The Primal Hunter Chapter 1246 - The Concept of Death

“Then I guess I shouldn’t disappoint,” Casper replied with a grin while starting his approach to the Grand Labyrinth still being built. His pace began deliberate and measured, yet mere moments later, a well-known shadowy aura surged from him just as he vanished from sight.

Moments later, he materialized far off, employing a type of movement technique. Upon arrival, he dropped to a crouch and pressed his palms against the earth amid some words, and precisely one minute in, he rose once more, cast a quick look at Jake, and triggered the skill anew.

By this point, Jake had engaged his Unseen Hunter ability, meaning although Casper could detect him thanks to prior knowledge of his location, the approaching B-grade foe Casper targeted wouldn't manage to spot him at all.

With keen curiosity, he observed the Risen select his mark and lift a hand to conjure a massive dark timber spike radiating curse power. Jake saw no reason to doubt Casper's choice of wooden stakes—after all, effective tools didn't need changing.

Casper locked onto a lone Construction Golem separated from the main group and, with no delay, unleashed his strike. The projectile hurtled directly at the B-grade machine, which barely had time to respond before impact struck.

Jake observed closely. He doubted this served as Casper's sole option to kick off the battle, so he figured it formed part of the Risen's display of his abilities.

The stake crashed into the golem, driving it down as it burst into shards that lodged into the metallic frame of the B-grade. Though they failed to pierce the outer shell, the fragments seemed to merge through it seamlessly, leading Jake to suspect these bits weren't solid matter but rather chunks of concentrated curse essence.

Yet this opening blow appeared to inflict minimal harm, for the golem swiftly regained its footing and pinpointed Casper. It lunged at the Risen without pause, displaying remarkable velocity from what resembled coiled-spring limbs.

Simultaneously, its limbs morphed into armaments—or rather, building implements. The right arm shifted into a whirling drill, the left into a pickaxe, each tool adept at doubling as a combat device, though Jake pondered their practicality in labyrinth-building tasks.

Dismissing such trivial musings to conserve focus, Jake continued viewing as the golem closed in on Casper. While it barreled forward, the Risen called forth dark spikes encircling him and launched them at the B-grade, scoring multiple hits that merely added more of those shadowy shards without greater effect.

Casper promptly fell back as his adversary neared, maintaining a volley of strikes that scarcely hindered its advance. Crafted from durable metal, this builder construct boasted impressive resilience, even as a lower-end B-grade, prompting Jake to wonder if Casper struggled to land substantial blows. He also pondered how the Risen would bypass the typical weakness of curses against constructs like golems and spirits.

Luckily, answers arrived swiftly, with Casper withdrawing directly to the spot where he'd prepared for a full minute beforehand. The golem pursued relentlessly, firing off a handful of laser shots en route to halt its target, yet it was evident this builder lacked prowess in distant assaults.

As it crossed the area of Casper's prior setup, the Risen compelled action. He halted, slammed his hands to the soil, and at that instant, a rune array ignited beneath the B-grade.

Binding pressure halted its motion while Casper's form erupted in a strange teal glow, and a spectral female figure materialized in his wake. The array adopted the matching hue of the power Casper and Lyra had wielded earlier, then channeled into the golem, freezing its momentum as though caught in weightlessness.

Every embedded shard absorbed the phantom essence and started to shine, before abruptly expanding into complete spikes all together. Suddenly, the Construction Golem resembled a botched rendition of the Sword Box illusion, minus the container and with stakes replacing blades.

But a nearer look revealed to Jake that these spikes held no physical form. They shimmered with otherworldly presence and a spectral vibe, causing him to scowl as doubts arose that the assault hadn't landed as potently as initially assumed. He might have been correct, yet the ensuing events confirmed this remained dire straits for the B-grade.

The golem attempted motion, but reaching out warped its arm unnaturally before it bent backward at a sharp angle, snapping in the effort. The same fate befell its leg as the construct's frame twisted and fractured, appendages contorting under Casper's command of the array.

Regrettably for the Risen, dispatching the B-grade proved no simple task, for it burst forth with power as its base altered into apparent boosters that blasted flames downward, shattering the array.

Casper appeared more irritated than alarmed, lifting his arms swiftly before lowering them… only for another rune circle to emerge, this one erupting in eerie luminescence as phantom links surged upward to ensnare the golem.

The golem strained to break free by ramping up its boosters' force, snapping the bindings sequentially, but Casper clearly aimed only to delay it briefly, granting space for a subsequent strike. More precisely, for Lyra to deliver the next blow.

His pendant lit up once more as the complete form of his spectral companion took shape. She phased out from Casper's form after hovering in its shadow and darted at the golem. In that moment, Jake finally glimpsed the entity Casper hosted, her presence strong enough to draw a slight furrow from him.

he noted, and after activating Identify, he grasped the source of her formidable display.

[Blightwraith: lvl 349]

Clearly, Casper restrained Lyra rather than vice versa. Her elevated level puzzled Jake, for he'd presumed some cap tying her strength to Casper's, yet that assumption proved false.

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That said, Jake freely admitted ignorance regarding the link between Casper and Lyra or its very feasibility. He understood Lyra functioned as Casper's protector, thus not counting as a separate entity in scenarios like dungeons or system occurrences.

This echoed the dynamics of beast tamers or select classes managing a finite array of summons. A subdued beast retained its own Truesoul and operated autonomously to a degree, but such ties imposed heavy limitations.

Advancement linked to the controller, and crucially, the demise of the controller spelled doom for all linked beings. Hence, striking at the summoner or tamer directly often proved the optimal tactic against them.

