The Primal Hunter

If anyone else had seen what the person sitting on the ground with his arcane marble had just done, they likely wouldn’t believe its legitimacy. Certain rules and norms existed that everyone assumed to be true, so it was natural that when someone didn’t play by these rules and decided to make up their own laws for how things worked, no one would take them seriously.

However, Jake had never been one to just believe it when someone said something couldn’t be done. Especially not when it came to anything his Bloodline could do. Jake still only had a faint grasp as to the gravity of what he had pulled off, but he knew it was impressive if anything the books claimed regarding mana constructs was correct.

Mana constructs were, by nature, temporary. No items made up entirely of mana could exist, and even mana with souls – elementals – had a limited lifespan. Mana itself was a malleable element that made up everything and was, in the eyes of many, the purest form of energy. It was one of the three fundamental energies, with many believing inner energy and vital energy were derived from mana. Jake didn’t really believe this, as he had heard differently, so he kind of ignored those notes. It was this lack of caring about what others had researched and claimed should be possible that allowed him to make the small marble in his hand.

Jake had made a prediction that paid off. He had been told before that his stable arcane mana registered as something physical and not made of mana. However, it was more accurate to say that his stable arcane mana registered as non-summoned simply due to how stable it was. Any analyst would still be able to figure out it had mana in it – everything did to some extent – but Jake’s stable arcane energy was more akin to a naturally occurring piece of metal than a pure mana construct.

That was actually a pretty good comparison. Jake’s stable arcane affinity was very much akin to something like metal in that they were both very, well, stable.

Everything contained mana, and everything leaked and absorbed mana at different speeds, with absorption nearly always faster than the leakage, which was how raw materials grew in rarity and energy density as time passed. Most metals were known to be very slow at both of these things, making them take a long time to improve in rarity in the wild. This lack of leaking and absorption also made metals incredibly stable, which was where the entire concept of stability came from.

Stability merely meant to be unaffected by the environment – both good and bad.

Yet, no matter how stable a magical construct was, it would never be as stable as a real item. It would always just be a collection of mana as it lacked aspects that made it truly physical and corporeal. Lacked the Records to be an independent item. Even if a metal or earth maga summoned a giant wall, it would disappear within a short period, assuming it wasn’t just made by manipulating material that was already there. With time, the internal mana structure would simply be broken down if the source of the mana was a person and not environmental mana.

In the same way, a weapon summoned by a metal mage also needed to be constantly supplied with new mana. More importantly, It also wouldn’t be Identifiable despite looking very much like a regular item. Yet the arcane marble Jake had just made was. It registered as a standalone item, entirely separate from Jake’s own existence and mana. This meant that even if Jake died, the orb would remain, something utterly impossible for any other kind of mana-summoned object. Holding it in his hand, Jake also felt it would remain for a long time. A very, verylong time. Unsurprisingly, considering the word perennial in the item name.

Now, it had to be mentioned that creating an actual item out of nothing using only mana was theoretically possible; however, not for someone like Jake. With enough Willpower, it was possible to “will” something into existence, including real items, but the sheer Willpower required was entirely out of the realm of possibility for anyone doing this Challenge Dungeon. Making something from nothing was the kind of feat only gods or perhaps peak S-grades could reliably pull off.

In conclusion… Jake had pulled off something a C-grade shouldn’t be capable of. He had created a true item out of nothing but his own stable mana. He had created something real. A marble capable of existing, even long after Jake’s own death, assuming he messed up dodging one time too many.

One may ask what the function of this item Jake had miraculously made was, and… well… it was very tough and would exist for a long time, so that was definitely two things. Ah, it was also a little pretty, and its sheer uniqueness definitely made it a nice collector’s item. As for practical uses…

Yeah… it was entirely useless. It was just a very hard marble, and any Origin Energy within would instantly be destroyed should something break it. In fact, Jake felt that the Origin Energy would work actively to destroy itself and anything that broke the stable barrier that defended its existence. It was pure instinct to aim for mutual destruction, as should the marble break or leak in any way, the energy would instantly dissipate and greedily be absorbed by the environment.

Instinct was actually quite a keyword here. Jake hadn’t been the one to really intend to create something called a Perennial Arcane Marble. It had all been up to the Origin Energy. In the same vein that Jake didn’t intend how a core would mutate and transform when he infused this unique energy, he also didn’t control what the energy would do this time. He only sent with it the hope that it would be stable and not break apart, with the Origin Energy then doing the rest of the work itself by forming the marble.

