Chapter 1151
The promised mech duel never came up again during Oliver's visit to Axelar's villa. The pair of wastrels spent several days carousing together in the prosperous and highly-populated Tyon System where Axelar lived.
If they weren't drugging themselves stupid with potent recreational stimulants, the two friends who befriended each other in their mech academy days went out and partied all day and night.
The extreme decadence the two partook in simply boggled Ves' mind. During a single casino visit, Oliver casually squandered a few million Terran dollars at the high-tech gambling tables!
As for Axelar, his losses amounted to more than thirty million T-dollars!
If they were a little bit more sober, then they could have limited their losses by making more prudent bets. Yet even when they gambled away so much money that they could have outright bought out a small state in the galactic rim, they still didn't stop injecting themselves with stimulants!
At least one benefit of their travels was that Ves witnessed how the Terrans truly lived. While the Tyon System wasn't anything special to the Streon Clan, it was far more developed than even a hundred Bentheims put together!
The Terrans rearranged every planet in the Tyon System. They terraformed the terrestrial planets and shifted their orbits so that all of them fell into the goldilocks zone. They also didn't let up on the gas giants, opting to place a large amount of floating cities on them that could withstand the extreme forces of the gas giant's outer layers!
Through some arduous digging in Axelar's drug-addled mind, Ves finally managed to find out that the Tyon System alone boasted a population of over 100 billion!
And this was not even an exceptionally large figure for a Terran star system!
With such a huge population, the Tyon System alone could have easily raised more than a billion mech pilots.
Yet the truth was that the mech forces of the planet was a lot more modest than that amount.
With the high emphasis on training elite mech pilots to compete in the restricted wars between the clans, the Terrans pursued quality over quantity.
"Many potentates never get the opportunity to enter a mech academy." Ves realized.
Potentates with a genetic aptitude of D or lower could forget about becoming mech cadets!
With their incredible population base, the Terrans weren't short on talented mech pilots. With the prevailing standard of employing very complicated multipurpose mechs, lesser potentates simply wouldn't be able to keep up with the demanding curriculums.
"The complexity of the average mech in the Confederation is already straining the capacity of mech pilots with C-grade genetic aptitudes." Ves observed.
While mech pilots with C-grade genetic aptitudes barely made the cut, many Terrans looked down on them as cannon fodder. The importance of genetic aptitude played a much greater role in Terran society because the elite mech corps that every mech pilot aspired to join placed a lot of importance on this trait.
Only mech pilots with B-grade genetic aptitude and higher could apply!
In fact, if the elite mech corps had their way, they would have limited their recruitment to mech pilots with A-grade genetic aptitude. The only reason why they stopped short of setting the bar that high was that even with their huge population base, such mech pilots were still too rare.
If Axelar's privileged birth in the Streon Clan was not enough, his genetic aptitude also reached as high as A-. As soon as the Streon Clan found out about his remarkable talent in piloting mechs, they immediately reserved a place for him in one of their elite mech corps.
Even if Axelar objected to the assignment, he had no power to resist the demands of his clan!
His buddy Oliver of the Renwald Clan was a bit worse in that regard. Oliver's genetic aptitude only reached B+, which was still a major tier lower than that of Axelar!
Strangely, the scion of the Streon clan wasn't happy about his talent. During his more coherent moments when he spent more than thirty minutes without injecting himself with a new formula, he complained about his path in life.
"I hate mechs." He wearily complained. "If my genetic aptitude was only a C, then I would have been ignored by the clan. My A-grade genetic aptitude has given me nothing but trouble!"
"At least your talent satisfies for your clan." Oliver snorted. "My parents are constantly disappointed in me for failing to live up to the Renwald elites. My genetic aptitude is better than most mech pilots in the galaxy! Yet still they treat me like an abandoned son!"
Ves wanted to palm his face. As someone who once desired to pilot mechs in his childhood years, he simply couldn't stand how these two lucky fellows moaned about their pampered lives!
"The two of you are already winners among mech pilots! What's there to complain about?!"
Both Axelar and Oliver graduated from the mech academies despite how they spent much of their mech cadets days under the influence of recreational stimulants.
Strictly speaking, both of them should have been spending their time at the elite mech corps their clans assigned them to. Yet neither of them ever considered their duties even once!
Resting deep in Axelar's mind, Ves began to lose patience with his host. This dummy from the Streon Clan never came close to piloting a mech! What was the point of a Mastery experience if Ves never got to witness a mech pilot in action even once?
Even as Oliver finally said goodbye and left, Axelar resumed his decadent ways. He spent entire days lying on his luxurious sofa with his brains turned to mush!
The pharmaceutical company he bought out constantly came up with new formulas for Axelar to try out. Every single day, Axelar experienced a new variation of euphoric highs and coma-inducing trances.
Due to his genetically optimized and improved physique as well as some powerful biological implants, Axelar was able to tolerate a huge concentration of chemicals without overdosing. It galled Ves that Axelar enjoyed so many genetic enhancements throughout his life.
All of these advanced treatments were meant to turn him into the best human and mech pilot. Yet instead of using his endowments in a productive manner, Axelar instead abused his gifts to inject more potent cocktails of stimulants in his body!
If Ves possessed a physical body, he wanted to grab Axelar's neck and shake the druggie's body back and forth until he wrung out all of the drugs from the Terran's blood stream!
Axelar's chief bodyguard and attendant didn't help much either. Rather than restraining his charge, Benny instead went along with every crazy idea that Axelar came up with. No matter how ridiculous the request, Benny did his best to fulfill them even if it wasted tons of Terran dollars!
After investigating more into Axelar's background, Ves speculated whether his parents and his clan cared about him at all. Even though Axelar boasted a high genetic aptitude, the staff around him never imposed any restraints.
What Axelar wanted, Axelar got!
Even if Axelar put out an impossible request like buying out Old Earth, Benny would just smile and agree to take care of the matter. Axelar would forget about his orders only minutes later as stimulants blanketed his entire short-term memory.
If there was anything redeeming about Axelar, it was that he did not seem inclined to abuse his staff or other people. Still, the only reason why the druggie restrained himself in that manner was that Benny would never allow his charge to tarnish the reputation of the Streon Clan.
Benny also stopped Axelar from leaving the Tyon System. The druggie could visit any planet, moon or space station that he wanted, but leaving the star system was never a possibility.
Witnessing the way his closest bodyguard and attendant keep Axelar in this state made Ves very angry.
"Why are you letting Axelar ruin his entire life with a constant supply of stimulants? Why are you preventing him from leaving the star system so that he wouldn't have ready access to an unlimited amount of drugs?"
After digging a bit in Axelar's mind, he figured that it was unlikely that there was some sort of conspiracy afoot.
Clan members simply held an extremely high status in Terran society. They were pretty much nobles in all but name, and spent millenia in indoctrinating their own citizens to revere the ancient clans!
Nobody dared to affront a clan member like Axelar. Even Benny never failed to appear dutiful despite ignoring some of the orders from his charge.
"Maybe the Rubarthans have a point." Ves mentally concluded. "The Terran clans are so arrogant, complacent and out-of-touch with reality that they don't deserve to be the masters of humanity anymore."
That was a bit of an unfair statement to make. While Axelar's entire conduct was deplorable, nearly every other Terran were much more decent people. Some of the members of high society that Axelar occasionally interacted with were very sharp.
Still, the fact that every Terran tolerated Axelar's excesses was a massive failure. The Greater Terran United Confederation possessed so much wealth and power, but could not fully make use of both as long as parasites like Axelar continued to drain the resources of the superstate.
"If I even had a fraction of your wealth and power, I could have founded the greatest mech company in the Komodo Star Sector!"
Ves began to grow increasingly more concerned as Axelar continued to waste his days in drug-addled dazes.
"It's been an entire week since I entered your mind and you still haven't done anything productive."
It began to dawn on Ves that he could not maintain his stance of hiding his presence anymore. That might have worked with mech pilots stuck on a battlefield and who were already motivated to fight, but someone like Axelar obviously needed to be pushed into piloting a mech.
"If I wait for you to enter the cockpit of a mech on your own volition, I'll probably have to wait for months!"
That was why Ves dropped his conservative stance and prepared to take a more active role in the mind of his host. He extended some of his Spirituality and tried to manipulate the mind of his host.
Although Ves didn't entirely know what he was doing, he nonetheless attempted to encourage Axelar to pilot a mech.
Ves utterly failed.
Right now, Axelar was so smashed that someone could walk up to him and punch his face without eliciting a response!
Any subtle impulses from Ves instantly got washed away by the highs that Axelar constantly subjected himself to on an hourly basis. Even during his sleep, Axelar hooked himself to a sophisticated auto-injector that constantly pumped his unconscious mind with delirious stimulants.
There was not a single moment where Ves ever witnessed Axelar in a sober state. As long as this wastrel continued to let Benny inject his body with formulas, Ves would never be able to steer his host into piloting a mech!
Ves came to the unfortunate conclusion that he needed to take more direct action.
"Subtlety won't work here. Even firmer action isn't enough to overpower the chemicals that suffuse your mind."
The problem with influencing a genetically enhanced human like Axelar was that he was fairly resistant to mental manipulation. This was partially by design as the ancient clans didn't want to make it easy for nefarious parties to brainwash their descendants.
This basically meant that Ves needed to take a stronger and more direct approach. Instead of tickling Axelar's mind with a feather, he should instead employ a hammer!
"Even a hammer is not enough to overcome all of the chemicals and intoxicants in this wastrel's brains! I'll have to bring a mech to crack it open!"
Ves readied himself for action. Normally, he would never dare to do something as drastic as the intervention he was about to do, but any sympathy for Axelar had already evaporated.
Even if Ves was a little too rough and inflicted permanent brain damage on Axelar, that was hardly worse than his existing state!
Chapter 1152
Ves struck when Axelar was asleep. While his resting mind still reveled in the cocktail of chemicals that continuously entered his blood stream, the drugs he tended to take during his sleep were fairly mellow.
With Axelar asleep and sedated with his sleep-inducing stimulants, Ves stopped hiding his presence.
After a lengthy pause, he stopped hesitating on what he was about to do. Whether it worked or not, there was no harm in trying. The only way that Axelar would stop partaking in drugs and do something productive in his life was if Ves intervened directly!
To that end, Ves decided to see if he could take over Axelar's body.
"I'm a Journeyman now. My Spirituality and consciousness is much stronger than before!"
While Axelar was a very talented mech pilot, his mind was constantly in a mush. Even if he was sober, he could never contend against Ves on a spiritual level.
While normally Ves would never think that something like this would work on other people, it was different when he directly shared the same space as Axelar's consciousness.
"I'm already within the fortress of his mind."
Taking over a castle from within! Many of the constraints that made it impossible for Ves to affect the minds of other people no longer applied in this case.
"Let's see if my guess is right."
Ves concentrated his consciousness and exerted his considerable Spirituality. He extended his spiritual energy and formed them into numerous tentacles.
He then spread them outwards from his consciousness and attached them to various points in Axelar's largely empty mind.
"Let me take over your body!" Ves mentally cried.
His method was very rough and unrefined. As soon as his tentacles connected to Axelar's mind and body, an overwhelming amount of unconscious stimuli and impulses overwhelmed Ves' consciousness!
"Damnit! It's too much!"
Even if Ves drew back on the connections he formed with Axelar's mind, he still couldn't cope with the intense flood of irrelevant data! It was as if every single cell in Axelar's body cried out for his personal attention!
"Damnit, this isn't working!"
Ves didn't give up, though. He refined the connections and filtered more and more useless data from entering his consciousness.
The goal of his efforts was to establish something akin to the man-machine connection between a mech pilot and a mech!
Yet the man-man connection that Ves sloppily tried to form did not take shape.
"Is it because my brain isn't wired right?" He wondered.
Perhaps if Ves was a mech pilot, then he would have been able to succeed in this method. As it was, no matter how much Ves restricted the data, he couldn't filter out nearly enough to exert any control on Axelar.
The first method failed.
"I guess it'll never work as long as I'm not a mech pilot."
He tried the second method next. Instead of forming a connection with Axelar's mind and body in an attempt to 'pilot' him like a mech, Ves instead decided to take a more dangerous course of action.
He bunched up his consciousness and concentrated his thoughts. He tried to emulate Venerable Foster's domineering force of will.
It was a bit more difficult than Ves expected. His advancement to Journeyman transformed much of his spiritual energy from a malleable gaseous state into a fixed crystalline design seed.
Even if his total spiritual strength had increased, the proportion that he could mold in other shapes was limited!
"It's as if my spiritual development is fixed ever since I advanced to Journeyman!"
That was an unwelcome piece of news to him. His dreams of imitating the full range of abilities of high-ranking mech pilots had been dashed.
A human can only be a mech pilot or a mech designer, but not both.
Perhaps this rule was not as rigid in the lower ranks, but once someone advanced to expert pilot or Journeyman Mech Designer, their development trajectory no longer deviated!
"Nothing is impossible in the galaxy, though." Ves cautioned himself. "There's probably at least one exception to the rule, though I've never heard about it before."
In any case, Ves did not fall under these rare exceptions, so his ability to emulate Venerable Foster's force of will was a bit weaker than before.
"Even if it's weaker, it should still be strong enough for my purposes."
Ves doubted his chances if he was up against a genuine expert pilot, but Axelar was far from matching the mental fortitude of a demigod.
In fact, Axelar's mind couldn't be anymore weaker! All the recreational stimulants and decadence that the scion of the Streon clan partook him wore away any semblance of discipline. The only strong belief that this wastrel possessed was his desire to perpetually try out more and more formulas!
"A consciousness as weak as yours is begging to be taken advantage of! You can't blame anyone but yourself for what I'm about to do!"
Ves surrounded his consciousness with his emulated force of will. It kind of resembled an expert that surrounded itself with a resonating energy field.
He then slowly moved his consciousness closer to the depths of Axelar's mind. He did so until his consciousness brushed up against the core consciousness of his host.
What Ves was about to do at this point was very dangerous!
"Let's see if this works!"
With a violent mental heave, Ves' consciousness dove against Axelar's core consciousness and tried to bump it aside!
It didn't budge!
"Damnit, it's anchored somehow."
While the violent collision didn't result in the desired effect, Axelar's core consciousness did seem to get close to shaking loose.
"Maybe I need to exert more force."
Ves pulled back his protected consciousness and tried again!
His progress became more evident this time!
"Again!"
After more than a dozen collisions, Ves finally achieved the result he wanted to see! Axelar's core consciousness lost its anchor and went flying off into the corner of his empty mind!
The displacement left a gaping hole behind which Ves's consciousness quickly occupied!
Success!
A mass of strange and confusing sensations overcame Ves' consciousness as he suddenly felt as if he was partially taking over Axelar's body. While his integration was far from perfect, the connection was deep and stable enough to effect some real change!
Perhaps the only problem was that Axelar's core consciousness flew back to the place that it belonged and bumped against the intruder that took its place.
It was as if it was whining to Ves that it took over its rightful place.
"Shut up and sit down, you dolt! You've been doing nothing with your body for all this time. It's high time for you to straighten up your life!"
Axelar's core consciousness was like a cleaning bot that kept bumping into the same obstacle over and over again. It wasn't really in a conscious state, but it possessed a very strong instinct that it needed to return to its place!
This caused Axelar's core consciousness to continuously bump against Ves' spiritually-active consciousness. While the weak collisions didn't do much damage, Ves felt as if his spiritual strength was slowly being expended.
"It seems I'm on a time limit. I'll exhaust myself if I keep this up for more than a couple of days."
That meant that Ves needed to hurry up with his plans.
He moved on with the first step, which was taking over Axelar's body.
Ves needed to exert a sufficient amount of control over it. If his control wasn't high enough, then Benny or the other staff might sense something amiss!
"I can't arouse too much suspicion from Benny."
Even if Axelar acted a little differently, Benny probably wouldn't take too much notice. Axelar often changed his mood depending on the cocktail of stimulants currently in effect.
A full half hour after Ves took over, he began to get the hang of puppeting a foreign body. Ves tentatively managed to take control of Axelar's body, but the problem was that his fine control was anything but ideal!
As Axelar's body opened its eyes in the early morning, a very different gaze looked out. The numb and cloudy consciousness that previously controlled the body was nowhere present now!
The first thing Ves did was to reach out a hand and press a button on his comm.
"You called, Master Axelar?" Benny's voice sounded out from the comm channel.
"Yeah. Please flush my body. I'm in the mood for something different."
"Pardon me, Master Axelar, but it isn't time for your scheduled flushing yet."
"Just do what I say, Benny!" Ves yelled back in Axelar's voice. "I'm tired of experiencing the same old highs!"
Although the order that Ves had given was a departure from the norm, Benny still did as ordered.
After moving Axelar's body to his villa's treatment center, the doctors on staff began to flush it of most intoxicating chemicals. After that, they put the body into a submerged tank and activated some processes that repaired most of the damage the stimulants had wrought.
From a purely physical perspective, Axelar's body had been reverted into a state to before he became addicted to stimulants!
Normally, Axelar would immediately inject himself with a host of drugs in order to experience the same highs over again.
Ves was different. When Benny walked up to Axelar with a syringe in hand, Axelar's body raised its palm.
"Stop. No more for now."
Benny frowned. This command was extremely odd and completely unlike the old Axelar! "Pardon, Master Axelar?"
"Tell me, which high is better? The rush of experiencing the thirty-seventh formula's high, or the adrenaline rush of putting my life on the line on the battlefield?"
"I can't say, Master Axelar."
"There's no comparison between the two! All the formulas have gone stale. There's nothing new for me to enjoy anymore now that I've taken every possible stimulant that exists. I think I have a better idea where I can get my dose of excitement! I should go into battle!"
Benny appeared speechless for a moment. "That is.. a very bold sentiment."
"The first step is to sell my pharmaceutical company. I no longer need my formulas. Please get rid of all of my stash."
"Are you certain, Master Axelar?"
"How else am I going to be able to push myself into battle when there are easier solutions within reach! From now on, I don't want you to get rid of all of my stimulants, but prevent me from taking a single dose! Even if I beg and scream for a hit, don't give in no matter what, alright?!"
"...Understood, Master Axelar. We will carry out your orders to the best of our ability."
Whether Benny would actually abide by the orders or not did not matter too much. Ves just wanted to sell the excuse that Axelar was pursuing a different kind of high now. That Axelar might possibly be prevented from injecting a stimulant into his body from now on was a vindictive form of revenge from Ves.
As Ves mentally snickered at the thought of Axelar crawling on his knees for another hit, he returned to his instructions.
"Secondly, please prepare my application to the Trail of Tears elite training program."
This time, Benny looked at his charge with alarm. "Master Axelar! I urge you to think through. The Trail of Tears is one of the Terran Confederation's toughest training programs for mech pilots! Last year, only a single mech pilot out of a cohort of thousands managed to break through to expert candidate! One in four participants died while half of the survivors returned broken and traumatized!"
"I've already made my decision!" Ves yelled in Axelar's voice. "I don't fear the Trail of Tears at all! I'm too good to fail this training program! Prepare an application for me immediately!"
"Very well, Master Axelar. I shall make the arrangements."
Ves recognized the pliant tone that Benny used whenever he faced an order he did not intend to fulfill. It was going to be difficult to register Axelar to the infamous Trail of Tears, but Ves had his ways.
A devious grin appeared on Axelar's hijacked face.
Chapter 1153
As 'Master Axelar' began to make decisions that fell firmly outside the mold of the real Master Axelar, Benny naturally grew a bit suspicious.
While Axelar often flirted with dubious pursuits, that was when he was in the middle of a drug-fueled haze.
This time was different! Axelar went by for hours without asking Benny for an injection, which was practically a galactic record!
Ves, who momentarily hijacked Axelar's body, knew he was arousing more and more suspicions from Axelar's erstwhile bodyguard, minder and personal attendant. Even the rest of his staff felt there was something amiss about their uncharacteristically sober master!
The relationship between Axelar and Benny resembled the one between Ves and Gavin.
There was a very major difference, however.
In his capacity as the boss of the LMC, Ves firmly held on to his power and authority. Gavin only executed the decisions that Ves had made. At best, Gavin only provided some advice and selected a range of options to influence the decision-making process.
After more than a week of riding in Axelar's mind, Ves gradually realized that Benny acted beyond those constraints.
In his role as Axelar's gatekeeper, Benny exercised a lot of power in seeing which decisions went through and which ones were conveniently thrown away and forgotten.
There wasn't anything malicious about Benny's conduct. To the old Axelar, a sane and sober gatekeeper who second-guessed anything his drug-addled charge came up with was a very necessary presence!
Who knew how much money Axelar would waste or how far he'd drag down the reputation of the Streon Clan without a human sanity check in place!
The big issue that Ves faced was that now that Axelar's body had been taken over by a saner person, Benny still decided whether Axelar's orders should be obeyed!
Ves could not get rid of this perpetually present attendant. The only times when Benny left Axelar alone was when his charge visited the bathroom or went to sleep!
Even then, Ves could forget about sneaking any commands past his bodyguard!
"Do you ever sleep, Benny?" Axelar's body idly asked.
"My gene treatments removed my dependence on sleep. Haven't I told you this before? You ordered me to undergo these procedures yourself so you would always have me on hand to inject more stimulants in your body!"
Ves mentally puked. What the hell?! Axelar turned his own gatekeeper into a perpetually active golem who stood ready to interpret every decision whether it was day or night!
Any hopes Ves held towards getting rid of Benny disappeared. After several attempts at giving Benny a day off or a vacation, it became clear that Axelar wasn't even in control of his own household.
Instead, it was Benny who held the final say!
Ves also realized that Benny didn't truly serve Axelar. Instead, he and the rest of Axelar's staff were loyal retainers of the Streon Clan. They acted on the interests of the ancient clan and had probably been sent to Axelar to keep a leash on the wastrel of the clan.
Now that Ves took over Axelar's body, he took over the Streon Clan's leash as well!
He developed a bunch of ideas on how he could take advantage of his control over the body of a Terran clansman. The sheer amount of wealth at Axelar's disposal tempted Ves enormously. If he set up some sort of development fund oriented towards the galactic rim and tweaked the conditions so that it fit the LMC, then Ves could become insanely rich after he got back from this abnormal Mastery experience.
Yet such an un-Axelar decision would never pass through Benny's inspection! For his entire life, Axelar had never been generous enough to set up a charity or an investment fund meant to benefit the galactic rim.
To Terrans like Axelar, the galactic rim was a complete backwater! They did not even waste a single second of thought in the vast but poor and sparsely-populated expanse.
If Ves set up anything that benefited a company or individual in the galactic rim, then alarms would immediately ring in Benny's head!
Even now, Ves already drew plenty of suspicion. His decision to sell the pharmaceutical company and get rid of all their existing formulas put Benny on high alert.
The jerky movements of Axelar's body didn't help either. Ves' consciousness simply hadn't been wired to puppet a vastly different body. All the sensations he received were distorted and his reaction speed was abysmally slow.
The lack of control was so bad in fact that Ves had to order Benny to seat himself on a souped-up hover chair!
To cover up for his invalid state, Ves offered the best excuse he came up with to his increasingly-concerned attendant.
"I've never spent this long without a fix." Axelar's body jerkily gritted its teeth. "I'm stronger than this! I won't give in! If I can't get past this hurdle, I can forget about experiencing the ultimate high!"
Fortunately, Benny seemed to buy the act. "Master Axelar, one does not simply quit taking stimulants. Your physiological parameters are highly unstable."
"Don't think about offering me another fix! It's not the same anymore! In fact, it should be your job to stop me from taking any drugs from now on! No matter how much I moan or cry, I will never go back to the same stale old highs!"
Everything the old Axelar did was to pursue extreme highs. Ves had no choice but to work around this obsession. It would be far too suspicious for Benny to hear that his charge quit taking stimulants entirely.
This was why Ves wanted Axelar to sign up for the Trail of Tears. The Terrans set up the elite training program for mech pilots who wanted to unearth all of their potential. Every mech pilot who participated in the Trail of Tears dreamed to advancing to expert pilot!
Yet out of the thousands that join each batch, only one lucky mech pilot came out as a winner at most!
Sometimes, the Trail of Tears failed to produce a single a single expert candidate. Instead, the majority of participants either died or became so broken by their hellish experiences that they stopped piloting mechs entirely!
It was very unlike Axelar to express a desire to take part in one of the harshest training programs for elites. However, only a radical decision like this paved the way for Ves to take further actions related to piloting mechs.
"Let's visit a mech arena." Axelar's body commanded. "I'm feeling rather itchy for some mech-on-mech action. What's the biggest event going on right now?"
"A grand group match between the Tyon Terminators and the Haspel Asps is about to take place at the Cube Arena."
"Great! Reserve a VIP seat for me! I want to have the best seat in the arena!"
Benny saw nothing wrong with this decision. Even if Axelar wasn't always enthusiastic about piloting mechs, he still liked to see other mechs in action.
Several hours later, Axelar, Benny and a host of other bodyguards arrived at the floating Cube Arena.
The Cube Arena was the biggest floating mech venue in the Tyon System. Situated in high orbit of Tyon IV, it was as large as a space fort as it hosted enough room for multiple three-dimensional arenas!
The Cube Arena's sophisticated internal structure could adjust its arena spaces if needed. During regular days, it partitioned its internal space into several smaller arenas that constantly hosted various mundane mech duels.
This time was different. The match between the Tyon Terminators and the Haspel Asps was a highly anticipated event! Both teams represented the best professional mech athletes from their respective star systems, so the pride of hundreds of billions of people were at stake right now!
While the Cube Arena offered enough seats to host tens of millions of spectators, the sheer amount of fans that decided to attend stuffed the venue to capacity!
Naturally, a clansman like Axelar did not have to wait in line like a common Terran. As soon as his personal starship docked at the Cube Arena's exclusive hangar bay, the arena staff personally guided Axelar's hover chair and his bodyguards to an exclusive floating VIP booth that looked over the grand arena space.
The procession arrived just in time as the main match was about to commence. As the announcers fervently introduced each illustrious mech athlete, both teams sent out five mechs each.
The Cube Arena had been configured in a large, kilometers-long empty void this time. There were few obstacles to speak of besides the extremely powerful shields that protected the audience from all of the firepower about to be unleashed. Patches of rocks floated here and there, but the vacuum and the standard gravity being exerted over the entire dueling space resulted in a very confusing mix of environmental conditions.
This was a battle that would test a mech pilot's ability to operate both in a landbound, aerial and spaceborn environment at the same time!
The five-on-five match started. Since Ves wasn't really familiar with both teams, he didn't pay too much attention to the spectacle taking place below the floating VIP booth.
Certainly, the match was extremely exciting. Even if Ves' consciousness traveled ninety years into the past, the technology in use today was extremely impressive!
For example, one multipurpose mech from the Tyon Terminators possessed a fluid shape. It consisted entirely of smart metals and could endlessly transform its shape according to the mech pilot's will! This fluidly-shaped mech was a terror to fight in close combat for that very reason, but it could also unleash energy projectiles or even pieces of itself to fend off distant threats!
Ves figured that mech pilots wouldn't know what to do with the sheer amount of possibilities this feature offered, but the mech athlete who piloted made good use of its traits! The Terminator pilot only employed a modest number of predetermined shapes and varied their exact forms based on necessity.
"Who needs mech designers when you have a mech that can take on any shape you want?" Axelar's body idly commented.
Still, a mech like this came with a lot of downsides as well. The transforming smart metal couldn't match the offensive or defensive power of dedicated parts. It was the ultimate jack-of-all-trades that could perform every role, but only to a mediocre level at most.
The Haspel Asps obviously knew this since they sent a single teammate who excelled in close combat to sandbag the transforming mech.
After getting over the novelty of a mech that consisted entirely of smart metals, Ves turned his attention elsewhere.
Another mech that impressed him was the heavy mech fielded by the Haspel Asps. They employed a heavy multipurpose cannoneer that was tough, fast and hard-hitting at the same time!
Not only did its designers pad the cannoneer with a lot of armor, but they also paired it with a very powerful set of flight modules!
While the mech expended an extreme amount of energy while trying to propel its frame in different directions, it still posed a huge threat by using ammunition-based weaponry!
The mech's mounted cannons spat out various exotically-enriched rounds accelerated to fractions of the speed of light, causing them to slam against the various shields projected by the Terminator mechs!
Although Ves referred to it as a cannoneer, in truth it possessed other capabilities as well. Any mech that got close enough to render its cannons ineffective would have to contend with its collapsable halberd and other nasty surprises!
The strategy of the Haspel Asps seemed clear to Ves. The heavy cannoneer not only possessed enough firepower to wipe out the entire lineup of the Tyon Terminators, but it could also dodge and outrun most of its opposition!
The rest of the Haspel Asps tried to hinder as many Terminators as possible in order to let the heavy cannoneer do its job. Even if one or two Terminators occasionally slipped the net, the heavy cannoneer defied its weight class by flying just as fast as a first-class light mech!
"A mech like this is a massive cheat!"
Chapter 1154
The battle between first-class mechs was an amazing visual spectacle to Ves. He eagerly took control over the transparent VIP booth's flight system to adjust his view.
"If there's no surprise, the Haspel Asps will handedly win this match." Benny commented besides Axelar's hover chair. "They completely surprised the Terminators, who expected the Asps to field a very different lineup of mechs."
One of the most exciting aspects about duels between first-class mechs was that it was always a question what configuration of multipurpose mechs a competing team might field next time. Every mech pilot in a first-rate superstate underwent intensive and arduous training in order to master multiple fighting styles at the same time.
Mech pilots with mediocre genetic aptitudes could forget about mastering the use of a multipurpose mech!
Axelar didn't resort to taking recreational stimulants for nothing during his own grueling years at the mech academies. At the elite institutions that the scion of the Streon Clan attended, the renowned mech instructors who presided over the mech cadets cared nothing about their illustrious backgrounds!
Right now, Ves witnessed the results of this highly selective training standards for mech pilots in action. The mech athletes of the Tyon Terminators and the Haspel Asps displayed an exceptionally broad proficiency in dozens of weapon and auxiliary systems!
Whereas the mech pilots of the Bright Republic already struggled with the meager amount of gimmicks that came with the Aurora Titans, the mech athletes competing in the Cube Arena multitasked many different functions without a single moment of hesitation!
The quality of mech pilots simply couldn't be compared.
If a mech pilot from the galactic rim suddenly entered the galactic center, then he would struggle to make use of more than ten percent of a first-class mech's full potential! Even the simpler Terran mechs were incomprehensible maze to the likes of Melkor, Raella and Melinda!
In contrast, if one of the mech athletes of the Terminators or the Asps visited the galactic rim, they could quickly dominate the dueling scene. Having mastered the use of all sorts of mech configurations and weapon systems, it was not very difficult for them to get used to the limitations of a specialized mech.
It was pretty much like piloting a crippled multipurpose mech that was stuck in a single narrow configuration.
A huge disparity existed between a Brighter mech pilot and a Terran mech pilot. The latter invested much more resources into the quality of their mechs and their training standards for mech pilots.
While Ves adjusted the position of his VIP booth, he recognized another crucial element.
Every Terran was genetically enhanced from the start! If their parents were already genetically superior from the start, then their offspring inherited those superior genes as well!
In addition, much like how the CFA offered gene optimization treatments to their own, each Terran enjoyed a lifelong regime of modest genetic updates.
Those with greater status and wealth like Axelar Streon enjoyed expertly tailored gene adjustments on par with CFA officers. Meanwhile the average citizen still made do with more modest treatments offered by the Terran government.
A vast gulf in parameters existed between a baseline human from the galactic rim and an average Terran citizen!
If the differences between the average people was already so pronounced, then the disparity grew even wider among mech pilots. All of the genetic and other types of enhancements available in the Greater Terran United Confederation meant that each mech pilot turned themselves into genetically-engineered super soldiers!
The result was that each mech athlete that competed in the Cube Arena today fought like quasi-expert candidates. All of them displayed an inhuman level of skill, reaction speed, multitasking that baseline humans simply couldn't match!
Not only that, but the well-trained mech athletes also displayed the instinctive cunning and sound judgement of an expert candidate while not actually being one themselves!
"None of the mech athletes are expert candidates, right, Benny?"
"Of course not Master Axelar." His attendant dutifully replied. "The instant an expert candidates emerges from the mech games, they are instantly taken to an elite mech corps. Expert candidates are simply too valuable to squander in an idle sport like the mech games."
Even in one of the most advanced superstates of human civilization, expert candidates and expert pilots were in short supply!
The restricted warfare the Terran clans engaged in meant that expert candidates and expert pilots didn't have to be afraid of being swamped by a gigantic horde of enemy mechs!
Both sides were only allowed to deploy an equal amount of mechs. Each expert pilot played an outsized role in an elite mech corps!
The match progressed as Ves predicted. Even though he didn't fully understand at least half of the high technology on display, it was easy to see that the fast, powerful and heavily-armored multipurpose cannoneer mopped the floor with the Tyon Terminators!
"The Terminators are faltering!"
Under the interference by the other mechs of the Haspel Asps, the Terminators could only sporadically pursue the heavy cannoneer. However, despite the range of functions at their disposal, the Terminator mechs failed to damage the heavy cannoneer!
The well-designed mech fielded by the Asp simply dodged or outran any Terminator mech with the offensive power to punch through its armor.
As for the lighter Terminator mechs that could match their opponent's speed, the heavy cannoneer simply decided to withstand the light attacks while saturing their foes with area bombardment!
"What a cheat mech!" Ves sighed. It was a nightmare to face this kind of mech in battle.
At some point, the Terminators adopted a defensive posture, indicating that they intended to wait until the highly-mobile heavy cannoneer exhausted the ammunition reserves for its main cannons.
That was a big mistake!
While Ves recognized that the heavy cannoneer only carried so much ammunition, it possessed more than enough rounds to beat at least half of the Terminator mechs to a pulp!
Now that it was no longer being pursued so intensively, the powerful Asp mech began to chip away at the Terminators, starting with its fancy but insufficiently tough smart metal mech!
Even a thousand different transformations didn't prevent this mech from falling in battle. As soon as the mech lost functionality due to all of the smart metal being blasted away from its core frame, the Cube Arena projected a strong spherical shield around the wreckage in order to preserve the life of the mech pilot.
With one mech down, the Terminators immediately fell into a disadvantage. Group matches like these often hinged on which side managed to take out a mech from their opposition!
Although some of the mechs of the Asps didn't appear to be in good condition anymore, they had a much easier time in hindering the remaining Terminator mechs!
By the time the heavy cannoneer finally rain out of ammunition for its main cannons and resorted to taking potshots with its meager energy weapons, the Terminators only had two mechs left.
"The Haspel Asps has defeated the home team of the Tyon System! The Terminators have let down their fans!"
The majority of audience members were locals. Each of them booed the winners and expressed their dissatisfaction for the thorough trouncing of their home team!
The Haspel Asps paid little attention to the hostile masses. Every mech athlete got used to such reactions from the public. They were the away team, after all!
As the victory speech went underway, Ves figured it was time to enact his plan.
"The Terminators should have beaten the Haspel Asps!" Axelar's body angrily remarked.
"No team can guarantee victory, Master Axelar."
"The Asps are too devious! If not for making use of such a ridiculous mech configuration, they would have been trounced by our boys!"
Ves didn't really mean these words, but he made Axelar's body say them in order to prepare for his next action.
While Benny firmly limited Axelar's interactions, Ves intended to go around his gatekeeper by communicating in a very different fashion this time.
The key here was that Ves controlled the flight systems of the VIP booth!
During the match, Ves behaved like an honest enthusiast and used his control over the VIP booth's flight systems to get a better view of the action. He didn't employ too much speed and exerted a lot of care so that it did not approach any other VIP booths.
At this moment, Ves threw away all of his previous restraints. With a mighty jerk, Axelar's body violently pulled physically-projected elevation control!
The VIP booth that previous overlooked the arena area from above abruptly flew down! Automated safety controls quickly kicked into action and stalled its flight to prevent it from colliding against the protective shields.
Ves expected something like this to happen. He manipulated a different control that caused the booth to roll around its axis in a spinning fashion!
While Benny quickly moved to take Axelar's hands away from the projected flight controls, the antics of their VIP booth had not gone unnoticed!
One of the announcers reacted exactly as Ves expected!
"Look at the naked disrespect exhibited by this VIP booth!" The excited announcer said. "Ah, it's Master Axelar's personal booth! It seems that our local Streon clansman objects to the outcome of the match! Let us hear from the illustrious Axelar himself!"
The millions of disappointed fans of the Terminators immediately perked up upon hearing that. Was Axelar about to do something that could salvage their pride?
Benny looked aghast at his charge. If Axelar expressed a desire to contest the outcome of the match, then the bodyguard would have nodded in acknowledgement but quietly ignore the demand.
Yet now that Axelar attracted the attention of millions of local Tyons during an event that was broadcasted live throughout the galactic net, there was no possible way for Benny to force his charge to back down!
To back away after performing such a provocative action in public would shame the entire Streon Clan!
A huge set of projections appeared in the arena area, giving every member of the audience a good view of the interior of Axelar's VIP booth. Everyone stared rapturously at Axelar's body lounging lazily on his hover chair, waiting for him to open his mouth!
Ves began his show.
"Thank you for your attention. As a proud member of the ruling clan in the Streon System, I cannot stand by as a foreign team tramples upon the dignity of our star system!"
Axelar's body grinned. "The Asps may have defeated the Terminators, but they haven't overcome the best of what the Tyon System has to offer!"
The team captain of the Haspel Asps stepped forward from down below. "The Asps have beaten the mech pilots of your star systems once. We are not afraid of thrashing you a second time!"
"Hahahaha!" Axelar's body arrogantly laughed. "If you're so confident, how about facing me in battle tomorrow in this very arena? Let's have a one-on-one mech duel to determine whether the Haspel System or the Tyon System are the best!"
The crowd went wild! While they didn't have a good idea of Axelar Streon's skill in piloting mechs, it should be quite considerable considering his high status.
The team leader of the Haspel Asps was not a timid person by any means. "Sure! I'll face you in battle myself! I hope the mech arena is ready to shield your cockpit from the destruction I'm about to unleash tomorrow!"
"Hahaha! I should be the one to caution you! I am the best mech pilot of the Tyon System! As a future graduate of the Trail of Tears, I'm afraid I won't be able to hold back when we face each other with our mechs! A quick victory tomorrow will be a nice appetizer for what's in store for me in the future. Perhaps one day you'll have the privilege of boasting that you faced someone as impressive as me in combat!"
Benny tried to maintain an impassive face, but it was getting harder and harder to maintain his composure!
All of the smack talk that Axelar engaged in with the away team's leader increased his internal distress!
The more Axelar boasted, the harder it was to walk back on the challenge! At this point, no force in the galaxy could prevent Axelar from stepping into the Cube Arena in a mech!
Not only that, but Axelar publicly announced that he intended to participate in the Trail of Tears! Benny's attempt at stalling Axelar's application to the infamously grueling training program instantly became moot!
Chapter 1155
As soon as Axelar stopped entertaining the audience with his smack talk, Benny firmly carted his hover chair out of the VIP booth and back to his personal starship.
They returned to Axelar's villa as fast as possible. Benny didn't want to take any risks. Trying to deal with Axelar when he was sober and free from the influence of recreational stimulants was a lot harder!
To his credit, Benny didn't make any attempts to abort the impending duel tomorrow. While Axelar may be a wastral of a mech pilot, he still represented the Streon Clan in public!
The surprise announcements that Axelar issued earlier could not be revoked! It was a given that he would enter into a mech duel with the team leader of the Haspel Asps and participate in the Trail of Tears soon afterwards.
All of this meant that Axelar could no longer spend his days as a drug-addled wastrel! Ves deliberately acted to cut off any means of returning for Axelar to return to his previous routine of spacing out on stimulants.
Ves did not forget about the point of this Mastery experience. He did not intend to live a day in the life of an elite Terran clansman.
He only cared about witnessing how a mech pilot handled a hero mech!
When Ves initially displaced Axelar's core consciousness and took over control, he quickly realized that it was impossible for him to pilot a mech in this condition.
Ves wasn't a mech pilot! His mentality wasn't geared towards piloting mechs. Even if he did somehow manage to form a stable man-machine connection with a mech, he lacked the training of how to operate a machine that required at least fifteen years of dedicated training to become proficient in its use!
All of these conditions basically meant that Ves needed to put Axelar's core consciousness back in control over his own body. Only when Axelar consciously committed to piloting a mech would Ves be able to glean valuable insights on the operation of a hero mech!
Still, getting Axelar to pilot a mech was harder than it sounded like. Ves knew what this wastrel was like.
The instant Axelar regained control over his own body, he'd probably do his best to weasel his way out of piloting a mech and instead order Benny to supply him with another batch of recreational stimulants!
"Hehe. Not this time." Ves mentally chuckled.
This was why Ves went through his extreme measures. He wanted to press Axelar in a corner. Only when this junkie had no way out would he finally do what Ves wanted to see!
All the while, Ves' control over Axelar's body slowly deteriorated. The weak but constant attacks from the core consciousness accelerated the drain in spiritual strength.
Soon enough, Ves needed to relinquish control of the body to its rightful owner. Until then, he still wanted to manipulate the circumstances to his favor.
Benny happened to speak up at this time once they returned to the villa.
"Master Axelar, considering the high import of tomorrow's duel, I can contact a Master Mech Designer from the clan to design your dueling mech."
"No!"
"Pardon?"
"I said no!" Axelar's body uttered. "I don't need a mech designer! I'm better than the Masters of the clan! The best mechs are the ones I designed myself! I refuse to bring a mech designed by a stranger into the duel tomorrow!"
"Master Axelar!" Benny looked shocked. "While your ability to design mechs is exemplary, you don't need to do all the hard work. Please allow a professional mech designer "
"Are you saying that professional mech designers are better than me, an eminent member of the the greatest clan in the Confederation?!" Axelar's body pressed.
"You are the greatest." Benny had no choice but to say.
"Then that's all the reason I need to design my own mech!" Axelar arrogantly declared. "If I don't pilot my own mech tomorrow, then I might as well park whatever garbage mech I'm piloting in the center of the arena and let the Haspel Asps run it through!"
His extreme statements finally managed to fend Benny off from obtaining a mech from the market or enlisting the aid of a mech designer.
Ves had a very good reason to make Axelar pilot a mech designed by 'himself'. If Benny shipped in a mech designed by someone else, it inevitably came in the form of a bloated, feature-rich multipurpose mech.
That was exactly what Ves was trying to prevent!
The Terran mech designers seemed to delight in cramming as many different systems as possible in their mechs. Not a single Terran mech did not come with at least five different weapon modules and more than a dozen additional modules!
Yet as the battle between the Terminators and the Asp demonstrated, versatility was not always the solution. The heavy cannoneer-like mech fielded by the Haspel Asps employed fewer modules than normal, but nonetheless made an outsized contribution to the away team's eventual victory.
This was adding less redundant gimmicks onto a mech left more space to empower its core functions!
In contrast, the smart metal mech with its infinite amount of transformations never realized its full potential. While it was adaptable to many different situations, pure overwhelming force easily overwhelmed anything it could throw at its opposition!
With the resources and technology the Terrans had at their disposal, it was no surprise that they eschewed the rigidly-defined mech archetypes that was common in the galactic rim. A versatile and adaptable mech could be employed in many different situations and would never become irrelevant.
Yet witnessing multipurpose mechs in action made Ves realize that prioritizing versatility was not always the best idea. He had seen too many mechs that came with numerous possibilities, only to make use of half of them or less.
"More is not always better."
The capacity of a mech constantly divided up even further with the addition of each additional system. As the Asps had already shown, sometimes it was better to impose a bit more limits on the range of options in order to ensure that each system delivered better performance.
"Less is more."
That said, hero mechs fell into a strange category. It was an oddball of a mech archetype in that it was technically a hybrid mech. A Hero mech could be regarded as a simplified version of a real multipurpose mech.
In regions where multipurpose mechs hadn't taken off, the emergence of hero mechs led to a considerable amount of controversy. How could a mech be both good at fending off opponents up close and from afar?
Yet mech designers somehow made it work. While they were never cheap by any means, hero mechs eventually carved out a small niche in the market. To mech pilots who were skilled enough to wield both a rifle and sword with skill, piloting a hero mech allowed them to express their full capabilities in battle.
"Two weapon systems on a mech is already good enough. Adding more is just icing on the cake."
In the context of Terran-style mechs, hero mechs were awfully limited. In a place like the Bright Republic, a hero mech was extravagantly versatile. The exact same mech type solicited two very different reactions depending on the prevailing mech standards in the region.
Contrasting the responses to the two different settings made him realize that hero mechs didn't need to be versatile. They just needed to be good in two specific roles at once.
"Perhaps that is the true meaning of a hero mech. They are defined by their role and purpose rather than their design attributes."
The multipurpose mechs used by the Terrans were capable of fulfilling many roles, but only slightly excelled at some of them. More badly-designed mechs simply lacked a solid identity. Their designers didn't conceive of a solid vision before they designed the mechs.
Ves did not want Axelar to pilot such a muddily-designed mech in battle tomorrow.
"When it comes to designing mechs, If I want something done right, I have to do it myself."
To that end, Ves controlled Axelar's body to summon up the auto designer program.
While Ves would rather design a mech using his own methods, he would never be able to get away with it with Benny and the staff watching Axelar's every move!
Axelar Streon was very clearly a mech pilot. For this dummy to suddenly become a proficient mech designer at the level of a Journeyman overnight would ring all kinds of alarms! Benny would immediately realize that Axelar's body had been taken over by a mech designer!
In order to prevent Benny from acting out, Ves had no choice but to maintain Axelar's previous penchant for using the auto designer to develop a mech design on the fly.
Ves tried hard not to express his disgust at the auto designer system. Extremely powerful Terran processors provided the AIs with an incredible amount of thinking power. This enabled the auto designers to come up with mechs that were at least as good as anything a competent mech designer could produce after several years!
Auto designers like this had probably put many mech designers out of business!
For Ves to work with an auto designer was tantamount to heresy in the mech industry!
Still, despite the disconcerning implication of its existence, an auto designer offered one big advantage.
First, its raw processing power was so immense that it didn't take long for it to present the user with a technically-sound mech design.
Considering that Ves challenged the Haspel Asps to a duel tomorrow, he couldn't take his sweet time in designing a perfect mech!
As for the lack of control over the automated design process, Ves dug into the manual for the auto designer. He quickly found out that it enabled its users to configure the degree of automation and that it allowed for manual overrides over almost every aspect of the mech.
Ves started to get the feeling that the auto designer wasn't originally meant to be used by laymen. The deeper he delved into the various settings of the auto designer, the more he realized that perhaps it was actually invented as a complement to busy mech designers!
An auto designer was already capable in the hands of an idiot like Axelar Streon. Yet in the hands of a real mech designer like Ves, he could easily design mechs that were ten times as good while requiring only several days of work!
He didn't feel so limited now that he recognized the potential of the auto designer.
"It's actually a crutch."
Perhaps to Novices and Apprentices, the existence of an auto designer was like a cheat. Yet if they grew to be too dependent on its functions, they would never be able to express the full range of their design abilities.
How could they improve their skills and advance to Journeyman if they were too lazy to do all of the hard work by themselves?
The auto designer was not a panacea. They neither replaced mech designers entirely nor enabled them to advance with ease.
They were simply crutches that were suitable for use when a mech designer was awfully short on time.
Finding out about this made Ves feel a little better for himself. He only regretted that he less than a single day to produce a hero mech design.
"It's unfortunate that the mech will be materialized into existence."
Ves already encountered materialized mechs before. They possessed no souls. Instead, they felt like a large collection of particles that just so happened to accurately resemble the shape of a mech.
He still wanted to try and see if he could impart some X-Factor to his materialized mech. Ever since he advanced to Journeyman, Ves began to think that his design seed increased his capabilities in some areas.
The opportunity to test whether his new capabilities extended to mechs that came into existence through materialization was a good opportunity to find out the truth!
"I hope it's not completely useless in this case!"
Axelar needed every advantage he could get in his upcoming mech duel!
Chapter 1156
What was a hero mech?
From a technical perspective, a hero mech was simply a mech that occupied the role of both a rifleman and a swordsman.
Sounded simple, right?
Yet when Ves tried to come up with a vision for a great hero mech, he felt that this answer didn't encompass the full range of meaning behind a hero mech.
First, the name. Why not call it a musketeer mech or a dragoon mech or something?
"Because those names don't describe the usage of the mech." Ves' consciousness mentally mused inside Axelar's mind.
He tried his best to ignore the hammering of Axelar's weak core consciousness.
The name of the mech type conjured up a specific image. Anyone who heard the phrase would think of the many action dramas broadcasted throughout the galaxy of adventurous young mech pilots who performed many heroics with their versatile mechs.
Whether it was to save a galactic princess from the clutches of nefarious pirates, or buy time for a beleaguered colony fleet to flee from a horde of astral beasts, a hero mech always managed to save the day!
The hero mech archetype couldn't be separated from its public image as the iconic mech of a protagonist!
Even in a first-rate superstate like the Terran Confederation, before the advent and popularization of multipurpose mechs, hero mechs already gained a reputation for achieving the impossible and fighting in a flamboyant manner.
From the perspective of a show maker, Ves knew that pairing up the main character with a hero mech was initially out of convenience.
If the protagonist piloted a knight mech, then they'd be toast if they encountered an aerial ranged mech.
This was why the early action dramas that incorporated mechs predominantly paired their main leads with ranged mech. A rifle-bearing mech looked much cooler.
Yet that was not enough!
What about facing threats up close? What is a light skirmisher stabbed a dagger into the back of the main character's mech?
There was nothing cooler than to see the main character's mech whip out a sword and fend off the fatal blow and turn the tides on its attacker!
Initially, the portrayal of a mech that excelled at both melee and ranged combat excited the audience!
At the same time, the mech designers in the early days of the Age of Mechs experimented with pairing mechs with both close-ranged and long-ranged solutions.
The results were rather mixed. The technology wasn't quite there yet to make both of them effective at the same time in a single mech.
Yet the popular emergence of hero mechs in fictional dramas led to a spike in demand for such a mech!
Business-savvy mech designers smelled an opportunity. If they succeeded in developing a viable mech that matched the unrealistic capabilities depicted in the action dramas, then they stood to make a lot of money!
A lot of mech designers poured a lot of time and effort into making hero mechs practical, and eventually they succeeded!
The early hero mechs did come with a lot of caveats. The tech to make hero mechs possible was a lot more advanced and expensive than normal, as long. As customers could bear the price, they got themselves a mech that was much more versatile than anything else on the market!
Eventually, the hype died down when the new mech pilots learned that it was really hard to be skilled in both modes of combat at the same time. Most baseline mech pilots could forget about mastering both marksmanship and swordsmanship in their lifetimes!
"A hero mech is only suited to be piloted by a hero!"
Only the hero of the story who possessed a high genetic aptitude or possessed some other advantage could make full use of such a complicated mech!
Soon enough, many mech pilots learned this lesson the hard way! Stuck with expensive mechs that only exhibited half of their potential in most cases, these fancy investments led many mech pilots and outfits to ruin!
Aside from some exceptions, hero mechs were thoroughly derided as an impractical mech type only fit for entertainment!
"Yet that's a rather outdated perspective now, especially in the more developed regions of human space."
Four-hundred years after the start of the Age of Mechs, both humanity and technology advanced by leaps.
The Terran Confederation already surpassed hero mechs and moved on to true multipurpose mechs for some time! Why settle for two weapon systems when a mech designer could stuff ten weapon systems in a single mech frame?
The more weapons, the more versatility a mech possessed! Not only that, but destroying or depleting the ammunition of one weapon system would not instantly cripple the mech's offensive capabilities.
Mech pilots in advanced states also kept up with progress. Through the help of genetic and other biological enhancements, mech pilots became more skilled in the operation of multiple weapon systems.
"All of this is very expensive, but as long as a state can afford it, it's definitely worth it! Who doesn't love a mech that's useful in every situation?"
Right now, the galactic rim fell behind on this trend due to limited resources. Without a sufficient amount of wealth, the conditions to make hero mechs and multipurpose mechs practical simply weren't there yet. Ves estimated it would take at least a couple more centuries to make them affordable and usable in his home state.
The current landscape of mechs never stood still. While some mech designers saw it as a detriment, true mech enthusiasts always looked forward to innovation.
"Let's get back to my mech design."
Recalling the history behind the hero mech type provided him with much-needed context. No matter if it was the galactic rim or the galactic center, hero mechs always played a controversial role.
If Ves paired Axelar with a hero mech instead of a standard multipurpose mech, then he would definitely be raising a lot of eyebrows!
A very scary realization suddenly emerged.
"The challenge I issued on behalf of Axelar is going to be watched by billions or trillions of people!"
A huge proportion of the population of the Tyon System and the Haspel System would be watching the live broadcasts of the upcoming duel. Plenty more fans from other star systems would tune in as well to witness whether a scion of the Streon Clan could back up all of his boasts.
Along with the tens of millions of people who would be viewing the upcoming duel in person at the Cube Arena, Axelar practically became the star of an action drama!
"What better way to compliment his expectations by foisting a hero mech onto him? This situation is practically begging for it! I'm sure he'll love the attention!"
That last one may be a stretch, but pairing Axelar with a hero mech would make a very strong statement!
The thought of influencing the perception of trillions of Terran citizens with a hero mech designed by himself pumped him up! How could he not be excited to exhibit his creations in front of such a huge audience?
Even if he was designing a mech to display in front of stuck up Terrans, the thought of influencing the lives of so many people, even if it was just for a single time, appealed to his sensibilities as an artist!
Perhaps Ves could even shift the course of history in the Terran Confederation with his stunt!
"This is the perfect stage for a hero mech!"
That brought Ves back to his immediate problem of coming up with a vision and concept of his hero mech.
The main goal of this Mastery experience was for him to observe how a mech pilot operated a hero mech. The insights he gleaned from his observations served to sharpen his approach to designing this special mech type.
Yet what about now?
Even with the use of an auto designer, Ves struggled to come up with a direction for a hero mech.
"This is like putting the cart before the horse!"
In his previous Mastery experiences, Ves always got to ride in the minds of mech pilots who fought with existing mechs.
He essentially studied how mech pilots interacted with the products of other mech designers!
This time was different. Ves was in a rare position where he could design the mech and observe its usage up close!
This was a unique if daunting opportunity!
As soon as Ves wrapped his metaphorical head around this realization, he became excited.
Rather than work around the paradigms of other mech designers, Ves could start off with a clean slate and develop his own statement of a hero mech!
Due to the circumstances of his Mastery experience, Ves did not intend to hold back too much. As long as the mech put up a decent fight tomorrow, he'd be able to learn from this experiment and do better next time.
As for the other consequences? Ves didn't care! Let Axelar deal with the aftermath! The clansman deserved all of the trouble for being such an unproductive wastrel!
Since Ves intended to design a mech that deviated from the norm in this setting, he might as well run with it and shock the audience tomorrow.
"Two. My mech only needs two weapon systems."
The team leader of the Haspel Asps piloted the heavy cannoneer-like mech in their match against the Terminators.
That did not mean the same mech would appear again. Terran mech athletes could easily afford to change the configuration of their mechs before every match. It was always a completely surprise what mech configuration they fielded next.
Yet no matter what kind of multipurpose mech the Haspel Asps fielded tomorrow, a well-designed hero mech would be able to handle any variation in mech configurations!
"Two weapon systems are enough to deal with the vast majority of multipurpose mechs in existence!"
In the past, hero mechs used to mean that the mech pilot was exceptionally skilled in multiple competences at the same time.
In this current time and space, a hero mech took on a different meaning. It sent an undeniable statement of confidence! A mech pilot who brought a hero mech into a battle against a multipurpose mech basically stated that they only needed two weapon systems to win!
A vision for his mech emerged. It would be a mech that revolved around the concept of two. Two weapon systems. Two heads. Two wings. Two arms. Two legs.
Ves even thought of splitting up the torso into two discrete portions. Even if the left half of the mech got destroyed, Axelar would still be able to put up a fight with the other half!
"A mech like that sounds very interesting, but it's not something I want to design with an auto designer."
He pulled back his imagination a bit and settled for a single unified torso to keep all of the pairs together. Ves did not wish to deviate too much from the hero mech he was commissioned to design for Madame Cecily Curin.
To that end, Ves decided to pair his hero mech with weapons that resembled a laser rifle and a sword, but not exactly.
It would be too gauche for Axelar to pilot a mech that incorporated outdated and underpowered technology.
"Each weapon has to be enough to handle most possible threats."
Something overly complex and specialized may be exceptionally suited in some circumstances, but left glaring holes for the enemy to exploit if they brought the right mech.
Considering that he intended to incorporate only two weapon systems in his mech, Ves could opt for something simple but scaled very well if they didn't have to share any space for other weapon systems.
"If I don't have to insert a ton of gimmicks into the frame of my mech, I have more space on hand to improve its core capabilities. That will do my hero mech design a lot of good!"
Still, Ves hesitated a bit as he faced a seemingly endless amount of choices. The auto designer offered access to all but the most advanced, expensive and most exotic weapon systems!
Chapter 1157
After he browsed the extensive parts catalog of the auto designer, he settled for something the Terrans considered to be standard. In fact, Axelar already made use of them in his previous auto-designed mech, so the selection did not arouse too much suspicion from Benny.
For the melee option, Ves chose the Destroyer Sword. Through the use of extremely advanced tech and materials, the Terran Destroyer Weapons led to an instant shift where mechs needed to be plated with Destroyer-resistant armor plating in order to stand a chance against these powered weapons!
Ves always carried a very strong impression of Destroyer Weapons. Back when he foolishly participated in the Groening Mission to earn some merits from the Clifford Society, he witnessed Captain Felicia Kaine's Cathrec penetrating formidable defenses with ease with her Destroyer Spear!
Ever since the Terrans surprised the mech industry by unveiling the Destroyer Weapons, their rivals struggled to mitigate their destructive capabilities. The Big Two and the New Rubarth Empire all shifted from normal armor formulas to more expensive ones that resisted the unnatural penetration power of a Destroyer Weapon.
Lesser states did not have the money to fund such an expensive shift. Second and third-rate states could forget about fielding mechs that could resist a Destroyer Weapon upfront! The exotics and materials that made up the armor system were simply too unaffordable!
Therefore, even if Ves knew of their existence, he never maintained any hope he would be able to incorporate them into his mech designs anytime soon.
"I guess I'm wrong in that prediction."
Working with a Destroyer Weapon was very novel to Ves. He understood practically nothing about the underlying principles that made them work, but he didn't need to know all of that to incorporate them into his hero mech design.
"They're not so different from a conventional melee weapon. The only major difference is that they have to be supplied with power in order to achieve the most effect."
The power source of a Destroyer Weapon was usually integrated in their hilts. Some mech designers opted to add some redundancy by incorporating a power receiver or something similar that drew out energy from the mech that wielded the weapon.
For the ranged option, Ves opted for the positron rifle. A positron beam was a hybrid damage type that possessed both energy and physical properties.
A positron rifle was fairly trouble to use in atmospheric conditions. They operated most ideally in vacuum because the positrons accelerated out of the muzzle of the rifle annihilated the very air in their path out of existence!
"Still, it shouldn't be a major problem in the Cube Arena. Even if air is pumped into the arena space, the range is far too short to impact the performance of the positron rifle."
Positron beams may not travel at the speed of light like a conventional laser beam, but the rifles accelerated the particles so fast that mech pilots didn't notice the difference in actual use!
The only downside to using positron rifles that they were fairly vulnerable to damage. They were also voraciously hungry for energy and generated heat like a star!
