Stepping onto the arena floor in section 3 Icarus was immediately struck by the noise of the crowd.
Nearly 70 million people were in attendance and many millions more were watching the games being streamed live.
The deafening roar of the spectators was so loud it could actually cause physical injuries, hence the reason the isolation pods were invented.
They automatically protect the individual inside from any external noise, but there is a setting for if you want your sound to go out. Most left that setting on so they could shout for their gladiators, but then again some preferred not.
Finding his master among so many would be an exercise in futility and nothing more. That being the case he preferred to peek around at the competition and the arena setting.
The arena section which he was in was decorated like a dense pine forest with trees and rivers running rampant over the area. There was one large clearing where a dilapidated wooden fortress stood, but Icarus had a more devious plan than to stand atop the tower and scream challenges at anyone nearby.
One might be under the mistaken impression that a million people dumped into a 20-square-kilometer space would result in gladiators stacked on top of each other, but that's not actually the case.
If you do the math you would find that 1 million people can be evenly distributed in 2500 people per square kilometer blocks to fill the full space. 20 square kilometers on each of the four sides is a total of 400 square kilometers, 2500 people times 400 squares equals 1 million people. Additionally, each of those people would have about 400 square meters of space between them and another gladiator, or about 4300 feet which is nearly a mile.
That being said Icarus was one of the lucky ones who entered in a well-forested and hidden area. There were other blocks that were entirely made of desert terrain, there was no hiding there.
Absorbing the moment as best he could Icarus waited patiently for the Consul to begin the games.
Hovering above the 10 arena blocks was a gilded podium upon which sat the Consul of the local territory and his entourage. Comprised mainly of family friends and political allies, with the occasional influential Lanista family, the podium was a spectacle of opulence and political might.
Rising from his seat the Consul, a portly middle-aged man with deep black hair and wide-set eyes addressed the people and gladiators assembled beneath him.
"Citizens of Rome!" He began, his whiney nasal voice grating the ears of everyone who heard it. "We are assembled here for the anniversary games of our great territory. Founded on this day, April 24th just 200 years ago under the generosity of our Emperor Scipio Augustus Maximus the 57th.
No expense has been spared in the creating of these games for your delight, and we are anxious to witness the sacrifices made in the honor of our great Emperor, and the gods!
Glory to the gods, glory to the Emperor! Glory...TO ROME!!"
The crowd erupted into frenzied cheers of 'ROME! ROME! ROME!...' etc. Which was the typical response to these kinds of opening remarks. It wouldn't do to boo the consul after all.
Yet an even louder cheer began when the horn rang out signaling the beginning of the games. The bloodthirsty crowd was already in a frenzy, chomping at the bit to witness the first "Sacrifice" that would be made in the arena today.
Icarus, after hearing the horn, immediately sprang into action. Heading directly opposite the fortress he made his way to the edge of the map.
The fortress was positioned at the exact center of his arena block, in fact, each arena block had a similar fortress at its center.
For some blocks, this was a boon, such as the ocean block. But for others, it was a death trap and nothing more.
Traveling carefully through the woods Icarus was scanning his surroundings constantly to make sure he would be ready to respond to any threat.
And it was fortunate for him that he did.
Just as he was passing a particularly large tree a spear was suddenly thrust at his head from the brush on his left.
Reacting quickly Icarus bent his head backward and slightly to the left making the blade of the spear completely miss its intended target.
After dodging the strike Icarus grabbed the spear with his left hand and pulled.
It was possible that Icarus didn't know his strength as when he pulled the spear a man came with it.
So forceful was Icarus' pull that the man ended up being launched several feet, slamming face-first into the trunk of the large tree.
A sickening crunch was followed by silence as a pool of red began to spread from under the would-be assassin. Walking up to the presumed corpse Icarus stared at it for a moment, his facial expressions unreadable. But what he did next got mixed reactions from the crowd. Some praised him for being smart and ruthless, others called him a monster, but none of that mattered to him as he raised the man's spear and thrust it through his neck into the roots of the tree pinning him there.
