When fighting, Jake liked to be in control and dictate the momentum. He liked when he decided what would happen next, and the flow went as he predicted.That night did not feel particularly in control, and if he was candid, he was totally fine with it.Not that he didn’t also seize the momentum here and there as the battle continued, making it a big back and forth.After their battle, Jake found himself lying on the bed as he relaxed, with Carmen leaning against the headboard next to him, still stark naked. He looked over and saw her relaxing. Her short blonde hair was a bit more unkempt than usual, and her defined muscles, especially on her stomach, were still visible even as she relaxed them.She noticed his gaze and didn’t bother to hide anything as she said, "I guess I should make it clear this doesn’t mean we are getting married or anything.”"And here I was just thinking about picking out a good ring and wondering if Sylphie should be a bridesmaid," Jake joked back in return as

Finally, it was skill-selection time. It had been a good while since he had last selected a class skill. Shit, the last time he’d picked one was when he got Steady Focus of the Apex Hunter during the Treasure Hunt. It felt like ages ago. Since then, he had gone to the Order and mainly focused on alchemy, so his class had really been put on the backburner. Not that this time spent hadn’t also benefitted his class. Through his profession, he had gotten a lot stronger, especially when it came to his magic and energy control.Jake did not know what he wanted from this skill selection. He considered if he needed a good melee skill but still wasn’t entirely certain on what Path he wanted to walk there. Not that what he wanted necessarily mattered anyway when it came to what the system offered… Well, it did to some degree due to Records and all that, but for the most part, it was down to what he had done and experienced, not what he wanted.So, without further ado, he opened the menu and, as

Willpower.Out of all the stats, it was the one Jake understood the least. Intelligence made him a bit faster at calculating stuff and probably helped with other mental things while making magic more potent. Strength made him stronger. Wisdom made it easier to remember things and increased his mana pool.All of them made sense and had some form of scaling in combat. Perception was also a difficult stat to understand at times. It increased all his senses, even if he suppressed most of them the majority of the time, as knocking yourself out from every bad smell seemed like a bad idea. But… Jake knew what it did, improving his reaction speeds and such. Jake also sensed a very noticeable correlation between high Perception and increased energy control. However, another factor for energy control was Willpower.Willpower as a whole was weird. Every single action someone performed included aspects of Willpower. Of the more tangible aspects, It also increased mana regeneration, but Jake would

Jake launched himself into the air to avoid the charge of the four clones, and just in time, as the space he had just occupied imploded from the impact of four paw-swipes infused with potent space magic.He pushed his wings to fly faster as he felt the approaching beasts. Twisting his body, Jake turned and shot off blasts of arcane mana while also landing a Mark of the Avaricious Hunter on all four of them. Not for the damage, necessarily, but also to keep track of them.Four forms flanked him during his ascent. A part of Jake had hoped they wouldn’t bother chasing him, but clearly, they were out for blood. Two usual responses would appear in this kind of scenario: fight or flight. Jake’s survival instinct was by far his most potent one… and not a single doubt was in his mind at that moment.Fight.Blasting arcane energy to one side, he propelled himself into one of the Panthers and took it by surprise. In mid-air, he took hold of its pelt and tossed it towards another of the beasts a

Jake did not have time to consider anything but the battle in front of him—not even the notification he had gotten after he escaped the collapsing space tunnel. His body was marred with wounds, and the only injury on the Panther was a single cut left by Eternal Hunger. A cut that had benefitted from Stealth Attack, as he had been hidden in the folds of space.A swipe came from the right, but Jake managed to block. A follow-up from the left forced him back as the beast rapidly pushed its advantage. Lacking an arm made fighting incredibly difficult, especially considering the foe he faced.Stronger. Faster. Every single speck of the Panther had been heightened. However, he was certain of one thing: It lacked energy. While the Panther had not fought in melee, it had used large-scale magic, especially with that final attack. Additionally, chances were it had portions of its energy reserved due to the clones, and even if it gained its stats back, that didn’t mean it also gained mana, stami