Mystical Journey

Kar’s disbelieving face was still lingering in the rescue cabin.

He had no idea how he lost, but the battle was already over.

“Battle complete, time taken, five seconds. Winner, C534 Nonosiva,” the mechanical voice announced directly.

The white Mech Garen was controlling stood on the spot, not moving an inch, the two Laser Cannons on either side of it smoking slightly from the barrel.

Sitting inside the Mecha, he was completely calm.

He glanced at the Moonfang beside him, it was not really stirring. It had just flashed with a little white light just now, but now it was completely quiet again.

“Try to reduce piloting and battle times as much as possible, settle it quickly.” This was Garen’s plan.

In the first match, Kar was given an instant KO.

This shooting technique that concentrated the two Laser Cannon shots in one split second was wholly reliant on Garen’s powerful battle experience and his piloting precision. Using the Moonfang’s control as the main element, he tweaked it slightly, and achieved such a powerful offensive effect.

This instantaneous battle also attracted many gazes straight away.

***************

Beside the arena

“The rascal! To think he has such a trick up his sleeve.” Instructor Hamm could not keep the smile off his face. “Twin Laser Cannon Concentrated Fire, this is a Level 2 Laserfire Control technique, at the very least! I never thought that he would reveal such a hand out of nowhere like that. And he fired while his opponent was moving so quickly, too.”

Fervale’s expression was solemn as well.

“Very impressive, even I would have a hard time against that hit.”

“His combined powers are already approaching Level 2, just with that alone,” Sara could not help but say with envy. “Given that it wasn’t just a coincidence.”

Nonosiva had always been quiet, and was unknown in his class. No one would have expected him to have such a powerful skill.

“Shouldn’t we be happier the stronger he is?” Hamm laughed out loud, and patted their shoulders. “Go on and prepare for the next round.”

In the audience stands

Enviously, Aier looked at Garen’s Mech, standing in the arena after having killed his opponent in an instant.

“That guy’s actually this strong? How come I never knew?”

Mina’s mood was improving for once. Although her face was still somewhat pale, she was still genuinely happy for her friend’s win.

“This is the first time the freshmen are showing off their true power in battle, and this was his progress so far this year. Who knows, he might actually be able to get that tuition fee exemption. Nono had been exceptional ever since he took the entrance exam, it’s perfectly normal for him to have improved like that.

She was also very tempted by the tuition fee exemption, after all, that would save her a large amount of money. Right now, her family had practically stopped paying for her tuition fees altogether, her father was deep in debt and on the run, while her mother drowned herself in her tears all day long. It was hard for them to even live, they relied on her to work part-time every day and bring back just enough money to make ends meet.

When Aier heard that, his expression turned guilty.

“I misjudged him. Later I’ll apologize to him properly.

They lost two out of three matches, so Class C6 gave up and entered the loser match-ups.

In the second round, they fought against Class C8. Just like in the first round, Fervale finished off his opponents easily. He seemed to have been triggered by Garen, so he just rushed up and immediately hacked around, his sword unnaturally swift, fierce, and precise. Within a few strokes, he had already chopped the opponent’s First Seat into sticks, and victory was his.

As for Garen, he still used the same Twin Barrel Concentrated Fire, but this time the first Concentrated Fire missed because they were too far apart. His opponent nearly closed the distance, but the second hit still landed at close distance, and the result was the same as the first match. His opponent was frustrated that they could not use any of their moves at all, other than running, they could not show off any other skills before their cockpit was insta-killed. The opponent that came down was a pretty little girl, who fell face-first into the female instructor’s arms and cried her eyes out.

When Garen walked out of the Mech tunnel, he was still as expressionless as ever. The Moonfang could control the Laser Cannon Fire easily, but the Concentrated Fire skill was a product of his own refinement. If it weren’t for the fact that performing too excellently would seem unnatural, he would have finished off his opponent with the very first shot.

The third round, the fourth, the fifth…

The matches went on and on, but Garen barely used any energy at all.

And he had also figured out the rhythm of the Moonfang’s usage, if he was just using it normally, for a duration of fewer than fifteen minutes, there would be no problem. And once he approached the fifteen-minute limit, it would grow hotter and hotter. This thing seemed to be the core component of some high-level instrument.

As the matches continued on, the opposing classes of the same level also began to understand Garen better.

He faced several opponents consecutively, but not once did he shoot more than three times. He would always finish off his opponent within the first or second shot, even the First Seat of C5, Fervale’s performance was outshone by his.

After defeating more than ten battles in a row, Class C5 was solidly placed in eighth place. If Sara had not lost a few matches, they would be unbeaten now.

And Garen, after beating several opponents in a row, finally met an opponent that could not be defeated in one hit that afternoon.

‘C534 Nonosiva vs C1153 Cassardin.’

The mechanical voice spoke.

When the voice spoke, be it Garen or Fervale, their hearts both gave a little jolt.

“No, wait! Cassardin is Class Eleven’s First Seat! Why would they have the First Seat placed third!” Instructor Hamm started yelling, getting out of his seat abruptly.

