The Limits of Status
In the office of the head of the Cruel family, Sword Saint Ileya tossed a stack of reports dozens of pages thick onto his desk with a dull thud, then let out a long sigh. He had just finished reading every last report on Edga Fix, and now he stared at the portrait of Ed on the very first page with a complicated expression.
A shame. What a damn shame.
That was Ileya’s very first impression of the boy. He was simply too valuable to waste. His abilities were outstanding. Personality, appearance, skill, worldly wisdom, political acumen—every single aspect was top-tier. A rare genius who possessed it all. If possible, Ileya would have liked to take him as a son-in-law. He was the most promising new face of this era, overflowing with potential.
“…But it can’t be done.”
Yet there was one decisive flaw. The boy was a commoner. He had more than enough talent to lead the empire, but in the end he had been born between two commoners—a lowly status. No matter how exceptional his abilities, there were limits he could never overcome.
“Still, she is my daughter. She has a good eye.”
Even so, if there was one bright spot, it was that his daughter’s judgment had not been wrong. At first he had assumed she had simply been bewitched by Ed’s pretty, almost feminine face. But upon closer inspection, the boy possessed not only looks but character, skill, and a brilliant mind. A true prodigy. Ileya found himself smiling with quiet satisfaction at his daughter’s discerning eye—one that could see past the barrier of status.
“But Enya, that boy won’t do. No matter how outstanding his qualities, he cannot overcome the limits of his birth.”
Ileya Cruel, head of the Cruel family, knew this all too well from his own experience and from the examples left by his predecessors. Commoners with talent beyond their station were ultimately used by the nobility and then discarded, living short lives. As proof of that, while he had been in secluded training, another ducal house had already fastened a collar around the boy’s neck.
The equipment demonstration held every month, attended by three examiners dispatched from the imperial family and the academy faculty. The condition was that the equipment the boy created had to pass their standards, or he would lose his qualification as an academy cadet. And those three imperial examiners undoubtedly represented the Bernhardt ducal house, the Elmar ducal house, and the Graham ducal house.
Even a princess could not make a commoner an academy cadet without making deals with the ducal families who had poured vast sums into building the academy.
“A son-in-law is out of the question… but.”
Even so, Ileya thought that if the boy did not covet his daughter exclusively, he would be more than willing to take him in. No, he would even raise him as his right-hand man, recognizing his talent. If he could bring the boy in as Enya’s advisor and chief engineer—the one who would one day lead the Cruel family—then their house would become the strongest in the empire, one no one could challenge.
Having organized his thoughts, Ileya rose from his seat. As he left his office, he spoke to the adjutant waiting nearby.
“Prepare the carriage. I’m heading to the academy.”
Monday morning arrived.
Having stayed up late researching the properties of the massive amount of Ungoliant spider silk I had harvested the night before, I hadn’t gotten proper sleep. I scratched my messy hair and struggled to pry open my glue-like eyelids.
Finally managing to face the morning sunlight, I stretched with a huge yawn.
“Huuuaaaaah~”
I must have gotten too excited yesterday. Researching the Ungoliant webs with Fix had pushed me well past three in the morning. Still, thanks to that, I had managed to uncover quite a bit about the silk’s composition and secrets.
It was a liquid protein stored inside the Ungoliant’s body. When released, elastic protein molecules combined with rigid crystalline molecules, triggering various chemical reactions upon exposure to air that completed the solid web form.
By analyzing and applying these properties, I had created a high-elasticity, high-strength wire. I had essentially developed a device with functions very similar to the web-shooters from Spider-Man.
“Now I just need to tweak the propulsion system a little and three-dimensional maneuvering will be no problem at all.”
Devil 1 was gradually taking shape. Rapid mobility using three-dimensional maneuvering, long-range suppression via plasma beams, and close-range defense with a plasma mana shield. It was evolving into a well-balanced combat suit in every way.
Of course, it was still far from the suit I envisioned for the future. But with my current technology and abilities, this was more than satisfying.
“Anyway, that’s that.”
It was Monday again. The brutal schedule of classes from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. was beginning. Still, even this intense routine had its own enjoyments.
Attending classes alongside NPCs I had only ever seen through a monitor was incredibly fresh and exciting. After all, the girls’ beauty in person was on par with top actresses or idols. Just sitting next to them gave me a warm, fuzzy feeling—something hard to describe, a ticklish excitement that made my heart flutter.
“Ah… where should I sit?”
