Cael decided to go with the ranked option, and this option was totally devoid of special weapons. It fell to pure hand-to-hand combat, and this was what the mode was really used for.

Your rank in the 1v1 mode of the vault signified your technicality and ability as a warrior.

Cael began his first matchmaking session in the special vault and was given a very basic exosuit to use. It was thin, and barely had any armour at all. The armour was clearly thin and weak but if he didn’t have money to cough up, this was all that he had.

[Exosuit: Vault Starter Suit]

[Evaluation]

[Speed: 25/100]

[Strength: 21/100]

[Power Efficiency: 60/100]

[Agility: 25/100]

[Armor Integrity: 22/100]

[Framing: 15/100]

[Maintenance: 23/100]

[Overall Rank: 20/100]

There was a direct link to the virtual ExoTech Marketplace, but he had no such money to pay that panel attention. He would just have to work with what he was given.

In seconds, his darkened and became totally black, then he appeared in a grey training room just like the lobby that he was in. However, in the centre was not circular platforms but instead, a gridded arena platform.

It felt quite sturdy and dense under Cael’s newly fabricated feet, and was surrounded by surrounding seats that could fit around 500 people.

This was so other users could spectate matches that they weren’t directly involved in.

As he stood on this platform, a fighter appeared, that already had his helmet over his head.

[WarriorMechanic7914 vs _the_surgeon_]

He had a dark, sea blue exosuit with glowing white lights across its surface as it was being powered by his divine white mana.

Cael couldn’t see the fighter, but he could tell that he was attentively analysing him and his physique. He was as tall as Cael was but seemed more muscular from the apparent bulkiness of his exosuit.

“Begin!” A deep, robotic voice ordered from above, signifying the beginning of the match.

The two fighters ran forward, and Cael could feel a sense of seamlessness in his exosuit. It wasn’t like before, where he felt like the technology was inhibiting his movements. Instead, it seemed to flow with him, like it was skin.

He followed the style that was being taught to him by WarriorBot, Cyberjutsu. He turtled up and held his forearms tight to his body, and remained a significant distance from his opponent.

He remained patient but vigilant, while his opponent didn’t seem to be the same. He hurled his fist right at Cael, but the exosuit cadet predicted his attack.

It was much quicker than any attack that Cael would throw, but he was used to fighting people stronger and faster than himself. He grabbed the man’s hand, parrying it to the side to then throw a full power shot of his own.

He drove his right fist into the man’s helmet, then dipped down to evade the next attack that he knew was coming.

In cyberjutsu, the fighter would have to dip extremely low to evade any form of incoming attack. The man slugged forward his other fist in the form of a hook, but it hit nothing but air. With his lower torso wide open, Cael sprung upward then threw two straight punches right to his stomach.

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The punches landed perfectly, but he then saw a punch aimed right for his face. His forearms were lifting, but his body was simply too slow.

The punch landed on his face, which was then followed by another. The man’s exosuit was merely superior to his, and it made his attacks pack some serious power.

Even through Cael’s helmet, the attacks rocked him. He fell back and away from his opponent, but he couldn’t run forever.

He had to fall back onto the defensive, since this opponent of his was just so powerful and aggressive. He fought with cockiness and would taunt Cael whenever he would land attacks of his own.

Before Cael could properly react, he was already too far for him to connect. He could only land punches after using the odd techniques and cyberjutsu and when _the_surgeon_’s taunting were a little excessive.

However, he couldn’t find a breakthrough. HIs opponent was just too powerful, and was too athletic for him to use his wits and skill to his advantage.

His taunts continued, and started to annoy Cael quite a lot, but he tried his best to calm himself. Whenever a fighter let showboating fighters get under their skin, it would only cause them harm in battle.

As he was turtled up, and receiving an intense assault of punches, Cael was starting to run out of options. His opponent approached him with his arms low and by his side, which allowed him to land a hook right to his jaw.

Right after landing this punch though, he received a punch to his gut that was a little too much for him to handle. It rattled him, then he received another attack, which was an elbow right to his head.

[Match Lost!]

[+7 Power Points]

Since he was so low ranked, just him lasting long in a match gave him at least some power points.

This first reward excited him, but it was not enough. He’d have to get more and more to satiate his burning desire for growth. With such a device, the possibilities were boundless for his development.

In mere seconds, he was back into his next match in this ranked 1v1 mode.

The next match ended in a loss once again, but he managed to scoop up 5 extra power points for his efforts.

He didn’t have the money to buy any of the virtual exosuits that were available within the virtual ExoTech Marketplace. That means he was stuck with the basic starting exosuit that resembled a bare exoskeleton an alarming amount.

He continued on with this gruelling training program, and it was hard to do so and balance the training that he already did with Arlo in his regular training sessions as an exosuit cadet.

With 1MP more mana, he could already feel that he was somehow making more progress.

His unique fighting style was starting to look more natural already, and this was only after mere days of use. He moved with pure flow and speed like he’d already been training this style for months on end.

After perfecting his fighting technique for years, it was easier for him to pick up new styles. The movements resembled reflexes as he played them out over and over again, trying his best to copy the projected WarriorBot that stood by his side.

He could also notice a slight increase in muscle mass. One striking aspect of a fighter with mana and without mana was their muscle mass. The slimmer exosuit warriors would be equivalent to a bulky weightlifting person without access to mana.

Cael was about 6’0, and was now 180 pounds.

He could feel the tension growing within his classmates. Each person’s training regimen was powered by new determination, as the special inter-school event was coming soon.

Cael had now amassed 35 power points, off just losses. It was an embarrassing, sad reality but this was not of concern to him right now. All he had to do was continue fighting, and continue training.

He entered his school’s virtual pod room again and entered the Vault to continue his training.

In the game, you would have to repair your exosuit of its damages after constant use. However, in the 1v1 mode, this was a rarity. Punches and kicks didn’t really serve to break the exosuit but the user inside instead.

The force could make it through the suit and hurt the user, but the tough metal of exosuits wouldn’t simply break from basic attacks like that.

This meant that Cael’s given exosuit was practically brand new still, even after several fights.

Entering right into a 1v1 match, he found another person that had the same basic exosuit that he had.

They were classed as ‘no-skins’ and they were the bottom of the barrel when it came to skill in this game.

The basic exosuit was just too poor for one to really use the abilities that they had, and was almost just there to stop you fighting without one.

He was slim, around Cael’s size, but was shorter than him by a few inches.

[WarriorMechanic7914 vs user11235813]

This meant that Cael possibly had a chance. If he had similar strength to himself, he was sure that his technique would take him a long way.

“Begin!”