Mystical Journey

It was at this moment that a black ball of sparks appeared in the middle of the sky once again. The ball exploded, this time revealing a white and red humanoid mech.

The mech was more than 10 meters tall with a lean and elegant shape. However, its arms inspired a sense of curiosity from everyone who looked at it. One of them was holding onto a snowy white alloy sword that looked like a straight letter opener while the other didn't have a hand structure; instead, the arm was in the shape of a cannon barrel. There were some symbols and patterns carved in dark red at the area around the cannon lip and muzzle, giving it an antique vibe.

However, the thing that stood out the most about the mech was the soft green fluorescence shining from all the gaps on its chest and shoulder plates, almost as if a neon green liquid was flowing through all of these crevices. These growing green crevices seemed to naturally form a single character: Light.

"How dare he attempt such a stunt even after being so heavily damaged? Serves him right!" a cold and hoarse voice sounded from inside the mech.

All of a sudden, numerous white humanoid mechs appeared behind this mech. All of them had the white-red color scheme, but none were as intricately designed as the mech leading them. They all had a simple green diamond-shaped gem embedded in their chests.

"Go down there and retrieve the parts," The leader said emotionlessly.

"Understood."

Out of the 5 mechs that just appeared, 3 of them nosedived downwards while the remaining 2 started circling the area as if they were patrolling.

"Based on your potential, to be able to force me, the Great Light Mech, to personally take action, you should be proud," the leader mech sneered as he looked down at the remains of the exploded mech.

Almost immediately, the results of the search were reported back, neatly organized on the mech's quantum computer. Pieces of black machine parts start popping up on the computer screen.

"The next target is…?"

Inside the Great Light Mech, a young man in a white mask quickly opened the email that he had just received.

Swiftly scanning through the contents of the message, the man's sharp eyes squinted slightly, showing a hint of surprise.

"There's also a fragment in the Blackboard Region? Well since I'm already here, I might as well go get it."

******

Blackboard City South District

Inside a bakery with the sign "One for All Bakery" at the corner of the street.

The interior of the building was dimly lit with a warm yellow light, creating a warm and cozy atmosphere even during the day.

Clint Beza was seated on a chair in a lazy, half-asleep state, looking almost like a droopy slime. Saliva was slowly flowing out from the corner of his lip, dripping down his chin. The saliva was dangling from the side his face, creating some sort of thin saliva thread.

Whew…

With a slight breeze, the dangling saliva thread swung towards Clint's shirt collar, creating a damp dark stain.

Slurp…

Clint sucked up his saliva, then continued to sleep with his head tilted to the side

"Oh my god!!! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod! Goddammit! We're screwed! This time we're screwed!" out of nowhere, a loud shriek rang out in his ear. The loud sound made Clint feel a sense of numbness throughout his body and it immediately woke him from his slumber.

Clint looked dazed. After taking a moment to regain his composure, he cupped his ears and started roaring loudly.

"What are you doing! My ears! Ears…!"

"You're screwed!" Red Moon answered concisely.

"Why?" Clint asked. "Why am I screwed?"

"You're dead!"

"Why?" Clint asked on with a confused look.

"You are an idiot! Dead! This time we're dead!" Red Moon continued to shout.

"Oh my god…" Clint held his head as he cried out in agony.

After 10 minutes of forcefully resisting the intensely loud shouts, Clint went to attend a few customers before finally getting an opportunity to use the washroom.

"Lord Red Moon, what the heck are you going on about this time! I can't take it anymore, I really can't take it anymore! If you continue on my sanity levels will definitely go down, really!"

Pulling down his pants, he sat his ass down on the toilet and let out a long sigh.

"I have unfortunate news to tell you," Red Moon angrily answered, "We've been found out!"

"Found out? What do you mean?" Clint was once again confused.

"An expert is now on the hunt for my parts, and they're already here in the Blackboard Region," Red Moon said in a serious tone, "I'm not joking around this time. If we get found, we'll be dead meat. I'll get reformatted, and you will definitely be silenced!"

Clint felt a cold sweat drip down his forehead.

"S-Silence… You don't mean… They're going to kill me???"

How could this kind of television drama progression happen to himself in real life?

"You better believe it," Red Moon replied coldly. "I'm telling the truth. My original body was once known as the Forbidden Mech by your people, one of the strongest tiered mechs in space. Even if it's just one of my parts, it would be considered a valuable treasure worth a small fortune to the average person. For an expert to come and collect my parts is no surprise. The only thing out of my expectations was that they somehow managed to find out about my existence. Is it really a coincidence?"

"Forbidden Mech…" Clint swallowed hard, feeling as if he was getting dragged deeper and deeper into this hole he dug. "Lord Red Moon… You're just joking with me right…?"

"Do you think I'm in the mood to play around with you?" Red Moon directly interrupted his thoughts. "We need to find a way to escape our pursuers!"

"Oh my god… Ohmigod… Oh, God!" This time Clint started gasping.

"The most important thing right now is to avoid being found by our pursuers. I can feel that my part is nearby this area, though I don't know whether they can pinpoint our exact location right now. However, just in case, I'll switch into a power-saver mode to reduce the signal reception," Red Moon rapidly reported the situation. "After this I might not be able to sense their location, but the same can also be said for them. You shouldn't have to worry too much for now. This is Blackboard City, the center of the entire Blackboard Region. It is surrounded by Blackboard Academy's most elite mech division, so they wouldn't dare to try any funny business over here."

