I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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The Empire Academy.

This place is an ultra-elite military training institution where only the most talented individuals in the world can enroll.

As a result, from the path leading to the main gate to the campus, the fountain, garden, densely towering spires, and various statues of great figures, every element exuded a beauty befitting its reputation.

Simply stepping foot here was enough to evoke admiration; it was a space brimming with dignity.

“Great Mage Professor Elena… She’s even more beautiful than I imagined.”

“Professor Gracia had a presence that was no joke. Truly the Empire’s Swordmaster…”

“I was surprised by Professor Sanders. I didn’t expect him to be so knowledgeable about spell applications… I’m looking forward to it.”

However, the reason the Empire Academy was famous was not solely due to its beautiful exterior.

It was also the fame of the professors leading the students.

Each of them was a globally renowned celebrity, which filled every student with excitement as they entered.

After all, they could see their idols, whom they had long dreamt of, right in front of them.

“Ah— I’m so nervous. Isn’t it still not even six o’clock?”

“Still, I’m glad we came early. We got front row seats, so we can see up close.”

“Phew— I just want to see him already.”

In this context, the most popular professor all students unanimously pointed to was undoubtedly ‘Edgar Fix.’

And it’s no wonder that Edgar had several elements that made him so popular.

Just looking at the recent events alone proves that.

Edgar Fix presented a new paradigm about ‘Heavenly Beings’ by ascending to the universe’s borders.

This was one of the major incidents that changed the perspectives of all nobles and commoners around the world.

For the nobility, it brought the honor of being ‘descendants of the stars,’ and for commoners, it instilled the hope that ‘anyone can become a descendant of the stars.’

Also, there were rumors about the suit he wore.

Rumors that Clendor coveted him, but Edgar single-handedly repelled them.

The numerous anecdotes he created while being a student at the Academy.

His inventions that profoundly influenced the Empire.

So much so that there were even jokes saying the Empire’s most beautiful woman was Edgar Fix.

It was impossible not to have expectations.

Thus, in this gigantic lecture hall that could accommodate hundreds of students, many were sparkling with anticipation.

– Bang.

At that moment, the door designated for officials opened, and everyone’s attention centered on it.

And as the man in a suit appeared, everyone seemed to follow him as if enchanted.

He was indeed a perfect beauty, enough to make one think the phrase ‘the Empire’s most beautiful woman is Edgar Fix’ wasn’t just an empty saying.

– Step… Step…

As everyone focused, the sound of shoes echoed in the quiet classroom.

It felt as if a statue that didn’t seem human at all was walking toward the podium.

– Swish.

Standing under the bright lights at the podium, Edgar looked around at the students in the lecture hall.

About half of them gazed at him with sparkling eyes, while the other half looked at him with a dazed expression.

The number of those eyes alone must have been in the hundreds.

– Pfft.

In the midst of this, Edgar noticed Enya’s face, flush with color.

Her ears were red, and her cute appearance made him smile without realizing it.

However, that small smile alone was enough to make the female students in the lecture hall flutter.

Just a little chuckle seemed to stop time, making hearts race.

“Nice to meet you.”

Edgar then cleared his throat and began the lecture.

As usual, he started with an introduction.

“I’m Edgar Fix.”

Edgar Fix.

Edgar’s introduction was so concise.

Nice to meet you, I’m Edgar Fix.

That was it.

However, that was enough to convey meaning.

The value of that name was proven by the fact that the lecture hall was packed with hundreds of students.

“Humans are weak.”

And with an unexpected statement, Edgar opened the lecture.

In front of the best talent of the Human race, he began his lecture by saying “humans are weak.”

Some enthusiastic freshmen twitched their brows.

“By nature, humans are weak. Visual acuity, bone density, muscle stiffness, nerve response speed, physical composition. All these aspects lag behind countless monsters. Individual humans, with their inherent bodies, can never defeat monsters.”

Edgar explained human weakness based on inherent physical conditions.

There was no room for disagreement on this.

Without using ‘Mana’ and ‘Spells’, pure physical specs alone couldn’t defeat monsters.

“But currently, humans rule as the strongest species on earth. What is the key to that? You there, female student?”

Edgar spoke as he pointed a question at the female student right in front of him.

Isabella, with a flushed and panicked face, replied, “U-uh, high intelligence?”

Edgar smiled and nodded.

