The Primal Hunter

On the other hand, his class had always been Jake’s through and through. It belonged to him, and he didn’t want it to be influenced by anyone or anything other than his own will.

As for expectations during this evolution… Jake didn’t really have any major ones. He just hoped to get some good options and at least one or two that fit him. Also, he knew he would sure for sure get at least one option related to all the curse stuff. There had to always be curse stuff.

Without further ado, he began the evolution.

*Class Evolution Requirements Met*

Your avaricious hunt has proven fruitful and paved a Path of domination. Beasts more powerful than you are viewed as nothing more than prey, and those meant to be of equal strength are not even worth putting in your sight. You continue to expand your repertoire of tools to fulfill your thirst for battle, embracing all that you believe can grant you more power while not compromising your vision of a true hunt – your horizon forever expanding. Monsters and enlightened alike recognize your Path and power, finding themselves influenced by you.

May your Path lead to the pinnacle and encompass all you desire, Primal Hunter.

Begin Evolution now?

Y/N

WARNING: Postponing evolution for too long may have adverse effects, and no further class-experience can be earned before evolution is completed.

The message was the third one he had seen during all these evolutions, and Jake could only nod at it. He was at least a little happy it didn’t mention curses outright. It also repeated the same horizon theme that his archery had on it. The mention of people finding themselves influenced by him was a bit questionable and gave him a good idea of what he would be offered.

As one would expect, Jake started from the beginning and was surprised right off the bat.

Veteran Avaricious Arcane Hunter – A direct upgrade to the Avaricious Arcane Hunter class. Your Path remains pure, and your ambitions only grow. Avarice still burns within as you unhesitantly seek stronger and stronger foes, embracing all means to attain victory. This class combines the pure Path of the hunter with the pure Path of arcane magic, driven by the endless Avarice, making the bow your weapon, amplified with arcane magic, but you also retain your abilities to face enemies in close combat, making your enemies despair at your simple and powerful – yet diverse - methods of attack. You will find yourself more powerful than ever as you stand before those stronger than yourself, and by decree of your Path, you shall come out victorious. Remain true to yourself, do not falter, and your Path shall prevail – as long as Avarice does not consume you. Stat Bonuses per level: +55 Per, +35 Agi, +32 Int, +30 Wis, +30 End, +20 Will, +18 Str, +25 Free Points.

See, Jake had expected a straight upgrade to his old class, but not like this. This was the most boring form of a straight upgrade. No, it was worse than that. His class in D-grade gave him 86 stats per level, and this one gave 245. Anyone with some level of skill in math could see 245 was not three times as much as 86. Anything under 258 stats per level would thus be a downgrade. In conclusion, it would reduce his stats per level in a relative sense and otherwise just be a bit boring.

It even had veteran in the name. Jake was certain every class with veteran in the name had to suck.

Not much else to consider as he skipped it.

Apex Beastmaster – A friend, confidant, guide, and master. To beasts, you are viewed as both one of them, yet a being who stands above them, worthy of respect and reverence – a leader worth following not through force but their own desire. You embrace your bestial instincts, truly allowing you to connect with them. This class revolves around making use of your bond with beasts and monsters, empowering them as they empower you. Rather than have them fight in your stead, you join them on the battlefield as their alpha, leading them to victory, be it with a bow, blade, or nothing but your bare fists and your arcane magic. As you fight alongside your companions, may you grow and reach for the apex together, your existence as much that of a beast as a man. Stats bonuses per level: +40 Per, +40 Agi, +30 End, +25 Str, +20 Wis, +20 Int, +20 Will, +20 Vit, +15 Toughness, +30 Free Points.

He went straight from a shit option to a pretty damn good one. Just looking at the stats, this one gave him 260 per level, making it better than the 258 a C-grade Avaricious Arcane Hunter would offer if he got a real upgrade. Jake mentioned some things he had expected to be offered before, and this was one of them. Semi-unintentionally, Jake had made friends with a lot of beasts and also helped them progress quite a bit, making some offering of the Beastmaster variant predictable.

It also clearly borrowed a bit from the old Bestial Alpha Hunter upgrade he got offered in D-grade. Jake assumed the class would offer some good stuff for his melee fighting, some things to help empower his companions, and probably even a skill to create some special bond with them. A light version of the Union Bond Sylphie had made with Jake, perhaps. In theory, it all sounded fun and interesting, but Jake wasn’t interested.

