The Primal Hunter 15: A LitRPG Adventure, page 52
Another two months had passed since Jake arrived on the Simivita island, and by now, he was pretty much done cleaning up anything that could get in the way of his final B-grade hunt. He’d also noticed a week ago that all invasions from other islands had more or less stopped... perhaps because Jake had also begun to hunt down these invading forces. If he hadn’t, they would have gone straight for the civilian apes, after all.
This period of hunting apes had naturally given him plenty of experience, even if none of the fights had been truly challenging.
’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 306 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points
’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 307 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points
’DING!’ Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 310 - Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points
Two levels weren’t anything to complain about, but what mattered more was the progress he had made on the island.
By now, the Warlord had definitely realized what was going on. Jake had refused to fight the B-grade when he was moving around with a big squad, instead picking off groups he wasn’t a part of. After the invasions stopped, the Warlord had still been moving around with a large group, but today, things finally changed.
The Warlord had moved out all alone, not a single other ape with him. Jake had hunted down a squad less than a day ago, and the B-grade was moving toward where that had taken place, perhaps to check out their status or face off against their killer.
Either way, Jake had decided to face this Warlord head-on. For a moment, he considered whether he should start the fight with his regular strike from stealth, but decided to change things up a little. He wanted to speak with this Warlord briefly, as a part of him wanted to learn the character of the first B-grade he killed.
Jake had already confirmed that there were no other C-grades within hundreds of kilometers as the Warlord grew closer. With tension and anticipation building, Jake soon heard his prey.
“Hunter! If you hear me, come! It is I you have come for, isn’t it!?”
The Warlord was still a good distance away, his yell carrying far. When he repeated the same words a minute later, it confirmed that he didn’t actually know Jake’s location. He was just guessing that Jake was in the vicinity.
He had time to yell once more before he got close enough for Jake to respond without revealing himself.
“Finally, you dare approach me without an army,” Jake spoke, projecting his voice while trying to hide its origin.
The Warlord stopped dead in his tracks as he looked around, trying to locate his prey.
“You have hunted down my kin long enough,” the Warlord said, clearly full of confidence. “This is not my first time playing this game with you hunters, though you have proven yourself the most persistent and difficult to deal with I’ve encountered thus far.”
“That’s high praise,” Jake said, intent on also making himself the last hunter this Warlord would ever encounter. As he spoke, he was moving around, trying to get himself in a suitable position for when it was time to strike.
“It is. It shall take us many years to recover from the damage you have done. But we will recover. We always do. I come here today, facing you with the Ancestors at my back, carrying the will of my tribe on my shoulders. Say, Hunter, what do you have besides the ability to hide like a coward?” This Warlord was proving to be quite a talker.
“I have only myself and full confidence in my own power and belief,” Jake responded, trying to return the same energy as the ape.
The Warlord kept glancing around himself, clearly expecting an attack to arrive at any point. His expression had slightly changed, though. He looked even more confident now. “A lone hunter… I see. Perhaps that is also why you wished to face me in single combat. Very well—the two of us shall duel, and upon my victory, I shall offer you to the One Beneath.”
Jake realized he had kind of just confirmed he was on his own, though, in his defense, he’d assumed the Warlord already knew. Then again, all the Warlord had to go on were reports, and it was entirely possible the apes who had fled the battle just hadn’t seen anyone else Jake was with.
What they had for certain seen were his level and the fact he was C-grade, which wasn’t anything Jake had tried to hide. Quite the opposite. He was more than happy to make his foe overconfident, selling the notion of being weaker than he truly was.
“Your willingness to face me alone does show some courage. To enter the domain of another and seek to battle above your own station is not something many dare to do.”
By now, Jake had positioned himself well, with a clear path for his arrow to fly while still remaining around a kilometer away. He had considered striking from directly above but believed that would be too predictable, and besides, he wanted the battle to take place within the jungle rather than simply flying through the air. Also, he managed to glance at the Warlord while moving, which also allowed him to get a quick Identify off.
[Grand Simivita Warlord – lvl ???]
Seeing those three question marks got Jake pumped. The difference between a C-grade and a B-grade was truly stark, as evidenced by the aura of the B-grade.
“I fought several of your Chieftains,” Jake commented as he began charging his Arcane Powershot, ready to get the battle started. “They all battled with honor and fell with their heads held high.”
“Hopefully, so will you,” the Warlord said while standing ready, as if he knew an attack would be coming soon.
The Warlord looked a lot like the Chieftain Jake had fought before, except this ape was slightly larger, standing at around three and a half meters with his back slightly arched. The ape wore no armor but had a large, twin-edged axe seemingly made entirely of wood. Tattoo-like symbols covered the greenish fur of the B-grade, and since Jake knew that power was hidden in those markings, he fully expected the Warlord to unleash spirit magic just like all the Chieftains had been capable of. His base assumption had always been that a Warlord was just an evolved Chieftain, and so far, that seemed accurate enough.
Jake felt the strain on his arm, and he knew it was time. Opening his eyes wide, he breathed out and let go of the string, and the Arcane Powershot exploded forward. It ever so slightly curved around a large tree and went straight for the Warlord, who stood on a large stone within a small clearing.
