The Primal Hunter

Jake was rubbing his hands as he looked forward to seeing Villy in a perilous situation that forced him to escape. Entering the vision, he was not sure what to expect. Maybe Villy getting beaten up? Him waltzing into the territory of some far more powerful monster, making him tug his tail between his legs?

As the vision appeared, it was neither of that. He saw Villy flying through an odd area with purple-ish mist everywhere. Comet-like balls of ice flew all around him, some of them several kilometers across while others were far smaller. Jake also saw that sometimes space itself seemed to crack, and small vacuums opened up, sucking in mist and some of the smaller comets.

He had a hard time figuring out what was going on. Villy was in his C-grade Wyvern form and looked incredibly distressed as he dodged comet after comet. It was like he flew aimlessly. A few minutes passed before a giant comet suddenly exploded, only to reassemble again but into a vaguely humanoid form. Villy did not hesitate and released a breath on the newly born… comet elemental? Ice elemental? Either or, he quickly dealt with it, but that didn’t at all give him a reprieve.

Finally, Villy seemed to spot something. With high speed, he flew to the side and, to Jake’s surprise, encountered a massive wall of purple ice. Flying alongside the wall, Villy soon found a small cave and stopped before it.

His body began morphing and shrinking, and within five seconds, the familiar humanoid form of Villy appeared. Familiar, yet foreign. He looked young in the vision, and Jake had a strong feeling this was the earliest vision of the would-be Primordial he had ever experienced.

Villy collapsed and leaned against the inside wall of the small ice cavern and breathed heavily. He closed his eyes for a moment before summoning a large metal plate of sorts to block off the hole, sealing himself within the cavern.

Sitting back down, the Viper surprisingly fell asleep as time accelerated. Once the Viper woke up again, he quickly took out some kind of magical device. It looked like a compass of sorts, and Villy frowned as he looked at it. After a bit, he took out another few weird devices as his frown only grew.

“Fuck,” he just said as he groaned and brought both his hands to his head. “The exits should have remained for at least another week… did that bastard lie to me? I swear…”

Just those few words made Jake put two and two together and realize what was happening. The Viper was in some kind of minor world or dimension, a bit like Yalsten but probably far smaller. Also, clearly far more unstable compared to Yalsten in its heyday.

Jake knew about these kinds of places. They were often small dimensions that resided in the infinite layers of space. One could not break into them, with the only way in certain natural entrances that sometimes opened, and one could also only exit through these small holes. These dimensions tended to be of incredible value exactly because of this. Any small world that had been isolated for a long time was bound to have given birth to several potent natural treasures, especially as many of these small worlds rarely tended to have beasts or monsters and had singular dominating affinities. There would still be enemies, but it was often only very specialized creatures like the elementals or creatures born to guard the treasures.

It appeared that Villy had entered one such place with bad information and found himself screwed over and trapped. Which maybe didn’t sound that bad if the world would open up again, but there were a few minor issues. First of all, how long would it take? It could take longer than Villy’s natural lifespan. One had to remember that Aeon Clok had killed people far more powerful than himself by sealing them in a world a bit like this and just having the passing of time kill them all.

Then there was also the issue that these places could get far more dangerous during their lockdown period, and based on the comets going wild and Villy seeming panicked, Jake assumed this was the case.

“I need to get out of here,” Villy talked to himself as he stood up and took out some more magical devices, including the compass.

“It hasn’t been that long… or is the layer meant to be this weak?” he muttered as he considered his options. Jake saw the Viper deep in thoughts before steeling himself. “It could work.”

Wings appeared on his back, making him look a bit like Jake with his wings out.

“Those fuckers… they somehow accelerated and sealed the entrances,” Villy said as he double-checked some weird magical circle on a map. “At least halfway sealed them.”

Jake was beginning to question if a C-grade Villy could truly escape a naturally sealed-off world like this. One had to remember that after Yalsten was sealed off, no one could escape, not even the A-grades. But if this was not a natural sealing but one simply accelerated by mortal hands, then it should still be possible.

Villy sat down in meditation with his wings summoned as Jake felt the energy and toxic blood move within them. Time seemed to move in odd ways as days passed with the Viper focusing on his wings. Jake got the feeling this was not some sudden burst of inspiration but him picking up the work on an ongoing project. The Viper had either worked on an escape skill like this before or had already completed several elements of the skill.

However, what was important was that it was not done, allowing Jake to feel part of the process. The first thing he picked up on was that each wing was different. It was like the Viper poured different energies and manipulated the blood with variance, with each wing having different mixes of concepts as a result. Jake felt them both and noticed what differed.

