Pepper was practically itching with anticipation. He had already tried to look down at Panda Cakes’ new updated stat screen. The intermixed crowd of students made it practically impossible as they were herded into their classrooms.
Pepper and Brent arrived at their desks on the left side of the room. Mr. Charles Dean was already standing up at the front of the classroom and greeted the majority of the students as they entered. The room was rumbling with conversation. To Pepper, though, who was trying to focus on his holodex, the only problem was the nagging voice of Tamin that kept interrupting his thoughts.
Pepper glanced over to see Tamin boastfully bragging to a new round of students and flaunting his new Trinity Bracer HoloCube. Pepper finally sighed and let go of his frustration. He swiped his finger down and was just about to read the stat screen when Brent gave him a warning tap on the leg. Mr. Dean’s stern glare scanned the room and he dry coughed to get everyone’s attention.
“Pop quiz.”
The entire class sunk in their seats and the room filled with the sound of disgusted sighs. Pepper dashed a quick glance at Brent and the two rolled their eyes in unison. He folded his arms on his desk and turned his gaze towards his instructor.
“Okay, first question,” Mr. Dean said but then took a long-drawn-out pause. His experience of being a teacher made him well versed at knowing the precise moment to continue. The hammer fell and Mr. Dean’s demeanor instantly changed. His hands shot out in front of him as he exclaimed, “How epic was that match earlier?”
The class had a mixture of emotions. Many sighed in relief, others chuckled at the joke, but the multitude broke into various conversations. Pepper was about to go back to focusing on what he cared about when one of his classmates’ voices caught everyone’s attention.
“Mr. Dean? Is there any chance we could watch Brandon’s interview?”
Pepper’s eyes lit up with hope. His head snapped over to Brent, who had the same expression as he did. They both crossed their fingers and held their breath in anticipation.
“Can we watch the interview? Who do I look like?” Mr. Dean leaned back slightly and pointed towards himself. He executed another perfect paused performance and then finished, “I look like the coolest teacher in this school, because of course we can watch the interview.”
The class cheered and Mr. Dean quickly went to work to turn his holoscreen on. Pepper balled his fist and gave a fist bump to his best friend. The room was filled with an electrified joy—that is, until the classroom door cracked open.
Every head snapped to the door. The students held their breath and their eyes widened when they saw Status Academy principal Richey Stephens and vice principal Joel Harvey enter. There was nothing but an expression of pure disapproval and disappointment on Principal Stephens’ face. Pepper took note of Mr. Dean and for a split second, he actually thought his favorite teacher was done for. That was, until Mr. Dean couldn’t contain himself any longer and let his giant smile return.
The staff laughed at the ruse they had played on the class. Principal Stephens gave Mr. Dean a nod. “Come on, Charles, let’s see this interview.”
Mr. Dean pumped his hand back defensively. “Calm down and just give me a second.”
The holoscreen turned on and Mr. Dean quickly navigated through the device options and loaded up the Golem League application. He clicked on the interview icon and the screen flashed through the transition. The introductory theme music started, and Pepper leaned back in his chair to get into a comfortable position.
The camera focused on a young woman. Her eyes were a warm milk-chocolate brown that popped against her light skin. She had dark curly hair with a faint tint of purple highlights.
“Hey, everyone, welcome to another episode of the Golem League’s After-Action Interview. I am your host, Erika Leon-Guerrero, and the person with me today certainly needs no introduction. A huge congratulations to you, Brandon, on what many are calling a perfect match.”
The camera angle slowly widened until Brandon sidestepped into view. It was then that you could really see the height difference. The Golem Master towered over Erika, but they smiled at one another.
Brandon’s arm was wrapped around his partner, Rosario, and the two were both beaming with pride at the achievement of another victory. Brandon kindly leaned over to get closer to the microphone that Erika tilted towards him.
“Well, thanks, Erika. That is very kind of you to say. I don’t know about a perfect match. James Dean, man, that guy has been around the League for a long time.”
Mr. Dean quickly chimed in over the interview. “No relation…”
Part of the class giggled but everyone quickly turned their attention back to the screen.
Brandon had a warm smile on his face as he continued to answer the question. “I remember watching all James matches as I was down in the club circuits and trying to climb my way up to the top. He is a real legend and true Golem Master.”
Erika tilted the microphone back to herself. “Not only are you a Golem Master but a master of humility.” She paused for a brief moment, and Brandon chuckled. “Well, Brandon, you certainly made this match look easy. What was it that you did to make sure you came out victorious here today?”
“Oh man, that is a great question, Erika.” Brandon reached his hand up and wiped some sweat off his brow. “I mean, I train a lot. Well, we all do, not just me. I watched James’s last two matches on repeat. I felt I had to have a bold and really daring strategy to take him by surprise. I knew he was probably watching my matches and wanted to do something that nobody had seen before. And, well, I guess it worked!” He ended with a laugh and shrugged his shoulders.
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“There is a lot of talking going around about you not using your Reaper 3000 for today’s match. Why the switch at the last second? What is the story there?”
Brandon’s face displayed a sad expression, but it soon changed to one of relief. “Yeah. I mean, first, I gotta give a shout out to the team over at Reaper. I’m blessed to be sponsored by them, and they have been awesome to work with. They hooked me up with the Reaper 3000 and I had been training with it non-stop. The only problem is that it just isn’t my style. I didn’t feel I could really connect with Panda Cakes like I needed to when going up against James. Two nights back I made the decision that I had to go back to the Reaper Black Widow. Thankfully, those guys didn’t even question it and got me swapped out and ready to battle here today.”
