The Mech Touch

Though Master Willix drew a shocking conclusion about Ves, it was completely untrue!

He didn't know whether he wanted to laugh or cry. How could an incredibly intelligent and astute Master Mech Designer come to the conclusion that Ves was actually his own apprentice?

Just because he traveled back in the past and designed a hero mech for a mech duel, the MTA suddenly developed a theory that the Ouroboros was actually the product of an unfathomable mech designer!

It was not hard to make this conclusion. The glow exuded by the Ouroboros far surpassed any LMC mech. Not even the Quint or the Little Angel could come close to the power exuded by this century-old mech!

Though the Ouroboros started off as a relatively low-quality first-rate hero mech developed with the help of an auto designer program, Axelar somehow never got rid of it. Instead, he stuck by it, likely due to its attractive X-Factor and aura.

As his participation in the brutal Trail of Tears training program managed to unlock his potential, Axelar did not exchange the Ouroboros for a better model.

Instead, he made the rare and unusual choice of upgrading it. Though he had to hire other Senior and Master to do so, all of the mech designers he enlisted all respected the original design of the Ouroboros.

Those skilled high-ranking mech designers carefully tried to preserve the essence of the hero mech that Ves originally imparted in its design. In this fashion, the spiritual character of the Ouroboros never weakened.

Even if it did, the growth it experienced in the hands of an expert candidate, expert pilot and currently ace pilot always compensated for the loss!

Ves already suspected that the spiritual character of an individual mech might experience substantial growth when it was paired with a high-ranking mech designer.

Unlike regular mech pilots and expert candidates, the force of will exhibited by true expert pilots and higher was strong enough to affect reality! There was no way the force of will of such powerful figures would avoid affecting a mech, especially if it contained a bit of life!

Still, Ves found it rather strange that the MTA concluded that the designer of the Ouroboros was some kind of great figure. Master Willix sounded very certain, though, and he had no intention of trying to pop her bubble!

This misunderstanding was of immense help to him! His design philosophy was no longer as inexplicable. If Ves managed to tie his specialty to some fictional Master who originated from the Terran Confederation, then he could keep referring to Mr. S. everytime someone entertained suspicions about his design philosophy.

In fact, becoming associated with a legendary mech like the Ouroboros and a famed ace pilot such as Hero of the New Terra was a blessing in disguise. With the apparent ties between his specialty and the pairing, he could essentially borrow the latter's reputation in order to deflect uncomfortable probes.

He objected much less to Master Willix's flawed assumptions. Let her believe what her own mind had together out of scattered evidence. As long as her theories didn't have anything to do with the System, everything was fine!

Master Willix gazed at him with genuine appreciation. "The Ouroboros Designer has only sporadically left traces throughout the galaxy. He must have his own plans. As a fellow peer, I will not interfere with his designs on you. Do not betray the expectations of your teacher and strive to fulfill the potential that he has doubtlessly recognized in you. Do you have any further questions?"

"Uhm, I'm good." Ves dully replied.

"Very well. One last reminder. I am obliged to register my deduction to our internal records. You don't have to be concerned about your identity leaking out. The MTA respects all secrets and we will make sure that this detail of yours will remain inaccessible to the public. This is the best that I can offer."

"Okay. That sounds fine."

After an awkward exchange, Master Willix finally entered the Ubiquitous Force, which soon departed from the planet.

Ves still stood frozen while Gloriana turned to him with an indignant expression.

"Secret or not, I expect you to be a little more forthcoming next time!"

She departed his side with a huff.

Though Gloriana sounded peeved, Ves didn't feel very bothered by her. As long as he stuck to his impromptu cover story, she would eventually forgive him. After all, Mr. S. forced him into a vow of silence.

He shrugged and tried to recall his current priorities.

The MTA delegation originally stopped by in order to certify the Little Angel. The design duel that Jovy initiated had been an unexpected development that distracted him from his current plans.

"I should select a mission from the Rim Exchange." He whispered.

The task force that the Military Bureau had assembled was almost ready to go. Major Verle and Fleet Coordinator Ophelia had done an admirable job in prepping all of the mechs, ships and personnel for the upcoming expedition.

According to the most recent reports, the clan already procured all of the supplies the task force needed to remain self-sufficient for up to a year.

Of course, this was just a very vague estimate. Every battle always consumed some supplies, and frequent clashes could quickly drain all of the goods and materials that his forces held in reserve.

Though Ves wanted to bring more supplies, it was very hard to do so without adding more sluggish supply ships to the task force.

That was something he refused to do. His task force had to be as nimble as possible in order to waste as little time as possible in the Nyxian Gap.

Considering that his subordinates had already taken care of everything, Ves did not bother with this matter any further.

He began to think about what else he should do in the few days before his departure.

Ves recalled the design duel and made a couple of important realizations.

First, Joshua Larkinson advanced to expert candidate. This was a significant event and one that he had long anticipated.

"This might be a good occasion to hold a celebration for the entire clan!" He realized.

