The Primal Hunter

”Oi! That was bullshit out there, pure bullshit, I tell you! How can you even call that a proper fight, huh?” the annoying dwarf yelled at Jake, who was just trying to enjoy his sandwich in peace.

”You’re just mad because you lost,” Jake muttered.

”Damn straight I am! What was that shit out there? You aren’t a bloody mage, so why do you use magic like that? You didn’t even give me a chance to do anything! Do you have any idea how much time I spent on making this staff and each of the stored spells in the gems? You only gave me time to use one of them! One!” the dwarf kept complaining as Jake hunched down his food.

”Sounds like a severe case of skill issues,” Jake said in a deadpan tone.

”You…” the dwarf muttered. ”I swear, we’ll meet again for a rematch, and next time I’ll also come prepared! Mark my words!”

With a huff, he walked away, limping slightly due to the big bandages covering his chest. Jake just kept smiling to himself. While he did find the situation amusing, he also took the threats of a rematch very seriously.

Jake was fully aware he had won that fight far too easily due to his preparation and a bit of luck. The dwarf had done exactly as expected at every turn, falling into very much the same trap Jake had found himself in before his fight with the Benevolent Monk.

Every single fight for the Earthborn Faithful had been far too easy, and nobody had managed to even injure him due to his high defenses. As Jake was doing before, the guy was just going through the motions, expecting easy victories.

So when he met Jake, the dwarf was taken by surprise. As he had alluded to, he had far more to show off, but Jake had just never given him a chance as he had struck fast with deadly precision.

That was something else to consider in these G or F-grade fights. As a C-grade, ending a battle in a single blow when there wasn’t a massive disparity in power was incredibly difficult. Piercing someone’s heart, blowing off a part of their body, or stabbing them fifty times wouldn’t necessarily kill them, and even if you cut tendons or hit vital organs, it wouldn’t really impact their movements… primarily because neither of those things really mattered to C-grades anymore.

G and F-grades were different. A stab to the heart would kill you nearly instantly, a hole through the stomach would result in bleeding to death, and just a few good stabs could easily lead to death. Not to talk about the far lower average pain tolerance. This meant fights could easily end with a single attack, something Jake was fully aware of, considering that is how he won nearly every single fight after he began using katars.

Having to only land one good hit meant that even the weaker of two combatants could easily win if they got lucky or went in with a good strategy. A single mess-up from the stronger of two fighters could mean their loss or even demise. The tools one had to fight with as a level 0 were also simply incomparable to a level 200+, further exasperating any small fuck-up..

Perhaps this was Jake’s biggest advantage in all these fights… the lack of tools others had. Because when it came to melee combat especially, Jake never had a lot of tools to begin with. He had always relied on his Bloodline, something he still possessed even in the Colosseum of Mortals. Taking Jake by surprise and landing a single fatal hit was far more difficult than perhaps anyone else in the entire arena. In fact, this led to arguably an even bigger advantage than anything else: consistency.

Anyway, even if the dwarf was salty about losing, and Jake had beaten him before he could really show off his skills, the rewards were very much still there as Jake stepped into the rank of Master Gladiator.

Congratulations! You have reached the Master Gladiator rank, proving yourself as a pinnacle Gladiator in the Colosseum of Mortals. As your notoriety and fame grow, so does the strength of your opponents, and you have begun to catch the eye of some of the more powerful entities involved with the Colosseum of Mortals.

As a Master Gladiator, you are still limited to one fight a week against another Master Gladiator.

All crafters will now have better equipment and items available.

In addition to gladiatorial battles, you can fight against non-Master Gladiator opponents in Show Matches once a day. These Show Matches are against a variety of foes and have far looser rules and regulations than regular arena fights. The possible opponents one can face in Show Matches are decided daily. Winning Show Matches reward Colosseum Points based on the opponents fought. Show Matches and battles against other Master Gladiators cannot be scheduled on the same day.

The difficulty of all Show Match options has been increased.

For reaching the Master Gladiator rank without losing a single time or losing any lives, you are rewarded an extra 10000 Colosseum Points.

For defeating the Earthborn Faithful, you are rewarded an extra 25000 Colosseum Points.

