Jake’s attachment to archery didn’t exactly stem from anything logical. Sure, one could argue the fact that his Bloodline gave Perception made it an obvious choice, but Perception was a stat highly beneficial to nearly all classes and professions. Heck, Arnold had said himself that Perception was his highest stat, and he didn’t even use a gun… or any weapon for that matter.

Many types of magic were also based on Perception. Jake could become a melee fighter with a focus on the stat too, or do so many other things. Some would maybe even be more effective as there was a dissonance between his Sphere of Perception and the fact that he preferred to stay at long range to land arrows.

So, why did he focus on archery anyway? Well, because he liked it. It had been the first sport he had gotten into. It was linked with many positive memories of his life. Times he went to tournaments or the archery range with his father, memories of his brother cheering whenever he hit a bullseye. When he got introduced to the system, he had instantly known he wanted to do archery once more.

This didn’t mean he wouldn’t also do other things. He was fully aware he was a bit of a Jake of all trades, but archery was still a centerpiece of those trades. With all of that in mind, it only made sense to upgrade his archery skill, even if said archery skill also pointed out Jake’s vast toolbelt of fighting methods.

[Archery of Vast Horizons (Rare)] - An Archer’s best friends are the bow in his hand and the arrow in his foe’s heart. Unsatisfied with merely becoming an expert, you have sought beyond mastering common bowmanship, and do not shy away from using magic to enhance your technique. You seek to cross all horizons with your arrows, and your target shall be pierced, no matter the distance, no matter the means. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a ranged weapon. Adds a small damage bonus to all arrows based on distance traveled and Perception.

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[Archery of Expanding Horizons (Epic)] - An Archer’s best friend is the bow in his hand and the arrow in his foe’s heart. As your horizons expand, you realize flaws and build upon a foundation to make that expansion everpresent. You do not shy away from mixing archery with magic and making your arrows arbiters of your will. Your arrows will cross all horizons and bend over any obstacle to pierce your target, with only your own will limiting the possibilities. Allows you to apply your will to control the trajectory of arrows before releasing them. Adds a small bonus to the effect of Agility and Strength when using a ranged weapon. Adds a small damage bonus to all arrows based on distance traveled and Perception. Arrow trajectory control based on Willpower.

Jake read over the improved skill a few times. Out of all the ones he had, this one had quite a bit of flavor text, which probably made sense considering its role as a general archery skill. When he had gained the skill, Jake had also surprisingly gained some instinctual knowledge, making him more aware of how it truly worked.

When he fired a bending arrow, Jake infused it with a small pack of Willpower along with the usual energies he threw in. This pack of Willpower would work on the arrow to effectively nudge and push it in a certain direction with a constant force, making it follow the trajectory Jake intended. This was also why something like Arcane Powershot didn’t work well with it because the pack of Willpower he would have to infuse into the arrow was above what Jake could do at his current level of power.

Due to the Willpower being a part of the arrow upon firing, this did also mean he could copy it with Splitting Arrow. The packet of Willpower would remain within the arrow even when it was split. Looking at the skill, he also became more and more certain… true arrow control was a possibility in the future. Guided arrows. Just thinking about it, countless ideas entered his head for future improvements, but all of those were for the future. For now, they had more targets to hunt.

Jake briefly explained to Sylphie and Carmen about his upgrade, got his congratulations, and then they took a quick break to chug down potions before moving on.

The map given by Arnold stopped giving any useful information about a third of the way into the mangrove, meaning the entire central part of the Grand Mangrove River was a complete mystery. The central part was also the most dangerous area.

According to the map, the entire river was about two hundred kilometers wide and didn’t have any significant places where it became more narrow – in fact, it was wider in most places. There were also safer places to pass than others, but the mangrove forest was everpresent, showing how utterly massive the ecosystem was.

This did perhaps seem overly huge, but one had to remember that the forest Haven was placed on the outskirts of extended for thousands upon thousands of kilometers into the distance. Arnold hadn’t even been able to map a small part of it yet, and it was likely the largest forest in the region of the planet humans currently occupied.

“Are there more Primas nearby?” Carmen asked Jake as their group took a small break up amongst the branches and leaves of the mangrove trees.

Jake had a fragment in his hand as he searched for similar energies but shook his head. “There was one, I think, but the energy is faint. It either moved or was killed. One thing is for sure, it is no longer in this area.”

“Ree?” Sylphie asked.

“Yeah, it could be connected,” Jake agreed.

