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.

back 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 speed, and there were

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 that Jake could see be the Promotion Match to become Champion, who was naturally

wife of Valdemar, and if the Primordial

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 of Nevermore. In the

at least some information on who he assumed to be Gudrun was recordings of her prior fights… but he couldn’t find any. Neither could Polly. It was

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.

He would lean a bit on what he

a helmet or cloak. There were some okay cloaks, but helmets were

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

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

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

the

every day, nay, every single hour, but this one is unlike any other. For on this

Match stand across from him. Not just her

so far, with a list of titles that nearly

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

if anyone can find 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

in the little speech about her, not that Jake had expected that. Everything

from me! Let the words lie and take up arms… and

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,

to it, making it purpose-built to

as they reached about the middle of the arena. “Would you happen

she had a slight pause in her step. “Are you trying to come onto me, or are you simply

if my assumption is

the answer hold any meaning?” she questioned. “Will you surrender if you

shook his head at

as names,” the woman who was totally Gudrun said as

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

just refer to her as Gudrun from now on – was

the distance as she kept backing off, making sure to never corner herself. To the average fighter, the fight just looked like