I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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After releasing ‘Blue’ back into the dragon’s habitat.

Elena returned to her office, deep in thought.

She reflected on all of Edgar’s behavior.

“A genius that can be swayed in any direction… That seems about right.”

A genius that can be swayed in any direction.

In other words, depending on how he is guided, he could become a hero who leads the Empire or possibly the worst villain in history.

He possessed the qualities and potential for either path.

It was clear he would leave his name in history, no matter the outcome.

“I must… I must lead him well.”

As she thought about this, a sense of mission began to awaken within her.

As his teacher, she felt a duty to show her disciple the right path so he wouldn’t fall into evil.

This was especially true because Edgar’s thoughts were dangerous.

He had a high risk of coming up with ideas that disrespect life, disrupt order and discipline, and are ethically condemnable.

While his curiosity might pioneer new paths and expand the realm of knowledge, if misused, it could lead to irreversible disasters.

Thus, it was necessary for him to have a guiding beacon to ensure he used the power and knowledge he would gain correctly.

“I have to do it!”

And that beacon could only be herself.

No one else could be trusted not to misuse Edgar’s power for personal gain.

-Swish.

Thus, Elena placed a letter requesting Edgar’s ‘special admission’ into an envelope.

The envelope bore the royal seal gilded with gold dust.

And on the envelope’s recipient line was written:

[Sephilia Yuliseus Kaindel von Orserk]

The name of Elena’s cherished disciple and the princess.

Elena secretly ordered a servant to dispatch this letter.

***

Having successfully grasped the mechanics of the blue dragon, it was now time to implement it.

It was time to select materials, refine them to the right length and weight, and design them into an engineering structure for assembly.

“First, the materials are all ready.”

The materials had already been secured.

Thanks to her master’s support, she easily acquired mana stones and various rare minerals.

Looking back, having her as a mentor was a brilliant move.

“The blueprints are also perfect. There’s nothing more to tweak.”

Moreover, the blueprints had been meticulously prepared.

Over three days, using ‘engineering thinking,’ she poured her heart into creating the blueprints, leaving no room for a 0.1cm error.

That meant she was thoroughly prepared.

“All the materials have been processed too.”

Furthermore, all the materials were ready to go.

Although she struggled quite a bit to create equipment to purify the toxins emitted from the mana stones, she ultimately succeeded in making a device that perfectly cleansed the toxic materials, just like the blue dragon’s organs.

Now she only needed to implant all these devices within her body.

“Master.”

So, after completing all the checks, I went to find Elena.

Elena was waiting for me, looking like she had also finished her preparations.

“Everything is ready. We just need to perform the surgery now.”

“… Are you sure? Most people wouldn’t be able to handle it mentally.”

“Well, I’m going to be anesthetized anyway.”

“No, that’s not what I mean. You’re the one cutting into your own body. That’s on a completely different level than cutting into a dragon.”

Elena looked at me with a face full of worry.

The reason she was concerned for me was due to the ‘surgery.’

She found it hard to accept my idea of performing surgery on myself.

“It’s fine. If anything happens, you’ll help me, right? More than that, your telekinetic powers will assist me, so there shouldn’t be any mistakes.”

“……..”

Elena remained silent, appearing deep in thought.

It must really look quite strange to want to perform surgery on myself.

Still, there was no other way for me to become stronger.

“Ed.”

After a while, Elena called out to me.

She opened her mouth with a serious look in her eyes.

“Let me ask you just one thing. Why go to such lengths? Is it simply curiosity? Do you want to confirm if humans can use mana like blue dragons through mana stones?”

… Elena’s voice carried weight.

This wasn’t merely a question for information.

This was undeniably a question meant to test me.

Depending on my answer, she might assist with the surgery or not.

“I… I have.”

Thus, I had to make sure to answer well this time.

I needed to present a reason that Elena could understand.

If I gave a wrong answer, the surgery would be off the table.

“Actually, I’ve been dreaming for a long time.”

“… Dream?”

Just a dream? Elena’s brow furrowed at my words.

Her expression seemed to say, ‘What weird nonsense is he about to spout this time?’

I continued without caring.

“Yes, a dream. More like a nightmare, actually. A dream of the Empire’s destruction.”

She flinched!

Elena jolted at my response, as she often had nightmares about the Empire’s downfall too.

“In that dream… everyone dies. My father, the village chief, the townspeople… all of them, every single one dies.”

Elena’s mouth slowly opened.

Her quivering eyes stared at me.

“The sky is engulfed in black smoke. Countless monsters roam the streets, and a monster in human form is devouring people.”

“………”

“I don’t know when it started, but before I knew it, I was having this nightmare every single day. The problem is, the dream feels so vivid… and it keeps making me think that it might actually happen someday.”

Elena was completely absorbed in my story.

It made sense, as I was recounting a dream that was almost identical to hers.

“So, that’s why I need to keep doing something. Whether it’s creating new equipment, acquiring knowledge, or gaining strength. One of those three usually prevents me from having those dreams. It gives me a sense of security.”

Elena nodded.

In fact, she could have dismissed it as crazy nonsense, but she took it seriously.

She felt the stirrings of disaster occurring in the Empire deep within her subconscious.

“So you’re moving out of a sense of duty then. To protect the Empire.”

