The Mech Touch

The proposal to design and fabricate two ace mechs at the same time was too outrageous for Ketis.

What was Ves thinking when he came up with such a crazy suggestion?

In order to stop Ves from pushing this insane idea onto her and the clan, the swordmaster felt obliged to resolve her indecision once and for all. She had already procrastinated long enough. Delaying this matter further would end up doing far too much damage to everyone involved.

Though Ves voiced a clear preference for the sword fey version, Ketis did not immediately want to give up on the pure version.

Yet... when Ketis thought how designing the sword fey version would present new challenges and options for her, she couldn't help but feel tempted to commit to this development trajectory.

While Ketis tried to think whether there were enough counterbalancing reasons to favor the pure version instead, she suddenly realized that she could solicit the opinion of another swordsmanship 'expert'!

She drew out the Heavensword from the scabbard pinned to her back and unveiled a glowing blade that thrummed with heavenly energy.

The projection in Ves' design lab instantly grew a little fuzzy as the optical sensors clearly struggled to accurately convey the energetic activity surrounding the relic weapon!

Ketis did not pay attention to how the Heavensword degraded the remote connection and projected two different draft designs in front of the grand work.

"Heavensword, you must have kept track of me while I worked to flesh out these designs. Which ones do you think that. I should pick to upgrade the First Sword?"

The powerful weapon began to react. It vibrated in her hand, but that was all. It did not show a clear preference towards either concept.

Ketis frowned a little. "Do you think that one of them is stronger than the other?"

The weapon shook again, but did not give a more conclusive answer. Ketis interpreted this as a no, which meant that Saint Dise would probably do well regardless of which ace mech she ended up piloting.

"Do you think that the pure version will eventually be able to break all attacks and defenses with a single strike as long as Saint Dise grows powerful enough?

The Heavensword shook up and down, which likely signified its agreement.

"Do you agree with Ves that the sword fey version has greater potential than the pure

Version."

The sentient artifact repeated the earlier motion, but this time it moved more vigorously than before!

"Why?"

The Heavensword presented a more direct answer this time.

It glowed a little brighter and used its heavenly energy to form a dozen miniature manifestations of swords in the air!

These illusionary swords were merely the size of fingers, but when they positioned themselves relative to each other according to a mysterious pattern, Ketis could feel they held power far beyond what they individually possessed!

The manifested mini-swords suddenly shot out at once, generating so much power that it felt as if they could pierce through dozens of compartments inside the hull of the Spirit of Bentheim!

While Ketis tried to process the power of this display, Ves' eyes already lit up as he observed this demonstration from remote.

Even if the projected feed had grown fuzzier, he still understood what just happened! "Formation!" He gasped! "What the Heavensword has just done shares many of the same principles as a battle formation! Do you know what this means? The First Sword Mark III can reproduce this phenomena by using sword fey instead of living mechs, thereby generating extremely powerful attacks that leverage E energy to a much higher degree than by relying on conventional hyper technology and E-technology! If we combine the potent. E energy amplification of this 'sword formation' with the material amplification of Master Thornquist's miniaturized energy link technology, the sword fey will become so ridiculously powerful that they can break through enemies much more effectively than wielding a single blade!"

That last statement remained questionable. There was no guarantee that relying on lots of seemingly fragile sword fey could ultimately produce a result that far exceeded a single solid sword.

Although Ketis still did not entirely trust the Heavensword's motives, she believed it. when the artifact showed that there was a way to amplify the power of sword fey with the use of formations.

Was this the strongest form of swordsmanship?

Not necessarily.

Did she want to explore how far she could go with sword formations?

Yes!

From the moment the Heavensword demonstrated a way for a collection of swords to exert damage that was at least an order of magnitude stronger, Ketis had already developed a fascination towards this phenomenon.

As long as the rully realized sword fey version could produce the same effect in reality, then the results would absolutely take the Red Ocean by storm!

Phase lords would fall one after another as their formidable defenses shattered against. the might of sword formations!

So what if the sword fey version did not possess more powerful space suppressors or longer-lasting energy cells?

The power of E-technology was least constrained by technological boundaries!

"I have made my decision." She eventually said. "While I still think the pure version has a lot of merit, I think... I am willing to take the chance and see where I can go with the sword fey version."

Ves grinned. "Good choice. I will help you as much as I can, though I only have time to flesh out the living sword fey and other sixth generation living mech stuff. I am sure that your collaboration with the Mech Supremacists will help you deal with the remaining problems of the First Sword Mark III Project."

The two Larkinson mech designers spent the next half hour exploring the chosen mech

Concept.

Now that Ves had returned, he was able to provide his own feedback on how to design the sword fey based on his experiences with designing the Fey Fiannas.

