The Primal Hunter's
Friend Or Enemy

Jake kept his promise to keep watch all night. It turned out to be only a few hours smoothly until the artificial sun rose once again. Seeing as the scrambling group woke up and gathered their belongings, he truly doubted they had slept at all.

Their current camp had been infiltrated, and they did not know if more enemies would come, so they needed to find a new place. Their entire original plan to find water and food and all the usual survival crap turned out to be a waste of time. While they still needed food and water, they needed far more levels, so sitting in one place was stupid.

They pack up, and Jake is surprised to see even Joanne standing and walking around with makeshift wooden legs. It was basically just a big piece of wood tied to his thigh and what was left of his feet. It looked uncomfortable and was certainly not suitable for any major movements, but he saw the determination and fortitude to continue walking on his face. Jake feels respect for the woman, as she refuses help, and they begin to walk.

They began to move further away from the great wall in the distance. Jake has a theory based on where the pillars are located and the wall that is only visible behind it, that the whole place has a rounded design. Fake celestial objects also show the shape of a dome. Moving inwards towards the center of the dome is expected to allow them to find more beasts. After all, they were very rare in the outer area.

It took a little while before they found another group of beasts. This time a group of deer-like creatures, just like the one the badgers ate on the first day. There were seven of them in total, and after using Identification, he found them to be between level 2 and 4, with the largest among them at level 5.

Jake decides not to interfere, first of all, as he is unsure how much experience he will be given to kill lower-level enemies, and because the whole purpose of this exercise is for everyone to build a fighting experience. They begin once again putting together a long and complicated plan, but Jake closes it off very hard and tells them to clear things up and move on.

They had three casters and an archer; many ranged weapons to drop some of them before the fight actually started. Jake had given them all the potions he had looted the day before, so they were more than covered in that department. He stored the stamina potions, as they were somewhat unnecessary to his comrades at this point, and Jake had a theory he wanted to test. Something for a more precise time.

The fight went on rather easily, as Jake had predicted. Bertram easily catches the biggest deer and even one more, while Theodore, Jacob, and Dennis take one each. The last two things like a deer have been killed or decommissioned by an initial barrage, making an effective fight of five versus nine, with Jake not participating.

Theodore managed to kill his deer easily as only level 2 by landing a sweep on his neck, cutting it open. His style is somewhat reserved and defensive, but he has a good body and no lack of confidence. He's also pretty good at seeing gaps, and Jake is even pretty sure he saw him throw tricks.

Dennis took a little longer with his two daggers cutting the beast. He is the fastest in the group other than Jake, and he also uses his active abilities, which allows him to have a small burst of speed here and there. He was a little hesitant and obviously did not like fighting, but he still finished his work.

In Jake's honest opinion, Jacob was the worst fighter in their group by a considerable margin. He panicked almost instantly as the beast approached and simply swung his sword forward and backward. The casters did well, Joanna had the worst accuracy, which Jake honestly couldn't blame her for considering the circumstances. Ahmed is by far the best, has enough accuracy and is eyeing vital points, with Lina being in between.

Caroline did little during the actual fight because of her touch-based healing skills, but she was quick to call out potential danger and even went and healed Jacob in the middle of the battle at one point. He's actually very nice.

Casper is also good, but Jake is a bit biased when it comes to archery. The result did speak for itself, as she got a few good shots, even dropping one of the solo deer when they first got engaged.

The entire ordeal took only a few minutes, with the last opponent to die being a huge deer that was slowly defeated by Bertram who received his attack with his shield, and the castors and Casper shot him to death.

Jake doesn't get any credit for the murders because he's not actively participating, justifying his suspicions that you must do damage or contribute in some way to gain experience. His moral support and oversight did not seem to be considered actual help.

The benefits are good too. Ignoring the TP, they had some level improvements, also resulting in an increase in the level of the race. It also completely confirmed the hypothesis that races leveled up every second level in the class.

Without further ado, they went on and met several smaller groups of animals over the next few hours. Jake only needs to get off once when a sizable level 7 badger runs past Bertram, heading straight for Lina. However, he is easily killed by Jake with an arrow on one of his legs followed by another arrow hitting his right eye, likely piercing through the brain as the animal dies instantly.

They did suffer some injuries, the most dangerous of which was when Theodore bit one hand and had to drink a healing potion. Minor injuries, such as scratches and such, were healed by Caroline after each fight. Although he could not do much in battle, his healing was invaluable as it allowed them to always be in top shape, and healing also seemed to eliminate the possibility of infection in wounds. Assuming it's still something. Oh my God.. Can bacteria level up? A thought of Jake quickly threw all the way to the back of his mind. Happy thoughts, happy thoughts ...

While healing potions could heal wounds as well, and in general, worked much faster, they seemed to have some sort of cooldown. If you drink one, you can't drink the next hour. Why this happens, they don't know. Heck, they don't even know why they know. Theodore had just said that he did it right after drinking it. System-magic or something. They did not know if there were any ill effects from drinking another drink or not, and to be honest, no one wanted to test it either.

