Project: Battle Armour

Shen Yi stood at the lectern and Wu Zhangkong stood closeby. "Before I start today's lecture, I want to say two things. First, for the council representatives, count the number of people in your profession after class and have them register for the appropriate association. Of course, membership is not required. But they will receive preferential treatment if they join. All of you will also need the backing of the associations to progress in your profession, otherwise you'll have to pay for the costs out of pocket. Naturally, the price is in contribution points."

"Second of all, Wu Zhangkong will be instructing the class today." Shen Yi stepped off and offered the lectern to Wu Zhangkong, who stood with a straight back and a familiar cold look. The temperature in the hall seemed to drop due to his presence alone.

"You've had a week to get used to the academy. Today is the first official day of class. The curriculum here will be nothing like what you're used to. For any questions about your Martial Souls or what cultivation path to take, you may ask Teacher Shen or me after class. Today, we will be going over the basics of Mecha Manufacturing." Karni frowned. Again? They already had a week of discussion in regards to that. Or perhaps… Karni realised. He's talking about actual mechas?

"Among you, there are Designers, Manufacturers, Mechanics, and Blacksmiths. Simply put, creating a mecha requires these four professions to work together. I'm sure you're all curious about why the Academy is teaching you the basics of creating a mecha. In order to become a Battle Armour Master, you first have to study the foundation of Battle Armour: Mechas!"

Thinking about it, Karni never actually learned to design Mechas themselves. Because he designed prosthetics, and Siduo helped create them, they had a very similar starting point when it came to actually creating a Battle Armour. Mo Qing took the approach of filling in their knowledge of Mechas while directly combining their existing knowledge of Prosthetics to form Battle Armour. They just didn't learn many of the things that were exclusively for Mechas.

"High-end mechas are just about as powerful as low-end battle armour. A Blacksmith forges the metal used to make the mecha, a Designer drafts the mecha's blueprint, a Manufacturer assembles the mecha, and a Mechanic decides how long the mecha can be used. Battle Armour is made in much the same way."

Karni listened closely. He already had ideas and the will to implement Mechas into Battle Armour before, he just never had the chance. He even once told some of them to his teacher in Star Luo Continent, Hu Jie. Back then he was guessing from what he knew of the overall situation through prosthetics and fusion of body and machine. Now he was about to see if his ideas had any merit.

"Now let's discuss the fundamental principles of mechas." Wu Zhangkong made the lecture quite comprehensive. He didn't just approach this from the viewpoint of building a Mecha. He also told them about the cooperation between Blacksmiths, Manufacturers, Designers and Mechanics. Karni already knew some stuff about that due to his constant cooperation with Siduo, but the information about how to cooperate with Blacksmiths was completely new.

As the morning classes were over, Karni finally understood why Mo Qing never made them study Mechas. If, to say, one learned how to design a mecha first, they would then have to fill in the knowledge of Battle Armour, most of that knowledge they would have to fill in was something he already knew of from Prosthetics. On the other hand, the knowledge Karni had to fill in for Battle Armour, was precisely that of theory belonging to the Mecha Design.

Much like how most people didn't learn about prosthetics after having knowledge of Mechas, Mo Qing felt he didn't need to fill them in on the knowledge of Mechas, because they already had the foundation through prosthetics. The only truly unique thing in regards to Battle Armour belonged to the core inscriptions, as that was the centre of the connection between a Martial Soul and Battle Armour. It was also the most important component regarding Battle Armour.

Karni and Siduo joined Tang Wulin and Gu Yue in counting the students of each profession. Gu Yue helped Siduo count only because Siduo was the representative of two professions. Gu Yue herself was, otherwise, a 4-Star Mecha Designer. The only other 4-Star rank in class was Wen Bao as a Mechanic. Wen Bao, the food system soul master from Star Luo City, was quite a challenge to take on for Siduo during testing. Gu Yue, however, didn't even get the chance to compete against Karni.

There were a total of 101 students in this class, only 9 of those were Blacksmiths. Mecha Designers were the majority, 35 in total, Karni included. Mecha Manufacturers tallied up to 33. Finally, there were 25 Mechanics. If one were to add these up, one would find 102 students, but Siduo was part of two professions and was counted for both. This time, Karni chose to step down from the mechanic position so as to not confuse the statistics further. He'd been neglecting that part the past year, though he did mention it to Tang Wulin.

