The Primal Hunter

Jake’s theory – that barely even qualified as a theory – did have some major flaws. Primarily, he had no idea if this hypothetical transfer of Records would be the extremely negative and permanently damaging kind to the user.

It also wasn’t even certain he could do what he wanted. During the things with Sylphie and Sandy, Jake had, at least indirectly, infused a Unique natural treasure of the system that already included hefty Records aimed at allowing a monster to get a better evolution. Sure, with Sylphie’s ritual, Jake had not directly used anything on the Mystbone, but the ritual had mixed all the energies, so he had definitely influenced it.

Say Jake had truly just influenced the Records in these natural treasures through some form of transmutation, thus still at least partly abiding by the system’s rules, then his own upcoming attempt could prove quite precarious if he had to supply all the Records himself. Once more, assuming it was even possible.

Finally, Jake found himself clueless when it came to actually controlling this Record infusion. He had no idea how to direct it, even if he did have a damn good idea on how to infuse the energy portion, which should, in theory, make the Record-part quite simple. The problem was that he had no bloody idea what the outcome would be. It was just him blindly tossing a bunch of this Primal Energy at the innate Records and energy of a core, hoping for a good outcome. He didn’t even know if any evolution he helped bring forth would be a good or bad one. Sure, the two he had been involved in had both been pretty darn good, but that could once more also just go back to the fact that system-provided Unique items were involved in both prior processes. Perhaps they added some system-fuckery for protection.

This is… risky.

Jake saw too many uncertainties. Too many dangers. His primary issue was that in most situations, Jake could get a feeling of what the best approach would be, but in this case, he was dealing with Records. Something complicated as fuck.

And messing up would not just result in him taking some damage. He risked permanently hurting his own foundation without even knowing if he was doing it. What if Jake succeeded and created a Bee Queen only to find out he had screwed himself over in a hundred years?

So, Jake did something he didn’t usually do. He decided not to just jump right into it despite being able to, but instead ask someone who might have an idea: Villy. He could also ask Duskleaf, but Jake had a feeling the Viper would be better to ask, as it wasn’t really pure alchemy, and it included many of his secrets. Secrets Duskleaf did not know about.

He reached out mentally, and it did not take long before the god popped in.

“Run into an issue?” Villy asked the moment he appeared. “The ritual circle looks complete, so I assume it is with the cores?”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “So, here’s the deal…”

Jake explained his thoughts and the many pitfalls he saw, the Viper listening attentively as he nodded along.

“First of all, you are a bit wrong about being able to create high-Records items. In fact, creating them is not necessarily difficult, and you don’t actually need to make any permanent investment, though permanent investment does make the end result far better,” Villy explained as he opened his palm. A small dark green marble appeared, and Jake felt an odd energy within.

“Take this bead I just made. If I was to feed this to a C-grade beast that was compatible, it would be able to absorb and use it all the way from now to S-grade, pretty much giving it a free ride. It would become a Malefic-something and even be relatively powerful for its level too. For me, creating this bead took nothing but pure condensed energy and intent. You must remember that any energy you put into anything, any action you take, any intent, results in Records in some form or shape. Even you could probably create items allowing a weak F-grade to reach D-grade, but do you know why I don’t just throw these beads out left and right, and why you forcibly raising some F-grade would be a bad idea?”

Jake was still taking it all in as he stared at the bead. He considered for a moment before answering. “Because then that bead will be the sole source of all the beast’s Records, right? And that sounds like a serious issue when you do reach some kind of bottleneck.”

The Viper nodded tentatively.

“We talk a lot about Paths. Your current Path can also simply be described as the sum of your current Records. It is what appears when all Records are mixed and placed into a framework you use to progress. Improving your Records by doing more things also related to what you already have is thus following your Path, as you raise the quality of your Records as well quantity. This does also mean that if you change your Records, you can change your Path… and if your Path changes too much, you risk it no longer being truly yours,” the Viper said, shaking his head. “A beast who ate this bead would never reach godhood. Period. And that is where the fundamental issue with these treasures come in: they rely on Records with innate intent.”

