I Became a Genius Mechanic at the Academy

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As promised, Elena appeared two days later with the Blue Dragon.

The Blue Dragon was about 20 meters long, three times the size of a sea crocodile.

“Luck was on our side. We managed to find a Blue Dragon that’s still just a hatchling.”

Yet, despite its overwhelming size, it was still merely a hatchling.

If we had caught an adult Blue Dragon, it would have filled this training ground without a doubt.

“By the way, how do you plan to study this fellow? Are you prepared?”

“Of course. While you were busy, I wasn’t just lounging around.”

As I had said, I had spent the last two days preparing for the study of the Blue Dragon.

Among those preparations was the creation of a device to restrain the Blue Dragon.

“First, we need to secure this guy tightly. For that, I need your help.”

The device I had made to restrain the Blue Dragon was a sturdy restraint made of solid steel, weighing several tons. There was no way I could move it by myself.

I needed Elena’s telekinesis.

“Okay. How can I help?”

“Do you see this blueprint? We just need to assemble it and bind it as shown here.”

As I said this, I showed her the blueprint I had drawn.

Elena stared at me with a mysterious look before examining the blueprint and nodding.

“It doesn’t seem difficult.”

-Wham!

As Elena used her telekinesis, the steel pieces lifted off the ground.

Several pieces of steel wrapped around the Blue Dragon’s body, assembled according to their purpose, completely restraining its movements.

As dozens of tons of steel restrained it—

“Grrrr!!”

The Blue Dragon, feeling the intense pressure, let out a ferocious roar and began to thrash about.

It had become conscious upon sensing the pile of steel restraining it.

-Swish!

However, when Elena casually waved her hand, a strong impact hit its jaw, causing it to faint immediately.

Elena, confirming that it had passed out, continued nonchalantly, “The restraining is done. What should we do next?”

“…We’re going to anesthetize it, so it won’t wake up again.”

“Anesthesia?”

“Yes. I have some anesthetic smoke prepared in advance.”

I said this while pointing at the tube containing the anesthetic.

Inside that tube was ‘anesthetic smoke’ made by boiling hallucination mushrooms, tarantula’s paralysis poison, the secretion of sleep moths, and finely ground mana stones.

This was one of the few recipe combinations I had discovered in the game, so there shouldn’t be any issues with its performance.

“This tube contains the anesthetic smoke. We’ll place a respirator on the dragon’s mouth and connect it to this tube so it can inhale the smoke.”

“…Can we really anesthetize a dragon?”

“Yes.”

“………”

Elena looked at me in surprise.

Since we were still in the early parts of the game, my anesthetic recipe had yet to be discovered by the world.

“You not only have talent in mechanics but also in potion-making… Ed, the more I learn about you, the more you surprise me.”

As I presented an anesthetic method that had never been disclosed before, interest sparked in Elena’s eyes.

Naturally, desire began to seep into her gaze.

I decided to clear the atmosphere with a cough.

Now was not the time to indulge Elena’s desires.

“Shall we move on to the next task? There’s much to be done.”

So, I changed the subject and asked her to help me place the respirator on the Blue Dragon and connect the tube.

Elena nodded readily, following all my instructions.

With this, our basic setup was complete.

“Ha! Now the real start begins.”

Having finished the basic setup, it was time for our serious research.

I brought out the surgical instruments I had prepared in advance.

Pointing at the massive scalpel on the cart, I said to Elena.

“First, we have to split its body open.”

***

In the two days since Elena left to capture the dragon, I had been swamped with tasks.

I had a plethora of preparations to make for the research.

One of the most carefully prepared tasks was the ‘surgery.’

I had practiced slicing into hatchling-type monsters to rehearse for this moment.

And through that process, I gathered a wealth of information about those hatchling-type monsters.

For instance, their organ structures and vascular systems.

If it hadn’t been for my ‘engineering mindset,’ I wouldn’t have been able to acquire this knowledge so quickly.

“So, you want me to slice into its flank with this massive knife?”

“Yes.”

“Why? The Blue Dragon we caught with such difficulty will die.”

“That’s why we need to control our strength so that it doesn’t die. It should just be a surface cut.”

“Hmm…”

Elena squinted at me.

She was trying to discern my true intentions.

It seemed that in this world, the concept of surgery didn’t quite exist, so she was unaware of my goal to look inside by slicing the skin open.

“It’s a necessary process for research. I’ll explain the reasons later.”

So I promised to provide an explanation later and requested her help again with the operation.

Elena nodded and raised the knife with her telekinesis, starting to slice into its flank.

-Crack! Crack crack!

But, of course, the Blue Dragon’s scales wouldn’t split easily.

Unless one was a skilled knight or mage, one couldn’t even scratch its tough hide.

“This is a bother.”

However, the opponent was Elena von Elide Rosario.

One of the supreme beings who had ascended to Great Mage status.

