CHAPTER 256: HELP FROM A SENIOR MECHANIC

When Gabriel arrived at the building, the receptionist, already familiar with him, didn’t ask any more questions.

He quickly made his way to the floor where Logan was currently working. As soon as he entered the room, the scent of oil and metal hit him. His gaze fell on Logan, who seemed to be adding the finishing touches to a weapon.

"Heok! Sir Broken!" Logan was startled and nearly tripped over himself. He had only sensed Gabriel’s presence when the man was already within arm’s reach.

’I still have a long way to go,’ he sighed with a frustrated expression. If Sir Broken had been an enemy, he wouldn’t have even known how he died.

Gabriel ignored all of this, his eyes sparkling as they landed on a row of shining rifles.

The weapons, unlike the first batch Logan had created, looked more polished and refined—almost as if they were mass-produced in a factory. To top it off, Logan had painted them black and red, giving them a striking appearance.

Gabriel picked one up and immediately noticed how light it felt. The barrel was slightly cold, which made him raise an eyebrow.

As if noticing, Logan explained with a proud grin, "I installed a cooling feature. Now it’ll be rare for the weapon to self-destruct due to overcharging it with mana."

Gabriel nodded in admiration. He couldn’t help but wonder if Logan’s idea had been influenced by his Basic Engineering Knowledge skill.

This level of understanding and creativity was impressive for a mechanic who wasn’t even three days old.

"It’s good you came up with this idea," Gabriel commented. The weapon in his grasp hummed as he channeled mana into it. "The last one exploded because of mana overcharge."

Logan nodded. "I did create a few more for test runs, and two of them exploded as well. That’s why I thought about adding the cooling feature. However, even with this, the Hellfire Turret can still explode—it’s just much rarer now, no—"

BOOM!

A small explosion suddenly went off in Gabriel’s direction. Logan slowly turned around, his mouth hanging open at the sight.

"T-this..." His face was filled with disbelief.

Gabriel shrugged with an amused look. "I guess it still needs more work."

"It can’t be!" Logan retorted, hurrying over to snatch the weapon from him. He examined it carefully, turning it over several times as if searching for the problem.

Seeing his worried face, Gabriel placed a hand on his shoulder and said in a firm tone, "It’s perfectly fine. The reason it exploded is because I channeled over 100 mana points into it when it only required 20 MP. Not many people are that reckless. Well done."

Logan froze for a moment, blinking several times as he processed what he just heard.

"W–wait, did you just say one hundred mana points?!" he stammered, eyes wide.

Gabriel gave a faint nod, almost nonchalant. "Yes."

"You—Sir Broken! That’s like... that’s five times the required threshold!" Logan exclaimed, voice cracking in disbelief. He pointed at the half-melted rifle still smoking on the floor. "No wonder it exploded! You didn’t just overcharge it—you murdered it!"

Gabriel chuckled quietly. "Consider it a stress test."

Logan just gawked at him, utterly defeated. "A stress test, he says..." He sighed and slumped into the nearest chair. "You’re going to be the death of my prototypes, I swear."

Edgar’s voice suddenly echoed from the back of the room. "If they can’t handle that much power, then they aren’t worth building in the first place."

He stepped inside, glancing at the scraps. "Still, I’ll admit, that explosion was beautiful," he said, half-grinning.

"Wait, let me contact my mechanic," Edgar added, tapping on his wrist. A holographic outline of a figure with no visible face appeared. After he explained the situation, the figure’s voice came through.

It seemed the figure couldn’t see them but could hear—the hologram was only a visual representation.

"Hmm... mana flow was too concentrated in the conduit. The barrel material held up surprisingly well, though," the figure said in an old and profound tone.

Gabriel noticed the sharp, pointed ears of the hologram, indicating it was an elven mechanic—probably the same one who designed the training bots. From the way he spoke, it was clear he was far more experienced and skilled.

The old mechanic asked a question, and Edgar turned toward Gabriel, repeating it. "You said you pumped a hundred mana points into it?"

"Yes."

"Then the next batch will need a mana stabilizer coil," the figure replied.

Edgar smirked. "A stabilizer coil, huh? You think that’ll keep the barrels from frying?"

The holographic figure chuckled, his tone amused. "Only if your apprentice there doesn’t build it backwards again."

"Hey!" Logan protested, jumping up. "That was one time! And it wasn’t backwards—it was just... creatively aligned."

"Creatively misaligned, you mean," Edgar corrected dryly, earning a scowl from Logan.

Gabriel, who had been silently observing, crossed his arms.

"This coil... what does it do exactly?" he asked.

The elven figure turned his head slightly toward Gabriel, even though he couldn’t actually see him. "It balances excess mana before it reaches the conduit, acting as a buffer. Think of it as a heart that pumps energy evenly, preventing surges. If your mana control is too strong, the coil will distribute the flow instead of letting it detonate."

Gabriel nodded slowly. "So it stabilizes raw power. Good."

The elf continued, his voice now tinged with curiosity. "But... channeling one hundred mana points into a prototype meant for twenty? Even the stabilizer coil might melt if pushed like that."

"How about we make it stronger?" Gabriel suggested.

For a moment, the old elf paused, then laughed softly. "You’re reckless... I like it. Unfortunately, to do that, you’ll have to adjust the blueprint itself. You’ll need a runesmith for that—and those are even rarer than mechanics."

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