Reincarnated In A World Of Mana As A Mechanic
Chapter 24: Talent

Chapter 24: Talent

"Hehe." The man laughed with a thick sense of contempt tainting his voice. "Indeed." Mana burst out from his body before seeping into the leather gloves on his arms.

Ezekiel couldn’t normally see this, but he had long since inputted a miniature mana detecting module into his headgear, allowing him to realize that the man’s gloves might not have been normal as it seemed.

The augmented reality interface in his headgear zoomed in on the gloves to allow him notice miniature runes that now gleamed with a bright azure light that dispersed before suddenly converging to form a wave of wind that circulated around the man’s clenched fists.

The mechanic’s eyes narrowed. ’Forger equipment! These aren’t normal bandits—if they are bandits at all.’

He had no choice but to throw those thoughts to the back of his mind as an instinctive sense of danger flared within his mind. His eyes flickered to catch sight of a blur approaching at a crazily mindboggling speed, matching up to the agility of a D rank awakened!

Ezekiel’s hand had already moved. He didn’t have enough time to draw the shortswords situated at his hips, so he simply punched forward. The components at his arm shifted and rearranged to reveal multiple miniature thruster capsules hidden within the gauntlet. They erupted almost simultaneously in a rhythmic manner, pushing his fists forward with air-piercing speed while his eyes flashed with a hint of savageness as though he were okay trading his arm with the dashing man.

As expected, the man’s expression changed, shocked that someone had managed to keep up with his burst of speed. He instinctively slowed down upon sensing his opponent’s body language, knowing that the latter switched to perform mutual sacrifice. Yet unlike his opponent, at the moment, he was alone while the other side possessed three more individuals ready to take him on the moment he was injured.

Not to mention he was really unwilling to have his arm risk bone fracture or worse due to the actions of an unawakened teenager.

This hesitation was what Ezekiel hoped to see. His MCR poured more Psion energy into his arm’s propeller module, boosting his speed even more. ’Quick Fist Technique. 1st Fist: Tempest Fist.’

The mechanic easily flowed into a stance, dishing out multiple punches that stunned the man as they landed on his body, possessing such strength that his mediocre clothes tore apart due to the force behind the punches, revealing his well-toned but bruised fair skin.

Of course, as a veteran, he naturally roused himself from his stunned state, gritting his teeth as he parried the punches with his gloves. His speed now seemed to be within the normal ceiling of the E rank, confirming a guess from Ezekiel.

Naturally the mechanic would not stick to his fists once they proved ineffective—not to mention that his armor’s durability was being reduced even more due to the powerful gales gathering at the man’s fists. His hands had already used the time where the man recovered from his stunned state to draw his shortswords and flowed into another stance before he slashed forward with precise attacks. Quick Blade Technique. 2nd Blade: Tempest Strikes

Ezekiel watched with no surprise as the man panicked and released another wave of mana that flowed into his feet, exploding with a powerful burst of speed as he retreated. Unfortunately for him, the mechanic was ready for such a move.

The multiple spinning blades absorbing kinetic energy within his suit slammed back into place, infusing directional energy into Ezekiel’s Battlesuit as he dashed forward with an equal amount of speed, allowing him match up with the man’s retreat and slash forward with his gleaming blade, as though they thirsted for blood.

The man barely had a chance to scream when three large gashes appeared on his skin, letting out a large amount of blood that splattered onto the floor. Only a strained groan managed to leave his lips by the time he fell to the ground with a sickening thud, all signs of life leaving his eyes.

_

You have defeated a peak E rank Awakened, 437 Exp acquired.

Level: 14 (121/1400).

_

Ezekiel, on the other hand, ignored the system prompt and clicked his tongue in annoyance as he stared down at the dead corpse. "That was a Talent, wasn’t it?"

(Yes. Based on the data, that was E02, Burst.) Laura’s voice sounded out on the communication channel present on all three suits, allowing Vahn and Yuri glean at the logic such a piece of information could provide.

The mechanic cursed. There wasn’t a single Brawler in the entire Pytra city with a Talent, this was to show how talented individuals who managed to awaken a talent alongside their mana cores were. And now, a random bandit they had met within an ore mine managed to have not an F tier Talent, but one of the E tier. Not to mention that he had more powerful companions deep within the mines.

"Just my fucking luck." Ezekiel’s headgear reassembled itself, compressing a bit before being stored within a compartment at the base of his nape, allowing him to glare at the girl by his side with frustration, his mind racing as he thought up ways to escape such a situation. The girl in question shrank in fear as she felt his gaze land on her.

She still could not wrap her head over the past 10 minutes. Though she didn’t know if she was more shocked at her servant’s betrayal or at the fact that an unawakened individual had somehow been able to almost instantly kill an awakened at the peak of the E rank.

Vahn sighed as he gave a sidelong glance at the girl’s meek expression before refocusing on his friend. "Let’s wash our hands off this. We can just leave her behind and rush past the Pytra forest as fast as we can without rest. The fight down below doesn’t seem close to ending so we still have a chance to get away. Plus we’re already behind schedule."

The mechanic shrugged and agreed with his friend. "I guess we can still make it if we leave now. Missing out on so many ores is hurting a bit though."

"Wait!" A sudden scream pierced through the air, causing the three friends to pause and stare dumbfounded at the cause of the sudden noise. "Please..." Her face turned beet red when she realized she had suddenly made herself the center of attention, yet she knew these three were her only chance of getting out alive so she could only grit her teeth and complete her words. "...Please help me."

Those words seemed to drain the teenage girl, her face paling a bit after speaking.

Ezekiel replied almost immediately, his voice tinged with even more annoyance. "Now why the fuck would I do that?"