The Primal Hunter

Jake had never been the type to enjoy road trips much, most likely because it always included being cramped in a car with too many other people, and there were always at least a few he didn’t know that well. He had still gone on a few, and the times he went with his family was fine, but extended periods of nothing did weigh you down.

Traveling across the landscape as you bent space to your will and teleported one step at a time did seem different, but it turns out it really wasn’t, besides it being a one-man road trip. The first few hours had been just fine. Heck, the first day had been just fine, as there were many interesting sights and new creatures to see. Still, it did begin to get a bit samey, especially when he reached a long stretch of empty plains with pretty much no creatures around besides the occasional hole leading into a vast underground area filled with insects.

None of them bothered him, and Jake didn’t head underground to bother them either. Perhaps there would be foes worth fighting deep underground – in fact, he was certain there were – but he was just as certain that a foray down there wouldn’t be a brief one.

The only thing keeping him kind of sane was Sylphie still poking him mentally once in a while to update him on her victories or when she came across something interesting. Jake learned a lot about the diversity of ”super-weird” trees in the forest.

He did try to find things to do, like improving his One Step Mile or his flying skills, but it was a slow grind without much progress if any at all. On a side note, it also quickly became clear that using any sort of boosting skill during travel was a waste of time as it would just wear him down faster overall.

This meant Jake just ran with One Step Mile and sometimes flew while consuming a potion once in a while. He really, really tried to keep himself engaged, but it was just so damn monotonous seeing the same open plains over and over again.

After the second day, he got too bored of the same repeating landscape for thousands of kilometers in a row as he finally decided to ask Villy something he had been holding off on:

”Hey Villy… I have been meaning to ask, with the Treasure Hunt and all, if you can, like, give me a brief history of vampires? Are they still around and stuff? I feel like that place Yalsten was isolated a long-ass time ago.”

It didn’t take long before the amused voice of the Viper descended on his mind. ”So, my little Chosen is bored after only a few days without proper stimulation and comes crawling to his gracious and benevolent Patron god for comfort and entertainment.”

”Not my fault I don’t have any audiobooks after the system. Man, that reminds me, I never found out what happened towards the end of-”

”And you never will, the author died,” Villy said with evil cackling. ”Forever shall you live in ignorance and have it become a mental demon that will haunt you and make you unable to progress.”

”Pretty sure the book was already finished,” Jake commented.

”It probably was; I honestly have no idea what you are talking about. Either way, vampires… I guess we should start from the beginning with those, but can you give me an overview of what you know?” the Viper finally said, going back to the original topic.

”Sure. It may have come from an unreliable narrator, but according to the vampires of Yalsen…” Jake began as he explained what he had learned during the Treasure Hunt. Jake didn’t cheap out on giving details either as he narrated everything he knew, primarily out of pure boredom. It ended up taking him over an hour to convey it all, including information on all the vampires he met, the Vault with the token related to the Malefic Order, and even the fight with the Monarch of Blood. After he was done, he just waited a brief while with no response as he suddenly remembered to ask something he probably should have from the beginning.

”Wait, do you even have time to talk? If you’re busy, it’s fine,” Jake quickly said, hoping he had not just been talking Villy’s ear off for an hour without any reason.

”Yeah, I have time. Do you honestly think it requires much mental energy to talk to people? Splitting your mind is basic shit, so it isn’t like I am just sitting in a room solely focused on listening to your every word? Well, most often, I have an avatar do it, but those are also a dime a dozen,” Villy answered.

”Also, the vampire history you got is pretty accurate. Vampires weren’t an original race of the multiverse nor a natural one. Instead, they were created, much like the Risen. Their creator was called Sanguine, and he was a nice chap, in my opinion. I guess it would be easy to start with a bit about him.

”Sanguine was from the fifth era, and I met him when he was still only in S-grade. He came to the Malefic Order as an alchemist seeking training and mentorship, and while I wasn’t that keen about him in the beginning, I must admit he was the most talented alchemist I ever met since Duskleaf. So I took him in and taught him for a good while, during which he ascended to godhood and began realizing his true dream of creating a new race.

”You see, Sanguine was a human who was obsessed with creating a superior version of humans. So he researched far and wide and even spent many years researching the Risen, elves, and other three-path races. Ah, three-path races are those who with a class, profession and race. Anyway, he finally came to realize that all of these races were ultimately balanced… but he still wanted to try. And oh boy did he try.”

