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!”

the kicking-only challenge was officially over now. In one brief exchange, it

Jake momentarily panicked

wonderous opportunity… I believe it

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

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

monk bowed as he shifted his stance.

openings before he was within range to strike. Every move was calculated, and there was not a doubt in Jake’s mind that the monk was a more experienced fighter than

to

the monk had taken

big step, he moved forward and struck, aiming to land a fast palm strike 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

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

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 suddenly had a stable

minute, kicking up sand all around them 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 “landed

is, until they both presented fake openings at

Both of them tumbled back, Jake sent

before landing on the sand

neither of them shed

and somewhere the monk could potentially grab onto. He seemed like the honorable type who wouldn’t do

2-2 now, and Jake dove right back into it. As time 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 when he attacked, he sent out odd destructive waves. However, after quite a

it so Jake struck the monk’s soul directly, sending destructive energies through that. However, even if he did so, the monk managed to remain unaffected. Even if he did lose energy from taking hits, it

it was like getting punched in the brain every single time one was hit. Like

that was utterly monstrous. His level of mental energy was simply on another level, to the

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.

but those he took. He felt the odd waves go into his body every time he took a hit and soon identified

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 a soul-damaging concept

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

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 landing a fast job to the

end of their duel…

less still than before, having to heave for breath himself. Every muscle in Jake’s body

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