Chapter 110: Rewards

Declan’s eyes snapped open, and the first thing he saw was the familiar white ceiling of his room.

"I’m back."

The first thing he did after waking up was get out of bed.

His dreams usually took some time, and he had no idea whether this one would have lasted any longer, which concerned him because he didn’t want to miss classes.

However, the moment his hands pressed down on the bed,

CRAAAACK!

A sharp cracking sound rang out, followed by a deafening,

BOOOOOOM!

The floor shook as the entire bed collapsed into the ground, though Declan managed to jump off before it gave way completely.

"What the?" he muttered, staring at the broken bed in shock.

He unconsciously looked down at his hands.

They looked the same as always, but when he moved one toward the wall beside him and gently pushed against it, nothing happened at first.

Then, cracks began spreading across the wall, forming a tiny crater that stopped only when Declan pulled his hand away.

[You put too many stats into Strength. It would be best to balance them out.]

The system panel flashed before him, reminding him of what he had done.

In his anger, he had indeed ordered the system to put all his attribute points into Strength, so the disproportionate feeling he was experiencing now suddenly made much more sense.

Quickly, he called out, "Initiate MDS Protocol."

[EPIC QUEST COMPLETED]

[Defeat Dorimunga]

[REWARDS:

+100,000 EXP!

+10 LEVEL UP CARDS!

+10 ABILITY UPGRADE CARDS!

+100,000 PURCHASE POINTS!

+1 All Injuries Rejuvenation Card]

[Name: Declan Ezra]

[Race: Human]

[Age: 19]

[Level: 63]

[EXP: 135,000 / 80,000]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 63!]

[Level Up Cards: 10]

[Does Host wish to use Level Up Cards?]

"Yes."

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 64.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 9]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 65.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 8]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 66.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 7]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 67.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 6]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 68.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 5]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 69.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 4]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 70.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 3]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 71.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 2]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 72.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 1]

[-1 Level Up Card.]

[Congratulations, Host has levelled up to Level 73.]

[+30 Attribute Points obtained.]

[Level Up Cards left: 0]

[STATS]

[Strength: 580]

[Agility: 250]

[Endurance: 220]

[Intelligence: 220]

[Charisma: 220]

[Attribute Points: 300]

"580 points in Strength. That’s ridiculous!" Declan muttered, holding his head.

’How am I ever supposed to balance this?’

"Hey, system, got any ideas?"

[It’s not the system’s place to distribute attribute points for the Host.]

It replied.

"Oh, I was thinking you would, uh... give me more attribute points from your stac..."

[Don’t even dream about it.]

It shot back, making Declan roll his eyes.

He quietly studied his stats for a while before finally coming to a decision.

’First, add 20 attribute points to Strength, then add 50 attributes to Agility, 80 points to Endurance, 80 points to Intelligence, and 70 points to Charisma.’

A strange feeling coursed through his heart and spread through his veins, but unlike before, it wasn’t painful this time, probably thanks to his insanely strong body.

[Points have been added successfully.]

[STATS]

[Strength: 600]

[Agility: 300]

[Endurance: 300]

[Intelligence: 300]

[Charisma: 290]

[Attribute Points: 0]

"Now, it’s a bit more balanced," he muttered, jumping to his feet.

Grabbing his device from the broken bed, he checked the time. It was Monday, meaning he had slept through Saturday and Sunday, but thankfully, those had been weekends, so there were no classes.

The time was 6:15, meaning class had already started at 6:00. He was already late, but the instructor wouldn’t arrive until 6:30, so he still had some time.

He quickly got dressed, donned his lab coat, and hurried to class.

____________

Throughout the day, all Declan did was fix wires, weld Tech bodies together, and get shocked by electricity every now and then.

The first time he had received his lab coat from the woman, he had been warned not to let it burn, and at the time, he couldn’t understand why she had kept emphasizing it.

Now, he knew the reason.

One simple chemical or wiring failure could send a student butt naked faster than he or she could blink.

