The Mech Touch

Though Ves never asked for it, he couldn't help but develop a growing interest in what it was like to wield the powers of a phase lord.

The gift from the Red Ocean was rather strange in that he did not seem to undergo any radical changes in size or mentality.

His actual brain had ballooned to a much greater size. He gained a lot more organic processing power as a result, but they did not lead to strange or inhuman thought patterns.

This was one of the reasons why the mechers assumed that his transformation into a phase lord was close to the perfect ideal.

Ves was still Ves.

His personality had not become overly distorted due to the changes and he did exhibit any obvious signs of alienation from human society.

"Did you expect anything different?" Ves asked.

"We have conducted enough studies on phase whales and phase lords to observe personality traits that are common among each of them. These changes transcend the properties of different species." Jovy replied. "Our scientists are not certain whether these shifts in personality are inherent to the development process or whether the inadequate psychologies of the native aliens are at fault."

While they talked, the mechers who teleported inside the underground testing chamber set up their monitoring equipment and brought over a lot of props.

Ves found it rather reassuring to not have to worry about arranging these preparations himself. The mechers are way more interested to see what he was capable of, so they made sure to give him plenty of ways to exercise his new abilities!

"What sort of personality traits are you concerned about, exactly?"

"I cannot say. It is best if we do not tell you about them in advance. You may behave differently if you focus too much of your attention on these changes."

As a scientist and engineer, Ves understood what Jovy was talking about.

It was already rather improper to bring up the subject in the first place, so Ves purposely changed the subject.

"Before I plan to unfold my true body, I want to spend a bit of time on exercising my spatial abilities in my current state. I think it has become a lot easier for me to displace my body and maybe even project a spatial barrier."

Jovy did not object to that. "We are curious to see what you can do as well. Are you able to perform these abilities innately, or do we need to dig out an alien scripture that can teach you the right techniques?"

"I think I can manage on my own for the time being. I think that simple spatial manipulation can easily be done with the help of a phasewater organ that is already programmed to perform specific abilities. Somehow, the latest lightning baptism has caused me to grow a couple of strange new organs inside my body. I can feel them. They are much more compatible with phasewater than the rest of my organs."

Jovy nodded and activated a projection that displayed a cross section of Ves' body.

"It is not easy to reconstruct an accurate snapshot of a body that is compressed in folded space, but our high-powered scans have given us enough data to construct this composite image. According to our studies, the concentration of phasewater in your bloodstream has increased to 1.4 percent. This is still a small figure in absolute terms, but it is many times stronger than the previous level."

Ves nodded. "I can clearly feel that I have grown a lot stronger. I just don't have a clear idea yet because I haven't let my new powers loose."

"Aside from that, your body is home to three new organs that are not inherently human. They do share a great resemblance to the common phasewater organs of other phase lords and phase whales, so we have a decent understanding of their purpose and their mechanisms. The Kelsis organ is responsible for generating spatial barriers. The Locos organ is responsible for granting you senses that enable you to perceive space and spatial phenomena without the use of tools. The Maracos organ is responsible for shaping and bending the fabric of space."

These were the three 'starter organs' that every self-respecting phase lord had to obtain in order to be recognized as a god among natives.

Ves previously did not possess them, so he never considered himself to be a real phase lord.

"How do the natives gain their phasewater organs? I doubt they can obtain them without effort like myself."

"You are correct about that, Ves. Phase lords as well as phase whales do not automatically grow them as they increase their phasewater concentration. They must rely on themselves or other specialists to cultivate customized organs that are based on their genes and their unique physical circumstances. Once the organs are grown in labs, they can be implanted or absorbed in the bodies of their new owners. After that, they can either grow alongside their owners, or may need to manually upscaled as the true bodies of phase lords increase even further in size."

All of that sounded complicated.

It showed that not even phase whales were inherently able to develop their phasewater abilities by relying on their existing organic endowments. This was why all of them became masters of biotechnology.

"Is there anything special about the three organs that I should know?" Ves asked.

