CHAPTER 193: CHAPTER 193: MANA TECH LECTURE

The next morning, on the academy grounds. Inside the transfer station, the teleporter whirled as two students appeared on the platform.

One wore freshly bought clothes with the price tags still attached, while the other stared off into the distance.

The first was Lake, who, despite wearing brand-new clothes, seemingly reeked of blood. Beside him stood Kate, her face plagued with a worn-out look.

The two silently made their way out of the transfer station and returned to their dorms without speaking a word to each other.

They were both exhausted after the night’s activities and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows.

****

"Urgh..." Lake groaned as he got up.

His body ached despite having healed all his wounds. Sighing, he checked the time and discovered it was already four in the evening.

He had already missed all his classes for the day, so there was no point in getting out of bed.

Lifting his shirt, he examined the scars on his stomach. The long claw marks, though scabbed over and mostly healed, still drew a sigh from him. "Claws that slow healing are even more irritating than I expected."

He thought back to the night before, when he’d spent hours casting healing spells on the wounds. Despite his constant efforts, the recovery had been frustratingly slow and he still hadn’t fully recovered.

Lying back down, he started scrolling through his wristwatch.

It didn’t take long before an interesting topic caught his eye on the academy’s news.

"A guest lecturer?" Lake raised an eyebrow as he began reading the article.

Apparently, during homeroom, it had been announced that a guest lecturer would be teaching at the academy for the rest of the week.

The topic was mana technology, and the lectures would be taught by a world-renowned researcher in the field.

Upon seeing the news, Lake found himself quite interested. Although he could be considered a master of magic and mana theory, his knowledge of science and technology wasn’t anything special.

Scrolling further down, he came across the name of the lecturer. After reading it, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

"...Well, now I definitely have to attend," Lake said as a small smile crept across his face.

****

Soon it was the next day. The sun was already halfway up in the sky as students started to enter the lecture room.

Standing at the front stood a woman wearing a white lab coat with her long black hair tied into a pony tail. Her thick rimmed glasses reflected the light coming through the windows.

As students began filing into the room, she sighed, raising her right hand to clasp her left. The sensation of the synthetic prosthetic beneath her lab coat’s sleeve brought a familiar unease bubbling back to the surface.

Her name was Harper Sun, the current CEO of Sun Mana Technology, one of the leading enterprises in the development and research of Mana Tech—Or at least, was.

For a while now, she and her family had been plagued by a series of bad luck. Her parents had died a few years ago, then followed her brother who died earlier this year inside a rift where she also lost her left arm.

During the funeral procedures for her brother, the building they were in caught fire and as if she wasn’t down on her luck enough, all recent investment made by the company had been a series of failures, each more disastrous than the last.

Right now, instead of a leading enterprise in Mana Tech, the Sun family was more like a broken candle light in a storm, threatening to go out at a moments notice.

All these series of disasters and failures had completely crushed her both mentally and physically, reducing her once prideful and arrogant personality to the meek little scientist she is today.

Taking a glance at the students that had almost filled the room, a pang of nervousness rang through her heart.

Honestly, she didn’t want to be here today, unaware of what disaster might suddenly strike. If it wasn’t for her friend who recommended this job to her, she would rather spend the day hulled up in the lab.

With a sigh, she tried to calm herself before the lecture began. After mentally going through her notes and surveying the room for safety issues one last time, she adjusted her glasses and stood before the gathered students.

"Good afternoon," Harper began, her voice slightly strained but steady. "You all must be excited to learn to show up in the middle of the day for my lecture, so I won’t keep you waiting."

"Today, you are not here to learn about mana or technology but about how their combination can directly benefit you as both civilians and martial artists. This field is called Mana Technology, or Mana Tech for short." As Harper spoke, her voice slowly started to mellow out, into a calm state of flow.

She activated a holographic display behind her, which showcased a simple device resembling a sleek bracer.

"This," she said, gesturing toward the image, "is a mana booster. As you may all know, martial artist train by absorbing mana through their flow paths and storing it within their bodies, causing evolutionary change overtime such as increased muscle strength, bone density or improved senses. At later levels, we can project mana outside our bodies to enhance our external objects such as our weapons, or even manipulate the mana itself to form corporeal shapes and objects to attack or launch at our opponents.

However, all of these changes come with a cost that most of you are probably familiar with, mana exhaustion."

After Harper finished speaking, everyone nodded in unison, traumatic memories of last night flashing through their minds.

