The Primal Hunter

Transmutation for Jake had always been a bit out of the ordinary compared to other alchemists, especially after he began to play around with all that Origin stuff. But one had to remember that the precursor to all that was Jake experimenting with combining transmutation and his arcane affinity.

There had been a lot of trial and error on his transmutation journey as a level 0, and throughout it all, he had leaned on the experience he had from Touch of the Malefic Viper. A skill he also did a lot of personal practice with, and it had to be remembered that when he first began practicing using it for transmutation, he had instantly jumped to using his arcane affinity, which to Jake meant that his arcane affinity was very suited for transmutation… or maybe it was just very suited for Jake to infuse into everything he used.

That was exactly what Jake was trying to do… though it did turn out to be quite a bit harder without the Malefic Viper Legacy skill. However, that didn’t mean Jake wasn’t confident. As mentioned before, Jake’s control of arcane energy was monstrous for a G or F-grade, and the items he wanted to transmute were ultimately only level 0 equipment, so the energy he needed to transmute lacked in both quantity and quality.

However, he quickly hit a bit of a snag.

Jake had, at first, experimented with the free items the Quartermaster handed out, but they turned out to simply be too weak to handle the influx of arcane energy without crumbling to dust. That had been quite an annoyance, as Jake really didn’t wanna spend points on weapons that he knew he had a high chance of breaking… but then Jake got an idea he really should have gotten a lot earlier.

See, Jake found a bit of an, let’s just say, error in the way the Colosseum of Mortals operated. The rules dictated that any insured items could be replaced if they broke, but nothing said it had to break in combat, right? So what if Jake experimented with his epic rarity katars, and if he felt like he would fail, he totally accidentally went ham with infusing destructive arcane energy, breaking his weapon.

He had to admit he had been a bit apprehensive the first time. Not just because he was essentially committing insurance fraud but because he feared that the system had accounted for someone trying this and would refuse to give him replacements. That turned out to be an unfounded fear, and when he presented the cracked katar to the Quartermaster, the man had just shrugged and handed him a new one.

To make a long story short, that’s how Jake broke around a hundred and twenty epic rarity katars over the course of a few weeks, with more than fifty of those being in the week leading up to the fight against the Benevolent Monk as Jake refocused his efforts. He was confident in succeeding, and only two days before his fight against the monk, he was successful. The same day, he upgraded the second katar using the exact same method as the first, giving him two identical weapons.

[Arcane Aersteel Katar (Ancient)] – This katar is made of a metal called Aersteel, making it incredibly light yet equally durable. The design of the weapon is simple and, due to the material used, has exemplary mana conductivity. This conductivity is increased further if one channels arcane mana through it. All of the air affinity energy within has been consumed and replaced by powerful arcane energies, making it lose many of the usual properties of Aersteel in exchange for increased durability and empowering all arcane mana being channeled through it. Enchantments: Arcane Empowered.

Requirements: Soulbound.

His transmutation had led to quite a few changes. First of all, there was, of course, the rarity upgrade, though that far from fully encapsulated how meaningful this upgrade was. Equally as big was how much better the items suited Jake now. The Aersteel properties that led to the katar being lighter had remained, but the mana that helped things like air resistance was gone. What he got instead was a far more durable and sharper weapon.

It was a little sad to see the insurance was gone, even if he felt pretty certain breaking the new katars was borderline impossible. No, the problem was that he doubted he could get a refund now. Alas, sometimes sacrifices had to be made. The Requirements had changed, too, no longer requiring any specific rank, even if they were still Soulbound. It could be said that many of the unique aspects of the Colosseum had been stripped away for a weapon that was now truly his.

Jake also naturally tested his Improved weapons and found the result more than satisfying. The quality of the energy Jake had infused into them had transformed the epic rarity katars into peak-quality ancient weapons, with the mana conductivity for his arcane mana, not just flowing through the weapons freely but even getting empowered.

Before, something like extending the katar with an arcane edge was costly and difficult, but now it would be incredibly easy. With how much the katars suited him, Jake doubted even legendary katars would necessarily be better. While he considered buying ancient rarity weapons to try and transmute, based on brief experiments with his bow, Jake doubted he could pull it off within any reasonable timeframe. At least not without sacrificing all of the other things he wanted to practice, and even then, it was doubtful it would take less than half a year.

