I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

“Where’s Bran?”
Max Zigmund murmured as he gazed at Edgar and his group.
The spy he had planted was nowhere to be seen.
That guy with the red slicked-back hair.
He was supposed to be there to incite internal discord, so why couldn’t he be found?
“Well, it doesn’t really matter.”
His doubts didn’t linger long.
With that one missing, their numbers were still greater.
There was no way their team could lose.
After all, that arrogant commoner’s team was just a bunch of kids from insignificant families.
He could easily wipe them out by himself.
“Edgar Fix, I’ll break you and make you my slave.”
Max smirked maliciously and placed his hand on the teleportation magic circle.
His figure scattered and moved to the arena.
***
A 3,000-pyeong artificial forest.
That was the location where I would be taking the test.
As I placed my hand on the teleportation magic circle, my whole team, including myself, was instantly transported there.
“Whew…”
Once we arrived at the arena, everyone exhaled deeply with tense expressions.
Because our team was clearly at a disadvantage.
Our opponent was Max of the Zigmund family.
A scion of a powerful count.
Although he had shamefully lost to Enya after asking her for a duel, that was only because Enya was a monster.
It wasn’t because Max was weak.
He was talented enough that he could at least earn an A rank in this class decision battle.
“And, he’s definitely someone I have to eliminate.”
However, he was one of the main villains of ‘Elvandor Rune Terra.’
He was filled with endless stubbornness and jealousy.
That ultimately reached Enya and spoiled her.
He was someone who would sell his soul to the devil to possess Enya, and if not dealt with in time, he would use all sorts of underhanded methods to ruin her.
Chasing after romance, Enya would abandon her sword arts and solely pursue the sword of killing.
That path would eventually lead to her corruption.
The strongest ally turning into the worst enemy.
I couldn’t allow Enya to be ruined.
“Let’s move according to the plan. They’ll approach us first.”
Thus, we decided to suppress Max in this match.
Even if we had to reveal some of the cards we had kept hidden.
However, to prepare for future matches, it was best to keep our cards hidden as much as possible, so I planned to use a strategy that made the best use of cover to defeat him.
Setting traps using Charlotte’s abilities.
“Um, will my power really help… will I be able to stop Max with this?”
“It’ll be enough if it just makes him pause for a moment. The more variables, the better. It’s a meaningful contribution.”
I encouraged Charlotte, who was setting up vine traps on the ground.
After talking with her, I learned that she had the ability to manipulate the natural terrain.
She had mainly used that ability to tend her family’s garden.
Most of her spells were specialized for gardening.
“Whew! Got it! What’s there to fear! I just need to hide afterward, right?”
“Yes. You just need to come out when I signal.”
“Okay.”
And the one pumping with fighting spirit to hide was Tyler, who mainly dealt with combustion magic.
Although his talent was minimal and his firepower was weak, when combined with Charlotte, he could be a great help.
“Pio just has to stay in the cave.”
Lastly, there was Pio.
He had looked down on me, a commoner, but ever since losing his red slicked-back hair, he seemed to obediently follow my orders.
So we each prepared to face the enemy according to our roles.
Pio and Charlotte waited in the cave, while Tyler hid in the bushes near it.
I positioned myself a good distance from the cave to greet the enemy.
At last, the enemies led by Max revealed themselves.
***
Max Zigmund was overly confident for his abilities.
The humiliating defeat he suffered when he challenged Enya two years ago was rooted in this arrogance.
But this time was different.
He had planted spies in Edgar’s team and, as if that wasn’t enough, had only sent the children of ruined families to Edgar’s team.
Charlotte Verdian, who could only garden.
Tyler Martin, who handled combustion magic but was mocked with the nickname ‘Campfire’ because his talent was low.
Pio Bailey, a fallen noble whose family had gone bankrupt and who scrounged through the alleys.
They were all garbage.
And yet, he had assigned those worthless people to Edgar’s team.
Even so, he meticulously planned just to deal with a single commoner.
‘I’m different from the old me.’
Two years ago, he had confronted and suffered the greatest humiliation of his life after carelessly challenging Enya.
But now it had changed.
He created a winning situation and only fought against opponents he could defeat.
Just like in this moment!
“Go annihilate him!”
With Max’s command, his team surged towards Edgar.
Edgar stood alone, far from the cave entrance.
No matter what he had prepared, victory and defeat were already decided.
‘Let’s see your cards, commoner.’
The only unknown was that he still didn’t know Edgar’s true power.
As a commoner who had just awakened his mana, he wasn’t exactly a threat.
But still, you never know what could happen.
“Guh!”