Fortunately, the Terrans developed solutions that mitigated those problems. The power source and heat management systems offered by the auto designer were almost as amazing as the tech employed in the copy of the Amastendira!
"I might not have access to something as ridiculous as a dimensional heatsink, but the high-capacity heatsinks the auto designer already offers are more than sufficient for my purpose!"
Since his hero mech wouldn't be filled with bloat, Ves had plenty of space to stuff an abundant amount of high-tech heatsinks into the design. It should be more than sufficient for Axelar to fire his positron rifle nonstop for the entire match!
Once he decided on the weapon loadout of his hero mech, Ves had a solid idea of the mech he intended to design.
"It's time to take the next step."
How could he not make use of his specialty? Even though the auto designer and materialization systems were very detrimental to the X-Factor, Ves still wanted to see whether he possessed the strength to overcome these barriers.
He still had to deal with the short time limit and the other restrictions in play. Ves did not intend to invest too much into forming the images that underpinned his vision for his hero mech design.
"I can't afford to weaken my Spirituality, or else I'll lose control over Axelar's body! The System might pull me out of this Mastery experience prematurely if I exhaust myself!"
Ves therefore decided that he wouldn't make his hero mech too fancy, at least when it came to its X-Factor.
However, that did not mean he would let any opportunity to empower the images that made up the Triple Division technique.
"I'll leave the totem animal aside. It takes too much effort and time to find a suitable exobeast that can empower the totem animal. In any case, for a hero mech that revolves around the concept of two, it doesn't really seem fitting to make use of three images."
Two images would be enough.
For the base model of his hero mech, Ves intended to enrich it with a small amount of his own spiritual energy. Although he hated to spend his own energy, it ensured that the hero mech he intended to design would firmly embody his own understanding of hero mechs!
"Even if my perspective on hero mechs is flawed and incomplete, it nonetheless belongs to me! Making use of another mech designer's understanding of of this mech type doesn't fit in this instance."
Aside from the action dramas he watched in his youth, his personal experiences with hero mechs also played a major role in shaping his ideas on hero mechs.
The first real instance where Ves witnessed a hero mech in action was during the Detemen Operation. The Flagrant Vandals invaded Detemen IV in order to capture Lord Javier of House Eneqqin!
"Lord Javier didn't make it easy for us to capture him. His hero mech gave us a lot of trouble!"
The noble was one of the few talented mech pilots in the Vesia Kingdom who was skilled enough to make full use of a hero mech! His custom Loquacious Raphael defeated numerous Vandal mechs in battle in the same ease that an action drama got rid of cannon fodder!
The memory of that battle still drew a lot of admiration from Ves. While Lord Javier was still very much a bastard, Ves had to admit that he was probably one of the best non-expert mech pilots in his state!
As for the second hero mech Ves had witnessed, it was very far beyond the norm.
"The Belisarius piloted by Venerable Foster practically won the Vesians the battle on Aeon Corona VII."
How could he not forget about the ridiculously expensive expert mech that the Hafner Duchy provided to one of the most promising young expert pilots to emerge from their ranks? All the Rorach's Bone put into the mech made it into an unstoppable, self-repairing engine of destruction! Not even the pervasive breakdown effect was enough to hinder this wildly expensive mech!
"I'm glad Venerable Foster no longer has access to such a deadly machine."
As far as he was aware of, the sudden flight from Aeon Corona VII caused by Sigrund's awakening forced the Vesians to leave the mech behind. Whether this piece of intel was accurate or not was still in question, though.
In any case, the Loquacious Raphael and the Belisarius both affected his view on hero mechs. Their exceptional performance reinforced the notion that they could play an exceptional role in battle if paired with excellent mech pilots!
"The essence of a hero mech is that they reach their full potential when piloted by heroes!"
While Axelar did not fit the standard of a protagonist as well as Lord Javier or Venerable Foster, he was nonetheless a talented and well-trained mech pilot. The elite Terran mech academies he attended in the past practically forced him to become extremely good in piloting complex multipurpose mechs.
When Ves began to form the image of the base model of a hero mech from his own understanding, he found the process to be easier than before. The design seed he formed empowered his mental abilities in many different ways.
Even so, the image was still mostly pretty on the outside but empty on the inside. Ves merely drew a sketch of the image. In order to make it come to life, he needed to fill it with color.
Right now, Ves tentatively donated the color from his own reserves. He partitioned a modest amount of spiritual energy and injected it into the image.
The base model came to life. While it wasn't a very detailed image, Ves didn't quibble too much over the technical details.
Due to how little spiritual energy he donated, the empowered image of the base model only mildly impressed him. Aside from representing an aspirational view on hero mechs, the empowered image also carried his own imprint!
This was important, because a strong connection formed between him and his image!
"I've never directly employed by Spirituality in this fashion before!"
Ves was fascinated by the implications of this action. He felt as if he possessed a stronger connection to the image than before. Subsequently, any mech design that incorporated the image in its X-Factor extended his connection to them as well!
He could hardly fathom the consequences of this action.
"I don't know what will result from this, but I'm kind of excited to see what happens!"
After forming the image of his base model, he moved on to form the image of the human myth.
Rather than exercising his imagination to form a mythical figure from nothing, Ves decided to borrow from the closest source material at hand.
"Why invent a fictional hero when I'm already in the mind of a real one?"
Although Axelar was anything but a traditional hero, he at least possessed all the right ingredients to be one. It was not impossible for him to step up in his life and life up to his potential!
"You should rejoice, Axelar!" Ves mentally grinned. "I'm going to make a real man out of you, starting with pairing you with the perfect mech for the job!"
The System already inserted Ves' consciousness in the sanctum of Axelar's mind. This meant that Ves didn't have to go through the trouble of penetrating Axelar's spiritual defenses because he was already inside!
Perhaps due to his high genetic aptitude and all the biological enhancements, a small amount of faint spiritual energy floated in Axelar's mental space.
This meant that Axelar possessed the most essential requirement of becoming an expert pilot!
"Now that I recall, most of the mech pilots from my Mastery experiences are exceptional in this regard!"
The first mech pilot that Ves came in touch with in this manner even advanced to ace pilot!
Still, just having the right ingredients on hand didn't mean that Axelar would be able to cook a delicious meal. The wastrel possessed so much potential, but never came close to forming a coherent force of will due to all the recreational stimulants that clouded his mind!
For his purposes, Ves did not need something so extravagant as the force of will of an expert candidate or an expert pilot. As long as the weak spiritual energy carried Axelar's attribute and imprint, it served as sufficient fuel to empower the human myth.
Ves took some time to form the image of the human myth. He used his access to Axelar's mind to draw upon his memories. While it was quite hard for Ves to draw the memories he wanted, he still formed a good impression of Axelar's life.
He even learned a couple of secrets known only to Terrans and to the members of the Streon Clan!
Still, they weren't anything to be excited about. Axelar Streon may hold a high position among average Terran citizens, but he was still a nobody in his ancient clan! No one would ever entrust him with galaxy-shaking secrets!
Ves set aside everything irrelevant and formulated a human myth of Axelar.
Of course, forming the image of an addict was not his intention.
"A human myth is supposed to be larger than life. How can a drug addict be worthy of myth?"
In order to spice up the image of the human myth, Ves decided to embellish it by extending it to the future. He formed a grand, heroic image of an older Axelar!
Chapter 1158
Although it took some valuable time, Ves succeeded in forming two empowered images for his upcoming hero mech design.
He had never performed this combination of actions before. Leaving out the totem animal portion of his mental superimposition technique seemed like he was only creating a half-finished image, but he didn't feel that way.
"The meaning I instilled in the image of the base model and Axelar's excellent piloting skill should be enough to fill in the gaps. A hero mech is a very simple machine to pilot for someone like him. His instincts don't require any reinforcement."
A mech pilot as talented as Relia Foster also possessed a highly intuitive approach to piloting mechs.
Once Ves finalized the shape of his two images, he mashed them together.
As expected, they didn't come into conflict. The base model of the hero mech and the human myth of a future Axelar didn't possess any inherent conflicts with each other. In fact, it was quite the opposite. They complimented each other very well!
Without a hostile factor like the image of an aggressive and primal totem animal in the mix, the base model and the human myth didn't put up a hostile front.
As Ves witnessed the two images blending into each other to form a single amalgamation that combined both of their traits, a strange feeling crept up his consciousness.
The base model carried his imprint while the human myth carried Axelar's imprint. Both of them danced in each other's presence before they started merging.
For some reason, Ves had the impression that he was making love with Axelar by proxy!
"Blegh! What a disgusting idea!"
The repulsion that radiated from his thoughts almost derailed the merging process. Ves hastily concentrated his mind again to avoid disturbing the process any further.
Fortunately, it seemed that one of the benefits of his design seed was that he could extend less than his total concentration to perform his design-related techniques.
"That's convenient."
While he still preferred to dedicate his total concentration to his design work, Ves couldn't exactly do that while maintaining control over Axelar's body. Ves constantly had to split off his attention to allow his consciousness to remain in control.
The process didn't take too much time. If Ves was honest, he predisposed the images to merge with each other from the moment he made them. After all, one image consisted of a mech, while the other image consisted of a mech pilot. How could they not get along with each other?
The merged image that resulted from the fusion process was a lively hero mech that possessed real presence!
Ves was very satisfied with the result. While it wasn't the strongest amalgamated image he conceived of, it was one he felt very strong ownership towards!
It was as if it was his child with Axelar!
"Urgh!"
Ves quickly erased that thought from existence.
"Ahem, in any case, I've finished all of my preparations to design Axelar's hero mech."
Now that Ves formed a complete vision and spiritual image for his mech, he was ready to start putting the hero mech together.
From an outside perspective, Axelar's body spent more than an entire hour doing nothing but spacing out. Benny had been growing rather concerned, but not too much since he witnessed his charge spacing out all the time.
The only difference was that Axelar hadn't taken any stimulants this time.
As Benny was wondering if Axelar enjoyed so many stimulants that he developed the ability to get himself high from memory alone, the body finally came back to life.
"Aha! I've come up with the perfect mech!" Axelar's body gloated as his fingers slowly danced across the projected interface of the auto designer. "Just watch me design the perfect mech to beat the arrogant Haspel Asps!"
Although Ves quickly became frustrated at his lack of fine control of Axelar's limbs, the auto designer wasn't so finicky about precision. Even a six-year old child could design a completely functional mech with the sheer amount of assistance and automation the auto designer provided!
What a cheat! Ves had the illusion that he could perform months of work in a matter of minutes!
It was easy to come up with a functional mech, but it took a lot more effort to make it good enough for sale. Ves did not trust the auto designer AIs to come up with the most optimal solution to every problem. Instead, the AIs tended to skew towards safe and widely-applicable solutions instead.
Ves first started with selecting the components of his mech. He didn't spend too much time differentiating between the countless possible selections. Instead, he used the search and filtering functions to select parts that met his criteria.
"Positron rifle, Destroyer Sword, armor system, power reactor, energy cells, heat sinks..."
As part of his deliberate strategy to design a hero mech that only depended on two weapon system, Ves didn't want to overcomplicate his mech design in other areas.
The Terrans developed countless gimmicks to spice up a mech, from adding the capability to phase them out of existence for a brief time to disturbing the gravity all around them. A lot of these gimmicks resembled the manifestations of resonance from expert mechs.
"Looks like the Terrans have taken inspiration from resonance in their research." Ves mentally noted.
In any case, aside from adding a powerful shield generator to his list of parts, Ves deliberately rejected the use of any other auxiliary modules!
Oh, he felt tempted to add some extra features to his mech. The trend towards multipurpose mechs led to an incredible drive towards miniaturization among Terran component designers.
Every part came in a small and compact package by default. Any Terran mech designer could easily licence these compact modules and slot them into their mech designs no matter how little space they had left!
Yet overburdening his hero mech design with technological gizmos only detracted from the purity of its vision.
His goal was to design a hero mech that mainly depended on two weapon systems to fight!
To that end, rather than enhancing the design of his hero mech with numerous gizmos that possessed a small footprint, Ves would rather use up the internal volume of his mech to shore up its fundamental attributes.
All of this meant that all of the internal components he selected were larger and more powerful than the ones normally utilized in multipurpose mechs!
Having a flight system that took up twice as much space didn't necessarily mean the mech's mobility had doubled!
A mech engine that was twice as big as normal did not mean that the mech was able to exert twice as much force from its limbs!
The truth was that the increase in performance depended on many factors.
In some cases, the law of diminishing returns applied. A part that was twice as big only resulted in a modest thirty percent boost in performance.
The opposite also happened sometimes. A part that was twice as big performed three times better than a standard-sized equivalent!
However, no matter to what degree the larger parts improved upon their smaller versions, they all elevated the fundamental attributes of his hero mech to a very significant degree!
His mech would be tougher, faster, more flexible and more enduring than a multipurpose mech of the same size!
Still, whether a hero mech with strong fundamentals but few options available would be able to beat a multipurpose mech in battle was still in question.
It depended heavily on chance whether the two weapon systems that Ves had selected for Axelar would be effective against the mech that the team leader of the Haspel Asps intended to bring to the arena tomorrow.
"There are ways to mitigate positron rifles and Destroyer Weapons to a point where they are rendered ineffective."
Axelar would be in big trouble if his opponent tomorrow happened to include such solutions!
"Well, I can only accept that this possibility exists." Ves mentally shrugged.
It wasn't his life or reputation he was gambling with anyway. All of the consequences of winning or losing the duel would be borne by Axelar instead of him.
Ves only needed to make sure that Axelar possessed the tools he needed to put up a lengthy fight. He wouldn't be able to glean much insights if Axelar was defeated in a single minute!
With the help of the automation functionality of the auto designer, Ves rapidly put the parts together and integrated them into a coherent and synergistic hole.
Due to the pressing time concerns, Ves did not bother to make too many fine adjustments. Instead, he decided to manually override wherever he could make the most major gains in as little time as possible.
Some of the design choices the AIs came up with really made Ves want to scratch his head. The lack of human logic led to many solutions that technically made sense, but was completely wrong from the perspective of a human mech designer.
"It seems these AIs still have a long way to go before they become indistinguishable from their human counterparts."
Part of the problem was that the mech he was trying to design was a hero mech, which was a very rare mech type. The auto designer was optimized to design multipurpose mechs that were standard in the Terran Confederation.
This resulted in many instances where the auto designer unnecessarily squeezed the amount of space taken up by the components or internal architecture! The auto designer presumed that Ves intended to fill up the mech with additional modules!
It took a lot of digging through the settings and many manual overrides in order to rid the auto designer of this annoying tendency.
Still, Ves wanted to make so many adjustments to the mech generated by the auto designer that he kept Axelar's body up all night and throughout the next morning.
Fortunately, Axelar's augmented body barely became affected by the all-nighter. While his biological enhancements hadn't removed his need for sleep entirely, it was no problem for him to go without rest for a few days.
A procedure as extreme as removing the need for sleep entirely as Benny had undergone was a step too far for most Terrans!
There was something undeniably human about requiring sleep. Even if their bodies didn't require it, their minds still yearned for some downtime in order to rest and recuperate. Only those with strong and disciplined minds could endure the side effects of never letting their minds go to rest!
Even so, Benny never witnessed his charge staying up all night.
One of the most pleasurable moments for Axelar was when he slept under the influence of mellow recreational stimulants! The wild dreams and visions he experienced during his sleep never ceased to excite him! It was as if he traveled to a different alternate universe each night!
Another issue that Benny began to grow worried about was the very abnormal mech that Axelar designed.
It wasn't so obvious at the start, but after an entire night of design work, the mech that Axelar came up with started to look less and less like a normal multipurpose mech!
"Pardon me, Master Axelar." Benny interrupted Ves from his latest adjustment work. "While I don't wish to question your august design abilities, is it wise to add so few weapons and other systems to your dueling mech?"
Axelar's body grinned at his bodyguard. "I don't think so! Two weapons are enough! I don't need anything more than that to trounce the Haspel Asps! How better to show that the mech pilots of the Tyon System are superior than fighting with one of my arms tied behind my back!"
This logic made Benny speechless. "Master Axelar, You don't need to resort to handicaps to prove your superiority to the Haspel Asps. It is more than sufficient for you to duel against the Asps under fair circumstances. Might I remind you that the clan won't be happy if you lose!"
"Hah! The clan should prepare their congratulations for my impending victory! There's no way I'll lose the duel while piloting such a fantastic mech! Trust my design skills, Benny. I'm the best mech designer in the galaxy!"
Chapter 1159
The mech that took shape at the end of the design session set a new standard for Ves. The assistance provided by his design seed guided his thoughts and accelerated his mental calculations by a considerable margin!
A different way to describe the difference was that his intuition with regards to mechs experienced a qualitative leap. Whereas before he needed to perform meticulous calculations or simulations in order to know whether he made a good design choice, now he could just take one deep look and make a very accurate judgement.
This kind of help was very valuable when Ves was short on time and needed to design a mech on the fly!
Exercising his design seed and his accelerated design abilities gave him a greater understanding of the power of Journeymen.
"No Journeyman is a bad mech designer. Their mastery of the basics is so good that they can work faster and still stay on the right track."
For normal mech designs, it meant they could shave months off the design process. For competition mechs, it meant that they could maintain a decent quality level despite the rush!
Novices and Apprentices shouldn't lose hope, however. As long as they spent enough time on refining and optimizing their mech designs, their works could approach or even surpass the quality of a mech designed by a Journeyman.
"It's just that the time investment is disproportionately in favor of the higher-ranking mech designer." Ves muttered.
He estimated that a Journeyman could casually output three or four quality mech designs per year. It would take an Apprentice at least an entire year just to develop a mech of comparable quality!
"If the time savings for Journeymen is already so significant, what about Seniors and Masters?"
Even if a Senior was capable of pumping out ten mech designs a year, Ves doubted that they would actually rush to design so many mechs.
Rather than mass-produce a large number of decent mech designs, Ves would rather take advantage of his increased productivity by elevating the quality of his designs even further!
In the same amount of time, the quality of a mech designed by an Apprentice simply couldn't compare against the quality of a mech designed by a Journeyman!
One was like a child and the other was an adult! Of course the latter was far more capable of completing the same task!
Amazingly, Ves believed that his design seed could do more than this! Throughout the entire design process, he never felt as if he truly exerted it to its full potential.
It made him question what a design seed truly represented. The name he bestowed it suggested that it was a seed waiting to sprout, but was that really the right description?
"Perhaps instead of a seed, it is more akin to a furnace. It's constantly outputting spiritual waves for some reason."
Ves never understood the purpose and reason behind this strange effect. The only reason why he left it be was that it at least used up spiritual energy drawn from the imaginary realm instead of his own reserves.
He stopped wondering about the properties of his design seed and instead turned his attention to his finished mech design.
Despite the lack of time, Ves still managed to design a very respectable mech.
While the high technology employed by the Terrans something dazzled and confounded him, a mech designer did not need to understand how the parts of a mech actually worked.
A power reactor was a power reactor. Whether it worked by fusion or some insanely advanced multi-dimensional voodoo, the only properties that Ves cared about was how susceptible it was to damage, how much heat it outputted, how efficient it was in its operation and how much power it could supply to the rest of the mech.
Naturally, Ves took a lot of smaller details into account as well, but it was best not to overthink the matter, especially when he needed to finish a design in a single day!
Ves took the same approach with all the other parts. He had no clue how the Destroyer Sword worked at all, but from the perspective of a mech designer, he could just treat it like a normal mech-sized sword.
He only needed to take a couple of additional complications in mind, such as that the Sword required a power source to function at its best.
Through this process of simplification, Ves avoided getting enthralled with all of the fancy high technology offered by the auto designer. It would do more bad than good if Ves became overly obsessed with stuffing his mech with the most advanced gimmicks available.
The mech that resulted therefore closely matched his vision.
It exemplified simplicity in its capabilities. While it did not incorporate a whole toolbox of solutions, it outperformed most multipurpose mech in every fundamental specification!
The design stood in stark contrast to the feature-rich multipurpose mechs that seemed to offer a solution to every problem!
The concept of two was not only apparent in its mech concept, but also its visual design. While it took up valuable design time, Ves couldn't help but add some artistic touches to its design.
"A hero mech should always stand out! A remarkable appearance is a necessity!"
He decided to coat the mech in a simple black and white division. Its left side was dedicated to the sword. The structure of the arm, shoulder torso and artificial musculature had all been optimized to enhance the power, speed and flexibility of one-handed sword moves.
With all the internal volume that Ves had at his disposal, the hero mech could output very strong or very tricky techniques as long as the mech pilot could keep up with the higher parameters!
"This level of power is not something that Axelar is used to in his previous mechs."
The left side of the mech was dedicated to wielding the Destroyer Sword, so Ves painted it black to symbolize the death and destruction that this weapon implied. When used against any alloy not specifically rated to withstand Destroyer Weapons, the powered sword could cut through anything like a hot knife through butter!
Even the hugely expensive Belisarius with its abundant use of Rorach's Bone would instantly be cut in half in front of this Destroyer Sword! The regenerative properties of Venerable Foster's old expert mech would not even have the time to come into play as it was being chopped up in a matter of seconds!
"Destroyer Weapons are genuine examples of Terran technological might!"
Ves carved and sculpted some generic scenes of destruction and ruination on the left side of the mech.
In order to make a stronger statement, he explicitly browsed the galactic net for footage captured during the latter days of the Age of Conquests.
The horrible archival recordings of planets housing billions of people got blown up just because an insane admiral woke up with the wrong foot off the bed put Ves in the right mood to express the feelings he wanted into his artwork.
The result was that the black-coated side of his hero mech iconified destruction incarnate! The scenes that Ves sculpted throughout the entire surface of the mech all showed various instances of death and ruin!
Although he described the process as sculpting, he did not have the time to manually carve out all of the detailed contours and reliefs. He decided to take the expedient option instead and imported various scenes into the auto designer so that he could apply them onto the exterior of his mech design.
The result was something that already looked like a piece of art.
Ves feared he might have gone a bit overboard on the left side. Anyone looking at the dark, left side of the mech would think that its designer and mech pilot wanted to wipe out the entire galaxy!
He therefore tried his best to balance out the negativity by injecting a lot of positivity on the right side.
The right side was dedicated to wielding the one-handed positron rifle model that Ves selected for his hero mech. While the rifle was both compact and rich with various features, Ves designed the right side of the mech in a way to increase its grip, accuracy, precision and power supply to the maximum!
Those parameters were so high in fact that the ranged effectiveness of the hero mech predominantly depended on Axelar's marksmanship rather than hardware constraints!
"This is a mech that can keep up with Axelar's growth if he ever throws off his addiction and works on his piloting ability!"
A positron rifle outputted a lot of energy. Especially in an atmospheric environment, all the air particles getting annihilated resulted in a very impressive and dangerous light show!
When impacting a solid object like a shield or the exterior of a mech, a fantastic burst of light spread out. Positron weapons were therefore just as flashy as laser weapons if not more!
Therefore, Ves applied a shiny, white coating to the right side of his hero mech design. While a positron rifle was just as destructive as a Destroyer Sword if not more, the difference was that energy also alluded to creation.
Ves controlled Axelar's body to browse the galactic net yet again. This time, instead of viewing macabre scenes of genocide and planetary destruction, he instead browsed footage and articles on the rebuilding and recovery process. What happened to terrestrial planets burned from horizon to horizon? What happened to star systems poisoned by perpetual toxic storms?
As long as planets or star systems wracked by destruction still held any value, humanity always came back and cleaned up the mess. As long as the states or other organizations invested enough resources in the rebuilding process, what was lost could always be recovered!
"Humans are inherently destructive, but that is only one side of the coin. We are capable of amazing feats of creation as well!"
By taking inspiration from the footage of the rebuilding process, Ves sculpted various scenes that alluded to creation on the right side of the mech. Anyone looking at the right side of his hero mech would never think that it was a machine capable of outputting a lot of firepower!
Even though the depictions on the right side of the mech did not entirely fit with the actual purpose of the mech, it nonetheless provided a lot of balance to the conceptual identity of the mech.
Life and death. Creation and destruction. Positive and negative. Day and night. Attraction and repulsion. Ves amplified the duality inherent in every hero mech and themed his entire mech design around polar opposites!
This duality also played out on a spiritual level. Ves possessed a strong affinity for the creation side of his hero mech. He created a lot of mech designs in his career, and some of them went on to sell thousands of copies.
Yet the act of creating mechs only proliferated destruction, as mechs were always used as war machines.
This was why Axelar possessed a stronger affinity for the darker side of the mech. Mech pilots mainly engaged in their destroying his opponents. Mechs also had a penchant for causing a lot of collateral damage in populated areas.
"Also, from a personal standpoint, Axelar has been destroying his life ever since he graduated from the mech academies."
While Ves constantly tried to be as productive as possible in order to advance his career, Axelar neglected his skills entirely, destroying everything his upbringing prepared him for! The two couldn't be more different in this aspect!
To combine black and white in a single mech design was a very difficult concept to realize. From a technical, conceptual and spiritual level, the conflicting sides constantly tried to fight each other!
It took a lot of thought and effort for Ves to harmonize them into a single, stabilized existence.
As Ves regarded his finished mech design again and again, he mentally nodded in satisfaction.
"This is a mech that unifies two weapon systems, two opposite concepts and two opposite spiritual influences."
The spiritually-augmented image he formed to guide his design process continually fawned over the design as it took shape.
Whether Ves worked on the black side or the white side of the hero mech, at least one aspect of the image resonated with the design in some fashion!
Although Ves hated the analogy, to describe the hero mech design as his spiritual child with Axelar was not inaccurate!
"If Axelar and I had a child, how should we name the baby?"
Chapter 1160
Ves wanted his hero mech to make a bold statement, so he wanted to pair it with an attention-grabbing name.
"It should be a name that encapsulates its duality as well as its ownership to both me and Axelar."
This was the first custom mech that he designed that was truly spiritually connected to both himself and its intended mech pilot. Ves broke new ground with this mech design, and would model his subsequent custom design approach from the lessons he learned from this brief but insightful experience.
"It's only right commemorate my first real custom mech with a memorable name."
Playing on both the symbolism behind its conceptual and visual design, Ves came up with a fitting moniker for his remarkable hero mech design.
"Let's call it the Ouroboros!"
Ves said those words aloud through Axelar's body, which instantly alarmed Benny!
"Master Axelar, I would highly caution you to avoid adopting such a name for your mech! A name like the Ouroboros might offend the sensibilities of a number of religious factions!"
"I don't care! This is a mech that encompassese both creation and destruction! Like a serpent eating its own tail, it is a mech that personifies duality!"
The excuses that Ves made Axelar say sounded a bit too high-minded for him to come up with on his own. Fortunately Benny merely mistook it as the usual nonsense that Axelar expressed when his mood swung in an extreme direction.
In fact, the style of the mech that 'Axelar' just designed should have been beyond him! The technical and artistic aspects of the Ouroboros far surpassed the previous mechs that Axelar designed with the help of the auto designer!
If Benny possessed at least half of the training of a mech designer, he would immediately notice the abnormal discrepancy in design style. Not only that, but the bodyguard would be able to recognize that the Ouroboros was a product from a genuine mech designer instead of a layman!
It was a good thing that even in the Terran Confederation, no human was omnipotent. Benny might be a great bodyguard, personal attendant, minder, gatekeeper and household manager, but that left very little time for him to study the inner workings of mechs. His knowledge towards mech only extended up to learning how to cope with them in a combat situation!
As long as Ves was able to fool Benny and the rest of his staff, it didn't matter whether other people recognized that the Ouroboros hadn't actually been designed by the real Axelar. By the time people started asking questions, Ves would hopefully be long gone from this time and place.
He was starting to miss his old life. Even if the Komodo Star Sector was a backwater village compared to the fantastic splendor of the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector, there was no place like home.
"The Terran Confederation is a fantastic place to live, but I don't belong here." Ves mentally sighed.
He appreciated the System for letting him experience what life was like in the Terran Confederation. Even though Axelar was anything but a common Terran, what he observed so far revealed a society that was obsessed with abundance, decadence and technological supremacy.
The nature of conflict was very different in the galactic center. With the absence of external enemies, the powers of the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector instead played a delicate game against themselves. The restricted wars between the ancient clans resembled elaborate, large-scale mech games rather than a total war where states unleashed the full might of their war potential.
"Everything is so fake and artificial here."
The Terrans were some of the most materialistic humans Ves had ever seen! With the wealth and power at their disposal, they could indulge in their fancies to a much greater extreme.
All of the easy living did not do people like Axelar any good. If this exceptional mech pilot genuinely applied himself, he stood a decent chance at advancing to expert pilot just like Venerable Foster! Yet his overly-indulgent clan never pushed this wastrel to make something out of his life!
Did that mean that the New Rubarth Empire was better than the Greater Terran United Confederation?
"I shouldn't come to a hasty conclusion. I've only witnessed what life is like from only one part of the Terran Confederation. A first-rate superstate is much bigger than what I've glimpsed up until now!"
In any case, Ves was ready to wrap up his preparations for the upcoming duel. After he bestowed his two-headed mech design with a name, he prepared to infuse his spiritually-charged image into the Ouroboros.
"It's time to take up your new home."
He always looked forward to this moment. Each design he infused with life was like giving birth to another child.
"I'm no different from a mother!"
This time, the spiritual imprints embedded into the fused image of the base model and the human myth made him the mother and Axelar the father.
The child that resulted from their spiritual union possessed an active connection to them both. This mattered a lot because when the image finally took its place as the design spirit of the Ouroboros, Ves still felt an active connection to it whenever he looked at its depiction!
"Axelar must be feeling the same."
The junkie's weak consciousness paused in its attempt to dislodge Ves' consciousness from maintain control over Axelar's body. Even this dummy had noticed something.
Now that he finally completed the design, he sent out a command to materialize it into existence. While Ves would rather prefer to fabricate it through a more manual process, he could hardly do so without arousing a lot of suspicion from Benny.
Practically every mech in the Terran Confederation was made with materialization technology. Only eccentrics and vintage lovers went back to working with 3D printers and other outdated production equipment.
Axelar may be a conceited individual, but even he wouldn't dare to mess around with error-prone equipment when materialization technology was both faster and more convenient.
It didn't take a long time for the Ouroboros to be materialized into existence. When Ves viewed the mech as it was being loaded into the cargo bay of Axelar's personal starship, he experienced a deep sense of belonging to the mech!
He donated a part of his Spirituality into its design! This was a very significant action. Ves realized that it somewhat resembled the process of forming his design seed!
There was something very remarkable about a mech that carried his own imprint!
If Ves already perceived this much about his own creation, then what about Axelar, who was its spiritual father?
"Hopefully he'll be able to roll with it and use it to its advantage." Ves mentally muttered.
Axelar's body, Benny and a considerable amount of staff all boarded the starship which lifted off into space. An entire space lane had been cleared for Axelar's passage to the Cube Arena.
The Tyon System became incredibly active right now. News of the unexpected challenge issued by Axelar Streon towards the Haspel Asps spread like wildfire in the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector!
Many enthusiasts who could travel to the Cube Arena fast enough to witness the duel all hopped into a starship and arrived at the Tyon System in droves!
The arena operators took full advantage of the situation and jacked up their prices! Even then, they still sold out all of their seats within minutes!
The participants of the upcoming duel were all entitled to a share of the proceeds, with the winner taking the lion's share. When Ves thought of how much T-dollars Axelar stood to gain if he won, he regretted that he couldn't take any of it back.
Axelar was nothing without Ves and would have continued to waste his life away!
As the private starship arrived in one of the Cube Arena's private hangar bays, the staff moved the Ouroboros deeper into the arena. Benny made sure to assign a crack team of reliable guards to keep an eye on the Ouroboros and prevent anyone from tampering with the mech.
The upcoming duel affected the reputation of the Streon Clan. Many enemies and rivals would love to tarnish their name by sabotaging Axelar's dueling mech!
"Master Axelar? This way, if you'll please. The mech duel will start in an hour."
Before the duel commenced, the Cuba Arena needed to perform an extensive examination of Axelar's physical condition. Even if it meant disappointing the entire star sector, they couldn't allow Axelar to step into the arena space if he wasn't sound in mind and body!
Ves knew that it was time for his consciousness to step back from Axelar's body and allow its rightful owner to return to his own body.
With a mental heave, Ves moved his consciousness out of the spot it previously occupied in Axelar's mental space.
The original core consciousness immediately moved in to resume its natural space. It formed a seamless connection with the rest of Axelar's mind and body, showing that the reintegration process was a success!
Axelar's consciousness was back in control!
He woke up confused and disoriented. What had happened to him? Where was this place? Why was his mind unusually clear? Where were his stimulants?
Benny spoke up from the side. "Master Axelar, the first physical examination will begin in a few minutes. Please move out of your hover chair and enter the pod the next room."
"Wueh?"
"Please, this isn't the time to doze off. Your impending mech duel against the team leader of the Haspel Asps will start in less than an hour! More than ten million citizens from the Tyon System and the neighboring systems are waiting to see whether you can preserve the honor of our star system."
"Huh?"
"I know that you are in a lethargic condition ever since you swore off from using recreational stimulants for the rest of your life, but you need to push through the psychological withdrawal symptoms you must be going through."
"What?! You got rid of my entire stash of stimulants?! That was at least twenty years worth of doses! And you sold my supplier as well?!"
Benny frowned with worry. "I did so on your orders. Don't you remember?"
"How the hell would I ever remember issuing such insane orders?! I would never forswear my drugs even in my most psychedelic highs! Tell me that this isn't true! If this is a nasty prank of your Benny, then it isn't funny!"
"This is no joke, Master Axelar." Benny said with a firm and serious voice. "Regardless of the irregularities in your conduct ever since you decided to stop taking stimulants, you've already made a couple of public commitments. To uphold the dignity of your clan, you have no choice but to fulfill your promises."
Axelar threw a stumped and unknowing look towards his bodyguard. "Please refresh my memory, Benny. What did my insane, sober self commit to in public? Nothing too bad, I hope?"
"You made two very bold promises. First, you challenged the the team leader Haspel Asps in a mech duel that is about to start soon. Second, you announced that you will be participating in the next run of the Trail of Tears elite training program!"
"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?! The Trail of Tears!? Me?! That isn't me?! I would never put myself through that hell!"
"It's too late, Axelar. You can't pull back after announcing your intention to enter the Trail of Tears in front of a live broadcast!"
Axelar was devastated. He held his head and started to moan like a child. How could he possibly volunteer for the Trail of Tears? He was out of his mind to jump into that infamous training program! One in four mech pilots died in every batch! Many of the rest either broke or became mentally disabled!
At this time, a doctor entered the room. "Master Axelar? The first examination will begin soon. Please follow me to the first inspection machine. We'll be running a very fine check of your body to make sure you are in the most optimal state to perform for the masses!"
Axelar was already eyeing the exits. He wanted nothing to do with this insane challenge!
Chapter 1161
Now that Ves took a backseat in Axelar's mind space, he began to relax and look forward to the show he meticulously engineered.
Ves took sadistic pleasure in Axelar's misfortunes.
It served the wastrel right for wasting Ves' time by continually indulging in stimulants!
"It's not my fault that you're forced to renounce your old life and return to piloting mechs. Blame yourself for being such a useless individual! Even if you're a Terran clansman, you should at least make something out of your life instead of validating every stereotype the Rubarthans had spread about your kind!"
At this moment, Axelar was almost completely out of it as his mind continually rebooted. The stimulant-deprived mech pilot simply couldn't fathom how he could ever derail his life so thoroughly.
What Benny just repeated about his decisions in the last day was unlike anything Axelar ever wanted out of his life!
It didn't make any sense!
"Being sober is scary! Please give me a fix!" Axelar shouted as a machine was scanning his body.
The voice of one of the doctors patched into the chamber of the scanning machine.
"My apologies, Master Axelar, but in the interest of preparing you for battle, we believe it is best to administer only essential medicines. Right now, despite the lack of sleep, your body is in a fairly healthy condition. Excessive use of stimulants will only cloud your mind and degrade your performance for the upcoming mech duel."
"That doesn't apply to me! The cloudier my mind, the better I fight! Come on doc, I know you have some pain relievers or sedatives on hand. Give me a dose, please, I'm begging you! I can't take it any longer!"
"No can do, Master Axelar. It's out of my hands. The Streon Clan is directly patched into our network. They want you to be as clear-minded as possible so that you will be able to fight in your best condition!"
No matter how much Axelar moaned and begged, neither Benny nor any of the arena staff would ever allow him to get his fix!
Axelar needed a lot of time to come to grips with the situation he ended up in. He struggled to get used to his clear-minded state. For the last couple of years, he never went by without at least one drug taking effect on his mood!
Stimulants made his perception of reality come to life. Stimulants gave his brains a nice buzz and kept him entertained for hours from the hallucinations he conjured up in his frequent hazes.
A reality without stimulants was a dull and colorless place to live in as far as Axelar was concerned! A strong psychological yearning for stimulants constantly played on his sober mind. He would do anything for a fix!
Yet his wish was being denied. Instead of receiving a fix, he was instead being prepped for battle against a formidable mech duelist that he couldn't afford to lose!
If it was just a single public mech duel, then Axelar would have considered putting up a half-hearted fight and surrender as soon as he 'accidentally' slipped up and cause his mech to suffer crippling damage.
His reputation would go down the toilet, and he'd let down the Streon Clan as well, but what did that matter to him? The clan was the clan! Its reputation would never go to ruin just from the conduct of a single clansman!
As for his own reputation, he never cared about it very much even before he became an addict. If he ever cared about his reputation for even a tiny bit, then he would have stopped taking stimulants all day and start discharging his responsibilities on behalf of his assigned elite mech corps.
Yet his future trajectory encompassed more than the mech duel that was about to start. Axelar wanted to beat up his sober self to a pulp for what it did to him! Why did he announce that he would be taking part in the Trail of Tears?! That was practically handing over his application to participate in the elite training program in front of billions of people! He would never be able to walk back that that decision no matter how many times he pleaded insanity!
"Come on, doc! If not a stimulant, at least give me glass of beer! Make it a huge glass while you're getting one!"
"We aren't sensing any signs that you are dehydrated, Master Axelar. If you are nonetheless feeling a little parched, we can supply you with 150 milliliters of water."
"Plain water?! What does that even taste like? Will it get me high?"
Axelar couldn't even remember the last time he drank water!
Benny's voice patched into the comm channel. "You should get accustomed to drinking water, Master Axelar. The Trail of Tears is a training program meant to unearth potential through hardship. The only form of hydration that they'll provide is plain water and the only food you are allowed to eat are dense and energy-rich nutrient packs."
"I'll die! I'll starve to death!" Axelar practically burst into tears! "I can't live on water and nutrient packs! That's a space peasant's diet! How can Terrans do that to each other?! Not even the poorest Terran beggar eats nutrient packs!"
Benny commented further as if he didn't recognize his charge's distress. "The Trail of Tears is very adamant about rewarding success and punishing failures. Those who achieve the best results in the daily training sessions are bestowed with double rations while the worst performers have to make do with half rations. A considerable amount of trainees suffer so much from malnutrition that they are no longer able to keep up with the training."
Axelar's eyes held a ray of hope. If he could just underperform a bit and endure some hunger, would that mean he would be kicked out of the training program?
"The trainees at the bottom of the ranking list won't get any reprieve, however. They have already signed over their lives to the Trail of Tears! A considerable amount of deaths each year come from underperforming trainees who starved to death! Nobody is generous enough to share their food with the losers. Instead, their failures and deaths are used to motivate the surviving trainees to work harder in order to avoid the same fate!"
"That's murder!" Axelar shouted. "How can the Trail of Tears get away with killing so many promising Terran mech pilots!"
"Joining the Trail of Tears is a voluntary decision." Benny stoically replied, as if reminding Axelar that he made the decision out of his own volition! "No one forces you to participate in it. While the death rate is very high, it is one of the most successful training programs in the Confederation in producing expert pilots! Even the more well-off trainees who failed to advance to expert pilot have gone on to become notable leaders!"
The Trail of Tears was an unusually harsh training program, but it was actually rather modest compared to the outright torture the Rubarthans engaged in to draw out the potential of their own mech pilots.
Some of the leaders of the Terran Confederation recognized that they were being too soft on their own mech pilots. With the Rubarthans constantly outshining the Terrans, the first-rate superstate decided to create the Trail of Tears as an attempt to match their most hated rival!
This was why no matter how much the Trail of Tears mistreated the elite clansmen mech pilots who signed up, the training program was never under threat!
The Streon Clan had no recourse at all if Axelar failed to perform up to the rigorous standards set by the Trail of Tears. The training program was very meticulous in being harsh but fair. Anyone who failed only had their incompetence and lack of willpower to blame!
Axelar knew this much at least, which made him all the more distressed!
"The Trail of Tears is also a good opportunity to exercise your social skills." Benny said. "I've heard that trainees who don't have enough food often turn into bandits who fight and steal the rations of other trainees. Even those who received double rations aren't exempt from getting robbed! If you don't make some friends very soon, a very unfortunate fate will befall you even if you are a talented mech pilot who can keep up with the initial training sessions!"
This little tidbit practically gave Axelar a heart attack! He at least took some comfort in his high genetic aptitude, even though the average standard among the elites who participated in the Trail of Tears was already high.
Yet to hear that he wouldn't be safe even if he performed at his best frightened him to no end! What kind of training program allowed their trainees to descend into bandits and savages just for some scraps of awful-tasting food and water?!
"It is not all that bad, Master Axelar." Benny mused. "If I was a mech pilot, I would have signed up as well. The Trail of Tears is called that way because the training camp is a roving fleet of mech carriers and support ships. The fleet follows a random route that takes it to all of the hotspots and danger zones in Terran space. You will get to explore some of the most dangerous planets and regions of space that the Confederation has to offer! What an exciting adventure!"
"It's exciting enough to give me a stroke!" Axelar yelled back.
"I've heard one instance where the Trail of Tears dropped their trainees on a savage jungle exoplanet. Carnivorous exobeasts the size of mechs roam the planet, and in order to make sure they hunt down the trainees, the training instructors conditioned them to treat human flesh as a delicacy. Even though the trainees were informed that they would only have to survive for twenty-four hours, in truth the training instructors waited for an entire week and let the trainees despair in their abandonment before they finally sent out shuttles to pick up the survivors!"
"That's a war crime!? How can those training instructors still have their jobs?!"
"I've heard that the Terrans tried hiring normal instructors." Benny recalled. "The problem was that they couldn't bring themselves to push the trainees to their limits. That is why the Terrans replaced normal training instructors with the worst criminal mech pilots they could unearth from their prisons. They even hired Rubarthan prisoners of war who would like nothing more than to kill as many Terrans as they can get away with it! Only these types of scum are ruthless enough to give the trainees a strong threat to their lives!"
This revelation practically made Axelar choke in his breath. He was just exaggerating a little back then. How could it be that the Trail of Tears employed actual war criminals as their training instructors?!
"The Trail of Tears is so successful in its runs so far that the Terran leadership are even contemplating whether they should double down on its extreme training methods. The Rubarthans have already shown that these elite training programs can still achieve better results with higher pressure. To that end, the higher ups are debating whether they should increase the pressure until the death rate is doubled to fifty percent. Depending on how fast they resolve that debate, the changes might be implemented in time for your own batch!"
"Nooo!" Axelar screamed. "The politicians should take their time! And why do they feel the need to copy the Rubarthans all the time?! We're Terrans! We should stick to our own culture and customs!"
"I agree with you, Master Axelar. As Terrans, we should stick to our own identity. It's well-known that most of the survivors who managed to come back from the training program alive are mentally unfit to contribute to society. Rather than let them live, it is better for them to die in glory in the Trail of Tears. The training program should increase its targeted death rate to at least seventy-five percent!"
Axelar wanted to cry but had no tears!
Chapter 1162
The much-anticipated mech duel between Axelar Streon and Waltz Nexbern, the team leader of the Haspel Asps, was about to begin.
Nexbern previously piloted the heavy cannoneer, but that was not all he was capable of. Every professional in the Terran mech games circuit tended to be allrounders.
Adaptability was a requirement in order to pilot hundreds of different mechs a year. They also needed to learn how to cope against a thousand different mech configurations as their adversaries.
Whereas the mech duelists in the Bright Republic like Jarl Brenthill and Raella Larkinson often stuck to a single mech which gained fame alongside of them, the Terrans played a very different game!
"In the Bright Republic, both the mech and mech pilots are the stars." Ves mentally noted as Axelar was about to enter his new mech. "In the Terran Confederation, the mech games are only stages for mech pilots to show off their versatility and their ability to outplay the endless amount of confounding challenges in their way."
In the Terran dueling circuit, It was rare for a specific mech configuration to last more than a single match, much less use it in another match. Once a dueling mech entered the arena, its strengths and weaknesses all became public knowledge. An opponent could easily tailor their mechs to counter a specific configuration as long as they received advance warning!
In the Bright Republic, the mech athletes adopted different customs. Everyone's specialty was known and it was extremely rare for a mech athlete to pilot a different mech type. In addition, they usually stuck to a single specific mech model in all of their matches in order to develop a deep familiarity with their fighting machines.
"Each side knows everything there is to know about their opponent. That often leads to interesting dynamics and mind games."
That said, while the mech athletes were loath to switch to a different mech model, they accepted the need for modification. Mech designers who specialized in modifying and customizing dueling mechs knew the mech models intimately and could implement preplanned modifications within an hour as long as the team stockpiled the necessary spare parts.
When Ves designed the Ouroboros, he knew it would be useless to predict what Waltz would bring to the next fight.
Rather than obsessing over Waltz's next mech configuration, Ves instead turned his focus towards making the Ouroboros as strong as possible while relying on only two weapon systems.
Right now, Axelar beheld his mech with stumped amazement as he entered its cockpit and booted it up. He couldn't believe Benny's claim that he designed such an abnormal mech!
"I already know I'm insane when I'm sober, but I've gone completely off my rockers this time! How can I design something as stupid as an antiquated hero mech! Two weapons! Just two weapons! That's five times less than what I normally put into my mechs!"
Anyone who designed a hero mech these days in the Terran Confederation was mad enough to be put into a psychiatric treatment facility! Axelar ought to be visiting one right now instead of using a hero mech to fight against a mech athlete!
"Waltz is going to kick my butt!"
Although he may act like he was hot stuff, Axelar was very cognizant about his fighting ability. His high genetic aptitude carried him far, but he hadn't been keeping up with his training lately.
He also possessed very little combat experience, which stood in stark contrast to Waltz who survived through thousands of matches over his long and illustrious career!
When comparing mech pilots, Axelar was clearly inferior to Waltz. As for comparing their mechs, it was an utter disaster to Axelar! A mech with just two weapons was about to step into battle against a mech with at least a dozen different solutions!
"There's no way I can win!" Axelar despaired!
Yet when he finally interfaced with the Ouroboros, his panic suddenly became more muted. A sense of intimacy and connection welled from his mech. It felt as if he reconnected to a piece of himself!
None of the mechs he ever designed made him feel this way!
From the corner of Axelar's mind, Ves' consciousness observed the interaction closely. Although the materialization process significantly weakened the presence of the X-Factor in the Ouroboros, it had not disappeared entirely.
Somehow, the design spirit of the Ouroboros managed to power through the obstacles and make its presence known in the only existing copy of the mech!
That wasn't all. As Axelar began to deepen his connection with his mech, Ves inadvertently felt a pull on his Spirituality.
The X-Factor of the Ouroboros reacted to his presence in Axelar's mind!
"The Ouroboros carries my spiritual imprint as well! It's not surprising for the mech to recognize its maker!"
This was the first time that Ves charged the X-Factor of his mech with his spiritual energy. It was also the first time he rode in someone's mind as they interfaced with a mech he designed himself.
All of these changes led to several new interactions that Ves had never witnessed before!
For now, Ves couldn't quite figure out the purpose of his connection to the Ouroboros. He wasn't the mech pilot, nor did he interface directly with his mech like Axelar. The connection was rather weak as well so he doubted he could influence the mech's performance in his current state.
"There's something else going on as well."
His design seed had always been radiating spiritual waves without rhyme or reason. Ves was getting rather concerned about it because it seemed as if it was signalling its presence to dangerous predators like a lantern in the dark.
Now, he found out that the Ouroboros was actually absorbing the spiritual waves! Despite the very close proximity, the mech didn't absorb all of the waves put out by his design seed, but it was nonetheless eating up a considerable amount!
"What is the purpose of this interaction?" Ves questioned. "Is this something unique to my design philosophy or does every Journeyman's design seed interact with their mechs in this fashion?"
For now, Ves believed that this phenomenon along with all the other novel interactions would lead to some pleasant surprises.
As Ves mused about the possible effects, Axelar tentatively flew out of the gates and into the three-dimensional arena battlefield.
"Light atmosphere. One solid meteorite landmass. No gravity." He silently muttered immediately after passing through the arena shield boundary.
Light atmosphere meant his positron rifle would waste some energy with each shot. His mech would be able to disperse some heat through the thin air, but not very much. The lack of gravity meant that the feet of his mech wouldn't see much use in the upcoming battle.
The large, floating rocky meteorite placed in the center of the arena space was the only environmental feature of this impending duel. It was large enough to serve as solid cover, but according to the scanners of his Ouroboros, it was a plain nickel-iron asteroid, so couldn't withstand against a lot of firepower that first-class Terran mechs regularly unleashed!
However, as Axelar came off his analysis, he suddenly realized that the audience paused for a moment before erupting in laughter, shock, and ridicule!
"Do you have a split personality or something, Axelar?!"
"He's joking, right?! Why else would he bring out a mech with a jester's color scheme?"
"Look at the lack of ports on the mech frame! Is my sight bad or does that mech not have any other modules?"
That last detail overtook the reactions of the hero mech's unusual visual design. The large and highly detailed projections zooming in on the mechs gave most of the audience members a very good view of the dueling mechs.
While Waltz Nexbern brought out a heavy mech that appeared to be stuffed with modules from all the retractable ports spread over its entire frame, the surface of Axelar's mech was as smooth as that of a baby!
The audience couldn't actually figure out whether Axelar's mech did an exceptionally good job at hiding its weapon ports or if it really didn't carry anymore weapon systems!
At this time, the announcer began to rouse the crowd. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! Terrans of the Radiant Pulsar Star Sector, get ready for some action as two radically different mechs and mech pilots are about to prove whether Tyon or Haspel deserves to hold the crown!"
The crowd cheered for the mech pilot they rooted for! While a lot of people from different star systems made it to the Cuba Arena today, at least half of the audience were still locals from the Tyon System.
Yet despite having the home advantage, the stunned audience still hadn't gotten over Axelar's unusual mech! The enthusiasm coming from the Tyon citizens were noticeably lackluster!
"In one corner of the arena, we have Waltz Nexbern, the leader of the Haspel Asps! Right now, he is piloting a very big multipurpose mech called the War General! Just look at this huge mech! Unlike yesterday, Waltz isn't going to be relying on mobility to win his match!"
Most of the out-system visitors stood up from their seats and cheered for Waltz! Compared to an elite clansman like Axelar who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, they respected Waltz a lot more due to fighting his way to the top of the mech games!
"In the other corner of the arena, we have the esteemed Master Axelar of the Streon Clan! He has taken upon himself to defend the honor of the Tyon System yesterday, and has made the unusual step of bringing a hero mech into the fight! Yes, you heard me right, the Ouroboros he designed by himself is actually a hero mech!"
That led to a lot of surprised gasps and shouts from the locals. How could Axelar be stupid enough to bring an antiquated mech type into a modern mech duel?!
"It seems that Axelar is so confident in himself that he has metaphorically tied one of his hands behind his back! There's no doubt his choice of mechs is a clear, naked provocation to the Haspels!"
"No no no!" Axelar screamed from his cockpit. "I'm not trying to provoke anyone! I was just crazy when I designed this mech!"
"Let us see whether Axelar's can back up his boundless confidence! Will the clansman be able to prove his superiority or will Waltz be able to show that hard work trumps all? Let the mech duel BEGIN!"
With an explosion of light and sound, the duel formally commenced!
While Axelar immediately adopted a defensive posture with the Ouroboros, Waltz took the time to broadcast his voice through the public communication channels and in the air!
"Axelar, I don't know what you are thinking by bringing a hero mech into our duel, but don't think I'll go easy on you despite your clan affiliation! The mech games is a fair competition where only skill, preparation and sound judgement matters! If you think you can mock me by bringing only two pitiful weapons to the fight, then think again! I won't hold back just because of your high birth!"
The Haspel team leader's War General finally exploded into action! A dozen different detachable modules exploded from the abnormally heavy and bulging rear module of his mech and spread out rapidly in each corner of the arena!
"Go! Lock down my opponent, my soldiers!"
The modules anchored in place before discharging wide-area fields that immediately disturbed and weighed down Axelar's mech!
"Damnit, I can't move my mech!" Axelar panicked!
Six modules left the War General's frame and quickly surrounded the immobilized Ouroboros from each cardinal direction!
"Blind my opponent, my soldiers!"
Heavy interference fields bore down on the Ouroboros, disturbing all of its sensor systems and some of its more sensitive electronics!
Eight modules exploded from the War General soon after. They spread out in the corners of the arena, allowing them to cover every angle!
"Overwhelm my opponent, my soldiers!"
The deceptively-small modules turned out to be neutron beam turrets! They fired powerful, penetrating neutron beams at the immobilized mech!
They were extremely deadly as neutron beams accelerated to a fraction of the speed of light possessed a very high penetration power!
Their penetration power was so high that the turrets outright ignored the nickel-iron asteroid if it blocked their firing angles!
If Waltz wasn't careful enough and if the Ouroboros wasn't tough enough, a neutron beam could easily pass through the cockpit!
Axelar would instantly die before the safety shields of the Cube Arena would have time to kick in to block the neutron beams!
Chapter 1163
Axelar immediately fell into a crisis as the Ouroboros was being immobilized, blinded and chipped away by the twenty-six autonomous turrets and modules deployed by the War General.
Waltz Nexbern's War General truly lived up to its name! Even Ves expressed his admiration for its mech concept.
"The War General is clearly designed to deploy pieces of itself to surround and overwhelm its opponent!"
Ves heard of the concept of using mechs as drone or turret platforms but never saw one in action. They were highly unpopular in the galactic rim because their programming were easily susceptible to hacking.
They worked great against inferior opponents like bottom feeder pirates, but not much else. Against a technologically equal or superior foe who retained a dedicated team of hackers, the autonomous modules could very well turn their abilities against their original owners!
These concerns still existed in the Terran Confederation, but to a much lesser degree. After all, as one of the most advanced states in human space, their technological superiority was at the top!
Their Rubarthan foes were their equals in this regard, while the MTA and CFA held a slight edge.
However, the relative disparities were small enough that all four great powers confidently relied on a higher degree of automation. As long as they regularly updated the security suites of their automated gadgets, they were at little risk of being hacked!
Right now, Ves knew that even if he included a standard hacking module to the Ouroboros, it was pointless for Axelar to try and hack their programming. The six interference modules that constantly directed its ECM towards the Ouroboros blocked any remote access attempts anyway.
The modules and turrets continued to entangle and bombard the hapless Ouroboros! Axelar's mech didn't even have the opportunity to move from its starting position before falling into a trap!
Despite the advantageous situation, Waltz Nexbern knew better than to look down on his opponent. Who knew what tricks Axelar's mech was trying to hide!
He nonetheless kept talking, if only to hype up the audience. Every mech athlete played to the crowd!
"My War General is not an armchair general that lets its soldiers do all the fighting! A true war general won't hesitate to enter the fray!"
The four weapon barrels extended out of the sides of the heavy mech. Ves quickly identified them as high-powered but compact gauss rifles! After a brief windup time, the four gauss rifles discharged four solid projectiles at amazing speed!
Axelar's eyes widened in his cockpit. His Ouroboros was a sitting duck! Even a three-year old child could hit a stationary mech from this distance!
The rounds all impacted the arm of the Ouroboros at nearly the same section! Since the hero mech was pretty much locked in a single position, Waltz could employ his ranged weapons with pinpoint accuracy!
His first target was to aim at the white-coated arm of the Ouroboros. As long as Waltz could take out the hero mech's rifle-wielding arm, Axelar would have no way of retaliating from range!
"No! Not my mech's rifle arm!" Axelar screamed and instinctively closed his eyes!
The Ouroboros shook from the kinetic energy transferred by the rounds made of extremely hard and dense exotic materials. While they didn't come with any other special effects, just their mass, hardness and penetration profile was extremely deadly to other mechs!
Yet when Axelar opened his eyes, he discovered to his astonishment that the arm of his Ouroboros only accumulated a small dent!
"The armor hasn't been breached? How?"
While the compact size of the War General's gauss rifles limited their potency, their firepower was not to be scoffed at! For them to leave a dent of this size was seriously absurd!
Despite the lack of effect, Waltz did not pause from the setback but instead continued to fire another salvo!
Four more rounds impacted the very same spot, enlarging the dent!
"If two salvos won't cut off the arm, then I'll fire two salvos more! If four salvos isn't enough, then I'll just have to fire four more times!"
Axelar froze. Without a way to move his Ouroboros, he couldn't do anything about the War General treating his mech like a stationary target!
Even if his mech was surprisingly more resilient than he was used to with his other mechs, so what? He was still going to lose this mech duel!
As Axelar's thoughts entered a vicious cycle where his fears continued to fuel his lack of confidence and vica versa, Ves mentally shook his head at the sight.
Axelar was a lot more pathetic than he expected! How could he call himself a man and a mech pilot when he already lost his confidence in winning after suffering a small setback at the start?
"Man up already!" Ves shouted openly inside the mind of his host.
"Huh? Who are you?!" Axelar asked.
"I'm your so-called insane, sober self who designed this mech." Ves lied. "If you want to know who is responsible for upending your life by throwing away all of your stimulants, selling your pharmaceutical company, challenging the Haspel Asps to a duel and committing you to the Trail of Tears, it was me, your sober self!"
For a moment, Axelar completely forgot about the dangerous straits his Ouroboros fell into. How could this be? Did he possess a split personality or something?!
After he got over his shock at hosting another personality in his mind, he grew incredibly angry at his other self!
"IT'S YOU! YOU RUINED MY LIFE! YOU PUT ME IN THE FOREFRONT OF DANGER! WHY ARE YOU SO EAGER TO GET ME KILLED?!"
"It's because I can't stand my other self continuing to waste away our life in meaningless highs! It's high time you get your butt back into gear and stand up for yourself!"
Axelar really wanted to raise his fist and beat his head until he suffered a concussion! He couldn't stand his other personality!
"Are you happy now that you put me in these straits?! I can't move my mech! Waltz is beating up the troll mech you designed like a practice dummy!"
"It's just some neutron beam turrets and gauss rifles!" Ves dismissed the threat. "Are they powerful? Yes! But look at the condition of the Ouroboros! A mech designed by your genius sober self won't be felled by just these tricks!"
The real Axelar drew his attention to the integrity of his mech frame. Despite being bombarded by all sides by neutron beams and getting focused upon by perfectly-accurate gauss rifles, the Ouroboros was still whole!
"So what if my mech is hard to kill?!" Axelar mentally retorted. "I'm still going to be defeated! You put so little weapon systems in my mech that I don't have a way to break out of this trap!"
Ves mentally shook his head. "You idiot. Stop trying to search for solutions that don't exist when your mech already possesses one in its right hand! Your positron rifle is all you need!"
"But I can't aim! Those ECM deployables are screwing up my sensors and my targeting system!"
"Then use your own marksmanship skill to aim!" Ves yelled back. "Are you such a useless mech pilot that you are no longer capable of hitting a target without relying on aim-assist?!"
