Xiao learned an hour after her call with Wattan that they only received the first shipment. This shipment possessed three parts with ten quantities of each. According to Vivian, the other shipments required more time to arrive. She explained that too much choice was as bad as too few choices. Therefore, the shipments were spaced out to allow the tester to have time to try them out and give each part a fair chance. Xiao had no issues with the matter but she still didn’t like the three day wait she had to do.
“What now?” she asked Vivian. “We wait in the meantime?”
“I already have you covered,” said Vivian as she passed over a thick book. “Read through this and see what you can retain from it.”
The young woman accepted the book which was as heavy as it appeared. She asked the librarian what it was all about but the other woman told her that discovering the secrets firsthand was part of the journey. Xiao took the book but she had to first participate in her upcoming academy match. The match was rated as average difficulty since she used the hornet template. She had asked Vivian if there were templates of the ant mech with the new subcomponents but the librarian said that wasn’t possible. Templates were expensive and the making of the actual subcomponents already used up much of their funding.
“There were plans to make templates for students at the academy to use,” elaborated Vivian. “However, the academy staff members weren’t pleased with their students wasting their time on a foolish dream. Therefore, that never came to fruition and, except for the basic ant mech templates for low level training, none exist.”
“So the mech specific subcomponents will be making their debut when I first use them in my mech?”
Seeing Vivian’s nod, Xiao felt a bit of excitement within her. She knew that, if she could win, her ant mech would attract attention from many media sites and even other mech companies. An underperforming mech would make plenty of headlines which could be good for Zavaso, depending on how Vesna took advantage of the free advertisement. There would come a time the secret subcomponents could make their appearance, thus giving the ant mech a new life in tournament settings, assuming they got that far.
“I’m curious to see Wattan’s opinion on the subcomponents,” said Xiao as she went into thought. “He’s the head mechanic and has a lot of experience. His opinion matters a lot.”
“Do you think he’ll give the subcomponents a chance? I know there are many who wouldn’t.”
Xiao could see the tears in Vivian’s eyes. After hearing about how the librarian and her father dedicated their free time on the project, she knew she could relate to the young woman. Xiao also spent all her time with her father since her mother died so early in her life. The two of them were inseparable and, as soon as she developed interest in mechs, her father dedicated all of his time, energy and money into her mech pilot career.
I cannot let my father’s efforts go to waste. Similar to how I can help Vivian and her father achieve their dreams of seeing ant mechs winning as an underdog.
“I know Wattan will give them a chance. He promised a complete inspection report so I know he’ll at least take the time. As for his thoughts, only time will tell.”
Xiao excused herself so she could prepare for her match. The match was an easy win because, once again, her opponent underestimated her.
I wonder if they even research my past matches or if they think they’re too good to prepare. Regardless, they're paving my way to the top one hundred rank.
After the match, she took a quick shower before putting her focus on the book Vivian gave her. She didn’t have a chance to open the book in the library so, upon opening it in her room, she knew that the book was going to suit her well. Each chapter of the book was named after a light or medium mech. Within those chapters, there was an introduction to the mech and a more detailed analysis of the ant mech facing off against the said mech. Xiao could tell that intensive research was done to acquire all the observations and data, especially when the book came out from a time before matches were streamed. As she read through the first few chapters, the young woman began making connections between the information and the subcomponents Wattan recently received.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
It seems like the subcomponents were made after this book. That makes sense since no one can design anything if they don’t have any data to back the design up.
Xiao would need five days to finish reading and she felt her knowledge on ant mechs had ballooned greatly. By finishing the book, she already had great appreciation for the three types of subcomponents in the first shipment. They appeared simple at first glance but their contributions to the rise of ant mechs couldn’t be overlooked.
If Wattan can see the significance of these subcomponents without the notes and books I’ve read, then he is indeed the best in his craft.
As Xiao debated if she should head to bed, her phone vibrated on her desk.
“Hey, Xiao! There’s a match I think you might be interested in watching.”
“What’s the stream ID?” asked Xiao as she turned to her tablet.
“We’ll be watching it live and there will be no livestream of it.”
The idea of a live match caught Xiao’s attention. It was very late so there couldn’t be any on academy grounds. As she pondered on the matter, the rumors of a secret underground mech fighting ring came to mind.
I thought Puhi was joking but maybe that does exist and she discovered its location.
Xiao told Puhi that she was in and quickly got dressed. The two of them would meet in the mess hall before Puhi led the way down stairs Xiao didn’t know existed. The duo soon found themselves walking down a long dimly lit hallway. They first heard the chants from the arena and, once they reached it, they were both shocked to see how many people gathered there.
There are students, staff and people of all ages and backgrounds. Maybe this underground fighting ring isn’t banned as many might first believe.
At the moment, they faced the issue of finding a place to stand. Seats were already a rare commodity according to the rumors so they weren’t even hoping for those. A quick glance at the arena made them question if there was standing room left. The two of them walked up the stairs, hoping for a few standing rooms in the less desirable spots. Yet, the volume of the shouting made it clear that they arrived way too late. After several minutes of walking, the two of them managed to find enough room for both of them.
“How many matches are taking place,” said Xiao as loudly as she could.
Puhi pointed at the jumbotron and gestured to the top right corner. Xiao then made out that they were just about to see the second of the ten matches scheduled for the night. The fighting ring crew was busy preparing the ring for the next competition. As they swept away all the debris and leveled the dirt, the young woman asked Puhi how the fighting ring made money. She noticed no one was at the front checking tickets so anyone with knowledge of the place could just walk in. She checked with Puhi who simply brought out her phone and opened a website. One glance was all Xiao needed.
A big gambling website? I got to check this out!
For major tournaments, public gambling was forbidden. It was far too easy for matches to be fixed once enough money was involved in the match’s outcome. Therefore, the tournament organization banned all public gambling to give the impression of the matches being fair. The organization also had a history of finding and closing lowkey gambling sites. The young woman could see how gambling would be enticing for those who also loved mech fighting. With curiosity getting the better of her and the next match still some time away, Xiao opened the gambling site on her phone to see what was considered fair game. The answer was everything.
How are they keeping track of all of this? What subcomponents get critted and when? Total distance traveled? Total ammo used? Is everything monitored by the fighting ring organization?
Xiao could see why this fighting ring was so popular. So many options meant more chances to win big and people, especially gamblers, would happily go for what they saw as decent odds. She couldn’t imagine what kind of money was raked in by the fighting ring, especially when it was supposedly packed out every night.
“I wonder how much pilots make for fighting in these competitions?” she muttered out loud.