The Primal Hunter 11, page 65
The poor guy looked confused again, so Jake just sighed. “So, want to make me your teacher? I’ll help you get stronger and have your revenge, and in return, you’ll help me. How exactly this will help me, you don’t need to know, but just think about it as me investing in you for future personal gain, yeah? Honestly, it’s a win-win situation. For anyone that isn’t your target of revenge, that is.”
Slowly, the young man nodded, and just like that, Jake had gotten his very first student.
Now, to backtrack a bit, Jake had been very close to just blowing up that entire sky mansion the second he saw the picture of a twenty-year-old-looking young man on the tablet and quickly realized exactly what was going on with this entire “lost pet” situation.
However, he’d stopped himself and instead decided to figure out if there was more to the story. Which there was. The young man who had run away turned out to be involved with some rebel group or something down in the slums, but they were far too weak to do anything as things were now. Still, they tried, and one of their hopefuls was this young man slowly getting close to C-grade.
The fact he could still level and potentially reach C-grade was proof he had some innate talent. When Jake detected the curse energy within him, he became intrigued, with the determination in his eyes and his ability to stay upright under Jake’s gaze sealing the deal. To summarize, the young man had determination, a decent level of talent, and was even pretty close to C-grade. This meant that Jake already had an idea for a Creation to submit:
A student who evolved to a new, intriguing Path. What’s more, Jake could allow the young man to take revenge on a shitty “pet owner” along with the rest of the society that had led to the dystopian megacity. As he’d said to the young man, a win-win.
The only sad thing was that he had to give up on the Merit Point mission, but that wasn’t too bad. He could always pick up another, and finding a potential student was definitely worth it. Finally, the earlier he got a student, the better it would be, as Jake would have more time to make his Creation and wouldn’t have to spend several years in the Challenge Dungeon.
Acting like a mysterious master, Jake brought the young man back to the same portal he had entered the world through. These worlds each had several portals spread throughout, with a system compass in a window provided to find them. When he reached the portal, the young man still looked confused, as he couldn’t see it at all. Jake was pretty damn sure he could still bring him through it, though, which was proven true a few seconds later.
“Where… Where is this?” he asked when he appeared on the other side of the portal, standing in the large white room.
“Your home for the foreseeable future,” Jake answered. “Not this room specifically, but this place.”
Turning around, the young man looked straight at the portal they had entered the room from. “I… Is that the gateway to my planet?”
“Right on.” Jake smiled. “Can you see any other portals anywhere?”
The young man frowned. “No?”
“Hm, alright,” Jake muttered. Maybe he had to take him through a portal at least once for him to be able to see it, or perhaps he could only see and interact with the portal leading to his own world. “Either way, follow me. Also, what’s your name?”
“Temlat,” he answered.
“Alright, Temlat,” Jake said. “How much do you know about the multiverse, if anything?”
“I… I know the basics?” Temlat said, clearly unsure as to what Jake was getting at.
“You ever heard of the Primordials?”
Temlat looked at Jake as if he was an idiot. “Of course? They’re the twelve leaders of the multiverse and are all gods. I heard that other gods have begun to appear, too, but I am not sure if that’s true. Even if it is, they wouldn’t be Primordials.”
“Hm. And what era do you think we are in?” Jake asked, as he found the answer weird.
“I don’t know?”
“How many universes are there? Heard of a new one getting integrated?”
“Well, we live in the Second Universe, so there are two, I guess?” Temlat answered, looking progressively more confused with each of Jake’s questions.
Jake could also understand why… This young man was from the Second Era, he quickly understood. Or at least he thought he was. It was entirely possible the Architect had taken a snapshot of a certain planet in the Second Universe to make the world, and in some ways, it even made sense. His Records would be vastly different from Jake’s own, making influencing him easier.
Plus, it being the Second Era, Jake saw a great opportunity.
“Then do you not know who I am?” Jake asked in a haughty voice.
Temlat looked Jake up and down as he shook his head. “No, sir… Teacher. Am I supposed to?”
Jake took off his mask, covering his face in dark green scales as two black wings sprang from his back. At the same time, he didn’t hide his True Blessing as he stared down at the young man. “You stand before the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.”
He had done all these theatrics to try and get the young man to be receptive to his teachings… but maybe Jake had taken things a bit too far, considering the poor young man’s reaction.
Chapter 73
A Cursed Student-Teacher Relationship
So, Jake was used to quite a few reactions when he revealed he was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper. Most reacted with fear, confusion, and then some level of reverence and respect. The majority of the time, it was not toward Jake but toward what he represented.
However, when it came to poor Temlat, he never got further than the fear stage. He froze entirely as his face went white, and he stared at Jake with wide-open eyes. His mouth opened and closed a few times as if he tried to say some words but failed at every turn. The reaction was way over the top compared to what Jake had expected; he felt intense fear from the young man, as if he expected Jake to do something far worse than just killing him at any moment.