The discussion proved fruitful. Once Ketis formed a revised design plan for the First Sword Mark III Project, she was ready to go full steam ahead and dedicate the next five or so months to bringing her ambitious vision to a reality.

"I hope that we will be able to finish this upgrade in time for Saint Dise to make

A difference." Ketis sighed.

"Don't expect reality to bend according to your desires, Ketis. I have a feeling that Saint Dise will not be able to fight at her best in the decisive battles to come. The native aliens are clearly drawing closer to a final push. I suspect that they are waiting to push over the 4th defensive band before launching an all-out offensive thrust to overcome the 5th defensive band at once and break into the hinterland of human-occupied space."

As a woman who followed the developments of the Red War fairly closely, Ketis could not discount this possibility. It would be a costly strategy, but t was the best way for the Red Cabal to achieve a decisive victory.

"Let us hope that the Human High Command isn't asleep and is ready to foil this final

Push.

As the remote conversation came to a close, Ves and Ketis continued to communicate with each other in a friendly and familiar fashion.

In no way did they speak about any sensitive or confidential topics.

Ves did not share any of the classified secrets he learned through his position at the Red

Collective.

Ketis also refrained from speaking about the Heavensword as much as possible.

"Well, I enjoyed our talk. It was good to catch up with you after my unintentional break

From reality, but we all need to get back to our work again. Let's talk again when we have made more progress in the First Sword Mark III Project."

The connection ended soon after that. Ves stayed in his design lab in order to update his log and record his thoughts and ideas about the upgrade project.

Almost an hour passed by before Ves finally completed his chores. He looked around and noted that only his Apocalypse Warden guards kept him company. Although the situation was not exactly ideal, Ves no longer had an excuse to visit the bathroom anymore. Phase lords and human-sized toilets did not exactly play well with

Each other.

He inwardly shrugged. There was no need to fuss over this issue as much anymore. It was not as if he would expose anything if he activated it. He just wanted the added insurance of escaping monitoring as much as possible, but if that was not possible, then

He would do without.

After making his mind, Ves waited for over 2 minutes until he finally activated a command that had been tempting him ever since he woke up after completing the

Amaranto Mark III.

He entered the System Space.

A handful of System notifications immediately bombarded his vision, but Ves deliberately ignored them and turned around to greet Ketis, who should have entered the System Space at the exact right time!

"Ah, good. You managed to pick up my hidden message and... what is that behind your

Back?"

Ketis turned her head around to see a familiar hilt and scabbard attached to her back.

"It's the Heavensword."

"...I didn't know that it could enter the System Space."

"Well, you learn something new every day. Ketis lamely said.

An awkward silence stretched between the two mech designers. The Heavensword was

Not exactly a welcome presence in a space that Ves had always considered to be his

Private refuge.

Seeing that the Heavensword did not exhibit any hostile reactions, Ves was willing to believe that it did not intend to do any harm. He decided that it was best to pretend that this would remain the case.

If the Heavensword ever tried to pull anything off, then either the Mech Designer System successfully dealt with the powerful artifact, or managed to succeed anyway!

Either way, Ves was too weak to intervene in a collision between two very different but unimaginably powerful relics!

The only control he had over the situation was to make sure to never put Ketis into a

Situation that went against the interests of the Heavensword.

That shouldn't be too difficult. "Anyway, let's get to business, shall we? I think it is best if we address the upgrade to the Mech Designer System first. Can you read these System notifications?"

"I can." Ketis said. "In fact, I have already skimmed through them a month ago. I think I

Can even pick one of the upgrade tracks."

"Wait, you can do that?!"

"The Mech Designer System registers both of us as 'users' without making any further

Distinctions. That means that our status is almost the same. The only difference is that you enjoy greater seniority than I. Perhaps the reason why the System gave me the choice to choose how to upgrade it is because you were not in a condition to do so, but I am not too sure whether that is correct. Whatever the case, I knew that this was a decision that only you should make, so I have been ignoring it every time I enter the System to accept and complete Missions. I still need to earn Ascension Points."

"I see."

This was an alarming revelation to Ves! If the System did not elevate his status about.

Other 'users' of the System, then that vindicated his decision to be extremely cautious when choosing to invite other mech designers!

He couldn't imagine what Gloriana would do when presented with this situation!

Fortunately, Ketis had proven her trustworthiness yet again by refraining from making a decision that only Ves should make!

His first priority after he had dealt with this upgrade business was to inquire how he could upgrade his status in the Mech Designer System. He could not afford to let anyone, even those who currently held his trust, gain the power to usurp the System and restore it into the original Metal Scroll or whatever!

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