Jake was arrogant. Cocky. This wasn’t something he would ever dispute, and he was fully aware of who he was. However, no matter how arrogant Jake was, he still knew when he found himself in a situation he couldn’t handle.

Dealing with the Rainbowfeather Sovereign was already a gamble. Jake wasn’t entirely confident he would win their fight, but now that other B-grades had decided to get involved, he knew he wouldn’t stand a chance.

Looking at the Sovereign, the bird was evidently also concerned about this development as the two of them stood there for several seconds as the several B-grades approached, surrounding them.

“This is not of my design,” the Sovereign spoke, more concerned about the newcomers. For good reason, too. The Sovereign was far from in peak condition and covered with wounds everywhere, not to mention the poison coursing through the bird’s body.

“I don’t think I need to tell you if I’m behind it,” Jake sighed.

“I heard you muttering under your breath before,” the B-grade simply stated.

A lot of potential scenarios for what Jake would do next ran through his mind as he evaluated the situation. For a second, he considered potentially teaming up with the Sovereign to fight the interfering B-grades, but truthfully, that wasn’t an option. Jake wouldn’t be able to keep fighting for more than a couple of minutes more no matter what, and there was no way they could win during that time.

He also considered going all out. In other words, he considered unleashing his Bloodline fully, but Jake didn’t want to do that for a plethora of reasons. He had no idea what the consequences of doing so outside a Challenge Dungeon would be, what kind of backlash he could suffer, and perhaps more importantly, if it would even be enough. Going by the fight against Valdemar, it wasn’t the kind of thing he could keep going for a long time, and if just one or two B-grades survived, Jake was back to not knowing his state after using it.

Jake considered several more things, but he was soon out of time. The Sovereign and Jake had reached a silent understanding to pause their battle as they waited, both considering what their next move would be. Seconds ticked by, and as Jake felt the auras get ever-closer, he did something he really didn’t enjoy doing.

His wings flared to life once more as energy collected within them. The Sovereign looked at Jake and quickly realized what he was doing.

“I do not fault you, it’s the only good choice,” the B-grade spoke. “Even if I am aware your decision is not great for me. Even should I survive what comes next.”

Jake simply nodded in acknowledgement as he kept his wings primed. He had made a choice he hated, but knew was the only realistic option:

Retreat.

Wings of the Malefic Viper were made for this, but Jake still delayed leaving for a bit. He allowed the B-grades to get closer, and as they did, he felt the slight sense of bloodlust in their auras, making him certain they hadn’t come to try to broker a diplomatic solution to their conflict.

Instead, they had come to take advantage of their fight, either to take down Jake, the Sovereign, or both. Jake found it pathetic, which was why he waited for them to get hit by his Pulse.

During this wait, Jake also did something else. Raising his hand, Jake used another of his trump cards he had been waiting for a good opportunity to unleash, but in another fashion than he had expected.

Touch of the Malefic Viper activated, not to control or empower the poison within the Sovereign, but to do the exact opposite. Using the skill, Jake sought to purge and weaken his own poison, directing it to destroy itself and the toxic energies to self-cannibalize.

The Sovereign looked at Jake with confusion upon feeling what he was doing, but Jake just shook his head.

“Don’t misunderstand... I just have no interesting in helping those vultures,” Jake spoke as he got rid of most of his inflicted poison. By the time he had, the first few B-grades also entered the range of his Pulse, and based on how they came from all sides and would arrive so close to one another, this was clearly a coordinated strike.

With Pulse, he got a good look at the B-grades he was dealing with. A few seconds later, he unleashed another Pulse and saw the five remaining which had also entered his range. Jake committed these creatures to memory as he spoke, infusing his voice with whatever power he had left.

“I’ll remember all of you.”

His voice echoed throughout the Grand Lake as Jake activated his Wings of the Malefic Viper.

Right before Jake was unable to see or say anything, he made brief eye-contact with the Sovereign, and he hoped they would have the chance to meet again to finish what they’d started. He wasn’t quite sure the B-grade had the same thoughts.

The world around Jake was corroded in his next moments, the concept of space faltering, and focusing the rest of his power, Jake moved as reality turned into a blur. Jake traveled through reality as he shot straight up and to the side, aiming to get as far away as he possibly could.

His instinct was his only guide, as he trusted his intuition to take him somewhere safe. The world continued shifting by, a blurry, unrecognizable mess of colors and shapes, but soon, the skill was running out of energy.

The world quickly came back into focus as Jake found himself in an unrecognizable space. It was dark, and Jake believed he was underground somewhere. A wave of exhaustion immediately washed over him, but he had to remain conscious until he knew if he was truly safe.

