CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Jason logged onto the Overdrive server as soon as possible after dinner. After coming up with his plan to raid the Vaults, he wanted to capture the valuable items as quickly as possible.

His haste reminded him of what he'd done as a kid growing up.

He'd always logged onto Overdrive right after finishing his chores, dinner, and homework.

Finding the Vault was simple.

It took Jason less than a minute. He knew the Towering Crag map like the back of his hand.

Reaching the Vault might have been difficult for a regular machine, but this was the Red Minerva's home stage.

Once Jason climbed down to the secret lava pit, he had no problem finding the crack in the wall.

Before reaching the Vault, Jason had briefly peeked up at the boss's chambers. Another copy of the Red Minerva was standing stock still at the top of the crag.

To Jason's amusement, the company had already replaced him with a new One Star Boss.

There was a chance that Wass hired someone right away. Alternatively, he'd just bullied someone into working some extra hours for free.

However, the Mech would not attack Jason unless he entered the chamber, so he'd simply ignored it. He would deal with the boss after claiming the items inside the Vault.

Jason stepped into the Vault, then froze as a cold humanoid face stared down at him.

The monstrous creature let out a long hiss, revealing a forked tongue longer than the Red Minerva's arm.

An eye opened and flashed bright red.

The gleaming evil light illuminated the entire Vault, revealing row after row of treasures.

Jason's eyes widened.

What the hell was this?

None of the other players who'd found a Vault had ever reported a secret boss.

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

Clang!

A set of four bulky black bands instantly anchored themselves to the Red Minerva's arms and legs.

Jason jerked in surprise.

The sheer weight of the weapons knocked the Red Minerva off its feet. The machine's limbs drooped to the floor.

Jason recognized this special equipment, but he'd never thought he'd get to use it himself.

The rings were Genetic Absorbers.

The single-use items were the premier way to transfer genetic information to Hemoborn. Successful usage of Genetic Absorbers allowed pilots to create unique hybrid Mechs such as an owl and bear combination.

The rings were hungry for genetic information and eagerly absorbed nearby life force.

If the Genetic Absorber's owner successfully struck enemy Mechs, the Absorbers would drain the opponent's biological data.

If a Genetic Absorber gathered enough enemy biological material, it would vanish and automatically transfer all stolen genetic data to its machine.

However, the ultra-rare items also came with several deadly downsides.

A Genetic Absorber battle only got harder over time. As the Genetic Absorbers gathered more material, they swelled against the user's arms, further constricting their movements.

In addition, the ravenous Genetic Absorbers would eat no matter what.

If Jason lost the battle, the Genetic Absorbers would turn on the Red Minerva and hungrily suck his partner's life force.

Most importantly, Genetic Absorbers were one of the few Overdrive items that inflicted permanent changes.

Normally, Mechs healed at the end of a battle.

However, whatever changes a Genetic Absorber made to a machine remained in place forever. The items could dramatically strengthen a machine with stolen data, but it could also leave a Hemoborn a withered husk.

The combination of factors turned the Genetic Absorbers into an extremely risky weapon, even for experts.

The Overdrive forums were filled with players complaining that they'd bought Genetic Absorbers only for the item to cripple their Mech.

A notification appeared on Jason's screen.

Congratulations on finding the Vault!

You have been rewarded with an additional challenge because you found the Vault using the Mech (Red Minerva) that owns this map (Towering Crag.)

Defeat this machine that represents the essence of the Towering Crag in a Genetic Absorber battle.

Win, and your Red Minerva will grow to incredible strengths!

Lose and lose everything, even the items inside the Vault...

Jason now understood why none of the other pilots who'd discovered a Vault had reported a secret boss.

This bonus was only awarded to players who found a Vault while piloting the Mech that ruled the map.

However, the reward was a double-edged sword.

Although Jason was immensely excited, he knew the stakes were extremely high.

If Jason won the battle, he would absorb the other machine's strengths. He'd gain the genetic material from a mysterious Mech considered the essence of the Red Minerva.

If he lost, Jason would lose everything, even his own machine.

