I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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The World Tree is somewhat like a bathtub.

When you pour hot water into a bathtub filled with cold water, the two mix together, creating lukewarm water; similarly, the memories and souls floating within the World Tree attempt to merge.

In this regard, the interior of the World Tree was like another nature.

Just as heat disperses into the surrounding air to achieve thermal equilibrium, the souls that enter the World Tree have their memories and spirits chopped up and entangled.

“Do not be tempted by others’ memories. The moment you’re drawn in, it’s all over.”

Thus, I constantly warned the cadets who peeked into others’ memories.

The more one gazes into those memory fragments, the more their own memories and emotions get tangled up, so a state of vigilance must always be maintained.

Once one begins to lose their memories, they also lose their self-awareness, risking their identity to fall apart in all directions.

“Ugh… uhhh…”

It’s not easy at all.

As I mentioned earlier, the World Tree is like a bathtub.

This place, filled with cold water, seeks to mix us— the hot water— in any way possible.

The force is so powerful that even a cadet who has undergone rigorous training struggles to endure it.

“Phil! Get a grip! We need to go drink beer with Edwin!”

However, when one person becomes enthralled by the memories of the World Tree, the other members pull him back.

They stimulate the individual’s own memories to bring their consciousness back.

“Ah… sorry. I was spacing out for a moment.”

In this way, we moved forward, stimulating our memories to prevent them from scattering.

Even Charlotte, who couldn’t be in the same group as me, was sharing memories with the other club members and doing well.

It seemed they had gotten quite close while researching together in the lab.

“…More importantly, Enya and Isabella are holding up well.”

Enya and Isabella, who had roamed the conscious world for quite a long time without facing any crises.

It seemed being in the same group as me helped them.

No matter how powerful the World Tree is, it would naturally avoid me, who is full of overwhelming memories.

On top of that, Isabella had also lived a very hard life.

From the World Tree’s perspective, it would likely want to expel us—who are like concentrated black ink—rather than mix us together.

—Paaaahhh!

But at that moment, several light orbs approached us.

They began pouring countless memory fragments onto us.

Various voices and images jumbled together, disorienting our senses.

“Use mana!”

However, we had trained for moments like this.

Using the mana imprinted within our very souls, we defended our own memories and emotions.

Thus, our team recalled the “memory of using mana” as we had trained and summoned the mana contained in our memories and emotions.

With that mana, we formed a barrier to prevent the intrusion of others’ memories.

—Whoooosshh!

Then the light orbs retreated.

No matter how many memories they expelled, they backed off since they could not blend with us.

“Don’t let your guard down. They’ll come again.”

…But this won’t be the end.

The will of the World Tree will continue to attempt to destroy or disassemble us.

Not long after I had given the team a warning, the number of light orbs increased several-fold, surrounding us from all directions.

—Paaaahhh!

And the enormous light orbs began to explode.

Countless memory fragments filled the space, overwhelming us.

“Mom! I think I understand what magic is now!”

“Bro, we just use that, right?”

“I don’t think this will work, but if we do it like that…”

“The humans can’t be trusted. I believed in them in the past and …”

“Hahaha! No, that’s not how you do it… hehehe…”

“Uh… sorry, but if you say it like that…”

It felt as if hundreds or thousands of channels had all turned on at once, pouring out information through the fragments of memory.

I began to see some of the cadets overwhelmed by the memories, their mental states starting to crack.

Each time that happened, Elena would stick close to them, providing mana to help them regain their sanity.

Even in a state of being a soul, Elena held an extraordinary quantity of mana.

“Ugh…”

“…Kugh.”

However, this time, Enya and Isabella looked troubled.

Due to an unusual amount of information pouring in where I was, it became hard for them to cope.

It appeared that the World Tree was trying to neutralize my overwhelmingly strong memories, resulting in Enya and Isabella also suffering.

Seeing Enya and Isabella’s eyes starting to roll back, I shouted desperately.

“Resonance! We need to use resonance! Remember how to use resonance!”

…Resonance.

Here, resonance means attuning our hearts to one another.

It is about opening the door of our hearts as a trio, forming a group so that no other memories and emotions can interfere.

“Enya! Isabella! Hurry up!”

But our hearts had yet to connect.

While the other groups found stability through resonance, we alone were swept away by others’ memories without aligning our hearts.

