The Primal Hunter

“Not quite as I had hoped,” the old swordsman smiled to himself as he shook his head. It had been difficult, but in the end, he had done it. The spirit of competitiveness had truly fueled him as he became aware that Jake had gained a mythical skill from his Patron, Aeon. It had pushed his old bones further than he thought they could handle, and his desire had intertwined with his competitiveness and Transcendent insights, giving him what he wanted.

[Mythical Prodigy] – A genius ahead of the curve, not even the mythical deluding him. It feels as if your Path has barely begun, yet you refuse to be confined to the expectations of your station. Creating a mythical skill while below C-grade is no easy feat and the feat of a true myth in the making. Be proud. +100 all stats +20% all stats.

Prodigy, as a word, still felt odd to Miyamoto. It felt like a title reserved for the young. He knew that in a multiversal context, he was actually considered young and that both the former Monarch of Blood, Iskar, and his Patron were far, far older than he was. Even so, it did not change how he felt in his heart.

As for what had not gone as he had hoped… Miyamoto had also now evolved to C-grade.

“You have reached the grade of the true elites. Congratulations, I, too, feel my powers return,” Iskar said, his aura now also that of a C-grade. “For it to remain mythical would be an outlier. However, with effort and your talent, it is only a matter of time before it reaches the rarity once more.”

“I am aware, and yet I can only lament at my own lack of skill,” Miyamoto sighed. While he had managed to create a mythical skill shortly before his evolution, he had only been able to experience it for less than a day before he evolved.

“Having more than a single legendary skill upon evolving to C-grade is already considered an incredible achievement, much less a skill already so close to edging over to mythical,” Iskar once more reiterated. “Besides… the power of that skill is not to be looked down on, no matter what rarity the system has assigned it.”

Miyamoto nodded, knowing that already. Yet his vanity was hurt, his pride slightly scuffed. Hence why, he chose to change the subject. “Speaking of progress, how goes it with the young ones?”

“Better than expected,” Iskar said with a nod. “The average talent within your clan surpasses many elite factions of the multiverse, but considering this is a newly integrated universe and the absolute number of outliers present on this planet already, perhaps that should not come as a surprise. Though I do have some minor concerns.”

“Oh?” Miyamoto exclaimed. The young ones they were talking about were those who had chosen to become vampires. There weren’t that many yet, and this first batch was still very much viewed as a trial of sorts. So far, the vampires surpassed the other humans when it came to pure progress, though it was hard to say if that was only because of their changed races or due to those choosing to embrace vampirism being more dedicated to progressing to begin with.

“Your culture seems to have an… odd relationship with those born from the blood of Sanguine. Back in Yalsten, recruiting those who were not vampires was borderline impossible due to our status in the multiverse as creatures needing the vital energy of other humanoids to keep ourselves alive. However, here on Earth, it is almost… opposite?” the Monarch said with genuine confusion.

Miyamoto was quite uncertain about what Iskar was getting at. He understood fearing vampires due to their inherent requirements and the innate danger they posed to humans, so what did he mean by them having an opposite view of vampires?

“I am not quite sure I understand what you mean. Is a lack of fear not only beneficial?” he asked.

“That… I would agree, but it is more than a lack of fear. Did you know that many of the young men who became vampires now find themselves hounded by human women, especially those in their teenage years, causing a significant portion of them discomfort? Many of these women even want to have their vital energies consumed and drone around the vampires. Additionally, and perhaps the most confusing part, they keep referencing the concept of twillight for some reason,” Iskar said, shaking his head.

“Oh,” Miyamoto muttered, unsure. It was odd. He had not heard of anyone practicing or using the magic of the eventide. “Hm, perhaps we should get one of these young ones to explain this odd development?”

“I have attempted to, but they keep saying I am not in the target demographic and wouldn’t understand… as if this knowledge is not something I am allowed to be blessed with.”

Miyamoto frowned deeply with concern. He would definitely have to try and get a grasp of this development before Nevermore. If Iskar was right, he feared another fringe faction could be forming among the young. Even if he did want to take a step back from the clan as a whole, he did still feel responsible for those who chose to become vampires.

*Crack*

The core in Jake’s hand cracked all over, more micro-fractures forming in seconds before the entire thing crumbled into a fine dust. Even this dust disappeared shortly after, the only remnants of the Queen’s Guard’s core remaining the faint sensation of Jake’s arcane energy lingering in the air.

