The Primal Hunter

”This definitely isn’t looking good,” Jake muttered as he stared at the projected map of the galaxy. A few weeks ago, Arnold had sent over a drone capable of copying the map within the Prima Vessel to allow Jake to keep track of everything happening, so he tried to check it out once in a while. So far, keeping track hadn’t been the most uplifting of experiences.

”I do wonder what the response of the major factions shall be,” Vesperia agreed, though she didn’t look overly concerned. Likely because the few planets she cared about had already destroyed every teleportation circle they had, stopping anyone from going to or from the planet. The members of the Endless Empire living there would then simply get in contact with the faction through their divine connection after the system event was over and work from there without having to interact with the rest of the event.

Jake could only see this as a good plan considering the development on the map. It had been over two months now since Jake had his unfortunate accident, and he was still healing… but while he was getting better, the galaxy was getting worse.

Over a dozen black flags had appeared, and the number of planets Jake could only assume got consumed by desolation was now up to twenty-one. A single entity had managed to destroy that many planets within only a couple of months, and Jake definitely didn’t have a good feeling about it. Not just because someone or something capable of destroying planets wasn’t the best to have in your local galaxy, but because of what this meant.

The creature was bound to be growing stronger with every passing day. It had to be getting quite a few levels, as the Records associated with its actions were far from insignificant… and in the meanwhile, what was Jake doing?

Well, not any leveling, that was for damn sure. One of the side effects of this kind of soul damage Jake hadn’t even considered was the complete inability to gain any experience or levels at all while hurt. At least he wouldn’t be able to gain any levels before he was fully healed.

Jake still needed to remain active, though, just as Eron had said. That was another way of saying that Jake had to keep doing stuff to keep gaining Records despite not really getting anything out of it besides his healing not slowing down. Jake’s way of doing this had naturally been through his Puzzle Cube, which had served nicely, and it had led to his recovery doing pretty well, in his opinion.

Status

Mana Points (MP): 139,556/293,099 (442,484)

Jake’s mana pool was nearly up by a hundred thousand now, and according to the last time he spoke with Eron, he should be healed within a few more months. Even the healer couldn’t fully say anything with confidence, though, as this kind of recovery was far from linear, and every soul healed differently than others. Eron did comment that Jake was healing a lot more rapidly than first expected, which was a nice surprise.

The healer theorized this was potentially due to Jake’s arcane affinity and its innate concept of stability, and seeing as his affinity was born of his Bloodline, it certainly was also a cause if Eron was right. However, despite his Bloodline being awesome, it still wasn’t omnipotent and he was still on what was effectively house arrest for now.

All while the galaxy was facing a living calamity leaving desolate planets in its wake.

”None of the planets Miranda is in contact with have been hit, right?” Jake asked with furrowed brows.

”Not as far as I’ve heard,” Vesperia shook her head. ”No one is even sure how this creature travels around. Obviously, it’s making use of the teleportation network, but would anyone truly be foolish enough to accept this entity that has killed so many planets before? The only reason this could realistically happen was with planets not in active contact with any other planet who’ve killed their Prima Guardian yet… or an ally of an ally who has… which is a rapidly waning number if such even exist anymore.”

”Exactly,” Jake said, still confused. He couldn’t help but look down at his ring and wonder if it was the reason ”I” could travel around, assuming this creature also had such a ring. No other explanation seemed probable to allow it access to the teleporters. Was there a function he hadn’t unlocked? One he hadn’t appropriately explored?

Staring at the map, he saw that nearly all the blue planets part of the alliance had now turned green, with not even a hundred left. Kindroth and Miranda had been busy sending teams to help out everywhere as the system event only got easier and easier, and Jake had heard that quite a big alliance had been formed by now.

However, compared to the alliance made by Ell’Hakan, it was far smaller. In fact, they had even lost a few of the planets that had been seen as loyal to Earth, the World Leaders and population choosing to rather side with Ell’Hakan.

The reason they had done this was an annoying one because Jake couldn’t really argue against it. They had all come to learn that Ell’Hakan wasn’t just expanding to make his own personal alliance bigger but had instead found a working partner in the Holy Church, effectively handing over planets to them and allowing them to assimilate their populations.

