“Compared to that normal fellow beside you, the difference between both of your aptitudes is equivalent to the difference between a firefly and the moon. I’d be praising you excessively if I said that you were average,” answered the voice scornfully. “If you had not recognized my noble self by a lucky coincidence, I’d assume that you would be forced to spend your entire life gathering scrap metals.”
The expression on the youth’s face collapsed in defeat immediately as the other person’s words had instantly made him feel uncertain and hopeless about his future.
“Don’t worry, as long as your humble self listens to your Master’s instructions and does as your great Master commands, you will definitely surpass your wildest dreams in the future. That’s right, what is your name?”
“Clint… Clint Beza…” answered the youth feebly.
“Alright, Clint whatever, I need you to do something now.”
“Do what?”
“Stick me on the body of the youth beside you temporarily. I need to probe him for a while. If this is successful, this guy can probably become one of your underlings,” said the voice in a straightforward manner. “At the present stage, your ignorant and useless self has made it impossible for me to use too much strength. Therefore, finding some trustworthy people to control as your subordinates is the first task that you must prepare.”
“Baylon is my friend, not my subordinate,” young Clint corrected the voice weakly. His life had begun to change slowly ever since he’d picked up the thing after he came over to his older sister’s place to experience the working life. He said meaningless things to restore his past glory and accepted the approval of others reluctantly. In the end, his life was immediately turned upside down.
“Garbage is basically garbage. You don’t even have the guts to assume the responsibility for someone else’s fate?”
Clint glanced at Lon beside him and saw the exact same desire and admiration in his eyes towards the Mechs.
“Moreover, even if I dared to undertake the responsibility, you would still require resources to modify yourself, right? Wouldn’t you need time as well?”
“Alright, the decision is yours. Stick me on the surface of that guy’s skin once you’ve finished thinking.” the voice fell to a lower tone immediately.
Although he did not know why the once tyrannical other party had suddenly become so good-natured, Clint could still sigh in momentary relief.
He shifted his gaze towards the television screen again where a Mech fight scene between students of higher grades was being shown on the screen currently.
“Master Red Moon…”
“What’s the matter? Speak now if you have something to say. I’m very busy!” said the voice impatiently.
“I… Could I achieve Lon’s older brother’s… Could I achieve the level of Lon’s older brother?” Clint lowered his head in uncertainty.
“His level? Your goals are too low, don’t you think?” the voice that was referred to as ‘Red Moon’ said scornfully. “Moreover, you really think that the guy called Nonosiva is amazing?”
“Umm… Isn’t he amazing? He could use Level 2 techniques despite his young age…”
“Hehe… Is it really like that?” Red Moon sneered. “Patterning actions like that meant that his Willpower… Enough, you wouldn’t understand even if I told you. You will know next time!”
“Oh…”
***************
The third match
Garen sat inside the Mech and inhaled deeply. Using his Willpower for long periods of time formed a faint ache around his temples. This was caused by his extreme lack of Willpower. Despite possessing the Moonfang’s additional abilities, extended durations of fighting would still increase the burden on his Willpower.
However, this was also a part of the competition. Fighting for extended periods of time would test the endurance of his Willpower.
On the opposite arena, a Black Mech stood facing him on the black alloy ground like a giant approaching enemy. It held a silver towering shield that covered half of its body in one hand. This whole towering shield resembled a mirror that could speedily reflect light beam type weapons or attacks. Moreover, it was made of a durable alloy that possessed even better defensive effects against Gaussian type live ammunition weapons.
“The competition has reached a standstill. London, the Elite from the Losers Bracket is currently up against the instant killer Nonosiva who has a record of consecutive victories. How will the results turn out?” the commentator’s voice could be heard faintly from the outside.
Garen’s face was expressionless. He had already come so far and would truly become the ultimate victor in the Winners Bracket after winning a few more rounds.
His opponent on the other side, London, had defeated Sara. Their leader was currently in the finals with Fervale, but no one knew how the results would turn out.
If Fervale was defeated… The position of Class C would not go any further. They would not be allowed to participate in the internal matches within the Winners Bracket and their previously significant ninth place position would be displaced, causing them to fall to eleventh place instantly.
“But…” Garen stared at the Black Mech opposite him while his head continued to hurt slightly. That guy basically resembled a tortoiseshell. Regardless whether he hit him with a shot from his Concentrated Laser Cannon or used his Rebound Interference technique, his attacks would constantly be resisted and unloaded by his opponent’s Impregnable Wall technique. Moreover, his opponent was an extremely patient person as it was obvious that they were delaying their defense and counter attacking tactics.
Bang!!
A loud explosion could be heard from the Gaussian Cannon suddenly before a black cannonball hit the upper right corner of the Black Mech’s towering shield instantly. It attempted to hit the shield until it was sent flying sideways.
However, it seemed as if the Black Mech had anticipated this much earlier. It turned its body to the side while the shield suddenly moved slightly simultaneously as well.
Clang!
The black Mech stumbled a few steps backward. It was facing Garen sideways now while directly using the center of its shield to counter the cannon balls by deflecting and sending them flying at once.
“Blocked again! Student London’s Level 2 technique Impregnable Wall has been using the core position of its shield to ward off its enemies attacks. Nonosiva’s Gaussian Cannons were sent flying directly as well,” the commentator who was only prepared for the final match spoke hurriedly.
“This is a tortoiseshell!” Garen glanced at the time quickly: 8 minutes.