As he stared at his opponent, data about the Towering Crag's lore flared into Jason's mind.

The storyline of the Towering Crag map involved a demented scientist who'd created cyborg dragon machines to kidnap the girl he loved.

The tale was a futuristic twist on the usual stories about a knight battling an evil dragon who'd kidnapped a princess.

The Red Minerva was a draconic machine, as were most of the other Mechs on the map.

The Grunts were the failed experiments - shambling zombie drakes and half-baked cyborgs.

The Red Minerva was the scientist's one successful experiment. Per the in-game lore, the scientist had started attacking the town once his experiment produced a fruitful result.

Presumably, the Mech that stood in front of Jason was the mad scientist's magnum opus, a cyborg that could truly honor the woman he'd obsessively loved.

This cyborg machine had a woman's face and upper body. The lower part of the horrifying machine was a long and coiling tail covered with iron-reinforced scales.

Despite its genetic base, the machine was no longer a dragon.

Rather, the Mech was a Lamia, the half-woman half-snake monstrosity from Greek legend.

Jason's scouter beeped as he processed the enemy machine's information.

- General Data -

Pilot: None (Genetic Sample)

Creature: Red Lamia

Class: Hemoborn

Sub-class: Wild

Designation: Ace Unit

- Statistics -

Melee: B-tier

Shooting: S-tier

Speed: B-tier

Maneuverability: B-tier

Defense: S-tier

Cohesion: S-tier

- Weapons -

None

- Abilities -

Queen's Command

Pestilent Snipe

Blazing Avarice

Jason cursed.

The Mech was far superior to the original Red Minerva.

Although it wasn't carrying any weapons, the machine had several powerful abilities and top-of-the-line stats.

The S-rating in Defense was particularly troublesome.

Jason would not be able to damage his opponent with conventional weapons. Normally, Jason could have upgraded the Red Minerva by equipping items or armor. However, he'd run to the Vault as soon as he could.

He was still using the unarmed base machine he'd used against the AngryBoardMember. His statistics were totally insufficient for this task!

The Lamia flew high into the air.

The creature stood at almost a hundred feet tall. Technically, this was twice as tall as Jason's machine.

However, the two Mechs were roughly the same size. Most of the other Mech's weight had gone into its long and flowing tail.

The creature unhinged its jaw, revealing row after row of needle-like iron teeth.

Suddenly, a sickly green light flashed across Jason's screen, and the Red Lamia let out a strange animalistic cry.

Her voice sounded like a human woman's, yet she roared like a feral dragon.

ABILITY ACTIVATED: QUEEN'S COMMAND

Jason winced, and not only because of the terrifying noise.

The horrifying sound came with an equally horrifying ability.

Jason had never encountered the Queen's Command skill in person before, but his obsessive study meant he knew what to expect.

Queen's Command was an ability restricted to bosses of a Four-Star Rating or higher. It summoned a variety of Grunts out of thin air to battle alongside the main boss.

The high-rated ability was another reminder that the Red Lamia was the fully evolved form of the Red Minerva.

A set of shadowy portals emerged in the air.

A cacophony of hissing and groans echoed through the chamber.

The noise sounded like something from a horror game. Indeed, the monstrous Lamia and her slaves looked very out of place in a conventional Mech game.

Normally, Jason liked frightening Hemoborn.

After all, his favorite thing about Overdrive was its diversity. It was the only game where players could make giant monsters fight real-life war machines.

Unfortunately, he had no interest in dealing with these Grunts right now.

The Red Lamia was bad enough...

A virtual army of Grunt Mechs streamed out of the portals.

Jason scouter beeped.

Unlike Ace Mechs, which came with a full report, the Scouter could only identify basic information about Grunts. Jason would have to battle these monstrous henchmen to gain additional information.

Enemy Identified: Human Thrall

Type: Hemoborn

Sub-Type: Melee

Average Grade: C+

Enemy Identified: Serpent Dragon

Type: Hemoborn

Sub-Type: Melee

Average Grade: C+

Jason cursed.

What the hell?

