The Primal Hunter

”You know, I am not even sure if I should be angry or happy with this outcome,” Owen muttered while Jake scarfed down his lunch. ”I know that I said I wanted you to convince my father to no longer attempt to become a Grand Champion… but did you really have to convince him to try and make me one?”

Jake finished chewing as he answered seriously. ”In all honesty? Yes. You kind of said it yourself, but for the last many years, your dad had made his quest to become the Grand Champion his entire personality. To him, it was all that truly mattered, and me trying to convince him to be a good father and husband wasn’t going to change his mind… unless those things are required to achieve his goal.”

”If he is just faking being a non-shitty person to convince me to train and become the Grand Champion, what is that even worth? Also, how did you even know that would work? Even if I some-fucking-how manage to become the Grand Champion at some point in the future, how will that allow him to fulfill his goal?” Owen questioned.

”I have been thinking, and I asked myself… why did your father spend his time recovering training you, and teaching you how to use your family’s affinity?” Polly chimed in. ”Maybe it was because he wasn’t sure if he would ever recover and wanted you to pick up where he left off even back then.”

”I… am not sure that makes any of this better,” Owen sighed.

”Think of it like this,” Jake said, trying to be positive. ”A dad who wants you to train to be the Grand Champion while faking being a good dad is better than a dead dad. Because at least the first option has the possibility to turn into something non-shitty, while the latter can never turn non-dead. Also, finally, is it really that bad to train to become the Grand Champion? Even if you fail, you will get a lot stronger in the process, and I have the feeling that as long as you get stronger than him, he will let off you.”

”I guess you’re right,” Owen said, still sighing. ”Now, how confident are you in facing this Archmage?”

Jake was happy with the change of subject as he considered the question for a while. ”Well… hopefully it will be a good fight. I did catch a glimpse of him in the stands, and he did have a respectable aura, but I also know that he is supposedly a slippery bastard with lots of resources at his disposal, so I probably don’t want it to be a drawn-out affair.”

”Yeah…” Polly muttered. ”He is really old and has a lot of artifacts he has created throughout the years, especially the many Sealing Orbs he carries around. They are super dangerous, so remember to watch out for those, alright?”

They had already had this conversation before, as Jake had learned plenty from Polly about her so-called Master. She knew far more than any information broker could relay, as she had been his assistant for a while, and even if he hadn’t taught her much about combat, he had taught her plenty of general magic mumbo jumbo, and due to his innate need to brag, had gladly shown off a whole legion of valuable items he had either purchased or created himself.

Jake cared about what he had made himself, as those were what he could bring into the arena. The most dangerous items were the Sealing Orbs, which were small crystal balls where he had trapped intense mana within of a specific affinity. Then, through a bunch of rituals and more magic stuff, elementals would appear, already sealed within. These elementals could then be absorbed by the Archmage, giving him a far greater affinity to a particular school of magic for a period of time while also burning their mana instead of his own… so yeah, that was his gimmick.

Only two days after Jake had beaten his first opponent as a Champion, he issued his second challenge to the Archmage. Jake had almost expected another instant duel to happen, but…

”You wanted a fast fight, right?” the Battlemaster asked.

”Yeah?” Jake asked with hope.

”Well, the Archmage doesn’t. The match is scheduled to take place in twenty-nine days and twenty-two hours,” the Battlemaster said with a deadpan expression.

”That fucking sucks,” Jake grumbled. ”Can I just change opponent or fight someone else in between?”

about that old crook, he would have scheduled for the last minute no matter when you chose to issue the challenge, so

”Yeah, I guess

to prepare for the Archmage,

his father actively give advice. The man formerly known as the Lightning Monarch gladly shared all he could about other Champions he had

especially after Jake acted like he was

Jake once more found himself entering the arena, this time to face off against the Archmage. This month was the longest period he had gone since arriving in the Challenge Dungeon without a fight, so he was feeling a

hopeful look from Polly, Jake walked into the tunnel leading to

in a very general fashion, once more not giving any real information about either of

than he had with prior opponents. Both of them knew this would be a ranged fight,

to speak ended up being

human my dear Pollaystrasirial has been following around these days, huh?” the Archmage chuckled as he stroked his beard. “I do hope the little girl has

say anything as he pulled out his bow. The only thing he mentally noted was that he

some words before your potential demise?” the Archmage smiled, confident in

you’ll die,” Jake simply said in a casual tone. “No second

are simply delusional and rude,” the Archmage said, disappointed. ”Too bad; I had hoped you would have been willing to accompany me back to my mage tower once I had beaten you so I could study your peculiar magic. Alas, it appears you wish to die too badly for that to happen in

the Archmage took out

of Deft Hands. Within, it had four slots. Two were used by katars, one for when he needed to

a giant arrow more than one and a half meters long with a complex design. Jake had spent three full days crafting it, and now was the time to

as he began to

other side of the arena, the Archmage didn’t sit still as he

the East, become one as a blizzard is born!” he

quickly, clearly having some level of autonomous control. Even if it wasn’t a fully

crushed the other orb in his

the Archmage’s preparations were

a deep exhale and an explosion of arcane energy, he loosed the arrow. The icy winds were parted in an instant as the Archmage reacted by smashing his staff into the ground,

flying straight for the wall exploded the very next moment, sending two dozen arrows flying around the stone barrier, attacking the Archmage from all sides like they

wind elemental had completely scattered in an attempt to protect its master. And from the looks of it, it had succeeded. From the center of this explosion, a weak, haggard voice began

”I sur-”

the mage feebly reach for it right as a

both silent as Jake put away his bow and fell onto his ass. Blood was dripping from his eyes and ears, and his right shoulder was nearly entirely blue, with several visible blood vessels ruptured within,