“Get ready folks, because the last and most memorable event of this ceremony is about to begin,” the mc of the ceremony said with a grin. “Please, I want you to give a wave of applause as I invite to the stage a man of authority, his excellency, General Maks Vincent, the leader of Southern Sparta, as he comes on stage to present the gifts to the exceptional soldiers of this batch”. The applause was deafening as everybody rose up, including Clark to welcome their leader. The General smiled and waved at the audience as he stood up, walking straight to the podium. After taking the voice amplifier, he cleared his throat and adjusted his expensive looking red suit before turning to face the audience. “Good afternoon my fellow Spartans,” he greeted with a slight smile on his face. From his deep and authoritative voice alone, you will know that he is a man of power. All the noise around the hall quietened down immediately after he spoke, as everyone gave full attention to hear what he was about to say. “It’s been a long day, and I am excited as much as you are to witness the last and most exciting event of the day. I am very excited and proud to present the gifts to the exceptional soldiers of this generation of soldiers”. “They’ve made us and the nation as a whole proud, as there are some soldiers among them who broke our existing records”. “Thank God,” Clark thought, relieved as the General didn’t waste time on baseless talks like the master of ceremony. He didn't beat around the bush; he directly began the gifts presentation. Following the normal format, the General awarded the soldiers from the least to the best. An honorary medal was provided to every soldier as his/her reward for successfully graduating to become a soldier. One thing that the Spartan republic was known for not hesitating or even contemplating on, was giving awards to their exceptional soldiers. Don’t underestimate the value of the medals that the soldiers just received. Even though they can’t be sold, soldiers are already significantly better treated and paid than people of other occupations. Having a graduation medal is akin to having a scepter of authority and nobility, as normal citizens always respect and adore soldiers. The awards presentation continued for about 10 minutes, before Clark’s cadet training base was finally called out to receive their awards. After presenting awards to the training bases which took 2nd and 3rd positions respectively, they were finally called to the podium. “Captain Spoky, lead your soldiers to the podium so that they can be presented with their award”. The General announced, as Captain Spoky quickly acknowledged the command. He led all his soldiers, as they walked to the stage under the generous smile of the General. “This is the 1st time in 15 years, that this military training base has produced better soldiers than our best training base. I’m really impressed, it shows there's still competition in the training bases”. The General praised, as the group of soldiers finally climbed the podium. “For the achievement of becoming the best group of soldiers in this ceremony, I’ll first provide you all with 100,000 Spartan credits each. 200,000 credits will be provided to your captain, who trained you to become what you are today”. “The government also provided 100,000 credits to each of the sergeants who acted as mentors to you, guiding you when you are in doubt”. “All these monetary gains are just the primary award of excellence. They are sub-standard, compared to the greatest gift of all, the medal of excellence”. “All of you will be presented with the medal of excellence, which is a great honor and of great benefit to you as soldiers”. After presenting the first awards, the General took a deep breath to calm his emotions, before he continued. “Till now, I am still astonished by the fact that this training base broke the overall record of the Southern Spartan army. The last record was created by the best training base in South Sparta here, at 207 survivors”. “But this group of soldiers defied all odds, as they directly broke the record by 5 extra survivors, making it a total of 212 survivors. It’s simply outstanding, if not unbelievable”. “They are only 3 survivors behind breaking the national record, held by the best training base of the Spartan republic in Northern Sparta”. The audience exploded with a wild wave of applause, as all the soldiers on stage revealed fulfilled expressions. “Our hard work paid off”. This was the only thought occupying their brain, as their smile bloomed wider. The General suddenly turned his attention again to focus on Captain Spoky. “Congratulations, Captain Spoky. Due to the incredible achievements of the soldiers under you, you are no longer a Captain. You are directly receiving a promotion as your reward; you are now a lieutenant of the Spartan military”. Captain Spoky, now Lieutenant went wild with joy as he smiled at the crowd while repeatedly thanking the General. He was completely dumbfounded with joy; it was a completely unexpected promotion. His face grew red from excitement, as they gleamed under the light illumination like something that just received a hard slap. Yes, he received a slap to his face. But he did not hate it, rather he loved it because it was a slap of upliftment. It was a huge cause of celebration to him, as only high-grade soldiers with their 4th breakthrough are eligible to become lieutenants. The audience decorated the award presentations beautifully with their relentless applause, after every announcement. General Vincent finally returned his attention to the newly graduated soldiers. “As for this group of exceptional soldiers who broke our record, you will all be given an additional 200,000 Spartan credits. And you will all be given the Sparta medal of honor also”. “The Sparta medal signifies the hard work you all put in, for the last 3 years. You will be recognized anywhere in the republic as the best of the best soldiers, with this medal”. After the presentations, the General called them to come closer as they were all captured in a picture with him.Clark at this moment, felt on top of the world. Him entering a picture with the leader of the whole of Southern Sparta seemed like a fantasy some few years ago. Not only that, he is a General, a soldier with the 4th breakthrough under his belt. "Man, this is privilege of the highest grade,” being excited alone was undermining his current emotions. He was ecstatic, he felt like he was in heaven. After allowing them to enjoy the feeling of honor, the General finally continued. “Citizens of Sparta, be relaxed and enjoy yourselves as we’ll quickly start the individual award presentation. This time again, I am very proud to call out 4 exceptional soldiers who broke our existing individual record”. “Sergeant Clark, Sergeant Anderson, Sergeant Andy, and Sergeant Leo,” the audience clapped with vigor, as the 4 soldiers whose names were called climbed up into the podium again. “This batch of soldiers are really exceptional. These 4 soldiers directly bulldozed and broke our existing individual record. This generation is really fearsome, I'm intimidated". The General said with a wide smile on his face. “Congratulations to the 4 of you, you really made me proud. The 4 of you will each receive 300,000 Spartan credits, with the medal of bravery and courage”. “Anderson scored a total of 310 points, Leo scored a total of 330 points, Andy scored a total of 320 points. Clark is the best of them all but I’ll keep his points announcement for later”. The General ordered the other 3 soldiers, now Sergeants to go, leaving only Clark behind. He finally turned to smile at him, “Sergeant Clark, well, what can I say. Through ought my whole career as a soldier, you are by far the greatest graduating soldier that I’ve ever met”. “My fellow citizens of Sparta, as I said, Clark is the best soldier of this batch of graduates”. “Clark, you will be presented with another 300,000 Spartan credits as well as the medal of perfection. This is a new medal that was made by the military to reward you, as your achievement is a first of its kind”. The audience clapped wildly as Clark smiled while waving at them. Hahaha, the General faced the audience as he suddenly laughed. "Do you think only these achievements will make him the greatest graduating soldier that I’ve ever met?” He asked this question in a joking tone, he grinned at the audience as he slowly said word for word. “Sergeant Clark achieved the unachievable in the history of the Spartan republic, he did the undoable in this graduation training”.