After some final exchanges, Freddy and Freya departed in their hovercar, satisfied with the mech and its performance. Freya, begrudgingly or not, had accepted her role, and Freddy seemed more than eager to gloat about the Tempered Blade back at his base. Not long after they left, the delivery crew from Freddy's company arrived. Rennick guided them through the hangar, overseeing the careful mounting, securing, and transfer of the mech onto the transport shuttle.
The platform groaned as the mech's weight settled, clamps locking into place.
Rennick watched in silence as the shuttle ascended, carrying with it his work—the culmination of weeks of labour, calibration, and quiet spiritual effort. Once it vanished beyond the canopy above, he exhaled and turned back toward the workshop.
Inside, everything was quieter than usual. Jean was off handling noble business, and the Tempered Blade was gone.
Rennick slumped into his creaky chair, swivelling idly to face his terminal.
He stared at the screen for a while, eyes unfocused.
'There's still a few days before I leave for the Coalition... Might as well do something useful.' He thought idly looking at the ceiling of his room and turned to his terminal.
His fingers hovered over the interface before opening up his bank module.
Account Balance: 14,088,740 SC
He let out a tired sigh
Looking at the number of credits, he sighed in disappointment.
It was more than most small-scale designers had in the Protectorate—but still far short of what he truly needed.
"Well, this is chump change compared to what I would need to design my own original mech or even purchase a license of a mech for a variant."
Still…
His gaze drifted toward an older icon on the screen. The angular red 'I' of Iron Spirit gleamed faintly.
"Haven't logged in for a while…"
With nothing better to do, he clicked the icon.
A few seconds later, the familiar chime sounded.
Welcome, Librarian.
The screen pulsed and brought up his Designer Profile—a simple, no-frills display with his avatar standing beside a virtual mock-up of his highest-rated Iron Spirit mech: a mid-range control-type swordsman variant called Scarlet Adjudicator.
It wasn't flashy, but it had built a small niche following among new players for its simplicity and reactive parry system.
Total Units Sold: 113
Virtual Licensing Revenue: 186,120 Gold
Ranked Rating: Tier 5 – Bronze Division
He raised his eyebrow in surprise upon looking at the number of units that were sold. "Wow, I didn't know it will be this popular."
He sighed in disappointment as his head dropped down, "If I knew, it would be this popular, I would have selected the option to sell it for real money."
He soon reprimanded himself and controlled his thoughts, 'No, maybe if I sold it for real money then it may have drove away customers, my primary goal I this game is to popularise my designs.'
He navigated to the design menu and opened up the info about Scarlet Adjudicator.
Scarlet Adjudicator
Designer: Librarian (Rennick Vale)
Type: Light Offensive Swordsman Variant
Base Chassis: Chaser Type-V2R Recon Mech (5-Star Generic Light Recon Model)
Overview:
Originally based on the 5-star-rated Chaser Type-V2R, a widely-used light recon mech known for its extreme speed and manoeuvrability, the Scarlet Adjudicator throws away the stealth and recon modules in favour of brutal high-speed melee combat.
Where the Chaser relied on passive detection, camouflage, and terrain navigation to operate behind enemy lines, the Scarlet Adjudicator embraces active engagement, outfitting itself with lighter armor, reinforced actuators, and a customized high-frequency mono-edge blade designed for close-quarters aggression.
"Well, it certainly is one of my better variants considering it got this popular." Rennick mutters as he switches to his other virtual models with only few sales ranging between 5-10 units.
"But, what did this mech had that others didn't have? Why did it get so popular?" Rennick tapped his desk lightly, mulling over the mech's origin.
He hadn't built it with any spiritual image in mind. There was no story, no emotional layering like he tried with the Tempered Blade.
It had just… clicked.
Back then, he was idly scrolling through videos of players and he stumbled upon a player using the Chaser Recon mech against a knight mech. Obviously, it was an unfair matchup, but the way he used the chaser had struck a chord within him. Its sleek lines and predatory posture had sparked something in his mind. The idea of a mech that didn't sneak or scout, but hunted. That moment—raw and unfiltered—was all it took to sit down and sketch out the Scarlet Adjudicator.
"It wasn't spiritual, or was it?" Rennick muttered, rubbing his temple. "Honestly, I don't even remember the specifics about that."
It reminded him that while conceptual imagery gave his physical mechs a unique flavour, fundamentals still mattered—a lot. The right chassis. The right tuning. A clear, intuitive purpose in the hands of the pilot. The Adjudicator succeeded not because of any spiritual resonance, but because the design philosophy was sharp, coherent, and well-executed.
"Well, this just proves that I can't only focus on X-factor of the mech, I need to have the hardware to back that up." Rennick muttered staring at the virtual mech.
"But it can't be the only reason, can it? Rennick questioned and opened up the reviews for Scarlet Adjudicator.
FragMeNot ★★★★☆
"Worth the ridiculous learning grind. Initially I hated how easy it was to get punched in the spine by infantry grade mechs.
But now I call it 'Balrog Beginner Plateau'—a necessary pain zone. Feels more like a skill refinery than a vanity pick. Sometimes I solo carry the duo tandem heavy tanks. Still alive because I don't get hit."
IronMaiden ★★★★☆
"I nearly dropped this mech after match four because it felt so flimsy—then something changed. I realized small, smooth sidesteps and timing was everything, not raw DPS — and Crimson Flow just unleashed.
