The Primal Hunter

Vilastromoz had to admit that the Wyrmgod had managed to gather quite the respectable images to be used as Champions. To see Gudrun had already been surprising, as she wasn’t really known to be that huge of a fighter these days. Even before she became a god, she had been more of a shaman or leader than a Valkyrie that used a spear. Well, it was not like she could have been one, as Valkyrie wasn’t really a term before Gudrun, as she was the one who more or less created that Path.

Yet the seven Champions were even more noteworthy. Two of them were entirely system-created, and their images did not stem from “real” beings – those two naturally being the Lightning Monarch and Archmage. Truthfully, the Viper didn’t care for these two. The only slightly interesting thing about the Lightning Monarch was that his arcane affinity had been taken by the system from a now-dead S-grade that failed to ascend to godhood.

But the other five were quite something.

As Jake had theorized, the dark elf was Umbra. However, based on the Viper’s assessment, it was a significantly weakened Umbra in every single way, with many of the things that made her truly dangerous removed.

The Phoenix Queen was, interestingly enough, the daughter of the Phoenix that the United Tribes had sent to Jake’s Chosen reveal party. In the outside world, she had managed to become a god a few eras ago and now worked alongside her mother.

Vilastromoz didn’t have many comments on the Necromancer. He was a divine general from the Ghostlands and was an incredibly powerful necromancer when he was still a mortal.

That Lord of the Hunt was an archer god Vilastromoz had never interacted directly with. However, she appeared to hail from the Pantheon of Life, so it should be a fun fight.

Finally, there was the Wargod… who was definitely an interesting fellow to include in a Challenge Dungeon like this. Mainly because he – despite the name – was not truly a fighter in the outside world but a renowned blacksmith.

One thing had to be clarified, though. Even if these gods were not fighters or pinnacle beings in the outside world, it truly didn’t matter. The Wyrmgod could have taken any random S-grade and created an image from them, and chances are they would have been far, far beyond Champion material. If he chose to copy their S-grade conceptual understanding and technique level, that is.

However, all these images were made by copying the skill level that the image sources possessed in C-grade. In some ways, it was close to fighting the C-grade version of gods, but even then, there were big differences… because when in C-grade was the image copied from?

There was a vast difference between a level 200 and a level 349 in their technique and conceptual comprehension. For many of the earlier fights, it had been early C-grade images, while the further one got, the further in C-grade the images were also copied from, with many of the Champions copied from late-stage or even peak C-grades.

That is to say, Jake was not fighting a level 0 with the understanding of a level 250 like himself, but more often than not, a level 0 with the understanding of someone above level 300.

“So, what level is Umbra copied from?” the Viper asked.

“Roughy level 280,” the Wyrmgod answered. “The Warmaster is level 349, with the others between level 300 and 340. I believe they will offer your Chosen quite the challenge, and I would be impressed if he manages to eke out victories against every opponent without losing any lives.”

“At least there are no real penalties to losing lives anymore,” Vilastoromoz shrugged.

“Yes, I believed it to be counterproductive to penalize those who attempt to beat the Champions further than the lost bonus from every remaining life. Should he beat two Champions, he will have made back the potential loss,” the Wyrmgod explained. “There has to be balance, after all. And beating the Champions without losing lives is far from intended.”

is this mysterious Grand Champion you got hiding for the grand finale?” Vilastromoz asked with

be the end of

may have overdone it with that one… then again, it is meant to be the end of the Challenge Dungeon if you beat

even more, but he knew not to probe more than necessary. He had some personal theories about who the Wyrmgod could have gotten. Of course, there

many would potentially have expected to see Yip of Yore show up somewhere, but the Viper knew better. And it wasn’t because the Wyrmgod didn’t want an image of Yip, but Yip

behind was in meticulously designed Challenge Dungeons, and he would never risk giving anyone else the slightest level of freedom with an image of his. Due to his Path, he wanted, no, needed to be in full control of everything related to him, including his

to his Path. Especially if it was an image that someone was meant to be able to beat in a fight. No, it definitely couldn’t be him… but that didn’t mean

if Jake will beat all the Champions

about we make the bets one by one for every opponent? That way, we get seven times the bets,” the Viper offered. “And I am willing to

beat

just smiled. Looking at the lineup… he wasn’t going

fast to try and take Jake by surprise. In fact, it wouldn’t shock Jake to find out that

course… it was also entirely possible the guy was just so damn confident he didn’t believe he needed any

had only lost the Gauntlet last time because he hadn’t been careful enough during the fight and slipped up. He had simply refused

learned that the primary reason for Owen’s father’s overwhelming confidence was his lightning magic. Owen described it as a “rare and unique affinity only passed down in their family,” but Jake instantly recognized it as an arcane affinity. Based on conversations with Villy, he also knew that inheriting talent, even for things like

a wonderful test subject. Owen could summon the odd blue lightning, which allowed Jake to analyze it and figure out how it worked, and

someone, but the blue lightning appeared to have almost the opposite effect. At least when

shoot powerful lightning bolts, as the energy got a lot weaker while outside the body, while inside, it made Owen both faster and stronger while giving him significant resistance to any energies that invaded his body by

a weapon. That was

it was a great affinity for spell blades. During Jake’s preparations, he also studied whatever he could concerning the man’s fighting style and whatnot,

Potentially, however, Jake decided that he knew enough after seeing all Polly had gathered and

enter the arena, with Owen beside him, looking visibly nervous. “You know… I didn’t really think about how messed up this situation is… I am asking my friend to beat up my dad to

beaten people up for worse reasons,” Jake shrugged. “Also, shouldn’t he

it isn’t really a farm, more like an estate or compound placed outside of a large city... Owen said, scratching the back of his head. “Just...

can to not kill

for your own sake. While I admit my father is delusional if he thinks he can become a Grand Champion, he is still incredibly powerful. His title of Champion is earned, and while you have promised to try and not kill him, he will not show the same mercy. It doesn’t matter if he knows we are

the back. “Alright, how about we make a bet… if I win and beat up your dad so he sees reason, you’ll ask Polly to

what does Polly have to do with