The Primal Hunter

Jake and Draskil left Draskil’s residence soon after, with the Malefic Dragonkin making sure Jake once more walked through and saw his entire damn harem that Jake was pretty sure had grown by a few people in the short time they were in the chamber.

The conversation with Helen had been short and matter-of-fact, with Jake wanting to finally set up a damn meeting. He honestly hadn’t cared where it was, so he didn’t question when Helen proposed meeting at one of the local headquarters of the Emberflight Dragonflight. It was only after Jake had already agreed and planned to meet Helen to take them there that he became aware of where they were going.

He came to learn that the Emberflight Clan apparently had quite the local presence on the Great Planet known as Primordial-4, right in the vicinity of the Order. Close enough so that there were teleporters between the Order and the land controlled by the Dragonflight nearby, though they were locked for anyone, not of the Dragonflight.

The place they were supposed to hold the meeting was called Firebound City. From what Jake had gathered – by asking Draskil – the leader of this Firebound City was a dragon god from the main clan who resided on something called the Firebound Peak close to the city.

Yes, their names were less than imaginative. Jake blamed the translation skill.

As they prepared to teleport away, Draskil turned to him. “What happens if you piss off one of their elders or something, and they decide to just kill us? Or, well, at the very least, kill you.”

Jake just shook his head. “Well, then that would suck, so let’s hope that doesn’t happen.”

Chances also are Villy would take that as an opportunity to show himself and force Jake to reveal his identity. Not that Jake would disagree with that approach, as he found being known as the Chosen publicly a slightly preferable fate to being dead.

“Would suck,” Draskil agreed as the two of them teleported towards the common area they would meet Helen in. When they appeared, Jake instantly spotted the dragonkin woman in his sphere, but he also noticed her aura.

She hadn’t evolved to C-grade yet.

[Dragonkin – lvl 199]

Jake also got an idea as he looked at her. His Identify skill had upgraded to also allow him to see if people had Blessings, but Jake didn’t use it normally due to not really needing to. A lot of people could detect when someone used Identify on them, and a lot of skills protected the user from Identify. The less information one tried to Identify, the easier it was to do and the harder it was to discover. Hence, his default was not to also look if people had Blessings or try to see what else he could get out of the Identify skill. Finally, it was kind of considered rude by some to just go around Identifying people all the time.

Of course, with it being Helen, he didn’t really care about offending her, so he gave his improved Identify a try.

[Dragonkin – lvl 199 – Intermediate Blessing of Matriarch Fireplume Emberflight]

“Hey, Draskil,” Jake sent telepathically. “You know who a god named Matriarch Fireplume Emberflight is?”

The dragonkin looked at him briefly. “The Grand Elder of Firebound Peak, the place we are going. She is the de facto leader of this branch of the Emberflight and one of their Matriarchs. Don’t tell me this girl is blessed by a Matriarch of the Emberlflight?”

Jake threw Draskil a smile and looked toward Helen.

By now, she had spotted them, and Jake saw the surprise on her face. Not just from seeing he had evolved to C-grade, but from Draskil being with him. Oh yeah, he didn’t bother telling her he would bring a friend along either.

He waited for her to approach, and it didn’t take long for her to walk over. “I congratulate Mr. Thayne for reaching C-grade. The same to you, Lord Draskil; I apologize for not having prepared for you to join too.”

The way she spoke them made it clear she viewed Draskil as someone of higher status. Sure, they wanted more from Jake than the dragonkin, but they also seemed to be under the impression that offending Draskil was worse than offending Jake.

“Why would I reject orders from above when they’re to help a friend?” Draskil smartly answered.

I am pretty damn sure he has gotten smarter since reaching C-grade… or maybe he has just finally integrated and learned stuff about the world, Jake thought. One thing was for sure, Draskil had become a lot more articulate… in most circumstances.

“Also, when I heard it was to meet you, I at least knew there would be something pleasant around to look at,” he added needlessly.

