I remember that first day vividly.

Very, very vividly.

After we got out of the mechas, we were immediately herded into a huge lift along with a few other kids who had arrived by mecha as well. The fifty or so of us fit into the lift comfortably and with room to spare.

"Gifted program. Prepare to exit." A tall and burly lift operator called out.

"Bye Emma! All the best! Thanks for not telling me anything about my very important first day!" I said to her half sincerely and half sarcastically.

"You're welcome." She grinned at me. "Whatever happens, don't give up! AND make sure you look after Tes!"

She gave Tes a quick hug and then stepped out of the lift as soon as the doors opened.

Apparently they had gotten quite close during the past few days.

I had no idea what happened.

The past few days were a blur of absorbing mecha cores and then trying my best to ingest them as fast as I could.

After so many long hours of ingesting all that mecha cores and blue mechas which my big bro and Jeanette had so generously left for me during the purge, the red energy within my body had grown much stronger than before.

At that time I didn't know for sure, but I also suspected that my RPL had increased once more!

And the real good news was, I had successfully absorbed fifty percent of the white mecha "gifted" by Amelia Dragonos. I would be able to wield the full power of a white mecha enhanced by the power of thirty-three blue mechas within the month.

"In one month, if push comes to shove and the assassins come once more, I would be able to eat them all for breakfast." I thought grimly.

Although I had no combat skills to speak of, the sheer power that my mecha suit afforded me allowed me to completely overlook that glaring absence.

Sledgehammers needed no finesse to smash their targets.

I was absolutely brimming with power!

After Emma exited the lift, it was the other Whitefrost kids' turn.

"All of you, except first years, please exit the lift." The operator said in a totally bored voice.

"Bye guys. Thanks for leaving me in the dark." I resumed my sarcastic goodbyes.historical

"Remember, make us proud!" Julie said as she left the lift.

I rolled my eyes at her as the lift door closed on us.

"Any guesses what we'll be going through soon?" I asked Tes.

"Guesses? I don't need to guess. My parents told me yesterday." Tes shrugged.

"WHAT?! You knew? And you didn't tell me?" I half shouted at her.

"You seriously don't know?" The lift operator looked at me in slight surprise. "Where were you for the past few years of your life? It's common knowledge."

"I was.. Overseas." I quickly came out with an excuse. "What is it? Can you tell me?"

"Well.. You'll know in a few seconds. I might as well let you find out for yourself. It's so rare that someone actually doesn't know about the orientation week of the academy. I won't ruin your surprise. Haha!" The lift operator barked out a satisfied laugh.

"You.. Tes! Will you tell me? Please?" I turned to Tes and pleaded her.

"Well.. Emma said to let you find out during the start of the event itself. So.. I'll let you do that." Tes giggled lightly. Around us, the other first years looked at me with amused smiles and pitying looks.

But before I could give vent to my mounting exasperation, however, we arrived at our destination.

Ding!

"Alright first years. Go on out and all the very best. Especially for you boy." The lift operator said with a laugh as he shooed us out of the lift.

I rolled my eyes at him.

We stepped out into an utterly massive space which could only be called an arena.

It was so huge that a horse would take many long minutes just to run a straight line from one end to the other! And all around the massive arena were rows and rows of seats. The seating area surrounding the arena was so huge that it could probably seat a million people!

At that moment, almost twenty percent of the arena was filled. That's almost two hundred thousand people!

They were probably the family members of the participants, the staff and students, as well as important guests.

The first day of the National Mecha Pilot Academy's orientation week for first years had always been a big event, and there were no lack of people who wanted to watch the event.

"Whaaat the.. This is so much bigger than I had imagined. Coolios!!" A nerdy boy around Tes' height exclaimed in surprise.

"Amazing." Tes whispered as she too was astounded by the sight that laid before us.

As far as the normal human eye can see (not my eyes of course, because mine were enhanced), huge blue mechas stood neatly in rows and columns.

There were all sorts of mechas with all sorts of equipment in the humongous arena. Light, medium and heavy mechas were all represented there. Some had flight modules, some carried melee weapons, some carried rifles, and there were even some which were completely unarmed.

"Interesting!!" I immediately cried out in my heart as I gazed at the awe-inspiring sight.

However, I soon narrowed my eyes as I did a quick calculation.

"Fifty by one hundred. That's exactly five thousand mechas." I muttered.

"Tes. DO NOT tell me we are going to have a GRAND MELEE as our opening event?? A five thousand mecha free for all fight??" I turned to look at her seriously.

Tes merely smiled at me and nodded.

"Hehehe. Finally you know what you've gotten yourself into." The nerdy and apparently very talkative boy laughed out loud. "Don't pee in your pants!"

"Don't worry. The mecha seats are made of leather. You can pee as much as you like. Haha!" A tall girl dressed in comfortable sports wear joined him in teasing me.

I ignored them as my jaw dropped at her confirmation.

"What kind of school takes their first years and immediately dumps them into a five-thousand-mecha GRAND MELEE?! On the freaking FIRST DAY?!" I thought in shock.

However, my heart began to pound in exhilaration as I answered my own question.

"THE MOST AWESOME TYPE OF SCHOOL!!" I shouted to myself.