The Primal Hunter

A question had been gnawing in the back of Jake’s mind for a while. One that had been further amplified by Sim-Jake whenever he first met him and made even worse as he rose through the grades and went through the many opponents in the Colosseum of Mortals:

Did archers suck in the multiverse?

As in, was it just a worse way to fight than most others? Jake did have to admit that the number of archers he had seen or knew of that were at the pinnacle was limited at best, and not a single one of the Primordials used a bow. In fact, the strongest entity Jake knew of that used a bow was Gwyndyr, and he was apparently viewed as much as a fire mage as an archer.

Meanwhile, there were mages using all the schools of magic everywhere, and weapons like swords and spears were hugely popular. Even the Court of Shadows, an organization of assassins that Jake assumed would use bows instead, used fucking guns to shoot stuff. Sure, he knew it was because guns – which were just fancy wands – had better synergy with all their shadow magic stuff… but still.

Even Minaga, a being who had no skills and thus no Path he was better suited for than others, chose to make magic the thing he practiced the most. While he had learned all weapons based on what he said, including the bow, he had ultimately stuck with magic as his most powerful tool. Jake knew it was not as simple as him deciding that magic was best, but that magic had way more diversity and even the ability to do rituals and formation magic using several clones at once, but when he was fighting one-on-one, he could at least use a bow here and there, right?

But, despite this lack of bow users, Jake had never doubted using it. It was entirely possible that Jake would have been more powerful if he had dedicated all his time to practicing magic and improving his melee fighting, yet he had never seriously considered dropping the bow, even when his other self from a different reality proposed it.

Ultimately, Jake just liked using the bow. He had fun fighting with the bow more than with any other weapon, and he firmly believed that he could reach the pinnacle no matter what weapon or method of combat he chose, so why not go with the one he enjoyed the most?

Due to the way Records worked, Paths were passed down, so if more gods used swords, they would naturally pass down Records and classes related to using swords. So, the problem in Jake’s mind wasn’t that bows sucked, just that there weren’t enough powerful people around to pass down Legacies.

Also… not once had Villy advised Jake against using the bow. Not that Jake would have stopped using it even if the Primordial told him he should, but it at least meant that the Viper didn’t think it was a hopeless Path. Jake just believed that there had never been anyone to truly display the brilliance of the bow, not even amongst the gods… and if that was the case, Jake just had to be the first, right?

Anyway, the point is that powerful people who were also archers were rare. So, to finally have a chance to face someone else who used a bow was an experience Jake reveled in.

The fact she was even a hunter only made it better, and meeting her eyes, it was clear she was enjoying the situation, too.

With both of them having arrows once more, their duel continued, but with the circumstances slightly different. Both of them were injured slightly and thus had limited mobility, making dodging harder. Could they have sought behind pillars to take cover? Yes… but they weren’t only fighting to win but to prove who was better.

To take cover would be to recognize that you were inferior in an open duel, something both of them refused to do. For a predator to flee before another predator like that would be to willingly choose the role of prey, and both of them would rather risk losing than do that.

Jake was the first to land a hit as an arrow penetrated the lower leg of the elven archer. Right after, Jake found himself entrapped as an arrow that had been embedded in a pillar suddenly exploded, releasing a rain of thorns in his direction, forcing him to jump back and take an arrow in his forearm.

Gritting his teeth, Jake began focusing on shooting more tricky arrows. He made them bend at more unpredictable angles, taking her by surprise several times as several cuts began to mar her body, but Jake also took plenty in return, especially when she released a “shotgun arrow” that exploded into several bullet seeds that hit Jake hard, sending him reeling back as he hadn’t identified it as a special arrow fast enough.

Soon enough, they approached the same impasse they had before: lack of arrows. Despite their wounds, both had avoided taking any lethal attacks and even when they were hit, they quickly minimized the damage. The elf, through her nature magic’s slight healing properties, and Jake by plugging up any holes with what were effectively corks of stable arcane mana. Alright, admittedly, Jake’s method was not as elegant, but it got the job done.

Jake’s arrows in his quiver quickly fell to three, then two, before only a single one remained. He tried to make the final one count as he took aim. His opponent did the exact same, and there was a slight pause before they shot. Both knew that the first to shoot would have a disadvantage when it came to dodging the other’s arrow, but waiting too long could also be a mistake.

