The Primal Hunter 11, page 10
For reaching Gladiator rank without losing a single time or losing any lives, you have been awarded an extra 500 Colosseum Points.
For reaching Gladiator rank in the lowest number of days possible, you have been awarded an extra 500 Colosseum Points.
Continue to fight, and claim your glory as you prove yourself the strongest mortal! Become the Champion!
There was quite a bit to unpack with this one. First of all, only one Gladiator match a week? What? Jake already felt like only six in a day was insufficient. At least he could still do those bonus Show Matches, even if there were only one of those per day, too… and with the rule of not having both a Gladiator and a Show Match on the same day, Jake would only ever be able to do one fight a day from now on.
At least those Show Matches were a bit interesting, as those would not necessarily be against other fighters, which made Jake guess that he could also face non-humanoids or even groups. Getting to fight a bear or something would definitely be cool. Jake had always wanted to try and fight a non-magic bear.
The bonus Colosseum Points were also a surprise he had not expected. He was only a tiny little bit miffed that the system didn’t recognize the fact he hadn’t killed anyone and won using only the mighty power of kicking, but then again, perhaps the feeling of satisfaction from succeeding was enough. The true reward was not the Nevermore Points at the end, but all the kicks landed along the way.
Not to say the points he did get weren’t great. 1000 Colosseum Points certainly weren’t anything to scoff at, and it did make him wonder if there were similar “achievements” he could earn by not losing any matches and keeping up a good pace. Guess time would tell, as that was his plan anyway.
Mentioning that better equipment and items were now available was also interesting, primarily because the system felt the need to point it out specifically. Every single time he had ranked up, better stuff had become available, but Jake hadn’t gotten any special notifications about it like this. Maybe this meant he could truly get some good or unique weapons.
Yeah, he should probably at least go take a look. The crafters were open any time the Colosseum was, so he still had time to go by and see if there was anything he would actually want to buy, as there were still quite a few hours before they closed that day. Jake wasn’t delusional enough to think he wouldn’t ever have to buy any equipment during his stay in the Challenge Dungeon. At the very least, he would need some proper weapons.
He had enough Colosseum Points to get some good stuff, too.
Current objective: Be promoted from Gladiator to Veteran Gladiator
Current rank: Gladiator (0/10)
Colosseum Points: 2740
Lives remaining: 10
Wait, he now also had to win ten matches to get promoted to the next rank? No, it was worse than that; he had to win eleven, including the promotion match… and he could only do one match a week? That was bloody horrible. To make it worse, how many more ranks did he even need to reach Champion?
Oh, well. Hopefully, Polly or Owen would know. He had already spotted the two of them coming through his sphere, both approaching to congratulate him on his promotion. After a bit of coaxing, they even convinced Jake to go to a restaurant to celebrate. Jake was initially not a big fan, until he discovered something incredible…
They sold beer. Good beer. And Jake was no longer a C-grade with Legendary Palate of the Malefic Viper. While he could still get drunk on special alcoholic concoctions, even as a C-grade… there was just something different about drinking some regular, good-old beer and the slight buzz that came with it. Alcohol was the one thing that had allowed him to function properly in larger social gatherings for prolonged periods of time before the system, and now that he was reduced to a near-pre-system state... Yeah, he wanted to enjoy himself.
All of this is to say Jake was not going to check out the crafters that day.
As Jake sat there eating and drinking, he also finally began to understand how the estimation of Challenge Dungeons taking around two years made sense. Something like the Colosseum was its own little world where one could truly get lost and spend a long time. Even for someone as goal-oriented as Jake, the limited number of matches per day—now per week—meant he would be forced to interact with the world in some shape or form.
If the other Challenge Dungeons also had similar timed events and worlds like this, it would definitely make things drag out. Sure, these forced delays likely weren’t a thing in places like Minaga’s Endless Labyrinth, and it was also possible some Challenge Dungeons took a lot longer than others, but he could see this one taking quite a while when just getting past the Gladiator Rank would take eleven more weeks.
He wanted to complain, but… it wasn’t all bad, and he understood why this downtime was in place. As Owen explained it, all the Gladiator matches would be scheduled a week in advance, with both fighters knowing who they would be facing. This would theoretically allow Jake to gather information on his opponent or even prepare specific pieces of equipment he would need. It was also considered very standard to research your opponents, and Jake remembered a talk he’d had with Carmen quite a while back.
Studying her opponent was viewed as an entirely expected part of the fight preparation when she used to fight semi-professionally, with pretty much every real pro doing it, or at least their teams doing so. Watching recordings of their prior fights and laying out a strategy with your trainer was a big part of winning a one-versus-one fight, and going in with a pre-planned approach could give you a major advantage. Knowing your opponent’s habits, ticks, strengths, weaknesses, and general fighting style were all major boons. Studying who you would fight had been hard below Gladiator, but with a week to prepare for every fight, there was plenty of time now.