"It's not that simple! The gravitic bonds are impairing the aim of my mech! And those deployables aren't going to sit still while I aim my rifle at them! They're going to juke and dodge my shots like crazy!"
"Don't look down on the Ouroboros! Trust in yourself and your mech! As a mech designed by your other self, the Ouroboros is the best mech you've ever piloted! Open yourself up to it and it will help you out! Try it and you'll see!"
Ever since Axelar first beheld the mech designed by his other self, he never really accepted it in his heart. How could he take a hero mech seriously?
Even though he felt something special when he interfaced with the mech, Axelar's instinctive rejection of the Ouroboros prevented him from fully utilizing his deepening connection with his mech!
Although Axelar hated his other self and wanted to ignore the advice, he was pretty much at the end of his rope here. If he wanted to dig himself out of the hole his other self had dug for him, he had no choice but to try!
As soon as he dropped some of his apprehension towards his mech, Axelar indeed felt as if his Ouroboros became more responsive to his thoughts! It actually felt quite nice to interface with this mech!
Seeing as Axelar finally began to accept the Ouroboros, Ves moved on to correct his mistaken impression of his own mech.
"The Ouroboros is designed to be a God of Creation and Destruction in our hands! No matter how many troops a war general brings to the field, an army can never defeat a god! Its parameters are far beyond your expectations! Push through the hindrances and you'll find that you haven't come close to brushing against the limits of your mech!"
Axelar attempted to exert more force on the white side of his mech. Even though the Ouroboros was locked in the same position in space, the forces acting on the mech was spread throughout its entire frame.
Now that the Ouroboros utilized the full might of its mechanical power, it managed to resist the gravitic bonds and aim the rifle at one of the neutron beam turrets!
A powerful positron beam fired from the rifle! It rapidly traveled through the thin atmosphere, annihilating the gas particles along the way, causing lots of light and radiation to brighten up the entire arena!
"I missed!"
Although Axelar tried his best to compensate for the difficulties with his own aim, his positron beam soundly missed the turret as it recognized it was being targeted! The turret instantly employed an evasion pattern that made it exceptionally difficult for a narrow beam to hit the turret!
"You dolt!" Ves berated Axelar. "Why are you firing the positron rifle in its default setting? The range isn't all that far and those deployables don't look all that tough! This isn't your average positron rifle! Widen the beam so that it spreads out its particles in a cone!"
"Won't that drain my energy reserves faster?! My mech will run out of energy before I can even finish off half of the deployables."
"Your mech's energy reserves are much larger than you think! Without all those redundant modules taking up valuable space, you can fire your positron rifle all day!"
Axelar still treated his Ouroboros as a multipurpose mech, but that was absolutely the wrong approach to take!
Once Axelar implemented the suggestion, he began to fire at the turrets with a widening cone of positron particles!
The shot expended a considerable amount of energy, but by the time the cone arrived at its intended destination, the turret simply couldn't move out of the way fast enough to dodge the spread-out positrons!
The turret suffered heavy damage!
Ves was surprised the turret managed to survive. For such a small deployable, it was very resistant to damage!
Fortunately, it hadn't managed to resist the damage entirely. Most of its external components suffered heavy damage!
When Axelar fired his positron rifle again, the turret finally succumbed!
While it took a bit longer than he hoped, he finally saw a chance of turning the tide!
"An army is strong when you face it as a whole." Ves remarked. "Yet they are only made up of a large number of weak soldiers. Take them out one by one and the army is no longer a threat!"
Doing his best to endure the constant interference and bombardment from the War General and its many autonomous modules, Axelar trusted in the armor of his mech and began to take out the deployables one by one.
The more turrets and modules he took out, the more Axelar gained faith in his own mech! The feedback that resulted from his increasingly more immersive connection began to show its true strength!
The Ouroboros was starting to come alive! Even the audience became enthralled by the indomitable hero mech fending off the War General's army!
Chapter 1164
Waltz was not a herbivore who would let his opponent kill off his soldiers one by one!
"I have to admit your mech is tougher than I expected for its size! If my gauss rifles can't penetrate your shell, then I'll just have to employ something heavier!"
The War General retracted its gauss rifles and instead wielded a melee weapon that unfolded into a huge halberd with a very prominent spike!
"A true war general won't hesitate to lead from the front!"
The heavy mech began to employ its flight system and additional flight modules to accelerate past the asteroid. It held out the tip of its halberd like a lance and slowly built up its momentum as it closed in on the immobilized Ouroboros.
Despite its heavy mass and lackluster acceleration, the generous charging distance allowed the War General to build up a considerable amount of momentum! By the time the mech reached the Ouroboros, the tip of its halberd would be able to pierce through even the hardiest of armor with unstoppable force!
While Ves paired up the Ouroboros with a very substantial armor system, even he began to shudder at the thought of getting hit by a charging mech whose momentum was comparable to that of a crashing starship!
"That's a Destroyer Halberd!" Axelar yelled in panic! He spotted the tell-tell glow around the blade and spike of the War General's weapon. "My mech won't hold up against this move! I have to move my Ouroboros!"
When Axelar started to take down the War General's soldiers, he focused first and foremost on the neutron beam turrets. They posed the most acute threat to his life as they could easily penetrate his cockpit!
Once he took down the turrets, he focused his aim towards the debilitating gravitic lockdown modules, but they were larger and tougher than the neutron beam turrets! Not only that, but they were protected by fairly powerful shielding! It took five shots with his positron rifle to take one of them out!
As dread continued to mount in Axelar's mind, he started to freeze.
Ves became frustrated again. His host possessed too little battle experience! How could he freeze at such a critical moment!?
"You've already taken out four gravitic lockdown modules, Axelar!"
"There's still eight more to go!"
"You don't need to take out every single deployable! The Ouroboros is more powerful than you think! By my calculations, the forces exerted by the remaining eight modules will only slow it down at best! They can't pin down your Ouroboros in place anymore!"
When the gravitic lockdown modules initially pinned down the Ouroboros, Axelar only tried to overpower it for a minute before giving up. There was no point wasting energy in a fruitless attempt to break free from an impenetrable prison.
Yet now that Ves reminded Axelar of the change in conditions, the Ouroboros alighted its flight system and flight modules anew!
Not only its main flight system, but also the smaller flight modules built into the arms, legs and other parts of the torso all engaged as well!
The black-and-white mech started to glow from multiple sections as it overpowered the forces exerted onto it through sheer brute force!
"Fly, Ouroboros, fly!"
Although the Ouroboros still suffered from some impairment, Axelar was able to build up just enough speed for it to move in an angle towards the asteroid in the center of the arena.
The asteroid was so big that it took up an eight of the volume of the entire arena space! While it wasn't particularly strong against focused firepower, it posed enough of a hindrance that Waltz was forced to break off his attack run when it seemed he had to charge his mech through the middle of the asteroid to impale his opponent's mech!
Coward!" Waltz yelled. "Is this the courage of a Streon clansman!?"
Axelar couldn't help but patch into the communication channel. "What kind of idiot mech pilot would let his mech get run down by a charging enemy? For someone who pilots a mech called the War General, you sure are stupid!"
Half the audience laughed. They were glad that Axelar was at least able to put up a serious fight now! Perhaps his unusual hero mech might stand a chance against the War General!
The War General attempted to fly around the large asteroid to recover its line of sight against the Ouroboros, but Axelar made sure to keep circling around!
In the meantime, Axelar used this reprieve to shoot at the remaining deployables in the field. While firing his positron rifle in a cone-like spread put a massive strain on the weapon, it nonetheless held up. The Ouroboros also had plenty of energy to spare!
Once the number of ECM and gravitic lockdown modules decreased, Axelar shifted back to firing narrow, concentrated beams.
"Hahaha!" Axelar regained his confidence after taking out the last of the War General's army. "Now that I've slaughtered your army, you're a general without an army!"
"Do you think you've won, Axelar? You know nothing! My mech isn't this big for nothing! A War General fights best with his army, but they are not afraid to enter into a duel with an enemy champion! Let me show you the true power of my machine!"
On the other wide of the asteroid, the War General's huge rear module reconfigured itself. Previously, it served as a container and control system for its deployables. Now, it transformed into what appeared to be six powerful missiles!
"Fire!"
The missiles launched from the back of the War General and circled around the entire asteroid. Waltz immediately commanded his mech to turn around and fly as far away as possible to escape what was about to happen!
As for Axelar, while his sensors hadn't given him an exact view of what was happening on the other side, the Ouroboros didn't fail in detecting the missiles and their extremely potent payloads heading in its direction!
"Those missiles have enormous plasma payloads!" Axelar squeaked.
"Don't panic!" Ves immediately reassured his host. It was getting rather tiring to hold Axelar's hand all the time. "Those plasma missiles are configured for wide-area destruction! The damage will be dispersed over a huge area!"
"That just means I can't avoid the missiles!"
"Don't try to dodge the explosions! Just hug the surface of the asteroid and power up the shields of your mech to the maximum!"
Axelar almost forgot about the shields of his Ouroboros!
While pouring full power into the shield generator of his mech expended a huge amount of energy, the mech's ability to withstand damage increased by a huge margin!
Just seconds after Axelar made his move, the plasma missiles exploded all around the asteroid and his mech!
A torrent of superheated plasma engulfed the entire arena space! Even the War General wasn't exempt from getting hit as it employed its own shield generator to help fend off the damage that reached the periphery!
The War General only suffered a fraction of the energy and plasma unleashed from the simultaneous missile detonations!
Incredibly hot plasma matter burned through the nickel-iron asteroid and impacted against the oval shield encompassing the Ouroboros!
Axelar couldn't help but scream at the thought of getting burned to a crisp!
Yet once a dozen seconds passed and the glowing plasma stopped impacting his mech, he realized his mech still remained intact!
"I survived. The shield held up!"
Although the Ouroboros strained its shield generator to such an extent that it would struggle to withstand another huge attack, it nonetheless did its job!
Even the entire audience looked in awe as the Ouroboros managed to endure the powerful plasma explosions without employing any fancy systems to take out the missiles or neutralize the payloads.
Axelar instead had his mech withstand the attack upfront!
"Look at the Ouroboros!" The announcer excitedly commented. "There's nary a single scratch or scorch mark on its white-and-black exterior! After all the firepower the War General employed against its foe, Axelar has soundly shown his contempt at the attacks!"
Even though Waltz was dismayed the plasma missiles hadn't damaged the Ouroboros, he still maintained his confidence. "Do you think that's the extent of my attack? Hah! Look at your surroundings! You no longer have anywhere to hide! Your mech is completely in the open now!"
The asteroid was gone now! While some loose, molten chunks of superheated matter still flew about here and there, they were no longer big enough for a mech to hide behind!
The War General, now unburdened by its rear attachments, began to brandish its halberd before entering into another charge!
Waltz intended to move the fight up close!
"There's nothing to fear from the War General." Ves encouraged his host. "The mech is still too large and cumbersome to hit you with its charge. The Ouroboros can easily dodge aside before its halberd ever comes close to impaling it! Instead of fearing your opponent's approach, you should welcome him instead! A hero mech is as deadly up close as it is from a distance!"
The way in which the Ouroboros withstood the destructive plasma explosions with nary a scratch finally convinced Axelar of the power of his mech!
"I don't fear you, Waltz! You want to take the fight up close? Let's dance!"
The Ouroboros engaged its flight systems and countercharged! Even as its right side held out its sword in a ready position to strike, its left side began to pepper the War General's shields with positron beams!
The War General was a bigger and heavier mech than the Ouroboros, but its shield generator was actually smaller and weaker!
"Keep firing at the War General, Axelar!" Ves advised. "The energy the Ouroboros is discharging is less than the energy the War General's shield generator expends in withstanding the attacks!"
The duel entered a new phase in which both mechs engaged in a battle of attrition!
As the mechs closed in on each other, Axelar synced himself deeper into his mech. The Ouroboros exerted a powerful thrust from the side, causing the mech to veer away from the reach of the War General's halberd!
Both mechs began to fly in wide arcs as they adjusted their trajectory in order to continue to close the distance against each other!
The Ouroboros continued to fire its positron rifle against the War General. At this distance, the sluggish, heavy mech was trivially easy to hit!
Still, the War General wasn't without solutions, as it popped up its integrated gauss rifles out of its frame.
Not only that, but Waltz also activated another weapon system on his mech, causing the War General to zap the Ouroboros with powerful electrical discharges!
This attack was especially effective against its shield!
Ves noted the threat. "We're in trouble now, Axelar! This electrical discharge is wearing down our shield generator! Our positron rifle is powerful, but it won't defeat the War General fast enough! You need to up the ante!"
"I got it!"
With a wordless cry, Axelar stopped making his mech circle around the slower War General and attempted to charge up close!
The Ouroboros poured power into its Destroyer Sword, causing its blade to grow in a deathly greyish light!
CLANG!
The War General parried the attack by blocking it with its halberd that glowed in the same shade! It was also a Destroyer Weapon!
Expecting something like this to happen, Axelar didn't halt his offensive. His Ouroboros was smaller, lighter and more mobile than the War General! Axelar took full advantage of this difference by circling around the War General at close range in order to strike it from many different angles!
"That's it, Axelar! The War General's shields are depleting rapidly!"
Destroyer Weapons not only cut most alloys like butter, but they inflicted quite some damage against shields as well!
At this range, the angular velocity of the Ouroboros rendered the War General's gauss rifles useless. Its electrical weapons only sporadically locked on to the Ouroboros as well.
Yet Waltz did not feel any distress. "Hah! So you couldn't resist getting up close! Prepare to be roasted!"
Nozzles began to extend from all around the frame of the War General. As Axelar began to wonder what they were for, an inferno of plasma erupted from all around his opponent's mech!
The Ouroboros quickly became engulfed in all-encompassing plasma!
Even though its shield began to reach its breaking point, Axelar did let this new development pause his offensive. His immersion with his mech had grown to an extent where he no longer doubted the capabilities of his mech.
The Ouroboros could withstand the damage!
Even as the powerful attack finally overloaded its shield and began to burn at the artful reliefs on the surface of his mech, Axelar continued to fly through the waves of plasma and strike at the surface of the War General with a powerful overhand chop with the Destroyer Sword!
The War General was forced to disengage its shield generator to release the huge volume of plasma. This caused the Destroyer Sword to leave a very deep cut into its armor!
Attacks continued to land on the War General as the Ouroboros outright ignored the damaging plasma.
Its positron rifle also collapsed into a more compact form, which the Ouroboros placed onto the lower back of its frame. This helped preserve the surprisingly resilient weapon from all of the plasma!
The War General did not possess an endless supply of plasma. Once it finally finished discharging all of that hot matter, the mech looked like it had emptied out its reserves!
Not only that, but the continuous sword attacks from the Ouroboros had cut and damaged various parts of its exterior! As long as Axelar opened up those breaches with subsequent attacks, he could get past the armor and inflict significant internal damage to the heavy mech!
Yet Waltz did not express any concern at all. "Hahaha! Do you think that's the extent of what my War General can do? You've only been fighting its outer layer!"
At a single command, the War General's exterior components began to break apart and separate from the frame! Armor plating, weapon modules and more all spread out, revealing a slimmer and much more mobile light mech from underneath!
The mech spun its halberd. "The true dance begins now!"
Chapter 1165
Throughout his stay in the Terran Confederation, Ves experienced some of the breadth and depth of Terran mech design.
It was as if scarcity didn't exist here. Mech designers faced much fewer limits with regards to cost, resource scarcity and manpower constraints.
This meant that mech designers could easily dump a lot of expensive parts into their mechs, jacking up their prices to insane levels and elevating the difficulty of piloting to inhuman levels.
Yet such insanely overperforming mechs still sold in droves!
Mech buyers in the Terran Confederation were some of the most affluent people and organizations in the galaxy. The mech pilots they hired exhibited capabilities that far exceeded their lesser peers in the galactic heartland and the galactic center!
It wasn't an exaggeration to say that mech designers in the Terran Confederation engaged in the very forefront of mech design!
The innovations they developed in the pursuit of greater performance slowly trickled down to the less-advanced regions of human space. Ves already foresaw that many trends in the Terran Confederation would spread to the galactic rim in time.
The current mech duel between Axelar Streon and Waltz Nexbern was a case in point! In this battle between an old-style hero mech and an ultramodern multipurpose mech, the latter showcased exactly why they became the dominant mech type in the most advanced states!
The War General piloted by the Haspel mech athlete shed its exterior armor plating and parts like taking off a coat! A much slimmer light mech emerged from underneath which flourished its Destroyer Halberd in an energetic manner.
A multipurpose mech possessed endless depth!
It took a lot of effort to exhaust their entire bag of tricks!
When the War General turned from a heavy mech to a light mech, Ves felt like puking. Terran mech designers were very creative with their mechs!
The technical challenges to design a mech within a mech were exceedingly difficult to resolve. To make both forms perform optimally in combat without negatively impacting each other required a lot of creative solutions!
"Whoever designed the War General is a great mech designer!"
Observing the War General in battle was like seeing a masterpiece of mech design up close. Ves wasn't sure whether the War General was designed by a Senior or a Master.
With the population base of the Terran Confederation, the latter possibility could not be ruled out!
Yet despite knowing that Ves faced a mech designed by a Master, he did not believe that defeat was inevitable!
Despite being designed with the aid of an auto designer, the Ouroboros consisted of very high-end parts and exotics. Axelar's status as a Streon clansman was not for show! The mechs he routinely designed and materialized may be crappy, but their sheer performance still elevated them into the upper ranks of mechs!
Therefore, from a material and technological standpoint, the Ouroboros and the War General stood roughly equal. Neither side used more superior materials and technology. The War General may have started off bigger and employed more sophisticated modules, but none of them gave the mech a decisive edge against its current opponent.
Only two factors really mattered in deciding the outcome of this mech duel.
First, the mech pilots.
Having fought so long, Ves gained a good measure of Axelar Streon and Waltz Nexbern's piloting skills.
Each of them stood head and shoulders above any non-expert pilot from the galactic rim. The genetic and biological augmentations they received accelerated their minds and strengthened their bodies firmly into transhuman territory, allowing them to mentally and physically keep up with extremely high-performing mechs!
Due to his high birth, Axelar attended the best mech academies in the Terran Confederation.
Although he hated every second of it, the mech instructors made sure that Axelar squeezed the most out of his A-grade genetic aptitude. He possessed very solid fundamentals and his operation of his mech was clean and efficient!
Waltz Nexbern did not possess the raw talent or privileged upbringing of someone like Axelar. Instead, he grew up from humble roots and managed to make a decent start in the mech games.
After decades of fighting and dueling, he grew up to become a considerably wily and tricky mech athlete! Age, experience and constant training allowed Waltz to hold a considerable edge over Axelar!
Although the mech athlete's piloting style incorporated a small amount of unnecessary flashy moves, Waltz was still superior to Axelar in every aspect aside from reaction speed!
If Axelar wanted to achieve victory, he needed to put his faith in the design concept of his mech!
Although the Terrans considered hero mechs to be overly simplistic, Axelar already witnessed first-hand that the Ouroboros took full advantage of this aspect!
The Ouroboros not only managed to withstand the overwhelming attacks of the War General, but also retain much of its battle effectiveness in the process!
Certainly, the War General's close-ranged plasma discharge inflicted serious damage to Axelar's mech. Most of the detailed reliefs of creation and destruction lost definition due to being subjected to a destructive shower of plasma.
In fact, the entire front of the mech lost its original two-toned color scheme and took on a scorched and bedraggled appearance!
"It's mostly surface damage, though. The internals of the Ouroboros is still in good condition!" Ves avidly noted.
The thick and resilient armor plating of the mech might look awful, but it did its job in protecting the more vulnerable parts of the mech from damage!
From resisting neutron beams to bouncing off gauss rifle projectiles, the considerable investment that Ves had put into the armor system of the Ouroboros paid off in spades! A regular multipurpose mech of its weight class would never be able to remain standing after suffering through so much hell!
While the Ouroboros didn't appear very fancy anymore, the audience nonetheless stopped regarding it with contempt. As Terrans, they weren't stupid, and they could recognize the inherent advantages of the mech type.
"Believe in yourself and believe in the Ouroboros your other self designed." Ves mentally spoke to Axelar. "You aren't piloting a mech, you are embodying a god of creation and destruction! One hand creates, the other hand destroys! No other power is required to defeat your opponent!"
Ves kept encouraging the mech pilot in order to keep his spirits high. If not for his constant pep talks, his host would have defaulted back to his cowardly ways!
He could tell that it was working. Axelar continually shed his apprehension and no longer doubted or second-guessed himself. His connection with his mech continued to deepen, and his operation of his mech became smoother and more fluent.
Unlike with Eloise Pelican, nothing exceptional happened. The conditions to elevate Axelar and his mech into something even greater simply weren't present.
Still, Ves sensed that the man-machine connection between Axelar and the Ouroboros grew increasingly more intimate. And due to his presence in Axelar's mind, Ves was also starting to feel a faint connection to the mech he designed!
The Ouroboros contained a piece of Axelar! It also contained a piece of Ves! It was like a child who just reunited with its parents after a long period of separation!
A three-way spiritual connection took place that united the mech, mech pilot and mech designer into a single formless identity!
Axelar acted as the main controller while the Ouroboros was the executor of his decisions. Ves played a very small role as he did his best to hide his true nature from Axelar. Only a faint connection tied him to Axelar and the Ouroboros, but it was enough for him to pass on some of the deep technical insights he gained on the strengths and weaknesses of the Ouroboros and the War General!
Right now, the slimmer version of the War General utilized its high mobility to its fullest potential! The mech flitted and darted around the slower and damaged Ouroboros and delivered fast and powerful strikes with its halberd that Axelar struggled to block with the sword of his mech!
A Destroyer Weapon was incredibly destructive, and with the damaged state of the Ouroboros, it could not withstand too many direct hits!
If that wasn't bad enough, the recently-emerged light mech also employed integrated weapon hardpoints built into the shoulders and torso of the mech! They fired a constant stream of projectiles at the Ouroboros which slowly degraded its damaged armor even further!
Even as Axelar did his best to withstand the onslaught, Ves kept analyzing the latest form of the War General.
"Don't be fooled by its high exertion and its overwhelming offensive power. This light mech is peaking its performance. As long as you can withstand its attacks for at least twenty minutes, it will run out of steam! The War General's endurance is substantially less than our Ouroboros!"
"I don't think I'll be able to last that long!" Axelar gritted his teeth. "Waltz is insanely skilled in wielding a halberd! I'm constantly being pushed back!"
That was true! Despite being the lighter mech, the raw force and momentum employed by the War General forced the Ouroboros back again and again! If this pattern continued, the Ouroboros would eventually be pushed into the corner of the arena where the active shields would block Axelar's mech from exiting the arena boundaries!
Once the Ouroboros was pushed into a corner, it lost all of its maneuvering room, allowing Waltz to beat it up with impunity!
"You aren't using the Ouroboros to its full potential, Axelar." Ves retorted. "You're caught in your opponent's rhythm. Don't forget that your mech wields both creation and destruction! Right now, you are only making use of the destruction side of your mech. Have you forgotten that you wield the power of creation as well? Bring out the positron rifle and wield it alongside the Destroyer Sword!"
A hero mech employed two weapons simultaneously for a reason! Why should a hero mech limit itself to using a rifle against a ranged mech and a sword against a melee mech? That was like attempting to compete against an opponent on their strong points!
Even though the War General was constantly peppering the Ouroboros with its numerous integrated weapon hardpoints, the damage they inflicted were fairly low! A light mech was already small, so the weapon modules integrated into the War General's second form didn't pack a lot of punch!
"No matter how fancy the War General appears right now, it's mostly for show. Its basic engineering remains the same. Light mechs are fast and mobile, giving them great offensive power, but they're also fragile and susceptible to damage! Just one good hit can cripple the War General!"
"That's easier said than done!" Axelar replied to his other self. "The War General isn't sitting still long enough for me to make a counterattack!"
"Then pin it down or shoot it down with the positron rifle!"
"I can't! It's too big and unwieldy! The War General's halberd will cut it in half as I take aim!"
"The War General isn't the only object in this arena that can transform! The positron rifle that I've added to the Ouroboros possesses a second form as well!"
As Ves transferred some details on the weapon to his host, Axelar immediately acted on the information!
The Ouroboros drew out the partially-damaged positron rifle from the small of its back and activated a single command that caused it to shed its front half and some other components.
The positron rifle turned into a small and compact positron pistol!
Although its power, accuracy and energy capacity took a substantial hit, the pistol was small enough for the Ouroboros to make use of it in a close-ranged cash!
The Ouroboros began to fire back at the War General whenever it blocked another halberd strike!
Axelar realized that each time the War General attacked and got repulsed, the light mech momentarily paused in place. This presented him with a critical window of opportunity for him to nail a shot on the War General!
After five exchanges, Axelar managed to land three solid hits on the War General, burning three serious-looking holes in the latter mech's exterior!
"This is it, Axelar! This is how a hero mech should be employed!"
The Ouroboros looked unprecedentedly daunting as it slowly started to gain the upper hand against the War General!
"Do you think you can beat my War General with a mere pistol?! Think again!"
Waltz quickly abandoned his current strategy when he saw that the tide was turning against him. He piloted his War General away from the Ouroboros and rapidly built up a lot of distance!
Once he gained several kilometers of distance, Waltz activated a command that caused the Destroyer Halberd to shed its powered blade and spike!
The War General then inserted the hollow shaft of the weapon perpendicularly into a small hollow that opened up from its chest plating.
The tip of the long and narrow muzzle began to take on an ominous glow.
"If I can't take out your mech up close, then I'll just have to finish the job from afar!"
The War General unleashed a radiant beam!
Chapter 1166
The latest transformation initiated by Waltz turned his War General from a predominantly melee mech into a highly mobile marksman mech!
While neither Ves, Axelar or the sophisticated sensors of the Ouroboros identified the nature of the radiant beam attack, it was extremely accurate and corrosive!
Each time the radiant beam struck the Ouroboros, another chunk of armor plating disappeared!
Axelar did his best to respond to this latest change. He piloted his Ouroboros forward in an attempt to catch up to the War General. Now that the latter mech transformed its melee weapon into something else, it should be very vulnerable to close-quarters combat!
Yet the War General was far lighter than the Ouroboros, and easily circled around hero mech while it continuously unleashed beam after beam of corrosive particles from its chest!
The only way the Ouroboros was able to retaliate was by shooting at it with its positron pistol! Unfortunately, the War General's superior mobility and active ECM systems made it very difficult for Axelar to land a hit!
Nonetheless, Axelar no longer feared the War General. So what if his opponent's mech possessed a hundred different abilities? His Ouroboros already faced down most of them and still managed to stay aloft!
"Come on, Waltz! No matter what weapon system you employ next, my Ouroboros will take it all!"
Although the War General's latest attack mode posed a serious threat to the Ouroboros, how long would it be able to keep up its attack?
A light mech was still a light mech! Just because the War General was an incredibly versatile multipurpose mech didn't mean it could defy the fundamental weaknesses inherent to the weight class. Ves bet that the War General was expending its reserves a lot faster than the Ouroboros!
Even Waltz began to recognize that the Ouroboros was a very tough mech to crack! Its simplistic design meant that its armor plating was much thicker and heavier than usual!
While the Ouroboros did not possess the mobility to catch up to the War General, it was enough for it to rotate its orientation so that the War General could not focus its attack on a single section of armor!
By employing this simple strategy, Axelar managed to spread out the damage the Ouroboros suffered over the entirety of its damaged but unbroken armor coverage!
The Ouroboros only needed to last long enough until the War General expended its limited reserves!
"Disgusting!" Waltz yelled as he came to the same realization. "Surviving a duel by outlasting your foe is a cowardly way to win!"
Axelar let out a laugh. "Who says that mech duels can't be won by attrition? You only have yourself to blame for employing an overcomplicated mech like the War General! All of this weapon and auxiliary modules must be putting an enormous strain on its energy reserves, right?"
The mech duel between Axelar and Waltz was not only a clash between mech pilots, but also a clash between their mechs!
The War General embodied the principles of a multipurpose mech to a much greater extreme than normal! Hardly any other multipurpose mech conceived by the Terrans could match the War General in sheer versatility!
As for the Ouroboros, it experienced very little transformations throughout the entire battle! Aside from turning its powerful positron rifle into a weaker but more compact positron pistol, the only other change was that the condition of its armor plating continually worsened.
Yet the Ouroboros never flagged! Its basic parameters were so strong that the War General never managed to break Axelar's mech!
It took a lot more sustained firepower if Waltz wanted to pierce through its disgustingly simple but thick armor plating!
Seeing that Waltz would only exhaust his mech before he could ever defeat the Ouroboros, he commanded the War General to stop firing its chest weapon.
The mech pulled out the hollow shaft from its chest before separating the lower half from the top half. The two hollow shafts compacted in other each other, reducing their lengths but increasing their structural strength!
Two large slots opened up from the War General's thighs. Two axe blades floated out of the slots and flew to the two shafts, turning the shortened hafts into twin Destroyer Axes!
"I've underestimated you, Axelar." Waltz said in a calmer voice. "I've dueled overconfident clansmen before. I've beaten all but the most hardworking of them all. You're not one of them. The only reason you've lasted up until now is because I didn't employ the right strategy against your hero mech! I've wasted too much energy on ineffective or inefficient attacks! Only now I've realized that the best way to handle an opponent like you is to compete against you on technique rather than the capabilities of our mechs!"
Both Axelar and Ves realized the significance of those words. Waltz undeniably held the edge in terms of skill and experience! Out of all the possible careers a mech pilot could pursue upon graduation, becoming a mech athlete meant they accumulated the most battle experience!
Other careers provided much greater stimulation due to the higher stakes and the constant threat of death hanging over every battle. Yet the frequency of battles could never match the number of fights a mech athlete participated in during a regular competitive season! Many military mech pilots spent months or years in monotonous training before they would ever be deployed in an actual battle!
Even though Axelar was officially registered to an elite mech corps, he never reported in even once! Both his training accumulation and battle experience simply couldn't compare against a veteran mech athlete!
"Prepare yourself, Axelar! The final dance starts now!"
The War General utilized its superior mobility to rapidly close the distance to the Ouroboros! Waltz intended to force his opponent in a ferocious, close-combat offensive where skill played a much greater role than the parameters of their mechs!
Even a knight in full plate armor could be defeated by a peasant wearings rags as long as the latter possessed more skill!
Axelar welcomed the final exchange of moves. After dealing with so many tedious and annoying attacks, he was glad to see that the War General was nearing the end of its rope!
Although he acknowledged that Waltz was the better mech pilot, he had faith that the Ouroboros he piloted could make up the difference!
"Let's dance!"
The War General in its light mech incarnation swept towards the waiting Ouroboros while holding out its double axes!
The axe blades glowed in grey, signifying that they were Destroyer Axes which were every bit as deadly as the Destroyer Sword wielded by the Ouroboros!
As the War General charged towards the Ouroboros, Axelar did not entirely sit still. The Ouroboros aimed its positron pistol and fired continuous beams at the approaching light mech!
The War General avoided most of the incoming attacks, only suffering some sporadic hits that didn't impact its performance.
Just as the War General reached within five-hundred meters to the Ouroboros, it suddenly threw out both of its Destroyer Axes!
The weapons spun towards the Ouroboros in wide but controlled arcs! Even after they left the War General's hands, they still fell under the mech's control!
Axelar panicked a bit. The Ouroboros hastily managed to block one spinning axe with its Destroyer Sword. As for the other axe, Axelar had no choice but to let the axe leave a deep groove on the damaged surface of his mech!
Both axes bounced away after their impacting and returned to the War General's hands just as Waltz descended upon the Ouroboros in earnest!
CLANG!
This time, Axelar knew better than to face the furious attack head-on! His mech already started to jerk back with its flight system and modules fully engaged moments before the impact!
This allowed the Ouroboros to block one of the axes with its sword while moving out of reach from the other one at the same time!
"You won't be able to shy away from this dance!" Waltz furiously yelled.
The War General quickly recovered and threw out one of its axes in a spin while following up with another axe chop!
The Ouroboros hastily blocked the spinning axe, but was left out of position against the War General!
Only some last-minute maneuvering allowed the Ouroboros to mitigate the damage it incurred to its chest plating after Waltz managed to land a solid axe blow!
Even before the spinning axe returned to the grip of the War General, the mech already shot out its other axe!
Through alternating between throwing the Destroyer Axes and wielding them by hand, the War General quickly managed to put the Ouroboros on the defensive!
Axelar didn't get any opportunity to launch an attack as axes continually crashed against his mech! Even though he did his best to retaliate against the War General by shooting it with the positron pistol, the Ouroboros was rapidly accumulating a lot of damage!
Right now, the situation between the two mechs had reversed! The Ouroboros possessed a lot more versatility than the War General due to its weapon loadout. In contrast, the War General abandoned all other weapon systems and modules and focused solely on achieving victory through overwhelming close-ranged assaults!
"It's too difficult for the Ouroboros to fend off two axes at once!" The announcer commented. "The War General may have exhausted most of its tricks, but it is undeniably holding the upper hand so long as it keeps entangling Axelar's mech up close!"
Utilizing all of his skill and battle experience, Waltz managed to land some of the Destroyer Axes on the sections of the Ouroboros that suffered previous hits. Through focusing his attacks on those vulnerabilities, he finally managed to crack open the hero mech's incredibly resilient shell and damage some of its internal components!
"The Ouroboros has landed in dire straits!"
Axelar knew that he was in trouble this time! Yet even as the pressure mounted on his shoulders, he gave himself more fully to his mech! His deepening connection with his own mech started to elevate his piloting ability to its peak and beyond!
The Ouroboros blocked and evaded the unrelenting axe attacks with greater skill. While Axelar didn't manage to negate all of the attacks, he at least managed to buy himself more time.
"I won't be defeated by Waltz! Not when I've come so far! I am better than this!"
His long-buried dreams of becoming a powerful and famous mech pilot revitalized. Did he truly wanted to drown himself in stimulants all day? No! That was not the life he wanted to live!
"I am a Terran! I am a Streon! I am not going to let a mech pilot of lower birth walk all over me! I'm better than that!"
Axelar put his complete trust in his mech and his other self! He knew he needed to draw upon them both in order to reverse this situation!
Both of them obliged. Even though the Ouroboros accumulated increasingly serious internal damage, it possessed a high degree of redundancy and compartmentalization! Even if its left torso looked like it was spilling out its mechanical guts, the right side easily managed to take over the load!
Even though one spinning axe decapitated a head, the Ouroboros still possessed another head!
When Waltz managed to outwit Axelar and cut off an entire leg, the Ouroboros still managed to counterattack with its other leg and land a very heavy kick against the War General that tore an irregular gash in its waist!
Throughout all of the exertion, Ves never stood still. He continually fed Axelar's mind with his analysis on the Ouroboros and the War General.
"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles!"
Axelar possessed a unique advantage over the more experienced Waltz in that he had access to a genuine mech designer in his mind! With the information he gained from Ves, he finally acted on a critical insight!
As a spinning axe landed on the heavily-damaged chest plating of the Ouroboros and damaged several important internal components, the mech ignored the painful attack but instead raised its positron pistol just as the War General was about to swoop in to deliver another axe chop!
The War General's speed and acceleration made it difficult for Axelar to land a solid hit on the mech, but up close its attack posture left it wide open for just a fraction of a second!
That was enough!
Axelar overloaded the power setting of the positron pistol just moments ago. As soon as he mentally pulled the trigger, its muzzle spat out a beam that was wider and more potent than the beams fired in its full-sized rifle configuration!
Even though the positron pistol exploded from the strain shortly after, taking out the entire hand of the Ouroboros with it its death, the powerful positron beam landed exactly where Axelar had aimed!
The beam passed straight through a narrow gap in the chest plating of the War General.
BOOM!
The mech suddenly blew up, separating its lower half from its upper half!
Chapter 1167
Before the War General took up its Destroyer Axes, the mech employed an unusual ranged weapon module, turning it into a marksman mech.
Waltz eventually abandoned the strategy seeing that his War General would exhaust its energy reserves long before the Ouroboros succumbed from the damage. Yet even as the mech pulled out the hollow shaft from its chest and turned them into compact handles for its Destroyer Axes, the weapon module in its chest still existed.
Even though retractable armor plating quickly closed up the hole in its chest, it still represented a structural weak point in the War General!
Even in this form, the War General was still very much a multipurpose mech! Although Waltz abandoned all other modes of attack in favor of overpowering the Ouroboros with an unrelenting rain of axe strikes, those other modules still remained in place!
Compared to the Ouroboros which possessed nearly no additional modules, the War General in its light mech form still possessed more than a dozen compact modules spread throughout its frame!
Of all of those modules, the weapon system integrated in its chest was the largest and most powerful of them! To Ves, the weapon module in its chest represented great offensive power.
"Great power always comes at a price!" Ves mentally repeated to himself. "The greater the power, the greater the price!"
Mech designers continually engaged in balancing tradeoffs. Increasing one aspect of a mech always led to decreasing another aspect of a mech.
While the Terrans were able to elevate every parameter of their mechs through the use of superior materials and technology, no matter how advanced first-class mechs turned out to be, they still followed the fundamental rules of mech design!
A design choice that increased the offensive power of a mech inevitably decreased its mobility or defensive power.
A design choice that increased the defensive power of a mech inevitably decreased its mobility or offensive power.
A design choice that increased the mobility of a mech inevitably decreased its offensive or defensive power.
According to this paradigm, the War General in its heavy mech form was a machine that excelled in both offensive and defensive power to the detriment of its mobility.
It was very hard for the Ouroboros to defeat it, let alone come close to it to engage in a close-ranged brawl!
Yet once Waltz shed the outer layer of his mech, the War General adopted a very different set of attributes!
The War General in its second form obviously relied on evasion rather than armor to withstand attacks. Therefore, mobility was paramount and its mech designer put a very heavy emphasis on making it as fast and agile as possible!
In addition to upping its mobility, the War General retained most of its offensive power as well. Various integrated weapon systems as well as the myriad transformations of its main external weapon allowed the War General to employ various powerful offensive modes of attack against a variety of threats!
Whoever designed the War General put a very high emphasis on versatility as well to increase its offensive power. In fact, this property defined the entire design!
While its versatility boosted the offensive power of the mech to a very high level, all of this came at a cost.
"The heavy mech form possesses low mobility while the light mech form is lacking in defensive capabilities."
Although the War General was clad in very strong armor plating, enough for it to withstand several potshots from a positron pistol, its design did not make full use of its armor system!
"The War General can't provide optimal armor coverage with all of the weapon systems and other modules integrated in its frame!"
From the gauss rifles and the radiant beam projector integrated in its chest, the War General's defensive power was frankly awful. The only reason why it managed to last this long against Axelar was that it was simply too mobile to expose its many weak points to accurate attacks.
Yet as long as Axelar managed to land a single substantial attack on one of those weak points, the War General would definitely suffer! Each weapon system was covered up by thin and imperfect retractable armor plating. It was a compromised way of covering up the surface of the mech when its weapon hardpoints weren't being used.
Previously, Ves mentally calculated the amount of power required to pierce through those retractable armor plating and came to the conclusion that it took at least two positron pistol attacks to overcome their defenses.
After that, it took a third hit to exploit the glaring hole in the War General and inflict crippling internal damage.
Axelar wouldn't be able to land three consistent hits on a fast-moving mech. The Ouroboros wouldn't even last long enough to complete that arduous challenge!
He needed to overpower the defenses put in place to protect the War General's frontal weak points within a single attack!
Ves therefore devised a way to do so by overloading the positron pistol. Even though he knew that the pistol would blow up, it at least granted Axelar a single opportunity to unleash a very powerful ranged attack!
With his current level of skill, Axelar wouldn't be able to land his Destroyer Sword on the War General. Not when he was already being suppressed by his opponent's superior skill!
Therefore, the positron pistol was his only choice.
Ves identified the closed weapon port in the chest of the War General as the most critical target.
However, it was easier said than done for Axelar to hit this narrow point on the War General with a single attack!
The Ouroboros only had one chance to fire its positron pistol before it exploded from the strain. Axelar had no second chances once he missed!
At the final moment, it was all up to him and his mech!
Neither disappointed Ves! The Ouroboros managed to land a critical attack on the weapon port of the weapon system integrated in the chest of its opponent. The potent positron beam not only penetrated past the closed weapon port, but also inflicted serious damage to the module and whatever lay beyond!
Something critical such as the power reactor or some other volatile component got struck. This led to a devastating reaction in which the War General blew up from within, separating its upper half from its lower half!
Seconds after the battle, the arena's shield generators deployed a remote shield around the cockpit of the War General.
Despite being in close proximity to the explosion that tore the War General in half, the cockpit was made of incredibly resilient materials! Even though it suffered enormous dents and a number of breaches, the cockpit still managed to preserve the life of its mech pilot!
The audience were stumped. How could the War General get taken out so easily by a single hit? Even if it was a light mech, shouldn't it have lasted a little longer?
The announcer was quicker on the uptake. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! The verdict is clear. Axelar Streon has won his challenge against the Haspel Asps and defended the honor of the Tyon System!"
The majority of the audience instantly erupted into cheers and applause! The devotion of millions of people in the Cube Arena along with billions if not trillions more watching the live broadcasts of the event all poured into the winner!
Axelar hardly believed he managed to pull of that insanely difficult attack at the end! Yet his skill and his mech both pulled him through!
Using the intact sensors of the remaining head of his damaged Ouroboros, he zoomed in his view on the audience sitting around the cube-shaped arena space.
Beyond the active shielding that did an admirable job in containing all of the destructive weapon emissions, Axelar could hardly find a person in the audience who wasn't cheering him on. Even the out-system visitors who didn't have a stake in the fight congratulated him for his victory!
Axelar never felt like a true mech pilot before this moment. Only now did he saw the joy in his profession. The intense struggle and the close victory he secured made him feel alive in a way that his recreational stimulants never achieved.
The appreciation he received from so many spectators of this high-profile mech duel elevated his mood and motivation to unseen heights. The high he enjoyed from applause was much more enjoyable than any highs induced by artificial stimulation!
"I've been missing out on this! Piloting mechs is a lot better than drowning myself in stimulants!"
For the first time in his life, Axelar began to appreciate his piloting training. Perhaps piloting a mech was not all that bad!
Even as the arena took hold of the immobile Ouroboros and towed it out of the arena space, Axelar was still engaged in this extraordinary moment in his life.
As for the 'other self' responsible for pushing him to unearth his potential, Ves mentally sat back in order to process his own gains.
While Ves did not make a lot of important observations at the start of the mech duel, his gains increased when Axelar became more immersed in the duel. As Axelar opened himself up to the Ouroboros, his thoughts and thinking processes became more involved and more concise!
Ves captured many small details on how Axelar operated his mech! Although the mech pilot wasn't all that used to piloting hero mechs, it was much less complicated to pilot one than a standard multipurpose mech!
"It's very interesting to see the approach of a Terran mech pilot to a hero mech."
To a Terran like Axelar, piloting a hero mech was trivially easy. Yet that did not mean the mech pilots of the Komodo Star Sector would be able to employ the same degree of multitasking as Axelar just employed.
The piloting capabilities of a Terran mech pilot was too far ahead compared to a regular mech pilot from a third-rate state!
Ves observed plenty of regular mech pilots before in his previous Mastery experiences, so he wasn't ignorant to their overall level of performance. What Ves picked up from Axelar was how far mech pilots could go in terms of multitasking and other essential piloting abilities.
"Axelar is more than capable enough to keep up with a high-performing hero mech like the Ouroboros. I can't expect a mech designer from the Bright Republic or the Ylvaine Protectorate to do the same!"
While Axelar made it seem easy, Ves knew that piloting a hero mech was still incredibly complicated! The act of employing both a sword and a rifle at the same time put considerable strain on mech pilots.
Unless they underwent some form of genetic and biological augmentation, normal mech pilots would never be able to bring hero mechs to their full potential!
"That's not necessarily a bad thing." Ves mentally muttered. "A hero mech isn't meant to be an accessible mech pilot."
Only exceptional individuals were meant to pilot hero mechs. Not everyone equalled Lord Javier or Venerable Foster in piloting skill or advancement speed.
One of the most important conclusions he made after witnessing Axelar in action was that hero mech designs should always be private designs.
"Hero mechs are unsuited for mass production. It's absurd for any mech designer to believe they can manufacture heroes en masse!"
How could a hero mech still carry any symbolic meaning if thousands of copies existed at once?
A hero mech should be a unique machine that defined the hero who piloted it! Right now, Axelar's brave performance turned his Ouroboros into his iconic mech!
"Did I really design this mech?" Axelar idly questioned as he slowly disengaged his connection to his mech and powered it down. "How crazy is my other self to design a hero mech, and one that fits so perfectly to me? Am I prodigy in mech design? Maybe I should start designing mechs for a living!"
Ves wanted to palm his face.
Chapter 1168
"What an idiot." Ves muttered as soon as he woke up again in his real body.
Lucky, who was idly resting on top of his chest, suddenly floated in the air and greeted his revival. "Meow!"
"Hahaha! I'm back!"
His consciousness didn't stick around in Axelar's mind for long. As soon as the mech duel ended, Ves already harvested the insights he initially set out for. The System evidently agreed, as it pulled him out soon afterwards.
Aside from learning some very important truths about hero mechs, he also came into touch with an entirely different society.
The Greater Terran United Confederation deserved to be called a first-rate superstate. Ves personally witnessed its full splendor. With all of their might, wealth, power, technology and manpower at their disposal, he fully believed that they once held dominion of most of humanity across the stars.
"That time is over now." He remarked as he checked his life-support machine. He had been out for more than eight days, which was exactly what he expected. "The Terrans are still great, but they are too content to expand their ambitions."
Experiencing the Terran Confederation from within allowed him to verify all the rumors that others have said about the oldest existing human power in the galaxy.
Despite their superior might, wealth, power, technology and manpower, most of their potential was being wasted on needless internal conflicts and hedonistic pleasures. While the Confederation was not an entirely decadent state, the lack of drive towards pursuing greater goals made the state too insular and focused upon themselves rather than any greater ambitions.
This stood in stark contrast to what he heard about the New Rubarth Empire, which avidly pursued hegemony over the entirety of human space!
What Ves found the most remarkable about the Terrans was that they spent a lot of effort on upgrading their genes and biology. Baseline humans practically didn't exist anymore within the borders of the Confederation as even the lowliest citizen inherited highly-optimized genes from the ancestors who first underwent genetic therapy.
Despite this drive towards elevating Terrans into a higher form of life, they were very much human. At most, their upper limits had been raised to double, triple or even ten times their original capabilities.
Yet did most humans actually make full use of their potential all the time?
No.
Even Axelar, someone who could have been much stronger than any mech pilot of the Komodo Star Sector, wasted far too much time on drugging himself stupid all day.
"Humans are humans." Ves concluded. "Being stronger and smarter doesn't change that. As long as the genetic modifications haven't removed their humanity, they will always be afflicted by the flaws of our race."
This rule also applied to himself. Even though his body had been upgraded and messed around with multiple times, Ves never considered himself a more perfect human being. He might be a lot more capable compared to others, but he could easily descend to Axelar's level if he grew complacent.
"No matter how rich or poor you are, you need to fight to obtain a life worth living!"
When Axelar won his mech duel against Waltz Nexbern in public, he experienced an unprecedented amount of fulfillment! It was through actions like these that that he could turn around his life and make his existence meaningful!
Ves always thought enviously about the fortunate lives of the Terrans and Rubarthans enjoyed. Who in the galactic rim wouldn't?
He still considered them fortunate, but he no longer considered humans who lived in other parts of the galaxy inferior.
"There's no need to put myself down in front of a Terran or a Rubarthan."
As Ves physically recovered from resting on his bed for more than a week, he contemplated whether he should look up Axelar's name on the galactic net.
While he abandoned Axelar shortly after the mech duel, the clansman was still in trouble! Ves couldn't help but grin at the thought of signing the junkie up for the Trail of Tears.
"Serves him right for wasting so much of my time!"
In ordinary circumstances, a wastrel like Axelar should never be able to do well in the Trail of Tears. Yet Axelar showed he could be greater than his addicted self during the duel. If he continued to reform his life in this direction through the many trials the elite training program forced him to, it wasn't impossible for him to transform his entire life!
A creeping sense of foreboding swept over him. Had Ves inadvertently changed the life of yet another Mastery host?
Curiosity drove him to investigate.
Ves activated his comm and entered the galactic net. As soon as he inputted Axelar's name, he immediately encountered a profile published by the MTA.
"Only high-ranking mech pilots enjoy this treatment!"
The moment he entered the page and skimmed through its content, he felt like he read through the biography of an entirely different person!
VENERABLE AXELAR STREON, THE HERO OF NEW TERRA
It quickly became clear that Axelar not only survived the incredibly arduous Trail of Tears, but also thrived! While he hadn't managed to advance to expert pilot during the training program, it only took a couple of years after he returned to advance to expert candidate!
After that, he gradually sharpened his piloting skills and advanced to expert pilot. That wasn't the extent of his progression, as he also managed to advance to ace pilot roughly half-a-century later!
This was the second ace pilot that emerged after Ves paid a visit to their minds in the past!
"What is it about me or the System that turns these mech pilots into exceptional figures?"
Regardless of the cause and effect, Ves felt a strange well of pride surging in his heart. It was him who forced Axelar to get off the couch and make something out of his life!
The one notable surprise he encountered in the biography was that Axelar continued to make use of the Ouroboros. In fact, he still piloted it to this day as his ace mech!
As Ves followed some links and watched some of the rare footage of the Ouroboros in action over the past few decades, he almost didn't recognize his creation anymore!
Little remained from its initial form as an advanced first-class hero mech created with the help of an auto designer. Its subsequent incarnations all incorporated different elements from Senior and Master Mech Designers!
The Ouroboros had been upgraded to such an extreme extent that perhaps not a single part was left of the original Ouroboros!
Ninety years had passed. Both the mech pilot and the prevailing mech technology underwent a lot of progress. It was logical for Axelar to desire to pilot a better mech.
Whereas most mech pilots would have switched to a newer and better mech model, Ves at least felt content that Axelar decided to stick with the Ouroboros. The affection he held for his own mech must have grown even stronger over the years!
There was only one big snag that ruined his mood.
Axelar took credit for designing the Ouroboros!
"You plagiarist!"
Ves wanted to puke. Although he left Axelar's mind with no explanation, it seemed the mech pilot genuinely believed that he was responsible for designing the original incarnation of the Ouroboros!
Right now, the Ouroboros had gained an unimaginable amount of fame in the Terran Confederation! As Axelar's fortunes rose, so did the fortunes of his mech!
While Ves didn't recognize any of the parts and materials of the ace mech version of the Ouroboros, Axelar still retained its conceptual and visual design!
The Ouroboros, the Serpent of Creation and Destruction, was the only hero mech from the Terran Confederation that achieved galaxy-wide fame! Wherever it went, creation and destruction followed in equal measure!
And Axelar shamelessly took credit for something that Ves conceived on his own!
"This is my art!" Ves yelled.
That wasn't the extent of Axelar's theft. As he gained more fame as an expert pilot and and ace pilot, he also stole one of Ves' phrases, adopting it into his signature adage!
"Two weapons are enough! The power of creation and destruction triumphs over all!"
Even against the most advanced ace mechs developed by the best Terran or Rubarthan mech pilots, the Ouroboros proved Axelar's signature adage over and over again!
Ves felt the urge to travel to the heart of the Terran Confederation and smack Axelar's face with his own palm!
He quickly abandoned the thought. The current Axelar was nothing like the old one!
The modern Axelar looked much more mature and distinguished. With his cropped, auburn beard and his strong military bearing, Axelar enjoyed an exemplary status within the Terran Confederation.
Not only did he become an ace pilot, he also became a mech general! He worked his way up the ranks of an elite mech corps until he became its ultimate leader!
This meant that Axelar not only possessed considerable personal strength, but also the mind and maturity to lead over one of the most powerful military units of the Confederation!
Axelar also engaged in politics, using his growing influence to good effect. He became known as the Hero of New Terra for joining a faction that advocated for Terran supremacy.
He wanted to reform and revitalize the Terran Confederation! While this faction gained a lot of strength over the recent decades, the overwhelmingly conservative old guard resisted the advances of the upstarts as best as possible.
For now, the Hero of New Terra and the Serpent of Creation and Destruction still had more ways to go. A lot of people expected Axelar to achieve greater heights in his very long lifespan!
"Forget it. What Axelar has achieved is his own merit, not mine." Ves shook his head.
While Ves might have given Axelar the initial push, the Terran earned everything he achieved through his own hard work!
Even the Ouroboros no longer belonged to Ves. His Spirituality didn't react at all to seeing its latter incarnations, though the footage available on the galactic net wasn't all that clear in the first place.
He wasn't sure what would happen if Ves ever reunited with Axelar and the Ouroboros. Did his spiritual imprint still exist in the mech he originally designed but gained a life of its own?
For some reason, Ves imagined himself as an absent mother who abandoned her husband and her newborn child! As a single father, Axelar was stuck with the responsibility of raising the Ouroboros by himself!
In such a situation, the Ouroboros likely wouldn't appreciate a reunion with its deadbeat mother!
"I don't have anything to do with them anymore. Our differences are too great."
Axelar became an ace pilot and a mech general, turning him into a grand figure in the Terran Confederation. The Ouroboros grew alongside its pilot and underwent a huge metamorphosis.
As for Ves? He was just a young Journeyman Mech Designer! People like him never even came within touching distance to an ace pilot or an ace mech!
What really mattered was digesting the lessons he learned through his latest Mastery experience.
He didn't know whether his beliefs about hero mechs conformed to the prevailing standards of this mech type. Yet his opinions matched all of the observations he made on hero mechs.
He summed up the three most pertinent points.
"A hero mech is only fit to be piloted by a hero!"
"Hero mechs shouldn't be produced en masse!"
Not everyone was cut out to pilot a hero mech. Even in a very advanced state like the Terran Confederation, most mech pilots there wouldn't be able to make hero mechs live up to the name of their mech type.
That brought Ves back to the nature of the private commission he accepted. Right now, his mind was filled with inspiration! He had entered the best state for designing a hero mech. However, whether he could make use of any of his ideas depended heavily on the wishes of the client and the mech pilots assigned to pilot his next works!
"Can ceremonial bodyguards even be heroes?"
Chapter 1169
Ves leisurely held Lucky in his grasp as he exited his stateroom on the Barracuda for the first time in more than a week. He entered the lounge of his private yacht and met Gavin and Ketis.
"Ves!" Ketis called with evident surprise. "You're finally out of your cave! I thought you were starting to forget yourself or something."
"Hero mechs are very interesting. Can you blame a mech designer for getting enthralled by their existence?"
Lucky jumped out of his grasp and moved over to Ketis in a cute manner. The cat wanted to be spoiled!
As Ketis played with Lucky, Ves moved over to sit next to Gavin.
"How's the company, Benny?"
His assistant furrowed his brows. "Uh, is your memory okay? My name is Gavin, not Benny."
"I know. Starting from now, I'll call you Benny, though."
"Are you sure you haven't been up something this past week? Have you been taking stimulants or something?"
"NO!" Ves avidly denied. "Pff! I'll never become an addict!"
After experiencing the torment of Axelar's previous life, Ves vehemently rejected such an unfulfilling lifestyle!
"Then why call me Benny?"
"Just consider it as a private joke."
"Okay..."
An awkward silence fell between them. After a while, Gavin accepted that he would just have to deal with it like he did with his employer's other eccentricities. Ves was beginning to grow weirder and weirder every day as he slowly shed his mediocrity!
"The LMC is doing well for now." Gavin began to report. "The sales of the bronze and silver label Aurora Titan models have peaked. While it benefited from a considerable amount of hype and publicity due to the sensational events that happened during its product reveal, not a lot of mech buyers actually need a super-expensive mech that is sold for at least 100 million credits."
Ves nodded in understanding. "I've always positioned the Aurora Titan as an upscale mech. Collecting over a thousand orders for our new mech model in the first week of its release already exceeds our expectations."
"Now that the initial hype is starting to fade, we don't expect the Aurora Titan to do well in the following months. There are two reasons for that. First, the 'independent' reviews for your mech design is not very flattering. Second, while the Aurora Titan itself gained a lot of positive publicity in the media, it is tainted by its association to you. Ves... please do me a favor. Don't look up your name."
"What is the media saying about me? Nothing too bad, I hope?"
"It's complicated. You've become a very polarizing figure in the mech community." Gavin admitted. "Within some government and military circles, you've earned their support. Within the vast AUMD alumni network and some parts of the mech industry, you are everything they don't want to see in a mech designer!"
This was the price Ves paid for denigrating a Senior Mech Designer in public. Seniors should always enjoy the respect of their lessers in the profession! Ves not only broke this custom, but he stepped on it until it became a flattened mess!
"What's your take on it, Benny? Is my personal reputation tarnished?"
Gavin shrugged. "The news cycle is very short. After a month, most of the public will forget about it. However, the mech industry doesn't forget as fast. You've acquired the reputation of a brave but combative and impulsive mech designer. Some people might like that, but other people are questioning whether the mechs you've designed are sound."
The conduct of the lead designer always affected the perception of the products they designed. If Ves gained a smelly reputation, then all of his mech designs acquired the same stench!
However, Ves recognized that this relationship went both ways. As long as the designs he published were all excellent mechs, he could rehabilitate his reputation as a mech designer!
Regardless of his personal quirks, as long as a mech designer possessed the ability to design good mechs, then the mech market could forgive every transgression!
"I'm a de facto Journeyman." Ves stated. "Becoming an official Journeyman is just around the corner. That should count for something, right?"
"It's true that it's better to be a controversial Journeyman than an Apprentice. You're still young and the mech market hasn't seen enough of your work to form a solid opinion. You still have room to change public perception."
"Do the best you can, but I'm not going to change myself. I am happy with who I am and I have no plans to change myself."
"Is that wise?"
"I'm confident in my mech designs. No matter how awful the media portrays me, they can't beat my work!"
If he was still a Novice or an Apprentice, then he would have cared a lot more about his personal reputation. Now that he advanced to a Journeyman, he no longer worried about selling too little mechs.
As a Journeyman, each of his mech designs were viable products! The only way they designed a bad mech was if they faced too many limitations or deliberately wanted to troll their clients.
The first mech he designed after becoming a de facto Journeyman was a case in point. Even though Ves depended heavily on an auto designer to rush the design of the Ouroboros, his hero mech still fared well against a mech designed for professional mech duels!
Rather than pay too much attention to something as ephemeral as reputation that blew from one direction to the next, Ves would rather stay true to himself. How could he design a great mech if he wasn't comfortable in his own skin?
When he designed the Ouroboros, Ves already observed something remarkable about his connection to his design seed. With his spiritual senses, he kept track of how it fluctuated based on his mood.
He tentatively determined that his connection to his design seed strengthened and weakened according to how close he conformed to the personality traits it absorbed during its formation!
He concluded that Journeyman Mech Designers stopped staying true to their old selves benefited less from their design seeds!
Ves wondered if this interaction still played out when a mech designer gradually grew older and more mature. Change was inevitable. No human retained the same personality over decades.
Did that mean that older mech designers found it increasingly more difficult to advance because their personality and their attitudes naturally shifted over time?
It was an interesting hypothesis that Ves would have to test out for himself. Perhaps the MTA already knew of this relationship. It would explain why so many high-ranking mech designers didn't hide their eccentricities.
Ves and Gavin continued to discuss some other matters that emerged during the week.
"Calsie informed me that the Larkinsons are planning to change some of their customs." Gavin noted.
"What is my family up to now?"
