Flora noticed all the teenies belonged to clans - Aidan assured her top-clans - except for the green-haired kid.

Nickname: Frogger

Level: 1

Class: Druid

Clan: none

Rating: A (global)

"Frogger, why haven't you joined a clan?"

"I spend all my time in remote swamps. To get from there to civilization takes several hours. I don't have time for forced activities. For a while, I was in a social clan, but the chat got on my nerves."

"I feel you! I disabled the chat feature on my HUD. But what things do I have to do for the clan?" Flora looked at Mia for an explanation.

"Not in our clan. At the moment, only the employees and some players who are tempted by the rewards and contribution points carry out clan missions. But I suggested to RadGlow to make clan activities obligatory in the friends and family section, but he said the taxes cover them."

"The taxes are mean! And I'm glad nobody forces me to run around on errands." Flora agreed, but she told Aidan to put the issue on her to-do list. For her son, she would play errand-girl. It's part of the job description of being a mother.

"Actually, the Riverstones might be a great choice for you, Frogger. We are looking for explorers." Mia added. "With the contribution points, you can buy expert help. People are willing to travel a few hours if they get paid for it."

Frogger scratched his head and said he would think about it, but then Mia bullied him into promising to make an appointment with Robby.

In the few minutes between her matches, Flora got a picture of the green-haired boy. He was like herself in many ways: he didn't like anything derailing him from his passion, in his case amphibians.

"You can get in the associates' section and don't even pay the evil taxes; no social interaction required, nor commitments. And if you don't like the marketplace or auction house, you can send me your tier 1 or higher materials. I'd pay a fair price for it. If you join the clan, I'll even link you to my house security system. You could use my S-call printer without saying hello."

These arguments tipped him over to call Robby.

Flora grinned at Mia and winked.

From the Mini-Masters Lounge, Flora ported to the Seven Masters Dojo.

Today, the advancement test to graduate Wing Tsu Beginner-II was on the agenda.

Flora was very familiar with the first subject of the test, the Forms. They had three parts, but she only had to perform two of them for the examination.

This time, she aced the tournament. The triple regeneration effect under 30% HP helped.

Incidentally, Rubina Rubin, the middle-aged woman she fought against in the last test, was her opponent again in round 4. But now Flora defeated her, albeit narrowly, and entered the finals.

A muscular two-meter tall giant won the other position.

In the match, Flora learned a hard lesson about why reach is essential in the striking arts.

After losing the final round, Flora was still in good spirits and ready to fight a bit longer.

Therefore she skipped the sixth Jiu-Jitsu lesson and went straight to the examination.

She conquered enough opponents to pass the test but got choked out in round three.

Proudly, she pinned the two Beginner-II badges on her sash.

"Not bad for a granny, not bad at all."

In the evening, she lay with a cocktail in hand on a recliner in Deriga's workshop. While Aito and Aidan battled, she watched videos about the Robo-Melee and PvP.

Now and then, she used her robot skills and followed the fight, but mostly she concentrated on the TV-screen and discussing strategies with her AI's.

Sometimes, they simulated situations from the videos, emulating maneuvers, or developing counters.

The next day, Flora woke up eager and ready to debut in the arena of steel, more steel, a bit of plastic, and grease.

But it was still too early. Hence, she started the day with a jog around Tricky Beach, sorting through her mails and admiring her stats.

Last night, Aidan focused on raising Astral Vision. The skill was critical for spotting hidden opponents because you could see the mana they emitted. Similar to Detect Traps, the power permanently activated in a weaker version when it reached level 200. Flora permitted to level it with priority, and it had reached level 84.

If only every spell were as easy to level like spells without cooldown!

As preparation for the Robo-Melee, Aidan had increased the relevant skills to at least level 50. Now, they could crit.

Scanning the abilities, Flora was dissatisfied with her progress in the crafts. Although she crafted every day, Athletics and maybe even Sprinting would soon overtake them. Two bodies running during her sleep time raked in the hours of training. She had to find a way to level crafting while asleep.

Finally, the time for the Robo-Melee arrived, and Flora ported to the stadium on Panem et Ludis.

The building resembled a huge kneeling robot-knight in full armor.

His sword stuck in the earth. At the lower end of the blade was the main entrance. The pommel contained an observation deck and restaurant.

After Flora checked in and fetched another quest for the Robo-Melee, this time from Aithena, she found out the arenas resided in the body of the knight.

Aidan guided her into a humongous hall.

The smell of grease and burnt plastique stimulated Flora's nostrils, and the sounds of iron scraping on iron were music to her ears. A big smile blossomed on Flora's face. Though she could do without the masses of players, she wanted to stay here forever.

Octagons with ongoing battles filled the floor. The players walked between the rings or sat in the stands and galleries lining the walls.

Flora watched a five-meter tall steel ogre smash a bug as big as a mini-van. In a different octagon, a futuristic robot giant hacked off the arm of a steampunk titan.

"This doesn't look at all like the battles in the videos. Besides, those guys are a good ten times as heavy as my cute Blade-Roller."

Aidan guided her to a corridor on the other side of the room.

