The Primal Hunter

The Lord of the Hunt was an opponent Jake had been interested in for a long time. Well, alright, not that long, but ever since he heard of the title, he had been interested in fighting the one who held it. He already knew a bit about her, as she had shown up for every single one of his fights so far to scout him out, which had also given Jake the chance to check her out in turn.

She was an elf who really gave off those traditional wood elf fantasy vibes. She wore a hooded dark green cloak, wielded two swords and a bow, and had a distinct smell of nature around her at all times. It reminded Jake a bit of Dina, confirming the research that she possessed powerful nature magic to support her archery.

When Jake chose to issue the challenge, he had assumed her to accept pretty fast, as she had clearly already been researching him for months, yet she chose to wait an entire month, just like the Necromancer and Archmage. Jake really wasn’t sure why but ended up concluding she needed more prep time… which could only mean she was getting something big ready. That, or she was just not in a rush to get her ass beaten.

One also had to remember that elves lived several times longer than humans, even if they were only G or F-grade level 0’s. Jake was very abruptly reminded of this when Polly shared she was fifty-seven years old, and Jake had to resist with every fiber of his body to not call her an old hag. Okay, he had not tried that hard as he had failed to resist only ten minutes after she told him, which had earned him a few angry slaps on his arm, but hey, at least Owen already seemed to know, so her age was no obstacle to Jake’s matchmaking ventures.

Anyway, this difference in lifespan meant that waiting a month probably didn’t feel as long to her as it did to Jake. At least, that was one theory he had.

The month quickly passed as Jake made all of his preparations based on the research he had done. He once more jam-packed his quiver with arrows, hoping it would be enough for the upcoming duel. One he really, really hoped would be an archery duel. Jake would very much like an archery duel, and for it not to turn out that the Lord of the Hunt was just a damn druid who carried around a bow.

Meeting up with the Battlemaster just before the fight, Jake got a few good pieces of advice.

”When you fight the Lord of the Hunt, don’t just believe you are battling an archer. While that is certainly her main power, she has integrated nature magic with it near-flawlessly. Do not under any circumstances disregard any of her arrows, even if they miss, for they may never have meant to hit you in the first place. What’s more, watch your feet and don’t get yourself caught in her tempo, as if you do, you may just find yourself entangled in something you would very much prefer to not engage with,” the middle-aged man advised.

”Man, you are incredibly forthcoming with information today,” Jake smiled as he watched the timer till the fight would start count down. ”Couldn’t you have warned me about the Necromancer or the Phoenix Queen too? Especially that Necromancer guy.”

”I could have, sure,” the Battlemaster nodded as he smirked. ”But I didn’t. No, the reason I am giving you this advice is because she came and asked me yesterday about you. Now, normally, I would have said no and not said anything, but she said that if I gave some information on you, I could give you some information on her, too.”

”Wait, so what would have happened if I hadn’t decided to check in with you before the fight?” Jake questioned. Technically, he didn’t have to talk to the Battlemaster after the fight was scheduled, but he just had to show up for the starting time.

”Well, then you would have missed out due to your own lack of manners,” the middle-aged man stated curtly.

”You know what? That’s kind of fair,” Jake smiled. ”Just one more thing. I really want a pure archery duel. Will I get an archer duel?”

The Battlemaster broke out in a massive grin as he chuckled. ”Funny you should ask… because she asked the same thing.”

Jake stood behind the bars as he observed his opponent through the gaps. Using his eyes and his sphere, he saw that she was indeed an elf, and even before the battle had begun, she already had a quiver full of arrows and a bow in her hand. Good start there.

hair and face with odd tribal markings on it. As Jake observed her, so did she observe him, and based on the intensity of her gaze, he was facing a true

was no doubt a

almost on instinct, Jake was

[Wood Elf]

were called wood elves were just regular elves who lived in the woods… which was honestly a pretty bad assumption considering dark elves were their own

as the announcer was done with his empty speech introducing the

see these two

hood over her head, obscuring most of her features, but it also served another feature. Her cloak seemed to flow oddly, creating something akin to an optical illusion whenever she moved, with the effect reminding Jake a bit of the old Prismatic Cloak he used to

but he could see how it could throw off

his opponent did the same as they looked at each other. As he was about to

called Doombringer… are you

Jake could only shake his head in response.

I merely wish to know if my instincts are correct. Archers are but warriors who use bows… it is their weapon, much like any other. It could be a bow, a sword,

I don’t call myself ”just” an archer, and I am quite sure you already knew that. Which is why I have quite a

as she crouched

you call yourself the Lord of the Hunt before

Jake instantly dodged behind the pillar he had purposefully stood next to. In his sphere, he saw her nock another arrow. Thinking

arrow into the pillar Jake was hiding behind, joining the first one. Then, she moved behind her own pillar, making Jake’s arrow miss. With a thought, he made it explode, but the pillar

as he nocked another arrow, but his smile soon faded. Good

away from the pillar he had been behind before it turned into a problem for him. The Battlemaster’s warning had been quite warranted as Jake saw that the two arrows she had shot earlier were more than just attempts to hit him. Each of them had sprouted after hitting the pillar, sending what looked like

pillar and tried to land an arrow on Jake, but he easily dodged it as he shot his own after the elf, once more curving it around. The wood elf only narrowly managed to avoid it as it came from a tricky angle. After dodging, she also chose

she had quickly identified that Jake seemingly didn’t need visual contact to locate his opponent. So, despite how counterproductive it seemed, having the

be the case. Jake and the elf both rapidly fired over a dozen arrows after one another, as

are like

a skill Jake had been offered that had instantly been transformed into Moment of the Primal Hunter, but seeing the elf dodge as she

but he knew that he was facing another beast in human form as she erratically moved to dodge every single arrow he released with a huge toothy grin on her face. Smiling to himself, Jake faced her head-on for a

him. She also seemed to realize this, and at nearly the exact same time, both of them switched strategies. Jake summoned a barrier of arcane mana to deflect a few arrows with the intent of winning the arrow trade duel, but the second arrow never arrived after he deflected the first one

the air. Jake glanced up as the arrow seemed to bloom in mid-air before exploding. Tilting his barrier upwards,