An odd encounter

This was by no means the first time I walked around the Titan fair. Actually coming visit the Titan fair was a routine that I repeated every single year since my ten years old birthday. That's why I knew the booths distribution layout like the back of my hand and could easily identify the changes from last year on most of my favorite booths. So when I received the green signal to look around I knew exactly what path to walk to see what I considered the most interesting parts of the fair.

"Let's first take a look at the new models announcements!"

While avoiding the people passing by I walked though the side passages until I reach the main road where the big brands displayed their Titans.

My first stop was the Patriot's booth.

Patriot was a brand that mainly focused on artillery titans. Each Titan was equipped with the latest heavy cannons and rifles that ensured a massive amount of damage per shot. While their speed was by all means the slowest among Titans of the same generations, their heavy fire power more than made up for it making their Titans quite popular.

Their booth had three models: The first was a Titan with two rocket launchers on the shoulders, carrying a giant shotgun and a flag. The second was a Titan with two gatling guns on it's arms and a big backpack full of ammunition. The third was carrying a rail gun as big as the Titan itself.

The next booth was another one of my favorites, the Samurai Emperor's booth.

As one would expect, this was a Japanese brand. Their Titans were specialized in using laser swords, also known as light sabers, but this didn't stop them from using some rifles and laser weapons if situation required. Their main advantage over other Titans was the clean damage they dealt to their prey, preserving most of the material and in turn rising the money gained from each kill.

This booth only had two Titans, both quite similar to old samurai armors, but their swords had nothing old in them as their laser blade shined brightly even in the middle of the day. The mix of different styles made it quite beautiful and contrasting, making it not only useful for hunts but also as a piece of art.

The Queen's Guardians was a Titan brand specialized in defense. Their shields were the thickest, their armors were the strongest and their safety mechanisms were the best among all titans, ensuring the safety of the pilot above all else. Their firepower was never the best but their Titan's main role was never to deal damage so such downside was easily ignored by those who opted for such Titans.

The Black Beetle from Robert was part of this brand's line up and as expected a brand new Black Beetle was on Display at the fair, showing it's imposing armor, horn and lasers to all. On it's side there was their newest model, a double shielded Titan made for the sole purpose of acting as a mobile wall.

The Leviathan's booth had only a single model available on display. This was because their main lines were specialized in underwater combat, and their line of amphibians could be used on land.

As expected the model shown was an amphibian model that looked a mix of a dolphin and a human. Hearing the employee's explanation I discover that it could transform when underwater to swim faster and it's weapons could be used both inside and outside water without the need to change parts when changing terrain. Basically this meant that they could shot as soon as they left water, taking the enemy by surprise.

The Odin Spear was another brand specialized in Melee combat. Different from the Samurai Emperors, their weapons had quite a big variety available to them. Laser swords, spears, axes, fists, drills, claws, maces, you name it, whatever melee weapon one desired, it could be made by them.

This versatility was their biggest selling point but aside from this their works were quite common and maybe to demonstrate this that they put on display more than fifty different weapons, which the Titan would choose and swing them around for a bit, then put them back and choose again.

The White Tiger brand specialized in agile Titans. Those Titans were lighter and less durable than others but their speed more than made up for it, enabling most veteran hunters to dodge any kind of attack pulled by their prey. They were also one of the favorite brands used to fight against other Titans as they could make use of their speed to quickly overwhelm their rivals before their rivals had time to display their strength.

On their booth they had many videos showing duels and hunts, showing off their best points and on the sides there were two of their Titans standing proud as if saying "look, that's me over there!".

I looked around and saw no sign of the Goddess Wing's booth that was rumored to participate this year. Different from most other Titan, the Goddess Wing's Titans were light weight Titans specialized in flight. Their controls were quite complicated and it's said that only the best of the best pilots are able to handle them well enough to fight in the air, while others mostly use such features for dodging and baiting the monsters to traps and ambushes.

Aside from these famous international brands there were quite a few other less known national brands showing off their products as well, but the disparity of performance when comparing their Titans was quite big and maybe their biggest selling point was the cheaper price.

Grabbing a pamphlet I analysed the specs of the Titan in front of me with the one I had created with my own hands. As unbelievable as it seemed, my Titan had advantage over more than half specs, including durability, speed and carry limits. Surely it lost in weapons as this was never my focus and I had all intention of using common ones sold by third parties. It also lost in total energy and arm's strength, but such loss was negligible as it was not made with intent of being a melee fighter.

Actually I have to say I'm quite a bit proud of it's melee capabilities as even half destroyed as it was, it was still able to take care of a wolves pack with the exception of their leader. And let me add that if the battle with Robert had not happened, and I still had my rifle in hand, I had quite a few chances of winning even against that mother wolf!

This news made me feel even more frustrated with my own situation. If my homemade Titan was comparable to the national Titans sold on the market, that meant it would be quite well received if I had the opportunity to show it off.

As I was drowning in my own sadness and regret, I felt a familiar presence that caused quite a bit of pain in the last few days. Predicting his next movement I stepped aside, barely dodging the punch in the back of my head.

"You dare to dodge!?"

"Robert, what's your problem!? Didn't you have enough fun destroying my life's work??"

"Oh, please! I made you a favor taking care of that trash!"

(Trash!? You!!!!)

Before I can strike his proud nose, Robert swings his arm and pushes a leather bag into my arms.

"Waste no more of my time, vermin. Take this and get out of my sight!"

I was honestly in no mood to be humoring Robert. He wants me to take this? Okay, I will take it!

"As you wish!"

"Good. See ya, vermin! And thanks for the life target! It was fun!"

After he finished what he had to say, Robert turns around and walks away, vanishing in between the crowd and leaving me with a stupefied face.

"What the hell just happened??"