The Primal Hunter

Chapter 1386 - Those Who Dwell Within the Palace o

Jake immediately oriented himself after entering the portal, on guard in case there were any dangers afoot. His Pulse scanned the hall he found himself within, finding nothing there of note at a cursory look.

The hall was a lot smaller than the one before, only a few hundred meters in length and height, making it almost appear minuscule compared to the gigantic scale Jake had gotten used to.

Looking around, the gaudy golden theme within the Palace of Abundance continued, with the entire hall beautifully decorated from top to bottom. There were no other living entities anywhere, and Pulse confirmed he was essentially within his own little world with nothing to be seen outside the walls of the hall besides a big, empty void.

Then, suddenly, something finally happened. Towards the far end of the hall, a golden light appeared as something rose out of the ground. It was a large pedestal with carvings all over, held up by an eight-armed creature that was definitely the same one seen on the golden statues.

Jake wasn’t sure what he was looking at, but after moving closer, the system kindly told him as a notification popped up in front of him.

You have discovered an Altar of Abundance!

Treasures obtained within the Central Domain can be converted into Prima Credits at this altar, doubling the Credits received. Offering treasures worth 100,000 Prima Credits (before doubling) will open the path deeper into the Palace of Abundance.

Alternatively, you can destroy the altar to proceed further into the Palace and hold on to the treasures until you reach the Palace of Abundance throne room to obtain even greater rewards. This includes permanent rewards that will persist even outside the World of the Exalted Prima. Assuming the level of Abundance you possess is enough, that is.

The choice is yours, but be wary that those with abundant treasures attract the attention of those who dwell within the Palace.

Finally, Jake had discovered the opportunity to cash in his treasures for additional Prima Credits, and after reading the first half, he was ready for a windfall and a very happy Miranda, who would suddenly get a massive influx of currency.

However, then he read the second part, and, honestly, would anyone ever imagine Jake not holding on to everything with the intent of getting the best reward possible? Especially seeing as, for the first time, there was some confirmation on how to obtain some permanent bonuses from this simulated world.

Granted, it did seem to come with risks. If “those who dwell within the Palace” were similar existences to the cyclopes in the Inner City, it appeared that one was in for another stealth mission unless treasures were turned into Prima Credits.

Then again, it could be that the Palace wouldn’t be the same kind of scenario all over again, given that the first parts of the Central Domain hadn’t been stealth-focused. Jake didn’t particularly care either way... unless the next area of the Palace of Abundance was somehow a water level. Alas, it was a risk he had to take, as Jake didn’t hesitate much before raising a hand.

He enveloped it in arcane energy before slamming it down on the altar, smashing it into pieces. The broken pieces of the altar flew all over before stopping mid-air, where they gathered, forming a door of shimmering golden energy. Walking through it, Jake once more found himself transported elsewhere, having to orient himself immediately.

Jake found himself standing in the middle of a massive hallway, the scale back to stupid proportions as this place was clearly constructed with cyclopes in mind. However, within his Pulse, he didn’t spot a single one, which was a little curious to say the least.

What he instead spotted were incredibly long hallways in all directions, and at first, he assumed they formed some kind of maze, but in reality, they all went towards the same place; some paths would just be a little slower than others. The hallways also had several additional paths, but each only led to a single room to explore, with only one entrance and exit, making it very difficult to get lost.

These rooms were filled with large furniture, again definitely made for cyclopes, which made Jake curious whether there were more treasures within the Palace itself. The only way to find out would be to get a move on, as Jake started sprinting down a hallway.

He kept using Pulse to scout his surroundings, and not long after, he spotted one of the elementals that had been with Wintermaul in the hallway far behind him. Too far for Jake to bother going back there, but it did confirm that at least some of them had been transported to the same space within the Palace.

After reaching a crossroads, Jake headed down the hallway to one of the rooms, intent on exploring it and figuring out why they even existed. The large double gates leading into the room were wide open, and with his sphere, he could far more easily get a proper grasp of everything within the room, because damn, it was packed with stuff.

