Chapitre 42: LEVELS
"you madman! You just killed a promising fighter." Heisn shook his head sadly as he looked at the beast tearing the two dead fighters into pieces.
"I know." The officiator shrugged. "And I'm not sorry" he concluded as he rose from his seat among the officials to address the crowd.
Meanwhile, a group of special workers in the colosseum had just been deployed to shoo away the beast back into the Eastern holding room. This group was the 'dangerous-beast squad'. A group that dealt with capturing, taming, and executing wild beasts for the officiator.
One of the people in charge of picking the fighters for the next fight made his way toward the officiator and whispered the names of the two chosen fighters who will be fighting next to the officiator who nodded before sending him away. The names were going to be mentioned the moment the beast squad got the beast out of the sandy arena.
"Thank the gods I didn't lose any money from this fight." More than one spectator said in relief after the first fight.
"The officiator is a sadistic prick! He just killed my most promising slave who I've been training since last year." One of the people watching the fight cried out. He watched as the beast squad used the body of his slave as bait to lure the lion back into the Eastern holding room.
"Tough luck man. Just bet wisely and you'll have enough for a new slave in no time." Another Norse man sitting by the slave owner replied sympathetically Whiles waiting for the next fight.
Inside the western holding room where all the slaves were gathered, Joda shook his head in sadness at the passing of Furman. The slave had looked promising out there and would have probably won the duel if the officiator had not played dirty.
The slaves watched in silence as the beast squad used the fallen fighters as bait without any remorse. It was clear that no one gave a damn about their lives the moment they got signed to join the tournament. It was a win-or-die affair, and no one cared about those who died enough to even pay any respect to their bodies. Talk of burying them.
Shuffling of feet behind some of the slaves announced the movement of a new batch of fighters who were being led away to the north and south holding rooms where they will prepare for the confrontation before being announced to the spectating crowd.
"Good luck bro," one of the new fighters said to the other who had been picked to go do battle and some of the slaves followed his example as they wished the picked fighters luck Whiles some of them heeded the officiator's advice and kept to themselves. Joda included. The colosseum was not the place to make friends and he knew it.
It took a little longer to get the lion back into its den and the beast squad had to be alert at all times as they poked and prodded it with their long poles. It took eight of them to do what the officiator had expected from two fighters and the irony did not escape the watching crowd nor the officials who gave him the stink eye every now and then.
"Don't ever do that again. The thing with the beast. Don't ever unleash it on anyone again. Let the newbies fight each other to gain some experience before you try to kill them unjustly." Orion voiced out his opinion and the other officials and nobles nodded their agreement with him. None knowing that he only said what he did because he was worried about his own fighter.
"Do you know who a god of the arena is? Do you know what a god of the arena is capable of?" The officiator asked calmly.
"A god is not just a good expert. A god is a dangerous fighter who can single-handedly eliminate at least four expert fighters on his own without help. Two gods can deal with a beast like that lion. And it's evident that the first fighters were no gods." The officiator continued without waiting for the others to reply.
"How ridiculous!" One of the nobles called Vheysaf shot back. "The first fighters were not even experts. They were only newbies with no experience. At least give them the time to grow and feel comfortable first before springing impossible odds against them." The noble continued.
"Oh. Seems you don't know. You see, experts are just that. Experts. They're no different from lucky newbies. And I need no lucky experts. That's just boring. I need gods. And one thing about gods, they're not made. They are born. They need no experience to win against impossible odds. They are a body of impossibility." The officiator revealed to his still doubtful audience before raising his megaphone to his mouth and announcing the next fight to the gathered spectators who roared in anticipation.
The next fight was between two complete novices. It was a bout between a scared polearm user and an inexperienced sword user. The fight started off normally and both fighters tried their best to end the other before the officiator released another surprise on them. Not like he planned to anyway.
The polearm user had decent skills. Enough to hurt the sword user who everyone could tell was a complete beginner. But the two fighters' attitude was completely different. Whiles the polearm user was scared of his much larger opponent and also kept looking towards the East Gate, the sword user was completely confident in his lacking skills and didn't give a damn about the eastern gate.
Both fighters clashed repeatedly in the middle of the arena. Pole against sword. One desired distance Whiles the other wanted the contact to deal damage. The crowd watched as the two men exchanged blows. The sword user was getting hit repeatedly but he had endurance like no other. Whether it was because the polearm user's strikes were weak or the sword user just had tough skin, the people didn't know.
The bets were spread out between the two fighters. Some people predicted that the sword user was going to be victorious Whiles others said the opposite. In the end, the first group won the bet when the sword user powered through a particularly nasty hit and rushed to close the distance between him and the surprised polearm user. A single plunge of his sword was all it took to end the fight.
The crowd that had bet on the polearm user groaned in frustration as his lifeless body tumbled to the ground.
"Now that is what I call a lucky win. I don't need such people in my colosseum." The officiator pointed at the polearm user as he addressed the watching officials.
Inside the western holding room, the watching fighters watched another one of their colleagues fall to another. A reminder of what awaited some of them outside.
Joda was standing with his group when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see one of the assistants behind him.
"Follow me, you're up next." The man said and Joda felt his heart skip a beat.
Cadeaux
-- Cadeau
reçu État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone