Esabel approached Engi as he returned from his morning routine of exercise and shooting. Her face looked grim as she began to speak. "The higher ups have decided that you need to be tested at HQ. This means you will not be able to continue learning from me. This also means that they will find out about your affinity to metal. In a way this is good news as it will teach you what you need to know about your own abilities. Unfortunately it also means that all of your actions from that point on will be monitored. You will have no free time, every second of your life will be controlled."
"There is an alternative. You can apply to become an official apprentice to a powerful mechanic. The only way for this to happen would be to earn the position through displaying your abilities in combat situations. You will still be tested at HQ, but you can apply for official apprenticeship if you have earned enough merit. This will give you more freedom, but the amount of training and resources you recieve will be inferior."
"Most orcs would not even choose this option as our personal freedom is not something they even think about. We live for the army, breath for the army, and die for the army. You however are not really an orc, your ideas and needs are different from ours. The apprenticeship program seems perfect for you. We will arrive at HQ in a month, By then you need to decide which program to enter. To earn the merit needed to apply we will not be putting you into actual combat, rather a combat simulator that is similar to the Virtual Reality in your world."
"If you go this route you will need to make adjustments to your schedule. Your mechanical and formation training cannot be stopped. You will also need to complete your first schematic if you wish to apply for an apprenticeship. the quality of the schematic will give you merits as well. This means you will have to cut either your morning training or the time you're using for your goggles. I would suggest cutting both for the time being as you will have two tasks to complete in a month. But if you must keep one I would keep the goggles. They will have the most immediate use."
Engi nodded as he listened, he had actually completed the goggles, he only needed to find a power source and build the runic formation. He had already found the correct runic formation, it had a pretty simple function, it only needed to provide continuous power to the Artificial Intelligence system inside. The power output of the formation was low, and its ability to gather energy was mediocre, but more than enough to keep the low power output going consistently. He voiced the information to Esabel as he showed her the formation. She responded after a moment of thought.
"We can build the formation tonight after your work is done. I will guide you through the process, but will only help this once. The process is always the same, it only gets more complex as you use different formations. Each rune reacts differently depending on its attributes, which is why such intense study of the runes and formations is necessary. Normally a [rune master mechanic] would be performing the formation building, but as it is such a simple formation at the basic level of the study of runes I am sufficient to guide you. As a unique rank mechanic creating and building formations is something you can do."
The conversation ended there and Engi quickly go to work on doing his repairs. He had already seen and repaired 90% of the items that were brought to his table. Using the limited knowledge he had gained during the last month here he made the repairs quickly, occasionally making an upgrade to the weapon if inspiration struck him.
The upgrades he occasionally made were the real source of experience from him. He only recieved a small amount for doing repairs that he had done before. If he only focused on doing repairs he would still be struggling to make level 4. This showed him that while esabel had a high amount of practical experience and knowledge, more than likely she had a low level. He did not mind that however. as the knowledge the orc women held in her head made her an incredible teacher for an apprentice mechanic like himself.
It did not take long for him to finish the repairs that were on his table, and he soon moved onto studying the runes. He had long since copied all of the information Esabel had given him into his own notebooks, so he began to read through them. He had made a practice of drawing out the runes as he was reading them, this gave him a better understanding of the rune itself. The Interpretations of the rune often came from the shape of the runes themselves, that and how they reacted with other runes. However the more Engi studied the more he realized that the runes themselves had a source of independent energy. This energy simply could not be utilized without being in a formation or having a power source.
Despite the repetition of the work, Enginrather enjoyed the study of runes and formations. They reminded him of a language. A language with no real meaning, just interpretations of a meaning. But, if one thinks about it, aren't all languages like that? FUCK is simply four letters put together. We are the ones who made it into a bad word. The runes were like that. They existed, and we were the ones who attached meaning to them.
Time flew by and soon his time for studying the runes. Esabel had approached him, in her hands a small machine. It reminded him of a tattoo gun, but instead of a needle it was a small laser. He nodded as he took the formation laser from her, examining it in his hands. after he felt like he understood how the machine worked ye grabbed a small block of metal and began to test it out.
He started with the first rune, he had only just began as his hand slipped, messing up the design of the rune. His blunder did not stop him however as he readjusted himself. He messed up two more times before he was able to complete the first rune. He stopped there, getting up to stretch his legs and get a drink of water. Only after he felt the restlessness ease did he sit back down and begin to practice again.
He made it through the second and third runes before he made another mistake. He once again repeated his process of movement and water before trying again. He continued his attempts at practice for three hours, eventually getting through half of the formation. At that time it was time for bed. Esabel took away the machine. He would practice again tomorow.