The Primal Hunter Chapter 1260 - C-grade Class Evolution Quest

Evolution quests were infamous for ramping up in difficulty with each new grade. The level of challenge varied greatly based on the individual's class, profession, and race during the evolution attempt, and depending on their performance throughout the grade, the quest could turn out to be a breeze or an impossible barrier.

This explained why choosing the absolute top class or profession at evolution time wasn't always the smartest move. A superior Path came with steeper demands for ongoing advancement, making the evolution quests increasingly demanding. For Jake, taking down prey stronger than his own grade felt routine, but for most others, managing to eliminate even a single B-grade while stuck in C-grade would mark the pinnacle of their achievements.

It wasn't uncommon for individuals to gradually drift away from their original Path after years in C-grade. People's feelings shifted, they matured, and occasionally, the chosen class no longer aligned well with who they had become, hindering further progress. By the later stages of C-grade, a person's Path began to solidify firmly, and while some flexibility and broadening remained useful, the fundamental elements of their strength and skills became fixed. Attempting a major overhaul of one's Path during C-grade proved extremely challenging, to put it mildly.

Jake's Path stayed straightforward, with no deviations along the way. He depended on the identical foundations in D-grade as he did now. His skill with archery, his connection to arcane forces, katars for close combat, and naturally, the unmatched dominance of the Perception attribute formed the heart of his class, leaving him no desire to alter any of it. Certainly, more intricate ideas might weave in later, like curses, notions of time, and various others, but these would merely serve to bolster the essence of his Path.

Because of this, Jake felt no anxiety as he accessed his Class Evolution Quest. He recognized that he had remained faithful to his Path and the class selected upon reaching C-grade initially. He continued as a hunter eager to confront the mightiest enemies possible, deriving pleasure from it—especially when his survival hung in the balance. Such intense encounters drove him to his utmost, and the pure thrill of triumphing over a formidable rival remained incomparable, a rush that never faded.

A system interface materialized before Jake, and he recalled that these always included some introductory flair before revealing the quest proper. He figured they typically came across as the system commending him and dubbing him an exemplary hunter, and this instance appeared no exception.

Class Evolution Quest

You persist as a hunter, and even while honing and advancing along your Path, your focus on your ultimate aim never wavered. By upholding your human Legacy, you wield every resource at your disposal, advancing elements you judge fitting for your Path, while still honing specialties when it suits you. All in service of that one overarching purpose—a purpose ever visible, yet eternally distant. Nevertheless, you press forward, gaining strength with each stride as you strive for the unattainable and seek to touch the farthest boundaries of all realms. Should you endure, eventually your vision will span the entirety of creation, and your arrows will pierce anything within your gaze.

Jake halted his reading, a grin spreading across his face at the system's kind words. He truly was impressive, right? On a serious note, he appreciated these brief summaries that reassured him his Path stayed on track. He imagined that's precisely what they aimed to do. Moreover, based on accounts from others, these messages weren't always uplifting if someone had fumbled through their grade with poor results.

As he resumed reading, Jake reached the core quest requirements at last. This highlighted yet another key evolution in Evolution Quests as grades progressed: besides growing tougher, they also turned more intricate and peculiar. Or maybe ambiguous fit better, since Jake definitely sensed that a couple of his requirements felt rather unclear.

Objectives: Slay at least 150 B-grades (150/150).

The initial requirement? Straightforward. Obvious enough. He simply needed to eliminate a large number of B-grades. This indicated to Jake that the system anticipated him earning his final C-grade levels through B-grade kills. Naturally, Jake felt he had exceeded what was expected, seeing as it didn't specify that one of those B-grades needed to be a True Dragon. He also thought the exact count of 150 seemed suspicious, matching precisely the number of C-grade levels. Pure chance? Likely, yet Jake jotted it down mentally anyway.

This particular quest requirement was one Jake had anticipated completely.The next one? No question, it struck him as odder and far more ambiguous.

Successfully glimpse and do not lose sight of the Event Horizon (1/1).

Did this imply that without selecting the Event Horizon, Jake couldn't have evolved? Would the quest have varied otherwise? Did it even tie directly to the skill, or were they just pointing to the identical concept? Questions swirled, but Jake had fulfilled it regardless, even without grasping it entirely.

