The Primal Hunter

Barry had worked in the service industry for thirty years before the system apocalypse, as some had come to call it, happened. He had believed such a momentous event would have meant the end of his life or at least have severely changed it, but honestly? It was much the same as before, just a lot more relaxed as he didn’t need to fear burning himself while working the grill and didn’t need to try and balance shitty work hours and tryïng to get enough sleep in between grueling fourteen-hour shifts.

The best part was probably that he now was his own boss and even had his own small restaurant, having upgraded from a booth. He was primarily just selling his signature meat skewers – a specialty that had even been enjoyed by the city owner Lord Thayne – both at the booth and in the restaurant.

Now, there were also issues with running a restaurant, mainly that people didn’t really need to eat much anymore, if at all. E-grades still had to eat, especially at the lower end of E-grade, and the few F-grades that somehow still existed needed quite a bit of food. Still less than pre-system humans, but a good deal.

This meant those who came to eat did it for the pleasure or for the temporary stat boosts from the food. A lot of crafters frequented his place, but it was rare he was more than at fifty or sixty percent capacity, and that only happened if big parties came.

But… that day, something had been different. Barry had been snacking on his own creations a bit more than usual as he felt a rumbling in his stomach he hadn’t for months. It wasn’t the usual “oh, I can take a bite” kind of rumble, but the “I need food” kind of rumble.

He was hungry.

And he was not the only one. People began coming into the restaurant almost immediately, ordering food and putting him to work. Barry frowned as soon over 80% of the seating had been taken, and people kept coming, all talking about how they suddenly felt hungry and had an urge to eat.

It wasn’t just his restaurant either. He saw out of the window that the guy across the street selling that heretical vegan stuff was also at full capacity, truly proving the desperation of the masses.

Back at his own place, customers just kept coming as soon no more seating was there, and they waited all the way out the door as Barry had his best day of business ever since opening.

An emergency meeting was being held as the governing body of Sanctdome was under heavy pressure. Jacob sat at the end of the table as the man in charge of the food supply explained the situation, all while failing to snack on something looking a bit like jerky.

Jacob had also failed to hold himself back as he had eaten a sandwich just before this meeting, and even now, he failed to restrain his desire to grab another just after.

“We are under significant pressure from several groups and parties as the kitchens have run out of food. Even the private sector is facing a shortage due to the sudden influx of customers… what is happening? Are we under attack by something?”

“Sir, there is signs of civil unrest, and many complain at the lack of proper preparation from our side… we need to do something, and fast, or we may face a legitimate crisis,” the man in charge of security explained while snacking on some fruit on the table. They had actually just been there for show, but only a few berries remained by now.

Jacob wracked his mind as the same issue was playing out in every single settlement of the Holy Church. Some places had enough food by themselves, but the megacity Sanctdomo was simply too big. They could normally handle the food situation, but suddenly everyone became hungry and wanted to eat something, nearly simultaneously.

The timing couldn’t be any worse either as the System Store had just disappeared, making easy acquisition hard. Merchants had already been pressed for everything they had to sell, but they hadn’t exactly banked on such a situation happening either.

“All we can do is damage control,” Jacob finally said as he prepared to head out and try to placate the masses before any true rioting and looting began.

--

Similar scenes played out all over the planet. Cities found themselves facing an issue none had predicted as suddenly food became a much-needed commodity. Some merchants became rich, others cursed their own luck, while everyone was hungry and needed to eat.

The only ones spared were the Risen… for as undead, they did not require food at all. They still lived off mana and felt like they wanted to absorb a little more than usual, but it was something they easily handled.

Even beasts were affected as they did something rare: actually ate their prey. Predators left their dens and sought out victims to sate their hunger as fighting broke out all across the world. The corpses usually eaten by weaker lifeforms meant that they now also found themselves struggling as entire ecosystems faced unprecedented challenges.

This entire crisis continued, with everyone wondering what the cause of this strange occurrence was. Cities struggled, the ecosystem was in an uproar as beasts killed more than ever before. Many theories were made, but only a select few knew the true reason.

That it was all because Jake wanted to make a cool new weapon.

Carnage was all that was left in his wake. The once sprawling colony had become a wasteland of death and destruction as Jake tore through it, killing anything that moved in his path. He went deeper and deeper as he delved further down than perhaps any human had ever been before.

Only D-grades stood before him as Jake killed them. Giant insects the sizes of trucks, mandibles able to tear any pre-system metal apart effortlessly slaughtered wholesale.

