The Mech Touch

For a moment, Mickey almost couldn't believe what he heard.

Davute was an unattainable place to him. It was not only far away from Maylard II, but also much wealthier and much nicer than he and his family could afford to live on! There was no way for a simple colonist like Mickey to reach the port system.

The First Star Mech Academy carried just as much weight to a mech cadet like Mickey.

Places like Hopecrest and Clear River both competed to become the mech academy on Maylard II, but the truth was that every institution on the planet put together could not match any of the large and resplendent schools in Davute!

Although Davute hosted many large and more renowned mech academies that were set up by organizations that trained mech pilots for centuries, the academy founded by the Larkinson Clan quickly rose up as one of the port system's rising stars.

What the new academy lacked in prestige and heritage, it made up for it with innovation and extravagant spending.

Not only did the Larkinson Clan provide its own mech academy with excellent training mechs developed by its own mech designers, but it also did not hesitate to break with convention and employ radical new training and lesson methods!

The First Star Mech Academy was probably the only institution in the Red Ocean that made the best use of War Squire and the other living training mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

The impressive academy not only utilized the base model of the War Squire like Hopecrest, but also made use of different variants.

There were War Squires that were optimized for melee combat, ranged combat, aerial combat and even spaceborn combat.

First Star also built up a large collection of modular and semi-modular equipment and components. A War Squire could be transformed into a training mech that performed similar to an actual heavy artillery mech!

Alongside that, Mickey also heard from the galactic net that the mech cadets who attended First Star also gained access to an expanded version of the Mental Training Simulation System.

If that was not enough, he also heard that the mech cadets of First Star enjoyed a rare but extremely precious privilege.

"Is it true that expert pilots sometimes drop by at First Star and instruct the cadets in person?"

"They do." Little Five smiled. "First Star occasionally invites the expert pilots in the service of the Larkinson Clan to hold guest lectures or advise a group of well-performing cadets. The higher your results in our mech academy, the more chances you will get to learn from our heroes!"

This was amazing! Not every famed and prestigious mech academy was able to invite expert pilots as guest lecturers!

All of these advantages and more steadily caused First Star to become an increasingly more popular mech academy, especially among the cadets who had the privilege to train with the War Squires!

Though Mickey had become a fan of the Larkinson Clan, he never imagined that he would have the chance to get closer to this amazing organization.

It cost too much money to attend the First Star Mech Academy! There was no way his parents could pay the expensive tuition fees.

To Mickey, attending First Star was an unattainable dream to him. He wasn't able to recover a minute after Little Five dropped this bombshell on his head.

The cute little miniature mech floated on the top of the statue of the giant Golden Cat. The Little Spirit seemed to get along extremely well with the large ornament.

Now that he thought about it, The Golden Cat statue reminded Mickey a lot of Little Gold.

"Well? What do you think about our offer?" Little Five asked as the cadet continued to remain silent. "This is not an illusion, Cadet Mickey. I may not look like an official representative of the Larkinson Clan, but one of our officials will contact you and your family later in order to confirm your choice. We are truly inviting you to study at First Star."

"Why me?" Mickey finally snapped out of his thoughts and asked. "I know I improved quickly, but I don't think I'm talented enough to earn this opportunity. Aren't scholarships supposed to go to mech cadets with higher grades of genetic aptitude?"

"Aptitude isn't everything." Little Five shook his oversized head. "We have told you this over and over. We don't prioritize genetic aptitude as much as other organizations. Those letters don't determine your worth on the battlefield. Only your actual performance matters. We care much more about other traits that are more relevant indicators of effective combat strength."

"Like what, Little Five?"

"Your diligence in training is notable. Not only that, your passion and motivation when piloting the War Squire and training with the MSTS is among the highest that we have seen among mech cadets. Your rate of improvement is impressive enough for you to be able to keep up with your future classmates at First Star and your increasing proficiency in marksmanship already shows you can become a promising ranged mech pilot after you graduate."

Mickey felt better about himself. His mech instructors often praised him for his rapid improvement, but he valued the words of Little Five more.

In fact, he learned a lot more useful lessons from Little Five than he did from any of his mech instructors!

Though he still needed to study theoretical knowledge the hard way, Little Five always seemed to offer the right practical advice. Rabarber also helped him a lot over the years.

Mickey finally convinced himself that he may be worthy enough to receive a scholarship from the Larkinson Clan.

His thoughts turned into a whirl of speculation and uncertainty.

"If I accept, what will happen to me? How soon will I arrive and how quickly can I begin my studies at First Star? Where will I live? Do I need to meet any requirements in order to keep my scholarship? Do I have any obligations? Can I still visit my family?"

"Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down, cadet! Let me answer your questions one by one."

Little Five floated down from the giant statue and conjured up a projection that showed an image of First Star's academy.

"Once you accept our scholarship and sign all of the paperwork, you are already a part of First Star. We will arrange the fastest and safest possible transit so that you can attend the classes at our campus with minimal delay. Once you arrive, you can choose to rent accommodation in Kotor City, or you can opt to reside at one of our many on-campus dormitories. The latter is completely free and that also counts for your meals."

