”Valdemar is a fucking monster in human form, plain and simple,” Artemis said in between her bites of food. ” Mind you, I am not saying that he is the Grand Champion, but if that is the case, you have quite the battle ahead of you, and, well… be happy you have multiple lives.”
Jake nodded, fully knowing that was the case as he chilled in the healing pool a bit away. ”Say, if you fought this theoretical Grand Champion version of Valdemar… how would you rate your chances?”
”Well, if we fought a hundred times…” Artemis said, pausing for dramatic effect. ”I would probably be able to not die within a minute in at least some of them.”
”That strong?” Jake muttered to himself.
”I just told you he is a fucking monster. Valdemar is a being no one dares mess with in the entire multiverse. Other Primordials steer clear for the most part, and no faction wants to risk pissing him off. You must understand that even among those deemed his equals, he stands out. Most Primordials are diverse fighters. They have other essential pursuits. Their Paths include nurturing their factions, crafting, alchemy, research into magical concepts, dungeon engineering, or even making freaking pocket watches… but Valdemar only does a bit of casual brewing. He is the only Primordial that is just a pure warrior, through and through,” Artemis explained.
Jake remembered having gotten a similar explanation from Villy at some point, but Artemis just hammered it home. He remembered the thoughts he had of Valdemar that had made Carmen kind of angry… but they still rang true.
”He is really just a guy with an axe,” Jake said, mostly to himself.
”Calling a Primordial just ”a guy with an axe” doesn’t sound like something even the Chosen of another Primordial should do,” Artemis said as she threw Jake a sharp gaze as she had stopped eating.
”Doesn’t make it any less true,” Jake shrugged as he looked at Artemis. ”Nothing’s wrong with being simple. Simplicity is good. There is power in removing all complications and just having the core of a concept left.”
”Your phrasing still sounded borderline heretical,” Artemis said, with a slight tinge of concern in her voice.”Only borderline?” Jake smirked. ”Isn’t it downright heretical to have a Challenge Dungeon where the objective is to beat up gods as a mortal?”
”That is different. All images are here with consent from the one who placed them here, with the express intent of having them used as opponents. And despite being a god on the outside, I am not a god in here. If I were a god, you wouldn’t be able to even talk to me like this or stand straight in my presence, something I am sure you are quite aware of. No, the only reason you can even have this conversation and treat me as an equal being is because we are both made to be level 0,” Artemis sighed. ”That’s just how the multiverse works.”
Jake smiled a bit to himself. Yeah… that was how it worked for everyone besides him. ”Eh, it’s how it works until someone comes along where it doesn’t work like that anymore. There is a first for everything, right?”
Artemis looked at him suspiciously for a moment as she smiled. ”I kind of hope that’s the case so you don’t become a disappointing mess when my true self inevitably seeks you out. I would find that very unappealing.”
”Time will tell, time will tell,” Jake waved her off. ”For now… this simple hunter has to focus on preparing to fight a simple warrior.”
Jake made sure he was fully ready to face Valdemar before he sought out the Battlemaster. He created his regular arrows, made his special arrow, and recovered his resources. There really wasn’t more than that he could do, seeing as gathering information was not really a thing.
Not due to a lack of information, mind you.
He had met up with Polly and Owen, who were now definitely officially dating, as they went out and celebrated him reaching the Grand Champion rank. Artemis had come along too and found it amusing how Jake interacted with the dungeon-created characters, but he hadn’t paid that any mind.
Polly had agreed to help gather some more information and, after a few days, had returned with a lot of eyewitness accounts, written records, and plenty of other snippets of information. What didn’t exist was recordings, though Jake had a suspicion that recordings wouldn’t help much going by the other intel.
Because they all just talked about how overwhelming he had been, often winning in a few attacks at most. Jake felt that rather than teach him about Valdemar’s fighting style, everything he gathered was just hyping Valdemar up as a true final boss who was seemingly borderline unbeatable. Jake was very excited to find out if that was truly the case.
When Jake finally entered the Colosseum, the Battlemaster was back in his usual spot, wearing the same clothes and without a single mark on his body from their fight.
”You’ve recovered well, huh?” Jake said first thing.
”I’ve had worse,” he waved him off. ”It was an enjoyable fight, though I doubt I will enter the arena again… it was way too expensive.”
Jake chucked a bit and shook his head. Maybe the guy shouldn’t have a fighting style that revolved around blowing up your own weapons, then?
