Thick cables ran along the interior frawork, exposed in sections where the outer plating hadn’t been attached yet.
Around them were scattered incomplete chassis pieces. This segnt of the workshop had the aesthetic of a high-tech lab dedicated to building sothing extraordinary.
Tools were arranged ticulously on magnetic strips and certain blueprints covered every available wall surface.
Ethan looked at the chanical arm and nodded approvingly. "It’s coming along well."
Lucy smiled. "It’s all thanks to your input every now and then. I wouldn’t have figured out half of these design solutions without you."
Ethan smiled back but said nothing.
He thought for a mont about how magi-engineers functioned in this world. They were similar to mages in many ways, but their focus was entirely on technology rather than direct spell-casting.
For magi-engineers, talent level determined how deeply you could comprehend the fundantal structure of materials. Different types of tals, magic cores, natural components, all of it had underlying structures that needed to be understood before they could be properly utilized.
And it was only by understanding these fundantal structures that a magi-engineer could even begin to construct and compile different parts together to create sothing truly spectacular.
Unfortunately, magi-engineering wasn’t a class sought out by most guilds. The reason being that they weren’t combat-oriented.
Magi-engineers had no natural instinct for battle, and were too reliant on their external gear, which could face critical mishaps during combat.
Either their equipnt would run out of its necessary power source at the worst possible mont, or it would get outright destroyed, leaving them utterly defenseless and a liability to their team.
It was why skilled magi-engineers were incredibly valuable outside of combat, but rarely found themselves on the front lines of breach zone clearances.
Lucy’s expression changed slightly, becoming more serious. "Although, unfortunately, your plan for this to be marketable might be short-lived."
"How so?" Ethan asked.
Lucy sighed. "First off, prior to my father’s work, a few other magi-engineers already had the idea for chas. But my father was the one who visualized it properly and spoke to a few influential people about it."
She paused. "After his death, there was a sudden rise in cha part constructs appearing in the market."
Ethan’s mind flashed back to the camping trip. That girl from Mallory High, Yaris, had been wearing a giant chanical gauntlet. He had thought it was impressive at the ti, but now the context made more sense.
"I see," Ethan said. "The people he told shared his ideas with others."
Lucy nodded. "Yes. And the companies that could afford it outsourced high-talent magi-engineers from outside the city and even outside the country to push these ideas into reality."
Ethan sighed.
Lucy continued, "You know Crypco, right?"
Ethan nodded. "Yes. The high-tech equipnt company, yeah?"
Lucy nodded in affirmation. "They announced a full cha build."
Ethan was quiet for a mont. Then he said, "Yes, but I don’t think it’s as ready as they claim."
He held up one finger. "First off, they haven’t even announced a launch date. And they haven’t invited enough to see this cha of theirs...
...Although I don’t think they’re lying about the build itself. I just don’t think it’s ready enough to be functional yet."
Then he turned to Lucy, who glanced at him, and added with a reassuring smile, "But in any case, keep up the good work."
He reached out and patted his hand gently on her head, as though he were trying to motivate a child.
And although they were practically the sa age and had been classmates just a month ago, Lucy couldn’t help but smile widely at the gesture.
Ethan then walked over to inspect the chanical arm more closely. He traced his hand along the fine details of the plating.
But as his fingers brushed over one of the exposed circuits near the wrist joint, sothing unexpected happened.
A small blitz of electric energy passed from his palm tips directly into the arm’s internal wiring.
The entire arm jerked violently to life for just a second, with the fingers twitching, before it went still again.
Ethan suddenly pulled his hand back with widened eyes, staring at his palm in shock.
He glanced back at Lucy, who had the exact sa shocked expression on her face.
"What... just happened?" Lucy whispered.
Ethan stared at his hand for another mont, flexing his fingers. "Not entirely sure myself."
Although he could guess this had to be related to his affinity sohow. The Aspect of Charge. He generated electrical discharge without aning to, and it had transferred directly into the arm’s circuitry.
He narrowed his eyes, then shook his head to clear the thought before stepping away from the chanical arm and turning back Lucy.
Not long after, they both resud their discussions,moving past the strange incident without dwelling on it further.
—-
In Belsorth Academy...
The students had just gone on break ti, which also ant break ti for the tutors and staff.
Bettie was an assistant to the second-year form teacher, Mr. Kent, and as such, she had access to the special cafeteria reserved for teachers only.
It was a smaller and quieter space compared to the student dining hall.
It still felt surreal being here sotis, walking through the sa halls she attended as a student just a month ago, but now on the other side of things.
Eventually, break ca to an end and Bettie left the cafeteria alongside the other tutors. As they moved through the hallways, their paths intersected with students who were also returning from their own cafeteria.
Isabella walked past her in the company of her chatty friend, Esiyae, who was gesturing animatedly while talking about sothing.
But the mont Isabella ca into Bettie’s line of sight, there was a sudden change.
For just a brief mont, Bettie saw a vision of Isabella covered in darkness and writhing tentacles of shadow hovering around her body.
And below her, lying unconscious on the ground, was Bettie’s own body. The tendrils reached down and wrapped around her limp form, slowly subrging her into a pool of absolute darkness that seed to have no bottom.
Bettie’s eyes widened, and she froze in place.
Isabella noticed the stare, turned toward Bettie and gave a slight nod of acknowledgnt. They sort of knew each other from Ethan’s circle, after all.
Then she continued walking with Esiyae, disappearing down the hallway.
But before Bettie could even think to respond, one of the female tutors had crossed in front of her and stopped.
"Are you alright?" the woman asked.
Bettie blinked and realized she had been standing there motionlessly, staring at nothing.
She nodded quickly. "Yes. I’m fine."
The tutor nodded and walked away.
Bettie stood there for another mont, her heart still racing.
What she had just seen was a scene from when she had been unconscious in the factory. But the vision made no sense to her, especially since Ethan and Isabella had never explained that part of what happened.
Eventually, Bettie shook her head and forced herself to walk away, rejoining the flow of staff heading back to their classrooms.
——
A/N: 150 tickets bonus Chapters complete ✅
I tried to get pictures for these parts and components, but the generated results have not been to my taste.
But when i get one that works, I’ll post.
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