The Primal Hunter Chapter 5 - Big Pig

As Jake basked in the warmth of his recent level-ups and the lingering rush of combat, he pulled up his status window. He paid little mind to the dazed state of his companions; while he welcomed the win, he didn't view the skirmish as a grand feat. They were just oversized rodents… or were badgers even rodents? He wasn't sure. Regardless, he moved on.

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

Race: [Human (G) – lvl 1]

Class: [Archer – lvl 2]

Profession: N/A

Health Points (HP): 130/130

Mana Points (MP): 120/120

Stamina: 111/130

Stats

Strength: 13

Agility: 14

Endurance: 13

Vitality: 13

Toughness: 11

Wisdom: 12

Intelligence: 12

Perception: 18

Willpower: 10

Free points: 3

Titles

[Forerunner of the New World]

Reflecting on it, he realized he hadn’t checked this window since the tutorial began, failing to even verify his class or title. The growth was significant. His Agility had jumped from 8 to 14, nearly doubling due to the title and level bonuses. Since Archer levels granted 2 points to Perception, that stat had surged by 8 points. The change was palpable. Sounds were crisp, and his sight was sharper than it had ever been, except for when he specifically activated Archer’s Eye.

It might have been a trick of his mind, but he felt as though his Perception was still climbing as he stood there, cooling down. Perhaps the stat bonuses were applied gradually, or maybe he simply needed a moment to acclimate to the enhanced senses. He smiled to himself, noting that he would need to experiment with this later.

Stats were truly bizarre. During the encounter, he had moved with the speed and power of a world-class athlete. Yet, the transition felt so seamless that he hadn't questioned it for a moment. It was almost frightening how quickly one could adapt to such drastic physical enhancements.

Attributing it all to system-magic, he closed the screen. It was then he noticed the group was either staring at him or the fallen badgers.

“Thanks, Caroline,” Jacob said, gently moving a blushing Caroline aside. He turned to the group to offer praise. “Good job, everyone. Especially you, Jake.”

Jacob appeared to have regained his composure, wearing that same passive smile and familiar glint in his eyes. The post-battle tension was fading. On a side note, Jake had essentially dismantled their intricate strategy by slaying half the monsters before the fight truly started. The only part of the plan still relevant was the disposal of the bodies. They required meat, so… badger for dinner. Hooray?

Moving the carcasses proved difficult, as nobody was keen on handling the blood-soaked animals. This was especially true for the one Bertram and Theodore had killed, which was riddled with holes and a complete mess. Consequently, they only took the two Jake had sniped at the beginning, as they were the most intact. The task of carrying them fell to Ahmed, who wanted to make up for his lack of contribution, and Dennis, who seemed eager to be useful. No one even considered asking Jake to carry anything, a fact he wasn't about to complain about.

As the party resumed their search for water, Jake inspected his quiver. He had used 6 arrows, leaving him with 54. He focused on the item to identify it once more:

[Enchanted Quiver (Common)] – A quiver enchanted with the ability to conjure [common] quality arrows when injected with mana.

Now he just had to figure out how to "inject" mana. Within four seconds, he discovered the process was far simpler than he thought. By holding the quiver and focusing his intent, the process began almost by instinct.

The sensation of mana leaving his body was slightly strange, but not painful. Inside the quiver, he watched as arrows slowly materialized, seeming to grow from the inner lining. After about thirty seconds, the count was back to 60. Attempting to push more mana into it did nothing. Checking his status, he saw his mana had dropped to 102/120.

So, it cost three mana per arrow. That would have been amazing in his old life, he mused while inspecting the magical gear, before remembering he didn't have mana back then.

He had briefly thought about retrieving his spent arrows, but decided against it. They would need cleaning, their structural integrity was likely compromised after one use, and most importantly, he could just create new ones magically. If he ever ran low on mana, he could probably have one of the warriors charge the quiver, since they weren't using their mana for anything else.

Besides, it was a waste of time to scavenge for arrows when he could replace them in seconds.

As they hiked, Jake naturally drifted to the front, walking alongside Bertram. The big man seemed to be debating something before finally speaking up.

“Jake… were you in the service? Or maybe you’re a hunter?” he asked.

Jake was caught off guard by the inquiry. “Neither. I did a lot of archery growing up, and I still shoot when I visit my parents. Why do you ask?”

Jake was genuinely puzzled. He felt he had done alright in the fight, but nothing extraordinary.

“I just thought you were very composed back there, that’s all,” Bertram replied, dropping the subject. He didn't look particularly convinced by the answer, though.

Jake gave a nod and returned his focus to the path ahead, scanning the brush. He noted a peculiar lack of insects, worms, or small critters. There were birds in the canopy, but they were all at least the size of pigeons.

The lack of bugs was a relief. Normal fauna seemed to have mutated or been replaced. He imagined what a mutated tick or spider would look like and realized their group could be wiped out by something tiny without ever seeing it coming.

The terrain was incredibly thick, filled with steep hills, fallen timber, and massive shrubs, making it impossible to see more than ten meters ahead. This forced them to move at a grueling, slow pace.

A few minutes later, Jake caught a flicker of movement to his left. He nudged Bertram, who looked over and spotted a rustling bush. Bertram raised a hand, signaling the group to halt. Jake unslung his bow, nocked an arrow, and prepared for whatever was hiding.

The rustling stopped, and the forest went quiet. As the seconds ticked by, the others began to let their guard down. Jake didn't. His instincts told him the threat was still there.

He activated Archer’s Eye, peering deep into the foliage. He caught a glint of light bouncing off something between the leaves and loosed an arrow without a second thought.

A sharp shriek pierced the air as a small boar, no taller than a man's knee, stumbled out. It took a few frantic steps before collapsing, an arrow buried in its left eye.

