The Primal Hunter

”This one too?” a large vampire asked as he lifted a coat hanger very carefully.

“Definitely that one,” Fairleigh said as he nodded.

“Where to stash the tablecloths?” another vampire inquired.

“Set the tables like they used to be on the seventeenth picture.”

“Understood,” the attendant said as she began carefully using telekinesis to move the tables and chairs into their exact positions, as shown in some old picture. A second vampire joined in only to double-check all the dimensions and distances were absolutely correct. A third came to put down the forks, knives, smaller forks, tiny spoons, large spoons, medium spoons, and all kinds of the different and utterly superfluous fancy-ass tableware.

Jake just stood back as he watched all of this happen. At first, he had just thought the vampires were eccentric collectors of old items, but by now, he realized… they were just straight-up hoarders. Organized hoarders with relatively fastidious taste, but hoarders nonetheless.

Fairleigh, the S-grade Patriarch, even personally chose to oversee as the many vampires worked to recreate a dining hall exactly as it was shown in one of the pictures Jake had found. It wasn’t even something from a painting, but a picture in a book on proper table manners.

Not that Jake chose to complain. In fact, currently, he was just waiting for the jeweler to arrive along with his agreed-upon goods being collected and prepared for him. The Alchemy Token had somehow ended up not even being that big of a deal. The paintings of old vampires from Yalsten, the books from the library telling their history, and the many random items Jake had swiped turned out to be far more valuable in the eyes of the vampires.

The reason for this was ultimately simple. The Alchemy Token was not truly an item of the Nalkar vampires but merely a gift they received from the Order. It was an item nearly identical to many tokens still created today and had little to do with the culture and history of the vampiric race.

Jake couldn’t help but consider what would have happened if he had shown up with the divine artifact the Sword Saint had gotten. In some ways, he was actually happy he hadn’t gotten that necklace as he feared the level of insanity these vampires would show upon seeing it.

The negotiation process had already been a lot as-is, and Jake had no idea if he got scammed. Though, to be fair, he felt like he was the scammer, selling off old furniture and mundane items he had no use for and would probably just have given away or used for a fun-time bonfire or something.

After looking on a bit longer, Fairleigh finally turned to him. “I just got word the crafter is ready to help with the necklace. Are you prepared to leave, or do you wish to stay and observe the recreation some more?”

“Upgrading the necklace takes priority,” Jake said, not having the heart to tell the ancient vampire that he really didn’t want to see a group of powerful vampires set a table as if their lives depended on it.

“Very well,” the Patriarch said, looking only slightly disappointed as he teleported the both of them.

They appeared in what looked like an area of the city Jake had first arrived in. Except this place was clearly part of the commercial district as Jake stood before a massive shop.

That C-grade vampire that initially brought him to the Patriarch was already there waiting. The Patriarch gave the young lad a nod before he teleported away, leaving Jake with the vampire called Alcor.

The vampire seemed a lot more respectful now than the last time they met as he motioned for Jake to follow. “Please follow me; the mistress has already prepared all the suitable materials for the crafting session.”

Jake nodded as he was led into the shop. He noticed how the street was devoid of people, and Alcor clearly noticed his confusion. The only people he saw were himself, Alcor, and a single other person currently within the shop.

“We cleared out the area in preparation for your visit to not have any of the livestock gawking during the crafting session and to avoid disturbances,” Alcor explained nonchalantly.

“Livestock, huh,” Jake just commented.

“I am aware they can be annoying, but sadly, they are necessary,” Alcor sighed, clearly not understanding Jake’s comment.

“You know,” Jake said just as they entered the shop, “I once fought what happens when livestock reaches a breaking point and gets the power to resist and fight back. It doesn’t turn out pretty for the oppressors.”

He was clearly talking about the Minotaur Mindchief. The circumstances back then had been very different, and Jake would argue the vampires were running a far greater risk. Then again, what the hell did he know? The vampires had managed to persist for Eras.

“I think it can turn out quite well,” he heard a female voice say as the woman within the shop regarded them. “I didn’t kill anyone when I received the gift. I did have a few who needed to be put in their place, but now we are all family.”

