“Thank you, Clark..., thank you for letting me witness such an achievement in my lifetime". General Vincent said in an emotional tone, as his smile grew wider. "Citizens of Sparta, Sergeant Clark broke the national individual award of excellence". "He shocked me and the whole Spartan military as he achieved perfection in his graduation training, he scored a whopping 360 points out of the 360 allocated as the milestone". "What astonished me most was that he scored more than the allocated 360 points, but there was no place to further increase his points tally. What a genius”. General Vincent spoke with so much emotion, from his tone you could even visibly see the faint ripples of being proud overflowing. “When Arthur, the prodigy from North Sparta broke the record, setting it at 340 points, the whole country was shocked. Arthur is now a great and major pillar of the Spartan military; he is now one of the few soldiers who already had their 5th breakthrough". "But I, General Maks Vincent, I believe that Clark can do better. This boy is simply out of this world, he is more than a prodigy, he is more of an alien”. After saying all these fine and nice constructive words of praise, he grinned again at the audience as he suddenly snapped his fingers. Following his actions, all the lights in the huge hall darkened as a single big projection lit up, facing the audience. It was just like the ballon dor award given to footballers centuries ago, as projections of Clark’s battle started being shown. Clark was surprised at this scene, but he was not too astonished as a lot of things were now possible due to the increase in technology. Though technology has increased enormously since the last few decades, it was not easy to get such footage without alerting the Persian tigers' organization. The Spartan military was only able to hack in and get this because the bases that the cadets attacked were the lowest grades. It would not be as easy to get footage from the area where a high-grade Persian tiger base is located. Clark didn’t even know that his fights were recorded. He smiled involuntarily, as footages from when he fought the black panther were shown. It was a nice feeling when he got to watch his badass self with an audience.Footages from when he fought the Ape exobeast and the Night Rakshasha were also shown. The whole hall was eerily silent as footage of when he assaulted the terrorist base was finally shown. Gasps escaped from the audience, as the scene of his fierce battle with the terrorist commander was shown. Cheers erupted from every part of the hall when he fended off the commander’s attacks. When they saw him kill some of the commander's subordinates while still fighting him, and at the same time conveniently stealing his exotic sword, their applause changed to fanatism and worship. Anybody that can cause some losses to the Persian tigers' organization was welcome by the citizens of Sparta. The terrorist organization has done a good job in spreading their evil reputation, that any soldier that wins against any of their bases would gain automatic fame. Even if he would not be known by every citizen of the Spartan republic because of this, it was inevitable that he would gain some fame from this. Kpa! Kpa! Kpa! Kpa! A loud and thunderous sound of applause followed, immediately after the footage finally ended.The lights went back on, illuminating the hall as the audience cheered and clapped wildly without any sense of fatigue. Clark couldn’t help it, he smiled also, suddenly feeling the urge to cry. This is the feeling that he always felt in his dreams when the whole world appreciated him. His dreams were still his best world Afterall. “It’s Ok my fellow Spartans,” the General finally intervened, after more than 2 minutes of relentless cheering and clapping from the audience. “I know, I understand how you all feel. If not because of time restraints, I would’ve approved celebrating this genius till the next day, even for the rest of the week, but you know it’s not possible". "Clark is simply a legend to all up and coming soldiers. I know he is already a role model to the thousands of other cadets and soldiers, who are watching this ceremony from their home or are here physically”. After saying all these, he finally turned back to face Clark. “Sergeant Clark, I won’t keep you waiting forever. I will now present your awards to you,” he said with a benevolent smile on his face. Today, his relentless series of smiles alone was enough to make him 10 years younger. That was just the power of happiness, it’s a priceless gift to have. “Clark, the Spartan government provided an exotic car worth 10,000,000 Spartan credits as a congratulation to you”. He didn't even get to finish before the crowd erupted in another wave of cheers and applause. Clark was completely dumbfounded, he just stared blankly. His brain was already short-circuiting, it took him a large amount of effort before he finally recovered his senses. Since the ceremony started, the General continued breaking his thought process and expectations. He was beyond happy, he could only stare back at him, a dumb look on his face. He was simply lost for words, a 10,000,000 credits car? He was sure that, his parents accumulated income for all their life was not even 10% of this car’s worth. The other graduating soldiers felt it more. "A 10,000,000 credits car? What the…,” a lot of them started feeling deep admiration and respect from their hearts. There were naturally those who felt deeply envious. General Vincent did not let them continue with their thought processes, as he continued.“The exotic car has an inbuilt stealth system and other high-grade technologies of the Spartan military. It is one of the best machines, that the country can create with its technology at the moment”. “Clark, this is a sign from the Spartan military that we have faith in you. Work hard, and you will surely become the next pillar of the Spartan military”. He said with a genuine smile planted on his face. Clark felt a lot of emotions run through him. He felt very happy, he felt fulfilled and accomplished. He also felt lucky and proud of himself, and most especially his desire to serve and be loyal to the Spartan republic just shot up by over a thousand points. He took a deep breath before he finally went closer and spoke into the voice amplifier placed at his front. “Thank you, sir. I…, I don’t really know what to say. I’m deeply flattered by the government’s generosity and trust in me". "I promise to always serve the Sparta republic from the bottom of my heart, that’s the least I can say and do to repay this favor”. His voice was completely solemn, as he made this personal oath. “Clark, no need for all the complications. I, General Vincent, I personally know that your heart belongs to the Sparta republic". "But please don’t get complacent, continue to be hardworking and surpass our expectations. I can’t wait to hear the continuation of your legendary story”. “The government also provided you with the golden Sparta medal. The golden Sparta medal is a medal that shows your status as an upcoming legend of the Sparta republic. It will help smoothen your road as a soldier considerably, make good use of it”. The General finally took a photo with him, before leaving the stage for him. A lot of other high-grade soldiers quickly came forward to the podium to take photos with him. He also took a photo with Captain Spoky. “Clark, you’ve come a long way since the day I first met you. I’m really proud of you”. Captain Spoky said emotionally, with the I raised you well signature look on his face. “Continue breaking limits as you walk forward in your career as a soldier. Like General Vincent said, I also can't wait to hear the continuation of your legendary story. Don't disappoint my expectations”. The ceremony finally ended; Clark didn’t get a stealth exotic armor like planned. But the alternative that he got was so much better. The exotic car was a beast. Surprisingly, 3 of his childhood friends also graduated as soldiers. Angela, Harry, and Mike came together to congratulate him, while also asking for a photo with him. He talked with them a bit about home, as they haven’t talked for a long time after receiving their implants. After everything, they congratulated him and left shortly afterward. Finally, his bro, his only partner in crime came to meet him, as they smiled at each other. Leo stood opposite him with a grin, as they just simply smiled at each other for 10 seconds before wrapping themselves in a hug. “I’m really proud of you bro”, Leo said. He congratulated him sincerely from the bottom of his heart before they left together.