”So… I can already guess why you are here. To issue your challenge to the Warrior,” the Battlemaster said.
”Right on,” Jake nodded. ”How does it work?”
The system message he had gained upon becoming Grand Champion didn’t outline the procedures for challenging the Grand Champion but just said he could do it now. He really hoped he wouldn’t be told there were several months of wait or something.
”From the moment you issue the challenge, the match will be scheduled for fifteen days later. No ifs or buts from either party. A Grand Champion match is simply so monumental that the Colosseum needs this time to hype up the match and sell tickets,” the Battlemaster explained.
Jake was happy to hear it would only be fifteen days and seriously had to strain himself to not call out the horrible excuse for the set schedule. Oh, they needed time to sell tickets? Utter bullshit.
”Well then, I would like to issue the challenge here and now,” Jake said with confidence.
The Battlemaster smiled as a few seconds passed before he spoke. ”It has been done.”
”Say, you got any advice you want to volunteer? Any tips or tricks for the fight?” Jake asked the Battlemaster.
”You know that I like you quite a bit, right?” the Battlemaster said with a sigh. ”So I only really have one piece of advice… know when to surrender. Even if you do not win, you are still a Grand Champion, and no one can take that away from you.”
Well, that’s a bleak outlook, Jake thought to himself. Not that surrender was ever an option. Jake had nine lives to spend, after all. Of course, he really hoped he wouldn’t have to use all of them… but doing it on the first try did seem like a tall order.
”I’ll keep that in mind,” Jake nodded as he went back to the forest close to Artemis’ mansion for some more archery practice with a literal hunter goddess as he mentally prepared himself for the fight.
Fifteen days quickly passed as the entire city close to the Colosseum was buzzing. The bars held special promotions, a small festival of sorts was held in the center square, and advertisements of ”The Doombringer vs. The Warrior” were placed everywhere.
Jake didn’t partake in many of the festivities as he focused on training until the fateful day arrived, when he found himself back in the Colosseum, standing before the large hallway leading into the arena. Owen, Polly, and even the Battlemaster had joined him as he waited for the counter to reach zero, signaling it was time for him to enter.
”Good luck, Jake. Show that Warrior what you got,” Owen said encouragingly.
”Go in with a careful approach and feel him out before you try to commit to any major attacks!” Polly advised.
“Try not to die,” the Battlemaster just shrugged… which wasn’t much better than Artemis, who had told him to try to not die too quickly before he left her place that morning.
”I can only do my best,” Jake smiled as the timer reached zero, and it was time for him to go. The tunnel felt longer than usual for some reason as Jake walked down it, and he had an odd feeling in his stomach. Am I nervous?
The answer was yes… but he was equally excited. Memories of the vision he had seen during Path of the Heretic-Chosen flashed in his mind. The absolute power of Valdemar, his overwhelming fighting spirit… a power that Jake could only suspect was a Transcendent skill.
Walking up the steps, he heard the loud cheers of the audience as the large arena soon appeared before his eyes. It was the same as usual, with the large stone pillars spread throughout and sand covering the entire floor.
As he looked across from him, toward the area where the other Grand Champion was supposed to stand, he saw… nothing.
Wait, he hasn’t shown up?”
”Welcome! To the arena! Today, two titans clash before our eyes as Grand Champions meet. Two absolute pinnacles of mortal existence, fighting it out till there is only one man standing. One, a Warrior who has never lost a fight, and the other, a man who has brought doom to anyone unlucky enough to face him during his rapid ascend through the ranks. A true Doombringer… who today shall meet someone who does not know doom. Who will come out on top? Who will be the ultimate Grand Champion? Let’s find out! Lower the gates!”
Jake was incredibly confused as he nevertheless pulled out his bow and walked forward as the bars also lowered on the other end of the arena to show the empty entrance. He walked a few steps forward as he suddenly heard it. Heavy footsteps echoed from the hallway ahead of him, and soon enough, a familiar figure appeared.
As his opponent walked up the steps, the first thing Jake saw was the glinting edge of an axe. The second thing he saw was the bearded man he recognized immediately from the vision with the Malefic Viper, and as his entire body was revealed, Jake could only stare.
He was bare-chested; the only clothing he wore was a pair of linen shorts, sandals, and metal bracers on his arms. He only had a single weapon in the axe swung over his shoulder as he slowly entered the arena, and as Jake looked at him, he got an odd feeling.
