Chapter 124: Individual Battles

Words : 1424 Updated : Sep 17th, 2025

Chapter 124: Individual Battles How? By scaring everyone else. The exam consisted of two parts. The first half was a shooting exam, while the second part was what most were looking forward to: the individual matches. Ollie was the only one waiting for them outside. However, he wasn’t just busy cheering for everyone. He was also trying to fight off a new worry. What if they don’t pass, and he’s left there to be forced to join other guilds? His worry was because of guilt, not because he felt they couldn’t do it. Ollie knew that he took up most of Luca’s time to practice and study, and every day he got better was another day to pile up more guilt. His improvement came with a steep price: it was in exchange for his good brother’s practice time. Ollie was sure as hell nervous, and it didn’t help that he was seated next to these people who wouldn’t shut up about the bets they made. Ollie wanted to stuff them with Star coins if it would help, but he realized he’d rather give them to someone worthy, like his brother. Yeah, his brother, who just bulldozed his doubts and guilt by demolishing the first exam. Ollie shot up from his seat, in awe at what he was watching. Luca was like a specter as he avoided the simulated corrupted beasts. Well, as much as a specter could, given the mecha’s hulking size. To others, it looked like he was avoiding them to position himself, but it was a different reality from Luca, who was having a crisis. He kept wanting to vacuum out corruption that wasn’t even real. It wasn’t like this before, but after earning close to 450,000CP from the port cleanup, Luca just couldn’t help himself. His fingers itched, and his heart bled every time he saw the corruption lying there, not ripe for the taking. It sure was depressing, and the little money grubber could only rush to finish this part of the test just so he wouldn’t be sad and tempted again. Even D-29 felt the Host’s agitation as more and more corruption flooded his view, but none of them were good enough to turn into money. So, the little system just consoled its Host by saying that this exam would be the ticket that would allow him to get more CP, and he just needed to pass. And pass he did. Luca did so well that he was practically doubted by the people outside. But this time, it wasn’t just him because there were more freshmen examinees with the same ferocious results. However, none came close to Number 28, who took out all the stops to ensure top marks. The little chipmunk asked for it. And considering how that Shorty never asked for much, he’d feel bad not succeeding in this. It was a bloodbath—or,well, an oozebath. If Luca looked agile, Xavier elected to stand still, taking out everyone with shocking speed as he funneled everyone into a corner for easier killing. And unsurprisingly, he was first. The others wanted to accuse him of cheating because, considering his rank of 28, that seemed unrealistic. However, unlike in Luca’s case, there were now students who had to voice their opinions. "That was the Top student of the Junior Military Academy. If not for missing the assessment test, I think he would’ve been number 1, too." The murmurs stopped because even the current students thought the same. It was just that more and more people were looking at Ollie, who had bet not only on his best bro but also on his entire group. He was indeed a Mylor, thought everyone. Little did they know that it was because his good brother had said that Xavier had promised to win first place. And was practically dragged in by his large eyes to place a bet. And while Ollie wasn’t sure what the weight of that promise was, he was sure about not wanting to disappoint his good brother by not listening to his business plan. So, he also put in 10 million just to make his brother smile contentedly. He tried a lower amount, but Luca looked like he would spiral into despair, so Ollie decided to just go for it. It shouldn’t be a big deal, right? It was just money, after all. But no. Ollie felt the intense stares as everyone realized the value of the person next to them who had gotten all his bets right. All Ollie could do was to make himself visible to the surveillance in case someone decided to nab him for his winnings. But he didn’t need to put in much effort because Luca’s individual games were about to start, and he certainly looked like he was about to fly over. __ The only freedom they got for the individual battles was to use their personal mecha data. So, Luca had to add a few weapons as he had only a sword before. To pass the exam, they needed to win at least three matches, and the winners were ranked based on their speed of victory. Luca’s first match was against a light mecha. It was actually his first chance to see so many different kinds of mechas. They mostly used manual mechas in class, while his buddies used the same mechas every time. Unsurprisingly, the light mecha immediately locked onto Luca with his shoulder cannons before firing indiscriminately. Now, the artillery fire would’ve flustered him had it been the first time he’d been fired at like this. But Luca’s benefactor was a light mecha user, and the small animal would be caught dead if he was scared of such shots. Luca skillfully avoided the attacks of the enemy that stood like a sentry as he thought of ways to deal with him. "Host, that cannon seems to be interesting. Wouldn’t it be nice to see the design?" D-29 was hoping to amass as much design information as possible to prepare for the Host’s artistic ventures. And this was one design that could be added to the ever-growing list. "Do you think so, too?" Luca asked D-29. This shouldn’t be surprising, as the student paid a lot for this particular installation. It’s just that Luca figured he wouldn’t be able to ask for something that probably cost money, so he decided to check it out for himself. It was a very up close and personal check-up. Luca went for the sentry’s legs, effectively sweeping his opponent to the ground. However, the light mecha felt that this position was relatively advantageous, as it was perfect for his shoulder cannons. However, his imagined destruction didn’t come. Instead of an explosive detonation, he ended up with a dismantling. Luca’s little multi-tool seemed very nifty. His original goal was to use this when fighting in civilian areas like that marketplace. He found it difficult to deal with the environment because his mecha was all brawn and lacked the precision to deal with small holes without ruining an entire structure. So, the penny pincher who didn’t want to spend on repair fees added several precision tools to his mecha. Although it cost a lot to buy it from the Trove, he felt the investment was worth it. And now it was being used to disassemble the light mecha’s shoulder cannons. Then, the joints holding them in, and eventually, the connection to the energy cube. Luca checked all of it as D-29 made sure to collect the data as efficiently as possible. But this dismantling for the sake of research and development eventually caused the dismantling of the cockpit. And what Luca was left with was his opponent in virtual flesh. "..." "..." "Oh. Sorry." Luca sincerely apologized, realizing that he may have gone a little too far. "Host, maybe we should do it part by part next time," D-29 suggested, as this would also allow for better data collection. While a little dismantler discussed how fast and efficient they should be next time, the audience was left stunned in silence as they witnessed a gruesome scene. And Ollie decided not to turn his head around as he felt several eyes on him. They were filled with fear. But if there was one person who felt rightfully afraid and concerned, then it would be Ollie, who could tell exactly what was happening. His brother likely needed more money. He was clearly checking the parts of that mecha. And Ollie felt like he should’ve bet more to earn more money!

Chapter 124: Individual Battles

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