The Primal Hunter 13, page 5
Luckily, this did help with Jake avoiding detection even if he walked right up to one. He did consider trying to give a Stalker a poke but reckoned that wouldn’t go well for him. Unless his definition of things going well was to fight another horde of Lunewood Stalkers, that is.
Maybe later, Jake told himself as he kept running into the forest. Soon, he finally spotted something noteworthy: another creature.
It was a large monster standing on four legs—not like a horse or dog would, but more like a spider. Its upper body was vaguely humanoid, as it had four arms, each holding a wooden staff. It definitely gave off stronger vibes than the Stalkers, even if it was still a very low-tier creature.
Using Identify, he also confirmed its level was higher than most Stalkers, at least by a little.
[Lunewood Keeper – lvl 322]
There was also one other difference between these creatures and the Stalkers. These Keepers actually moved around and did stuff, casting some form of magic on the ground all the time and tending to the trees and other plants. The name Keeper was very apt, but seeing as a part of their skillset was clearly reserved for tending to the Lunewood Forest, Jake guessed these would only be on the level of the Stalkers when it came to combat, even if they did feel stronger overall.
Ignoring the creatures and continuing, Jake only now seemed to realize what kind of exploration trip he had dedicated himself to. If his guess was right, and the Lunewood Forest covered a massive part of the far side of the moon, it wouldn’t be fast to reach the center. It would take a few days, even if Jake hurried. Considering he also wanted to check out anything interesting he found on the way, it would likely end up taking an entire week.
Considering the long time he would spend just traveling…
“Is this inferior version of a walkie-talkie working?” Jake asked as he reached out to a certain snake god, who he was pretty sure had time. Despite Jake not reaching out as much, he knew Villy had an avatar or something watching at all times. Or, at the very least, he was aware of what Jake was doing, which should also mean he was free to take a call.
“Oh, so he does still want to talk to me from time to time,” Villy said in a mock-offended tone. “I thought you had forgotten all about the snake god on your shoulder with how little you’ve reached out recently.”
“In my defense, I blame this all on Nevermore,” Jake answered. “I spent fifty years being unable to contact you outside of a few city floors, and it takes a bit to get used to it again. Besides, I got another limbless, long-bodied companion that provides fun system trivia. It’s just unlucky for you. Sandy knew about Wood Meteorites.”
“I can’t believe I’ve been replaced by a worm,” the Viper said, sighing deeply. “At least it’s a unique and interesting worm who got quite a few things wrong during their little info dump.”
“Such as?”
“Now, where would the fun be in telling you that?” the Viper joked. “Not going to spoil the fun for you. That would be rude of me, wouldn’t it?”
Jake didn’t really want to argue that point, as it would indeed suck to just have everything told to him. It would be a lot more exciting to explore the Lunewood Forest and find interesting things himself. He did have one question, though, and it had been bothering him this entire time.
“What are the chances of a Wood Meteor—objects I’m going to assume aren’t just flying everywhere all the time—crashing into the moon like this? As in, what are the chances the system planted it here directly? And if so, wouldn’t it be a massive risk to Earth if a B-grade is just chilling this close to the planet? A B-grade should be able to reach the Earth pretty damn quickly and effortlessly, so have we just gotten lucky it hasn't decided to make the trip yet?”
“Oh, it’s undoubtedly by design that the moon turned out like this. A natural Wood Meteor wouldn’t have had any chance to mature in the brief time the Ninety-Third Universe has existed. They tend to float around in space for at minimum a few hundred thousand years before they crash into anything or burn up in an atmosphere.”
Jake nodded along as he jumped from branch to branch.
“As for the threat this B-grade may pose to your little planet, I wouldn’t worry,” the Viper went on. “It’s more than likely bound to the moon and unable to leave the celestial object until sometime in the future. This isn’t rare at all, and if you went further into space, I reckon you would encounter even god-level creatures who currently find themselves restricted to certain areas—a confinement that may be permanent, but that’s beside the point. My actual point is that while a B-grade this close to a planet could be a problem, it would only be one if the planet was too weak to give birth to its own B-grades. And I would personally be very disappointed if that was the case in your situation.”
“I see… That’s good to know,” Jake said with a bit of relief at hearing that the B-grade was likely restricted to being on the moon. Not only because he was afraid of the possibility of it deciding to attack Earth any day, but because it gave him more confidence to see if he could potentially make it prey.
Jake had considered what would happen if he tried to fight it and failed. Sure, maybe he and Sandy could escape, but what if it decided to chase them? Or it had some way to track them down after the fact, which would lead it straight to Earth?
Now, Jake at least wasn’t worried about that anymore. So, at minimum, a test-fight was definitely on the table.
“I should also inform you that the little Demon Prince you helped become a big-boy Demon Lord has been making some waves back in the Fourth Hell,” the Malefic Viper continued, shifting the topic quite a bit. “The King of the Fourth Hell has made him his new Chosen, and the other hells have also begun to show some interest, not just in the newly born Cerulean Demon Lord, but the one capable of pulling off a ritual to give birth to one.”
