The Mech Touch

Combining several spiritual constructs with different properties together was a basic application of spiritual engineering. Since physical objects consisted of different materials, why shouldn't spiritual objects be the same?

This was a very simple feat of engineering, yet it wasn't as clear-cut as it seemed with regards to spiritual engineering.

When Ves concentrated his mind and studied the Grand Dynamo that churned out lots of spiritual energy in his mind, he was amazed at how it consisted of one, seamless construct!

Despite its apparent simplicity, it was nonetheless capable of performing many different functions. The spiritual engineering principles used in the creation of the Grand Dynamo were obviously much more sophisticated than what he came up with. Ves had barely come any closer to deciphering its mechanisms from when he initially obtained this reward.

It was like comparing the wall painting of caveman to a vivid, modern projected image!

"Well, I have to start somewhere." He sighed.

He did not think his implementation was weak or ineffective. It may be rough, but its relatively simplicity meant that there were fewer ways it could go wrong. Ves had a good feeling about the death spear when he observed it with his spiritual senses.

The only downside was that the compound spiritual construct already took up a considerable amount of real estate.

While he could have used spiritual energy to form the death spear, Ves wanted to beef it up in order to resist any attempts at weakening the Valkyrie Redeemer's most important spiritual tool!

The Marked For Death ability not only allowed the Valkyrie Redeemer to stand out from other aerial flanker and harasser machines, but considerably increased the success rate of an all-out dive attack!

Ves made sure to emphasize three different aspects in the formation of the death spear.

First, it had to induce a sense of imminent death against the target.

Second, it had to provide the mech pilot with enough control to affect the right target.

Third, the suppressive glow had to be strong enough to resist any interference and overcome any hindrances.

Ves looked forward to seeing whether he attained all three goals once the project proceeded to the prototype-testing phase.

"There's still room for another ability." He thought.

Inducing the terror of death in someone augmented the offensive capabilities of his mech. There was no need for him to strengthen it further.

What Ves sought to do instead was to enhance the survival of the mech. Even if it was a medium mech, the Valkyrie Redeemer could not take a lot of hits. This was one of its biggest shortcomings and something that concerned him quite often whenever he worked on the design.

The problem was that the death spear already took up quite a lot of 'spiritual capacity'. The spiritual foundation of a mech could only support a limited amount of spiritual constructs before starting to lose too much strength.

Going any further would be no different from trying to build a castle above a couple of wooden twigs. The entire layout was liable to collapse!

He couldn't create something as strong as the death spear, but he didn't need to in his opinion. Ever since he and his partner added the Starburst module to the Valkyrie Redeemer, Ves mulled over whether he should add a spiritual dimension to this disengagement tool.

The strong but localized ECM pulse along with the spontaneous release of disruptive energy particles were mainly targeted towards confusing various sensors. Each activation momentarily overwhelmed various kinds of optical sensors, heat sensors, acoustic sensors and so on, thereby preventing the enemies of the Valkyrie Redeemer to track its subsequent movements for at least a second!

However, the Starburst module possessed a fatal flaw that caused the Hex Army to limit its implementation.

It did not disturb a prepared and well-trained opponent.

Mechs were controlled by humans. The Starburst module only confused the former, but not the latter.

Certainly, if the enemy mech pilots did not anticipate getting hit by a burst of disruption, they would probably grow muddled for a moment, giving the Valkyrie Redeemer ample time to escape!

Yet Ves did not believe that the Fridaymen would remain ignorant for long. With the Blessed Squire making such a huge impact on both sides, he believed the Valkyrie Redeemer would definitely attract a lot of attention.

It would be quite bad if the Fridayman mech pilots studied the Valkyrie Redeemer's properties and memorized how to fight the marauder mech!

Against elite and prepared enemy mech pilots, they could just shield their sensors beforehand or simply let them get blinded while launching their attacks blindly!

In such a critical situation, a triggered ability which allowed the Valkyrie Redeemer to induce a spiritual shock to nearby enemies could be a life saver!

Living through several successive Mastery experiences provided him with a deep understanding of the importance of rhythm and focus. Disrupting them with a sharp spiritual shock was enough to make enemy mech pilots pause, and at a crucial timing this was enough to allow the Valkyrie Redeemer to retreat unscathed!

When it came to triggered abilities, Ves had learnt that symbolism and intent mattered the most. The constructs he shaped carried his touch, and therefore his framework on how they were supposed to work.

To put it simpler, as long as Ves believed something would happen, a well-designed construct would do its best to make it happen!

Of course, it wasn't as simple as he sounded. There were many nuances and unknown variables at play that Ves did not fully grasp. He could only resort to trial and effort to come up with a viable spiritual construct.

He initially started to form a spiritual construct in the form of a bomb or an explosive. However, Ves did not wish to risk the construct blowing up and dealing damage to the Valkyrie Redeemer's spiritual foundation.

He experimented with other constructs before he settled on creating a traditional bell.

As long as the bell rang once, the spiritual construct released a pulsing wave that was supposed to shock anyone within the range of the Valkyrie Redeemer's glow!

The soul bell consisted of two spiritual constructs. The main body was filled with death attributes in order to induce fear, while the clapper that was responsible for ringing the bell compressed the active effect in a pulsing wave.

The soul bell wasn't strong if it was constantly active. Ves overcame this problem by designing the spiritual construct in a way that allowed it to acc.u.mulate its energy. Once the mech piloted triggered the ability, the bell immediately rang, thereby releasing all of the pent-up energy at once!

He called it the Shock Pulse.

One of the most crucial properties of this Shock Pulse ability was that it aimed squarely towards non-Hexers. Any Hexer or believer in the Superior Mother should be able to remain unaffected, which was very important as Ves did not wish for the mech pilot of the Valkyrie Redeemer to pause at the crucial moment of activation!

Ves hoped that this implementation was sufficient to disrupt any nearby enemy. The Valkyrie Redeemer would be able to activate this ability to facilitate its retreat as well as its advance!

"The mech doesn't necessarily have to leap back into the air. It can also perform a follow-up attack!"

At this point, Ves believed the Valkyrie Redeemer could accommodate no more triggered abilities without weakening its fundamentals. That was unacceptable!

"I wonder how they will hold up against any possible counters to my mech." He whispered.

He could no longer assume that glows would be able to empower the users of his mechs with impunity. Once the Masters who targeted his design philosophy rolled out their counter designs, Ves was not certain whether the two triggered abilities of the Valkyrie Redeemer would function correctly under adverse circ.u.mstances.

Nonetheless, he did not believe that any competitor could negate his glows entirely. If mech designers were able to completely negate each other's specialty, then why develop in the first place?

In every conflict he studied, he rarely encountered any mention where the work of one mech designer completely negated a specialty!

Nonetheless, he knew too little about Masters to say for sure.

Ves felt grateful that he came up with the Sanctuary Project. Designing a mech that was expressly designed to counter his own work seemed crazy at first, but with the advent of competition, it was actually quite a clever response!

The difference between his own counter and the counter developed by his competitors was that he exerted no control over the latter!

He couldn't just call Master Olson and beg her to take it easy on his mechs.

In contrast, selling the Sanctuary mechs to the market would ensure that Ves would be able to control exactly when glows worked and when they were suppressed. The hidden backdoors and rules that he planned to add to the Sanctuary would make sure of that!

Most of the counters developed by Masters probably ended up in the military rather than the private sector. As long as the Sanctuary offered the best value for money, Ves would definitely be able to gain a lot of market share of mechs that countered his glows!

Now that Ves completed the triggered abilities of the Valkyrie Redeemer, he felt tempted to do the same to his other projects.

Some of them were a bit further ahead than others, but they had all progressed to the point where Ves was able to play with their spiritual foundations.

Gloriana picked up his exhaustion and excitement when they next contacted each other.

Her physical projection stepped close to his and touched his arm. Ves felt a strong pressure on his skin, which caused him to look at her in puzzlement.

"This isn't supposed to happen. Why is your touch so strong?"

She grinned at him. "I upgraded the physical projection tech of my stateroom aboard the Stellar Chaser! Doesn't that sound great?"

"High-quality physical projection machines are expensive. Why would you possibly spend so much money?" Ves frowned.

"To do this." She snapped her fingers.

A smell suddenly tickled his nose. Ves widened his eyes. He could actually smell one of her regular perfumes! A hot and rosy smell intoxicated his nasal senses as he breathed the distinctive smell generated by the Darkbreak module.

He wasn't able to determine whether the smell precisely matched the perfume, but the fact that the Darkbreak module was able to convey this much was already impressive!

"You.. upgraded your physical projectors just to make your projection smell better?"

"No, silly. I also wanted to do this!"

Her physical projection threw itself at him, causing him to feel a strong pressure exerted on his body. Before he knew it, her projection kissed his lips!

Though Ves knew he was just feeling simulated pressure generated by the Darkbreak module, the illusion was very close to reality!

When the two began to engage in some tongue action, Ves found to his surprise that he could sense plenty of moisture on his tongue and lips!

What an amazing function! Physical projection technology had evidently advanced considerably since the time he interacted with the virtual officers of the Starlight Megalodon!

Once Gloriana withdrew her lips, she gazed at him with an intriguing look. "Did you know why humans originally developed physical projections? In space, it's very hard for couples to live apart from each other. There is so much you can do to sustain the love you have for someone if you are just limited to talking to an intangible projection. There's also a lot of lonely bachelors aboard vessels who can't go to a club and aren't allowed to fraternize with each other."

"Wait a minute.. are you suggesting that.."

"Hihi! You guessed it! Technology is so amazing. Let us test whether modern physical projection technology is good enough for you to be able to 'discharge your energy' to me across light-years…"

The hands of her physical projection already started to unbutton and peel off his shirt uniform. Though Ves felt excited, he also felt reluctant to engage with her any further!

"Wait! This channel isn't secure! Our lovemaking will probably end up in the archives of the MTA. Master Willix is probably watching at this very moment!"

"Then let her. I don't mind, hihi!"