The Primal Hunter

However… even if the two Jakes would someday become one again, that day was not today or any day in the near future. For now, they were quite different. One thing they did agree on was a bit of quick experimenting, though. The first item on the list was the bone in the real world. Jake had already confirmed that sim-Jake could see everything Jake could and shared all senses, but it appeared that sim-Jake couldn’t talk to him in the outside world, so all communication had to go through the Soulspace.

All detailed communication had to, at least. Jake still kind of knew what sim-Jake was thinking, and it was honestly a bit weird as most of his thoughts were the exact same as Jake’s. However, one thing they did not agree on right away quickly appeared as the bone began ever-so-slowly warping and growing. Minutes passed as Jake decided to let sim-Jake do with his new “body” as he wanted and for them to talk about it later.

Instead, he would get a look at the system notifications he had delayed checking. The first of which was the good old flavor text.

Congratulations on fully experiencing the simulation of Choice 4!

Due to the exceptional performance of your simulacrum, you have earned the highest-level award. Not only did your simulacrum excel before the initiation, but it also managed to become Progenitor in the Tutorial, similar to Origin, despite different prior choices that resulted in significant divergence. Finally, the simulacrum managed to realize its existence within a simulation and successfully partially remerged with Origin. Each Path you walk is truly unique and powerful, making you a true Progenitor of Myriad Paths.

Rewards Gained: 1x [Bone of the Virtual Gap Unique)]. Title Earned: Progenitor of Myriad Paths.

Jake read it all over carefully and nodded. The system recognized everything that had happened and seemed totally fine with it. No, more than fine; it rewarded him for doing what he had done. Though, to be fair, Jake should not really be surprised. The system had also rewarded him back when it helped make Moment of the Primal Hunter and by giving him the title for making a legendary skill even if he had cheesed it. It was a bit of the same when he made Eternal Hunger which was only possible because Jake’s Soulspace was ridiculously powerful, something also primarily caused by his Bloodline.

He saw that he had received just two things from the event. The system had told him material rewards would not be given due to making the bone, but it appeared that he still got a title. With quite a bit of excitement, Jake checked it out.

[Progenitor of Myriad Paths] – A Progenitor through and through, you are born to walk unique and powerful Paths. You have earned the recognition of the Watcher attached to Earth and thus the Seat of the Exalted Prima. All bonuses gained are dependent on the simulacrum during the Path of Myriad Paths. +100 Agility, +100 Strength. +5% Agility, +5% Strength. Recognized as a potential Administrator Candidate for the Milky Way Seat of the Exalted Prima.

Jake had added yet another Progenitor title to his portfolio. It was beginning to compete with the prodigious tag and seemed to be of a generally high-to-peak tier when it came to titles. The details of the title were also a happy surprise. Jake didn’t have many speculations on potential rewards, but a title was certainly one of the best. Moreover, it gave percentage increases along with just a pile of pure stats. The only thing a bit different from what he usually got was that everything was added to Strength and Agility.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out why they gave these stats. This reward was based on sim-Jake, and sim-Jake had been a melee fighter focusing on Strength and Agility. In all honesty, it was pretty good for him to get some points for both, and considering the bonuses he already had, the 100 in each stat actually added 150 to Strength and 160 to Agility. That wasn’t even counting the new percentage increases. Even with just 5% more in a stat, with more than 6000 Agility, it translated to more than 300 free stat points, equivalent to several levels.

Then there was the second part of the title: “Recognized as a potential Administrator Candidate for the Milky Way Seat of the Exalted Prima.”

Now, Jake naturally had no clue what this was actually about, but he could infer some things and quickly formed a theory. This Seat of the Exalted Prima was not just some system event location or something spawned and created just for the new initiates. It was something far more… and something one could come to influence.

Additionally, it was not limited to Earth but their entire galaxy. Candidates would come from all sorts of races, and Jake would compete with not just a few billion other Earthlings but potentially hundreds of billions, if not trillions of sapient creatures spread across the Milky Way Galaxy. Also… one more thing. The existence of a Milky Way Seat of the Exalted Prima indicated that other galaxies with life also had Seats. If that was the case, was there somewhere or something that controlled it all?