"There is a lot of room for development for these organs. They are currently in their most basic states. Their stability and fault tolerance are therefore high, which is very suitable for beginners who have not yet improved their control. We have found that phase leaders tend to develop their phasewater organs laterally as well as vertically. What we mean by that is that aside from upsizing them and increasing their phasewater concentration, the organs can also be modified or mutated into more specialized variations."

Ves looked more and more interested in this subject. "What are the common changes made to the organs?"

"It depends on the organs in question. The Kelsis organ can be altered to increase the range of a spatial barrier, allowing you to shield your allies. The Locos organ can be modified to help you discover hidden pocket spaces. The Maracos organ can be changed in a way that makes it easier for you to generate gravity wells. While the benefits are usually great, many changes also entail tradeoffs where you have to sacrifice other traits. In short, the lateral modification of phasewater organs plays an important role in the development of phase leaders."

It was just like mechs in a way. The most basic ones started out simple, but they became progressively more powerful and sophisticated at higher price levels. Even then, there was limited room for customizations, so most mechs could only excel in a few areas.

"It should still be possible to perform phasewater techniques without these organs, right?" Ves asked.

"Yes." Jovy said. "You can theoretically perform any spatial ability that is possible at your current phasewater concentration so long as you are skilled enough. However, the threshold is much higher, and the efficiency is dreadfully poor. It is like using a single tool to fabricate an entire mech. It is much better to have multiple specialized tools at hand."

"Understood. I guess phasewater organs are responsible for controlling, automating, regulating and amplifying the expression of any phasewater ability."

"They can do more than that, but you have the gist of it. In any case, we do not advise you to modify your organs unless you are serious about developing your combat potential. If you decide to go down this path, then I advise you to let the Transhumanist Faction do the work of implanting new phasewater organs in your body and altering your existing ones."

"I will take that into account."

Ves was not that eager to cooperate with the Transhumanists on this matter. He did not want to surrender control of his phase lord cultivation to an external party. This was just a disaster that was waiting to happen. He still recalled the lesson taught by his mother!

"By the way, there is one notable anomaly to your physique that you should know." Jovy continued and pointed out another organ inside Ves' body. "Your so-called Jutland organ has undergone substantial changes. It has not only evolved to tolerate phasewater, but it has also integrated into your phase lord physique in a more profound fashion. We believe you can utilize Worclaw energy in a more active fashion as well, though I would like to caution you to be careful about that. This is a special form of energy that is highly destructive, as you should know."

"Noted."

Ves asked a few more questions before he changed into a special nanosuit developed by the mechers.

"Most native alien species including phase whales do not have a taboo against nakedness." Jovy explained with a smile. "When they unfold their true bodies, they don't really care about tearing their clothes. However, the more well-equipped phase lords have usually prepared giant suits of armor that can artificially enhance their capabilities. I think you may be able to design one for yourself. However, it will be difficult for you to carry it around if you do not have access to a large enough pocket space."

That indeed sounded like a problem. Ves might have the Vault of Eternity, but it cost a lot of AP to rent more storage space. He also did not want to flaunt his System abilities in public even though he was pretty sure the Red Association already figured out that he was a Holy Son.

"Is there a portable pocket space that I can exchange from the Association?"

"There is, but it will not be cheap. These sort of pocket spaces are almost exclusively reserved for ace pilots to ensure that they will never be too far away from their ace mechs. God pilots have access to even larger ones that are also extremely robust. If you are willing to expend all of the MTA merits that you have accumulated so far, we may be able to supply you with a spare device that is tied to a pocket space with enough capacity to fit a second-class light mech."

"That's too expensive!"

"It is cheap if you know what it takes to create a stable pocket space that is accessible to its owner while on the move. It is also robust enough that other phase lords cannot easily break this pocket space apart from a distance." Jovy patiently explained. "We are pretty much selling it to you at a loss with the MTA merits that you have on hand. I am only permitted to give you this exchange opportunity due to your continued cooperation in advancing our understanding of human phase lords."

Though Ves did not really care that much about all of the MTA merits he had accumulated so far, he was deeply reluctant to spend it all at once for a pocket space that was not essential to his work.