“Um… It’s not that grand of a reason. I just feel like I need to keep doing something. Heh… I don’t even know if my reasoning is enough to justify it as just some dreams…”

“No. I think I understand. I fully get what you mean.”

With that, Elena smiled softly.

It was a tender smile, like she was meeting an old friend.

Could it be that she feels some kind of camaraderie with me?

I worried that in trying to pass her test with flying colors, I might have raised her affection too much.

Surely, she wouldn’t be having feelings for me, would she?

“Alright. If those nightmares are that horrific, we can’t hesitate, right? We’ll proceed with the surgery immediately?”

“Yeah, let’s do it right now.”

“Okay. Let’s head to my personal training room immediately.”

***

When we arrived at the personal training room, the first thing we did was inscribe spells onto the mana stones.

Elena would teach me the spells, and then I would carve them into the mana stones.

“You really… How do you control that intricate detail…?”

What I was doing now was a high-level task anyone couldn’t merely follow.

Carving spells onto a mana stone the size of a fingernail required incredible concentration and precision—something impossible without it.

Especially because the spells made up of various geometric shapes would fail to activate or significantly drop in performance if even slightly off-balance, making it an undertaking impossible for anyone but me.

Pah!

However, I successfully inscribed spells on all thirty-seven mana stones.

And we weren’t talking about simple spells, but a mix of various complex ones.

‘Without Handicraft, I wouldn’t have even tried it.’

Hidden grade skill ‘Handicraft.’

It was one of my overpowered skills that allowed me to comprehend all the knowledge necessary for engineering techniques at once.

Thanks to this hidden skill, I could refine every material without a doubt, even without measuring tools.

“… Amazing. All thirty-seven are working without an issue.”

As Elena verified if the spells functioned normally, she turned to me with an amazed expression.

With this, all genuine preparations were complete, and now it was time for the surgery.

“Then let’s begin.”

I said this and took off my top.

I lay down on the pre-prepared operating table.

Above me was a mirror.

It was there so that I could view my own body while performing the surgery.

“Ready? I’ll link us.”

“Yes. Please do it right now.”

Link.

The link was Elena’s unique technique, connecting her senses to another person.

This technique was often used to awaken the senses of academy students.

Now, she employed this technique to transfer her telekinetic control to me.

-Pah!

Once Elena made the link, I could use her telekinesis as I wished.

Having practiced various combinations previously, it wasn’t difficult using her telekinetic power now.

I immediately lifted the scalpel placed on the operating table.

Vroom-.

It was easy to lift without any issues.

I swung it this way and that, and it moved perfectly according to my will.

“I’ll start with the anesthesia.”

I lifted the anesthesia syringe with telekinesis.

I placed the syringe on the flat palm of my right hand.

A dull pain spread, but soon after, the sensation was blocked.

“Ha…”

I took a deep breath.

I brought the scalpel to my palm and poked it – poke – poke.

All sensations had been perfectly blocked.

I then used telekinesis to cut along the pre-marked incision line.

As blood flowed, I started to see the internal skin tissues and tendons.

For an ordinary person, peering into their own body could induce panic, but with ‘engineering thinking’ activated, I could focus solely on implanting the mana stone.

Splash!

Then, blood spurted out.

I had mistakenly touched an artery.

As blood gushed like a fountain, I calmly said, ‘Heal.’

Then Elena chanted a spell to restore that area.

“… Let’s go again.”

The surgery was a bit haphazard.

If I made a mistake while doing it, I’d heal it and then have to cut again.

It was an endless cycle of repetition.

I wasn’t a specialist, so it was inevitable to make repeated mistakes.

Fortunately, thanks to the cheat known as ‘magic,’ I could proceed with this bizarre surgery.

“Huh… I can’t feel my hand, you know?”

Having successfully implanted the mana stone in my palm, I realized I could not feel my hand.

It seemed I had touched the tendon incorrectly.

“I’ll make another incision.”

***

To Elena, Edgar was insane.

Where could one find a person mad enough to cut into their own body and insert a mana stone?

It was incredibly challenging just to look inside another person’s body, yet Edgar showed no change in expression while looking into his own.

‘Superhuman mental strength.’

However, such a horrific process continued for a full 18 hours.

He effortlessly continued the process of embedding mana stones all over his body—palm, foot, wrist, elbow, shoulder, chest, abdomen, thigh, and calf.

“Heal.”

Yet Edgar maintained his composure.

Even when he accidentally touched his organs and began to vomit blood, when his eyes suddenly rolled back and he let out strange sounds, or when he lost sensation from mistakenly touching his nerve tissues, he pressed on through the surgery, trusting in his ‘Heal.’

And ultimately, Edgar was able to place mana stones all over his body.

At the center of Edgar’s chest, a core mana stone was revealed, capable of controlling all the mana stones.

It was a round mana stone emitting a bright light, like Iron Man’s arc reactor.

“… I finally did it.”

“Thanks to you, Master. I could never have done it without you.”

Edgar said this as he got off the bed.

He turned his shoulders and flexed his fingers, checking his bodily condition.

There were no issues at all.

“Now, I’ll try mana manifestation.”

Gulp.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting for had arrived.

Whether a human could manipulate mana through mana stones like a blue dragon was all hanging in the balance right now.

-Pah!

Soon, Edgar began to manifest mana.

A blue haze erupted from his entire body.

Elena’s eyes widened in astonishment as her mouth slowly dropped open.

“… Huh.”