Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

Seth sprinted through the dense woods, the thud of his boots muffled by the thick layer of pine needles. Behind him, the forest floor shook under the weight of two dozen soldiers and three contracted predators—a massive tiger and two sleek, obsidian-furred panthers—all tearing through the underbrush on his tail.

He increased his speed, maintaining a lead that teased his pursuers; he couldn't afford to lose them completely or they would inevitably run back toward Henry and the others.

Seth's left shoulder throbbed with a dull heat, and he flexed his fingers on that hand. The joint felt stable enough to draw a bowstring in a desperate situation, but he'd hold off unless it was absolutely necessary. Making the injury worse would be catastrophic, so it would be best to keep his arm tucked tight until the following day at the very least.

Veering sharply behind a colossal cedar, Seth vanished into the tree's shadow and the undergrowth. The group of twenty-five imperial soldiers skidded to a halt when they entered the small clearing, weapons drawn and eyes darting about.

"Where did he go?" one soldier hissed.

"Should we fan out and find him?" another said. "Or should we head back to the others?"

"No, Sergeant Wealter will be—"

Before the man could finish, Seth erupted from a thick cluster of bushes with the explosive speed of his newly enhanced Huntbound Rush. He moved like a blurred streak of grey and silver and funneled aether out of his Well. One of Dusk Scythes' blades hissed out of his uninjured arm.

The glowing weapon carved through the neck of the only soldier wearing a Priest's robe, decapitating the man before he could even register there was a threat.

The healer slumped into the moss, blood spurting out across the clearing. Seth didn't linger. He dove back into the foliage, his body disappearing into the gloom once more.

"Kill him! Tear that forest apart!" someone roared behind.

Seth ran, a grim smirk playing on his lips as he realized just how much faster he was than the infantry. While sprinting, he glanced down and cast Intermediate Identify on his hand.

Seth

Class: Primalist

Rank: 52 (High-Iron)

Subclass: Beastmaster

Core: Feral Instinct

[...]

Strength: 135 (116+19)

Arcane Power: 133 (107+22+4)

Toughness: 131 (105+23+3)

Well Capacity: 97 (78+19)

Agility: 140 (120+20)

Regeneration: 122 (83+16+23)

Spells:

- Link [???〜??? (???)]

- Share [???〜??? (???)]

- Aura of Insatiable Hunger [???〜 ??? (Unique)]

- Ravenous Arrow [Iron | Silver〜Legendary (Crude)]

- Dusk Scythes [Iron | Silver〜Epic+ (Decent)]

- Armored Phantom Fists [Iron〜Legendary+ (Refined)]

- Beastmaster Rage [Iron〜Epic+ (Exceptional)]

- Huntbound Overflow [Iron〜Epic (Exceptional)]

- Night Veil [Iron〜Epic (Refined)]

[...]

- Increases the user's speed by 20% and Agility by 40 for 30 seconds.

- Ignores 30% of the effect of speed-reducing and immobilizing spells.

- Cooldown decreases according to spell quality.

- Consumes 20 uniums

- Cooldown: 2 minutes.

The spell had risen by two full grades in rarity while only dropping from Flawless to Exceptional. Combined with the bonuses from Seth's gear, Huntbound Overflow now pushed his Agility past two hundred. If he activated Beastmaster Rage, it would surge beyond two hundred and fifty. Nearly two hundred and eighty if he triggered the Swift Eagle Bracelet.

The stat boosts from Link were certainly strong, but the ability of the Legacy—and that strange, chained energy buried within his chest—to raise the quality of his spells was something else entirely.

From what Seth knew from his years at the academy, Rare and Epic spells of Exceptional quality or higher were already considered extraordinary even among nobles. And yet those were no longer even his strongest spells.

The twenty percent increase in spell efficiency from each quality climb only pushed his abilities farther beyond what ordinary soldiers could ever hope to rival.

Seth smiled and glanced over his shoulder at the soldiers and beasts pursuing him through the forest.

One arm is enough for this lot.

He vaulted cleanly over a fallen log, barely slowing.

And if things truly went wrong, he could still summon Colossus to hold the line and Lumi to mend their injuries. There was no reason not to play with these two dozen soldiers.

It would give even more breathing room to Henry and the others.

For the next twelve hours or so, Seth haunted his pursuers like a ghost through cursed woods. He launched a relentless series of micro-ambushes, striking every hour or so to claim another life before melting back into the forest.

The imperial soldiers never knew when he would appear.

A pounce from the dark. A shadow blade flashing between trees. A throat opened before anyone could blink. Then silence again.

Seth stole brief moments of shallow sleep whenever the exhausted soldiers collapsed to rest, though his regular ambushes forced them to maintain multiple watches at all times. Their nerves frayed more with every death.

