The Mech Touch

As Ves thought a bit more about the sixth upgrade track that the seemingly generous System proposed to him, he began to harbor doubts about the suitability of this choice.

"You're called the Mech Designer System, not the Strongest Warrior System. Is it truly appropriate for you to propose that I should use you to become an unparalleled fighter? This is the Age of Mechs! No matter how strong I become, there is no point for me to enter the battlefield by myself. Every significant battle is fought with mechs and warships these days!"

He had a creeping suspicion that if he chose this upgrade path, he would forever turn the System away from its original purpose of helping its user become a better mech designer.

As Ves considered himself a mech designer above all else, this sounded like an awful proposition. He would potentially burn his bridges and completely lose access to the functions that initially helped him get up to speed in his mech design career.

"Besides, what is the point of becoming a superstrong fighter? Is this truly a good use of my time?"

If he lived in a galaxy or environment that was far more dangerous and far less civilized than the Red Ocean, then he might seriously consider this upgrade trajectory.

After all, he could achieve almost anything he wanted as long as he was able to guarantee his own life and freedom!

Everything would be moot if someone managed to kill or take him into captivity!

What Ves found the most appealing about the sixth upgrade path was that it strengthened his survival ability in multiple different ways.

No matter whether his next opponent was a spiritual sorcerer or a god mech, the System would find a way for him to equal the playing field!

He could even keep pulling out tricks if he was taken away from his clan and stripped of all of his gear.

However, the fact that this was probably the most useless upgrade track in the current circumstances also weighed heavily on him. The redundant nature of the benefits offered by the sixth upgrade track heavily irked his sensibilities as a mech designer.

This was not the most efficient choice out of the options presented so far! The fact that it mentioned nothing about any direct improvements in his design capabilities was a serious shortcoming!

With so many mechs, bodyguards and other forms of protection at his disposal, Ves did not feel so eager to turn himself into a powerful commando.

"I might not be great in a fight, but I am much deadlier than the vast majority of people in the galaxy."

With excellent gear such as the Amastendira and the Unending Regalia at his disposal, Ves was no slouch on a battlefield!

"With all of the new tech that I have access to, I can build much stronger gear for myself!"

He was already salivating at the opportunity to build a set of transphasic gear that would allow him to deal more effectively with threats that were specific to the Red Ocean.

Given what he could already do if he followed his current course, the sixth upgrade path held much less appeal to him at this point.

He mentally shook his head. "It's a great fantasy, but it's not that practical to me as a mech designer."

What else did the updated version of the Mech Designer System have in store?

After the System was done with trying to lure him into becoming a super soldier, it started to present a different vision this time.

Not much had changed at first. It still showed instances of combat.

The difference was that Ves did not recall participating in any of these battles.

"What the…"

The System showed him images of different living mechs in action. From the Bright Warrior to the Stingripper, each of Ves' iconic works fought dazzlingly against numerous powerful alien or human opponents.

One of the mechs even began to explode with energy, signifying that the mech pilot experienced a breakthrough!

Ves already grew suspicious at this time. The prompt given by the System confirmed his guess about what the next upgrade path was all about!

[Upgrade Track #7: Personal Piloting Cultivation. This upgrade trajectory will help you enable and improve your ability to pilot mechs, including the ones that you have designed yourself. You will immediately restore your genetic aptitude to a degree that allows you to pilot mechs, and you have the option to repair this trait even further at greater cost. You will gain access to new skill sets that will quickly enable you to master the many skills required to operate a mech in combat effectively. In the future, you will gain the choice to upgrade your physical, mental and spiritual qualifications that will allow you to become an effective expert pilot, ace pilot and even god pilot.]

"...I knew it. I just knew you would dangle this tempting offer in front of my face."

If the System presented this option to him a decade ago, he would embrace it without any hesitation.

As of now, the seventh upgrade path was just as tasteless as the one that came before.

"What use is it for me to pilot my own mechs?"

There were lots of strong, powerful and talented mech pilots around him. Venerable Joshua, Venerable Casella and even allies such as Patriarch Reginald were all great at this job already.

How would Ves be able to gain any benefit from trying to chase after their footsteps?

"I'm a mech designer." He reminded himself. "Although there is no rule that states that I shouldn't be able to pilot my own work, I think it is better if I stay in my own lane."

One of the lessons that he had learned early on in his career was that everyone's time and energy was limited.

Ves already anticipated that he would have to go through many twists and turns in order to climb to the top of his current profession.

Becoming a Journeyman Mech Designer was just the start. His first real challenge was to become a Master Mech Designer, but how many people were able to make this leap?

