The Primal Hunter

On the next day, Jake woke up a bit excited to get testing. It was still too early to head to the arena, though, so it was breakfast time first. After getting ready, he checked his menu quickly while getting out the door, seeing his objective for the day.

Current objective: Be promoted from Veteran Fighter to Expert Fighter

Current rank: Veteran Fighter (0/5)

Colosseum Points: 910

Lives remaining: 10

His Colosseum Points were slowly growing, and Jake had to admit he was curious about exactly what they were for. Well, it was obvious that they factored in when calculating how many Nevermore Points he would get from the Challenge Dungeon, but he also knew it wasn’t that simple. Case-in-point? The points had other uses than simply being hoarded for some final reward.

Something he was confronted with that morning at breakfast with Owen and Polly. Yeah, Polly had decided to constantly stick around after their first encounter, and while she did offer help with a few different things, Jake had yet to take her up on the offer. That didn’t stop her, though.

As for what else one could spend Colosseum Points?

”Jake… have you considered spending points and getting some boots or something? Maybe you can get some specially made. You should at least wear some leather greaves to avoid major injuries if your opponent manages to hit you… healing such a wound would take days, and no one wants that,” Owen said with genuine worry.

That’s right, you could buy things using Colosseum points. More accurately, you could buy armor and weapons. As for why one would need that when the Colosseum provided those for free? Well, because not all items were created equal, and the good stuff you had to cough up for.

Magic items.

That is what everyone called them. In reality, it was just items with mana infused into them. Proper, real items. While Jake had none of these, Owen bought one the moment he reached Fighter rank, spending 250 Colosseum Points. And what he got wasn’t even that good.

[Spear of Swiftness (Uncommon)] – A spear with a flexible metal shaft and sharp tip enchanted with the power of swiftness. This enchantment makes the spear far lighter than usual and allows the weapon to move faster without losing striking power.

Requirements: Soulbound. Fighter Colosseum Rank.

Sure, it was a lot better than the basic spear, but not by such a massive margin that Jake felt it justified costing nearly the entire combined winnings of both the Upcoming Fighter and Fighter rank. Then again, Jake was kind of special… and he could recognize that good equipment could be the difference-maker.

The weapon of the Cleaver had likely been at least rare rarity and was a big part of his claim to fame. The breastplate potentially also increased Strength. Jake didn’t really have any ways to check, considering all the items were Soulbound upon purchase, meaning looting was not a thing. The only reason he even knew what Owen’s weapon did was that he so openly shared any and all details related to it without even getting prompted.

Speaking of Owen talking a lot unprompted, the question of getting some greaves was indeed one Jake had considered, however…

good for now,” Jake smiled. “I will maybe get

could get dicey if you keep fighting so risky. That is why a spear is great, you know? I win most of my fights without even taking any injuries, as I can keep a distance. I know that you only took that bow for show,

is right,” Jake said in a solemn tone. Owen did have a point that he should get better at archery, but he did think he was at least decent

come and show you some things. But you have to prove you can actually do magic

at the two of them. He had already done a bit of testing with his mana, and… well, he could have ended every fight within four seconds if he had used mana. While, again, probably

and learn other ways to fight if he truly wants to. Jake is already strong,

He had seen a lot of Jake’s fights, too, so that had likely left an impression.

about you, Owen? Have you considered trying to learn the magical arts?” Jake asked

to the spear,” he said dismissively, Polly

it is a bit of a shame,” Jake said as he leaned in and continued in a whisper. “I get the feeling you would find

yanked away from Jake before staring at him for a few moments. “Do you… you know…

“But don’t worry, you keep doing you, and I keep doing me, alright? Who knows, maybe this is even something we

looked at him as he realized

two talking about?” Polly asked, confused.

Jake shook his

“That’s unfair, you shou-“

you look at that? I am done with my food

of the cantina as he made his way toward the Colosseum, leaving poor Owen to

an expert with a spear, he hadn’t quite shared anything related to his other talents. Talents that included quite the lightning affinity and what Jake

from Jake. Jake had only gone to watch two of Owen’s matches as he had some downtime anyway, and during the first one, he felt it. A faint shiver in the air around his skin and an

the Battlemaster - a man who was

Fighter, huh? If you keep this up, you may even join the upper echelons as a true Gladiator. But you still got

but he at least treated Jake as someone

later, it was finally his time to fight, and with excitement, he walked through the tunnel leading into the actual arena. The crowd had grown once more, and the announcer was as annoying as always, but Jake wasn’t there for either of those. He was there to instill

first opponent as a Veteran Warrior was an elven warrior wielding two thin curved swords. He didn’t wear any armor at all but only wore some light pants. Instead of armor, his upper body was entirely covered in what looked like tribal tattoos,

intent to fight, it was like he could “see” weakness. He could see an opening of sorts. There wasn’t actually anything visually, just an odd feeling like there was something he could focus on that wasn’t

in his speed and superior offensive power due to his two long blades. Something he had a good reason for, as

off every path of attack, making it hard to dive in and land a proper kick. Not that Jake was in any major danger himself, as while his opponent was fast, Jake was faster, just waiting for his time to arrive. After about thirty seconds of Jake enduring a flurry of slicing swords from his silent opponent – a big upgrade from some of the other combatants he faced – he

a second, his

the slightest. The only requirement was that he could

froze, having just finished a swing. Simultaneously, two presences had clashed as one, with one coming out far superior, freezing the lesser of two beings in fear. Unlike the usual Gaze, the elf could still move a tiny bit, at least enough for

soul and damage it. He only targeted their Perception and instincts, not any of the inner parts of their souls. Jake innately felt that even if he was C-grade and looked at a level 0, the effect would also only be them freezing them. He was only instilling fear, after