The observation station was quiet. Some students rubbed their eyes in disbelief while others had their jaws dropped agape. Through the projection, the Spectre was unmoving as the Squire sat atop of it. The last exchange only lasted for a few minutes, but those were the only few minutes that mattered.
'What a barbaric way of fighting.'
Kenny couldn't believe his own eyes. The second he noticed the Squire nearly tip over, he knew that Zephyr had finally decided to go all out. What he didn't expect was the decision to ditch the sword to execute a near perfect tackle. Such reckless piloting would be intolerable to the instructors in charge of the mech piloting courses.
'Oh wait…'
Kenny facepalmed, the realization dawning on him.
That kid never attended a single mech piloting course! How could he have forgotten?
During the time Zephyr had been skipping classes in order to train with the Squire, Kenny had learned that Zephyr had been barred from attending the academy's mech piloting courses until his grades improved.
At the time, he didn't think much of it. Although it wasn't common for a student to have bad grades, there had to be an outlier here and there right?
"Instructor March, please announce the victor. The match is already over," Zephyr's voice crackled through the shared comms snapping everyone out of their stupor.
"...I suppose you're right. The victor of this duel is Zephyr Vael. Due to the conditions of your mech, you are not required to accept any other challenges," the gray-haired instructor finally said.
"This can't be right…he must've cheated somehow!"
"How can someone piloting a last generation mech defeat Nia Sterling? There must be a mistake!"
As soon as Instructor March voiced his verdict, some of the male students stood up in protest at the match's results.
Why wouldn't they?
The transfer student that was known as their class's greatest slacker had beaten the one person he should have never beaten.
In a Squire no less!
It was obvious why they couldn't accept it.
The retired ace pilot glanced at the students who stood up and asked plainly:
"In what way did he cheat?"
"W-well, the thermal smoke…! We all saw the rules he had made stating no ranged weapons were permitted. Wouldn't thermal smoke be considered a ranged weapon?"
Instructor March chuckled for a few seconds before replying.
"If you had truly read his terms, it had explicitly stated that no ranged weapons that dealt direct damage were permitted. Thermal smoke falls well within the rules they both had agreed on."
He paused for a moment before adding:
"Besides, thermal smoke clearly had no effect on Miss Sterling. If that was the deciding factor, I'm really struggling to see how."
The student couldn't find any words to refute.
Kenny glanced at Christina who similarly had an expression of disbelief to her peers.
"He actually did it…" the girl said slowly, her eyes widening.
While it was true that Zephyr had won, the sheer amount of damage the Squire took made Kenny shudder with dread. The Spectre, although inoperable, was still in better shape overall.
'I've got a lot of work to do later.'
***
Taking labored breaths, Zephyr opened the hatch to the cockpit and unfastened the safety belt that had kept him securely in his seat. Sweat trickled down his forehead, and he could feel the lingering adrenaline pulsing through his veins. Both mechs lay horizontal on the ground, making it relatively easy to dismount.
Unzipping his jumpsuit slightly to cool off, he hopped off his mech and walked purposefully toward the Spectre's cockpit.
"What did you say earlier? That I should surrender? Go on, say it again." Zephyr knocked on the Spectre's cockpit armor a few times, a triumphant grin spreading across his face.
"There's still a large enough gap between the ground and your cockpit. Come out already."
Most mechs were boarded from their backsides to minimize vulnerable gaps on the chest. The design of the Spectre was no different.
After a few moments, the Spectre's hatch opened just enough for Nia Sterling to crawl out. Her appearance was slightly disheveled, strands of hair clinging to her sweaty face. Noticing Zephyr had unzipped his jumpsuit slightly, she mirrored his action, revealing the pale skin of her collar glistening with sweat.
"What mech did you pilot? I've never seen that model before," Nia asked softly.
Zephyr raised a brow, surprised at her question. Did she really not recognize his mech? Then again, it made sense. Nia wasn't exactly from the Republic.
"It's called the Squire. Our academy provides them."
Nia stared at his battered mech for a few moments, her expression unreadable, before simply nodding.
"I see."
'I see.'
Was that all she was going to say? It was somehow different from what Zephyr expected.
A few awkward seconds later, he finally asked, "Aren't you frustrated that you lost? I thought you would at least be disappointed."
