The gladiatorial performance on the second day ended peacefully. No drama or unexpected incidents happened during the fight. All the powerful gladiators that everyone had high hopes for had entered the final list for the third day of the performance. However, ten unexpected gladiators had also entered the list, differing from everyone’s predictions before the performance.
Among them, the gladiators from various gladiator schools in the city occupied most of the positions. As for the schools outside the city, save for Terifelos, the talented Giant, only a dozen of their gladiators made it to the final battle list.
This was not the outcome the gladiators from outside the city expected. Just like the unlucky gladiator who provoked Sartonilos had said, the gladiators outside the city had to go on a tour to perform and challenge the other gladiators all the time. Technically speaking, their combat experience should be more affluent than those “pampered” gladiators in the city. And since their living environment was challenging, they should be tougher than the gladiators from inside the city.
However, the reality was often ruthless.
The gladiators who had the highest win rate were gladiators called “ladies’ toys” and lived in Rome’s city. This is actually quite normal. The living conditions of these gladiators in the city were much better than those outside. Naturally, they had more time for training instead of wasting their time and energy, traveling back and forth to perform. This made them better and stronger. Besides, they had specialized doctors to deal with their injuries and illnesses.
The most crucial point was that gladiators’ value in the city was generally higher than those outside the city. In terms of average price, their price had doubled against them.
Therefore, slave traders were naturally willing to sell better and stronger gladiators to the gladiator schools in the city. Some gladiators from outside the city were even sold to the city’s gladiator schools at a high price after becoming famous. In contrast, the gladiators’ combat experience from outside the city was not enough to close the gap between them and the gladiators from inside the city.
Therefore, this outcome was something that everyone expected. After the performance, Zhang Heng took the school’s donkey cart back to his residence as usual.
He had deliberately chosen a later time to return home because he wanted to wait for most of the audience to leave the arena first. By doing that, he could avoid the harassment of some extreme admirers. Habitus, Bach, and others were also with him.
By the end of the second day, only four gladiators were left fighting for the Victor Arena. They were Zhang Heng, Bach, Habitus, and a veteran gladiator called Murkazan. Although everyone was from the same gladiator school, there was not much conversation between them as they made their way home. Perhaps they knew that they would fight against each other tomorrow. Hence, the atmosphere was a little quiet.
After a while, Zhang Heng did not expect Habitus to speak first.
“Sartonilos and Danaos were discussing how to deal with you.”
Bach sneered, “Is it a bit late to build a relationship? Everyone knows about this matter now.”
“But you guys don’t know what Sartonilos’s and Danaus’s plans are,” Habitus said.
“Oh?” Zhang Heng leaned back and readied himself to listen to what Habitus had to say.
“I know you don’t like me, and honestly, I don’t like you either.” Habitus looked into Bach’s eyes, “If I have a chance, I want to punch your stupid, arrogant face, and you,” Habitus looked at Zhang Heng again. “You think you are better than everyone. You look down on us. All of us are from the same school, but Victor Arena’s attendance rate would definitely increase if you win the championship. Although I don’t want to admit it, it will actually do me a lot of good if there is more audience.”
“So?”
“So I pretended to become a part of Sartonilos’s plan, just to see what sort of plan they had for you,” Habitus said. “They plan to mix some herbal medicine that can weaken your body, and they are going to put it in your lunch at noon tomorrow secretly.”
“There is such an herb?” Bach was a little surprised when he heard what Habitus said.
“This is Rome, not the poor place a barbarian like you comes from. There are so many things you haven’t seen and heard before,” sneered Habitus.
Bach was furious when he heard what Habitus said. “We barbarians who crawl out of our poor villages do not use dirty tricks on our opponents. A victory like this is meaningless.”
Habitus did not take it seriously. “If you have been a gladiator long enough and have experienced enough battles, you will know that staying alive is the most important thing. And the best way to survive is always to win.”
“No wonder I don’t like you when I see you. Although you are quite powerful, you disgust me,” Bach spat.
“You better keep your mouth clean,” Habitus’s face darkened. “Otherwise, you better pray that you will not fight me tomorrow.”
“Oh, I have been waiting for a long time to repay the grudge that we had when we met for the first time.” Bach stood up from his seat without fear.
Another gladiator named Murkazan saw that the situation was deteriorating and decided to be the peacemaker. He stood up to stand in front of Bach and Habitus and said, “Okay. Everyone, stop arguing, calm down. If you have any grievances, you can resolve them at the arena tomorrow.”
Bach snorted. Just when he was about to sit down, Murkazan took a dagger out of nowhere and stabbed it into Bach’s chest.
“This has nothing to do with you. You better don’t move,” Murkazan warned.
When Murkazan stabbed Bach, Habitus also took out a small razor and rushed to Zhang Heng on the other side.
All of this happened in a split second. Just a moment ago, Habitus confessed that he had pretended to partner up with Sartonilos and the others to find out how he planned to deal with Zhang Heng. And in the next moment, he attacked Zhang Heng without any warning.
He and Murkazan had planned this attack earlier. One of them would control Bach, while the other attacked the defenseless Zhang Heng.
When Habitus looked into Zhang Heng’s eyes, he had a bad feeling because he saw that Zhang Heng was not panicked.
He was just looking at him calmly.
Habitus immediately saw the light reflecting from the knife, and two of his fingers holding the razor blade fell on the ground. When blood started to gush out from the cut, Habitus began to feel the pain.
He knew that Zhang Heng was an extremely powerful warrior. Initially, he planned to use his words to lower Zhang Heng’s guard. After that, he would attack him when the Asian man no longer suspected him. However, he did not expect Zhang Heng to mount a counterattack with his lightning-speed swords.
