A year quickly passed like the wind, as the higher-ups of the Roman Empire fleet finally started plans for their gladiators. After so long of high-intensity training, the anticipated and dreaded elimination round began.
During Clark’s time training in the ship, he forfeited making friends as he was sure that 99.9% of them were going to die by the time the tournament is over, if not 100% of them. That was how deadly of a situation he was in.
Despite this fact, he was still a human, in the end, he became closer to 2 people than all the others. They could not be considered bosom friends, but they were close.
His 2 new companions were a boy and a girl, Emily and Henry, a perfect combination to curb his yearlong boredom.
“Clark, I know you’ll probably blast through this elimination phase”. Emily joked to liven the atmosphere between the
Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it.
From the next day onwards, just like a switch indicating excitement and death was ignited, the battles continued. Gladiators died while others shined, using the death of their opponents as stepping stones to glory. It was cruel, but in here, all the gladiators were no longer in control of their fate. It’s either you win by fighting to the best of your ability or die trying. It's either you’re the survivor or the dead. As the tournament progressed, a lot of hidden masters started appearing as predicted, making the elimination phase a lot more dangerous and unpredictable. After standing at the sides and watching others duke it out for about a week, the dice finally rolled to Clark’s small circle of companions. It was now the day of Emily’s first battle. Clark and Henry both wished her luck before leaving her to go on stage. This was the best that they could do, the ball was on her court,
As the bloody days of the elimination round passed like the wind, the day of another highly anticipated battle finally came. This time, it was between the Stranded dragon and the mad man. The mad man, Clark had no idea why his opponent gave himself such a weirdly controversial name, but he was prepared to put in his all to win this battle. It may be that his opponent was trying to use the name as a form of reverse psychology manipulation and to perform weird tactics, but he didn’t care. As long as he trained hard and was strong enough, no obstacle was insurmountable. “Ladies and gentlemen, grab your popcorns and tighten your seat belts because today is the first day that we’ll witness one of the best performers in training fight his first gladiator battle”. &n
At another important cage arena on the ship designated to the gladiators, a fierce battle was going on. This was a battle between Captain Jack, the Commander of the Camelotian fleet, and another 3rd rank high-grade soldier. During the 3rd rank high-grade soldiers training sessions, he was not too exceptional as he opted to act in a low-key manner, but no one dared to underestimate him. As the commander of a whole fleet, his strength and capability are not beans, everyone was clear on that. This was his first gladiator battle; his ring name was still Captain Jack. He was too arrogant or probably too lazy to brainstorm for a tyrannical nickname, his opponent’s ring name is Deathstroke. As soon as the battle began, he was too impatient to slowly fight a drawn-out battle as he charged forward to meet his opponent decisively. Though his
Boom!! The hermit didn’t relent, as he ended the combo with a horizontal slash with both his swords. Emily barely blocked the blow with her swords as she lost her footing, staggering and falling back. With added force from her opponent, she was slammed down on the floor as strength finally faded away from her body. She felt weak all over and was now dizzy. “Is this it? Am I dying here?” She couldn’t help but ask herself inwardly, as tears rolled down her eyes. She never wanted to be a gladiator, but this was not a choice that she could make. This is how this age is. She could not help but feel boundless hatred as her thoughts continued unrestrainedly. “Mom, Dad, why did you give birth to me in this era?” The strong survive and make use of the weak as chess pieces and sources of entertainment. She knew that at this age, the one with the biggest fist speaks, but she was still indignant. Why was she born in this age of cruelty? Why did sh
After a week of treatment, Emily was finally discharged. She came to meet her friends, looking energetic as usual. During this week that she stayed in the medical bay, Henry fought his second battle. It was not as dramatic as hers though. He won after a drawn-out battle of attrition. Forget about his lack of self-confidence, he was still one of the best on the ship. His lack of confidence is because of the steep requirement of only 5 survivors. … It was already 3 months since the tournament began, today is Clark’s 2nd battle fixture. His opponent this time is Excalibur. The fight was without suspense as he completely crushed his opponent. After some time, Emily and Henry also had their 3rd tournament battle. They both fought against weaker opponents and won after putting in some effort. The main highlight of these recent battles was The Emperor’s 3rd battle, which he fought against Jian Wushaung. Jian Wushaung, the name sounded ridicul