They had noticed a general lack of beasts in the area, at least above the river. Down in the deep water below, an entirely different world still existed, separate from everything else. Some creatures did live on the edge, such as the frogs that did dive a bit below water or other beasts that used the river to ambush foes, but these were not considered part of the true river. No, those creatures lived deep beneath, likely kilometers down.

“Do you think a C-grade swept through?” Carmen asked, a bit concerned.

“Doubtful… I don’t feel the lingering aura of one. That doesn’t make it impossible, though, as it could just be one that is good at hiding its presence,” Jake said.

“Guess all we can do is move on,” Carmen sighed as they did just so.

By now, they had already agreed to just try and make it through the Grand Mangrove River as peacefully as possible if there were no more Primas. It wasn’t really a good place to hunt, even with Jake’s archery upgrade. Some annoying opponents also fled underwater if they got in trouble, betting on surviving the deep-river creatures over facing Jake, Carmen, and the little murderbird.

They kept going forward as the general mana level in the air grew. An extreme level of nature, water, and wood affinity also dominated the air, making them all a bit more on edge. It was normal for the mana density and affinity to grow and change based on the environment, but this case was out of the ordinary.

It far surpassed what was found within the tunnel with the Earth Elemental Prima. High mana density didn’t really mean much for humans besides affected mana regeneration and sometimes slightly stronger or weaker attacks based on the affinity of said mana, but one type of creature it did affect significantly was monsters.

Sylphie seemed to enjoy being there, at least. Mana density could help beasts level faster merely by absorbing it, and it would also lead to beasts and other creatures naturally spawning at a higher level, including anything born from eggs or even living births – hence why rituals were often used to nurture eggs and pregnant animals. It also resulted in more natural treasures appearing, and those that did appear were stronger and would grow in rarity and power faster.

Most notably was perhaps the “level” of the treasures and materials spawning. Two flowers could be uncommon rarity, but one would be far more suited for E-grades and the other for C-grades. They could have the same name, but the amount of energy contained within the one for C-grades would be far more powerful.

It worked like this for all kinds of natural treasures and herbs. A D-grade would not benefit from treasures in low-mana areas suitable for E-grades unless it consumed ludicrous amounts. In the same vein, then a C-grade would also not benefit much from treasures suitable for D-grades. What did this mean? That often, mana density in an area could be used to determine the level of creatures one would find there.

In all ways, beasts benefitted from higher mana density areas, which is also why they loved being in them, and the stronger beast got, the more this became almost required to keep progressing for all the reasons stated above. Hence, high-mana areas tended to be dominated by and become the territory of powerful monsters.

And the mana density in this area of the Grand Mangrove River was enough to support not just D-grades… but something above that. Jake could feel that there were C-grades ahead. He could not pinpoint them, but he felt their presence, and soon enough, they would enter an area where he knew there were some.

“Careful,” Jake said. “And if you have any stealth skills, use them. If not, just try to stay low profile. If we are going to get into fights, let’s be the ones starting them.”

Carmen and Sylphie both agreed as Sylphie quickly asked Jake if he wanted her to make a big whirlwind to hide them. She only sulked a little when he said no.

They snuck through the mangrove quietly. At times they heard noises off in the distance and felt the reverberations of energy as powerful entities clashed, but they tried to ignore it and moved slightly away from that direction. Jake would check it out if he was alone, but with Sylphie and Carmen, he didn’t want to take the chance.

Facing C-grades shouldn’t be done half-arsed, and if Jake had to face one, he didn’t want it to be within this mangrove. Any C-grade able to make the Grand Mangrove River their home had to have adapted to the environment and be masters of using it to their advantage, making fighting them there too reckless, even for Jake.

So they wanted to just pass by. Humans had passed before, according to Arnold. C-grades shouldn’t bother with a small group of three… but Jake had made one miscalculation. They maybe didn’t bother with humans, but if there was one thing other beasts enjoyed, it was consuming Beastcores… especially from more powerful beasts. Killing a D-grade wouldn’t give a core worth much, but what if it was a beast of an even higher tier that simply hadn’t grown up yet?

The Records contained in the core would lack quantity, but the quality would be supreme. Hunting these beasts was often seen, which was why dragon hatchlings were protected by their brethren, and beasts of powerful heritages were so tight-knit.

Jake and Carmen weren’t currently traveling with a dragon hatchling but something that was perhaps even more precious to an ambitious C-grade: a Sylphian Eyas.

That is when Jake saw it. Almost a moment too late.

“Dodge!” he yelled as suddenly a thin line of water moved across the mangrove. They all somehow managed to get some height as the needle-thin wave of water passed. Jake’s eyes were open wide as behind and in front of them, thousands of roots had been severed in two by the water cutter, the mangrove trees now only held up by their branches.

