I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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“…W-What?”

An unbelievable scene unfolded before my eyes.

My mother was looking at Edgar Fix with such a strange expression.

As if to further perplex me, she called him her husband and urged me to greet him.

“Ha ha ha… Darling, it seems our son is still less educated?”

At that moment.

Edgar Fix smirked devilishly and said that.

Then he leaned in close to Adella and whispered in her ear as if blowing air, “You should discipline him.”

Finally, Adella nodded with a flushed face and turned to Lucas.

“Lucas. Did your mother teach you to glare at your new father like that? It’s like an act of rebellion against me. You should greet him properly.”

The world spun around.

My legs wobbled, and my stomach churned.

What kind of nonsensical situation was this…?

“Lucas! Are you going to defy me until the end? Hurry and apologize to your new father! He is the one I love, the only man I have acknowledged as my partner!”

My cognitive abilities twisted.

Just like in a dream, when one believes the dream is reality, Lucas accepted this absurdity as real.

In the end, that scoundrel Edgar Fix had even taken my mother away from me.

“Ha ha ha… Lucas, you’ll have to show me your best from now on, right? If you don’t want to be pushed out of the heir position. Right now, a new Elmar heir is growing in Adella’s belly.”

“…What? What did you say?”

“Ah, should I say Fix instead of Elmar? My apologies.”

Lucas’s whole body began to tremble.

There was a child of Edgar Fix in my mother’s womb…?

Then, would I be abandoned just like this?

Why did my mother always take lowly commoners as partners and do such things—?

– Lucas.

Then suddenly, the voice of Adella echoed in his head.

That heavy and clear voice he had known for a long time.

– I truly loved your father. So don’t listen to the silly sparrows’ chirping.

Lucas recalled what Adella had said to him in his childhood.

When rumors of him being the “child of a rapist” circulated, Adella had told him it was the result of true love.

‘This is a lie.’

As those past memories surfaced, everything started to come into view.

He could instinctively tell that the scene unfolding before his eyes was something that could never happen.

His mother could not be so vulgar.

‘The powder Charlotte Verdian used…’

Instead, Lucas recalled the battle between Charlotte and Cardmos.

The hallucinogenic powder that drove Cardmos to madness.

On top of that, the illusionary spell designed to stimulate fear.

‘Is that what it was?’

Everything became clear.

The relationship between Ed and Charlotte.

And the strange powder that had been sprinkled on him during the battle.

What he was seeing now was created by the fear deeply seated in his subconscious.

The fear that his mother would choose someone greater over his worthless mercenary father.

His inferiority complex about his background.

The desperate desire to be acknowledged by his mother.

The pressure to be a perfect son.

All those emotions mixed together to create such a nonsensical scene.

Because of his own weakness that he hadn’t overcome.

‘Was I the one consumed by vanity?’

All this time, he had thought he was moving forward.

When more nobles started to speak to him at social gatherings.

When he was chosen as the representative student at the Academy’s entrance ceremony.

When he strolled around accompanied by numerous followers.

In those moments, he wasn’t growing; he was merely filling the inferiority complex hidden deep within him.

Look, I am Lucas Elmar.

The true noble, inheritor of the Elmar surname.

I have inherited the strongest bloodline, worthy of my mother’s name.

—He would boast everywhere like a little child.

The truth was, his mother had never once been ashamed of his father’s existence, yet here he was, using the excuse of elevating her reputation to fill his own self-esteem due to his insecurities.

‘What matters is not others’ gaze…’

His mother had been stoic regarding outsiders’ opinions.

She had solidified the criteria for what was truly important to her and focused solely on that.

But he had been preoccupied with fulfilling his own vanity.

The more nobles followed him, the more he had mistakenly thought he was growing.

‘…I was no different from a child. How embarrassing.’

One day, he wanted to hear those words from his mother.

“Look, you’ve become a man now.”

He longed for her warm words of acknowledgment.

But his mother had never referred to him as a “man” or “boy.”

Whenever she spoke of him to a third party, she always called him “a child.”

‘Of course.’

Now Lucas felt he understood his mother’s standards of a man.

One who carves his own path.

One who can maintain his beliefs and philosophy regardless of any trials or tribulations.

One who can draw people to him solely with his own abilities rather than being quick to cater to the relationships around him.

That was the man his mother envisioned.

And Edgar Fix was that man, fulfilling all those conditions.

He was a different caliber than Lucas.

‘I’ve been jealous of him.’

Acknowledging his own weakness, the truth began to unfold.

In fact, he had been jealous of Ed since the entrance speech.

He had been greatly shocked by his words, “I’m not ashamed of the Fix surname.”

Because he had never even tried to learn about his father’s name and had only been busy hiding it.

He had always obsessively clung to being the child of “Elmar,” vainly disregarding the other half that made him who he was.

‘I have denied my roots…’

Ed had accepted his roots.

On the day of the entrance ceremony, he openly declared that he was merely a blacksmith.

Even when granted a title, he retained the commoner surname “Fix.”

He had never been ashamed of his commoner father and always prioritized him above all else.

Moreover, even after gaining fame and wealth, he hadn’t become arrogant and had instead taught those who belittled him.

He was spreading a positive influence throughout the Empire.

‘That’s not Edgar Fix.’

Therefore, the scoundrel in front of me is not Edgar Fix.

He was merely a mirror reflecting Lucas’s ugly inner self.

His weak ego, unwilling to accept Edgar Fix, had demonized him.

“Phew…”

It was time to go back.

Lucas exhaled and refined his mana.

Even though “scoundrel Ed” muttered something like, “Adella’s night skills are unbeatable. But my hand skills aren’t so bad either,” he didn’t care.

That too was an illusion created by his weak self, wanting to demonize Edgar Fix.

—Pah!

With that, Lucas unleashed his mana instantaneously and expelled the wicked energy within.

As if the paint that had congealed under the hot sun was melting, the illusions he had created began to dissolve.

***

Adella’s expression froze as she watched from the stands.

Her son, who had been attacking all along as if being pursued, was now ensnared by the hallucinogenic powder and couldn’t find his way out.

‘I didn’t keep calm…’

While it looked flashy on the outside, there were many shortcomings in her son’s duel.

He had let his emotions take over too much and attacked with a disdainful approach.

—Waaaah!!

—He’s finally out! Let’s goooo!!!

As a result, he had given his opponent time to arm up.

While her son staggered from the hallucinogenic powder, Edgar began equipping the suit.

—Ooooh!!

—That’s what I’ve only heard about…!

Edgar began to equip the suit while aiming a repulsor beam at Lucas.

The suit started to adhere to him as if it were magnetized, completing its form.

The boot section, which had been far off, flew to him and attached to his legs the moment he glanced at it.

—Vwiing… Chirr…

The other parts were similar.

The suit pieces appeared from cracks in the air, flying to Ed and assembling themselves simultaneously.

They quickly repeated loosening screws and turning bearings while scanning and shifting gears, beginning to attach each part together.

—Fushhhhh…

As a result, with steam spewing out, the suit was almost completely finished, except for the helmet.

The strongest academy student had returned.