The Primal Hunter

”I told you it would be easy, didn’t I?” Artemis grinned as Jake entered her mansion. Without even thinking about it, he had just headed there by default when he thought about “going home.”

Jake did feel a bit bad about bailing on Owen and Polly, but after his match, he saw the two of them walking around hand in hand. They looked like they were in their own little world, so, in reality, wasn’t Jake just being a good friend by not following them like a third wheel? Yep, definitely.

“You did, you did,” Jake nodded. “But I also expected it to be on the easier side from the moment I learned Umbra was an opponent in the Colosseum. Assassins just don’t have a good time against me.”

A statement that was true even before the system based on the life of Sim-Jake.

“I reckon that for most people, she will be considered the hardest. She is a nasty opponent that you need proper preparations to win against when you can’t rely on your usual senses,” Artemis nodded as she looked to be in thought. “But… you did destroy here more thoroughly than I had expected. It wasn’t even a fight. It was just pure domination from start to end, with her unable to do anything but try and learn the limits of your abilities, and from the looks of it, she wasn’t even able to do that.”

“I am indeed awesome; thanks for noticing,” Jake smiled teasingly.

“Your awesomeness may cause you issues, though. The recording of your fight with Umbra will definitely make its way back to her, and when it does, she will have a keen interest in you. Your Bloodline is a threat to her Path, and she definitely won’t risk you running loose without at least keeping track of you. So watch out for if she entices people close to you to join the Court, and-“

“A bit late for that,” Jake shook his head. “She discovered me during my Tutorial. Pretty damn fast, too, as I got an item related to her. After that, she likely wanted to recruit me, but I joined up with the Malefic Viper, so she missed her shot. A shot that then ended up hitting my little brother from the looks of it, giving him a Blessing from Umbra, the Legacy of some dead god called Tenlucis, and even made him a Judge.”

Artemis stared at him with wide eyes for a while before she smiled and tilted her head. “Either you two siblings are both utter monsters… or she values you that highly…”

Jake already knew it was the latter. While Caleb was good and pretty damn talented, he wasn’t a pinnacle genius on his own. He could become close, but he just wasn’t on the same level as someone like Eron, the Sword Saint, Carmen, or Arnold. All of these people would have reached greatness no matter who backed them or who they knew.

“Which one do you think it is?” Jake asked.

“First off, you are a Bloodline Patriarch, right?”

“Yeah,” Jake nodded. There really was no reason to hide it, as anyone who checked out his parents and brother would easily confirm it.

“Then, seeing as he doesn’t have your Bloodline and going by pure statistics, I will say it’s the latter,” Artemis said, sighing. “You are really a complete monster for her to want positive relations with you so much.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Jake smiled.

Artemis walked up to him and grasped his clothes as she dragged him toward the healing pool. “Oh, it was.”

Jake, after a long and arduous journey to recovery using the healing pool with Artemis, soon found himself back in the arena. It had only been four days since his fight with Umbra, and he had only really needed to regenerate all his resources and make new arrows for the upcoming fight.

Usually, he would also spend his time between matches preparing, but that wasn’t really possible with the Warmaster. Polly had tried and found nothing of substance, Artemis couldn’t really share anything either, and what information packets Jake could buy with Colosseum Points were all stupidly expensive and severely outdated. As in, most of them were created decades ago. The Warmaster was apparently someone who became a Champion a long time ago, and he wasn’t around due to some unknown circumstances when the last Grand Champion rose.

Ah, on a side note, Umbra did not pop up at all during these few days. Jake had fully expected her to appear as she would also get her memories back like Artemis, but that didn’t happen. Then again, that Phoenix Queen lady had also survived their battle and hadn’t appeared again. He didn’t know for sure she was a god before, but Artemis had confirmed she was.

So, it was probably just Artemis who was the odd one for hanging out with Jake after their fight.

Anyway. Back in the arena, Jake naturally went up to the one in charge of scheduling all his fights. As usual, the middle-aged man stood in his usual spot, seemingly waiting for Jake as he walked in.

