23 – Rookie Gladiator-9
After completing several simulated battles, putting on the armor and receiving the sword, I took off the armor with great difficulty.
“This is not as easy as I thought…”
Of course, the armor played a big role in enabling me to fight against Dana, or at least stand in the ring.
There was a tremendous shock even outside the armor, but if I had received that sword with my body, I would have rolled across the ring floor in seconds.
“Doesn’t it hurt?”
“It’s bearable, but… In practice, if you lose your posture and fall down, it’s the same as defeat, right?”
“If it doesn’t happen right away, it usually does.”
People die when they are stabbed in the heart. In fact, stomach or chest, neck or head, organs or genitals, etc., They are all the same no matter where they are hit.
If your arm is attacked, you cannot move that arm, and if your leg is attacked, you cannot walk properly.
However, as long as I am equipped with this armor, I can endure.
Considering Dana’s skills, she might be able to aim and stab between armor or guards, but even that would require more effort.
However, that didn’t mean I was invincible. To put it bluntly, it feels like a virtual ‘stamina bar’ is created and then every time you get hit, that bar gets smaller.
“Don’t overdo it. Even Daisy told me to just make sure you don’t get hurt.”
“Thank you for your concern.”
Dana’s smiling face caught my eyes.
I didn’t get to see her very often, but I did occasionally see her like this.
Also, I thought she was good at leaving Selam. Even if she had used up all her travel rights available to her there, I wouldn’t have seen her this often.
I would have just had to sit in her hard drawing room, have a conversation with her, trying to soothe her, who was frozen by her tension and unable to meet her eyes.
It was a bit difficult, but it was a choice I wouldn’t regret.
“Your first sword fight, did you hear who the opponent was?”
“Um… I don’t know, but even if you hear the name, you won’t know who it is.”
I was familiar with the gladiators, but no matter how much I did, I couldn’t memorize all the names of the many gladiators.
“Well, yeah. You’ll get used to it as you fight, but you don’t need to know everyone’s name. Just remember the class.”
“Really?”
“Your opponent is Agricola. It’s a class that fights with a pitchfork and sickle.”
“What?”
It was not easy to understand. A pitchfork and sickle, no matter how you think about it, it was more like farming tools than weapons.
“That, that… You’re not looking at it on purpose, are you?”
“Absolutely not. I also lost a lot to her when I was young. Rather, it makes me want to be a bit harsh, right?”
I don’t know how to farm in this world, but I don’t think the pitchfork or sickle came to be very different from what I thought.
Even though swords and spears look ridiculous, they are efficient and simple tools that have been widely used in both East and West.
A primitive yet destructive tool created with no other intention, just to kill creatures.
Even if it is called a scythe or a pitchfork, its basis must be farm tools.
“Well, I don’t know. Even if it’s not as much as Kokok, Agricola is also a class that is listening to the sound of corruption.”
“Well, does Dana think so too?”
“No. If you are strong, there is no reason to blame other people’s classes.”
I realized all over again that Dana was the champion of this Colosseum. She had, for her, overwhelming leeway.
“Are you the strongest in this Colosseum?”
“Yes, but um… Not absolute. Last year, I was the winner.”
“Aha…”
I thought it was systematic that the points were given based on the victory or defeat of the gladiators, but it seems that the battle to determine the champion was also held separately.
“Anyway, this isn’t absolutely absolute, but… There are some basic things you need to know in order to fight.”
“Huh?”
Dana stretched out her hand.
“Long range is best. Basically, yes.”
/////
The Colosseum was moving busily beyond comparison.
“Daisy, are you serious? Wouldn’t it be a bit daunting for Evan, who just joined?”
“I can’t help it.”
“There’s a lot to bet on here. In order to succeed, it would have to be a bit of a melee fight…”
“Because there are more important things than that.”
Daisy shook her head and finished her work.
“Watch out for that perfume. It’s for a gift. It’s going directly to the chief of the guard, so it’ll probably go to the man in the end. Don’t make a single flaw.”
Local maintenance and nearby guards, merchants related to the Colosseum, adventurers who are the main audience, and people from the mercenary guild.
