Unknowingly, Gaby had also raised his evaluation of Zhang Heng.
With Zhang Heng's current performance, it was enough for him to pass the final assessment. However, Gaby did not ask him to stop. Other than the stalemate battles, the final assessment would usually allow the two parties to decide the winner and loser. Besides, Gaby also wanted to see how far Zhang Heng could go. So he stood aside and did not say anything, waiting to see what would happen next.
This was not the first time Garba was surprised. He was not surprised that Zhang Heng gave up his defense under the pressure, but the boldness of Zhang Heng's attack was beyond Garba's expectation. Zhang Heng's moves were not that strange, and his strength and speed were just ordinary.
However, Garba was still at a disadvantage in this battle, and the reason was simple.
Zhang Heng had two swords, while Garba only had one.
Although the death rate of the gladiators was relatively high among the gladiators, it did not mean that they did not have any advantages. By abandoning their defense, the gladiators had gained a strong offensive ability. Once Zhang Heng began to attack, Garba would have to devote more energy to defense. On the other hand, his attack frequency would slow down.
Of course, Garba was not too worried because the strength of the Murloc Armor Gladiator was not its offense, but its defense. As long as the shield that was half the height of a human was erected in front of the Murloc Armor Gladiator, it would be able to cover all of its vital points. Coupled with the helmet on its head, the Murloc Armor Gladiator was like an impenetrable wall when it was on the defensive.
Of course, the fish-helmet gladiator was not invincible in the arena. There were only a few types of gladiators, and each of them had been studied by many. The way Zhang Heng was fighting now was the standard way to deal with the fish-helmet gladiator.
Although the rectangular shield that the gladiator carried could provide a strong defense, it would also reduce the gladiator's flexibility.
Zhang Heng was now circling around Garba, and the two had switched roles. Zhang Heng was the one who started to test the gladiator's strength, and Garba stared at his opponent through the gap in his helmet. As Zhang Heng moved, Garba kept turning his body to ensure that the big shield was aimed at his opponent every time.
So far, although Garba had not gained any advantage, he was still very confident. That was because he had experienced many fierce battles, and he was naturally good at dealing with this kind of situation.
Of course, Zhang Heng's steadiness was a little unexpected, but Garba firmly believed that he would be the final winner of this battle.
Many people looked down on Garba because of his age. Naturally, they thought that Garba's various bodily functions had declined. This was not entirely wrong. Strictly speaking, Garba's strength, speed, and agility had declined, but his endurance had increased instead. Coupled with the fact that he now distributed his stamina more rationally, Zhang Heng would fall into Garba's trap if he wanted to exhaust him to death.
On the other side, Zhang Heng did not seem to realize this. He was still trying to circle around Garba, trying to attack him from all angles and directions. However, he was blocked by Garba's turtle shell. Garba hid behind the rectangular shield. Of course, in order not to be passive, he would take the time to attack Zhang Heng a few times.
However, Garba was very cunning. He would not fall for the flaws that Zhang Heng deliberately exposed to bait him. Every time, he would attack Zhang Heng once and for all. Instead of continuing the battle, he would take the opportunity to attack Zhang Heng's arm.
The trainer who acted as the referee on the side judged that if this was a real sword, the wound would not be too deep. Hence, he did not stop the battle.
However, this sword attack also made Garba more convinced that there was nothing wrong with his strategy. The way he looked at Zhang Heng seemed to be saying, 'Boy, you're still too young to fight me.'
Sure enough, was this the end? Gaby, who was watching the battle, had the same thought.
However, Zhang Heng's face was still expressionless. He estimated that his acting was almost done, and he should be able to end the battle now. Of course, he still needed to use some skills in the final stage.
After all, Zhang Heng's plan was to pass the assessment in a low-key manner. Compared to the previous gladiator who kept slacking off, he finally showed some real skills in this battle. Now, Gaby's impression of Zhang Heng had changed from a mediocre talent to a young gladiator with average physical fitness but a calm mind.
That was enough. This was also the impression that Zhang Heng wanted to leave on others. He did not want to become a star gladiator like Bach, and he also wanted to find a reasonable explanation for why he could defeat his opponents in the arena in the future.
It was not easy to control the degree of success, but it was not too difficult for Zhang Heng to do so.
