48 Hours a Day

Chapter 773: First Fight Arrangement

“Bach versus Rufus.”

As soon as Gaby finished speaking, a look of surprise flashed across the faces of each new gladiator. And they could not help but start whispering to each other.

No one expected Gaby to have come here today. Although everyone here had passed the final assessment and became gladiators, it was illogical to send anyone to fight in the arena right now. They were supposed to go through months of training before they had their first battle in the Victor Arena. However, some unfortunate ones who did not do well in training would be sent to fight with other gladiators. And usually, they would die fighting in the arena.

However, Bach was the strongest among the rookie gladiators this year. It would be impossible that Mark Reuss gave up on him so early.

And this time, he was asked to fight Rufus, also known as the Black Sickle.

Rufus was a protector by profession. Falling under the category of retiarius, it was a relatively rare profession. His weapons of choice usually consisted of a trident and a fishing net. As for armor, he had a pair of metal sleeves and full body armor. The metal sleeves would cover the entire arm, used as a shield to block damage with the full-body armor. It would make up for the weak defense of the retiarius. Simultaneously, the metal sleeves would also be equipped with a sickle-shaped blade, which could be used as a weapon when necessary.

Unlike the retiarius, the protector was a profession that everyone did not want to encounter.

Besides, Rufus was considered one of the best protectors. Although not as famous as Habitus, his popularity was close to that of Garba. If one were to choose one of them as an opponent, any sane person with the right mind would pick Garba.

Garba’s age and the years he spent fighting for Victor Arena had earned him a lot of fame. On the other hand, Rufus, the Black Sickle, gained his fame mainly from winning battles. And he was twenty-six years old this year. It was the golden age of a gladiator. With a total of three years of gladiator experience and coupled with his career in the military, his body and mind were at their pinnacle.

As compared to Rufus, Bach was just a rookie that was going to fight in the arena for the first time. No matter how talented he was, no matter how high of hope Mark Reuss had on him, it was still not right to make him face an opponent like Black Sickle in his first battle.

If it were not because Gaby customized a lot of individual training for Bach earlier, all the newcomers would have thought that Bach had offended the gladiator school head. And that was why they made him face such a powerful opponent.

However, Bach showed no fear when he heard the name of his opponent. Instead, he snorted and harrumphed, “Who the hell is Black Sickle. He is unlucky that I’m about to fight him in the arena.”

Seeing how Gaby changed the final assessment’s format and made them fight formal gladiators, some friction had erupted between the newcomers and veteran gladiators. As a representative of the newcomers, Bach would not act all polite and pleasant towards his opponent. Besides, the Germanic were not the kind of people who practiced politeness.

Black Sickle, on the other hand, was calmer. He showed no provocative actions nor said any offensive words to Bach. However, when he heard the arrangement of the battle, a smile appeared on his face. And the gladiators around him also congratulated him one after another. To them, Black Sickle was lucky that he was not going to face a challenging and tricky opponent.

Although they had also heard some rumors about Bach, including how Mark Reuss valued him and wanted him to be the successor of Sethnets, it didn’t change the fact that Bach was a rookie in the arena. If Black Sickle failed to defeat a rookie like Bach, all the fame that he gained so far would be in vain.

On the other side, Gaby had ignored the reactions of the people below him entirely and continued to think about the battle arrangement.

After a bunch of unfamiliar names was called, two more familiar names entered the rookies’ ears.

“Zhang Heng, Varo, Nasica, Sulpicius... twelve people, mixed fight.”

The newcomers were surprised that they heard Bach’s name in the battle arrangement. Now, they were looking at Zhang Heng and Varo with sympathy.

A twelve-man-mixed-fight was a veteran show in the Victor Arena, and it was also one of the most popular performances.

The reason was very simple. The twelve-man mixed fight was often brutal and exciting.

The rules were simple. Twelve of them would form a team and fight with another group of people. The winning team would have to search for their next target. At the same time, two or more teams were not allowed to attack the same team. In the end, the last team left standing would be the winner.

Other than testing their combat skills, the team members were required to have a tacit understanding of the other team members. Besides, for support, the tag-team fighting also required sufficient stamina.

The two teams that lasted the end of the battle would usually have bodies marred by wounds. And that was what made the fight even more exciting.

There were myriad skills involved in the twelve-man-mixed-fight. The gladiator school, for instance, would arrange a strong team to attract the attention of the audience. After that, they would toss in a couple of less famous but relatively good teams to fight with the strong team. Lastly, to ensure the audience enjoyed watching the duel and reducing the star gladiators’ costs and casualties, some newcomers and ordinary gladiator teams would be included in the mixed-fight.

Zhang Heng and Varo were obviously playing the last role.

Among them, hearing Varo’s name was not that surprising to others. During his fight with Habitus, everyone thought that he would lose the fight in a matter of seconds. Out of sheer luck, he managed to pass the assessment with the sudden burst of a dazzling performance. It was understandable why Gaby would include him in the twelve-man mixed fight. It was going to be impossible for him to win in this battle. However, if he managed to put up a good show again, the audience would ask the arena to spare his life. On the other hand, Zhang Heng getting selected surprised all the rookies.

That was because Zhang Heng performed extremely well in his final assessment, and he defeated the well-known Garba. Besides, he was also one of the few rookies that passed the assessment by defeating his opponent. Coupled with his identity as an Oriental man, he should be valuable for the arena. Hence, no one could figure out why he was included.

And among the opponents they had to face was Nasika. The latter was more famous than Rufus and possessed a combat style far more brutal. His nickname, Bone Shatterer, should tell his opponents that he was not one to be trifled with. Besides, he was also a frequent fighter in the twelve-man mix fight. His brutal attacks would always result in blood and flesh splattered on the arena’s ground. Hence, that was why he was so popular among the audience. He was one of the few gladiators that earned a lot of money for the arena.

Varo felt a little nervous when he heard his name, especially when Nasika glared at him and made a thumbs-down gesture, which meant that he would destroy him in the arena.

On the other hand, when Varo heard Gaby calling out Zhang Heng’s name, he quickly looked at Zhang Heng and saw no change in his expression. He still looked calm. He then remembered Zhang Heng was the one that taught him how to mess with Habitus, and it made Varo calmed down a lot.

Anyway, this was not the worst-case scenario for him. At least compared to the others, Zhang Heng and he were close, meaning they would have better teamwork when partnered up. However, when compared to the other groups, they were undoubtedly at a disadvantage. Varo even wanted to go to a temple and ask about his recent stroke of bad luck.