The Mech Touch

Ves was starting to think that all of those native stories of the Red Ocean might have a kernel of truth.

There were so many myths and tales among the indigenous alien races where their members managed to become gods by injecting their bodies with phasewater!

While there were other sources that claimed that certain alien heroes managed to ascend to godhood first before their mundane blood made way for phasewater, there was no doubt that this liquid exotic was ubiquitous in all of these tales!

Ves initially dismissed these fairy tales as superstitious claptrap that conveniently utilized a widespread powerful exotic substance as a common plot device.

Now it appears that phasewater played a much more important role to those myths.

"Maybe… there are different species of so-called gods!"

The entities that claimed to be gods in the Milky Way were mostly extremely powerful energy-based life forms.

Whether they had bodies or not, Ves had no doubt that their strength could be measured by the quality and quantity of the energies that made up their spirits!

The Red Ocean was different.

While Ves had encountered plenty of instances of entities with powerful spiritualities, it only became apparent to him now that the indigenous alien races did not put much stock in developing their spiritualities.

Instead, they focused on developing an alternate form of ascension that was much more corporeal and reliant on a local resource.

"Anyone can become a god as long as they can tolerate enough phasewater!"

This was a bold statement and one that significantly subverted his current paradigms!

However, it made too much sense for him to dismiss this absurd theory. Too many indigenous alien races worshiped entities that had lots of phasewater running through their bodies that there wasn't a place for any illusionary or invisible gods that watched over the mortals from an ethereal plane!

"Interesting!"

An exoanthropologist would probably be able to analyze these differences on a much deeper level, but Ves already became fascinated by the contrast.

"Doesn't this make the phase whales the most divinely blessed race in the Red Ocean, then?"

Perhaps one of the reasons why few indigenous races dared to mess with the phase whales was not because they feared their enormous individual might, but because they regarded them as living gods!

Every mature phase whale had organs that contained phasewater. The more powerful ones somehow managed to turn all of their blood into phasewater!

"The former could be considered the Red Ocean version of a demigod while the latter is probably regarded as a real god!"

This not only meant that the phase whales had the highest concentration of gods in their midst, but that any other alien organism that was able to tolerate phasewater in their bodies also amounted to different varieties of local gods!

Ves looked at the battle against Titania's original astral beast incarnation and the Purgatory Campaign in a completely different light after he made this realization.

The battle against the monstrously huge astral beast was like fighting a massive indigenous god beast!

"Damn, we really lucked out back then. If that astral beast hadn't escaped from a death match with another phase whale back then, it wouldn't have been easy for us to land the killing blow."

Even then, the Golden Skull Alliance only managed to slay the Titania by employing their trump cards, of which their expert pilots played a crucial role!

The raid against the Phase Kingdom during the Purgatory Campaign was the equivalent of invading a divine territory and challenging a subordinate god and its 'angels'!

The Phase King was indeed powerful enough for the local aliens to regard him as a god. It took Venerable Vincent advancing to expert pilot and entering the state of Unity of Man and Machine for him to wield the power that was equivalent to a halfgod to beat up the fish-whale king!

"It appears that I have fought against more pretender gods than I initially thought." He muttered.

While Ves had no issue with the superstitious practices of the indigenous alien races, the problem was that he had just undergone a baptism where the Red Ocean was essentially grooming him into an indigenous 'god'!

Oh, the Milky Way also pitched in. It was simultaneously setting him up to become an old school 'god' like the Unending One or the powerhouses from the Five Scrolls Compact!

"I never asked for this." He complained.

Unfortunately, neither of the two living galaxies showed any consideration for his opinion.

To be fair, it was his fault for undertaking this process to begin with. He was pretty much following one of the methods of ascension that the System offered to him. A scenario like this would have happened sooner or later.

"Maybe every high-ranking mech designer must go through this experience when they grow strong enough." He guessed.

The only question was whether this was a trial and an opportunity that took place when advancing to the rank of Master Mech Designer or Star Designer!

Ves already began to experience strain in his head.

"Damnit. This is going to mess up my progression!"

He essentially used a combination of the Mech Designer System Version 2.0 and a bastardized version of a local indigenous alien ascension method to receive this transformation while he was still a Journeyman Mech Designer!

Although the incredibly messy hybrid process worked out somehow, Ves had essentially complicated his previously pure progression track by mixing in Red Ocean-style ascension characteristics!

While this might bestow huge benefits to him, it also meant that he developed on phasewater!

Would he have to copy the behavior of those reclusive phase whales and tinker with his body until he found a way for phasewater to safely flow through his veins?

"Urgh."

What would other people think if they found out what kind of craziness he got mixed up in? Would they regard him as a freak?

And what about the indigenous alien folk? They might regard him as one of theirs if he became powerful enough one day!

Given the reaction displayed by the orven captives when Ves channeled the Phase King, he had a suspicion that it would be easy for him to join the local 'pantheon'!

As the enormous influences of the Milky Way and the Red Ocean continued to course through his entire being, Ves felt as if these two living galaxies had violated his identity and forced him to become more removed from his humanity.

He already had trouble with identifying himself with the human race due to all of his physical augmentations. Now he deviated even further from his original self!

As his crisis of identity began to grow stronger, his mind and spirit were beginning to experience a lot of strain.

It was as if they were beginning to crack!

Yet before they did so, much more the turbulence suddenly ceased.

"I am a mech designer. That is all that matters." He spoke with a remarkable degree of clarity in his voice.

It might be silly, but it worked for Ves. He clung so strongly to his identity as a mech designer that it superseded his attachment to his identity as a human!

"I see. I understand. This is one of the sacrifices that I had to make."

There was no gain without pain.

Ves received a life-changing baptism of two different galactic energies. That was probably far more than most individuals ever got to experience.

Though the relatively compact size of his divine artifact limited his intake, he still had to shed different pieces of himself.

Perhaps he had already started to do so from the beginning of the entire dream sequence.

His talks with Carlos Shaw and Marcella Bollinger were about letting go of old resentments. They were also about reconciling with his past so that he no longer felt the need to avoid it as much as possible.

His argument with Melinda Larkinson was about doubling down on his commitment to subject his family and clan to difficult challenges, knowing that many people would die as a consequence.

His group talk with the four women was about… making peace with choosing Gloriana over any other alternative. He developed a greater love and appreciation for what his current wife brought to his life, despite knowing that marrying a Hexer would introduce a lot of intercultural conflict in his relationship!

His talk with Captain Zonrad Reze was about deflecting the enormous amount of guilt accumulated by many different circumstances connected to his work and actions. He did not deny that abuses and injustices took place, but he considered them a necessary price to pay to serve a greater goal, one of which was ensuring the survival of the human race.

It was profoundly ironic to Ves that he had to give up a part of his humanity in his next and last dialogue!

Whatever the case, each different instance represented a step in a mystical transformation process.

After going through so many changes, his baptism was complete.

"I am… born again."

It was difficult to describe his current mood and state. He still looked like the same Ves as before on the surface, but only he knew that he was fundamentally different.

Before he entered this dream sequence, he could still claim to be a mortal who just happened to be good at designing mechs.

He wasn't sure whether he could truthfully say these words after all of this was over.

"Perhaps… I'll become a 'god' who just happened to be good at designing mechs instead."

He did not object to this idea as much as before. It didn't matter what race or type of existence he was turning into as long as he could still design mechs!

The excellence of his products would be the tickets that ensured he retained the acceptance of the human race.

"I bet that many god pilots and Star Designers are struggling with the same issue."

They were already so far removed from their human roots that they could easily leave the confines of human civilization and strike out on their own, much to the detriment of the rest of humanity!

This was why it was so important for them to retain their anchors to human society and remain involved by contributing to their original race.

Just as he contemplated more about the importance of maintaining ties to humanity, the dream sequence abruptly ended.

"What?"

He was back in the Sacred Hearth that was in the middle of the Sacred Temple.

His return to the System Space happened so nonchalantly that Ves struggled to adjust to the new situation.

He soon noticed that he was holding something powerful that also happened to register as another part of himself!

"My cyborg cat!"

Different from before, the cyborg cat not only held a small piece of his Divine Core, but was also brimming with two different types of galactic energies!

Those powerful high-end energies had already changed and transformed his initial work in many ways.

This process was still ongoing, but he could see that his small divine artifact was struggling to contain the galactic energies!

Not only that, he began to feel as if something massive and powerful was beginning to form above his head.

Ves looked up at the ceiling and noticed that the middle of the roof actually featured a hole.

"I did not know that was there."

Normally, the false sky of the System Space generally showed pleasant weather with relatively clear skies.

Now, dark and ominous storm clouds had gathered. As the clouds continued to roil, a lot of potential energy started to form.

The sight caused Ves to recall a particularly ominous event.

"Uh oh…"

Ves had witnessed the appearance of an unexplainable lightning storm during the creation of the Superior Mother.

Now, his intuition told him that he and his cyborg cat were about to receive the same treatment!

He immediately unfolded and sealed his helmet in order to insulate his body from electric shocks!

"Why?!"

He did not have any clear answers why this was happening. Perhaps it was because he had broken the rules and forced himself to ascend through an unusual method, thereby committing a grave taboo.

"Oh, come on! You could have issued a fine if you wanted to punish me. Why would you go straight to corporal punishment? That's so uncivilized!"

CRACK!

"AHHH!"

Ves suddenly suddenly became shocked by an enormous lightning bolt that completely bypassed his Unending Regalia and directly struck his actual body!

Fortunately, his cyborg cat somehow attracted most of the power of the lightning bolt, though Ves had been forced to toss his divine artifact from his grasp as a consequence.

Just as Ves got over the initial pain, another large lightning bolt coursed through the open roof!

"AHH! NOT AGAIN!"