turned all saintly, huh? Then tell me. What
are you going to do now? You know, considering you have been fucked
over by your so-called Master so badly, I could just do you a favor and end
you here and now? That is one way to pay for all your sins if you feel bad
about everything you’ve done.”
William actually looked like he seriously considered it for a moment but

finally just shook his head.
“I promised Ms. Kim…” William said in a meek tone.
“So what are you doing then? From the looks of it, you haven’t renounced
your Blessing yet. Pretty sure I would feel that, so what is the hold-up?”
Jake said.
“I… Master isn’t answering… but… this doesn’t make any fucking sense!”
William finally exploded and looked up. “No fucking sense! Master has
helped me so much, spent ages teaching me karmic magic, guided me,
given me tips and advice, and you say that was all to fuck with me!?”
“Sounds like it,” Jake shrugged.
“Why!? Give me one good reason! Why use the Leaf of Yggrasil, why give
me a powerful weapon, why help me find the people I wanted to find after
returning to Earth, and why help me awaken my Bloodline!? Why would he
do all of this for some sick joke!?”
Jake was about to answer but bit onto something towards the end of his
outburst.
“Bloodline?” Jake asked, confused.

“Yes! My Bloodline! You have one, right? So do I! So why are we so
different! Why-“
“The mere fact you ask if I have a Bloodline is evidence enough,” Jake
said.
“Evidence of what!?”
“You don’t have a fucking Bloodline, you dunce. Was that another damn lie
he told you? I guess he didn’t tell you that everyone with a Bloodline can
feel others with one. I have met those with Bloodlines, and you sure don’t
have one. Oh, Eversmile probably told you some bullshit about this being a
lie or something, right? Damn, hit that right on the nail, huh?” Jake said,
tossing in the last part as he saw William about to protest.
“I have a Bloodline… the system says so,” William still argued.
“Do you have a Bloodline Patriarch title?” Jake asked.
“…no?” Wiliam asked.
“Well, the other guy from Earth with a Bloodline does. I do. Shit, this is
getting more personal than I like, but what is your Bloodline about? Just
some basic stuff,” Jake said.
William clamped up to that, but the King came in and asked. “At the very
least, share the rarity. If you do so, then the hunter shall share too, will he
not?”
Jake was confused about what the hell the King was getting at, considering
Bloodline did not really have rarities, but he quickly understood what the
King was hinting at. “Yeah, sure, that seems fair enough.”
The young man hesitated for a bit but finally answered. “Mine is ancient
rarity…”
“A lie it is. Bloodlines do not truly have rarities,” the King answered before
Jake could. “They are classified as Bloodline Abilities and not skills, to
begin with, even having their own spot in the status screen, making them
not part of your race, class, or profession. The only rarity a Bloodline can
have is Unique, and that only appears if you are the only being in existence
with your specific Bloodline.”
Jake threw the King a look of surprise at how much he knew about
Bloodlines. What he said was entirely correct and aligned with what Jake
had learned and experienced.
William now looked even more lost than before as he just stared at the two
of them. Several seconds passed before Jake spoke again.
“I really hope we established by now that Eversmile is a right-bastard, and

honestly a piece of shit of a Primordial. Oh, and apparently also a horrible
teacher.”
The young metal mage did not respond but had gone back to staring at the
ground.
“The young metal caster I saw during the Tutorial was a human with drive
and goals. One who sought power selfishly and slaughtered anything in his
way. I am not saying that version was better, but at least he moved
according to his own will and not the will of another. You may think you
have changed, but fundamentally I do not believe you humans can truly
change that much,” the King said.
“Oh, yeah, definitely,” Jake agreed. “You were a grade-A asshole, but at
least you were a grade-A asshole of your own twisted volition. I totally
understand why the system would say you need to find your Path because
you seem to have completely lost all will to actually progress. Why are you
even getting stronger? What for? Just to make the Master that you now
learned is a lying piece of shit happy?”
“I… don’t know,” William muttered.
“Well, sounds like something you need to figure the fuck out. You don’t
even need a good reason to want to get stronger; it just needs to be your
reason. Your Path.”
Jake’s words seemed to sink in as William looked deep in thought. Jake felt
proud he was getting through as he suddenly felt a mental nudge.
The King looked at Jake and sent him a private telepathic idea. “May I
know why you decided to help a former enemy overcome this obstacle?”
Jake looked at the King, puzzled. He was about to answer when he stopped
himself.
“I… kinda just got caught up in the moment?”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 556 - End of Conflict: The
Start of Another
The King had indeed asked a very pertinent question. Why the hell was
Jake even wasting a second of his time on William? The little psycho was
not an ally, a friend, or even an acquaintance. Shit, he was worse than a
stranger in that he was a former enemy.
However, Jake’s curiosity had won out. Eversmile was someone who had
fucked with Jake before, and Jake had assumed that William was his
favored little disciple, but now it turned out that he, too, was just another
guinea pig to be fucked with and discarded.
Or was he? That was the big question. Was all of this a part of Eversmile’s
plan? Maybe the plan was that Jake should kill William and somehow form
a karmic connection between Eversmile and Jake? Maybe it was for
William to try and kill Jake or something?
Maybe Jake had no fucking idea and should probably stop guessing what a
Primordial that had lived for trillions of years was thinking? Even Villy said
he didn’t truly understand Eversmile and found him perhaps the most
unpredictable of all the Primordials.
Now, what would Jake then do? He still had the option of just killing
William, but that just seemed too damn meaningless. He did not give Jake
the impression he would even fight, meaning he would likely just run away
if Jake tried anything. Could Jake catch him? Maybe, but what would he get
out of that? Jake didn’t even think it would give a single level.
What the future threat level of William represented was also something to
assess. Jake could, for obvious reasons, not accurately predict this, but his
gut told him it was low-to-nonexistent. William was still scared of Jake, and
Jake was totally okay with that. He had also not really done anything to
harm Jake or those around him since returning to Earth, and the ambiguous
things he had done, like messing with Jake’s parents, had not resulted in any
harm and were done under the pretense of Eversmile ordering it.
Jake waited a bit around with the King as William seemed to consider what
Jake had said about finding his own Path. It took a bit, but Jake didn’t feel
like he was in a rush considering he was still recuperating from using
Arcane Awakening. Was meditating a better use of his time? Probably, but it
was also infinitely less entertaining.
”I…” William finally began. ”I just fuck everything up…”
”Not going to argue with that one. You do have a pertinacity to fuck things
up,” Jake agreed snarkily.
”Every time I decide what to do, it just ends up fucked,” William began
muttering. ”The Tutorial was… horrible.”
”To be fair,” Jake said. ”If not for me, you would have probably succeeded.
I heard a bit from the Viper about what would have happened if not for me,
and things would have turned out infinitely better for you. Not better in the
sense that you would have killed the final boss like I did, but way better
than getting bitch-slapped into ground paste within your tin can armor.
”Oh, though, I can’t say what would have happened after. No one could
besides maybe Eversmile, and who knows if he even has a clue? I don’t
wanna try to figure out what he is trying to do. Trying to understand crazy
sounds like an excellent way to waste your time,” Jake shrugged.
”Everything in the Tutorial was me…” William said, having registered but
clearly not digested Jake’s words. ”I killed people for barely anything…”
”Why does this human take such issue with ending the lives of his own
species?” the King asked Jake but spoke out loud so both could hear it. ”Is
it not natural to want to establish dominance over your own kin? To kill
them is the ultimate sign of supremacy.”
”Eh, humans aren’t as ultra-individualistic as you Unique Lifeforms. We are
flock animals, and probably due to evolutionary reasons, we are inherently
resistant to killing or seeing those of our own species killed. Establishing
dominance over others was usually done in ways that did not cause too
great harm. Didn’t want your gatherer to have broken hands or be unable to
work and all that. Not that humans don’t also love killing each other, but we
usually do it for greater reasons than simply to prove we are better than
someone else. Greater reasons that often end up just being bullshit, but if
the flock decides it is acceptable, it becomes acceptable. Those who did kill
people for what others would view as trivial reasons were very much
ostracized as they posed a danger to the stability of the flock,” Jake
explained.
Probably not entirely scientifically accurate, but that was at least how Jake
had understood things from his social studies and biology classes.
”From my understanding, William here was what we called a psychopath.

An inherently broken human without the ability to feel empathy and thus
unable to properly integrate and operate within the flock. He could wear a
mask and act like a flock member, but it was all an act. When the Tutorial
hit, he could finally unleash crazy, and as he didn’t feel anything when
killing other humans, he could do so easily. In retrospect, being at least a bit
of a psycho is probably an advantage in this new world,” Jake continued.
Again, Jake was not a psychologist or psychiatrist. The fact he didn’t really
know the difference between the two should be a dead giveaway of that.
The last part was mostly what he understood from his talk with that Ms.
Kim lady during the World Congress.
”He then evolved, and with evolution got this little imbalance fixed, making
him able to feel empathy and emotions and all that again,” Jake finished
explaining to the King.
”The more I learn of you humans, the more I realize how flawed of a
species you are,” the King just scoffed.
”Flawed enough to have kicked your ass,” Jake smirked.

”You speak as if you are not also a fundamentally broken human based on
your own description. You, too, slaughter your own kin without mercy and
dominate them unhesitantly. Does that not make you as flawed as he was?”
the King jabbed at Jake.
”Did I ever argue I wasn’t a bit out of the ordinary?” Jake answered, not
really caring about the King’s judgment in that area. Was Jake a perfectly
stable and healthy person mentally? Fuck no, but he also didn’t see why he
should be. If he wanted to reach abnormal levels of power, being a bit
abnormal was only to be expected.
Also, there was this little minor detail of his Bloodline being a thing. If Jake
becoming more stable and considered ”mentally sound” would result in him
hampering his true nature, then what the hell was the point of that? He
remembered surpressing himself and it sucked.
Returning to the topic at hand, Jake regarded William.
”Sure, you used to fuck everything up, so just stop doing that,” Jake easily
advised. ”If you don’t know how to not fuck shit up, then don’t you have
some less crazy people around you by now like that Ms. Kim lady? Use her;
she seems interested in helping you, so let her. But cut off that asshole
Eversmile like the tumor he is.”
”What if… Master must have a reason to-”
”Sure he fucking does, but his reason is entirely selfish and clearly not for
your good,” Jake said, getting a bit tired of how dense William was. Then
again, he had undergone years of indoctrination, so maybe it was only
natural.
”I can’t just…” William muttered again.
”Yes, you can. Take some god damn agency. Look, how about this. Join the
next World Congress, no matter what anyone says or does. See if that
changes anything,” Jake said. ”Or, you can just stop chickening out and get
rid of it now. Find your own Path. If your Master truly cares, he will reach
out when you evolve to C-grade. Shit, shouldn’t he be happy if you figure
out how to evolve, even if that evolution comes from cutting him off?
Sounds like a win-win.”
Alright, that logic was a bit flawed, but Jake didn’t bother trying to come up
with something better. Why would he? His stakes in William ”getting
better” were low as hell. He still wasn’t even sure why he was helping the
kid. I blame that damn psychologist… or was she a psychiatrist?
William actually seemed to be considering his words. After thinking a bit,

he frowned as if he had detected something. He looked to the side and
sighed.
”Ell’Hakan just left the planet,” William said.
”How do you even know tha-”
*You have successfully defeated and pushed a higher-leveled enemy

Chosen off your planet – A new feat has been accomplished. Bonus
experience earned*


Jake didn’t continue what he was about to say as he stared at the

notifications. What the hell?
Five damn levels had just randomly landed on his lap, and Jake was
confused about what had just happened. Okay, the system explained what
had happened, but five levels? Really? Jake hadn’t even fought the guy
himself.
Shaking his head, Jake knew he would have a conversation with Villy after
he was dealing with a certain former psychopath.
”It appears he has,” Jake recognized. ”But how do you know?”
”Karma,” William just said. ”Everyone of his subordinates he brought with

him are also gone besides the one lying right here and two that managed to
hide shortly after coming to Earth. They may also be gone, I don’t know.”
”How sure are you?” Jake asked with a frown.
”Ell’Hakan does not have the ability to obscure himself from karma like
you do…” William muttered.
That is when Jake did realize something. Had Eversmile fucked William in
incredibly many ways? Yes… but he had taught him karmic magic in a
genuine fashion. Sensing someone powerful, especially someone with a
Bloodline like Ell’Hakan, was not easy, but from the sounds of it, William
could do so rather effortlessly. Jake also didn’t feel like it was just
something William was deceived into thinking, considering the system had
just confirmed the Chosen was indeed gone. Jake knew Karma was in no
way simple either... it was some weird shit.
What is your goal, Eversmile? Jake asked himself once more.
”Well, that is one issue fixed, but it also means I have to get going. The
World Congress is in…” Jake trailed off towards the end as he wasn’t
actually sure.
”Twenty-eight days, four hours, and eighteen minutes, soon to be

seventeen,” the King spoke.
Jake just looked at the King and shook his head. What a nerd.
”Yeah, in a bit under a month. Go there and see how it feels to not have a
god living rent-free in your head,” Jake said. ”Or better yet, evict that god
here and now and renounce your Blessing. I am not going to tell you what
to do, but I will give you one warning. I don’t care if Eversmile or the entire
fucking collective of Primordials ask you to do it: if you mess with my
family or friends again, we will have a repeat of the Tutorial. We clear?”
William just nodded a bit meekly, building up the confidence to ask: ”What
about the nahoom?”
Jake looked at the unconscious alien. ”Not like torture has ever worked for
shit, and I am not a fan of it anyway. Do with him what you may.”
He turned to leave as William spoke again, as much to himself as Jake. ”Is

this really it?”
Jake turned his head. ”What did you expect? I am not your friend, but I
don’t bother seeing you as an enemy, either. Figure your shit out, and if you
want to come after me for revenge after that, then you are more than
welcome. Just don’t be like that alien fuck and come at me straight.”
William did not say anything but just stood silently. He looked up to the sky
as Jake summoned his wings again. The King made his intent to follow
Jake known as the two of them headed off, leaving William alone with the
knocked-out nahoom.
As he flew away, he faintly felt the aura of William change behind him.
Jake smiled as he got his second weird notification of the day.
*You have successfully turned a disciple of a Primordial away from their

Master, leading them towards the Path of a heretic – A new feat has been
accomplished. Bonus experience earned*

One more thing also became clear. Jake had really underestimated the weird
ways he could level his profession. It turned out doing stuff one would
expect of a Heretic-Chosen actually counted. Who would have thought?
Anyway, Jake had the King follow him as they began flying upwards. Jake
had wondered if the King didn’t need to stay, but he said there was no
reason to. Soon the word that the Ashen Phantom Devourer was dead would
spread, and as long as it was known he lived, nothing else mattered. The
beasts that held doubt would be turn towards the King.
The King also said that sticking around Jake was probably safer during his
period of weakness. Which was a good point, as Jake had a feeling that
defeating the King here and now would be incredibly easy. His aura was
still scary, but it was clearly a front. One that would fool most, but Jake saw
right through it.
As for why they were flying upwards? Well, it hadn’t been that long, but
Jake needed to get back to Haven, and considering the lack of teleporters
available, he went for something nearly equally as good. On second
thought, something many would consider superior.
A giant space worm.
Within a house floating through the endless space of an empty part of an

unknown universe, a single figure sat and stared out into the nothingness.
Eversmile’s smile grew as he felt the Blessing be denounced, and he felt the
karmic link change. Several more threads in the tapestry also underwent
subtle changes as a cascade effect began. Some of these changes were not
as he had predicted, but that was the beauty of an experiment like that. The
unpredictability of it all.
The Malefic’s Chosen and his dear, now former, disciple were sure to bring
him many surprises in the future. Seeing as everything was going as it
should, he contacted his mortal associate to let the person know that they
were moving on to the next phase of the experiment.
Back in Haven, the entire situation had turned quite lively. The nahoom
stationed there had promptly left, and those from the United City Alliance
were perplexed. They knew a battle had occurred, but not why it had
happened or who was fighting.
So when Miyamoto walked into Haven, they were more than a little taken
aback. When only an hour later, a group of people teleported into the plains
outside of Haven, things changed even more. This group naturally consisted
of Miranda, Neil, Hank, Lillian, and all the others who had gone to the
Grand Mangrove River.
That day, it became clear to everyone.
Ell’Hakan had lost, and with that, the United Cities Alliance was about to
have a very bad time, and the winds of change were blowing directly
against them
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 557 - Towards Haven We
Go
Jake and the King didn’t really encounter anything of note as they both flew
skyward at a relaxed speed. Both were in weakened states, and while Jake
was quickly recovering, the King was not. Hence why they took a relaxed
approach.
On the way up, Jake infused some energy into the rock that was totally not
an egg that he had received from Sandy. It had only been a few hours since
they parted, and Jake would lie if it wasn’t a bit weird that he was already
back again, but it wasn’t his fault he sucked at predicting his own future
plans.
Okay, it probably was his fault, but in Jake’s defense, he had been
somewhat mentally occupied with taking down the Ashen Phantom
Devourer.
“You mentioned that you made it here with the help of a C-grade entity,”
the King said as they flew up.” Will this entity be willing to assist both of
us?”
About now, it should probably be made clear that Jake had not shared much
of how he had traveled across the world, much less talked about Sandy. He
just said he had made an ally that could help him traverse the world far
faster than by himself, and that was why he had time to strategize and such
even while moving forward.
No actual details about Sandy had been shared for several reasons. The
primary of which being that Jake just didn’t like sharing information about
others without permission. Telling everyone who Sandy was and Sandy’s
abilities just didn’t sit right with him, so he kept things simple.
Moreover, Sandy was not the type of worm that one should be told about.
Sandy was the kind of worm one just had to experience.
“I am sure it will be fine,” Jake said to the King as they soon reached the
layer of clouds Sandy could operate in.
Jake and the King stopped as Jake kept watch to make sure no C-grade
decided they looked like prey. Neither was in good condition to have a
serious fight, so they would rather just wait for Sandy to make it there.
Ten or so minutes passed before Jake felt an aura approach. Jake looked up
and saw Sandy descend from a layer of clouds above the one they were in.
Jake smiled, but his smile quickly froze as he felt more auras. Several more
auras.
All of them were far more powerful than Sandy’s, making them at or near
mid-tier C-grade.
“EAT BOTH AND GO!?” Jake heard Sandy’s voice yell in his head from
afar.
“Yes!” Jake confirmed.
“Don’t resist the pull,” Jake warned the King, and just in time too.
With great speed, Sandy barreled down and opened their mouth as Jake and
the King were gobbled up. Sandy then quickly began flying close to the
layer of clouds leading to the lower-leveled region below.
Inside the stomach, the King had stopped to admire what had happened
while Jake stared outside. There, far up in the air, several figures now
emerged. There were more than a dozen of them, and as they got closer,
Jake got a proper look.
It was a group of griffins. Dense wind magic revolved around them as they
tried to chase down Sandy, who was flying away at an equally fast pace.
”Sandy…” Jake said. ”Why are they chasing you?”
He kind of already knew, but he just had to ask anyway.
”Greed is indeed a sad thing. I have personally always believed that

sharing is caring. That is the true way of the worms,” Sandy said with a
holier-than-though tone.
”You stole something from them?”
”Permanently borrowed sounds nicer,” Sandy said with a bit of cheek

before promptly changing the subject. ”I barely managed to get in a snack
before you came back. What happened, and who is that scary as hell thing
you also made me eat?”
”I am aware you are speaking about me,” the King interrupted, being all
scary by picking up on them speaking telepathically. ”Incredibly
interesting, this place. We appear to be within the Soulshape, and yet at the
same time not. Some undefined space, perhaps?”
”Yeah, I was just about to tell Sandy who you are,” Jake said. ”Oh, by the
way, this is Sandy. Sandy is a friend of mine and also happens to be the
Chosen of Snappy. Or, well, the Boundless Hydra, Lord Protector of the
Order of the Malefic Viper, is probably his official title.”
”I see,” the King said, not putting much weight on such titles.
Jake proceeded to explain to Sandy what the two of them had been up to
and where they were headed. Sandy was only semi-distracted as the griffins
managed to pour their magic into their strongest member, making the beast
shoot forward with incredible speed, catching up to Sandy.
This resulted in claws scratching Sandy’s rock-like skin and a lot of wind
magic trying to rip Sandy to threads. This kept on for a while, and the worm
began to take damage as Sandy decided it all got a bit too much, activated
some skill akin to Jake’s One Step, thus teleporting them forward tens of
kilometers five times in a row.
I am more surprised Sandy couldn’t make a wormhole,Jake joked to
himself… fully aware that Sandy potentially could make a wormhole, and
even if they couldn’t now, then Sandy no doubt would be able to in the
future.
During their talk, Sandy managed to get far enough away for the griffins to
give up, resulting in the worm once more getting away with a successful
robbery. After Jake explained everything, they had some small talk as Jake
moved on to the next topic at hand.
Jake had already made Miranda aware the Ashen Phantom Devourer was
gone, but he still needed to talk to her and the Sword Saint. He wanted to
know what had gone down in Haven and let them know he was coming
with post-haste.
The King and Sandy seemed to strike up a conversation as Jake took out a
token and infused some energy. He waited for a few minutes, but nothing
happened. Jake frowned, wondering what was up. He was not nervous but
just guessed that she was probably busy as she also planned on heading
straight for Haven once Ell’Hakan was gone.
Instead, he turned his attention towards a certain god he knew had to be

waiting for his telepathic phone call.
And he clearly had based on how fast the Viper responded.
”My Chosen comes out victorious in this first chapter of the story, huh?”
Villy said. ”Though I am more interested in your little interaction with that
metal caster.”
”I figured,” Jake said, also primarily wanting to talk about that. ”So, off the
cuff, thoughts on what went down? Should I just have killed him?”
”Maybe, maybe not,” Villy said. ”What I can say is that no matter what
you did, there was no winning if you view your true opponent as Eversmile.
Because he is not about winning or losing, to begin with. No matter the
outcome, it is still a result and thus a data point for him. So, I guess in a
sense, you could say he succeeds no matter what, as even no result would
still be a result worth noting for him.”
”I get that part. Kind of. Eversmile is a maniac, but I don’t think he is
stupid… why waste so much on William? There must have been easier ways
to get someone like him than all the mess he went through,”Jake said.
”The metal caster is unique. His state before the system, where his brain
itself deviated from the norm, is not something you will ever see with the
system present. It simply can’t be there, so him being in that state before
already makes him interesting. You also misunderstand something…
Eversmile’s investment is not only due to the caster but who the caster was
killed by. The person who just made his former follower into a heretic. You
are as much a subject of his experiment as the caster is. And, if I am
perfectly honest, so too am I due to our out-of-the-ordinary relationship as
Patron and Chosen,”Villy explained.
Jake nodded along, once more reaffirming to himself that trying to

understand what Eversmile was truly up to was a waste of time.
”Any comments on what else has been going on?” Jake asked.
”Not much; things seemed to go as you wanted. But one piece of advice.
Keep your useful relationships intact. I initially wasn’t sure if it was even
something for you, but Nevermore has a dungeon path that is suited for
parties, and seeing as you and quite a few of those around you will reach C-
grade around the same time, it seems like an obvious thing to participate
in,” Villy said. ”Besides that, I don’t really have much to add. Outside of
you potentially understanding why Yip’s Chosen went after you and why
that is not necessarily a bad thing.”
”Definitely did get more out of making him leave than expected,” Jake
agreed. ”Do you think he will keep making problems?”
”Oh, Jake… this was just the first arc of your story. I am sure there is far
more to come, and the fact that Yip has not made any moves himself either
is proof of this. Better be prepared to keep dealing with him and others who
may want to make trouble for you in the future,” Villly said a bit teasingly.
Jake sighed. ”I guess my intentions towards Earth is a good call then?”
”Depends on what you want out of your home planet, but I would overall
say that is the best course of action. One that will also hopefully come with
other rewards down the line while also assisting those around you,” Villy
semi-agreed. ”Anyway, I have some stuff to deal with myself to prepare for
what is to come. Keep up the good work. Ah, one final note. It should be
possible for you to make another teleporter out of your universe quite a bit
easier now if you make use of those snakes in the mangrove. One of them
has some talent in space magic, so I would look into that.”
“Noted,” Jake said. ”Good luck with whatever you are up to… actually,
what are you up to?”
He felt Villy’s amusement as the god answered. ”Visiting an old friend and
looking into some equipment upgrades of my own. You are not the only one
who has gear that has fallen behind. I haven’t had a good upgrade in Eras,
you know?”
Jake was a bit surprised, even if he probably shouldn’t be. It only made
sense that gods also needed equipment and also that Villy could use
equipment even if he had been a beast in his mortal days. Ascending to
godhood changed things in ways Jake didn’t know yet and had no desire to
find out. At least not yet. He would figure it out when he became a god
himself or at least got a bit closer to godhood.
The two of them casually chatted a bit longer before cutting the connection.
In the real world – Sandy’s stomach – the King looked absentminded, likely
talking to Sandy. About what, he had no idea, and he didn’t want to snoop
either. Instead, he entered Serene Soul Meditation and dove into his
Soulshape to check up on things.
Miranda had not spent a lot of time around the Sword Saint prior to her
return to Haven. She had talked to him quite a lot during this entire
planning stage, but that had also been their first real interaction. Everything
else she knew about him had been hearsay.
She had feared that when she returned to Haven, there would be some
issues, but she soon learned that the old swordsman was as domineering as
Jake. Within an hour of their return, the people from the United Cities
Alliance had been captured and contained, with those fighting back
promptly seeing their heads removed from their shoulders.
This allowed Miranda to go to her old office without having to deal with
many other things. When she entered the building, all of the former
attendants looked at her with relief, the city having been rather tumultuous
for the last few hours with an old man cleaning house.
Miranda greeted the attendants as Lillian took charge of the former leaders
of the Haven, who had, fortunately, all survived this endeavor. In fact, the
people from the United City Alliance had not killed a single soul or even
caused any real problems besides slowly undermining Phillip, who had
been the temporary leader.
Entering her office, Miranda instantly saw the mess of papers. It had clearly
been searched through, and no one had bothered to clean it up, not even the
man sitting behind the desk.
”Enjoyed being the leader for a little while again?” Miranda asked Phillip,
who looked bored out of his mind.
”Thank god you are back,” Phillip sighed. ”I must admit, for a moment, it
was nostalgic, but that is only until I remembered how tedious it could get.
At least you are back now, and from what I heard, you have already finished
cleaning things up. Ah, speaking of cleaning… you should go look at the
cellar later.”
Miranda smiled, knowing exactly what was in the cellar. ”Things are indeed
being restored to how they were. I will go down and look later, but for now,
I will need to focus on properly getting a handle on things. Having not been
here for so long, I have quite a few issues to deal with, and the system has
bombarded me with messages to me as the City Lord.”
”Good luck with it all,” Phillip said with some schadenfreude. ”How about
Lord Thayne? Will he be returning too?”
”He is on his way here,” Miranda answered as Phillip finally got up from
the seat and stretched.
”Good to hear; that means I can finally leave,” Phillip smiled. ”One thing…
Lord Thayne should probably go check with Arnold once he is back. I
heard he had several private talks with that orange fellow, and I don’t know
what they talked about, only that even the United Cities Alliance left him
alone. Considering the emotion-affecting Bloodline… I don’t like the
situation.”
”I will let him know,” Miranda nodded as she frowned. She had a hard time
seeing the man choose to ally with the nahoom… but… it was possible. No
one truly understood him, and dependent on what he was offered, it was
possible he had changed alliances. She would leave it up to Jake to find out.
”Well then, I will be on my way. I haven’t been able to indulge myself for
months,” Phillip smiled as he waved while heading out of the office. ”Say
hi to the peacekeepers for me.”
Miranda just shook her head as he headed off. He had changed quite a bit
after the Myriad Paths event, but he still had the qualifications of a leader.
One of the reasons he had been put in charge was because of the
peacekeepers of Haven. They were effectively the police force, and most of
them were old soldiers from the Fort. Considering the peacekeepers were
already respected, she could see how the United Cities Alliance had issues
taking control. Though they had made quite some progress.
They still struggled with the Pylon, though. Which was a bit funny,
considering the Pylon they had tried to claim was not even the real one.
Miranda briefly closed her eyes as her vision shifted to the cellar. Several
skeletons were lying down in the cavern beneath the office, with all of the
altars from Yalsten still humming with power. The defensive spell she had
made before leaving still held strong, and the United Cities Alliance had
failed to breach it.
Ell’Hakan could have overpowered it, and maybe his servant would have
been able to also, but they had clearly not tried to help. Ell’Hakan had made
it clear from the beginning that he did not want them to actually take over
Haven and wanted her to keep living. It all made little sense.
The entire invasion had been… weird. And it had ended too abruptly too.
This bizarre situation was exactly what they planned to discuss whenever
Jake returned.
That, and the future of their planet.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 558 - Bold Plans
Jake stared at the fight with quite a bit of confusion. Sim-Jake crashed into
the chimera and purposefully let himself be flung away. He charged again,
but this time attacked while he used some odd version of Shadow Vault. His
form seemed almost like it distorted for a moment as he was launched
backward.
His other self noticed Jake when he entered and stopped fighting. That is
when the second weird thing happened. When he stopped attacking, the
chimera also seemed calmer, and even if it still looked aggressive, it no
longer mindlessly ran at him.
At least not for a few seconds. Soon enough, hunger overtook it as it tried to
eat sim-Jake whole, and his other self responded by making strings of mana
like the real Jake and wrapped up the cursed beast.
”Came to take a peek?” sim-Jake asked.
”I got curious,” Jake shrugged. ”Good progress?”
”Really good. Your timing is also great because I will need you for this next
part. At least a good portion of it. No rush, but I think it would be a good
idea to practice with me before C-grade for the potential title,” sim-Jake
said.
”Title?” Jake asked.
”We got one for making a legendary skill in E-grade, right?”
”Yeah?” Jake asked but instantly got it. ”You really think you, we, can do
that?”
”If my entire Legacy will be a skill, it better be the best fucking one we
got,” sim-Jake grinned. ”Mythical is not easy to reach, but it should be
possible… if not, then at least a damn good legendary skill. I have been
considering it a lot and even tapped into some memories of your talks with
the Malefic Viper. I think we can do it.”
It had not at all been a goal of Jake’s to make a mythical skill while in D-
grade, but it should be possible… shouldn’t it? Making one in C-grade
would be far harder, but maybe sim-Jake could do it before they evolved?
Yeah, if there was one thing Jake never lacked, it was self-confidence, even
if that self-confidence was about another version of himself. He believed he
could do it.
As for why it was harder to get it in C-grade… well, that should become
clear when he evolved. Rarities were not created equal, and each rarity was
relative to a grade. This meant that upon evolution, every single skill would
be reevaluated by the system. Reevaluated in this case just meaning that a
bunch of his skills would probably see themselves downgraded. Not all
skills would be downgraded, and some he was sure would keep their
rarities, such as the Malefic Viper ones and stuff like Brew Potion, never
downgraded.
This entire downgrade thing was more or less a requirement, as, well, it just
got easier to make skills when you got stronger. Any S-grade could teleport
around, and most could even do some fancy time magic, both of which
were considered rather mundane skills for them but would be ancient or
higher skills for D-grades. As for why this downgrade only happened in C-
grade? Well, because F, E, and D-grade were all considered the lower
grades, and the difference between them was not that massive in sheer
power, only relative power.
Not that any of this mattered for now; what happened during the C-grade
evolution was something for future Jake to think about.
This naturally also meant that the requirements of a skill to be a certain

rarity grew. So if Jake could get the Vault skill upgrade in D-grade, it would
be best.
”Do you need me right now?” Jake asked sim-Jake.
”Not right now, no. I still need to finish some minor aspects, but you can
begin practicing a few things while you are here anyway. Things that will
be required,” sim-Jake answered.
Jake nodded. He had a few hours at least before he would reach the airspace
above Haven, so he had the time.
”What kind of thing do you need me to do?”
Sim-Jake grinned. ”Sharing control.”
Jake was about to protest as sim-Jake elaborated. ”Not to me, but to

yourself… how can I say this… to your other self. Think about it, how do
we, right now, exist as separate entities yet still share some memories,
emotions, and whatnot? You are clearly the primary version, with me a
secondary, and I am able to be the carrier of pretty much all Records related
to Shadow Vault. What if we keep this separation but also entirely remove it
through our merging?”
Sim-Jake sat down and continued.
”A skill’s rarity is all about power and complexity. Complexity in both the
traditional sense and also when it comes to concepts. What is the most
insane concept we have besides things related to our Bloodline? To me, it is
my very existence. I exist as the Origin of an entire simulated universe, and
the concepts to make me who I am today are something even a Primordial
admits he cannot replicate or fully comprehend. So why not at least make
some simplistic use of this?”
”Do you think that could actually stop our merging?” Jake asked with a
frown.
”Well, fuck no, that would require us to make a Transcendent or something,

and no fucking way that is happening. Nah, we will still merge, but the skill
will still allow us to tap into the concepts if my plan works out. So, are you
up for it?” sim-Jake asked.
Jake considered and smiled. ”This sounds insane enough to actually work.
Clearly, something I would come up with.”
With that, Jake and Sim-Jake began their unorthodox practice as the hours
quickly moved by, and soon enough, he found himself mentally poked by a
cosmic worm.
”Hello there, we have reached the destination,” Sandy said, making Jake
wake up.
”Thanks, Sandy; what would I do without you,” Jake thanked the large
worm.
”Probably have been really slow,” Sandy teased him. ”By the way, will you
stay gone longer this time around? I kinda want to know how far I can
move away to find stuff to ste- borrow on unlimited time.”
Jake shook his head. ”It will be a while, yes. Lots of stuff to deal with. By
the way, I will also likely make a way to leave this universe in not that long
of a time… would you want to come along? Back to the Order where your
Patron is.”
”Nah,” Sandy answered. ”I still got plenty of stuff to eat here first. Maybe
later. Though I will probably go by myself or through the egg you car… I
mean, will figure it out somehow!”
”Your call,” Jake said, not paying the egg business too much mind.
Jake turned and looked at the King. ”You ready to head down?”
”Let us,” the Unique Lifeform simply answered. He still looked as weak as
before, with the masks still cracked all over. He hoped it wouldn’t take too
long to heal, but he knew it probably would. The King was not overly
liberal when it came to sharing exactly how long it would take, but as far as
Jake could tell, it didn’t actually impact Jake in any way.
Sandy spat them both out as Jake waved off the massive worm who
wriggled in goodbye.
”A truly peculiar creature you have helped create,” the King said when
Sandy was gone.
”Eh, it sounds weird when you put it like that. Sandy has been Sandy even
since before the evolution; the only thing that changed is what the worm
eats and where they can go,” Jake shrugged.
”Your inability to recognize your impact on what is around you astonishes

me once again,” the King jabbed at him. ”And I have no interest in wasting
time on trying to fix that. Your city should be directly below us? In that
case, we should stop delaying.”
Jake agreed – with the last part at least – as they both began flying down.
He was pretty much back in top form after the rest inside Sandy, even if he
did feel a bit mentally drained from the practice during meditation.
The two of them did not encounter anything of note as they exited the last
layer of clouds and appeared above the vast forest Haven was placed in the
outskirts of. Jake looked towards the depths of said forest and how far it
stretched. From up in the air, he had already observed and noticed how the
forest extended all the way to the ocean in the far distance.
Will have to properly explore that place at some time, Jake noted to himself
as he and the King flew down and entered the forest just above where
Haven was. The King mentioned a forcefield of sorts in the surroundings,
but he got through it without any issues, something he accredited to being
close to Jake. Having some kind of defensive barrier that at least made
Miranda aware of everything within was not really a surprise to either of
them, but seeing that it was active was evidence to Jake that Miranda was in
the city.
Jake quickly located Miranda back in her old office with a brief search
using his tracking skill as it was truly intended to be used. He and the King
got quite the attention as they landed in the middle of the street in front of
the office and entered. None of the peacekeepers got in their way, but Jake
got quite a few respectful nods while they just stared at the King who was
floating just above the ground like the showoff he was.
In his sphere, he saw that Miranda had also noticed him and gotten up from
her desk. Jake decided to wait for her to come, and soon enough, she came
down the stairs from her office on the upper floor and greeted him and the
King.
”Jake, Fallen King, you made it back faster than expected,” she smiled, but
her smile soon turned to a frown. ”What is wrong with the mask? Did
something happen?”
”A temporary issue that time shall alleviate,” the King answered, refusing
to elaborate further.
”What he said. Nothing to worry about long-term,” Jake said. ”So, where
are we headed?”
Miranda coming down was a clear indication she planned for them to leave
the office building.
”Towards your house. The Sword Saint should already be waiting there for
us,” Miranda answered.
Jake nodded, and without further ado, they all headed out and back to his
old home. He would be lying if he said he hadn’t missed the place. It had
been many months since he had been back, and the old lodge had quite the
memories attached to it. Hearing Miranda mention it also let him know that
it was still standing, which was a big relief. He could totally see Ell’Hakan
or the United Cities Alliance choosing to destroy it just to be dicks. In fact,
he had almost expected them to at least wreck his laboratory, but from what
Miranda said, that had not happened either, partly because they hadn’t
known much about it, and if they did know, why would they have bothered?
Sure, Hank and the builders knew, but clearly, it had never been a priority to
investigate it, and if they expected Jake to die or at least to leave Earth, why
destroy his stuff and not make use of it? Every faction had alchemists, after
all.
Walking into the old valley was very nostalgic, but he did see one issue.
”Someone stole all my bananas,” Jake commented, annoyed as he saw the
time banana-tree-that-was-not-a-tree still there. All the bananas were gone,
even if the magic circle left by Mystie was still intact. As for the time musa
itself, it had grown a bit since last time, having settled well in the valley.
It did remind Jake of one thing. One worrying thing.
”How about Rick down in the cave?” Jake asked Miranda.
He really hoped no one had made trouble for the troll and the two child
trolls while he was gone.
”They are all fine. Ell’Hakan and his ilk clearly had no interest in making
trouble for some garden troll, and the United City Alliance quite frankly
wouldn’t be able to… Rick is close to C-grade by now and swings a mean
club. Plus, it would be a PR nightmare as the troll is quite popular with all
those who do the dungeon, as he always hands those who enter some small
gift. Not to mention the small adorable trolls… killing them would have led
to an uproar,” Miranda explained with a smile.
Jake nodded with relief. Relief for a moment until he saw something
horrific. Within his cabin, a single figure was already waiting while
committing a grave sin.
The Sword Saint chilled at a table as a stack of bananas was in front of him
with several peels in a bowl beside him. The sense of betrayal Jake felt at
that moment was incredible… and he immediately went to confront the old
man. Jake surprised the others with a One Step as he reached the steps of
the lodge and promptly barged in.
”Lord Thayne, it has-”
”Banana thief,” Jake interrupted and pointed as he saw the old man had
already eaten four of them.
The old man looked confused for a moment before smiling. ”I apologize,
but I believed it only proper to help myself. You are the one who told me to
be more selfish, were you not? Ah, but I can share if you want.”
”Well, no, I want Perception-enhancing things. This is just the principle of
the entire thing,” Jake argued.
”A shame; they are very tasty,” the old man smiled. ”And rather suitable for
me. Very peculiar fruits indeed.”
That is when Jake noticed a faint shimmer around the pile of bananas, and
he also remembered that they tended to go bad extremely fast after being
taken away from the not-a-tree. It appeared like he had made a small barrier
of time magic or something to stabilize it.
”I see you have picked up on some time magic?” Jake asked.
”A few bits and pieces here and there, but I do not focus on it. What time
magic I do care about, I keep internal, not external. But as you surely know,
it is hard to not pick up on some things passively,” the old man explained
with a shrug.
Their conversation did not go further as two more figures entered the cabin.
The King had to lower himself a bit to get through the door, while Miranda,
of course, easily entered.
”Good to see no one messed with the place,” Miranda noted, Jake also
noticing that it indeed looked to have been left alone.
”It did look like someone searched the place, but I reckon you have nothing
of value stored in the cabin?” the Sword Saint asked.
Jake was about to answer no, but then remembered there kinda was
something. You know, just the minor little thing called a Pylon of
Civilization hidden in a pillar down in the basement. Not like that was
something he wanted to share.
”Not anything worth finding for them, at least,” Jake just shrugged.
The old man nodded as he turned and looked at the King. The two stared at
each other for a few moments, likely having a telepathic conversation of
their own, exchanging greetings. That, and a bit more as the King spoke out
loud.
”A challenge shall be set forth once I am fully restored,” the King spoke
out loud.
”It would be my pleasure to learn from you,” the Sword Saint bowed in
response.
Jake just shook his head. God damn battle maniacs. Who wants to duel
someone the first time they meet? I would never do that!
Miranda also shook her head, clearly outraged by their behavior. ”Alright,
boys, be nice now and stop fighting so we can begin.”
The two of them listened as the King waved his hand and warped the
flooring of the cabin to make a chair for himself. Jake hoped he would put it
back in place again once they were done but chose to not comment on it.
”So, are you still planning on moving forward with the current plan at the
next World Congress?” Miranda asked Jake.
Jake nodded seriously.
”Yeah, I still plan on becoming World Leader.”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 559 - World-Tier
Preparation
Jake becoming the World Leader? Where the hell did that come from?
Yeah, definitely not something many people would have predicted, but that
was the best cause of action that not only Jake but also the Sword Saint and
Miranda landed on. Even the King had agreed it would be the best choice,
and it was no decision that had been made half-heartedly.
The problem was that Earth had turned out to be rather special, whether
they liked it or not. It was the planet that had likely spawned the most
talents of the entire ninety-third universe, making it instantly an object of
interest even to powerful beings of the multiverse. Beings who would want
to come and study or maybe even seize the planet to try and figure out why.
Special planets were nothing new in the multiverse. Besides Great Planets,
which were just so massive it went against any logic, there were planets that
were effectively massive natural treasures. Others just had a bigger chance
to spawn natural treasures, some had many natural formations on them that
led to unique things, and some simply had some undetectable concept that
seemed to make all those who came from there more talented.
One such example of a planet was the one Valdemar originated from. It was
one only a bit larger than the current Earth but which constantly gave rise to
new S-grade talents, with no one truly being able to explain why. The
leading theory was that it all boiled down to Records. With it being the
planet Valdemar originated from, it only made sense that those who also
grew up there would get some innate Records just for being from the same
place.
If this theory was true, then Earth was already in a similar situation. Jake,
the Sword Saint, Sandy, Caleb, Carmen, Eron, Sylphie, Arnold, Jacob,
Casper… there were so many notable figures from their planet. That alone
would leave echoes and influence the future of their little rock floating
through space.
It wasn’t necessarily even that Jake wanted to be World Leader, just that
there truly was no other choice. In the short term, sure, it would be fine no
matter who was picked, but not in the long term.
That is one place where Arthur had been right. He had recognized that the
long term mattered, and Valhal was a good choice of ally due to their track
record. What they wanted from Earth was to use it as a recruitment ground
as they no doubt recognized the uniqueness of the planet. The management
and all that was something they would gladly offload to someone else,
especially a native who just wanted to nurture and grow the population.
This was further reinforced by Arthur being human and Valhal being a
primarily human-focused faction due to its roots.
Any actual leader in charge would have to be strong enough to contest with
Valhal, the Holy Church, the Risen, or any other faction of the multiverse. It
had to be someone who could, at the very least, force them to the table or
make them hesitate before making a move. Someone with backing capable
of doing all this… which left options slim.
The Fallen King? He was a Unique Lifeform. He had no Blessing, and his
biggest backing was Jake, making it second-hand backing at best.
Miranda? Same deal. The Witches of the Verdant Lagoon were powerful,
but not at the level of being able to intimidate other top factions. Her
becoming the leader would also effectively force the planet to be part of the
Order of the Malefic Viper, which also came with restrictions and rules she
did not have a position making her capable of breaking would apply.
The Sword Saint? He didn’t want to, and he also lacked the backing. Not in
the sense that Aeon Clok, despite his stupid name, wasn’t someone
powerful enough, but due to him not having a faction of any kind. And, to
be honest, he also only had a Divine Blessing, so no one would actually
believe that Aeon himself would descend and intervene for one single
planet.
Jacob? Yeah, fuck no. The Holy Church was not an organization that Jake
would ever be fine with taking charge of Earth.
They had tried time and time again to find someone better, but time and
time again, they went back to Jake being the best. As stupid as it sounds,
then the second-best option would be Sandy due to their True Blessing, but
that was a hard sell.
Even if they wanted to elect someone else like the King… it would be hard.
Something Miranda made clear right off the bat was that monsters were
very unpopular right now after the many beast attacks in recent months. It
was only made worse by the lull before the storm that had been before it,
leaving many unprepared and feeling like they had been led behind the
light.
They still needed the support of the population, and Jake also still wanted a
world where there could be some kind of balance. If someone like Arthur
became the leader, it would be one hundred percent human-favored. Jake
wanted beasts and monsters to at least have a seat at the table. This led to
the second reason why Jake thought him becoming the World Leader was
best.
Jake had the ability to tell everyone to fuck off.
Okay, one can argue any leader had this ability, but Jake would be able to
do this for one simple reason: he wouldn’t actually need to care about the
political issues that could result from that. Why not, one might ask?
Because he was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Him being the World
Leader was not synonymous with him actually leading shit; it was just
establishing he was the top dog.
The system had shown a tendency to not force Paths upon others. Jake had
been the City Owner of Haven since the day he returned to Earth, and the
amount of city leading he had done was just transferring all of the
responsibility to Miranda.
Jake would essentially just become the World Owner and outsource any
actual leading to Miranda. He would still be there as a backer for following
system events… which added the third reason why Jake realized becoming
World Leader was potentially a good idea.
System events. Jake liked to have autonomy and decide on things himself
or, at the very least, have some serious power when it came to making
decisions. The World Congress so far had led to two important system
events, which had both resulted in titles and a lot of good stuff, and Jake did
not want to miss out on that. Villy also thought that becoming World Leader
wasn’t that big of an issue and ultimately only beneficial if he wanted to
keep Earth as his home.
Again, this wasn’t only Jake’s idea either. Miranda had actually been the
first to propose it. Jake’s initial plan had been for her to become World
Leader, but she had shut it down and even added some extra things Jake had
not even considered.
”My entire Path so far, ever since exiting the Tutorial, has revolved around
you, Jake. I manage the city for you. I got my Blessing because of you. It
would not be an understatement to say that everything I am is due to your
existence. If I became World Leader, that would be separate from you, and I
am not even sure how well that would work for me. I do not doubt that
being World Leader will offer a potential C-grade evolution option, one that
would likely be unwise to skip over, and I would not pick that as it would
negatively impact me. However, if you become World Leader, we will build
upon what we already have, just scaled up from a city to a planet,” Miranda
explained, the King and Sword Saint both agreeing.
Jake had also been curious how him becoming World Leader would work
for the King, but that wasn’t a problem either. In all honesty, then the
system had probably expected people to become World Leaders who had no
interest in actually leading their world. Jake wasn’t even sure Ell’Hakan had
the profession of a World Leader based on all he had shown. Maybe some
off-shoot or variant, but it being the vanilla version seemed unlikely.
As for if it was actually possible to outsource all this leadership, Miranda

had already researched it. She had access to the Verdant Lagoon through her
dreaming skill and had managed to discuss with people and find some
records. This entire thing with Pylons of Civilization was not new, and
people knew what World Leaders were capable of. At least in broad strokes.
There were always small differences, but the essence was the same.
What she had learned revealed that the World Leader did indeed not
necessarily lead the world. As one would imagine, then a system where the
strongest made actual administrative decisions probably wasn’t the best
form of governance, and in previous Eras, each World Leader could appoint
up to five Ministers who would effectively function as depute leaders.
It did not take a genius to figure out their plan from there. Miranda had
proposed a council of sorts. Five people were an unequal number, meaning
they could handle votes themselves, and then there was, of course, Jake,
who would still sit at the top and be able to veto stuff.
Pretty much what Jake would do was just expand his current method of
governance from Haven to the entire planet.
As for who should be on this council? The three people in the room besides
Jake were a given, but that still meant they needed two more. This was
primarily what their meeting was for, in addition to planning the prep work
they had to put in during the four or so weeks they had before the Congress.
”For the council, the most essential aspect will be the representation of all
interests of value,” the King said, getting nods from around the table. ”I
would not be able to lead humans as they distrust me, and many beasts only
respect me due to my power. I can represent many of the monsters, yes, but
we will need someone else in addition. I asked Sandy about this on the way
here, and the Cosmic Genesis Worm has no interest, so someone else will
have to do.”
Jake was a bit surprised the King had even asked Sandy, but considering he
hadn’t known the worm for long, who could blame him? As for who else to
pick… Jake had no idea. They discussed this, and Jake did get some ideas
for the King to maybe look into.
Anyway, to summarize who they wanted on the council: The Fallen King,
Sword Saint, Miranda, some other beast or monster. Finally, there was
someone proposed who Jake really did not want to have there. In fact, he
had argued many times against it but found himself being shut down at
every turn.
”As for the final member, there really is no other option, is there?” Miranda
asked, getting a glare from Jake.
”No, it is the best choice,” the King agreed.
Jake grumbled and sighed. ”I am still not convinced.”
Who could this final member be if not the glorious leader of the United
Cities Alliance… Arthur.
Even Primordials could not simply teleport anywhere in the multiverse they
wanted. While traveling through the void was faster than anything else, it
wasn’t instant, and established teleportation networks simply couldn’t
stretch across the distances a god sometimes had to travel. The reason why
he had headed out was also simple: he was there to reclaim something that
would potentially be useful for what was to come.
Vilastromoz repeatedly teleported as galaxies passed by. He had entered the

forty-fourth universe several hours ago and was finally approaching his
goal. The closer he got, the more well-protected the planets became. The
more familiar signatures of prominent factions, he felt.
The galaxy closest to his goal was nearly overpopulated. Billions of

inhabited planets, factions owning entire clusters had grouped there. The
Altmar Empire, Automatons, Endless Empire, Valhal, Court of Shadows…
no faction that operated on a multiversal scale was missing. Even enemies
such as the Risen and the Holy Church coexisted within a relatively small
space. At least considered small on a cosmic scale.
As for why all these factions had gathered here? Well, the reason was
simple. About fifty billion years ago, a figure had decided to move his
Starforge close to there to make use of a natural treasure to power it. A
giant star had been born, and the greatest smith of the multiverse had
moved to claim it.
The Starseizing Titan, a fellow Primordial.
Vilastromoz saw the figure of his old acquaintance before he even saw this
galaxy. He felt the shockwaves of his forge that sent waves throughout this
entire part of the universe. Even the nearby galaxy was far away as nothing
short of a god could even approach the forge when it was in operation.
What celestial objects had been close once upon a time were now nothing
more than cosmic dust.
One may ask the reason why he saw his old friend before the galaxy, and
for that one, the answer was easy… because he was bigger. Way bigger.
It was well-known that one should never disturb the Starseizing Titan, yet
these factions had gods stationed in this galaxy with hopes of having the
Starseizing Titan assist them. It was a bit how Villy used to be hounded by
people wanting him to do alchemy for them before he just started killing
them for not going through the proper channels.
This well-known rule of not approaching naturally did not count for
everyone, and Vilastromoz took a single step as he got closer.
The towering form of the Starseizing Titan filled his entire field of vision.
His body had a blueish hue with countless stars glinting within. Even
planets were inside, his body large enough to house entire galaxies. It was a
form of such size it was nearly incomprehensible, making his title of being
the single-largest living entity in the multiverse well-earned.
This size was indeed abnormal and the trait he was most known for outside
of his smithing talent. One other thing that made the Starseizing special was
that he had been a Unique Lifeform before he became a god. Another thing
that made him special, one a bit less known, was that he didn’t have a
divine realm.
He was his divine realm.