Jake heard the Viper laugh as he reminisced about how things were back then.

”In the end, he succeeded and created the vampiric race, an absolute marvel of alchemy that I must admit I admire even to this day. The sheer diversity of races and paths he created and the thought he put into it rivaled that of Inmortau and any other who created a new race, if not surpassing them. Vampires ended up being more than merely another version of enlightened species but ended up being far closer to monsters than something like humans in many ways. It was the kind of race that only allowed one to have either a race or a profession, which may sound like a drawback, but for many, this was preferable. However, this race did also have issues.

”His goal of creating a more powerful race was never lost on him, even if he could not do it as originally intended. He did want it to be superior, but with superior races, classes or professions come drawbacks, as you know. All vampiric races, even the weakest ones, were considered high-tier, with the most powerful naturally at the pinnacle. The drawback? Their resources. Vampires, no matter what, only have Blood Energy, and Blood Energy cannot regenerate on its own, forcing vampires to either consume it from other vitality-based lifeforms or using potions or other items.”

Frowning, Jake asked. ”But the vampires talked about that only becoming a thing later on after the Bloodless Night.”

”I’m getting there,” Villy said. ”Sanguine was never happy with this drawback and wanted to find a solution. Which he did. He was gone for over a hundred thousand years, but when he returned, he had found one, possessing two incredible new tools. The first of which was a Transcendent skill, with only one effect… making all vampires bound to him through their Records and karma. It allowed him to essentially bless all vampires in existence with his power, giving them all one boon: the ability to regenerate blood energy. It also gave him a certain level of control and more or less made all of them his thralls… so yeah, not a fan of that part. Anyway, the second thing he returned with was a way to create even more vampires using an artifact he named the Blood Moon. What it would do was make anyone under its light get the possibility to change. Now, I understand if you don’t see the issues with this, so let me explain some things about one of the largest secret wars of the multiverse: the war of faith.

”Many gods desire or even require faith, and the best way to get faith is naturally loyal followers. A great way to get loyal followers is to have them be bound to you in other ways than simply a blessing that can be revoked. Make the faith part of their community, their empire, and entire social circle, or the highest level: their very race and existence. The greatest example of the community-driven faith is the Holy Church, with the race-driven faith the Risen. The Risen are transformed enlightened beings, and the ones from the Holy Church blessed enlightened beings. But… a Risen cannot be blessed by the Holy Mother or any in her Pantheon, while anyone blessed by the Holy Mother cannot become a Risen.

”Due to the Transcendent skill of the Holy Mother, it requires soul alteration at the time of death, but if the soul has already been altered by unnatural means – such as becoming a Risen - it doesn’t work. The same is true if someone blessed by the Holy Mother or her Pantheon tries to become a Risen. There is simply a conflict of how their skills and abilities interact. This is ultimately also the reason why their two factions are in perennial conflict.”

Jake quickly frowned as he caught on to what Villy was saying. ”And Sanguine created a third such path that also interfered with theirs.”

”Bingo. When it was just another minor race, the two Primordials didn’t care much about Sanguine, but the issue was that Sanguine was too talented in their eyes. Because he didn’t only make a viable and powerful race, he even built into the vampiric race methods of giving the race to others through both rituals, alchemic creations, and items, much like the Risen. As a result, the vampiric race began spreading far more than before, its power evident to all who received it. And as vampires could neither be blessed by the Holy Mother nor become Risen due to their altered souls…”

”They went to war against him,” Jake said as he kept using One Step Mile across the empty plains of dust and soil.

”I think war is a wrong phrase. Instead, they went on a crusade against the entire vampiric race to wipe them out from existence. As long as a single vampire lived, they could spread from there and help transform others. Especially the disciples of Sanguine – vampiric gods - were big on this, offering their blessings to entire empires and trying to get pantheons on board. But the moment the Holy Church and the Blightfather both went on the offensive and declared their intents… yeah.

”Don’t get me wrong, Sanguine was powerful, but so are Primordials. He fought valiantly and killed dozens of gods from the Holy Church and Empire of Blight, but in the end, he was cornered as his former allies began betraying him. He was slain in a battle against the Holy Mother, Blightfather, and a hired Umbra, along with many other gods who had joined the crusade. This was the only time the Empire of Blight and Holy Church had worked together on a single goal so openly in the history in the multiverse, showing how dangerous they viewed his presence to be.

