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Chapter 796: 796

Chapter 796: Mark Reuss’s Worry

The person responsible for welcoming the gladiators from various gladiator schools was a disabled Slav .

He led the crowd to gather in the arena to let them familiarize themselves with the venue . After everyone arrived, he reiterated the battle rules . In the morning, the beastmaster’s performance would be held first . The arena had collected all kinds of exotic beasts from all over the country . During the performance, the beastmaster could showcase their beast-taming skills on those exotic wild beasts, or they could showcase their appetite to the audience .

Come afternoon; it was the gladiators’ turn to present themselves . Like the show Zhang Heng experienced in the Victor Arena earlier, the Amphitheatrum Flavium was divided into different types of fights . No matter the kind of fight, only the victorious gladiators were qualified to advance to the next battle .

For the final battle, the arena would select seventy-two best gladiators to participate in the final mixed-fight . The situation was very similar to the twelve-man mixed fight that Zhang Heng participated in at the Victor Arena earlier . This time, however, instead of fighting in pairs, the gladiators were asked to do a one-on-one fight . And the ultimate winner would be the champion of this gladiatorial show .

On the surface, this looked like a fair way of fighting, but in fact, that was not the case . As we all knew, there were many types of gladiators . Even the most popular twelve-man mixed fight in the Victor Arena did not include all kinds of gladiators . That was because certain gladiators were more powerful than the rest . For example, Andabata and Eques would generally overpower the other types of gladiators . The former was equipped with a horse, and the latter was given a chariot . Other than that, Sagittarius could use bow and arrow to kill their enemies .

Under normal circumstances, these special gladiators would only fight against the gladiators with the same professions, such as andabata vs . andabata and eques vs . eques .

However, in order to increase the enjoyment, the gladiatorial performance would, for the first time, bring in all types of gladiators to fight against each other . In other words, if the popular gladiators who were previously favored by the public were to fight against a profession that bettered his, the famous gladiator might lose the battle . However, if they somehow managed to beat the gladiators with a more powerful profession, the fame that they received would surely multiply .

When Zhang Heng was familiarizing himself with the venue, he met several old acquaintances . One of the gladiators was given the nickname Giant . His real name was Philos, and he possessed immense strength . The second gladiator was Thracian Danaus from the Isaiah Arena . And the third one was the gladiator that he just offended, Sartonilos . The latter had been glaring at Zhang Heng coldly . Zhang Heng believed that he would not hesitate to kill if he came across an opportunity in the performance later .

Also worth noting were also some special gladiator professions .

After Zhang Heng and others did some warm-up exercises, they were taken to the lounge on the side . There, they were asked to wait until it was their turn to fight . Fortunately, the arena had prepared breakfast and lunch for them, and they could also make use of the two small training rooms next to them .

Afterward, Mark Reuss arrived at the Amphitheatrum Flavium to boost the morale of his gladiators . “Everyone, it’s time to test the promises you made and uphold the honor of the Victor Arena . When you stand in the arena, you are not just representing yourself but the arena behind you . So no matter who your opponent is, don’t be afraid . Show your strength and courage . Nemesis, the goddess of revenge, will always look after you!”

After Mark Reuss finished speaking, he took a special look at Zhang Heng, who also nodded at him .

When Mark Reuss saw that, he felt a little relieved . And he wiped the sweat from his forehead . Although he was not the one about to fight these gladiators, he realized that the battle tomorrow might affect the gladiator schools for at least ten years . In other words, his income would be significantly affected if his gladiators lost in the fight tomorrow . That was why he did not even sleep well last night .

And now he finally understood what Gaby told him earlier . It wouldn’t be easy to control Zhang Heng .

Last night, the conflict between the latter and Sartonilos was definitely something he did not want to see . Fortunately, the outcome was a tie, with Zhang Heng having a slight upper hand . When Mark Reuss weighed the risk-benefit of that battle, he thought that the unexpected battle was completely unnecessary . Winning would bring him little benefit . However, if Zhang Heng lost the battle, Sartonilos would definitely smash his head to a pile of mush . In this case, before the gladiatorial performance began, Victor Arena would be losing a lot of money since their trump card was gone .

Besides, he could also see that Zhang Heng wanted Commodus to favor him, which was in line with his interests . Mark Reuss hoped that the young emperor, Commodus, would notice his gladiator school and visit Victor Arena to watch performances more often . The fact that the emperor visited his arena would be more effective than any publicity attempts so far . However, Zhang Heng did not discuss this matter with him beforehand . He improvised the whole incident instead . At the same time, Mark Reuss felt that Zhang Heng wanted to get close to Commodus and quit his gladiator school . And it made Mark Reuss a little uncomfortable .

But now, he needed Zhang Heng to win this battle for him . He had to suppress all the thoughts and doubts that he had in mind right now . As for other things, they could only be dealt with after the show was over .

If Zhang Heng won the championship, he would be able to step further away from Mark Reuss’s control . Mark Reuss thought that this was the kind of trouble that he was happy to deal with .

Mark Reuss did not stay in the gladiator’s lounge for too long . After encouraging his gladiators, he made a move to the stand reserved for him . And he would watch the gladiatorial show from there .

As soon as Mark Reuss left, another man appeared in front of Zhang Heng .

When Sartonilos got up and walked toward Zhang Heng, the guards in the lounge immediately drew out their weapons and warned Sartonilos . It was strictly forbidden for the gladiators to engage in a fight in the arena lounge . No matter the grudge between the two, they were only allowed to sort it out on the battlefield .

However, Sartonilos ignored those warnings . He walked towards Zhang Heng and said, “I will pray for you, easterner . I want you to win the battles and get promoted to the final brawl . As long as I get my hands on my weapon, whatever happened last night will never happen again . ”

“This is true,” Zhang Heng nodded . “If we all had weapons, what happened last night would have never happened . ”

The lounge guard was forced to call his companion not far away due to the pressure brought by Sartonilos . However, when the other guard arrived in the lounge, Sartonilos had returned to his seat and had stopped glaring at Zhang Heng .

And it did not take long for everyone to hear the footsteps and noise coming from above their heads . They knew that the audience had begun to enter the arena .

This time, the gladiatorial show was funded by the royal family and prepared by the senate with the goal of entertaining the people of the city of Rome . Hence, they did not charge any fees from them . Although the arena had ninety-thousand seats, it was still not enough to fit all the people in Rome . That was because the population of Rome was 1 . 5 million .

Among them, the nobles had their own designated seats . The commoners, on the other hand, would be given a domino block with their seat number, gate number, and zone engraved . It was somewhat similar to the concert tickets of later generations . It was to ensure that everyone could enter the arena in an orderly manner .

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