Chapter 100: Limitations and Possibilities

"Amusing..." Instructor Oileren said as he and Declan stood at the far end of the Mech Module lab, where a holograph containing images hovered between them.

Declan had decided to buy a holographer to get a better presentation of his designs before showing them to the instructor.

As the instructor dragged his hands through the air, moving from one holograph to another, he spent about an hour simply browsing through each one, though there were not more than five.

Although Declan had designed ten, he had only decided to show five to the instructor to hear his initial verdict.

And he seemed to be taking it seriously, as sometimes his eyes would narrow, sometimes he would loudly scoff, and at other times, he would prance about, examining the holographic designs from every angle before pausing to nod slowly or shake his head.

Through it all, Declan remained silent, allowing the instructor to carry on with his examination.

After about an hour and thirty minutes of silent examination, Instructor Oileren finally turned to Declan with a sigh.

"You know, I should have given you a suspension credit due to your absence, costing you about 200 points in punishment."

Declan smiled wryly.

"But looking at these designs... I am completely blown away. Since when have you been at this?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his eyes.

"Since I was in the Newcomers, I think," Declan replied, and the instructor nodded.

"To think it took just three months to come up with this is still quite the genius. Very few people your age are thinking about this," he said.

But then, the glow in his eyes dimmed.

"But many of these have great challenges, some so large that they make the creation simply impossible."

Declan’s heart sank, though he didn’t show it.

He had expected refusal as usual, but hearing that some were absolutely impossible still sent his heart into a frenzy.

"Let’s start with the impossibility," Instructor Oileren said, and in the next moment, he spread his hands high into the air.

With that motion, the holographic designs enlarged, managing to catch the attention of some students in the booth, though most still kept to the instructor’s words as they continued their own creations.

"You labeled this as the Gravity-Pull Anchor Mech," he said, and both of them looked at the Mech holograph in the air.

It was a miniature Mech with six articulated limbs like those of a spider.

Around its base, faint holographic lines flickered, wrapping around the space as if attempting to exert a force field over the area it occupied.

"What did you plan to have it do?" Instructor Oileren asked, turning to Declan.

"Its main function is to manipulate local gravity," Declan explained. "It can slow or pin an Ember in place for a strike, mostly to give the Ember Buster an opening."

Instructor Oileren leaned closer, his hand tracing the energy lines with his fingers.

"Indeed, a reasonable idea, but... you can’t just manipulate gravity in a handheld Mech, Declan."

"Gravity isn’t something you can just switch on and off."

"What are the limits to its success?" Declan asked, and the professor explained further.

"To create a field strong enough to immobilize even the most average Ember, the three-meter ones, you’d need..."

At this point, he waved his hand around as if to encompass the impossible.

"An ULTRA MASSIVE amount of energy!" he said, emphasizing the "ultra massive" part.

"While that amount of energy is indeed possible in this time, it is also destructive enough to fully melt circuits, buckle structural supports, and collapse floors."

"There’s no way you’re going to hold that much power in a frame as tiny as that."

"You’ll need a mini-tank at least, and a mini-tank isn’t something you can wield around in your pocket like this design shows."

Declan’s brows furrowed.

It was reasonable.

The Gravity-Pull Anchor Mech was intended to move and function like mini-spiders.

They could crawl onto an Ember and then deploy, creating a downward gravitational force strong enough to flatten it against the ground, rendering it immobilized and giving him an easy opening.

It was a solid idea, but a large amount of energy would indeed be needed to manipulate gravity, and that much energy couldn’t be held in a spider-sized frame.

The instructor’s concerns were indeed reasonable.

"I understand," Declan said, and Instructor Oileren nodded.

"Good. Now, to the next impossibility," he said, swiping his hands across the holograph, and another Mech design appeared.

The choice of the next one made Declan’s heart pound.

This was one of the more important ones, yet it had been placed second on the list of impossibilities.

"The Adaptive Energy Shield Mech," Instructor Oileren whispered, looking at the Mech holograph.

It was a swarm of nanobots that constantly reshaped themselves, shifting from a shield back into a swarm, then reforming into a shield in a completely different shape.

Some shield forms were erect, some circular, some solid, and some liquid.