“Can we use another term than giving birth? Feels hella weird when you say it like that,” Jake muttered. “But, hey, happy to hear he is doing well for himself. Will the fact that more demons are now also looking curiously at me change anything?”
“No, not really. Your prior actions already gave birth to a lot of interest in your abilities, and all the ritual did was confirm some of the possibilities behind your ability. There was doubt as to whether you could only birth new creatures like with the Vespernat Hive Queen, but now you’ve birthed the idea that you can also assist pre-existing beings in experiencing a rebirth of sorts. The only thing I could realistically see happening was them throwing more succubi at you, who would no doubt be more than happy to take the job of giving birth off your hands, if you catch my drift.”
“This is bullying, and I will have you reported to the Humanoid Resource department,” Jake shot back.
“Then I’ll begin to release recordings of your most embarrassing moments,” the god said in an evil voice. “Remember, perfect memory. So good that I can perfectly recreate anything I’ve seen as a recording to share with all.”
“So now you’ve switched to blackmail and intimidating witnesses…”
“Some would argue I am not the most moral of snakes,” Villy continued in a sinister tone.
The two of them kept chatting, Jake gladly using the god to help pass the time. It was a bit like making a phone call in the car on your way home from work. It just made it feel like the trip wasn’t as long as it actually was.
They covered a lot of topics, and the Viper helped get him caught up on some multiversal politics and stuff. Jake also learned that a few of the people who’d placed well in Nevermore yet didn’t belong to any large factions had begun to find new homes. One example was the weird sloth-like creature that had been sleeping under a table during the entire get-together and had ended up joining the United Tribes. It was not really a big shocker, that one.
What was surprising was that the elemental called Wintermaul, who had placed right after Jake and Ell’Hakan, had ended up going to the Altmar Empire. Why an ice elemental wanted to join the largest elven empire, Jake really couldn’t figure out, and Villy refused to offer his own theories.
There were a few other notable bits of information, but honestly, most of Jake and Villy’s talk was just shooting the shit. They even ended up discussing the controversial ending of a certain movie Jake had watched shortly before the system arrived, Villy having seen it through his divine Wikipedia skill.
On the way through the forest, Jake also ended up encountering two new types of Lunewood creatures. One was a floating, vine-wrapped stone elemental known as a Lunewood Elemental. The stones were covered in glowing blue runes, and on the power scale, they ranked above anything else he had seen before. Not by much, though, and the “job” of this particular elemental seemed to be similar to what the Keeper did in that it helped maintain the forest.
Finally, there was a creature that made Jake chuckle. It was a large, snake-like creature made up entirely of pulsating blue vines, and the reason Jake chuckled wasn’t because of its appearance but its name.
[Lunewood Viper – lvl 326]
“Look, Villy, I found your brother!” Jake joked while chuckling. “Or did you also give birth to something without telling me about it?”
“You do know I don’t have a monopoly on the name viper, right?” Villy said defensively. “It’s a type of snake. Plenty of vipers out there entirely unrelated to me, outside of how my Records may have affected them. Also, this isn’t even a real snake, just an overgrown vine.”
“The lengths one will go to to hide their shame…” Jake shook his head. “Maybe this is what a real viper is, and you’re the fake kind? Ever thought of that?”
“Wow… you’re right,” the Viper said in a mocking tone. “How could I have been so blind all along? Or, perhaps, have you just failed to realize I have just been a random long vine all along?”
“Truly, the plot twist that will shake the multiverse,” Jake said, grinning as he continued his journey.
It felt good talking to Villy again like this. Jake had genuinely missed it during his time in Nevermore. True, he had been able to talk to his four party members then, but it just wasn’t the same. While he was rather open with them, he still had to keep a lot of secrets from them. With Villy, by contrast, the snake god already knew most of Jake’s bigger secrets about his Bloodline. That just made everything far more relaxed.
Days passed with Jake getting closer and closer to the center of the forest. One of the reasons he was running through the forest and not flying above it was to keep his feet on the ground to feel for natural treasures, but it also helped him stay aware of the exact location of what he assumed was the Wood Meteorite.
And, sure enough, when he used a Pulse of Perception, he finally saw it. The meteorite was more than ten stories tall and had an almost entirely spherical form with spikes all over it. Around it were thousands of Lunewood creatures, including four of a kind he hadn’t seen before.
He didn’t need to closely inspect the ones at the meteorite, though, as he saw another one not that far away from him. Getting closer to it, he soon got a clear line of sight to inspect the creature. It was a tall, lanky, humanoid creature with two arms and two legs, along with a head that was eighty percent eyeball. As in, it looked like a cyclops with an eye that was way too big. It had to be said that the eye looked like it was made of stone, though, so Jake wasn’t even sure if it was a weak spot. It wielded what appeared to be a sling of vines, giving Jake the impression it specialized in ranged attacks.
Using Identify, the name of the creature surprised Jake, and Villy couldn’t hold himself back.
