Admitting Defeat

Ramero woke up the next morning feeling refreshed as ever.

Even though his body is riddled with injuries from top to bottom especially his torso which feels like it was going to break when he tries to move it, there's still a smile on his face as he managed to win yesterday's match against Laughing Butcher.

But that good mood instantly disappeared remembering something Silver Fists said.

'Champion of Tyranny has his eyes on me, I hope he's only interested in my fight not me in particular' Ramero thought in worry. With yesterday's fight, the other Gladiators shouldn't be messing with him again or at the very least tone down their bullying.

It should be relatively calm, and he didn't want Champion of Tyranny to mess up his peace.

Although the urge not wanting to go to breakfast and the training ground for today is high, knowing that Champion of Tyranny's curiosity is still warm, he's not able to do that. None of the Gladiators are allowed to stay inside their cells during those times.

Without having any other choice, he decided that he would try his best to hide in the shadows.

Just before his jail cell was opened reaching the time for breakfast, another Slave Priest came to his jail cell to check on him alongside a guard, but it was a different guard than before. Ramero lets her check the wounds he sustained before she gave him a healing potion.

But this time, the healing potion is the regular one which should be the right one.

'I don't want the same thing to Leandra happening again...' Ramero thought wryly, it's going to be a hassle if this Slave Priest gave him the wrong healing potion again. If the same thing happened again, then he would truly be in trouble.

Ramero followed the hallway to reach the cafeteria, but his eyes caught something.

When he reaches the center of the school where the Regulator sits, he saw a signboard with two long scrolls attached to it. Squinting his eyes, he finds that the scroll has a number and a name beside it, the ranking of the Gladiators.

Looking at the very top, he finds that these scrolls are the result of the sparring tournament.

One of them is associated with Normal Gladiators while the other is for the Mage Gladiators. Compared to the Normal Gladiators, the Mage Gladiators only consist of 13 Gladiators which is less than half of the total Normal Gladiators.

At the very top of the Mage Gladiators rank, the first rank is a Gladiator called Dearil.

'It's the same name as those guards are talking about, he's the strongest Mage Gladiator here' Ramero thought, he recognized the name. But his eyes then shifted to the other scroll, trying to find his name.

Obviously, the first rank in this list is Champion of Tyranny before followed by the Nightmare.

Even though he didn't stop, he managed to find his name near the bottom.

Out of the 37 Gladiators that are listed alongside his name, he was ranked 30 which makes him higher than 7 other Gladiators. It's a feat that he's quite proud of, but he knows that he can't be satisfied with just this.

'With the system, I'll definitely reach the top' Ramero thought confidently.

Since there is a commotion in front that made the Gladiator in front of him stopped, he tries to find Silver Fists in the list and surprisingly finds him ranked number 35. 'He's not in the top ten? But he beat me with one hit' Ramero thought in surprise, he didn't expect something like this.

But he guessed that Silver Fists doesn't care about ranks, if not then he should be ranked higher.

Aside from his humongous physique, he's also very fast and a very good fighter, Ramero can tell from that decisive movement that knocked him out. It's quite clear to him that Silver Fists is an expert in fighting.

Not long after he reaches the cafeteria and instantly went to sit in front of Silver Fists.

Ramero is sweating bullets when Champion of Tyranny is stealing glances at him, but he never really returns the glance not wanting to make eye contact. 'I can avoid him here, but what about during the training session...?'

It's the school rule to not talk when inside the jail cell and during eating sessions.

Of course, Champion of Tyranny wouldn't blatantly come to him, but it's a different story if it's during the training session in the training ground where the Gladiators are allowed to do whatever they want.

When they are there, Ramero has no means of escape from Champion of Tyranny.

Even when the time for the training session came, Ramero still doesn't find a way to avoid Champion of Tyranny. All he can do right now is hope that Champion of Tyranny wouldn't come to him, or else he doesn't know what to do.

Surprisingly enough, Champion of Tyranny went to train instead of coming to him.

Ramero sighed in relief as it seems there was no indication that Champion of Tyranny would approach him, he stayed at the corner away from the others. Since there was no need to worry, he decided to do his exercises.

Aside from wanting to get stronger, he's also excited about something.

[Strong Mind Strong Body - 3/4]

Do 100 Push-ups - 0/100

Do 100 Squats - 0/100

Do 50 Pull-ups - 0/50

Run 10 Km - 0/10

Normal Rewards: 100 Points, 100 Exp, and Rejuvenation

Completion Rewards: 2,000 Points, 2,000 Exp, Rejuvenation, and Constitution of Sparta.

Looking at the completion rewards of the next main quest of Strong Body Strong Mind he finds an interesting thing, it was the Constitution of Sparta that not only sounds cool but it's also written in gold instead of the usual white.

It seems it's the first main ability that he got related to 'Sparta' as the system's name.

Knowing that whatever the Constitution of Sparta is would definitely make him stronger, he decided to keep on doing his exercises. With the help of the healing potion, his body feels a lot better and he can hardly feel any pain again.

Deciding to pour the 6 attributable stats he gained into strength, he started his training.

