The Primal Hunter

Jake sat in the meditation chamber as he went over some basic knowledge within the Token related to the Academy as a whole. He had wondered for a while how exactly an educational institution would function in the multiverse, much less an Order of poison alchemists, and the way it worked was rather, well, simple?

There wasn’t a curriculum or a set schedule of teachers and their lessons. There were no long-term lesson plans or forced subjects either; there weren’t even defined grades or “years” of any kind. It was all honestly weird from the perspective of someone from Earth who had gone through any kind of traditional education. He even saw that those teaching were, more often than not, also students themselves.

Classes and lessons did exist, of course, but you had to sign up to them individually, and they didn’t end with any exam or test or anything. There wasn’t attendance either, but it would be stupid not to come to a lesson you had signed up to due to one other thing: Credits.

No, not Credits as in the standard system currency, but Academy Credits used to sign up for classes. Ah, but these Academy Credits could be bought using regular Credits and some other means. To attend a lesson cost these Academy Credits with the teacher getting a portion based on how much was spent by those attending.

It was a free-market capitalist dream-version of an educational institution with ample competition to get people to attend your lessons. Jake was honestly surprised at how everything worked and did question the efficiency of it, but then again… he had a feeling most members of the Order were selfish assholes, so they needed selfish motivations to do anything.

Lessons themselves were as varied as they came. Some were massive seminars where it looked like hundreds of thousands if not millions could attend, performed by powerful individuals on their own specialties, while others were one-on-one lessons and practice. The most popular form was smaller lessons with below a hundred people and often combined teaching and practical workshops.

Time was also a massive factor. Some lessons lasted a few hours while Jake saw one that said it had an expected running time of fifty years. It was one related to growing certain kinds of herbs and would seriously last fifty years based on the description without any breaks or anything in between. This seemed insane to Jake, even if he could see it really did not matter as the lesson catered to C- and B-grades, where spending fifty years wouldn’t be that bad.

That was another thing. Jake could sign up for any lesson he wanted at any time, though most did have an advised grade. Shit, if he had the Academy Credits – or AC for short – he could attend the lesson of an S-grade if he so wanted. Maybe even a god at some point. Of course, it would be an utter waste as they would be speaking about way too advanced subjects, but it was an option.

As for what kind of lessons there were? Well, it would be a better question to ask what kind of lessons there weren’t. Jake saw everything from rituals, potions, elixirs, all kinds of poison, everything related to herbs and natural treasures, including how to grow and find them.

There were even lessons on practical applications of poisons where one could use them on targets and observe their effects. Jake didn’t like the sound of that but would rather do another kind of lesson: combat.

Yep, the alchemist academy had combat lessons too, and a wide variety of them. They were far less, and they were definitely not as popular from the looks of it, but many did also hold lessons in them. In fact, it looked like anyone could make their own lessons at any point for others to sign up for using the Token.

The Token was the root of everything and functioned as both a lesson plan and the only way of signing up for things. It also stored the AC and all the information regarding lessons. It even had a small spatial storage in it. Jake kept sitting in the room, tinkering with it a while longer as he went through some potential lessons for fun.

Oh yeah, while there weren’t really any school years per-se, there were certain set periods where new members were recruited. Jake theorized this was for the ones making lessons to focus on stuff new students would need in those periods. In fact, he saw quite a lot catered towards newer students in the upcoming weeks, including topics related to general knowledge of the wider multiverse.

He also found many interesting classes on a subject that honestly shouldn’t have surprised him. There were thousands total pertaining to languages. The reason why these were interesting was that he saw even E-grades who would hold these classes. Of course, with Tongue of the Myriad Races, such a thing was completely unnecessary for Jake. He and others from Earth had really lucked out there.

Jake had not decided on anything yet but would wait and probably take some of the ones aimed at people new to the multiverse. There were a few related to understanding affinities and what ones you were good at, which he especially wanted to give a go, as so far, he felt like he only discovered if he was good at something when faced directly with it.

He spent a bit longer going over stuff before he was forced to leave the meditation chamber again. Now, he was a bit reluctant to do this, as his sphere had made him aware Meira had been sitting outside the room for the last nine hours, completely unmoving as she waited for him.

Getting his shit together, he walked out. Meira stood up immediately when he exited and bowed deeply. Jake threw her a glance and asked: “I have been wondering, how much do you know about herbs and natural treasures and such?”

“I have been educated in both herbology and toxicology and possess skills related to both. In addition, I also have skills pertaining to Identifying and acquiring any kind of natural treasure requested, as well as the locations and methods of which I can acquire them within the Order,” Meira quickly answered.