The B-grade stood there passively as the arrow closed in, still concealed by Jake’s stealth skill. Jake had already nocked another arrow when his opening blow arrived and slammed into the Chieftain.
As the attack, which was fully capable of slaying peak C-grades in a single blow, pierced the Warlord... something odd happened. Just as it went into the Warlord, it looked as if his body split in two. A ghostly version of the Warlord was blasted back with an arrow embedded in it, yet Jake’s attack harmlessly phased through the real body of the Warlord, which had seemingly also entered some odd spirit realm.
A moment later, the arcane arrow exploded. This explosion remained very much real as it swept over the Warlord, who had already turned his head to look in Jake’s direction. “Found you!”
With a single step, the B-grade exploded into motion, and Jake felt the ground shaking from this mere movement. After releasing his arrow, Jake instantly jumped into the air right as the Warlord swung his axe.
A greenish-blue crescent wave of spirit energy swept across the jungle, phasing through the trees as if they weren’t even there. Wherever the crescent wave had passed, the bark began to blacken and crack, as if all life had been drained from it, and Jake knew that getting hit with such an attack wouldn’t be a pleasant experience.
Right then, the arrow Jake had shot before dodging also arrived, but the Warlord dodged to the side right as the arrow exploded beside him. With an angry roar, the Warlord also launched himself into the air, giving chase as the explosive arcane mana dispersed.
Jake released a Rain of Arrows down upon the charging B-grade, who summoned a large spirit ape that encompassed his entire body and blocked the dozen arrows aimed at him.
Stepping down, Jake teleported out of the way, then spun around and shot another arrow that the Warlord didn’t properly react to in time, hitting the side of his arm. The arrowhead barely penetrated his thick hide, yet when the ape quickly moved to rip out the arrow, Jake instead made it explode, infuriating the B-grade further.
The Warlord raised a hand and began condensing mana around him. Jake was ready to dodge, then suddenly felt the energy in the atmosphere change. A wave of spirit energy washed over him and the entire jungle a moment later, making it look as if a faint fog covered everything, and his vision took on a light blue shade.
“You do not merely fight me... but the entire tribe that you have made an enemy of,” the Warlord said as his own aura began to increase in intensity.
Right then, Jake also felt movements of energy through his sphere. The ghostly fog began to gather in four different places and take the shape of apes, each wielding a unique weapon. Their entire bodies were ghostly and see-through, but Jake knew that getting hit by those weapons would feel very real, and Identify also confirmed they were real... summoned, but real.
[Simivita Ancestral Spearmaster – lvl ??? - Summon]
[Simivita Ancestral Swordmaster – lvl ??? - Summon]
[Simivita Ancestral Hammermaster – lvl ??? - Summon]
[Simivita Ancestral Axemaster – lvl ??? - Summon]
All four of them gave off the auras of B-grades, but their actual power level was more akin to a peak C-grade. Jake estimated each of them to be roughly as powerful as a Chieftain, though as they began to move, their diversity in techniques seemed quite limited.
They attacked using their weapons in an attempt to encircle Jake, with the Warlord not far behind as he propelled himself forward with spirit energy surrounding him. Jake escaped the encirclement quickly, but the four summons gave chase, and within moments, it became clear that these Ancestral spirits could only fight using pure physical prowess, which also explained why no shamans had been summoned.
Dodging attacks from five enemies at once proved a lot more difficult, and soon the B-grade Warlord was upon him. Jake felt a slight sense of pressure being this close to the B-grade as the axe descended toward him, radiating power.
With a blast of arcane energy, Jake managed to retreat out of range. The axe swing tore through the air, yet before Jake even had time to stop his own momentum, the Warlord interrupted his own attack mid-swing and threw the axe at Jake.
Desperately swaying to the side, Jake failed to fully avoid the axe’s aura and was cut in the side, making him grimace in pain. Seeing an opportunity, the Warlord let out a battle cry that seemingly empowered the four summoned warriors. They all began to glow, and their speed increased.
Seeing the spirits close in, Jake’s eyes narrowed.
Let’s try that.
His eyes opened wide as his aura and Pride were fully unleashed, pushing back the spirit fog around him. At the same time, he also attacked the four spirits at once using Pride, but found the ability mostly useless since these summons didn’t have souls. They were, however, magical constructs, and as he kept creating distance, countermeasure ideas began to appear in his mind.
With the fog around Jake temporarily dispelled, the spirits backed off, and the Warlord also hesitated a moment, giving Jake a chance to land a quick potshot to the B-grade’s chest and send him flying back a little.
“You hunters always have so many tricks,” the Warlord said, scoffing as a wave of spirit energy wrapped around Jake’s arrow just before its explosion to suppress the destructive energies. "I see no reason to delay this any further... so prepare yourself."
Even more spirit energy revolved around the Warlord as he boosted his power, his aura spiking in turn.