That was when Jake realized a little something… In the 93rd Era, Villy was still a Primordial, sure, but he was also just one of many gods. Not to mention all the other pinnacle factions people knew of. Throughout the years, the number of gods multiplied and, due to this, became more and more involved with mortals as their factions spread and consumed more territory.
In the Second Era, it wasn’t like this. Back then, there’d only been twelve “true” gods. The twelve Primordials. Jake had read a few old history tomes Villy had left in Jake’s library back in the Order for fun, a few of which had been written all the way back in the Second Era. The way they described the Primordials, and the Malefic Viper himself, was far different.
You see… Villy had not exactly been known as a good guy back then. Not that he was now, but back in the day, it was far worse. Those were the days when the Viper had still been doing everything to continue growing in power, destroying anything and anyone that got in his way. He was truly a villain of the multiverse, so for Jake to come and advertise himself as his Chosen was the same as saying he was some harbinger of doom and destruction.
Jake was a bit perplexed as to how he should approach this but decided to lean into Temlat’s understanding. If he thought his teacher was some semi-divine being, that would just mean that when Jake convinced him to not be a doormat and make his own decisions and improvements, he would have accomplished a more impressive feat.
“Is that truly the limit of your desire for revenge?” Jake said. “The mere identity of someone can make you give up? In that case, you truly aren’t worthy of another moment of my time. You can go back where you came from and live your pitiful life and wallow in despair until your owner gets tired of you.” Temlat’s eyes seemed to come to life a little bit as Jake continued, “Or do you want me to kill you right here and now? Are you satisfied with this being the end of your Path? An opportunity squandered due to your own pathetic fear?”
“I…” he finally said. “I… I want to get stronger, but—”
“No, that sentence was already over,” Jake said loudly. “You want to get stronger. Then do that. Grasp every opportunity given and take all you can until one day, the targets of your revenge lay slain before you. So, what do you want? To die a mere ‘pet’ or to become someone no one will ever dare look down upon?”
“I am not a fucking pet,” Temlat said in an almost growling voice.
“I take that as a yes?” Jake asked.
Without any hesitation, Temlat knelt down and went as far as pressing his forehead to the ground. “Master, please—”
“Ah, don’t call me that; it still gives me the creeps,” Jake said, remembering Meira. “Just call me Teacher, Mr. Thayne, Lord Thayne, or something like that. Or you can just call me Jake, but I have a feeling you aren’t going to do that.”
“Then, Lord Thayne… please help me become stronger!” Temlat said with proper determination in his voice. “Help me get my revenge! If you do so, I’ll do anything to pay you back!”
“See, that wasn’t so hard.” Jake smiled, satisfied. “I don’t want something from you quite yet, and right now, all you need to focus on is becoming someone who can actually be of help to anyone, including yourself. Now, come on. Follow me.”
Finally getting out of the portal room, Jake let Temlat take in the environment of the House of the Architect by walking slowly. Say what you will, but the extravagant place filled with servants and expensive-looking decor did look like somewhere the Chosen of a Primordial could reside, especially to someone like Temlat, who seemed to have the understanding that someone like Jake, who was only mid-tier C-grade, was a borderline godlike existence.
“So, you said you didn’t know much about alchemy, right?” Jake asked as he walked all the way to the floor with alchemy stuff on it, mainly to give Temlat some time to adapt and to give Jake some time to ask his questions.
“I know about alchemy… but…” Temlat said, a bit anxious.
“But you know fuck-all? Got it,” Jake said, nodding. It was pretty much as expected. It was easy to see how nervous the young man was, so Jake reassured him, “That’s good. It means you’re a clean slate without any bad habits.”
“Yes, Lord Thayne!” he quickly said, perking up.
“Next question. How much do you know about curse energy?”
“Not much,” he confessed as he held out a hand, the darkish energy gathering. “It’s like my feelings somehow made it happen, and the system gave me a skill, and it helped me level up fast… It all just happened one day. That bitch was satisfied with me getting stronger, and I managed to convince her I was doing it because of her, which gave me more freedom. Enough freedom to try and run away once my collar was off.”
“Wait, she actually made you wear a collar?” Jake asked. What’s worse, Jake had a bad feeling it wasn’t even meant to be in the consensual, kinky way.
“Yes…” Temlat said, the curse energy beginning to materialize around him as Jake saw his apparent anger. “If I tried to run away, the pain was… too much. I still tried once, but if I had not returned, I know it would have taken my life.”
Jake slowly nodded at the explanation. “Well, whoever the fuck made those collars also sounds like someone you ought to pay a visit to in the future, eh?”
Continuing their way down, Jake began to discuss some basic things and even got Temlat to feel comfortable enough to ask questions. Having a casual demeanor seemed to work well, and with every passing moment, Temlat’s nervousness lessened.
Soon enough, they reached the alchemy room of the House of the Architect. Alright, calling it a room really didn’t do it justice. It was more like a massive complex of halls, each with different functions, and every single one of them filled with tools of different kinds. There were even several rooms clearly designed for people to work with ritual circles.