“Too weak,” Jake muttered to himself. He did not need to wait as he took out another Guard core and restarted.

It had been about a week since his talk with Villy, and by now, some things were clear. He needed to do this with a strong core if he wanted it to work. Jake had primarily used the Isoptera Warrior cores he had gathered during this week but found them sorely lacking.

He had then tried more on Guard cores, but these cores were also too weak for Jake to use if he wanted to create any kind of meaningful item for this final part of the ritual. The reason was that Jake didn’t only inject more Records into an object but he also transformed what was already there. So if the existing Records were too weak, the entire craft would fail and fall apart.

This is what he had been mainly working on this week. Jake’s problem was that he was putting too much quantity and not enough quality into the cores, resulting in them getting overpowered. This had not been an issue with prior items Jake had worked on, especially not something like the meteorite, so he needed to adapt and change his method to make it suitable for cores.

He had considered if he even wanted to use cores for this entire process and not just try and find more natural treasures in the wild. They didn’t even need to be those Unique special items Earth had gotten, but just high-level items spawning in areas with dense energy. However, the problem he ran into here was that these natural treasures were not actually made to help monsters evolve. They were created simply to house energy and Records, and it was the monsters themselves turning all that into progress on their Paths.

When he got this realization, it was a big breakthrough. He had been under the illusion that he could make all Records into something to help in evolution, but that had been wrong. He needed energy and Records that were already primed toward the Path of whatever monster he wanted to consume the item. This was not something other people needed to be a thing, as they could prime these Records and the energy through their own intent during the crafting process.

Jake was not doing that.

He did not infuse his own will into the items the same way others did. At least he was not meant to. That was the conclusion he reached. His job was not to actually transform any energy or change any Records… he was to give the core all the materials it needed to make this change itself. To cut out all the fluff and make the way forward obvious.

Another impossibility based on what Jake had read. These cores had no innate intent, so how would they know they had to change and evolve at all? Why would Jake’s energy make them change? For this, he had no answer, but he knew it was happening. He felt it happen. It also fit in with everything Villy had said. All Jake truly contributed was a small spark once the framework was complete.

Additionally, this theory fit with the Harbinger of Primeval Origins profession and what that had been about. The word harbinger was a very specific name in this case. The system rarely used words randomly, especially not in something as important as a profession name.

A Harbinger was not the one who actually caused something. They were only the omen, the herald, the sign and indication that something was to come. Jake was much the same. He was only the presence that let the Records know it was time to embrace their Primeval Origins. It could be argued he was the source of the change, as without him, they would not happen, but in the eyes of the system, he was not the direct cause: merely the precursor.

Jake tried and failed with yet another Guard’s core, swiftly taking out another. As he was about to start, he stopped.

I think I’m right.

Nothing he thought was facts, simply his own theories of how everything worked. He had so many far-fetched conclusions and postulations that directly contradicted what he had studied to be the truth. There were so many things he knew should not work but that he still believed possible. It was reckless, but he was confident.

If I think I am right… so let’s just do it properly.

Jake took out the big item. The Isoptera Hive Queen core appeared in his hand, and he felt how much more potent it was than anything he had used prior. However, even this was not enough. When he said he would do it properly, he meant that he would use all the momentum he had built up to just make a usable item for the ritual in one go. Fuse all materials he had into one core. He believed the details would come to him as he went, as Jake had already done something very similar before, relying mainly on instincts all those times.

During his experiments, he also discovered that even if the description did not say it, then every Isoptera Warrior and every Queen’s Guard core had some small remnants of Records from the Queen herself. It was natural, as she had spawned them. So the first step was to extract all of this and fuse it into the Queen’s core.

This process was something he knew how to do, and it was done by the books. He had already done this plenty with the cores he used for the ritual, so nothing was new or difficult here, and his Advanced Core Manipulation skill was already made to do it.

Next was the refining, another simple process he had experience with. Jake started out by cutting out certain energies within the core that he did not want, primarily energy and Records related to the earth affinity and the magic the Queen and her Guards had used. Jake wanted to only have Records related to the base concept of ectognamorph Queens, nothing more, nothing less. The Bee Queen was not a termite or necessarily used earth affinity, after all.

