Wow the lounge was nice, marble everywhere… a wine fountain… and other competitors… He had made enough money, he had to focus on breaking the prisoners free somehow.
He didn't see a need to talk to these 'Champions' they were all orcs and beastmen, they all looked incredibly intimidating… to little boys that is… they were all 1 dimensional fighters and a lot more dumb than he was… he didn't expect a single issue with any one of them if they challenged him.
He was going to go off to his private room with any escorts that were up for the challenge when he spotted her… A human female in this room… no… he was not going to be sexist… It's too much. She must be really strong… and beautiful
Without thinking he had already crossed half the lobby walking straight to her, ignoring the dangerous opponents who were all staring at him…
Suddenly he slipped on something slippery, boom he fell to the floor with all his weight… The dumb gladiators erupted in laughter. He kept trying to get up and kept slipping, there was ice all over the floor, where did that come from.
Must have been her, she was exotic. Silver hair, pale grey eyes, fair face, sultry lips… he was smitten. He could tell she had an athletic figure under her beautifully embroidered Ice blue mage robes.
After slipping for a couple more seconds, he activated [Consecrated Ground], the ripple of holy fire allowed him to melt the ice with each step.
Maro never gave up, he kept slowly walking over to her.
She immediately said "I'm not interested in being challenged right now"
One of the Orcs piped up "She strong mage, you gonna die."
He ignored him
"I'm not interested in challenging you. I want to court you"
This time the laughter erupted for him, not at him. The gladiators thought he was ballsy.
Her silver white skin immediately blushed red, she coughed "excuse me?!" She was caught off guard.
Maro simply rephrased himself
"You are extremely attractive, probably the most beautiful woman in this city, I wish to pursue you… shall I be more explicit?" he winked
Suddenly an ice wall came up between them. She's god damn fast at conjuring magic… fastest he'd seen so far and in the winner's circle lounge…
Maro punched through the ice wall and stepped forward like a terminator.
Maro felt like causing trouble.
"My lady, I apologize… I have not even brought forth the most basic of courtesy… My name is Maro the Warrior, liberator of the Order races, slayer of Orcs and I shit in Goblin skulls… I also drink out of them sometimes too but different skulls obviously…"
As he rambled everyone froze. All the Orcs gripped their weapons a bit tighter…but no one moved… City Orcs were definitely smarter by a bit.
"Was it something I said?"
The mage's face had dropped at his audicity… she didn't look at him in anger… she wasn't a race traitor, he had to recruit her, she was his main focus now.
He stepped forward again… all the orcs stood up.
He leaned in and whispered
"What would it take, for you to be mine"
She snapped out of it. The Orcs stood up with weapons in hand.
She blew him away with a cold wind, he slammed into the wall and then she encased him in a meter of clear ice.
The tension broke and everyone laughed at him again. Only being able to move his eyelids, he saw about 10 orcs approach him, all of them issued challenges for him tomorrow… This is going to suck hard, he thought.
Then the Ice Mage approached him. Staring at him curiously, who was he to be so fearless to announce himself like that… even in the block of ice, his eyes looked colder. He was calm even after basically having his death declared tomorrow. These weren't normal Gladiators that challenged him, each one completely feared on the streets, absolutely brutal in and out of the arena…
It was a shame he would die…
She finally met someone who was brave enough to declare that he was the "liberator of the order races. She rationalized that he was just an egotistical meat head, but he had never once broken his gaze at her. So she touched the ice and teased back, assuming he was a dead man tomorrow.
"My name is Katarina, survive tomorrow and then challenge the Master of the Arena" and then she kissed the Ice… gave him a sad look and left the lobby. Maro could just stare at her as she walked away… she was cool… She knew how to make an exit.
Maro didn't even use consecrated ground, his bloodrush activated by itself and his body sweated through the block of ice… He needed to be cooled down.
Now, left alone with masters in the art of combat who wanted to kill him… He laughed out loud "A deal is a deal" he yelled in case the mage could hear him… he filled up a couple skins in the wine fountain… Looked at all the Orcs… "All those who challenged me shall die tomorrow" His demeanor had gone 180, cold and serious.
Then immediately went to find Gnarlo before the collective brain cells of the Orcs could form a response… It had been a while since he met with him… only speaking through messengers and notes so far.
It was evening… the Swordsmen had snitched on Gnarlo… he happened to frequent a specific brothel which tailored their staff to the tastes of men who liked the bigger ladies. Preferences aside, Maro enjoyed himself a thicker woman every once in a while.