City of Desire: Chapter 1081: Ratings and Arena (Patreon)

Proofread by Thomas F

Maxen Nemoris

“Don’t you have an important meeting with the lord?” asked Lina, appearing in front of me. I didn’t even notice when she stepped into my office.

I was too distracted to notice her or worried about the meeting.

“I still have time,” I said.

“You do not; you have a meeting in twenty-five minutes, and it will take us fifteen to reach Lord Silver’s office.” Corrected Breve. I glared at her.

“You are stalling,” Lina said, bringing her face close before leaning in for the kill.

My lips melded into her soft lips, and it was heaven.

Since she came back, every day has been a blessing. Since our first date on the day she arrived, we have been inseparable. The time she went to war was the most difficult in my life, more than my childhood, more than a deadly battle in an arena.

“Go. Even if he does not agree to it, he will listen, and besides, you are like his uncle; he will not fire you!” she said and laughed at her own joke.

“I assured him that, even if Lord Silver disagrees, he listens,” Breve interrupted once more. I glared at both of them before giving Lina a quick kiss and walking out of the practice field.

Soon, I was in a carriage with Breve, glancing at the file for the tenth time.

“Don’t be worried. It will be fine,” she said. I am worried that the file contains the system we will use in the arena. It will be the backbone of it all of it.

We are using a different system than Oton, devised by Lord Silver, and refined by me.

It bears some similarities with the Otonion system, but is more precise, or rather, more quantitative. I worry less about the math than about the other thing.

“We have arrived,” Breve announced, and I saw the carriage had stopped.

I stepped out and walked into the building. A minute later, I was sitting in the waiting room, trying not to be nervous.

This is the most important meeting I've had so far; it needs to go well. While I waited, Breve chatted with the assistant. She is one of the first at the Velvet Garden, just like the young secretary.

Most of these girls hold important positions and wield immense influence in Velvet Garden and the dominion.

“Come, boss, it's time,” she called from the desk. I sighed and walked to the desk, then stepped into the office with her, as the guards opened the door.

“Lord Silver,” I greeted him before sitting down in front of him.

“Have you finished with it?” he asked, business as usual, just like his mother; however, he could be social when he wanted to.

I nodded and handed him the file.

He took it and began to read. He has incredible reading skills; he’s quite fast, and finished the file in less than five minutes before turning to me.

I looked at him with bated breath before relief flooded in as I saw the smile appear on his face.

“It’s amazing; you have really transformed, my little idea,” he said, turning to me. “It was not a little idea, and I believe our rating system will work better than the grading system of the legacy arenas.”

Like Oton, we divide powerhouses into five ranks/grades.

They use Grade I to Grade IV, while we use Bronze, Iron, Silver, Gold, and Diamond.

Grade I/Bronze are the people of Lv. 1 to Lv. 9; Grade II/Iron are Lv. 10 to Lv. 19; Grade III/Silver are Lv. 20 to Lv. 29; Grade IV/Gold are Lv. 30 to Lv. 39, and Grade V/Diamond are Lv. 40 to Lv. 49.

In Oton, this is further divided into subgrades A to D, given their fighting potential and the will of the arena master.

Especially in legacy, where fighting prowess is not enough.

We did not use subgrades, but ratings, or rather the arena ratings: 0 to 99 for bronze, 100 to 299 for iron, 300 to 999 for silver, 1000 to 1999 for gold, and 2000+ for diamond.

This rating could not be earned just based on fighting prowess; no, that is a lesser value than the two that make up the arena rating.

Its entertainment value.

The formula is simple and more precise; it lessens interference and lets the numbers do their job.

Arena Rating: 40% Fighting Score + 60 Entertainment Value.

Fighting score is easy to calculate; we have a formula for it, but entertainment value will come from legacy. I don’t know how they will calculate it, but I will get the number after each match.

Lord Silver must have some skill regarding it.

“My lord, I want to talk about the prisoners,” I said, the touchy subject that I was so nervous about. “We have already talked about it, Nemoris.” His voice was firm.