“Charmed,” Helen simply nodded, though she seemed to care more about his first sentence. “Bringing both should be no issues. Ah, I also forgot to mention that Albaromoz Emberflight will join us. I am sure you remember him as the one you attended a lesson on Soulflames from.”

“So, the elders are getting involved directly, huh?” Jake asked rhetorically. Jake remembered that this Albaromoz – not that he remembered the name – was an A-grade, someone quite unexpected to see in this kind of discussion.

“Only he and I are known by you from the Emberflight, so we thought it the simplest,” Helen answered with a smile as she motioned for them to follow.

It totally wasn’t a weird mix of intimidation tactics, having someone around who could probe him, and a show of respect. It was totally just because Jake had seen the guy once before.

Draskil didn’t say anything but just followed behind. Soon enough, they reached another kind of teleporter than the usual gates used by the Order. This was one capable of teleporting out of the Order and over greater distances, though it required a key of sorts based on the destination.

Helen naturally had this key as she took out a token that looked a bit like the one she had given Jake. He felt it give off some energy, and he planned on using their time queuing to study it a bit closer. Something that did not come to pass. The queue was long, and Helen clearly did not want to wait as she began acting like an entitled princess.

“Excuse me, could there be made way? I am on an important task to escort guests by order of the Emberflight Clan,” she spoke loudly to those ahead, loud enough for all in the queue to hear.

The others in the queue turned to her and, upon seeing the token, began giving way. Clearly, no one wanted to offend this young mistress, especially not after noticing she was with Jake and Draskil – a Malefic Dragonkin. Jake even heard some whispers from someone with a minor Blessing of the Malefic Viper that Jake and Draskil were both blessed.

Helen proudly walked forward onto the platform as she motioned for Jake and Draskil to join her with a bright smile. She looked back at Jake and Draskil before frowning.

Jake and Draskil hadn’t moved an inch. Draskil, because he was with Jake, and Jake, out of pure fucking embarrassment.

What the actual fuck, Jake thought.

The others in the queue who had given way stared at him and Draskil as they stood before the open path to the teleporter. Jake just mentally yelled at Helen and praised the fact he was wearing a mask before collecting himself and looking at Helen.

“We aren’t in a rush, so get back here and respect the queue.”

Jake hadn’t been raised to skip queues just because he was impatient. Only true assholes didn’t respect the culture of queuing. If Jake hadn’t liked Helen before, he sure as hell didn’t now after learning she didn’t respect one of the most important social norms in the civilized world. What would society be if people couldn’t even stand in a line properly?

Helen looked perplexed back at Jake, but he saw a flash of anger and shame in her eyes soon after as she gritted her teeth and slowly walked back towards them.

“Dude, you are so much better at this politics stuff than me; that was such a powerplay. Have you also been taking classes?” Draskil sent to him telepathically as he flashed him an approving smile.

Jake didn’t even comment on it but waited for Helen to come back and join them. They stood for another fifteen minutes in awkward silence, with only Draskil trying to make some small talk before it was their turn, and Helen once more took out the token and activated it. The teleporter charged up for a good thirty seconds before they teleported away without any words exchanged.

The teleportation itself was smooth as could be, and soon enough, they arrived on a large platform. Sunlight and fresh air washed over Jake as they found themselves standing on a large platform that extended out from what looked like a massive palace in the center. A palace clearly not built for those of human size.

Raising his head, he saw more platforms were higher up, with some of them having creatures lying on them. True Dragons.

“Welcome to Firebound City,” Helen said, having regained some of her composure upon entering her home turf. “I am not from here originally, but I was sent here by the main branch due to my Bloodline and talent in alchemy and was taken under the wing of Grand Elder Fireplume and given her Blessing, so I have called this place home for the last few decades.”

She spoke with a lot of pride and looked at Jake and Draskil as if they should be impressed. Jake was about to ask if this Fireplume would join them for their discussion but stopped himself. Gods joining in on conversations like this wasn’t really a thing. Usually. Villy was just weird and liked to get involved.