As the Viper got closer, the massive form slowly moved, his actions no
faster than that of a regular pre-system human. A massive forge containing
millions of stars was in front of him as he wielded a black hammer in his
hand, all of it slowly moving as if he was the personification of the cosmos
itself.
”Vilas,” a voice echoed out through the vast space, the voice alone enough
to make nearby planets crumble. ”It has been… long.”
Vilastromoz smiled as he nodded. ”That it has. I hope you are doing well.
Based on how you seem to have grown a few times in size since the last
time I saw you, I reckon you have?”
”The Path is endless,” the voice of the Titan answered before taking a long
pause. ”I have been well, yes.”
”Glad to hear,” the Viper said. ”Besides greeting an old friend, I assume
you know why I am here?”
The Titan regarded him for a few moments before the Viper felt space warp.
The entire universe seemed to collapse for a moment as soon he found
himself standing before a figure only about three meters tall. His entire
body still looked the same, and in reality, it was the same.
He has improved, Vilastromoz recognized. What the Starseizing Titan did

was not space magic… no, the spacial reaction was simply from him
shrinking his form. What the Titan did was far more than that. He
condensed his body into a smaller form… losing nothing in the process.
”This is the most delayed a client has ever been,” the Starseizing Titan said,
his voice far more normal now.
”I was… busy,” Vilastromoz excused himself.
”You have nothing to apologize for,” the Titan said as he held out his palm.
”After I repaired it, every Era, I revisited… and improved it. I felt it grow
as you did. It is only right it finally returns to its master.”
Vilastromoz smiled as he saw it appear. He felt space slightly shake as it
began breaking down, and the Starseizing Titan even took a step back as the
staff resonated with its true owner.
”Welcome home, old friend,” the Viper spoke as the staff floated over by
itself. The staff was simple, looking like a long black snake stretching out
and sleeping - the eyes and mouth both closed.
His hand closed around the metallic body as the eyes of the snake opened,
and black veins spread throughout the body of the staff as a loud hiss
resounded through space.
As a Primordial, was it not only right to have a weapon befitting of one?
A true weapon surpassing even the Divine rarity.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 560 - Towards A Better
Future
Arthur… why Arthur? Jake had seen Arthur once in his life after the
system, and he didn’t like him. In fact, Jake kind of hated the guy now.
Why wouldn’t he? All interactions Jake had ever had with him were
negative, even the second-hand ones. Moreover, he had been the one who
decided that bringing Ell’Hakan to Earth was a good idea, messing things
up even further. It was also clear he hated Jake’s guts.
Additionally, Jake did not get why Miranda wanted to work with him due to
one minor detail.
”Didn’t he send a group to assassinate you?” Jake asked Miranda with

pursed lips. ”Sounds like a great guy to work with, huh?”
”You speak as if that is simply not him showing he understands the rules of
the multiverse. He read the rule book and knew that the Court of Shadows
would act as long as he provided funds. He also understood Valhal. That
means he is not as stuck in his thoughts as you may believe but can adapt,”
the King said.
”As weird as it sounds, him not like us is exactly why he is good. The worst
thing for a governing body is to have it be filled with yes-men who just do
whatever you want. To have no one ever offer an opposing voice. I am
firmly in the camp of the Order, and my job is to represent your views. The
King will represent his own views and those of monsters while
inadvertently also being tied to you. The Sword Saint is also not likely to
oppose you and will not be very involved. Finally, a second monster added
has a high chance of being on your side too, and sure won’t be on the side
of humans. As things currently are, the common human population does not
have a single person representing them, and we need someone actually
willing to present them. Someone who has the guts to. Like it or not, Arthur
has shown himself capable and willing to do this, and he is annoyingly
efficient at what he does,” Miranda explained.
”Sounds all nice and dandy until he tries to start a civil war or some shit to
take control,” Jake mused.
”Arthur has also shown himself to not be an idiot, and he knows that will
not be in the best interest of the citizens of Earth. Giving him a seat at the
council will also send a clear message that we are not taking over the planet
as the Order of the Malefic Viper but as earthlings. It will also communicate
that you are not the type of person to just go and kill anyone who disagrees
with you or puts themself in contrarian positions to you. While some may
interpret it as a weakness to ”forgive” him, it can also be seen as a strength
as you, a Chosen, never truly cared for his petty games. That you don’t care
enough about him to personally act. In some ways, I also think the best
punishment will be to have him fix what mistakes he had made while we
make full use of his expertise. Moreover, I think much of his hatred stems
from ignorance. He views us as representations of concepts, not as humans,
just like him. I believe with time, we can find common ground, and he can
become an asset,” Miranda further added.
”The man has shown himself to be resourceful so far. Nobody here could
have done what he did to make the United Cities Alliance, especially
considering his lack of literal power. He got his position in such a short
time, not by being stronger than everyone else but by sheer competence.
The majority of humanity supports him based on what he has done before,
and even in recent months, he has shown his genuine goal with all of the
beast attacks. Rather than try and push for anything due to these attacks, he
focused solely on alleviating the issue, making smaller response teams and
teleportation networks, and stabilizing areas. I highly doubt he had anything
to do with these beast attacks, and based on how fast those stationed in
Haven gave up after we returned, he also seems to understand when he is in
a losing position.”
”And you seriously think this dude will just give up?” Jake asked. This part
was the one he believed the least.
”Yes, I do. Mark my words, within a week, he will come to Haven and
surrender. If he does not come in surrender before the World Congress, then
I will take back everything, but I highly doubt that he won’t. Arthur truly
cares about humanity if his words are to be believed… so giving himself up
to try and avoid a downright disaster for the United Cities Alliance would
be the wisest choice. He will take the fall for his failure and take
responsibility as their leader,” Miranda said with conviction.
The King also agreed on this, with the Sword Saint nodding along like it
was a given. Jake really felt outnumbered…
He understood why they needed someone from the United Cities Alliance
and also kind of understood why it had to be Arthur. As Miranda had
explained it, then the man was now stuck between a rock and a hard place.
If he kept fighting, the result was already written on the wall, and soon
enough, he would find himself slain. Even if he became World Leader, it
would be short-lived… and chances are he wouldn’t, because even if Jake
wouldn’t be able to kill Arthur, then he sure as hell could go on a rampage
of the ages.
Additionally, he knew that death would also lead to problems. For better or
worse, Arthur became the symbol of the United Cities Alliance and the
hope of all those who wanted an independent planet that would not become
slaves to some insidious higher power. If Jake was to kill him, Arthur would
become a martyr and spark a war or, at the very least, an army of fringe
terrorist groups.
The only way for Jake to combat this would be a total dictatorship down the
line. He would need to rule like the Order and make Earth into something
he didn’t want it to be. Jake was fine with people disagreeing and not liking
him, and trying to control everyone would go against who he was. He also
feared he would need to kill millions, if not billions, to try and root out all
hidden enemies… which also sounded like something he really didn’t want
to do.
In the beginning, when Miranda had mentioned Arthur, Jake’s gut reaction
had been that, of course, the dude was in for an arrow through the temple.
Why wouldn’t he? But perhaps this gut reaction was why having people
like Miranda was necessary.
One had to remember that Jake’s gut was not about making decisions that
were good for anyone but himself. The reason he wanted to kill Arthur was
just to make himself feel better, the future be damned.
There was also one thing holding Jake back from going full scorched earth
on the United Cities Alliance… one that some people would probably make
fun of him for.
What would mom and dad think?
He was a hunter, yes. He could live with them not approving of this, but
Jake did not want them to view him as a monster, and if he became the next
oppressive dictator of Earth, they sure as hell wouldn’t take it well. That
thought alone was enough to calm Jake down and make him listen to
Miranda.
Again, according to her, Arthur also knew all of these consequences of his
death could happen, which was why Miranda believed he would give
himself up and officially surrender. He would openly do this, announcing
his loss to everyone and making a plea for peace. Knowing full well,
especially if he went by the track record of the Order, that what awaited him
would be an execution.
So if he actually selflessly came to surrender… Jake could maybe accept

him being on the council. Maybe.
”Fine,” Jake finally agreed. ”If he comes, keep him here. I will be back
three days before the Congress to have a talk with him if you are right. I
will want to at least talk to him before I give him even the slightest shred of
political power.”
Miranda smiled and nodded. ”That is all I can ask.”
”What about the other factions?” he then asked.

”Well, the Court and Valhal are no problem; I already received word from
Lillian that both will not interfere in anything going forward and respect
you or anyone you choose as the World Leader, even making it clear that
should we wish for it, they will leave the planet,” Miranda explained. ”The
Risen are already gone… which truly leaves only the Holy Church as an
obstacle worth mentioning.”
”With them, I am not budging,” Jake made clear.
”I understand and agree. From what I have gathered, the Augur is not even
planetside anymore, and it would not surprise me if the Holy Church does
as they usually do in these kinds of situations,” Miranda said with pursed
lips.
This was something that they had also all agreed on from the beginning. No
other divine factions. Carmen would not be allowed on the council even if
she wanted, not Caleb either, and Casper, if he was still on Earth, would
also be barred. The only faction with a claim would be the Order of the
Malefic Viper, with Jake as the Chosen telling everyone that it was his
home turf.
Having another faction would only complicate that. As for people with
independent gods, it wouldn’t matter much. Arnold, the Sword Saint, and
many others, none of them would be issues to still have around, and the
factions like Valhal and the Court would be allowed to remain but fall under
Jake’s rules like everyone else.
As for what the Holy Church was doing… well, they were doing the usual
thing. The Holy Church was a bit unique as a multiversal faction in that
they valued numbers a lot, not just to increase the chance of someone with
talent appearing, but for their faith. They wanted to retain them more than
any other faction, which made their usual tactic when they lost a territorial
war the same every time:
Mass exodus.
”From the reports of the Court that your brother so kindly sent over, the
Holy Church has made a new vast teleportation network to bring all the
faithful back to Sanctdomo. Meanwhile, those who were not an actual part
of the faction but just living there were given the harsh choice of joining or
getting thrown out the gates. They seemed to have read the writing on the
wall that they would not win no matter what. If you won, they would lose,
and if Ell’Hakan won, the United Cities Alliance would have also moved to
get them out. Their final plan seemed to be to, at the very least, make sure
the Risen would not be able to get anything from Earth either,” Miranda
sighed.
Jake had to be honest… he was all fine with them leaving. Because if they
did not, then they had been entirely correct in their assertion that Jake
would kick them to the curb and tell them to get fucked. He still considered
Jacob a friend, but it was like that kind of friend who you knew was a nice
person but had now gotten himself involved in a nasty cult without being
able to see it himself. Well, or a friend caught up in a multi-level marketing
scam. All Jake would do was hope he saw sense before he went too far
down the rabbit hole.
”Let’s hope they all fuck off by themselves; if not, we shall do some
cleanup after we get the World Leader position,” Jake said. After that, there
was only a bit more small talk before they agreed to end the meeting.
”You all know my plans, but what will all of you be doing before the
Congress?” Jake asked.
He first turned and looked at the Sword Saint as the old man sighed in
disappointment before answering.
”I shall head home to those pathetic dregs who dare claim the Noboru
name. A solid cleanup shall begin, and the purging will leave us stronger
and not as worn down by weakness. I realize that the clan perhaps expanded
too quickly and was too dependent on me to hold it together. What I leave
behind will be a clan able to stand on its own two legs. I will forever be a
member of the clan, but I will officially step down as Patriarch and remain
only as a protector,” the Sword Saint said frankly. ”I will be back for the
meeting three days before the Congress.”
Jake looked at Miranda. ”Don’t look at me like I don’t have a mountain of
work in front of me with a damn mountain range in the distance of even
more damn work. In a month, we will literally take over the planet, and I
still have the aftermath of your war with another Chosen to figure out. Oh,
and then we expect Arthur to come… yeah, do I need to say more?”
He knew that he had kind of messed up and quickly did the smart thing by
looking questioningly at the King.
”We need a final beast. You mentioned this… whale? I shall try and seek it
out or maybe try and locate another worthy candidate. I will naturally
return for the meeting at hand, but I may not be there three days ahead, and
If I do miss it, then we will meet at the Congress. I also need to recover, so I
shall take it slow and carefully venture out. In a few days, I should be able
to show about eighty percent of my full power again and will head out
then.”
Jake nodded and smiled. It indeed seemed like everyone had things to deal
with. As for Jake? Jake would take this month before the World Congress to
do something he should have done a lot earlier and a lot more frequently.
All of this talk of taking over the world and the future of their planet
reminded him of his family. Reminded him of the nephew he had only seen
for a brief period what was to Jake years ago. It was only right to visit them
as Jake decided to take a bit of a break and ground himself before becoming
World Leader and making the subsequent push to C-grade.
After the meeting fully concluded, they all split up and went their own
ways.
Jake headed out and first made a visit to Arnold. Miranda had seemed
concerned about him due to Ell’Hakan apparently wanting to recruit him or
something, but when Jake met him, he noticed nothing awry. He even
decided to ask if Arnold had joined Ell’Hakan, and his answer had just been
that he hadn’t. So, that was that. Jake found the entire thing a bit dumb, to
begin with. Arnold didn’t look like he gave a shit about who took over the
planet as long as they left him the fuck alone.
After visiting Arnold, Jake went for a trip down to the cavern and said hi to
Rick and the small trolls who were all over level 95 and close to evolution.
He kind of hoped they would stay small and cute – small being relative here
for trolls – but he knew that wasn’t likely considering their large parent.
Rick seemed happy and greeted him handing him some uncommon rarity
flowers. So that was nice of him. The cavern had also really changed and
was now full of flowers everywhere with paths of grass one could walk
through. Rick really liked flowers.
With the troll visit done, he headed out of Haven and took to the plains as
he traveled by himself for the first time in a long while. Maybe he would
even visit that massive mountain he saw on the way there last time to see
what was on the top?
There were also the insect plains, but they would have to wait for now as
Jake didn’t want to go on an underground hunting trip. That would have to
wait.
The entire visit with the trolls and his own plans put him in a good mood,
and with a smile, he left Haven as he headed towards Skyggen to spend
some quality family time.
Ell’Hakan appeared in the vast library as thousands of books circled around

him. He groaned a bit from the severed arm as the concept deployed by the
Sword Saint still hurt nearly half an hour later. He realized he had
miscalculated… but it had worked out anyway.
”Didn’t think to check for Transcendents,” a voice echoed as Ell’Hakan felt

the pressure, making him take a knee.
”I greet thee, Yip of Yore,” Ell’Hakan spoke to his Patron. ”It was indeed
out of our expectations.”
”Those Transcendent bastards have always been incredibly annoying, but

even so, the swordsman should not be an issue moving forward,” Yip said
with a smile as the many books around him had their pages torn out only to
fly into a new book, mixing the pages seemingly haphazardly.
”It should not, no,” the nahoom agreed. ”Everything else went as planned.
The native alliance is broken, the Church is abandoning the planet, the
Risen are gone, and all other factions seem to have accepted their fates. The
Chosen of the Malefic Viper will become World Leader.”
Yip smiled. ”Good, the first arc has been written with the mighty Chosen of
the Malefic Viper beating back the would-be liberator of his home world.
Now, it shall fall into the hands of the cruel Chosen, as my Chosen failed to
stop him, the same as when I failed to stop the Malefic Viper from
destroying and claiming the domain of the Brimstone Hegemon.
”A sad tale indeed, but is it not only to be expected that our heroes fail in
the first arc? Only to rise to the occasion and strike back stronger than ever
as they slowly build power for that one final confrontation. A final
confrontation that shall leave the heroes victorious and the villains dead…
giving birth to the greatest legend of all. A Primordial Slayer.”
Ell’Hakan smirked, feeling the emotions in the air as Yip’s confidence

grew. Manipulating the god would be foolishness itself, but he could still at
least feel the emotions. For every day, his Patron’s power grew - the success
of both Chosen and god, linked.
The first arc had some unexpected issues prop up, and many missed
opportunities, but overall the result had been achieved.
Their goal had never been to beat the Malefic’s Chosen. It had never been
to kill him. Why would they want to kill him when they were only D-
grades, isolated on a single planet? With such a small audience?
When they could instead expand their battle to be two Chosen World
Leaders battling on a galactic scale? To face each other in the cosmos,
fighting for the fate of their entire galaxy.
Wouldn’t that be a far greater story?

A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 561 - A Chill Trip
The journey to Skyggen was one Jake had made before, but this time was
far faster in every way. Jake’s One Step had upgraded, allowing him to go
further than ever before, and he was fast approaching the city. It did help
that he also ignored everything in the way… except one thing.
Curiosity had always been one of his strong traits, but the last time he had
gone to Skyggen, he had listened to the logical part of his brain. A massive
mountain appeared before Jake, one reaching far into the sky above the
many layers of clouds. It was bonkers how big it was, and Jake faintly felt a
powerful aura from the top. A C-grade aura. Jake had not wanted to go the
last time he was there as he was not quite ready to face a C-grade, but this
time it should be fine, right?
Right?
Jake rapidly approached the mountain, which only looked bigger the closer
he got. It completely put any mountain on Earth to shame, and based on
how massive the base was, Jake estimated its height should not be measured
in tens but hundreds of kilometers.
Kind of makes sense, Jake thought. The C-grade – or C-grades if there were
more than one – had to live far enough up on the mountain due to the
system restrictions.
The climb wasn’t fast, but it wasn’t slow either. By climb, Jake meant
running vertically with One Step as he teleported up in the air like he had
just unlocked infinite teleporting double-jumps. Soon, he made it ten
kilometers up. Then thirty. Fifty. A hundred.
For every step, the mountain narrowed a little. When he reached the
hundred-kilometer mark, Jake guessed the mountain had to be around three
hundred kilometers tall. He did spot many caves also while making his way
up and many creatures living on the mountain. Thousands of birds made it
their resting place before heading out into the merciless skies again, some
of which found themselves hunted by predators lurking on the
mountainsides.
None of them paid him any mind, and Jake didn’t bother them either. It did
not take him long before Jake finally reached the layer of cloud that allowed
C-grades, and he instantly felt the shift. The air suddenly turned chilly and
white snow covered the mountain. He saw now that the rest of the mountain
was covered in white, but more than that, he felt something else there. A
presence that seemed to seep into the mana itself.
Curiosity still had hold of him as Jake went to investigate. He flew closer to
the mountain and landed as he saw several tracks. Areas where the snow
had been disturbed by what looked like a giant claw print.
He kept going forward until he saw a massive cave that seemed to burrow
straight into the middle of the mountain. Icicles covered the sides of it, and
Jake felt an intense chill coming from within. Enough for him to use a
barrier of arcane mana to defend himself from it.
As he stood there, he also felt something from his boots. As he was

earthbound, he could detect natural treasures, and from within that cave, a
powerful sensation came. Sense of the Malefic Viper did not react, meaning
it was not a toxin, but that did not mean it would be useless to him.
Not that Jake thought he could claim it… for he also felt a powerful aura.
Mid-tier C-grade? No… not quite… but still strong, Jake thought. Whatever
creature dwelled within also seemed to become aware of him as its presence
swept out from within. Jake was ready to retreat as two blue wisps of light
lit up within the unnaturally dark cave.
A rumble sounded as he heard the sound of claws scraping stone. Soon, the
creature became visible as it slowly walked out of the cavern, the chilly air
cooling down as it got closer. Jake knew upon feelings its presence that It
was a creature of pure mana. One of the natural masters of magic in the
multiverse.
The blue scales covered its body as vapor exited its slightly open mouth.
Two claws dragged it forward, each attached to large leathery wings, with
two legs being the primary method of moving when not in the air. For some
reason, Jake did not feel any fear but only had a stupid smile on his lips
from finally meeting one in the wild.
[Northpeak Wyvern – lvl ???]
Wyverns were not dragons, true. But they were the second best. Even a
powerful hatchling of a True Dragon often could not match a similarly-
leveled evolved wyvern. The reason was simple… the requirements for a
reptile to evolve into a wyvern were incredibly strict, and they needed to
have insane levels of innate magical talent.
“Your smell is familiar,” a voice echoed out from the wyvern. “But you
are not kin.”
Jake smiled. “No, I am not. It is a pleasure to-“
“Then die.”
His danger sense exploded as the wyvern opened its mouth. Jake reacted as
fast as he could and activated Arcane Awakening and crossed his arms in
front of him as several layers of arcane magic appeared. Just in time too.
A chilly wind hit Jake, followed by blue light. To lessen the impact, Jake
tried to redirect some of the force as he was shot backward. The arcane
barriers froze and shattered one by one as he felt like he was in the middle
of a blizzard. Within a second, the final barrier shattered, and the cold
energy hit Jake directly. His skin froze, his armor cracked, and he had to
close his eyes for them not to freeze solid, the already summoned Scales
still managing to absorb most of the force.
Luckily he was also being pushed away at an alarming pace. He flew back
rapidly as he summoned a healing potion into his mouth to fight the cold
energy that invaded his body and sought to freeze his insides.
Soon, he at least stopped accelerating as the power of the wyvern’s breath

dissipated. That just left Jake flying through the air like a comet down
toward the ground. The entire front of his body was frozen, and Jake gritted
his teeth as he managed to move his frostbitten limbs and brace for impact
before he smashed into the ground, creating a large crater.
The cold emanated from his body, even freezing his surroundings. Feeling
pretty damn chilly, Jake sat up in the crater, the mountain still visible far in
the distance.
“What a rude wyvern,” Jake muttered.
At least he had been hurled in the direction of Skyggen, so could this count
as a shortcut? Definitely not, but Jake wanted to justify his curiosity
somehow.
Still more than a little miffed at the lack of courtesy from the frost wyvern,
Jake got up as his entire body was stiff, and his skin and scales cracked
from the frostbite. It was damn annoying, and even with his vital energy
working at high speed, it would take some time to eliminate all the frost
energy in his body. The breath of a wyvern was far less potent than that of a
true dragon, but it still held incredible conceptual power nonetheless.
Moving forward at a slower pace, Jake continued his journey. He

complained a bit under his breath and swore: the next time Jake went to that
peak, Jake would show that damn wyvern what true rudeness looked like.
Caleb looked down at the sleeping toddler as he smiled. He and Maja had
many discussions during the pregnancy on how to deal with a newborn,
especially with Caleb working early hours and whatnot as a school teacher.
At least that hadn’t been an issue considering he no longer needed to sleep
at all. Adam did sleep a lot, and according to his mom, relatively normal
hours too. At least compared to Caleb.
As a baby and toddler, Jake had been a weird one. Mom talked about how
he would always wake up when you entered the room, almost as if he could
detect you in the room… something he, in retrospect, clearly had been able
to.
“I still feel a bit jealous,” Caleb heard his dad, Robert, say from behind.
“Back in my day, we had to get up every two hours to a crying baby and
soldier through the day on four hours of sleep.”
“In all fairness, I am not even getting four hours a week,” Caleb smirked.
His dad ignored him with a huff as he looked at Adam sleeping. “I had
feared how everything would be for a newborn… but he seems normal. Part
of me had thought that maybe kids would grow up to adulthood within a
few months or have superpowers, making toddlers even more menacing
than before.”
Caleb definitely concurred on that one. All of it. He had feared what kind of
life a child could have in a world where battle and killing were so common,
and perhaps more, how the system would mess with someone growing up.
The system had definitely led to changes for children, but surprisingly
enough, it was generally positive. How exactly the status menu of a toddler
looked, he couldn’t know for good reason, but one thing was clear: their
stats did not match their level. At least not their effectiveness.
Adam was already level 3, which meant that by pre-system standards, he

should have more stats than a regular adult man. Or at least close. At least
he should be far stronger than he was. Okay, he was still stronger than a
normal kid, but it was not extreme, so even if he could crawl faster and had
quite the grip, it was not at a level where he could lift his own dad off the
ground. He did not seem to display any particularly supernatural traits
besides one aspect: durability.
It was weird analyzing his own son like that, but he also couldn’t ignore
reality. Like with any kid, Adam liked to sometimes do less than intelligent
things. Things that would usually make a kid cry, such as bumping his head
or hitting himself with a toy, he ignored. The few times he managed to
scratch himself, the wound would also heal within the hour. He had also not
been sick once, and he needed less food than pre-system children.
Caleb was, needless to say, thankful that the system seemed to have made
life for both children and parents easier. No longer did you need to be so
fearful of anything and everything going wrong. Parents no longer needed
to have several children to ensure some made it to adulthood, and even
without medical professionals, children would be fine.
“We are lucky,” Caleb just smiled as he looked at Adam sleeping.
He left the room shortly after with his dad, going to the living room. It was
only the two of them in the hourse, and Caleb would have to leave soon,
leaving his dad behind to babysit. Yes, even with the system and all that,
there was no way he and Maja would leave Adam without a babysitter.
“How is Maja settling in?” Robert asked.
“She is doing well,” Caleb smiled. She was spending some time with her
own parents these days and had gone a route like many others when it came
to figuring out what she wanted to do. Her prior ongoing education in law
did not prove the most useful post-system, but she still wanted to at least
work somehow tangentially to it, so she had decided that since her husband
was a Judge, she should at least do something to help him do his job. Hence
why she went into the business of making contracts. System contracts and
general administrative work. It was honestly a good thing, as Caleb felt a lot
better having someone he could one-hundred percent trust at his back.
The two of them chatted a bit more before dad suddenly seemed to
remember: “Didn’t you say something about Jake coming by?”
“Yep,” Caleb nodded. He had to say Jake was really lucky. Adam being
born and everything being so hectic had distracted mom and dad enough for
them not to get too annoyed at his lack of contact. Not that Caleb blamed
him, Jake was busy and had a lot on his plate already.
“About time,” Robert still grumbled.

Caleb just shrugged, there not really being much to say. It was definitely not
an argument he was going to try and have again.
“So, when will he come?” Robert followed up.
“Not sure of the exact timeline, but last I heard, he was on his way. I have
no idea how fast he is these days or if he has any errands on the way, but it
shouldn’t be too long,” Caleb answered.
Dad just nodded, not talking about it further. Caleb was halfway looking
forward to and halfway dreading the talk they would have when Jake
arrived. He wasn’t sure how it would go after all the stuff with Arthur.
Would Jake get mad at the Court for having helped Arthur? Would he get
mad at Caleb? Or would he do as he usually did and not really care?
At least Arthur was gone. Last Caleb had heard, he was headed toward
Haven to try and do some damage control. An understandable move, as
Arthur truly believed Jake was an unhinged maniac who was seconds away
from genocide at any moment. The leader of the United Cities Alliance
genuinely feared that Jake would go on a rampage and ravage cities in
retaliation and hoped to give himself up and lay down his life to appease the
monstrous Malefic’s Chosen.
It was a stupid thought, but… Jake was hard to understand for people who
didn’t know him. Everyone seemed to have expectations as to how he was
supposed to act and viewed everything he did as something pre-approved
by the Malefic Viper, and every action he made only one to further the goals
of the Order of the Malefic Viper.
Let’s hope things work out,Caleb just sighed as he walked towards his office
to finish up some paperwork. He had no idea what Jake was planning but
was sure he was about to find out soon.
It ended up taking nearly ten hours before Jake was back to full speed after
his wyvern encounter, resolving himself not to annoy moody frost lizards
anymore. The cold energy had lingered far longer than expected, and with
Palate useless against it, it had been a struggle to eliminate it all. However,
when he was at full speed, he made rapid progress, and it did not take long
before Jake closed in on Skyggen.
Only after he entered the fake Skyggen did he realize that he could likely
have made it a lot faster if he had just figured out what teleporters were
functional again and found a city that could take him there.
Earth was rapidly restoring what had been lost, and it should not take long
before a new teleportation network was up and running. One that would
even be better than the one before as all those responsible for making it had
gotten stronger and more skilled in the meantime. Chances are that even
areas like the Grand Mangrove River could be passed through by the
teleporters with just a bit of tweaking. If not, then it should be possible to
make a teleportation checkpoint in the middle.
Shaking his head, Jake did not want to waste time thinking about it as he
saw the streets of fake Skyggen and how it barely differed from before. It
was evident the beast tides had not reached the city at all, and all that had
happened was them expanding as more sought the safety of larger cities.
Remembering the route, Jake passed through the city and went towards the
real Skyggen.
It would be good to finally spend some quality family time… and talk to his
parents about his plans of quite literally taking over the world.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 562 - Family Time
A note from Zogarth
Check next chap for exciting webcomic stuff :)
Jake was rarely nervous, but on that day, he really was. Logic be damned;
he was still a bit afraid his parents wouldn’t be okay with him coming, even
if Caleb had only ever said they wanted him to. He had to admit that this
was one of the reasons he kept trying to avoid going… Jake was very
different from before, and with every day, he truly grew further from Jake, a
boring salaryman in finance, and into Jake, the hunter. Despite how much
he had been assured by Caleb, the nervousness still stayed, making him feel
like this was a repeat of their first meeting all over again.
To add on, there was one more element. A person who had looked forward
to meeting Jake’s parents even more than Jake himself… or, well, equally
as much. It was naturally his other self, sim-Jake.
Sim-Jake last saw his parents the day they died. To him, it had been
decades, even if he had been able to experience the real Jake’s memories.
However, as he still maintained an ego, it just wasn’t the same. That is why
when Jake entered the real Skyggen, he instinctively knew Sim-Jake had
stopped his training and was alert and watching.
Who could blame him for being nervous? Both of them? All of this resulted
in Jake slowly making his way toward the large residence where Caleb and
his parents lived, with his head full of doubt. The guards didn’t stop him at
all but took out tokens to let him in without even speaking a word, Jake
knowing they had been informed of him coming. He hadn’t tried to hide
this time around, so they all knew he was in Skyggen, meaning there really
was no way to back down.
Jake approached the house and saw them within through his sphere.
Waiting. He took a deep breath and walked up to the door before knocking.
Within the house, mom instantly shot to her feet and rushed towards the
door. He was thinking about what to say or how to act as she hastily opened
the door and saw him.
In the next moment, Jake realized how dumb he had been.
Without any hesitation, his mom pulled him into a hug. His anxiety washed
away as he just returned the hug. Neither of them spoke as he smiled, a well
of emotions also coming from within his Soulspace.
He really should visit more.
“How long did you think you could hide it from me?”
The Augur looked out at the vast golden city from atop the spire. A deep
frown adorned his face as he felt the changes in the tapestry from the
faraway planet. The mix of hope and fear from his home planet reached him
even in another universe, proof of his increased power after his evolution.
“Until you discovered it yourself,” the B-grade Bishop answered with a

sigh. “I am not foolish enough to think that I can obscure the truth from an
Augur for long.”
Jacob’s frown only deepened at the answer. “Why was this necessary? What
happened on Earth?”
“Movements and machinations above what we mortals are meant to

comprehend. The game of the gods is not ours to interfere with; all we can
do is try and make the outcome as acceptable as possible. Yip of Yore, a
god recognized as at the pinnacle, challenged the Malefic One, and their
battle was extended to also include their Chosen. The Chosen of Yip of
Yore invaded your planet with the help of a faction of natives and battled
the Malefic’s Chosen. This happened only shortly after you arrived here and
recently concluded with the Chosen of Yip abandoning the planet and the
Malefic’s Chosen coming out on top,” the Bishop explained, Jacob not
sensing a single trace of falsehood in his words.
“Why would all of this require me to leave Earth and come here?” Jacob
asked.
“It is not only you. The faithful will all be evacuated from the planet as the
Holy Church has decided to abandon it unilaterally. A decision that should
not come as a surprise to you, considering the state it was in and the turmoil
it faced,” the Bishop answered.
Jacob wanted to protest but truly couldn’t. Deep inside, he had known this
would be the conclusion for quite a while. The Holy Church was a
monolithic faction that either controlled a planet or didn’t. They had rituals
and effectively terraformed planets to be better for themselves and natively
spawn holy energy that strengthened the power of faith for all who lived
there. Sharing with other factions, especially enemy factions like the Risen,
was not an option.
“After the second event, it was obvious that taking control of the entire
planet would not be feasible,” the Bishop continued. “Considerations of
placing an embassy of sorts there were brought up but ultimately decided
against. As things are looking right now, it looks like the Malefic One’s
Chosen will end up victorious. Something that I also feel does not come as
a surprise,” the Bishop said, a hint of accusation in that last part.
They both knew Jacob had been asked to distance himself from Jake and
also that he hadn’t followed that advice quite as the Church would have
hoped. Jacob also knew that the hope, no, expectation, of Jake was that he
would leave the planet altogether. There truly was little reason for him to
stay from the perspective of the Church, so they assumed he would just
teleport to the Order. Something he had done. Except he also kept coming
back, and based on how he seemed to have made a home on Earth, it looked
like he didn’t plan on staying away for good.
“Could you tell me everything that happened in my absence?” Jacob finally
asked. While the Bishop had explained the cliff notes, Jacob knew there
was more to it. There always was.
The Bishop agreed and told everything without holding back. Jacob had
suspected it, but when it was confirmed that his father had been the leader
of this native faction, he could only sigh. His sense of helplessness
deepened when he learned that the Church had known about this Ell’Hakan
coming well ahead of time and had even been warned, hence sending Jacob
away beforehand. They had indeed planned on leaving Earth all along and
just wanted the Risen gone, too, something Jacob would have been an
obstacle to accomplishing. Which begged the question…
“How exactly do you expect me to respond to all this?” Jacob asked.
“I expect nothing; I am nothing more than an instrument of a greater will.

What I will say is that I personally question why you believe you have been
slighted. You stand here now at C-grade, a multiverse in front of you, the
blessing of the Holy Mother upon your soul and the Church at your back,
and you care about a small insignificant planet. The reach of the Holy
Church is boundless, and there are numerous places that can benefit from an
Augur of Hope. Numerous places for you to exert your Path. Could you
truly guide Earth towards a feasible Path with so many elements on it to
lead it astray? Your planet was corrupted beyond saving already the
moment the Chosen of the Malefic One chose to stay there. All you can do
now is look onward,” the Bishop said.
“And how do you expect me to do that?” Jacob asked further.
“Explore. You have barely seen anything of the multiverse yet; it is a ripe
time to see what it has to offer. Leave Earth behind you. Perhaps the system
will still offer you to return for events, but if not, then simply close that
chapter of your life. People need help and guidance everywhere. People
need hope everywhere. With time, I believe you will come to understand
that no one has tried to slight or betray you. They simply guided you as you
now guide others. Towards a better future,” the Bishop finished saying,
leaving Jacob alone with his thoughts.
Days passed by as Jake did something he hadn’t done in a long time –
absolutely nothing. He just relaxed with his family, played with his little
nephew, and went around Skyggen exploring. Okay, Jake did do a bit of
light work, but it was only reading, meditating, and helping Caleb out with
some minor stuff. During meditation, Jake began working more with sim-
Jake, but both of them dedicated most of their attention to their holiday. He
had even made it clear to Miranda that he was only to be contacted in the
case of an emergency, and Villy seemed to get the idea and didn’t pop into
his head a single time throughout this time.
Jake naturally also discussed recent events with Caleb and his parents.
Everything with Ell’Hakan and Arthur had made quite the ruckus, and
especially Caleb had seemed nervous Jake would get mad at him for the
whole assassination thing. Jake didn’t know why… it wasn’t like his little
brother killed anyone Jake knew, and while it did indirectly help an
“enemy,” Jake couldn’t exactly get mad every time his brother took a job. It
would be like if he got mad that his brother went to buy potions from
someone else, as that would hurt Jake’s financials.
As for the big subject of Jake’s future plans… it felt like his parents didn’t
really understand it. They understood the words when Jake said he would
become World Leader, but it didn’t really seem to sink in. It was a bit like
how they didn’t entirely get what it meant that he was the Chosen of the
Malefic Viper or really understood the multiverse and the powerful factions
in it.
For the most part, Jake got it. The scale of things had gotten ridiculous.
Gods who could crush entire galaxies with ease were mentioned as if
normal, and factions with trillions upon trillions of members with countless
planets were just things thrown out there. It didn’t really make any sense to
most people as it was too far removed from their everyday lives, so Jake
didn’t push it either. They didn’t need to really understand… and in a way,
taking control of Earth was a way of ensuring they didn’t have to.
Or, maybe they did know and just didn’t want to make a big deal out of it.
In either case, it was probably for the best, as it allowed Jake to just be
himself. For better or worse. Both he and his brother knew that even if his
parents and Maja had reached D-grade, the chances of them reaching C-
grade were near nil.
It was another thing Jake didn’t want to think too much about. What he did
like to think about was the last member of the little family.
Adam, his nephew, had proved himself to be a big fan of his uncle. Who
could blame him? He seemed especially interested in Jake’s mana strings,
and while Maja wasn’t keen on it, she allowed Jake to make a swing of
pure, stable, arcane mana. The moving parts were a bit tough, but he got it
working pretty damn quickly and rapidly expanded - from a swing to a slide
to a makeshift rollercoaster to whatever else Jake could get on.
No, this was not practicing; this was playing. Did it also happen to be good
practice? Yes, but that was a happy little coincidence.
A month seemed like a long time, but the weeks passed by faster than Jake
had expected. Before long, it was the evening before Jake would have to
head back to Haven, and they had all met up for a final dinner together.
None of them really had to eat – besides Adam – but that didn’t mean one
couldn’t enjoy a good family dinner.
With the table set and a homecooked meal steaming, it began. They had
tried to avoid certain topics during most of this time – topics delegated as
work topics – but as this was the last night, all topics were valid. So,
naturally, the conversation fell on what Jake wanted to do after he left.
“I heard you are planning on leaving and going to that Order again soon,”
Robert, his dad, stated.
“Probably,” Jake nodded as his mom began mounting food on his plate. “I
have something I want to do there before the evolution.”
“Oh?” his mom asked. “Is it related to that alchemy of yours?”
“Nah. It’s this dungeon with a hydra in it. I can fight the strongest D-grade
version as long as I go there before I evolve. I lost the first time around and
want a rematch,” Jake said with a smile.
“You lost?” Caleb said with a cheeky grin. “Damn, I didn’t know you could
even do that. What did it do, eat all your arrows or something?”
“That is exactly what it did,” Jake answered with a deadpan expression.
His mom gave him a look to make him stop teasing Caleb, but Jake doubled
down. “What? It did eat everything. Arrows, magic, even my poison.”
Caleb turned a bit more serious as he inquired: “Sounds like quite the beast.
A strong variant?”
“Yep,” Jake said as he took a bite of the food that his mom had just handed
him. “This hydra later became a god too.”
Frowning, Caleb thought for a moment. “Wait, the Lord Protector of the
Order? The Boundless Hydra? It has an image saved in a dungeon?”
“Right on,” Jake confirmed.
“Boys, enough hydra talk,” Maja finally cut in. Jake looked a bit apologetic,
with Caleb naturally obliging with the words of his wife. It was a bit rude to
talk about something only the two of them really knew and cared about.
They stopped discussing anything serious for a while as they just talked
about causal topics. Primarily a trip Jake and Caleb made where Jake
“borrowed” some more special alchemical ingredients from the Court of
Shadows and, in turn, was made to help teach some alchemists. When Jake
said talked, what he actually meant was that Caleb joked about how much
Jake sucked at teaching people. Which wasn’t really fair.
It wasn’t Jake’s fault all of the alchemists in the Court were morons who
didn’t put enough points into Perception to actually understand what was
going on. They went on and on about methodology while Jake just kept
telling them to just lookat what the hell they were doing rather than just
assume everything went according to theory. Something it turns out they
couldn’t do because apparently Wisdom and Willpower were more
important stats when it came to alchemy.
He could only shake his head at their ignorance, which his family only
found amusing.
At least he did manage to teach them at least a little about poisons. Mainly
things he felt were rather basic knowledge, but it seemed like him
explaining it made them understand it better than if they read it. Jake wrote
that up to his legendary teaching skill. Caleb was happy either way, as they
both knew Caleb just wanted to have Jake teach to truly show off that there
were no hard feelings between the Order and the Court. And Records.
Probably some stuff related to Records too.
The dinner ended far too soon, and it was time for Jake to go. Everyone
insisted on escorting him to the city exit, and it didn’t take them long to get
there. Jake said goodbye to Caleb, Maja, and Adam before turning to his
parents.
His mom gave him a big hug that went on for a bit too long, followed by his
dad even giving a brisk one. Mom had tears in her eyes, but she didn’t say
anything so as to not make Jake feel bad about leaving. They both knew he
had to go.
Jake walked out of the hidden city gate as his dad followed him, with Caleb
leading everyone else inside again. The two of them stopped a bit outside
the city with no one else around. Robert turned to Jake with a serious look
on his face. One Jake had only rarely seen on his father’s face.
“Jake… Debra and I won’t begin to act like we understand everything that
is going on with you. I get some of it, but I will admit I have given up
trying to fully understand what both you and Caleb are doing and how the
world has changed. What I do understand is that you have important things
you want and need to do. If there is one thing your mother and I would
never want, it is to feel like you are restraining yourself because of us. So
please, just do what you have to do. Just know that no matter what happens,
we are proud of you, and you can always come to visit… but you don’t
need to. You don’t have to hold yourself back because of us; we will be
fine.”
They smiled at each other as his dad tapped his shoulder.

“Take care out there.”
Jake smiled and pulled his dad into a hug that lasted quite a bit longer than
the last one. Letting go of him, Jake took a step back. “Thanks, dad.”
His dad just nodded. “Now be off.”
Jake nodded again and turned to leave.
“Be safe,” Jake muttered under his breath as he took off, his dad staring
after him as he left – Jake also feeling the gazes of the rest of his family
from afar.
Webtoon Announcement
A note from Zogarth
Chapter was posted just before this.
In case you are not on Discord and missed it: I GOT A WEBCOMIC.
Or, well, I will get a webcomic sometime this year. Not super much info to
share quite yet, but I am at the very least excited, so do the proper thing
and, at the very least, act excited for me, alright?
It is made in partnership with my publisher (Aethon) and Webtoon, and it
will be a Webtoon Original. In case you didn’t know, Webtoon is the
biggest online digital comic platform in the world and the ones behind
stories such as Tower of God. So, not bad company if I say so myself.
More info here: https://aethonbooks.com/2023/01/18/aethon-partners-with-
webtoon-for-origincomic-adaptations/
As I said, then there really isn't much to share yet, but I have talked to the
people behind it, seen some stuff, given feedback, and it looks good so far!
I will of course update everyone once I know more, and especially when I
have some actual artwork to share.
Oh, and have a good weekend, everyone!
Intermission 8/10 - Arthur
Arthur wondered where it had all gone so wrong, but the answer was
obvious, wasn’t it?
It had been the moment he had agreed to the offer of that other Chosen, a
choice he still questioned to this day. Why had he believed his lies and the
blatant deceit? Missed all the red flags? Well, he knew why… because he
had wanted to trust him.
Like every other human on Earth, Arthur had entered a Tutorial, a quite
difficult one as far as he could gather. Survival had been the goal, and after
the initial panic, he had calmed down. He had entered with several
employees and his youngest son, Peter, so in some ways, he had an
advantage. They had all put their faith in him, and as always, he had risen to
the occasion out of a sense of obligation. There had been a total of two
thousand individuals, and with Arthur at the helm, less than a hundred had
ended up dying within the first month, the majority on the first day before
they gathered them. He had done all he could… but even in the Tutorial,
outside influence had begun to rear its ugly head.
Invitations during evolutions, dungeons made by those who had designs on

their new universe. Some people had been convinced, and even Arthur had
been close. The offers of the gods sounded genuine, and it seemed like a
win-win.
It wasn’t. There was no equal deal, no give and take… it was an as

unbalanced relationship as they could come. Nearly all the gods who had
blessed people wanted them to convert others. Some gods even were
antagonistic towards others, and the leaders of man clearly did not enter the
eyes of the gods. The battle for influence was mostly peaceful, but deadly
duels began to pop up
A Tutorial that was mostly under control began to turn chaotic. Especially
two gods held great hatred for each other and decided to wage war by proxy
– something Arthur came to learn was rather common practice. Why
wouldn’t it be?
To gods, mortals were nothing more than playthings. They saw no reason to
take any risks themselves when they could just have their ignorant
followers die in their stead, like chess pieces in a game where neither player
truly cared about winning – just spiting their opponent.
That was the first time Arthur learned to crack down and be assertive. The
gods had no tangible power in the Tutorial, and Arthur still had many
followers. The majority also soon adopted his sentiment of distaste towards
these religious factions, spurred on by their senseless violence and
disruptions of what actually mattered, at least according to most reasonable
people.
The Tutorial was about survival, and this manifested in frequent attacks by
beasts and elementals. Once the religious factions’ conflicts began to result
in casualties among the defenders, it didn’t take long before the majority
was on Arthur’s side.
He didn’t like to do it, but some of them had to go. It was better to cut off
the tumor before it could spread. They threw them out of their settlements
into a wilderness where these ”priests” and ”preachers” quickly fell to the
invaders, their followers not devout enough to follow them to their deaths.
Many who had gotten blessed renounced them and denounced their former
Patrons.
From there, Arthur ruled with an iron fist. He got a lie detection skill early
on, and his Identify evolved to also include if people had a Blessing or not.
It did not say who or what they were blessed by, only if they had one or not.
This naturally proved instrumental in weeding out those who tried to hide
their loyalties and tried to spread conflict.
It had to be noted that Arthur, not even at the height of his hatred of divine
influence, went indiscriminately against those with Blessings. Some were
blessed but never voiced anything. Never tried to recruit anyone or make
trouble. Arthur saw no reason to shun these people and simply acted like
nothing was different about them. Even some of his closest allies carried
Blessings of gods who didn’t care about spreading their faith and growing a
faction. From them, he learned many important things.
Firstly: all gods benefit from faith, but some more than others. Some
benefitted so little that it didn’t matter at all. These gods, Arthur had no
issues with. More than Patron gods, they were just personal sponsors and
guides. He would compare them to people who identified as spiritual but
didn’t view themselves as part of any organized religion. They also didn’t
tend to believe that their religious beliefs mattered more than the beliefs of
others.
The second thing he learned was that the gods who did benefit from faith
were very aggressive when it came to getting it. While they were clearly not
monotheistic, they still believed that all those within a group should act as if
they were, only recognizing their Patron as the most important god. It was
fine agreeing there were others, but they had to be viewed as lesser.
This was simply a requirement for them. A mechanic of the system itself.
How exactly faith worked, he never quite figured out, but it was clear that
people who believed in multiple gods were worth far less than those who
truly believed in only one. There was a caveat to this as it appeared that
gods in Pantheons did not suffer this penalty, truly giving birth to large
organized religions.
Thirdly, Arthur learned the existence of different levels of Blessings. Those

blessed were far from equal, and each rank of Blessing offered more
benefits and more Records. The cost for the god of giving away higher-
leveled Blessings also grew, meaning the higher level of the Blessing, the
more devout the person tended to be. Minor, Lesser, Intermediate, Major,
Greater, Divine. These were the Blessings he first heard of, but later it was
revealed there were two more.
Baptism was not truly a Blessing but more a brand of sorts. It did not truly
offer anything, and as far as Arthur could determine, it was only used by the
mega-religion known as the Holy Church. Finally, there was one more that
was also hard to argue was a normal Blessing: the True Blessing.
True Blessings were something truly Unique. First of all, a god could only
have one True Blessing given out at a time, and often, a god didn’t even
have someone who carried it. The ones with the True Blessing were called
Chosen, but others also referred to them as Prophets or Champions. They
were effectively the mortal mouthpieces of their gods.
Arthur never encountered any Chosen before the Chosen of the Malefic
Viper and the Chosen of Yip of Yore. But everything he had seen pointed to
the same reality: the higher the level of Blessing, the more devout the
person. Ell’Hakan struck Arthur as a miniature version of his own Patron,
and he shared much of the insight Arthur came to have about what it meant
to be a Chosen and what the Order of the Malefic Viper was all about.
Insights he now questioned the accuracy of.
Why had he believed Ell’Hakan? Even now, Arthur wasn’t sure. The man
had just seemed like someone he could trust, and everything the nahoom
had said made sense to Arthur. His logic was sound, and he even had
evidence of all his claims. He now doubted all of this as it was clear that
while Arthur attempted to use Ell’Hakan to remove a major threat from
their planet, Ell’Hakan had also just used him as an instrument to further his
own goals.
But… as mentioned… Arthur had believed Ell’Hakan because he wanted

to. But in his defense, his biases were confirmed time and time again.
Everything he had done was, at least in his own mind, for humanity, and
every step of the way, he was affirmed in his beliefs. Peter had even agreed
to infiltrate the Holy Church in order to try and get to Jacob, but during that
infiltration, he had found out how truly messed up the so-called holy faction
was.
Arthur had even considered joining the Church at one point, especially
when he learned his son was leading it. Jacob had always been excellent at
everything he put his mind to, and Arthur trusted his judgment… at least, he
used to. Now, Arthur wasn’t so sure.
What he learned from the Church was everything in the Tutorial taken to
the extreme. While it was not explicitly stated, the City Lords who tried to
negotiate with the Church quickly realized what the goal of the Church was:
total domination. They would not allow any other faction to remain on
Earth and were more than willing to commit genocide of both their own
people and the locals to achieve this. Did they prefer peaceful methods to
preserve as many potential faithful as possible? Perhaps… but that wasn’t
the kind of future Arthur wanted for Earth.
It would also result in the death of Earth, at least in the metaphorical sense.
They would wipe out the culture of Earthlings and replace it with that of the
Holy Church. The values humanity had built up throughout history would
be forgotten. In a few generations, those who lived on Earth wouldn’t even
remember what Earth used to be. The history of their homeland would be
lost forever.
Arthur could not allow that to happen. But, as he was trying to figure out a
way to battle the Holy Church, he came to find an even worse fate for
humanity than what the Church would bring. One caused by a faction far
more destructive, cruel, and bereft of empathy:
The Order of the Malefic Viper.
When he first heard about them, he found it hard to believe. As mentioned,

he had many who worked with him who still had Patrons who had no
interest in laying a claim on Earth. They told him what was going on in the
wider multiverse, with the two biggest events being the integration of the
ninety-third universe and the reemergence of the Malefic Viper. Two events
he came to learn were connected once he knew of the presence of the
Chosen of the Malefic Viper…
The Prophet of the Malefic Viper. His Champion. Mouthpiece. The mortal
avatar of a god that had Malefic in its very name. A god known for his
cruelty and slaughter of ten percent of an entire universe. An utterly
monstrous existence that now had laid its hands on Earth. The Chosen had
laid his hands on Earth.
Now, why did Arthur think he had an interest in Earth? Everything pointed
to it.
The Order of the Malefic Viper had begun expanding in the first universe.
Their methods of expansion were ones that reflected the cruelty of their
Patron. Slaughter, enslavement, destruction. No mercy was shown on their
path to conquest, and any who dared stand in their way or even try to
negotiate were killed unceremoniously, their entire factions implicated.
Horror set in as Arthur feared the Chosen of the Malefic Viper had similar
plans, but he had one hope: that he wouldn’t care about Earth. Maybe he
would simply leave and head off to the Order, leaving behind their small
rock in space? That hope died quickly after Arthur learned that the Chosen
had not only taken part in the First World Congress but was even the one
with the highest noble rank and held significant sway over every vote. It
would not be wrong to say he ruled the World Congress already.
The Second World Congress and Auction Event only reaffirmed what
Arthur thought. He tried to get a feeling for the individual that was known
as Jake Thayne but found it impossible. He was too aloof, too carefree
about anything political. But that didn’t mean he lacked a presence in the
political arena because he had two individuals at his back.
Firstly was Miranda Wells.
From all he could gather, she was a nobody before the system. Not
surprisingly, most people who were now prominent were not known before
the system. He did find a large percentage of City Leaders and faction
leaders to also have been leaders in the old world, but Ms. Wells was not
such an example. From what he did learn, then she was just a manager or
something before the system.
Perhaps there would have been hope with her, but she was clearly also a
member of this Order. She was blessed by witches and was a witch herself.
Those who got to see her in action during the Treasure Hunt reported that
she used brutal tactics and magic to kill her foes. The level of trust the
Chosen showed in her was also high, making it only reasonable to assume
she was absolutely loyal. Hence Arthur was certain the City Lord had to go
to destroy the supporters behind the Malefic’s Chosen. After his death to
Ell’Hakan, they would shamble, and he saw Ms. Wells as the only person
able to hold anything resembling a faction together. At least the humans in
the faction. Because there was one entity even more dangerous.
The Fallen King.
Upon seeing the Unique Lifeform in the Second World Congress, Arthur
felt like many of the chess pieces fell into place. A King by birth, a creature
created to lead and rule. To Arthur, that was why the Chosen had never
bothered to expand his faction. Why would he when he had such a creature
at his back to do it all for him?
To make it all worse, this Unique Lifeform could lead even monsters under
his banner. This was why Arthur decided that he had to do something. Why
he, in his desperation, listened to the sweet whispers of an enemy Chosen
who knew just what to say. He had been approached during the Myriad
Paths event, and the offer he was given was just too good to refuse. Arthur
had, in all honesty, been desperate by how badly he was outmatched, so
when he was thrown a lifeline, he grasped it with both hands.
Ell’Hakan would take care of the Chosen and the Unique Lifeform, and he
even presented the potential of allying with Valhal, something his Patron
had pre-negotiated for them. Valhal was a force that Arthur had no
problems with, as they did not want to control the planet. Moreover, they
were a predominately human faction, and the contract he negotiated with
them was incredibly favorable towards Earth. All contingent on the defeat
of the Chosen, of course…
Arthur sighed as he was awoken from his thoughts by one of his old
employees. They were riding a magical ship, and he had been made aware
that Haven was now within sight. Steeling himself, Arthur was prepared to
face what was to happen.
A captain had to go down with the ship, and as the leader of the United
Cities Alliance, he had to take responsibility for his actions. From the very
beginning, he had been resolved to follow through or die in the attempt.
It was only four days past the defeat of Ell’Hakan, and Arthur had not been
made aware of the Order of the Malefic Viper making any moves yet. He
hoped that they wouldn’t before he had a chance to give himself up.
Their approach was naturally spotted, and Arthur sighed as he prepared

himself. He had only gone with three of his most loyal attendants, and he
hoped that mercy would at least be shown to them, though he wouldn’t get
his hopes up. They had also prepared themselves to face death.
An advance party from Haven moved towards them as Arthur had the ship
stop. He saw that the group included the assistant of Ms. Wells, Lillian, as
well as the resident space mage of Haven. The space mage alone was strong
enough to beat everyone on the ship.
Lillian landed on the ship and regarded Arthur. She didn’t speak right away
but took out a token, nodded, and motioned toward the city. “Welcome to
Haven; the City Lord is expecting you in the central office. If you would
follow me.”
Arthur nodded, a bit surprised they didn’t put any magical restriction or
something like that on him quite yet.
“Your followers can wait on the ship in the meanwhile,” Lillian followed
up.
He couldn’t really argue with that… it was safer to only bring him and split
them up.
“Finally, what do you prefer for the meeting?” Lillian asked, Arthur
frowning with confusion before she continued. “We have coffee and tea, but
if you prefer something else, we can get that too.”
Arthur stared at the woman, confused. A sneaking suspicion entered his

mind… had he misread the situation?
And if he had… how badly?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 563 - More To The Story
Getting back to Haven was quite a bit easier than going to Skyggen. A
month was not a long time, but it was enough for many changes to happen.
Earth’s space mages had been working tirelessly, and the teleportation
network expanded by the day. All the factions that remained were busy
claiming what they could, especially after the Holy Church decided to
effectively abandon the planet, resulting in the second biggest faction
suddenly being gone.
The United Cities Alliance had clearly known of this outcome and already
had people in place to take control. They did proceed with the plan of the
takeover, but their loyalties to the Alliance were now in question as they all
were also made aware of their failed overall plan. Which begged the
question: what would happen now?
Jake had talked with Caleb about current events, and he at least had to give
these City Lords credit. Their response had simply been to do their jobs as
best they could and act as neutral forces. They invited everyone to make
teleportation circles, and they prioritized their citizens over petty politics
and focused on rebuilding and ensuring public order after all the beast
attacks. That was pretty damn respectable and made Jake feel a bit better
about what was to come.
For the final stretch back to Haven from the Fort, Jake still had to run. He
decided to be nice and not rush, as they were now aware of his arrival back
in Haven and could prepare stuff. A bit to his surprise, something
unexpected contacted him on the way.
“Had a nice vacation?” Villy asked after the deity descended with his
presence.
“I know you peeked in at me pretty much all the time, so you tell me?” Jake
asked in return.
“In my defense, I wasn’t really paying attention. Think of it more as me

having a security camera on you where I can pull up the footage if I
actually want to see something. Anyway, you had a good vacation, and now
it is back to work, which is why I pulled you into a fast meeting. What are
your plans with Valhal?” Villy asked.
“Not thought much about it, but I am a bit pissed at them for making a deal
that is pretty much contingent on my death. Arthur, I can excuse for being
ignorant and getting fooled by Ell’Hakan or whatever, but Valhal? Nah,
fuck that; they did it with full knowledge. So something has to give, that is
for sure, be it telling them to get the fuck out or demanding some kind of
hefty compensation for being assholes,” Jake said, a bit miffed.
“Okay, allow me to offer an alternative. Don’t. I won’t share much, but I

will say that things aren’t quite as they seem. Valhal is a good ally to have
and a beneficial force to keep on Earth. The entire thing with Yip’s Chosen
is also far more complicated than you know, and again, while I won’t share
much, then you hit it right on the money when you said they went in with
full knowledge. Including the knowledge that the contract would never
materialize and become relevant,” Villy said, making Jake frown.
“Explain,” Jake simply said.
“I can’t; that would potentially ruin future plans. Some things are simply
best left unsaid. But know that Valhal never actually saw you losing as an
option. They are allies, and it would be best to keep them as allies,” Villy
answered, refusing to give an actual reason.
However, Jake frowned with suspicion. “You were involved in them even
making the offer, weren’t you? What are you up to?”
“Things. We are playing a long game here, and some things will only make
sense in due time. For now, just keep positive. Shit, if you want to excuse
your sudden sense of forgiveness, just blame it on the Runemaiden. Wait,
maybe you can demand to make her your mistress to-“
“Okay, bye!” Jake cut Villy off as he severed the connecting, a faint echo of
a laugh still left behind as Villy clearly enjoyed teasing him.
He knew it was just a method to make Jake not discuss the topic any longer.
Jake honestly had no idea what the hell Villy was doing or what he planned,
but his gut told him it wasn’t anything that would impact Jake negatively.
He was aware that things between gods were rarely simple and that
something bigger was brewing than just Yip and the Viper deciding to duke
it out in a straight-on fight, so he decided to play along for now and be a
good Chosen. While potentially using it as something to hold over Villy’s
head. He was still a heretic, right?
With all that done, Jake finally made his way into Haven proper. He had
already felt Miranda observing him on his trip, not that he didn’t expect her
and everyone else to know about his arrival. As he got closer to the city, he
also felt more powerful presences, making it clear he was the last to arrive.
The Sword Saint and Fallen King were already there. He had kind of
assumed at least one of them to be late due to all the things they had to deal
with during this month. Both had territories to stabilize and take control of
once more, and while Jake had gotten some updates, he wasn’t entirely
clear on how things were looking elsewhere on Earth. Primarily because he
didn’t really care much and didn’t wanna ruin his vacation by hearing how
the rest of the world was potentially in turmoil.
Jake headed straight for the office, where all the others had already
gathered. The King, Miranda, Sword Saint, Lillian, and of course, Arthur.
Jake saw them through his sphere before he entered the office, and it was
quite the sight, especially with how overly stoic Arthur looked. However, it
at least looked like the man wasn’t too uncomfortable. Jake would hope not.
He had been in Haven for weeks already, so he should have had plenty of
time for Miranda to set him straight.
Entering the large meeting room, everyone turned to him.
“You are late in your arrival,” the King said with a bit of snark. The
Unique Lifeform felt a lot better than a month ago, and the many cracks in
both masks were close to healed. Jake’s own mask naturally reflected the
healing of the Fallen King in front of him, but he hadn’t really followed the
mask regenerating during his break. Most of the time, he hadn’t worn the
mask, as that had been unnecessary.
“I didn’t know we agreed to meet at midnight,” Jake answered back. “I

apologize for assuming we would meet at reasonable hours.”
“For the record,” Miranda intervened. “The Fallen King is the only one
complaining. I am personally surprised you even showed up this early. I
would have expected you to come a few minutes before midnight tonight to
barely meet the meet-three-days-before-World-Congress deadline.”
“Okay, I am starting to feel attacked here,” Jake said with a smirk. He met
Miranda’s eyes and knew what she was doing. Humanization. She was
trying to show that Jake was a normal person in front of Arthur by treating
him casually and friendly. Jake didn’t think the King was in on it; he was
just being a dick with Miranda then proceeding to make use of his
dickishness.
“Who would have thought that previous history would be used as a

predictor of future behavior,” Miranda smiled. “Anyway, good to have you
join us, Jake. You aren’t actually that late; Lord Noboru arrived only an
hour or so ago.”
“The lateness of one does not excuse the tardiness of another,” the King
once more interjected.
“Or maybe you were just early. This is my meeting, so it begins when I
arrive. Not my fault you decided to misread when I would come,” Jake just
answered, not caring how unreasonable that sounded. He then finally turned
to the guy in the room he was truly there for.
“I must admit, when I saw you last time, I was surprised, but I guess I
shouldn’t expect anything less of Jacob’s dad. What I did not expect was for
you to effectively try and start a civil war leading to millions of deaths for
no good reason,” Jake said, not holding back right from the get-go.
To his credit, Arthur didn’t deflect or back down.