A C+ average grade?

Each of these machines was just as powerful as the Red Minerva!

Jason felt like Yamcha from the Dragon Ball series. Power creep was leaving him completely by the wayside...

The Thralls were faceless humanoid hunchbacks.

Their eerily faces had no features at all, only a mouth filled with sharp teeth and a twisting snake-like tongue. Their skin was pale as sleet.

The extremely muscular creatures were almost painfully slow. Every step was an awkward stumble.

Each Thrall Mech carried a gleaming steel weapon that looked like a mix between a baseball bat and a stake. The rounded edge was heavy and thick, but the side just beneath the handle was a deadly spike.

The Serpent Dragons were massive snakes. Like the Lamia, they were lengthy enough to loom high over the Red Minerva if they stretched up to their full height.

Unlike the mono-colored Thralls, each Serpent Dragon was a separate color. Some looked like rattlesnakes, and others looked like coral snakes. Others were shining emerald green.

The two Grunt types continued pouring out of the shadowy portals.

Their numbers seemed endless.

The sight was enough to terrify any pilot.

Jason's heart raced.

But then, he looked past all his opponents.

Instead, he stared at his surroundings.

He looked at the lava pit just outside the Vault.

He stared at the familiar stone that comprised the Towering Crag.

This was Jason's home stage. He'd battled on this field more than any other pilot.

How could he ever lose here?

His heart stopped racing and returned to its usual steady pace.

The calm and disciplined pilot began to plan.

Despite their strength and numbers, this was not the end of the world. His opponents had exploitable weaknesses, just like all the other machines he'd defeated on this stage.

In competitive play, Grunts were usually very well-balanced because pro players loathed leaving any holes in their gameplay.

That wasn't the case on maps.

Although the average grade was a C+ for both Grunt builds, Jason wouldn't be surprised if the actual statistics were a mixture of Bs and Ds.

For veteran mappers, defeating Grunts was simple. It was a matter of finding out their weaknesses and destroying them.

Mapping-type Grunts were specialists designed to excel in one or two particular areas.

It was clear that the Thralls specialized in striking power and defense - the creatures had atrocious speed.

Similarly, the Serpents maximized offense and swiftness. The creatures had no armor, and Jason bet that even the base frame Minerva could destroy them with a single well-placed blow.

Even better, Jason could predict his opponents' behavior with perfect accuracy. There was no need for the impromptu psychological profiles he'd constructed to measure his opponents.

As a map boss, he knew exactly how Grunts behaved.

The Overdrive Corporation had tried several tactics to improve Grunt performance, ranging from hidden gimmicks to updating the AI. However, the collective hive mind of dedicated mappers always broke through and found their weakness.

Although it was unintentional, the Overdrive Corporation had copied mecha stories perfectly.

Oftentimes, new mass-produced models would debut to great fanfare and become primary opponents for several episodes.

The machines would seem completely and utterly unstoppable, only to soon become cannon fodder for the main character's machine once their weakness was discovered.

Only one strategy ever worked consistently - sheer numbers.

High-level Grunts used swarm tactics and zoning weapons to restrict an opponent's movements.

After that, the AI Aces would move in to finish off weakened foes.

It was critical to remember that the Thralls and Serpents were just servants.

As for the Red Lamia, it had S-rankings in Shooting and Defense, but B-ratings in Melee, Speed, and Maneuverability.

Jason didn't know the Mech's last two abilities. He assumed that they were special abilities that'd been created for this specific machine. He would have to find out more as the match went on.

However, the Pestilent Snipe attack had a self-explanatory name. It was clearly a sniping move that took advantage of the Red Minerva's poison abilities.

Blazing Avarice was a little less obvious, but it sounded like a fire-based attack.

The Red Lamia's ratings and abilities painted a clear picture of how the machine fought. Despite claiming to be the essence of the Red Minerva, the Mech actually battled in the exact opposite manner as Jason's swift partner.

The Lamia was a heavily armored machine that relied on tankiness and long-ranged strikes. The Grunts would try to hold Jason in place, allowing the Lamia to destroy him.