“So, where are we going to hold our meeting?” Jake just asked, not commenting on her bragging. One good thing about his publicly known Bloodline being about resisting presences was that he had an excuse to not be affected by stuff like the many dragons above and Helen’s intimidation tactics.

Her mood dropped a bit, but she quickly regained her gusto. “If Mr. Thayne desires to head straight for a meeting, we can do that. A tour of the city would also be-“

“Just the meeting room, thanks,” Jake rejected the offer. He wasn’t there to make friends.

“Very well, then please follow me,” Helen said and turned her back to lead them into the main palace. Jake saw her grimace through his sphere as she no-doubt cursed him beneath her breath.

Draskil looked around curiously, and a few of the powerful dragons above also directed their attention down at Jake and the Malefic Dragonkin. Jake’s buddy nodded up at a few of them, potentially even having a few telepathic exchanges here and there.

Following Helen, they indeed did enter the main palace. From the outside, the structure had already been massive, but inside it was even bigger as it spatially expanded. Once inside, he also saw that it was a massive atrium of sorts, everything made in huge sizes to accommodate dragons staying in their true forms. Only on the higher floors, though. Towards the bottom, things took on a more reasonable size, and it was also down there they would have their meeting.

Once they made it down, Jake felt a presence approach from above. He looked up and saw a dragon several hundred meters long fly down toward them. Its red scales glistened from the sunlight above, and its form practically radiated power and heat. The presence was a familiar one, and Jake realized it was the aforementioned Albaromoz.

This was clearly another display of power, as there was frankly no logical reason for him to swoop down in dragon form like this while blaring his presence all over them. The dragon landed gracefully, and his body rapidly began to shrink, and a red flash of light later, a dragonkin stood before them.

“We meet once more, young Bloodline Patriarch,” Albaromoz said with a smile as he walked forward to greet him and Draskil. “I am also pleasantly surprised to see an esteemed Malefic Dragonkin join.”

Draskil nodded to the true dragon, Helen standing at the side with a pleased smile. Until Jake spoke.

“I guess I got you to thank for this entire mess, don’t I?” Jake sighed. “Let’s just head to the meeting room, okay?”

Albaromoz did not seem even slightly offended as he simply nodded and took out a token. Jake felt the space distort around him as he was forcefully teleported along with Draskil and Helen. They all appeared before a door with heavy enchantments on it, one of which made it automatically open.

The true dragon was the first to enter, and he invited Jake and Draskil inside, with Helen entering last. Even something as small as entering a damn room had to be politicized by these people. The same was true for whom took a seat first, but this time they allowed Jake and Draskil to sit first, Draskil thanking the dragon for the courtesy.

Once they were all sitting, Albaromoz spoke. “This meeting was on quite short notice, so please excuse me if I am not fully up-to-date on what the issue may be. Could the Bloodline Patriarch explain to me why he wanted this meeting?”

Jake nodded as he looked at Helen. “Let me first ask Helenstromoz why she decided to approach my attendant Meira and get close to her?”

The true dragon looked at the younger dragonkin as she nodded and spoke. “As per our introductory meeting, I was to leave you alone and approach your backer in order to facilitate any agreements. In order to find out who this backer was, I decided to ask someone who may know who the backer was and have information about who you are to learn more about Mr. Thayne in general. That is why I approached one of your mistresses upon identifying her and-”

“Not my mistress,” Jake shut her down. “I don’t have any mistresses.”

For some fucking reason, this was the thing Jake had done that day that seemed to stump her the most. Even the damn A-grade dragon seemed surprised at his answer, with only Draskil letting out a chuckle.

“My friend here comes from a place where taking mistresses is not common practice, even for the strong, and he doesn’t have any interest in the practice,” Draskil came in with the assist, only to ruin it right after. “His culture leaned towards monogamy, so he doesn’t want any women he can’t turn into wives introduced.”

Jake glared at Draskil. The dragonkin looked confused back at Jake, making him let a sigh as the dragonkin did not look like he would correct the error.