“Much has become clearer to me in the last few weeks. Light has been shed
on my numerous misunderstandings and misinterpretations, and I now
realize my mistakes and can only take full responsibility for my actions.
However, I will not apologize for my ultimate reason for doing what I did.
What I will apologize for is not realizing that perhaps we want the same
thing, making my actions unnecessary and harmful,” Arthur answered.
“I am pretty sure you already know that I am quite skeptical of all this. I
assume Miranda has filled you in on her plans?” Jake asked.
“She has made me aware, yes. And I also know the decision is ultimately
yours to make. What I will make clear is that I also remain skeptical about
her proposed arrangement. In all truthfulness, then before I even try to sell
myself to this council, I will have to know it will truly be a council and not
just a farce to try and sell the mirage of fairness and representation. That it
will be a council that can actually lead to positive change and not just work
to advance your personal whims or the wishes of the Order of the Malefic
Viper,” Arthur answered, his gaze firm.
He and Jacob are quite a bit alike, huh, Jake thought. Miranda looked a bit
nervous at the standoffish demeanor Arthur had adopted, making it apparent
that wasn’t how she had expected things to go. Arthur also seemed to
misunderstand something.
“It will be to further my personal whims,” Jake answered truthfully. “Why

else would I bother becoming World Leader except for purely selfish
reasons?”
Arthur frowned, but he didn’t look surprised. “Which begs the question:
why even make a council? Why not just have the Order of the Malefic
Viper come and take over? With them in charge, it would be-”
“Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Jake interrupted. “I said it was for my
personal whims; what does the Order of the Malefic Viper have to do with
anything? This entire council idea can be boiled down to a personal whim.
Tell me this, why do you think I decided to become World Leader?”
The other man looked at Jake, confused by the question. “To take control
and rule the planet?”
“Wrong,” Jake shook his head. “I don’t give a shit about ruling the planet.
What I do give a shit about is to make sure no one else is ruling the planet. I
don’t want to see the Holy Church or some other bullshit faction take
charge and do whatever they want. So, I decided to selfishly just claim the
planet and tell everyone else to play nice or fuck off. The system clearly
wants someone to take control at some point, and if that is the case, it may
as well be me. But that doesn’t mean I want to actually rule anything. That
is what you are here for.”
After talking, Jake threw Miranda a questioning look. He was a bit

confused why the hell Arthur was still so ignorant even after all this time.
Shouldn’t she have explained all this already? However, she just gave him a
smile in return.
Arthur looked to be considering Jake’s words for a moment before asking:

“What is your ultimate goal after gaining control of Earth? What is the goal
of the Order of the Malefic Viper, and what, if any, role do they play?”
“I don’t have any goal besides keeping things as they are and keep things
peaceful. As for the details, that isn’t anything I want to deal with.
Honestly, I just want a place to return to whenever I want, and for those I
care about who remain behind and be safe. As for the role of the Order?
Well, they don’t have any, at least not from your point of view. Sure, they
will function as a deterrent to other factions, and I probably can’t avoid
anyone going here in the future. But it will be clear that this is my home turf
and for no one to fuck around. There are certain perks to being the Chosen
of a Primordial, and with the Viper at my back, no other faction will try to
lay claim to Earth either,” Jake answered.
The man once more fell silent, his frown making his skepticism obvious.
“And the Order of the Malefic Viper will simply sit back and allow this?
What if your Patron asks for you to do something with the planet?” Arthur
asked pointedly, still with the same misunderstanding.
“Well, the Order doesn’t really have a choice, and if the Viper asks me to do
something with Earth I don’t like, I will tell him to fuck off,” Jake
shrugged. “You seem to fundamentally misunderstand the relationship I
have with the Order and with the Malefic Viper. I don’t serve him for shit,
and I am more just a member of the Order by association and shamelessly
leeching off them for my own benefit. The Malefic Viper and I are, in the
simplest of terms, just good friends. So if he asks me for something, I will
listen, but I will listen to him the same as I would listen to Miranda or
anyone else here in the room. Well, besides you and the Fallen King.”
This time Arthur really didn’t know what to say, prompting Miranda to
insert herself.
“I have been trying to tell you that you severely misinterpreted who you
were dealing with and the current situation. You moved based on biased and
false information with little criticism and few attempts to truly verify
anything yourself. Was your interpretation one that would be true in ninety-
nine percent of cases? Probably, but you still ultimately messed up,”
Miranda said harshly.
The Sword Saint also decided to talk. “I do not wish to see Earth fall either
and would defend it if necessary. My reason for supporting Jake is that I
trust him as a person. I learned about him as a hunter before I learned about
him as a Chosen. But let me clarify that I will also take a laidback approach
to Earth, similar to him… but should the planet be threatened, I will be
here. No matter who the threat is, even if it is the Chosen of the Malefic
Viper.”
“Well, there you have it,” Jake shrugged. “And, again, If it was up to me,
you would not be sitting here. However, I have also become aware that just
chopping your head off would lead to even more annoying issues, and while
you are wholly ignorant of a lot of things, you seem to at least understand
how to manage cities and politics. Your role will be the same as before, just
on a council with a few differing opinions.”
Arthur seemed to listen and sighed as he looked at the floorboards.

“I do understand that my actions were inexcuseable, and I trusted people I
never should have. Before I met Ms. Wells, I wasn’t even aware of the
existence of these Bloodlines, much less that the Chosen of Yip had one. I
do realize now it influenced me, but that is no excuse for what I did. Let me
also make it clear, Lord Thayne, that I do not fully trust you either, but I
also know that trying to oppose you at this point will result in nothing
positive,” Arthur said before looking up at Jake. “I shall try and do my
utmost on this council to try and make up for the mistakes I have made, but
I will not compromise who I am or my beliefs. My priority remains the
well-being of humanity and preservation of Earth.”
“Great,” Jake said. “That is exactly what the job description entails. Well,
this was easy. Why did we need to meet three days before the World
Congress for this again?”
Miranda sighed. “Because there is still a lot of work to prepare and

contracts to draw up. Also, Jake, you have some personal matters you
should attend to in the meantime.”
Jake raised an eyebrow. “Such as?”
“I have been informed that the snakes at the Grand Mangrove River require
your presence for a teleportation circle that should allow you to travel to the
Order of the Malefic Viper again. Also, Arnold would like to see you.
Finally, would it be possible for you to ask Carmen to come to Haven? The
teleportation network should allow it,” Miranda said.
“Oh, no need to worry about Carmen,” Jake said with a smile. “She and
Sylphie are already well on their way, though they didn’t take the
teleportation network but chose to take the more cloudy and scenic route.
They should be here in a day or two, according to Sylphie.”
Miranda nodded, surprisingly unsurprised. “Very well. In that case, maybe

head over to Arnold or to the Grand Mangrove River. Ah, a teleporter to the
Mangrove is already finished, and you can teleport there directly from the
Fort. We shall reconvene when Carmen gets here.”
“Got it,” Jake nodded as he headed out to leave all the political nerds alone.
It was time to see what the resident mad scientist had been up to in recent
times.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 564 - A Visit To the
Resident Mad Scientist
Jake really had to restrain himself every time he visited Arnold. Mainly by
suppressing his desire to see if he could break through the big dome of
metal that guarded his workshop. It looked and felt damn sturdy, but he
should have a good shot with enough destructive arcane mana. If not, then
surely Touch of the Malefic could do it.
Alas, he was not there to break stuff.
He had already gone to see Arnold before he went on holiday, so he was a

bit interested in why Arnold had asked for him to stop by. Interested in what
kind of thing the madman had made that he wanted to show Jake and
potentially hand him. Or maybe he wanted a favor this time around?
As expected, then he was let straight in, Arnold aware Jake was back. The
workshop had expanded once more, this time primarily downwards, it
seemed. From Jake’s sphere, he also saw some weird robot-looking things
digging even further, making it clear the scientist was still expanding.
It didn’t take long to locate Arnold, who was working inside a laboratory
with a familiar cube. The one Jake had brought from the Void God, Oras.
“Good, you are here,” Arnold stated when Jake entered without even
turning around.
Jake was a bit surprised, not by what he was doing, but by the response
when he used Identify on the man.
[Human – lvl 199]

The bastard has surpassed Jake in level. As for if he was working on getting
his Perfect Evolution or still had evolution quests to finish, Jake didn’t
know, but he had still surpassed Jake. Holidays were truly detrimental to
growth.
“So, what did you want?” Jake asked bluntly.
“I have been made aware you will soon return to the Order of the Malefic
Viper,” Arnold stated. “I would ask of you to procure some materials when
you are there. Compensation shall naturally follow. Further discussion as to
the form of compensation beyond Credits is possible.”
“Oh?” Jake asked, a bit surprised, but he quickly got it. Arnold was
probably running low on high-level materials. The guy had stockpiled when
the system store was around and made ample use of the Holy Church and
all other merchant groups… but by now, he had outgrown them. That, or
they were gone off the planet.
He maybe even needed them for his evolution quest.
“Sure, we can figure something out,” Jake agreed.
Arnold nodded and took out a tablet from his spatial storage, and handed it
to Jake. “All details are within. A list has been made and ordered based on
priority. Will a deposit of funds for the purchase be necessary?”
“Nah, I should be able to front the cash,” Jake shrugged as he took the
tablet and opened it to see the… list.
He started scrolling. It kept going.
“Arnold… how many items are there?”
“Eight hundred and seventy-one unique entries, the quantity of each item
specified individually,” Arnold answered with a deadpan face.
Poor Meira, Jake could only think as he put the tablet in his inventory.
“This is quite a lot,” Jake commented. “And even if I don’t want a deposit
now… maybe we can talk about what you can potentially offer.”
Arnold looked at Jake for a moment. “I would advise delaying. Preparations

are underway for projects designated for use by C-grades. Based on the
assumption that you are close to evolution, I predict any items would be
more useful for you then. Moreover, the items requested will, in high
likelihood, include the materials required for these projects. Before
knowing what is possible to acquire, I cannot give an offer.”
“Eh… sound logic,” Jake said. He would need a lot of new stuff after his
evolution, wouldn’t he? “But, give me a sneak peek anyway, okay? Come
on, you must have something fun in the works.”
The man took a moment before nodding. “Continued research has gone into
improving many weapons. Follow me.”
Jake gladly did so as they entered another workshop. Walking to a wall,

Arnold activated some magic as barriers were rapidly removed. Jake had
already seen the hidden room behind the wall and also knew that he had no
fucking way to enter it. The way it was hidden was actually damn smart.
The walls that enclosed the room were three or so meters thick and made of
metal, very similar to what the dome consisted of. It would take quite a
while to get through it, and Jake reckoned only Alchemical Flame could do
the job. The opening mechanism to enter was also simple but effective. The
door of sorts required one to open it correctly, or a massive wall of steel
would fall and block the entrance, and from the looks of it, Arnold had
placed bombs on the inside to blow it the hell up if anyone broke in. The
dude was very dedicated to protecting his works in progress.
Entering the room, Jake saw a few interesting things.
Firstly was a golem that Jake very much recognized. In a tank filled with
murky water, the Census Golem floated, nearly all the destruction on it
restored, though by other types of metal. If it was functional, Jake didn’t
know, but clearly, Arnold was far from done with it.
Next up were a few gun-like things in cases. Or, well, calling them blasters
was probably more accurate. Jake had no way to properly evaluate those,
but they looked fancy. Besides that, there were many different kinds of
drones and spherical robots of sorts that Jake also had no idea about.
Arnold clearly knew this, which is why he led Jake to the one item Jake
would likely care about. It was just a thin long piece of metal, but Jake
recognized it right away. It was a nanoblade.
“Further improvements of the nanoblade are in progress, the durability,

sharpness, and mana conductivity improving continuously. Seeing your
recent switch to the use of katars, time will be needed to optimize the
internal structure to support thrusting over slashing attacks. Moreover, from
your explanations of Fangs of the Malefic Viper, the nanoblade can be
further optimized to better facilitate and make use of the skill. I assume you
are still interested in the weapon?” Arnold asked.
Jake looked at it for a bit before nodding. While he had two weapons right
now, he knew the bone weapon was only temporary. When sim-Jake fully
merged with him, it would lose much of its Records and power, making it
effectively useless. By then, he would need another katar anyway.
Arnold took out his usual tablet and noted down this answer. “Finally, I
recall you are planning on visiting the Grand Mangrove River. If possible,
please take this along with you as you are going anyway.”
The man summoned a weird-looking cylinder of metal about the size of a

person. Jake saw that on the inside, it was filled with mechanisms, and Jake
could only throw Arnold a questioning look.
“The spatial mana within the Grand Mangrove River has interesting
properties. I would like to analyze it to assist in another project of mine.
From my initial tests, while a satellite is easily doable, proper drones for
space exploration face challenges in the open cosmos as creatures and
energies now lurk there. From my assessment, the Grand Mangrove River’s
spatial mana has natural properties related to the concept of stealth,” Arnold
explained.
Jake simply nodded and took the cylinder. “Makes sense.”
He had noticed the energy there before, of course. He had not quite
identified it as some stealth concept, but then again, maybe it was a mix of
space and stealth. Either way, what it truly was and how to make use of it
was for Arnold to figure out.
“Anywhere specific you want it placed?” He asked to follow up.
“Somewhere safe, as the measuring device is not made to sustain

unnecessary and sudden forces acting upon it during readings,” Arnold
answered. “Simply place it somewhere and infuse mana into the center
circle. That will allow me to know it is in position and remotely activate it.”
“Got it,” Jake confirmed. As he stood there, he couldn’t help but notice the
many robots flying everywhere within his sphere within the workshop,
especially those that seemed to do some rather complicated work like
analyzing what looked like circuit boards. So he couldn’t help but ask:
“Say, how do you even manage to control all these drones of yours? Even
back in the Treasure Hunt, you had so many flying around. Are they all
programmed? Some kind of artificial intelligence?” he asked. It was a bit
rude to ask about someone’s secrets like that, but considering how much
Jake had shared with the man, he thought it okay to ask.
Arnold seemed a bit surprised by the question but was in no way offended.
No, it was the exact opposite… he seemed elated that Jake had asked,
giving Jake a bad feeling. A feeling that only grew as Arnold lowered his
tablet and seemed to dedicate his whole attention to Jake as he explained.
“A number of methods have been applied. Most mundane models still run
on simple programming, while more advanced models make use of artificial
soul constructs. The Altmar Census Golem was my basis for these
constructs, and I can only admire their ingenuity and prowess. However, the
methodology and magiscripts used by the Altmar Empire do not suit my
own, requiring me to adapt it, which made me switch to a more unorthodox
approach by applying scripts and runes of the eldritch variety. The skill I
received from Oras allows me to more easily split my attention between
different tasks, and by augmenting the concepts within, I managed to
implement soul constructs faintly mimicking my own, which then also
allows me to temporarily fully immerse a part of my conscious within a
given model. Do note that I do not need to use this functionality as the
artificial soul construct will already act based on pre-programmed
instructions and can be updated remotely through the eldritch scripts.
Finally, all information from every drone is fed to me continuously, which
required me to develop skills and methods to filter, archive, and in other
ways, sort through all data gathered. Models of machine learning are being
applied here, which do require further development and improvement of
skills, but the prospects are promising. If you are interested in delving into
some examples of this theory, I could show you-“
“No, I’m good,” Jake cut him off. Okay, he had gotten way more than he
had bitten off, and it did sound interesting, but more the kind of interesting
that Casper would be excited about. Sure, Jake understood what Arnold
meant, but he also understood that what Arnold was doing some something
others simply couldn’t. From how he understood it, Arnold effectively split
his mind into segments and had each handle different things. At least partly.
Of course, this wasn’t really anything special, and, in fact, it was considered
kind of normal to do this. Jake could, as an example, focus on different
things at once while doing alchemy or using magic, but Arnold had taken it
to a whole new level for a D-grade. One could only imagine how much
more extreme it would become when he reached C-grade.
“Have you faced any issues with different personas emerging or conflicting
thoughts?” Jake did have to ask as he knew that was a risk. Especially as he
was dealing with someone using the Legacy of a Void God. Eldritch things
and human brains didn’t mesh well based on all the books Jake had read
pre-system.
“No,” Arnold simply answered.
“Well, geez,” Jake joked, having expected him to at least admit he had some
problems. “Did you make a legendary skill or something to not mess with
your head?”
“The initial skill received by Oras was at legendary rarity,” Arnold
confirmed, making Jake feel a bit better… at least until the next sentence.
“However, I only became able to properly create my artificial soul

constructs who were able to act autonomously after the upgrade to mythical
rarity.”
Jake was taken aback. “You created a mythical skill?”
Arnold, even more surprisingly, shook his head. “No, not truly. Due to its
nature as a Legacy skill, I did not upgrade my title from the achievement
due to the offered Records and assistance from Oras.”
That at least made Jake feel a bit better, and he even felt some relief from
within his Soulspace as sim-Jake was also looking on.
“Well, either way, damn if it isn’t impressive. Say, you pretty much put a
part of your soul into each of these machines, right?” Jake asked.
“No, that assessment is incorrect. My soul remains intact and singular.

However, partitions are linked through void scripts to each model,” Arnold
clarified.
Jake nodded. “I see. Well, this has been very enlightening, but if there isn’t
more, I should be on my way.”
“Very well,” Arnold answered, looking a bit disappointed, before leading

Jake out of the hidden room with all his interesting works in progress. Jake
said his goodbyes and quickly headed out toward the teleporter. On his way,
he had to admit… he felt a bit relieved.
The reason for that last question was actually pretty simple. He wanted to
probe if Arnold had delved into soul magic or what people often called soul
ritualism. Jake already did some soul magic himself, but he wanted to see if
Arnold had begun to delve into actually altering his own soul. Mixing
eldritch magic and soul magic couldn’t be good in Jake’s eyes, and also,
there was one final reason.
He wanted to know if Arnold planned on staying human. From how Jake
saw it, Arnold was a prime candidate for someone to evolve out of their
usual human form, maybe even turning himself into a robot or sentient
computer or some shit.
However, this was not necessarily a smart thing to do. Arnold was still
human, no matter how weird he was, and still had many of the more
positive traits of humanity, such as emotions. Arnold becoming a robot was
a prime path to turning evil, especially with his Patron.
Jake could only imagine the horrors of a sentient eldritch supercomputer

without any empathy or emotions. While it was entirely possible for Arnold
to not go down this path even if he changed his form, it was a potential
threat. At least it looked like Arnold was not planning anything like this but
would remain a living human supercomputer instead.
Shaking his head, Jake moved on to the next task at hand: visiting the
Grand Mangrove River. He hadn’t been there since he traveled through with
Carmen and Sylphie but had wanted to visit for a while, primarily to thank
them for helping him out by protecting Miranda and the others when he
couldn’t. Miranda had praised them a lot, especially the Crimsoneye
Alabaster Snake, who led the group. It was only right that Jake would go in
person to show his gratitude and chat with them.
As he got close to the teleporter, he suddenly remembered something. Jake

had a tendency to zone out during long boring talks, but he did remember
Miranda mentioning the name of the Crimsoneye Snake at some point…. he
just couldn’t quite recall what she was called.
Oh well, I can just ask her.
Jake also remembered Miranda mentioning that the snake had learned to
take human form, so that was also interesting and definitely something he
wanted to check out and talk to her about.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!



Chapter 565 - Snake Friends Visit!
To call the settlement in the Grand Mangrove River a city wasn’t quite
right. It was more of a small village, though it had been expanding in recent
times, especially after the teleporter was installed. The reason for this was
also quite obvious.
It was a prime hunting ground.
A settlement like this was rare as one could teleport directly into a place
with D-grades all around you while still being safe. One had to remember
that only a handful of people on Earth could fight C-grades, and the vast
majority thus still needed to hunt D-grades to progress. Even the people
considered elite struggled with stronger D-grades.
Additionally, it was a great place for those with the wood of water affinity
to fight. Finally, it had one other advantage that Jake hadn’t really
considered: it was a place where C-grades could go if Jake wanted to meet
with them there. Thinking about it deeper, it was probably the place Jake
would meet with whatever final council member the King found.
All of this being possible was naturally due to a certain snake. A snake Jake
was now on his way to meet once he felt done scouting out the village. It
did have an interesting setup due to the environment, and there were quite a
lot of people around, all of them pretty high-level D-grades. However, what
he cared most about were two buildings.
The first of which was the largest building and a main office of sorts. The
second one was a small but well-guarded building that Jake saw led into a
pit of sorts going deep inside the Grand Mangrove River water. Not sure
which one to check out first; Jake went for the pit after sensing the aura
from it.
By the way, when Jake said well-guarded, then it wasn’t by any of the C-
grades but just two humans. There were also barriers that would no doubt
make everyone aware if someone tried to break in, but none of that was an
issue for Jake as the guard recognized him and opened the entrance to the
pit without a word.
As for why Jake wanted to explore the pit so badly? Because he felt a
familiar aura from beneath. One that reminded him a lot of the monument
that Chris had built that allowed him to teleport to the Order of the Malefic
Viper…
Jake felt a flare-up of anger, but he quickly suppressed it before the guards
even noticed and entered the pit.
I swear, that orange fuck is gonna get what he deserves, Jake said to
himself as he began going down the pit. It looked more like a deep well
than anything else, and Jake didn’t hesitate to jump down and allowed
himself to freefall.
He fell for a bit over twenty seconds, putting the depth of the hole at around
a kilometer. Upon landing, Jake found himself in a dug-out cavern with
several tunnels leading away from it. He noticed that all of these tunnels
had engravings on the walls and hummed with magic. Feeling curious, Jake
began making his way through a tunnel and saw it lead into another similar
chamber, though without the entrance. Closing his eyes, Jake used his
senses to get a feeling for the space.
It’s a magic circle, he swiftly concluded.
The pattern was far too purposeful and distinct for it to be anything else.
Jake wondered if the creator was anywhere nearby but soon got his answer.
A presence made its way through one of the tunnels, and Jake turned to face
it. A long brownish snake slithered in his direction, its size filling out nearly
half of the tunnel, putting its diameter at nearly four meters. Jake guessed
the beast had to be several hundred meters long, and its head was large
enough to eat a human whole. Not that Jake felt any threat as he recognized
the snake as one of those who followed the Crimsoneye one.
“Hey there,” Jake greeted the snake as it got close. It then did something
utterly terrifying.
The face of the snake began warping. Bone cracked, flesh twisted, and a
vaguely humanoid face straight out of a nightmare emerged, still on the
body of the massive snake.
“Grrrreetingsss Maeeelefic’sssss Chooossssennnn,” the snake spoke,

showing off the prowess of Jake’s translation skill by even allowing him to
comprehend what the snake had said through the hissing.
“Good practice with the transformation, but how about we keep this
conversation telepathic?” Jake offered. He really didn’t want to insult a
snake that was clearly trying so hard.
Nearly instantly, the face warped back to the old snake visage as a voice
echoed in Jake’s mind. “Thank you for your permission to speak in this
fashion; I am not as adept as the others in the art of human speech and
have neglected practice with the Polymorph skill.”
“All good,” Jake answered, happy to not look at the nightmare creature the
snake had transformed into. He was also surprised at the telepathic voice of
the snake. It sounded… old? Most beasts Jake spoke to telepathically
sounded very young, but this snake sounded on the more mature side.
“Have you come looking for the mistress?” the snake asked.
“Partly. I also came to check out the work down here. Well, not specifically
the work down here, as I didn’t know what it would look like, but it is quite
impressive. Are you involved in making the magic circle?” Jake asked the
large snake.
He had a feeling the snake was for a few reasons. First of all, he faintly felt
the space affinity from the snake. Secondly, it was down in the tunnel where
the formation was being made, and lastly, it had a Blessing of the Malefic
Viper.
“Yes, this one has been given the honor of creating this grand work of art. I
thank the Chosen for this opportunity. I hope to do the task to the utmost of
my abilities,” the large brown snake said in an overly polite and submissive
tone. He could try to convince the snake to treat him more normally, but it
wasn’t worth it.
“From the looks of it, you are doing a splendid job,” Jake praised the snake.
“But I heard a part of the process requires my assistance; am I correct?”
“Such is the will of the Malefic One. The circle will need to be attuned and
rely on the True Blessing of his Chosen so only he can teleport and decide
who goes or not,” the snake explained.
“Great, what do you need of me and where? Please lead the way, and let’s
get it solved right away.”
“Please follow me, my Lord,”the snake said and did something Jake had not
seen coming. It managed to turn around in a narrow tunnel as space around
it seemed to warp and twist. A second later, the snake had done a one-
eighty and began moving, Jake following the old snake through the winding
tunnel system of runes and magic. As he moved through, he did notice spots
where his ritualism skill made him aware things were missing or
unfinished, making it clear it was still a work in progress. Yet it also gave
him the sense it was “done.”
“Say, is the formation functional after this infusion part?” Jake asked.
“Yes,” the snake confirmed. “However, as the Chosen has no doubt

noticed, the work is far from done. The Malefic One has plans beyond a
simple teleporter requiring your presence but wishes to allow it to hold
more functions that will be helpful to the Chosen later on.”
Jake nodded, not asking any further. One thing was clear, the current
formation was already far more potent than what Chris had managed to
make. Then again, this was created by a C-grade with innate talent, while
the other one had been made by a low-level D-grade. Thinking about it
further, the fact that Chris could even make the monument, to begin with,
was impressive. Now, as much as it sucked, the monument site had been
turned into a graveyard. A memorial and reminder.
They did not exchange any more words before they reached what Jake
assumed to be the center of the formation. At that center was an intricate
circle with vein-like green pulsing fissures leading away from it and into
the tunnels. The very epicenter held a pillar of metal Jake did not recognize
with even more advanced scripts on it. Jake could feel it was a natural
treasure of some kind but had no clue as to its properties.
“My lord, if you would do me the honors of stepping into the center circle
and blessing the pillar with the Touch of the Malefic Viper,” the snake asked
Jake.
Jake did as asked and used One Step to enter the center circle and activated
Touch of the Malefic Viper as he touched the pillar. The moment he did so,
he felt a response from the pillar, and the energy Jake injected was guided
through magical channels in the metal. Jake gladly complied and infused
his energy into these channels as the metal began to glow dark green.
The fissures of green energy began to shine brighter all throughout the
spacious cavern, and Jake felt part of his own presence be mimicked by the
pillar. He felt a pull on the part of himself that made him a Chosen, the
natural treasure taking everything in. A few minutes passed as Jake simply
infused his energy as the treasure naturally guided him to do until it stopped
wanting anything.
At that moment, Jake felt an odd connection form, and the pillar cracked as
parts of it fell off. The shards that fell floated in mid-air as they reassembled
into an about ten-centimeter-long shard of metal filled with runic lines and
humming with energy.
Jake reached out and grabbed it, making him instantly know what it was. It
was there to control this entire magic circle.
“It is done!” the snake said with much happiness. “Truly marvelous! I
thank the Chosen for blessing us with his presence and displaying his
prowess. From my understanding, the shard you just received shall function
as the control catalyst for the formation and shall allow you to teleport to a
corresponding circle outside of this universe.”
“I see. Excellent work,” Jake simply answered, already feeling it himself.

As he stood there in the center circle, he knew he could activate and be
teleported to the first universe if he so wished. He even felt like he didn’t
necessarily need to be in the center circle but that he could quite easily draw
up a smaller circle that allowed him to tap into the concepts of this main
formation to teleport from elsewhere.
Jake marveled at the shard a bit longer and analyzed the formation as best
he could, but he did not have long before something else caught his
attention. An aura approached through the tunnel, one far faster than the old
brown snake had been. Far stronger too. He smiled as the presence was a
very familiar one, and soon enough, an albino figure appeared before him…
though she did look quite a bit different.
He failed to hold back as he lightly smiled and bowed his head briefly in
gratitude. “It’s been a while. I am sorry for not stopping by earlier and
thanking you for keeping Miranda and the others safe.”
Miranda’s description of the human form truly didn’t do it justice. She

looked human, yes, but also clearly not. The scales were strategically
placed throughout her body, not a single one of them of a cosmetic nature.
Her reptilian pupils honed and improved compared to even her snake form,
and the skin-like dress she wore was far from just a useless garment, but no
doubt had quite the defensive properties. Was the form made to be
aesthetically pleasing to humans? Yes, but it was also made with function in
mind. Some sacrifices had been made to make her look more human, but
overall it was incredibly well done for her to refine her humanoid form that
much. However, her human form did have one major drawback compared
to her snake form.
Her demeanor as a shy teenage girl was even more obvious.
The Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake, the mid-tier C-grade, stood nervously as

she twisted some of her hair around a finger, looking like she didn’t quite
know what to say.
“I… eh, I just did as the Chosen would expect of me, you know…” she
mumbled.
“You did me a favor, whether you thought it was expected of you or not.
For that, I am naturally grateful and owe you one. I heard you even spent
quite some time with Miranda and the others. I hope they were pleasant
guests?” Jake asked, still smiling in what he hoped was a welcoming and
comforting way.
“Yes, of course!” the snake girl insisted. “Ms. Wells was very nice and
taught me a lot. She even helped me with making this settlement and stuff,
and I wanted to go visit Haven, but I can’t teleport due to the stupid
system,” she grumbled, at least looking a bit more comfortable now.
“It is what it is,” Jake shrugged. “How about we get out of here and get up
to the main office? I think we are done here, right?”
The last part was addressed to the large brown snake that nodded. “Yes, my
lord, you have more than done your part. I shall no longer delay you from
attending to your matters.”
“How come old grumpy isn’t using his human form? He has been working
on it so hard,” the snake girl asked with a questioning look.
Jake scratched his chin. “We decided telepathy was more efficient.”
A bald-faced lie that the albino snake nodded to instantly… before suddenly
looking faintly horrified. “Would… would the Chosen prefer for me to use
telepathy too?”
“Hm?” Jake said, a bit surprised. “No, I prefer your human form and talking
like this.”
Again, a bit of a lie. Jake didn’t really care much either way if the snake
was in human or beast form or used telepathy or not when they spoke. But
he had enough awareness to know that the snake girl had only become a
snake girl to try and better cater to what Jake wanted, and he saw no reason
not to make her happy by saying he preferred her human form. When being
kind was free and not a hassle, why not?
She smiled and nodded. “Yes, my lord! Shall we head upwards then?”
“Let us,” Jake said as he began walking through the tunnel, followed by the
snake girl. That is when he remembered one of the most important things he
had to ask: “By the way, did you ever settle on a name you wanted?”
She stopped for a millisecond when he asked, getting all shy again. “I… I
had a really hard time deciding. Ah! Not because the suggestions of the
Chosen were bad, but solely due to my own lack of naming sense! I loved
both Scarlett and Allie, and I even suggested combining them as Scallie-“
That would have been a perfectly fine name, Jake approved internally.
“-but Ms. Wells shot that down. But… I still loved both, so I thought of
maybe still combing them somehow? That is when Ms. Wells said that
humans can actually have more than one name or even have a first and a
last name. So… I thought maybe go with Scarlett Allie? Or Allie Scarlett?
Or make it the last name, so maybe Scarlett Allieson?”
Jake considered it and nodded. “I think all of those are fine, but does
Allieson fit? Normally the “son” part comes from a parent or ancestor or
some other family member called that.”
“… my mom or dad could have been called Allie?” the snake girl asked
without a hint of joking in her voice.
“You know what? Who is to say,” Jake smiled and shook his head. Should I
begin to call Sylphie, Sylphie Hawkson now? Wait, how does it even work
when she is a daughter… who the hell even made up this entire stupid
naming convention? And people call my naming sense bad; that is no more
original than adding “ie” at the end of someone’s race name.
“Then… then can I be Scarlett Allieson from now on?” she asked in a shy
tone.
“Sure, if that is what you want,” Jake nodded.
“Then I want that name,” she said with affirmation.
Jake stopped and turned around as he extended a hand. “Well then, nice to
meet you, Scarlett Allieson. You can just call me Jake Thayne.”
Scarlett looked even shyer as she extended her small hand and took his.
“Ah… the pleasure is mine?”
Miranda has done some socialization work on this one, Jake joked
internally as he turned around and continued walking towards the main
building above.
The two of them only exchanged some casual chatter as they made their
way toward the surface for a proper meeting… though he did fail in getting
her to call him Jake or even Mr. Thayne or something just a little less
formal than “Chosen.”
But hey, baby steps. One had to be patient with teenagers, after all.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
END OF MONTH WARNING. Maybe consider signing up at the start of

next month :)


Chapter 566 - C-grade Checklist
Scarlett had a hard time imagining it. The first time she met the Chosen had
been so brief, and she had barely had any time to talk to him as he was busy
just making his way through the Mangrove. She also didn’t fully realize
who he was back then. With time she did come to understand and began to
think about how she could make herself useful to the Forefather and his
Chosen.
She was naturally elated when the Chosen trusted her enough to defend his
comrades from danger and even more happy when those comrades chose to
stay. Ms. Wells even taught Scarlett so many things. The more senior
servant of the Forefather’s Chosen told her about how some enemy Chosen
of an extremely powerful god had backstabbed the Forefather’s Chosen and
tried to kill him. Or, well, maybe the goal was not to kill him? Scarlett
wasn’t sure. All she knew was that several comrades of the bad Chosen
were killed, and the coward fled, resulting in the Malefic’s Chosen taking
over the world just as one would expect. As things should be.
Now, after his victory, he had finally returned to the Mangrove, where they
were doing everything to help him, Old Grumpy snake even making a
formation for the Chosen to teleport to the Order as he pleased.
But what she had truly had a hard time imagining was not any of his feats
but his demeanor and sheer presence. Scarlett had met many humans and
beasts, but one thing was for sure:
The Chosen was the coolest of them all.
Like, he was so cool in everything. He was only D-grade, sure, but Scarlett
felt like she walked beside a far more powerful beast than herself. Logically
she knew she didn’t, but his presence was still awe-inspiring. To add on, he
had not a shred of fear. Scarlett had honed her skills in evaluating humans.
She could quite literally smell fear and weakness, and any kind of
nervousness would be clear before her eyes. Yet she felt none of those
things from the Chosen. In fact, she was the one who felt scared and
nervous when she walked with him… how couldn’t she? He was the
Chosen of the Forefather.
“Scarlett,” the Chosen asked, making her feel all bubbly inside from him
using her name. “Have you considered what your future plans are?”
Scarlett was perplexed for a moment about what he meant. Thinking a bit
about it, she didn’t really have any plans besides helping the Chosen. The
formation was not anything she could help with, and the Mangrove was
firmly under their control. Even if she was not there alone, the other C-
grades could easily handle anything that cropped up. Besides that, her only
plan had been to maybe explore the ocean and hunt there – something she
had already been doing for a while. It wasn’t the best hunting ground, and it
often took a long time to find worthy prey, but she had to take what she
could get. Worst of all, she had to do the hunting in her true form.
Not that anything she currently did mattered if the Chosen had other
thoughts in mind.
“Does the Chosen have anything he wants me to do?” she asked, feeling a
bit of hope. Maybe he had more he wanted her to help with?
“No, not anything like that,” he answered, making Scarlett a bit

disappointed.
“I was just considering if you have considered going to the Order of the
Malefic Viper? I have explored a bit of Earth, and while it is possible, I
doubt the planet is that good of a place for someone like you to grow. I am
positive there are no B-grades, and even peak C-grades would be
astronomically rare, assuming they even exist. Meanwhile, going to the
Order would open up a multiverse of possibilities,” the Chosen said,
Scarlett, listening intensely while barely holding herself back from
screaming “YES!” after the very first sentence as she tried to remain
respectful.
“Going to the Order of the Forefather would be both an honor and a
privilege,” Scarlett answered with a big smile on her face as courteously as
she could, even bowing a bit, the same way she had seen some young
human women do it.
“Great,” the Chosen said with a smile. “Now, if possible, can you show me
a safe place for a measuring device within the settlement?”
“Naturally,” Scarlett complied without asking further questions.
“And can you then do me one other small favor after?” the Chosen asked as
he turned and looked at her.
“The Chosen does not even need to ask,” Scarlett answered with conviction.
“Nice, I just wanted you to bite me a few times.”
Scarlett froze and took a moment to process what he had asked before her
face turned red, and she completely zoned out… only to still hear the very
next sentence.
“Eh, to make it fair, I could bite you too?”
In retrospect, maybe Jake’s words could be misinterpreted, but he really

couldn’t hold himself back forever when standing next to a snake girl like
her. It was irresistible and impossible not to ask for at least a little bite to get
some of that sweet snake venom.
From a distance, her venom was not detectable, but when walking right
next to her, his Sense of the Malefic Viper kept making him aware that the
small snake girl harbored venom capable of killing hundreds of D-grades
with a single drop. It was so strong that not even Jake was sure how he
could handle it with Palate at legendary rarity, but he just had to give it a
go.
It took him a minute to calm the poor snake girl down after she looked to
have short-circuited. Once he got her to relax and listen to his explanation,
it suddenly made a lot more sense to the girl, though that still added the
complexity of her now being super embarrassed she had misunderstood.
“Are you certain, Chosen? My venom is quite potent, and I have only honed
it further since I received the Blessing from the Malefic One, my Toxicity
stat growing significantly,” she asked. Jake biting into the last part.
“You have a dedicated Toxicity stat?” Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yes?” Scarlett answered. “Oh! Yeah, humans have different stats. I got a
stat called Toxicity that is related to how toxic anything I do is, making it
stronger.”
“Did it replace any of the nine we humans have?” Jake continued asking
curiously.
“I do not have the Intelligence stat. This one allows my toxins to be far
stronger, but it does limit my magical capabilities in many other areas,” she
explained openly.
“Makes sense,” Jake nodded. “But I still want some venom for my own
Palate skill. It has been a while since I encountered a toxin it proved
ineffective against. Don’t worry; if it goes wrong, I have plenty of anti-
toxins.”
Not that he was sure those would work, but why worry her? Jake was
confident in his survival.
“Okay… but…” Scarlett kind of agreed, clearly unsure.
“Aight, you win. No rush, we can always do it after going to the Order if
you want where we got assistance nearby if we do mess it up,” Jake smiled
to comfort her. It maybe was also smart to have Meira nearby as she was a
healer. Oh, and Duskleaf.
“Let us wait…” Scarlett said with relief.
“Got it. Now let’s go get this weird machine placed for Arnold.”
It only took him a bit before Scarlett showed him a place where he could
deposit it safely, and Scarlett even told a C-grade snake to keep an eye on it.
Jake activated it right away and saw it spin to life as what looked like a
satellite dish emerged from its top, and he faintly detected the device
sucking in mana.
With that done, Jake didn’t really have any more plans before it was time to
go to the World Congress. A Congress that should, for all intents and
purposes, be nothing more than a formality.
Scarlett was clearly intent on shadowing him, and he saw no reason not to
allow it. It was a bit awkward, though, like going to a birthday party as the
oldest cousin and having teenagers ten years younger than yourself follow
you around.
Luckily, what he planned next did not include a lot of moving around. With
some time to spare, Jake found a nice place to relax and noted down his
aptly-named pre-C-grade checklist:
1. Become World Leader at the World Congress.
2. Upgrade Sense of the Malefic Viper.
3. Upgrade Sagacity of the Malefic Viper.
4. Go to Order and defeat baby Snappy
5. Mythical skill creation with the help of sim-Jake
6. Actually evolve.
Jake nodded at the mental checklist and didn’t immediately notice anything
missing. The first item was easy and would come in a couple of days if all
went to plan. As for two and three, then upgrading the two skills was
something Jake had subtly been working on for a while and had thought a
lot about, even during his holiday, and it honestly should not be too hard.
Plus, he would use Path of the Heretic-Chosen for both as he had two uses
left.
Four and five Jake would combine, though it is more accurate to say that
Jake wanted to do four during five. Jake knew that he needed a good battle
for an upgrade, and he had discussed the skill sim-Jake wanted a lot with
his other self. He also knew that it was not as easy as both of them had
hoped and that they would likely need more preparation than first expected.
However, in any case, then they both knew that live battle was the best time
to consolidate everything and make the skill. It was only when in a life-and-
death situation that Jake’s instincts were at their sharpest, and the best
results could be reached.
Number six should also be kind of easy. As for the evolution quests, Jake
wasn’t worried. In fact, he had a strong feeling as to what they would be.
Especially the one for his profession. But, rather than theorize, it was better
to just see the quest, and the easiest way to do that was to get one more
level in his profession.
So why not kill two birds with one stone and also get in a skill upgrade? As
for the skill he would upgrade first, it really was a no-brainer. It was the
skill Jake should have arguably upgraded as one of the first but had
somehow ended up never really focusing on. It was naturally Sense of the
Malefic Viper.
Checking the description, Jake focused on the part that mattered:
…Gives a passive ability to detect herbs and poisons in different forms

and a strong feeling of their properties and affinities. Allows the
alchemist to far more easily detect affinities in the environment and detect
areas optimal for cultivating herbs. Massively improves your ability to
sense the poison you have inflicted and its effects on any inflicted
entities…
Rather than focusing on what the skill currently did, he focused on what it
didn’t do. The usual goal when upgrading was to find aspects the Viper’s
version had and add those or improve current functions. Feeling herbs and
poisons, the skill already did damn well, and the ability to detect affinities
was also something Jake found hard to improve upon. Same for detecting
poison he had inflicted. Which made him fast conclude he had to focus on
adding additional functionality.
An obvious one was the ability to also sense natural treasures, but Jake kind
of already could. Most natural treasures gave off intense affinities, so he
could find them when close, and if they were of herbal or toxic nature, the
skill still worked on them. So, while that would likely be an easy addition,
Jake wasn’t sure if that alone would be enough to qualify for an upgrade or
even be useful to him. No, he needed something else.
Jake considered what would be useful to him. What he could really need.
He had thought about this a lot and even looked at some of the other
Malefic Viper skills for inspiration. That did give him some ideas, but
ultimately, the direction Jake went in fit him far more. He went as simple as
he could.
Perception was by far Jake’s highest stat, and he made use of it in

everything he did.
When forming magic, Jake felt the flow of mana; he felt how it formed and
assembled itself, including noticing any mistakes. Jake did many micro-
corrections all the time when doing magic or really anything requiring
control.
He also used Perception in combat, even in ways Jake did not quite
understand but that sim-Jake had helped him at least be aware of. He sensed
the flow of battle, the concepts of momentum, and many other things that
fed his instincts during battle.
Even when using stamina, Jake used it. He felt it flow through his body, and
he directed it. Because it all came down to one basic concept.
Seeing is understanding, and before something can be controlled, you need

to understand or at least be aware of it first. Perception was the first step of
everything and, needless to say, had also become a massive aspect of Jake’s
methodology in alchemy.
Jake could notice far more than other alchemists when crafting due to his
insane Bloodline-boosted Perception. He could learn and understand more
simply based on what he could perceive. His collected data from any
experiment was immense compared to the average alchemist, something his
trip to Skyggen and teaching their alchemists made extremely clear. But
they could still detect a lot during crafting, not due to a Sphere of
Perception and an insanely high stat, but due to their skills. Which is when
Jake asked a very fundamental question.
Why did Sense of the Malefic Viper not help with anything during crafting?
When he first got the skill, Jake had thought maybe that was just not what
Sense of the Malefic Viper was about, but that the skill only revolved
around one thing: finding materials. However, it now also helped him locate
places good at growing materials and detect affinities in general. It even had
the function of sensing the poison he had inflicted. So why not allow him to
better sense what he was crafting?
The problem was just how to upgrade that. How to try to feel more when
crafting using Sense? It didn’t make much sense – pun intended – to Jake to
try and do that. He already was trying to feel as much as he could during
crafting, and Sense of the Malefic Viper naturally already helped during
that, though indirectly.
No, what Jake wanted was not just to feel more but to feel different. Pick up
things he didn’t before, either because he wasn’t aware of them existing or
his Perception somehow not being high enough.
If Jake was being honest, he would be fine if all the upgrade did was just
add a line about increasing the effectiveness of Perception during crafting,
as that would be a huge boon in itself, but he knew he needed more.
As he was sitting in meditation with a snake girl who also chose to

“meditate” nearby while throwing looks his way every five seconds, Jake
kept tossing around ideas in his mind. While considering all the different
options he could possibly see work, he tried to check the Path of the
Heretic-Chosen skill, and wouldn’t you know it? He had passed the
invisible threshold.

remaining: 2
Well, don’t mind if I do, Jake promptly agreed as his vision turned black.
If he couldn’t figure it out himself, why not see what the Viper had come up
with?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

next month :)


Chapter 567 - Sensing the Missing
Link In Monster Alchemy
The vision quickly materialized as Jake found himself in a large cave.

