- Oliver -

  The signal for the third round sounded, eg throughout the arena. The massive doors began to rise, slowly revealing the imposing silhouette of the mecha waiting beyond.

  "Four recruits remaining on the field! We have Cole Thorn, Max Cruz, Sophie Laurent, and Oliver Nameless. Who would have thought a Nameless would make it to the final round? Will we see an upset?" the entator announced, his voice filled with excitement.

  Oliver crouched he tral pilr, trying to trol his heavy breathing. Sweat dripped down his temple, and his muscles protested after the previous battles. As he caught his breath, the anizing team quickly ehe arena, removing the pilots who were still trapped in the damaged mini-mechas.

  The gate tio rise, gradually revealing the gigantic six-meter-tall mecha. Although it wasn't the rgest avaible on the market, its presence was monstrous and intimidating.

  Oliver didn't have specific details about that model in the NEA materials, but his personal research had helped him reize some of the most echas used in bat. And this one, in a way, was one of them.

  inally desigo work in the depths of the most inhospitable mihe MN-23, niamed Earthbreaker, was a Css Ats Mecha focused on manual bor ara that had been adapted for pary defense in situations of extreme need.

  ‘They're using the weakest ons against recruits,’ Oliver thought. Although they were Mini-Mechas and Mechas, at least the NEA chose the less bative versions, giving them a shallow ce to fight back.

  The massive blue structure of the MN-23, reinforced to withstand the pressure of subterranean yers, also helped it face the chaos of the battlefield. The bright e stripes, painted as safety markers, became an intimidating symbol of its presen bat and helped refugees find a safe path away from the fight.

  At the heart of the Earthbreaker is a Z-Crystal Reactor capable of operating for days without pause. It powers the incredibly potent hydraulic systems, which allow it to carry tons of ore or crush Ork barricades with almost the same ease.

  Oliver also noticed that the Mecha wasn't equipped with its traditional on. ‘Another positive point; at worst, I'll be crushed by its hands,’ he thought sarcastically.

  The enormous drill-shaped nces, designed initially to pierce rocky ground, were used to pee the armor of Ork vehicles. These pierg tools, mounted on its heavy arms, are powered by ehat cut through reinforced steel in seds, making it a lethal threat in close bat. Luckily for the boy, they weren't with them.

  The Earthbreaker's robust and funal design included reinforced ptes and a protected cockpit at the ter of the torso. It was armored against rock slides and, in war, against explosions.

  Oliver recalled some of its fws. ‘It's slow, yet unstoppable.’

  He remembered watg some short interviews with pilots, who described the sensation as being in trol of an "a monster."

  ‘Now I'll have to face this 'A Monster,'’ Oliver thought.

  With his breath still heavy, Oliver fixed his eyes on the colossal mae. "Let's give it a try," he murmured to himself.

  [Insight]

  The boy didn't remember the st time he had used this boon and didn't miss it. Immediately, he felt intense pressure at the front of his head, followed by a flood of information inundating his mind. It was as if he had absorbed all the teical schematics of the mae at once. However, there roblem: he possessed the information but didn't fully uand what was in his mind.

  | New Skill Acquired

  | New Skill Acquired

  Oliver could see some new notifications in the er of his vision.

  | Skills

  | Ranger on Handling [Knight]

  | Mecha Repairing [Pawn]

  | Mecha Piloting [Pawn]

  "Alright, I've acquired these skills, but how do I use them?" the boy questioned himself, feeling the moment's urgency.

  "The mecha pilots have given the green light! Let's start the final round! We will finally know the champion of this exam!" the entator said.

  Oliver closed his eyes briefly, trying tahe information in his mind. He visualized the MN-23, recalling every detail of the schematid searg for oints to attack.

  "Behind the khere's a small space where I damage the hydraulic parts of the legs," he thought. "With enough force, I promise the electrical es on the right arm."

  He khat identifying the oints was only the first step; the real challenge would be applying them in bat.

  The boy looked at the part of his armor damaged in the previous rounds. He could deactivate aivate the Artificial Ranger Armor to repair the damage, but that would e too muergy—a resource he o serve.

  ‘It's better to fight like this. Either way, if I'm hit directly, I'll almost certainly be disqualified,’ Oliver thought.

