Disarm

The best way to handle your weakest opponent is with your greatest strength.

If your opponent was slow, use your speed to control the pace. If your opponent was weak, crush him with your strength. If he had high attack but low defense, use your greater stamina to Trade Injury for Injury and wear him down.

But Spartacus had no weaknesses. As a powerful protagonist, his strength, speed, and stamina should all have reached the limits this world allowed. There was no weakness to exploit.

"If you find that your opponent has no weaknesses, you have to use his psychology in battle to create one! Just like you did before." Vero continued training Kirk.

Kirk blocked, turning aside his opponent's thrust. He carefully watched every movement, attack, and feint. Gladiators fought cautiously, relying mainly on movement and feints to draw out or fool their opponents' defenses. They rarely attacked recklessly, since that would leave them wide open. Mistakes weren't allowed in the arena. A careless attack could leave an opening, and if an experienced opponent seized it, there'd be no coming back.

There was no opening when this human beast was calm. To defeat him, there was only one way: provoke him, fill him with bloodlust and the desire to attack. Then he would leave openings. So Kirk went all out, wielding a weapon in each hand and moving like the wind, slashing at Spartacus again and again!

Spartacus grew excited. He loved this kind of battle, with blades flashing as he danced with death. At last, he couldn't hold back a long roar. Laughing, he unleashed his full strength and threw himself into the fight with Kirk.

Vero watched the two delighted men wordlessly as they tried to carve each other up. This was rare in the arena, where fights usually ended with a single killing blow.

Suddenly, Spartacus launched a surprise attack. He took advantage of an opening after Kirk's attack and slashed viciously at an angle. If it hit, Kirk would lose his right arm and have no choice but to surrender and leave the fight.

Even Kirk thought he couldn't dodge it and was about to be carried out. But his mind was suddenly clear, as if inspiration had struck. Instinctively, he raised both weapons to block—and actually managed to stop Spartacus's deadly blow!

Then, as if someone were guiding his wrists, he crossed his weapons around his opponent's wooden sword and, to the astonishment of Spartacus and Vero, swiftly twisted his hands and pressed the sword down! He followed with another twist, knocking Spartacus's wooden sword away!

The wooden sword spun through the air toward the distance and fell into the sea with a splash.

The Dimension issued a notification: "Contractor No. 4444, you have automatically comprehended the Basic Melee Combat Skill [Basic Block Mastery] Level 1 during battle: Passive Skill. In melee combat, you have a 5% chance to use your weapon to block an opponent's attack. Blocking requires Strength and Agility checks. On a successful block, you take no damage, and your opponent is staggered for 2 seconds and unable to dodge your attacks. Weapon durability is consumed at twice the normal rate.

"Contractor No. 4444, you have automatically comprehended the advanced Melee Skill [Disarm] Level 1 during battle: Active Skill. After a successful block, you can spend 10 Energy to press your opponent's weapon down between your crossed weapons, then twist it away. Requires Strength and Agility checks. If successful, your opponent's weapon is [Disarmed] for 4 seconds. While [Disarmed], your opponent cannot attack with a weapon. The [Disarmed] status duration is added to the stagger duration caused by a block."

All three of them were stunned. Spartacus had been defeated before, but no one had ever disarmed him. Kirk lowered his weapons and stared at them for a while. This Dimension was full of dangers, but it also held limitless opportunities. Repeatedly fighting Spartacus one-on-one had pushed Kirk's potential to its limit, allowing him to break through.

"Not bad, kid!" Vero laughed and punched Kirk on the shoulder. "You've got some nerve, disarming the beast. You've got real skill."

"Don't get cocky," Spartacus said darkly. "This is just the beginning. Pick up your weapons. We're starting over."

Kirk smiled. After fighting Spartacus twice, he had gained confidence. It came from all the adventures he'd been through since entering the Dimension, from repeatedly coming within a hair's breadth of death. He no longer feared danger, but his hunger for strength had only grown.

Training with a Demigod Gladiator like Spartacus, dancing on the edge of death, would make his strength improve by leaps and bounds.

By the time the moon had reached its zenith, the two men finally stopped.

Kirk was in so much pain he couldn't even lift his arms. Both shoulder bones were shattered, his head was split open, and his clothes were in tatters. He looked absolutely wretched.

Spartacus wasn't much better. He was covered in blood, and several wounds were still bleeding. When Kirk got desperate, his attack speed and damage were impressive. He had seven Melee Skills, five of them upgraded to Level 5. He was no pushover in close combat.

