The Primal Hunter 11, page 82
“Huh,” Jake let out, guessing that the Challenge Dungeon he had done when he first got his profession probably also counted.
“Are all the Challenge Dungeons in Nevermore like this?” Jake questioned, remembering when Nevermore had first mentioned that one of the reasons Challenge Dungeons didn’t give levels was to improve Records. Maybe every single Challenge Dungeon was also designed with special Records in mind.
“In some aspects, yes, but it varies depending on the era and the Challenge Dungeons in question. The Challenge Dungeons are ultimately evaluations for a grander achievement, and that is their primary design above all else.”
Jake nodded and moved the conversation along. “So, what does it mean when you say this evaluation is to my benefit?”
“Rather than simply give you an achievement and throw you out, we will go through your submissions and you will receive feedback. However, only the feedback you ask for yourself, outside of some very broad conclusions. I will also give you a general oversight as to how good each submission is, if that is something you want.”
Jake smiled. “Damn, feels almost weird being told I won’t just be thrown out of the room for asking one question too many.”
“That can still be arranged if you want,” Nevermore responded in what Jake really hoped was a joking tone. “I do have some leeway, after all. This part isn’t anything the system demands but merely an extra reward, so to say.”
“But there will still be a real reward after, right?” Jake said, trying to change the subject.
“That we will discuss later… For now, let us proceed with your submissions, starting with your first one. So, any questions regarding the submission of our first meeting?”
“Well… was I an idiot for deciding to submit it?” Jake asked, a bit unsure.
That first submission had been made entirely on impulse, and after over two years in the House, Jake felt more uncertain than ever if it had been a good idea.
“Answering that question is far from straightforward, as in order to provide a satisfactory conclusion, I would need to know what you would have submitted instead,” Nevermore answered, and honestly, she had a good point. “However, I will say that the submission didn’t drag down your overall evaluation when it comes to the ten Creations you submitted. Its uniqueness and vanity were enough to allow it to stand on its own. Also, if nothing else, it was highly time-efficient, was it not?”
“So, I wasn’t entirely an idiot—got it,” Jake said, nodding. “Now for my other submissions... I am not sure it’s worth it to go super into detail about all of them, so can we just batch all the mediocre or even bad ones together? Do a quick-fire round, so to say?”
“Very well,” the Architect said as she summoned a few projections showing Jake’s Creations. “First is the Cursed Stimulant of Hunger. This submission is rather unique due to its curse-related properties, but the Creation itself isn’t of extraordinary quality compared to all the others. From my observations, you are already aware of its shortcomings, so it does not appear pertinent to go into detail.
“Next is the ritual circle, which, while fine and also satisfactorily diverse, isn’t that impressive either relative to your other submissions. The Elemental Confluence Spirit Orb falls into the same camp as the prior two, where it is different but not outstanding on its own. It did help these two that you managed to upgrade your Sense of the Malefic Viper during their creation process, but the impact wasn’t extreme. Finally, we have the Adaptable Arcane Acid of Brittleness, which admittedly is the best of these four, but from a pure quality standpoint, it simply isn’t that impressive. The fact that this was your first time crafting an acid and the uniqueness of your arcane affinity did manage to uplift it significantly, but not enough for it to truly be considered a great submission in relative terms. Do you have any further questions regarding these four Creations?”
“Honestly? Not really,” Jake said.
He had created the latter three not with the intent to make great submissions but because they were in fields he wanted to work on anyway. He was a bit surprised the Architect hadn’t tossed his final poison in there, which was a pleasant surprise. Jake also felt oddly happy that Temlat wasn’t mentioned in this batch, showing his Path hadn’t been one of the things the Architect evaluated as mediocre or bad. He did have one thing to add, though.
“You use the word relative a lot,” Jake pointed out.
