The Primal Hunter Chapter 351: Combat Styles

The Viper was silent for a moment but quickly seemed to agree to the change of subject:

Villy began.

.

Jake frowned at the last part.

“Are you telling me to stop using weapons?” he asked, a bit confused.

the Viper asked.

Without waiting, Jake gently lifted Sylphie off him and placed her on the table with only a few minor protests from her as he walked down from his porch and took out his scimitar. He stood there with it in hand, not sure exactly what Villy was asking about.

“I’m not sure I get it? Jake asked.

“Well yeah, of course?”

” Villy kept asking.

Shaking his head, Jake just asked. “What the hell you on about?”

Villy elaborated.

“I thought that whole extension of your body thing was just some joke or over-exaggeration… but you’re serious?”

Villy finished.

Jake took the words in, and he couldn’t really disagree. His Nanoblade had broken, and while he sure did like the weapon, he liked it for its usefulness, and he disliked it being broken mainly because he would have to find a replacement or spend time and money getting it repaired. Not because he felt like an old friend had died or something like that.

He then looked over at the porch table with Sylphie and the broken bow both sitting on it, Sylphie having fun with inspecting the ruined weapon. Jake didn’t really feel anything special there either. Again, he liked the bow, but it was in the end just a tool in his mind.

“How do I learn to really embrace a weapon then?” Jake asked.

“So, we back to me not using weapons?” Jake once more asked.

Villy suggested.

Jake furrowed his brows a bit as he considered. “Daggers or knives?”

Villy joked back as Jake imagined him snickered.

“I do have the Twin-Fang style skill,” Jake remembered. It was a skill he didn’t really use much, but he did recall what it did. It was an actual martial art of sorts, all focused on stabbing and leaving narrow cuts with small weapons.

. ” Villy explained, giving a brief history lesson.

Jake snickered as he made a guess: “I am sure the guy would have loved some Malefic Viper fangs… I guess he bit off more than he could chew?”

,” Villy answered, Jake certain both of them had silly smiles on their faces.

“Anyway, back on topic,” Jake said after the brief intermission. “I guess daggers do work well. I did like using them, but the range was just limiting.”

” Villy answered.

“Certainly food for thought,” Jake said, nodding, as he moved to one thing nagging him. “But… where does the bow come in?”

It was something he had been holding off on asking about because he did have a bad feeling about what the Viper would say.

Villy answered.

Jake nodded with a serious expression before answering. “Well, that is dutifully noted and promptly ignored. Besides, it isn’t a waste; archery is a damn good way to deliver my poisons, and-“

the Viper swiftly countered.

“Now, considering I have stacked points in Perception, it would be a waste not to-“

“You miss that many of the class skills currently require a bow to use, so abandoning it would be-“

the Viper kept shutting him down.

“But if I merge archery and magic, I will be able to make use of the best of both worlds-“

Villy said teasingly.

“I like archery,” Jake finally just said.

“Good, we agree archery is great,” Jake promptly declared his victory. “But really, magic? I am not that good at it in my opinion. I just make big explosions and piercing bolts and the occasional barrier here and there, with a platform sprinkled in to step on for good measure.”

Villy said.

“Sounds fine… I just think I’ll keep doing what I already do when it comes to archery while maybe focusing a bit more on improving some basic archery stuff. But I definitely need to learn some more about melee combat and find a proper method for that. Anyway… Villy, while I do have more questions, I feel like those can wait. Thanks as always, we can chat later. Unless you got something on your mind?” Jake finished, throwing the ball to Villy.

Villy shot back, slightly teasing but with plenty of genuine confusion mixed in.

“Oh. Yeah. That.”

Jake had totally not forgotten it with everything else going on. Definitely not.

He took off his mask as he stared down at it. “Hey… so… got time now?”

Honestly, he was not sure where to start. First of all, how was the King still alive, second of all, why was he in the mask, and third of all, what should Jake do about having him in his mask? The entire situation was also just super awkward as Jake had naturally been the one to put him there. So, starting the conversation was just weird.

He looked down at the mask as he waited for something to happen. Seconds ticked by with nothing happening. Jake even went as far as to poke the mask with his finger and knock on it a bit to no avail. He used Identify on it, with the description not having changed.

That was certainly one possibility.

“I am not getting any response,” Jake said with a shrug to Villy. “Odd, he did talk earlier; at least I am ninety-nine percent sure he did. Either way… how is this even possible? I killed the King of the Forest and got the experience and all that. How the hell did he survive?”

Villy just answered nonchalantly.

“So, I shouldn’t expect to be absorbed into my bow and magically resurrect if I died?” Jake joked back.

” Villy answered.

“Wait… are you telling me I have been wearing a corpse on my face for months now?” Jake asked as he stared weirdly down at the mask.

“In the end, all roads lead to me wearing a corpse,” Jake shook his head as he smiled. “Though that is pretty normal, right? Heck, leather and fur are made of pieces of dead things too.”

Villy piled on.

“Slightly disturbing if very informative,” Jake laughed.

They kept chatting a bit more as he tried to get the mask to react a bit more but still got nothing. Maybe the King was sleeping again or just being a little shy.

Villy asked him as Jake finally gave up on the mask and just put it on like before.

“For now, go meet Miranda and figure out of I have anything to do, as well as get the general directions to the city that houses the Court of Shadows. The auction begins in a week, and during this time, it should be possible to travel there and spend some time,” Jake answered, having already considered it.

the Viper warned.

“Relax, man, I don’t plan on entering early retirement, just visiting family for a bit. Anyway, as always, been good chatting with ya, and cya around,” Jake said goodbye for real. Then, with a smile, he waved towards Sylphie, who happily flew over and landed on his head. A bit wasted as Jake went over to take the pieces of his bow anyway.

Villy said, making it sound like a veiled threat. Totally on purpose for sure.

Chucking to himself, Jake exited the valley as he headed onwards.

He had lost one battle, and while he certainly didn’t like it, he wasn’t going to let it stop him. What he would do was take a brief intermission to recharge before it was back on the grind.