“I need to finish this immediately!”
Bang!
The black Gaussian Cannon exploded again before the cannon shot out again after a cooling down period of ten seconds.
Before waiting for the next cooling down period, Garen did not look at the outcome but chose to switch to his Laser Cannon before shooting again.
White laser beams hit against one side of London’s shield for a period of time while the entire arena was only filled with the attack shots from Garen’s side. Meanwhile, London could merely defend himself.
As the competition continued to progress, Garen encountered stronger opponents as well. Meanwhile, the consumption of his Willpower became greater. Initially, his Willpower was only at the middle section of the foundation level as he could not even reach one proper level. However, after continuously fighting numerous matches, his Willpower restoration could not fully keep up with his depletion anymore.
Clang!
Black Light flashed from the Gaussian Cannon, finally hitting London’s shield sideways slightly. When it exposed the body of the Mech behind it, only then did the audience realize that all of the continuous Gaussian Cannons from earlier had hit against the same spot without much deviation.
“That’s it…” Garen adjusted his Laser Cannon slightly while white light gathered at the barrel.
It was over…
Tch!
Suddenly, the white Moonfang light in the control console flashed before dimming suddenly.
“This again!!” Garen immediately sensed that something was amiss. He lost control of the Mech’s body instantly while the Mech became abnormally delayed and seemingly unable to react again! “Not this time again!!” a gloomy expression flashed across his face.
Seconds and minutes ticked by while the white light of the Laser Cannon disappeared as everything returned to a calm state again. Garen’s White Mech stood in its spot quietly while facing the Black Mech on the other side. The arena turned completely silent for a while.
The Black Mech glanced at the shield in its hand and became silent for a moment.
Almost ten seconds later.
“I surrender.”
The voice of the Black Mech Pilot London echoed over.
The Black Mech discarded its towering shield and only then did the crowd realize that its shield was currently full of holes. It was almost pierced through. It was obvious that if this went on for a little while longer, this towering shield would become completely useless. Therefore, admitting defeat right now allowed him to lose without being embarrassed completely.
‘Winner, Nonosiva of Class C5!’
The cold mechanical voice was replaced with the announcer’s enthusiastic voice.
Most of the students cheered happily, especially the students of Class C5 who were extremely excited.
On the other side, Fervale cut off the right arm of his opponent’s Mech in one swift movement. Sparks were flying all over his Mech and it was obvious that he was reaching his limit soon. Moreover, both of the Mechs were undeniably worn-out. It seemed as if he had only won this victory through endurance and perseverance.
‘Winner, Fervale of Class C5!’
Similar noises rang out while Fervale sat inside his Mech and closed his eyes slightly while his exhausted face turned pale.
There was a screen on the side of the blimp that floated across the sky. The ranking of class C5 remained steadily at the ninth place as they had finally defeated the three challenging classes from the Losers Bracket.
Garen raised his head and glanced at the rankings while pressure began to form in his mind. If his opponent had continued to attack without giving up during the risky situation earlier, he might have become the loser instead.
His extremely weak Willpower made it more difficult for him when he encountered subsequent opponents. Without an abundance of Willpower to sustain himself, he could only depend on the Moonfang’s control and coordination. He could truly be dragged to death if he encountered long-lasting tortoiseshell-like opponents again.
“Willpower… I need to solve this problem quickly.” when he recalled the continuous times he had screwed up during important moments, Garen knew that the source of his problems was still his weak Willpower.
The unstable circumstances that appeared because of the Moonfang made it difficult for him to grasp the situation when he encountered defensive opponents. If he did not solve this problem, the following internal matches in the Winners Bracket would be very troublesome.
Once he had gotten out of the Mech, he congratulated and celebrated with the others. Next, he underwent restoring massage treatments and replenished his nutrition fluids. When the arena closed in the evening, Garen declined the offer to celebrate the results of keeping their ninth place position again. Instead, he left the arena alone and walked towards his dorm.
The finals would be held on the third day. There would be an internal match in the Winners Bracket where the top three competitors would be selected as the Elite participants who entered the school this year. Most of the competitors in the Winners Bracket had grasped one Level 2 technique and none of them would be easily defeated.
Garen was currently somewhat clearer about his level now. In situations where Willpower was strictly limited, he could only use his combat experience for fighting techniques that did not require Willpower. However, this was merely one factor as his limited Willpower made it impossible for him to fight for extended periods of time. Furthermore, the inability to use fighting techniques that were combined with Willpower made it difficult for him to counter his opponent’s Willpower techniques.
In the following final match, he would also need to watch out for accidental situations where the Moonfang would screw up suddenly.
“This is so troublesome…” Garen walked on the road back while constantly focusing on the changing time on his Attribute Pane that represented the time taken for his heart to be modified. The schedule that was counting down kept shrinking continuously.
“I can only find a way to solve this by using Secret Techniques. I can probably use White Peacock Stones to speed up the modification of the Peacock Technique.”
Garen returned to his dorm and clicked his terminal communication’s address book immediately once he had closed the door. He looked for the contact number of the bearded merchant and called him at once.
After a continuous beeping waiting tone, the other side was connected quickly.
“Why are you calling so early? The goods aren’t here yet,” said the bearded merchant suspiciously.
“When will the second batch of goods arrive?” Garen asked directly without making any small talk.
“If all goes well, it will be here by noon tomorrow. After all, they’re being delivered from other areas and the quantities this time are slightly larger as well.”