Of course, this also went the other way. Jake fully expected every opponent he met from now on to come prepared for his kicks, maybe even bringing special equipment or something made to fight him. Against a sword or spear, having spikes on your shield just made it awkward and heavy—plus, it would make deflecting blows difficult—but against someone unarmed, only kicking, it would make the shield into a powerful tool to both attack and defend.
Jake knew all of these things… and he knew that fighting using only kicks would be quite the challenge unless he met an opponent where a foot to the face was especially effective. Honestly, he wasn’t even that keen on keeping up his streak of only kicking. Seeing as he didn’t even gain any bonus points or anything from winning every fight that way, chances were there wouldn’t be any other rewards in the future, even if he continued to purposefully handicap himself.
So… perhaps it was time. Jake had achieved his silly personal goal of becoming a Gladiator through only kicking, even if he had added his Fear Gaze. Now was a good time to stop and get more serious.
It was time to retire the moniker of Doomfoot…
And become the Arcane Doomfoot.
Chapter 10
Gladiatorial Debut
”Are you sure about this, Jake?” Owen asked with genuine worry as they walked back to the Colosseum the next day. ”You should at least go to the crafters before the match… Maybe you see something you like and decide to buy it, right?”
”It’ll be fine,” Jake said, waving him off. ”I will go check out the crafters afterwards.”
”But… if you lose the match, you risk getting demoted and will have a harder time rising to higher ranks. And that’s assuming you don’t die or lose a limb. You mentioned that you wanted better equipment at some point, so why wait?”
”Let me ask you this, Owen,” Jake said. ”That spear of yours—will you keep using that even when you become a Gladiator? Assuming you become a Gladiator, that is. Which you really should be able to, considering… you know.”
”Probably not?” Owen admitted, totally ignoring that last part of what Jake said.
”So at that point, when you buy a new weapon, the spear would just be a bunch of wasted points, as you can only sell stuff back for half of what you paid,” Jake pointed out very accurately. ”Meanwhile, if I don’t buy anything, I don’t waste anything.”
His logic was truly flawless. Extremely risky… but flawless, nevertheless.
”Okay, okay, I’ll trust you… Geez.” Owen shook his head. ”Have you considered, at the very least, allowing Polly to obtain information on your opponents? Even if you don’t want to spend Colosseum Points on proper information packets, there is still a lot to discover.”
”Maybe later, but not now,” Jake said with a smile. ”But I will say that today’s match will be different than the one yesterday. I have something new to show off.”
”Oh, like that weird mental trick you use to make people tense up?” Owen asked with interest.
”Not quite, not quite. I believe it will be a bit more… destructive than that.”
”I look forward to seeing it, then.” Owen smiled, clearly intrigued but not prying.
”Destructive…” Polly, who had remained silent so far, muttered. ”You haven’t used any magic so far, but… do you know a bit? I heard that some spellblades combine the two…”
”Perhaps,” Jake kept teasing. “All shall be revealed during the fight. Well, some shall be revealed during the fight. Revealing everything at once is boring.”
After that, Jake signed up for the fight and sat down to wait for it to start. He ignored any information he could have gathered and faced the entire challenge raw.
He meditated a bit before the fight, mentally running through his plan, as small sparks of energy circled through his body, confirming all the pathways in his physical body and Soulshape. Soon enough, he was called for his debut match as a Gladiator, and with not a single trace of worry, he walked into the long tunnel toward a far bigger arena than the one he usually fought in.
This one would be nearly a hundred meters in diameter, with a few pillars and supports placed throughout to avoid giving magicians and ranged fighters too big of an advantage while also spicing up the battlefield and opening up new strategies. They would maybe be an annoyance to him in the future, but not today.
Walking up the first flight of stairs, it became clear that the layout of how to enter the arena had also changed slightly. Rather than two gates, there was now only one large mesh of bars blocking the entrance, allowing each fighter to see the arena and each other before the fight began.
Jake’s first opponent as a Gladiator definitely lived up to the name, just going by looks. He stood nearly two and a half meters tall, really cheating in the weight-class department, and wore a big, spiked helmet, ringmail pants, bracers, leather gloves, and heavy metal boots. Most of his arms were left bare, and his chest was entirely exposed, showing off what looked like a… ten-pack? He was definitely ripped. Needed to be, too, with the giant axe he carried.
His size was naturally impossible for a normal human, but Identify informed Jake of what he was right away.
[Half-Ogre]
Jake had to admit that he wasn’t sure if half-ogres were even born in F-grade—on a side note, while Jake was G-grade, everyone seemed to be F-grade—or if it was just the system or Wyrmgod messing with the rules a bit. It was entirely possible that they were born at F-grade… Jake hadn’t really met many ogres. Considering this made Jake wonder about the logistics of when an ogre and human or elf had a kid, but those kinds of questions were for a drunk conversation with Villy.
”Today, we have gathered for a debut match! An old veteran of the gladiatorial arena, the Crushing Edge, will take on an up-and-coming Gladiator that only yesterday reached his rank! A figure I am sure many of you are excited to see in the big arena… That’s right—it’s the master of kicks, a martial savant, and someone described as the scariest person they have ever faced by his defeated opponents. The one, the only, Doomfoot!”