The place also had living quarters and space for Jake to leave some books, so he quickly got Temlat settled. Spending a few hours there, Jake sorted through some books and had Temlat go through them. Jake had considered for a while what exactly to teach Temlat and quickly concluded that normal alchemy wasn’t going to cut it. No, he would throw him into the deep end instantly. He would try to let Temlat harness his innate ability to create and use curse energy rather than learn how to make potions or anything like that.
A few books with more general alchemy theory and history had been left there, along with a lot of miscellaneous stuff Jake decided on in case the young man found it interesting. If Temlat found something he really liked, it would be way easier to teach him.
Also, during their conversations, Jake learned Temlat was nearly three hundred years old. This was not going to stop Jake from mentally referring to him as a young man. As a mid-tier C-grade, Jake was definitely more mature because he had a higher level; that’s just how the multiverse works. At least, that’s how he decided things were in this particular instance. It also wouldn’t be a good look if Jake admitted to being younger than his student.
After Temlat had gotten a bit more comfortable in his new living quarters, Jake headed back toward the Merit Exchange, feeling quite good about things so far. Having a student this early was definitely going to be a great boon, even if Jake still felt a bit unsure about how he was supposed to go about this entire teaching business.
Jake’s plans for Temlat were pretty straightforward. He would teach the young man alchemy and give him access to many of the books he had brought with him from the library back in the Order of the Malefic Viper to make him mainly self-study.
If he got lucky, the young man would be able to quickly progress and learn this new craft. Considering Jake’s influence, the plan was then for Temlat to evolve to a C-grade with a new class and profession, both partly related to Jake. If all went well, the power Temlat got would even allow him to take revenge on the woman who made him a pet.
It was definitely a bit of a gamble, and much could go wrong, but Jake felt like Temlat was his best bet.
With the young half-elf occupied, Jake quickly went and turned in his two completed Merit Point missions while abandoning the one he had “failed.”
Using some of his points, Jake picked up some ingredients he was familiar with. The way the store worked was a bit unique in that there was no browsing of goods or anything like that. Instead, the Creator had to request certain materials, with the exchange then acquiring them and giving a price.
This made it easy to get what you wanted but also added a requirement for the Creators to know their stuff when it came to ingredients. Jake was even happier than before that he had brought half a library’s worth of books so he could look up material names if he ever got in trouble and needed something.
Ah, Jake did try to trick one of the attendants into selling him things based on properties, but he sadly had to know the name of the ingredient. Even if Jake described something to perfection, the attendant would say that they lacked information on the goods Jake wanted them to acquire. It was a bit frustrating, but Jake did at least know quite a few good ingredients from all his time spent at the Order.
With a good stack of ingredients in hand, Jake finally got to crafting, having decided to start out with concocting some poisons. First of all, because he wanted to submit a good poison for evaluation, and second, to get more Merit Points from selling back what he made.
He had a few plans in mind for the poison in question, and he would definitely need some ingredients he didn’t already know the name of, but that was where the books came in.
Jake had also decided that one of the things he would make was a ritual circle. He would make one similar to what he’d used when he gave birth to Vesperia, though naturally without any Jake Juice in the mix. In fact, Jake wanted to make an improved and even more efficient version. Perhaps one suited for another kind of creature than an ectognamorph. Maybe he could even do something curse-related…
Both of these objectives would take a lot of time and resources, but Jake made them a priority. One reason he wanted to do two semi-familiar things was his new little student nearby, who he had a feeling would need a lot of guidance in the early days as he learned basic alchemical theory. Again, Jake would not turn him into a “real” alchemist, but just a highly specialized one who worked with curses and maybe a bit of poison to mix his curse energy into…
It was totally not because Jake also wanted to research infusing curse energy into poisons himself. Nope, that was definitely not something he would ever do.
This is how Jake’s initial time in the House of the Architect slowly passed. Jake quickly realized he was horrible at teaching anything, primarily on the grounds that he also didn’t know exactly how things worked himself due to his instinctual approach to everything. However, this is where Temlat specializing in curses was advantageous.
Controlling curse energy was all about emotions. It was instinct and not knowledge that had to guide you. Even someone like Casper couldn’t logic his way to curse energy. He still had to nurture negative emotions in spades to keep himself powerful. However, as a trapper, he didn’t have to be emotional during fights. He just had to have been during his preparation phase. Ah, and then he had Lyra, his ghost girlfriend, who also helped him quite a bit and gave him access to blight energy.
Temlat had none of that. He was just an angry young man who hated the world, and Jake chose to nurture that. Very directly, too. Curse energy had the ability to affect other sources of curse energy, and Jake had a great source in Eternal Hunger. It was actually pretty normal for curses in the wild to fuse into amalgamations if more formed in the same area. The curse energy from Yalsten that Jake had absorbed was a great example of this.
That curse had come from countless beings and their resentment. This didn’t mean that they all agreed on who or even always what they resented, just that they all held a grudge. Over time, a common hatred would then be formed, with it eventually turning into simple resentment—one of the most common forms of curses.
