Chapter 113: award preparations

As usual, medical practitioners on white quickly rushed into the arena with a floating stretcher. They brought cleaning bots with them this time, as the blood and gore were quickly sucked and cleaned out of the arena.

Clark’s unconscious body was carefully placed on the stretcher, as it directly floated back to the medical bay. As the medical practitioners worked, the commentator finally started his ending speech with a smile.

“Ladies and gentlemen, my fellow Seafarers, we now finally have a winner for this gladiator tournament. After these countless ups and downs, we finally arrived at our destination”.

“The winner of the gladiator tournament this time is the Stranded dragon, he proved his strength today in this arena”.

“I won’t waste your time much, I just want to inform you that according to the organizers; if everything goes according to plan, the award-giving ceremony will be held in a week”.

“Let’s all come back for this final event, to establish our winner’s status as a gladiator legend, and to reward him for his performance during the tournament. I do not doubt that every one of you was entertained, by his battles”.

“Today officially marks the end of the gladiator tournament, I remain my humble self, mc happy mouth. I know you enjoyed my company, see you guys in the future”.

He finally stopped his long speech, amid the still noisy stadium. Most of the spectators didn’t even hear what he said due to the noise, and the organizers didn’t want to use sound dampeners.

Using sound dampeners would spread outrage. They could only put up with the attitude of the spectators; they were the customers after all.

…

Pop!! The lid of the champagne popped open, as the group of 4 cheered happily. Since the battle ended, all the members of team Roman empire were plunged into a merry mood.

Mark directly ordered a carton of champagne to celebrate the victory. After rushing to visit Clark in the hospital, they converged back in their team apartment to celebrate.

They had a lot of reasons to celebrate. They came out as the 2nd runner ups, in the team competition. Despite it not having as much value as the 1st place team, they were still going to expect their awards.

The 2nd and most important reason for their celebration is that their team suffered no casualties. Despite the many ups and downs, their vice-captain still made it, emerging as the winner of the individual tournament.

As soon as their fear of a teammate’s death disappeared, friendly envy replaced it, as they suddenly started wishing it was them that fought in the individual battle.

They knew that the outcome would have been different if they were the ones who fought, but they didn’t care. That’s why it was only a wish.

The awards for the winner of the individual tournament were just that valuable, it was mouthwatering.

As they celebrated, the Camelotian Captain came to congratulate them, while also extending the greetings of his General to them.

After years of being caught and forced to fight as gladiators, they were finally going to get a reward for it. It would have been odd if they were not excited.

As they celebrated, other teams lamented for not emerging within the top 3 teams. The only 2 teams above them celebrated their victory also.

Unlike them, the celebration in the Microsoft empire team was stiff and without any real sense of joy. Despite the battle already being over, the influence of their captain’s death still hungover all the members of the team.

The unexpected result of the battle still left them startled, and in doubt. Unlike the other spectators, they knew the strength of their captain. They were 100% sure of his victory, but the result completely challenged their intelligence.

They didn’t know how and why it happened. The strength of their captain seemed so overwhelming, that he already looked invisible to them. “Was this Stranded dragon still just a 2nd rank high-grade soldier?” This was the thought dominating their minds.

Unlike everyone else that experienced the feeling from an outsider’s perspective. The regional General of the Microsoft empire team, felt it most, as he was tasked to protect this man.

As soon as the battle ended, he rested back on his chair in a contemplative mood. “Another soldier who broke the threshold. Hmm…, I guess the Seafarers are right this time. Another legend is slowly being bred”.

The 3rd rank of the high-grade soldier series is the first major bottleneck that soldiers have to break, in order to grow and have more strength.

Unlike the other breakthroughs, a soldier will experience a qualitative increase in strength and intelligence after becoming a 3rd rank high-grade soldier. The increase in qualitative strength was enormous, but so also was the amount of effort needed to cross over.

In a normal military organization, the numbers of soldiers who can breakthrough to become 3rd rank high-grade soldiers are very few. These few grades of soldiers represent the upper echelons of society and the military.

Normally, for soldiers to cross this huge bottleneck, they have to slowly fight and engage in battles for a long period of time to accumulate experience. Only special soldiers that experience some fortunate encounters, can bypass the need to gather battle experience.

That is why soldiers of that rank tend to be the more advanced men in the military. Only geniuses, who fulfilled some special requirements, can breakthrough in their 20’s.