His strongest hunch was that this requirement essentially represented a Perception evaluation. It mentioned glimpsing and holding onto the view, all of which screamed Perception ties. He might be off base, but Jake kept things simple and refused to overthink it further. He possessed a complete perspective of the Event Horizon, and that's what counted!

Moving on to the third and concluding quest requirement, this one managed to be simultaneously clearer and murkier.

Slay a powerful foe that pushes you beyond your current horizon (1/1).

Defeating a mighty adversary was basic enough, but what did surpassing his present horizon entail exactly? Once more, Jake could only speculate it meant breaking past his existing boundaries and growing mid-battle to secure victory. Alternatively, it could signify being driven to his extremes and prevailing, with the resulting Records propelling him past his current threshold or horizon.

Tough to pinpoint, but once again, Jake had accomplished it. Secretly, he wished the requirement didn't just list (1/1), but detailed how often he'd succeeded. As it stood, he couldn't even recall which battle qualified. Numerous possibilities existed, from mighty non-B-grade kills like Ell’Hakan, to encounters below C-grade, such as the clash with Valdemar in the Colosseum of Mortals, if that applied.

Shaking off the thought, Jake acknowledged he'd fulfilled it... and thus, he had triumphed over his Class Evolution Quest prior to even receiving it. It proved tougher than the D-grade version, which demanded only 10 C-grade kills plus one C-grade at least 15 levels higher.

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Jake felt uncertain about the quest seeming so "straightforward" from his perspective, despite knowing it would likely strike others as outrageous. Just dispatching 150 B-grades posed a massive hurdle, let alone the nebulous additional requirements.

On the flip side, if Jake couldn't breeze through his Class Evolution Quest, what hope did those with lesser C-grade feats hold? Even among multiverse prodigies with elite Paths, Jake shone brightest and achieved the most. His feats in Nevermore and the Sacred Prodigy title alone elevated him far above nearly all peers.

Furthermore, Jake understood that exceeding Class Evolution Quests still influenced a superior B-grade class, so it didn't truly matter that his had auto-completed.

He pondered the difficulty of his profession quest, but he still needed to wrap up some alchemy before viewing it. Maybe he'd finished it unknowingly—who could tell? Regarding his Race Evolution Quest, Jake remained curious if one would appear this round. Villy had reacted with shock when none came in D-grade, and with no prior examples of humans skipping race evolutions, Jake had no choice but to await developments.

Jake kept reflecting on various issues and his concluding strategies before B-grade evolution, until at last, the moment arrived to escape Minaga’s dungeon. He opened his eyes and glanced at the timer, verifying their imminent release.

Casper had likewise awakened and risen, though he appeared unsteady on his legs.

“What were you up to just now? That didn't seem like regular meditation; it looked more like you were overworking your mind,” Casper inquired, arching a brow.

“I just received my Class Evolution Quest and was reviewing it,” Jake replied honestly, finding no reason to conceal such details from his companion.

“Oh?” the Risen responded. “So, what's the verdict? Seems achievable, or is it frustrating?”

“I've already met every objective,” Jake said with a shrug. “They came off a tad unclear, so I was trying to pinpoint when I fulfilled some.”

“Naturally, you've wrapped it up before it even began,” Casper sighed, shaking his head. “And yes, those requirements do grow rather cryptic, and from what I've gathered, it intensifies toward the close of B and A-grade, to say nothing of the chaos at S-grade's summit.”

“I'll update you when I get there,” Jake replied, smiling. “Speaking of which...”

Suddenly, without any prior notice, the dungeon deactivated, offering no rewards or similar perks, undoubtedly costing it another rating star. Jake and Casper's surroundings vanished as they instantly rematerialized beyond the dungeon's entrance.

“Congratulations!” Jake heard Minaga shout right away, before he could even send out a brief Pulse of Perception. “You two pulled it off! Wow, honestly didn't think you'd make it, since I worried the final boss might be overpowered.”

“It was,” Casper stated curtly.

“But you succeeded!” the Unique Lifeform insisted on his upbeat attitude. “Both of you, no less! Glad you didn't perish, Casper.”