"You've become an increasingly more important figure to the family. You're already being regarded as one of their leaders, you know. Calsie heard from your grandfather Benjamin that the Larkinsons plan to erect a new family compound on Cloudy Curtain!"
"What?!"
"They want to expose more Larkinsons to your branch of the family. Many Larkinson mech pilots dream of joining the Avatars of Myth. The norms among the Larkinsons want to build up a career in your growing company. From what I've heard, the Larkinson Family is pretty insistent on playing a greater role in your network."
Ves always knew the Larkinsons were casting greedy eyes on him and his company, but for them to decide such a matter while he just left for the Ylvaine Protectorate was very rude!
He already made his opinion of involving the family in his matters known to his grandfather! Benjamin and the other Larkinson elders should have known better to butt their heads into his business!
"I'll go call my grandfather later and hear what he has to say." Ves sighed.
He knew it would be hard for him to reverse a decision like this because his grandfather always acted decisively. It was hard to say no to family!
From the skeptical look that Gavin directed towards his boss, he didn't have much hope that Ves would get his way!
"Anyway, during our journey, we maintained regular contact with the Ylvaine Protectorate. Madame Cecily Curin's staff helped us complete the last bureaucratic arrangements that allows us to enter, stay and work in the Protectorate."
Visiting a closed state like the Ylvaine Protectorate was a lot harder than entering an open state like the Reinald Republic.
The Reinaldans welcomed almost everyone, including outright pirates, as long as they brought money!
The Ylvainans on the other hand rigorously patrolled the borders of their state. While border patrol in space was full of holes and empty space, every starship needed to pass through a star system if they wanted to sneak into the Protectorate. The Protectors of the Faith became very proficient at catching lawbreakers who avoided the very restrictive visa application process.
Still, someone as powerful as Madame Cecily shouldn't have any problems inviting a foreign mech designer to work on her commission. Her directorship wasn't for show!
"Do you have more details on the commission, Benny? What I've read so far isn't very explicit in its details."
Gavin shrugged. "The client wanted to keep the details close to her chest. She'll only explain her full demands to you in person once you arrive at Kesseling VIII."
"Surely you did some research on your own, right?"
"Who do you think I am?" Gavin grinned. "I managed to dig up a couple of more details. First, while Madame Cecily is a member of the Curin Dynasty, her bodyguard mech pilots are predominantly members of the Kronon Dynasty."
Ves frowned. "Why doesn't the Curin Dynasty provide their own bodyguards for their own officials?"
"The Kronons are the Protectors of the Faith. They hold a monopoly on military power. They take it upon themselves to protect every member of the three leading dynasties, not just their own."
"Does the client trust her own bodyguards?"
It would be very difficult for Ves to design suitable hero mechs for mech pilots that the client didn't want to empower.
"I'm not into Ylvainan politics, so I can't say, but the Kronons are very serious about their duty and responsibilities. Many Kronons are known as warrior monks. They value their integrity and their faith. Besides, the more progressive members of the Kronon Dynasty are in favor of reform."
That last remark was the one that really mattered. Warrior monks or not, Ves never put too much stock in someone else's integrity unless he met them in person.
"Do you have any details about her bodyguards?"
"Not much. No one pays much attention to bodyguards."
The client hadn't revealed a lot of details to Ves. If not for certain guarantees added into the initial contract, Ves wouldn't be so ready to travel to the Protectorate.
Once Gavin finished bringing up everything he needed to hear, Ves dismissed his assistant and walked up to Ketis and Lucky.
While the cat enjoyed his pampering, Ketis looked up to Ves. "Hey."
"Are you looking forward to this trip?"
"Not really." She replied. "You're just going to lock yourself up again to design your next mech, right? I appreciate that you've given me a chance to be involved in the design of the Aurora Titan, but I don't really see a lot of my work in the final version of the design."
"Ah, I know I've been a bit unfair to you, Ketis." Ves apologised. "I'll make sure to pay more attention to your involvement in our next design project. However, your contribution ultimately depends on whether you are able to perform up to standard."
"I know. You're not the only mech designer who constantly improves! Just give me a chance and I'll prove myself to you! I'm tired of being relegated to the side this time!"
While Ves did not expect very much from Ketis, it didn't hurt to see what she was capable of. He could sense her motivation and he wanted to encourage her drive to learn and improve herself.
Validating her passion was essential if Ves wanted to nurture her in a useful assistant in his design projects!
Chapter 1170
The Barracuda passed through the borders of the Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate after a thorough inspection. While the Protectors of the Faith came off as intense and distant, they didn't mistreat the Brighters.
The permissions that Ves and his entourage obtained were all authentic. An important member of the Curin Dynasty invited them over, so the Protectors of the Faith didn't have any cause to halt their entry into their state.
The head inspector did pass on a warning before he boarded the inspection shuttle docked alongside the Barracuda.
"Foreigners, especially Brighters like you, tend to question our faith. In the name of the Prophet, I advise you not to push the boundaries of our hospitality. Our beliefs are our beliefs. We know better than to expect the rest of the galaxy to convert to our faith, but we at least expect our guests to keep their noses to themselves."
Leland answered in Ves' stead. "We are aware of the cultural differences between our states. We respect the Ylvainans and would never jeopardize our relations with your state."
"For your own sake, I hope you are sincere. It is a crime to criticize the Ylvainan Faith within our borders." The inspector warned in an ominous tone. "Despite issuing this warning to every visitor, at least five percent of all the foreigners who enter our state nonetheless run afoul of this law."
"What happens to them, inspector?" Gavin asked.
"Foreigners are exempt from following some of our laws, but not all of them. It is a capital crime to turn our citizens into apostates! If any Ylvainan attempts to corrupt the beliefs of the faithful, then they will suffer the most painful torment we are capable of inflicting on their bodies! Don't worry, though. Foreigners who are guilty of the same crime receive clean executions. We don't want to aggravate the relationship between our states any further."
The team of inspectors left the Barracuda after that, leaving everyone aside from Leland unsettled.
The disguised intelligence operative smiled. "While the Protectorate isn't eager to publicize these kinds of incidents, they do execute a lot of foreigners. The Bright Republic has protested the draconian treatment our citizens receive whenever they become caught up in 'enlightening' the local believer, but the Protectorate has never budged on this matter. Don't expect our state to bail you out if you ignore this warning."
Among the paperwork they signed to enter the Protectorate, they voluntarily acknowledged that they would be subject to some of the Protectorate laws pertaining to the Ylvainan Faith.
The fastest way to piss off an Ylvainan was to mock, criticize and question their faith!
Ves looked at his companions. Gavin and Leland knew better than to run afoul of this law. He didn't worry too much about Ketis either as she was used to living alongside various cultists with extreme beliefs.
He still wanted to say something. "This business trip is very important to the LMC. It's important to me as well. I hope that all of you pay attention to your conduct while we are among the Ylvainans. I know they're weird and that some of their beliefs are rather.. extreme. I hope you can maintain a respectful front no matter what we encounter during our visit. I'll do my best to fight on your behalf, but my influence here is nonexistent."
In the Bright Republic, Ves could rely on his own influence and his connections to the Larkinsons, the Tovars, Flashlight, the Mech Corps and Professor Ventag to fight back against an accusation.
Here, none of those influences held much sway. The Protectorate was a very closed state who deliberately isolated themselves from even their closest neighbors. Ves could only put his trust in Madame Cecily Curin to lend a hand in case he ever faced any trouble from the locals.
The journey to the Kesseling System proceeded without any further delays. While the Kesseling System wasn't a port system, the binary stars it contained made it easier to reach, especially for an upscale corvette like the Barracuda.
During the journey, Ves supplemented his own gains from his recent Mastery experience by perusing some of the literature written by other mech designers.
He quickly noticed that not everything he read about hero mechs conformed to his beliefs.
[...As technology and living standards increase, mech pilots are becoming increasingly capable of piloting more complex mechs. The demand for mechs that only come with a single application will inevitably decrease. The rise of multipurpose mechs in the most developed parts of human space already foretells the death knell for narrowly-specialized mechs in the galactic rim...]
[...Hero mechs will therefore become increasingly more popular as a stopgap between specialized mechs and multipurpose mechs. It is expected that hero mechs will become the prevailing mech type during the transition to prepare mech pilots for the inevitable transition to multipurpose mechs...]
"A hero mech as a training tool? Absurd!"
While the mech designers who wrote these books all designed hero mechs before, Ves wondered if they truly understood the point of hero mechs.
"A hero mech can't be called like that anymore if they are mass produced!"
If Ves studied these books before undergoing his Mastery experience, he would have adopted a similar mindset as the authors. Now that he acquired the beliefs he came up on his own, he was much more skeptical of opinions which clashed with his own.
His interpretation of hero mechs had become his private faith! He would not allow others to question his faith!
Ves snorted. "Maybe this is how the Ylvainans feel whenever a pompous Brighter comes along and disparages the Ylvainan Faith."
Compared to all the crazy religions in the galaxy, the Ylvainan Faith didn't really stand out. They used to be more fervent when Prophet Ylvaine was still alive, but his death along with the death of the entire Ylvaine Dynasty taught them that the galaxy wouldn't tolerate any instances of intolerant fanaticism.
The Ylvainans tasted defeat before, and it humbled them ever since.
"Every state in the Komodo Star Sector shares a similar past. We are all descended from exiles."
As Ves went back to reading some of the virtual textbooks he acquired from the galactic net, he increasingly felt as if he wasted his money. He paid several hundred-thousand credits to acquire these copies from the MTA's virtual library on the basis of their high ratings and good reviews!
"Hmph. It turns out they are all ignorant sheep who are blindly following a stray donkey."
While there were several authors who shared some of Ves' beliefs, they didn't go far enough. Almost every mech designer believed that hero mechs were bound to explode in popularity in future mech generations!
To his dismay, Ves couldn't entirely dismiss the possibility. Mechs armed with two weapon systems might very well become viable enough for the market to demand them in great numbers.
As long as the demand was there, mech designers would do their best to meet them regardless of what they thought about hero mechs!
Ves foresaw that the hero mechs published during this time would take on a different meaning.
"Hero mechs will become an empty term by then. Maybe the mech industry will have some decency and use a different label to refer to their mech type."
Regardless of what everyone else thought about hero mechs, Ves was determined to design a hero mech that conformed to his own beliefs for the upcoming commission.
While Ves wrestled with his beliefs on hero mechs, the Barracuda finally arrived at the Kesseling System.
Its twin stars emitted a lot of heat and radiation. The Ylvainans who initially colonized the Kesseling System left the inner system alone and settled the most outward planets instead.
Kesseling VIII rose as the local seat of government as it was the most comfortable planet to live upon. The Curin Dynasty even solidified its importance by placing the headquarters of the Ministry of Industry and Trade on this planet.
When the Barracuda arrived in high orbit of Kesseling VIII, the corvette could fly no further. The Protectors of the Faith barred any shuttle or ship that did not belong to an Ylvainan from landing on the planet.
Ves prepared his outfit and his luggage. He inspected his form through a mirrored projection and nodded in satisfaction. The stylist bots in his stateroom did a good job in making him appear presentable in his formal business clothing.
As he exited his stateroom with his floating luggage coffers in tow, he joined the others who were bringing along their own luggage.
Madame Cecily already arranged a shuttle for them all. As soon as the vehicle docked alongside the Barracuda, Ves, Lucky, Ketis, Gavin and Leland all stowed away their luggage and took their seats.
The shuttle separated from the Barracuda and carefully descended down to the surface of the planet that they would be staying upon for the duration of the trip.
"They say that Kesseling VIII itself is split between the reformers and the traditionalists." Gavin noted as Ves watched out the porthole at the ocean and land masses of the terraformed planet. "Although the planet is largely under the administration of the Curin Dynasty, the Poxco Dynasty maintains a presence on every planet."
The Protectorate wouldn't be much of a religious state if they didn't spread their churches everywhere. The Attendants of Ylvaine avidly made sure that every Ylvainan attended services!
"What's the current trend, Benny?"
Gavin sighed in exasperation. Could his boss at least remember his name? "The higher classes who stand to benefit directly from opening up the Protectorate are largely in favor of reforming the state. The lower classes are much more resistant. Even though their welfare will also improve with increased trade, they don't expect to receive many benefits. That makes it a lot easier for the Attendants of Ylvaine to keep them in their camp."
"I would be more careful of your utterances if I were you, Gavin. Remember where we are now." Leland noted from the other end of the Ylvainan shuttle. "You insult every Ylvainan when you equate the strength of their piety to their personal benefits. Don't generalize the citizens of Kesseling VIII according to their social class. There are extremely pious believers among the highest government officials and there are very casual Ylvainans among millions of average farm and factory workers."
"Ah, I'm sorry." Gavin said, recognizing his mistake. "We're lucky to have someone connected to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in our business delegation."
Ves couldn't help but bite his lip. "We are indeed blessed by the addition of Leland. However, I hope that all of you remember who's in charge here."
Leland turned his head and threw a subtle glare at Ves. "Of course, Ves. I would never do anything to contradict your goals."
That remained to be seen. Whether Leland was messing around or not, Ves hoped he wouldn't get caught in any messes!
After some time, the shuttle eventually descended onto a landing pad next to the grandiose villa-like structure that housed the Office of Strategic Mech Management.
"Wow!" Ketis said as she stepped out of the shuttle with her poofy beret on her head. "The Ylvainans sure have style! It kind of reminds me of some of your work, Ves!"
The Ylvainans had a penchant for architecture derived from the ancient baroque style. It was a surefire way to make their state and religion appear more stately and dignified.
As Ves and his entourage were guided inside, they underwent a routine security check that forced them to relinquish all of their weapons and most of their gadgets aside from their comms.
Only until Ves had taken off his toolbelt and the holster holding the Peaceful Repose did the guards allow him to meet with the client.
"What about my staff?" He asked when the guards directed the others elsewhere.
"Madame Cecily wishes to meet you in private, Mr. Larkinson. Your staff will be directed to a waiting room during your initial meeting."
"Can I at least bring my pet?"
"My apologies, Mr. Larkinson. Madame Cecily maintains a strict prohibition against bringing any pets inside. No matter if it's mechanical or organic, your cat must remain in the courtyard."
While it wasn't a weird rule considering that pets could be stuffed with all kinds of spying gear, Ves still felt it was a pity.
"Remain outside and do go off on your own, got that, Lucky?"
"Meow!"
Once he settled Lucky, Ves proceeded to follow one of the guards as they moved to the upper levels. After weeks of travel, he was finally going to meet the client!
Chapter 1171
Ves entered a large, opulent office with high, vaulted ceilings.
As the owner of an imposing office himself, he appreciated the way they raised the stature of the occupant and manipulated the moods of those who entered.
The interior design of Madame Cecily's office blended modernity with tradition. It contained the usual baroque touches, but it incorporated it in a cleaner manner.
The best way to describe was that the interior blended both Ylvainan and Brighter elements to present a future vision of what the Protectorate could become.
The office managed to convey this message without using any words.
No matter how many modern touches the interior contained, the large carved relief of Prophet Ylvaine behind Madame Cecily's desk served to anchor the occupant's devotion to the faith. It was a lively piece of work, and although Ves could tell it had been shaped by a bot, the artist who designed it used his own skills to form its design.
The more Ves engaged in the artistic side of mech design, the more he appreciated the works of other artists. No matter if it was a mech, a sculpture or a structure, each design profession shared something in common, which was to communicate via art.
After taking in the office, Ves slowly stepped forward. His formal shoes mutedly echoed against the hard tiles of the floor. Behind the large desk at the far end of the office, a large swiveling office chair faced its back at him. A smooth arm extended from one side the chair.
Its occupant appeared to be studying the large, elevated, life-sized sculpture of Prophet Ylvaine set into the wall. Ves had to admit that if his own office possessed a feature like that, he could stare at it for hours and appreciate every little nuance the artist conveyed in portraying the founder of the Ylvainan Faith.
As Ves reached the front of the desk, he mentally scratched his head at the lack of response so far. Was Madame Cecily making a power play?
He decided to be direct, if only to stave off the awkward silence that threatened to ensue.
"Madame Cecily Curin, I presume?"
The slim, smooth arm resting on the left armrest of the chair tapped a single finger against the surface. That seemed to activate a command that turned the high windows opaque and turned on an interference field.
"I am Ves Larkinson, a de facto Journeyman Mech Designer from the Bright Republic. You invited me here to fulfill a private commission."
"You're finally here. Good." A confident feminine voice spoke. "It has been a long time since I last saw you. Have you already forgotten about little old me?"
The office chair swiveled to face Ves, revealing someone who looked very different from the images of Madame Cecily Curin he studied beforehand!
Ves immediately recognized the voice and appearance of the woman who faced him now.
"Calabast!"
"In the flesh."
"Y-You! Where is Madame Cecily?"
Calabast pressed her hands together and grinned. "Haven't you already figured it out? I am Madame Cecily."
"Yeah right." Ves responded with skepticism. "I don't know who you really are or who you work for, but there's not a single drop of piety in you. If you're an Ylvainan, then I am a CFA officer!"
"I'm glad you aren't taking my word at face value. Such caution is vitally important if you wish to keep your identity as a Holy Son a secret."
The mention of that unwanted identity displeased Ves immensely. "Why are you here? Why am I here? Is the commission you presented to the LMC even real?"
"Oh, it's real, have no fear. You still have work to do in the Protectorate, but let's discuss that later. First, I want you to calm down and take a seat."
"How the hell can I calm down when you've come back to haunt me?!" Ves burst out. He swept his palm at her. "Every time I've met you, I've suffered for it! You're my least favorite person in the galaxy!"
"Sit. Down. Ves."
Ves glared at Calabast, making no attempt to his his contempt for her. Nonetheless, he did as told and sat down on the padded chair in front of the desk.
Both of them knew that Calabast wouldn't meet with Ves unless she held all the cards in her hands. It was completely useless for Ves to throw a fit or pull out the Amastendira and shoot her in her smug face. All of those radical actions led to worse outcomes than just sitting down to listen to what she had to say.
That didn't mean that Ves liked to be forced into playing along.
"I've been following your progress since your return to the Bright Republic." Calabast began in an amiable voice. "I see you've done a lot of good for yourself. Not only have you ingratiated yourself in one of the local power structures, you've also made brisk strides in advancing your core competencies. The Metal Scroll, the power that has granted you the status of Holy Son, must have aided you in becoming a better mech designer, right?"
"I don't possess this Metal Scroll thing." Ves said truthfully.
Calabast snorted. "Don't try to play word games in front of me. Whether you regard your secret weapon as a Metal Scroll or something else, it's clear that you possess something remarkable that used to belong to the Five Scrolls Compact. Your entire career trajectory up until now is a giant collection of anomalies. While exceptions always pop up among mech designers, your progress is far too fast. An external aid that accelerated your progress is the most likely explanation that fits, especially if you consider that the Holy Scrolls have always served as carriers of knowledge."
She did her homework, alright. Ves felt completely exposed in front of her gaze!
The only consolation was that Calabast likely didn't know the exact details of what advantages he possessed. Ves extended his Spirituality and determined that Calabast did not possess any notable strength in this regard.
He even felt tempted to jerk her around a little bit by employing his Spirituality, but he quickly dropped the idea.
The effect would be limited due to the fact that her own spirit was intangible and difficult to interact with. Also, someone as vigilant and in control as Calabast would immediately detect something amiss.
"What do you want?" Ves asked, deliberately avoiding saying anything about her conjectures.
Unfortunately, Ves seemed to have sent some unspoken signal, because Calabast grinned wider. "You consider me as a threat right now, right?"
"You're a menace since I first met you back in the Harkensen system. That hasn't changed."
"Why?"
"Isn't that obvious?"
"Tell me, then."
"You're a spy. You work for some powerful organization or state. You know my secret."
"Correct." Calabast nodded in satisfaction. "Now tell me, Ves, where in that list states that I have to be your enemy?"
Ves fell silent for a moment. "In my personal experience, spies are shady as hell and are always ready to stab someone in the back."
As if to taunt him, Calabast drew out a slim dagger from a hidden holster from her wrist. She flourished it around her fingers, making it dance.
"Considering your interactions with one of the Bright Republic's intelligence agencies, I can see why you think of us that way. Trust is hard to come by in our circles, but not even spies can operate without some measure of it. I won't ask you to trust me yet, Ves, but I hope we can at least see eye to eye on each other based on mutual benefit."
This wasn't the first time she mentioned something like this. Ves frowned. "Mutual benefit? You mean you want to blackmail me so that you can squeeze me of all the possible benefits I can provide to you and your shadowy employers."
"I don't work for anyone anymore. Not directly, at least. After my last mission, I earned enough merit to hang up my field agent hat. For all intents and purposes, I am acting on my own right now. I haven't shared your secret to anyone, Ves. In fact, I even cleaned up some of the dirty tracks that you've left behind."
"What do you mean by that?" Ves asked with eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"For someone who carries the identity of a Holy Son of one of the most notorious terrorist organizations in human space, you sure don't know how close you came to exposing yourself. Why do you think the CFA hasn't taken you into custody? Why do you think the Five Scrolls Compact hasn't registered your existence yet? Do you think you can just accelerate your career without drawing heaps of investigation behind the scenes?"
Ves looked at Calabast as if he was a fish out of water.
"Uhh.."
"I think that sums up the amount of thought you put into covering your back. I admire your ability to design mechs. You're a genius when it comes to working with mechs. Yet it seems the Metal Scroll can only improve your abilities related to this narrow field. Spies like me can still run rings around you without ever tripping your alarms."
Ves took the rebuke seriously. Even so, he didn't like it when Calabast talked down on him. "I'm a mech designer. I've been focused on improving my ability to design mechs for years."
"There's nothing wrong with that. As you say, you are a mech designer, so it is a given that you are focused on your primary job. All I am trying to say here is that your singular focus on this area is not enough to preserve your freedom and your life. What is the use of becoming a great mech designer when the Five Scrolls Compact eventually knocks at your door?"
"I'll just run or something. The galaxy is big. There's no way they can find a tiny needle in a galaxy-sized haystack."
"Just like your parents? Is that what you want? To lve the life of a fugitive?"
Mentioning his parents was a sore spot to Ves. "What are you suggesting, then?"
"I'm glad you asked that question! It ties into what I want!" Calabast grinned and excitedly cracked her knuckles. "The way I see it, you're a dummy, but a dummy with one of the most precious possessions on the galaxy. I don't think you even realize the full import and history of the Metal Scroll. The Holy Scrolls used to elevate humanity from a weak and short-lived race into a galactic hegemon! Now that one of the Scrolls fell into your possession, you can elevate yourself to the same heights!"
Ves would be lying if he said he never entertained such delusions before. If the Mech Designer System continued to assist in his progression, it wasn't impossible for him to advance to Master or even Star Designer within his lifetime!
"Yet the ad hoc manner in which you are handling your affairs makes it clear to me that you haven't adopted any coherent strategy to manage your rise!" Calabast admonished him. "It's clear to me that if you are left alone, you'll slip up sooner or later and squander your opportunities!"
"So what is your point?"
The woman leaned back on her chair and patted her chest. "My point is that you need a reliable, trustworthy partner who can deal with some of the latent threats in your way. Fortunately for you, I'm willing to be that partner."
A short silence ensued as Ves stared at Calabast with incredulity. "Trustworthy? Reliable? I don't think you know the meaning of those words."
She laughed. "Oh, come now, Ves! I'm one of the few people who found out your secret, but have I ever run off to the MTA or CFA to earn a sumptuous reward? I haven't! Because you know why? I know that any reward that the Big Two can give me will never match my gains if I partner with someone as promising as you! Don't you get it, Ves? I benefit more from this arrangement than any other choices I can make with the information at hand!"
"So it's all about mutual benefit!"
"Exactly, Ves! I don't want to take away your secret! I'm not a mech designer in the first place so I wouldn't know what to do with it. As for handing it to others, do you think I'm stupid? I highly prefer to work with a known quantity like you. Each of us stand to benefit from each other's help, and this will be the foundation of our partnership going forward!"
"Because I'm a dummy, right? It helps you retain control." Ves sardonically remarked.
Calabast threw a knowing smile at him. "I'm glad you recognize the truth. So what do you think of my proposal? Are you willing to let me ride on your transit shuttle? I can pay the fee."
"Is it even possible for me to reject your generous proposal?"
"Frankly, no. I'm just giving you the illusion of choice."
Chapter 1172
"Why?"
"Why what, Ves?"
"Why bother with this charade of a partnership?"
"Do you think I'm insincere?"
"It's very hard for me to trust you. Spies like you tend to say one thing only to mean something else entirely."
Calabast nonchalantly shrugged. "Like I said. It benefits me more if I get to ride on your shuttle than to report you to the authorities. I don't want to blackmail you or exploit you, Ves. That's a short-sighted approach that will only lead to further animosity between us. You're small and weak right now, but how long will that last with the Metal Scroll at your disposal? Eventually, you'll grow up to become a formidable mech designer with a lot of sway who can easily turn the tables on me. Even if I'm careful and employed a lot of safeguards, it only takes one mistake for me to slip up."
"So you just expect me to smile and nod while you are butting into my business?"
"I know it irks you a lot to work with me, set aside your emotions for a moment." Calabast sighed and shook her head. "A secret like yours is extremely desirable by even the mightiest powers in human space. With the way you've been meandering through your life so far, the risk of exposing your secret to one of them is greater than you think. While I can't promise to take care of every problem, I can help you deflect unwanted attention so that you will have the time to grow."
As a businessman, Ves understood her rationale. He just didn't want to acknowledge it. Partnering up with Calabast left a foul taste in his mouth.
Nonetheless, he knew that she was right in her consideration. The other solutions at her disposal were either too risky or didn't pay off very much. Rather than handle the hot potato herself or hand it over to the Big Two, why not invest in its existing owner and strike up a genuine partnership?
"What's in it for you?" Ves asked. "Money? Power?"
"That, and more, Ves. You are thinking too narrowly. Think of what you will become in a century or two. Will you still be a mech designer whose reach only extends to a single star sector? I think not! Your high rate of progression will inevitably propel you to greater heights! The Komodo Star Sector will become nothing in your eyes! Perhaps you'll even relocate to the galactic heartland or the galactic center and become involved in the highest echelons of power! And when you do, I hope I can tag along!"
In Calabast's eyes, Ves was like a transit shuttle slowly rising up to the heavens. Right now, the shuttle was flying low enough for her to climb onboard. As long as she behaved and helped the shuttle reach its destination, she stood to gain just as much as Ves in the long term!
"So you want to achieve greatness through my help?"
"Isn't that what anyone wants?" Calabast smiled. "Even I am no exception. While I may enjoy a more fortunate upbringing than others, I'm still a nobody on the galactic stage. Even if I work as hard as I can, the most I can achieve is becoming a side leader in the Komodo Star Sector. I can forget about rising any higher than that through my own capabilities. Only by partnering up with you will I be able to break through the limitations of my station and rise to greater heights!"
Ves felt that Calabast was largely sincere just now. Ambition sparkled in her eyes as she spoke of rising above the muck who were stuck in their star sectors for their entire lives.
The prospect of riding Ves' shuttle to the galactic center was an irresistible attraction to anyone who lived in the backwaters of human space.
As for Ves, his fascination towards the more developed parts of the galaxy had waned ever since he returned from his latest Mastery experience. While living and working in the Terran Confederation was great, it wasn't the paradise he previously imagined.
Living at the edge of the galaxy could be just as meaningful as living at the very center of it. Although Ves suspected that Calabast hadn't revealed all of her ambitions, he believed what she just said. Who wouldn't want to become a player instead of a chess piece?
He still didn't like it, though.
"What are you offering in return for this supposed partnership?" Ves asked.
"I'm not going to sit back and ride on your coattails, Ves. You need a confidante who can help you achieve greatness. Do you think you can just take advantage of the Metal Scroll and gradually climb to the top in your profession?"
"What's wrong with that?"
"It's too slow!" Calabast shook her head. "What's the difference between leading a normal life and what you are doing now?"
"You just said that I shouldn't be making waves and expose my existence!"
"There's nothing wrong with that as long as the status quo holds. The problem is that it is not a given that peace will last! If you have seen the signs like I have, a time of upheaval might soon be upon us. The current order that enforces peace in our region of space may no longer be there! Anything can happen between now and a hundred years. If you think that the Age of Mechs is a peaceful age, then think again!"
"You know something about the future?"
"Just some hints and suspicions, nothing too solid." Calabast shook her head. "For example, the existence of Sigrund alone is a major threat to human civilization. However, I've performed some research on AIs and figured out that it won't be easy for him to rid himself of the safeguards the CFA hardcoded into his processor core. As long as those safeguards exist, he won't be able to transcend his existence beyond the boundaries of his processor core. That means he won't be able to act as an immortal and omnipotent virtual god on the galactic net."
Ves was always wondering about Sigrund. "So the hybrid AI is laying low while he deals with this problem?"
"That's the most likely explanation. While I may be wrong, we'll just have to deal with it if Sigrund breaks the accord. For now, all three of us benefit more if we all keep our mouths shut on each other."
All three of them entered into pacts of silence with each other. The only difference now was that Calabast wanted to upgrade her accord with Ves into a full-blown partnership.
Though Ves still felt awful about letting Calabast interfere with his life, the underlying logic was very sound.
Hadn't he wanted to recruit a trustworthy spy to head his shadow force? While Calabast wouldn't be occupying the exact same position, her role covered most of the areas which Ves found lacking.
Calabast happen to fall into the category of 'trustworthy' spy. She was trustworthy in that she knew his greatest secret but he could count on her to work with him instead of snitching him out to others.
"I always wanted to recruit a spy to raise a hidden shadow force."
"I can help you set something like that up, but not at this time." Calabast replied in an easy manner. "For now, it doesn't make sense for a newly-ascended Journeyman to become involved in my sphere. That will change as you grow in power and influence, but that will take decades at the very least. For now, the assistance I can provide from remote should be sufficient for your needs."
"If you can't help me with that, then what use are you to me right now?"
Calabast swept her arm over her office. "Haven't you forgotten about my identity here? I am both the Calabast you know and Madame Cecily Curin! My second identity allows me to wield a considerable amount of authority over the Protectorate's mech market. Ever since I returned from my mission, I've thought of many possible ways to assist your growth. I've given up a lot of opportunities in order to assume this identity. This is the best way for me to help you expand your company."
Ves crossed his arms. "Why the Protectorate of all places? Why didn't you infiltrate the Ministry of Economic Development?"
"It's not that easy for me to influence your company's development in your home state." She shook her head. "The Bright Republic's mech market is very competitive and the state isn't inclined to interfere too often. Any attempts of abusing my position of power within a government institution will quickly be noticed by the local factions. Their existence has also made it so that power is divided over a large amount of government institutions. This way, no single faction will ever be able to wield enough power to eliminate the others."
"I see. The Protectorate is different. It's largely a closed economy so the domestic mech market isn't nearly as competitive. Power is concentrated in the hands of just three leading dynasties, each of which concentrate a lot of their power in their respective priorities. A director working for the Ministry of Trade and Industry in the Protectorate is a lot more influential than a director working for the Ministry of Economic Development back at home."
"It also helps that I conveniently made use of a backdoor to assume this identity. Madame Cecily did not exist before I arrived at the Protectorate. Now that I am here, my cover identity is fully established."
"Does that mean the Curin Dynasty will back all of your decisions?"
"It's not that simple." Calabast shook her head. "I'm sure you've already heard about it, but the Protectorate is a very divided state. Reformers and traditionalists are constantly at odds, and even though the former is taking the lead, the latter won't be content to go down without a fight. In such a delicate period of time, the most I can do for you is open up some opportunities to increase your market presence in this state."
That didn't sound like a lot of help, but Ves knew that a lot of foreign mech designers would jump at the chance!
Still, Ves couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Calabast promised big but couldn't offer him a lot of help at this stage.
"If this is the extent of the benefits I can expect from my partnership with you, I must say that I am feeling a bit underwhelmed."
"I can do more than lend you a hand in the Protectorate." She said. "I have only recently separated from my old employers, so I no longer have access to their intelligence network. It takes time to build up a network of assets and informers from scratch. You'll thank me in time once my network spans the entire star sector."
"That is still something in the future. Isn't there something you can do immediately?"
"I have already done more for you than you realize. Haven't I mentioned that I've covered some of your tracks? Anyone who studies your life will inevitably grow suspicious why you've risen so hard. I've employed a lot of resources to spread hundreds of different possible leads on the galactic net and in the entire star sector. Anyone who looks you up will be bombarded with evidence that you are a Terran plant, a Rubarthan plant, a bastard of a notable dignitary from the Friday Coalition, an abnormal half-alien talent from the frontier and etc."
Ves blinked at that. "Won't that make it obvious that I have something to hide?"
"That's not the extent of what I've done to obscure your traces. Right now, there's such a large cloud of uncertainty hovering over your head that it isn't worth it to mess with you. As long as you don't give anyone a strong reason to cross over that line, your secret will remain safe and secure. I will continue to cover your back on this front."
Perhaps Ves indeed neglected this area. "Thanks, I guess."
"You don't have to make it sound as if I'm your mother, Ves. We are equals in this partnership. You do your thing and I do my thing. Only when we combine our efforts will we be able to benefit the most."
The premise of this partnership lay in that Ves and Calabast each benefit more from working together than working alone. While Calabast employed some coercion to get him to accept the partnership, so far she largely meant well.
The question was if this relationship based on mutual benefit would last. Would she keep riding the transit shuttle or bail out at some point?
Chapter 1173
For some reason, the prominent sculpture of Prophet Ylvaine seemed highly incongruent in this setting. Calabast herself admitted that Madame Cecily was a fabricated identity that didn't exist before she infiltrated the Protectorate.
Now that she faced him from the other side of the desk, grinning like a certain mechanical cat who just devoured a huge lump of high-grade exotics, Ves simply could not equate her to a devout believer.
"What is it, Ves?" Calabast asked as she caught his skeptical expression.
"Is it difficult for you to maintain your cover identity here? What if you're found out? I doubt the Ylvainans will be pleased to have a nonbeliever in charge of such an important responsibility."
"Come now. Who do you think I am?" She chuckled. "That little fellow from Flashlight who recently joined your staff has nothing on me! Infiltrating a religious state like the Protectorate is not as difficult as you imagine. In time, you will realize that the Protectorate will play a very important role in the future. You'll thank me for being in the right position at the right time."
"Sure. I suppose you can't tell me anything?"
"I'm sorry. Some secrets are best left with me. For now, it's important for you to expand your presence in the Protectorate. Our goal is to make your mech company into one of the leading foreign enterprises involved in the local mech market."
Ves adopted a skeptical expression again. "I'm happy to see that happen, but is that even possible? The LMC is far from a dominant mech company in the Bright Republic, let alone in the rest of the star sector. It is a bit too much to expect for the LMC to take up a leading position in the Protectorate when companies like NORA Consolidated and other mech companies owned by Seniors can do a much better job."
"Ah, but that's the genius of it." She grinned. 'The Ylvaine Protectorate recognizes the need to liberalize the mech market, but the opposition to it is very intense. The pressure exerted by the Ylvainan Journeymen and Seniors will make it so that the liberalization process will be slow and gradual. Any mech company that is led by a foreign Senior will be restricted from entering, while a smaller mech company led by a Journeyman like you will be able to slip through the cracks. Very few Ylvainans in the mech industry feel threatened by your presence."
Basically, with Calabast's help, the LMC stood to benefit from a first-mover advantage in the Protectorate mech market for a substantial amount of time.
"How much time are we talking about here?"
"Two or three decades. It's difficult to estimate that far ahead. In my judgement, as long as the Protectorate continues to pursue gradual liberalization, you can expect to enjoy that much time in which the Protectorate's mech market can serve as your playground. Every year, I'm expected to permit more foreign mech companies to enter the market without many restrictions, so don't think you have this place to yourself."
The local Ylvainan mech designers also wouldn't sit still and let the foreign mech designers take away their market share. Ves knew that Calabast couldn't push the local interest groups too far on this matter.
"I take it you can manipulate the foreign entrants into the market in my favor, right?"
"Right. I'm expected to allow a number of mech companies led by Apprentices or Journeyman entry into the market. Unlike the offer that I'm about to extend to you, your competitors won't enjoy unrestricted access. While they are allowed to expert a much greater amount of mechs to the Protectorate than before, tariffs and other trade barriers will make them more expensive and less competitive to the other offerings in the market."
If Calabast kept her promises, then a mech designed by Ves that sold for 50 million credits would be for sale in the Protectorate for roughly the same price.
On the other hand, a competitor would still need to deal with a number of trade barriers that increased the cost and reduced the profit of every sale. A mech sold by a competitor needed to be priced at 55 to 65 million credits in order to earn the same amount of profit!
This was a massive competitive advantage to the LMC!
"So all I need to do to earn the right to earn the right to do unrestricted business with the Protectorate is to fulfill the commission, right?"
"Right. It's not a sham if that's what you're thinking of. My cover identity's power base isn't entirely secure. Not everyone in the Curin and the Kronon Dynasty agrees with opening up the economy, and I haven't even mentioned the Poxco Dynasty yet. Suffice to say, need a lot of protection if I want to remain in a position to help you. Ever since I left my old employers, I have to depend on myself for protection. It will be good if you can lend a hand."
"Do you really need my help?" Ves asked. "Surely the local mech designers won't resort to perverting the designs of your bodyguard mechs."
"No. In truth, I can import a decent mech from any foreign mech company if I don't trust any of our domestic mech companies. I just wanted to invite you here so that we can hit multiple birds with a single stone. By making you responsible for designing six of my bodyguard mechs, we can make multiple statements that advance our interests."
"One message would be that you don't trust or think you can rely on a bodyguard mech designed by a domestic mech designer." Ves mentioned.
"Correct. It's meant to be an indirect slap in the face of the Ylvainan mech industry that I turned to a foreigner instead of one of their own."
"I heard your bodyguard mech pilots all consist of members of the Kronon Family. Will they be agreeable to your choice of mechs?"
"They're good soldiers." Calabast dismissed the concern with a wave of her hand. "Regardless of their personal opinions, they'll follow orders. They will pilot a hollowed-out mech-sized cleaning bot if that is what is expected of them. The Protectors of the Faith is one of the least political institutions in the Ylvaine Protectorate. The Ylvainans learned the hard way that pairing fanatics and extremists with mechs is a recipe for disaster."
What she said made a lot of sense, but Ves reserved his own judgement. "Can I meet the six mech pilots who will pilot the commissioned mechs in person? It will help me a lot if I have a solid impression of the people who will actually make use of my products."
"Sure. I'll schedule a meeting for you with them tomorrow. Right now, they are housed in a training base not far from here. My new batch of guards are young mech pilots who graduated from the mech academies only recently. Please take that into account when you design your mech."
"I understand. However, do you really think it is a good idea to assign inexperienced mech pilots to hero mechs? Not everyone is suitable to pilot such a mech."
Calabast swiveled her chair to stare up at the sculpture of Prophet Ylvaine. "You and I need to impress the local mech designers. If you come up with a great hero mech design, we can impress them to such an extent that they won't raise any eyebrows when I give you unrestricted access to the local mech market."
"I can do that.. I think. Do you want my mechs to look fancy or do they have to be combat effective as well?"
"Both. From what I've gathered from your design style, you are capable of both, right? That will be very beneficial to you as you work in this state. Many Ylvainans have a penchant for elegant, artful-looking mechs. Your Blackbeak and the Crystal Lord received a modest amount of attention in some of the local mech circles. The only reason why your company didn't sell more of them is because your gold label mechs are far too difficult to obtain."
"What are your demands when it comes to their performance?"
"I'll leave that up to you. Aside from looking impressive, I want the new mechs to be able to fend off landbound but especially aerial threats."
"Is there anything else you want to add to your shopping list?"
"Yes. I want you to apply a religious theme to the mechs. Outwardly, the mechs have to come across as holy machines."
Ves looked pensive. "While I am confident in my artistic skills, I am not an expert in the Ylvainan Faith. How am I supposed to design a mech with this theme when I know nothing about this faith?"
"You don't have to work alone. Not every mech designer is against the reforms. I'll put you in touch of a couple of friendlier mech designers, though they aren't very high in rank. They should still be able to help you in this field."
"Thank you. From what I've already seen of Protectorate mechs, it's best to have a local on hand to help me shape the aesthetics of my mech."
Outward appearances didn't matter too much in the Bright Republic, but in the Protectorate many mech buyers expected a certain look to their designs.
"I think it'll take me a couple of months to finish the commission."
"I will put the best workshop I have access to at your disposal. If you are short on anything, feel free to inform me. I will make sure you are supplied with what you need as long as it falls within our budget. I can't spend an unlimited amount of money for this commission, so you need to make sure you design some efficient mechs."
"No problem. Can I have a full list of parameters that needs special attention?"
Calabast shook her head. "I'll prepare the list tonight. I don't have too many demands, though. Their ceremonial purpose comes first, but they should still be good enough to put up a fight."
After some poignant questions, Ves understood what Calabast wanted out of the commissioned mechs.
She wanted to intimidate the local mech designers. A hero mech that looked fantastic and performed decently would not have been anything special if designed by a local. If they learned that a foreigner designed such a mech, they had no choice but to bear the implicit insult.
Keeping the local mech designers busy and worried allowed Ves enough room to establish himself in the Protectorate's mech market.
After Ves received all of the instructions of what Calabast expected of the mechs, he could begin to work whenever he wanted.
He still had one more question, though.
"Seeing that you are not entirely safe here, will I be in any trouble while I work here?"
Calabast nodded grimly. "Some of my problems might spill over to you. It's unavoidable. I trust in your survival abilities. A Holy Son shouldn't die so easily."
Ves wanted to groan. "I don't appreciate being exposed to any danger. Can't you just let me return home to the Bright Republic and finish my work at home?"
"Nope. You need to immerse yourself in the Ylvainan culture and way of life if you want to design mechs that appeal to Ylvainans. Running home will also weaken the statements that I intend to convey."
Those sounded like weak reasons to him. "Is that all?"
"For now, yes. If you are really concerned about your safety, then I can allow your own bodyguard mechs to accompany you on the surface of Kesseling VIII."
Ves trusted in the Avatars of Myth he brought along this trip. Currently, the mechs and mech pilots taking part in this mission were still stuck aboard the Greenfeather in high orbit.
Ves still felt as if there was more to the situation than Calabast revealed. "Please tell it to me straight. Am I in serious threat while I'm here?"
"It depends."
"On what?"
"On whether you will be able to charm the local mech community."
Ves began to smile. "Is that all? I'll have you know that I'm an excellent charmer. I'll have the locals eating from the palm of my hand in no time!"
"I see that sarcasm suits you well."
Chapter 1174
Religion formed one of the great divisions of human civilization. Belief in a transcendent existence or an unfathomable structure holding reality aloft provided a framework for humans to find meaning in their lives.
In fact, many of the other alien races that humanity contacted also exhibited beliefs.
The argument between believers and non-believers raged throughout the ages without any sign of consensus.
Fortunately, humanity's expansion in space lessened the pressure of conflict between the two sides. The galaxy was so big that everyone had a place to call their own. Older religions who could trace their origins from Old Earth ruled entire star sectors while newer religions traveled to the outskirts of human space and occupied an unclaimed star system.
In this way, secular states and religious states largely learned to live alongside each other. The rate of conflict between the two types of states wasn't any higher than usual.
If they did go to war, then the impetus for the conflict rarely revolved around clashing ideologies.
Since the founding of Bright Republic and the Ylvaine Protectorate, the two states never found any cause to go to war. The Bright Republic already had their hands full with the Vesia Kingdom, so they tried their best to placate their religious neighbor.
The Ylvainans isolated themselves after a traumatic flight from the galactic heartland. It took several centuries for them to process their crisis of faith and the loss of both their prophet and his entire dynasty.
By the time they were ready to look outwards again, tensions quickly rose with their neighboring Star Faith Collective.
Both of them were religious states, but both of them centered around radically different beliefs!
The Ylvainans possessed transcendent beliefs based around many scattered predictions spoken by Prophet Ylvaine.
The Star Worshippers literally worshipped stars as living, thinking deities. The larger, more energetic and more luminous the star, the more powerful the stellar god!
The conflict between them began to flare in recent times because the Star Worshippers began to eye some of the star systems claimed by the Protectorate. Those star systems possessed powerful singular, binary or even trinary stars!
It didn't help that their beliefs weren't compatible with each other. While the Ylvainans were rather vague and obtuse about the existence of higher powers, one of their core beliefs fundamentally clashed with the central belief of the Star Worshippers.
Prophet Ylvaine once stated that a time would come where every form of life would eventually transcend into immortal godlike beings!
Whether it was a human, alien, exobeast, plant or a virus, a time of ending would come one day where each living being ascended to godhood!
This pivotal prediction sparked a lot of tension between the Ylvainans and nearly everyone else, whether they were secular or religious!
The secularists vehemently disagreed with the Ylvainan inclination to encourage peace between humans and aliens. To an Ylvainan, the aliens were fellow brothers and sisters.
While they accepted the war would always take place between humans and aliens, it was no different from the wars that humanity already waged against themselves. In the larger scheme of things, the Ylvainans dreamed of a time where humans and aliens lived alongside each other in a single galactic community!
Their friendly stance on aliens did not endear the Ylvainan Faith to many states, particularly the secular ones. Their overarching belief that all forms of life would ascend to godhood did not sit well with many other religions that believed in the supremacy of their own gods!
Ves didn't know whether the Star Worshippers aggressively pushed the Ylvainans because of a faith or plain greed. What mattered was the Ylvaine Protectorate faced a continuous escalation of conflict that could erupt into outright war at any time!
Having kept to themselves for all this time, the Ylvainans found to their horror that their war readiness was not up to par compared to the more geopolitically-active Star Faith Collective.
No matter how much fervor the Protectors of the Faith possessed, a strong and sincere belief was not enough to win a battle on its own!
Strong mechs, blooded mech pilots, war-tested martial traditions and robust supply lines mattered more, and the Ylvainans came up short in each of these areas!
Ves and his staff already figured out some of these dynamics through their own research, but the data chip that Calabast threw at him at the end of their meeting painted a dire picture!
As Ves allowed Ketis, Gavin and Leland to study its contents, each of them seem amazed.
"Madame Cecily favors you very much if she is willing to pass on these unvarnished truths to us." Leland noted while looking sharply at Ves. "By chance, did you seduce her or something?"
"Pfff! Don't joke around, please." Ves replied. Even if Calabast looked gorgeous, she was still a spy! "We just found we had more things in common than we thought. As long as we fulfill her expectations, Madame Cecily is willing to elevate the LMC's presence in the Protectorate in order to whip the domestic mech industry back into shape. Each of us are using each other in more ways than one."
None of his staff understood the hidden meaning behind his words. Perhaps Leland might have caught something, but even he shouldn't be aware of Madame Cecily's true identity.
"You know, the predicament the Protectorate has fallen under is an excellent opportunity for us!" Gavin said with shining eyes. "The LMC is a mech company based in Brighter traditions, which counts for a lot since our customers can count on our mechs to perform well in heated conflicts."
"The Ylvainan mech market is significantly smaller than the one back home, though." Ves revealed. "The Ylvaine Protectorate doesn't have a very strong and active mercenary tradition. It's primarily the private forces and smaller dynasties and organizations who are purchasing mechs."
Even a peaceful, isolated state like the Ylvaine Protectorate still possessed demand for commercial mechs
The reformers wanted their state to develop a stronger mercenary tradition. Not only would this strengthen the Protectorate's total strength, but also added a lot more flexibility to how it could be employed. Mercenary corps fulfilled a wide variety of roles, many of which the Protectors of the Faith couldn't be bothered to perform themselves.
With all the mercenary corps about to pop up in the future, the Ylvainan mech industry looked forward to enjoying a boom in sales. The last thing they wanted to see was foreign mech companies swooping in to steal their market share during these good times!
The Bright Republic was known for engaging in frequent war against the Vesians. Along with the relatively open competition in its mech market, the average quality standard was quite high!
The mech buyers in the Bright Republic weren't fools who put their lives on the line by buying bad products. Mech designers only enjoyed success in this state if their designs could keep up with the demands of medium to high-intensity conflict!
Although Ves felt very confident about the LMC's products, he did not think his company would be able to upend the Protectorate mech market by itself.
"I don't think we should look down on the local competition." He cautioned them all. "From what I can tell, their mechs may not be up to par against the mechs used by the Star Worshippers, but they are not too far behind. Once the domestic mech designers stop being complacent, they'll be able to offer very stiff competition."
Even though the Protectorate didn't import many foreign mechs, their domestic mech designers still absorbed information and knowledge from the outside galaxy. They kept up with the latest developments and trends and even licensed many component designs from foreign companies.
The key difference lay in the design. The real reason the Ylvainan mech industry resisted foreign pressure was that they knew that they hadn't sharpened their design skills as much!
If Ves and a random Ylvainan Journeyman each designed a mech out of the same set of component licenses, the latter would probably lose!
Ves predicted that a substantial amount of mech designers currently operating in the Ylvaine Protectorate faced a crisis as they were only competitive during the easy times!
While the Novices and Apprentices faced the brunt of the competition, the higher-ranking mech designers also faced a squeeze! They could say goodbye to the fat profit margins their companies earned as foreign competitors would be able to offer cheaper mechs with better performance.
Yet what the Ylvainan mech designers currently lacked, they could make it up over time. The entire point of opening up the mech market was to elevate the overall standard of mech design in the Protectorate. If foreign mech companies remained dominant after several decades, then a backlash might occur!
Ves summed up the situation. "In short, as long as we take advantage of the opportunity that Madame Cecily has presented to us, the LMC stands to gain a temporary lead in the Ylvainan mech market. During this time, we need to convert our initial gains into an enduring advantage!"
One of the most important steps to doing so was to become familiar with the Ylvainan style of mech design. Due to their low exposure to foreign mech designs, the Ylvainan mech market developed some specific preferences with regards to the mechs they favored.
The morning after his meeting with Calabast, Ves and his staff went on a little excursion to explore the capital city of Kesseling VIII. The Avatars of Myth accompanying the business trip received permission to deploy some of their mechs to guard the group.
The Office of Strategic Mech Management dispatched a guide to accompany the Brighters and introduce them to some of the best sights on the planet.
"Krent is the oldest city on Kesseling VIII. It is famed for its vibrant industry and commerce as it offers very attractive conditions to businesses that settle here." Leon Dalvish spoke. "While there are more prosperous star systems in the Protectorate, most of it is occupied by dominant companies who are not very tolerant towards newcomers."
Ves nodded in understanding. "Kesseling VIII is doing quite well despite not being a port system."
The Ylvaine Protectorate happened to possess their own port system, but due to the state's long-standing policy of isolation, few foreign traders visited the place. While the Zophon System still developed into a strong domestic industrial nexus, it could have been so much more.
The Bright Republic took advantage of this situation by funneling all of the trade that would have passed by Zophon to Bentheim!
Now, it was too late for Zophon to take its rightful share of trade. Bentheim became too dominant for most trade companies to consider passing through an Ylvainan port system!
What Ves and the rest of his group noted the most was all the outward signs of devotion to the Ylvainan Faith. Statues, projections and other depictions of Prophet Ylvaine and his Martyred Followers were everywhere! The general baroque and classical style of architecture fostered a very traditional mood among the locals that stood in stark contrast to the Bright Republic's more modern and fast-paced lifestyle!
"What's with all the beckoning gestures from the statues?" Ketis curiously asked.
"We believe that while Prophet Ylvaine and his Martyred Followers have transcended to a higher existence upon the moment of their mortal passing." Leon patiently explained. "We have faith that they are watching over us now, awaiting the time where everyone gets the opportunity to transcend and join their side. That is why they are holding out their hands in a welcoming fashion."
"What about the Ylvainans who die before this ascension event happens?" She asked.
"The Prophet states that their souls are washed and returned to new forms of life. Where they end up is a matter of chance and fate. A poor Ylvainan might be born a rich Ylvainan. A Kronon might be born as a Curin. Perhaps they can even become a Brighter, a Vesian, a Terran or even an alien in their next lives! We are all bound to the cycle of life and death before the Time of Ascension!"
It was safe to say that almost every outsider recoiled at this belief! The idea that a human could be reborn as an alien in their next lives was very anathematic to the dominant ideology of human supremacy!
Even Ves wanted to scratch his head at the idea. Had Prophet Ylvaine jacked himself up with recreational stimulants to come up with this controversial belief?
Chapter 1175
Despite the strange beliefs of the Ylvainan Faith, Ves and the others did their best to show respect.
Clearly, Leon and the other Ylvainans knew that it was difficult to convert outsiders to their faith. While it would be nice if they could convert the Brighters to their beliefs, it wasn't the end of everything if they failed.
While Prophet Ylvaine expanded his cult aggressively during his lifetime, he never expressed any insistence of converting every human or alien to the Ylvainan Faith. If it was the opposite, then the Ylvainans wouldn't have isolated themselves in their own state for so long!
In the perspective of the locals, everyone was an Ylvainan! They just didn't know it yet! This was because when the Time of Ascension finally came, everyone would be elevated to gods without exception, even those who never came in touch with the Ylvainan Faith!
Therefore, Leon never insisted on pushing his own beliefs to the Brighters he guided around Krent. The Ylvainans believed that their devotion to the teachings and predictions of their prophet gave them a leg up from the others.
While the Ylvainans believed that everyone would transcend, the height of their new lives differed according to their devotion to the one true faith! The Ylvainans all expected to become the most preeminent leaders and shepherds among the new gods!
A lot of Brighters became googly-eyed when they first heard about this stance of the Ylvainans.
It was safe to say that a vast majority of outsiders didn't appreciate being dragged into the faith without their consent!
Ves reminded himself that he came to the Protectorate to conduct business. Both parties had an incentive to leave contentious matters of faith aside in favor of transacting with each other.
After touring the Grand Church and some other historical sights, Ves gained a much more intimate perspective of Ylvainan life.
While the Ylvainan Faith was present in everyone's lives, the average Ylvainans were remarkably mundane. Ves had to admit that he had bought into the stereotype that each Ylvainan was a radical, outspoken believer who constantly spouted Ylvaine's sayings.
The truth was very much more nuanced. Aside from the characteristically green-robed figures of the Attendants of Ylvaine, every other citizen of Krent were much more engaged in their work or their families.
While Bentheim was far more prosperous and developed than Kesseling VIII, Ves found the local citizens to be happier and more relaxed.
Whenever Ves visited Bentheim, he became used to the sight of busy Bentheimers under pressure from their jobs and the expenses they needed to pay to continue to live on the planet.
Both places exhibited very different paces. Life in Krent and Kesseling VIII was clearly more sedate.
The only downside that Ves could see was that the low pressure environment likely didn't lead to high productivity. Bentheim may be a hectic, faced-paced planet, but this was also the key to maintaining a high degree of productivity!
Only in the late afternoon did Leon take them to a site where they could view some of the locally-produced mechs up close. He took them to a depot which stored some old Ylvainan mechs owned by a defunct security company.
When Ves saw the mechs with his own eyes, he found the visual experience to be a lot more delightful than viewing them through a projection.
"The Ylvainan mech style is truly a sight to see!" He praised.
While the landbound mechs stored in the depot suffered from mild neglect, that did not detract from their artful appearances.
Many of the mechs looked grand as they adopted some of the baroque elements of Ylvainan architecture. Through centuries of using the same visual elements, the local mech designers developed a unique style of visual mech design that turned every mech into bastions of faith.
Ves was particularly impressed by the effortless way the local mech designers weaved depictions of Ylvaine and his Martyred Followers onto the surface of the mechs. In many instances, the figures were set in a backdrop of historical and fantastical events.
"Each Ylvainan mech is an extension of our faith." Leon spoke in a soft and respectful manner. "Whoever comes across one of our mechs will know that they are standing against our entire faith if they choose to engage in hostilities!"
"Do the local mech designers develop the outward appearances of their mechs themselves or do they leave the task to professional artists?"
"While borrowing the services of professional artists is common among Novices and Apprentices, we expect more from our Journeymen and Seniors. Each Ylvainan mech designer must prove their devotion to our faith if they expect to receive our appreciation and support."
"I see." Ves said with an impassive expression. "It must take a lot of time for mech designers to master this art style."
Leon shrugged. "I am not a mech designer, so I am not very sure about the difficulty. Some mech designers have a talent for art, and some are only capable of drawing mathematical diagrams. The Attendants of Ylvaine do not look kindly to those who are lax in their expression of devotion. For a long time, the laggards are driven out of business because we do not have a desire to pilot mechs that only pay lip service to our beliefs."
Ves silently locked eyes with Gavin. Both of them held the same opinion about this matter: crazy!
While mech design was both an art and a science, those who excelled in only the science aspect of their profession still possessed a lot of value! For the Ylvainans to drive them out of business because they were awful artists only weakened the foundation of their local mech industry!
It seemed that the reformers among the Ylvainans recognized this problem, hence their insistence on opening up the mech market.
As one of Madame Cecily's subordinates, Leon also believed in the need for change.
"For a long time, the Protectors of the Faith and our other Ylvainan mech forces piloted mechs that look just as impressive as these mechs." Leon gestured his arm at the devout-looking but abandoned machines. "However, when we first began to employ our mechs in skirmishes against the Star Worshippers, we found out that the signs of our outward devotion hasn't affected them at all. Their heretical belief in their so-called stellar gods has made them resistant against the true faith!"
Ves wanted to say that all the effort put into creating faith-compliant imagery distracted from the actual performance of the mechs. The Ylvainan mech buyers seem to prioritize the religious imagery of their mechs to an unnecessarily high degree!
"What about the use of imported mechs?"
"Admittedly, they performed better." Leon sighed. "They aren't really popular among most of our faithful mech pilots because they lack the iconography they are accustomed to. Yet during our infrequent clashes against the Star Worshippers, they have held out better than we expected. We've had some positive experiences with some of your company's mechs as well. It is no surprise to me that our director regards you highly."
Ves smiled back but didn't say anything. Calabast didn't care about the Ylvaine Protectorate or their weird beliefs. She just wanted to take advantage of the situation to cement their tentative partnership.
Nonetheless, the Ylvainan habit of decorating their mechs with religious imagery fascinated Ves regardless because it closely matched his interests. While Ves wasn't an adherent of the faith, he was confident he could emulate the art style.
He might even elevate it by blending in his specialty with this visual art style!
"Has anyone made any attempts at reducing the stigma of mechs that aren't laden with idols of your faith?" Gavin asked.
Obviously, he wanted to gauge whether the LMC needed to adapt their designs if they wanted to make it big in the Protectorate's mech market.
Leon shook his head. "There have been attempts. All have failed. The Attendants of Ylvaine are very insistent on this matter. The entire Poxco Dynasty have actively resisted any encroachments to this long-standing tradition."
"Does the Poxco Dynasty have a lot of mech designers in their sphere of influence?"
"All three leading dynasties have their own adherents among mech designers. Unfortunately..." Leon hesitated for a bit. "A number of mech designers have defected from the Curin Dynasty to the Poxco Dynasty as of late. The momentum in the Curin Dynasty has shifted towards reform, which has made many traditionalists feel unwelcome in our midst."
These traditionalist mech designers wanted to remain stuck in the past rather than go with the times. For them to feel so threatened by the reforms that they jumped ship said a lot about their confidence in their design skills!
These mech designers should be the ones who objected most vigorously the entry of foreign mech designers! The more foreign competition they faced, the more the shortcomings of their mech designs became more evident!
Ves and the others spent some time to study the abandoned mechs. While they were mostly budget mechs, Ves could vaguely tell that their performance wasn't so hot compared to equivalent mechs sold in the Bright Republic.