Jake was more careful than before and took his time, enjoying all the system assistance he could get to preserve and empower the core. He leaned into the skill heavily, and for a good reason too. Jake did not simply want to successfully create a core for the ritual… he wanted to make it a replicable process. The best way to do that was with the help of the system by upgrading his current Core Manipulation skill.

The preparations went smoothly, but Jake still took far longer with this core than any prior. Three full days were spent merging every single Isoptera core into the Queen’s, with a full five days after that going to prepping and refining it.

At the end of these eight days, Jake had an Isoptera Hive Queen core far more powerful than before. He did not doubt that he could use it as a damn good ingredient in an elixir or give it to another crafter. He had discovered that he was bloody good at refining these cores and cutting away anything he did not want, courtesy of his arcane affinity.

Before he moved on, Jake stared at the core for nearly an hour, making sure everything was as it should be. He then meditated for quite a few hours to fully replenish his mental energy and resources before it was time for the final and most crucial aspect of this particular crafting session:

The true transformation of the core.

Jake took a deep breath as all his insight coalesced, and he attempted to make his thoughts a reality. To allow the core to embrace its Origin.

In Jake’s eyes, an Origin was… the source of something. It’s purest beginning. Primal Energy – Jake’s energy – was at the core of that concept. It was the simplest form of energy and was through Jake expressed as stability and destruction. Together, destruction in balance. Jake simply sought to inspire the core to embrace its purest form.

When all else is stripped away, and nothing but the core of the Records remain, you have the Origin. When all history, all Records related to an object are turned into their simplest form, they return to their Origin. The energy becomes Origin Energy.

Jake infused the core with everything he had. His resources began slipping away, his mana, health, and stamina all draining at a rapid rate as he poured in all he had. The core did not resist but ate up all he had with glee, the energy within slowly changing during the process.

Then, a system notification made him aware he was on the right track. He would have pushed on either way.

Jake felt the Records in the core begin to change. Almost as if they responded to Jake, and some kind of… instinct awakened with it. He felt a connection to the core, but as he did, he felt rejection. Opposition. Defiance. This odd instinct-like reaction from the Records tried to battle Jake’s own Records, making him only scoff. He pushed back and instantly felt the Records in the core capitulate in defeat.

Then, without any warning, mental images, faint emotions, sounds, smells, concepts, and so much more… all flashed before his eyes, each passing by too fast for Jake to comprehend them properly.

A termite working in a hive.

Queens tending to the young.

Warriors fighting in wars.

Digging.

Expansion.

Domination.

The earth was then suddenly gone; the insect now no longer confined underground.

A sensation of pure thrills and desire to conquer.

Countless planets, eggs falling like meteors.

Then, a vast empty cosmos unlike any he had seen before.

A hundred eggs, floating.

All hatched as humanoid figures emerged, radiating with power.

A hundred pairs of eyes turned towards Jake, his own presence flaring in response.

Aimed not at the hundred Queens… but the space itself that was their Origin.

And then the cosmos was gone, and he saw a small grub crawling on the ground.

Jake felt like he was in a haze, the world gone as his mind was entirely submerged in the Records. He did not know if what he saw were actually visions of the past, glimpses into the future, or merely representations of concepts. Perhaps none of them, and everything was just Jake’s brain slowly getting fried as he was connected to the energy within the core.

The visions kept flashing over and over as he saw hundreds, thousands, millions of ectognamorphs in different forms, yet all visions seemed to return to these one hundred eggs. Over and over again, it returned to the one hundred, and Jake felt his own aura grow as he pressured the core.

He began to feel weaker as his fingers went numb. His gaze turned hazy, not just due to the many visions but due to an odd sense of exhaustion.

Yet he kept going as he knew he was close. He felt the core actively warp in his mind; he saw it shift and transform as slowly the visions stopped coming. Fewer flashes appeared, and fewer Records remained. Until finally, all he was left with was a burnt-in image of a hundred eggs floating in the cosmos.

An Origin… perhaps the Origin of all ectognamorphs.

Jake heard several sounds from the system as he got notifications, but he barely registered them as he looked down at the pulsing core in his hand. He tried to smile, but that minute movement seemed to push him over the edge as he saw something on his status just before he passed out.

Oh…

Status

Stamina: 1/86470