A-rank

The top floor of the laboratory was somewhere Lister didn't remember ever visiting before.

Or rather, of everything at the Professionist University, the training grounds had left the deepest impression on players.

Common skills were learned either from skill books or under the nominal instruction of the professors at the training grounds.

"Knock, knock."

Hearing some movement inside, Lister assumed someone was there and knocked on the door.

He waited a moment. Metallic, mechanical sounds continued from within, but no one came to open the door.

Only after he knocked again did he hear a man's somewhat irritated voice inside.

"Tap, tap!"

At last, hurried footsteps sounded behind the door, and it swung open.

But in the next moment, the man who had opened it ran back into the room.

He was about 1.8 meters tall, with a standard build, and wore a form-fitting suit of silver mechanical armor. He was staring intently at a huge machine half a person's height.

Unless something unexpected had happened, this man was Carven Lucian.

Lister stepped into the room, not daring to approach any closer, and shut the door behind him.

The center of the huge machine appeared to be a special alchemical energy core, surrounded by extremely intricate mechanical extensions and inscriptions.

Energy was visibly leaking from the core's structure, while the entire core was vibrating strangely, as if it might break loose at any moment.

Kavin stared at the core before him with total concentration. His hands were already moving in blurs as he continuously assembled various specialized mechanical components outward from the core.

After quite a while, the strange alchemical energy core finally settled down and became completely calm.

Lister watched quietly from the side, feeling that Kavin's intricate alchemical mechanical craftsmanship truly qualified as art. It was a pleasure to watch.

Only when the work was finished did he come back to his senses and prepare to step forward and introduce himself.

But he had barely taken one step when Kavin immediately raised a hand and motioned for him to stop.

In the next moment, Carven's expression grew increasingly grave as he stared at the alchemical core, which had clearly already calmed down.

Suddenly, as though he had anticipated something, Kavin turned and rushed toward Lister.

Moving extremely fast, he grabbed Lister's arm and pulled him out of the room.

"Beep... beep... beep-beep!"

The alchemical core inside suddenly began blaring furiously.

"Boom!!!"

The instant the door closed, a violent explosion rang out.

The door was immediately blasted to pieces, and a burst of flame shot skyward from the room, blowing the entire top floor off the laboratory.

The commotion was enormous. Normally, the school's dedicated guards would have come to maintain order—or to hand out punishment.

But in reality, a long time passed without anyone coming. Even the professors on the several floors below had no reaction. No one came in at all.

"So... that was an alchemical bomb?"

Lister murmured.

Fortunately, he had gotten out of the way fast enough and hadn't suffered any serious injuries.

"That was a mecha core I developed."

"You interrupted my rhythm during the procedure just now, causing the seventeenth experiment to fail again."

As Kavin spoke, he looked at Lister with a calm expression.

"Alchemical core, 37,411 gold coins; mechanical components, 3,417 gold coins; repairs to affected facilities, 231 gold coins. The total loss from this failed experiment comes to 41,059 gold coins."

"As the one who interrupted me, you bear primary responsibility and must compensate me for 70% of the cost, a total of 36,953 gold coins."

"I'll send you the full list of materials shortly. Any objections?"

There was not a trace of regret or agitation on Kavin's face, nor even the irritation Lister had expected. Instead, he was unusually calm and had the time to calculate compensation with him. That made Lister breathe a sigh of relief.

"I'm willing to compensate you, but not in cash."

"All right!"

"I can appraise knowledge, real estate, equipment, special creations, and the like and deduct their value from what you owe."

Kavin replied quickly. He was unusually calm, giving the impression of a robot without any emotional fluctuations.

Seeing this, Lister tentatively scanned his information.

He had been so absorbed in the man's exquisite alchemical techniques just now that he had forgotten to investigate him.

[Level: Lv40]

[Class: Alchemical Mechanic (mechanical branch)]

[Health: 4209/4209]

[Stamina: 1417/1417]

[Attributes: Strength: 40, Stamina: 40, Intelligence: 40, Agility: 40]

[Skills: (A-rank perfect) ???, (A-rank perfect) ???, Alchemical Mechanical Frenzy (B-rank excellent) Lv33: Continuously releases self-destructing alchemical mini-robots, dealing 6613-8382 points of area explosion damage (can benefit from the Intelligence attribute). Mechanical Detonation (C-rank rare) Lv40: Actively detonates any mechanical creation, dealing 400% of that creation's maximum damage. Heart of Wisdom (passive, unranked) Lv40: Grants an additional 40 Intelligence. Mechanical Mastery (passive, unranked) Lv40: Boosts mechanical skills by 200%, ...]

[Overall rating: A-rank (Lord Tier)]

"Warning: This enemy is extremely dangerous. Immediate retreat is advised!"

He wouldn't have known without scanning, and the scan gave him a fright!

Lister was genuinely a little stunned. Kavin's class really was a mechanic!

In particular, there was that lavish array of skills on his information panel: two level 40 passive skills and even two A-rank perfect-grade skills.

And this was only the second act!

As Lister recalled, even the strongest boss monster in the second act had only had a B-rank, leader-class overall rating.

Yet the sixth prince before him was only in his twenties, and his overall rating was actually A-rank—a genuine Lord Tier.

Lister felt rather like he had run into a top-tier boss without being prepared.

Fortunately, this boss didn't seem impossible to talk to. In fact, he was in a very calm state.

Lister was gradually coming to believe that this mechanic named Carven Dill standing before him was very likely the one he knew from later times.

The universe-class powerhouse known as the "Madman Mechanic" or the "Truth Mechanic"-Carven Dill!

Otherwise, there was no way to explain the series of super skills he possessed.

"Can information be used to offset the cost?"

Lister swallowed subconsciously.

If he hadn't known how strong this fourth-tier Lord Tier boss was, he could have spoken to him relatively calmly.

At most, since he needed something from the man, he would have been happy to accommodate him and offer gold coins of his own accord.

Now he was genuinely somewhat worried. After all, he was only at the third tier and had no power to fight back against the man before him.

More importantly, he simply didn't have that many gold coins on him at the moment, unless he had his family send them over.

"Yes."

"But the value will be determined by my standards."

As soon as he finished speaking, Carle, whose expression had remained calm, suddenly frowned. Lister's guard shot up, and his hand instantly went to the hilt of the blade at his waist.

"What are you afraid of? Or are you preparing to deceive me?"

His voice was still calm, seemingly devoid of any emotion.

But it gave Lister a chill, especially with the man's gaze so calm yet cold and severe.

Although Kavin showed no emotion himself, he was unusually sensitive to Lister's emotional reactions.

"I have no intention of deceiving you. I'm simply afraid of your strength."

Having revealed his true feelings, Lister didn't dare risk saying anything else in front of him for the moment.

In the next instant, Carle's frown vanished, and his face quickly returned to its mechanical calm.

He spoke again, seemingly to reassure Lister.

"There's no need to be afraid. I'm merely an explorer seeking the truths of the world. I believe truth is paramount and practice equal exchange."

"I have no intention of attacking you. Besides, your strength isn't weak; only your Strength attribute is somewhat lacking for now."