Chapter 21: Armed Gear Equipment

“Knuckle equipment?! We have those! This is my recommendation!”

“Whoa.”

When I asked Lara about Armed Gear equipment, she dropped a thick catalog out of her smartphone’s [Storage] with a heavy thud! and showed me her recommendations.

“This here is Ambrosia Inc.’s ‘Destra’, and this one is Yotsubishi Metals’ ‘Ittetsu’. Both use Adamantite, and their selling point is their durability.”

The catalog showed photos of Armed Gears with the knuckles equipped on both hands, as well as the equipment by itself. Wow, those look brutal… Both have thick spikes attached and look like they pack some serious destructive power. Hitting something with this would probably punch a hole right through the armor. Huh? The price is…

“So expensive?!”

“Well, they are made entirely of Adamantite, so…”

Adamantite is a magic metal second only to Mithril in hardness. I mean, sure, hitting with something hard will deal more damage, but come on… There’s no way I can buy this with the money I have. Well, strictly speaking, I could buy it, but my allowance would be zero for a whole year… By the way, the Armed Gear body itself can be rented from the academy, but for equipment, you can use your own or rent it. Well, you can bring your own body unit too. If you can afford it, that is.

“I would like something affordable, please.”

“In that case, maybe something around here? But these are made of regular metal, so they’re definitely heavier compared to the magic metal ones.”

That can’t be helped. Beggars can’t be choosers. The knuckle equipment Lara pointed to was indeed affordable. This… well, even I could manage to buy this.

“Out of these, maybe this one…”

“If you’re buying it, I can have it shipped from a shop I know in the Capital. It’ll arrive by evening.”

“Eh, that saves me. Can you do that?”

“Understood. I’ll see if I can talk them into giving a small discount, too.”

Saying that, Lara immediately started calling somewhere on her smartphone. She’s so reliable. As expected, having a friend aspiring to be a Magic Engineer Meister is the best! I thanked her again and parted ways with Lara. For now, the weapon situation is sorted. Next is the rental application for the machine I’ll ride on the day of the match.

I pulled up the list of Armed Gears rented by the academy on my smartphone screen. There are several types of rental machines, each with its own characteristics. They all have pros and cons. Should I choose a machine that fits my fighting style, or choose one to prepare for the opponent’s fighting style…? Well, I don’t know anything about that Dread-senpai’s fighting style, so I guess sticking to my own style is better. Light Armor Mobility Type… no, it’s my first time, so I might take a few hits. Plus, if it lacks power, my punches might not deal any damage to the opponent… I should play it safe with a General Purpose Type… no, no, why am I chickening out? If I dodge everything, there’s no problem. Master said so! “If it doesn’t hit, it doesn’t matter!” Nngghhh! But still…!

“Oh my, quite the parade of funny faces. How amusing.”

“Wah?! You scared me!”

Surprised by the voice suddenly coming from right beside me, I jumped a little on the spot. Eh?! I didn’t sense any presence at all?! When I turned around, Principal Quun was standing there, giggling with an amused look on her face.

“Principal Quun…! Please don’t startle me like that!”

“I didn’t intend to startle you. It was just funny seeing you groaning and changing expressions so rapidly.”

It’s not funny for me. I’m seriously agonizing over here.

“I assume you’re worried about your first [Star Duel]?”

“Ugh.”

She hit the mark, and I flinched instinctively. Was I that easy to read…?

“Ufufu, we get students like this every time around this season. It’s like an annual event.”

I see. So all the seniors went down this path too. Well, it is my first time, so naturally, I’m overthinking things.

“I think it’s more practical to do what you can now rather than worrying about this and that. As they say, ‘A poor plan is like resting.'”

“What is that?”

“It means time spent just thinking when you’re stuck is a waste. They also say, ‘A fool’s thinking is like resting.'”

“That’s harsh?!”

Are you saying it’s useless for an idiot to think!? That might be true, but still! No wait, I’m not an idiot, okay?!

“Right. Many people think of Armed Gears as something you ‘ride’ like a Frame Gear, but in reality, treating it more like something you ‘wear’ allows for more freedom of movement. You know how there are clothes that are easy to move in and clothes that are hard to move in? That depends on things like the amount of fabric, but the body remembers things like ‘if I move like this, it pulls tight,’ or ‘if I twist like this, it catches,’ and naturally adopts optimized movements.”

