While floating down to meet the battered and beaten World Leader and other survivors, Jake couldn’t help but reflect a bit on the fight. More accurately, one aspect of the fight.
It had come as a bit of a surprise, but despite the Prima Guardian being in the middle of a battle against other people, Jake had fully benefitted from Lone Hunter throughout everything. It had been active from the moment Jake decided to kill the Prima Guardian, even as it was actively fighting several others.
This didn’t make much sense to Jake. How was it considered a solo hunt with so many people involved? However, when he considered it a bit more… why wouldn’t Lone Hunter have been active?
Jake was hunting alone.
He wasn’t allied with the World Leader or anyone else on this planet. They were just there. Background noise to his own hunt and – to put it bluntly – just part of the environment. It was no different from if Jake stalked two beasts fighting and decided to get involved in the middle of it to take them both down. If Lone Hunter didn’t work in a situation like that, Jake would have found it weird.
Perhaps it also played a role that these people simply weren’t strong enough to ever qualify as hunting companions. The final strike of the World Leader had been okay-ish but pretty damn telegraphed, and when Jake held it up against something like the Sword Saint’s Glimpse of Spring: Erosion… yeah, it was like comparing stabbing someone with a spear or a toothpick.
Returning his focus to the real world, Jake kept descending as everyone who’d survived just stared at him. It was moments like these he was happy to be wearing a mask, as he would have felt pretty damn awkward without it.
In their gazes, he saw a lot of different emotions, but none seemed outright hostile. One could argue that Jake should have stepped in earlier to see if he could save more of them… but why would he have? He’d only gotten involved once it was absolutely certain they would lose. In his mind, getting involved before that may have been a disservice more than anything.
Scenarios where talents face death were multiversally also recognized as opportunities for tremendous growth. Many of Jake’s skill upgrades had come in moments where things weren’t looking good, which was far from rare. Jake choosing to attack the Prima earlier may have potentially robbed the World Leader and others of such an opportunity, something he himself would hate others doing to him.
Besides, if he’d really wanted to be fully selfish, he would have waited for the Prima Guardian to kill everyone before attacking. As things were, he barely delayed getting involved as most of the time he’d spent waiting had been prep time for his opening strike.Anyway, Jake took his time floating down to meet everyone, primarily to give them all a bit of time to gather themselves. Miranda had also talked to Jake about the importance of theatrics at times to leave a more lasting impression. Even Villy was a fan of showing off, though his reasoning was more about the importance of looking cool while doing something.
Some of the survivors had gone to help their more injured comrades, and Jake saw that the space mage had survived. Despite having been close to the epicenter of the crater, he had barely taken any damage but had only been blasted away. Jake’s destructive arcane energies had been focused on killing the Prima, meaning he had been spared for the most part, and with some healing, he should be okay.
Probably.
Arriving at the same height as the World Leader, she seemed to finally snap out of her stupor as she bowed her head. ”Thank you for saving us. I am Olliandra, the World Leader of this planet. May I know the identity of our savior?”
Jake felt a sense of caution even as she asked, which gave Jake a more positive impression of her. Even under these circumstances, she was level-headed enough to question who or what Jake was, as well as his intentions for helping them. Also, he could admit it was a bit weird for a guy to show up and just kill the Prima Guardian without further elaborating.
”Thayne,” Jake just answered, choosing to go with his last name. ”World Leader of the planet Earth.”
The woman looked like she was searching her memory about who he could be, but she seemed to come up blank. One of the reasons Jake had chosen to not go with his identity as the Chosen of the Malefic Viper was to see if people even knew his name. He had been told that Ell’Hakan had spread some information about Jake but clearly hadn’t gone as far as to use his actual name… though he would come to learn in not that long that his brilliant ruse of only using his last name was kind of moronic.
Anyway, Ell’Hakan using Jake’s title over his name made sense. From the beginning, he had been trying to frame Jake as more of a symbol rather than a person. Only using his title would help accomplish that.
”I apologize; I do not believe I have heard of you,” the World Leader called Olliandra said, keeping her very polite tone. Despite her state, she also tried to keep an aura of dignity, which was pretty hard considering her missing arm and overall bloody appearance.
Jake decided to also be a bit polite as he took a quick look around. ”Rather than speak here, you should gather your allies and attend to the wounded. We shouldn’t waste more time than needed either. You have a Planetary Core to claim and an army of Primas to address.”
Olliandra quickly nodded. ”Thank you… would you be willing to follow me to our capital city?”
”Sure,” Jake agreed. He was a bit interested in seeing what the other planets of their galaxy looked like, and this one had been pretty average so far. It looked a lot like Earth, except the plants were quite a lot different, and the rocks all had a yellowish tinge to them.