More than ten thousand people cheered loudly, Jake using a single pulse to see that Owen and Polly were also both in the crowd. He had no idea where the hell all these people came from, as while the city could house that many, did everyone there go to watch Colosseum matches every day? Wouldn’t that get boring?
”However, even if he is a truly fearsome newcomer… do not sleep on the Crushing Edge. He has earned that name for a reason. Standing as one of the tallest fighters the Colosseum has ever seen, with muscles able to crush bones, he has won nearly all his matches by landing one devastating blow! One single Crushing Edge!”
The brief explanation was all the information Jake really needed about his opponent.
”Now, who will win!? Will Doomfoot be crushed, or the Crushing Edge meet his doom? Let’s find out! Lower the gates!”
As commanded, the horizontal bars first disappeared before the vertical ones lowered into the ground. Right when there was enough space to exit, Jake’s opponent began jogging toward him from the other end of the arena.
Casually, Jake placed the bow on the ground as he stepped into the arena.
Jake began walking forward slowly at first, then picked up his pace and ran. While running, a shiver of energy went down his right leg. Stamina tinged with his arcane affinity infused every vein, every muscle. Had one been able to see beneath his pants, they would’ve seen faint veins of pink-purple covering his skin, surging with destructive potential.
Applying arcane energy to his physical moves was extremely easy, even with his reduced stats. In fact, it was far easier now than before, as there wasn’t as much to control, while his pure level of skill in controlling energy was virtually unchanged compared to before the Challenge Dungeon. His energy control as a C-grade was already viewed as monstrous, so having that same level of control as a level 0 G-grade was complete and utter overkill.
Also, while Arcane Supremacy was gone, he still remembered the sensations of increased control, and even if he didn’t have skills, Jake rarely ever used skills when he used his mana to begin with.
So to infuse parts of his body with extra stamina and wrap his foot in a faint shimmer of protective arcane energy and the rest in pure destruction? Easy as pie.
The two of them approached each other as the crowd went even wilder than before. The half-ogre roared and swung his giant axe toward Jake.
Jake, still running at full speed, jumped into the air as he spun his body around. A trail of arcane energy swirled around his foot, leaving a trace of color as he delivered a spinning roundhouse kick.
His foot connected with the head of the half-ogre, a metal helmet meeting leather boots. A small, localized explosion of arcane energy rocked the arena as metal spikes from the helmet flew everywhere. The giant half-ogre was sent airborne and flew nearly five meters before hitting a pillar, his neck broken and head crooked.
Jake landed on the soft arena floor, feeling the sand between his toes on his right foot. The leather boots had been shredded to pieces upon impact, leaving him with only one shoe left.
More powerful than expected, Jake noted as he checked and saw that the half-ogre was still alive, though without healing, it was doubtful how long that would be the case.
Deafening silence filled the entire arena for a few seconds before Jake turned around and began walking toward the exit. As he moved, the arena came back to life. Medical staff ran toward the half-ogre, and the crowd began screaming, with the announcer also finally doing his job again.
”Doomfoot does it again! With a single kick, the Crushing Edge had his dreams crushed by a debutant! But I am sure you are all asking… what was that!? What power does the kick of the Doomfoot truly hold? Has he been hiding his power all this time? Suddenly had an epiphany? What is the true depth of his power? Ha! Who cares!? The only real question is… when will Doomfoot ever meet his match!?”
Jake didn’t know if he should be happy or annoyed that the announcer made it clear no one cared if you hid your power. Owen would definitely still ask, but at least he wouldn’t face questions from others. Not like it would have mattered even if he did, as this entire Challenge Dungeon was just about arena fights. Nothing more, nothing less.
Walking out of the arena to the cheers of the audience, remembering to pick up the bow on the way, Jake went straight to the Battlemaster, who somehow seemed to be aware of everything that had happened in the arena despite not having moved a single step from where he stood when Jake accepted the match.
After some praise and a backhanded compliment, Jake left the Gladiator training area and waited for Polly and Owen, who predictably came over right away. After stalling for a bit, Jake finally went to a nice little corner, and the questions began. Polly was the first to go.
”That… magic… What was it?” Polly asked with wide eyes. ”I… I’ve felt powerful spells before, but that mana, that power… I—”
”My own magic,” Jake simply answered. ”Asking me about it will not help. It is innate to me, and even if you trained from now till the day you die, you wouldn’t ever be able to learn it.”
”Why did you hide it?” Owen questioned, just as Jake had expected.
Also, he really wanted to point out the hypocrisy of that question, but he assumed the guy had his reasons. Same as Jake had his.
”What would it have helped if I revealed it earlier outside of making the fights even more boring? It would also have been too much and risked killing several of my prior opponents. Unless my previous opponents disagree… Hey, Polly, would you have liked for me to have used that kick on you?”
She stared at him with even wider eyes. ”I… I would be dead…”
”Exactly,” Jake said, nodding. ”As I said, all shall be revealed in time. Just assume that as the level of challenge increases, so shall more be shown. And we’re still in the early stages of these revelations.”
