Chapter 34: Life Steal I
The red-clad gladiators lowered their arms, bewildered by the cheers of the audience. Theotis was so angry that his eyes were bloodshot, while the others were dumbfounded: Okay, we won… but why doesn’t this victory make us happy at all?
Because this newly joined guy killed three blue gladiators by himself, including the leader “Polar Bear,” so much so that the two blue gladiators they had worked together to kill not only didn’t win the applause they deserved, but in the eyes of the entire arena audience, it became strong evidence that this newcomer was even more powerful.
Asker put the greatsword back on his shoulder, didn’t wave or raise his arms to the surrounding audience as gladiatorial victors usually did, but just yawned lazily.
Then he turned and walked towards the passage back to the training ground.
The red gladiators followed behind him, dejectedly returning to the underground training ground. As soon as Asker put the two-handed greatsword back on the weapon rack, someone patted him on the back.
“Well done.” Behind him, a tall red gladiator said, giving him a thumbs up.
“You did well too.” Asker said, “How may I address you?”
“Barbarian.” The other party said. This was his arena nickname.
In addition to obtaining the “Sharp Weapon I” potion, Asker had another purpose for coming to the arena, which was to find a melee output for his team, the more violent the better, preferably one who could deal with heavily armored opponents.
Theotis’ combat strength was barely qualified, but his character was obviously not good. Was it really necessary to hold such a grudge just for a gladiator’s position? Was being a gladiator some kind of glorious golden rice bowl?
Besides Theotis, Asker also paid special attention to the three people who performed well in the battle just now, and this big guy was one of them.
He was about 1.9 meters tall, with very well-proportioned muscles. In reality, he would have the figure of an international male model. His weapons were two battle axes, which he wielded like the wind. Even if the enemy blocked, they basically couldn’t withstand two of his attacks, no wonder he was nicknamed “Barbarian.”
In addition, this guy was wearing steel-patterned plate armor and a northern-style horned helmet, revealing beautiful pale golden hair that was almost pure white under the steel forehead guard, cut short and broken by sharp weapons such as daggers.
His skin was also the extremely white characteristic of northerners, but unlike mercenaries who traveled all year round, it was smooth as milk.
His eyes were a transparent sky blue, lighter than Eleanor’s ocean blue iris, his nose was slender and straight, his lips were extremely thin, and he was a handsome guy with extremely androgynous features…
Or a beautiful woman, anyway, Asker couldn’t tell his gender.
“That ‘Triple Mountain Splitter’ just now was beautiful, the only flaw was that the third strike only hit his right shoulder. If it could have hit the head directly, there would be no need to add a beheading later. Although I like this kind of hearty killing style, the audience may not, these Siris people can’t appreciate the beauty of blood and power…” This guy was still chattering.
“Sidripha!” Theotis walked over with heavy steps, like a furious lion, his teeth almost gritted. “What are you talking to him about? Have you betrayed me so quickly?!”
“Betrayal?” The big guy called “Barbarian” tilted his head and said puzzled, “The red team is not your personal property, and I’m not your subordinate, what do you mean by betrayal? You can be the leader of the red team only because no one is competing with you.”
“So you want to compete for this position?” Theotis sneered.
“How about it, brother?” The big guy lowered his head and said to Asker, “If you compete for the leadership, I’ll support you.”
“Compete for what?” Asker said, both amused and annoyed. “A gladiator leader, acting like it’s some kind of throne, is it necessary?”
Theotis was stunned upon hearing this, while the big guy was silent for a moment, then laughed heartily:
“You’re right.”
After saying that, he walked to the carpet next to him and sat down, seemingly lost in thought.
The next gladiatorial fight would take place in 3 hours, so everyone had some time to recover and practice.
Asker looked at the weapon rack and picked a Caucasian-style straight sword.
This kind of straight sword was relatively light and handy, with a moderate length, and could be wielded swiftly and silently, making it a favorite of Eastern swordsmen. The disadvantage was that the spine of the sword was not thick enough. If it was used to block the opponent’s slashing attacks, it would probably break after a few hits.
Let’s use this weapon for the second gladiatorial fight, he thought to himself.
“Sir, sir, you can’t go in!” Cedric’s hurried shouts came from outside, accompanied by heavy footsteps, the door of the training ground was pushed open forcefully.
Michael, the captain of the Imperial Kingsguard, walked down the stone steps, his eyes as sharp as a hawk, scanning the entire room, finally landing on Asker.
“What’s your name?” He asked.
“Asker Lepidus Achilles.”
“Achilles.” Michael pondered for a moment. “Is it that Achilles family? No wonder you are proficient in the martial arts of ‘Tactics.’”
“The glory of the family of the past is not something you can gain in this small arena. If you are interested in making achievements in the military, come to the Chalke Gate and find me, just mention my name, ‘Michael Bryennios.’”
After saying that, regardless of Asker’s reply, he turned and left the training ground.
Asker was dumbfounded: ???
Did this trigger a hidden side quest? Speaking of which, did the Achilles family have any special background? Were there any hidden clues in the previous life’s game that were not discovered?
He was standing there, puzzled, when he saw Cedric, the arena receptionist, rushing in hurriedly.
