Chapter 93: Good Lad...!?

It was a flying car, one of the R8 Ultrons, a drop-top, and inside was a woman who immediately caught his attention because she was wearing the same lab coat he was.

She had striking short purple hair, while her equally purple eyes were hidden behind spectacles.

"Mech Module Class?"

She asked, her voice ringing clearly above the rumbling engine.

The question made Declan pause. That was indeed the class Declan was headed to.

"Yes."

"That’s where I’m also headed. Wanna come in?"

She asked, and although doubt and suspicion flickered through Declan’s mind, his face instead lit up brilliantly.

"Thank you," he said as he moved into the passenger seat.

The moment he strapped himself in, she started the car and drove off into the distance.

"You’re quite early," she said as they drove.

Declan unconsciously glanced at his device. It was 5:36, only twenty-four minutes before the official start of class.

"Am I? I mean, it’s only a couple of minutes before 6:00."

She nodded, pausing slightly.

"Yes, you are. Though the official time is 6:00, Instructor Oileren only comes in around 7:00 to 7:45."

She explained, and a small "Oh" escaped his lips.

’Tsk, and I was enjoying that sleep so much. Should have just stayed in bed and snored more.’

A hint of disappointment appeared on his face, which she noticed.

"It’s quite unusual that you’re not aware of that. Are you new in any way?" she asked.

The second year had already been underway for three months, so obviously, everyone was aware of the schedule, yet Declan seemed genuinely surprised.

It wasn’t making much sense.

"Actually, yes. This is my first second-year class," he replied honestly.

She paused, studying him for a moment before a brilliant glint crossed her purple eyes.

"Oh, you’re Declan. The newly promoted student?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Interesting. I didn’t think you’d be the early type, judging by the information that goes around about you."

She said, and Declan scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

While his reputation among the Newcomers was good, the absolute opposite was true among the second years.

Not that he was a sucker for reputation. He never gave a damn about it, and most of the second years were dicks to him anyway.

"I just... wanted to be early since it’s my first day, I guess."

He replied, not exactly trying to defend himself, and it made her giggle lightly in amusement.

Only then did something occur to Declan.

"So... if class starts at 7:00, then why are you already out at 5:30?" he asked.

She shrugged.

"Habits."

She replied curtly, and Declan nodded once before falling silent.

The walk to class should have taken fifteen minutes, but because they were in a vehicle, it took less than half the time.

Just six minutes later, she pulled up in the driveway before a towering skyscraper.

Both of them got out and walked through the wide-open revolving glass doors.

When Declan stepped inside, he found himself in an enormous hall that was completely silent due to the absence of staff.

It made sense since it was still so early, though he quickly found himself facing a dilemma.

He felt lost among the several elevators in the hall, unsure which one led to his class.

Perhaps that could have been an issue, but since he had her with him, he simply followed her into the elevator and watched her press the button for 2A.

Quietly, they were whisked upward, and when the elevator opened, Declan stepped out into a large laboratory.

Though the first thought that came to his mind was that it was a lab, that wasn’t completely true. On second thought, the more appropriate term would be a Mechatronic Engineering Lab.

The class was divided into booths, each booth holding about three seats and a large, incomplete Mecha Module, along with a number of robotic arms, their ends fitted with screws, welding gadgets, and other tools that hung over each booth.

A glance revealed that every booth was working on a completely different Mech Module design.

"After about a month of general theory classes, we were divided into groups of three and assigned to booths, where we tried to design a full Mech Module from the ground up."

"These are some of the students’ Mech Module creations, and as you can see, they’re only half-complete,"

The purple-haired lady explained, clearing up his confusion.

"Guess I’m quite behind on a lot of stuff," he mused quietly.

"Yes. You are," she replied, walking deeper into the hall.

"You got the theory notes, which you have to understand well before getting assigned to a booth, and then there’s a test before you get into a booth."

"So, yeah, quite a lot."

She soon disappeared into one of the booths.

Declan didn’t follow. Instead, he walked to the side, silently observing each booth.