"That's enough for today. We have training tomorrow," Vero said. The three agreed to continue training at midnight the next evening, then went their separate ways.

Kirk returned to his lodging and began sorting through his thoughts.

Three days had passed in the world of Blood and Sand. Arena Mode was characterized by its scarcity of missions—even the Main Mission was hidden—and the rewards for completing missions were meager. Its main advantage was that Contractors could kill one another for Bloody Keys and Valuable Items. At present, Audi, a Veteran, had four Bloody Keys and twelve Soul Crystals in total, including the ones he had obtained himself. This had made all the other Contractors green with envy. Next, Kirk would keep training his melee skills with Spartacus while stirring up conflict between Audi and the other Contractors, letting them wear one another down so he could fish in troubled waters.

Kirk woke early the next morning. After four hours of rest, most of his injuries had healed. He didn't want to use the medicine he'd gotten from other Contractors unless it was absolutely necessary. He arrived at the training ground, and the morning session began on time.

Just as Kirk had suggested to One-Eyed Dragon and the others, the Contractors chose the round-shield-wielding MT to challenge Audi. Audi naturally refused. But MT invoked the sacred Gladiator Code: by giving up his right to surrender, he demanded a fight with a gladiator to earn gladiator status. Under Dochet's orders and the scornful gazes of the gladiators, Audi resentfully accepted MT's challenge, declaring that he would kill the challenger in front of everyone.

Kirk's lips curled into a smile.

Everyone crowded around to watch Audi fight MT. It was clear MT had been buffed with many beneficial effects before the fight. Kirk recognized Cat's Agility and Stone Skin, both of which he had used himself. MT made his living through defense and health, and his dazzling Spartan Greatshield was at least Deep Blue Equipment. It had turned him into an almost entirely armored porcupine. Audi was a sorcerer who relied on spells and summons. His attack power was impressive, but he couldn't pose a real threat to MT, who was hiding behind his shield.

The Gladiator Code stated that if a slave challenged a gladiator, the gladiator had to accept. The challenge could end only when one of them died. Until then, the gladiator couldn't challenge anyone else. They could rest and sleep in the meantime. So all morning, Audi and MT went at it, clanging away as they practiced offense and defense. At first, the others watched with interest, but after an hour no one paid them any attention. At lunchtime, someone told them to take a break and continue in the afternoon. Audi was naturally grinding his teeth with rage, while the Contractors were all beaming.

Kirk noticed that while Audi was tied up with MT, One-Eyed Dragon and the Female Magician weren't idle either. They kept challenging the gladiators, and this time they weren't throwing fights; they were seriously looking for an opening. Finally, during the afternoon challenges, One-Eyed Dragon was the first to break through, soundly defeating a black gladiator. Kirk watched coldly. Something was off about it. The black gladiator hadn't seemed quite himself. One-Eyed Dragon had probably bribed Ashur to have him throw the fight.

The Female Magician once again took advantage of Ashur's weakness for women. She challenged him directly, then used her charm and magic once more, quickly turning Ashur into a real punching bag and knocking him to the ground.

Although both had resorted to dishonorable tactics, they had still defeated gladiators one-on-one. Bartitas had no choice but to accept them as gladiators. The crafty old fox probably guessed the two impostors would die during the Marseille Dionysia Festival performance. It was only a matter of days, so he might as well let them be gladiators.

MT, meanwhile, happily kept Audi tied up. The others had probably compensated him handsomely. Even if he didn't earn gladiator status, he was already quite satisfied with what he'd gotten.

Audi was furious day after day, but he still couldn't defy the training camp's orders, nor did he dare risk provoking everyone by secretly killing a Contractor. He was exceptionally strong, but he couldn't beat fourteen Contractors working together.

The days passed, and the Marseille Dionysia Festival was about to begin.

For the past few days, Kirk had shut out the world and focused on hardening his body. He attended training during the day, getting whipped, thrown into latrines, and beaten. At night, Spartacus and Vero took turns torturing him. Kirk didn't know how much his combat technique had improved, but his ability to take a beating and his toughness had undergone a qualitative leap.

The numbers spoke for themselves: getting beaten had raised his Stamina by 1, pushed [Basic Defense] to Level 6, raised [Basic Block Mastery] to Level 3, and even brought [Disarm] up to Level 2. That showed just how many beatings he took every day.

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