SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL

"What?"

At his teammate's reminder, Joe Root turned his head toward the arena. His expression froze, and for a moment, he stood motionless, unable to believe what he was seeing.

On the battlefield, the burly fighter Peter clutched his bleeding right hand, groaning in pain.

Meanwhile, Ben, the one nobody had placed their bets on, stood calmly to the side…

What just happened?

Did that weakling actually win?

Shock and Disbelief

"Damn it! How could this happen?"

"Unbelievable! Peter lost?"

"This has to be a scam! Give me back my silver coins!"

"Yeah! How could Peter lose to someone like him? This match was rigged!"

"I don't think it was fake. That attack was real—Peter's right hand is completely destroyed. Maybe he underestimated his opponent and got caught off guard."

"Or maybe he was just exhausted! He had already fought eight consecutive matches before this. That kid must've taken advantage of it!"

The audience broke into heated discussions. Many gamblers, unable to accept their losses, shouted accusations of match-fixing.

The locals, however, had a more logical explanation. Peter had simply worn himself out, allowing the underdog to claim victory.

But the event organizers? They didn't care about the uproar.

The host swiftly stepped forward and made the announcement:

"The Gladiator Tournament has officially concluded! This year's champion is… Ben!!"

Why the rush?

Because too many people had bet on Peter. If he had won, the organizers would have lost a fortune paying out winnings.

Now that Ben had pulled off an upset, they had just saved an enormous amount of money.

To be honest, the event organizers were so relieved that they could've picked Ben up and kissed him.

And there was another reason for their urgency—nightfall was approaching.

The Award Ceremony

Ignoring the outraged gamblers, the host quickly presented Ben with his reward:

A bag of silver coins.

A golden wrist guard.

The bag contained 100 silver coins, enough for Ben to book a tavern and celebrate for three days straight.

But what Ben truly cared about was the golden wrist guard.

"This is your golden wrist guard. It symbolizes your victory and the honor of a gladiator. Keep it safe," the host declared solemnly.

As soon as Ben took the wrist guard, a notification appeared in his left eye:

[Extraordinary Item: Golden Wrist Guard!]

[Category: One-time prop, cannot be taken out of the spirit realm.]

[Effect: Increases strength by 50% when worn.]

[How to obtain: This is the glory of the Gladiator! Participate in the arm wrestling competition and win the championship to obtain it.]

Seeing the details, Ben was momentarily speechless.

He had heard about extraordinary items in the spirit realm, but he never expected to obtain one so soon.

A 50% strength boost?

This was incredible!

The only downside—it was a one-time use item and couldn't be taken out of the spirit realm.

Permanent extraordinary items were said to be extremely rare and difficult to obtain.

Unexpected Reactions

When Ben returned to Leo's side, he noticed that her classmates were all staring at him strangely.

Even Leo had a trace of shock in her eyes.

"What?" Ben asked, pretending to be clueless. "Why are you all looking at me like that?"

Before anyone else could speak, Leo grabbed his arm and said, "Ben, we don't have time for this—let's go!"

Ben glanced at her, slightly surprised.

He had expected Leo to bombard him with questions about his sudden display of strength, but instead, she simply urged him to leave.

That… was unexpected.

And he appreciated it.

"Alright, let's go," he agreed with a small smile.

Together, the two walked away, leaving Joe Root and the others standing there, dumbfounded.

"Joe, what do we do now?" one of the young men asked.

Joe Root didn't answer immediately.

He was too busy watching Ben and Leo disappear into the distance, his expression darkening.

After a moment, he turned to Hales and asked, "Hales, what happened with you earlier?"

Still frustrated over his loss, Hales scowled.

"What do you mean, what happened? The guy was stronger than me. That's all there is to it."

"Stronger than you?" Joe Root frowned. "Even Ben, that so-called loser, managed to beat him. How could you lose?"

"What are you trying to say? That I lost on purpose?" Hales shot back angrily.

Before things could escalate, two of their teammates quickly stepped in.

"Joe, a lot of people were saying Peter was already exhausted from eight matches. It makes sense that Ben took advantage of that."

"Yeah! Maybe Hales was the one who drained the last of Peter's strength, and Ben just finished the job."

The realization hit them—it was getting late.

Looking around, they noticed locals rushing home, eager to get inside before nightfall.

"Joe, Hales, we need to find a place to stay. Now," one of their teammates urged.

Taking a deep breath, Joe Root nodded.

"Fine. Let's head to the Earl's Mansion," he decided.

They were out of money, and that was their only option.

Forcing their way into a local's home was too risky—at least, for now.

Tensions and Realizations

As they walked, Joe Root suddenly turned to Hales and said, "Hales, I'm sorry. I was too harsh earlier. Don't take it personally."

Though he had a bad temper, Joe wasn't stupid.

In a dangerous place like the spirit realm, teamwork was more important than grudges.

Hearing the apology, Hales sighed.

"It's fine, Joe. I wasn't exactly in a great mood either. I just didn't expect Peter to be that strong."

With that, the tension between them eased.

Their teammates, relieved, decided to change the topic.

"Hales, based on what you saw, how strong do you think Peter actually was?"

After thinking for a moment, Hales estimated, "Fifty or sixty points, at least."

Everyone was stunned.

"Then how did Ben win?"

"Yeah, isn't he supposed to have a trash talent…?"

"Don't be fooled," Hales warned.

"I watched closely. Ben waited until Peter had exerted all his strength before countering in a single burst. He shattered Peter's bones in an instant. That means his actual strength is far above Peter's!"

A heavy silence fell over the group.

For the first time, they realized—

Ben wasn't as weak as they thought.

For more chapters

patreon.com/Liamlivingstone