Excitement

Ramero stands at the mouth of the gate with his eyes opened wide.

From the moment he heard that the first performance is about come for him, he had imagined what the arena would be like and even thought of ways to survive while simultaneously entertaining the crowds.

As he has been to the capital city of Italy, Rome, he knows what the Colosseum looks like.

It was many years ago when he was still a high-schooler and was brought by his father on a business trip to Rome, and as a vacation, he got inside the Colosseum and even dwell in restricted places thanks to his father's power.

Due to that, of course, he thought of the arena to be similar to the Colosseum.

Even from looking from above the arena, at the entrance of the Deathbound Colosseum, he finds that it's similar to the Colosseum back in his home world with the exception of the floating buildings and magic revolving around the place.

But from up close, it's just vastly different than his imagination.

Ramero was exposed to the arena with cheering crowds can be seen circling the entire place, beyond the gate is a small bridge only equipped to handle one person. It's the path that linked the gate to the actual arena.

Still feeling dazed, he walks out and exposes himself to the light.

Upon taking three steps forward and standing on the small bridge, Ramero realizes where the splashing water sound came from. Looking to either side of the bridge, he realizes that the arena is surrounded by deep water.

A flowing stream of water gushed out of a helmet-shaped fountain which filled the deep water.

It doesn't create a smooth splash onto the deep water but instead a messy splash, truly grating but somehow becomes a signal to tell the Gladiators that the deep water is there waiting to swallow them.

Ramero looks down to the deep water and finds that it's inhabited by weird creatures.

Unclear due to how deep the water is and also the fact the creature probably has skin colors that blend with the water, but he can see swift movement inside the water. 'Why didn't Laughing Butcher tell me about this? I think this is worth telling, no...?'

Just as he thought of that, the roars from other Gladiators snapped him out of his daze.

Gazing back to the arena he finds that there are four pillars and one of them is attached to a beast, it looks like a tiger but with denser furs and a way bigger body. But his eyes darted down and finds that the claws are also way sharper, it grazes the concrete ground covered by sand from a light scratch.

"I need to adapt quickly and engage in a fight" Ramero thought before his eyes turns sharp.

Not wanting to be left out lest he would not have the chance to shine in his first performance, Ramero gripped his sword and shield tightly before he started sprinting to the arena with his eyes darting left and right in search of an opponent.

But as he was about to reach the edge of the bridge, a Gladiator landed in front of him.

Ramero was surprised as he was not expecting someone to literally jumped that high and managed to evade his vision, he stopped abruptly and looks at the Gladiator that landed in front of him. The first challenge of this fight.

"I found you, little dog..." the Gladiator said with a smirk underneath his helmet.

From hearing this remark alone Ramero's expression instantly darkens, he already knows that this Gladiator is one of the Gladiators that mocked him. 'It seems I don't need to bother finding him, the asshole came voluntarily to his death'

Due to the helmet, Ramero didn't recognize this Gladiator.

Pointing his blade at the deep water with a threat lurking inside of it, the Gladiator then added, "Since it seems this is your first performance with you looking around like an idiot, I'll introduce little Draqua. But I think you're going to get along with little Draqua soundly, since she really likes to eat Dogs"

"If you're a friend of little Draqua, why don't I send you to greet her?" Ramero replied fiercely.

Both Gladiators are not hiding the killing intent that they emitted, it's a battle to the death and mockery is no worse than a blade to the neck. "Bold mouth for a Greenhorn, I hope you can back it up because you're going to die in about five seconds if you can't" he replied while lowering his stance.

Responding to this aggression, Ramero also went into his battle stance with the shield in front.

As they were sizing each other up, the announcer that is standing at a platform near the crowd pointed at Ramero and the Gladiator, "Would you look at this, ladies and gentlemen! A fierce staredown has just commenced at the bridge beside little Draqua's lair! It seems an exciting fight between Noble Brat and Sword Sting is about to start!!"

"It's been quite some time since we saw little Draqua comes out, don't you want to see her?!"

Upon the announcer riling the excitement of the crowd about little Draqua, the crowd started to cheer ever louder chanting little Draqua. From the looks of it, the excitement to see little Draqua has heightened even more.

Knowing this, Ramero is not going to pass up this opportunity.

"Let's give the crowd a good show, Noble Brat!"

After roaring his taunt, Sword Sting waved his sword and charges forward and stepped on the bridge. Ramero also didn't stay idle and charges forward, there's nothing that benefits him from staying still like that.

In response to Sword Sting, he needs to also charge forward to gain additional momentum.

Brak!

Ramero's shield bashed right onto Sword Sting's shield, and the wooden sound they made was quite loud and make the crowd cheer even harder. 'It's going to be hard fighting here, this bridge is too narrow'

Since this bridge is only good for one person at a time, there's little space to work with.

'One wrong step and one of us is going to stumble and fall down to the water, death awaits us if we fell into the water' Ramero glanced down and find the shadow lurking inside the water circling, anticipating the meal to come.

