The Primal Hunter

Jake liked loot. Who didn’t like loot? Wait, did getting a weapon from a craftsman even count as loot, as he technically didn’t loot it off anything? Jake wasn’t sure, but he kind of hoped it did, and if it didn’t, he just refused to care and still classified it as getting loot.

Arnold escorted Jake back to the workshop and led him toward one of the walls that contained a large locked case. Jake could already see inside using his sphere and saw the weapon within, but he waited for Arnold to open it properly. Because there was one thing bothering Jake… it looked like the tip of the katar in the box was broken.

“The Nanoblade is still considered a work in progress, and constant iterations keep being made, with this being the newest deployable version,” Arnold explained as he opened the case. The moment he did so, Jake saw the weapon in its full glory.

The Nanoblade had now been attached to a handle to make it into a katar, and the design of the blade itself had changed a lot. Rather than being a single-edged cutting weapon, it was now a proper stabber, with thin edges on both sides, though that did mean Arnold had to add some more bulk to the middle. The blade was around the same length as his Eternal Hunger, so that was nice. It made sense as Arnold had based the design on the mythical weapon.

The handle was of a single design and did not include any guard, but the part he held with his hand still seemed a bit thick. The entire thing was of a grayish color, except for one part that really stood out: the tip of the blade.

It was pitch-black. Not normal black, but the kind of impossible black that made no damn sense. It looked impossibly dense, yet at the same time, Jake felt he could stare straight through like it was translucent. However, more than anything, it showed up weirdly in his sphere. Like there wasn’t a physical tip but that it was just made of pure energy.

Using Identify, he got some clues as to what was going on.

[Blackpoint Nanoblade Katar (Ancient)] – A katar with a nanoblade made of a composite alloy formed into an ultra-thin blade. The blade itself can cut most materials effortlessly but has little to no effectiveness against magical wards or defenses when not infused with mana. The tip of the blade appears to have been touched by the void. A coating on the blade allows it to have an incredibly high level of mana conductivity and can handle most types of mana. The handle contains a series of energy cores capable of storing mana of any affinity. This stored energy can all be released at once through the tip of the Nanoblade. . Enchantments: Extreme Conductivity. Blackpoint Burst.Requirements: lvl 200+ in any humanoid race

The rarity surprised him, as Jake had not expected anything this good. There were a lot of parts at play, but Jake very much suspected this rarity came to be primarily because of that tip. Jake was about to ask more about the weapon, but Arnold began speaking without being asked.

“This version of the Nanoblade integrates far more concepts than any prior iterations and has moved away from Altmar-based methodology to one not fitting any set category. The blade is more durable than ever and has been strengthened through the merging of eleven metals and coating it with an improved version of the old aluabsorbant for improved mana conductivity and to facilitate the Blackpoint functionality of the weapon,” Arnold explained in detail. He pointed to the tip of the blade and continued.

“Rather than focusing on potent single-edged cutting, this weapon is optimized for stabbing attacks, taking inspiration from my current work-in-progress speartips. Through methods I will not disclose, I was able to momentarily allow the tip of the blade to touch concepts related to the void, allowing it to far more easily penetrate any matter. Make note that is all it does, and it has no inherent void-based abilities. However, as long as the rest of the blade retains integrity, the tip will never lose sharpness and remain virtually indestructible.

“Finally, there is the handle. Due to the design of the katar compared to a sword, I was able to make more use of it as I have inlaid energy cores capable of storing mana, including your arcana mana. This mana can then be unleashed through the tip of the Nanoblade, resulting in an explosion. It is heavily advised you activate the Blackpoint Burst enchantment after the successful insertion of the blade into your target for optimal damage unleashed internally. Only the tip will be able to release the stored-up mana, as it is the most resilient part of the blade and able to handle the pressure applied upon it caused by the intense outburst of mana. This was a necessary limitation, especially if it is meant to handle your destructive arcane mana.”

Hearing Arnold talking about how causing mana explosions inside people was a recommended feature of the weapon was a bit funny, especially with how he said it so… objectively. Jake also considered the part about the tip being the only thing to handle the blast… an issue Jake didn’t really have with Eternal Hunger. Destroying that weapon was just not a thing, especially as Jake could reform it if he somehow lost it.

“Can I pick it up?” Jake asked.

