"Excellent!" I said to myself in satisfaction as I felt the red energy and the stream of delicious blue mecha 'nutrients' fill me up. I could feel the power coiling within me, ready to be released at will.

With most of the three blue mechas absorbed, I distinctly understood how I could combine them to create an 'enhanced' blue mecha.

Which I did immediately, of course.

WHOOSH!

I quickly strengthened my arms and legs, causing them to be much harder than before. Additionally, I fully realized that the three blue mecha cores I had absorbed also allowed me to burst out with much, much more power.

Not that I needed it. My red energy effectively puts to sleep any mecha opponent I face. Permanently.

But it's good to know that I am growing stronger.

At that moment, with one mecha down, I finally had time to think.

"I should have just absorbed the mechas straight away! Why bother fighting them?" I said as I gave myself an imaginary face palm.

"No, it's alright. You need the combat practice." Emma said non-chalantly from my side. "Just make sure you disable their comms first."

I narrowed my eyes into slits and scowled at Emma lightly. That little minx. She could have reminded me to simply absorb the mechas. But she wanted me to fight to improve my mecha skills!

I sighed. She was right, though. I needed more practice.

"Close combat it is!" I thought to myself, very much encouraged by my first success.

Seeing their comrade disabled so quickly and becoming completely unresponsive, the other two mechas became slightly wary of me. They split up and began to flank me.

"Feint left and attack the right one." Emma's voice rang out from behind me.

"No need." I replied as I charged with surprising power and speed towards the left mecha while activating my red energy to weaken the right mecha's right foot. That should slow him down enough to allow me to quickly disable the left mecha.

BAM! I crashed into the left mecha and we both fell to the ground. Instantly, my red energy worked its magic and absorbed yet another blue mecha's core and critical components.

"AHH!!!" The mecha pilot screamed out in fear as he frantically tried to move his unresponsive mecha.

Pointless struggling.

I turned around and parried the third mecha's downward slash with my bare hands. He probably chose not to use his energy weapon in fear that he would accidentally hit his buddy. So, to his great misfortune, he chose to engage me in close combat.

BAM!!

Gotcha. I grinned.

WHOOSH!

The third and final blue mecha crumpled on the ground as essential components left him.

"You shouldn't have used your red mecha power. How do you expect to improve your skills if you keep using that? Anyway, you need to completely absorb these mechas and get rid of the pilots' bodies." Emma reminded me.

"I know, I know." I grumbled. "Stop nagging at me."

WHOOSH!! The mechas burst into streams of 'nutrients' and quickly made their way into my body.

BLAM! BLAM! BLAM! I quickly fired at the pilots and pulverized them before they could cry out and beg me to spare their lives. Although I am getting slightly used to killing people now, I still very much preferred to do the killing quickly and cleanly.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The sounds of battle in the distance continued to intensify. Apparently the White Mecha had yet to show itself.

"We can still carry out my plan." Emma began. However, she was quickly cut short when three military mechas burst through from behind us.

"There they are!" I could hear the lead mecha shout into his comms. My senses had advanced once more, and my hearing became extremely sharp.

"Where are the other three? I thought you said there were four mechas sneaking around here!" Another shouted.

"FOCUS! Take down the mecha first before asking so many questions!" A loud roar of anger could be heard from the lead mecha.

Excellent! More practice! Well, not so much practice. By that point, I had grown so strong that three common mechas posed absolutely no threat to me whatsoever. I could simply stand still and let them do their worst in attacking me, and I would still be fine. Afterall, I had the power of FIVE mechas in me.

But still, practice was practice, and I obligingly entered combat with them, dodging their attacks and dishing out my own.

DODGE!

BAM!

I punched out at the lead mecha. One down.

BAM! A powerful energy beam scratched my back.

BAM! I turned around and fired my own energy beam, striking it down.

BAM!!!

I lifted my arm and parried the final mecha's attack.

BAMM!!

And kicked it into pieces.

Battle over.

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT MECHA!?" The lead mecha roared angrily.

"By the way. You forgot to disable their communication system. Military mechas have body cameras as standard issue. They know that there is a vastly more powerful blue mecha in this area now." Emma said quietly as she dropped the bombshell at me.

"WHAT!" I shouted in surprise. I turned and looked at the lead mecha and scanned it.

Damn it! She's right, there's a camera and it's pointing straight at me!

"They would send reinforcements to this area very soon. We need to clear the area fast!" Emma urged.

WHOOSH!!! BLAM! BLAM! BLAM!!

I quickly disabled their communication system, absorbed the three mechas and put to rest the three mecha pilots. After that, I bailed out of the area and dashed towards the Red Dragon base.

"Where are you going?" Emma asked.

"Change of plans. I am going to lead the military reinforcements towards the Red Dragon base to force out the White Mecha. And then I will absorb it right there and then!"

"You aren't going to absorb it on the sly and then pretend to be a white mecha from The European Empire? I thought that's our plan!" Emma asked me in surprise.

"Let me teach you the first law of battle which my father taught me." I grinned at her while I continued my mad dash towards the Red Dragon base.

"What? Know yourself and your enemy?" Emma snapped irritably at me.

"Nope. The first law of battle is: Everything gets f-ed up as soon as the enemy arrives. THAT'S why he's called the enemy." I pronounced smugly.

"So?" Emma asked, still very irritated.

"So, my dear girl, if you want to succeed in real life, you need to get out of your bubble and realize that plans are castles in the clouds. You need to react and respond quickly based on what's happening in real life. And right now, the military has one more reason to press the attack. Me. I need to lead them to the Red Dragon base." I explained in a condescending voice.

"That's no reason to absorb the white mecha right there and then and not on the sly as we planned." Emma pointed out.

"Of course it is. The military would probably direct a very strong attack our way. AND the Red Dragon base knows that we're not part of them. And being a very visible threat, they would probably focus fire on me too. I would have TWO groups of people trying to kill me with all their strengths! I need that white mecha to survive." I explained.

At that, Emma stayed silent for a while. And then she spoke the words that would change our destinies forever.

"If that's the case, then let's not bother with manpower. Just absorb everything in the Red Dragon base and kill everyone there. Go back to the military base and do the same. At the very least, you will get the fighting power of TWO bases as well as the White Mecha." Emma said.

My heart skipped a beat at her words.

"Is she really just eight years old?!" I exclaimed silently in my heart.