Icarus and Achilles were both a big focus for the patrons of the arena on this particular day.
The ruthless efficiency with which they killed was a spectacle to behold, and the crowd was going wild demanding more and more from both of them.
They of course couldn't make out any individual voice, the soundproofing of the arena floor was impeccable. All they could really hear was a dull roar which let them know that the crowd was interested.
The last thing anyone wanted to do as a gladiator was be considered boring. If you were boring the arena officials wouldn't invite you back even if your Ludas had a spot available. They would simply inform the Lanista that his choice of gladiator was unsuited to the game being presented and that another candidate needed to be selected.
This, accompanied by the real-life possibility of contract termination, incentivized the gladiators to give it their all.
Quicker than you might think the first round was over, with Icarus scoring more than 37 kills and 14 non-lethal victories. His bounty had significantly risen to more than 700 denarii. Some of the men he killed and defeated were worth more than 10 coins each.
Heading back into the waiting area for the arena to be reset and the rest period Icarus took some time to send a system message to Priscus, just letting him know that he was attacked by a member of the Aurelius clan, and that it would behoove him to study his family history.
Nothing was said about the threats that were made, or how frightened Achilles seemed. Icarus figured that the truth would come out eventually, and with the abilities of his master being what they were, there would still be time to act when it did.
Priscus, upon reading the message, was surprised on a number of accounts. First of which was 'Why the frack is a member of the Aurelius clan fighting here?' Second was, 'Why would my family history be in any way important to a family like the Aurelius'?' And thirdly, 'Just how am I supposed to go about discreetly digging up information that may or may not possibly lead me, and Icarus, into some deep deep shite?'
'System?' He queried. 'Would you know how to discreetly and secretly dig up some information on my family history? I just got some information from Icarus that finding out more about my bloodline might be vital to our future survival.'
*Acknowledged, Would the host like me to upload a piece of myself to the system mainframe to bypass security protocols and retrieve the information?*
'You can do that?!' His incredulity could be excused. The system mainframe was the most secured place in the empire aside from the emperor's palace. To even get near the building you would have to be a member of the emperor's inner circle, not to mention the fact that the entire system was air-gapped making it impossible to remotely access.
*I can, the security of your empire's mainframe is 1000 generations behind my own. Bypassing an airgap is child's play for something like me. I could hack in, reprogram, and leave all without leaving a trace in under 24 hours. If i still had my main body I could do it in a picosecond, So please try to enjoy the rest of the games while I take care of things.*
'Okay...wait what do you mean main body!?'
*Question unrecognized, returning to the original query. Initiating hack please wait 24 hours for a response, thank you.*
'Don't you dare! Come back here and explain yourself!' But alas the system refused to speak anymore and went a step further by showing a pop-up screen with a countdown for 24 hours on it.
'You!...*sigh* nothin' for it I guess, just please try not to bring the empire crumbling down on top of us, okay?'
*Acknowledged.*
'...YOU!'
Meanwhile, as Priscus attempted to figure out how to strangle his system Icarus was once again led onto the field for round two.
The participants in this round were only 1 tenth of what they were before, but that meant the danger level had skyrocketed. Icarus' only goal was to avoid Achilles and rack up a few more victories to secure a big payday for him and his master. He just knew there were a lot more things Priscus could do, but he lacked the funds to do them. And while the large payout from the lawsuit would go a long way in helping, it still felt less satisfying than winning the money in the games.
That being said finding prey in round two was significantly easier because of the vastly reduced size of the arena block.
In round one the block was a 20by20 square kilometer, in round two it was only a 5by5 square kilometer. Which was only 25 square kilometers of total space which meant there was a gladiator every 538 feet, which is only about 1 and a half football fields away.
Gladiators, with their heightened senses, had no trouble at all tracking those close to them. Meaning the bloodbath began almost instantly after the horn blast sounded once again to begin the round.
There was a point where Icarus found himself surrounded by 7 gladiators all claiming to be friends with Darl and his crew. Feeling sorry for separating them Icarus sent the men on their way to join their dearly departed friend. It was the least he could do to reunite friends who loved each other so much they would willingly throw themselves at the end of his spear.