Continue to fight, and claim your glory as you prove yourself the strongest mortal!

Seeing he had been rewarded a total of 35000 Colosseum Points for just this one promotion match felt oddly cathartic to Jake. That was the number of points he had spent on all the equipment that had allowed him to breeze through the Veteran Gladiator rank, all earned in one day. Alright, it was the accumulation of ten or so weeks, but the point still stands.

Looking at his updated status, this accumulation did account for nearly half of his total points earned during the Veteran Gladiator rank.

Current objective: Be promoted from Master Gladiator to Warlord.

Current rank: Master Gladiator (0/10)

Jake had spent more than thirty years with the Sword Saint while delving into Nevermore. Not only had Jake seen the old man fight a lot, but they also had their fair share of friendly spars when they both got bored during downtime.

And while this Emberlight Blademaster was impressive in his own right… he still fell a bit short compared to the Sword Saint. Jake didn’t really enter this fight with any game plan but had just researched his opponent to know about any dangerous trump cards, but all in all, it ended up being a pretty straightforward fight that Jake won after landing dozens of blows over a five-minute period.

Sure, he did have to go and get his pants, gloves, and chestpiece replaced afterward, as all had taken irreparable damage from being burned by the searing Emberlight, but that’s what insurance was for.

Based on Jake’s estimations, the Benevolent Monk was still the strongest person Jake had met in the Colosseum so far, but his fight had been ”easier” than any of the other two special promotion matches. The differences in power between the Emberlight and the dwarf hadn’t been that big, though… which was why the points he got from the bonus objective surprised him.

Congratulations! You are no longer a mere Gladiator, but a true Warlord, proving yourself a true apex combatant in the Colosseum of Mortals. By now, you have truly caught the eye of some of the more powerful entities involved with the Colosseum of Mortals, with many waiting with anticipation to face you themselves. Be prepared, for it shall only get harder from here.

For reaching the Warlord rank without losing a single time or losing any lives, you are rewarded an extra 20000 Colosseum Points.

For defeating the Emberlight Blademaster, you are rewarded an extra 60000 Colosseum Points.

Jake mentally skimmed the message, cutting out the repeated message about the shop offering more stuff and more options for the Show Match and all that.

Looking at the achievements, the 60000 from beating the Emberlight Blademaster were definitely more than expected and a nice bonus to get alongside the promotion to Warlord. Things were really stacking up, and looking at his points gained…

Current objective: Be promoted from Warlord to Paragon.

Current rank: Warlord (0/10)

Colosseum Points: 252,210

Lives remaining: 10

While spending around 35000 Colosseum Points had been painful in the moment, he had definitely more than made up for it now. And as he progressed toward this Paragon rank, he hoped that now, finally, fights would get hard.

”Two more ranks to go, and the Colosseum of Mortals will have another champion,” Minaga grinned as he watched Jake. ”Him picking up some gear was really about time because, man, was it sad to see that Benevolent Monk smack him about.”

”It would have been disgraceful if he had lost that early on, and it would have eliminated his chances for a true pinnacle performance indeed,” the Wyrmgod concurred.

Vilastromoz just looked on, not commenting much. He did wonder how many images of gods the Wyrmgod had managed to gather, though. The Emberlight Blademaster was a god from the Altmar Empire that had reached godhood and was now a commander in their divine army, while that dwarf, the Earthborn Faithful, was part of a large pantheon primarily filled with elemental gods.

The Viper didn’t like to just wonder by himself, and while it would be fun to wait and be surprised… he was ultimately too curious.

”So, pray tell, what other interesting opponents do you have lined up?”

”Quite a few, quite a few,” the Wyrmgod smiled.

”Yep, definitely an impressive lineup this time around,” Minaga nodded with excitement.

”Come on, give me a tease,” the Viper smiled.

”Hm… fine. A small peek,” the Wyrmgod said, amused as he waved his hand.

The Viper looked as projections of three figures appeared. His eyes opened wide for a second before he grinned.

Jake definitely had his work cut out for him if he wanted to beat those monsters… and Vilastromoz doubted he would want it any other way. Besides, what other chances could a mortal get to fight Primordial-level figures?

Also… I really didn’t expect to see her image here…

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