The Primal Hunter's
A Different Path

As Jake was relaxing, he pondered how strange the stamina was. He wasn't tired, because he didn't want to take a nap, and his muscles didn't hurt or anything like that. He did not even feel any fatigue for a second during the fight itself, yet once the fight was over, he felt drained.

It was probably just mental fatigue rather than physical exhaustion now that he thought about it. There's no stat for that. Or does determination help with that? Of course, he didn't know, so he could only guess, but since he didn't feel mentally heavy even with the stat increase, he felt no.

It makes little sense that it is exhausting to focus on interpreting feelings from his Perception Scope all the time while also being under constant pressure. Right now, it was still active, vaguely making him realize everything within 8 meters or so, but he did not actually use it directly. He couldn't express it in words, but he guessed someone would say it had an 'active' and 'passive' mode'.

It's not like he doesn't know how it works. He only knows what's inside. He did not expressly 'see' anything; he only knew the shape and size of everything. It takes a lot of experimentation to really figure out if it's possible, and for some reason, Jake doubts he'll get an answer just by sitting there. Instead, he decided to look at the system notifications and his level upgrades. And boy, is there any notice.

*You have killed [Human (G) - lvl 3 / Warrior (Light) - lvl 6] – Experience bonuses obtained to kill enemies above your level. 365 TP obtained*

*You have killed [Human (G) - lvl 2 / Archer - lvl 5] – Experience obtained. 243 TP obtained*

*You have killed [Human (G) - lvl 3 / Warrior (Light) - lvl 7] – Experience bonuses obtained to kill enemies above your level. 471 TP obtained*

*'DING!' Class: [Archer] has reached level 6 - Allotted stat points, +1 free points*

*'DING!' Race: [Human (G)] has reached level 3 - Allotted stat points, +1 free points*

*You have killed [Human(G) - lvl 3 / Warrior (Light) - lvl 6] – Experience gained. 394 TP obtained*

*You have killed [Human(G) - lvl 3 / Archer - lvl 7] – A small amount of bonus experience is gained for killing enemies with classes above your class level. 654 TP obtained*

*You have killed [Human(G) - lvl 4 / Archer - lvl 9] – Bonus experience gained for killing enemies above your level. 1167 TP obtained*

*'DING!' Class: [Archer] has reached level 7 - Allotted stat points, +1 free points*

The advantage was good, and he was very surprised to see that Nicholas had been at level 9 with quite a lot of tutorial points as well, indicating that he had indeed killed many beasts. After all, he's strong. It makes Jake wonder if Richard is lying when he says that he is level 9, but honestly not important for now.

He only had one free point left from the final level-up, as he was in the middle of a fight throwing all his points into perception. Perception was, without a doubt, the stat he liked the most, and he felt it had great synergy with his bloodline abilities. Based on that, he decided to put his one free point into perception, as he opened his newly upgraded status menu.

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

Race: [Human (G) – lvl 3]

Grade: [Harmer – lvl 7]

Profession: T/A

Health Points (HP): 257/340

Which Points (MP): 88/140

Endurance body: 151/210

Statisticians

Strength: 21

Agility: 22

Durability: 21

Vitality: 34

Toughness: 13

Wisdom: 14

Intelligence: 14

Perception: 37

Willingness: 12

Free points: 0

Once again, he confirmed the strangeness of the endurance stat. Due to leveling up, his maximum stamina increased by 40, making his current also increase by 40. Which in the end made him have more stamina than when he started the fight. He also decided to check the tutorial panel now that he was fiddling with the menu.

Panel Tutorials

Duration: 63 days & 2:27:39

Total Remaining Victims: 987/1200

TP Collected: 4629

So many people died, and not even the first day passed, he thought, 213 people were killed. More than one-sixth of the total number of those who follow the tutorial. Not that Jake helped that statistic in any way, as he was personally responsible for those nine deaths.

He did not know if his TP was many or few, but according to the rules, he got half of the TP of the person he killed, so he assumed it must be a lot. If Nicholas gave him 1167, he would have doubled in 2334 which is still just a little more than half of what he has today. It's not that he doesn't know what those damn points are for.

However, the number of points is quite respectable, as Nicholas has been level 9, while Jake is only level 7. But it made sense, because he took the accumulated points from those who had killed many enemies to reach their goal level. He also did not know exactly how much TP different enemies gave him. He earned over 300 from level 10 wild boars, and it was a mutual murder.

For badgers, he got 4 points from level 3, and 8 from level 4. The sample size is too small, but maybe the points are only doubled for each level? Even though it looks crazy. It was somewhat a match for a level 10 wild boar that gave a total of 512, and he earned 300 more than that on co-murder.

Once again, he shook his head at his useless internal thoughts. It was a waste of time to think about it, and he only needed to go hunting for ferocious beasts to find out how many points each level awarded easily.

He closed all his menus and woke up feeling refreshed both mind and body despite only relaxing for ten minutes. He walked to where he fought Nicholas walking into the dead man's body. Jake could still see the reluctance on his face, but there was nothing to be done about it. They've been fighting, and Jake's been on top.

He had decided on himself to give a respectable delivery to the man, but quickly met with obstacles for not having anything to dig into. He refused to leave the man's body to be eaten by overgrown badgers or deer, so leaving his body out in the open was not an option. Logically, it is a waste of time, but one cannot always remain logical.

He decided to make a small fire. The fire was rather easy to make by making sparks with two daggers, one of which he took from one of the dead archers. It was by no means a glorious pile of wood, but it completed the job. He watched in earnest as the corpse caught fire, nodding towards the once powerful enemy as flames devoured it.

Despite being in the same place for several hours while preparing and burning the body, nothing appeared. Jakes suspects Richard has decided not to send any more would-be assassins for now.

