The Mech Touch

Ketis and Dise chatted a bit more about the First Sword Mark III Project.

A mech designer and a mech pilot could talk all day about mechs if they wanted, but the two kept their conversation relatively brief due to the present circumstances.

Fortunately, Saint Dise still possessed the same preferences and inclinations as before, so she did not request any drastic changes to the mech configuration of the future version of the First Sword.

The only major request to integrate a lot of metal hypers was a braindead design choice that Ketis intended to implement anyway.

There was one sensitive topic that Ketis felt obliged to address with her client.

"The First Sword will become a first-class ace mech. We are already strong enough in the middle zones. Our clan urgently needs to establish itself in the upper zones, and the Red Association also encourages second-class ace pilots to switch to piloting first-class mechs. Once I am done with upgrading your machine, you will have to fight alongside other first-raters like Tusa is doing now. Your time with the expeditionary fleet will come to a close at that point."

Dise sighed. "I know. It will be hard to fight away from most of our fellow sisters, but... maybe it is for the best. They need to be able to fight without counting on me to bail them out. The Swordmaidens need more expert pilots that can take over my role, and that won't happen if we are being too overprotective. I will make sure that I will be ready to leave once my time has come. I will use the months that I have left to make sure I won't have any remaining regrets."

"This doesn't mean that you will have to remain isolated from the Swordmaidens forever, you know. Our clan is still in the process of selecting, augmenting and training our most talented and intelligent mech pilots so that they can pilot first-class mechs. I have been told it will only take around 2 or so years for the Premier Branch to establish the rudimentary form of a first-class mech corps. You will be able to see and accompany the best of the Swordmaidens at that time. I will be there as well, eventually. I need to master the ability to design first-class mechs if I want to keep your First Sword up to date."

Dise grinned with anticipation. "I am looking forward to all of that. Did you imagine back when we were still roaming the Faris Star Region in the old galaxy that we would become first-raters and work with first-class ace mechs of all things?"

"Of course not. I thought that we would live and die as ordinary third-raters. Becoming second-raters was just a distant dream. It is all thanks to Ves and the Larkinson Clan that we managed to make it this far."

The Swordmaidens had fought hard and risked their lives plenty of times to survive and thrive to this day, but they never forgot that a single male mech designer was responsible for giving them so many fantastic opportunities.

Ketis owed Ves even more after he had brought her into the Mech Designer System.

That was also her basis of confidence into sprinting her way to becoming a first-class mech designer.

As long as she earned enough Ascension Points, she could exchange them for precious Enlightenment Fruits that could give her the raw knowledge of all sorts of high technologies that were essential to first-class mech designs.

Ketis did not think that would be enough to reach her goal. She also needed to do plenty of studying and practice on her own in order to fill up the gaps and meet the other requirements to promoting to a first-class mech designer. She could speed up her progress in this area by practicing an auxiliary qi cultivation method that boosted her intelligence and learning speed.

As long as she followed all of these steps, she no longer needed to study for several decades straight in order to make this comprehensive leap.

This was much better than her original plan!

She originally intended to remain a second-rater until her children had grown up and could go off and study on their own, but now that the Red Ocean had become a lot more dangerous, she felt it was necessary for her to step up her timetable.

"Wait a second." Dise frowned. "The First Sword Mark III will become a first-class mech, and an ace mech at that, right?"

"Correct. I just told you that earlier."

"These are the second-most powerful machines that you can design and build after god mechs. The gap between the mechs that you have designed up until now and the First. Sword Mark III is huge. You also aren't a first-class mech designer as of yet. Aren't you afraid that you will bite off more than you can chew if you attempt to design such a complicated mech?"

Ketis smiled and shook her head. "I am the project leader. That doesn't necessarily mean I have to master all of the science and engineering that is needed to design a proper first-class ace mech. I was planning to collaborate with at least one Master Mech Designer to begin with. My only problem is that I can't solicit the help of Master Benedict Cortez. My recent deal with the Cross Clan will turn us into rivals. He will not be happy with me to say the least."

"Maybe it is for the best." Dise reassured Ketis. "Master Benedict is good at energy tech, right? His specialization isn't relevant to me. My First Sword is not an energy hog like the Mars that spits out lots of energy beams on a regular basis. It's better if you can find another Master with a more helpful specialization to collaborate with. Have you found any names?"

Ketis shook her head. "Not yet. Barely enough time has passed for me to complete my list of criteria and approach different Masters based on my requirements. So far, I only have a tentative idea on what sort of Master can contribute the most to the First Sword from an ordinary Journeyman these days. You are not only a student of Ves, but you have blazed your own trail by imbuing your own swordsmanship attainments into your works. As far as I am concerned, it is other swordsman mech specialists that should be eager to collaborate with you the most. You are the only mech designer that truly understands how swordsmen and swordswomen fight at every level."

Ketis smiled. "I do not disagree with you, but Master Mech Designers who specialize in designing swordsman mechs are not incentivized to help me grow and succeed. I am a competitor to them, and an especially threatening one at that. Unless one of them is particularly selfless and kind, I do not see myself working together with one of them anytime soon. Besides, I am also afraid our design philosophies may overlap."

That sort of made sense, unfortunately. Ketis would have to improve her swordsman mechs by relying on her own efforts, which was ultimately for the better.

In any case, there were many kinds of Masters that could offer meaningful contributions to the First Sword Mark III Project.

Ketis even made another notable suggestion.

"I was even thinking of inviting a specialist in drone mechs to contribute to the project. I think that the use of sword fey to expand your close to mind-range options and reduce your reliance on the Decapitator can truly make your First Sword unique. No other ace swordsman mech will be able to do what your future machine can do. It is worthwhile to invite a mech designer who possesses high-level expertise in the development of spurs and drones to improve them to the best of our ability." ꞦåɴồВÊş

Although Saint Dise had always been accustomed to betting her life on just the greatsword in her hands, she was not opposed to making use of additional spurs that were welded onto sword blades.

It sounded like an interesting novelty. What was even better was that they were external equipment, so they wouldn't necessarily ruin the First Sword's optimization as a pure melee mech depending on how they were designed.

"Compared to before, I think I can do much more with these sword fey. Dise responded. "My metal domain can probably strengthen them and sharpen their blades much further than before. That might be enough to turn them from minor threats that are only good for cleaning up alien phase fighters to actual threats against powerhouses such as enemy phase lords. Many of them will probably get broken during a serious duel, but as long as you don't make them too expensive, that won't matter too much." Ketis looked impressed. "That... is actually a good idea. We can mass produce the fey in advance to ensure that you will always have enough replacements on hand. The upfront investment will be significant, but our clan is not short on money these days."

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