In order to see big gains, a correspondingly huge investment was required. Daisy was paying bribes here and there to prevent trouble from the ‘male gladiator’ and maximize his gains.
“So, what did you say? Melee?”
“That’s right! It’s good to hit and run with swords, shields, clubs, etc. Besides, it’s better to put on moderately weak opponents and give Evan an advantage…”
“There is something more important than that.”
“Yes?”
“Evan must be safe. If you get used to the ring at least once or twice and start a fight like that, you might not know, but a slugfest from the start is dangerous.”
The employee was looking at the new poster and the ‘gifts’ prepared by Daisy alternately, with a regretful expression on her lips.
“But what about Mari?”
“Among the weakest gladiators, we really need a gladiator who can keep Evan out of harm’s way ‘no matter what’.”
Marie was quite old for a gladiator, and she was contemplating her retirement.
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However, being an older gladiator means that you have a minimum fan base. She was weak, but her skills were fierce, so she sometimes won ridiculous victories.
“Winning or losing doesn’t matter. If a popular gladiator participates, this battle’s attention will go up, but that’s a short-sighted idea.”
Just by the appearance of a man, the attention of the Colosseum and the match has already skyrocketed without knowing how high it was.
However, stadiums are limited.
“I got paid dozens of times before the event, but I can’t continue like this.”
“Is that so…?”
“It’s only once or twice before the event, after all, one day he will have to pay ‘just like other gladiators’ for his fights.”
“Ugh…”
“Anyway, the audience seats are full. In that case, rather than showing too much stimulation, it’s only right to calmly show the fact that ‘men really fight’ here.”
“Can Evan win?”
“It doesn’t matter if you lose, but you can win.”
“Yes?”
Dear staff, Daisy’s words came as a bit of a shock.
Generally, it is a male body that is considered weaker than a female one. Moreover, he is also a newcomer who has just entered the arena.
It seemed impossible to defeat Mari, who had lived as a gladiator for decades.
“It’s stronger than you think. It seems that the gladiators fighting Evan inside usually only play among themselves, so I can’t feel it… That’s pretty strong.”
Daisy, unconsciously, thought of his strong body.
“Ugh…”
She shook her head and put her hand back on the mountain of work.
/////
“Agricola. It is basically a class that reproduces a farmer, holding a pitchfork in one hand and holding a scythe in the other, or a class holding a pitchfork with both hands and using a scythe as an auxiliary weapon.”
I sat quietly and listened to Dana’s explanation.
Time would be insufficient even for individual training, but I was so grateful that he devoted his time to me. I couldn’t waste a single moment.
“Its special feature is a very long pitchfork that can be held with both hands.”
“Is it that important?”
“The length of a gladiator’s weapon is strictly limited. Even a spear is not significantly longer than a sword. The only exceptions are special classes like Agricola and Letiarius.”
Well, in a fight between people with similar skills, the difference in range was absolute.
When me and Dana fought, I felt as if her sword was about a span in front of me. It was the pressure created by the gladiator’s perfect positioning and distance control.
In other words, it means that if my sword were only two spans long, it was a pressure that I would not have felt. If that was the case, no matter how much she was, she wouldn’t have been able to attempt such a comfortable and free attack.
It would have been possible to close the distance in an instant and shake me with repeated hits, but I wouldn’t have been able to wield the weapon freely as if hitting outside my realm.
She was a huge difference considering the difference between her and her and her skills.
The world isn’t that simple, and long weapons have their downsides, but the range was valuable information, as she said.
“Usually, the ones who get the bad reviews are the Letiarius. Have you ever heard of Coc Coc?”
“Ah…”
“A net and a trident. Even if there is only one, they are carrying a bunch of weapons that will hear the sounds of corruption.”
At first glance, I had a chance to see the weapons of other gladiators, but I certainly couldn’t find a weapon that long.
Well, it wouldn’t have been possible to use the Phalanx’s long spear in a 1:1 fight, so a spear the size of a person would have been the limit.
“However, even Agricola is not easy.”
A story about gladiator fights. It’s a story I’ve never heard in my life, and probably never even imagined. With young eyes full of interest, I watched Dana’s story.