He attempted several times to contact Henry through his communication orb, but the artificer device remained dead silent, its twin likely still suppressed by the lingering distortion fields spread across the other portions of the battlefield.

More than once, Seth considered returning to the strongholds, yet he was unsure if he could truly offer a greater impact there than he was here. He had successfully tied down two dozen soldiers—a fifth of the remaining Imperial strike force—while single-handedly eliminating roughly half their number and all three of their contracted beasts.

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That impact was hard to ignore.

Now only ten soldiers remained.

They huddled together in a small clearing, battered, faces hollow with exhaustion. Several leaned heavily on their weapons while others scanned the forest with bloodshot eyes.

"There's no way we catch him," one man wheezed, gripping his spear. "We should regroup with the others. Once we've slaughtered the rest of those Kastal rats, he won't be able to do a damn thing alone."

"And tell the sergeant we lost half our unit to one wounded Primalist?" another snapped bitterly. "You really think that'll end well for us?"

"At least we'd still be alive," a woman muttered while tightening a bloodstained bandage around her forearm. "And you know he isn't just any Primalist. He freaking killed Morsh, for the gods' sake. That guy was supposed to become one of the best Black Reapers."

A younger soldier glanced nervously toward the surrounding trees. "Maybe that Primalist isn't actually human."

"Oh, shut up."

"I'm s-serious!" the younger man insisted, voice cracking. "You saw what happened to Greg. One second he was beside me, then his head was on the ground."

Silence followed. No one could argue the point.

Another soldier spat into the dirt. "We should've waited for the others instead of chasing him."

"And given him a chance to get away?" the man at the center of the group growled. Despite the exhaustion in his face, authority still clung to his voice. "As Freya said, that monster already killed Morsh. If we let him roam free, he'll keep slaughtering our people in each battle he participates in."

"Then what's the plan?" someone shot back. "Because right now it feels like we're the prey."

Seth watched them from a high branch as he cast Intermediate Identify on his own hand.

Seth

Class: Primalist

Rank: 52 (High-Iron)

Subclass: Beastmaster

Core: Feral Instinct

[...]

Strength: 136 (117+19)

Arcane Power: 133 (107+22+4)

Toughness: 131 (105+23+3)

Well Capacity: 97 (78+19)

Agility: 141 (121+20)

Regeneration: 122 (83+16+23)

Spells:

- Link [???〜??? (???)]

- Share [???〜??? (???)]

- Aura of Insatiable Hunger [???〜 ??? (Unique)]

- Ravenous Arrow [Iron | Silver〜Legendary (Crude)]

- Dusk Scythes [Iron | Silver〜Epic+ (Decent)]

- Armored Phantom Fists [Iron〜Legendary+ (Refined)]

- Beastmaster Rage [Iron〜Epic+ (Exceptional)]

- Huntbound Overflow [Iron〜Epic (Exceptional)]

- Night Veil [Iron〜Epic (Exceptional)]

[...]

Aside from Night Veil's increase in quality, Seth's attention was caught by his bonus attributes. They hadn’t changed at all despite Nightmare having assimilated most of the new Seeds.

It was something he had already noticed the previous day after Nightmare finished absorbing the Scale of the Night Serpent. Frowning, Seth focused on his status once more to confirm it.

Affinity:

- Null ~ High-Iron

- Darkness ~ Silver-Low

- Earth ~ Peak-Iron

- Poison ~ Low-Iron

Seeds:

[restricted]

*Nightmare (Tenebrous Direwolf)

*Colossus (Three-Tailed Giant Scorpion)

- Petrified Tree Sap [Iron~???]

- Increases the potency of all Darkness-affinity spells by 5% Arcane Power.

- Boosts Arcane Power by 3.75%.

The bonus was still only a quarter of the Drop of Liquified Shadow Crystal Nightmare had absorbed back in the Cave of Elements. There were no effects from the Copper Seed the direwolf had finished assimilating.

Maybe it’s because of that restricted thing, Seth thought.

If he had to guess, it likely had something to do with the chained energy inside his chest. His core, by forming a bridge with it, might have allowed only a partial effect to pass through. But even if that theory was correct, he had no idea how to break those chains—or why they were there in the first place.

Seth shook his head. This wasn’t the right time to chase answers to questions he couldn’t solve.

He slipped his consciousness into the black teardrop of the necklace. Within the direwolf's domain, the Legendary Iron Seed had become nearly transparent, the dark crystal slowly dissolving into streams of shadowy aether. Nightmare rested before it like a monarch beside a dying star, eyes closed while the last remnants of power flowed into his chest.

At this rate, the absorption will be finished in less than an hour, Seth thought, eyes briefly returning to the soldiers ahead to make sure they weren't doing anything foolish.

Nightmare's Silver+ potential had clearly accelerated the process, but even then, the speed was absurd by the standards of Seth and Elena—each of them had taken around a week to complete.

