The Primal Hunter

Chapter 1127: Rain & Smoke

Elsewhere in the domain belonging to the Pantheon of Life, a Hunting Ground not dissimilar to the one Jake was at also had some notable visitors. The granddaughter of Nature’s Attendant had come, and contrary to Jake, she had no chance of staying anonymous, as she was quite known throughout the Pantheon of Life.

Even if she wasn’t, her aura made it clear she belonged to a powerful Lineage, her dryad race also far from an ordinary one. What was unusual was her travel companion, though, as she was visiting the Hunting Ground with an old-looking human man. At least people found it odd, until they realized he had been her party member in Nevermore and was a major contributor to how she had performed so well in the World Wonder, bringing a lot of pride and prestige to the Pantheon of Life.

These two had also entered the Hunting Ground with the goal of gaining a few levels, and while they battled together in the beginning, both of them had intentions of improving as individual fighters. Especially the Sword Saint had entered the Hunting Ground with a lofty goal... one he was currently in the midst of accomplishing.

Dina was watching from afar as the human swordsman fought the far larger beast in a battle that had now been going on for over two full hours. From atop the mountain, surrounded by barren land, she watched the deep valley below, as well as the several additional valleys that had been formed throughout the fight as the two fought under heavy rainfall.

The Sword Saint was naturally the human swordsman, while the beast was an entity Dina would never dare face. It was a massive monster, over five kilometers in length, and three kilometers in height as it walked on its four pillar-like legs. Every time it moved, the earth shook, and lava spewed from the ground.

It was a variant of tortoise, its shell made of obsidian and rock, with several small volcanoes springing from its back, releasing fumes and lava as the huge creature exhausted heat. Its head was also covered in the same obsidian, making it an incredibly durable monster.

Perhaps more important than any of this... it was B-grade.

[Obsidian Magmashell Tortoise – lvl ???]

A relatively newly evolved B-grade, but B-grade nevertheless. In front of such a colossal creature, the Sword Saint looked like an insect, but that had actually been partly on purpose.

Beating a B-grade in a straight-up fight wasn’t something feasible for any but the strongest of C-grades. Especially not a C-grade like the Sword Saint, who wasn’t even that close to peak C-grade yet. That’s why he had chosen an opponent he was especially suited to face.

Due to its massive frame, the tortoise had a difficult time moving quickly enough to respond, while the Sword Saint could make use of his smaller frame to move quickly around and take advantage of the slow movements of the tortoise.

Usually, a Magmashell Tortoise wouldn’t need to physically strike an opponent. The reason why Dina stood on top of the mountain was to avoid the massive cloud of toxic smoke that the B-grade released, while also staying out of the way of the extreme heat it continued to let out. It also used some earth magic, but it was relatively limited, and the tortoise was far from skilled enough to land any meaningful hits with its magic.

This type of monster tended to win by slowly killing whatever dared to attack it, while not being able to lose. The shell was borderline impenetrable and filled with lava and dense, toxic smoke, while the rest of its body was covered with obsidian skin. In case of emergencies, the beast could even retreat fully into its shell, sealing off the entrances and making it look like just a giant mountain of molten obsidian.

To someone like Dina, this was a foe she would never even dare face. It would burn her attacks to a crisp before she had a chance to land any of them, and her offensive prowess simply wasn’t good enough to do any meaningful damage to such a massive creature. She could fight it for a long time, but at one point or another, she would lose.

The Sword Saint was the exact opposite. If the Obsidian Magmashell Tortoise could be called a direct counter to Dina, the Sword Saint could be called one to the B-grade.

Constant rainfall suppressed the smoke and heat from the monster, draining its resources and weakening it. The steam filling the air as the water evaporated also raised the humidity to extreme levels, helping the human swordsman manipulate the water all around him to empower his own attacks, all while defending himself as he kept cool through constantly keeping a couple of thin layers of water covering his entire body.

Meanwhile, he once more proved that while their Nevermore party had lacked a bit when it came to utility and a proper bulky front-liner, they had more than made up for it through sheer offensive prowess.

Dina had watched over the last two hours as the Sword Saint had slowly whittled down the massive B-grade and what could truly be called death by a million cuts. He had aimed for its legs and head primarily, but also shown himself capable of penetrating the shell if he really needed to, as in his words:

“Given time, nothing can withstand erosion.”

In other words, he had kept attacking the same spots repeatedly with piercing beams of water, slowly weakening the area before he broke through, dealing significant damage to the massive tortoise.

The fight seemed like it had been carefully controlled and planned out by the Sword Saint, but Dina knew that the slightest slip-up over the last two hours could have resulted in him getting into serious mortal danger. Just one mansion-sized pillar of rock hitting him would be disastrous and more likely than not force the swordsman to retreat.

In addition to this, he had to be careful when it came to going overboard. The Sword Saint had a very gentle boosting skill, but he couldn’t push it all the way from the beginning, and had to pace himself, as they both knew it would be a long battle. Ultimately, it would all come down to if the Sword Saint could continue to not make a single mistake while dealing enough damage for his own resources to outlast the B-grade. A tall order, but Dina had full belief in the Sword Saint as she watched silently at what was bound to be the final moments of the fight.

