848 Difference 2 (2/2)
After perusing for a moment, Garen selected the Mech that he liked the most.
'Wings of Freedom: Level Three Strength-Type Mech. A standard issue Mech used by the Erlan military. Firepower Level Three, Speed Level Three, Defense Level Two, Strength Level Two. Special Equipment Skill: Heart of Freedom. Gains explosive speed for a short period of time. Increase the user's speed by one level. When this skill ends, decreases the user's strength by one level for ten seconds.'
This Mech was completely blue, and it seemed to be a Dragonlance wielding slender knight. It had a pointy helmet, revealing only the nose and the mouth below the eyes. It gave off a mysterious charm.
He tapped on the image of the WIngs of Freedom. Immediately, Garen felt his surroundings shift. In the blink of an eye, he was now seated inside a blue cockpit, and there was a bright circular screen in front of him, displaying the situation outside.
On the surrounding blue walls, there were countless lines connected to the various controls and lights.
”You've finished selecting your Mech? The Wings of Freedom, huh?” on the opposite side of the hall, a dark red Mech appeared out of nowhere. It was also a humanoid form, but it was dual wielding a pair of rapiers and lightly tapping them together to create a crisp clanking sound. That Mech didn't have any outstanding features, giving off a very plain vibe.
”My Mech is the lowest tier Level Five Mech, the Red Fish,” Sofia introduced. ”I purposely selected the worst Level five Mech to demonstrate how the difference in Willpower levels can have a terrifying difference in strength when it comes to manipulating a Mech.”
Garen did not answer. He manipulated the Mech to move its limbs around a bit.
”Ready?” the Red Fish raised one of its rapiers.
”Okay,” Garen responded.
”Be careful. What I'm going to use is the Red Fish Mech's most basic move, the Rushing Cross Slash. It is a basic move that any Level Five pilot will be able to use,” Sofia responsibly explained her next move.
”Understood. Come at me!” Garen readied his Mech. At Level Three Willpower, he could already completely stop relying on the Moonfang, allowing him to freely control the Mech. The agility, speed, reflexes and strength stats of a Level Three Mech shocked him. This Level Three Mech had an equivalent to the combined stats of two Level One Mechs. This was not just a simple equation of ”1+1=2”. In an actual battle, one Level Three Mech would be able to defeat ten level One Mechs at once.
”Careful!” Sofia once again warned. ”Rushing Cross Slash!”
The lights at the Red Fish's feet started flashing red, and its two rapiers were held close to the two sides of its body, their tips before the Mech's face.
.
Vroom!!
A loud engine ignition sound rang loudly as the Red Fish Mech suddenly had an explosive burst of speed, moving hundreds of meters with just a leap. Thrusting the two rapiers forwards, it left a trail resembling a red cross in the air.
This speed had far exceeded that of the Level Three Mech. Leaping hundreds of meters in an instant and charging straight towards Garen's Mech, this kind of explosiveness didn't even allow room for Garen's Willpower to react and maneuver the Mech away. He had no choice but to forcefully raise his lance up, attempting to use the opponent's momentum to pierce through it.
Within that short time, it was the best he could do.
However, what exceeded Garen's expectations was that even at that explosive speed, the Red Fish could still manage to make adjustments to its movements. Leaning the Mech slightly to the right, she managed to catch the Dragonlance right below the Mech's armpit, allowing her to continue charging forward. As she made contact, the rapiers in her hands fiercely slashed through the body of the Wings of Freedom Mech.
Despite Garen already using the skill Heart of Freedom to momentarily increase his speed, he was still far slower than his opponent. In an instant, the chest region of his Mech was slashed through by the rapiers.
His vision suddenly turned to black. Whoosh! Everything surrounding him disappeared, leaving him in a pitch darkness.
'Pilot Sofia Wins!' the electronic voice rang out loud once more.
Pshhhh…
The cockpit automatically opened up.
Garen slowly stood up and walked out of the cockpit. Sofia was already a step ahead of him, silently looking at him. The surrounding students who followed him here, including Anjay Terin, were all here. The students started chattering amongst themselves, but Anjay Terin showed an unsurprised look.
”How was it? Were you able to feel the difference now?” Sofia softly asked. ”My actual Willpower is only at Level Three, but I was able to use my authorization to alter it and pilot a Level Five Mech. Even though it was the weakest Level Five Mech, you should be able to understand the difference in strength between the levels of the Mechs now. I was also once like you, and I got completely thrashed by a Level four Mech in the past as well.”
”Why is the difference so big?” Garen thought back to the scene at the battlegrounds just now. He now understood that the difference between Mechs had far exceeded his imaginations.
”This is the strongest point of a will-powered Mech - the internal speed-change system. It allows the nerves of the pilot themselves to speed up, and this speed boost will increase based on the Level of the pilot's Willpower. In the eyes of a pilot, the world after the speed boost will become an extremely slow world, and every action, if not above a certain speed, would be seen as a normal person's slow movement, almost like the slow-motion effects from movies,” Sofia explained.
”Furthermore, this was only an average level. A high-leveled pilot would even be able to manipulate the Mech to emit an energy field. If the opposing Mech is not at a high enough level, it wouldn't even be able to get close to it,” Anjay Terin continued solemnly. ”For example, the Magnetized Energy Field can create a strong magnetic field that can affect the balance of both the pilot and the Mech. Unless you're piloting a non-metal Mech, you'd have no hope of even getting remotely close to the opponent's Mech. You would then be at the mercy of your opponent's long-range attacks. There's also the Reflective Energy Field, this is the forte of the White Light Organization. According to the information we have, apparently all Mechs of a lower level than the user, no matter how strong their attacks, would have it reflected right back at them. It's straight up an unbeatable noob pwning [1] machine!”
Garen started to frown even more. The difference between the Level of Willpower could be greatly amplified by the Mech, increasing it to such a degree. Needless to say, he had underestimated the terror of the will-powered Mechs by a longshot.
”Looks like only a Mech can defeat a Mech… Unless he has an army of people who have mastered secret techniques, or if he reaches the level of a demon lord, he would still be no match for the destructive prowess of a Mech,” Garen finally understood the different levels of the Mechs in this world.
He did use its full potential in that bout just now, but even if his physical capabilities were stronger, against that Mech's attacks, unless he has reached an impossibly high level, the human body could never withstand the impact of that strike. That strike packed at least a few hundred tonnes of force, and that was only taking into account the physical impact of the strike; it did not factor in the damage from the opponent's Willpower.