"The mana booster is a device meant to ensures that even if you exhaust all your mana you’ll still have enough to move your evolved bodies. A mana booster stores roughly the same amount of energy as a Low Rank Martial Warrior which can be drawn from at any given moment to give you an additional boost after the end of a long fight or perhaps during a strong final attack. For martial artists, this essentially means that you’ll have the equivalent of a second battery to walk around with."

Several students nodded in understanding as an amazed expression crossed their face. They were already thinking of ways that they could use this to fight back against their evil overlord.

Unaware of the students thoughts, Harper continued, pacing slowly across the stage.

"Another example," she said, flipping to an image of a weapon that resembled a traditional bow but pulsed with a faint blue light, "is the mana bow. While a standard bow relies on physical strength and arrows, a mana bow uses condensed mana as ammunition. This eliminates the need for carrying quivers into a rift and allows you to generate projectiles tailored to your needs. Increased penetration? Area-of-effect damage? All possible with the right control and practice."

A ripple of interest moved through the audience, especially amongst those specialized in archery. She paused briefly, letting the examples sink in, before moving to the next topic.

"But Mana Tech isn’t just about weapons," she said. "It’s about survival. Rift environments are unpredictable. You might find yourself in mana-dense jungles, scorching deserts, or gravity-distorted ruins. Mana Tech offers tools like mana filtration units to purify contaminated water, or adaptive armor that hardens or softens based on incoming threats.

Its important that you all understand that these aren’t luxuries; they’re the difference between life and death."

She turned to face the students fully. "That brings me to a point many of you might not have considered: Mana Tech isn’t a crutch. It’s not here to replace your skills or instincts. It’s an extension of your abilities. A good hunter doesn’t rely on the tool—they master it. A mana-infused weapon in the hands of a novice is just as useless as a blade they don’t know how to wield and I hope you remember this going forward into this lecture."

Harper stopped pacing, standing directly behind the podium again. She folded her remaining hand over the edge, her voice steady as ever.

"Some of you might think that technology belongs in the lab, far from the battlefield. I understand that sentiment. After all, martial artists like you have trained to depend on your strength, your discipline, and your mastery of mana. But ask yourself this: If technology can amplify your edge, make you faster, stronger, or more efficient, why wouldn’t you use it? Refusing to adapt is just another form of weakness."

The room was silent for a moment as her words hung in the air. Then a hand went up.

"Yes?" Harper acknowledged.

"How do we know Mana Tech is reliable in high-mana environments? I mean, we all know that regular electrical devices don’t work inside rift due to the mana interference. How are we to know for sure that Mana Tech won’t also be affected?" a student asked.

Harper nodded. "An excellent question. Early Mana Tech had significant interference issues in mana-dense environments. However, modern designs incorporate adaptive calibration modules. These modules automatically adjust the device’s frequency to match the ambient mana, ensuring stable performance even in rift cores. That said, no technology is infallible. Maintenance and understanding your equipment are critical. Which is why..."—she clicked to the next slide—"I’ll be conducting a hands-on demonstration tomorrow. You’ll learn not just how to use Mana Tech but also how to troubleshoot it in the field."

Another hand shot up. "What’s the most practical piece of Mana Tech for beginners?"

"The mana compressor," Harper replied without hesitation. "It’s a small, portable device that allows you to condense ambient mana into a stable form for later use. Think of it as a portable charger, but for mana. It’s invaluable when you’re deep in a rift or the wild and need to recharge your equipment such as the before seen mana booster and the mana bow."

"What about equipment for spearmen?" Another student raised a hand, but many more were raised behind him.

Harper went through them one by one, answering them to the best of her knowledge. For a time, she felt that everything was going well, but the more questions she answered, the more she couldn’t help but feel something terrible was going to happen.

Soon, half an hour passed. She had answered all students question so far flawlessly, although she didn’t expect them to have so much.

As she took a moment to steady herself, she noticed another student had raised his hand. Seated at the very back, he leaned casually in his chair with his right hand raised.

He had a friendly smile on her face, but Harper couldn’t help but feel a familiar sense of dread as her uneasy feeling exploded.

However, she couldn’t ignore the student, especially seeing that he was the last one with his hand raised.

"Yes?" She nervously called out while meeting his gaze.

When the other students saw that someone else had a question, they couldn’t help but feel curious and turned around to see who it was.

The next moment, a collective shiver passed through everyone’s spine. Their evil overlord had made a move...