Chapter 110: preparation the mysterious old man

Today is the d-day, the day that will determine who the strongest gladiator from this tournament is. Today is the day, that will justify all the bloodshed and deaths throughout the past year, in the gladiator arena.

Clark steadily entered the gladiator armory, as he went forward to where the weapons were kept. On seeing the empty, grey-colored, and cold chamber, he could not help but feel a sense of emptiness.

For weeks now, he had been training to get to the required level, to help him win this battle. He did not know why he felt anticipation, but he felt that he would benefit a lot if he emerged as the winner of this battle.

His thoughts cleared up, as he advanced to the spear section of the armory. He stood before the huge number of spears, as he again fell into a daze. Spears spread for as far as his eyes could see. From short spears to long spears, to broad, to thin spears, every type of spear was available.

His hands extended forward, as he firmly grabbed the long spear closer to his position. He closed his eyes, as he felt the sharp edge and the fine contours round the body of the spear.

He breathes out cold air from his mouth, as he finally opened his eyes. He turned to look at the mirror, as he glanced at himself for the last time. Maybe, this was the last time he would have the privilege to see this body and face.

After so long, his body already developed immensely due to his rigorous training. His shoulders were broader than before, as they now exuded the vibe of a man. His legs and hands now had a lot of veins intercrossing in them, as they appeared strong and sturdy.

After glancing at his body, his eyes finally moved upwards to look at his face. Compared to 3 years ago, his face now looked more mature, and it had the vibe of a veteran radiating from it.

He had only 10 minutes more before his battle began. He left the mirror, as he went to get himself his gladiator armor. Unlike the team battles, gladiators in the individual battles are allowed to wear normal reinforced steel armor.

In the previous battles, he didn’t use armor as he did not feel the need to use them. All his previous opponents in the individual tournament were just like practice targets to him.

But, this time, he knew he was about to fight a real gladiator battle. Every bit of armor and protection he could get was worth it.

After looking at the armor set for a short while, he expertly slid the special chain mail on, as he extended his hands outwards to get the chest plate.

Unlike regular chain mail used by knights, these special ones were made using some technological techniques. The interlocking of the chains was made specially, to increase defense better than the regular one.

He picked the shoulder pieces next, as he slowly put them on. Then, he went for the arm pieces, the gauntlets, the leggings, the footwear, before finally putting on the gorget.

After putting everything on, his appearance completely transformed. As his figure looked burlier and more packed now, he looked just like a knight on armor.

The light shining into the small chamber reflected a silver metallic sheen from his now armored self.

Despite already being covered all over with armor, he still didn’t feel safe as he glanced at the shield lying at the corner. His more rational self admonished him to take the defensive route and take the shield.

His eyes suddenly grew firm, as he suppressed this urge bothering him. He already embarked on the path of a spear; he was not ready to compromise just because of a moment of fear.

And even with the shield, he was still not confident that he would survive. It would only impact his chances at winning if there was one. So, he decided to leave everything to fate. Perhaps, a miracle will happen.

As he extended his hand to take hold of the helmet, after calming down, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching the chamber. He felt surprised, as people were not allowed to meet the gladiators again when this close to the battle.

He suppressed his curiosity to know who his visitor was, as he grabbed the helmet, and kept it at his side. After this, he turned to face the door, to see who was coming.

The first thing that caught his eye, was the white hair gradually emerging into view, which gradually became clearer. He squinted his eyes in surprise, as the owner of this head, full of white hair finally emerged completely.

It was an old man, probably already in his 90s. The old man’s fair skin looked emaciated, as wrinkles dominated most parts of it. Despite this, his posture looked so steady, like it could hold anything back.

His pair of eyes, looked grey but unfathomable, as they seemed like towers overflowing with wisdom.

Clark could not comprehend why such an old man would come to meet him, and how he got in there when he was about to get involved in a life-deciding battle. He was about to question, but the old man beat him to it, as he slowly said.

“Young man, my name is Randolph. You don’t have to be curious about how I was able to get in here, all I want you to do is listen carefully”. As the man opened his mouth to talk, Clark felt a strange kind of pressure suppressing him.

He was not given time to think about what was happening, as the old man continued. “Till some few minutes ago, I never knew who you are. But as fate may have it, my spirit led me to you”.

“First, I want to ask you, do you know why you always dreamed a lot when you were still younger? Do you know the implications of your dreams?” Clark wanted to talk, but the pressure intensified, as he struggled.

“You don’t need to answer, you can think of my words later if your spirit allows you to survive this battle. All I came to tell you, is that you are unique. Everybody believes they are unique, but yours is different”.

