There were different types of battles that one could have, but Lazarro and Ezekiel most liked the Arena 3v3 format. This focused on close-quarters, hand-to-hand battles that were quick but intense.
The three friends, -him, Ezekiel and Preston-, had even reached the Skilled rank, placed above Novice. However, it wasn’t long before they were booted right back to Novice III, after meeting adult exosuit cadets and even soldiers of the private rank.
In due time, Lazarro placed himself snugly into his vault and was launched back into the popular game’s own lobby.
There, he met his two friends that were already present, and was more than pleased to see that his friend was donning the WM-EX 1 that he had been hoping he’d get.
“My parents said they’re not getting anything for me for the next year because I got this.” He commented, drawing chuckles from his friends.
“It’ll be worth it, I promise. I looked at that design and it looks neat.” Lazarro replied.
“Yeah, it’s quite compact and everything and for the price, it is very low weight and high power. I don’t know how that WarriorMechanic guy even breaks even.” Ezekiel replied.
“About that seller guy, do you reckon that he’s also a cadet like us? Or maybe even a warrior already?” Preston asked.
This drew a few seconds of silence from his friends, that contemplated his question.
“Well, I’m not entirely sure. Most likely not. Why would you waste your time being a mechanic when the gods have gifted you with mana? Having mana means you are born to fight.” Ezekiel replied.
Those with mana who weren’t willing to take on the responsibility of protecting those without it sickened him. He always felt contempt toward such cowardice.
“He could be. Like Ezekiel said though, it just doesn’t really make any sense. Why would you even like the profession of a mechanic if you have mana?” Lazarro asked.
Most people felt like the profession of being a warrior was objectively better than the alternative profession of being a mechanic.
It drew greater respect to one’s name and was more exhilarating. It was also a privileged position that some people were cursed to never be able to attain from lacking mana.
They didn’t think about the matter further, and just entered a match of the Arena 3v3 mode.
“After all this time, we’ll get back to Skilled in no time!” Lazarro claimed, cracking his virtual knuckles.
The three warriors transformed into a cloud of blue energy as they were transferred to the battle arena, that was currently empty.
It had brown seats, available to players that wanted to spectate current battles, and had a thin sand floor, placed on top a tougher sandstone.
Across from them, though was the trio that they had been sent to face.
One of the students possessed a long katana, along with other metal projectiles intended to break and crack the armour of the exosuit.
These exosuits were built upon the ancient ninjas located back on Earth. Most people didn’t vouch for such a style of technology in the real world, but the Vault had a lot more unique and niche designs.
It was a sleek white colour, with only spots of black in certain areas. It gave the warrior a bold, domineering appearance as he donned a rare, bright colour of exosuit.
A colour that wasn’t optimal for stealth conveyed a sense of confidence and bloodthirst from the wearer to their opponents, as they looked willing to battle.
Beside him was a tall warrior that resembled a massive bowling ball with extremities. The person’s belly seemed to be big enough to fit several heads inside, but he also stood at an enormous 6’7.
He wore a pale red exosuit and had glowing white energy appearing from the small openings across his intricately assembled exosuit.
Finally, there was a warrior that almost looked like an autonomous bot. His exosuit was black, which was pretty much the standard, but possessed two large energy rifles on their shoulder, along with one located on the wrist.
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Their other wrist was used for a heated arrow crossbow, and the two teams were given a few minutes of time to converse with each other on how to beat their opponents.
There was a green sheet of energy that appeared, making sure that they couldn’t hear their conversations.
“I’m going for the big guy, of course.” Ezekiel said, fearlessly.
Lazarro nodded with approval. One thing he always appreciated with his big burly friend was his bravery. No matter the fear, he would never shy away from a fight.
“It would be optimal for us to find a way to get that support fighter out the way as quickly as possible. His armour looks way too dense and that must mean he can’t move very fast at all. Utilising 3-directional movement should give us the advantage.” Preston analytically mused, with his hand on his chin.
“Urgh, why do you always have to bring the fun out of it. Let’s just bash their heads in!” The ginger fighter shouted, slamming his fist into his open palm.
The green sheet soon lifted, and there was a countdown that appeared above the arena. In a flash, it was time for them to begin and the match had begun.
The fighters scattered from their starting positions, but the support warrior of the other squad remained somewhat firm in place.