Extremely dense mana dominated the area, with the source being a
humanoid figure sitting in the center. It was naturally the Malefic Viper as
he looked to be doing alchemy. The black cauldron in front of him was
giving off a faint mist, and the would-be Primordial looked to be focusing
deeply.
Yet after a dozen seconds, Jake noticed the mist change color, and he
instantly knew: the creation was ruined.
”Pathetic!” the Viper cursed as he slapped the cauldron away, making the
rancid failed brew spill all over the cavern. ”Absolutely pathetic.”
His anger was palpable, though the only one he was angry at was himself.
Thinking back, Jake had never seen the Viper actually do alchemy
normally, making him more than interested in seeing his methodology. With
it being part of a vision, the insight Jake got would also be far more
substantial.
After a few moments, the Viper sighed and, with a wave of his hand, had
the cauldron float over again. A bit of cleaning later, he tried once more,
Jake feeling the entire process from the beginning this time around. As he
did this, Jake also got a far better feel for the Viper’s level.
Barely C-grade.
Jake did not know if it was a pattern, but he felt like the visions got closer
and closer to Jake’s own level with every passing one. While it could be
argued that seeing a vision from Villy’s later years would be more
beneficial as he would experience higher-level concepts and more advanced
skills, the opposite was also true. Seeing lower-leveled skills made it easier
for Jake to pick up insights and comprehend what the Viper did.
In this case, Jake could actually understand what the Viper did quite easily.
Primarily because of how pathetically simple his work was… because what
the Viper was trying to make wasn’t anything complicated but just a normal
health potion. So, yeah, Villy talking about how his failure was pathetic was
kind of on-point.
He also noticed how the cauldron wasn’t anything special. Jake could not
Identify it but guessed that it was common or uncommon rarity at most.
Seeing these things, Jake became more and more sure exactly when in the
timeline this was.
This was just after the Viper learned to take human form and wanted to
learn more regular alchemy. As a snake or even winged snake, the Viper did
not do alchemy the conventional way as far as Jake had gathered. Rather
than crafting using mana, it was more like using internal energy to hone and
store toxins. In humanoid form, the Viper had to switch it up and learn to do
alchemy the same way humans did, which was an entirely different
approach. An approach he clearly struggled with.
The Viper kept cursing as he failed another crafting attempt, time now
being sped up in Jake’s vision. Having experienced these visions so many
times before, Jake knew what he was waiting for: the moment of the Viper’s
epiphany. Jake didn’t believe the skill would show him the Viper just failing
over and over again… though that would be quite funny.
A few more failures happened, all with sped-up time. The level of
frustration of the Viper grew with every second, and he even began to take
out different booklets to skim through. Basic crafting books about potions.
Jake’s sense of schadenfreude from the Viper sucking so much at potions

eventually turned to confusion. Even if the Viper failed a few times, it
didn’t make sense he kept failing. He was C-grade, and Jake could see
Villy’s level of mana control was far beyond the required level to craft a
simple healing potion.
Clearly, Villy also realized this problem as he scanned the books one by
one. Sometimes he took out the cauldron and tried again, but the process
just kept failing. Jake watched on as his frown deepened and noticed
something. There were small flaws… small oversights in the Viper’s base
brew that Jake had never encountered before when he made potions. As
time passed, the Viper also noticed this issue and was as stumped as Jake
was.
However, another disparity became clear between Jake and the Viper… a
disparity Jake had never imagined. He failed to hold back a smile at the
realization.
He had more Perception than the Malefic Viper.
Not the real one, obviously, but he had more than this newly evolved C-
grade version of Villy. Villy also didn’t have Jake’s Bloodline or his basic
crafting skills, much less a proper cauldron, making it even harder for him
to discover whatever stumped him. He truly was like those alchemists at the
Court.
As for what Villy lacked, Jake also discovered it quite easily.
All alchemists – those with the profession, that is – possessed crafting

skills. Brew Potion was the applicable skill in this instance. However, as a
beast, Villy did not have such a crafting skill and was trying to one-hundred
percent freeform magic the alchemy.
The reason why the method failed was that the books expected the Viper to
have the required skills. Those skills helped one with so many different
things, including automation of certain minor aspects that the Viper was
now missing.
With the lacking Perception, it also looked like Villy wouldn’t be able to
figure it out. The fast-forwarding of the vision soon stopped having as many
pauses as Jake felt time pass. Days turned to weeks as weeks turned to
months. The Viper kept trying to craft basic potions, sometimes getting
closer but always failing.
Occasionally he would make a poison, almost as if he was testing if he still

had his touch. Whenever he made poison, he added a bit of his own blood
or venom, and he even tried this with potions, naturally failing. Jake had
tried that one, and it wasn’t that easy.
After the eighth month of fast-forwarding, the Viper stopped. Villy simply
sat there and stared at the cauldron for the longest time, sometimes glancing
at the massive pit he had made of failed potions. He looked lost, but not like
he had given up.
”What is wrong?” Villy asked himself. ”It should work, but it doesn’t. Are
monsters just not meant to do alchemy? No… I can do it; I am just missing
something.”
The Viper stood up and went over to the pit of health potions he had failed
to make. He knelt down and scooped up some of it to drink, sneering at the
horrible taste. Jake himself also faintly tasted it in his mouth, though he
wasn’t sure if it was due to shared senses or if he just remembered the time
he tried to taste that rancid crap himself.
”Nothing,” the Viper mulled to himself after a few moments, Jake knowing
he had used Palate.
Falling onto his back, the Viper stared at the cave’s ceiling. After a few
moments, he sat up and, to Jake’s surprise, spat some liquid into the palm of
his hand. Jake saw the liquid and felt its toxic properties. Yet he also felt the
vitality-based properties and the similarity to the failed health potions. The
Viper had consumed some of it and refined it into a potent toxin using his
own body.
The Viper shook his head again as he tossed the liquid away. A few more
moments passed as slowly a frown formed on his brows. The frown soon
changed into a look of realization as his eyes shot open.
”Maybe…” the Viper muttered as he quickly ran over to the cauldron.

Jake was unsure what Villy had realized and observed intently. His intuition
told him what he had been waiting for was about to happen.
Villy picked up the cauldron and sat with both of his hands on it as he
usually did, but then did something unexpected. His hands began to faintly
glow with energy as mana was infused into the cauldron, far more than
usual. Sharp fingernails dug into the metal as Jake felt it slowly change -
Touch of the Malefic Viper active. Yet he was not transmuting it or even
corrupting it, simply… attuning it?
That is when Jake’s point of view changed, and the best part of the vision
began. He merged with Villy as the senses of the Viper fully became his
own. On top of his usual ones, of course. The moment the merge happened,
Jake felt a connection with the cauldron in front of him, and Jake soon
realized what the Viper was doing.
He was forcefully soul-binding the cauldron.
It was something that was honestly a bad idea in nearly all cases, but Jake
soon came to understand. Because as he Soulbound it, he also slowly
emerged a small part of his soul into the cauldron, something he could only
do if a proper connection was formed with his soul first.
With both hands still on the cauldron, he summoned the ingredients. Water,
flowers, grass, it was all slowly deposited into the cauldron, and it did not
take long for Jake to feel a difference. He could detect what was going on
inside the cauldron so intimately that it just felt… odd. It was as if the
cauldron was actually part of his body, like a second stomach.
A metaphor Jake came to learn in the very next moment was very apt.
Because another skill also responded at that moment. During all crafts,
some vapor would be released while the desired energies got extracted, and
some minor parts would always go to waste. This just always happened,
and there was no way around it. The loss was often negligible, and the lost
parts were undesirable, but it was there. There to be consumed.
Palate of the Malefic Viper thrummed to life as the Viper absorbed these
unwanted parts of the brew while it was still ongoing. He then did
something else unexpected – he directly absorbed parts of the brew through
the cauldron walls like it was the walls of his stomach.
Jake felt his own Soulshape – one that was now merged fully with the Viper
– and saw that it looked different. The cauldron had become a part of his
Soulspace in a similar fashion to a phantasmal limb, and Jake also knew
that this technique was insanely risky. Risky… but effective.
For the Viper, it had one especially effective feature. Because Jake, sharing
senses with the Viper, instantly felt an aspect of Sense of the Malefic Viper
he did not possess. Not because it was a potent application, but because it
simply wasn’t one Jake needed: it allowed the Viper to far better sense
anything alchemical inside of his body.
In fact, it was probably a pretty normal skill for most beasts to have. Sandy
clearly had a skill similar to it so they could absorb natural treasures eaten,
and Jake guessed many other monsters did too. How else would they
analyze and break down natural treasures they ate if they could not properly
sense them?
With the Viper, there was also the aspect of him honing his poison. Scarlett
already mentioned how she effectively cultivated to improve her own
venom internally, and Jake also knew the Viper could do something similar.
In other words, the best kind of alchemy the Viper was capable of in this
vision was essentially a form of internal alchemy. A skill he now found a
way to transfer to the outer world through the insane idea of partly merging
with a cauldron.
Jake felt how the Viper now finally noticed these small missing pieces and
nearly instantly put two and two together. The first attempt at crafting
failed, and a booklet appeared in front of his head. Villy looked at it as new
words were burned into the paper as he added personal notes.
Four crafting attempts later, the Viper had created a new crafting method for
healing potions. Jake had been merged with the Viper throughout and
focused intensely on how the Viper had managed to fuse with the cauldron.
He felt parts akin to his upgraded Fang there, the part where a weapon
effectively became an extension of his body. In fact, it was nearly identical.
Aspects from Touch of the Malefic Viper were also present. All in all, Jake
began to wonder if maybe a reason he had only gotten this vision now was
that he needed to see the others first…
Not that it mattered now.
Jake understood the concept and was confident. The final part of the vision
showed the Viper stopping the use of the skill as he unfused from the
cauldron.
This resulted in the cauldron crumbling into ash the very next moment. As
it did so, Villy felt a wave of exhaustion that Jake shared as the soul energy
had effectively been discarded. The lost mental energy was also immense,
and Jake felt how the Viper’s natural regeneration had faintly slowed due to
his strained soul.
This was what Jake meant when he said risky. It was kind of like using a
boosting skill during combat, just for alchemy. There would be a backlash,
and so would there for Jake if he used this new application. The thing is…
did he really have to go as far as the Viper did? Just with it being
Soulbound and some of the concepts Villy applied should yield some
results…
Just as he thought that, time rewound, and he started over from when the
Viper had his epiphany. Without having to focus on anything else, Jake felt
everything. He tried to truly be one with the Viper and experienced what
Villy experienced.
It only took one more rewind before he fully got it.
[Sense of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – The Malefic Viper’s greed for
natural treasures is neverending. You are following his path for your
senses to see all that you desire. Your desire to know the suffering you
bring upon your foes has brought you even further down this path. Gives
a passive ability to detect herbs and poisons in different forms and a
strong feeling of their properties and affinities. Allows the alchemist to
far more easily detect affinities in the environment and detect areas
optimal for cultivating herbs. Massively improves your ability to sense the
poison you have inflicted and its effects on any inflicted entities. Adds an
increase to the effectiveness of Sense of the Malefic Viper based on
Perception. Passively provides 1 Perception per level in Prodigious
Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your gaze scour the multiverse for all
that is rightfully yours.
-->
[Sense of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] – The Malefic Viper’s greed for
natural treasures is neverending; his desire to discover all the world has
to offer ceaseless. Gives a passive ability to detect herbs and poisons in
different forms and a strong feeling of their properties and affinities.
Allows the alchemist to far more easily detect affinities in the
environment and detect areas optimal for cultivating herbs. Massively
improves your ability to sense the poison you have inflicted and its effects
on any inflicted entities. Allows you to temporarily merge a part of your
soul into a Soulbound cauldron or similar crafting device, making it
effectively act as part of your body. Even without fully merging your soul,
you will still receive all sensory benefits from using a Soulbound cauldron
or similar crafting device. Adds an increase to the effectiveness of Sense
of the Malefic Viper based on Perception. All effects of Sense of the
Malefic Viper are further improved within the body of the alchemist.
Passively provides 3 Perception per level in Alchemist of the Malefic
Viper. May your gaze scour the multiverse for all that is rightfully yours;
may all truths lay bare before you.
As always, a bit of flavor text had changed, but it mostly remained the
same. The changes were as expected, with it now adding the part about
merging a part of his soul with a Soulbound cauldron, but he was happy to
see that it still retained all sensory benefits even without merging himself
with it. Jake innately felt that the only reason to merge with the cauldron
was for Palate absorption.
Finally, it also had an increased effect within his body now. Jake didn’t
really see this part be that useful to him, but hey, it was there and was kind
of another argument for merging with a cauldron. Oh, and of course, the
expected bonus to Perception from upgrading the skill, and with his level, it
was a lot of Perception. 200 Perception, to be exact, and that was before all
percentage bonuses, meaning it was, in reality, 350.
Of course, this was only the math because of one more detail…
Jake had finally reached level 199 in his profession – the peak of D-grade.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

next month :)


Chapter 568 - A Feathery Reunion
Jake was still within the vision of the Viper repeatedly doing alchemy but
no longer focused much on it. As odd as it was to say, then Jake didn’t
really have much to learn from the current Viper within this Record
Fragment. Jake was better than him already when it came to making
potions, and he had already seen all he needed to see during the first few
rewinds.
Checking his notifications, Jake saw the level-up.

197, Jake thought. He could almost taste the evolution now. With this level
and his reaching the peak of D-grade, he also got one more thing: his very
first evolution quest. Jake checked it, and if he was being honest, it was
pretty much exactly what he expected.
Profession Evolution Quest
To walk the Path of a Heretic-Chosen is to not simply be given but to

claim the power of your Patron. With every step, you move closer to
the Malefic One, yet you remain a heretic, unswayed by the Records of
a Primordial as they fail to supersede your being. Go forth, claim the
Legacy of the Malefic Viper and make his Records yours to wield.
Objective: Upgrade skills related to the Legacy of the Malefic Viper to

legendary rarity (8/6)
Jake had already completed it. It could be called anti-climactic, but as
mentioned, Jake had expected this outcome. Why wouldn’t he have?
Evolution quests were not about pushing the person to their limit – it was to
test that the person had reached the expected achievements of the class or
profession. If it required Jake to do something insane for even him, all it
would have been proof of was that Jake had not lived up to expectations
during his journey to C-grade.
Not that this one was easy… it required Jake to upgrade at least six skills to
legendary, and based on the ”8/6,” it seemed to still count more upgrades he
got now. He read that as an indication that the system still recognized him
upgrading more as part of the quest. Especially because the quest was still
there and had not just been completed automatically.
Jake knew he could evolve his profession there and then if he wanted.
Needless to say, he had no interest in this as he was aiming for the Perfect
Evolution and also wanted to upgrade the last skill anyway.
Smiling to himself, Jake closed the quest menu just as he felt the vision was
also about to end. He had barely been paying attention and still found
himself merged with the Viper, but as had happened before… the vision
extended a bit beyond the usual during this final time.
Still merged with the Viper, Jake felt the would-be Primordial’s happiness
at his success, and he celebrated a bit by himself. Jake just smiled alongside
Villy, happy for his buddy’s success, even if it was just a peek into history.
Yet, mere moments before the vision ended, he felt something observing
him – observing Villy.
A powerful presence that Villy did not at all notice but that Jake naturally
picked up on. A familiar gaze that Jake had felt during a previous vision.
The First Sage?
The vision ended just as Jake became sure of the source and returned to the
real world.
Scarlett felt all giddy as she guided the Chosen around the Mangrove. The
thought of getting invited to the sacred Order of the Malefic Viper had
never even crossed her mind, but the more she considered it, the more
excited she became.
The Chosen was also nice and allowed her to stay with him during his visit
to the Mangrove. She knew she had much to learn from him and would
observe his every action whenever she could. Scarlett also noticed how the
other humans of the Mangrove looked at him, and she felt their emotions.
Their odd mix of emotions.
Fear and nervousness were two of the strongest senses other humans got
from watching the Chosen. It was only right to feel fear before a superior
being, and she could only approve of their understanding to not approach
and needlessly annoy or delay the Chosen in his matters.
After he was done with his business, they went to the largest building in the
Mangrove, where she led the Chosen to a room for him to meditate in. He
did also make some weird comments along the way… like asking for her to
bite him…
She didn’t get it. Was physical contact not rather shunned by humans? Also,
did he really trust her that much to allow her to use her venom on him? It
was all a bit too much for her, and she was happy that he decided to
meditate for a while so she could observe him a bit longer.
But… not long into meditation, she felt something. An odd shift in the
environment as whispers of a presence that did not belong on a small planet
like Earth appeared. Her eyes opened wide as she recognized it and stared
wide-eyed at the Chosen as her heart began pounding from the pressure.
Then, at the very next moment, he disappeared, leaving only a lingering
presence behind.
Scarlett tried to calm herself down, but she could not stop herself from
shaking. That had been the presence of the Malefic One… the Forefather of
her entire race. What had the Chosen done? It was like he, for a moment,
became the Forefather himself, their Paths and Records uniting.
Not long passed before he reemerged, the aura still present for a moment
before it dispersed like it had never been there, leaving only the Chosen
deep in thought…
Jake kept frowning as he sat in the main office in the Mangrove. Why had
the First Sage looked at Villy? How had he been aware of him? Villy’s
description said that the first time they met was when the Viper tried to
sneak in and learn from the First Sage, but this vision said otherwise. Or
maybe it didn’t, at least not from the perspective of the Viper.
Villy was not omniscient, and Jake began to suspect that his choice of
seeking out the First Sage had more to it than the Viper knew. Had he been
led into seeking out the man? If so, for what purpose? Did he just want
someone to kill him, like Villy said? Leave a student, perhaps? Something
entirely different Jake had no damn clue about?
All were likely, with the final one being the most likely. Shaking his head,
Jake decided not to mull it over too much. He wasn’t even sure if he wanted
to ask Villy about it… maybe it was just better to keep it to himself and
hope that a future vision could give some insight. Villy clearly cared a lot
about this First Sage, and Jake didn’t want to pollute a memory for no
reason. Yeah, best keep it to himself and return to more current matters.
Jake opened his eyes and addressed the snake girl in the room, who was
staring at him with wide-open starry eyes.
”I… I felt the presence of the Forefather. What happened? Did you go see
the Malefic One?” she asked with much interest.
”You can say that,” Jake smiled. ”I used one of my skills as a Chosen, that
is all.”
She just nodded enthusiastically. ”Thank you for allowing me to witness it!
I will never forget this honor.”
Jake smirked and shook his head, not having the heart to tell her that he just
didn’t really see any reason to hide something like this. She knew he was
the Chosen already, so him doing Chosen stuff was just to be expected.
Oh, and finally… Jake kept forgetting that part that blasted out the presence
of himself and the Viper whenever he used the skill. In his defense, he had
not actually planned on just using the skill right away, but when he focused
on stuff, he kind of tended to forget everything and everyone around him,
with it already having led to outing himself to everything from friends in
the Order to projections within dungeons.
”Would you mind if I did some alchemy?” Jake then asked the snake girl. It
was more a rhetorical question as she, of course, instantly nodded.
”Thank you, I plan on staying here for a bit before heading back to Haven
before the World Congress,” Jake informed her, Scarlett naturally not
voicing even a sliver of negativity.
Jake smiled again at her and decided to get some practice in with his new
skill, and he had just the thing to craft: Perception Elixirs. He did have
some already in storage, but he wanted to craft some more before he
evolved anyway. He had three hundred stats to get and saw no reason not to
claim them right away. Could he increase other stats? Sure, but Jake wanted
Perception.
He also still had some materials in store, so he could get started right away.
The moment Jake summoned the cauldron and laid his hands on it, he
instantly felt the difference from the newly upgraded skill. It was like
everything within the cauldron appeared clearer than before, even if it was
currently empty.
With a mental command, Jake manipulated the very air within it. He felt the
different affinities and, out of curiosity, focused on them. Water, wind,
space, time, nature, wood…. so many affinities he recognized. Jake chose
one as he strained himself, and in the middle of the cauldron, a small
droplet of water began to condense as Jake extracted the humidity from the
air.
Definitely noticeable, Jake concluded as he got to work.

Adding the ingredients, he tried to discern what the difference truly was. In
all honesty, the upgrade did not help much during crafting like this, as there
really weren’t many details he couldn’t already catch with his Perception. It
was far more effective during experimenting, that was for sure. He also
faintly considered trying out the soul-merging effect but decided against it
as his intuition warned him of the outcome.
Villy had destroyed his cauldron, and while Jake was confident the Altmar
Cauldron would survive, he was certain it would be damaged and be in
need of repair afterward. It had the rune on the bottom to accomplish this,
but it would take time, and as mentioned, he didn’t need it.
Jake thus just dove into the alchemy as time passed. Scarlett stayed by his
side silently for nearly two days, simply staring at everything he did with
interest. She was damn lucky Jake had been conditioned by Villy’s constant
staring, allowing him to completely ignore it and make plenty of elixirs.
Once it was about time to head back to Haven, Jake went on a drinking
binge.
You have assimilated a strong energy of Perception.
+5 Perception.
You have assimilated a strong energy of Perception.
+5 Perception.
You have…
Elixir after elixir went down and seeing as he had enough, he even offered
some to Scarlett. She graciously accepted but only wanted a single one,
which was a bit weird. Especially as she looked to have no interest in
drinking the elixir but simply held onto it for a while before storing it away.
Another easy 300 Perception in the bag, Jake smiled after he was done
drinking. Over just a few days, Jake had gotten around one thousand more
Perception from the skill upgrade, elixirs, and Free Points, making him feel
quite good about himself. Jake knew that stat distribution also greatly
impacted evolutions, and he wanted to make it absolutely clear to the
system that he was a Perception-based guy.
At least, that is what he told himself to excuse his decision.
”Thanks for accommodating me,” Jake said to Scarlett as he prepared to

head back. ”After the World Congress, I will come back here, and we will
travel for the Order of the Malefic Viper, so make your preparations,
alright?”
”Yes!” Scarlett enthusiastically nodded. ”Will you need me to do or bring

anything in particular?”
”I won’t need you to bring anything, but we do need to talk about a few
details related to my identity at the Order, but that can wait,” Jake
answered.
”Very well,” she acknowledged. ”I once more thank the Chosen for blessing
us with his presence.”
Jake waved it off. ”That is part of what you will need to work on fixing. Be
more casual, alright? Anyway, I am off!”
With that, Jake headed for the teleporter, with Scarlett still following him
and bidding him goodbye.
A swift teleportation later, Jake found himself back at the Fort. The
convenience of these teleporters was truly, well, convenient, even for
someone like Jake, who had quite the insane travel speed. Jake still chose to
fly back towards Haven, not because it would be in any way faster, but
because he had already felt the aura approach, and he decided to meet
halfway. As for who this presence was?
It was a small green ball of feathery death.
They had been apart for a long time. Thinking about it, this was probably
their longest separation since the little featherball had been born.
His grin only grew as he flew forward and felt her approach pretty fucking
fast. She had gotten a lot swifter, that was for sure, and it did not take long
before he saw the small green form enter his vision and barrel straight
toward him.
[Sylphian Eyas – lvl 199]
She had reached the peak of D-grade, something entirely expected. Jake
stopped in mid-air and opened his arm wide to hug the bird. However,
Sylphie had other plans and expertly dodged his attempt, flying in between
his hands and dodging beneath his legs before doing a quick circle, landing
perfectly on top of his head.
Sylphie stood proudly as if she had reclaimed her rightful place, and Jake
nearly failed to hold back a laugh as he raised a hand and nuzzled her. ”It’s
been a while, eh?”
”Ree!” Sylphie screeched in complaint, making Jake indeed fail to hold

back his laugh. ”I missed you too.”
She showed mercy and allowed Jake to lift her off his head and give her a
hug. Sylphie had not changed in the slightest since they separated. Well,
besides getting a lot stronger and making Jake’s Sense of the Malefic Viper
now pick up how the wind mana itself seemed to change in her vicinity.
”Did you have fun with your adventures?” he asked, still holding the small
hawk in his arms like she was a newborn baby.
”Ree! Ree!” she semi-explained as Jake play-fought with her talons.
”Lots of strong beasts, huh?” Jake nodded. ”Managed to take down some
C-grades?”
Sylphie proudly screeched in affirmation as she went on a tirade of

screeches explaining what had happened. Jake nodded along, still unsure
how the hell he understood what she meant. She had gone to the cloud layer
where C-grades lived and managed to defeat a few C-grades while hunting
with Carmen.
Speaking of Carmen… ”Where did you leave Carmen? Isn’t she also here?”
”Ree!”
”She isn’t that slow.”
”Ree!”
”Okay, she is a little slow,” Jake laughed in agreement as the hawk insisted.
Feeling victorious, Sylphie once more brought the topic back to her
adventures, Jake listening intently as he continued to nod along while
slowly flying back towards Haven, and he at least managed to extract the
fact that Carmen was back there talking with the Sword Saint, Miranda, and
Arthur.
Oh… and two others who had also come back to Haven for a visit. Two
hawks Jake hadn’t seen for even longer than Sylphie: her parents, Hawkie
and Mystie.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

next month :)


Chapter 569 - The Eve Before the
Third World Congress
Hawkie and Mystie had been busy birds as far as Jake knew. His visits to
Haven had just never really intersected with when they visited, and after
Sylphie left with him and Carmen, the two hawks bothered visiting even
less as they didn’t really have any reason to go.
Instead, they focused on leveling, hunting as a pair in the sky and in the vast
forest Haven was on the outskirts of. Jake knew that neither of them were
particularly strong for their levels, but they weren’t weak either. He would
place them firmly in the mid-to-high-tier level of beast variants, primarily
due to Mystie’s unique type of magic and Hawkie’s high striking power.
Together they were especially strong with their developed combo-attacks
and skills, bringing them firmly in the high-tier category.
Yet, even knowing this, Jake was surprised when he saw them from afar as
the two of them waited on a branch just at the entrance to the forest.
[Stormsong Hawk – lvl 178]
[Mystsong Hawk – lvl 176]
You go, mate! Jake thought when he saw Hawkie had surpassed Mystie in
level. It did make sense; Mystie was more of a supportive fighter, with
Hawkie being the one going in and dealing most of the damage. But, damn,
them both having reached such a high level so fast was impressive to him.
Neither of them were living cheats like Jake, Sylphie, or most of the other
people around him. They were just kind-of-strong beasts. Well, okay, that
wasn’t entirely accurate. They were the parents of Sylphie, and in the same
way that Jake’s parents benefitted with Records by being his parents, so did
Hawkie and Mystie benefit from Sylphie. Them being friends with Jake
also helped them quite a bit, though Jake reckoned their relationship with
Sylphie meant more. Then again, Sylphie benefitted a lot by being close to
Jake, so he did help quite a bit by proxy?
Anyway, Records were complicated, and even if he helped, it was still their
own effort that brought them to high-tier D-grade.
Jake smiled as he saw them and raised a hand to wave. Sylphie remained
cradled in his arms, clearly content with not having to move as Jake flew
over to her parents.
Mystie looked a bit judging down at her daughter while Hawkie flew down
towards him. What looked like a fork of lightning appeared and floated in
mid-air in front of Jake as Hawkie landed on it at eye height with Jake.
”Good to see you again, mate,” Jake greeted the hawk. His first monster
friend, if you didn’t count the King.
Hawkie simply nodded his head and looked at Jake holding Sylphie.
”Does feel a bit bad to be surpassed by your own daughter, huh?” Jake
asked.
To his surprise, Hawkie didn’t agree. Quite the opposite. Jake felt only
happiness at how strong Sylphie was, with not a shred of jealousy. This
only made Jake smile more. Here’s to healthy family dynamics.
What was the saying… Jake couldn’t remember, but he remembered the
gist of it. Celebrate the success of others and mourn their losses. Feeling
jealous or angry because someone you proclaimed to care about
experienced success was just a sign of you being an egotistical asshole. It
was fine to feel a bit miffed, sure, but that should be trumped by the
happiness of seeing someone you care about succeed.
”Or maybe not,” Jake corrected himself as he looked down at Sylphie and
nuzzled the feathers on her stomach. Like an angry cat, she fought back
with her talons, but Jake just grinned as he adeptly dodged them to tickle
her. ”She sure has grown, eh?”
”Ree!” Sylphie screeched in agreement as Hawkie just gave a slight nod.

Hawkie was as reserved as ever, and Mystie still seemed a bit cautious
around Jake even after all this time. At least she seemed happy to stay at a
distance and just observe what happened.
”Should we head back?” Jake asked. ”You can tell me what you two have
been up to in the meantime. How about you join us too, Mystie?”
He looked up at the hawk with a smile. She quickly relented, not due to
Jake, but the wide eyes of Sylphie staring up at her, making her fly down
and join them as they slowly made their way through the forest. He already
kind of knew what Hawkie and the others had been doing and what they
hunted, but it was always good to hear it from the primary source.
The two of them had mainly focused on safe hunts and not biting off more
than they could chew. Mystie was damn good at stealth by now, from what
he gathered, and allowed them to ambush foes or escape areas with
dangerous monsters they could not beat. Jake also came to learn that,
apparently, the massive lightning tree in the sky had died several months
ago after Hawkie had gone for a round of absorption. That made Jake a bit
sad until he heard Sylphie chip in about how there were many more of those
trees up in the higher cloud layers where C-grades lived. Bigger ones, too,
making Jake wonder where the hell they came from.
With more than one, he could only assume it was some breed of a tree. He
had assumed that the massive lightning tree had been the ”main tree” and
the smaller crystal trees spread around were its seedlings, but now Jake
began to wonder… what if the big one had also just been another seedling
itself? Did this mean there was some massive awesome lightning tree
somewhere?
Anywho, the two proud hawk parents had explored far more of the forest
than anyone else. Jake had already known that C-grades existed deep in the
forest, but they had indeed confirmed their presence and how there were a
lot of them. Needless to say, Hawkie and Mystie were not equipped to fight
C-grades quite yet, even if they had gotten a lot stronger.
They had an enjoyable talk as they made their way back to Haven, Mystie
even joining in and adding some information with images made of Myst
here and there.
Soon enough, they reached Haven, Jake feeling the many presences within.
Everyone had gathered, it seemed, the group now also including Carmen.
He did not detect another monster with the King but kind of assumed he
had thought of one. Not that it mattered, they could always find this last
council member after Jake was World Leader.
Jake waltzed into the main office, still holding Sylphie. However, she
seemed to want to keep her dignity as she wrestled herself free and flew up
to land on top of his head to prove her dominance. Jake cracked a smile as
he entered the room, and everyone looked at him.
”I apologize for my late arrival, but I have to announce a change in plans.

Going by hierarchy, it has become clear to me that the true leader of Earth
should not be me but the mighty Sylphie,” Jake joked with a wide grin.
”Sold,” Carmen answered with a smirk.
”Wouldn’t it be the same? Not like you plan on actually doing any work,”
Miranda shrugged.
”I have no complaints either,” even the Sword Saint chimed in.
The King did not even dignify his joke with a response, while Arthur
looked genuinely confused for a few moments before realizing it was just a
bad joke.
”Thanks for the support and confidence, everyone,” Jake chuckled as he

went to take a seat. Hawkie and Mystie had both chosen to stay outside and
had flown towards the good old lodge. Probably to steal his bananas.
“Let us get to work,” Miranda cut in to actually get something done.

”Arthur was just telling us how he has spread the word of our arrangement,
and despite quite a bit of pushback, things seem to be on track, with most
understanding the nuance of the situation and choosing to support us.
During the Congress itself, we should be able to convince the rest by
actually displaying a united front,” Miranda explained.
“As for the Noboru Clan, things have mostly calmed down,” the Sword
Saint sighed. “There shall at least be no opposition to voting you World
Leader.”
“We have claimed more Pylons and expanded, and naturally, all shall vote
according to my will,” the King said. “When it comes to this final member
of the council, I have attempted to seek out this whale you spoke of, but I
ran into an obstacle.”
“Oh?” Jake asked, surprised. “What’s wrong?”
“You asked me to find a sea creature in a vague direction, one living far
away in an area filled with C-grades that you expect me to hopelessly
search through with a damaged soul,”the King explained very aptly.
“So what you are saying is that you suck at tracking and stealth. Got it. I
guess I will just have to call the divine hotline to try and get this whale guy
on board. After the Congress, of course,” Jake smiled.
“I congratulate myself for not wasting my time on such a pointless task,

then,” the King scoffed before falling silent.
“I guess it’s my turn?” Carmen spoke up after a brief pause. “Eh, those
from Valhal will vote for you; at least Sven, that bastard, told me so. He
also told me to apologize to you, so I am sorry that Sven and the moronic
moron higher-ups fucked up like the morons they are.”
“Apology accepted,” Jake said with a nod. “Partly. Valhal is not getting out
of this scot-free, but we can talk about what form of compensation I find
agreeable. Quite frankly, it wouldn’t matter if they refused to vote for me
anymore, does it?”
“No, it does not,” Miranda confirmed. “Based on my estimates, you sit on
well over eighty percent of the total votes. Remember that many of the
nobles who are on the fence are only Lords with their one vote while we
have all higher-level nobles on our side.”
“See? Even if Valhal decides to be assholes again, we’re good,” Jake said to
Carmen.
Carmen looked offended for a moment but then took a deep breath. “I had
nothing to do with what they did. I didn’t even hear anything about that
orange fuck or that bullshit Alliance before everything had already
happened.”
“I know that,” Jake said comfortingly. “But Valhal still needs to pay some
kind of recompense. I am sure Sven already predicted this?”
“Probably did,” Carmen answered. “I didn’t really listen to much of what he

said after he told me to go apologise. Ask him at the Congress. It is his
damn fault for asking me to act as a diplomat like this.”
“Fair enough,” Jake nodded as he turned to Miranda again. “Anything from

the Risen at all?”
“No,” Miranda shook her head. “But I did confer with my Patrons, and it
appears like they have left Earth for good. Which was, according to them,
probably better for everyone involved.”
Jake frowned. “Why?”
“Well… while the Risen do usually go the diplomatic route, the end result is
often still the total domination of any planet they operate on, including
eventual terraforming. Chances are they would have left by themselves at
some point anyway or only left a small outpost at most,” Miranda
explained. “At least they would have gone for another planet nearby to
make their own and not actually remained on Earth.”
Her explanation reminded him of the final force he wanted to ask about:
“What about the Church? They still have some cities, as far as I recall.”
“Kind of?” Miranda said. “It is more just City Lords refusing to accept what
happened and still waiting for the Church to call for them. They have fallen
one by one in the last month, and only a scarce few remain, all of them in
minor settlements of little importance. No, the biggest problem is the
refugees from all the major cities, especially Sanctdomo.”
Jake once more nodded, knowing there was quite a refugee crisis going on.
If the King had not managed to rein in the monsters and their attacks dying
down, things would have gotten far worse. The cities the Church used to
own were primarily taken by the United Cities Alliance, with the Noboru
Clan and even Valhal managing to snatch up a few.
The meeting continued for a bit longer, but there really wasn’t much to
discuss ahead of this World Congress. They didn’t even know what kind of
votes would happen besides the one for World Leader, so it was impossible
to discuss that. All in all, everything was set, and Jake decided to head back
to his lodge to chill with the hawks.
Carmen decided to follow him, something he definitely didn’t complain

about. It was good to hear about the adventures of her and Sylphie with
actual human words. The fact that neither Mystie, Hawkie, or Sylphie spoke
actual words using telepathy or something like that surprised him a bit, but
then again, did they have to? The only one Hawkie and Mystie seemed to
care about talking to was Jake, and he understood them. And if they didn’t
bother learning telepathy, he also doubted they would rush to get human
forms.
In fact, it wasn’t that unusual for beasts to never bother getting a human
form. A human form had no value for a monster living in the wild and was,
in many ways, only a weakness. It also took quite a bit of skill and time to
create a usable one, making many lower-tier creatures simply give up and
never bother. Then, finally, there was the fact that many beasts saw the
human form as inferior and it as a slight to their honor to adopt one for even
a second. Villy once told a funny story about why all dragons always chose
to retain draconic features in their human form without having to: because
they were braggarts who wanted anyone even catching a glimpse of them to
still know they were indeed dragons. He didn’t think Mystie and Hawkie
were like that, but it was still a toss-up if they bothered to make one when
they reached C-grade.
They also had the advantage of their small forms, allowing them to still
travel around places built for human-sized individuals. Big beasts not fitting
into human-sized houses was by far one of the primary reasons for human
forms being such a widely-adopted concept.
As they entered the valley, Jake was thrown out of his thoughts as he saw
the two hawks again, having indeed stolen some of his bananas. They were
lucky he was in a good mood and couldn’t scold parents in front of their
own kid.
“Hey… are you ready to evolve soon?” Carmen asked him after they had
gotten into the lodge and settled down at the table.
Jake finally Identified her and saw that at least she was.
[Human – lvl 193]
“Yeah, pretty damn close; I just need some class levels. And I got some
stuff I want to finish beforehand,” Jake answered.
“Your class?” Carmen asked with surprise. “I only need levels in my

profession… been kind of slow recently. Didn’t really feel like dedicating
kills to Valhal or doing any of their bullshit rituals after they lied and tried
to screw over my home planet.”
“Fair,” Jake nodded. “But in their defense, I don’t think Valhal actually tried
to screw Earth over, and from my understanding, some complicated shit is
just going on between a bunch of gods.”
“Why would you bother defending them after just talking about wanting
compensation?” Carmen asked with a frown.
Jake just smiled. “I am the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. I know stuff.
Secret stuff.”
“Ass,” she shot back.

“I do have one of those, yes,” Jake confirmed with a stupid grin.
“Assho… ah, never mind. So, what the hell have you been up to? I don’t
know shit compared to everyone else, it feels like,” Carmen complained.
“Oh man…”
Jake once more narrated what had happened, including everything with
Sandy and his journey across the planet. Sylphie and the other hawks stayed
for a part of it until all three of them left to have some quality family time
terrorizing the local wildlife, leaving just Carmen and Jake back at the
lodge.
“Fucking Ell’Hakan. Dude is definitely coming back to make trouble, isn’t

he?” Carmen said after Jake was done talking.
“No doubt,” Jake nodded. “Though I don’t know if he will mess with Earth
again or just aim for me directly. Maybe a mix of both. Either way, I will
handle him later. For now, I got too much other stuff to take care of.”
“I guess,” Carmen said before groaning. “Why does shit have to be

complicated? Can’t we just have proper villains who show up and challenge
you directly or something like that?”
“That would definitely be preferable,” Jake smiled. “I much prefer when

people can just be direct and cut all the bullshit.”
“Agree,” Carmen nodded.
They were both silent for a few seconds before Jake scratched the back of
his head. “You know, we got at least a few hours before the World Congress
and nothing to do.”
Carmen smiled. “I thought you just said you preferred when people were
direct?”
“Other people,” Jake clarified.

“God damn hypocrite,” Carmen laughed before dragging him outside the
lodge for a sparring session.
Followed by dragging him back inside for another kind of sparring session.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!
NEW MONTH! WOO! BEST TIME TO GIVE ME MONEY BECOME

A PATRON!


Chapter 570 - The Third World
Congress
Jake and Carmen both lay on the grass in the valley outside of the lodge as
they stared up at the sky, relaxing after their strenuous wrestling session.
“Why was it we couldn’t use the bed again?” Carmen turned to him and
asked.
“That is a meditation bed,” Jake said stoically. “Also, it is super old and
comes from a dungeon, and I didn’t wanna risk breaking it. Sentimental
value and all that.”
“As long as you don’t feel the same about the table,” Carmen joked about
the broken pieces of wood in the lodge as she sat up. “Should we get going?
Also… aren’t the others going to start asking questions?”
Jake looked to the side and saw a part of the valley pretty damn banged up
from their earlier spar, including quite a few craters. “Nah, I think they will
just assume we only sparred. Does it matter either way?”
Carmen thought for a moment. “I guess not, but I would prefer for no stupid
rumors to spread.”
“Oh, I already got those rumors related to Miranda and me,” Jake shrugged.
“Really?” Carmen asked, a bit surprised. “So have you-“
“Nah. Professional boundaries and all. Don’t wanna make things awkward
with someone who effectively works for me,” Jake shrugged.
“Don’t wanna shit where you eat, huh?” Carmen nodded. “Though, as a
Chosen, isn’t everyone below you in the hierarchy? And does your Patron
give a fuck about professional boundaries?”
A vivid image of Villy with three witches flashed in his mind as he shook
his head. “Oh, the Viper sure doesn’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t. As for
everyone being above me as Chosen, well, if I don’t think someone is
below me and they don’t think I am above them, then who the fuck is to
decide?”
“Truly masterfully argued,” Carmen smirked. “Now, let’s go to that office

and get this entire World Congress bullshit done with.”
“Fine,” Jake agreed and stretched as he walked towards the main office.
The others were already waiting there, and not long after, it was time. The
invitations were sent out, and Jake agreed as his vision went black and he
entered the Third World Congress.
The World Congress chamber hit Jake like a bag of bricks filled with
nostalgia when he entered. His sphere spread out, and he could only sigh
internally. Figures appeared all around him, but some people who had been
at every other Congress were notably missing.
Sanctdomo and the Risen city that Jake didn’t remember the name of were
both gone from the top ten. Jacob and Casper were nowhere to be seen as it
really got hammered home; they were both gone from Earth for good.
Another notable figure that was nowhere to be seen was Eron. Jake had
kind of hoped to see him there, but his absence also confirmed for good that
he had left Earth with likely no desire to return. His reason for leaving was
still a mystery, and Jake wondered if he knew about Ell’Hakan coming or if
it was totally unrelated. Either way, he was gone.
He did at least see some familiar figures he hadn’t heard much about in the
last month. Two people in particular. The first one was Maria, the fire
archer who had been with Bertram and his party as a mercenary and had
helped in the fight with the Monarch of Blood. She looked to be with an
entirely different crew, and from what Jake could guess, she had split
entirely from the Church.
The second person was someone Jake himself had told to be there but was
still surprised to actually see. William stood on a platform way at the back
of the room and looked unassuming as hell. His presence was oddly muted,
and even if he had just appeared, Jake saw his eyes wide open as he looked
deep in thought. He didn’t get the feeling William would make any trouble,
as he had far too many internal issues to deal with. At least he hadn’t found
his Path yet, judging by his level still being 199. In fact, scanning the room,
no one at C-grade was present. A few were at level 199 here and there, but
no one had evolved. What stumped them, he didn’t know, but he guessed it
was either natural barriers caused by Records or an issue with quests.
Standing there and scanning everything, it felt oddly hollow. So little

mystery remained of who those unknown City Leaders were. All intrigue
about hidden experts on the planet was killed. Besides a few odd rumors
about standout individuals who didn’t bother with politics, there really was
nothing. His only hope was in the unexplored parts of the planet and what
monsters may hide there.
Jake had appeared on the platform together with the usual suspects. He,
Miranda, Lillian, and Neil attended from Haven just like all the other times,
but all the others who had been in Haven appeared on their respective
platforms. From what Jake gathered, the Sword Saint had given up control
of his Pylon when he pretended to die to better sell the ruse but had now
gone and reclaimed it without any opposition. Carmen and Arthur had also
appeared at their original Pylon locations despite being in Haven.
He was still looking around as the welcome message appeared.
Welcome to the Third World Congress of Earth.
Two World Congresses have passed, and it is time for the final
scheduled one.
The World Congress is an opportunity for the newly integrated

denizens of Earth to establish political connections and an arena for
discussion, voting, and international politics that can impact the planet
as a whole. Note that no fighting will be allowed during the World
Congress. Each booth has an aura that will offer privacy to each city.
During the Third World Congress, two votes will be held with a
maximum length of five (5) hours per vote. After one vote finishes, the
other will immediately begin. During this World Congress, a World
Leader must be elected, and if none has managed to accumulate 60% of
the total votes, the candidates shall be cut down and options limited
until the World Leader is elected.
The first vote will pertain to the election of a World Leader. The World
Leader will automatically have their noble rank advance one stage and
must be elected during this World Congress. The Second Vote pertains
to the final trial of the enlightened races on Earth.
The first vote will automatically begin in thirty (30) minutes.
Jake read it over and saw only minor changes from the last time. More
freedom with voting periods, an inclusion that the World Leader must be
elected, and finally, information about the vote for a final trial of some
kind?
Everyone read it, and Jake also double-checked that the voting rules had not
changed since last year.
Voting rules of the World Congress:
The number of available votes is based on the nobility rank of the

attending members. The number of votes per nobility rank is as
follows:
King: 1000
Prince: 250
Duke: 100
Marquiss: 25
Earl: 10
Viscount: 5
Baron: 3
Lord: 1
The noble in question may distribute their votes as they choose if there
are multiple options. The noble may abstain from voting. Votes are
final and cannot be appealed. Any agreements will come into effect
until the next World Congress or if all included parties choose to
revoke it. All tie-breakers will be decided by the highest-ranking noble
present at the World Congress.
It was the exact same as last year, indeed. Jake still questioned how and
why prince was a thing considering the prince was usually the son of the
King, but hey, who was he to question the omnipotent system?
Jake also knew that he would advance to marquiss after this vote. It was
still a bit odd that he, as the World Leader, would still be three entire
nobility ranks below the Fallen King, but there wasn’t really anything he
could do about it. Unique Lifeforms were pretty bullshit like that.
Also, no, the King could not give others nobility ranks. The nobility title of
the King was a bit of a weird case in more than one way. Monsters could
not have nobility ranks, but despite that, the King had one, which also did
make it kind of funny when the system talked to everyone within the
Congress like they were among the enlightened races.
After Jake had read through everything, including the usual prompt to vote
for World Leader, he turned his attention back to all those in the chamber.
He felt many gazes upon him and knew what he had to do. Miranda had
told him many times, and sometimes he still had to do a bit of politics. With
a mental command, Jake made his mask invisible and clapped his hands
together to get everyone’s attention.
”So here we are again at the third World Congress, but we all know this one
is quite a bit different than the first two. With how things have gone in
recent times, how couldn’t it be?” Jake spoke, the speech only semi-
practiced. He was mostly just winging it. Seemed more genuine that way.
”Enemies were invited onto our planet due to naivety, ignorance, stupidity,
and deceit. Millions died due to the decisions of a few, and countless more
now find themselves struggling from the aftermath. As I am sure you can
all see, the Risen are gone. I knew many of you didn’t like them, but out of
everyone, they were one of the most peaceful factions. At the same time,
the Holy Church has also chosen to leave. Why, you might ask? Because
they realized their goal of world domination was not feasible, and they were
the kinds of people who either want everything or nothing,” Jake continued,
seeing a few frowns here and there. Probably the idiots who still believed in
the Church.
”Another question you might have is who this invader was. I am aware
most of you have no idea, so let me clarify. His name is Ell’Hakan, an alien
who has already dominated his home planet and is the Chosen of Yip of
Yore, an incredibly powerful god that even the Pantheon of the Holy
Church is wary of. His reason for coming here quite honestly had nothing to
do with any of you. He never cared about Earth. He came for me.”
A bit of chatter was heard here and there, but Jake raised a hand.
”I know, I know. Rumor has no doubt gone around that I am the Chosen of
the Malefic Viper, an even more feared god than Yip of Yore and one with
quite the, let’s just say, reputation. I do realize it is somewhat my own fault
for not really bothering with letting more be known about myself that you
all think I am some evil bastard, but I hope that you have come to realize I
have no desire to lead Earth down a bad Path. I just want the planet to
survive and be defended, nothing more. That is also what most of you want:
for Earth to remain independent, but you must also realize that simply isn’t
possible. Without backing, we are like a poor country with pointy sticks
trying to defend ourselves from global superpowers. And not just any small,
impoverished country, but one with a shitload of oil that everyone wants.”
Even more chatter, only a handful of people with some muted chuckling.
All of them were people Jake knew, sadly. The joke did not land.
”What I am saying is that Earth would be fucked without someone big and
scary to intimidate multiversal forces. Arthur, the former leader of the
newly dissolved United Cities Alliance, tried to have Valhal be this big
scary force, but needless to say, his plans fell apart and were built on a
foundation of lies and naivety. However, through talks with Arthur, I came
to realize that we do want the same thing, so I am proposing that we use my
backing as the deterrent. That we use my identity as the Chosen of the
Malefic Viper as a shield. Again, I know a lot of you are probably skeptical
of this idea, but the Order will have no influence on the planet,” Jake
explained.
There were still a lot of skeptics in the hall, but Jake continued nevertheless.
”Instead, Earth will be led by a council of five, me not included. I have no

interest in actually leading anything. Thus, everything will be up to their
discretion, with me only getting involved in matters I care about or find
important. The same way as I have led Haven thus far. And before anyone
asks, let me just address the question of why I then don’t just make
someone else the World Leader and sit on the council. The easy answer to
that one: because I don’t want to. Because if there is one thing I want less
than to become World Leader, it is for someone else to become World
Leader,” Jake grinned. ”Anyway, that was my big speech. I will now take
questions.”
”How will you-”
”What are-”
”If you-”
People instantly began yelling, and Jake raised a hand to silence them
again. ”That was a damn joke; I am not actually answering any questions. If
you want to know more, ask the people on the council. After the vote.”
”Are we not even gonna dignify a discussion of alternatives? Not even
going to act like this is the democratic election it is?” someone with a
particularly loud voice yelled. Jake did not recognize them at all and just
shrugged.
”Not really, no. Not gonna lie; you people are way out of your depths by
even being here. Didn’t you hear what I said? Gods decided to fight over
our planet. Beings who can blow it up with a wave of their hand. Does
anyone here really think they can do shit to defend Earth? The answer is no.
This is not a democratic election either, and I bet you that after this vote, we
will come to learn that there are more violent ways of attaining the title of
World Leader. I hope that anyone open to being voted for is also fine with
having a constant mark on them. People who are not just from Earth will
come after you. That is another reason I think I am the best candidate. I
welcome my would-be-assassins,” Jake answered confidently.
His response seemed to shut down the guy as Arthur spoke up. Just as
planned.
”What Lord Thayne is saying is that he will act as a shield for Earth from
the multiverse. Outside forces will hesitate even having machinations on
Earth due to fear of the Chosen of the Malefic Viper being the World
Leader there. Assassins who would be interested in Earth would not dare
risk offending the Order by attempting to assassinate him. In addition, they
will fear killing anyone they perceive to be working for him out of fear. His
role will be nearly entirely passive, and from my understanding, he will not
even be on Earth for the majority of the time,” Arthur said, looking over at
Jake.
”True, I will not. I have a multiverse to explore,” Jake confirmed.
Jake didn’t really think there needed to be more talk, but damn, was he
wrong. He had been warned beforehand, but it was still annoying that it
happened. Even if they had the vast majority of votes and they could just
vote instantly and make him World Leader once that first half an hour
ended, they still freaking talked. However, the four council members had
made it clear that simply brute-forcing the vote was a bad idea.
Instead, they wanted to bring everyone there on board with their decision.
Jake could only sigh and sit back as he allowed the council members to
show their prowess and convince everyone. Especially the Fallen King had
some heavy lifting to do before he would get a proper approval rating.
The only ones with good approval ratings were Arthur and, surprisingly, the
Sword Saint. Arthur because of his former status and existing connections,
and the Sword Saint because… well, Jake would describe it as old-man
energy. Who would dare disagree with an old man’s wisdom? Plus, he just
seemed authoritative whenever he spoke, making everyone subconsciously
agree and take all his advice as sagely. Again, old-man powers.
Miranda was also working hard, primarily in the department of convincing

everyone that while the Order was pretty damn evil by human standards,
then it was not the Order but Jake taking charge and how those things were
different. Everyone on the council was working damn hard.
As for Jake?
Jake was fighting the temptation to just zone it all out and just do some
damn alchemy like all the other political events…
Luckily, it was soon time for the vote and for Jake to finally get to see what
one got out of becoming World Leader. As long as he could stay awake
long enough, that is.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

A PATRON!

Chapter 571 - Earth's Final Trial
After half an hour, the prompt appeared to vote for World Leader. Jake
opened it and saw that it, too, was the same as every other time.
Please place your vote for World Leader of Earth. You have 10 votes
and can distribute them as you desire or choose to abstain with any or
all of your votes.
Votes remaining: 10/10
Time remaining: 4:29:59
Jake naturally dumped all votes on himself instantly while the others
continued talking. And damn, did they continue to talk. A lot of people just
voted right away from the looks of it, but as far as Jake could tell, the
voting period would only end once all votes had been made. Jake would
naturally prefer for them to just get things over with, but all he could do
was wait as the negotiations happened.
In the meantime, he stood there valiantly as he, in reality, zoned out and
entered his Soulspace using Serene Soul Meditation while still keeping an
eye on the outside world using his sphere. In there, he discussed future
matters and plans with sim-Jake for a good while until finally they got
done, and in the least suspenseful vote for World Leader Jake could
imagine, he got the title… which wasn’t even a damn title.
The election of World Leader has now concluded!
Results: Jake Thayne has been elected World Leader with 93% of the
total votes.
Congratulations! You have been elected World Leader.

