"Fuck, you scared me, mate. I was expecting you to be waiting for me when I first got here, not to pop up out of nowhere while I was busy." Ronan settled back into the chair and relaxed after realising that it was only the bovine announcer who'd arrived in the waiting room.

The towering minotaur-like creature stood in front of the fireplace, looking down at Ronan. Ronan couldn't read the creature's gaze or facial features, but from the huffing noise it was making he guessed it was amused at his sudden fright.

"I apologise, Gladiator Ronan. It is policy to give you all a little bit of time to settle back in and recover from your ordeals after completing a step on your path. Congratulations, by the way. I looked at the highlights, and they were impressive! You actually seemed to find the battles easier the tougher your opponents became. I suspect you'll make it far on the path before your death." The announcer's voice was rather emotionless when it made that prediction, as though it were just another day in the office.

Ronan coughed. "Well, thanks for the confidence, I guess? The rewards were pretty shit, though. Could you put in a word with your boss for the next one?"

At that the announcer huffed even louder and rubbed one of its hooves along the wooden floor like a bull preparing to charge. Somehow that didn't leave a single scratch. "You're an interesting one, Ronan Steele. Most would kill for a chance at even one of the items you received for completing the first step, but you say they're not worthy? Show some of that when we get you back out in front of the crowds. They'll love it."

"We're doing another speech? How did the last one go down? I'm not sure those crowds will be happy to see me again." Ronan thought back to how he insulted the majority of people watching right before the system yanked him out of the staging platform and onto Border World 13.

"Not at all. Maybe some of the mentally weak spectators took offense, but the majority of those who speculate on the path are used to gladiators having quirky personalities. Some of them even enjoy being insulted or looked down upon. It takes all kinds to make a multiverse. I would recommend you don't do that with your sponsor, however, as they are essentially your lifeline. Did you get along with them in your first meeting?"

Ronan nodded. "We had an amicable conversation and she gave me some very nice gifts. I'm looking forward to our next chat. Will I only be able to receive gifts from sponsors or will there be others, the way it was before the first step?"

The bovine took two steps towards him as a device floated out of nowhere—likely withdrawn from an inventory—and started flying around his body. "Just the sponsor from now on, I'm afraid. The gifts are limited to before the path." It stopped as Ronan eyed the flying device warily. "Don't worry about it. I'm just doing some scans for the system and the spectators. It won't hurt you or dig up anything you want hidden.

"Ah, you will be getting your cut from the first round of wagers, though. That should cheer you up quite a lot. Don't spend it all at once, though you might regret saving too much if you die in the second step. I'd suggest starting in the gladiator market. There's some great finds there if you know what to look for."

That reminded him that he'd been lacking in observing the regular market in quite a few of his iterations. He might have missed something cool. Then again it was mostly the shards he had been interested in and he farmed plenty of them through his regular activities now, making the few he could snipe on the system market a paltry addition—their low levels made them even less enticing.

"Thanks for the advice, I'll have a look once you leave me to it. When do I need to go back out in front of the crowds?" He wasn't sure what he would even say when he did greet the endless sea of aliens once more.

"Not right away. There are quite a few other gladiator candidates streaming in from the various integrated worlds this time around. Grand Integrations always cause huge backlogs. I estimate around two to three days. You'll get a warning beforehand and I'll come in to prep you. In the meantime rest, relax, and do what you need to do in order to be ready for the second step.

"If you need sustenance or any other service, you can just think or say what you need and the room will provide it. Within reason, of course. It won't give you any items. Trust me, every gladiator has tried and you won't be any different. See you in a bit, Gladiator Ronan." With that, the bovine tapped a hoof to one of its curved horns and vanished with a soft whine and a spark of mana.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

That's a lot and a little to think about, I guess. I don't really care about the speech if I can't even earn more gifts. I suspect the princess will be friendly as long as I am, and as for the wagers… Maybe I can influence things a little. I wonder if it's even worth it. That announcer said the rewards should come through soon, but I don't see anything. Almost as soon as Ronan had that last thought, he heard a soft chime, and a new system message popped up in his vision.

