Chapter 101: Helpful Consultation

The human brain might indeed struggle to control more than two limbs, but when it came to pure reasoning power, he was eleven times more cognitively capable than the average human.

He had absolute confidence that there would be no difference for him between controlling two arms and controlling six with enough practice.

"The second limitation is the limitation of every powerful Mech... energy."

"If we’re looking at six arms plus internal boosters plus reinforced joints, all it equals is monstrous power drain."

"In extended combat, the Buster risks overheating, slowed arm response, energy conduit failure, frame lock, which triggers shutdown to prevent a meltdown, as observed in most powerful Mechs."

"That’s why we use Mechs in short, devastating bursts instead of long battles."

"I don’t think there’s anything the Ember Buster will do differently."

"If anything, it will suffer even more from the astronomical energy consumption than most."

"You know, seeing this Mech makes me wonder why we never had the idea to build Mechs with more than two arms. But now, it’s slowly occurring to me..." Instructor Oileren said.

"Six arms exert massive rotational force on the torso."

"Having six arms in the Ember Buster will result in torsional stress on the core chassis, micro-fractures during multi-directional grappling, and joint strain when two limbs pull in opposite force vectors."

"With even just one miscalculation, even a little, the Mech tears itself apart," he said, and Declan’s brows furrowed.

"But the Ember do have four arms. I guess it’s racial differentiation."

"However, their physiology must be different from that of humans, and an in-depth study of their physiology may provide insight into how to balance all six arms without overwhelming the chassis, right?"

"An in-depth study of Ember physiology... that will indeed be the first step if that is ever to be achieved," he said, quietly exhaling.

"If that is done, the only problems left are ignorable."

"It might be quite heavy. It’s almost ten meters tall, so transporting it around will be quite hard."

"But I guess one can indeed find a way to transport it with teleporters or a Mech vehicle."

"The creation cost of this will be high, too."

"So much denser and more plated than standard frames."

"And if the creation cost is high, then it’s safe to say the repair cost will be insane."

"Each limb will contain micro-actuators, shock-absorbing muscle cables, local processors, power relays, and integrated weapon mounts for those lower arms."

"Damage to even one arm will require days of reconstruction. If two or three arms break, the Mech could become unusable for weeks."

"But these are inconsequential compared to the pure destructive force it could potentially offer," he said, and Declan nodded in understanding.

’This is possible. I might need really, really good and no doubt extra-expensive materials, but I can create this,’

he mused, and Instructor Oileren gave the object one last look before swiping it aside.

What appeared was another Mech, but this one was simpler.

It was humanoid, but much leaner, looking like any other Mech. The eye-catching part was the sword it held in its right hand.

"You call this the Bladecore Humanoid?" Instructor Oileren said, and Declan nodded.

"Looks like any other Mech. What’s its use?" he asked.

"It’s essentially built for speed, and that speed follows precision slashing with high-energy blades for bone-slicing attacks,"

he explained, and Instructor Oileren nodded.

"This is very well possible. There are many Mechs like this held by the top families. All you’ll need is good materials."

He mused, and Declan silently grinned to himself.

The tech looked unamazing and just like every other piece of technology, but in his mind, this Mech was major, as important as the Ember Buster itself.

Still, all he needed was confirmation, and he had gotten it.

The Bladecore Humanoid was the fourth image, and Instructor Oileren swiped to the last design.

It was another Mech, but different. It wasn’t solid, more like drifting dots of light in the shape of a phantom Mech.

The Mech actually made Instructor Oileren chuckle in both disbelief and amusement.

"You must have read the notes I gave?" he said, and Declan nodded.

"It’s amazing you can pull off such an idea based on that."

"The Cloaking Phantom Mech, huh? I’m guessing the purpose is light-bending camouflage, based on those refraction motes," he said, and Declan nodded.

"I think this Mech has been made once before."

"It has?" he asked, and Instructor Oileren nodded.

"It caused quite the uproar, so I can indeed tell you, this is achievable."

"Total invisibility is still theoretical; even the one created had its own weakness."

"But partial light refraction like this is very plausible."

