The Primal Hunter

Jake, by now, realized: he had fucked up. At least he felt like he had fucked up. But upon looking at Vesperia sitting beside him, calmly drinking her tea while Villy explained, he couldn’t say he regretted what he had done. Despite only meeting that day, he liked Vesperia. Who couldn’t like someone with a damn stinger gun?

”This is… kind of bad, isn’t it?” he finally asked, making Vesperia look at him confused.

”Why would it be bad that you managed to sire a True Royal? The Endless Empire, no, any faction would welcome you with open arms, and no one will dare attempt to kill you for fear of the Malefic One choosing to strike back. That is not even mentioning the many other factions who will also desire your protection and growth,” Vesperia asked.

”Yeah… the thing is, I am not really public with this entire Chosen of the Malefic Viper thing,” Jake scratched his head.

Vesperia looked at him weirdly for a few seconds. ”I… don’t understand?”

”Jake here is weird; we agree on that, right?” Villy asked Vesperia with a grin. The True Royal nodded, Jake, choosing not to take offense as she clearly just agreed with the god to be nice and because he was a Primordial. Right?

”Well, part of his weirdness is a constant fear of recognition and having people suck up to him. I do kind of get it, as having armies of annoying insects running after you constantly is less than ideal, and it is made worse for Jake by his preference for people to treat him like a person rather than a symbol,” the snake god explained.

Jake confirmed with a nod. ”Can you blame me for just wanting normal interactions with other people and not them constantly walking on eggshells or treating me like royalty?”

Vesperia now looked even more confused. ”But… you are, aren’t you? You have helped birth a True Royal, and I recognize you as my sire and parent. You are a being above nearly all others.”

”Not disagreeing that I am awesome, just that I don’t want to be treated based solely on some perceived status people think I have. The problem is that others don’t seem to be able to respect that I want to be treated like a person and not some semi-divine figure based on their preconceived notions of who and what I should be,” Jake tried to explain.

The True Royal nodded, though Jake had a feeling she didn’t quite get it. Which was kind of fair. As a True Royal, it was innate of her to be treated like royalty by others; it was simply how things were supposed to be.

”Anyway, let’s get back on topic,” Villy cut in. ”My point here is that hiding what you have done is… not possible. While I am also awesome, and while Shroud of the Primordial can block nearly all things, there are gods out there capable of piercing through it. I know of at least one of the leaders in the Royal Council that would be able to trace you if she ever examined Vesperia here, and no amount of cloaking on my end can stop that. It will make her unable to find you, but she will know who you are. Ultimately, Shroud of the Primordial is about hiding things about you, not the fact that you even exist.”

”The Odonstrom Hive Queen,” Vesperia nodded.

”Dragonfly True Royal, leading the Odonata Lineage,” Villy clarified for Jake. ”They are Perception-focused, so you may like them, and their senses are wicked. The True Royal has a compound eye on her forehead, able to see things not perceivable to nearly any other visual organ I know of. Karmic threads, mana, emotions… she is even able to view different fragments of time through her eye, observing both past and future. A real scary one.”

”Hm,” Jake said with a frown. He had to admit, he had kind of banked on Shroud of the Primordial being perfect… but he had clearly miscalculated on that one. However, there was also one other issue.

”Wait, does that mean she already located Vesperia?” Jake asked, not sure if he should be worried or not.

”No,” the Viper shook his head. ”We are still on my turf, and while in the Order, I can hide her. However, the problem is that they will instantly know her location and descend when she is not covered by the formations here. Of course, it is not even certain that is an issue. Is it?”

He asked the last part to Vesperia, who in turn looked at Jake for an answer.

”Don’t look at me,” Jake said, putting up his hands. ”You aren’t some prisoner here, Vesperia. If you want to stay, I am fine with it, but from what I have gathered, you are already pretty damn connected to the Endless Empire.”

Vesperia seemed to consider his words but then turned to the Viper. ”May I ask what the intentions of the Malefic One are?”

”I have none,” Villy shook his head. ”And if I did, this still wouldn’t be my decision to make, but Jake’s. If you haven’t noticed, then we don’t have a traditional Chosen-Patron relationship. I don’t tell him what to do; I just enjoy his antics. Sometimes I even make him aware of the consequences of his actions. This, of course, being one such case. Oh, and I do also need to cover for him quite a lot. This brings me to something we need to do no matter what you plan on doing.”

