[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 78: Walker

Leemar-2 hosted four different educational institutions, all of whom occupied one of the four major continents of the planet. The Leemar Institute of Technology, or LIT, took up the eastern archipelago dotted with thousands of islands of varying size. Its renowned faculties occupied the major islands, with the Mech Development Faculty taking up the crown jewel at the center.

After riding an ordinary shuttle to the eastern archipelago's spaceport, Ves and Dietrich looked around with wide eyes. The amount of wealth and technology on display staggered the two natives from the Bright Republic. They had never come face to face with this level of extravagance.

First of all, almost half of the people in the spaceport flew in the air. Their feet never touched the ground as tiny anti gravity modules embedded in their clothes lifted them up and brought them to their destinations with just a moment's thoughts. If Ves didn't know any better, he'd mistake them for celestial fairies.

The people weren't the only ones who hovered above the ground. The immense spaceport featured an open design many floating plans and buildings, many of which offered expensive services reminiscent of those offered by the Torch of the Vanguard. Only with an abundant pocketbook could someone enjoy the plentiful services of these exclusive stores and clubs.

However, not everyone was capable of flying. Those with less extravagant clothing merely walked around with their own two foot, limiting themselves to the cheaper stores at the ground floor. Only a few workers using anti-gravity platforms or small vehicles could hope to reach the floating structures.

"Man, it doesn't look very special in the drama's, but seeing it with your own eyes is something else." Dietrich whistled as he envied those wealthy second-rate citizens floating in the air. "What's the price of a set of antigrav clothes?"

Ves opened his comm and searched the galactic net. "The cheapest set is around ten thousand cols, or about one million bright credits."

And that only referred to a single outfit. A well-off citizen of the Friday Coalition owned dozens of outfits at the very least. Only the immense wealth of the state ensured that most of its citizens possessed the luxury to squander so much money on high-tech clothing. As expensive products, the clothes also offered other systems such as temperature regulation and vacuum sealing.

"I can't afford an outfit, but what about you Ves?"

He shook his head. "I'm not going to play this game. If I buy one outfit, I can't keep wearing it each day, or I'll become a laughing stock. It's better to stick to our third-rate identities and keep our expenses minimal."

Dietrich looked uncomfortable as a pair of elite Coalition citizens passed them by from above their heads. "They're already thumbing their noses at us like we're a pair of blood-sucking leeches. We're just another bunch of economic refugees them like the rest of the walkers here."

That was how the people of the Coalition called the people who left their homes from their third-rate states. The so-called 'walkers' could never in a thousand years afford a set of antigrav clothes. They were consigned to a life of walking with their feet and buying from the cheapest stores.

"If I have to make a choice between money or dignity, I'll choose the former every time." Ves declared. After all, he already sullied his career by selling a mech with a codpiece, so how much lower could he go? "I'm certain it won't matter much when it comes to catching the eye of a master. They shouldn't care too much about a mech designer's background, or else they won't call it an open competition."

Ves had studied the patterns from the previous times the LIT conducted the open competition. While the masters presiding over the events mostly took in mech designers who came from elsewhere in the Coalition, they sometimes shocked the crowd by taking in a pupil from a third-rate state.