Emperor of Steel - Chapter 12
Chapter 12: Skills Show up 3
The next day’s morning.
The two had a good night’s sleep, ate their meals and headed towards the Gigant Arena.
The Gigant arena was located on a hill, east to the city of Lamer.
Looking at it from a distance, it seemed to be built of the grey stones, so it was assumed to be a fortress or a castle.
‘The world has developed so much.’
The old arena was mostly of wood, and the crowd of people was just around 5,000.
Another surprising act had followed, Philip added that the arena could take 30,000 people, and yet called it medium.
“I don’t know if the young Lord has even been there, but the arena in the king’s state is very large and beautiful as it had been built by the dwarves. It can accommodate up to 100,000 people at once.”
‘Huh!’
As he listened to the stories, it wasn’t just because it had some kind of fame.
At least 8 meters till 15 meters of steel giants were fighting back and forth, which was why such a sized arena was needed.
‘Ah that is a Gigant, there are many interesting things in this era.’
Not surprisingly, one of the marvelous things was passing from right in front of him.
Pangpang?! Paaaang!
A horseless carriage was running on the vapor which came out of a steel stove pipe that was attached to its body.
And then followed was a large iron cart carrying something covered in black.
At first glance, the cargo seemed to be very heavy, but the cart seemed to move on its own, spewing out a lot of vapor, like a strange wagon that was moving ahead.
Even then, it wasn’t slow.
‘Was that mobile? And the one following it was a trailer. Apparently, this is powered by steam that boiled water in the engine engraved with a flame magic circle.’
And it wasn’t just the merchants whom Luke has met while coming to Lamer.
There were also wizards who were adept masters in magic engineering.
They had said that magic engineering had advanced significantly since the launch of it at the Veritas Magic Tower 500 years back.
A machine using a steam engine was also invented at that time, but not much attention had been paid to it then.
‘It is a waste to use magic on things that can be done by an utter physical effort like a horse or a man. The magic stones that form magic circles aren’t a common thing.’
The magic circles draw mana from nature, and it was necessary to convert that magic which needed a certain element, that was the magic stone.
But that ore was a scarce resource.
It was ten times more expensive than the same weighted gold.
‘But did things change from 100 years back?’
An elven wizard called ‘Erwin Lesa’ devised a way to make an artificial ore by combining some minerals with crystals.
When Luke had heard that story, he was as shocked like he was hit by lightning.
‘Not to make some other thing, but to make magic stones! The elven wizard must have been a real genius!’
At any cost, the artificial magic stone production improved the conditions of the technology, since then, and now it was being produced in large quantities, and the price has been much lower than the past.
So magic technology could currently be used in magic and non-military sectors too, such as transportation, and countries could do much with the falling prices.
‘And can watch gladiators like this.’
What was the weapon that grew the Baroque into an Empire after causing a revolution and war?
What was it that was causing such an excitement in the eyes of those who got to see it?
Luke was excited. Which was why the steps he took to the arena were fast.
The game had already begun, and as they got closer to the arena, the whole arena seemed to be shaken by the screams of the people.
Kwaaak?!
Kwaak! Ciaa!
“Wahh!”
“Kill it, kill it!”
‘It is so hot!’
Luke, who paid the entrance fee and went into the arena, began to burst into sweat because of the heat that was generated by the crowd.
He turned to look at the center of the arena where the eyes of all people were stuck to.
Thump!
Steel giants with enormous swords and shields were exchanging clashes.
Everytime the steel giants moved, the vibration could be felt under the feet of the men, and everytime the swords clashed, a thrilling huge gust of winds spread in the air.
It was like watching mythical warriors fight up ahead!
“It is awesome!”
“Right? There is no other eye candy like this in the entire world.”
Luke had lost the dark circle curing his reincarnation.
Even if the body wasn’t aware, the soul belonged to Saymon, so the feeling of mana could be understood.
Which was why he could see so many people get caught up in the excitement and enthusiasm of it.
The mana around the arena was hot and clashing.
