I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy – Chapter 9

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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Chaos
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“There’s something you must keep in mind.”

In Elena’s private training room, I nodded, meeting her serious gaze.

She stared at me with a complex expression for a moment, then sighed.

“First, you are an unofficial disciple. Officially, I am the Princess’s tutor, so I cannot formally accept you as a student.”

This was to be expected.

Imperial law dictated that a royal tutor could only have the royal as their disciple.

Having someone of non-royal blood as a fellow disciple was unacceptable.

“Yes, I understand. I won’t tell anyone.”

Elena was taking a considerable risk by taking me on as a student.

If discovered, she could be banished from the royal court.

“Well then, shall we decide on how to address each other? We are now master and disciple, after all.”

Titles.

It had been awkward from the moment they met.

In the game, I always addressed her formally, while she treated me with contempt.

“Let’s keep it casual. I’m not comfortable with formalities, especially with someone of your status, professor.”

“Hmm. I suppose I was being overly formal. You seem to be no ordinary person, so I naturally acted that way.”

She stretched, a blue haze of mana emanating from her as she performed mana refinement.

“From now on, I’ll just call you Ed.”

“Alright.”

“Be prepared for rigorous training. You weren’t born with the ability to manipulate mana, so you’ll have to work much harder than others.”

“I understand.”

As Elena said, I wasn’t naturally attuned to mana.

My current ability was a trick, thanks to ‘Engineering Thought.’ Without it, mana manipulation would be forever beyond my reach.

“We’ll take a rather… unorthodox approach. First, let’s find the ‘paths.'”

Paths?

Before I could ask, she placed her hand on my head.

An excruciating pain shot through me.

“Aaaaagh!!!”

My head throbbed. It felt like a splitting hangover.

“Remember this pain. Where you feel pain is where the mana flows.”

She was deliberately inflicting pain to stimulate my mana pathways and increase my mana capacity.

Elena removed her hand.

“You’re holding up well.”

“Gasp… Gasp…”

“Now, try refining mana. It will be painful, but different this time. I’ve opened the pathways.”

As she said, mana refinement would feel different now.

The intense stimulation had heightened the sensitivity of my mana pathways, like activating dormant muscles.

“Haaa… haaah… Master…”

I couldn’t refine mana as instructed.

My method was a trick using ‘Engineering Thought,’ required a mirror.

“I… haaa… hooo… need a mirror to refine mana.”

I explained my limitations.

Elena paused, then nodded.

“···Hmm. I suppose there are conditions for awakening mana at your age. You said you need a mirror?”

“Yes. I sought you out because I want to refine mana without this condition.”

“···Alright. Just a moment.”

She vanished in a puff of blue smoke, then reappeared instantly with a full-length mirror, placing it before me.

“Will this do?”

“Yes. This is perfect.”

“Good. Begin refining mana. Let’s see your mana capacity.”

I began refining mana.

A searing pain, like salt in a wound, shot through my head each time mana entered.

‘But I can definitely feel it.’

Despite the pain, my senses were heightened.

I could clearly feel the mana flowing through the pathways in my head.

Elena, who had been observing me, came closer.

“You definitely have fewer receptors. Look at this.”

She projected a blue hologram above her hand, shaped like a human head.

“This is a model of your head. See these blue dots? These are your mana receptors.”

Inside the head-shaped hologram were blue dots.

One, two, three, four, five… about 150 blue dots.

Elena corrected me, saying there were precisely 167, then continued,

“An average mage has about 1700 receptors. You have a tenth of that. Only 167.”

…It was a stark difference. I’d expected a disparity, but not this much.

“The number of mana receptors determines your power. The amount of mana you can store, your ability to channel it, the speed and power of your spells—everything depends on the number of receptors.”

Elena projected a human-shaped hologram, demonstrating how mana was used.

Mana receptors in the brain channeled mana throughout the body, activating spells.

“This is the performance of a mage with 1700 receptors. Compared to that, you—”

She projected another hologram, this one with only 167 receptors, and demonstrated the same spell.

The result was pathetic.

“As you can see, your spellcasting is slow, weak, and prone to failure. There’s a limit to how much you can improve through effort alone.”

“···Is there no way?”

“······”

Elena fell silent, lost in thought, her chin resting on her hand.

Finally, she said, “Well, you’ve already missed the critical period… That’s why increasing mana receptors before seven is so important. It’s the only time humans can develop them. The fact you can even use mana is a miracle.”