One wing held blood that would be able to corrode passive energy, and the other wing held blood that would corrode mana with intent. Jake was momentarily confused but instantly realized why this was actually brilliant. Poisons of similar natures tended to amplify one another, while those of opposite natures would attack each other. This did not fully apply due to the sheer variety of concepts in each wing, but it eliminated most of the potential conflicts that could arise. Also, the Viper’s infused intent in each wing was now physically removed from one another, and focusing his intent to accomplish the two tasks in separate wings was far more efficient and easier.

Next up was the process of creating the cocoon. On this note, then Jake had thought that the fast movement Villy had displayed in the first vision was part of the skill’s effect, but that was quickly proven wrong. Nothing done would actually make him faster, but due to the nature of the magic, it would rapidly increase speed momentarily. The mist would erode everything in his path, making it like he was effectively flying in a vacuum of concepts. Considering the limited time the cocoon would last, fast movement right off the bat was also a necessity, and then one just had to let the momentum carry forward.

The vision progressed more or less as expected as Jake saw the Viper adapt and make the Wing’s skill effect on the fly – pun intended. Feeling it like this, Jake had to admit that the Viper had truly been a monster. The toxic concepts that had taken Jake days to identify were found within hours by the Viper, and his level of energy control when it came to the toxic energy was utterly insane. He was at least slower than Jake in some places, but they were few and far between.

After what Jake estimated to be roughly five total days in the cave, the Viper opened his eyes and got ready. Scales covered his body as he flew out of the cave and into the storm of comets. He dodged them more easily now due to his smaller humanoid form, but it was clear he was not as fast in this form.

He flew for a quarter of an hour, periodically checking the compass he had brought until he was at the right spot. It was a weird fractured point in space that looked almost like a broken phone screen with microcracks everywhere.

The Viper took a deep breath as he got close and slowed down. That is when time slowed down, and Jake felt the skill be used for the first time. Both wings were infused with a lot of energy as Jake’s eyes opened wide at discovering how he infused so much energy… he summoned several wings pretty much on top of each other at the same time.

An explosion sounded as both wings blew up from energy overload, Jake feeling the pain as he experienced Villy’s body like it was his own. The Viper rapidly gathered the energy and wrapped it around him like a barrier. When he did so, Jake saw his body turn green and knew it was not due to his body changing… it was simply Jake seeing the effect of everything being corroded all around him.

A second explosion sounded out as the Viper shot forward towards the broken space. A faint trace was left in his wake as he went into the fractured exit point. The poison around him revolved at nearly impossible speeds, each particle of mist able to break down the fundamental laws of reality itself.

Once the Viper entered the fractured point, he simply phased into it. Even if the Viper was strong, he was not strong enough to break a space tunnel like this… but he could burn a small hole into it and pass through. Space reformed behind him like he had never been there, and Jake only saw a faint glimpse of darkness before Villy appeared in the outside world, surrounded by large snowy mountains. Behind him, a crack in reality had been formed, but it healed within a fraction of a second, so fast a simple blink would miss it.

The cocoon of mist dispersed nearly instantly, and the Viper began to fall to the ground, clearly exhausted. Jake felt a profound sense of weakness all over, and moreover, like a part of his Soulshape had been sacrificed to make the escape possible… which is when Jake found the final piece of the puzzle.

What he had been stuck on was how to control the poison. He now realized he didn’t control it at all; it would control itself. What the Viper had done was sacrifice the wings themselves to infuse parts of himself into it. His own will and desire.

The last thing Jake saw was Villy turn in a certain direction, murder in his eyes. Clearly out for revenge against those who had dared to try and trap and kill him.

Everything then rewound, and Jake saw the vision again. Even if it appeared long, the entire vision had only been about fifteen minutes total, considering all the fast-forwarding.

Jake slowly hammered out the errors. He was confident and smiled as the vision ended, and Jake returned to the real world.

He appeared sitting inside Sandy’s stomach, and instantly the worm was on him.

“Wow, what did you do? I felt something super weird just now, like, you were gone and then back or something? That was sooo weird… you were still kind of there, but not really, you know?” Sandy launched into a tirade.

“I did special magic,”Jake just answered jokingly.

“Boo, you should share,”Sandy answered.

“How about I share with you the results? Can you stop for a moment, so I can test this out? Just be warned, I will try to get out of here, and I can’t promise this won’t be a little painful. I may just make a hole or something on my way out,” Jake answered.

“Oh, go ahead; I will try and stop you, right?”

“Go ahead,” Jake answered confidently.

Jake focused as his wings appeared. The skill had already upgraded the moment he returned, and the learned knowledge turned instinctual. Everything happened instantly with the system’s assistance, as dozens of wings superimposed upon each other and exploded, forming a cloud of mist around him. He then sent himself flying forward towards the wall of the stomach chamber.

