Ves was quite hopeful about Ketis. She was sober enough to recognize her limitations. Without a reputation in the mech market, it was very unlikely for an Apprentice to design a bestseller.
Frankly, she didn’t need to sell so many mechs. As a member of the Larkinson Clan and a mech designer working for the LMC, much of her needs were already being taken care of. There was no need for her to assume the burden of running a mech company like Ves. Therefore, earning as much profit as possible was not a priority.
She just needed to validate her worth as a mech designer by earning the satisfaction of her customers. As long as she persuaded at least a couple of thousands of mech buyers to fork over their hard-earned money for her products, she would have all the proof she needed that her work had value!
This was quite a difficult test to any mech designer, let alone someone who worked under his shadow. The competition was stiff and Apprentices simply didn’t offer enough benefits to break out of a particular niche.
“What kind of commercial mech are you thinking of designing?” Ves curiously inquired.
“I haven’t settled on the concept yet. For now, I’ve decided to design a premium spaceborn mech.”
“Why premium and why spaceborn?”
“My mech has to be at least a premium mech because my main goal has always been to design the best swordsman mechs for my sisters. I’ll never settle for something cheap and affordable. If I want to fulfill my goal, I need as much practice in designing expensive, high-performing mechs as possible. There is not much point for me to branch out into designing budget mechs.”
Ves frowned when he heard that. “I don’t agree with you. Tackling diverse mech design projects is a good way to broaden your perspective and gain a better understanding of your current direction. If you keep designing the same pattern of mechs over and over again, you’ll become blind to the shortcomings of your narrow specialty.”
“I can still branch out in other ways, Ves. There is an endless variety of swordsman mechs that I can design.”
“I know that, but varying the budgets of your mech designs is also a good way to increase your proficiency. Don’t neglect what I am saying. Even Gloriana has told me how much she improved after she started to design third-class mechs with me. If you want to design clean and efficient second-class mechs later on, you should get more practice in designing third-class mechs under the most demanding circumstances.”
“I will think about it…” Ketis hesitantly promised.
As they quietly worked together on preparing the Bright Sword Prime design, Ves suddenly brought up something completely different.
“According to Calabast, you’ve been spending some time with Venerable Joshua lately. You used to hang out with him every day before the start of our grand expedition. Ever since then, you apply to visit his ship or hang around with him when he has moved over to the Spirit of Bentheim.”
Ketis instantly reddened. “Uhmm.. we’re friends..”
“You don’t need to hide it from me.” Ves indulgently smiled. “You’re growing older, and so is Joshua. Both of you are adults. While I am your superior, I’m not your father. What you want to do is your business, not mine. I just want to tell you that I have no problem if you manage to work something out with him. The fact that both of you are involved with mechs is very convenient.”
She was quite embarrassed! She had no idea that Ves would bring up her personal life at this time!
While she didn’t exactly keep her ambitions secret, she still felt uncomfortable when her boss and teacher took interest in her love life.
“Do you love him?” Ves asked in a serious tone.
“I do.” She immediately answered.
Even though her relationship with Joshua hadn’t progressed too far, she was already willing to commit to him. If she wasn’t afraid of spooking him off, she would have moved even faster!
“What do you like about him, exactly?”
Her lips curled into an impish smile. “Where do I begin? He’s a sweet pilot. He doesn’t have much experience, but he tries his best to take care of me. Unlike nearly every other Larkinson, he doesn’t judge me for my appearance, my passion and my identity as a Swordmaiden. Too many Larkinsons think that Swordmaidens are brutes, thugs or simple-minded.”
“To be fair, you Swordmaidens are just as unique and distinctive as the Penitent Sisters. Both of you abide by some very strange customs.”
“I know that. Only a small number of people who know us personally are aware that we are individuals as well. It might be difficult to distinguish us when we are acting together, but we Swordmaidens come from many different backgrounds. The harsh and uniform training we go through is meant to smooth over our differences and make us as cohesive as possible.”
“Hmm. I’m aware of that.” Ves nodded. “Is there anything else that attracts you to him? What about your professions? Does he benefit from your expertise in mech design and do you receive some mech piloting insights in return?”
She nodded. “He’s not that good in the technical side of mechs, so I can’t explain anything too deeply to him. Regardless, I’ve taught him plenty of lessons about mechs. He should possess a greater understanding of how mechs are put together and how much he can push them. As for me, I’m already corresponding with Commander Dise, but that doesn’t mean that Joshua’s input is useless. He’s a different expert pilot and takes a completely different approach. I think I have learned more about your specialty from him than ever before!”
Overall, Ves was content that Ketis and Joshua hooked up. He appreciated both of them and benefited a lot from them. If their relationship became permanent, then Ves was confident he could keep them in his grip for generations to come.