“Max’s proposal has merit, Master Silver; both Lady Carla and Madam agree with it.”

“Can you at least listen?” asked Breve. He looked at me for a moment, then sighed.

“Fine,” he agreed.

I looked at Breve gratefully, then turned to the man.

I didn’t speak immediately and gathered my thoughts before finally opening my mouth.

“This is a legacy, my lord, not some common arena. Yet even there, such tactics would matter—and you yourself spoke of their importance and how we intended to use them.”

“A fighter in an arena shouldn’t be presented merely as a fighter, but as an individual. One with history, ambitions, relationships, battles, victories, and a future they wish to achieve.”

“It is more so for the prisoners.”

He is not against letting the prisoners fight. It was his plan from the beginning. I heard from Lina that he asked the army to capture them alive, if they could, for this reason.

What he opposes is their earning freedom. He is fine with giving them privileges, but not freedom.

He wants them to serve their full sentence.

“The audience already knows; they have lost their freedoms. Their crimes, backgrounds, families, regrets, and the reasons for imprisonment can become part of their stories.”

“These stories are more captivating and make people more invested in them.”

“If we enact the hundred-victory freedom, we will have long-term high-emotion-potential for the people. As with every victory, advance their story toward freedom; every defeat will make the story more thrilling.”

People tend to get attached. Choose your champion. Investing in them financially as well as emotionally.

It is a big economic draw in the arenas.

“It will make every battle matter, producing a massive amount of emotions from the audience.”

“I promise you, my lord, that the average emotional essence we will harvest from their battles will be much higher than the battles of regular fighters, and that is what is more important.” I finished and looked at him hopefully.

He didn’t speak for several seconds before finally opening his mouth.

“You are right; emotional essence matters, but what about the laws of the Dominion?” He asked, his eyes turning intense. “I can’t let them free before they finish their sentence.”

“What message will it send? That you can commit a crime and earn your freedom by fighting in the arena. It will take away the fear.” He asked, and that is a valid point, and I have an answer.

“They would serve a decade or two easily, through the manipulation of schedule and opponent of the matches.”

He shook his head immediately.

“It is a thing about perception if we do this. Then, criminals will stop fearing the law, knowing they could fight in the arena; with all the privileges we are offering, they could live a life of luxury despite being imprisoned.”

“That is not a message I want to send.”

I opened my mouth to reply, but could not. This is not a question I could answer.

I sometimes forgot that he isn’t just master of the legacy, but also Lord of a large dominion. Also, this is Zenid, not Oton, where colosseums are ingrained deeply in our culture.

Silence fell when Breve cleared her throat and leaned forward.

“I will not suggest what to do, Master Silver. That is your decision, but I will ask you to think about what dominion needs.”

“We need essence, a lot of it. For the massive number of plants we have planted, but also for mist goods and to give and sell them to others.”

“As for the perception, yes. It will affect it, but not as much as we expect.”

I do not believe it will affect much. We are not going to let all criminals fight. Worst of the worst will not, which was his red line with prisoners.

As for those who will fight, they will be tested in battle before the arena fight.

Only those of Lv. 30s and Lv. 40s wouldn’t be tested. Seeing that they are powerful enough, everything they do is impressive. We only need to guide them a little, and we are already doing that.

Lina and many instructors train new gladiators in arena combat.

“The dominion has strong laws, and its law enforcement and justice system are among the strongest in the entire empire. Still, it might affect law and justice, but I do not believe it will be more than fractional.”

“You are the lord. You have to decide, my lord, whether the essence you will get would be worth taking such a risk,” said Breve.

I am impressed.

Not everyone dares to talk to him like this, but I notice the women of Velvet Garden are more willing than the others.

He said nothing and closed his eyes.

A minute passed and then another, but he didn’t open them. We sat there, waiting.What else could we do?

It was at the fourth minute that he opened them and turned to me. “Fine, but it will be temporary for a year. If I don’t see huge results in essence or if it affects law and justice more than I had thought, I will cut the program.”

A smile bloomed across my face.

