Like opening the floodgates of a massive dam, that shrill shout triggered a deep roar of surprise from the entire crowd!

Bruce Pang!

One of the top mecha pilots, and one of the Eight Mecha Gods of the Federation, actually had a brother?

AND a Whitefrost, at that? Impossible!!

When did the Pang Family and the Whitefrost Clan have such close relations??

"The Pang Family and the Whitefrost Clan are in an alliance? Impossible!! That would completely disrupt the balance of power!!"

"Old man, so you secretly made such a powerful ally through such an earthshaking method. You're making me, the top Diplomat of the Federation, completely embarrassed of holding the title. Sneaky bastard." Secretary Wang looked at Russel Whitefrost and rolled her eyes at him.

"Ah? The Pangs and my Whitefrost Clan are allies? Hahahahahahahahahaha!! Now you know the true power of my diplomatic skills! Whahahahahaha!!" Russel Whitefrost shamelessly took credit for the blockbuster move that I had accidentally made.

Of course, that only made the shrewd Secretary Wang realize the truth. She could read Russel Whitefrost, an upright warrior, like an open book.

"Huh? Not even you know what's happening? So what's really happening?" Secretary Wang frowned deeply.

"HAHAHAHA! Shocked? Surprised? Don't be! My brother will be the top student of the first graders, and let me assure you, that he would be ranked within the top hundred thousand of the National Pilot Ranking! Within! Six! Months! Hahahahahahaha!!" Bruce Pang shouted with evil glee and sealed my fate as an outcast within not only the first graders, but also in the rest of the academy, and in the rest of the young generation in the entire Federation!

If I wasn't blessed with such great natural skills in making friends, that damned Bruce Pang's announcement would have made my years in the Academy complete hell!

He not only announced our brotherhood, but also made such a high-sounding boast! And all that with his notoriety as a super-stingy-with-praises Principal!

Thousands of youths working extremely diligently day in day out, night and day, desperate to catch his eye and earn a word of praise looked at me and saw the most ridiculous thief ever.

They couldn't wait to defeat me and show Bruce Pang that they were more worthy than me to be his brother!

With just a few words, Bruce Pang had set the stage for my debut into the Federation's spotlight.

His unspoken words for me that day was simply "I am sending the entire Federation's strongest and best up against you. Beat them all up. Once you're done, climb up the National Pilot Rank, and beat THEM all up."

Damn you, big bro. I understand what you were trying to do, but.. Damn you.

"To the best of the best! I present to you, my dearest little brother, the Crown of this year's Grand Melee Champion!!" Bruce Pang roared as he leapt off the stage and within a few seconds, appeared next to a dumbstruck looking me.

The massive spotlights swivelled hastily after him and shined down upon us.

Our faces appeared in every single news channel of the country, as well as on every single international news channel who were broadcasting the event.

It was a master stroke from him, of course.

They wanted to make me popular, and hide Devour under plain sight.

Nobody but the crazy Bruce Pang would dream of exposing such a critical national treasure to such public scrutiny.

"Congratulations. You did well." Bruce Pang said proudly.

Despite knowing that he had doomed me to years of conflict with every single school going aged kid, I couldn't help but feel extremely touched by his sincere pride.

Here was a man who truly cared about me, truly wanted me to succeed, and who saw my victories as his own victories!historical

He may be as gentle as an enraged bull, but damn it, it felt good to be able to make him so proud.

So I smiled back at him and saved my curses for another day.

He placed the Crown upon my head. And when he did so, a magnificent mecha appeared in the sky and quickly landed behind us.

It was covered with thick cream coloured armor, and it wielded a massive broadsword and an equally massive round shield.

It looked brutish, rough, and extremely willing to get into close combat.

"A surprise reward for this year's champion. A Barbarian Class Medium Mecha." Bruce Pang said softly. But his voice reverberated throughout the entire arena.

Like an explosion going off, the crowd roared their approval.

"Barbarian class? Isn't that the newest product offering from the highly prestigious and boutique Soaring Dragon Mecha Company? I heard that their products are extremely easy to control, and if we can master them, we have a chance of creating something called affinity boost with our mechas!"

"What?? There's such a marvelous thing? Where is their shop? I want to buy one!"

"Buy one? Dream on! Their products are all sold via invitationals! If you aren't invited to buy, you will never get your hands on one!"

"What about the second hand market? Any sellers there?"

"Zero. When you buy a Soaring Dragon Mecha, you must sign an agreement to sell the mecha back to them if you ever want to sell! There are totally no second hand Soaring Dragon Mechas available! I heard that a rich young master from an unnamed family has a standing offer to buy one, any one, at one hundred times their purchase price. But there are no takers!"

"Incredible! Damn that cheater. He is so lucky!!"

By just listening to the uproar of the crowd, I quickly understood just how precious the reward was that year.

"This mecha will accompany you for the rest of your journey here in this Academy." Bruce Pang continued. "Take good care of it, and make us proud."

The crowd continued to roar out their approval and their jealousy.

Of course, I could also feel four thousand pairs of jealous eyes drilling into me from every single direction.

They had to start with practice mechas for their first year.

Simply by having my Barbarian Class Mecha, even if my RPL wasn't that high, I would more or less be guaranteed to win most one on one battles.

My Student Pilot Rank within the National Mecha Pilot Academy was destined to be extremely high right off the bat!