The workshop was silent, save for the hum of the Fabricator cooling down. The V4 Engine block sat on the table, a masterpiece of steel and math that looked utterly alien to the world of magic.
Arthur picked up a wrench to tighten the intake manifold.
"Stop," Julian said.
It wasn't a suggestion. Julian van Thorne stood between Arthur and the engine. His arms were crossed. He wasn't looking at the machine; he was looking at Arthur with cold, analytical eyes.
"Julian, we are on a schedule," Arthur said, trying to step around him.
"No," Julian shoved Arthur back. "We are done building until you answer a question."
Vivian and Zack stopped what they were doing. The tension in the room spiked.
"You built a Mana Battery," Julian listed, counting on his fingers. "You re-wired a lightning spell into a glass jar. You built a tablet that talks. And now, you have built... this."
Julian pointed to the engine.
"I know the Ancients were advanced, Arthur. I know we are in their workshop. But I have been reading these blueprints too."
Julian picked up a schematic from the table.
"I see lines. I see circles. I see runic gibberish. I am the son of the Arch-Mage. I speak four languages. I cannot read this. But you?"
Julian stepped closer, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"You don't just read it. You correct it. Yesterday, you changed the gear ratio on the transmission design. You said the Ancient design was 'inefficient.' How? How does a fourteen-year-old boy know more than the civilization that built the world?"
Vivian stepped forward, her hand resting on the pommel of her sword. She didn't draw it, but she looked at Arthur expectantly. "He has a point, Art. You know things you shouldn't. Terms like 'Combustion' and 'Hydraulics'. My tutors never used those words."
Arthur looked at his friends. He realized he had pushed too hard, too fast. The "Genius" excuse had expired.
He needed a lie. A good one.
Arthur walked to the central console where Alice, the spirit construct, hovered silently.
"I don't know more than them," Arthur said calmly. "I just know how to listen."
"What does that mean?" Zack asked.
"The Pendelton Bloodline," Arthur lied smoothly, mixing truth with fabrication. "My family has always been... weak in mana. You mocked me for it. But nature demands balance. What we lack in output, we gained in... perception."
Arthur tapped his temple.
"I see the patterns, Julian. When you look at a spell, you see fire and glory. When I look at it, I see math. I see the grid. It's not a gift; it's a mutation. A brain that processes the world as a schematic."
He pointed to the glowing blue runes on the wall.
"You see 'gibberish.' I see a language based on logic. The Ancients didn't write in poetry; they wrote in equations. And for some reason... I can do the math."
Arthur picked up the wrench again, his hands steady.
"I am not inventing these machines, Julian. I am just the only one who can read the instructions without getting a headache. Alice isn't teaching me. I am translating her."
He looked Julian in the eye.
"So, do you want to keep interrogating the translator? Or do you want to help me finish the car so we don't all die in 90 days?"
Julian held Arthur's gaze for a long moment. He was looking for a lie. But Arthur believed his own logic (Engineering is a universal language), so he didn't blink.
Finally, Julian sighed and stepped aside.
"A mutation," Julian muttered. "That explains why you have the personality of a calculator. Fine. We build. But if you start speaking in tongues, I'm exorcising you."
"Deal," Arthur said. "Now, pass me the bolt cutters. We have a monster to kill."
...
The engine was built, but it was dead weight without a Fuel Core.
"We need a Class-B Mana Beast," Arthur explained, pulling up a map of the Academy grounds on his iScroll. "Something with a dense, stable core. A wolf, a bear, or a large reptile."
"The Forbidden Forest?" Zack asked, trembling.
"Too far," Arthur shook his head. "And too unpredictable. We need a controlled environment."
He pointed to a section of the map marked in red: The Beast Taming Reserve (Sector 4).
"The Academy keeps monsters for the advanced students to practice on," Arthur explained. "They are caged. Fed high-mana diets. They are basically walking batteries."
"We are going to steal a monster from the school zoo?" Vivian grinned. "That is... surprisingly bold."
"We aren't stealing it," Arthur corrected. "We are liquidating a school asset for emergency purposes. We go tonight."
...
Sector 4 was a walled enclosure on the edge of the campus. It was a dense patch of artificial jungle, surrounded by a magical barrier to keep the monsters inside.
At midnight, the team crouched in the bushes outside the gate.
