Lord: Starting from a Goblin Nest

”I wouldn’t call it instruction, just a personal opinion,” Aive said, reining herself in a bit after realizing who the man before her was. ”We’re Adventurers. A gladiator match like this isn’t what we’d call a thrilling spectacle.”

Hendrix rubbed the three large gold rings on his fingers. ”Oh? How is this different from a fight in the wild? Isn’t it all a battle to the death?”

”You have a misunderstanding of what a ’battle to the death’ is, sir,” Sera said, glancing down at the three Fearsome Wolves that had already begun to feast. ”This is just mealtime.”

”This young lady certainly looks like she knows what she’s talking about,” Hendrix said, his gaze lingering on Sera’s muscular physique for a moment before he suddenly laughed aloud. ”Interesting, very interesting!”

”Honestly, I’ve hardly ever left Rose City in my entire life. I truly have no idea what encounters and adventures in the wild are like! Young lady, I wonder if you’d be interested in giving me a demonstration? Let a sheltered, mediocre merchant like myself witness some real action?”

Adjectives like ”sheltered” and ”mediocre” were in no way applicable to Yunier Cindy Hendricks, at least not in the eyes of the current citizens of Rose City.

But Sera didn’t pick up on the false modesty or the hint of a challenge in his words. Of course, even if she had, she wouldn’t have cared.

”Sure, but these three are too boring,” Sera said, standing up. She walked around the spectators who were already starting to leave and went to the very front row. ”Don’t you have anything more exciting?”

”Perhaps the young lady should defeat the three down there first, and then we can talk,” Hendrix said with a faint smile, waving over an attendant. ”Go tell the master of this place to arrange another Fearsome Wolf match. The challenger is this brave young lady.”

”Right away, sir.” Hendrix seemed to be a regular here, as the attendant agreed without hesitation. He then walked over to Sera. ”Miss, what kind of weapon and armor do you require? We can prepare anything for you.”

Commoners who overestimated their abilities and thought anyone could do it showed up every now and then, so the attendant wasn’t surprised. There was no rigging in these impromptu ”duels.” The arena would provide whatever equipment the challenger requested, all of it in perfect, even brand-new, condition.

But that still didn’t stop challengers from ending up sliding right into the beast’s maw. And as for those fully armed and well-prepared challengers, they wouldn’t earn any glory or rewards; all that awaited them were the jeers of a disappointed audience and a bill for damages from the organizers.

”Weapons and armor? For these big dogs?” Sera was completely unconcerned and immediately started taking off her jacket. ”Hold this for me. Aive just bought this for me, I can’t get it dirty.”

”I’ll be right back!”

With a loud shout from Sera, all the spectators still in the arena stopped and turned around, just in time to see an agile figure vault over the railing and leap down!

”She actually jumped?!” Hendrix and Constance shot to their feet, staring in astonishment as Sera landed in the pit and, without the slightest pause, charged straight at the three Fearsome Wolves.

”This isn’t a performance,” Aive said, sitting calmly, completely unsurprised.

”Watch closely, Constance. You’re about to see just how ridiculous your so-called ’pinnacle of courage and wisdom’ is.”

Anyone who had fought alongside Sera, or against her, would have no complaints about her strength. It’s just that the latter group rarely got the chance to offer their opinion.

Fearsome Wolves surpassed common gray wolves in size, appetite, ferocity, and intelligence. A mere three Gladiators were hardly enough to satisfy them. So, when they saw another meal delivering itself to their doorstep, they immediately howled and pounced.

They would be satisfied soon enough, and what filled their bellies would indeed be Sera’s flesh and bone—or to be more precise, her two fists.

”Those Fearsome Wolves are viciously attacking Sera’s fists and elbows with their ribs and bellies! Good heavens, there’s no way she can withstand such a relentless assault!”

Delaford’s sharp, loud voice rang out across the arena. The Goblin Hunter would never pass up an opportunity like this to fan the flames.

Cheers and screams rose and fell throughout the stands. These citizens had never seen a fight of this caliber; the farthest most of them had ever traveled in their lives was likely the distance from their home to the arena. With Sera in the pit, their excitement was whipped into an unprecedented frenzy.

Compared to the savage battles against northern barbarians, the usual bloodbaths in the arena were just a tasteless meal replacement. *This* was a fight worth the price of admission!

”KRA-ACK—”

Amidst the final Fearsome Wolf’s blood-curdling shriek, Sera grabbed its upper and lower jaw with her iron hands and, in a powerful chest-expanding motion, ripped its entire mandible clean off. At that exact moment, the cheers from the stands erupted like thunder, each wave louder than the last!

”BRAVO!”

The spice merchant Hendrix’s blood pressure was finally about to overtake his cholesterol and blood sugar. The two-hundred-plus-pound ball of a man shot to his feet and hurled a bulging bag of Gold Coins down into the pit.

His action seemed to wake the rest of the audience from a dream. A shower of flowers, perfumes, and coins rained down as if they were free. This volley of projectiles proved more difficult for Sera to handle than the three Fearsome Wolves. She had to be on high alert to avoid being bludgeoned by the crowd’s enthusiasm.

”Aive! Is this supposed to be normal?!” Sera shouted up at the stands, scurrying for cover with her hands over her head.

She had jumped down, and the Gladiator’s passage hadn’t been opened. Now she couldn’t climb back up!

”Perfectly normal!” Aive shouted back from above. ”Just pick them up, or you can wait for the attendants to do it! The Gladiator Laws state that whatever falls into the pit belongs to the gladiator, and even if the gladiator is a slave, their master cannot take it by any means!”

”Now *that’s* a proper gladiator match!”

”She’s... superhuman!” Constance sank back into her seat, her eyes vacant. ”Are all your companions like this? Are dangers like the Fearsome Wolves what you have to face?”

”Far more dangerous,” Aive said, grinning as she wrapped an arm around her cousin’s shoulders. ”You can’t even imagine the battles we’ve had with the Mad Frogman king, Mire Throat Monsters, the Ghoul Sea, Demon Ghosts, and hordes of bandits in the Gobi Desert! Now *that’s* far more exciting than this!”

”It was just three Fearsome Wolves. She didn’t even need a weapon!”

If Aive had said that before Sera went down, Constance would have just thought she was bragging. But now, when Aive said it, it was clear she was simply stating a fact.