Magic, Mechanics, Shuraba Vol 1 Chapter 30

Volume 1 Chapter 30 – Who said I was dead?

Actually, Ouyang Tao did not like to burn the midnight oil. Furthermore, what happened the previous day had taken its toll on Ouyang Tao mentally. Therefore, after reading for a while, he had fallen asleep on the study table.

Waking up groggily the next day, Ouyang Tao realised that the crystal coffin beside him was empty and there was a blanket covering him. Obviously, it was placed there by Zhao Yuehan —— The fact that she could move meant that she should be fully recovered already.

Ouyang Tao folded the blanket nicely before stretching his lazy self. As he looked up, he saw Zhao Yuehan already standing in front of his study table.

“Wahhhh —— !” Ouyang Tao jumped in shock and nearly fell. Zhao Yuehan appeared out of nowhere like a spirit.

“Good morning.”

“Ahh…… Morning senior.”

Judging from the colour of Zhao Yuehan’s face, she seemed to have already fully recovered. This made Ouyang Tao finally feel at ease.

Although she still had the expressionless look and spoke monotonously, Ouyang Tao didn’t know whether or not this was his misconception, but he thought that she seemed to have less of her usual ghastly coldness and more of a young girl’s gentleness.

But he felt that this was not a bad thing.

At this point, Zhao Yuehan held a tray in her hand. On it was a big bowl that was still giving off hot steam. It also had the smell of sesame oil.

Ouyang Tao thought, this couldn’t be breakfast, could it?

“Breakfast.” Zhao Yuehan said, placing the huge bowl on the writing table. “Enjoy.”

It really was breakfast! Ouyang Tao looked down at the bowl. It was a savory meat wonton that was fresh, had thin skin, and a lot of meat. Not only that, there was also kamaboko, big prawns, seaweed and other types of seafood in the soup. Just looking at it made a person salivate.

“Wah, delicious!”

After a mouthful, Ouyang Tao found that the wonton was very delicious. After a while, he had finished the whole bowl of soup, and had not left anything behind. At that point, Ouyang Tao realised that Zhao Yuehan had been standing beside him while watching him eat.

“Do you want another bowl?”

“No, I’m already very full. The wonton was very delicious. Thank you senior.” Ouyang Tao didn’t expect Zhao Yuehan to be so good at cooking, “Senior, you’re not eating?”

Zhao Yuehan shook her head gently: “I’ve already eaten.”

After sleeping, Ouyang Tao felt fresh and fully revitalised. Furthermore, since Zhao Yuehan was also fine already, Ouyang Tao felt that it was time he ascertain some facts: “Senior, I…..”

“I know.” Zhao Yuehan knew what Ouyang Tao wanted to do, and she did not plan to stop him. She only calmly asked: “But what do you plan to do?”

“I……” Ouyang Tao hesitated for a moment. That’s right, what did he plan to do next?

“It’s safe here.” Zhao Yuehan didn’t need to spell out what she meant. She didn’t want Ouyang Tao to leave the library, which was a safe haven, and venture outside into the danger —— If it were like what Ouyang Tao thought, the attacker would come to seek him out yet again.

“But, I can’t keep hiding here.” Ouyang Tao knew that he would be in danger, but he could not use this as a reason to escape. As a man, how could he shrink away like this. Ouyang Tao gritted his teeth and asked: “Senior, if I were to fight him, what do you think my chances of victory are?”

“……” Zhao Yuehan remained silent, as she stared at Ouyang Tao for some time. She looked like she was seriously doing an evaluation of him. After five minutes, she concluded, “It’s possible, but the chances are very low.”

“That’s enough.” Ouyang Tao was determined, “Senior, I’m not going to run away this time. If that fellow comes and looks for trouble, I’m going to settle it with him once and for all!”

“Is it……” Although Zhao Yuehan did not attempt to stop him, her slight change in tone revealed the worry she had for Ouyang Tao. However, she also knew that there was no stopping him.