As I expected, after holding on for a bit, he quickly turned to flee.
The sight of him running away was utterly ridiculous.
“Bwahahaha! That’s your true form!”
Max smiled in victory.
He had revealed the kid’s true nature.
A guy who looked like a parasitic younger brother but had nothing more than fancy words!
Enya was probably watching this scene too.
Seeing how ugly the one who stole her heart really was.
Crack!
Just as he was intoxicated with victory…
Suddenly, vines grabbed at his ankles.
The other four members of his team were also caught by the vines.
At the same time, Edgar attempted to retaliate.
Boom!
But it was useless.
A teammate who easily freed himself brushed aside Edgar’s attack.
These vines were just low-level traps that could be released by circulating mana through your legs at any time.
Having failed to counterattack, Edgar began to turn and flee again.
“Ha ha ha! Did that idiot think this would work?”
Laughter erupted from Max’s teammates.
To think they had prepared something as pathetic as this lousy vine trap.
It was laughable to the point of being cute.
This is all a commoner could come up with when he tried to squeeze his brain.
“Boom-!”
Once again, Max’s team rushed at Edgar.
Edgar, who had reached the entrance of the cave, took up a boxing stance with Pio.
Behind them, Charlotte was ready to assist.
‘Looks like he’s prepared something.’
Max narrowed his eyes sharply as he glared at Edgar.
What could his next move be?
Soon, Max realized that this move was remarkably poor.
“I’m disappointed, Edgar Fix.”
Edgar’s move.
It was merely a tactic utilizing environmental features.
As his team approached Edgar, he caused the surrounding foliage to grow momentarily, blocking their line of sight.
Taking advantage of that gap, Edgar and Pio launched their attacks.
Of course, that tactic could have meaningful utility.
In an instant, the line of sight of his teammates was obscured, and they suffered considerable damage from Edgar’s punches.
However, their punches were pathetic, and soon the teammates who regained their senses countered.
Edgar’s secret move went nowhere.
“Get out of the way.”
Having seen everything, Max withdrew his subordinates behind him.
He had sent them first just in case, but this was all the ingenuity he had prepared.
“I’ll show you what the difference in strength is.”
Max said as he gathered mana into his fist.
With a huff, he launched a powerful blow directly at Edgar, who was panting heavily.
Boom!
With a tremendous roar, Edgar flew backward.
He landed deep inside the cave.
Upon witnessing this scene, Pio turned pale and began to back away, retreating further into the cave, while Charlotte followed him with a terrified expression.
“Bwahahaha! Idiots! Where do you think you’re running? A fallen family always shows why they fell. They’re that dumb!”
The mismatched team of Edgar Fix.
Max’s teammates mocked them as they were driven further into the cave.
They had managed to escape, but they had gone to a dead end. What a dumb thing to do.
“Now, let’s finish this. Before that, you know how to use the video transmission magic circle?”
Max’s group whispered among themselves.
They were planning to break the video transmission magic circle to torture Edgar.
Since the cave was dark and narrow, it was a perfect cover-up for breaking the magic circle by mistake.
“I’m disappointed, disappointed.”
Then Max Zigmund’s voice echoed in the cave.
Step, step.
The soft echo of his and his companion’s footsteps pressed down on Edgar’s group.
At last, when Max approached Edgar, he said,
“In the end, you’re just there. A lowly bloodline has its limits.”
“…….”
As Max said this, he shot a sidelong glance at the video transmission magic circle that had come close to him.
Gripping the hilt, he began to ponder how he could naturally smash it.
“Thank you.”
At that moment, Edgar Fix suddenly sprang to his feet, spouting strange nonsense.
Thank you?
Then Edgar simply smiled brightly and said,
“Thanks for taking the bait.”
“……?”
***
Lost in the euphoria of victory, Max’s group had no idea they had crawled into hell.
The operation of luring them into the cave while letting their guard down had succeeded.
Everyone had played their assigned roles perfectly.
As soon as I was sent flying by Max’s attack, Pio and Charlotte’s act of running towards me while screaming was top-notch.
“Charlotte!”
“Yes!”
Now it was time for us to counterattack.
I signaled to Charlotte and immediately called out loudly to Tyler, who was waiting outside.
“Tyler!”
Whoosh!
At my shout, a fireball shot out from the cave entrance.
Tyler had fired multiple fireballs, each the size of a basketball, which he had prepared in advance.
However, as can be inferred from the size, the power of the fireballs was weak.
Academy students could enhance their bodies with mana.
To them, Tyler’s fireballs were merely useless trash magic, so it didn’t matter if they hit or missed.