As a World Leader, you gain access to certain special privileges and
abilities.
Due to the previous vote for Paths of Unusual Unions, the World
Leader can formally invite native monsters of any grade into protected
lands.
Allows the World Leader to announce future World Congresses.
Allows you to appoint a maximum of five (5) Ministers and delegate

responsibility.
Allows the World Leader to lay claim to any area controlled by Pylons.
Allows the World Leader to…
More privileges and abilities will be revealed after the conclusion of

Earth’s final trial if the World Leader manages to fully take control of
the planet.
Jake read the many messages that popped up in front of him but ended up
skimming most of them as he quite frankly didn’t care about most of what
they said. He adopted the same attitude as he had towards Haven. All of
these things were for the council to figure out after he appointed the five
Ministers and got everything delegated out.
There was also a pleasant surprise he had not expected. Jake had not
thought much of the Unusual Unions vote and knew it had just resulted in
some more interesting classes and professions popping up, but the positive
working relationship between humans and monsters had kind of been
ruined by the actions of William and Ell’Hakan. It was recovering now, but
it would take time.
So to see that it had resulted in Jake gaining a veryuseful ability was

awesome. If he read it correctly, it meant that he could now remove the
restrictions C-grades had so they could go everywhere, allowing him to
finally invite people like Sandy or Scarlett to Haven without any problems.
That was definitely a great bonus.
Finally, there was the section about a final trial also mentioned in the
welcome message to the Congress. Jake did not ponder on this much as he
could just wait for the vote that was shortly upcoming that would no doubt
include far more information on this trial.
He also checked and saw that his nobility title had been upgraded.
Titled Upgraded: [Nobility: Earl] --> [Nobility: Marquess]
[Nobility: Marquess] – A noble who has been voted World Leader and
begun his true Path of planetary domination. Allows you to control
several Pylons of Civilization as well as claim control of Planetary
Pylons. Grants access to certain events and opportunities exclusive to
nobles. Opens many new paths to power
Jake read it through and saw some interesting things, especially the note
about Planetary Pylons. If a Pylon of Civilization was made to claim and
form a city, then the Planetary Pylon was made to claim a planet. It more or
less functioned as the mainframe and primary controller of all other Pylons
on a planet. It was kind of a natural upgrade to see, considering the message
about this final trial.
All in all not much had really changed from him becoming World Leader.
Anyone with any kind of political aspirations or skills would probably
vehemently disagree with him, but overall, Jake saw no real gains. He had
to admit a part of him had selfishly hoped that by becoming World Leader,
he would get some kind of new title or at least some passive bonus to stats
or something while on the planet he supposedly led. Alas, stuff like that was
probably reserved for people with social professions. If Jake had to guess,
all he would really gain was another option to skip over during his
evolution.
Even if it wasn’t a big deal to Jake, others seemed to disagree as all eyes
were on him. Oh… I probably have to speak again. Damn.
”Well, thanks for the vote of confidence,” Jake said casually. ”I will do my
job, which is to stay alive and make sure no one else can claim Earth. For
actual leadership, you will have to look to my Ministers. Speaking of
which…”
Seeing no reason to delay, Jake turned around and instantly offered for
Miranda to become Minister. She accepted instantly, and Jake repeated this
with the King, Sword Saint, and Arthur. Arthur was the only one who
hesitated for a moment but still agreed.
”There we go, four out of five Ministers appointed,” Jake said with a nod.
He knew that everyone already knew that the last member of this council
would be a beast, as much of the discussion before the vote revolved around
people arguing about who to add. Most of those opposed to a beast joining
the council naturally want someone from their own clique or at least
another human.
Valhal also had the decency to shut the fuck up during all this time, and
naturally, Caleb and the Court had no interest in any kind of official
position. All he did was give Jake a cheeky smile after he became World
Leader as he mimed being so proud he had to wipe away a tear. Asshole.
They still had a few more topics to talk about, one of those related to Valhal
and for Jake to publicly call them out. Miranda had mentioned that he had
to outwardly take a hard stance and make it clear he disapproved of what
they did. All of it had something to do with the plans of the Viper, so Jake
just rolled with it.
However, before he had a chance to… the second vote began unprompted.
The second vote of the World Congress relates to Earth’s final trial.
The enlightened species have had time to establish themselves on the

planet and form alliances and connections, but will it be enough to
truly lay claim to the planet as a whole? There live more than the
enlightened in the multiverse, and soon Earth will have to prove it can
hold up.
Chains hold back that which seeks to claim the planet as its own, but
with the links broken one by one, it soon shall be released.
The Prima Guardian awaits its freedom.
To truly lay claim to planet Earth, the Planetary Pylon must be

claimed, a core that is currently protected by a barrier that requires
two keys to open. One key shall be given to the elected World Leader,
while the second key is held by the Prima Guardian.
However, before the Prima Guardian comes, a choice must be made.
Face your trail alone, or seek out allies.
In five years, the Guardian will arrive on Earth with its army and must
be defeated within five years of arrival, or the Guardian will move to
claim the world for itself as the barrier naturally falls. All planets can
choose to either engage the Prima Guardian alone or ally with others to
create an army capable of defeating each planet’s Prima Guardian.
Note that the strength of each Prima Guardian is based on the number
of fragments collected from slain Primas as their Records and power
have been absorbed by the Prima Guardian, as well as the overall
performance of the planet in all prior system events. Rewards for
slaying the Prima Guardian will be split amongst all contributing
planets. Bonus reward for any planet defeating the Prima Guardian on
their own. But be warned, for should the respective World Leader of
any planet die, the Prima will claim the key and thus the planet.
The Prima Guardian Alliance Interface will open up for all World
Leaders whose planet voted to ally with others. Should a planet choose
to face its Prima Guardian alone, this interface will only appear after
the World Leader’s own Prima Guardian has been defeated.
What Path will Earth walk? One where they face the Guardian by
themselves or with the help of the rest of the Milkyway?
Votes remaining: 25/25

Time remaining: 7:36:55
It was quite a chunky description that could get summed up rather easily:
big boss coming to Earth in five years, choose now, face big boss alone or
ask for help like a bunch of losers. Sure, it also said that all of this was to
finally claim the planet properly, but Jake cared more about the prospect of
facing this Prima Guardian. He was also quite surprised by the mention of
this Prima thing again.
Seems like all of that stuff about the Exalted Prima is indeed a major theme
of this universe, huh? Jake thought. He had heard from the Viper it had
happened before with other universes where major events during these
initiation events centered around some topic, location, or entity. However,
with all initiations and all the system events that followed differing so
significantly, no one could truly predict what would happen, making it all a
bit more exciting. At least to Jake.
Chatter appeared around the room, bringing Jake out of his wayward
thoughts and back to the World Congress chamber. Though he was unsure
why people were even discussing it. He quickly placed his votes before
speaking up.
”What is there to talk about?” Jake spoke loudly. ”More accurately, why are
all of you talking about it like it matters to you? We all know the answer
already, right?”
Jake turned to the booths around him.
”If Earth truly requires aid to defeat this Prima Guardian, then no other
planet in the Milkyway will be able to do anything,” Caleb spoke up first.
Omitting that there was one who did have people who could help, but no
one considered that orange fuck a possibility.
”Help seems wholly unnecessary,” the Sword Saint also spoke up.
”It is indeed a waste of time to even consider it,”the King agreed.

”There you have it,” Jake said. ”So finish this damn vote already. No
fucking way we are going to share our prey and bounty with other planets.”
In all fairness, Jake would prefer not to share it with the others on Earth
either, but sometimes one had to be nice. Also… he saw an opportunity and
leaped on it.
”Besides, the last time we invited aliens from another planet, it didn’t end
well. Oh yeah, which begs the question, will we be able to rely on Valhal in
this matter, or do we need to sign some shitty contract first before you are
willing to defend Earth?” Jake said in a venomous tone as he looked toward
Sven.
Sven, to his credit, looked like he had expected this and did not try to make
any excuses. ”We of Valhal can only lay ourselves down flat in surrender
and realize we misjudged the entire situation and made many mistakes. I
thank the Chosen for showing mercy during this time so that we, with time,
can make it up to you to hopefully establish a healthy and mutually
beneficial working relationship, allowing us to prove ourselves to both the
Chosen and Earth,” Sven said as he bowed deeply.
Jake had kind of expected this, but his response did make Jake suspect that
Sven did not know that some shady stuff was going on that the Viper was in
on. He acted more as a CEO of a company where the board of directors did
something moronic, and he now had to take responsibility. Jake would feel
sorry for him if not for the fact that he was still the damn CEO, and like any
CEO asked to do some dumb shit, he had the option of refusing and
potentially quitting. Being a heretic wasn’t that bad anyway.
”We at Valhal realize that the new World Leader and his Council will need
many resources to stabilize their rule, and to help this cause, Valhal is more
than happy to offer gifts to expedite everything,” Sven continued after a
brief pause.
Did they need a lot of resources and stuff? Well, probably not, but fuck if
Jake knew. What he did know was that he liked free stuff.
Staring at Sven, Jake still continued acting harshly. ”You are lucky I
consider the Runemaiden a close friend, or Valhal would have either gone
the way of the Holy Church or the way of the alien invader’s comrades. You
are on a tight leash, so don’t fuck it up. No third chances.”
Sven bowed once more. ”That is all we could ever ask for. Thank you,
Chosen of the Malefic One.”
Jake exchanged a glance with the man, feeling a sense of gratitude from
him. Confronting Valhal publicly not only proved that Jake was still mad at
them to everyone – including any potential spies or individuals who had a
relationship with Ell’Hakan – but also allowed Valhal to apologize and get a
way into the good graces of all the other factions. Many of them would
have hesitated to interact with Valhal if they thought the Chosen of the
Malefic Viper and his council remained pissed at them.
”Approach the council after this and discuss terms. For now, let’s just get
this vote over with. What are you people waiting for? We are facing it
alone, so place those damn votes already,” Jake said, sweeping his gaze
across the room.
Also, he really had to hold himself back from admonishing a lot of them
some more, especially those from the United Cities Alliance. This second
vote made it clear Earth had more dangers to face, and he could already
imagine the result if they had gotten their will. Jake, the King, the Sword
Saint, Sylphie… so many powerful and promising individuals would have
been tossed off the planet. Shit, they did manage to make Casper leave,
someone Jake would very much have liked to have around.
At least those morons seemed to listen to him now as they finally got their
shit together, and all the votes were placed.
The election concerning the final trial of Earth has now concluded!
Earth has chosen the face the final trial alone. Your Path is set, and the
Prima Guardian will descend upon the planet in five (5 years). With it
shall come an army and all of the formerly undefeated Primas that
have gained more power through the Seat of the Exalted Prima.
Warning: Based on collected fragments and Earth’s performance in all
prior system events, the difficulty rating of the Prima Guardian is
considered extremely high.
Prepare yourselves, or the Prima Guardian shall find no equal and lay
claim to your world.
Jake read the message and the part about the difficulty rating. Others around
him began chattering loudly again, some mentioning how they made a
mistake, others trying to calm them down, with a third group even asking if
perhaps there was a way off Earth if things went south. Jake cared for none
of it as he could only smile to himself.
To him, it wasn’t a warning.
It was the promise of a good time.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!

A PATRON!


Chapter 572 - A World That Makes
Sense
He had hoped it would end… but no. The World Congress was a cruel
mistress and allowed them to stay within the system event for the remainder
of the allotted time. Jake wanted to leave, but a sharp look from Miranda
made him know that he better stay. Alas, it was probably for the best, as
seeing the newly-elected World Leader run away prematurely probably
didn’t inspire confidence.
However, even if he was forced to stay physically, no one had told him to
not go on a mental journey to somewhere better. Even if he did try to stay
engaged and at least feign interest. Hey, he had tried, okay?
Jake would firmly classify the rest of the World Congress as a waste of
time. Miranda would probably disagree and call it a ”valuable opportunity
to calm the doubters and display unity to the many City Lords of Earth, thus
inspiring confidence in the council.”
In fact, those had been the exact words she had used.
Anyway, Jake had nearly eight hours to listen to mundane chatter, and by
the time the subject of tax codes was brought up, Jake completely zoned out
and went into his Soulspace to talk to a way better conversation partner:
himself.
Within his Soulspace, sim-Jake and the cursed chimera both sat calmly as
sim-Jake had a hand on the huge monster. It did not react but let him stay
there, and Jake knew what he was doing. Some kind of attunement. The
details were still a bit fuzzy, but Jake knew that the curse energy and
Eternal Hunger were instrumental to the mythical rarity skill he and sim-
Jake hoped to make.
After waiting a while, sim-Jake was done, and the moment he released his
hand, the huge beast of pure curse energy attacked, forcing sim-Jake to seal
it again. Once that was done, his other self turned around and regarded the
real Jake.
”This entire deal with World Leader is a waste of time. Why bother? Just
evacuate everyone to the Order of the Malefic Viper and leave this stupid
rock behind,” sim-Jake said, commenting on recent events. ”All you are
doing is creating distractions for us.”
”Maybe, maybe not,” Jake shrugged. ”In either case, I don’t plan on making
it into a distraction but an opportunity. We don’t know what benefits being
World Leader may offer in the future, but I am willing to risk it leading to
nothing for the chance to gain something unique.”
”And if it doesn’t?”
”Then I will have wasted a bit of time. How much lifespan do we have by
now? Do you even know? I reckon at least a thousand years or something,
and probably ten times that at C-grade. So what is a few years chasing a bad
lead?” Jake argued.
”Ultimately, the choice is yours,” sim-Jake shrugged. ”You are the one who
will have to deal with all of the annoyances. I just don’t want you to dilly-
dally and end up stuck at S-grade because you decided to fuck around and
not focus on what truly matters.”
”If I get stuck at S-grade, I will just have to hunt a few gods or something,”
Jake grinned, unafraid. ”Or die trying. Both are acceptable.”
Sim-Jake just shook his head. ”Anyway, we will need a lot of time to
prepare, and especially with this Prima Guardian arriving… do we have
time? Can you figure something out with the Viper?”
Jake nodded. ”Should definitely be able to. Once we go to the Order, we
can look into it. But you are certain that this Path you have chosen to walk
down will work?”
His other self just smiled. ”I am betting my entire existence on it.”
Everything was wrong… at least it had been. Suddenly everything looked

so clear; the muddiness of reality washed away as the many strings that held
him down were forcefully severed by the system itself.
William felt so weird he had a hard time describing it. He had joined the
World Congress as he had practically been ordered to, not sure what he
could even get out of it. He had spent the last month just wandering around,
unsure of where to go and what to do. Ms. Kim had told him that maybe
being lost and working on finding himself for a while wasn’t the worst, but
William hated feeling so… wrong.
Quite a few times, he regretted wanting more emotions that much, but in the
end, he knew it was for the best. It just sucked to feel like he was walking
through a swamp and like the endless threads of karma around him were a
net made to slow him down and incapacitate him.
That is until he joined the World Congress. In an instant, the threads

disappeared. The net was gone, clarity washed through his mind, and he
even felt like his body underwent a cleansing. That is when he realized why
the Chosen of the Malefic Viper wanted him to enter the World Congress.
In the Congress, nothing could influence him… and all ongoing influence
was dispelled. While William could not be sure, he had a fear that
Eversmile had placed several karmic magics on him that denouncing the
Blessing did nothing to address.
Yet, even with his mind clear, it only became more evident how truly lost he
was. William was still afraid of the Chosen, yes, but it wasn’t the same kind
of fear… in fact, standing there in the World Congress, he had no
particularly negative feelings. It made William wonder if the intense fear
had ever been his own or just the result of Eversmile doing something.
William had slept once during this month as a test, and for the first time
since the Tutorial, he didn’t have a nightmare. That at least somewhat
confirmed that the cause of his nightmares – all of which just amplified his
fear of the Chosen – were not natural in any way.
Hearing the speech of the Chosen also made William realize one thing. The
Chosen truly didn’t care about a lot of things, and he probably didn’t care
about William at all either, unless he made direct trouble for him. It was
comforting but also disturbing as William realized that the strongest
emotion he could detect towards himself using his karmic magic wasn’t
anger or killing intent. It was apathy. An emotion he realized the Chosen
also had before their last encounter…
William simply wasn’t a noteworthy character in the eyes of the Chosen of

the Malefic Viper. At most, he was a curiosity to the man. Their disparity in
power was large, and seeing the other people around him, like the Sword
Saint and the King, only made it all the more evident how insignificant
William truly was.
It made it clear that William, indeed, wasn’t a protagonist of the world as he

had gone around thinking for so long. The Chosen was one. The Sword
Saint. The Fallen King. But William? William was just a karmic mage who
could hopefully one day be helpful to all the people he screwed over. He
realized this and could only smile to himself.
William felt a huge weight lift from his shoulders as he was finally free of
the endless net of toxic karma and pressure. He wasn’t really anyone
special… and he didn’t need to be. He just had to be who he wanted to be
and do what he himself wanted to do. Find out what he actually wanted out
of life.
Race Evolution Quest
As you reach the end of D-grade, you have walked a Path seeking
perfection. A Path of discovery of yourself and what you want to be.
Yet you have not found it. Without determination and vision, there is
no Path. Without desire, there is no progress. Without willingness,
there is no life.
Objective: Find your Path (1/1)
*Race Evolution Requirements Met*
WARNING: Evolution unavailable during ongoing system event.
William saw the system message as the quest completed, and he could only
sigh at how stupidly simple some things could be.
--
His escape was glorious as Jake was teleported back to Earth after seven
damn hours of super engaging political discussions that sometimes
disturbed Jake and Sim-Jake’s far more interesting conversation. Sadly, he
went straight from the pan and into the fire as he had another damn meeting
at the main office of Haven just after the World Congress. The Sword Saint,
King, and Miranda had been teleported back to where they had entered
from, so at least they were all gathered again right away.
More politics. More talking. Luckily, Jake quickly managed to find an

excuse to sneak off, but just before he did so, the old man at the table asked
for a bit of his time.
The Sword Saint led Jake into another room and erected an isolation barrier
around them. Jake wondered what it was about but soon learned as the old
man spoke.
”I have considered matters more related to this entire situation with

Ell’Hakan. From what I gathered, I believe others here have a
misunderstanding. Jake, when you fought him, how powerful did you think
he was? How would you evaluate him?” the Sword Saint asked Jake.
Jake considered for a moment. ”Elusive, fast, resilient, but overall not a
major threat in direct combat. He mainly used his goons against me and
took more of a supportive role as a caster. Don’t get me wrong, he is strong
for his level, but he is a pompous dick using tricks over power.”
The old man nodded. ”Did you think he faced you seriously at the time?”
After thinking for a few seconds, Jake shook his head. ”No, definitely not.
His plan was always to throw me to the other side of the planet, and he was
just buying time.”
”Interestingly enough, I got the same feeling when he fought me,” the
Sword Saint said. ”At least in the beginning. However, as time passed, he
did have a genuine desire to kill me. We fought for longer and more
seriously than you did. Is that assertion correct?”
Jake nodded. ”True. What are you trying to say?”
”While it is a cliche, I do believe one can learn a lot about someone from
fighting them. My understanding of this Ell’Hakan from all the
explanations before I encountered him was that we were dealing with a
politician born with a golden spoon. Yet when I fought him, I met
something entirely different. I met a seasoned fighter who has wielded his
weapon for decades. A warrior born through slaughter. He also enjoyed our
fight far too much, even refraining from using his Bloodline for nearly the
entire fight.”
”So he is stronger than I initially thought? Does it ultimately matter?” Jake

asked.
”No, perhaps it does not. But I do feel like I need to warn you. Do not
underestimate Ell’Hakan in battle, even if you manage to isolate and fight
him alone. While our battle did appear to end with my victory, I had far
from won. He still had far more to show me, and he was far too calm. I
truly believe now that without inviting springtime fully, I would have died
if we had kept fighting. So do not mistake his schemes as a sign of
weakness, as I fear that when he is backed into a corner without any
schemes, is when he gets the most dangerous,” the Sword Saint finished
saying his peace. ”Less annoying, perhaps, but more deadly.”
If it was anyone else saying all this, Jake could have probably brushed them
off or maybe even considered that Ell’Hakan had messed with their heads.
However, this was the Sword Saint, probably the human Jake respected the
most as an equal. If he thought Ell’Hakan was more than met the eye, he
could only take it to heart.
”Got it,” Jake said with a serious nod. He still firmly believed he was
stronger than Ell’Hakan bar any tricks or schemes, and he would keep
thinking that until the orange fucker proved him wrong or was dead. But…
there was a chance the gap was not as large as Jake believed.
”That is all I wanted to add. Now continue your journey. I shall remain here
a bit before I, too, head out and finish the final steps before my evolution,”
the Sword Saint said.
”Good luck with it all,” Jake smiled as he headed off back toward the lodge.
Carmen joined him shortly as she walked beside him on the way back,
looking deep in thought. When they made it back, she finally spoke.
”Do you think I made a mistake by joining Valhal?” she asked, a bit unsure.
”Fuck, even asking that is being a heretic, isn’t it?”
Jake looked at her and shrugged. ”If they consider that heretical, then fuck
’em. Besides, I doubt they do. And I would not say you made a mistake;
quite the opposite. They fit you. Just ignore all of the political shit like I do.
I don’t blame you for what Valhal chooses to do as long as you don’t blame
me for whatever nefarious shit the Order of the Malefic Viper is up to.”
Carmen smirked. ”A bit unfair considering you are the Chosen, but sure.
Does feel weird to dedicate kills to them and do stuff in their honor,
though.”
”Just think about doing it for Valdemar. Valdemar is a cool dude, as far as I
can tell. Or just dedicate kills to the concept of Valhal. There are plenty of
ways to make the Path you walk make sense to you. Worst case, just
become a heretic who doesn’t actually believe in anything Valhal does but
still want their skills and Records,” Jake shrugged. ”I am really not the one
to ask advice from for things like this; you do know that, right?”
”Or maybe you are,” Carmen sighed. ”Either way, I want to do some soul-
searching, I guess. By soul-searching, I mean wander into the forest and kill
shit alone until the world makes more sense to me, or I have at least
punched all my frustrations out.”
”Totally fair,” Jake said. ”Killing things is a great way to clear your mind.
Very zen.”
Carmen shook her head and punched him on the shoulder. ”Say goodbye to
Sylphie for me. I don’t really wanna delay but just head out right away.
Before that cute little ball of feathers makes me want to stay.”
”Have fun,” Jake waved to her as she had already begun heading off.
Within a few seconds, she was out of the valley and headed toward the
forest. Wait, what if she kills all the good prey? Well… I guess I can share a
bit.
Jake used his bond to search for Sylphie and realized she was somewhere
far up in the sky. Really far up. Not quite at the layer of C-grades, but close.
If he had to guess, he would say the small hawk was showing off to her
parents.
Referring to his checklist of things to do before C-grade, Jake now only had
four things left to do before evolving. Besides getting those last few class
levels, of course. Though he could do that pretty quickly after he was done
with all the other things he wanted to do.
1. Upgrade Sagacity of the Malefic Viper
2. Go to Order and defeat baby Snappy
3. Mythical skill creation with the help of sim-Jake
4. Actually evolve.
Jake had checked off two things, and he planned to do all his remaining
goals – besides the evolution itself – at the Order. But before going, he had
to do one more thing he did not add to his list. Becoming World Leader had
not really given him much value, but there had been one useful benefit.
The ability to allow C-grades to visit human areas.
Seeing Sylphie was gone, Jake headed straight for the Mangrove River, this
time not to visit them but to allow Scarlett to visit him. Then afterward, he
could head up and say hi to Sandy and also allow his worm friend to go
wherever they wanted. Finally, he would see if he could have a certain
whale visit.
Because what could possibly go wrong by bringing a group of powerful C-

grades into an occupied human city?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 573 - Snake In The City
To call Scarlett absolutely ecstatic that Jake visited so fast again was an
understatement. It only got more extreme when Jake asked her to help out
with his experiment of allowing her to follow him to otherwise restricted
areas.
”So, I will admit, I am not entirely certain how this works,” Jake said. He
did not have a skill or anything to ”mark” people. Well, he did have one to
mark people, but that was something else entirely. The World Leader ability
was weird, and Jake tried to do the most basic stuff.
He concentrated and willed for Scarlett to be allowed to go anywhere.

Nothing seemed to happen, and Jake feared that he couldn’t actually use
this ability without a profession allowing it or a lot of practice. Yet after a
few seconds, Scarlett spoke up.
”I… I think it worked?” she said, a bit unsure and nervous.
”And you are not just saying that because I want it to work and for me to
feel better?” Jake asked skeptically.
”I would never do… I… no… I do feel a bit different. It is weird, and I

can’t quite explain it, but I feel more… free? Unburdened?” Scarlett said,
still as nervous as before.
”Have you tried using a teleporter before?” Jake then asked her.
”I have,” she nodded. ”But only ones within the Mangrove when Old
Grumpy was experimenting. I cannot use the teleporters the humans set up
to travel outside of my domain.”
”Out of curiosity, what stops you? You being C-grade or the system
restrictions?”
”I do not know; it just simply doesn’t allow me to travel through,” Scarlett

shook her head. A moment passed before her eyes lit up. ”Oh! You mean to
say that maybe it would work now?”
”That is the hope,” Jake smirked. ”Willing to give it a shot? If not, and you
are hit with some kind of backlash, you should be able to instantly teleport
back again. Though it is a bit risky, and we could maybe just go to the
outskirts of the Mangrove.”
”I trust the Chosen,” Scarlett smiled. ”And I am certain the system would
not allow me to teleport if it would simply result in my demise.”
Jake was still a bit apprehensive, but Scarlett had clearly made up her mind.
Seeing her determination, he could only agree, and they walked to the
teleporter together. With several C-grade snakes watching curiously, the two
of them went into the teleportation chamber.
He saw how nervous she was, making him reach out and hold her hand –
with gloves on, of course - as he smiled comfortingly at her. ”Are you
ready?”
Her otherwise ghostly white face flushed red as she did a small nod. They
activated the teleporter, and Jake still held onto the hand as they appeared at
the Fort. An entire snake girl was attached to the hand too, and she looked
perplexed for a moment before looking around her.
Jake, still holding her hand, led her outside as they appeared not far from
the giant metal dome, with a great outlook over the city that had sprung up
at the Fort. And, honestly, it really was a city at this point. Jake had no idea
how many people lived there – despite owning the land – but he knew it had
to be a lot. It was turning into a real metropolis.
Scarlett seemed to barely register that he still held her hand as her head
whipped from side to side and her reptilian eyes darted around to take in
everything. Jake smiled and felt happy for her.
Turning his head, he also looked towards a certain spot in mid-air and gave
a nod. An invisible drone that had been floating there stopped observing
them and moved on, and Jake also felt the attention of dozens of other
similar attentions leaving him. Arnold sure had some protection set up in
the Fort from the looks of it.
”What do you say?” Jake asked.
”It is… large. So many humans in one place, yet all of them are so weak.
The weak are protected by the strong. Hunting others is disallowed, too,
right? Doesn’t that mean most who live here are creators and not fighters?”
she asked curiously.
”It is mostly creators, but remember they are not to be underestimated.

Within that metal dome is one of the most dangerous humans on Earth, and
he is a pure creator,” Jake explained as he pointed out Arnold’s mad
scientist lair.
”A strong construction, the metal looks nearly as resilient as my scales,”

she said, impressed. Not realizing that it said more about her damn scales
than a giant dome of metal. The worst part was that Jake also estimated it to
be the truth, if not an understatement to praise Arnold.
”Just don’t begin to go around destroying stuff to test that out,” Jake joked.
”I would never!” Scarlett said with much indignation as she shook her head
and tried to raise her hands, but her movement made her aware she was still
holding onto Jake’s hand, making her quiet down and look at the ground.
Jake just shook his head and softly let go of her hand. ”Let’s head back to
Haven, okay?”
She stared at this hand with disappointment for a moment before nodding.
”If that is what the Chosen wants.”
Will really have to work on that attitude before we get to the Order, Jake
thought but didn’t say much as he headed out of the Fort with Scarlett. The
two of them flew, and Jake had to admit that even with him using wings and
Scarlett just flying with regular energy manipulation, she was still far faster
than him. He didn’t doubt that she could destroy pretty much any human
settlement on Earth if she so desired.
Once they made their way back to Haven, Jake led Scarlett toward the
lodge. Miranda and the others were still stuck in the office discussing stuff,
so he would have to leave her alone for a bit with his banana tree-that-
wasn’t-a-tree.
”Can you wait here for a while?” Jake asked her once they made it to the
lodge.
Scarlett looked disappointed again but still looked curiously around,

prompting Jake to explain a bit about where they were.
”This is my lodge and pretty much my home on Earth. It’s where I first
started to live after I returned from the Tutorial, and it has a lot of
sentimental value,” Jake explained.
Scarlett’s eyes opened wide as she seemed to look at the lodge with far
different eyes. She closely studied everything but soon noted something.
”Someone dared break the Chosen’s table!?”
Jake cringed a bit and scratched his head. ”An… accident happened.
Anyway, see you in a bit!”
With a jump, Jake headed toward the sky to gather even more beast friends.
Sylphie and family were all up there, and while Sandy was probably
nowhere close, he had a strong feeling they could get to him pretty damn
fast. To make sure his sandworm friend wasn’t too slow, he took out the
weird egg-that-wasn’t-an-egg and infused some energy into it during his
ascent. Once he felt like Sandy had noticed, he stopped and stored the egg
away again.
Finally, he contacted a certain someone to set up a meeting. Jake reached

out mentally as the divine connection descended.
”Well, well, well, I guess a congratulation is in order, revered World Leader
of Earth,” Villy joked first thing. ”I can’t even begin to tell you how proud I
am from seeing you move up in the world and become a proper politician.”
”Fuck off,” Jake joked back. ”I guess I should also say I am proud of you
for holding back your curiosity and not contacting me right after my most
recent vision into your controversial past.”
”No need to give me credit; I just had more important things to do. I was
actually doing alchemy, you know? Duskleaf is over the moon,” Villy said,
clearly grinning on the other side.
”Funny, because in this vision, you were also doing alchemy and being
rather shit at it. Couldn’t even make a health potion,” Jake mocked the poor
Primordial.
”Hey, my failures pathed the way to greatness,” Villy took it in strides as

they finally got down to business. ”So, another one of these World
Congresses is over with. Anything worth sharing?”
”Well, we got this upcoming final trial thing…”
Jake began to explain the second vote in detail, pretty much just reading
what the system messages said. The Prima Guardian would appear in five
years, but as they both interpreted it, then they only really had to fight the
Prima within ten. Five or ten years wasn’t a lot of time, but it also wasn’t a
little. He did wonder about one thing, though…
”Do you think this Prima Guardian will be B-grade?” Jake asked curiously.
”If it is, your entire planet is doomed, and you may as well bail on it now,”
Villy mocked him back. ”Even with Nevermore, reaching B-grade or a
level where you can hunt B-grades within five or even ten years is utterly
unfeasible. The time you can spend in Nevermore is still limited, and even if
you did choose to just rush levels, you would be hit hard by diminishing
returns. If you did somehow manage to make it to a level of power where
you could fight B-grades in time, it would be with a shitty foundation and
sorely lacking Records for a C-grade. So, no, at most, this Prima Guardian
will be in the later stages of C-grade. I have never heard of any B-grade in
any of these initiation events appearing within a decade.”
Jake took it all in and nodded in understanding, but he did bite onto one
thing: ”Are the diminishing returns really that bad? Isn’t it only really a
thing if you hunt a lot of the same kind of enemy or if the fights get too
easy? I haven’t noticed it otherwise, I don’t think.”
”It is bad, yes. So far, you have not really had many issues with it, sure, but
that doesn’t mean it won’t be in the future. For the Tutorial, it is by design
not a problem, and after returning to Earth, you have had a natural and
balanced approach. If you had decided to go dungeon hunting in rapid
succession after you cleared that one below your city, or maybe went in to
explore the forest right away, you would have gained some more levels, yes,
but soon you would find the levels just stopped coming all-together or it
would get to the point where you could kill a thousand beasts higher level
than you and still not level up. It happens to many who try to rush their
levels and not focus on other things. In fact, it happens to everyone to some
degree as it kicks in after a singular kill granting experience. You can
alleviate this issue with qualitative upgrades along the way, like skill
upgrades, but it can only do so much. The best thing to do is simply wait
and focus on other pursuits. Even beasts have to do this, hence why they
rarely hunt but instead consume natural treasures to slowly progress or
work on improving other qualitative aspects of themselves. Ah, but I would
note that there are windows of sorts. At the start of any grade is one such
window where you can do a shitload of hunting without running into any
noteworthy issues,” Villy explained as the great god of exposition he was.
”Huh. I assume that last part is why a lot of the Nevermore stuff is at early
C-grade only?” Jake asked.
”Exactly,” Villy confirmed. ”It is a great chance to get some solid levels
under your belt for all of you Earthlings. Shit, it may even be expected by
the system that you will go to Nevermore and gain levels to face this Prima
Guardian thing.”
”Aight. Two more things,” Jake added. ”First, do you think this event is
part of Ell’Hakan and Yip’s plan?”
”When?” Villy asked a bit teasingly.
”When what?”
”When do you ask if it became a part of their plan? If you mean before the
World Congress, then no. No one knew what event would take place. If you
ask about right now, then yes, it will certainly be factored into their
schemings. That is the hallmark of any good plan: adaptability. You do not
expect everything to go flawlessly, but adapt and reconfigure the plan to
still reach an acceptable outcome,” Villy explained. ”Now, what was your
second question?”
”Eh, could you help contact that Karroch god for me so I can find the
whale he blessed? I want to talk to it about potentially being in the
council,” Jake asked.
”You want me to reach out to some weak unaffiliated god and ask him for a
favor? To be the one who approaches him first, laying down my pride?”
Villy asked in disdain.
”Or send someone else?” Jake scratched his head. “Or a letter?”
”A possibility,” Villy said teasingly. ”But I must actually hand it to this

Karroch. Out of all the gods not close to me, he is probably the one who
knows most about our relationship just from the fact that he was in charge
of your Tutorial. His plan of trying to help you to get in my good graces is
quite well thought out.”
”Is it working?” Jake teased back.
”A little. I tend to not be a fan of beastmasters, if I am perfectly honest. He

was very unpopular before due to having made quite a few enemies,
especially the Brimstone Hegemon, who I happened to kill. He should be
able to find other Pantheons who want him, but I guess I can reach out with
an olive branch for my dear Chosen and offer him a job. From what I saw,
he at least seemed like one of the less shitty beastmasters around,” he
graciously said.
”Thank you, oh my ever-benevolent Patron,” Jake answered with much
reverence.
”Yeah, fuck you, and see you at the Order soon!” Villy finished as the
connection was cut promptly.
Jake just smirked as he kept flying until he finally reached far enough up
for C-grades to live.
He could get Sylphie and family on the way down once he had gathered
Sandy, as he had a strong feeling making them wait for him wasn’t gonna
work out well. Sylphie was not known to be the most patient of birds.
However, it appeared the choice was not his to make as he felt the green
bird approach from afar, likely dragging her parents along based on her
slower speed. Jake had stopped just at the C-grade cloud layer and sat
himself down on a platform of mana in mid-air as he stared out into the
clouds. He saw movement in the distance but didn’t bother with beasts
unless they decided to mess with him first.
Minutes passed as Sylphie grew closer. She had been quite a bit away and
wasn’t in a rush, seemingly even taking breaks – or having fights – along
the way. He also got the feeling that Sandy was fast on their way, quite a lot
faster than the hawks could possibly travel.
Smiling a bit to himself, Jake decided to meditate a bit as he waited for the
beasts to arrive. Hopefully, they would get along.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 574 - A Friend of A Friend
Is A Rival
They did not get along.
Well, more accurately, Sylphie seemed to not get along with Sandy in the
slightest. She zoomed around the giant worm, making angry noises as her
blades of wind tried to harm the giant worm while Sandy, in turn, just
laughed.
“He he, the little bird tickles!”
Jake just shook his head and smiled. Sylphie probably could do some real
damage if she wanted, but she at least had enough awareness to hold back.
Then again, Sandy could also just leave in a heartbeat if Sylphie got a bit
too much.
Hawkie and Mystie just stared at the giant worm that wriggled in the air
from the constant assault of the peak D-grade hawk. An assault that would
tear most D-grades to shreds in seconds, even if it was just Sylphie playing.
“Hi hi,” Sandy still laughed as they asked. “So… so you said I can now go
anywhere? I did feel something when you focused real hard before.”
“That is how things should be,” Jake answered. “Give it a go?”
“Sure!”
In the next moment, Sandy disappeared, leaving an even angrier Sylphie

behind to miss her blows. Jake frowned as he felt the ripples of space from
where the giant worm had just been. A moment later, Sandy popped their
head out of the clouds below. “It works!”
Jake opened his mouth to speak but ended up just shaking his head again.
“Let’s visit Haven then. There is someone else I want you both to meet.”
He spoke telepathically out loud so both the hawks and Sandy could hear it,
even if he knew Sandy could also hear him if he spoke normally. Sylphie,
hearing this, looked at Sandy with a challenging gaze before flying towards
Jake with great speed, right into his arms. Jake reacted on instinct and
caught her as she nuzzled up to his chest and got herself comfortable, still
throwing looks at Sandy.
“I think your bird is jealous,” Sandy joked with him. “Ah, but I get it! Wind
magic is kind of just worse space magic, isn’t it? Must feel inferior. Poor
thing.”
Sylphie took great offense to this as she screeched. “Ree! Ree!”
“Oh, you got super wind? Well, I got super cosmic space! No! Genesis
cosmic space!”
Sylphie momentarily looked taken aback but soon retaliated. “Ree!”
This time Sandy seemed to have taken a hit as Sylphie brilliantly argued
that space was just boring wind, and as her wind was kind of green, it was
superior to space magic in all ways as space didn’t have a color. An
argument Jake had no idea even made sense. Especially as Sandy then
began to argue that colors actually made things worse…
Which just made even less sense as Sandy had no eyes and couldn’t see
colors.
I may have made a mistake,Jake realized as he led the two arguing beasts
down toward his lodge. He did notice one issue there, though. Sandy was a
bit… big. Could probably find a place to lay in the valley, but it would be
problematic to bring them around anywhere.
Jake voiced his concern, which Sylphie just took as ammunition to argue
she was superior. However, this time around, she had to admit defeat.
“Oh yeah! Well, space magic is so cool it can do stuff like this!”
In an instant, Sandy’s body began to shrink. Jake felt the intense

movements of space mana doing the work, and Jake knew that Sandy
technically wasn’t getting smaller; they just compressed the space around
themselves and created a pocket of sorts. Jake knew that a good wave of
destructive mana would destroy this technique, and it probably also took
quite the upkeep, but he nevertheless gave Sandy a thumbs up.
Sylphie tried to show off as she tried to puff herself up by breathing in as

much as she could, trying to make herself look bigger to prove she could
also grow in size, ultimately just making her look silly. Sandy laughed in
triumph as a worm, now about the size of a large horse, flew down next to
him. Quite a bit slower than before, mind you. This only hammered home
that the impromptu shrinking technique had little to no practical application
outside of fitting into spaces Sandy couldn’t before.
Soon the valley entered their sight, and Jake frowned as he didn’t see
Scarlett anywhere. Upon landing, he also didn’t see her anywhere within
the house. Jake wondered if she had gone to explore the laboratory below
the lodge. Rather than wondering, Jake closed his eyes and activated
tracking as well as just his usual sensing abilities.
She went down to the biodome?
He wondered what had attracted her there as Jake motioned for the group of
birds and worm to follow. On the way, Sylphie managed to zoom over and
swipe a newly-formed banana, making Jake shake his head at the audacity
of these fruit thieves.
They quickly went down and into the cave, which Sandy commented felt
very nice and familiar. Once a sandworm, always a sandworm, it seemed.
Jake felt Scarlett ahead, and upon entering the biodome, he saw her walking
behind a large troll that motioned to different plants with three smaller trolls
following behind.
“What you doing?” Jake asked once he got closer.

Scarlett turned around and bowed, with Rick also turning and doing a big
wave.
“I was simply receiving teachings from Sir Rick,” Scarlett said. “He attends
the garden of the Chosen, does he not?”
“That he does, and he is doing a damn good job, too,” Jake said with a
smile and gave Rick a big thumbs-up. Rick mimicked Jake and did a
thumbs-up back with an even bigger smile.
Jake wasn’t lying, either. He really liked the biodome. Did he actually use
the garden down there? No, not really. In fact, he had kind of forgotten
about it and all of his plans for it, including the artificial sun he wanted to
install and all that jazz.
At least Jake now realized that maybe that sun would have been a bad idea,
as Rick seemed to do best with underground plants anyway. However, even
if Jake didn’t use the underground garden much, it didn’t make it useless.
He could always use what grew there to sell or maybe to help train new
alchemists or something. Or, well, to just have Rick have a nice play to live
and enjoy life.
“Ree!” Sylphie finally made herself known. Not that Scarlett hadn’t noticed
the entourage, which consisted of three hawks and a large floating worm.
Sylphie seemed to have found yet another rival as she stared up at Scarlett,
who stared back.
For a moment, Jake got the feeling that Scarlett was jealous of Sylphie? He
looked down at the hawk cradled in his arms, not sure why she would.
“Greetings, hawk of wind,” Scarlett said, also looking at Hawkie, Mystie,

and Sandy. “Hawk of lighting, of mysticism, and worm of… space?”
“Eh, acceptable assessment,” Sandy answered. “Nice to meet you too,

white snake!”
Hawkie and Mystie both regarded Scarlett with apprehension as they felt
her power. As a mid-tier C-grade, she was by far the strongest among them,
and they all knew it. If she was an enemy, they would all be in deep shit,
with even Sandy having difficulties. If anyone could get away, it would be
the worm, though.
“Anyway, I guess I should introduce you all…”
Jake did the polite thing and had all his beast friends get to know each
other. Rick also joined in, very interested in having guests. He even brought
over some interesting-looking fruits Jake did not recognize but that tasted
extremely good.
On a side note, then no one mentioned that Sandy also happened to be the
Chosen of Snappy, or the Boundless Hydra, as fancy people called him. Not
doing so was probably a good idea as Jake was entirely uncertain how
Scarlett would react, and it would also ruin one of the best things Jake had
seen in a while…
A worm, a snake, and a hawk arguing which race was best. Scarlett argued
snakes were just better worms, Sandy vehemently disagreed and came up
with weird arguments for worms being the best, and Sylphie kept
screeching how hawks were the “bestest.”
Hawkie and Mystie even backed up their daughter with information on how
birds, hawks included, actually hunted both worms and snakes before the
system. Scarlett, however, also had memories of before the system and
talked about how snakes ate the eggs of stupid birds who just left them
lying around… With Sandy then saying that worms didn’t care as worms
just ate anything, thus proving they were the best beasts in existence.
Now, it was only after Jake gathered all these beasts together he finally got
around to asking a quite pertinent question: Why?
Why had he gathered them all in Haven? Scarlett was to bring her to the
Order, but did he need to call for Sandy and allow the worm to travel into
human territory? Well, no, he didn’t have to. Sandy probably wouldn’t even
like being in human territory due to the lack of tasty things to eat.
So, why? The simple answer was just that Jake had wanted to. He wanted
to, at the very least, give the beasts the freedom to go whereever they
wanted. It was funny how his mind had instantly made granting them more
freedom of movement a priority despite the lack of practical merit.
Also… he had to admit seeing them all like this was amusing. Sylphie had
long left his arms to fly around and argue louder while chasing Sandy.
Scarlett, in turn, tried really hard to look dignified while three kid trolls
poked her and wanted to touch her snakeskin dress.
Eventually, they did get tired of their squabbles, and Jake could finally get
to the important part after they at least chimed down a little.
“Scarlett and I will be headed to the Order of the Malefic Viper, and while
we are going, I would at least like to offer you all the opportunity to go
with,” Jake said to the group.
“Meh, I’m good here, still stuff to eat,” Sandy instantly shut it down. “And
the many-headed guy says that staying on Earth is also all good, so I stay.”
Rick shook his head, understanding the sentiment but seemingly happy
where he was. Hawkie and Mystie also declined, something Jake had
expected.
“Ree!” Sylphie also explained, expertly outlining why she wouldn’t go.
“Guess it will just be us going then, Scarlett,” Jake smiled at the snake girl.
“Yes!” She nodded happily. “I once more thank the Chosen for giving me
this-“
“But before that, we must work on that,” Jake interrupted her.
“Work on what?” Scarlett asked, confused and nervous.
“You see… I am hiding that I am the Chosen at the Order for several
reasons, so you need to not publicly recognize me as such. To not slip up by
accident, it would be best if you got used to calling me something else.
Something less… formal,” Jake said.
“I… I could use My Excellence?” Scarlett tried, though it looked to hurt her
to use such an “informal” term.
“Yeah… again, some problems there. It wouldn’t make any sense. We both
got a Blessing, and the one I am hiding my True Blessing to look like is not
that high, so you speaking to me like an authority makes little sense,” Jake
said, scratching the back of his head.
Scarlett looked lost for words, just staring at him.
“It would be best if you could just call me by my name-“
He saw the poor snake girl’s head turn red, and her eyes went wide as she
looked just about to melt down.
“-or maybe just call me Lord Thayne still?” Jake tried to save it.”
After a while, Scarlett collected herself. “I…”
“Heh! Silly snake! Hey, Jake, she sure is bad at using names, right Jake?
You see, Jake and I are friends, so I can call him Jake, and he can call me
Sandy!” the cosmic worm clearly bragged to Scarlett while wriggling
proudly.
Scarlett clenched her fists. “I- I can also call him…Ja… Lord Thayne!”
It looked like merely uttering the sentence had taken more energy than
slaying a hundred C-grades for the poor snake girl. She looked nervously at
Jake, who just smiled at her while mentally giving Sandy a high-five for the
assist. Not that he was sure Sandy had intended to help and not just make
fun of Scarlett.
“Should we get going then?” Jake asked.
Scarlett nodded with delight as Sandy also decided to follow them. Sylphie
quickly headed off again with her parents, only telling Jake that she wanted
to evolve soon but wanted to “make better friends with the wind first.”
Rick, of course, stayed in his cave. He was a cave troll, after all. A cave
troll gardener close to C-grade.
Jake did not need to say goodbye to anyone else. Primarily because he
could just head home within five or ten minutes if need be.
The trip back to the Mangrove was fast and easy, and they quickly headed
down to the formation below the Mangrove where the snake Scarlett called
Old Grumpy was still hard to work. Sandy commented on the way how
funny teleportation circles were while at the same time talking about how
easy it would be to mess with them.
Once they made it down to the large underground tunnel, however, Sandy
shut up. The Genesis Cosmic Worm looked lost as they stared at the runes
on the walls and began to move around.
“This is… awesome,” Sandy said, wriggling closer to a specific wall with a
bunch of runes. “So cool! Oh! This one does that? Wha… wait… ah! Yeah,
that makes sense… but why does the dust move like…”
The worm was utterly engrossed as Old Grumpy made his way over. “I
greet the Chosen and the Mistress. Have you come to make use of the
teleporter?”
Jake nodded. “That we have. You said I was ready, right?”
“Indeed! Please follow me… but what is that creature you brought along?”
Old Grumpy asked.
Said worm whipped around as fast as a super-shrunk space worm could.

“Hi! I am Sandy! Did you make this place?”
The old snake considered the worm for a moment before bowing. “I cannot
take credit for such a feat; it is all through the guidance of the Malefic One.
It gladdens me to encounter one who surpasses myself. May I know if thee
have any criticisms?”
“I wanted to ask you for stuff!” Sandy responded in a very happy tone.
“Let’s get us teleported, and then you two can chat, eh?” Jake asked with a
smile, happy to see Sandy able to get along with another beast.
“As the Chosen wills,” Old Grumpy answered and led them to the central
chamber.
Once they stood on it, the old snake did some stuff, and Jake felt the
formation hum to life. Sandy looked on interested during it all and even
made some small comments here and there.
The connection to the first universe through the void formed and
strengthened as Jake felt his True Blessing and his potent karmic
connection to the Malefic Viper function as the catalyst to allow the
teleportation.
He reached out and held Scarlett’s hand to make sure she was brought
along. Just as they were about to be swept away, Jake heard Sandy make
one last comment:
“Oh! It uses the True Blessing! Does that mean I could use it with my True
Blessing from the Boundless Hydra after some modifications?”
And Jake nearly broke his hand from Scarlett tensing up as they teleported
back to the Order.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 575 - Back To School
Season
Man, who would have ever thought that one could miss school? He even
leaned into tropes by bringing a transfer student along…
A transfer student that was frozen in panic even as she and Jake appeared in
the grassy area outside of his way too large mansion in the Order of the
Malefic Viper. Jake’s hand was squeezed so hard he had no way of
releasing it as poor Scarlett tried to process everything.
“I… is… is the worm the…?” Scarlett stammered out nervously.
“Chosen of Snappy? Yep,” Jake confirmed casually. “Ah, but keep that a
secret too. I haven’t really discussed it with Sandy, but we may as well keep
it hidden.”
“Wi… will-“
“No, Sandy does not give a flying fuck about any kind of perceived
disrespect or whatever,” Jake answered, already knowing what the poor
snake girl wanted to ask. Spending so much time with Miranda really
hadn’t done her much good on that front as she now knew far more about
the Order and the structure, as well as how important of a character the
Lord Protector was.
Scarlett looked like she was about to ask more as movement came from
within the mansion. Jake looked over and smiled as a familiar face peeked
her head out. The elf’s eyes opened wide as she saw him.
“Lord Thayne!” she yelled and quickly ran out and over to him. Jake
noticed her level had grown yet again and quite fast too.
[Elf – lvl 163]
“It’s been too long,” Jake waved at her.
Scarlett also finally let go of his hand as she stared at the elven woman
running over with a frown. Meira barely seemed to notice the snake girl as
she stopped a few steps from Jake.
“Welcome back to the Order, Lord Thayne!” she said with a deep bow and a
smile.
Jake smiled as she just stood there. She didn’t ask why he had left so
suddenly back when Ell’Hakan had invaded but would wait for him to tell
her himself. If he wanted to tell her. Coupled with her progress, Jake also
saw she had tended to things properly as she looked over to a certain spot
on the lawn. Quite a large spot as the grass had been cleared, and a large
formation was made instead with an object placed in the middle – a large
boulder of sorts with holes in.
It was the Pollendust Bee Queen ritual circle. Jake had not forgotten it, and
he was glad to see that neither had Meira.
“Are things progressing well with the circle?” Jake asked Meira as he
looked at it.
“Yes, my lord! In your absence, I had taken the initiative and acquired some
extra cores when I ran out to keep supplying it with energy, and I apologize
if that was overstepping,” Meira said apologetically.
“You prioritized the ritual; why would that be overstepping?” Jake smiled.
The ritual had indeed progressed as he wanted, and with every passing day,
the energy within the egg that the boulder housed in its spatially expanded
interior grew stronger and stronger. Still dormant, mind you, but Jake was
building up to something. He had delayed finishing the ritual and actually
awakening the Bee Queen for quite a simple reason: he didn’t want a D-
grade Queen.
Jake wanted to hatch a C-grade. Insect monsters – or ectognamorphs – were

quite a bit different than other monster types, and queens were even more
different. They were very much a caste-based race, and Jake wanted a
powerful Queen from the get-go. The chances of birthing what the books
described as a true “Hive Queen” were low if done through evolution, but
Jake believed it was possible to do using this ritual and some special Jake
sauce.
He was not ignorant of the effect he apparently had on beasts and monsters.
Sylphie and Sandy were proof of what happened when Jake interfered in
the evolutionary process, even just by a little. How or why he was like that,
he didn’t know, but he knew it had to have something to do with his
Bloodline.
Anyway, to hatch a C-grade, there were some requirements. The most

important of which was the source of energy in the ritual having to be at
least of that level, meaning Jake had to at least be C-grade to get the result
he wanted. However, it wasn’t like he was delaying spawning a C-grade
only because he had to wait for his own evolution, as the egg also needed
ample time to grow.
Before the egg could even absorb C-grade energy, it needed to grow enough
through the absorption of D-grade energy and Records. That is what Jake
was currently doing – or had Meira do – and it helped create a powerful
foundation. Once it was saturated, Jake could introduce C-grade energy,
hopefully leading to a qualitative change and making it into a C-grade egg
that Jake could further mutate using Jake Records.
“Thank you, Lord Thayne,” Meira still bowed, even if Jake said it was fine.
Finally, she turned and looked at Scarlett. “May I know who the guest My
Lord has brought along is?”
He felt like she had an odd emphasis on the word “my” but didn’t really
think about it. He probably misunderstood.
“Scarlett, Meira, Meira, Scarlett,” Jake quickly introduced them. “Meira
works here and is a friend, and Scarlett is a friend from my home planet that
helped me out quite a few times.”
“Pleased to make your acquaintance,” Meira bowed to Scarlett.
Scarlett looked between Jake and Meira before slightly bowing to Meira.
“Nice to meet you too.”
Jake was happy to see them be polite to each other. Way better than the last
time he introduced friends to each other. “Have you been doing well while I
was gone?” Jake asked the elf.
“Yes, Lord Thayne. I have attended lessons regularly, and the honored
Grand Elder still taught me nearly daily until recently,” she answered with a
big smile. “The Grand Elder will surely also be happy to welcome you
back. However, I have not seen the Grand Elder for the last week as he has
been busy assisting the Malefic One, making him leave me with self-study
material.”
Scarlett perked up at the mention of the Malefic One and looked at Meira
again a bit weirdly. Jake butted in to explain. “Meira is getting taught by
Duskleaf, the disciple of the Viper.”
He had thought that explanation would help, but no. The poor snake girl
once again became nervous and bowed. “I apologize for not recognizing the
Grand Disciple of the Malefic One.”
“Okay, none of that. Use names, you two. Besides, if you join the Order
too, I am sure Duskleaf would also give you a few tips here and there,” Jake
said with a shake of his head. “But first, we have to get you into the Order,
of course.”
“How would one undertake such an honor?” Scarlett asked with much
interest.
“That…” Jake was about to answer when he stopped. He… kind of didn’t
know? He had joined the Academy of the Order, but, thinking about it, had
Jake ever properly joined the Order? What did it even mean to properly join
the Order? He knew from Viridia’s propaganda lesson that for anyone with
a Blessing, becoming a member was just a formality, so it shouldn’t be a
challenge. He just wasn’t sure how it could be done.
In retrospect, maybe he should have paid more attention during the

lesson…
“Do you have any talent in alchemy?” Jake asked her.
“Sadly, this one is only skilled in the cultivation of personal venoms,”

Scarlett admitted. There was no hint of shame or embarrassment in the
statement, though. Which was good, as Jake didn’t see it as a demerit either.
Being specialized was good.
Jake knew that as a member of the Order, Scarlett would also semi-join the
Academy in that she could attend lessons if she wanted. The few combat
lessons there were would maybe interest her. It would be a bit like Draskil,
who Jake knew wasn’t really into any kind of traditional alchemy either.
As he considered how to make her join, Meira spoke up. “My Lord, any
official from the Order of the Malefic Viper is capable of initiating new
members into the Order, and those with sufficient rank can grant
membership without further approval as long as the proper steps are
undertaken.”
“Oh?” Jake asked, surprised. “Have you been looking into joining the
Order?”
“I… had lessons about it,” she answered. Jake frowned as he knew from her
tone she didn’t talk about Academy lessons but those she got before she
came to work for Jake. It did make sense, though. Jake remembered the
vampire crafter who had helped him upgrade his necklace and her
explanation of how she had been a slave once. It made sense that slaves
were taught how to potentially stop being slaves and join, at the very least,
to give them false hope.
“What do these steps entail?” Jake inquired further.

