The Mech Touch



What Ves managed to do was both strenuous but also incredibly rewarding.

By forcibly using his glow to spread his inner self, he had the illusion that he had become a god of his own workshop.

His design philosophy became more dominant in many different aspects.

The materials that were waiting to be processed became infused with life in advance. This primed them for the transformations to come, and allowed them to become a slightly more effective carrier of life than if they remained inert!

The parts that everyone made become alive and coherent. The differences between the output of Ves and the others diminished because the latter were able to borrow Ves' design philosophy to a significantly greater extent than before!

It also became easier for Miles and Cormaunt to borrow Ves' skills and insights on mechs. They were able to perform their work a lot more competently as the powerful glow combined with the design network allowed them to comprehend more advanced theories and improve their fabrication skills at a rapid pace!

Even if they ended up ruining the Ghost Project, the benefits that these two less experienced Journeymen harvested this time were already massive!

All of this and more had only become possible once Ves unfolded his glow and increased its power to an unsustainable degree!

Even he did not fully understand what he was doing! His comprehension of glows was not high and he was not capable of tracking all of the differences that could be attributed to his latest move!

This was the first time that Ves leveraged his power as a demigod as well as a mech designer.

All of his weird experiences that made him stronger and allowed him to obtain advantages that were out of reach for every mech designer at his stage finally culminated in an exceptional new ability!

The glow that previously seemed useless in the past finally started to show its value!

As a human 'design spirit', Ves should have known that he was not as weak in this capacity as he thought in the past.

The only possible application for his anomalous identity that he previously figured out was to use it as a channel to allow him to descend onto the Everchanger.

This could enable him to tweak the designs of mechs in the field without exposing his real self to the dangers of the battlefield.

Still, as handy as this sounded, Ves much preferred to strengthen and empower his mechs before a fight commenced. It was in his nature as a mech designer to do all of the necessary work in the design lab or the workshop rather than the battlefield!

Ves became euphoric when he confirmed that his glow could enhance his work.

Even when he was by himself, his glow could assist him by radiating his workplace, the instruments and the materials around him with his core attributes.

Perhaps a more detail-oriented mech designer might go crazy due to inducing all kinds of unpredictable and unplanned changes to his work environment, but Ves especially embraced the new possibilities!

The chaos around him caused him to recognize all kinds of new possibilities, many of which were rather small and inconsequential, but could make significant difference when added up over the course of a fabrication run!

"Designing and fabricating living mechs has become easier than ever!"

The reactions from his collaborators to his glow varied.

Gloriana received the least benefit on account of her high familiarity with his work. His intrusive glow actually interfered with her own efforts, especially when it comes to maximizing the quality of her output.

This was why she reduced her exposure to his own design philosophy. She was confident enough in her own work that she thought that she did not need so much handholding from her husband.

Still, his latest move still helped her fabricate significantly better transphasic parts. This was because she could borrow Ves' much greater affinity and instinctual understanding of phasewater!

This was a huge extra benefit that was mostly derived from the fact that Ves also happened to be a phase lord!

Not even Master Benedict despised this boost!

As a Master Mech Designer, his learning ability was not comparable to the younger generations.

Even if his work was less reliant on phasewater than other mech designers, Benedict still devoted a lot of study sessions to quickly mastering the uses of this key substance.

Yet for all of his book learning, his exposure to phasewater was still too short.

Through the glow radiated by Ves, Master Benedict discovered that he was able to pierce through an invisible barrier and understand hidden truths about phasewater that eluded him in the past!

It was as if he was an indigenous alien scientist who worked with phasewater for much of his life!

As a full day went by, everyone's approach towards their work changed drastically.

The design network enabled everyone to adapt to the changing circumstances without requiring the mech designers to stop and hold a meeting.

Ves continued to burn a copious amount of spiritual energy in order to fuel his glow.

Blinky's powerful energy digestion ability allowed Ves to have no concerns about running out of energy! The Superior Mother could easily meet his needs on account of the humongous spiritual feedback she harvested from the Hexer on a daily basis!

It did not matter if the Superior Mother eventually reached a limit for whatever reason. Blinky could simply switch to absorbing the energies supplied by other 'wealthy' design spirits such as Lufa or the Solemn Guardian!

The real limitation was Ves himself. He was never meant to amplify his glow like this on a long-term basis.

Though his mental resilience enabled him to keep up this state for a few days, his work would increasingly suffer as his concentration deteriorated over time.

Still, the effects were more than worth the increasingly severe headache and side effects!

The way he looked at his workshop had changed now that he had inundated it with his glow for many hours.

He increasingly began to treat it as his own little 'kingdom'.

It was nowhere near as tough and dangerous as a Saint Kingdom.

It was also not as versatile and useful to mech designers as the Kingdom of Mechs.

However, so long his glow continued to affect the environment, his workshop turned into a blessed land for living mech fabrication!

The results became much more evident once the mech designers completed the fabrication phase.

All of the parts radiated with so much more life.

Ves grinned when he concluded that they surpassed the parts of the Dullahan Project in quantity as well as quality!

Now that the assembly stage had begun, his glow had less dramatic effects on the processes, but still made a noticeable difference.

The way that everyone put together the parts became more harmonious. The design network already helped a lot with making this happen, but his glow enabled everyone to build up the Ghost Project in a manner that maximized its living properties!

Ves no longer treated his fellow collaborators as separate individuals who brought their own design philosophies to the table.

Instead, he started to see them as temporary extensions of himself!

By allowing themselves to get influenced by his glow, Gloriana and the others slowly incorporated his own interpretation of mechs in their work approaches!

