Icarus waited impatiently for his match to begin. It took about 30ish minutes for the 50 and 51 seed to complete their bought with 51 coming out on top.
'Finally!' Icarus shouted internally as he was once more led to the arena floor.
The arena was the same idyllic plain from his last match, the opponent stood ready just 5 meters away. Seed number 48 was a 35-year-old man with a receding hairline and a big beer belly. He was clothed in a barbarian style armor with a large leather belt covering his midsection while leaving his chest bare. He wielded an enormous hammer which he swung with both hands to deliver devastating force. Icarus knew from the beginning that he couldn't take a hit from that or it would be all over.
Settling into his own ready stance Icarus awaited the signal to begin. He was cautious but prepared, this wouldn't be the first time he faced a similar opponent. Every day the virtual sim, as well as the sparring bot would be wielding different weapons and combat styles.
None of them were ever the same two days in a row for which Icarus was both annoyed and thankful. It prepared him to engage with all kinds of opponents instead of preparing him to face off against only one.
This kind of varied experience normally came with great risk, but being able to simulate real battles without coming to harm was now bearing great fruit.
The horn rang long and loud signaling the beginning of the match. 'Hammer time' launched himself forward swinging his hammer up and over his head to bring down a devastating overhead strike, aiming to crush Icarus into meat paste.
Icarus kicked the ground with his left foot shooting himself directly to the right attempting to dodge the blow, but something happened that Icarus was not expecting.
'Hammer time' somehow forced his hammer to change directions mid-swing. This was no easy feat considering that the hammer most likely weighed 100kgs or more.
Icarus's brows raised as he watched the hammerhead rush towards him, but quickly using his right foot to kick the ground once more he was able to spin his body around and dodge the blow, while simultaneously whipping his left leg around in a high kick and striking 'Hammer time' on the side of the head.
'WHOOM!'
The sound of the kick landing was solid and loud. A brief explosion of air caused by the kick made the tall grass surrounding the fight sway violently as if pushed around by a storm.
'Hammer time' took the blow surprisingly well, planting his feet into the ground and maintaining his upright stance as his feet dug 2-and-a-half meter-long trenches in the ground.
'Hammer time' didn't show a whole lot of reaction to the blow aside from cracking his neck a couple of times and rolling his shoulders. Locking eyes with Icarus 'Hammer time' smiled sadistically and said. "Thanks for getting that kink out of my neck, been bothering me for weeks."
A low chuckle began to echo from the man as he took slow deliberate steps toward Icarus. "To show my appreciation," He paused as he licked his lips, the grin on his face growing slightly perverted. "I'm gonna let you taste both my hammers!"
The man launched himself once more towards Icarus following almost the exact same pattern as before just much faster. Icarus was now truly regretting not killing this man with the first blow.
'I thought if I showcased a little bit more of my skill this time perhaps my next seed would be better but now...' Icarus shuddered as he looked at the vile expression on 'Hammer time's' face. '...not worth it.'
Icarus stood ready as 'Hammer time' came barreling towards him. Having learned his lesson Icarus simply waited instead of dodging.
The grin on 'Hammer times' face grew triumphant thinking that Icarus was scared stiff and unable to dodge his next attack. He was doomed to be disappointed however as Icarus had a surprise for him.
Focusing on the hammer coming towards him Icarus remembered something significant about heavy hammers. They were unwieldy and often one-dimensional. Their weight and lack of balance makes it extremely difficult to vary one's attacks after they have begun.
The fact that 'Hammer time' was able to do so even once was a testament to his great strength and considerable skill. However, that doesn't change the fact that an overhead blow, like the one currently on its way, has another fatal flaw.
Icarus waited patiently for the hammer to begin its descent, once it did Icarus's eyes flashed as he instantly swung his spear.
The head of the spear smashed into the side of the hammer forcing it off course, the momentum of the sudden shift dragging 'Hammer time' along with it and off balance.
Unable to dodge 'Hammer time' watched in despair as the spear shrunk back and struck forth again like a viper, the two attacks following one another in fractions of a second.
The spear pierced 'Hammer time's' neck at the clavicle exiting out the back and severing the spine. Releasing his grip on the spear Icarus allowed the freshly made corpse to fall past him where it fell hard on the spear causing it to further pierce through the body and almost pop out completely.