Seth shifted his focus to the second teardrop. Within the Pocket-Realm, Colossus stood motionless next to the small water source, his shell gleaming beneath the light of the domain's sun. Lumi drifted in playful circles around him, leaving trails of soft golden radiance through the air with each loop.

Seth cast Intermediate Identify on Colossus.

Spells:

- Mountainborn Exeskeleton [Gold〜Legendary (Crude)]

- Sandstorm Dome [Gold〜Rare (Crude)]

- Desert Aegis [Silver〜Epic (Standard)]

- Explosive Bastion [Silver〜Epic (Decent)]

- Chitinous Taunt [Silver〜Rare (Standard)]

- Deathcoil Venom [Silver〜Rare (Decent)]

- Quartz Armor [Iron〜 Rare (Flawless)]

- Scorpion Charge [Iron〜Rare (Exceptional)]

Seth's attention immediately locked onto Desert Aegis.

- Creates a protective zone with a 30-foot radius around the caster for 8 minutes.

- Grants bonus Toughness equal to 25 + 7% of the caster's total Toughness to all allies within the zone, including the caster.

- Potency, duration, and radius increase according to Earth affinity and spell quality.

- Consumes 64 uniums

- Cooldown: 25 minutes

Over the last day, Colossus had cast Desert Aegis so many times and with such fervor to shield Seth during their relentless hit-and-run clashes that the spell had improved in quality under the constant strain.

The aura now granted roughly forty points of Toughness on its own; that, combined with the defensive boost from Morsh's armor, effectively turned Seth into a Guardian for the duration of the spell.

And Colossus himself?

The scorpion had become something even more monstrous. He could rival the defense of a Low-Silver Guardian and shrugged off any attacks aside from those of elite fighters like Morsh or Seth.

Seth lowered his gaze back toward the exhausted soldiers gathered in the clearing below.

'Get ready, Colossus,' he said through Link. 'It's time to end this hunt.'

'Finally,' the scorpion replied, excitement rumbling through the connection.

As the giant arachnid began turning toward Lumi, clearly preparing to explain why he was going to leave her, Seth interrupted him.

'No. She's fighting with us this time.'

'Really?' Colossus blurted out. He immediately twisted toward the Luminous Otter inside the Pocket-Realm, mandibles clicking with excitement. "Did you hear that, Lumi?"

Seth sighed inwardly.

Of course she hadn't. Lumi wasn't connected to him through Link like Nightmare and Colossus were.

Seth unstrapped his injured arm and slowly rolled the shoulder in a full circle. No resistance. No lingering throb of pain.

The combined effect of a second Healing Potion and repeated healing spells from Lumi had repaired the fracture ahead of schedule.

Seth looked once again at the formation gathered in the clearing below, studying them with cold focus. The imperial unit no longer had any Priests, and only a single Elementalist remained. The rest were standard Warriors, Rogues, and Guardians. They were dangerous enough by their number, but none carried the suffocating pressure of an elite like Morsh.

Odds were he wouldn't even need Beastmaster Rage.

Seth stepped off the branch.

His body dropped soundlessly through the canopy before landing in a crouch upon the forest floor like a hunting predator, which was exactly what he was. The instant his boots touched the ground, he exploded forward toward the lone Elementalist, fingers already weaving through the air as Dusk Scythes formed along both his arms for the first time in nearly two days.

"Watch—" a Rogue began, eyes widening as he caught the blur of motion rushing through the darkness.

Before the warning could finish leaving that person's mouth, Seth drove the jagged shadow blades into the Elementalist's back. The man convulsed once before collapsing.

"Kill him!" the leader roared.

Arrows hissed toward Seth from the front, but Colossus burst from the teardrop necklace to intercept them. The giant scorpion activated Quartz Armor and Desert Aegis at the same time, and layers of shimmering protection came to life around his shell. The volley shattered harmlessly against the scorpion's reinforced body in bursts of sparks and splintered shafts.

Colossus didn't stop there and surged forward with Scorpion Charge to slam into three advancing soldiers, sending bodies flying across the clearing. As the men and women tried to regain their footing, the scorpion unleashed Chitinous Taunt; the grinding pulse rippled through the battlefield and dragged all but two of the soldiers' attention onto him.

Seth dashed forward with Huntbound Overflow and summoned Lumi into the battlefield.

The Luminous Otter materialized in a swirl of soft blue light and immediately froze midair, wide eyes darting between Seth, Colossus, and the imperial soldiers. Then, after a moment of hesitation, she circled once above Seth's head.

Her paws glowed brighter and brighter before releasing a concentrated wave of radiant aether directly into him. Power flooded Seth's muscles, and his senses sharpened.

"Thanks, Lumi," Seth said while the surge of energy coursed through his body and propelled him forward. "I won't waste it."

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