Sam and the others who had qualified for the greatest rewards were teleported to a small room with no windows. Now that the adrenaline from the end of the match was gone, Sam winced as all of his many injuries made themselves known. His cheek stung most of all, and he could feel the disconcerting sensation of air rushing in between the teeth on the left side of his mouth. That was almost worse than the burning pain that the wound created, but not quite. His multiple broken bones had faded to a dull ache by now, his Resilience getting to work on them. Sam looked around the room to see who else was in there with him. Everyone who had been a finalist was there, and there was a glowing pedestal at the front of the room.

“Starting in order from the lowest rank finalist to the highest, approach the pedestal and touch it. This will allow you to receive your rewards, and will also teleport you to a waiting room with the rest of those who took part in the true tournament. This is the time to create the bonds that will determine whether you are to live or die as the initialization process progresses.”

Harry King took a step forward and walked up to the pedestal, before placing his hands on it. There was a flash of bright light and he was gone. The rest of the finalists made their way up one by one, all vanishing as soon as they laid hands on the pedestal. Soon, there were only the semifinalists left, and the pedestal grew in size, to reflect their status. Andrew Munro jerkily walked up, seeming to have gotten his insanity under control for a bit. In reality this was because both the AI and the small spark of himself that remained within him both wanted the rewards. The AI to further its agenda, and Andrew in order to grow more powerful. Rodney flounced up to the front of the room after Andrew had finished, and he gave Sam one final glare before he claimed his reward. Then it was just Sam and the Overlord in the room.

“How did you beat me?” The man asked Sam.

“Sorry?”

“I can’t remember what happened near the end of that fight. What did you do to me? How did you overcome my power?”

Sam shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant even though his mind was aflame with questions and sorrow. That was not a matter that he wanted to get into in front of the System.

“I must have hit you hard enough to wipe your memories,” Sam explained, hoping that would be enough.

“Perhaps. In any case, enjoy your position when it lasts. I will be coming for you in the future, and the position of the strongest will be mine again.”

Before Sam could say a word, the Overlord walked over to the pedestal and touched it. Sighing, Sam made his way there to claim his own rewards. As soon as he laid hands on the pedestal, he was transported to a room with three items in it. There was a scintillating rainbow colored disk that Sam immediately recognized as the Faction Creation token. It wasn't that hard to be honest, seeing as the other two objects were markedly different. A robot stood next to the token, with extremely well defined muscles made out of golden metal, and a neat looking combat outfit that looked like a martial arts gi. Next to that was a small ring with a button on it. Sam pocketed the faction token first and then moved to the ring. A small note was written next to it.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

When you are ready to undertake your training, press the button.

That was all that was there, and Sam slid the ring on, shrugging. As he took in the robot, he remembered the promise that he had made to Sarge.

“Uh, System? Are you there?”

“Why do you call upon me, Sam Atlas?”

“I wish for the personality and consciousness of my training robot in my room to be transferred to this one,” Sam said eagerly.

“That is a most unorthodox request, but one that I can easily grant. Fine. You will have what you asked for.”

The robot’s eyes snapped open, and it looked at Sam.

“Sarge? Is that you?” The robot stared at him blankly, and then a tear ran down its face.

“I… I feel so different now. It’s like a whole new world of sensations has been opened up to me. What is this liquid that is dripping from my eyes? Also, what is this strange appendage between my legs?”

Sam choked.

“Huh? You have an um… little friend of your own?”

“Wait a second. The Interweb has just informed me that this is called a pen-”

“Whoa there! Way too much information, buddy.”

“Ahem! If you are both done with your sophomoric antics, it is time for you to leave.”

The two of them were transported into a much larger room, one filled with people. They had already been divided into three main groups, with a few people wandering around the edges. As soon as they spotted Sam, everyone started staring at him, and one of the groups made their way towards him. It was by far the largest of the groups, with almost half of everyone present in it. Lao and Eduardo headed it, and as soon as they saw Sam, their faces lit up.

“You actually did it!” Eduardo said, his voice filled with joy. “You won.”

Lao smiled at Sam, but he was a bit more restrained.

“And who is this, um, fine fellow?” Lao asked, looking at Sarge.

“Remember my old training robot? Well, I had his consciousness implanted into my reward for winning, the F Rank training robot. It was what he wanted, and he had helped me out so much, so it seemed like the right thing to do.”

“He?” Eduardo asked. “I thought that Sarge was a robot.”

“Well, it's not really…”

“Sam told me that I have a little friend between my legs,” Sarge added, causing everyone within earshot to start laughing. Sam went red, and he scowled at the robot, who did not seem to understand why Sam was so annoyed.

“Anyway, enough of that. You all started gathering before I got here. What plans have you come up with?” Sam said, trying to turn the conversation to something less embarrassing.

Lao cleared his throat and looked at Eduardo, who nodded.

“We don’t really know how factions work, but we have come up with a basic idea of what we should do. We need somewhere safe and secure to use as our base, and as somewhere to expand outward from there. Have you looked into what the benefits of a faction are?” Sam shook his head and pulled out the token from his pocket, and analyzed it.

Faction Creation Token

Untiered Item

Using this token, one can initialize the creation of a faction. A Faction token must be used in a specific area, which will then become the headquarters of the faction. The size of that area depends on the strength of the token’s user. The more advanced details can be found after the creation process is finished.

Sam read out the instructions to the others, and Eduardo nodded.

“That sounds like what we had already envisioned. Do you have a good idea of where to place it?”

“I do, but I’m not sure how to get there if we aren't transported back to it after this.”

The others nodded, and Sam sat down on the ground to wait for whatever was to come next.