Arnold nodded. “The Nanoblade was created for you specifically, and I already view you as the owner of it.”

Jake didn’t hesitate as he lifted the katar out of the case. He grasped the handle and tried to move it around a bit. It didn’t sit as well in his hand as Eternal Hunger, but that was only to be expected. The mythical weapon was able to adapt and change form to better suit him, after all.

“Initial thoughts?” Arnold asked.

“Feels okay, and the weight is balanced. However, I do need to ask about the durability of the blade as a whole. The last Nanoblade broke when I tried to block with it, and that proved quite problematic. How will this one stack up against serious brunt force?” Jake asked.

“The durability should be at a far higher relative level, but the Nanoblade is still ultimately designed with offensive power in mind, not defensive prowess. Blocking is still possible; however, attempt to do so with the tip. It may seem counterintuitive, but it will never chip, and the pressure put on the rest of the katar’s internal structure will be mostly nullified, even reducing the force your body will suffer.”

“How does that work?” Jake asked curiously.

“The void is the antithesis of matter, giving it innate nullifying capabilities. Any force hitting the tip that has been touched by the void will thus be partly nullified. The same happens when you are striking a foe, making the tip automatically nullify some of your opponent’s defenses, thus making penetration far easier, especially against highly resilient foes,” Arnold explained.

“I see,” Jake said, still not entirely sure how it worked conceptually. It was the kind of thing he would have to test in practice to truly understand. The mere fact it had anything to do with the void – a place only gods could go – meant it had to hold some interesting properties. Powerful properties.

“Wait,” Jake suddenly said as he had a thought. “The mana burst is released from the tip, right? Isn’t that counterproductive as it nullifies part of the mana?”

“The mana of the wielder is unaffected by the void concepts due to system-imposed natural laws,” Arnold simply answered.

“Ah, so system-fuckery makes it work,” Jake nodded in understanding.

Arnold looked at him, confused for a moment before understanding. “System-fuckery does strike me as an apt description for these often non-sensical and illogical rules applied by the system.”

“Does that mean we make that the official scientific term?” Jake asked with a grin.

“No,” Arnold said without even a moment of hesitation.

“Too bad, I would have trademarked it if you had said yes to make big money. Then again, trademarking a term that may or may not end up being commonly used seems like a major dickmove,” Jake joked.

Arnold did not deign him a response as he looked towards another spot in the workshop. “I have other projects underway, but nothing that is ready yet. With the materials provided today, I will be able to restart them. I currently estimate it will be a month before most are operational if you intend to inspect them before your journey to Nevermore.”

“Speaking of Nevermore, are you going?” Jake asked.

“Yes,” Arnold confirmed.

“Oh, do you have a group, or are you just doing the solo portions?”

“Plans have been made,” Arnold answered, his tone making Jake guess he wouldn’t get any specific information. He was curious about who the mad scientist could go with...

Oh well, he would find out eventually.

“Well, thanks for the blade, and let me know if you need another heavily-delayed shipment at another time,” Jake said with a smile.

“In what form will you take the payment? Assuming there is an itemized list, I can-“

“No need; I see it as an investment,” Jake dismissed the scientist. Had the stuff been expensive? Yes. Was Jake still ridiculously loaded and could get access to near-infinite funds if he wanted to by being a Chosen or just selling alchemical goods? Yes, yes, he could.

“Very well,” Arnold said, not arguing with him at all. Kind of refreshing to not have someone do the old back-and-forth where he would insist on paying, and Jake would keep rejecting him.

“I am off now,” Jake said as he began making his way out of the workshop with the Nanoblade. “Gotta go test this bad boy on an army of termites.”

Arnold nodded as he turned his back and began walking towards a table, and the last thing Jake saw before he made his way out of the metal dome and into the air was Arnold taking out some of the things Jake had gotten him and beginning to tinker with them. Next destination: termite plains.

Jake took this travelling opportunity to finally let loose a little and push himself. The termite plains were quite a bit of distance away, so Jake had some time to truly test his speed. One Step and wings combined as Jake began flying and teleporting across the landscape, slowly picking up speed.

Momentum accumulated as he got into a rhythm. He flapped his wings and stepped down in an alternating matter, propelling him forward faster and faster. Air resistance soon began annoying him, an issue he didn’t have while flying with Sylphie.

