Chapter 789 - Sartonilos
Chapter 789: Sartonilos
Zhang Heng had been to Mark Reuss’s domus before, and the interior decorations were a clear statement of luxury. When he compared Mark Reuss’s domus with Dior’s, however, he realized that it wasn’t much different from roadside squatters.
This was the gap between the nouveau riche and the noble families.
Mark Reuss, master of a gladiator school, had to put on a smile when he came here. Since he was not qualified to enter for dinner, he could only wait in the front hall with his slaves. Apart from him, several masters from other gladiator schools were here as well. Some gladiators had even come from far away from different parts of the empire.
The entire front hall looked like a mini ethnographic expo.
Needless to say, Zhang Heng’s height was not prominent among all the other gladiators, and he would be buried among the crowd when he stood in the corner. Bach was considered the most muscular newcomer, but he did not look all that burly anymore standing among the veteran gladiators.
Zhang Heng even saw a taller guy than the black blacksmith in the Red Nose Smithy, standing there like the giant in the myth. All the gladiators here were extremely hot-blooded, which meant that they were not going just to stand there and not do anything about their opponents. After a while, the friction between them started to worsen.
Other than that, the masters of these gladiator schools were also divided into different factions. First of all, gladiator schools outside of Rome would never communicate with Roman schools. Clearly, the one inside the city of Rome was stronger, which had caused the schools outside Rome to unite and work together. Some of these, however, were friendly to other gladiator schools within the city of Rome. Still, it was inevitable that a tense relationship with the other gladiator schools would crop up. For example, the master of the Hunahpu Arena who wanted to hurt Zhang Heng had a very poor relationship with Mark Reuss. The moment they met, they started to ridicule each other.
Staccioli bought a group of powerful barbarians three months ago. He wanted to win a good ranking for his gladiator school in upcoming grand gladiatorial performances. When he looked at Bach and others, his eyes were filled with disdain. However, when he paused when he saw Zhang Heng. And his expression became gloomy.
“Let me remind you of something, Mark Reuss. You’d better keep a few good gladiators. Otherwise, if all your people are killed by my people, I am worried that no one will buy your arena tickets next time. By that time, your Victor Arena will be over.”
When Mark Reuss heard what he said, he put on a smile. “Staccioli, you are still as stupid as ever. What’s the matter? Afraid of me before the fight even begins? Are you trying to trick me into reserving my strength? Do you think you can fool me like this? After this performance, you should really think about the future of the Hunahpu Arena.
Mark Reuss then turned to Zhang Heng and others. “You don’t need to show any mercy to the gladiators from Hunahpu Arena. Kill all of them if it is possible.”
Staccioli let out a cold snort when he heard those words. He turned to his gladiator and said furiously, “Did you hear what our opponents just said? If you don’t want to die, go all out to kill all of them.”
“…”
Other than old rivals like Mark Reuss and Staccioli, both sides did have good relationships with some other gladiator schools. For example, after Mark Reuss and Staccioli had argued with each other, both sides talked to the smaller schools to exchange the latest information.
At the same time, a minor fight was happening on the other side.
A gladiator from a school outside Rome walked up to a bearded gladiator sitting on the steps and asked, “Are you Sartonilos?”
The bearded gladiator did not lift his head when he heard the question, saying instead, “Get lost.”
Te gladiator, however, did not leave just because Sartonilos asked him to get lost. Instead, he walked half a step further and said, “I heard that after Sethnets, you care the most famous gladiator in Rome. Do you know what I think?”
Sartonilos did not answer. He looked drunk and weak.
“That’s because the people in this city have never seen what a real gladiator looks like. My school goes on a tour every year. We travel all over the country to fight with local gladiators, and we have seen all kinds of powerful gladiators. These men constantly hone their martial arts. We are different from you. We are not toys for the noble and young ladies. We are the real warriors,” the gladiator proclaimed proudly.
It was apparent that many gladiators around him agreed with what he said. This was actually quite common. Although everyone here was a gladiator, those who lived in Rome were generally worth a lot more. They generally had better living conditions and were not short of admirers as well. If they were talented, the school’s owner would not mind spending a vast sum of money to nurture them. On the contrary, the gladiators from outside the city of Rome, especially the ones who traveled to various places, not only lived in worse conditions but even received less reputation and gifts. It was understandable why they disliked any gladiator that came from the city of Rome.
The gladiator from outside of Rome felt a little strange when he saw so many people supporting him. However, none of them said a word about it. And a few gladiators that stood close to him had started taking a few steps back.
The gladiator named Sartonilos finally raised his head at this time.
“Then why the f*ck did you enter the city?”
“I’m here to teach you a good lesson and let you know who the greatest gladiator really is…” Before he could finish speaking, Sartonilos, who seemed drunk earlier, suddenly rose up and leaped toward him. The gladiator was paying attention to his hands, not expecting Sartonilos to tackle his face with his head.
And the people around him could hear the sound of his nose bone cracking. Soon after that, blood gushed out from his nostrils, and simultaneously, his body leaned back, and he fell to the ground. After that, Sartonilos jumped on him and raised his fist.
The last picture that the gladiator saw was the smirk of Sartonilos.
Don’t worry about your nose because I can guarantee that you won’t get to use it again.” After Sartonilos finished speaking, he landed his fish on the gladiator’s face. And the latter immediately passed out.
But Sartonilos did not stop there. He continued to punch him until the gladiator’s head turned into a pile of mush. Sartonilos then raised his head again and tidied its hair with his blood-covered hands. And at the same time, he used his hand to wipe off the sweat from his face. This action made his face looked even more hideous.
Afterward, Sartonilos patted the dust off his body and stood up from the ground, “Now, it’s finally quiet.” His gaze swept across the foreign gladiators around him before he asked, “Anyone else wants to teach me a lesson in his place?”
All the foreign gladiators were silent after they heard the words. Among them, the strong man who looked like a giant seemed to be a little eager to fight with him, but his master quickly forbade him.