“I assume intent-less Records is what is found within these natural treasures given by the system or are naturally spawning?” Jake asked.

“Precisely. Only the system creates items wholly without intent, as no soul has been involved in their creation, and thus no tie to another Truesoul exists. As I said, then anything crafted by a person will innately have some of their Records within. Any weapon you use that is crafted by someone does, so you rely at least partly on their Records. This does not harm you in any way but only benefits them, at least in nearly all circumstances. The issue comes when the Records of an outside source supersede your own. You have experienced this nearly happening first-hand twice now.”

“With your blood and when I created Eternal Hunger?” Jake asked, clarifyingly.

The Viper simply nodded, allowing Jake to think himself for a bit.

Back when he had received a drop of blood from Villy, he had pretty much been forced into fighting a version of himself… and if he had lost that fight, Jake would have been forcibly transformed into a Malefic Dragonkin. He would have grown directly from an E-grade into a C-grade, probably after some incubation period, and his Path would have been forever tied to the Viper. With Eternal Hunger, he had battled the curse; and if Jake had lost his marbles to the mythical cursed blade, it could have pushed him down a Path he did want to walk, potentially even leading a class change. It was less severe than the blood but still severe.

“What I am saying is that forcing stronger variants, influencing Records, and creating catalysts for growth in beasts and monsters is not in any way unique. You are not trying something wholly original that no one else has figured out before. Beastmasters belonging to armies breed hordes of beasts using these methods, some alchemists specialize in it, and even cooks make special dishes for monsters and humanoids alike containing powerful Records related to certain things,” Villy explained.

“Also, losing Records in the long term is actually far more difficult than you think it is. At least permanently losing them. As long as you stay true to your Path, what you do lose can often be restored in a short period. One example is the drop of blood you stole. I put some “permanent” Records into that and did experience a loss for a period of time, but I got that investment back with time from you being my Chosen. That is something else you need to consider. Records can be viewed as a resource, so let me ask you this: why would it be so bad if it required a permanent loss of Records to help birth an incredibly powerful, potentially never-seen-before variant?” the Viper asked with a raised eyebrow.

“The entire concept of permanently losing something just doesn’t strike me as something I would want to do, but I guess I see your point. If I succeed, the Records from accomplishing it will outweigh what I put in, won’t it?” Jake asked.

“Very likely, yes. You also miss that everything you do technically requires a permanent investment in Records. Namely, the investment of time and effort. Even if you end up losing Records on something or spend an extremely long time accomplishing it, as long as it aligns with your Path, you can expect to come out better on the other side. This entire Primeval Origins thing is rooted in your Bloodline, your arcane affinity, and who you are as a person. I would say it aligns quite well with your Path,” Villy said with a smile.

“You also mentioned the thing about children and how the Records regenerated… that interpretation is kind of wrong. You do permanently lose Records with the birth of every child, but the Records are very, let’s just say, specific. Tailored to reproduction. It does not hurt your Path in any way to lose these Records, nor does it benefit you unless your Path already revolves around nurturing and making kids. This permanent loss is why the first child is nearly always more powerful than any after, but of course, there is still a huge element of randomness. Additionally, no matter what, there will always be a minimum amount of Records a child will inherit, and when Bloodlines are mixed in, it gets even more complicated. I just wanted to point out that this separate “pool” of Records exists, and for you to consider what that means for what you are trying.”

Jake nodded along, feeling quite a bit more assured. “Is that why everyone talks about waiting with kids till you reach your full potential? Or at least get close to it?”

“Partly. This separate pool is based on all your Records, so if you have a child in C-grade and another at S-grade, the one you had at S-grade will still get far more Records from you, but in relative terms, the one from C-grade would have gotten more. Again, things get far rockier when we introduce Bloodlines. Pure randomness could also, in some cases, result in the second child, even if they are born right after each other, getting more Records. Do note I am only talking generalized statistics here,” the Viper clarified.