This was because Enya and Isabella had not opened their hearts to each other.

—Paaaahhh!

At that moment, a light burst forth from Enya’s soul.

This was proof that Enya had opened her heart to both Isabella and me.

Now it was only Isabella left, but she was still reluctant to open her heart.

Even on the brink of losing herself, she was holding on stubbornly.

“Isabella.”

So I called out to her.

I took her hand and brought forth a keyword to open her heart.

“49 days out of one day.”

“…”

“Here, you’re allowed to have that day. No matter how you do it, your negativity won’t be harmed, so it’s okay to take a short break.”

“…”

“If you keep holding out like this, neither Graham’s family position nor mine will be attained.”

…

Isabella began to ponder.

Despite what I said, she still hesitated, keeping her heart tightly shut.

—Paaaahhh!

But no matter how determined she was, she wouldn’t risk losing everything.

Maybe deeming it impossible to endure any longer, light suddenly burst from Isabella’s body, and resonance was established.

All doors were opened, allowing us to glimpse into each other’s memories and emotions.

“Looks like it’s gone according to plan.”

And this had been my plan that I had thought about for a long time.

This resonance would let me peek into the memories and emotions of the one person I most wanted to understand.

It was my long-conceived strategy.

“Then let’s go.”

So, I closed my eyes and focused on the memories of the person I most wanted to glimpse.

And the owner of that memory was none other than “me.”

***

I.

Ironically, I do not know myself well.

And this isn’t a metaphorical expression or philosophical inquiry; it literally means that I don’t know what the heck I’m doing.

Because I haven’t fully restored my memories.

“Now’s the time to retrieve them.”

But now is the time to truly reclaim the real me.

Since I have walked the path as “Edgar Fix,” which is closest to the correct answer, I am ready to face the truth I had sealed away.

—Swooooshh…

Thus, I traced the memories of the person I most wanted to understand.

In other words, I sought the memory of the original “Edgar Fix.”

Then a state window appeared before me.

[Do you want to release the memory you sealed away?]

“…”

My own sealed memories.

Without hesitation, I pressed the “yes” button.

Because living as “Edgar Fix,” I have been superior to all versions of myself from previous cycles and walked the path closest to the correct answer.

As the memories I had sealed away were released, the black background turned into a snowy field.

In the snowy field, a tall, muscular man was sitting on a large rock, lost in thought.

“…This is more serious than I thought. Hundreds of years have passed, and all my children have died…”

And remarkably, I could hear the man’s thoughts.

It seemed this man was the original version of me.

Now that I think about it, it was the face of Edgar Fix, roughly around 40 years old.

“…But my children would never have forgotten me. They must have left a gift for me somewhere.”

And the deductions of my past self seemed quite plausible.

In fact, the Sea Wall and the Imperial Palace are spaces prepared for my return.

“…But I can’t move carelessly. The moment I exhaust my power, the barrier holding the Grand Duke will be released. I must use caution.”

However, my past self was cautious.

The world was still too weak to handle the power of demons, and the moment I exhausted my powers, the barrier that imprisoned the Grand Duke would be lifted.

In other words, my past self had to both strengthen the world and use powers effectively.

“…Rebirth.”

Thus, the method my released self thought of was “rebirth.”

There is no more efficient means to understand this world while using powers effectively than “rebirth.”

“…Alright. Let’s do rebirth.”

And so, about 60 years ago.

The past version of me, sealed with the Grand Duke, began to rebirth the moment I was freed from the seal.

However, since the ‘interval recursion’ I could maintain while exhausting all my powers was a maximum of 20 years, I had to choose the era wisely.

Even 60 years ago, no matter how many times I repeated rebirth, there was no answer, so I had to let about 20 years go by.

Thus, I, my past self, began to search for ways to solve problems by repeating rebirth from 40 years ago to 20 years ago.

“No. There are no talents even at this time.”

But it was the same 40 years ago.

There were no talented candidates to be found.

“Let’s move on to the next generation.”

So, my past self let another 20 years slip by.

To find the optimal era to deal with the demons, I passed into the next generation.

Thus, I began repeating 20-year cycles of rebirth from 20 years ago to the present.

During that time, my past self got unexpectedly entangled with someone.

“…Huh?”

I became involved with Adela, Lucas’s mother.

At that time, my past self was a mercenary, and Adela was a noble from the Grand Duke family.