His Match Is an Interstellar Monster

Chapter 31: Sparring with Landis

As soon as the two returned to the manor, Landis received a military notification and had to dive back into workaholic mode.

With an apologetic look, he kissed Xiao Sa on the cheek, "Sorry, I can't be with you again."

Xiao Sa wasn't dissatisfied. He had never been the type to insist on being glued to his partner all the time. He had his own matters to attend to as well.

Over this period, after foundational theoretical studies and one-on-one coaching from Feng Yu, Xiao Sa felt that he had now basically grasped the mech control system of this world.

Although there were significant differences from his home planet, it had its own distinct characteristics. Now, it was finally time to put his skills as a beginner to the test.

He opened the virtual pod, which he hadn't accessed in a long time, and entered the virtual arena. Since earning 100 points and leaving the novice zone, the system had automatically opened a dedicated live stream room for him.

The ranked matches required a mech pilot certificate, which he couldn't upload for now, but he was eligible to participate in the preliminary round of the Heavenly Ascension Arena's selection tournament.

The preliminary round's format also involved accumulating points. Winning a match earned ten points, and losing did not deduct any points. Consecutive wins would result in double the points. Xiao Sa calculated that a mere ten consecutive wins would be enough for him to advance to the next round.

Seeing that the Black Knight Alpha's live stream room, silent for so long, had suddenly lit up, Bayer, who had been browsing various streams in the virtual pod, exclaimed in excitement.

When the Black Knight became famous after a single battle, Bayer had taken notice. Unfortunately, after the Black Knight had left the novice zone, he hadn't made another appearance. Bayer hadn't expected to finally see him in the selection tournament.

Bayer opened his communicator and messaged his best friends in the group chat, "Guys, quick, go online! The Black Knight Alpha is back! @Kaman, come and see my idol!"

Kaman: "?"

Lately, he had been rigorously guided and motivated by Xiao Sa, transitioning from initial reluctance to now being deeply engrossed. He rarely entered the virtual pod to watch live streams anymore.

"What's with this awkward name, Black Knight? I'm not interested. [Arena Practice Match.jpg]"

"It's the same guy I told you about, the incredibly skilled dark horse who defeated mechs with a pair of gauntlets!"

"You've got to be kidding me."

By the time he entered the Alpha's live stream room, the Black Knight had already been matched with his first opponent.

Kaman took a closer look, grinned, and thought, 'Isn't that Joan on the other side?'

Ever since Kaman had publicly defeated Joan in a match, Joan had kept a low profile for a long time. He had been avoiding Kaman at the academy whenever they crossed paths. Joan had been trying to regain his lost face by beating up newbie noobs in the virtual arena and boosting his score.

After winning a few matches, he finally regained his confidence in the virtual arena, consoling himself that Kaman might have just been lucky and was a level above him. He had only lost because he was careless and underestimated his opponent, which allowed Kaman to turn the tables.

He had never paid attention to Xiao Sa, only vaguely hearing others mention that the guy was famous for defeating mechs with a pair of gauntlets.

Joan dismissed this, thinking it was most likely an exaggeration or even outright cheating. How could a human possibly withstand a mech with their flesh? Even more unlikely, how could a mere C-rank do that?

He had made no attempt to disguise his appearance, not even using an alias; his name was his real one.

Joan's live stream room was very popular. As the eldest son and heir of the Lane family, and an outstanding special recruit of the Capital Mech Academy, it was widely believed that he would smoothly join the military as an officer once he graduated.

The match between the two of them caused the live stream room's popularity to skyrocket, shooting up to the main recommendation page.

Many fans who had watched Xiao Sa's first match were incredibly excited to see whether he would use his gauntlets again and recreate his past glory.

After all, in all his previous matches in the newbie zone, he had never used a mech. Some even suspected that he didn’t know how to operate a mech. Otherwise, why would he have given up using a mech in his first match?

To everyone's disappointment, this time Xiao Sa chose a mini mech that was rarely used in the arena.

This model of mech was only 2.3 meters tall, not much taller than a human. Its biggest feature was that it had no cockpit and could be directly operated by the user's limbs, maximizing their physical techniques and strength. The smaller size also meant lower energy consumption, allocating more resources to power and attack.

When Xiao Sa saw that his opponent was actually Joan, he was surprised at first but couldn’t help laughing.

If it had been someone else, he would have needed to spend time studying the opponent's weaknesses. But since Joan had already exposed his flaws to him, he could skip that step entirely.