“Hm,” Jake said as he considered the Viper’s words. Was it possible that whatever Records Jake gave to Sandy and Sylphie worked like this pool? Maybe it was the same as the one he would pull on if he ever decided to have kids? So many questions with no answers. There was one more thing, though.

“You said earlier what I want to do with this entire ritual is not that unique or special, at least not in principle. However, I don’t get the feeling that Sylphie is lacking in potential due to her walking a Path based on my Records. Not with Sandy either. Shit, if that was the case, would Stormild and Snappy have blessed them? I would assume they could detect if something like that was the case,” Jake voiced his thoughts.

“Now, that is the interesting part, isn’t it?” Villy said with a smile. “You aren’t exactly an expert in it, but there is a way to see the connection of Records between individuals. It is a form of karmic magic, one any god is capable of. Do you know what your connection with Sandy and the hawk was upon their change?”

“You literally just said it isn’t something I can see, as I don’t know shit about karmic magic,” Jake said in a deadpan tone.

“Hey, who knows? Maybe your bullshit Bloodline gave you some insight?” Villy grinned as he shook his head. “Your connection to the two of them was… feeble. It was there, yes, but it was not the karmic connection one would expect. What I am ultimately saying is that despite their evolution so clearly being reliant on your Records, it didn’t seem to actually leave the same drawbacks. Sandy owns their Records all on their own, same with the Sylphian Hawk. Their Paths are their own, completely separate from you.

“This does mean that nothing they ever do will directly benefit you as their creator. You get no credit in Records from how they live their lives. That means you are left with the pure achievement of their creations, but that isn’t something I would discount either. There is also the Records by association as you remain close to them, but that isn’t much different from what you get from everyone else,” the Viper finished his explanation.

“Not gonna lie… I feel like I still have nearly as many questions as when I started,” Jake said. Nothing really felt clear at all. How could the things he made not contain any intent, or why wasn’t it recognized as his mana? It made no sense.

“That is what happens when you walk uncharted Paths,” Villy said in a serious tone. “What you are doing is clearly rooted in your Bloodline as it deploys a transcendent-level concept. The only thing I can be certain of is that there is a cost to all of these creations. If the benefits outweigh these costs will ultimately be up to you, and only you can make that choice. Trust your gut; that seems to have worked out well for you so far.”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. “Thanks for the insights, as always. I reckoned this was better to talk to you about and not Duskleaf.”

“Duskleaf would have refused and gone to fetch me if you asked him.”

“Fair enough,” Jake smirked with a nod. Made sense. He could see the old alchemist seriously not wanting to give advice like this. He seemed more like the type of guy to only give advice when he actually knew things for sure.

“Good luck. I look forward to seeing the end result,” the Viper said as he disappeared before Jake had a chance to say goodbye.

“I guess it is back to work,” Jake spoke partly to himself and partly to Villy, who had, of course, switched to his livestream of Jake’s life.

The conversation gave Jake some ideas, but it ultimately did not change anything. It just made him more sure that he wanted to keep experimenting even if he did lose some Records or if he hurt his foundation a bit. Jake firmly believed that whatever he lost, he would be able to get back and that if he truly risked himself too much, he would feel it in his gut.

If worst came to worst, Jake could just do what everyone else who hit a bottleneck did: risk his life repeatedly until he broke through. On second thought, that actually wouldn’t be that bad. Quite nice, actually.

Jake cracked his neck as he took out one of the Queen’s Guard cores. He had studied enough, and he had weighed the risks. Now it was time to find to create the technique – and hopefully, upgrade his Core Manipulation skill in the process.

Thus Jake began to do what he was best at when it came to alchemy:

Reckless experimenting without any regard for his own safety.