The Primal Hunter

The Sword Saint had joked about them not wanting to see each other’s faces anymore, and while Jake wouldn’t have phrased it like that… it wasn’t that far off from how he actually felt.

Not to misunderstand. Jake liked his party. Sylphie was naturally always a joy, and Dina liked to stick by herself when possible, so she was also great. And, sure, the Fallen King could be a bit uptight, and the Sword Saint liked to take on the demeanor of an old lecturer, but things had been good overall if he said so himself.

However, he also had to recognize that some alone time was more than welcome. While he did get some time alone here and there while on the different floors, they were still always connected through their Golden Marks and had frequent check-ins.

Now, in the Challenge Dungeons, Jake was back to it being just him, and he was all for it. He did recognize that there would likely be other characters in there, but no people he had to actually interact with outside of the bare minimum unless he wanted to. He didn’t have to consider social decorum much and could just go with the flow and focus on whatever challenges appeared before him.

After saying his temporary farewells to his party members, he entered his very first Challenge Dungeon.

Nevermore Challenge Dungeon Entered!

Jake only managed to read this single part of the welcome message as he was assaulted by a wave of weakness. His legs lost strength, and he fell to his knees. He felt his knee hit the stone, and a tinge of pain hit him as the rough linen now covering his body didn’t help much.

Wait, pain?

How could hitting his knee like that hurt him? What was going on…

As he was trying to figure things out, he luckily had a system message that explained everything.

You have entered the Colosseum of Mortals. A battleground for the weak where only the truly skilled will prevail.

As a new arrival, you are nothing but a New Blood that must prove himself in the arena. Fight, conquer, and advance through the ranks as you qualify for promotion matches. Who knows, perhaps one day you may even become the Champion.

During this Challenge Dungeon, all base stats are normalized and set to 10. Base stats cannot be increased while in the Colosseum of Mortals. All current items and equipment have been confiscated and shall be returned upon exiting the Challenge Dungeon. All usage of items and equipment is heavily restricted. All skill use is heavily restricted. Further restrictions may apply.

Objective: Achieve victory in the Colosseum as many times as possible.

Current objective: Be promoted from New Blood to Initiate Fighter

Current rank: New Blood (0/5)

Colosseum Points: 0

Lives remaining: 10

Jake read through it all and had a pretty damn good idea what this was, and the name Colosseum of Mortals also made quite a bit more sense now.

This was the kind of Challenge Dungeon where one couldn’t just take advantage of overpowering everything with pure stats, high rarity skills, or great equipment. It was one where everyone was equal, no matter their Path, and it was all about skill.

Well, kind of. Because upon looking at this updated Status, something didn’t quite add up.

Status

Name: Jake Thayne

Race: [Human (G) – 0]

Class: N/A

Profession: N/A

Health Points (HP): 170/170

Mana Points (MP): 170/170

Stamina: 160/160

Stats

Strength: 16

Agility: 18

Endurance: 16

Vitality: 17

Toughness: 16

Wisdom: 17

Intelligence: 16

Perception: 20

Willpower: 16

not a math Wizz, he was pretty sure none of those numbers were the number 10. However, he soon realized what was going

status menu, he did indeed see that while all of his

of a Primordial’s True Blessing], [Dungeoneer XV], [Dungeon Pioneer VI], [Prodigious Slayer of the Mighty], [Kingslayer], [Nobility: Marquess], [Progenitor of the 93rd Universe], [Prodigious Arcanist], [Perfect Evolution (D-grade)], [Premier Treasure Hunter], [Myth Originator], [Progenitor of Myriad Paths], [Mythical

didn’t count, but all percentage amplifiers did. This meant that Jake had far higher stats than normal base humans, putting him firmly at the level of a superhuman despite the effects

that at least his race skills were mostly

of the Myriad Races (Unique)], [Legacy of Man (Unique)], [Wisdom of the Hunter (Unique)], [Identify (Common)], [Meditation (Common)],

Shroud of the Primordial was completely unaffected. At least, he assumed it to be that because, with his current stats, he was pretty limited in his ability to check it

on, one thing remained untouched. One thing that, even

of the Primal Hunter (Bloodline Ability

released a Pulse of Perception. The entire space around him was laid bare before him as an area more than three-hundred kilometers in diameter was revealed to him. His

had put a barrier around it. A barrier that only let

an idea of where to go. Not that he needed it, as a young man approached him from behind, walking down the cobblestone road leading toward the Colosseum with what looked like a panther of some sort. Over his shoulder, he wore a travel bag and had quite a cheery look on his face as he also spotted

light-hearted smile. “Are you here to

stood back up and inspected himself briefly. His clothes were gone, and switched for a simple linen shirt and pants. Having the mask gone kind of sucked, but he would manage. Looking at the young man, he smiled

bag and took out a small pamphlet. Jake graciously accepted it as the young man asked: “Wanna go together and see the Battlemaster to

in the Challenge Dungeon, Jake naturally agreed with a smile as the cheery-looking man told him all he knew about the place as he showed

how grand it

enough for even a fully powered Pulse to be utterly incapable of seeing the entire structure and the

ground where skill takes precedence over pure power. The individuals doing it shall be returned to their starting point, only empowered by rare stat percentage modifiers, and, through the directive of the system, face opponents,” the Wyrmgod said, partly explaining

how these kinds of Challenge Dungeons worked himself, having tried to make quite a few in the past. He also knew the

“People say I am impossible, but have you ever tried balancing a Challenge Dungeon like that? Actually impossible. Everyone has different starting points and grades in which they begin… on-the-fly adaptation and individualization is required, making no

environment. Jake would do it as a G-grade, as that was his starting point. Meanwhile, someone like the Unique Lifeform in his party would start as a level 100, as he was born in D-grade, making that his starting grade. All the other restrictions would still apply, such as those on skills, but he would have normalized stats for the grade. The actual stats would be lower than pretty much any

Lifeform title. Even if the Wyrmgod wanted balance, absolute balance within the dungeon was

truly complicated. As an example, the Sylphian was born at level 0, yes, but that did not make her an F-grade at any point. No, she was truly a far higher grade. One she hadn’t even reached yet. Hence

best solution? One that truly balanced the relative level of challenge and ensured the integrity of the Leaderboards, even if everyone ended up ultimately facing entirely

was. Because it was all handled by the

walked toward the Quartermaster. “My old man trained me to use a spear, but I am pretty good with a

use bows and katars, but I have also used swords and knives for a bit. Oh, and a staff

him at all, to the level of him needing to confirm he wasn’t actually a real person by asking him about the Challenge Dungeon aspect of where they were.

together, they had gone and registered with a very uninterested Battlemaster who told them that if they wanted to fight, they had to

I feel inadequate. Though I do also kind of know how to use a pitchfork well. I once fought off a big boar all on my own a few years back using one,” Owen tried to regain

of magic,” Jake cheered him up. “I can

young man nodded

Jake had expected to be related to Owen in some way was just another fighter who wanted to sign up for the Colosseum whom Owen

could pretty much ask for any weapon or equipment they wanted and some-fucking-how, the guy would have it inside his store room. After a while of talking with the guy who looked like the stereotypical blacksmith out of any game –