“Making absolute comparisons during this evaluation strikes me as meaningless,” the Architect answered, shaking her head. “Your definition of mediocre may be the peak of others or below average for a third person. When Creations are also put into the context of their crafting journey and the crafters themselves, it complicates matters further, so the only thing I will compare your Creations to are those of your own making.”
“Can’t you throw me a small hint? Like, how did I do compared to, let’s say…” Jake thought for a bit about the best crafter he knew, and a face instantly appeared. “Arnold, that weird guy. He must have done well in here if he has done this Challenge Dungeon already.”
“No hints.” The Architect shook her head. “Now, did you have any questions, or can we move on?”
“No questions… At least, not any I think you will answer,” Jake muttered.
Pretty quickly, they had gone over half of his submitted Creations, leaving just the Blackheart Poison, Unseen Arcane Hunter skill upgrade, weird Arcane Marble, Grimoire, and, of course, Jake’s first student.
“Then let us proceed,” the Architect said. “With the remaining five, how do you wish to approach the evaluation?”
“Just go from worst to best,” Jake said.
“When you say worst from best, do remember this is only in comparison to everything else you have submitted, so if a particular Creation is too close in nature to another, its evaluation will naturally fall due to a lack of uniqueness and repeated concepts.”
“I am fully aware of that,” Jake said, nodding.
“Alright, then. The fifth-best submission we will look at is the Malefic Blackheart Poison. In terms of absolute quality, this one is without a doubt ranked as one of the best possible I would expect to see out of a C-grade. However, the evaluation is severely harmed due to the overflowing Records of the Malefic Viper that have been mixed in. Moreover, as a poison, it aligns closely with several of your other Creations, not to mention the journey you took to create it didn’t require much substantial innovation but simply more procedural iteration on prior ideas. Overall, the quality of the item does make it an excellent submission and most definitely one to be proud of.”
“Would it have been better if I just submitted a regular Heartrot Poison?” Jake asked, wondering if maybe submitting an item that benefitted from the Malefic Viper’s Poison had been a mistake.
The Architect shook her head. “No, most certainly not. If you had done that, it would have been batched in with the other mediocre submissions.”
“Alright; that’s good, at least,” Jake said, nodding, happy to have even gotten a straight answer. “I don’t really have any other questions.”
“The fourth-best is the Unseen Arcane Hunter skill upgrade. This is once more a skill of impressive quality, and the upgrade was most certainly substantial and integrated many new concepts, but its evaluation is harmed primarily due to two things. First of all, the fact it relied on many prior insights and ideas. Simply upgrading the skill a few rarities wasn’t too difficult, and while what you accomplished was a feat, it was primarily forced through due to your Bloodline and, quite frankly, ridiculously high Perception stat for someone who is barely mid-tier C-grade.” Jake only took the last part about Perception as praise. “The second reason the evaluation is harmed is in part due to one of your later submissions already showcasing concepts of your Bloodline and arcane affinity.”
The arcane marble, Jake quickly concluded. It was actually a bit surprising it hadn’t been mentioned yet, but Jake only saw that as a good thing. At least, he really hoped it was a good thing.
“Any questions?” the Architect asked.
“Hm, not really.” Jake shrugged. He didn’t have much he needed to ask and partly considered that asking could be harmful. If she threw him off with her evaluation, making Jake doubt something he had done, it could hurt upgrades in the future. Her clear attempt to not mention anything negative about the details of the Creations themselves also wasn’t lost on him. Clearly, she was careful about her words.
“As you will.” Nevermore nodded and took a slight pause. “With these last three submissions, it is a bit difficult to separate them in terms of the value of their evaluations, so I would deem it best to not do so. The Grimoire, Perennial Arcane Marble, and the Path of your student Temlat are all unique and stand tall on their own. So, rather than simply saying which one is best, I will explain the good and bad points of them all. Is that acceptable to you? If you so wish, I could also simply rank them all one by one.”
Jake initially felt a bit disappointed at not just being given a top-three list but ultimately nodded, as he realized how little it mattered. He also got the feeling Nevermore was partly doing it like this for his sake, as he kind of felt scummy having to think about Temlat’s life and Path just being reduced to a placement on a list.
