The Primal Hunter

Once every person had gotten their tokens, there was just one more round of orientation before all the students would be let loose. Jake followed behind again as they were all led back to the old waiting chamber and quickly went into new “camps” of sorts based on the level of their tokens. It was a bit odd in Jake’s mind to put yourself into a box based on colored crystal tokens.

“So, as a final thing, let’s have a small orientation,” the succubus began once everyone was back in position. “Let us start with some basic ground rules of the Order of the Malefic Viper, more specifically, the rules while part of the Academy. Do note that the Academy is but one branch of the whole Order, and entry into the Academy also means membership of the Order, so you will all have these imposed on you while on Order ground.

“Membership of the Order and Academy can naturally be rescinded at any point by you or as punishment if you break any rules.”

With those words, a large screen was projected in front of all of them with a small list of six rules.

1. Guests of the Order of the Malefic Viper shall be treated as members for all subsequent rules.

2. Killing any member of the Order within common grounds is strictly prohibited. Killing any member of the Order within their own or a residence they have been allowed access to is strictly prohibited.

3. Destruction of property is strictly prohibited and will result in severe punishment partly determined by the damaged party. Slaves, pets, servants, and other auxiliary living creatures under the control of a member of the Order fall under the umbrella of property. If these creatures break any rules, the owner will be punished accordingly.

4. Theft of property from any member of the Order is strictly prohibited.

5. Unauthorized entry into the residence of another member of the Order is heavily disincentivized and can lead to punishment.

6. Any case of perceived injustice can be brought to an Order official, and it will be processed. Punishment will, if proven correct, be subjectively determined. If the plaintiff is found in the wrong, punishment will be served upon them instead for wasting the official’s time.

Jake read them over and was surprised at how little there was and how basic it was. It was basically just saying not to kill, steal or destroy the stuff of others and if any of these things – or anything else you didn’t like – happened to you, to just go complain to an official and hope they take your side or get fucked yourself.

“The rules are purposefully simple as honestly having a long list serves little purpose. Ah, and before anyone gets any fancy ideas, then guardians of the Order are always present and actively observing any non-residence at all times, so assassination attempts tend to not work very well. Now, any questions?” Irin explained as she asked with a light smile.

An elf in the room raised their hand as she acknowledged him. “What happens if a servant acts of their own volition and breaks one of the rules?”

“Depends entirely on what happens and how the judge in question feels that day. If they think you had something to do with it, everything from being told it was a fun idea to getting your entire homeworld destroyed can happen,” Irin shrugged.

A few hands were instantly raised at that as the succubus took the initiative to explain.

“While these rules exist, don’t think for a moment they are absolute. Punishment is entirely determined by those in power, and with enough influence and power, you can do borderline anything. You can’t all seriously think anything would happen if an A-grade feels annoyed and decides to erase some weak white token D-grade academy student, can you?”

She chuckled a bit at the sentiment, but the mood in the waiting room did not seem to agree with her as people now looked a bit more worried than before. Reika also frowned, and the only ones who looked relatively relaxed were Jake, Draskil, and the Risen.

“Ah, don’t act like that,” Irin said, shaking her head. “It isn’t like there is anything in it for some powerhouse to slap you to death, and chances are they will get a slight punishment, like paying a fine or something and don’t flatter yourself to truly think you are worth that to them. Of course, there are a few ways to more or less shield yourself from anything. Like being associated with another force of the multiverse.”

Irin said this part as she referred to the Risen.

“Or, the best of all, carry the blessing of the Malefic One himself, or perhaps just someone subordinate to the great Patron.”

That last part was naturally said as she motioned towards Jake and Draskil, as well as a few others. In fact, most leaders of factions had low-level blessings from the Viper, but all of them besides Jake and Draskil had only the Minor one. Jake acted like he also had only a Lesser one, but Draskil truly stood out with the Divine Blessing.

“There is also the option of finding an internal faction to align yourself with, or you could just not mess with people you shouldn’t mess with. If you feel like things aren’t fair or work as they should, get strong enough to fix it or adapt, we clear?” Irin said as she looked around for any other questions.

