The Mech Touch

The development of design spirit channeling and the emergence of blessed weapons had the potential to power up all of the high-end expert mechs of the Larkinson Clan.

The massive changes would alter a lot of plans and force numerous people to adjust to the new developments.

After a bit of thought, Ves decided to take it step by step and invite Gloriana and Ketis to his lab to share his latest results and obtain their feedback.

Both women had already been working on their own design projects when Ves called them over, so they both wore pristine white lab coats as they entered his workplace.

"So what new toy have you made that warrants our attention?" His wife asked as she came close and stared down at the work table where Ves had placed a few objects. "Is this what you wanted to show to us? They aren't different from any other transphasic products aside from the fact that they are alive."

Ketis stepped forward and briefly swept her gaze over all of the gear before settling her attention on the basic sword that Ves had made.

Her face scrunched in disapproval as she picked up the weapon and swung it around a few times. The edge produced sharp slicing sounds.

"You should have called me over sooner if you wanted to make a sword. This sword is too crude and its balance is off. I don't even know why you still bother to design and make it yourself when my services are available."

Ves twitched his mouth. "This isn't a serious end product, Ketis. It's just a test object that I have cobbled together in order to demonstrate my latest advancement. Before I explain any further, can you tell what is special about this sword and the other gadgets that I have made?"

Both his wife and his former student accepted his challenge and began to examine the test objects with utmost attention.

Ketis continued to observe and probe the sword that she had picked up while Gloriana opted to study the luminar crystal pistol that Ves initially made.

It was difficult for them to ascertain any obvious changes at first. Neither of them possessed a strong affinity towards life and their spiritual perception wasn't as good as his. Combined with the fact that they didn't really know what they should be looking for, it did not surprise Ves that they failed to come up with an answer.

That soon began to change when Ketis gave up relying on her own senses and called up her companion spirit.

"Sharpie, come here and familiarize yourself with this sword."

A miniature version of Ketis flew out of the floating greatsword that followed the swordmaster around.

"Sharp! Sharp!"

Sharpie's tiny form floated around the mystery sword for a moment before diving forward so that she could take residence inside the weapon.

The blessed sword began to glow with power as Sharpie spread out her energy and explored every nook and cranny.

It did not take long for Ketis to notice the differences. Her expression became more inquisitive as she gathered a few clues that showed how this sword differed from other comparable weapons.

"Interesting." She finally spoke. "This sword has too many shortcomings in my opinion, but it bears an undeniable charm that is typical of your style. This is exactly what a mech designer like you would have come up with. You just can't let go of your dependence on relying on external sources of power to improve the performance of your works."

As Ketis shared her opinion, Gloriana used the same trick and called up Alexandria to study the luminar crystal pistol on a deeper level.

The red companion spirit soon fed her with the necessary information.

"Oh. I understand now as well. You found a way to increase the connection between one of your design spirits and the products that you have made, isn't that right, Ves?"

Ves nodded in confirmation. "That's right. Would the two of you like to give them a try? I can guarantee you that you will be astounded by their performance."

Neither of the two women adopted a skeptical attitude towards his claims. Ves may be a little crazy and ridiculous at times, but he had a long history of making real gains.

"Let me go first." Ketis impatiently said. "Do you have a practice target for me to test this blade?"

Ves already anticipated her request. "Sure. I've already called up ten of them that you can destroy at your leisure."

"Good!"

She moved over the the testing area where a number of humanoid bots were ready to do their jobs.

The bots all wielded swords themselves. Together with the extensive combat programming that Ves had downloaded into their memory banks, they could give any soldier a considerable challenge.

Of course, Ves did not expect that any of them would be able to last more than a second in front of Ketis.

Aware of this discrepancy in power, Ketis pulled Sharpie from the experimental sword and began to show a lot of restraint when sparring against the practice bots.

So far, nothing special happened.

"This isn't enough." Ves told Ketis. "You need to reach out and communicate with the weapon in order to draw out the power of its design spirit. Try your best to request the Phase King to enhance your attacks."

"I will try."

Half a minute passed by before Ketis finally succeeded in activating her blessed weapon.

Her arm swung the one-handed sword to perform another casual slash that the practice bot should easily be able to block, but this time the move produced a different result!

"Ah!"

A bright flash of light exploded from the sword as the Phase King's powerful presence seemed to descend upon it for a moment!

Though Ketis managed to uncover the true ability of the sword, she did not expect the explosion of might that this simple-looking weapon had unleashed!

Much to the surprise of the two women, the sword slash whipped out an exaggeratingly large and imposing spatial blade that not only cut cleanly through the practice bot, but also continued to slice forward and cut up the next three practice bots that Ves deliberately placed behind!

The bottom part of the spatial blade even struck the deck below and cut up to half a meter through the reinforced alloy before running out of steam!

"..."

