The Primal Hunter 11, page 34
The Viper already felt a headache coming on.
“See, I have a theory…” Minaga went on. “I think Artemis is the kind of gal who only likes those who are stronger than herself. She wants someone who is even more of a predator incarnate than herself, someone who can dominate her, and Jake, that little monster, definitely fits that bill.”
“And what do you base this theory on?” Vilastromoz asked the Unique Lifeform, who possessed no reproductive organs and was ostensively asexual by nature.
“Well, although I met her a few times,” Minaga said, scratching his chin, “I can admit the majority of my theory was formed based on recent happenings.”
“Right, so pure guesswork, more or less.” The Viper sighed. There probably was some credence to Minaga’s theory. Vilastromoz just hoped this wouldn’t turn into an annoying situation.
“I do remain curious,” the Wyrmgod muttered. “The images have the same personalities as their true selves, and besides their level, they are the same person… especially after they lose.”
“Wait… you actually implemented that?” Vilastromoz asked, recalling a conversation from many eras ago.
“He sure did, and I helped make it happen with my awesome magic!” Minaga grinned.
As for what they were talking about? Memory restoration.
Upon losing but not dying, the image would become fully aware of its identity as a god and regain its full memories. This was done in part so the god’s image could attempt to form a connection with someone who walked a similar Path and thus recruit them, but also because the gods just thought it would be more interesting that way. However, that being the case did just further complicate the situation.
“So, you are telling me that the image that dragged Jake back to her residence was aware that she is actually only an image of a god?”
“Yes,” the Wyrmgod said, nodding. “Interesting, is it not?”
“I am going with the ‘not’…” Vilastromoz sighed. Yep, this could definitely turn into an entire “thing.” “At least tell me Artemis does not have any request to see anything outside of the battles she loses, so she won’t be informed of this?” What she didn’t know couldn’t cause any problems, and if she didn’t, it would be entirely up to Jake if anything had to be shared.
“Hm?” The Wyrmgod grunted. “Oh, no, she doesn’t have anything like that. That is not standard at all, and I am sure she never expected her image to act as it did.”
“Well, that’s good, at—”
“So I naturally informed her of her image’s irregular behavior as a courtesy.”
The Viper looked at his fellow Primordial, who smiled with clear amusement.
“So, you’re from the Pantheon of Life?” Jake muttered as he leaned back in the pool, which was pretty much just a hot tub of healing. “How exactly does that fit with your Path as a hunter, which is about taking lives?”
Artemis, sitting in the water across from him, smiled. “The mere fact you gloss over my revelation that I am a god belonging to one of the most powerful Pantheons in the multiverse to question my Path… You continue to intrigue me.”
“I’m trying my best,” Jake said, chuckling.
“To answer your question, the Pantheon of Life is about more than simply healing and preservation of life. It is also about the transformation of life, the natural cycle, and the glory of nature itself, and predators are as natural to the ecosystem as a tree or an herbivore. We hunters are also part of the natural cycle, but not as mere cogs. We are the ones who can control it. Bend it. We are the regulators who decide its direction, as we can hunt down anything we deem unnecessary or unwanted. Of course, we cannot overdo it. If we hunt down every living being in the ecosystem, there is no ecosystem anymore. No new life… nothing to hunt. And is a hunter with no prey truly a hunter at all?”
Jake listened intently. This was his first time meeting not just another powerful hunter, but a being who had walked her Path all the way to divinity. He didn’t necessarily agree with her—in his opinion, it was a somewhat limited definition of what a hunter was—but he still respected it.
“I see you are not entirely in agreement,” the elven goddess said, clearly amused. “Good. What kind of hunter would simply follow another’s Path blindly?”
“Someone with not enough Perception,” Jake joked, surprisingly enough getting a giggle out of the god.
After a brief pause, she spoke again. “Say, you are a C-grade outside of Nevermore, right? Based on the fact you are a G-grade human, one of the people from the newly integrated universe?”
“Yep,” Jake confirmed.
“What would you say to becoming my Chosen out there? To join the Pantheon of Life? I fully expect you to be with some other god already, but I doubt there are many as qualified to have a hunter as their Chosen as I, and I will handle any compensation required to the one who has currently blessed you.” Artemis looked at him seductively. “I will be sure to give you plenty of private tutoring, and if you happen to become a god…”
“Tempting offer, not gonna lie, but I already have a Blessing,” Jake said, shaking his head. “Quite a good one at that. The True Blessing of the Malefic Viper.”
“Wait, the Malefic Viper? As in, the Primordial? Wasn’t he sealed away in his divine realm or something?”
“Well, he was. Now he’s not.” Jake shrugged casually. “He reappeared just around the integration.”
“And you are his Chosen? Disregarding everything else, it’s odd for a snake to have a hunter as his Chosen… but perhaps even more odd for you to submit to one, even if it is a god. How does that conform to your Path as the ultimate hunter?”
Jake smiled, knowing that even if he and Artemis were clearly friendly, he shouldn’t just share every secret he had. “Let’s just say we have an arrangement quite unlike what most Patrons and Chosen have. One rather unique to the two of us.”