This resulted in much more synergies and happy accidents, each of which elevated the quality of the Ghost Project in their own little ways.

Not even the most challenging steps of the fabrication run stumped Ves any longer.

He and Cormaunt carefully assembled the Geist System with the high-quality parts that they had fabricated with loving care.

Once the system became complete, Ves took exceeding care in integrating it into the internals of the expert stealth mech.

By connecting this powerful system to the expert mech in just the right manner, he ensured that the Ghost Project would be able to exert stronger control over the Geist System!

By the time the Ghost Project neared completion, Ves called over Zimro Belson and gestured at the slim but exceptionally dangerous machine.

"What do you think?"

"This has been… an unforgettable experience to me." Zimro humbly said. "I never imagined that mech design was so impressive and that my expert mech contains so much power. The way you look at mechs and work with them is truly beyond my comprehension."

Ves smiled. "I have exposed you to my glow for several days now. Your nature as an expert pilot makes it difficult for you to get affected by it, but you should still understand the principles of living mechs a bit better if I am correct."

"I am not qualified to judge whether that is the case, sir."

"No matter." Ves dismissively waved his hand. "While my colleagues and I have built up your expert mech, I couldn't help but notice how much you have opened yourself up to me. Even if Calabast instigated you down this path, I appreciate your willingness to dedicate yourself to me and me alone. You are probably the second expert pilot after Venerable Joshua that is willing to do the same."

"I am not identical to Joshua." Zimro softly replied. "He is an expert pilot that can better compliment your work. He is also an upright and honorable champion that is best at fighting your enemies on an open battlefield. I… can serve you in a different capacity. The Ghost Project and I can complete the missions that Joshua and the Everchanger can never pull off, either due to technical or moral constraints."

Ves looked intrigued. "I get what you are saying. In any case, I accept your service. I don't think I have an immediate use for you yet, but that might change in the future. For now, I want you to cooperate with me on a little experiment. I just received a bit of inspiration as I worked on this expert mech. I am not certain that it will work, but I am confident in my idea."

To his credit, Zimro expressed no doubt. He assented right away!

"I am at your disposal."

"Then come."

The two of them lifted off the floor and floated closer to the Ghost Project until they reached its upper torso.

"Can you feel how much life this expert mech contains?"

"I… do."

"Extend your willpower and feel how attuned you are to your expert mech. Do you feel how eager your new partner is to work together with you?" Ves asked with a smile.

"I do."

"That is not quite correct. Let's descend a bit. Try and extend your senses deeper into the machine. Can you feel the difference?"

Venerable Zimro slowly frowned. "There are foreign elements inside my machine that repulse my influence. I already recognize one of them from Object 335."

"That is the Geist System. The biggest flaw of your expert mech is that its performance is dependent on the cooperation of the living entities attached to this unconventional feature. If you want to leverage it more effectively, then you must increase your control over this important system."

"How can I do that, sir?"

"With blood." Ves grinned. "It won't be as effective as the Carmine System, but as long as you spill it with a drop of your blood, I can do the rest. The mech is already primed and ready."

Though Zimro felt reluctant, he did not want to go back on his pledge. He used a small knife to cut his own finger and spill a few drops onto the exterior of the Ghost System.

Normally, the coating should have caused the blood to slide away, the red liquid somehow remained in place.

Ves fell silent as he began to utilize his own abilities to inject a portion of the power hidden in Zimro's blood to a specific element of the Geist System.

Nothing seemed to happen for a couple of minutes, but once Ves forged the most crucial connection, the expert pilot floating by his side suddenly experienced a burst of pain!

"Ah! What is happening, sir?!"

"Don't resist! Open yourself up and lower your defenses! No matter how uncomfortable you feel, you must not resist!"

"Ahhh!"

The weirdest part about Zimro's outburst was that it wasn't his voice that was shouting in pain alone.

"Muw!"

The head of a black cat emerged from his head and yowled in pain as well!

This was his companion spirit Xavier!

However, the spiritual cat was not the source of his distress this time.

A third and much more ominous voice escaped from his throat at the same time!

A flicker of darkness briefly overlapped with the expert pilot's body!

These frightening flickers became more and more frequent as Zimro continued to accept the changes without offering any excessive resistance.

Ves grinned at the sight.

What happened was not an accident.

Mephisto, who normally lurked in the Geist System, had suddenly forged a bond with Venerable Zimro!

With the power of Zimro's blood acting as a connecting medium as well as a catalyst, the expert pilot gained the ability to channel the leading fiend lurking within the Ghost Project!

Although the side effects were probably great, the benefits should be substantial!

Ves predicted that Zimro would be able to empower and exert more direct control over Mephisto.

The expert pilot might also be able to host Mephisto in his own body while he was away from the Ghost Project.

If the Ghost Project ever suffered an accident, then Mephisto could still be preserved as long as Zimro survived!

This was just a handful of all of the possible benefits.

Still, the main point of all of this was that Venerable Zimro shared more in common with the Ghost Project now. The two should definitely be able to cooperate with each other more effectively now that Mephisto acted as a bridge!

Now that Zimro became indisposed as he tried to adapt to his new connection with Mephisto, Ves turned back to his expert mech that had somehow become more exquisite in his eyes.

"It is time to bring you to completion."

He had already figured out an important theory as he channeled his powerful glow for so long.

It was a theory that he intended to exploit to the fullest!

"It's a pity that I did not make this realization when I was working on the Dullahan Project, but you shall definitely harvest a great benefit!"