The Mech Touch

Ves found it foolish that he reacted with disappointment after receiving the Oceancaller.

Even though it was not the enlightenment fruit that he desired to obtain the most, he quickly found out that the initially unassuming metal flute held a lot more depth and value than he initially assumed!

"Ancient relics can't be judged according to the same standard as modern ones." Ves quickly determined. "This is especially the case for high-level artifacts!"

There were two iconic artifacts that had made a profound impression on him so far. However, they were far too powerful for him to approach and study.

The Heavensword was a grand work that possessed a mind of its own. It was driven by the obsessions imprinted by its ancient master and had become feral after it was left by itself!

The Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown that remained attached to Vulcan's Divine Core may have been reduced to a compliant metal energy dispenser, but Ves had never let down his guard against this dangerous symbol of authority!

Now that Ves had learned a bit more about the true nature of heavenly authorities and how they achieved their goals by enslaving those who grew from their care, he possessed a much greater understanding of how the symbols of authority imitated this modus operand]!

The crown was powerful because it was able to grant a huge amount of power in a much more direct fashion.

However, that also made it a lot more dangerous! It only had a single 'client', so whoever received its blessing could not possibly escape the attention of this dangerous artifact!

Ves couldn't help but admire his mother even more for devising a cultivation method that unscrupulously absorbed the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown without any restraint!

Yet that had also given Vulcan a huge headache that grew stronger with each passing day.

The longer Vulcan took advantage of the crown, the more debts of karma he accrued.

Sooner or later, Vulcan needed to address this looming debt one way or another!

This was what his mother meant by describing one of the four conditions needed for Vulcan to transcend into a True God.

No matter whether Vulcan destroyed it outright, carried out its orders or renegotiated his deal with the relic, it was undoubtedly going to be a herculean task for him to resolve his astronomical debt!

"Thanks mom." Ves grumbled.

Compared to the rogue Heavensword and the nefarious Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown, the Oceancaller held an entirely different meaning to him. It might not be as powerful as the other two legacies of ancient times, but that made it so much more manageable!

Ves had no doubt that the authentic version of the Oceancaller would have been just as dangerous and uncontrollable as the aforementioned sword and crown.

Yet the Wishing Fountain did not present him with this insanely powerful artifact that was steeped in a lot of history.

A radiant lottery ticket simply wasn't worthy enough to draw such a valuable prize.

The best it could do was give Ves an opportunity to win a replica of this ancient artifact.

From what he could gather after studying the flute in his hands, the System had likely reproduced it through a sophisticated process that was more advanced than materialization.

Unlike the materializers utilized by the first-raters, the production process of the System went a few steps beyond that and accurately replicated the ancient hyper technology and E-technology aspects of the artifact as well!

"Yet there is no heart and soul in its creation." Ves sighed in mild regret.

The lack of a skilled human touch only caused the replica to take over the shape of the Oceancaller. It lacked the love, passion, emotions and intent that could have elevated its quality to a much greater height.

Ves was not dissatisfied with this shortcoming.

It was the opposite. He was incredibly happy to have obtained a copy of the real product because it had been neutered just enough for him to maintain control over this artifact!

He did not want to deal with another ticking time bomb like the Iron Resonant Crucifix Crown.

The replica of the Oceancaller possessed all of the basic functions and abilities of the real version, but did not come with any of the baggage!

Of course, its notable shortcomings also reduced its power by an enormous degree, but that was an acceptable tradeoff as far as Ves was concerned.

"The important part is that you are not a static product. Even though you work a bit differently from my living mechs, you still work along similar lines. The more I make use of you, the more you will absorb my spiritual feedback. Combined with absorbing E energy radiation, I am sure you will grow as powerful as the original one day."

Ves had no illusion that this would be a long journey. It could take hundreds if not thousands of years before it grew into an artifact that could serve as a worthy accompaniment to a powerful True God.

That was not necessarily bad. Ves could not handle an Oceancaller that was at the peak of its power. It was better for him to start off with a blank slate and slowly develop an intimate relationship with his new artifact over time.

He lovingly stroked the surface that was still glowing with many exquisite blue runes. "Even though you are not the original, you can be considered its successor. I shall continue to call you the Oceancaller, is that alright with you? I can bestow you with a new name if that is what you prefer instead."

Though the artifact flute did not convey any obvious response to his suggestions, Ves possessed a keen sensitivity towards life.

His intuition vaguely told him that the flute was fine with inheriting the name and the identity of its original.

The flute did not really object to its status as a replica. It possessed a fondness towards the original Oceancaller that it was based upon, and considered it to be an honor to inherit the mantle of this once-powerful artifact!

That was both good and bad to Ves. While his Oceancaller was comfortable in its own skin, its hero worship towards its predecessor meant that it had partially taken over the likes and dislikes of a relic wielded by a murderous cultivator!