Overall, outside of Blacksmiths, the professions were reasonably balanced.

"Class is over." Shen Yi announced. "Class council members, stay behind."

The students left, leaving only four behind. "Go to your respective associations and get their help with registering all of the people in your profession. Then discuss how to divide the class into groups with an even balance of each profession. We only have nine blacksmiths. Excluding Tang Wulin, you need to distribute eight, so it would be best to create eight groups, one around each blacksmith. Get familiar with the abilities of the students in your profession and divide them so that the groups are about equal in talent."

The council had many responsibilities. This was just the first example of them. The bonus contribution points made it well worth it.

"Here are everyone's school registration forms. The profession and rank of each student is recorded. Their Martial Soul and Soul Power rank are listed as well. You four will have to go over every single form and analyse the strengths of each student."

Karni looked through the papers he was handed, as did the others. Gu Yue and Siduo again shared their papers. Siduo grabbed manufacturing, and Gu Yue Mechanics, because it was closest to designing of the two. Siduo and Gu Yue clearly had a bit of tension between them, though they chose to work together in front of the teacher. Karni and Tang Wulin on the other hand simply minded their own business. They certainly didn't look like a peaceful group from the outside.

Tang Wulin cleared his throat. "We've known each other for a week now and we've had a few fateful encounters before starting school, but this is our first time working together, so I'll say a few words." He flashed a radiant smile at them. He was taking his responsibilities seriously as the Class President. Karni returned an honest smile and nodded. This was kind of exciting.

"According to Teacher Shen's instructions, we'll be dividing everyone into groups centred around the profession with the lowest number of students. Aside from me, we have eight blacksmiths, so we'll have eight groups with one blacksmith each. I have already skimmed through the papers and ascertained that we have one blacksmith at the first rank, six at the second, and one at the third. There's a gap between the second and third ranks, but it isn't too large for this task. The difference between first and second ranks, however, is gigantic. In order to be fair, I will be troubling you three to help me place stronger Designers, Mechanics, and Manufacturers in the first-rank blacksmith's group. After all, Teacher Shen was pretty clear about wanting the overall skill level of each group to be balanced."

Gu Yue nodded. "I have no problems with that. I'll help Wu Siduo accurately distribute the students, though she'll have to take the lead, since I'm a Mecha Designer first."

Wu Siduo glanced at Gu Yue and nodded, deciding not to complain out loud regarding the fact Gu Yue didn't ask for her opinion on this.

Karni also nodded, focusing. "It shouldn't be a problem. If we don't count Gu Yue and myself, we have 33 Mecha Designers. Among eight groups, 4 can go to each group, one of which would have 5. That one should likely go together with the blacksmith in the first rank. Though I do think we should take into consideration their relationships if possible."

Tang Wulin nodded to that. "That would be great. We should look at where they applied from and try to group them together most of the time, but as Teacher Shen said, we have to be careful to keep everything balanced."

"That won't be completely possible," Siduo finally said something, "but from what I saw, there shouldn't be many drastic differences between the groups."

The four of them got to work, primarily checking the ranks of the person, as well as from which corner of the continent they came from. Li Tai, Yu Tian, Wen Bao and Liu Liu for example, were put together as a team with a few others.

After a while, they finished up and Tang Wulin gathered all of the papers, now already ordered up in clear sections. "Alright, looks like we're done. You guys can go home and rest. I'll submit the groups to Teacher Shen."

Karni stretched. "I'll leave you to it then. Thanks. If you need any help, just call." He gave Tang Wulin his soul communicator number.

Wu Siduo smiled a bit. "Well, want to go grab a drink?" She turned to Karni, ignoring Gu Yue behind her.

"Sure." Karni didn't comment on the rivalry that formed. He and Siduo left the building, deciding to take a break.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yue were left alone. He took a glance at her. "That went better than expected, but…"

"I'm okay with working with her, but I can't guarantee that it won't get worse."

Tang Wulin sighed. "At least that Val Karni seems reasonable. How did you two girls manage to find such similar tempers."

"We're not similar at all."

Tang Wulin chuckled and turned away, leaving Gu Yue baffled and a little bit red in the face from embarrassment.

Meanwhile Karni and Siduo had a very similar conversation.

"You sure we should work with them? We can do fine on our own." Siduo finally voiced her complaints. She mentioned both Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, but Karni could tell she was mostly annoyed with Gu Yue. Her impression of Tang Wulin was neutral.

