The Mech Touch

After Ves praised his daughter, Andraste merrily skipped away so that she could take a shower and change into a different outfit.

The father watched the girl go with a decidedly mixed expression.

"It is impressive to see how much her marksmanship has improved." Ves spoke. "She has only been at it for less than a year, correct?"

Saintess Ulrika Vraken nodded. "I have never taught marksmanship to a child this young. I cannot say whether any young girl under 10 can become as effective in combat as her, but my intuition indicates that not even her Terran peers can keep up with her rate of improvement. If she can develop the aptitude to pilot a mech, then I can easily imagine her becoming a terror on the battlefield, and that is without taking account of the fact that she has earned Helena's favor."

All of this sounded too good. Many parents would be filled with pride if one of their children demonstrated so much skill and talent for combat at a young age.

Of course, it was absolutely luxurious for Andraste to receive the personal tutelage of both a swordmaster and an ace pilot who specialized in ranged combat.

Not every child could improve so quickly under the same circumstances. The fact that Andraste managed to absorb much of their teachings and internalized them much faster than anyone could imagine signaled that she had a bright future as a soldier or a mech pilot!

The Age of Mechs may have come to an end in the Red Ocean, but mechs still occupied the mainstream in current society.

A part of Ves wished his daughter would be able to pursue the career that eluded him. Seeing his daughter succeed as a mech pilot would do much to make up for past regrets.

"It would be nice if she ends up developing a high enough genetic aptitude, but the odds are still too fickle to be certain." Ves sighed.

The Hexer ace pilot nodded. She was one of the many hopeful people who lucked out in this regard. She knew a lot of other Hexers who had been forced to abandon their dreams of pursuing a glorious piloting career.

"It is not wise to place too much hope on a child. Andraste has developed so many expectations that she will crash harder than any other girl if she fails to obtain the qualifications to become a mech pilot."

Ves grimly nodded. While this was not strictly an insurmountable problem anymore, it would still be devastating if his girl could not follow in the footsteps of her new idols.

Just like any other child, Andraste had become enthralled by god pilots ever since she watched the broadcasts.

She had made it her life's mission to become as powerful as those impressive god pilots one day!

However, in order to do so, she first had to pass the first major test of her life. It would become much harder for her to fulfill her ambition without the support of the right genetic aptitude.

Saintess Ulrika directed a pointed stare at Ves.

"I have noticed a gradual shift in mentality from your daughter. It started a few months ago. Is your daughter engaging in meditation?"

"Sort of." Ves replied. "I am not sure how much you know about this, but there are ways for the human mind to leverage the E energy around us. It is much easier to do this if you have a companion spirit, but you can do this without one if you work really hard. I promised to give my girl a meditation method of sorts that will hopefully improve her chances of developing the right genetic aptitude."

„ I,

The Hexer ace pilot grew speechless for a moment.

"If I am being frank with you, that sounds... impossible. However, you are the Supreme Son. You are known for producing miracles. Since you are dealing with your own daughter, I assume that you understand the potential risks and dangers. A child as young as Andraste shouldn't be meditating at all in my opinion."

"It is not as dangerous as it sounds." Ves explained. "I have developed multiple different methods, and the one that I have formulated for my own daughter is relatively simple. It is nothing more than a way to direct her wishful thinking in a more focused manner. Combined with the instruction that she should practice it in proximity to a mech, the worst that could happen is to reinforce her current obsession."

He had promised to give his daughter a way that could increase her chances of becoming a potentate. He fulfilled her request, but did not put anything fancy in her mediation method.

From what she learned from her mother, cultivation was a process of active self-evolution by absorbing energy and directing it to make focused changes in alignment with an artistic conception.

The more basic methods were mostly harmless, but produced relatively weak results. So long as Ves did not add any excessive or convoluted steps in the method. He only added that part about spending time with mechs in order to reinforce Andraste's self-delusion.

Ves was actually a bit hopeful about this meditation method. Its effects were bound to be weak, but he guessed that even a slight effect would produce an actual result.

If ordinary children thoughtlessly practiced the same method, they were unlikely to produce any noticeable changes, but his daughter was different!

Her active spirituality, her partial primordial human physique along with her companion spirit all gave her the ability to actively shape her interaction with E energy radiation!

Even if she was a little weaker, she was still connected to the Larkinson Network. If she really wanted to, she could borrow a bit of strength from Goldie.

The same applied for Helena. The Daughter of Death would never mistreat her niece and would certainly step in if Andraste inadvertently put herself into danger.

All of these favorable conditions gave Ves a bit more hope that his daughter would have her wish come true during her tenth birthday.

