System's POV
chapter-107

Jeane managed to win his match, but it was a close call.

The one he fought against was a young Barbarian who was testing his martial prowess in the arena.

The fight lasted for nearly fifteen minutes.

The battle had been quite intense, with neither one of them backed down.

Unlike Rufus, who specialized in offense, Jeane was an all-rounder. He was also very good in counterattacks, which made the young Barbarian lose his composure.

In the end, the teenage boy played to his strength and fought his opponent in a battle of attrition, winning by a small margin.

Jeane's arms were bruised and battered from using them to block and deflect his opponent's attacks.

Although he got hit a couple of times, none of those landed on his vital parts, allowing him to win the match.

Eren, on the other hand, was more to Thirteen's liking.

The boy with blonde hair and blue eyes was very sneaky.

He didn't engage his opponents head-on and employed hit-and-run tactics.

Similar to Jeane, the one he fought against was a Barbarian in training, but what caught Thirteen's attention was the fact that Eren knew his strike range by heart.

When his opponent came within the range of his fists and legs, he would hit them without a second thought before quickly retreating.

Fighting against someone like him was very annoying since you wouldn't know if he was going to attack or going to run away.

The Barbarians booed him as well, but Eren didn't give a hoot to what they were thinking.

In the end, he won the match when his opponent conceded out of annoyance.

Rianna's reaction to Eren's win was lukewarm, but the boy only smiled as he returned to her side like a faithful puppy, waiting for his Master's orders.

'Such an interesting individual,' Thirteen thought. 'Among the three of them, this guy is definitely the most versatile.'

Eren made his fight look so easy as if he was fighting against a child.

From start to finish, his opponent wasn't even able to land a blow to his body.

For the seven-year-old, this spoke volumes of Eren's abilities, making him the perfect scout for Rianna's future Hunting Team.

After a short break, Percival made his appearance in the arena.

He made sure to glance at his Master once before shifting his gaze to the Ogre in front of him.

The Ogre was a head taller than the first Ogre that the Tigerkin had fought in his first duel.

This was a sign that the one he was going to go against was older and, perhaps, even stronger than the Ogre he first fought.

Even so, Percival wasn't daunted.

The only thought in his mind was to beat his opponent and make sure that his Master would feel bitter from losing the 50,000 Silver Coins that he had used to bet on the Ogre in front of him.

After the referee had given the signal to start the battle, Percival charged forward, which made Thirteen arch an eyebrow behind the mask he was wearing.

The Ogre was more than happy to meet his approach with a punch, but the Tigerkin deftly dodged to his right side before kicking the Ogre's knee.

The Tigerkin immediately backed away after delivering his attack and observed his opponent critically.

"Tickle," the Ogre sneered before shouting a war cry.

It then ran toward Percival, using the size of its body in order to corner the boy.

However, Percival had other plans and met the Ogre's charge with a charge of his own.

The ogre punched down, but Percival evaded it easily.

The Tigerkin then used his sharp nails to scratch his opponent's fist, targeting the wrist area.

His attack succeeded, and it left a very shallow wound on his opponent's wrist.

Percival didn't take any chances and immediately distanced himself, which proved to be a good decision on his part.

Had he stayed for two more seconds, he could have been hit by the Ogre's counterattack, which left a deep mark on the ground where its fist had landed.

The exchange between the two continued, with Percival getting hit once in his right shoulder in exchange for scratching the Ogre's left eye, making it bleed.

The Ogre's body was now covered with blood because Percival's tactic was to slowly wear out his opponent.

Although he doubted that the Ogre would bleed to death, he didn't mind if that happened as well.

He wasn't purposely killing his opponent, but the accumulation of damage and loss of blood would sooner or later take a toll on the Ogre's body.

Percival was certain that even if his opponent bled to death, he wouldn't be charged with a crime. After all, the Ogre had all the time in the world to concede the match.

But since it didn't plan to back down, Percival continued his meticulous attacks.

Every time he engaged his opponent, a new wound would appear on the Ogre's body, making it more angry and annoyed.

However, no matter what it did, Percival was simply too fast for it to properly land a hit on the Tigerkin's body.

In the end, the owner of the Ogre stood up and conceded the match.

He couldn't afford to let the Ogre die as it was a member of his personal hunting party.

Although losing to a weaker Tigerkin was annoying, he decided to pull back before the Ogre bled to death, causing him significant losses.

"Winner, Taiga!"

The Tigerkin panted for breath before wiping away the saliva that was oozing out from the corner of his lips.

He didn't feel anything a while ago because adrenaline was still pumping inside his body. However, the moment the battle ended, the exhaustion hit him like a truck, making him feel as if a mountain was pressing down on his back.

When he raised his head to look at his Master, he saw Raldo sneakily giving the younger boy three Red Coins, which almost made the Tigerkin stop breathing for a few seconds.

Only when Thirteen glanced once more in his direction did Percival realize that he had been played a second time.

Feeling angry, hurt, and distressed, the Tigerkin collapsed on the ground while still looking at his Master in disbelief.

Thirteen chuckled internally before raising his hand to show Percival the three Red Coins that were held between his fingers.

He knew how sensitive a Tigerkin's hearing was, so he tricked the pitiful slave by purposely saying who he was going to put his bet on while handing the Red Coin to Raldo.

What Percival didn't know was that before the deal was finalized, the seven-year-old "changed" his mind and placed his bet on him instead.

But Raldo was very wary of Thirteen milking them with his winnings, so he proposed a deal.

If the boy won his bet a second time, he would not be allowed to join the Gambling House for a month.

Thirteen agreed to this deal, but he also proposed a condition, which Raldo agreed to.

That was the last straw that broke the camel's back, making Percival's eyes roll into the back of their sockets as he fainted out of grief and indignation.

What the Tigerkin didn't know was that Thirteen was speeding up his character progression, allowing his destiny to progress as soon as possible.

Some Heroes grew stronger the more hardships they encountered in their lives.

Thirteen believed that Percival fell under this category since he found him in a Slave Market.

By overcoming these hardships, the Hero's resolve would strengthen, allowing him to grow stronger at a rapid pace.

All of this was an experiment for the seven-year-old boy, allowing him to better understand the growth of Heroes.

He was confident that even if he were fated to be a Cannon Fodder, he would still be able to forge his own path and beat Fate in her own b*tchy game.