The Primal Hunter

Time passed swiftly within Nevermore as the final sprint to complete as many floors as possible to rake up all the points possible continued. The gods naturally got more active as they monitored all the important groups as the end gradually approached. As of the final ten years, there had been approximately a few hundred individuals who were fighting for the top spots of the Leaderboards, with this number only decreasing as the months went by.

The gods chilling in the streaming room couldn’t hold themselves back from commenting on all the developments, especially when they viewed the ones associated with their own factions. Yet, one person kept being brought up, not just because of himself, but the party he had. It was rare to see a single group with close relations to four Primordials after all, and with Valdemar getting quite invested, too, the demand for Jake clips was through the roof.

“You still aren’t sad Jake didn’t want a skill based on your Records?” Minaga asked as they had just gotten done watching a highlight from a fight Jake and his party had. “I think he and that Runemaiden of yours could make a good team if you brought him to your side. One wielding a bow with devastating arrows in the back while the other keeps the foe at bay while being nearly impervious to damage…”

They all knew Jake had rejected a skill related to Valdemar. Not because they knew what kind of skill had been offered but because they knew he had to have been offered one. The Primordials were the gods that had been around the longest and knew the most about the system, so for them to deduce Jake would have to be offered some skill because of his clash with Valdemar was only to be expected.

“Heh, if it didn’t suit his Path, it didn’t suit his Path,” Valdemar shrugged. “Isn’t it only more exciting that he rejected me? Actually, isn’t it better? For someone powerful like him to join Valhal while not really having any skills from Valhal will only expand our Legacies! Gudrun is gonna be more than on board to recruit him.”

“Openly talking about stealing someone’s Chosen isn’t proper etiquette, now is it?” the Holy Mother chimed in, in a more playful than scolding tone.

“Bah, Jake is his own person; he can do whatever he wants,” Valdemar waved her off. “I’ll just make sure we give him the best offer to join us. I might even throw in a case of my personal brew to really convince him.”

“That one’s gonna be tough,” Minaga said, shaking his head. “The Endless Empire is already willing to- no, wait, never mind. That was confidential. Ignore that I said anything; the source is unreliable anyway, and I’ve never even met the guy in person. What I am saying is, if Jake ever shows himself open to recruitment, there’s gonna be competition.”

Vilastromoz had remained quiet as he finally joined the conversation. “You talk as if you stand a chance… don’t you think his current Patron may have something to say?”

“Sure he might,” Valdemar grinned as he leaned forward. “But if he can hold onto my fellow human is entirely dependent on if he’s powerful enough to, now isn’t it?”

Valdemar and Vilastromoz both spiked their auras for a moment as the Wyrmgod interfered instantly. His own presence washed over theirs before they could cause too much of a ruckus. It pushed both of theirs back, suppressing them slightly with a clearly superior aura.

“Behave when you are in my domain,” the Wyrmgod said with a sigh.

Vilastromoz and Valdemar both did as told while the human Primordial muttered, dissatisfied. No matter how powerful they were, they were still within the domain of the Wyrmgod. In Nevermore, he was the most powerful being beside the Bound God of the World Wonder itself. Considering the limitations of Nevermore and the contract that the Primordial and she had made, the Wyrmgod was definitely the one most able to use his powers of the two.

That was obviously part of the reason no one had shown up with their real bodies. Now, chances are they would be able to escape Nevermore if they were truly there and got into a conflict with the Wyrmgod, but it certainly wouldn’t come cheap, not even for Valdemar.

The mood had turned a bit sour, but an unexpected savior of the vibe entered.

“It’s almost disgustingly simplistic,” the Blightfather commented as he studied a clip of Jake slaying a mini-boss on floor seventy-eight with a single arrow as he expertly changed the subject. Quite easily so, as he hadn’t really been paying much attention to the bickering. “The hunter’s Path, that is. There are certainly many complicated concepts infused into his blows, but all the applications are so minimalistic in execution. Complexities are sheared away for pure useability when he fights. There is little thought, yet his actions are rarely ever something that could be considered questionable. I understand it when Minaga described him as a natural fighter indeed, his adaptability when facing any opponent is remarkable.”

“Don’t tell me you are also trying to steal another Primordial’s Chosen?” the Holy Mother asked him. “It shouldn’t surprise me, yet I still find myself disappointed.”