Hmm. I kind of get what she’s trying to say. Running in everyday clothes is different from running in a dress; the way you run and move your body changes.

“However, ‘getting used’ to movements you don’t normally do is actually quite troublesome. You just have to make your body memorize it. Naturally, the upperclassmen are already accustomed to it, but new students, especially those not used to riding Armed Gears yet, take time with that. That difference will definitely show in battle.”

An experience gap, huh? There’s no way I can bridge that now. If push comes to shove, I’ll have to prepare myself for debt and use my treasured ‘Battle Spirit Method’… Hmm? Wait a second? Even with the ‘Battle Spirit Method’, instead of the direct approach of slamming Spirit into the opponent, maybe something else… Come to think of it, Master used to… Hmm, could it work? Deciding to try out the idea I just had, I took out my smartphone and jumped to the academy’s Armed Gear rental page. There was exactly one unit available, so I submitted a rental application for immediately after this.

“Looks like you thought of something.”

“I’m going to go train for a bit!”

Leaving those words with Principal Quun, I dashed toward the training grounds. I don’t know if I can do it. I’ve only seen Master do it before. Even if it’s unrefined, if I can just give it some shape, it will become a weapon for fighting. Right now, I just have to do what I can. A fool’s thinking is like resting. Don’t think, move!

◇　◇　◇

“Nero-saaan, the equipment arrive… wait, are you okay?!”

“I’m not okay…”

I couldn’t even turn my gaze toward Lara as she arrived; I was lying spread-eagle on the ground at the feet of the Armed Gear, completely spent. I was drenched in sweat and breathing hard. My body feels so heavy…! No good. This is more tiring than I thought…! What is this…! Master did it so easily, but I can’t do it at all. What’s going on…?!

“Sorry, water please…”

“Ah, yes!”

Lara brought my water bottle from the bench next to the training ground. Pathetically unable to move even a step, I only turned my head, grabbed the straw with my mouth, and sucked up the water from the bottle. Waaah, cold water is so gooood…! Recovering just a little bit, I managed to force my heavy body upright.

“Are you alright? If you push yourself too hard, you’ll collapse before the day of the [Star Duel], you know?”

“I know that, but…”

I want to do everything I can. Plus, it feels like Master is telling me “You still have a long way to go,” which is kind of irritating.

“Alright, recovered.”

With my stamina back, I stood up, handed the money to Lara, and accepted the equipment she pulled from [Storage]. It’s huge! Unlike knuckle dusters for humans, these feel more like something you attach rather than grip. They look like gauntlets.

“Well then, I’ll equip them for you.”

Lara used a Power Glove imbued with strength enhancement to attach the heavy-looking knuckle equipment to both arms of the Armed Gear I had been riding. Unlike the human versions, they completely integrate with the Armed Gear. The hands became a size bulkier than before they were equipped.

“The balance will probably be thrown off a bit by the weight. How is it?”

I boarded the Armed Gear and tried moving the unit, shadowing boxing with its now-huge arms. It’s true, with the arms being heavier, I get swung around a bit.

“Haaah!”

I slammed the Armed Gear’s fist into the Adamantite pillar set up in the training ground. Simultaneously, the crystal at the top of the pillar emitted an orange light. This pillar also serves as a damage measuring device, emitting five colors—blue, green, yellow, orange, and red—starting from weak impacts.

“Another failure, huh…”

“Eh? I think Orange indicates quite a lot of striking power, though…”

Yeah, normally.

“I need to be able to hit weaker…”

“Weaker…?”

Just hitting weakly without purpose is meaningless, though. Well, whatever, for now, let’s focus on getting used to this equipment. Using the Adamantite pillar as a sandbag, I hammered strikes into it from various angles. It definitely has power due to the weight, but my aim is blurring a bit. Well, since the fists are bigger, I won’t miss that much, but still.

“Nero-san, I have a small proposal…”

“Hm?”

Lara, who had been watching my training, made a proposal. Honestly speaking, it was a ‘Is that really necessary?’ kind of proposal, but since there weren’t any major downsides, I honestly listened to her. It did cost a bit of money, though… Well, just in case, I guess? I didn’t think at the time that this would greatly sway the outcome of the match later on… Now, if I can just complete that technique by the day of the match in three days, I might manage… Will I make it? No, I’ll make it in time. There’s nothing I can’t do. Alright, let’s do this! I fired myself up and punched the pillar. …Orange. I wonder if I’ll make it…