Reincarnated In A World Of Mana As A Mechanic-Chapter 48: Mid-Term Trials
Two months seemed to pass in the blink of an eye to the training-and-research-invested Ezekiel. He couldn’t count how many times he had fainted from overwork. Worse still were the dark circles beneath his eyes that had permanently marked his face as their home. From this anybody could infer that he hadn’t gotten much sleep in the past months.
The mechanic sat hunched over his workbench in the apartment’s workshop section of the training room, tools scattered around him as he made minute adjustments to what appeared to be the internal system of his Windchaser boots.
With a prod, multiple whirs emanated from the gears and components of the boot while an amethyst light flowed through the energy unit of the boot, reflecting against Ezekiel’s face. A wave of that amethyst light seemed to spread out from the unit before enveloping the entire machine and seeping into its material. "Laura, how is it?"
His AI companion’s voice carried a hint of pride and satisfaction as she spoke after analyzing the equipment before her. "You managed to do it, Ez. You got a bit of help from the system but you managed to perfectly emulate the mana flow within the formation systems of the magical constructs."
The mechanic revealed a weary but proud smile as he heard those words. "The best part is that anybody can use it. It’s like applying the concepts of magical constructs to forged armor, I’m pretty sure Professor Frasier would have my head for this." He shifted his position on his chair, leaning backwards while a tired sigh left his lips as his eyes caught sight of the red number glowing on a thin watch strapped to his wrist.
-5000
The sight of that outrageous number brought a slight headache to Ezekiel’s already exhausted mind. Yes. In the midst of his insane research spree, he had managed to accrue that much debt, reaching the maximum loan limit allowed by the Institute.
Worst of all, he had to pay back that ridiculous amount by the end of the month, which was about 26 days away. Else he would be part of the few students that were kicked out of the institution even after admission.
He groaned just thinking about the matter that sought to drown him with worry. The debt had accumulated gradually. Advanced materials for his workshop, blueprints for his research projects, extended training room sessions to improve his combat instincts without Laura’s assistance, metals and ores, as well as other materials, that were used to substitute the weaker components of his Battlesuits and other gadgets, and specialized knowledge on the concepts of mana flow. Each expenditure had seemed reasonable at the time, but they’d added up faster than he’d anticipated.
"I really should have taken some of those easier missions Vahn and Yuri keep suggesting." He muttered, regret seeping into his tone. "At least, if I had, my debt wouldn’t be this much at the moment."
Suddenly, his hearing caught the sound of his workshop door opening, and familiar voices echoed from the training room directly connected to it. Ezekiel quickly wiped away his sorry expression, displaying a smile as he turned to see Vahn and Yuri entering the workshop, both looking significantly more confident and capable than they had two months ago.
"Still buried in your mad scientist cave, I see." Yuri teased, though her expression showed genuine concern as she took in his haggard appearance. "When’s the last time you actually left this place?"
"I left yesterday for Advanced Runic Theory." Ezekiel protested weakly.
"Classes don’t count." Vahn said firmly. "Honestly, it’s really annoying that we can’t transfer our points to friends in the institute."
"If that was allowed, a lot of people would be bullied into transferring all their points to opponents stronger than they are. Plus, out there, in the real world, you can’t expect people to help you pay for your needs just because you don’t have any way to earn money. The institute is simply readying us for the future." The mechanic released a rueful chuckle. "You guys have already helped me enough by buying some spare materials that I couldn’t gain using your own institute points. I’ll find a way to pay the debt, don’t worry about me. How was your mission? I might need you guys to teach me a bit of your experience since I now have no other choice but to go mission hunting now."
"Of course!" Yuri’s eyes lit up with the particular gleam when she heard his words. "We took a goods transport mission, but the route taken was a bit dangerous. You should have seen Vahn’s improvement with his Life magic. A lot of the students who took the mission along with us are grateful to him due to his timely saves."
