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!”

it pointed out, but yeah… the kicking-only challenge was officially over now. In one brief exchange, it had rapidly become clear there

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

have such a wonderous opportunity… I believe it is

block it,” Jake corrected him. His kick had barely done anything but briefly throw the monk off balance while Jake’s back still

explosive power the monk had just displayed and Jake’s own offensive prowess, there was no fucking way the fight wouldn’t end with

well,” the monk bowed as he shifted his stance. “This

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

to

slouch either. The first move of the monk

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

at times seemed to

play that Jake could not fully comprehend… but it was also clear the monk couldn’t grasp what Jake was doing either, as he was taken by surprise several times due to the destructive potential infused into Jake’s punches and kicks or when his arm

as the arena became a mess, yet despite over a hundred small and large moves, not a single blow that any of them would define as a

both presented fake openings

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

off as he smashed into a pillar, hitting his back hard before landing on the sand and falling down on one knee with a sizzling wound of destructive arcane

shed a single drop of

shirt. By now, it was just a hazard and somewhere the monk could potentially grab onto. He seemed like the honorable type who wouldn’t do

passed, Jake did begin to get some semblance of feeling for what the monk was doing. In some ways, what he did reminded Jake a bit of himself. When he defended, the monk could seemingly make his entire body utterly immoveable and impervious, while

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

a 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

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

enough landed hits, the monk 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, creating plenty

his own landed hits but those he took. He felt the odd waves

and had thus barely noticed. But that didn’t mean the monk’s ability was useless, as

should be. Shit, he was

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 both knew

sweat dripping down his brow. The monk was also far less still than before, having to heave for breath himself. Every muscle in

been spilled yet. Jake 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