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?”

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

just nodded. ”Yeah, I guess

bit to prepare for the Archmage, but honestly, he

also stayed with Jake throughout this time, and what’s more, he even had his father actively give advice. The man formerly known as the Lightning Monarch gladly shared all he could about other Champions he had either fought with or researched

Owen should stay with Jake, especially after Jake acted

and 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

”good luck” from Owen and a hopeful look from Polly,

about either of them. This pretty much

lowered, the two combatants once more walked toward the center of the arena, however, with more distance than he had with prior opponents. Both of them knew this would be a ranged fight, so there was no need to go in melee from the get-go. Jake also knew that his opponent preferred to have some time to wind up his magic, which Jake

of them to speak ended up being the

little 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 learned enough from you to make it worth the punishment she is

he pulled out his bow. The only thing he mentally noted was that he had totally forgotten Polly’s full

uncivilized… would you not at least wish to utter some words before your potential demise?” the Archmage smiled, confident

Jake simply said in a casual tone. “No

you 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

the Archmage took out his

jumped back as he reached inside his Ring of Deft Hands. Within, it had four slots. Two were used by katars, one for when he needed

complex design. Jake had spent three full days crafting it, and now was the time to show the Archmage just how stupid he had been to give Jake that

exploded in arcane energy as he began to charge

sit still as he floated back and took out three orbs at

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

the Archmage, obscuring his form. This blizzard gathered itself quickly, clearly having

of the Deep, embrace my form and grant me strength!”the Archmage yelled before he crushed the other orb in his hand, as brown energy

Archmage’s preparations were complete, Jake made

winds were parted in an instant as the Archmage reacted by smashing his staff into the ground, making a wall of sand shoot up before instantly turning

the very next moment, sending two dozen arrows flying around the stone barrier, attacking the Archmage from all sides like they were heat-seeking

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

”I sur-”

came out as an arrow hit him in the side of the throat, drowning the word. Through his sphere, Jake saw the mage feebly reach for it right as a second arrow flew

from his eyes and ears, and his right shoulder was nearly entirely blue, with several visible