“Just do it your way.”
“Then let us start with the most… peculiar of all your submissions: the Perennial Arcane Marble. This item exists solely due to your Bloodline and, despite not having any actual use cases, is by far the most valuable item of the bunch from any outside perspective simply due to its research value. However, since this Creation exemplifies your Bloodline and the many concepts related to it in such an overwhelming fashion, the impact it has on all your other Creations that utilize your Bloodline or arcane affinity is not to be underestimated. I can say that if you had only submitted a single Creation within this Challenge Dungeon, this one would have been the best by far out of them all.” As she explained this, a projection of the small sphere hung in the air. “Of course, if you had only submitted one Creation, your overall evaluation would have been horrible.”
As Jake looked at the projection of the marble, he got an idea. Hiding a mischievous smile, he asked, “So, I have been wondering… can you give me a more in-depth review of the item? Some details regarding the energy sealed within the stable arcane marble specifically, and the true meanings of that Perennial tag in front of the Arcane Marble name?”
The Architect looked at him before sighing. “Truthfully, I would be more than happy to do that, but I am unable to. This isn’t simply me withholding information but a system-imposed rule specifically regarding Bloodlines and Transcendent skills. Nothing can be shared with anyone, not even the ones who submit it. Sometimes, I can still bend the rules a bit and offer some information, but this Creation of yours only consists of elements related to your Bloodline, so I can’t give you anything more than you can already glean.”
“Fair enough,” Jake conceded. He did know the system could be a real stickler when it came to stuff like that. It was as bad as Villy when it came to wanting Jake to just find out shit about his Bloodline himself.
“Moving on, let us discuss the Grimoire you submitted. In truth, there is not much to say here. It is a high-tier Grimoire related to your very unique Path and mentality toward your Patron. There are many new concepts in there for sure, and even if your mentality is once more heavily based on your Bloodline, as it is only a side effect, the penalty in uniqueness is minimal. Ah, and on a personal note, I would heavily advise you against publicizing any of your Grimoires. The response will more likely than not be negative and get you into more problems than I believe you desire.”
“So, keep it between me and closely trusted people who won’t throw a fit that I got a bit of heretic in me—got it,” Jake said with a nod. “But I do actually have a question related to this one, especially the uniqueness part. Something that is pretty hard to ask anyone about and that I feel the Viper can’t really offer a proper perspective on, either… Is this Path really that unique? From what I have seen from others, there are many who treat their Patrons more as friends or supporters rather than, well, Patrons. Shit, I have a few friends, just to mention a few, and even if they are only like that due to being influenced by me, are you really telling me no one with some kind of presence resistance like me has ever been around before?”
This was legitimately one of the things Jake had wondered for a long time. Jake understood he was considered a heretic because he viewed Villy as a friend and not just a Patron, while he got the Chosen part by still being, well, his Chosen. Also, he was fully aware that his questions had been more of a ramble than a concise query.
“I may be overstepping here… but alright,” Nevermore began. “The uniqueness of your Path does not merely come from how you want to treat your Patron, but from how you are capable of treating the Malefic Viper. As you have said, others out there also treat their Patrons more as friends or allies, especially when the one blessed is an S-tier or even a demigod, but you do not merely treat the Malefic Viper as a friend but as an equal.”
“Still can’t see the difference,” Jake muttered.
Nevermore seemed to think for a bit before the elaborated. “Usually, the relationship between a Patron and someone blessed is a one-way street of giving. The god gives to the one who is blessed, with all returns coming in the shape of Records and other such intangible things. At the same time, the god can take back any privileges if they so desire, holding all the power.”
Jake nodded. He already knew all that from talks with Villy. However, that didn’t explain how he’d gotten the Heretic-Chosen profession in the first place. It was true that one of the effects was that the Viper couldn’t take back the Blessing even if he wanted unless one of them died, but again, that was an effect from the evolution and not something Jake had caused beforehand.