Jake himself was barely conscious as he growled and tore foe after foe into pieces. A particularly massive termite suddenly shot up from beneath, but Jake naturally reacted in time as he had seen it coming through his sphere a long time ago.

Yet he let it consume him, as he even accelerated himself downwards to dodge the mandibles. Scales covered his body, and he soon found himself in a stomach full of acid that failed to do anything to his body. Jake began hacking away at the inner walls of the stomach as blood mixed with the acid. Every slash absorbed the insect’s energy as it tried to spit him out and get rid of him.

It managed to do some things as spike-like teeth appeared on its inner walls, but all the wounds it made only made Jake bleed poisoned blood, speeding up its death.

Jake tore himself out of the body of the massive termite when his blade stopped absorbing vital energy as he ran forward to kill more.

Occasionally, Jake would get glimpses of clarity if the curse was momentarily sated after a big kill. It was only for a brief period, but every one of them was spent usefully.

The killing was needed to sate the blade… but he needed more. Jake could not continue as he was currently with the insects getting stronger. The last one had been level 160, and even if he had killed it relatively easily, he had still taken damage.

So to make up for any downtime, Jake tried to keep the blade fed. Natural treasures originally used to create vitality-increasing elixirs, herbs of various kinds, and even a few beast cores he found compatible had been consumed by the weapon.

Now, it was time to part with some items he was rather fond of.

[Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza Lifevine (Rare)] - The Lifevine of an Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza. The Lifevine is a part of the main body of the fungus. Contains intense amounts of vital energy and is incredibly resilient. Can be used in a myriad of alchemical creations.

[Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza Lifecore (Epic)] - The Lifecore of an Indigo Fungus Mycorrhiza. Contains a massive amount of life affinity mana and vital energy. Can be used in a myriad of alchemical creations. Will grant a permanent increase to the Vitality stat if consumed.

Originally the plan was to make elixirs with them, but he was out of options. Jake consumed a potion as he simply used Alchemical Flame to melt down the Lifecore and let it drip unto the blade, as he felt it revel in the intense life energy. If Jake had consumed this himself, he would have gained a permanent increase to Vitality, but now it was just a drop in the pond.

After that, Jake had it consume the Lifevines. All of this allowed Jake to get a good half an hour of meditation in as soon, the hunger struck again. Jake tried to sit still… he really did, but he just had to go again.

It had already been nearly two full days at his point, as Jake once more fell into a half-conscious state, his rampage continuing. His only remaining mental faculties were used to loot everything he could come across, primarily every single core he could get from the insects.

Everything was instinct as he was little more than a well-oiled machine. Jake felt like he was just a passenger along the ride as he killed everything he came across. The deep caverns were fields of death as Jake deployed everything he had as long as it didn’t get in the way of cutting things up.

The wings on his back pumped out poison mist. His blood was used as a weapon. It went on the blade, he punched something with a bloody fist, or he simply splattered it on his foe. Mana burned all around him as arcane explosions blew up the tunnels to make them collapse, sometimes giving him a bit more time to finish a meal.

But no matter what he did, it was not enough. It was never enough. The hunger refused to subside no matter how much he killed or how much blood he spilled. It just kept wanting… to the level that he could nearly not keep up anymore.

For every second, it worsened, and soon Jake began to have genuine moments of blackouts. Moments were his vision went black, for him to only be aware again when suddenly he found himself standing on a mountain of corpses lacking an arm. Focusing for a moment, he consumed a potion as Jake tried to find a solution.

That is when he noticed…

The weapon is breaking.

Microscopic cracks covered it as Jake became fully aware: the Chimera Weapon was not powerful enough to contain the curse. He didn’t know what would happen if it broke, and he didn’t want to find out. But he couldn’t stop feeding it.

More.

He needed something. A method, a way out. Just… something. He needed to improve it. A transmutation, an improvement, something. He racked his mind, searching for a solution.

Make it stronger…

Jake refused to see himself lose as his body exploded with arcane power, and standing on a mountain of corpses began yet another crafting session. Two items appeared floating around him as he kept pressing on with reckless focus and sheer willpower, even activating Pride. The two items in question were in no way considered cheap either.

[Nalkar Vampire Heart (Legendary)] – The heart of a powerful C-grade Nalkar Vampire. This type of vampire is a rare variant with extremely high innate abilities in illusion and mind magic. It often possesses a larger reserve of blood energy than most other vampires. The rarity is higher due to the high innate talent of the Nalkar Vampire that left behind this heart. Has many alchemical uses.