It didn’t take those able to move about long to gather the survivors and prepare to head back to the capital. Contrary to before the system, unless people were fully dead, chances are they would naturally stabilize themselves if left alone for a bit. There were circumstances where injuries could be bad enough to still lead to death, but unless harmful energies had been infused into the blows and lingered, this was rare. Okay, if poison was involved, dying after the fact was also pretty normal, but the Prima Guardian hadn’t used any poison.
With everyone gathered, Jake saw Olliandra look toward the crater as Jake shook his head.
”The Prima Guardians do not leave anything behind. Any rewards are inside the Prima Vessel and only become available after all the regular Primas are also dead,” Jake quickly explained.
She looked at him weirdly for a moment before she cautiously asked to clarify: ”Has your planet already killed its Prima Guardian and all Primas?”
”Of course,” Jake just said.
”How… how powerful was it compared to this one?” she asked hesitantly. It wasn’t a secret that the Prima Guardians scaled based on the planet, and it wasn’t a reach either to assume that the one Jake had faced had been quite a bit different.
”I see little meaning in comparing them,” Jake simply shook his head. The levels and the sheer difference in power between the two variants did make them difficult to compare. In fact, the only real thing they had in common was their durability and their ability to somewhat adapt, though the level of adaption of the Exalted Prima Guardian had been insane. This one seemed to just absorb some magical concepts from others.
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Which proved to be a good thing, as it had no counters to when Jake struck. It had also helped a bit that it was already damaged and had spent a fair amount of energy. Of course, the primary reason it had been so easy to kill was due to Jake landing a Protean Arrow from stealth. With Lone Hunter improving the effects of Stealth Skills further, along with his Big Game Hunter, it felt like the skill gave double the benefits when using Stealth Attack.
”I see,” Olliandra just nodded, not pressing further. From the look in her eyes, she seemed to get what Jake was getting at, though.
Their group flew down toward the small ruined fort, where a teleportation circle remained intact. Jake saw Olliandra clearly struggling just moving around, her boosting skill having done quite a number on her internals. Still, she hadn’t asked anyone for help, so neither would Jake offer. It wouldn’t look good for her either if another World Leader assisted her just with walking.
Returning to the capital city through the teleportation circle, Jake found himself within a massive and pretty damn impressive city. Tall and mostly rectangular towers were erected everywhere, the yellow-tinged stone really shining through. Quite literally, as the stone apparently became golden and reflective when polished.
Technology-wise, Jake guessed this planet had been pretty medieval pre-system. It was a bit weird how most planets seemed to have been, considering how quickly civilizations usually developed, but perhaps Earth had just been weird in that regard. Thinking on it further, the benefits of having been technologically advanced before the system were pretty much non-existent, while if you lived in a medieval world where things like swords and spears were normal, you would have an advantage.
The World Leader quickly escorted Jake to a large cathedral-looking building, which Jake later came to learn also served as the royal palace. Scouting the capital city, it was quite clear no Primas had reached it yet, but people were on high alert, and there weren’t as many around as Jake would expect.
After quickly cleaning herself up to look somewhat representable, Olliandra went to meet Jake, who hadn’t bothered staying in the proposed meeting room but had gone to the clocktower that overlooked the city. He saw that she was joined by the space mage who’d recovered enough to walk, though, from his aura, it was clear he could do little more than walk around. Jake guessed he’d only joined out of worry for his World Leader.
”I apologize for making you wait,” Olliandra said as she joined Jake, taking out two chairs for her and the mage to sit alongside Jake.
”I was the one who proposed postponing our talk,” Jake said. It was already enough that she prioritized meeting with him over going to claim the Planetary Pylon. Then again, maybe she was unsure if Jake truly would allow her to claim it.
”And for that, I thank you,” she bowed her head, something the space mage clearly didn’t like, but he tried to not let it show. He was pretty bad at being sneaky, though. Jake would really recommend the guy to buy a mask, they did wonders at hiding your actual emotions.
”If I may,” the space mage began. ”You are from the Prima Guardian Alliance, correct?”
”Technically, everyone who can teleport here from other planets is,” Jake answered. ”But I guess that isn’t what you are asking.”
”Were you sent here by them?” he followed up, his eyes glowing with reverence for a moment. ”Did the Celestial Child not turn his back on us after all?”
Jake would lie if he said the question surprised him. He would also lie if he said it didn’t offend him.
”Celestial Child, huh,” Jake said, smiling beneath his mask. ”What makes you think someone like him could order me to go anywhere?”
He wanted to call Ell’Hakan something far worse but restrained himself. Being openly hostile toward the orange fuck would only play into the guy’s plans. Better to just take the approach of finding it offensive that Ell’Hakan even dared try to compare himself to Jake.
”I thought he was the leader of the Prima Guardian Alliance?” Olliandra asked, a bit confused. ”He is the Chosen of Yip of Yore, a god comparable or even superior to the twelve Primordials. If he didn’t send you… why did you come here?”
”I came here to hunt down the Prima Guardian,” Jake answered. ”As for the other nonsense you said… let me just give you some kind advice: don’t believe everything you hear, especially not when it comes out of the mouth of someone like Ell’Hakan.”
