Reincarnated In A World Of Mana As A Mechanic-Chapter 44: Braving The Whirlwind

The Wilderness Survival classroom looked like someone had decided to bring the entire outdoors inside, then charge admission for the privilege. It was basically a large untouched field but with four walls and a roof surrounding it.

Ezekiel took the time to admire the small plain field, with knee high grass and a few trees scattered about. At the center of the field, he could faintly pick up on a gleaming set of runes that decorated the ground.

Vahn and Yuri who stood beside him also took the time to observe the large field before them and the sparse students that populated the class.

"I’d welcome you all, but I wager most of you won’t last long in this class so I’ll save it for later." A gruff voice came from the professor standing menacingly before them, his height at a towering 2 meter height with muscles that practically begged to be released from the confines that were called his clothes—almost seeming as though they could tear apart at any moment. "My name is Raven Kane and I shall be your professor for this course."

The students could easily sense a steady and calm aura from the man, as though even a storm was incapable of sweeping him off his feet. He folded his arms and meticulously observed the crowd before him, as though silently deciding who possessed the ability to survive in an actual wilderness.

"Survival..." He began, his gruff voice ringing out as calmly as a soft breeze. "...Is not about being comfortable. It’s about being alive. You won’t care if your clothes are still in top quality if you’re trying to fight for your life while racing through a swamp, would you? And today, we’re going to discuss how nature can, and will, kill you in creative and educational ways."

"Today’s lesson will focus on mana related hazards and how best to avoid them. Anyone, even the weakest E rank Awakened, can obviously survive a regular bad weather, but once mana is included into this equation, even a B rank Awakened could potentially lose his or her life if not careful.

"The most common mana related hazard is a mana storm. These delightful phenomena occur when ambient magical energy reaches critical saturation levels and decides to wreak havoc upon all living and non-living things around it. If you aren’t able to get away from one on time, it’s better to simply await your death. The storm will slice you into unrecognizable pieces within seconds."

A student raised her hand tentatively. "Professor, how do we detect mana storms before they hit?"

Ezekiel merely needed a glance to recognize her. She was the student who had led her group while disobeying Edward’s orders. It seemed she too understood the importance of the survival classes.

As he was thinking, Raven had already given an answer. "Excellent question. The answer is: you don’t, unless you’re carrying specialized detection equipment that costs more than most of you will ever get your hands on. However, there are warning signs if you know what to look for.

"Unusual animal behavior is your first clue. Birds flying in geometric patterns, insects moving in synchronized formations, and the like. It’s also very easy to spot since the storm since it is quite large in size. Once you notice any of these, immediately retreat. You don’t have to wait till the storm is bearing down on your necks."

The professor paused, letting his words sink into the students before he continued once more. "The next would be mana crystallization. It happens when the ambient mana becomes dense enough to take on a physical shape, one much denser than the sharp particles that make up a mana storm. These crystals are extremely valuable as they are practically filled to the brim with pure mana."

A bit of confusion welled up among the students. The description Professor Kane provided was identical to that of mana crystals, which were quite expensive among Awakened as it had multiple uses.

Reading their confusion, the professor chuckled before explaining. "The mana crystals are great, yes. But one has to be careful when digging the crystals from ores and the like. The deepest, core part of a mana crystal vein contains dense mana poison. If anybody, even an A rank Awakened, makes the mistake of walking in there with no prepared protection, they would crystallize and break apart on the spot, becoming mana crystals themselves."

’I can tell that a lot of people die to this phenomenon while excavating such mana crystal veins. I wonder how mana poison would affect me though.’ Ezekiel snuffed that curious thought before it could blossom though, unwilling to accidentally kill himself for the sake of a curious experiment.

His thoughts were, fortunately, put to a stop once Professor Kane called for the class’ attention. "Let’s not discuss all these topics, meeting any of these phenomena mostly leads to death unless you’re pretty lucky. Instead, today we’ll focus on the most common mana disaster that happens near most danger zones in the kingdom. Mana Vortexes.