"Zack," Arthur whispered. "Disable the lock."
Zack connected his iScroll to the gate's rune panel. Thanks to Arthur's "Root Access" (from the Admin hack earlier in the year), Zack simply tapped [UNLOCK].
The gate clicked open.
They slipped inside. The air was humid and smelled of wet fur and ozone. Roars echoed in the distance.
"Target identified," Arthur whispered, checking his radar. "Pen 3. Thunder-Lizard (Juvenile)."
"A Thunder-Lizard?" Julian hissed. "That's a dinosaur, Arthur! It shoots lightning!"
"Exactly," Arthur said. "Compatible energy for the Mana Turbine. And since it's a juvenile, its armor is thinner."
They crept through the underbrush until they reached a large, electrified cage. Inside, sleeping on a heated rock, was a creature the size of a minivan. It had blue scales, a frill of yellow spikes, and crackled with static electricity as it snored.
"Okay," Arthur laid out the plan. "Vivian, you take the front. Distract it. Julian, aim for the underbelly with the Sun-Lance. Zack, keep the barrier up so the noise doesn't alert the guards."
"And you?" Vivian whispered, drawing her rapier.
"I will harvest the core," Arthur said, pulling out a specialized containment jar.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
Vivian kicked the cage door. CLANG.
"Hey! Sparky!" She yelled. "Wake up!"
The Thunder-Lizard's eyes snapped open. Vertical pupils. It roared—a sound like tearing metal—and scrambled to its feet. Sparks flew from its frill.
CRACK-BOOM.
A bolt of lightning shot from the beast, aiming straight for Vivian.
Vivian didn't block; she rolled. The lightning scorched the ground where she had stood.
"It's fast!" Vivian yelled, dancing back. "Julian! Shoot it!"
Julian raised the heavy Sapphire Rifle. He braced it against the cage bars. He didn't have to chant. He just poured mana into the stock.
HMMMM-ZAP.
The red beam of light shot out.
It hit the lizard in the soft scales of its throat. The beast shrieked, thrashing wildly. It wasn't dead, but it was hurt.
"It's angry!" Zack screamed, watching the mana readings on his slate spike. "It's charging an AOE (Area of Effect) blast!"
The spikes on the lizard's back began to glow blindingly white. The air sizzled.
"It's going to explode!" Julian yelled.
Arthur saw the pattern. The beast was overloading its own core to release a shockwave.
"Julian! Overcharge the rifle!" Arthur commanded. "Vivian, get clear!"
Arthur grabbed a heavy iron chain from the ground (used by the beast tamers). He ran into the cage.
"Arthur! No!" Zack screamed.
Arthur didn't attack the beast. He threw the chain. It wrapped around the lizard's grounding post (a metal rod in the center of the cage). He threw the other end at the lizard.
The chain hit the lizard's wet scales.
[Physics: Path of Least Resistance.]
The lizard unleashed its blast. But instead of exploding outward, the electricity traveled instantly through the chain, into the grounding post, and into the earth.
ZZZRT.
The beast short-circuited. Its own energy drained instantly. It slumped to the ground, paralyzed and exhausted.
"Now, Julian!" Arthur shouted. "Headshot!"
ZAP.
The second beam pierced the lizard's skull. The beast went still.
Arthur stood over the carcass, breathing heavily, smelling of ozone and burnt scales.
"Grounding wire," Arthur explained, pointing to the chain. "Basic electrical safety."
He pulled out his knife.
"Zack, bring the jar. We have our fuel."
...
Ten minutes later, they were back in the workshop.
Arthur held the Thunder Core. It was a pulsing sphere of blue energy, warm to the touch.
He walked over to the chassis of the Pendelton Cruiser. He opened the reactor chamber of the Mana Turbine.
He slotted the core in.
CLICK.
The engine didn't just hum; it purred. The blue light from the core flowed through the copper veins of the car, lighting up the dashboard.
[System Online.] [Fuel Source: 100%.] [Hybrid Drive: Active.]
Arthur wiped a smear of blue lizard blood from his cheek. He looked at Julian, who was staring at the car with a mix of horror and awe.
"We have the engine," Arthur said. "We have the fuel. We have the weapons. Tomorrow, we weld the armor. And then... we graduate."
End of Chapter 35