The Mech Touch novel Chapter 340

The usually boisterous classroom in the academy abruptly fell into silence. Every potentate sat up straight as a uniformed mech pilot walked in front of the class. Joshua’s eyes shone as he beheld the dashing man.

The man swept his view towards the boys and girls and mentally shook his head. What was the use of visiting these teenagers? They were at least five years away from being qualified to pilot mechs. Still, he had his orders.

"This is a time of war. The Vesia Kingdom has invaded us once again, and it is the duty of every citizen to repel them with the best of your ability. As mech cadets, your time has not yet come, but that is no excuse for you to slack off! The Mech Corps holds the frontlines so that kids like you can train in peace. Do not squander their sacrifice and continue to improve your skills. The Republic depends on you!"

Every boy and girl thrusted out their chest in pride. A veritable wave of enthusiasm passed over the cadets as they imagined wearing the mech pilot’s uniform one day. Every mech regiment utilized a different uniform scheme, which led to a lot of variety in the Mech Corps. Joshua himself only recognized a couple of them, and the man’s black-and-yellow uniform eluded his knowledge.

"As a potentate of the Republic, the most talented of you are treasured by us. Certain individuals here have distinguished themselves in their training. I am here to invite a number of you to accompany me back to Bentheim and enroll in one of their most prestigious academies on a fast-track training program. I won’t lie, it will be hard, and the amount of drop-outs will be high. But if even one of you perseveres, you will have a bright future ahead of you in the Mech Corps!"

The majority of the cadets frowned or groaned. They knew their scores well enough to realize that they didn’t qualify for such an extravagant program. Instead, they turned their attention to Joshua and a couple of other talented classmates. Out of all of them, their performance stood out the most.

"Cadets Joshua, Liss and Maye, you are deemed eligible to take up this opportunity. Are you willing to serve the Republic?"

"We are!"

The mech pilot smiled. "We will send out an information package to your parents. So long as your parents consent to the program, you’ll be eligible to apply."

The rest of the classroom envied Joshua and the rest. None of them scored remarkably well in their training courses. In fact, their academy actually ranked at the bottom in the Republic. It couldn’t be helped since Cloudy Curtain lacked a rich mech scene until recently.

The founding of the LMC and its subsequent rise changed all of that. Suddenly, their sleepy rural planet became a local hotbed for mechs as the LMC broke out of its shell with the release of the widely acclaimed Blackbeak model.

The mech manufacturer’s ascension initiated a sea of change. Local politics had been thrown into a mess, while the influx of tax income invigorated public services. Culturally, the insular citizens of Cloudy Curtain finally opened up to the wider Republic.

Once stoked, the mech fever ran out of control. The enthusiastic younger generation flocked to the LMC like ducks and became the company’s diehard fans.

The potentates among them formed a virtual fanclub called the LMC Association. They established a presence in every virtual game including Iron Spirit.

Joshua owed much of his recent success to the Association and the game. The only reason why he improved so quickly was that he wanted to pilot the LMC’s higher starred virtual mechs.

Ves Larkinson published a handful of virtual mechs in his brief career. Over time, the members of the Association flocked to one dominant model in each tier. It became something of a badge of pride if the members could master every bestseller mech.

Currently, the list included the following mechs:

1-star: Fantasia 2R Seraphim - Aerial Marksman

2-star: TOC-1S Old Soul - Ambush Rifleman

3-star: HPL-100S Young Blood - Knight

4-star: FFL-25P DarkSpear - Assassin Mech

5-star: CA-1C2 Marc Antony Mark II - Hybrid Knight

The boisterous members of the Association generally reached a broad consensus on the first four mechs. Each of them represented the best mechs of their tier. Most of them consisted of Mr. Larkinson’s latest virtual designs.

The only place the members couldn’t agree on was the Marc Antony Mark II. As a Hybrid Knight, it was hard to pilot. Only the older members of the Association had reached the Gold League where they could unlock the ability to pilot a 5-star mech, and they all encountered significant difficulties trying to control the Mark II’s many weapons.

Frankly speaking, the recently released Blackbeak virtual mech was much more suitable as a poster mech for the 5-star tier. As a pure knight mech, it lacked the complicated and uncoordinated weapon systems of the older design. While it didn’t fare very well in small-scale duels, it still found a respectable place in Warntorn Instances and other larger game modes.

The only problem was the price. As a premium design, the Blackbeak sold for a ridiculous amount of gold or real credits. Only a handful of long-time players accumulated enough gold to exchange for the mech. The rest could only stare enviously.

In any case, Joshua had worked hard the last couple of years. Ever since he first came across Chasing Clouds’ mechs, he had no idea that he was piloting a product of a homegrown hero. After Mr. Larkinson came into prominence, his drive to master Mr. Larkinson’s mechs had grown into a deep-seethed obsession.

At his age, he should still be languishing in the upper Bronze League or the lower Silver League. Instead, he rocketed upwards until he finally broke through the Gold League.