"So, you also have an assassin organization that is also an opponent?" Zhang Heng asked.
"Yes, and because it was created by the traitor of the Balance Blade, its organizational structure is very similar to the Balance Blade. No, I should say that except for the priest, they are almost a replica of the Balance Blade. Even the number of core members is the same as ours," the old trainer said helplessly.
"Heh."
"Although they only have a history of two hundred years, they have the support of the ruler at that time. They have been developing very fast, and they have always been against us. I should have told you these things after you passed the test and joined the Balance Blade. However, given the current situation, you may meet them in the future. So, I will tell you in advance," Dadatis said. "In short, for the sake of your safety, you'd better not discuss the Balance Blade in public at any time."
"Understood," Zhang Heng said.
"Very well. Next, I will teach you how to hide in the crowd. Then, you will know how to deal with the situation when you go out," Dadatis said.
…
For the next month or so, Zhang Heng's life was very simple. The old trainer would come to him from time to time in the middle of the night to continue teaching him the combat skills of an assassin. During the day, he would go out and play hide-and-seek with several other gladiator schools who hired him for free.
Since the old trainer had asked him not to fight, Zhang Heng had to spend a lot of effort to deal with the people who were following him. As he said, his appearance was very unique in Rome. It was not easy to hide in the crowd. However, in addition to the stealth skills that Dadatis taught him, Zhang Heng had another trump card, his Level 2 makeup skill. To the old trainer's surprise, Zhang Heng learned it on his own. Under great external pressure, he began to try to integrate makeup and stealth to better hide himself.
Other than that, Zhang Heng participated in four more gladiatorial performances, and he won all four of them without exception. Because he won every gladiatorial performance, coupled with Mark Reuss's marketing methods, his popularity had greatly increased in a short period of time.
Now, almost the entire city of Rome knew that a powerful Oriental man had come to the Victor Arena.
Zhang Heng also got the nickname Black Lightning. These days, he had received more than a hundred love letters. When Mark Reuss saw that the arena's attendance had been declining ever since Sethnets' victory, he couldn't help but grin from ear to ear.
But soon, another matter took everyone's attention.
The new emperor of Rome, Commodus, had finally returned from the front line.
Since Nerva, the Antonine Dynasty had gone through five Virtuous Kings. Interestingly, the first four of the five Virtuous Kings had no children to inherit the throne, so they chose to adopt sons with outstanding moral character and ability and passed the throne to their adopted sons. It was not until Aurelius that he had a son named Commodus.
Strictly speaking, Commodus was not Aurelius's first son. Before Commodus, Aurelius had four sons. Unfortunately, the eldest child only lived to the age of 11. So Faustina gave birth to a pair of twins for Aurelius. The elder brother died when he was four years old, and the younger brother was Commodus.
After that, Aurelius welcomed his seventh son, Marcus. Marcus was appointed as the heir at the age of four, and he died of illness at the age of seven. In the end, Commodus became Aurelius's only living son.
It might sound a little sad, but considering that none of Aurelius's four predecessors had a son to inherit the throne, Aurelius's situation was not bad.
And before he died of illness, the philosopher emperor had a premonition that his time was coming. So, he began to train his only heir. When he went to fight the Germanic, he brought Commodus with him, personally taught him how to deal with government affairs and lead the army to fight. He also arranged a marriage between Commodus and Christina. The latter came from a famous Roman family. Her father was a two-time consul, and he had considerable influence in the Senate. In Aurelius's vision, Christina would become the link between Commodus and the Senate. This marriage would also help Commodus further stabilize his rule.
However, Aurelius did not expect his illness to be more serious than he imagined. In the end, he did not manage to teach Commodus for a long time. When he died of illness, Commodus was only nineteen years old.
And now, this young man, who was supposed to be a sophomore in his previous life, took over the scepter from his father and became the new ruler of the entire Roman Empire.
With his almost saintly father and the previous four great emperors, people were looking forward to how the new emperor would perform, especially when he returned to the center of the empire's power.
And Commodus did not disappoint his people. On the second day after he returned to Rome, he announced that a grand gladiatorial show would be held at the enthronement ceremony to reward the army and get the support of the people.
The young man, who had just turned twenty, did not forget his father's teachings. Bread and circus performances were crucial to a king's rule. And his generous move immediately welcomed the cheers and support of the people.
At the same time, the Senate, which was responsible for preparing for the gladiatorial show, also began to take action. Relevant notices and documents were distributed to various gladiator schools. Not only in Rome, but other cities' gladiator schools had also received the invitation.
There was no doubt that this would be a feast for all gladiators to participate in.
"Look, this is the new weapon I asked someone to find for you."
This afternoon, Mark Reuss suddenly visited Zhang Heng and brought him a gift. It was two Persian swords. However, rather than swords, the shape was closer to a knife. They were the ancestors of the Damascus knife in the future.
The two knives that Mark Reuss brought were obviously much better than the traditional standard weapons. In this era, Roman weapons had begun to use a lot of iron and steel. However, because it was difficult to control the carbon content, the quality of the swords was generally poor.
However, the two Persian swords that Mark Reuss brought this time could indeed be regarded as high-quality. Not only were they sharp enough, but they did not have the shortcomings of other sharp weapons. The swords themselves were also very hard. The crafting method was a bit similar to the samurai swords of the later generations. Wrapping low-carbon steel with high-carbon steel, it could perfectly integrate the advantages of both.
However, Zhang Heng did not know whether it was the forger's idea or the forger had mastered some kind of magical casting method.
Otherwise, the quality of the weapons in the entire Roman Empire could be improved to the next level.
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