Chapter 66: Burden Of A Mech Designer
Alto found the question a deep one to answer but she was waiting for an answer. "I don’t give up and try again." If Alto was expecting a pat on the back it was clear he was not going to get any.
The professor snorted causing him to deflate, she let out another puff of smoke in the air and said. "You kill your dream, if your dream is killed then it could only get you that far then that’s it’s limit. No use crying or sulking, think up and even bigger dream that surpasses theirs and come back stronger. As a mech designer our limitations are only decided by our mindset and motivations. If you think it’s a burden then maybe you should not be a mech designer."
Alto shuddered slightly, she had given him an awful lot to ponder about and they shook him greatly, Alto always saw the professor as a sage full of wisdom and maybe she was but there was another side to her he had failed to see earlier. She was good hearted and experienced, from the way she spoke it was clear it pained her with every word as it was evident in her demeanor. Alto did not have anything to say, he just stayed silent.
"So what now?" A part of him asked.
"I prepare for this competition I guess." He thought back to himself.
A competition for the best and she wanted him to be part of the top ten, to Alto it seemed like a tough order considering how many young aspiring mech designers went to fancy schools, got scholarships or were apprentices to great or even average mech designers. He understood that she did not want to get involved in her own apprentices training so they would not be boosted by her but he still needed help. If it had not been for the mech designer protocol would he really be relevant, would he have beaten Charles Vans, in a way it felt like cheating but he took the professors words to hearts. Why would he be burdened with the card he had been dealt with by fate, if things had gone as planned and he had needed up as a mech pilot Charles Vans might have been going to the competition but life was anything was fair. If anything, unfairness was life’s way of being fair.
At the moment Alto’s goals were now singular, if he wanted to learn more he would have to dedicate more time into fabrication his first actual mech. Virtual mechs were not real so his experience with them might prove irrelevant in reality. He bowed his head to the professor in respect, from that moment he was announcing his new mindset and hoping no, working towards his skills achieving that said goal. "Thank you for the opportunity, I promise I will take the top ten spot. No, I’ll be number one."
The professor continued to smoke her cigar and say nothing more. His words seemed like firing a gun with no bullets inside, like empty words now. The world revolved around actions being words not the other way round so maybe he could achieve top hundred but top ten would be a great fear even at the rate he was growing at. But who was she to spoil his fun, his arrogance reminded her of a certain someone and that made her heart beat faster.
She gave him a nod and then walked away, "Don’t push your self too much kid."