The Mech Touch

The moment Master Olson made her statement, a bomb detonated inside Ves.

His former backer and current adversary plainly stated that she and her fellow Fridayman Masters had begun to work on countering his mechs!

His design seed heated up as it acutely felt threatened. Of all of the mech designers in the galaxy, Master Mech Designers and Star Designers existed on a completely different level. For a Journeyman to confront anyone of them was madness in many cases.

Disregarding the mythical Star Designer, the sum of a Master's knowledge, experience, judgement and design philosophy far exceeded those who were still finding their way!

The mech industry did not treat Masters far above Seniors for no reason. They were the only ones who realized their design philosophies and transformed it into something permanent!

Not only would their design philosophies live after their death, their works would also remained fully empowered no matter where they found themselves.

In fact, during the initial opening of the Red Ocean, it was already proven that mech designed by Masters still retained their potency!

This was an incredible observation!

From his few personal encounters with both Master Olson and Master Willix, he knew that their respective spiritualities were not only immense, but very developed. Both their quality and quantity far surpassed what Ves was capable of reaching at his current state.

The disparity in spiritual strength alone caused Ves to feel despair. If a Master or a group of Masters went all-out and invested all of their design capabilities in countering his design philosophy, how could he possibly hold his ground?

He would have to reach Master himself in order to compete fairly against the likes of Master Olson! Even if Ves was optimistic about his progression speed, he did not believe he would be able to break his former Master's record!

Reaching Master just as he turned a hundred years old was a feat that truly underscored Master Olson's exceptional talent in mech design. Ves did not dare to put her below her fellow colleagues just because she advanced quite recently.

At his level of strength, Masters were still giants no matter their individual differences!

As his confidence began to sink to the bottom, his beliefs in his own strengths and qualities suddenly asserted themselves!

His eyes sparkled as he forcibly shook himself out of his despair!

Why should he feel afraid of Masters? From how Master Willix continued to scratch her head with regards to his design philosophy, it shouldn't be easy to grasp the operation of his specialty!

While reverse-engineering his design philosophy was far more difficult than countering it, both acts required his adversaries to grasp at least some understanding of what they were dealing with. He did not believe that every Master possessed enough ability to counter his mechs!

For example, Master Olson was known as a maestro in designing landbound mechs. Numerous staple military mech designs of the Vermeer Group incorporated her exquisite mechanical integration along with her efficient engines, turning them into hardy machines that possessed a clear edge in mobility!

Yet what did these features have to do with glows? Master Olson's specialty did not intersect with his design philosophy at all! At the very least, she needed to work extra hard in order to develop a solution that interfered with the operation of his specialty.

On top of that, Ves had another reason to feel confident. Due to his use of external design spirits, the spiritual nature of his mechs was far stronger than the products of other mech designers.

Certainly, Ves did not believe that all of his design spirits could hold their ground against the Friday Coalition's Master Mech Designers.

However, the true contest only pitted his Hexer mechs against the Fridaymen. This meant that his adversaries needed to overcome both him and the Superior Mother in order to gain absolute superiority in terms of spirituality!

Ves briefly concentrated and inspected the dormant Superior Mother. Ever since his mother had fused a portion of herself into the newborn spiritual product, the combined entity did not make any moves.

That did not mean the Superior Mother remained stagnant! Its strength constantly increased each time Ves checked up on her. In fact, this time he noticed that the Superior Mother had received a significant boost in strength, enough to allow her to come within reach of Qilanxo!

This signified that his latest spiritual product was already taking shape as the ancestral spirit of the Hexer people!

The Wrathful Doves and every other Hexer who became enamored by the Blessed Squire or its glow were already starting to feed the Superior Mother!

When he increased his concentration, he noticed the addition of millions of very faint bonds.

They were similar to the bonds that the Golden Cat had formed with the members of the Larkinson Clan.

There were differences, though.

The nature of their respective spiritual networks differed in scope and scale.

The Golden Cat maintained what Ves considered to be the best and most intimate spiritual network. It was akin to a private network that was closed to outsiders in order to maintain as much control and cohesion as possible.

The connection between the Golden Cat and every individual clansman was quite strong. The downside was that both sides needed to actively form this bond. This was why every clansman had to pledge to join the clan in the presence of a loyalty medallion, Bright Warrior or the Larkinson Mandate.

The Superior Mother maintained far more bonds, but they were much weaker. It didn't take much to enable a Hexer to form a connection with the Superior Mother, but the bandwidth and mutual exchange between the two was not as impressive.

It didn't matter. The Blessed Squire had only been out for less than a week, and already the Superior Mother far surpassed the Golden Cat in terms of quantity!

Ves believed that his own mother's symbiosis with the Superior Mother might be able to improve the ancestral spirit's efficiency in absorbing all of the spiritual tribute.

He also guessed that as long as a few of those worshippers comprised of spiritually-powerful expert pilots and mech designers, the quality problem that plagued his other design spirits should not pose a big hindrance!