Professor Benedict's tortuous struggle to overcome his final bottleneck showed that not even Ves should underestimate the great difficulty of realizing a design philosophy!

The more drastic and unorthodox the design philosophy, the harder it was to overcome this major challenge!

After that, Ves was not yet finished with his fight. Some mech designers consider the rank of Master to be the true starting point of their careers.

Many Masters dedicated centuries of their lives to advance to Star Designer, but out of many of them, only a minute proportion had succeeded in making this jump!

Ves had set his eyes on Star Designer from the beginning of his career. Reaching the peak of mech design had been his driving goal and purpose for many years.

As for the possibility of becoming a god pilot if he chose the seventh upgrade track?

"Feh. Keep dreaming."

The difficulty of becoming a god pilot was well-known!

Even if Ves received a huge amount of help from the System, he understood that he needed to put in a huge amount of time in practicing his skills and developing the right mentality to go further in this career.

"If I devote half of my time on mech piloting, I will take away half of the time I can spend on progressing my design capabilities!"

In the end, he might end up in a situation where he may be able to reach Master Mech Designer and ace pilot but no more.

Though the rest of the mech community might celebrate the emergence of a single person who occupied both of those ranks at once, Ves knew that stopping short of Star Designer or god pilot would be an enormous regret!

Rather than getting too greedy and trying to chase after both, he would rather stick to his original path and stick to his original goal of advancing to Star Designer.

He took a mental pause in an attempt to purge any lingering interest in becoming a mech pilot. Though he had a feeling that he might be able to excel in this career, he had made his choice of what he wanted to become a long time ago. It would be an enormous waste for him to compromise his original trajectory because he wanted to give in to his juvenile impulses!

"Alright System, do you have anything else in store?"

[Please make your choice.]

"Really? That's it? I thought you would flood me with more than a dozen different options considering that many of them are a bit far out there. Half of what you have presented doesn't seem to be related to mech design at all! What's up with that, by the way? Are you truly certain that you are actually a Mech Designer System?"

[...]

The System ignored his questions as usual. Some things never changed.

Ves felt rather annoyed at this situation. The System had not given any hints that it was preparing to present these choices to him. While he was able to guess that it would not remain the same after taking such a long time to complete its upgrade, the list of possible upgrade tracks far exceeded his expectations!

He would have been able to put much more thought on how he wanted to utilize the System if he was able to think about it for a few years!

"Hmmm…"

None of the upgrade tracks sounded useless or detrimental to him. The System had studied his life quite carefully and formulated several different packages that all granted him better options to exceed the limitations that had hindered him in the past.

Ves also appreciated the fact that the System did not dictate a specific upgrade path but left the choice up to him. It was important that the System still granted him agency on how he utilized its various features.

If the System started to get too pushy, whether it was through controlling the features that it made available or foisting him with specific missions, then Ves would seriously consider who was the actual user in this relationship!

Though Ves had never rid himself of his many suspicions towards the System, right now it was more important for him to make his choice and see what else this tool had in store.

Ves briefly listed out the options that the System had presented to him at this junction.

[Upgrade Track #1: Mental Projection]

[Upgrade Track #2: Mech Pilot Cultivation]

[Upgrade Track #3: Spiritual Ascension]

[Upgrade Track #4: Technological Supremacy]

[Upgrade Track #5: Ultimate Craftsmanship]

[Upgrade Track #6: Unparalleled Combat]

[Upgrade Track #7: Personal Piloting Cultivation]

Though Ves had already picked a lot of faults with many of these options, he did not cross them off his list right away. This was an important point in his life and he did not want to make a decision that he would regret by making a quick but thoughtless selection!

"Each of them have their merits. Each of them are helpful in specific situations. Each of them will change my life in highly specific ways."

It did not escape his notice that the System did not offer him a middle ground option. This deprived him of the option to proceed as normal.

It was as if the System was forcing him to choose a specific direction for him to progress in the future.

"Well, let's get on with this. First, I need to determine which upgrade paths enhance my strengths and which ones shore up my weaknesses."

Mental Projection, Spiritual Ascension, Technological Supremacy and Ultimate Craftsmanship all fell into the first category. They took an aspect that Ves was good at and made it a lot better. Each of them appealed to his professional side in one manner or another.

Mech Pilot Cultivation, Unparalleled Combat and Personal Piloting Cultivation all improved his personal safety and ability to defend himself in different ways. This was one of his most persistent concerns and it told him a lot that the System focused so extensively on this part of himself.

Before he made a specific selection, he needed to answer an important question.

"Should I use the System to amplify my strengths or compensate for my weaknesses?"

He could come up with plenty of excellent arguments to support either of these approaches!