The Primal Hunter

Jake had been reluctant to reveal himself as Chosen for a long time, and with good reason too. However, the more time passed, the more he began to realize how meaningless hiding his identity truly was. One day it would get out, whether he liked it or not. Be it through something like this where he did something a god would notice, and that god then leaked it, or through one of the people already knowing making it public. Either on accident or purposefully.

As for who would leak it purposefully? He had two names in mind who would do it for their own gain: Ell’Hakan and Yip of Yore.

Their entire deal was about building some epic tale of Ell’Hakan fighting the big bad evil Chosen of the Malefic Viper, so naturally, they would have to spread who Jake was far and wide to make the legend truly noteworthy. Jake could even see the two of them planning on using the fact that he tried to hide his identity as some kind of gotcha by revealing it during a crucial moment. Better he reveal it himself than allow that orange fucker and the delusional storyteller to spin it before exposing it to the world.

Then he also had to consider the fact of just how many people already know. Which was… a lot. Pretty much everyone on Earth knew he was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper, and if they didn’t, the smear campaign by Ell’Hakan and Arthur sure had made them aware. Many of those had probably shared it with their gods if they were blessed, making even more people know. With time, all of them would also be able to enter the rest of the multiverse, and he didn’t trust an entire planet to keep quiet.

Chances are many of these gods who knew had already told their mates, and it could spread like wildfire any day. The Court of Shadows, Risen, Holy Church, Valhal, and a slew of independent gods and smaller factions all knew. Even if they were keeping it under wraps with only the upper brass being aware, it was still a bubble waiting to burst.

Also, one of the biggest reasons he had stopped bothering to hide it was because a lot of the fear he initially had didn’t actually seem to be that well-founded. Miranda had been deathly afraid of him for a bit but now just treated him like that annoying manager who didn’t have his shit together and made her do all the work. It was a pretty apt description too, and Jake knew that all the snark he got was deserved. What she sure as hell wasn’t doing was treating him like some divine being.

At the Order, he had been afraid of Irin and Draskil and how they would handle it. The initial reveal had been far from ideal, and he had, of course, shocked both, but after some time, the awkwardness had mostly disappeared. There would always be some tension due to the difference in status, but that was hard to overcome either way if he kept getting stronger. At some point, people would begin to treat him differently, not only due to his status but his power.

Even Meira had gotten better at being more casual around him. Based on how she had been during their first meeting, the fact he was a Chosen had only made matters worse, but if even she could progress to a point where she wasn’t too awkward, he believed there was hope.

Would there be annoying aspects to making his identity as the Chosen public? Yes. But it was ultimately his choice to be Villy’s Chosen, and it was part of his Path. He could not keep suppressing it forever.

Finally… hiding it was just a bother, and he knew he himself would slip up sooner or later. Shit, he had already fucked up a few times, and if he went to Nevermore, he seriously doubted he wouldn’t end up inadvertently revealing himself, so he better do it himself before even going.

Besides, if he did that, then Villy would get some nice clout from Jake’s trip.

”About bloody time you came to your senses,” Villy smiled, satisfied. ”This would significantly lessen the pressure on you, as most will assume part of the reason you carry my True Blessing is part of this ability of yours. Of course, I do predict some will assume it is linked to your Bloodline somehow, but I doubt anyone can figure out how it works, considering that not even I can. At most, I guess they will think you can do some presence manipulation and managed to leverage that during rituals to affect Truesouls. Now, how to make the big announcement…”

”Nothing big is needed; keep it casual,” Jake raised his hands in defense. ”Just send it out publicly to all the major factions that I am the Chosen, and I can reveal it to people when they appear before me… maybe you can just send out a brochure or something?”

”Are you serious?” the god asked.

”Yes?” Jake tried.

Vesperia shook her head, clearly judging his futile attempt.

”Oh no, Jake. We will do this fucking properly. You are my Chosen. Do you have any idea what usually happens when a new Chosen is blessed? I assume not, so let me give you a rundown. The last time the Holy Mother blessed a Chosen ten thousand years ago or so, it was a week-long festival on nearly every single planet controlled by the Church, along with a giant event on Primordial-1. Valhal holds a tournament where everyone who is within ten levels of the Chosen can challenge them to a fight. The Risen hold a huge coronation-like ceremony, inviting all major factions they have good relations with. It is a big deal and an excuse to show off,” Villy explained with a grin.

Jake’s face turned serious as horror began to sneak in. ”You don’t mean you want me to… no way.”

