The Primal Hunter

Jake looked at the still-standing corpse of the Primordial as he tried to fully understand everything that had happened. Alright, that wasn’t entirely accurate… he knew what had happened; he remembered everything without any issues, but it all still felt oddly hazy. The same kind of hazy as his mind and vision currently were.

As he still stood there, taking in the atmosphere and collecting himself, a certain someone made himself known once more, kind of ruining the tense mood.

“We have a winner! The undefeated Warrior has met his doom at the hands of the Doombringer in a battle truly worthy of a Grand Champion match! Only a single Grand Champion now remains, having defeated all others in his path, becoming the most powerful Grand Champion we have ever seen! Where is this limit!? Perhaps we will learn one day, but for now, go, our Grand Champion. Rest. You’ve earned it!”

Jake thought the announcer was a lot quieter than usual, making him frown a bit at the commentary. While still frowning, he saw a man approach from the entrance to the arena, and as he got closer, Jake saw it was the Battlemaster, who seemed to be in a brilliant mood.

“You fucking did it,” he said with a massive smile. “To take down that monster… you really do stand at the apex of mortals.”

“Thanks,” Jake muttered, looking around. Instinctively, he wanted to check out the stands to check in on some of the people he knew, which is when he noticed… he couldn’t see them. More accurately, he couldn’t feel them through his sphere at all. The sphere was still there, but everything it saw was murky. He could feel through the sphere the stands were there, but it was so hazy he couldn’t even tell where people sat, much less differentiate the spectators from one another.

Rubbing his temples, Jake looked at the Battlemaster. “So, what happens now? And please speak up when you answer. You’re way too quiet.”

The man looked at him and shook his head as he practically yelled. “That’s up to you if you feel any need to stay when you have already proven yourself the strongest.”

Right as he got said, Jake got a system message.

Congratulations! You have successfully defeated the Grand Champion and become the sole Grand Champion of the Colosseum of Mortals. 5,000,000 Colosseum Points gained. No more opponents stand in your way, as no worthy foe remains. As the sole Grand Champion, no greater honor can be earned in the Colosseum of Mortals.

Even if everything else seemed blurry and his head still hurt, at least the system messages were still as clear as ever, so he happily focused on them as he began going over the one in front of him. It just acknowledged his win, and, damn, that was a lot of Colosseum Points. Five million nearly doubled his points, though honestly, Jake didn’t care much about that part. Colosseum Points only mattered now insofar as to affect the final calculation of rewards. The rest of it was pretty much just a summary.

As soon as Jake was done reading and considering the first system message, a second one popped up.

Do you wish to exit the Colosseum of Mortals Challenge Dungeon?

If you remain, you can choose to participate in weekly Show Matches, earning you additional Colosseum Points.

Choosing to exit will give you all currently earned rewards.

Jake read the message, and for a few seconds, he considered staying around for a bit. Not for the Show Matches – those were just a damn waste of time, and honestly, Jake didn’t feel like he was in any kind of fighting condition – but to talk to some of the people in there. Specifically Artemis, Polly, and Owen. But… he had already said goodbye to them, having fully expected him to just be thrown out of the Challenge Dungeon that day. Beating Valdemar had been a long shot, after all, and he even guessed that it was possible that the dungeon would just toss him out no matter if he won or lost.

the Battlemaster a final look and smiled before accepting the prompt. Another major reason he just wanted to get out of there was for the system to heal him. Sure, he had healed himself when he ended his power up, and physically, he was

he appeared in a familiar place. It was the same white void he was thrown to every time he had died and had to choose a time to go back to, but this time, there was no prompt for him to choose when to revive. No, instead,

Successfully completed the Colosseum of Champions while defeating the reigning Grand Champion. Colosseum Points converted: 113.821 Nevermore Points earned. Due to completing a Grand Achievement, you will

be a 1-100 conversion from his Colosseum Points, but one had to remember that Jake only had 744,673 Nevermore Points currently that he had gained over thirty years.

at the same level as what beating Minaga had given them. Jake would argue that defeating Valdemar had been way fucking harder, but he wasn’t going to say no

If one did well in all of them, they could get a

had also gotten something he honestly hadn’t

A title.

of Mortals:

menu and

You have proven yourself the one true Grand Champion of the Colosseum of Mortals, defeating beings that stand at the apex of the multiverse and exited the Colosseum of Mortals with more than 10,000,000 Colosseum Points. Even a Primordial was slain on your path, making you truly worthy of

of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if

he had done so. He also finally noticed that he hadn’t gotten a refund on any of the equipment he

this one would simply be replaced. He seriously doubted he would be able to do that, though. At most, he would gain equal titles as he didn’t think there were

no percentage increase, but just +200 to all stats. Mind you, Jake wasn’t really complaining. In fact, this was probably better for him than if

one that just gave pure stats was honestly huge. It did kind of suck it was to all stats and not just focused on the ones he used the most, but Jake at least did use all of them at times. Still, he would have preferred to just get

a very productive Challenge Dungeon, and honestly, he would have been happy with what he had already gotten, but there was one final message, and after seeing what he had gotten, Jake honestly wasn’t

of the Grand Champion

that had to be great, right? Well, it was a

with the powers and concepts of the Colosseum of Mortals, given only to those deemed worthy. This Emblem can create a replica of the Colosseum of Mortals arena within a virtual space for individuals to duel one another. Allows the user to choose two targets who must consent to take part in a duel within the virtual space. Those entering will leave their true bodies defenseless during the duel period. All levels and stats of those entering will be normalized. Most skills and abilities will also be restricted. Dying within the virtual space will have no

Requirements: Soulbound

Though it was more the opportunity cost of getting this rather than a weapon or something. Jake didn’t have a single piece of equipment

disappointment, Jake finally looked at the Emblem in earnest, and at least it seemed to have earned its rarity. It was an item that allowed two people to duel safely while even normalizing their stats. The restrictions on skills were also something Jake wasn’t even sure how

without feeling any fear of death. So, while

pretty good haul. He had also experienced growth in many areas of combat, and Jake was excited to see what would happen once

Jake checked his Nevermore Points, which had

Nevermore Points: 858,494

thought about what Challenge Dungeon to do next… or if he could even do one properly in his current state. Even in the void, he still felt incredibly

at the battle happening within the arena. The entire final arc of the battle only took a few seconds, but it left an impression on all of them as they saw

where he couldn’t sustain himself any longer. A Primordial slain, even if he was