There was no reaction from the corpse so Icarus assumed he had died from the initial impact with the tree, but after all the times he had suffered in the simulation, he learned one important lesson.
Never leave a body behind unless you are absolutely sure it's either dead...or dead. After all the only good enemy is one that can no longer stab you in the back.
Now Icarus had never considered himself bloodthirsty persay, but he was a big fan of giving what you got. The man had attacked him with the intent to kill, so Icarus felt no burden at all in doing the same.
Leaving the body behind Icarus continued his plan to head towards the edges of the arena block to be able to pick his battles.
Being at the edge of the arena carried a certain benefit, there were only so many directions someone could attack you from if your back was against the wall. This made it much easier to anticipate opponents and survive longer in the battle.
Also, there was the fact that the arena blocks would shrink every so often, forcing participants closer together. They didn't use to do that but after several gladiators survived by simply hiding away the rules were changed to force everyone to fight eventually.
Icarus had no intention of hiding he just wanted to limit the dangers as much as he could to give himself the best chance.
Continuing on his way he stopped after a few minutes went by as he heard the sound of fighting off to his right.
Carefully approaching to get a good look at what was going on he was startled to see someone he knew, but not in a good way.
There before him in a small clearing were three men duking it out. Two of them were obviously working together in an attempt to eliminate the other, but to their chagrin, the third man was quite adept at defending himself.
Icarus knew the two men from when he was searching for contracts. He had gone to a relatively new Lanista family, the Lutatius family, who had only been in the gladiator business for two generations. Which is extremely short for the Lanista business.
Icarus figured that since the family was new and had produced no champion-level gladiators that they would be happy to give him a chance.
Boy was he wrong.
They immediately had him fight one of their professional gladiators in an exhibition match to "determine his potential" needless to say he was beaten within an inch of his life before being tossed out like yesterday's garbage.
It was in this extremely vulnerable state in which Gaius Lupas found him before bringing him back to the Lupas ludas for training and rehabilitation.
Since that day Icarus had a burning desire to find the man who beat him and make him pay. And now he had the chance.
Strutting into the clearing Icarus shouted. "Hey! You bald-headed no nut limp dick jerk wad!"
The three men stopped fighting instantly, one amused, one dumbfounded, and the other enraged. So sudden and unexpected was this interruption that none of the three, regardless of their emotions, really knew what to do at this point.
"Do you remember me!?" At this the enraged bald man recognized who was before him.
"You?!" He said incredulously, rage and disbelief fighting neck and neck for dominance over his mental state.
"Me." Came the swift and smug reply from Icarus setting the mans blood on fire with anger.
"Your that skinny brat who thought he could be a gladiator, what poor shmuck did you get to enter you in the games?"
The blatant disdain coloring the man's voice was impossible to ignore, the 30-something bald man with an overly trimmed mustache was clearly trying to get under Icarus' skin, the problem he was having was Icarus seemed entirely unfazed by it.
"Don't you worry about who took me in cue-ball," Icarus said, smirking at the twist it caused in the face of the object of his vengeance. "I am here now, and you and that arrogant little twat you call dominus will learn just how wrong you were to send me away."
Upon hearing this the young man who had been fighting earlier burst into laughter.
"I don't know who you are but that was spot on!" He cried gripping his sides in an attempt to control himself. "Listen man, if you wanna take on the 'limp dick' as you put it, go ahead. I'll take on little sidekick here to keep him outa your way deal?"
The second man certainly didn't appreciate being called a sidekick but when no one seemed to be paying attention to him he was left to stew in an impotent rage.
"Deal." Was all Icarus said and that was all that needed said. For no sooner had the word left his mouth than the young man instantly quit laughing and attacked the sidekick drawing him well away from Icarus and his target.
Leveling his spear and pointing it at the man before him Icarus made a come at me gesture with his left hand.
Bristling with anger the man cried, "Boy! You have no idea who you're messing with! But if you're that eager to die tell the reaper I said hello!"
A sly grin spread across his face as Icarus merely stared at the man saying, "Round one...FIGHT!!"