A female scalekin of some sort raised her hand and asked: “How will lessons in the Academy work?”

“Says in the information package within the token. Next?”

This led to a few seconds of silence as everyone clearly scanned their tokens not to ask any more questions, only to have them be shut down. Jake did the same thing, but only some of the surface stuff as he would dive into it later. Besides, it wasn’t like he planned on asking any questions right now.

“Where are the personal residences of those with three stars or higher located?” one of the leaders with a gold token asked. Jake guessed gold meant either high-end three-star performance or maybe early four-star too? Either way, gold surely had to mean personal residence.

“Within the Order itself, but the exact location not that easily discerned as it is underground, hidden by formations and spatially expanded,” Irin answered. “Also, to answer the obvious follow-up, your token is already linked to your residences, and simply by activating any of the gates spread throughout, you can enter it. The token is also used to leave it again. Each residence is placed in a neighborhood of sorts with individuals roughly around your level, but don’t fret, each residence is individually isolated by formations and barriers.”

That did seem to answer a question many had, but someone else did raise their hand: “How will the shared dorms work?”

“You will all have individual rooms. Ah, in comparison, the ones with three stars above will have entire courtyards with several buildings, also giving ample space to house your servants or followers. It is also entirely possible for those with residences to just have others come stay with them if they so wish; it’s all up to them. And no, if you live in a dorm and expect to have personal servants, rethink your status and get a residence first,” Irin answered curtly again.

By now, Jake was just waiting for it to be over. He did throw Reika a glance across the room, but she subtly shook her head. He wanted to see if she had any interest in sharing his residences as he assumed he would get a big one, but she declined. Which was a-okay with Jake.

He had never tried living with a woman before besides his mother either, so it was good to avoid that awkwardness.

The orientation only continued for a few more minutes as some more simple questions were asked. After that, a few people began going around and talking to others, which was when Jake discovered the tokens also worked as phones within the Order to contact one another. It was truly a multi-purpose tool.

Jake naturally exchanged his number with Reika and found that the number to Irinixis was already inside. Well, Jake said number, but it was more like a token signature bound to the inherent mana and soul signature of the other person owning the token, making it far more secure and borderline impossible for anyone besides the two speaking to intercept the signal.

Anyway, Jake decided to keep calling it a number as that was just easier.

A lot of people came up to Jake wanting to get his contact info, primarily the other humans, but he declined all of them. Draskil was once more the first to leave without getting any numbers as he went over to a wall with a small magic circle on, held the token up, and made a Malefic Dragonkin-sized gateway appear. He stepped through, and the moment he did, it closed behind them.

More mimicked this as the room began emptying out. All of the Risen went together to one residence, it appeared, while Jake had a brief talk with Reika where he learned she would be with the one other bronze token alchemist while the others from the clan would be by themselves at their respective dorms. She also informed him one of them had died during the dungeon, which Jake had kind of guessed since one didn’t return.

With everything handled, Jake said his goodbyes as he went over to a wall. Before he left, Irinixis quickly came over and stood beside him. “I wish you a good time in the Academy and Order, and remember to call if you need anything, okay?”

She said the last part with a wink as she scurried off again. Jake did wonder why she showed him special interest. Well, a special interest that she didn’t show the other people with outstanding performances. She hadn’t tried this with Draskil or any of the Risen but seemed to only focus on him. Maybe she just didn’t find Scalekin or Risen to her liking?

Jake didn’t bother thinking about it more as he activated the token and made a gate open. It was instinctual and easy to do with the token, and when he stepped through, he didn’t feel any discomfort or even movement of space. Whatever space magic was going on was at an insanely high level.

As his head went through the gate, he instantly saw the sunlight and the lush green courtyard before him with a large house standing atop some stairs. It had a black glass façade, and Jake instantly felt a bit weird looking at it because it looked too… modern?

