"What are you laughing about?" Emma frowned in irritation. "The Giant Pegasi has only one mecha left while the Black Salamanders still have six! Six better pilots against a single weak pilot in a heavy mecha. Deng Da Jun has no chance at all!" Emma proclaimed confidently.

"Yeah? You're very confident aren't you?"

"Very. Da Jun has no chance at all."

"Why don't we raise the stakes then? If you dare." I taunted her provocatively.

"Sure! If you're so willing to give me all your future academy credits, I am happy to receive them all." Emma smirked at me. "Just don't go crying to grandpa when you finally realize your mistake!"

"Let's raise the stakes to five thousand academy credits then!"

"Five thousand?? HA HA! YOU ARE ON!" Emma cackled happily.

"Oh I love betting with ignorant fools like yo-"

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Oh look, it's three vs one now. HA HA!" I cackled happily.

The three remaining light mechas immediately dispersed in three different directions and opened fire at Deng Da Jun's heavy mecha which had finally revealed itself.

Sometime during or after the engagement, the three light mechas had somehow gotten their hands on additional heavy rifles, thus allowing them to fire at Da Jun freely without having to worry about their rifle melting down.

Deng Da Jun had also separated his ultra-heavy rifle into two heavy rifles and he fired both rifles at an unlucky light mecha.

"Hey, one of Da Jun's heavy rifles seems to have a much better rate of fire compared to his other heavy rifle." I commented.

"Yes, Da Jun had invested a huge amount of his resources into his heavy rifle, increasing its power, durability and rate of fire." Emma replied.

"I see. So each pilot owns their own mecha weapons?" I asked.

"Not really. As I mentioned before, each week, pilots will receive various resources based on their performances. They are allowed to invest their resources into anything they want.

If they choose to take the path of an elite sniper, for example, they can buy a long range sniper rifle and they can tweak its range, power, durability, rate of fire, as well as its scope. You can even tweak how the trigger mechanism feels when you pull it.

If they are particularly successful, they can even save up to buy a mecha and customize that mecha too!" Emma explained. "Of course they would have to sign a life contract with the Clan if they buy a mecha from us. But most already intend to stay with us permanently anyway, so that's usually not an issue."

"That's an excellent system." I nodded in approval. "Makes the soldiers dedicated to the Clan. Are there any customized mechas in this particular battle?"

"Of course! The Black Salamanders are a rich bunch, especially their top players. In fact, all three remaining light mechas are actually customized mechas!"

"Really? I can't tell at all!" I said in amazement.

"The mark of an excellent customization is that it doesn't look different at all compared to the original. The only thing different should be its performance. Here, take a look at the profiles of the remaining light mechas. He he he." Emma snickered lightly as she sent some info to my screen.historical

"... .. These light mechas are practically medium mechas! 50% enhanced armor, 40% enhanced speed, 80% enhanced melee damage.. What a bunch of cheaters!" I looked away from my screen in disgust.

"HA HA HA HA! Now you know why I am so confi-"

BOOM!

SPLAT!

"Hey, it's 2 vs 1 now!" I said, feeling very pleased by Deng Da Jun's performance.

He had finally activated his flight system and had taken the mecha he was firing at by complete surprise when he suddenly launched into the sky at high speed. Da Jun had splashed him with a devastating glob of paint that served to indicate a fatal melee attack.

"That's alright. The Black Salamander's Leader and Co-Leader are the two remaining fighters. They would have no prob-"

BOOM!

SPLAT!

Deng Da Jun took the second light mecha by complete surprise as well when he accelerated at a speed far beyond their expectations. Another devastating glob of paint hit the second mecha and it too powered down.

"Their LEADER, Lin Jian, is one of the top ranked pilots. He will have no prob-"

BOOM!

SPLAT!

Silence.

And then...

"HA HA HA HA! What a crazy bastard! He actually flung the light mecha at, what's his name again? Lin Jian! Forcing him to dodge into the path of his heavy rifle fire! What an excellent tactic!

AND THE GIANT PEGASI WINS!!! FIVE THOUSAND ACADEMY CREDITS! HERE I COMEEE!! YEAAHHHH!!!!" I shouted and whooped and screamed for joy.

I had never won anything before in my entire life, and even though I had no idea what five thousand academy credits was good for, it still felt extremely good. Especially when I saw Emma's extremely sour and sulky face!

HAHA! I bet you're still sour about that loss Emma!

Five minutes later, we were out of the VIP room and were walking rapidly towards the practice area.

I furrowed my brows and frowned deeply.

After a moment, I sighed deeply.

"I give up." I told the still-pouting Emma as I handed her back her mobile communicator which contained her school handbook. "I really don't know what to spend my five thousand academy credits on! I guess I'll know what I want when I get to school! HA HA!"

If looks could deal damage, I would have totally died then.

"We're here!" Emma snapped at me irritably as we entered a large room. "Get in and choose a mecha!"

It was a pretty simple room.

Approximately fifty meters by fifty meters, there were four mechas to choose from, each located in a corner of the room, each with a different colour theme. It was probably one of their smaller practice rooms that catered to one versus one or two versus two practice matches.

Emma quickly marched to the nearest mecha which was red in colour and climbed in.