"Sadly, large-scale gladiatorial contests of astonishing intensity don't happen every day."
"But today's regular bouts can still satisfy every Nucerian's bloodthirsty heart. Let us welcome the gladiators who will take part in the next contest..."
"The prince of the mountains, a man who had drawn attention from his very first day as a gladiator, Angggggg—Angron!"
"..."
Qin Xa listened to the host's drawn-out announcement with a frown. He had always had issues with this style of introduction.
Overwhelming cheers had already erupted from the Arena. The gladiators participating in the match were about to enter.
"This is a regular bout. We don't necessarily have to fight to the death." Oeno kneaded Angron's muscles and glanced toward the twin gladiators who had already left the cave for the armory. "Show mercy, but be careful too. If you have to kill, then kill."
"Why?" Angron did not understand. "Don't those people outside want to watch us kill each other?"
"They do, but not just anyone they snatch up can become a gladiator." Oeno shook his head with a smile. "Replenishing the gladiators isn't as simple as grabbing random people. The Arena has to minimize unnecessary gladiator casualties. In anything short of a large-scale bout, deciding the winner is enough."
Having said that, Oeno looked at Yochula again and spoke in a grave, cautioning tone. "The Skinner and the Nusa Twins have never killed anyone... but... we still need to be careful ourselves. Do you understand?"
Yochula nodded.
Then the young gladiator whom his mother had entrusted to Angron crouched before Qin Xa. His eyes beneath his golden curls fixed on Qin Xa. "Could you bless me?"
"A blessing?" Qin Xa asked, puzzled.
"My mother said sorcerers can bless people." Yochula said, "If you bless me, I think I'll definitely survive in the Arena, until one day I can leave this place... and take my mother and my younger brother with me."
Qin Xa nodded and placed a hand atop Yochula's head. "May you survive."
Yochula closed his eyes, as though he could truly feel some miraculous power settling over him. He carefully sensed it for a moment, then opened his eyes and rose with a determined gaze, walking to Angron's side.
"I'll protect you too, kid." Kleist, who had also been assigned to fight, lightly patted Yochula's shoulder. "If you survive, tell me your mother's name."
Yochula rolled his eyes at Kleist and left the cave.
Angron and Kleist nodded to Qin Xa, then left the cave together.
The gladiators taking part in the regular bout were escorted by Security Automata to the armory to select their weapons.
Angron took two axes. As usual, Kleist picked up the long spear he was most skilled with, while Yochula chose a harpoon and a fishing net.
As the three headed through the corridor leading from the armory toward the Arena's combat grounds, they encountered the Nusa Twins, who had already chosen their weapons, along with the gladiator known as the Skinner.
"One of the Nusa Twins is good with nets, and the other is good with harpoons. They work very well together."
Kleist moved closer to Yochula and gave him a low, serious warning.
"As for the Skinner... no one knows his real name. They only know he is skilled with two daggers and can peel a person's skin off whole during a fight."
At those words, Yochula immediately grew tense and instinctively held his breath.
Yochula, who had become a gladiator before Angron and Qin Xa, was not unaware of what the Nusa Twins and the Skinner were capable of. The reason he was nervous was precisely because he knew their abilities too well.
Before becoming a gladiator, Yochula had read the files on every gladiator.
Perhaps sensing the fear spreading from the young man, the Skinner, standing ahead of them, turned around. A gentle smile appeared on his deathly pale face. "Don't be afraid, kid. We don't need to fight to the death today. We only need to decide a winner, then come back and carve Triumph Cords."
The Skinner had a thoroughly unsettling appearance: pallid skin and black curly hair that always looked damp.
He was not tall and always wore a cold, shadowy smile.
Yet at this moment, the smile on the Skinner's face looked extraordinarily gentle and reassuring.
"Thank you, sir. Thank you." Yochula forced out a smile.
The Skinner nodded lightly, patted his chest, then pointed at Yochula. The meaning was clear: I've got your back.
At that moment, the Nusa Twins turned around as well, smiling.
The gladiator family was quite warm, after all.
But Angron, at the very back of the group, frowned.
The bout began quickly.
Qin Xa, still in the cave, was not sitting cross-legged and attending to his own business. Instead, he moved beside the window and looked down over the Arena.
Oeno had said the Arena was underground, yet the view outside the window was from above.
Qin Xa discovered that the window was not actually a window. It was merely an air duct disguised as one through holographic technology.
"If one side loses but survives during a bout, will nobles or spectators stand and give a thumbs-up to decide whether the gladiator lives or dies?" Qin Xa suddenly asked Oeno, who had come over as well.
"They would in a large-scale bout, but these regular bouts are basically competitions and sparring matches." Oeno answered. "The Arena's usual practice is to save people for the large-scale bouts, where they die."
Qin Xa nodded and watched in silence.
The gladiators had been split into two teams and stood facing each other, separated by half a meter.
Maggot Eye circled overhead, presenting every person in the bout through the best possible filming angles on the holographic projection, so that even those in the farthest seats—and those who had not come to watch—could see clearly.
"The bout begins!"
At Maggot Eye's command, the deep blare of horns echoed through the Arena.
Angron faced the Nusa Twins, so he naturally raised his axes and went after the twin gladiators first.
The Nusa Twins immediately threw their net over Kleist, then began circling around Angron.
As for the Skinner, he and Yochula had, intentionally or otherwise, moved toward each other.
Although this regular bout was more like a competition, the gladiators still had to put on a proper fight. At the very least, they could not let the audience think it looked too fake.
"Choosing a harpoon was a smart decision."
The Skinner stood with his feet together atop the Red Sand. To Yochula at this moment, the smile on his face seemed so mild and friendly.
"I heard that before you became a gladiator, you were a fishing slave in the Artificial Sea. You never received combat training, so choosing a tool you find handy was very wise."
"Just like how I used to be someone who specialized in skinning the organs of worms, so I chose daggers."
"Make your move."
The Skinner gestured for Yochula to attack him. "I'll teach you a couple of moves."
"Yes!" Yochula immediately stepped forward and thrust his harpoon at the Skinner.
The Skinner evaded with ease, then cut off Yochula's right arm just as he was preparing to withdraw his weapon.
The Skinner's dagger was exceptionally sharp. Yochula only felt the bone-deep agony after realizing that his right arm was gone.
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