Besides upgraded katars, Jake prepared two more things to put in his Ring of Deft Hands. Both took some time to get just right, but when done, Jake was more than satisfied and could only grin when he imagined the monk’s reaction upon seeing them.

Overall, Jake’s preparations for the fight were extensive, and he even had Polly look into all she could find regarding the monk, though it quickly became obvious Jake already knew more than the information packages provided due to their prior encounter.

He also couldn’t help but consider what would happen when he was done in the Colosseum and returned to his C-grade form, as he had no doubt made many improvements that would matter even if he was 250 levels higher. But all things in good time. For now, all that mattered was defeating the Benevolent Monk.

“So, I assume you already know by now what you are in for. The monk is a damn monster, and with the referee there, I doubt the fight will end without any bloodshed, so be prepared for a real battle. It may even be one of life and death, and if that’s the case, not being the dead one tends to be the best option from my experience,” the Battlemaster said as Jake came and waited close to the gate to begin his fight. “Are you confident?”

“As confident

yeah? I placed a bet on you

that was now about to open up. He felt a mix of excitement and trepidation as he walked up the steps to the incoming battlefield and heard

and his perfect winning streak. To make things even. But to do that, he will have to beat the only opponent who has ever defeated him: Doomfoot!

listened but didn’t pay much attention. Instead, he focused on the monk at the other end of the arena, and even through the bars, he noticed something. New tattoos, far more visible than the normal

preparations too, Jake smiled to himself.

have a bit of a special announcement. This match will be

in the wall of the arena opened up, and a man wearing

sure that door hadn’t been in any of the other

of the arena as he first looked at

prior matches involving the Benevolent Monk, I shall be overseeing today’s promotion match. In this match, the winner will be decided when either party becomes unable to continue fighting, dies, or I stop the match and declare a victor. There will be no surrender but a true battle to the end. I will give both of you a

he even saw Polly

that case…” the referee began, the announcer finishing for

“Lower the gates!”

referee ran back from the middle of the

out from the get-go did appear, but Jake decided not to as he walked forward toward the Benevolent Monk. His opponent did the same as they met

man said with a smile as he bowed when

do,” Jake said as he also bowed slightly. “Though this

said, standing up straight as he smiled radiantly. “So let us fight to our heart’s content. Let us determine whose Path shall remain and who shall embrace samsara. There shall be no grudges, no animosity… just two souls trying

as the monk took a stance. The runes on his arms lit

focus primarily on countering, but in this

spirit-like bracers. The monk countered, but Jake wasn’t a slouch either. Dozens of blows were exchanged within a few seconds before a palm and katar smashed into each other, sending both sliding back, only stopped by the sand

Jake’s lips as a trail of blood trickled down the monk’s palm. He was strong… but he couldn’t fully block

too, as he went on the offensive. Jake was ready and engaged the monk as their duel continued. The monk’s

messing up meant his already powerful soul took a small blow, losing him a few health points. Meanwhile, the monk slowly began to accumulate wounds all over his arms and upper body. Every single blow also left a tinge

once before… but the version of Jake back then didn’t have his equipment. He didn’t have katars that switched up how he fought, and his stats were also lower as he hadn’t used proper gear. In addition, every single blow that meant to pierce his soul also had to go through a bit of armor first, lessening the impact slightly. It wasn’t by a lot, but it definitely played a

than the monk did for his, giving Jake the initial advantage. After a few minutes, the monk did improve and make the exchanges more equal, but he had already

cornering their opponent. Jake once more had the advantage here. While the monk seemed to be able to sense

never had to show before, giving Jake quite a few injuries. Outwardly, it didn’t

He never showed the slightest inclination to end the fight, even as both of their wounds worsened. Not that this was bad for Jake, because the more time

he tried a risky exchange where he ended up with a shallow stab in the stomach. The

Minimized the damage.

while also countering as the monk had been left open, allowing Jake to land his stab, truly putting the monk on a timer. In return, Jake did get a nasty palm