“High intelligence, I agree with that. The average intelligence of humans far surpasses most monsters. But that alone isn’t enough. Dwarves and Elves have intelligence at least as high as humans, if not higher. In fact, Elves surpass the average intelligence of humans by a wide margin.”

A few Dwarves and Elves shuddered at Edgar’s comments.

Edgar continued as he moved around.

“So what is the key? If you have any thoughts, please raise your hand and speak freely.”

Hearing Edgar’s words, hands began to shoot up from here and there.

Edgar picked the most confident-looking students to answer.

Group behavior, bipedal posture, smooth communication skills, discovery of spells and mana, and saving Heavenly Beings, among various other answers.

“Endless desire and cunning.”

Amidst this, an Elf made a rather hostile statement.

He listed desire and cunning as the reasons that allow humans to rule as the strongest species.

Yet Edgar maintained his smile and nodded.

“I also recognize that. Humans are greedy and cunning. But if that alone could determine the strongest species, shouldn’t a Goblin, who might be even worse than us, reign as the strongest? Why were they expelled by Elves and lost most of their habitats in the forests?”

Elves, who were pushed back into the woods after losing to humans in war.

Edgar countered by likening the grudge of the Elves against humans to the relationship between Goblins and Elves.

“………”

The Elf female student fell silent, like a cat caught off guard.

Just as humans drove Elves into the woods, Elves also shoved Goblins into the forest of death.

And as the Elf female student sat down, Edgar continued.

“Though I haven’t yet received the answer I’m looking for, all your answers are correct. There are several complex reasons why humans reign as the world’s strongest species.”

Edgar said this and snapped his fingers.

The screen behind Edgar lit up.

It displayed a fire burning on firewood.

“However, if I had to pick just one among the many factors, I’d say it’s the ‘ability to use tools’. Humans have evolved as ‘tool-using animals’.”

Tool-using animals.

Edgar provided various grounds for his argument.

The freely moving arms, the intricate movements of the fingers.

The ability to accurately throw projectiles that no monster dares to touch.

The ability to process tools according to their intended use, etc.

He convinced the students in the lecture hall.

“And one of the greatest tools invented by humans is ‘fire’.”

Fire.

He explained how the invention of fire allowed humanity, which was merely primitive tribes, to grow at a rapid pace.

After all, as ‘cooking’ became possible, the available food increased drastically, allowing for efficient calorie supply to the brain.

Edgar referred to this as the ‘energy revolution’.

As humans, who couldn’t eat raw food well, began cooking it, they could efficiently supply energy, and the remaining calories would feed the brain, leading to progressive evolution with larger brains.

“Thus, these monkeys with the highest fuel efficiency have become upright-walking humans. High-intelligence monkeys with a brain capacity of 1400cc, in other words, they evolved into humans.”

Edgar argued that the invention of fire was when humanity truly became human.

The students listened to Edgar’s lecture with great interest.

From their perspective, these evolutionary theories were new insights.

Edgar proceeded with the next explanation.

“Not only that, but the invention of fire made humans safer. The monsters, who possess an instinctive fear of fire, cannot invade human habitats. Furthermore, fire enabled not just cooking but also the processing of materials, thus being useful in creating tools like ‘pottery’. In other words, the real invention of tools began.”

With the invention of ‘cooking’, not only did brain capacity grow, but humans began to create various tools utilizing their increased intelligence.

Edgar explained that this led to the beginning of a ‘labor revolution’.

With the help of various tools, work efficiency improved.

“Thus, humanity entered the agricultural age. Accordingly, surplus production soon became wealth, and wealth led to wars. They began to plunder the wealth of other tribes. Depending on climate, some tribes would have good harvests while others would have poor ones.”

With the invention of fire, humanity progressively started obtaining a modern appearance.

Edgar explained how the outcome of wars created classes, and those classes birthed civilization.

Shifting from a horizontal culture in a matriarchal society to a vertical culture in a patriarchal society.

“Then slowly as civilization began to establish, another revolution occurred. The Heavenly Beings descended to the earth.”

The descent of the Heavenly Beings.

Edgar described the Heavenly Beings as ‘the saviors to redeem humanity from demons’.

In preparation for the demonic invasion, they spread ‘the usage of mana and spells’, which drastically accelerated the advancement of civilization.

“And so humanity began to live in the era of mana and spells. By developing the ‘spell’ tool to its extreme, we were able to possess the developed civilization and strength we have today.”

The era of mana and spells.

Edgar referred to this as a grand revolution that is second only to ‘the invention of fire’.

