CHAPTER SIXTY EIGHT

Jason and Stephanie leapt into the darkness of space.

Jason hastily turned to Stephanie. It seemed like everyone was discussing their strategy while landing, and he didn't want to fall behind.

Per the seemingly random order, they were going second after Danny. If they didn't develop a strategy now, they'd fall behind.

"Have you practiced with the new item yet?"

Jason knew that she wanted to use the Urumi of Envy, but that was a very complex weapon. He wanted to verify her comfort level with the item before deciding on a set strategy.

Stephanie nodded.

"Yeah! I spent some extra time last night. I didn't want to hold anyone back!"

Although Stephanie was a casual player, she still seemed pretty driven.

Unlike Franz or Gavin, who'd wanted to come back the next day but decided not to due to real-life concerns, she'd actually followed through. Of course, Jason didn't fault anyone for taking a break. For a casual player, flying back was a significant time commitment.

Stephanie drew the weapon.

The rest of the group was flying pretty far away from them. They had plenty of open space to demonstrate techniques. Stephanie could swing the complicated whip freely without worrying about hitting anybody.

"I can only hit straight with it, but I've got a pretty good direct attack."

She drew the weapon over her shoulder, then swung hard.

She twisted her Mech forward, inputting full power behind the blow. The eight whips swung wildly through the air. Jason would have heard the air whistle had the two players been on a planet with an atmosphere.

Her technique was impressive.

It was a direct and forceful strike that took advantage of the urumi's flexibility and sharpness.

On top of that, she was careful not to hit herself.

"Nice! That'll definitely do a ton of damage if we hit it head-on."

Stephanie laughed.

Like her voice, Stephanie's laugh was very high-pitched, almost a little tinkly.

"Unfortunately, that's the only move I can use. I cut myself whenever I try anything more complicated. The good thing is that my machine isn't pricey, so I don't do as much damage to myself."

That was a decent benefit, but the urumi was still a high-quality item. Even if it didn't have the Envy bonus, it'd still inflict substantial damage. It'd be best for Stephanie to avoid hitting herself for no reason.

Jason smiled.

"Don't worry about it. We can figure it out. Maybe..."

Jason trailed off.

He'd been keeping his eye on his surroundings as they flew just in case they were attacked again. Nobody was nearby. Their pre-launch scouting was correct.

However, the BAG Guild was still securing the perimeter again, just like before. They placed inexperienced players inside while keeping the veterans outside.

Jason and Stephanie had immediately started discussing strategies with each other, so they hadn't moved into position.

Jason slid over to the outer perimeter.

Now that he was playing with the BAG Guild, they had a far better formation.

Before, Steven was forced to fly back and forth to guard the trinity of Danny, Wendy, and Owen while also occasionally acting as a defender. Now, the BAG Guild had defenders at all four immediate directions.

Instead, Steven was able to act as a free safety in his supportive machine.

However, he'd swapped out his old O-Flier for a new Ace build that looked sort of like a mix between a gorilla and a helicopter.

The bulky Mech had thick armor and extremely broad shoulders, and it flew using a pair of propellers.

The powerful machine was still primarily a support. The gorilla-helicopter Mech carried plenty of spare parts and even two Medic Packs. The ropes and wires beneath the machine's arms allowed Steven to rapidly transport his teammates across the map.

However, it had more offensive potential than Steven's usual Mech. The machine had a set of fixed rifles at the end of its arms, and it carried a full load of bombs in its backpack.

In a two-on-two with an inexperienced teammate, the veteran player needed much more carry potential than usual.

To his surprise, Stephanie had followed him. She was also stationed at the outer perimeter.

Her Mech had just sort of trailed after him while they were talking.

Of course, machines didn't need to follow each other through the server to talk.

Mechs generally had a communications radius of a hundred thousand feet. So long as nobody was jamming their communication signals, he and Stephanie would have been able to talk without any issues.

However, following people you were talking to was a real-life habit. It was hard for players, even veterans, to break out of these patterns.

The other players in the BAG Guild instantly started heckling her.

"Oh man!"

"Stephanie the big shot!"

"Stephanie is an ace now!"

The other woman let out a squeal of surprise.

"Oh, whoops!"

She hastily ducked back.

However, she was no longer in the inner-most circle.

Danny stopped her from taking her usual position and instead encouraged her to fly in the middle. Now, Stephanie flew in the secondary perimeter behind experienced players like Jason and Owen.

In fact, Jason noticed that all the victors from the last mission, who won the Urumis, were now in the middle circle. Anthony flew right next to Stephanie. With that additional experience under their belts, they'd graduated to become intermediate members.

Bzzt.

Jason's communications line lit up.

He thought it was a note from Stephanie, but the other woman had been surprisingly quiet after her error.

Instead, it was a message from Steven.

TheNFG: Hey, you should start talking to Stephanie. She never shows it, but she always gets skittish when something embarrassing happens. There's no need to make a big deal, just start a convo, you know? If you don't say something first, she'll just be quiet the whole way down.

That surprised Jason.

Before, the other woman had excitedly joked around.

Devourer22: You sure? She seemed pretty friendly yesterday. I remember she was making fun of you.

TheNFG: LOL, nah, she's always like this. She loves joking around, but she feels really bad whenever she makes a social mistake. She's not mad at anyone or anything, she just gets embarrassed really really easily

That was a little surprising, but Jason took it in stride. He knew better than anyone that people dealt with social situations differently.