He estimated the difference in performance to be small, in the range of five to ten percent.
The real difference manifested in the pricing of the mechs. The locals faced less competition so they didn't feel very pressured in lowering their prices. The Ylvainan mech market was also smaller, so most mech companies needed to earn more with each sale because there were significantly less sales in total.
The market was starting to change, but outside competition was essential to change. The local mech industry would rather continue to rip off their customers than setting fairer prices for their products.
As Ves held onto Lucky and stroked his back, Ketis wandered over to his side.
"The way these Ylvainans design their mechs is just like how you design your gold label mechs." She remarked. "It should be a piece of cake for you to imitate an Ylvainan mech, right?"
"It's not that simple." Ves said. "Regardless of the reason why the Ylvainans value this visual design style so much, their mech designers are very sincere in expressing their faith. Just look at these machines and feel their pulses. Don't you think the Ylvainans might have a point when they refer to their mechs as bastions of faith?"
Ketis blinked and stared at the abandoned mechs without any comprehension. "They're just mechs. They look fancy, but that's all. Putting a nice coat over them doesn't magically make them better, right?"
"I have to disagree with you there, Ketis." Ves shook his head. "When an Ylvainan mech designer develops a mech, he expects them to be used by Ylvainan mech pilots. Both of them share the same beliefs, so it is a given that the mech designer tries to accommodate the mech pilot by adding elements that affirm their common faith. This will make the mech pilot feel more at ease with their mechs, which will help them draw out their potential and the potential of their machines."
"So kind of like what you're already doing, but without the religious stuff." She noted as she realized the similarity between the LMC's principles and the reasoning behind this Ylvainan tradition. "However, it's one thing to design a good-looking mech. It's another thing to design an Ylvainan mech. Aren't you violating a rule if you design an Ylvainan-style mech without believing in the faith?"
"I think I can manage." Ves confidently stated. "I've taken the measure of their design style, and I think I can provide the Ylvainans with something just as good if not better."
What Ves found remarkable about the Ylvainan mechs was that he didn't perceive the usual variety of muddled X-Factor. While their spiritual strength were still faint, their attributes were a bit more coherent than usual.
If the mech designer who designed the mech and mech technicians who fabricated the mech all shared the same beliefs, then it made sense for the X-Factor to be better than normal!
Paired with a mech pilot who shared the exact same faith, then a small improvement in performance ensued!
This tiny interaction must be one of the hidden reasons why much of the local mech community still favored this tradition.
Chapter 1176
The visit to the depot left a deep impression to Ves. As a Brighter, he had mainly been exposed to the works of secular mech designers.
"The Bright Republic, the Vesia Kingdom, the Reinald Republic, the Friday Coalition and many parts of the frontier are all rooted in secular mech traditions." Ves explained to Ketis as they wandered through the dormant collection of Ylvainan mechs.
"What do you mean by that?" She asked.
"There is a very high emphasis among secular mech designers to prioritize function over form. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. A mech that performs better plainly enjoys more success. Most mech buyers don't care too much about how their mechs look like. At the very least, they aren't easily charmed by fancy-looking mechs if their specs are crap."
"A good looking trash mech will perform like garbage in battle."
"Exactly. Good aesthetics can enhance the desirability of a good mech design, but it can't salvage a bad mech design. These customs have led to a rather plain an utilitarian-focused design style. There's a tendency among mech designers in the states I've mentioned to design their mechs to look functional. If a mech looks capable in a fight, then they can appeal better to mech buyers who value this quality."
Ketis paused for a bit. "That sounds like a self-reinforcing mechanism. A mech with good specs will look like it performs well. A mech that looks capable is expected to perform at that level. What about your own designs, Ves? Many of your mech designs look like they belong in a museum or a mech show room rather than the battlefield."
"Humans love pretty things." He answered. "A mech with an appealing appearance doesn't necessarily have to be associated with bad performance. It's just that it's not always worth it from a practical level. All the cosmetic additions makes it harder for the mech technicians to service and repair the fancy-looking machines."
"It's still worth it for you."
"Right. The benefit to adding a unique appearance to my mechs is that they influence both their mech pilots and their opponents to their favor."
The mech pilots will feel better about their mechs and deliver a better performance.
Their opponents will be affected as well. They'll be distracted from analyzing the combat prowess of the mechs.
This was only the tip of the iceberg. A striking visual appearance helped the mech pilots of his product enter the right mood. The goal that Ves wanted to accomplish is to encourage his mech pilots to align their thoughts with the X-Factor of his mechs!
Maybe Calabast had no inkling of Ves was really capable of, but he really appreciated the opportunity to design a mech for Ylvainans this time. The qualities the Ylvainans demanded of their mechs meshed really well with his strengths!
The only issue that Ves faced was whether he could convey enough sincerity towards the Ylvainan Faith in his design process. As a foreigner and a non-believer, the mech market should largely be skeptical of his attempts to copy the Ylvainan design style.
Ketis didn't seem hopeful either. "If you try to copy their style, won't they accuse you of being a poser?"
"They haven't seen what I'm capable of yet. I think I can deliver a pleasant surprise to the Ylvainans if I have the time to design a fitting mech."
The key was to impart the sincerity of the Ylvainan Faith in his mech designs. As someone who couldn't bring himself to believe in any tenets of the faith, that should be a considerable challenge!
Calabast already foresaw the problem. Her solution was to see if Ves could work together with a local mech designer.
The idea had some merit, though Ves preferred exerting full creative control over the visual design of his mechs. Art was something deeply personal to him and he did not wish for other mech designers to interfere with the meaning he tried to convey through his works.
Nonetheless, Ves was willing to meet with the mech designers who were willing to work with a foreigner.
"Not many mech designers are willing to associate with a foreign mech designer." Leon admitted. "Currently, there is a heavy stigma against collaborating with non-believers on a mech design. It has taken Madame Cecily a lot of effort to invite some mech designers who are willing to blaze a trail. Some are still on their way to the Kesseling System. When they are all here, they will meet with you in secret so as to avoid attracting the attention of the Attendants of Ylvaine."
Ves understood the difficulties an Ylvainan mech designer faced if they proactively worked together with a non-believer. Even though the Curin Dynasty would likely do whatever they can to support these brave mech designers, the Poxco Dynasty would also do their best to make their lives difficult once their inclinations became known!
"I will do my best to see whether they are compatible with my design project, Leon. I'm only willing to involve a single Ylvainan mech designer. The project doesn't need more mech designers. Adding more will just add more confusion and will make it difficult to coordinate our efforts."
"Understood. We shall take your demands into account. Do you have any other questions?"
"Can you tell me what the mech designers are like?"
"They are largely young and less dogmatic. They strongly support the reform cause and are willing to stick their necks out as long as we provide enough incentives."
"That didn't sound very good to Ves. A suspicion crept up. "What are their ranks?"
"All five of the mech designers we've invited are Apprentices. We have rejected the application of Novices no matter how enthusiastic they are. While we've attempted to invite several open-minded Journeymen, they have all rejected the offer."
"I see. These Apprentices.. none of them should have solid backing, right?"
Leon smiled sheepishly at Ves, as if he had been caught out. "The Ylvaine Protectorate is a little more stringent in the amount of people who are allowed to study mech design. The independent Apprentices who have enjoyed a measure of success up to this point are all capable mech designers. Nonetheless, the Ylvainan mech market has been stagnant for a very long time, giving the smaller players very little room to grow and develop."
Ves understood what was going on here. The Apprentices who were desperate to accept an opportunity to collaborate with a foreign Journeyman must be desperate for guidance.
Even though he was just a de facto Journeyman who advanced very recently, this status still elevated him far above the Apprentices. Any advice or help he could provide over the course of the design project would be invaluable to their own progression!
He figured that Calabast must have her own considerations for pushing these mech designers forward. Perhaps she wanted to nurture some mech designers in her camp in order to strengthen her grip on the Protectorate's mech market.
Whatever the case, Ves was open to teaching an Ylvainan some tricks as long as they went along well with each other.
He had already mentored a pirate designer, so what was the harm in providing some guidance to an Ylvainan? It was not as if Ves was teaching some valuable lessons to a Vesian mech designer!
"There's more to inviting the Apprentices, right?" Ves asked. Calabast would never do something simple! "For these mech designers to step up and become a target to every Attendant of Ylvaine out there is a pretty heavy price to pay."
"That is true. The truth is that Madame Cecily is hoping that your initial collaboration with one of our local mech designers will spark something more. I believe that Madame Cecily wishes to reveal the full details of her plan in person."
"I will look forward to hear what she has to say." Ves said mildly.
His initial talk with Calabast mainly dealt with him getting around to accepting it. They hadn't gone over a lot of concrete details and plans for the short, medium and long term as of yet. Ves needed more time to accept the new circumstances before he was ready to think ahead.
That night, Ves had an opportunity to meet Calabast again.
Vs left Lucky and everyone else behind at the guarded compound that Ylvainans provided to them as their temporary home on Kesseling VIII. While Leland quietly exited the compound and disappeared into Krent for some reason or another, Ves took a brief shuttle ride to the headquarters of the Office of Strategic Mech Management.
There, the staff guided him to a lavish, isolated dining room. Ves immediately felt the interference in the air as Calabast already activated a signal jammer ahead of time.
No one else except Ves and Calabast dined in the room. As each of them partook in the dishes that had already been delivered to their table, Ves brought up something important.
"How is our new partnership supposed to work?"
"What do you mean by that, Ves?"
"I can see how we can help each other out in the short term. You work on opening up the Protectorate for the LMC while I help boost your position in the Protectorate's power structure. That's simple enough for me to figure out. My question is what happens afterwards?"
Calabast sighed and paused in cutting her steak. "It is already a strenuous effort for me to assist the LMC in strengthening its position in the Protectorate. In ten or twenty years, I hope your company becomes one of the most prominent mech companies led by a Journeyman in the Protectorate. While designing really good mechs goes a long way into strengthening the LMC's market position, if you want to make your gains permanent, you need a permanent presence within our borders."
Ves frowned at that. "What does this permanent presence entail?"
"What I have in mind is a joint venture between the LMC and one of my holding companies. Both of us would invest an equal amount of money into a subsidiary that is equally owned by both companies. All the mechs designed by you and sold by the LMC will go through this subsidiary before they are sold on the Protectorate's mech market!"
A joint venture! Setting something like that up between him and Calabast was not a small decision! It required a lot of thought and consideration!
"I need to think over it." Ves guardedly replied. "A joint venture is hard to do right and easy to screw up. Why do you want a joint venture anyway?"
"It's easier to expand the presence of the LMC if it comes in an incarnation that is half-owned by an Ylvainan. As long as you can present a local face to your business activities, the opposition to working with the LMC is much less severe. It's an ugly fact that many Ylvainans still won't be able to accept a mech designed by a foreigner."
Ves tentatively nodded. "I agree with that logic. A joint venture for the purpose of making my designs more appealing to the local market can help a lot in that regard. The main problem I have with this suggestion is where you will be taking it. Both of us will own the joint venture. While you say that you are willing to split our control of the entity, are you planning to do something more?"
"Heh. You know me too well, Ves." Calabast smirked. "The LMC is very much your company, and I have no intentions of meddling with your business. However, a woman like me has needs. While I've brought along a considerable amount of seed money to fund my initial ventures in my new position, that pool will run out eventually. If I want to set up a comprehensive network of informers and assist you in your endeavors, then I need a considerable stream of income."
"Ah. So it's about money."
"Yep. I'll be happy with half of the earnings the LMC makes in the Ylvaine Protectorate. After all, I've been working hard to facilitate your business in this state. Don't you think I deserve some remuneration from my services."
While Ves agreed with that sentiment, why did he feel like he was facing a money-draining vampire?
Chapter 1177
Calabast wanted to set up a joint venture owned by their own companies. The purpose of this joint venture was to manage the LMC's business in the Ylvaine Protectorate.
Unlike other states with more open economies like the Reinald Republic, the Ylvaine Protectorate made it really difficult for foreign companies to do business.
Selling ten to fifty mechs a year did not arouse too much scrutiny, but beyond that more severe trade barriers kicked in. Higher tariffs, extra fees, longer inspections, stricter quality requirements, quotas and more all served to stop foreign companies from taking over the Ylvainan mech market.
And those were just the legal trade barriers. Ves learned from his earlier tour throughout Krent that the Ylvainan attitude towards mechs constituted an unofficial trade barrier. The local culture favored a specific visual style that most foreign mechs lacked.
If Ves wanted to design a mech that appealed to the Ylvainan mech market, then he needed to adapt his mech designs to local customs.
Perhaps a time would come when the Ylvainans would be okay with piloting mechs with standard, non-religious visual themes. Ves estimated that it would take decades to get to that point.
Right now, the market was just about to open up. Most Ylvainan mech pilots never touched a foreign mech design before. Those who piloted imported machines consisted of only a small proportion of mech pilots in the state.
Therefore, not only did it make a lot of sense to adapt to local customs, but also operate through a local subsidiary. As the joint venture would be set up in the Protectorate, it was for all intents and purposes a local company.
Through this legal construction, it was a lot easier for the Office of Strategic Mech Management to grant the company some important exemptions. The idea was that the joint venture imported the LMC's mechs from the Bright Republic and sold it to Ylvainan consumers under their brand name.
Ves began to look beyond this instance. There were many states like the Ylvaine Protectorate that restricted their economies. While it was a hassle to do business in those places, the reduced competition meant that as long as the LMC got in, it could make a handsome profit.
The need to establish subsidiaries and joint ventures owned by local partners would only increase in the future. While those daughter companies funneled a substantial share of earnings back to their local partners, the share of earnings received by the LMC would still be worth it as long as sales surpassed a certain volume.
The LMC might see a need to set up more joint ventures like the one that Calabast proposed. If that was the case, then Ves wanted to adopt a standardized approach to doing business in this fashion.
The most important burden for Ves was the need for local adaptation. The Ylvainans loved to make their mechs look like giant holy warriors of the Ylvainan Faith, and none of his existing mechs matched these aesthetic requirements.
If the LMC wanted to sell the Blackbeak, Crystal Lord and the new Aurora Titan models in the Protectorate mech market, then the company needed to change their outward appearances!
Having studied the Ylvainan visual style, Ves possessed the confidence to emulate their works at the very least. It wouldn't take more than a week to restyle his existing mech designs. It wouldn't take much effort from him to do so for just three mech models.
Yet what about the future?
What if the LMC conducted business in a dozen states like the Ylvaine Protectorate? What if the LMC's mech catalog ballooned to twenty mech models? The amount of time Ves needed to spend on adapting all of his mech designs to the local customs of each difficult state would be immense!
One of the most important lessons that several Seniors imparted to Ves was that a mech designer's time was valuable. They should spend the bulk of their time designing new core mech designs.
While there may be a need to design variants or adapt an existing mech design to local customs, it didn't require the attention of someone as overqualified as Ves!
It was massively overkill for Ves to spend days or weeks of his precious time to adapt a mech design. Rather than do the work himself, why not delegate the responsibility to a locally-born mech designer?
They didn't need to be too skilled. They just needed to be immersed in the local culture and skilled in the changes that needed to be made
The proposal that Calabast put forward led Ves to consider all of these matters. If he wanted to use this approach to enter difficult foreign markets, then he needed to do it right the first time. As long as the joint venture was a success, the LMC could adopt the same model in other restricted markets.
The main issue was the matter of control. Owning a joint venture with a local partner meant that the LMC needed to share power with someone else. It would be fine if they both agreed on a single direction, but what if their opinions differed?
The second complication was that the joint venture needed to retain a local mech designer who could be trusted. It would not be good if the subsidiary hired a local mech designer and trained him or her at great expense only for them to resign a few years later.
All of these matters concerned Ves greatly, but he knew he didn't have to manage all of these issues alone. Ves had already prepared the LMC for these kinds of occasions.
Therefore, as soon as Calabast handed over a data pad containing all of the necessary contracts and other paperwork, Ves simply handed it over to Gavin once he returned to the guest compound.
"What's this?" Gavin asked.
"It's a set of documents for setting up a joint venture between the LMC and the Curin Development Holding Company. The CDHC is wholly owned by Madame Cecily, so the joint venture we plan to erect in the Protectorate is owned by me and her. The purpose of the joint venture is to serve as a channel for the LMC to export mechs to the Protectorate."
Ves took the time to explain all of the reasoning behind the move.
The only snag was that Gavin became a bit puzzled by how easily Ves agreed to Madame Cecily's proposal. How could Ves explain to him that Calabast wasn't a woman who accepted 'no' for an answer?
"Fifty percent is a bit much if you ask me. Considering all of the work you're doing, Madame Cecily is earning a disproportionate amount of money while not doing nearly as much. Also, isn't it a conflict of interest for the Director of Strategic Mech Management to profit off her own policy decisions?"
Ves smirked. "This isn't the Bright Republic, Benny. The Curin Dynasty has a tight grip on the economy and they can do whatever they want as long as they don't encroach on the interests of the other leading dynasties too much. What Madame Cecily is doing is not exactly proper but not unheard of for the Curins. Some of the money she stands to earn will be funneled back to the Curin Dynasty, so they don't have much of an interest to set the matter straight."
"I'll send these files to the LMC so the lawyers and other experts can sink their teeth in them." Gavin asked as he skimmed through the documents. "It doesn't mention a company name. How will you name the joint venture?"
"Let's keep it simple. Just name it the Living Mech Ylvaine Corporation or something." Ves shrugged.
"You're the boss."
Ves could leave the bureaucracy and administration of the joint venture to the LMC. The only matter that he couldn't delegate was the design aspect. He needed to find a suitable Ylvainan mech designer to helm the LMYC and instruct them in how to adapt his mech designs under his supervision.
He would be meeting some of the local mech designers soon enough. Hopefully, Ves found at least one of them to be acceptable enough to become a representative of the LMC.
Starting a subsidiary in the Protectorate that was owned by both a local and a foreign company could not be accomplished in a short amount of time. Calabast already warned Ves that it might take more than a month due to all of the approvals she needed to obtain from various different authorities.
The only other event of note to Ves was that Leland returned to the compound late at night. The spy requested a private meeting with Ves to discuss his findings.
Leland deployed his own signal jammer, forestalling Ves from telling the spy that Lucky had already blocked the listening devices built into the walls.
"I've been snooping around in Krent on my own." Leland said. "I was probably followed for a good while, but I've been observing how the Ylvainans are really like outside of the prosperous parts of the city."
"I take it you did more than that during your solo exploration." Ves remarked with an expression that told Leland that he didn't buy into his story this time.
"Heh." Leland shrugged with a smile. "Alright. I did more than study the locals. I also picked up some information from some of our informers on the planet."
"Flashlight has informers on Kesseling VIII?"
"Everyone has eyes and ears everywhere. Just because the Protectorate likes to close their borders most of the time doesn't mean it's impossible to infiltrate their society. The Bright Republic is very interested in keeping tabs on the Ylvainans."
"So have you gathered any useful intel?"
"Most of it isn't relevant to you." Leland stated. "I can tell you a couple of things, though. From what I gather, there's trouble brewing in the Ylvainan mech industry. The traditionalist mech designers and the Poxco Dynasty are both banding together to resist the entry of foreign mech designers like you. They've heard of your arrival and they are cooking up several plans to make you fail."
"Do you know anything more solid than that?"
"Not for now." Leland shook his head. "All of the decisions are being made at the higher levels. It's impossible to listen in on those discussions." Leland shook his head. "I can make some guesses, though. A good way to discredit you is to challenge you to a design duel and have your work compete against the work of a traditionalist mech designer of the same rank."
"I see. I can see how that can be challenging."
The key phrase here was a mech designer of the same rank. De facto Journeymen like Ves were so rare that the Protectorate likely didn't have any in its entire history!
Therefore, to present a legitimate design duel challenge, the traditionalists needed to present an Apprentice or Journeyman Mech Designer.
Sending in a Senior to challenge Ves was outright bullying and would never be taken seriously.
Sending in an Apprentice was seeking death. While Ves was merely a newly-minted Journeyman, it still meant he had fully matured in his ability to design mechs!
The only other choice would be to send out a fellow Journeyman to issue a challenge. On the surface, one Journeyman challenging another Journeyman should be a fair competition.
Ves didn't think it would be so simple.
If they were willing to be a little shameless, the traditionalists would probably send in an older and more experienced Journeyman with at least half a century of design experience under his belt!
On the surface, the design duel would still be between two mech designers of the same rank. If Ves refused such a challenge, the traditionalists would do their best to mock him for his cowardice and make it immensely more difficult for the LMC to find its footing in the Protectorate mech market!
"Thank you for the heads up, Leland." Ves nodded in appreciation. "I'm not afraid of an uphill challenge. Now that I know what's up, I can prepare ahead of time."
"That's not the extent of the measures the opposition plan to employ against you. I've heard rumors that there is something worse in store. While I haven't been able to verify this intel, there's a possibility that the Ylvaine Dynasty might make a move on you!"
"What?!" Ves looked up at that. "Hasn't the Ylvaine Dynasty been exterminated? I thought that Prophet Ylvaine's descendants were all dead!"
Chapter 1178
"The real Ylvaine Dynasty has indeed been exterminated." Leland smirked. "I'm not talking about the historical dynasty. I'm actually referring to the current incarnation of the Ylvaine Dynasty. Don't you think a state like the Ylvaine Protectorate is a little too peaceful on the surface? Why do you think there is still an active mech market if everything is supposedly fine and dandy in the state?"
Ves frowned and thought about it for a moment. "You mean the Ylvaine Dynasty is not a legitimate entity in the Protectorate?"
"Correct! Guerilla fronts riddle the Vesia Kingdom. The Bentheim Liberation Movement has haunted the Bright Republic for centuries. The Ylvaine Protectorate is no exception. They're plagued by the existence of an organization that has unilaterally taken up the mantle of Ylvaine Dynasty. If you ask an Ylvainan official, they prefer to call them the New Ylvaine Dynasty in order to disassociate the current one to the original one."
"So what is this New Ylvaine Dynasty fighting for that pisses off the rest of the Protectorate so much?"
"It's a long story." Leland sighed and sat down. "I'll keep it short as best I can. Basically, the New Ylvaine Dynasty purportedly claims leadership over the Ylvaine Faith, which also includes the state by extension. The three leading dynasties that are currently in charge were never meant to lead the Ylvainan Faith. They originally rose to assist Prophet Ylvaine and his descendants in managing the growing religion."
"Then the Prophet and his entire family got killed by states who felt increasingly threatened by his cult." Ves quickly said. "I know this part of the story already."
"Well, you should know that while the old Ylvaine Dynasty has indeed become extinct, the Ylvainans managed to secure plenty of tissue samples of Prophet Ylvaine and his many descendants. The prophet was a very... active father when he was alive. Samples of his hair, skin and other biological material can be found all over the place. Combined with the tissue samples collected from his descendants, and you have a very complete and very extensive genetic data bank of the most pivotal figures in the Ylvainan Faith!"
Ves could see how that could become a very huge problem. "I see. Bringing the dead back to 'life' in this fashion is very controversial, to say the least."
"The Kronons, Poxcos and Curins all collected plenty of tissue samples of the prophet and much of his family line. They didn't do anything but store them in the vaults of their colony ships as they fled to the galactic rim. Once they settled down in the territory that would become their state, they finally had the time to consider what they should do with the genetic material. With the medical technology at hand, it's possible for them to birth a baby that possesses the exact same genes as the original founder. The question isn't whether they can, but whether they should. Is it right to revive their prophet?"
What a question. The elders of the three leading dynasties must have wracked their heads over this issue for years!
"I take it they refused. It would go against the predictions and beliefs of Prophet Ylvaine." Ves guessed.
"Correct. Everyone knows that a clone or a designer baby modeled after someone else would never grow up the same. Clones are defective from birth while designer babies always turn out to be completely different individuals. None of the Ylvainans would be able to stand it the clone of Prophet Ylvaine turns out to be a moron!"
"The Kronon, Poxco and Curin Dynasties are probably unwilling to relinquish the power they obtained." Ves added. "If the Ylvaine Dynasty ever returns to power, the other three dynasties are relegated to subordinates again. If I was an elder of those dynasties, I would probably hesitate to hand over power to a completely unknown entity."
Leland nodded in agreement. "That has played a role as well. There's one more reason why the survivors of the persecution haven't revived Ylvaine's bloodline. Their doctrine won't allow such a matter to occur. It goes against their core beliefs."
"Ah, I see." Ves immediately understood once the spy mentioned that reason. "The Ylvainans believe that those who die are reincarnated back into a different form of life. Some Ylvainans believe that Prophet Ylvaine has already been reborn in another part of the galaxy and is busy expanding the faith there. Other Ylvainans believe that the prophet has already ascended to godhood and is looking down on us all right now."
If the surviving Ylvainans attempted to bring back Prophet Ylvaine by crafting him a new body, then they would be profaning their very beliefs! Life after death was a very sacred matter and it was not the role of mortals to interfere with this natural process!
Leland sighed and crossed his arms. "Obviously, the existence of the New Ylvaine Dynasty means that not everyone agreed with leaving the prophet behind. There are.. extremists among the Ylvainans who worship the prophet to a very great degree. They broke into the vaults, stole some of the prophet's tissue samples, and cooked up a new 'Prophet Ylvaine' in their labs."
Both of them grimaced. Ves looked disgusted. "Is the new prophet even a functioning human being?"
"We don't know for sure, but probably not. In the early days, the New Ylvaine Dynasty kept producing new clones, but they never functioned very well. Eventually, they decided to conceive a designer baby that possesses the exact same genes as the prophet. The baby was born from a devout mother and grew up naturally. You can imagine his upbringing is anything but normal."
The baby would have grown up believing he was the second incarnation of Prophet Ylvaine! That would certainly warp his personality when he became an adult!
"Is the new 'prophet' being used as a figurehead by the actual masterminds?"
"For a long time, there have been several incarnations of the prophet over the years, so this possibility is likely." Leland said. "None of the prophets receive any life-prolonging treatments, and they also have a tendency to die faster than normal. They must have done something to displease the real masters behind the New Ylvaine Dynasty. All of that changed one day."
An offshoot of the Ylvainan Faith that believed in the supremacy of Prophet Ylvaine would never allow his incarnations to suffer at the hands of others!
Ves could already guess the sequence of events. "The prophet was not content to serve as a puppet and rebelled against his masters?"
"Correct. By gathering a lot of support from the grassroots members of the cult, the latest incarnation of the prophet succeeded in dethroning the old rulers of the New Ylvaine Dynasty. He's in charge of it up until this day."
"So how does the New Ylvaine Dynasty ties back to me? It sounds like they are very much opposed to the three leading dynasties."
"It's.. more complex than that." Leland hesitated. "The trouble with extremist organizations like this is that they can find plenty of sympathisers from the local population. The real prophet is a revered figure. Some Ylvainans are susceptible to manipulation that causes them to believe that the actual prophet has come back to life to lead his flock once more."
"Just like the BLM back home."
This was the same kind of problem that the Bright Republic faced with the Bentheim Liberation Movement. As long as local Bentheimers detested the central government of the Bright Republic, the BLM would always be able to recruit new sympathizers from their midst!
"While all three leading dynasties are opposed to the heretical existence of the True Believers as they call themselves, there are some hardliners who are much less opposed to the return of Prophet Ylvaine. The hardliners among the traditionalists are most sympathetic to the forbidden dynasty. The line between radicals and extremists is razer thin."
All of this tied back into the threat Ves faced. "If some of the traditionalists are colluding with the True Believers, then they can probably ask the latter for a favor. Considering their stances, they both have many reasons to oppose the reform agenda. My existence poses a threat to both their causes."
"We should make sure our security arrangements are adequate." Leland advised.
"That's a good idea."
Ves always took danger into account, but he figured it was only a remote threat during this business trip. Now that Leland believed that the True Believers might make a move themselves, then he needed to be a lot more careful with his actions during his stay on Kesseling VIII!
The next morning, Ves was scheduled to meet with the Kronon mech pilots who he needed to serve. He first paid a visit to Miss Cecily's office. Once there, he immediately broached the matter about the threat he faced.
"Calabast, why didn't you tell me about the New Ylvaine Dynasty?"
A mild frown appeared on her face. "They are none of your concern. The Curin Dynasty is highly opposed to the True Believers. They're merely a fringe element in the Protectorate."
"Leland painted a slightly different story on them. Supposedly, they have a lot of hidden support."
"That's what insurgent organization wants you to believe. When you are weak, pretend to be strong. The True Believers have always puffed themselves up to make them seem bigger than they actually are. Their actual numbers are quite modest as they never managed to convey legitimacy to their fake prophet."
"I don't know." Ves pursed his lips. "It sounds dangerous to underestimate an enemy."
"If it makes you feel better, I can strengthen your guard detail. Are you happy now?"
He accepted this concession. Even if Calabast was right, he still wanted some assurances. Aside from enjoying the protection of the Avatars of Myth he brought along this trip, the Protectors of the Faith also assigned some mechs and men to keep him safe.
All of this was more than adequate enough to guard an average Journeyman, but even that wasn't enough for Ves!
"Alright, I'll hold you to your promise." He said. "I'm ready to meet with the six young mech pilots."
"Good. We'll be taking a trip underground. All of our mechs and mech pilots are stationed underneath the headquarters."
They exited Calabast's office where Ketis and Lucky both joined him again.
Right now, Gavin was back at the compound coordinating the effort to set up a joint venture. Leland begged off another visit in favor of diving into the city of Krent on his own again.
Surrounded by guards, they all rode an elevator downwards. Once there, they entered a very wide underground corridor with enough space for several mechs to walk alongside each other.
There, they passed through several human and mech-sized doors.
"Due to the contentious nature of our work, its necessary for the Protectors of the Faith to ensure our safety." Calabast explained in her identity as Madame Cecily. She looked and acted completely different from her actual persona! "The Kronons have dispatched sixty mechs and mech pilots so far, split between landbound, aerial and spaceborn mechs. Six more landbound mech pilots have joined recently after I made some agreements with the Kronons. They're different than others."
"They must be. Hero mechs can't be piloted by regular mech pilots." Ves remarked.
After crossing halfway through the huge underground corridors, they entered a training hall where a small number of mech pilots were exercising their bodies.
"Director Curin!"
The mech pilots present immediately came to attention. Calabast waved at them to resume what they were doing and moved forward.
They entered a smaller chamber where six mech pilots already climbed out of their simulator pods.
"Director!"
"Here they are, Ves." Madame Cecily gestured her arm at the six. "These are the mech pilots who will be piloting the mechs I commissioned. Are they to your satisfaction?"
Ves scrutinized the six mech pilots. They consisted of a mix of men and women who had all shaved their hair to buzz cuts. That along with their austere Kronon piloting suits lent them a very disciplined air.
They reminded him of the young Larkinson mech pilots in their devotion to their training.
"They seem.. adequate. I will have to see them in action before I can say anything more."
Chapter 1179
Ves already made a preliminary judgement about the six young Kronon mech pilots. When they all entered their simulator pods in order to demonstrate their performance in simulated battle scenarios, his initial impression only grew stronger.
"These mech pilots are young elites." He remarked. "Their fundamentals are very strong."
The simulated battles showcased their strengths and superior training. All six of them piloted generic hero mechs with a moderate degree of skill.
While that didn't sound very impressive at first, it took a lot of effort to turn a hero mech into an asset rather than a liability on the battlefield! The skill floor of piloting such a complicated mech was so high that many mech pilots could outright forget about specializing in this mech type!
The key here was that all six mech pilots didn't look any older than Jannzi Larkinson. All of them must have been recent graduates from Protectorate mech academies. While they lacked actual battle experience, they still had lots more room to grow, which made them incredibly valuable!
The price to obtain these immature elites must be pretty high!
There must be a story behind their addition to Calabast's bodyguard roster.
"How did you get the Kronon Dynasty to relinquish these mech pilots under your care?" Ves asked. "Won't they regret the decision? What stops them from calling them back?"
"The Kronons won't do that." Madame Cecily mildly smiled. "The six elites are better off here than anywhere else. I'll make sure of that."
"What gives you all of that confidence, madame?"
"To understand that, you must understand the Kronon Dynasty. The Kronons are called the Protectors of the Faith. The state military is also called the Protectors of the Faith. Do you know what this means?"
"The entire Kronon Dynasty is the state military!"
"Your Bright Republic is very different in this regard. Your professional military accepts recruits from every family regardless of their background. Here in the Protectorate, each mech pilot in active service is a Kronon. In essence, the Protectors of the Faith is what happens when a notable military family like your Larkinsons has grown to such an immense size that it is capable of performing the role of your Mech Corps!"
What a frightening thought! The Mech Corps would look very different if every active mech pilot was a Larkinson!
"What about mech pilots who aren't Kronons?"
"Those who emerge from the other Dynasties are usually trained and retained by their own. Potentates who emerge from common roots are given the opportunity to become branch members of the Kronon Dynasty as long as they do their duties. This is a very powerful incentive because the Kronon name bestows a lot of privileges to the mech pilots and their immediate family members!"
""What are the backgrounds of the six elites?"
"They don't come from common stock, if that's what you're wondering. In fact, they are all offspring from the genuine line of Kronons. Their heritage afforded them much stricter training. Each of them has managed to keep up with the highest standard of training the Kronon Dynasty offers to its mech cadets. All of them graduated from their mech academy with distinction."
Ves knew that this was high praise. In the Bright Republic, even many Larkinson mech pilots struggled to graduate from the mech academies with distinction. The extra training they received from the Larkinson Family wasn't entirely enough to turn them all into elites.
"So what's the problem?" Ves wondered. "The Protectors of the Faith must have their own elite mech regiments, right? Why haven't they jumped at these promising seeds?"
"Their skills are more than enough to turn them valuable mech pilots. The problem is that the Protectors of the Faith imposes more demands than competence. To be a true Protector of the Faith, a Kronon must uphold the right beliefs!"
Ah. So this was the reason. "Is it a big deal?"
"Not to you, maybe. There are different interpretations of the Ylvainan Faith. The Attendants of Ylvaine has done their best to propagate one standard interpretation, but differences of opinion always take place. There are some Ylvainans who emphasize different aspects of the faith over others. The six mech pilots assigned to me are guilty of adhering to the Mortal Ascension Doctrine."
"What does that entail?"
"In short, the Ascensionists believe that the Time of Ascension is not the only way to ascend to godhood and join Prophet Ylvaine's side. They believe that it is possible for them to evolve step-by-step and ascend to Prophet Ylvaine's height through their own efforts! This belief is particularly appealing to some Ylvainan mech pilots because they are convinced that advancing in rank is a surefire way to ascend!"
Both Ves and Ketis blinked at that.
"How far do they need to go until they reach Prophet Ylvaine's level?" Ves asked.
"God pilot!"
"Impossible!" Ketis burst out. "Even I know that only a hundred or so god pilots exist out of every mech pilot in existence! The chance of advancing all the way up to god pilot is a pipedream!"
"Ah, just because it's nearly impossible doesn't mean the path is cut off entirely, young lady." Madame Cecily smiled at her. "In truth, Prophet Ylvaine's predictions and sayings aren't always very precise or specific on many matters. This has left some room open for a specific interpretation that literally sees god pilots as gods in human form. When you hear of the awe-inspiring powers they are able to wield, it is not a very outlandish comparison."
Now that he thought about it, it did seem convenient when the best mech pilots in the galaxy were regarded as gods in human form!
"How do existing god pilots fit into this belief? None of them has said anything about meeting any transcended prophets."
"The Ascensionists state that god pilots who aren't converted to the Ylvainan Faith aren't worthy to receive a visit from the prophet. While their achievements are admirable and serve as an example to every human mech pilot, they are ignorant of the meaning behind their ascension. They are full of power but blind to the actual truth, at least if you ask an Ascensionist."
What a bold thing to say about god pilots! Both Ves and Ketis looked shocked that the Ascensionists dared to describe the great god pilots of the human race as blind and ignorant!
"So why does the Kronon Dynasty opposes this doctrine? Is it because it disrespects existing god pilots?"
"We Ylvainans don't care about that." Madame Cecily shook her head. "It's merely that most of us can't stomach the thought of being able to ascend to godhood before the arrival of the Time of Ascension. The most accepted interpretation of Prophet Ylvaine's prediction is that every human, alien, plant and other living entity will join his side at the appointed time. Ylvainans who are eager to take a shortcut and ascend ahead of this fateful time are considered presumptuous."
"So they aren't heretics?"
"As I've mentioned, Ves, There are many interpretations of the Ylvainan Faith. The Attendants of Ylvaine has done their best to stamp out the most radical ones, but the more harmless and inconsequential ones like the Mortal Ascension Doctrine are allowed to exist."
All these religious off-shoots were already giving Ves a headache. First, he learned about the existence of the extremist New Ylvaine Dynasty. Now, he learnt that the mech pilots he needed to supply with his hero mechs were also radicals.
While the Mortal Ascension Doctrine sounded harmless, they were nonetheless too weird to be accepted by the Kronon Dynasty! While they were still Protectors of the Faith, to be assigned as a bodyguard of the Curins was effectively a form of exile.
With the proficiency these young elites displayed, they should have been shoo-ins for prestigious elite mech regiments! Instead, they had been assigned to dead-end postings as mere bodyguards. In this capacity, there were few opportunities to promote up the hierarchy of the Protectors of the Faith.
"Is there anything else that I need to know about the Ascensionists? It's important for me to get a good understanding of who they are if I want to design the right mechs."
A short silence ensued as Calabast studied the simulated battle footage. "The Ascensionists is a fringe belief among the Protectors of the Faith. Those who believe in the doctrine are all devout, but a bit more open to change than usual. What's important to them is that they don't want to pilot a mech that is completely designed by non-believers. That's why I insist that you collaborate with at least one local mech designer. You will never get these six to pilot your mechs if they don't perceive any sincerity towards the Ylvainan Faith in your mech designs."
Ves nodded in understanding. "I have already taken that into consideration. Please be assured that the hero mechs I design for them will meet their practical as well as their spiritual needs."
His remark earned a peculiar glance from Ketis, but she declined to say anything. Instead, she went back to stroking Lucky's body who was resting in her comfortable grasp.
Unlike his fellow mech designer, Calabast missed the double meaning in his latest remark. "I expect you to do your utmost in pleasing these six young Ascensionists. Their standards are higher and they are not shy about their willingness to refuse a good mech if they believe it will not help them in their path to ascension. Remember, this commission partially serves as a test run to see if you are capable of meeting the needs of the Ylvainan mech market."
That meant that as long as Ves could prove he could please these discerning customers, his other mechs should be more than acceptable to the Ylvainan mech market.
The intention of Calabast was clear. The commission she issued to the LMC was both a test and a training opportunity to him. Not only would he be able to see whether he possessed the ability to meet the needs of Ylvainan mech pilots, but he could also work with some of them closely during the design process.
"Don't worry, Madame Cecily. I appreciate the opportunity to prove myself. Even if I am not an Ylvainan, I think I can make a lot of contributions to the local mech market."
Half of what Ves and Calabast said to each other was pure theater. Madame Cecily's staff and bodyguards all appeared to be genuine retainers of the Curin Dynasty rather than her own plants. They owed their loyalty to the Curin Dynasty and Madame Cecily Curin rather than a shady foreign spy.
Ketis couldn't help but comment on the six mech pilots. "You know, the way they fight reminds me a little of the Swordmaidens who earned the right to pilot the Silver Valencias. They aren't just good, but they also fight like they are driven by a mission."
Now that she mentioned it, Ves noted this detail as well.
Many mech pilots had the unfortunate tendency to pull back the throttle during simulation battles. They weren't piloting real mechs and their lives were never at risk. Even those who wanted to show off would always hold back to some extent.
Not these mech pilots. The Ascensionists fought as hard as the most motivated and passionate mech pilots he had witnessed among the Vandals and Swordmaidens! It was as if they treated the simulation battles as genuine life-and-death struggles!
"Those who convert to the Mortal Ascensionist Doctrine are all high performers among the Protectors of the Faith." Calabast added. "It takes a lot of confidence for mech pilots to believe they have a chance to advance to god pilot. This is why the Ascensionists have always numbered very little. The Kronons are only annoyed at them because this small but persistent belief has corrupted several promising mech pilots over the years."
The fervor exhibited by the Ascensionist mech pilots prompted Ves to recall another force besides the Vandals and Swordmaidens.
The Ascensionists reminded him of the Worshippers of Haatumak.
Chapter 1180
Ves spent some time to talk to the six Kronon mech pilots after they displayed their prowess in the simulation battles.
Overall, they didn't have much to talk about. The elite mech pilots devoted much of their lives to piloting mechs and the Ylvainan Faith.
While Ves became impressed by their quiet intensity and their religious fervor, he found them to be rather bland aside from their narrow interests. Describing them as warrior monks seemed apt. They didn't really have a life outside of their devotion to serving in the Protectors of the Faith.
Even if they had become the black sheep of the Kronon Dynasty, they still had faith in their mission!
One of them was slightly different. While the other five Kronons showed evident dislike at interacting with a foreigner who didn't share their beliefs, one young man looked at Ves with a disturbing amount of intensity.
"What's your name?" Ves asked.
"Taon Melin, sir." The Kronon said with respect.
"You don't appear to be as reticent as the others. Why so?"
"I've seen copies of your mechs before during my prior assignment." Taon said. "The.. Blackbeak, was it? The moment I laid eyes on them, the desire to pilot them sparked within me. Despite not looking anything like an Ylvainan mech, I wanted to pilot it more than any other machine!"
That caused his other five colleagues to look askance at Taon. Obviously, his lack of xenophobia didn't entirely sit well with the rest.
Ves gestured to himself. "You're not disturbed that I'm a foreigner?"
"What's there to be afraid of? We are all destined to transcend in the end. Whether you're an Ylvainan or not, we will all become brothers and sisters in the end!"
One of the other mech pilots looked irked. "Taon, I think your interpretation of Ylvaine's predictions is a little too generous."
Taon didn't pay any mind to the criticism. Mild arguments over their beliefs happened all the time.
"Regardless of whether Mr. Larkinson is a foreigner or not, his mechs are something else. Haven't you heard about what happened during the introduction of his Aurora Titan model?"
All of them fell silent for a bit. While the Ylvaine Protectorate generally didn't pay too much attention to affairs in other states, the advancement of both Ves and Jannzi Larkinson was too explosive! News of this remarkable event spread to neighboring states, arousing the interests of many mech insiders!
"Think of what he can do for us now that he's designing a mech for us." Taon continued. "Mr. Larkinson has proven he can design a mech that can help someone advance. Piloting his mechs is our greatest chance to take a step forward on the road to ascension!"
During this interaction, Ves glanced at Calabast in her Ylvainan persona.
She met his gaze and nodded. "My mech pilots wouldn't have worked with you at all if not for your recent stunt. They'll grumble a bit, but they can set aside their aversion to foreigners if they can pilot a mech that is just as good as the Aurora Titan."
"Do you think it's easy to design a mech like the Aurora Titan, madame?" Ves quickly replied. "I collaborated with an esteemed Senior on that design. While I've advanced to Journeyman now, the conditions that allow me to design a machine as good as the Aurora Titan aren't present."
"Just do the best you can. These mech pilots all believe you can recreate the magic of your previous design."
It seemed that ever since the Aurora Titan made a splash in the news, Ves became known as the mech designer who could help mech pilots enter the realm of expert pilots.
He quietly scoffed. How could it be so easy to advance? So many mech pilots struggled all their lives to shed their mundane existences, but only a tiny fraction ever succeeded. Having a good mech might help a bit, but it mostly depended on the mech pilots themselves to break through their mortal shackles.
Curious, Ves employed his spiritual vision to take a quick peek at the six mech pilots.
As expected, none of them possessed any significant amount of spiritual energy. While their minds were a lot more disciplined and focused than other mech pilots, there really wasn't a lot of diversity in thought and emotion.
Ves observed this kind of condition in many elite mech pilots. Even the Swordmaidens suffered from this problem.
Despite their harsh training and discipline that should have been conducive to forming a coherent force of will, the spiritual energy simply wasn't there to fuel the process.
In contrast, the Larkinson Family didn't train their mech pilots nearly as harshly, yet still managed to produce a couple of expert pilots in every generation.
He developed a hypothesis behind this difference. To form a force of will, a strong and disciplined mind wasn't enough.
What was the meaning of life if your entire life revolved around service? All these elite mech pilots completely devoted their lives to their jobs, to the detriment of everything else. They didn't make any friends outside of their own circle and they neglected their families in their pursuit of advancement. They had no hobbies to speak of and their existence was completely negligible aside from their profession.
Their monotonous living pattern made them no different from bots in human form. While Ves still had no explanation of what spiritual energy actually consisted of, he began to develop an inkling that it possessed an intricate relationship to life!
Ves sensed many people with his spiritual senses. Very few possessed spiritual energy in significant quantities. Therefore, he wasn't sure about the strength of his hypothesis. There might be a possibility that an elite mech pilot who did nothing else still managed to advance.
In any case, while Ves did not sense any significant spiritual energy from Taon and the other mech pilots right now, it might be different in the future. They also didn't necessarily have to rely on spiritual energy generated from themselves to form a force of will, as Eloise Pelican's case had already proved!
When Ves, Madame Cecily and the rest bid goodbye to the mech pilots and moved away, he couldn't help but make a remark.
"You should give the young mech pilots a break every now and then?"
Calabast raised an eyebrow. "Hmm?"
"It's not good for mech pilots to spend all of their waking moments in a cockpit, simulator pod or training hall."
"They already go out frequently. Like any devout Ylvainan, they regularly attend the services at the nearest church."
"That's not good enough." Ves shook his head. "Take it as an advice from a Larkinson. A well-rounded mech pilot needs to have more in their lives than their jobs and their faith."
"It's not in my purview to manage the lives of the Protectors of the Faith. They have their own chain of command. Even if they are assigned to protect me, they are not obliged to follow my orders." Calabast sighed.
Although she wielded a considerable amount of authority in her cover identity, her ability to act directly was no longer as strong as before.
Ves still cared a bit about this issue, though. "Then take up the suggestion to their commanders. Elite mech pilots or not, you are doing your bodyguards a disservice by letting them keep to themselves."
"Is this the wisdom of the Larkinsons?"
Walking alongside Ves, Ketis couldn't help but say her own peace. "If their jobs and their faith is all they live for, what happens if both are taken away from them one day?"
"There would be nothing left." Ves said.
This gave them all a lot of food for thought. Eventually, they reached the ground floor of the headquarters.
"The mech designers we've invited will arrive in two days." Calabast said. "I hope you find at least one of them acceptable enough to work with. While none of them are exceptional mech designers, their willingness to cooperate is very high."
"Well see." Ves said without commitment. He had his own bottom line. "Is there anything else to do for me in the next two days while we wait for their arrival?"
Calabast thought for a moment. "I will dispatch Leon to you to take you to a service at the grand church tomorrow. Our faith is central to our identity. You need to develop a good understanding of our faith if you want to design mechs that appeal to our people."
"I appreciate the opportunity." Ves replied.
He couldn't reconcile the Calabast he knew with the mild and pious image of Madame Cecily.
Ves and the rest took a guarded shuttle ride back to their temporary compound. Once there, Leland awaited his arrival with a grim face.
"Someone has run through our luggage while we were gone." He said the moment Ves arrived.
That cause Ves to look up in alarm. "What? But there are guards!"
"Well, someone managed to sneak past them anyway. The intruder managed to bypass the security systems as well, and not through simple jamming. Whoever infiltrated the compound either made use of a backdoor or a very advanced hacking system."
This meant that whoever snuck inside the compound and inspected their personal belongings must have been dispatched by a powerful organization!
A question quickly popped into mind. "How did you find out? If the intruder is so sophisticated, then they wouldn't have left any tracks behind."
"You're correct. The precautions I left behind have all been subverted." Leland shook his head in disappointed. "The only reason why the guards noticed something amiss was when a scuffle of sorts seemed to break out in one of our rooms. As best as we can tell, our intruder bumped into another intruder and erupted into hostilities!"
Ves blinked in astonishment. "So there's another? And they aren't friendly to each other?"
"There are many different powers in the Ylvaine Protectorate who don't like us." Leland stated. "Some of them don't get along with each other either. The only problem for us is that the intruders quickly left after exchanging some blows. They didn't leave any clues behind that could help us figure out their allegiances."
It could have been the Poxcos. It could have been the True Believers. It could have been the traditionalist mech designers. Any manner of interest groups could have infiltrated their compound.
This unexpected development made Ves believe that further trouble was afoot. The nature of the threat was so serious that Ves held a private meeting with Melkor.
After Ves explained some of the dangerous undercurrents he learned these past few days, Melkor didn't seem pleased.
"Why can't you be normal for once, Ves? I thought this business trip to the Ylvaine Protectorate was supposed to be a working vacation."
Ves tiredly rubbed his face. "I underestimated the extent of political tension in the Protectorate. I thought that since everyone here shares the same faith, that they would all get along with each other. The truth is much less optimistic than I thought."
The political conflicts in the Ylvaine Protectorate weren't any different from the Bright Republic. In fact, the insertion of faith polarized the differences even more!
Melkor patted his cousin's back. "It's not that bad. You're surrounded by a considerable amount of Protectors of the Faith. The Curin Dynasty seems to be sincere in wanting to cooperate with you. With that many mechs and troops following you around, nobody should have any ideas about attacking you directly."
That was true. Even if someone ran through their luggage, what could they do? It was just a bunch of clothes and other miscellaneous possessions. The most important gear such as the custom suits of armor bought from Renny's Outfitters were stowed on Melkor's personal Crystal Lord so that they would always be within reach to their owners.
They continued to discuss some matters about their security arrangements, but there was very little they could do. Melkor already brought all the Avatars of Myth that he could spare.
Aside from hiring mercenaries, there was little they could do to bolster their protection.
Chapter 1181
Ves decided against hiring mercenaries or private security guards. Not only would their presence disturb the Protectors of the Faith, he also didn't know who to trust.
So far, his business trip to the Ylvaine Protectorate increased his sense of isolation. Despite staying in a bustling capital capital city of a moderately industrious planet, Ves felt very much alone, with only the companions he brought with him keeping him company.
The Ylvainans were not as friendly and open to foreigners as the Reinaldans. Not a lot of foreigners visited the Protectorate, so the locals here didn't have much experience in dealing with people who didn't share their culture and beliefs.
It was easy for people like Ves to feel detached from the locals due to all of the barriers in the way. Ves had no idea why Calabast wanted him to treat the Ylvaine Protectorate as his second home when he was so different from the average Ylvainan citizen. Just the differences in beliefs estranged him from Ylvainan society!
When Ves described some of his concerns over dinner at the compound later in the evening, Ketis snorted.
"You have us, right? You're never alone, Ves. Who cares what the Ylvainans think about us. It's their business if they don't like us. As long as they don't come up to us and punch us in our faces, they can think whatever they want."
"Maybe I'm being a bit too melodramatic." Ves admitted. "It's just that the culture shock is just beginning to dawn on me. It's incredibly awkward for us to be surrounded by Ylvainan believers while sharing none of their beliefs. It's like our presence is staining their perfect little paradise."
Gavin spoke up. "It's normal to feel this way. It takes a special kind of person to feel at ease in a completely foreign environment. The Ylvainans haven't been very welcome to outsiders like us as well."
The Ylvaine Protectorate consisted of a bubble that protected the local citizens from a galaxy that was largely hostile to their beliefs. Yet their isolation also coddled them, causing the Ylvainans to become unable to show much grace and hospitality to foreigners.
The problem was so extensive that Ves began to have second thoughts about furthering his business in this state.
He asked a deep question. "Do you think the Ylvainans deserve the opportunity to purchase our products?"
Everyone in the dining room fell silent. Melkor, Chette and Rhode didn't have much to say, since they were only mech pilots.
When Ves looked at Ketis, she spent more time on rubbing Lucky's back while he munched on a small bowl of exotics than thinking over his words.
"I still don't know why you're making such a big fuss about it." She said as she perceived his stare. "The galaxy is a big and weird place. Even if most humans look the same, they're completely different underneath their skin. As long as you have a comrade by your side, no amount of adversity can break you!"
Her words came out right from her heart at the end. How could she forget about the harrowing experiences on Aeon Corona VII and the deep frontier? They had jumped straight into one of the most perilous places in the Faris Star Region but managed to keep up their spirits because they enjoyed the company of follow Vandals and Swordmaidens!
A small realization dawned upon him. "You're right. Having friends and family alongside me is like carrying a piece of home with me. As long as we all enjoy each other's company, we will never become engulfed by this foreign environment!"
He spoke this not for himself, but for all of them! Ves shouldn't be the only person present here who felt unwelcome in the midst of the Ylvainans.
The locals couldn't be blamed for their cold and uncertain attitudes towards foreigners. Once the Protectorate began to open up its borders, their attitudes would likely shift as they came more and more in touch with visitors from other states.
"Speaking of loneliness, when will you get a girlfriend, Ves?" Melkor asked, interrupting the comfortable silence.
Ves almost spurted out a mouthful of tea. "That's none of your business!"
"On the contrary. It's everyone's business." The Avatar Commander retorted. "You're one of the most pivotal members of the Larkinson Family right now. Even if you don't spend much time at the Larkinson Compound, everything you do reflects back on our family and your business. Some of the elders of the family even contacted me and asked whether you'll be getting married soon."
It made sense that the Larkinsons paid attention to his love life. The family always placed a lot of attention on relationships, especially after a war. This was the perfect time for a Larkinson to settle down and have kids!
To Ves, the issue of marriage became especially pertinent. The continuity of the LMC after his death or retirement depended heavily on whether he could raise a competent successor.
While it wouldn't be to difficult for him to find an external successor to take over the LMC, the Larkinsons did not want to hand over their crown jewel to someone outside of the family.
It would be best if his children or another Larkinson mech designer could take over the business after Ves moved on! Even if such an event wouldn't take place for a century or more, the Larkinsons were already starting to grow concerned!
Gavin's mouth curled into a sly grin. "With your status and fame, you can get almost any girl you want, you know."
"Shut up, Benny."
During the discussion, Ketis bent down her head and held Lucky closer to her body. Whatever her thoughts on the issue, she didn't wish to draw any attention for now.
"Look, what are you waiting for, Ves? The war is over and you're a free man. Even if you are busy with your work, that doesn't mean you should neglect your other responsibilities. It is the duty of every man to find a partner for life!"
The company's motto took a different meaning at this moment.
"I don't see you hanging around with girls, Melkor."
"That's because I'm still young."
"I'm just as old as you. If you can take your time, so can I. My lifespan is almost 200 years. I can afford to wait."
"That's no reason for you to wait. I'm different than you, Ves. The Larkinsons don't care about my descendants. You're different because the family expects at least one of your kids to take over what you've started."
"I can train other Larkinsons into competent mech designers." Ves compromised. "I'm open to the possibility as long as they do well in their studies."
Melkor shook his head. The surface of his visor glinted in the light of the dining room. "That's not the same and you know it. The amount of attention you put into training other Larkinson mech designers will never match the effort you put into raising your own children into following your footsteps! Also, you're the only Larkinson who has broken the mold. As the first exceptional Larkinson mech designer, the Larkinson Elders back at Rittersberg expect that your kids will all inherit at least some of your talent in mech design."
There was no such thing as that to Ves. He attributed most of his initial success to the Mech Designer System. Even though he transformed his body many times which turned his genes into something exceptional, the question whether he still retained the ability to conceive children remained a mystery.
One of the downsides to extensive genetic modification was that many people lost the ability to conceive children naturally! Only through the help of geneticists and other specialists would they be able to have children.
Ves coughed. "I'm too busy with my career right now to look for a girlfriend."
"That's rich, coming from you." Melkor snorted. "Didn't you just tell Madame Cecily that her bodyguards should live their lives? The same applies to you. What's the meaning of chasing after wealth and power when you don't have anyone to share them with? If you take away your company and your mech design abilities, is there anything left?"
That question completely stumped Ves. Although he had led a more diverse life than just designing mechs, he couldn't help but admit that his life revolved around it. He didn't have a hobby worth mentioning and he didn't really have any close friends and family he could share his joys with aside from maybe Ketis and Lucky.
Having realized the significance of living a full life, Ves could no longer deny that he was very negligent in diversifying his life.
The reason why he still possessed a strong degree of Spirituality despite his one-dimensional life was due to other reasons. Perhaps his mother imparted her strength in this area to him when he was born. Perhaps the System induced a change in him. Perhaps the Heavenly Flower he ate during the Groening Mission kickstarted its explosive growth.
Yet all of those possible reasons entailed growth through external means. Rather than continue to rely on outside factors, Ves would be much better served if he could grow his Spirituality through his own efforts.
The key to that would be to follow his own advice and live a more multifaceted life.
Ves tiredly released a breath. "Alright. Maybe it's about time for me to find a girlfriend. Now is not the time, though. We're far away from home and surrounded by Ylvainans."
"Who knows if you fall in love with an Ylvainan. Some of them are quite attractive." Gavin teased. "For example, isn't Madame Cecily a big fan of you? She's quite pretty and she's very high birth. The two of you are a match made in heaven!"
Ves stared daggers at Gavin. "Please don't sully our employer. There's nothing going on between us."
The thought of hooking up with someone as shady as Calabast simply didn't register in his mind. While she looked gorgeous, that didn't mean much since almost every woman underwent a couple of procedures to make them look better. Finding an ugly woman in modern society was as rare as finding an expert pilot among a crowd of mech pilots!
"Hmm, on second thought, it will be hard to marry an Ylvainan without converting to their faith."
Citizens of the Bright Republic grew up with a considerable predisposition against religion. Every secular state didn't look to kindly on religion. They had a strong interest in suppressing any interest towards religion because their spread threatened their sovereignty and identity!
If the Bright Republic became more open to the Ylvainan Faith, then what was there to stop the believers from merging the formerly-secular state with the Ylvaine Protectorate?
The separation between state and church didn't exist!
"So what's your type, Ves?" Melkor asked. "Are you into other mech designers?"
Ves shrugged, no longer willing to think so hard on this issue. "It helps. I think the most important quality is trust. As long as I feel comfortable enough with someone to share my secrets, I can see myself sharing the rest of my life with such a person. What's the point of marriage if you can't trust your significant other?"
This was why he couldn't imagine marrying someone like Calabast despite all the advantages such a union offered. She was obviously an exceptional individual who was more than qualified to be a partner in his rise to prominence.
Yet despite knowing more about Ves than any other person in the galaxy, he could never bring himself to open up his heart to her. Calabast was a very calculative woman who never stopped regarding Ves as a treasure to be milked!
If Ves ever wanted to hook up with someone, she should at least be someone he could feel at ease.
His eyes drew towards Ketis for a moment but didn't linger there.
"Why is love so complicated?" He mused.
"It's because you can't design it like you design your mechs. You have to find it on your own."
Chapter 1182
The next day, Leon arrived at the compound to take Ves and his entourage to the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr. The purpose of this visit was to expose each of them to the Ylvainan Faith.
When they stepped out of the shuttle, they all admired the tall structure.
Its architecture conveyed an immense amount of grandeur!
While sculptures and depictions of Prophet Ylvaine was all over the place, much of the facade featured another robed figure with a very characteristic long beard.
"That's the Grey Martyr?" Ketis curiously asked as she adjusted her poofy beret on her head. "He sure looks like the part."
Leon smiled generously. "The Grey Martyr is the oldest of the Martyred Followers. He was already old when Prophet Ylvaine rose up in the galactic heartland. Before receiving the prophet's enlightenment, he was just an ordinary man. Among the rest of the Martyred Followers, he is the least exceptional among them. He's older, less educated and lived the most plainest life imaginable in that part of space."
