The Mech Touch

Two days went by as Master Willix mainly directed her attention to the technical side of both Bright Warrior design and the Quint.

Ves noticed that she appeared to show a lot of interest in the improvements made by the mysterious Mr. S.

"Any Master or experienced Senior for that matter can implement these improvements in a Journeyman-level design." She revealed during one of her more talkative moments. "What is remarkable is that Mr. S managed to comprehensively elevate your Bright Warrior design while retaining your original design styles. Can you imagine improving a mech design without leaving some form of influence in the changed product? It's nearly impossible, yet the original version of your Bright Warrior and the improved version that Mr. S has produced are virtually similar in terms of character. This takes true skill."

The professional respect she conveyed towards Mr. S sounded genuine. It was as if Master Willix regarded his mysterious benefactor as a hidden Master!

Perhaps that was one of the reasons why she was being so amiable towards Ves and Gloriana. If they enjoyed the backing of a Master in hiding, then that signified that the pair must possess qualities that made them very promising!

This deduction combined with her own personal interest in their intriguing work prompted Master Willix to treat them more earnestly than she might otherwise choose.

Even though the Master talked to them all day she made sure that the examination of the Quint continued.

Her subordinates and helpers all inspected the Quint thoroughly. Sometimes, they even disassembled some of the parts to take a closer look inside!

This behavior alarmed Ves, but the MTA specialists treated the Quint with a lot of care. Their tools were highly advanced and their expertise was so great that they never threatened the integrity of the mech they were handling.

As expected of internal members of the MTA, all of them possessed genuine respect for mechs, especially masterwork mechs!

Their great ability actually shamed Ves to some extent. Though the MTA delegation only brought a modest amount of equipment, the skill and ability they demonstrated was far beyond Ves and Gloriana could currently demonstrate!

The gap between internal members of the MTA and natives was immense. Ves felt as if he was an ancient tribesman gawking at a bunch of technologically-advanced explorers who had come to examine every detail of his mudhouse.

It was difficult for Ves to suppress his tech envy and other kinds of envy. It would have been great if he managed to join the ranks of the greatest mech organization in the galaxy, but he knew it was not to be. He carried the taint of the Five Scrolls Compact, which just happened to be the archenemy of the MTA!

Therefore, spending time with the likes of Master Willix was just as precarious as a murderer hanging out with a police detective.

At any point in time, Master Willix might be able to sniff his association with the Compact or one of its Sacred Scrolls!

The worst part of this ordeal was that even if he knew the risks, he had no choice but to put up a mask and act as an eager Journeyman looking to pick up scraps from a generous Master.

A Master was worthy of genuine respect and admiration from lower-ranked mech designers. This was an iron-clad custom that almost everyone in the mech community followed!

Ves could not violate this norm without attracting a lot of attention. Therefore, he was forced to act within expectations and continue to stay close to Master Willix.

The act was grating on him, especially when it appeared that the Master actually didn't require that much answers from him. Most of the time, she turned to Gloriana for answers, making his presence largely redundant!

He could have undergone his implantation surgery by now. Integrating the Archimedes Rubal in his brain was a much more attractive prospect than listening in on the highly technical discussions between his girlfriend and the seemingly-benevolent Master.

It was not until the third that Master Willix finally paid more than a cursory amount of attention to the other lead designer of the Bright Warrior design.

"Mr. Larkinson." She began with a polite smile. "I've been refraining from delving into your principal contribution into your mech because your specialty isn't easy to grasp."

"My design philosophy is an earnest expression of my beliefs." Ves smoothly replied. "Creating gods is not for the meek."

"Yes.. gods. I am quite interested in them, or at least your views on them. Would you like to elaborate?"

Hell no! If Ves had his way, he would have sewed his mouth shut!

Of course, he wasn't stupid enough to express his inner feelings in front of Master Willix, so he instead adopted a helpful posture.

"What would you like to know, Master Willix?"

"Do you worship them? Are you in any way subservient to these gods you speak about?"

His intuition sensed a deeper meaning behind these words. From what he knew about the MTA's early history, Ves didn't have to think very hard to realize the trap in her words.

Fortunately, Ves never worshipped any gods to begin with. Whether it was Qilanxo, Nyxie, Cassandra or even his mother, he never believed they were unfathomable or deserving of his devotion!

Seriously!

Ves spoke the truth. "In the faith espoused by the Ylvainans, everyone has the potential to become a god. In my opinion, the separation between mortals and the divine is not as wide as everyone thinks. Gloriana and I agree that mech pilots and mech designers are already gods in the making. Starting from expert pilot or Journeyman Mech Designer, we advance up the ranks, each time gaining more and more divinity as we grow!"

"You are referring to psionic power." Master Willix spoke plainly. As a senior dignitary from the MTA, the rules that prohibited people from speaking openly about psionics didn't apply to her! "This is not a mysterious field. It is a measurable and empirically-established facet of nature that is only mysterious because it is difficult to explore."