"I won't have to pay anything?" Mickey asked.

He and his family didn't have any money. It was extremely important for him to determine whether they needed to pay any money or go into debt in order for him to pursue this scholarship opportunity.

Little Five did not fail to notice Mickey's overarching concerns. The mech softened its artificial expressions.

"Hey, you can trust our credibility, Cadet Mickey. There is no fine print and there are no traps in the contract that you will sign with us. You can check this with any lawyer, but we truly mean to help you. The only conditions that we expect you to meet is to maintain your current pace of improvement and pass all of your classes at First Star. Don't take this demand lightly as expectations are higher at your upcoming mech academy. We also expect you to maintain your integrity and abide by our honor code. We don't want cheaters and lowlives. Do you think you are up for the challenge?"

"Yes." Mickey nodded with conviction. "If that is all I need to do, then I will not make you regret your decision to give me a scholarship."

"Good, because if you fail your classes and no longer prove yourself fit to be a student at our mech academy, then you will have to pay back all of the tuition fees, accommodation fees, transportation fees and so on. We will forgive your debts if you are unable to perform for reasons outside of your control, but outside of that you are on the hook."

Despite learning about this heavy burden, Mickey did not wish to turn down this scholarship offer.

He was confident enough in his skills that he could succeed!

He just had to remind himself that he could not afford to slack off and fail. So much money was riding on this decision that he really did not want to fail and waste it all! There was no way he could earn enough money to pay back his debts for the rest of his life if he got kicked out of the mech academy of his dreams!

After making sure that Mickey understood all of the important rules and expectations, Little Five grinned.

"Great! We will inform your parents as well as Hopecrest of the good news. In the time it takes for your transit vessel to arrive in your star system, we will pull you into an accelerated training program in the MSTS to ready you to the more extensive curriculum at First Star. You especially need to catch up on your theoretical studies."

Mickey groaned.

"Hey, don't look at me like that!" Little Five looked indignant. "Knowledge is power. While you pilots don't need to know how everything works, you can avoid a lot of stupid deaths if you understand how reality works. By the way, there is one more detail that I haven't mentioned to you yet. If you manage to graduate from First Star with good results, the Larkinson Clan may extend an offer to recruit you into its ranks."

"Wait, what?! Really?!"

"Have I ever lied to you, Cadet Mickey? Our clan does not extend this offer to any ordinary graduate. You will have to meet many requirements in order to earn our approval. Your evaluation starts as soon as you begin your studies at First Star."

Mickey was completely fired up! The chance of becoming a member of the powerful and rising Larkinson Clan was too good to pass up! How could he possibly remain calm under these circumstances?! He could completely change his life and never worry about money ever again!

"Wait." He paused. "What about my parents? I don't want to abandon them, Little Five."

"Don't worry. Our clan cares about family as well. I can tell you that the salary you earn as an active serviceman of one of our mech legions is more than enough to allow your parents to live in luxury. We also permit recruits such as yourself to bring your immediate family members into our clan as members of one of our side branches. If you perform well enough as a soldier and earn enough Larkinson merits, you can choose to exchange them to promote your immediate family members to main branch members. In short, you do not have to leave your parents behind once you join our clan."

Mickey no longer had any concerns about this offer. He did not bother to read any contracts or documents.

Years of piloting Rabarber, listening to Little Five and growing stronger with the help of the MSTS had conditioned him to develop an unswerving belief in the Larkinson Clan.

Mickey did not believe that Little Five would ever steer him wrong!

Everything moved quickly after that. Time flew by as Mickey packed up his bags and waited for a trade convoy to swing by Maylard II to pick up Mickey and a couple of other local scholarship students.

After a long and boring journey through Krakatoa where Mickey tried his best to catch up to his theory classes, the trade convoy finally reached one of the brightest jewels of the middle zone.

When Mickey and hundreds of eager mech cadets finally formed up in a neat row in front of the expansive campus of his new mech academy, he and everyone else received a rare treat.

The patriarch of the Larkinson Clan personally dropped by to welcome the first batch of special scholarship students!

When Ves stood on a podium before the mech cadets that originated from every corner of Krakatoa, he couldn't help but grin at the sight.

Despite the modest number of newly-arrived cadets, each of them were bright and powerful talents in his eyes!

This was because every single scholarship student possessed spiritual potential!

The War Squires and the MSTS constantly monitored each and every mech cadet that engaged them.

As soon as any of the kids gained the potential to become an expert pilot, the MSTS instantly passed on the news to the Larkinson Clan!

Was this a violation of privacy? Most definitely. Did the Larkinsons care about this? Nope!

All Ves cared about was absorbing as many talented mech pilots into his Larkinson Army as possible. He might not have a use for them all, but he definitely did not want them to fall in the hands of his competitors.

It was fine if these high potentials flew under the Larkinson Clan's radar, but now that the MSTS confirmed that they possessed the chance to surpass the extraordinary threshold, there was no way he would let them follow their original trajectories.

"Hehehe… none of you will escape my clutches." Ves smirked as he basked in the eager expressions of the gullible mech cadets.