The Mech Touch



Master Horst eventually dismissed Ves from the teaching office.

The reason why they hold any further substantive talks was because the old man became disgusted at how little Ves understood about heavy artillery mechs!

While this did not sound pleasant, it was the truth. Master Horst did not begrudge a young Journeyman with a special life experience for possessing too little depth in a highly specialized military mech type. He just refused to work any further with a kid who did not have a clear idea on what he was talking about.

As Ves departed from the teaching building, he continued to remain in thought as he wandered through the green and lively campus of ZUTA University.

His talk with Master Horst exposed more inadequacies and gaps in knowledge that his current Skills and Sub-Skills did not cover.

Much of the knowledge that he obtained through the Mech Designer System largely centered around increasing his competence in the science of mech design.

There was not that much content about the art of this discipline because it was too personal and associated with one's own style.

This was also why experience played a large role in the development of a mech designer.

By practicing their craft rather than reading about it in a book, a mech designer exercised his creativity and made decisions that eventually resulted in a unique mech design that was different from the works of other professionals.

Though Ves already possessed a distinct design style that was strongly aligned with his own strengths and advantages, his broad mech catalog had left him unable to delve too deep in a specific category of mechs.

Perhaps that might not be a big deal as he could lean on the help of other specialized mech designers to make up for his shortcomings, but this was clearly not the right approach for his current commissions.

He was no longer dealing with a bunch of religious fanatics who automatically turned off their brains whenever the Superior Mother became involved.

He was dealing with a bunch of rational actors who wanted to obtain the best mech models that they could obtain from Ves.

Ves truly hadn't been taking these mech design commissions that seriously until now. His enlightening discussion with Master Decimus Horst not only gave him a deeper understanding of what he was lacking in, but also pointed out a clear direction on what he needed to do to quickly make up for his shortfalls.

"It's good that I don't have to start with this commission right away." Ves murmured to himself. "I can't design my mechs as casually as before. If I want to become a better mech designer, I need to hold myself to a higher standard."

He felt more than ever that his days as a Journeyman may be behind him. Twilight settled behind his back while a new dawn awaited before his eyes.

The differences in mentality between a Journeyman and a Senior were massive.

The former was like a playful adolescent that did not hesitate to run around and explore everything they fancied.

The latter had matured to the point where a mech designer had a solid idea on how to go forward and needed to work hard to develop their own groundbreaking work.

Although Ves had yet to gain a solid idea on the heavy artillery mech that he wanted to design for Davute, he wanted to make sure that its value exceeded that of the Hexer mechs that he supplied to the Hex Army!

"That is going to be difficult." He frowned.

He knew quite well that he essentially cheated the Hexers into embracing his work by exploiting their superstitious beliefs. It was so easy for a mech designer with a specialty like his to hoodwink all kinds of religious people.

From the Ylvainans to the Vulcanites, Ves realized that all of the works that made the strongest impact on people all happened to be targeted towards religious nuts!

Was this what Ves wanted to do for the remainder of his career?

"Hell no! I am not going to cater to a bunch of crazies all my life!"

He would much rather become a respectable mech designer who catered to the masses and received the appreciation of customers who didn't pray in front of their altars multiple times a day like a certain wife!

Ves regarded his current commission as a challenge. He had no affection for Davute, but he wanted the state to succeed and win its upcoming war against Karlach.

"No, that's not entirely right. I want Davute to win mainly off the back of my own work!"

He not only wanted to match his contributions to the ill-fated Hexadric Hegemony, but he wanted to surpass his old accomplishments!

After all, for all of his efforts into supplying the Hex Army with a selection of unique and well-received Hexer mech designs, the damn female supremacists ultimately lost the Komodo War!

"That won't happen this time!"

Ves regarded this challenge as a matter of pride. He did not want to become associated with defeat yet again.

He also didn't want to strengthen his notoriety relating to how states tended to blow up as death and destruction always started to ignite whenever he was around.

"It's not even my fault! Well, mostly…"

He frowned a bit as he raised his fingers one by one in order to count the states that had become adversely affected while he paid them a visit.

"The Bright Republic, the Vesia Kingdom, the Ylvaine Protectorate, the Friday Coalition, the Sentinel Kingdom, the Life Research Association, the Vulcan Empire, the Colonial Federation of Davute… does the Nyxian Gap count?"

That was quite a list of states, but Ves did not take it too seriously. Master Mech Designers who sold billions of mechs must have affected a lot more people across many more states over their lifetimes.

Even so, Ves still stood out as a Journeyman in this regard. If he wanted to shed his reputation for bringing calamity and slaughter to many of the states he visited, then he needed to work even harder and ensure that Davute conclusively benefited from his presence!

