Chapter 94: Being a Mech Design Student (I)

His eyes narrowed at the question as not much had been built by the students yet.

Whatever they were working on seemed to be only about twenty percent complete, with most of the floor covered in wiring and similar components.

However, after examining the materials scattered around the booth, he came to a plausible conclusion.

"A High-Grade Ballistic Turret, perhaps?" Declan replied.

Even the students in the booth paused slightly and stared at him in quiet disbelief before continuing their work.

"That’s interesting," Instructor Oileren said, turning toward him. "But wouldn’t you say ballistic weapons are kind of fading out these days?"

"Yes, they are," Declan replied.

"Energy weapons don’t use bullets, so they never drop or drift."

"They hit exactly where you aim, and they also fire almost instantly, with close to zero recoil, unlike ballistic weapons."

"Indeed. The world’s battles have advanced beyond simple ballistic weapons. Why would you be so sure they’re trying to create one, though?" he asked further.

"There’s no element of energy in this booth," Declan replied.

"The wiring is similar to basic auto-firing mechanisms, and even the material components are bulky, which is perfect for a turret."

"Not to mention the obvious shells on the ground, which old turrets fire. That’s what makes it pretty obvious."

A glint crossed through Instructor Oileren’s eyes.

"You truly are familiar with the basics," he said before resuming his walk.

As they continued, he kept questioning Declan.

"Do you think you can build that instrument from the ground up all by yourself?"

The answer was simple:

It was an absolute yes, and Declan wouldn’t even need to do much.

With all the necessary materials gathered, all he would have to do was activate Mecha Forge, and the object would be right before him in less than an hour.

"No. I can’t," he replied.

"While I’m indeed conversant with the basics and can recognize what is being built from the materials, putting them together on my own would be difficult, considering I’ve never built one before, nor have I even seen one being built."

"I would need a manual, and even then, there would be a lot of trial and error involved before I could build anything worth firing at all."

"I might just end up blowing myself up during the testing stage."

"Hahahaha!"

Instructor Oileren laughed out loud at this, though he nodded continuously.

"I enjoy it. Knowledge paired with an understanding of one’s capabilities. You definitely have what it takes to build one," he said, and in the next moment, they stopped before another booth.

This time, Declan was surprised because there were usually three, and sometimes four, people in a booth, yet this one had only a single person inside.

It was the woman he had met earlier.

"There are notes you must acquire and study very well," Instructor Oileren said.

"With the basic principles you have acquired, I’m sure you’ll find it easy to comprehend them on your own with enough reading."

"But do feel free to approach me when you’re confused about a topic," he added.

"Chloe here will give you the notes."

At that moment, Chloe turned away from the welding she had been doing and looked toward Instructor Oileren, then at Declan.

She paused without much change in her expression before quietly resuming her task.

"The students have already taken tests on the notes after three weeks of studying, and the score you get will determine what grade of Mech build you’ll be assigned to."

"Just so you know, Chloe here was the best in the test, scoring far above the rest, which is why she is also being made to work alone on the highest-grade Mech build in the room."

"If you take the test and score as highly as she did, then you’ll become her booth partner and get to work on the project."

"Two brilliant minds working on such a high-grade object. That’s something I would love to see."

"When will I be tested?" Declan asked.

"The other students took three weeks of theory classes before taking the test. The same will apply to you, though I can give you an additional week because you’ll have to do your personal study by yourself."

"So, let’s say a month from now," the instructor said.

"Understood, Instructor Oileren."

"Very well. Chloe hates being disturbed during her focused moments, so I’ll ask you to wait until class ends before walking over for the notes."

"That’s fine by me," Declan said.

The instructor tapped him twice on the shoulder before resuming his walk through the booths, but Declan didn’t follow this time. Instead, he returned to the seats and waited.

Hours passed rapidly, and soon, a ringing echoed through the laboratory, signifying that the class had ended.

Most of the students immediately exited their booths, and before long, there was only a single person still in the room.

Thirty minutes after the class ended at 12:00, Chloe finally stepped out, and Declan raised his head from the table to find her standing before him with her phone extended toward him.