”Yes way. If you do something, you need to do it properly,” Villy said, his teasing smile growing. ”A lot of things have happened, so maybe now is a good time to have a gathering of the top brass and invite several factions to display our power to the world with a bit of showmanship. Having you be part of that and publicizing your abilities during it will send a strong message. It will say that, yes, this ability is the real deal with an open invitation for others to approach us about it, and no, trying to recruit you would be a waste of time.”

”You really want to turn this into such a big thing?” Jake asked reluctantly.

”The Malefic Viper has returned to the multiverse and begun expanding his power, and he has blessed a Chosen in C-grade with the ability to create True Royals and possibly other powerful monster variants. That is worth making a proper announcement to the entire multiverse,” Villy made clear as he turned to Vesperia. ”I assume you can wait till after this to return to the Endless Empire? It would be nice to have you around as living proof.”

Vesperia nodded. ”Naturally. It will also assist me in having way less explaining to do about my Origin upon returning to the Endless Empire, and if it can assist Jake, I am more than willing.”

”There you have it,” the Viper smiled as he got up. ”I will begin to figure out the details, and we will have the big announcement in… let’s say, a month. Don’t want to potentially delay your trip to Nevermore. The old swordsman also evolved a bit ago, so the people you planned on bringing are ready.”

”Oh, nice!” Jake smiled, but it quickly faded. ”Shit, I totally forgot to talk to Carmen directly about if she wanted to join us.”

”Don’t bother; the Runemaiden wouldn’t go with you even if she wanted to,” the Viper shook his head.

”She needs to go with her own faction?” Jake guessed, based on what Miranda had said. He still wanted to ask her himself, but if even Villy said she wouldn't go...

”That is one of the reasons, yes. The other reason is a bit more complicated, but you will know in due time,” the Viper said with a scheming smile. ”All I will say is that the Order and Valhal are not exactly on good terms officially, so having my Chosen go to Nevermore with someone from there would raise questions and cause speculation we best do without.”

”Aight,” Jake just nodded, getting a feeling there was a lot more to the story. Turning his head, he looked at Vesperia. ”You wanna go to Nevermore?”

”Would you want me to go with you?” she asked.

”If you want to,” Jake offered

”I… will have to decline,” Vesperia answered in a reluctant tone, surprising Jake. ”Going to Nevermore for me is too early. It is better to return to the Endless Empire, and while combat is part of my Path, it is not the primary one. As a True Royal, I have responsibilities to my race that take precedence. I may go in the future, but I would not be a good member in a party trying to get on the leaderboards.”

”Leaderboards?” Jake asked, throwing Villy a look.

”Don’t ruin the surprise,” Villy shook his head at Vesperia semi-jokingly. ”You will know when you get there, okay? But yes, there are leaderboards and rankings and shit. That is also why you need a good team to go with.”

Jake looked at the snake god before sighing. ”Leaderboards isn’t that big of a surprise.”

”But it would have been a surprise.”

”A minor insignificant one I already half-expected,” Jake shut it down.

The god just shrugged. ”If you say so. Back on topic. A month till the announcement, alright?”

”I guess I have no choice,” Jake said in defeat. ”What will you need for me to prepare?”

”Nothing, really,” Villy shrugged. ”You are good as you are. Though, as a friend, I will give you one piece of advice. Before Nevermore, you will need new equipment, and I would recommend that you try and get most of that done and upgrade some of your items before the announcement if you want to have a semi-normal shopping trip. The buzz it will create will make any casual outing an impossibility.”

”Shit, that’s a good call,” Jake agreed, already foreseeing the awkward store clerks if he didn’t.

”At Nevermore, there are a lot of shops too, many of them of a very high level, so you can also look for some stuff there when you go,” Villy added on. ”It is not just a big dungeon but has a massive city both outside and inside once you reach certain floors.”

Jake nodded, not surprised at that being a thing. Why would there not be a city outside of a dungeon that nearly every faction on the multiverse sent so many of their members to? It had to be a gold mine for any merchant.

”I still need to find a fifth member,” Jake voiced his thoughts out loud.

”We can use the announcement for that,” Villy added. ”Say that you are looking for a fifth person to join you at Nevermore. With the current setup, having a healer or, at the very least, a support type would make your group far better and speed up your progress. I actually already have some in mind, but with you officially being the Chosen, these other factions will happily have one of their top elites join you to advertise their strong relationship with the Order. And before you question if there are any good ones out there… a new universe being integrated always leads to an influx of geniuses. You and Ell’Hakan are not the only supreme talents of the ninety-third.”

”I guess that is an option,” Jake conceded, though he wasn’t super keen on taking a stranger with him.

