Chapter 2: Rage

Number 1704 almost frowned looking at the three new beasts but decided that I the management was hell bent on killing him there wasn’t much he could do other than kill the beast or die.

“Well manager you've really outdone yourself if those three beast have only a third of the ridicules abilities that that dragon has then you've certainly killed that gladiator.”

The manager had a smug look on his face as he saw that Number 1704 was not going to survive.

“Yes well, while they do not posses the dragon's over all strength the White Tiger possesses almost as much speed, the Vermilion Bird just as much fire power, and the Black Turtle has much stronger defence. We made them based on an old chinese legend.”

Seeing the sponsor nod the manager looked back to witness a horrid sight. Number 1704 was stabbing his sword deep into the area with the fallen scale. Using his sword Number 1704 stabbed the dragon while ignoring it’s pained crystal and the cheers of the crowd, just when he was breaking to finish it off the white tiger had already reached his location.

The speed of the white tiger wasn’t something he could make light of, so he quickly pulled out his sword and parried the tiger’s claws. Luck was on his side as the tiger despite being astonishingly fast did not have the same ridiculous strength behind his blows that the dragon had.

The dragon seeing that the tiger had arrived looked around the arena and ran to the turtle as soon as it was spotted. Seeing it act this was Number 1704 confirmed a suspicion that he had about the creatures, they knew each other and would likely work well together.

Being a Gladiator raised in the arena for the sole purpose of combat he had faced situations like this before but never against opponents with specs as high as the dragon and tiger, noting the other two he figured that they would have similar strength.

Before he could begin his counter against the tiger it turned around and ran, while wondering if he should give chase to it or the injured dragon he heard a bird’s cry behind him and instinctively moved all the mana in his body towards his legs while jumping away from his current position.

His instincts seemed to have saved him as the area where he was standing a moment ago was scotched, apparently the bird could launch some form of fire attack. Looking down at the arena which now had a battle worth the large amounts of money that they spent the spectators erupted in cheers once more.

“Your dragon seems scared it ran for the turtle, the tiger must be fast but not strong he seemed to parry it’s claws fairly easily.”

The manager despite having his best beast out there cursed Number 1704 with all his might. Every one of those creatures what's worth a fortune and could make more money in the long run than the gladiators could and now that they were out there with that monster clad in human skin one or more of them could be lost before they could take him down. In the worst case scenario after they killed the gladiator the beasts would come to fear other gladiators.

“The Azure Dragon is smarter than all the other beast it will lead the other three and use them appropriately fear is something it does not have.”

Despite his claims the manager knew that it would take a while to have the Azure Dragon recuperate and ready for it’s next public battle. Looking down at the fight the manager was pleasantly surprised by what he saw.

The White Tiger adopted a hit and run method while the Vermilion Bird covered it’s escapes by using fire magic the Black Turtle sold on standby to protect the Azure Dragon and the dragon would occasionally fire it's breath in order to kill the gladiator.

“Your pets seem to be at a stalemate against the gladiator and I dare say that they would each fear him individually. The only one who hasn’t been proven incompetent is the turtle and that seems to be only a matter of time.”

Hearing his precious beasts being ridiculed despite the fact that he felt that they were doing well the manager once more began to silently curse Number 1704. The audience despite seeing the various close encounters that Number 1704 had with the beasts were beginning to grow bored after the stalemate continued for more than a minute.

“MORE BEASTS!”

“GIVE HIM MORE WEAPONS!”

“MORE GLADIATORS!”

“ACTIVATE THE TRAPS!”

The crowd wanted a variety of things some wanted the beasts to win, others wanted Number 1704 to be the victor, while others made more neutral statements such as the activation of traps that could affect both parties.

But a majority of the spectators wanted to witness the victory of Number 1704 as it would mean that a dragon slaying hero would be born and not only a dragon slayer but a true war hero who persevered against all odds like those in fables.

“The crowd wishes for the victory of the gladiator while you want nothing more than the victory of your pets, what will you do?”

The sponsor was having a great time not only watching the struggle between man and beast but also the internal struggle of the manager.

“Then I should break the stalemate they seem to be in before the crowd and more importantly the fighter become exhausted.”

The manager knew very well the stamina limits that each of the beast had and they would surely give out before the monster that they called a gladiator ever would.

