It was early in the morning when Zephyr's alarm went off, the high pitched beeps echoing through his dorm room. Calming reaching his hand over, he turned it off and stood up abruptly.
Zephyr had already woken up ten minutes prior, wearing a serious expression on his face as he got dressed unhurriedly in the gray jumpsuit that the academy's students wore. Another week had passed, marking today the day he was battling arguably the strongest pilot in his year.
He wouldn't be facing her at her best, granted that he had made the rules favorable to himself, but it wasn't like he was on a level playing ground from the beginning. The mech he was piloting was a last gen antique!
Speaking of the rules he had made, this is what they consisted of:
- No ranged weapons that dealt direct damage were permitted.
- The battle would be fought in an urban environment.
- In the event both participants' mechs are rendered out of commission, the victory would go to Zephyr Vael.
The third rule was something Nia had initially frowned at, but nevertheless agreed to.
In other words, she believed in her absolute victory.
'That arrogant girl.'
Zephyr wasn't really intending on winning through the third rule either. The only reason he added it was to mislead her into thinking he was aiming for a draw. This would in turn make her believe he would be piloting more cautiously in order to find an opening right?
He glanced at the time one last time before leaving for the practice field.
***
Two students stood in the training field, their backs turned away from Zephyr walking towards them.
'And I thought I was early.'
As he got closer, he realized the two were Nia and Christina standing side by side chatting with one another, not noticing his arrival.
"Hey Christina. I didn't expect to see you here so early today."
Christina had her hair tied up in a bun today, her glasses replaced by contacts. Now that Zephyr could see her face unobstructed, she was actually quite pretty. Although her facial features weren't as pronounced as Nia's, anyone could tell she would grow to be a beautiful woman in the future.
Meanwhile, Nia had her hair tied up in her signature ponytail, but unlike last time, she let her bangs freely cover her forehead. Similar to before, her blank expression made it difficult to read her thoughts, causing Zephyr to feel slightly unsettled.
The blonde-haired girl turned around with a small smile on her lips and exclaimed, "Zephyr! Where have you been? How come you weren't coming to class the past couple weeks?"
Although he didn't see her in person in a while, they sent messages to each other through their comms so Zephyr would at least be able to keep up with some news that spread through the class. Supposedly, word had long gotten out that he would be dueling Nia today. He just hoped no one had discovered what was on the line.
"I was practicing. What else?"
Nia turned away and snorted.
Zephyr ignored her.
"Why did you come to the training field so early? We still have around fifteen minutes or so until our class is supposed to congregate."
Christina glanced at Nia through the corner of her eye.
"She asked me to come at this time."
Figures.
"Are you going to duel today as well? I see you're not wearing what you wore two weeks ago," Zephyr pointed out.
"Only if I have to. It's still better to be ready, right?"
"Agreed."
Over the past couple weeks, Zephyr learned that Christina didn't attend the academy in hopes of becoming a mech pilot. Rather, she was aiming for a career more related to the logistics department of the military. To her, whether she won or lost didn't really matter. As long as she got good grades she would be able to graduate.
Zephyr was quite envious of her in this aspect.
Wearing a thin smile, he redirected his attention towards Nia.
"Do you have your collar ready?"
Christina coughed weakly before looking at the expressionless girl beside her.
After a short moment, she finally said in a smooth voice:
"No. After all, I won't be needing it."
Zephyr's eye twitched slightly.
"Is that so?"
In his mind, he began to imagine what kind of expression Nia would have after she lost. Would she be embarrassed? Or maybe angry? He just wanted to see her normally cool facade break.
'No wait, what the hell am I thinking about!?'
Zephyr slapped himself mentally, discarding his weird fantasies. If he lost, he would have to leave the academy! After berating himself profusely in his mind, Zephyr redirected his attention away from the two girls. He needed to focus.
Failure wasn't an option.
Soon after, the trio stood side by side awkwardly waiting as the other students began to gradually fill in the open training field.
Once more people came, Zephyr noticed whispers and curious glances directed at him, but paid them no mind. Everyone already knew that he was dueling Nia Sterling today.
Finally, Instructor Maragaret arrived, calling everyone to attention.
"Everyone, today will be the first time duels will have rules created by the participants enforced. For that, we have prepared several sky carriers to accommodate everyone's desired dueling environment. After you have finalized your challenges, go to your corresponding carrier and wait."
The moment he understood Instructor Margaret's instructions, Zephyr began to make his way to the sky carrier that was marked to travel to the academy's urban combat environment. Aside from Nia and Christina who were going to the same carrier as him, several other students had also followed them.
It was obvious what their intentions were.
They wanted to see him get pummeled by the daughter of the Sterling family!
Zephyr's expression darkened. He couldn't help but notice the smug looks and snide comments from some of the students.
'When I'm finished with Nia, I'll make sure to remember all of your faces.'
Boarding the carrier, he noticed a familiar mechanic sitting at the front seat furthest to the right in the aircraft yawning as he scratched the back of his head.
Zephyr felt the edge of his lips curve up slightly as he took a seat next to Kenny.
"I see you got up early today."
Kenny glanced at him replying in a sleepy voice, "Students here get up too early. Still, I thought I should at least watch your first or potentially last duel as the one who watched you longest. I have the decency to at least do that much."
"You're not rooting for me?"
"After watching that princess's last duel through the academy's archives, no. She's a cut above anyone in the same year."
Zephyr rested his cheek on the back of his hand unaffected by Kenny's lack of confidence in him. Anyone would reconsider his chances if they saw how Nia piloted.
Christina and Nia both took a seat near the back of the carrier as they waited for the other students to board.
Minutes later, nearly every seat was filled as Zephyr noted around two thirds of the cohort boarded the sky carrier bound for the urban practice grounds.
'Most of them are definitely here to watch.'
Of course, some of them may have actually wanted to duel in an urban environment as well, but it was hard to believe everyone had that intention.
The doors closed after a different instructor made his way to the front of the seating area. He was an older man with a dour expression on his face, wearing a similar uniform to Instructor Maragaret. The man brushed back his gray hair with one hand as he opened his mouth to speak.
"Attention everyone. My name is Francis March. You will all refer to me as Instructor March."
The moment he spoke, the chattering stopped.
His voice was so quiet! Zephyr was sitting in the front and even he had to lean in slightly to hear better.
"I will be the supervisor for those who wish to duel in an urban environment. If anyone has questions, I'm not taking any."
'Then why ask,' Zephyr thought to himself.
"We will leave shortly. I wish everyone luck."
Instructor March then took a seat as Zephyr looked behind him, unsurprised at his classmates' confused expressions.
If he barely heard him, how would anyone else be able to? Not that what Instructor March said was important or anything.
Moments later, the sky carrier lifted off, as Zephyr glanced at Kenny who seemed unfazed by the odd instructor.
"Do you know the guy?" Zephyr asked quietly.
Kenny shrugged.
"Seen him around. Although he might seem like an oddball, he's a bonafide ace pilot you know? Don't disrespect him."
'An ace pilot!'
For a small republic on the outer rim, an ace pilot was already a rare find. To think one was sitting near him right now…
"He's retired now though," Kenny quickly added.
"I've heard that he doesn't pilot anymore because of an injury of some sort. Although I can't confirm whether or not it's true."
That made a lot more sense. There was no way a healthy able-bodied ace pilot would take the time to look over a few kids.
Zephyr turned his attention back to his own thoughts, tuning out the background noise. He had prepared as much as he could. The only thing left to do was to win.