The Mech Touch

He first started with making Ketis' new gear. In order to make sure her new combat armor was to her liking, he called her over in order to assist in the project.

Once she arrived from the Jaded Sword, she inspected the design that Ves came up with and proposed extensive changes to fit her preferences.

Perhaps the most unexpected change was lowering the amount of Unending alloy used to make the powered armor."

She explained her rationale to Ves as she adjusted the schematic. "If you're right about this Unending alloy, then it's pretty much impossible to break it without employing a ludicrous amount of power. I don't see the need for so much protection when all of this dense material just weighs me down."

In other words, just like the swordsman mechs that the Swordmaidens preferred, Ketis wanted to wear a leaner suit of combat armor. By lowering its mass, she could move around considerably faster, especially if all of the servos and other motors remained the same.

Ves understood her desires, though he didn't feel very comfortable about it. Her previous ordeal inside Ulimo Citadel showed that her Breyer alloy combat armor clearly wasn't up to the task. His worries caused him to overcompensate a bit, though he didn't think that was wrong.

"Are you sure you want to make your new combat armor so lean?"

"Passively taking a beating is not my style. I want to be able to move fast while still enjoying a reasonable amount of protection. Also, increasing the mass of my combat armor also hinders my ability to swing my sword."

"Speaking about your sword, I think we can augment it with a little Unending alloy…"

Her CFA greatsword was made out of alloys that were just as strong as Unending alloy if not more. Even so, one of the downsides of the impressive weapon was that it did not contain any spiritual properties.

While it wasn't possible to replace the blade with one made out of Unending alloy or anything, it was possible to make some other additions. Replacing the hilt, crossguard, pommel with rougher versions made of out Unending alloy somewhat ruined the clean, high-tech aesthetics of the greatsword, but Ves and Ketis employed great care in maintaining its balance.

As soon as they completed the modifications, Ketis became much more pleased with her weapon.

"I feel it's easier to get in tune with my weapon. Sharpie is happy as well!" She happily chirped.

To test out the real efficacy of her new blade, Ketis attempted to perform her little superpower with the help of her sword intent.

With great concentration, she managed to cover the entire length of the blade with a deadly glow!

When she quickly hacked the sword down onto a spare plate of Unending alloy, her sword painfully clanked as the attack failed to leave a single mark!

"Damn, I thought it would work this time!"

Ves already expected this outcome. While he was impressed with her ability to cut through very tough objects, it did not change the fact that its effectiveness was largely based on how much energy she expended.

As an Apprentice Mech Designer, Ketis was still at the stage where her spiritual potential had not yet consolidated into something stronger.

Despite the disappointing outcome, Ketis eventually perked up. "This time, I managed to cover the blade of my entire weapon! That's progress at least!"

Already, Ves could sense that a trace of her spiritual energy remained locked inside the Unending alloy. While the quantity was miniscule, over time it might build up to something bigger.

Ves regretted that none of the Larkinsons had any time to build up any accumulation. Even he was a little different. After the previous battle, he had lost much of his reserve of excess energy.

While he made sure to rebuild it, just a couple of week's worth of spiritual energy wouldn't be enough for him to form another protective barrier around his ship if something strange took place.

Fortunately, Venerable Jannzi should be capable of protecting the fleet in his stead.

Ves and Ketis rapidly crafted the remainder of their gear in quick tempo. His student even helped him out in assembling and finishing his own protective combat armor.

Unlike her combat armor which she straightforwardly called the Unending Dragon, his own protective suit was not designed with close combat in mind.

His so-called Unending Regalia was leaner and smaller than the Unending Dragon because he did not envision himself diving into enemy ranks like a barbarian.

His Unending Regalia was more of a protective suit rather than powered armor. The latter was more protective, but it massed more and relied too much on active moving parts to properly function.

Ves was a bit paranoid about depending too much on components like these. While the chances were small, there were always ways to sabotage them or compromise them. For this reason, his Unending Regalia had to be light enough for his artificially-strengthened body to move around without investing any power.

One benefit to building such a modestly-sized suit of combat armor was that Ves could make it foldable. If there was no need for him to wear so much protection, he could command it to fold up into a thick and heavy suitcase-like object that could be mounted on Nitaa's heavy combat armor.

"Hmmm, that reminds me, I should make a new suit of armor for her as well."

There wasn't much time left for him to do so, and the benefits weren't as great. The primary purpose of the Unending Regalia was to strengthen him against spiritual opponents!

There were very few people in the task force that could handle the cultists of the Nyxian Gap. His expert candidates and expert pilots may be strong in this regard, but they did not possess his knowledge, control, perception and understanding of spirituality.

