Chapter Twenty-One

Things worked very differently in this world. There was no announcer, no build up, no call for contestants or review of the rules. A four legged mech just started walking forward, drew his sword, and picked up speed until he was running.

On the opposite side, a two-legged mech did the same, and the crowd roared as the first shots were fired. The two legged mech had a cannon rise up from between its legs and the boom went off out of nowhere. I never saw it coming until it happened.

The four legged mech held out its other hand and fired a shot from its own arm in turn, the blast was a little less than its counterpart, and both the arm and the ‘dongshot’ as I had to dub it, fell away as their only rounds were fired.

The arm cannon ball struck the two legged mech in its left leg, sending it tumbling forward in a roll, while the shot it fired toward the crabwalker struck directly into the body center. The two mechs were heavily armored and their metal glowed blue as internal magitite shielding activated.

I couldn’t help myself, I tried to use my Insightful Inventor skill to study their inner workings, trying to identify the level of damage done. It was evident now that the magic helped reinforce the metal and disperse impact, but neither was as undamaged as they seemed.

The crowd was roaring while the two-legged walker rose, pushed up by its arms while still holding the sword. The pilot, I could see his face, he was sweating still, he gritted his teeth and charged forward.

Thanks to his fall, he’d lost some of his momentum, and was forced to receive the charge of the crab model, the chassis where they sat slammed together as their swords smashed back and forth until there was almost no edge left and their blades were reduced to metal clubs with pointy tips.

The two-leg rotated his bottom half so that he was lengthways against his opponent, steam spewed out of miniature vents as one leg decreased its length to give it a lower center of gravity, while the crabwalker rose in stature, relying on his four legged balance to give him the advantage.

He’d given up his arm for his first shot, while the two-leg still had both of his. But he was still of lighter weight overall and was being forced down. The scrape of metal on metal was amplified, I could see the bearded faces of the pilots, shouting and pulling on their levers with all their might, they shouted as any pair of knights might shout at one another in the midst of battle.

The two-leg dropped a hand away from his sword, he began to pound and punch, his mech’s legs were straining, the metal groaned, and the sword bent, crack…crack…crack, the chassis of the crabwalker began to submit, and then in an inspired moment, the two-leg used his free arm to grab the arm of his opponent and he twisted his chassis the way I’d seen Dwarguy do the previous day, creating a brief moment of momentum that thrust the sword away, then he dropped his own blade and wrapped his arms around the four-leg.

His legs began to rise up, steam hissing and dwarves shouting, he lifted the crab from the ground and began to squeeze, the chassis of his crab foe cracked… I could see the glow of mana pulse, and the moment of breech.

I could not hear what the two shouted, but the four legged walker’s driver relaxed his hold. The mech went limp. The battle was over as he yielded when his body was exposed.

I don’t even know when I started cheering in all that, or when I got on my feet, or when I started smiling. I don’t remember doing any of it.

But Yorgim and Loysa, and even Lilyana seemed amused by me when I realized I was up and cheering and… hooked.

“I want another!” I said, leaning shamelessly into the moment.

“Don’t worry.” Yorgim extended his arm toward the glass view, “There are more.”

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I spun around to watch another.

And another.

And another.

Then it was Dwarguy’s turn, and I never looked away.

I don’t know the details of how his mech worked with his artificial legs, but looking in the viewing position as I was, I could see his legs moving up and down while his arms worked at the same time. His face was twisted with aggressive intent, mouth open and teeth bared, he roared like a lion as he barreled toward his opponent at twice the momentum of his counterpart. He leveled his hand toward his opponent and fired off a hand cannon, this one smaller than the others, but to my surprise, only half the arm fell away with the shot, the rest rotated in ways impossible for a living body to do, connected to another part of itself, rotated like it was being locked into place, and the arm had a ball mace extension on it.

I thought about the hammer he’d walked in with before, he’d obviously stowed it, but I wanted to see what it might do.

His opponent was another two legged mech, taller than his, but with a triangle headed chassis that the cannon shot glanced off of, the slope design was clever, but it was also lighter, and this one did have an oversized hammer held in both mechanical hands.

Dwarguy used his lighter mace as a shield, battering away the attempts at striking him, his free hand punched at the armored body, the triangle head didn’t have a the same wide view of the cage-like chassis from the first fight, this one had mainly narrow eye slits, he saw less, but he had more protection.

Steam came out of Dwarguy’s arm slits as he continued to bash the body, battering away the two handed hammer. Unlike him, the triangle mech clearly couldn’t hold as much equipment, I concluded he was built for endurance, to wear his enemies down.

But Dwarguy was far more variable. Each time he batted away a blow, he punched the arm or the chassis, forcing his foe to move.

By the time the triangle mech realized the problem, it was too late. His right arm shattered at the elbow joint.

Dwarguy’s mech legs expelled steam as he dropped his height, grabbed the body of the chassis, and lifted.

Seeing the danger, the other mech backed off, and that was all he needed.

The arm holding the ball mace fell away, and I could see the predatory look in his eyes as he reached back, connected to a replacement hand, and grabbed his own double handed hammer. The triangle mech’s retreat put him in the right distance, and Dwarguy swung the curved hook out, shattering the viewing port, the mana flared as the shielding was broken, and Dwarguy’s chassis rotated, with the full strength of his mech’s arms and body, the rival was pulled forward and fell down on its face. The faster mech stepped past his opponent, he raised the two handed weapon once, and then brought the spike down in the softer, lighter armor of the rear.

The puncture brought the cheering mob to its feet, and if the expulsion of steam can sound ‘victorious’ then this did. He held the handle fast, refusing to allow his foe to rise until it went limp… and it was done.

“What do you think?” Loysa asked with a tipsy smile on her face. She clearly liked the good stuff.

“This was worth waiting a lifetime to see!” I was flushed red in the face from cheering and excitement, my body felt like it was on fire from the raw excitement of the clash, it was really everything I hoped for, short of rocket powered flight and explosions, but… if it couldn’t get better than this, it was definitely enough.

Yorgim too, seemed pleased that I’d enjoyed the display.

“Dwarguy Davaran is a favorite for a reason. But then, no mech pilot is short of fans.” The goblin said matter-of-factly. “Make sure he stays alive and whole. As much so as he can be, anyway.”

Loysa swallowed the lump in her throat and silently nodded.

I didn’t realize the whole day slipped by until she stood up to leave.

“Thank you for letting me see this.” I gasped, I was breathless from all the excitement, and even though this totally legitimate business goblin was probably the scariest person I’d ever met without ever having done a thing… I meant every word of gratitude.

“That’s what you get, when you do good work for me. Remember that, Aiko.” He said, and gestured toward the door his elf bodyguard was already opening for us, inviting us to leave.

I bowed again, and then Loysa and I accepted his invitation.

At the very least I could say this, I now had a great deal to think about regarding my future in this world.