"Someone looks quite worried,"

Everlearn teased, watching her blink her eyes once.

The second they opened, the worry in her eyes was gone, her aura settling back into that depressive state of hers.

Bringing out her cigarette box, she took one out, lit it, and took a deep inhale before exhaling in relief.

"I'm not worried," she answered after, and he rolled his eyes.

"Hey," she suddenly called out to him.

"If you undergo the fusion and you keep your promise, then I'll get you on your first X-Guardian mission." She said it as a glint crossed through Everlearn's eyes.

"My first X-Guardian mission?"

"Yes. The one you did before was mine, and it was more of a test than a real mission."

"This time it will be the real deal."

"That sounds dangerous," Everlearn mused.

The last time, he had almost ended up dead, and that was only a test.

Whatever it was, X-Guardian missions were never something good to look forward to.

"Everything is dangerous," she answered, taking another deep exhale as she grabbed his hands and placed the cube within his palm.

"But if you survive the danger, like you've done up until now, then you'll have enough to build hundreds of these gadgets without ever stepping into that wasteland again."

"Don't you want that?" she asked, watching his eyes flare with light.

Of course, he wanted that.

He had even been thinking of building armor, but he also knew doing that with waste scraps was ridiculous.

But with what she had just said, he might actually be able to bring that idea to reality.

"Are you tempting me with rewards so that I survive?" he asked suspiciously, watching a grin appear on the corner of her lips as she rose from the seat, turning to the door.

"I'll be around the academy for now. See you soon,"

Everlearn swiped the green card on the door scanner, and she stepped out.

She continued to the elevator, but he remained behind, watching as she went in.

She could see him standing there, fingers intertwined, and just before the elevator doors closed, he finally released them, waving at her while trying hard to hide the pink blush on his cheeks.

The sight of it made her smile.

A smile completely different from the grins she usually had, though Everlearn could never see it, as the elevator door had already shut and she was soon whisked down the dorm building.

____________

The Next Morning...

BEEP

BEEP

BEEEP

The sound of the beeping stirred him awake as he sat up in his bed.

Looking at the time, he found the alarm.

5:50.

Class began at 6:30, so he had 40 minutes.

Jumping off the bed, Everlearn spread it before moving over to his bathroom.

Taking a quick shower, he dressed up and then moved back to the living room.

Seventeen minutes had passed, and he stepped out of his dorm room.

Though there was still quite some time before class started, he planned to go to the cafeteria.

He finished swiping the card on his door and stepped out, just as he heard another door open.

Rosa stepped out soon after.

He couldn't help but notice the change in her expression.

It was cold.

She didn't look at him or say a word. She simply stepped into the elevator and disappeared as it descended.

Everlearn shrugged it off before he also got into the elevator, quickly whisked down, and made his way to the cafeteria.

Moving to the cafeteria, eating, and returning to class only took about seventeen minutes.

There were still six minutes left when Everlearn reached the building.

'What class is it, by the way?' he murmured to himself, turning to look at his device while he stepped in.

What he saw made his eyes gleam.

[{Corer Class}]

________

"As the heart is to a human, Core is to a Corer."

The words echoed through a classroom filled with tables and chairs arranged in an upward spiral.

At the center, below the spiral, stood a male instructor in a formal suit and tie, his black hair neatly slicked back.

Above him was the holographic image of a ball-like object oozing with energy.

"If the heart's function is pumping blood through the body, essentially keeping it alive,"

At this point, the holograph changed from a core into the representation of a translucent human body, with light concentrated on the heart depicting the motion of a heartbeat and blood flowing.

"A Core, on the other hand, pumps energy into the body, keeping Bionic Fluids and Mecha Modules integrated into a Corer's body alive."

"Without a Core, the source of energy, Mecha Modules will not be able to work, nor will Bionic Fluids function properly."

"While removing a Core from a Corer might not kill them, since they still possess their hearts, they'll be greatly weaker than even the average human, with many reported cases of most falling into a half-dead, half-alive state."

"This makes the Corer's Core one of their natural weakness targets that each of you must learn to protect, just as you protect your heart."

Being a Mech Designer, Everlearn knew a lot about Cores.

After all, he had spent years doing nothing but studying various Core modules, making the lesson seem like a recap of what he had already learned.

But he listened nonetheless.

Perhaps, there could be a difference between a Mech Designer's knowledge of Cores compared to a Corer's.

"There are five grades of Cores."

"The first and the lowest is X, which you all are fused with."

"You would need at least 90% integration success with this Core before you can fuse with a higher Core."

"And speaking of integration success, let's all go back to the source:

"The heart."

"It pumps blood through the bloodstream of a human body, right?"

"The Core's objective is the same, but it doesn't happen outright. After fusing with a Core, a Corer may only get energy being pumped through 5% of his body."

"The more time the Core spends in him, and the more he uses that 5% of energy being pumped through him, the more the energy integrates, and it will start climbing: from 5% to 10%, to 20%."

"The energy becomes familiar to his body, and it spreads more."

"This process is referred to as integration."

"When a Corer reaches 90% integration, the Core genuinely becomes a second heart, sending energy through the entire body."

"Then and only then would a Corer be ready to advance to the next level, and that is fusion with a Mecha W Core."

"The letter before X."

"The next level after W Core is naturally V, and the next level after V is U."

"The last Core level is Mecha T Grade, the absolute Core level in the world, and the strongest Corers of Nvidia right now are at this level." He explained lengthily.

"Mecha T-grade is not a level all of you in here will reach."

"It's something only for the best of you, requiring not just talent, but insane hard work and dedication to the Corer's Path."

"With the grades of Cores understood, let's proceed to something just as important."

"The type of Cores."

"Well, they are just two."

"Basic Cores and Anomalous Grade Cores."

...

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