The Mech Touch

A lot of people who had been observing this tense and ultimately thrilling duel had turned speechless.

At the final sequence, the Pontifical Lance not only turned into some kind of a divine vestige, but also happened to throw its spear right into the earlier wound inflicted by its thrown lance!

Although it was theoretically possible for another thrown weapon to bypass all of the armor of the Phazeon and instead slip right through the only opening in its front, no ordinary mech or mech pilot could accomplish such a feat in the middle of a maneuvering game!

Perhaps it was not that hard for a lancer mech to drive a spear through a vulnerable weak point when the opponent was stationary, but the Phazeon had performed another evasive maneuver by the time the spear had struck its mark!

"Who is Gregory Haloscar?!"

"Forget piloting mechs! Mr. Haloscar should be taking part in the Galactic Olympic Games for javelin throwing!"

"What if it's not the mech pilot, but the mech that's responsible for putting that spear through the hole in the Phazeon's armor?"

"Don't be daft! Only skill and luck can yield this kind of result!"

"Did you forget about that moment when the Pontifical Lance glowed all of a sudden? I swear a god had showed up to bless the mech!"

While a lot of controversy erupted among the crowd, the commentators sounded just as befuddled!

[This result is probabilistically impossible!] An older man sounded as if he was losing his sanity! [Gregory Haloscar had to make multiple correct predictions in order to achieve this perfect attack. First, he needed to guess the evasion direction of the Phazeon. Second, the spear launched by the Pontifical Lance had to be aimed precisely along the right trajectory for it to pass through the Phazeon's only wound. The odds of getting the first correct is small but still reasonable. The odds of accomplishing the second is too miniscule, especially when you consider that the Pontifical Lance is not a mech designed for throwing. If you look at the slow-motion playback of its second throw, you can clearly see that the spear did not fly straight!]

[You're denying reality, old friend. Why can't you accept that the cosmos we live in is more wondrous than we can imagine!]

[I can accept a machine breaking the rules if it is an expert mech paired with an expert pilot, but this is just an ordinary competition mech! We have all seen how Mr. Larkinson designed and built it in front of our eyes! He did not slip any abnormal exotics inside the mech nor employed any arcane production methods to create a monstrosity. The Pontifical Lance is just a lancer mech!]

[You're wrong. You're completely ignoring its additional properties. Their effects may be unclear but they are clearly not trivial. What happened at the final instance is an especially clear sign that there is a lot more to this mech than what is apparent on the surface!]

The sheer amount of coincidences surrounding the Pontifical Lance were so improbable that the debates still raged on well after the current matches had ended and the next four duels commenced.

Though the commentators soon turned back to discussing the features of the mechs on display, a lot of people still thought back on that incredible moment when the Pontifical Lance seemingly turned into a divine avatar and struck with unnatural precision.

Up at the special spectating platform, many of the contestants took Ves a lot more seriously than before.

The Pontifical Lance's performance against the Dominant already showed that Ves was a lot better than he appeared on the surface. Despite that, a loss was still a loss.

A victory was much more convincing.

Though the Lighthouse Keeper was too average to display the full potential of the Pontifical Lance, the Phazeon successfully pushed the lancer mech as well as its mech pilot to their limits!

No matter what, the Phazeon fell while the Pontifical Lance remained upright.

Despite suffering a dramatic and unexpected loss, Katien Tievos did not look distressed. Others might claim that the Phazeon should have won this favorable matchup, but she knew exactly what her mech was capable of. The fact that a lancer mech managed to overcome all of its disadvantages was not a matter of luck, but skill.

The woman calmly accepted the outcome of this match. She certainly had a lot to think about after today. The mech industry was a lot more weird and diverse than she thought, and not even mech designers from the galactic rim should be dismissed.

The young woman turned around and approached Ves with a friendly expression on her face.

"Good match. Your mech is… unexpectedly strong."

Ves shook Katien's hand. He noted that the woman's skin was even more smooth and delicate than that of his wife.

"Thank you. Your Phazeon certainly made my lancer mech work for its victory. I don't think it's wrong to say that your light mech should have been able to secure victory in 99 out of a 100 iterations of this duel."

Katien's lips twitched into a resigned smile. "Yet that is not what happened. Instead, your lancer mech defied the odds and proved everyone's predictions wrong. Even I did not expect your mech to be capable of grasping such minute opportunities of victory. It is especially interesting how Ilos Naduxe momentarily lost control of his mech at a crucial moment."

"That's something of a specialty of mine." Ves grinned. "If you study my work, you'll find that millions of other mech pilots have fallen victim to this effect."

"I see. I shall study it well and make sure my work is better prepared to resist this effect."

"Good luck with that."

Although the exchange was brief, it was enough to cement Ves as one of the foremost mech designers in the tournament.

What happened next was completely out of Ves' hands. Neither he nor any of the other mech designers had any way of influencing their scores and rankings any further.

As the final matches were quickly being played out, Ves wondered whether the Pontifical Lance performed well enough to propel him to the top 3. Only getting first, second or third place would allow him to return to his clan with a brand-new combat carrier in his possession!

Fortunately for all of the contestants, they didn't have to wait for long for the results to be revealed. The match between the Pontifical Lance and the Phazeon was already close to the end of the fighting phase, so the much-anticipated conclusion of the High Tide Tournament soon commenced!

The mech designers all moved from the spectator platform and onto the main stage.

They also were joined by their mechs, which had all been automatically repaired in order to return them to their proper appearances.

Finally, the mech pilots that had shown off the capabilities of the competition mechs arrived last. Although they didn't attract as much attention as the mech designers in this specific event, their efforts were crucial in determining the final placement of the contestants.

Ves met with Gregory Haloscar once again, and immediately noticed something different about the man.

There was a peculiar look on the mech pilot's face that reminded Ves about something unpleasant.

"Mr. Haloscar?"

"Oh. Hello again, Mr. Larkinson. I was… reliving that final crucial moment. Even though this was just a single arena match, I felt more alive and great than I ever did in my life. Your mech… is truly something else, sir. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to pilot such an unforgettable machine."

"You're welcome." Ves smiled. "Do you know what will happen to our mechs once this tournament is over?"

"The mechs built by the top 3 contestants will enter a place of honor in one of Hysphalin Industries display halls." Gregory explained based on what he knew. "I don't think it is possible for you to redeem the machine, but the company usually treats them well. The rest are recycled in order to save on costs."

"I see. That's a pity."

"Hysphalin Industries doesn't want anyone to parade any bad mechs produced with the help of its production equipment. Personally, I think this rule is stupid, but I'm not in charge."

The two soon stopped chatting as the results were finally unveiled.

[Thank you for your patience. It has been a long day today. We hope that you have all enjoyed the tournament so far. We have witnessed our 94 participating Journeymen deliver the finest works they can offer in a single day with the help of our newly-released Korok Alpha KA-35. The ease of which our contestants have realized their designs into solid mechs truly exemplifies that anyone can operate the latest edition of our Korok Alpha line.]

After another minute of praising the virtues of the Korok Alpha KA-35 superfab, the announcer finally moved back on topic.

[Now, onto the unveiling! As you are all aware, the final ranking of the Journeymen is based on the sum of scores of the two best performances. The formulas that set these scores take many different variables into account. No factor is left out in order to ensure that only the most deserving tournament participant will win. If you have any further doubts about the fairness of our tournament, then let me inform you that an MTA inspector is personally presiding over this event and has manually verified the final scores.]

With that out of the way, a giant projected list appeared into view. As expected, the unveiling of the scores and ranking started at the bottom.

[At the 94th place, please give a round of applause for Mr. Velroyce Sivance! His Yindar Merth may have failed to achieve a single victory, but his work has given its opposition plenty of opportunities to display their strengths!]

Naturally, Mr. Sivance didn't look good at all. His face had turned red as his worst fears came true. He already had a feeling that his ranking was close to the bottom due to all of the ugly losses his mech had suffered, but to hear official confirmation that his work was the worst was excruciating!

Nobody cared about his feelings, though. The announcer had to go through 93 more tournament participants and quickly moved on to the next names.

Ves didn't know any of them so he basically tuned this boring part out. He only paid attention again when he heard a familiar name.

[Mr. Marik Esophe has earned 53th place for the respectable showing of his Lighthouse Keeper…]

"That should be pretty accurate."

The Lighthouse Keeper won the first match but lost the second one against the Pontifical Lance. It then went on to narrowly lose against its third opponent.

The announcer slowed down his pace when the ranking went higher and higher.

[Mr. Michael Arven Emistes has achieved a respectable 14th ranking. As the oldest Journeyman in this tournament, his work is remarkably clean and refined. His hybrid mech shows that he has not spent all of his years in vain.]

At this time, Ves hadn't heard his name yet. That was a good sign! With two victories under his belt including one against a powerful opponent, there was still a chance for him to win an actual prize.

Soon enough, the announcer unveiled the fourth place winner.

[Miss Katien Tievos is one of the youngest mech designers to take part in this tournament, but already she has shown great promise. Despite her defensive specialization, she made the bold decision to apply her specialty to a light mech, thereby producing an uncommonly tough light mech. The Phazeon has won two brilliant victories that are only marred by the time it has taken for it to wear through its opponents defenses. With the potential that this young lady has shown, I can foresee that she will definitely be able to win the top prize in a subsequent tournament in the future!]

The entire audience stood up to give the centrist mech designer a standing ovation. The strength of the mech that she had managed to make under these limiting circumstances had certainly won everyone's appreciation. The Phazeon was truly the strongest light mech in this tournament!

Now, the most exciting part of the tournament had come. Ves was already incredibly happy because the announcer had yet to call his name!

"C'mon. Leave my name for last." He whispered as he clenched his fists.

[The next Journeyman is a man that no one has expected to make it this far. This dark horse has stayed under everyone's radar during the design and fabrication stage and only managed to reveal his true potential during the fighting stage. I am happy to announce that the third place winner of the High Tide Tournament is Mr. Ves Larkinson! His Pontifical Lance has shown us a side of mechs that none of us have ever witnessed! Although not even our expert commentators can explain what has happened in its third and most spectacular match against the Phazeon, it is undeniable that only a mech designer as unique as Mr. Larkinson can develop such a machine!]

Ves didn't know whether to be happy or sad at this announcement. Even as the entire audience and all of his fellow contestants clapped at his accomplishment, he felt mixed about the fact that all of his efforts only caused him to win the equivalent of a bronze medal.

"Well, at least I got a ship."