Holding a huge party right before a portion of the Larkinson Clan engaged in a dangerous venture would definitely boost morale and foster more kinship. There was no reason for him to miss this golden opportunity!

He raised his comm and dispatched a message to Gavin to look into organizing a celebration that involved the entire clan.

"This will also be good for Joshua!"

Ves had long maintained a lot of interest in Joshua Larkinson. The young but talented mech pilot did not disappoint his expectations.

Though Joshua's breakthrough was a bit long in coming considering all of the battles he went through, his force of will was one of the most remarkable that Ves had ever encountered.

After coming into contact with numerous expert pilots, each of which developed a different obsession or conviction, Joshua's force of will centered around a highly interesting domain.

Life!

While Ves wasn't sure of Joshua's actual principles, they definitely related to his specialty! Whenever Joshua piloted an LMC mech or shared his experiences, he always exhibited a sincere respect for life.

Joshua was one of the few mech pilots that Ves knew of who genuinely considered LMC mechs to be living entities rather than lifeless machines.

While it was easy for a random person to look at an LMC mech and state that it was alive, their mind or their heart wasn't really convinced.

Those who believed in the LMC's motto and looked beyond the design spirit were exceedingly rare.

There were plenty of people who misinterpreted the LMC's motto and thought that the source of an LMC mech's glow was alive.

While they weren't wrong, that did not fully encompass his perspective.

Design spirits were alive and they definitely added a lot of vitality to his mech designs, but what if they were absent?

Could mechs still be called alive if Ves neglected to impart a design spirit on their designs?

In his heart, he believed that even his earliest products were alive! His recent breakthroughs concerning spiritual constructs only strengthened his conviction!

Right now, Ves developed a great desire to return to the Purgatory Envoy in order to inspect the innovations he conceived under pressure.

Back then, he was so short of time and in such a focused state that he never had the opportunity to stop and process all of the implications of his latest solutions.

Spiritual constructs and triggered abilities represented a major step forward for his design philosophy! For the first time in years, Ves managed to empower a mech without resorting to messing with design spirits.

This time, he had gone back to his roots and finally recognized that he did not have to leave the spiritual foundation of his mech designs alone.

They were like clay that he could mold into various spiritual constructs!

Not only would he be able to tweak the X-Factor and the glow of his mech designs at a much finer degree of control, he also developed a reliable means of imparting abilities that could be activated on command.

That last part alone was enough to revolutionize his upcoming mech designs! Triggered abilities might not be as powerful as the famed resonance abilities of expert pilots and expert mechs, but they did not come with any prerequisites. Any mech pilot could trigger them at a time and place of their choosing!

When Ves looked up what had happened to the Purgatory Envoy, he immediately raced towards the mech arena where the match had recently taken place.

All of the advanced hardware that the MTA installed in order to monitor the duel and contain all of the damage had already been removed.

Aside from that, the rented facility still hadn't been cleaned up. Plenty of scorch marks and other battle marks still littered the arena grounds. A few puddles of slag and blackened pieces of metal were strewn around the center.

Ves left the hall and entered into a backstage area. Some bots had unceremoniously deposited the damaged and battle-scarred Purgatory Envoy in a corner.

Even though Ves only designed it in 72 hours, he looked at the competition mech with a lot of affection.

He intended to restore and study it until he figured out everything he could derive from the mech!

Just as he began to dream about adding triggered abilities to all of his future mech designs, he suddenly recognized the presence of another mech.

Dumped in another corner, the damaged remains of the Fortunate Devil laid on the floor like a corpse. Its separated legs rested on the side of the mech.

"The MTA.. left Jovy's mech behind?"

Ves almost couldn't believe it. Any work from an MTA mech designer should never be casually dumped, especially one designed by someone with a remarkable design philosophy as Jovy Armalon!

"Then again.. this is hardly his best work." He realized.

Unlike Jovy's genuine first-class multipurpose mech designs, the Fortunate Devil was just a cheap, third-class mech. Due to the terms that Ves had set, the defensive striker mech contained classified components or exclusive technology.

Even if Jovy applied some very sophisticated techniques onto the mech in order to elevate its performance to the best of his ability, there was nothing particularly valuable about the wreck.

The MTA probably regarded it as trash.

Yet Ves saw much more in this forgotten machine. If Ves concentrated very hard and peered closely into the Fortunate Devil, he managed to sense an unknown spiritual trace running throughout the entire mech.

This trace was tied to Jovy's specialty!

Ves immediately thought of trying to harvest this trace.

On its own, it was useless. Without sharing Jovy's domain and unique mindset towards mech, there was no way that Ves could emulate probability manipulation.

"Yet.. what if I do something else with this trace?" He whispered.

What if he used it as an ingredient for a luck-based spiritual product?

Perhaps it was impossible for Ves to replicate Jovy's incredibly strong design philosophy. Yet it was a different story when created with a design spirit that could achieve the same result!

Ves suddenly gained another huge realization.

"Doesn't this mean.. I can potentially imitate every design philosophy imaginable?"