Elena’s answer was pessimistic.

Even she, a master of formulas and mana studies, had no solution.

Shaking her head, she muttered, “It’s impossible. Unless you’re a Blue Dragon, who nurtures mana crystals within their body from birth, every living being in this world develops mana receptors during infancy—”

“Wait a minute.”

I interrupted her, a spark of inspiration ignited by her words.

“What did you just say? Something about a Blue Dragon?”

“···? I said unless you’re a Blue Dragon, it’s difficult to develop mana receptors after infancy…”

…Unless you’re a Blue Dragon?

That meant if I became a Blue Dragon, the problem would be solved.

I could just embed a mana crystal in my body.

I looked up, an idea was forming in my head.

“···Master, what if I become a Blue Dragon?”

“······?”

Elena stared at me as if I’d lost my mind.

I would also jump to the same conclusion without any explanation.

So I decided to add a more detailed explanation.

“I mean, I’ll use the Blue Dragon’s mechanism. I will implant mana crystals in my body to replace the mana receptors.”

“······.”

Even with an explanation, Elena’s expression was one of utter disbelief.

She looked at me as if I were crazy.

“Ed… Only Blue Dragons can nurture mana crystals within their bodies. Implanting mana crystals in a human is impossible. It’s extremely harmful.”

She was right.

I’d tried eating ground-up mana stones and had been sick for days.

But I wasn’t giving up.
“So, we just need to find the way. Blue Dragons are perfectly fine with mana crystals in their bodies. We just need to research why.”

I was confident in my research abilities.

I had the hidden skills ‘Hand Skill’ and ‘Engineering Thought.’ I could unravel the Blue Dragon’s secret in a week, at most.

“…Haha. Research… And how do you propose to do that?”

“We capture a Blue Dragon.”

“C-Capture? A Blue Dragon…? Haha, Ed, Blue Dragons are extremely ferocious creatures. They’re dragons! Only a handful of people in the Empire could—”

Elena trailed off, noticing my stare. She chuckled, a hint of disbelief in her voice.

“Haha, you can’t be serious… Right?”

“Master.”

“Come on, we just started our master-disciple relationship. Don’t tell me you’re asking me to—”

“You can do it, Master. You know how powerful you are.”

“······.”

Elena’s expression shifted again.

It now read, “What have I gotten myself into?”

“So, you’re asking me, your master, the Archmage, to go to a Blue Dragon’s nest and capture one? That’s the order you want to give me?”

“It’s not an order, Master. It’s a disciple’s earnest plea.”

“Pfft. You think I’ll actually do it?”
“Yes.”

“Why?”
“You accepted me as your disciple, despite the risk of violating Imperial law. That means you have high expectations for me.”

“······.”
“And, Master, you’re a very inquisitive person. You publish papers in academic journals every year. I’ll satisfy your curiosity. Honestly, aren’t you curious about a human embedding a mana crystal and using it like a Blue Dragon?”

“······.”

Elena’s lips twitched. A powerful blue aura surged around her.

It was a sign that she was getting excited.

“You… you’re really… interesting… the more I get to know you the more interesting you become.”

Her breath became rapid, and her gaze intensified, bordering on unsettling.

I remembered a detail from Elena’s character profile in the game:

…Even now, it seemed like a crazy setting.

Sexually attracted to the most talented?

But there was a reason for this.

Deep within her subconscious was a primal urge to prepare for danger.

And the most effective way to prepare was to reproduce with someone of equal or greater talent.

It’s an act of Self-replication.

“Heh… Hehehe… Interesting… Ordering your master around like this…”

Elena’s reaction was familiar.

During my time playing ‘El Pandor Runterra,’ her advances weren’t uncommon.

“Sigh… You read me perfectly. I do have high expectations for you. Although it’s audacious, I suppose I can grant my cute disciple’s request.”

However, I hadn’t fully won her over yet.

She wasn’t about to pounce on me; she was still just observing, intrigued.

“Give me two days. An adult Blue Dragon is out of the question, but I should be able to capture one which is still in its growth period.”

“Thank you, Master.”

But there was definite interest in her eyes. A blush colored her cheeks, and her expression was alluring. Even if I wasn’t her top priority yet, I was definitely a contender.

“I’ll see you in two days.”

She vanished in a puff of blue smoke.

I sighed in relief.

The memory of Elena’s more… aggressive advances from the game flashed through my mind.

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