Fine, Jake thought as he decided to shoot first… at the same moment she did. The two arrows flew straight for each other, hitting each other in mid-air as they both deflected one another. Jake didn’t even get ready to dodge a follow-up shot because he knew he wasn’t the only one out of arrows.

“We’re both out, eh?” Jake asked loudly in a teasing voice after a second’s pause.

“Not entirely now, are we? I know of your big finisher arrows,” the elven hunter yelled as she smiled. “Interestingly enough… I have one of those, too. Shall we see whose is superior?”

Jake grinned at the proposal, having fully expected it to be the case. “Don’t regret those words.”

Right as he agreed, the elf raised her hand. Energy began to gather instantly as all the nature mana in their surroundings were dragged toward her. The arrows she had shot around the arena and hadn’t activated withered; the remaining shrubbery or vines she had summoned turned gray and died as all of their energy was gathered into a singular point above her: within a single arrow.

At the same time, Jake took out his very own special arrow. The design was once more simple, as Jake hadn’t been sure what would be good, so he just went with pure aerodynamic power. It was just long and sharp, with nothing special about it outside of the massive charge of destructive arcane energy within.

Jake nocked this arrow as he began charging his skillless Arcane Powershot. Across from him, the gathering of nature mana had also formed what looked like an avatar of the elven archer herself, and as she grasped her arrow that looked more like a big two-pronged spear with vines worming across its body, this avatar merged with her as her body also burned with power.

Seeing and feeling her arrow, Jake was certain. The arrow she had summoned was definitely an offshoot of Arrow of the Ambitious Hunter, much like his Protean Arrow. This only made him smile more as he was curious: who had the better version of the skill?

His eyes met the elf’s as he charged his arrow in concert with her. After a few seconds, her gaze told him everything he had to know as she grinned and released her arrow. Jake did the same as their two supercharged attacks clashed in the center of the arena. One of nature magic and one of destructive arcane mana.

The two very much opposing energies clashed as a large explosion shook the arena, sending out waves of multi-colored energy as the green and pink-purple mixed as they fought for superiority. None of their attacks had come out superior… but it seemed like none of them had expected their special arrows to work either.

Jake nearly failed to hold back a laugh as an arrow struck him in the shoulder, making him stumble back. She had clearly hidden another arrow within her clothes to take Jake by surprise. As for why he hadn’t dodged? Well, you see, the elf wasn’t the only one who had hidden just one final arrow.

Right after he had released his quasi-Protean arrow, he had rapidly shot a regular arcane arrow toward an inconspicuous pillar to the side of the elf. Right as the arrow got close to this pillar, Jake’s infused Willpower activated to make it bend and made it change direction for the elf. Right as it began to bend as it passed the pillar where a stable arcane arrow was embedded, Jake made the embedded arrow explode to speed up his shot further.

The elf had a look of surprise on her face when she heard the explosion but didn’t react in time. Usually, she would have been able to, but Jake knew how her skills worked. The reason she had failed was that her danger sense hadn’t reacted… because Jake hadn’t aimed for her. The arrow had instead struck her bow and severed the string, making it nothing more than a good whacking stick.

He didn’t know if she had any more arrows, and Jake had judged this was his best course of action to win, as he wanted to force her into a melee now that they were both out of arrows.

Looking at her useless bow, the elf shifted her gaze to Jake, who was about to charge forward despite his injuries.

”I surrender,” she said with a sigh just as Jake pulled out his katars, fully prepared for her to enter melee with him. She did have two swords, which he assumed she was capable of using, after all. Yet she seemed content as she raised her hands and smiled.

Jake was confused and hesitated. “Wait, just like that?”

“I’ve seen you use those katars of yours, and I know my limits. I see no reason to throw my life away when I have already been defeated,” she shook her head. “So I repeat: I surrender.”

Lowering his katars, Jake muttered mostly to himself. “A little anti-climactic of an ending, isn’t it?”

Chuckling, she nudged her head toward the center of the arena, where a four-meter wide crater of destructive arcane mana was still burning away at the sand, with several thorned roots sticking up, yet to surrender to the destructive energies.

“I think we gave the audience a good enough show already, wouldn’t you agree?” she asked.

“I guess?” Jake scratched his head after dismissing his katars, wincing a bit from the pain of moving his shoulder like that. The announcer also began to do his thing as he announced Jake’s victory with all of the usual grandeur, with the crowd naturally going wild.