The Sword Saint rapidly moved around the right front leg of the tortoise, cutting as he circled around it, leaving what from afar looked only like a small scratch, but was in fact a deep laceration as the blade was constantly being extended by an extra edge of water.

A loud roar made the ground erupt, sending spouts of lava flying everywhere, but the swordsman dodged it all as he moved for the head of the tortoise, landing several more cuts before he had to retreat again as the B-grade did a consistently good job at protecting its head.

Flying above the creature, the Sword Saint dodged several blows as he sent piercing erosion stabs into the existing gaps in the tortoise’s shell, making it roar once more and try to stop him as massive clouds of poison smoke was exhausted, but the swordsman quickly sought downwards as he teleported through the rain to appear off to the side and right above the water-filled ground.

Dina saw as the man pushed himself and switched his stance. With a slow movement, he raised his blade, and in concert, the rain stopped falling and the water on the ground started to rise in the shape of droplets. Then, he moved quickly, tens of millions of droplets shooting upwards into the underside of the B-grade and toward the sky, and for a moment, Dina saw an incredible sight.

The entire tortoise, larger than many mountains, was lifted from the ground by the countless droplets of water that struck its underside. Individually, these small, needle-like attacks did nothing, but combined, their impact was definitely noticeable.

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What’s more, the attack was far from over.

All the droplets of water that had shot upwards began gathering in the sky as the Sword Saint stood with his sword raised. A whirlpool of water formed before turning into the shape of a rain dragon. With the tortoise still in mid-air, the Sword Saint brought down his blade, making the dragon descend upon the B-grade.

Dina was forced to fly into the air as the dragon slammed the tortoise down hard enough to form a massive crater, making fissures all around, one of which spread to Dina’s mountain, breaking off its side.

Not wanting to see itself defeated, the tortoise rose again and roared, every single volcano on its back erupting, and the crater around it turning into one massive volcano as the entire area was bathed in lava and ash. It was a colossal release of energy... and a massive mistake the Sword Saint could take advantage of.

With its head raised as it roared, the turtle had exposed its neck entirely, and the Sword Saint would not miss this opportunity. Throughout the fight, the obsidian skin covering the turtle’s neck had slowly been weakened and cut off, all to prepare for this moment as the swordsman teleported and appeared just below the turtle, already in a stance ready to draw his blade.

The B-grade realized its mistake too late, as an attack even more powerful than what it had just endured was unleashed.

“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

A crescent wave of transcendent destruction cut into the neck of the colossal tortoise, creating a waterfall of burning blood as the blade extended and cut halfway through the entire neck of the beast. This burning blood fell down towards the Sword Saint, but he did not show any fear as he finally showed something Dina had been waiting to see:

His final C-grade class skill. The swordsman had reached level 320 in his class shortly before this, and now Dina could finally see it in action for the first time.

The Sword Saint remained standing where he was for a moment before his body seemed to shift. Two versions of him formed, a real one and a gray, transparent version of himself that reversed through time. Nothing about this version seemed real except for the sword it held in its hand.

This entire process was nearly instant as the gray clone took the same stance the Sword Saint had been in a moment prior, and right as the real man retreated away, the clone was ready to draw its blade as Dina saw the Sword Saint silently mouth two words.

Echoing Blade.

The clone drew its blade as two words echoed out of its mouth, sounding identical to what Dina had heard only a few moments prior.

“Glimpse of Spring: Stormcut.”

A second attack, equally as powerful as the first one, cut upwards into the existing wound of the Obsidian Magmashell Tortoise, and this time around, it went all the way through as the mighty B-grade was decapitated entirely.

The massive head fell to the ground, and a moment later, the rest of the beast’s body collapsed, losing its head too much for such a large creature to endure.

With the B-grade dead, Dina no longer held back as she hurried over to where the Sword Saint stood in front of the large, fallen head of the tortoise. Landing on the ground not far away, she still felt the lingering powerful aura of the slain B-grade as pride in the Sword Saint’s achievement filled her heart.

To kill a B-grade while still at his level was... amazing.

“You did it,” Dina said in an excited voice, as she couldn’t suppress her own smile.

“I did,” the Sword Saint said, still standing there stoically. Seeing him this up close, Dina saw his body was covered in burns and bruises, all his clothes burnt away, except his pants.

“We should move before other creatures come to explore what has happened after the fighting died down,” Dina said, being practical despite this being a moment where they should revel in victory.

“I concur,” the Sword Saint wisely agreed as he turned his head toward her with stiff movements. “That being the case, would you be a dear and do me a favor?”

“Of course, what is it?” Dina asked, tilting her head.

“Could you carry me? Because I believe I’m about to faint from exhaustion.”