Perhaps this Exalted Prima itself. Perhaps some headquarter that commanded millions of Seats of the Exalted Prima spread across an entire universe. If it truly was like that, Jake knew what to talk to Villy about when he exited. Well, that, and to talk about his new best friend in sim-Jake. Jake was truly a Prodigious Progenitor in everything, even being his own friend.

Jake smiled a bit goofily to himself and closed his notifications, satisfied with what he had gained. The bone he was holding was still slowly molding itself, and it looked like changing the shape would take a while. Popping into his Soulspace, he saw sim-Jake in deep meditation as he had immersed his consciousness in his new “body.”

Guess I will just wait here to make sure, Jake thought. The space he was in was clearly the meat of the Seat of the Exalted Prima. Looking around, he wondered how one was supposed to exi-

Do you wish to leave the simulation room? Possible destinations:

Simulation room entrance cube.

Administrator’s Terrace.

Alright, never mind. Also, Administrator’s Terrace? Looks new. It must be due to the title,Jake thought, already knowing where he would go. After sim-Jake was done, of course. For now, Jake would meditate a bit and actually fill up his resources. He was surprised at seeing they were still low after his fight with the Phantomshade Panther – a fight that seemed like it was ages ago.

It appeared Jake had only been in the simulation for half a day or so, even if it had been way, way longer on the inside. Just counting the elapsed time of the actual scenes, Jake had to have seen at least a few months’ worth, most of it spent watching Jake fight both pre-and post-system.

Jake meditated for a bit, deciding to do so using Serene Soul Meditation to enter his Soulspace to also see when sim-Jake was done. About half an hour later, sim-Jake opened his eyes and smiled.

“All done.”

Real-Jake also opened his eyes and finally got a good look at the bone that was now no longer a simple rib. Instead, it had changed into an H-shaped handle with a blade attached.

“This is a katar?” Jake asked inside his Soulspace as sim-Jake summoned an identical copy to the weapon in the real world.

“Yep.”

“You do know I use swords and daggers, right?” Jake asked.

“I know you did. This whole partially shared memory is far from one way… in fact, I would say I got a lot more of you than you got of me. From this, it is clear you have yet to make proper use of our abilities and, most importantly, have yet to actually develop a proper melee fighting style for yourself,” sim-Jake explained.

“Well, you suck with a bow,” Jake countered.

“Oh wow, great burn, very clever of you. I am not even fucking criticizing you; I am saying it in a positive way. It is good you never had anyone else teach you how to fight in melee because, quite frankly, they all suck compared to what I will teach you. Don’t get me wrong, that old swordsman you fought in vampire land is an absolute fucking monster with his sword, to a level you can’t even begin to appreciate, but we also both realize we will never reach his skill level. Not that it would be worth trying. I spent years training with people, fighting experts, and it quickly became clear that nothing suited me. Not because they were weak, but because fighting my instincts constantly while fighting would be a fucking pain. No… the style I began developing is not about fighting my instincts but making full use of them,” sim-Jake explained.

“Developing?” Jake asked. “From the fight with that D-grade, it seemed pretty damn effective already?”

“Yeah, no. Dude, stop making us look stupid by thinking that was in any way good enough. That stuff was developed in a few months and is just the basics that were built off my experience before the system, and I had only just begun integrating these concepts into a more magical framework. I guess one can say that all the time you spent training magic, I spent training melee combat, but I had a massive headstart due to the lives we lived before the initiation,” sim-Jake answered.

Jake nodded as he asked further: “Am I right to assume the core concept is about controlling the flow of the fight?”

Sim-Jake smiled. “Right on. We are not experts who have trained for a hundred years. We are ultimately little more than beasts in human skin that rely on our instincts above anything else. However, the problem is that while we can use these instincts to survive due to us responding to complex attacks, we cannot form our own complex attacks, which is why I began to question if I even have to? Why not just tab into those god-like instincts and use them to counterattack and control the momentum of the battle from start to end. Anyway, my point is that the katar is the best weapon I found, though I guess if you had become a Malefic Dragonkin, that would have been just as good. Though I get why you didn’t get it… would have been weird with the Viper.”

“Hm, any reason why claw weapons aren’t good?” Jake asked.

