<h4>Chapter 773: First Fight Arrangement</h4>


    “Bach versus Rufus.”


    As soon as Gaby finished speaking, a look of surprise shed across the faces of each new diator. And they could not help but start whispering to each other.


    No one expected Gaby to havee here today. Although everyone here had passed the final assessment and became diators, it was illogical to send anyone to fight in the arena right now. They were supposed to go through months of training before they had their first battle in the Victor Arena. However, some unfortunate ones who did not do well in training would be sent to fight with other diators. And usually, they would die fighting in the arena.


    However, Bach was the strongest among the rookie diators this year. It would be impossible that Mark Reuss gave up on him so early.


    And this time, he was asked to fight Rufus, also known as the ck Sickle.


    Rufus was a protector by profession. Falling under the category of retiarius, it was a rtively rare profession. His weapons of choice usually consisted of a trident and a fishing. As for armor, he had a pair of metal sleeves and full body armor. The metal sleeves would cover the entire arm, used as a shield to block damage with the full-body armor. It would make up for the weak defense of the retiarius. Simultaneously, the metal sleeves would also be equipped with a sickle-shaped de, which could be used as a weapon when necessary.


    Unlike the retiarius, the protector was a profession that everyone did not want to encounter.


    Besides, Rufus was considered one of the best protectors. Although not as famous as Habitus, his poprity was close to that of Garba. If one were to choose one of them as an opponent, any sane person with the right mind would pick Garba.


    Garba’s age and the years he spent fighting for Victor Arena had earned him a lot of fame. On the other hand, Rufus, the ck Sickle, gained his fame mainly from winning battles. And he was twenty-six years old this year. It was the golden age of a diator. With a total of three years of diator experience and coupled with his career in the military, his body and mind were at their pinnacle.


    Aspared to Rufus, Bach was just a rookie that was going to fight in the arena for the first time. No matter how talented he was, no matter how high of hope Mark Reuss had on him, it was still not right to make him face an opponent like ck Sickle in his first battle.


    If it were not because Gaby customized a lot of individual training for Bach earlier, all the neers would have thought that Bach had offended the diator school head. And that was why they made him face such a powerful opponent.


    However, Bach showed no fear when he heard the name of his opponent. Instead, he snorted and harrumphed, “Who the hell is ck Sickle. He is unlucky that I’m about to fight him in the arena.”


    Seeing how Gaby changed the final assessment’s format and made them fight formal diators, some friction had erupted between the neers and veteran diators. As a representative of the neers, Bach would not act all polite and pleasant towards his opponent. Besides, the Germanic were not the kind of people who practiced politeness.


    ck Sickle, on the other hand, was calmer. He showed no provocative actions nor said any offensive words to Bach. However, when he heard the arrangement of the battle, a smile appeared on his face. And the diators around him also congratted him one after another. To them, ck Sickle was lucky that he was not going to face a challenging and tricky opponent.


    Although they had also heard some rumors about Bach, including how Mark Reuss valued him and wanted him to be the sessor of Sets, it didn’t change the fact that Bach was a rookie in the arena. If ck Sickle failed to defeat a rookie like Bach, all the fame that he gained so far would be in vain.


    On the other side, Gaby had ignored the reactions of the people below him entirely and continued to think about the battle arrangement.


    After a bunch of unfamiliar names was called, two more familiar names entered the rookies’ ears.


    “Zhang Heng, Varo, Nasica, Sulpicius... twelve people, mixed fight.”


    The neers were surprised that they heard Bach’s name in the battle arrangement. Now, they were looking at Zhang Heng and Varo with sympathy.


    A twelve-man-mixed-fight was a veteran show in the Victor Arena, and it was also one of the most popr performances.


    The reason was very simple. The twelve-man mixed fight was often brutal and exciting.


    The rules were simple. Twelve of them would form a team and fight with another group of people. The winning team would have to search for their next target. At the same time, two or more teams were not allowed to attack the same team. In the end, thest team left standing would be the winner.


    Other than testing theirbat skills, the team members were required to have a tacit understanding of the other team members. Besides, for support, the tag-team fighting also required sufficient stamina.


    The two teams thatsted the end of the battle would usually have bodies marred by wounds. And that was what made the fight even more exciting.


    There were myriad skills involved in the twelve-man-mixed-fight. The diator school, for instance, would arrange a strong team to attract the attention of the audience. After that, they would toss in a couple of less famous but rtively good teams to fight with the strong team. Lastly, to ensure the audience enjoyed watching the duel and reducing the star diators’ costs and casualties, some neers and ordinary diator teams would be included in the mixed-fight.


    Zhang Heng and Varo were obviously ying thest role.


    Among them, hearing Varo’s name was not that surprising to others. During his fight with Habitus, everyone thought that he would lose the fight in a matter of seconds. Out of sheer luck, he managed to pass the assessment with the sudden burst of a dazzling performance. It was understandable why Gaby would include him in the twelve-man mixed fight. It was going to be impossible for him to win in this battle. However, if he managed to put up a good show again, the audience would ask the arena to spare his life. On the other hand, Zhang Heng getting selected surprised all the rookies.


    That was because Zhang Heng performed extremely well in his final assessment, and he defeated the well-known Garba. Besides, he was also one of the few rookies that passed the assessment by defeating his opponent. Coupled with his identity as an Oriental man, he should be valuable for the arena. Hence, no one could figure out why he was included.


    And among the opponents they had to face was Nasika. Thetter was more famous than Rufus and possessed abat style far more brutal. His nickname, Bone Shatterer, should tell his opponents that he was not one to be trifled with. Besides, he was also a frequent fighter in the twelve-man mix fight. His brutal attacks would always result in blood and flesh sttered on the arena’s ground. Hence, that was why he was so popr among the audience. He was one of the few diators that earned a lot of money for the arena.


    Varo felt a little nervous when he heard his name, especially when Nasika red at him and made a thumbs-down gesture, which meant that he would destroy him in the arena.


    On the other hand, when Varo heard Gaby calling out Zhang Heng’s name, he quickly looked at Zhang Heng and saw no change in his expression. He still looked calm. He then remembered Zhang Heng was the one that taught him how to mess with Habitus, and it made Varo calmed down a lot.


    Anyway, this was not the worst-case scenario for him. At leastpared to the others, Zhang Heng and he were close, meaning they would have better teamwork when partnered up. However, whenpared to the other groups, they were undoubtedly at a disadvantage. Varo even wanted to go to a temple and ask about his recent stroke of bad luck.