“This is the main living room. Feel free to hang out here and relax. There are snacks, food, drinks, and books for you to read. There will probably be a few Whitefrost Clan members here at all hours of the day and night. They will all be core members, so they might be a little haughty. Don’t mind them too much.” Emma said while pointing at the various things she mentioned.

“How many people live in the main building?” I asked curiously.

“Only grandfather’s direct descendants live in this building. So that’s… Fourteen of us. However, the ground floor’s facilities and amenities are open to all members of the Core Whitefrost Clan.

In all… Around a hundred and fifty people have access to this room.”

“Whoa. That’s a lot of people!” I remarked.

“They are all descendants of grandfather’s four siblings.” Emma explained.

“My granduncles and aunts all have their own buildings located around the main building. But because the main family holds most of the power in all of Whitefrost held operations, many Whitefrost Clan members often come to the main building for one reason or another.”

“I see.” I nodded.

“Apart from the main living room, there are five other smaller living rooms, three dining rooms, ten study rooms, ten meeting rooms, ten entertainment rooms and a massive auditorium in this Central Living Area.

The East Wing is reserved for the main family’s bedrooms.”

“It’s a very big building.” I said, feeling extremely impressed.

“It’s nothing compared to the real main building though.” Emma chuckled.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “Isn’t this the main building?”

“It is the main building… aboveground. The real main building is actually the basement, which is approximately… I don't know. Thirty times bigger than the entire above ground main building?” Emma said. “We call it the “Training Room.”

“Training Room? Why do you need such a big training room? What do you do there?” I asked in amazement.

“Mecha Battles of course.” Emma replied in an as-a-matter-of-fact voice.

My heart which was absolutely still in the face of the Whitefrost Clan’s hyper luxurious main building began to pound mightily.

Mecha Battles!

I have always loved mechas, and after the red mecha core became a part of me, I have considered myself a full participant in the world of mechas and its future emperor.

My eyes shone brightly in excitement and a surge of adrenalin shot through my entire body.

BA-DUMP!

“AGH!” I screamed softly and clutched my chest as a powerful wave of pain originating from my heart washed over my whole body.

“Hey! What’s going on?” Emma grabbed my shoulder in alarm.

However, the pain receded as quickly as it had come.

“I’m alright.” I gasped. My heart was still thumping really fast in response to the sudden pain.

“Are you sure?” Emma asked me doubtfully. “Maybe you should go back to your room and rest.”

“No, I am fine now.” I straightened my back, took a deep breath and released it slowly as my mind raced to analyse what just happened.

“My excitement probably managed to trigger the red mecha core within me.” I thought excitedly.

“Then that means that although the red energy within me is completely depleted, the red mecha core is still active and well within me! I have a chance to recover the red energy! Right now, the best way for me to recover would be to allow myself to experience a myriad of emotions to trigger the red mecha core.” I quickly concluded.

And coincidentally, we’re going to a mecha training room. It’s the perfect exercise to get my heart pumping and adrenaline rushing through my veins.

I clenched my fist in excitement and a powerful sense of inevitability settled within my heart.

Sense of inevitability over what, you ask?

Over the fulfilment of all my wildest dreams, of course.

Over the fact that I will definitely become the Mecha Emperor of the world.

With my Red Mecha Core and its devour ability, what could stop me?

Emma could, of course. But at that time, she was still very much on my side.

And we were both so young.

“Do you want to take a look at the Training Room? Will you be able to take the excitement? Do you need a wheelchair? A lollipop to take the edge off, perhaps?” Emma asked sarcastically.

“Of course I can go to the training room!” I declared and totally ignored her other questions. I was feeling extremely magnanimous and nothing she said could dampen my spirits.

A profound sense of gloom had sprouted deep within my heart when I realized that my red energy had totally dried up. Although I had suppressed that feeling heavily, I never realized just how profound it was until it was lifted from my heart.

“I could recover my power to devour mechas! I could! YES!! YESSS!!!” My heart was literally bursting at the seams.

Emma blinked once at my high spirits and gave me a small smile.

“Let’s go then.” she said and led me to a lift at the corner of the living room.

“Hey Emma.” A female voice rang out from behind us.

Emma and I turned around and found that the two Whitefrost Clan members who were in deep discussion in the living room were standing behind us.

A cold look appeared on Emma’s face as she ignored the girl who greeted her. She was a beautiful teenage girl who looked a little bit like the old man. Just a little bit.

Unfriendlies. I decided after picking up on Emma’s attitude.

“Hey. What are you doing with a one-armed villager, Emma? Have you resorted to hanging out with scum like him because you were too lonely? Poor little unwanted Emma, playing with lowborns because nobody wants to play with her. Boo hoo hoo.” The tall boy next to her sniggered. His handsome face was twisted in an evil expression that made me feel like giving him a huge punch.

“Very ugly expression, but nothing a few jabs to the face and a sharp left hook couldn’t fix.” I thought.