He had barely gotten the words out as the Sword Saint’s right leg gave out, and Dina hurriedly waved her hand as a few vines sprang from the ash and water-covered ground to catch him, the Sword Saint already out cold before he got caught.

I wonder if Jake has also killed a B-grade yet... knowing him, he probably has, Dina thought as she summoned a strapping board of wood and vines to wrap the Sword Saint in before taking off.

Jake’s Path was no doubt a powerful one. It allowed him to slay foes far more powerful than himself, his skills closing the gap significantly. Most powerful was, of course, his opening attack that used the majority of his hunter skills in concert to unleash one devastating strike that had proven itself capable of nearly slaying weaker B-grades in one blow.

However, Jake had discovered one major weakness, one that, granted, was a weakness for all but a few Paths in the multiverse:

Not being able to find his target.

The Forest Fae had entirely disappeared from the Grand Lake as far as Jake could tell. He had spent a fair deal of time scouring the islands, and he had spent quite a while on the Forest Fae’s island, putting some of his tracking skills to use to see if he could locate where she was off to.

Sadly for Jake, the Forest Fae had likely expected Jake or some other hunter on her trail to have tracking skills, and had used several methods to hide her tracks. All Jake could tell was that she had been gone since around the time Jake killed the B-grade lioness, perhaps having expected herself to be next.

On the island of the Forest Fae, Jake discovered plenty of preparations to fight, though. The B-grade seemed to be quite similar to a witch in that she’d set up a plethora of formations and had created totems to be spread throughout the island, likely serving as catalysts for some kind of magic.

Yet all of these had been entirely abandoned. Sure, her domain wasn’t as heavily fortified as the tree’s, but it was definitely enough to put up a fight of some kind.

What Jake did not find on the island was anything of particular value. The other B-grades tended to have natural treasures they at least used for their own growth, but the Forest Fae had left nothing behind, which told Jake she had definitely left voluntarily.

After spending around five full days searching, Jake concluded she had either relocated or gone into hiding. Likely a mixture of the two, as Jake should have been able to catch her if she was just hiding, his Pulse was quite an overpowered tool when it came to finding someone. That’s also why he was confident she was no longer at the Grand Lake at all.

He also hadn’t felt anything or anyone observing him recently, at least nothing he couldn’t recognize the source of, so the Forest Fae definitely wasn’t using some magic to keep track of him. Not that he believed a B-grade would be able to in the first place, Shroud of the Primordial being a thing and all.

Anyway, her absence left Jake with a major question, though...

What now?

There were other B-grades and other islands available, and from Jake’s scouting, they had all prepared for him to strike at some point. A few of the smarter B-grades had even grouped together, staying two to three on the same island. The sense of tension hanging over the Grand Lake, especially after an entire island had effectively been leveled, was palpable.

However, the more Jake scouted these islands, the less inclined he felt to hunt any of them. In fact, he would say their recent actions were behind his decision to leave them be. All of them had the option to try to ambush him or try to attack while he was fighting one of the B-grades on the shit-list, but none of them had. They had taken a stance of not messing with Jake, so Jake would reciprocate that sentiment.

Thinking hard about what to do, Jake eventually decided that if the cowardly Forest Fae had fled and wanted to hide, he wasn’t going to waste his life away trying to find her somewhere hidden on the planet. Instead, he sought elsewhere, as he did have one other B-grade, he had some unfinished business with.

Taking to the sky, Jake sought the jetstream. On the way, he also checked out the Hunting Grounds Manual to confirm a few things, including the information on where the Rainbowfeather Sovereign lived, but also if he’d missed anything in the section about the Forest Fae.

As two of the older B-grades, both the Sovereign and Fae had a lot of information recorded, and both of their sections were filled with warnings that these were two of the stronger B-grades on the planet. The section about the Forest Fae had fewer warnings than that of the Sovereign, likely because of her more cautious nature, while the Sovereign was known to stomp in the skull of anyone daring to enter his domain.

The Forest Fae was also recorded as more scheming in nature. Jake would definitely have to add some new sections to her information, though, as despite having read about her, he hadn’t expected her to use Jake to take out the competition before running away herself and going into hiding.

Shaking his head from how annoying she had been, Jake soon reached the jetstream and entered it, allowing him to fly with incredible speed toward Area 5 where the Rainbowfeather Sovereign lived.

This Area contained more powerful B-grades and C-grades alike, but the difference wasn’t anything extreme. The Sovereign was considered one of the three strongest B-grades of Area 5, and likely top ten on the entire planet, really hammering home how curated the entire place was as a Hunting Ground.

Flying quickly, Jake scanned the planet below as he flew, seeing signs of combat here and there during his travels, including what he expected to be hunters. Few hunters dared be near any of the Grand Lakes, but instead hunted far away from them, dealing with high-tier C-grades at most.

A small smile crept onto Jake’s lips as he thought about the many hunters hard at work, looking forward to reaching his destination and his next prey. The Sovereign had to know Jake was coming for him, and he was looking forward to seeing what kind of counters the B-grade had come up with.