“Personal approval of a member, signage of a contract with agreed-upon
terms, and an evaluation of talent. Usually, a background search will also be
done, along with a karmic reading,” Meira dutifully explained. “However,
for those with Blessings, none of this is needed besides the contract of
terms, and all the contract will entail is that membership remains active as
long as the Blessing is not withdrawn or denounced. At least for lower-tier
Blessings… I am not sure about the procedures for those with Greater or
Divine Blessings, much less a True Blessing.”
Jake nodded. Getting her to join should be easy enough, then. He was also
pleasantly surprised by Meira, as getting her to talk so much tended to be
damn hard, especially with her not getting nervous. She had spoken with
great confidence, and Jake felt oddly proud of her.
“Thanks for the explanation, Meira,” Jake smiled at her and gave her a
thumbs-up.
“It… I only did as expected…” she muttered nervously.
And we’re back.
Shaking his head, Jake turned to Scarlett. “Seems like getting you in should
be easy enough. Wanna get it fixed right away?”
Jake was not one to delay things, even if he had just returned.
“Yes, please!” Scarlett nodded as if she had just been asked if she wanted a
high-tier natural treasure with toxic properties.
Taking out his token, Jake felt how it was now active again after returning.
The token did not work on Earth for obvious reasons as it functioned off
some grand formation somewhere in the Order, Jake reckoned. He infused
energy into it and made a call to someone he hadn’t contracted in a while.
It connected, and he instantly heard her voice.
“Lord Thayne! It has been quite a while since anyone heard anything from
you. Is everything all right? Did you enter secluded training? Ah, sorry for
blabbering; I assume you contacted me for a reason. What can I do for
you?” Irin the succubus asked. She was an official of the Order and the first
one Jake thought to contact. He did also have the contact information of the
Hall Master, Viridia, but it seemed a bit much to call the CEO of a company
with billions of workers to help register a new employee.
“Hey Irin, been a while, yeah. And everything is fine; I just had to deal with
some issues back on Earth. An enemy Chosen thought it was a good idea to
invade the planet and raise a ruckus, so I had a civil war and an asshole
Chosen to deal with before I could return. It is fixed for now, but still
annoying. Anyway, the reason I contacted you was that I brought along a
friend from my home planet who would like to join the Order of the Malefic
Viper. She got a Blessing, so it should be possible, right?” Jake asked her
while also explaining what he had been up to. It just seemed nice to tell her
after he had gone AWOL.
After a brief period of silence, she responded.
“That sounds… way above my pay grade. The Chosen stuff. When it comes
to joining the Order, it is nothing more than a meager formality only
simplified further by her already having a Blessing. Would it be possible for
me to come by?” Irin asked.
“Sure thing,” Jake approved.
“I will be around in a few minutes. Good to hear from you again, Lord
Thayne,” Irin finished. He disconnected the call and turned back to Scarlett.
“I will have a friend come by in a bit to help you join,” Jake said with a
smile.
“Thank you!” Scarlett bowed once more.
Jake went over to do a quick check-up of the Bee Queen formation while he
waited and made sure nothing had gone awry. As he analyzed the
formation, he noticed a few spots where it felt… lacking. Jake was not sure
that was wrong, but he knew there were faint flaws or at least places with
room for improvement. He made mental notes to address this later and once
more thanked his high Perception for allowing him to notice the problem.
Without the stat growth he had experienced since he upgraded the formation
last, he would not have noticed these minor elements at all.
As he was still looking things through, a new figure appeared. Jake

instantly felt the familiar yet slightly foreign aura that washed out from this
arrival. He looked over and saw someone he clearly recognized as Irinixis,
but there were some slight differences. The horns on her head had grown
slightly and now curved like that of a goat, though they were still small, and
her body had some… changes. It was easy to know what had happened.
[Demon – lvl ???]
She had naturally evolved to C-grade. The evolution had also not only led
to growth in power but also in certain other areas. The red dress with a low-
cut front showed off these features quite nicely, and she flashed a radiant
smile when she saw Jake while bowing deeply, only emphasizing her
improved assets further.
Jake did not have a hard time figuring out why succubi were quite a popular
race among the humanoids in the multiverse. Not gonna lie; she is fucking
hot, Jake admitted. She also was before, but damn, had the evolution done
work.
“Thank you for calling upon me, Lord Thayne,” Irin greeted him. He also
noticed how she threw quick glances at both Meira and Scarlett. Both
glaring back at her.
“Thanks for coming,” Jake answered with a smile. “And congratulations on

the evolution.”
“I should be the one thanking you for my recent advances,” Irin answered
happily. “The opportunities our relationship have offered me are hard to
comprehend, and even without those, the Records alone simply from
knowing you allowed me smooth sailing. So, please do call me if you ever
need anything.”
After getting done thanking each other, Jake finally got back on topic. “This
here is Scarlett, a friend, and ally from my home planet. Could you give me
a hand and get her into the Order? Oh, while you’re at it… Meira, what do
you say about also trying to join the Order?”
Meira seemed taken aback. “I believe that is premature, Lord Thayne…”
Jake frowned a bit, not sure why it would be, but still shrugged. No rush.
“Okay, just Scarlett then.”
“It shall be done swiftly,” Irin said as she greeted Scarlett. “My name is
Irinixis; I am from the Humanoid Resources Department in the Order of the
Malefic Viper. The Chosen alone referring you to join makes all of this
simply a formality, but I would still offer you to go through the usual
evaluation if you so desire.”
“Oh, a dungeon again?” Jake asked curiously.
“Indeed,” Irin confirmed.
“Should definitely go for it,” Jake approved.
“Then I shall take part in this evaluation,” Scarlett nodded.
Irin smiled at Scarlett as Jake considered aloud: “Should I also go for

reevaluation at some point? Maybe at C-grade?”
“If you desire to, Lord Thayne. However, realistically it will be done for
nothing more than vanity, as all the additional bonuses awarded from a
better token are meaningless to you. Getting a dark green token would only
result in more attention being placed on you,” Irin explained.
“Maybe I shouldn’t then,” Jake muttered.
The demoness smiled and turned to Scarlett again. “Do you wish to begin
right away or delay?”
“I wish to join as soon as possible!” Scarlett nodded enthusiastically.

“Then let’s go.”
With that, Jake sent off Scarlett and Irin right away, Irin making sure to give
a low bow to show off before leaving. Meira looked as they left and threw
Jake a few questioning gazes but didn’t say anything. Jake decided to just
initiate the conversation himself.
“Let’s head inside, and you can give me the low-down of what has
happened around here recently,” Jake said to Meira.
“Yes!” the elf agreed as the two of them headed inside.
As it turns out, not much had happened, at least not on a large scale. The
entire thing with Ell’Hakan and Yip was clearly not knowledge spread
openly, as it likely was – as Irin said – above their pay grade. Jake instead
mostly heard of how much Meira had been studying and how she was still
hanging out with that other elf Izil. The elf and human then divulged into
alchemy talks, and Jake had to admit…
It did feel good to be back in such a low-stress environment. Not for too
long, though. As in, only for a bit. Jake prepared to get started immediately
with his checklist right away once he had caught up with Meira, and for the
next two parts, Jake had a feeling he would need to consult his dear Patron
god.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 576 - Not That Dense...
Okay, A Little
Irinixis had wondered what had happened for a while after the Chosen had
just one day disappeared. She had no way of contracting him as his token
was unreachable, meaning he was either dead or not in the Order. She
reckoned the latter for obvious reasons.
Her new teacher, the Velvet Mistress, also agreed that nothing would have
happened to him. Geniuses did not die that easily, and if he had been gone,
people would have learned about it. Irin also knew that the many statues of
the Viper spread around the Order would reflect the loss of a Chosen
through their aura, proving that he should be fine. Or that the Viper was
capable of shrugging off the loss of a Chosen without much care.
Irin naturally hoped the Chosen was fine as he was her golden ticket. She
had gotten a new mistress at the peak of S-grade, her status elevated above
anything she could ever imagine, and her evolution had even come earlier
than she had expected. Irin had always believed she would be able to reach
C-grade, even if she didn’t always vocalize it. However, she did have fears
of how she would make it to C-grade. D-grade was already the end of the
line for most, and while C-grade was expected of her due to her heritage
and position, no one expected her to ever reach B-grade. Irin hadn’t
expected to ever get a shot at it either. Yet now… now it didn’t seem
impossible.
All she had to do was stay in his good graces and, if possible, get even more
involved with him, no matter what kind of role she was asked to perform. It
was premature, but her ultimate goal was to become his personal liaison
between the Order and him. To be someone officially involved and linked
to the Chosen and his matters. But, it was hard to get an ”in,” so for now,
she could only try to deepen their personal relationship. One thing she had
learned was that the Chosen cared little for decorum or tradition but
preferred casual interactions and demeanors.
Her mistress had made her work on being more appealing to the Chosen,
which included unlearning many of her old methods. The Chosen did not
seem to enjoy the overly subservient types but wanted someone who treated
him far more equally than someone of this status was entitled to. Not too
much, though, as Irin still wanted to make it clear she was there to make his
life easier while hopefully also being a friendly face.
Anyway, she had worked on this for a long time but had worried as he had
not called for her even once. Fortunately, the silence was broken as her
token vibrated, and she felt the signature. Elated, she greeted him, and to
make it better, he even asked for assistance – even being allowed to make a
personal visit.
She had quickly gone and put on some more fitting clothes and got herself
ready. The evolution to C-grade had done her many favors if she said so
herself, even if the shape of the horns could get a bit annoying and get her
hair tangled during showers.
Teleporting to the residence of the Chosen, she was instantly met by two
auras surpassing her own. One was from the Chosen, whom she knew, even
with her evolution, she stood no chance against. The second one was a
female beast who had taken human form and, from the looks of it, was a
snake of some kind. Irin also felt the Blessing from the girl and would
naturally show the due respect such a thing dictated. Helping her was part
of her job and something she would happily do.
However, what she cared most about was the gaze of the Chosen. It lingered
for longer than it had to, making Irin very pleased. Still, she had a job to do
and showed professionalism despite the gazes of the two other women that
were certainly less friendly than the Chosen’s. One gaze was from the
assigned slave for Lord Thayne called Meira. Irin was a bit surprised he
asked if she wanted to join the Order too, indicating he wanted to release
her. On-brand based on what Irin had learned of Lord Thayne. If he wanted
people to treat him as an equal, the thought of having a slave forced upon
him must have been less than ideal. Irin had also learned a bit about Earth
from the human called Reika and come to understand a bit of their planet’s
history – including how slavery was not popular in their part of the world.
Downright hated, even.
The other gaze was naturally from the snake woman. A piercing one, Irin
had to admit. Luckily she saw neither of them as threats to her goals, even if
they were on good terms with Lord Thayne. She also got a feeling that her
goals and the goals of the slave elf were somewhat similar, if very different
in approach. Both of them wanted to stay integrated with the Chosen, one
way or another, to secure their own futures.
With the two girls evaluated, Irin answered some questions and led the
prospective member, Scarlett, away. A bow towards the Chosen was only
proper, and once more, his gaze lingered for a moment before Irin and the
snake girl left. Irin, of course, knew what she was doing.
Was she what humans would call a golddigger? Yes, though the term in the
multiverse tended to be parasites for those such as her who forcefully tried
to associate themselves with powerful individuals and feed off their
Records. She wasn’t ashamed of it either.
Lord Thayne wasn’t stupid and most certainly not unperceptive. He knew
what she was doing and allowed it. If the parasite and target both enjoyed
and found benefits in the relationship, it could only be called synergistic,
couldn’t it?
Finally alone, Jake could relax. Meira had gone off to her own residence to
tend to her studies after their lengthy talk, and with Scarlett and Irin also
gone, Jake had the main mansion all by himself. Free of the ”drama” he had
just been a part of, he felt relieved. Jake was a bit dense, sure… but even he
could see that the three women were interested in him. Or at least interested
in his status.
However, it was honestly easiest to just act like he didn’t know. Things
were just too complicated. Meira was still his slave, making it break at least
a few moral lines to respond to her feelings, and Jake wasn’t even sure she
actually liked him, even though she thought she did. He had helped her, and
she clearly felt indebted to him. Confusing gratitude with stronger emotions
was not uncommon at all.
Scarlett was just… no. She reminded Jake of a teenage girl, and she also
revered Jake to an unhealthy level. With both her and Meira, the power
imbalance in their relationships was all out-of-whacks too. So… yeah,
better to just ignore it.
Then there was Irin. That one made felt the most complicated to Jake. So
complicated he didn’t want to think too much about it but get on with
working on his checklist.
Jake had two goals for now. Sagacity of the Malefic Viper and the entire
situation with sim-Jake and their joint attempt to create a skill. For both of
these, Jake had some issues he needed to overcome. After some
consideration, he ultimately decided to take on Sagacity first as he wanted
to fully dedicate his attention to the potential mythical skill. Also, the extra
Wisdom would be nice.
With no need to delay, he got to work and sat on the sofa in the living room
as he leaned back and stared at the ceiling while gathering his thoughts.
He already had some insights into the topic of Sagacity already, especially
after the last vision. For a long time, Jake had wondered what the point of
the Sagacity skill even truly was. For a good reason too.
[Sagacity of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – To hold just a fragment of the

wisdom of a Primordial is more than most ever achieve. Much less to be
personally taught that knowledge directly by the god himself. Allows the
Alchemist to peek into a fragment of the Malefic Viper’s Records to seek
his knowledge. Grants the Alchemist of the Malefic Viper a far better
understanding of mana and of most affinities. Allows the Alchemist to
make creations he does not have the associated crafting skill for (does not
receive stat effectiveness bonuses without associated skill). Passively
provides 1 Wisdom per level in Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your
search for knowledge be as inexhaustible as the Malefic One.
Sure, it did help Jake in some ways, but it was minimal. It had two primary
passive elements: a better understanding of mana and the ability to craft
without associated crafting skills. The first part had some value, but It was
just a small passive bonus that he barely noticed.
Then there was the thing about not needing a crafting skill. It sounded nice,
but… Jake had these crafting skills. He had all he needed, and his
evolutions tended to just give the skills if he wanted them or not. Also, if
Jake could choose, he would want the crafting skill anyway for the stat
effectiveness bonus that Sagacity did not offer.
To summarize, Jake only really got anything out of the extra Wisdom and
the mana thing. Which seemed really subpar compared to all his other
Malefic Viper Legacy skills.
Okay, there was one final active part of the skill: to peer into the Record
Fragment of the Viper. This part had been pretty useful, but… Jake couldn’t
see why he needed a skill for that. He had stolen the drop of blood without a
skill, hadn’t he? And he also restrained it within his Soulspace quite easily.
So, to summarize, Jake found little value in the Sagacity skill and even
wondered what its primary function was and why the Viper had it, as
clearly the blood-peering part was not a part of the Viper’s version. At least
Jake had wondered this until the latest vision. He had kind of
misunderstood the core of Sagacity from the beginning, not realizing that
the reality was… the skill wasn’t made for the enlightened races. It was
made for monsters.
Jake had seen the Viper try and craft without the required crafting skill and
seen how difficult it was. It was, without exaggerating, a hundred times
harder than crafting with a skill. The Viper had struggled to make health
potions even after he found the issue, and that was while in C-grade. Jake
could only imagine the pain of having to do this entire process of figuring
out a ”manual” approach to every new alchemical method. But Jake had a
feeling the Viper had done exactly this and then condensed it into this one
skill. A skill that was now part of his Legacy and could be obtained or
taught to other monsters, allowing them to benefit from his trial and error.
It was a catch-all skill for alchemy crafting. A way for monsters to still be
alchemists and compete on a far more equal playing field with the
enlightened races. The things about affinities and mana were just passive
elements gained from a better understanding of the fundamental principles
of how alchemy worked. Or, perhaps, an added bonus as the system knew
the significantly reduced value the Sagacity skill had for someone like Jake.
He felt like he was on the right track, but some things still bothered him…
and while he tended to prefer to avoid it, he decided to approach the source
of the skill itself to confirm his theory.
”Hey, Villy-”
”Yeah?” a voice answered as a smirking god stared straight down at Jake’s

face, obstructing his vision of the nice ceiling.
”I thought you were busy?” Jake answered without moving.
”I am. That is why you are talking to this avatar and not the real me,” Villy
said as he jumped over the back of the couch and sat on it. ”Can you tell the
difference?”
Jake stared at the so-called avatar for a moment and tried to find any
indications of it not being the real thing. The aura was vast and powerful as
usual, but in its muted state, Jake had a hard time getting a read on it. ”No,
not really,” he admitted.
”No need to be embarrassed, you weren’t meant to, and this avatar can exert
a good ten percent of my full power if push comes to shove,” Villy
explained. ”But this is not why you asked for me. What seems to trouble
my little Chosen this time around? Oh, if it is love advice, then sure, you
have fun with the succubus as you are both consenting adults, plus she
seems like a fun one, and-”
”I wanted to ask about something with the First Sage,” Jake interrupted
loudly.
Villy shut up but still smirked. ”He didn’t strike me as your type, so not
love advice, I see. What do you want to know?”
”It is actually more about Sagacity than it is about him, but I have a feeling
they are related. Firstly, the name Sagacity was not chosen randomly or
decided by the system, was it?” Jake asked.
After a few moments of thinking, the Viper sighed. ”No, it was not. As you
probably already guessed, then the skill is named after the First Sage. Tell
me, what else have you concluded about this peculiar little skill?”
”It was made as a way to allow monsters to do alchemy without the crafting
skills by creating one that does it all. It relies on your experiences and what
you learned to fill in the gaps left by not having the many alchemical
crafting skills,” Jake explained.
”Partly accurate. Yes, it is good for monsters and primarily used by them.
Shit, Sagacity is one of the main reasons why monsters who specialize in
alchemy prefer the Order over other places like the Altmar Empire, and
Sagacity is one of the few Legacy skills that can be taught; the Records
easily obtained to get the skill during a skill selection. But, you missed that
also certain enlightened races with only a profession or a class can make
great use of it. Plus, it is a skill tied to my Legacy and not necessarily to the
alchemy profession, meaning even those with a profession utterly unrelated
to alchemy can get it and become part-time alchemists,” Villy corrected
Jake.
”Was it yours or the First Sage’s idea to make this kind of all-encompassing
skill?” Jake asked. He still felt a bit bad about not telling Villy about what
he had felt at the end of the last vision, where clearly the First Sage had
been aware of him before the Viper knew. Which made Jake wonder if what
the Viper had done – learned to craft without a crafting skill – was one of
the reasons the First Sage wanted to take him in, to begin with.
”Hm, a bit of both,” Villy answered. ”He did tell me one of the reasons he
wanted to teach me was to also learn from me. He was interested in all sorts
of ways one could perform magic without any skill or system assistance, as
well as how one could make use of the peculiarities of the system. His
teachings were part of the reason I advised you to practice mana the first
time we met.”
The Viper smiled a bit to himself. ”The old man used to have a saying that
the experiences gained by he who knows nothing are infinitely more
valuable than he who follows a false truth, as only the true essence of
reality can be found by an unspoiled mind. In other words, the potential
truths one can learn alone without guidance are worth far more than those
merely taught. Think of your arcane affinity. If I had told you about how to
find an arcane affinity and how you could try and create one, I doubt it
would have ever manifested. In some ways, your ignorance led to it
appearing, as its very nature is rooted in your basic understanding of mana.”
”I do remember you mentioning something like that before,” Jake nodded.

”But Sagacity strikes me more as a skill that is heavily tied to prior
experiences and not new discoveries.”
”True, true. Partly,” Villy nodded in agreement. ”Sagacity is, as you said,
the result of a combined effort of the First Sage and me to make a
methodology for those who cannot gain the alchemy profession. At least,
that was the initial core of the skill, but it has, from there, expanded. The
core now revolves around my experience and knowledge more than simply
crafting methods. Your version also has some elements related to mana, and
you got a drop of blood that contains Records, right? Those are now also
tied to it. So, to sum it up for ya, Sagacity is knowledge incarnate.”
Jake opened his mouth to ask something but forgot it instantly as a lightbulb
went off. ”I… think I have an idea what to do…”
”Then my job here is done,” Villy smiled.
”May need you for something else if you are up for it later,” Jake said.
”Then I guess we will see each other again soon,” the Viper answered as he
popped out of existence.
Jake didn’t delay but instantly got himself comfortable and entered
meditation. Once more, Jake felt like he had missed something very
obvious…
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 577 - The Library of a
Sage
Alone again, Jake had time to think. As Villy had said, then the core of
Sagacity was knowledge, also reflected by it granting Wisdom. Yet Jake
had not really received any instinctual knowledge when he got the skill
about anything related to alchemy. It did add knowledge through the drop of
blood, but Jake didn’t count that as it was just another potential source. The
knowledge of mana affinities did kind of count, but that was more just
another way to identify things… which led to Jake’s realization.
Jake had learned a lot since he became an alchemist, especially in recent

times after joining the Order. He had gone through so many damn books,
studied the drop of blood quite a bit, and eaten like a madman for Palate.
Yet, even if he had done all of this, he had not been given a single upgrade
to the two skills he had that dealt with alchemical knowledge. Herbology
and Toxicology
[Herbology (Common)] – Grants knowledge of herbs found throughout

the multiverse. The most numerous source of natural treasures comes in
the form of herbs found throughout existence. The knowledge of plants
and their effects is, therefore, essential to any alchemist. An alchemist
must know what he works with in order to create his products after all.
Grants the ability to recognize herbs at a glance and correctly Identify
their properties.
[Toxicology (Uncommon)] – The knowledge of all that is toxic. Be able to

recognize poisonous substances at a glance and correctly Identify their
properties. To concoct the deadliest toxins, one must know what to mix
after all.
Jake had these skills since the very beginning of his journey as an
alchemist, neither of them upgrading or even showing signs of getting
upgraded. Not getting one upgraded in E-grade was kind of understandable,
but how could he not have upgraded one of them at D-grade? Especially
Herbology that was stuck at common rarity? Toxicology, too, should have
at least shown some signs of upgrading. That, or Jake should have at least
an idea of how to improve them.
Now, Jake realized that these two would never upgrade. Not because Jake
sucked so bad at learning things about toxic materials or herbs, but because
the Records required to upgrade the skills went somewhere else: Sagacity of
the Malefic Viper.
The Legacy of the Malefic Viper was a complete system for alchemy. With
those nine skills alone, a monster or even a member of the enlightened
could become an exceptional alchemist in no way inferior to more
traditional ones. At least not when it came to poisons. To achieve this, the
usual skills alchemists got from their profession had to also exist in some
shape or form within the Legacy, including the knowledge-related skills that
allowed him to know what he was looking at. Would it not only make sense
for Sagacity to be where this knowledge was focused?
In fact, wasn’t this logic also true with other passive skills or even active
skills Jake had? Cultivate Toxin was already heavily related to Palate of the
Malefic Viper, and Jake could also see Touch be related to Alchemist’s
Purification… maybe even the Alchemical Flame, though Jake had a
suspicion that one was a bit different. Stuff for later. Focus on Sagacity now.
Jake believed that Toxicology and Herbology had both become obsolete,
yet they still remained skills. Which led him to the most obvious
conclusion: have Sagacity absorb them. He had tried two skills seemingly
unrelated to the Malefic Viper influence and even formed a Malefic Viper
skill before, so he knew it was possible. One had to remember that Sense of
the Malefic Viper had come from the merging of Sense Herb and Sense
Poison all the way back in G-grade. However, back then, it had happened
by itself, making Jake think there was more to upgrading Sagacity than
merely merging the skills. Or maybe he didn’t know how to merge them?
As he kept considering the skill, he went in the direction of what Sagacity
was linked to. Sagacity was a bit like the focal point of all knowledge his
other skills gave him. It was fed by Palate and Sense all the time. All he
learned went into the Records of Sagacity, but also things he didn’t know
went into it. That is when another light bulb went off.
Back when Herbology and Toxicology had been gained, another skill had
been affected. A skill that was even mentioned in both their descriptions:
Identify. Jake slapped his knee and grinned as he activated his Path of the
Heretic Chosen skill. He hadn’t been sure, but the system thought he had
considered the skill enough to be granted a vision.

remaining: 1
It was the final use, and Jake smiled to himself as he was whisked away.
”The system is limitless in possibilities. Even an immortal could spend an

infinite lifetime to try and learn everything, yet after countless years the
immortal would only come to learn that he has not progressed at all. For as
he learns, new knowledge appears. This very same folly is what you are
pursuing right now,” the old man said with a smile.
In front of him sat the Malefic Viper, deep in thought, as he considered the
words. Jake had appeared as usual, and predictably, he had popped in with
the First Sage present. Jake was sure by now that the system wanted him to
keep seeing this old man… that, or he had so much influence on Villy’s
formative years that seeing him was unavoidable.
”So you are saying I need to change course?” Villy asked with a deep
frown.
”You misunderstand, for omniscience does exist; it is merely reserved for

the system itself. It knows all, and sometimes the key is not to learn
everything yourself but find a way to make the system give you the
knowledge you require. To prove yourself worthy and entitled to the
knowledge you demand. Your approach so far has been good, but it is not
sustainable. You seek to learn of all herbs or toxins yourself, developing
general skills based on your experiences, but as you progress, you will
come to learn how unfeasible this is,” the First Sage continued.
Once more, the Viper was deep in thought. After a bit, he voiced his
considerations.
”I do see the problem… trying to design a method for every kind of

potential product and with every single combination of ingredients is
impossible. Just learning enough about different ingredients is utterly
unfeasible…” the Viper spoke.
Jake nodded along as he knew the direction it was going. He saw on the
face of the First Sage that he was also hoping for the Viper to realize what
he meant. It felt good that Jake knowing he had figured it out before the
snake god. Second time in a row too.
The Viper asked a few more minor questions as he slowly understood. With
realization, his eyes opened wide. ”Will the system allow such a thing?
No… will it actively help to do something like that?”
”Never has the system demanded perfection, only adequate proof that you
are qualified. Invisible thresholds are in place for us to discover, and all it
requires of you is to pass this threshold, and it shall assist you,” the First
Sage answered.
As for what they were talking about? Well, system assistance, or more
accurately, to have the skill recognized as what the Viper wanted it to be.
He had hit the nail on its head already: manually improving everything was
simply impossible.
When Jake used Brew Potion, the system assistance from the skill always
did the same thing – at least if one focused on the outcome. However, in
reality, its effects varied for each individual craft. No two ingredients were
one hundred percent identical, sometimes it took a millisecond later to heat
something, or perhaps a single more point of mana was injected. All of this
led to variation, and with each variation, the minor corrections from system
assistance varied in turn.
This is to say that if Villy wanted to make Sagacity based solely on his own
experiences, then it would never work as he naturally couldn’t have an
identical experience as anyone else. No, what Sagacity – his current
version, too – did was adopt the functionality of the usual system
assistance. Because the system obviously knew exactly what corrections
had to be made.
As for how the Viper had realized this goal... well, Jake guessed it still had
to do with a shitload of trial and error and learning how to craft a myriad of
different things manually. Then, at some point, he had passed a threshold, as
the First Sage said, and the gaps had been filled in.
Of course, none of this related to the upgrade Jake wanted. This was just
Jake finally understanding how his current version worked. However,
realizing how it worked with the crafting skills allowed Jake to understand
that the same concept applied to the alchemical knowledge skills.
Almost as if the old man had known of Jake’s thoughts, he continued.
”The same is true when it comes to the knowledge of what. Learning the
how of crafting only matters after you know what you can craft with and
become able to recognize potential. Right now, you use ingredients you
have consumed countless of, or at most variants. You know them, but what
about when you encounter something new? You eat it, I would reckon, but
is that truly the best approach to learning even just the basics?” the First
Sage asked.
Jake barely had to listen anymore as he already knew what he wanted to do

and what direction he wanted to take the skill. He had not even reached the
crucial part of the vision yet, where he merged with the Viper, but had
already begun his own process of upgrading the skill.
Merging Herbology and Toxicology into Sagacity was a given. Keeping the
crafting skills separate had a purpose, at least for now, so he had no interest
in merging those, but the knowledge-related skills had no extra bonus. They
just passively gave knowledge that he could access through Identify.
So, if he combined the two, it only made sense for Identify to also pull from
Sagacity. It perhaps already did; Jake had no way of being sure. Jake
reckoned it did pull from Sagacity, as Jake guessed one of the reasons he
even got the skill selection option was because of the Trial of Myriad
Poisons, which gave him a lot of knowledge through Palate. An event that
should, in retrospect, have resulted in at least Herbology evolving.
But… Jake was not satisfied with merely pulling on Sagacity when he used
Identify. The First Sage talked about pulling knowledge directly from the
system. The Sagacity skill already did this in his usual form, but Jake did
not have the usual form. He had a bastardized version tied to a drop of
blood from the Viper. A drop of blood that Jake controlled inside his
Soulspace. So, why couldn’t Jake pull on this drop too? Link himself more
with it and extract knowledge in a similar fashion to the old Herbology and
Toxicology did?
Jake split his attention between his own internal thoughts and plans and the
conversation between the Viper and the First Sage. The old man spoke more
words of wisdom as the Viper worked on properly creating the Sagacity
skill for perhaps the very first time. It likely hadn’t been called Sagacity
back then, but Jake knew it was a massive undertaking, nevertheless.
It was creating a framework. An entire methodology separate from

traditional alchemy, all boiled into a single skill. Some corners had to be cut
– such as the lack of stat effectiveness bonuses – and several other minor
things here and there. This first version would be a far cry from what
Sagacity was during the ninety-third era, but it was a monumental feat for a
C-grade.
Such a monumental feat that the Viper obviously struggled. He had a hard
time getting it all together and creating a framework capable of facilitating
such a massive undertaking. He had clearly worked on it a lot, but even as
the time in the vision sped up, he lacked progress. Days turned to weeks,
weeks to months, and months to years. The Viper was unmoving for more
than a decade as the First Sage never left his side. He remained there to
answer any questions the Viper possibly had, even if months could pass
between each time the Viper exited meditation.
Yet even after this long, the Viper was not done. Frustration began to appear
on the future Primordial’s face.
”I… It’s difficult,” the Viper said, shaking his head. ”There are too many
elements, too much to slot into place…”
”Visualize it,” the First Sage said. ”A metaphor is there to ease

understanding. Simplify elements into a concept you do understand. What
does your skill look like in your mind?”
”I…” the Viper said as he frowned, not saying more. It was obvious he
wasn’t sure where to go or what to do.
The First Sage sighed. ”Once. Once I can assist you.”
The Viper perked up. ”Really, Master?”
”Yes. But only this once,” the old man nodded as he stood up. He went over
to the Viper and knelt in front of the cross-legged snake in human form. He
smiled at his disciple as Villy began to look a bit conflicted. Worried, even.
”I already promised. Now, allow yourself to indulge in creation. Open your

mind,” the First Sage spoke as he raised a hand… and Jake felt like the
world twisted.
He felt something he had only ever felt once more. Like the bounds of
reality shifted to allow the impossible through sheer will and enlightenment.
The hand gave off an aura that pressured him on a fundamental level as he
even felt his heartbeat speed up. There was not a shred of doubt in his
mind…
A Transcendence.
Jake had no idea what it did… but he knew he was about to find out. This
had to be the most important part of the vision, and the system also clearly
agreed as Jake felt himself merge fully with the Viper the second before the
old man laid his palm on the head of the Viper.
A cool sensation spread throughout the Viper’s – and thus Jake’s – body.
His mind felt clearer than ever before. Then everything changed. The walls
of the room they were in disintegrated, revealing a world of nothingness
beyond. A perfect white void, reminiscent of the spaces the system had
conjured at times.
“Everything needs a foundation. Allow your mind to form the Origin,”

the voice of the First Sage echoed. He was nowhere to be found, and yet it
felt like he was everywhere.
The Viper focused as a massive disc of stone appeared below his feet, more
than fifty meters in diameter. Jake felt how Villy somehow knew what to
do, despite not being entirely sure why he knew.
“Visualize your desires. What do you want – nay – demand of the skill?
Breathe in, and with your exhale, may your reality materialize.”
Villy inhaled as some unknown particles entered his body. In the next
second, he breathed out as a storm of colored wisps exited his mouth. They
swirled as a wood-like structure appeared on the edges of the disc in all
directions as if the Viper was building a tower around him.
The wood-like structure began to morph further as it was divided all over. It
took Jake a moment until he realized what was being made. They were
bookshelves.
These shelves shot upwards into the white sky, expanding beyond Jake’s
realm of Perception within a mere second as they just seemed to keep
going. Then, from the bottom, books began to appear. All of them had the
exact same black blank cover, but each gave off a slightly different
sensation.
A hundred, thousand, million, billion… the books kept multiplying.

Infinitely into the sky, though at some point, they stopped giving him any
sensations. He knew it was because they had no content… no Records.
“A library of a sage. Its contents are not infinite, but it contains infinite
space for expansion. The system allowed the role of the scribe as the
blank books are filled with insight upon your demand. You, the sole
librarian. With time, omniscience the goal,” the First Sage spoke,
narrating what the Viper made.
“An ambitious desire. Can you truly realize it?”
The old man appeared as he stood in front of Jake and Villy. He held out his
hand with the palm up as the Viper reached out. Villy held his own hand in
front of the palm of the Sage as he gritted his teeth. Blood began to flow out
of his eyes, ears, and nose as a bloody mist began to seep out of his body.
There was something off with the blood, though.
This entire place was not real, or at least it wasn’t directly linked to the
outside world. The blood seeping out represented something different from
physical damage. A sacrifice. An offering. It took Jake a moment to realize,
but soon enough, he knew what it was. It was the Records of another skill.
Villy was upgrading it or maybe sacrificing it to get what would eventually
become Sagacity.
Jake watched on intently as the blood pooled together and formed a single
drop. Then, in the very next moment, the entire library tower that Villy had
created began to turn red and melt into blood. The blood pooled together
towards the center of the platform they stood on before rising up and
merging with the droplet. Finally, even the platform turned into blood and
merged with the droplet.
“An offering made, a framework created, an Origin formed. Now claim

it,” the First Sage said as his own body faded away.
The drop of blood floated forward and entered the forehead of the Viper.
The moment it entered his body, the white void around them shattered like
it had been made of glass. As the world itself fell apart, Jake tried to
understand everything that had happened. He had so many questions, and
he hoped to maybe figure out what the hell the First Sage had actually done.
Villy’s body disappeared, disconnecting Jake from him and leaving him to
float alone, ready for time to rewind again. He really wanted to once more
experience the-
The collapsing world froze. It was as if time itself had stopped, and Jake
felt an attention focus on him. In the next moment, the First Sage appeared
right in front of Jake and stared straight at him.
“Records not of this time. An Origin that-“
And then Jake was back in his living room.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 578 - Profession = Done
Jake just sat and stared into the wall for a good few seconds, wondering
what the actual fuck had just happened. It was as if the vision had been
interrupted somehow or maybe forcefully ended. Or, maybe it was always
meant to end in this fashion? Though that would also be incredibly odd.
The skill had allowed Jake to do something he thought was impossible. He

had experienced a Transcendence, a skill that should be outside the system.
Based on what Jake knew, a normal skill like his Path of the Heretic-
Chosen should not have allowed this, in the same way that no skill would
allow someone to hide from Jake’s Bloodline-made Sphere of Perception.
Yet, it had. Maybe it was because Jake experienced Records of the past as
they were? Though this experience did make him wonder if it truly was like
that. Jake remembered how it felt like Valdemar had, in some vague way,
been aware of Jake. Meanwhile, this time, the First Sage had one-hundred
percent been aware.
Did this mean that all the way back in the first era, these two actually saw
him? If that was the case, didn’t it kind of play into the whole theory of pre-
determination as it would mean that the system knew, all the way back in
the first era, that Jake could be born in the ninety-third era and then get a
skill to view these Record Fragments?
Or maybe it created a new kind of reality if they noticed, a bit like the
simulated world sim-Jake came from… it was hard to tell.
Then there was the entire Transcendence itself. Villy had said the First Sage
had several, and this was Jake’s first time seeing one. What it actually did,
Jake had no idea, but he reckoned it had something to do with skill creation
or modification somehow. If that was the case, it was a damn strong one,
especially as it could be used on other people, though it did make Jake
question the repercussions of using such a skill. The First Sage had clearly
wanted to avoid using it and had said he would only help once, indicating
there was a good reason to not overuse this Transcendence.
Though Jake could not argue with the result. Even now, Jake remembered
the feelings he shared with the Viper. The sheer level of comprehension as
he felt like every book was at his fingertips. How his mind was clearer than
ever, and only his desire to create the skill mattered. To call it
enlightenment was not quite accurate, as it felt… different. Like it was more
than that.
Jake shook his head as he tried to focus on what he could control and what
mattered. To upgrade his Sagacity. While this vision had been the weirdest
one he had ever experienced by quite a margin, it had done its job quite
efficiently.
Visualizing a skill was not anything new to Jake. He was pretty good at
visualizing things, his Soulspace being proof of that with a massive cursed
chimera monster roaming about. Jake was a very visual person by nature,
something his insane Perception should maybe have indicated. Seeing the
library that the First Sage had Villy build made Jake understand far better
what Sagacity truly was.
And allowed him to upgrade his own version.
Jake sat down in meditation as he got to work to properly condense all he

had learned and all he wanted into the skill. He felt right at the cusp even
before the vision and was now more sure than ever. In fact, he felt a bit
bolder than before.
It still ended up taking nearly a full day for Jake to get what he wanted, but
he got it in the end.
[Sagacity of the Malefic Viper (Ancient --> Legendary)] – Blood

containing Records, personal teachings, insights from a sage, and the
knowledge of a traditional alchemist. Combined, you bring honor to your
Patron as you strive for omniscience. Allows the Alchemist to extract
knowledge from a fragment of the Malefic Viper’s Records to claim his
knowledge as your own. Grants the Alchemist of the Malefic Viper a far
better understanding of mana and of most affinities. Grants the Alchemist
knowledge of a myriad of alchemical ingredients, allowing him to far
more easily Identify them. Allows the Alchemist to make creations he does
not have the associated crafting skill for (does not receive stat
effectiveness bonuses without associated skill). Passively provides 3
Wisdom per level in Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May your search for
knowledge be as inexhaustible as the Malefic One.
Jake felt like an influx of knowledge slammed into his head the moment
everything fell into place. It was like a library - akin to the one Villy
constructed - appeared in his head and was being reorganized to be more
systematic and useable. Almost as if all the alchemical knowledge Jake had
before had come from a massive pile of books that had now all been sorted
and categorized.
This knowledge was also far more than what he had before. One had to
remember that Jake only really had knowledge of herbs and toxic materials,
with the Identify skill also being restricted to these two categories of
alchemical ingredients. What would have been the geology, metallurgy, and
several more skills were part of Sagacity now.
It was all sorted into this metaphorical library, the books ready to be pulled
out whenever Identify found something it corresponded to. It was not like
Jake suddenly knew a shitload more about rocks, just that he could now at
least pull out the knowledge.
This part of the upgrade was great, even if it was more wide than deep, with
Jake not immediately seeing much value from his newfound abilities as he
couldn’t exactly use rocks and metal for much with his usual alchemy
methods.
However, it did not end there. Herbology and Toxicology were now gone,
but both had been intrinsically tied to another skill of his that now also
showed signs of evolving.
Identify was a skill that had last evolved when Jake got his profession and
thus the Herbology and Toxicology skill. It had not shown signs of
upgrading since, which Jake partly recognized was his fault for never truly
trying. Now that it showed signs anyway… Jake dove in as he still felt his
mind be clear and focused from the Sagacity upgrade.
The skill did one thing and one thing only: it allowed Jake to peer into the
Records of an entity. It could be protected against, but Jake had found ways
to circumvent this protection before using his high Perception, so that was
the first thing he thought about. Secondly, Jake had spent over a decade
practicing how to sense and thus veil his own Blessing. It made no sense for
him to not leverage this.
He thought it would have been harder to upgrade the skill… but

surprisingly enough, it took little effort as long as he put his mind to it.
[Identify (Common)] - Identification skill, known by all but the smallest

of children of the myriad races. The skill allows you to attempt to identify
any object or creature you are focusing on.
-->
[Identify (Rare)] – An improved version of the standard Identification

skill, a skill known by all but the smallest of children of the myriad races.
The skill allows you to attempt to identify any object or creature you are
focusing on. Allows for the detection of Blessings. The identity level limit
and effectiveness is based on Perception. Cannot Identify any creature
above your own grade.
The skill went up not just one but two entire rarities. The added effects were
as expected, and honestly, Jake didn’t feel anything different about the skill
now compared to before. Seeing the limitation of still being unable to
Identify anyone above his grade, it wasn’t like being able to see a
potentially higher level-cap mattered either. Though hopefully, it would be
useful in C-grade. The effectiveness part linked to Perception was definitely
the biggest bonus, as that could probably allow him to pierce a lot of veils
people made to hide their levels. Finally, being able to see if people got
Blessings was a nice addition.
Jake had also made it so that he pulled on the drop of blood that contained
Records of the Viper quite a bit for the Blessing detection part. Jake knew
how to detect if someone had a Blessing but was clueless as to what god
had given the Blessing unless it was from someone he recognized. So he
definitely needed system assistance for that part.
Leaning back on the sofa, Jake took a deep breath, satisfied by his results.
Upgrading Identify had not been on his to-do list but doing it was definitely
a welcome addition. He had even gotten some ideas as to how other
alchemy skills could maybe be merged with the Viper’s Legacy skills with
time, but that was not something he would pursue. No, for now, he was
more than happy.
All nine Legacy skills at Legendary.
That had to be considered quite the feat, right? Jake at least assumed it
would have a positive influence on his upcoming evolution. Jake knew that
his profession was unique, so anything he did now could result in a better
version that gave more stats or maybe better skills when the time came. At
least, that was his working theory.
Smiling to himself, Jake checked off the last thing that had to do with his
profession before the evolution. Jake decided to pull up all his profession
skills to check if he had missed something or had an obvious one he could
try to upgrade.
Profession Skills: [Path of the Heretic-Chosen (Unique)], [Brew Potion

(Common)], [Alchemist’s Purification (Common)], [Alchemical Flame
(Uncommon)], [Craft Elixir (Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)],
[Concoct Poison (Rare)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Epic)], [Soul Ritualism
of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)], [Advanced Core Manipulation
(Ancient)], [Blood of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Sagacity of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Sense of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],
[Wings of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper
(Legendary)], [Legacy Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist
(Legendary)], [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Pride of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Scales of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],
[Fangs of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-
Chosen (Legendary)]
--
There were some skills of low rarity. Purification and Cultivate Toxin were
two obvious ones. However, Jake firmly believed upgrading either of these
wouldn’t matter much for his evolution, especially not as Jake now believed
that Cultivate Toxin would one day become one with the Legacy skills.
Jake concluded that he was indeed done with his profession for the rest of
D-grade. Now, it was time for his class and the goal of creating a skill of a
higher rarity than Jake had ever done before.
He and sim-Jake had considered this skill a lot and quickly come to realize
that they were indeed arrogant idiots who thoughts creating a mythical skill
was far easier than it actually was. However, more than arrogant idiots, they
were stubborn idiots who would keep working on it until it worked. But to
stand any chance of creating the skill, they needed time.
Well, they needed time to not pass as fast as it tended to. If not, then Jake
could see himself missing a certain Prima Guardian coming to Earth, all his
friends reaching C-grade and getting well into it, and not seeing his family
for too long… Shit, maybe there would be a bunch of other timed system
events he would miss. Also, going missing for a bloody long time could
lead to unexpected issues, especially with bastards like Ell’Hakan still
around.
Besides, all Jake would need to do was sit on his ass and meditate.
Jake closed his eyes for a moment and entered his Soulspace. He saw sim-
Jake stand ready, giving him a nod, affirming that he was ready.
Now the only problem was figuring out how to have time pass a little
differently to not miss stuff…
“Vil-“
“Hey again,” the snake god popped up right behind the couch once more,
even faster than last time. “This time, I am interested in knowing what the
vision showed you as it relates to Sagacity. What did you see?”
Jake was a bit surprised at the Viper seeming to actually care so much. He
decided not to hide anything as he told him what he had experienced from
start to end – including the First Sage recognizing him.
After Jake was done talking, the Viper was sitting in an armchair across
from Jake with a hand on his chin, thinking.
“Very… interesting. But not unsurprising,” Villy finally said. “It is a unique
skill, so perhaps it makes sense that you can experience a Transcendence,
though it does sound like you didn’t truly feel its effects. I can promise you
that what you went through is nothing compared to me. First of all, for me,
it felt like I was in that other world for... I would say about fourteen or
fifteen years? At least it felt that long to me.”
“It did not feel that long to me… though it explains how you could do
everything swiftly and perfectly from my point of view. But how about the
fact that the First Sage saw me there? Could even see things about me? That
is not normal,” Jake said.
“I tend to not comment on things I have limited understanding of. The

problem isn’t that there is no explanation of what it means but that there are
too many explanations. You peer at a Record Fragment, right? This means
you cannot alter the fragments, only view them. I don’t subscribe to your
theory of pre-determination, but more to the theory that the world you see is
the same world from back then. It is a mirror of it. If it is a simulation like
the Seat of the Exalted Prima event, or maybe the skill even creates a
second true universe with a split timeline or something else insane like that
upon you being seen. I have no way of knowing,” the Viper shook his head.
“Let me say it like this. There are other skills to see certain Records, or
there have at least been prior system events where it happens. Tell me, have
you ever felt someone observing you? Besides me, of course. I am talking
about if you have ever felt like someone observed you the same way you
observed me during your Path of the Heretic-Chosen?” the Viper asked.
“Not that I recall,” Jake said with a deep frown. Yeah… Villy had a point. If
Jake had been observed, he would have damn well noticed it. At least, he
believed he would have. So the only explanation would be that no one had
traveled back and looked at him. He saw a few reasons that could be. A:
Jake never made it to godhood and was thus not worth looking at. B: He
couldn’t notice if they were looking at him. C: no one will ever, in the
history of infinity, get a skill or anything like that to observe his past the
same way Jake could with Villy.
He called bullshit on all three of those. It was way more probably that these
Record-peering skills just didn’t truly interfere with the past.
“You got a point. But even so, no comments on what he said? Something
about my Origin… also, the way the vision ended was so weird. Like it was
forcefully stopped. I didn’t even feel the usual transportation out of the
skill,” Jake said with doubt.
“No comments indeed,” Villy said. “It is your skill and your Origin. I am
sure you have come across the word Origin before, so refer to that.”
“Aight…” Jake relented.
He had come across the word Origin before, and he had a pretty good idea
of what it was. Something to do with the core of a Truesoul or perhaps the
“true essence” of stuff. Okay, Jake had to admit, he was still a bit iffy on the
details.
“Now,” Villy said with a teasing smile. “You said you had something else
you wanted my help with before you went on a mental journey? What can I
do for my dear Chosen?”
Jake was happy Villy brought him back on track as he nodded. “Yep. My
simulacrum and I have been talking, and we will need some… time.”
“You are asking for a time-dilated chamber?” the Viper asked with a raised
eyebrow.
“That was the plan. Why, isn’t it possible? I know you said too much time
dilation can fuck you up, and I did spend a long time learning about
Shroud…” Jake said, a bit deflated.
“Jake, you spent less than fifteen years in time dilation while in D-grade.
That is well-below average for people like you. As long as you don’t plan
on actually fighting or doing any crafting, I see no issues with it. Will it
primarily be meditation?” the Viper asked.
“And a bit of light practice, maybe, but yeah, it will just be me and myself,”
Jake confirmed.
“In that case, sure,” Villy shrugged. “Though I do have to point out the
absurdity of asking me for a time-dilated chamber personally when the
Order offers them already for its members.”
Jake… did not know that.
“Well, you know, I want the best of the best. Top of the line time chambers
only,” Jake joked.
“I doubt Aeon can be arsed to come by.”
“I guess the second-best is acceptable, too,” Jake grinned.
“Acceptable compliment. Wanna go right away?”
“May as well,” Jake said. “Though I have no idea how long it will take.”
“Nor do I know how much I can crank the time magic,” Villy grinned,
almost a bit too giddy.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 579 - The Importance of
Time
The Sword Saint sat in meditation as his inner vision materialized. He stood
up and drew his sword as he began his sword meditation, his movements
slow and ethereal. Each swing took several seconds, allowing even the
smallest of children to avoid them, but each also held insight beyond what
most could handle. The air itself parted for the blade, rather than impede it,
as an odd shimmer appeared around his body.
Getting blessed by the Primordial of time benefitted Miyamoto in many

ways. It had helped him upgrade his skills, allowed him to modify his
Transcendence, and taught him an entirely new form of magic. Or, perhaps,
revealed to him the talent he had in this school of magic.
However, he did not allow himself to get carried away. Many called him a
stubborn old man, but he had truly taken the advice of Jake to heart during
their duel. His sword was his essence, and he saw no purpose in adopting
magic that did not fit him.
In his eyes, magic was only a way to improve his swordsmanship. An

extension of what he already had. Trying to integrate time magic into his
swordsmanship appeared difficult at first, but Miyamoto soon found a path.
Time magic was often viewed as external magic: a manipulation of the
world and others. In the arts of creation, it was used on certain items that
took a long time to grow and could take the hit to Records. It was also used
for time chambers and even applied to quite a few dungeons through system
assistance, this being where most everyone encountered time magic on a
more regular basis.
Miyamoto knew he was no mage. He truly did not believe himself talented
in it. The conversations he had with Ms. Wells about formations or rituals
only assured him of this fact. He already had a hard time understanding
computers before the system; how was he to ever learn about these magical
scripts? To him, programming had already been sorcery before, and now it
had only become all the more complicated.
However, what he did understand was his own body. He also understood
time, perhaps because he had experienced a lot of it. It was odd that even
his Patron called him an old soul. By all measures, the Sword Saint was
nothing more than a child before a Primordial, and yet he didn’t feel like he
was made to feel like he was a youngster.
This had befuddled him for a time, but Miyamoto soon came to have at
least some insight into this. Time was, as most everyone knew, relative. The
passing of time varied based on the concepts of space and movement, but
also on a more personal level with how each person experienced time. As
one grows older, it feels like time passes faster and faster, not because it
actually does, but because of how time is perceived.
What was it called? The proportion theory the old man believed it was. The
theory is that it feels like time passes faster as one grows older, resulting in
each year feeling shorter than the one before, as it is a proportionally
smaller period compared to your entire life. The old man could definitely
attest to this, as it had felt like the last few years before the system arrived
had passed in the blink of an eye. Yet, now, with the system, it felt…
different.
From conversations with his Patron, the Sword Saint came to learn that this
psychological concept didn’t only exist before the system. In fact, it had
gotten infinitely worse not only in regard to proportion theory but also in
feeling the moment itself. Many negative emotions that would result in it
feeling like time passed slowly by were suppressed by Willpower, and the
ever-expanding lifespan as one could grow older and older only contributed
further. Retrospective time, prospective time, felt time…
If one is busy, it feels like time passes faster. If one is bored and
unstimulated, any period of time would feel like it drags.
However… there were also times when one was deep in focus where it felt
like time passed slower. Periods where one got more work done than
expected or where one enjoyed time enough to truly focus on the moment
and for every second to count. Quality time, one could call it.
What the Sword Saint had realized was that even if he was not skilled at
time magic in the outside world, his body and mind were primed to be
affected by it. Perhaps his old age before the system made him considered
ancient by proportional standards, even if that thought was a bit insulting.
Be it what it may, one of the first things he did was not work on actually
interfering with the concept of time but merely interfering with his own
perception of it. To make every moment last slightly longer. From a mere
psychological concept, it evolved to one that affected time itself. His own
time.
That was how his newest evolution of Sword Meditation was born. A
personal time chamber of the mind where he became one with his body and
his sword. Every second passing for everyone else was a dozen for the old
Sword Saint as every moment mattered. Every sword swing was worth
remembering. He came to learn that this still counted and came with the
same negative consequences as something like a time chamber, but that was
acceptable. For even with these restrictions, it would serve its purpose.
Others had ambitions for C-grade and how they wanted their evolution to
be. Miyamoto was no different. He had spoken to Jake a bit about their
plans before the evolution, and Jake had mentioned his plans of creating a
mythical skill, making the Sword Saint consider…
Why shouldn’t he?
This was Jake’s… third time doing time magic stuff? Yeah, it should be the
third. Wait, no, there was also that time during the trial dungeon for the
Order. Yeah, so four. Four wasn’t that many, so this should still be fine,
right?
Jake had been a bit apprehensive about doing it for a long time but realized
there were more pros than cons to it. Especially if Villy said, it was okay.
The thing that had worried Jake the most was the fear of his Records getting
damaged or something else intangible that Jake couldn’t feel or even know
was happening. He seriously doubted even his overpowered instincts would
warn him about that kind of self-sabotage.
Villy had teleported Jake away with him as they appeared in the same
chamber Jake had gone to while practicing Shroud of the Primordial. The
two of them stood in the chamber as Villy turned to Jake.
“Do you have an estimation for how long you will need?” Villy asked.
Jake scratched his chin. “No, not really. This feels like one of those things
that are done when they are done and shouldn’t be rushed only to end up
with a shitty outcome.”
Also known as doing the opposite of a big videogame release.
“Got it, but I will drag you out if it goes on too long. I have seen people
fucking themselves over too many times already by getting so engrossed in
a singular goal that they lose all sense of time and simply let the years pass
by. Trust me, I, of all people, should know what it feels like to lose track of
time,” the Viper said with a less cheerful smile than usual.
“And you have my permission to toss me out if you deem it necessary,”