PEW! PEW!
POOF! POOF!
Clouds of sand erupted from the ground as the warrior shot forward numerous red energy blasts.
The blasts shot with at high firing rates, but they didn’t prove to be very accurate. As soon as the warriors began moving around, they managed to keep themselves untouched.
Ezekiel sped toward the terrifyingly large warrior with a shout, leaping right at him.
In his advance, though, several spinning metal objects were shot in his direction. He managed to lift his arm and block them, but one of the sharp spinning weapons managed to cut him on the side of his cheek.
In reaction, his helmet appeared in fragments and covered his head so that he wouldn’t be hurt in such a fashion again, but his attention returned to his primary target.
Before he could throw a punch, though, one was already hurdling straight toward his face. His arms lifted in reaction and caught the fist before it could reach the other parts of his body.
The punch knocked him off course and knocked him back a firm step, but that was all. Ezekiel wasn’t going to be thrown off that badly off a spontaneous move like that.
With another punch that came his way, Ezekiel dropped right under it and closed in. He moved closer to his opponent, with his arms tight to his head and torso to protect himself, and his right arm’s gauntlet glowed more brightly as he activated his powered gauntlet.
With a grunt of anger to fuel his power, his fist drove into the man’s side, then he followed with two swift but powerful punches to the tall warrior’s face.
His powered gauntlet allowed his punches to be seriously forceful, but speedy as well.
The larger of the two shook their head upon taking these sudden attacks, and just rushed forward like a crazed beast. Ezekiel was somewhat stunned by this sudden advance. He didn’t even slow down to have a better chance at throwing a proper attack.
He just slammed into him with as much force as he could, throwing him right off his feet.
Ezekiel was sent sliding across the ground and felt surprised that he had been floored so easily. For his entire life, he'd been trained to fight like the bigger, brawnier opponent. However, the dynamics here would have to be different if he wanted to beat this mammoth being.
The two warriors exchanged strikes, and Ezekiel could quickly tell that this red exosuit warrior possessed monstrous strength. Ezekiel had basic powered gauntlets that came with the exosuit, but he had to use them sparingly.
The items tended to fail and overheat when used too frequently and could drain the energy of the user if abused.
However, what he did have was superior technique and speed. He was sure the fight wouldn’t last much longer before he was given the edge, and he could tell that his enemy knew that.
He lifted both arms and roared like a maniacal beast, hurling them downwards.
Ezekiel stepped to the side of this incoming attacks and followed up by swinging his arm right into his torso. Before this user could attack him again in retaliation, he had already stepped back and out of range to make sure that he could remain untouched.
The next punch that was aimed at his face was easily managed by a parry, and he prepared to throw another of his own.
He smiled in confidence as he could feel himself dominating the battle, but his mood soured as he was hit with an energy blast straight to his right arm.
Another one came his way in quick succession, and he was even launched off his feet.
He hissed in pain upon feeling the heat passing through the exosuit. It had reached his skin and was already enough to have given this virtual avatar of himself a burn.
With his attention taken off the fight, his adversary drove their knee into his head, and grabbed him to then hurl him into the floor.
The surroundings shook under the impact, and Ezekiel then struggled against this warrior that towered over him. He used his greater weight and strength to get him pinned to the ground.
However, Ezekiel was not going to submit. No warrior would keep him down in such a way without him resisting with every muscle fibre in his body.
He roared from under his helmer, using all the power that his exosuit could grant him. Almost by miracle, his arms lifted from off his chest and started to push the larger fighter back.
The man towered over him looked to his two arms, as they slowly retreated to his own chest.
In the process of doing this, though, the floored warrior could see a glowing red energy rifle and aimed right in his direction from across the arena.
He gritted his teeth upon seeing the situation at hand. If he was to get hit by a blast head-on like this, he would be toast. However, he smiled as he conjured up a swift plan in his mind.
The blast inevitably shot in his direction, but he grabbed the larger warrior and threw him in the line of fire.
His back was forced to take on the force of the energy blast, and Ezekiel used the split-second of freedom that he was given to shoot back up to his feet. With his feet now planted on the floor once again, he threw his right arm forward with all his weight, while activating his powered gauntlet in the process.
This punch threw the fighter even further off balance, and he was forced to fall onto his hands.
Now, the tables had turned. Ezekiel was now the one towering over his opponent.