Vahn waved his hands dismissively while an embarrassed smile appeared on his face. "It wasn’t all so great. I’m not used to healing a large amount of people so I wasted quite a large amount of mana. Plus, your Death magic helped a lot, didn’t it? Our weapons wouldn’t have been able to pierce most of the Mana beasts’ defenses if not for your curse spells."
Clearly, the siblings had grown in both power and confidence over the past two months. Their movements were more assured, their magical auras more stable and controlled. Their attacks and successive actions now had the air of experienced Mages.
Before Ezekiel could respond to their adventures, all three of their communication watches chimed simultaneously with an official institute notification, bringing up a holographic display that materialized the seal of the Institute’s Administrative Council.
"Attention all students." the recorded message began, the voice belonging to Headmaster Dane himself. "The Institute will be conducting its annual Rank Reallocation Trials beginning in two weeks. These trials serve to ensure that student rankings accurately reflect current capabilities and potential. Rankings will be completely reassessed based on trial performance. Students who perform exceptionally may receive significant rank improvements and associated benefits. Those who perform poorly may find themselves reassigned to lower tiers with reduced privileges."
The display shifted to show detailed information about the trials. The Student rankings from that point on would be divided into the Combat and Non-Combat sections. Students uninterested with battle would have to register into the Non-Combat trials which would be composed of a series of intellectual and mana related tests.
The Combat trials were as termed. It would be a battle among the students who registered.
Reading through the rules, Ezekiel had already inwardly decided to register into the Combat trials. As an Awakened who wasn’t actually a Forger, he would only be shooting himself in the foot if he decided to register in the Non-Combat trials. After all, besides the few Forging related principles he knew of, he was quite ignorant of the Class’ actual knowledge. His understanding of forging was limited to the blueprints he had bought and those converted by the System.
Vahn and Yuri also revealed thoughtful expressions as they read the rules that had to be abided by. The former revealed a troubled smile. "Enchanted equipment and elixirs are allowed in the tournament, we’ll have to buy some as well so we don’t lose our advantage while battling."
Ezekiel’s eyes suddenly widened, as though his friend’s words were a clap of thunder reverberating deep into his ear. "That’s it!"
He suddenly threw his head back while a loud laughter left his lips, joy and relief evident on his face. Vahn and his sister glanced at each other with worried and confused expressions on theirs, inwardly wondering if their close friend had finally lost it. The boy had even begun circulating his mana in an attempt to heal the mechanic.
The latter responded by patting his friend’s shoulder with a bright smile before explaining. "Don’t worry, I’m fine. A brilliant way out of my debt just revealed itself to me!"
"And that is?"
"Selling my mechanical equipment!"
"Haven’t you already seen how rarely unknown Forgers sell any of their equipment? Most students would rather buy from the institute itself or senior Forgers despite the fact that it’s more expensive. Even if you do, it won’t be enough to get rid of the debt." A bit of uncertainty welled up within Vahn’s tone as he spoke but he soon paused before staring deeply at his friend. "How do you want to do it?" 𝐟𝕣𝕖𝐞𝐰𝕖𝚋𝐧𝗼𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝗰𝐨𝐦
The mechanic laughed again before waving his hands and summoning three items from his Dimensional ring; a gun, a gauntlet and a pair of boots. "There’s a keyword in your words just now. And that’s ’unknown’. The reason why students would rather buy from the institute or our seniors is because those items have been tested and can be trusted. And what better way to advertise the authenticity of my inventions than the Combat trials themselves!
"Once I dominate all the matches with my inventions, the students will no doubt rush at me in a bid to buy them off my hands. My debt would be cleared in no time!"
The two paused, nodding slightly as Ezekiel’s words did make sense. It was a gamble, but one made based on his own strength. And the mechanic was quite strong. Even if he had focused a lot on his research, it didn’t mean that he hadn’t dedicated time to his actual training. In fact, his fatigue was caused mostly because he would refuse to sleep and dedicate his resting time to training instead.
Thinking of this, Ezekiel clenched and unclenched his fists, his lips curling to reveal a confident smile as he looked down at the mana created holographic board. It was time to reveal to the world the uniqueness of the Mechanic class!