Jake nodded. He would also rather give up on the mythical skill than end up
waking up to discover that a few decades had passed in Realtime.
“Great. We will do it just like last time, and I will crank the time dilation as
high as it can go without negatively affecting you. Or, at least, negatively
affecting you too much,” the Viper explained. “Do note that movement may
be a bit more challenging than usual and that manipulating external mana
will be quite a bit harder than you expect.”
“As I said, as long as I can meditate and do some light movements

unimpeded, we are all good,” Jake once more clarified.
Villy nodded. “Good luck and see you in… well, let’s hope not too many
years. At least from your point of view.”
The snake god released some energy as many runes within the chamber
activated. Jake felt like something in the environment was slightly shifting.
It went fast in the beginning before Jake felt it slow down. Villy stayed in
the chamber and stared at Jake, who had taken a lotus position in the middle
of the chamber, ready to start meditating.
With every second, the smile of the Viper grew, and after a dozen or so
more seconds, Jake began to feel his body be affected. It was as if thin
needles pricked him all over, making him grit his teeth from the
uncomfortable pain. The Viper noticed and nodded as he cranked down the
time dilation a tiny bit, making the feeling disappear.
Jake tried to move his hand and felt like he was underwater, though without
the pressure of the water bearing down on him at all times.
“How many seconds pass in here for every second outside?” Jake asked.
“More than one, less than a trillion. I guess you will learn when you are
done,” the snake god teased him one last time. “Good luck, Jake. I look
forward to seeing what you and that simulacrum of yours have planned.”
With those words, Villy disappeared, though Jake could feel he still
observed him. Jake felt grateful as he was still a bit apprehensive with this
entire time stuff, but with a Primordial keeping an eye on him, it should be
fine.
Closing his eyes, Jake entered his Soulspace. Within, sim-Jake was already
waiting for him so they could begin. As for what they planned on actually
doing? Well, that was a bit… complicated.
To create a mythical skill, they needed it to be both powerful and rely on

high concepts. They had already agreed on one major aspect, more
specifically, the fact that sim-Jake was, well, sim-Jake. A simulation of a
separate version of Jake himself. This in itself was already a major thing
and something it would be moronic not to leverage.
Next up was Eternal Hunger. The weapon was mythical already, proving it,
too, relied on incredibly high-level concepts. Jake had done some weird shit
when he created the weapon and had been a bit delirious throughout most of
the crafting process, but he did know it had absorbed a lot of so-called Jake
Juice – or Jake Records – from him. Coupled with the sheer quantity of
curse energy and the ability to keep growing, it lived up to its rarity.
Throughout the past months, sim-Jake had also been feeding the weapon
through its cursed beast manifestation in his Soulspace. Feeding it with his
own Records. Those separate from Jake himself. Sim-Jake had fed the beast
with memories that Jake did not have, experiences he never had, and all that
made up sim-Jake that wasn’t already identical or merged with the real Jake
already. The ultimate goal? For sim-Jake to merge with the weapon,
hopefully retaining some semblances of self.
Of course, for this to be possible, sim-Jake had to have more Records than
the cursed weapon. This was perhaps the biggest gamble, as no one could
be sure. Sim-Jake and real Jake already guessed that it would not simply
spawn a cursed version of sim-Jake that was still “him” but something
entirely different. One had to remember that the cursed weapon was a Sin
weapon, after all. A cursed weapon that relied on a singular strong desire,
and there was no way for sim-Jake to replace this, only become part of it.
This was the first aspect of the plan. For sim-Jake to merge with Eternal
Hunger. This would add both conceptual and actual power to the new skill
they would create. Jake was not sure how it would work exactly,
considering Eternal Hunger was a weapon and the energy within it linked to
a weapon. Was it even possible to create a skill relying on a specific
weapon? Or would it somehow affect the weapon to make it “more” than
just a weapon?
All very exciting things for sim-Jake and Jake to discover together.
The second aspect of the plan was the skill itself. With the fuel determined,
they needed to know what it would actually do. First of all, it would rely on
the Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra skill. That was a given. The big question
was just how much of the skill they wanted.
Basic Shadow Vault of Umbra was a movement skill, something Jake didn’t
really need that much. This desired upgraded skill would still include
movement, but exactly how it would work, none of them knew quite yet.
Sim-Jake had worked a lot on upgrading the skill already, and if all they
wanted to do was create an ancient-rarity Shadow Vault, they could within a
week’s time. But this was not what they wanted, obviously.
However, this did not mean this time working on upgrading Shadow Vault
was wasted. Far from it. Through practice, sim-Jake managed to not only
learn more of the skill but also align himself far more with the shadow
affinity. An affinity that was quite a bit more complicated than Jake had
initially expected.
The shadow affinity was heavily tied to the dark affinity, but they were not
the same. The shadow affinity was a rank of concept above mere darkness.
It was, to simplify, that which existed within the darkness left when the
light is obscured. As if it was a second layer of reality itself. Not to be
confused with a layer of space but something… different. In fact, the
shadow affinity and space affinity had no concrete connection, as shadows
seemed to entirely circumvent the concept.
That was why the Court of Shadows had become so powerful. They could
use the shadows far more than anyone else. They learned to enter and exit
the realm of shadows, allowing them to strike from anywhere at any time.
Those powerful enough could travel through shadows, jumping even from
planet to planet if they so desired. Of course, while shadow magic was
potent, there were also restrictions.
One still had to pass through the shadow realm, as many many called it. On
a 2-D scale, using regular shadows was a lot simpler, and one could avoid
many things, but interacting with the real world from the shadows was near
impossible.
Shadow Vault did not interact with the 2-D shadows but instead temporarily
made one “attuned” to the shadow realm. One did not truly enter it, but as
the description said, simply embraced the shadows to temporarily become
one with them. It was a gross oversimplification of what Jake assumed to be
the true Shadow Vault of Umbra.
In its true form, it was more like a mix of stealth, teleportation, and a rapid
movement skill. Sim-Jake and Jake theorized that this true version would
allow one to fully merge with the shadows and travel within a 3-D version
of the shadow realm. How exactly this would work was a mystery, but it
would no doubt be damn overpowered.
Anyway, sim-Jake had learned a lot, and they would still rely on the
concepts of shadows from sim-Jake. Sim-Jake even had the idea to use the
remnant-Records of what had once been his Blessing from Umbra to
upgrade the skill. They still wanted to make it separate from Umbra
entirely, but from how they understood the workings of the simulated
world, everything sim-Jake brought with him was considered his Records
alone. It had been his world, after all.
As for the details of this entire shadow part of the skill, Jake was still a bit
unclear. On purpose too. Because the final part of the skill relied on their
separateness. It relied on them not being the exact same person with the
same understandings and thoughts. Yet they also needed to fully understand
each other… at least when it came to fighting.
So they had reached one conclusion to make it happen.
“Are you ready?” sim-Jake asked.
“I should ask you the same,” Jake answered with a smirk.
Two katars appeared in the hands of sim-Jake. Jake himself summoned a

bow as the two of them stood across from each other.
Naturally, they had concluded that the best course of action would be to
fight. Fight until they could each perfectly read and mimic each other, and
their two instincts harmonized. They would still take breaks for sim-Jake to
keep merging with Eternal Hunger and for Jake to learn what he had to
about Shadow Vault, but ninety-nine percent of their time would be spent
fighting.
Both of them had infinite resources within the Soulspace. Neither had to
ever rest. Neither could truly die or take damage. Both would only use the
power of the current Jake, copying his stats for their duel.
“Then here I come,” sim-Jake said as he leaned forward and turned into a
shadowy form.
Jake took a step and teleported back as his other self chased.
Thus began the longest fight Jake had ever had, if not the longest he would
ever have.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 580 - Focus Perfected
Duskleaf appeared beside the Malefic Viper as he joined him in staring

down at the young human within the time chamber.
“Did you ask me to come by simply to confuse me?” Duskleaf asked the
Viper while looking down at Jake.
He had a break from assisting his Master as he could handle everything

there himself for now. This had allowed Duskleaf to send his clone back to
help the little elf girl catch up and make sure she stayed on top of her
studies without any of his personal projects being affected. He even had
time for this brief excursion to see what Jake was up to, though he, at first
sight, didn’t learn much.
Though there was one thing.
“Why has he embedded the weapon in his chest?” Duskleaf asked. He saw
that Jake had the weapon he had created firmly stabbed into his own chest,
more accurately, into his own heart. At first, Duskleaf thought he was
absorbing some of the curse energy from it directly into his body, but he felt
no movements of energy.
“Good question,” his Master smiled. “Sadly, I have no bloody idea. What I
do know is that what he wants to accomplish is linked to that mythical
weapon of his.”
“Further strengthening his connection to a Sin weapon does not seem

wise… it may influence his Path and lead him somewhere he did not intend
to go,” Duskleaf disapproved.
“It will only become a problem if he allows the curse to influence him too
much. Besides, from my understanding, what he is doing is more than
merely strengthening the Soulbound connection,” the Malefic Viper
explained.
Duskleaf looked a bit at the young man below and sighed. “How long has
he been in there anyway?”
“From whose point of view?” the Viper asked.
“His.”
“I would say… about forty years, give or take?”
Duskleaf frowned. Not that long for himself, but a notable amount of time
for a D-grade. “Has he-“
“Yep. Every single goddamn second.”
The old alchemist nodded. He stared at Jake and saw how he still remained
focused. Not a single disturbance could be detected in his aura. There was
only a sensation of serenity and focus from his Master’s Chosen as he
worked on his task.
Duskleaf had lived for… a while. He had many students during this time,
having not taken the position of Grand Elder of the Academy in the Order
just for show. Throughout the years, one learned things.
There had been heaven-sent geniuses. Individuals who had formed several
legendary skills in F-grade, alchemists who had crafted as if they were three
times their own level, living encyclopedias, and absolute monsters of mana
control. Yet none of these had ever made it to godhood. They had made it
far, they had gotten powerful and respected, but ultimately they had fallen
short despite everyone saying they would no doubt ascend.
A foolish assumption on their part that they would make it. An arrogance
born of talent. In some ways, Duskleaf even pitied them because geniuses
tended to all run into the same problem down the road. They became
impatient.
For a prodigy in magic, forming legendary skills, amazing all your peers,
and showing off by killing foes in higher grades were all expected. They
would be hailed and respected, but as they got stronger and stronger, things
began to change.
Rather than compete with individuals that were D-grade and had trained for
a century, they would meet C-grades who had lived for millennia. They
would meet B-grades who had lived for tens of thousands of years. Even if
this heaven-sent genius was only a few hundred years max, could he truly
make up the gap fifty-thousand years of experience and practice had
formed? Most couldn’t.
Not to misunderstand, they were still talents. These people would catch up,
becoming stronger than the old expert in a fraction of the time, but they
rarely did. They got frustrated. They saw magic a mage had spent ten
thousand years making and couldn’t comprehend how they hadn’t perfected
it themselves in a decade. In a way, their talents became their downfall as
they had never learned the act of patience.
Never learned to struggle. Never learned to truly focus. Never stood before
what seemed like an insurmountable barrier, and rather than giving up or
trying to find a way around, began to slowly and methodologically figure
out a way to climb it, a single inch at a time.
Duskleaf smiled as he looked at Jake below. The young Chosen did not
need to struggle. He could cruise relatively easily through these grades but
chose not to. In all honesty, then Jake was not the most talented person
Duskleaf had seen, far from it. He was good, definitely top-tier, but there
were some true monsters nearly beyond comparison out there.
However, what set Jake apart was that his talent also seemed to include a
different mindset. A mind that was able to have a singular focus on a task.
He remembered hearing the assessment from the trial dungeon where Jake
had gained the highest possible assessment from that part of the alchemy
test. Coupled with his inability to give up once he set a goal for himself, and
it truly set him apart.
It was like he loved every task set before him. As if the more challenging he
found a task, the more enjoyable he would find it, and if the difficulty of a
task was the mundanity of it, he would simply view overcoming his own
boredom and lack of stimulation as just another challenge to beat. In a way,
he truly was a born hunter, be it the hunt to kill or a hunt for success. Even
if Jake was not talented, he would go far through sheer force of will.
This part of Jake reminded Duskleaf a bit of…
“I remember this one student I myself took in,” the Viper spoke. “Not to
mince words, but damn, did he suck. His mana control was all over the
place. He took months to even figure out how to make the basic potions and
even longer to properly learn how to make poisons without constantly
hurting himself. Oh, and don’t even get me started on rituals. The only thing
he was even faintly talented in was using his alchemical flame.”
The old alchemist shook his head and stroked his beard. “Master, I-“
“Man, was he a dunce. I was amazed at how bad he was, yet this idiot kept
trying. Kept attempting to craft things even after failing a thousand times
and kept improving himself one small step at a time. Usually, we talk about
people meeting barriers in their Path, but this guy was running an obstacle
course from day one. Yet he kept slowly trodding forward. Shit, he was
downright crawling at times. He was just a stubborn fool who loved
alchemy far too much to give up, no matter how badly he sucked at it.
Though I guess he did become decent at it after spending a long enough
time bashing his head into the cauldron.”
The Malefic Viper looked at Duskleaf with a smile.
“Wouldn’t you agree, my dear dunce of a disciple?”
Two katars clashed as the two identical men slid back, both also raising a
hand and releasing a blast of energy. Simultaneously, they dodged and
circled around to clash again. Every hit was blocked or dodged, both
looking for an opening.
Finally, one presented itself. Both katars were aimed at the thigh of the
opponent, but suddenly, both men froze as their eyes flashed yellow. The
fight was paused for half a second as both disengaged from their attack,
instead drawing bows, two arrows nocked and fired in unison.
The two arrows collided in mid-air, both falling to the ground where they
had met. Two other arrows flew as each curved in opposite directions to not
clash. Dodging them both was effortless for the two men as they switched
tactics in concert.
They both stormed forward and clashed weapons as they each blocked and
dodged. Rather than a fight, it looked more than choreographed dance, and
in some ways, that was a more accurate description of what their bout had
devolved into.
Their weapons stabbed and swiped as neither man was hit as they got closer
and closer, each blow missed by mere millimeters. Then, they both swung,
having their two katars impact each other hard. Both men decided to dive
forward to tackle the other. Both failed as the other countered, and once
more, both froze.
Two katars, each at the neck of the other. All either had to do was slightly
move forward to find purchase. Yet, the first to move would also be the one
to incite a response, and if everything went as it did the other times, that
person would end up the loser.
“Another tie,” Jake spoke.
“Nine hundred and ninety-two in a row,” sim-Jake answered. “We don’t

need to reach a thousand.”
Jake wasn’t sure how long it had been, but it felt like neither had landed a
decisive blow on the other for more than a year. In fact, it had been months
since either had even landed a wound on the other. Trading blows had
entirely stopped as both knew that committing too far to actually deal
damage would result in a worse counterattack.
“This has indeed become meaningless,” Jake agreed. There was nothing
more to learn and nothing more to teach.
Sim-Jake and Jake had exhausted all there was to learn from the other about
combat. Sim-Jake had learned to use the bow merely by observing and
copying Jake, and Jake had done the same with the melee fighting style of
sim-Jake.
It hurt for Jake to admit, but sim-Jake had reached the same level of archery
as Jake far before Jake reached sim-Jake’s skill level in melee combat.
However, now, and for the last few… years? There had been no difference
between them. Outside of magic, neither could do anything the other
couldn’t. Sim-Jake had even learned to use a few important skills of the
regular Jake here and there, including Gaze.
There was no debate that the real Jake had benefitted the most from this. It
had not been the initial plan, but Jake had naturally learned all there was to
the fighting style. Both of them had kind of hoped to improve it together but
found it impossible within the Soulspace.
Jake and sim-Jake were both the kinds of fighters who needed experience to
improve. They needed actual combat. In fact, even trying to improve the
style by only fighting each other could end up worsening it, as it would be
adapted to fighting against someone with his Bloodline. No, they needed
new opponents to improve.
Both sim-Jake and Jake looked at each other for a bit as they both knew.
Both felt it.
“It’s time.” “It’s time.”
Spoken in unison, they smiled. There was nothing they could do, nothing
more to learn. Sim-Jake’s body already gave off a sensation reminiscent of
Eternal Hunger, and the cursed beast no longer attacked sim-Jake whenever
he got close, even if it did still want to eat the regular Jake.
“You finish up here and head towards the dungeon. I will finish up the final
attunement progress and prepare for the final merge.”
Jake smiled a bit melancholy. “I guess this is goodbye then.”
No matter what happened next, sim-Jake would not be the same. Once the
skill was made, and he was fully integrated with Eternal Hunger, his
Records would fully join and become one with Jake’s. Jake felt a bit bad
seeing his other self go, even if he knew it was for the best.
In the outside world, the bone that held sim-Jake’s existence had already
begun to show signs of failure. Microcracks covered it entirely, and even if
it remained sturdy enough and was still useful, Jake knew it was close to the
end of its lifespan.
Sim-Jake staying a separate entity forever had always been impossible; they
had discussed it so many times. His other self had even sped this up by
giving away his memories and Records. Sim-Jake had admitted that he
couldn’t remember a damn thing anymore from before the system in his
simulated reality - nothing aside from what Jake had seen during his vision,
anyway. Even the Tutorial was just snippets here and there. His only reason
for retaining an ego now was his inherent will to survive and that he had
actively worked to remain separate.
But all things must come to an end.
“It does seem like that,” sim-Jake nodded in response. “Though I think
goodbye is a bit too strong of a word. It is more that I will change. In some
ways, wasn’t this what I wanted? To evolve to something that didn’t need a
profession, something more than human? Being an embodiment of an
ancient curse must qualify there.”
“Well-argued,” Jake smiled.
“Besides, aren’t you afraid that I am going to pull a fast one and try to take
over your body at the very last second?” sim-Jake teased.
“We both know I would see that coming,” Jake teased back in response.
“And my intuition is saying it wouldn’t work anyway,” sim-Jake shrugged.

“Now get going. We have a hydra to kill and a skill to create. And stop
being so damn gloomy. If everything works out, you will never be
completely rid of me.”
“Rather than goodbye… see you around, then.”
In the outside world, Jake opened his eyes. The katar in his chest
disappeared as the wound healed nearly instantly. Jake stood up, feeling his
body be slightly rigid from sitting down for… years? Jake didn’t know how
long had passed. It didn’t matter right now either.
“I’m done,” Jake spoke.
He felt the odd sensation from the time chamber slowly grind to a halt as
his eyes opened wide. He felt dizzy, and the world started spinning. His
body began hurting all over, but he gritted his teeth and tried to soldier
through. Nearly fifteen minutes passed before his body had adapted,
making him feel normal again, just in time for Villy to teleport in.
“I assume it has been fruitful,” the god said.
“Yeah… can we talk after I am done?”
“You don’t even wanna know how long you were in there? How much time
passed in the real world?”
“Later. For now, please help me get to the dungeon,” Jake insisted. Sim-
Jake, within his Soulspace, was ready. They both were. Delaying them
would only reduce their chances.
The Viper simply nodded as the two teleported away, appearing before a
gate.
“Good luck,” Villy said, not asking further or saying anything.
Jake nodded and placed his hand on the gate and accepted the prompt to
enter. In the very next moment, he disappeared. He had been told of this
combat dungeon. It was a gauntlet of sorts with several images of old
powerful members of the Order saved. The strongest of which was naturally
the Lord Protector.
He had no interest in any other target.
Appearing within a hall, a projection instantly popped up in front of him.
“Welcome to the-“
Without hesitation, Jake released his aura, as well as everything that

indicated his identity.
“I am the Chosen of the Malefic Viper; take me to fight the Lord Protector’s
image,” Jake said, having no desire or time to delay.
The projection did not even answer but merely waved its hand as Jake was
teleported once more. He appeared in the same swamp as last time. In the
distance, he saw his target.
Jake pulled out two items next. The bone katar and another item Jake had
been saving for this occasion.
[Partly Digested Phantomshade Fang (Unique)] – A Phantomshade Fang

granted by the system to the newly integrated ninety-third universe.
Contains a vast amount of energy and Records that will allow any
compatible beast that consumes it to grow far faster and gain magical
skills and abilities related to dark and space magic. This fang is already
partly digested, having only a bit of the original energy left.
He just needed its energy to stabilize the bone long enough for them to
succeed while also giving sim-Jake a good boost of energy. As the energy
within was already primed, Jake easily tossed the katar and fang into a
cauldron and used Touch to temporarily strengthen the weapon.
It took less than ten minutes before Jake pulled out the improved katar that
now had all its minor cracks filled with dark energy. The weapon wouldn’t
last much longer, but it should be enough. Jake took it in his left hand as
Eternal Hunger appeared in the other. The hydra in the distance noticed
Jake the moment he let his aura lose and began walking towards it.
[Two-Headed Hydra of Perennial Consumption – lvl 199]

Time for a proper rematch, Jake smiled to himself as he shot forward to
face the beast in melee combat.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 581 - Choice
A note from Zogarth
Just a little warning. The release of book 5 on Amazon was moved up to

the 3rd from the 8th of March, so chapters will go down on Monday.
The last time Jake had faced the hydra, it had ended in his defeat due to a
timer. In this dungeon, there was no such timer and no interruptions to their
battle. Jake could spend an as much time as he wanted, as long as his
resources allowed it.
Jake had no idea how long it would take, but inside his Soulspace, he
already felt sim-Jake begin his part. Charging forward, Jake prepared to
meet the hydra in battle. It still showed the same lack of intelligence as their
first fight, but its power had grown significantly, as one would expect from
a beast getting 39 more levels.
However, Jake had gotten even more levels and power.
The two-headed hydra turned toward him and got ready as he approached.
Its instinctual knowledge was enough to identify Jake as a strong opponent,
making it clearly take him seriously from the get-go. One maw snapped
forward as the other waited to strike, evaluating what Jake would do.
Its massive teeth-filled mouth missed Jake as he side-stepped and jabbed

one katar into its side swiftly. The blade only went five or so centimeters
into the flesh as he retracted it, the scales and flesh of the hydra too durable
for Jake to ignore. If he tried to really jam it in there, he even reckoned it
would get stuck.
As expected, the second head descended and tried to snatch Jake up. Jake
again dodged and tried to counter, but the first head swiped to the side to hit
him. This forced him back as the second head lifted itself towards the sky
and breathed in.
Space itself appeared to distort from the inhale, with Jake feeling the
movements of massive amounts of mana. Air mana primarily. It was being
extracted and absorbed in huge quantities at a time, making it look like a
maelstrom had formed above the hydra. Even the clouds several kilometers
up in the air were affected.
Needless to say, all this took a bit of time, giving Jake ample opportunity to
move. The other head of the hydra naturally moved to stop him, and the
four-legged beast even tried to stomp him with its large legs to keep him
away as Jake dodged the head and got beneath. He ran quickly but managed
to stab four times into the underbelly of the beast, each blow delivering a
solid dose of poison from Fangs of the Malefic Viper.
Just as he got to the other side, the hydra roared with the head not inhaling.
Jake felt his entire body tense up as the second head bent and aimed its
maw straight at Jake.
Let me have it.
A massive sonic boom rocked the entire marsh as a bubble of pure air was
released. Trees were uprooted, and Jake found himself impacted straight in
the chest. Blood pooled in his mouth as he spat it out, flying through the air
through a few trees that had survived. He slid to a halt as he landed on his
feet, using both katars to slow himself down.
The released air had been far more potent in the beginning but was just a
mild wind by now. Jake felt his ribs hurt a little from the impact earlier but
still smiled. It needed to at least be this strong.
He stepped down as he teleported forward and, in only three steps, appeared

in front of the hydra once more. Without hesitation, he attacked again. The
beast happily responded as the two heads capable of swallowing him whole
descended from above to eat him like a snack. Sadly for the hydra, such
elementary attacks had no way of hitting.
Jake dodged both as he landed several stabs, the poison slowly seeping into
the body of the beast. The scales were tough, and the hydra healed quickly,
but it was outmatched. Jake had gotten stronger, and the level gap was
severely lower than last time. He was no longer a complete idiot when it
came to melee, either. In fact, he felt better than ever. A part of him had
feared that only practicing with sim-Jake for so long would have made him
worse against an opponent like the hydra, but that fear had been needless.
In reality, the movements and attacks of the hydra just seemed so damn
inadequate. It was a beast that fought based on its instincts, making it all too
predictable. In some ways, Jake was a bit disappointed. Then again, he
knew he couldn’t expect too much. It was common knowledge that the
smarter a beast was, the more dangerous it was. If this hydra had the same
level of intelligence as a human or even just the Phantomshade Panther, it
would be far more frightening.
Not that Snappy had been weak when he was still a dum-dum.
Jake managed to land dozens of strikes, stabbing one of the legs several
times, hoping to weaken it. He circled the large beast, making it harder for
the heads to pin him down and attack him, positioning himself in such a
fashion that only one head could strike at a time. Even if the hydra was
dumb, it clearly was aware this was not good and changed tactics.
A massive roar was released, stunning Jake again. The hydra quickly spun
and swiped Jake with its tail, sending him flying back from the impact. It
did little damage to him, but it did buy the beast some time. Instantly it
began shrinking, using the skill Jake was already familiar with from the first
time around, and he knew this was when the true fight would begin.
Rather than try and take advantage of this slight opening, Jake let it finish.
Soon, a hydra about four and a half meters tall stood before him, its gray
scales now a darker shade. Jake felt its dense energy from a distance and
knew it had improved this skill even more than last time, making him smile.
This time, he wasn’t even the one to attack. Incredibly swiftly, the beast ran
towards him, not even using a movement skill. The two heads shot forward
like two snakes, the many teeth biting down on air as Jake had already
teleported back. With the very next step, he teleported forward again to
counter, but a leg was raised to kick Jake, forcing him to block for the very
first time in the battle.
Jake did so by reflecting the blow towards the ground as one of the heads
flew in from the side. Once more, he dodged but had no time to counter as
he got pressed by the now far faster beast. The only chance he got was for a
slicing attack, but the bone katar just slid helplessly across the thick scales.
To his surprise, he also noticed that the many wounds on the hydra were
nearly healed, and even the poison in its body was being rapidly consumed.
Does not seem to have gained more tricks in the last 39 levels but just
upped everything it already could to a whole new level, Jake concluded. It
maybe did have one more trick. Hopefully it did because Jake was also
about to get a bit more serious.
A head came for Jake as his body exploded with power, Arcane Awakening
activating at the safe 30%. His body was flooded with energy as he dodged
the attack, landing a solid jab with Eternal Hunger. He had taken the hydra
by surprise, allowing him to penetrate all the way to the handle and pull it
out again in one swift motion.
Roaring in anger, the hydra spun again to hit him with its tail. Jake angled
himself and pointed both weapons towards the tail as he jumped slightly.
The impact sent him flying, but the momentum of the blow also made both
katars penetrate the tail as if the beast had just slammed itself into two nails.
Jake barely allowed himself to fly backward before he canceled part of the
momentum with a blast of mana before stepping down and teleporting to
keep up his constant assault. Wanting to really push himself, Jake even
boosted Arcane Awakening, using the destructive mode. His increase in all
his offensive stats grew from 30 to 50% as Jake got even faster and hit even
harder.
Yet the hydra kept up well. It was clearly on the back foot, but it still
managed to keep Jake at bay for the most part. More concerning was that
even if Jake landed blows, he wasn’t doing much damage. The scales were
thick and durable, making slicing attacks difficult, while the regeneration of
the hydra made its wounds heal incredibly swiftly. It didn’t even feel like it
drained a lot of health points doing this, as the beast probably also
regenerated that at an insane pace. Moreover, Jake came to discover the
hydra did have one new trick…
A berserker-like effect. The more damage it took, the faster and stronger it
got, but at the same time, its regeneration also sped up. This made it so that
one had to not only outpace the regeneration that increased the more
damaged the hydra was but also keep up this high damage output while the
hydra got stronger and faster. It was indeed true the beast had few abilities,
but those it had all seemed to synergize and turn baby Snappy into a true
terror.
The beast and human soon got into a status quo of exchanging blows. Jake
focused on what he had come there for as he finally felt himself be pushed,
the occasional stunning roar and absorption blast putting him on the back
foot at times. He knew that a single slip-up with end up losing him a limb to
the maw of the hydra, making it all the more exciting. Jake also bit onto the
fact that even if the beast had increased regeneration as it got hurt, he was
also gaining momentum himself.
Moreover, he had a few other tricks up his sleeve for when the time came.
However, for now, he would simply indulge himself in the dance of death
with his opponent as the ball was firmly in sim-Jake’s court to begin what
came next.
Inside Jake’s Soulspace, sim-Jake stood in front of the massive curse beast
with one hand on its head. He had his eyes closed as he also felt the battle
outside and experienced everything like he was Jake himself. Because he
partly was.
The hydra was powerful but simplistic. The winner was clear, especially if
Jake decided to go all-out and not limit himself as he currently did. That
would ruin the entire purpose of this exercise, though. Sim-Jake felt the
rush of adrenaline running through his body as it ran through Jake’s body
outside. As he stood there, he carefully observed how Jake fought and what
decisions he made.
Dodging was pure instinct with few decisions involved in it, but countering
had many. In most instances of a fight, there were several choices that could
be made when responding to something. Dodge, block, counter. Even while
dodging, he had a few decisions to make, the standards being: side-step,
reposition, disengage, or close the distance to set up something in the
future.
Blocking was more limited and was only done when dodging was not an
option or to potentially deflect and counter. However, by then, it may as
well just be considered a full-on counter. Every counter had a myriad of
methods behind them, too, though often only a few would be optimal.
Adding in a bow had expanded the scope of possibilities significantly,
though.
The more time passed with sim-Jake looking, the more sure he became of
the Path he wanted to take. He wanted to fight. That had always been who
he was. It was all he ever had. It was all he ever felt like he was good at.
While he had lost all memories of who he truly was, the emotions
remained… no, they had gotten stronger. Likely an aftereffect of attuning
himself to a curse.
Sim-Jake had genuinely hated the world before the system. He knew that.
After his parents died, he never really had any reason to not act out his
inherent impulses, even if it was a world that had developed to not accept
them. The world had not been made for the Primal Hunter. At least not back
then.
The regular Jake also had some hate back then growing up. Had the same
instinct and impulses. One to hunt and dominate. It still sometimes came
through, but for the most part, he suppressed himself. He had chosen to
bury it… bury it deep.
Jake’s Bloodline had awakened during the Tutorial, but it was never the
system that had put it to sleep. It was Jake himself who had managed to
make his own Bloodline dormant. To try and soothe his family. To try and
fit in and be a normal human. Naturally, he could never truly suppress who
he was, and what little of the Bloodline remained only made Jake know
how much he missed. How hollow the world was.
He had been a shell of himself. Sim-Jake’s best way of describing Jake

before the system was… depressed. Jake was walking the line between
staying alive because surviving was so inherent to him and not seeing the
point of life when it was so boring and mundane. Every action he made
back then was so empty.
In some ways, sim-Jake understood why he never formed any good

relations with others besides his family. It was only his family he ever could
feel a connection to.
If sim-Jake had indulged his Bloodline and tried to find a purpose in life,
Jake had suppressed his desire to ever find meaning and just tried to ride
out the mundanity of the pre-system world. In some ways, they had both
just waited for the system. Waited for them to finally enter a world where
they could thrive. Who could blame Jake for losing himself after finally
letting go and awakening his Bloodline after decades?
The sheer euphoria Jake had felt back then echoed into sim-Jake even now.
Decades of pent-up instinct and desire had come rushing through his body
at once, with ample targets to take it out on. The Jake of shortly after he
awakened his Bloodline had been the closest he had ever been to sim-Jake
since the day their Paths split when they were children. When they had
made different choices…
“It’s funny,” sim-Jake smirked as he looked through the real Jake’s eyes
while talking to the cursed beast. “A single choice can mean so much. That
single choice meant that I became me, and he became him. One single
choice where we reacted differently to our shared instinct…”
Shaking his head, sim-Jake stared at the cursed beast. “I believe it is time. A
final fight, if you may.”
Sim-Jake let go of the beast as he sent a pulse into it. The beast’s eyes
opened wide as it roared, making the entire Soulspace shake. He simply
smiled as the beast attacked, and they fought. A brutal brawl where he
didn’t even use any weapons. A final moment of pure indulgence.
The two of them clashed for several minutes before sim-Jake was sent
sliding back. A massive maw came towards him as the cursed beast wanted
to eat him. Sim-Jake simply smiled. This had always been the plan. To
become one with the beast through the one thing it did: consumption.
The giant maw descended upon him as the cursed beast consumed sim-
Jake. The energies of the beast began eroding him as sim-Jake connected
with the Records he had stored there. This was what most of their time had
been spent on: assuring this would succeed. The two would become one,
whether Eternal Hunger liked it or not. At any moment, he could still
escape from within the beast. At any moment, he could suppress it. He
could stop this entire process. But he didn’t. He let it consume him because
that was what he had chosen to do.
He had chosen how he lived, and now he had his final Path.
Because in the end, sim-Jake was nothing but the outcome of a choice. Such
was his Origin, and so he would remain.
Just another choice: a shadow of what could have been.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 582 - An Eternal Shadow
Jake instantly knew. He felt the awareness of sim-Jake slowly slip away as
the bone katar began to show even more cracks. At the same time, Eternal
Hunger hummed with power as if it was growing by the second, actively
consuming something incredibly valuable – sim-Jake himself.
Despite knowing this had always been the plan, Jake still felt a sense of
sadness. It was a weird sentiment, but he felt like he had become good
friends with his other self. To have him disappear like this wasn’t
something Jake wanted to see, but it was inevitable from the beginning.
All Jake could do was help make sure the Legacy he left behind would be
worth remembering for eternity.
The hydra kept attacking Jake as he picked up the pace. He dealt more
damage, made the beast faster and stronger due to the berserk effect, and
truly pushed himself. He was in the zone as sim- Jake did what he had to
do. After a few seconds, Jake felt the full change. A humming of sorts went
through his body, and the bone weapon let out an audible crack. The very
next second, it began falling apart, forcing Jake to temporarily retreat.
Pieces of the broken weapon fell towards the marsh water below but never
reached it. It turned to dust that rapidly began moving towards Eternal
Hunger. The black bone dust swirled and entered the cursed weapon as Jake
felt it grow more powerful with every whisp of energy absorbed. Its aura
underwent subtle changes, and Jake felt a connection to it unlike anything
he had before. Like it had become more than a simple weapon and truly a
part of him.
Then, it truly hit as an audible heartbeat sounded out from the core of his
Bloodline… No… two heartbeats at the exact same time.
*THUMP!* *THUMP!*
Knowledge, Records, Emotions. It all slammed into him like a truck. For a
moment, Jake became unable to properly think and simply let his instincts
take over. His body dodged through pure instincts, the hydra unable to hit
him while Jake digested all that was streaming into his mind. His eyes were
closed as he tried to focus, relying only on his sphere.
It was only now that Jake understood. Truly understood. Sim-Jake and Jake
himself had wanted to keep parts separate for a reason. They were the same
person but didn’t have the same personalities. They shared one body but
could make different choices - both see possibilities in combat and read an
opponent through their instinct. Yet, at the same time, they perfectly
understood what the other would do in any given situation.
The hydra was upon Jake again at that moment. His eyes opened as he saw
the head descend… and he made a choice. A reaction. At the same time, a
second choice was made. Two possibilities were valid, and two reactions
were effective. Hence both were chosen.
And both manifested.
Jake dodged backward at an incredible speed as his body took on a

shadowy hue, accelerating him further. He drew his bow and released
Splitting Arrow towards his foe. Simultaneously, a second shadowy Jake
dodged to the side in melee range of the hydra and stabbed his katar into the
leg of the beast.
Two figures spawned from one. Two possible realities manifested at once.
One simulated, one true, yet both made real. At least for a moment.
The hydra responded quickly and ignored the arrows, clearly not having
expected that attack. It instead focused on the one attacking its leg and
promptly attacked. Both heads came for it, but this version of Jake didn’t
even try to dodge. One of the heads chomped down on Jake, but his body
simply turned to black curse energy and disappeared – still leaving behind a
deep and nasty wound.
Jake – the real one – landed on the ground shortly after as he still tried to
digest the skill properly. He had felt like he had been both, yet only one.
Both had been real, yet not. Frowning, he kept going. There is more. He
wanted to test it again immediately; however, he also noticed what felt like
an internal cooldown. No matter; he had time.
His opponent was still confused by what had happened as Jake retreated a
bit, waiting for the skill to be ready once more.
--
“That’s… how does it work?” Duskleaf asked with a frown. “Their auras
felt exactly the same; it took me nearly a second to properly distinguish
them. And-”
“My dear disciple,” Vilastromoz smirked. “Just enjoy the show for once.”
A bit of time later, it was time for another go. Jake got in position before
charging straight at the beast. Right as he got in front of the hydra, it tried to
bite down. Once more, there were two responses. Dodging to both sides
was correct. Hence both choices were made as the “real” Jake dodged to the
right and his other version to the left. Both stabbed the side of the neck at
the exact same time, both wielding Eternal Hunger, both using Fangs of the
Malefic Viper to deliver poison, both absorbing energy through the
mythical weapon.
With only one other head, the hydra had to choose. It went for the one on
the right – the real Jake. He saw the attack descend… and realized that
neither choice of the beast mattered. Because he could be either.
Once more, the beast only bit down on shadows as the real Jake stood on
the left with his weapon in the neck of the beast. That is when he
understood the second aspect.
Both are real to the rest of the world… but I only need to be the outcome of
one of them.
After the second use, Jake also noticed that the cooldown had gotten
slightly longer, and the mental strain was detectable. Nodding to himself, he
kept up the fight. A bit later, he tried to use the skill again. One version
jumped back and shot an arrow while the other stayed in melee once more,
but this time Jake chose to stay as the melee combatant. The arrows fired
from his second version had still hit the hydra and dealt damage too. The
arrows themselves were gone with the shadow version, though, and Jake
reckoned that should any arrows be in mid-air when he manifested as the
other version, they would disappear.
By now, Jake was also beginning to feel the cost of the skill. Which was…
Pretty much nothing besides mental energy.
It drained a bit of mana each time, but it seemed to only really be the
Shadow Vault aspect of the skill that had a cost. Not that Jake didn’t know
what the other version of himself consumed: it ran on pure curse energy. It
used the massive pool of curse energy within Eternal Hunger to spawn his
second shadowy version every time, making it highly efficient.
The only other cost was, of course, the mental energy, and in this aspect, it
was a bit taxing. Especially when switching places with his other version, it
took a bit out of Jake. Not that Jake complained… because he had a feeling
he had only begun to figure things out.
Jake began to explore what skills his other version could use. Splitting
Arrow? Worked. Gaze? Didn’t work. Powershot? Not really; it didn’t have
enough time to charge, though it did look possible. Passive skills? All
seemed to work as the shadow copied Jake himself. Could he summon
scales on it? Yeah, it copied those, but it didn’t do anything, as the shadow
could always be destroyed in one blow. Touch of the Malefic Viper? Not
enough time to channel, sadly. Things like Mark of the Avaricious Arcane
Hunter also worked, though with few practical applications. Arrow of the
Ambitious Hunter also worked just fine… too bad it had no time to ever
summon the arrow. Ah, and of course, Arrows of the Avaricious Arcane
Hunter worked.
However, more than any other active skill, one worked far better than any
other:
Descending Dark Arcane Fang.
It was instant, dealt good damage, and worked tremendously well with his
shadow. The shadow also used Eternal Hunger, making it even better as the
weapon also benefitted from Fangs of the Malefic Viper. Oh, on that note,
the shadow could cheat. It could instantly transform Eternal Hunger into a
bow when it became ranged, something Jake sure as hell couldn’t, as it took
a long time for the weapon to change shape. Then again… the shadow was
tied to Eternal Hunger, so it made sense. He estimated that “version” simply
always had the bow and never transformed it, as it could only have either-
or.
Jake’s battle against the hydra had quickly gone from a mere fight to
transforming the peak D-grade into a test subject. The fight kept dragging
on, and soon it had been nearly five hours since they began. Jake repeatedly
retreated and even flew into the air a few times to reset, deactivating all his
boosting skills and consuming a potion to recover. The hydra naturally also
recovered before their bout continued. When he had no more to tests… Jake
decided to get serious and finish the fight.
For the first time, Arcane Awakening fully activated at 60% to all stats as
Jake’s body was flooded with power. He took out a vial of his best
hemotoxin and put it on his one remaining katar. Hemotoxin was naturally
chosen to impede the hydra’s regeneration at least a little and increase the
damage done with the many blows he inflicted. Would it work with the
shadow? He sure hoped so.
--
“It won’t work with a crafted poison. That would delve into the concept of
creation as it isn’t tied to his soul. If it does somehow apply, the effect
would simply stop working the moment the second version disperses,
resulting in-“ Duskleaf began commenting before shutting up and staring.
“I told you already, didn’t I? Just enjoy the damn show,” the Viper grinned.
--
The poison worked quite nicely. Jake’s clone appeared with a katar also
coated in poison, and Jake had feared the effect would simply stop once the
copy disappeared, but no, it remained. That hammered it home…
everything the clone did to affect the world became a reality.
This made him try to summon Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter and use a
shadow with it already in hand, only to feel sad afterward. That didn’t work,
maybe because it counted as another weapon, and Eternal Hunger was the
only possible one? He also tried some other consumables, like using the
shadow while holding a bottle of poison to throw, but that didn’t work
either. The only-Eternal-Hunger-theory had gotten stronger, though he
hoped it would at least work with two melee weapons once he got his
second katar.
Anyway, all stuff for later. The plan had been for testing to be over, and
even if he kept doing a few, that didn’t mean he hadn’t also upped the
pressure to a new level. He had even hit with Arrow of the Ambitious
Hunter, dealing some serious damage.
By now, the result of the fight was already clear. The hydra was struggling,
and after fighting so long, Jake had a thorough read on everything it did. It
was truly predictable and did not have the intelligence to switch up its
tactics.
The massive hydra was covered in wounds, and after activating the second
fully-charged Arcane Charge from Mark, coupled with all the poison, it was
also in serious pain and struggling to keep up. Without its berserker skill, it
would already have fallen a long time ago.
Jake did encounter one issue here at the finishing line: Crossing the actual
finish line. He knew the hydra was close to death; he knew it was hurt all
over… but it was also more dangerous than ever. Moreover, it regenerated
at an insane speed, making its wounds heal in seconds. The only way to
victory was to do a large burst of damage to finish the beast… and Jake had
just the thing.
Throughout these hours and all this testing, something accumulated and
built up. For hours it pooled and, with his massive Perception, pooled a lot.
It was naturally his Hunting Momentum. Would it work with his shadow?
Jake really had no idea… but fuck did he hope it did.
Jake got ready as he set up the perfect opportunity. Half a minute passed as
Jake kept up the status quo until, finally, a weakness displayed itself. The
hydra had overextended, using both heads to try and catch him out. As it
retracted both, Jake struck.
Momentum welled up from within as he charged. Right as he got close,

both heads attacked again, and Jake reacted with a counter. Two heads, two
targets to respond to… two reactions. Every shred of Hunting Momentum
was consumed as Jake split into two, each stabbing Eternal Hunger toward
one of the two necks of the hydra.
Both exploded in power as Descending Dark Arcane Fang was used,

releasing a torrent of energy as both punched forward. Two heads flew into
the air as one of the Jakes disappeared, and all Hunting Momentum was
consumed. The two heads slammed heavily into the marsh, sending the
water splashing. Jake stood ready for the hydra to do something, but it only
stumbled a bit before falling over into the shallow water, joining its heads.
*You have slain [Two-Headed Hydra of Perennial Consumption – lvl 199]

– Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*
Jake saw the notifications but didn’t pay them much heed. Instead, he
closed his eyes and entered his Soulspace right away. He did not know what
he expected to see, and honestly? What appeared before him was in line
with expectations.
Inside the Soulspace, a singular figure sat with his legs crossed. A shadowy
figure with indistinguishable features, giving off an intense curse aura. Jake
knew… this was sim-Jake… or was it Eternal Hunger? It was both… but…
Shaking his head, Jake finally checked the skill, its name also telling him
what sim-Jake had become. The moment he saw the rarity, he looked at the
shadowy figure.
“We bloody did it, mate.”
[Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter (Mythical)] – Two choices, two

realities, a single soul. A cursed shadow born and sustained by sin. Allows
the Primal Hunter to use his instincts to respond to an enemy. Allows the
Eternal Shadow to use his instincts to respond to an enemy. Both
reactions will manifest at once as two realities are created. Both realities
are real, but the Primal Hunter can choose his own soul’s reality and
manifest it as such. The Eternal Shadow will experience the
consequences of any reality not chosen. Upon activation of Eternal
Shadow of the Primal Hunter, this skill allows both the Eternal Shadow
and the Primal Hunter to embrace the shadows momentarily, vaulting in
any chosen direction. Adds a large bonus to all stats dependent on the
nature of the reaction while using Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter.
Walk forth, Primal Hunter, your shadow forever eternal, waiting to strike.
The description offered little new information Jake had not already learned
himself. Jake did not know what the baseline of a mythical skill was, but
this felt like it hit the mark. It was probably the weirdest skill he had now,
too… besides maybe Path of the Heretic-Chosen.
It was a skill that only Jake could have made and used. It relied on the
concepts of the virtual world, his Bloodline, and shadows. The shadow
aspect was not large, and Jake had also discovered that he didn’t even have
to use the Shadow Vault functionality. In fact, there was rarely a reason to
when he used it to attack. The Records of Shadow Vault had simply been
fodder for the creation of the skill.
Jake was also sure of one thing… this skill was just the beginning. It was a
baseline for what could be. Already now, he saw so many upgrade paths.
All things in due time, Jake thought.
Looking at the Eternal Shadow, Jake simply stared at it. He felt its attention
on him, but he saw nothing he would identify as intelligence. It was a being
of pure instincts but no longer the mere instinct of the chimera. It was not
called the Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter for nothing.
Jake smiled and nodded at the Eternal Shadow, surprisingly getting a nod in
response. His smile turned to a faint smirk. Guess there is a bit more to it.
Next, he turned his attention to everything else. The notification of

something to do with a title gained, the change in Eternal Hunger, the
dungeon coming to an end, and this annoying projection blabbering in the
outside world about how awesome the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was.
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 583 - An Even More
Prodigious Prodigy
Jake reluctantly exited his Soulspace and addressed the projection first. He
was inside a dungeon and wanted to avoid things turning awkward by
suddenly getting teleported out or something. Opening his eyes, the
projection that had been silent for a few seconds after noticing he was
meditating spoke again.
“Honored Chosen, I want to congratulate you on your victory over the Lord
Protector’s image. It was a marvelous display,” it praised in what Jake could
only describe as an ass-licking tone.
He simply nodded at it as he looked at the corpse of the hydra. “It was a

good fight.”
“It pleases me to hear the Chosen enjoyed himself. May I know if the
Chosen intends to battle any of the other projections stored here?”
Jake shook his head. “No, I already know this one was the strongest.
Defeating it should count as a win, right?”
“Indeed, however, defeating all projections will result in the opportunity to

get even better rewards, especially if you face the five strongest,” the
projection offered.
“Not interested,” Jake dismissed. He really didn’t care. It was still a D-

grade dungeon, which meant the most it could offer was D-grade equipment
or crafting material. Jake was at the crux of C-grade and didn’t need any of
it.
“Very well. May your Path lead to the pinnacle, all by the glory of the
Malefic One.”
He just nodded, not wanting to make a snark comment but just get a move
on. He was teleported once more and appeared at the same entrance hall as
before, a treasure chest in the center with the exit right behind him.
Congratulations! You have cleared Dungeon: Order of the Malefic Viper:

D-grade Legends of Old.
Dungeon shutting down in: 00:59:23
It was the fastest dungeon Jake had ever done, mainly by just skipping to
the last boss right away through cheating with his status. But, hey, at least it
also gave a title upgrade, so that was 1 more to all stats…
[Dungeoneer IX] – Successfully clear a Dungeon suitable for your level.

+17 all stats.
Jake looked at the treasure chest but decided to wait a bit and check
everything else out first since he had an hour before he had to be out. The
first thing he wanted to look at was Eternal Hunger.
[Eternal Hunger (Mythical)] – A weapon born of eternal hunger - a living

sin of consumption, forever starving, forever seeking sustenance. Given
form by the [Redacted] Hunter, this new myth still holds properties of its
Origin as a weapon created by vampires from the core of a Chimera,
allowing it to change shape and adapt to the will of its master. Origin has
been further altered by [Redacted], giving birth to the Eternal Shadow of
the [Redacted] Hunter. This weapon is eternally Soulbound to its creator;
their souls are one and the same, making Eternal Hunger indestructible
as long as the Hunter persists. Any attack made with this weapon will
absorb energy from the target. Foes slain by the owner of this weapon will
have their souls absorbed. Can consume absorbed souls. Take pride as
you wield hunger incarnate. Enchantments: Curse of Eternal Hunger.
Souldrinker. Soul Consumption. Eternal Shadow
Requirements: Soulbound
No change in name, it seemed, which kind of made sense. The description
had just gotten longer, with a few more [Redacted] added in there for good
measure. It also specifically mentioned the Eternal Shadow enchantment…
even if it was damn weird to call it an enchantment. It also became clear
that Eternal Hunger was no longer just a mere weapon. It was now tied to
Jake through-and-through, even if the requirement still just called it
Soulbound. Then again, Soulbound was eternal by design, so it made sense
there was no reason to change it.
What had changed was the part saying it was now indestructible. Jake
reckoned this did not mean unbreakable but that it could not be utterly
destroyed like it could before. Destroying Soulbound weapons was damn
hard, but methods did exist in the multiverse. As an example, then Jake
could probably have some craftsman dismantle and “break” his cauldron if
he wanted, and one also had to remember that when he had that vampire
crafter improve his necklace, she was able to modify it. She could even
potentially have destroyed it if she had wanted to.
Jake could also have – in theory – destroyed Eternal Hunger using his
Alchemical Flame before. That would – not in theory – have released the
massive amount of curse energy in a completely uncontrolled state and
probably ruined the solar system or something, but now that wasn’t even an
option.
He didn’t know why he felt a bit sad about that. Oh well.
Next up was something Jake kind of already knew about. He had felt it a bit
during the battle, but now that he had winded down, he truly experienced
the change. His stats had all grown… and the source was obvious. Jake
checked the notification and was a bit surprised to see that while he hadn’t
gotten a new title, one had upgraded.
[Legendary Prodigy] – A true talent standing at the pinnacle of his

generation. Young yet showing promise above even the elders of yore. Due
to your immense accomplishment of creating a legendary skill while still
below D-grade, you have proven yourself a true legendary prodigy. +10
all stats +10% all stats.
-->
[Mythical Prodigy] – A genius ahead of the curve, not even the mythical
eluding him. It feels as if your Path has barely begun, yet you refuse to be
confined to the expectations of your station. Creating a mythical skill
while below C-grade is no easy feat and the achievement of a true myth in
the making. Be proud, affirmed in your Path. +100 all stats +20% all
stats.
Jake read it over and smiled. In reality, it didn’t matter much if it was a new
title or an upgrade to his existing one: the bonus was massive, nevertheless.
90 flat points and 10% more to all stats. Actually, on second thought, not
getting a second title was nice, as that meant this was now his best title,
even beating out the Progenitor one, making it feel like an even bigger
accomplishment.
He was fully aware of how much a title like this mattered. There was some
diminishing return as these percentage titles were all additive, but it still
helped tremendously and was what allowed Jake to fight things so much
stronger than himself – or utterly dominate foes of the same level.
Upgrading it again did seem like an insurmountable task, though.

