The primal hunter 11, p.15
The Primal Hunter 11, page 15
[Aersteel Katar (Epic)] – This katar is made of a metal called Aersteel, making it incredibly light yet equally durable. The design of the weapon is simple, and due to the material used, it has exemplary mana conductivity. Potent wind-affinity energy is infused into the steel, making the weapon not suffer any wind resistance while increasing penetrative power. Enchantments: Insured.
Requirements: Soulbound. Veteran Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 5000 Colosseum Points.
Two weapons, 10,000 Colosseum Points spent. Jake had thought about just getting some rare katars for a third of the price but had ultimately gone with the expensive solution. He wanted to use these weapons for a long time, and they truly fit what he wanted. Plus, he had more ideas for them later on… and if those ideas didn’t pan out, he could always return them and get half back.
Next up was a pair of gloves.
[Gloves of Hardening (Rare)] – Durable leather gloves created to allow the user to block some blows directly with their hands. If one infuses mana into these gloves, they harden and become far more durable, but the user cannot move their fingers.
Enchantments: Insured. Hardening.
Requirements: Soulbound. Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 1000 Colosseum Points.
Nothing really exciting here; they just reminded him a bit of the gloves he’d used in C-grade. Jake liked the ability to make his gloves far more durable when blocking blows, even if this effect was a bit subpar, especially if one compared it to his old legendary gloves.
Now it was on to items that gave stat points. Potentially the most important part of this whole gear acquisition trip.
Jake had a total of 152 stat points combined after his reduction to level 0. The rule for stat points from equipment was that you could only get a 20% increase in any individual stat, with the total combined bonus from all items not surpassing more than 15% of your total stats.
This meant Jake could only get 22 extra stat points from more equipment. However… things weren’t all that simple. Because with the rule that one could only gain 20% to each individual stat and the fact that the system didn’t do fractions while always rounding down, there was a bit of math to be done. Looking at his stats—without counting in the +1 Agility from his boots—this became pretty clear.
Stats
Strength: 16
Agility: 18
Endurance: 16
Vitality: 17
Toughness: 16
Wisdom: 17
Intelligence: 16
Perception: 20
Willpower: 16
With at least 15 in every stat, Jake could get a total of 3 extra in each, with the one outlier being his Perception, where he could get 4. That added up to a total of 28 potential stat points Jake could get from equipment. With only 22 to actually get, there were thus 6 stat points to filter out.
Jake quickly decided where he wanted to cut and where he wanted the points. Getting +3 to Agility and Strength was a given. Next on his list of priorities were Intelligence, Wisdom, and Endurance. All of those were essential, too, especially when he was at such a low level. Longevity in fights was usually very limited, especially for someone like Jake, who could drag out far more energy than a normal G- or F-grade.
No, the places in which he chose to cut the 6 stat points were somewhat unexpected. Jake had made the very controversial decision to only add 2 to Perception and 1 to Toughness and Vitality. He had considered just not getting anything in Toughness and Vitality but still decided on 1 for each.
Perception was still the best stat, and it would still be his highest even if he didn’t get equipment for it… but he also recognized that he didn’t have most of the things that made the stat so good. He didn’t get the scaling from his skills, and the concepts behind said scaling were at a level far above what Jake could replicate himself.
Moreover, most of the regular effects of Perception were lost on Jake. Perception allowed one to better sense energy and such, and the better you could sense anything, the better you could control it. Jake was not bottlenecked by his senses, but by his stats and limited resources.
When it came to combat, Perception was what allowed you to see attacks coming and react in time. And, well, Jake still had his Bloodline working as if he had more than 40,000 Perception despite being nerfed to only 20. This was probably the system’s way of not instantly killing people with Bloodlines like him, as if the system hadn’t done this, Jake could have potentially appeared in the Challenge Dungeon with his sphere several hundred meters in diameter, resulting in a swift death from a not-so-pleasant brain aneurysm caused by pure overload.
It was a difficult decision to skip out on more Perception, but sadly the most logical one at the moment. Ah, but if there had been elixirs giving Perception, Jake may have totally taken them, as he could at least have justified that by saying he had the biggest percentage bonus to Perception out of all his stats. Alas, elixirs were not a thing in the Colosseum… not that Jake thought they would have even worked on someone level 0.
So he would have to settle for stat points from equipment… and an excellent foundation to get him to the stat cap was quite an interesting ring.
[The 1 Ring (Epic)] - A ring rumored to be of elven origin.
Enchantments: Insured. +1 to all stats.
Requirements: Soulbound. Veteran Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 8000 Colosseum Points.
The name of the ring was a bit on the nose. He did also wonder why it even needed to be insured. The ring would merge with his body when he put it on, and even if it didn’t, it looked pretty damn durable, to the point that he doubted anything could destroy it, save for throwing it into a volcano or something.
Anyway, having this ring gave 9 stat points total, and with his boots, he only needed 12 more overall. Something his next two pieces of equipment helped nicely with.