Ouyang Tao seemed to have realised Zhao Yuehan’s worries, “Don’t worry, senior. I promised you before that I’ll come to the library every day to read with you. I will keep to my promise.

The youth’s words were filled with a sure win determination that even Zhao Yuehan felt encouraged. She nodded slightly: “Alright, I believe you.”

The young girl’s eyes followed the young boy’s back as he slowly left. As his figure slowly disappeared, she returned back to the manager’s counter where they had initially met and sat down quietly. She picked up her book as she awaited for his return.

Leaving the library, Ouyang Tao immediately returned to the dormitory to collect the savings he had kept hidden under a box. After that, he went to the warehouse to redeem whatever materials he had left for the remainder of the month. He also used all his savings to purchase more materials.

Then, he brought an automated pushcart filled with all his general alloys and roughly refined magic stones to the weapon testing arena. Using the previous three ideas he worked on, he modified and created another three rifles of each type for testing. Using the live data he had obtained, he repeatedly modified the weapons and tested them.

From morning till evening, Ouyang Tao had been continuously experimenting. Eventually, he had completed three different weapons.

According to his first idea, he reduced the power of the rifle. It attacks by using interference magic and EMP. It was called the “Electrical.Commotion”.

According to his second idea, he used an ammunition style to fire bullets, and sacrificed the ability to continuously fire. However, he largely increased the power, stability and trajectory of the weapon. It was called the “Electrical.Longbow”.

According to his third idea, he reconstructed the basic structure of the weapon. It now had the ability to alter the shape of the barrel to release excess power instantaneously as the weapon is about to overload. This way, he could maintain the weapon’s original characteristic of continuity yet also improve its power. It was called the “Electrical.Thunderclap”.

After that, Ouyang Tao created a certain number of each weapon based on his needs and checked the quality of each before storing them inside boxes.

With the remaining materials and magic stones, Ouyang Tao created the hexagonal defence unit which he had previously used during his battle with Tia and stored them in a box as well.

Lastly, Ouyang Tao placed all his weapon boxes onto his automated push cart and left the arena.

Due to the fact that all Mechanical Engineering students kept their personal techniques completely secret, every testing arena was completely isolated from another. Ouyang Tao had not expected another person to be pushing a pushcart out of the arena. Both of them met face to face with each other.

“Tia, you’re here too.” Although he and Tia were still competing with each other, Ouyang Tao did not want to make their relationship too sour and hence courteously greeted her, who knew……

“Eh?! AHH! You…… You……” But who knew that Tia would turn pale from shock. She kept retreating until she nearly fell down. Not only that, she had also taken out her weapon from her weapon box and set it up mid air.

Ouyang Tao was equally shocked by her actions as he removed his defence unit from his weapon box as well: “Oi, what are you doing! Other than the battle arena and the testing arena and when one’s life was threatened, it’s strictly prohibited to use weapons!”

“A…… Are you a human or ghost!”

“Bulls.h.i.t! Of course I’m human!”

Tia still did not completely believe him and remained cautious: “Are…… Are you really that peasant kid Ouyang Tao?”

“If not, who do you think I am. Put down your weapon. I don’t have many materials and don’t want to waste them on you.” Ouyang Tao had taken out all of his money to prepare to engage the mysterious man in battle. He couldn’t afford to waste any resources.

This was definitely the tone of the peasant kid; tough and stubborn, not giving her the due respect as the highest ranked student in Mechanical Engineering (That was how Tia felt).

Therefore, Tia let out a long sigh of relief, withdrew her magic, and returned her weapon back into the box: “So that means you aren’t dead?”

“Of course I’m not dead.” Ouyang Tao let out a sigh of relief as well, while storing his defence unit back into the box. It seemed as though the misunderstanding had been cleared.

Wait, something was fishy. Ouyang Tao asked in confusion: “Wait…… Who said I was dead?”