"What makes him so special then that he's revered as the Grey Martyr?"
"Good question." Leon replied with a smile. "The Grey Martyr is a simple man who is blessed with a gift for teaching. It is not a secret that while our prophet has made a lot of predictions, they are very difficult to comprehend. The Grey Martyr took it upon himself to compile the words of the prophet and condense them into easily-understandable pamphlets and books. The Ylvainan Faith spread a lot faster among the commoners due to his vital efforts!"
Anyone who attempted to read the words of Prophet Ylvaine would quickly descend into confusion! Much of what he said was dense and obscure at best, but no different from the sayings of a madman at worst!
For someone to sift through this difficult material and translate them into plain words took a huge amount of effort!
"This Grey Martyr must have the patience of a god." Gavin remarked.
Leon didn't take offense at the implied insult. "That is why many Ylvainans believe he is already standing by Prophet Ylvaine's side. Each of the Martyr has distinguished themselves in some way that has earned our admiration."
The group attracted a lot of attention from the church goers who entered the grand church in order to attend the upcoming service. The mechs and armored security guards surrounding them couldn't be hidden.
Ves spoke up while they were approaching a smaller side entrance into the church. "I heard that there's a cathedral in Krent that's even larger than this place. Why didn't you take us there?"
"The cathedral is a magnificent place of worship." Leon replied with an admiring breath. "It's the best place to experience the splendor of our faith. However, you wouldn't learn as much there. The Grand Church of the Grey Martyr is devoted to understanding. Outsiders like you are best served by learning from the Grey Martyr first."
That made sense. The Grey Martyr may not have been an exceptional person in life, but his simple outlook on life was of great help to Prophet Ylvaine in spreading his teachings to the masses.
Once they entered the church, they entered a tall and expansive hall of the grand church. Worshippers constantly entered from the main entrance and took their seats.
The light was dim and the hall was cast in shadow and darkness. Much of the interior was lit with traditional candles which weren't as luminous as modern lighting systems.
The traditional-looking interior looked like something out of a history book. If not for some modern touches here and there, Ves might have mistaken this church from a relic of humanity's pre-space history!
"You know, the style of this church reminds me of those of another faith." Ves remarked.
Leon didn't deny the accusation hidden in those words. "We cannot deny that our architects have taken inspiration from other sources. We do not see that as something to be shameful about. They say that all space lanes leads to Terra. It is the same with the matter of our faith. All of us are connected by a common thread. Just because someone follows a different faith does not mean we should reject them as a fellow brother."
Ves spotted a loophole in this convoluted argument. "What about the Star Worshippers?"
"They are heretics who trample upon our most core beliefs!" Leon replied vehemently. "The Star Faith is completely incompatible to us. They do not acknowledge the existence of any transcendent existences except for their supposed 'stellar gods'. If you ask me, they are merely deifying immense balls of plasma in space. As amazing as it to contemplate the sheer might of stars, they are lifeless objects incapable of thought! To mistake them as gods and reject the Time of Ascension is the greatest affront to the Ylvainan Faith!"
The heated emotion in Leon's voice startled Ves and the others. The Ylvainans really didn't like the Star Worshippers!
The core tenets of their respective faiths couldn't be reconciled.
The Ylvainans all believed that every form of life would one day receive the opportunity to transcend their mortal existence. Every human and alien was worthy of grace and redemption!
The Star Worshippers possessed a very different outlook. They regarded the Stellar Gods as tyrannical existences that needed to be placated all the time. None of them ever dared to think that they could become equals to the Stellar Gods. The mere thought of it was blasphemy to the highest order!
The inherent contradictions between their respective faiths exacerbated the tensions between the Ylvaine Protectorate and the Star Faith Collective. This was the consequence of making the church and the state one and the same! Because there was no distinction between the two, what could have been a harmless argument escalated in a conflict that already led to a considerable amount of deaths!
The worst part about it was that there was no way for either states to back down. Both of them needed to prove their devotion to their faith by defending their principles to the death if necessary!
This was why the reformers gained strength in recent times. If the Ylvaine Protectorate wanted to compete against the Star Faith Collective, then they needed to loosen the shackles that restricted their economic and industrial might!
Leon didn't take Ves and the others into the congregation of worshippers. Instead, he led them to a separate wing of the church that was served as a museum dedicated to the teachings of the Grey Martyr.
"Out of all the early followers of the prophet, the Grey Martyr is the one who is most involved with spreading our faith. Much of his work forms the core of the most widely-accepted interpretation. The Attendants of Ylvaine consider the Grey Martyr as one of their most important patrons due to this reason."
Each of them explored the wing of the church on their own. Due to the impending church service, no other visitors were allowed at the moment.
Ves went from display to display. Some of them held a rusted data pad or some scrap of carefully-preserved fabric where the Grey Martyr scribbled his interpretations.
Other displays held replicas of the gear worn by the Grey Martyr or scale models of the starships he traveled on. They also depicted what life was like before and during the First Calamity.
"The First Calamity is the most ruinous test that the Ylvainan Faith has ever lived through." Leon said with sadness. "Back when Prophet Ylvaine was still alive, we never intended to harm anyone. We spread our faith in peace and without any intention of upsetting the existing order. Yet fate is cruel and twisted the hearts of the leaders of the states where the faith was present. They all banded together and struck at our followers, slaying our prophet, exterminating his dynasty and turning his closest followers into martyrs!"
Ves tried his best not to show his skepticism. The history he learned in school in the Bright Republic painted a very different picture.
Supposedly, the Ylvainan Faith was very aggressive in its expansion. They not only took in willing believers, but also applied a considerable amount of coercion! Prophet Ylvaine was so insistent on expanding his faith that he wasn't afraid to offend the local powers!
Unfortunately, no matter how many people he converted, it was hard for the Prophet to withstand the military might of entire states! Faith alone wasn't enough to stop a laser beam from burning a hole through your head!
What he learned in school basically told him that the Ylvainans had it coming. If they weren't stopped, they would have eventually grown so powerful that they could topple the secular governments of the states they operated in and found a new religious state in their place!
Of course, Leon probably hadn't been exposed to this less flattering version of the history of their faith.
"The First Calamity is the first great test of our faith. While Prophet Ylvaine has regretfully separated from us, his teachings still live on. The Ylvainan Faith has survived the First Calamity and the Great Flight to the Komodo Star Sector. Right now, we are in a period called the Long Recovery. While some believe that this period will last for a couple more centuries, others believe that the Second Calamity is looming closer and closer."
Ves garnered a guess of what that meant. "Are you referring to your conflict with the Star Faith Collective?"
"It is becoming increasingly clearer that the Ylvaine Protectorate and the Star Faith Collective cannot tolerate each other's existence." Leon declared. "Many Ylvainans fear that a war of annihilation is closer at hand than we like. This isn't like the cyclical wars your Bright Republic wages against the Vesia Kingdom every generation. The differences between us and the Star Worshippers are too great to contemplate peace. War is inevitable and neither side will lay down their arms until the other side has fallen into ruin!"
Ves and some of the others nearby looked a little disturbed. The Bright-Vesia Wars were already bad enough. However, neither side persisted after they exhausted their forces.
It sounded as if this wouldn't be the case in the conflict between the Protectorate and the Collective! Once they began to fight, neither side wanted to stop!
The timing of this looming conflict couldn't be any worse. Just when the Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom laid down their arms against each other in preparation for a greater threat, the two religious states were gearing themselves up for what looked like an extremely destructive war!
Eventually, Ves shrugged. Even if the Ylvainans and the Star Worshippers were about to slaughter each other, the LMC could sell a lot of mechs during this conflict!
While the state militaries played the leading roles, many private mech forces still contributed to the war effort in their own ways. The demand of mechs would continue to increase as the war became more heated.
A glint appeared in his eyes. Selling his mechs to the Ylvaine Protectorate would be very lucrative in this case. If he managed to sell his mechs to the Star Faith Collective as well, he'd be able to rake in twice as much money!
He quickly dashed his hopes. The LMC would likely incur a backlash if it became too brazen in trying to profit from both sides. If Ves wanted to sell his mechs to the Star Faith Collective, he should at least do so in disguise.
An idea quickly came to mind. Should he fake another identity in order to gain entry in the Collective's mech market?
He shook his head. It was way too convoluted to maintain separate identities. Although the Star Faith Collective's mech market should be a lucrative place to do business, it wasn't worthwhile for Ves to pay particular attention to it unless he gained a strong advantage.
Still, Ves couldn't help but become intrigued at the possibility of seeing his mechs in battle against each other.
Chapter 1183
Ves appreciated the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr. Its museum and teaching wing gave visitors an intimate impression of the Grey Martyr and the early days of the Ylvainan Faith up until the end of the Great Flight.
He knew that the displays and accompanying texts deliberately glossed over the less flattering aspects of the faith. The Attendants of Ylvaine shaped a narrative that inspired both existing believers and nonbelievers.
Obviously, even if the Ylvaine Protectorate gave up on trying to convert the whole galaxy to their faith, they never let go of their dream to spread their faith. Prophet Ylvaine explicitly commanded his followers to do so in many occasions.
Reality trumped the commandments of their holy prophet. With the current strength of the Protectorate, they wouldn't even be able to convert a single neighboring state! Embarking on a grand crusade would only lead to a swift end to the state and the extermination of their entire faith!
Therefore, even if the Ylvainans still upheld the mission to spread the faith in their hearts, the Attendants of Ylvaine did their best to divert attention from this aspect.
The Ylvainan Faith needed to be spread, but the prophet never mentioned a deadline. Perhaps the Ylvainans could embark on their mission a few thousand years later. There wasn't any hurry, right?
Ves also gained a better understanding of why the Ylvainan Faith rose up in the first place. The First Calamity happened during the hectic end of the Age of Conquest. Prophet Ylvaine emerged as a figure of hope. Even as entire planets full of people got blown up left and right, the prophet foresaw an end to chaos and the beginning of a new order.
It was too bad he didn't live to see the transition to a new age. The rise and fall of the Ylvainan Faith was just one of many extreme events that occurred during this time of turmoil. The faith should count their luck that the three leading dynasties managed to ferry the remnants to a new home close to the edge of the galaxy.
Leon drifted over to Ves. "I hope the displays have given you to a closer understanding of our faith. Do you have any questions about what you've seen?"
"Yeah. How can you reconcile with other faiths that believe in different gods?"
"That's a complicated question." Leon shrugged. "We do not necessarily reject the beliefs of every faith. Truth to be told, there is a lot of overlap. We merely believe the perspective of many other faiths are too constrained around a limited range of godlike entities. They may believe that their gods are omnipotent and omniscient, but what is the meaning of our existence to live under such a powerful entity? We might as well be simulated AIs living in a virtual bubble of reality."
"So you reject that gods are all-powerful because you believe in the self-determination of humans?"
"Not just humans. All life." Leon smiled in a benevolent manner. "We are infinitely diverse, and each of our lives are meaningful. The gods who others believe are the beginning and end of everything are not as supreme as they thought. They are merely one of many transcendent existences who have cultivated some fans."
This was like demoting the image of a god from the CEO of a company into a middle manager. The Ylvainan Faith believed that there were even greater entities than the gods that other faiths worshipped.
The other religions probably wouldn't be able to control themselves if they met an Ylvainan who devalued their gods.
Still, Ves became a little uneasy for a moment. Some parts of Leon's explanation resonated with his own perspective on life. While he had no intention to convert to the Ylvainan Faith, he found it odd that he actually agreed with some of its beliefs.
"The church service is about to start." Leon said after checking the time on his comm. "We would be glad if you could attend it, though I understand if you do not wish to be present."
"You don't mind letting non-believers inside the main hall?"
"How can we spread the faith if we close the doors to our churches?" Leon smiled. "You'll be placed away from the locals, so they won't be disturbed by your presence."
Upon his invitation, Ves, Lucky, Ketis, Gavin and a handful of bodyguards climbed up to the upper floor and sat down at a raised balcony. An opaque electronic screen allowed the occupants some measure of privacy while still giving them a commanding view over the main hall and the dais.
A solemn but inspiring service commenced. Ves and the others observed without saying anything. The Grand Church of the Grey Martyr was a place of worship that emphasized the past and the fundamental lessons that could be learned from that time. A lot of families brought their children along in order for them to gain a better understanding of the faith.
A sense of peace and serenity fell on Ves. The Grand Church was so immense that it easily housed a hundred-thousand believers. To gather so many devout worshippers in a single place inevitably sparked a strange reaction.
Ves could sense a faint communal thread connecting every believer to each other. Under the guidance of the priests and the singers, the thoughts of each Ylvainan aligned with each other. While none of them were individually strong, the quantity of people nonetheless produced a remarkable phenomenon!
Just as Ves closed his eyes in order to attune his spiritual senses, Lucky suddenly jerked up from his lap!
"Meow!"
"What is it, Lucky?"
"Meow-meow!"
"There's danger?"
"Meow!"
"Damn!"
Leon and everyone else noted their strange behavior.
"What's wrong, Mr. Larkinson?"
"According to Lucky, we're in deep danger! There is a lot of movement outside the grand church! I'm afraid they aren't here to chat! We should evacuate the grand church and get to safety?"
Ketis already jumped from her seat and entered battle mode. Gavin glanced around with a clueless face. Leon still remained skeptical. How trustworthy was this mechanical cat? Isn't it just an artificial pet?
Just then, something happened in the main hall. Someone rose up from the middle of the congregation and shed his robe.
"Prophet Ylvaine lives, and he has spoken!" The rabid man announced, interrupting the ongoing sermon. His voice had been amplified through unknown means that allowed him to command the attention of everyone in the grand church! "A great blasphemer has entered this holy place! He sits above you all, plotting to corrupt your devotion to our prophet!"
How could the Grand Church lack security? Before the crazy man could say anything else, a ceiling mount zapped the man into paralysis. A team of security guards quickly pressed through the disturbed crowd and took the man away.
Yet at this time, a woman at the rear of the main hall stood up and shed her robes as well. She pointed an accusing finger in the air. "The great blasphemer is the herald to our doom! His presence in our state is the Second Calamity that our prophet foretold! A crisis of faith is at hand!"
A nearby turret attempted to zap the woman, but suddenly turned offline! Someone tampered with the security systems!
Fortunately, a team of guards quickly moved in to stun the woman and pack her away, but then a third person stood up and pointed his finger in the same direction!
That direction happened to be pointing straight at Ves on the raised balcony!
"Heed our prophet's warning! The great blasphemer has come to corrupt our faith and blacken our hearts! He has donned the guise of a mech designer and is planning to seduce us by dazzling us with his impure mech designs!"
As the third individual got taken care of, a fourth person stood up. "The great blasphemer is a foreigner whose sole purpose here is to break the Ylvainan Faith and destroy our Protectorate! He has taken the guise of a Brighter named Ves Larkinson! Do not be fooled by his innocent facade! He is a great demon who spreads his lies with a forked tongue barbed with thorns!"
This time, Ves became particularly alarmed. This plot was aimed squarely at him! "Trouble is in the air! Leon, find a way for us to evacuate! Guards, give me my armor!"
The guards that accompanied the entourage handed over a pair of metallic cases to Ves and Ketis.
Both of them unlocked their cases, causing them to expand and fold out until they both encompassed their bodies!
The process only took a few seconds!
Along with the weapons they carried, both Ves and Ketis instantly transformed from easygoing mech designers into deadly warriors! The sudden transformation stunned Leon and Gavin! Were they really mech designers?
Ves paid huge fortune to acquire the Sparous Vize and gift the Rising Red Dragon to Ketis. Only now did he begin to get his money's worth!
He already held his Peaceful Repose in his hands, though he kept the safety on due to all the guards and people in the way.
Ketis hesitated whether she should draw her greatweapon. Eventually, she opted to keep her weapon sheathed behind her back while she pulled out the Udor, her custom laser pistol. The brutal-looking weapon gave her a very dangerous air that added to the intimidation factor of her imposing red combat armor!
In the meantime, just as the fourth individual was subdued, a fifth person stood up and pointed at Ves! For some reason, the electronic screen that obscured his presence fizzled out, causing most of the congregation to get a good view of Ves and Ketis wearing strange combat armor while wielding their deadly pistols!
"Look upon the great blasphemer and his horned attendant! Look upon him and remember his appearance, for he is the greatest enemy of our faith! His hands are stained with the blood of innocents and his engines of destruction will reap the lives of an untold number of Ylvainans!"
The ground suddenly shook as shockwaves buffeted from outside! A battle erupted outside the Grand Church, and from the scale of disturbances, Ves immediately concluded that mechs were involved!
"For the good of the Ylvainan Faith, our living prophet has declared that every faithful Ylvainan must slay the great blasphemer before he poisons our hearts and minds! Do not be deceived by the promises of reform! Resist the temptation of greed and affirm your faith in our prophet! Break the hypnotic spell that this great demon has cast over you! For the true prophet! For the Ylvaine Dynasty!"
The latest madman and all the other crazies who spoke up suddenly blew up! The explosion was so intense that not only the surrounding guards, but a large amount of people in the vicinity got caught up in the explosions!
Hundreds of Ylvainans died! Even more sustained severe injuries!
Screams rang throughout the main hall and panic ensued among the local folk. People jumped from their seats and ran towards the exit, but the hasty flight caused plenty of people to trip and fall only to be trampled by the feet of of their fellow Ylvainans!
All the while, the security systems that could have suppressed the stampede or taken out the troublemakers failed to take effect!
The explosions might have stunned Gavin and Leon, but Ves, Ketis, Lucky and the guards didn't stand still. They immediately began to exit the gallery and move towards an emergency exit!
"I-I-It's the True Believers!" Leon stammered as a guard dragged him forward. "They're aiming at you, Mr. Larkinson! I can't believe it! The New Ylvaine Dynasty has always been brazen, but launching an attack in the middle of the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr during a service is sheer madness!"
"It doesn't matter who's attacking us. We need to get out of here!" Ves said through his helmet.
"Ah, yes! There's an underground emergency exit not far away from here! It's just around the corner and up ahead!"
They all ran around the corner accompanied by many other important Ylvainans who were privileged enough to sit above the main hall. Each of them suddenly halted as they reached the entrance to the underground escape tunnels.
"The emergency exit is blocked!"
A series of explosions blew up the entrance and a large section of tunnels! The True Believers didn't want anyone to get away!
"All the other emergency exits are blocked as well!"
Panic quickly spread among the Ylvainans. They were trapped inside the church!
Chapter 1184
Leland's warning proved prophetic. The New Ylvaine Dynasty was one of the most notorious terrorist groups in the Protectorate. Under the leadership of their insane incarnation of Prophet Ylvaine, they didn't hesitate to kill their fellow Ylvainans in order to further their cause!
Right now, the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr lost its peace and serenity in the most awful way possible! A lot of locals already died due to the suicide attacks, and many more perished due to the subsequent stampede!
The worst part about it was that once the Ylvainans passed through the enormous main doors, they instantly became swept up by a battle between giants.
The True Believers hid numerous mechs throughout Krent and deployed them at the same time!
Even though the Protectors of the Faith maintained a strong guard presence around the grand church, a fifth of them suddenly turned against their comrades!
The treacherous Protectors stabbed their unsuspecting comrades in the back, disabling a substantial number of guard mechs right at the start!
This sneak attack not only affected the mechs, but also the footsoldiers! Random Protectors wearing combat armor or exoskeleton armor began to mow down both the masses and their fellow Protectors!
Total chaos ensued as Protectors fought against Protectors! While the traitors numbered fewer in number, they blended in so well that the loyalists constantly hesitated whether they should fire on their own!
As confusion and slaughter ensued around the grand church, the Avatars of Myth parked outside the church immediately adopted a defensive posture.
Commander Melkor tried to make sense of the confused situation. With Protectors fighting against Protectors, they were faltering in their attempts to fend off the mechs pouring in from the periphery!
With Ves and the others stuck inside the church, Melkor quickly knew what he had to do. He immediately issued his orders to Rhode Larkinson and the other Avatars in his squad.
"Leave the Protectors of the Faith alone as best as you can! Try not to fire back at them unless they focus their fire upon us! Our armor can take the potshots!"
"What should we do then, commander?!" An Avatar who piloted a Blackbeak asked.
"I want a Blackbeak in the rear to cover any attacks from rogue Protectors. As for the rest, take out the approaching unknown mechs! Make sure to check their transponder IDs first before you attack! They might be our reinforcements instead!"
Although the Avatars of Myth lacked combat experience, the quality of their mechs more than made up for it! The Ylvaine Protectorate wasn't as prosperous as the Bright Republic. The Protectors of the Faith simply couldn't afford to equip all of their rear garrisons with expensive mechs!
Therefore, the combat performance of the Avatars of Myth immediately overshadowed that of the surrounding Protectors!
With Melkor in the lead, the Crystal Lords fired continuous lasers at the approaching mob of insurgent mechs. The ramshackle mechs all stumbled from the ferocious barrage of lasers!
"This is easy!" A Crystal Lord pilot boasted. "The enemy mechs are all crap!"
"Pipe down and check your fire!" Melkor immediately rebuked the fellow. "Even if the enemy mechs are garbage, there are more than a hundred of them converging on the grand church! Don't attack them carelessly! Aim high or low and make sure that you don't hit anything but the ground or air if you miss! We can't afford to inflict any collateral damage!"
The awful part about this chaotic attack was that it took place in the middle of Krent! The capital city of Kesseling VIII housed millions of citizens, and Melkor couldn't imagine how many people in or around the church already got caught up in the fighting!
With so many mechs pulled into battle, the collateral damage was already ruining the exterior of the grand church as well as the rest of the densely-populated city district! The energy screens installed in the vicinity were barely active for a dozen seconds before they all broke due to the sheer amount of firepower thrown in their way!
Nowhere was safe! Many underground evacuation tunnels collapsed and any shuttle or aircar that attempted to fly away was shot down by one of the many insurgent mechs!
While the mechs deployed by the True Believers assaulted the grand church, they weren't shy about sowing as many deaths as possible along the way! Their trigger discipline was nonexistent and their aim frequently strayed towards office buildings, residential apartments, schools and other places filled with terrified Ylvainans!
The True Believers deliberately inflicted as much collateral damage as possible!
"Crazies!" Rhode Larkinson cursed. "How can they be so heartless as to slaughter their fellow Ylvainans?!"
"You're a fool if you expect any compassion from terrorists." Melkor replied while he carefully aimed the compact laser rifle of his Crystal Lord. "Watch your aim and don't descend to their level. If we accidentally kill even one innocent Ylvainan, we'll never hear the end of it! We can't bring any further trouble to Ves!"
Ever since the first sign of trouble erupted, he attempted to hail Ves, only to fail due to all of the jamming in the way. The True Believers prepared their attack well!
However, after numerous attempts, Melkor finally managed to open a weak connection! The Sparous Vize worn by Ves was an exceptionally expensive suit of combat armor and possessed a strong communication system!
"What's going on outside, Melkor?"
"It's bad! Some of the mechs of the Protectors of the Faith have turned traitor! We're getting swamped by a hundred enemy mechs!"
"Are you able to hold out?"
"The enemy mechs are numerous but weak." Melkor stated. "However, there's so many of them that it will take a lot of time to repel them. I don't advise you to step outside!"
"Damn! The underground evacuation tunnels have all been collapsed as well! There's no other way out!"
Both of them concluded that Ves had no choice but to hole up in the church and pray it didn't collapse over his head!
While a destructive mech battle raged on the streets, the interior of the church descended into hell! With the security and monitoring systems offline, it was impossible to pacify the panicking crowd of Ylvainans!
To their credit, none of the security guards turned traitor. However, they all had their hands full when random crazies popped out among the crowds and began to fire their weapons at the guards regardless of how many innocents were in the way!
Bodies dropped to the floor by the hundreds as a surprising amount of True Believers opened fire!
While most of the fanatics wielded basic weapons that barely dented the armor of the church guard, a small number of them employed heavier weapons that posed a serious threat!
The preoccupation of the church guard meant that they didn't have the manpower to spare to protect the bystanders caught up in the fighting. The reluctance of the guards to hurt the innocent hampered their attempts to take out the terrorists quickly!
During this time, Ves, Ketis and Lucky all entered battle mode. As the previous outbursts had already suggested, the main target of this large-scale attack happened to be them! Shortly after they found out that the emergency exits had been collapsed, a large mob of fanatics wielding an assortment of weapons barged in and began to fire their weapons wildly at Ves!
The Protectors of the Faith dispatched by Madame Cecily did their jobs and protected Ves and his companions from the attacks. They surrounded them and deployed mobile cover on the ground which unfolded thin, protective alloy barriers.
While they couldn't withstand a lot of heavy firepower, they nonetheless resisted the majority of the light caliber weapons wielded by the mob. For the moment, Gavin and Leon should be safe despite their lack of armor. Both of them huddled down to the floor and covered their ears against the noise of weapon discharges.
As for Ves and Ketis, both of them stood confidently in their respective combat armor.
"Just like old times, eh?" Ketis remarked in their private comm channel.
""Trouble always seems to find a way to haunt me." He sighed. "Don't move for now. There's nowhere else to go and our guard detail is doing a good job in repelling the mob."
Just as he said that, a large number of frantic fanatics pulled out grenades from their coats and threw them at his guard detail!
The combat armor worn by the Protectors of the Faith all activated their interception systems. Small laser mounts embedded into their armor bombarded the grenades with lasers.
While this function destroyed the vast majority of grenades before they arrived close to the defenders, a handful still slipped through and managed to detonate against the mobile barriers!
The ferocious explosions not only cracked some mobile barriers, but also injured the Protectors of the Faith huddling behind them! The grenades succeeded in creating some openings in the defensive envelope!
The crazy fanatics quickly fired their weapons through the gaps. Some of the shots even impacted the surface of the Sparous Vize and the Rising Red Dragon!
"Mr. Larkinson, get down!"
Ves casually waved his armored hand. "Weapons of this caliber won't pose a threat to me. You should worry about your own lives."
"Shall we test out our weapons?" Ketis asked with bloodthirsty eagerness. "I haven't killed someone in more than a year. I've missed this sensation!"
He glanced at her imposing armored form. "Don't shoot unless something dangerous comes up. I don't think this is the extent of the attack. The mob is barely even capable of killing heavily-armored Protectors of the Guard. If the True Believers truly wanted to kill me, they should know better than to throw some worthless bodies in my direction."
The True Believers sacrificed a lot of manpower and assets to launch a large-scale attack. Perhaps they spent a decade's worth of accumulation on Kesseling VIII to gather so many mechs and fearless fanatics!
Therefore, Ves, Ketis and Lucky each remained alert as they waited for the next shoe to drop.
They didn't wait long. As the mob of fanatics ran closer to makeshift defensive position, the thick and solid wall behind them suddenly collapsed!
A breach had been formed in a direction that every Protectors of the Faith assumed was safe!
As the dust and debris began to settle, a large group of fanatics armed with better weapons began to fire through the newly-opened gap!
A lot of Protectors of the Faith instantly fell into trouble as they became caught in a crossfire of attacks from multiple directions!
What was worse was that Ves and Ketis both became exposed to the attacks from the rear!
Ves and Ketis both came to the same decision and knelt to the ground. "Fight!"
Ves took careful aim and fired his Peaceful Repose through the gap. Currently, he loaded his custom ballistic pistol with a magazine filled with inferior Exil rounds. Each pull of the trigger expended 100,000 credits.
The expensive rounds left a blazing trail in their near-instant passage through the air. The powerful Exil rounds punched through the combat armor worn by the better armed and better equipped True Believers like butter!
Five True Believers fell from the first round alone as it passed through multiple bodies at once! As the Exil round lost almost all of its kinetic energy, it exploded in the body of its fifth victim, blasting the deluded fanatic's body into chunks of meat that were barely contained in his suit of combat armor!
While Ves carefully paced his shots in order to conserve his ammunition, Ketis shot her Udor with abandon!
The large, oversized laser pistol that looked like it belonged to a space barbarian barked out powerful laser beams that sliced through armored fanatics with ease! Ketis patched in her Udor into her Rising Red Dragon's targeting system, causing her to exhibit perfect accuracy!
Just as the attackers on the other side of the breach were almost wiped out, the stone ceiling above their heads suddenly collapsed!
"Ketis, cover Leon!" Ves yelled. "I'll cover Benny!"
Both of them threw their armored forms over their unarmored companions just as the rocks crushed down upon them all!
Chapter 1185
The Grand Church of the Grey Martyr was an immense structure built out of a combination of stone and more advanced materials. This protected the grand church against attacks from mechs, but could prove deadly once the walls and ceilings were no longer held in place.
The rain of rocks and heavier alloys dropping over the entire group proved devastating to both the Protectors of the Faith and the mob of fanatics that attacked them! The sheer weight of them was far more than any individual could withstand!
Even the combat armor worn by the Protectors of the Faith failed to withstand the sudden rain of heavy debris! Many of them were outright killed, while those who endured less debris sustained severe injuries which their failing suits of armor desperately tried to treat!
As battle continued to rage elsewhere in the grand church, the collapsed section fell into a momentary lull of silence.
Half a minute later, a scuffed but intact armored form carefully dug out the pile of debris that settled on the ground floor. The Rising Red Dragon carefully held on to Leon who was trying to hold in his cries of pain while he held his broken and half-crushed arm.
"It hurts!"
"Shut up!" Ketis retorted as she abruptly dropped him onto the pile of debris. "How can you Ylvainans allow your grand church to be attacked so brazenly?"
"I don't know! I never thought that the New Ylvaine Dynasty maintained such a huge presence on Kesseling VIII. It doesn't make any sense!"
Ketis didn't concern herself about Leon's mistaken assumptions. What mattered right now was surviving this attack!
"Stay put! I'm going to dig out Ves!"
She holstered her Udor and began to bend down and move aside the chunks over the spot where Ves last threw himself down to cover Gavin's body.
She used the superior mechanical strength of her Rising Red Dragon to remove the smaller pieces. As for the larger pieces, she unsheathed her greatsword and carefully sliced them up into manageable portions.
Five minutes passed by until she managed to form a small hole over the dented back of Sparous Vize.
"Are you still alive down there?" Ketis asked.
"Yeah." Ves replied as he awkwardly held his position. "Lucky helped me survive the collapse."
"Meow."
The cat crawled out from underneath his armor looking a lot less energetic.
At the moment when Ves threw his armored form over Gavin, Lucky flew above and used his energy claws to slice the largest chunks of debris! While Lucky's efforts didn't make a lot of difference, his efforts nonetheless prevented the Sparous Vize from getting overwhelmed.
As soon as Ketis dug aside enough debris, Ves carefully stood up. The Sparous Vize fared a lot worse than the Rising Red Dragon, but its quality nonetheless helped him avoid the same outcome of that of his guard detail.
His shield generator also helped take off the load during the initial impacts.
"We sure got our money's worth." Ves said as he helped Gavin stand up and climb out of the hole.
His assistant incurred a lot of trauma. His entire body shook and he had trouble maintaining his footing on the bed of debris.
"I thought we would die!"
As Leon and Gavin tried to come to terms to the ordeal they went through, Ves turned his attention to Lucky.
"Are there any other threats nearby, Lucky?"
"Meow."
"The fighting is already starting to die down?"
"Meow."
"No further threats are coming?"
"Meow."
"Okay, got it. Activate and maintain an ECM field over us to be sure. Maybe the True Believers will direct another wave of attackers at us of they think we survived the collapse of the ceiling.
"Meow!"
"I know you expended a lot of energy, but I'll make it up to you later! I'll ask for compensation directly from Madame Cecily!"
Ves felt awfully pissed as Calabast for overlooking the acute threat posed by the True Believers. She was supposed to be a spy! It was her job to be on top of these kinds of threats! How could she be so incompetent that she overlooked all the hardware and people the True Believers moved into place?
Obviously, her intelligence network wasn't up to snuff yet. Whoever fed her the information that the True Believers posed a negligible threat did a good job fooling Calabast.
Ves and Ketis moved Leon and Gavin over to a defensible position away from the collapsed ceiling. They huddled there under Lucky's ECM as the cat continued to cast his sensors in every direction.
The fighting in the main hall and outside the church started to die down. No further attackers approached their position.
Just fifteen minutes after the start of the attack, the Protectors of the Faith finally arrived at the grand church in force!
By then, the traitors among the mechs stationed at the church had already been eliminated. As for the attacking mechs that stormed the church in every direction, most of them had already been wrecked.
The Avatars of Myth did an exemplary job in fending off the attackers, taking out twenty of them with just a couple of Crystal Lords!
Once a large amount of Protectors on foot poured into the main hall of the grand church, they swept up the remnants of the fanatics with overwhelming force.
It was too late. Many innocent Ylvainans died from the crossfire, stampede and crushing debris. Large holes poked through the high ceiling of the church, illuminating the blood and bodies that littered the interior of the church.
As the primary target of this attack, the Protectors of the Faith dispatched commandos to Ves' last known position. Lucky dropped his ECM field at their approach, allowing them to detect the survivors.
"Mr. Larkinson! Come with us!"
The commandos forcefully took Ves, Ketis and the injured men away.
Hours later, Ves returned back to the headquarters of the Office of Strategic Mech Management. Right now, the entire Kesseling System was on high alert, so the headquarters currently hosted four times as many guard mechs!
The Avatars of Myth, fresh out of one battle, only took a short rest before piloting their mechs again. None of them were willing to take the chance that the New Ylvaine Dynasty already exhausted all of their assets on Kessling VIII.
"So, Calabast." Ves spoke as he sat in her office inside his dented armor. At this stage, he wasn't willing to relinquish his protection. "I recall you said something about the True Believers."
"I stand by my words, Ves." She said. "Just because the attackers talked like True Believers doesn't mean that they are actually the real thing. The attack came too abruptly."
Ves raised his eyebrow. "Are you trying to deny you're wrong?"
"Damnit, Ves! Don't be fooled by what took place on the surface! While the True Believers have never been the most rational terrorists, they would never be crazy enough to inflict death and destruction on this scale, especially to the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr!"
"What do you think actually took place, then?"
"I think another organization is responsible. It could be the traditionalists. It could be the Attendants of Ylvaine." Calabast pinched her head. "I'm pretty sure it's not the True Believers. It simply doesn't make sense."
"Prophet Ylvaine never made much sense."
Calabast frowned at Ves. "Whatever you think about the New Ylvaine Dynasty, they can't afford to alienate their grassroots support. While they've never shield away from civilian casualties, they have never shown this much disregard for collateral damage. This terrorist attack will set back their support by a huge margin."
They eventually moved on from this topic. Calabast seemed oddly adamant about sticking to her theories.
"What happens to me now?" Ves asked.
"I don't know. I will have to meet with the senior Curins to see what they have to say. They might want to pull the plug on your commission and send you back to the Bright Republic as fast as possible."
Ves furrowed his brows. "Won't that be giving in to the demands of the terrorists?"
"News of your involvement has already spread." She said and threw out a data pad that contained some articles she collected from the local news portals. "Even though you're a victim, the media has already begun to lay the blame on your feet!"
He skimmed through the headlines.
THE CAUSE OF THE ATTACK - VES LARKINSON IS A DANGER TO YLVAINAN SOCIETY
GO HOME VES! WE DON'T WANT YOU HERE!
TRUE BELIEVERS VOW TO CONTINUE THEIR ATTACKS UNTIL VES LARKINSON IS DEAD OR GONE!
"These are smear articles!"
"Many news portals published them soon after the first details of the attacks emerged." Calabast said. "The publications that acted the fastests are mostly aligned with the traditionalists and the Attendants of Ylvaine. Even though they state that the True Believers are the main culprits of the attack, the journalists are all trying to shift some of the blame on you. If you weren't in the Protectorate, the slaughter would have never taken place!"
Ves felt like puking blood. "That's victim blaming!"
"It's working. A lot of Ylvainans are getting swayed by these articles. You have to know that the Ylvainans have always been predisposed against foreigners. Public opinion is turning against your presence. Even some of the supporters of the reform agenda are beginning to have second thoughts about your involvement."
All of these revelations began to look suspicious to Ves. "This smells like a plot, and a premeditated one at that."
Whether the True Believers were actually involved or not, at least one element of Ylvainan Society wanted him gone. They knew that as long as Ves succeeded in impressing the locals with his mechs, he'd be able to do a lot more business in the Protectorate, thereby advancing the reform agenda.
"Right now, my staff and I are working as hard as we can to keep the deal between us going." She said. "I've even called in some favors from my old employers to exert some influence on the decisions of the higher-ups. I've spent an enormous amount of social capital, you know."
"Am I supposed to be thankful? I don't even know who you worked for before you moved to the Protectorate!"
Right now, the situation seemed dire. Although Ves was glad he was able to retain his life and the lives of his comrades, his mood sank when he thought that all of his plans for the Ylvaine Protectorate were about to be ruined due to a targeted conspiracy against the reform agenda!
"Relax, Ves. The Curin Dynasty won't give up on us." Calabast said. "The only problem is that it will be difficult for us to proceed with our plans."
"Why so?"
"The traditionalists are trying to use this incident to convince the public that it isn't worth it to get in bed with foreign mech designers. They don't add much strength to the mechs sold in the Protectorate. In fact, their presence will only serve as magnets for further destructive terrorist attacks!"
This was plainly giving in to intimidation. Yet even though this opinion was starting to get a lot of sway among the Ylvainans, Ves nonetheless saw a glimmer of hope in this awful situation.
Ves began to smile. "I see. If that's the case, then the only way I can prove the traditionalists wrong is to design a great mech. As long as my mech strongly appeals to the Ylvainans, then the public will become convinced that it is more than worth it to work with a foreigner like me! My mech design will be my rebuttal!"
"Do you think it's easy to impress the skeptics among the Ylvainan population?" Calabast retorted. "The bar is raised now. There's a lot at stake. With so much public scrutiny over your work, it's not enough for you to meet the high expectations we've set on this project. If you truly want to win back enough support, you have to surpass everyone's expectations!"
"Calabast, if there is one thing I am confident about, it is my ability to design mechs. Just wait. In a few months, I'll convert every skeptic with my hero mech design!"
Chapter 1186
The audacious terrorist attack on Kesseling VIII shocked the Ylvaine Protectorate. The news spread through the entire state in an instant, becoming the most talked about topic in the next few days.
The Grand Church of the Grey Martyr hosted many Ylvainans during the terrorist attack. Many more lived or worked in the city district affected by the battle between mechs. As the second-biggest church on Krent, the area around the grand church was one of the most desirable places to live and work! A lot of affluent and influential Ylvainans counted among the casualties!
Right now, casualty estimates exceeded 200,000 Ylvainans, and this figure climbed upwards every hour! At least a third of them had died while the rest sustained moderate to severe injuries.
It became clear that the True Believers deliberately aimed to inflict as many casualties as possible! Not only did they deploy a lot of fanatics who fired their weapons indiscriminately inside the church, but the cheap mechs they deployed all fired their weapons with wild abandon!
The True Believers could have never overwhelmed the defenses of the grand church. Even if the mechs of the Protectors of the Faith struggled against traitors in their ranks, the quality of their mechs and mech pilots exceeded that of the attackers by a large margin.
The Avatars of Myth distinguished themselves in this battle as well. Their contribution hastened the collapse of the opposing mechs and preventing them from sowing more death and destruction.
The New Ylvaine Dynasty must have known the cheap mechs they deployed wouldn't be able to win. It was already a tall order to defeat the Protectors of the Faith defending the church, but they could never hold their ground against the reinforcements sent from other strongholds in the city!
Therefore, Ves quickly figured out that the goal of this horrendous attack. Killing him was just an excuse. It would further the agenda of his opponents if he died, but even if he managed to survive, the purpose of the attack had already been fulfilled!
"The true reason for launching this attack is to malign the reform agenda!"
A war of public opinion ensued shortly after hostilities ended. News portals aligned with the traditionalists not only exaggerated the awful attack, they also cast the blame of the event on Ves and the reformers.
The way the traditionalists saw it, the reformers could have prevented this tragedy if they hadn't provoked the True Believers into attacking the foreign mech designer they invited to Kesseling VIII!
The momentum the reform agenda built up over the past few years grinded to a sudden halt due to this event!
The traditionalists, who always lost ground, suddenly regained their fire! They ardently stood up and defended the need to stick to their own customs! The Protectorate didn't need the help of foreigners to remain strong!
Currently, Ves looked out the window from the top floor of the guest compound. Hundreds of protestors gathered in front of the courtyard walls and jeered at the foreigners hiding inside.
"Go away, foreigners!"
"Ylvaine needs no help from you!"
"Drive out this evil blasphemer!"
The insults hardly affected his mood. As an increasingly public figure, Ves already became used to attracting hate.
Only two other people resided in the room right now.
Gavin looked like he had gone through hell. As a civilian, he had never faced a threat to his life before. Getting caught up in the middle of a major terrorist attack deeply affecting his psyche.
"Ves.." He said with a gulp. "It might be time to cut our losses. We aren't welcome here. All the propaganda published over the last few days has turned many Ylvainans against foreign influence and you specifically. With so much xenophobia directed against us, the LMC will never be able to get its feet off the ground in the local mech market. We've been kneecapped!"
Crossing his arms, Ves didn't reply, but his straight and unyielding posture already made his stance clear on the matter.
"The situation is getting increasingly more dangerous to us, Ves." Leland said. He hadn't been present at the grand church during the attack. "There are a lot of forces converging on Kesseling VIII. My sources tell me that the hostile mechs used in the attack had all been shipped in piecemeal in the last couple months. That tells me that this action was both deliberate and premeditated."
"Do you believe that the True Believers are responsible?" Ves asked. "Madame Cecily believes that another faction is responsible."
Leland shrugged. "It's difficult to say. The True Believers quickly claimed responsibility for the attack, but that doesn't mean much. They've been put into a difficult position if they aren't responsible. If they denied responsibility, then that would have painted them as weak and indecisive. That's not the style of their fake prophet."
Everyone here knew too little to make a solid judgement. So many interests were competing against each other that none of them knew where to go in order to seek revenge.
However, Ves already made a judgement on his own. "I think Madame Cecily has a point. Even if the motives of the attack aligns with the beliefs of the New Ylvaine Dynasty, they'd be stupid to alienate their popular support. Out of all the Ylvainan factions affected by this tragedy, only the traditionalists have come out as clear winners!"
"I would caution you not to come to a premature conclusion." Leland warned with a sharp gaze. "Sometimes, the most obvious answer is just a trap. Whoever launched this attack may have wanted to deepen the contradictions between reformers and traditionalists."
That caused Ves to raise an eyebrow. "Who would want that to happen?"
"I can name a few parties. The Star Faith Collective for example. The Star Worshippers will want to do everything possible to weaken the Ylvaine Protectorate. The more the Protectorate is wracked by internal division, the weaker they'll be when the inevitable war breaks out between the two states."
The idea sounded plausible, but Ves didn't want to go that far. "Let's leave the guessing to the authorities. It's not our job to hunt down the culprits."
"So you intend to press on?"
Ves nodded.
"Why?" Gavin nervously asked. "It's dangerous here! Just look at what has happened! If the attackers can launch one attack, they can launch another!"
"I acknowledge the risks, but it's not my intention to back down from this threat. The moment they aimed at our lives, it's no longer just about making money."
"What other reason is there that is worth braving all of this danger?" Gavin frowned.
They initially traveled to the Ylvaine Protectorate for business and profit reasons. Greed and the desire to expand the reach of his products drove Ves to participate in this venture.
Those reasons still applied. The only difference was they took a backseat to a greater priority.
Retaliation.
"It's personal."
Ves refused to take the easy road. Abandoning the commission and leaving the Protectorate with his tail tucked between his legs only furthered the interests of his opponents.
Perhaps he spent too much time on the frontier, but he simply didn't want to back down and show weakness!
Logic dictated that he should cut his losses. The Ylvaine Protectorate was just one of many states in the Komodo Star Sector. Why should he divert so much time and effort into expanding the presence of his mech company in a state that didn't welcome him? He didn't owe anything to the Ylvainans!
Yet on an emotional level, Ves wanted to spite his enemies. Retaliating directly by attacking those responsible of the attack was impossible. Therefore, the next best thing that he could do to spoil the plans of his enemies was to dazzle the Protectorate mech market with a fantastic mech design!
His pride as a mech designer demanded that he accept this challenge. Not only was it a good way to retaliate against the masterminds behind the attack, the pressure also motivated him to work at his best.
His principled stance also happened to resonate with his design seed.
This was important, because he suspected that his design seed played an intricate role in his future advancement. He called it a design seed because he felt that it was only the initial shape of things to come. There was so much raw potential locked inside the design seed, but hardly any of it had been revealed since its formation.
Anything he did that roused the activity of his design seed was worth contemplating.
"It's decided. I intend to stay." Ves declared. "However, that doesn't mean that everyone has to stay. Benny, if you don't feel safe anymore, I can send you back to the Bright Republic."
The suggestion did not sit well with Gavin. "I don't know, Ves. It feels like I'm turning my back on you when you need me the most. You still need someone by your side to manage your affairs."
"I can manage, I think. It's not as if you can't do most of your job by remote. I won't hold it against you if you want to return to safety."
While Gavin felt awfully tempted, he eventually shook his head. "None of the others are leaving. What would that make me if I'm the only one in your staff to depart? I don't want you to think less of me. I love my job. I'm very lucky to work for you in this capacity, even though you never call me by my actual name anymore for some reason. If an advisor like Leland has the guts to stay, then I should stick around as well!"
Oh, if he only knew the truth. Leland was anything but a civilian.
Regardless, Ves was pleased with Gavin's commitment. Only during times of difficulty would he be able to distinguish between true friends and fair-weather friends. He recognized that it took a lot of courage for Gavin to stay.
"I appreciate the support, Benny." Ves smiled sincerely at his assistant. "I'll be sure to compensate you with a generous bonus. Consider it hazard pay."
Gavin ruefully shook his head. "It's never been about the money for me. If you really want to reward me, then please call me by my real name."
"Sure thing, Benny."
Later on, Ves met with Ketis at a lounge in the compound. When she heard about his decision to stay and continue to work on the commission, she nodded as if she already knew he would make that choice.
"I knew you'd never back down!" Ketis chuckled. "We should teach the bastards who attacked us a very good lesson! By the time you're done with them, they'll regret waking the dragon!"
Ves tiredly sighed as he sat down on a coach next to Ketis. "It's easier said than done, though. Many Ylvainans are already predisposed against me and my products. If I want to shift public opinion, then I need to design a really fantastic mech. It has to be at least as great as the Aurora Titan!"
A lesser mech design wouldn't cut it anymore. Ves initially thought he could get away with a perfunctory design that was just as good as the Crystal Lord, but no more. He needed to impress the Ylvainans just like how he impressed the Brighters with his Aurora Titan!
Compared to last time, his ability to design a mech should have improved. As his latest Mastery experience showed him, a Journeyman was a lot more capable in designing a mech than an Apprentice!
Yet all of these advantages couldn't make up for the fact that Ves didn't have access to the most critical ingredient!
If Ves wanted to match the grandeur of his Aurora Titan design, he needed to obtain a strong spiritual fragment that could empower his images and serve as the core of the design spirit of his upcoming design!
In order to obtain such a valued asset, he had no choice but to seek them out!
An audacious idea started to form in his mind. Which individual did the Ylvainans value the most?
Chapter 1187
The terrorist attack on the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr affected the entire Kesseling System. All the deaths and destruction disrupted a lot of trade and business transactions, sending the local economy to a nosedive.
A significant amount of scared Ylvainans abruptly moved away from Krent or Kesseling VIII, which further exacerbated the living conditions of those who remained.
The only reason the local economy hadn't crashed was because the Curin Dynasty pumped a lot of money into the star system. Their vigorous efforts helped prop up everyone's jobs and businesses, though only at great cost.
Even the most reform-minded Curins began to have second-thoughts about Madame Cecily Curin's decision to continue working with Ves. The reform agenda took an awful hit due to her initiatives, making her even less popular among her erstwhile 'relatives'!
When Ves next met up with Calabast at her tightly-guarded headquarters, he encountered a lot of protestors and mechs.
An entire mech company of Protectors of the Faith had come out in force. Their presence deterred the protesters from taking any rash actions and also safeguarded the life of the most controversial Curin in the Kesseling System.
A lot of people didn't like the Director of Strategic Mech Management right now! She carried just as much blame for provoking the terrorist attack as Ves!
Due to the raised security levels, Ves had to go through numerous security inspections. He left everything including Lucky and his comm behind before the beefy guard presence allowed him to enter Madame Cecily's office.
"Ves." Calabast said with a slightly weary tone voice as soon as she activated her signal jammer. "I know I was supposed to introduce you to some local Ylvainan mech designers today, but there's a setback."
"What happened?"
"The Apprentices who initially expressed their interest in working with you have all decided to change their minds. They've canceled their appointments and left the Kesseling System as soon as possible. We tried to approach some other Novices and Apprentices to make up for their absence, but not a single Ylvainan mech designer we came in touch with has accepted our generous offers!"
Even though he faintly expected this reaction, Ves nonetheless grimaced. "Mech designers are very risk averse when their lives are on the line. Ylvainan mech designers have never been exposed to danger, unlike the mech designers from my own state."
He didn't mention that most of Brighter mech designers still remained cowards anyway.
"The problem remains that no matter how much incentives I've offered, not a single Ylvainan mech designer thinks it's worthwhile to cooperate with us." Calabast sighed. She knew the score as well as anyone. "Every Ylvainan mech designer wants to maintain a good reputation in the Protectorate. Working with you will ruin their mech companies if they own their own businesses. Even if they don't, the taint they acquired from associating with you will mean that they won't have any hope of getting hired by an Ylvainan company."
Working with Ves had always been a gamble. Right now, the odds were stacked against him. The chance of success had plunged while the cost of betting on him increased to an unacceptable degree.
Mech designers always possessed a good mind for mathematics. Even a first-year mech design student could calculate odds. It didn't surprise Ves at all that every Ylvainan mech designer concluded that collaborating with him was a bad bet!
Still, that left both of them deprived of an essential asset. Without an Ylvainan mech designer to lend their credibility to the hero mech design, it was impossible for Ves to claim he designed an authentic Ylvainan mech!
The joint venture between him and Calabast also fell into an awkward place. Without a local mech designer to take the helm of the Living Mech Ylvaine Corporation, Ves wouldn't be able to advance his business agenda with regards to the Protectorate's mech market.
"Do we enjoy any support at all?" Ves asked.
"The most ardent reformers in the Protectorate still believe in the cause." Calabast replied. "We can count on their backing. The need to liberalize the Protectorate's economy and revitalize its industry is still a priority to them. The sooner they can get this done, the better their chances of winning the war against the Star Faith Collective."
The fundamental division in Protectorate society was to what extent they needed to embrace change to survive the upcoming war. Relations between the Ylvaine Protectorate and the Star Faith Collective continually deteriorated to the point where war became more and more likely.
The initial skirmishes already revealed that the Protectors of the Faith couldn't keep up. Unlike their isolationist neighbors, the Star Faith Collective never closed themselves off from the rest of the galaxy. They embraced all the latests trends and their mech market was just as competitive as that of the Bright Republic.
The three leading dynasties of the Ylvaine Protectorate all read the signs. What they disagreed on was how they should address their shortcomings.
The reformers favored change. If their mechs weren't good enough to keep up with the machines deployed by the Star Faith Collective, then they should just change that by borrowing foreign help.
The traditionalists rejected that approach due to religious reasons. They believed that letting go of their principles and watering down their unique customs would distance the Protectorate from the Ylvainan Faith.
The most hardcore believers of the Faith believed that their piety should be enough to win against any opponent!
Thinking about the differences between the two factions prompted Ves to make an important realization.
"We don't need an Ylvainan mech designer."
"Pardon?" Calabast raised her eyebrows. "I've already told you that the Ylvainans can be quite xenophobic. Recent events magnified this tendency among the locals. We are even more dependent on local help than before!"
Ves resolutely shook his head. "I don't think so at all. Look at it this way. The entire point of the reform agenda is abandon older customs that hold back the strength of their mechs. The premise behind this idea is that the reformers recognize that their domestic mech designers are no good!"
"Although that's true, most reformers only seek modest changes. They don't want to upend every existing paradigms that make up an Ylvainan mech!"
"Change is necessary. Rather than pussy-footing around, why not be bold for once and take a leap? The traditionalists already hate us regardless of how much we try to accommodate their feelings. I think the time for compromise is over now."
"You're being reckless, Ves. There is always a need for compromise. While we both look down on the hardliners in the Protectorate, they comprise a good chunk of its total population. It's extremely unwise to aggravate your relations with them. Burning your bridges with them won't do you any good!"
A stubborn streak crept up within Ves. The more Calabast argued against his decision, the more he became convinced that he should stick to his stance!
"I've already decided, Calabast. I don't want to play by the rules of traditionalists anymore. I believe I can design an Ylvainan mech as well as any Ylvainan mech designer. I don't need their help."
Although the two of them disagreed on this matter, Ves wouldn't let Calabast have her way this time.
When it came to designing mechs, Ves always stuck to his principles!
After a ten-minute argument, Calabast shook her head in disappointment. "You mech designers are always touchy about your mechs. I really don't like the direction you're forcing us to take. You are taking unnecessary risks when there are safer alternatives available. If you give me some time, I can probably bribe a desperate-enough domestic mech designer to collaborate on your project."
"Don't bother. I don't want any help from unqualified mech designers with ulterior motives."
The meeting ended shortly after they held their contentious talk. All of the recent setbacks weakened Calabast's confidence. Her position in the government was constantly under threat and it took a lot of energy for her to maintain her current directorship. She could hardly spare the time to manage Ves.
For his part, Ves knew that he acted too willfully and impulsive for his own good. He received plenty of good advice, all of which he quickly set aside because he didn't want to give the traditionalists any satisfaction!
He recognized that he was being a lot more irrational than usual.
Perhaps it was because he never got over from his latest harrowing, life-threatening encounter. Ever since he came back from the ruined grand church, he never truly calmed down.
Was it a good idea for him to let his anger affect his decisions? No.
Did it feel good to let his emotions take the reins? Hell yes!
A strong drive to design a mech surged within his body. He was like a dormant engine that had slowly been roused to life. He was more ready to design a mech than ever before!
Ves always valued such an emotional state. His passion had been stoked. A strong sense of purpose drove him onward. All of these conditions increased his motivation to the highest degree possible.
As Ves returned to the guarded compound, he immersed himself in his passion in order to prepare himself for what was about to come.
"It's time to design my mech."
First, he should come up with a vision and mech concept. Calabast initially requested him to design a hero mech which could serve as her ceremonial bodyguard. The mech needed to fulfill both a ceremonial and practical function.
"The mech has to look great, feel great and perform great."
These requirements corresponded to the form, spirit and function of the mech. Ves possessed a good amount of confidence in both the form and function of his mech design.
Ves worried the least about the performance of his mech. As a Journeyman, as long as he spent enough time on his work, his mechs would never disappoint in this area.
Calabast already put an entire catalog of component licenses at his disposal and set a generous budget. This meant that Ves didn't need to worry too much about cost efficiency. It was fine if the hero mech surpassed the Aurora Titan in cost because Calabast only wanted six copies.
As for the form of his mech, Ves believed he observed enough Ylvainan mechs to emulate their characteristic visual style. He believed in his artistic skills. He was more than capable of emulating the look of Ylvainan mechs.
"I don't want to design a clone, though."
Ves wanted to introduce something new to the Ylvainan mech market. He didn't want to copycat their style just to blend in. He wanted to make a different statement with his work.
"I'm a foreigner anyway. Copying their visual style without possessing the heart for it will just lead to hollow imitations. That's not what I want to make."
When it came to art, integrity was important. It was too easy to copy another style, but whether the artist could make it their own was another matter.
Ves didn't feel too strongly about the Ylvainan visual style. While their mechs looked impressive and matched some of his own preferences, he wasn't an adherent to the Ylvainan Faith. This meant that his attempts to incorporate religious elements onto the external appearances of his mechs would always come off as insincere.
"I should put some more thought on this matter."
Ves recognized that he needed to find a way to solve this problem. Although he already told Calabast that he didn't want to appease the traditionalists, he still wanted to obtain their support, if only to drag them into the camp of the reformers!
Aside from the form of the mech, Ves wanted to do something special with its X-Factor as well.
Although his visit to the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr ended in tragedy, his brief exposure to the Grey Martyr's relics opened his eyes.
This was because Ves noted that some of the relics contained a touch of spirituality.
Chapter 1188
Ves wasn't impressed by the relics that the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr put on display.
They mainly consisted of random articles of clothing, discarded data pads, empty nutrient packs and so on. It was as if the early Ylvainan worshippers dug into the Grey Martyr's recycling chute and rescued his trash before they underwent processing.
What would the Grey Martyr think if millions of devoted Ylvainans visited the grand church each year and worshipped his empty nutrient pack wrappers?
"It's rather absurd when you think about it! How can his trash be considered relics?"
The Grey Martyr probably left some more valuable relics behind, but a grand church on Kesseling VIII wasn't important enough to host such valuables.
Even so, Ves became pleasantly surprised that some of the more sentimental-looking knickknacks possessed a touch of spirituality. While he hadn't inspected their composition and flavor in detail, Ves believed those objects may have captured some of the spiritual energy of the Grey Martyr himself!
Still, during his brief tour at the museum wing, he also noticed another important detail. A lot of heterogeneous flavors had mixed into the faint spiritual presences.
While these additions amplified the miniscule amount of spiritual energy the Grey Martyr had left behind on some of the relics, they also decreased their purity.
It was like filling a nearly-empty cup of water with sewage water. While the cup held a lot more liquid, most of it consisted of filth, which didn't suit his purposes!
According to his understanding of spirituality, the relics gained all of this heterogeneous spiritual energy through the accumulation of worship of visiting Ylvainans.
The spiritual energy of an average baseline human was miniscule. Humans also couldn't control their own spiritual energy.
Therefore, even if the relics had been visited by billions of devout Ylvainans, the total accumulation of spiritual energy was really pathetic. Ves could pinch them flat with just a slight effort.
Nonetheless, learning about this interaction made Ves think of something else. If some random junk that used to belong to the Grey Martyr could accumulate a modest amount of spiritual energy, what about something more important?
There were other places which put much more significant relics on display. His characteristic grey robe that he wore for decades ever since the Ylvainan Faith rose up, for example.
How much spiritual energy had been bled off the visiting Ylvainans over the centuries?
Such an important relic which contained a strong imprint of the Grey Martyr must have accumulated a massive amount of heterogeneous spiritual energy!
A bold idea came to mind. Could he find a way to remove the chaotic imprints of this heterogenous spiritual energy?
This process was akin to treating the raw sewage so that only pure water remained!
The second step was to blend all of this energy with the spiritual imprint of the Grey Martyr. As long as he succeeded in doing so, then what emerged at the end would be a relic that possessed a very powerful and coherent spiritual presence!
Ves knew that such a procedure was possible. Qilanxo's spiritual fragment already demonstrated the process.
However, he never attempted to replicate this process before. He simply didn't possess the raw strength and control to copy such an intricate procedure.
Yet ever since he advanced to Journeyman, Ves began to gain more confidence in his Spirituality. While he was nowhere equal to Qilanxo's vast spiritual might, he nonetheless managed to close the distance.
The question now was whether he was strong enough to manipulate the imprints of spiritual energy.
"It shouldn't be too hard."
He recognizes several points that worked in his favor. First, working with a relic that used to belong to an impressive figure like the Grey Martyr might possess a lot of spiritual energy, but the individual in question was long-dead.
Even if some powerful spiritual remnant of the Grey Martyr still existed somewhere in the imaginary realm, it had undergone centuries of erosion. Hardly any conscious thought remained.
