The Mech Touch

The feedback from the Oceancaller was clear and obvious.

The artifact flute not only exuded greater strength and activity when it absorbed the spirituality of the Azure Tornado Dragon, but also began to show greater activity in a handful of its runes.

The ones associated with currents, bubbles, whirlpools, pressure and a couple of other concepts lit up as if Ves had just 'leveled them up' in a manner of speaking.

Ves was quite impressed at how the high-level artifact conveyed the benefits of absorbing the mutated beast's spirituality in a direct and transparent manner.

He had been afraid that such an archaic and outdated relic would deliberately act mysteriously and play games with him. That was not the case as the Oceancaller clearly conveyed the outcome of this absorption.

Of course, that also caused Ves to become a little more concerned about the implications.

The Oceancaller presented a clear reward scheme to Ves. The more water-based spiritualities he sacrificed to the artifact flute, the more he would unlock its latent power!

Ves could not imagine how powerful the Oceancaller could become if he fed 100 spirits to the flute!

However, there were probably diminishing returns to this process. Ves would have to pursue stronger and more dangerous water-based spirits in order to keep up with the growing demands of his artifact.

This seemed like a trap. If Ves continued to obsess over powering up his artifact, he would make lots of enemies, just to boost the growth of an external object!

Though Ves did not think it was a big deal to satisfy the Oceancaller's cravings every now and then, there was no pressing need to speed up its growth. His comprehension of the water element was not advanced enough to demand an expansion of his artifact.

The flute slowly settled down after it had absorbed the Azure Tornado Dragon's soul.

The extraction had been total. The giant beast's massive corpse had been completely drained of anything spiritual. This completely denied Ves the option to harvest any useful spiritual ingredients from this kill.

"A PITY."

Ves wondered if he should have carved out a spiritual fragment from the Azure Tornado Dragon before he let his artifact flute have its way.

That might not have been a good idea. The Oceancaller would definitely notice and grow upset that Ves had compromised its first 'meal'.

Now that the fight was over, Ves folded up his true body. His enormous body visibly shrunk in size. The Oceancaller did likewise and became smaller as well.

Though his nanosuit had suffered considerable damage during the fight, there were still plenty of intact nanites left to retain its functionality. Nothing glitched out as the suit perfectly matched Ves' change in scale.

By the time Ves had returned to his 'human' size, the shuttle that had previously observed the eye-opening battle from above had descended from the skies and landed a short distance away.

Once the hatch opened up, the children and the cats eagerly ran across the marshy ground and embraced their father!

Andraste expressed her enthusiasm first, just as expected!

"You were so awesome, papa! Why didn't you tell me you could do all of that?! You fought like a mech! Did you become a phase lord? Teach me how to become one as well!"

Ves grinned and ruffled his daughter's hair. "This is a rather complicated topic. There is no need for you to get involved in messy stuff like this. Becoming a mech pilot or a swordmaster are better ways to pursue strength. Have you not forgotten how those ancient phase whales completely got beat up by a bunch of god mechs?

"Oh... you are right..."

"Are you hurt, papa?" Aurelia asked in a more concerned tone as she and Mana both inspected Ves in different ways. "When we watched your duel against this dragon, we saw that it managed to inflict multiple wounds on you. Do you need to go to the hospital?"

"I am okay, dear. These are just flesh wounds. Phase lords are particularly good at recovering from them. So long as my enemies are unable to damage my internal organs, I will be fine. The only thing I am concerned about is whether I need to replenish the phasewater that has spilled out of my body."

According to his own senses, the concentration of phasewater in his body had dropped. While he was able to replenish his lost blood cells, the same did not apply to the small amount of phasewater in his bloodstream.

Ves did not possess his own phasewater production system, so it made sense that he could not rely on his body to regenerate this substance.

The lightning tribulations manipulated by the heavenly authority of the Red Ocean might have given him a few freebies, but he could not rely on it to replenish his shortfall.

This was not a big deal at the moment. His true body was not that large compared to more developed phase lords.

He loosely estimated that he had lost 20 to 40 liters of blood during the brief fight.

Only 1.4 percent of that consisted of phasewater, so he could just draw a cup of phasewater from the Vault of Eternity to bring him back up to capacity.

What he was concerned about was how much more phasewater he would have to use to replenish his depleted blood in the future.

For example, if he ever grew as big as a destroyer or a cruiser, the quantity of blood running through his veins could fill many swimming pools!

If just a fraction of that blood spilled out of his body, Ves would still have to absorb a hundred liters of phasewater or more to make up for the massive loss!

This was an incredibly uneconomical consequence and deterred Ves from thinking about abusing his phase lord cultivation anytime soon.

