The Mech Touch

The Avatars of Myth no longer participated in the battles against the sandmen. The Ylvaine Protectorate was more than capable of defending its territories, and did not call upon the aid of the Avatars to supplement its forces.

That left the Avatars bereft with a mission. For this reason, Commander Melkor decided to subject all of his mech pilots to special training meant to elevate them to second-class mech pilots!

Though the enthusiasm among the Avatars was high, the actual results so far left much to be desired.

While it wasn't very difficult to gain basic control over a second-class mech, it took a lot more skill and effort to draw out its strength!

Second-class mech pilots needed to memorize many more operations. They had to perform their techniques at a much higher speed without making any errors along the way.

Above all else, they had to strain against the limits of their genetic aptitude in order to handle the enormous data throughput passing through the man-machine connection!

After a shaky aerial jaunt, the Fliskin light skirmisher approached the base leased by the Avatars of Myth and slowed down until its feet touched the ground.

Even though the Fliskin was optimized for space, every second-class spaceborn mech also functioned as an aerial mech.

The same was true for the reverse. Every mech designed for aerial combat could also retain most of its battle effectiveness in a weightless vacuum environment.

It was just a difference of optimization. A spaceborn mech performed just a bit worse in the air compared to a true aerial mech.

This difference was significant enough to make a difference in battle. This meant that second-rate states were still forced to make a distinction between aerial and spaceborn mechs.

The Avatars didn't care as much, though. The four 'training mechs' were so powerful that it was impossible for the mech pilots to push them to their limits!

Once the Fliskin finished its landing and shut down its systems, the opening to the cockpit opened up. A body garbed in the same piloting suits as the other mech pilots climbed out of the chest area of the light skirmisher and jumped into the air.

The antigrav modules attached to his piloting suit instantly slowed down his fall and caused him to reach the ground as light as a feather.

The man's helmet retracted into the collar of the suit, revealing the young visage of Joshua King.

Two slightly older mech pilots approached the young Avatar.

"Wow, you did worse than we thought." Imon Ingvar remarked. "The Larkinson instructors thought you were so good that you'd be able to flex the Fliskin like it was your own body. Instead, you were like a mouse trying to steer the body of a giant!"

"Don't be rude, brother." Casella Ingvar bumped her elbow into her brother's side. "Don't take your initial performance to heart, Joshua. Maybe the Fliskin isn't the right mech for you after all. Light mechs are some of the most demanding mechs to pilot. It's not surprising to see an Avatar falter while piloting such a fast and sensitive machine. You should start with something easier like the Paravin."

Joshua shook his head. "Too many Avatars want a turn with the Paravin. I can't afford to wait that long to experience a second-class mech. Besides, there is much more value in subjecting myself to the raw power of the kind of mechs which will become a mainstay of the Avatars in the future."

"He's got a point, brother. Also, it's your turn now."

"Ah, you're right! Bid me good luck!"

"Just go!"

Imon Ingvar proceeded to float up to the chest of the Fliskin and entered its cockpit. As the mech slowly came online, Joshua and Casella distanced themselves from the immediate surroundings of the Fliskin in the event of an accident.

It wouldn't be the first time a mech pilot fumbled with one of the complicated mechs and caused their machines to trip!

"My brother is right, though." Casella continued. "Your performance with the training mechs is worse than expected. You pilot our other mechs so well. You should have been able to pilot a second-class mech more fluently."

Joshua shook his head. "It's not the same."

"What's the difference?"

"Isn't it clear to you?"

"There are too many differences to count. Which one is bothering you?"

"It's the feel."

"You mean the lack of glow?"

"It's more than that, Casella. I've piloted the mechs designed by Ves Larkinson from the beginning of his career. I've become used to the qualities he imparts to his mech designs. The glow of his mechs is a big part of this, but there is more to an LMC mech than its effects on our psyche."

The female mech pilot looked curious. "Is there some sort of secret to the LMC mechs that you're withholding from us all? Is this the reason why you've shot up so much in proficiency since you joined the Avatars?"

"It's not really a secret." Joshua shrugged. "Every LMC mech is alive. Simple as that. Once you treat them as a partner instead of a tool, they'll help you on their own initiative!"

Casella blinked. Despite hearing this assertion several times, it was still a bit too far-fetched for her to consider mechs alive. To her, the name and the motto of the LMC was just an aspiration, not a truth!

Her skepticism didn't escape Joshua's perception. He inwardly shook his head. He had tried to illuminate his colleagues many times, but few were mentally flexible enough to accept the truth.

To them, mechs were lifeless machines! They were little different from a shuttle or a tank in terms of autonomy!

The former noble from the Kingdom of the Three Flowers gestured her head towards a gathering of mech pilots in the distance.

"Look!" Casella grabbed Joshua's arm and tugged him forward. "Venerable Wodin is about to hold a lecture again! Let's hear what he has to say!"

She halted when the other mech pilot didn't budge.