"Well, I think it's worth it to make a connection with Tang Wulin as a Blacksmith if nothing else. Just try not to aggravate Gu Yue and she'll likely leave you alone too."

Siduo sighed. "Fine. I'll go along with this for now. But I won't stand still if any of them stirs up trouble."

… … …

"This semester, you all have one assignment: create your own Mechas. Now, I will be announcing your groups. Group one: Tang Wulin, Gu Yue, Val Karni, and Wu Siduo." Wu Zhangkong coldly announced.

Karni nodded. He expected this. The only people they didn't make a team of was themselves. It made sense that the council was supposed to lead by example. He noticed Tang Wulin turning back to him in a bit of surprise. Karni grinned and made a peace sign.

After declaring the group of representatives, the others were announced as well. The lowest number of students in a group was ten, not counting the council group. A single Blacksmith, two mechanics, three manufacturers and four designers.

"You must be able to use the mechas you make. As for how you make it, that's up to you. I have only covered the basics of creating a mecha up to this point, so you should go to the library to learn about things like what materials should be used.

"In order to make your mechas, you will need the help of everyone in your group. You must make your mechas by the end of the term. If any group has a single person without a completed mecha, the entire group will lose marks. A single member failing this assignment means the elimination of an entire group, and all of you will be made to withdraw from Shrek." The temperature definitely lowered a little at the last sentence.

"Additionally, all of you can forget about completing the assignment half-heartedly. In the second half of the semester, you will be taught how to pilot ordinary mechas. Shrek Academy's curriculum aims to raise well-rounded students, so part of the final exam will be a class-wide mecha competition. The students that rank in the bottom ten for that competition will be expelled."

Karni sighed in secret. Shrek was well organised. The cooperation was forced, yet it will almost surely flow smoothly if only because everyone is competitive and none of them could do this alone. As for ranking in the bottom ten, he already knew that it didn't matter. Tang Wulin was going to make sure of that during the end of the semester exam. He still remembered those details.

"The exam at the end of the semester also includes a group competition where each group will select their four strongest mecha pilots to compete as a team. The specific rules will be announced closer to the date of the competition." The limit was four because of the council members' team. If there were more in the group of representatives, it would've likely had a limit of seven.

"I will now give you half an hour to gather into your groups and discuss your plans. Be warned, you do not have as much time for this task as you think."

Karni was reminded of his university life. Self study was paramount, and there was a task that spanned the entirety of a semester. Only this time, he definitely wouldn't be able to save this task until the very end or procrastinate. Technically he could, but this was the number one academy on the continent. He'd be a fool to laze around, even if it was in his nature to do so.

He wasn't the only one with such a mindset. Everyone here was a genius of their respective region. Some of them had an easier time becoming a genius than others, but one couldn't get to this point without hard work.

As Karni was about to approach Tang Wulin, he noticed that the guy was busy with comforting his teammate, Xu Xiaoyan. Karni and Siduo patiently waited. 

When Tang Wulin was finished, he didn't beat around the bush. "Our group isn't as simple as it appears. We've already got our jobs set out for us. I forge. Val Karni and Gu Yue design, while Wu Siduo manufactures everything and performs maintenance. Val Karni, you mentioned yesterday that you're also a 3-star Mechanic? I will ask you to help Wu Siduo out as well, lest she becomes overworked. You three will need to find a balance."

Karni nodded. He didn't have any problem with that as he needed to sharpen up on his Mechanic skills anyway. Tang Wulin continued with a serious tone. "However, we still have some things we need to decide on. What kind of mecha will suit each of us? What materials will we use? Here's what I propose: we'll buy our own metals, Val Karni and Gu Yue work together to draft designs accordingly, and then I'll forge them. I guarantee that every piece will be at least first-grade thousand refined."

Wu Siduo raised her eyebrows. "How long will that take you?"

Tang Wulin made a smile that was similar to one Siduo makes when she teases Karni. "My success rate is one hundred percent, so it shouldn't take long."

Siduo showed genuine shock. Something that Karni rarely witnessed. Though Karni himself wasn't as shocked. He was focused and forgot to add a shocked expression. Instead, he nodded seriously to Tang Wulin's words.

