The Primal Hunter

One opponent remained between Jake and the title of Champion, but as expected, it wouldn’t be easy.

”Your final opponent before you become a Champion is definitely a gatekeeper,” the Battlemaster said, looking Jake in the eye. “I can’t tell you if she is the strongest opponent you will have faced in the Colosseum so far, but she is definitely the most consistently powerful one.”

Jake was a bit confused by the phrasing, as the Battlemaster elaborated.

“Alright, alright. I can’t give out information for free, but I will give you one massive warning: prepare a lot if you can. Because she will. If there are any weaknesses in your fighting style or any exploitable patterns, she will find them, and she will make use of them to put you on the back foot. Out of everyone you will ever meet here in the Colosseum, she is probably the one who is the best at analyzing and adapting to certain opponents, so expect to be countered, alright?”

As the man finished explaining, a window popped up in front of Jake. It was not a bonus objective this time, though, but just a message informing him this was the final fight before he would become the Champion.

A final battle stands between you and the Champion rank.

Your rapid ascension through the ranks of the Colosseum of Mortals couldn’t have been swifter. If you wish to keep this streak going, you will have to defeat an opponent with power out of the ordinary for this ranking.

This will be the final match to determine if you successfully ascend all the way through the ranks flawlessly.

Bonus Objective: Defeat the Valhalian Valkyrie

Ignoring all the changes in flavor text, this one communicated that all time restraints – outside of the regular one placed by Nevermore – would disappear if he won this match. There would be no “streak” to keep going.

Aside from that, he saw the name of his opponent… and it was one that took him aback. Valhalian Valkyrie. Actually, thinking back, this was probably the first time someone had a name that directly connected them to a major faction.

He wasn’t sure what to make of that, and ultimately, it didn’t really matter much as he knew what to do.

Jake followed the advice of the Battlemaster, and he started researching. He sent Polly to get whatever she could and even gave her permission to look into things that had a Colosseum Point cost associated with them. Meanwhile, Jake would focus on fight analysis, and luckily, she had a Show Match scheduled the next day.

Watching that show match had been… enlightening. Her name definitely fitted her. The Valhalian Valkyrie wore tight-fitting full-plate armor that looked relatively light yet also durable. Her entire body was covered, with even her face obscured by a helmet that left only a small slit.

She used a short spear for attack and not one, but several different shields throughout the Show Match. From the looks of it, she had a spatial storage of some kind to swap at least shields, so she always had one for every situation. Jake saw four different shields during the show match before she killed the last enemy.

When it came to her fighting style, it was… basic. It was so basic that Jake had a feeling she was aware he was watching the fight, something that was proven to be accurate when someone handed him a note after the fight, asking him if he enjoyed the show.

the same day and had widely conflicting reports on what kind of fighter she was. Some claimed she was a mage, some claimed a warrior who focused purely on

had been spread, likely by the Valkyrie herself. This Jake did find genuinely odd… because Valhal was known as a faction that fought enemies head-on. It was not a faction that acted all shady and used strategies like this. Well… there was one person like that in Valhal, wasn’t there? One person

chief strategist of Valhal. She was the wife of Valdemar, and if the Primordial was the brawn, then she

wasn’t her, it was at least someone related to her. Maybe someone who had studied under her. Either way, Jake decided to go into the fight with the expectation she was Gudrun, and his intuition made him think he was onto something. Again, it ultimately didn’t matter who she was outside

was recordings of her prior fights… but he couldn’t find any. Neither could Polly. It was entirely possible they were out there, but Jake would have to pay a ridiculous amount of Colosseum Points to get them, something he simply wasn’t

any recordings or even proper information to give out, considering the number of audience members for Paragon fights was well into the hundreds of thousands. Sure, even if they did not have the means to record the fight, it had to be possible to interview viewers and build a solid profile, but nope, it wasn’t. So, yeah, there was definitely dungeon-fuckery going on

what he decided to do. He would enter the fight with very general preparations only. He would lean a bit on what he knew about Valhal and their general methods,

better equipment or getting a cloak or something also crossed his mind, but he decided against it after going shopping. He only really had the option of upgrading his armor or getting a helmet or cloak. There were some okay cloaks, but helmets were out of the question as they all at least partly obscured

week was both a long and a short time – luckily helped by a fun and easy Show Match in the middle - and soon enough, the day of the Championship Match had arrived. Jake entered the battle with just his usual equipment, a few shields of stable arcane mana, and a quiver filled with stable arcane arrows on his back. Twenty-four of them, to be exact. He had wanted to store the quiver inside his storage ring, but alas, that was not an option because the quiver was not recognized. Well, okay, the quiver itself could be stored, but not

would be fighting an opponent who had prepared for everything Jake had shown so far... which was why the quiver was

dumb luck or genius foresight, no one could truly say – though Jake leaned more toward the latter – but it turned out to be a brilliant idea to keep his archery hidden for a moment just like this one. Seeing as he had walked around with a quiver since he entered the arena, perhaps probably-Gudrun did prepare some countermeasures for archery, but Jake seriously doubted she had prepared for what he had

the fight…

for us all! Many matches take place every day, nay, every single hour, but this one is

Jake looked at the familiar figure he had seen in the Show Match stand across from him.

his katars and feet, who has proven himself an opponent none could stand up to so far, with a list of titles that nearly rivals his true power! The Purple Poker of Death, Doomfoot, Harbinger of

at the stupid names as he heard the last one, and… well… it wasn’t that bad? Doombringer was kind

his weakness and avoid their doom, it’s gonna be the Valhalian Valkyrie! Akin to the Doombringer, she has reached this stage undefeated, but unlike her opponents, she was in no rush. With steady

about her, not that Jake had expected that. Everything was pretty much as expected, including

Let the words lie and take up arms… and

much the same as she patiently waited for the bars to be all the way down before she confidently walked forward. Jake saw she carried her short light spear as well as a shield, the same as during her Show Match. Her golden armor was the same, too, with her

shield was circular in design and had a curve to it, making it purpose-built to deflect attacks.

about the middle of the arena. “Would you happen to

her step. “Are you trying to come onto me, or are you simply dying

“Just curious if my

she questioned. “Will you surrender if you know

his head

us not concern ourselves with such silly things as names,” the woman who was totally Gudrun said as she lowered her stance. “And as

Jake easily dodged it and tried to move to her right side – the side without a shield. Jake’s move clearly didn’t surprise her, and she was already turning before Jake had fully dodged her stab, sweeping her

spear as he moved in with the other, but Gudrun – yes, he would mentally just refer to

sure to never corner herself. To the average fighter, the fight just looked like Jake had the upper hand as he was always on