Jake looked over and saw a female vampire standing there to welcome them. She had long black hair, the usual red eyes, and the equally commonplace beauty he had come to expect from all vampires. In fact, all vampires he had ever seen took the whole “look better with every evolution” concept to an entirely new level.

Not that she wasn’t more than just pretty to look at. While she didn’t feel that powerful, Jake still felt a strong aura, making him relatively certain right off the bat that she was a pure crafter. One at the cusp of C-grade.

[Vampire – lvl 199]

As for the words she spoke?

“I take it you were a Blood Disciple?” Jake asked her.

“Correct,” she said, clearly showing pride at that fact. It was probably for a good reason, too, if she had managed to get recognized and become able to become a vampire through her own efforts. Considering she was the jeweler Fairleigh had brought her to see, he didn’t doubt that she had been recognized and been given “the gift” through merit.

“This is Mistress Rubylake, one of the most talented jewelers of this generation,” Alcor introduced her. “And yes, she was formerly a human but has since ascended.”

“Ascended is a strong word,” Jake just commented again as he shook his head. Insulting the jeweler he wanted to help him probably wasn’t a good idea, so he cut it out there. Instead, he just took out his necklace and presented it to the woman called Rubylake. Jake assumed it was some kind of title or maybe just the naming convention of where she came from.

“This is the necklace in question,” Jake said as her eyes were already trained on it.

“May I look at it closer? I only got descriptions, so I will need to inspect it myself to see if I believe I can do the job,” she asked.

Jake nodded and handed it over. He felt his connection to it slightly fade as it left contact with his body, making him unable to use the spatial storage. He still had the stats, but he innately knew he needed to touch the necklace to use the storage.

Rubylake looked at the necklace as she took out some weird box. She placed it inside as she began infusing blood energy into it. She looked almost in a trance as she sometimes nodded, other times frowned, and finally looked elated.

“This item… it qualifies!” she said with extreme delight. Alcor, standing with Jake, also smiled from ear to ear.

“Congratulations, mistress,” the male vampire said.

“Qualifies for what?” Jake asked, being more than a little confused. He assumed it was good, but he was more wondering that she didn’t mean that she qualified, but that his necklace qualified for some mystical objective.

“Apologies,” Rubylake said. “This item qualifies for my Evolutionary Quest, and I just failed to hold back my excitement. I have been looking for an opportunity for a few years while making preparations for this day.”

“Villy… what the hell is an Evolutionary Quest, and please don’t tell it is something incredibly basic and common knowledge I have somehow entirely missed?” Jake quickly asked the Viper mentally as he had a strong feeling asking the vampires would make him look like a moron.

“Gotta do some questing to advance to C-grade along with usual requirements. This is indeed pretty basic knowledge, so basic that no one actually bothers writing about it, and the quests are individualized, so it isn’t like telling people about it matters. You will learn more about it later, so stop worrying your pretty little head about it and instead get that bling upgraded. Maybe she can turn it into a giant gold chai-“

Jake began ignoring Villy as he followed suit in congratulating her, not wanting to look like an ignorant idiot. Or a rude one. “Congratulations are in order, then.”

“Thank you. It is still a bit premature as I have yet to succeed, but I have a high level of confidence. Now, Do you have any questions? Don’t worry, there are no requirements of you besides allowing me to modify the Soulbound item,” Rubylake asked.

Jake nodded in acknowledgment. He was aware that as it was a Soulbound item, Jake had to give consent before any modification could take place. He was ultimately still the master of the item, and he merely allowed another outside force to modify and hopefully improve it.

“How long will it take?” Jake finally asked.

“I should be able to do it within a day, maybe one and a half days. I have made too many preparations, and the magic circle is already fully charged… if I take any longer, it will likely result in failure,” she honestly answered.

“What are you planning on doing, if I might ask? If you won’t answer, it is fine. Trade secrets and all that,” Jake asked further.

“No, I will gladly explain. My primary objective is to awaken the Space Heart – the name of this type of Spacegem used. Currently, only a small part of the full space is utilized, and its powers are generally sealed. Once I awaken it, I can pull on the Records and energy to forge and awaken latent energy in the rest of the necklace, and while there will probably be no cosmetic changes, the item will improve significantly if I succeed. Just so you are aware, I aim for a legendary rarity for my own quest. It is not a true craft, but to perform an upgrade at this level of complexity should qualify,” Rubylake explained.