He explained, and that was indeed the last of the Mech designs.

Declan picked up the holographer, thinking.

’Even though two might be impossible... the three major ones are very well achievable,’

he thought silently, but paused when he felt Instructor Oileren grab his shoulder, causing him to turn toward the man.

"See, Declan, there is a factor you must consider about creation, and that is the absence of impossibility."

He said, and Declan paused in quiet shock.

The professor wore a serious expression as his hand slid from Declan’s shoulder, his finger pointing at his chest.

"Do you feel this core beating in your heart?" he asked, and Declan nodded.

"The one who proposed the idea of it was called a madman, and he was thrown out to the Ember to be killed."

"Torn apart he was, before the eyes of thousands of Mordrans."

"Some cheered, some felt pity, but no uproar was made, as they all indeed felt human beings wearing cores of energy was insanity."

"It was his son, Sir Rohan Furiyo, who made the first core, the one who rewrote the legend of us all. And what was once insanity is now reality."

"So, while I did say some of your Mech creations are impossible..."

"Know that, deep in your heart, there is no impossibility except the one you set for yourself."

"If you don’t create this, there will come, in the future, someone who will create something similar."

"So definitely try to work on even the impossibilities, and when you run across an obstacle, say, ’Someone did this in the future, how did he come by it?’"

He admonished and White nodded after an exhale.

"But do make sure you come to class regularly, though."

"So even if everything doesn’t work out or you eventually decide it’s not worth it, all you would have lost is the time others spent playing around."

"Then, you won’t lose anything," he said, and Declan chuckled.

"Still, I look forward to being proven wrong through your creations."

"I will take the test in the next class," Declan said, making Instructor Oileren pause.

"There’s no way you’ve... Are you sure about that?" he asked, and Declan nodded confidently.

Instructor Oileren studied him for a while before chuckling.

"I guess I can use it as some sort of mock test."

"And if you fail, it will give me the option to change the test questions... to something tougher, of course."

"Just for you," he said with an evil grin, and Declan laughed out loud, though in his mind:

’There won’t be a need for a second test.’

____________

Three more classes followed for the day, after which Declan finally had some space to breathe.

And speaking of a place to breathe, he went right to the cafeteria.

Not eating for five days straight had made the worms in his stomach really hungry. That was made clear after he devoured the sixth dish and still felt hungry.

He eventually had to get three more dishes afterward, and thankfully, that fatty wasn’t around to mock him.

While he ate, he also decided to go through his phone.

He already had a pile of notifications, missed calls, and point deductions for missing class.

But he had no regrets at all, not even about the fact that he didn’t come to class.

All of the students going to class were only comfortable doing so because they thought the world outside was safe.

If they knew cities were being overtaken, they would not be able to sit confidently before a board for hours.

What he was doing now would matter far more in the war than sitting in any classroom.

Even so, he wasn’t planning to drop out entirely. He just didn’t regret the points he was losing for not showing up.

Apart from that, there were call notifications.

Most of them came from the number he saved as ’Annoyed.’ That must be Evie.

Four days of never stepping out ought to really send anyone into a frenzy.

The rest, though, came from who he least expected: Boss Morg.

His eyebrows creased at that, but he moved to his messaging app, sending a message first to Evie.

It was a simple:

{< 19 Missed Calls!? Is something wrong? >}

Then he finished his dishes before stepping out of the cafeteria in the direction of his dorm room.

Midway, he dialed back Boss Morg’s number.

Seven seconds later, the call was picked up.

"Hello, Morgaret," he said.

"Declan. I’ve been calling for three days now," she said, her tone plain and simple as ever.

"I was busy," he replied curtly.

Silence followed for a while, and his fingers moved to the disconnect button when her voice came.

"I just wanted to check if you were okay."

"I am," he replied before his finger clicked the button, severing the connection.

When he did, a pop-up message appeared from ’Annoyed.’

{< Waaaaaah. You ask if something is wrong!? That’s supposed to be my line, you donkey! >}

The message eased the heaviness in his chest as he held his phone in both hands, ready to type a reply, when a video call notification suddenly popped up.