Ves belatedly understood that this was his first real mech battle. Although it was just an elaborate simulation, the duel was so lifelike that Ves actually felt it was real!

The slugging match that ensued between his frontline mech and his opponent's rifleman mech could only proceed in a single way. Both of the machines stood in place and traded potshots with each other.

The duel turned into a battle of attrition from the start! The mech that ran out of energy or sustained too much damage first would lose!

In a normal setting where both mechs were under the control of trained mech pilots, the rifleman mech possessed a much greater advantage. The mech possessed a considerable advantage in mobility and could easily close in and circle around the inflexible frontline mech, never presenting a fixed target for the cheaper mech to land a solid hit!

While the frontline mech possessed the edge in firepower and durability, its extreme lack of flexibility meant that even a weak rifleman mech could best it by wrestling it down in melee range!

Yet all of that did not come to pass right now. Neither mech designers were confident about their ability to move and fire their weapons at the same time, so they both opted to stand still!

In such a circumstance, the frontline mech fared better against the rifleman mech because the former did not rely so much on mobility!

Perhaps the female mech designer hoped that her marksmanship with her mech was better than that of Ves with his own machine.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not so feeble."

Ves concentrated on firing one laser cannon at a time, thereby maximizing whatever accuracy he could muster. He calmly alternated his fire, allowing the laser cannons adequate time to accumulate a new charge and shunt away the heat.

Laser beams occasionally marred the frontline mech's exterior, but its frontal armor held like a champ. It might be a different story if his opponent struck the rear armor, but she didn't have the confidence to move her mech during a fight!

For this reason, the battle turned into a slow death for the rifleman mech as it continued to accumulate more damage. Ves was just as poor if not poorer with his aim as the female mech designer, but his laser cannons packed a greater punch than the rifle wielded by his opponent.

Even though the laser rifle possessed a faster firing rate, Ves' frontline mech possessed two laser cannons. Even if they required a longer time to cycle another charge, Ves could just alternate between the two of them to keep up with the firing rate of his opponent!

The outcome was becoming increasingly more certain. If the woman piloting the other mech did not switch things up, her defeat would become assured!

"She's moving!"

Ves expected her to resort to this option. There was no point entering into a static exchange of fire against a mech that excelled in this mode of battle. The only way the female mech designer could turn the tide was to take some risks! The only gambit available to her was to take advantage of her mech's mobility!

"It's a decent attempt, but your control is too awful!"

A rifleman mech could run quite fast when it got going. None of that happened in this duel. The rifleman mech ran as anemically as a shambling wreck. To Ves, trying to compensate for the movement took very little effort.

[Alright, it's about time your pathetic duel has ended. Victory goes to Ves Larkinson!]

Apparently, the duel between Tristan and Goz had finished a while ago. Melee mechs did tend to be more lethal than a battle of attrition between two laser-armed mechs.

As soon as Ves secured his first victory, the mech he piloted instantly refreshed itself. All of its energy cells were replenished and all of the battle damage disappeared.

"That's convenient."

A couple of more movements occurred as the Rim Guardians forcibly manipulated the physically projected reality in the Pit.

[Next duel, start!]

Ves came face-to-face with a lithic light skirmisher armed with a single knife. His second opponent was the Hexer, Goz Zoza!

"Let's see if you've been holding back."

He had always grown a bit suspicious about Zoza. They were similar in some ways, and that meant the facade they adopted did not necessarily represent their true ability.

Goz indeed managed to surprise Ves once the duel had started! He piloted his mech forward at a clipped walk, which was a lot faster than Ves initially expected!

"So you did hold back, Zoza! There's no way you can exert this degree of control if you haven't underwent any Mastery sessions!"

This basically meant that the disparity between Ves and Goza was much less than the disparity between Ves and his previous opponent.

Both of them were piloting different mech types that changed the dynamic as well. Ves possessed an absolute advantage from the start, but it was on a time limit! As long as Goza's skirmisher reached melee range, it was game over for Ves!

"I can't let Zoza's mech get close! I have to finish it off before that happens!"

The only problem was that the light skirmisher moved faster than other mechs. Even if Zoza's control was lacking, the natural advantage of his mech shone through. The skirmisher mech could close the distance within forty seconds, which was not enough time for his frontline mech to fell the deadly mech!

"I need to find a way to delay the interception!"

Just like his previous opponent, Ves decided to take a risk, finding it preferable to surrendering to his inevitable doom.

His frontline mech steadily walked backwards. Although it didn't move very fast, it made it a little harder for the light skirmisher to enter into knife-fighting range.

Ves bought precious time with each step his frontline mech moved back! Although he had to devote a significant amount of attention to the maneuvering, his concentration happened to be one of his strong points!

He devoted half of his concentration to moving his mech backwards while he spent the other half trying to aim and fire at the slowly-approaching light skirmisher.

Zoza's mech suffered numerous heavy hits! Due to the firepower of the laser cannons, the light mech really couldn't afford to get hit again in the same place!

"He's adjusting!"