A couple of hours passed and he managed to finish the main quest three times, he only need to do three more sets of exercises to reach level 9. Ramero now can do push-ups and squat around 60 to 70 times in one go, and pull up about 30 times in one go.

From this alone, he's sure that it won't take long before he completes the main quest.

While he was resting and taking a drink provided in a barrel on the side of the training ground near the entrance and guards, he saw a figure approaching him. Upon seeing this figure, he can't help but frown, 'What does he want, now...?'

Heading towards him was Laughing Butcher, he has a sword in his hand.

Ramero feels threatened and he deliberately moves near the guards so that if Laughing Butcher decided to do anything, he would be able to use the guards to protect himself. It's the only thing he can do right now.

But Laughing Butcher stopped in front of him with a troubled expression.

Looking to the side as if he's reluctant to stare at Ramero's eyes, Laughing Butcher raises his sword and points it forward. In reflex, Ramero leans back fearing that he might do something reckless and try to kill him right here.

Surprisingly, Laughing Butcher turns the sword and shoves the handle toward Ramero.

"What is the meaning of this?" Ramero asked with a frown.

Clenching his jaw in reluctance, Laughing Butcher scratches the back of his head impatiently before he replied, "You won against me fair and square, I have no excuse about yesterday's fight. Take it, you don't have a weapon yet, right?"

Although they start very badly, Ramero was surprised by this.

Out of everyone, he knows full well how hard it is to recognize one's own weakness and even own up to it just like what Laughing Butcher is doing right now, and because of that he quite respects Laughing Butcher for doing so.

"Is it okay for me to take this sword from you?" Ramero asked once again, just to make sure.

But Laughing Butcher immediately puts the handle of the sword in Ramero's hand, "Without a weapon, Gladiators' chance of surviving is going to be very low, even for Champion of Tyranny. The performance is nearing and you need a weapon" he said before turning around to leave.

"I suggest you try and fight for a shield, you'll need it" he added while waving his hand.

Ramero was stunned for a fair moment before he blinks his eyes while watching Laughing Butcher's back getting further away, a smile then crept to his mouth, 'Huh... I didn't think he would be that kind of guy'

With that, the training session finally ends, and he was brought back to his beloved cell again.

As the Rejuvenation gets weaker as he got stronger, he needs to rest an hour or so before he can resume training once again. Due to his always exercising, the guards passing his cell look at him in confusion.

In their eyes, the amount of training Ramero did is inhuman. Nobody has that kind of stamina.

Of course, if it's any other person they wouldn't be able to mimic what Ramero is doing right now, even Ramero is able to do this because of the system. When the night is already thick, and the moonlight seeped into the glazed window, Ramero finally stops.

Today he managed to finish the main quest six times and reached level 9.

Without much thought, he instantly puts the 3 attributable stats he gained into strength again.

As of right now, there's no reason for him to add his other stats, he needs to finish the main quest so he can move on to the next one. Moreover, he's quite curious as to what the Constitution of Sparta would do to him.

Ramero's main motivation is that, and also the feeling of getting stronger is intoxicating.

Many of the people back in his home world stop working out or going to the gym due to a lack of motivation that can build discipline, seeing results is one way to make them feel refreshed and motivated.

But results will dwindle over time and it would take a long time to see results.

It was the case for every people, but now that he has the system, and is able to see the number grow alongside the warm feeling that his body undergoes whenever he becomes stronger, Ramero feels intoxicated. More potent than a drug, he wanted to feel it more.

Panting heavily he decided to lean on the wall while trying to catch his breath.

Rejuvenation did almost nothing at this point, now he started to feel the fatigue filling his entire body, he was really tired and sleepy. 'Maybe when I reach level 10 or 11, I'll be able to finish the next main quest. But for now, let's just rest...'

Deciding to call it a night, Ramero lay down on the hard ground and closes his eyes

Because of the exhaustion that he was feeling right now, it didn't take long for him to fall asleep. It takes no more than five minutes even with the rough ground, but his sleep was disturbed by a commotion sound.

Opening his eyes slowly, he changed position wanting to resume his sleep.

Although there seems to be a commotion from the guards, he doesn't care at all as that is the guards' duty, not his. What he wanted right now is to sleep, he only slept for an hour and this happened so he's quite annoyed.

Just then, he heard rushed footsteps going along the hallway.

Ramero still doesn't care but his ears caught a whisper, he opens his eyes and frowned when he heard the rushed footstep stop at each cell and called out his name a couple of times whisperingly. Many of the Gladiators are asleep, and those that are not asleep curse at the person.

'Did I hear it wrong...?' he thought in confusion.

But as the person reaches his cell, a whisper can be heard, "Ramero...? Is that you?"

Upon hearing this Ramero turns around to see the person that called him, it turns out to be a person clad in a brown hooded robe. From a glance, he knows that this person is not a part of the school.

When the figure catches sight of Ramero's face, his eyes instantly brighten up.

"R-Ramero! Stay there, I'm going to get you out of here!" the person whispered and started to lock picking the door, and this made Ramero even more confused. But soon he realized that this person should know the previous Ramero.

Instead of excitement, Ramero feels annoyed, "Fuck off, I don't want anything to do with you!"