There was a set of couches, chairs, several tables, and so many shelves that Jake didn’t even bother counting, all of them full of small, random collectibles and decorations. One shelf was full of dried flowers, another had hundreds of small statuettes – small by cyclops standards, anyway – and a third just had a whole bunch of decorated knives.

Regarding treasures, Jake didn’t feel one immediately; however, upon fully entering the room, he suddenly picked up on something. In a display case prominently placed near the center of the room were several coins, each with a different motif. One of these motifs was an eight-armed creature, and before even confirming it, Jake felt certain this would be the treasure he could feel.

He took an extra moment to check out his surroundings, but no matter what, he didn’t detect anything amiss. No formations, no hidden enemies, no nothing. All he continued to see was a single elemental that wasn’t even moving towards him.

Not seeing the need to delay further, Jake flew up to the display case containing the coin. It was locked, and after taking a deep breath, definitely expecting something to happen now, Jake broke the glass to get access to the treasure within.

Surprisingly, nothing happened even then, lulling him into a false sense of security that there truly were no dangers around. He went down to the coin, which was more of a large metal platform from Jake’s perspective, as he landed on it and knelt down, putting a hand on the treasure. As with the treasures of the Inner City, he instantly felt his ability to claim it, and seeing no reason not to, he started pouring in energy... finally provoking some kind of response.

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A disturbance has been detected within the Palace of Abundance, awakening the spirits of those bound to the golden halls. Even after their demise, greed dominates their existence, and they’ll stop at nothing to retrieve the treasures of abundance. Only by claiming what they believe rightfully belongs to them can the Specters of Abundance find rest once more.

Right then, Jake felt an unfamiliar energy rise in the room as several odd energy signatures appeared all around him. Looking around, he saw specters of golden energy flying everywhere, reminiscent of ghosts, but none of them registered as truly “real” when Jake looked at them.

He kept a hand on the coin with the intent to claim it while remaining wary, as the specters had definitely all noticed Jake. He felt their attention on him, but they didn’t seem capable of actually interacting with reality – or, well, simulated reality - as none of them moved to attack him immediately.

That’s when several of them shot towards one of the many shelves, where they entered one of the statues. It was a statue resembling a human knight with a two-handed sword and full armor, and while it had looked relatively realistic, Jake hadn’t given it a second thought as it had ultimately still only been a statuette.

Now, after the many Specters of Abundance had entered it, the knight started moving as its form also slightly changed. Its plastic-like exterior turned bronze and metallic as the knight wrestled its feet free from where they had been attached to a base. Jake watched all this with a frown as the ground beneath his feet suddenly disappeared, shrinking to a small coin that now fit in his hand.

You have acquired an Heirloom of the Abundant Emperor, granting you access to the throne room.

He briefly scanned the message, surprised that he was apparently already done with this stage of the Palace of Abundance, as he already had the item required to enter the throne room he’d only learned about moments prior.

Just in time for him to turn his attention to the knight statue that had lifted its sword and jumped down towards his position, aiming to smash him into pieces. Seeing the statue, still about fifteen meters tall, Jake used Identify as he prepared to dodge.

[Bronze Knight of Abundance – lvl 375]

Scratch that, rather than dodge, Jake took out his two katars to test just how strong this weird creature was. Raising them, he attempted to block the downward slash, but the strike was still powerful enough to send him crashing through the bottom of the display case, sending wood and glass flying everywhere along with all the other coins it had housed.

A decently powerful variant, Jake concluded as he quickly dodged out of the way after reaching the floor, dodging a follow-up from the knight. Raising a hand, he shot out a bolt of arcane mana towards the odd creature, but it failed to do any damage as it struck the metal body of the statue.

In response, the knight slammed its sword into the floor, and as it did so, several of the surrounding Specters of Abundance entered the tiles, making them also seemingly come to life as they warped and created spears that shot up towards Jake.

