CHAPTER FORTY NINE

The office was very simply decorated, with a whiteboard on one end and a TV on the other end. The TV played advertisements for future Overdrive maps. The screen was currently advertising the upcoming Martial Arts event.

However, not a single person bothered watching the screen.

They were all huddled around the whiteboard, which showed a carefully drawn map of the route from the BAG Guild's base to the Castle Notoria.

The overall journey to the Illusionist's base was already quite complex.

In general, about twenty to thirty percent of the teams failed to make it there on time. However, Danny's team had already reached the tournament's second round three times in a row. They'd failed to kill the Paranoid Parachuter, but consistently reaching the castle was already very impressive.

Their success came down to their excellent planning.

The bulletin board highlighted two important priorities.

The first was their overall route. Each member freely shouted out suggestions, highlighting the many planets and stages on the way to Castle Notoria.

Most of the previous planning centered on additional items for Danny's new build. Danny already had the proper base frame, but the diligent pilot wanted to further upgrade his machine.

Now, the players hastily added recommendations for the kinds of items Jason might like.

Just like before, the BAG Guild prioritized getting Jason involved in the conversation. They repeatedly asked questions about the Blazing Avarice as they pooled their knowledge to decide the most powerful items Jason could absorb.

Initially, Jason had been reluctant to give away information on his powerful item. He knew that he'd have to battle Danny if they made it to the final round.

However, the collaborative environment was just too infectious.

On top of that, all of Danny's own private information was already available to him. They'd left the specs for both the Lucky Duck and his new machine lying around the room. They had no fear of Jason betraying them.

Since the group treated Jason like a natural part of the team, he felt it was only proper to collaborate with them.

In the end, Jason provided details on his five items and his plans to complete his build. The group strongly agreed with his suggestions. Danny in particular, was overjoyed at the prospect of a team-focused item.

By the end, they had devised an appropriate route that would allow him to fill his last two slots while arriving at Castle Notoria well ahead of time.

Of course, simply arriving at the planet wasn't enough.

Castle Notoria's defenses were already infamous.

The Hemoborn lurking in the sea and the gun turrets embedded in the cliff face could obliterate any unprepared invader. The Illusionists had controlled the castle for the last three years.

While it was possible to sneak in and kill a target, it was more or less impossible to claim the castle via a direct attack. Countless Guilds had already tried.

However, Castle Notoria had another key trick that only came into effect during the Tournament of Assassins.

The Illusionists owned only a small portion of the planet - the cliff in which Castle Notoria was embedded and the surrounding water.

Ninety-five percent of the planet was owned by another top twenty guild, the artillery-focused Noble Gunners.

The Illusionist's control of Castle Notoria was a severe sore spot for the Noble Gunners. The fact that the guild held the Tournament of Assasins on the planet only angered the Noble Gunners further.

The Noble Gunners were distinctively inferior to the Illusionists. There was a notable gap between a top twenty guild and one in the top five. Castle Notoria served as a daily reminder of their inferiority.

The Noble Gunner's control of the remainder of the planet added a significant degree of unpredictability. Some Noble Gunners decided to help players who fell astray. Others just killed them on sight.

Getting killed by the Noble Gunners also didn't trigger the Salvage Rule. However, it would send players back to the central spawning space station.

Since players were only allowed to descend a single time, getting killed by the Gunners more or less guaranteed defeat. As a result, it wasn't worth the risk of falling into their territory. The downside far outweighed any possible upside.

The best way to guarantee success was an ultra-precise launch with the auxiliary non-competitors blocking for Jason and Danny until they landed.

Indeed...

Jason looked at the drawn-out graph and laughed.

Danny had planned every little aspect of the descent in meticulous detail. He even labeled places where players were likely to die. The other BAG teammates were freely joking about their upcoming sacrifices.

Of course, letting yourself die wasn't actually a big deal. Non-players didn't have to follow the Salvage Rule. For that matter, the Salvage Rule didn't even apply to the tournament residents until they touched the ground.

Nonetheless, the extensive planning and teamplay went way beyond any Jason had seen before. It was extremely inspiring.

With their overall plans finished, the group left the office and entered the general hangar. Each player pulled up their profiles then summoned their Mechs into the launching catapults. Unlike many other Guilds, there were no pre-set colors or build models.

Instead, it seemed like Danny prioritized self-expression. Three of the Mechs had the paper bag insignia scrawled on their shoulders, but most of them did not.

Most of the machines were brightly colored Ace Paragons. In general, the super robots were the most popular among new players.

However, Jason also spotted a few Kingbreakers and a fellow draconic Hemoborn user.

However, their Mech was a sharp contrast to Jason's own.

This machine was a squat four-legged dragon with an enormous stomach.