The light skirmisher couldn't afford to walk in a straight line. That would just make it trivially easy for Ves to hit the mech. By introducing some lateral movement, Zoza made it twice as difficult for Ves to land an accurate hit!

Yet such an adjustment also increased the burden Zoza himself! He had to devote so much attention to moving the legs of his mech that he was one step away from teetering over!

Despite the difficulty of these maneuvers, the light skirmisher never lost its balance!

"It's a good effort, Goz, but not enough!"

Ves did not panic as the light skirmisher slowly closed the distance while juking left and right. The speed employed by Zoza was far too slow to add much challenge to his aim.

Laser beams steadily struck the approaching mech. Although none of them hit in the same place, the damage continued to accumulate. More and more lithic armor plating vaporized or melted as they withstood an incredible amount of heat and energy.

Although Ves was pushing the limits of his concentration by walking and firing at the same time, he unconsciously felt more in tune with his mech as he did so. It was as if he had found his true calling!

The sensation that overcame him while he steadily tried to land the lethal blow onto Zoza's mech was difficult to describe. After so many years of witnessing other mech pilots make use of his carefully-designed mechs, it was a surreal experience for him to enter the cockpit himself!

His mind and body enjoyed the sensation of controlling a mech through the man-machine connection. So much so that Ves even had the illusion that he was made for this! Ves took to piloting a mech like a fish to water!

"Damnit, what am I daydreaming about?" Ves shook his head. "I have a duel to win!"

His frontline mech continued to step backwards while unleashing a steady cadence of heavy laser beams. Since Ves knew that his mech would be completely restored to its old condition at the end, he overloaded the laser cannons of his mech despite the risk he incurred.

Even if the conditions of the weapons rapidly degraded, the increase in firepower was more than worth it as each strike inflicted major damage to Zoza's mech!

Each time a laser beam struck, it not only vaporized the surface layers, but also transferred the remaining damage to the internals!

The light skirmisher began to stutter and slow down. Its internal damage was piling up, hampering the mech's mobility and stability.

The situation became increasingly more dire for Goz as his mech came closer to striking the frontline mech.

The shorter the distance, the larger the target!

The laser beams struck the light skirmisher more often, and even hit a couple of spots that had already been damaged!

First, the light skirmisher lost its arm.

Next, the mech lost half of its speed.

Then, the mech lost the bulk of its energy cells.

Finally, Ves managed to shear off its leg, causing the skirmisher to lose its balance and fall!

The outcome was no longer in question anymore. A few more hits later, and the light skirmisher had completely lost its remaining functionality!

[Ves Larkinson has won his second duel!]

Both mechs instantly restored to normal. Goz and Ves waited for the duel between Tristan and the female mech designer to end.

It took a while before the announcement came.

[Tristan Wesseling has thrashed his second opponent! With that done, the final duels will commence! Keep giving us more laughs, please!]

The dueling ground shifted again in order to bring Ves face-to-face with the knight mech piloted by Tristan.

To call it a knight mech was a bit dubious. When the mech designers restored the lithic mechs, they hadn't found any armaments for the mech, so Tristan decided to pair it with a makeshift club as its weapon and a shield that consisted of partially-fused scrap.

Even so, the mech he piloted was heavier and sturdier than anything that Ves faced before.

[Start!]

Once the duel commenced, the knight mech immediately placed its improvised shield forward and steadily marched forward.

While its advance wasn't as fast as that of the light skirmisher, its steady and solid footsteps was like that of a juggernaut, unstoppable and inevitable!

Ves quietly cursed. Facing off against a knight mech was the worst possible opponent for his frontline mech. A knight mech was designed to absorb damage, and most of them excelled at withstanding a steady barrage of energy fire.

He adopted the same strategy as before. His mech steadily moved backwards while firing its laser cannons at the approaching mech at a steady rhythm.

Ves found it easier to hit his opponent. The knight mech moved slower. It didn't exhibit enough speed to juke or dodge. It also presented a bigger target.

All of these disadvantages were significant, but the knight mech more than made up for it with its stellar durability!

"It's taking way too long to wear away the shield!"

Tristan spent a lot of time on forming the shield. He fused so many pieces of trash together that by the time Ves managed to destroy it, the knight mech had already reached halfway!

The armor of the knight mech was even more resilient than its shield! The only way Ves could win this duel was if he managed to land repeated hits onto one of the knight mech's legs!

Ves tried his best to tighten his aim, yet despite the effort he put into it, he was still too unpracticed. His precision and accuracy left much to be desired and way too many laser beams went wide or struck the thick chest plating of the opposing mech.

The end came slowly but certainly as the knight mech gradually closed the distance and whacked the frontline mech to the ground with a couple of blows!

[Tristan Wesseling wins again! Alright, that's it for this trial! Let's wrap it all up!]

Everything disappeared as soon as the final duels had ended. The cockpit and the rest of the mech faded away as if it never existed. The other mechs disappeared as well now that they served their purpose.

All four mech designers gathered together at once and stood in front of Lieutenant Ferct.

"As much as it amuses us to see you mech designers fumbling around like children inside your cockpits, we don't have all day!"

The end of the trials was at hand!