New Friends

The feeling he got after triumphing over this autobot in this way was great. He could see how he was making progress, since he seriously struggled against an autobot of this level before.

Now, he had defeated it without receiving an attack himself.

*****

His training continued, and it didn't take as long for his mech to adapt to the energy shield. It took about a fortnight and after fighting a few autobots and training with his energy shield activated, he soon had no need for the modules.

[+100XP]

[Level Up!]

[+1 XP Boost]

[Mech Level Up!]

[+1 Strength]

[+1 Speed]

[+1 Durability]

[+1 Amorphousness]

[+3% Efficiency]

In the communal training area, his mech started to vibrate intensely during this level up. He looked down at his body with a smile as this happened.

For most people, it would take months to reach their first level up but he had done so in about a month and a half.

'Open stats and mech details!'

[User: Alonso Del Valle]

[User Level: 3]

[XP: 0/300]

[XP Boosts: 1]

[Mech Level: 2]

[Skills] [expand]

[Traits] [expand]

[Mech Details] [expand]

[Type: N/A]

[Strength: 3]

[Speed: 2]

[Amorphousness: 2]

[Durability: 3]

[Power: 99%]

[Efficiency: 28%]

[Damage Status: None]

[Temperature: 35°C]

[Modules] [expand]

Alonso excitedly placed his XP boost into his speed and now, he could feel the improvement of his mech. It was certainly faster than before and once he decided to deactivate it, it pulled off his skin with greater speed.

If he could manipulate his mech with greater speed in battle, it could make him a more versatile warrior.

Giving some time to look at his new types, he wondered what assigning a type to his mech would do. With this system, it felt like he could mould his mech into pretty much anything that he wanted to.

'What's the need for me to place a type on my mech?' He wondered

"Once the user places a type on their mech, the system will give quests and rewards that cater to that type. Additionally, if the user was to choose the bruiser type for example, strength would increase at a 2x rate during mech level ups."

That sounded like a handy tool. He just had to make sure that he would choose the right type before hand. He couldn't exactly see himself becoming a bruiser type mech, but he did like the sound of the speed and transformer types.

There were some obscure types that he had to choose from but the choice was for another time. He didn't have to make a decision just yet.

The following day, Alonso went through his lectures during school hours and went right toward the school's large training tower to begin his training. He started on a 2 tonne bag and was surprised that he was actually able to move it with his strikes.

Following his increase in strength, he wasn't actually the weakest person in this communal hall any longer.

He continued on for rounds and rounds on the bag and didn't seem like he was stopping anytime soon. He had drilled discipline and willpower into his mind so he knew how to conduct himself when he worked himself to the maximum.

After about half an hour, he decided to take a break and revealed his helmet so he could take full on breaths of pure air.

"I admire your discipline, Alonso." A student said from beside him.

He was a student in his class and his name was Luciano. He had a white mech, similar to Kai Cordano, but his was of the bruiser type. It was larger and bulkier, while he also had blonde hair of moderate length.

"Thank you." Alonso replied, while panting.

Soon enough his training was complete, and Luciano ended his training session just as he did. While Luciano looked rather calm and relaxed, Alonso was drenched in sweat and exhausted.

"What level's your mech now?" Luciano asked, as they entered the halls of the tower.

"2. I levelled up recently."

"Wow! I've had my mech for nearly 3 years and I'm still at level 2 as well! I guess my genetic score of 0.27 isn't doing me any good." Luciano jokingly replied.

During his time in the academy, Alonso had really not spent any time talking to people. He was the only person in his class without a mech and nobody dared trying to socialise and associate with him.

Luciano had never insulted him nor looked down on him, but he still put up a high guard.

"You left early Luciano." Another student said, stepping out from the training hall.

"Oh yeah, I was just saying hi to Alonso here. Did you know he's Level 2 already?" He said, making the other student raise his eyebrows in surprise.

He had very short brown hair, with the same length as Lennox, but he was 5'7.

"Wow! How is he our level already? You must be working a lot harder than us. The name's Michael by the way." He said, reaching out his hand.

"Why are you talking to me?" Alonso abruptly replied.

The two students felt quite flabbergasted by his reply and Luciano just jerked back his head in surprise.

"Well, I'm just trying to get to know other people our skill. I also feel that I need to be working as hard as you if I want to get anywhere." Luciano replied, making Alonso surprised.

After thinking about the situation for a little bit, it actually did seem like these students meant no harm.

Everybody around him seemed like enemies to him. He believed that people that could hurt him in one way or another and aimed to do so.

"Oh, sorry, that's my bad." Alonso said, but Luciano then placed a hand on his shoulder.

"We get what you feel, man. Our weakness makes us feel isolated but we just gotta move on, you know?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I guess so." Alonso replied.

Those words struck a chord with him and even though these guys were slightly more privileged than himself, they were living his life.

Poor genetic talent, little respect and practically no power.

The following day, all of the students got ready to receive a special announcement from their teacher.

"Everybody, I would like to announce that, in 4 weeks time, we will be going through our very first practical event."

"We have made a partnership with the Sago State PRA and will be going on a trip to the Kernei Republic." Mr Piedrabuena announced.

The students looked at each other in excitement, smiling from the news.

"Don't think this is going to be fun and games. I recommend that you buy coolant modules for this upcoming planet. Kernei is a wasteland desert that reaches as high as 60 degrees centigrade. At night time, it can get as cold as -25 degrees. You want to buy a coolant before you get there because everyone on that planet needs one. The prices for the coolants in that pocket realm are insane." He elaborated.

"Anyway, you will be organised into teams with a maximum of three members. For a certain period of time, you will be tasked with acquiring as many beast crystals as possible. Once you have collected them, you will return them to the military base for them to be counted. Do not worry too much about what's happening now, you will be reinformed." Mr Piedrabuena further explained.

The students already began to talk amongst themselves about what was going to happen between them. People were already thinking of their teams and people even opened the MechMod Market to look at coolants, following their teacher's advice.

After the lecture, Luciano approached Alonso with Michael.

"Do you want to be a squad. I think we're around the same level so we shouldn't hold each other back." Luciano said.

"Sure." Alonso replied.

There was no reason for him to decline at this point. He knew that he probably wasn't getting any offers from anyone else. Trying to do this mission solo was most likely going to be a suicide mission for him.

The students entered the training tower together this time, heading for the communal training area.

"Alonso, are you up for a spar?" Luciano asked, as they approached the elevator.

This was going to be the first real spar he'd have against someone who was actually similar to his level. He wasn't going to miss out on this opportunity.

"Yeah, sure." Alonso replied.

The two warriors stood against each other on a white platform. Around them, other fighters were facing each other and some people had some versatile mechs.

One person had the ability to shoot out flames from his mech, and other people could mimic traits of animals.

Luciano's mech took form, and bulkier mechs were a lot louder and slower as they formed. His was made of nanoparticles but resembled a suit made of larger parts, but Alonso's was much sleeker.

The two students nodded at each other with respect then made their battle stances.

The battle was on.