Gritting his teeth, Ramero strengthens his legs and pushes Sword Sting back.

Their shields separated but Sword Sting didn't waste any time and did a horizontal motion with his sword, a decisive slash that managed to be dodged by Ramero by a jump back. "Woah..." he stepped to the edge of the bridge, knocking his balance a little bit.

Noticing a chance presented itself, Sword Sting keeps his attacking momentum.

Ramero was overwhelmed as he takes a step back at a time while parrying and blocking the flurry of attacks, he wanted to answer with a counterattack but he got beaten to it every time. Sword Sting is quicker than him.

Every clash of their swords produced a powerful sound, reverberating to the entire arena.

The magic enchantment that Leandra engraved on his short sword was starting to take effect, it was not louder than the other Gladiators that are stronger than him but enough to keep some of the crowd's attention on him.

A wide swing came from above, and this made Ramero's eyes glisten fiercely.

With a twist of his torso, he managed to dodge the slash that landed on the ground, 'It's the perfect chance for a counter!' he thought as he stab his short sword forward, aiming at the abdomen that is wide open for a quick stab.

Sword Sting is not in a favorable position, he can't block with his shield, and Ramero knows that.

Knowing that this attack was certain to hit a smile appeared on his face. But as his sword was about to land, Ramero widened his eyes when Sword Sting thrust the steel edge of his steel intending to hit Ramero on the head.

Compared to the stab, Sword Sting would definitely suffer more damage than Ramero.

But as their attacks were about to connect, Ramero's body moved on its own and parry the shield heading to his face with an upward slash of his short sword before jumping away. Ramero and Sword Sting parted ways again.

Panting heavily, Ramero frown while he keeps his eyes on Sword Sting warily.

'What happened...? Why did I move back instead of going through with my attack?' Ramero thought with his chest heaving up and down, he was confused himself. It's not an intended move, he unconsciously did it.

Upon seeing this, the crowd booed at him for dodging instead of going through with the motion.

Ramero frowned underneath his helmet as he realized what makes his body move like that. Compared to a bullet firing at him, the shield is way slower. In case of a bullet, his eyes probably can't see it until the bullet hits him. Bullets are just very fast.

At this point in his life, he has already gotten used to bullets sweeping the air beside him.

But now the shield is heading to him in a visible movement, he can see the threat of the shield that would definitely break the skin on his face. It's a first sensation for him, and his body reacted by dodging it instead of going through with it.

'It's fear... I'm still not used to this, but I know I can overcome it' Ramero thought with a frown.

Out of everything, he was not a man that doesn't want to admit his fear. At that moment earlier, when the shield headed towards his face, he feared that he got knocked off balance despite managing to stab Sword Sting and fall to the water.

The performance is way different compared to the weekly tournament of the school.

Inside the school, he was braver in fighting the Gladiators due to the false protection from the Regulator that forbids any Gladiator from killing himself. When he fought against Scorpion, he was fueled with anger that his body reacted differently.

But now, he was not as mad as he was against Scorpion. Now he's only focused on survival.

Although the fact that he was scared for a moment there, a maniacal smile crept on his face which was shielded underneath his helmet. It didn't render his battle instinct, instead, he was excited knowing that he can overcome this fear and become stronger.

With the newfound excitement in this fight, he dashes forward once again.

Clang!

Sword Sting was surprised when he feel more power from that clash, he was thankful for the fact that Ramero doesn't go through with that or else he would've been injured badly. In fact, he reckons Ramero is still naive and fearful of that exchange.

It didn't take long before Ramero proved him wrong, his previous thoughts dispersed instantly.

'Where did he gain this much confidence from...? Is he a lunatic?' Sword Sting thought before he charges forward again with his shield in front, wanting to crush Ramero with his bodily strength seeing that Ramero's body is quite smaller than his.

Peeking from the back of his shield, Sword Sting frowned when he saw Ramero stay on his spot.

Ramero is raising his right leg intending to kick the shield, while Sword Sting keeps on charging without knowing that he was stepping into a trap. Just like Laughing Butcher back in the school's tournament, Sword Sting is going to open a box of surprises by doing this.

'Front Kick...'

'Now you fall, Noble Brat... It's a mistake to be so boastful to me'

Crash!

Under his widened eyes, Sword Sting feels his vision turns sideways, wood fragments burst into him.

Looking to the side he was completely shocked when he saw his shield break completely from being kicked by Ramero, it didn't even remotely able to block that kick which is inhumanly stronger than he anticipated.

Not only Sword Sting but the crowd were also surprised when they saw what happened.

Due to the quite loud sound coming from the side, the announcer shifted his attention away and gazed at the fight between Ramero and Sword Sting. Upon seeing the aftermath, the announcer is completely over the moon.

"W-Would you look at this!! With a single kick, Noble Brat shattered Sword Sting's shield!"