First, the hallway was packed with people as well, but the farther she walked, the emptier it got. She passed gates with pictures of robots as big as cars, then quad-bikes, then scooters. At last, she reached the end of the corridor.

The ceiling had grown progressively lower, and the light dingier. Flora was the only human aiming for the final door depicting a spinner drone. Thankfully, Aitoshuri, in octopus-form, stayed by her side. Otherwise, the situation would be too spooky for Flora's tastes.

Zone Information

Name: The Giant Crank

Sub-Zone: Robo-Melee - Room 1

Level-Cap: 24

Color: Yellow

Defeat

Defeat: Defeat

Cornered: 5 min

Drop: 0%

Restrictions:

All mana-skills except for Commands and Arts locked

Level Cap: 25

Automated Reputation Losses

Impeding the matches: - 3 Rep

Automated Reputation Gains

Win a round: + 3 Rep

After entering the room, Flora oriented herself.

The field in the center dominated the room. Already, drones in laser cages filled the rim.

People mingled around the waist-high barrier of the arena. Flora was uncharacteristically happy to see them. Not only because of the empty corridor but of their attire: goggles and gizmos, mech-suits and machinery bestrode the fashion.

In a shabby booth in the corner of the room, Flora found someone official looking. The fire man took Aidan's jack and walked with Flora to the arena.

Inside, her poor Blade-Roller sat in a cage, which looked like a kernel out of light. Flora had to stay behind the boundary in her designated place.

While the red-skinned official inserted Aidan's jack into the blade roller, he explained the rules to Flora.

Flora listened only with half an ear. Of course, she had studied them beforehand—no cheating, no interference, only one controller per robot. The barrier between the arena and players ensured only drone and robot technology skills reaching the field. An additional shield between the contestants prevented foul play.

"Well, the player shield just broke down. We are working on it, but I wouldn't bet on it running in the first round." Before Flora's brain had registered the situation differed from her master plan, the guy left with a mumbled, "Good luck, you'll need it."

"Aidan, please elaborate." Flora's inner voice was an octave higher than usual. "That means everybody can attack us, right?"

"Yes, Milady. We are in a yellow zone, which means we can choose whether we engage in fights. But because we participate in the Robo-Melee, we will be flagged as combatants. Therefore anybody can attack us."

Flora wasted no second changing into the Ivy-League mech-suit.

On the floor was a 2x2m patch marked where usually the shield would go up.

She fetched two trap-turrets from her inventory. The four 1x1x1 meter blocks covered the whole floor. Sitting on top of the cubes between the barrels, Flora eyed her neighbors with suspicion.

To her right stood a tall man in a checkered suit. First, Flora thought he was overweight, but then she noticed his hands weren't in his pockets but in his belly.

Name: Techno Fat-Suit

Type: Hybrid Mech-Suit / Drone-Controller

Description: Hiding behind an inconspicuous exterior, the suit offers state of the art technology.

Effect: + 2 OV to drone driving

Tier: 1

Rating: A

Flora raised her eyebrows.

"I'm not the enemy, Ma'am. Your turrets are making me nervous. Please point them in another direction." He stated when he noticed her staring.

Readjusting the turrets, Flora nodded, but she didn't believe him. His caged drone looked like a freshly cut off koala bear head. What kind of person would behead a cute animal?

Flora memorized his name "InsertMeme Here" to recalibrate the turrets onto him if the occasion arose.

"I'm no threat either. I promise." Her neighbor on the left yelped when the barrels moved in his direction.

Eduardo Makinado looked Southeast Asian and wore a blue hoodie. His drone featured a thick spear.

"Alright. For now, I face them backward. But don't think I won't retaliate if you two try any shenanigans."

"Beep!" Aito added menacingly. She had colored the hull of the octopus in the same acid green as Flora's mech-suit but added a pink skulls and bones pattern. She even managed to glare despite the heart-shaped eyes. It helped they were lasers.

After her neighbors were sufficiently cowed, Flora scanned the rest of the competition.

Hundreds of machines lined the arena wall.

Most drones were the usual spinner, flipper, wedge, rammer, and overhead smasher. Some were simple, while others followed a theme like a firefighter truck which ladder had very sharp ends.

But she also spotted robots who didn't look like they could hurt anyone like a cuckoo clock or a book with a worm on top. She flagged them as risky and told Aidan to avoid them until they knew their mode of attack.

Beeping rapidly, Aito pointed out a flying drone just a few meters away, looking like a jellyfish.

"Is it dangerous?"

After a bit of guessing, Flora had to laugh. Aitoshuri wanted Aidan to kill it as soon as possible because she wanted to be the only tentacled machine in the room.

Without using Identify, Flora couldn't distinguish which were robots with an AI or which were drones, remote-controlled by players. She took the time to check the machines close to her out because she figured the drone drivers had no free hands to cause trouble.

Unfortunately, many of the contestants had friends with them. On the visitor stands, three rows of benches on a platform, sat a few people, too. Flora's area resided in the spell range of them.

Shortly before the start of the Melee, Flora ate rabbit smores to buff her agility, regenerated the pools, and donned the potion guzzler.

With her scepter in hand, she was ready for battle.