The Primal Hunter

One opponent remained between Jake and the title of Champion, but as expected, it wouldn’t be easy.

”Your final opponent before you become a Champion is definitely a gatekeeper,” the Battlemaster said, looking Jake in the eye. “I can’t tell you if she is the strongest opponent you will have faced in the Colosseum so far, but she is definitely the most consistently powerful one.”

Jake was a bit confused by the phrasing, as the Battlemaster elaborated.

“Alright, alright. I can’t give out information for free, but I will give you one massive warning: prepare a lot if you can. Because she will. If there are any weaknesses in your fighting style or any exploitable patterns, she will find them, and she will make use of them to put you on the back foot. Out of everyone you will ever meet here in the Colosseum, she is probably the one who is the best at analyzing and adapting to certain opponents, so expect to be countered, alright?”

As the man finished explaining, a window popped up in front of Jake. It was not a bonus objective this time, though, but just a message informing him this was the final fight before he would become the Champion.

A final battle stands between you and the Champion rank.

Your rapid ascension through the ranks of the Colosseum of Mortals couldn’t have been swifter. If you wish to keep this streak going, you will have to defeat an opponent with power out of the ordinary for this ranking.

This will be the final match to determine if you successfully ascend all the way through the ranks flawlessly.

Bonus Objective: Defeat the Valhalian Valkyrie

Ignoring all the changes in flavor text, this one communicated that all time restraints – outside of the regular one placed by Nevermore – would disappear if he won this match. There would be no “streak” to keep going.

Aside from that, he saw the name of his opponent… and it was one that took him aback. Valhalian Valkyrie. Actually, thinking back, this was probably the first time someone had a name that directly connected them to a major faction.

He wasn’t sure what to make of that, and ultimately, it didn’t really matter much as he knew what to do.

Jake followed the advice of the Battlemaster, and he started researching. He sent Polly to get whatever she could and even gave her permission to look into things that had a Colosseum Point cost associated with them. Meanwhile, Jake would focus on fight analysis, and luckily, she had a Show Match scheduled the next day.

Watching that show match had been… enlightening. Her name definitely fitted her. The Valhalian Valkyrie wore tight-fitting full-plate armor that looked relatively light yet also durable. Her entire body was covered, with even her face obscured by a helmet that left only a small slit.

She used a short spear for attack and not one, but several different shields throughout the Show Match. From the looks of it, she had a spatial storage of some kind to swap at least shields, so she always had one for every situation. Jake saw four different shields during the show match before she killed the last enemy.

When it came to her fighting style, it was… basic. It was so basic that Jake had a feeling she was aware he was watching the fight, something that was proven to be accurate when someone handed him a note after the fight, asking him if he enjoyed the show.

This made Jake question if he had even seen her use her real fighting style. It didn’t help when Polly came back the same day and had widely conflicting reports on what kind of fighter she was. Some claimed she was a mage, some claimed a warrior who focused purely on speed, and there were even those who said she was actually a shapeshifter capable of changing her form and stats.

To summarize, lots of bullshit with no bearing had been spread, likely by the Valkyrie herself. This Jake did find genuinely odd… because Valhal was known as a faction that fought enemies head-on. It was not a faction that acted all shady and used strategies like this. Well… there was one person like that in Valhal, wasn’t there? One person that Jake could see be the Promotion Match to become Champion, who was naturally also a god:

Gudrun, the de-facto leader and chief strategist of Valhal. She was the wife of Valdemar, and if the Primordial was the brawn, then she was definitely the brains of the operation.

Even if it wasn’t her, it was at least someone related to her. Maybe someone who had studied under her. Either way, Jake decided to go into the fight with the expectation she was Gudrun, and his intuition made him think he was onto something. Again, it ultimately didn’t matter who she was outside of Nevermore. In the Colosseum of mortals, she was just a very annoying opponent that he had to overcome one way or another.

Jake’s final hope to get at least some information on who he assumed to be Gudrun was recordings of her prior fights… but he couldn’t find any. Neither could Polly. It was entirely possible they were out there, but Jake would have to pay a ridiculous amount of Colosseum Points to get them, something he simply wasn’t willing to do.

