Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

As the electrified spear flew toward him, Seth's legs refused to move, exhaustion rooting him into place. His life flashed before his eyes. Should he have done things differently? Bowed to nobles and not made a fuss? Left everything behind to hide and grow stronger in the Rifts?

Seth shut his eyes, bracing for the impact and accepting his fate. Yet before the spear could hit him, a thundering explosion shook the arena, rattling the ground as if struck by a meteor. Opening his eyes, he found him surrounded in a thick cloud of dust.

"Well, well, well."

Orwen's loud voice cut through the chaos, and as the debris settled Seth saw the man standing in a smoldering crater less than ten feet away, the spear clenched in his hand. Lightning arcs hissed and popped around the weapon, licking at Orwen's arm but he didn't seem to care—he was grinning.

"You can't just kill our young recruit like that, Jovan," he said, facing Lucius' father, who had just leapt into the ring.

The noble exuded a threatening aura that rippled through the air. His long blond hair flowed wildly around his shoulders, and his bearded face was contorted with anger. Muscles tensed beneath his gold-embroidered clothes, and his lips pressed into a tight line as a new spear appeared from thin air in his hand. "Step aside, Orwen," he spat, aether vibrating around the gleaming weapon. "Or else—"

Before the man could finish, Drack fell from the sky, crashing into the ring with a deafening boom. Pieces of the clay flew in all directions, the ground shattering beneath him. A brown layer of aether hovered around his giant iron shield and his large plate armor, both covered with scratches and charred spots. "Or else what?" he growled, spinning the black war hammer in his other hand.

Lucius' father's face tensed, and a second later a few other nobles wearing the purple and black color from the Faertis House jumped into the ring behind him, pulling out various weapons.

"Let's all calm down," Orwen said, tossing the spear in his hand to the ground before looking behind him. "Tell me good news, Krystel."

The angel-looking Priest was kneeled next to Lucius—or what seemed to be Lucius—and had white aether flowed out of her palm, plunging into the noble's bloodied body. "Umm, it's really bad but he'll live… probably."

"See!" Orwen exclaimed, spinning around with a broad smile. "No need to get upset! Everything will be fine!"

Sergeant Faertis stepped forward, his golden shield in hand. "Keep your mouth shut. Or you'll also lose your head."

Orwen's expression shifted, and the air around him stirred up violently. Powerful gusts of wind filled with bloodlust howled to life and whipped dust into swirling eddies as if a colossal storm were to descend upon the coliseum. The thousands of spectators held their breath, while Sergeant Faertis and the other nobles stepped back, color draining from their faces—except Lucius' father, who tensed and raised his spear.

"That's enough, Orwen!" Director Ryehill's voice boomed from the stands, cutting through the loud gusts. "No one will touch your recruit."

Orwen glanced at the man, and the next moment the raging wind around him immediately died down. The director's salt-and-pepper hair glinted under the sun rays while his piercing-blue eyes swept over to the Faertis. "And you, Jovan," he continued coldly, "return to your seats with your House' members. You should be grateful the Champion of Chaos' Priest is healing your son. You and I both know there aren't any as skilled as her in the whole nation."

Lucius' father grunted and reluctantly turned on his heels, motioning his men to follow him. As the nobles retreated, Director Ryehill cast a subtle glance at Orwen—a quick flicker of the eye that almost looked like a concealed wink.

Seth barely noticed it. His gaze was locked onto the Faertis' backs, a red haze edging into his vision like a descending curtain.

Orwen looked at him and stepped closer, his lips moving—yet Seth heard nothing.

The world around him had grown muffled, the thunderous roar of his heart drowning out every other sound. His core raged in his chest, threatening to tear him apart from the inside; he needed to rise, to fight, to crush the Faertis.

Every single one of them.

Seth tried pushing himself forward, but his strength finally gave way. His legs buckled, and he collapsed onto the ground, an absolute darkness swallowing him. His hunger for vengeance had no limits.

But his body did.

Seth awoke in the dimly lit academy infirmary, the scent of herbs reminding him a little of Marcus' shop—minus the mold and Pure Alcohol's smell. Blinking away the blur, he slowly took in his surroundings. Elena and Jenna were slumped in chairs to his right, both asleep, the noble's heads resting on the Warrior's shoulder while Devus sat on the left with Renwal and Mael, all three also dozing and leaning against the wall.

As Seth looked at them, an unsettling feeling washed over him. These were his friends, people he cared about, yet somehow, he felt as if an invisible wall had formed between them. He had sensed it first at Aran's house with Elena. She had been moving closer to him emotionally, and he had been drifting away. Something within him had changed; a new hunger had awakened—a relentless need to hunt and grow stronger.

'Good morning, princess,' Nightmare teased from within his teardrop. 'Slept well?'

'Yeah, yeah,' Seth retorted, rolling his eyes. He immediately felt Colossus send waves of joy through their bond. 'How long was I out?'

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'Almost an entire day,' the direwolf answered.

Damn, Seth thought, taken aback. Sure, he'd barely slept in the past week within the Desert of misery, but that was still quite extreme.

Glancing down, he noticed a small, polished metal prism lying to his side. A nearly invisible thread of white aether exited the two-fingers-sized artifact and plunged into his face, his ribcage and his left arm, which were now squeezed between two wooden splinters. He immediately cast Intermediate Identify.

Seth tried to sit up to examine the aether up close, but a sharp pain shot through from his broken arm and made him groan involuntarily. To his regret, the noise was enough to wake up Elena.

The noblewoman straightened in her chair, and her eyes fluttered open. "Seth?" she murmured, rubbing sleep off her face.

Jenna stirred beside her, followed by Devus then Mael, who stretched and yawned, leaving only Renwal snoring, still deep asleep.

