The Primal Hunter

Chapter 947: How the Alliance Works & A Synergistic Society

The Prima Guardian Alliance was both a simple and a complex setup by the system. The purpose of it couldn’t be any simpler: to allow different planets to team up and face Primas together. However, the way this was done had become relatively complex, especially when one considered the automatic enrollment of the planets who had already successfully dealt with their own Prima Guardian.

Initially, when one joined the alliance, the World Leader would be granted a blueprint to make a special teleportation circle alongside documentation of how the circle would work. These teleportation circles were linked to every other circle similar to themselves on other planets and would allow cheap travel across the Milky Way – though there was some cost that the planet receiving people would have to bear.

Partly due to this, the teleportation circles wouldn’t automatically just accept anyone who wanted to teleport to a planet. By default, someone with authority granted by the World Leader would have to approve the teleportation before it would go through. The teleportation could also be programmed, though, and be set to automatically just accept anyone trying to use it. This could further be customized to only accept people from certain planets or even by excluding some planets.

No one in the entire galaxy had their circles set to fully open teleportation.

Through the interface provided by the system alongside the enrollment in the Prima Guardian Alliance, the World Leader or those granted authority could also write a brief description about their own planet and those they wanted assistance from. Some of the information in this section would be automatically generated by the system, such as the general ecology of the planet, as well as what affinities dominated and whatnot. These parts could not be hidden even if the person wanted to. Neither could they hide the population numbers of the planet… making it quite apparent which planets were more fucked than others.

Most planets had set all this up many years ago while still waiting for the Prima Guardian to arrive, with nearly all planets only having one of these cross-galaxy teleporters present. These were also primarily placed in capitals, and were then connected to the rest of the planet’s teleportation network from there.

To clarify, Earth did not have any of these teleportation circles. Earth only had the teleporter found within the Prima Vessel, which was an entirely different kind compared to those established by the planets themselves. This teleporter didn’t have the same possibility of allowing certain people to come and go as they pleased from different planets. It effectively only allowed people to teleport out and return again. In other words, it was a teleporter only for the natives of a planet to go help other places. At least, that’s how Miranda and Arnold concluded the teleporter worked after their initial investigation.

Upon the defeat of their Prima Guardian, Earth had also been granted the other type of teleportation circle, but so far, there had been no interest in establishing it. The primary purpose of the provided circle was to allow others to teleport and help a planet… something Earth naturally didn’t need. Having it was only viewed as a potential weakness, should they be tricked to allow someone to teleport to the planet they shouldn’t have.

Of course, the chances of this happening were minuscule, considering only Jake and Miranda had the authority to view the blueprint of the provided teleportation circle and manage its permissions. With Jake more likely having failed to realize he now had this blueprint, only Miranda was a potential source of failure… and she concluded they didn’t need the teleporter.

The only thing they would use the blueprint for was to study it, as Arnold theorized it held clues on how to make a teleportation circle capable of taking them close to any other planet marked by the map in the entire Milky Way.

Either way… Jake and all the others heard this explanation of how the teleporters worked before they headed off into the galaxy. The number of planets they could actually teleport to was relatively limited due to how the teleporters worked, especially as most had set their teleportation circles to only accept certain planets while requiring manual permission if anyone else wanted to come.

Many planets were naturally wary when someone wanted to teleport to their planet… especially because of the “someone” part. Like, who would have one person teleport? Sure, if it was some diplomat or something like that, it could make sense, but the people from Earth weren’t trying to travel around the galaxy for peaceful purposes. They were there to slaughter Prima Guardians and get loot.

Those with factions they went to assist naturally didn’t face this problem…but Jake and the Sword Saint, who wanted to go alone to help planets, found it quite challenging to get accepted. At least Miranda assumed they both would face difficulties… but the Sword Saint was gone nearly instantly, leaving only Jake behind, trying to find a planet willing to accept him, complaining under his breath.

“Why the hell are they being selective when they’re so clearly fucked…” Jake muttered as he tried to teleport to a struggling planet, yet the one in charge of the planet still rejected him.

“Exactly what are you saying to them?” Miranda ended up questioning Jake. When one applied, a message could be attached. An application of sorts.

“Just the truth,” Jake said, annoyed.

“… and what is the truth?” Miranda asked, and annoyed, Jake gave her permission to see the message he sent alongside his teleportation request, and…

“Hunter here. Will kill Prima Guardian quickly for free.”

“Jake, have you considered you may need to include more information to make you look less like a delusional idiot?” Miranda asked in a curt tone.

“Why should I?” Jake crossed his arms. “I’m the one offering them help, not the other way around. Why would I waste my time trying to convince them I’m worthy of saving their asses? If they don’t accept, they just aren’t desperate enough. I’ve already sent more job applications in my life than I wanted to. No way I’m gonna write a damn essay about my strengths and weaknesses when I’m the one offering assistance. Free assistance, even.”