Perhaps he might even be able to make use of their offspring! There was no way that the kids of an expert pilot and a Journeyman would be average. No matter what, Venerable Joshua and Ketis would probably do everything in their power to raise their kids into powerful mech pilots or mech designers!
Of course, there was a good chance that one of their kids would decide to pursue a different career, but all Ves had to do was to encourage the pair to produce more kids. He did not believe that none of the kids would refuse to follow in the footsteps of their heroic parents!
Now that he thought about it, he should not limit his family planning to Joshua and Ketis. There were plenty of other talented and valuable clansmen in his employ. Every human came with an expiration date. While some people were able to extend that date, it was not realistic to provide multiple rounds of life-prolonging treatment to every single clansman.
If Ves wanted to be assured of receiving loyal and competent service, he might need to make additional long-term plans.
In any case, this was not the time to think about this. Ves had some prime mechs to prepare.
With the help of Ketis, the Bright Sword Prime morphed into a mech that was much more pleasing to the eye of a Swordmaiden. When Venerable Dise checked out the mockups of the prime mechs, she was moderately pleased with what she saw.
“The mech is not as strong as I want, but I suppose it will do.” The former Swordmaiden Commander remarked. “I’m not a fan of the Bright Warrior model, and this mech reminds me far too much of it. I hope my future expert mech won’t be as boring as this so-called prime mech.”
“Don’t worry.” Ves tried to reassure the expert pilot. “This is only a stopgap mech, just like the other prime mechs. The Bright Sword Prime is not the best mech we can design for you, but it is the best we can offer in a short amount of time. If you have spoken to Venerable Joshua, you should be aware of the benefits of piloting a prime mech.”
None of the expert pilots objected to piloting a prime mech. In the absence of expert mechs, they didn’t have much choice in the first place. Even Venerable Jannzi agreed to hand over the Shield of Samar to Gloriana in order to overhaul her structure.
One of the most notable changes Gloriana wished to implement was to do away with the Shield of Samar’s outdated and underpowered polarizing module.
“She agreed with your suggestion?” Ves astonishingly asked.
Gloriana grinned as she ruffled Clixie’s belly. “Yup. She’s not as rigid as you think, Ves. It has long been clear to her that the original polarizing module simply can’t keep up with the times. I’ve decided to take out the polarizing module and install a proper second-class shield generator in its place instead. The good news is that the Shield of Samar offers enough space to accommodate a compact version of a heavy mech-grade shield generator. It’s a more expensive but also more effective version of the shield generator added to the Valkyrie Brunhild and Valkyrie Prime.”
Ves took a look at the specs of the shield generator. It indeed offered substantial defensive power against second-class attacks. Even though the prime version of the Shield of Samar already incorporated substantial amounts of Unending alloy, the ability to generate a shield would definitely be helpful in fending off attacks directed to its vulnerable rear!
“Make sure the shield generator orients its energy shield towards the rear.” He suggested. “Normally, shields are strongest at their front, but that’s exactly what the Shield of Samar doesn’t need.”
“I know. I’ve already taken that into account. Still, you can make an argument that it’s better to strengthen its strong points than diminishing its weaknesses. I thought the entire idea behind this mech is to pursue the greatest possible extreme.”
That was indeed what Ves originally pursued.
“You’re not wrong, but the Shield of Samar is too vulnerable against mobile enemies that can reach the super-medium mech’s rear. Even if Venerable Jannzi is good enough to cope with such a threatening situation, it’s still a huge distraction.”
They decided to go through with his suggestion.
Humanity invented multiple types of shield generators. The better ones offered equal omnidirectional protection. In fact, the good ones were capable of directing more protection in the direction of incoming attacks.
The model that Gloriana chose was incapable of doing this. Second-class shield generators were much more limited. By default, they could only offer greater protection in a single fixed direction.
In most cases, this was directed towards the front because that was what mech pilots were used to. A skilled mech pilot never exposed the rear of a mech to the enemy if it was possible. This was also why pincer attacks were so devastating in mech combat.
“The Shield of Samar will finally become a true defensive bulwark again after this round of upgrades.” Ves noted with some satisfaction.
“It’s still too slow, though. Although I have attempted to upgrade its flight system, here is only so much I can do in order to keep its existing internal architecture. This mech has gone through several rounds of revisions. It’s kind of confusing how it mixes third-class elements with second-class elements.”
“I’m aware of that. Once I have designed the second-class version Aurora Titan, I will be ready to streamline the Shield of Samar. For now, just focus on the low-hanging fruit.”
It didn’t matter if the Shield of Samar was a mess of a mech design. Its performance was very real!
When Ves finished checking up on Jannzi’s mech, he turned his attention to the final remaining prime mech.
The Piranha Prime was the only light machine of the current set of prime mechs.