[Exceptional Leather Vestment (Rare)] – A high-quality leather vestment made by a skilled craftsman. This armor is very durable and especially resistant to slashing attacks. Due to the innate power of the beast that supplied the leather, the wearer becomes more agile and has enhanced Endurance.
Enchantments: Insured. +1 Agility, +1 Endurance.
Requirements: Soulbound. Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 2000 Colosseum Points.
[Exceptional Leather Pants (Rare)] - A high-quality pair of leather pants made by a skilled craftsman. This armor is very durable and especially resistant to slashing attacks. Due to the innate power of the beast that supplied the leather, the wearer has enhanced Endurance and Strength.
Enchantments: Insured. +1 Endurance, +1 Strength.
Requirements: Soulbound. Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 2000 Colosseum Points.
These two were pretty much a set and matched one another. Buying them even meant the shop threw in a free belt that didn’t give any stats or even count as real equipment. The designs of the two pieces of armor were simple and straightforward, with no decorations or anything. The leather did look like what he thought was called boiled leather, but Jake was no expert, and wasn’t it all magical anyway?
Either way, this was 4 more stat points. 8 to go, 2 of which came from the next thing he bought.
[Bracers of Counter-Deflection (Rare)] – Durable leather bracers created to better allow the wearer to deflect attacks and counter. Enhances the user’s Perception to allow them to better see the incoming attacks and the power of their physical counterattacks. Enchantments: Insured. +1 Strength, +1 Perception.
Requirements: Soulbound. Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 1000 Colosseum Points.
The bracers were pretty simple and had a name Jake didn’t think had overly much to do with the fact that they gave Perception and Strength. Then again, it could also be because of the design, as both bracers had been created to deflect blades rather than block them. Who knows?
Now, Jake had wanted to go all-out with what he bought, which didn’t really seem to match him buying so many rare pieces of equipment. The reason he hadn’t bought better was pretty simple… He couldn’t afford to due to the next two items.
[Necklace of the Hopeful Enlightenment (Epic)] – A well-made necklace once worn by a monk who sought enlightenment. The material of the necklace itself is unknown. Grants inspiration from the monk’s attempt at receiving enlightenment to the user, allowing them to better analyze the movements of their own internal energies.
Enchantments: Insured. Hopeful Enlightenment. +2 Wisdom, +2 Intelligence, +2 Willpower.
Requirements: Soulbound. Veteran Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 5000 Colosseum Points.
This necklace made up the last stat points Jake had to gain from equipment, effectively capping him. In addition to that, it also provided him with that weird Enlightenment effect, which Jake barely noticed, but hey, any bonus was a good bonus.
Last was an item Jake had sought far and wide during his prior store visit. Finally, he was getting it.
[Ring of Deft Hands (Epic)] – A ring created by someone once known as a powerful thief who often had a need to switch tools in the middle of a job. Allows the wearer to store up to five items within the ring that can be retrieved and placed in the hands of the wearer. All items must be pre-registered.
Requirements: Soulbound. Veteran Gladiator Colosseum Rank.
Cost: 4500 Colosseum Points.
Was this a spatial ring? Well, kind of, but not really. It did store an item inside a small space, but it didn’t have a storage space per se; it was more like it could absorb up to five items at once that had all been pre-marked by it. It was, by all means, one of the shittiest versions of spatial treasures available, but it should get the job done. At least this would help Jake with his combat style, where he liked to switch weapons, which he also assumed was why it was even sold. Some people would simply be too fucked without the ability to switch weapons in the middle of combat. A bit suspicious that one had to be Veteran Gladiator to unlock it... but then again, if you couldn’t even make it to Veteran Gladiator, you probably weren’t going that far anyway.
Now, an astute observer such as Owen would notice the lack of a certain item one might expect Jake to buy:
A bow.
But… its absence was very much a purposeful decision. Jake was practically out of points after buying everything else, and he knew that if he was going to get a bow, he wanted a good one. Moreover, he still had the basic bow that could do an acceptable job… if he even wanted to use it.
Katars were more than sufficient for now. Jake would get a bow at some point; that, he didn’t doubt. He also had a helmet or mask to gain, along with maybe a cloak or something. Considering he didn’t need more stat points, he could get special equipment there with special abilities.
For now, he was pretty damn settled, though.
Looking at his updated status after everything was equipped, there was indeed quite a difference.
Stats
Strength: 19
Agility: 21
Endurance: 19
Vitality: 18
Toughness: 17
Wisdom: 20
Intelligence: 19
Perception: 22
Willpower: 19
But these stats had come at a cost. Quite literally. It had nearly bankrupted Jake of Colosseum Points.
Colosseum Points: 1840
Jake had spent more than ninety percent of what he had saved up for nearly a quarter of the last year. 33,500 points.
He didn’t regret it, though. He knew that some of the equipment, like the rings and necklace, could be used for the rest of the Challenge Dungeons, with the katars likely functioning the same if his plans panned out. Everything else could be sold back to get him half the points returned, so even if he had spent over thirty-three thousand, one could say he had only actually spent around seventeen thousand, with another seventeen thousand owed.