Tang Wulin himself felt quite pleased. He didn't worry much about Val Karni, but he did worry about Wu Siduo. Should she and Gu Yue have a fight, Val Karni would likely take Wu Siduo's side. If he got Wu Siduo on his side as well, he wouldn't have to worry.

"Let's just make battle armours then. We can skip making mechas." This was spoken by Gu Yue instead.

Karni and Siduo looked at each other, and Siduo herself finally had a tinge of approval in her eyes for Gu Yue. She was ambitious. She was confident in both her own and Karni's abilities.

"Thousand refined metal is the basic requirement to make battle armour," Gu Yue continued, but Karni raised his arm to stop her.

"We agree."

It was now Gu Yue and Tang Wulin's turn to be shocked. They agreed? Just like that?

"What's that look for?" Wu Siduo teased. "Karni is a 5-star Designer and a 3-star Mechanic. I'm both a 4-star Manufacturer and a 4-star Mechanic. Gu Yue is a 4-star Designer and our class president is a 4-star Blacksmith as well. We should be more than capable of succeeding."

Karni nodded as well. "I have complete confidence in being able to design one-word battle armour as well. Even if I've just started to learn, I have all of the basics down already, and the theory is something I already understand."

Gu Yue's eyes turned from cold to neutral. Positive surprise. All of them seemed to have had wrong impressions about each other.

Tang Wulin was the only one in thought. "Good. This will be very good. If we succeed… No. When we succeed, we'll gain valuable experience as well. It will have more worth compared to making a mecha. Even though it's a bit of a gamble because of our inexperience, I think it's worth giving it a try. We will definitely reap spectacular rewards, not only in school, but also in the skills of our professions."

Karni and Siduo looked at each other and smiled. This will be a fun time.

Tang Wulin turned to Gu Yue. "Since we've decided on this, we should begin as soon as possible. We'll need a place to make Battle Armour first. Furthermore, we'll need to keep what we're doing a secret. Even the teachers can't catch a whiff of it. Second, I'll need you all to pick out metals most suitable for your Battle Armour. We can't use a complete set of Battle Armour as we are now, so I suggest choosing one metal for the meanwhile. That way, there will be fewer possible complications during the process of making them."

Who knew if the teachers would prevent them from attempting this. The caution was necessary—everyone agreed on that. Battle Armour was a completely different tier of difficulty.

"So, figure out what metal you want as soon as possible," Tang Wulin continued. "After you've decided, bring it to me. I'll thousand refine it for you. I'm very confident in my thousand refining skills. Val Karni, you begin designing yours and Wu Siduo's armours, Gu Yue will start drafting mine and her own and later you should look over those armours as well and improve them since you're a 5-Star Designer. We don't have time to waste, so I don't think you should design a whole set at once, since if you did that for everyone it would take too long. We should approach this one part at a time. For example, we should start with a right forearm piece for everyone. Wu Siduo, you'll need to be ready at a moments notice to start creating the armour. Val Karni, I hope that once the designs are finished you can help her as well, to make everything work smoother. Then, once we all have a right forearm piece, we can move on to the next part. That way, we'll complete each step gradually and methodically. This should be the most efficient method."

Karni thought about it for a bit. This was the most efficient method indeed. This guy began thinking about the synergy already. He really was a born leader. This was a quality that Karni didn't possess, since he never worked in a team with a degree of hierarchy before.

"It should be fine. In that case, I'll help Sisi once I'm finished with making sure all of the designs reach the same standard. I believe Gu Yue's designs won't take long, since she's a high rank designer herself. We can only improve the designs so much, before they reach the next rank of Battle Armour. This way we can guarantee the quality as well. As for the metal, I'll think it over. Though I have some ideas already. I might bother you with this later."

"That's fine with me." Tang Wulin nodded, then turned to Wu Siduo. "What about you?"

"I have some ideas as well, but I'll have to think it over a bit since my two martial souls have the capability to fuse. I should figure it out by tomorrow."

"Good. Be careful not to choose metals that are too volatile though. I know the two of you have more leeway in your choice, since you're both Soul Ancestors, but remember to think about safety as well."

Karni glanced at Siduo. "Yeah, Sisi. You've had a tendency to be reckless before, this isn't something you can do right now."

"What are you? My dad? You think I'd play with my own Martial Soul?"

Karni raised his eyebrows.

Siduo sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll be careful."

Their group was the first to finish with discussions. Every other group was still loudly discussing what they should do. They probably weren't going to finish any time soon.

