I figured that the prince didn't care for his title or assumed I already knew, either way, I was going to let on that I didn't know.
"So what's yours like? Have you modified it since you built it?" I asked, a little nervousness pervaded my tone.
'Why am I cursed fail at lies?!'
"I haven't modified Sentinal since I submitted it for the record, it was already good enough for me."
'Perfect, he's missing the spirit of engineering: always improving.'
"Well, if you will excuse me, I have to do something, I will be back soon."
I stood up and activated Rift Garden, sending me just outside the arena. I pulled up my Spectacle's spirit paper.
"Just chop off a bit from here. Where did I put my emergency ink? Ah, there it is! Ok, that should do it." I rambled to myself as I restored the spirit paper.
I activated Rift Garden and went back to my seat.
'I'm getting quite good at enchanting on the fly, but it causes so many problems down the line. I'll have to do a rewrite later.'
"Hello Ingen, you really did mean that you would be back quickly," Pyne
"I did, anything interesting happen while I was gone?" I had overcome my nervousness, a stronger emotion had taken the reins: Urgency.
"Nope, Sentinal has taken the lead, but that's not very notable."
'Increase speed to 20 kilometers per hour.'
"So, how do you communicate with your golem?" I asked
"Oh, there is a pressure mage flying near Sentinal relaying my orders."
'There is no way I'm the first one to think of integrated Telespeaks.'
'As far as I know, you are.' Spirit spooked me a little, but I kept it under wraps.
"Ah, I see, that's usually the best way to do it."
"So, how do you do it, Ingen?" He looked at me with eyes that screamed 'please!'
"Sorry, can't tell you, it's a secret."
I figured it would be better to tell him no than try to lie.
"Ah, that's a shame. I heard you enchant too, what have you enchanted?"
I glanced at the Display and noted that the Knights were ahead by a considerable margin.
'Reduce speed to 15 kilometers per hour.'
"I have my grapplehook, Icebox, Rift Garden, Windcutter, Wyvern Wings, Changeling Suit, Speakwrite, Thinkwrite, and a few more. I've also edited my father's Spectacles of Insight." I gestured to each item I was wearing.
"Wow, you sounded ready for that, was that a sales pitch?"
"No, well, kind of, it's my achievement list for college."
"Oh, where are you going? I'm sure you could have colleges begging for you to join."
"I wanted to go to the royal academy, but I don't think so anymore, I might study abroad."
"Why not the royal academy? It's the best around."
"Well, you see, the problem is that I was almost assassinated by the king, so I can't exactly trust that he won't make an accident out of me."
"I may not hold the sway of the crown prince, but I can protect you." He leaned in a bit.
"No offense, but I don't really trust you, I did just meet you like five minutes ago."
Pyne looked slightly dejected before my reasoning kicked in.
"Hmm, if that's the case, why don't we hang out sometime, that way you can know me." Pyne gave me a warm smile.
'Two problems, one: he is going to be very unhappy if I take down the king or kill the crown prince. The other is that he is way too excited to be my friend. He owns a company and is one of the princes.'
'But this is my chance to be protected in case the king attacks me, and potentially get an in with the Lost Golem corp. I guess you don't get anywhere without taking risks.'
"Sure, when are you free?"
"Almost whenever, dad gave me a secretary so the only time I'm busy is when I'm actually designing, and I'm sure you wouldn't be bored during a building session."
"I'll call you some time, for now, we have golems to beat up."
The Knights arrived first and were given alchemical bombs.
'They really did know exactly what we needed.'
A moment later Sentinal burst into the arena and his pressure mage moved out of the way.
"I gotta go order around my golem, see you later."
I waved at him. Then, under my breath, I said "Assess"
This time, instead of making lights appear for everyone to see, an image appeared on my glasses with the imperfections of Pyne's golem.
"He's good, really good," I whispered to myself
'Don't engage with Sentinal yet.'
My golems kept their distance.
'His only flaws are directly behind the spirit core and the joints in the legs.'
I started to draw up plans in my head.
"ATTACK SIR PLIEN!" Pyne shouted at Sentinal.
'Sir Plien, separate from Sir Fultz and lead Sentinal to expose his back.'
Without missing a beat, Sir Plien blocked a hit with his shield and counterattacked ineffectually.
Sentinal followed him obediently, nearly backing him into a corner.
'Sir Fultz attack the weak point!'
Sir Fultz, who had been just hovering behind Sentinal for a bit, launched at him with speed.
With a downward strike, he cleaved into armor like butter, decreasing its integrity.
"Sentinal! PULSE!"
A wave of heat came out of Sentinal, Sir Plien used his shield to protect his body, whereas Sir Fultz used his body to protect his shield. Sir Plien could take the heat to his shield, but his body was already getting hot from his overclocking. Sir Fultz couldn't take the heat to his shield because he had the shield insulated with cloth.
Either way, my golems were in bad shape. Plien's shield was on the verge of melting and Sir Fultz was becoming sluggish.
'Don't let up, Fultz, swing again. Plien, shove your shield at Sentinal's face and release your heat on it.'
Plien put the Duratite side of his shield on Sentinal's face, then discharged as much heat into it as he could, melting the duratite and blocking Sentinal's eyes and ears.
"It's over. If you can't communicate with your golem, then you lose."
The Knights battered Sentinal's armor for a minute and a half before it went down.
"The winner is... INGEN MEIUNG!"
The applause was infectious and I even celebrated. My flight out to the Knights was well received, and when I put my hand onto Sentinal's face and removed the shield, people thought I was being nice.
'I can't waste Duratite like this, it's too valuable.'