After returning, Clark went back straight to his room. His 2 friends were already there to welcome and congratulate him. “Clark, you are so fierce. Damn, that was intense”. Henry exclaimed exaggeratedly as soon as he saw him. “I can’t believe you abandoned your weapons to finish the battle with your fists, that’s completely tyrannical”. Henry kept on heaping praise on him which finally made him smile a little, earning a burst of laughter from Emily. “Hahaha, you only know when to smile when praises are heaped on you right?” She asked in a slightly accusing tone. “…” Clark was left speechless. “Can’t you allow me to enjoy my glory for once?” He could only cough a little to hide his awkwardness, as black lines already covered his face. … For the rest of the day, talks of how the stranded dragon demolished the trickster became the talk of the day. Clark didn’t know of all these, nor did he pay attention as he already returned to h
Of the two hundred and four 2nd rank high-grade soldiers who participated in the elimination round, only 13 soldiers survived to this last round. After the first round, 102 soldiers survived to the next round. After the 2nd round, 51 soldiers were left. 50 of them had to fight, and one lucky gladiator among them was allowed to advance directly to the next round without battling. After the 3rd round, only 26 soldiers survived. Then after the 4th round, these 13 soldiers were the golden goose survivors. These 13 soldiers are then going to fight for the last opportunity to survive. The battles began without much fanfare, as the cream of the crop of the initial 204 soldiers started battling for the 5 survivor slots. After 2 weeks of constant exciting battles, today is a battle between the flexible master and exterminator. Emily got prepared to cross her last hurdle, as Clark and Henry encouraged her to be calm and try her best. The commentator was
At the last moment of desperation when the Executioner’s weapon was advancing to cut her leg, Emily’s brain calculated and she discovered that she could not avoid losing her last leg. So, she just ignored it. It was already spilled milk to her. She focused on striving for the last effort at breaking her speed limit. Forcing a breakthrough was her last gamble. As soon as she lost her last leg, her brain spammed her with pain signals ruthlessly but she tried hard to ignore all these. Before it was cut, she managed to propel herself up a bit. She gritted her teeth as her suspended body ascended higher. Blood dropped like rain after her ascending figure, making the battle arena extremely bloody. Every spectator held their breaths and widened their eyes, as this scene completely felt like something out of a horror movie. The excessive blood loss was already muddling her consciousness. A normal soldier would have already been in a near-death s
6 months ago, the sky turned red which according to world leaders signified the start of the war that would decide the fate of humanity.2 months prior, the news was finally publicized, spreading worldwide panic but with all the most powerful world leaders working together, the panic was easily curbed and order was restored.According to the government, humanity was not hopeless, they had heroes in the form of their soldiers and elite soldiers.Not only that, humanity had a superhero, the great Elite Commander Clark Pendragon. After the special training started, a fuse seemed to have been switched on as the Spartan soldier experienced a period of rapid growth.With veteran Elite Commanders around to guide him and with every resource he needed available, he encountered no bottlenecks, he improved at a superhuman speed never recorded since the human race was born.In just 4 months, he broke through 2 times, going all the way to the Elite-grade rank.
A month later, in the Gen. Clark Pendragon Mansion.At the big balcony attached to the mansion, Clark stood, looking out into the distance as a lot of things went through his mind. The past one month has been the best in his life, and he was grateful for it.Despite it being the best in his life, as a 4th rank high-grade soldier now, his intuition told him that something was happening.As a high-grade soldier and mercenary, things happened everyday around him but he knew that this was not the normal happenings, his intuition told him that this was far higher than anything that he has encountered before.And after making connections from the recent happenings, from his famous marriage ceremony, to the big 5 jointly broadcasting it, a lot of other things and now the Spartan President personally calling for him, he confirmed his guess.Something big was happening, it was just that no one deemed it right to inform him about it yet. As a man
Vatican City Central Church, General Clark Street. This was the church where the big things were happening for today. Not only people from all over the Spartan republic, even esteemed guests from foreign high-grade countries came to grace this occasion. Today was the day of Vatican City hero’s marriage ceremony. After 22 years as a single, General Clark Pendragon was finally ready to tie the nut with his fiancée. The name of the street where the ceremony was commencing was given and commissioned a few days after Clark became a General. Some of the most esteemed guests attending the marriage ceremony were the legendary President of the Spartan republic, Leonidas, and the armor tycoon, the billionaire Mr. Calibri of the Dakran republic. These 2 people were such powerful and well-known personalities in their own rights that their attendance alone shot the attention being given to the marriage ceremony to the highest point. Not only that,