On the screen was a barcode to be scanned.

"The notes," she said curtly.

Declan brought out his device and scanned it.

Three beeps rang out from his device, confirming that he had received them.

"See you around," she said curtly before disappearing out of the laboratory, leaving Declan behind.

"Quite the peculiarity. She arrives earlier than everyone else and leaves later than everyone else. Perhaps that’s why she’s also the best in class."

Declan mused before turning his attention to his device.

Several files had appeared, containing all the notes he needed to study before taking the test.

"I’ll try going through them tonight," he murmured to himself, slipping his device into his pocket before rising and leaving the class.

The time was 12:30, and another class would begin at 1:30.

"Source Optimization class, huh? I wonder what that even means."

___________________________

When Declan reached the venue for the Source Optimization class, he was completely blown away.

While the Mech Design class had been filled with booths containing incomplete, ongoing creations and various modular gadgets, the Source Optimization class was filled with something far more impressive:

MECHS!

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed in shock, his jaw dropping.

All around the laboratory, stored inside white glass pillars, were fully constructed Mechs.

Some were humanoid, with defined features and huge or lean bodies, most of which had weapon nozzles for hands, while others had shapes completely different from the humanoid form.

One such Mech was a spider-like machine with a total of eight robotic legs, suspended within its prism.

At the centre of most of these Mechs was an empty hole, which Declan reasoned must be where their Cores were supposed to be.

Turning away from the Mech prisms, he found glass boxes lining the walls, while an array of Mech Cores and energy conduits had been laid out across the tables.

At first, he had been completely lost about what Source Optimization could mean, but judging by the materials scattered around, he now had an inkling.

If the Mech Module class focused on the physical construction of mechanical gadgets, this room was dedicated entirely to the lifeblood of those machines: their energy sources and performance systems.

STEP!

STEP!

STEP!

The sound of footsteps echoed through the room, followed by a question.

"And who might you be?"

Declan turned around and found a woman walking toward him.

She was dressed in an ocean-blue lab coat and carried a large pad in her hands, while her ruby-green eyes, slightly furrowed, remained fixed on Declan as he stood upright.

"I’m Declan. Declan Ezra," he replied, noticing a gleam cross through the woman’s eyes.

"The newly promoted second year?" she asked.

He nodded. "That’s correct."

"It’s a good thing you came almost half an hour before class," she said, walking toward him while rapidly tapping on the pad.

"I’ll send you the notes."

Declan brought out his device.

It was a scan, just like with Chloe, and he quickly scanned it, finding the information rapidly downloaded onto his device.

"The class is currently at Chapter 3 of the notes: Core Integration and Feedback Loops."

"You’ll have to study the first and second Chapters on your own, but if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can always bring your questions to me,"

She explained, and he nodded.

Even though he had been promoted to the second year, it would have been unreasonable for the academy to ask the instructors to restart their lessons from the beginning just for him.

Instead, they simply passed him the notes, leaving him to comprehend the topics on his own while bringing up any questions he might have.

That made more sense, but in a way, the promotion wasn’t all good with no downsides.

The obvious disadvantage was that he could end up with a lower level of understanding or experience compared to the other students simply because he had been absent from their classes. 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"Understood. Instructor..."

"Callana," she replied.

"Instructor Callana, can I get a quick summary of what the Source Optimization class really focuses on?"

"I mean, the Mech Module class was quite clear when it came to the name, but Source Optimization is pretty vague," he said.

She hummed quietly, a thought flickering through her mind.

"Since the explanation isn’t really given in the notes, I guess I can quickly take you through it," she said before resuming her walk toward one of the Mech prisms, with Declan following behind her.

"When you think of Source Optimization, you can think of working with Core energy, efficiency, and power systems."

"In short, the class focuses on improving or optimizing Mech performance," she explained.

"Not by adding or upgrading anything, but by making sure that every part of a Mech build operates at one hundred percent of its maximum capability."

"No lag, no delays, and this extends even to the most important defining factor in a Mech: the Cores."