The Mech Touch

Ves no longer needed to hole up in a bathroom in order to conduct his shady business.

There were several more places where he could ensure absolute privacy. After contemplating his options, he decided to enter the Scarlet Rose that was parked at the rented base and make his way to Compartment G-13.

After passing through numerous rigorous security checks, Ves, Lucky and Nitaa entered the site where all of the Larkinson Clan's Breyer alloy secretly appeared.

Ves took the time to inspect the automated production loop. Just like always, Cassandra Breyer's constantly-reappearing escape pod was being melted for salvage at an optimum rate.

None of the machines had broken down. Cassandra hadn't posed any problems either in the last couple of months. Ves firmly believed that she had expended most if not all of her disposable spiritual energy!

While that didn't ensure that the production loop remained intact in the future, at least for now Ves didn't have to worry about any impending disasters.

"Alright, everything looks good."

"Meow."

Lucky had been doing his job as well. He thoroughly inspected the entire compartment for any bugs or untowards elements.

"The compartment is clear." Nitaa finally added.

His silent bodyguard's only role at this moment was to use her extraordinary nose to sniff out any hidden elements that could trigger it. He wanted to cover as many bases as possible.

"Go stand guard while I do my business."

"Yes, sir."

Ves sat down on a random crate and began to materialize his System comm from his inventory.

He had mixed feelings when he looked at his comm. The last time he interacted with it was when he briefly used it to redeem a lot of attribute candies to upgrade the capabilities of the Larkinson seeds.

Aside from that, he never thought about using it. He could spend months without devoting a single thought towards the System!

This would have been unthinkable for him a few years ago! Back then, not a single day passed without spending at least some time on how to spend his Design Points!

"Ugh. I was very caught up by the System's reward mechanic." He grumbled.

Now that he thought about it, the Mech Designer System operated in a similar manner to all of the merit based systems that he encountered. Each time, their purpose was clear. The peons at the bottom had to work hard to gain some scraps while the people at the top harvested most of the profits!

That had changed somewhat since the System abruptly ended its newbie program. Now that Ves no longer earned any DP from selling his mechs, it became a lot harder to earn them. This made him care about the System even less!

As far as he was concerned, this was a good development. He was a mech designer, not a slave to the System. He had always harbored the fear of becoming too dependent on its conveniences.

Fortunately, he acted with restraint and tried his best to develop his own ways to get what he wanted without spending any Design Points.

Even so, just because Ves tried his best to forget about it didn't mean the System no longer mattered!

Its extraordinary origins and its immense value still meant that Ves was under threat! As the treasure passed on by his father, Ves did not dare to take it lightly!

Right now, Ves wasn't sure what the System thought about him. Did he do well by becoming a successful mech designer who could stand on his own? Was it resentful for being ignored all the time?

For some reason, Ves had a hunch the System didn't care all that much. It possessed its own goals, and so long it didn't say anything to him, he was probably heading in the right direction.

He surmised that both of their goals were aligned at this time. Ves wanted to progress further, which matched the System's intentions. What it got out of it was still a mystery, but as long as he moved forward, it didn't matter if he took the left path or the right path. They both led to the same destination!

"Well, my path isn't always smooth." Ves muttered. "Sometimes, it's best to take a couple of detours."

When Ves finally activated the System, he soon encountered something that he should have checked much earlier.

[Design Evaluation: Doom Guard DG-A-01]

Model name: Doom Guard DG-A-01

Original Manufacturer: Ves Larkinson, Gloriana Wodin

Weight Classification: Medium

Recommended Role: Marksman Mech

Armor: B+

Carrying Capacity: D

Aesthetics: A

Endurance: D+

Energy Efficiency: C

Flexibility: E+

Firepower: B

Integrity: B+

Mobility: D+

Spotting: C-

X-Factor: A-

Cost efficiency: C

Project involvement: 57%

Original component composition: 11%

Overall evaluation: The Doom Guard is a spaceborn striker mech that fulfills its deterrence purpose in an orthodox manner. It is an adequate mech in terms of armor and firepower, though it does not excel in those aspects. The lack of mobility along with the limited endurance are the Doom Guard's major shortcomings. However, the true value in this mech design lies in its glow. The value of this functional mech design has been elevated to a great degree by the inclusion of a complicated but effective glow.

[You have received 50,000 Design Points for completing an adequate original design that has no other equivalent.]

[You have received 50,000 Design Points for designing a mech with a high presence of X-Factor.]

"Damn. I hoped for more."

He felt a little disappointed at the grades he received. They were adequate, but far from the point of earning a compliment from the System.

Ves cared more for the X-Factor. His design philosophy was especially geared towards this criteria, so it was by far the most important grade to him! Scoring higher had always been his aim!

It was too bad the System didn't think his Doom Guard's glow reached another tier of performance.

The spiritual counterbalancing method he applied to the Doom Guard was something different, but not necessarily better. While Ves still believed he gained a lot by innovating this new method, it merely added one more tool to his toolbox.

In order to break through the bottleneck of an A- grade, Ves needed to find some way to impart a qualitatively superior glow to his mech design!

He still didn't know how he could accomplish that. He didn't think it was as simple as waiting for his design spirits to grow. If that was the case, then a powerful spiritual entity such as Qilanxo should have been able to impart more strength to his mech designs!

His eyes widened in realization. "It's not the design spirits that are holding me back. It's my implementation that is holding me back!"

He had been focusing too much on borrowing the external strength of other spiritual entities! This caused him to neglect the other factors that determine the expression of life and spirituality in a mech!

Though Ves had improved the effectiveness of his mechs to a massive degree ever since he switched over to basing his mech designs around living design spirits, he suspected that he might not be able to break through his bottleneck at this rate.

