Jake was arrogant—no two ways about it—but his arrogance was also backed by a certain level of well-earned confidence and powerful intuition. He did not declare others weak or strong or claim himself superior based on pure narcissism, but his own reading of his opponent… and while the Lightning Monarch was powerful, Jake had full confidence in himself. Especially when he saw the man’s momentary surprise at his charge… Oh, and the fact that he had a damn good plan.Nevertheless, his opponent reacted fast, proving he was no slouch.A rush of blue lightning covered his body in an instant as his blade moved down to block in the blink of an eye. Sword and katar clashed. Jake was pushed back, a small stream of lightning running across his body from the impact. It was important to note here that it ran across his body and not into it.Below his clothes, Jake had covered himself entirely in a stable layer of arcane energy made specifically to block out the lightning. He didn’t need it to be i

Polly cheerfully insisted on cooking for their group that night to celebrate the death of her teacher. It was a bit odd to have her tell stories of how her teacher had taught her and how much he had sucked in between happy humming because he was now dead and buried.Speaking of death, Jake issued his challenge to the Necromancer two days after he had beaten the Archmage… and was once more told the guy wanted an entire month of preparations… So, yeah, another thirty days for Jake to prepare tools to increase his chances to win. Of course, he also needed to gather a lot more information on this guy compared to his two prior opponents, as he didn’t have anyone related to him to spill the beans.Even before the Archmage fight, he had already gathered a lot, and with another waiting period, there was no reason not to get more. Jake also began to feel like one of the reasons Show Matches weren’t a thing in the Champion rank was to remove the potential plot hole of none of the Champions ever

Exactly how long is this gonna take? Jake wondered as he balanced atop the pole of stable arcane mana, holding his bow ready. It has to have a time limit or something, right?Staring down, he observed the arena below, mainly using his sphere as the dense miasma covered pretty much everything. Inside this cloud of thick miasma, smack-center in the arena, lay a torso with only a head attached. Fifteen meters away to one side was a leg, an arm was nailed to the wall in another direction, the second leg had been thrown all the way to Jake’s starting area, and the final arm was nailed into another wall directly opposite the first. Well, alright, the limbs weren’t all in complete condition, but the majority of them were spread out like that, with a few fingers and plenty of minor parts just lying about below.Jake had entered his rematch with the Necromancer knowing what kind of foe he would be dealing with. He’d spent his fifteen days preparing everything he could while replaying the same

A question had been gnawing in the back of Jake’s mind for a while. One that had been further amplified by sim-Jake when 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, used fucking guns to shoot stuff. Sure, he knew it was because guns—which were just fancy wands—had better synergy with all

Out of all the beings in the Colosseum that Jake was aware of, Umbra was the most powerful, at least on the outside. She was a true pinnacle being who stood side by side with the Primordials. Yet despite knowing this, Jake didn’t feel any trepidation about facing her.Artemis also seemed very unconcerned with the fight itself, and was more interested in how Umbra would address the fight. She couldn’t say anything directly, though, as she was still under the influence of Nevermore’s rules to not share information. She couldn’t even give any tips on the fights themselves, outside of very vague statements that didn’t really help.On the night of the match, it was already way past sundown, the crescent moon hanging far up in the air. The arena had artificial magic lighting, so it wasn’t like the arena was dark when Jake walked up the steps and stood behind the bars. The stands were also filled despite the less-than-optimal lighting conditions.Also, due to the magic lighting, one thing th