Due to deal restructure text to speech player is currently unavailable. Will find a solution soon.

Chapter 759: 759

Chapter 759: Your Turn

After forty-nine days, Mark Reuss appeared at the balcony on the second floor again . This time, the two female slaves that came with him had been replaced by a Persian and a Parthian . They were doing their best to serve him as he sat in a chair .

Mark Reuss, however, didn’t seem too happy because the arena’s attendance rate had dropped again in the past two months . He had to increase the number of battles Habitus had to execute every month, and even that only managed to bring back some audience to the arena . Simultaneously, the greedy Habitus had also taken the opportunity to ask for a larger share and his commitment to growing him as the school’s trump card .

On the other hand, Mark Reuss had also got some political news from the front line . It seemed like the new emperor, Commodus, was unwilling to take over the mess left by his father, Aurelius, and he was preparing to negotiate with the Germanic . This was not good news to Mark Reuss because prisoners of war played an essential part in his gladiator’s pool . Most of the highly-talented gladiators were prisoners of war, not to mention that he had been busy looking for Sethnets’s successor . Mark Reuss could only pin all his hopes on Bach .

According to the tradition, a great gladiator show would be held each time a new emperor was crowned . In order to win the hearts of the people, this show was admission free and would be held in the Flavian Amphitheater, the largest arena in the entire Roman Empire . The arena funded by the royal family took 80,000 slaves and eight years to build and could accommodate up to 90,000 spectators . Considering its age, it had to be said that this was one of history’s greatest architectural wonders .

An arena without gladiators would be pointless, seeing how they were the highlight of the show .

Although the royal family also owned a gladiator school, it was not large enough to support a grand performance like this . It required the cooperation of several gladiator schools from the private sector to supply them with their gladiators . Of course, that didn’t come free of charge . After all, growing and training gladiators were known to be costly . However, since this performance’s nature was to win the hearts of the people, there would be no income, and the organizers had to bear the cost .

And asking money from the nobles and emperor was no easier than asking for money from the commoners .

Mark Reuss would lose a lot of money if he asked for too little money from the organizer, but he was afraid it would offend the powerful or the emperor if he asked too much . If that were to happen, he would not be able to stay in Rome anymore . Usually, Mark Reuss would choose to overlook the slight loss . By doing that, not only did he get to show his goodwill to the emperor, but he would not lose too much money too .

Still, this was something genuinely annoying to him .

Marco Cruz came to inspect his goods with all those troubles and dissatisfaction for the new emperor . He had spent a lot of money on this batch of slaves and had to know if the money he spent on them was worth it .

The order of the battle was decided by the lots drawn yesterday . After Gaby paid a respectful salute to Mark Reuss, he began to organize the assessment . The rules of the battles were the same as the gladiator performances, except that they would be using wooden weapons this time . In a one-on-one battle, each gladiator could only use one weapon . A sneak attack from the back was an act that the audience would despise . The other side could not attack his opponents if he admitted defeat . Besides, a trainer would be there to act as a referee during the battle .

After confirming that everyone understood the rules, Gabi started the roll call .

The first gladiator candidate that stepped on the stage was Griff . A Roman citizen, it seemed he was in luck . His opponent was a young man who had just become a gladiator for half a year . He was a little younger than the gladiator candidate, and his combat experience was not as rich . Nonetheless, the young gladiator won after a rather lengthy battle . The gladiator candidate didn’t fight back, but he managed to catch Griff’s weakness, eventually defeating him .

Gabi then commented, “You should concentrate more on the battle . You did fine during the first half, but later, you seemed distracted . And your attacks were not decisive enough . It is good to be cautious of your opponent, but sometimes, the situation requires you to make quick decisions . Even a wrong decision is better than hesitation . ”

Griff looked a little frustrated when he heard the comment . He knew that Gaby was telling the truth . The fact that he was a newcomer, and this was the final assessment that determined his fate, it was inevitable that he would overthink everything . Sometimes he would hesitate to attack when he saw his opponent’s flaws, worried that it could be a trap . Hence, he missed a lot of good opportunities .

After Gaby watched Griff for a long while, trying his best to fight his opponent, he announced, “You pass the assessment . ”

Griff’s expression instantly turned from worry to joy, and Gaby did not say anything after that . He let him stay in the room on the west side .

After Griff was a slave named Galata’s turn . His opponent was a well-known gladiator with three years of combat experience . If Griff was cautious of his enemy, Galata acted like he was going to face an invincible nemesis .

As soon as his opponent made a move, Galata quickly took a few steps back . And Gaby was displeased by his response . Fortunately, Galata soon realized that his action was going to cause him to lose some points . In order to make up for his big mistake, he ditched his defensive posture and started to attack his opponent .

However, his opponent keenly noticed the flaws in his attack and evaded Galata’s attack easily, managing to place his training sword on the latter’s neck in the next second . The battle did not last very long, and he won easily . Immediately, Galata’s face turned pale .

He looked at Gaby with an imploring gaze, but the latter remained unmoved . Gaby then announced in a merciless voice, “You’ve made bad decisions during the battle . You attacked your opponent without any plan, and your ability to respond to attacks is worse than a pig . You fail the assessment . Go to the house in the east . ”

“For the sake of the hard work that I put in my training, please give me another chance . I wasn’t well prepared this time . Next time… the next time, I will not make this kind of mistake again,” pleaded Galata . He knew all too well what going to the house in the east meant . Since he failed the assessment and wasn’t a Roman citizen like Griff, the only fate that awaited him would be getting sent to the mines .

“But death will never give you a second chance, my child,” Gaby continued coldly . After that, he blinked, and two trainers pulled Galata away, who had almost collapsed on the ground .

On the second floor, Mark Reuss had not said a word, eating a fig peeled by a female slave next to him .

Having not much interest in the previous battles, the only thing that he really cared about was Bach . Today was the deadline he gave Gaby . He wanted to see how much improvement Bach had made after the hellish training given by Gaby . After all, he was the appointed successor of Sethnets . However, Bach’s battle was arranged almost at the end of the assessment . Hence, Mark Reuss could only wait patiently .

Once Galata was dragged away, Gaby spoke again .

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

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters .