The Mech Touch

When Ves asked Tifi Coslone to bestow an official name to her Splitter Project, she paused for a few seconds.

"To be honest, I haven't actually come up with a good name for my work."

That sounded interesting. A mech designer and particularly a Journeyman was never indecisive when it came to their work. Tifi poured several months worth of effort into the Splitter Project. How could she still be stuck at this juncture?

"What's the problem?"

"All of the ones that I came up with contains words that are overused. Think of Berserker, Viking, Shieldbreaker and so on. While they can fit any axeman mech, I don't think they can do justice to the Splitter Project. It deserves to carry a more unique name due to its power and its glow."

Ves looked thoughtful as he considered various possible names. 

Tifi's good bosom friend spoke up at this time.

"If I may make a suggestion, how about calling it the Redaxe?" Janassa suggested.

Everyone looked up at the dormant axeman mech. As a mech destined to become one of the mainstays of the Avatars of Myth, it came in the Larkinson Clan's iconic gold coating.

However, Tifi chose to make the mech's appearance stand out by coating the blade of its large axe in a bright red shade. This caused the total package to offer a contrast that gave the mech a more threatening vibe, especially when it was deployed alongside the more gentle-looking Bright Warrior!

"Redaxe… sounds acceptable. If Commander Melkor is okay with it, then I let it be known by this name." Tifi eventually said.

"Great!" Ves grinned. "The Redaxe will be sure to become a prominent presence in our armed forces once the Avatars are able to field it in greater numbers. For now, you need to be patient as we still don't have room for all of our new mech models."

After wrapping up all of the necessary administrative steps for the new Redaxe model, Ves moved on to the final two mechs in the workshop.

He had saved the best for last.

Although models such as the Light Hunter and the Transcendent Charger all had their good points, they were within the range of what he expected.

In each of the projects they surveyed today, Ves had become involved just so that he could make them alive. This added extra value to the mech designs, but they weren't necessarily better than what he could have designed by himself.

Sure, his design philosophy made it difficult to match the defenses designed by Sara or the advantages of other mech designers, but his work possessed its own charm, as evidenced by his Stingripper light harasser mech model!

The only products that he was not certain about matching were the ones designed by his former student Ketis.

Compared to ordinary Journeymen, the Swordmaiden mech designer was able to leverage her swordmaster capabilities to her advantage during the design process!

This was a massive advantage as it was almost equivalent to two different mech designers working on the same mech design project!

"No. This description isn't accurate enough." Ves shook his head.

The two mech designers actually possessed different but related specialties! They just happened to synergize so well with each other that the mech design would definitely possess strength beyond what even a talented Journeyman like Jovy Armalon could accomplish!

The only way that Ves could compete against such an absurdly powerful approach was to tie design spirits in his products. Without borrowing help from external parties, Ves wasn't sure whether his base design solutions were enough to achieve parity with Ketis' revolutionary new techniques!

While Ves tried to guess whether he was still the best mech designer in the Larkinson Clan, the woman he was thinking about proudly stepped forward.

Though Ketis wore a typical lab coat that mech designers usually wore while they designed their mechs, she was anything but a typical intellectual like the rest of them. The large and menacing-looking greatsword that obediently followed her from behind showed that she wasn't hesitant about eliminating her problems in a more direct fashion!

A part of him felt incredibly proud. Though he wasn't her first mentor, he was still her teacher in a sense. He also gave her the advantages that she needed to bloom into one of the most remarkable mech designers to have emerged in recent times.

Just the fact that she was able to pursue two extraordinary professions at once meant that she had great potential!

However, the more he recognized her formidable design prowess, the more he felt threatened by her rise.

Even though she had yet to introduce her first two proper solo mech designs, Ves could already tell that both of them were exceptional in their own ways.

Ketis was still lacking in experience! She had only advanced to Journeyman relatively recently. Although she had participated in the design of numerous Larkinson expert mechs, she hadn't been able to flex her full design capabilities due to the need to collaborate with many other colleagues.

This wasn't the case anymore. Both the Monster Slayer Project and the First Sword Project were completely under control.

Ves wasn't involved in them because Ketis was able to make her mech designs alive in her own unique way!

Though Ves was impressed by Ketis' ability to adapt and assimilate her gains, that only turned her into a more formidable rival.

Was it detrimental to him and his clan if Ketis surpassed every Larkinson mech designer?

No. The clan would gain a powerful new pillar that could help the Larkinsons make more progress in their ambitions!

This was the rational answer, and one that Ves should embrace.

Emotionally, he felt different about it. He wanted Ketis to make progress, but not to the point of leaving him in the dust!

How could he possibly maintain his pride if Ketis surpassed his strength? He wouldn't be able to call himself a man anymore!