The more I think about it, the more this Origin Energy seems kind of alive, Jake thought to himself as he lifted the marble and looked at it more closely before he got up and headed straight toward the Architect to submit it. Or, maybe it’s more correct to say it makes things come alive? It definitely makes whatever I infuse it into change by itself when infused…

Jake still felt very unsure exactly why this energy worked the way it did, and he felt he wouldn’t fully figure it out for a long time. The best he could do was figure out aspects of the energy and be satisfied with that. To focus on the outcomes and not the underlying explanation for everything. Then again, maybe he could ask the Architect if she would spill a little bit of insight. With her direct system connection, she had to know something, right?

Reaching the door leading into her room, Jake didn’t even have to knock as it opened by itself. Walking inside, the Architect sat in her usual spot and opened her eyes to regard Jake right as he stepped inside.

“Quite a peculiar submission you have this time around if you are showing me what I believe you will show me,” the Architect said, her eyes already fixated on the small, useless, arcane marble in Jake’s hand.

Jake tossed the marble into the air before catching it again, noticing how the Architect’s gaze never left the small thing. This gave Jake an idea, as he sighed loudly. “I will be honest; I’m not even sure if it’s worth submitting.”

“Oh?” she questioned.

“I have no idea if it’s considered good or bad… it’s technically just a bunch of mana made into a marble with a tiny smidgen of this albeit pretty unique energy within,” Jake said, continuing to play with the marble as he faked being deep in thought. “Actually, how long have I been in the House of Architect by now?”

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“A bit over sixteen months,” the Architect answered.

“In that case, I got time to do something else,” Jake said, faking relief. “I was pretty fast in some of the prior Challenge Dungeons too, and with the time me and my teammates allocated, I could easily spend a year more in here.”

The Architect didn’t say anything as Jake continued talking while holding up the marble and looking at it closely. “I apologize for wasting your time; I don’t think this one is worth submitting.”

Jake waited patiently as the Architect just sighed after a few seconds of silence. “You are not a particularly good actor, but fine, I’ll bite. I do want that little marble of yours. As for why… well, let me ask you something instead. All Nevermore Attendees make use of this World Wonder to gain power, levels, and Records. With that in mind, what do you think the Wyrmgod and I get out of all of you being here?”

“Information?” Jake questioned. Nevermore collected data on everyone after all, so… wait. “No… you get Records?”

Nevermore – the Architect – smiled at his response. “Precisely. As you harvest your gains, so do we harvest some of what you reap. We learn about all those who pass through here, and your Records become one with the World Wonder, allowing it to keep growing era by era. This is part of the reason why unique items are so highly valued in this Challenge Dungeon. It is still an evaluation of your skill, yes, but selfishly, we value uniqueness highly due to how much it benefits us as it expands the spectrum of Records available. Of course, everyone is unique in some way or another, and helps expand it. No two people have the exact same Records, but there will be inevitable overlap between those who follow similar Paths. Your Path is unique in its own right, and your Bloodline of the Primal Hunter is one of the most potent ones I have come across, meaning any Records related to it are highly valued. Far more than a mere evaluation in a Challenge Dungeon can make justice.”

Jake slowly nodded, surprised he got the Architect to spill so much when she had been tight-lipped for over a year. She really wanted his small marble, huh? However, with the things she said, Jake still hadn’t fully gotten his answer.

“That is all very enlightening… but that doesn’t answer my question. Will this small marble even be considered a good submission? Despite its uniqueness, it’s still just a bunch of stable arcane mana squished together with some of my unique energy in the center. That it is considered a real item is probably impressive, but I am not sure exactly how impressive. Sure, you may value it due to how unique you find it, but that doesn’t make it a good submission according to the rules of this Challenge Dungeon,” Jake pointed out.

“You are aware I will not answer if something will receive a high evaluation or not before submiting it, but I will dispel some of your doubt. As I am well aware that you already know, creating an item from mana alone is far from a simple matter and carries many implications. This is not to mention the nature of the specific item you created. I cannot reveal much, but I will say that you are far from understanding the true meaning of this Primeval Energy. You all are far from fully understanding it, your Patron included,” the Architect said. “I will end my comments on the matter here. Decide to submit it or not. I will not force you, nor will I make any promises regarding an evaluation. The only promise I will make is that nothing regarding this little marble will be leaked to any other being, not even the Wyrmgod.”

Jake didn’t need to think much more as he chose to submit the arcane marble. He had always planned on doing so, but he had genuine doubts about how good of a submission it was. There still was some doubt, but much of it had been dispelled after this conversation.