"It’s quite serious stuff," he muttered to himself, pausing before a few booths as his eyes narrowed at them.

The majority of the creations were incomplete, but with some of them, he could already make out the shape of their final results.

He quickly noticed that many of these half-complete Mech Modules were mostly attack modules in one way or another, and all of them were most likely Common Grade.

If one wanted to build for Rare Grade, it required advanced materials and mechanisms that even Declan only theoretically understood.

But the hall was large, almost the size of a mini-stadium. Perhaps, if he walked deeper, he would find more advanced creations.

The more booths he looked at, the more his heart pounded.

He was pleased that the second year focused on practical applications instead of overwhelming students with excessive information like the first year.

This was exactly the kind of thing he needed to improve his knowledge of Mech Designing.

Here, he could finally get his hands on some real technology and maybe build some of the things that were only ideas in his head.

Since the booths were already assigned to each student, Declan didn’t sit in any of them, as he would simply be taking another person’s seat.

Instead, he took one of the single seats at the front of the class and waited.

As the lady had mentioned, students really didn’t start arriving until 7:00, and by 7:30, the classroom was full.

Surprisingly, the students didn’t have to wait for the instructor before resuming work on the Mech Modules they were handling.

There was a sense of decorum, with the only sounds being those of the various gadgets operating around the room.

At 7:35, an instructor clad in an ocean-blue lab coat stepped in.

He was a short man, just about 1.6 meters tall, bald but with a full white beard, and wearing one of those ancient one-eyed spectacles.

He walked toward the front of the class, his eyes occasionally pausing on some students as he observed their actions, before eventually spotting Declan.

"Oh," he mused beneath his breath as he walked toward Declan, who rose from his seat.

The man wore his one-eyed spectacle over his right eye, and he brought out what looked like a pen, which he used to gently poke at Declan’s face and ears.

"I haven’t seen you before, lad."

He said this as Declan brushed the poking pen away.

"Instructor Oileren, I’m Declan, and I just got promoted to the second year yesterday."

The instructor blinked twice before a brilliant flicker crossed through his eyes.

"Oh, of course. Declan Ezra, correct?" he said, and Declan nodded.

"That’s correct, Instructor."

"Good, good. The news has been passed to the instructors."

"A sudden promotion like that is quite rare, yet here you are, and even the principal spoke well of you, saying you’re a good lad."

He praised him, and Declan scratched the back of his head while chuckling lightly.

[Good lad, my ass.]

The panel blinked, and he smiled wryly.

"Walk with me. You have quite a lot to catch up on," the man said, walking back toward the booths.

Declan witnessed a black staff sliding from the instructor’s sleeve into his hand as he stepped forward.

He silently followed, just a step behind him.

The other students in the booths had no time to look at the instructor or Declan.

Each of them was ultra-focused on the Mech Module they were working on, as if their lives depended on it.

"You know, I’m quite surprised," Instructor Oileren said, giving him a side glance as he calmly continued forward.

"I expected someone reported to be very exceptional in combat to be more fitted for the Nexian Defense Institute."

He said, and his words indeed made sense.

"If I may, what brought you to Mech Design? Fascination, perhaps?" he asked Declan.

"That’s closer to the truth," Declan replied.

While his initial failure at excelling as a Nexian was what led him to Mech Science, years of studying had given him an in-depth fascination with the world of Mech Design, and that fascination had sustained him up until this point.

So yes... fascination was indeed close to the truth.

"With many focusing on becoming Nexians, only branching into Mech Designing due to their failure to excel, I’m elated to find one as talented as a Nexian choosing Mech Designing."

"If there were more with such a mindset and fascination, I can already see the abyss of progress that would open up for the future of Mech Design."

"What would you say your experience with Mech Design is?"

Instructor Oileren asked, pausing beside one of the booths where three students were working on their Mech Module

Declan stopped behind him before replying.

"I’m familiar with the basics."

"Sounds humble enough. Look before you," the instructor said, pointing his staff toward the booth.

Declan turned toward it, observing the students’ actions.

"What would you say is most likely being built?"