The Primal Hunter

Bows were ranged weapons, yes. However, that did not make them only useable as range weapons. In fact, Jake had learned from his sparring with sim-Jake that an Arcane Powershot straight to the face from a few centimeters away was quite effective.

Effective versus sim-Jake… and Fireheart Ursines. A bear was blasted in the side of its belly as it was sent flying right as the Den Mother went for Jake. He stepped down and teleported over to another bear. The Den Protector came next, and Jake smirked as he grabbed the pelt of the bear he had teleported to and, to the horror of the group of beasts, swung it straight into the paw of the Den Protector, tearing off a considerable swat of flesh.

Just as he prepared to follow up, the ground beneath his feet rumbled, and Jake was forced to jump back to avoid a spout of lava from beneath. Looking to the side, he saw the bear whose face he had nearly torn off earlier with both paws on the ground, infusing it with fiery energy as it looked like red veins spread throughout the forest.

Finding openings was a challenge, but the longer the fight dragged on, the greater Jake’s advantage became as he landed blows left and right. The large bears had some level of cooperation, but Jake was just too tricky of a target, and they clearly had no experience fighting someone his size. In fact, the one who had taken the most damage from their fight was the forest itself.

The flames all around him also intensified with time as it looked like the entire forest had been set aflame. Jake cared little as he knew it had little chance to spread, and besides… the fire would lose most of its energy once all the bears died.

Speaking of which, a certain bear still hadn’t managed to get Eternal Hunger out of its skull. It had tried valiantly, but in the end, it was just a weak beast barely at C-grade.

*You have slain [Fireheart Ursine – lvl 203] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level*

Jake smiled as the bear behind him finally collapsed from the constant poison pumping its body. With the death of the beast, its Soulspace and Soulshape also ceased to be, meaning Eternal Hunger was no longer considered inside a creature, so…

The Den Mother, enraged at Jake for killing what he assumed to be its cub, released a giant wave of flames as it shot forward to try and bite down on him. With a smirk, Jake met it head-on as Eternal Hunger was once more summoned, and his Eternal Shadow appeared to face the Den Mother as Jake dodged back and pulled out his bow to aim toward the most injured bear.

His arrows struck true as the enraged Den Mother and Den Protector both tried to desperately kill him. Explosions able to destroy minor towns began to be released as they attempted to simply destroy the entire area, hoping to catch out Jake in the midst of it.

Sadly for them, dark green scales had already covered his entire body. All the explosions managed to do was force Jake away before he landed on a flaming branch on a tree that had been burning for several minutes already, yet it still stood strong.

He stared down at the angry bears and saw the rage in their eyes. The intelligence he had seen earlier was gone, and all he now faced were monsters relying solely on their bestial instincts. Jake shook his head to himself as he decided to get fully serious, activating Arcane Awakening at max power.