“I never said I wanted to recruit him. One can admire something impressive without coveting it, a concept I understand you find difficult to comprehend,” the Blightfather shook his head. “Besides, even if I did want him to join the Risen, I am uncertain how well his Path would mix with changing his race, especially as I sense his soul is altered, likely by a skill of some kind. His Bloodline certainly also complicates things. No, I wouldn’t want him to be one of the Risen, but I would certainly welcome him to come for a visit. Perhaps to see an old friend of his.”

Vilastromoz wasn’t surprised the Blightfather had already seen through some aspects of Jake’s soul, even the part where his Truesoul had slightly changed when he got the Anomalous Soul skill. The Viper had few he would say could match him when it came to the study of the soul, but the Blightfather was definitely one of them. If not, he wouldn’t have been able to create a race like the Risen and the entire ecosystem required for this new undead race to not only survive but thrive.

“Speaking of old friends, how is that cursed trapper Jake knows doing?” Vilastromoz asked.

“Adequately. Better than I expected, honestly. Which perhaps shouldn’t be that surprising considering his talent in dungeon engineering. The knowledge he had before the initiation has led to some interesting insights those who were born into the system simply cannot possess due to the fundamental change in natural laws,” the Blightfather responded. “Not that he is a contender for any Leaderboards. But he is worth nurturing, I guess, if for nothing else but because of his connection to your Chosen.”

“Hey, Casper is a great guy all on his own, and I will hear nothing to the contrary,” Minaga cut in as he crossed his arms.

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“I never said he wasn’t,” the Risen Primordial said as he changed the topic slightly once more as he glanced at the Wyrmgod. “Now, how are those Void God fanatics doing? Are they a threat to the Leaderboards?”

“You know I am not going to share any details,” the Wyrmgod shook his head. “But if you are asking if I expect to see any beings with close connections to the Void Gods on top of the Leaderboards, I would have to say no.”

“A bit disappointing,” the Viper added with a sigh. “I thought we could have a first.”

“The Path related to the void is simply too limiting in nature,” the Wyrmgod shook his head.

It was a bit like with Unique Lifeforms. Being someone using void energy limited you to only having void energy, as it simply consumed every other trace of energy within the body. This meant there were many things one couldn’t do that could make some floors or Challenge Dungeons harder than usual, much like the Unique Lifeforms, who also had very limited Paths. This was also why Unique Lifeform barely ever placed top ten on the Leaderboards despite their many innate advantages as pinnacle beings of the multiverse.

“Any news from the Dao Sect who has the Chosen of the Lifesoul Daolord participating?” Nature’s Attendant finally also asked, the man rarely speaking. He just focused on making sure Artemis wasn’t overwhelmed while being forced to be in the presence of the five Primordials, who sometimes got into arguments and flared their auras. Most of his time outside of that was spent watching Dina and her adventures, along with some other promising groups from the Pantheon of Life.

The fact he was interested in the Bloodline Patriarch from Earth didn’t surprise Vilastromoz either. The man was an absolute anomaly with magic clearly based on his Bloodline, making it almost transcendent in nature. The sheer absurdity of his existence simply went a bit under the radar due to the other overshadowing anomaly from the same homeworld.

As someone using life magic, it only made sense the Pantheon of Life was interested in what he did, even if the Viper knew Nature’s Attendant wasn’t a big fan of the C-grade. Because what he did was far from something that followed the natural order.

“While the Chosen of the Daolord isn’t a contender for the Leaderboards, a party member of his is,” the Wyrmgod answered. “She is the disciple of the Heartsoul Daolord, and while she only carries a Divine Blessing, chances are big she will be made a Chosen when she reaches A or maybe even B-grade.”

They proceeded to discuss a few more candidates. Some of whom had only really made themselves known during the Challenge Dungeon period and truly grown into their power over the last decade. The multiverse was a big place with no lack of talent. Some young, promising geniuses from the United Tribes proved themselves, others from the demon factions showed their skills, as well as people from many different powerful factions. Not to mention those who were just personal disciples of powerful beings in the multiverse or standalone talents, many of whom none of them knew of before Nevermore, despite every Primordial faction’s extensive information network.