Many monsters throughout the multiverse were known as beings built solely for combat. Their evolutions had only taken them further and further toward the ideal of making them the ultimate killing machines… their bodies perfectly designed for the task.
But looking at Valdemar… Jake got the feeling that the being before him transcended any other ideal. His body was perfectly designed to fight, every powerful muscle hiding explosive power. Jake knew that the human body had some innate limitations… but he felt not an iota of weakness from the man before him. He was the most powerful human in the multiverse, after all.
As Jake stared at Valdemar, Valdemar stared back at him as he spoke, not even the Grand Champion fight free from the meet-in-the-middle-and-talk custom.
”A fellow human, eh? Impressive that you made it all the way to Grand Champion… from the looks of it, you are even one of the younglings trying for the Leaderboards, eh?” Valdemar said with a big smile as he looked at Jake. ”Ah, but even if you are a human, I won’t be biased toward you, alright?”
Turmoil entered Jake’s mind as his eyes opened wide. ”You… know where this is?”
”In… an arena?” Valdemar said, looking confused for a moment before he seemed to get it. ”Ah! You are talking about us being in a Challenge Dungeon in Nevermore? Yeah, I know. Seeing as you asked that question and looked at me with surprise, I am going to guess this is your first attempt? Say, how many lives ya got?”
”Nine,” Jake just answered without thinking.
”Damn, did pretty well in those Champion fights, huh? Let me guess: Umbra was the one who got one over ya. She is a real tricky one,” Valdemar said with confidence.
”It was the Necromancer…”
”The Undying General? Ah, that makes sense too I guess,” Valdemar shrugged. He just stood there silently for a few moments, looking at Jake as if waiting for him to talk. Jake just looked at him for a bit, unsure what to say before he finally spoke.
”How will this match work? Just like all the others? If you got your full memories as a god, then…” Jake muttered.
”It’ll work just like normal, and don’t ya worry, I can’t do any of my fancy axesmanship in here!” Valdemar assured him.
Jake wasn’t sure axesmanship was a real word, but he sure as hell wasn’t going to point that out.
Still standing with his bow, Jake tried to let some of the tension in his body go as he knew things were about to start. ”And, just to clarify, my win condition is to kill you or make you surrender?”
”Hm? Oh yeah, me dying will definitely make you win! Of course, if I think you are good enough, I might just give ya the win… but you have to prove yourself, aight? Again, I’m not gonna show ya any favor to a fellow human!
So… I don’t necessarily have to kill him or fully beat him, Jake thought with relief. He instantly caught himself as the thought struck him. Wait… I’m relieved… I guess I shouldn’t be that surprised…
Jake… didn’t want to admit it, but standing before Valdemar, his instincts were screaming at him. Part of him wanted to fight, to prove his superiority over another human, but an even bigger part of him – primarily the survival instinct part – was telling him to just fucking run.
But, today, Jake let the first instinct win as he smiled at Valdemar. ”Then, by all means… let’s have a good one.”
”Right on,” Valdemar laughed loudly as he lifted his axe off his shoulder at the exact same moment Jake knocked an arrow. Making use of the distance, Jake wanted to try and land an arrow or two before Valdemar closed the distance.
Valdemar began walking toward Jake as he released the first arrow. Jake had expected the man to dodge, but he just kept walking as the arrow struck him in the shoulder and penetrated with the entire arrowhead.
”Sharp ones you got there,” Valdemar said with a grin as he just kept walking. Jake tried to explode the arrow in his shoulder, but he couldn’t connect to it at all… as if whatever trace of Willpower inside was being utterly suppressed.
The second arrow was blocked as Valdemar swiped it away with his axe as he began to pick up speed.
Jake took precautions and dodged back as Valdemar went into a full-on sprint. He closed in rapidly, his axe raised above his head. A golden aura began to envelop his body, making Jake hesitate for a moment as he recognized it from the vision, and he felt a presence spread that made his body feel heavier.
His moment of hesitation proved unwise as the axe came down a moment later.
At the very last moment, Jake had dodged, but it felt like the axe almost dragged him in as it came down. When it hit the arena floor, a pillar of sand nearly ten meters high was kicked up as Jake was thrown across the arena, his left arm bloody from simply enduring the sheer pressure from the swing.
Jake landed as he stumbled a bit, trying to stabilize as he now was completely certain… this first fight was not one to win, but one to figure out how to not die too quickly.