Therefore, his spiritual imprint shouldn't put up much of a resistance if Ves decided to mess with it in some way.
The same applied to the spiritual imprints on the large accumulation of heterogeneous spiritual energy.
While the total amount of spiritual energy would definitely be large, it was not coherent. A single average human's spiritual imprint was so miniscule that Ves could probably wipe it out with a single thought as long as he figured out the right method.
Therein lay the crux. None of this would work if Ves failed to replicate the method shown by Qilanxo's spiritual fragment.
Ves came to a decision. "I need to test and practice these ideas. Preferably on something small and weak at first."
This would not be easy. The Ylvainans would never hand over their relics to Ves to experiment with. Perhaps he might have had a chance before, but now that he became a polarizing figure in Ylvainan society, he could forget about obtaining anything!
No one wanted to see him defile their holy relics with his demonic touch!
Nonetheless, Ves did not give up on this idea. The more he thought about it, the more it appealed to him. If this method proved viable, he could apply it in many other situations besides designing Ylvainan mechs!
One of the biggest problems that hampered his ambitions was that spiritual fragments were hard to come by!
The imaginary realm was largely empty and devoid of strong spiritual entities. The only surefire way for him to obtain a spiritual fragment with the attributes he desired was to track down the spiritual presences of notable high-ranking mech pilots and mech designers and steal some of their precious spiritual energy.
However, this was a really risky procedure! The few times he did so, he always felt as if he was at risk of being caught!
"I'm only a single mistake away from being exposed!"
Stealing someone else's spiritual energy was a last resort to Ves. Ever since he advanced to Journeyman, he already noted that much of his spiritual strength had been locked away in his design seed. The amount of loose spiritual energy he could wield was still strong, but not to the extent where he could overpower the force of will of every expert pilot.
If he had no other choice, then he would still employ this method, but only for the mech designs he strongly cared about. It wasn't worth it for him to risk exposure or incurring a backlash when he messed up one day.
That shouldn't be necessary if Ves could verify the latest method he came up with. Stealing spirituality from a lifeless object was a much safer and harmless alternative!
As for the damage the relics themselves incurred through messing with and stealing their accumulated spiritual energy, who cared? They were just lifeless objects to begin with! Whatever life they gained from their exposure to important figures and the worship of countless people would live on in his mech designs!
"I'm doing the Ylvainans a favor!"
Obviously, obtaining permission to mess with the relics remained his biggest problem. Ves obsessed over this problem for a while.
He first decided to put forward a request to Calabast. He took the enormous trouble of traveling to her headquarters and endured all the security checks before he met her again in her office.
"What is it, Ves? Did you change your mind?" She asked with a hopeful smile.
"No. I still want to try it my way. I've come here to put forward a difficult request. It will sound rather strange, but as long as you fulfill it, my chances of success can easily be tripled!"
This boast immediately caught her attention. "I hope you're not exaggerating. Let's hear it, then. What do you want?"
"I need.. I need to obtain a historical Ylvainan relic. It doesn't have to be anything too valuable or important. If you can obtain one of the relics that used to be housed in the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr, then that would be best!"
His request completely stunned Calabast, though she exerted as much control as possible to maintain an impassive facade. It spoke well to her ability as a spy that Ves hadn't been able to read anything from her expression.
"Please be frank. Are you serious?"
"I am."
This time, Calabast deliberately adopted a difficult expression. "Every relic that possesses a solid connection to Prophet Ylvaine and his Martyred Followers is a treasure to the Ylvainans. The Attendants of Ylvaine are responsible for tracking and guarding them, and they're extremely fanatical about keeping them under their administration! It's impossible for a Curin like me to borrow a relic from those fanatics!"
The Poxco Dynasty were strongly inclined towards the traditionalists. They were the most devout believers of the Ylvainan Faith, but that subsequently meant that they were also the most self-righteous and insular among the bunch.
If there was one leading dynasty they disliked the most, it was the Curin Dynasty for their forward-thinking ways! Both of them sat firmly on the opposite sides on how to prepare the Protectorate against the coming war against the Star Faith Collective!
"Isn't there any other way to convince the Attendants of Ylvaine to let go of one of their relics?" He asked. "I don't even need to possess it for long. A couple of hours will do."
"No. Absolutely not. You can forget about it. You're probably their least-favorite person in the Protectorate right now. What do you want to do with a relic, anyway? Isn't it enough to watch it from afar?"
Ves considered the option of visiting a museum or church that held a relic but shook his head.
While the distance didn't hinder him as much, the closer he got, the more fine control he was able to exert.
Another factor was that the strength of his spiritual exertions weakened over a distance.
He didn't know if he could manage to pull off his method from a distance. Even if he could, he would look awkward and suspicious as hell if he stood in front of a single display for ten minutes straight. It would be awful if the guards suspected that he was up to no good!
"Oh, by the way, I don't suggest you go out at this time." Calabast warned. "After the initial attack on the grand church, the Curins put a lot of effort into investigating whether there are other threats on Kesseling VIII. While they haven't found anything solid yet, they have reasons to suspect that you're still being targeted!"
Ves grimaced. "So it's not safe for me to travel anymore?"
"It's fine if you want to visit my headquarters or the mech workshop that I've put at your disposal. You can forget about going anywhere else, let alone an important cultural institution such as a church or a museum! The Curins have already issued orders to restrict your movements. The Protectors of the Faith that are assigned to guard you will make sure that you won't be able to deviate from your route!"
A short silence ensued as Ves digested this piece of news. He didn't feel angry about being restricted like this. In the interest of public safety, it made a lot of sense to keep Ves away from valuable sites where there were lots of people present.
He shook his head in resigned disappointment. "Okay. If you can't help me with this, I'll find something else."
The two didn't part on good terms. Ves recognized that Calabast was under a lot of pressure and was doing the best she could for the both of them. Asking her to allow him to borrow a relic was a long shot anyway.
As soon as he returned to the guest compound, he asked around and tracked down Lucky. His pet was comfortably snoozing on a windowsill while enjoying the rays of sunshine falling on his body.
"Lucky? Wake up. I have a job for you!"
Chapter 1189
The more the Ylvainans wanted to put him down, the more he wanted to defy their expectations.
Ves became driven to design a mech that proved everyone wrong. He wanted to reverse the setbacks he suffered and deal a painful blow to his enemies.
To that end, he decided to pull out all the stops. What did it matter if he acted a little bit unscrupulous? His finished product would put all of his sins to rest.
In order to see whether his latest idea worked, he foisted a dangerous task on Lucky.
After the terrorist attack on the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr, the place had been closed off to the public. A careful rescue and recovery process took place that recently finished.
All of the bodies, whether alive or dead, had been dug out of the ruined grand church.
Once the authorities dealt with this priority, they slowed down their excavation work and carefully removed all of the important relics and objects from the place.
The museum wing that Ves visited before also suffered a collapse. According to the news, the ceiling went down on at least half of the wing, burying many displays underneath an enormous amount of rubble.
Some of the displays even broke, exposing the relics within to an untold amount of damage!
Rescuing and salvaging these exposed relics became a very delicate operation. The Attendants of Ylvaine would not be able to bear it if they inadvertently damaged the relics connected to the Grey Martyr even further when they hastily dug them out of the rubble!
Therefore, the recovery process slowed down to a crawl. Many relics still remained buried underneath. The Attendants of Ylvaine employed the best experts to calculate the most optimal way to recover the historical objects.
This left Ves with a valuable window of opportunity! Stealing a relic buried underneath a lot of rubble was a lot easier than trying to steal them from a heavily-monitored museum or high-security vault!
If the Attendants of Ylvaine were known for one thing, it was that they treasured their relics as if they were personifications of the great figures themselves!
All of the caution they displayed at the moment exceeded the care and attention shown by the rescue services! The lives of average Ylvainans weren't as important as the integrity of the relics that the Grey Martyr had personally held all those centuries ago!
While those buried relics may be troublesome to recover to most people, that didn't apply to Lucky.
Convincing Lucky to raid the relics took quite a bit of effort, though.
"Come on, Lucky. You just have to go incorporeal and phase through the ground to get at the relics. With all of your ECM systems that you assimilated from my CFA gear, you should be able to do so without alarming the Attendants of Ylvaine!"
"Meow-Meow!"
"I don't believe you. There should be a way for you to not only phase your body, but also anything you hold. Don't forget that I once used this ability myself. I might not be able to replicate it anymore, but I'm pretty sure that I managed to phase all of my gear along with my body!"
"Meeeeooow."
"So you are capable of phasing other stuff along with you. It just drains a lot of energy."
"Meow."
"It's just energy. I can make it up to you anytime! In fact, you still owe me a debt! Did you think I forgot that you ate my CFA shuttle, armor and comm without permission?"
"Meow!"
"What does my mom has to do with it? Just because she can steal stuff from me doesn't mean you should follow her example! No more whining, Lucky. Just do as I ask!"
After feeding Lucky the relevant information, the cat resentfully turned incorporeal and disappeared from view. With all the abilities at his disposal, Ves didn't worry too much about failure.
It would be a different story if Ves wanted to obtain a more important relic, but that was for later.
While Lucky went off on his mission, Ves sat down on a couch and began to consider the hero mech he wanted to design.
"I should form a basic mech concept and vision first."
What kind of mech appealed to the Ylvainans?
The Ylvainans didn't exhibit a strong preference towards specific mech configurations. They paid a lot more attention to how much a mech expressed their faith. Lengthy periods of peace interspersed with sporadic battles against pirates, criminals and extremists tended to bias them towards peak performance mechs with low endurance.
"This bias towards optimal performances in short skirmishes is one of the reasons why they haven't fared well against the Star Faith Collective." He recalled.
The Protectors of the Faith always fared well in battles against poorly-equipped pirates and other scum. However, against a large military mech force, the Ylvainan mechs entered the battle with the wrong configuration!
The Star Worshippers fielded tougher, more expensive mechs that wouldn't collapse from a couple of blows. They studied their opponents well and knew that they merely had to endure the initial offensive and wait for the Protectors of the Faith to run out of steam.
Once the Ylvainan mechs began to run low on energy, that was when the Star Worshippers initiated their counter-attack!
Not every battle proceeded in this fashion. The Protectors of the Faith had already begun to replace some of their mechs with ones that fared much better in longer battles. Yet this was just one of several weaknesses the Star Worshippers exploited.
"The difference in martial tradition is too huge. Many Ylvainan mech regiments have adopted mech doctrines that have never been tested in actual battle!"
The Ylvaine Protectorate never fought any battles against their neighbors before. This was both a blessing and a curse. The long period of peace allowed them to develop their planets and star systems without depending on foreign trade.
Nonetheless, just like the Reinaldans, the Ylvainans had become overly complacent. The Protectors of the Faith may look impressive, but their bark was stronger than their bite. Their actual combat strength was significantly less than their numbers suggested!
The forward-thinking reformers recognized this inadequacy. They realized that their domestic mech industry was not up to par with the regional standard anymore. They lost faith in their own mech designers.
Ves had been tasked with designing a ceremonial bodyguard mech. Different from a military mech, such machines needed to be able to respond quickly and fiercely to fend off surprise attacks.
"Bodyguard mechs don't require a lot of endurance. They only have to last long enough to escort their charges to safety or stall the attackers long enough for reinforcements to arrive."
A complicated feeling arose within his heart when he thought about his current client. Calabast trusted him to design a hero mech that protected her life.
For a moment, he was tempted to fudge his design and incorporate a hidden weak point, but he quickly stomped out this impulse.
His pride as a mech designer wouldn't allow him to violate his duty! Whatever he thought about Calabast, she was his client now, and as a mech designer it was his job to accommodate her demands to the best of his ability!
Ves had been rather lax with his responsibilities a few times, and he always paid a price for his transgressions. Now that he advanced to Journeyman, he suspected that it became more important than ever to stick to his principles!
He turned his attention back to his hero mech. Considering its mission profile, Ves determined that the mech needed to last a long time on standby but be able to deliver a lot of impact when needed.
After a bit of brainstorming, he narrowed down his mech concept.
First, it had to be a landbound mech. Ves already ruled out designing an aerial mech because a hero mech was already complicated enough. Adding flight capabilities to his design would only add more bloat while forcing him to compromise on many aspects.
The added mobility simply didn't make up for the sacrifices he needed to make in his design.
"Hero mechs normally don't place too much emphasis on mobility." Ves muttered.
In general, the mech industry classified a hero mech as an offensive mech design. Much of the focus on their design lay in their offensive capacity. They only came equipped with enough mobility and armor to strengthen their versatile offensive power.
Therefore, settling for a landbound mech was sufficient because the mech would be able to employ its rifle to any threats that remained out of reach.
As for the weapon loadout of the mech, Ves opted to go for a sword and ballistic rifle.
A sword was the standard one-handed weapon of a hero mech. The elite mech pilots that Calabast had acquired all piloted hero mechs armed with swords during their simulation battles, so he didn't intend to mess them up by foisting them with a weapon they hadn't practiced before.
He intended to solicit some feedback from Ketis regarding his hero mech's sword. Even though she was far behind him in many aspects, her specialty centered around swords and sharpness.
For the ranged option of his hero mech, Ves settled on a ballistic rifle instead of a laser rifle. While he possessed a lot of expertise in designing mechs armed with laser weapons, a bodyguard mech required more immediate firepower.
"Laser weapons can deal a lot more damage in long, drawn-out battles. The only problem is that bodyguard mechs don't have the time to wear down their enemies at their own pace."
Ballistic rifles may not be as sophisticated as laser weapons, but their firepower and dependability was undeniable. The rounds they fired could pack a variety of explosive or penetrating effects.
Most mechs armed with ballistic rifles merely fired standard explosive shells that packed a decent explosive and kinetic punch for their cost.
However, as long as Calabast invested more money on ammunition, she could easily supply her bodyguard mechs with more premium exotic-enriched rounds.
This allowed his hero mech to possess enough firepower to take out their opponents faster!
The major downside to ballistic rifles was that a mech could only carry so much ammunition. Once the hero mech ran out of magazines, its ballistic rifle was as useful as a fragile club.
Still, it wasn't as if his hero mech would fight an intensive battle for several hours straight. If Calabast had any sense, then she would stick to areas that were close to friendly reinforcements.
It only took around fifteen minutes for the Protectors of the Faith stationed elsewhere to respond to the recent terrorist attack. Providing his hero mechs with enough ammunition to last half an hour should be sufficient for their purpose.
"If a battle is being drawn out for whatever reason, the mech pilots can just fire less in order to conserve their ammunition."
A basic picture of his hero mech emerged. While he hadn't defined its appearance as of yet, its vague shape suggested a high-impact mech that defended its charge by overwhelming its opponents with a ferocious offensive!
Combining powerful shells with a strong sword arm, his hero mech was squarely designed to fight fire with fire!
While his hero mech design excelled in offensive power, their ability to defend was a lot more modest. Aside from their armor, they didn't possess any other defensive solutions.
"Other bodyguard mechs can take over this duty."
Rather than attempting to make his hero mech fulfill both an offensive and defensive role, Ves decided to focus entirely on the former while leaving the latter to other mechs. He already knew that Calabast's bodyguard detail consisted of many defensive knight mechs.
After determining this basic configuration, Ves wondered whether he should add something extra to his mech concept.
He shook his head. "I shouldn't. For a hero mech, two weapon systems is enough. Adding anything else will only weaken the core performance metrics of my design."
He wasn't working with Terran high technology this time where every component came in very compact shapes. He needed to ration the internal volume of his mech design carefully. Employing two weapon systems on a single design took up so much space that Ves didn't expect any room for other gimmicks.
Chapter 1190
Ves settled on designing a high-impact mech without too many frills. Aside from its dual weapon systems, he didn't think it was wise to overcomplicate his design any further.
"Hero mechs are already gimmicks by themselves." He snorted. "Adding a gimmick to a hero mech is like putting lipstick on a pig."
After determining the mech concept for his design, he moved on to fleshing out his vision for his mech.
A mech was more than just a collection of parts that fit with its mech concept. A good design attempted to tie them all together in a holistic manner. Synergy, fit, ease of use and more all depended on how a mech designer fashioned their designs.
When it came to his own design style, Ves exhibited a strong preference towards ease of use.
Influenced by his Mastery experiences, he designed his mechs around their pilots.
He developed a strong focus towards enabling the mech pilots of his products to showcase their maximum potential when paired together.
This inevitably meant that he sacrificed some optimization geared towards pulling more synergy and performance out of his mechs.
The question Ves faced right now was whether he should adopt the same approach to his current design project.
"Previously, I designed my mechs with moderately-skilled mech pilots in mind." He recalled.
The Blackbeak and Crystal Lord were both premium products, so Ves designed them with advanced pilots in mind.
However, the range of skill between an average advanced pilot and one who trained to the level of elites was quite substantial.
The latter displayed much greater skill and pulled out a lot more potential out of their mechs. This difference sometimes grew so large that their mechs couldn't keep up with their skill level!
"I'm not designing a mass market product this time. The only mech pilots that I need to take into account are the six elites I met before!"
The six members of the Kronon Dynasty graduated from the best Ylvainan mech academies with honors. They possessed a strong mastery in both swordsmanship and marksmanship despite their young ages.
All in all, Ves could expect so much more from their performance. Due to the narrow scope of his commision, he didn't need to take any other mech pilots into account.
If one of the six Kronons retired or transferred away for any reason, then Calabast could easily obtain another elite mech pilot from the Kronon Dynasty to occupy the freed-up machine.
"There's really no chance that a lesser-skilled mech pilot will pilot my hero mech."
This was an important realization. It liberated him from the invisible shackles that long constrained his mech designs.
Another way to describe his situation was that he didn't have to adhere to market demand. Unlike his commercial mech designs, this time he didn't have to place too much emphasis on the competition.
"I don't have to make design choices that increases the appeal of my mechs at the cost of practicality or performance."
That didn't mean that Ves had a license to design an uncompetitive mech that performed awfully compared to similar mech models on the market. He would be tarnishing his reputation instead of redeeming it if he exploited the commission in this fashion.
What actually mattered was that Ves only needed to design a mech for a very miniscule target audience.
However, a big complication arose when Ves thought about the complexity of hero mechs. This mech type was already very difficult to pilot.
A Terran mech pilot like Axelar Streon didn't exhibit much strain when piloting the Ouroboros. Ves could not expect a third-class mech pilot from the galactic rim to exhibit the same ease when piloting a 'simple' hero mech.
"I need more data." He concluded.
To that end, he made a brief comm call to Calabast. He requested a copy of the telemetry and combat footage of the recent simulation battles.
"No problem, Ves. The data is too sensitive to be transmitted over the galactic net, so I'll dispatch a courier. Be sure to treat the data carefully. You'll only be able to read the secure data chip from a restricted terminal at the mech workshop I've set aside for you. Don't lose it and don't let anyone else take it away. Destroy it once you're done."
Calabast treated the data very seriously because it could be disastrous for her if they fell in the wrong hands.
Ves hadn't visited the mech workshop yet, but he looked forward to working there. From what he heard, the site used to belong to another mech company that became defunct. Calabast took it over and transferred it to their new joint venture.
The idea was that the local mech designer they partnered up with would reside in the mech workshop most of the time. Such a well-equipped workplace enabled them to adapt the LMC's designs for the local market.
Unfortunately, they couldn't proceed with this part of the plan. Even the mech technicians that Calabast inherited from the defunct mech company all resigned from their jobs once they heard they worked for Ves now!
"I don't need them anyway." He sneered.
Ves accepted the fact that he was a pariah in Protectorate space. The only reason why he didn't make a big deal out of it was because he possessed the confidence to redeem his reputation.
Everything hinged on his results! As long as he dazzled the Ylvainans with a fantastic mech design, he could make them forget about all the accusations that had been thrown in his way!
Afterwards, he expected no further trouble in recruiting local mech designers and mech technicians.
"They shouldn't expect to receive generous conditions when that happens."
Ves prized loyalty. He hoped he could find someone motivated and dedicated enough to work with him to expand the LMC's reach.
Sadly, no one wanted to take the risk. With so many mech designers reluctant to associate with him, he no longer placed high expectations on the local mech designers.
"They can be cowards all they want, but they shouldn't expect many rewards if they aren't willing to take some risks."
He knew he was being a bit unfair to the Ylvainan mech designers. Brighter mech designers could be just as cowardly and risk-averse.
He shook his head. "There's no point thinking any further about the locals."
Ves began to envision a high-impact mech that emphasized raw power in exchange for control. Even if this design direction meant that his hero mech would be slightly more difficult to pilot, he was confident that the elite Kronon mech pilots could keep up with the sheer might at their disposal.
"The mech has to be mechanically strong."
More mechanical power meant faster movements and better acrobatics. A skilled mech pilot would be able to use the additional power to perform all kinds of unorthodox moves that confounded normal mech pilots.
In fact, mech designers adopted a similar approach to professional dueling mechs.
While Ves didn't intend to design a dueling mech, some of its principles still applied to his project. Most dueling mechs consisted of high-impact, peak performance mechs because they maximized the skill of their mech pilots.
"If you have good mech pilots, then it's best to design a mech that is strongly affected by their skills."
The reverse also applied. If Ves had to design a mech for awful mech pilots, then it was best to dumb down his design and automate as many aspects as possible. This was the whole reason why frontline mechs existed in the first place.
Overall, Ves concluded that in this particular situation, it was best if he let go of some of his older priorities and focus on maximizing performance at the cost of ease of use.
It was a very incongruent mindset to adopt at first. Yet once he convinced himself that he was designing a custom mech, he was able to live with the changes.
Ves walked up to a terminal and activated a design program. He drafted up the basic shape of his hero mech design.
He unconsciously incorporated some of the elements of the Ouroboros into his design. Just like his first hero mech design, he split his current mech design in two. One side excelled in exerting a lot of mechanical strength while the other side offered much greater precision.
Just like with the Ouroboros, the asymmetry introduced a lot of imbalances in his design. Back then, the auto designer took care of all of the underlying technical problems that he introduced by designing such an uneven mech.
This time, he didn't have any access to sophisticated AIs that had been programmed with robust problem-solving capabilities.
Even if he somehow obtained a copy of the software of the auto designer, hardly any processor bank in the Protectorate could keep up with the sheer amount of calculations the AIs performed!
"It will take a lot of time for me to manually balance the design." He muttered.
This was a very pertinent problem because he was working on a time limit. If he took too much time on designing this mech, then he might miss his self-imposed deadline of earning the MTA's recognition!
While Ves really wanted to do his utmost to design his hero mech, the short amount of time he reserved on this project seriously hampered his ability to achieve all of his goals.
"I will just have to do the best I can and hope my increased ability can keep up with my pace."
He hadn't forgotten about the System either. If he found himself lacking in some aspect, he could always materialize his System comm from his Inventory and upgrade some of his Skills and Sub-Skills.
At this time, someone rang at his door, pulling him away from his contemplation on which Skill he should upgrade next.
"Come in."
Leland entered with a troubled expression. "There's a problem, Ves."
"What's the matter?" He asked while closing his design software. He could get back at his project at any time. "You seem quite concerned."
"Due to the recent terrorist attack, the Ylvaine Protectorate dispatched a lot of investigators to find out the truth and track down those responsible for the attack. One of them has arrived at our compound without warning."
Ves had already faced some questioning before immediately after the attack. "I've already answered plenty of questions. What more do they want to ask?"
"The investigators who questioned us before worked for the local police forces. They're aligned with the Curin Dynasty so they didn't press us very hard. This time is different. The Attendants of Ylvaine sent one of their high inquisitors to interrogate you in person!"
Ves widened his eyes. Even though he didn't know how much power they wielded, just this title alone implied many awful possibilities!
"What did the Curins say about this unannounced visit?"
"It's unwise to hinder a high inquisitor on duty." Leland ruefully smiled. "The Curins may be able to stop inquisitors from snooping on their core family members, but they aren't willing to pay the price when it comes to us. Regardless, we aren't guilty anyway, so they don't think we'll face too many risks."
This wasn't something that Miss Cecily could stop. The Attendants of Ylvaine may be largely concerned with administering the faith, but their importance in Ylvainan society was just as great as the Protectors of the Faith and the Shepherds of the Flock!
Ves exited his room with a resigned expression and went down to the foyer of the compound. There, he encountered a richly-dressed old man surrounded by more modest-looking lackeys.
An ugly expression came over the old man's face. "I am High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco. You must be Mr. Larkinson."
Ves tried to maintain his composure. "Please to meet you, high inquisitor."
"I have come to inquire on some matters concerning the recent attack on the grand church. Are you willing to sit down with me and answer my questions?"
"I'd be glad to, sir."
It wasn't as if Ves could refuse. The piercing glance sent by the high inquisitor told him that he wouldn't like it if he said no!
Chapter 1191
Upon his acceptance, the high inquisitor led Ves to a small office room in the compound. The assistants that accompanied the old man swept the office up for bugs and set up small devices that Ves recognized as body scanners and lie detectors.
That meant trouble!
Ves instantly knew that he needed to watch his words. He couldn't employ his usual bold lies to get away from a tough situation. Someone who made his living by interrogating all sorts of characters wouldn't be fooled by his usual word plays either.
He nonetheless grew nervous despite his assurances of innocence. He was more than aware that out of all the major factions in the Protectorate, the Attendants of Ylvaine opposed his presence the most!
Their devoutness was just as great as their narrow-mindedness!
Once his assistants finished setting up their devices, they left the office, leaving Ves and the high inquisitor alone.
Ves awkwardly stared at the old man sitting on the opposite side of the desk.
"Mr. Larkinson." He began with a firm voice that belied his skinny, senile form. "In the name of the prophet, I hope we can uncover the truth. Let us begin with some basic questions. First, are you a citizen of the Bright Republic?"
"I am. Born and raised."
"You come from a prominent military family that is known for its mech pilots and expert pilots, is that correct?"
"Yes. The Larkinsons are very well-known in the Bright Republic for those reasons."
"You are different, however." The high inquisitor noted. "You are the first and only Larkinson to study mech design and achieve success in your career."
"That's correct."
"Are you truly a Larkinson?"
Ves frowned at that question. "I fail to see how this question is relevant to the investigation of the terrorist attack."
The high inquisitor became more intense. His eyes burned at Ves with increasing fervor. "Answer. The. Question."
Somehow, the man was able to apply a lot of pressure to Ves without resorting to any fancy spiritual strength!
He decided to answer the question despite his own misgivings. "I consider myself a Larkinson, yes."
"Ah, but do you, really?" High Inquisitor Poxco smiled. "Why the reluctance, then?"
"Because it's personal. Whatever I might think about my last name, I will always stick up for my family."
Ves was being a bit disingenuous here. The family he valued only consisted of a dozen Larkinsons or so. As for his more distant relatives, they could fend for themselves!
He faintly suspected that the high inquisitor managed to capture this detail. That put him even further on guard. They hadn't even talked about anything important yet but the old man was already reading him like a book!
"Let us move on to your work. You are a mech designer, right? Please succinctly describe your job."
This was a very open-ended question. Ves wasn't sure why the high inquisitor asked something as basic as his job description.
"Mech designers are a highly-educated individuals who make their living by designing large war machines commonly classified as mechs."
"Is that all to your profession?"
Ves shrugged. "Mech designers combine both art and science to design their mechs. We possess a strong grasp in many different fields of science and engineering. Different from academics, we apply our knowledge in creative ways that make up our own distinct design styles."
"What is your design style?"
"It's difficult to describe to laymen."
"Try it anyway." The high inquisitor gestured with his hand.
"The most simple explanation that I can offer is that I design my mechs with an eye towards how they affect people. My foremost priority is to design a mech that meshes well with their mech pilots. I've become quite good at this if I say so myself. My second priority is to make the appearances of my mechs stand out. While not every customer appreciates the latter aspect, I think I have enough customers who appreciates my mechs."
The high inquisitor leaned forward. "Interesting. I have read some publications concerning your mech designs. Many of them describe that your mechs exhibit a most unusual quality. According to the descriptions, anyone observing your mechs will feel very odd about them. Your mechs are known to possess a very compelling quality that never fails to attract attention. Can you explain the reason why your mechs are able to induce such reactions?"
This question came very close to one of his secrets!
"High inquisitor, the answer to this question is very delicate."
"Please address me as 'Your Excellency'."
"Ahem." Ves awkwardly coughed. "Your Excellency, as I was saying, the matter that you've described is tied to my mech designer specialization. Every aspect that is related to our specialty is classified as valuable trade secrets by the MTA. According to their regulations, a mech designer is not obliged to answer any questions concerning their specialty and other trade secrets. Only MTA itself reserves that right."
"Ah." The high inquisitor smiled. "You are correct, Mr. Larkinson. Thank you for reminding me of my oversight. As a lawful servant of the Ylvainan state, it is not my intention to encroach upon the strictures set by the MTA."
The Mech Trade Association both restricted and protected the rights of mech designers. While Ves frequently ran afoul of their rules and regulations, he knew he wouldn't have it nearly as easy if the powerful organization didn't exist.
The MTA explicitly protect a mech designer's right to protect their trade secrets for some very good reasons.
If they allowed agents of the state to coerce mech designers into giving up their trade secrets, then a lot of abuse would ensue.
Politically-connected mech designers could encourage corrupt authorities to drum up false charges to arrest a promising mech designer.
Once placed in their custody, the interrogators could do anything they wanted to get a mech designer to spill all of their trade secrets and feed them back to the mastermind!
Such developments went against the spirit of fair competition that the MTA prized. Therefore, the organization found it necessary to reserve the right to interrogate mech designers on matters concerning their specialty and other trade secrets.
This was how it was supposed to work. In practice, Ves heard stories where not all states abided by this regulation. The MTA wasn't omnipotent and plenty of abuses happened behind closed doors.
Ves didn't rule out the possibility that the Attendants of Ylvaine might be tempted to play dirty.
Only two factors reassured him a bit.
First, he possessed the backing of the Curin Dynasty and Calabast specifically. Considering her personal interest in his well-being, she should do everything possible to restrain the Poxco Dynasty from doing anything too egregious.
Second, he was way too high profile. Even if the MTA still registered him as an Apprentice Mech Designer in their files, there was no way they closed all of their eyes towards a de facto Journeyman.
In truth, any mech designer who managed to become a de facto Journeyman possessed a lot of potential! They were able to take an enormous leap forward in their careers despite having designed a lot less mechs than other Journeymen! This meant they held much more promise in their future advancement than anyone else!
The higher the rank, the more protection they received from the MTA. While a Journeyman didn't receive the amount of coddling they bestowed on expert pilots, they still played a role in restraining the excesses of state authorities.
Both Ves and Xefin Lin Poxco were aware of these conditions.
Perhaps the high inquisitor had more leeway with Novices and Apprentices. There were so many of them that the MTA hardly cared if the inquisitors roughed them up.
Ves was glad he successfully advanced prior to his trip to the Ylvaine Protectorate.
It was after contemplating all of this that Ves had an inkling of what was happening here. He hadn't done anything in the Ylvaine Protectorate.
Well, to be fair, he did order his pet to steal some priceless historical relics, but that didn't count!
The main point was that the high inquisitor shouldn't have the legal basis to accuse him of any crimes.
While he and his Avatars of Myth did kill a bunch of people, they acted reasonably in self-defense. As far as he knew, they hadn't killed any innocent bystanders that the high inquisitor could use as an excuse.
This led Ves to believe that Xefin Lin Poxco was trying to fish for information.
Once he realized this, Ves relaxed a bit as the high inquisitor was ready to move on to another line of questioning.
"You have initially come to the Ylvaine Protectorate in order to fulfill a commission to design a special mech for Director Cecily Curin." The inquisitor said. "Please describe the mech she commissioned from you."
Ves coughed again. "Your Excellency, the contracts that I've signed with the director prevents me from divulging the contents of our agreements. It is highly inappropriate for me to reveal this information without her permission. You will have to approach the client and gain her approval if you wish you hear the answer to this question."
"She requested you to design a ceremonial bodyguard mech, is that correct?"
"I am not at liberty to say so."
"It is not difficult to find out that the commission calls for you to design a so-called hero mech. The six wayward mech pilots she bought from the Kronon Dynasty all have one strength in common. They are proficient in both melee and ranged mech combat."
Ves tried to smile back. "Please understand. I cannot speak on behalf of Director Cecily."
The high inquisitor frowned for a bit. "I see. I will be sure to do so. She's a fascinating woman, don't you think?"
"As far as I'm concerned, she's just a client."
"From what I've gathered, the relationship between the two of you is far from superficial. The two of you are quite friendly with each other. How long have you known her? A couple of weeks?"
Ves tentatively nodded.
"And you have never known her before she presented her commission to your company?" The inquisitor asked with raised attention.
"I am not familiar with Director Cecily Curin prior to the commission. Only when I arrived on this planet did I meet with the director in person for the very first time."
"Interesting. Then why did you not only accept the commission, but also made plans to setup a joint venture between your mech company and a holding company under the name?" The high inquisitor pressed. "The speed of this agreement astounds me. You barely know each other and you've already decided to become business partners!"
"We, I saw an opportunity to gain a privileged position in the Protectorate's mech market. As a business owner, I am always keen to jump on opportunities to make a profit. Director Curin made a very attractive offer to me, one that isn't open for long. I decided to jump on it fast before she takes her offer elsewhere!"
The high inquisitor raised a skeptical eyebrow at Ves. "Even if your interests aligned, I would expect that both of you would exhibit a bit more caution to each other. Instead, both of you acted inordinately quickly. What is it about Director Curin that makes you trust her so much?"
"I don't necessarily trust her, Your Excellency." Ves honestly admitted. "I put my faith in our mutual interests."
"Faith." The high inquisitor sneered. "Typical of you secular foreigners. While we put our faith in Prophet Ylvaine, you secularists would rather put your faith in money and contracts. What if I say your faith is misplaced in this case?"
"Pardon?"
"What if Director Curin is not who she claims to be?"
Uh oh. Ves began to get an inkling of the true reason for this questioning session.
High inquisitor Poxco hadn't come here to dig out his secrets. He was here to probe about Calabast!
Had she blown her cover somehow?
Chapter 1192
"I'm aware of what has transpired." Calabast said over the comm.
As soon as the friendly high inquisitor finished his inquiry, Ves immediately called his partner over his comm.
Both of them knew that their conversation wasn't secure, so they restrained themselves from discussing any sensitive matters. The high inquisitor might in fact be listening in right now!
"Who is he, exactly?" Ves asked.
"High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco is a renowned figure in the Poxco Dynasty." Calabast calmly answered. "Born as a commoner, he joined the Attendants of Ylvaine and became an adopted member of the dynasty. He worked as a priest for some time before finding his true calling as an inquisitor."
"So he enjoys hunting heretics for a living?"
"I know that secularists like you think of all kinds of horror stories as soon as you hear about an inquisition. The Ylvainan Inquisition is preoccupied with more than hunting heretics and blasphemers. They act as the investigative arm of the Ylvainan Faith. Their mandate extends to everything related to the faith. They particularly pay a lot of attention to anything that can threaten the supremacy of the Ylvainan Faith in the Protectorate."
This explanation sounded very vague to Ves. If the inquisitors twisted their interpretation to a certain extent, then anything that transpired in the Protectorate fell within their mandate!
"Is our business partnership under threat?" He asked.
She shook her head. "This is my problem, not yours. Our business relationship is still solid. The high inquisitor may have a lot of power, but the only reason he can be involved is due to the recent terrorist attack. Regardless of what the media says, it is a stretch to lay the blame on our feet."
"What about.. your position? Is it secure?"
"My directorship is secure." Calabast firmly stated over the comm. "I enjoy the support of the highest elders in the Curin Dynasty. They know what is at stake and they will not let the Ylvainan Inquisition run roughshod over us. If my guess is correct, then the inquisition is actually trying to dig into something else. For now, these waters are too deep for you to wade into. Don't inquire any further about this topic."
Calabast revealed a lot of information to Ves with her reply. He didn't believe she was a native Ylvainan at all. He always wondered how she smoothly managed to gain an identity in the Curin Dynasty.
It made sense that she enjoyed insider support. Otherwise, it would have been too outlandish for her to adopt the identity of a notable Curin.
What Ves didn't know until now was that the leaders of the Curin Dynasty was aware of her true origin!
This possible conclusion implied that Calabast's true background was a lot stronger than he imagined! If her true origin warranted the personal attention of the highest elders of the Curin Dynasty, then her former employers must be a force to be reckoned with in the region!
At the very least, Ves suspected that she may have struck a deal with them in order to acquire her current identity.
It concerned him a bit that Calabast's shady associations might spill over to Ves. He still didn't feel comfortable about their partnership yet. The information disparity between the two always put him on the defense.
While Calabast investigated his record and knew one of his greatest secrets, he knew almost nothing about her! Aside from the fact that she was a spy and she worked for a powerful organization, Ves didn't even know her real name!
"It has dawned upon me that I know very little about you." He pointed out. "For a supposed business partner, it is really disconcerting that you're not willing to share anything about yourself to me. A good business relationship is based on trust, you know."
"I know, but now is not the time, Mr. Larkinson." Calabast smiled at Ves. "As I've said before, it's sufficient for us to rely on mutual interest. Don't concern yourself about my matters and instead focus upon your own. The commission won't complete by itself and you have a lot of expectations riding on your shoulders. The success of our subsequent ventures rely on how well you design your next mech. How much progress have you made up until now?"
"Not much. I'm still working on developing my vision for my upcoming mech. It's important for me to gain a good understanding of Ylvainan culture. If I get it wrong from the start, I won't be able to design anything significant no matter how much time and effort I put into this project."
"You're the mech designer. I trust in your abilities." She confidently said. As the holder of the Metal Scroll, any mech he designed was remarkable! "This is a delicate time. Keep your head down for now and don't get involved in anything that riles up the Ylvainan Inquisition."
Ves held up his hand in innocence. "Hey, who do you think I am? I'm just a mech designer. I don't have any other stake in the Ylvaine Protectorate besides designing and selling mechs."
"I'm just reminding you that you can't act with impunity here. High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco may have paid a casual visit to you this time, but he won't hesitate to come at you hard as soon as you make a single misstep, especially if you profane the Ylvainan Faith. This is not the Bright Republic."
"I know. Don't worry. Since my movements are restricted, there's nothing I can do besides designing mechs."
They ended the call shortly after. He found it rather insulting that Calabast kept looking at him with a shifty expression, as if he was a naughty kid who couldn't help but pull of a stunt that would land them both in trouble.
Who did she think she was? She should look after her own conduct before accusing him of anything shady!
"I'm completely innocent!"
Just then, a slim metallic form phased through the wall.
"Meow!"
"Ah, Lucky, you're back!"
A small ECM field surrounded his incorporeal cat. This enabled him to move in and out of the tightly-guarded guest compound without arousing the attention of the Protectors of the Faith.
"Come closer. What did you manage to retrieve?"
Lucky clutched a small bag of assorted junk. As Ves took the bag and looked inside, he dug up several small objects.
He first lifted up a small suit button that purportedly came from one of the Grey Martyr's formal suits.
"Fake." Ves declared.
He didn't sense any significant spiritual accumulation in the object. It seemed that even if the grand church claimed that it belonged to the Grey Martyr, accumulation wouldn't take place if it was based upon lies.
This was an important observation to Ves.
He next picked up a preserved seed that purportedly came from a plant in the backyard of the Grey Martyr's old home.
"This is a bit more special."
The seed was so small and insigificant that it must not have impressed a lot of Ylvainans. Even so, its connection to the Grey Martyr must be true because Ves could sense a tiny concentration of spiritual energy that bore a distinct imprint.
"This bears further study."
The most important relic that Lucky retrieved was a decorative medallion made out of mundane alloys. It was a cheap commemorative item handed out to all the worshippers of the Ylvainan Faith at its tenth anniversary since its founding.
Although Ylvaine already attracted a sizable following, not a lot of these medallions survived up to this day. Every medallion celebrating the tenth anniversary was a prized heirloom to any family that could trade their lineage back to the earliest followers of Ylvaine.
The one he held right now was special because of its association to the Grey Martyr! Ves specifically ordered Lucky to see if he could retrieve it because it was one of the most valuable relics of the grand church!
"Good boy! I'll be sure to add some extra exotics to your next meal?"
"Meow!" Lucky replied with disdain.
Holding the medallion in his hands allowed him to feel the rich but turbulent spiritual accumulation hidden within. Even those who didn't possess any remarkable spiritual strength would feel something unusual about this object. It projected a faint aura akin to those of his own mechs.
"It's too bad it's too heterogeneous."
The medallion received the worship of many billions of faithful Ylvainans over the years. He confirmed his previous speculation that many Ylvainans imparted a tiny bit of their spiritual energy to the medallion. It started off small, but over a long period of time the accumulation became increasingly more significant.
Ves even suspected that a positive feedback cycle was at work!
Perhaps at the start, the commemorative medallion didn't attract much attention. Even though it was a significant object that used to belong to the Grey Martyr himself, it was just a piece of cheap metal.
Yet as more and more worshippers imparted their spiritual energy into the object, it took on an increasingly more compelling quality. While its spiritual accumulation was filled with the pollution of random and incongruent thoughts, not everything was useless.
"All those believers have one thing in common: their faith."
Their devotion to the Ylvainan Faith meant that much of the spiritual accumulation locked within the medallion shared a common attribute to the original sentiment that the Grey Martyr originally left behind!
Ves knew that the Grey Martyr was born as a simple man who grew old before he first met the Prophet. He was an average commoner from the galactic heartland and did not possess any remarkable spiritual strength.
Even as he became one of the most important followers of Prophet Ylvaine, his spirituality never grew to a significant degree.
The galaxy didn't revolve around spirituality.
Ves deduced all of this from the trace of sentiment that the Grey Martyr left behind in the medallion. It was so miniscule that even a slight sneeze from Ves could extinguish it from existence!
Yet the strange part was that this original sentiment was surrounded and protected by the much larger mass of heterogeneous spiritual energy donated by other Ylvainans. It was as if this collective gathering of energy possessed just enough life to recognize that it needed to protect the Grey Martyr's original sentiment!
"Interesting. Very interesting." Ves nodded as he delved into the interaction between these two spiritual energies.
He faintly suspected that the larger grouping wanted to merge and empower the Grey Marty's sentiment.
However, if a drop of pure, clean water fell into a glass of sewage, then only filth remained. Merging the two together would only lead to a net loss because the Grey Martyr's sentiment was simply too small and weak.
After determining all of this through his focused inspection, he developed two possible ways to obtain what he wanted out of the relic.
First, he could change both the spiritual imprint and the spiritual attribute of the heterogenous spiritual accumulation.
This required him to perform two very intricate procedures. While he had a good idea on how to replace one spiritual imprint with another, he felt much less confident about changing the attribute of spiritual energy.
"Is it even possible to do so?"
Ves believed that this wasn't as simple as he suspected.
Therefore, he decided to take a step back and employ a more modest solution. "The most workable approach is to filter out the sewage so that I'm only left with clean water that is as pure as the original drop of water."
This was a process of salvaging the spiritual attribute that conformed to the Grey Martyr's original sentiment. Ves might have to discard fifty, seventy or even ninety percent of the spiritual accumulation the medallion collected over the years!
He had no use for spiritual energy with incompatible attributes. Since he didn't possess the confidence that he convert them to another attribute, their presence served no use to him. He was better off throwing it away than allow it to continue to pollute the medallion!
"Even though I'll be left with a fraction of accumulation, all that is left is pure and homogenous."
Would he be able to merge this end product with the Grey Martyr's original sentiment? All of his plans concerning the X-Factor of his upcoming design hinged on whether he could pull off this stunt!
Chapter 1193
Ves threw the worthless suit button to Lucky.
"Meow?"
"Eat it."
"Meow!"
"What do you mean it tastes awful? You're able to digest the most unusual exotics! It shouldn't be any problem for you to eat a simple suit button!"
"Meow meow meow!"
"Yes, I know it's made out of composites. I don't care if it tastes awful to you. I need to get rid of this button without leaving any evidence behind."
After a bit more arguing, Ves eventually forced Lucky to eat the suit button. His cat mournfully hissed at him immediately afterwards.
The suit button tasted awful to Lucky! There was hardly anything of value to his remarkable digestion system!
Ves shook his head at the sight of his grumpy pet. He really didn't have a lot of choice to dispose of the evidence. He didn't trust the trash chutes of the guest compound because who knew how many sensors recorded the stuff he threw away.
If the Ylvainans tapped the records of the trash chutes and found out that one of the objects that Ves threw away happened to be one of their relics, there was no way he could offer a satisfactory explanation!
Fortunately, Lucky continued to stay by his side and cover the entire room with his ECM field. Under the cover of this protection, Ves wanted to process the other relics as fast as possible so he could dispose of them quickly.
The longer he possessed the seed and the medallion, the greater the chance of getting caught red-handed!
"The best way for me to avoid getting caught red-handed is if I've washed off the stain when the authorities come back."
Against someone as sharp and observant as High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco, Ves would never dare to keep the two genuine relics of the Grey Martyr in his possession. He would stuff them both into Lucky's mouth this instant if the high inquisitor was right outside the door!
"Only two samples, huh? This is going to be difficult."
Each of these relics presented him with a valuable opportunity to verify his latest theories. The more experiments he conducted, the more certainty he gained. Having only two practice runs meant that Ves needed to get it right the first time!
"I won't have the opportunity to obtain much more relics. As soon as the Attendants of Ylvaine notice that some of them are missing, they'll surely tighten the security around their other relics!"
Lucky often raided the Mech Nursery's material stockpiles whenever he wanted a snack, so he was quite a proficient little thief. Yet that didn't mean he could sneak into everything and steal something valuable with impunity!
At the very least, Lucky didn't possess the ability to enter into total stealth. Anything guarded by humans or organic entities was very risky.
"I'll have to save my next chance for something that actually matters."
Ves looked down and beheld the two small objects in his hands. The seed didn't contain much spiritual accumulation so he didn't feel bad if he ruined its spiritual quality.
The medallion was a lot more valuable and possessed a much greater accumulation. It would be a lot more difficult for him to manipulate something stronger.
"It's too bad they can't stay intact once I'm done with them. They're too hot for me to retain."
Even if he succeeded in his experiments, he didn't want to incorporate anything related to the Grey Martyr to his upcoming mech design.
"My hero mech is based around the concept of a high-impact mech. Why would I want to pair it with a placid, old teacher?"
The X-Factor of his mech needed to match with its vision. To pair an aggressive mech with a peaceful design spirit would only diminish both of their qualities. The opposite of synergy would occur where the combining the two resulted in less than sum of two parts!
""It will be extremely detrimental if different aspects of my design are constantly fighting against each other!"
Ves already had another source in mind to prop up the X-Factor of his mech. However, he could forget about enacting his plan if his experiments right now didn't pan out. There was no point in thinking any further if his capabilities couldn't keep up with his ambitions!
He put down the valuable medallion and started with the seed. If he blocked all of his spiritual senses, then it appeared as a plain little seed covered in some preservative substance that protected it against the outside elements.
There was nothing immediately remarkable about the little seed. The Grey Martyr only imparted the lightest touch on it, which didn't help in building up a lot of spiritual accumulation.
Ves observed a correlation between the strength of the original sentiment and the spiritual accumulation that had developed around it. If the former was weak, the latter didn't have much grounds to grow.
"It doesn't help that it's an insignificant seed. If it wasn't connected to the Grey Martyr, it's completely worthless!"
How could the Ylvainan followers feel any awe when confronted by this little seed? Even if they were hardcore fans of the Grey Martyr, a seed still didn't inspire much devotion.
This happened to serve his purposes. The experiment he had in mind mainly depended on finesse. With a weaker spiritual accumulation, Ves didn't have to exert too much to enact his changes.
It would be different if he started with the medallion. Its stronger spiritual accumulation meant that Ves not only had to be precise, but also exert a lot of strength. Trying to do both at the same time without any practice was an enormous challenge.
"It's better if I get the technique right before I apply my strength."
With that thought, he carefully concentrated his mind and ran his spiritual senses throughout the seed.
He didn't detect the presence of any conscious or living entities. While the spiritual energy locked within the seed showed some traces of vitality, it was as likely as bacteria. It only offered a marginal amount of instinctive resistance to his pervasive intrusion.
"Interesting. If the spiritual accumulation is stronger, it might be able to hinder my intrusion."
His spiritual energy possessed remarkably different markings that wasn't compatible with the attributes associated with the Ylvainan Faith.
Ves worshipped mechs while the Ylvainans worshipped their Prophet and his predictions. When put together, of course the latter would feel affronted!
He took the context of the emergence of the Ylvainan Faith into account as well.
"Prophet Ylvaine lived during the twilight of the Age of Conquest. Even if some prototype mechs have already been developed at that time, they haven't achieved widespread exposure as of yet. This was still a time dominated by warships and weapons of mass destruction."
Some of the prophet's predictions possessed some relations to the circumstances of this time period. He said almost nothing about mechs before he was assassinated, which left the Ylvainan Faith with a lot of gaps when they adopted this new technology.
In fact, critics of the Ylvainan Faith pointed out this distinct gap in Prophet Ylvaine's predictions as proof that he was a charlatan.
If Prophet Ylvaine could really predict the future, why did he not say anything about the advent of the Age of Mechs?
"There's always an explanation." Ves muttered.
The standard retort of the Ylvainan Faith was to claim that the Prophet only uttered relevant predictions. While the rise of mechs was a historically-important turning point, it didn't change the essence of the Ylvainan Faith.
With this excuse, the Attendants of Ylvaine deflected any accusations that their prophet was just pulling predictions out of his butt based off his limited perspective of his time!
He turned his attention back to the seed. Regardless of whether the prophet was less than he claimed to be, his religion acquired a life of its own. The Grey Martyr and many other Ylvainans developed a sincere belief in the Ylvainan Faith.
"Even if the core of it is based upon lies and figments of imagination, it no longer matters. Belief is belief."
Ever since he arrived at the Protectorate, Ves discovered that strong belief sparked some strange interactions with spirituality. The church service at the grand church was a very significant event to him because he felt that the weak spirituality of tens of thousands of people began to resonate with a common frequency.
Ves managed to determine some of the attributes related to the Ylvainan Faith, though he lacked the sensitivity to identify their exact nature. Perhaps other faiths shared the same attributes, while others were exclusive to individual beliefs.
Identifying imprints was a lot easier than identifying attributes. Being able to do the latter required him to understand the makeup of spiritual energy on a very deep level.
Another way of describing these attributes was to equate them as flavors. Each flavor possessed a different quality. One was hot. One was cold. One was sweet. One was spicy.
Not every flavor fit in every circumstance. For example, if Ves wanted to drink some old-fashioned coffee, he didn't want it to be salty!
As for imprints, the best way that Ves could describe it was like leaving a scent on spiritual energy. Each person possessed a unique scent, and as long as Ves managed to associate a particular smell to an individual, he'd be able to recognize it anywhere.
Scent and flavor. While they possessed some relations to each other, they were still distinct.
"It's just a metaphor to make it easier for me to understand. I don't need to take it too seriously." Ves shook his head.
For now, Ves didn't intend to to manipulate the flavors. He only wanted to remove all of the unwanted smells until the most pleasant one was left behind. Then he wanted to make the scent stronger so that it provided the same level of stimulation.
This was the simplest method he could come up with that would allow him to get what he wanted.
He recalled some of the procedures that Qilanxo's spiritual fragment performed and attempted to replicate the methods.
The outcome.. was both promising and disappointing.
"Looks like I'm too clumsy." Ves shook his head.
It was like trying to handcraft a miniature mech while possessing the limbs of an exobeast. He exerted too much strength at first. It was a lot more strenuous than he thought to suppress his Spirituality!
Not only was he having trouble controlling his strength, but his precision was abysmal as well. He felt like he returned to his youth where his mother handled him a data pad to play with. He remembered one game where he had to color the depiction of a mech with his fingers.
Being the little kid he was back then, he often splashed his colors across the lines of his mech, which resulted in a very smudged depiction!
Ves did not despair at these setbacks. He always knew his finesse was not up to snuff. "This is only the start. I don't believe I can train myself to improve in both aspects."
He became engrossed in his practice. This was the first time he was doing something so remarkable, so he cherished the opportunity to exercise his Spirituality in such a fine-grained manner.
An hour went by as Ves became engrossed in his experiments. Lucky hissed resentfully every now and then, but he remained vigilant and guarded against any spying and intrusion.
Although an hour was not a long time for practice, Ves was a fast learner. The procedure he attempted to do wasn't very complicated to begin with. He just needed to comprehend some tricks that made it easier for him to apply his Spirituality the way he wanted.
Once he managed to succeed once, it was a lot easier for him to replicate the process!
In fact, he already succeeded within the first thirty minutes, but only through chance. He spent the rest of his time refining his method and training his Spirituality into performing it with more precision.
He wanted to practice more, but he already wiped out all of the unwanted spiritual imprints for the seed's spiritual accumulation.
"I should proceed to the next step." He whispered as he momentarily rested his mind.
He was capable of removing unwanted imprints. The question right now was if he could apply the imprint that remained to the 'ownerless' spiritual energy.
"This is a very significant technique. There are many applications of such a powerful technique!"
Manipulating the imprint of spiritual energy was the key to forcing a mech pilot to advance to an expert candidate!
Chapter 1194
Ves already took the first step to mastering the techniques demonstrated by Qilanxo's spiritual fragment. If not for witnessing the processes up close, he wouldn't have a clue on how to begin!
"Not only that, but I wouldn't even know that something like this was possible in the first place!"
It could be said that what he witnessed when he redeemed Space Knight Mastery I from the system had broadened his horizons. He never even dreamt that it would be possible to artificially create an expert pilot!
Ever since then, Ves always wanted to replicate the process.
That was easier said than done. Not only was it rather troublesome to acquire spiritual energy, but even if he had some within his reach, his control and strength was but a shadow compared to Qilanxo's might.
He only gained some confidence when he advanced to Journeyman. While his Spirituality probably wasn't as strong as that of a Senior Mech Designer, he at least took some steps forward.
So far, he was right. After a bit of fumbling, he managed to wipe out the spiritual imprints of an uncountable number of Ylvainans!
He met very little resistance as he did so. Each individual imprint was weak, and Ves spent more care on limiting the scope of his actions so that he didn't spill and damage something important.
"If the spiritual accumulation only consists of one imprint, then it'll probably offer much more resistance." Ves muttered.
He recalled that Qilanxo's spiritual fragment donated a substantial amount of its own spiritual energy to encourage Eloise Pelican's apotheosis.
While Ves hadn't experimented on his own spiritual energy yet, he knew that he wouldn't face any resistance if he wiped off his own spiritual imprint.
He smirked. "It's my imprint. How can I resist myself?"
The only downside was that spiritual energy was quite precious! He hadn't even fully recovered from the losses he sustained when he donated a small chunk of his own spiritual energy to empower the images he created for the Ouroboros!
He treasured his loose spiritual energy, especially since not a lot of it was at his disposal after his design seed absorbed a large amount.
While the emergence of his design seed provided him with a lot of help, it also narrowed down his choices.
"Advancement is a process of specialization." Ves formed a guess. "Just like mech design, there's always a tradeoff. Becoming better at something means sacrificing versatility."
Fortunately, his advancement to Journeyman hadn't crippled his ability to manipulate spiritual energy. While he would probably never become a maestro in this field, what strength and control he acquired was sufficient to perform some limited procedures.
This made him wonder if his ability to manipulate spiritual energy in this fashion would strengthen or weaken over time. It would be bad for his future plans if his versatility further diminished as his design seed grew stronger and transformed.
"On the flipside, if my design seed becomes stronger, I'll become less dependent on external sources."
It was better if he could do everything himself. The whole reason why he was resorting to raiding the spiritual energy from valuable relics was because they could strengthen his ability to design his mechs.
He turned his attention back to the second step of his plan. He knew it was a lot trickier than his first technique.
"Destruction is easier than creation."
Some of the thoughts he held when he designed the Ouroboros still stuck in his mind. Destruction and creation were two sides of the same coin, but both possessed a lot of differences.
The act of removing someone else's spiritual imprint was akin to destruction. Ves didn't really need to wrack his mind over the technique because it was as simple as smudging his spiritual finger over the imprint.
However, putting another spiritual imprint in its place was a bit trickier. He couldn't apply his Spirituality in a hamfisted manner and expect to create something new in the form he wanted.
He needed to find a way to spread the Grey Marty's spiritual imprint to the ownerless mass of energy.
He developed several different approaches.
The simplest approach would be to see if the Grey Marty's spiritual imprints could 'contaminate' the larger cloud of ownerless spiritual energy.
Such a procedure also tested the nature of spiritual imprints. Was it something that existed in a fixed quantity, or could it spontaneously reproduce itself as long as there was enough space?
The other alternative would be to regard the act of replicating someone else's spiritual imprint as a process of mass production. Like a 3D printer running day and night, the only way for Ves to duplicate a spiritual imprint en masse was to put conscious effort into copying it over and over again.
The premise of this technique rested on the assumption that Ves was able to imitate the function of a 3D printer.
Ves tried to recall what he witnessed back then from Qilanxo's spiritual fragment.
"The first step is to wipe out the spiritual energy it freely donated to Eloise Pelican. The second step is to blend the huge cloud of ownerless spiritual energy with the strong emotions of the mech pilot."
Ves wasn't attempting to create an expert candidate or expert pilot this time. He didn't have access to a living Grey Martyr who could donate the thoughts and emotions that he required!
This left him with a gap where he couldn't blindly follow someone else's example.
He needed to solve the problem by developing his own solution.
"Well, here goes nothing."
He started with the simplest approach, which he much preferred over the other. If he could let the spiritual imprint do most of the work itself, then Ves didn't need to exert too much energy in encouraging the contamination process.
Hoping that it would work, Ves concentrated his mind and attempted to employ several ways to get the spiritual imprint tied to the original sentiment to jump out and contaminate the large cloud of spiritual energy that was right next door!
A frustrating half hour went by as Ves clumsily groped around. Often times, he applied too much force, which accidentally damaged the valuable spiritual imprint.
"I can't go on like this." He sighed and stopped what he was doing. "It's obvious that spiritual imprints can't propagate by themselves."
He was hopeful that his contamination theory was true, because he could just sit back and supervise the process if that was the case.
Instead, it seemed he needed to take a more active approach.
The only problem was that Ves didn't know where to start. He didn't know what a spiritual imprint was made of, let alone know how to replicate it if it belonged to someone else.
"It's easier if its my own imprint." He muttered.
According to what he saw back then, an imprint formed on spiritual energy after they blended with someone's thoughts and emotions. The imprint was basically a marker that claimed the spiritual energy to the originator of the thoughts and emotions.
This presented Ves with a clue.
"The thoughts and emotions of the Grey Martyr are well-documented."
Although Ves didn't pay close attention to the Grey Martyr's life back when he visited the grand church, he developed a pretty good picture of the man back when he was alive.
"If I replicate some of his thoughts and emotions, would I be able to do something with his imprint?" Ves wondered.
It was worth a try. Even if he failed, he would only ruin the spiritual accumulation of an insignificant seed at worst. He could still try something else with the commemorative medallion.
Having lived in the Ylvaine Protectorate for a couple of weeks, Ves developed a better understanding of the Ylvainan Faith than most citizens of the Bright Republic. While that didn't make him as knowledgeable as a devout Ylvainan believer who memorized all of Ylvaine's predictions and sayings by heart, he at least understood some of their core beliefs.
"The central belief of the Ylvainan Faith lies in their assurity that every form of life will transcend their mortal forms and ascend into godhood!"
This was a bold and radical assumption to make. There were so many implications and problems associated with this core belief that Ves didn't even know where to begin.