”Give it a chance. If it turns out badly, just reject them all and find someone else,” Villy shrugged. ”Well, I guess it is time for me to head off and begin to prepare stuff for the biggest announcement and event of my Order in over eighty eras. Bye!”

With that, the Viper teleported away, leaving Vesperia and Jake alone in the living room.

”The Malefic One is… peculiar,” Vesperia muttered after a five-second pause. ”I would almost believe him an imposter if not for his presence. His way of acting does not at all allign with my Lineage Knowledge.”

”Villy is Villy,” Jake shrugged. He knew the Viper had a persona and a reputation, but in his eyes, the snake god was ultimately just his drinking buddy and friend.

”That way of referring to a Primordial is also… offputting,” Vesperia shook her head. ”Far too casual and lacking respect.”

”Vesperia, that is entirely on purpose. I don’t need to show I respect him by the way I call him or what tone I adopt when we chat. It may seem odd, but we have decided to be friends even if others find that odd or even heretical,” Jake said, shaking his head.

”Is that why you are so reluctant for me to recognize your status as my sire? That you believe treating others with overt respect is somehow a sign of lacking desired closeness?” the Hive Queen asked with a tilted head. ”Does that not sort of contradict your desire to show respect? Regardless of your own feelings, I view you as someone with a parental role due to your involvement in my creation, and I respect you due to that, but that does not mean I don’t want us to have a close relationship.”

The question took Jake by surprise, making him unable to formulate an answer. Her directly stating she saw him as someone with a parental role honestly felt so… off. She was a Wasp Queen True Royal, several heads taller than himself and with the mentality of a fully grown adult. Meanwhile, Jake was, well, Jake. But she did have a point. He couldn’t just tell her how to feel, and he could not deny he was the cause of her creation.

”Sorry, I didn’t mean to tell you off or anything like that; the entire thought is just foreign to me,” Jake shook his head with a sigh. ”But I genuinely have no idea how I am supposed to act around you, so feel free to give me any input.”

Vesperia smiled and looked away. ”Just… I hope you are not embarrassed that I am your creation. I do understand that I am effectively just an accident, but…”

She fell silent and looked away, not finishing her words.

It was only when she said this that Jake truly realized how much he had fucked up. Vesperia was good at hiding it, but many of the things he had said clearly hurt her, and when he considered her entire damn life so far… he got it.

Shortly after her ”birth,” Jake – who she thought of as a parental figure – informed her that she was effectively an accident and he had made her on a whim and he didn’t really need her or necessarily want her around. He then proceeded to vehemently reject her view of him as her creator and told her that she could fuck off to the Endless Empire if she wanted. That she could go anywhere without him really caring. Jake had thought this was his way of telling her that she was free to live her life, but she had just seen it as a way to distance himself. Oh, and of course, they had then thrown in a quick spar where Jake had made it clear she couldn’t even be useful to him in a fight.

Everything he had done so far was pretty much a rejection of her… at least, it could be very easily interpreted as that.

Jake collected his thoughts and considered his next words as he shook his head and looked at her. ”How could I possibly be embarrassed? You are a damn True Royal that one of the peak factions would do anything to get their hands on. That battle form was insanely impressive and cool as hell. Who can’t appreciate a stinger gun? And I am genuinely looking forward to seeing what a True Royal is truly capable of.”

Vesperia did not respond but was uncharacteristically quiet. Jake was also silent for a few moments before looking at the ceiling before his gaze refocused.

”When I think about it… it’s actually a bit funny. Did you know that my first legendary skill was pretty much an accident? Or at least a coincidence? I had not planned for it. It just kind of happened. The same was then true for my arcane affinity; it just one day manifested while I was working on improving my mana. I didn’t even know what an arcane affinity was at the time. When I made a mythical weapon, I was completely out of it and just followed my gut, which ended up giving me a weapon I will probably use for life. Even my meeting with the Viper can be described as accidental.”

Jake got up and began moving over to Vesperia. She still looked down, but he knew she was listening attentively.

”When I think about it, most of the greatest things I possess and my best achievements came to be without me intending for them to happen. Maybe it is because I am a guy moving based on my instincts, but actions come before thoughts most of the time. This results in accidents, as you call them. Accidents that made me who I am today. Accidents which resulted in me meeting some of my best friends and companions for life, none of which I regret. You may refer to my unintended achievements as accidents, and I can’t really argue against that. But if that is truly the case-”

He smiled and padded Vesperia on the head, ruffling her hair and making her shiver.

”Then you are definitely one of my proudest accidents.”