Chapter 20 - What the... Part 1

Vera Naem was an incredibly level-headed individual. Teachers often discussed and praised how calm he was in any ordeal he faced.

Right now was no different.

As he watched Renves beating on the White Wolf Princess, he shook his head disapprovingly. He didn't like it when that guy made it look like an execution. Then he noticed a shadow closing in with extreme speed.

It was astonishing; the shadow must have used a speed enhancement all the way from the base. Covering several hundred meters in a matter of seconds was no easy feat. The shadow collided with the unsuspecting Renves, sending him flying.

What was even more surprising, the shadow appeared to be the rumored 'powerless.' Though quite surprised, Vera kept his calm.

[Vera: "He might attack while Renves is still in shock. Attack."]

As he quickly decided on a course of action, he drew his two-handed blade and enhanced his own speed. A hundred meters vanished in a second, and he arrived before the 'powerless.' With his sword raised over his head, he put all his strength into a decisive, fast, and trained swing.

His opponent didn’t even try to dodge. Instead, he moved his left hand, and his fist resolutely met the side of the blade. One had to understand that performing such a trick required perfect timing. Too fast, and the sword would cut the hand; too slow, and the sword would cut the body. To utilize that 'split second,' one must either be a monster or incredibly lucky. Yet the opponent not only managed that but also sacrificed his gauntlet, carefully positioning it to further deflect the attack, making it miss completely.

Vera squinted his eyes. Was this really the 'powerless'?

Then he saw a punch—a punch performed with a hand that had no armor on it.

He had no time to dodge, but was it even worth dodging?

Was it a desperate attack?

A hint of pity appeared on Vera's face. Because no matter what...

[Alert! ...]

The capsule went black.

Then it came back, but from a bird's-eye view perspective. It focused on Vera. He had died. He died before he could even finish reading the alert. Amazed, he looked down at his M-Armor, which had crashed into several others.

He turned on the 'dead' communication channel.

It was dead silent...

Renves Zec was a boy raised in a wealthy family. From childhood, he had everything. Every adult praised his high aptitude. He also enjoyed training his swordsmanship because it was one of the few times he could see his father. In his eyes, the Mid Circle Tier Black Bear was his idol. When he was accepted into Mars Academy, his father's proud face made him swear to be at the top!

And he achieved it. He quickly reached HST level and continued to advance steadily. Three years ago, as a 9th HST, he contributed greatly to his school's victory. His fame soared. The following year, as a 10th HST and official Swordsman, he won again. The same happened the year after. But this year... a new being appeared. Her name was Mersa.

They named her the Most Talented Being in History. When he heard that she had moved from 1st HST to 7th HST in two months, he was shocked. Even for an elite like him, reaching genius level took 18 months. But two months?! What kind of joke was that?

After seeing her in the Scramble phase, he understood it wasn’t a fluke. She truly displayed the power of that level. With her innate white wolf instinct, she even fought evenly with 8th and 9th High Step Tiers. Seeing her, he felt something prick his soul. That something was called jealousy, which he then directed at the 'powerless' she valued so much. That 'powerless' was nothing! Why was it him?

He would show that 'powerless' how weak he was. He would show him that after defeating his princess, he would personally trash him!

Just as he was about to finish the White Wolf Princess, a blur appeared on the edge of his vision, sending him flying.

Crash.

WTF?

Looking over, he saw the 'powerless' standing in front of the White Wolf M-Armor. How did he get there?

Barrier status: 76%

A mocking smile appeared on his face. It was only a 3% drop. That 'powerless' was nothing.

Then he saw Vera charging towards the 'powerless.' Wait! He was supposed to deal with that guy himself!

A punch? WTF? Seriously? A bare hand against Alchemical Metal? Please...

BAM. Vera was sent back. A scrap of metal hit his right shoulder. He looked over—it was a quite large piece of metal. He recognized it. Isn't it from the torso of Vera? WTF? WTF? WTF?

Then it came—a summoning. A M-Armor. WTF?

What is that? It looks like a reptile-type sub-race. Two green eyes, but the rest of the face was a smooth surface. Is she hiding her identity? Then the thing with the 'powerless' was a fluke?! The reptile-type sub-race... It looked stronger than a normal reptile-like type. It didn’t have a child's look; it had an adult's shape. Who is she? There was no information about a reptile girl close to this level...

The dark golden M-Armor charged at him. Two spheres, one black, one white, flew past him. He immediately took a defensive stance.

