Chapter 102 - Battle Royale (2/2)

Inside of the hall, nearly one hundred players were gathering around the small stage. Almost the entire floor of the hall had been covered with extra padded mats, they formed a circle of roughly 20 meters in diameter

"Gray, does Major Valen look different to you?" Geoff asked.

"Yes... he seems happy... I'm worried." Gray watched as Major Valen stretched and appeared to be extremely invigorated.

"He looks like he's glowing almost." Stacia commented.

"Hey, girls... when did Verona leave?" Gray asked the three girls.

"She left a few minutes after you left my room." Yurika replied.

"Did she message any of you when she made it back to Laguna base?"

"No... but I saw her entering the medical facility before dawn." Xyra said softly. "I like to go for a run right before dawn when it is the quietest out."

That felt so fitting for Xyra to want to go for a run at the quietest time of day. Gray made a mental note to try and surprise or scare her and see if she even screams softly.

"You think maybe she stayed longer and..."

All 6 of them turned to watch Major Valen, scrutinizing his movements and body language.

"He just seems... WAY to happy right now." Yurika stated "Want to ask him?"

"Leave him be guys, if he did, he did, he looks a little adorable being happy." Stacia said while smiling like she was looking at a puppy.

"Probably for the best we don't think about it then..."

Major Valen checked the time and then pulled out an old-fashioned whistle and blew it to get everyone's attention.

"Alright maggots! Line up in nice straight rows! I want your full attention!"

Major Valen's orders were clear and concise. He stood up on the stage then and barked, "In case you slugs don't know, I am Major Eugene Valen!"

A few snickers and giggles could be heard from the other pilots around and it didn't seem to phase Major Valen at all even though he knew they were laughing at his name, "Alright yuck it up, but remember that is the name my momma gave me, if you disrespect my name, you disrespect her!"

Almost everyone quieted down instantly, but one smart ass had said "I bet your Mother wears army boots!"

Everyone got deathly quiet as they felt this idiot was asking to die, but surprisingly Major Valen laughed and said, "You're damn right she did! And she could still kick your sorry asses too!"

Major Valen then pointed at the guy that said the comment and motioned him with his finger to come up to the stage. When the guy got up on the stage, Major Valen threw his thick arm around the guys shoulder and said, "We will send all of you a training program to your training AI to help guide you through these upcoming self-defense courses. We've noticed that most of you lack any physical combat skill and even in a mech, knowing it will help you wield weapons more efficiently!"

Major Valen then clapped the guy that was on the stage with him hard on the back. "Tweedledumb here has volunteered to be my first victi... I mean, opponent, to help demonstrate some of the basic moves that you can learn. We will hold classes twice a week so use it or lose it! The program we will send after to your AI will help you review and show you how to train what you've learned."

Major Valen walked to the other side of the guy and then continued, "We do not have a traditional martial art like Karate or Judo. We have what we call Modern Combatives Program that we teach to every soldier. This close combat program focuses on submissions, grappling, arm and leg strikes, weapons training and more."

Major Valen walked behind the guy again and this time put both hands on his shoulders. "Today, we are going to have a little fun, today will be about grappling and throwing and then we will have a free for all match where last one still in the ring wins."

For the next hour and a half, many of the players watching Major Valen's "demonstrations" on the poor guy that couldn't keep his mouth shut started to feel sorry for him even as they practiced some of the safer techniques on each other. His face had been almost every color of the rainbow between the different submission holds and throws.

At one point, Yurika started to help other people like Major Valen as Gray knew this was almost pointless for her unless they had more advanced classes.

The sweat started to drip down Major Valen's forehead and his voice started going hoarse after spending so much time talking and using his new friend for training. After one last throw, his training partner didn't get up anymore so Major Valen blew his whistle again and shouted, "Let's get to what everyone really came here for! Time to start the battle royale!"