Ultimately, Tyler was nicknamed ‘Campfire’ because his fireballs were unsuitable for combat.
They were just worthless combustion magic used to start fires occasionally.
Whoosh!
However, I found a hint from Tyler’s nickname.
Rather than shooting fireballs at the people, they were used to light fires.
Specifically, to burn the numerous bushes summoned by Charlotte.
“What, what’s that?”
“F-fire!”
It went as planned.
The moment Tyler shot the fireball, countless bushes sprang from Charlotte’s trap and quickly turned into a sea of flames.
In an instant, the entire cave was engulfed in fire, blocking our line of sight with smoke.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
But our group had already made our escape from the cave.
Wearing the goggles I had previously provided, I covered my airways with a water-soaked towel and rushed toward the cave entrance, which also served as the exit.
Since we had coordinated in advance, our group managed to escape the cave in an instant.
“Block them.”
As we escaped from the cave, I gave Charlotte another command.
To summon a large rock at the cave entrance to block it.
“Gahhh!! I can’t see!”
“Damn it!!! It’s blocked!!”
“Get out of the way!”
Soon the screams of our pursuers were heard beyond the rock.
They were panicking as the entrance was blocked.
Desperate, they began striking the rock Charlotte had summoned in an attempt to escape the cave.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
The rock vibrated intensely and began to crack.
Boom!
Ultimately, the rock was destroyed.
One rock couldn’t stop the academy students, after all.
But at that moment.
Boom!
I gathered mana in my leg and kicked the one who had broken the rock.
Having inhaled the smoke and unable to see clearly, they had no defense against my kick.
“Cough!”
Of course, those who tried to escape just after were in a similar state.
Coughing as they emerged, they were weak enough to be pushed back with just one kick.
They had inhaled hot smoke.
“Block them.”
After pushing them back, I summoned the rock again.
But again, the rock was easily destroyed.
That was because Max, the ace of the team, had stepped in.
“You damn commoner—!”
Boom!
However, he was also in a poor condition.
As soon as he emerged, I kicked him and he flew several meters back.
With an indifferent expression, I repeated the same command.
“Block them.”
The situation was simple.
They struggled to come out while we blocked them.
And it repeated just one more time.
Exerting all his strength, Max broke the rock and charged at me.
Boom!
But having inhaled plenty of smoke, he couldn’t bring out even 20% of his strength.
No matter how much he reinforced his body with mana, he couldn’t block the smoke penetrating his eyes and airways.
“Block them.”
So another rock was erected once again.
Screams began to echo from within the cave.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!”
“P-please! We surrender… we’re… defeated…”
…I hope they won’t die.
Just in case, I gathered mana in my fist and cracked the rock to check their state.
“How far have we come?”
Not far enough.
Seeing them desperately trying to crawl out, it seemed I could leave them a bit longer.
As another rock began to be summoned, they screamed.
“Nooooo! Cough! Cough! Cough!”
Regardless of their pleas, the rock was summoned.
Maybe just about 3 more minutes of smoking would work.
Boom!!!
At that moment.
A heavy bang resonated throughout the cave, causing the entire cave to tremble.
After a couple more such hits, the thick walls of the cave crumbled unceremoniously.
Since the frontal approach didn’t work, they had broken through from the side.
“Cough! Cough! Cough! Cough!”
Bursting out from the side was none other than Max.
He was gasping down the fresh air and coughing profusely.
Unfortunately, the smoking time was over.
Smoke was billowing from the cave’s sides like a fully cooked pressure cooker.
“Cough! Cough! You lowly commoner! Now! Cough! I’ll… kill you! Cough! Cough!”
He staggered back and got back on his feet.
In his hand was the ancestral sword of the Zigmund family, a black crystal sword.
Even in this situation, he was planning to fight; it was indeed a bold decision.
“I’ll finish this quickly.”
But I wouldn’t let my guard down.
The sword he brought was the Zigmund family’s ancestral sword.
An artifact crafted by a dwarf who bore the title of ‘Master.’
“Inventory.”
Thus, I decided to counter the cheating item with a cheating item.
I took out the ‘Plasma Beam Titanium Alloy Gauntlet’ stored in my inventory.
Fizz!
Then a crack opened in the air, revealing a single bracelet.
I snatched it from the air and immediately put it on my right wrist.
Then—
Zing…
The mana stone in the bracelet began to activate and transform.
Numerous mechanical parts extended from the bracelet, forming the shape of a gauntlet that enveloped my wrist and hand.
On my right hand was now a gauntlet with a jet-black base and silver embellishments.
Finally, the time had come to use the ‘Plasma Beam Titanium Alloy Gauntlet’ for the first time.