“Attention, ladies!” Lar’Ako shouted over the Ludus. The orcs promptly formed a row with Vlad and Sou’Rek just slightly behind them. The orc near to them derisively snorted as he noticed their slowness.

“Tomorrow, you will all fight!” Upon this, the orcs roared. The noise was so loud, Vladimir thought his ears would bleed.

“Good to see you are all excited! Today will be a little bit special. As you can see, we have two new additions!” The heads turned to the duo of the human and goblin. Only one of them took a slight interest in them, his gaze lingering, the rest only quickly examined them and turned back.

“Oh, and Kulgar will join as later today. He wants to see the human,” she said, with the rest deadpanning. Every time Kulgar joins… “Oh, and don’t kill both of those filth, please. The human cannot die and the traitor will die tomorrow!” She added. Upon the word please, the orcs visibly shivered.

“Now, ladies! 200 laps, 2000 push-ups and 2000 squats. You will finish in an hour! MOVE MOVE MOVE!” She cracked her whip.

“Hmpf! The human is slowing us down already!” One of the orcs angrily said.

“Screw it. Let’s make it 400 laps! The last one is the bugger!” The orcette proclaimed and sped up.

The orcs laughed and hastened too.

Vladimir and Sou’Rek flickered their eyes on each other. Their movement accelerated, keeping up with the rest.

The orc, who took interest in them, noticed them and notified others with a slight smile.

Again, all of them sped up.

It went like that for a while, until Vladimir was sprinting with all his might.

Meanwhile, Sou’Rek was having a little difficulty keeping up with them. However soon, the gladiators took up such a speed, he could not retain the pace.

Vladimir huffed, his face flushed as he sprinted for 10 laps. Then he had to slow down to a mere jog. There was no loud crack coming from the madame Lar’Ako, so assumed she already expected this. He had to acknowledge her. She knew what she was doing and how to train the body efficiently. In a mere week, he got strong enough to make weep any athlete on Earth.

At the same time here it seemed so inconsequential. The orcs did not even sweat. As they ran, they made jokes, sexual innuendos and overall having fun.

They ran around him and Sou’Rek, completely ignoring them. The duo ignored them back and continued their warm-up. There is no need to compete with them. Yeah, no need, it’s not like their ego could not take it.

After an hour, they again stood up in a row before the lanista.

Dull weapons were prepared in the racks, brought by slave-goblins during the warm-up. There were large crossblades, maces, tridents, nets. All of it way too large for a human. Then Vladimir noticed a smaller rack, stocked with almost half-the-size weapons. They appeared like what would be toys for orcen babies. Vladimir recognized them as he trained with them in the last five days.

“Pick your weapons, make couples and go for it! I want to hear metal hitting each other in the next two minutes!” She shouted and yet again to highlight the dictate, she cracked her whip.

“She really loves her whip, doesn’t she?” Sou’Rek whispered near the rack. It was his first meeting with the gladiator instructor.

“You don’t know half of it… I have even seen her do stuff with it you would not believe,” Vladimir whispered back.

“Trust me, I would… You would not believe what I saw…” He stopped talking as he contemplated something. “Well, I guess you would. I don’t know what they have done to you, but after each session, you were batshit crazy.”

“...Let’s not go there,” Vladimir instinctively quivered.

Vladimir chose a sword, a steel gladius, while Sou’Rek had chosen a spear. He slightly smiled as he felt the weapon in his hand after so long.

They started to practice and the sound of metal hitting metal echoed all over the ludus.

The orcs were fast. So fast, Vladimir had problems even seeing them as he only saw blurred movements and then loud clangs.

[Analysis co…]

“Stop with that analysis complete, please…” Vladimir tweaked the screen.

[Orcen gladiator

Level: 11

VIT: 144.3 (CAC x (11+2)) {Racial bonus + 2nd stage class bonus}

CAC: 11.1

ISS: 10.4

NSS: 10.3

MPA: 3.1]

“Damn,” he jealously whispered in reverence. His concentration faltered and he was heavily hit by the Sou’Rek’s metallic spear in the solar plexus.

Vladimir fell on his ass, catching his breath and massing the hit place. A nasty black-and-blue mark slowly emerged.

“Keep attention!” Lar’Ako suddenly showed up behind him and screamed. She lightly stroked him with the whip, leaving a red scar on his back. He kind of stopped to even register these love taps as she called it. The resistances helped a lot to mitigate the pain and damage, each level in them giving him a whole 1%.

In the next two hours, they have done nothing other than swinging their weapons on each other. Dull and boring activity.

“Change!” Lar’Ako unexpectedly yelled. Near her was another orc, whom Vladimir recognized from the Coliseum. He had to come some time ago, as he was sitting there with a large opened bottle, observing the gladiators and especially him with a pensive look.

The orcs changed partners and the only interested orc skipped to them. He threw Sou’Rek to his former partner and raised his large trident and net in Vladimir’s way.

Vladimir nervously gulped as he saw the huge orc towering over him even from the three metres long distance. The net was large enough to wrap him several times and the trident appeared like something that could penetrate a whale through and through.

The orc beckoned him to attack. So, Vladimir decided to go smart. He turned away and ran. Only that it happened in his mind, and he was stopped by a whip and beaten up while being yelled at.

Next, he tried to get behind the orc. Nope, not working too. The orc was way too fast. He used the net to stop him and then carried out the three-point acupuncture on his front. And through his lungs, heart and spine.

No matter what he imagined in those first precious seconds, he could not see a way to defeat or even hurt the orc. He was terribly outclassed and understood a simple truth. This was for him to realize he does not have a chance. He started to act a little bit more hopefully, settled in the past few days as he had a full stomach, an acquaintance he could talk to and a routine. Luckily, the system he had was still a secret.