Jake nodded in understanding. “I assume you will want peace and quiet during the crafting process?”

He knew he tended to want to be left alone while crafting.

“That would be preferable. However, I will need you to still stay close. There is a waiting room next door you can choose to stay in, but as long as you stay within a kilometer or so, it should be fine.”

Nodding once more, Jake decided to just go next door as he would also wait for something else: his alchemy ingredients.

He said his goodbyes and was led by Alcor into the building next door. It was a large lounge room with not a single other person in sight. There was still no one within his sphere either. As he was next door, he could still see into the store of the jeweler. She had gone down to the cellar and activated a lot of wards and formations to hide, but of course, none of that mattered to Jake’s Bloodline-powered Sphere of Perception.

Jake saw her carefully place the necklace on an alter as she prepared several ingredients in a magic circle around it. He looked on a bit more before he stopped, choosing to respect her privacy. He also had no idea what she was doing.

Ten minutes or so passed, with Jake just entering meditation. Alcor was not talkative either but just quietly stood in a corner with his eyes closed, waiting. After those ten minutes, Jake spotted movement outside the building as he saw Fairleigh appear, holding two crystals in his hands.

Fairleigh entered as Jake looked up, identifying the two crystals before the old vampire walked over and had a chance to speak.

[Alchemist’s Bloodgem Spatial Storage (Rare)] – A gem containing a spatial storage that is especially suited to any blood-affinity herbs and natural treasures. The energy of the gem is slowly leaking, giving it a severely limited lifespan.

[Memory Crystal (Common)] – A crystal containing infused information.

One was a gem no-doubt containing all the herbs and such they had agreed upon. The other was something a bit more unexpected, and Fairleigh quickly explained.

“I took the courtesy of creating a Memory Crystal from the input of a talented alchemist from the family who is specialized in hemotoxins. It contains his insights into the agreed-upon materials as well as some tips and tricks. I hope this addition is a welcome one,” the vampire said with a smile.

“And, of course, the ingredients you requested. It took quite a dive into the gardens to find them all, especially in such quantities and all suitable for D-grades, but we managed to do so. I once more took a bit of liberty and placed them within this Bloodgem for you to transport the ingredients while making sure they lose none of their potency. It is far worse than a true Alchemical Spatial Storage, but it will make do. Just know it will only last a few more decades.”

Jake nodded in acknowledgment.

“I have no plans of taking that long before using the ingredients. The crystal is also more than welcome,” Jake said. The vampires had treated him pretty nicely so far, even if they did have some inherent cultural issues.

“Now, I would offer you one more thing, but I guess I already know your answer?” Fairleigh asked in a not very hopeful tone.

“No, I have no interest in becoming a vampire,” Jake shut it down.

“A shame. Truly a shame. You would fit right in,” Fairleigh sighed but was not truly disappointed. Clearly had had low or no expectations to begin with.

“Why would you reject such an offer?” Alcor suddenly butted in, genuine confusion in his voice. “Would it not be purely better? It would allow you to only focus on either a class or a profession without sacrificing strength, solidifying your Path.”

“Child,” Fairleigh said as he turned to Alcor. The young vampire froze in fear as Jake felt a bit of bloodlust leak out of the old vampire. “When a gift is rejected, you graciously accept the other party’s decision. Anything else is unacceptable. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes… Patriarch,” Alcor said, barely getting the words out as he looked like he could barely breathe.

“Temper your arrogance,” Fairleigh sighed. “We vampires are not necessarily superior. No enlightened race is. For all, vampirism is a choice, and if the hunter does not deem vampirism part of his Path, we should never claim to know better or falsely believe ours more powerful.”

“I understand,” Alcor repeated as he stared down at the ground. Jake, however, felt that the guy didn’t entirely agree.

“Enough of that,” Fairleigh said as he smiled again and sent the crystal and Bloodgem floating towards Jake.

Jake caught them both and didn’t hold back as he inspected the spatial storage gem, a large smile forming on his lips.

He was about to have a bloody good crafting session.