Ves needed to explore other methods of empowering his mech design. Pursuing alternate options such as transforming the spiritual foundation of his mech designs or developing the concept of imaginary mechs became a considerably higher priority!

"The only problem is that I don't have enough time." He shook his head.

The fact of the matter was that he possessed a to-do list that was way too long! There was so much he needed to do, and the worst part about it was that he could only rely on himself!

The downside of holding so tightly onto the secrets of his design philosophy was that he couldn't pass on his work to anyone else! If he raised a couple of competent disciples, he would have been able to explore multiple opportunities at the same time.

"It's too early for that." He sighed. "Besides, I don't have anyone I can trust to this degree."

Not yet at least.

Once Ves sobered up, he moved on to inspecting his Status.

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Journeyman Mech Designer

Specializations: Spiritual Man-Machine Symbiosis

Design Points: 332,342

Attributes

Strength: 1.6

Dexterity: 1.6

Endurance: 2.0

Intelligence: 2.4

Creativity: 2.1

Concentration: 2.1

Spirituality: 1.9

Neural Aptitude: F

Skills

[Assembly]: Journeyman - [3D Printer Proficiency V] - [Assembler Proficiency V] - [Masterwork Mech Assembly II]

[Battle Mechatronics]: Apprentice - [Knight Mech Mastery I] - [Rifleman Mech Mastery I] - [Space Knight Mastery I] - [Hero Mech Mastery I] - [Light Skirmisher Mastery I] [Custom Mech Design III]

[Business]: Apprentice

[Computer Science]: Journeyman - [Mech Hacking III] - [Programming IV]

[Electrical Engineering]: Journeyman - [Structural Pathway Configuration V] - [Energy Storage V] - [Conductors IV] - [Ultracompact Energy Storage I] - [Power Reactors II]

[Materials Science]: Journeyman - [Crystallography III] - [Crystal Laser Propagation II] - [Lithic Materials I]

[Mathematics]: Journeyman - [Simulations V]

[Mechanics]: Senior - [Jury Rigging IV] - [Speed Tuning IV] - [Mechanical Fault Detection I] - [Fine Motion Control I]

[Metallurgy]: Senior - [Alloy Compression IV] - [Fixed Armor Specialization IV] - [Flexible Armor Specialization I] - [Smart Metal IV] - [ASMAS III] - [Internal Structure Specialization I]

[Metaphysics]: Apprentice - [X-Factor IV] - [Spiritual Senses II] - [Spiritual Exploration I] - [Spiritual Manipulation II] - [Spiritual Engineering II]

[Interfacing]: Novice - [Neural Interface Optimization I]

[Physics]: Senior - [Directed Energy Weapon Optimization III] - [Gamma Laser Weapons I] [Lightweight Armor Optimization II] - [Mediumweight Armor Optimization IV] - [Melee Weapon Optimization IV] - [Polarizing Shielding II] - [Rapid-Fire Laser Weapon Operation II] - [Optics III] - [Ballistic Weapon Optimization IV]

[Propulsion]: Journeyman - [Flight Systems IV]

[Salvaging]: Apprentice - [Field Repairs III]

[Signals and Communications]: Journeyman - [Anti-Stealth Detection II]

[Stealth and Cloaking]: Novice

Abilities

[Superpublish]: Unavailable. Can be activated once a year.

[Inventorize]: Unavailable.

Evaluation: A qualified Journeyman Mech Designer whose products gained prominence for their unique and distinctive glows.

He hadn't looked at his Status for a long time, so there were several notable changes.

First, his Spirituality score had improved by 0.1. While Ves still didn't know how these specific scores were measured, any improvement was welcome. Due to his chosen specialty, he relied so much more on this attribute than any other mech designer.

Second, he managed to make up for his previous DP expenditures. He spent a hefty amount of Design Points to redeem all of the attribute candies for the Larkinson seeds. The 100,000 DP he earned from designing the Doom Guard came at a good time.

"I could have earned more if I didn't Superpublish the Bright Warrior."

Ves believed it was necessary at the time, but it caused him to miss out on a good chunk of DP. The System also denied him a radiant lottery ticket after he created his second masterwork.

He didn't deserve it. Simple as that.

The only benefit the System couldn't deny was the boost to his affinity for mechs. Masterwork Mech Assembly reached the second rank, which reflected the reality that he had become more in tune with mechs after creating the Quint.

Ves smiled and rubbed his smooth-shaven chin. "Even if I resort to the same method in the future, it's still worth it. Improving my mech affinity is the most reliable way to increase my output of masterwork mechs. As long as it's high enough, every mech I make can become a masterwork!"

Aside from these notable observations, Ves also noticed that several of his Sub-Skills had improved. He hadn't spent any Design Points to upgrade them. They naturally improved as Ves regularly referenced the textbooks originally owned by Lady Curver in order to develop new solutions to the problems he encountered during his work.

With the partial digitization of his mind, his learning efficiency had skyrocketed. Ves no longer felt the need to purchase any mundane Skills or Sub-Skills from the System. He could easily acquire what he wanted by studying the right textbook!

"Still, some Skills cost way too much time to improve."

This was what he came for. In response to the mounting technical problems he faced in his remaining mech design project, he sought to quickly boost his capabilities so that he could overcome some of the challenges!

Ves not only wanted to solve the immediate problem. This was just the start. In the near future, he planned to design a lot more second-class mechs, each of which would likely incorporate a lot of advanced components!

Once he got in touch with more and more high technology, the demand on his knowledge base would continue to increase. Therefore, improving his fundamental capabilities would go a long way in improving his efficiency!

"It's time to improve some of my Main Skills. I should elevate more of them to Senior-level!"

He wasn't going after the small fry this time! He sought to upgrade his understanding in a comprehensive and holistic manner!