And it seems the orcs have noticed. They wanted him to lose hope. To break and to realize his place here. As a slave, even below goblins. A mere curiosity that lives only thanks to their mercy and for the fun of the crowd.

He steeled his heart and gripped his weapon so hard, the knuckles on his hand whitened.

His thought process happened in a few seconds, five or six. The orc was still patiently waiting with prepared weapons and a slight smirk on his face, knowing the human cannot even touch him.

Next, Vladimir roared. It sounded a little bit weak when compared to the orcen roar, Waaaaaaagh!, but he was still proud of it. Most humans would flinch, his enhanced body giving him the power unseen for him.

He jumped back to create more space between them and started to run in the circles around the orc who was spinning on a place with calculated movements.

Then Vladimir attacked. He jumped forward with the gladius before him. The orc threw the net to stop him, but Vladimir ducked down, barely evading it. The orc miscalculated the reaction speed of his opponent, heavily underestimating him.

As Vladimir squatted, he picked up the net. It was heavy, at least 30 kilos, but with his trained body and adrenaline coursing through him, he did not even feel the weight.

He began to run in circles again, while smiling derisively and he even stuck out his tongue. This time the orc attacked first, he moved so fast Vladimir almost did not have time to react. However, he expected it. After all, he baited him, hoping he would provoke the orc enough.

As the orc was near him, he threw the net under his feet. The orc did not expect it and slipped, planting his face in the sand.

Everyone stopped moving and a pin-drop silence spread in the whole ludus. Even Vladimir could not believe it worked out and his movement faltered. He hastily aimed his weapon and thrust, hitting the orc in the head. He thrust again and hit him on the spine.

“Heh… Hehehe… HAHAHAHA!” The rest of the gladiators first slowly chuckled upon this comedy show, but then roared in laughter. Lar’Ako could not believe what she just saw, gaped a little as if to say something, but no sound came from her mouth and then started massaging her nose bridge to calm herself down.

Kulgar spluttered the liquid and grinned too. Even the beaten up Sou’Rek suppressed his laughter, as he knew he would be beaten up even more if he would laugh.

Then the orc slowly rose up. He looked… Angry.

“I think this is a good time to re-evaluate our priorities. Did we live a good life? Did we make good decisions? Does Heaven exist? I think…” the Loony Voice blabbered, becoming frightened.

Vladimir ignored him and tensed. The aura completely changed in the whole ludus. A single pumping vein was seen on the angered orc’s forehead. His eyes became completely red, a sheer brutality and promise of death were aimed at the human.

“Oh… Shit…” Vladimir uttered, turned his back and ran towards Lar’Ako and Kulgar, hoping for implausible help.

The seething orc sprinted forward with all his might, quickly catching up to panicked Vladimir. He picked him by the neck and slowly squeezed, suffocating him. Vladimir’s eyes bulged as he felt a few cracks on his spine.

[Broken spine: Full-body paralysis. Estimated time: Until healed]

A notification flickered before his eyes with him completely ignoring it.

“I think that’s enough,” Lar’Ako calmly said and grabbed the enraged orc’s wrist, forcing him to release the limp man on the ground. She pulled a vial with red liquid and poured it into Vlad’s mouth.

Vladimir was losing consciousness as a warm feeling entered his mouth. The hysteria slowly faded as his body returned back. He recognized the Potion of Regeneration, a low-grade potion made exactly for these situations, from his Encyclopaedia. Probably from the time with the White Bastard, Ssirze The Book-Finder, who used it after their sessions in the lab.

“Marak, go and fight it out with someone else,” she ordered with a neutral tone. “And, you filth,” she looked down at the shuddering piece of flesh, “will regenerate and move your scrawny ass back to training! Understood?!” she screamed.

“Ye… Yes, madam,” Vladimir speedily answered, while gasping for breath.

[You are healed]

The prompt flashed before his eyes and he stood up, quivering from the sheer amount of adrenaline. He almost died now.

“Ahh, everyday you learn something new. Today’s session was about to never fucking anger orcs!” The Loony Voice shouted.

“Oh really? And what should I have done differently if you are so smart?” Vladimir asked, annoyed.

“...” No reply came back.

“Thought so. It’s not like this would end up any differently. At least I have shown I have some spunk in me. I knew they wouldn't let me die. Not now,” he explained, still grimacing. It did not feel exactly great to have the neck snapped and then mended.

A whip on his back awakened him from his deep considerations and he returned to the fallen inquisitor. The poor goblin was brutally beaten up. He limped, with his hand freely hanging from his dislodged shoulder. He missed a few front teeth and one of his ears was half-torn.

“What happened to you?” Vladimir incredulously questioned him.

“Take a guess, human,” he answered, using human as an insult, but grinned.

“Ran through the metal-pressing machine?” Vladimir half-jokingly asked.

“Close,” he spitted out another teeth, “it was that bitch,” he nodded towards the orcette.. Vladimir analysed her as he peered on her and her juggling breasts covered in leather straps as she danced around with her two crossblades.

[Gladiator orcette

Level: 11

VIT: 159.9 (CAC x (11+2)) {Racial bonus + 2nd stage class bonus}

CAC: 12.3

ISS: 11.0

NSS: 11.1

MPA: 3.0]

“Do I see right? How did you hit her?” Vladimir noticed a long gash on her thigh.

“She is too big and I am small. Also, that is why I am looking like this now…” he said and hissed in pain as Vladimir popped his shoulder back. “What about you?” The goblin asked.

“Good, nothing wrong with me. Let’s start before they notice…” Vladimir said, peeking at Kulgar and Lar’Ako deep in the conversation and sharing the canteen.