*Huff*
On the field, Medea also let out a breath full of air when she heard the end of the match was announced.
This had been THE easiest win that she'd ever had in the Orthos Gym.
Even though the Orthos Gym was not any sort of competitive organization for Battle Arena sport, just the fact that they were one of the few gyms in the Sector that provided standard-level matches for Arena had raised the level of the game to one that Medea had not been used to until recently.
After all, even the older staffs, trainers, and internal members had had more experiences than her in terms of playing a standard match.
With her being a high school student in the end. Before joining Orthos, most of the matches she had participated in were ones with the same high school format as Greenwood High.
They were matches with the same flat lands and hard rubber equipment.
.
After Medea had started coming to this gym. She had quickly discovered a higher level game of Arena.
It had felt like a new horizon had suddenly opened for her, one that was far closer to the ones she loved watching on TV.
Add to the fact that her family's occupation was also related to the sport, it hadn't taken long for her to get obsessed with the gym's routine friendly matches.
At first it had been hard, getting used to the uniform and the heavier weapons.
But with her original talent and familiarity to the sport, in just a couple matches, she had quickly risen above her colleagues at the gym and overtaken them in terms of raw skills.
But even after that, unlike the high school competitions where she could still force a win even if her teammates were bad, the difference in skills here had not been very overwhelming.
After many similar routine matches, the total tally between her Red team and the opposing Blue team had still been tied with the same win-lose count for most of the time.
But today's match was very much different. The match had been an undoubted win for the Red team.
And she had experienced first hand the main cause of it.
Throughout the many waves in today's match, she had had the same feelings multiple times of her combat efficiency reaching a level never achieved before even by her.
And she had realized the reason for it in the middle of the match.
The increase in both her accuracy and damage count during the halfway line battles were all because of the presence of the number 7 Solver on her team.
After many observations, she had discovered the peculiarity in his combat styles.
It was his control of the field.
As one of the trio advance group in the match, that guy had considered every minute details of his movements such that he actually made his other teammates' job easier!
It was not very apparent at a glance. But continuous observations would make this fact very clear to anyone watching.
On the first wave, he had single-handedly created a situation where his one action had crumbled the other team's formation in an instant, leading to a smooth breakthrough.
On their first tower zone attack, Irvine consciously allowed a prolonged battle with Dylan to make the Red team's Fielder aware of his role and strategy in the match on his own.
And the rest of the match had also gone the same way,
In most of the halfway line battles, Irvine had always rotated his position so that the enemies would be showing their backs to his Ranger, as if he'd memorized her position beforehand.
Medea had also noticed that after executing his weird move that restricted his opponent's mobility for an instant, he had sometimes chosen to take a step back or change to other close proximity opponents. Leaving a clearer view for her to snipe the target.
It was as if he'd been telling her the best timings to unleash her arrows.
Throughout the match, Irvine had somehow assumed the role of a general without verbally commanding anyone on his team.
He had indirectly acted as the command pillar, showing everybody how their plays should be done by prompting his allies through his actions at specific timings.
.
Thinking up to here, Medea suddenly felt rather irritated.
As a Ranger, it should have been her job to control the pace of the game. To call out plays and different tactics for the everchanging situations in a match.
But in this match, she had become a simple ranged player that provided accurate covers and efficient supports for her teammates.
And she was good. She of all people would know how great her plays this time were.
But on the other hand, she couldn't help but to feel inadequate with herself.
Knowing that the increase in her combat efficiency this time was something that had been spoonfed to her by someone else was not a good feeling for her.
'Irvine Lang...' Right now, the new name had no doubt been etched deeply in her mind.
An unbelievably good player.
His plays were not showy, but his every action in the game was filled with enough purpose that compellingly forced out the best performance of his teammates.
These were her judgement of him after her experience in this game.
"...Hey." She called out to him in the middle of the field.
Medea was a very straightforward person. And although she was not someone who'd get carried away with her talents, her competence had undoubtedly helped shape her current persona.
"Hm?" Irvine who just took his helmet off noticed the call through the corner of his eyes and responded with a turned head.
"Oh, great play Miss Dormer! It's truly an honor to play with a player of your caliber." This was the first time that this prodigy in front of him had taken the initiative to speak with him.
"Yeah... Anyway, you--" Medea started talking but then stopped rather suddenly.
Truth be told, she hadn't even planned on what she'd want to ask him since there were too many things she was curious about.
What was his evaluation of the game? What was she lacking in that match? How did he usually train?
Numerous questions were flashing through her head. This was literally her first time meeting and playing someone she could consider to be more skillful than her.
However, she quickly felt that none of her questions were quite appropriate for the situation, knowing that this was her first time talking to him, so.
"...Are you a college freshman? Which school do you go to?" In the end, she settled with a casual chat topic since she had already called out to him.
"Umm... Greenwood High?"
"Oh, I didn't know-- Wait, High? A high school...?" Her voice trembled slightly at the end.
"Yes, a high school senior. We should be of the same age Miss Dormer." Irvine gave a casual reply and smiled.
"..."
"Mm? Miss?"
"...I see." Medea's expression had changed after hearing the fact.
If before, there was only respect and slight frustration in her eyes. Right now, it was showing the same burning determination that she'd shown before the match.