Erika smiled and brought the microphone back to her. “Sponsorships are such a huge part of the Golem League, especially here in the Pantheon League, or tier, so to speak. There are rumors abuzz that we may see a new item on the way?”
Brandon smiled and turned to glance down at Rosario. Pepper could just see the small nudge Rosario gave on Brandon’s side. He turned back to the camera and let out a big exhale before he announced, “Yeah, I guess we can make it official. I have partnered up with Primal Energy, and you’ll soon see Panda Rage on the shelves.”
“That’s exciting—congratulations, Brandon!” Erika said. She then without delay launched into her next question. “Okay, well, I would say you are certainly going to need that extra energy, for your next opponent. What can we expect to see in that matchup?”
Brandon shook his head. “Honestly… I’m not even thinking that far into the future. For now, we’re just going to celebrate another victory. We’ll start hitting the drawing board later and see what changes we need to make to Panda Cakes.”
“Well, it certainly is a well-deserved cause for celebration, and Brandon, I know I and all your fans around the world can’t wait to see you and Panda Cakes return for another epic matchup.”
The video ended and the classroom rumbled back to life. Mr. Dean then surprised the class and immediately clicked open the stat screen for Panda Cakes. Pepper lunged forward in his chair, his hands latching onto the front lip of his desk.
Golem Name Panda Cakes
Gladiator
Brandon Benard
Command Interface
Reaper – Black Widow
Height
59ʹ 8ʺ
Weight
14.5 tons
Material
Granite Stone
Power Core
Dual: Thor – Cursed Deity, Platinum Cores
Main Weapon
Combat Staff
Runes
1. Centaur – Power
2. Centaur – Controller Rune & Interface
3. Centaur – Elemental Spell
4. Centaur – Elemental Defense
5. Centaur – Elemental Offense
6. Ronin – Energy Refinement – 25%
7. Ronin – Energy Refinement – 25%
8. Ronin – Energy Refinement – 25%
9. Ronin – Energy Refinement – 25%
10. Ronin – Energy Precision – 25%
11. Ronin – Energy Precision – 25%
12. Ronin – Energy Precision – 25%
13. Ronin – Energy Precision – 25%
14. Dark Dwarf – Elemental Energy Shield
15. Quintek – Gravity Force Push
His eyes quickly skimmed right past the data he already knew, but they came to a screeching halt at the power core. He reread the entry and felt his mouth fall open.
“Dude…” Brent muttered.
Pepper turned to see Brent was in disbelief. He didn’t even need to ask; he knew they were focused on the same thing. “Dual: Thor – Cursed Deity, Platinum Cores.”
Brent snapped his head back to the screen and quickly went back over the details. “Wait… I thought you had to have a rune which enabled you to have two power cores?”
“I guess you don’t,” Pepper replied. He began to sift through the multiple articles, forum posts, and technical spec data he had read over the years. To his best recollection, Brent was right. Everything he could recall reading made mention of a rune that needed to be utilized in order for a golem to operate two power cores. Yet… there was none listed on Panda Cakes’ stat sheet.
“How much power does the Cursed Deity generate again?” Brent asked.
The question pulled Pepper back into the moment. He closed his eyes and tried to mentally focus on the technical data description listed on the Thor company website. “I want to say the MPC is rated at 5,800 kW.”
“Holy cow, P-Dub! That means that Panda Cakes had like…” Brent paused and started to maneuver his fingers around while his eyes danced in all directions. “That means Panda Cakes had 11,600 kW per power core when you add in the energy refinement runes!”
Pepper shook his head for a moment but then stopped and reared back. “No, it doesn’t.”
“Yes, it does. Twenty-five percent four times. That is 1,450 kW. Add that four times and that gives you double the amount—11,600 kW.”
“No, it doesn’t,” Pepper countered. He leaned his head forward and shook it in disbelief. He knew his friend and didn’t waste time. He brought his wrist over and began to type away on his holodex. “Okay, yes, you are not wrong in the fact that if you add 25 percent of the 5,800 four times, you will indeed get an additional 5,800. But what you are forgetting is that it is not adding 1,450 kW each time, it’s compounding the amount of energy overall. That means that Panda Cakes didn’t have a power enhancement of 11,600 kW… but a power rated at 14,160 kW per core!”
Brent brought his hands up and made a gesture of his head exploding from the information. “That is insane, P-Dub.”
“Not only that, but the energy precision runes also allowed Brandon to ensure there was no energy to bleed off in his attacks. James’s Iron Ram 250 received the full force of that power with every attack that Brandon landed.”
“No wonder that combat staff cut through that metal armor.”
“Like a blow torch through butter!”
“More like a dang lightsaber.” Brent followed up. They both sat there for a few seconds and kept looking over the stat screen. Pepper couldn’t believe Brandon had risked so many of his rune slots in devoting them to the strategy he had utilized. He didn’t have any more time to ponder the matter, as Brent continued. “Can you imagine taking on Tamin with that much power?”
“I wish… Knowing that spoiled brat, his family probably would have bought him the same setup.” Pepper huffed and rolled his eyes at the thought.
It was then that a reassuring voice reminded him of a truth he had forgotten. “Well, then it is a guaranteed win for you.”
Pepper felt his forehead scrunch in confusion. “Why do you say that?”
“Because… he can’t beat you when it comes to skill, P-Dub. You are by far the best Golem Fighter in our club. Once you have Mala up and running, you’ll be invited to try out for the Regional League in no time.”
Pepper smiled at the compliment. His heart warmed from the encouragement and reassurance of his closest friend. “Thanks.”
There was no time to savor the kindness, as a breaking news bar began to scroll across the screen and took them all by surprise.