Jake really had to dodge these as he wasn’t sure if he could destroy the material these floor tiles were made of, making him take to the air. After the floor attacked him, it surprisingly returned to normal once more, and after the knight took its sword out, Jake also noticed how any damage left by the sword had instantly been restored.

While Jake was curious to see what this Bronze Knight of Abundance was capable of, he also felt a need to hurry up and onward to the throne room, making him decide to quickly wrap things up. Pulling out his bow, he dodged a golden crescent slash before returning fire.

The knight was blasted back with a nick in its metallic body, and as he struck it, Jake also noticed something else that made his eyebrows raise.

I should have thought about that right from the get-go, he admitted to himself, remembering how this knight had even started moving. It was practically just a possessed object used by the Specters of Abundance, so why even bother destroying the knight? No reason to destroy an entire car if all one had to do was take out the driver.

Before the knight could attack again, Jake looked straight at it as his eyes began to glow orange after using Primal Gaze with the intent to kill. The knight froze, then seemed to have spasms as Jake continued staring it down, the Specters of Abundance within eliminated one by one, until, after a few seconds, the knight fell backward, nothing more than an inanimate object once more.

You have slain [Bronze Knight of Abundance – lvl 375] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level

Jake smirked slightly, fully aware he’d barely earned any experience from that, but he didn’t really care. Having the knight off his ass was a great thing, and with it taken care of, Jake turned to rush out of the room and towards where he expected the throne room to be.

However, after he’d barely started moving, the surrounding Specters of Abundance suddenly all rushed down towards the inanimate knight statue once more, and a moment later, it clenched its fists and rose again, its surface shimmering and changing as its body also rapidly started shrinking.

The bronze cracked apart, revealing a glossy layer beneath as the knight’s aura grew rapidly, its new armor turning silvery, prompting Jake to use Identify again, surprised by the result.

[Silver Knight of Abundance – lvl 400]

With a swift movement, the sword that had fallen to the ground flew up into the knight’s hand as it swung, sending out a shockwave of silver light that forced Jake back. Its aura exploded as the possessed statue charged forward, far faster and stronger than before after having effectively evolved and gained 25 levels.

Jake had to drop his relaxed demeanor and reacted by using Arcane Awakening at its stable 30%, as, rather than run, his curiosity had been sparked enough to stay. Perhaps it was because all the cyclopes recently had either been far too powerful or too weak to fight, but he was itching for a battle, and seeing the now roughly five-meter-tall knight, Jake had a hope this opponent would be capable of entertaining him for a little while.

Would this delay him reaching the throne room? Sure, by a little, but that was a sacrifice he was willing to make if it meant he’d get a fun fight out of it. The knight swung at him several times, Jake retreating with every swing, no longer willing to block its attacks as he instead tried to create some distance.

Releasing an Arrow Storm, the knight didn’t even flinch as it flew straight through all the explosions, not a single sign of damage on its body. Jake tried shooting a few more potshots, but his arcane arrows barely left nicks in the silver body of the knight, making him frown.

It was bloody durable, reminding him of the times he’d sparred with Carmen. This level of durability made him consider using another Primal Gaze even if the level disparity was quite a bit bigger now, but he stopped himself as doing so did seem a little too risky.

More Specters of Abundance appeared all the time in the room, and while Jake probably could “kill” this knight again, he had a strong feeling it would simply rise again, even stronger the third time around. While that did sound a little exciting, he shouldn’t go overboard and exhaust himself when he still had many more interesting people to meet among the other Administrators.

He continued shooting a few more arrows, only further confirming that if he wanted to do any noticeable damage to the silver knight, he’d have to use Arcane Powershot or potentially acids. He considered both, but ultimately chose a third option.

This was a good chance, wasn’t it? A tanky foe capable of pressing him somewhat, and a nice empty room for them to battle in... yeah, this was definitely a good time to work on skills meant to tackle opponents like this, and he just happened to have two with the words “penetrating” and “piercing” in their names that were both due for some improvements.