Of all of his expert pilot-level design spirit, the Superior Mother possessed the highest chance to break through and reach a strength level equivalent to that of an ace pilot!

Ves felt very happy about that. Cynthia Larkinson's life was intertwined with the Superior Mother. Therefore, the declaration made by Master Olson was nothing less than an existential threat to his mother's continued existence!

Regardless if every single Master Mech Designer of the Coalition poured all of their efforts into countering his design philosophy, Ves could not afford to back down! He needed to confront his challengers head-on and ensure that the Friday Coalition never gained the upper hand in the Komodo War!

His surging war intent invigorated his entire body, mind and spirit.

He was not afraid of challenges!

Master Olson's projection silently observed her former apprentice throughout this process.

If an ordinary Journeyman heard that a Master targeted his works, there was a large chance that he would immediately lose faith in himself!

This was a very fatal blow to deal to a younger mech designer! This was one of the reasons why she took the initiative to reveal this news to Ves. No matter what sentiments she held towards him in the past, they were enemies now. She could not be lenient towards the enemies of her state and people.

If she succeeded in collapsing Ves' confidence, then his subsequent design work would definitely be impaired. This slowed down his contributions to the Hex Army.

Sadly, someone as exceptional as Ves was not as easy to take down. He belonged to the rare category of Journeymen who not only enjoyed exceptional success, but possessed the arrogance that he could resist the full attention of Masters!

A part of her felt proud at the mental fortitude of her former student. Despite his obvious shortcomings and problematic history, Ves possessed several excellent qualities that the mech industry sought in a mech designer. It was no wonder that Master Willix, who Master Olson was casually acquainted with, exhibited obvious favor to Ves and his lover.

When Ves regained his composure, he looked at his former Master without any fear.

He had no idea that Master Olson attempted to strike a fatal blow to his confidence.

"I await your state's response to my mech designs." He grinned. "The Blessed Squire is just a preview of what is to come."

Master Olson smiled back. "Welcome to the real arena of mech design. Small, controlled comparisons such as design duels are merely child's play compared to the competition that takes place between mech designers of my level. In the normal course of your progression, you shouldn't be exposed to this level of competition until you have progressed very far as a Senior. Only then should mech designers be qualified to take part in the struggle between states!"

Due to his abnormally effective design philosophy, Ves essentially cut the line and reached an area that was normally reserved for the bigshots.

Ves slightly bowed. "I am honored. While I cannot compare to Masters like you in almost every aspect, I believe in my design philosophy! I will not roll over without a fight!"

Inwardly, Master Olson felt exasperated. The longer they talked, the more Ves grew combative. This was counterproductive from her standpoint.

"Brace yourself, then. Several teams of Masters have already started to design potential counters to your mechs, with a special eye towards defeating your glows. As a dedicated servant of the Vermeer Group and the Friday Coalition, I have provided all of my peers with my detailed analysis and understanding of your specialty."

Ves chuckled at this revelation. The more pressure he endured, the greater his desire to frustrate his adversaries!

"I'm glad that you and your fellow Masters find my design philosophy so threatening." He spread his arms! "Come, then! Target me! Teach me how to defeat my glows! I will not lie down and let you win. For too long, my glows have reigned supreme in the regional mech markets. It's good now that I have some serious competition! I will learn from the flaws that you and your peers shall expose and work towards eliminating them in my next mech designs!"

This was the cycle of competition that high-level mech designers such as Master Olson delighted in the most!

Only through direct confrontations with incredibly high stakes would Master Mech Designers be able to innovate and improve!

Though Ves had never touched this level before and only possessed a shallow understanding of it, he already recognized the amazing opportunity this represented.

Whether he won or lost, he would gain many useful insights as his adversaries designed brilliant counters that targeted all of the shortcomings of his specialty.

It was as if his opponents took the initiative to teach him what he was doing wrong! As long as he did not let the setbacks topple his confidence, he would definitely be able to progress faster as his enemies had already lit up some of the way ahead.

There was just one question that puzzled his mind.

"Why did you reveal your state's intentions towards my work?" Ves asked. "Aren't you doing your state a disservice by forewarning me of your intentions?"

"Our movements are too big to remain hidden for long. The Hexer intelligence services will learn of our shift in priorities quite soon. Even if they didn't, anyone who is clever enough to understand the significance of your glows can logically infer that we will not stay silent."

That made sense. "I see."

"I also wished to see how you are faring these days. We may stand on opposite sides, but we still share something in common. As mech designers, we belong to the same kind. It is not unusual for people like us to make contact with our competition. I talk regularly with a number of Hexer Master Mech Designers I am cordial with, so do not be concerned with our discussion today."

Ves nodded. "I understand."

He still maintained his friendship with Tristan Wesseling. Now, it seemed that Master Olson wanted to regain contact with him as well.

None of these personal relations changed his conviction in taking down the Friday Coalition. His grudge against the state along with his mother's entanglement with the Hexers meant that there was no way he would grow soft against the Fridaymen!

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