Chapter 120: Reward

"...Students, I gathered all of you today for something different from a mission or assignment!! Two of you already know what this is about." I say while glaring at Charlotte and Edith as I pull a cart carrying six cases.

"Professor, what’s inside those cases?" Eirwen asks curiously while the others seem to be trying to figure out what’s inside.

"They’re gifts for you, and I’m not the kind of person to do surprises, so they’re weapons. I chose them specifically based on what would help each of you...I’ll start handing them out one by one, so line up." Tanya is the first to run over to me with an arrogant smile on her face.

"Obviously I have to be first!"

"..." Normally, I would send her to the back of the line for being so arrogant, but I don’t want to ruin anyone’s moment, so I decide to let it slide this time.

"Here’s yours. Don’t expect a name or anything like that, it’s a weapon." I open the case containing her weapon.

"This is a miniature nuclear reactor. You attach it to your chest or back, and it will absorb radiation from the environment and heat, which you can then release. It stops before it can overload, so it won’t explode, and even if it’s broken, the radiation and heat won’t simply leak out."

"So you can use this to absorb the leftover heat in the environment after your attacks and use it to enhance your next attack. It’s perfect for someone like you who fights so aggressively. It needs a few adjustments to work properly with your power, but we can do that later." I hand her the object, which is shaped like a ten-centimeter disc.

"You’ll also need an outfit adapted so the reactor can be properly attached to your body. You can put it on your back or chest, although I recommend putting it on your back to protect it more effectively during fights." Tanya takes the weapon with a smile.

"..." She seems extremely excited as she touches the object. I move her aside and look at the next student.

"This is amazing, Professor. Is it a graduation gift?" Eirwen asks, hitting the nail right on the head.

"Yes, it’s an early graduation gift...here’s yours." I open the case containing Eirwen’s "gift."

"It’s a bracelet. It’s a little big, but it will allow you to store things inside spheres to create grenades, which means you can literally make grenades filled with extreme cold. Be careful, the capsules are expensive, and you’ll have to pay for each one. There are already 30 of them in the case, so that gives you 30 uses, and don’t try to use anything else. These capsules are mandatory because they’re capable of withstanding vector powers."

"You can also ask your classmates for help. If Tanya adds heat, you can create heat grenades. It works with other powers of the same type." I hand her the object, which looks like a thick, large bracelet that covers the entire wrist. It has a small sphere inside, and when it’s filled, it expands outward.

"Thank you, Professor Zenith, this is amazing! I can prepare the cold beforehand instead of having to wait for the environment to get cold before I can use my powers." She gives me a grateful smile when I hand her the case before moving on to the next student.

"Rouge..." I pick up Rouge’s case, which contains a very unique weapon designed to work with her power.

"This is your weapon. It’s shaped like a hunting knife, but don’t be fooled. It isn’t a knife, it’s a high-pressure cannon. See...here on the blade are these microtubes connected to a motor and a stabilizer. They’re where you’re supposed to send the air."

"Once the blade is charged with a very high pressure, you should pierce the target with the tip of the blade and pull the trigger. Don’t use this carelessly. The recoil can easily send you flying backward, and the force of the wind released by it could easily tear someone’s body apart, so only use it when necessary or you could hurt yourself." I hand her the knife and case.

"Don’t forget to recharge the motor every day and take it in for maintenance once a month so they can check whether the motor is having any problems." She seems very interested.

"Where do I send the air?"

"Through the handle. There’s a small pin at the bottom. Pull it out, send the air inside, and close the pin again. There’s a manual for each weapon inside the cases, just check them." She gives me a small smile, but her tail is wagging extremely excitedly.

"Ashlyn, you’re next...I’m sorry to tell you this, but your power is...complicated. There isn’t a weapon in the world that focuses on enhancing mental powers, so what I brought you is different." I tried to bring weapons that would help all of them with their powers, but not all of them have powers that can be aided by a weapon.

"For you, what I have is this..." I open the case in front of her, revealing a disassembled rifle.

"This is a rifle. It can hold up to 3 shots, and it isn’t meant to be used in direct combat, but rather in missions where you have to eliminate a target from a distance, like a powerful monster somewhere in the city when you can’t get close."