Jake was ninety-nine percent sure that response was practiced as he also bit onto another quirk Meira had picked up over the last day or so since Jake arrived: her ability to avoid referring to Jake in any direct way. It was honestly impressive how her way of dodging to use his name manifested as she found ways to string together sentences quite innovatively.

“Great, could you go fetch me some materials with Neurotoxin properties from the warehouse as well as some books related to neurotoxins from the library? Low-level materials and basic-level books only,” Jake asked.

He had learned one other thing over these days… the only way to make any progress with Meria seemed to be to actually allow her to feel useful by making her do things. It was just small things, like asking her to show him where something was or maybe check up on the garden and make sure everything was okay or any other mundane task. Jake believed, perhaps wrongly, that with time she would learn he wasn’t a dangerous person. Not to her anyway.

“Of course!” she swiftly agreed as she bowed and hurried off.

“Bring it to the lab!” Jake yelled after her as she turned and bowed again in acknowledgment before enthusiastically running off.

“Also gotta fix that bowing…baby steps…” Jake muttered as he went towards the lab. Hey, even if he was dealing with her, he would still get some work done, and one of the classes he really wanted to attend was related to Neurotoxins. Jake already used Hemotoxins and Necrotoxins quite a bit, but there were many other types.

Back before the system, Hemotoxins, Necrotoxins, and Neurotoxins were the primary ones found in nature, but with the system naturally came many more. Ethtoxins, also known as ethereal poison or soul poison, was something Jake had also dabbled in, but some toxins directly targeted mana, some that targeted stamina, and, of course, also ones for other types of energies. In fact, there were so many types of toxins it really wasn’t a surprise there were alchemists who could reach all the way to godhood focusing on nothing else.

As he went to his lab, the Token vibrated slightly in his spatial storage as he saw Reika was calling him. He swiftly picked up as he answered in his best customer service voice: “Jake speaking, how may I help you?”

“… Is everything alright?” Reika asked in a worried tone as the joke didn’t land.

“Yeah, I was just… never mind. So, how are you settling in?” Jake quickly moved on.

The Token really was wonderous. He was speaking out loud right now, but he knew it would also work using telepathy. Shit, the sound was even blocked, making no one able to hear their conversation either way.

“Things are fine here, and I must admit the accommodations are a lot better than expected. I had assumed a dorm would mean shared living space and possibly even communal alchemy labs and such, but we all have private rooms with everything one can need,” Reika explained quite enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I sure ain’t complaining either. Well, there is this one little thing, but I am working on it. Anyway, have you had time to check the lessons yet?” Jake asked.

“Oh, I have. I am coordinating with some of the others from the Noboru clan to take some lessons together. This is one of the reasons I contacted you as I wanted to relay our plans in case you wanted to join some of them too,” she asked as Jake’s Token vibrated in the spatial storage again.

He poked it mentally and saw a list had been sent. As Reika had said, it included the lessons, with most of them being elementary lessons Jake himself had looked at, along with a lot related to basic knowledge of the multiverse.

Jake wasn’t sure yet what to pick, but a few did seem interesting enough to join. He did, however, notice one thing: “How come only you and that Haruto guy will attend all of the lessons and not the others?”

“We lack Academy Credits, Jake,” Reika answered. “Those with White Tokens start with one hundred while Haruto and I started with a thousand each. We are already looking into ways of getting more, and it seems item donations will be the most straightforward method.”

Item donations were another way of getting more Academy Credits as naturally not everyone was suited for teaching or had anything worthwhile to teach. Of course, one would still require ingredients, but these could be bought with either normal Credits or through contribution points.

Contribution points could be earned by doing stuff for the Order. Fulfilling certain crafting requests, taking on quests from the Order, or holding a certain number of lessons with a good evaluation, as well as many other things. All in all, contribution points were given by contributing to the Order. Very complicated.

Honestly, Jake was amazed at how goddamn exploitative the entire system actually was. It was a bit like social media in that the users of the system were both the customers and the creators of the product. Sure, the Order did provide all accommodations, but the sheer income from donated ingredients, potions, elixirs, and all kinds of other alchemical products, had to be astronomical.

Jake had not actually checked his own total number of AC yet, and he quickly discovered an issue… he couldn’t find it. He tried mentally searching the Token, but there just wasn’t any registered to it or even a function to check how many he had.

He frowned a bit but chose to answer Reika either way. “Yeah, donations will probably be good. I am sure you and the others can find some niche to approach and make some sought-after creations.”

