Second Attempt

Six crimson wagons with the symbol of the Gladiator School of Tyranny go through the pedestrian street under the eyes of the peasants, the wagons are pulled by two robust horses that are definitely expensive.

From what he had heard, the journey will take at the very least a day to get to the destination.

Aside from that Ramero also learned from talking with Laughing Butcher that the city they reside in is called Croison City inside the Zeabet Kingdom under the rule of Lord Symonet, it's quite a small city without any trade ongoing with other cities.

On top of that, he also learned that Gladiator School of Tyranny is quite well-known.

Even though the main school lies in a small city such as Croison City, it doesn't mean that they are a small city. The owner of the Gladiator School picks this place because it's cheaper to buy land that big, thus allowing the Gladiators to have a bigger training space.

According to Laughing Butcher, their school is ranked number four in the entire Zeabet Kingdom.

Gladiator School of Clarity, the school they were up against during this performance is ranked number three. Many talents hail from that school which explains why the other Gladiators seem to be nervous.

It involves their life and death, so it's natural for them to be nervous and restless.

Ramero looks out of the small window of the wagon to feel the breeze of fresh air, sheltered inside the school's vicinity every single day making him grateful for the air that is brushing his cheeks. It feels like he came back alive again.

Ten minutes later, the six wagons reach the gate of the city and embark on the journey.

Looking at the gate with guards guarding at the top of the wall and also beside the gate, Ramero finds that they are not as fierce as the guards inside the school. In fact, the guards look to be thin, frail, and weak.

Aside from that, the condition of the wall is also in rough shape.

Some parts of the ten meters tall wall are crumbling and there are also holes here and there, it's unclear what causes these holes but the wall looks as if it was about to crumble any moment. Even a slightly rough wind would probably collapse the wall.

'If the Gladiators of the school went berserk, this city would be decimated' Ramero thought.

From what the strength showed by the Gladiators inside the school, they clearly have superhuman strength and these city guards are not going to stop them if they went berserk. Only the guards of the school could probably stop them.

Passing the city guards' check, the six wagons made their way out into the woods.

Beside Croison City is the Nivernach Forest which gets its name from the big river that turns yellow during noon, Ramero blames this kind of phenomenon on magic as it seems this world is revolving around it.

The single road is rocky, but the wagon doesn't seem to have any difficulty going through it.

Ramero sits on his spot and saw the other Gladiators sweating a little bit, only a couple of others are able to go to sleep to skip a huge chunk of the tiring journey. Glancing at Laughing Butcher, he then asked using hand signs.

As confused as any other that saw Ramero doing hand signs, Laughing Butcher frowned.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked.

Upon hearing this, Ramero then replied while stealing glances at the two guards sitting near the exit of the wagon, "Are we allowed to talk here? I'm trying to ask you that, I don't want to be punished for no reason"

"Just talk, the no-talking rule only applies inside the school" Laughing Butcher said nonchalantly.

Finding that the guards don't seem to mind about their conversation, Ramero nodded his head, "I'm not familiar much with the colosseum, but is there any trap that I need to be wary of? Or is there a specific rule that I need to know?"

"Well, you probably need to be wary of the Metal Snake" Laughing Butcher replied.

Using his hand to picture a long and thin trap, Laughing Butcher then explains, "It's a trap that takes the lives of many Gladiators, even the veteran. Basically, it's a small thin metal wire that would wrap on your leg when you stepped on it and make you a still target"

Ramero frowns when he hears this, the nervousness inside of him makes him want to ask questions.

But back in his home world he was not really into the colosseum and prefer in luxurious places especially when he was still a teen, Ramero only knows that Gladiators are entertaining fighters and the colosseum is where they fight and is filled with traps.

It seems the colosseum in this world is similar to the colosseum in his home world.

Although he was quite nervous he already have a plan inside his head, he would use the system to his advantage and also test the theory he thought of before. But even then, he still needs to be careful.

Now it's clear to him that his enemies would be even fiercer, and that's not good for him.

"For the rules... you just need to fight and try to survive as long as you can. If you really can, be the last one standing and become famous. It's unlikely but you might gain a blessing and earn freedom" Laughing Butcher added.

Ramero already knows this, but freedom is not his aim for now.

"How about the Gladiators we're fighting, is there anyone that you know in particular? Maybe a strong one that you want to give me a heads up on?" Ramero asked again, if there's a certain Gladiator that has a reputation then he would not fight him.

At the very least not if he can flee, he doesn't want to risk it.

Maybe if there's a chance to land a sneak attack he would do that but he would definitely not approach that particular Gladiator if he was not occupied, it would be suicide. Ramero doesn't want to waste this golden opportunity and die.

Laughing Butcher rubs his chin for a moment, he's trying to remember the Gladiators.