Bayer enthusiastically opened a betting thread on the Stellar Network forum: on one side was the emerging dark horse, and on the other was the highly anticipated popular new star. Who would win?

Although Kaman had no idea just how strong Xiao Sa really was, he definitely didn’t want Joan to win, so he voted for Xiao Sa.

The results showed that most people still had more confidence in Joan, who had many accolades. After all, his previous opponent, Vinci, had been undeniably weak.

Meanwhile, in the Mech Academy dormitory, students from Class B were also watching the match. Someone glanced at Feng Yu, who was dozing off, and asked, "Aren't you going to watch Joan's game?"

Feng Yu yawned and quickly scribbled on the experience report in his hand, "I'll be there in a moment."

These past few days, besides attending classes, he had been coaching the students from Class A, those rich, spoiled kids on mech operation training.

He hadn’t found coaching Xiao Sa one-on-one tiring, but now, with an additional 30 people, he felt completely overwhelmed.

But being true to his word, since he had promised Xiao Sa he would help, he had to see it through. This left him so drained every day that he could barely make it back to his dorm to rest.

The match has officially started.

Xiao Sa enters the mech cockpit, and his psychic power instantly covers every neural link port. After familiarizing himself with the control system of this world, he finally regains a sense of familiarity he once had.

Opposite him, Joan is completely unaware of the kind of opponent he’s up against. Following his usual habits, he first flies into the air to increase distance.

He glances at his opponent’s information and secretly laughs, thinking, “You’re unlucky to be up against me.” He has no intention of holding back, as he’s here to take down a novice after all.

Unexpectedly, the opponent’s mini mech doesn’t even perform the usual probing actions. Pushing off with its two feet, a light blue flame shoots up from below, and the mini mech charges forward like a cannonball.

“Obviously a novice, doesn’t even understand basic rules.” Joan shakes his head and slowly maneuvers his mech backward.

He pulls the right-hand joystick, holding an ion cannon in his hand, and begins kiting him by firing shot after shot at his most comfortable distance.

Unexpectedly, the opponent seems able to anticipate, nimbly dodging in the air with a few graceful moves, tracing a brief Z-shape before approaching again.

Xiao Sa increases his speed further by firing two empty shots behind him, propelling himself forward.

Joan wasn’t expecting the Black Knight to make such a move, crashing into him like a reckless brute.

“This is a mech duel, not a fistfight.” The feeling of being disregarded by his opponent leaves Joan both angry and amused.

In the span of a single breath, Alpha accelerates into the attack range.

But instead of using ranged attacks like Joan did, he engages in close combat, directly entangling one of Joan’s feet, preventing him from gaining distance quickly.

Then, he unleashes his most commonly used attack method—a heavyweight fist technique that overwhelms with sheer force.

The humiliating feeling of being countered by Kaman returns.

Joan’s entire mech shakes violently, and inside the cockpit, he feels like all his bones are about to be shattered.

He has no choice but to fire a massive energy blast at Xiao Sa, using a large amount of energy. But unexpectedly, the opponent clamps down on his legs and, with a downward bow, evades the attack at the last moment. Joan’s full-force strike misses completely.

Stunned, before he can make another move, Xiao Sa fires a sinister shot from below, sending Joan’s mech flipping upside down into the air.

Suddenly, Joan feels like he’s on a trampoline, except this time, it’s the “trampoline” that’s bouncing him.

Xiao Sa gives him no chance to breathe, targeting his rear thruster assembly. A terrifyingly fluid combo follows—one punch, two punches, three punches, plus two plasma cannon shots.

Whenever Joan tried to adjust his position to escape the state of floating in the air and counterattack, he would always be hit by Xiao Sa with another shot, sending him floating again for another follow-up attack.

Except for the beginning when he created some distance and fired three consecutive shots, he didn’t manage any effective attacks throughout the entire match, being dominated by his opponent the whole time.

The Alpha seemed to have seen through all his habits, making it even more humiliating than the time he was counterattacked by Kaman.

Furious, Joan finally went all out, risking a mental overload by forcing an increase in his psychic power output, performing several high-difficulty maneuvers that he wasn’t skilled in. Finally, he managed to break free from Xiao Sa's control.

Strangely, this time, the Black Knight didn’t rush to close in on him like in their previous encounter. Instead, he allowed Joan to perform mid-range attacks.

Joan was confused but relieved to find his rhythm in the match again.