That being said, it seemed strange to rely on Jason to make someone feel better!

Fortunately, there was a readily available topic of discussion - Jason's new Mech.

He felt awkward talking to someone new, but he loved chatting about Overdrive.

"So, Stephanie, what do you think we should do when we get there? I think we'll probably have to build a strategy around our new builds.

Unlike Danny, the other members of the BAG Guild hadn't seen Jason's primary partner before, and Stephanie was soon asking lots of questions once Jason got her talking again.

"Man! I'm so surprised you were able to build a new machine just like that!"

She snapped her fingers.

For experienced players like Steven or Wendy, it was common for allies to switch up their machines. From Stephanie's perspective, building up a single Ace Mech was a big commitment. Acquiring the Credits and parts needed took many hours of gameplay.

There was definitely a snowballing effect to Overdrive.

Just like in real life, you needed money to make money. Players with powerful parts could challenge more complicated maps and farm Credits faster. Meanwhile, Stephanie had been playing casually for years, and she'd only just acquired her first high-powered items.

The artillery novice chirped eagerly in Jason's communications line.

"Oh! This is so cool! I didn't know you were a Hemoborn user. It's funny, though. It looks a lot like your old Vampire Brawler. Do you usually like using tanky machines?"

Jason shook his head.

"Ah, it's funny. I actually normally use pretty lightweight machines."

He sent over the schematics.

"This is an outer layer of armor I can eject at will. I'm trying to diversify my fighting style."

Stephanie was very impressed.

"Man! That's really cool! I'm really impressed that you're able to switch up your playstyle in the middle of a battle."

Jason shook his head.

"Well, that's just what I'm trying to do. I haven't quite gotten there yet."

Stephanie laughed.

"Well, I don't even have one solid playstyle yet, so I'm pretty impressed. Why are you trying to switch things up? Did you just get bored? Danny and Steven usually think it's best to stick to a single playstyle so you can keep on improving."

Jason blinked in surprise.

Stephanie's response threw him off.

Danny and Steven's advice was definitely correct, but there was a difference between developing a specialty and lacking depth in your gameplay.

Every pro player had a distinctive calling card. However, they made sure they were comfortable with all styles of combat.

He opened his mouth to explain, but then he realized that Stephanie wouldn't realize what he was talking about.

There was a big gap between the two players.

In Stephanie's perspective, Jason was already an expert of every style. No wonder she was confused.

"Yeah, I feel pretty developed on my main style of quick play and assassination, but I realized I needed to diversify. I've been battling some pretty powerful opponents recently, and it made me realize that I have a lot of holes in my gameplay."

He told Stephanie about his battle with Vile.

Stephanie was very impressed when she heard about the other woman's skills, but to Jason's surprise, she had no idea who Vile actually was!

She only understood when he explained that she was a Fortress Master.

Stephanie knew about the Overdrive Corporation's famous map designers, but she had no idea who any of them were.

To be fair, her position wasn't unusual. Very few players could name all the top guilds and players like Jason could.

Stephanie's position was sort of like how Jason had always treated sports growing up. He'd liked playing soccer and basketball at recess, but he couldn't name an MLS or NBA player to save his life.

The two continued chatting as they arrived at the Palace of Emotions.

Stephanie was full of questions about the Red Minerva.

Hemoborn were the least common Mech class, and Hemoborn hybrids were even rarer. She was extremely amused to see a dragon covered in fur, and she immediately asked Jason if he was interested in any other genetic modifications.

"Yeah, I can definitely see myself incorporating other changes, but I'm not sure what yet. I need to continue developing my machine as I go further."

Jason smiled to himself.

Stephanie was very friendly, and it felt nice talking to someone who listened attentively.

However, they also needed to focus on their main objective.

Clank.

Clank.

Clank.

Their guild landed on the artificial planet, and today, the organization was much more focused. The team already knew where they needed to go - the Knight of Friendship was located on the seventh floor.

The machines slowly proceeded in single file.

Jason and Stephanie's discussion soon returned to hammering out a strategy.

The key was figuring out how to best take advantage of Stephanie's best attack. If they could hit the Knight of Friendship with a few direct strikes from the urumi, they'd win.

"You should just drive it to me! It'll work! Bait it into charging at me, and then I'll take it out!"

Due to her single well-practiced attack, Stephanie felt confident taking on head-on charges, but the Knight of Friendship was an exceptionally swift foe.

Jason knew it would be much more difficult than just striking in front of her. She also needed to time her strike perfectly, and he doubted she'd land her attack. If she missed, the two would get eliminated.

However, he also didn't want to shut her down right away.

Based on Steven's note, she might get embarrassed and stop talking.

He reached out to his control board to send Steven another message and ask for advice, but then...

Creak...

Jason stared.

Someone had been waiting for them inside the Palace of Emotions.

The Mech had materialized seemingly out of thin air, and it gleamed jet black from head to toe - the same coat of paint as the machines who they'd battled yesterday.

The BAG Guild instantly sprang into action, but the other pilot called out.

"Wait! Wait! Devourer22 - I want to challenge you to a one-on-one battle!"

Jason blinked.

He'd never heard that voice before in his life.

Who the hell was this person?