Beside him, Fervale gripped his fist tightly, lowering his head slightly.

“Isn’t your First Seat Nonosiva, who’s been hiding in third place?” a sarcastic voice said from beside them. It was a young man with a thin face, looking at Instructor Hamm with arms crossed in front of his chest and a cold gaze.

When he heard that, Fervale’s head went even lower.

On the other hand, Garen sat quietly by the side, leaning on the wall, closing his eyes for a breather.

“Besides, it’s just an unspoken rule in the academy for the First Seats to face each other, it’s not compulsory. It’s up to me how I want to arrange it,” the thin-faced instructor said calmly.

“Pillbo!” Hamm glared at him angrily. “What are you thinking!?”

“What am I thinking? Hehe…”

The thin-faced instructor, Pillbo, gave a low laugh.

“I’m warning you! Don’t mess around!” Hamm yelled loudly.

“Warning me? Hah!” Pillbo laughed coldly. “You’re as naive as ever, Hamm.”

“Nono’s overall level is close to Level 2, he might not necessarily lose even when fighting the opponent’s First Seat,” Fervale interrupted suddenly.

The First Seat had to be at least Upper Level 1. Fervale seemed to be having a harder time winning sometimes, and it was not always as clear-cut as Garen’s matches, but that was also because his opponents were stronger. And Garen had always been fighting their second or third seats.

This time, however, he was facing the First Seat. Now, this would really be troublesome.

Hamm hesitated.

“No problem, I can handle this,” Garen replied calmly, opening his eyes.

He had always been facing garbage opponents, so he wanted to really fight once as well, to test just how strong he really was. Otherwise, there was no point in him fighting nothing but trash that died in one hit, no matter how many shots he had to fire.

“Be careful! That Pillbo is really heartless and cruel…” Hamm looked at Garen worriedly.

“It’ll be fine.”

The mechanical announcements began again.

Garen stood up, this time he was fighting as the First Seat. Once the match-up was announced, the audience on this side of the arena all started watching.

For a First Seat to face a Third Seat, there was nothing to say except that Garen’s earlier performance was extremely eye-catching. The match-up this time garnered a lot of attention as well. Slowly, as more and more classes got eliminated, the audiences behind these classes began to shift their attention to the opponents who had defeated their classes, hoping a new opponent would appear to take them down.

‘C534 Nonosiva vs C1153 Cassardin. Let the battle begin.’

Garen sat in the cockpit, looking at the black Mech opposite him carefully. It was used Twin Pistols, just like his previous Weapons System.

Before the starting call even faded, his opponent had already darted out with a whoosh, not to approach him, but instead moving at high-speeds to the right.

It was a very strange movement, they would pause occasionally, and sometimes take a small leap back. It seemed rather floaty and completely irregular.

Brr!

Garen’s Twin Cannons fired simultaneously again, the shot ringing out abruptly, aimed straight for the black Mech’s head control system. And then… for the first time, he missed. The black Mech tilted its head slightly, and the shot just brushed past, without causing any damage whatsoever.

“Eh?” Garen’s heart grew serious, he had definitely felt 90% confident in that shot, it definitely had a high accuracy rate. But somehow it had missed.

The opponent was still constantly moving irregularly, and two gunshots shot out with a whooshing sound, but Garen dodged those as well.

Compared to his moving techniques, the opponent’s shooting techniques were easily seen through by Garen.

“Should I try again? Is it a coincidence?” Garen pressed down the uncertainty in his heart.

Ka-chak, the twin barrels moved slightly, and a white light rose in the barrels slowly.

Brr!!

Two rays of white light drew out two white paths, shooting straight for the opponent’s body like a bolt of straight lightning.

And then… they missed again.

The lasers bunched into one, and shot past from under the black Mech’s hips and crotch, hitting the protective barrier behind it. It caused a series of ripples and then vanished.

“It’s not a coincidence…” Garen’s heart gave a jolt, and he watched the opponent’s steps carefully. “These steps…”

****************

“These steps… Gehrs Dance Steps… It’s the Gehrs family’s Level 2 avoidance steps…” a solemn-looking middle-aged woman said softly in the audience, looking down at the arena from among the seats for external family members who were here to watch. “To think that young Gehrs from the Gehrs family has such an ability.”

“As expected of a First Seat, every First Seat has Upper Level 1 power, even the weakest ones would have one or two aspects that have reached Level 2,” a white-haired old man beside her said while nodding. “We did right in coming to Blackboard this time, to think we could even witness these Dance Steps in such a low-level competition.” His expression was nostalgic. “I remember back then, Gehrs Zeno had used these steps to defeat the twelve elites from the East. These Level 2 steps are merely the rudimentary basics.”

“That is true, it’s already very impressive for young Gehrs to have such power at this age.” The woman nodded. “But his opponent is a pretty good choice as well, I saw the replays of the match just now, he’s very good at controlling the Laser Cannon fire, and his grasp of timing is not something just anyone could do.”