Especially if Jake had to do it in C-grade. Shit, he didn’t even know what
the next rarity was yet. Either way, that was stuff to think about after he
actually evolved. Who knew? Maybe his last two evolution quests would
stump him?
They wouldn’t. But they could. But not really.
As he was still in all the menus and stuff, Jake decided to take a good look
at this full status – the last time before he made the push to C-grade.
Status
Name: Jake Thayne

Stamina: 16859/58990
Stats
Strength: 5456
Agility: 8744
Endurance: 5899
Vitality: 6824
Toughness: 4929
Wisdom: 8334
Intelligence: 6913
Perception: 15247
Willpower: 6904
Free points: 0

Primordial’s True Blessing], [Dungeoneer IX], [Dungeon Pioneer VI],
[Prodigious Slayer of the Mighty], [Kingslayer], [Nobility: Marquess],
[Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist], [Perfect Evolution
(D-grade)], [Premier Treasure Hunter], [Myth Originator], [Progenitor of
Myriad Paths], [Mythical Prodigy],
Class Skills: [Traditional Hunter’s Tracking (Rare)], [Arcane Stealth
(Rare)], [Superior Stealth Attack (Rare)], [Splitting Arrow Rain (Epic)],
[Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter (Epic)], [Big Game Arcane Hunter (Epic)],
[Archery of Expanding Horizons (Epic)], [Descending Dark Arcane Fang
(Epic)], [Fangs of Man (Ancient)], [Mark of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter
(Ancient)], [Avaricious Arcane Hunter’s Arrows (Ancient)], [Arcane
Powershot (Ancient)], [Moment of the Primal Hunter (Legendary)], [Gaze
of the Apex Hunter (Legendary)], [Steady Focus of the Apex Hunter
(Legendary)], [Arcane Awakening (Legendary)], [One Step, Thousand
Miles (Legendary)], [Relentness Hunt of the Avaricious Arcane Hunter
(Legendary)], [Eternal Shadow of the Primal Hunter(Mythical)]
Profession Skills: [Path of the Heretic-Chosen (Unique)], [Brew Potion

(Common)], [Alchemist’s Purification (Common)], [Alchemical Flame
(Uncommon)], [Craft Elixir (Uncommon)], [Cultivate Toxin (Uncommon)],
[Concoct Poison (Rare)], [Malefic Viper’s Poison (Epic)], [Soul Ritualism
of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist (Ancient)], [Advanced Core Manipulation
(Ancient)], [Blood of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Sagacity of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Sense of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],
[Wings of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Touch of the Malefic Viper
(Legendary)], [Legacy Teachings of the Heretic-Chosen Alchemist
(Legendary)], [Palate of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Pride of the
Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Scales of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)],
[Fangs of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)], [Anomalous Soul of the Heretic-
Chosen (Legendary)]

Man (Unique)], [Identify (Rare)], [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)], [Shroud
of the Primordial (Divine)]
--
There had been massive growth across the board, especially in Wisdom and
Perception, partly for the same reason and partly for different ones. They
shared that he had upgraded skills related to the Malefic Viper giving him
stats in both, but the primary reason for the growth in Wisdom was just the
sheer amount of levels he had in his profession.
Perception had grown because Jake had thrown Free Points into it without
any regard and consumed as many damn elixirs as he could to push the stat
further. Seeing he had over 15000 total now, it was totally worth it. It was a
big number, after all, and big numbers were good.
As for the growth in skills, the profession ones were obviously no surprise,
while he did have some good growth in his class skills too. A few of them
were still a bit lacking, but all good things in due time. Tracking, Arcane
Stealth, and Stealth Attack were his weakest by far, but Jake had confidence
in upgrading them all. Well… besides maybe tracking.
He did consider trying before C-grade, but there really was no need to.
Upgrading them were not vital to Jake’s Path. Maybe some would argue
that things like tracking and stealth were core to the “hunter” archetype, but
Jake was not the type of hunter to track a target for a long time and then kill
it. That was just one aspect of him. His core was that of a fighter able to
hunt those more dangerous than himself, no matter the means.
Jake felt done analyzing his status and closed all the system windows,
finally turning his attention to the final thing in the room. The treasure
chest. It was quite ornate and impressive, making him raise an eyebrow.
Without waiting further, he went over and touched it, only to see it be
replaced with a new chest. Using Identify, he had to admit the reward did
make sense.
[Scales of the Two-Headed Hydra of Perennial Consumption

(Legendary)] – The scales of a peak D-grade Two-Headed Hydra of
Perennial Consumption. These scales retained their durability even after
the death of the beast and have even been improved slightly by the
Records of their former owner. These scales are incredibly durable, and if
they are used as armor will make the equipment near-impenetrable by
physical damage. They are incredibly hard to work with. Due to their
nature, these scales have very limited alchemical applications.
His earlier assessment of this reward not really mattering to him also
proved true. Maybe a really skilled crafter could make these scales into C-
grade equipment, but if that person was skilled enough to do that, then
having them just use actual C-grade materials would be far better.
Not to misunderstand. Had Jake gotten these scales in early or mid-D-grade,

he would have gone and had some armor made right away. As it was now,
they were just something to sell or give to someone he knew who may want
them to experiment with.
In his sphere, the projection appeared once more. Jake turned to it,
prompting it to speak.
“I am aware that the Chosen likely has no need for such a reward, but it is
not I who decide what is given. Nevertheless, you have my apology,” the
projection bowed.
“As you said, not your fault,” Jake waved it off. “Sorry for my earlier
attitude; I was in a rush. Wanted to make a mythical skill before I evolved
to C-grade.”
Jake had kind of hoped to surprise the projection, but it simply nodded. “As
expected of the Malefic’s Chosen. Let me congratulate you on your
evolution, and may your Path lead to divinity.”
“Thanks,” Jake nodded. “I will be off then.”
The projection once more just bowed as Jake went out of the dungeon and
appeared in… yeah, he had no idea where the fuck he was. Villy had swept
him up and brought him away at his own request, and he now found himself
in a hall. The hall was empty, but through his sphere, he saw a lot of people
behind a gate leading into the hall with the dungeon entrance, all of them
looking rather annoyed.
Jake wondered what was going on as a figure appeared beside him, having
noticed Jake staring at the gate. “I took the liberty to seal off the dungeon a
bit ago to make sure you could enter and exit without any annoying
disturbances. The rabble seems displeased by this decision.”
“Understandable,” Jake muttered to the snake god. “But thanks anyway.”
Villy waved him off. “Who cares about them. Anyway, let’s get out of
here.”
Jake found himself teleported again as they appeared back at his own
mansion, right in the living room.
“That forced teleportation is a little unsettling, not gonna lie,” Jake

commented.
“People tend to find it more unsettling when I purposefully choose not to

teleport a part of them. Always funny to see them freak out when I “forget”
a foot,” Villy snickered.
“I would think that was a joke… but I have a strong feeling it isn’t.”
“Nah, but I only do it when they don’t know I am the one teleporting them,
and honestly, I did kind of lie when I said it is always funny… it does get
boring after a bit,” the snake god admitted.
Jake shook his head before flopping down on the sofa, finally allowing
some of the exhaustion from the dungeon to wash over him. He groaned a
bit and looked at the ceiling.
“Snappy was real strong back then,” Jake said. “But… simple. Limited.”
“He was a bit lopsided, yes,” Villy nodded. “Luckily, his C-grade evolution
did him good in the intelligence department. Not that stat, the- ah, you
know what I mean. Anyway, I can promise you that a level 200 Snappy
would have whopped the floor with you, even with that new skill of yours.”
“Any comments on the skill?” Jake asked, rather proud.
“Nope,” Villy answered.
“None at all?” Jake frowned.

“Not a single one. You do you. My guesses or estimations of how exactly it
works and the concepts behind it would only poison your own thoughts and
conclusions. You made something that fundamentally doesn’t make sense,
so for others to try and make sense of it is pointless anyway. All we need to
see and understand is the result, so I can at least comment on that. It is
strong, but it has some flaws I already noticed, ones I assume you did too?”
Villy asked.
“Yeah,” Jake nodded.
“Good. I won’t share what I think are weaknesses either. Again, you made a
skill that is incredibly conceptually complex. All I can say is to keep it up
and see where it can take you. Ah, but you did create a Soulbound weapon
that seems hard to get rid of, huh? And a Sin weapon nonetheless,” Villy
did comment.
“Is that bad?” Jake asked, not really worried.
“No, not at all. What could possibly go wrong with eternally linking your
soul with a cursed weapon? Totally safe and even recommended by nine out
of ten dentists,” the Viper joked.
“Damn. Better go for another cursed weapon then; that should only lead to
a better result!”
“Oh yeah, for sure, because mixing curses inside of your soul is brilliance
itself,” Villy laughed. “In all seriousness, it is probably fine, and as odd as it
seems, having a stronger connection to the Sin weapon may allow you to
control it more easily. The connection with which it will try to control you
is the same one you use to control it. Also, if all goes wrong, you can even
modify it away from being a weapon at some point and transform it into
something else. Worst case, seal it away somewhere until you get strong
enough to separate it from yourself in a soul ritual.”
“Think that will ever be necessary?” Jake asked.
“Maybe, maybe not. It is more likely it will just end up being a weapon you
can use for a long time to come as long as you keep feeding it souls. I
would fear linking a weapon to you like that impacting your Path if it was
anyone else, but I have a feeling you will be fine. Speaking of Path, I
assume you will be heading off back to your planet to evolve? Or do you
want me to point out a nice leveling spot around here?” the Viper asked.
“I will go back to Earth,” Jake nodded. “In fact, I will be going right away. I
have dallied enough in D-grade, especially after my time in the time cha-“
That is when Jake remembered something. The time chamber. He had been
so caught up in everything else happening he had completely forgotten. It
didn’t help that he hadn’t visibly aged at all, even if he knew a long time
had passed. Longer than his time with Shroud for sure… but…
“How… how long was I in there?” Jake asked a bit nervously.
“From your point of view?” Villy asked.
“We can start with that…”
“Eh, around forty years. Congratulations, you managed to double your age
by sitting still.”
“Wha-“ Jake said. He knew it had been long… but that long? His sense of
time had completely slipped away, he could admit that, but it was still far
longer than he had expected. Worse… he was now older than his damn
parents. Which was just bloody weird to think about.
“And… how long in Realtime?”
Villy put on the evilest smile Jake had seen in a while. “Take a guess?”
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 584 - (Mostly) Checked
Off Checklist
Jake knew the question of how long he had been in time dilation was just a
stupid joke, but he still thought about it seriously. The last time he had spent
fourteen years or something in time dilation, and that had translated to a
few months. Would it be more? Jake considered and concluded It couldn’t
be more than half a year, even if that would be a while.
However, he did notice one thing. His token had no new messages left
behind on it. The last time he was in the time chamber, he had gotten some
messages in the meantime, with the messages appearing whenever he
exited. This time he hadn’t gotten any. So, maybe less than three months?
Forty years resulting in three months passing would be a 1-160 dilation,
which seems like… a lot? Was it a lot?
Needless to say, Jake had no way to math it out. But he did have one way to
find out quickly without having Villy tell him.
”How about we make a bet on if I can guess the time? Down to the hour.”
Jake proposed to tease the snake god in turn.
”Oh, interesting? What are we betting?” Villy answered with genuine

curiosity. ”Wait, I know! The loser has to wear an outfit decided by the
other.”
Jake seemed to consider it seriously for a few moments. ”Pictures

allowed?”
”Obviously.”
”Hm… fine,” Jake accepted.
”I am already assuming I lost, so how does my Chosen have a way to

accurately determine Realtime? It tends to be annoying unless you have
system timers, and I don’t think you have any of those, and I already
scanned the mansion for any kind of timing features on the ritual circle,”
the Viper asked curiously. ”Then again, maybe you were bluffing.”
Jake smiled as he spoke up.
”Hey, Duskleaf, how long was I in there?”
The sprout-clone of the alchemist god had been in another room, and Jake
spoke loud enough for him to hear. Not that Jake doubted he would pick up
what Jake said no matter how loud he spoke. As expected, the alchemy god
peeked his head in.
”It was-”
”My dear disciple. Do not answer that.”
Duskleaf looked confused a bit as Jake countered.
”If you tell me, you will get a picture of Villy in an outfit of your own
choosing,” Jake smirked, offering up the opportunity for him to decide.
”If you tell him, I will-”
”Fifty-five days, eleven hours, sixteen minutes, and… seventeen minutes

now,” Duskleaf cut Villy off.
Jake looked at Villy. ”Fifty-five days, eleven hours, and seventeen minutes.
Give or take.”
”This is clearly collusion,” he answered defiantly.
”You never said I couldn’t ask anyone,” Jake defended himself.

”Well, excuse me for not expecting my own disciple to so thoughtlessly
betray me like that. My dear Duskleaf, what have I ever done to you?” Villy
said in an exaggerated hurt tone.
”Left for eras after telling me to make sure the Academy didn’t collapse,
repeatedly refused to work with me on anything, forced me into your own
projects, forced me into helping others I had no interest in, made me take up
the position as Leader in the Academy, is pressuring me to give lessons at
the Academy, stole a lot of the ingredients I had gathered while you were
gone, proceeded to use those materials for your own goals without even
asking, then tried to convince me that I had just misplaced my own
ingredients despite full-well knowing I would ne-”
”Okay, so one or two things, I got it,” Villy raised his hands on defense.
”And, to counter, I would have used my own materials if I had any. Plus,
you know I would repay you for-”
Duskleaf raised an eyebrow.
”Okay, good point. I wouldn’t,” the snake god shrugged. ”Anyway, why the
hell did I even agree to this? And shouldn’t you be getting back to your
little planet already, Jake?”
”This could all have been avoided if you had just given me a straight
answer,” Jake answered with a deadpan expression. ”I would have probably
already been on my way back if you had done that.”
”Yeah, but then I would miss the opportunity to do a dramatic reveal of you
being able to endure a time dilation around 1-265 despite still being in D-
grade,” Villy said in a tone making it sound like Jake should be impressed
or proud.
”…I genuinely have no idea what is considered impressive; you do know

that, right” Jake answered. Did 1-265 sound impressive? Sure it did, but
what was the standard? Considering how time dilation was often only used
for specific things like this or avoided entirely, it wasn’t something he often
heard people talk about. But it sounded like it was above standard, so that
was nice.
”Sometimes I really forget how ignorant you can be… it is almost
impressive. Most people have a hard time even reaching 1-100, while 1-200
is considered really damn good. Anything above that is for chronomancers
who are specialized in time magic and have an incredible affinity for the
concept. They can reach insane levels and practice often, while your
resistance is only due to a few skills,” Villy explained.
”I see,” Jake nodded. Yeah, he didn’t entirely get it. Maybe it was a bit like
adapting to pressure in deep water? He did have Moment and Steady Focus,
though he was not sure if Steady Focus even counted as that skill only
affected his perception of time.
Turning to Duskleaf, Jake smiled. ”Remember to take a picture whenever

you pick out an outfit and send it… I want a nicely framed version if
possible.”
”This is why you’re a heretic, Jake. You care more about some silly bet than
the praise of your Patron. This is downright blasphemous, I tell you!” Villy
said with much indignation.
”I accept such a label with honor,” Jake bowed, also getting a nod of
confirmation from Duskleaf. He did not know what the old alchemist was
planning, but he was looking forward to it.
”Oh yeah, before I forget,” Villy said as he tossed a crystal to Jake.

”Schematics for the new ritual circle to teleport back here while
piggybacking off the main formation the snake made.”
”I had totally forgotten about that. Thanks!” Jake said, saying his goodbyes
for real.
Having nothing more to do in the Order, Jake decided not to dally. Meira
was gone for a lesson, so he couldn’t say goodbye to her, and he quite
frankly had no idea where Scarlett even was. He considered contacting Irin
to ask about her but decided not to. Maybe being apart from Jake for a bit
was a good thing? It had only been a few months anyway, and if something
bad had happened, he was sure Irin would have told him anyway.
With that in mind, Jake left the Order relatively shortly after getting there.
Well, in actuality, he had been there for over forty years, but thinking about
time passing in time dilation only made Jake feel weird, so he didn’t really
count it.
His checklist of things before C-grade had been mostly finished, and there
was only one point left:
Actually evolve to C-grade.
Scarlett had been worried about joining the Order from the get-go. Not
about if she could join, but if it was okay for her to join. She didn’t know
anything about the Order, and she wasn’t even that strong yet, plus she
didn’t know how to do any alchemy and, in all honesty, had no interest in
the subject. She honed her own personal venom through the consumption of
certain natural treasures and practice, and that was all she needed.
Getting taken to the assessment dungeon by that… woman didn’t help

either. Scarlett had no idea who that demoness had been and hadn’t liked
her at all from the very moment she saw her. She was weak, even for a C-
grade, and it was clear she wasn’t a fighter at all. Yet she dared act towards
the Chosen like that… Scarlett didn’t like it. At least she still didn’t go too
far, and after spending some time with her, maybe she wasn’t that bad. Irin
was also pretty helpful and told Scarlett a lot about the Order and gladly
guided her around.
Irin had led her to a new area through many of the teleportation gates
spread around until they reached a dungeon entrance with many other
people.
”Due to recent events, I have gotten quite the promotion and am able to
handle everything related to your enrollment personally. As you are not
joining the Academy, there is not really an assessment per-se, more just a
dungeon that has to be passed. Do note that this particular C-grade dungeon
is capable of handling both groups or individuals, and you are free to
choose how you want to be assessed. There are always individuals looking
for someone to enter with, and I won’t mince words: you getting a party is
easy as pie with your Blessing,” Irin explained.
Scarlett thought for a while. ”I want to do it with a group.”
She didn’t know anyone in the Order, and she was still oblivious to the
power level outside of her own planet. Entering with others would allow her
insight into the general power level of those wanting to join, and with Irin
helping her, she could hopefully get a group of people considered above
average.
An assessment that proved true less than an hour later as she stood in a full
group of five. It consisted of a party of three dragonkin with rather diluted
blood who were already a group before this. The last member was
individual who had come alone. Scarlett and the other individual were the
only beasts, the other one some kind of mammal-like beast who had taken a
very hairy human form.
The group was more than happy to have Scarlett join, but as they left, Irin
had given a warning.
”Take care, I am not getting good vibes from those dragonkin.”
Scarlett took the warning to heart, though she was not overly worried. Their
levels were all rather high, though, all firmly in mid-C-grade.
[Dragonkin – lvl 274]
[Venomtongue Alstmaw Alpha – lvl 297]
And finally, there was herself.
[Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake – lvl 285]

As enlightened species, the three dragonkin all had classes, with herself and
the Alstmaw being beasts. This was when Scarlett encountered something
unexpected she had not seen coming from the Order of the Malefic Viper –
or people wanting to join it.
These three dragonkin looked down on herself and the Alstmaw, only
allowing them to join because Scarlett had a Blessing and the Alstmaw was
nearly at the peak of mid-C-grade, which was the highest one could be for
this test dungeon. All three were clearly proud of their draconic heritage,
despite their blood being so thin, their True Dragon ancestor no doubt many
generations removed from all of them.
Perhaps what came next should not have come as a surprise…
The fighting in the dungeon had been too easy, according to Scarlett, and
the dragonkin party happily did most of the work while forcing the
Alstmaw to act as a tank and had Scarlett designated as ”rear support”
despite not having any support skills. She didn’t even have to reveal her
true form but had just stayed humanoid the entire time. When they reached
the end of the dungeon, signifying they would be allowed to join, it was
time for loot distribution… which was just three items. Two natural
treasures of a highly toxic nature as well as a spear of epic rarity.
”Unfortunate. We of the Grehalstrom tribe will naturally have first picks of

the bounty, and it appears there is not enough for anyone, but us,” the leader
of the dragonkin said as he sneered at the Alstmaw before looking at
Scarlett.
”Though I guess an exception can be made, and we can allow you one,
snake,” he said with a smile turning to Scarlett. ”I will even offer you the
honor of joining our group. With your Blessing, it should make things a bit
easier, and my father has bothered me about taking more mistresses to sire
more children, so you will-”
And that was the moment Scarlett reconsidered if going into the dungeon
was a good idea. She had hoped to make a better first expression, but
sometimes things just didn’t pan out. The dragonkin had thought
themselves powerful, not realizing one of the basic strategies of any good
ambush predator. Considering what made snake’s so dangerous.
Their ability to strike instantaneously and decisively.
The first one barely had time to react as Scarlett assumed her true form
instantly. It was the healer, and she knew finishing off her opponent swiftly
was important, hence why she went all-out right away. Surprisingly, the
Alstmaw reacted only a second after her, going for one of the other two.
Scarlett injected a dose of neurotoxin into the healer, making him unable to
properly react to the following dozen or so rapid bites, ripping his body to
pieces. The Alstmaw turned far larger than before, looking like a bear
walking on two legs with a far too large mouth. He was decently strong, but
Scarlett still found him lacking.
A slaughter commenced. The three dragonkin looked astonished that the

beasts had even dared to attack, and one of them even screamed for the
projection in charge of the dungeon to offer assistance. Only to be met by
silence and the fangs of a superior predator. The begging of the leader had
been pleasant, too, as his body slowly rotted away.
After the fighting, she regarded that rather injured Alstmaw as she resumed
her humanoid form. She preferred it and wanted to get used to it, even if she
knew her snake form would forever be her most powerful state. The
Alstmaw looked at her and the corpses. Scarlett picked up a severed limb
and took a quick bite before spitting it out.
The other beast took this as a go-head as he proceeded to consume all three
corpses with quite a gusto. They didn’t even taste good, and Scarlett left for
the exit, with the Alstmaw coming a bit later. They got a natural treasure for
each of them, and a spear none of them knew what to do with. Scarlett had
got it in trade for the corpses in the end, even if she didn’t really want it.
”I thank the mistress for her assistance and mercy,” the Alstmaw said after
they reached the exit, also back in his way too hairy humanoid form.
Despite over a week in the dungeon, no names had been exchanged, outside
of those dragonkin yelling about their clan all the time. There simply had
been no reason to.
”It’s fine?” Scarlett said. She and the Alstmaw were not enemies, and she
saw no reason to attack him.
”Does the mistress think we will still be allowed to join the Order after
killing those three? The rules state killing other members of the Order isn’t
allowed…”
That is when Scarlett learned that she could get better at listening to things,
as she came to know that the three of them had been members of the Order
of the Malefic Viper for over a century already and were all three part of a
small dragon clan with a B-grade True Dragon leader.
And also the day she learned how insignificant rules and some dragon
family was for someone brought to the Order by the Forefather’s Chosen.
Jake appeared back on Earth at the Mangrove circle. Old Grumpy was also
there down a tunnel, and Jake flew by and informed him that Scarlett was
still doing stuff at the Order before he headed off. He considered getting a
second katar as he was about to do some hunting but decided not to. He
wouldn’t need it.
As for what he wanted to hunt? He considered going for the termites, but
honestly, he couldn’t be arsed to go into all those tunnels again after just
spending so long cooped up. That frost wyvern was also out of the question
as, quite frankly, Jake didn’t think he could beat it.
So, Jake decided to finally explore the forest Haven was placed in the
outskirts of. Properly this time. He had been interested to see what was at
the core for a while, and now seemed like a perfect chance to check it out
and finally tick off that final subject on his checklist.
A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!


Chapter 585 - A Whale of a Time
Jake’s plans were spoiled right from the beginning. His nemesis reared its
head the moment Jake returned to Haven: politics. More accurately, Jake
was being asked to do political stuff in the form of going to greet a whale
that had made it to the edge of the ocean quite a bit away, right at the border
of where C-grades could go. It was annoying, but it appeared only Jake
could ”invite” C-grades into the safe areas, so he had to go himself.
Miranda, who had been waiting in his damn lodge to ambush him after
being tipped off by her evil witch Patrons, filled him in on all this. It had
been decided to have the Sky Whale join as the last member of the council,
and from the sounds of it, there were already positive relationships with the
ocean-based faction the whale led being established. So, overall, a good
choice from the sound of it.
”Just to tell you, Sultan has already gone and talked to the whale about the
time it arrived,” she informed him.
”Sultan?” Jake said, remembering the shady merchant. He hadn’t talked to

the guy since before the Ell’Hakan invasion. Shit, he had barely heard about
what he was up to, which was a rarity as he usually didn’t keep a low
profile.
”What did Sultan do during the invasion, by the way?” Jake asked Miranda.
”And what about afterward?”
Miranda got a smile of pure schadenfreude. ”Sultan stayed back in Haven

after being contacted by members of the United City Alliance who had tried
to convince him to switch sides. By the time we hid away due to the attack,
he was already separated… and then Ell’Hakan got to him. From what I can
gather, he never actually gave the nahoom anything, but he did help him by
giving out information and willingly trading with him. After Ell’Hakan was
gone and he began to realize how much he had fucked up, Sultan stayed
away from you on purpose because he was afraid of what you would do,
and he even tried to bribe me to put in a good word. I said yes to this
request, by the way, which helped quite a bit as the city funds are doing
well. On a serious note, I really don’t care what he did. He told me himself
that Ell’Hakan made him think that he had to trade freely with both Chosen
to make it a fair fight or something and that you would even be angry if he
refused, as that would lessen the challenge. Something I honestly cannot
fault him for as I could see you get mad over someone making life easier
for you.”
”Huh,” Jake said. Well, that explained why the guy had avoided Jake
altogether. ”So, you’re good with him?”
”He has been easier to work with since then. Though it has driven him to
pursue more business ventures to try and make up for the losses he suffered
by giving more back to Haven, and he is also actively leveraging the new
position of Haven and the council,” Miranda answered. ”So, he is still the
same slimy merchant as before, but one who feels like he owes us a major
debt. And he does not strike me as the type to not honor debts.”
Jake shrugged. ”I never even knew he ”betrayed” me. Not even sure it was
a betrayal? We just agreed that he could trade out of Haven, not that he
would swear loyalty to me. So, yeah, I don’t care, either.”
Miranda nodded. ”He will probably be relieved to hear that. Ah, but don’t
actually tell him; I like it when he squirms.”
”I am beginning to worry about the influence of those witches,” Jake

muttered.
”Power brings out the worst in people,” Miranda smiled in response. ”Now
be off. The whale has been waiting for over two weeks already. A patient
monster, that one.”
Jake headed off a bit after that, wondering on the way why Villy hadn’t
mentioned he had contacted that Karroch dude while Jake was in the time
chamber. Then again, maybe the god didn’t really think it important?
Getting to the ocean was also a lot easier than it used to be. Teleportation
gates were now properly established once more. In fact, the new ones were
better, and with the elimination of most factions on Earth, there was less red
tape and more cooperation to get the network up and running as fast and
efficiently as possible.
All this led to Jake making it to an ocean town within only an hour of
leaving Haven. Despite having been away for nearly two months, nothing
special had happened back on his home planet besides more developments
in cities. Beast tides had stopped, faction wars had died down, and while
there was still some unhealthy competition here and there, it was nothing
outrageous.
Another thing that had improved was also his mask. The cracks were pretty
much gone by now, with only a few minor fractures left on it. This meant
the King was likely also close to fully healed… which also meant the
Unique Lifeform was probably sitting impatiently and annoyed, waiting for
Jake to get on with his evolution.
Anyway, back in the ocean town, Jake instantly noticed the buzzing crowd
and armies of people moving boxes from the harbor. People holding
shareable spatial storages ran back and forth and teleported away, using the
surprisingly big teleportation venue.
Walking through the city, Jake only stopped once because he saw a woman
selling ice cream, but otherwise made his way down to the epicenter of
activity at a good pace. From afar, he saw that a long floating pier had been
constructed, stretching several kilometers into the vast ocean with several
large sea creatures flocking around the end of it.
When he got closer, he finally saw someone familiar. Close to the shore, a
floating ship was docked with a large tent placed in front of it. Sultan was
within, along with a dozen other people Jake assumed to be merchants,
clearly hard at work and discussing something.
Jake decided to just walk in on them, still carrying his ice cream that didn’t
seem to be melting at all. Truly a marvel of magic, rivaling his newly
created mythical skill.
Sultan turned and seemed ready to yell when Jake entered but instantly shut
up as his eyes turned wide. ”Ah… Lord Thayne… you’re back.”
This was the most nervous Jake had seen him, and Jake had to admit:
Miranda had a point. Watching him squirm was pretty satisfying.
”I am,” Jake said, menacingly taking a lick of his ice cream. ”I see you are
doing well for yourself. Trading with the ocean creatures relying on their
leader, the Sky Whale, I assume?”
”Ah, yes, the Chosen is indeed correct,” the merchant nodded. ”I

entertained our guest while waiting for your arrival, and-”
”And made a lot of money doing it. I don’t doubt an entire faction filled
with C-grade ocean-bound creatures is a good trading partner and can offer
materials far better than nearly anyone else can get,” Jake pointed out.
”Naturally, the new world government and the Chosen shall benefit from all
this,” Sultan answered, not at all disagreeing, though seeming a bit more
reassured by Jake not caving his face in right away. ”I believe Lord Thayne
has come for the Sky Whale? He is residing on a small island about a
hundred kilometers off the shore, directly ahead of the pier.”
Jake looked at Sultan one final time. ”We will talk later then.”
He left with those words, Sultan looking a bit worried behind him. Jake
didn’t actually know if he would talk to Sultan again anytime soon; he just
wanted to spook the guy.
After getting his priorities straight and sitting on a bench while finishing his
ice cream, Jake headed off toward the island. He summoned his wings and
repeatedly used One Step as he teleported across the surface of the water,
quickly seeing the island in question.
It was small, only about five hundred meters in diameter, and with only a
few simplistic wooden structures on it. Jake felt the aura of the C-grade in
question, along with several other C-grades, as he got closer. Soon, he
turned his attention to a wooden pavilion close to the shore.
There, he saw the whale of the hour, though he didn’t currently look like a
whale. He was a large, nearly two-and-a-half-meter-tall humanoid man-
thing with blue skin and a bald head. There didn’t appear to be a single
trace of hair anywhere on his body, and to only call him obese would be a
compliment.
[Sky Whale - ???]
The humanoid form was not super refined, but it rarely was. Scarlett was
the only C-grade Jake had seen truly care that much about the Polymorph
skill, as most just went for a useable form, not caring that much about
aesthetics and actually looking human.
Jake flew over and landed in front of the pavilion, having the attention of
the humanoid figures sitting there turn to him. There were even a few actual
humans among them. More merchants, from the looks of it.
”My Lord, you have made it,” the Sky Whale said as he stood up and
nodded. Jake was glad he didn’t bow, as that would have looked very silly.
”I apologize for the delay; I was occupied elsewhere. I take it you have
already been filled in about the council?” Jake asked to make sure.
”I have, and it would be an honor to join,” the Sky Whale smiled. ”We of
the ocean also wish for a peaceful and mutually beneficial relationship
between ourselves and humanity going forward, as conflict will benefit
neither of us.”
Jake nodded and did his World Leader stuff. First, he allowed the Sky
Whale to go where it pleased, also including the other C-grades in the
pavilion after making sure they were all part of the whale’s faction, before
finally giving the Sky Whale the official title of Minister.
”I will do my utmost to live up to expectations,” the whale said very
politely. ”My Patron and I both thank you for the magnanimous attitude you
have shown toward us.”
”Glad to have you aboard,” Jake answered with a smile. ”If there is nothing
else, I shall leave you all to your matters.”
”Ah, there is one thing,” the Sky Whale said. ”I am certain the Chosen also
knows of the approaching Prima Guardian, and I have a warning… I do not
think we will be able to assist the Chosen in this matter. We who have
grown from Unique treasures will be unable to fight the Primas but only
have the choice between joining them or not engaging at all. An innate
restriciton of sorts, that will apply until a victor has been decided between it
and the enlightened of Earth.”
Jake was a bit surprised at hearing this but just shrugged. ”It shouldn’t
matter either way. I think we got it handled.”
In fact, it was good news for Jake. Fewer people to share the fun with,
leaving more for him. It also strengthened his belief in what the purpose of
this Prima Guardian test was all about… it was to decide whether the planet
would be controlled by the enlightened or monsters. It was common for an
antagonistic relationship between these two groups, and Earth was a bit of
an outlier in that area, with monsters and humans working together.
”I will be off then,” Jake said after a bit more chatter. He was a bit in a
hurry, partly because he wanted that evolution and partly because he saw
the gazes of the merchants all seemingly looking for an opening to take
advantage of him.
The Sky Whale waved as Jake flew off back to the harbor town. A few
teleports and a bit of flying later, Jake was back in Haven again. Without
further delay, he headed into the forest, bow in hand. It was time for some
good old hunting before he could finally evolve.
Running between the trees felt oddly nostalgic, reminding Jake of after he
had just evolved to D-grade. When he thought about it further, he had
barely bothered to explore this forest, the family of hawks having spent far
more time in there.
Passing through the areas the monkeys had been living in didn’t take long;
Jake honed in on where he felt the subtle C-grade auras from the get-go.
The levels of the D-grades grew the deeper in he got, as the trees also grew
in height and power. The area itself infused them with far more energy
there, Jake getting the feeling he soon wouldn’t be able to easily break any
of them.
Jake knew that while his forest had C-grades, it wasn’t a major hub. It was
more like the Grand Mangrove River in that it had a limited number,
perhaps no more than a hundred C-grades total. It was the kind of area
where a single alpha would take over the area sooner or later – if it hadn’t
happened already.
However, the forest was different from the Mangrove in that it didn’t
connect to the ocean even if it bordered the shoreline, still allowing C-
grades to come and go. The strongest creatures on Earth Jake had
encountered were either air or water-based monsters, and while it was
possible powerful land-based ones could exist on the other continents, Jake
was confident there weren’t any here in his backyard.
Soon, Jake felt the environment shift, and he knew he had entered the
domain of C-grades. Powerful D-grades were still in the area, most of them
at or near the peak, and none of them of any interest to Jake. Making his
way past all of them, Jake spread out his senses, searching for an enemy
worth facing. One area gave off a stronger aura than anywhere else. In fact,
Jake got the feeling there was something going on.
Activating Arcane Stealth, Jake got stealthy as he sneaked toward the center
of the forest. On the way, he did see a few beasts that had barely reached C-
grade, all of them, surprisingly enough, running away from where he was
going. One of them did seem to spot Jake but ignored him and just kept
running, making Jake all the more curious.
Flying upwards to get a good vantage point to see what was ahead, Jake
soon found a good place. From there, he could barely see a clearing in
between all the trees, nearly twenty kilometers away. Movement. Light.
Something appeared to be on fire too.
He moved closer, realizing that whatever was going on meant they likely
wouldn’t pay Jake much mind. So, a few minutes later, he finally got a good
look at things and… damn. It looked like Jake had stumbled in on quite the
ongoing fight. Or maybe this was something that happened regularly.
On one side – with the defenders – was a tree nearly a hundred meters tall.
It gave off an odd white light and looked a bit strange with a thick trunk and
barely any canopy, but it gave off a powerful aura. It was dwarfed by all the
other trees around it, but it was the largest of the combatants. Because, yes,
it was a combatant.
[Ethgleam Mothertree – lvl ???]
A soul tree of some kind. Jake moved his eyes off the thing, feeling that
merely looking at it could cause some annoying soul magic stuff. As for its
level? Less than 220, but it was a decent variant. Its name Mothertree also
made sense when Jake looked at its helpers.
[Ethgleam Elderbark Treant – lvl ???]
[Ethgleam Elderbark Treant – lvl ???]
There were only two of them, but they were huge hulking treants that were
both conjuring huge balls of wood before throwing them towards their
attackers.
Bears.
Big fire bears.
[Fireheart Ursine Den Mother – lvl ???]
[Fireheart Ursine Den Protector – lvl ???]
[Fireheart Ursine – lvl ???]

All of them were large black bears, the Den Protector and Den Mother the
largest, with the normal ones about a fifth smaller. All of them were still
around ten meters tall when on all fours, with the Mother and Protector
sitting at around a dozen meters.
These bears were all spewing fire toward the tree, a barrier of magic
blocking most while letting the treants throw out their big root balls. The
more Jake looked, the more sure he became that this was not some battle to
end all battles but more just the two groups each testing each other. Perhaps
a regular thing they had going on.
Jake shook his head as he looked. It would be a shame for a third party to
decide to mess up this beautiful balance of power, wouldn’t it?
Then again, who doesn’t love a good threeway?
A note from Zogarth
Thanks for reading!


Chapter 586 - Soul Tree & Fire
Bears
While it was true Jake usually didn’t like to get involved in the fights of
others, he didn’t really count this one. They were barely fighting but just
throwing stuff at each other, accomplishing nothing. What did the bears
hope for? That the big tree would run out of energy? They had a limited
time to be there from the looks of it as the tree gave off a constant aura
slowly wearing them down, and coupled with the thrown root balls, they
could end up getting hurt unless they left at some point.
In some ways, looking at it annoyed Jake. Neither side was willing to take
any risks but just tried to play it slow and safe. Suddenly it made a lot more
sense why none of these beasts had managed to properly progress in C-
grade with so long passing… they were slacking off.
It honestly was an excellent area for beasts. The passive mana alone would
allow most to grow into C-grade if they managed to form a den and
properly absorb it for long enough. The problem, as always, was the
quantity of this energy. It was well-known that it was limited, and if one
packed an entire group of beasts into the area and had them all absorb it, the
environment would be unable to keep up. This was why singular, powerful
beasts often claimed large areas for themselves to monopolize the energy
allowing them to grow. The source of this energy seemed to often be a
natural treasure, or maybe it simply came from the land itself, though Jake
was honestly not sure. Probably a natural formation formed by a concept
that appeared exclusive to the system.
The area Jake was in currently was more akin to the peak of the mountain
that the Frost Wyvern was in than the vast ocean and the open skies. It was
a small alcove of dense energy, but there was not enough to sustain many
monsters. That was probably also why none of these monsters had grown
much despite having been there since around when Jake returned from the
Tutorial. They had to share the energy between too many individuals, and
they didn’t make up for this lack of energy by hunting for more experience
points.
Okay, Jake could maybe excuse the Ethgleam Mothertree for not moving
about and hunting down other beasts, but the bears were just damn cowards.
Jake considered his approach as he looked at the bears, still throwing their
weak attacks at the seemingly impenetrable barrier.
Should he break the barrier to spur on the bears? Attack the bears to make
the tree try and take advantage of the opening? Stay and keep a look at the
situation until either side decides to retreat and ambush them when they try
to leave?
Or, the most fun option, rain down destruction on the entire area and create
some chaos?
It naturally wasn’t even a question as Jake flew up and stared down from
above. Sadly, he could not do a big barrage as there were trees and stuff in
the way, but he could do a bit of arrow rain.
Nocking an arrow, Jake took aim. He released it quickly before nocking

another and firing it immediately. Both arrows curved around any obstacles
before splitting once they had a clear line to their targets.
Neither side of the warring monsters below had expected his arrival. The
bears were taken by surprise as destructive arrows exploded in the midst of
them, while the tree’s barrier was impacted hard by dozens of explosions
too.
Both sides stopped what they were doing for a moment, neither hurt by the
relatively weak attack, but the bears sure looked stunned. The tree didn’t
really have any facial expressions to read. Jake smiled to himself and flew
below the canopy of some of the trees, his stealth disabled and his aura
flaring. The attention of the many creatures below landed on him as Jake
smiled.
”Ladies, gentlemen, bears, and trees. Pleased to make your acquaintance,”
Jake spoke, his smile deepening, knowing the monsters understood him.
”Now, let’s decide who gets to claim this forest as their own, once and for
all.”
They seemed confused for a moment before, surprisingly enough, a voice

came from the large Den Mother below. ”How dare a mere D-grade come
here and-”
Jake activated Arcane Awakening in its destructive state, his body

overflowing with arcane energy. ”I didn’t come for a talk but a fight.”
”Human of the city on the edge, may I offer alliance of benefit?” he, even
more surprisingly, heard from the tree. The telepathic message also included
an explanation of some sort. It showed Jake the tree able to influence
weaker beasts and monsters and allow them to give memories, showed the
tree knowing of Haven, and guessed Jake was from there. Finally, the tree
wanted to trade and work with humans.
He wanted to just reject both and get fighting but ended up sighing. Should
he agree? A soul tree had to be helpful if it was telling the truth-
”Begone, you pathetic creature, or be consumed by the fires of-” the Den
Mother spoke again, Jake making up his mind.
”Sure, but they are all mine, so don’t get in my way, and if you change your
mind and want to fight to the death afterward, I am up for it,” Jake
answered the tree as he turned his attention to the bears. He saw some of
them were charging up some kind of energy to attack him, just waiting for
an opening.
”I feel thee soul, powerful human; I desire no fight,” the tree simply
answered, having quite the Perception for a tree to get such a good read on
Jake’s aura and soul. Jake knew at that moment that an alliance was more
than possible, as any tree with a high Perception stat had to be a good tree.
It was just science.
It was only a bit disappointing, but Jake guessed the bears would have to
make do. Six C-grades, two variants, and four weak beasts who had barely
reached their grade. Looking down at them, he knew that the only reason
they hadn’t attacked yet was because of the soul tree. Perhaps they feared
getting distracted with killing Jake would leave an opening. In fact, their
attention was barely on him… proving these bears had shit-tier Perception
and were thus bad bears.
Let’s stop delaying, Jake thought as he nocked another arrow and took aim.
Drawing back the string, time seemed to slow down as Steady Aim
activated, and the arcane energy began to build up. The bears below seemed
to finally pay him more heed as the intensity of energy grew, and the Den
Mother roared as two of the Fireheart Ursines released two beams of highly
condensed fire.
Jake let go of the string as Arcane Powershot barreled down. The beams of
fire were utterly repelled as the arrow struck true, hitting one of the bears
straight in the mouth. An explosion of energy from the Powershot alone
sent the bear flying back, the attack having torn off a large part of its mouth
and heavily injured its entire face. Sadly, the beast was far from dead as it
quickly got up.
Now, finally, the bears paid him full attention… and reacted by performing
a strategic retreat, also called running the fuck away.
“Oh no, you don’t,” Jake muttered to himself as the beasts began running.
He nocked another arrow and released it, hitting one of the running bears.
Flapping his wings, Jake gave chase while repeatedly firing arrows,
focusing on the same C-grade he hit earlier.
Jake had really hoped for a good fight before evolving but grit his teeth as
he found everything so far just annoying and insulting. At least the termites
would have fought him properly, making him reconsider if those tunnels
were really that bad.
Then, something happened that made Jake’s eyes shoot open. He chased the
bears into a denser area of trees, forcing him to fly lower to allow him a
clear line of sight. The moment he went in between two large trees, he felt a
sense of danger from both sides, making him quickly step down and
teleport backward. Just in time too.
Two massive explosions rocked the area he had just been in, two trees
entirely consumed by flames. At the same time, six blasts of flames came
towards him from the directions the bears had run, all beasts having turned
around in a coordinated motion.
Once more, he was forced to dodge as the entire forest around him set
ablaze from the massive attack. Jake was still flying downwards as two
bears came flying towards him, their bodies both burning. It was two of the
normal C-grades, but a C-grade was still a C-grade.
The first one swept its massive claw upwards as the ground was torn up
from the swipe. All the rock it pulled up turned red as a torrent of lava
headed towards Jake, with the second bear going straight for Jake.
It was a good attack.
Unfortunately for them…
Jake charged straight toward the bear going for him. His body turned
shadowy as he punched forward, Eternal Hunger appearing in his hand. At
the same time, he dodged to the side. The bear smashed into a shadowy
version of Jake, the impact sending the bear flying back in a large explosion
of mixed dark and fiery energy that would also have severely hurt Jake. If it
had been the real him.
The Eternal Shadow dispersed as Jake moved to the side while pulling out
his bow, firing a barrage of arrows, not toward the bear he had just struck,
but at the four preparing another attack in the distance. All of them seemed
confused by two versions of him appearing, making the bear he had aimed
at not react as its already torn-up face was injured even further by six
condensed explosive arrows.
Below him, the second bear on the attack tried to follow up its own lava
swipe but instead found itself freezing up as Jake glanced its way right at he
stepped down. Jake appeared right in front of the bear’s face as he stabbed
Eternal Hunger forward right into its skull.
To penetrate the skull of a C-grade while in D-grade would usually take an

extremely high level of skill or an insane Strength stat… or an overpowered
Mythical weapon.
The katar penetrated deep as Fangs of the Malefic Viper pumped venom
into the bear. He grinned a bit at how the skull of a C-grade bear felt less
durable than the scales of a peak D-grade hydra but didn’t have much time
to ponder on this as the bears in the distance finally seemed to realize the
gravity of the situation.
Jake let go of Eternal Hunger- still embedded in the bear – as he moved

around the beast to dodge its attempt to retaliate. Planting both his hands
firmly on its hide, Jake began pumping in poison with Touch of the Malefic
Viper.
Once more, the disadvantage of a large body was made apparent. The bear
tried to get Jake off, but he easily dodged its repeated attacks as toxicity
built up within the beast. It was only when the other bears arrived Jake was
forced to retreat.
Eternal Hunger was still stuck in the bear even as he went away, and Jake
could only grin as one of his theories had been proven correct. Fangs of the
Malefic Viper made the weapon appear as if part of his Soulshape. Recent
events had made the weapon far more intimate to Jake. The end result?
Fangs of the Malefic Viper remaining active despite Jake no longer

physically touching the weapon. It kept on forming poison on its form like
usual, though Jake did notice the constant upkeep having increased and a
strain on his mental energy. Nevertheless, it was effective. Something the
bear clearly noticed as it tried to get the weapon out of its brain.
It was firmly stabbed in there, and with its large paws, the bear had no way
to get it out by itself, meaning it needed help. Jake was sure any of the
others could tear out Eternal Hunger. If Jake let them, that is.
Jake went straight for the five other bears, who were now fully engaged in
the fight. His attention was on the Den Mother and Den Protector from the
beginning, as they were clearly superior variants. Cowardly variants from
the looks of it, but variants nonetheless.
At close range, Jake shot several Splitting Arrows primarily to cause chaos
as he allowed his wings to pump out poison mist. The bears seemed to care
more about killing Jake than helping their comrade, not realizing the folly
of their actions.
He easily dodged the first few bears who got close, their attacks big,
powerful, showy, but so, so slow. Jake outclassed them all in Agility, no
question about it, even with the boost evolving to C-grade had given the
bears. In fact, Jake no doubt had more raw stats than all of the bears. It
wasn’t only the stat disparity that made fighting between grades more
difficult – it was as much the disparity in the effectiveness of stats. Every
evolution made every stat point matter more, after all.
But this disparity was overcome as Jake engaged not one but five bears in
direct combat. With Eternal Hunger preoccupied killing a bear by itself,
Jake only had his bow and bare hands. Getting distance between himself
and the bears would probably be best, but he wanted to keep them all
occupied, so he stayed in the middle of them as he finally got the chance to
apply something that had not been feasible against the hydra.
Bows were ranged weapons, yes. However, that did not make them only
useable as range weapons. In fact, Jake had learned from his sparring with
sim-Jake that an Arcane Powershot straight to the face from a few
centimeters away was quite effective.
Effective versus sim-Jake… and Fireheart Ursines. A bear was blasted in

the side of its belly as it was sent flying right as the Den Mother went for
Jake. He stepped down and teleported over to another bear. The Den
Protector came next, and Jake smirked as he grabbed the pelt of the bear he
had teleported to and, to the horror of the group of beasts, swung it straight
into the paw of the Den Protector, tearing off a considerable swat of flesh.
Just as he prepared to follow up, the ground beneath his feet rumbled, and
Jake was forced to jump back to avoid a spout of lava from beneath.
Looking to the side, he saw the bear whose face he had nearly torn off
earlier with both paws on the ground, infusing it with fiery energy as it
looked like red veins spread throughout the forest.
Finding openings was a challenge, but the longer the fight dragged on, the
greater Jake’s advantage became as he landed blows left and right. The
large bears had some level of cooperation, but Jake was just too tricky of a
target, and they clearly had no experience fighting someone his size. In fact,
the one who had taken the most damage from their fight was the forest
itself.
The flames all around him also intensified with time as it looked like the
entire forest had been set aflame. Jake cared little as he knew it had little
chance to spread, and besides… the fire would lose most of its energy once
all the bears died.
Speaking of which, a certain bear still hadn’t managed to get Eternal

Hunger out of its skull. It had tried valiantly, but in the end, it was just a
weak beast barely at C-grade.
*You have slain [Fireheart Ursine – lvl 203] – Bonus experience earned
Jake smiled as the bear behind him finally collapsed from the constant
poison pumping its body. With the death of the beast, its Soulspace and
Soulshape also ceased to be, meaning Eternal Hunger was no longer
considered inside a creature, so…
The Den Mother, enraged at Jake for killing what he assumed to be its cub,
released a giant wave of flames as it shot forward to try and bite down on
him. With a smirk, Jake met it head-on as Eternal Hunger was once more
summoned, and his Eternal Shadow appeared to face the Den Mother as
Jake dodged back and pulled out his bow to aim toward the most injured
bear.
His arrows struck true as the enraged Den Mother and Den Protector both
tried to desperately kill him. Explosions able to destroy minor towns began
to be released as they attempted to simply destroy the entire area, hoping to
catch out Jake in the midst of it.
Sadly for them, dark green scales had already covered his entire body. All
the explosions managed to do was force Jake away before he landed on a
flaming branch on a tree that had been burning for several minutes already,
yet it still stood strong.
He stared down at the angry bears and saw the rage in their eyes. The
intelligence he had seen earlier was gone, and all he now faced were
monsters relying solely on their bestial instincts. Jake shook his head to
himself as he decided to get fully serious, activating Arcane Awakening at
max power.
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The Primal Hunter

Original STUB LitRPG Progression Anti-

Book 1 now available on Kindle, Kindle Unlimited & Audible

Average chapter length: 2500

“What do you want?”

“So, we voting for it?” Jake asked

“I believe that would be the wisest,” Miranda nodded.

“I only heard that he would abstain… Jake, what exactly is your

“Yeah?” Jake said.

“How long after?”

“Great Famine?” Jake asked, a bit confused. He hadn’t heard of this.

“You know, whenever everyone suddenly began to become gluttonous,”

“Would it be possible to reinstate those weekly meetings?” Jake finally

“Unusual Unions?” he quickly asked.

The vote for Paths has concluded!

Quest Received: The Call of the Exalted Prima

As the world progresses, the Prima Watcher of Earth has been

Objective: Obtain a Key of the Exalted Prima by combining three Key

Current progress: 2/3 Key Fragments of the Exalted Prima

Well then, I guess Prima hunting season just started.

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“Speaking of options,” Jake said as he removed the isolation around their

“This is a blatant attempt at forced integration!” someone yelled.

“Mere semantics. Unions can be forced as much as they can be voluntary,

“Then work on getting good enough to be recognized as at least worth

“I apologize for past misunderstandings,” Eron said as he bowed. “I

“One fragment,” Bertram said. “Others in Sanctdomo or the Church may

“Two fragments,” Jake answered, feeling a bit embarrassed answering after

“Maybe just a party of five? Like a dungeon?” Carmen asked.

That is when Jake realized something. While he had confidence in killing

“Now, while there may be much kindness in my actions, using my

“Overwhelming power?” Casper asked.

“That would work,” Jake approved.

“Huh?” Casper said, a bit surprised.

“The Holy Pantheon is determined. They place a lot of importance on Earth

“Why are you…?” Casper asked, equally confused.

“Now that is just harsh…”

“Wait, what?” Jake blurted out.

William felt the presence disappear again as he breathed out in relief. He

Stretching a bit, he decided to get up from the slab of metal. He needed a

A note from Zogarth

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Meira nodded enthusiastically at his words as Jake dismissed her with a

“How rare are system events outside of system integrations?”

“I do feel like my level has stagnated a little, though,” Jake admitted.

“One that can work outside of Haven?” Jake asked.

“Alright,” Jake agreed. Originally he didn’t want to bring Chris as he went

“The vampires?” Jake asked as he remembered. “The High-tier Token.”

He instantly took it out as the Viper nodded.

[High-tier Alchemy Token of the Malefic Order (Legendary)] – A token

“Well, then I guess it is time to visit a vampire house.”

A note from Zogarth

Thanks for reading!

Patreon plug: https://www.patreon.com/Zogarth