“And one more thing: focus on the whole of the arena. Fights are only one aspect of it, the big one, but still one,” he said sombrely, bringing me back to reality.

Yes, it's an arena, not a colosseum.

A program for the entire month had been scheduled in the arena. About 65% are fights; the rest are other things. This month, we will observe what works and what does not, and plan accordingly.

Still, I believe the fights will work because it is in the primal nature of men.

A few minutes later, we walked out of his office and stepped into the carriage.

“Jail?” asked Breve, and I nodded.

It took us a little over ten minutes to reach it before we walked into a restricted area under the escort of the powerful guard.

“It is happening faster than I had thought,” I said as I looked around. This is a new section of the jail. They have already finished a third of it.

This new section is specially made for powerful prisoners. Lv. 30 and above.

It does not look like a jail, given that there is a beautiful garden being built around it. There are tiny houses, small manors, but also a multi-floor conventional jail.

Though security does not seem as tight as it should be, I have spent some time in such jails, and they are very tight, but until now, there have been no incidents.

Still, they could happen. Especially now, with the influx of powerful prisoners brought in by the latest war.

Soon, we reached a small compound and stepped inside. There was a single square cell and a small practice ground behind it.

The cell is filled with stuff: a bed with a comfortable mattress, a table, a cupboard, and even a painting.

The cell was empty.

So we walked behind it, and there we saw a man in his fifties and an Otonian woman in her late twenties.

The man is Cleon Daphus, the former General and Lord of Gailhorn before he was defeated, captured, and imprisoned. The woman is his personal instructor in gladiatorial combat.

The man agreed to fight.

It is because of that he got such a spacious compound and quality stuff in his cell that he agreed to fight in the arena.

These were his pre-fight privileges, but as he fights more and does well. he will receive more privileges, like new houses in the compound, and someday even residency in the city and freedom.

For that, he will have to win many battles.

“Lord Daphus, focus on the opponent, not the noise,” she instructed as she guided him. She has a skill that creates an illusory arena.

His fight will be his first battle in the arena, and I want it to be memorable.

He is Lv. 40+. Even without an instructor, his fight would be great, but with an instructor, I want it to be the best.

“Manager,” a woman greeted us as she noticed us, while the man simply turned toward us.

“Miss Solvara, Lord Daphus,” I greeted.

I didn’t have to greet him as ‘Lord’ since he lost that title; not that the empire had accepted it, but the man preferred it over General, and I don’t mind.

I even registered it as his arena name. It needed some convincing, but Lord Silver accepted. Given that it will be a stage name, not the title.

“How are things?” I asked.

“Great, Lord Daphus is very good. He will be more than ready for the opening day fight,” said the woman; her notes say the same thing.

“That’s no surprise, given the vast experience of Lord Daphus.” The man said nothing, but he was pleased by it, given how his lips curved ever so slightly.

“I hope you like the accommodation, Lord Daphus? If there is anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“A bottle of whiskey would be great.” I didn’t expect him to reply, let alone ask for anything. I had said those words just to be polite.

“That is a privilege; you will have to earn it in the arena,” I replied, and he grunted angrily.

Nothing would ever be free for prisoners after the initial privilege, which is only offered to Lv. 40 and some good Lv. 30s, and no one else.

If they want something, they will have to earn it, and they will, as long as they fight. It is a great motivation; even those strong wills couldn’t resist when privileges started coming in.

That is another thing I like about prisoners: we don’t have to pay them.

We are paying a massive amount of money to Lv. 40s, whom we convince to fight. Compared to them, we are paying these prisoners peanuts, but that is also a lot, given they are prisoners.

I talked with them for a few minutes before I walked out and met his opponent, who is living on the other side.

It’s going to be an incredible match, not only because of their Lv. 40, but they have stories that will make people very excited. I have already started advertising the match, and the response has been good.

Better than good, seeing that tickets sold out in minutes, but that’s not surprising; it’s a legacy.

The real test would be emotional essence. It is what matters and what I have to ace if I want to turn this temporary position into a permanent one.