“That is what I am looking into right now, but it is hard, and as much as I hate to admit it, I doubt any of us from the clan have anything truly valuable to offer as of yet. No modern knowledge or anything like that seems applicable either, so all we can do is hope our talents match up,” Reika said with a bit of resignation.

“Worst case scenario, you stay in the Order for a while, learn some valuable things, and return to Earth better for it,” Jake said in encouragement.

“I know,” Reika said. “But it also feels like that would be a waste. This entire place is a treasure trove of knowledge and wealth. To not explore it as much as humanly possible would be a sin.”

“Well, then better get learning and improving,” Jake grinned to himself, perfectly understanding her thought process. The Order did indeed seem overwhelmingly abundant of opportunity. Because it was.

The two of them exchanged a few more pleasantries before they finished the call. It seemed like everyone was settling in, and besides the guy who died during the dungeon, all of the alchemists Reika had brought were bound to benefit tremendously.

Jake had already reached the lab by now, and as he checked through stuff in the Token some more, he spotted something. A special lesson would be held soon and had just been put up now. The name was dramatic and instantly caught his eye, nearly as much as the details of the teacher.

Course Name: Harnessing the flames of creations and destruction.

Description:A lesson on harnessing the flame within. Learn to control the flame born of creation and destruction to improve the use of Alchemical Flame. Through the use of Willpower and mobilizing the power found within your Truesoul, take control as your flames become a catalyst of creation and destruction alike. This course will also touch on the subject of integrating a Soulflame into your Soulspace.

Teacher: Albaromoz Emberflight (mid-tier A-Grade)

Suggested Attendance Level: N/A

Duration: 1x 10-hour session.

AC Price: 420,000

As Jake focused on the teacher named, he got a description of that guy too. This was primarily to see if the teacher in question was qualified, and Jake had to say that a red dragon from a Dragonflight specializing in fire magic seemed quite promising. He also had a good evaluation, it seemed, and Jake was honestly interested, especially as it didn’t require anything to attend. There was a lot of stuff he didn’t fully get in the description too, but hey, he was in the Order to learn, right?

The only thing was the price… because when he compared it to something more targeted towards him, the difference was stark.

Course Name: Blaze it! Basic application of the Alchemical Flame for combat.

Description:A lesson on the basic applications of the Alchemical Flame to damage living entities and methods of using it with combat cauldrons as a weapon.

Teacher: Vkoras (Peak-tier D-Grade)

Suggested Attendance Level: E-grade, D-grade.

Duration: 8x 12-hour lessons.

AC Price: 5

This one was taught by a D-grade, but one that had been teaching for five years or so and was quite talented in using the Alchemical Flame and special combat cauldrons as weapons. Jake would only really attend this to see how combat using a cauldron worked.

The second lesson would begin in only six hours, while the one done by the dragon would start in two days, which was quite short notice, honestly. There was overlap with the second day of the Blaze It! Course. So even if one wanted to do both, one couldn’t, not that Jake thought there was a huge crossover in target demographics. It had to also once more be noted that any course was a one-time buy-in, and it didn’t matter if one attended every second of it or never showed up.

Jake looked these two over a bit as he checked the prices again. He finally failed to hold himself back as he asked:

“So… Villy… how do I see my Academy Credits?” Jake asked. He actually felt bad asking the god about such an elementary question and even more stupid for not figuring it out himself. Reika and everyone else had, who why the hell couldn’t h-

“You don’t have any.”

“Wait, what?”

“I mean, you technically don’t have any, in the sense that everything requiring those Academy Credits are free to you,” Villy explained, no doubt grinning on the other end.

“Seriously?” Jake asked a bit in disbelief.

“Jake, even if we are best friends forever, you are still my Chosen. That is something that cannot be changed, and the Order is there to serve you, not the other way around. This is also why I should make something clear: this Order is your home turf. Your territory. Do whatever the fuck you want, damned be the consequences. If someone annoys you enough, kill them. If their ancestor tries to cause trouble, then remember status and power trump all. And as my Chosen, no one besides me is above you in rank. If the veil of you being my Chosen falls, then so be it, it will eventually, just know that even before it happens, you are still the Chosen of the Malefic Viper.”

Jake sat silent for a while. He switched between frowning and looking thoughtful before finally speaking: “Well, that’s nice. Guess I’ll do the lesson by that red dragon then.”

“Do just that, I believe it could be beneficial for you to-“

“After I check out how the hell a combat cauldron works. Maybe it even includes whacking people over the head.”