After a rather difficult fight and a round of healing, everyone started to get tired as they had also passed the fourth hour since they left in the morning. The last group they killed was a small group of deer again, so they decided to camp and roast them on the fire. They also found another small stream nearby, allowing everyone to rehydrate. Jake has not eaten or drunk anything in his life.

He wanted to test exactly how health resources and stamina work and their relationship to daily needs. He wanted to see if potions, especially stamina potions, could fight the need for sleep and food. But it was for a time where he felt hungry or needed to sleep.

They sit gathered around a small fire eating roasted deer which, it should be mentioned, is a little better than badger meat. However, it was short-lived, as their peaceful break was interrupted when Jake heard what sounded like metal rubbing against metal. He got up from the wood he was sitting on and gestured for the rest of the group to get ready for a potential conflict.

The source of the sound immediately became clear, as it came out of the bushes walking a large man in full metal armor identical to Bertram, also carrying a shield and a sword. He was on the older side, in his late forties to early fifties, but his presence did not show any weakness due to age.

Quite a number of groups followed him. Jake counts fifteen, with more possibilities of hiding in the dense foliage behind them. There were mostly warriors that made sense since half of the base class was a variant of the class. The rest were castors with only one archer from what Jake could see, and not a single healer in his sight.

The first to speak was not Jacob, but a middle-aged soldier.

"Hello, hello, my name is Richard," he said in a friendly voice as he looked towards their group, his eyes pausing on Caroline for a moment, as he continued. “We saw smoke from your fire and decided to investigate - no need to worry. We have no intention of fighting anyone. So, who are you guys?”

The man was quite good at talking and had a relaxed expression on his face. Looking at the situation, Richard's group made them outnumbered by a considerable margin. Jake is not at all confident to fight so many enemies if things take a turn for the worse. If a fight did occur, it would be a one-sided massacre or he and his comrades scattering like the wind, with the possibility that only Jake would manage to get away with the others being hunted down one by one. In other words, a battle is impossible.

“Happy to finally see another human being!” Jacob smiled brightly at the man as he stepped forward. “My name is Jacob, and these are my colleagues from before who called this tutorial. May I know why you're looking for us? We also have no desire for unnecessary conflict.”

“Ha-ha, of course not, we humans are destined to unite!” the man replied with an exaggerated belly laugh, as he suddenly looked solemn. “I and two other groups, like yours, have decided to work together to get through this purgatory that calls itself a tutorial. Of course, we need everyone we have, so we want you and your friends to join us.”

Jacob instantly captures how he uses the term 'team up'. It didn't take a genius to see that there was only one leader in the group in front of them. Richard might claim it as a team, but clearly, it was a simple assimilation.

Jacob did not let his thoughts appear, but he continued to smile while nodding, “It's nice to hear that the other group is also fine out there. Can I talk to my friends first? I'm sure you understand that decisions like this are best made unanimously. ”

"of course! Sure was! Use your time!" Richard agreed though Jacob quite clearly said it was just words. They need to find a solution quickly.

Richard gestured for them to stay when his group allowed Jacob to back off a bit, gesturing for Jake and the others to do the same. During that time, Jake watches the other group just in case they try anything. Richard glanced at the archer who had been standing by his side from the start, and Jake noticed the archer moving slightly forward, clearly intending to listen with high perception. His second commandment?

When they were some distance away, Jacob turned his back to the other group and spoke to them. “What do you think of them? Larger groups will be more secure, and I think their offer is-”

He continues to speak positively about the offer as he looks around and sees that Jake has knelt down and written a few words on the ground with his fingers:

THEY LISTENED

BAD FEELING

CAREFUL

Jacob nodded, expecting it. That was why he was hiding his true thoughts. Jacob immediately wiped the words away with his hands, acting as if he had just cleaned his shoes. He continued speaking as he received reluctant gazes from those around him.

“... but we are familiar with each other, and we seem to function well as a team. There are also certain drawbacks to large groups, such as higher food needs, and it will probably provoke some stronger animals or such.”

The others also saw Jake's graffiti and nodded following what Jacob had said. None of them liked it, and they got a bad vibe from Richard and his group.

Jake looked at the other archer from the corner of his eyes, subtly shaking his head at the middle-aged soldier frowning at the seemingly unexpected response. But he quickly wiped away the wrinkles on his face as he smiled again and approached their group once more.

"I understand if you're reluctant, but working together is in everyone's best interest here."

"Of course, but-"

At this point, Richard immediately turned to Caroline, who was standing behind and interrupted Jacob. “Young lady, you wouldn't happen to be a healer, would you? Would be very appreciated if you came with us. ”

Caroline looked surprised and confused but did not manage to say anything before Richard turned to Jacob and the others.

“Your colleagues don't have to come, you know? They can, but you can also go with us alone - security in numbers and all that. We can promise you the right position in our group, and that we will do whatever we can to keep you safe. Of course, there will also be many levels. If you come with us, I'm sure we can settle this peacefully.”

Even Jake, with his exceptional social skills, can interpret the tone in that one.