As the cattlemech entered the arena, Xiao felt like there were more butterflies in her stomach than usual. This was the first time she had no confidence in a win. In terms of experience and mech, her opponent had an overwhelming advantage. In truth, a light mech simply had no place in fighting a medium mech. However, this was the fighting ring where gambling was the priority and the organizers were willing to try anything that could attract more bets. Nothing drew a bigger crowd and attracted more bets than a lopsided battle like hers.

Let’s stick with the plan and see what happens.

The opposing hare mech stood silently across from her. Unlike many other pilots, her opponent didn’t believe in showboating in his mech. Instead, the hare mech simply stood there, waiting for the signal to start. Somehow, this made Xiao feel more intimidated. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to know what ritual her opponent was doing inside his mech.

“Incoming message! Length: five seconds. Do you wish to listen?”

Xiao pressed the yes option.

“You can do this! I believe you can pull out a miracle in your match!”

Hearing Puhi’s voice, the young woman let out the breath she had been holding. She gripped her controls tightly as she made a final check of everything. As soon as the match starting was announced in her headset, she screamed briefly before urging her mech forward. As expected, her foe leaped up into the air using the jump jets in an almost seemingly natural way. While in the air, the hare bombarded the cattlemech with medium lasers. After a full minute of jumping and attacking, the hare backed away with a big gap between the two mechs.

A full minute worth of cooling for all those medium lasers and jump jets? No wonder the hare mech is such a pain to deal with.

Xiao tried to land a few hits but, even without the jump jets, the hare could run so much faster. It easily stayed ahead of her cattlemech while the hare mech dissipated its heat. Before long, her opponent resumed the same strategy of attacking while in the air, leaving her with no option except to take the hits. She was grateful for all the armor her cattlemech had because the medium lasers hit a lot harder than their smaller counterparts. This was a good reminder that she was in the bigger leagues where everything hits harder.

How patient can he be? Surely, he wants to end the match now with a kick.

To Xiao’s frustrations, her opponent still repeated the attacks with no intention of going melee. Her cattlemech was simply a sitting duck while she looked for opportunities. After several minutes of taking hit after hit, her cattlemech lost a large portion of its armor. Then, the hare leaped up and didn’t fire down at her. Moments later, it came down with a leg aimed straight at her. Xiao had watched the footage but nothing prepared her for the actual thing. The whole attack seemed a lot faster and she barely had time to raise her shield to intercept. Even within the cockpit, she could feel the impact as the kick hit the shield.

After what seemed like eternity, the hare backed away. Xiao was worried she didn’t brace enough but her mech thankfully stood its ground. Despite the impact, her mech didn't topple over. The young woman then used this opportunity to charge her opponent. From observing the videos, she knew that there was a brief opening as the hare backed away from a kick. Normally, the mech receiving the kick would be too shaken up to retaliate. Since her mech held its ground, she was able to push the engine to its max with her pitchfork stabbed towards her foe.

Got you!

The hit wasn’t clean but she managed to scrape the same leg that did the kick earlier. Her opponent quickly used jump jets to create distance between the two mechs and resumed firing the lasers to Xiao’s annoyance. She was aware that her opponent could continue this indefinitely until he eventually got through her mech’s armor. At least, that would be the case if the hare had enough power to maintain the pressure. As the hare stopped its jump and began running, Xiao noticed something that brought a big smile on her face.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

I guess the damage is already showing!

She began running down the hare mech that struggled to stay ahead with its weakened leg. Her first stab went towards the weakened leg but her opponent deftly dodged it. Her second strike went for the other leg and landed a clean hit. She might not have gotten through the leg armor but the attack left a big crack in it. Before she could land a third strike, the hare used its jump jets to disengage.

Like a shark smelling blood, Xiao went in for the kill. She might not be able to get close while the jump jets were in play but it was a matter of time before the hare accumulated too much heat. By then, it would be forced to rely on its legs which couldn’t sustain the evasion for long. She kept up the pressure until she forced her opponent to run. When the next opening showed up, she didn’t miss her chance to hit the weakened leg, nearly severing it from the rest of the mech torso. The hare, having lost balance, was forced to tumble over.

Now the finishing blow!

As she readied the cattlemech for the last strike, Xiao noticed where the medium lasers were being aimed. She quickly estimated the trajectory of the lasers.

Not again!

Xiao immediately sidestepped her mech. The incoming lasers narrowly missed the mech’s head which would have been terrible news for her. During her study sessions of professional matches, the young woman came across a few videos where the winning side got complacent, thinking victory was achieved, and ended up losing to a well aimed headshot. In this case, she almost fell for it. The hare might be down but she wielded a melee weapon which provided her foe an opening not possible if the hare was jumping. After the lasers fired, she delivered the finishing blow before the lasers could be re-aimed.

“That was an impressive win,” said the voice on the headset. “I believe many people have lost money on this match. Who knows? Maybe you’ll be the favorite next time!”

Despite the victory, Xiao was just relieved it was over. Her opponent was no pushover and, if it weren’t for her ridiculously powerful shield, it was just a matter of time before she lost. The cattlemech made its way slowly to the mechbay where the crew awaited her return. They help her out before going to work, repairing the armor lost during combat.

Well, that’s another match! Time to worry about my pilot career. I cannot afford to let my bad habits carry over from the cattlemech to my ant mech.

She didn’t stay long to celebrate as she spent way too much time preparing for her fighting ring match. Her cattlemech required too much of her attention so she didn’t have the free time to spare for her ant mech. As she exited the mechbay, Puhi waited for her outside.

“Well, that was pretty impressive! Facing the kick isn’t the same in real life, is it?”

“Talking from experience?”

“My brother did it to me once. Still boasts about it to this day.”

“You’ll soon show him who’s boss!”

The two women headed to the cafeteria, knowing that Xiao was famished after her match. There were plenty of other matches scheduled for the rest of the day but they had other priorities. As they entered the cafeteria, they encountered a few men wearing masks and black uniforms. The uniforms weren’t those normally worn by officers of the academy.

Either they are from a special branch or they are from a different military.

The duo made way for the unknown men. They wanted nothing to do with the military, especially since neither of them were part of the military. They might get the resources but they lacked the same type of protection as the other students in the academy. Xiao understood that Puhi had the connections while she didn’t. She simply had no business to get involved. Luckily, the men walked past them without a glance. Following the encounter, the two of them grabbed some food and sat down at their normal table.

“Are you actually taking out your ant mech?” asked Puhi halfway through their meal.

“Yes, I wanted to try a few things.” Xiao noticed Puhi was studying her. “Don’t worry! I have no intention of throwing the match. I just need actual combat to test a few new subcomponents.”

“Must be fancy subcomponents if they catch your eyes, especially after your recent haul.”

“You got some of it too!”