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…

will maybe get

you sure? Things 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, but have you considered learning how to use it? You are already incredibly strong unarmed, so if you learned to use a

arms when I deem the time 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 already. As for melee weapons… well, there wasn’t a single fight

to come and show you some things. But you have to prove you can actually do magic first! Have you ever considered trying to explore the magical

deem the time is right,” Jake repeated his answer, throwing a cheeky smile 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

learn other ways to fight if he truly wants to. Jake is already strong, and clearly, he is experienced at fighting, so we should trust his judgment. I am sure

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

to learn the magical arts?” Jake asked

to stick to the spear,” he

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

him for a

teased as he also leaned back. “But don’t worry, you keep

looked at him as he realized what Jake meant and

you two talking about?” Polly asked, confused.

information,” Jake

“That’s unfair, you shou-“

you look at that? I am done with my food and the Colosseum

before she could say anything more, hurried out of the cantina as he made his way toward the Colosseum, leaving

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

fight, but he couldn’t hide it 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 almost magnetic pull around him as he pushed himself. It was clear that the young guy was actively suppressing his own magic, and while Jake was curious, it would be a bit hypocritical for the Doomfoot – again, fuck that name - to call someone out for

arrived at the arena and instantly went and signed up for another fight with the Battlemaster - a man who was a lot less of a dick than when Jake had just started entered

the upper echelons as a true Gladiator. But you

wasn’t exactly overly polite, but he at least treated Jake as someone

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 primal fear in the poor guy standing at the

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,

from across the battlefield… and as Jake prepared for battle, he felt it… no, he saw it. It was odd. When he looked at the elf with the 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 necessarily there

the gates went down, both charged. Jake’s opponent did not have the caution of the Cleaver but instead had full confidence in his speed and superior offensive power due to his two long blades. Something he had a good

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

the weakness and grasped it. For a fraction of a second, his eyes glowed subtly, none but Jake himself noticing this strange occurrence… but it was proof of his

in the slightest. The only requirement

one, with one coming out far superior, freezing the lesser of two beings in fear. Unlike the usual Gaze, the elf could

was that this wouldn’t truly “attack” his foe’s 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 all. Not to