The Primal Hunter Chapter 1078: Time To Open Up

All good things must come to an end.

Jake had enjoyed the time he’d spent with his family. While it hadn’t led to much progress, he had managed to get some work done here and there, primarily by playing with his Puzzle Box of the Seeker or meditating and studying the Record Fragment left by the First Sage.

Besides that, Caleb had convinced Jake to help train a few assassins, but that was about it. Jake’s visit ended up taking longer than he’d initially expected. He also had to meet with Miranda a few times to discuss the future, but other than that, things had been super chill.

He felt refreshed and ready to face what came next... and it happened on just another regular evening as Jake was eating with his parents. Suddenly, they all stopped, even Adam, as each and every one of them received a system message. They all knew what it was.

Most people in the galaxy, if not the entire universe, had been waiting for it... for them to finally know what would come next. Jake didn’t wait as he checked it out.

As the final Prima Guardian has met its end or accomplished its goal, the 93rd Universe weathered the test to see which planets are capable of survival while deciding who is qualified to lay claim to the Seat of the Exalted Prima.

World Leaders of each galaxy have been promoted to Seat of the Exalted Prima Administrators, allowing them to vie for control over their galaxy’s Seat. Planets have been claimed or lost, and relations have been formed within each galaxy. The Exalted Prima watches on with interest to see who shall one day arrive with a rightful claim.

Based on the performance of each galaxy, different rewards have been distributed dependent on contributions during the event. All natives of every galaxy have received additional bonuses dependent on the final ranking of the galaxy during this event.

With the event concluded, restrictions upon the 93rd Universe have been lifted. All limits on outside communication and transportation outside of each galaxy are now fully removed.

Finally, with the 93rd Universe having found its footing, it shall soon begin to welcome those from the outside. Restrictions on multiversal travel have been lessened, allowing anyone below high-tier C-grade (level 300 and below) to travel to the 93rd Universe, starting 100 days from now. This level restriction will rise by 1 level every 100 days until reaching peak C-grade (level 349). Be aware that has any being traveled to the 93rd Universe once, they can always return, despite the level restriction.

Good luck, natives of the 93rd Universe.

It was a long system message with a lot to unpack. Starting from the top, it was just repeating a lot of what the system message they got upon finishing the event for the Milky Way Galaxy had said. The only new tidbit was about the Exalted Prima watching on, which Jake wasn’t sure how to interpret. What it did make clear, though, was that they were indeed competing to lay rightful claim to a World Wonder, meaning the system wasn’t done spurring on conflict.

After that was just the talk about rewards. Compared to prior system events, this one didn’t have any fancy titles or anything like that. Jake and everyone else had also already gotten their rewards in the form of loot from the Prima Guardian, with Jake reaping the best of it with his mythical Administrator’s Seal of the Exalted Prima. As well as the fact he was now an Administrator of the Seat, of course, with him even being the top-ranked one following the death of Ell’Hakan.

There was also the boost to Records for the entire galaxy, but that one was a lot harder to quantify. All Jake knew was that Miranda and many others who tracked that kind of thing had statistics showing that the average leveling speed had risen following the event’s end, with many who’d previously experienced a wall also suddenly able to overcome it.

He didn’t really have many thoughts about the Prima Vessels. Only that he should probably go and relocate the Prima Vessel somewhere safer than in the middle of a desert, as he would need it to teleport to the Seat of the Exalted Prima once he became B-grade.

Finally, perhaps the biggest one, and also something Jake had expected to see, was the opening up of the 93rd Universe. Being able to freely communicate and travel back to other universes was great, but the biggest part was that now others could also come to their universe.

This was definitely one of the hottest topics of speculation in political circles recently, and one of Miranda’s most prominent points of worry. Based on historical data, they knew that the universe wouldn’t just fully open up from one day to the other, but many had suspected that at least anyone below B-grade would now be allowed to freely travel back and forth.