The only other group of soldiers that can forfeit the slow accumulation of experience, are those that cross the threshold. These are the geniuses, who always strive to improve, and coincidentally break the limiting factor to improve further.

Clark happened to be one of these geniuses, who coincidentally broke the limiting factor. From this, his future as a soldier was already completely secured.

As the General sat down in a contemplative mood, his implant suddenly alerted him about an incoming call. He sighed when he saw the name of the person calling. He quickly cleared his emotions, as his face became respectful.

“Good morning Commander. I’m so sorry sir; I was not able to fulfill your expectations”. He first greeted, before immediately showing that he was sorry.

The commander kept quiet for a moment on hearing this, as he finally opened his mouth to talk to his General.

“General, you don’t have to stress yourself too much over it. Come to meet me in my quarters, I have a lot to discuss with you. This boy’s father is not someone we can just shrug off”.

“Ok, sir,” the General replied while standing up to salute his commander.

No matter how big of a problem he caused, there was no way that he would receive normal punishment like other soldiers. Despite the Microsoft empire organization being very advanced, 4th rank high-grade soldiers were still a rare commodity to them.

He finally turned around, after the call disconnected, as he ordered his subordinate to get his uniform.

After donning his special General’s military exclusive uniform, he walked out directly, as a car was already waiting for his arrival.

…

A bright light shone into the operating theater, illuminating the whole room as a pair of surgeons worked with undivided attention.

From the size of the room to the equipment being used, you will know that this theater was a technologically advanced one.

The medical bay utilized by the Roman Empire organization, seemed just like a roadside chemist store, in comparison to this, as machines worked in conjunction with the surgeons.

The lead surgeon worked with a face stern from focus, as his implant worked in sync with the hospital’s medical A.I. The protective cap covering his head glowed with a slight blue glow, enhancing his brain activity.

In conjunction with the fiber optic headlight shining down, his special glasses showed him more details, as he worked swiftly but impeccably. His glasses projected the tiny details to his eyes, which made them look red, like something under the direct glow of the orange morning sun.

Ptui!! A soft sound of impact sounded, as with his enhanced sterile gloves, he used his surgical holds to slowly re-arrange his patient’s crooked eyeball.

His figure slowly rose from the ground, as his white gown activated an anti-gravity field around him. He levitated above his patient, as with the help of the stitching machine, he finally closed the open leg injury.

After giving another command, the A.I controlled another machine to the patient’s face, as his disfigured face was gradually restored back to normal.

[Ding!! The patient has entered a temporary stabilized state…, system preparing for further check-up].

[Ding!! Blood pressure of the patient and every other important parameter is stable…, proceeding to check brain activity].

[Ding!! The patient’s brain is stable, and mental status is normal. System checkup complete: Verdict- Subject is due to be discharged, and will regain strength in 24 hours’ time].

After these series of notifications, the surgeon finally relaxed, as the A. I carefully moved the patient into the already prepared nutrition cabin.

“Did you see the technique I just used? That’s the way to stabilize an exhausted patient’s brain. Go and continue your practice, I’ll check up on all of you later to see how far you progressed”. He said to his apprentices, as they all went out of the operating theater.

The apprentices nodded excitedly, as they all went back to their rooms to practice. It was rare for their mentor to work in conjunction with the hospital’s A.I, but every time he did it, it was phenomenal.

As they rushed to their various rooms, the head surgeon finally received the expected call from the head of the entertainment industry.

“His condition has already stabilized. With the help of A-24, the surgery was without hiccups”. After some small talk, he finally gave his medical verdict to the manager.

The manager nodded with a satisfied expression on his face, as he finally ended the call. He could now finally go on with the preparation of the rewards, for the winning gladiators.

…

After 2 days of staying in the hospital, Clark was finally discharged. He came back to meet his excited teammates, as they all used their various means to welcome him.

“It’s good that you didn’t die, I am the only one allowed to defeat you. And if it even calls for it, kill you”. Arthur said with a stern face, as he stared directly at Clark.

Everyone ignored him, as Mark also finally came forward to welcome his vice-captain. He bumped him on the shoulders, as his face bloomed into a smile. “Welcome back, bro”.

Aurora only waved at him, while muttering a welcome back to indicate that she didn’t ignore him.

After all these welcome greetings, Emily finally ran forward into his hands, as tears flowed freely from her eyes. She felt embarrassed, she knew it was not right, but she ignored all the strange looks as she vented her heart on his chest.

Clark gently comforted her by rubbing her back, as the 5 teammates finally turned to enter their apartment.

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