The Warrior Mechanic

About 8 weeks came and went in a flash. Leon had received a total of $45,000 in a span of two months. Cael had made even more than that and felt shocked to see a total amount of $1 million now resting in his bank account.

He couldn’t help it, but a smile grew over his face, and there was a warm, fuzzy feeling within his body. He’d actually managed to succeed here.

Thinking back to how his life was just a few months ago, the stark difference was almost incomprehensible. The respect, the achievements.

It was always something that he could only dream about, but that was now the reality of things.

Standing in his workshop, he was soon dissatisfied with it. If he wanted to make larger attack bots and models in the future, he’d need a bigger workspace to deal with. There was no form of storage here; he couldn’t just keep ingots of Dresium ready to go and other things.

Therefore, he made sure to start looking for a new workshop to get going in.

As Leon and Cael were expanding their presence, he really needed to start moving into the physical market. If he could do so, there was a much higher chance that more established contractors would set their eyes on him.

Even if just as much as a small private military wanted to set a contract for him, he could start reeling in the big bucks.

He was planning to sell Leon’s models and his own swarm units physically soon enough; it would take a much longer time to make all the models and there was a lot more room for failure. However, the overall gain in the long-term was too much for him to miss out on it.

During this time, he began searching for small industrial units that he could rent out for his creations. He needed nothing special – just an area with ample space for storage. It would also be great if there was some form of compact living area so that he could sleep at the workshop to get a lot of work done.

The following morning, in the opening period of training with Arlo, a few students were held back as break came around. Many of them were confused as to why this was happening, Cael included, but they stayed silent to see what their instructor had to say.

“As you all know, I believe that you five are the strongest students under my tutelage.” Arlo explained.

Ahead of him stood Blaine, Vanessa, Keagan, Cael, and another student called Friso Drechslerg. He hailed from a different nation entirely, and was an absolutely massive fighter. Standing at nearly 2 metres, he had brown hair tied back in a ponytail and a bulky physique.

He was muscular but not as lean as Keagan was; he also was slightly beat by Keagan when it came to raw strength but he was faster, somehow.

The only place that he lacked quite a bit compared to the others was his overall fighting skill and intelligence. Very frequently he would resort to his raw strength and speed to just outmuscle his opponent, battering them with powerful punches and kicks.

Even though he was just as old as the rest of them, he had a beard that made him look several years older.

“You all have proven your skills and have made leaps and bounds in terms of progress recently. I can see the rivalry between you both as you all want to become the strongest here. It really ignites your passion to train and the results are there for everybody to see, including myself. As a result, you all have been given the amazing opportunity to exchange to a B-Grade institute in Lapra, in the Zarcona Colony.” Arlo furthered.

Blaine gave Vanessa a smile of excitement, then did the same to Keagan. Cael was almost left out of this group; he was a newcomer here. The others were already established fighters and had received this status over several years.

It would take a while for those of this level to feel at home around him.

The exchange would bring some of the lower-level students from the B-Grade institute away to give them the opportunity to try out other places. With higher grade institutes, opportunities like these were almost reserved for the very best students.

Those who just didn’t have enough talent to make their institute look better missed out on vital opportunities to experience different things and grow.

They would be training with them, and working with the colonial forces that were operating there. It would give them basic experience into the operations of organisations that most resembled the military.

Colonial forces were of lower grade than the true, standard military. These officers were almost in between the level of ordinary officers and full-fledged officers. It was still a great option to take for those who couldn’t really make it in the defence forces.

“Before you all get all jolly about going, it won’t be an easy task. You all have been sheltered in this institute from the true talents out there. I know that you all are capable warriors and could really cement yourselves as powerful fighters in the future, but you will meet numerous people that outshine you in almost every way. Be prepared for that.” Arlo declared, before the students were dismissed.

The other students didn’t really take his last comment seriously, but Cael made sure to do so. These fighters were going to be seriously good if they hailed from B-Grade institutes. It only made him wonder just who the people in the compact, advanced A-Grade institutes really were.

He assumed that they’d be the outstanding talents; the nobles and those almost built solely for battle.

After hearing this message, Cael had a mission to complete.

Today, he was going to buy his industrial unit.

Cael searched through the internet and had narrowed his listings down to a shortlist that he wanted to view more deeply. Continuing to view the several different units, he deeply scrutinised their different attributes.

These buildings would require an unnecessary amount of paperwork and money for him to get started so he didn’t want to mess up with his purchase.

His search continued on and he eventually cut down everything onto a final option.

Located a few miles from his apartment complex -in another area of Carlo City- there was a large industrial complex made for small firms that needed to rent out units similar to Cael.

These units were incredibly miniature, much to the dismay of the reviewers that Cael could see but the small, compact size was something that he actually quite looked forward to. With a $22,000 per annum cost, it would be significantly more expensive than his makeshift workshop within his apartment, but it was a much-needed upgrade.

*****

“What is the status on our forces?” Obar Rukkon asked, viewing the several stars and planets that glistened like milky dots within the black abyss of space.

“Your Highness Obar, our land and navy forces have doubled in size since your order for expansion. Training is more intense than ever, and our military technology has been upgraded to the most cutting-edge technology of our galaxy. Your military will be more than ready for this invasion.” Another boarman explained, honking at the end of his long explanation.

He held a glowing translucent tablet, displaying various pieces of information across its glowing interface.

“That is brilliant. Hold your horses. I don’t want an invasion any time soon. I’m sure all of those human states have their guards all the way up after our first emergence. Next time we’ll have to be more covert.” Obar Rukkon stated, swinging his body to the man that stood beside him.

“I understand your highness Obar. We will do exactly as you please and that will get us what you want.”

“Well, what are the targets that you’re thinking of?”

“We have picked up on a few different states, and there are a handful of useful targets in our sister state of the Soburg Empire. They have a robust centre -as we realised before- and it won’t be much easier to target areas within the nation’s central zone. As for the edges of their territory, that mainly consists of their outer colonies. Those areas are far less protected.”

“Brilliant analysis. If we can manage to capitalise on one of those weaknesses and make a move, we can weaken the state even further to bring us closer to the end goal.” Obar Rukkon replied.

“Exactly your highness Obar. We will do exactly what you require of us in the meantime.” This advisor replied, receiving a nod of praise from the monarch

“I hope so.” Obar Rukkon lowly said, honking as he turned back to peer into the dark view of space ahead of him.