The only worry was that Isabella and Enya seemed to be engaged in a strange competition over me. I wasn’t sure if I could use the Charlotte card again this time. Last time it had somehow worked out, but this time even Charlotte would probably find it difficult to step in. No matter how I thought about it, neither Enya nor Isabella seemed likely to let this slide.
“Sigh. Whatever.”
It was an immediate problem, but I decided to think about it later. It would work out somehow.
After a quick shower, roughly drying my hair, throwing on some clothes, and stepping out of the dormitory, it was time to show Professor Gracia my answer.
Lecture Hall 11, where Professor Gracia taught.
Once again, a small commotion centered around me broke out, but it was resolved smoothly. Instead of arguing over who would sit next to me, we simply decided to all sit together. In the end, we took seats in the order of Charlotte, Isabella, me, Enya, and Claire.
Isabella and Enya sat right beside me with me in the middle, Charlotte—pushed aside by their intensity—ended up on the edge, and Claire, who had no particular interest in me, sat beside Enya.
Whether this seating arrangement was ideal, however, was another question. Even now, Isabella and Enya were bickering with me stuck between them.
“Commoner, it’s been a while. I was so bored from Thursday to Sunday without you.”
“Could you please stop calling me commoner? I have a perfectly good name.”
“Commoner is my special nickname for you. You keep making me miss you even though you’re just a commoner.”
“Haa… Ed. Just ignore her. She’s only trying to tease you.”
…It felt like I was being juiced from both sides. Isabella kept pressing her body against me under the pretense of talking, while Enya glared at her with sharp, axe-like eyes.
Isabella had a tendency to take whatever caught her fancy by any means necessary. Thankfully, Enya’s presence beside me seemed to prevent her from acting too boldly.
“………”
And Claire was watching our little group with intrigued eyes, even taking notes.
-Bang.
At that moment, the lecture hall door opened and silence instantly fell over the noisy room. Professor Gracia had entered.
“Nice to see you. I am Sword Master Gracia.”
Standing at the lectern, Gracia introduced himself in the same manner as last time. Then, without taking attendance or any greeting, he immediately began the class.
“Cadet Martina Olet, number one. Come up to the platform.”
However, the class format was different from before. He called cadets up to the platform one by one starting from number one, making them present the assignment he had given last class.
In other words, they were to explain their weaknesses and present training methods and martial techniques to compensate for them to everyone.
“Um… I am… Martina Olet. My weakness is that my mana vessel capacity in my upper body is smaller compared to my lower body, so I…”
Starting with cadet number one, Martina Olet, the presentations began. After each presentation, Professor Gracia would give feedback, assign a score, and call the next cadet.
“Edga Fix. Give your own score for cadet Mason’s training method.”
Before giving feedback, Gracia would occasionally throw out sudden questions like this. Some cadets were flustered by the surprise questions and couldn’t answer properly, but since I knew even the trivial details of this game inside and out, I could answer without hesitation.
“I’d give it about 30 points.”
“Thirty points. That’s quite harsh. Why that score?”
“He chose the wrong martial technique. Spear arts? It doesn’t suit cadet Mason at all.”
“…Why do you think so?”
“Because balance is crucial in spear arts. Cadet Mason said he would use his concentrated upper-body mana vessel to deliver powerful thrusts, but such thrusts require strong lower-body support. The force to kick off the ground and charge the opponent, and the force to concentrate mana at a single point and drive it into the enemy—only when both are properly supported can he achieve the thrust he aims for.”
Gracia slowly nodded at my answer. A faint smile finally spread across his previously expressionless face. He acknowledged my response.
“You saw it correctly. That is the nature of spear arts. It is indeed a martial technique more specialized in offense, but balance remains important. Because it specializes in single-point penetration, mobility is even more critical.”
He assigned Mason’s score accordingly, told him to reconsider his martial technique once more, and moved on to the next cadet.
Before long, it was my turn.
“Edga Fix. Come up to the platform.”
The moment Gracia called my name, I felt every eye in the room turn toward me. The entire atmosphere of the lecture hall shifted in an instant, and I could physically feel the influence I held over them.
Step… step…
I wasn’t nervous. I felt no burden from all this attention. Because I was looking far into the distance. There was still so much I needed to accomplish; getting nervous over a mere presentation was out of the question.
So I calmly began my presentation on the version of myself I had defined.
“Nice to meet you. I am Edga Fix.”