[Supreme Carbonic Focusing Catalyst (Legendary)] – This item is made of a rare type of carbon and is known to be able to bond and mix with most other materials in existence, making it incredibly potent as a catalyst in most crafting endeavors. This Carbonic Focusing Catalyst is of extremely high quality and has absorbed affinity-less mana to allow itself to grow for countless years, making it reach legendary rarity. Has a wide variety of uses in alchemical creations and will increase the power of most crafts where this item is used as a catalyst.

These would not be sacrificed to sate the curse… but make the vessel that inhabited it powerful enough to contain the curse. Jake, with only one arm, did the only natural thing he could as he summoned his cauldron and tossed the two items into it as well as a shitload of his own blood as he began the alchemy.

Hunger tore at him as Jake bit his own lips, making them bleed. He failed to stop himself from drinking his own blood. Needing something more, he even began feasting on the disgusting bodies of the termites. It all distracted him as Jake needed some solace. He needed to ground himself somehow, but it was just so hard.

He tried to focus on memories of the feeling he got from the Serene Water. He tried to focus on the deepest part of himself as he sought somewhere safe. Somewhere he was in total control… and it was a place he had been recently.

Pride shrank in on his body as its affected area became limited to only encompassing his own body. Jake willed himself not to move as he fought every urge to act and simply shut out all there was as he forced himself to meditate.

This time when he felt his vision turn black, it was by his own volition, as he entered a deeper state of concentration than he had ever gone before. He sat down on top of the many corpses, the sense of touch slowly disappearing. There were no smells, no taste, no hearing. Every single sense slowly faded and became nothing.

His body was torn and broken, and yet he felt calm for the first time, for there was nothing else to feel. When there were no stimuli… the hunger was suppressed. All that was left was focus as he entered a deeper state of meditation than ever before – both figuratively and metaphorically.

*Skill Upgraded*: [Thoughtful Meditation (Uncommon)] --> [Serene Meditation (Rare)]

*Skill Upgraded*: [Serene Meditation (Rare)]--> [Serene Soul Meditation (Epic)]

Jake found himself sitting within the empty space all by himself with only a cauldron between his legs. The cauldron was brimming with energy as the two legendary items mixed.

He held the Chimera Weapon in his one remaining hand as he willed it to become a ball of metal once more. He placed it carefully in the cauldron as he focused all of his attention on the crafting session, Touch of the Malefic Viper active on the cauldron as he merged the items, a relaxed smile on his face.

In the outside world, every action of his was mimicked, not by physical movement but through magic. He did not feel the outside world, yet he was aware even if every sense was cut off. He could not move his body in the outside world, yet his magic still responded. However, inside his Soulspace, he felt everything, even if he also knew the items were merely conjurations of his imagination.

The hunger was not gone… he could just handle it. It felt as if it was just someone else’s hunger, and when he looked up inside his Soulspace, he saw the energy hanging above. Jake had never really explored this space, but he still felt intimately familiar with it, despite not knowing what he was actually there.

It was just bare ground with nothing anywhere. Except in the sky. Up there, curse energy whirled and dominated the atmosphere, yet it was unable to come down and truly influence Jake. It was also unable to influence a single item that was little more than a blip on the infinite landscape – a single drop of blood.

Needless to say, it was the drop of blood he had gained from the Malefic Viper and was the cornerstone of his Sagacity of the Malefic Viper skill. However, that drop was not what he cared about right now. It was all the curse energy above. Just by looking at it, he knew it was not meant to be there and that its existence within his Soulspace was proof he had fucked something up badly during the curse ritual. Which meant he needed to do something.

So… he would get rid of it.

Simply by willing it, the energy hanging above, pulsing in a dark red color, began slowly being pulled down as a whirlwind of power emerged. It touched down right in front of Jake, and into the open cauldron, he was sitting with. Jake was in perfect control as he began an odd mix of transmutation and crafting, unlike anything he had ever done before.

Back in the outside world, Jake just sat perfectly still with not a single muscle moving. His one hand on the cauldron subtle glowed with the effects of Touch of the Malefic Viper as his magic moved. Everything he was experiencing in his Soulspace was merely metaphysical references to what he was actually doing. Metaphors of reality, one could also call it. But when it came to magic, such concepts often had blurred lines, as it was difficult to determine what was and what wasn’t truly happening.

The only thing that was certain was that the aura of the cauldron was growing with every second. That a weapon with an aura above anything their planet had ever seen was being born. That Jake’s act of creation was affecting everything globally. That what was doing was so dangerous that not a single creature dare get near.

Not even the C-grade dwelling deep beneath in the bottommost chamber of the hive.