  "Let's start! 3... 2... 1..." the entator said.

  The arm sounded ihe arena. The Earthbreaker took its first steps, the ground trembling with the mecha's weight. Fortunately for Oliver, despite its imposing size, the war mae was slow.

  Oliver took a deep breath, feeling adrenaline pulse through his veins. With his eyes fixed oallic giant, he began to move terally, seeking a good position to attack. The mecha turned slowly, trying to keep up with him, but the boy's speed was superior.

  ‘I o reach the back of the legs,’ he thought, recalling the oints.

  With a quick sprint, he ran toward the Earthbreaker. The pilot, notig the approach, tried to crush him with one of the heavy arms. Oliver slid along the ground, feeling the air dispced by the mecha's movement pass over him.

  "My God!" the boy shouted upon feeling the force of the wind caused by the Earthbreaker's arm. took over his mind for a moment: "Would I survive if I were hit?"

  Determio tinue, Oliver tried to get closer to the mae's legs. However, the steel giant jumped back, retreating a few meters and causing a small earthquake upon nding, making the ground tremble under his feet. But this wouldn't be the st time he would feel the earth shake.

  "What was that?! Sophie has been eliminated; she thought she could dodge the attack, but even a flick from the Mecha was enough to throw her against the zone wall and eliminate her from the battle," the entator expined about one of the other zones. "Meanwhile, Max is pletely giant, almost the same height as the Mecha. However, he has also lost his speed. Does he expect to win in a strength test?"

  "Only two left," Oliver thought, feeling a mix of ay aement at being among the three finalists.

  Oliver's legs trembled. He had already pushed his body to the limit with four uses of [Prometheus], but he knew he would need a bit more.

  "Just a little more," he wished.

  Ihe Earthbreaker's cockpit, the pilot was surprised. The boy seemed to know the weaknesses of his mecha quite well. From the beginning of the fight, Oliver had tried to advance directly against the mae's knees. Even so, thought the pilot, he was still just a boy. He didn't o take the fight so seriously. The pilot decided not to advance directly toward Oliver's pilr, preferring to engage in close bat—if it could be called that.

  Oliver leased with the pilot's decision. Seeing the MN-23 advaoward him, he prepared himself, waiting for the right moment. He observed as one of the enormous arms approached him, the shadow cast by the metallic limb growing rapidly over him.

  "Now!" Oliver shouted.

  [Prometheus]

  He activated the ability again, feeling the energy course through his exhausted legs. The world around him seemed to slow down for a moment. He dodged the blow, passing uhe mecha's arm. The air current created by the movement almost tripped him, but he was expeg something like that.

  Taking advantage of the opening, the boy rah the Earthbreaker's enormous arm, seeking the protrusions of the arm’s structure. In a matter of seds, he had approached his objective. Pulling out his Energy Pistol, he aimed at the e between the arm and the shoulder, a vulnerable point that could promise the mae's movements.

  He could feel that his regur shots wouldn't have enough power to damage the structure. Instead of redug and making it thinner, he decided to overload his pistol with energy.

  ‘Hope it doesn't explode,’ Oliver thought upon seeing his pistol, which generally had a bluish glow, now glowing red.

  Ihe cockpit, the pilot struggled to keep up with Oliver's speed on the monitors. Arms sounded as the sensors detected the boy's presenear a critical area of the mecha's structure.

  Before the pilot could alter the course of the attack, Oliver's shot was fired, causing an explosion of sparks and debris. The Earthbreaker's arm trembled, losing its power.

  However, the explosion was such that the force pushed Oliver far from the Mecha.

  "What the fuck! How did this kid find that?!" excimed the pilot, trying tain trol of the MN-23's arm. However, the arm was damaged entirely; it hung by the Mecha's side, making applying force to the limb seem impossible.

  Without wasting time, Oliver got up from the ground and accelerated toward the back of the mecha.

  [Prometheus]

  He tried to activate it but didn't feel any energy pass through his body.

  [Prometheus]

  Again, nothing.

  He had spent all his Energy; even his Energy Pistol had disappeared. All that remained was his Artificial Ranger Armor.

  When he was a few meters from the Mecha, an arm sounded in the arena.

  GCLopes