The Primal Hunter

Jake spent far longer than he would have liked to get home. How in the hell did an entire crowd even manage to gather outside the arena in the relatively short time spent just talking to the Battlemaster? He had no idea, but they somehow had. There were thousands upon thousands of spectators who wanted to see the new Champion and to celebrate him.

While he had wanted to avoid them entirely, Jake somehow ended up spending nearly an hour placating the crowd before using his injuries as an excuse to head back to the small townhouse. Speaking of the townhouse, Jake had been offered other accommodations from the time he hit Warlord, but he really didn’t want to move around anymore. He only ever slept or sat in meditation within the townhouse anyway, so why would he need a fancier temporary home?

At least his fans were nice enough to not follow him home, and when he got there, he saw Polly and Owen both already inside, having even set up the table with some snacks.

Jake, already feeling a bit better just from his recovery potion doing work, headed inside and went to the small living room where the two of them were sitting patiently chatting among themselves. They quickly went silent when they heard Jake, and both greeted him the second he walked into the room.

“You made it all the way…” Owen said with a smile, but he clearly hid some apprehension.

“It’s amazing!” Polly said, with a far more purely positive attitude. “I must say, I was fearful when I saw the Valkyrie summon that giant sand hill, something I honestly think was cheating as she clearly couldn’t even fully control or supply the spell with enough mana by herself, but then you pulled out that bow of yours! Your archery training clearly paid off amazingly well.”

“I don’t think Jake just trained archery during the Colosseum,” Owen added. “You were already an expert before you came here, right?”

While “expert” was a bit of a loaded word, Jake definitely was one by level 0 standards even before arriving at the Colosseum of Mortals. Probably mid-tier C-grade standards, too, but due to the high level of his melee skills, Jake hadn’t been super confident calling himself an expert archer before. Now, though? Now, he thought he had earned that title, even in the outside world.

“I was originally an archer, yes. In fact, my katars are usually my secondary weapon I switch to when using ranged attacks isn’t viable or optimal,” Jake responded truthfully. “And, not gonna lie, I was just waiting for someone to force me to pull out my bow. The Valhalian Valkyrie definitely warranted it.”

“I will admit, you never struck me as the highly strategic kind, but to keep your best weapon for so long was damn impressive,” Owen smiled, but that smile quickly faded. “I also get the feeling that you aren’t done with the Colosseum yet… are you?”

“What do you mean?” Polly asked, confused. “He is the Champion already! What more is there to do?”

“The Gauntlet of the Grand Champion,” Owen said in a serious tone. “A… difficult challenge, to say the least. One that very few have ever attempted, much less completed. Jake… by now, I guess you already figured out the Lightning Monarch is my father?”

Jake just nodded, reading the atmosphere enough to know that joking with Owen right now wouldn’t land well.

“Remember when I said my father used to teach me a bit? Yeah, that happened because he tried the Gauntlet and failed, making him go back to a quiet life for a few years before returning here. And he didn’t just leave because of the Colosseum rules, but to recover. He spent nearly a year recovering before he could fight again.”

Polly looked at Owen with sad eyes as she put a hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Owen looked at her with grateful eyes as he continued.

“And now he wants to try again. He is training to try again, but I fear things won’t end as well the second time around. I know I have no right to ask you this… but please don’t kill him if you fight him. Yet, at the same time, don’t let him off easy. Make him never return to the Colosseum again, but return home to my mother and siblings. Return to the damn home he has abandoned.”

Owen looked visibly angry as he said the last part. Jake finally began to get a proper understanding of Owen … he was there to beat his father or at least somehow convince him to go home.

Jake’s pet theory was that Owen was meant to be some kind of rival to the regular Nevermore Attendees, while he served more as a guide and an introduction to different aspects of the Colosseum for those on the more powerful side while also creating a more personal connection to at least one of the Champions.

a few moments, Jake nodded. “Alright, I will do my best, but no guarantees. As a Champion, he is no doubt powerful in his own right, and I can’t say for sure if I will have any leeway to hold back or even have

“I will, of course, help you with any preparations. Back during his recovery, he taught me the same techniques and concepts. I know his strengths and

he gave the young man a nod. He wasn’t going to reject intel

to speak was

of. Somehow, she had a lot of contacts to pull on, and people were more than happy to discuss with her, even those at a higher rank. Of course, she still had her limits, and the information

one more “function,” so to say. One Jake probably should have seen coming, one that also helped explain why it was so easy

but… that’s my teacher…” Polly said with a mix of nervousness and anger. “I just learned it today… and I didn’t know you wanted to do

though he felt a bit unsure about his question as Polly seemed to have an oddly angry look

before gathering herself. “You got an actual

Jake said, not really honoring the question

that asshole,” Polly said,

looked taken back. “I thought you liked

I come from. When I was fifteen, there was this big evaluation event put on by the mage’s guild, and when I tested to have good affinities and talents for magic, the asshole practically kidnapped me. My parents protested but were told that should

the cliché end, and Jake seriously questioned any recruitment tactic that required you to first piss off whoever you trained to shoot fireballs, but he didn’t let it show. Instead, he just nodded. “He does sound like a royal asshole, so should I get the chance, sure.

on it as he took her hand. She grasped it, and the two of them sat there for a while as Jake looked at

be inappropriate to take one,

double agent by going

of them would finally get together officially, considering they

gather intel from other sources. Well, as long as he confirmed that

really know. The Warmaster was potentially someone more from Valhal – maybe even Valdemar himself – with

to Valhal or any faction Jake knew of. In fact, there wasn’t really much information on the guy at all. Apparently, he was a former general of some war and had been dubbed the Warmaster due to how dominating he was during that conflict. He was also a master of all weapons and a powerful warrior who didn’t have any magic to speak of. There were no recordings of his fights or anything, and he hadn’t fought in the arena for quite a few years but was considered semi-retired. Jake wasn’t delusional to

All Jake could get was the most basic of things, such as information that the Lord of the Hunt was

Phoenix was indeed a beastkin woman who was probably related to phoenixes somehow. She used incredibly powerful fire magic and was a full-on mage based on all Jake could gather. Upon further

assumed it to be another mage, but nope, it was more a warrior who just used death and poison magic. He wore heavy armor, always had his head covered, had very pale hands when he

he was definitely

and some initial research, Jake was back in top form and went to the Battlemaster to issue his first challenge. Based on all he had gathered so far, he believed the two easiest opponents to be the Phoenix and the Dark Mistress. The Dark Mistress was indeed Umbra, or at least someone closely related to the Court of

be an easy opponent due to her being a mage and her illusion magic. Illusions did not work on Jake, and while fire magic was most certainly not something he wanted to play with, shooting arrows of stable arcane mana through the flames was

opponents, he decided to prioritize beating the Lightning Monarch and the Archmage. First of all, because he had more information on these two than any other opponent, and secondly, because Jake wanted to get the side

wasn’t overly important. Considering that, he may as well start with

he walked up to the Battlemaster,

go the whole way?” the Battlemaster

said with