“There are plenty of reasons why they would be apprehensive about allowing someone random to teleport to their planet… and it isn’t helping that you are marked by the system as a World Leader when you try to go somewhere,” Miranda sighed. “A solitary World Leader wanting to go to another planet less than a day after the Prima Guardian event fully began is incredibly suspicious.”

Jake looked about to say something as he grinned. “And yet, some are willing to take the gamble.”

Miranda saw a happy Jake jump onto the teleportation circle before it promptly activated, and she couldn’t help but wonder just how desperate you had to be to allow him to teleport there with that kind of message while also considering his status as World Leader. Sighing, she turned to the last three people who were about to leave but had waited because Vesperia insisted Jake should be the first to go out of politeness.

“Does Her Majesty already have a planet in mind?” the witch asked, knowing Vesperia did have a few targets in mind.

“I do indeed, one that should be relatively simple to handle. I confirmed beforehand with a Hive Queen that the humanoid population is already de facto under their control,” Vesperia answered. “Seeing as the hive cannot fight the Prima Guardian or even the regular Primas, they naturally need assistance, or the dwarves will simply be slaughtered.”

“In that case, I wish you a pleasant and fruitful journey,” Miranda bowed her head slightly.

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In her mind, it only made sense to remain as polite as possible in front of the True Royal, even more so than perhaps anyone else on the planet. This sentiment was also echoed by her Patrons, who had told Miranda to treat Vesperia more like she would treat another god than a mortal. Considering how scary the True Royal could be, that wasn’t super difficult to do.

“Let us go, and thank you two for your assistance,” Vesperia said to the Fallen King and Sylphie, who would go with her.

“Hunting down Primas and convincing planets to allow me to face the Guardian would prove difficult alone, while I believe going with you will provide ample opportunities,” the Fallen King answered honestly.

“Ree,” Sylphie screeched, making it clear she just thought it would be boring to go alone.

Without further ado, the bird flew over to the teleporter as the hawk disappeared when it activated. Vesperia and the Fallen King looked taken aback for a moment that she had gone ahead alone, but didn’t immediately make any moves to follow.

“We will return here after we have slain the Prima Guardian,” Vesperia said. “I hope for good news regarding finding a method to teleport even to planets that are not part of the alliance.”

“And I hope I will be able to provide that upon your return,” Miranda said, keeping a neutral tone as the True Royal nodded before stepping toward the teleportation circle. The Fallen King floated after her, and a few moments later, they, too, were gone.

Miranda took a deep breath with everyone having now headed out all over the galaxy. Arnold was busy inside the control room analyzing the map as well as the blueprint to the alliance teleporter, with William having set up some kind of ritual circle of his own to “read the karmic pathways” or something. Miranda wasn’t even going to pretend to understand karmic magic. Sure, some of her magic was equally weird and difficult to understand, but karma magic just still didn’t make much sense to her.

She herself would also stay on Earth as there was still plenty to do. They now owned the entire planet, and Miranda now had far more control than before due to the Planetary Pylon getting claimed. It also wasn’t like all the beasts on Earth could go around and help the rest of the galaxy. The current working theory was that they would also be suppressed on other planets, and sending them would simply be too risky for little gain. No, better to let Jake and friends handle the other Prima Guardians.

All Miranda could hope was that they would do a good job and succeed safely. That… and hopefully, not end up somehow making enemies.

“Ya sure this isn’t just a waste of time?” the old dwarf said as he stared at the teleportation circle within the chamber.

“The queen sure didn’t seem like it would be… in fact, I’ve never seen any of those Hive Queens more stressed than they’ve been over these past few months,” a younger female dwarf answered while stroking her beard.

“Why are they stressing? It ain’t like they’re at risk of getting wiped out by these Prima things,” the older dwarf sighed.

“Something about who will visit. Apparently, it’s some big shot who will help us deal with the Primas and even the Prima Guardian,” the female dwarf explained. “I hope they’re right.”

“So do I,” the old dwarf nodded as he kept looking at the inert teleportation circle, waiting for a request to come in.

These dwarves had always been a subterranean race, primarily due to the harsh environments on the surface of their planet. Even before the system, they very rarely ventured topside. Harsh acid rains and large storms ravaged the world above, leaving no space for life anywhere, and only while wearing protective suits could they sometimes head up there to look for resources. However, this turmoil on the surface did lead to a very vibrant and healthy world underground, with plenty of space and opportunity for life to flourish.

Before the system, these dwarves had already established a relatively large country, spanning a huge area of the underworld. There had been about five million of them total when the integration appeared, and while a few had died during the Tutorial and the times that followed, more than four million still lived there to this day.