“2 hours ago, I had a vision about you. I saw your future, I saw into your past, and I witnessed your present. You have a unique destiny, a destiny of great proportions. Today is a day that you will decide the trajectory of your fate”.

“You have a unique destiny, but without you unlocking your full potential, you will never live to fulfill it. You need courage and a lot of help to fulfill your potentials. Men don’t follow titles, they follow courage”.

“All the friends you’ve had in this your short life, are not coincidental encounters. It’s part of the strings of fate, guiding your life. This is the age of exotics and technology, but there is still a lot behind the scenes, that you don’t know about”.

“Don’t limit yourself to your current boundaries, set higher goals for yourself. You are an elite, you have the spirit of an elite, don’t let yourself down”.

“My word may seem ambiguous to you, but you’ll later understand if you can survive this battle before you. Don’t fight conventionally today, as you fight, try to discover the purpose of your life”.

“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder the firm resolve of a determined soul. You need a determined soul to break your boundaries, you need a determined soul to explore your limits”.

“Don’t disappoint me, I hope you fulfill your potential today. If you want to find me in the future, reach my level. When you reach my level, you’ll understand what I told you today better”.

As soon as the man finished, he snapped his fingers as he was quickly surrounded by a blue glow from an energy film. After whatever device he activated gathered enough power, he disappeared.

Clark finally snapped out of his daze, as he looked around his surroundings in alarm. He wanted to ask something, but the man was already gone.

His mind was in complete disarray, he was shocked by what just transpired. What further shocked him, was that this old man was able to enter here, talk to him and go, without sounding any alarms. This was the Seafarers alliance headquarters, not Sparta.

The kind of pressure he felt in the presence of the man, was completely suffocating and mysterious to him.

He had heard a lot of stories about 5th rank high-grade soldiers, but he never heard of instances where they exerted so much pressure on people. Who was this person? And how strong was he exactly?

Despite the shock he felt, he still could help but think of the man’s words. Most of the words didn’t make sense to him, but at least he captured some key sentences.

“Why did he dream so much when he was younger, and why did his dreams always seem so unique? Were there really some implications behind his dreams?

His dream, when he was on a mission in the Moca republic still felt fresh to him. Why was he the only one, that could dream about a tragedy befalling them? Why did his teammates not dream about something similar also?

It was through that same dream, that after a lot of coincidences landed him here. He escaped death, but he paid for it by being stranded in the sea. Sometimes he tried thinking about his experiences, but he always never had the patience to go deep enough.

Some of the old man’s words felt like a beacon of light to him, that was gradually unveiling the mysteries blocking his path.

As his thoughts kept on drifting further about the implications of the old man’s words. Ding!! He finally received a notification, to come out for his battle.

He was jolted back from his thoughts, he already forgot for a second there that he still had one battle to fight. He quickly put the helmet on, firmly grabbed his spear, before turning to walk to the door.

He did not know the old man, but whoever he was. One thing was sure, he was miles stronger than he was.

The fact that he was not killed, at least meant the old man didn’t have malicious thoughts. He could not help but think of the man’s parting words, “don’t fight conventionally today. As you fight, discover the purpose of your life”.

Some parts of the old man’s words sounded like some spiritual nonsense to him. But he was not one to neglect information, he would make maximum use of the ones he could understand.

“Ladies and gentlemen, esteemed guests of the Seafarers alliance, today is the grand finale of the gladiator tournament. Welcome again to our gladiator arena”.

“The 2 strongest gladiators of this tournament, are going to complete their showdown today, to determine the absolute best”. The commentator started his job like usual, as he started hyping the battle.

“Today, we shall get our number one. Today, we shall encounter the death of one of these 2 geniuses. Who shall be the winner? And who shall be the loser? Prepare yourselves, as we welcome these 2 gladiators into the arena”.

The commentator didn’t even finish before one of the gladiators started coming to the arena. World dominator walked to the arena confidently, as his armor made clanking sounds after him.

Just like Clark, he also wore armor from head to toe. Because he saw himself as superior, would not make him decide to complicate things for himself. He was not interested in fighting a handicap battle, equipping armor would make his winning easier, and that was what he aimed at.

Under the excited state of the stadium, Clark finally emerged from his corner. He walked with steady steps to the arena, as his fans started screaming his nickname.

Hearing the booming sounds around the stadium, he gripped his spear tighter as he calmed his heart down. After so long, finally, the finals officially began.

[Thank you for reading this chapter, I really appreciate it. If you love this book, please leave your power stones behind to support it.]