The enemy strategy was clear.

As for how to poke holes into it...

Once again, Jason looked past his opponents.

Considering the Red Minerva's low stats and pitiful weaponry, it would struggle to defeat even the Thralls.

However, he was currently inside the Vault.

In short, he was surrounded by rare items.

The notification made it clear that Jason would lose access to these items if he failed to win this match. However, there was no reason why he couldn't use them right now.

The skilled pilot immediately fell into a sprint.

Right now, Jason was battling in the middle of the Towering Crag. The compounding bonuses allowed his machine to overcome the weight of the Genetic Absorbers.

The Grunts promptly started chasing him down.

The Serpents writhed nimbly through the air. The Mechs were fast, but still a beat slower than the terrain-boosted Red Minerva.

The Thralls were slow and plodding. Instead of running straight forward, they spread out to cut off his path of retreat.

The Lamia stared coldly at Jason from its perch high in the skies.

Just as Jason expected, it wouldn't strike until it was confident it could hit him. Considering the sheer numbers, random attacks were more likely to kill off its own Grunts.

Since Jason knew his opponents were trying to corner him, he prioritized running towards the center of the cave. He wanted to keep his options open.

Due to his superior speed, he was unafraid to dart past smaller groups of enemies. He twisted and turned to avoid the damage, then kept on running without counterattacking.

Right now, his number one priority was making sure that they couldn't line him up for a deadly attack from the Red Lamia.

As Jason fled, he thought back to the Rare Items list he'd read back at the cafe.

As always, he was blessed with exceptional memory recall while on the server.

He scrolled through the list and soon found the perfect item for the situation. It was a niche option overall, but it was exactly what he needed in this specific circumstance.

He cast his eyes throughout the room, and he soon found the enormous hilt.

The weapon was impossible to miss. The handle stood a full forty feet in the air, and it cast a long shadow over all of the Vault's other treasures.

Jason made a beeline for the weapon and grabbed it.

A small notification appeared on his screen.

ITEM ACQUIRED: TITAN'S MACUAHUITL

The Macuahuitl was a weapon that'd once been a staple of the Aztec empire.

It consisted of a wooden club embedded with razor-sharp obsidian blades along the edges. Surprisingly, well-honed obsidian was far sharper than even forged steel blades.

The well-carved edges could decapitate a human - or even a horse - in a single blow.

In competitive Overdrive, they were a niche weapon occasionally used by assassins. The blades were very brittle. They were an excellent weapon for executing unaware foes, but they struggled in head-on duels against conventional weaponry.

Unfortunately for Jason, acquiring the item was still a few steps away from using it. This gigantic version of the weapon was extremely difficult to wield.

The Titan's Macuahuitl had initially debuted during the special Titan weapons event. The Titan weapons allowed regular machines to wield items normally meant for Giga Mechs.

However, their sheer size meant that they were still difficult to lift. In addition, the heavy weapons relied on sheer momentum to inflict damage. They required a bit of time before they got going.

Jason couched his machine's feet in the ground as he started to pull.

Here, he noticed the difference of the Genetic Absorbers. The cumbersome items were hampering his machine's strength.

He gritted his teeth as the Grunts charged towards him.

Unfortunately for Jason, he had no other gameplan.

He needed to pick up this enormous item or die trying. The situation reminded him of King Arthur pulling the sword from the stone.

At the last second, the Red Minerva let out a triumphant roar and lifted the item.

Jason swung, and the enormous item instantly knocked over the first line of opponents.

The Grunts rose again, but by then, Jason had gathered enough momentum for another swing.

This time, the results were far starker.

Most of the Grunts died on the spot, but others were merely grievously injured.

It didn't matter if they hit the blades or the paddle. Some of the foes were even close enough to touch the handle, but it made no difference.

The sheer weight of the Titan-series items was enough to mangle most opponents.

The attacks did not swell Jason's Genetic Absorbers. The special items solely craved the blood of the Lamia.

The pilot let out a cry of triumph that echoed his partner's.

It was time to turn the tide of the fight!