"Let me guess," Instructor Oileren said. "You plan to create morphing shields born from nanobots that can quickly react to attacks?"

He asked, and Declan nodded.

"That is true."

"Judging from the other Mechs you’ve provided, I’m sure it can’t be that simple."

"Tell me what you really plan for this, Declan..."

Instructor Oileren said, and Declan replied:

"The Adaptive Energy Shield is a nano-morphing shield that automatically reshapes and redistributes force to block physical strikes and Arcana attacks from Ember."

"They can absorb and redirect energy or stiffen at points of impact."

"Essentially a dynamic armor that responds to threats in real time, right?" Instructor Oileren finished, and Declan nodded.

"It’s indeed a creative idea, but... this won’t work."

"The first limit is the material limitations."

"While we indeed have materials that can instantly change shape and state, this tech will need materials that not only change shape and state but also change density in response to incoming forces."

"I don’t think we have such metals yet, and even if we do have metals that can flex or composite materials that can deform, having them react to the speed of an Ember strike is physically impossible."

"The metals we use to craft shields that can block Ember attacks are the hardest metals we’ve got, and none of them have the property of morphing."

He explained, and Declan’s brow furrowed.

"The second limit is the energy demands," he continued.

"Even if such a theoretical material existed, remember that the shield isn’t just blocking."

"It’s morphing, absorbing kinetic force, redistributing it, and even countering Arcana!"

"The real-world circuits and power systems of that shield would overload instantly, and the energy required to stiffen, bend, and repel attacks on the fly would melt the Mech before it could block a single punch."

He explained further, and Declan slowly nodded.

Things were indeed becoming difficult with the introduction of those limitations.

He’d need a material that could not only block attacks but also withstand Arcana powers.

That alone would be rare and expensive.

But even if he managed to get one, would it be able to morph and adapt smoothly, absorb energy without interference, and still continue morphing after taking that energy in?

That would be extremely difficult to find, rendering it almost impossible.

"Those two are the only impossibilities to me. The rest are achievable," he said, and a hopeful light returned to Declan’s eyes.

"Though if you manage to pull them off, I will pull down my hat for you, and trust me, I haven’t done that in a long time."

He said, and the light in Declan’s eyes quickly dimmed.

Instructor Oileren laughed out loud.

"Let’s start with the one I find most interesting. This one actually interests me the most..."

He said, wiping the holographic image.

The projection shifted, the air around it vibrating with quiet energy as the Ember Buster emerged in full scale.

The image was so grand that every student in the booth froze, lifting their eyes to the towering projection in pure awe.

And it wasn’t just them. Even Instructor Oileren was lost for words.

"It’s... It’s truly an Ember Buster."

It was unlike any Mech he had ever seen, a towering monstrosity of reinforced alloys and glowing energy conduits standing nearly ten meters tall, taller than the tallest Ember.

But it wasn’t just its size that made it awe-inspiring.

Six massive, articulated arms radiated from its frame, all extending from its shoulders.

Two of the arms ended in reinforced fists, seemingly capable of crushing bones asunder.

Two more, the middle pair, ended in grappling claws, while the last two, which were longer, weren’t arms but full-on bomb nozzles as large as those used on army tanks.

The type that bursts out shells!

It was the perfect destruction weapon against an Ember, designed not just to match them but to dominate them.

And indeed, it was the Number 1 Major Mech Declan had designed, and looking at it now through the holographic projection made his breath quicken.

"How could we have not thought of this? To create an Ember-shaped battle Mech to combat the Ember?..." Instructor Oileren mused quietly, but then, as usual, his eyes dimmed.

"There are just too many limitations," he murmured, and Declan listened attentively.

This was one of his important arsenal pieces, one he needed to pull off no matter what.

"And what are its limitations, Instructor Oileren?" he asked, and the instructor explained.

"The human brain isn’t wired to control more than two arms. Even controlling two swords takes years to master."

"With the aid of tech, maybe one can control more, but the max of that will be four. The Ember Buster has six arms."

"Attempting to control six arms that are meant to perform simultaneous grappling, striking, blocking, and firing, while at the same time running multi-vector combat calculations..."

"Without sophisticated neural rerouting, it will overwhelm your brain in seconds."

He explained, but Declan wasn’t at all worried about this.