Also, even if it had taken him a long time to get these points, he was confident in earning them back and more. Shit, he had a feeling that winning a single match toward the end of the Challenge Dungeon would give him more points than he had spent on all his equipment. At least, if the 10,000 he had gained from ”beating” the Benevolent Monk was anything to go by.
Jake was ultimately still in the earlier stages of the Challenge Dungeon, timewise.
Jake was overall happy with what he had bought, because as he stood there with the improved equipment and a katar in each hand, he didn’t feel any trepidation about the future. Instead, he was confident in one thing:
If he met the Benevolent Monk again, the outcome would be far different.
Chapter 16
A Man With A Plan
Jake was not the only one experiencing the Colosseum of Mortals—or who had at least experienced it at some point, for that matter. There was, of course, the Sword Saint, who was also hard at work, and as a far wiser man, he had heeded the warning upon being confronted with the Benevolent Monk. He had responded by buying a good sword as well as some basic equipment, which had ended with him drawing blood early on in the fight without taking any major damage himself. This didn’t mean the fight had been easy… just that he’d had offensive prowess that allowed him to deftly bypass the challenge.
Carmen had also chosen to enter the Colosseum, as that appealed to her far more than any of the other Challenge Dungeons. Losing her variant human race and becoming a G-grade once more did shock her at first, as suddenly becoming a soft shell of her former self was difficult to accept… but then she adapted.
She had been an okay boxer before the system arrived, acceptable for her age group and weight class but still firmly an amateur. But now? Now, she would have been able to beat the living shit out of every single boxer that had ever lived pre-system. Not just because her physical specs matched any male boxer if they had equal stats, but because of the sheer quality difference between pre- and post-system martial arts.
All stats equal, Carmen was superhuman with conceptual empowerment in every single one of her punches or kicks. Even without her skills, she could still imitate some of the weaker ones she’d had in lower grades, and even if her body had become far less durable, she knew how to make up for that with proper equipment. A good pair of gloves and high-quality bracers could go a long way for any pugilist.
Was reaching the rank of Champion possible? Hard to say, but she was sure as hell gonna give it a shot.
However, there were people who had a far harder time. Caleb had attempted it but quickly found himself facing difficulties. His fighting style simply didn’t fit the Colosseum, and while he could go decently far, he was in no way a contender to become the Champion. It was a bit embarrassing to say, but Matteo, who Caleb was doing the dungeon with, performed way better, having been a skilled fighter even before the system.
Casper was much the same. In fact, he had it harder than Caleb, as adapting to his level 0 body was more difficult for him than others. He hadn’t become human again, but a level 0 Risen—something he had never tried to be before.
Even if he had been able to adapt, his fighting style also sucked. Plus, he didn’t have Lyra with him anymore, nor could he properly wield his curse magic or use his traps or dungeon architect skills. All of this is to say the guy was fucked.
Maria fell into a weird middle ground between Carmen and Caleb. She’d been a skilled archer even before the system and had only gotten better. Plus, fire magic was known for its power, even at low levels, making her pretty strong even at level 0.
And then there were two more individuals of note when talking about people from Earth. Both were considered monsters and pinnacle geniuses in their C-grade forms, but when they were reduced to only G-grade… well, the outcome spoke for itself.
Arnold was thrown out of the dungeon after getting promoted to Initiate Fighter, having already lost two lives as a New Blood from goblins clubbing him to death. Eron, having lost all his skills and being too used to being effectively immortal, had no idea how to fight at all, and while he did manage to reach Fledgling Fighter due to his arcane affinity and having some basic knowledge of vital points due to his former life as a surgeon, he also flunked out spectacularly.
This was a very important part of Nevermore. Most people simply did ”okay” in the arena, even among the top geniuses. Many believed it was unfair that some were put in worse situations than others due to the nature of their Paths, but they all had missed one vital purpose of the Colosseum: adaptability.
Had they so desired, Eron or Arnold could have spent time training with weapons rather than fighting every day. They had the stats to fight and were still C-grade, with insights and developed Paths far beyond what any G- or F-grade could ever have… but perhaps they both knew they didn’t have the talent to become skilled in combat and thus chose to focus their efforts elsewhere.
When looking at people of note beyond Earth, there were many outstanding individuals, but also many who did far worse than expected. People like Ghost King Azal did just as well as expected, cleaving through the ranks while happily building up power by consuming the spirit of every single opponent he met in the arena to use them as resources for when times got tough.
Others from the Dao Sect also did well, also as expected, while Arnold’s party of void freaks were hard to figure out. Many other elite groups also entered, with the difference in performance varying widely between each individual member.
Ah, and when speaking of notable people who did the Challenge Dungeon, there was also Ell’Hakan, who performed as expected. As for what this expected performance was, not even the Malefic Viper knew. Because the Wyrmgod refused to show him.