He began attacking in his most proficient manner, but to his surprise, the Black Knight started to mimic Joan’s attack patterns, engaging in a sort of turn-based exchange.

An eerie scene unfolded in the center of the arena. The two of them mirrored each other, using the same techniques, the same particle cannons, and even the same dodging angles as Joan.

Joan was so angry he almost spat out a mouthful of blood. He could see that the Black Knight could have beaten him easily but was deliberately toying with him like a cat playing with a mouse.

What he didn’t know was that Xiao Sa had started treating this match as a training session, and Joan, with his certain skill level and resilience, was the perfect sparring partner.

The spectators in the live comments section had a clearer view than Joan:

"If I remember correctly, the last time Alpha didn’t even know how to operate a mech, right? I can’t believe he’s become so skilled in such a short time!"

"After all this time, why haven’t they uncovered Alpha’s true identity yet? Is the Stellar Network’s hacker community even capable?"

"I think the bet on who will win should be changed to how long Joan can hold out."

Joan, who was accustomed to seeing comments praising him, had now become the laughingstock.

His face turned red and pale as he realized that continuing with his usual tactics would be of no use against his opponent.

Suddenly, he changed his entire approach, abandoning long-range attacks and concentrating all his energy in his palm, charging straight at Alpha with everything he had!

"Huh?" Even Xiao Sa was surprised this time. "Switching to close combat to fight me head-on? Bold move."

As Joan entered within three meters of Alpha, he made an extremely deceptive feint—most opponents would be tricked and enter the cannon’s cooling period.

"One hit to decide the outcome." Joan seized this perfect opportunity, aiming his palm laser cannon at Alpha’s throat.

The mini mech is seldom chosen for two reasons: first, the martial arts techniques required are highly difficult; second, the smaller size means lower defensive capabilities. Vulnerable areas such as the throat are still exposed and reveal weaknesses when attacked at close range.

Just as Joan was about to land a full-force strike on Xiao Sa, he suddenly shuddered, his vision went dark, and he was sent flying, spinning 360 degrees in the air and nearly vomiting bile.

"Ah, sorry about that. I accidentally hit a bit too hard."

As an Alpha, his instincts made him extremely sensitive to any close-range attacks within his personal space.

He had only wanted to see what techniques Joan had, but unexpectedly, Joan went straight for his throat. Out of reflex, he threw a full-force punch in return.

Seeing his opponent fall to the ground, the system judge immediately declared Joan the loser, which Xiao Sa found regrettable.

It was rare to find such a resilient opponent, and he had wanted to continue sparring with him to learn his techniques.

Xiao Sa's clean and decisive victory triggered a huge cheer in the live stream's comment section:

"Those who said Alphas can't operate mechs, care to step up?"

"He's so skilled; there's no way he just learned this recently."

"Awesome, now I can finally send gifts. I'm a spiritual backer of Alpha now."

In the group chat, Bayer was heaping frantic praise: "How about that? I told you Alpha was amazing."

With a shiny flagship badge over his head, he smugly boasted: "From now on, I'm the number one supporter of the future champion-to-be."

Kaman sneered: "It's only the preliminary round; maybe Joan is just too weak."

Bayer retorted: "If he were that weak, why did he beat you so badly that day?"

Kaman's face turned red: "Shut up. Next time I face him, I'll beat him to a pulp."

He thought to himself, let them keep boasting. None of you have seen just how strong Xiao Sa really is.

Meanwhile, the dorms in Class B were in an uproar.

"What happened with Joan? He lost so badly. Where did this Black Knight Alpha come from? Is he also a military academy student?"

"Feng Yu, do you think you could defeat him?"

Feng Yu shook his head: "Joan shouldn't be that weak, but this opponent is very strange. He was able to instantly discern Joan's weakness. He is likely a very formidable and cunning veteran. I wonder why he was unknown before. Maybe he created a smurf account."

As everyone was discussing the live stream of Alpha's match, Xiao Sa had already withdrawn from the competition and started his second match.

The opponents in the next few matches were unremarkable participants joining in for fun, allowing him to secure ten consecutive wins and advance to the next round.

After Xiao Sa exited the preliminary round, he found a large number of private messages waiting for him in his inbox, with a bright red 99+ indicator. When he opened them, even the usually smooth mental connection lagged for a moment.

He quickly scanned through them: there were congratulatory messages, expressions of admiration, gifts, and even people offering to become his disciples. Some even inquired if he was available for a blind date.

