Reboot: Mechanic

As Shi Tian and Vanessa made their way to the mailroom, they were dumbfounded by the sight. 

"What kind of packages did you order?" Vanessa was quick to stare at Shi Tian in disbelief. 

After all, the mailroom was practically filled with loads of boxes, with Shi Tian's name labeled on it.

"This one is for Nathan, and this one as well. No, even these are all your name." Vanessa walked toward the boxes and read the label, stunned by the number of packages available. 

However, it wasn't just her alone being shocked because Shi Tian didn't know that Mary would send him this much either. 

"Wait here while I verify them." Shi Tian ignored Vanessa's reaction and went to a scanner, getting his pupil scanned so that he could take the boxes away.

Although the boxes seemed to be scattered everywhere and looked easily stolen, they were in fact placed in a security lock. 

Without proper authorization, an alarm would go off and naturally, you would be heavily fined and receive a warning from the security guards. 

Three warnings and you're officially kicked out, with all your belongings remaining in the apartment complex. In addition, you would still be punished to pay compensation for the item's owner and the Crimson Mage. 

Thus, a thievery in the mailroom could be said to be impossible. No sane person would attempt to commit any theft when there are practically surveillance cameras and strong security guards everywhere. 

With Shi Tian authorizing it, Vanessa attempted to hold one of the boxes, only to realize it was too heavy for her to carry. 

"This is impossible to carry," She retreated a few steps back and said. 

"How?" Shi Tian twitched his mouth and walked toward her. He then carried the same box that she had failed to carry and easily lifted it up. 

"You must be kidding me, right?" He asked with a doubtful tone, almost as if he couldn't believe she was unable to lift it.

Vanessa huffed, her pride stung by the failed attempt. "It's not like I'm weak or anything. It's just that this box is unusually heavy."

Shi Tian raised an eyebrow skeptically, holding the box effortlessly. "Unusually heavy?" 

'What did Mary send me?' Confused, Shi Tian wondered silently if the box contained a Metallic Stone. 

Given that it was a possibility as to why Vanessa failed to carry it while he was able to. He had already familiarized himself with the Metallic Stone, so it posed no problem to him at all if there was a hidden Metallic Stone within it.

He carefully placed the box down and started inspecting the label. Vanessa watched with folded arms, still feeling a bit irked by the whole situation.

"Looks like it's from a supplier called Armament Emporium," Shi Tian mused aloud, surprised that it wasn't from Optic Mech.

"Hmm, I've heard of that company before. They are known for their transportation of scraps and other materials for mechanic workshops. They have branches everywhere, even in Chronosworth City." Vanessa said. 

"But why are the boxes so heavy?" She added, still dumbfounded by the heavyweight that she felt earlier. 

With the box content opened up, she glanced at the materials inside and none of them should have posed a problem for her to carry. 

"The box itself isn't heavy, but it's because of this stone here." Shi Tian said, finding the Metallic Stone that was placed on the corner edge. Picking it up and toying with it, Shi Tian was too familiar with the Metallic Stone.

Recalling when he first carried it, he was about to stumble to the ground while sweating profusely.

Vanessa looked at the stone curiously. "That stone doesn't look particularly heavy. How could it make the whole box so hard to carry?"

Shi Tian explained, "This isn't an ordinary stone. It's called a Metallic Stone, and it has unique properties. One of them is that it can manipulate gravitational forces. It can make objects weigh significantly more or less, depending on the person." 

Vanessa's eyes widened in realization. "So you're saying this stone is responsible for the weight of the box?"

Shi Tian nodded. 

"This is probably an additional security feature, given that only those who had come in contact or used to the Metallic Stone weight could carry them." He deduced, not finding it to be surprising. 

These boxes here might cost a fortune, so it was better to be safe than sorry later on.

"Well, I guess I'm not needed here since these Metallic Stones are too much for me to handle." Vanessa shrugged her shoulders, seemingly attempting to avoid carrying the boxes.

And of course, Shi Tian could easily retort it by saying he could take the Metallic Stone off so she could carry them, but decided not to. She wasn't obligated to assist him, and he wasn't going to attempt to persuade her.

If she had no intention of wanting to help in the first place, then forcing the issue on her would only get mediocre results. 

"Then just press the elevator button for me while I carry the boxes." Shi Tian said, picking up three boxes and carrying them simultaneously. 

With that said, Shi Tian and Vanessa spent the next few minutes going up and down to pick up the packages to the apartment. 

Though it was merely Shi Tian doing all the work since Vanessa had given up and decided to wait by the doorsteps after 3 times.

Sometime later, Shi Tian finally carried up all the packages and placed them neatly by the corner. 

"Just what are you going to do with all those packages?" Vanessa was confused by the sheer amount of packages he had gotten. 

"Crafting." Shi Tian replied flatly. 

"Crafting?" Vanessa muttered softly. "Wait a minute, you're a Mechanic?" She added, slightly dumbfounded by the revelation. 

Although she had her suspicions at first when Shi Tian created a mini workbench, she thought he was just doing it out of convenience. After all, Shi Tian had never shown much of a mechanic attribute and was more of a berserker, especially in the fight incident with Kralos Tal. 

Mechanics aren't known for hand-to-hand combat, yet Shi Tian was doing that with such ease despite the skills gap between him and Kralos Tal. 

"What's so surprising about that? You can be an Esper, so why can't I be a Mechanic?" Shi Tian shrugged his shoulders, picked up one of the boxes, and walked away from the now-astonished Vanessa.