"Yet most Ylvainans don't express any doubt at all."
A Brighter like Ves would constantly doubt and question the validity of this radical belief. An Ylvainan would simply accept it as the truth. At best, some of the details might differ due to the variety of interpretations available, but most Ylvainans adhered to the most widely-accepted interpretation set by the Grey Martyr himself!"
That made things easier to Ves. He knew the basics of the Ylvainan Faith and he knew that the Grey Martyr's own personal beliefs didn't diverge that much from the mainstream interpretation.
What he did next was a little bit troublesome. In order to put the replication process in motion, he needed to provide the fuel in the form of his own emotions and thoughts.
It couldn't be his own emotions and thoughts. It was not his intention to impart his own scent on the spiritual accumulation of the little seed. What was the point of designing an Ylvainan mech when it carried the aura of a secular Brighter?
No. He needed to adopt the mindset that closely matched that of the Grey Martyr. He began to recall the lessons he learned when he toured the museum wing of the grand church.
"The Grey Martyr is first and foremost a teacher."
The man wasn't an academic at all. He grew up as an average citizen and never achieved anything remarkable before the prophet converted him in his later years.
He took on the role of teacher and interpreter because he wasn't capable of doing more.
"According to the records, the Grey Martyr was a curious man who constantly tried to find the hidden meanings in the predictions and sayings of the prophet. He also wanted to share his understanding with others in order to gain a better understanding of Prophet Ylvaine's original intentions."
Ves constructed an image of the Grey Martyr in his mind. He derived the man's original personality from the information he learned and added some of his own guesses along the way.
The image of the Grey Martyr became increasingly more rich. What Ves did right now was no different from forming an image to define the X-Factor for his mechs!
The only difference this time was that he wasn't going to put his image to use on a mech.
Once he was finished with the process, the image of the Grey Martyr was rich but largely hollow and insubstantial. It was just a figment of his imagination at this point.
Usually, the next step after forming the image would be to breathe life into it by imparting it with spiritual energy. The spiritual energy came from himself or from a spiritual fragment he scavenged from somewhere.
Not this time.
Ves developed a bold proposition. Instead of breathing life into an image, what if he breathed the image into his own mind? Would he be able to 'embody' the image and take on its personality and traits?
"It's like donning someone else's mask."
After a bit of fumbling, he figured out how to apply his ideas. He inflated the image and tried to merge it with his own mind.
Nothing drastic happened at first. He was still preoccupied with blending in the image to his mind, which wasn't easy as his mind did not wish to be encroached by a foreign personality!
He had to lower his mental defenses and use quite a bit of strength to merge the image with his mind. Even then, the process only happened gradually and tentatively.
Twenty minutes in, Ves noticed that his mentality had changed by quite a bit. When he thought back on the Ylvainan Faith, he found to his surprise that he instantly felt a lot of heartfelt devotion to the prophet!
He hypnotized himself into becoming a devout worshipper of the Ylvainan Faith!
Chapter 1195
To personify an image was a surreal experience to Ves. His distinctive personality traits momentarily faded away. In its place sat the personality traits that Ves ascribed to the Grey Martyr.
Old. Calm. Devout. Inquisitive. Gentle. Hopeful.
It was as if he donned a spiritual mask that completely transformed him into another being.
"It's too bad that it's fake."
Ves quickly reasserted his true personality. The disparity in strength between the image of the Grey Martyr and himself was far too great.
It was like he was surrounding his Spirituality with a fragile water bubble. Just a single poke broke the illusion.
Even though the experience didn't impress him very much, he knew that there were a lot of potential applications for this technique.
"I've developed so many new spiritual techniques in a short amount of time." He sighed with awe.
His visit to the Ylvaine Protectorate already paid dividends on that account. Ves started to understand why Master Olson advised him to travel to different places.
Different cultures and customs forced him to move beyond his usual approach to mech design.
Different problems that he never faced before encouraged him to find new solutions that he would have never come up before.
He gained a sense of how a Journeyman should proceed after advancing from a lowly Apprentice. Their mech design abilities may have matured, but that didn't mean they became capable of solving every problem.
An Apprentice only possessed a small number of tools in their toolbox. Advancing to Journeyman didn't change that. If they wanted to become as formidable as a Senior, then they needed to climb upwards step by step, and one of the ways to do so was to increase the amount of tools in their toolbox.
Ves faintly had a premonition that the techniques he developed recently conformed to this process!
"Let's see if this latest technique is useful for my purposes."
After he recollected his composure, he began to don the mask once again. It took a lot of effort to subsume his old personality with another one. One of the biggest problems he faced right now was that the image of the Grey Martyr was far from complete.
"There are too many holes!"
Ves never really paid too much attention to the gaps in his construction, thinking of them as trivial, but only now did he feel how much he missed. His image of the Grey Martyr was only a superficial caricature that encompassed only a small portion of the real figure!
Nonetheless, he at least managed to include all the most important aspects. As long as no one looked too close, he at least possessed the surface demeanor of the Grey Martyr.
"Let's see if this masquerade can fool the spiritual imprint of the real person."
He focused his attention back on the preserved seed. It was difficult for him to do so because the real Grey Martyr would never do such a thing.
Ves faced an inherent contradiction. On one hand, he needed to personify the Grey Martyr. One the other hand, he needed to make use of his fake identity to perform the action his original self desired.
Trying to juggle between these two priorities took a lot of mental acrobatics.
Eventually, he managed to extend his spiritual senses to the preserved seed. He first identified the cloud of ownerless spiritual accumulation and pierced through it. Within the center of the cloud rested a tiny cloud of imprinted spiritual energy.
Ves did not reach out with his own spiritual energy this time. He knew that it was completely useless to do so because the mask he wore did not transform his Spirituality at all. It still carried his own spiritual imprint no matter how well he disguised it. Its essence hadn't changed.
However, what did change was his thoughts and emotions. He developed an inexplicable devotion to Prophet Ylvaine and his wild beliefs. These un-Ves-like thoughts polluted his mind and clashed against his own self-identity.
It wasn't good for his mental health to maintain this state for long.
He didn't dally around and poured out his thoughts and emotions towards the original sentiment of the Grey Martyr.
Something amazing occurred.
The original sentiment was like a puppy who lost its master. It was a remnant of a dead person, and therefore didn't possess much life. It was akin to a weak and miniscule spiritual fragment that didn't even have the strength to recognize the flaws in the mask that Ves currently wore!
His thoughts and emotions caressed the original sentiment and seemed to revitalize it a bit. The spiritual imprint gained life as well as it fed on the sustenance that Ves provided it. The original sentiment and the spiritual imprint began to grow stronger and livelier!
The only problem was that Ves felt as if he was draining a part of himself! While the expenditure wasn't very large, that was only because the original sentiment wasn't that big in the first place.
As the revitalization process continued, the original sentiment somehow noticed the spiritual accumulation around it and noticed that it was free for the taking!
The change happened quickly. Fueled by a boundless desire to live and grow stronger, the original sentiment began to assimilate the spiritual accumulation! Ves didn't fully understand the merging process, but he noticed that the drain on his thoughts and emotions increased!
"The spiritual imprint is expanding!"
The increased drain on Ves caused the spiritual imprint to grow and expand. It faced no resistance as it began to mark the free-floating cloud of ownerless spiritual accumulation as its own!
However, this process didn't proceed smoothly!
The cloud of spiritual accumulation encompassed spiritual energy with many different attributes.
Only some was to the spiritual imprint's liking.
A process of separation occurred. The spiritual energy that agreed with the spiritual imprint merged with the original sentiment while the spiritual energy with incompatible attributes were being pushed away.
A few minutes later, the process came to an end. The miniscule original sentiment had ballooned in size and became at least an order of magnitude stronger! Surrounding it was an expanding cloud of ownerless spiritual energy that was no longer bound in place. After being pushed away by the spiritual imprint, the worthless spiritual energy kept drifting away as if it had been evicted from its own home.
Ves wondered if he should absorb it for himself. After all, he still suffered from a deficit of spiritual energy.
He quickly shook his head. "I'm not sure whether any of its attributes are compatible to me. It would be a disaster if I try to assimilate the wrong type of spiritual energy."
For example, if Ves was a 'bitter'-flavored person, he would not do himself any good if he absorbed a 'sweet' flavor!
"In any case, I've succeeded!"
A jubilant mood swept over him as he quickly discarded his mask. The image of the Grey Martyr faded away into a corner of his mind as he beheld the preserved seed.
It turned out that one of his discarded theories was right after all. A spiritual imprint was a living entity, and the way to propagate it was to feed it with spiritual food and have a ready supply of ownerless spiritual energy nearby.
While the way to come up with the right spiritual food in the form of distinctive thoughts and emotions was rather troublesome, it was a lot easier as long as Ves knew enough information to construct the right mask!
A deep sense of satisfaction suffused his mind as he felt he made a lot of progress today. He developed a way to make use of historical relics to help in his mech designs.
While the expanded original sentiment of the preserved seed still wasn't strong enough to be of much use to Ves, this was merely an experiment!
As long as his methods worked on a small an insignificant historical relic, then it was definitely possible to do the same to something greater!
He stopped concentrating his mind and retracted his spiritual senses. His earlier experimentations drained quite a bit out of him. Everything had a cost, but Ves gladly paid the price!
"This seed is a lot more special now."
He beheld the preserved seed with his plain old eyes. Even without extending his spiritual senses, he felt an invisible weight surrounding the tiny object. It was clear to him that its spiritual quality was a lot more concentrated and coherent than before!
Even if the total amount of spiritual energy had diminished by a lot, its purity was so strong that it more than made up for its losses!
This was what Ves intended to accomplish from the start!
"It's a shame to ruin this seed, but I really can't leave any evidence behind." He muttered while turning his head towards a vigilant-looking Lucky.
"Meow!"
After some ugly wrangling, Ves succeeded in stuffing the seed into Lucky's mouth. The cat instantly yowled and looked as if he wanted to barf out the contents of its artificial stomach!
If there was one thing Lucky hated eating the most, it was biological substances!
Ves had no sympathy for his cat. "Don't be so hysterical, Lucky. A bit of variety is good for your digestion!"
"Meow!"
He ignored the complaints of his pet and turned his attention to the commemorative medallion. This was obviously an object that the Grey Martyr valued more. Both the original sentiment and the spiritual accumulation were stronger than that of the preserved seed.
As long as Ves could replicate what he had just done, then he could do a lot of fantastic things with his next design!
He repeated all of his previous steps.
He wiped out the spiritual imprint on the heterogenous spiritual energy.
He donned the mask of the Grey Martyr.
He roused his thoughts and emotions and fed it to the original sentiment.
He supervised the process of assimilation and rejection.
Even though the commemorative medallion carried a lot more spiritual energy, Ves didn't face too many complications.
He only faced a challenge in the third step when he tried to fool the spiritual imprint in accepting his thoughts and emotions. The medallion's original sentiment was a lot stronger, and even in a dormant state it retained a bit more discernment.
"It's not that easy to fool the original sentiment of the medallion with a poorly-constructed mask."
Evidently, if Ves wanted to fool something even stronger, then he better make sure that he knew as much as possible about its original owner!
The overall strength of the medallion's spiritual energy also led to other complications, but Ves managed to deal with them without issue. The only concern he faced was that he was forced to expend a lot more effort and resources to finish the job.
Ves was practically exhausted by the time he held the remarkable commemorative medallion!
He looked at its dull luster and gained a lot more appreciation of this relic. It was a shame for him to ruin such a priceless artifact!
Yet Ves had no choice!
"Lucky! Come here! I've got another meal for you!"
"Meow!"
At least this time Lucky didn't suffer from as much indigestion. The commemorative medallion tasted as flavorless as nutrient packs, but at least it consisted of metals.
Ves curiously watched Lucky eat the medallion with a lot of reluctance. He turned on his spiritual vision to see what Lucky would do to the strong and focused spiritual energy locked within the medallion.
As soon as the medallion broke apart inside Lucky's stomach, the spiritual energy escaped and disappeared into the air.
It didn't seem as if Lucky absorbed any of it, which was a shame. Ves guessed that it must have drifted off in the imaginary realm.
"Well, at least the evidence is gone."
Ves felt no guilt at ruining three historical relics. It was a cheap price to pay for developing his new techniques!
The most important gain from these experiments was that he gained the tools he needed to tackle the problem he set for himself!
Chapter 1196
His earlier experiments drained so much out of him that he quickly went to bed and slept for twelve hours straight. He only recovered his spirit the next day.
Ves was relieved he returned to normal after a long period of sleep. "If this is the price I have to pay to perform those techniques, then it's definitely a bargain!"
The only concern he held was that he only worked with some minor relics yesterday. If he wanted to do the same to a more valuable relic, then he might need to sleep for an entire week before he recovered from the ordeal!
"It's worth it as long as I can recover in the end."
What he gained out of this process far surpassed the price he needed to pay. Much of it was due to his strong Spirituality!
Although he already got rid the relics, he still remembered the sensations. The commemorative medallion particularly caught his eye. After all of the transformation, its strengthened original sentiment met the threshold for him to turn it into a spiritual fragment.
It was too bad that Ves had no use of such a spiritual fragment. The Grey Martyr was not a warlike person, so it was a bad idea to incorporate his spiritual fragment into any mech design geared towards battle.
Perhaps Ves would have a use for it if he wanted to design a display mech, an industrial mech or an agricultural mech. He didn't have the time to divert his attention right now, so he could only let it go.
During the entire morning, Ves summarized his results. He developed so many new techniques all of a sudden that he felt the need to introduce some structure.
As far as he knew, he developed six applications of Spirituality that had the potential to become his staple tools in his toolbox.
His Spiritual Senses formed the root of what he could do with his Spirituality. Without being able to sense, feel and observe what he was doing with his own Spirituality, he could never perform his other techniques! Possessing this ability provided him with a critical advantage that put him far ahead in this esoteric field!
Another ability he developed early on was his Spiritual Projection technique. To project his spiritual energy in the form of tentacles or some other shape allowed him to interact with other spiritual entities. Being able to extend his Spirituality and use it as a spiritual limb enabled him to act proactively rather than remain as an observer!
A more recent but vitally-important ability was his Spiritual Empowerment technique. Using his imagination to create an image only resulted in something hollow and lifeless. By infusing it with a spiritual fragment or his own spiritual energy, he was able to breathe life into an image, turning it from a figment of his imagination into something more substantial!
His Spiritual Empowerment technique was the key to imparting his mech designs with a stronger X-Factor!
The stronger he empowered his images, the higher the grade of X-Factor!
His next ability was his Spiritual Exploration technique. By sending his spirit out of his mind, he was able to dive into imaginary realm and explore the wonders contained within.
While the imaginary realm was largely empty and surrounded by a corrosive mist, Ves knew there might be a lot more dangers and treasures lurking within. Right now, the risks were too great for him to blindly stumble around in the imaginary realm, so he set it aside unless he needed to steal a spiritual fragment from someone.
His most uncertain technique was his ability to emulate an expert pilot's force of will. It didn't match the potency of the real thing, and Ves wasn't sure whether it was a good idea to perform this technique in the first place.
"I'm a mech designer, not a mech pilot."
This left him with his two newest abilities.
The first was what he called his Spiritual Imprint Manipulation technique. It encompassed a collection of methods to manipulate spiritual imprints. Whether it belonged to himself or someone else, as long as he possessed the required amount of strength and control, he was able to erase a spiritual imprint or foster its growth.
The latter was only possible if he employed another technique at the same time. His newly-developed Spiritual Masking technique allowed him to don a spiritual disguise that could fool other spiritual entities.
While his flawed disguises wouldn't fool anything alive and intelligent, they were more than sufficient for him to fool a spiritual imprint that belonged to someone who was already dead for several centuries!
All of these techniques formed the tools he developed to accomplish his goals. They were so distinctive from his Skills and Sub-Skills related to mech design that they deserved to be placed in their own special spiritual toolbox!
The significance of forming this spiritual toolbox was very evident. For the first time since he adopted his design philosophy, he finally developed a basic but complete collection of all the tools he required to exploit his abstruse specialty!
A supreme sense of satisfaction overcame his mind and spirit, revitalizing them both. Even his design seed pulsed with pleasure!
"To a creator, there is nothing more valuable than owning a complete set of tools!"
If Ves ever documented his achievements in a textbook and released it to the public, it would definitely become a seminal work in the entire mech industry! In fact, it would not only open the eyes of mech designers, but also mech pilots and everyone else!
Of course, he would never do something so stupid!
"For now, I'll have to keep the gains to myself. There's no benefit for me to divulge my techniques."
At some point in time, that might change. Once he climbed up the ranks and gained the power and status to protect himself, he didn't mind giving back to the mech industry, especially if he stood to gain a lot of rewards in return.
"That won't happen for a very long time, I think."
He would probably have to advance to Master Mech Designer or Star Designer before he reached that point.
"What are you so glad about?" Ketis asked as she was petting a disgruntled Lucky.
The cat immediately left his owner's side after he was forced to eat the medallion.
"I've made some progress in my specialty." He answered honestly. He didn't want to cover up his satisfaction. "I've made a lot of breakthroughs that should help me design better mechs."
"What was your specialty again?"
"Metaphysical Man-Machine Symbiosis."
As expected, Ketis looked utterly befuddled. "Do I even want to ask any further?"
"Not everyone's specialty is simple." Ves explained. "It's also something private to us, so you should take care of how much you reveal to others. Not only will you give away the essence of your competitive advantage, but you'll also be harming those who aren't mature enough to learn your secrets."
She accepted the explanation. Ves had already warned her of the consequences of getting in touch with dangerous knowledge that posed a threat to her design philosophy.
"So are you confident you can do a good job now?"
He nodded. "I'm sure now that I can design a fantastic mech that can equal the Aurora Titan!"
"That would be very impressive!" She gasped.
Ketis probably had the mistaken impression that Ves didn't think he could equal the Aurora Titan because he didn't collaborate with a Senior this time. Ves didn't spare any effort to correct her misconception. The less she knew, the lower the risk of exposure.
What Ves was planning to do was going to be extremely dangerous. However, as long as he managed to pull it off, his mech design would definitely be able to astound the Ylvainans!
After he finished his breakfast and his morning routine, he called for Leon. He was often present at the guest compound in order to liaison for Madame Cecily.
"You called, Mr. Larkinson?"
"Yes." Ves calmly nodded. "I'm performing some research on Ylvainan culture right now. One thing I've noticed from our unfortunate visit to the grand church is that your people highly values relics. Why is that so?"
Leon bitterly smiled. "They are remnants of the pivotal figures of the Ylvainan Faith who have left us too early. We value their contributions and sacrifices. While most of the objects on display in the church aren't that impressive to a secularist like you, we Ylvainans believe that these relics allow us to connect to the great figures of our faith."
"I've never heard of that before."
"It's not exactly standard doctrine. It's more of a hopeful aspiration than anything else. The Attendants of Ylvaine are rather mixed on this issue because Prophet Ylvaine never said much about it. Most believers don't think that much, though. As long as they are presented with a genuine relic of the prophet or one of his Martyred Followers, they are bound to pay their respects!"
"Kesseling VIII doesn't seem to host a lot of valuable relics." Ves remarked as he tried to steer the conversation into a particular direction.
"That's true. The Kesseling System isn't as strategic as some of the other star systems in the Protectorate. The Attendants of Ylvaine don't think it's worth it to invest a lot of relics here. The most significant relics are barely worth a glance if placed in the capital system of the Protectorate."
"Oh? Can you describe the most important one?"
"Sure. As you know, relics that are associated with Prophet Ylvaine are the most important to us by far. We are lucky that we have collected a lot objects that the prophet once came in touch with, but most of it is locked away by the Attendants of Ylvaine. What little they put on display are rather meager."
"There's a relic of the prophet himself on display on this planet?"
"Yeah. As far as I know, there is a discarded nutrient pack wrapper on display at the grand cathedral!"
"A.. nutrient pack wrapper?"
Ves was distinctly unimpressed. Of all the objects that the Attendants of Ylvaine could put on display, they chose to enshrine literal trash?!
He already came in touch with discarded nutrient pack wrappers that belonged to the Grey Martyr, but they weren't very prominent!
Leon shrugged. "I know it sounds weird that the most important relic on our planet is a nutrient pack wrapper. However, it's better than nothing. The Poxco Dynasty don't want to expose anything more valuable, especially since our planet isn't all that important. Even if the relic isn't very impressive, practically every Ylvainan born on this planet has paid a visit to the grand cathedral in order to pay tribute to the nutrient pack wrapper! It is the closest that any local Ylvainan can get to our prophet!"
Ves perked up when he heard that. Even though he looked down on some torn packaging of a disposable meal, the fact that the prophet once ate its content was enough for the local Ylvainans to deify it! Regardless of whether it was trash, the spiritual accumulation it gathered over the centuries must have grown incredibly formidable!
He bet that the quantity of spiritual accumulation would definitely surpass that of the Grey Martyr's commemorative medallion by at least an order of magnitude!
Ves quickly switched the topic to more mundane matters such as readying the mech workshop for his use. However, he never let go of thinking about the prophet's nutrient pack wrapper in his mind.
If he could steal the nutrient pack wrapper and process its spiritual accumulation, he might be able to extract a powerful spiritual fragment that possessed an undeniable connection to Prophet Ylvaine!
The things he could do with such a holy spiritual fragment! The Ylvainans probably never came in touch with something like this before! As long as he incorporated it in his upcoming hero mech design, which Ylvainan wouldn't drop to their knees and worship his mechs?
It was brilliant!
Chapter 1197
Kesseling VIII wasn't the only planet that enshrined the prophet's nutrient pack wrapper. The Attendants of Ylvaine collected hundreds of them during Prophet Ylvaine's lifetime.
The prophet was a lover of luxury and a gourmet who only ate the finest dishes. He didn't eat all that many nutrient packs, but there were plenty of times of difficulty where he had no choice but to fill his stomach in a hurry.
His followers collected each of the prophet's discarded nutrient pack wrappers after he was done with its contents. They even managed to preserve it all the way towards their flight to the Komodo Star Sector.
Once the survivors of the First Calamity founded the Ylvaine Protectorate, a question quickly arose on what they should do with all of the relics the Attendants of Ylvaine gathered.
They eventually decided to store the most valuable and fragile relics while putting the less important ones on display to rally the faithful. The presence of the relics served to affirm every Ylvainan that the prophet and his Martyred Followers actually existed once upon a time.
When it came to the relics that belonged to Prophet Ylvaine himself, the Attendants of Ylvaine were extremely stingy when it came to putting them on display. If anyone went crazy and tarnished them somehow, the Attendants of Ylvaine wouldn't be able to forgive themselves to the prophet!
For that reason, they reluctantly gave the public access to some of the most unimpressive relics imaginable.
The prophet's nutrient pack wrappers served as a decent solution to the problem because the Attendants of Ylvaine possessed a large amount of them. Even if someone stole or defiled one, the Attendants wouldn't cry too much because they possessed plenty more.
In any case, most average Ylvainans were already satisfied with getting in touch with anything that possessed a connection to their great prophet!
Ves couldn't predict what kind of spiritual fragment he might be able to refine from this relic. Although the relic wasn't significant, its previous owner was the core of the Ylvainan Faith! Its spiritual accumulation must be so massive that it would definitely surpass most spiritual fragments!
The question that he faced was whether this spiritual fragment would be as strong as the one gifted by Qilanxo.
"Probably not. There's no way a normal human can equal the might of a Sacred God."
Prophet Ylvaine lived before the advent of mechs and mech pilots. While Ves couldn't rule out that the prophet somehow managed to develop some spiritual ability, what he learned so far painted a picture of a very persuasive individual.
Obtaining a spiritual fragment that was as strong as the spirituality of an ace mech pilot was highly unrealistic.
"Maybe I can address that shortcoming."
If he wanted to increase the strength of a spiritual fragment, then he would have to feed it with ownerless spiritual energy with compatible attributes.
With the new techniques he developed, it should be possible for him to do so. The only trouble was that he needed to obtain this ownerless spiritual energy from other relics.
This process consumed way too much time and resources for Ves to contemplate at the moment.
Another complication was that he might not be able to control more powerful spiritual fragment!
The only reason he managed to work with Qilanxo's spiritual fragment in the first place was because he possessed a friendship with the exobeast!
He still saved the idea in the back of his mind. Perhaps one day he would have the strength and opportunity to employ this method of empowering his spiritual fragments.
Ever since he made up his mind, he began to scheme to his next heist. Due to the recent terrorist attack, the security at the grand cathedral in Krent had been doubled or tripled.
The Protectors of the Faith feared the True Believers might want to launch a follow-up attack!
According to the recent news, many of the relics stored within the grand church had been moved to safety by the Attendants of Ylvaine.
Fortunately for Ves, the nutrient pack wrapper remained enshrined in a central position behind the dais of the grand cathedral. It was the most prominent object related to Prophet Ylvaine.
Everytime the grand cathedral held its service, the priests led everyone to worship the nutrient pack wrapper in order to bring them closer to their great prophet!
Some religions led their believers to worship the depiction of a man nailed to a cross, but to many Ylvainans, it was their greatest honor to receive an opportunity to worship a sacred nutrient pack wrapper!
This ritual gave Ves a lot of confidence that the relic accumulated a formidable amount of heterogeneous spiritual energy.
Due to the importance of this ritual to the Ylvainans living on Kesseling VIII, the Attendants of Ylvaine struggled for a long time before they decided to keep the nutrient pack wrapper in its place.
If they put it away and locked it in their deepest vaults, then the Attendants would instantly suffer a loss in reputation!
In any case, Ves happened to benefit from this decision. It would be a lot harder for Lucky to break into a high-security vault with many security measures and constant patrols.
To be sure, Lucky still faced a significant challenge in trying to steal the nutrient pack wrapper while it was in full view to everyone inside the main hall of the grand cathedral. This heist would be anything but simple.
During his planning, Ves contemplated whether he should employ an item from the System's Store.
"There should be some useful gadgets there. The only worry is the price I need to pay."
Ves hadn't seen how much DP he earned lately, but it must be a lot. The Aurora Titan was a very expensive mech, so even if the LMC and NORA Consolidated didn't sell all that much, the amount of DP they earned would still be a lot.
For now, Ves wanted to lay low for a time. It wouldn't do to rile up the Attendants of Ylvaine shortly after he had a chat with High Inquisitor Poxco and absconded with a couple of relics related to the Grey Martyr.
He turned his attention back to other matters, such as fleshing out his vision for his mech. Now that he determined its mech concept and its principal theme, he could proceed with locking in his vision for his mech.
Due to the spiritual fragment that Ves planned to obtain, it was definitely going to be a mech that personified Prophet Ylvaine!
This was no small matter. If Ves somehow made a mistake, the Attendants of Ylvaine would be sure to charge him with the crime of profaning the prophet!
Ves also didn't expect the spiritual fragment to be a relatively complete representation of Prophet Ylvaine's original personality. The Original sentiment attached to something as insignificant as a nutrient pack wrapper was nothing like that of something more important, such as the prophet's favorite robes or his comm.
Enlarging the original sentiment only amplified its flaws. Ves expected to obtain something that was very similar to the spiritual fragment he used in his Crystal Lord design, which had lost most of its unique traits over the long corrosion of time.
Thinking about that suddenly made him think about his mother.
Was he really pioneering the field of spirituality or was he merely reinventing the wheel?
The abilities his mother had shown during their brief contact seemed incomprehensively powerful.
Ves began to develop the notion that he may have inherited his strong Spirituality from his mother!
He began to feel a little depressed. It was obvious that his mother was much more proficient in wielding her spirituality than him. Perhaps the only advantage he possessed over her was that he was a mech designer while his mother was.. something else.
Too many questions swirled in his mind. This was why Ves hated thinking about his mother. He wasn't even entirely sure whether she was truly his mother or some sort of ghost that took over her identity.
Perhaps one bright spot in his life was that she hadn't shown up in the past few years. As much as he loved his mother, he would rather spend his time far away from her and her thieving hands.
"I've already grown up. I don't need my mother anymore." He affirmed to himself.
Even if he was a bit of a momma's boy in his youth, that was in the past. Once his mother died, he became a very different person.
The more he tried to dive into his mother's background, the more he questioned whether he was unique.
What if her relatives possessed the same abilities? Did they belong to a clan or a powerful family of sorts? Were they connected to the Five Scrolls Compact?
A swirl of disconcerting guesses haunted his mind. It took a lot of effort for him to push them all away before they consumed his entire thoughts.
He turned his attention back to other matters. His mech design was much more important right now.
At some point, Leland requested a private meeting with him. After they entered a room and activated a signal jammer, the spy revealed something important.
"I've been doing some snooping around and collecting various pieces of intel from our local informers. There are signs of major activity."
Ves narrowed his eyes. "What kind of activity?"
"Troop movements. Mech Movements." Leland quietly stated. "After the terrorist attack, the local economy has entered a major downturn. The rate of starship traffic should have decreased significantly, but for some reason a lot more ships are visiting the Kesseling System in recent days. Most of these ships happen to be cargo haulers and other high-volume trade vessels."
"Do you think the True Believers or some other force are shipping in assets?"
"I'm not sure. It's very hard to do so while the Protectors of the Faith have become a lot stricter in their inspections lately. Not a single trade vessel is allowed to deliver their cargo to Kesseling VIII without undergoing at least three separate inspections!"
The three times was necessary in order to guard against the possibility of traitors letting in dangerous weapons.
"What else explains the increased traffic?"
Leland wordlessly shrugged.
They couldn't think of any. It didn't make any sense to ship in large amounts of goods during this difficult period.
"Some spy you are." Ves frowned.
"Look, intelligence gathering is a very unreliable operation to begin with." Leland mildly glared at him. "It's not as if we can give you all the hard facts you need around the clock. While Flashlight managed to develop a small network of informers in the Kesseling System, it has never been a high priority to us before. I am doing the best I can to warn you in advance that something might be afoot. Hasn't my previous warning already given you a heads up?"
Ves had to admit that Leland had a point there. "Alright. Maybe I'm being too harsh on you."
This satisfied Leland somewhat. "Aside from the unusual ship movements, I've also come in touch with something more unsettling."
"Oh? What is it that concerns you so much?"
"Apparently, the relations between the local Curins and Poxcos are deteriorating. The Kesseling System is firmly under the grip of the Curin Dynasty, but they've always lived in peace with the Poxcos."
"What's the dispute all about?"
"There are many minor disagreements, but one of the biggest issues that has blown up in recent days is that the Curins refused the entry of a batch of Poxcos!"
Ves could see why this might be a cause for concern. The Attendants of Ylvaine wanted to increase their presence in the Kesseling System, but how could the Curins allow their rival dynasty to encroach into their backyard?
The refusal to allow the Poxcos to increase their numbers in the Kesseling System therefore exacerbated the tension between the two dynasties.
If the situation continued to deteriorate, then the Poxcos might do something extreme!
Chapter 1198
According to Leland, the terrorist attack sparked a dispute between the Curins and the Poxcos.
The Kesseling System had always been the backyard of the Curins. However, the sudden emergence of the True Believers put their competence into question.
While the New Ylvaine Dynasty inflicted ruinous damage to an entire city district, the grand church that lay at the heart of it suffered the most!
Because all houses of worship fell under the supervision of the Attendants of Ylvaine, the Poxco Dynasty grew concerned about the safety of the remaining churches on Kesseling VIII.
"Did you think that someone as great as High Inquisitor Xefin Lin Poxco popped up out of nowhere?" Leland smirked. "He sneaked into the Kesseling System ahead of their main wave of reinforcements. The Curins are already aghast that a high inquisitor managed to arrive on this planet. They don't want the Poxcos to bolster their local presence any further."
Ves frowned at this and thought for a moment. "I can see why the Poxcos want to send more resources and manpower to Kesseling VIII if it looks like the True Believers are truly present. Yet what if the New Ylvaine Dynasty was never involved in the first place? What if someone else faked their identity and committed a false flag attack?"
Both of them grimaced to each other.
"That sounds like an arsonist setting fire to a house before arriving to as a fireman to put out the blaze." Leland commented.
Creating a problem and solving it yourself. It sounded dumb, but it was a popular way for state actors to earn some goodwill. As long as the actor put on a disguise and managed to deflect the blame, they could pose as the knight in shining armor coming to the rescue!
They didn't know nearly enough to speculate over this issue. Ves didn't have anything but wild guesses to go on while Leland only heard some scattered rumors from unreliable informers.
Ves became increasingly aware of the importance of a good intelligence network. Spending time with the likes of Calabast and Leland taught him that as long as he possessed a good intelligence network, he'd be able to smell trouble coming his way.
This sounded a lot better than letting trouble blindside him all the time!
In any case, despite Leland's lack of means, the warnings he passed on to Ves still served a useful role. At the very least, he became aware of increasing local tension between the Curins and the Poxcos.
"Do you think the Poxcos will succeed in getting their reinforcements through?" Ves suddenly asked.
"I'm not sure." Leland mused. "As long as the True Believers show up again, then it will become very hard for the Curins to claim they have the situation under control."
That was bad news. If the arsonist didn't get what they want out of the first fire, they would just have to spark another fire!
Not only did Ves remain under threat, but the Poxcos would also be able to strengthen their security in all of their major churches.
This likely included the grand cathedral which hosted the holy relic that Ves wanted to obtain!
A sense of hurry swept over Ves. He had to obtain Prophet Ylvaine's nutrient pack wrapper before the Poxco's locked down the grand cathedral!
He originally planned to stall for a week let some of the heat die down, but it seemed he couldn't wait that long!
After Leland finished relaying his intel, Ves sat alone in his room at the guest compound with Lucky.
He contemplated his decision for a moment and decided to go through with it despite the potential risks associated with stealing the holy nutrient pack wrapper.
At the very least, its theft would impact Kesseling VIII significantly.
Ves could foresee that the Curins would suffer most of the blame. They wouldn't be able to stop the Poxcos from sending reinforcements to the Kesseling System. In fact, regardless of what the Curins did, the Poxcos would probably be driven mad as soon as they heard a holy relic that used to belong to the prophet himself went missing!
Even though a single nutrient pack wrapper wasn't very important in the greater scheme of things, the Attendants of Ylvaine were extremely obsessed with anything related to the prophet. For it to get stolen would not only alarm the Poxos, but also the rest of the Protectorate!
"No one must ever find out!"
The risk of exposure was incredibly damaging to Ves. As long as the Attendants of Ylvaine suspected that he may be involved, the high inquisitor would execute him directly for affronting the Ylvainan Faith!
Leland already warned him about the consequences of attacking the Ylvainan Faith. It didn't matter if Ves was a foreigner who was exempt from some of the laws that targeted nonbelievers.
Still, despite the unfavorable consequences that might ensue if Ves proceeded with his plan, it was for a good cause!
"As long as I'm able to design the mech I've envisioned, then all of these troubles will pay off!"
It came down to whether Ves valued his work highly enough to take the risk. He knew he was about to cross a very dangerous line at this junction, but how could he resist the lure of designing an unprecedented mech?
As long as he was able to refine a spiritual fragment that contained Prophet Ylvaine's imprint, then he'd definitely be able to open up a new dimension of mech design, one that the galaxy had never seen before!
When Ves thought about the innovation he'd be able to accomplish, his mind, spirit and design seed all grew hot and excited.
He'd be able to make huge strides with his design philosophy as long as he proceeded!
"I think I understand now why mech designers can be so intense sometimes."
The shadow of a very eccentric Senior flashed through his mind.
Yet despite the disconcerting reminder, Ves didn't think he was doing anything wrong. As a mech designer, he would do anything for his mech designs!
"I love my mechs too much to restrain myself!"
The winds of obsessions swept around into his mind. They found fertile ground inside. The temptation was too great for him to resist!
However, even if Ves planned to go through with his plan, he still took the time to prepare the heist.
He surreptitiously browsed the galactic net and downloaded a recent tourist guide book on Kesseling VIII. He then cut his comm off the galactic net and began to browse its extremely extensive section on the Grand Cathedral of Ylvaine's Mercy.
While the virtual guide book didn't map out the restricted sections of Ylvaine's Mercy, it offered its readers an extremely detailed three-dimensional of all of its public areas!
Ves forced Lucky to study the map despite the cat's grumpiness.
"Meow meow!"
"I know I haven't been treating you well lately, but please bear with it. As long as I'm able to get what I want, I'll spend a billion credits on exotics for you to munch on! I'll even let you select your own dishes!"
"...Meow?" Lucky tilted his head.
"I'm completely serious, I swear!"
"Meow..."
"What, you think I'm lying?"
"Meow!"
"Oh come on, I'm trustworthy! I would never cheat you!"
It took several minutes for Ves to convince Lucky that he would uphold his end of his bargain. It seemed that even his cat began to question his honesty!
Nonetheless, Ves didn't intend to fudge his promise this time. Paying a billion credits to obtain the key to designing a great mech was a small price to pay! It wasn't as if he was hurting for money these days!
Lucky deserved this reward if he managed to pull of the heist. Although the grand cathedral's security had been beefed in recent days, the Protectors of the Faith mostly guarded against mechs and infiltrators.
They never encountered a mechanical cat that could phase through solid objects and possessed an extremely powerful CFA-grade ECM system!
This combination practically turned Lucky into the perfect thief!
The only shortcoming was that his cat didn't possess a means to go invisible. Even though he was harder to spot in an incorporeal form, Ves still found Lucky's appearance to be too distinctive in this state.
"If we don't want to get caught, you need something that can hide you for a time."
After some reluctance, Ves decided he couldn't avoid spending his DP any longer. He activated his Privacy Shield before activating the System. He briefly looked up his status to learn how much DP he accrued lately.
"What?! I've earned almost 600,000 DP!"
It took a bit of time for him to realize why he earned so much money. He only received a moderate bump in DP due to selling physical copies of his new Aurora Titan design.
Most of the DP he earned in recent weeks actually came from selling virtual copies of the Aurora Titan!
Just because the mech was unaffordable to most people in reality didn't mean it was unaffordable in the virtual realm!
Gavin already mentioned how many mech pilots tried out the Aurora Titan in Iron Spirit and other simulation games. The new mech model attracted so much attention that many mech pilots wanted to find out if it could help them advance!
While nothing so dramatic happened, many mech pilots actually took a lot of liking of the Aurora Titan despite its steep learning curve. Even those who didn't specialize in space knights or spaceborn mechs couldn't help but fall in love with piloting the virtual version of the mech!
"It's no wonder the virtual version of the Aurora Titan immediately hit the 250,000 DP limit!"
The System didn't consider virtual mechs to be worthy of much attention. Setting an upper limit of 250,000 DP on earnings from virtual sales was obviously meant to discourage him from becoming a full-time virtual mech designer.
If not for this limit, Ves would probably be able to earn a million DP with ease!
Nonetheless, Ves still gnashed his teeth at the thought of missing out on all of that surplus DP!
In any case, his DP reserves were so ample that he changed his original plan. He originally wanted to spend some DP to purchase a one-time standalone stealth augment.
However, considering that this probably wouldn't be the last time for him to steal an important historical relic, Ves thought about pairing Lucky with a permanent stealth upgrade.
Amazingly enough, Ves found something perfect for the occasion.
[Miniaturized Stealth Generator - Level 1]
Price: 400,000 DP
Duration: 5 Minutes
Emit a small overpowering field that disrupts any means of observation within a 1 meter sphere. It is capable of obfuscating every possible means of observation that is known to the Mech Designer System.
"400,000 DP!"
The enormous price tag made him wince. Ves considered whether he would be better off placing his System comm around Lucky's neck and make use of its Full Stealth Augment instead. Ves wouldn't be forced to spend any extra DP in that case.
"It's too risky!"
If anything went wrong, Ves might lose the System! Even though he recently Inventorized it, he might not be able to dematerialize it if it fell into the hands of the Ylvainans.
In order to guard against any accidents, it was safer for Ves to invest in Miniaturized Stealth Generator and provide Lucky with an independent means of entering stealth.
"Now that I think about it, this price doesn't sound so unreasonable."
Although its duration was very short before it required a lengthy recharge, its capabilities definitely surpassed Lucky's excellent ECM systems!
As long as Ves paired his cat with this little gadget, they could use it over and over again. At some point, he'd be able to earn back what he spent!
"It's an investment for the future." Ves muttered as he pulled the trigger and bought the Miniaturized Stealth Generator.
As soon as he confirmed his purchase, an object that resembled a comm materialized in front of him. Ves took the slim object and clasped it around Lucky's neck like a collar.
"Do you like your new collar?"
"Meow!"
Chapter 1199
Ves felt a lot of heartache when he sent Lucky off to perform the heist.
Spending 1 billion credits to motivate Lucky into breaking into the grand cathedral didn't concern Ves very much. WIth how much profit the LMC was making these days, he could afford to spend that much money like water.
The same didn't apply to Design Points. Accumulating 400,000 DP took a lot of effort. Ves practically spent all the DP he earned from his Aurora Titan design.
"It took seven months of earnest effort for me to design the Aurora Titan." He muttered.
Even if the Miniaturized Stealth Generator opened up a lot of new possibilities for Ves and Lucky, Ves constantly wondered if he could have spent his DP on something better.
The amount of DP he spent in an instant was too abrupt for Ves to feel at ease!
In fact, he wanted to be close to the grand cathedral as well in case Lucky hit a snag.
He couldn't. Not only did the Curins restrict his movements, it was an enormously bad idea for him to be in the vicinity of the Grand Cathedral of Ylvaine's Mercy during the heist.
He was already present at the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr during the terrorist attack. He would definitely attract High Inquisitor Poxco's suspicion if he strayed near the grand cathedral during an attempt to steal its most valuable relic!
The Ylvainan Inquisition only needed a reasonable amount of suspicion to take him into custody. Who knew what they would do to him once he ended up in their dungeon!
Ves just had to put his faith in Lucky's abilities. His naughty pet had a lot of practice stealing valuable minerals, so Lucky should know what he was doing.
The Miniature Stealth Generator he received was like adding wings to the tiger! There was hardly anything that could stop Lucky from stealing something now that he gained the ability to hide himself from every form of observation!
Even if it only lasted five minutes, if paired with his ability to turn intangible, that was all the time that Lucky needed to infiltrate most strongholds!
Now that Ves thought about it, Lucky could easily use his new ability against him! Nothing would be able to stop Lucky from stealing and eating his own stuff!
"Did I create a monster?"
Ves trusted Lucky more than his friends and family. As far as he was concerned, his cat was his closest companion.
Lucky was the only entity who knew all of his secrets!
Even though humans didn't put a lot of trust in AIs and mechanical pets, Ves knew there was something very special about Lucky. Despite his artificial form, Lucky differed from every other pet due to possessing his own spirituality!
He often puzzled why Lucky possessed this strength, especially in the early days of his career.
As Ves developed a greater understanding of spirituality, he no longer found it incomprehensible.
"Life isn't bound by an organic form. It can emerge from any shape as long as the conditions are right."
As Ves waited for Lucky to return, he decided to turn his attention back to his mech design work. It would be best if he acted normally during this time in order to allay any possible suspicion that he was involved with the upcoming theft.
He called Ketis over.
"What's the matter, Ves?"
"For our upcoming design project, I'm willing to let you be involved." He said once they sat down. "It's no secret to you that I'm working on a hero mech design. Considering your specialty and your familiarity with swordsmanship, I think your input is very helpful to our current design project."
"You're willing to let me have a say in the design?"
"Yes." Ves nodded. "As long as your suggestions and corrections are sound, I don't mind crediting you as a contributing mech designer to this project. It will do you a lot of good if you are able to meet that threshold!"
There was a substantial difference between a contributing mech designer and an assisting mech designer!
Assisting mech designers were basically coolies and number crunchers. The leading mech designer would never allow them to make any important decisions.
In contrast, a contributing mech designer earned the right to make some meaningful design choices. As long as the leading mech designer approved of their decisions, their judgement affected the overall direction of the design project!
This was a great honor to a Novice like Ketis. So much so that even she didn't believe that a control freak like Ves actually meant what he said.
"You wouldn't be pulling my leg this time, will you?" Ketis asked with eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I'm not attempting to coddle you or anything." Ves reassured her. "While you're still a Novice, that's only because you haven't completed any significant mech designs yet. Your knowledge base has improved a lot and you've spent a lot of time on diving deeper into subjects related to your design philosophy. Combined with your extensive exposure to the Swordmaidens and your personal swordsmanship skills, you've got a lot more practical experience than me when it comes to this area."
While Ves possessed an extensive amount of theoretical knowledge on melee mech combat, it was better for him if he had a specialist in this field by his side.
Once Ketis began to accept that Ves wasn't joking, she immediately grew enthusiastic. "I'll help!"
"Good. Please take a look at my loose draft and see if there is anything that stands out. I haven't decided what type of sword fits best for my hero mech."
As Ves showed her a projection of his schematic, Ketis hummed for a while. She'd already been introduced to its mech concept.
"This high-impact mech is much like the Silver Valencia the Swordmaidens used to field. Do you remember?"
"Of course." Ves nodded.
He could hardly forget about the signature mech of the Swordmaidens. The most iconic memory he possessed about the premium swordsman mech was how a dozen of them dogpiled Venerable Foster's Belisarius and self-destructed at the same time.
Despite their valiant sacrifice, the Vesian expert mech didn't incurred any serious damage! Its defensive and regenerative abilities were too disgusting!
Ketis continued her explanation. "The Silver Valencia is an upgraded version of our Devil Razor model. What they both share in common is that they're fast, flexible and strong. Mayra experimented with pairing our Devil Razors and Silver Valencias with many types of swords before settling for a broad, straight sword. Its strength and heft makes it suitable for hacking shields and tough exteriors."
"I don't think my hero mech needs to wield something so cumbersome. I'm operating on a very generous budget for this commission. We can make use of very strong alloys to pair my hero mech with a slimmer sword."
"I don't think that will fit with your design." She shook her head. "With the strength your hero mech is capable of exerting, it should do fine with a smaller sword, but it's really a waste of its potential to me. You want to design a high-impact mech, right? To me, your hero mech is more like a juggernaut than a fencer. Pairing it with a strong and hefty sword allows it to forgo any fancy techniques and instead rely on pure strength to overcome its opponents."
Ves frowned a bit. That didn't sit very well with his original intentions.
"My original intention is that my mech should provide ample space for the mech pilot to exploit their considerable skills. I tried to achieve a good balance between finesse and brute force."
"I don't think that's the way to go here." She shook her head. "An ordinary swordsman mech wouldn't be troubled because it can adapt with its entire mech frame. It's different with your hero mech because the other half of its frame is dedicated to operating a rifle. That pretty much limits the amount of finesse your hero mech can display."
It became clear that Ves hadn't put enough thought between balancing force and finesse. The high-impact mech he envisioned should possess a lot of speed, but his draft design incorporated a lot of flexibility in order to provide his mech with a lot of room to perform advanced techniques.
However, according to Ketis, that should be necessary.
"I don't think it's worth the effort to add all of that extra agility and weaken the structural integrity of your mech as a consequence. It might not seem as if momentum-based combat is very complicated, but it's far harder to pull off in practice because you need to plan your moves ahead."
Ves recognized where he made a mistake. He initially designed his draft design not too long after returning from his latest Mastery experience.
Witnessing a Terran mech pilot operate his mech in combat gave him a warped perspective on what a mech pilot was capable of. Ves unconsciously designed a mech with Terran design sensibilities by giving the mech pilot too many options at the cost of overall integrity of the mech.
While the Terrans tried to encompass as many fighting styles as possible, the mech designers of the galactic rim always chose to give up versatility in favor specialization!
Ves appreciated Ketis for pointing out this oversight. While his design choice didn't turn his hero mech into trash, it wasn't very optimal either.
After some thought, he decided to put his trust in Ketis. "I'll let you try and decide what sword is best for the hero mech. No matter if its a rapier, a broadsword, a scimitar or whatever, as long as you have a good explanation, I'll accept your design choices!"
"I won't disappoint you, Ves!"
He transferred some of his design files to Ketis and packed her off after giving her some instructions.
This would be the first time he made use of a subordinate mech designer in this fashion. Ves felt as if a weight lifted off his shoulders. By passing on some responsibilities to another mech designer, he no longer depended exclusively on his own judgement.
"I should flesh out my design team with other specialists."
He thought about Carlos for a moment. Hopefully, his old friend would be able to get over his jealousy.
While Carlos didn't sound as if he locked in his design philosophy, a mech designer who specialized in heavy guns was very useful to Ves when he wanted to design a ranged mech.
"Both Ketis and Carlos can help me design the offensive aspects of my mech."
If Ves wanted to round out his design team, then he should add mech designers who specialized in defense and mobility. As long as he completed his collection, he'd be able to adopt a different style of mech design where he could entrust his subordinates to perform the bulk of the actual design work.
Even if he lessened his involvement, with his growing Spirituality, Ves was sure he'd be able to maintain the strength of the X-Factor of his designs.
His current decision to give Ketis an opportunity to contribute to his mech design was both an experiment and a time-saving decision. As long as Ketis made some successful contributions, Ves knew that he could proceed with involving other mech designers in his design projects.
At this time, a loud alarm sounded outside. Every Ylvainan outside thought that something disastrous would take place and quickly ran for shelter.
At the same time, the Protectors of the Faith who guarded the guest compound began to enter a state of higher alertness. Every Kronon mech pilot who was off-duty all donned their piloting suits and boarded their dormant mechs!
"What's going on?!"
Gavin quickly arrived at his room.
"Ves! It's a disaster!"
"Do you know what happened?"
"I just managed to read the news before the Ylvainans locked down the galactic net. Apparently, the True Believers broke into the grand cathedral and stole their holy relic!"
Ves widened his eyes. That must have been Lucky! But why did the Ylvainans suspect the True Believers were behind the theft?
Chapter 1200
On second thought, Ves understood why the earliest news reports pointed the finger at the True Believers.
The New Ylvaine Dynasty had already been accused of attacking the Grand Church of the Grey Martyr. For them to pull of a dramatic stunt at the Grand Cathedral of Ylvaine's Mercy shortly after their first attack made a lot of sense!
It was as if the living prophet wanted to mock the three leading authorities by exposing their incompetence in this manner!
As alarms kept ringing throughout the city of Krent, Ves and Gavin quickly noticed that the Ylvainans took this incident a lot more seriously than they expected.
A priority notification quickly appeared on their comms.
"Kesseling VIII has declared martial law!" Gavin gasped as he read some of the text. "All aircars, shuttles and other vehicles are not allowed to fly. All forms of transportation in Krent is immediately shut down! No shuttles, starships or any other spacefaring vessel is allowed to depart the Kesseling System! Any starship that is scheduled to travel to the Kesseling System must immediately cancel their journey! Martial law will stay in effect for at least a week and can be extended at any time!"
Ves widened his eyes. "What the hell? The entire planet and star system will grind down to a halt if all traffic is blocked for an entire week! The local economy will definitely enter a depression at this rate!"
"I don't think the Ylvainans care about that anymore." Gavin nervously uttered. "Don't you realize what's at stake? The grand cathedral lost a relic that used to belong to the founder of the Ylvainan Faith! That's an enormous crime in their books!"
Even if the grand cathedral lost a nutrient pack wrapper, it was still an extremely valuable relic to the Ylvainans! To the Attendants of Ylvaine, the relic's value surpassed almost everything else on the planet!
Due to their failure to stop the theft and prevent the culprit from making off with the relic, the Protectors of the Faith drummed out in huge numbers. The streets emptied out of all civilian traffic, allowing scores of mechs and armored shuttles to sweep the streets and structures for any unusual elements.
The guest compound didn't escape scrutiny either. A bunch of Protectors of the Faith performed a deep search of the entire compound. They even dug into their luggage to see if they carried anything suspicious!
Alongside the extensive search, a Protector captain personally interviewed Ves and his followers.
"Are you involved with the True Believers?"
"No." ves replied truthfully.
"Are you involved with any incidents that took place at the Grand Cathedral of the Ylvaine's Mercy?"
Ah hell. Ves wanted to lie, but he knew that he'd get caught out by the lie detector system if he said no. If he attempted to perform some verbal acrobatics, then he might arouse the Kronon officer's suspicion.
That would be devastating to Ves! As long as they turned their attention to him and interrogated him more vigorously, they would definitely be able to determine that he was guilty!
Time seemed to slow down as Ves considered a myriad of solutions. He faced a similar situation before when an investigator of the CFA interrogated him. Ves remembered that he employed an unrefined spiritual trick to make him seem innocent.
Could he use something like that again?
There wasn't any time to consider anything else!
Different from last time, Ves came up with a more refined version to make him seem innocent. He rapidly constructed an image of himself in his mind. Because he knew himself quite well, he managed to complete the image in an instant.
The only difference of this image and his actual self was that he deliberately made it innocent. It possessed absolutely no involvement with anything related to what had happened at the grand cathedral!
There wasn't anymore time for him to refine his image of his innocent self any further. If he paused too long, the Protector captain would definitely form his own conclusions!
"What exactly happened at the grand cathedral?" Ves spontaneously asked. He needed to buy some time to complete his plan! "I heard that something got stolen?"
"I'm asking the questions here, Mr. Larkinson. Please answer the question. Are you involved with any incidents that took place in the grand cathedral?"
While the Protector captain sternly gave out his warning, Ves used the time to empower his image with his own spiritual energy.
Although Ves was loath to spend his spiritual energy, it was a necessary price to pay! Once the image of his innocent self came to life, Ves expanded it and swept it over his mind as if he was donning it like a mask.
Ves jerked a bit and quickly calmed down. This was the first time he donned an empowered image like a mask!
The difference was palpable! There was a lot more substance to his mask now, and because the image largely consisted of himself, there was very little incompatibility!
Ves innocently smiled. "I'm sorry. I heard some news from my assistant and I couldn't help but grow curious. To answer your question, I'm not involved in any incidents that has happened at the grand cathedral. I've never visited the place."
A strange mood overcame Ves as he wore his mask. A duality of thoughts clashed in his mind.
One one hand, he was very much the culprit that provoked the Ylvainans into a frenzy, to the point of declaring martial law!
On the other hand, he was just an innocent mech designer who had no relations with any crimes that took place on Kesseling VIII!
Such a conflict would have ordinarily clashed within his mind, but for some reason Ves was able to hold both of them at the same time!
This was clearly a contradiction, but nevertheless Ves was able to maintain his false innocence down to his facial expressions, his heartbeat, his eye movements and other signs! This allowed him to fool even the most sophisticated lie detectors!
The Protectorate captain continued to interrogate him Despite his sternness, his suspicion towards Ves had faded as he didn't detect anything amiss.
"I hope you'll find the culprits to this awful incident." Ves wished the Protectors of the Faith luck. "Whoever stole your holy relic deserves to suffer the most awful punishment your state has in store! What audacity! I'd like to beat up the culprit myself for making it harder for me to do my business on this planet!"
The Protectorate captain seemed fully convinced of Ves' sincerity. "Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Larkinson. I am sorry to say that we may impose further restrictions to you and your staff. Please do not take any offense if we seem rude if we take any precautionary measures."
"I understand. I hope you'll find the thieves soon so we can all get back to normal."
Once the Protectorate captain left, Ves inwardly sighed and slowly removed his spiritual mask. The empowered image of his innocent self shrank in size and floated peacefully within his mindscape.
"Can I recycle it? It would be great if I can get back what I spent."
However, he quickly decided against this course of action. Much like his other images, the image of his innocent self wouldn't degrade anytime soon. It also didn't exert any strain on his mind.
Considering that Ves might be facing several more interrogations in the coming days, he might need to resort to the same solution again. It would be a waste for him to create a new mask when he already possessed a serviceable one!
Since he could store his disguise in his mind without any consequences, he might as well keep it around.
He smirked. If the high inquisitor paid a visit to him again, he'd be fully prepared to declare his innocence!
As time went by, Ves tried his best to return to developing his draft design. He couldn't show any signs that he was involved in the matter of the grand cathedral.
Lucky already received instructions to lie low for a few days after he accomplished his heist. Ves didn't want to take the risk of getting caught red-handed during the period where the Ylvainans were on high alert!
"I made the right decision!"
Ves vastly underestimated the Ylvainan response to the theft. It was as if their entire society had been upended! As several hours passed, the manhunt for the thief intensified. Practically every peace-keeping mech was on the streets, and plenty of military mechs had joined the search as well!
Sporadic fighting erupted all across Krent as the Protectors of the Faith and the Attendants of Ylvaine occasionally bumped into something shady during their invasive door-to-door searches.
A lot of shady organizations on the planet suffered enormous losses due to the Ylvainan overreaction!
Even in a religious state, gangs and other unsavory elements still thrived. The only difference was that the criminal underworld didn't operate so blatantly in their territories.
Yet no matter how much they kept their shady dealings out of sight, the Ylvainans still possessed many of the same needs as Brighters and Reinaldans!
In fact, Ves suspected that many of Leland's informants consisted of gang members. They would do anything as long as they received enough money.
During martial law, most of the galactic net had closed down. Only approved outlets could still be accessed. In this case, Ves could only choose between news slanted towards the Curins, Kronons or Poxcos.
Obviously, the Poxcos were absolutely allopathic at the theft of Prophet Ylvaine's nutrient pack wrapper!
To their credit, they didn't deny their failure to safeguard the holy relic. They admitted their shortcomings but simultaneously stated the need for more Poxcos on the planet to assist in the search.
"Looks like the Poxcos will definitely get what they want this time!" Ves concluded.
The statements published by the Curins deflected a lot of blame towards the Kronons and the Poxcos for failing their duties. They tried to minimize their guilt as much as possible, and they actually did a decent job at it considering that they weren't responsible for guarding the relic in the first place.
Despite their objections, Ves didn't think the Curins would be able to stop the Kronons and Poxcos from inserting more men and mechs onto Kesseling VIII. If the terrorist attack already alarmed them, then the theft of an important relic had definitely sent them in a frenzy!
As for the Kronons, they slowly started to back the Poxcos. As their mechs and troops provided much of the security for the grand cathedral, they suffered a lot of blame for their failures. The Kronons wanted to atone for their mistakes by reinforcing the Kesseling System with an entire regiment!
And that was only what the Kronons admitted to the public. Who knew how many assets they planned to shift the Kesseling System!
The situation was growing increasingly hot to Ves. As the chief mastermind behind the theft, all of this was bad news to him. An escalation of troops might result in something worse.
Ves merely wanted to design a mech in peace. Why were the Ylvainans making it so difficult for him to do his job and complete the commission?
A very tense day went by before Calabast arrived at the guest compound in person under heavy guard.
"Miss Cecily!" Ves greeted her with surprise that morning. "How come you're here?"
"We need to discuss our changing circumstances. Let's talk somewhere private." She said in a terse tone.
Ves led her to his room where she immediately activated her signal jammer.
That wasn't enough for Calabast this time because she deployed another machine that surrounded the both of them with a weak but highly disruptive energy field.
Only after she prepared all of her precautions did Calabast turn her attention to Ves.
"Tell me the truth, Ves. Did you do it? Did you steal the holy relic?"
Ves immediately donned his innocent mask. He expected that he'd be forced to don his mask again, but not against Calabast!
"I'm not involved, I swear! I didn't do it! I'm innocent!"
Calabast grimaced as she scrutinized his entire body. "I don't believe you."
"What?! But I don't have anything to do with it this time!"
"Don't lie to me, Ves! It's no coincidence that you asked me to obtain a relic earlier this week. Don't think I don't know that some of the Grey Martyr's relics inexplicably went missing. Now something like this happens at the same time that your mechanical pet has gone missing during this timeframe. No matter how innocent you seem, there are gaping holes in your story!"
Damnit! Ves quietly cursed Calabast for her astuteness. His innocent act hadn't worked at all!