"Finally, you're awake!" Devus exclaimed, which was what finally caused the blacksmith to jolt up beside him. "How are you feeling, mate?"

Seth took a deep breath, forcing a weak smile. "Not so bad. I've been worse."

An awkward silence fell over the group, and no one spoke for several long seconds, as if they didn't know what to say—or how to feel. Renwal broke it first, his lips pressing together as he looked down at his own arms. "Don't worry, the pain gets better after two, three days."

"And a couple ales can help too," Mael added with a thumbs up.

Seth raised an eyebrow. "Not sure it'd be a good idea with my classes."

"No, it wouldn't," Elena said, shooting a side glare at the blond youngster. Then, her emerald eyes moved back to Seth's broken limb. "It's the Faertis House who did this?"

"Yeah," Seth answered. "Lucius' brother. The Guardian's instructor from our class. He came to the changing room before the fight."

"The bastard," Devus spat through gritting teeth.

Elena somehow restrained herself from rebuking Seth's roommate for his language and asked, "For the orb?"

"The orb?" Jenna repeated with a frown beside her.

"The orb the Faertis used to talk with the Black Hounds," Seth explained before turning to Mael and Renwal, noticing their questioning look. "An artifact that allows Wielders to communicate across long distances."

"Is that the sort of thing Marcus uses to contact Vandric?" the blacksmith asked.

"Exactly," Seth replied before facing back Elena. "And yes. He asked for its whereabouts, then ordered me to bring out Nightmare to kill him."

Aether surged around his necklace and the direwolf's voice echoed through the room, "I tried to get out to rip that noble's throat, but Mister Asshole here locked me up inside."

"Damn!" Mael exclaimed. "He got better at talking."

"Yeah, he did," Seth answered.

Elena shook her head. "It was a good idea to keep you inside, Nightmare. To protect you."

'See?' Seth said through their bond.

The direwolf huffed inside the necklace. 'She isn't a beast. She doesn't understand.'

'If you say so.'

"And what did you do with the orb?" Jenna asked.

"I gave it to the Champions of Chaos as soon as I got back to the city," Seth answered. "The name of Lucius' brother was concealed, but they'll be able to crack the enchantment in about a month."

"That's—"

Before the Warrior could finish, the door opened and Orwen stepped into the room, trailed by Toren and Professor Reat. The smile of the Champion of Chaos' leader stretched wide across his face. "Look who's finally awake!"

"You worried us a little, newbie," Toren added behind him.

Seth rubbed his neck with his unbroken arm. "Sorry, it wasn't my intention, sir."

"That's fine," Orwen answered with a chuckle. "It made your tale even more epic. Seth, the people's champion, who fought past his limits against the nobles, all while horribly injured."

"The people's champion?"

"That's what commoners are calling you," Devus answered.

Seth frowned. "Because I won the fight?"

"Because you crippled and nearly killed Lucius after getting beaten up by someone from his House," Professor Reat answered with a sigh while leaning against the wall. "It gave the impression that you stood up against them."

Seth's core stirred in his chest. The noble was alive, despite his best efforts to boost Phantom Punch's might. Even after all they'd done, the Faertis house could still get away without any real consequences. I'll have to finish the job. Being crippled isn't enough. Not for him.

"Don't make that face," Orwen said. "It's a good thing he's alive. It makes things a little less complicated for you."

Elena's emerald eyes widened, and her head snapped toward Seth. "You wanted to kill him with that spell."

Seth's mouth remained closed, his silence answering for him. Arguing and explaining himself wouldn't change anything at this point—from now on, he was meant to upset people and go against what they believed was 'right.'

"With good reasons," Nightmare said to the noblewoman from within Seth's necklace. "He and his brother burned that house down and killed the Primalist girl we saved."

"Wait, Theodora?" Jenna exclaimed.

"Yes," Seth answered, anger creeping into his face. "And they'll go after the others next."

Orwen immediately cut in. "Give me their names. I'll make sure Celine hires adventurers to protect them. At least until their testimonies."

The man paused for a moment, then added, "The last one you saved, Selena, is already at the outpost. She hid in a forest nearby for a while before coming back and reaching out to Celine to explain everything and ask if she could hire an escort. Obviously, we gave her one for free."

A weight lifted from Seth's chest at those words. The tension that had coiled in his gut finally loosened.

Beside him, Elena pressed her lips together and looked at Orwen. "I can request a few escorts as well from my House… if that can help."

"That would be more than welcome," Orwen answered with a broad smile.

The next instant, Professor Reat leaned forward pinching the bridge of his nose. "That's all good news," he said, exhaling. "But winning with a single punch thanks to that new spell has brought quite a bit of attention to you. And you know who's going to learn about your existence."

Taking a deep breath, Seth closed his eyes. He'd already known that using Phantom Punch would likely mean the end of his life at the academy, so he had been ready for that. One of the Undead spell's restrictions was to possess Draerian's blood. Soon people outside of the Champions of Chaos would connect him to the far away nation—then people from there certainly would come for him.

"It doesn't really matter, though," Toren said. "Because of the NEVAK, no kingdom or empire will be able to get involved in Trogan. For now, at least."

"Exactly," Orwen nodded in approval beside the Artificer. "And that's why he should go all out from this point forward."

Seth frowned in confusion, sharing glances with Elena, Jenna, and Devus, who also seemed to be clueless. Meanwhile, Mael and Renwal just nodded, clearly pretending to understand.

"The NEVAK?" Elena repeated. "Why would the strongest association in the world stop people from other countries from coming after him?" She then turned to Seth. "And why would people from other countries come after you?"

"Oh," Orwen muttered, turning toward the noblewoman before Seth could answer. "Your parents haven't told you?"

Elena tilted her head to the side. "Haven't told me what?"

"The nation is going to war."