Blood Assimilation

“Today’s Gladiator Match 67 will officially begin right now. You are all aware of the rules of this Coliseum by now. Regardless, I will still state them just in case.”

The Umpire took a deep breath and said: “As this establishment was built with the aim to nurture warriors for the Kingdom, there is no bloodshed allowed during each match, so anyone who comes here to exact some vendetta or hold hostility during the matches would be disqualified from participating in the current and future matches indefinitely.”

“Furthermore, anyone who disregards the rules, depending on the severity, would not only be disqualified from the Gladiator match but also subjected to Capital Punishment from the Kingdom. You are warned!”

“With all that out of the way, Gladiators with the moniker Great Sword Dien and Fortress Defender Manock, prepare yourself. Make sure that you’re not carrying with you any weapons or metallic objects of any kind. Otherwise, if found, you will be disqualified as that is also against the rules of the Gladiator match.”

After saying that, the Umpire who stood between the two contenders looked to his left and right. Meanwhile, the two contenders routinely checked themselves, even though they already made sure beforehand that they didn’t have any metallic objects on themselves before stepping up on the stage.

Afterward, the two contenders gave a nod of confirmation to the Umpire, who also nodded before raising his hand and shouting in a deep voice.

“GLADIATORS!!! AS WARRIORS REPRESENTING THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE, I IMPLORE YOU TO FIGHT WITH ALL YOU’VE GOT ON THIS NOBLE STAGE!!! DO NOT HOLD ANYTHING BACK BECAUSE THAT WILL ONLY LIMIT YOUR GROWTH IN THIS HOLY ARENA AIMED TO SURPASS YOUR LIMITS!!! NOW, I PROUDLY ANNOUNCE, BEGIN YOUR FIGHT!!!”

After this declaration, the Umpire’s hand made a gesture of striking down. The Umpire’s voice suddenly jumped up several decibels as he declared the beginning of the match. His tone was frighteningly firm and full of devotion, almost as though he was fervently chanting some forbidden spell.

.....

However, this was only a tradition that was performed at every match to hype up the spectators in the Coliseum and pump up the Gladiators on the stage.

Sure enough, the moment the two contenders heard this declaration, they roared like madmen. As if they were beasts with their leashes cut off, they wildly sprinted toward each other with all their might. They had nothing to support themselves except their physical bodies and muscles that contracted as they exerted their full potential. They faced each other without the aid of skills or energy to empower themselves.

Shortly after, they clashed and exchanged their first moves.

Having confidence in his thick, and strong muscular arms, Great Sword Dien clenched his right hand’s fist and preemptively thrust it at Fortress Defender Manock’s face without hesitation. He planned on knocking his opponent out with this attack before they could make their move. In response to this move, Fortress defender Manock used both hands to guard in front of himself at the right time. It was almost as though he had seen through his opponent’s attack beforehand.

Although Fortress Defender Manock’s arms weren’t as thick as Great Sword Dien, he was still bulky. Thus, he was able to easily and masterfully block his opponent’s fist attack. He then lowered his body and countered with a left hook to the side of Great Sword Dien’s waist after parrying his fist attack.

This startled Great Sword Dien and he immediately twisted his body to block the sudden attack from his opponent. When they exchanged their first moves, the spectators who waited with bated breaths suddenly erupted into an uproar from the neck-to-neck exchange between the two Gladiators.

“Holy shit! That was too awesome!”

“I thought Sir Great Sword Dien would be a better fighter as he uses the Great Sword, but who would’ve thought Sir Fortress Defender Manock also knew how to fight so well?!”

“For real though. The way Sir Fortress Defender Manock moved was like that of a professional fighter. The timing was on point so much so that he almost caught Sir Great Sword Dien off-guard!”

“That’s true! It seems like this match is going to be a tight one!”

Meanwhile, on the spectators’ seat, where Randy and Gutz were watching from, Gutz was breathing heavily and ruggedly next to him from sheer excitement. This caused Randy to look at him with a strange look on his face.

‘What the hell is wrong with him?’ Randy thought with a puzzled expression. However, he ignored him the next moment and focused on watching the Gladiator match, attempting to discern fighting styles.

From what he observed so far, it seemed like the Power-Restraining Bracelets were able to effectively seal off the skills and mana flow within the bodies of the two fighters in the arena.

Although he could still sense the mana within their bodies due to his high perception and natural affinity with mana which increased from practicing the Nameless Meditation Technique and that this meant that their mana was not completely ‘sealed’ but instead ‘restrained’, he was still surprised by the effects of those Power-Restraining Bracelets.

Then a sudden frightening thought flashed through his mind.

‘If whoever created these Power-Restraining Bracelets manages to use them to suppress their enemies during a fight, then they could easily slaughter their enemies without any resistance, like slaughtering livestock. These bracelets could effectively render all skills and energy useless, after all.’

This sudden and scary thought came and quickly faded away as Randy shook his head to dismiss it.

After all, it was impossible for that to happen, unless one simply stood there and allowed themselves to be bound by the bracelets. If the bracelets could expand and contract with a thought, then it would be possible. However, from what he had observed, they could only adjust the size to others’ wrists, and the diameters of the bracelets were made to fit the biggest of wrists.

With that thought aside, Randy watched the match for a while, and he discovered something unusual.

‘Why does it seem like they don’t know any martial arts or any movement techniques? They only charge, assault, and defend and then do it again with an occasional side-step... There are no rhythms to their movements at all.’ Randy found it strange that these two Gladiators lacked professional movement despite being as strong as they are.