As she infused the knife with attribute enhancement and aura, the dragon’s skin began to slice open as easily as cutting through fish cake.

“Hah…”

I sighed in relief, seeing that there was barely any bleeding. This indicated she had managed to avoid cutting any arteries.

Having smoothly completed the second stage, I approached Elena with the predicted anatomical blueprint of the Blue Dragon I had drawn based on previous hatchling dissections.

I showed her the blueprint and began to explain my plan.

“Last night, I completed the expected internal structure of the Blue Dragon. The parts marked in red are areas we absolutely must avoid, and the blue-marked areas should be sliced in the correct order.”

Elena squinted at the blueprint, alternating her gaze between it and the Blue Dragon, before nodding.

“Your drawing skills are quite impressive. It looks remarkably similar!”

“…Well, I’ve drawn a lot of blueprints.”

“But what is this? You want me to cut and wait at Area 4?”

Cut and wait at Area 4.

Thinking about it, I realized I hadn’t explained that part, so I clarified for Elena.

“Oh. What I mean is, we’ll connect its skin to the reinforced glass. So, we need to cut and wait.”

“…Huh?”

“Um… So, we’re going to slice the Blue Dragon’s skin into a cross shape.”

“Oh.”

“And then we’re going to insert reinforced glass into that cross shape and connect it to its skin. I have the adhesive prepared, so it should stick well.”

Elena listened to my explanation and examined the anatomical drawing once more.

As her eyes carefully scanned the illustration, her mouth slowly opened.

Finally, she turned to me with a shocked expression.

“Ed. Are you saying you want to fill the entire Blue Dragon’s scales with reinforced glass?”

Having thoroughly read the anatomical blueprint, Elena grasped my intention.

However, she was only half right, so I corrected her.

“No, not all of them. Just a small part of the flank will be filled with glass. We only need to see the internal organs.”

“………”

Even so, Elena continued to stare at me in shock for a while after hearing my explanation.

It seemed that since there was such a great disparity between the medicine in this world, which relied on healing and potions, and modern medicine on Earth, she was taken aback.

Given that people in this world had no concept of surgery, it was understandable.

“Shall we get started?”

But regardless of whether one was from this world or Earth, we were all on the same page here.

In order to fulfill an insatiable curiosity, any long-held common sense could be shattered at any moment.

Being noble alone wouldn’t bring scientific progress.

“Hah. Fine, let’s give it a try.”

And Elena was the most progressive magician among those I knew in this world.

She would also reach a new realm of knowledge alongside me.

***

Five days passed again.

In those past five days, Ed and Elena successfully replaced the entirety of the Blue Dragon’s skin with reinforced glass, completely covering its flank with the material.

Thanks to James and his colleagues tirelessly crafting and supplying the reinforced glass around the clock.

“I’ve never seen anything like this in my life. The living structure of the Blue Dragon’s organs is fully visible.”

Elena shook her head in disbelief as she took in the results of her work.

That magnificent Blue Dragon, revered like a god by certain tribes, had been reduced to a test subject.

Who would dare think of modifying a Blue Dragon like this?

“We’ve finally come this far. Now it’s time to study how it uses mana.”

However, any sense of unease that Elena felt regarding Ed’s next words vanished without a trace.

She was just as curious about how the Blue Dragon utilized mana stones within its body.

“Then let’s begin by removing the anesthesia…”

So, Ed and Elena removed the respirator they had placed on the Blue Dragon’s mouth.

Then they loosened its restraints a little.

“Grrrrr…”

After waiting 30 minutes for it to wake up, the Blue Dragon began to regain consciousness.

It could immediately sense that something was wrong with its flank.

Fueled by anger, it began to thrash around.

“Kwaaaaah!!”

Its roar was filled with rage, shaking the ground.

In that moment, blue mist began to rise from the entirety of the Blue Dragon’s body, as blue light surged in its eyes.

It was drawing up the mana it had accumulated and preparing to unleash its breath attack.

Goooooo…

Yet, Elena and Ed merely watched from afar.

They were too busy observing what was happening inside the Blue Dragon’s body.

Kaaaaaaaah!

At that moment, a tremendous energy breath erupted from the Blue Dragon’s mouth.

Elena raised her left arm, activating the mana dispenser where she had inscribed the spell in advance.

As a result, a blue shield appeared in midair, beginning to absorb all of the Blue Dragon’s breath.

Kugugugugung…

The impact was so immense that the entire training ground shook.

Even amidst all this, Ed maintained his focus.

He was quietly examining the Blue Dragon’s mana mechanism using his Engineering Thinking Lv.2.

How much time had passed?

“Master.”

Ed called out to Elena in a low voice.

His lips curled into a smile.

He had finally achieved what he desired.

“I think I’ve figured out the secret of the Blue Dragon. Now let’s move on to the next stage.”