"This phenomenon is basically the lesser version of a Mana storm. A vortex is produced when a substantial amount of wind attributed mana is gathered together, manifesting itself into the world without the unique mana of an Awakened. Anyone with a wind affinity can easily sense it and Seers, or other Awakened, with a strong mana sense can also easily pick up on them.

"The chances of surviving a Mana vortex encounter is also large. Well, compared to your chances against a mana storm that is. Anyone with a precise sense of mana can predict regions of a vortex that have weaker air currents and can guide an entire group, as long as they all possess a fast enough reaction speed."

The large man waved his hand, manifesting a wave of air that twirled around his arm before separating and expanding till it developed into a full blown whirlwind.

The students were forced back by the powerful air currents caused by the whirlwind, their hair scattering about in the air while their clothes rustled wildly. Feeling the wind slamming against their bodies in an attempt to send them flying, their faces paled slightly before they shot a confused glance at their professor.

"You lot will be given your first assignment of the class. Your mana sensing capabilities might not be up to par but it’s my job to train you regardless. Your task is to make it through this whirlwind and the first person to do that will be given 20 institute points. Don’t worry, you won’t die in the whirlwind, I’ve controlled my power well, but you might end up naked or hurt if you stay in there for too long, so you better hope you get lucky if your mana sense fails you."

A bit of greed permeated the field as the students heard the professor’s words. Everyone in the field was a student ranked above 50 on the ranking list. But they also knew that before missions and tasks were handed out, institute points would be vital to their training.

Two people moved quicker than the rest, bursting into a sprint as they headed towards the whirlwind. The figure at the lead was Ezekiel, who had charged in immediately after he had confirmed with Laura that he could sense the mana pathways within the spell created force of nature. The MCR had to be able to sense the magical energy before it could absorb and convert it after all.

The second was the silver haired girl from before whose arm was coated with a layer of fire as she crossed it above her head while charging into the whirlwind.

The mechanic displayed a bit of surprise upon noticing this, as it meant that the girl was solely going to rely on defending against the sharp winds within the spell. It made sense though, she was a Brawler after all. Her perception of mana couldn’t be powerful enough to notice the meticulous movement of mana within the whirlwind so she might as well just break through it.

Not to mention that Professor Kane wouldn’t launch a fully powered spell within the class, as anything past the D rank was enough to kill the students 10 times over with a simple aftermath shockwave, not to mention the attack itself.

So she was indeed smart to wager that the spell would at most be of an early to mid D rank strength, one which she believed she could handle.

And to Ezekiel’s surprise, she could.

The powerful heat wave emitted from her fiery fists somehow spread all across her body in an attempt to defend it against the dreadful wind. The heat alone couldn’t fully stop the sharp wind alone, of course, but it could at least reduce its power.

And with the powerful physique of a Brawler, the girl was able to tank all the damage with a straight face while she moved on.

The other students, upon seeing this, had quickly rushed into the whirlwind as well, though most of the group despaired as they felt the powerful winds tearing away at their defenses and biting into their skins, drawing blood in the process.

Only Vahn, Yuri, and a selective few others were able to handle themselves better in the whirlwind, though they were unable to move at the much quicker speed the silver haired girl displayed as she soldiered on amidst the terrifyingly sharp wind. But of course not every region of the whirlwind was sharp, some were mild but would never stay like that. After all, the mana pathways were constantly changing—the professor would never make such a task so easy.

She could only soak in all the damage with her body, her teeth silently gritted as she pushed forward step by step regardless of the obstructive wind before her.

But once she was finally past the whirlwind, she widened her eyes in surprise, cutting short the relieved sigh that had almost left her lips due to the fact that the overbearing wind was no longer tearing at her.

Looking before her, she forgot all about the pain and the relief though.

This was because Ezekiel could be seen lazily relaxing on the ground while looking as bored as he possibly could.

He had gotten past the whirlwind, and, by the looks of it, much earlier than she had.