Object 1: Nano-photon level 3 LST

Object 2: Nano-photon level 3 LST

...

17 levels of difference—irrelevant. Was it supposed to be a distraction?

Renves focused on his opponent.

She closed in... She disappeared?!

In the corner of his eye, he noticed a blur going past his right side.

[Alert! Barrier status: 44%]

WTF? He turned to his right, but the only thing he saw was a black object flying away...

[Alert! Barrier status: 9%]

Totally confused, he had no idea what was happening. Why was that sphere going away? What hit him?

[Alert! Bar...

Everything turned black.

WTF?!

Then he appeared in the sky. He was in bird's-eye view mode. He was dead? WTF?

He looked down at the dark golden mechanical armor standing next to his still-standing 'corpse'... WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Nemu Elina was a very diligent woman. Every day, she worked in a popular bar that hosted hundreds of guests. She was capable, level-headed, and careful. Right now, she was staring at one of the many holo-monitors in the bar. It was a famous annual event, the Lower Inter-school Battle Tournament. The battle was nearing its end. As a fan of Mersa, she stopped to watch the last moments of the genius girl. Well, she just started, and she would definitely do better next time!

...

A plate fell. For the past two years, she had never dropped anything, but right now, beer stained the floor. No one paid it any attention. The owner's eyes, and in fact everyone's gaze, were on the monitors... Vera had been sent flying... And Renves had died too...

VIP

[...]

[...]

[...]

[Place: Special Lounge]

Silence ruled the room where the teachers of the two biggest cadet schools were sitting.

The silence continued...

[Mistglan: Brilliant. That usage of bots was brilliant.]

It was broken by a praise from the legendary war hero. An uproar immediately rose in the room.

[???: Wait! What is THAT?!]

[???: I never thought Athena would resort to trickery!]

[???: This is against the rules!]

[???: What trickery! If you had a reptile-type, you could just put her in!]

[???: Silence. All of you.]

With the voice of the man, silence returned to the room. His name was Dermea Nerms, 'B' Ranker and Headmaster of Mars Academy.

[Dermea: Mistglan-sensei, please continue.]

When Dermea was still young, Mistglan had been his personal instructor, and the amount of respect Dermea had for him was enormous. Initially, he was quite furious, but upon hearing the liger's voice, he immediately calmed down.

In this situation, even Claire was shocked enough to remain silent.

[Mistglan: A brilliant usage of bots; he used them to create footholds. We all know it is incredibly difficult to quickly defeat an opponent of similar level. It's all because of the barrier—one has to hit it several times to break it. And clean hits are the most difficult to land. The easiest way to land a clean hit is through a speed-type strike, but the main drawback of that method is the inability to continuously deal blows. On a flat surface, after landing a speed-type strike, you are forced to either make a large circle or stop before you can attack again. But you all know how hard it is to stop while moving at high velocity. He used bots as footholds to deliver three continuous blows in a triangular movement. Immediate kill.]

Liger nodded approvingly.

[Claire: That speed... It wasn't burst... was that accel?]

[Mistglan: It was many levels above burst but wasn’t at the level of accel. I'd say an incomplete accel?]

Burst - a movement step that gives the user a burst of speed, HST level.

Accel - a movement step similar to Burst but at Circle level.

[Dermea: Wait Mistglan-sensei, I think I heard you say 'he']

[Mistglan: Indeed...]

[Dermea: Then he is the 'powerless'?]

[Mistglan: I have no idea.]

He turned to Claire with an expectant look.

[Claire: I'm not sure. I have never received any report about that Golden Reptile M-Armor... Besides, there is no way the 'powerless' can pilot an M-Armor...]

[Dermea: ... What do you mean? You don't know yourself? Is that a joke, Claire-sama?]

At that time, an excited voice suddenly appeared. Quel Kin, the administrator of the game that hosted the tournament, finally found his tongue.

[Quel: Well! Why don't we check? Capsules identify the Crystal Core, thus not only allowing all objects stored in PSpace to appear in the game but also read the information of the user. We have already received all of the data of participants from all schools, and they are in the database. If their Crystal Core matches, then we will know who the Reptile-type is.]

With that, he made several gestures on the small holo-monitor that appeared in front of him. Just a few seconds later, a small box opened next to the Golden M-Armor.

Name: Vorst

Sub-race: Neo-Aris

Crystal Core: 1st HST

...