Unlike many other planets, they never had any big internal conflicts… but they also never truly grew much. Even now, the number of C-grade dwarves numbered less than fifty, with only three people having even gone to Nevermore. To put it in other words… a dozen Primas could likely wipe out this entire dwarven faction.

They had just never been fighters. They never had to fight, and it was not part of their culture… in fact, they hadn’t even known about most of the usual weapons people used before the Tutorials. While these dwarves did have a certain level of technology, instead of weaponry and war, they had primarily expanded by working closely alongside the other lifeforms beneath the ground. Their closest companions had been a unique species of large ants that were all roughly the sizes of rats, with the queens comparable to medium-sized dogs. That was before the system, mind you.

The dwarves had cultivated these ants and used them to expand and even as a defense against some of the more dangerous beasts that lived close to their borders. In return, the dwarves fed and helped the ant colony flourish by providing them with food and even helping design the hives. They put in plumbing to ensure the ants always had water and even farmed certain grubs they knew the ants liked to eat. Some of them had even worked within the hatcheries to take care of the newborn.

It was a truly synergistic relationship.

And then… then the system arrived.

While gone in the Tutorials, the ant colony that surrounded their country expanded and grew. Hive Queens were born with intelligence rivaling that of the dwarves themselves and power far surpassing them. The most powerful Hive Queens were forced to seek deeper and couldn’t approach the area controlled by the dwarves anymore, but they could still send messages.

It was an odd situation… but even after the integration, the ants were not antagonistic toward the dwarves. They still remembered the relationship their two races had before and continued to find value in it, even if a disparity of power was readily apparent.

In some ways, the ants taking care and defending the dwarves also ended up becoming a problem. The dwarves simply weren’t able to level enough as there was nothing to hunt, allowing only the crafters to progress. By the time the ants and dwarves both noticed this glaring issue, it was already too late, and news of the Prima Guardian event was upon them.

Without help, the dwarves would definitely be wiped out. Even if all the Hive Queens and high-ranking ectognamorphs had been given permission by the current World Leader dwarf, they couldn’t fight the Primas off. All they had been able to do was help create physical barriers to try and keep the Primas at bay as long as possible.

The old dwarf in charge of the teleportation circle was reflecting on all this as he waited for something to happen. He knew there were seven Hive Queens not too far away, making preparations for the arrival of this VIP.

“You think they’ll come today? The Prima Guardian thing only just arrived, and I don’t think we are in that big of a rush.. these Primas landed on the other side of the planet and on the surface. Should take them at least a week to get to us,” the female dwarf said, her tone sounding like she was calming herself down more than anything.

“it will likely be today,” the older dwarf shrugged. “But there is really no way to-“

Just then, he got a system message, and his eyes opened wide. He only skimmed the request and saw it was from the planet that had been mentioned to him, and without delay, he accepted it.

A message was instantly sent out to the Hive Queens, and within less than five seconds, seven Hive Queens appeared in humanoid form within the chamber. They all stared expectedly at the center of the teleportation circle as it glowed… the light faded soon after, and the dwarf just looked confused at what he saw.

In the center of the circle, a small creature appeared. One that looked different to something the male dwarf had ever seen before. It was small and green and did not look like an ectognamorph at all.

“Ree,” the creature let out a screech, the dwarf throwing a confused gaze at the Hive Queens, who looked equally perplexed.

“… are you related to her Majesty of the Vespernat Lineage?” the leader of the Hive Queens – a late-tier C-grade – asked.

“Ree,” the creature simply let out a screech again as it began to waddle forward, the Hive Queens clearly unaware of what was happening.

“Is it wearing a vest?” the female dwarf asked telepathically.

“I think so…” the male dwarf responded, his level of confusion only growing by the moment.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

With everyone just staring confused at the small beast, a second application to travel to the planet suddenly came in. The dwarf quickly confirmed this was also from the right planet and approved it as the teleportation circle spun to life for a second time.

This time, what appeared made a lot more sense. Two large creatures were teleported in, towering over the dwarves and even the Hive Queens, whose humanoid forms also resembled dwarves. One of the newcomers looked like a large root creature of sorts and was floating slightly above the ground. The other one was a large woman with distinct insect-like features, making the dwarf quickly realize this was the one they had been waiting on. If nothing else, the response of the Hive Queens that followed made it absolutely clear as they all fell to their knees and spoke in unison.

“We greet the Vespernat True Royal,” they said, the two dwarves also quickly following along and kneeling. The male dwarf felt the aura of these two new creatures… and as a noble himself, he especially felt the presence of the wood-like being. A king… a true system-recognized king.

Perhaps it was fitting… for a Hive Queen above Hive Queens to appear together with a true king. It did still leave him questioning, though… why was the small green creature also there? And why was it currently trying to get into his backpack in the corner where he kept his dried worm snacks?