”What do you mean by that?” the space mage asked in an offended tone, not even trying to hide it anywhere.
”Exactly what I said,” Jake answered. ”I’m not even telling you to trust me either. Just to show caution and to watch yourselves. Ell’Hakan can manipulate the emotions of others, often without them even noticing. Simply being aware of this is the best defense and you should continually question yourselves while in his presence if what you are feeling is genuine. That’s the only advice regarding him I’m going to give you.”
”Could you elaborate on what you mean by manipulating emotions?” Olliandra asked skeptically. ”I’m confident I would have noticed if he ever did anything. Most World Leaders or politically inclined would, considering the plethora of skills we have to defend against or at least detect such things.”
”Skills can’t block Bloodlines,” Jake just shook his head.
Olliandra looked like she was about to say something but stopped herself as she looked deep in thought. The space mage also kept quiet, as he seemed to have some internal debate going on.
After a few seconds of silence, the other World Leader seemed to have reached some conclusion as she bowed once more. ”I thank you for your warning, Lord Thayne. It has given me much food for thought. We haven’t had many interactions with the Celestial Child, and I do not believe we are in his good graces in the first place after we didn’t go along with his plan for this event.”
”What did you just call him?” the space mage asked as his head perked up.
Olliandra gave the mage a look of disapproval due to his sudden outburst. He didn’t even seem to notice, though, as he just stared at Jake.
”You… you’re the Chosen of the Malefic Viper?”
See, this was why calling himself Thayne was a pretty damn useless and dumb thing to do if he didn’t want people to instantly recognize who he was, considering there was a Leaderboard available with his full name at the top, placed right at the entrance to the most visited World Wonder in the multiverse.
With the cat out of the bag, Jake nodded. ”Among other things, yes.”
The mood in the clocktower changed as Olliandra now stared at Jake with much concern… proving that the propaganda from Ell’Hakan definitely had hurt his reputation. Or maybe the Viper’s reputation had hurt his reputation. Either way, her knowing he was the Chosen of the Malefic Viper didn’t seem to give her a more positive impression.
”I… I fail to understand why the Chosen of the Malefic Viper has decided to visit this planet,” Olliandra said after a bit.
”To kill your Prima Guardian,” Jake just answered, not changing his own tone. ”The system event will give rewards based on your overall performance during the entire event. This includes what you do on other planets.”
”But… why here?” she continued questioning.
”You were the first planet to accept my application,” Jake responded in a deadpan tone.
”That can’t have been the only reason…”
”Turns out it can,” Jake shook his head and couldn’t help but smile. ”That truly is the only reason I came here. You were the first planet to accept my request, and I only came here to kill the Prima Guardian. Everything happening now is just me trying to be polite as a fellow World Leader.”
”Is it true you are in a conflict with the Celestial Child?” the space mage finally also asked, his look quite complicated.
”That is what people say,” Jake just answered. ”Personally, I feel like he’s a far more significant threat to the ones who sided with him in the Prima Guardian Alliance than he is a problem for me.”
The clocktower was silent once more as the two of them digested Jake’s answer. In the end, Jake was the one who broke the silence.
”Well, I guess I have lingered here long enough,” Jake sighed as he stood up. ”I also believe you have plenty of matters to attend to, including claiming your Planetary Pylons and handling the Primas still roaming your world.”
Olliandra looked at Jake a bit weirdly, as she couldn’t help but ask. ”What happens from here? What is expected of us?”
”Haven’t I told you already? I came here to kill the Prima Guardian. That’s done. I didn’t come here expecting anything. With that, I’m not saying you can’t reach out to Earth for diplomatic purposes. Just that there are no requirements for you to do so.”
The other World Leader still seemed doubtful about Jake’s words, but he didn’t try to convince her further. Trying to prove he didn’t have some ulterior motive was borderline impossible, as proving a negative wasn’t a thing. Besides, he did kind of have an ulterior motive for coming, in wanting to at least mess with Ell’Hakan’s plans a little.
”Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet you, Olliandra. I wish you a happy hunt of the remaining Primas. I myself have more Guardians to slay and will not stick around longer than necessary,” Jake said as he prepared to leave.
”One last time, thank you for saving not just my life but likely this entire planet,” Olliandra bowed deeply. ”I hope to repay such favor one day.”
Jake just smiled as he stood at the edge of the tower, but before he teleported, he turned for one last comment.
”Actually, I will say one more thing regarding the Ell’Hakan matter. Say there was a conflict between us, one leading to outright hostilities. If I were you, I would heavily consider where you would wish to stand in such a conflict. Because if it becomes a battle with only one side left standing at the end… I don’t think I need to elaborate further.”
With that, Jake stepped down and teleported away from the clock tower, preparing to head back to Earth.
Second Prima Guardian down… and hopefully, some good politicking done, too.