Chapter 193

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Chapter 193: The Real Gladiator

The two people walked up the stone path towards the big gate of the city wall.

There were people everywhere here, many travelers were willing to pay to watch Orcs fight. Along the way, you could hear many people discussing the matches from a few days ago, including a fierce Blackrock Clan warrior battling six Alterac bandits, the scene resembling a slaughterhouse.

At the entrance, Jesse gave the ticket seller a gold coin for two tickets. The seller gave him two tickets and over seventy silver coins. Jesse held the silver coins, thinking it would be handy to have change for later.

He hoped the practice matches would be entertaining, otherwise he could only console himself with this reason.

In the small hut at the entrance where money was being collected, there were many sacks of coins. Several people were squatting there counting the coins. Jesse thought to himself, no wonder this place had thrived so quickly in the year or two after the war, the entertainment business was so profitable.

As they entered the small door under the city gate, they were immediately met with cheers and screams. Greed couldn’t help but smile upon hearing the sounds.

Jesse noticed a crowd ahead, with people standing on a stone bridge or high wall edge, watching and shouting something down in the muddy courtyard below.

Based on his memory of the game, he roughly remembered the basic structure here. Looking up, he saw Durnholde Keep, the majestic building overlooking the highest point behind a series of high walls. The whole castle was shining with light, resembling a gray palace.

"Hey, Jesse, come over here."

Greed couldn’t wait and rushed to the front, pushing through several spectators to the very front. Jesse followed his aggressive actions and quickly ran to the front as well.

At that moment, Jesse heard the sound of bones breaking. He grabbed the railing and looked down, seeing a green-skinned Orc being dragged off.

There was a sporadic black mark left under its body, which didn’t look like blood or the Orc’s green blood, but more like a messy ink stain, making people feel uncomfortable seeing it.

"Dirty wild dog, ugh!" A spectator next to him couldn’t help but curse.

Then, seven or eight Orcs holding sticks entered the scene. Unlike the arena fighters Jesse remembered, they didn’t greet the surrounding spectators before the start of the show, but instead directly rushed to the center and started fighting each other.

Greed raised his eyebrows and turned to Jesse, yelling, "The last time I saw this many Orcs at once… I wish I had two freaking eyes!"

A big monster called an Orc was the first one to get knocked down. He cried out in pain on the ground, and the audience watching cheered louder. Only Jesse seemed to understand what the Orc was shouting.

"You crazy people… You bunch of crazies…"

The Orc that got knocked down couldn’t stand up quickly. A few fully armed human knights rushed over and dragged him away from the arena. When these humans appeared, the other Orcs seemed less interested in fighting each other. They just stared at the humans until they and the knocked-out Orc disappeared from the edge of the arena, then the fighting resumed.

This scene made Jesse worry about the owner of the castle. It wouldn’t be surprising if the rebellious Orcs took over the place in the future.

"They should be given swords or axes to fight for their freedom, ha!" a man shouted excitedly, and a group of men and women joined in.

Nearby, a guard was calming down the excited crowd and saying, "If you want to see someone die, just wait a few days and buy tickets for the official matches. If you don’t have money, stop making a fuss here."

"Is this how you treat your honored guests, you mix-breed of Lordaeron!"

"Look if you want, if not, get lost! Who the hell needs your stinky money from Redridge monkeys?! Is your house fixed yet?"

"You worm! I’ll smash your filthy mouth!"

"Want to die quickly? Are you in a hurry to go play with those green-skinned animals down there?"

Some soldiers heard the sound and quickly grabbed their swords to rush over. They all got into a fight, and within a few seconds, the battle was over.

Jesse looked at the man from the Kingdom of Stormwind who had blood all over his face and was being held down with a sword to his head on the ground. Jesse didn’t know how to feel about the situation.

Feeling like he had been scolded twice and defended twice, Jesse found it hard to empathize no matter whose side he was on.

While he was still watching the fight above, the fight below had already ended. An old Orc was squatting in the middle of the field, holding a younger Orc and asking him something, while the younger Orc was bleeding from his mouth and looked seriously injured. Soon, a dozen knights came and dragged them all away.

The dozen guards were all fully armed, wearing beautiful armor and crested helmets, looking almost as good as the Menethil guards in the royal city, and even more luxurious than the noble knights in the movies.

"Exciting, isn’t it?" Greed said with a smile. "Though they are enemies, Orc battles are truly a sight to behold! These guys are all seasoned veterans of the battlefield, each more fierce than the last. I can’t wait for the official match, it’s a shame the timing doesn’t match up!"

"You won’t even be able to afford to attend the official match," Jesse remarked casually.

"How much did you spend for the two of us this time?" Greed asked.

"Forget it," Jesse said. "Just watch the Orcs fight."

Greed chuckled, then lay back down. Suddenly, a Hillsbrad wild bear and a red Raptor from Arathi were dragged in, causing a commotion in the arena.

Greed joined in, shouting, "Who hasn’t seen these creatures before, huh? Are they trying to waste our time? We all value our time."

Jesse was getting bored. The Orcs lacked fighting spirit, seeming like untrained soldiers forced onto the battlefield unwillingly.

Perhaps due to his knowledge of their language and culture, Jesse couldn’t view these Orcs as just beasts like the other spectators. He recalled the villages of Stormwind Kingdom destroyed by Orcs, finally finding some amusement in watching them.

Maybe it was because he’d spent the money, so many silver coins, expecting to see something more interesting.

Just as he was growing more bored, shouts came from the arena on the other side of the bridge.

"Let’s go check it out, Jesse!" Greed exclaimed. "Looks like there will be another beast fight over there… Can you believe they’re using mountain lions to entertain us? I could defeat four on my own if I jumped in. This is boring!"

"Let’s go then," Jesse agreed, as Greed dragged him through the guards and audience. Jesse was already regretting spending his silver coins.

The audience on this side looked much more serious than the other side, and many people ran over to this side, making it crowded. Jesse squeezed to the front and saw four Orcs fighting on the stage.

No, it should be three Orcs attacking one.

Several Orcs were already lying on the ground in pain. Most of the practice matches here were chaotic and without teams. The remaining three people realized who was the toughest opponent and planned to attack him together. It was evident that the Orc being targeted was younger, more confident, and different from the others in appearance and demeanor.

Jesse stared at him, observing his surroundings and adjusting his movements. The way he held the wooden stick made him look more like a human than an Orc.

One of the three Orcs couldn’t resist and launched an attack, but the young Orc dodged skillfully and struck him in the leg. The other two Orcs were too late to help.

There was a sound of growling and the clashing of wooden sticks. Jesse was pushed around by the crowd and couldn’t see clearly how the three of them were fighting, and then it was all over!

The young Orc took a few steps back, raised his head, and looked at the audience. Jesse felt like he was a true gladiator, not a slave forced into combat!

But as if specifically targeting Jesse, many spectators started shouting, "Slave! Slave! Slave!"

Hearing the shouts, the Orc became even more proud and started bowing to please the audience.

"This guy is so amazing! How is he so strong that other orcs clearly can’t keep up with his pace?" Greed shouted excitedly.

"Let me tell you someone even more amazing, dwarf," a nearby gnome chuckled, "Do you know how old he is?"

"How old? Fifteen?"

"Eight years old!"

"This kid is eight years old?!"

"Blackmoore still has plenty of money to earn…"

Among the cheering "slaves," Jesse gradually emerged from the common language pronunciations he had become completely accustomed to.

In the Alterac region’s accented common language, "slaves" would be pronounced as "Thrall."