He glanced at Michael’s departing back, shook his head speechlessly, turned to Asker, and said excitedly:
“Newbie, you fought really well just now! The audience outside is still cheering your name!” He paused for a moment, and immediately said, “No, no, Heracles is not your name, you have to think of a more imposing nickname, this is the rule of our arena.”
“How about ‘Viking’? After all, you are using a two-handed greatsword, which is the representative weapon of ancient Viking warriors.”
“The representative weapon of our Vikings should be the battle axe.” The big guy next to him said in a muffled voice. “When we were pirates, we could both swing it to chop people and throw it to kill people. Besides, he doesn’t have northern blood.”
“Hey, northerner.” Cedric said bluntly, “The reason we call him ‘Viking’ is precisely because he is a Solomon! This just proves that among our Solomon people, there are also powerful warriors who are stronger than you northerners… This is a Siris-style pun, you wouldn’t understand.”
“Then let’s call it ‘Viking’.” Asker didn’t want to waste any more words on this matter, so he waved his hand.
“Okay, ‘Viking’.” Cedric said quickly. “Your red team has already won one match. Today, as long as you win two more matches, you will win today’s ‘Gladiatorial Gold Cup.’”
“Then the ‘Daily Champion’ will be selected. You are currently the most likely candidate to become the champion. I have already bet 10 pounds on you, don’t disappoint me!”
…
On the other side, the girls were also acting decisively. In the morning, they went directly to the municipal government and bought the homestead at three times the base price, completing the property transfer. In the afternoon, they found a construction team and used an excavator to level the ruins of Peggy’s burned-down house.
“Next, we will use container mobile home panels to build a simple warehouse first.” Nuo, wearing a safety helmet, looked at the plan and said to Eleanor. “Anyway, this warehouse is only temporary, and then we can buy building materials. Stone, wood, sand, clay, steel bars, cement, all can be piled up in the warehouse.”
“Can we build a house with these?” Eleanor expressed doubt.
“Of course.” Nuo said, “It’s more than enough to build a frame structure.”
“I’ve finished digesting my transcendent ability!” Peggy’s voice suddenly rang out, obviously using Medea’s mental communication. “I’m going to level up to level 2, let’s start refining the potion now!”
So the two girls immediately ran back to the house – just like elementary school students hearing that their classmates had obtained rare materials in Monster Hunter, they excitedly went to the third floor to watch the fun. Medea had already set up a disposable crucible, and Peggy was pounding the Fruit of Eden in a mortar with a pestle.
“Is it almost done?” Peggy said. Nuo came closer to take a look, this was not juicing, it was almost mashed into a pulp.
“Are you sure you can do it yourself?” Nuo said a little nervously. “Do you want to wait for Asker to come back and let him refine the potion himself, just to be safe?”
“No need.” It was Medea who answered. Her injuries hadn’t fully healed, and her face was still as pale as paper, but at least she had some color back. “I’m also your transcendent senior, okay? Refining a level 1 potion is not difficult for me at all.”
She said as she set up a filter paper funnel, poured the fruit pulp from the mortar into it, and used a crucible to collect it below. Soon about 100ml of juice accumulated, then she added a spoonful of Corfu olive oil and stirred it clockwise.
“Next, add a little iron oxide powder.” Medea stared at the potion formula, pinched a pinch of iron oxide powder and put it in. “Stir counterclockwise until evenly mixed…”
Soon the liquid in the crucible became blood red, neither water nor oil, with a tempting luster, making the surrounding girls feel hungry just by looking at it.
“Hold on, hold on.” Medea said as she swallowed, finally pinching her nose and pouring in the Golden-Striped Leech paste. The liquid was quickly absorbed by the paste, gradually turning into a soft lump of “mud.”
“Eat it quickly.” Medea scooped up the lump of mud and put it on a white porcelain plate. “Otherwise I’m afraid you’ll throw up.”
Peggy swallowed the lump of mud in one gulp, and her lips immediately turned bright red. Her canines began to protrude from her lips, her irises were also dyed red, and the pores all over her body opened, releasing a faint red blood mist. Suddenly, she clutched her throat, her whole body convulsing as if in a seizure.
“The potions of different Sequences are starting to conflict!” Medea frowned and said.
“Then what do we do?” Nuo said in a panic. She wanted to go over and heal Peggy, but she was afraid that using her transcendent ability would accelerate her loss of control.
“Wait first.” Medea said seriously. “Flesh and Life Steal are not very conflicting heterologous Sequences. As long as Peggy’s Flesh I is indeed fully digested, then the possibility of losing control should not be high.”
Although her tone was firm, her eyes were also fixed on Peggy. Peggy had almost turned into a blood person, her left hand pressing hard on her abdomen, her right hand clutching her throat as if she was about to vomit, but her teeth were clenched tightly, and she could only roll on the ground in pain.
Countless fleshy buds bulged and moved on the skin all over her body, as if there were millions of maggots buried inside, and they would mutate into terrifying monsters in the next second. For a while, everyone couldn’t help but feel fear.
A few minutes later, the mutation on Peggy’s body finally subsided. She curled up, gasping for air, the red blood mist around her being sucked back into her body.
“I… I succeeded.” She said weakly. “Life Steal… I’m level 2 now.”