The Malefic Viper waved his hand as a contract manifested in mid-air. ”Gotta have to make you sign a non-disclosure agreement.”

”Is that really necessary?” Jake asked. ”It isn’t like Sylphie or Sandy signed any…”

”Sandy is the Chosen of Snappy, and the hawk is blessed by Stormild and a peculiar little creature that is only loyal to herself and the people she fancies,” Villy shook his head and motioned to Vesperia. ”What we have here is a scheming True Royal Hive Queen with an innate connection to the Endless Empire, a notoriously reclusive faction, who also makes every single non-ectognamorph they ever allow to enter their heartlands also sign a similar agreement. She knows your secrets, Jake. Better safe than sorry.”

”I agree this is the best solution,” Vesperia agreed instantly. ”The other True Royals will naturally want to know how I came to be, and they will be able to tell if I am lying. Something I would prefer not to have to do. However, if I signed an agreement facilitated by the system itself, I would be able to simply refer to that and only say the things we have pre-approved. But, I want to clarify, Malefic One, that my loyalties will, first and foremost, always be towards my hive.”

”Of that, I am fully aware, and isn’t that the core of this issue? The good of the hive is your prerogative, and if revealing everything about Jake can help the hive, you should have no qualms about doing so. Considering the Endless Empire is like one big hive, you get my drift,” Villy said, leaning back.

”I believe the Malefic One misunderstands,” Vesperia clarified. ”Jake and I belong to the same hive. He is my sire; nothing will ever change that fact.”

Villy raised an interested eyebrow. ”Odd word choice. Same hive. Not that he belongs to your hive?”

”Perhaps the phrase our hive is more accurate?” Vesperia asked, sounding unsure. ”To say he belongs to my hive would indicate I hold a superior position, but to say I am part of his would indicate the opposite, a sentiment I am not sure would be ideal considering he is not a Hive Queen. This may be presumptuous, but I view him as an equal in the hierarchy of the hive, us both at the highest position, but as my sire, he is superior to me as an individual.”

”Interesting,” Villy smiled, Jake feeling a bit uncomfortable.

”I wouldn’t say I am your superior,” Jake tried to argue but was shut down instantly.

”Attempting to dictate my personal feelings on the matter will lead to nothing,” Vesperia shook her head. ”This is only natural. A True Royal born and nurtured by another True Royal will still view their parent as superior on a personal basis even if they both sit at the pinnacle of the hive as equals. Fighting my nature is meaningless.”

”As I said… interesting,” Villy kept smiling. ”Now, back to the contract. We will need to agree on what it says, but do note that it cannot include outright lies, or the entire thing will be deemed invalid. So we can’t just write up some fake story that she can then regurgitate.”

Jake nodded, considering what to do or say, as the Viper took the lead.

”I think before we move on, let me just make clear: you are planning on returning to the Endless Empire, right?” he asked Vesperia.

”As long as Jake is fine with it… yes,” the Hive Queen nodded. ”I am not saying it has to be immediately, but there are many reasons I should go.”

”Understandable,” the snake god said, looking at Jake. ”Even if I decided to throw the full backing of the entire Order behind you and the Vespernat Hive Queen, we would still not be able to assist her a tenth of what the Endless Empire can. They have special resources, crafters, areas, heritages, teachers, and whatnot to assist Hive Queens. They have had eras to hone their skills in nurturing their own race and are far larger than the Order. There simply is no competition. Though I do wonder… does the Endless Empire have any special Lineage-specific items left for True Royals such as you?”

”I will know if I go there,” Vesperia answered, clearly avoiding the question.

”Fair, fair,” Villy nodded. ”Now let’s cook up our technically accurate story that is also full of deceit for this entire situation not to turn into a massive shitshow. Because that is a risk. While the Endless Empire and many other factions would love your ability to birth powerful variants, other factions, not so much. Especially Rigoria would be quite pissed if she found out my Chosen actively assisted them. One time can be written off, but if you decided to revive more True Royals… oh boy. The point is we need a story that can appeal to one side while appeasing the other. At least, that is ideal. I have a few options in mind.”

The Viper changed the contract in front of him as a damn wall of text appeared.

”First story. Let me begin by saying that every single scenario will have us lean into the fact that you used a unique item during the ritual. While not stating it explicitly, this will make everyone believe it was granted by the system, and you are just one lucky bastard who stumbled across it and managed to do a ritual resulting in a True Royal appearing. If we lean into this and say it was a one-time thing, we would be able to mostly wash our hands of any future issues but will also gain no potential future benefits outside the Endless Empire potentially wanting to give you some kind of reward.”