Xiao Sa: "..." What the hell!

The last few specially marked messages were invitations from military academies.

Xiao Sa ignored the messy private messages and carefully reviewed the invitations from the military academies. Unfortunately, he couldn't find the information he was looking for, so he rejected them one by one.

The next day.

When Xiao Sa arrived at the school and made his way to the classroom, people around him were discussing the match about him and Joan from the previous night.

This Alpha, who had defeated the special enrollee, unexpectedly gained a bunch of military academy student fans.

Even the students in his own class were excitedly discussing the match, especially the debate between Kaman and Bayer, who were arguing about whether Alpha or Xiao Sa was stronger.

Xiao Sa immediately had a perplexed expression. He didn't know who was stronger between himself and his smurf account either.

As soon as Bayer saw him, he hurriedly approached and asked, "Xiao Sa, did you watch the match last night? Joan was beaten up badly by Alpha. He didn't dare come to school today. Just now, someone from Class B didn't dare greet us."

Xiao Sa casually replied, "Yes, I watched it. It was mediocre."

After all, he was participating with the mindset of learning and practice. He was well aware of his opponent's weaknesses. It was a one-sided match against a Grade A opponent, so it wasn't particularly exciting.

Bayer, anxious, immediately took out his light brain and played a three-dimensional action projection. It was the moment the Black Knight knocked out Joan with that punch, edited into a short video compilation of highlights that he had been watching repeatedly.

"Where was the 'mediocre'? Look how handsome my godfather is."

Xiao Sa: "..."

He silently looked at Bayer. Does your father at home know that you're casually calling someone else your godfather outside?

Xiao Sa saw the short video Bayer recorded and pondered. Watching video replays was a quick way to improve his strength.

※※※

In the evening, after he got home, he immediately went into the entertainment room and opened the virtual pod.

This time, he didn't begin the next round of the competition. Instead, he retrieved the automatically recorded video from yesterday and studied it repeatedly.

Not finding him in the bedroom, Landis came to the entertainment room and found Xiao Sa engrossed in watching the video.

“What are you watching?”

Xiao Sa exited the virtual pod, and to avoid revealing his main perspective, he gave him a look at the recorded video copied from Bayer. “Here, the top trending match video from today's virtual arena.”

As an S-rank expert, Landis certainly had far superior insight and expertise compared to the military academy students.

Xiao Sa asked, “What do you think?”

His eyes narrowed; he had seen this Alpha Black Knight before. It was the same person who fought Vinci·Lott at the Lot family’s research experiment base.

He was an expert in combat skills and strength, and Landis himself had once been interested in challenging him.

But he couldn’t understand why his partner would enjoy watching this individual. Was he not as good as this person?

Thinking of this, Landis raised his eyebrows slightly, mildly displeased.

Landis calmly replied, “His martial skills are quite good.”

But as he continued to watch until the end of the video, a line of small text with hearts popped up in the lower right corner — “Cyber Godfather’s Highlight Video Clips.”

Landis right away frowned, “Why are you watching this?”

Xiao Sa naturally replied, “For study!”

Landis took a deep breath and patiently said, “If you want to learn, you should ask me. Their mecha techniques are just ordinary military academy student level.”

What cyber godfather? He didn't understand why Xiao Sa had this particular interest. Was there anything he couldn’t provide Xiao Sa with?

Haino quietly whispered in Xiao Sa’s ear, “Your mate really has a sharp eye.”

Cadet Xiao Sa said nothing.

"But you're so occupied with work, I don't want to disturb you."

Landis said calmly, "I have time right now."

Xiao Sa's eyes lit up. Ever since he saw the video of Landis in the ranked match, he had long been eager to spar with Landis and experience the highest level in this star system. He couldn't pass up such a good opportunity.

The two of them headed to the manor's private mech training ground, a standalone building situated behind the main complex. It was the size of two basketball courts and equipped with state-of-the-art facilities.

The showroom was filled with various types of mechs that Landis had collected over the years.

Xiao Sa whistled as he saw many limited editions on display.

To avoid having an advantage over Xiao Sa, Landis chose two identical C-class mechs for them.

Xiao Sa asked, "C-class mech won't restrict your true abilities, will it?"

Landis gently patted his gray mech and offered a slight smile, "It's sufficient."

Xiao Sa knew Landis was deliberately letting him up, but he wasn't upset. However, he was more eager to see Landis fully unleash his potential.

He remembered their first encounter on a warship, where he had fought Landis.

