With an explosive sound, Eru whose posture was very low suddenly accelerated. As he piloted the Silhouette Gear, he used his own power to accelerate with air compression magic. Eru jumped with a force threatening to heave up the ground, landing behind Ady who was preparing to change her position. She wanted to escape in a hurry, but was caught by Eru, who tossed her at Chid, who was swinging his sword down.
“Hmm! Ugh!”
The machines couldn’t stop in time and collided. Looking at the two people he just beat, Eru nodded with satisfaction.
“It’s a bit small, but human shaped weapons are great. Power and drive are flowing out endlessly. How long are you two planning to lie there, let’s continue!”
“Sigh, don’t you think Eru is even stricter than the time he was us teaching magic?”
“It’s no coincidence. If it has anything to do with Silhouette Gear, Eru will become vicious… can’t be helped. Alright! Let’s have another round.”
They cheered themselves up and challenged Eru’s machine again.
“It’s fine if you want to train-- but I’m the one who is doing the repairs, so don’t break them…”
The complaints of Batson, who was watching this scene dissipated into the wind.
As the days got colder, the season changed from summer to autumn.
The busy days of everyone passed by. Since Eru proposed the plans for strand crystal tissue and back weapons, several months had passed. With the continuous efforts of the pilot faculty’s maintenance team, they finally completed a ‘prototype machine’.
“Ara, we finally reached this stage…”
The Boss complained, unable to hide the fatigue in his voice. Some of the students had panda eyes, some were massaging their shoulders, and all of them gave off a heavy sense of fatigue. The few months before the completion of the prototype were a living hell.
The one responsible for designs drew all sorts of plans, and the crafting leader completed every one of them. The machine took shape after several trials and errors, no wonder they were so exhausted.
They might be students, but their skills were at the level of professional craftsmen. But this project was a grueling challenge. The harsh everyday conditions made them wonder ‘why hasn’t anyone died’. To reach this stage without losing their motivation, it was due to their boundless joy in developing new technologies. The evidence was their eyes that were full of passion despite being worn out.
“Okay, bring it out! Slowly. If you drop it, it won’t be settled with just a simple beating!!”
Everyone carried the finished prototype to the trolley, sending it out of the workshop carefully. That thing was a bit strange. Its body was covered by a minimal layer known as ‘primary armour’ to protect its interior. Crystal tissue could even be seen from some of the parts. Only the chest and limbs were covered by outer skin, giving the impression of ‘incompleteness’.
The prototype was quickly sent to the pilot faculty’s training ground which had the shape of a circular arena. After reaching the centre of the training ground, the chest of the prototype which was lying down was opened, allowing the test pilot Helvi to enter the pilot seat.
Everyone from the maintenance team was seated in the audience seats of the arena to observe. In front of them were giant shields that protected them, a lesson they learned from the accident they had earlier. It was natural for them to be cautious. Even though they did several testing for the individual parts, this was the first time the entire assembled body would be tested. To be safe, they removed some of the larger auxiliary parts.
“Okay, Helvi, are you ready!?... For starters, stand up!”
The Boss held a loudhailer and yelled. With this as the cue, the prototype started to stand up. The maintenance team members watched its movement closely. The creaking prototype slowly sat up; its movement stiffer than a normal machine, and was very slow. The arms braced the body, the legs bent. From afar, the legs that were exerting strength could be seen bulging. After spending quite some time, the prototype machine finally stood up.
“It’s standing…!!”
An emotional voice came from somewhere. When he thought about the efforts they put in to make it stand, the difficulties they overcame and the sacrifices, that voice was trembling. Completing this movement that was totally dependent on the power of the leg tissue, it was evident that the structure of the prototype machine could withstand the minimum output of the strand crystal tissue.
“Not yet, be careful now… you over there! Don’t stick your body out! It’s dangerous!! Alright, steady… Helvi, try walking. Slowly, slowly.”
The head of the prototype machine moved up and down, expressing understanding. After stopping for a moment, it decided to walk. Although it was in the centre of the training ground paved with stone slabs, its footsteps were extremely careful. It seemed to be walking on a hanging bridge that could break at any time, its speed slower than an ox driven cart.