Earl Arthur finally agreed.
He felt that there wouldn't be much danger, with William accompanying Milton Cheney.
After all, enhancing real-world combat abilities would significantly help Milton.
Regardless of whether he would inherit the title of Earl or become a Lord in one of the territories in the Far East, practical combat abilities were indispensable.
By the time Milton and William arrived at the Golden Lion Coliseum, several days had passed.
The Golden Lion Coliseum was situated within the Far East territories, not too far from the estate where Milton resided.
The Golden Lion Coliseum was an enormous and majestic structure, built from expensive materials like marble, brass, and metal.
From the outside, the tall walls were decorated with beautifully carved patterns and reliefs, each wall exuding an aura of grandeur.
At the entrance, there was a massive archway carved with the emblem of the Golden Lion family.
Above it, two crossed knight swords created an imposing sight.
Upon entering, the first thing one would notice was an expansive field.
It was filled with numerous lavish seats, forming the viewing stands for the nobles to watch the gladiatorial fights.
Some seats within the stands were incredibly luxurious, fitted with cushions made of silk and leather, surrounded by tapestries and ornaments.
Even though he had memories of the Coliseum, it was Milton's first time visiting in person.
His first impression was not that it was a Coliseum, but more like a luxuriant and splendid palace.
There were also facilities within the field, such as bars for food and drinks, open-air gardens for nobles to rest and socialize, not to mention toilets and baths.
It was utterly luxurious, capable of accommodating most needs of the nobility.
Inside the Coliseum, marble arenas stood in dozens, distributed evenly across the space.
By the time Milton entered, many of the arenas already had competitors.
Some were battling in extravagant armor as if they were performing, while others fought bare-chested, trading bare-knuckle blows.
Within minutes of his arrival, Milton saw a man of towering build being dealt a neck-breaking blow before leaving the arena on a stretcher.
The next moment, a cleaner acsended the stage and washed away the blood stains from the arena, leaving the marble platform as pristine as before.
It was as if the man who had just died there was an illusion.
Shouts, cheers, and a cacophony of noises filled the entire Golden Lion Coliseum.
Normally well-mannered nobles screamed at the top of their lungs.
They were sweating profusely, shaking their heads vigorously, seemingly trying to rupture their vocal cords.
An intense contrast of noble elegance and bloody violence emerged, leaving a deep impression on Milton.
"The Golden Lion Coliseum was built over a hundred years ago, and it took fifteen years to construct,"
William quietly started to explain, sensing that Milton was awestruck by the grandiosity of the Coliseum.
"Young Master, do you want to watch from the stands first or directly participate in combat? If you want to fight, you need to register first."
"Let's get started!" Milton replied, lightly moving his body as he spoke.
After registering for the friendly duel, Milton was assigned to Arena twelve.
Of course, he didn't register with his real name but used a random moniker instead.
Most of the people who fought in the Coliseum didn't use their real names, but adopted nicknames instead.
This was Milton's wish, and surprisingly, William didn't object to it.
Milton naturally couldn't participate in a deathmatch duel right off the bat, disregarding the fact that William wouldn't allow it. Milton himself also lacked experience in life-and-death combat.
Prior to participating in the friendly duel, Milton needed to change to his attire in the dressing room of the Golden Lion Coliseum.
There were countless separate changing rooms, and each of them contained a locker.
In contrast to the grand decor outside, the changing rooms seemed rudimentary.
Not only were they poorly ventilated and dark, but they also lacked lighting fixtures, making the rooms appear even more damp and gloomy.
Friendly duels were divided into equipment duels and bare-hand duels; Milton was participating in the former.
This type of duels required full-body armor, including a knight helmet, all of which Milton donned swiftly.
Milton adjusted his breathing with ease, his body instinctively operating the Breathing Technique.
At that moment, Milton realized that he didn't feel any nervousness, instead, he was inexplicably excited.
"Number 16, your turn. Arena twelve. Your opponent is the Grey Bear."
A man dressed as an attendant knocked on the door of Milton Cheney's changing room, his tone devoid of emotion.
