Late Night Special Training

The Bald Man strode ahead, Harrot following closely. Soon, they arrived back at the Training Ground they had visited earlier that day.

"You've severely offended Scarface. He'll certainly try to kill you. I can stop him from using all sorts of underhanded tactics, but there's one thing I can't do anything about!"

"Gladiatorial matches?" Harrot asked. As a Gladiator, he had to participate in matches. The Bald Man wouldn't betray the Count or harm the Gladiatorial Arena's interests.

"Yes, you don't need to worry about fights against other Gladiators. I'm in charge of arranging those, and I won't let you face strong opponents consecutively. However, the 'Man-Beast Fights' are his responsibility to arrange. As long as he dispatches reasonably matched Gladiators and wild beasts or Magical Beasts according to the rules, then I have no right to interfere with the progress of the match."

The Bald Man spoke with a hint of helplessness. These were the Gladiatorial Arena rules set by the Count, and he was powerless to defy them.

"So, if he wants to mess with me, he can make me fight those wild 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 wild beasts and Magical Beasts he arranges will be limited to a certain range. Once their strength exceeds a certain boundary, I'll have reason to intervene and take charge of selecting the challengers."

"I brought you to the Training Ground to train you, to try and make you strong enough to deal with those creatures."

The Bald Man looked sincerely at Harrot. He believed Harrot had offended Scarface because of him, and he felt responsible for helping Harrot.

What Harrot lacked was professional training. Although the System's stat allocation had significantly boosted his strength, he knew his combat experience and skills were still far from enough. Not all enemies would be as foolish as rocks, stubbornly clashing with him head-on.

Now, with this legendary Gladiator—a super expert capable of single-handedly beating up a group of fully armed guards—as his coach, Harrot was naturally overjoyed.

Without further ado, The Bald Man tossed Harrot a two-handed greatsword and picked up a one-handed sword and a wooden shield himself.

"Attack me with your strongest move. I want to understand your actual strength first!"

Harrot didn't stand on ceremony. He swung the greatsword, let out a roar, and charged forward. With a super high strength of 20 points, Weapon Mastery Lv2, and Power Strike Lv4, combined with 8 points of agility and Running Lv2, Harrot maximized his strength, charging and building momentum simultaneously.

This move was precisely the one Stone had used to attack Harrot earlier that day. Harrot had subconsciously memorized it, and when he later looked at the Sword Fighting Manual, the book also mentioned this move. Harrot now found himself instinctively using it.

At this moment, Harrot was like a fierce tiger, charging towards The Bald Man and powerfully slashing out with the greatsword in his hands.

The power of this strike was immense. Even the powerful Bald Man couldn't help but frown. He couldn't take it head-on!

Although Harrot's agility wasn't very high, 8 points were still more than half of a normal person's. Combined with Running Lv2, his movement speed was incredibly fast. The Bald Man hadn't expected Harrot's speed to be so quick. He didn't have time to dodge left or right, so he could only lower his body and brace his shield tightly with his left hand to meet Harrot's attack.

The instant the greatsword met the shield, The Bald Man skewed the shield, shrank his body, and slid to the side. He deftly rolled a few times on the ground and stood back up.

Harrot's heavy strike slammed into the ground, carving a small pit with the wooden sword.

Harrot's missed sword swing threw him off balance, making him stumble a few steps forward. Just as he managed to regain his footing, The Bald Man attacked. It was now Harrot's turn to defend.

Since the one-handed sword was more flexible and faster, Harrot couldn't predict the attack trajectory and couldn't strike back with his greatsword. He could only retreat while parrying.

Although The Bald Man used a sword and shield, his power was by no means weak. Harrot found parrying quite difficult, and how could a two-handed weapon keep up with a one-handed one? Soon, Harrot was unable to parry in time and was struck on the shoulder by The Bald Man's sword.

The Bald Man had clearly held back his strength. The wooden sword hitting Harrot's shoulder only made him uncomfortable; he didn't lose any health. However, this was also thanks to the damage reduction from his '+10 Armor'. For anyone else, even if The Bald Man held back, it would have hurt for a long time.

After this brief exchange, The Bald Man had a general understanding of Harrot's strength: not very strong, but with great potential.

"Your weapon mastery is decent, but your basic moves are subpar. You have too many superfluous movements, and your posture is very unstandardized, preventing you from exerting 100% of your power."

Harrot acknowledged that this was correct. He had Weapon Mastery Lv2, so he was proficient with weapons, but he hadn't received specific training, so his movements were certainly amateurish.

"Your offense is pretty good, but your defense is a mess. Your lower body is flexible, but your upper body is too stiff. You must be self-taught, often fighting but without much systematic training, right?"

No, I'm not even self-taught. My offense is good because Power Strike Lv4 gives me a 32% bonus only when I attack. My agile footwork is also due to a skill. And that charging attack move? I only saw it for the first time today. This is my first time using it.

Harrot silently responded to The Bald Man's words in his mind.

"Don't be discouraged. Losing to me isn't shameful. Your strength is actually quite good, and your physical condition is excellent. Your potential is great. If you train hard, you might even surpass me!"

Really? How come I feel like I'll never surpass you in this lifetime without the System's help!

Through their brief exchange, Harrot could roughly estimate The Bald Man's stats. His strength was much higher than his own, probably around 25 points, and his agility completely outclassed him, at least 15 points. The attribute point difference alone was at least 12 points, not to mention skill and experience.

Is this Bald Man a pure human? Pure humans in this world probably don't have this kind of physical ability. Harrot's strength can be said to be at the peak of human ability; anything higher would break human limits.

At the same time, The Bald Man possesses agility completely disproportionate to his physique. No matter how I think about it, he's not normal!

The secret training late at night made Harrot incredibly excited, and his mind was particularly active. Although he said nothing aloud, he kept complaining inwardly. Secret training, this is a protagonist's standard! How could I not be excited?

"Let's continue training!" The Bald Man gestured for Harrot to attack him again.

Harrot launched another charged attack, which was easily dodged. As The Bald Man dodged, he also kicked Harrot's backside as Harrot, unable to stop, continued to rush forward. He had underestimated Harrot's speed before, but now that he knew the situation, The Bald Man, whose speed was far superior to Harrot's, naturally couldn't fail to dodge such a simple attack.

Already unstable, and then kicked, Harrot immediately lost control of his body and fell awkwardly to the ground.

"You can only attack like that against clumsy, slow enemies. It's rare for someone your size to be so fast, but the other Gladiators and Magical Beasts in the arena are all faster than you!"

"Your advantages are your powerful strength and your extraordinary vitality. Fighting steadily or trading blows is more suitable for you. Don't use this kind of move too often; once it's dodged, the opening is too big!"

Harrot nodded. After getting up from the ground, he didn't blindly attack again. Instead, he began to analyze the situation, seriously considering how to put more pressure on The Bald Man. Even if he couldn't win, he couldn't be too embarrassing and let The Bald Man look down on him.