The Primal Hunter

Jake believed he had reached his limit for his kicking-only challenge when he hit Veteran Warrior, but his newfound Fear Gaze allowed him to keep the streak going for at least a little bit longer. He had still been unsure if he could really go all the way to Gladiator, and after reaching the rank of Expert Warrior, he did meet quite a problematic opponent in his third match.

His foe was a large orc wearing armor covering his entire body. The difference between this guy and the other armor-wearing opponents Jake met was that his armor was of a lighter variant while still offering plenty of defense against kicking opponents. Moreover, it had one very problematic design decision…

It was covered in spikes.

Not just a few spikes. Spikes freaking everywhere. Jake didn’t see a single opening where he could kick without seriously hurting his foot, and the orc clearly knew this as he went on the offensive, swinging his hatchet wildly while making sure to always keep his buckler ready. A buckler that was naturally also covered in spikes.

Jake found himself being pressured quite intensely as he didn’t ever get the chance to respond. Even with Fear Gaze, he doubted he could end the fight instantly. Did he see a way to win? Well, yeah, there were a few dozen openings present at all times that would allow Jake to end the fight in a single move.

The problem was that none of these moves were kicks or required him to use magic, so they were off-limits.

After fighting for several minutes, Jake finally found an opening that was kick-viable. His opponent had gotten slower and realized he had to pace himself or get exhausted before the timer ran out, which gave Jake more time to think and figure out a way to take the big orc down.

Because there were a few places where he didn’t have spikes, namely around his joints, on the inside of his thighs, the front of his helmet, and his boots. Jake took advantage of this. Without even using Fear Gaze, Jake dodged under his opponent’s hatchet with perfect timing and performed an equally perfectly executed leg sweep. He had aimed for the ankle of the orc and hit right where he wanted.

The large orc was swept off his feet and fell on his side, making many of the spikes penetrate into the sand. Before the orc could even try to get up, Jake finally used Fear Gaze right as he stood up and prepared to deliver the finishing blow.

With the big guy frozen in fear, he couldn’t protect his face when Jake delivered a kick straight into it. Hitting the non-spiked parts of the helmet did hurt Jake’s foot quite a lot, but the orc had it far worse as his head lunged back, and Jake faintly heard something snap. That is when Jake realized he may have made a mistake.

Due to the embedded spikes, the orc had been stuck. Usually, when you hit something, the impact would be partly lessened as that opponent would get moved backward… but with the spikes stuck in the ground, the only thing capable of moving was his neck.

A neck that was entirely incapable of handling Jake’s kick.

Fuck, Jake cursed internally as the orc went limp. He wasn’t dead, but Jake was unsure if he was dying or not. Reacting quickly, Jake tried to stabilize the guy’s neck as he held it in place while employees of the Colosseum soon rushed in. He had entirely zoned out everything but zoned back in when one of the employees took out what Jake recognized as a health potion and made the orc drink it before dragging him out of the arena.

Nearly killed him on accident, Jake sighed as he exited the arena, ignoring the commentator. Sure, the ones he fought weren’t “real people,” but Jake still didn’t want to kill someone like the orc when he had no reason to. None of his opponents ever seemed to strike with the sole intent to kill either, and only a few showed true killing intent or aimed solely to land lethal attacks. While it was true that Jake could still die even if his opponents didn’t aim to kill him, he fully realized the other combatants had to risk killing him if they wanted a chance.

know that potions were a thing even before this match, as while he couldn’t really craft any himself due to the time constraint and his lack of ingredients, the Colosseum

did the rest of his matches of the day quite easily while maybe being a bit

was versus a wind mage. This was his first time meeting an opponent that was truly faster than himself, and the slicing wind blades he sent out

The wind mage simply didn’t have a response to Fear Gaze, allowing Jake to catch up after dodging all of his attacks and land a good

a dozen times before he finally

Gaze, but only the orc in Expert Fighter rank had been knocked out, the rest managing to hold on. None of them tried the same tactic of the Cleaver, though. Something he assumed was partly due to the nice side-effect of

necessary, making them not want to risk a stupid death by trying to test the apex predator that had just beaten their ass. The fact

victory, Jake once more returned back to the Battlemaster, as the middle-aged man, for the first time ever, greeted Jake with a wholly positive

bloody made it to the Gladiator rank, proving yourself a true warrior!” the Battlemaster said with a smile as Jake walked up to him. “Never once did I doubt you could do it, and I knew the very first time you walked in here that you were the real deal. Not only did you manage to become a Gladiator, but you

Doomfoot, but he had learned days ago that there was no use fighting it. No matter how much he tried to

his promotion, he got a message quite a bit longer than expected, as it became

your climb to the top. As a true Gladiator, you attract a crowd, and every single match is an event. Due to this, the Colosseum cannot have you fight in an official match

are limited to one fight a week against another

have better

fights. The possible opponents one can face in Show

without losing a single time or losing any lives,

the lowest number of days possible, you are rewarded an extra 500

you prove yourself the

Show Matches, even if those were also only one a day… and with the rule

not necessarily be against other fighters, which made Jake guess that he could also face non-humanoids or even groups. Getting to fight a bear or something would definitely be cool. Jake had always wanted to try and fight a non-magic

that the system didn’t recognize the fact he didn’t kill anyone and won using only the mighty power of kicking, but then again, perhaps the feeling of satisfaction from succeeding was enough. The true reward was not the Nevermore Points at the end, but all the kicks

Colosseum Points certainly weren’t anything to scoff at, and it did make him wonder if there were more similar “achievements” he could earn by not losing any matches and keeping up a good pace. Guess time would tell, as

need to point it out specifically. Every single time he had ranked up, better stuff had

anything he would actually want to buy, as there were still quite a few hours before they closed that day. Jake wasn’t delusional enough to think he wouldn’t ever have to buy any equipment during his stay in the Challenge

had enough Colosseum Points to get some good

promoted from Gladiator to