“Your relationship with the Malefic Viper is far more two-way. As I said, I may be overstepping, but… he benefits more from you than a usual Chosen. As do you benefit more than usual. The ultimate cause of this is not your mutual willingness to be friends or partners or whatever else you desire… it is your ability to make it so. No matter how much a god and a mortal wish to be equal, they are fundamentally not. The mortal will always be positioned lower in the hierarchy, and they simply do not have the ability to leverage their Blessing to take anything from the one who blessed them.”
“But I can,” Jake mumbled. He remembered taking that drop of blood from the Viper right after the tutorial… Had that been the trigger?
“Precisely. You are capable of taking despite being blessed. But do you know what the name of those who are not blessed yet still manage to obtain Records of a god, without said god’s permission, usually is?”
“A heretic?”
Nevermore simply nodded as she finished her explanation. “The reason you can take from the Viper without permission while remaining blessed is because you are capable of being his equal. Your Truesoul is capable of standing up to his. The fact that you both accept this dynamic is ultimately what gave birth to a Heretic-Chosen. If you had tried something similar with a god who had other sentiments and found your attitude unacceptable, I doubt we would be speaking right now.”
“I see,” Jake muttered. “Just to clarify, you didn’t mean that I have a Truesoul rivaling that of a Primordial, right?”
“No, yours is naturally far weaker, as it is merely that of a C-grade mortal,” Nevermore said, shaking her head. “However, when it comes to the pure quality of it, things get complicated, as every Truesoul of someone who has a Bloodline is effectively mutated. If you want my personal opinion, then no, your Truesoul is far from being able to rival any gods… Not that I think you will ever acknowledge someone else as fundamentally superior to yourself.”
“Of course I recognize that.” Jake scoffed. “Any god is, of course, stronger than me right now.”
“I said superior to you.”
“Superior in power, sure… for now. I’ll catch up eventually.” Nevermore looked at Jake with a smile for a few seconds before Jake just scratched the back of his head. “Alright, point proven, but in my defense, I’m the one that’s right here… Can we move on now?”
“Very well.” The Architect nodded, clearly finding the situation amusing. However, her face quickly turned a bit more solemn. “Now let us discuss the final Creation… The Path of Temlat, your first student.”
Chapter 93
Evaluation (2)
Jake could admit he had not been looking forward to this part. He had already talked a bit with Nevermore about his feelings of inadequacy as a teacher, but they had never really discussed the outcome of Jake’s teachings. Never talked about how “good” of a submission Temlat’s Path was… and, by extension, how well what Jake had taught was viewed. Assuming one could even call what Jake had done teaching.
“We have discussed your feelings on the matter before, but be aware that your thoughts on everything are not in any way deciding factors in the evaluation of the submission. The Path of your student is judged instead from my point of view, and his growth in Records, power, and the overall outcome of your teachings are what truly matters.”
“Which is why I’m surprised it’s rated so highly, considering the outcome was his death.”
The Architect sighed. “The outcome of nearly all Paths is death, and it has to be compared to what else your student would have accomplished. Temlat, the young man you picked up, would have died at level 199, never succeeding in reaching C-grade. His death would occur in an attempt to attack a major conference approximately nineteen years from the time you picked him up as a student, killed by a casual attack from a C-grade security captain.”
Jake remained silent, which the Architect took as a prompt to continue.
“He would never have accomplished any of his goals, and his Path would’ve ended there. Instead, you changed his Path entirely the day you took him in. You helped him gain power far above anything he should have ever been capable of reaching. You nurtured his curse until it could evolve into a Sin Curse, you made him refine his mindset through your resistance training, and last but not least, you made him realize the true power he held and the limit of his potential. The true power of curses. At the same time, you gave him confidence in pursuing what he would have otherwise thought impossible, and you even opened his eyes to the concept of plagues.”
