Ascension of the Primalist [A Tamer Class, LitRPG]

Seth hurried out of the changing room, his footsteps echoing in the corridor as he cursed under his breath for chatting too much with Yline and Toren. Over his gray academy uniform—his best armor—he now sported his new combat gauntlets. The weight on his wrists was noticeable, but not enough to hinder his movements.

'You should’ve kept the daggers, just in case,' Nightmare grumbled from within his necklace. 'I won't be able to save your ass if you're in trouble.'

'I'll be fine,' Seth replied with a sigh. 'I’ve learned plenty of hand-to-hand techniques in Weapon Theory… not that you’d know, since you’re always sleeping. Also, worst case, I use Shadow Step.'

The direwolf let out a growl. 'I hate you.'

Switching between Illusionary Emptiness and Shadow Step on the academy grounds would draw too much attention, so Seth’d been forced to choose between them. Given the nature of the tournament’s one-on-one battles, the hiding ability of Illusionary Emptiness wouldn't offer much of an advantage, so he had switched Share's mysterious thread over to Shadow Step in the changing room. Plus, this would also be a good opportunity to test if the cooldown period was really twenty-four hours.

Stepping into the coliseum, Seth was met by a palpable buzz of excitement. Several hundred students looked at him from the stands, their chatter and laughter reverberating through the open space. He scanned the crowd for Devus, Elena, or Jenna but couldn't spot them among the sea of faces.

In the center of the ring stood Seth’s Combat Theory instructor, Captain Michaelson, an air of impatience surrounding him. Next to him was Seth's opponent, a young man with long black hair clad in thick leather armor, firmly holding an imposing halberd.

"You're late," the captain said, scowling as he handed Seth a Protecting Belt. "One more minute and you'd have been disqualified."

"Sorry, sir," Seth replied and gave a slight bow before fastening the belt around his waist.

Moments later, shimmering blue words materialized above the ring, which announced the two participants of the fight.

Seth (Primalist Rank 24) vs Yann Geralt (Warrior Rank 20)

The coliseum fell into an abrupt, heavy silence. A chill rippled through Seth's chest hundreds of times, as if the students in the stands couldn’t believe the glowing blue words and needed to verify themselves. Then, the whispers spread, small at first, quickly swelling into a rising tide of murmurs as students traded thoughts and speculations; Seth could catch fragments of conversations from those seated in the front rows.

"...the love of gods does he have a subclass?"

"Beastmaster? Must… because of his..."

"Even if… Iron… still a commoner… no way he can win…!"

"His Rank... do you think he got a sponsor?"

"Give me back your belt," Captain Michaelson said, rummaging in his Endless Pouch before taking out another belt and channeling aether inside. "I gave you a Copper one."

'They're still underestimating you,' Nightmare as Seth swapped his belt with the new one the captain proffered.

'That's fine. I prefer to be the underdog.'

"A commoner is still a commoner," Yann muttered as if trying to convince himself that even with the Tier gap he could win. "He won't have strong spells."

Ignoring the noble, Seth headed to his side of the ring. Stopping on the white cross painted on the ground, he took his stance and cast Identify on his opponent and his gear, mentally noting to learn Intermediate Identify later on.