It was like taking over a living mech that had already grown alongside another mech pilot for many years.

Ves needed to accommodate the whims of the flute without going overboard. If he blindly tried to act according to what the flute expected from its owner, then he would eventually find himself turning into the second incarnation of the Mistress of the Oceans!

He could not afford to let that happen!

A lot of thoughts swirled through his mind. He needed to adopt a rational and measured relationship strategy with his new artifact. He wanted to take advantage of all of its possibilities without getting affected by its dangerous quirks.

"So this is what it is like to become an artifact cultivator."

Ves recognized that he had taken the first steps of becoming an artifact cultivator once he made the decision to utilize the Oceancaller. The fact that becoming one did not conflict with his other cultivation efforts made it a lot easier to settle for this course of action!

He did not have to make this decision. He could store it in the Vault of Eternity or pass it off to another candidate.

In fact, he continued to entertain the idea of gifting the Oceancaller to his oldest daughter if she turned out to be a lot more compatible with the extraordinary musical instrument.

However, Ves already felt he had established a bond with the mystical object. It felt completely at home in his hands. Though he could lend the Oceancaller to other people if he wanted to, he would always be its ultimate owner so long as this bond remained in place!

"Let's see what you are made of." He said as he brought his mech designer side of himself back to the forefront.

From the perspective of a creation cultivator, the Oceancaller was a defective product.

Yet that did not change the fact that it had most of the makings of an item that had most of the potential of a True God-level artifact!

The entire flute was made entirely of metal. Though he was not able to look through any of its holes and cavities, he was pretty sure that it did not carry any parts made out of wood or crystal.

Ves was also certain that it did not contain any organic elements.

"You are all metal."

This was a deliberate design choice by the maker of the original flute. There was a purity in its design that made it clear that it only served a single purpose. It contained everything it needed and nothing more.

As Ves utilized his senses as a phase lord to carefully investigate whether it was attached to a pocket space, he failed to detect anything on this front.

Though it may be that the isolation barrier prevented Ves from detecting its presence, his intuition told him that the Oceancaller truly did not carry any pocket spaces.

That disappointed Ves.

"Why not?"

A feared and powerful True God like the Mistress of the Ocean most definitely had the ability to attach a pocket space to her favored artifact.

The Heavensword and the modern god mechs of humanity all possessed their own pocket spaces. They could store a lot of useful stuff, up to and including their own E energy ecosystem!

Ves did not possess the vision and understanding to figure out why the Oceancaller lacked such a useful feature.

He actually became a bit grateful for this design choice when he realized that it had made the Oceancaller more 'affordable'.

Otherwise, he would have never been able to acquire it with the help of a radiant lottery ticket!

The metal attracted his interest as well. His strong affinity towards metal already told him that it was made out of an unfamiliar variety of top-grade hyper metal.

"It is impossible to find a hyper material of this grade outside of a high-energy environment." Ves concluded.

That meant that it was impossible to find natural deposits of this exceptional material in the Red Ocean!

He would likely have to travel to Messier 87 if he wanted to acquire large quantities of this water hyper material!

"These runes look interesting."

Ves no longer fed any of his spiritual energy to the artifact. Though it was able to sustain their activity by drawing from the ambient water energy in the environment, the runes slowly faded by themselves.

The Oceancaller was an artifact that was solely designed for active use. It was not meant to operate by itself, which was a sharp contrast to the Heavensword.

After he examined the glowing blue runes a bit more, he found to his surprise that their shapes and patterns actually shared a close resemblance to his Ascension Runes!

"They share the same origin!"

The differences in style and sophistication made it seem as if they both shared the same language.

The difference was that his Ascension Runes were a lot more raw and crude, as if they were letters written by a rural peasant.

The blue runes imprinted on the surface of the flute was a much more refined application of the same language. The letters had been formed with the personality and style of their 'painter'.

"I didn't know that runes could be applied in this fashion."

There was a strong artistry to the runes that caused them to express and channel their powers in a distinctly different fashion.

Compared to the Ascension Runes formed by 'nature', the blue runes conveyed a distinctive feminine style.

Ves carefully explored the thin, soft and delicate components. He tried to simulate how their exceptional creator was able to string together the runes into a flexible and flowing pattern that empowered the Oceancaller way beyond its material limitations!

It did not take much time for him to count the number of runes of the flute.

"There are 360 runes!"

That was way more than the handful of Ascension Runes that most of his living mechs had managed to accumulate up to this point!

Even though his living mechs could continue to acquire more Ascension Runes as they grew older, it would probably take centuries for them to ever get close to the amount of runes that came with the Oceancaller!

Ves beheld the artifact with a lot more fear and respect.

No matter whether there were considerable differences in operation between Ascension Runes and this new variation of runes, 360 of the latter definitely conveyed a lot more depth and power to this powerful artifact!