*You have slain [Boar-Beast – lvl 1] – Experience earned. 1 TP earned*

Silence returned as they looked at the dead pig. Jacob started to speak, but a far more thunderous sound cut him off.

“SQUEEEEAL!”

A deafening cry erupted, followed by the heavy thud of hooves that made the earth tremble.

“RUN!”

Jake didn't wait to see who shouted. He bolted toward one of the massive trees. Using his knife and an arrow as makeshift climbing picks, he slammed them into the trunk and began to ascend.

He climbed rapidly, watching as the rest of the group scrambled for cover. Bertram was the only one who stood his ground, raising his shield toward the source of the noise.

As Jake climbed, the bush where the small boar had hidden exploded. A gargantuan boar, taller than even Bertram, charged out.

The beast ignored everyone else and went straight for the tree Jake was climbing. It slammed its tusks into the trunk with enough force to make the entire tree sway. The jolt caused Jake to lose his grip on his arrow, but he clung to his knife, narrowly avoiding a fatal fall.

Jake secured himself by driving another arrow into the bark. Below him, the group was paralyzed with fear near another tree. Finally, Jacob snapped out of it, yelling for Casper and the casters to open fire.

The monster ignored the nine humans preparing to fight, continuing to ram the tree and squeal in rage. It was a tactical error that gave the group an opening.

Three mana bolts and a single arrow hit the boar's flank, finally drawing its ire. The mana bolts caused small bursts of energy, scorching its skin and leaving shallow wounds, while the arrow failed to even pierce the hide.

With new, easier targets available, the massive boar turned toward the group. Nobody, Bertram included, wanted to test their strength against that charge. They all scattered behind the trees.

This tactic worked; the beast couldn't charge effectively because it couldn't make sharp turns around the trunks. This cat-and-mouse game gave Jake enough time to reach a sturdy branch and find his footing.

From his perch, Jake began raining arrows down. Unlike Casper’s shots, Jake’s arrows sank deep into the thick hide. The boar tried to charge his tree again, but only succeeded in hurting itself against the wood. It was clearly more powerful than it was smart.

A long period of attrition followed. Jake kept shooting, the casters fired mana bolts when they could, and the warriors tried to keep the beast distracted by shouting and waving their weapons.

The plan was working until a scream broke the rhythm. Jake looked down to see Joanna had tripped. She was lying prone on the forest floor, only meters away from the boar, seemingly paralyzed by the fall.

The boar might have been dim-witted, but it knew a vulnerable target when it saw one. It immediately turned toward her. Bertram rushed to intervene, but he was too far away to beat the beast's charge.

The boar didn't even bother with its tusks; it simply trampled her. Its heavy hooves thudded into the dirt. A sickening snap echoed through the woods, followed by Joanna’s agonized scream.

Before it could finish her, Bertram arrived, plunging his sword deep into the boar's side. The beast forgot about the woman and turned its fury on the warrior. With a violent toss of its head, it slammed its tusks into Bertram, sending the armored man flying into a tree with a heavy thud. The sword remained embedded in the boar's ribs. This distraction allowed Dennis to grab Joanna and drag her to safety.

From above, Jake watched the chaos while continuing to fire. There was nothing he could do for her now, he thought. He decided to capitalize on the opening her mistake had provided.

The boar was starting to look like a pincushion, and the constant mana bolts were wearing it down. It was visibly slowing. It stood there, huffing, its eyes fixed on Dennis, who was now stained with Joanna's blood.

Before it could charge again, Jake put an arrow through its other eye. Reaching for another, Jake found his quiver empty just as the beast made one final, desperate lunge at his tree. Blood pooled on the ground, and the boar was almost entirely red. Two more mana bolts hit its rear, and Casper continued to fire ineffective arrows.

The beast was failing. Seeing it sway, the warriors moved in to finish it. They stabbed at it repeatedly, except for Bertram, who was still struggling to stand after his collision with the tree.

Under the weight of the wounds and the massive blood loss, the monster finally toppled.

*You have slain [Irontusk Boar – lvl 10] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level. Experience split with the rest of your party. 302 TP earned*

*’DING!’ Class: [Archer] has reached level 3 – Stat points allocated, +1 free point*

Jake felt the familiar surge of energy from the level-up but ignored the notifications for now. He leaped from the branch and ran toward Joanna. Caroline was already there, her hands glowing with healing magic. Jake felt a brief sense of relief that she was alive, which vanished when he saw her legs. One was a mangled mess; the other was gone from the knee down, crushed into a pulp by the boar's weight.

“Get the healing potions!” Ahmed shouted, tossing his to Dennis. Dennis uncorked it and poured the liquid down Joanna’s throat.

The results were startling. The crushed leg began to knit back together. Theodore grabbed the limb to set it properly, ignoring the woman's screams. The leg was saved, but the severed one was a different story. The wound sealed shut, but the limb did not grow back.

Bertram limped over, an empty potion bottle in his hand. He looked better, having clearly used one himself. Joanna eventually lost consciousness from the shock. The atmosphere was grim; there were no cheers this time.

“We have to leave. This much blood will bring more predators,” Ahmed warned. Dennis and Theodore hoisted Joanna up, each taking a shoulder. The badger meat had been abandoned during the chaos, and no one cared to look for it. It had likely been flattened by the boar anyway.

As they moved out, Jake held his quiver, channeling mana to replace his arrows in case of another attack. They couldn't stop the hunt now. There was still light in the sky.

After he had made four arrows, Jacob and Caroline slowed their pace to walk beside him. Jake looked at them, wondering what they wanted, until Jacob met his gaze.

“…Why did you do that?”