The Primal Hunter
Chapter 1137: Cloak & Katars

The shadows became denser while Jake floated over toward the cloak as it floated within the Shadow Realm. It was giving off a powerful aura now, and as the item was complete, he instantly knew. Despite it being an entirely new item, the cloak was already bound to Jake as it had been created using his old cloak.

Looks-wise, not much had changed. It remained an entirely black cloak, except now it looked almost intangible. Holding out his hand, the cloak began floating toward him, and as it did, Jake naturally used Identify on it to know what he was now dealing with.

[Umbral Cloak (Legendary)] – A cloak born using a B-grade Chimera and the very essence of the Shadow Realm itself. Incredibly durable to all kinds of attacks. Allows the wearer to meld into the shadows when they stand still or move slowly, masking their presence and all of their actions, including energies. This cloak is eternally connected to the Shadow Realm, faintly drawing on its energies. As long as the soul of the user and the Shadow Realm persist, so shall this item. Allows the user to temporarily expend the absorbed shadow energy of the Umbral Cloak to form a Cloak of Shadows, defending them from all forms of attack.

Requirements: Soulbound

There was quite a lot to unpack in that description. It retained the old function of the cloak that improved his stealth... well, alright, it didn’t really improve his stealth as anything it did, Unseen Hunter did better, but maybe Jake could still layer the two effects somehow.

The next section was all about how the cloak was connected to the Shadow Realm, and how that meant it would never be truly destroyed as long as Jake was around, all while absorbing energy. The rest of the description was talking about its new true use, which was to create a so-called Cloak of Shadows to defend himself. It was something Jake would naturally have to test the effectiveness of, but for now, he was stuck on the part where it was constantly connected to the Shadow Realm.

“Clever,” Jake said as he touched the cloak. The item was made entirely of shadows, yet when he touched it, it felt more like silk. The cloak was incredibly comfortable to touch, and it was practically inviting him to wear it. “Really clever.”

“What may the Chosen of the Malefic Viper be talking about?” Umbra asked, still observing him. “Are you unsatisfied with your reward?”

“No, no, it’s really good,” Jake shook his head. “I’m just admiring the cleverness of what you did. This cloak feels almost like a trap.”

“Since it’s always connected to the Shadow Realm, considering your own relation to this place, I’m going to make the educated guess you can easily detect an item you’ve even taken part in creating. In other words, if I bring this cloak with me, it means you will always know my location even with the protection of my Patron. Which seems like quite the hazard, considering the Court of Shadows has a contract out on my life right now.”

“I’m almost insulted by the insinuation,” Umbra chuckled. “I’m not saying you’re wrong. In fact, you’re entirely correct in all your assumptions, besides the fact that it will affect the current contract out on you. Do you truly think I’m directly involved in a contract on a mere C-grade?”

“Well, you are currently being directly involved with said C-grade,” Jake shrugged. “Not a stretch to assume you’re involved with other details of the contract.”

“Hence why I said I was only almost insulted. Your suspicion isn’t entirely unfounded, but do allow me to clarify that I have no interest in directly interfering with any matters of your contract. I shall neither hinder nor assist with what happens. Outside of this little encounter, that is,” Umbra spoke. “Besides, why act as if having a contract out on you is a bad thing? I’m genuinely impressed that the Malefic Viper wouldn’t be the first one to take out a contract on your life. It’s good training and teaches the young to be more wary.”

“Thanks for confirming the Viper isn’t behind it,” Jake said. “Say, I wouldn’t happen to be able to convince you to tell me who took out the contract, would I?”

“You could,” Umbra said in a slightly teasing voice. “All it would require was for you to renounce the Malefic Viper as your Patron and join the Court of Shadows. If you did that, the contract would naturally also be cancelled. I also believe I may soon be in need of a new Chosen, as my current one is preparing for her ascension.”

“Yeah, I think that’ll be a non-starter,” Jake shook his head and chuckled.

“A pity. Not like you hold much fealty toward the Malefic Viper in the first place. Oh, and don’t worry, I wouldn’t expect you to have any toward me either. It doesn’t appear to be in your nature, and besides...” Umbra said, having a dramatic pause for effect. “Having a Chosen that’s also a Heretic would be a rather novel experience.”

Jake was a bit taken aback at her words, but kept his calm as he chuckled. “I’m pretty sure being a Heretic and a Chosen are mutually exclusive.”

“So am I, but that’s what makes it interesting, isn’t it?” Umbra chuckled. “Alas, I shall not hold you up for much longer. Be free to use the cloak if you want to or not. You could even leave it here if you so desired. Doing so would certainly be your loss, but the choice is yours.”

