The Primal Hunter Chapter 5 - Big Pig

While Jake remained immersed in the rush of his recent level-ups and the lingering high of combat, he pulled up his status window. He paid little mind to the dazed expressions of his coworkers; although the win was satisfying, he didn't view the skirmish as a grand feat. They had only fought oversized rodents—or were badgers even rodents? He wasn't sure. Regardless, it was time to check his progress.

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]

He realized he hadn't checked this interface since the initial tutorial began, not even to verify his specific class or title. The growth was substantial. Between the title bonuses and his levels, his Agility had jumped from 8 to 14, nearly doubling. Since the Archer class granted 2 points of Perception per level, that stat had surged by 8 points. The change was visceral. His hearing had become more acute and his vision was incredibly sharp, only surpassed when he actively triggered Archer’s Eye.

It might have been his imagination, but his Perception felt like it was still rising as he stood there, cooling down. Perhaps the stat bonuses were applied over time, or the body simply required a period of adjustment to acclimate to the new power. He’d need to test those theories later, he thought with a faint smirk.

These Stats were truly bizarre. During the heat of battle, he had moved with the speed and power of a world-class athlete. However, it had felt so intuitive that he hadn't questioned his heightened physical capabilities for a moment. It was almost unsettling how quickly one could adapt to such drastic changes in bodily performance.

Attributing the phenomenon to "system magic," he closed the screen, finally noticing that the group was alternating between staring at him and the badger carcasses.

“Thanks, Caroline,” Jacob remarked, gently stepping away from a blushing Caroline. He turned to the group, offering praise. “Excellent work, everyone. Jake, especially you.”

Jacob had regained his composure, wearing that familiar passive smile and calculating glint in his eyes. The post-combat adrenaline was fading for the rest of the team. Interestingly, Jake had essentially dismantled their elaborate strategy by sniping half the enemies before the engagement even started. The only part of the plan still relevant was the harvest. They required food, which meant... badger meat. A thrilling prospect.

Moving the heavy badgers proved difficult, mostly because no one wanted to handle the bloody remains. The one slain by Bertram and Theodore was particularly gruesome, riddled with punctures. Ultimately, they chose to take only the two Jake had killed first, as they were the least mangled. Ahmed, feeling guilty for his lack of contribution, and a helpful Dennis took over carrying duties. No one even suggested that Jake should carry anything, a fact he wasn't about to protest.

As the search for water continued, Jake inspected his quiver. He had used 6 arrows in the last fight, leaving him with 54. He focused his intent on the item to Identify it once more:

[Enchanted Quiver (Common)] – A quiver imbued with the power to create [common] grade arrows when supplied with mana.

Now he just needed to figure out the "injection" part. It took all of four seconds to realize that channeling mana was simpler than he’d thought. By holding the quiver and focusing his will, the process felt almost like a natural instinct.

The sensation of mana draining from his body was strange but not painful. Inside the quiver, he watched as arrows began to manifest, seemingly growing out of the wood. Within thirty seconds, he was back to a full stock of 60. Attempting to push more mana into it did nothing. Checking his status, he saw his reserves had dropped to 102/120.

Three mana per arrow. Simple. That would have been amazing in the old world, he mused, admiring the magical item, before remembering he wouldn't have had a mana pool to fuel it anyway.

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 impact, and most importantly... he could just make more. If he ran low on mana, he could probably use one of the warriors as a battery since they weren't using their pools for anything else.

Besides, spending time scavenging was inefficient when he could replenish his stock in seconds.

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

“Jake… do you have a military background? Or maybe you were a hunter?”

The question caught Jake off guard. “Neither. I just did a lot of archery as a kid and still do it when I visit my parents. Why do you ask?”

Jake was genuinely puzzled. He felt he had performed adequately, but nothing more.

“I just thought you were remarkably composed back there,” Bertram replied, though he didn't seem entirely convinced by the explanation.

Jake gave a small nod and returned his focus to the brush. One thing stood out: the total lack of insects or small critters. There were birds, but even the smallest were the size of pigeons.

The lack of bugs was a relief. If the local wildlife had mutated this much, he could only imagine what a mutated tick or spider could do. A swarm of those could likely end their entire group before they even realized they were under attack.

The terrain was incredibly thick, filled with steep inclines, fallen timber, and massive shrubs that blocked sight beyond ten meters. This forced them to maintain a grueling, slow pace.

A few minutes later, movement caught Jake's eye to the left. He nudged Bertram, who spotted the rustling bush as well. Bertram signaled for a halt. Jake smoothly unslung his bow and nocked an arrow, eyes locked on the disturbance.

The rustling stopped. Silence returned to the woods. As the seconds ticked by, the others began to let their guard down, but Jake remained tense. His gut told him the threat was still present.

Activating Archer’s Eye, he scanned the foliage. He caught a glint of light reflecting off something hidden between the leaves. Without a second thought, he released the string.

A sharp squeal pierced the air as a small boar, barely knee-high, tumbled out of the brush. It took a few frantic steps before collapsing, an arrow buried deep in its eye socket.

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

The group stared at the dead animal in silence. Jacob started to speak, but a much more terrifying sound drowned him out.

