"Uwaah." A body flew back and landed awkwardly on the ground, a few meters away. "Ugh, can't you at least try to pull your punches?" Nathan groaned as he struggled to sit up.
Reyes chuckled as he retracted his fist. "Oh come on, this is necessary. You won't see the enemy going easy on you so I also cannot go easy on you. It's all to give you real experience, so take it like a man."
Nathan scoffed at his words. "Huh, tell me when I would have the chance to use martial arts against killer robots and mutant creatures. If you ask me, this is pointless."
Both of them were currently training their martial arts in one of the academy's gymnasia.
"It may seem pointless but I believe it is necessary. You can always apply the martial arts concepts you learn in a battle. A swordsman can make use of sword techniques it better hone their skill.
"A Repairman like you, you could make use of escape arts to keep yourself alive and at least handle an enemy if caught in a one on one fight. So, it's not completely useless."
Both Nathan and Reyes turned to the left to find a muscular teen seated outside the court. He was one of the five that remained conscious during the escape room challenge.
His name was Gary Rupert and he was a Defender class. His stats were pretty good, ranking in the top right in their Squadron. "You heard the big guy, it's important. Now stand up and come get some ass-whooping."
Nathan gritted his teeth as he rose to his feet and charged. He formed a fist and there it out. Rey's had a sinister grin as he moved his fist to collide in the middle with Nathan.
"Fuck!!!" Nathan yelled in pain as he heard a crunching sound of bones cracking from his fist. He was sure that something was broken. At that moment, a teardrop fell from his eye.
He dropped to the ground and rolled from side to side with Reyes collapsing to the ground as he held his belly, laughing so hard he could cry. Gary watched this and could not help but laugh in amusement.
"You are just bullying me right now." Nathan lamented. "Oh please, deal with it." Reyes flicked a teardrop from his eye, he was enjoying himself greatly.
"How about I go next?" They turned over to find that Gary had stepped into the ring. "Who are you gonna spar with?" Reyes asked as cold sweat beads rolled down his back.
"Isn't it obvious?" Gary cracked his knuckles and flashed Reyes a sinister grin. Reyes's expression darkened considerably. How the hell was he supposed to fight against an absolute hulk of a figure like Gary.
This guy was built like The Rock, He wondered if he was a teenager. "Are you sure you didn't lie about your age?" Gary harrumphed. "No more questions. Now we fight."
Reyes took a glance at Nathan to find that he also had a dark smile on his face. "Your turn to feel pain." Reyes felt pain even before he got hit.
***
"I get bored in those theory classes so today, I believe we should work with some equipment to familiarize ourselves with them," Helen remarked as she led a group of cadets into a workshop.
She looked quirky, just like last time.
The workshop she led the group into was fitted thoroughly with enough space to fit over a hundred people without any trouble.
As they stood at the door, a total of ten raised platforms were before them. On each platform, a rather long rifle was placed on the gun.
"Today, we shall be studying the Sniper class equipment, and what better way to start than to take a look at their weapons. Everyone split up into groups of five and move over to a table."
Nathan, Leah, and Riley found themselves on table number four with two other forgettable extras. They were dressed in their respective Squad uniforms.
Nathan felt at ease in this environment. He had been struggling in unfamiliar territory ever since he got into the academy.
Even though he had dropped his ambitions of becoming a mere Techcrafter, he couldn't deny that he felt more at home when surrounded by gadgets and the likes.
Faced with the fact that after over a week of absorbing energy from the core, he was unable to see any sign of a core-forming or that he hadn't yet found a suitable martial art to train in. Everything just felt too strange to him.
He took this practical class as a chance to cool off and just let loose. Due to how things had been, he hadn't even had time to go over to Hassan's workshop to continue his punishment. "I should go when I have time."
He sighed with Leah noticing the fatigue on his face. She thought for quite some time before she reached out and poked him at his side. "Are you okay?" She asked as Nathan turned to her.
He managed a smile as he nodded in response before returning his attention to the table. "Now, what you have on your table is the most basic and yet, most important weapon of a Sniper. It's a sniper model, AWM-98.
"The basic stats of the gun are high recoil, high shooting power, simple to use aim with a range of over five kilometers. It's quite heavy to lump around, to be honest.
"In any case, your lab assignment is to disassemble and assemble the gun." Nathan put up a brow as a cadet raised his hand. "Yes?"
"We only have to break it apart and then fix it?" Helen nodded. "Of course. That's it." Nathan shook his head as he returned his attention to the gun with his hands reaching out to caress the gun muzzle. "It can't be that easy."
Most groups had already started studying the gun design to know how to put it back together once they had pulled it apart.
"We should start," Riley remarked as he reached out to begin taking out the parts. Just then, Nathan heard it.
[Ding… System reboot successful. Uploading information.]
[Loading….0%....45%...64%...99%... Loading complete. Welcome, User, to the Mech System. Please say 'inform' to check your updated status.]
Nathan inadvertently smiled inwardly as he muttered. "inform."
A blue status screen appeared in his vision.
[System interface]
[Species: Human ]
[Age: 16 ]
[Sex: Male ]
[ Level – 1 ]
[Strength: 45/100 ]
[Endurance: 30/100 ]
[ Vitality: 80/100 ]
[ Coordination: 70/100 ]
[ Dexterity: 60/100 ]
[Energy level: -65/100… Error, User is on an energy deficit, usage of passive skills will be temporarily stopped until the deficit is removed.]
[Active skills: Transfer Window Lvl.1.]
[Passive skills: Leonardo's touch Lvl.1, Unshakable will Lvl.1, Team player Lvl.1, Eyes of Laplace Lvl.1, Troubleshooter Lvl.1 ]
[To acquire Active skills and level up, users must complete missions with a significant completion rate.]
[ Daily Mission – Main: Refurbish ten Exo suits before the end of the day. Reward: Four stat points and ???... Time left: 10:09:99]
[Side mission: Disassemble and assemble any equipment dedicated to any of the ten Guardian classes. Rewards: Understanding of said weapon will increase and two stat points.]
Nathan's gaze was fixated on two things. One was the energy deficit that had been reduced. "Thankfully, the crystal is helping me offload the debt."
He had been worried that the crystal would be used due to the energy debt but his worries were unwarranted. The second thing that caused his eyes to glow was the side mission he had gotten.
Unfortunately, he still had not gotten clearance to mess with Exo suits but now, he had a side mission that he could very well get down with. He could not be any less happy about this.
Even the rewards were enticing, to say the least. "How come the side mission seems to have better rewards than the main mission?" He did not dwell on that thought as his hands eagerly grasped the sniper.
Riley, Leah, and the other two extras threw glances at him. "Let me handle this," Nathan said confidently as he began to dismantle the gun in real-time.
By some crazy logic even though he had started later than the rest, he ended up finishing before them. "Heh, I've got more knowledge than you guys think when it comes to this." His days with Doctor Chen in the other timeline were still fresh.
"Well, would you look at that? That was quite exciting." Helen said from the side as her eyes glowed with a certain light. Nathan could immediately tell, that she was a kindred spirit that loved tech and felt at home around it.
"But unfortunately, none of you pass." Nathan frowned. "What do you mean?" A cadet cried out in confusion. "At least, you would pass if you managed to come up here and describe a particular component in the sniper that I would choose. You will describe its physical appearance and how it works in the weapon."
When she said those words, her goofy act was all but gone. A serious expression covered her face.