Soon enough he flicks his fingers when he remembered a certain someone, "Oh, there's a Gladiator called Long Haired Snake. If you meet him to engage with another Gladiator, fighting him alone would be suicide, he utilizes poison"

"Poison? Is that even allowed?" Ramero asked back with a frown.

Inside his mind, if a Gladiator uses poison then the fight would not look interesting for the crowd, dying from being slashed a little is a little plain to see. But Laughing Butcher deny that quickly, "Anything is allowed as long as the crowd loves it"

"In Long Haired Snake's case, the poison causes you to bleed from everywhere. And the crowd loves it" he added while shaking his head, remembering the sight of the Gladiators that died in Long Haired Snake's lethal hands.

Upon hearing this Ramero nodded his head, he would not mess with that Gladiator.

A couple of hours later, the six wagons keep on following the road and many of the Gladiators inside the wagon with Ramero right now are asleep including Laughing Butcher. Ramero wanted to sleep but his mind is wide awake.

Mostly he's thinking about the Wynnarica Family, 'I need to be careful...' he thought.

Now that he knows the Wynnarica Family wants him dead alongside the confirmation from Lucas that said that this is related to Merona, his sister, Ramero needs to be careful as the Wynnarica Family might try and kill him on the way to the Colosseum.

It's unlikely with many people here, but that doesn't diminish the chance completely.

Ramero finds it hard to fall asleep because of that, but under the constant breeze of the fresh wind straight from the forest itself his eyelids started to get heavy. At this point, it's impossible to stay awake.

Soon his eyelids started to fall down, the heaviness is overwhelming him.

But just as he was about to sleep, a dinging sound that rang inside his head jolted him wide awake. Ramero blinks a couple of times before he read a message from the system, his eyes slowly widening as he reads through the message.

[Side Quest - Second Assassination Attempt]

Five unknown hooded figures having murderous intent have been detected. Anyone that bore killing intent must be ready to also be killed, and anyone's life that is threatened to be killed must fight back. Survive the assassination attempt!

Quest Reward: 10,000 Points and 10,000 Exp

Looking out of the window Ramero finds blurry shadows dashing through the cover of the forest.

'More assassins... just why do they insist on killing me?' Ramero thought with a frown.

Ramero was about to think of a way to get rid of these assassins but the wagon suddenly stopped, the two guards near the exit got out before they went around to see what causes the wagon to stop.

Soon one of them came back and notified, "It seems we have a problem, come out"

Upon hearing this Ramero hoped that the guards found out about the assassins hiding inside the forest, but as he and the other Gladiators came out they find the problem that the guards are talking about.

In front of their path is the big river with a violent stream of water.

Even though he hasn't tried it yet Ramero knows that nobody can cross that river due to the violent current, they would be dragged by the river if they tries to do that. On top of that, he also saw a bridge that linked the two edges of the river.

But that bridge is broken, and the wagons are unable to proceed further.

"We are going to repair the bridge so we can cross the river, taking another way would just prolong our arrival for more than a day. It's not going to work, so start moving your asses and grab an axe" Captain Baldates instructed the Gladiators.

Without saying anything, the Gladiators nodded their heads and started chopping trees.

Ramero also takes an axe of his own to start chopping some trees, but he didn't forget to sneak and take a dagger that he finds in the storage wagon. 'It's too obvious, this bridge must be destroyed by them'

Looking at the wooden bridge, he finds a couple of obvious sword marks on the remains.

Due to that, he becomes even more certain that the assassins were the ones that destroyed the wooden bridge. Ramero is now cutting a tree while his eyes darted left and right warily, he deliberately cuts close to the other Gladiators.

But as he was inspecting the surroundings, he realized something crucial.

'Hmm... their movement is weird, they are scattered instead of focusing on me' Ramero thought in confusion, it was clear that their target was him. But instead of focusing solely on him, the assassins seem to be scattered.

Although he can't pinpoint their locations exactly, he can feel that they are scattered.

Ramero wanted to report the assassins to Captain Baldates or the Regulator, but he refrains from doing so as he realizes something, 'No way... they must not know which one is me. It must be, there's no other explanation for why they are scattered like this'

Upon realizing that, Ramero pulls his face down so he would not be easily recognized.

Even though someone wants him killed, the thumping heart inside of his chest makes a smirk bloom on his face. Looking to the side he finds that the guards don't seem to realize the assassins, and they are also helping with building the bridge.

With this, it was a perfect gap for Ramero to deal with the problem right now.

'Since they don't know which one is me, I should take advantage of that' Ramero thought, he grabs the dagger he hides under his uniform before the smirk on his face grows even wider, 'Before they can find out which one is me, let's strike first, let's give these fuckers a big surprise'

As he said that, Ramero timed his movement before he dashes into the bushes.

Nobody seems to realize that he was gone, not the guards, and not even the Gladiator chopping wood beside him. Ramero's timing is impeccable, and that also means the assassins also don't realize one of the Gladiators is missing.