[Lunewood Hunter – lvl 334]
“Well, well, well. What do we have here? The true form of what a hunter is supposed to be? Oh, isn’t that a sling? How perfect for a hunter—way better than some silly little bow!”
“At least this hunter is way better than that stupid viper before,” Jake shot back, with the Viper not answering again, as if he had seen the following events coming.
Because, hey, at least there was one good thing about this Lunewood Hunter… Compared to all the other Lunewood creatures he had seen, it was far more impressive. More than that, it was clearly specialized in hunting down those who managed to reach this deep into the forest, making it a purely combat-oriented creature.
As a hunter, it naturally also possessed one other impressive trait that Jake detected once he felt its eye land upon him:
High Perception.
Chapter 5
Ghostvine
For a moment, Jake and the Lunewood Hunter made eye contact. Jake immediately knew it could see him through his stealth, and he prepared himself mentally for what was to come. However, even after a solid second, the Hunter just kept observing him without making any aggressive moves.
Frowning, Jake tried to step to the side, and its gaze followed him. Was it looking for an opening or something? Its actions didn’t make any sense at all. Even when Jake began walking, it just kept looking at him.
When he tried to pick up speed, the Hunter finally moved but still did not attack him. It just followed Jake as he made his way further into the forest, confused as hell. The Hunter even kept the same distance from Jake, its eye never leaving his body for a split second as it ran after him. He had already cut off his conversation with Villy, but now he seriously considered asking if this Hunter was broken.
Something definitely felt off, and Jake released a Pulse of Perception to scan his immediate area and instantly saw that three more Hunters were making their way toward him, all coming from the direction of the Wood Meteorite.
Is it not attacking because it judged it can’t beat me alone and is waiting for backup? Jake questioned as he once again prepared himself for a fight.
Yet when the three Hunters arrived, they proceeded to just join the first one in looking at him. It was honestly eerie as fuck, having four large creatures made of vines and stone constantly stare at you without doing anything. They even stood entirely still when Jake didn’t move, only adding to the creepiness.
Deciding to just say fuck it, Jake proceeded toward his target. The four Hunters followed along as Jake got closer and closer to the Wood Meteorite and the army that surrounded it. While he wasn’t confident in beating them, he was confident in escaping should things go south, as while the Hunters were the strongest Lunewood creatures he had seen, they were still low-tier.
Soon enough, he reached the Wood Meteorite. Jake entered a large crater clearing created by its impact, finally laying eyes on the thing. It honestly looked a bit like a spiky, spherical pinecone, except it was utterly massive and pulsating with power, bluish veins covering the entire meteorite.
Through his sphere and with another Pulse, he also noted how extremely long vines extended down from the Wood Meteorite, piercing many kilometers into the moon. These vines spread like the roots of a tree in the immediate area, but they primarily reached downward in a pretty straight line, going directly for the core as far as Jake could see.
Yet he didn’t feel as if the Wood Meteorite was actually siphoning any energy out of the core, making him guess it hadn’t reached it yet. Even if it had, Jake wasn’t sure it would be capable of absorbing anything, as the moon’s core remained a lot more powerful than this meteorite.
Checking with the four Hunters, who had now been joined by five more that had been chilling around the Wood Meteorite, Jake saw the nine of them still didn’t seem interested in attacking. To check further, Jake floated into the air as he made his way toward the meteorite, but even as he approached, they didn’t make any moves.
They clearly knew he didn’t fit there, and yet they didn’t see him as an enemy for some reason. It didn’t make any sense at all. Was it that they didn’t deem him a threat? Or because he hadn’t attacked them or destroyed anything yet? Or were they broken somehow? They hadn’t even alerted all the other Lunewood creatures to his presence, and Jake felt that it was only the Hunters who even knew he was there due to the peculiar nature of Unseen Hunter.
Once more trying to ignore them, Jake studied the Wood Meteorite more closely as he flew right up to it. He felt it pulsating with energy, sending waves of its corrupted life energy into the world. This energy also tried to affect him, but he had made sure to cover his body in a few layers of stable arcane mana to ensure his own safety.
Reaching out, Jake touched one of the spikes of the meteorite. The moment he did, he felt a pulse of energy enter his body, but more than just energy, it carried some kind of… desire. As Jake felt something go for his soul, he allowed just a little bit in to understand what was going on. He felt as if he heard a faint whisper telling him to accept it.
The spike Jake was touching then broke off, and he knew what it wanted him to do. It wanted him to take it and absorb it into his body, allowing the Lunewood energy to take over his body and become one with the forest like all the other creatures there.
No… more than that.
It wanted him to become the Lunewood Forest. To merge with the meteorite and be its host. Perhaps it instinctively understood its own shortcomings, and it wanted something to help control it and grow. Jake wasn’t sure why, but it seemed to believe he was a good option to make that happen.
Jake was confused, though. Why did it need him? Sandy hadn’t mentioned anything like this. According to the worm, these Wood Meteorites didn’t have any ego or control at all; they were more like a natural force only seeking to expand, and—
It was wilting.
