Shadow Dragon: The Fallen Angel Is My Teacher-Chapter 195: Approaching Danger, Increasing Mechanic Force Mastery

Chapter 195: Approaching Danger, Increasing Mechanic Force Mastery

"I will ask again. Do you agree to be my slave?" I asked.

"Yes," she said and nodded, a little impatient, as if she were waiting for me to stop wasting time.

Inside my mind, I spoke calmly.

’Yuna, use your ability.’

The air in front of us distorted slightly, like heat rising from metal.

A contract formed between us, lines of text folding into themselves as if they were alive.

It hovered at chest height, visible to both of us.

One of the "hands" on the table grabbed a pen, and with a sharp flick, it tossed it toward me.

I caught it, then signed my name on the contract with it.

I handed the contract to Lyra.

"Sign it."

She didn’t read a single line. She took the pen, signed her name quickly, and pushed the contract back toward me.

The paper shattered into clusters of light the moment her signature settled.

The fragments scattered, then sank into our bodies, slipping into our souls with a cold, weightless sensation.

"Now, the research papers—"

"Here you go," I said, already holding them out.

She snatched the stack from my hands as if she were afraid I might change my mind. Her eyes skimmed the first page, then the second. Her breathing picked up.

"I will see you later, Rune Sage," she said.

She didn’t wait for a response.

She turned and left the lab in a hurry, the door sliding shut behind her.

The silence returned.

I looked at the workbench, then at the half-assembled mechanism in front of me.

After a moment, I sat down and returned to my work as if nothing had happened.

...

Yuna’s POV

Yuna’s expression was grim.

Another week had passed since Lyra became Caelum’s slave.

Lyra didn’t seem to notice the Slave Mark that had appeared on her shoulder. That alone wasn’t strange. The mark only reacted under specific conditions. What mattered was what hadn’t happened.

Lyra hadn’t been harmed by the Slave Mark.

That meant one simple thing.

’Lyra isn’t the one who used the Soul Parasite on him.’

Yuna didn’t feel relieved. If anything, the conclusion made everything worse. Who was responsible for the Soul Parasite? 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Caelum’s condition was deteriorating by the day, even though he didn’t notice it himself.

Sometimes he would sit still for hours, eyes unfocused, as if he were listening to something only he could hear.

Other times, he would stand up and start walking in a specific direction without realizing it. His steps would be slow and steady, like he was being gently pulled.

Thankfully, for now, Yuna was managing.

She had learned his patterns.

When he stayed home, she made sure he was already asleep before the daze set in.

He was still a child in the eyes of his parents. If he slept through most of the day, they didn’t question it.

When he wasn’t home, things were harder.

There were moments when his body would simply start moving, ignoring obstacles.

In those cases, Yuna had no choice.

She used [Heavenly Voice].

The ability she had obtained from Gacha was useful for these situations.

Since only Caelum could hear her, she didn’t hold back.

She shouted his name at full power, the sound crashing directly into his eardrums.

It always worked.

He would flinch, blink, and look around in confusion, as if he had just woken up from a dream.

Each time, Yuna felt a little worse.

’I’m barely holding things together.’

’At this rate, the Soul Parasite will take over completely.’

Caelum had been "suspicious’ at first.

Because of that suspicion, he had created location-tracker-dampening runes and inscribed them on his body. He had even checked his equipment repeatedly for abnormalities.

But that was all.

He didn’t take further precautions.

He didn’t investigate his own thoughts.

The parasite was altering his thoughts.

Slowly, subtly, it was bending his perceptions, guiding his decisions, dulling his sense of urgency.

And the worst part was that he didn’t—couldn’t—know.

’I know he told me before we came here that if something like this happens, I just need to follow the instructions he gave me.’

’But I’m starting to get nervous.’

The fact that Caelum was almost completely parasitized, the fact that he couldn’t notice it and do anything about it, and the fact that she had no idea who had done this or why... it all gnawed at her.

The situation was becoming dangerous by the day.

...

My POV

Basic Mechanic Force Mastery: 0% → 2%

"Finally, it improved."

The increase was painfully slow.

It almost felt like I hadn’t been practicing at all during my time in L Corp, which made no sense.

I spent nearly every moment here assembling, disassembling, and analyzing machines.

If effort alone determined mastery, I should have progressed faster.

Of course, some of my time went elsewhere.

I did spend a little time each day with the inn girl, but that was short and controlled. It shouldn’t have affected my training to this degree.

"Well, even if it’s slow, it’s still fast by normal standards," I said quietly as I stretched my arms,

Mechanic Force mastery usually took months, sometimes years.

By that metric, my progress was absurdly quick. Experience from my past life helped a lot.

I leaned back in my chair.

Several hands moved at once.

One floated towards me, bringing a tray over, a cup of juice already placed on it.

Another lifted the cup and angled it toward my face. A third adjusted the straw so I didn’t have to move at all.

Two more hands pressed into my shoulders, kneading muscle with steady pressure.

I took a sip and exhaled.

’I really did a good job creating the Hundred Hands of Devotion.’

They were versatile to an almost ridiculous degree.

They could fight when needed, assist in delicate work, handle transport, and even take care of mundane tasks like this.

Comfort included.

While I was still drinking, the door to the lab slid open.

Lyra walked in, eyes bright, her usual composure barely holding together.

"So," I said, signaling the hands to take the cup aside, "did you finally finish the last research paper?"

"Yes. I’m done with all of them."

She took a breath, then kept going.

"I’m going to start experimenting now. That’s why I’m here. I thought you’d want to see."

She paused, then smiled, unable to hide her excitement.

"If this works, it’s going to be a historic moment for the City."

I nodded slowly.

The research papers I had given her contained the technology needed to save Henry—Charlotta’s brother—who was currently in a coma.

This technology was also something Lyra had been researching her entire life, though she didn’t remember that anymore.

In my past life, this technology would be built by her in a few years

I had simply taken them from the future and handed them back to her past self.