"You’ll have to buy the bullets. There are only 50 in the case, and each shot is made from a mixture of vectorally reinforced steel, and the bullets can carry specific vector charges. There are electric ones, incendiary rounds, explosive rounds, poisoned rounds...there’s a good variety."

"For now, I only gave you the standard ammunition without any powerful effects. The rifle itself is already far superior to any ordinary rifle, after all, it’s a vector weapon. Later, I can teach you how to shoot it and how to assemble it." I hand her the case after closing it, and she gives me a somewhat shy smile.

"T-Thank you, Professor Zenith." She moves away while hugging the case as Edith approaches with a somewhat lecherous smile.

"So they really were weapons after all. I expected exactly that."

"...Edith, shut up. Here’s yours...obviously, if you’re really going to follow the path I mentioned, you’ll need something like this." If she wants to pursue medicine, I gave her something that would help with that.

I hand her the case, which she carefully opens, revealing a large chemical kit. It’s one of the weapons from the auction. It’s considered a weapon because it already comes with various powerful chemical materials, along with mixing machines and special tubes capable of storing and preserving extremely powerful substances. You can do a lot with this.

"W-Wow...this looks like something worth a fortune..." She’s genuinely impressed.

"Yes, all these weapons are very expensive, so take good care of them." She can’t even hide her smile. It’s a little malicious, but I say nothing as Charlotte approaches to take the last case.

"For you, Charlotte, I found something really good...your power is also something that makes it complicated to have a specific weapon, but I found something that will help a lot." Her case is much smaller than the others.

"...A pistol?" She opens the case with a confused expression, and even seems hurt that her weapon is a pistol.

"It’s not a pistol, it’s something much better. It’s a robot. It has its own integrated AI that you can talk to."

"This AI focuses on performing calculations extremely quickly while taking every environmental variable into account. That means for someone with spatial powers, this ’pistol’ can tell you the exact spatial positioning of everything."

"Which means you can fire not only with perfect accuracy, but you can also shoot into portals, and with the help of this weapon, predict the trajectory of the shot itself with perfect precision, even calculating the ricochet." She looks confused, thinking about what that means until she realizes it.

With this weapon, if she opens several rifts and keeps shooting into them, she can make shots appear from every direction. The shots can ricochet off each other and create trajectories so absurdly unpredictable that almost no one would know how to dodge them.

"The bullets for this robot are normal, so they aren’t that expensive. They’re reinforced vector steel ammunition cartridges with no modifications, so you shouldn’t become too dependent on this weapon, but it will help you. There’s also this monocle here. It’s a sensor, and it will show you the trajectory as lines in the environment."

"That way, you won’t have to try to imagine exactly where the bullets will pass. The sensor itself draws lines that you’ll be able to see through the monocle." I hand her the monocle, which she immediately puts over her eye, the support going behind her ear and securing itself firmly so it won’t fall.

"I think that’s it. I’ve delivered all six of your weapons. You can take the day to study the manuals and test your weapons inside the simulator, just be careful not to break them."

"Since you’re going to use the simulator, just give the data to the simulator so it can create replicas of them. That way, you won’t have to use the real ones and risk breaking them, since you’ll be using the simulation versions." I give them a nod, and they seem satisfied.

"I’m taking the day off today, so don’t call me or ask me anything." I start walking away. I want to rest all day today. I’m still tired from yesterday.

"Professor, before you leave...won’t these weapons make us dependent on them?" Charlotte asks, making me stop.

"...Not if you use them responsibly. They’re tools. Besides, I’d be an idiot to tell you not to depend on equipment. It’s true that equipment can fail and leave you helpless, but as long as it works, you should use it."

"If it helps you become stronger, why avoid it? Only idiots tell people not to depend on equipment." As someone who depends on prosthetics that have failed before, I know exactly what that’s like.

"Besides, there’s a difference between depending on a piece of equipment for everything and using a piece of equipment efficiently. All of you are already strong. A weapon isn’t going to erase your strength." They’re strong with or without weapons. The weapons simply expand the range of possibilities available to them, nothing more.