Reincarnated In A World Of Mana As A Mechanic-Chapter 32: Unknown Mutated Tree

Ezekiel grit his teeth while forcing himself up, ignoring the piercing pain that assaulted his head. Making such instant decisions while under such an intense amount of stress and fear of the looming danger wasn’t without consequences.

"I swear, it’s like our luck dropped to a negative value the moment we left Pytra City." He murmured before forcing his weary body over to Vera’s side and bringing out a healing elixir from his Dimensional ring. "First it was the mana beasts, then that stupid mercenary, and now, a frigging mana storm. It’s like the world is trying to find quick and easy ways to end my life."

Sighing, he bent down to raise her head upwards before pouring the elixir into her mouth, boosting the recovery of her internal injuries.

(You guys have five more days before the Institute’s entrance exams start.)

The mechanic groaned with exasperation. "You couldn’t wait till my headache disappeared? Worst timing Laura."

He could almost imagine a smile on her holographic face as she chuckled and retorted. (Technically, the worst timing would be while you guys were still dealing with the storm but I held off.)

"I’d personally ask Ez to shut you down if you did." Vahn groaned lightly, not bothering to even take off his Battlesuit as he lay on the ground, too tired to move. Their conversation had been on the main communication frequency line so the siblings weren’t blocked from hearing the AI’s voice.

Yuri hadn’t done much, but the stress and relief of having just escaped a disaster left her body feeling like lead. So she too lay on the ground, even more lazily than her brother in the sense that she hadn’t even instructed her suit to disengage the headgear, leaving her face covered. "I think we shouldn’t bother thinking about any of that until we hit the road again."

(Whatever you guys say.)

A groan from beneath Ezekiel drew his attention. He had been absorbed in the short conversation with his friends that he had left the Mage’s head on his legs, subtly forcing her awake due to the slightly hot sensation meeting her cheeks.

Vera cast a gaze upwards, noting the mechanic’s unique suit before meeting with his eyes. This stare lasted seconds before the latter finally couldn’t handle it anymore and knocked against his leg armor with his suit’s fingers, creating a soft clank sound that rang out. "I’m pretty sure that position isn’t comfortable, if you’re awake, sit up."

"Hmm, what a gentleman." The Mage gave him an amused smile before finally leaving his legs and sitting up straight, her robe making sure to outline her well-developed curves. "I have to thank you for your quick thinking. My men and I are alive because of you."

A collective sound of thanks left the knights’ group after her words, their admiration and respect evident on their expressions as they spoke. All knew that, if not for Ezekiel, their remains would probably be scattered across the plains above them.

The mechanic responded with a silent smile, simply nodding in response. Meanwhile, Anna, having found a way to strike up a conversation with him, crouched beside him before staring in wonder at the internal structure of the tree they sought refuge in and asking with curiosity. "How do you think such a tree came about?"

Ezekiel paused, giving the noble daughter a sidelong glance. Due to his sitting position and her crouching, his gaze was quite literally at the same height of her chest, allowing him to observe the developing figure of the young girl despite the layers of clothes that hindered his gaze.

Had he been a normal teen, his face would have burnt bright red at the sight. But he was, after all, a reincarnated man. Though he did find the sight awesome to look at, he couldn’t help but take another glance at the already bloomed figure that was Vera, subconsciously nodding to himself. ’Hmm mm, the aged ginger is indeed spicier.’

Vera merely raised a brow at his gaze, unbothered by it—after all, as an experienced woman, she could sense that his gaze had no emotion of lust whatsoever, merely admiring the sights around him. Anna, on the other hand, felt her ear burn a bright red as she gazed at the ground, suddenly unable to bring herself to face Ezekiel. Yet she realized that she didn’t seem to be repulsed by his gaze, instead she had already subconsciously pushed her chest forward, as though jealous and conscious of her moderate size compared to the female knight captain.

Ezekiel didn’t notice it, he had already redirected his gaze by that time, thinking to himself that it would be too rude to stare for too long. Though, one could argue that staring at all already counted as rude.

"If I had to guess, this tree is probably situated atop a natural mana gathering point. It mutated after its roots began siphoning mana from the gathering point below it and grew into such a massive size." He stood up and walked towards the tree and knocked on its structure. The crisp sound of metal hitting metal sounded out as his suit made contact with the tree’s inner surface. "Yup, it’s mutated alright. As hard as metal..."

Suddenly, the mechanic’s eyes brightened as he stared at the hard surface. "If I could use such a material for my inventions..."

But of course, such a plan was bound to be fruitless. As a structure which could withstand a mana storm capable of terrorizing all existences below the B tier, such a material couldn’t be cut off or kept by the weak individuals that were in the cave at the moment. Even the strongest of them all, Vera, was incapable of scraping even an inch off the tree bark. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Sighing with regret, he simply stroked the tree. "If I manage to create a laser powerful enough to cut at such a material, I’ll definitely return here. Can’t let such good materials go to waste." Once done with his rueful thoughts, he turned around and gestured to the rested knights. "We should leave while we can. I don’t want some pompous bastard coming in and laying claim on such a treasured location while halfheartedly deciding to kill us all."

Anna blushed with embarrassment upon hearing this. Such a situation was how she and Ezekiel had met after all. Though she had been running away from such an individual.

Anyways, the 14 quickly reorganized themselves and returned to the top of the canyon, luckily avoiding any accidents. The consort set out once more, the horses galloping as fast as they could while approaching the institute.