Using a quick Pulse, Jake confirmed he was beneath the ground, and he even saw water less than a hundred meters below him. He was inside a cavern that didn’t have any obvious entrance, but what it did have was a lot of... stuff.

As his eyes adapted, he saw piles of what looked like random equipment, empty potion bottles, sticks, fruits, pieces of fur, feathers, teeth, horns, hundreds of cores... so many different items. The only thing they all had in common was the innate energy each item possessed.

Just then, as Jake was wondering where the hell he was, he detected movement. A familiar creature had appeared within his sphere, and as Jake turned to look at the little critter, it also noticed him.

[Shimmerfur Warpsnatcher – lvl 346]

The odd mixture between a cat and a porcupine looked at Jake as its head tilted back and forth several times, clearly confused how Jake had gotten there. Jake was cautious, despite not feeling any hostility from the creature. He knew that the second he deactivated his boosting skill, he would be incredibly vulnerable. Weak enough so that any random C-grade could kill him easily.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“Hurt?” the small creature asked in a small voice, shaking Jake out of his thoughts.

“Yeah,” Jake just confirmed.

The critter tilted its head back and forth a few more times before getting an idea. Running to one of its piles of loot, it quickly picked out an item and picked it up with its small hands before jumping over to Jake and holding it up.

“Hurt bad. Rest good.”

Jake looked at the outstretched blanket as he realized his instincts had indeed made a good call. With a small smile, Jake accepted the blanket, making the Warpsnatcher very happy as it jumped back and kept looking at Jake, as if waiting for him to rest.

Not wanting to disappoint the little thing, Jake moved his hand and telepathically spread out the blanket behind him so he could lie down. Taking a deep breath, he mentally prepared himself for what would come next.

“Thanks,” Jake muttered to the little critter as he deactivated his boosting skill. The instant he did, pain shot throughout his entire body, as Jake wasn’t even able to scream. His soul shuddered from over-exhaustion, and Jake’s body did the only thing it could to preserve his mind while trying to recover.

Jake’s consciousness slipped as he fell backwards, unable to move or think anymore as his entire system shut down, and Jake was out cold before his body even hit the blanket.

--

Area 1 had been shaken more that day than it had for the last decade. A B-grade had been slain, and more than ten of the Island owners had made their move, as even a B-grade from Area 5 had chosen to invade the territory.

All because of a single C-grade who was barely even a high-tier C-grade.

Standing upon the lake, the invading B-grade calmed its nerves. The Rainbowfeather Sovereign waited as soon enough, the nine B-grades were upon it. With the human long gone, the Sovereign easily assumed why they were there.

One by one, the B-grades stepped less than a kilometer away as they encircled the Sovereign. None of them, besides one, were recognizable to him, and the Sovereign also felt that this B-grade was the strongest among them.

She was a winged humanoid creature with glowing dust surrounding her body, and she also chose to be the one to speak on behalf of herself and the other B-grades.

“Where did the hunter disappear to?” she asked, making her intent clear immediately.

They had indeed come to slay the human. Doing so was one of the greatest ways for B-grades to grow and potentially even leave the planet referred to as a Hunting Ground. The Records of a young genius capable of slaying enemies above his rank were not to be underestimated, and this particular human had already proven himself by first slaying the Warlord and then afterwards fought the Rainbowfeather Sovereign and put him into his current state.

“Gone. Your approach was less than subtle, and feeling he had no path to victory, the human chose to escape using some odd skill or item,” the Sovereign answered truthfully, seeing no reason not to.

“You didn’t stop him?” another B-grade, a large and scaled bipedal crocodile-like creature, asked.

“Does it surprise you that such a capable human has means of escape that neither I nor any of you could have stopped?” the Sovereign scoffed.

“Perhaps you could have stopped him if you were in a better condition,” another B-grade chimed in, this one a lithe female creature with bat-like wings and an aura of death surrounding her. “You are looking a bit... tired.”

The Rainbowfeather Sovereign felt the gazes of the nine B-grades resting on his injured body, and he knew their thoughts. Killing other B-grades was difficult and risky, as getting injured made one an easy target. Right now, the Sovereign was quite injured, and he expected nothing less than for them to take advantage.

Yet, despite these thoughts, the Sovereign laughed as he spread out his winged arms.

“You speak the truth. I am tired. Injured. Displaying my full power at this point wouldn’t be very easy,” the Sovereign said as he nodded before raising his head, his aura spiking as a torrent of rainbow light erupted from his body.