The elf looked at him and smiled as she tilted her head and waited for the announcer to be done with his entire spiel. “You know, I never got your real name. Unless Doombringer or Doomfoot is your real name?”

“Very funny,” Jake scoffed. “Name’s Jake. And I am going to assume your name isn’t the Former Lord of the Hunt either?”

“Artemis,” she simply said, taking Jake’s verbal jab. “Now, I don’t know if it is just me, but I am feeling a little too battered to just stand and chat here any longer.”

Jake had to concur. While both of them had managed to avoid any lethal wounds, both of them were pretty damn banged up. Jake was borderline wearing shorts at this point due to the many thorned roots that had ripped away at him, while the elf had a few arrow holes here and there and over a dozen cuts ranging from minor scratches to pretty severe.

“Yeah, I guess we should get out of here. Either way, it was a good fight, Artemis,” Jake said as he gave her a final nod before turning to leave through the hallway he had entered from.

She followed him.

Jake threw her a glance as she walked next to him, as she leaned in.

“You know, I have a Healing Pool at my residence, great for recovering from both injuries and fatigue,” she commented. “Would save you the points required to buy a potion and likely be a faster way to recover… plus, I can promise it will be a much more enjoyable method than just chugging down a potion and lying in bed for a day.”

“No reason to reject free healing when offered,” Jake shrugged, regretting the shrug instantly. Why did she have to shoot him in the shoulder again?

The two of them walked out of the arena, and after Jake gave a wave to the Battlemaster, the man just gave him a thumbs-up in return. Owen and Polly also made their way over, but when Owen saw Jake walk with the elf, he just threw Jake a knowing look before leading Polly away with him.

“Follow me; I know a way out where the crowd never is,” Artemis said as Jake went after her into a hallway with a few rooms lined up for people to rest inside. One of them had a large window that she led him through as they went up a hill and through a small forested area.

On the way there, Jake couldn’t help but ask some questions. Particularly questions related to the current Champions. The Lightning Monarch had given some good information, but Jake was still curious to hear what the former Lord of the Hunt had to say.

Especially considering how similar their fighting style was… which was why the first thing he asked was who she thought she could defeat.

“Of the current Champions, at least the Champions who were there when you became one, I was confident in beating everyone except for the Warmaster and Phoenix Queen, with the Shadow Mistress a big uncertainty,” Artemis explained.

“Huh, so you had confidence in beating the Necromancer?” Jake asked, surprised.

Artemis just smiled. “The powers of death are intrinsically linked to nature, as it always finds a path to survival. While the battle would have been difficult, I believe I would have won, given enough time. On that note, I found your method to win very… exhilarating. Like a predator tearing the neck of large prey before disengaging to let your prey bleed out on its own. The image of you simply standing there on your pole, staring at him as he slowly met his eternal end was simply… beautiful.”

A bit creepy but okay,Jake thought, as he quickly moved on. “How about the Dark Mistress? As our fighting styles are pretty similar, and you rate her easier than the Warmaster, I plan on facing her next. Well, I already planned on facing her next anyway, as I can’t find jack-shit on the Warmaster information-wise.”

“The Dark Mistress is a master assassin, and in all honesty, my victory will depend entirely on whether my own instincts can overpower her ability to circumvent them. On that note, I believe your victory is all but a foregone conclusion,” Artemis smiled.

They finally arrived at her residence, which was a large mansion located on the outskirts of the city near the forest. Jake just followed her as they jumped the fence and headed for the house itself.

“When it comes to the Warmaster, I also cannot share much about him that will assist you. He is a weapon master, and his fighting style will depend on you. My advice would just be to go in with confidence and face him head-on,” she said, leading Jake toward a room placed right in the center of the building.

There, Jake saw what looked like a natural pond formed in the middle of the house. In fact, it looked like the entire building had been constructed around it. To call it a room wasn’t even accurate, as there was no ceiling, and sunlight came down, making the water glisten. Plants covered the ground, as there were even a few small trees still in their infancy, still growing, likely with the help of the pool.

“Beautiful, is it not?” Artemis said as she stood facing Jake in front of the water, with the greenery in the background.

Jake looked at her and nodded. “Beautiful indeed.”

Artemis smiled as she went close to Jake and leaned against him.

“Now… let me tend to your wounds as you tend to mine,” she whispered into his ear as she licked a cut on his chin.

Jake responded by turning his head and leaning in, using his tongue to thoroughly examine if she had any internal injuries in her mouth.

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