Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

Crouched behind a large tree, Seth brought his bow up, hand on the fletching of the nocked arrow. In the distance, an antelope stood by the only water source among the tapestry of tall gold-and-green grass stretching endlessly around them. The beast’s sleek brown fur and dark horns slightly glinted as it dipped its head to drink from the shallow puddle.

Though it was the middle of the winter, the sun still beat down with fierce heat, a sharp contrast to the nations farther north, which were probably covered in snow at that time of the year.

After hunting Plain Jaguars for two months, Seth and Nightmare had decided to pick a new beast contract at the outpost. It was now their fifth weekend of hunting antelope in the Savage Grassland north of Trogan and, so far, there hadn't been many issues—a few Iron beasts here and there, but none that Nightmare's Danger Sense hadn't detected from half a mile away.

'Ready?' Seth asked the direwolf, his fingers tightening on the bowstring.

Nightmare slowly crept closer to the brown-furred beast, his massive body barely discernible to the naked eye. Over the past three months, the black direwolf had grown into his imposing adult size, now standing at a frightening four feet tall at the shoulder and weighing about as much as a horse. 'Yes.'

Taking a deep breath, Seth channeled aether into the arrow, following the freshly carved grooves of Dark Shocking Strike. In just seconds, an eighth of his aether vanished, and crackling tendrils of black lightning surged to life, dancing along both the shaft and arrowhead.

When he had modified the spell two weeks ago using the evolution-path included with the purchase at 'Arina’s Den,' he had hoped the Darkness affinity would add corrosive properties to Shocking Strike. Sadly, that wasn’t the case. Instead, it amplified the pain by eating away at the target’s nerves—boosting the chance of stunning upon impact to nearly one hundred percent on weaker targets.

Drawing back the bowstring, Seth took aim. The moment the beast stopped moving, he released it. His arrow flew through the air and plunged itself into the antelope's flank, causing black lightning bolts to surge across its body. The beast immediately collapsed to the ground, writhing and twitching in pain.

With perfect timing, Nightmare appeared behind it and pounced, sinking his large teeth deep into its flesh. Black smoke billowed from the direwolf's maw and corroded everything on its path; fur, skin, muscle, bones, nothing could withstand its effect. The antelope struggled and bleated, green aether swirling around its legs, pushing and kicking the ground in its attempt to throw Nightmare off.

Seth dashed toward them. 'Be ready to let go,' he said, lining up another arrow covered with black lightning arcs. 'Now!'

The direwolf released his grip and leapt aside; almost simultaneously, the arrow struck true, burying itself into the Grassland Antelope's shoulder. Another burst of dark, crackling bolts crossed its body, searing through its flesh and muscles. Nightmare then lunged again and snapped his jaws shut around the beast’s throat. The antelope tried to break free, but it was too late—Seth had reached them.

With a fierce roar, he pushed most of his remaining aether into his arm and drove his black dagger into the beast's corroded chest, ending its life.

Nightmare let the corpse fall to the ground. 'That's eighty percent me, twenty percent you.'

'Nah, I’d say sixty-forty,' Seth replied with a smile while crouching down to harvest the stone behind the beast's sternum.

Truth be told, Nightmare had indirectly contributed more than that. Seth’s aether manipulation and his affinity had grown significantly over the past three months, largely thanks to the direwolf. Through their bond, Nightmare had taught him nearly every day how to become one with aether like beasts and tap into the Darkness within himself and his surroundings.

Even without considering that guidance and Link’s bonus attributes, it was still primarily due to the direwolf that they could hunt Peak-Copper beasts this easily; Illusionary Emptiness allowed them to ambush pretty much all their prey, striking vital spots early in the fight, while Danger Sense gave them the chance to do that without the constant fear of getting attacked by Iron beasts. The power and usefulness of those spells became more and more apparent with each hunt.

'What are the attributes?' the direwolf reminded Seth as he was about to reach the beaststone.

'Right, sorry.'