“SQUEEEEAL!”

A thunderous shriek erupted, followed by heavy, rhythmic thuds that made the ground tremble.

“RUN!”

Jake didn't wait to see who shouted. He bolted toward the nearest large tree. Reaching the trunk, he pulled his knife and another arrow, stabbing them into the wood to serve as makeshift pitons.

He began to climb rapidly, glancing back to see the others scrambling for cover. Bertram alone remained in the open, bracing his shield toward the source of the noise.

As Jake ascended, the bush where the small boar had died was vaporized. A monstrous boar, taller than the massive Bertram, burst into the clearing.

The beast ignored everyone else, charging directly for the tree Jake was climbing. It slammed into the trunk with its tusks, sending a violent shudder through the wood. Jake lost his hold on the arrow but managed to cling to his knife, narrowly avoiding a fatal fall.

Jake stabilized himself by driving a fresh arrow into the bark. Nearby, the rest of the group was paralyzed with fear, huddled behind another tree. Finally, Jacob snapped out of it, barking orders at the mages and Casper to open fire.

The boar, oblivious to the nine people preparing to attack it, continued to ram Jake’s tree with enraged squeals. This was a tactical error, giving the humans an opening.

Three mana bolts and a single arrow from Casper struck the boar's flank. The mana bolts caused small, scorching explosions on its skin, but Casper’s arrow failed to even pierce the hide.

Feeling the sting of the attacks, the boar turned its aggression toward the group on the ground. No one, including Bertram, wanted to test their strength against a charge from that monster. They scattered, using the trees as obstacles.

The beast’s poor turning radius worked against it, allowing the group to stay out of its path while Jake reached a sturdy branch and found his footing.

From his elevated position, Jake began raining arrows down. Unlike Casper’s shots, Jake’s arrows bit deep into the thick skin. The boar tried to charge his tree again, but only succeeded in hurting itself against the massive trunk. It was a battle of attrition.

For what felt like an eternity, Jake pelted the beast with arrows while the mages fired mana bolts. The warriors stayed mobile, shouting and waving their weapons to keep the boar's focus divided.

The plan was succeeding until a sharp yelp broke the rhythm. Joanna had tripped over a root and was now sprawling on the ground, only meters away from the boar. She looked dazed, making no effort to move.

The boar might have been simple, but it knew a weak target when it saw one. It pivoted toward her instantly. Bertram charged to intercept, but he was too far away to stop the beast’s momentum.

The boar didn't even use its tusks; it simply trampled her. Its heavy hooves thundered over her body. A sickening crack echoed through the clearing, followed by Joanna’s agonizing scream.

Before the beast could finish her, Bertram arrived, burying his sword deep into its side. The boar immediately turned its fury on him, ignoring the wounded woman.

With a violent toss of its head, the boar slammed its tusks into Bertram, launching the armored man into a tree with a heavy thud. The sword remained lodged in the boar's side. However, the distraction gave Dennis enough time 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 the injured, so he focused on maximizing the opening Joanna's mistake had provided.

The boar was starting to look like a pincushion, and the constant mana burns were clearly draining its stamina. It huffed, its eyes glowing red as it glared at Dennis, who was now stained with Joanna’s blood.

Before it could lunge again, Jake sent an arrow straight into its remaining eye. Reaching for another, he realized his quiver was spent. The boar made one last desperate lunge at his tree. Blood was pouring from its wounds, staining the forest floor a deep crimson. Two more mana bolts struck its hindquarters, and Casper continued his barrage of mostly ineffective arrows.

The beast was failing. Sensing the end, the warriors closed in. Even with Bertram down, the others began stabbing at the creature's soft spots.

Between the cumulative blood loss and the final flurry of stabs, 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 warmth of the level-up but ignored the alerts for now. He dropped from the tree and ran toward Joanna. Caroline was already there, her hands glowing with healing magic. Jake’s relief vanished when he saw the damage. One leg was mangled beyond recognition; the other was gone from the knee down, crushed into a pulp by the boar's weight.

“Use the potions!” Ahmed shouted, handing a vial to Dennis. Dennis supported Joanna’s head and forced the red liquid down her throat.

The potion worked rapidly. The mangled leg began to knit back together, and Theodore moved to set the bone, ignoring her screams of pain. The leg was saved, but the severed limb did not return. The wound closed, but the foot was gone.

Bertram limped over, tossing an empty potion bottle aside. He had clearly used one on himself. Joanna eventually passed out from the trauma, leaving the group in a grim silence. There was no cheering this time.

“We have to move. The scent of this much blood will bring scavengers,” Ahmed sighed. Dennis and Theodore hoisted Joanna up, each taking a shoulder. The badger meat had been abandoned during the chaos, likely crushed to bits by the boar anyway.

As they resumed their trek, Jake held his quiver, focusing on regenerating arrows in case of another ambush. They couldn't afford to stop now; there was still light to hunt by.

He had just finished his fourth arrow when Jacob and Caroline slowed their pace to match his. Jake looked at them, confused, until Jacob met his gaze with a heavy expression.

“…Why did you do that?”