Besides, it was only the second offering. All the following ones had to be better, right?

Wielder of Eternal Hunger – It is said there lies power in ancientness. In emotions. In desire. You have taken all these and molded them into a weapon that might enter the annals of the multiverse’s history and be remembered eternally. This class revolves around the usage of the weapon Eternal Hunger and the near-endless source of energy within. Curse magic is at your fingertips, but that does not mean you ignore all other tools, as they, too, can experience the power that lies in sin. You realize that the curse of hunger is not one to shun and suppress but grasp with all your might as you and your weapon become one and hunger in concert for power. With time, hunger shall claim all of your magic, leaving only a pure Path. Eternal Hunger will grow faster and evolve more as it embraces its primeval concepts as a true Sin weapon. Eternal Hunger will be forever bound to your soul, and your existences shall become interlinked. Stat bonuses per level: +60 Vit, +50 Agi, +50 Str, +40 End, +20 Tough, +15 Wis, +30 Free Points.

Jake would like to retract his statement that all the following options had to be better. Stat-wise, sure, 265 was 5 more stats per level total, but damn, did Jake not like the sound of this one.

What he did like was some of the implications behind the skill. The mere fact he had created and used Eternal Hunger had resulted in a high-tier class, proving the Records of his weapon were more than impressive. It also mentioned primeval concepts, and after seeing the Harbinger of Primeval Origins professions, he knew that was a big deal.

However, that didn’t mean he considered the class a legitimate option. He did not want to become a full-on curse mage and did not want to risk changing himself in some weird way by walking a bit too close to the fire when it came to the Sin weapon. Jake and his cursed stabber were already plenty interlinked, and there was no need to make it worse than it always was.

Finding the option way too spooky, Jake thus moved on to another semi-expected one.

Heretic-Chosen Champion of the Malefic Viper – Some call you an instrument to carry out the orders of your Patron, others a heretic bringing out chaos, careless of the impact on the god you have presumably sworn loyalty to. As his champion, you use his Legacy as your base and wield poison and corruption as your weapons of choice. You do not care for your equipment as long as it brings you victory, and while your preferred weapon remains a bow, you do not shun embracing magics, even those outside of the scope of the Malefic One’s Legacy. Your independent will, yet powerful tie to your Patron, shall be the cornerstone of your Path as you slaughter all who dare stand in your way. Your Path is your own, yet bound to greater things, not by force, but by choice. May you walk the balance between being a heretic and a Chosen as you claim the power from both aspects. Stat Bonuses per level: +45 Will, +45 Wis, +45 Per, +30 Agi, +25 Str, +20 End, +15 Int, +10 Vit, +45 Free Points.

His snake god pal just had to rear his scaly head in every evolution. What made it all the worse was that every time he did, the option offered was damn good. This one was quite a bit like the Hunter-Champion offering from D-grade but had leaned into his Heretic-Chosen Path, which had made it a lot more appealing. At the very least, he had gotten rid of Villy having to help distribute his Free Points. That part had always struck him as super weird.

Quality-wise, this was near the peak for a class. 280 stats per level was quite something, just 20 away from the absolute maximum possible. The stats themselves were fine, but they were not exactly the ones Jake would prefer. He still considered it, though.

Jake couldn’t lie… he did see some appeal in this class. It was good, and it aligned well with his profession. Getting a class and profession working well together was a tried and true Path to success in the multiverse, and Jake did not doubt this would work well with his alchemy.

There were some arguments against it, though. First of all, this was still very much a semi-mage class based on the stats offered. It would also pigeonhole Jake into a far more narrow Path of poison and one that followed Villy’s far more closely. And that was the ultimate argument against this class.

Jake was not the Malefic Viper. He was fine with borrowing from Villy, maybe even a bit of stealing to get stronger. But he was not the Viper himself, nor did he desire to be his champion. That one-third of his Path already revolved around the Viper was fine with him, but that was it. Jake wanted to at least keep his race and class as his own, not too influenced by any other gods.

Moreover, the biggest argument of all to skip this one: it didn’t even have Hunter in the name.

Something the next one sure did.

Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge – To chase the horizon is to seek the impossible. Despite your chosen futile Path, you shall hunt it in your endless arrogance, refusing to give up even when faced with reality. For each step, it moves further away, yet for each kill, you feel like you inch closer to the unattainable. To chase this horizon, you have selected the bow as your primary tool, but you do not shun away from deploying your arcane magic or close-combat techniques, allowing you to use myriad methods to attain your goal. With every footfall, you encounter stronger and stronger foes, your Path only moving forwards, never backward. Yet you shall rise to the occasion at every turn, finding yourself stronger the more powerful your foe is. Do not turn away your gaze, but forever face the endless horizon till one day you attain the impossible and reach its edge – or at the very least slay whatever resides there. Stat bonuses per level: +60 Per, +40 Agi, +35 Str, +30 End, +25 Int, +25 Wis, +20 Will, +50 Free Points.

Out of all the descriptions, this had to be Jake’s favorite. It was simple yet impactful. Jake liked it a lot, and he understood why. It all revolved around a single concept… one quite familiar to Jake. Before he even considered the class, he checked out his archery skill with quite a similar name.

[Archery of Expanding Horizons (Epic)] - An Archer’s best friend is the bow in his hand and the arrow in his foe’s heart. As your horizons expand, you realize flaws and build upon a foundation to make that expansion everpresent. You do not shy away from mixing archery with magic and making your arrows arbiters of your will. Your arrows will cross all horizons and bend over any obstacle to pierce your target, with only your own will limiting the possibilities. Allows you to apply your will to control the trajectory of arrows before releasing them. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a ranged weapon. Adds a small damage bonus to all arrows based on distance traveled and Perception. Arrow trajectory control based on Willpower.

Jake knew that the system liked to give classes, professions, races, and all kinds of descriptions for skills and whatnot metaphors that represented something greater. The Sword Saint and his Transcendence revolved around springtime, which seemed more like an analogy for youth and a time one was at one’s prime. Even his Primal Hunter Bloodline was very much a conceptual thing, the word Hunter doing a lot of heavy lifting and having many meanings.

So, the question was… what did this horizon truly represent? Jake had theorized it had something to do with him using so many different ways to fight during earlier upgrades to his archery skill, and he still believed that was true. The horizon included breadth, but it was more than that. It was also a distant goal. The furthest away that one could see. As the description said, it was something one could never reach, as it would just move further away if you moved. You could get to what had been the horizon prior, but a new one would always form.

An endless struggle. Like chasing the gold at the end of a rainbow. An utterly foolish and futile waste of time that would never lead to success. If one chased the horizon, there was never even a way to go backward. There was a horizon to all sides, so unless you stood still and did nothing to progress your own power, you would still move towards a horizon. That was why Jake also believed that his archery skill also had to do with breadth. Everything that progressed Jake just a little would move him forward.

And… while it was true Jake would never be able to actually go to the horizon, it didn’t mean he wouldn’t be able to reach it. If not with his own body, then perhaps his arrows.

Jake sighed and got a bit more serious as he analyzed the class a bit more objectively. Arcane magic. Archery. 285 stats per level, making it the best one so far. A buttload of Perception per level, the most of all those offered. A Hunter class. Not affiliated with anything or anyone but Jake himself. There wasn’t even anything about curses in it.

It even had a theming concept that encompassed Jake very nicely. It was not an upgrade to Avaricious Arcane Hunter but something at a higher level, still including parts about hitting above his weight class. It had gone above Jake’s own greed and become a genuine Path with conceptual power.

He now realized he had severely underestimated his own archery skill. It was still considered a low rarity, and he had been a bit surprised it had now been downgraded earlier, but that was just because he didn’t fully understand it. It was a skill that allowed Jake to expand his own horizon and reach targets further away. One that tried to allow him to get just a little bit closer to the edge.

To pursue the horizon was to constantly progress, not caring about actually reaching the goal. Jake knew it was impossible, but if it was fun to do… why not at least give it a try? If you enjoyed the journey, did the ending really matter?

With a smile, Jake shook his head. It was a bit silly, wasn’t it?

Chasing the edge of the horizon? It was futile. But, Villy had said many times that achieving godhood was to do what everyone else thought couldn’t be done.

Besides…

When had something being impossible ever stopped him before?

*’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 200 - Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points*