"I don't disagree, ma'am." Ves shook his head. "In fact, it is because I agree with your assessment that I think that gods are not as omnipotent or omniscient as some faiths make them out to be. They can be great and powerful beings, but I am confident that I can master their existences one day and harness their powers in the form of mechs!"

Even Ves wasn't really sure what he was saying right now! He was just following his fake logic in convoluted directions in the hopes that Master Willix bought his act!

She nodded at him in an indulgent manner. "That is a good mindset to adopt. No matter what you choose to believe in, always remember that humans like us no longer need to serve any greater powers. Whether we're talking about powerful alien races or existences that are difficult to imagine, our race has still defeated an insurmountable amount of horrors and come to dominate half of the galaxy!"

"We're also making inroads in another galaxy." Ves conveniently diverted the topic. "I'm very excited about the invasion of the Red Ocean! Gloriana and I have made a promise to ourselves that we should embark on an expedition to the Red Ocean within a decade. Both of us think that we'll be able to take advantage of countless opportunities in the new dwarf galaxy!"

Master Willix looked surprised. "It is not impossible for you to travel to the Red Ocean by yourself. If you want to travel with Gloriana, then the amount of merits you will have to earn is considerably immense. Without involving additional partners, it should be impossible for a pair of Journeymen to accumulate the necessary merits."

"With respect, ma'am, we're not ordinary mech designers. It wasn't too long ago that Gloriana and I aimed to make a masterwork mech despite our relatively young ages. We didn't let anything stop us from achieving our goal!"

"You couldn't have succeeded without Mr. S." She factually pointed out.

Ves offered her a shrug. "That is correct, but no matter what, we achieved the result we wanted. Making our first masterwork mech is just the first step in our plan to obtain a second-class fleet beyonder ticket. Even if we are aiming, we have the confidence that we can succeed where others have failed!"

"He's right!" Gloriana nodded from the side. "Ves and I are special. When we combine our specialties and synergize our methods, we can design excellent mechs such as the Bright Warrior or produce outright miracles such as the Quint! Even if we had some help this time, I'm confident that the lessons we have learned today will allow us to replicate our success without any external assistance next time!"

"Those are some very bold words. I applaud your ambitions." Master Willix smiled. "There is no harm in aiming high as long as you are able to make some gains along the way. This way, even if you fail, you can still be proud of what you have managed to achieve."

This was the same advice that Ves once told other mech designers.

"Master Willix, do you have any advice on how we can improve our chances of becoming galactic pioneers before too much time has passed?" Ves boldly asked.

The earnest hope from both Ves and Gloriana caused Master Willix to shift her opinions of them. They were truly serious about aiming for the Red Ocean!

She shook her head as if she was facing a bunch of kids who wanted to play outside. "Well, my first advice is that you should highly consider finding reliable partners to share the burden. The Red Ocean is far more dangerous and chaotic than you can imagine. A pair of mech designers such as you might be excellent when it comes to making use of the abundant resources in the dwarf galaxy to earn money, but you need more than that to compete against the many groups that are seeking to do the same."

"We.. aren't eager to share power." Ves admitted.

"I suggest you correct your mindset. We mech designers excel in technology, but that is only one aspect about running a fleet or founding an enduring state. No matter what you seek to do in the Red Ocean, you will need a powerful partner who is adept in combat and command. It is also advisable to seek another partner that can cover your commercial, industrial and administrative needs. Don't think that any local will do. You will need the best. Only those who are good enough to lead their own organizations should be under your consideration. Everyone else is not worth your time."

The Master implicitly told Ves that it wasn't enough to rely on his existing enterprise to address all of the challenges he might face in the Red Ocean!

While Ves understood what she was getting at, he found it difficult to accept her advice.

There was hardly any partner he could trust aside from Gloriana!

"We will keep your advice in mind."

Since Master Willix seemed willing enough to talk about the Red Ocean, Ves tried to see if he could glean some insider details!

"If it's not too presumptuous to ask, could you describe what the Red Ocean is like?" He asked.

"The Red Ocean is.. a melting pot of dangers and opportunities." She spoke, her eyes glancing away as if she was recalling some memories. "If I was younger, then I would have felt tempted to push for an assignment in the dwarf galaxy. It is truly a place where dreams can be made and stars can rise."

"Why did you decline to do so, then?"

"It is also a furnace." She replied with a serious expression. "Our Association imposes heavy requirements to anyone who aims to exploit the Red Ocean for some very good reasons. It is not a place for the incompetent and the soft-hearted. While we have done some best to impose some rules and establish some order in our conquered territories, we cannot stop all the evils in our current galaxy and other galaxies. In our internal projections, we expect over ninety percent of galactic pioneers to fail!"

What! A ninety percent failure rate! That was astronomical!