This meant that if the pirates ever dropped an artificial anomaly on the fleet, Ves should be able to fight back with the help of his spirituality-oriented combat armor!

Ves did not explain these considerations to Ketis, but she wasn't stupid. She could tell that Ves had something different in mind when he presented her with such a peculiar design.

"If not for the strong defensive properties of Unending alloy, I would describe this work as a survival suit rather than combat armor. It's great if you end up stuck in some untamed planet away from civilization. The fact that you can still move it without any active components is a great advantage in certain situations, Though I don't really see you ever needing it as long as you remain in the clan."

He shrugged. "I've experienced a lot of strange and unusual events. Take the anomalies for example. Whenever they sweep you up, normal solutions might not work anymore. I don't want to rely too much on technology only for it to fail for some inane reason."

"That's rich coming from a mech designer." Ketis chuckled. "Don't you make big, huge complex machines for a living? A lot could go wrong with them and the logistics to keep them running isn't light. Despite these disadvantages, our clan still relies heavily on mechs. Oh, don't forget about the ships either. It's impossible for us to sail through the stars with our naked bodies!"

She had a good point, but his Unending Regalia was only meant to fight against one specific class of opponents. Against more mundane enemies, Ves did not expect he would be forced to take action in person.

Unlike in the past where Ves was still growing his organization, now he was surrounded by tens of thousands of competent and loyal Larkinsons. Any of them could handle most enemies far more efficiently than he ever could!

If it turned out that he was wrong, well, he always had the Amastendira in his intangible back pocket.

"Let's move on to assembling the remainder of the internal modules."

Despite the relatively compact dimensions of his Unending Regalia, he made sure to pack its limited capacity with as many useful gizmos and gadgets as possible.

He used some of the finest and rarer exotics his fleet had plundered from Ulimo Citadel and other pirates to make these modules. By using these high-quality materials, Ves could pack a lot of power in a very small package without making any other sacrifices.

Some of the more important functions he added to his Unending Regalia included a strong communications module, sensor modules, several antigrav modules, an automated targeting system, ECM and jamming systems, limited water and air filtration and storage systems and so on. Each of these modules and systems worked far better than anything that Ves had previously used.

If there was one regret, it was that Ves wasn't able to add a minifab to his Unending Regalia. He probably didn't need it in the Nyxian Gap, but it would have been nice to regain this capability.

For this reason, he made sure to add a modular slot to the back of his Unending Regalia. Later on, Ves could place any optional backpack module such as an oxygen tank, a flight system, a power communications antenna or his long-awaited minifab system.

Ketis looked amused at Ves. "You're constantly harping on about the minifab system. Why do you want it so much? This system is only useful for field or combat engineers."

"I just want to be able to bring a miniature fabricating machine wherever I go. It's not just useful in combat. With this little machine, I can craft anything small on the fly. Trust me, it is far more useful to me than you think."

One of the ways he exercised his abilities was by making totems that possessed a spiritual foundation and were able to channel a design spirit. Ves wanted to gain the capability to craft sophisticated trinkets in case he needed to hoodwink someone important.

They soon finalized the Unending Regalia. Just like Ketis' Unending Dragon, he covered the rough and uneven Unending alloy sections with smooth and precisely-machined Breyer alloy plates. After that, he coated his new suit in the standard Larkinson pattern of red and white.

When it came to the finishing touches, he added a large emblem of the Golden Cat on the chest of his new work. With this addition, there was no doubt that the wearer of the Unending Regalia was part of the Larkinson Clan!

He didn't forget about his signature look. He often used the third eye as a motif in his recent creations, and this was no different. He added a special third eye on the forehead of the helmet. The reason why it was special was because Ves partially synthesized it with some ground P-stone. This allowed him to perform various parler tricks with it if he ever needed to impress some yokels or something.

While his Unending Regalia did not look that impressive due to its small stature and standard coating, Ves had prepared a red cape that instantly doubled the wow factor of his new armor!

Ves couldn't wait any longer. As soon as he finished the Unending Regalia, he wore it right away. As soon as the protective suit molded to his form and its systems came online, he experimentally moved around while his cape swished along with his motions.

Meanwhile, Ketis had changed into her Unending Dragon suit. As a more combat-oriented suit, her new gear caused her to gain quite a bit of height and mass. When she stepped in front of him, she towered over him by almost a head!

Ves felt a bit inadequate when he was forced to look upwards in order to meet her eyes.

"Damn, you look good."

"Same to you." She grinned as she clenched an armed fist. "I can feel the power of my new gear! It's not perfect, but it's better than anything that I have ever worn!"

"That's the point. As long as we take good care of them and keep their systems up to date, they'll last a lifetime!"