Everything happened suddenly, but Kraynnor had been expecting it to some extent. After all, he knew the notifications would come; this time, he had been working on producing seven technologies that would be crucial in the upcoming battle.
Kraynnor watched as the notifications appeared one after another.
[Ding!]
[User God Mechanic has built a One-Star device; ten knowledge points will be awarded...]
The system continued with its notifications until it finally fell silent. In total, two One-Star devices and five Zero-Star devices had been revealed, granting him a total of thirty-seven Knowledge Points.
Now, his points had increased to one hundred and two!
Fwish!
A vast gray panel suddenly emerged before him. Then, the voice of the Universal System echoed, a compliment for a change.
[User God Mechanic's Novice Mechanic class has accumulated enough Knowledge Points, placing you in the top 100 of mechanics who have advanced the fastest in their first class promotion. An achievement only a genius could attain...]
However, as if it knew what he was thinking, the tone abruptly changed, adopting a different attitude.
[...Though for a 'Galactic Genius,' it's more or less, you'll have to work harder.]
"You..." Kraynnor was about to insult this bastard who, for some reason, always found a way to taunt him on every occasion. However, something began to happen just inches away from him.
In the center of the panel, a small silver nut started to turn slowly. The spin became faster, turning into a whirlwind of metal. The nut transformed into a small gray portal that seemed to lead to a mysterious corner of the universe.
"!"
Kraynnor looked in astonishment as a black metallic hand emerged from the portal, its joints sparkling with a mesmerizing blue light.
He didn't understand why, but at the very moment this hand appeared, he felt his surroundings multiply in density, as if the gravity in that place had increased tenfold.
[Let's see if this satisfies you now.]
From inside the portal, the system's voice spoke words that he had no idea what they meant.
Kraynnor tried to move, but his muscles refused to obey. He was immobilized, completely vulnerable. The metallic hand approached slowly, and the metal index finger touched his forehead. An electric current loaded with information began to flood his mind.
Suddenly, everything plunged into darkness, and soon, colorful lights began to flicker around him. He felt his body fading away and being transported at astonishing speeds.
"What the hell?"
It was evident that his consciousness had been shifted in the blink of an eye to an unknown place.
"!?"
Strangely, he found himself transformed into a ten-year-old child, sitting at a desk in a classroom with an extraordinary view. In a window next to him, an amazing planetary system unfolded, with gigantic planets floating in space and a vast sky dominated by the majestic presence of a central black hole, around which orbited two shining white stars. Kraynnor shared this wonderful vision with other children his age around him.
He tried to speak, but he found it impossible to control his own body; he was simply sitting with his head forward.
Kraynnor could only move his eyes, which was extremely uncomfortable.
"The laws of physics that govern this universe, along with energy, technology, and creation, constitute our legacy throughout countless cosmic cycles. Who knows, maybe some of you are destined to become masters of these disciplines. Therefore, it is crucial that you pay attention to this class, as your future is at stake."
The teacher, an imposing figure four meters tall, dressed in a white robe and a metallic mask that only revealed a burning red light in its center, continued his lecture with an enigmatic voice, impossible to classify as male or female.
"If you don't, you might limit your opportunities and find yourselves working in inferior civilizations. The choice is yours, and it will depend on whether you want your loved ones to see you as incompetent."
The children around nodded seriously.
"..."
Suddenly, the teacher stopped and scrutinized him intensely, which accelerated Kraynnor's heart rate.
It was as if he was facing an entity with the power to reduce him to nothing with a simple gesture, a being that plunged him into a sense of total inferiority. It was as if a human were condescendingly looking at an insect, reminding it that, despite years of evolution, the gap between them remained immense.
"Young being from some corner of the universe, always remember that greatness awaits those who dare to venture into the unknown. Embrace humility in the face of vastness, and you will discover your destiny at the end of the path."
With those words, the teacher stopped looking at him and began to teach a lesson on the basic concepts every mechanic should have.
Time passed slowly, and Kraynnor absorbed every word of the teacher, slowly assimilating the fundamental knowledge that was essential for any mechanic on their path to mastery. Months seemed to pass in that strange learning trance.
"?"
Before he could react, everything disintegrated into dust, plunging him into the deepest darkness.
When he finally opened his eyes, he experienced overwhelming dizziness and profound disorientation. The metallic hand withdrew and faded into the gray portal, but just before it sealed completely, the system's voice echoed from within.
[What's wrong? Was it too much for you? If you react like this to something so elementary, I wonder what will happen when you advance your class again. Will you fall into an irreversible coma?]
"...Shut up," Kraynnor muttered, shaking his head. The experience had been truly strange, but he had learned some interesting things.
He glanced at the time on his HoloCraft and realized that only a couple of minutes had passed since that gray portal appeared. In other words, this system had somehow transported his consciousness to a place where time passed in a completely different way.
In fact, he began to doubt whether he had experienced an actual displacement to another place or if it was simply a temporary simulation.
In Caelum, extensive research had been conducted in that field, exploring virtual reality as a means to accelerate time within simulations, allowing scientists to study and create new inventions in a much shorter period in real life.
Kraynnor suspected that what he had experienced was similar to those experiments, as he found it hard to believe that his consciousness had been physically transported to some other corner of the universe.
[Ding!]
[The "Novice Mechanic" class has advanced to "Apprentice Mechanic."]
[You have been granted "Foundational Level Knowledge of the Mechanic class." You now have access to the apprentice mechanics' chat and have been granted a system of passive and active abilities.]
In the blink of an eye, Kraynnor witnessed his class changing in the interface, and with it, the point accumulation went from zero to a hundred and rose to an astonishing figure from zero to a thousand. This change left him perplexed, as it represented a tenfold increase from the previous amount.
However, in his confusion, he understood that this improvement meant that accumulating points would be much more accessible.
Despite not possessing knowledge that exceeded that of a Type One civilization, he was still capable of creating a significant amount of innovative technology that would earn him a considerable number of points. The path to the next class promotion looked even more promising!
Kraynnor noticed something that caught his attention: the apprentice mechanics' chat.
Could he communicate with mechanics from other corners of the universe?