In truth, he was dying to see her frustrated reaction.
She looked at him with a strange expression. "Why would I be frustrated?" she answered, tilting her head.
"Don't you disdain me? Isn't being beaten by someone you hate something to be frustrated about?"
After some time had passed her lips formed an O shape.
"I think you might have misunderstood me."
Zephyr's eyes followed Nia as she began to climb atop her mech.
"There are two things that I dislike," she began. "People who don't work hard when given the opportunity, and people who judge others based on their background."
Nia stopped in front of him, looking up slightly to match his gaze. "Although I'm not proud of it, I underestimated you. As someone who has beaten me, it wouldn't make sense to call you a slacker. Not to mention, I judged you based on your background as well."
'Was this her way of apologizing?' Zephyr wondered.
As she continued to stare at him, Zephyr couldn't help but turn away, feeling a twinge of guilt.
'Maybe that's why she reacted that way when I made that comment about how she couldn't win without an expensive mech,' he realized. It was a heat-of-the-moment remark, but it essentially reduced her skills to the capabilities of her mech.
"But…"
Zephyr blinked, returning his attention to her.
"I want a rematch. This time, no rules."
'So she is disappointed!' he thought, noticing the dangerous glint in her eyes.
His eyebrow twitched as he looked at the beautiful girl's face.
"Hell no."
"We are having a rematch."
"In what language does 'hell no' equate to that?" he retorted.
"Besides," Zephyr continued, a sly grin spreading across his face. "You do remember the condition we agreed on if I won, right?"
Nia froze, her eyes widening slightly remembering their bet.
"Make sure to have a collar and leash ready before we return to class. Surely someone from the esteemed Sterling family wouldn't go back on their word, right?"
Watching her reaction with relish, Zephyr fought back the urge to laugh. The usually composed Nia seemed genuinely flustered, her face a mix of discomfort and embarrassment.
"...Of course," she replied finally, her voice barely audible.
Zephyr's grin widened. "If you really don't want to, you can owe me a favor or something instead."
Although seeing her act uncomfortable for the first time was quite refreshing, he wasn't going to tease the girl anymore. The initial frustration he had towards her had already evaporated.
"I'll do it."
"Eh?"
"I'll do it," Nia repeated, louder this time, her eyes locking onto his unblinking.
Zephyr raised an eyebrow, taken aback by her determination. "You don't have to force yourself, you know? I did say you could owe me a favor or something…"
"I said I'll do it. Tell me your dorm room number. I'll be there before class starts."
He blinked, momentarily speechless.
'This girl sure is stubborn…'
"...Alright," he finally said. "Room 508, make sure no one follows you."
Nia gave a curt nod, her original composure returning. Zephyr watched her walk back towards her mech's cockpit as he did the same. All they needed to do now was wait for someone to come retrieve them.
***
"Zephyr, I can't believe you actually won!" Christina exclaimed, her eyes sparkling with excitement as she beamed a wide smile at him.
"Not that I wanted you to lose or anything," she quickly added, scooting closer to Nia.
The three of them sat in a row on the sky carrier after their duel. Zephyr was by the window, followed by Christina and finally Nia. They were waiting for the other duels to finish before the sky carrier departed back to the academy.
"At least have a little faith in me," Zephyr replied, leaning back in his seat with a satisfied grin.
"I will from now on!" Christina declared enthusiastically.
"So you didn't before?" He furrowed his brows, pretending to be offended.
The shy girl blushed, fidgeting slightly. "It's hard to have faith in someone shamelessly boasting about how they'll beat everyone on their first day, right?"
"True," Zephyr admitted with a chuckle. "It was a bit much, wasn't it?"
It was hard to argue with her logic. If he were in her place, he had no doubt that he would have reacted the same way.
"What were you guys talking about after the duel ended? The drone wasn't close enough to pick up your voices," Christina asked, her curiosity piqued.
"We were talking about having a rematch," Nia answered calmly with a blank expression.
"Stop lying. I already said no," Zephyr cut in, shooting her a look. "Don't try to squeeze in talks about a rematch so casually."
"Tch."
'She just clicked her tongue didn't she?'
"Changing the subject, do you remember your first duel Nia?"
"What about it?"
"Why did you equip a Type-50 Ballistic Cannon? Surely you don't expect a long ranged rifle would be suitable for a duel without any cover."
