The Primal Hunter

The air was still as Jake closely observed the monk. His opponent had yet to even take a stance but still simply stood in a relaxed pose with his palms held against each other. Yet, even so, Jake hesitated to attack.

No openings.

It didn’t matter what Jake thought up. No matter what, his intuition told him whatever he did had a low chance of not ending with him getting a punch to the face. Jake considered dragging out the time and if that would be good or bad for him, but considering the nature of the monk, it wouldn’t surprise Jake if the guy was happy with a tie where no violence occurred.

Not feeling like he had much of a choice, Jake stopped delaying and moved in. Arcane energy entered his legs as he went for a low-committal low kick to start with. He did so with the expectations of the monk dodging the foot infused with destructive arcane power.

That isn’t what happened.

The monk braced himself and lifted his leg to block Jake’s kick. A wave of destructive arcane energy that had sent every other opponent reeling back smashed into the man, but Jake felt none of the usual feedback. Instead, he felt like he had just tried to kick a streetlight, the monk not moving a single inch from the impact.

“I hope we both agree that a blocked hit does not count as one landed… though I would be willing to give you one point,” the monk said as Jake looked at him with surprise.

“Actually landed hits only,” Jake clarified.

The monk smiled, and Jake instantly leaped backward to avoid the incoming attack. The raised leg the monk had used to block smashed down into the sand, making the ground erupt all around them. With the same motion, the monk exploded forward along with the wave of blinding sand, a kick aimed at Jake’s stomach.

Quickly, Jake reacted as he blocked with his own leg. At least he tried to. The monk purposefully missed him by a few centimeters, and rather than land a kick, he instead hooked his foot around Jake’s leg and pulled, throwing the still mid-air Jake off balance as he was dragged back.

What the-

Jake didn’t even have time to think as he instinctively responded to a fist descending down toward his chest. Both his arms were infused with stable arcane energy as he crossed them just in time. The fist smashed into his arms, making Jake feel like someone had just hit him with a baseball bat, blasting him down into the sand as the air was temporarily knocked out of his lungs.

The pain went through his body as Jake felt true danger for the very first time in the Colosseum… and he was all for it.

Right after he hit the sand, Jake twisted his body, landing a kick to the side of the unprepared monk, making him stumble to the side. This time it didn’t feel like he had hit a bloody wall, but actual human flesh. Sadly for him, he didn’t have the time or thoughtfulness to add any destructive energy of note to the kick.

It still gave him the time to do a handspring to get back on his feet.

“What are we seeing!? Doomfoot was swept off his feet and, for the very first time in the Colosseum, used something other than his legs to block!? But who can blame him after that awe-inspiring power displayed by the Benevolent Monk! There sure wasn’t any benevolence in that first!”

one brief exchange, it had rapidly become clear there was no way he could have kept that going without

smile. Jake momentarily panicked as he wondered if he was bleeding anywhere and

a wonderous opportunity… I believe it is 0-1 in your

Jake corrected him. His kick had barely done anything but briefly throw

displayed and Jake’s own offensive prowess, there was no fucking way the fight wouldn’t end with some

shifted his stance. “This time, I shall

as the monk stepped forward with small, measured steps so as to not leave any openings before he was within range to strike. Every move was calculated, and there was not a doubt in

gave him flashbacks to fighting the Sword

monk had

on Jake. Responding quickly, Jake stepped out of the way of his opponent’s attack as he totally threw away all attempts at sticking to his personal challenge by throwing a jab at the monk.

strike was infused with destructive energies, yet the monk neutralized every blow. Jake did not understand how the monk at times seemed to become as immovable as a fortress yet, at others, was light as a feather and clearly still a human that would crumble from a single well-landed

Jake was doing either, as he was taken by surprise several times due to

the arena became a mess, yet despite over a hundred small and large moves, not a single blow that any

they both presented fake openings at once,

was hit in the chest by a palm as he managed to kick the monk in his stomach. Both of them tumbled back, Jake sent momentarily airborne as the stable arcane mana that had helped protect him shattered from the blow that seemed to send odd waves

off as he smashed into a pillar, hitting his back hard before landing on the sand and falling down on

them shed a single drop

was just a hazard and somewhere the monk could potentially grab onto. He seemed like the

utterly immoveable and impervious, while when he attacked, he sent out odd destructive waves. However, after

that. However, even if he did so, the monk managed to remain unaffected. Even if he did

special kind of pain, unlike anything that could ever be inflicted on the body. Moreover, it was like getting punched in the brain every single time one was hit. Like taking a mental attack every time… yet the monk did this repeatedly without a care in the world.

an innate will and inner calm that was utterly monstrous. His level of mental energy was simply

would still fall. He still lost energy every single time Jake hit him, after all. Likely all three resources at once due to how the soul tended to work. The monk also needed to actively “shift” to doing his odd soul blocks and couldn’t move while doing so,

how the monk’s ability worked wasn’t just through his own landed hits but those he took. He felt the odd waves go into his body every time he took a hit and soon identified them

himself was no weakling when it came to his soul and had thus barely noticed. But that didn’t mean the monk’s ability was useless, as it did allow him to deal more damage with every blow, as he could effectively infuse

Monk was far beyond what anyone at his level should be. Shit, he was probably above where

Jake still had confidence. One of the core tenets of his fighting style was to read his opponent, and as the fight proceeded, Jake did just that. Even as he fell behind and the score became 6-8 for the monk, he slowly began to edge out an advance, bringing the score to 7-8 in the very next moment by

the end of their duel… and

steps, sweat dripping down his brow. The monk was also far less still than before, having to heave for breath himself. Every muscle in Jake’s body ached from what had only been about

in good condition either. But, as long as the blood stayed