“Not… exactly. I am not interested in any relationships right now. At all,” Jake said clearly.

“Oh yeah,” Draskil tried to save it. “As per the higher-ups, he isn’t to take any wives or anything like that before the time is right.”

A lot better, Jake thought.

“If I may ask, who are these higher-ups?” Albaromoz asked.

“You aren’t qualified to know,” Draskil simply answered.

The true dragon then turned to Jake. “And when do you believe that it is the right time for you to spread your Bloodline?”

“I don’t know,” Jake answered honestly. Good thing too. He felt a probing from something that impacted his Shroud, and Jake quickly recognized it and let it through. It was a lie-detecting skill of some kind, and Jake didn’t doubt he had also used it on Draskil.

“Hm,” Albaromoz said with a frown. “This may be overstepping, but would the Bloodline Patriarch and his backer be interested in still discussing potential future plans? While the time may not be right now, perhaps we can reach an agreement still. We value the Patriarch’s Bloodline highly and would be more than willing to offer plentiful compensation. Including offering assistance for you to progress and hopefully even reach B-grade. Perhaps even A-grade.”

“No, we will not discuss such potential agreements,” Jake shook his head. “My backer has already made it clear that I should not make any long-term commitments when it comes to anything with my Bloodline.”

The true dragon kept frowning but didn’t look annoyed, just frustrated. Jake kind of got it. The Emberflight was powerful, and if any normal person was offered assistance from them, they would happily agree. Jake’s backer, whom they assumed to be S-grade, would also view it as an absolute win in nearly all cases, which probably made Jake’s rejection a bit confusing. Sadly for them, they truly didn’t have anything Jake wanted.

After thinking for a while, Albaromoz sighed and smiled at Jake. “I understand. You carry a heavy responsibility as a Bloodline Patriarch, and passing down your Records is no not something done without thought. The offer is a standing one.”

Jake nodded at the true dragon, feeling like he had finally had some progress. Said true dragon then turned to Draskil.

“I wonder why the young Malefic Dragonkin decided to participate in this meeting?”

“Orders from above,” Draskil explained for the second time that day. “It was also an opportunity I would not want to miss.”

“Oh?” the true dragon asked.

Draskil made a toothy grin. “I may not be a Bloodline Patriarch, but unlike my friend here, I come from a far more free-spirited world.”

Jake mentally gave his dragonkin buddy a thumbs-up. A great misdirect to make them focus on him instead of Jake. While Jake was the prize they wanted… Draskil wouldn’t be bad to forge a relationship with, either.

“Thayne here has a mindset of his own and took offense to the actions of Lady Emberflight, but I personally do not see the issue, and neither does my Patron or my teacher. In fact, I find her approach admirable and fully acceptable,” Draskil laid it on thick, and Jake saw the attention of the true dragon focus more on him. Helen also looked at Draskil, albeit a bit suspiciously.

That is when Jake pulled out his ultimate trump card.

“Oh,” Jake suddenly exclaimed as he quickly took out his black token, acting all surprised. “I apologize; matters have come up that I will have to attend to promptly. I hope that Draskil can help smooth over any other potential issues that may appear, and if not, it was nice to meet you two again.”

“How unfortunate timing,” the true dragon said in a suspicious tone.

Draskil quickly cut in to assist. “I, too, have been made aware… and this matter includes someone higher-up in the Order than myself or even my teacher. From the very top.”

Albaromoz seemed surprised at Draskil’s grave tone, and he looked at Jake apologetically. “I wish the Patriarch a fortunate day and hope all goes well. Would you like for me to help you to the teleportation circle?”

Jake hid a smile as he tried to look serious while he stood up and used a second trump card. “Villy, can you beam me up without them knowing it is you? Ah, but do make it divine-like.”

Villy was, of course, on board as Jake answered. “No need.”

Without further ado, Jake felt Villy’s amusement as he acted, teleporting Jake away in the very next moment – through all the enchantments and defenses of the Emberlight Clan.