"Quinlan, are you alright?! You're bleeding!"
As soon as the woman in the purple, skintight rubber suit approached, she quickly took out a handkerchief and wiped the blood from the corner of Quinlan's lips.
"I'm fine," he answered bluntly. "Rather, you're meddling in my affairs again. I told you all the time to just leave me alone..."
"No!"
The woman, despite receiving a gaze filled with annoyance, adamantly started attending to his cheek, which had already started swelling.
"As the daughter of the Chairman, letting you, the school's top scholar, be bullied by such jerks would be a stain to our honorable school's name!"
Quinlan couldn't retort against her words since they were completely on point. He didn't want to be the reason for the school's name to be sullied, so he just sourly turned around, picked up his fallen headphones, and started walking toward the cafeteria.
"Quinlan, wait!" The beauty, Melody, called to him, but he didn't bother to turn around.
Soon enough, his figure reached the entrance of the cafeteria and vanished. At that moment, some of the onlookers approached, speaking to Melody in worry. "Lady Melody, please stop associating with him. That man's just too ungrateful! He didn't even say thanks after being saved!"
Melody shook her head gently, a faint smile flitting across her face. "Thank you for the concern, but as he, too, is a student of this Ragrain College of Robotics, then taking care of him is a part of my duties..."
Her eyes were wavering, filled with a mix of worry and one other emotion. However, it was something so subtle that others couldn't tell at a glance. Melody sighed, folding her bloodstained handkerchief and walking away.
Although she was coming for the cafeteria too, if she followed after Quinlan, then he would surely ditch lunch altogether just to escape from her.
"Quinlan..."
Nobody could hear her low whisper, filled with longing. Only the pendant hanging on her neck was able to witness her almost-crying expression.
---
A month later, Quinlan's self-made Doppel was already complete. Due to his low budget constraints, the machine was not fitted with any fancy gear. However, its base performance was more than twice what another cadet's Doppel could reach.
This achievement made his name echo all over the school once more, but the ones who celebrated the achievement together with him were limited to those related to the school, specifically the teachers.
To his peers, rather than celebrating it, they were bashing him instead.
"Hah! What an ugly mech! Fitting for its gutter rat pilot!"
"Nice stats; it looks fake. And even if it's true, if the one using it is garbage, then this Doppel is nothing but garbage too!"
"He's so full of himself. Someone needs to teach him a lesson, taking him down a notch!"
Contempt against him was the only thing going for most of them, especially his batchmates and a certain cocky blonde.
"At this rate, I would lose in the duel!" Benno thought as he bit his nails, pacing back and forth inside his room. "I need to do something...!"
It wasn't long after when, together with his lackeys, they did something that they shouldn't have. As luck would have it, nobody noticed it, not even Quinlan himself, until it was the day of the practice match.
Of course, it wasn't a simple match, as it was a graded one that would impact their grades and performance greatly.
Quinlan, who never let go of the first place among his peers, was expected to keep the throne to himself for another year by the teachers who were proud of his genius.
{Both sides, prepare for battle!}
Just as the announcer called for them, Quinlan made his Doppel walk forward. Its movements were so smooth, they seemed humanlike. Although the machine's performance had a hand in that result, it was mostly due to him replacing the practice cockpit with the Neuro Cockpit, which allows the pilot to control the mech directly through their thoughts, as if treating the pilot as the brain and the Doppel as the body.
Quinlan's mech didn't change too much. It still had the basic shape of a fully armored medieval knight, holding a reversed shield and a longsword. Given his tight budget, he couldn't opt for a long-range weapon, which placed him at a great disadvantage. However, despite that, he was still confident that he could win.
His enemy's mech was the polar opposite. Not only was it sporting a full array of machine guns, it even had two railguns loaded on its back. To add to that, the colors it was painted with were mostly gold, making it look extremely expensive at a glance.
{Hah! What a sorry machine you have. It looks trashy! You must've submitted a fake stat report to make yourself look better!} Benno spoke through the open-channel radio, mocking Quinlan.
Their talk was on an open channel, which wasn't encrypted, meaning everyone who tapped into the frequency could hear their exchange. Knowing this, Quinlan kept his words short.
"It's fine. Appearance would mean nothing when you're kissing the ground later, after all."
He was convinced Benno would flare in anger from his remark, but as eerie as it was, he simply laughed it off. {Hahaha! Talk while you still can; soon, you won't be able to even if you try!}
"..."
Before Quinlan could respond, the referee suddenly started to speak, disrupting their conversation.
{Quinlan Gaudin using a 1 million G Custom Doppel versus Benno Allovine using a 500 million G V5 Model of the Vilerion-type Doppel. Both sides are prepared! The battle will begin in 3, 2, 1... Fight!}
As if in a rush, the announcer finished his script as quickly as he could. The battle started, and Quinlan hastily turned all four cores into battle-ready states. They simultaneously ran at 50% output, which was more than capable of letting his Doppel move without worry.
He dashed forward, moving as fast as lightning, and approached Benno's Doppel. However, the two of them had different equipment, leading to different ranges, making the battle disadvantageous for Quinlan.
{Eat this!}
Benno didn't hesitate, and he used the two railguns on his back. Both had already finished charging, meaning he had been preparing to attack even before the signal was given. It could be categorized as a false start, but Quinlan honestly didn't care.
The two railguns fired, sending a block of metal weighing approximately a ton each at the speed of sound. If such a mass were to hit or even graze his mech, Quinlan would definitely lose all mobility immediately. Still, he wasn't one to wait for his death.
"Laser Blade, activate!"
After muttering a command, Quinlan waved his sword to his front. The Doppel's hands were blurring from the rapid action, almost making it impossible for the general public to see. Thankfully, there's a slow-motion feed of the battle for such moments, displayed on the large hologram above the stadium.
Quinlan's hand moved like an expert swordsman, slicing and dicing the two blocks that approached at the speed of sound. By the time they reached him, most of their speed and power were already lost.
It should've been a moment where the audience would cheer for the amazing defensive display, but only silence spread throughout the entire stadium.