”With the death of Sanguine, the effects of his Transcendent skill disappeared, leading to what they call the Bloodless Night. Constant hunger cursed the vampires once more, and they tried to find solutions but were hunted down by the enemy factions, a standing bounty up on any vampire killed. Yalsten was but one of millions of hidden worlds long forgotten. And that is pretty much the story of the rise and fall of Sanguine.”

Frowning, Jake considered a bit. ”I thought you and Sanguine were allies of some kind? I got the same feeling from the vampires of Yalsten. Even the Monarch of Blood was amazed that I would fight him as a Chosen until I explained the circumstances.

”I just taught him for a while, and I did help him somewhat, but allies? No. It was his battle to fight, and I wasn’t going to get myself involved unnecessarily. In the end, he was just too weak. Sanguine willingly challenged the established forces, he knew what he was doing, but it was a gamble he lost. It would have ended with him either being one of the most influential gods of the multiverse or death. If he had been stronger, it would not have mattered. Why do you think the Holy Mother and the Blightfather can’t reach a resolution? Because neither can actually defeat the other, even if they get other gods to join them. Also, most of the gods who could join such a battle refuse to take a side, me included. Ah, and they both seem to be just fine with the status quo. In summary, Sanguine just failed to establish a new status quo – to force them into a new status quo.”

”Does that mean the vampires were wiped out?” Jake finally asked. He had promised the Monarch he would check, and if they weren’t dead, put in a good word. Same for that Nalkar woman from the first Vault he had explored, who had asked him to check for her race’s survival.

”No, not even close. In fact, there are more vampires now than back then simply due to the population of the multiverse expanding. This was all the way back in the fifth era, and we have eighty-eight more universes since then. Well, eighty-seven as I doubt your world has many vampires quite yet. The big difference is that they are no longer unified as one race. Many larger factions have vampires among them, and quite a few vampiric gods have risen too,” Villy explained.

Jake felt a bit relieved at knowing they weren’t all gone. Well, considering the divine item from the Treasure Hunt, they really couldn’t be as they had just been given a tool to create more of them.

”How about the Order?” he also asked.

”As I said, I did help out the vampiric race a bit; one of those ways was to allow them to join the Order even during the time they were hunted. Quite a few larger clans joined and sought refuge, and it did help make it clear to the Holy Church and Empire of Blight that complete extermination was impossible, as I fucking dared them to come and try to act out their crusade on my home turf. Oh, some did try, but nothing we didn’t easily handle. This does mean that the Order of the Malefic Viper has some of the oldest vampire clans in the multiverse, and it wouldn’t be weird if some descendants of even vampires of Yalsten are here. Though I doubt anyone knows or remembers.”

”Oh, that’s nice, I guess. Any idea about the state of the Nalkar clan?” Jake asked. It was the mental magic vampires and the ones who had made that first Vault he cleared. Heck, he had a legendary rarity heart from one of them.

”They are one of the five biggest clans within the Order and have an S-grade leader who is also a branch leader,” Villy answered.

”Good, that woman in the Vault was nice enough, and I did kind of promise to put in a good word for the clan,” Jake said with a nod as he was forced to summon his wings as he came across a lake.

Funny fact, running on lakes was a very bad idea. Even flying close to the surface was a bad time, so he tended to try and stay far up as he didn’t want to deal with stupid fish trying to eat him.

”You can do that yourself when you come by,” Villy said.

”Sure thing. By the way, you said five clans. Exactly how many vampires are in the Order?” Jake wondered. He assumed there had to be a pretty good number considering them having an S-grade. Probably a few hundred thousand if he was guess-

”Like a few billion per clan at least, I guess? They got their own territories, and I honestly don’t bother keeping track,” Villy casually answered.

Jake nearly fell out of the air as he flapped his wings wrong. ”How the fuck are there so many?”

”It isn’t that many?”

”Dude, Earth didn’t even have ten billion before the system, even less now…”

”Oh man, it will be a culture shock when you get to some of the cities with trillions of citizens.”

”Now you’re just fucking with me,” Jake laughed as he kept flying.

The Viper didn’t answer, but he felt like he could see the smug smile of the god.

”You are just fucking with me… right?”

He never got an answer.