"Oh, I'm curious about that too," Christina chimed in, leaning forward.
The two stared at Nia waiting for her reply.
"We were never informed of the environment prior to that day. I just chose my favorite weapon, that's all."
"..."
Was that seriously her only reason? If so, Zephyr wasn't sure whether to be impressed or baffled at how nonchalant Nia's attitude was.
"My turn," Nia said, untying her ponytail and letting her long black hair cascade down.
'Did she mean she was going to ask questions now?'
"Why did you throw your sword during that last exchange?"
"Well–" Zephyr met her gaze for a brief second before closing his mouth.
'She's definitely not going to accept a thoughtless answer.'
"–your estoc made it so it was impossible for me to get in a position where I can inflict a wide swing. If I did, I would be leaving myself open for you to attack. So my only option was to either disarm you or force you into a situation where you couldn't use your weapon."
Nia didn't reply, as she lowered her head, deep in thought.
'It looks like she's satisfied with my reasoning.'
"Can I ask another question?" She finally asked.
"Sure," Zephyr replied, reaching for a bottle of water.
"How did your mech suddenly get quicker? If your mech was capable of achieving such speeds and power, why didn't you use it from the beginning of the duel?"
One of the main reasons Nia lost was because she didn't expect the sudden increase of power from her opponent. If she had fought the Squire overclocked from the start, there would've been no chance she would've lost.
Christina glanced at Zephyr, similarly curious.
"The Squire is a last generation mech. I'm also curious how it was so fast. Did you happen to modify it?"
This time Nia widened her eyes in surprise.
"You piloted a last generation mech?"
Zephyr gulped down several mouthfuls of water before letting out a yawn.
"I simply turned off the mech's parameters. It's not a big secret or anything."
"You turned off the mech's parameters," Christina repeated, her tone incredulous.
"That's what I said yes."
"..."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just surprised you have the gall to call operating a mech without stabilization software simple. Have you piloted the Squire prior to enrolling to this academy? Because it's such an old model, I'm sure a few of them managed to make it to the civilian market somehow. Yeah, I'm sure that's it."
Zephyr raised a brow, puzzled.
'What is this girl talking about?'
"The first time I piloted the Squire was two weeks ago, you know? I'm quite thankful that it's a simple mech. There's no way I would've managed to overclock a current gen mech in the same time frame."
He frowned for a second before adding, "If I had a current gen mech to use, I wouldn't have needed to resort to such a measure anyway. If only this academy provided them…"
Christina looked like she wanted to faint.
"You mean to say... you managed to do all of this with just two weeks of practice in an unfamiliar mech?"
"Pretty much," Zephyr replied casually.
"That's...insane."
"I'm used to piloting a wide variety of mechs. My environment sorta forced me to, growing up. That experience allowed me to get used to any mech relatively quickly."
Nia who was silent the entire time during their exchange asked:
"What kind of background do you come from? Although I might not be a local, I do familiarize myself with names from a few influential families. I don't recall what family you're from though."
Prior to reaching the Republic, Nia had memorized nearly every influential family, in case she needed to interact with them in the future. That was partly the reason why she was friendly towards Christina during their first meeting.
"Although my father is an immigrant, I'm a Republic-born citizen through and through. As for any special background…I don't have any."
The black-haired girl looked skeptical.
Someone who was capable of learning how to walk with a mech in two weeks had to have an influential organization backing them.
"If you don't want to share, I won't pry. Everyone has their own secrets."
Zephyr had a feeling there was a huge misunderstanding going on, but decided not to explain. Anything he said wouldn't have sounded believable anyway.
"I'm going to take a nap. Wake me up when we're back at the academy."
He had only gotten a few hours of sleep the night prior, mainly because of his anticipation. Combined with the exhaustion from the duel, Zephyr was utterly drained. He leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes, letting the soft hum of the carrier's idle engines lull him to sleep.
Nia and Christina exchanged glances.
"I'll also take a nap then. Who knows when the rest of the class will be finished with their duels. Wake me up when we're back, Christy."
Almost immediately, Nia knocked out, leaning her head against the blonde girl.
"..."
The blonde girl sighed to herself as the trio settled into a comfortable silence for the remainder of time before the sky carrier returned to the academy.