Experimenting a little, Jake formed a thin layer of stable arcane mana all over his body. On top of it, he then formed a layer of purely destructive energy intending to simply destroy the air which impeded him.

A peculiarity of Jake’s Arcane Affinity had always been that the only thing his destructive mana could and would not even attempt to destroy was his stable mana. Usually, he relied on mixed energy, and the destructive parts would try to turn all the stable arcane energy into the destructive variant, but if one part was pure destruction and the other pure stability, they would simply not interact.

Jake felt proud of his anti-air resistance barrier but was a bit worried about the cost. He destroyed a lot of air mana and had to keep supplying the barrier, so he kept an eye on it. To his surprise and delight, he saw the mana cost be utterly negligible and nearly outpaced by his high mana regeneration.

Definitely wasn’t like that in D-grade, Jake was sure. Having mana that was just qualitatively better was sure nice.

He kept doing many small experiments while traveling as he focused on his own body and methods of moving his energy. It was something he had neglected while busy doing alchemy, and only now he truly had time.

Time passed as Jake quickly sped through the land, putting any human-made transportation device ever made to shame. With air resistance nearly nullified, he could accelerate as if in a near-vacuum, though he did still experience some resistance as he simply couldn’t destroy everything in his path fast enough.

Exactly how fast he was going, Jake didn’t know. With his high Perception, his surroundings didn’t even blur or get affected much, which oddly enough made him feel like he wasn’t actually going that fast.

As for how he knew where to go… well, he had a nice guiding beacon. From up in the air, spotting the mountain with the frost wyvern on wasn’t difficult – even if it was many thousands of kilometers away.

Speaking of the frost wyvern, no, Jake would not go after it. At least not before his underground dive. He still had to think about his levels as he seriously hoped the Sword Saint would soon evolve. Carmen, too, of course, though Jake suspected she wouldn’t join them for Nevermore even if Jake wanted her to. She was part of Valhal, and based on what Villy had said, chances are she would go with a group from there. Of course, he would still ask and test her if she wanted to join him and the others from Earth.

The mountain got closer and closer, and soon he was near his destination. While Jake wasn’t entirely sure how long time had passed before he spotted the insect plains, it couldn’t have been more than a few hours. He began slowing down, finding it a bit harder than expected due to the sheer speed he had picked up. Dispelling the barrier, Jake was surprised as flames from pure friction actually formed across the still-active stable arcane barrier. It was unexpected, but it sure made him stop fast.

Standing in the air, Jake stared down before frowning. “It’s… bigger?”

The insect plains had been huge, true, but not this huge. Looking around, Jake spotted the place he had fought the Fallen King after his rebirth and frowned. It’s too far inside the plains.

There were also far more holes and mounds everywhere, making it clear the termites had expanded despite Jake killing so many during his last visit. This wasn’t a good thing.

Jake had studied ectognamorphs a lot to prepare for the Bee Queen, and through his research, he had learned quite a lot about them. Most insect monsters were called ectognamorphs with a few exceptions, but when ectognamorphs were usually discussed, no one talked about the mantis or the dragonfly. They talked about insects with an already overpowered ability before the system: eusociality.

The ability to act as one to form what was essentially a superorganism. Ants, termites, bees. These were all insects that formed hives or colonies with set societal structures, with each hive capable of housing countless individuals – all without true individuality. To these insects, they were not independent lifeforms but part of a greater whole.

After the system, as scary as it sounded, this hadn’t changed. This resulted in these ectognamorphs not only being respected as powerful but also feared. Each colony needed resources to keep growing. The only true way to get these resources was through constant expansion. But, while in the old world, this would just result in big hives with impressive tunnel systems scientists found fascinating, it meant a potential apocalypse in this post-system world.

No one just spoke about a few plains being taken over. Continents, planets, solar systems, and entire galaxies could be consumed by a single hive that never stopped expanding.

Their only true limiting factor was the Queens. A common way for a hive to die was when the dominant Queen could not keep progressing or give birth to a new Queen with higher or similar talent.

That was one way for a hive to end… but there was one more way that was most often seen in a contested area. It was what happened when the hive was found before it could truly rise to power. What Jake was about to do:

Extermination from someone who decided they were too dangerous to let be.