Cael couldn’t have even helped Lazarro after seeing that his powered gauntlet strike was so weak at the start. The loss actually hurt less for him, for two main reasons.
Firstly, he knew the person that he was up against. If this Ellis Alnwick person was of this heavily respected, lauded family company, how could he have competed against him? It was likely that the younger boy had years more experience than himself.
On top of that, he had gotten decently far. For him to have reached this point, that would place him in the top 25% of people who qualified for the event. Compared to all of the mechanics who had taken part in this championship event, that number would be much higher.
Even if this was the championship event and not the premier event, billions of people would’ve been watching this event play out.
There was bound to have been some people paying attention to his work and performance.
Lazarro was finally removed from his suit, and it would then be scrapped for parts later on. Cael felt saddened that his design that he had placed hours of strenuous effort into was now gone for good.
However, he was sure he’d be able to recall some of the internal configurations and armour layout if he used similar components in the future.
Now, remaining in one of the booths of the stadiums, the two remained rather directionless. With their tournament now at a close, Lazarro just spent a short time trying to get over his loss. It turns out, after being knocked out and being in the thrill of battle, it was much harder for him to accept and move past his defeat.
Cael tried his best to console him -using his own words regarding the talented Ellis Alnwick- to show him that his loss didn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. He was up against a mechanic from a rich family, who was likely tutored by the best mechanics and professors from across the empire and even their star sector.
During this time, they just spent their time eating snacks, and waiting for the next set of fights to continue. They were mainly waiting for the final showdown between the last two fighters.
Cael lifted up to get even more snacks, surprised by his own edacity, and on the way was met by Kegan’s mechanic, Leon Areno.
“Hey there man! I just wanted to say you did proper good out there. Your exosuit was like you spent a whole week designing it!” Leon said while animatedly moving his arms for emphasis, before extending his arm for a handshake.
The boy was clearly upbeat and bubbly. Even though they were an arm’s length or so from each other, he talked in a half-shout. Cael was more of the reserved, introverted type and didn’t feel any sort of resonation with this attitude, especially so for a stranger. He just awkwardly shook his hand and nodded with a smile.
“Thanks a lot. Your exosuit wasn’t half bad, I just think the user wasn’t so great.” Cael smartly replied, receiving a loud chuckle from the boy.
“HAHAHA! Maybe. What even happened between you two because you seemed to see red as soon as he talked to you.” He replied, using his muddy shoes to lift one of his rainbow-coloured socks.
“A lot of things I don’t really have the time to go over. He just chooses to put on that fake attitude of politeness to hide how he really is as a person.” Cael said, surprisingly being very positive about his description.
“Oh, so he’s one of them. I wish I could’ve got an actual decent person to use my exosuit – not that it was any good to be honest.” The boy said jokingly.
“Your exosuit wasn’t bad. It might’ve had a few faults but so did mine. We were working under really tough time constraints, after all.”
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The two continued their smalltalk for some time, before Leon decided it was time for him to go.
“Are you not staying for the final match?” Cael asked.
“No chance. I wanted to be in that match and I don’t want to see others relish the glory that I want for myself. I think I’ll just head out and head home. I do quite the way’s back to Saevis if I’m being totally honest.”
Cael’s eyebrows lifted reflexively at his last statement. He was from the same planet as him and Lazarro.
“Hey, you’re from Saevis? We are too!” Lazarro called out, upon hearing this.
He had just spent the time to himself for now, just watching certain matches and taking this time to relax. As soon as he heard another person from his own planet was here, he felt the sudden need to jump in.
“I’m from a small city. It would be called a hamlet by anybody from this place. It’s called Flemington. Has about a third of a million people there.” Leon explained.
Upon giving further description, the other two could get a general idea of where the place was. This made the three of them smile, due to being from a common birth planet.
The three decided to share some credentials so they could maybe meet up and just keep in contact. Worldwide transport allowed people to cross planets in lower than an hour, making a planet as connected as major cities were many millennia ago.
“Anyways, it was fun, you guys. Well, not so fun since you knocked my fighter guy out but from what I heard about him, maybe it was for the best. I’ll catch you guys later!” Leon said, waving at the two.
Cael waved back, and Leon took his leave.
The number of fighters steadily dwindled, with even Ellis Alnwick being eliminated. He was a talented mechanic, but the fighter that was assigned to him simply wasn’t on the same level as him.
The richkid made sure to berate and ridicule the man as soon as he was eliminated. With the numerous fans also on his side, they gave Horatio similar treatment.
As for the final match, Cael couldn’t help but smile in awe at the masterpieces that stood before him. They were in the massive outdoor stadium that was used to first introduce the participants, and this match was watched personally by the emperor himself.
From the stands, you could see the glass room that was elevated above the other seated spectators, housing the emperor and his son, the prince that had announced the qualifiers. They looked similar, with clear and pale skin alongside silky black hair.
A fighter, with his helmet already properly engaged, had a glistening, black-tinted vice, with a unique but futuristic helmet design.
His armour was perfectly laid out, and each piece looked meticulously hand-crafted for the area it was to be placed on. He was clearly equipped with two powered gauntlets, along with two energy rifles placed side-by-side on the man’s right shoulder. Even though it should’ve been weighing the person down, his suit was skilfully crafted so that he would feel very little.
As for the opponent, his armour was a sleek white colour, and had two wrist-mounted rifles along with thick lower leg pieces. Cael wondered what that would do, since it would struggle to increase leg speed.
With the weight concentrated so far down the suit, he couldn’t find a way for it to accelerate the user greatly.
The stadium was filled to the brim, and the chaos was quite intimidating to Cael. He had never been in an environment so animated like this, while Lazarro sseemed to fit in just fine as he joined in with the screaming, cheering, and applauding.
“Here we have it, folks. His Majesty’s Championship Fighter-Mechanic Event has come down to this! First, we announce the mechanics letting their creations collide. The creator of the black exosuit goes by Marcel Delsarte, from the neighbouring Stohan Empire!!” The main announcer called out.
In an elevated seating area, reserved for nobles, there sat the mechanic responsible for the exosuit currently in use.
Cael couldn’t properly see him, but he had olive-toned, tanned skin and dark brown hair. From his name and complexion, he could already tell that he wasn’t from the Soburg Empire.
The Stohan Empire drew their roots from a specific area of Earth called The Americas.
“In the other corner, we have the older brother of the previous competitor Ellis Alnwick, Harry Alnwick!”
He was clad in an all-white suit, with some black areas on it. He sat in a similar noble way and received far more enthusiastic cheers and rallies from the crowd.
“As for the fighters, the man clad in the black exosuit is Colin Gilson! For the man that he is facing, he is an upcoming prodigal figure within the prestigious Lentini Family, Ardito Lentini!”
Upon hearing that name, Cael knew exactly which family the announcer was on about. The Lentini family were a noble house within the Soburg Empire, and he was sure one of their main members would’ve been in this stadium watching the fight from the several elevated pods.
They were known for their characteristic red and ginger hair. Most of them had a paler red hair, with more diluted members of the family possessing ginger or even blonde hair.
“Here we go, ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Let’s begin this fight before we get bored shall we! Let’s begin!” The announcer roared, placing his microphone right to his mouth.