Meanwhile, Bill returned to his room, opened a metallurgy textbook, and quickly skimmed through its contents.
The book didn't have much information on material processing; instead, it described the geological features of various metal groups.
Overall, the book was informative but dry. Bill had read it before and was intrigued to note that metals in this world oxidize just like on Earth.
He began contemplating whether there were any constant patterns throughout reality, but quickly dismissed the idea considering the possible implications of such a hypothesis.
After a few hours, Bill felt he had memorized the introductory book. He didn't think the remaining courses would be as simple due to the need for practical exercises, but this book was mostly about memorizing facts.
Moving on to the engineering textbook, Bill spent more time on it.
Unlike the metallurgy textbook, the engineering book posed more questions about design—questions that couldn't simply be memorized and answered.
Of course, over time, an engineer would learn to solve problems, but for a man who was a plumber in a past life and then an English teacher, this was still not fully grasped.
Immersed in various design examples, Bill hardly noticed the hours passing by.
With his body in its current state, he could go long periods without food and water, and sleep was no longer as necessary as before.
He still loved sleeping and could get a full night's rest, but it was more of a luxury than a necessity. Bill suspected he could live on just a few hours of sleep a day and feel fine.
The next afternoon, he put down his pencil and began tidying up his desk.
There were simple design tasks everywhere—from flat-bottomed barges to bird feeders.
There were no strictly "correct" answers for these tasks, which was fun on the one hand, but certainly more time-consuming.
Placing the papers on a shelf, Bill went to grab a bite to eat and saw Marron and some new recruits from the Scientific Division in the cafeteria.
Talking with them, he learned they had been given two weeks off from duty but were encouraged to use this time for training.
Bill never felt comfortable convincing others to sign extended contracts to learn one of the Six Powers, but he felt relieved when Marron said that most of them had chosen that path.
She and most of the other fighters with swords chose the "Razor" technique, while two shooters opted for the "Moon Step."
Both techniques were good, but deep down, Bill believed that "Razor" was the best fit for most people.
He was also restrained by the fact that despite these teenagers' twenty-year contracts, he had already learned one technique and would probably master another within his usual six-year service contract.
After saying goodbye to the new recruits from the Scientific Division, Bill went to meet with Sentomaru, who irritably told him that Vegapunk was busy, and directed Bill to an academic advisor to discuss his specialization path.
Bill was confident there had to be overlaps between metallurgy and engineering and hoped that finding them would allow him to finish his studies early.
After all, there would always be time to explore other fields, he thought.
Unfortunately, Bill was mistaken.
Standing in front of an elderly man with thick eyebrows, he heard him say uncertainly, "Um... Metallurgical processes focus on producing basic and advanced materials, from iron to sea stone. Engineering has many specializations, many of which include using these metals, but it does not focus on their production."
When Bill asked whether engineers designed forging furnaces, he was surprised when the old man replied that the equipment was designed by the metallurgists themselves.
Leaving the office, Bill decided not to despair.
He had many advantages others couldn't even dream of, and if he could, he would focus on metallurgy as his main field and dabble in engineering.
Cybernetic limb engineering, in particular, was something he found quite fascinating.
His youth was spent admiring cowboys, but Bill couldn't avoid the influence of early television's futuristic shows.
Throughout the day, Bill searched for second-year textbooks like "Advanced Metallurgy," which detailed composite metals, and "Biomedical Alloys," a third-year textbook describing composite materials used in implants.
Getting a third-year textbook was nearly impossible by Academy rules, but apparently, Aramaki wasn't joking about their family's strong backers.
These books were amazing; they showed that in the Scientific Division, production was valued even more than specialized knowledge.
This was confirmed by the fact that, aside from the introductory textbook describing the forging of common materials like steel, nothing else was mentioned.
With these two books in hand, Bill grabbed some bread and returned to his room.