"What?"
At his teammate's reminder, Joe Root turned his head to look at the arena. His expression was shocked, and his whole body froze.
On the arena, the fat man Peter was covering his bloody right hand, wailing incessantly. As for Ben, whom everyone had little faith in, he stood calmly to the side...
What's going on? Did that trash actually win?
"Damn it! How did this happen?"
"Unbelievable! The big guy Peter actually lost?"
"I suspect they are cheating! Give me back my silver coins!"
"That's right! How could Peter lose to such a weakling? It must be a fixed match!"
"It doesn't seem fake. The attack just now was brutal. Peter's right hand is already useless. Maybe Peter got careless and was successfully attacked by that despicable guy."
"There's also the possibility that Peter has fought eight consecutive matches just now, and maybe he's exhausted. This kid just picked up a big bargain."
The surrounding audience, after the initial shock, began to talk among themselves. Many gamblers immediately questioned the match's legitimacy and started demanding their bets back. Most locals believed Peter had simply worn himself out, and that the newcomer Ben had capitalized on the opportunity. The organizers of the competition, however, weren't worried. They were too eager to wrap it up.
The host quickly jumped forward to announce, "This year's Gladiator competition is officially over, and the champion is Ben!!"
Why was the host in such a hurry? It was because too many gamblers had bet on Peter, and had he won, the organizers would have been forced to pay out a large sum of silver coins. But now, Ben had upset the odds and defeated Peter, saving the competition organizers a significant amount of money. To be honest, they couldn't wait to pick up Ben and kiss him hard at that moment.
Additionally, there was another reason the organizers were in a rush: it was getting dark...
Next up, the award ceremony.
The host, ignoring the protests from the crowd, presented Ben with his winner's reward: a bag of silver coins and a golden wrist guard.
The bag contained 100 silver coins—enough for Ben to book a tavern and have fun for three days and three nights.
However, what Ben valued more was the golden wrist guard.
"This is your golden wrist guard. It symbolizes the glory of a Gladiator. Please take good care of it," the host said solemnly before handing it to Ben.
When Ben held the golden wrist guard, a prompt appeared in his left eye:
Extraordinary Item: Golden Wrist Guard!
Category: One-time prop, cannot be taken out of the spirit realm.
Effect: After wearing it, strength is increased by 50%.
How to obtain: Win the Gladiator competition's championship to earn it.
Ben was immediately stunned. He had expected to find extraordinary items in the spirit realm, but he hadn't anticipated encountering one so quickly.
A 50% increase in strength? That was no joke!
It was a shame that it was a one-time item that couldn't be taken out of the spirit realm. Permanent extraordinary items were said to be incredibly rare and difficult to obtain...
When Ben returned to Henry's side, he noticed the surprised expressions on the faces of the girl's classmates. Even Leo looked at him with a bit of surprise in her eyes.
"What's going on?" Ben asked, feigning ignorance. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"
Elisa couldn't hold it in any longer and asked, "Ben, can you tell us what your strength attribute is?"
Ben was about to speak when Leo interrupted. "Ben, we don't have time for this. Let's go quickly!"
Ben glanced at Leo in surprise, then smiled. He had expected her to question him about his newfound strength, but her response was both unexpected and highly satisfactory.
"Alright, let's go!"
Together, they left, leaving Joe Root and the others standing still.
"Joe, what should we do now?" one of the young men asked.
Joe Root didn't answer immediately. He was still watching Ben and Leo's retreating backs, his expression filled with frustration.
"Elisa, what happened before?" Joe Root suddenly asked. "Why did you lose to that fat man?"
Elisa, already in a bad mood from losing, felt even more agitated at the question.
"What do you mean? Is it strange that I lost to him? He was stronger, wasn't it?"
"Stronger than you?" Joe Root asked, puzzled. "Even that trash Ben can win, so how could he be stronger than you?"
"What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting I threw the match?" Elisa shot back, visibly annoyed.
Seeing the two of them about to argue, the other two teammates quickly stepped forward to mediate.
"Joe, many people were saying that the fat man had fought eight consecutive matches and was already exhausted. That makes sense, right? Maybe Ben took advantage of that and picked up a big bargain."
"Yeah! Maybe Elisa had already used up all her strength against the fat man."
"It's getting late. We should find a place to stay before the locals rush home," another teammate added. "Let's go!"
After some persuasion, Joe Root and Elisa realized there wasn't much time left for them.
"Let's head to the Earl's Mansion too!" Joe Root gritted his teeth and said.
Now that they had no money left, the only choice was to go to the Earl's Mansion. They couldn't risk occupying residential houses unless they were ready for trouble with the locals, and with the current situation, that was a dangerous move.
On the way, Joe Root suddenly turned to Elisa. "Elisa, I'm sorry for how I spoke earlier. I didn't mean to upset you."
Though Joe had a bad temper, he could be flexible when the situation required. Perhaps he knew that in this dangerous spirit realm, cooperation was far more valuable than shallow harmony.
Elisa, realizing the sincerity in his apology, replied, "It's alright, Joe. It's my fault. I didn't expect the fat man to be that strong."
As soon as Elisa said that, the tension between the two of them melted.
One of the teammates, relieved, couldn't help but ask, "Elisa, based on the panel data, how strong do you think the fat man's strength attribute was?"
Elisa thought for a moment, remembering the power that had exploded from the fat man, and then estimated, "Around fifty or sixty points."
The others were shocked by the estimate.
"Then how did Ben win? He's supposed to be a trash talent..."
"Don't be fooled by appearances. Ben is far from ordinary!" Elisa said solemnly.
"I've been watching carefully. Ben waited for the fat man to use his full strength, and when the fat man exerted himself, Ben instantly turned the tables and crushed the fat man's bones… It shows that Ben's strength far surpassed the fat man's!"
The story continues, with Joe Root and Elisa analyzing their situation as they look for a place to stay. Ben's unexpected victory raises more questions than answers, and it is clear that there is much more to him than meets the eye.