Waving his hand again, a second contract appeared.

”Second scenario. We blame it all on me. We can say that I assisted you – something I technically did – and helped provide you with materials and instructions to make it happen while still using a unique item. This way, most will write it off not as you being awesome but instead just give me all the credit. The benefit of this approach is that no one will really hassle you for it… but it will probably require fully outing you as my Chosen because there is no fucking way anyone will believe I decided to help some random alchemist in the Order.”

Another wave and a third contract.

”Third one. In this scenario, we do a bit of a mix. Still a unique item, but we are changing the nature of how things work. Rather than be a one-time use item you acquired, it is an item with potentially multiple uses, but we will keep the exact requirements of how it can be used more times ambiguous. It is the truth that you cannot use it repeatedly and that there are requirements, but we also need to really emphasize that only you can do this. We can explain this away either with your arcane affinity or Bloodline, but I think it would be best to just say the item you gained from the system is Soulbound. However, be aware this solution is not without issues,” Villy said.

”In this final scenario, we also need to have everyone know only you can do the required rituals. The good thing about this final option is that you won’t have to reveal any secrets, and you can even keep your status as my Chosen hidden if you want to. It will make it a bit harder for me to protect you publicly, and do be aware that it will result in more… annoyances. Telling the factions that will come swarming you to fuck off like the Emberflight won’t work. I am not saying this as in them deciding to keep pestering you, but that they will view your existence as of critical importance. Several factions may decide to assign you hidden guardians or try to sneak in people that can watch over you without revealing themselves.”

Jake listened and frowned. He could totally see that last thing happen if his ability to spawn powerful variants was that important to many factions. Though he was a bit stuck on the word factions – plural.

”Who else would hound me?”

”The most obvious one would be some of the Beastfolk factions. Beastfolk are enlightened with either a class or a profession, which means their race is still incredibly important, and many of the ancestors of these beastfolk were absolute monsters. There are also some pure monster factions out there. Imagine if a faction with many phoenixes could employ you to awaken one of their offspring as a pinnacle variant of phoenixes? You need to remember you don’t just create a single individual creature: you can create a starting point for an entire Lineage. Dragons, phoenixes, elementals… all races that aren’t pure enlightened such as elves or humans, will want you alive. preferably under their wing,” Villy explained.

Jake frowned even more and took a deep breath. He looked over at Vesperia for a moment. ”What would you like to do?”

”I will leave this solely up to you and support any choice. However, while I should be able to convince the Endless Empire to not go overboard, they will find it difficult to understand why you don’t entertain factions other than the Order of the Malefic Viper if you go with the third choice… no, even with the first one they will find it incomprehensible. You will be offered many things far better than even a high-ranking S-grade figure in the Order would receive, much less a junior,” Vesperia voiced her thoughts.

Taking a deep breath, Jake stared at the ceiling for a bit. ”This is quite the mess, isn’t it?”

”It is,” Villy agreed. ”You settled on a choice?”

”Well… I am sure as fuck not giving you credit. There is also the problem of them potentially discovering Sylphie and Sandy and putting two and two together, which could quickly out anything that isn’t at least the third option as a lie. You couldn’t have been behind the rituals back on Earth, after all,” Jake said, having actually considered the matter quite a lot.

The Viper nodded. ”This is ultimately just a temporary solution till you are stronger.”

”Yeah,” Jake muttered and sighed. ”Maybe we should just go with a fourth option?”

”What option?” the Viper asked with a raised eyebrow.

”A slightly modified truth. That I do have an item allowing me to create new unique items, but that the cost is high for me, and that this cost includes Records,” Jake said, trying to voice his thoughts. ”That the only way for me to become able to repeat the ritual is to progress in my Path, gain levels, and evolve.”

He saw Villy begin to smile as he leaned forward.

”And how will you address those offering you a better environment to progress in return for leaving the Order and joining their factions?”

He had known this day would come for a long time, and honestly, maybe it was about time. The thought still made him uncomfortable, and he could see many issues pop up, but in the end, he would find himself covered in bullshit either way. May as well do it on his own terms.

Jake looked at the Viper and gave him a small smirk.

”Tell them to fuck off because I am already the Chosen of a Primordial.”