Chill

While Laira waited for the mechs who were able to return into the battlefield to have their own fun, making sure Pyr Prime's team stayed at the bottom with only three kills, and Griles Derton with zero, the specialists were already on their way toward her team's workshop to congratulate her teammates - but mainly to peek at the two-eyed Imperator's schematics.

Theon was very protective of the design, but Sy did not care. He had gained a good amount of Pioneering Score, unexpectedly. With the tournament scheduled to be broadcasted tomorrow, he was sure he would receive even more rewards from his System.

"Sy Verdin.." Dylan Pierre greeted, "your design will be completed if you give it a name."

The young pioneer took the tablet offered and finished it in one quick stroke, before returning the device.

[Centurion - Imperator III

Sy Verdin]

'Centurion," Dylan mentally noted. He then uttered his thoughts, "I never thought of reinforcing the spine of my current design in order to make it carry a flight module. You, however, did not only craft one, but also used it for another purpose. Even if I did thought about it, I'm not confident I could do it within ten hours."

"There are many ways of material bonding," Sy explained, "a fabricator can be considered as one. If the good already had the desired shape, you don't redo the whole process, just print around it."

Dylan was shocked at this, and stuttered, "That--that's a very complicated process.."

The two exchanges pointers, but the specialist from Pyr Prime was the only one learning. He even heard some strange things, like Gamma Welding, which he did not understand.

"Sy, you should license the spine you crafted. I saw that it's more advance than the 4th gens. Many companies would kill for it." Dylan suggested with a stern look on his face.

Sy smiled awkwardly.

"Also," Dylan turned to the Centurion - Imperator III, that had just appeared from the battlefield, signaling the end of the competition, "those guns are more powerful than anything I've ever seen. You should submit it to a mech guild for inspection before licensing them."

Nodding, Sy could only refuse mentally.

The crowds flooded the stage, as each one wanted to see their contenders on a closer view.

The tournament had officially ended when the winners were declared. Laira's team took the first place, second was Pyr Prime. The third was from the plains of Yorya.

The three elderly and the rest of the Runerie family went down when most of the crowds dispersed. Genevieve was the first to climb up the stage. But then, a figure intercepted her.

It was Mina.

"Can I pass?" Genevieve politely asked - her hostile eyes betrayed her.

"No." Mina answered firmly, with arms crossed on top of her chest.

"Hahaha!" Noticing the growing tension, Niel squeezed himself between the two. These duo had been like this for as long as he can remember. "Can we celebrate, instead? Why are you like this?!"

"If your uncle and cousins are here, it would be a big family battle, Niel." The voice of a man jokingly said.

"William!" Niel exclaimed, seeing the man behind Genevieve. He wanted to have a good chat with an old friend, but Genevieve and Mina would go at it like children if he let them be.

"Niel! Mina!" Sy steadily approached, wearing a smile on his face seeing the two siblings. "How are you two?"

The tension broke when Mina turned. Stifling a smile, she answered, "Niel signed a ten day contract. Hopefully we're out of Pyr Prime after that."

"That's good. I'll have the apartments ready by then." Sy assured.

Mina frowned at the man's passive response. She reminded, "Don't forget about our date."

"Sy Verdin!" Genevieve chimed in. "I'm Laira's sister, Genevieve."

"Oh, hi.." Sy was a bit startled of a beautiful woman suddenly introducing herself, and could not draft a better response.

In a graceful manner, Genevieve walked closer and extended a hand for a gentleman's kiss.

Mina immediately slapped the lecherous attempt, causing her rival to turn toward her in great irritation.

"I saved your life plenty of times in Taruna!" Genevieve started.

"I saved your life in the expedition to Durn! Many times!" Mina responded.

"I saved your life from a republic's squadron!"

"I saved you when your mech crashed on the city of Belg!"

While the two argued, three elderly approached Sy and directed him away in secrecy with Gregory shadowing them.

"It is good to meet a very capable man in person." Granduncle Charles said, more than impressed by what he saw in the tournament.

"We would like to extend a proposition for a young man such as yourself." Granduncle Romulus added.

"We are offering you a family contract. You would be a nice addition to the--"

"Argh!" William was having a nice chatter with Niel when he noticed the trio. He hurriedly took them away and restrained them as they were straightforward old men and stuck in the old ways.

"William! What are you doing?!" Grandfather Theodore protested. "And how did you find a rope to tie us?"

Laira finally joined the crowd when she hugged her uncle William who promised her a huge allowance for winning the tournament.

Sy could only scratch his head while watching the two families. "Strange.."

-----

After bidding good-bye, Laira, Sy and Theon were directed out of the Three Towers, and into a hotel in the outskirts of the Starport. They were the only remaining team that had not received their rewards.

They entered a room where a man with shoulder-length blond hair greeted them. His blue eyes directly landed on Sy, softly smiling at the capable young man.

"I'm Ortius Pris." He introduced. "Call me Orty."

"Pris?" Laira raised a brow, "You're from the great scholar house in the Besta System."

"It's good to meet you in person, Laira Runerie." Ortius flashed the teenager a weak smile. "My family had been secluded from society for a long time now. I wouldn't call them great as they had not contributed anything for the Union in the past decades."

Laira did not respond to this, and preferred to stare somewhere else.

Sy had no desire to be there and did not really care about the rewards. However, after seeing the state of the other man, he found a seat and asked, "It seems like you have a big plan ahead of you, Orty."

A surprised look appeared on Ortius, as he directed his attention to the man they call, 'Logria's mechanic'. He stated, "I'm leaving the Union. Our old ways had impeded new progress. The Empire of Durn shall provide me new insights, and when I return, I would like to be a Master Grade Mech Specialist just like Niel Fanick in such a young age."

"So that's why you conducted the event here in Logria." Theon joined, "Niel is my idol, as well. He was in the crowd and his energy was limitless."

Ortius was speechless for some time. He could not believe he shared his thoughts so easily. He was a shy person, and had lived most of his life in seclusion. The sound of people other than his family would sometimes startle him.

In the crowds, when Niel Fanick appeared, he wanted to pause the event and speak, but couldn't. Ortius realized something and stared at Sy. The man had easily called him 'Orty', by then, he was pried out from his shell.

"What's our reward?" Laira inquired impatiently.

"You will find your rewards when you go back to the Little Auxillary Division, Ms. Runerie." Ortius responded, before reaching out to the drawer behind him, procuring a box made out of synthetic wood. After opening it, he grabbed a few pieces of paper and laid it out on the table, "I have a couple of 3rd Gen license and you are free to choose from it as they would prove no value to me in the Empire of Durn."

At the mention of this, Theon's eyes brightened. His heart throbbed violently in his chest as this would secure his future in the mech industry. Although, he still did not have the funds or equipments to produce a 3rd Gen all by himself, he would have more chance on grabbing the attention of a company looking for a certain type of product.

Sy did not really care about the licenses, but spotted something inside Ortius' box that sparked his curiosity, "What's that?"

Ortius was confused for a second before picking up a black stone, "This?"

Sy grabbed the object and thoroughly scrutinized it.

"Some merchants came to our manor when I was a child, and I was silly to buy it. It's probably a debris from an asteroid." Ortius explained, raising a brow at Sy who delicately examined it.

However, Sy was unperturbed. He ran a finger on its surface, and his eyes widened. There were engravings that an ordinary human's sense of touch won't perceive.

[Xeno artifact detected!]

Sy felt chills run down his spine at the notification. Furthermore, something was pulsing in his pocket. It was the Innovation Cube.