Chapter 1174 – Something Worth Celebrating

The plan had been simple.

Jake would recover from the bow ritual and then proceed to do some archery fun with Artemis until it was dinner date time.

However, after only a few hours of playing around with Artemis, it became clear that it was a bad way to test his new bow. His archery was the same no matter the weapon, and all that had changed was the power behind every arrow, which naturally made no difference when training technique with a Godqueen.

That’s why he had quickly moved on from pure archery training to actual hunting. With the help of Artemis, he had gone straight to an opportune Hunting Ground that the goddess believed was suitable for Jake to test things out.

It was a Hunting Ground Jake would want to visit again, as it seemed like a perfect spot for him to grind some levels. It was a large planet nearly exclusively occupied by B-grades, ranging from barely evolved to closing in on level 400, also known as mid-tier B-grades.

The location Jake had chosen to hunt was in the far north of the planet. It was a desert of ice and mountains, occupied primarily by ice elementals, different beasts, and semi-humanoid monsters known as the Olthorn. These Olthorn were goat-like bipedal monsters usually living in groups, but it wasn’t hard to catch the odd one out when they went hunting alone.

In the beginning, Jake had killed a few weak B-grade beasts, finding their level of competency to be roughly equal to that of the B-grades in the other Hunting Ground. In other words, easy kills.

While they hadn’t grown a lot stronger since then, Jake most certainly had grown decently, having gained levels in both his class and profession. However, the biggest upgrade by far was his new bow, which finally allowed Jake to not only exert his full power, but even amplified it.

A new bow, better poisons courtesy of Invocation, and higher stats all resulted in Jake killing five B-grades on the first day, which sadly only netted him a single level-up.

’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 321 – Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points

’DING!’ Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 322 – Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points

On the second and third day, he killed another twelve, gaining him yet another level-up, which really hammered home the diminishing return.

’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 322 – Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points

Finally, he reached day four – the last day before he would have to return and get ready for his dinner date. On this day, he killed nine B-grades, but just before it was time to return, he wanted to try out one more thing.

Between every kill, Jake had needed rest to fully recover, and a few of the fights had dragged out, with the longest one lasting around half an hour. In other words, Jake had failed to kill any of his prey with a single shot so far.

Granted, he did make things harder for himself by never using his new skill, Event Horizon, but Jake wanted to save that first activation for a special occasion. Also, using it would make it harder to get a feel for how much more powerful his new bow had made him.

Even so, Jake had gotten close a few times, and when he located his final prey before it was time to go home, he felt confident this would be the one. It was a Mystical Olthorn Cryomancer wandering all alone through the endless icy land. A juicy, barely-evolved Olthorn. With a walking stick and a relatively weak-looking frame, with the name also being a huge hint, Jake knew he was dealing with a caster.

Casters were dangerous when on the offensive, but defensively? Unless they had pre-prepared magic ready that would be triggered automatically, they tended to be the squishiest by far, especially when faced with someone like Jake, who could stop them from erecting any barriers right before they were struck.

With his target located and chosen, Jake took his position far up in the sky. One of the other reasons he’d chosen an Olthorn for this test was due to having killed nearly a dozen of them so far, giving him a decent understanding of the Olthorn race, resulting in a stronger Protean Arrow.

One that was naturally coated with Jake’s best Heartrot Poison, created right before this hunt, he prepared his Powershot while hidden by Unseen Hunter. Arcane Awakening fully activated from the get-go as he funneled energy into his Apex Hunter’s Bow, feeling it greedily take everything in as it slightly changed color from the infused arcane energy.

Jake charged for as long as he physically could, right up to the point he felt his body begin to give out. Knowing it was time, Jake unleashed the most powerful attack he could – without the use of Event Horizon, that is – and watched it descend toward the unsuspecting B-grade.

As expected, the Olthorn’s danger sense alerted it to the incoming attack a moment before it would strike, but before it had time to react defensively, it felt the Primal Gaze of a hunter lock down its soul.

Frozen, the caster who hadn’t prepared any passive defenses was struck by the arrow. Jake watched as it penetrated right down into the skull of the Olthorn, piercing all the way through and down into the ground, destroying everything in its wake. A massive explosion of destructive arcane energy cracked the utterly enormous slate of ice for tens of thousands of kilometers in every direction, radiating out from a bloody spot.

Through the destruction, Jake saw that more than half of the B-grade’s body had been utterly destroyed, including its entire head, most of its chest, and one leg. The rest of its body was barely keeping it together, and its flesh wiggled to try to regenerate, but the Heartrot Poison managed to put a stop to any attempt at survival.

It took a dozen seconds of Jake standing there with bated breath before he finally punched the air in celebration. “Fuck yeah! One shot, one kill!”

You have slain [Mystical Olthorn Cryomancer – lvl 350] – Bonus experience earned for killing an enemy above your level

’DING!’ Class: [Arcane Hunter of Horizon’s Edge] has reached level 323 – Stat points allocated, +50 Free Points

’DING!’ Race: [Human (C)] has reached level 323 – Stat points allocated, +45 Free Points

The sounds of the system’s dings came in to celebrate with him, rewarding Jake another level. With more than twenty-five levels to go before it was evolution time, Jake had finally managed to slay his first B-grade in a single attack, and he hadn’t even used his theoretically strongest attack to do so.

Sure, it had been one of the weakest B-grades imaginable, but still a B-grade nevertheless, making Jake quite proud of himself. It was also good that it had died in one shot because, looking at his shoulder and back, he’d definitely overdone that Arcane Powershot, going by the amount of damage he’d dealt to himself. While he could have continued to shoot a few arrows, especially with the help of the bow gifting him some life energy, it definitely wouldn’t have been recommended by any credible doctor.

“Genuinely impressive,” a voice said from behind, as Jake was still mid-celebration. “I didn’t ex-“

Stolen novel; please report.

Artemis had appeared only three meters behind Jake, and before she could finish her next sentence, Jake turned around and gave her a big smooch. She seemed surprised despite being a goddess who’d seen him coming far in advance, but also totally fine with the development as she returned the sentiment.

Just for a little, though, before she gently pushed him away with a smile. “As I was saying, I didn’t expect you to succeed this soon. The innate lifeforce of a B-grade isn’t easily overcome in a single attack, but the fact you are capable of it means the damage behind that arrow is far more than meets the eye.”

“I definitely do have a fair deal of multipliers behind the scenes,” Jake nodded, still elated by his accomplishment. “With one of them being this awesome bow. The damage amplification when going up a grade is nothing to be scoffed at, and with it working in tandem with all my other skills that make me stronger against higher-level enemies, I do certainly pack a punch when on the hunt.”

“You know… I wouldn’t be against it if you wish to skip that dinner,” Artemis said. “It’s vanity compared to the progress you’d make here in the Hunting Ground. While your profession will certainly take a while longer to reach peak C-grade, with your current pace, it shouldn’t be long before your class gets there. Seeing as it’s you, I wouldn’t be worried about being limited by Records, either.”

“Skipping something you already promised to attend is a dick move,” Jake argued, wanting that dinner date.

“It would certainly be unkind to those two, but in the grand scheme of things, not repaying two mortals for what I understand to be minor aid rendered wouldn’t be a big deal,” Artemis shrugged.

“Are you saying this because you don’t want to go?” Jake asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, but I won’t lie and say I find myself overly enthusiastic at the prospect,” Artemis admitted. “I’m afraid it’s going to be… awkward.”

“Probably, but to borrow your words, feeling awkward in front of two mortals shouldn’t matter in the grand scheme of things,” Jake said a bit teasingly.