With those words, she shot forward spear first. Her stab was clearly a probing one, and Jake easily dodged it and tried to move to her right side – the side without a shield. Jake’s move clearly didn’t surprise her, and she was already turning before Jake had fully dodged her stab, sweeping her spear toward his torso.

Using his one katar, he blocked the spear as he moved in with the other, but Gudrun – yes, he would mentally just refer to her as Gudrun from now on – was fast and jumped back before he had any chance to even get close enough.

Giving chase, Jake tried to close the distance as she kept backing off, making sure to never corner herself. To the average fighter, the fight just looked like Jake had the upper hand as he was always on the offensive, but in reality… nothing was really happening.

At least not on the surface. Progress was happening, quite literally, beneath the surface.

It had taken Jake a few moments to notice, but Gudrun was moving in a very exact pattern, and focusing on her boots, he felt the slight infusion of energy from her feet into the sand. When he noticed it, Jake began to try and counter by purposefully messing with her, but it didn’t seem to have any particular effect. Even when he stomped down to send in a wave of destructive arcane energy, whatever Gudrun had infused was barely affected.

The reason was due to how deep down this odd energy submerged itself before settling on what he assumed to be the bottom of the arena. At least it looked like the bottom through his sphere.

Jake, knowing she was planning something, took advantage as best he could. While she was fast, Jake was still slightly faster. Her analysis of his fighting style was pretty damn spot-on, and between the spear and shield keeping him at bay, Jake had a hard time getting anything done.

But just because he had a hard time didn’t make it impossible. Jake went in for an attack as usual, but the second she tried to stab him, he dismissed his katar and instead grasped hold of the spear as he infused his gloves with energy. This did not take her totally by surprise, and she was ready for Jake’s other katar… but not a kick.

Jake spun his body and used her spear as leverage as he kicked her on the shoulder, his foot exploding with arcane energy and sending her staggering. Still holding onto her spear, Jake tried to yank it to get in another attack, but in a wise move, she let go of her weapon and jumped back.

Before he could even feel happy about disarming Gudrun, she snapped her finger. The spear Jake was still holding onto suddenly began glowing with runes as it exploded, releasing a jolt of golden lightning that slithered across his entire body, both inside and out. The explosion was over in an instant as metallic fragments fell to the ground while Jake clenched his fist, gritting his teeth.

She got me, Jake admitted mentally, as he, for the first time since the battle started, had stopped moving for more than a second. The lightning had done a number on him and temporarily stunned him just long enough for Gudrun to pull off whatever the hell she was preparing.

Jake sent a rush of destructive arcane energy through his own body to break the stun faster, but at that point, it was already too late.

Kneeling down, Gudrun slammed two summoned spears into the sand as she yelled loudly.

“Winds of the Ancestors.”

What happened next was something Jake had seen videos on the internet about but never thought he would experience in real life. From below the sand – deep below – a flow of wind appeared. The sand began bubbling all around him, and Jake felt himself get dragged down.

In an instant, Gudrun had turned nearly the entire arena into one big fluidized bed.

With a blast of destructive arcane mana, Jake got himself free as he launched himself toward Gudrun, who instantly switched her usual shield out for a large tower shield with an odd red gem in the center. Still mid-air, Jake blasted arcane mana ahead of him, not just to try and attack, but to stop his momentum… and just in time.

The entire shield exploded in golden light the very next second, launching Jake back all the way to the other of the arena, luckily unharmed.

Jake landed near his own entrance area, outside the range of the large formation Gudrun had placed down. Looking up, he saw Gudrun standing in the middle of the formation, smiling as a mound was slowly rising. Raising her arms, javelins with golden lightning surrounding them appeared embedded in the ground all around them as she reached out to grab one.

The fight had barely started, and Jake found himself standing before a small hill of fluidized sand with a Valkyrie ready to throw spears standing atop it, both of them fully aware of her advantage.

She had the high ground.

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