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After they left, Jonas spoke to William.

"You surprised me, talking like that. If you bring that same fire into the ring, I'm confident we'll come out victorious."

It wasn't just Jonas who was surprised. The other nobles and their fighters were now paying closer attention to William.

03 thought he knew William—or at least, he believed he did—but even he was taken aback.

"I didn't know you had such a thirst for blood. Are you some kind of assassin or something?" 03 asked.

William reflected on that. He didn't consider himself an assassin, but he had indeed killed many people—and monsters too.

Had he already lost the innocence he thought he still had?

"I'm not," William said with an awkward smile. "I just wanted to show dominance. You know how it is—the fight starts before you even step into the ring."

03 nodded in agreement. He liked what he heard.

"Well said, my friend, well said. Alright, let's get ready. I don't know if it'll be you, me, or both of us fighting today, but let's hope everything goes well…"

"It will. Don't worry."

They spent some time there. The nobles were socializing among themselves, discussing their territories, businesses, and, of course, the fights.

Everyone was excited about the matches. But the fighters themselves didn't share the same enthusiasm.

William could see that none of the fighters wanted to be there. It was obvious. They were all likely slaves, just like him, forced to fight and endure pain for the amusement of the nobles, with no other choice.

One of the fighters approached William. He was a young man, thin, and looked more like a scholar than a fighter. He stood out among the others, who seemed more like thugs or bandits.

"Hey, how's it going?" the young man said.

William gave him a cold look.

"Why are you talking to me? It doesn't make much sense, considering we might end up as opponents. What do you want?"

The young man tried to appear friendly, sitting down next to William and offering a smile.

"Relax, friend. I just came to talk, I swear. I'm not like that other fighter who tried to intimidate you. You know, you and I are in the same boat here."

He wasn't wrong about that.

"But what's the point of talking? It's not like it's going to benefit us," William replied.

"Not right now, but I hope we can work together in the future. You know, I feel like we have more in common than you think."

For some reason, the young man was trying to sound mysterious, as if he held some knowledge William wasn't aware of.

"We'll see. I'll remember your face."

After saying that, William stood up and walked away to be alone. He didn't want to risk staying close to other fighters.

In a situation like this, he could easily imagine a scenario where the young man's master—the noble—would do anything to win, even sabotage the other fighters.

What if William was poisoned? Or fell under some magical illusion? Or worse? It didn't make sense to take such a risk for no reason.

As the hours passed, the friendly atmosphere among the nobles began to fade.

Each of them had a fighter, and they were also placing bets, which meant there was a growing rivalry between them.

None of them wanted to lose. It would mean not only losing their honor but also their money.

Jonas was feeling the same way.

They all made their way to the arena that had been specially built for the fights. There, the nobles sat in the elevated areas with benches and tables, enjoying a privileged view of the ring while sipping drinks and snacking.

Meanwhile, fighters like William and 03 were taken to the area reserved for the combatants. It was a lower area, on the same level as the ring, which was sunken into the ground.@@novelbin@@

There, all the fighters waited to be called for their matches. From what William understood after speaking with one of the organizers, the matchups were random.

Each fighter would only have one match per day. So, William would only fight once that night.

But the next day, he would have another fight. Of course, he wasn't thinking about the next day's match. William was focused on winning his first fight.

While waiting downstairs with the other fighters, William tried to assess which of them might be strong.

But that was nearly impossible for him. Without the ability to use mana—and the other fighters couldn't either—he had no way of gauging their strength.

Here, physical strength was what mattered, and it wasn't wise to judge based on appearance alone.

William, for example, was muscular and well-defined, but he wasn't a giant like that other fighter who had approached him earlier.

However, William was quite strong. So even the men who looked lean could have incredibly powerful bodies.

03 stood beside William.

"From what I've seen, there's a chance we might end up fighting each other. If that happens, I think I'll just forfeit," 03 said.

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"Forfeit?"

"Yeah. I'm not confident about beating you, and Jonas won't be mad because I already talked to him about it. He can't bet on our match anyway."

"I see."

After about 20 minutes of waiting downstairs, one of the organizers came to call two of the fighters for a match.

He pointed at each of them.

"You, and you. Come with me."

The two fighters who were called were strangers to William. He hadn't interacted with either of them before.

Before the organizer left, William asked him a question. He really needed to know the answer.

"Can we watch the fights?"

"Not for now, but we might consider changing that rule in the future."

With that, the organizer left with the two fighters, who made their way to the ring.

William wanted to watch not for entertainment but to see how the other fighters performed.

What if he ended up facing one of them in the future? It would be good to know their strengths, to prepare and have an idea of what to expect.

Perhaps that was exactly why they weren't allowed to watch the fights. In any case, the only thing William could do was sit there and wait for his turn.

03 seemed a bit anxious about the fights. William tried to calm him down.

The first match between the two fighters lasted about 10 minutes. After that, they called other fighters, and this time, it was William's turn.

Before entering the ring, he had to remove his shirt and shoes, leaving him only in his pants. This gave the fights a more rustic, barbaric feel.

William's opponent was a middle-aged man covered in scars. Just by looking at the two of them, it was obvious who most people would bet on.

"This is too easy," one of the nobles said. "Let's bet on the guy with all the scars."

Many of the nobles, sipping their wine as they watched the fights, thought the same way. But some were a bit hesitant.

"Appearances can be deceiving. Is it really a good idea to bet on the scarred guy? Not to mention, if everyone bets on the same person, the payout will be terrible."

Because of this reasoning, some decided to bet their money on William, hoping for a better payout.

Jonas, on the other hand, placed an enormous bet on William—more than he had initially planned.

The guard accompanying Jonas asked, "You're betting all of that?"

Jonas, with a smile, replied, "That fighter going against my slave is much weaker. This is the perfect opportunity to make a fortune."

He didn't want to miss this chance. The betting went on for about two minutes before the fight officially began.

The event organizer explained the rules: no weapons were allowed, and if one fighter surrendered, the other had to stop.

William already knew all this, so he didn't pay much attention.

"Begin the fight!"

The two fighters stared each other down for a brief moment.

"You wanna give up now, little fairy? You don't look like much of a fighter," William's opponent taunted.

"Oh really? How do you think they'll feel after you lose to me in less than 30 seconds?" William shot back.

"What?"

William's opponent couldn't believe what he was hearing. He started laughing, thinking William had lost his mind.

Well, that wasn't the case. William sprinted toward the fighter, his speed extraordinary.

In less than three seconds, he had crossed the entire ring and appeared right in front of his opponent. Then, he clenched his fist and delivered a punch straight to the man's stomach.

The punch was so powerful that the sound of ribs cracking echoed through the arena, and all the nobles were left in shock.

"I-I surrender!" the fighter gasped.

Jonas couldn't contain the smile on his face. He bet a lot of money, and now that William won, his anxiety was long gone.

"I told you he would win!" Jonas said to the guard, "this guy will make me rich."