After he finished there, he went to a nearby river and washed himself and his robe. He took a bath in full clothes, his shirt and pants were still worn. The only thing he took off were his shoes and socks, as getting soaked seemed to be too much.

After cleaning himself up and making his robe return browner than red, he decided to set off once more and ended up hunting alone. Eager to finally begin, he smiled and dashed into the depths of the forest once more, like a child entering an amusement park.

Richard had sent Nicholas and the other fighters with stealth skills almost an hour ago. They knew to return to their home camp after the work was done, and he almost expected to meet them there. It took 40 minutes to walk with the beginners to their camp, arriving with a bit of hassle along the way.

The situation was a bit awkward as they walked, but Richard had spoken to the young man named Jacob and considered him quite competent. He was good at reading people, and his group of survivors clearly listened to him and respected him. He protected them, but Richard only saw that as a bonus. Despite only interacting with the young man for over half an hour, he already had a little respect for him.

The only thing that irritated him was the lack of information he had on the archers he had sent to Nicholas.

Jacob claimed that he had been their co-worker before the initiation, and that was it. He doesn't seem to know the man very well. The only thing he knows is that he is good with bows and that he tends to like being alone. It was annoying, but in the end it wasn't important because the archer was likely already dead by the time that point was discussed.

Or at least he assumed so. But the lack of a squad of assassins chasing him back made him worry. The young man was confident to a ridiculous degree, and Richard began to fear that it was not all for courage. Most were without a doubt because he was pretty sure he remembered one of his dialogues came from the movie, but paranoia still crawled over him.

Losing a member or two would be more than annoying. After all, they had poured enough resources into it, raising everything to at least level 5. He did not consider them perishing for a second.

In his opinion, Nicholas is too good for that. He was on the same level as himself, and Richard was not confident to go against the man directly. He was strong before the tutorial, and here, he is only stronger. He does have a slight fear that Nicholas will one day turn to him, but so far it seems unlikely. Either way, he didn't see the scenario of the arrogant bastard archer surviving.

Arriving at their small camp with rookies, the newcomers took a look, with Richard nodding at the progress in his absence. The camp was simple, to say the least, but they had started building some temporary huts using sticks and leaves, with some magnificent buildings already planned. If they had to spend more than two months here, they would eventually have to create a safe haven, and there was no better time than at the moment.

After waiting another quarter of an hour, he saw someone running towards the camp, and he did not recognize him immediately. A haggard teenager with cuts and bruises all over her body stumbles across a tree, making her look better. At first, Richard was happy because he recognized him as one of Nicholas' men, but immediately frowned when he saw him alone.

Taking a closer look, he saw pure terror still on the young man's face. Richard instantly turned serious when a few questions quickly popped into his head. Could it be that they encountered a dangerous beast out there? Another group? Where is Nicholas?

He walked quickly towards the boy, as he practically collided with him. Before the boy could open his mouth, Richard cut him off:

"What's going on? Where is Nicholas? Where's the rest of your army? ”

"D ... dead," the boy barely managed to stutter.

Richard froze for a moment.

"Did Nicholas kill them?" She asked. If Nicholas had betrayed him ...

"He's dead…"

"WHAT!?" Richard shouted, clearly scaring the already frightened child. The boy barely managed to explain little by little how they had fought and been killed, but Richard cut him off.

"If he kills everyone" cried Richard, taking a deep breath while looking down on the boy, "then why are you still alive?"

At this point, the other people in the camp had noticed the commotion, including Jacob, who decided to come closer and listen. He finds out that Richard has sent people to chase Jake and hopes his friend can somehow leave. It's an open secret that no one talks about.

But it sounded like it was very different from what he expected. To be honest he wasn't sure if he should be happy or not because his friend had killed so many people.

The young archer almost pissed himself off at this moment. He gritted his teeth and explained what happened in more detail. How they were ambushed, and two people died because all they could do was try and take cover. He said everything he knew, leaving only the fact that he had been hiding cowardly for everything.

“He left me alive because he wanted me to deliver the message,” said the archer. "He told me that Nicholas fought well .. and he was serious about what he said before."

The teenager ignored the last part of sending more people. He was afraid that it would only make Richard even more angry and he would actually do it. If that happens, the teenager is sure he will also be forced to leave.

Despite leaving the last part, Richard was still furious. His face was red but, at the same time, very hesitant about what to do. He looked at the child, who, in turn, looked like he was contemplating whether he should say something.

"What else? Say it!" He said while looking angry.

“Bos. She ... she enjoyed it .. smile while covered in blood .. monster.”

Richard stunned. He would usually yell at the child more often, but what he saw before him was not just a frightened child, but someone who was completely terrified. Rebuking him would be useless. He turned instead to Jacob, who stood not far away.

Jacob was also shocked by what he heard, especially the last part. He knows that Jake is strong, and he knows that he is rather special in terms of fighting.

But as he recalled that night, the bloodstained Jake stood smiling amidst the three brutally murdered corpses. If he was on that other side, it would be terrifying.

"What's wrong with that guy?" Richard finally asked while looking at Jacob.

Jacob decided to stand up straight. He had heard what the boy had said. Jake's out there, and he's really a threat from his voice. He is the strongest bargaining tool of his group along with Caroline. And Jacob was nothing if not a good businessman.

“He is my friend and co-worker as I said, and he is very good with bows. And when it comes to fighting, or 'hunting' as he calls it, he gets a bit in the per-se zone. He's weird, he's a loner. To be honest I don't really understand about him, but one thing I do know is he's my friend.”

Richard looked at Jacob and saw no indication the man was lying about anything.

Whatever he was, Richard thought, he was worthless.

He had lost quite a number of good people for one day.