As the single-largest faction in the entire multiverse, it wasn’t surprising they already had a lot of planets in the Milky Way under their control even before the system event began. These highly organized planets had helped become the backbone of Ell’Hakan’s campaign and fortified his position as the leader of the alliance. What’s more, they offered something no one else could, which was also the reason why the Holy Church had become the largest faction in the multiverse in the first place: safety.

A far more reassuring kind of safety than any other faction in the entire multiverse could offer.

To these planets, many of which had been filled with conflict ever since the system arrived, this was a great opportunity. Joining the Holy Church meant that not only would you get the backing of the biggest faction, but it was also pretty universally agreed that for the common person, the Church was the best faction to be a part of. What other faction could offer a life after death? For people who had risked their lives every day to suddenly be presented with a faction that promised such a thing… yeah, the appeal was understandable.

Not to say they even necessarily had to all die. The Holy Church ran on faith and still preferred living believers. They had a very solid track record of evacuating people from planets facing danger, Earth being a good example, as they invested a lot of resources to bring members of the Church away once they deemed it unwise to stay. All in all, it wasn’t hard to see why many planets chose to side with the Church.

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Ell’Hakan had made a good choice to ally with them. Chances are they had a deal that was also very beneficial to Ell’Hakan, allowing him to grow his own power in tandem with the Church. Jake already knew from all the Nevermore stuff he had a deal of some kind… he just really hoped the Holy Church would know when a rabid dog had to be put down.

As for a war with the Holy Church… Jake would want to avoid it if possible, as he really didn’t see any value in having one, something he highly suspected Ell’Hakan already knew. All it would do was force him to kill a lot of people he had no interest in killing in the first place from a faction that had many bad elements for sure but ultimately wasn’t even worse than all the others. Many would even argue it was the faction doing the most good in the multiverse.

This was another good reason for World Leaders to join the Church. Not many dared outright attack them, as they were, again, the largest in the multiverse, and they had a reputation for retaliating quite harshly.

Jake could admit that something like the Holy Church or Holyland – which really was their big selling point - didn’t appeal to him personally, but if Villy came to Jake and offered that his parents could get the same deal members of the Holy Church got, he wouldn’t say no. What son would say no to his parents being offered a life after death? It was selfish and hypocritical that he wanted them to be safe despite risking himself so much, but he’d never claimed he wasn’t a bit hypocritical.

Vesperia also had her own opinion on the topic of why so many of the enlightened joined the Holy Church with such enthusiasm:

”Humans and those like you are inherently selfish creatures. Your kind cares about their own survival more than anything else, with individualism and egoism trumping what’s best for the collective. Only when survival is no longer something that is actively thought about do you become able to look at the bigger picture,” Vesperia said with a sigh before quickly clarifying further. ”Of course, I do not mean that individualism is always bad; I just believe it shouldn’t be a universal concept. The average human I see swarming your planet has no value and adds nothing, so what right do they have to display such egoism? The multiverse is not equal, and some entities are inherently more valuable than others. They should accept this fact and they should prioritize raising up those of value rather than be selfish, even if doing so meant giving away their own lives.”

”You know, that is kind of how the Holy Church works,” Jake pointed out with a smile. ”Are the Endless Empire and Church really that much different in that aspect? Both like to throw armies of weaklings at others rather than send out their elites.”

Vesperia scoffed and shook her head. ”I find the comparison ridiculous. Drones die for the hive. All are willing to die for the hive if that’s what’s required to ensure its survival. That is their purpose. Members of the Holy Church do not die because it’s their duty. They only give their lives in the first place because they know that is not their true end, making it not a true sacrifice either. It’s ridiculous that they need it, but without the Holyland, the entire Holy Church would not be able to function as it is. Also, there is a good reason those who give their lives are hailed as martyrs and heroes after their deaths, despite how meaningless their sacrifices ultimately are. It all comes back to ego… an innate desire to be praised and recognized despite insignificant contributions. They see others hailed and believe that dying such a “noble” death would be worth it, with the only real consequence relaxation for the rest of their soul’s lifespan.”