“You only got one fight left before you’re the Grand Champion, huh?” the Battlemaster smiled the moment he saw Jake. “It’s damn impressive if I say so myself. You are the first in quite a few years, and your run has been quite a sight, with the audience definitely fans of the Doombringer. You are the strongest we’ve seen since the only current Grand Champion did his Gauntlet, of that I am sure.”

“That’s high praise,” Jake joked. “I guess you can already guess what I am here for? As you said, I have six down and only one Champion to go. There is no reason to delay the fight, so I would like to officially issue the challenge.”

The Battlemaster smiled and shook his head. “Let me check in with him real quick when he is available…”

Jake waited patiently as he wondered who the last opponent would be. Warmaster sounded like it could be someone from Valhal like Gudrun, but then again, every single faction had people who could be described as Warmasters. Shit, the Necromancer looked like he could have been called Warmaster.

“Alright, I got an answer. He is ready to go immediately.”

“Huh?” Jake said. “That was fast. So it begins in two hours like with the Lightning Monarch?”

“No… it begins whenever both fighters are ready,” the Battlemaster said with a slightly mischievous grin. “Now, shall we get going?”

“Wait…” Jake said as he finally put two and two together. “You’re the Warmaster?”

In retrospect, he should have probably seen it coming.

“I used to be called that, yes, but I retired quite a few years ago. I only ever show myself for these Champion fights,” the Battlemaster said with a smile. “So you must excuse me if I am a little rusty in the arena.”

Jake just smiled. “Do your best, old man.”

“I will, I will. Now let’s get going,” the Battlemaster… no, Warmaster said as he began to talk toward one of the tunnels leading to the arena. “See you on the battlefield.”

Looking at him enter the tunnel, Jake shook his head as he headed for his own tunnel. What a plot twist for the Battlemaster to actually be a Champion himself! Though it definitely wasn’t as shocking as the revelation that Minaga was actually a god.

“Six battles… six victories. Six Champions, brought to their doom by the Doombringer himself! Now, only one man stands in his way. A master of war and our very own Battlemaster here at the Colosseum of Mortals. For years, he has guided fighters toward the arena, but today, he stands here himself as the final obstacle before a new Grand Champion ascends! Will his fate be like the others… or will he show us all how he earned the title of Warmaster!? Let’s find out! Lower the gates!

Jake looked at the familiar man entering the arena across from him. The Battlemaster, or Warmaster, who usually wore practical clothes and simple garments, had switched them for a set of full plate armor while he wielded a sword and a shield. He walked into the arena with heavy steps, and Jake had to admit his aura had spiked quite a bit.

Despite their conversation only minutes before, they once more met in the middle of the smack-filled arena. Because, yes, even if they had scheduled their fight and started… nine minutes after it had been scheduled, the stands had still been filled to the brim. It made no sense at all, and Jake was honestly getting tired of constantly questioning it. The feeling of annoyance just lived rent-free in his head.

“Looking good there, nice equipment,” Jake complimented the Warmaster. It wasn’t an empty compliment, either… Jake was utterly certain not a single piece of equipment or weapon was anything less than legendary.

“Thank you, there are plenty more where they came from,” the Warmaster smiled. “Now, let us fight with our best and hold nothing back. I have seen your fights already, and I know I cannot slack off… so I’ll go all out from the beginning.”

“Just as I like it,” Jake smiled as he jumped back while he pulled out his bow, signifying the battle had begun.

The Warmaster responded by charging after him with impressive speed as his boots lit up with mana, signifying he used some enchantment on them. Jake wasn’t taken by surprise as he quickly shot an arrow that the man deflected with ease using his shield as he closed in on Jake, who couldn’t move backward as fast as someone running forward.

Jake was prepared to dodge as the man swung his blade, but what happened next wasn’t something he had expected. The sword he presumed to be of legendary rarity began to crack all over mid-swing with red fractures as it suddenly exploded without warning, releasing a blast of molten metal and fire.

Cursing internally, Jake instantly pulled out his katars and tried to block whatever he could, but a few wayward fragments still hit him. Meanwhile, the Warmaster had been hidden behind his own shield, avoiding any damage.