Like the Red Minerva, the Belcher was a One Star Boss level Ace machine with only a few base modifications. The Mech specialized in artillery support via its noxious flame attacks. The Belcher's pilot had upgraded his machine even further with a pair of missile launchers strapped onto its back.

However, Jason also saw two dedicated support Mechs among the group.

The first was a lavender-colored Grunt Mech.

It was extremely uncommon to use Grunt Mechs for free play sessions, such as open space missions.

Normally, players only used weaker Grunt Mechs because of the strict restrictions for four-on-four battles or Guild Wars. Normally, there was no reason to use a weaker machine unless the rules required you to do so.

Someone who used Grunts for all missions was almost always a dedicated specialist, either an aspiring esports competitor or a mercenary who fought for guilds during the guild wars.

The second was an O-Flier, a unique support craft shaped like a circular disk.

The UFO-type Mech was part of the Flier series, a set of machines that prioritized team support over dealing damage. All of them looked like letters of the alphabet - they were a specific reference to the similarly named and designed machines from the Star Wars series. Overdrive had plenty of overlapping fans and the crafters often looked to other science fiction franchises for inspiration.

The O-Flier specialized in buffing and empowering its teammates' defenses.

The sturdy ring-shaped machine was built out of exceptionally durable metal. By engulfing a machine, it could block off enemy attacks while rotating to allow its teammate to strike freely.

However, that same defensive structure took up the vast majority of the Flier's Credit cap, leaving little room for weapons or other special features. It was the sort of machine that exclusively worked in a team.

The last player was Danny himself, who'd summoned his slot machine-like Lucky Duck.

Jason knew Danny had a separate machine designed to create a distraction for their entrance. Like Jason, he was well-aware of the Illusionist's scouting abilities. As a result, he used his usual Mech and saved his new build for the tournament.

Fitting this group's atmosphere of strong teamplay, four of their players, including Danny, the guild leader, carried Medic packs, special one-use items that allowed them to heal teammates.

Medic packs were extremely helpful while mapping, but the heavy items also led to a single letter grade drop in both Speed and Maneuverability until they were used.

Rather than summoning his machine, Jason asked the group to wait a moment.

"Give me a bit. I want to buy a different Mech. I made some changes to the Red Minerva, and I don't want people to see before the tournament."

Danny nodded and gave him a thumbs up.

"Alright! Good call! We'll be waiting!"

Jason hustled over to the shopkeeper located right outside the hangar. Normally, players in the sub-colonies made very few sales. However, a spot directly next to the hangar allowed players to sell parts to various players who were about to launch from the sub-colony platform.

As a result, the location was considered the best of bad options.

Jason had meant to stop by earlier, but he'd gotten swept up in the chatter. Although he hadn't said much, it felt good to hear people speaking excitedly around him. It was such a stark difference from how he'd felt those two years living in the gaming complex and just working by himself.

He knocked, and then a hologram flickered into existence.

The hologram was a generic man with a plain and nondescript face. He wore a white dress shirt, a vest, and a bow tie. The outfit reminded Jason of a waiter at a fancy restaurant.

Most shopkeepers didn't have time to tend to their wares permanently. On top of that, they couldn't hire professional clerks and salespeople like OverManiacs. They just didn't make enough money.

As a result, they used a default shopkeeper. The default keeper simply sold items for the listed price. They made no attempts to market items.

First, Jason picked up the vampiric Spell Titan he was looking for. The Mech was a simple One Star Boss frame, just like the Red Minerva. As a result, the cyborg had very few enhancements.

There were several different early vampiric One Star Bosses. Most of them were Minor Vampires, weak bat-like Hemoborn that fit into the Historic tier of Hemoborn genetic modifications.

However, this machine was a Spell Titan - an alien robot that used a mana system to replicate a vampire's abilities. This unique Mech was the One Star Boss for the Vault Jason had discovered. As a result, the veteran pilot wanted to switch from his usual Mech class to gain increased experience with the totally new type.

The One Star vampire Mech was painted a pale white from head to toe with black and red highlights around the chest and arms.

The Mech had a pair of Mana Gatherer Spikes attached to the elbows on its arms. The blood-red pyramid-shaped power centers allowed the machine to gather energy and blast it out from its hands. The machine could also channel the power directly into its weaponry.

This particular Spell Titan used a special form of blood magic. Blood magic allowed the vampire to deal increased damage at the expense of its health.

The Spell Titan would gradually rust and decay as it attacked. However, the machine could also regain energy by draining power from other Mechs via its fangs.

Although the ability seemed powerful, it was severely limited due to the machine's One Star Boss status. The recharge rate was extremely slow. In addition, it was a huge risk sticking your head right at another machine.

In Jason's opinion, the machine's greatest strength was its human-like shape and flexibility. The humanoid body meant the Mech could use items better than the base Red Minerva frame.