Naturally, some forged looser alliances with allies, akin to Jake's partnership with Sylphie—mere collaboration evolving into synergistic abilities over time. Upon reflection, this mirrored the route taken by Hawkie and Mystie.

The arrangement between Casper and Lyra defied Jake's familiar categories. She merged with him yet stood apart as her own being. Furthermore, from Jake's knowledge, she anchored to the pendant on his neck, which in turn bound to Casper, introducing a layer of detachment.

Though this gap seemed slight as merely an additional link, Jake speculated it might allow Lyra survival beyond Casper's end. Moreover, it hinted at a future where she could detach from the pendant and achieve full autonomy.

Naturally, Jake could merely conjecture on these matters, and amid his musings, he recalled Lyra's origins. The Blightfather, that ancient Primordial who birthed the Risen race and bore the mantle of Death God, had forged the pendant and revived her. For such a being to craft something beyond Jake's comprehension was, of course, expected.

Clearing his head of these wandering ideas, Jake chose to savor the spectacle as Lyra neared the confined Construction Golem. He observed intently, eager to witness her method or the strike she'd deploy, but instead of spectacle, she merely merged into the golem… fading from view.

Jake's brow creased before realization dawned.

Instantly, the golem exuded an aura of rot, and even as it fought the encircling chains, demise overtook it. Rust spread across its surface while corrosion ate away, chunks sloughing off, the links gouged deeper as metal weakened to fragility, and its emitted power faded swiftly.

Against all odds, the B-grade persisted in resistance, but no evasion existed when the assault originated internally. Lyra had infiltrated the golem's core, dissolving into pervasive energy that engulfed its entirety.

Casper ceased feeding power to the array, rising with a breath. He rolled his shoulders and extended a hand to manifest an elongated timber spike resembling a basic spear.

Advancing on the golem crumbling under Lyra's influence, he drew its notice, prompting it to leap at the sole solid foe in range. It unleashed its remaining might, but Casper welcomed the clash, thrusting the spear-stake into the earth at an angle toward the onrushing machine.

Jake caught the Risen's smirk as the golem hurtled onto the pointed end. Evidently, the B-grade attempted evasion, but Jake surmised Lyra's interference doomed it to self-skewering.

The spike pierced the fragile, blackened, corroded armor with ease, transfixing the B-grade through skull and out the rear. At that precise moment, Lyra withdrew from within, allowing Jake a closer scan of her.

Jake noted. Penetrating the B-grade's interior had demanded courage and drained considerable stamina. Lyra had converted to a virulent energy cloud invading the construct, dismantling it from inside. This tactic suited a golem with frail structure and essence, yet against Jake… well, she'd face his counter of surging annihilating arcane forces through his own form. She'd inflict real harm, but alternative spectral arts might yield better results overall.

It went without saying that the B-grade perished utterly post-impalement, and Jake watched its remains disintegrate into corroded metal scraps.

Satisfied with the victory, Jake advanced with a spatial shift, teleporting to their side, and soon stood before the duo.

“Not bad,” Jake commented with a grin, unable to resist nudging the metal heap with his boot. It disintegrated further from the light contact, all structural cohesion lost.

“Thank you, and apologies for the delayed introduction,” Lyra responded, inclining her head. “I'd offer a handshake, but, well, circumstances.”

Jake let out a light laugh and shook his head. “Delighted to meet you, and it seems you're keeping Casper in check. He's no easy charge, I know.”

“Hey, I look after her too,” Casper objected, folding his arms. “So, any real insights on the battle?”

“Looked almost effortless for you both,” Jake commended the spectral duo and Risen. He recognized Casper's ongoing strength gains and the special edges from Lyra's companionship, yet their swift dispatch of a B-grade—even a feeble one—exceeded his projections.

“Can't claim it challenged us,” Casper said with a shrug.

“That Ghost King moniker must hold some truth,” Jake remarked with a faint smile. “One thing puzzles me, though. During the golem's defeat, I sensed abundant curse essence, but beyond that, mostly death affinity spells. Maybe it's my lack of knowledge talking, but they struck a lifeless thing far more potently than expected.”

Casper eyed Jake thoughtfully before responding. “Yeah, spot on about possibly speaking from ignorance.”

Jake itched to throttle him, but Casper's companion intervened at the perfect juncture.

“Death far exceeds the mere opposite of vital force,” Lyra elaborated. “It embodies both a condition and an altering shift. True, its typical form marks life's cessation in everyday terms, yet the idea spans much wider. It signifies endings, transitions to oblivion. Death claims stars as they fade, rivers as they dry into scars on the land, or iron as it weathers to dust and shatters. In essence, death transforms not just life, but all being into nonbeing. Unlike many affinities, it chiefly targets the universal trait defining the living: souls.”

Jake anticipated a concise reply sparking more queries, but received a deeper dive than foreseen. It sparked reflections, though questions lingered.

“If death ends all existence, how do undead persist?” Jake inquired, aware this delved into depths beyond C-grade comprehension.

Casper pondered briefly, and as Jake braced for sarcasm, he delivered a sincere response that sidestepped his own limits on such profundity.

“I'd love to match Lyra's wisdom, but I'll relay my Patron's words: Risen aren't dead; we're undead. Entities who faced death, accepted it, and claimed new life beyond. Yet undead remain vulnerable to death's touch. We exist, thus subject to it. No one or thing escapes; even deities and Primordials can fall, and someday, the multiverse may embrace death's ultimate close.”