The four of them said goodbye. Karni and Siduo went to the library to look at what they wanted. They grabbed some cocoa with them, since they expected to spend a good bit of time here. 

Just what metal did they want? Both of them had a problem with Battle Armour due to Twin Martial Souls. For now something like a head piece was out of the question. They would stay within the plan for now.

If Karni were making a head piece, it was a no brainer when it came to choice. He'd choose a metal with pure spiritual application. For a forearm piece however, it wasn't as easy. Spiritual aspects should still be included, but he wasn't sure just what direction his second Martial Soul was going to be taken yet. An arm piece would have greater influence on his second Martial Soul in the future, so he needed to be careful. Mo Qing warned him about this.

He looked through metals with at least a partial spiritual quality, or something that was at least partially compatible with spiritual energy. The first one on the list was Deep Sea Spirit Lead. A metal with some of the purest spiritual energy. A rare and sought after metal for all Spiritual Soul Masters. Especially those that don't have any other characteristic besides the spiritual element. Like Spirit Eyes of Huo Yuhao.

Karni sighed. This metal would indeed be good for his head piece, since his abilities, while not purely spiritual, each had a bit of a unique twist to it. Control, perception, sharing the perception and teleportation, all connected through Sound that affects both time and space. It was the perfect metal to give an overall boost for his abilities. He made a note to not forget about the metal, but kept on looking. He needed something else for the head piece.

None of what he found was really useful. At least none that had a genuine spiritual quality to them. For a forearm piece, he needed something that would simply be able to store the spiritual energy to an extent, or at least withstand it. He needed something along those lines for a good foundation.

Finally towards the end a metal caught his eyes. Not a particularly rare one, but also not a common one. It wasn't really popular either. Honey Titanium, given its name because of its looks. It had the typical properties of normal Titanium, great durability, just to a much lesser extent, as this was an incredibly flexible variety. It was commonly used to help stabilise people, as it helped bring harmony to energies input in it. Whether those be spiritual or physical. That being said, these energies usually just stayed separate, those that wouldn't mix would be 'puked' out of the metal.

"This is perfect." Karni smiled. His own Sound and the parts he comprehended were all based on harmonic effect between different tones of sound. If the metal won't disrupt that harmony, it should be that much better. It would still be better to ask Tang Wulin about it though. This metal had a peculiar effect, and he wanted to know for sure if it would really work the way he wanted it to.

He was lucky that the metal was quite unpopular. Its physical aspects weren't the best there was, so defence systems or strength systems would rather choose metals without any other side effects. Elementalists also disliked it, as it would turn their elements into too pure of an element, disrupting their control. But for Karni, it felt like it was made for him. His attack style and style of control were all based on forming the purest of sound through its chaos. If he could concentrate that pureness…. Sound wasn't like other elements, as soundwaves themselves weren't really an element, but a consequence of its activity. They were mostly a side effect that people never even paid attention to, but took it for granted. Good. He had his metal. Honey Titanium it is.

He turned towards Siduo, only to find her staring at his book. It looked like she already finished.

"Mm. That one might just be perfect for you. It would likely work with whatever direction you take your Panda towards in the future too."

Karni smiled. "I agree. Thankfully it's not too rare. What about you? Found your metal yet?"

"Mhm." She nodded. "Energy Palladium. It has the property to accept a high level of different types of energy and still withstand it. It should increase the amount of power I can output when fusing my Martial Souls."

Karni thought about it for a bit. "And if you put something like Crystal Lithium in your torso…" That metal was one he was looking at before as well.

"Exactly. Then I could fuse those energies with even greater ease. The two should complement each other perfectly. I'm lucky I can fuse my Martial Souls, otherwise it would be a headache to choose the right metals."

Karni nodded. He might face that problem in the future. "I wish I could build my armour around that from the beginning. Combine specific energies through different metals, then put them in Energy Palladium and fuse them through Crystal Lithium."

Siduo gasped in fake surprise. "But that would make you like me!"

"Oh shush you." He sighed. "Man. I really need to find a Spirit Soul for my Panda sometime."

… … …

The next day, Karni was facepalming first thing in the morning. Siduo on the other hand, sat with her hands crossed with a glare. In front of them, Gu Yue was glaring back at her. Whatever goodwill they had going on yesterday seemed to be forgotten now.

What was happening?

The class president was absent!