The Primal Hunter

The rain fell upon Yalsten, not even affected by the fact that the clouds were no longer visible due to space having broken apart. As long as the effects of the Sword Saint’s Springtime Advent remained, so would the rain continue to fall. Their existence contradicted all logic and rules, but such was only to be expected based on what had been used to summon them.

Down on the wet soil, two figures fought as they clashed, again and again, sending explosions and soil flying everywhere. More blood than should have belonged to merely two people soaked the ground, mixing with the rain as neither party gave up.

Caleb stared at the rain as he felt space close in on him from behind. Carmen and Sylphie now both stood up as they also stared, concerned at the collapsing world behind them.

“I believe we should leave,” Caleb said. He really wanted to stay and observe, but he also knew he could not get closer to avoid the collapsing space. All of them wanted to see how this duel would end, but sadly reality did not make that possible.

Even Eron agreed as the man who was said to be immortal clearly didn’t want to wrestle with what lay beyond the broken world of Yalsten. Understandable, as such a place was the domain of the gods and not somewhere a mortal should ever find themselves.

With resignation, their figures disappeared one by one, with Sylphie and Carmen being the third and second-to-last to leave, with only Caleb remaining.

Good luck, Jake, he thought as he disappeared, unsure of who would win till the very end.

Treasure Hunt will end in: 4:00

Jake and the Sword Saint sent each other flying away from each other as the water and arcane energy mixed, their blades both soaked in their respective energies. The old man had lost an arm, but his movements were still sharp and powerful, but it did allow Jake to keep up in melee a bit more easily.

Both of them were low on resources, and time was running out in every sense of the word. The only place they were decently okay was in health points and the reason for that? The potion cooldown. The Sword Saint had used one after he lost his arm, and Jake had also used it at the same time as he had the opportunity and had a strong feeling he would need it. The potion did not allow the Saint to regrow his arm or anything like that, and neither did it even come close to healing the more than a hundred cuts and stabs on Jake’s body. What it did allow them to do was keep fighting.

The old man was now truly old, and all his hair was gray with wrinkles everywhere on his body and face. For every second that passed, he got closer and closer to his original appearance, and Jake felt like he had weakened, but far less than Jake would have expected. But even if he had weakened, it wasn’t like Jake himself was in top form.

Jake felt the toll on his body primarily caused by Arcane Awakening as more and more of his skin flayed and broke – him having already deactivated Scales of the Malefic Viper to save on mana as they didn’t help much anymore.

The Sword Saint didn’t use his skills anymore, except for the occasional crescent wave, raindrop attack, and barrier of rain, but even those had stopped now. Jake was also certain the old man would not be able to keep going anymore if not for the effects of the Summer Rain skill constantly rejuvenating him. Without it, the poison should have left him incapacitated by now.

A crack of space suddenly separated them once more, not only creating space but also making Jake’s arrow disappear as it was turned to nothing. For every moment passing, those cracks appeared more and more frequently, forcing the two of them to wrestle with them while battling.

The intensity of Jake’s Arcane Awakening was slowly lessening as the rainfall also wasn’t as heavy anymore, the Sword Saint barely manipulating it as they fought, likely out of resources to do so. Jake tried to take advantage as the old man didn’t want to teleport anymore, as he fired a Splitting Arrow with the sparse resources he had remaining.

At the same time, he tried to use Gaze but felt it only activate for an incredibly brief moment as his head hurt, and both of his eyes began dripping with blood from overuse. However, it was worth it as the Sword Saint was struck by two arrows, one in his arm and another in his stomach, making him groan in pain. The only negative thing was that the Saint had still managed to deflect the arrow with poison on it.

used One Step Mile, but the moment he did, his danger sense flared as Jake only teleported five or so meters before a tear of space appeared

is out of the question, Jake told himself as both he and the Sword Saint saw the tear in space, the

Jake. It made using One Step Mile easier as if he had less to fight against to teleport, but now it was like he simply tore a hole whenever he used the skill, creating a dangerous situation. The brief thought of using it offensively appeared, but he seriously doubted he could make it work and was fully aware that he had just gotten lucky to not get caught in it himself. Additionally… he couldn’t really afford spending the stamina on

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Sword Saint to deflect it, as another one swiftly followed, which exploded, making the old man get sent back slightly. Arcane Arrow was

say, Jake wanted to avoid running out of stamina as if Arcane Awakening ended before the duel ended would be what in the fighting business was

old man blocking as the Saint slowly came closer, one step at a time. Jake could no longer retreat due to the world shrinking and was

closer to it. Jake kept shooting arrows

them weaker and slower than before. Three arrows stuck out of the Saint’s body, reduced from four as the old man had

Sword Saint as they exchanged several blows, him losing out as he was simply outmatched in skill. He had it going for him that

Will end in: 2:00

more than one hand, Jake used the other one as he tried to grab the Sword Saint, him using a bit of mana to infuse it into his gloves. Probably afraid

as he felt himself now overpower the Sword Saint in strength. He wasn’t sure if it was because of his Arcane Awakening or the old man getting weaker,

blows were exchanged as the blade of rain met the arcane-infused blade, sending droplets and arcane energy flying. Jake finally spotted an opening as he prepared to attack but thought twice as he identified it as a feint. Instead, he just did a more straightforward blow, ignoring the opening to take the Saint by surprise. He swung down as his blade hit the old

celebration that soon turned to shock as he noticed he hadn’t been feinted… he had been double-feinted as the old man

partially as he only felt pain in one of his legs. However, he suddenly felt himself lose his footing as there was no foot to step down with. Jake tumbled back as he tore out his scimitar from the Saint’s body while desperately trying to roll as he blocked another swing from

failing to be blocked as Jake got a long cut down his chest mid-roll, making the damage even worse. Using a bit of his last mana, Jake fired a blast of arcane energy out of his hand, sending the old man back as he was forced to block, falling over as he lost

lower leg into this inventory, primarily to make sure he didn’t lose the boot. He stood there with his blade drawn on only one leg

fall and raised his entire body as he smashed his leg into the Sword Saint’s side, sending him stumbling back as Jake made the Pillar lighter and swung it as he was still mid-air. To get full power and be able to lift the Pillar, he used both hands as he let his own scimitar fall to the ground. This time he got the intended effect as the Sword Saint tried to block by instinct, not using the

out of his hand as the Saint chose between getting a broken wrist or his weapon. Yet at that moment, he also had the awareness to wave his hand as a small collection of raindrops

chance to use it much as the old man closed in on him, and before Jake had the chance to swing the massive weapon, but he was forced to deposit it as a

End in: 1:00

swaying as he moved to counter, but found his balance too bad as he was kicked in the stomach. Before he could recover, he received an uppercut,

other, following up with a headbutt just as he received a low-kick himself, making him fall over. Jake still had hold of the old man’s arm and dragged

pulled Jake backward, smashing him into the ground, with the Saint rolling away to get standing again. Jake couldn’t stand up properly for good reasons, but he stilled pulled himself to a better position as their

to back down. Both their armors were utterly broken at this point, Jake more or less only wearing a single boot and his mask

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despite the mask. Several bones in his face were broken as he learned that his trying to bite made the mask phase-through not just

was on the back foot as his vision was blurry, but with his sphere, he managed to dodge