<h4>Chapter 775: Beastmaster</h4>


    The retirement of Sets significantly impacted Victor Arena, where nowadays, it was hard to see it being filled. However, one could not deny that the Victor Arena was built on a rock-solid foundation. Mark Reuss was, after all, managing the second biggest arena in Rome.


    Other than Sets, there were several less popr diators, including Habitus, Nasica, and Rufus. Coupled with many mid-tier diators, Victor Arena was still able to attract the people to watch their diatorial performances.


    As of the day of the performance, two-thirds of the seats in the arena’s stands were sold. Mark Reuss, however, was still displeased. After he greeted the nobles and their family members, he returned to his seat and began to frown again.


    Other than the audience’s loss, Mark Reuss was frustrated by the diator show that would be held by the royal family in a month.


    Aside from the possible mary loss, he knew that other troubles were waiting for him. The diator school he ran was currently the secondrgest in Rome, but it was now going downhill. Severalpetitors were waiting to devour him.


    Therefore, the performance in a month could have a more severe impact on Victor Arena. Not only was the new Emperor going to announce the arrival of his reign, but all the diator schools might also undergo enormous changes. Although Mark Reuss had many cards for him to y in his hand, he was still missing the most crucial card.


    It was the biggest trump card.


    ording to the information he obtained, a lot of diator schools had recruited some very powerful neers. The retirement of Sets also meant that the diators had now entered a new era of heroes. Usually, everyone would be active in their diator school. It was rare for the diators from different diator schools to gather together. If any diator could stand out from the crowd and take the final crown, a new king would be born.


    And the school behind that diator would also be the biggest winner.


    That was why Mark Reuss had been rushing Gaby to look for a sessor for Sets. And because of that, Mark Reuss did not mind risking Bach’s life. He knew that Bach would be safer if he could train a little longer before letting him fight with other diators. Unfortunately, the imminent crisis was getting closer.


    As a courageous businessman, he knew that it was time for him to make a move. But in his heart, he did not know whether Bach was powerful enough to defeat the other diators from other schools. Maybe he should talk to Habitus again and take a few steps back.


    Just when Mark Reuss was lost in thought, the diatorial performance had begun. A small orchestra was invited to y as a prelude to the battle. They stood on a slowly rising tform in the middle of the arena and started to y their instruments.


    After that, a group of antelopes suddenly ran out from the gate on the side of the arena. The cheers from the auditorium spooked them, and they started to run frantically around in the arena. One of them wanted to jump towards the audience stage, but the arena had prepared the corresponding measures to make sure that it would not happen.


    A wall with a height of three meters was built at the lowest level of the audience stand. Other than that,rges were being fixed on each pir. Theses could block the wild beasts from entering the stands, and at the same time, enable the audience to keep their eyes on their favorite diators. Hence, no one was afraid when they saw the jumping antelope. And there were evendies who stood up to look at the antelopes curiously.


    From the time of Caesars, the wild animal performance had been part of diatorial shows. Usually, it would be conducted before the diator battles. Unlike what was shown in most films and television series, the diators would not be asked to fight with those wild animals. That was the beastmaster’s task. A while ago, Zhang Heng and Varo saw how the wild animals were used to execute the prisoners. Other than that, the arena would also offer beast hunting and taming performances and some battles between wild beasts to entertain the audience.


    What everyone saw now was a hunting performance between a hunter and an antelope. Later, they would make a lion fight with a bear. In the end, the winner among the wild animals would face the beastmaster.


    The arrangement of the whole performance was getting more and more exciting. It elevated the audience’s mood and made them extremely nervous, especially when the beastmaster walked towards the stage. Both men and women shouted the name of the beastmaster together as they watched him fight the ferocious beast. And the beastmaster had to pay attention and dodge the beast’s sharp ws. During the fight, he managed to leave a couple of sh wounds on the beast with the weapon in his hand.


    At the same time, the beast was only bing more irritated.


    There was nothing more charming than looking into Death’s eyes, constantly mocking Death and escaping his grasp. Some women screamed frantically for him, willing to dedicate themselves to him. One had to admit they wereparable to the most ardent fans of theter generations. The face hidden beneath the helmet was not that handsome; some might even consider him ugly. That was because of the three long scars on the left of his face, and it almost disfigured him. Those scars were left by a cunning cheetah that he had fought with a while ago.


    However, in those women’s eyes, there was no better love medicine in this world than those scars. At least, in the arena at this moment, he was the dream lover of all those women. As Juvena, the poet, said, what girls loved the most was not his face but his sword.


    Finally, the experienced beastmaster sessfully killed the beast in front of him.


    He then stuck his sword into the ground in front of him, took off his armor, and enjoyed the cheers and triumphs of his victory.


    And after him, it was the diator’s turn to fight.


    Zhang Heng and Varo were not among them. Their performance was slotted on the third day. The two did not even go to the arena. However, a much-anticipated battle would be held in the afternoon.


    It was the battle between Bach and Rufus.


    ck Sickle was a Victor Arena celebrity. The audience, on the other hand, knew nothing about Bach. All they knew was that he was a rookie.


    However, this time, Victor Arena broke the rules and included him in the advertisement. Clearly, he was extremely valuable to them.


    The audience was obviously more willing to believe in ck Sickle, seeing how he would win battle after battle in front of the audience. And it could be seen on the odds of their bets.


    Gambling had always been inseparable from the arena since ancient times. In the arena, not only could the audience enjoy the diatorial performances, but they could also bet on their favorite diators.


    On the other side, Varo asked Zhang Heng, who was training with him, “Who do you think will win the battle?”


    “I have never seen Rufus the ck Sickle’sbat skills. However, since Gaby made such an arrangement, it meant that he is optimistic about Bach. So if I were to bet, I would bet on Bach.” Zhang Heng said.


    “So Rufus will surely lose in the battle?”


    “If Bach sessfullypletes all the training, Rufus will be defeated by Bach. However, that is not the case. It means Rufus still stands a chance to defeat Bach.” Zhang Heng said. Ever since Dadatis told him about the grand diatorial performance held at the vium Amphitheatrum, he now knew why Mark Reuss wanted to make Bach his trump card as soon as possible.


    But this diatorial performance might be different from what he imagined.