Blood Assimilation

Shortly after that adjustment, the receptionist handed him his Gladiator Card with some number engraved that read: [69].

According to the receptionist’s explanation, this was his match number. The currently ongoing match was the 66th Gladiator match. In other words, he would have to wait for about 2 to 3 hours for the next three matches to finish, as it usually takes 30 minutes to an hour for a match to end.

This caused Randy to feel a slight headache as there wasn’t much time left before the deadline for his attributes, but there was nothing he could do about it. He just hoped that he still has enough time by the time it was his turn.

Otherwise, he would just have to resign to his fate and start from scratch and Dungeon Hunt once again to gain his attributes that would be lost then. Although it would be tedious, which was why he was trying to avoid it if possible, he would not have a choice then.

…

The Spectators Seat.

As this Coliseum was in the shape of a dome, the seats of the spectators, which were made out of bricks, were curved and connected. From a bird-eye view, it looked sort of like a winding staircase. At the center was the elevated platform— the stage for the Gladiators to partake in their matches.

Currently, there were rowdy noises as the next match, the 67th Gladiator match was about to begin. The next match was between two burly men who were undoubtedly warriors. One of them was short and slightly plump and the other was tall with thick arms there were as big as his head.

.....

At this moment, the two of them faced each other with solemn expressions on their faces.

Today’s match was a friendly match the two of them happened to be on the same level of strength. They wanted to compete to see who was stronger. The loser would get to give out one of their treasures as compensation to the winner. In other words, this was an internal bet match between the two parties. Furthermore, there would be an external bet deciding on who would win or lose as always.

Watching the two contenders from the spectators’ seats, people started commenting on the match.

“Who do you think will win?”

“Without a doubt, Sir Great Sword Dien would win. I mean, look at those thick muscles. He would squish his opponent with just one grab.”

“What are you talking about? You’re so wrong that you don’t even know it.”

“What do you mean by that? How could I be wrong?”

“Sir Fortress Defender Manock is a tank, and he could easily defend against deadly attacks that could penetrate through thick walls with just his flesh. Hence his nickname Fortress Defender, and you think he would lose to Sir Great Sword Dien? Are you stupid?”

“You’re the one who is stupid! So what if he could defend against deadly attacks on the battlefield? Did you forget that in here, without his skills, it would be useless? I doubt without his skills, he would be able to block a move from Sir Great Sword Dien.”

“You are an ignorant fool. Say no more. Just watch and see for yourself.”

While the others in the spectating seats were having their opinionated discussions regarding who would triumph in this Gladiator match, the Umpire in charge of overseeing this Gladiator match, suddenly raised his voice to announce, causing everyone to focus on the stage.

“All Gladiators put on your assigned Power-Restraining Bracelets!”

Right after this statement, the two contenders quickly put on two identical black bracelets, wrapping around their two wrists. Following this, the bracelet adjusted to their wrist size before emitting a faint black glow with tiny sprites of light that came out of the bracelet and entered their bodies shortly after.

“Are those Runes?” Randy recognized this sprite of lights to be similar to the golden runes he saw when he was conjuring his first incarnation. Although the characters and appearance were different, they were, without a doubt, runes. He wondered what the purpose of those runes was as a guess suddenly popped up in his mind.

‘Are those related to what Gutz was saying about not being able to use skills during the Gladiator match?’

The moment he thought of this, he turned to Gutz, who smiled at him in his direction as if he could tell what he was thinking of at this very moment.

“Are you curious about those bracelets that they got on their wrists?”

“Yeah.”

Gutz quickly explained: “Those are the necessary artifacts created specifically for training the body. Only through fighting with nothing but your fleshly muscles… I mean, fighting with just your physical body, only then would you realize your limitations and try to break through them. Otherwise, it would be difficult to break through the limits of the body solely relying on skills that barely had effects on your body, as you don’t have to put in much effort to learn skills in the first place. The same goes for the energy— mana. As long as the physical limitations broke through during physical combats, the body’s constitution would undergo changes, and the energy capacity and attributes would also increase correspondingly. In order to achieve these effects, those artifacts were necessary. I believe that this was the true purpose of those artifacts... for Gladiators to use during their matches.”

“So that’s why.” Randy finally understood what Gutz meant.

‘I guess I would have to rely on my basic martial arts techniques then.’ Randy silently thought to himself.

He suddenly thought of something and asked: “Then, do you know who created those bracelets.”

Gutz shook his head and said: “Honestly, I don’t know who created them. But, from what I know, they had been around for a very long time, so nobody cared about their origin. People say that they were crafted by some Legendary Great Mage, and others say that they were crafted by an apostle before they ascended, but who knows the truth? Whatever the case may be, as long as they are useful, that’s all that matters. I don’t care about their origin. I always assume they were artifacts from the Dungeons, anyway. Most of the known artifacts were retrieved from the Dungeons that existed in the world, after all.”

“I see…” Randy muttered as he turned his attention to the platform where the Gladiator match was about to be held with anticipation and curiosity. He wanted to see the effects of those bracelets that could prevent the usage of skills and energy.