That in itself was a massive pain to deal with. Sure, Jake and everyone else he hung out with were powerful, but what would they do if someone like the Holy Church sent a billion peak C-grades? Well, their only response would be to have the Order of the Malefic Viper also send a whole bunch of peak C-grades, which would make Valhal, the Court of Shadows, Risen, Endless Empire, and who knows else also send in entire armies, instantly flooding the galaxy.

However, Jake was relieved to see that there was still a level restriction and a decently low one, too. To be clear, level 300 was still pretty damn strong, but it at least allowed them to avoid those at the peak of C-grade... for a while anyway. Every one hundred days, it would increase by one level, which meant that with rough math, it would take around thirteen and a half years till peak C-grades could enter their universe. At that point, things would definitely be a lot more stable than now.

Having a hundred days of leeway till people could travel to their universe was also great, as it allowed them to ensure the Holy Church was gone for good by that time. Jake also didn’t doubt Miranda had a lot of plans for how to ensure they weren’t overrun. He knew she had already worked on deals with several factions, but she was far from done.

As a final note on that topic – and the main reason Miranda hadn’t quite panicked at the prospect of the universe opening up - it wasn’t as if teleporting to their universe was easy in any way currently. Jake just made it look easy as a Chosen, and while most factions had methods to bring people back and forth, it wasn’t cheap and only worth doing for actual elites. With time and higher-level experts on both sides of the teleportation circle, things would get easier, but for now, the ones outside of the 93rd Universe had to facilitate ninety-nine percent of it. Breaching the void wasn’t easy, after all.

Having gone through the message properly, it appeared the others had done the same.

“I guess we all know what this means,” Jake’s dad said after a little while.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Yeah... I’ll have to head off now,” Caleb answered with a nod as he quickly stood up, gave Maja a kiss, Adam a quick hug, and teleported away with a wave goodbye to the rest of them.

Jake probably also had to get going, but he was temporarily delayed as he felt something else. For the last few years, Jake had been free, but now, his stalker was back in full force as Jake felt himself being observed.

“How about you, Jake?” his mom asked, looking surprised that he hadn’t left yet. “Aren’t you needed elsewhere?”

“I’m leaving in a second,” Jake said with a sigh. “I was just momentarily distracted by someone.”

the Malefic Viper answered.

Jake quickly answered.

the Viper quickly clarified, getting a mental confirmation from Jake.

“Who distracted you?” Maja asked, confused.

“Just a needy god,” Jake shrugged, getting a few weird stares. “But I do have to leave now. You already have my number if I’m on the planet, but if I’m in another universe, just contact Miranda or Caleb.”

“Just take care of yourself,” his dad said with a nod.

“I will,” Jake said as he turned to Adam. “You also be good, right?”

Adam nodded before asking a question no one else would. “When are you coming to visit again?”

Jake just gave the kid a small smile. “Who knows? Just know that when I’m not here, it’s because I’m fighting dragons or evil mushroom people.”

“Are there good mushroom people?” Adam asked, confused.

“You have a bright future ahead of you,” Jake said, giving the kid a wide smile as he ruffled his hair. With a final goodbye to the others, Jake left the house through the front door, briefly stopped by his own little residence to pick up a few things he’d left there before promptly shooting off to the teleportation center to quickly return to Haven.

On the way, he reached out to Villy once more.

the snake god answered promptly.

Jake asked, a sense of dread washing over him.

Villy explained, continuing:

Jake listened but wasn’t quite sure if the Viper’s advice was even applicable.

the Viper continued explaining.

Jake sighed mentally.

Villy said in a matter-of-fact voice.

Jake said after a moment.

Villy said, making Jake even more sure he should stop listening, even if some of the things the god said made sense.

Jake chose to change the subject.

Jake asked, trying to ignore the name.

Villy explained.

Jake wondered.

Jake said.

Villy shared.

Jake wondered.

the Viper said in a casual tone.

Jake just answered. By now, he’d already gone through the teleportation circle and was back in Haven.

the snake god attempted to whisper poison into his ear.

Jake quickly excused himself.

Villy said, definitely baiting Jake to ask him to elaborate.

Jake just had to ask despite knowing it was bait.

... yeah, Jake didn’t even know what that word meant.