He looked around and saw the garden in front of it as his Sense of the Malefic Viper reacted to the herbs. Good for potions, he noted. Entire flowerbeds were lining the perimeter of the house with a large lawn of sorts with trees leading up to the house. It looked like a modern mansion.

It should also be noted that all of the observers Jake had felt while in any of the common areas were gone. In there, the only one he knew was still looking from the outside was a certain snake god. So that was nice for privacy, as at least there were no longer a dozen hidden powerhouses looking at all times. However, he did also feel something from the residence, but the aura felt weak.

Walking forward, he took in the sights and looked up to see the bright sun and a blue sky above. He instinctively knew it was not a real star, but it was really fucking close. As in, Jake didn’t doubt there was an actual celestial object above; it was just made by someone supremely powerful.

Jake finally took his time to inspect the house himself as he walked closer. Mind you, he needed to walk closer as the walkway with grass and trees on each side was several hundred meters long, making his sphere not reach.

As he got closer, he saw the interior and the modern look continuing. Tiled floors, concrete walls, glass facades. He even saw modern-looking furniture, but he didn’t really consider it as he also spotted someone in the mansion’s entry hall - the one observing him.

He hurried a bit over and opened the large door leading into the house, only to be met with a large open hall with a tall ceiling with several large sculptures giving off light hanging from it. However, what he focused on was the person in front of him.

“Welcome, Master,” she said as she knelt on the ground. Jake instantly used Identify as he frowned.

[Elf – lvl 109]

She looked young, maybe in her early twenties, though to be fair, all elves he had ever seen looked young. She had the usual pointed ears and a generally slender build too. She was wearing a white dress that didn’t cover as much as it probably should, and the way she was pressing her head against the floor rubbed Jake the wrong way.

“Thanks?” Jake answered tentatively. “May I know who you are?”

He had expected no one to be present, so of course, he was surprised at finding someone there.

The elf raised her head to look at Jake as she answered. “I am called Meira, Master.”

Meira, as she was called, looked a bit surprised at Jake’s response, but she also clearly tried to hide it. Not very well, but she tried. Jake looked her over again, and his gut reaction was that she had to be some noble elf or something, right?

She had long blonde hair, a slender build, deep green eyes, perfect features, proportions where it mattered… she looked straight out of a fantasy, like those elven princesses out of video games. There was just one problem.

“Why do you keep calling me master?”

Once more, she looked a bit surprised as she nevertheless answered without missing a beat.

“I am here to serve in any way seen fit, so it is only right to use the title Master,” she explained a bit nervously before adding. “Naturally, if Master wishes for me to use any other title, I can.”

“No, I mean, why do you call me Master, and why are you here to begin with?” Jake asked.

“I was assigned to serve Master at his residence,” Meira answered, but her nervousness was clearly growing.

“So you work here?” He asked to confirm, frowning.

His frown was clearly picked up just from his eyes as she answered, sounding frightened: “I can do anything Master wants, anywhere he desires.”

Jake’s frown deepened as it clicked. He took out the token and scanned it over, finding a part of it he hadn’t checked before. A contract. He briefly looked it over and saw what it was as he clenched his fists, and a bit of bloodlust seeped out.

He looked towards the sky, where he knew the god was looking. “Villy, what the fuck is this?”

Not a single part of him cared that he spoke out loud, and clearly, the Viper didn’t either as the next moment, an aura descended. Pure power coalesced as a form appeared in the sky, and a humanoid scaled being floated down from above.

Jake stood unbothered by the aura as the Viper smiled in answer. “I was not the cause of-“

“Relax that fucking presence, man, look at her,” Jake said as he motioned towards Meira, who was uncontrollably shivering while still kneeling. She looked like she was intermittently between passing out and being forcefully woken up by the Viper’s presence as tears streamed down her face and onto the ground.

The Viper responded as the aura disappeared like it had never been there. He pointed at Meira as she stopped shaking and appeared to calm down. “Fine, fine. Geez.”

“Now tell me… why the fuck do I suddenly own a slave?” Jake asked as he didn’t bother controlling his own aura or presence in the slightest.