Not only was the natural mana focused, but the mana that was growing from the numerous spectators was also flowing.
In other words, even if it wasn’t visible, the audience’s sense was connected to the Gigant.
Therefore, it was natural to react to the movements of those steel warriors and become enthusiastic together.
‘Was I told that the pilot was in? I don’t know who it is but, he must be thinking like me. So the cognitive movements are much more delicate and faster than the golem.’
500 years ago, Zatha was recognized as the best in the continent for Golem wizard, and that was Saymon.
At the time Saymon was taking his revenge, the Rhodesia continent was agitated by the dark legion of golems.
However, there were a few drawbacks to the golem with strong combat power.
First, the golem moved under the directions of the wizard as it was moved by mind magic, and it could be easily overpowered by the wizards.
Secondly, as the distance between the golem and the wizard increased, there would be a considerable lag off receiving and acting.
Finally, as wizards weren’t experts in combats, they couldn’t make good use of the golems in close combats.
And to overcome these very traditional shortcomings, Saymon had developed several devices based on the knowledge gained from studying dark magic.
However, because of his death in the hands of Rakan, he wasn’t able to apply the knowledge into a prototype.
‘I did hear that the Veritas Magic tower and the other wizards were studying weapons to go against my golems. Perhaps the Gigant was developed in that process.’
Being the best golem wizard, Luke was very interested in the Gigant.
When he would go back to his estate, he thought about dismantling one completely.
‘But now, I need to make money first.’
With the money in hand, he could protect his castle and dismantle one Gigant.
Luke looked back a Philip and asked,
“How do we bet money?”
“You can buy dividends for the upcoming games at the sales office over there.”
People were already lined up in front of the booth on one side of the stand.
However, there was another booth right beside it.
And that was the clan, Philip explained that it was placed by the groups participating in the race.
“Clan? The ones like the gladiator?”
“Right. But the Gigant is so big that, the gladiators are no match for it. That is why most of them are run by wealthy noble families or the royal associates.”
Inside the booth, people who seemed to be the employees of the clan stood and eagerly introduced their Gigants and riders of that day’s play.
“Kay, Call the Inter Clan veteran rider ‘Kazan’! of 32, won 25 and lost 7! You will never regret this!”
“What are you talking about!? If you think about the Parsya Clan’s rider ‘Lionel’, he is the emerging power who hasn’t lost a lot even though he hasn’t made much appearances!”
“The skills of a rider are surely very important, but the performance of the Gigant is important too. If you think about the masterpiece of the Almaria Clan ‘Mammoth’, it is a piece that was recognized worthy by the Volga republic…”
While Luke was watching the people decide, Philip recommended,
“Young Lord, go with Kazan. Although the odds are 2.5 times higher for Lionel, it is better to be safe for now.”
“Is it?”
Luke decided to watch a few more and decided to spend a bit on the recommendation of Philip for the time being.
“I’ll bet 100 pesos on Kazan.”
“Yes, sir. Here is a 100 pesos dividend.”
The sales clerk handed Luke a dividend.
“5,000 pesos for Lionel!”
Luke, who received the dividend, shook as he was surprised to see a bet of the nobles behind him.
However, the staff seemed to consider it as a usual thing, he wrote down the amount and handed it after a stamp of confirmation.
“Philip, is it possible to bet that much money at once?”
“There is a legal upper limit. But…”
“It isn’t that well kept?”
“Yes, since the audience spends such sum, the arena operators also make a lot of money.”
According to what Philip told, the local arenas were overlooked because of neglect.
In addition, the owner of the Lamer arena was considered as a Monarch and a member of the imperial royal family, so no one dared to inspect it.
‘The country seems to have turned out well.’
Before any nation declines, the social order and the affairs were disturbed.
In addition, high-ranked corruption was one of the main factors that encourage exile.
The imperial office was unjust to let the members of the royal family go unpunished.
‘Huhu, whatever. It seems like the Baroque guy has developed quite a country.’
Luke was cynical as he sat down with Philip and began to watch the game unfold.