Jake saw no reason to argue, he did find her words a bit funny, though. ”Does that mean you don’t want praise or recognition as often?”

”… I didn’t say that. I said it needs to be earned,” Vesperia said, looking away. ”And I contribute a lot…”

Shaking his head, Jake couldn’t help but smile. ”To me, you being you is more than enough to earn a bit of praise.”

Vesperia smiled at his words as the two of them kept looking at the star map a bit longer side by side. Jake hated being unable to affect it, but he truly didn’t have a choice. All he could do was trust Miranda, the Sword Saint, and all the others.

Speaking of the Sword Saint, he had been very busy with Arnold’s teleporter. He was incredibly efficient, visiting world after world and some-fucking-how ending up without much conflict. Nearly every time he returned, he even brought back diplomats who were definitely far more loyal than those part of the Prima Guardian Alliance from the get-go.

The one time Jake spoke to the old man, he had complained about the teleporter made by Arnold, something Jake could only empathize with. From the sounds of it, Arnold hadn’t prioritized making the experience smoother either but had focused on other aspects he believed were more important to improve.

Sylphie and the Fallen King had also started using Arnold’s teleporter together to help other planets, though their success rate for peaceful negotiation was quite a bit lower than the Sword Saint’s. As in, nearly every single time they went to a planet to help it, they ended up having to kill a lot of people before finally getting to fight the Prima Guardian and leaving. For some reason, people were super distrusting of two monsters offering help in the middle of a system event all about deciding if monsters or enlightened would ultimately claim dominion over a planet.

There was even one instance Miranda reported about where they ended up siding with the monsters. After killing the Prima Guardian, the beasts on the planet all kept attacking the native enlightened race. It turns out they had been royal assholes, and when they, in their crazy delusion, demanded the Fallen King and Sylphie to enslave themselves to the superior natives, it didn’t end well for them.

Man… Jake was looking forward to when he could be the one creating chaos again. Speaking of someone capable of also ravaging a bit themselves:

“By the way, how is the recovery of your Queen’s Guards going? You said it was pretty much done last time?” Jake asked the True Royal.

“Indeed, they are all fully reborn but are still growing in power. Shouldn’t be long before-“

Her words were interrupted as the landline phone down in the lab started ringing, catching their attention. Jake frowned, as usually he was the one reaching out, or they had planned meetings, so for them to call him…

Jake hurried over and picked it up, Vesperia also listening in intently as Miranda spoke on the other end.

“I hope I didn’t catch you at a bad time, but we just received two pieces of news that I believed pertinent to share with you immediately,” Miranda said in a serious tone.

“Shoot, and Vesperia is also here,” Jake answered quickly.

“Alright… first of all, it has been confirmed that Ell’Hakan and the Holy Church have also created a method to teleport people to other planets in the galaxy, akin to Arnold’s creation. We are not yet clear on all the details of if this device is capable of also teleporting here to Earth, but a safe assumption is that it can,” Miranda said, making Jake frown.

They knew this had to happen at some point. In fact, it was proof of just how damn smart Arnold was that he beat an entire faction by several months nearly entirely on his own. Still, this wasn’t good news and certainly complicated things.

“Well, that sure sucks. What’s the second piece of news?” Jake asked, not beating around the bush.

“Reports that Ell’Hakan seems to be aware you haven’t been on the move recently, and we believe he may soon try something… as for what that something entails, we have no idea as of now, but it sounded ominous,” Miranda said. “I don’t think he will directly attack Earth again, but… anyone currently fighting out there are potential targets.”

Jake sighed, wondering if the Chosen would really try and go after any of Jake’s allies… and the answer was that he definitely did seem like the kind who would. Jake just wasn’t sure how that would fit into his story… and if he did do something, what could Jake really do in his current state that wasn’t stupidly risky? The more time passed, and the more updates Jake got, the more annoying his situation just kept getting, as he really picked a bad time to be a moron.

Man… fuck this soul damage.