“What kind? The kind where a few come out of your wrist and get stuck in things while cutting or your flesh ripped apart by something getting wedged in between them or someone simply slashing down the length of the extended claw, or the type that is basically a glove?”

Jake scratched his hair. “The glove?”

“Also a great idea. Here, let me just tank the impacts with my hands while believing my weak-ass human finger won’t snap like a broken twig if the attack hits slightly wrong. If I used glove claws, I would be a grappler, but that would just be a damn waste. Both types of claws commonly used just don’t fit as well and sorely lack the penetrative effect of the katar. Also, they are fundamentally slashing weapons and not stabbing weapons. Stabbing is best in my opinion, and with your poison, I reckon it will be even better,” sim-Jake explained while shaking his head.

“You know what? I will leave this up to the expert. When does the training session begin?” Jake asked.

“Not now. I still need to figure stuff out and get a feel for this place. Rather than asking, I would prefer to just absorb the knowledge directly. Also, more than anything, I need to do one absolutely critical thing,” sim-Jake said in a serious tone.

“Take a nap?”

“Right the fuck on once again,” sim-Jake grinned. “Molding that bone I am in was tiring as hell. I will also take this time to observe you a bit to really get a feel for where to start, though I already have a good idea. Also, this just feels fair. You have been staring at me like a creepy stalker for my entire life. Now it is my turn.”

“Blame the system, not me. And have a good nap!” Jake snickered as sim-Jake waved him off as he waved his hand and summoned a bed and a blanket out of nothingness. He got cozy under it as Jake disappeared from the Soulspace and returned his full attention to the outside world.

The first he did when outside was to Identify the black bone once more… and to be honest, Jake was not sure if he should be disappointed or not. Okay, he was a little disappointed.

[Bone-weapon of the Hunter (Epic)] – A weapon containing the simulacrum of Jake Thayne. Can be molded by the simulacrum. Extremely tough and near-unbreakable as long as the simulacrum persists. Highly upgradeable.Requirement: Soulbound

It was… kind of bad? The system had done as it said and made the item only meet the bare minimum requirements. In every way, it was just a really tough bone that had now taken the shape of a katar, through a process that was both slow and tiring.

However, that was only now. According to the description, the weapon was highly upgradeable, and it was even possible he could combine it with something else in the future. Naturally, it couldn’t even begin to hold a candle to Eternal Hunger, but it was a start.

Putting it in his inventory, Jake thought about leaving as the option popped up again. He picked the one for the special kids who had done well.

Administrator’s Terrace.

He was swept away a moment later and, to his surprise, appeared standing on grass. He felt the soft soil under his feet and looked around as he saw a beautiful garden surrounding him. However, rather than a cloudless sky and a sun, he saw cloudless space and a lot of stars.

He was clearly within a hemisphere, but one different from any of the others. Seeing nothing above them but stars, Jake guessed they were perhaps at the very top of the Seat of the Exalted Prima. The air in the garden felt incredibly refreshing, and the mana density was insanely high and extremely pure. He nearly wanted to sit down and do alchemy there and then but decided against it. One, because it would be a bit weird and there were still more pressing things to do, and two, because he wasn’t alone.

Standing on the grass towards the edge of the hemisphere stood a single figure, gazing out into the vast cosmos, clearly admiring the stars. The figure looked over when he saw Jake and smiled.

“Ah, welcome. You are the first person besides me to arrive,” he said courteously. Jake gazed at him with a bit of suspicion. He was not human but had orange skin with blue tattoo-like markings all over it and had quite an otherwordly look. Jake met the man’s eyes and saw they had no pupils but instead reminded Jake of the stars beyond the faint barrier sealing them in. They did have a faint red tint to them, though, making them only stand out even more.

Jake naturally used Identify as he knew the man also used it on him.

[Nahoom – lvl ???]

He failed to pierce the man’s protection from Identify, and Jake knew the other party also failed to Identify him. It was honestly to be expected. Jake felt the man in front of him was strong… real strong. But he also didn’t feel threatening in the least. In fact, he gave off incredibly good vibes to Jake and did not at all register as an enemy. He seemed like an even more approachable guy than even Jacob.

Oh, and there was one more important thing about the guy.

He had a Bloodline.