CHAPTER NINETY NINE

Jason looked back at his creation and beamed proudly. He'd made a few changes he'd wanted to for a long time.

His Mech's neck was now even longer than before after averaging out the strengths of the Red Lamia and the Red Minerva. Considering the current proportions, his machine looked a little bit like a two-legged brontosaurus. The neck now incorporated the snake-like elements of the Red Lamia's body, gaining both flexibility and strength. Now, Jason could both dodge his opponent's attacks while using his neck for offensive purposes.

He'd also finally switched away from the ankylosaurus tail. Jason had gotten much more comfortable with the weapon, but he now had the ooze manipulation abilities to land unpredictable attacks. Striking with the heavy tail was always a nice tempo change, but it wasn't as powerful as hitting his opponent with an ability his Mech class technically couldn't use. Now that he'd adjusted his tail into a whip-like and lighter version, he could defeat his opponents with a flurry of high-speed strikes that were then doubled by the Ghostfire Dagger.

Other than that though, he never could have predicted that he'd build a machine like this after leaving the Overdrive Corporation. The strange dragon covered with ooze was utterly bizarre-looking, and it was a testament to his growth as a player. This new version was taller and ganglier than his old Mech, and it was still covered in straggly red fur that mattered whenever the ooze touched it. The fur reflected the added sensory abilities he'd gained via the watchdog.

His current machine had given up a few abilities. He could no longer shift between two forms, and the lengthier and flimsier body also made the watchdog's four-legged sprint unreliable. He still had the Bloodlust ability, but some of his higher-sped offensive techniques were now limited.

It was a lot of options, and Jason knew he needed to thoroughly practice before he could use his machine in battle. With a completely new height and gait, a lot of the longstanding habits he'd learned on the Red Minerva would now be rendered obsolete. It was a good thing he had a full three weeks until the final round of the tournament.

However, there was still one last step Jason needed to complete before practicing - he wanted to show off!

He'd worked extremely hard on this Mech, and it wouldn't feel right to just play it without flaunting a little to the people who'd helped him get here. He grinned from ear to ear and his fingers danced across his control board as he sent the profile of his new machine to all his friends.

"Check this out man! Found this other piece from the Vault, I think this build is totally awesome!"

"Finally finished it! Check out what I did with the Red Minerva!"

"Yo, I bet you haven't seen this before - it's a Hemoborn that can cast spells!"

"This is the new base frame - now you see why it took so much practice! Let's get to work on the alien soon when you're free."

Jason continued going through his phone contacts, texting almost everyone on his phone. He shot a text to his parents too, but they had no idea what he was talking about. In the end, he almost sent a message to Wass.

Imagining the man's reaction to a sudden text from him was pretty funny, but it was probably a good thing he caught himself in time. He didn't need anyone dimming down his current mood - Jason only wanted to talk to people he cared about right now.

His phone soon filled with a storm of text messages.

Stephanie: Hey!! So glad to hear you finished, but I'm actually busy the next few days with work. I'm gonna hold you to that promise to build that alien with me!

Danny: Man, nice Mech dude. Can't wait to face off against it at the Tournament of Assassins.

Steven: You know, this thing looks pretty weird, but it's a pretty dang good fit for you!

Lynn: Man...you already beat me last time and this thing looks way tougher. I'm going to have to level up if I want to keep calling you a rival. Hopefully, it'll work against Castor, let me know if you ever want to get some practice matches in!

He had a few other messages from the BAG Guild and players from the Good Game Shoppe, so Jason decided to start playtesting right away. Since it was still earlier in the afternoon, he decided to start off adventuring with the BAG Guild.

It was on short notice, but since it was the weekend, they still roused up a good force. Lynn, Wendy, and Danny were all available, and they were soon joined by a few other players like Anthony and Franz.

Jason wound up meeting five other members he hadn't even talked to in person. This time, he did his best to take down all their names and gather their contact information.

It'd take him some time to really know everyone well, but all of the BAG Guild's thirty-odd members had helped Jason beat the second round of the Tournament of Assassins. Plenty of players had traveled with them during the journey, and still more had sacrificed themselves to create a distraction for their illusions.

Getting to know them was the least he could do to pay everyone back. To his surprise, there were even some new players who'd joined after watching Jason and Danny fight through the Tournament of Assassins.