“Activate the traps make sure to aim at the gladiator, set off the occasional trap on the beasts to keep the audience thinking that it’s a fair fight.”

Giving his instructions to one of the guards the manager looked back at the fight between man and beast that continued it’s stalemate only he had missed something as the tiger had a deep cut running down it’s left side and Number 1704 was now charging straight towards the Vermilion bird.

“Haha you've missed the good part it seems you might be too late to save your precious pets.”

While laughing the sponsor’s eyes never left the ongoing battle. After being harassed by three beasts Number 1704 finally injured the tiger he took the opportunity to chase and get rid of the bird.

While her an towards it he also crept a vigilant eye on both the dragon and the wounded tiger. The bird panicked seeing the monstrous human who could fight off the both it and the tiger at the same time and began to fly towards the turtle to seek shelter.

As soon as Number 1704 noticed the birds intent he gathered all the mana he could into his right shoulder and arm to throw his sword. The Vermilion Bird not expecting the human to throw the one thing that protected him from the White Tiger had no thoughts of dodging a thrown sword.

When he saw the sword hit the bird Number 1704 moved his mana to his legs to retrieve his sword. The bird on the other hand could do nothing but let out a defining shriek. Right when Number 1704 was only a few meters spears came out of the floor right underneath his feet, even with his vigilance and preparation he could not escape from the trap unscathed.

Now with one leg badly wounded his speed and maneuverability had taken a drastic dive. Ignoring the pain in his leg Number 1704 continued towards his sword and the fallen bird, while he did so the tiger grew courageous looking at his injury and sprinted at it’s fastest speed towards Number 1704.

“Your little beasts seem to be taking great advantage of the trap that just so happened to save their lives, even the crowd loves it.”

Indeed most of the crowd was eating up everything they saw but some protested at the sight of what would potentially be the end of their favorite gladiator.

“I'll come up with some reasons later, honestly those beast cost a fortune and that retch is ruining their prospects.”

The manager, no longer concealing his hate for the poor gladiator who had been schemed against, was openly filled with anger seeing his Vermilion Bird in such a pathetic state. The White White tiger was now only meters away from the gladiator when it jumped like an arrow shot from a bow straight to Number 1704.

Seeing this situation the manager couldn't be happier, however the Gladiator would continue to disappoint him. Just before the tiger could strike Number 1704 turned around and used his left arm to parry the blow from the tiger.

Unable to stop the blow from landing Number 1704 instead used the force of the blow to propel him even faster in the direction of his claymore. Upon reaching the claymore and the downed bird Number 1704 quickly stabbed the blade further in and circulated a third of his remaining mana in the form of a pure mana bomb inside of the distraught bird.

Knowing it death was eminent and having some pride in itself the bird let out a sharp cry while looking into Number 1704 and exploded. With the sudden explosion all Number 1704 could do was cover himself in mana to form a sort of shield, he also circulated mana into his book to protect it from the explosion.

Sadly it was not enough and the pages of the book quickly became ashes while he himself now had burns in both arms and legs, the strange thing however was that the black leather cover of the book grew into a coat. The coat seemed to be able to easily handle the fire so he put it on without much thought and waited for the fire to die down. While he waited his thoughts finally deviated from the battle.

“My book… It was the only possession I had and was taken from be by a stupid bird!”

Unbeknownst to him he finally felt his first emotion, rage. With the coat that seemed to allow him to ignore the fire and claymore in hand Number 1704 roared loud enough to scare the audience, a killing intent that almost physically manifested was felt by all coming from the hellish flames.

Sweat dropped down the manager's back as he looked at the dissipating fire only to see a black cloaked gladiator surrounded by a strange dark mist. The White tiger also feeling the mass of killing intent ran towards the Black Turtle for safety at it’s fastest speed ignoring it’s injuries.

With all of his previous calm and rationality having left him Number 1704 began circulating his mana in the same way he had once seen a beast do so, what he was planning to do would kill all three beast but it would also more that likely cause his end as well. What he was creating inside his body was lightening with it circulating his body Number 1704 could no longer feel anything but pain.

But for the price he paid the reward was more than worth it, when he swung his sword only a trail of light could be seen followed by the disappearance of the three beasts. After he released his strongest attack only he remained standing the three creatures had become nothing but ashes.