"So does this mean that I'm safe?" Clint's face was as white as a sheet, he was so terrified.

"You're safe for now. All we can do now is to bet everything on this. If they can find us even after I cut off all connections, then it'll all be down to our luck," Red Moon explained.

"What if I just throw you away right now?" Clint suddenly thought of an idea.

"Too late!" Red Moon laughed coldly. "Your body already has my mark, and anyone who comes in contact with me will be tainted by a sort of aura. This type of radiation-based aura will be easily recognized by them. With such an obvious trace, they will definitely kill you off."

"No!!" Clint shouted with his head in his arms. Luckily everyone else had all left for lunch, he was the only one left in the shop.

"Lord, please have mercy on me. I'm only a normal 16-year-old teen, I'm not some prodigy harem protagonist from those works of fiction!!"

"Just accept your fate, effortlessly leaving this up to luck is actually a great option for you. You're nothing more than a useless waste of space anyways," Red Moon scoffed. "Sooner or later, everyone connected to you will also be dragged into this ordeal. Your sister, your parents, your only friend Darby, Baylon, all of them will also be killed. Their only mistake was being related to a piece of shit like you."

"You must be just scaring me," Clint suddenly calmed down. "That's definitely it, Lord Red Moon, you have always liked to scare me. Making this time's attempt so realistic must be all part of your plan, it's my loss. Well, I'll be on my way, I need to get back to watching the shop."

"Scaring you? Are you in denial?" Red Moon was speechless.

"Sis and the others are going to be back soon, I should hurry back, or else I'll be scolded again," Clint felt almost zen-like. He stood up and flushed the toilet.

"So not being able to handle reality forced him into a shell of his own delusions huh…" Red Moon had nothing left to say. Looking at the image from the parts, their opponents weren't shady characters. They will definitely attempt something big. Well when it really becomes a problem, that'll give this guy the wake-up call he needs.

******

"This is my second time being hospitalized just within this short semester," Garen said as he laid back in the upper-class intensive care unit as he carefreely conversed with Celine.

These two were admitted this time due to mutually inflicted injuries. Taking into account their stellar performance, the council acknowledged their abilities and potential, so these sorts of medical arrangements were mere trivialities.

The doctors and nurses had just come in a while ago to re-apply their medication. They had then left to allow the two to get some rest.

One of Celine's legs were wrapped with a white cloth and elevated by a stand. She was completely bandaged up like a dumpling, only revealing her eyes, nostrils, and mouth.

"It's only your second time?" it was by Celine's request that she was transferred to this shared ward. She was quite interested in this fellow Nono. Even if he was a prodigy student, he was still just from an average household. How did he manage to get so strong in combat capabilities that he could manage to fight on equal footing against herself, who was using willpower techniques? This was undoubtedly a miracle.

"I would get hospitalized once a week, at the very least," she casually said.

"Every week? Why?" Garen was feeling bored anyways, so he might as well have a chat with this person.

"Assaults, challenges, and all sorts of troublesome stuff would all lead to injuries. Every so often, I just found myself in a situation where I need to be hospitalized," Celine said thoughtlessly. She looked over at Garen. Other than a bandage across the chest with some applied medication, he looked no different from other average patients. Looking at his rosy face, an average person wouldn't even believe that he had sustained an injury.

"You have quite a sturdy body don't you, must be all the combat training paying off."

"I'm still doing decently," Garen crossed his legs, shifting into a more comfortable position. "By the way, you specifically requested to be transferred to my ward, anything I can help you with?"

No matter how much Celine lacks in femininity, she was ultimately still a girl, an 18-year old young teenage girl. Transferring into his ward like this, rumors about the two would surely spread.

"I feel that even my private coaches are no match for you when it comes to combat abilities. I want to learn the art of combat from you," Celine said in a straightforward fashion.

"You have no qualms about being injured so badly by me?" Garen was surprised by her request, as he didn't expect this girl to have such a personality.

"I do mind… but that's why I want to learn the basics of combat from you!" Celine answered sincerely.

"I will charge you," Garen frowned.

"Just state your price," Celine answered ostentatiously. "How do ten thousand Units per day sound?"

"My training is very harsh," Garen actually started to consider it, as he'd been lacking in funds recently.

"Harsh training is not a problem. As long as my limbs are still attached, I can take it," Celine answered without hesitation.

Garen was speechless, just what kind of training had she previously undergone? This level of commitment was mind-boggling… It felt like a matter of life and death.

"Oh right, what's going on between you and that guy Fervale?" Garen asked directly. He felt that Celine was quite pure-hearted to be honest, she purely wanted to get stronger. Her battle philosophy was completely different from Fervale.

"That guy is completely useless. He's too weak. Even after wasting so many resources, he only grew by that insignificant amount. I was born stronger than him, that's why the household chose me as the heir. After losing that position to me, he probably felt jealous. That's most likely why he always had a grudge against me," Celine casually explained. "I originally thought that this grudge would serve as motivation for him to get better, but he's always caught up with impure thoughts. He has lost his focus on improving himself to pursue that business force or whatever. What an idiot."

Thinking back about that guy Fervale, Garen could definitely feel that he was too narrow-minded. His heart was filled with impure intentions, unlike Celine who was completely pure. Not being able to focus on one thing at a time, how could he ever surpass a training junkie like Celine? Him being left in the dust was no surprise at all.