Not only that, but his legitimacy as the clan patriarch would diminish as well. Everyone in the clan knew that one of the reasons why Ves remained in charge was because he was its most powerful mech designer.

If Ketis advanced to Senior before himself, how could this argument still hold true? She had the potential to wrest power and authority from his hands!

His blood pumped faster as he felt challenged.

"Not even my wife can make me feel so pressured." He frowned.

Maybe he should step up his efforts and try to create more radical innovations in the next design round. He had grown too comfortable with his existing set of tools. Perhaps it was time to expand his toolbox once more.

Ketis had stepped in front of her completed commercial mech by now. The Monster Slayer possessed a different vibe than many of the other mechs in the workshop.

This was because it was not a living mech in the traditional sense. In fact, Ketis' design approach did not emphasize life as much as Ves, so this was not a prominent quality in her work.

What the Monster Slayer did possess was a fainter but sharper impression. The greatsword-wielding mech was like a mirror of Ketis when she was in her fighting mood!

"I am sure you have already noticed that my solo mech designs don't possess any glows." She began. "That is not a shortcoming in my eyes. I am confident that my mechs will definitely appeal to both our fellow Larkinsons and people outside of our clan."

Ketis reached out to her Bloodsinger and pulled out her personal weapon from its scabbard.

With the evolved Sharpie occupying the weapon, the Bloodsinger possessed a strong presence that was not weaker to that of a masterwork expert mech!

As everyone stood by and watched, Ketis resonated with her weapon, causing it to glow and accumulate power.

What was shocking was that the swords secured to the backs of both the Monster Slayer and the Second Sword began to glow and echo with power!

Even though the effect was not that strong, the stunt still showed that Ketis had managed to impart at least one special quality to her designs!

Ketis grinned. "The first thing you should know about my Monster Slayer is that it is an attempt to pass on a part of my swordsmanship to others. While it is a swordsman mech that can perform adequately in battles on land, I did not design it with the harsh conditions of hostile planets in mind. I primarily designed it to function as an arena mech, which is exactly what the Wild Fighter Association has asked for. What I did with the Monster Slayer was add more features to it that will help it stand out in the market."

She began to introduce the most important elements one at a time.

"First, let's start with its offensive capabilities. As you can see, the Monster Slayer is a swordsman mech that does not rely on any other weapons to win its battles. It is solely optimized to wield a greatsword and will not be able to make the most out of other weapons such as daggers and lighter swords."

She pointed specifically at the arms of the mech.

"I did not invite Janassa or Tifi to help me increase the mechanical strength of my Monster Slayer because I want to keep the design to myself. I designed its arms and internal architecture with more moderate strength levels in mind. The truth is that my swordsman mech doesn't need exaggerated physical strength."

She emphasized her point by suddenly performing a few sword routines with her Blood Singer!

"Look at how I fight. I am not applying an excessive amount of force in my movements. Instead, I rely on my momentum and the weight of my weapon to help me swing my blade. This is the foundational greatsword style and it is sufficient to most wielders of this sword type. Every Swordmaiden has learned how to fight in this manner. As women, they are not necessarily the strongest individuals, but they can overcome their weaknesses through learning specific techniques."

She stopped swinging her blade, much to everyone's relief. No one felt comfortable about standing so close to a lethal weapon!

"My Monster Slayer's physical strength isn't as formidable as that of the new Redaxe, but that allows my work to fight in a more balanced manner. The agility, reaction speed, range of motion and other properties are all good. As long as the mech pilot is good enough, he or she can use my Monster Slayer to defeat superior opponents. It is agile enough to circle around opponents and it can also jump and dash short distances if needed!"

She had devoted quite a lot of attention to the legs during the design process. The Monster Slayer was not meant to clash against enemies upfront like the Redaxe. Instead, it was the consummate duelist mech and possessed a much higher skill ceiling than many of the other mechs in the workshop!

In other words, a good mech pilot was able to perform miracles while a more mediocre mech pilot might easily stumble with the Monster Slayer.

"Offense and mobility are the two most important strengths of my Monster Slayer design." Ketis stated. "Its defensive properties are not great to be honest. While it looks like a medium mech, my arena mech will fare better if it is piloted like a light mech. The mech isn't weighed down by excess armor, so it should be able to outpace and outmaneuver many other melee mech models."

This inevitably made the mech weak against ranged mechs, but no one bothered to mention that. The Monster Slayer might be able to defeat ranged mechs in a fair arena battle, but it would be a different story if it stepped onto the battlefield.

Its slightly thin defenses along with its lack of ranged solutions meant that the Monster Slayer was only good for one role, and that was dancing opponents until they were eliminated!