And this was only the beginning.

Bullets of water rained upon them from off in the distance, most of them aimed at Sylphie. They all dodged back as several trees were shredded, and Jake didn’t hesitate for a moment as he went all out. Arcane Awakening fully activated as he had already spotted their attacker more than two kilometers away through the path it had created with its own rain of bullets. It was hidden well, but not well enough… not that Jake was sure it mattered as he managed to land an Identify.

[Torrent-Tongue Frog King – lvl ???]

It was a fully-fledged C-grade. Jake communicated this to Sylphie, and Carmen clearly already knew as she also activated several boosting skills. The frog in the distance fired off a few more attacks, but suddenly the attacks stopped.

The frog had disappeared below the surface of the river, but Jake had managed to use his Mark on it the moment he saw it. He felt its movements as it moved at a ridiculous speed underwater towards them.

“Below!” he yelled again as they all spread out and sought up towards the branches of the mangrove trees for cover.

He used Pride, Scales, and Wings as he triggered every single skill he could. Jake quickly began charging an Arcane Powershot and fired where he believed the frog would emerge – a guess that was right on the money.

The frog leaped up from the water just as Jake fired. It got hit by the arrow but didn’t seem to care as it went straight for Sylphie, ignoring both Jake and Carmen. They were not the food it wanted.

“Ree!” Sylphie screeched as she summoned a green shield and fired a blast of green wind to counter the frog leaping towards her, trying to gobble her up. Together with Jake’s arrow, it managed to throw the frog off-course as it smashed into the branches above, but their relief was short-lived.

The entire body of the frog exploded as it sent bullets of water flying out, striking the three of them. Jake managed to rapidly form a barrier of mana, and combined with the natural barrier from Arcane Awakening and Scales, he shrugged it off as he fired off a barrage of arrows.

Once more, he was ignored as the river below seemed to come alive. Torrents of water flew up and enveloped Sylphie in a bubble of water as the frog kept attacking her. Jake flew forward but was smashed back by the frog shooting a blast of water his way, making him fall into the river.

Jake got out of the water, bleeding from his chest, as he went for the frog again. The beast was nearly upon Sylphie as Carmen appeared at its side and punched it hard, sending it slightly off-course. She followed up with a combo as she hit it over a dozen times in rapid succession, but Jake could see it wasn’t doing as much as Carmen would have liked.

The frog seemed more annoyed than anything as it released its tongue and wrapped it around Carmen’s waist. It swung her around and smashed her through more than ten trees before it finally let go and tossed her into the distance.

Sylphie had broken out of the water prison and looked like she was about to go all-out together with Jake, but at that moment, they both felt something. The frog did, too, as it froze and abandoned all its current plans.

But it was too late for it.

A white form suddenly shot out of the river below, not giving the frog any time to react. It reached the beast in a second as Jake saw two shining fangs sink into the amphibian’s body. Jake didn’t even take the time to think as he made use of this opening to run towards Carmen as he mentally commanded Sylphie to follow him.

They were getting the fuck out of there, that was for sure.

Carmen had been flung five hundred meters away after being smashed through two more trees, and she looked more than a little beat up. She looked relieved when she saw them, but her eyes opened in fright soon after, and Jake knew why.

He stopped on a root as he slowly turned around, seeing the same white form rise out of the river. He also felt the aura of the frog was gone along with the Mark placed on it. It had been killed within only a few seconds. He looked at the beast before him and its familiar form.

[Alabaster Crimsoneye Snake – lvl ???]

The beast had a long and slender body. It looked to be around thirty meters long with an entirely white, almost albino look, especially with the two red eyes that looked like gemstones. The head was only about the size of Jake’s torse, and it truly was a thin animal… but that didn’t mean Jake would underestimate it.

Even standing there, he felt it. Within the snake was venom at a level far above anything Jake had ever faced. He was instantly aware that his Palate would offer little help. This was no simple C-grade, and Jake was confident this creature was on a whole other level than anything else he had ever seen, surpassing even the Termite King by quite the margin. It was likely a mid-tier C-grade.

Jake’s only focus now was on escaping as the snake regarded their party of three. Carmen was heavily injured, and Sylphie seemed scared and leaned on Jake for support. The thought of summoning the Fallen King using his mask appeared, but before he had to do anything, he heard a voice as the snake extended its tongue that seemed to vibrate in a way that produced it.

“What brings one who walks the Path of the Forefather here?”