Some geniuses were also looked at and then forgotten if they disappointed expectations. Others were just somewhere in the middle where the gods could look at them, nod in unison, agreeing they were talented and had a good chance to reach a high grade, and then move on without thinking about that person again. People like Draskil fell into this camp, as well as, quite frankly, ninety-nine point nine percent of the geniuses of the many factions. Because here, towards the end, they only focused on those at the very top who truly stood a chance to grab a top spot on the Leaderboards.

Yet even as all the promising young talents showed themselves, and no matter how many rising stars proved their worth, two names were always mentioned. Two geniuses from the new universe who had already proven themselves as apex beings of this generation, both Chosen of gods recognized as also standing at the pinnacle.

It was naturally Jake Thayne, the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, and Ell’Hakan, Chosen of Yip of Yore. These were the two people the gods were in agreement would more likely than not claim first and second… the only question is who would take the number one slot… and how their presence would shake up the All-Time Leaderboards.

While many competed for the top spots on the Nevermore Leaderboards, one must remember that the vast majority of those who did the World Wonder had nothing to do with this competition. There were many limitations as to who could compete on the Leaderboards, and most – especially those who knew it wasn’t like they were competing with the top geniuses –just ignored that entire feature.

Instead, they used Nevermore for all its other merits. They used it for the same reason nearly everyone went back to Nevermore in all grades and even into godhood: it was simply one of the best leveling spots in the entire multiverse.

Dungeons, in general, were borderline a requirement to facilitate progress. The natural ecosystem of planets couldn’t support the growth of everyone at once, especially not when more powerful beings appeared. A single monster going from C to B-grade would lead to the deaths of numerous roughly equally leveled creatures. This was obviously unsustainable, which was why a proper source of creatures to fight was required… which was where dungeons came in.

A single dungeon could be used over and over again to progress, removing the need to hunt other forms of life, thus preserving the planet at least a little bit.

This naturally became less of a problem when one reached higher grades and could explore space. Based on estimates, less than a thousand-in-one planets were fully integrated into the wider social system of the multiverse but were just planets that had never truly made contact with any other factions or perhaps just ones filled with monsters who never developed sapience.

Even more planets were just empty, save for elementals who spawned simply due to the mana density. These areas of “wilderness” in space were great hunting spots, even if they did have the challenge of powerful foes often being few and far between, a problem dungeons didn’t tend to have. So, dungeons were still a better option.

And ultimately, Nevermore was just the biggest dungeon in the entire multiverse. It was somewhere people just went to get levels, and with the special time dilation of the World Wonder that didn’t result in a negative impact on Records, the place just got even better.

On top of that, Nevermore as a World Wonder had special titles associated with it. This was outside the Leaderboards and Challenge Dungeon ones – as one had to remember both those things were only available to C-grades and weren’t present in later versions of Nevermore.

Outside of these special C-grade titles, everyone would gain a title just based on floors cleared and overall performance, granting Records as well as sometimes even a few stats. Most people did it for the Records, though, as the stats were often inconsequential.

One such person who was just in Nevermore for the levels was Miranda. She wasn’t someone who cared much about the fifty-year limit or trying to optimize how many floors she could clear. She was just there for the experience and nothing else. If possible, she didn’t even want to engage with anything that had to do with the Leaderboards and Jake because, as she put it… this was her only damn holiday in years.

The group the Court Witch had gone with wasn’t what one expected, though. She had ended up going with some individuals from the Order of the Malefic Viper to get a good party going and also because she wanted to disconnect a bit from her usual daily life. She wanted to fully dedicate herself to her Path as a witch, at least for a little while. Besides, it wasn’t as if her decision to not go with other people from Earth was out of the ordinary.

Sultan had teamed up with a group of mercenaries working for the Golden Road Emporium, who were pretty much hired to help him gain more levels than he usually would. Based on what the merchant had said, this was apparently partly a reward for his great performance in preparations for Jake’s Chosen Ceremony.

Many other groups from Earth had also teamed up with people outside of the planet. Needless to say, quite a few also teamed up with fellow Earthlings or some of the newly integrated slaves. Earth as a whole was getting a huge power-up during this period in preparation for the Prima Guardian, as quite a big portion of Earth’s C-grades had gone.

As mentioned, none of these people were there to compete on any Leaderboards. They were not there to engage in the competition… yet many still paid attention to the Leaderboards. Not to see their own names anywhere but with hope and expectations of seeing their World Leader’s there.