Reboot: Mechanic

Shi Tian was wiping off his sweat and gave his permission to let Mary check on the content within the box. Given that Mary was an assistant of Isaac Aaronax and seemed to have a close relationship, he wasn't afraid of her trying something funny.

And with permission granted, Mary smoothly opened the box and began to inspect the content.

Within the box, she saw a soldering iron, some mechanical parts most likely for soldering, and a blueprint. 

'This is…' Holding the blueprint, Mary was astonished to see it was a blueprint for the Light Beam manufacturing process. 

It was clear that she wasn't expecting to discover such a blueprint to be stored in such a box. 

A few seconds later, she flashed a smile and looked at him, "Seems like Mechanist Isaac Aaronax holds you in high regard, Nathan." 

She didn't suspect Shi Tian was stealing the blueprint and knew it was something granted by Isaac Aaronax. 

Shi Tian nodded his head. 

"Master Isaac does teach me a lot of things. And he was planning to assign me to head toward the wilderness to practice in a few days." He calmly revealed. 

"Is there anything else you want to inspect in the box?" 

Mary was about to shake her head but noticed a shiny object glowing in the corner of the box. Confused, she moved aside the equipment and her expression changed for the worse. 

"Hah, no wonder why you were even struggling to carry the box. That Mechanist Isaac Aaronax is back to his old trick." Mary lamented and took the glowing object out of the box.

The object was rectangular shaped and colored in black, but was somewhat shiny, illuminating a dim light. 

"Do you know what this is?" She then asked Shi Tian.

Shi Tian shook his head. 

"I'm not sure what it is, Mary." It was also his first time seeing such a strange object. He thought it was just some mechanical parts that required soldering as well but seeing Mary's astonished look and comment, it seemed to be signifying something else instead. 

"Sigh, this is a Metallic Stone, and depending on how you hold it, the weight would intensify," Mary explained. 

"So it was this tiny object that caused the box to weigh so heavily?" Shi Tian was dumbfounded. 

Who could have predicted such a tiny object was able to magnify the weight of an object? 

"Here, you can try holding it," Mary said, placing the Metallic Stone on him gently.

And the moment she released her hand, Shi Tian felt as if a heavy boulder was stomping on him. Luckily, he was already mentally prepared for the heavyweight thanks to her explanation. Otherwise, he would have collapsed from the sudden weight imposed on him.

"Why would Master Isaac place the Metallic Stone in the box? Was he trying to play a prank on me?" Shi Tian asked her. Since Mary was able to tell something was amiss by a small glance, he was truly looking at her for an answer. 

"No, I doubt he was trying to play a prank on you, but was trying to train you instead. The Metallic Stone might seem like a chore, but it is a great training method to improve one's strength and stamina." Mary shook her head and explained. 

"Improve one's strength and stamina?" 

"Mhmm, the Metallic Stone is somewhat of a rare item, to be honest, and the weight it imposed on you could be adjusted. By always carrying it, you would feel like carrying a heavy burden constantly, but once removed, you would then get an imaginary feeling of receiving a powerful boost." 

"I see…" Shi Tian mumbled, holding on to the Metallic Stone tightly.

What she basically meant was that this Metallic Stone was capable of making you carry a ton of weight as a form of training. And that when you remove it, your body would feel lightweight, giving a false sense of having your strength increased when in fact, it was the result of the training. 

"Wait a minute, if this is supposed to be beneficial for me, why did Master Isaac secretly place it in the box instead of explaining it to me directly?" Shi Tian asked confusingly. 

"Because that's his style. Back then, I was fooled into carrying the Metallic Stone unknowingly and thought I was just being weak." Mary smiled bitterly in response. 

"Hah, so you were a victim of his prank as well." Shi Tian chuckled in defeat, sympathizing with Mary. Both of them were victims, so naturally, they could somewhat understand each other. 

To be honest, Shi Tian really thought he had become weak when he couldn't even carry the box. But then that wasn't the truth, and it was because of Isaac Aaronax's sneaky conduct in placing a Metallic Stone. 

"Anyway, it's good to carry this often on your body to train. Even I had to do this for 5 years before stopping." Mary patted his shoulders and said, wishing him good luck. 

"Thanks, I shall heed your advice." Shi Tian stored the Metallic Stone in his pocket, feeling the weight upon him start amplifying. 

He then slowly knelt on the ground and lifted up the box, carrying it and walking away. 

"Do you need me to press the elevator for you?"

"Yes, please…" 

Mary giggled softly when she saw his struggle. Assisting him with opening the elevator and pressing the floor button, she gave him a thumbs up. 

"Good luck with your training, Nathan." 

"Thank you." 

With the elevator door closed, Mary's smile soon vanished and was replaced with a solemn expression.

She subsequently went to her desk and pressed a button, temporarily shutting down the business, and dashed toward Isaac Aaronax's workshop.

"Why did you give him the Metallic Stone?" She asked the moment she arrived. 

"Heh, I knew you would have sensed it, but didn't expect you to find out that quickly." Isaac Aaronax chuckled, not bothered by the fact that he was exposed.

"Nathan is going to be our decoy, so naturally, I need him to have some self-defense means. The Metallic Stone is the perfect item since it can assist him in training, but also protect him in case of danger."