Though Race knew that there were a lot of people who were unwilling to accept his ability; he was not a bit bothered by it. " I will make them shut up in the next round".

" The next round begins will commence in 5mins. Since only about a hundred thousand contestants were able to qualify. The next weeding round will be skipped. So the next round will be the Challengers round.

=>Like the name suggests, The participants will be allowed to keep the rankings from the last rounds.

=>Participants are allowed to challenge other participants having a higher rank than them.

=>The participant in the top 10 can only be challenged by those in the top 50.

=> If more than one challenger chooses to challenge the same person the challenges will be done according to the rankings of the challengers, priority going to the one with a higher ranking.

=> The participants can only fail 3 times when challenging after which they cannot challenge again.

=> Only the top 1000 will advance to the next round.

So let the round begin."

Just as the countdown hit zero Race was challenged by 42 out of the 49 possible challenges. Those in the top 7 chose not to challenge Race for the time being. So according to the rules the the participant ranking 9 was allowed to fight Race.

So a holographic window popped up before Race showing the name and ranking of the challenger. "So the first one I have to fight is Rank No.9, Padam. From the details provided his design seems more of leaning towards agility, as he has qualified with his performance in the sprint Items. Lets clean him up quickly to send a message to the rest of them, That they can't shouldn't dream of defeating me". Then another option was appeared in the panel.

" Would you like to manually control the MA or leave it up to the AI". Race was pleasantly surprised with this development.

And thus the two MA's where teleported to the arena. Since this was match between those in the top 10, Their battle feed was given the more importance over the rest. Two design stood face to face in 500 sq. meter arena. The design of Padam was catered towards speed with its streamlined body covered in thin armor. It held a spear. With a single look one can say that it was a design made to impale the enemy as fast as possible.

Race was also able to figure that out. Compared to his opponents Mobile Armor, Race's design seemed to be slow and cumbersome. Seemed to be.

Padam who was rather unsettled by the fact that a trainee apprentice like Race was able to beat him in the rankings.

" I will beat you here and now, and show you what a real mechanic's design is", declared Padam.

" It will be be my pleasure", retorted Race, who then proceeded to drop his sabre, wrist guard and the great sword on his back to the ground. Armed with only a standard sword Race taunted Padam," Here I have given you a chance, Don't waste it okay".

"3...2...1 let the battle begin."

Padam who was enraged by the fact that Race had not taken him seriously, ordered the AI to rush in with full speed. The Mobile Armor bolted across from its side with its spear aimed at the heart of the enemy MA. Race who was in control of his MA chuckled at Padam's antics.

When Padam's MA was about to pierce Race's, Race simply sidestepped the spear and followed with an upward slash of his sword which deflected the spear causing Padam's MA to lose balance. Then Race performed a downward slash which passed easily through the thin armor platting cutting of its legs. Without its legs Padam' MA was defenseless and Race quickly finished it of.

And just before Padam's MA was teleported out, Race said, " Maybe I should have dropped the sword as well". The entire match lasted less than 20 seconds. The crowd watching the match was first stunned at the outcome, Then started to cheer loudly and after hearing what Race said the audience went completely ballistic.

After the battle a golden rings passed around Race's sword fixing any chips on the blade. Race didn't waste time taking a break, he simply asked the system to summon the next challenger. he just quickly skimmed through the details and knew it was a strength oriented design. Race didn't even care to remember his name( and not because I was too lazy to think of a name).

A new MA appeared in the other side of the arena, unlike Race's last opponent this one was more bulky with more emphasis on upper body strength. And when the timer was counting down the challenger wanted to rile up Race.

" I am not like the last guy, My design's strength will....."

"Just shut up and fight". race said without even letting him complete his sentence.

And when the timer ended Race just simply ran up to him, deflected the berserkers sword , knocking him off balance and ended the match with a powerful and quick stab.And Race just nonchalantly called out," Next".

Race then faced 8 other MA's. but he quickly dispatched all of them. With only a defensive design being able to last nearly a minute. And After defeating his tenth opponent, Race was forced to take a break. And just before leaving the arena Race turned to the stands were the participants were seated and said.

" I welcome all challenges. But It will be Unwise to Challenge Me".

{ I hope you all enjoyed the novel. If you have any suggestions please leave a comment. And feel free to point out my mistakes, with your help I can improve the novel's quality. Hope you all are well and have nice day or a good night}