Her competitive spirit was evident through the pair of bright scarlet beads.
It was her mistake to assume that Irvine was a college student after seeing him proficiently put on his exosuit.
She had thought that with enough experience playing at the collegiate level, it was a given that she would also reach that same level of insight as him.
But realizing that Irvine was the same age as her was like an eye-opener.
'I'm still lacking... I thought all those wins had gotten me somewhat closer to college levels, but.'
"..."
"It's good that I moved to Zeta City after all."
After saying those words, she didn't waste anymore time and turned back towards the direction of the opened walkway to the side.
"...Oh dear." Irvine smiled wryly at the scene. He didn't expect her exaggerated reaction towards the revelation.
'It's like I'm in a sports drama. Well, she's still a teenager in the end.' He shook his head.
Even though her talent was already apparent at her age, to him she was still lacking too many things to become a proper player right now.
'She's still a long way from embodying her future titles.'
.
.
Returning back to the first floor.
The players from the friendly match had all walked out of the stairwells with towels around their necks after changing back to their daily clothes.
A few people, including Dylan, could be seen pestering the young-looking Irvine for comments about the previous game.
"Damn kid! You should've said something if you are that good, I would've slot you into the Blue team for future matches!" The bulky Dylan wrapped his arm around him and laughed.
"Hell no! Your Blue team's full anyway!" The lively Red team's Fielder retorted.
"Seriously though Lang, you're so good. So that's what you meant when you say you wanted to play a Second Solver, I never had an easier time solving in a match." The Red team's Main Solver who had a kind disposition also piled on his own comment.
"It was a great experience for me as well. Ah, by the way..." Irvine suddenly remembered something he'd been meaning to ask,
"If that was a friendly routine match, how come you guys are talking like your Red and Blue teams are fixed?"
"Well... Cause it is." Dylan replied with a scratch on the head,
"At the start, it was because the arbitrarily made team were reluctant for their loss. And then it slowly escalated to a 'we can win even if we play the same game again!' type of situation. HAHA!"
"..." Irvine could only smile speechlessly at the explanation.
In other gyms, it would be more normal for casual matches to have a different team composed right before each match.
Personally, he also thought it would help in teaching players to adapt to different teammates, but of course he didn't have any objections with the current settings. Every place have their own quirks and traditions.
.
.
"HEY, over here!" In the distance, Scott the receptionist was still standing on the same railing spot the entire time.
He was waving his hand about, calling out to Irvine from afar.
"Well then, thanks for the game guys. I should go on ahead to finish the membership process." Irvine pointed at Scott and said goodbye to the rest of the players.
"Yep, some of us are also heading out for lunch. We'll see you tomorrow right?" Dylan asked.
"If everything goes well."
"Right then, see ya kid!"
*step* *step*
The crowd slowly dispersed.
Irvine separated himself from the group of players in front of the stairwell to approach Scott who's still waiting for him patiently at the viewing stand.
But after a couple of steps, he noticed that Medea was still following behind him with a straight look on her face. She also hadn't gone out together with the rest.
"Um, is there a problem?" Irvine asked politely.
"I was also called out." She answered straightforwardly while showing the screen of her mobile device.
"?"
Not completely understanding what she'd meant, Irvine could only ignore her presence as he walked towards Scott.
It was only after he was closer that he realized that Scott wasn't alone on the spot. He was standing together with a middle-aged man in a suit that was looking intently in his direction.
'That's--'
"Mister Lang!" Unexpectedly, the man in the suit was the first one to initiate a conversation when Irvine had approached close enough.
The man spiritedly shook his hand while also nodding to his side, approving of Medea's presence.
"Good to meet you!" He exclaimed.
"I'm sorry, you are..."
"I'm the humble owner of this establishment. You may call me owner, Mister Faulkes, or just boss!" The owner grinned.
'The owner of Orthos Gym. So it's him.' Irvine seemed to recall his familiar look in some sports programme's segment in the future.
In his past future, the man was famous for making it big with Medea as his main promotional asset.
At that time, Orthos Gym had already become somewhat of a household name with multiple branches in many cities. And he was known as a businessman and Arena enthusiast with good eyesight for the sport.
"I see. It's very nice to meet you sir." Irvine returned the owner's enthusiasm with a formal greeting.
"No no, the pleasure's all mine."
"Now Mister Lang, if you don't mind me taking a bit of your time, can we talk somewhere a little more private? Ah, with Miss Dormer as well." Mister Faulkes gave a light gentlemanly bow to the two.
"Oh." Irvine seemed to have finally caught on to what's happening so he asked, "May I know what it's about?"
"Hm, let's just say I want to talk about a possible cooperation that might serve both of our interest for the foreseeable future." The owner smiled.
"It's the same thing that I've also offered to Miss Dormer here that she'd accepted some time ago." He gestured to the silent redhead on the back.
'As I thought.' Irvine realized that just like Medea, he had also caught the attention of this business owner.
On the back, Medea was currently showing an expression that seemed to ask what her role was supposed to be in all this?
She was not the least bit surprised that the owner had extended the same deal he'd made with her to Irvine. It would've been weirder for him not to after what she'd witnessed.