“Hey, I could've been the one to fall too,” Jake objected, folding his arms while attempting to back his friend.

Minaga and Casper merely glanced at him before resuming their exchange.

“The final boss was absolutely over the top. The initial two phases worked well, and the end golem concept was solid, but it proved too potent and fixated on one target. I get the reasoning for its simplistic mindset, which ought to simplify defeating it in theory, but in practice, it'll just wipe out the frailer team members if the group isn't perfectly balanced or can't shield each other completely,” Casper offered genuine critique.

“Yeah, that's what concerned me,” the Minaga projection agreed, nodding and sighing. “I'll tweak it thoroughly, perhaps ditch the final phase altogether. Or make it optional. For instance, if you defeat the boss swiftly, it triggers. That way, with dungeon details out there, folks would only activate it deliberately, and knowing the risks, they'd have no one to fault but themselves for any losses.”

“That's a viable idea,” Casper agreed, weighing the Unique Lifeform's suggestion.

“Can we discuss the Jones orb?” Jake interjected.

“What's there to say?” Minaga queried, arms crossed.

“I'm certain it'll obliterate almost every warrior, healer, mage, and basically anyone lacking an advanced movement skill,” Jake noted, recalling the orbs' blistering speed, particularly deeper in. Both he and Casper had relied on enhancement skills to evade them, and they were already exceptionally agile to begin with.

“Too swift?” Minaga questioned disbelievingly, pretending to avert his gaze. “Oh... oh dear, get a load of this? I somehow doubled its intended speed by accident! Such an oversight I definitely didn't intend. But if I had, I trust those who faced it will ponder the reasons behind it.”

“I found it perfectly acceptable,” Casper remarked flatly.

“Upon reflection, yeah, completely suitable,” Jake added in a similarly flat tone.

Minaga stared at them briefly before tsking. “You two can be quite harsh, you realize?”

“Just wait for our full dungeon review,” Jake warned with a wicked grin.

“... play nice, alright? And keep in mind I normally invest thousands of times more effort into them than this one, since I figured you'd want it ready before S-grade. Actually, given that, aren't the dungeon's flaws partly your responsibility, not mine at all?”

“Yeah, we're ignoring any excuses,” Casper replied, arms folded. “Plenty of areas need work, and I'll send a detailed written feedback report later, covering every problem I spotted, but on the whole, it was... acceptable.”

“Acceptable?” Minaga echoed. “Acceptable as in acceptable, or acceptable as in acceptable?”

“Acceptable, meaning a notch above mediocre,” Jake clarified for the Risen.

“That's... oddly both more disappointing and reassuring than anticipated,” Minaga grumbled.

“Like I mentioned, you'll get the full written report,” Casper repeated. “But right now, I desperately need some rest.”

The Risen had pushed to seem robust, but his near-collapse was obvious just from standing.

“Makes sense; you look wrecked,” Minaga agreed before eyeing Jake. “Whereas you appear perfectly composed.”

“It's simpler when no deranged, lightning-infused golem is pursuing you,” Jake shrugged. “One thing, though. Did the Altmar Empire inspire that golem?”

“A bit, yeah,” Minaga confirmed. “Drew from various golem types, Altmar included.”

Jake nodded thoughtfully, curious if Minaga knew of the Neurotar—the creators of Rigoria—and whether they influenced this dungeon too.

“I'm heading out,” Casper announced with a sigh, beginning to depart. “Catch you later.”

“Rest well,” Jake called, waving, without prying into the Risen's desire for solitary recovery. He'd more than earned it.

“Take care! Don't forget that report while it's all still vivid!” Minaga shouted after him, waving vigorously before facing Jake again. “You know, I'd welcome a thorough account of your run too, so you could detail-“

“Yeah, off to alchemy for me,” Jake dismissed the Unique Lifeform with a wave as he turned away. “Keep refining the dungeon! It had some engaging concepts, and with refinement, it could turn out great.”

Minaga beamed and nodded before his image faded. Jake grinned too as he headed for the teleporter back to Haven. He intended to connect with a few folks, handle some overlooked tasks, and then, true to his word to Minaga, dive into alchemy!

Indeed, Jake eagerly awaited his Profession Evolution Quest, and with B-grade so near, he geared up for the last surge.