Chapter 748: Nevermore: An Unexpected Opponent

Jake was truly a genius. Why hadn't he thought of using Polly earlier? It was such an obvious solution! Sure, he could also have asked Owen, but Polly had been keen on finding some way to help him for a while, and this was such a prime opportunity.

After he had gotten his clothing situation fixed through Polly - partly by cleaning it, partly by buying some new stuff - he headed straight back to a small townhouse that served as housing for Gladiators. Later on, he met back up with Owen and Polly to eat before going home and to bed. When he woke up and opened the door to the small house, he saw his clothes there, neatly packaged by the professional cleaning company.

What? He hadn't actually made Polly clean them. With her whole young mistress vibe, she clearly never washed her own clothes either, so Jake had asked her where she got her clothes washed and had her escort him there. It was quite the high-end place based on what Jake could gather, specializing in cleaning armor and weapons for the combatants. As they already knew Polly, things went smoothly, and he didn't even have to pay for anything. Not that there was a way to pay for anything without using Colosseum Points, and not even the Wyrmgod was cruel enough to make people in Challenge Dungeons spend points on not having dirty clothes.

Jake's third day as a Gladiator was spent practicing with his bow, doing a Show Match, and working a bit on energy control when he was too physically tired to do any more target practice. The Show Match in question was versus some weird six-legged mammal creature that had died from just a few good kicks to the head.

The fourth day and onwards was very much the same as time passed. Archery practice was the name of the game, and he quickly got into a routine. Others would likely get bored doing the same things over and over again, but Jake had always been good at hyper-focusing on tasks until his body physically told him to stop. When that happened, he would just switch to working on something that took brain power instead until he was wrung out mentally too.

What rest he did need, he got through sleeping or during his rendezvous with Owen and Polly as they went out to eat, or Jake watched one of Owen's matches. Speaking of Owen, he pretty quickly also reached Gladiator rank, with even Polly beginning to do some matches after finding herself inspired by Jake and Owen. She still had a long way to go, but she did at least begin to win some matches after learning some basic melee fighting along with her magic.

Jake wasn't exactly surprised when she turned out to be pretty good at both. Her stats were clearly not ordinary; the only real problem was her lack of actual practice and fighting experience. Polly wasn't going to become a Gladiator or anything like that before Jake left, but she could definitely get a few more promotions.

Everyone slowly got stronger, and soon, around nine entire weeks had passed since Jake had become a Gladiator, with nothing that exciting happening during this time. Jake just did one match every day, and as he slowly made progress, he realized that his math had been a bit off.

As he could do a Gladiator Match on the second day as a Gladiator, it would actually only take nine weeks to finish all ten fights. This resulted in a total of 54 Show Matches rewarding 300 Colosseum Points each, as well as 10 Gladiator Matches. So, just a single day over nine weeks. Which had allowed Jake to rake up quite the points.

Current objective: Be promoted from Gladiator to Veteran Gladiator

Current rank: Gladiator (10/10)

Colosseum Points: 20440

Lives remaining: 10

His daily point gain was still worse than it had been the day he was promoted to Expert Fighter due to the limited battles, but he wasn't really complaining. It was still a lot of points. Moreover, Jake had gotten some damn good practice during his downtime. It was still slow-going and early days, but he felt like he was making some progress.

Ah, but not when it came to the actual fights. The Doomfoot was still dominating everyone he met. Well, okay, the domination had gotten less the more time passed. Even if the Show Matches and gladiatorial matches didn't reward more points, they sure as hell got a lot harder. He could still win every fight by kicking, but as his opponents became more and more aware of his skills and just got stronger, he was beginning to face some annoying issues. That is to say... he couldn't keep up his kicking-only challenge forever, no matter how funny it would be to reach Champion rank through kicks only.

Despite feeling a bit sad about that, there was also one pleasant surprise on the day he got done with his tenth Gladiator fight.

