48 Hours a Day

The morning performance had nothing to do with Zhang Heng and the others. After showing up, the group of gladiators returned to the lounge, waiting for their turn to fight.

Blood and death were stirring the nerves of the spectators in the stands all the time. The spectators’ shouts and cheers made the wooden planks above their heads creak, where dust escaped the gaps and fell on everyone’s hair and shoulders, not unlike ashes from a raging fire. The lounge, however, was extremely quiet, as if it were another world.

However, if one thought that the beast was asleep, the person would be making a grave mistake.

There they lay in the dark, grinding their teeth and sharpening their claws, waiting for their turn to kill. But until the last moment, no one knew who the prey or hunter was.

With continuous bursts of cheers and screams, the beastmasters’ show finally came to an end. The excellent beastmasters slaughtered one hundred grumpy bison. Some, however, were gored by the bison’s horns, and some were trampled to death by them.

The blood of humans and beasts stained the arena’s yellow sand. Before the audience could admire the heroic posture of those beastmasters, the next event had begun. The moment that belonged to the gladiators had finally arrived.

The vendors shuttled through the stands, peddling snacks such as pine nuts, walnuts, figs, olives, and small bread. In addition, they sold comfortable cushions and rose water with a charming fragrance. After shouting for a long time, the vendors’ voices became hoarse. During this short break, the spectators would visit the nearest fountain to relieve their thirst so that they could continue to cheer for their favorite gladiators.

Out of the seven players from the Victor Arena, the first gladiator that fought the first battle was Habitus. He did not look too happy. Being the first one to fight was actually quite important. If he won the first game, he would be able to inspire and boost the gladiators’ morale after him. However, since he was one of the strongest gladiators from the Victor Arena, it was not his role to do such a thing. He should be in Zhang Heng’s position, which was to fight last. If he was not allowed to do that, he should at least take Bach’s position.

Instead, Mark Ruess had arranged for him to fight first by Mark Reuss. In other words, he was only the third most crucial gladiator to Mark Reuss. Naturally, this insulted Habitus. The most important thing for him to do right now was to claim the first victory. Even if he did not care about Victor Arena, he had to take care of his reputation at least.

Earlier, Habitus had gone to look for his trainer for a warmup and a mental state adjustment. Until his name was called, he followed the person in charge of the elevator under the arena. The whole battle lasted for about fifteen minutes. From time to time, the crowd would cheer until the end of the battle. After that, Habitus walked back to the lounge alone. His left arm and chest had a stab wound, but it was not that severe. After he dealt with his injuries, he returned to his seat.

His return caused many to look at him enviously. One had to know that the gladiators who qualified to participate in this battle were not weak. Since Habitus managed to end the battle in such a short time and only suffered some minor injuries, it reflected his extraordinary strength.

After Habitus sat down, several gladiators from the Victor Arena also congratulated him. Right now, the gladiators that he cared about the most were Bach and Zhang Heng. And he found that Bach had gone to the training room long ago. As for Zhang Heng, he was holding the two Persian swords that Mark Reuss gave him and was taking a nap in the corner.

“Is he underestimating his opponents?” Habitus sneered. The one thing that a gladiator should avoid was carelessness. No matter how strong a gladiator was, he would eventually lose the battle if he let his guard down.

Sartonilos shared the same thought too. As of now, he had also ended his first battle. The trump card of a small gladiator school, the opponent that he fought against was quite powerful. After some twists and turns at the end, Sartonilos still managed to defeat him without much hassle. His opponent was lucky enough to surrender in time, and the spectators decided to spare his life because he fought well. Immediately, he left the arena. The battle after that had nothing to do with him.

But unlike Habitus, Sartonilos did not want Zhang Heng to be eliminated before he fought him. He wanted to face him again and redeem himself from the shame he experienced from the battle last night.

As time went by, fewer and fewer people were left in the lounge.

Except for Zhang Heng, the other six fighters from Victor Arena had already completed their first battle. Four of them won their first fight, and the others suffered great losses. One of them managed to keep his life, and the other was killed on the battlefield. Apart from that, one of the winners was seriously injured. At the moment, he was receiving treatment in the medical room. No one knew if he could participate in the next battle.

Mark Reuss was somewhat satisfied with this result. After all, the participants in this competition were the elites of the gladiator school. It was quite a huge achievement for Victor Arena to achieve more than 60% of the winning rate. He was pleased to see that Bach and Habitus defeated their opponents easily.

However, the gladiator that he paid the most attention to was still Zhang Heng and his performance. To wait for Zhang Heng to appear on the fighting ground, Mark Reuss even forgot to drink water, and the corners of his lips were blistered.

…

“Zhang Heng, Cincinnati, it’s your turn.”

When Zhang Heng heard someone calling his name, he woke up, yawned, and walked towards the elevator with his two Persian swords. A kind gladiator behind him reminded, “You forgot your helmet.”

“Thank you, but I don’t need it.” Zhang Heng waved his hand.

His figure then disappeared outside the door.

Such brazen arrogance caused the quiet lounge to come alive again. However, it did not take long for their noise to be overwhelmed by the burst of cheers from the stands.

Sartonilos frowned, and he was a little puzzled. Looking at the time, the two should have just stood in the fighting ground not too long ago. With Zhang Heng’s current popularity, it would be impossible that he could get so much support during his introduction. Even if the audience was cheering for him, it was not possible for the cheers to last for so long.

However, the shock in his heart at this moment was not as great as Zhang Heng’s opponent, Cincinnati.

The latter was now kneeling on one knee, looking at the broken trident in his hand, with a look of fear and disbelief.

Just when the judge waa to introduce the two of them to the audience, Zhang Heng interrupted him. Cincinnati then heard Zhang Heng spoke, “You can do it when the fight is over.”

After he finished speaking, he rushed towards Cincinnati, and what happened next was something Cincinnati would never forget.

Zhang Heng’s feet stepped on the ground, bent his calves slightly, and he leaped into the air. He then bent his body like a crescent moon, his strength and balance well-calibrated. Cincinnati, however, did not have the time and the mood to admire him.

Zhang Heng’s swords were about to land on top of his head. Cincinnati slid half a step back in accordance to his previous fighting habits, and then blocked the attack with his trident.

A few seconds later, he saw Zhang Heng’s swords cut his trident into half, and stop in front of his forehead.

After that, Zhang Heng put away his sword, ignored the dumbfounded referee, turned around, and walked towards the lounge.

The audience went silent for a while before letting out a deafening roar, the craziest applause since the show’s beginning. No matter which gladiator they had been supporting, all of them were awe-inspired by the easterner and his arrogant way of ending the battle.