Nanomancer Rising: Divine Alchemist Reborn as Academy's Worst Teacher
Chapter 114: Match made in hive?!

Chapter 114: Match made in hive?!

"To be a teacher, huh?"

Theo voiced out the very first thought that came to his head as he woke up.

The very fact that he had to get a proper sleep, one that ejected him straight into the late evening of the day, was an abnormality for someone used to relying on his nanites.

And the thought that he woke up with on his mouth was only the embodiment of just how much out of his element he was.

His dreams were no escape from this dilemma. And now that Theo pretty much decided this was what he was going to focus on for the foreseeable future, he wasn’t willing to just go ahead and put the minimum of effort just to get things done.

No. Now that he had decided to be a teacher, he was going to be a proper one. Even if that involved hours upon hours of mulling over what it really meant to be a teacher.

"That’s an important question, for sure, but first..."

With a groan only a middle-aged man could make, Theo stood up from his surprisingly comfortable bed – an unforeseen courtesy by Julius, the man, the myth, and the beggar on the streets.

Standing up, Theo stood in place for a moment, gathering his strength for what would come next. And once he amassed enough willpower, determination, and living energy, he started to stretch.

’In a healthy body, a healthy spirit!’ he exclaimed in his thoughts as he repeatedly pushed his body to the limits of how far it could bend, only to push those limits with two or three repetitions of each stretch, and then again over the course of around ten repetitions for each exercise.

With the nanites coursing through his bloodstream and his cultivation structure, this kind of stretching was extremely redundant. Theo could achieve exactly the same effects by just putting his nanites to use, saving himself the sweat, the strain, and the exertion.

The myriad of tiny miracle workers of his hive could even bring forth the very same psychophysical effects of exercise as... well, just a normal, ordinary exercise!

And yet, it simply wasn’t the same. It also came at the cost of Theo expending his nanites and, while saving some energy by not moving a muscle, ultimately losing more of it from all the nutrients his nanorgan would siphon away to restore the stock of the hive’s nanites.

In the end, however, this simple exercise was the best way for Theo to get the gears of his brain going. Because after a good several hours of sleep, not only did he want to chase his drowsiness away...

He still had a library’s worth of knowledge to comb through!

’Hive, if you would mind, could you compile me the very distillate of what we’ve learned?’

When it came to this mental challenge, Theo was more than happy to push it off for his hive to complete. For while there was a point in keeping himself somewhat independent of it, never relying on it too much, he had no plans of going too far in the direction of abstaining from its use either.

’In this world, the hive is my greatest weapon. I would have to be a total idiot to give up on it for something as silly as my personal desire to get a better hold over my abilities!’

And so, while Theo continued to sweat out the exhaustion of sleeping through the better part of the day, his hive started on the new task. Now, it had already parsed all of the knowledge that its nanites had scanned on the library’s first floor, turning it into knowledge Theo could access at will.

All that was left was to compile it into an ersatz of human advancements into the world of magic that would serve as a guide for Theo not only in terms of his own magical development but also a tool for him to guide his disciples with.

"Haaah!"

With a jump, Theo finished his routine, properly sweaty, warmed up, and ready to tackle whatever was left of the day. But given how he gave his disciples a full day off...

"I guess that limits the list of things I can do, huh?"

Theo’s lips involuntarily curved into a smile.

’Who could’ve known that my mindset would change so quickly?’

Before a bout of laughter could escape from his lips, the hive finally finished its compilation, presenting an extensive list right on top of Theo’s vision, as if those words were written directly on his eyes.

<Compiled next two steps for the ultimate nanite cultivation>

<Warning! Last currently compiled step for the ultimate nanite cultivation couldn’t be verified – please acquire more knowledge of higher realms of magic and cultivation to complete the verification!>

Theo’s eyebrows moved up before he could go beyond the very opening statements of the hive’s compiled list of the news.

’So all that effort... was for just a single completed step of cultivation?’ he thought, momentarily struggling to get over the shock and then the following amazement.