"Your streak just keeps going, huh? Can't say I am surprised; I do have a keen eye for spotting talent," the Battlemaster said, speaking the usual fluff. That is, until he added the next sentence. "Seeing as it is you, I assume you want your Promotion Match tomorrow? You can, of course, take some rest days if you want."

"Wait, I can do the Promotion Match tomorrow and not in a week?" Jake questioned with surprise.

"Obviously," the Battlemaster scoffed.

"I thought matches against other Gladiators were limited to one a week," Jake muttered.

"It is limited to one a week against others with the Gladiator rank. Did you think you would be fighting with a combatant of your own rank for promotions? Hah! No, you need to face a real Veteran Gladiator to get promoted to one! This is the big leagues now," the Battlemaster said, for some reason thinking it was really funny.

Jake just stared as he went back and checked the message he had gotten several weeks ago. And... fuck him if the wording wasn't ambiguous.

"You are limited to one fight a week against another Gladiator."

So, apparently, Veteran Gladiators were not the same as Gladiators. Who would have known! Jake sure as hell didn't! Not that he didn't welcome the opportunity to move on faster and climb those ranks. It

"But... I wanna warn you. If you decide to sign up to fight tomorrow, you will meet a rather difficult opponent. The one you will be facing was promoted to Veteran Gladiator only a week or so ago, and he has only been here in the Colosseum for a month or so more than you. Which is to say, he also isn't someone who has struggled or lost a single match. So be careful and consider if you wanna fight him. Moreover, he is a martial artist like you, so I am unsure how good that matchup is for you. Either way, the choice is yours," the Battlemaster said in an uncharacteristically serious tone.

Jake, at first, thought this was just more fluff to build up another pretty easy opponent... until the system made it clear it wasn't.

Bonus Objective gained.

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.

Failing this bonus objective will lock out many similar future bonus objectives.

Bonus Objective: Defeat the Benevolent Monk.

He had definitely not expected a random bonus objective, but he wasn't against it either.

"So, what say you?" the Battlemaster asked.

"Definitely going for it," Jake smiled.

"Alright, I'll sign you up for tomorrow then. I would recommend that you get a good night's sleep and prepare properly," the Battlemaster warned him one final time.

Jake decided to take his advice and skipped the archery practice for the day as he went back and relaxed in his little townhouse. He didn't even go out and eat that day but ate something he had stocked up.

For a brief second, Jake did consider spending some Colosseum Points on improving his equipment but decided against it. Perhaps it was a bit reckless, but he wanted to face this challenge with what he already had.

The next day he returned to the Colosseum and, after the usual brief wait, found himself entering the tunnel leading to the arena itself. Checking over himself one last time, he confirmed he was in peak condition as he ascended the stairs, the coming battlefield appearing before him.

"Welcome, to the arena! Today, we have an exciting bout on our hands. On one side, we have Doomfoot, a rising star of the arena who has not missed a single opportunity to fight for us! And why would he? For he has never lost either, his foot spelling the doom of all who meet him! It's the one and only Doomfoot!" the announcer yelled right as Jake walked up to the bars blocking the entrance to the arena.

Looking across the arena, Jake could barely make out his opponent. He saw a humanoid shape, though, from the current distance, he couldn't quite tell if his opponent was a human or an elf. Luckily, his Identify answered that for him.

[Human]

As he Identified the man, the announcer continued.

"However... his opponent, despite his humble appearance, is not simple. Far from it. Hailing from an unknown land, this man walked barefoot into the arena only a few months ago, and so far, it doesn't look like anyone has been able to make him leave! With a palm of mercy but a fist of indomitable power, he stands undefeated and unchallenged. It's the unstoppable Benevolent Monk!"

The announcer definitely did make Jake's opponent sound impressive.

"Without further ado... let the two undefeated martial artists clash! Let them finally decide who the true master is! Lower the gates!"

Jake carefully stepped forward as he observed his opponent closely. The man wore only light pants as he walked calmly out of his entrance area. His head was entirely bald, and he walked with steady steps as he entered the arena. His breathing was calm too, and he had a light smile on his lips as he regarded Jake.