After registering for the duel, everyone would have a number, and Milton Cheney was number sixteen as mentioned by this attendant.
Milton Cheney opened his closed eyes, a sparkle flashing through his green eyes.
On seeing Milton Cheney emerge, the attendant casually sized him up.
After seeing Milton Cheney's thin stature, a hint of sympathy appeared in his eyes.
"I'll lead you to the arena; a friendly duel is not as dangerous as a deathmatch duel, but occasionally serious injuries occur, it's better to surrender as soon as possible if you can't match up," he said in a low voice leading the way.
It seemed that the attendant thought Milton Cheney was a down-and-out noble, hence the extra explanations.
Milton Cheney took one more surprised look at the attendant walking in front of him and said, "Thank you."
The attendant didn't reply. He silently led Milton Cheney to arena number twelve.
By the time Milton Cheney reached the arena, a towering hulk dressed in heavy armor was already standing on the marble arena.
The hulk was tall, towering above like a giant in the arena, and was a head taller than Milton Cheney.
Frowning slightly beneath his helm, Milton Cheney obviously wasn't afraid of this man.
But when he registered, he had indicated his weight. This opponent was clearly not in the same weight class as him.
He didn't think the coliseum would make such a basic error.
If it wasn't the coliseum's fault, then the most probable explanation was that this mighty hulk, although tall, didn't match up to him in a knight's realm.
When he registered, he had identified himself as a peak quasi-knight. Therefore, the hulk before him was definitely not a peak quasi-knight.
After all, apart from their weight, contestants in friendly duels were also paired up considering their overall strength.
When he stepped onto the arena, Milton Cheney found that many eyes from the viewing platform had turned in the direction of his arena.
Naturally, this included William sitting in the front row.
Seeing the difference between Milton Cheney and the Grey Bear, the spectators who noticed this arena gasped in astonishment.
"'Lionheart' vs. 'Grey Bear'. A friendly duel prohibits causing lethal harm. If one side surrenders, the other must stop. Let the duel begins!"
With the referee's command.
The incredibly bulky Grey Bear was surprisingly the first one to make his move.
Instead of circling Milton Cheney, he approached him with astounding speed. The heavy sword in his hand was cleaved down upon Milton Cheney's head.
There was a deafening sound when the two knight swords collided against each other.
The sound was so clear that even the spectators on the stands could hear them.
A touch of gravity appeared in Grey Bear's eyes.
He was well aware of the force of his sword, but didn't expect this skinny boy to block it so easily.
"As I thought, this Grey Bear is nowhere near as powerful as I was at my peak quasi-knight era," Milton Cheney thought to himself. After one collision, he was able to gauge Grey Bear's strength.
When Milton Cheney was at peak quasi-knight level, his physique attribute was 2.2. This Grey Bear could probably only reach a maximum of 1.8 at most.
The very next moment, Milton Cheney suppressed his strength until it was about equal to Grey Bear's, and his long sword charged toward Grey Bear's chest.
Although they were wearing knight armor, scores were still kept in a friendly duel. After all, if one side never surrendered, who knew how long the fight would go on.
But Grey Bear's experience was also very rich. A twist of his long sword easily parried Milton Cheney's strike.
After testing each other out, the two began to circle the stage swiftly; the frequency of their attacks also increased as they tried to strike each other all over.
The sound of the swords clashing echoed through the arena and resonated in the spectators' ears.
"It's a good thing I came here. Everyone's dueling skills are up to par, so it'll greatly help me improve my combat skills," he thought.
The situation on the stage was changing every moment. Even Grey Bear did not expect that the first person to run out of stamina was not his opponent, but himself.
"I surrender!"
A deep voice echoed out just as Milton's knight sword was only half a centimeter away from Grey Bear's knight helmet.
An outburst of cheering and yelling erupted from the stands, and amidst it all, Milton could hear his nickname being called.
"That felt good," he thought.
Slowly withdrawing his long sword while the cheering continued, the faint charisma in his silvery-white knight armor was dazzling.
Sitting in the front row of the stands, a hint of a smile flitted across William's face.