Yet, rather than doubling down on this topic and instantly moving on to check what those next steps were, Theo gritted his teeth and forced his attention to remain on the generalized list of all the things his hive compiled.

<Generalized tutorial to magic engineering: Steps 1 through 6>

<Generalized tutorial to magic formations: Step 1 through 4>

<Generalized tutorials to alchemy: Step 1 through 8>

<Warning! Generalized tutorial to alchemy was verified and judged to be inferior to the host’s current knowledge!>

<Detailed dictionary to the runic language: Beginner and early advanced level completed and verified, mid-advanced level, high-advanced levels incomplete and unverified>

The list... went on and on, for longer than Theo could realistically keep a focus on. And so, he did the next most rational thing for when the hive flooded him with more knowledge than he could possibly grasp in a short amount of time.

’Could you compress this whole list into something less detailed and more generalized?’

<Compressing... Please wait>

This time, Theo didn’t need to wait for long, with this several meters long strip of text and notifications vanishing from before his eyes only to then reappear in the form of just a few short lines.

<Compiled a total of: 43 disciplines out of which there are 173 complete and verified steps, 82 complete and unverified steps, 12 incomplete and verified steps, and 49 incomplete and unverified steps>

Just the header of the new, condensed list was just perfect for Theo to fully grasp the scale of the knowledge he obtained from that one trip to the library.

But the good news didn’t end there.

<There’s a total of 22 crafting-related disciplines, 17 auxiliary-related disciplines, 3 unique disciplines, 2 local taboo disciplines, and 1 cultivation discipline compiled>

Theo’s eyebrow moved up a little.

’Using all that you’ve learned and gathered about Tesh and Lukas...’ Theo hesitated with his thoughts for a moment, ’and Celeste,’ he added after a moment of consideration, ’select two disciplines each that would be the best possible fit for them.’

Theo’s face suddenly tensed up, only for his lips to crack into a helpless smile.

’Oh, and let’s not forget about selecting three disciplines that would be most beneficial to me, and three more auxiliary disciplines that seem like the best possible fit.’

Once again, the hive spun its gears for a short moment.

<Suggestions for subject Tesh and her compatibilities:

- Runic Weave

- Runic Writing

- Enchanting>

<Suggestions for subject Lukas and his compatibilities:

- Runic Weave

- Formation Setting

- Engraving>

<Suggestions for subject Celeste and her compatibilities:

- Runic Weave

- Dual Cultivation

- Brewing

Special addition: Supreme Body Attunement>

<Suggestions for the host:

- Runic Weave

- Superior Dual Cultivation

- Divine Alchemy (lack of complete, verified steps)>

<Suggestion for secondary...>

Theo blinked his eyes, suddenly starting to choke on his own spit as his eyes doubled back to the earlier part of the list. And after confirming that he really did read what he thought he did, all the while trying not to choke to his own death...

’Hive, do you even know what dual cultivation is?’ he asked, not waiting for even a single second before shaking his head. ’No, maybe I’m the one allowing weird preconceptions to mess up with my understanding. Hive, what is...’

In his drive to get the hive to clarify the phrase, Theo forgot that all of this knowledge was already his for the wielding. And the moment the topic of dual cultivation raised in his head, the meaning instantly appeared, only to confirm his initial guess.

The same, however, couldn’t be said about the superior dual cultivation part of the hive’s list, for no matter how much Theo jogged his memory, not a single mention of something like this came up.

’Hive, that superior dual cultivation...’ Theo thought, his breath uneven as he combated his own embarrassment, excitement, and repulsion. ’What is it all about?’

A question of great importance... One that Theo almost immediately followed up with another one.

’And is it just me... or isn’t this a bit too much of a coincidence for both me and Celeste to have dual cultivation suggested, even if in different forms?’ Theo gulped his saliva down. ’Could it be...’

For a moment he held his breath as he realized the weight of his sudden guess.

"Could it be, are you trying to set me up with her or something?!"

Theo didn’t even realize he started to speak out loud before his own voice reached his ears. But what was even scarier than the noise he just made... was the complete radio silence on the hive’s part that followed!