His feet were indeed bare, and outside of those pants, he was entirely naked. The powerful, lithe muscles on both his arms and chest made it clear that the man was trained, and his muscles were definitely not for show.

The monk walked toward Jake before stopping a good ten meters away. Just as Jake wondered what he would do, the monk held his right fist in his palm and bowed deeply.

"This lowly monk greets he who is known as Doomfoot," he said in a light and relaxed tone. "I thank you for sharing with me this moment on such a beautiful day. I hope our fight can be memorable for both of us and that we both may find joy and inspiration."

Jake was a bit taken aback by his entire demeanor. Usually, he would get a bit annoyed by that kind of attitude, but this monk was different. His voice only carried pure sincerity, and his level of conviction felt unshakeable. Jake found himself getting carried along and decided to respond in kind, also giving a small bow to be polite. "Let's have a good fight for sure."

"If I may... would you accept imposing some honor rules upon ourselves? I do not wish to see more violence than necessary, and I hope doing this could lead to a more fruitful encounter," the monk proposed, making Jake frown a bit.

"What did you have in mind?"

He wasn't entirely against the idea. Spicing things up could be fun. Moreover, he did have the feeling that deciding to agree was the best course of action.

"Rather than risk death, how about we instead agree on this: the winner shall be the first to land ten hits successfully or be the first to draw blood," the monk proposed with a smile. "We shall naturally agree mutually what counts as a hit, both doing so with honor."

"You know what?" Jake said after thinking a bit. "I'm in."

Jake smiled as he prepared himself. The monk looked at him one final time as he sighed. "Alas, I know that you only use your legs usually, but I will refrain from placing such limitations on myself. I hope that is acceptable."

"I would be insulted if you limited yourself like that," Jake shook his head. "Let's enjoy yourselves, now shall we?

The monk smiled as he bowed. "I understand. Indeed, let us proceed to exchange pointers."

Under normal circumstances, Jake wouldn't entertain something like a limited duel with rules such as this. Instead, he would just aim to win the fight quickly by brutally kicking his opponent in the head with an arcane-empowered foot. However, this situation was a bit different. First of all, the monk did really strike Jake as a nice and pleasant guy to be around, and he sincerely looked like he wanted to place these rules to avoid causing unmercenary harm. Secondly...

Jake's danger sense was practically screaming at him from the moment he laid eyes on the man, making Jake both excited and apprehensive.

Vilastromoz frowned as he looked at the arena where Jake stood in front of the monk. The fights so far had all been fun and games to the level of it getting kind of boring. Not that the practice time was any better, not after he worked on that ocular soul technique. Watching Jake shoot a target with the thousandth arrow of the day just wasn't that interesting.

However... this was not expected.

Turning to the Wyrmgod, the Viper threw a questioning gaze. The other Primordial obviously noted as he sighed. "It isn't as it seems."

"Yeah, it really isn't," Minaga agreed. "That monk is placed this early on in the Challenge Dungeon for a reason, okay?"

"But you do acknowledge why I question the appearance of someone like that, right?" the Viper said, shaking his head. "I will admit I never truly bothered learning how to make dungeons properly, and if the system agreed with this design choice, perhaps it is fine... but I still question it."

"I do indeed acknowledge this is a unique situation, but I believe in your Chosen... though it may be hard if he doesn't get serious with the tools he chose to bring into the arena. Rather foolhardy of him to go in without any preparations despite the warning," the Wyrmgod said.

"Well, that's Jake for you," Vilas sighed. Though he did agree. This wouldn't be an easy fight for Jake when he didn't have a weapon. His opponent was simply too out of the ordinary and not someone the Viper would have ever expected this early on in any Challenge Dungeon.

It was a person Vilas recognized. Someone he had once fought with, even if the monk had been with his comrades at the time. What stood in the arena was an image of a pinnacle being of the multiverse:

One of the twelve Daolords of the Dao Sect - the Soulfist Daolord.

Or at least an image of the monk that would one day become the Soulfist.