As always, I started with a simple self-introduction. Yet even that alone drew the audience’s full attention. My name now carried a special weight within the Imperial Academy.
“In truth, unlike the image I’ve shown so far, I have many weaknesses. Physically, I am told I cannot properly wield any martial technique. Dozens of tiny mana vessels are scattered throughout my body, making it structurally impossible to use any distinctive martial arts.”
I honestly revealed my weaknesses exactly as they were. Without any embellishment or packaging, I told the cadets only the facts.
“Nor do I have any talent for spells. Perhaps because I awakened my mana later in life, but I can only use six spells in total.”
I disclosed not only my physical weaknesses but all my chronic flaws as well. The inevitable problems that had arisen from borrowing the Blue Dragon’s mechanism—I revealed them under the pretext of “late mana awakening.”
A small disturbance began to spread through the room at my announcement. The few groups who had always looked at me with displeasure immediately began tearing me down and mocking me with sneers. They whispered that I was just a lucky commoner good at scheming, that I had simply gotten lucky so far, and that I was a lowly bastard who at least knew his place. They mixed their insults into the commotion.
They were revealing their hyena-like nature—ready to pounce and devour at the first sign of weakness. I memorized every one of their faces.
“So I pondered. How could I compensate for my weaknesses?”
I continued the presentation. Now it was time to pour cold water on the faces of those who had laughed at me.
“The first result of that contemplation is this.”
Crackle!
The moment I finished speaking, a crack formed in the air and a bracelet appeared. Without me needing to put it on, it reacted to the mana stone engraved on my wrist and automatically fastened itself onto my right arm.
-Click. Click.
Whiiiirrrr…
A pleasant mechanical sound of precisely interlocking parts rang out as the gauntlet began to take form. Some in the audience watched the process with mesmerized expressions, while a few of the hyena groups watched with mocking sneers, pretending to remain composed. Among them was Max, who had suffered a humiliating defeat at my hands.
I can win if we fight again. I only lost last time because I let my guard down.
Max glared at me as if he wanted to kill me, putting on a show of bravado for his group. I didn’t even spare him a glance. I simply continued my presentation calmly.
“…This gauntlet. I believe you’ve seen it a few times already, so you should know it well. As a weapon for offense, it leaves nothing to be desired. However, even this gauntlet has its limits. If I concentrate mana on defense, it becomes difficult to land hits with long-range attacks. And even if I transform it into a beam sword, I lack proper swordsmanship, making it hard to hit fast-moving targets.”
The overwhelming power the gauntlet had displayed before had only been possible because the situations had been in my favor. Max had inhaled too much smoke and couldn’t move properly, and was taken down by my plasma beam without understanding what was happening. The Minotaur King had just gotten to its feet when it was ambushed and killed before it could use its full strength.
In other words, if someone fought me while knowing the characteristics and power of my gauntlet, there would inevitably be limits.
“So I spent time developing a suit that would assist my gauntlet.”
Crackle!
Once again, a crack formed in the air. But what emerged from within was—
“Weeuuung~!”
It was Fix. However, he was pretending not to be a robot. Revealing an artificial intelligence robot arm would cause far too many headaches, so I had instructed him to act like a mindless piece of scrap metal for now.
Thus, Fix appeared after transforming into the shape of a steel briefcase. To the audience, it would simply look like a yellow steel safe placed in front of me.
-Click. Click. Clack—
But the moment everyone let their guard down, Fix began to transform and the safe started to open. The precisely interlocked metal disassembled in an instant, revealing the boots of the Devil Suit stored inside.
I slid my feet into the open rear section of the Devil Suit boots. The open back smoothly sealed itself with glossy obsidian alloy.
-Whiiiing— Click. Whiiiing— Click.
The yellow steel safe that was Fix began transforming once again. This time, to equip me with the suit.
-Click… click. Whiiiiiiing! Click. Click… Whiiiing!
The soothing sound of mechanical parts interlocking and the whir of electric drills. Simply by standing still with my arms spread, the suit began to cover my body. Starting with the boots, alloy plates covered my chest, shoulders, and thighs. The empty spaces between the alloy were filled by spraying carbon nanotubes using the web-shooter, giving it a latex-like texture.
With Fix’s help, I was able to perfectly don the Devil 1 suit.
Having completed all my armaments, I delivered a slight warning message to the unspecified majority who had been looking at me with displeasure.
“And now that I am wearing this suit, I am confident I will not lose to just about anyone.”