Of course, the more he helped Davute, the more he harmed Karlach, but he didn't really care about that. He never visited the latter and did not get foisted with any expectation of helping the rival state.

He even had a personal grudge against Karlach. The surprise attack during the founding ceremony had put Ves and his clansmen at risk! There was no way he retained any sympathy for the people of this rival colonial state!

After spending enough time on enjoying the scenery, Ves left the campus of ZUTA University and shuttled back to the Cat Nest.

Once he returned to familiar ground, he resumed his routine. Whenever he was on a work shift, he spent all of his time on bringing the Dullahan Project and the Ghost Project closer to completion.

Outside of that, he spent time with his family and made sure that his children still had an active father in their lives.

It was during these more idle moments that Ves could allocate his spare attention on preparing for his first commission with Davute.

Ves obtained a list of recommended reading from Master Horst. This prompted him to purchase a bunch of virtual textbooks and transfer them to his cranial implant so that a part of his mind could read through them one by one even as he played with his kids.

The textbooks were all thick and packed with content. Even if the level of knowledge was rather low, it helped Ves with breaking down his flawed and mistaken assumptions about heavy artillery mechs and put a proper foundation into place.

It was as if he was replacing a lot of self-taught nonsense with more systematic learning!

"Master Horst chose well."

The textbooks precisely fit his own needs, as each of them were written with complete self-study in mind. Ves did not feel the need to call Master Horst and ask questions a single time.

Of course, he would disgrace himself as a Journeyman if he ever had to ask for clarification from a Master Mech Designer on a subject that even Apprentices should be able to understand!

Once Ves read through all of the virtual textbooks in a remarkable amount of time, he did not set out to absorb any new knowledge.

He needed to take a moment to stop and internalize everything he had learned to the best of his ability.

His understanding of heavy artillery mechs had undergone a major shift!

He no longer regarded them as the big brothers of rifleman mechs, but fully recognized that they served a unique role that could not be approximated by any other mech type!

Heavy artillery served a separate purpose and needed to be treated that way. There was no other mech archetype that embodied the concept of maximum firepower more than heavy artillery mechs!

"Long range. High volume of fire. Area damage. Indirect fire. Abundant capacity. These are the traits that define many heavy artillery mechs."

Whether it was shattering starships or breaking down strongholds on land, heavy artillery mechs excelled in several methods of destruction that only they knew how to do well!

As Ves gained a better theoretical understanding of heavy artillery mechs, he also began to rethink the art of designing this special mech type.

Whenever Ves looked at the design of the Transcendent Punisher, he winced several times as he spotted numerous glaring mistakes that he would have never made if he actually possessed a proper understanding of heavy artillery mechs!

That was not to say that his Transcendent Punisher model was awful or completely inadequate. It was the opposite. Its combination of traits still made it stronger and more effective than a more generic heavy artillery mech model.

What Ves lamented instead was how he made a number of awful design choices that ultimately buried the potential of the first heavy artillery mech that he designed for his clan.

If he had designed his Transcendent Punisher a lot better, it would have easily performed 10 percent more effectively on the battlefield than normal.

This was enough of a difference to swing many battles in the favor of the Larkinson Clan a lot sooner!

Hundreds if not thousands of valuable lives could have been saved if the Transcendent Punisher could have killed enemy mechs or breach the defenses of enemy starships a bit sooner!

"I can't make the same mistakes again." Ves grumbled.

He wasn't entirely sure what sort of heavy artillery mech he wanted to design now that he refreshed his understanding of this mech type, but he already formed a couple of new ideas.

"This is not enough." Ves shook his head.

He didn't feel confident yet about his recent gains to return to ZUTA University and talk seriously about their upcoming collaboration.

Master Horst recommended him to visit the Warborn to study the Davutan heavy artillery mechs in use. Ves should also interview the mech pilots on their individual views and experiences so that he could understand the demands and difficulties of the likely users of his future product.

Ves briefly thought about making another shuttle trip before he shook his head.

"I don't have the time to go on another tour. I have a faster way to get what I need."

He waited until he was done for the day. Once he returned to his Royal Mansion during the evening, he moved the bathroom in order to get away from his wife and sat down on the toilet seat bowl before he activated a mental command.

His luxurious high-tech bathroom environment instantly made way for a bright and mist-filled mountain-top environment!

Ves grinned as he became mentally refreshed after entering the System Space for the first time in weeks.

He had a single goal in mind today.

"Let's see what it is truly like to pilot a heavy artillery mech."