Still holding the cloak in his hands, Jake just sighed. “Oh well, I am known to walk willingly into traps occasionally.”

With those words, he put on the cloak, fully aware of the potential dangers it posed. As he put it on, the entire thing shifted to better fit his body, and from his connection to the item, he felt his ability to manipulate it. He also confirmed that, despite it not being mentioned anywhere, he definitely did feel like traveling around inside the Shadow Realm would be a lot easier while having it on.

Finally, with just a mental command, Jake could make the entire cloak disappear as it faded into the shadows. When he did so, it even became entirely intangible, once more just confirming to Jake that the cloak’s true form was just a bunch of shadows mashed together.

“A wise choice,” Umbra said. “This may sound odd coming from me, but I wish you luck in surviving your contract and whatever other endeavors you’re up to.”

“You too,” Jake said. “Well, alright, I don’t wish you luck in successfully having me assassinated, but all the other stuff. Oh, and do remember to be nice to my brother.”

“And if I’m not?”

“I don’t need a contract to hunt someone or something down, and I’m quite comfortable setting long-term goals,” Jake said, not a hint of jest in his voice.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Almost tempting. However, the Court and I treat the Judge based on his own merits, even if his connection to you did play a role in how he originally obtained his position,” Umbra clarified.

Hearing that was oddly comforting to Jake as he nodded, glad to hear his brother wasn’t just riding high on nepotism. Though, based on how strong Jake’s brother was, thinking he was just relying on connections was a bit insulting.

“That’s reassuring,” Jake said as a thought just struck him. “Wait... how am I supposed to leave the Shadow Realm again?”

“You will automatically be returned once the being that brought you here perishes or runs out of energy,” Umbra explained.

“In other words, you’re keeping me here?” Jake asked rhetorically, as Umbra’s influence was really the only good explanation Jake could find.

“I was, but yes, it’s your time to leave, and as I said, I wish you luck on your Path. Till next we meet, Heretical Chosen of the Malefic Viper.”

Jake didn’t even have time to say anything before the world around him was suddenly filled with light. The shadows faded away, and mere seconds later, he found himself standing back in the sky above the island, not a single trace of the battle he had just had in the Shadow Realm visible anywhere.

The only trace that remained was the black cloak swaying in the wind behind him, still accurately looking like it was made up entirely of shadows. Alone once more, Jake had quite a few things he needed to address, first and foremost being the upgrade Jake had gained during his adventure to the Shadow Realm.

Taking out Eternal Hunger, Jake grasped it in his hand and instantly felt the effect activate once more without him even willing it to. He saw strands of curse energy mixed with something else enter his hand and forearm, empowering it as everything affected pulsed black for a moment before returning to normal.

With his other hand, Jake tried poking his wrists and found them incredibly tough, yet still flexible. It wasn’t just the skin that had grown stronger, but the entire bottom part of the forearm.

Dismissing Eternal Hunger again, the effect instantly disappeared. Another flick of his wrist later, and the katar was back in his hand, followed by another pulse of energy. Using his other hand, Jake took out his Voidblade katar, once more feeling the effect as that hand was also made far more durable.

Finally, he tried to cut his own skin in the empowered area, and... yeah, alright, he cut right through. So, his skin had not turned cut-resistant or anything like that, but then he tried punching his own forearm. Jake definitely felt its increased resilience, finding it far tougher from bone to flesh.

Deciding to stop experimenting, Jake instead did what he should have done in the first place and checked the notification he’d gotten regarding the skill upgrade to Fangs of Man.

[Fangs of Man (Ancient --> Legendary)] – Walking in the Path of a legendary warrior, you, too, refuse to see yourself limited by what others claim to be humanity’s natural weaknesses. Humanity’s natural weapons have never been their teeth, claws, or anything else innate to them, but the tools they wield and their ability to adapt anything into an instrument of destruction. Your hands are made to hold tools, now more so than ever, as you refuse to have your body be your limiting factor. Allows the hunter to more effectively use anything deemed compatible as a melee weapon. Makes the hunter more familiar with any melee weapon wielded. Allows you to forcefully integrate a weapon into your Soulshape temporarily, vastly increasing its durability if otherwise fragile. In return, the durability and stability echo back into you, vastly increasing the durability of whatever part of your body wields the weapon. All effects related to weapon integration are more effective and easier to accomplish with Soulbound weapons. Adds a bonus to the effectiveness of Strength and Agility, no matter what melee weapon you wield. Durability increase of weapons and body based on Willpower.

