Chapter 78

　　Mare paced her room in the imperial palace, wracking her brain on how she could convince the others of a reason they were invited to Terra to celebrate her birthday without giving away that she was a princess.

　　The only thing she could think of at the moment was to tell them that she was a noble and had extra invitations for friends. It had led to questions about her background, who she was, and what family she belonged to, but she had forestalled them by claiming to be busy and not responding to their communications.

　　Letting out a frustrated huff, she cursed her grandmother again in her mind. Amelia`s thoughtless invitations to her friends had put her in a precarious situation, one where she had no choice but to reveal small parts of her personal life to teammates she preferred to leave in the dark.

　　It was no doubt part of the Empress` plan. Amelia was far too intelligent to do something like this to her without understanding the consequences. She likely wanted Mare to stop playing games and make a decision on what she wanted to do with her life, preferably something less violent than becoming a Pilot.

　　But it was what she enjoyed. She loved the power a Mech gave her and the excitement of combat. Before she could spiral any further, the communication link on her wrist flashed a notification of an incoming message.

　　Seeing the pink hue and cute cartoon image of a cat hovering above the device, Mare knew Cid was messaging her. Swiping her hand over the holo, she opened it immediately, expecting an inquiry on when she would arrive at the tournament.

　　Hey, Mare! Are you on your way? Someone showed up in the preliminaries that I think you want to meet!` Cid ended the message with an emoji of a smiling face and a heart.

　　Mare stopped pacing, staring at the message and wondering who she meant. With no choice, Mare opened up the communication display and began to type on the holo keyboard.

　　Who?` Mare messaged, waiting impatiently for the response.

　　Rather than send a message, Cid sent her a picture from the Arena. The trio sat in the arena`s stone stands, with millions of other people in a large circle around the center. It was a colourful display of fans and banners proclaiming their support for certain clans or Pilots.

　　Mare could see a battle raging in a large city in the still image. She could see the smoking remains of Mechs littering the ground while streaks of lasgun energy lit up the metropolis. Half the buildings were in ruins, and fire raged out of control.

　　To the right of the image was a projection of the leaderboards with a familiar name on top. Merit of Caledon was in first place with 20 points, and based on the green border around his name, he had secured his spot in the tournament. A list of other Pilots also had the same green edge on their score, coming in behind Merit.

　　If there was any doubt about his identity, it was removed a moment later when Mare spotted his image on the left side of the arena, along with all the information the organizers had found on him. Kalen Caledon, or Merit, had joined the game over two years before but only logged a few months of gameplay.

　　A few notes speculated the reason for his absence, but nothing concrete. They promised an interview with the number one contender before the start of the tournament.

　　Mare stared at the handsome face of Kalen, her anger growing as she saw him flaunt his image in public. Rather than do the respectful thing and hide on Caledon to not expose people to his family`s sins, he participated in a tournament in front of millions!Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

　　Worse, despite a short beard hiding his features, it wouldn`t be long before people pieced together his identity. He had been out of the public zeitgeist for centuries, but people were smart. Someone would put it together and expose him.

　　It was as if he didn`t care about the consequences at all. Gritting her teeth, Mare typed a message to Cid, promising she would be there shortly. Closing the communication panel on her device, she marched toward the VR terminal.

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　　Kal returned to the Mech storage bay in exhaustion. The intense combat had been draining, but at least he would have a few hours to recover before the matches resumed.

　　With the cockpit open, he leaned back into the gel cushioning of the seat, closing his eyes for a moment to rest. It was strange to be tired in the game, his mind weary, but his body still fresh and ready.

　　He was interrupted by the communication channel of the Scout flashing, letting him know he had an incoming call. His first instinct was to ignore it. Since his win in the preliminaries, many people have been trying to contact him. The organizers were looking for information on him, companies sought to license his likeness for merchandise, and even clans and teams wanted to recruit him.

　　He had been forced to block all incoming messages, but it was curious that this one came through. Opening it, he saw that it had come from his friend list, a channel that hadn`t been blocked.

　　Hey! Why didn`t you tell us you were joining the tournament?! We`re all rooting for you!` The message came from someone named Cid. Her profile picture was of a pink cartoon animal.

　　Kal stared at it momentarily, trying to remember who this person was. His memory had been improving, but it still wasn`t perfect. He had no recollection of the name, and her picture didn`t help matters. He was about to respond when another message came in.

　　Congrats on the top spot in the prelims! We went looking for your merch, but you don`t have any! Let`s catch up if you`re free. We`re in the shopping district below. No pressure!`

　　This one came from Ty, and Kal recognized the face attached to the profile. The blond hair young man had been in the world event on Beluth, which meant that Cid had also been there since they were the only teammates he had friended in the game.

　　Looking at the time, Kal saw that he had another three hours before the first match, and even then, he might not be fighting first. With five hundred competitors, there was bound to be some downtime. Decision made, he exited the Scout, walking towards the terminal that would teleport him to the city below.

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　　"You were great, John! The top 500 is incredible. I probably couldn`t have done better myself." Ty congratulated his large friend as they walked the streets of the virtual city hosting the tournament.

　　All around them, fans were gathered together, discussing the match or purchasing items related to their favourite Pilots or brands.

　　Even better, restaurants and bars were serving exotic foods and drinks, the sensory information able to pass through the terminal to the player`s tastebuds. However, it was significantly diluted compared to the real thing. Although, it was satisfying to eat as much as you wanted without worrying about your weight or becoming ill.

　　"Hmm, thank you. It was harder than I thought it would be. I doubt I will make it far in the rankings." John said, his deep voice a rumble.

　　"Don`t say that. You never know who you`re going to be matched against. With a bit of luck, you could take the whole thing!" Micah added.

　　 John smiled at him before looking down at the young man`s shirt. Sim and his garish Goblin stared back at him, proclaiming Micah`s true allegiance. His smile slipped a bit at the sight.

　　"Mare said she would meet us here." Cid came running up to them. She gripped an ice cream cone while passing another over to Ty. Thanking her, the young man took a bite, the chocolate flavour was subtle in the VR world, but it didn`t keep him from devouring it.

　　"Really? This could be awkward." Ty responded, wiping away the ice cream from his lips.

　　"Why`s that?" Cid asked, paying more attention to her treat than what he was saying. Ty shared a look with Micah before continuing.

　　"Merit is on his way. He finally answered my message." Ty explained, and Cid stopped eating to look at him. Her face lit up in delight.

　　"We`re going to need popcorn for the show!" Cid exclaimed, already running over to the vendors.