The final sentence was a clue. For the Architect to specifically promise once more that she wouldn’t leak anything meant that her leaking it would be a big deal. That communicated to Jake this little marble was a big deal, similar to his Grimoire, though probably in a very different way. The kind of way where more people would want to explore Jake’s special little energy as they came to realize it potentially had more effects than just bringing out the Primeval Origins in cores to give birth to powerful ancient variants.

Either way, Jake had now submitted it, meaning he only had one more potential Creations he needed to come up with while he kept working on his poison and “teaching” Temlat here and there. Jake wouldn’t really say he was teaching much, which was why he felt weird thinking about it as teaching. He was more just giving occasional advice, pointing the young half-elf towards books, and helped him out when stumped. True, there was also the curse nurturing and presence resistance training Jake still occasionally did, but those didn’t really include Temlat learning anything.

Shaking off the thought, Jake focused his attention on this last Creation he had to come up with. For what felt like the umpteenth time, he went through all of his skills, not to look for one to upgrade, but to see if there was one that would give him any inspiration for a crafting venture.

Sure, there was still the possibility of just making an elixir even if Jake had written it off… he could also just be boring and submit a potion? Nah, that would suck too much. As Jake was thinking, he suddenly got an idea that would be awesome if it worked.

With excitement, he tried to pull a certain item out of his inventory and, surprisingly enough, found himself successful. With a grin, he held the mythical rarity Cradle of Soul’s Kindling as he peeked inside with the hope of getting lucky. It would be perfect.

Using the extracted Soulflame, Jake’s Alchemical Flame would upgrade several grades at once, and Jake would even have technically crafted it as it was fully born when he took it out of the Cradle. All that needed to happen was for Jake to get lucky by having a good Soulflame inside, and he would be golden.

However, reality proved cruel as Jake checked the Cradle and found no good Soulflame available. Soulflames had the qualities of elementary, low-tier, mid-tier, high-tier, pinnacle-tier, and Supreme Soulflames, and as Jake looked inside, he saw that while the area where arcane affinity Soulflames spawned was still expanding, the best Soulflame with his affinity was a mid-tier one. Ah, but he did spot a few high-tier Soulflames in there. Sadly, these were all of different affinities.

Alas, sometimes Jake couldn’t get super lucky. After infusing what little mana he had remaining into the Cradle to give his arcane affinity a bit more of an edge in the battle of affinities, he put the Cradle away again, finding himself back at square one.

You know what… fuck it, let’s just focus on the poison, and I am sure I will get on something along the way. If not, maybe I can just submit my inability to get on anything good as a Creation… Jake thought self-deprecatingly as he went toward the alchemy lab to play with poisons.

Within the Architect’s room, she was looking at the marble in front of her. It didn’t look like much, as if it was just a small gem or pearl. There was none of the aura a high-quality item would usually leak, but just a completely inert object. Yet the Bound God found it more than intriguing, even if it raised more questions than it gave answers.

Still looking at it, she felt the probing of her fellow ruler of the World Wonder as the Wyrmgod curiously approached her. Likely because he had seen the Chosen leave her chambers.

“I see he has handed in another submission. My guests grow curious, so-“

“No,” Nevermore cut him off. “Not only am I unwilling, I am incapable of sharing.”

“Incapable?” the Wyrmgod questioned. “Like with…?”

“Yes, the same as with four of the Creations from the man called Eron, the Chosen of the Lifesoul Daolord. Truly curious to see two individuals with such aberrant Bloodlines appearing on the same planet,” the Architect answered.

The Wyrmgod grumbled but stopped probing as Nevermore kept looking at the small marble. He knew that when the system set down a hard line like this, there was no need to keep trying. It had decided to block certain information, making it so there were things not even she could see, and what she could see, she was physically incapable of sharing with anyone.

She wanted to probe it more… but she knew that even if the system allowed it, all she would be doing was breaking the marble. Breaking the stable energy surrounding the spark would result in the spark infusing the rest of the energy to destroy itself. A truly peculiar Creation with no real uses to anyone.

However, even if it didn’t have any practical use cases, this small marble was Perennial. Everlasting. Something that shouldn’t be possible. With time, all items degraded. A sword will lose its energy, becoming inert. A magic circle will need constant repairs to keep active. Any structure will require maintenance… even a small rock would change with time, finding itself affected by the environment.

Yet, despite how much the world would change or how many eras would pass this small marble would remain. Unless destroyed, it could potentially continue to exist forever… a fate usually only reserved for the divine. Achieved with not a single smidgen of divinity.

Peculiar indeed…