He had even seen one student whose lab coat got caught in a crushing Tech gadget, forcing him to rip himself out of his clothes to avoid being crushed.

Declan always made sure to steer clear of such Techs, though.

The last thing he wanted was to end up naked because of some goddamn Tech while cameras were mounted in the ceiling and hundreds of students had their eyes on him.

What he couldn’t avoid, however, was the electricity.

Occasionally, volts ran through his body, but that couldn’t really be helped. Eventually, he got used to it, although today’s shocks felt stronger than usual.

The class ended around 11:00 PM, and Declan stepped out of the classroom alongside hundreds of other Mech Students.

He hadn’t gone very far when a voice called out from behind him.

"Declan Ezra."

"Instructor Callanor?"

It was the class instructor, a middle-aged man about 1.9 meters tall with dusty brown eyes that were currently narrowed at him.

"Are you okay?"

That was his first question, catching Declan a little off guard, though he nodded without hesitation.

"I’m doing great, Instructor," he replied.

The man hummed quietly before nodding, and Declan turned away afterward, blending into the crowd of students.

Even so, he could still feel the instructor’s gaze lingering on his back as he walked away.

After Declan disappeared from his line of sight, Instructor Callanor brought out his device, which displayed various charts and symbols beside the names of different students.

"Declan Ezra. He completed the wiring structure meant to be completed in one week in just five hours."

However, that wasn’t what worried Instructor Callanor.

What truly concerned him was the fact that the knowledge required to connect the final piece of the wiring structure had not yet been taught in class.

Besides, following the connection method exactly as written in the notes would result in a massive voltage shock at the end.

They were supposed to use a non-conducting material, something the academy had yet to procure, to complete that connection, yet Declan had done it with his bare hands.

That meant he already knew something he had not even been taught yet, and more importantly, he had resisted the electrical surge at the end, which had reached approximately 10,000 volts.

For a Nexian only at the Seed Core, that amount of voltage should have knocked him unconscious, yet the boy had looked completely fine.

"Perhaps his Tech Module has something to do with light insulation?" the instructor murmured, still confused.

But even then, that didn’t explain how he had known what to do.

In the end, he slipped his device back into his pocket and disappeared into the building, though not before deciding to keep a close eye on Declan.

_______________

With classes done for the day, Declan went to the cafeteria and sated his hunger before returning to his dorm room.

He sat at his desk and brought up his designs on the monitors.

He already had a list of the materials he needed; all that remained was finding a way to procure them.

And he knew just the place: the Academy Shop.

He quickly browsed through it, but when the list loaded and he went through the available items, Declan’s eyes immediately dimmed.

The academy didn’t sell the raw Tech materials needed for Mech creation.

All they sold in the Tech section were completed gadgets, not the tools or materials required to build them.

If he needed those materials, he would probably have to purchase individual gadgets containing the parts he needed and then tear them apart to salvage those components.

Even then, however, all he could obtain that way was wiring.

The raw metallic ores needed for Mech body panels and weapons were impossible to find.

"Tsk," he clicked his tongue helplessly.

If the academy didn’t sell Tech materials, then there was no way he could build what he wanted.

He would need to leave the academy, and the only way to do that was through an academy mission, which he wasn’t allowed to undertake until he had spent three months in the academy.

’Now I have to wait three months!?’ he mused in disbelief, holding his head.

[Why not check out the Shop Tab?]

The panel suddenly flashed, and he froze.

"The Shop Tab! I almost forgot!"

"Initiate MDS Protocol," he ordered, and immediately, the tabs appeared.

[SYSTEM INTERFACE] [SKILL AND ABILITIES] [SHOP {AVAILABLE}] [MISSIONS]

Declan focused his attention on the Shop Tab, and the interface changed once more.

========= [SHOP] =========

[Mechs] [Mecha Materials] [Mecha Components] [Tech Cards] [Mecha Tech Cards]

There were a total of five subcategories under the Shop Category, and Declan focused on the first tab.

What he saw made him forget how to breathe.

========= [MECHS] =========