“Leonidas, you wish to attend?”Hearing that, the Spartan President sighed, exasperated. “If you were not my mentor, I would have probably fired you already. Cough…, sorry for that but I’m really going, what’s the big deal?”“You’re really asking me that right now? Of course, there’s a big deal. Apart from military burials, do you know the last time you have for social gatherings?”“I dunno, probably a decade or 2”.“No…, 4 decades! 4 whole decades! You get that?” The old man emphasized by waving his hands vigorously, showing 4 fingers at the powerful soldier.“Suddenly going to a social event after such a long time staying at home, what do you think will be people’s reaction. They may feel that something is happening, they may even panic”.“And just because he’s a 4th rank high-grade soldier does not change anythin
A day after the reunion with her family, Sonia took permission with her parents before going on the first official date with her boyfriend. It was a date, but they just wanted to spend more time together and close to each other. The few years apart was torment to them, now that they had the opportunity, they wanted to make up for it by all means. At first, staying together left them feeling awkward but they soon got over it and started reliving the feelings of a few years ago. For the destination for their first date, none of them planned for it as they were both individuals who have never interacted with the opposite sex in such fashions before now. As the only daughter of a famous billionaire, other billionaire sons already tried courting her in the past but she simply didn’t find them appealing enough, so she always ignored and avoided them. After just a day of staying with Clark, her brother, and her parents in her childhood home, she now
Among the 3 Pirate Gods in the Sahara, though none of them never publicly claimed the spot as the strongest, the Black Pirate God was the one most recognized by pirates as the strongest. After him was the powerful Red Goddess Pirate, then the Lilac Pirate God. Compared to the first 2, the Lilac Pirate God was on the more glaringly weaker side but he still had the strength to back his title. At this moment, in the Black God Pirate City, a surprising piece of news was being circulated. Pirate Queen Anamel was dead, and Pirate Queen Cobra was secretly a student of the Red Goddess. Not only that, the most shocking piece of news that took the city by storm was that of Pirate Queen Cobra’s intention to leave the Sahara and settle in normal human settlements outside. … “Is this news verified?” A deep voice asked with suppressed anger in an underground room with far better living conditions than most of the others out there in the desert. “Yes
Though they both wanted to just remain in each other’s embrace forever, Clark and Sonia knew that they were still in a pirate city and what it meant. With reluctance, they quickly left the city with Arthur.Even if they tried to cover it up, it was impossible so they didn’t bother. In minutes, the news of Pirate Queen Anamel’s death spread through the pirate city and beyond.For long, Clark has always been worried about his reaction when he finally saw Sonia again but he was surprised when he did. It was like they never separated; it was like they’ve lived through all these years together.15 minutes later, they got sufficiently far away into the desert from the pirate city so they finally had the time to speak things out.Sonia brought out the stolen pistol first, which Clark handed over to Arthur. After this, she finally started detailing her encounters after Clark asked.According to her, after the fierce battle on her fa
While Arthur asked the pirate, Clark already went to work as he closed his eyes to focus. As experienced soldiers, they already put a lot of contingencies in place during their tour around the pirate city.Even if they wanted to catch some fun, it was too unrealistic for them to just keep touring without setting anything in place.With his implant, Clark immediately accessed the hidden cameras that they placed around the city, most especially this bar. It didn’t take him long; he saw a hooded female going out through the bar’s back door.“Found our target”.While muttering to Arthur, Clark already turned to storm out of the bar. Arthur simply knocked the 2 pirates out before storming out also.In seconds, they were out of the bar’s main structure.…A few meters away from the bar, a hooded lady walked through the streets at a leisure pace as she kept a close but alert eye on her surroundings.<
The next day, Clark and Arthur woke up with the intention to remain patient while waiting for their informant to contact them. They didn’t even go into the pirate city, it was too disgusting for them to stay in it. The more Clark felt this way, the more he feared what his girlfriend may have become now. If just a day staying in it could make him this irritated, he just couldn’t imagine what staying here for 4 years could have done. Thinking of this, he felt guilty again. “Why didn’t I come earlier?” Souring his mood with such thoughts, the day moved extremely slowly to him. Perhaps, having noticed his current mood, Arthur didn’t disturb him and opted to go out hunting alone. When he came back, he had a desert antelope with him. Seeing the catch, Clark was left speechless. “Can we finish that?” Arthur wasn’t fazed by his question. “If we can’t finish it today, we’ll just finish it tomorrow or the next. Don’t worry, I have preservation gadgets with me, and besides, your girlfriend