At that time, Landis in his berserk state wasn't his equal, but he hadn't used the Black Flame ability at its full potential either.

They each climbed into their mechs. Since this was just a sparring match, neither equipped high-lethality weapons.

Landis' mech moved fluidly, without any flashy actions, in stark contrast to both Joan's and Vinci's styles.

Most of the time, he relied on a steady defense, minimizing movement and energy consumption in pursuit of maximum attack and control.

Seated in the cockpit, Xiao Sa focused on observing Landis' mech.

He could clearly feel that Landis had lowered his mental frequency to a C-class level, yet even so, he experienced an unprecedented level of pressure.

His opponent was like a cautious and patient hunter, balancing between movement and stillness. It was difficult to predict Landis' moves.

Even though Landis primarily focused on defense, he steadily held his ground against Xiao Sa's fierce attacks, remaining unmoving and unyielding.

"Your foundational training is going very well," came Landis' voice through the chat channel, processed through electronic modulation. "Considering you've only been learning for such a short time, the fact that you can perform so many complex movements in such a short time truly surprises me."

Landis couldn't help but display a look of admiration. If every new recruit the imperial military enlisted each year had Xiao Sa's learning ability, the empire would have likely eradicated the aliens long ago.

Of course, he kept this thought to himself. He was afraid that Xiao Sa might actually become interested in going to the battlefield, which would be problematic.

Xiao Sa scoffed, speaking lazily, "There's more to come that will surprise you."

In order to avoid revealing his true psychic power level, he also reduced his frequency to a C-level.

Since Landis didn't make a move, Xiao Sa would keep attacking until he did, just like how he dealt with Joan.

But Landis was not someone to be underestimated. Instead of rushing to put distance between them, he casually drew a particle energy dagger from his waist, making a casual yet precise s***h that intercepted Xiao Sa's attack route.

In an instant, Xiao Sa retracted his fist just in time to avoid having the joint of his mech's little finger cut off by Landis.

Soon, the two had been sparring intensely for some time, and the entire training ground echoed with the dull thud of metal clashing.

Landis still rarely initiated attacks, but his defense remained impenetrable.

Xiao Sa's eyes gleamed with excitement. He had to admit that Landis' mastery, understanding, and proficiency in mech systems and techniques far exceeded his own.

A scorching excitement surged in his chest, and adrenaline triggered an exhilarating sensation.

An Alpha was born to fight, and it was only truly exhilarating to duel with such a powerful opponent. He couldn't wait to envision the future, where he would pin Landis down, forcing him to surrender and admit defeat.

That would give him an even greater sense of conquest than marking him in bed.

Xiao Sa maintained his aggressive stance, firmly seizing the initiative with each attack.

"Landis, is that all you've got? Show me more."

It seemed his partner was underestimating him now… Landis let out a deep chuckle.

His eyes flickered, and the long-absent black lion suddenly materialized in mid-air.

Xiao Sa immediately voiced his dissatisfaction. "Hey, are you really going to bully a disabled person? A two-on-one? You know I don't have a mental body."

Landis smiled and said, "Let me show you the true usage of a mental entity on the battlefield."

"Oh?" Xiao Sa narrowed his eyes, but rather than attacking like other mental entities, the Black Flame did not release its exclusive ability. It simply landed on the shoulder of a gray mech opposite him.

Xiao Sa sensed something was amiss and immediately expanded his mental domain.

His pupils suddenly dilated. In his perception, the Black Flame had transformed from a tangible manifestation into a pure and special psychic energy, tightly wrapping around the entire gray mech, merging with it as a single entity.

The frigid metal exterior of the gray mech had completely changed. It was now surrounded by a mass of black flames, and the eerie black fire, flickering like living tongues, caused the surrounding air to burn.

Its speed suddenly increased dramatically, charging towards Xiao Sa so fast that it became nearly impossible to track. It left only a series of afterimages in the air.

With Xiao Sa's psychic power, he could clearly see the opponent's attack path, but his mech was unable to withstand the mental frequency of the other.

Relying on instinctive reflexes, Xiao Sa suddenly found his movements weren't as smooth. In the brief moment of hesitation, a particle energy blade burning with black flames slashed towards his face!

Xiao Sa's expression turned serious as he dodged the strike at top speed, the black flame particle blade grazing past his mech's metal shell, sharp and cold.

Through the mech, Xiao Sa could even feel the burning pain of the intense flames and the acrid smell of scorched air.