Yes, when all the new gladiators were racking their brains to think about how to pass the assessment, Zhang Heng was thinking about how to win as low-key and reasonable as possible.
So far, he had done a good job. Even Gaby, the well-informed person in charge of the gladiator school, was deceived by him. He did not suspect that Zhang Heng deliberately hid his strength. He probably did not expect that someone would be bold enough to hide his strength in the final assessment.
However, some people were not fooled by him.
For example, Bach, who had fought with Zhang Heng before, kept his eyes wide open throughout the entire battle. He did not even blink, fearing that he would miss any details.
Seeing Zhang Heng pretending to move his left and right hands in slow motion, Bach could not help but curl his lips. 'Where's the storm-like attack that you used when you fought me?' And when he saw Zhang Heng's arm was slashed by Garba because of his carelessness, Bach almost couldn't help but scream out loud. 'If you can get hit by my arm, how could I not even touch you that night?'
Garba's strength was not bad among the gladiators, but that was all. If Bach were to put himself in Zhang Heng's shoes, Garba would probably only be able to hold on until now. He would either admit defeat or wait to be cut in half.
And Zhang Heng was the one who had the upper hand from the beginning to the end. Now, Zhang Heng was forcing him to fight with Zhang Heng. No matter how he looked at it, Bach felt like he was plotting something. That was why Bach paid more attention to Zhang Heng. He had replayed the battle between the two in his mind countless times, but he still couldn't figure out whether Zhang Heng was intentionally letting him win or if it was just a coincidence. Today's battle might be able to answer this question that had been bothering him for many days.
Other than that, there was another person in the corner who was watching the battle attentively. It was the old Persian trainer that Zhang Heng met on the first day he came to the gladiator school. He was not responsible for training the newcomers, so strictly speaking, this was only the second time they met.
For some reason, the old trainer seemed to be very interested in Zhang Heng. Of course, because his position was relatively remote, even Zhang Heng did not notice him.
Besides, this small sitcom was almost coming to an end. Zhang Heng began to wrap up the battle. After his left arm was injured, he changed his previous fighting style and became more aggressive.
Garba was secretly happy when he saw this. Did the fish finally take the bait?
And Gaby also made the same judgment. He felt that Zhang Heng was starting to lose his cool. Only Bach was roaring in his heart, 'Here it comes! He's finally coming!'
After that, he saw that Zhang Heng gave up on attacking Garba's other vital parts. Instead, he focused on Garba's eyes.
Garba was shocked at first, but he was a fish-helmet gladiator, and he wore a protective helmet on his head. He did not think that the wooden sword in Zhang Heng's hand could hurt him. However, he soon realized that something was wrong. Zhang Heng did not expect the wooden sword to pierce through the small gap and hurt his eyes. Instead, Zhang Heng was using this method to block Garba's vision.
Although the peephole could effectively protect his head, it would also create a blind spot for him to a certain extent. This was also one of the reasons why Garba had to follow Zhang Heng. Now, Zhang Heng took the initiative to get close to Garba, blocking his eyes with the wooden sword. Garba could not see Zhang Heng's figure anymore. Garba could only judge Zhang Heng's position based on the sound and where he was a second ago.
However, Garba still did not panic. It was not that no one had used similar tactics before.
Until now, he still felt that as long as he guarded his eyes well, he would not give Zhang Heng any chance.
In fact, Garba quickly figured out Zhang Heng's intention. The latter's real attack point was his left waist.
'Gotcha!'
A glint flashed in Garba's eyes. This time, he did not evade or defend.
Instead, he took the initiative to open up his defense. The training sword in his right hand was already ready to strike. Before Zhang Heng's weapon could reach his left waist, he stabbed Zhang Heng's neck.
It was not a lose-lose situation. According to Garba's calculation, his sword would reach Zhang Heng first, and it was true. However, he did not expect Lady Luck to favor Zhang Heng at this moment. Seeing that he was about to fail, Zhang Heng made a final struggle with his other hand, giving up on blocking Garba's sight. Instead, he tried to stab Garba's helmet. As a result, Zhang Heng's sword pierced through the hole in front of his helmet.
And a little further away, Bach was so furious that he almost jumped up and cursed. 'Accident! Another accident!!! ' 'Can't you come up with something new?!'
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