Icarus walked calmly over to his blood-soaked spear and withdrew it from his former opponent. Flashing a purposeful look towards the judges before he exited the arena.
The judges laughed it off mostly, there were always hotheads who thought they deserved better seeds, but their judgments considered more than fighting skill.
If that was the soul basis of their evaluations then sure Icarus would have a much better spot, but they also had to consider the fact that Icarus had come from a Ludas who hadn't had any significant success in the past nearly 200 years, and the only reason they knew that was because they had to look it up when Icarus made it to the top 100. Before that point, none of the current judges or even the Consul had even heard of the Lupus Ludas.
Icarus didn't know it but it was a very good thing that the Consul was from a very distant branch family that belonged to the lower rungs of the aristocracy.
Had the Consul been more tightly connected to the inner circles of the ruling class he might have had a heart attack at the mere mention of the Lupus name.
At the end of the day the judges gave the best seeds to the most well known lanista families assuming their gladiators made the cut. Which more often than not they did by virtue of their better training and access to equipment.
Was it fair? No, was anyone going to do anything about it? No. Such is the grind from the bottom to the top, and this would not be the last time Icarus or his master would be underestimated.
The fights continued on for the next several hours with only 7 of the matches ending in fatalities. Killing at this point was allowed but much less frequent, the skill level of the gladiators was supposed to be even enough to give everyone a chance to concede before the fatal blow is struck.
Icarus' matches were so fatal because he so far outclassed his opponents in skill and strength. Even a maxed-out C-grade would have at most 5.0 in their attributes, and if they had more it would be because they had gone to rank 2 and broken their first gene lock.
The truth about being able to break the gene lock and stay in rank 1 was a closely guarded secret of the most influential gladiator families, no more than 10 of them even knew it was possible. They only applied this method to those who had A-grade potential or better as their genes were far stronger and more flexible, enabling them to have an easier time resisting the move to rank 2.
The body wants to advance so when the gladiator flame is burning vitality to break gene locks it is also trying to advance to the next rank. Only the truly gifted, or truly lucky, would be able to maintain their rank one status by forcing their flame to burn off slightly more vitality than necessary, a single mistake in the amount of vitality used up could be catastrophic. But fortunately for Icarus he was lucky and everything worked out.
The games went on and on with some dark horses emerging victorious over heavy favorites. Large sums of money were won and lost at the betting tables over who would come out on top.
Finally, after 7 long hours of grueling fights the round was over, now down to the top 26 gladiators in the local region each and every one of the gladiators on stage would find themselves and their ludas elevated to new heights of fame and prosperity.
And it was at this point that something strange happened.
After the Consul got done giving another one of his mind-numbing speeches there were 16 hands in the air giving the sign of surrender.
The crowd gasped while the Consul struggled to form a coherent sentence and address the predicament before him.
"What are you all doing?" He managed to finally squeak out after a whole lot of effort and sweat.
A man in his late 30's by appearance stepped forward to speak for the group. His rich tenor voice echoed throughout the entire station via the floating mic platform that had drawn near to him.
"We 16 are withdrawing from the games on account that we wish not to die just yet." The Consul as well as the crowd were stunned silent until an angry roar erupted from both.
'Cowards!!!' the arena rang with such cries as the patrons grew furious, the Consul as well was just as upset taking their words to mean they were unwilling to sacrifice their all for the glory of Rome as he so eloquently put it not too long before.
"Are you trying to rebel!" Came the harsh cry from the Consul, the accusation causing the gladiators to turn pale.
"Not at all, your grace! We have fought and bled for the glory of Rome and wish now only to survive another day to fight for her glory again. These remaining 10 you see before you are true monsters of the arena, and will bring Rome and the gods far more pleasure than our inadequate performances would bring."
The Consul mused silently for a moment pondering the best course of action. It was true enough that the remaining 10 were truly on another level, and were responsible for almost all of the fatalities since the beginning of the elimination rounds.
Desiring to boost his public opinion a little, and get in good with the ludas these men belonged to, the Consul decided to let them leave while still giving them 90% of the purse they had won.
The 10% deduction was taken as a 'Mercy fee' which was utter bull crap but again there was not much they could do.
Icarus stood incredulous as it finally dawned on him. "...just like that i'm in the top 10?" his confusion didn't last long as it was quickly replaced by rage when he looked at his seed.
'...10'
'...FRAAAAK!!'