The Mech Touch

The Pontifical Lance finally displayed its great might!

In its previous battle against the Dominant, it had already shown great promise by inflicting serious damage against a superior mech.

The fact that the repaired Dominant went on to utterly crush its opponent in the second round shone an even brighter light on the Pontifical Lance!

This time, the lancer mech designed by a previously-inconspicuous mech designer from the galactic rim utterly crushed its foe within a dozen seconds.

Although this display lasted too short compared to other spectacular battles, the way in which the Pontifical Lance pierced straight through the defenses of the Lighthouse Keeper was still impressive in its own right!

The more knowledgeable and technical-minded audience truly appreciated the Pontifical Lance at this time.

Although conventional wisdom stated that a lancer mech should easily be able to take out a knight mech, this rule generally applied on the battlefield.

A different set of rules applied to arena settings. In a fairly cramped space like this, it was absolutely difficult for a lancer mech to build up enough momentum. There simply wasn't enough space within the arena boundaries for mechs to accelerate for a longer period of time. This was also why mech designers rarely chose to design a lancer mech in these situations.

This was what made the Pontifical Lance so remarkable to those who understood mechs. Ves had taken a huge gamble and designed a mech that maximized the strength of its first strike.

If the Pontifical Lance missed or botched its charge attack, it was practically dead!

This was such an extreme approach that not many mech designers would have been willing to take the same route. Ves earned a lot of respect for being one of the few people in the tournament to not only choose this strategy but succeed in making it work.

Now that Ves truly entered the spotlight, the expert commentators finally bothered to access his profile.

What they discovered was fairly impressive.

[What is this!?]

[What's the matter?]

[Mr. Ves Larkinson actually has a colorful record! I won't say much about his battle exploits, but his design accomplishments alone are impressive. He is not only a technological contributor, if only a minor one, but also has five masterwork certificates under his name!]

Shocked sounds spread throughout the audience when they heard this. A lot of people, especially those who bought tickets to the High Tide Tournament, understood the magnitude of having masterwork certificates.

[Did you access the right record? Perhaps you've mistakenly stumbled upon the record of a Master Mech Designer with the same name.]

It was stupid to question the earlier statement. People at this level would never mistake someone's identity. The woman who expressed her doubt was mainly playing an act.

[The record comes directly from the MTA's database, and I have confirmed multiple times that it is tied to the designer of the Pontifical Lance. There should be no doubt.]

The records maintained by the MTA were always completely accurate. Good and truthful recordkeeping had always been one of the customs that humanity relied upon to remain enlightened and prevent lies and distortions from taking over the narrative.

Once the people accepted that the record was true, a brief discussion ensued about how Ves was able to make this accomplishment.

[If you dig a little deeper, you will notice that Mr. Larkinson has collaborated closely with a Master Mech Designer of MTA. That is the likely explanation why he, his wife and his fellow colleagues have managed to collect so many masterwork certificates at a young age. Master Willix must be a generous mentor to them if she is willing to pave the way for them to gain this accomplishment at the Journeyman-level.]

There was a note of condescension in the older man's voice. Obviously, he smelled something fishy about this arrangement. It was beneath a Master to handhold a bunch of Journeymen to such an extent that she even engineered a couple of design projects to create fake masterwork mech designers!

This deliberately incendiary remark received a strong rebuke from the other commentators!

[The Mech Trade Association has established a rigid set of rules when it comes to recognizing a mech designer's contributions to the formation of a masterwork mech. While I am not allowed to get into this topic too deeply, powerful mech designers have a way of understanding the truth of how a mech is made.]

[Not only that, but masterwork mechs are never inspected by a single person. Multiple people always come and study them up close precisely to avoid the appearance of favoritism. Any judgment that is good enough to be put on record is reliable beyond doubt.]

[That said, it is still unlikely for Mr. Larkinson and his fellow work partners to be able to fabricate a masterwork mech by themselves. This Master Willix must have still given them a pivotal boost. I estimate that she did at least 90 percent of the heavy lifting, leaving leeches like Mr. Larkinson to take care of the remaining 10 percent. That should barely earn him a masterwork certificate.]

[Then why is her name not credited for any of the masterwork mechs that Mr. Larkinson has made? Surely a Master of her stature would never deliberately engage in deceptive practices. Besides, if you read up on his earlier masterwork certificates, you will realize that he and his partner have managed to create masterwork mechs purely based on their designs.]

[I think the truth is obvious to us now. Mr. Larkinson possesses an excellent talent in craftsmanship. Just look at the Pontifical Lance. Despite his lack of experience with working with superfabs and the short amount of time allotted to him, he has managed to fabricate a high-quality mech based on a flawed and rushed design. No other mech designer in this tournament has been able to equal him, though Mr. Emistes has also shown a respectable amount of skill.]

