Cybernetic Beast Taming In A Game-like World
Chapter 40: Tactical Exploitation

Chapter 40: Tactical Exploitation

A roar echoed inside the battleground. It was Durn’s Magmabear.

After it noticed what happened, the mechbeast abandoned an already captured Scorch before speeding at Jethro. Jethro turned to the approaching creature, staying utterly still and glaring at it.

Then, suddenly, the Magmabear stopped on its heels. It whimpered in distress as its single eye moved from Jethro to its master, who was still stuck inside the ground.

"What?" someone mumbled in the crowd.

Professor Xan’s eyes glistened as he leaned forward. "Interesting..."

Durn allowed his mechbeast to nuzzle his shoulder for a vulnerable moment, before he glared up at Jethro, straining to get free. "How did you do this? Get me out of here!"

Jethro smiled. "Me? I didn’t do anything." He squatted casually on the ground in front of the trapped boy.

"You dug this hole yourself, Durn. Literally." He tapped the hardened metal beside Durn’s imprisoned body. "You have no idea what aether regulation means, do you?"

He relished the frustrated look on Durn’s face. "I mean, I find Professor Xan aggravating, but at least I listened to what he was saying. A tamer and their mechbeast share a single aether source, and you ran yours dry, leaving both you and your Magmabear powerless. And just in the worst time too."

Scorch darted across the arena floor and scrambled up Jethro’s body, settling triumphantly on his head. It stuck its tongue out once, as if to gloat to the Magmabear.

"All I had to do," Jethro continued, "was use the surroundings to my advantage since I didn’t have the upper hand anywhere else."

He smirked. "Didn’t you notice that these wall shields aren’t just to stop us from escaping? They also restrict aether from outside from getting in. So your mechbeast had to rely solely on the limited aether in its core and whatever little surrounded us to fuel all those wild, rage-fueled attacks."

"Knowing you would run it down soon, I just had to get you in a position where I could force you to give up." Jethro placed a palm flat on the ground.

"Metal melts fast with the right kind of heat. Lava does the job nicely. But I also noticed that the magic of this battleground makes it repair itself. Fast. Forming my plan was easy. Ragebait you into increasing the intensity of your heat, that way you could melt the ground and burn through your aether quicker. Once you burnt out, you’d be unable to walk out of the melting steel and the arena would trap you when the repair magic kicked in."

Jethro chuckled at his face. "You played into it so well that I think you deserve an Oscar."

Durn grunted, glaring up at him. "Liar! There’s no way a scraphead trash like you came up with that plan! This was all just... all just by circumstance."

Jethro sighed, getting up. "Believe what you want, Xmen, you’re the one in the ground not me."

Durn groaned, trying to pull himself out, but it was utterly impossible. He looked up at Jethro, still defiant. "Even so! I’m not yielding! You can’t win if I don’t yield!"

Jethro pretended to think about it. "That’s true. But how long can you hold out? I can’t win if you don’t yield and you also can’t get out of there if you don’t yield. You’ll need aether to melt the metal again, and your Magmabear needs aether just to survive."

Jethro’s eyes darkened with mischief. "Don’t tell me you’re going to let your mechbeast die from aether starvation just because of your silly pride."

Durn looked at his Cyclops Magmabear, watching the fading glint in its single eye as the mechbeast gently nudged his shoulder. His gaze slowly dropped.

Jethro had expected. Even though mechbeasts were simply ways for some humans to gain honor and respect, there was an inevitable connection forced by the Soul Contract.

Jethro let out a sigh and took out something from his pocket. "Here," he said, holding it up so Durn could see. It was an aether chip. "You can have it. It has 5 units. Should be enough to melt the ground off you and strengthen your mechbeast for a while."

He paused, letting the offer hang in the silent arena. "Yours... if you yield."

Durn stared at the chip, then up at Jethro. "You’re giving it to me?" he rasped.

Jethro nodded. "If... you yield," he added.

Durn’s gaze dropped back to his trapped legs, then to his weakening mechbeast. The entire arena was silent as they watched. Professor Xan’s eyes widened with enthusiasm, waiting for Durn’s response. Eryn watched with creased brows and thin furious lips. Padva observed with a silent expression. Kekius had his hands clasped together in suspense. And Jessamine had a big smile on her face.

"I... yield," Durn muttered tentatively.

A loud electronic blare echoed from the edges of the neon wall, announcing the end of the match. The shield covering the battlesquare vibrated before dissolving back into the ground.

Professor Xan leaped from his chair, arms spread. "And the winner of the match is Jethro Merrick!" His bellow shook the entire arena. "Thirty points to House Faction for his excellent display of cunning, tactical exploitation and battle intelligence!"

Kekius was the only one to clap. "Yes, Jethro! I knew you could do it!"

In the stunned silence that followed, Jethro smoothly slipped the aether chip back into his pocket, causing Durn to look at him with shock and confusion. "What are you doing? We made a deal."

Jethro looked down at him.

"Give me the aether chip!" Durn demanded, struggling.

Jethro raised his brow. "What are you doing?" he asked the spikyhaired boy. "The shield is down which means ambient aether is in the atmosphere again. Your mechbeast will be fine now and you can melt the ground whenever you want."

Durn stared at him, dumbfounded. "What?"

"I only used the aether chip because I knew your desperation wouldn’t let you think straight. You’d yield faster thinking you needed it," Jethro said. "But once you yield, you wouldn’t actually need it anymore because the shield would be gone."

He shook his head. "Seriously, your Magmabear buffed all your stats except the one you actually needed: Intelligence."

He headed to the standing spot where the cylinder light had placed him earlier. "It was a win-win so no need to get mad. You get to get out of the ground and save your mechbeast, and I get to win the match and keep my aether chip. Those things are really expensive."

Durn, still in utter disbelief that he had been deceived, started to feel the aether rushing back through his channels. He heated his arms up, and with a roar of pure rage, melted the steel ground around him. The moment he was free, he didn’t hesitate to go after Jethro.

But the cylinder force came in that moment and swopped the Lizard tamer out of the battleground. The last thing Durn saw was the smug smile on Jethro’s face.

Professor Xan scowled at Durn’s actions. "Attacking an opponent after a match has concluded is a direct disobedience of the sparring rules, Durn Jacob! Minus ten points from Knight Faction!"