Reincarnated In A World Of Mana As A Mechanic-Chapter 43: Perverted Blueprint Prices

The next morning Ezekiel, Vahn and Yuri donned their uniforms which featured a blend of blue and white with a cross designed on its chest region, by the top right of the cross there was a single star, indicating their positions as first year students.

They then separated after a quick goodbye due to the fact that their schedules were nowhere the same, besides the compulsory Combat class and the Wilderness Survival class they had all chosen.

The mechanic was able to find the location of his first class, the Magical Construct Theory, relatively quickly due to the map on the handed out brochure. A sense of excitement and anticipation couldn’t help but rise within him as he observed the tall factory-like building before him, with smoke escaping the multiple vents at the top of the structure.

Taking a deep breath, he reigned in his chaotic thoughts and moved into the building. The moment he did though, a chaotic symphony of metal striking metal, the powerful booms of a large golem’s foot striking against the floor and much more struck his ear.

Ezekiel paused, taking a moment to gather himself before noticing that the scene before was basically a large conjoined garage filled with multiple Forgers that busied themselves with their creations, either fixing together construct pieces, smashing their hammers against pieces of ores before them or welding various sizes of metal together.

The mechanic couldn’t help but admire the multiple figures before him, as while he had Laura to help with his precise creation of his machines, they relied on sheer experience, one he hadn’t accumulated yet.

"You a newbie?!"

A large yell brought Ezekiel back to reality, attracting his attention to the closest Forging station to him. The male behind the anvil who had called out for him gestured towards him before pointing at the stairs at the end of the large work hall. "Head to the first floor! First room to the right!"

The student ignored Ezekiel after that, having already delivered the needed instruction, instead focusing back on the piece of metal below him in the crude shape of a saber. His large muscles coiled powerfully as he smashed his hammer down, the force of his strike causing the air to tremble.

’Well, I’ll be damned.’ Ezekiel could only mutter quietly, casting one last gaze at the multiple Forgers before heading to the stairs and moving upwards.

Upon locating the room described by the previous student, Ezekiel didn’t hesitate to walk in and the moment he did so, he was stunned to find out that none of the noise from the floor beneath him could be heard, as though he had walked into a different world.

Surprised, he glanced back at the still opened door behind him, inwardly wondering what concepts defined whatever was responsible for the silencing feature the room possessed.

There weren’t many students in the room, after all, not many people awakened Forger classes. Brawlers were the mainstream in Velmora, though most of them rarely ever awakened with Talents.

"All of you are here now, so we shall begin." The man at the front of the class spoke immediately the last student to walk in took his seat. He was dressed in a long white robe with the former instructor garb beneath it, his brown hair disheveled and scattered about while his eyes portrayed a flaming passion as he stared at the students. "My name is Aldric Frasier and I shall be your professor guiding you on the theories concerning Magical constructs. As you can see by my attire, although I am a forger, I followed down the path of being a researcher. It’s my job to keep on churning out top quality blueprints that can allow our views on constructs to evolve!

"Do not view magical constructs as weak just because they do not possess power surpassing that of D rank! These machines are the future of our kingdom! If their shell-life can be increased, constructs can easily replace the need to send our warriors out to war. They could become all-purpose items that could allow our kingdom to reign supreme for years to come!"

Aldric’s face almost burnt red as he spoke out, his voice rising steadily while the flame in his eyes seemed to burn even brighter than before. "Who can tell me the difference between Magical constructs and Enchanted equipment."

"A magical construct incorporates autonomous decision-making spirit cores and self-sustaining mana circulation systems, while enchanted items are essentially magical tools that require external activation of its users."

A quick witted student was quick to raise his hands to speak, his voice laced with confidence.

"Exactly! Five institute points for this brilliant young man!" Aldric smiled wildly before infusing his mana into an item by his table. "The emphasis on the young boy’s explanation is activation! Activation! A construct can make decisions on its own, you just need to give it the necessary commands and leave the rest to it while Enchanted equipments still need their owner’s guidance.

"It’s a machine, it won’t get tired like the human body does. No matter how powerful an Awakened is, he or she will sooner or later lose their efficiency even if they have mana to spare. Even better, you don’t need to waste resources in training warriors. Want a Brawler with the capabilities of a tank? Just buy some metal for a construct and inlay it with the Force Mitigation system powered by a mana array.

"Want an aerial bombardment styled Mage? Just build a construct with a miniaturized mana cannon system. Even better is that nobody has to guard such a construct, if it dies under enemy fire just build another one!

"Unlike golems that suck in monstrous amounts of mana due to a heavier dependence on mana runes and array formations, constructs are much smaller and depend more on the structure than simply fortifying the metal with runes and the like! The power of constructs is in its numerous amount of systems and blueprints that can be synthesized into it!"

What followed was an hour of the most intensely fascinating and simultaneously mind-numbing technical discussion Ezekiel had ever experienced. Aldric Frasier had a gift for making incredibly complex concepts sound simple while simultaneously revealing layers of complexity that made Ezekiel’s brain hurt.

The mechanic was genuinely surprised the middle aged man hadn’t begun replacing parts of his body with metal. He possessed the same zeal cybernetic humans in his old world burned with.

Needless to say, Ezekiel was looking forward to the next class and had no regret having paid for the class—such a payment which, thankfully, lasted their entire semester.

As for the blueprints the professor mentioned? The mechanic could bet the last bits of his emptying wallet that they would all cost institution points. He had already accepted that there was simply nothing free in the entire institution.

Once the class was over, Ezekiel immediately headed over to the resource section of the facility, aiming to check the prices of blueprints from the staff. The results almost made him faint.

Even the most basic sword creation blueprint cost about 100 institute points. The blueprints that he needed regarding the completion of his Battlesuits ranged from about 1000 to 4000 points. Even the Force Mitigation system mentioned by Professor Aldric alone was at the price of 1500 institute points!

That was more than his entire monthly allowance! And what was worse was that he would need much more. Like the Temperature Balance system for example, which would serve to reduce his suit’s overheating problems when he stressed it.

Not to mention that, he would still have to convert the blueprints into those usable by his Psionic energy, after all, they were invented based on mana. He would have to recalibrate it.

That meant a sizable chunk of his Exp would have to be sacrificed before he could gain the ability to even incorporate the blueprints into his suit’s designs. Which also meant he would have to go out on excursions to gain more Exp and also try to level up.

’If I wish to complete the design on my Battlesuit, I will need about 8,000 points.’ The mechanic, back at his dorm, slumped onto his couch, his face marred with a downcast expression. ’And that’s not including the cost for setting up a proper workshop or buying the metals needed to make my machines!’

(You also have to buy the materials needed to re-craft the Battlesuits you know.) A hint of pity seeped into Laura’s tone as she spoke.

’I don’t even want to think about it anymore. The prices are just way too fucking perverted in this institute.’ Ezekiel’s sighs echoed in the empty apartment floor. Vahn and Yuri weren’t around, after all, they had more classes than he did and would be much more busy.

Noting the time, he quickly got up to take a shower before leaving the apartment and heading towards his next class. He could only hope the Wilderness Survival class would be able to allow him to forget all about his troubles.