Xiao once again found herself inside her cattlemech as she prepared for the requested match. When she checked the rewards, she was promised two crates of special equipment upfront with three more crates if she won. She consulted Wattan on the matter and the head mechanic told her to take up the offer.

  “You never know! Given your luck, there might be some special subcomponents again!”

  The young woman doubted that she could be so lucky but, when the head mechanic looked into the first crate, he did the same thing as last time where he called for transports to send the two crates to a secure location. The man stated that she was a rare subcomponent magnet but Xiao was worried about the development. As someone being somewhat superstitious, she feared that she was using up too much of her good luck.

  What if something terrible happens during this match? The worry had kept her up all night so Xiao didn’t get any sleep. If it weren’t for the several cups of coffee she forced down her stomach, she was certain she would be asleep already. I better play it cautiously.

  “Please proceed to the arena! Your match awaits!”

  Before Xiao moved her mech, she looked up at the monitor above the arena gate and stared in disbelief as soon as she caught sight of the opposing mech. Due to the short notice for the requested match, she was never briefed on what her opponent was piloting. As she stared at the mech, her bladder was suddenly complaining about all the coffee she consumed.

  “I need to use the restroom real quick!”

  The young woman exited her mech by descending a rope released from the cockpit and headed to the nearest restroom, ignoring all the stares from the nearby technician and fighting ring staffs. After relieving her bladder and washing her face, Xiao walked to her mech as calmly as she could. The technicians had prepared stairs to make it easier for her to get back into the cockpit. After thanking them, she returned to her mech, unsure how she would face the behemoth before her.

  A fight between a light mech and a medium mech is already ridiculous. Now, they think I can stand any chance against a heavy mech?

  If memory served her correctly, the mech was a bear mech. At a glance, it was clear that the mech possessed plasma weapons that would no doubt blast through her cattlemech’s armor with ease. Xiao could only curse herself for getting so greedy.

  If I survive this upcoming battle, I won’t accept another request in the fighting ring.

  Despite the urge to throw the match, she still urged her mech forward. The issue with the contract she signed with the fighting ring was that, by refusing to participate in requested matches she accepted, there was an extremely steep cost which could cost her life. If that were the case, she might as well give the match a try as there was a chance, albeit a low one, to survive a plasma weapon or, in this case, two plasma weapons. Once her mech reached the starting location, the young woman realized that the monitor didn’t do the bear justice for its size.

  My cattlemech might barely be reaching the bear mech’s knees. What am I supposed to do? Tickle it?

  The young woman looked at the pitchfork which might be a tickler at this point. Regardless of how she felt, Xiao didn’t want to give up. She did have the titan shield which might be the only thing that stood any chance against plasma weapons. Once the match began, she would see firsthand how reliable it was.

  “May you survive this encounter!”

  The voice from her headset sounded genuine but it didn’t comfort her one bit. Not willing to be a still target, Xiao urged her mech forward to move as quickly as it could. Her cattlemech wouldn’t win races but it was still faster than the bear.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  Stupid Xiao! The heavy mechs aren’t built to run around. They are built to stand still and devastate anyone or anything foolish enough to appear before them.

  The young woman watched as the bear raised its two plasma weapons. She wasn’t familiar enough to know what weapons they were but she was certain her mech wouldn’t last long from a direct hit. Her cattlemech began zigzagging which, while clumsy compared to her hornet mech, gave her slight confidence that she could avoid a direct hit. When the bear fired its weapons, Xiao barely had time to move her mech between the two blasts. Despite avoiding direct hits, her right arm, right torso and pitchfork were vaporized by coming in contact with the plasma blast heat. The heat was so strong that she felt it on her right side, relieved that it didn't burn through part of the center torso as well.

  Damn it! I just lost both torsos.

  At least, that was what she assumed until she checked her main screen which indicated that her mech’s entire left side was fine. Moments before the impact, she raised the titan shield up to protect her entire left torso. Apparently, it worked and, when she checked the shield, it looked fine.

  That’s crazy! The titan shield lives up to its name!

  Knowing that most plasma weapons had a short cooldown before they could be fired again, she pushed her cattlemech to its limits as she made it run towards the bear. Once she reached a certain distance, the heavy mech shouldn’t be capable of using its powerful plasma weapons anymore due to the firing arcs. She was well aware that her only weapon was destroyed but she would worry about that once she was at a safer distance.

  Here comes the next two attacks!

  The incoming blasts were far more focused on a single point this time so it took Xiao everything she had to dodge to the right with the titan shield raised again. This time, the shield protected her a second time, leaving her left torso still intact. As the cattlemech entered the zone where the bear’s plasma weapons no longer could fire, several missiles came flying in her direction. The young woman had no choice but keep running and shielding against the attacks the best she could. A few missiles managed to damage her mech due to their explosion radius but her mech was still holding on.

  Maybe I need to get behind that bear.

  Hoping her hunch was correct, her cattlemech ran at its top speed while under heavy fire from the lasers and missiles. By the time her mech got behind the bear, the cattlemech had lost more than sixty percent of its remaining armor. This was a miracle but Xiao hadn’t forgotten about the vaporized pitchfork. She was certain her mech wasn’t designed to fight against something that could vaporize a pitchfork so easily.

  As Xiao had suspected, the bear had a lot fewer weapons in its rear. The occasional laser and missiles were easily addressed with the titan shield. The young woman considered her options before she ran up to the bear mech. She specifically picked the medium lasers and, by bashing her shield against them, rendered the weapons useless. She then targeted the missile pods where she pressed her shield against the openings. When the missiles detonated while still in their tubes, they ended up blowing up the ammo stored inside the legs, causing a series of large explosions.

  I better back off!

  Not wanting to get caught in the blasts, she backed away to a safe distance as she admired the chain reaction. Since the bear packed so much ammo, a single detonation proved to be quite effective at spreading the damage throughout the mech legs. Xiao was pretty certain that much of the bear leg armor and structure had been badly damaged, giving her the opening. Before she could think of a way to deliver a finishing blow, the voice from her headset stated that her opponent had forfeited the match.

  “I won…I won!”

  The match made Xiao look at the titan shield in a new light. She was quite certain that, without the shield, the best case scenario would have been her mech losing both of its side torsos. If her opponent was willing, the bear would deliver the finishing blow, resulting in everything including her vaporized. The shield, given its strength, could withstand attacks she never thought was possible. She was also proud of her quick thinking to block the missiles so they could detonate while still inside the opposing mech.

  And these heavy mechs are no joke. That’s an impressive arsenal.

  The bear mech, while possessing a lot less weapons in its rear, still possessed more weapons than most light mechs. In terms of firepower, the plasma weapons were truly terrifying. The young woman was certain that, with the exception of heavily armored mechs like the turtle, very few medium mechs could handle even a glancing blow, let alone a direct hit.