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!”

need to have it pointed out, but yeah… the kicking-only challenge was officially over now. In one brief exchange, it had rapidly become clear there was no way he could have kept that going without

that the monk stood with a bright smile. Jake momentarily panicked as he

have such a wonderous opportunity… I believe it is 0-1 in your favor,” the Benevolent

as I didn’t fully block it,” Jake corrected him. His kick had barely done anything

power the monk had just displayed and Jake’s own offensive prowess, there was no fucking

bowed as he shifted his stance. “This time,

leave any openings before he was within range to strike. Every move was calculated, and there was not a doubt in Jake’s mind

him flashbacks to fighting

no slouch either. The first move of the monk had taken him by surprise. That wasn’t going

out of the way of his opponent’s attack as he totally threw away all attempts at

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

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

exchanged blows for more than a minute, kicking up sand all around them as the arena became a mess, yet despite over a hundred small and

fake openings at once, attacking

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

into a pillar, hitting his back hard before landing on the sand

of them shed a single drop of

off his already torn shirt. By now, it was just a hazard and somewhere the monk could potentially grab onto. He seemed like the

When he defended, the monk could seemingly make his entire body utterly immoveable and impervious, while when he attacked, he sent out odd destructive waves. However, after quite a few more traded hits, setting the score to 5-6 in the monk’s favor, Jake finally understood his initial assessment was wrong. The monk’s concept

he made it so Jake struck the monk’s soul directly, sending destructive energies through that. However, even if he did so, the monk

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

an innate will and inner calm that was utterly monstrous. His level of mental energy was simply on another level, to the point of

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, creating plenty

found out 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 as

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

this Benevolent Monk was far beyond what anyone at his level should be. Shit, he was probably above where most C-grade should be in

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 they

than before, having to heave for breath himself. Every muscle in Jake’s body ached from what had

blue marks everywhere, his arms were especially looking bad, and the monk didn’t look in good condition either. But, as long as the blood stayed as internal bleeding, it didn’t count. With neither of them using any weapons and both able to control and strengthen their body, it was far more difficult