The Bald Man strode ahead, with Harrot close behind. Before long, the two arrived at the Training Ground they had visited during the day.
"You've thoroughly offended Scarface. He'll definitely find a way to kill you. I can block all his other dirty tricks, but there's one thing even I can't do anything about!"
"The gladiatorial matches?"
Harrot asked. As a gladiator, he had to fight in the arena, and The Bald Man would not betray the Count or harm the Gladiatorial Arena's interests.
"Yes. You don't need to worry about fighting other gladiators. I arrange those matches, so I won't make you face powerful opponents repeatedly. But Man-Beast Combat is under his control. As long as he sends out gladiators, beasts, or magical beasts that are reasonably matched according to the rules, I have no authority to interfere with the match."
The Bald Man spoke with some helplessness. These were the Gladiatorial Arena's rules set by the Count, and he had no power to resist them.
"So if he wants to mess with me, he can make me fight those beasts and magical beasts every time, right?"
The Bald Man silently nodded. He hated this feeling of powerlessness.
"But don't worry. The strength of the beasts and magical beasts he arranges will be limited to a certain range. Once they exceed a certain threshold, I'll have grounds to step in and take charge of selecting someone to subdue them."
"I brought you to the Training Ground to train you, so we can make you strong enough to deal with those animals."
The Bald Man looked at Harrot sincerely. He believed Harrot had offended Scarface because of him, and he had a responsibility to help Harrot.
What Harrot lacked was professional training. Although the system's stat boosts had greatly improved his strength, he understood that his combat experience and skills were still far from sufficient. His enemies would not all be as foolish as Stone, blindly clashing head-on with him.
Now, with this legendary gladiator—a super expert who could single-handedly crush a group of fully armed guards—as his coach, Harrot was naturally thrilled.
Without another word, The Bald Man tossed Harrot a two-handed greatsword, then picked up a one-handed sword and a wooden shield himself.
"Come at me with your full strength. Let me first see exactly what you can do!"
Harrot did not hold back. He swung up the greatsword, let out a roar, and charged forward. With his immense 20 Strength, Weapon Mastery Lv. 2, Power Strike Lv. 4, along with 8 Agility and Running Lv. 2, Harrot built up power as he charged, perfectly bringing his abilities into play.
This was precisely the move Stone had used against Harrot during the day. Harrot had unconsciously remembered it then, and the Sword Fighting Manual had mentioned it as well. At this moment, he instinctively used it.
Harrot was like a fierce tiger as he charged before The Bald Man and savagely slashed out with his greatsword.
The blow was simply too powerful. Even The Bald Man frowned slightly. He could not take it head-on!
Although Harrot's Agility was not particularly high, 8 points still put him half again above an ordinary person. Combined with Running Lv. 2, his movement speed was astonishing. The Bald Man had not expected Harrot to be so fast. He had no time to dodge sideways and could only lower his body, brace the shield tightly with his left hand, and meet Harrot's attack.
The instant the greatsword struck the shield, The Bald Man tilted the shield aside, tucked in his body, and slid to the side. He nimbly rolled across the ground a few times before rising again.
Meanwhile, Harrot's Heavy Strike smashed viciously into the ground, carving a small pit into it with the wooden sword.
Having missed, Harrot lost his balance and staggered several steps forward. He had only just steadied himself when The Bald Man attacked. This time, it was Harrot's turn to defend.
Because the one-handed sword was more flexible and faster, Harrot could not read its attack path and had no way to counter it with his greatsword. He could only retreat while blocking.
Though The Bald Man used a sword and shield, his attacks were no weaker. Harrot struggled to block them, and the speed of a two-handed weapon could hardly keep up with a one-handed one. Soon, unable to block in time, Harrot was struck on the shoulder by The Bald Man's sword.
The Bald Man had clearly held back. The wooden sword hitting Harrot's shoulder only made him uncomfortable and did not cost him any health. Still, that was thanks to the damage reduction from the '+10 Armor.' If it had been anyone else, even with The Bald Man holding back, they would have ached for a long while.
After that brief exchange, The Bald Man had roughly grasped Harrot's strength. He was not especially strong, but his potential was enormous.
"Your Weapon Mastery is decent enough, but your fundamentals are lacking. You make too many unnecessary movements, and your stance is far from standard. You can't put out one hundred percent of your strength."
Harrot felt that assessment was entirely correct. He had Weapon Mastery Lv. 2, so he was proficient with weapons, but he had never received specific training. Naturally, his movements were rather amateurish.
"Your offense is fairly capable, but your defense is a complete mess. Your lower body is agile enough, but your upper body is too stiff. You came up through unorthodox means, didn't you? You fight often, but you've never had much systematic training, right?"
No, I didn't even have unorthodox training. My attacks are decent because Power Strike Lv. 4 only gives me its 32% boost when I attack. My footwork is agile for the same reason. I only saw that charging attack during the day, and this was my first time using it.
Harrot silently responded to The Bald Man in his heart.
"Don't be discouraged. Losing to me is nothing shameful. Your strength is actually quite good, and your physical condition is excellent. Your potential is huge. If you train hard, you might even have a chance to surpass me!"
Really? Why do I feel like I'd never surpass you in this life without the system's help?
From their brief exchange, Harrot could roughly estimate The Bald Man's attributes. His Strength was considerably higher than Harrot's, probably around 25. His Agility completely eclipsed Harrot's, at least 15. The difference in attributes alone was at least 12 points, not to mention skill and experience.
Was The Bald Man really a pure human? Pure humans in this world should not have such physical qualities. Harrot's Strength could already be called the human peak; any higher would begin to break human limits.
At the same time, The Bald Man possessed Agility utterly mismatched with his build. No matter how Harrot thought about it, he was no normal person!
Training secretly in the middle of the night made Harrot incredibly excited, and his thoughts became unusually active. Though he did not say a word, he kept grumbling inwardly. Secret special training—this was standard protagonist treatment. How could he not be excited?
"Continue the training!" The Bald Man motioned for Harrot to attack again.
Harrot launched another charged attack, only to have it easily dodged. As The Bald Man evaded, he also kicked Harrot in the backside as he continued charging forward, unable to stop. Earlier, The Bald Man had underestimated Harrot's speed. Now that he understood the situation, someone far faster than Harrot naturally could not fail to dodge such a simple attack.
Already unsteady, then kicked again, Harrot immediately lost control of his body and fell to the ground in a sorry heap.
"You can only attack like that against clumsy, slow enemies. It's unusual for someone as large as you to move so fast, but the other gladiators in the Gladiatorial Arena and those magical beasts are all faster than you!"
"Your advantages are your tremendous strength and vitality beyond that of ordinary people. Steady fighting or trading injury for injury suits you better. Don't use that move too often. Once it gets dodged, it leaves too big an opening!"
Harrot nodded. After getting up from the ground, he did not recklessly attack again. Instead, he began to assess the situation, seriously considering how he could put more pressure on The Bald Man. Even if he could not win, he could not embarrass himself too badly and make The Bald Man look down on him.
Before you continue