"You can go ahead. I don't need to learn from the Venerable."

"Why not? He doesn't show up very often, but each time he does, he's a fountain of information! He always answers my questions in detail."

"That's because you're a woman." Joshua snorted. "You know how Hexers are with your kind."

"That doesn't mean he's ignoring the likes of you. I can ask some questions in your stead if you want."

"It's not necessary. I can manage on my own. My difficulties are only temporary. Once Mr. Larkinson gets around to designing a second-class mech of his own, I'll be able to adapt to it without fail!"

"Those are some big words coming out of a mech pilot who barely kept the Fliskin from crashing."

"The Fliskin isn't alive. I would take a Desolate Soldier over the Fliskin any day. Also, Venerable Brutus Wodin may be a great expert pilot, but there are multiple ways to pilot a mech. His approach is not necessarily the best for me. He primarily pilots ranged mechs, so his teachings are skewed towards ranged combat."

"Isn't that within your ballpark, Joshua? So far, you're the only mech pilot working for Mr. Larkinson who is able to pilot a Deliverer! Not even the Ylvainans who have recently joined the Avatars are ready to pilot this miraculous mech!"

Joshua was pretty much the only non-Ylvainan mech pilot in existence who could pilot a Deliverer properly! He managed to exhibit supernatural aim and target section over so many practice sessions that everyone had become numb to his freakish accomplishment.

"It's because I'm already good in piloting the Deliverer that I don't need any further lessons. I would rather explore and figure out my shortcomings on my own. That's how I trained with the other LMC mechs in the past and how I've managed to address my shortcomings."

Not everyone could learn as fast as Joshua. To the Ingvar siblings, Joshua was a monster in self-improvement. No matter what LMC mech he could get his hands on, he quickly mastered its operation like he'd been born to pilot it! Not even the older and more veteran mech pilots among the Avatars could keep up with Joshua's improvement speed!

Some people already started to guess that Joshua possessed the potential to become an expert pilot. This was one of the reasons why Casella invested her time to build up a friendship with him. Her judgement told her that Joshua was definitely someone she would look up to in the future!

After a bit of chatting, Casella finally couldn't resist the allure of learning from an expert pilot.

An expert pilot from a third-rate state was already impressive enough. Those who reached this height as second-class mech pilots were even better!

Not just the Avatars, but also the Sentinels, Battle Criers and Larkinson clan members flocked to Brutus. Familiar with the Hexer expert pilot's rules, the crowd automatically sorted itself in a semicircle with the women standing in front and the men standing behind.

The male mech pilots already learned the hard way that Venerable Brutus was not very charitable to his own gender!

Joshua just shook his head at the sight and turned around. He hated the Hexers. He wished that Ves Larkinson never hooked up with one of their kind.

Sadly, it didn't seem like Gloriana and the Hexers would be leaving anytime soon. Joshua could only bear with the situation.

He left the training grounds and headed to a mech stable where his Deliverer was locked in place. He approached one of the feet of his mech and patted its surface with his hand.

"When will the promised mech come?"

No one answered him. The Deliverer, while alive, never bothered to answer his questions.

It didn't matter, though. Joshua was used to this. Just because a mech remained silent didn't mean it was devoid of life.

One of the secrets to his excellent adjustment to LMC mechs was his patience in building up a relationship with his machines.

None of them were strangers to him! Not after he poured hours in deepening his bond with his mechs!

The Deliverer was just the latest mech to form a bond with him. Out of all of the mechs he piloted, the Deliverer was by far the most foreign and pure.

Due to its strong Ylvainan traits, it took extra effort for Joshua to maintain a cordial relationship with the mech.

"Will we ever battle against the sandmen again?"

The Sand War seemed to have passed its peak at this point. Joshua missed fighting against the sandmen. His deployment to the front had been cut short when the Avatars hastily left the Bright Republic after recent events.

Joshua felt a little unfulfilled.

"Well, I shouldn't be pining for battle. That would mean the sandmen are still going strong."

After babbling with his mech, he patted his mech one last time before heading to the exit.

Along the way, he happened to pass by a familiar guest pilot.

Joshua minutely slowed down his pace and furrowed his brows.

An unsettling sensation ran through his body as he came near to the foreign mech pilot.

Silent William seemed to become more and more unfathomable as time went by. Joshua's instincts warned him that it wouldn't be a good idea to grow too close to the odd mech pilot.

"What's up with him? Why is he still here?"

No one answered this question.

In fact, Joshua was slightly mistaken. The sensation that crept him out did not come from Silent William.

Instead, a different existence descended on the foreign mech pilot! Silent William's eyes flashed several times as he made contact with a certain entity that had recently haunted Ves' dreams.

A silent screech suddenly thundered Silent William's body, causing him to collapse on the floor!

His body released several heaving breaths as William slowly recovered from the ordeal. His face remained as placid as ever, and he showed no further sign that he had been affected by 'Cassandra Breyer'.