“Fine, I won’t probe.” Artemis shook her head, reading his intentions quite clearly. “I will also retract my prior offer to not embarrass myself further. While I do believe I have quite a lot to offer, it is not to the level of a Primordial.”
“He does have a lot of shiny stuff,” Jake said, enjoying the warm, healing waters.
Artemis looked to be in thought for a while. “Are you aware of how these images that we gods have left in Nevermore work?”
“I thought I was, until you clearly proved you are fully aware you are a god,” Jake said. “But I will assume that as an image, you are pretty much entirely separate from your true self, and your self on the outside won’t be aware of your memories.”
“Right,” she said. “In fact, the second you leave this Challenge Dungeon, I will cease to exist, as I am erased alongside it. Ah, but don’t feel bad; that’s just how things work and what this image was created for in the first place.”
Jake nodded, already knowing that part well. “What are you getting at?”
“Impatient, are we?” She smiled, tilting her head. “What I am getting at is that my true self will not be aware unless someone informs it. I shall leave the ultimate choice of what you will do from here on out to you. Out of the two of us, you are the only ‘real’ being, are you not? You can choose to seek me out as a god, which I will admit may prove difficult, as I will be less than receptive to some random C-grade approaching me—even if he is the Chosen of a Primordial—but if you ever do want to meet, just show me or one of my followers this sigil.”
She raised her hand and summoned an intricate seal that didn’t really depict anything in particular. She held it there for a few seconds before she dismissed it, Jake having already committed it to memory.
“Is it some kind of identification seal?” Jake asked.
“Something like that,” she said, nodding. “Of course, you also have the choice of never bringing up what happened in this Challenge Dungeon with my true self. Assuming the Wyrmgod hasn’t already informed me, that is. If he has informed me… well, I may send someone to fetch you, but seeing as you are the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, it may instead turn into a subtle political exchange that I will sneak into. Do you currently have any connections to the Pantheon of Life?”
“One of my party members in Nevermore is the granddaughter of Nature’s Attendant,” Jake shared. “In all honesty, I got enough going on that pretty much every Pantheon wanting meetings with me these days wouldn’t be overly surprising or out of the ordinary if you sent someone.”
Many were thirsty for some of that Jake Juice to make some banger variants, after all.
“Due to your Bloodline?” she asked, making Jake raise an eyebrow. “What? You thought it wasn’t obvious you have one? The pure suppression of instinct and domineering aura I felt was not something a mere level 0 G-grade could have, but something of a far higher concept. While I was still in the arena, perhaps it could be argued you had an equally powerful instinct, but that you still surpassed me even after I regained my memories… A Bloodline or Transcendent is the only reason, and I wager it’s the prior.”
Jake nodded as she licked her lips, feeling like the hunter in front of him was too damn good at seeing through stuff. It wouldn’t surprise him if she also had some improved intuition or something to make such accurate deductions all the time. Then again… she was a god.
“Say, seeing as you are a goddess of the hunt and all, how about offering a lowly mortal hunter some hunting advice? Perhaps a few archery tips here and there?”
“Sure, we can exchange some pointers, but not more than that. My power and ability to display my power is still restricted to the same level as when we fought.” Artemis shrugged, actually surprising Jake a bit. He had expected her to outright reject the notion, especially seeing as he was the Chosen of another god. It was pretty nice of her to do tha—
“Mind you, I am not just doing it to be nice, but to sow a seed of karma with you, which will make it far easier to track you down if the Wyrmgod does inform me in the outside world.” She smirked. “Does that disappoint you? Ultimately, you are still only a mortal, and if I get no benefit, why would I selflessly help you?”
“Only a mortal, huh?” Jake said as he stood up and walked toward her through the shallow pool.
“But one who brings plenty of benefits,” Artemis said, smiling and leaning back as Jake approached.
The next few days were spent with Jake taking advantage of having a god with experience in archery give him some pointers, primarily by just fighting with him in the forest outside of her residence. With her healing pool, recovery was also swift, and Jake had to admit that the company while healing up made the experience quite a bit more enjoyable.
Alas, Jake would not delay for too long. About a week after his fight with Artemis, he returned to the Colosseum to sign up for his sixth Champion fight against the Mistress of Shadows, or Umbra, as she was actually called.
Jake had gotten used to fights either happening really fast or only after a month, so he was a bit surprised when Umbra scheduled it for eighteen days after he issued the challenge. It struck him as a somewhat random time until he returned to Artemis’ residence, where she shared that that day would have a crescent moon, and considering Umbra had scheduled the fight to be as late in the day as possible… Yeah, it was definitely not random.
Not that Jake complained about having a bit more prep time. He didn’t really need it, but he wouldn’t say no to having more time to duke it out with Artemis in the forest. They even did some archery training in between.
Chapter 38
Umbra
Out of all the beings in the Colosseum that Jake was aware of, Umbra was the most powerful, at least on the outside. She was a true pinnacle being who stood side by side with the Primordials. Yet despite knowing this, Jake didn’t feel any trepidation about facing her.