Despite spending plenty of energy to keep the fog at bay, Jake didn’t respond when it began to close in once more. To an outside observer, the B-grade and his summons were clearly in a superior position, yet as Jake saw their approach, he had just one thought…
He’s weaker than I thought he would be.
Chapter 59
Expectations vs. Reality
Jake had approached this fight with a lot of expectations and forethought. He had imagined many scenarios for his first true fight against a B-grade, and in truth, he had created a lot of assumptions in his mind.
The only other B-grade Jake had fought was the metal monster within Minaga’s Endless Labyrinth. That monster had been incredibly powerful and fast, and even if Jake faced it now, he wasn’t sure he would stand a chance, as he seriously doubted he had seen all it had to offer.
He also knew that B-grades were a lot stronger than C-grades, the same way C-grades had been a lot stronger than D-grades. He still remembered his first time killing a C-grade and how difficult that had been. The Panther had pushed Jake to his limits, and it had gone down to the wire, resulting in him just barely eking out a victory.
That was why Jake had been so careful. He had wanted to feel out the Warlord in the beginning of the fight before the B-grade even got serious, which was why he had also held back... In fact, he had relied solely on the stat boost from Big Game Hunter, which, while significant, only tended to show its full potential in combination with his true boosting skills.
Yet despite holding back so much, the pressure he’d anticipated just wasn’t there. Was he in a disadvantageous position? Yes, but it wasn’t as bad as Jake had expected it to be. Moreover, he had assumed the magic of a B-grade to be on a different qualitative level; however, when he looked at the summoned spirits, all Jake felt was disappointment.
With the Warlord and four Ancestor spirits closing in, Jake stopped holding back as much. Arcane Awakening sprang to life as Jake boosted all his stats by around 30%, and that was on top of the boosted base stats from Big Game Hunter.
This explosive release of power made the Warlord hesitate for a moment, which was a big enough opening for Jake to go on the counterattack. However, rather than go for the B-grade, he went straight for the Spearmaster Ancestor, having identified that summoned variant as the most dangerous because of its long-range capabilities.
Jake easily dodged the spear thrust as his hand glowed with destructive arcane energy. Striking for the spirit’s chest, Jake empowered his hand further the second he made contact.
A blast of arcane energy flooded into the spirit, and a few moments later, it began to lose its shape as the ghostly fog that made up its body started dispersing into the air. Before the Hammermaster could grasp the full extent of what Jake had done, he was struck with a similar attack and also started dispersing.
The Warlord saw what had happened and attacked Jake, intending to make him stop, but his axe swings—while powerful—were not fast or complex enough in technique to catch Jake out.
Using his katars, Jake also engaged in melee combat for the first time and did something daring. Rather than dodging a swing from the Warlord, Jake raised both katars to block the blow.
Perhaps thinking Jake had messed up, the Warlord refused to miss this chance, roaring and putting even more power into the swing. A moment later, Jake felt the impact. His arms buckled and the reverberations coursed through his entire body, sending him flying.
Jake flew through several vines and other greenery before he finally managed to stop himself while sliding across the lush ground, kicking up a small mound of dirt in the process. Pain coursed through his arms from blocking the blow, and from this one exchange, Jake became certain of a few things.
First of all, this Warlord did have pure power worthy of a B-grade. This blow had just been a normal hit and not a skill, yet Jake could feel the pain all the way to his bones. Blocking several of them in a row was definitely out of the question.
Second, Jake was confident this Warlord specialized in classic heavy warrior traits with some magic sprinkled in. The B-grade wasn’t that fast, but he was incredibly strong and had a decently resilient body, based on how little his arrow had penetrated earlier, indicating high Toughness. Seeing as he was a Simivita—an ape race with decent Vitality—Jake also assumed the Warlord had a high stat number there.
Third and finally, the Simivita Warlord wasn’t good at using his own power. There could be a lot of reasons for this, but Jake assumed it primarily came down to lack of experience. The B-grades in the hunting grounds rarely, if ever, fought, and when they did, it tended to be against far weaker opponents. Plus, the Warlord was strong enough to kill most peak C-grades with a single well-placed attack, meaning he’d likely never had to truly push himself to improve. Why fix what ain’t broken?
This lack of experience now came back to bite the ape in the ass. The two remaining Ancestor spirits had chased after Jake, giving him a great opportunity to quickly get rid of both. In less than two seconds, he’d landed a pair of swift palm strikes, making them both disperse once more.
The reason Jake had so easily dismantled these spirit summons all came down to how poorly they were made. They were essentially just puppets created from spirit mana with Willpower infused into them, all done with the help of the System. Each of them had a lot of energy poured in, but Jake had quickly realized just how flawed they were.
Years spent doing the Puzzle Box of the Seeker had made Jake quite proficient in analyzing and dismantling magical constructs, and these spirit summons were no different. Jake didn’t even have to fully destroy them; he just had to destroy what kept them together. They were like structures built with only a single supporting pillar, and if someone knew to give it a good kick, the entire thing would come crumbling down, no matter how impressive the structure was. In this case, the structure wasn’t even that impressive, as Jake felt that the Warlord still had to actively give commands to his summons to make them attack.