Stumbling back to recover, Jake quickly tried to attack as the Warmaster had lost his weapon… only for him to pull out a scimitar that also radiated the feeling of a legendary item. Jake was on guard this time as he engaged but found the Warmaster fighting like a normal person for a few moments as they exchanged blows. He was very defensive, though, and hid behind his shield at all times, never truly giving Jake the chance to land a blow. Despite his heavy armor, he remained incredibly flexible and quickly moved his weapon and shield like a true expert. The man clearly knew how to use his weapons.

Right as Jake began to think nothing tricky was going on, the scimitar suddenly started to frost over. Cursing again, Jake reacted in time as an explosion of frozen metal fragments pelted him. Luckily, he had gotten some distance and could block all the hits that mattered… as he saw the Warmaster pull out a spear that he pointed toward Jake. That one legendary rarity, too.

A flash of lightning wormed across the body of the spear as it shot out a lightning bolt, striking Jake head-on before he had a chance to react and sending him flying back. Another bolt came a second later, but this one Jake managed to block with both katars as the lightning was effectively grounded by the dense, stable arcane energy within them.

Several more bolts followed up as Jake welcomed the change to a range battle. He pulled out his bow and retaliated as he used his near-precognitive ability to dodge the lightning bolts. Knowing that just shooting head-on wouldn’t work, Jake began to shoot far more tricky arrows.

The Warmaster blocked two arrows with his shield before a third one struck him in the shoulder. Despite the powerful armor, the stable arcane arrow proved sharp enough as it penetrated through, but before he could explode it, odd energy from the armor itself invaded the arrow and made it crack and shatter.

Right as that happened, the spear also ran out of juice, and the Warmaster discarded it on the ground as he took out a second shield, making it borderline impossible for Jake to land any more arrows.

He is like Gudrun… he has a shitload of different tools, Jake was now sure. One had to remember that all items in the arena were ones that the person himself had crafted or bought using Colosseum Points, and seeing as Champions couldn’t do Show Matches… it meant that the Warmaster was exploding weapons he had likely spent months, if not years, making.

There was also the fact to consider that the Battlemaster had seen every single one of Jake’s matches from start to end. Even the Show Matches. He knew exactly what Jake was capable of and had seen all the tricks he had shown this far.

“Say, how many of those weapons do you have?” Jake asked as he had just stopped shooting any arrows toward the man holding two large tower shields. If the man wanted to be a turtle, Jake saw no reason to waste arrows on his shell.

“I guess you’ll find out,” the Warmaster said as he smiled while he slowly moved toward Jake.

Jake backed away but soon realized he was closing in on the back wall of the Colosseum. Right as he noticed this, the Warmaster put away his shields as an axe appeared in one hand and a sword in the other. The man stepped down as he charged, his boots exploding with power as he was propelled straight toward Jake.

Two katars appeared to block the man as Jake barely had time to react properly. What’s more, he was incredibly careful when it came to engaging the Warmaster directly, as he didn’t know when one of his weapons would suddenly explode or show some other innate ability.

For a good reason, too.

After exchanging a dozen moves, the Warmaster swung his axe downward for Jake’s shoulder, and mid-swing, it suddenly sped up to become several times faster. Jake’s danger sense had warned him something was up as he swayed, narrowly avoiding the sharp edge as the weapon hit the ground.

An explosion of sand sent Jake temporarily airborne as he flew back, having blocked the shockwave successfully. The Warmaster came out of the sand cloud even before Jake landed on the ground, the axe replaced with a second sword as dense air mana collected around the man.

Tens of swift whirlwind slashes struck Jake right as he landed on the ground, making him back away immediately as he dodged and blocked every hit. The swords of the Warmaster only seemed to be speeding up as he rapidly cut, every hit sending out cutting winds that slowly ripped away at Jake’s leather armor.

Jake kept blocking for several more seconds before he finally saw his chance. He saw that the next two attacks would be aimed high, so he quickly twisted his body and ducked as he performed a leg sweep. The Warmaster was taken by surprise as his legs were swept out under him, and he could only try to block when Jake punched forward with his katar, launching him backward as he rolled in the sand several times upon landing.

Without missing a beat, Jake charged forward to follow up, going on the offensive.