The Primal Hunter

Jake was arrogant; no two ways about it. But his arrogance was also always backed with a certain level of well-earned confidence and a powerful intuition. He did not declare others weak or strong or claim himself superior based on pure narcissism, but his own reading on his opponent… and while the Lightning Monarch was powerful, Jake had full confidence in himself. Especially when he saw the man be momentarily surprised at Jake’s charge… oh, and the fact that he had a damn good plan.

Nevertheless, his opponent reacted fast, proving he was no slouch.

A rush of blue lightning covered his body in an instant as his blade moved down to block in the blink of an eye. Sword and katar clashed as Jake was pushed back, a small stream of lightning running across his body from the impact. It was important to note here that it ran across his body and not into it.

Below his clothes, Jake had covered himself entirely in a stable layer of arcane energy made specifically to block out the lightning. He didn’t need it to be incredibly durable, just resilient enough to handle the remnant lightning energy from when weapons clashed or whatever was left in the air after a swipe from the Lightning Monarch’s sword.

Giving pursuit, the Lightning Monarch attacked relentlessly, forcing Jake to retreat repeatedly. The man’s attacks were fast and deadly, and Jake could only defend himself as more than a dozen blows were exchanged.

After his combo, the lightning around the Monarch lessened visually, making Jake go on the offensive. The second he did, the lighting aura around the Lighting Monarch exploded once more, making Jake go back on the defensive instantly. A few dozen exchanges later, his opponent slowed down again, making Jake attack the very second he did, giving the Lightning Monarch no time to rest.

While the Lighting Monarch had entered the battle full of confidence, Jake had done the same because he was a man with a plan. His fighting method, where he retreated and attacked to keep the Lightning Monarch constantly engaged, was entirely intentional and his strategy from the very beginning.

When Owen had first explained how the lightning arcane affinity worked, Jake had quickly come to a realization. To make your arcane energy flow through your body in order to make yourself stronger, faster, and more durable while even coating your weapon in the energy…

Yeah, that was just a boosting skill, wasn’t it?

Mind you, Jake did boost himself using arcane energy even as a level 0, but he was not constantly boosting. Instead, he used the energy in small bursts, such as in the middle of a kick or while stabbing forward with his katar. Could he technically keep the arcane energy constantly running through his body and use a skill similar to Arcane Awakening? Yes, but only for a very short period of time. A level 0 simply didn’t have the resources to sustain a boosting still for any reasonable amount of time.

At least not normally.

The arcane affinity of the Lightning Monarch was explicitly suited for this kind of boosting, making the boost far more efficient than using any regular affinities. He could effectively reuse the same lightning energy over and over again, resulting in potentially the only viable level 0 boosting skill out there.

However… it was still a boosting skill.

Jake had naturally been curious how the Lightning Monarch lost when he attempted to become Grand Champion the first time around. Especially how he lost in such a devastating fashion that he was left crippled for around a year.

It turns out that the fight he had lost was a prolonged one. He had been fighting and winning for many minutes until suddenly, he slowed down significantly and was hit hard. The Lightning Monarch had then tried to get up, boosting himself once more before ultimately losing.

So… yeah, he had been so damn injured because he had pushed his boosting skill further than he should have, and no matter how much he had improved, the Lightning Monarch still had this one crucial weakness:

And not the

end without ever gaining any ground. Jake did learn that the Monarch had learned to turn his boosting skill on and off rapidly after his last attempt to become

why Jake had turned the fight into a push-and-pull, where Jake would be a hundred percent defensive whenever the Lightning Monarch attacked. The Lightning Monarch would naturally notice this and attempt to pace himself to not burn out too fast, which was when Jake went on the offensive, forcing the Lightning Monarch to push himself in order to

the boosting skill, and when it was down, Jake had the advantage in speed, even if he still lost by a little in the

him, if there was anyone who was good at dragging out fights, it was Jake. As long as he stayed on the defensive, it was doubtful anyone could take him down, not unless they had some

Jake didn’t fuck up, the winner of this fight was already a foregone conclusion. Of course, Jake wasn’t just

as he dodged several attacks by a hair’s

at the man’s face, he already knew

cursed as he made a wide swing, releasing a lot

dodge and didn’t even need to

Jake smiled as he attacked, not giving

kick, making the man speed up more than usual as he tried to pull off

the

me seriously first,” Jake smirked. “Or do you call that mindless flailing of your sword a fighting style? Do you truly think that is all it takes to

to counterattack but found himself pushed back immediately. The lighting around the Monarch intensified even more than before as he charged forward. Jake knew he was pushing himself, and without hesitation, he used Fear Gaze to make

pillar – a tried and tested arena strategy – making the Lightning Monarch never able to truly close in. Due to the sand making the man constantly run in circles, he never got a chance to build up speed, meaning Jake easily got away while throwing out the

Lightning Monarch roared as Jake’s danger sense reacted. Without any hesitation, he ducked as a wave of pure lightning energy swept over his head

was also a massive waste of energy. Jake did not hesitate as he jumped up, avoided the falling pillar, and attacked the temporarily weakened Lightning Monarch, who was suffering from

himself easily before kicking the Monarch in the stomach, making him tumble back. “You’ve stagnated. Reached the end

the Lightning Monarch said as he stood back up again with a groan, “shall not

to,” Jake shook his head. “Your willingness to acknowledge your own weakness

trying to lock down Jake and made many valiant attempts to somehow land a blow on

true answer will be far more embarrassing than what I guess in my head,” Jake said, teasing the man who was really running

even when his lightning began to visibly weaken. Jake saw the desperation in the Lightning Monarch’s eyes and knew it was about time to land the “killing

not, the fight would turn into a duel to the death… because Jake got the vibes from the Lightning Monarch that

your swordsmanship is still at such a low level… your own son is nearly better with a spear than you are, and he has only used it for a year,” Jake shook his head after dodging another attack and landing a solid punch in the Lightning Monarch’s stomach after dismissing his katars, sending him temporarily airborne, before landing

he saw a spark of something in the Monarch’s

at your progress… I had expected all the Champions to be truly powerful opponents, yet you, someone who has been a Champion for years, seems to barely have made any progress since you became one,” Jake sighed. “And you are preparing to try the

Monarch didn’t attack immediately after standing up, but instead, he looked at Jake directly. “Do you truly believe Owen can