It's a top tier duelist once you internalize the rhythm. JACKED adrenaline rush when you land a feint then slash to finish off a tank. Only wish there was more health scaling."
ZeroLagTilt ★★☆☆☆
"Don't care what mastery level people talk about—you die. You die everywhere. Even aerial recon hits you through. Movement is twitchy, every parry a gamble.
I still lose most matchups. Step up accuracy or stay away."
Rennick scrolled through more reviews and match analysis threads. The deeper he read, the more the trend became clear.
Despite its modest rating and limited modules, the Scarlet Adjudicator had carved out a niche for itself—not because it was easy, but because it wasn't.
"Took me a week to stop dying like a moron, but once it clicks? Nothing else feels this satisfying."
"You have to learn spacing and timing. But damn, the moment you land a clean counter and chain into a lunge? That's dopamine."
"It's not for everyone. But if you like outmanoeuvring your opponent and slicing through fancy mechs that cost twice as much, this is it."
Rennick leaned forward, thoughtful.
"So that's what it is..."
The Adjudicator had a high skill floor. Newbies floundered in it. Pilots used to tanky brawlers or ranged campers found it punishing. But those who stuck with it—who learned its timing, mastered its twitch-react parry system, and respected its paper-thin defence—found something special.
In the 1-star mech bracket, where most designs were clunky or overly generalized, the Scarlet Adjudicator dared to be specific.
It was fast, offensive, and ruthless—a blade with no sheath. And because 1-star mechs were locked to the Bronze division, most players never saw designs with this kind of commitment. In the right hands, it could punch well above its weight, overwhelming other 1-star mechs.
"I guess I did something right without even thinking about it," Rennick muttered, rubbing his jaw.
He stared at the virtual mock-up again—its crimson blade drawn, its body low and ready to pounce.
No guiding stories. Just clean, aggressive design logic.
And it worked.
Rennick bookmarked a few player videos and leaned back with a small, satisfied nod. The Scarlet Adjudicator might not be revolutionary—but it was his. And it proved he could design something good, even without relying on image-based enhancement.
He took a deep breath and entered the simulation pod, appearing in the virtual city selling the mechs and walked in the shop selling 2-star mech licenses and started browsing through the designs.
As he looked at the huge amount of option, he hesitated a bit and thought, 'Since I don't have high enough budget, let's look for the designs that are on sale.'
Rennick quickly filtered out the designs that were on sale currently, which thinned down the options significantly. As he walked towards the cheaper licences, he saw a mech that caught his attention. The mech was a marksman mech but that did not catch his attention the thing that made him stop was that it was a hybrid mech with the lower body of a raptor, twin jointed and the upper torso being humanoid.
Rennick tapped the holographic display of the raptor-legged mech. A soft chime echoed in the virtual showroom as its spec sheet and model overview floated in front of him.
Model Name: Skyhunter Mark IV
Type: Hybrid Marksman
Designer: Warbrush Designs
License Tier: 2-Star
Original Price: 950,000 Seed Credits
Current Discount: 60% Off – Now 380,000 Seed Credits
Base Chassis: Custom Configuration
Notable Features:
• Digitigrade raptor-style legs with micro-actuated stabilizers for terrain control and recoil management.
• Twin rail-carbines mounted on the arms, optimized for mid-range burst fire.
• Integrated targeting suite with manual override.
• Partial flight capability—boost-assisted long jumps, not sustained flight.
• Armor: Medium-light composite with angled plating.
"Now this is weird," Rennick muttered, stepping closer to the rotating model. The virtual projection highlighted its unique silhouette—the reverse-jointed legs were poised in a crouch, ready to leap at a moment's notice, while the humanoid torso swiveled with quiet menace, tracking imaginary targets in the showroom.
It was strange, inelegant… and yet strangely elegant in its own way. There was a brutal utility in the form. Unlike standard bipedal mechs that had a consistent frame structure, this one embraced its hybrid chassis fully, as if trying to blur the line between creature and machine.
Rennick zoomed in on the heat dispersion graph and recoil management rating. The numbers weren't amazing—but for its price, they weren't bad either. The strange leg structure gave it above-average lateral mobility, and the impulse stabilizers along the hips allowed it to absorb the shock from railgun volleys much better than most humanoid designs in this tier.
"Middling acceleration," he murmured, flipping through more stats, "but decent burst control, unusual evasion pattern, and a decent fallback melee protocol in close quarters. Probably runs hot under sustained fire... yeah, they had to cut somewhere."
But even with the drawbacks, this wasn't just some gimmicky design. It had a clear intent behind it—perch, reposition, burst, and relocate before retaliation. The kind of marksman mech that didn't sit in one place but played the battlefield like a hunter pacing through a forest.
"I could do something with this…" Rennick whispered.
He opened the purchase tab, watching the little gold icon spin as the simulation processed the pricing data. The cost would bite into a large chunk of his virtual design account, but he could afford it without dipping into his personal credits.
His fingers hovered over the "Purchase License" button.
Do you wish to buy this 2-Star License: Skyhunter Mark IV for 380,000 Seed Credits?
After a moment's thought, Rennick clicked Yes.
The system confirmed the purchase with a satisfying ping, and the mech's schematic loaded into his design suite. It shimmered and collapsed into a toolkit of editable modules, subsystems, and chassis templates.
"Let's see what I can turn you into…" Rennick muttered, already imagining the possibilities.