Nothing was certain, however. Ves did not dare to assume that his daughter was destined to become a talented mech pilot.

Ves and Saintess Ulrika spoke a bit more about Andraste's rapid training progress.

"The degree of skill and control that your daughter has demonstrated at her age are all signs that she has the potential to become an excellent mech pilot." Ulrika did not hesitate to praise Andraste yet again. "Even if her genetic aptitude ends up mediocre, she can still rely on her talent and learning ability to thoroughly master her fundamental fighting operations. So long as she is able to transcend her mortality, she can surpass any deficiencies relating to her genetic aptitude."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence."

"If her genetic aptitude is qualified but not high enough, you may consider starting her off with second-class mechs." Ulrika advised. "There is nothing wrong with second-class mechs. The Destroyer of Worlds even went on to become a god pilot despite her humble background. It may be more comfortable for your daughter to grow up without needing to compete with the monsters who are capable of piloting first-class multipurpose mechs. The demands that first-class states impose on them are too excessive in my opinion."

She made a good point. Though Ves wanted to provide her daughter with the best possible education, first-class mech academies only paid attention to the rare talents with A and B-grade genetic aptitudes.

Any potentates that scored lower than that never gained access to the best learning environment. Their teachers were worse, the training facilities were cheaper and their classmates weren't brilliant either.

Ves shook his head. He was worrying way too much about stuff that might never become relevant. He needed to rein in his concerns about Andraste's future and just wait until she grew a few years older.

Ves and the ace pilot continued to wander around the challenge course as they finally moved on and talked about other topics.

"Our Design Department is almost about to complete our remaining ongoing mech design projects." He explained to her. "We have made a lot of advancements and mastered a lot of new tech. While I am obligated to design a lot of other mechs after this, I should have enough time to upgrade your ace mech. I have not seriously worked on your Macharia Excelsia, but I have been thinking about what I want to do with it for many months."

That finally made Saintess Ulrika smile. One of the reasons why she agreed to accompany Ves to New Constantinople and tutor his daughter was to transform her lifeless ace mech into a living mech!

"The Master Mech Designers of the Hex Federation have already designed a technical update for my ace mech." The powerful woman stated.

"I know. I have already corresponded with the designers of your ace mech. My work won't conflict with theirs. I will do what it takes to turn your ace mech into a living mech, with all of the benefits that come with it. I will also apply limited physical upgrades with the support of your machine's original design team. In particular, I want to replace your old Hexfire rifle with an extremely powerful fourth generation luminar crystal weapon. Once I am done, you can bring your half-upgraded ace mech back to the Hex Federation where the Masters over there can finish the job."

This suited both sides just fine. Ves would be able to put his mark on the ace mech without excessively encroaching on the territory of its other mech designers. He would also save himself a lot of time on upgrading the remainder of the powerful machine.

Although it was an incredible privilege to work on an ace mech that was one step closer to a god mech than other machines, Ves knew his limits.

He may have gained the qualifications to design an expert mech by himself, but he needed to become a Master Mech Designer before he could confidently take charge in the design of an ace mech!

Besides, the Macharia Excelsia was never his work to begin with, so it would be a lot harder for him to make deep structural changes because he did not fully understand how it worked.

It would be a lot easier for Ves and Gloriana to upgrade the Jupiter Project into an ace mech because of how much they invested in its original design.

"Can you provide me with a description of the direction of your upgrade plan?"

"Why certainly." Ves grinned. "I have been entertaining a lot of ideas ever since we were all able to witness Operation Night Jazz as it unfolded. Being able to see those eight cutting-edge god mechs display their individual strengths is a priceless opportunity for any mech designer. Ever since I watched the likes of the Geneforger and the Heartpiercer display their unparalleled technological progress as well as their fantastic synergies with their god pilots, I have been thinking on how to replicate a part of their impressive power in a lesser form."

His words caught the Saintess off-guard.

"Are you claiming that you can bestow my ace mech with the power of a god mech? That is impossible! I am aware that you have a track record for producing miracles, but what makes a god mech is not just its tech, but also the willpower of a god. While I am confident in my own strength, there is still an enormous gap between my Saint Kingdom and a genuine God Kingdom."

"I am well aware of that, Ulrika. I am not deluded enough to think that you can reproduce even a fraction of the strength of a God Kingdom. However... I have been wondering whether it is possible to close the gap through unconventional means. I have come up with two possible ideas that can make this happen. The first is to enhance your existing Saint Kingdom with additional factors. The second is to upgrade your ace mech in a way that allows it to leverage your willpower significantly better than before."