"..."

Neither Ketis nor Gloriana had anything to say at the moment. They were too astonished with the might the sword just unleashed.

"Ketis?"

"Yes, Gloriana?"

"Did you employ a special sword style or technique that released that energy manifestation?"

"No." The youngest mech designer in the compartment shook her head as she carefully brought the sword blade closer to her face. "I did not. I only swung the weapon in in the same way as an ordinary person. It doesn't matter whether I'm a swordmaster or not. If my theories are correct, then even a child can unleash that attack!"

Ves grinned as Ketis correctly deduced the characteristics of his latest invention. What she had just described was the greatest advantage of blessed weapons!

Unlike ordinary swords that needed to be wielded by a swordmaster in order to display extraordinary power, a blessed weapon could produce exceptionally powerful attacks without imposing any cumbersome requirements on the wielder!

This was a revolution in a society where expert pilots and other spiritually activated individuals possessed a monopoly on extraordinary combat power!

If his hunch was correct, then this might be the first time that ordinary mech pilots might be able to exert power comparable to that of expert pilots with the help of his new invention!

In order to hammer home this point, Ves stepped forward and stretched out his hand. "Please give me the sword."

Ketis promptly passed over the weapon.

Though Ves was not a trained swordsman, he still knew a thing or two on how to wield them. His prior Mastery experiences along with all of the time he spent with Ketis and the Swordmaidens at least prevented him from embarrassing himself.

He adopted a standard sword stance and performed a simple slash.

At the same time, he reached out and communicated with the blessed weapon.

The Phase King's silhouette briefly became visible shortly before the sword produced a sharp spatial blade that was just as large and lethal as the last one that appeared!

Though Ves hadn't aimed the spatial blade at anything, neither Ketis nor Gloriana could deny the power of this powerful energy manifestation.

Ketis became especially impacted by this dramatic display.

"If even a non-combatant like you can produce an attack of this magnitude… then is there still a place for swordmasters?" She asked in a heavy tone.

The implications of this new creation were so severe that Ketis already began to worry about the future of traditional swordsmanship!

While Ketis fell into turmoil, Gloriana eagerly wanted to give this a try as well.

The only problem was that she didn't trust the weapon in her hand. Who knew whether the small and flimsy luminar crystal pistol would explode because it was unable to contain the massive power it was able to produce.

If the magnitude was anything comparable to the spatial blades that appeared a moment ago, then an accident would most certainly mutilate Gloriana at the very least and tear her body to shreds at worst!

She looked around and gestured at one of the intact practice bots.

"Can a bot or any other inanimate source unleash an attack of this power?"

"Ah, no." Ves shook his head. "These are weapons that I have expressly designed to work with humans. The wielders need to communicate with the living weapons and respectfully plead for the Phase King to extend his power. He is the source of the powerful attacks that you have just witnessed. There is no way to tell him when and how he should apply his strength if you can't effectively communicate with him. This is why these weapons can't do anything when held by unthinking bots."

In truth, the matter was a lot more complicated than he described. If he truly wanted to, Ves might be able to develop a version of a blessed weapon that could be fired without the direct involvement of a human.

This may be useful in cases where he might want to enhance the power of a warship weapon for example.

The main cannon of a battleship was already stupendously powerful. How much more damage could it do if it was blessed by the Phase King?

Of course, Ves would never voice such a possibility to anyone!

"Give me the gun if you don't trust my work." Ves said and extended his other hand. "I will show you what it can do in the hands of a mech designer."

Gloriana instantly passed on the luminar crystal pistol as if it was a plague rat.

Ves inspected the weapon for a moment before he lifted it up and pulled the trigger.

Just like before, the weapon radiated a lot of power before unleashing a bitingly sharp laser beam that struck the solid metal barrier on the other side!

"How deep did it go?" Gloriana carefully asked.

"Over three meters I think. The exact power varies a bit because of differences in the way that Phase King applies his power and techniques. He is still not used to all of this so you should expect the damage output of these weapons to be a bit inconsistent."

This was hardly important compared to the results of this little demonstration session.

It was already impressive for a sword to be able to imitate the attack of a powerful swordmaster by itself.

If Ves was able to implement the same tech on a ranged weapon, then that showed that he had the potential to revolutionize the offensive power of all of their mechs!

However, Ves wasn't finished yet. He put away the sword and the pistol and picked up a simple round shield.

"The Phase King can do more than empower attacks. He is also good at leveraging his spatial manipulation abilities to enhance the defense of a transphasic object."

"Your innovation can boost defense as well?"

Ves grinned. "There is nothing that prevents me from assuming that my new design application can be used to amplify the speed of a mech. Anything the Phase King can do, our mechs can do as well. That is the true goal that I am striving for! Our design spirits are no longer mascots anymore. They can provide serious help to us in the battles to come!"