The Heartwarden looked completely unaware of the hunter that was currently observing it. Yet Jake had a strong feeling it was aware of his presence. So even if it didn’t know where he currently was, it should have at least picked up that someone or something was coming.This was why Jake didn’t aim to repeat his opening attack against the Prima. He was certain the Heartwarden had something prepared, as while the Deepwellers weren’t the most intelligent creatures—mushroom worship, case in point—they weren’t complete idiots.His Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter had the issue of only working on the intended target, meaning if the Heartwarden had put up some defensive measures, his attack would be completely useless. Jake wasn’t entirely sure it had, but he did notice that the area it was in was covered in what looked like four odd, magic circles. All of them seemed inert, but that could just be because they didn’t have power poured into them at the moment.However, they did look to be of th

As Jake charged his Arcane Powershot, there was one aspect of his usual opening salvo he became a bit doubtful about. Some basic sense of danger seemed to be an inherent ability of most beings in the multiverse, which meant landing powerful opening shots could be problematic if the attacks weren’t fast or powerful enough. Even then, some foes could still avoid it. Unless, of course, the attacker had some way to stop their target from evading—like Gaze of the Apex Hunter.This was where Jake was doubtful… Did a Golem have a soul as he understood it? Things like elementals did, but would it have a soul for him to gaze into if this thing had been constructed? Only one way to find out.Jake released the Arcane Powershot, which sent out an explosion of arcane mana around him. The stone beneath his feet still looked untouched besides a few remnants of arcane energy.At the same time, he tried to activate Gaze of the Apex Hunter. He tried and felt like he couldn’t get a proper look at his fo

By now, he felt like he understood his foe well enough. His arrow didn’t need to hit hard, but instead do one thing: disrupt the fuck out of his enemy and drain a shitload of mana. This was his understanding, and the system seemed to recognize it as valid. The skill, at least, responded as an arrow began being summoned.Out of everything Jake had ever summoned—besides maybe that soul-destroying arrow versus the Indigo Fungus—this arrow was the most unique. It was made of metal but had angular blue veins running along its body, making it look almost futuristic. The arrowhead was just a round, crystalline orb of mana that Jake recognized—his own destructive arcane mana. Jake hadn’t known the skill could integrate his affinity like that, but he wasn’t complaining.Jake looked down and saw that the golem was still falling. He had gotten faster at making the arrows, only taking half a minute this time. Jake had focused on doing it as fast as possible, and that seemed to have helped. It was

Apparently, it was a really great cloak. At least, it seemed so, since the talkative projection refused to stop speaking about it, overexplaining details of where it came from and even throwing in info about a cousin of his who used to make them. While it was a bit interesting, Jake did notice that despite it saying so much, it didn’t really give out any truly valuable information. Well, besides fashion advice.Jake tried to ignore it at least a little as he went and opened the epic-rarity box. Within, he found a folded pair of pants. They were made of a very dark green fabric—almost black—and looked slightly worn. The fabric was rather thick as he picked it up, and he had to say the pants were rather heavy. They looked like they could actually provide some solid protection.Yet the first thing he picked up was the smell. They smelled like… like that smell when it has just rained, and you are walking through greenery in the middle of summer. Yeah, exactly like that. It was a pleasant

He now realized he had truly neglected his gear for far too long. Jake hadn’t made proper use of humanity and their ability to create items. Arnold had given him the Nanoblade, a far better weapon than his old Venomfang. Why not also get gear in his other slots? With the Badger Pants gone, he had replaced everything from the first dungeon, but he had more subpar equipment to get rid of.Actually, Jake still had the two pieces of equipment he’d earned from the Challenge Dungeon, which was technically his first-ever dungeon. He still had the Boots of the Wandering Alchemist and the Prodigious Alchemist’s Necklace of Holding. The necklace had his spatial storage within, so replacing that was impossible. The fact that it only gave 25 Wisdom was a bit offputting, though.Jake knew there had to be ways of upgrading Soulbound equipment somehow. Perhaps he could find a talented jeweler… but to be perfectly honest, he didn’t really want to. He needed someone he truly trusted both as a person a