CHAPTER 454: SHARING

They arrived out of breath. And arrived way before the actual Instructor did.

Panting, flustered, and suspiciously red in the face.

Instructor Moore raised a brow as he looked between the two students who had clearly sprinted across the hall like their lives depended on it.

"Are you two alright?" he asked, blinking. "Did you run into any trouble? Or was it an aftershock?"

Luca gave a radiant smile. "We’re fine! Perfectly fine! Never been better!"

Ollie nodded vigorously beside him, though his expression suggested he’d barely escaped a spiritual crisis and was clinging to sanity with one last breath. "No issues! No quake! Not even a tremor, actually! Just cardio. Lots of cardio."

Moore tilted his head. "You’re...sure?"

"Very sure, Sir!" both replied in perfect unison.

Then, much to his confusion, they bowed slightly and launched into a chorus of thank-yous.

"Thank you so much, Instructor Moore!"

"We really appreciate this opportunity!"

"We’re honored—truly!"

Moore blinked again, mildly disoriented by the flood of appreciation. He rubbed the back of his neck, chuckling awkwardly.

"I...appreciate the enthusiasm," he said slowly, "but I should be the one thanking you, since I was hoping to ask for a favor, remember?"

That earned him two more bewildering smiles.

Luca beamed like a cheerful solar flare. Ollie looked like he’d just survived a direct hit from one.

Moore narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. Something was going on. He just didn’t know what. Were students always this...amenable now?

Had education changed while he wasn’t looking?

Was this genuine gratitude, or just a side effect of spiritual overexposure—something only this handful of students had ever experienced?

Either way, he decided not to question it. They were here, and more importantly, Luca looked ready to talk calibrations.

Which meant today might actually be a very, very enlightening day.

Once they found a decent corner close to where the other instructors were stationed, Moore cleared his throat to ask once more. Though truthfully, he was bracing himself for vague answers and technical sidesteps.

"Right," he began, glancing toward Luca. "As I mentioned earlier, I wanted to ask about the adjustments you made during your previous drill. The calibration work you did—it was fast, effective, and frankly, not in any of the manuals."

He offered a careful smile. "If you’re willing, I’d love for you to shed a bit of light on your method."

He half-expected a polite dodge. Maybe a vague, "Oh, just some experience from self-study," or "I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details."

Instead—

"Oh! Sure!" Luca perked up instantly, eyes practically sparkling. "Do you want the full breakdown or just the core adjustments? I can list both if it helps."

Moore blinked. "...Pardon?"

That was definitely not some breadcrumbs.

Calibration methods were often kept under lock and key, and sometimes even under personal blood oath. Sharing them meant giving away your edge, and no one did that willingly—because in the world of mechanics, everything was competitive.

Except Luca.

Apparently.

Because instead of brushing him off with theory, Luca was already pulling up diagrams, opening a scan overlay of the mecha, and speaking with the excitement of someone sharing their favorite hobby.

"You can scan it if you’d like," he said brightly. "It’s easier to show you than just explain verbally. I didn’t reset the changes yet."

"You’re allowing me to scan the full configuration?" Moore asked, stunned.

Luca nodded. "Of course! I can even annotate it."

Moore blinked.

Annotate it.

Who was this child?

As the scan processed, Luca began casually pointing out the adjustments, his tone light and utterly without pretense.

"So first, I redistributed the limb weight to account for drift, mainly on the dominant side. That fixed a lot of the delay issues when transitioning between stances."

Moore nodded slowly, watching as the numbers lit up. He’d noticed that.

"Then I adjusted the tension in the shoulder joints—they were too tight on one side and too relaxed on the other. Most people just even them out, but I added asymmetry based on my dominant hand."

However, the next item had Moore’s finger hovering midair.

Of all the impressive adjustments Luca had mentioned, it was the absorption grid modification that intrigued Instructor Moore the most.

"You reversed the grid’s flow?" Moore asked, eyebrows rising. "Redirected it to the stabilization system instead of the core?"

Luca nodded, unfazed. "Yes. I thought it made more sense, given how pilots were running low on spiritual energy mid-mission or mid-fight."

Moore leaned in. "That’s... not standard. Most systems are designed to route everything into the core first. It’s the fastest way to stabilize spiritual fluctuations."

"That’s true for initial stabilization," Luca replied, "but the current energy distribution model is inefficient over longer durations. It’s no wonder pilots get exhausted faster."

Moore frowned. "Why? What’s causing the drain?"

"Because while routing everything to the core speeds up start-up time," Luca explained patiently, "it also forces the spiritual energy to burst out toward the extremities during high-movement operations—like combat or evasion. That back-and-forth surge is energy-intensive."

Moore blinked.

"So instead," Luca continued, tapping on a diagram he pulled up on his terminal, "I reversed the priority. The extremities receive more power at the start. It’s slower to boot up, yes—but once the thresholds in the arms and legs are met, the system requires far less effort to maintain balance or coordination. You only need to stabilize the core periodically."

Moore stared.

"You... frontloaded the extremity charge?"

Luca beamed. "Mm-hm!"

"And that’s how you managed to pilot for that long without spiritual drain?" he asked, almost in disbelief.

"Yup," Luca said simply, as if this wasn’t groundbreaking. "In part."

Off to the side, Ollie was already screaming internally.

"In part," he says?! the blonde thought, staring at Luca like he’d grown wings and a nuclear reactor. His miraculous brother could probably pilot a C-class mecha for weeks without a break if nature didn’t eventually call.

Moore let out a low whistle, half-impressed and half-dazed.

"I’ve seen pilots faint in under thirty minutes from spiritual fatigue," he muttered. "And you’re telling me this whole time... it was a flow issue."

"Well, not always," Luca added modestly. "But yes. Mostly."

And just like that, the laws of piloting efficiency were being rewritten by a student who thought this was all just casual small talk.

Instructor Moore couldn’t help it. He stared at Luca like he was trying to peer into the future—and it was bright.

"Luca," he said slowly, "have you ever considered taking the mechanics licensure exam?"

Luca blinked. "The one for...certified mecha engineers?"

Moore nodded. "Yes. You’d need to file a cross-field application since you’re technically from a different track, but it’s allowed—especially if the applicant can demonstrate a substantial breakthrough in mecha manufacturing."

Luca tilted his head, brows slightly raised. "Wait...I can do that?"

"You absolutely can," Moore said with a smile, his voice tinged with awe. "There’s precedent. It’s rare, but the board allows exemptions and special admissions for exceptional cases."

Ollie, standing off to the side with arms crossed and a proud little puff to his chest, lit up like someone had just told him his brother was a national treasure.

"A substantial breakthrough?" he thought smugly. Ha! His brother probably had three this week alone.

If that’s the only requirement, he reasoned, then it’s just a matter of filing paperwork and watching the Empire prepare a medal.

Luca, on the other hand, looked genuinely taken aback.

"Is that...really possible for me?" he asked softly, a flicker of disbelief in his voice.

Moore gave him a look that was part smile, part exasperation. "With a mind that can improve core calibration logic without formal training? Luca, I wouldn’t be surprised if you could build your own mecha from scratch."

There was a beat of silence.

Luca glanced at Ollie.

Ollie, who was practically vibrating with restrained smugness, glanced right back.

"He could," they both thought at the same time, before quickly looking away.

Moore didn’t catch the shared look.

But if he had, he might’ve had to sit down.