Reading the upgraded description of the skill that had gone from ancient to legendary, the only real change was the portion about durability echoing back into his own body from the weapon he was wielding.

Fangs of Man had always been able to make whatever melee weapon Jake wielded more durable. Usually, it wasn’t an effect Jake used as both Eternal Hunger and the Voidblade Katar were already plenty durable, to the level where Jake couldn’t realistically damage either, even if he wanted to. Not without Alchemical Flame or maybe Touch of the Malefic Viper, anyway.

Now, that relationship had kind of been turned around, and now Jake’s own body could adapt to the durability of the weapons he used. From what Jake could see, this wasn’t some defensive skill that would suddenly allow him to block swords with his hands, but solely something to ensure that he wouldn’t be harmed when blocking or striking. Alright, he probably could still be damaged if he tried to block something way too powerful, but the Fangs of Man upgrade had definitely raised the threshold.

Another major boon of this upgrade was the fact that it was his general melee skill. The counterpart to his archery skill. It meant that, without Jake doing anything different or expending any energy whatsoever, he would get a higher stat boost when wielding weapons. It was pretty much free power given by the system, which was why upgrading one’s basic martial techniques was considered so important... and why Jake, in some ways, found this Fangs of Man upgrade a bit tragic.

Not to misunderstand, the upgrade itself was awesome, but Jake had come to this Hunting Ground in part to upgrade his Archery skill, yet he instead found himself upgrading Fangs of Man to legendary. Targeting specific upgrades really was hard, and more often than not, for someone like Jake, who tended to find most of his improvements from battle, whatever epiphanies he had were as much dependent on what he fought as it was on his own desires.

Jake considered testing things a bit more, but he really wasn’t in a state to. His body was quite battered and bruised all over, and he still had his boosting skill active, though he had toned it down a bit after the Chimera had died. Still, he would have to deactivate it eventually, at which point he would be in for a nasty period of weakness.

Before that happened, he had one thing he needed to check out. Far in the distance, right in the center of the island, Jake felt discharges of energy from two fighting B-grades, telling him that somehow the Sovereign hadn’t been able to finish the job despite all the shit Jake had gone through, including his conversation with Umbra.

Not wanting to find himself weakened while getting ambushed by a victorious Forest Fae, Jake quickly began making his way over there, happy that One Step was back on the menu as he rapidly traveled across the sky.

It didn’t take him long to reach the site of the battle, where he found the jungle in quite a messy state. He saw signs of the Sovereign charging down several times, and mana still lingered in the air from the Forest Fae’s magic.

Continuing to fly a bit further, he soon spotted the two B-grades. The Forest Fae was teleporting, leaving clones behind her every time she did so, magic constantly swirling around her, creating thousands of attacks where most of which were illusions.

Meanwhile, the Sovereign was fighting as he usually did: with incredible speed, power, and the occasional sound attack. Jake saw how the Sovereign ignored most of the illusions through his echolocation skill, but he evidently couldn’t tell with certainty what was real and illusory all the time, resulting in a lot of inefficient movements.

He was too fast for the Forest Fae to ever hit, and as Jake watched them fight for a good thirty seconds, he totally understood how it had dragged on for so long. The Forest Fae was one slippery bastard, and the Sovereign had an answer to every kind of attack the Fae could throw at him.

Still, based on how the two looked and their respective auras, it wasn’t hard to determine which of them had the upper hand. The Sovereign was injured in several places with many cuts all across his body, but nothing that Jake could consider lethal, though his missing eye did admittedly look quite painful. Most importantly, the Sovereign’s aura remained stable.

The Forest Fae, on the other hand, had an aura reminiscent of a flickering candle in a windstorm. She was missing an entire leg, her wings had long been torn off, and while she was clearly using healing magic on herself all the time, she couldn’t keep up, as even during the time Jake watched, he saw the Sovereign rip out a good pound of flesh from her side.

Looking directly at the Sovereign when the fight had a momentary lull, Jake reached out.

“Need help?” he quickly sent mentally, already aware the Sovereign had spotted him.

“No, she’s mine,” the Sovereign responded.

Jake just smiled in response, having totally been ready to answer “too bad” if the Sovereign had said yes. He trusted the Rainbowfeather to handle his own business. Meanwhile, Jake calmed his boosting skill a bit more to buy himself some time, as he also had a very important thing to consider.

Opening his system menus, the option was sitting right there, and seeing as the Sovereign was being so damn slow, he took a quick peek.

Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge class skills available