The Gladiator's cut for [Ronan Steele] on all wagers made on his first step of the path has been calculated. Given rate is 0.00000124%

As your reward was insufficient to claim any of the wagered items, your cut has been granted in the form of credits. The breakdown of your cut is as follows:

Failed Wagers:

+19 Iron Credits, +491 Bronze Credits, +158 Copper Credits

Successful Wagers:

+12 Iron Credits, +864 Bronze Credits, +674 Copper Credits

Total:

+32 Iron Credits, +355 Bronze Credits, +832 Copper Credits

Ronan was hit with a double shock as he read through the message and learned how many credits he'd earned simply from others betting on him. The first shock was the fact that something he'd had no hand in had granted him the single largest credit reward he'd ever earned across fifty lifetimes. The second shock was even bigger, when he read the message again and did a brief calculation.

Holy fuck! My cut was about a millionth of a percent and it was still over thirty iron credits, which while a huge sum for me, is apparently nothing to all those fuckers out there. That means there was a total payout for all wagers of like… FUCK. That's one-point-nine of the credit three tiers above an iron credit, or one-point-nine billion iron credits. He froze in his seat for a good few seconds after that realisation.

It looked like there was still a long, long way to go until Ronan was anywhere near grasping real power. Then again, wealth and power were correlated, but not the same thing. With his heritage he might reach the level of combat power those spectators outside possessed long before he got anywhere close to their level of wealth.

And he preferred to be strong rather than rich in the multiverse of the system.

In any case, he was glad for the payout. With that he would likely earn himself a decent few chronos merits when he eventually ended this iteration. He would probably be saving up for his second sub-class sooner than expected.

The announcer had recommended he check out the gladiator market, so that was exactly what he did. There were things he knew he needed, and he had been prepared to ask Princess Petalania for them, but it was better to buy what he could in the market first and then get anything else from the princess as a last resort.

Gladiator Marketplace [Limited: First Step Conqueror]

Listings:

Gladiator Shard Lv.112 (All) x8 [8 Iron Credits, 96 Bronze Credits]

Gladiator Shard Lv.118 (All) x5 [5 Iron Credits, 90 Bronze Credits]

…

Gladiator Shard Lv.193 (All) x2 (7) [3 Iron Credits, 86 Bronze Credits]

Halberd of the Seven Suns Lv.95 (Epic) [7 Iron Credits, 425 Bronze Credits]

…

Mountainbreaker Hammer of the Perinean Giant Lv.198 (Ancient) [460 Iron Credits]

Ronan started to skim through the listings after realising it was mostly just gladiator shards and items. Clearly he wasn't alone in realising the rewards weren't that great. He wondered why there was gear all the way up to level 199, but perhaps that was the limit imposed by only being a 'first step conqueror.'

There was also a complete lack of any skills tomes, trait thesauruses, or endless treasury tokens. Either they weren't allowed to be sold or gladiators were smarter than challengers, and didn't sell their greatest assets to make other people stronger.

There were some more interesting things on offer too. Consumables he'd never seen before, as well as items with vague names that sounded fairly suspicious. Most enticing, however, were the services being sold.

Apparently he could hire others to enchant his gear, give him training in cultivation and weapon handling, and even learn how to cook better. It was fascinating and the part that he was most interested in spending his credits on after the gladiator shards.

He was slightly torn, however. He wanted to earn his chronos merits, but he could see the value of buying things here. Then again, he would have this opportunity as many times as he desired in future iterations where he took this same route.

In the end, he bought about ten more gladiator shards of the highest level possible and saved the rest of his credits. Once he was finished cultivating he would re-assess the services on offer and perhaps hire a tutor for the areas he lacked in.

He took a gladiator shard out and read the description, just to make sure they actually did what he suspected—let him cultivate any of the four paths. He realised as he did so that he should have checked that before buying a load more, but he could afford to make impulsive mistakes.

They did exactly what he had believed. Admittedly, it said they were slightly less efficient than regular aspected shards, somewhere between an elite shard and a mini-boss shard according to the description. That was plenty for him. He had enough skills to push them beyond their basic limits.

First up, soul cultivation. Let's try and get you as far as possible. We'll see where we're at in a few days' time when the announcer comes back. With that goal in mind, Ronan sat down and started to drain the first shard of its energy, directing it to improve his soul.

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