The ‘utilization of mana’ truly became a gift that maximally elevated the abilities of each individual human.

Consequently, humanity was able to actively expand its territories.

Equipped with spells and mana, humans could finally engage in a full-scale conquest war against powerful monsters endowed with strong physical bodies.

“And to this day, humanity lives in the era of mana and spells. We’ve lived this way for almost a millennium.”

Edgar took a brief breath and scanned the crowd.

Every student was captivated by his lecture, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

The level of concentration was so immense that one could almost hear their breathing.

Yet in the next moment, Edgar presented a contradictory question.

He questioned the current era.

“But is that necessarily a good thing?”

Humanity, benefiting from mana and spells.

Every student was left with a stunned expression at Edgar’s question.

After all, mana and spells were gifts bestowed by the Heavenly Beings, weren’t they?

“I don’t think so.”

But Edgar stated it was just a gift.

All the students looked at him with puzzled expressions.

Some students even shifted uncomfortably in their seats, revealing their discomfort.

Amidst this, Edgar continued his explanation.

“Because the gifts from the Heavenly Beings have taken away the ‘deficiency’ we should inherently feel. Due to the discovery of mana and spells, we no longer felt the need to develop our tools.”

Edgar explained the relationship between ‘deficiency’ and ‘desire’.

In other words, for humans to grow, there must be a ‘desire’ to long for something, and that desire is ignited by ‘deficiency’.

“Our humanity has lost interest in natural sciences with the invention of spells. In the past, understanding the heat generated by friction to start a fire, the materials suitable for burning, and the proper supply of oxygen was essential, but now, we just need to use spells. There’s no need to contemplate any phenomenon anymore.”

“………”

The students stared at Edgar with shocked expressions.

Edgar referred to this as the ‘spell omnipotence doctrine’.

The shocking claim that the worship of mana and spells bestowed by the Heavenly Beings had instead caused humanity to regress.

“However… isn’t that heresy…? Spells are gifts given to us by the Heavenly Beings…”

At that moment, a student voiced a disagreement with Edgar’s statement.

It argued that downplaying the gifts bestowed by the Heavenly Beings as ‘spell omnipotence doctrine’ was blasphemous.

Yet Edgar simply smiled and replied.

“No, it’s not blasphemy.”

“………?”

“Mana and spells are not something special given by the Heavenly Beings. They existed in this world even before they arrived. While our humanity was unable to unlock mana, many monsters were already using mana and inscribing spells within their bodies. According to the student’s argument, wouldn’t that mean monsters are also using sacred powers?”

“……Ah. Well, that…”

“In the end, spells and mana are merely tools. The Heavenly Beings simply handed us the most suitable tools for protecting humanity.”

With Edgar’s flawless rebuttal, a male student nodded with a dazed expression.

Eventually, Edgar continued the lecture.

After criticizing the current era, which had become stagnant due to spells, he made the next statement.

“However, now, new winds are blowing. The Heavenly Beings have responded to my wishes, and my curiosity and intellect are changing this world. Yet I still feel deficiency and desire to evolve further. Even standing here, I still feel parched.”

The atmosphere heightened.

The students looked at Edgar with sparkling eyes.

Despite having such immense stature and ability, Edgar still felt deficiency.

They felt ashamed for merely being satisfied with entering the Academy.

“Therefore, I will continue to explore. I will discover the principles and laws of this world, and I will use them to benefit this world.”

The students nodded.

Just listening to Edgar’s aspirations set their hearts ablaze.

Edgar continued.

“In that sense, I will constantly make you feel deficiency. I hope you confront high-risk monsters across the world and feel the harshness of your own shortcomings.”

Then Edgar snapped his fingers.

The screen at the front flipped to the next image.

It was a screen filled with various weapons and equipment.

“Then you will naturally understand. What equipment you need and how to utilize it.”

The students nodded.

As expected of the course titled ‘The Proper Use of Combat Engineering Equipment’, Edgar actively encouraged the use of tools.

He aimed to boost the students’ combat abilities by instilling confidence in the weapons he and his students had developed.

“Finally, as students of the Empire Academy, constantly yearn for the best. I too will continue to yearn to gift you the best equipment. Thank you.”

Thus, Edgar concluded his orientation.

Although it was merely an overview of the class, thunderous applause erupted.

Truly, as the greatest intellect of this age and a ‘descendant of the stars’, Edgar’s lecture was a masterpiece.

The students engraved Edgar’s words about always craving into their hearts, sending limitless applause.