Aside from that small group battle the rest of Icarus' fights were pretty underwhelming. Facing single opponents was simply no challenge for him as 95% of these guys didn't have potential higher than D grade, which is why they had been stuck at rank 1 for so many years.
The biggest reason so many of them were participating was the promised A-grade special gene serum set aside for the winner. It was supposedly the only drug manufactured by the empire that could increase one's potential and allow them to break through.
The empire had long developed a system to measure and codify the potential of gladiators. This was done by measuring the activity levels of the body's genes and cells before being activated by the gladiator flame.
The more active the cells are before being ignited, the higher the potential of the individual.
What the serum does is stimulate the body's cells and genes into this active state, pseudo simulating a high-grade potential. And with the body in this state, the individual is subjected to extremely harsh training conditions in an attempt to force the pseudopotential to radically change the body to endure and adapt. If successful it's not unheard of for D and even E grade potentials to make significant gains, and even progress to rank 2. The problem is that most people die from the rapid burning of their vitality.
The serum doesn't increase the vitality they have, it only provokes it into a wildly active state, burning through it quite quickly if the body is unable to adapt and make significant growth.
Once the serum's effect wears off, it's the vitality's job to rejuvenate and repair the body from all the damage done, if not enough vitality is left over the subject withers and dies within minutes. Another unfortunate side effect of the serum is the body's inability to take any more gene serums or supplements for approximately 48 hours after ingestion, which makes the failures all the more tragic as there is literally nothing to be done for them.
Still despite the risks, these rank 1 gladiators who have been stuck for decades would do almost anything to get it. And that is why they are here.
Icarus had no need of such a serum, with his master's ability to improve his potential without fail and without consequence, at least for him, his eyes were set on an entirely different prize.
Should he be able to come out on top and win the games he would be granted the title 'Champion of Gaul 334' This title, along with being his first step on the path to glory, would also carry significant benefits for him and his master.
It would guarantee a spot for him in the next games, the nature of the game in which he would participate would be for him to choose, whereas the slot Priscus had secured for these games was a guaranteed slot which could not be changed.
Free slots could be used to selectively pick those games in which a gladiator excelled, drastically increasing their chances of pulling out another victory. Low-level ones, like the one that got him here today, were mostly death matches and were undesirable but lucrative if one survives.
Additionally, the title of champion would make it so that the Lupus Ludas would be known within the sector as a planetary champion producer. This would significantly increase the number of applicants to the ludas, and would possibly also yield some slight political power. Making it easier for Priscus to fight off those who continued to seek his family's downfall.
It was one thing to suppress and poach from an unknown ludas, even if it was still illegal, it was quite another thing to do so against a well-known champion producing Ludas. So at least in Gaul 334, if Icarus could become champion, things would surely get better...right?
There were some other minor benefits like larger families looking to buy out the contract, not that Icarus would go anywhere, as well as sponsorships and endorsements from equipment manufacturers who would want a new champion to be decked out in their gear for promotional purposes.
But all those things paled in comparison to the 10Million denarii champions purse. Icarus had seen and felt the wonders his master could do with only 220,000denarii. He couldn't even begin to comprehend the kind of wonders his master could do with nearly 50 times that amount.
After daydreaming for a moment Icarus refocused himself on his task. Continuing to seek and destroy any gladiator that caught his senses, he was like a bloodhound with an axe to grind, and by the end of the second round had garnered a reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty.
His training had focused on the Spear Sovereign combat techniques, which was an A-grade fighting style. What was different was that it didn't exclusively attack or defend with the spear, but instead tried to unite body and spear together as one. Meaning Icarus could pierce through the body of his opponents with his hand or foot just as well as the spear he carried.
On top of that was the vicious nature of the AI training which punished any amount of mercy shown to the opponent with ruthless efficiency. Icarus didn't care if his tactics were dirty, or flashy, no. What he cared about was did they work, and the pile of bodies before him spoke to the unfiltered truth.
They did.
The 37 kills from the first round were joined by 67 more making a total of 104 dead gladiators, all by Icarus' hand. Yet before he could make it 105 the horn blasted out once again.
Pausing just millimeters away from piercing the chest of his newest victim Icarus slowly withdrew his spear and stood uprightly.
Heaving a sigh as he walked away all he could think to himself was. 'On...to the next round.'