Even though they hadn't won the competition yet, their success was already promoting the BAG Guild. The new players were particularly impressed by Jason and Danny's last-second dash to steal the kill.

By the end, Jason had effectively met a dozen new people. He got their names wrong a ton of times, but nobody seemed to mind - they still liked and respected him.

As soon as the BAG Guild gathered together, they started playing through different Three Star ranked missions. With heavy-hitters like Jason and Lynn present, the guild definitely could have shot for tougher missions, but their goal was to keep everyone alive throughout the battle. The players like Stephanie or Anthony who'd taken weapons from the Green Envy or Knight of Friendship had definitely leveled up, but they'd still struggle to go through a complete Three Star mission without dying.

Fortunately, that was also a pretty good level for Jason. The two Three Star stages the group finished were actually a very pleasant step down from the recent bout of high-stakes competition. The first stage was an asteroid field where they battled raiders and the second was a coral reef map against specialized aquatic Mechs.

Due to the lower level of the stage, Jason was able to start experimenting right away. His machine's new lengthened form meant he could slink through tight spaces and catch his enemies off guard. However, the most obvious adjustment was his new ooze abilities.

Jason wanted to maximize his Bio-Beast summons, and that meant familiarizing himself with all the capabilities. The system allowed him to summon three pre-set attackers, the Hawk, the Hound, and the Shark, which the Biomancer boss pilot hadn't used during their match.

The Hawk was capable of flight and it had the greatest speed, but it dealt low damage. The Hound was a solid all-rounder with average offense and defense. Meanwhile, the shark had the highest offensive ability, but it could only reliably be used underwater.

That status meant it had extremely poor durability no matter where Jason used it.

If used on land or space, the Bio-Beast Shark would implode three seconds after its summon. However, the ooze creature would still dissipate if used underwater, because the sea would gradually dissolve the machine.

On the surface, the Shark seemed like a joke, but after some practice, Jason figured out how to use it as a close-range burst option. With his machine's current set-up, he'd almost always use the Blazing Avarice at that range, but he could also strike his foe with his off-hand when they least expected it.

The more Jason practiced, the more he liked the Bio-Beasts. He hadn't even imagined such a thing was possible, but the ooze minions reminded him of his original main goal of eventually becoming a boss. He had different goals now, but it was still nice to have an ability similar to Queen's Majesty.

In addition to training the Biological Beast summons, Jason also worked on his basic ooze manipulation abilities. By the time he finished playing with the BAG Guild, Jason knew he still had a long way to go.

He continued training by himself at home, then worked further at the Good Game Shoppe. He realized that the ooze half of his machine could attack without using its actual arms and legs - he could also control the ooze to create an impromptu hand or vine to jerk his opponent down. Once he got them onto the floor, he could take over with his usual wrestling tactics.

On top of that, his machine's lengthened neck was also a weapon in and of itself. He could constrict his opponent like a snake, which only furthered his grappling abilities. Once he got back to the Good Game Shoppe, Vinny and Phil were able to give him even better suggestions.

While battling the Biomancer, Jason had made the mistake of trying to grab his slippery opponent, but now that Jason could summon the ooze himself, he could abuse it to make a quick escape if his wrestling and grappling techniques ever failed.

Considering how the ooze matted his Mech's fur, he could also shift it around to adjust his machine's texture and feel. Jason spent the rest of the day working through various drills he could do on his own time.

At this point, his machine was no longer truly humanoid, meaning that his old drills wouldn't be as effective. He now needed his own customized practice regimen. Along with the Good Game Shoppe's regulars, Jason figured out all sorts of different niche situations, setting up various practice tools that allowed him to strike from any angle while dealing with multiple opponents.

It was a lot of work, and Jason actually spent most of his time making mistakes and overextending himself. However, building mastery of the machine he'd built for himself was truly rewarding. It was a whole new level of excitement that only made Jason want to play Overdrive even more.

For the next four days, Jason fell into a familiar pattern - training with the BAG Guild in the morning and working with the Good Game Shoppe at night. He and Danny battled alongside each other, but they didn't face off in any practice matches. Instead, Jason battled players like Lynn, Wendy, or Owen if he wanted additional practice.

Danny and Jason both wanted to battle at the Tournament of Assassins under the most exciting circumstances, they didn't want to spoil it with a battle ahead of time.

However, on the night of the fifth day, Jason encountered a huge surprise at the Good Game Shoppe, one that he never would have expected.