Of course, the machine was still a far cry from Jason's current awakened partner. Its strength topped off at a relatively meager B, even if it used its blood-based Mana Gatherer Spikes.

Jason would have to compensate with weapons.

Now that he had significant Credits from beating the last few missions, he could afford to purchase some decent equipment. The shopkeeper didn't have any restricted items or Five Star tools, but they still carried many basics.

Jason smiled.

The basics were more than fine.

He wanted to be a reliable warrior for Danny's guild. However, he also needed to practice.

Using lower-tier items to restrict his machine's overall attacking power would help him prepare for challenging the Vault.

First, he had to find success with reliable and basic items.

After that, he could upgrade them into rare items before challenging the Vault. Of course, Jason would also carefully familiarize himself with the more powerful weapons before challenging the Vault boss.

However, the concept of training with weaker items first reminded him of athletes training with weights in real life. If he could get high results with worse items, he would have more success once he switched over to the real thing.

He needed to diversify his training process if he wanted to surpass Vile. Of course, Jason was also careful to consider the BAG Guild. If the battle got too tough, he'd upgrade his weaponry or even switch back to the Red Minerva.

By the end, Jason equipped three items to his machine.

The first was a long spear slung across the vampire's back.

Unlike the Valorous Ji, this was a simple spear. Jason could only use it for straightforward stabbing attacks, and it lacked the highly versatile Ji's usual cutting and slashing capabilities.

After carefully analyzing his fighting style, Jason realized that he was overly dependent on the Ji's versatility.

The blazing polearm was an incredible all-around item with virtually no weaknesses. Training with a more simplistic variant would isolate the specific skills he wanted to train.

Jason rounded out his build with a standard pair of equipment - a machinegun and a shield. The Vampire Spell Titan could use the weapons as a spellcasting focus to further empower its attacks.

His battle against Vile had revealed another hole in his current Red Minerva's build - his machine was overly dependent on close combat.

He'd fallen into a trap battling against the martial arts Grunt.

Normally, the best way to defeat a Grunt was to take advantage of its lower Credit Cap. Specialized Grunts like the martial arts Mech always had holes in their build. In that particular case, it'd been the long charge-up time of the long-ranged qi blast.

Jason could have won by attacking from long range.

Normally, Jason was loathe to carry any handheld items because he wanted to keep his hands free.

Instead, he'd prioritized smaller weapons like pistols or daggers he could keep inside his wristband. Even though he'd kept a machinegun from the Red Lamia's Vault, he hadn't actually used it yet. His battle against Vile showed the holes in that strategy.

In the worst-case scenario, he could simply toss the weapons aside to activate the Blazing Avarice. Not equipping them in the first place was a notable mistake.

Jason knew it was important to avoid wild adjustments in response to a single loss.

However, he knew that it was important for him to develop specialized strategies against close combat machines. After all, he would eventually participate in the Martial Arts event.

Jason pulled up the overall statistical profile.

-- General Data --

Pilot: Devourer22

Machine: Minor Vampire - Devourer22 Custom

Class: Kingbreaker

Sub-class: Attacker

Designation: Ace Unit

- Statistics -

Melee: B-tier

Shooting: C-tier

Speed: B-tier

Maneuverability: B-tier

Defense: C-tier

Cohesion: S-tier

- Weapons -

Machinegun

Tower Shield

Spear

- Abilities -

Hemomancy

Unlike a more competitively modified Spell Titan, this machine lacked the trademark skewed statistics. Rather, it was an all-around mediocre build with unimpressive scores ranging from B to C.

Specialization was the key to maximizing Spell Titans. They were ideal for min-max players who loved optimizing. However, Jason was mostly looking to practice and uncover new skills.

The machine was much weaker than his current build, but that was how Jason wanted it for now. He had an eye on longer-term growth.

Right now, Jason had a full week to reach the Castle Notoria. If he slipped up with this machine, he would get kicked back to the spawning platform. However, he planned on playing much more than the BAG Guild - he'd be practicing even when the other members were resting.

As a result, Jason would be able to catch up on his own time if he made any mistakes. If he wound up needing better items - or even a better Mech - he would either upgrade the vampire or go back to the Red Minerva.

At the moment, the longer deadline meant he had other options and a lower risk factor.

With his new Mech finished, he stepped into the hangar and summoned his machine.

The cockpit design of the vampire Spell Titan was identical to that of the Red Minerva - Jason had simply ported his preferences over to this machine.

Bzzt.

Danny's face appeared on the screen.

"You ready?"

Jason nodded.

"Yep."

The catapult opened, and their machines blasted together into space.

Jason smiled at the many machines flying around him.

It was a totally new experience, but he was excited.

It was time for their team adventure to begin!