He observed everything carefully. He felt and saw himself impact the stomach wall, and the moment he did, it seemed to simply disintegrate. Everything turned black for a moment as no concept reached Jake, not even light. He felt entirely isolated from everything, and even his Sphere went haywire for a second. He felt the mist fight against everything and slowly consume itself to burn him a path, and then…

And then he was in the outside world.

Jake stopped and saw he was still in rocky mountainous terrain as the mist had already dispersed upon escaping. He took a moment to collect himself and saw the giant worm flying just above, and as he looked up, he also felt Sandy’s attention on him.

”You escape- I mean, got out!” Sandy said with surprise.

”That I did,” Jake answered. He had to admit that he had expected the fatigue to be more prominent. Then again, he had a monstrous mana pool.

There were no marks anywhere on Sandy either, and Jake wondered why that was.

”That was so weird!” Sandy said, explaining to him what had happened. ”I was just waiting and wondering what you were doing until you disappeared again and then just popped right out of my skin! Like, it makes no sense; it was like you weren’t really inside me at all…”

Jake considered it for a moment before he understood the explanation. He had not even interacted with the physical body of Sandy, only the Soulshape, and one couldn’t even say he had done that… it was more like he had been spat out of the Soulshape. He had to admit, even now, he still didn’t entirely understand how the skill worked, and he had a feeling the Viper hadn’t one hundred percent either when he made it.

Not that Jake would complain. He finally opened his messages and saw the upgraded skill.

[Wings of the Malefic Viper (Ancient)] – Refusing to remain earthbound, the Malefic Viper sprung wings to devour the skies. You, too, refuse to be earthbound. Allows the Alchemist to summon two phantasmal wings and take flight. While active, you can burn the blood within the wings and release potent toxic fumes. The toxicity and effects of the poison are based on Blood of the Malefic Viper. Toughness and maneuverability of the wings and speed are based primarily on Agility but receive a bonus from all physical stats. The wings count as part of your body for all relevant skills. Passively provides 1 Agility per level in Prodigious Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May the sight of your wings be the harbinger of death.

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[Wings of the Malefic Viper (Legendary)] – Refusing to remain earthbound, the Malefic Viper sprung wings to devour the skies. Refusing to be bound or trapped anywhere, the wings of the Malefic One shall always leave a path of escape. Allows the Alchemist to summon two phantasmal wings and take flight. While active, you can burn the blood within the wings and release potent toxic fumes. The toxicity and effects of the poison are based on Blood of the Malefic Viper. Toughness and maneuverability of the wings and speed are based primarily on Agility but receive a bonus from all physical stats. The wings count as part of your body for all relevant skills. Allows the Alchemist to further infuse and sacrifice both wings to create an opportunity to escape if in a perilous situation. Doing this makes resummoning the wings impossible for a variable duration, dependent on Agility and the amount of energy infused into the wings upon the sacrifice. Passively provides 3 Agility per level in Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper. May the sight of your wings be the harbinger of death and instruments of escape to feed another day.

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 184 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Profession: [Heretic-Chosen Alchemist of the Malefic Viper] has reached level 185 - Stat points allocated, +10 Free Points*

*’DING!’ Race: [Human (D)] has reached level 182 - Stat points allocated, +15 Free Points*

Wings was a contender, if not a winner, for longest skill description by now. The added description did not say much he didn’t already know but did explain one thing he was unaware of… he couldn’t summon his wings again. It was like the Soulshape framework itself had taken damage from using the skill. The more Jake looked at it, the more insane it seemed. The Viper had found a way to summon a new appendage to the soul and then used that added appendage as a way to sacrifice a part of the soul. Jake knew it was possible before as a concept but had never seen it used like this. The most common variant was severe boosting skills that could leave long-lasting damage to the soul.

The problem with the soul was that one really had to just give it time to heal. While there were treasures to hasten it or very special things like the Soul Renewal he had used on the King, the best medicine was truly just time.

Oh, and then there was the added Agility which Jake would definitely not complain about. Two levels in his profession were also a welcome addition if a rather expected one.

”So…” Sandy said after a while.

”Sure, sure, go ahead and gobble me up again,” Jake sighed as the worm happily ate him like a tasty snack. Once he was inside, Sandy began moving again, continuing their adventure across the world.

”Hey, human Jake, can you tell me more about that weird magic before?” Sandy asked.

Jake wanted a break anyway and obliged. ”You see, my good friend Villy, the Malefic Viper we talked about before, has given me a Legacy that has a lot of skills and…”

They talked and relaxed as Jake only had one thing he felt a bit sad about. The vision of Villy had not really been the embarrassing moment Jake had hoped for, but more just the snake god showing off how skilled he was.

Oh well, better luck next time. There had to be a vision where Villy was caught in a really embarrassing moment, right?