[Michael Arven Emistes is almost three times older than Ves Larkinson. Many mech designers are able to polish their craftsmanship to this extent with that much time on their hands. Even then, Mr. Larkinson is still able to exceed this older gentleman!]

The controversial discussion continued on for a couple of minutes. The commentators completely forgot about the other tournament participants for a moment as Ves' remarkable record had temporarily stolen the show!

Ves merely smiled as this went on. No matter whether people believed his abilities or not, all of this exposure directed a lot of attention towards him. No matter what else happened in this tournament, he already fulfilled one of his objectives!

The attitudes of the other mech designers around him had changed. Though they were all confident in their own design capabilities, they had to admit they could not even come close to amassing five masterwork certificates, especially at his relatively young age!

Although Ves didn't like to attract unwelcome attention towards him, he also recognized the benefits of fame. He relied on it extensively to open doors and make people listen back in the galactic rim.

Now that he had relocated to the Red Ocean, his fame and notoriety had plummeted to zero. Ves knew he had to start building up his reputation again, but it was much harder to do so when the new frontier attracted so many notable talents!

Fortunately, Ves could at least transfer a few of his older accomplishments over to this new locale. Masterwork certificates were universally recognized due to the prestige of the MTA.

Ves actually wanted to be known for his living mechs, but that was a bit harder to accomplish under the current circumstances. He would take what he could get, and showing off his masterwork certificates was the easiest way to get the mech community to take him seriously.

Ereben Seinlin even took the initiative to approach Ves. The middle-aged mech designer stretched out his hand.

"I did not realize your fabrication accomplishments exceed your design feats."

"It's not that big of a deal. We are mech designers, not factory workers. Your Dominant design is a true masterpiece in my eyes." Ves responded as he reached out with his own arm.

The two briefly shook hands.

"You don't need to be modest, Mr. Larkinson." The centrist said. "My mentor has taught me that the best mech designers cannot go far if they become too detached to the art of making mechs. You are already a few steps ahead of the rest of us and you're still so young. As long as your design ability catches up to my current level, I have no doubt that my Dominant will stand no chance against your exquisite mech."

Ves chuckled. "That's a future matter. Right now, I am still in the process of tempering my design philosophy."

"How did you manage to create so many masterwork certificates?"

"I can't really explain it, Mr. Seinlin. People say that I have a talent for it. I guess this is true. I have always been passionate about the practical side of mechs. This is especially the case when my life and my future depends on how well my mechs are able to defeat the opposition."

Half of what Ves said was nonsense. There was no way that he was willing to share any secrets, particularly those related to Vulcan.

Still, he did not blow Mr. Seinlin off but acted friendly and generous enough to leave a friendly impression.

Not just Seinlin, but many other mech designers on the same spectating platform revised their opinions on this previously-unremarkable mech designer from the galactic rim.

Aware of the attention that he was getting, Ves deliberately ramped up his charm, not hesitating to employ a couple of spiritual tricks to make himself appear more friendly and approachable.

After Seinlin tentatively satisfied his curiosity, he soon returned to his own circle. The man didn't seem interested in deepening his relationship with Ves, but that was fine.

Time passed by until the second round of tournaments had concluded. Ves put his thoughts about making new contacts aside and turned his attention back to maximizing his chances for the third and final round of the fighting phase.

No matter what, Ves had to make sure his Pontifical Lance won the next match and in such an overwhelming fashion that he was guaranteed a high score!

"I still have a chance of getting into the top 3!"

He did not intend to return home without obtaining at least a single combat carrier. Unfortunately, he had to climb over at least 91 other tournament participants in order to complete this goal!

"As long as my Pontifical Lance matches up against the right mech, this can still be done. Not even the centrists can necessarily make it to the top."

Although the six mech designers from the galactic center were the clear favorites this time, even their mechs experienced difficulties in defeating other tough opponents.

For example, when the Dominant managed to defeat the Pontifical Lance, the fact that it sustained severe damage in the match took away a lot of points. Its victory was less convincing than it could have been.

"I can't rely solely on the stumbles of other people. I need to make sure my Pontifical Lance is absolutely able to smash its third opponent."

When Ves reached the backstage, he met with Gregory Haloscar again.

This time, the lancer mech pilot looked a lot more contemplative towards the Pontifical Lance.

"Good job, Gregory."

"Thank you, sir. I truly wished to showcase your work in a better light. Both my mech and I have managed to pull it off this time."

"It's good that you recognize the Pontifical Lance as an equal partner. The mech will respond more readily to you as you deepen your trust in it. For your last match, I hope you can deepen your connection with your mech even further."

"How can I do that? I've already gone as deep as I can in the last match. I can't even imagine how I can go deeper."

Ves smirked… "I have a few ideas."