Blood Assimilation

Randy calmly swept his gaze across the group of people on the stage briefly before nodding his head in satisfaction. He would soon be facing off against 20 experienced Gladiators, but he wasn't worried at all. Instead, he was thrilled with the lineup.

'This is the only way to expedite the assimilation of my temporary attributes.' He thought to himself.

He initially thought it would take more taunting, but who would've thought that 20 people would come with a few sentences from him? Although they may be offended by the way he acted, the result was all that mattered.

After all, he might not meet these people again after this Gladiator match. Even if they did meet, the most they would do was pick a fight with him or alienate him for looking down on them on their first encounter.

Either way, he couldn't care less. The whole point of his journey to this world was to get strong as quickly as possible, not to make friends or become close with others.

That was why he was trying his best to not build any close relationships with anyone ever since he set out for the city from the village. Even though he was now entangled with Gutz's group, that was only temporary. Once he was done with his business here, he would cut his ties with them so as to not implicate them in his troubles.

…

At the spectators' seat.

Gutz was sitting on the edge of his seat, feeling frantic and anxious about the current unexpected situation.

While he wanted to see Randy fight against Gladiators, he never would have thought the taciturn Randy would suddenly challenge the whole Gladiator to mortal combat.

Although the Coliseum did not allow killings, accidental deaths were an exception to this rule. After all, no one could predict what would happen in any type of combat.

Even if it was a friendly match, there are bound to be unintended accidents.

However, this 'accidental death' rule was usually taken for granted, as there was no way anyone would suffer life-threatening injuries on the stage if they fought against one person.

The only way for there to be a possibility of death would be facing off against more than one person. It was already dangerous fighting two people without skill or energy, but Randy had decided to challenge 20 people at the same time.

This was simply madness!

Even though he wanted to jump down to stop him, it was already too late for him to do so. Perhaps, if he had told him beforehand, he could have advised him against it, but now that he had already announced it himself, it was all up to him to decide his fate.

Not to mention that he would be punished or killed for interfering in a holy battle between Gladiators regardless of his reasons. With that in mind, he could only pray for him silently and hope that he would survive this ordeal.

…

Back to the stage.

The moment everyone lined up with their shirts off, revealing their well-built bodies filled with bulging muscles. Some even had scars that weren't healed completely on their bodies.

Randy observed their bodies and thought these people had probably been through so many life-and-death situations. Otherwise, they wouldn't have so many scars on their bodies, especially when there should be healers or potions in this world. For them to still have those scars could only mean that those wounds were not simple wounds and couldn't be healed completely with magic or potions.

There was also the possibility that they couldn't afford to waste money on healing their wounds. Either way, Randy still admired their dedication to training and fighting to protect their kingdom.

Randy already learned from Gutz on the way here about the other purpose of the Gladiator match, or rather the Coliseum's purpose, which was to nurture fighters for the ongoing war. He felt a deep respect for these Gladiators, who risked their lives on the front line.

That aside, he turned to face the nearest Gladiator who was warming up and gestured for him to come with his finger. This was one of the senior Gladiators that came late and stood the closest to him since the others were on one side of the stage.

'This bastard!' This senior Gladiator couldn't stand his nonchalant attitude as he faced 20 of them. He was instantly filled with anger. He was about to charge forward when the umpire's booming voice suddenly resounded from the side, officially announcing the commencement of the match.

"GLADIATORS!!! AS WARRIORS REPRESENTING THE ENTIRE HUMAN RACE, I IMPLORE YOU TO FIGHT WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT ON THIS NOBLE STAGE!!! DO NOT HOLD ANYTHING BACK BECAUSE THAT WILL ONLY LIMIT YOUR GROWTH IN THIS HOLY ARENA AIMED TO SURPASS YOUR LIMITS!!! NOW, I PROUDLY ANNOUNCE, BEGIN YOUR FIGHT!!!"

'Fuck… Almost scared me to death. I still can't get used to this traditional announcement…' The senior Gladiator, who was about to rush and attack Randy, suddenly halted his movement when he heard the startling voice of the umpire.

He almost made a mistake just now. If he had attacked before the official announcement, he would have not only been disqualified but also fined or even punished for breaking the rules and sneak attacking the opponent. Fortunately, the umpire's voice came right on time before that happened.

In reality, the umpire noticed his action and immediately took that chance to announce the fight to prevent any mishaps from happening in this unprecedented Gladiator match.

The moment the umpire finished his announcement, a figure suddenly shot forward past the senior Gladiator that was close to Randy, shocking him for a moment.

'What was that?' He dumbly turned to look forward, only to see Great Sword Dien rushing forward like a mad bear with his huge fist clenched tightly. When he got close to Randy, under his calm gaze, he thrust his fist at him without hesitation. The huge fist landed squarely on Randy's two arms, which he used to guard against the sudden fist attack.

Boom!

Randy slid on the ground for a bit before stopping 2 to 3 meters away. Once again, his feet dug into the ground from the resulting impact, leaving behind two long deep marks as he slid onto the floor of the stage.

At this moment, he could faintly feel a tingling sensation in his two arms.

'This is… Pain?' He wondered, but the next moment he saw something that made him smile widely, causing the Gladiators, including Great Sword Dien, to shudder, thinking that he was some sort of masochist that enjoyed pain.

Contrary to their belief, in front of Randy's vision were a few lines of notification on his challenger's system display screen.

[Strength +2]

[Endurance +4]

[Vitality +3]

[Stamina +3]

[Agility +1]

When Randy saw such good news, how could he not be happy? Finally, he was getting somewhere!

It was at this moment that he suddenly realized a crucial point.

'Getting beaten would increase the chances of my temporary attributes integrating with my body? Then, should I test it out?'

When Randy thought of this possibility, he couldn't wait to test it out. After all, this was the key factor that spurred the assimilation of his temporary attributes with his body just now. Not only that, but it appears likely that his temporary attributes would only assimilate faster into permanent attributes as a result of this factor.

The only downside was that he would have to get beaten for an unknown duration.

What was he afraid of? What was he waiting for? This small bit of pain was nothing to him! He felt the worst kinds of pain throughout his journey to awaken, and even after he had awakened, it was no different. In reality, he endured more pain when he fought his enemies in the past.

When compared to those kinds of excruciating pains, this much pain was nothing but a scratch! At most, it would leave him with some bruises that would naturally heal without any scars if left on their own.