The Mana engineering department was as barren as Elior remembered. That might be good for him now as he could work alone, but in the long run, it's another disadvantage for humanity. In the end, very few chose to be a mana engineer and amount them very few were good at it. After all, mana engineering was not anything easy to learn.
The department held an entire floor of its own on the third floor of the main academy building. Well it was not mana engineer, but the smithing department was here too as both of them were closely related to artifacing.
Elior arched his eyebrow and looked at the main hall of the department where the class was supposed to be taken. Shaking his head at the resolute hall, Elior went inside one of room.
Equipment of various sizes and needs was there on the table surrounding the wide room, but there was not even a single student present. Most of them were the equipment was of smithing, rather than engineering, as both of the departments were under the same professor and quite related to each other.
He already knew all this, but he could not help but feel disappointed seeing the desolate room here. He waited there for a while, took a seat in the corner of the room and left his toolkit and the other heavy baggage on the floor. The Toolkit was bought at the trial store while for the other box was brought from the academy city.
He knew the teacher may not even come today, but he was here for another reason. He needed to craft something that would specialise in his training and he had something in mind.
Without wasting a moment, Elior unpacked the other baggage and various metal bars and other materials such as hard silk-like materials, jewels unfolded from it. He had to hassle a lot to buy this stuff from the academy. Apparently, the staff who was in charge of the stores here was not convinced Elior as a freshman could pay for it all and more, knew any usage of the materials.
Clicking his tongue once, Elior took five bars of tungsten and two bars of titanium. Each of the bars held five kgs, so in total it was thirty-five kgs. 35 kgs were more than enough for the current him. And if he needed more he could always make more. Putting the metals on the forge to melt, he moved to the other corner of the room.
He put on a thick apron, footwear and gloves that were available for the students. Then it was time to choose a hammer. Elior chose a long sledgehammer and went to the forge again. The melting did not take long, and he started hammering the metals. His physical strength was not much, so he infused mana into the hammer even to work with normal metals like tungsten and titanium.
The red metal from the head bounced once after each hammering as he purified the alloy. But to make the thing he needed, only the alloy of Tungsten and Titanium was not enough.
In between, he put all the blue and green looking pearl into the forge. There was the material used to make handcuffs and other mana isolation artifacts, and their key attribute was that it could negate the usage of mana. Even Though those tiny pearls were of inferior quality, only one of them cost him tens of time compared to the metals. It cost him 700000 credits just to buy 200 gram of inferior grade Mana Nullifying stone.
Elior made the alloy hammering hundreds of times. Sweat dripped from his face as he pulled the mana nullifying stone from the forge. It had melted into a liquid and made into an oceanic blue colour. He added the liquid to the red metal as colourful vapour rose when the liquid touched the hot alloy.
Elior felt the mana was weakening in his body just by breathing a little in the air. He nodded in affirmation.
Elior started hammering again. What he was doing so far was not Mana engineering, but smithing. Engineering comes after he prepared the materials for it. He made flat bars out of the alloy, each holding 200 grams or more.
Now only the hardest part is left, but it won't be for him. All he needed to do now was inscribed the runes onto the bars and then make a training vest and trousers out of it. Wiping his face with a towel, Elior was about to bring out his engineering toolkit when he noticed there was not only him in the room now.
"Since when did the freshman learn to smith so well?" said a man sitting in the middle of the room. The man was in the late of his prime, had a beard of black and white mixed and fairly good hair in solid black. His skin was oily but fair, and he was wearing trousers that did not reach his knee and a grey vest.
"Good afternoon, Professor Neldor," Elior greeted, trying to hide the melancholy in his voice.
Professor Neldor nodded in approval. Issac Neldor, the one in charge of the institute's mana engineering and Smithing department. His reputation in the academy did not lose out to the dean, even though he was lower in the position. The reason for that was not only that Issac Neldor was the best Blacksmith and Mana engineer on earth, but he also held a great reputation in the Mother world too.
If any guardians want an artifact from him, they have to strictly meet his requirement and wait for months, not because he was damn busy with his work, but because he had no motivation for work. But even without motivation, he was a damn good artificer that Elior never hoped to be.
"I thought about sending an upper-class man today to instruct the only student I got this year, but the dean was hell-bent on me to look at the only student," Professor Neldor said flatly. "Kid, what are you trying to make?"
"Something that will help me with my training." Elior did not lie, but he did not tell the truth either.
"I can see that," Professor Issac said. Just by smelling, he could tell what materials were put into the forge. "You seemed to have a clear idea about what you are trying to make."
Elior's expression did not change, but he said nothing. He could not lie if Professor Neldor asked about how he learned all this, not only because Professor Neldor was once his teacher, he just could not lie. But he was not that worried. The teacher he knew was not someone who was interested in anything, even if he showed god-giving talent.
"Ha ha," Professor Neldor chuckled. "I like self-established people the most. You can just work here, no need to give any answer to me or any other person as long as you abide by the rule."
Elior nodded. Just as he expected.
"You seemed to not need my instruction, so I'll be going then," his teacher stood up from the seat and left the room. "Leave before the department closes."
Elior sighed, looking at the leaving man. His eyes did not hide the melancholy and pity now. Issac Neldor once had been his teacher in mana engineering and blacksmithing, but he could not teach him for a long time.
Unconsciously, his palm was made into a fist. Elior noticed and softened it before continuing his task again.
Elior took the Rune handler which had the shape of a thick pen and started inscribing into those flat bars. Elior started slowly, even though he had the knowledge of a grandmaster in mana engineering. His current state could not allow him to inscribe even the simplest runes easily, much less what he needed to inscribe now was just below the intermediate level.
Elior put his will and mana into the rune handler and felt the viscous liquid inside it. The ink. It was made out primarily of mana stones and various other elements. The one in his hand now was of no attribute.
To complete a training vest and trousers, he needed to at least inscribe 1200 complete runes. There was no way he could finish it before the department closes.
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This is done by professional, do not try this at home. He he.