Artemis also seemed very unconcerned with the fight itself, and was more interested in how Umbra would address the fight. She couldn’t say anything directly, though, as she was still under the influence of Nevermore’s rules to not share information. She couldn’t even give any tips on the fights themselves, outside of very vague statements that didn’t really help.
On the night of the match, it was already way past sundown, the crescent moon hanging far up in the air. The arena had artificial magic lighting, so it wasn’t like the arena was dark when Jake walked up the steps and stood behind the bars. The stands were also filled despite the less-than-optimal lighting conditions.
Also, due to the magic lighting, one thing that benefited her greatly was abundant. The many pillars, the audience stands, and every piece of clutter spread around led to shadows everywhere. What’s more, multiple light sources meant something like the pillars were surrounded by shadows in all directions. Even Jake threw several shadows due to the lamps hanging around the entrance area.
It was, for all intents and purposes, a near-perfect battleground for Umbra. Looking at her at the other end of the arena, Jake saw a hooded dark elf who seemed to almost meld into the shadows simply by existing. Due to her cloak, Jake couldn’t see what kind of armor she wore, but he assumed it to be light leather armor due to her identity as an assassin.
She observed him back as the bars began to lower. With a sigh, she walked into the arena, Jake and her meeting in the middle like he had done with every other opponent. It wasn’t a rule that you had to have a little introductory chat before fighting, but he’d had one with every single opponent anyway.
“So, here we finally are,” Umbra said, speaking first. “Not that surprising, now, is it? I have kept an eye on you for a while, which I am sure you already knew.”
“I have noticed that I had a stalker a few times, yeah,” Jake said, nodding. “Seemed a bit overkill to watch what I ate for dinner if you were just researching me. Heck, if you wanted to know something, you could have just walked up and asked, and I would have probably answered truthfully.”
“Usually, I would scoff at such a statement, but based on my observations, that is entirely possible.” Umbra sighed. “Alas, I deemed it best to not approach. Oh, I also hope you do not think negatively of me for having us fight at a time advantageous to me.”
“Hey, it’s less bullshit than the number of earth mages who were clearly just strong in the arena because the floor is made of sand,” Jake said, shrugging with a smile.
Umbra sighed again. “Your casual demeanor doesn’t exactly help my confidence, but seeing as you are of the truthful sort, let me ask you something. Do you believe I stand any chance of winning this bout?”
“In all honesty? No, not unless you can pull some serious bullshit out of your ass,” Jake said, being as truthful as she wanted him to be.
“Would it surprise you to hear me concur with that conclusion?” Umbra said as she summoned a black dagger into her hand. “Nevertheless, I shall try my best. I will show you all that I have and truly determine the limits of your powers… and simply hope that is enough.”
With those words, her entire body swayed as she disappeared into a nearby shadow. Umbra’s presence was entirely erased, and even using his sphere, Jake couldn’t locate her. He also knew why. While it was honestly a bit bullshit a level 0 could do it, she had entered the shadow realm. An odd realm that Jake didn’t fully understand but that Umbra was known as the master of. One where space no longer operated as it usually did, allowing her to do something like what she did next.
Despite disappearing in front of him, a figure exploded out from a shadow right behind him less than half a second later, her dagger aimed straight at his guts. Jake reacted instantly, dodging to the side as he pulled out his bow in one hand and a katar in the other.
Umbra tried to strike him again, but he deflected several blows using his weapons before the dark elf disengaged, merging into another shadow. Jake instantly nocked an arrow as he waited for her to appear again, which she did only a second later. Before she had even fully emerged, Jake shot an arrow at her, forcing Umbra to block with her daggers. Jake exploded it at that very moment, making the dark elf slide backward, stumbling a bit from the blast. He hadn’t done any real damage, though, as the shadows that lingered on her had entirely blocked his destructive arcane energy.
Jake felt her gaze on him as she leaned to the side, merging into a pillar right beside her. Waiting with another arrow ready, Jake was taken by surprise when, rather than an entire elf, only an arm throwing a dagger emerged from a shadow. He still shot his arrow, but the hand merged back into the darkness before it hit, resulting in him only blowing up some sand.
Several more daggers were thrown at him within the next few seconds, and in the middle of the barrage, his opponent fully emerged once more, this time charging right for him as she threw four small daggers she had tugged between her fingers.
Sidestepping the daggers, Jake prepared to face the dark elf, but then his danger sense warned him. Rather than engage, he jumped back right as the four small daggers she had thrown flew into a pillar, merged with its shadows, and flew out of another nearby pillar aimed for right where Jake would have been.
Umbra clicked her tongue in annoyance as she stepped back and spread out her hands. Jake stood there, having switched to his two katars, and wondered what she was doing. Right then, Jake saw movement within two shadows to her side. Out of them emerged two figures entirely cloaked in dark mana. Umbra’s body also changed as the same shadowy aura fully embraced her body, making her appear identical to her shadow clones, and all three of them disappeared into a single shadow in unison.
Then three shadows walked out of the pillars surrounding him, all brandishing black daggers.