“This is the perfect opportunity to strike me down... but do so knowing that in the process, I shall take along with me one of you to the depths of nothingness,” the Sovereign said with a growling voice. “As long as you’re willing to take that risk, stop wasting my time and come at me.”

His threatening words echoed throughout the Grand Lake for several seconds, as none of them made a move. The Sovereign knew that under normal circumstances, the only one amongst the B-grades that posed an actual threat to him was the Forest Fae, who had been the first to address him.

However, that didn’t mean his words didn’t ring true. If he went all out to kill one of them alongside himself, one of them would die... and as more seconds ticked by, it appeared none wished to risk being that someone.

“That’s what I thought,” the Sovereign scoffed as he floated into the air, planning to head upwards and ride the jetstream back to his own domain.

“Relax, we just came for the human, not you,” the Forest Fae spoke in a calm voice. Her words were hollow, and the Sovereign mentally scoffed as he flew upwards.

“Rather than us being worried, shouldn’t you be the one shaking your feathers in fear?” the bipedal reptilian asked. “You ambushed the human after he already killed the Simian Warlord, and yet you came out looking like that. What do you think happens when the hunter recovers and returns?”

The Sovereign, who had already floated high up in the air at this point, looked down at them and shook his head mockingly. “How kind of you to worry about me.”

Being out of range, the Sovereign risked nothing more as he shot upwards towards the sky, making sure none of the B-grades were following him. He had seen no reason to voice his true final thoughts, as truthfully... from the look in the hunter’s eyes before he escaped, the Sovereign had a strong feeling he wasn’t the only one who had cause to be worried for when he recovered.

One thing was certain, though... this wouldn’t be the last time the Rainbowfeather Sovereign and the masked hunter would meet.

--

The two older-looking men both stood in front of the small sapling, watching it with careful eyes. One of them held out a hand as a single golden droplet appeared and fell down upon the plant, instantly getting absorbed.

There was some nervousness between them as they waited several seconds before a small shimmer of golden energy appeared on the sapling. This energy soon began shifting and transforming as it formed a golden pattern on the leaves, making both men breathe out a sigh of relief.

“So far, so good,” Nature’s Attendant spoke.

“It appears stable for now, but we won’t know for sure unless this stability persists for at least an hour,” Duskleaf sighed, really hoping their experiment would work out this time around. This was their one-hundredth and eighth attempt, and they were starting to run out of both seeds and the golden liquid, meaning if they failed too much more, they would have to go back and procure more ingredients and craft more. The only thing that had enough of was the special soil Nature’s Attendant had created.

“This is the most stable variant thus far,” Nature’s Attendant said, trying to be positive as he knelt down to get closer to the small sprout. “A lot more lively, too.”

“A good sign,” Duskleaf nodded.

“Speaking of good signs... you finally took a Chosen,” Nature’s Attendant changed the topic with a smile. “How many eras has it been since you last had one of those?”

“There never was a need to have one,” Duskleaf said dismissively.

“Yet you changed your mind now,” Nature’s Attendant chuckled. “This Meira must truly be someone special.”

Duskleaf was silent for a while before sighing. “Truthfully... she’s not. Don’t get me wrong, she’s not bad, but compared to the other Chosen, she’s far behind and lacks innate talent. Her Path will be far more difficult than others, and all she can do is keep struggling to try to keep up and overcome her own limitations time and time again.”

Nature’s Attendant was silent for a little while as he kept smiling. “Then what made you decide to take her as your Chosen? It’s not like you had a lack of talented people interested in being your Chosen. I know the Altmar Empire has tried hard to get some of their young geniuses under your wing in vain.”

“She worked hard,” Duskleaf spoke as he kept looking at the small sprout. “Even if she wasn’t good at something, she kept trying, never giving up.”

“That’s not a unique quality,” Nature’s Attendant said.

“I know,” Duskleaf instantly agreed. “But it’s the most important quality.”

Nature’s Attendant was about to say something as the small sprout in front of them suddenly spiked with energy as the golden pattern crackled, and a second later, the small plant wilted away and died.

“Energy overload? We’ll have to delay the reaction of the compound for the next attempt,” Duskleaf said without missing a beat as he closely studied the wilted plant, not a single hint of discouragement on his face despite the failure.

Looking at his old friend and partner in this project, Nature’s Attendant could only smile and nod. Most important quality, indeed.

“I’ll prepare the soil to better help absorb the energy to counteract the reaction in case of a similar occurrence,” the second-in-command of the Pantheon of Life spoke, Duskleaf giving a single nod of affirmation as a second later, both men were gone from the isolated world, preparing for attempt number one-hundred and nine.