Phasewater was too scarce for him to waste on frivolous fights!

While his daughters expressed a lot of concern towards their father, his son became more fascinated by the giant beast corpse.

The bloodied and mangled carcass was anything but pleasant to see up close. Its huge size still exerted a degree of coercion that was difficult for tiny humans to bear. Its many injuries along with other factors caused the massive body to release an awful smell.

If not for the fact that the breathing masks filtered out much of these stinky particles, Marvaine would never have the guts to step closer to the dead creature.

"Wow... it used to be so powerful, but now it is dead..."

"Meow meow."

Lucky flew in front of Marvaine and gently pushed the boy back. Just because the Azure Tornado Dragon was dead did not mean that it had become harmless!

As Ves continued to satisfy the curiosity of his children, President Oscar Tarich slowly approached with a concerned expression.

"What is the matter, Oscar? Did my performance let you down?"

The highly experienced hunting veteran twitched his lips. "You fought as well as you could as a non-combatant. It is unfair for us to apply the same standards that we use to judge professionals. It is still a good idea for you to complete a beginner's course on unarmed fighting techniques. Your punches... are terrible. A professional fighter would have been able to split this mutated beast in half if he wielded the same powers as you. Proper technique can make an enormous difference."

"I will consider it." Ves replied in a non-committal tone. "I am eager to return to civilization, or whatever semblance this planet can offer. Can I rely on your organization to chop off its head and convert it into a hunting trophy? I think I deserve at least that much."

While this 'hunt' did not comply with the rules of the Hunting Association, President Tarich gained so much from observing Ves in action that he responded with a simple nod.

"Granted. You will have your trophy, though I must mention that our Association will not register it as proof of a valid hunt."

"That is fair."

Ves had grown past the point where he needed to embellish his reputation with hunting trophies. It did not matter at all that he was unable to add another accomplishment to his record.

He just wanted to preserve the head of the Azure Tornado Dragon in order to decorate his office.

"Would you like to preserve the appearance of the head in its healthy form, or are you satisfied with receiving a naked skull?"

"Keep the meat on the bones if possible. I think it will look more ferocious and lifelike that way."

"Normally, we charge a large sum of money to provide you with this extra service, but we shall waive it for you. The process will take time to complete. We can ship it to a destination of your choosing once it is done. I can promise you that you will be satisfied with the quality of our work."

Ves and the branch president continued to discuss various issues as they returned to the shuttle.

Once the vehicle flew back to Tixe City, he and his excited kids enjoyed a big meal before they returned to their hotel suite.

The fight had drained Ves in multiple ways, so he was not in the mood to go on any further tours.

The kids did not mind this at all. They eagerly rewatched the footage of the various fights and commented on them with great enthusiasm.

They especially grew impressed by seeing their own father fight a ferocious dragon-like beast! How many children could boast of having a parent as strong as Ves?!

Time passed by. Nothing noteworthy happened during the remainder of the vacation.

Though Ves took his children on another hunt in the Melrose Continent, the novelty of this activity started to wear off. His children had already been desensitized to an extent.

It was only during the final day of their stay that had greater significance.

Fireworks blasted in the skies of Tixe City as the hunters and visitors spontaneously celebrated a new 'holiday'!

"It has been a year since the blasted phase whales teleported us next to Messier 87."

"That is another year that I have spent away from my wife back in my old galaxy. I truly miss her. Is she still waiting for the chance that I can return?"

"If you ask me, I am glad we got rid of the old galaxy. There were too many old fossils over there who kept humanity locked in the past. Now that we have entered a new place, we have changed far beyond my wildest dreams. This is paradise as far as I am concerned!"

A lot of people wandered the streets while sharing their opinions about the event that had profoundly altered the course of their lives.

Ves understood many of their arguments. He shared all of their sentiments, and that made him feel conflicted. The Great Severing had done him a lot of good, but it had also endangered the red humans who suddenly became outnumbered and isolated.

"Do you miss the old galaxy, papa?" Aurelia asked as she saw that her father was not as happy as the rest.

"I don't miss it." Ves quickly replied as he bent down to kiss his daughter's cheek. "I already have everyone I need over here. I have you, your siblings, my wife, my clan and many wonderful friends. So long as each of you are here, I would never dream of going back. The Red Ocean is our home now. It might not be perfect, but it is the only place we have now. So long as you are happy, I am happy."

"I love you, papa."

"I love you too, Aurelia."

To be honest, the real reason why Ves did not yearn to go back to the Milky Way was because he hadn't fully left old haunt.

With Veronica lurking in the Nyxian Gap, Ves would always retain a connection to his home galaxy.