As the giant chalice was being filled with the blood of a dozen different exobeasts, the four Journeymen diligently proceeded to perform their various tasks. They started out small and focused on producing the smaller and more delicate components first.
The roars and shouts that reverberated throughout the mech arena did not reach the open workshop. A special energy barrier filtered out every sound vibration before it could reach the center of the arena ground. This ensured that the Journeymen were able to work with complete concentration.
There were still differences, though.
The energy barriers provided the Journeymen with an unobstructed view of the theatrics and the crowd outside.
Different mech designers dealt with this novelty in different ways.
Gloriana hunched close to her workstation and leaned close until her entire vision was surrounded by projections and display screens.
She was obviously not a fan of all of the unrestrained outbursts and ritual fighting that went on outside the open workshop.
Juliet did not go as far as to block her vision of the ceremony outside. Instead, she narrowed her concentration and disregarded anything that wasn’t relevant to her task of fabricating the parts that made up the flight system of the Decapitator Project.
Compared to the two women, Ves and Ketis reacted in a different manner to the unusual circumstances.
This was not the first time that Ves performed his craft in public. From competing in the Leemar Open Competition to pitting his products against biomechs at Ruuzon Arena, Ves had plenty of opportunities to rid himself of stage fright.
His abundant confidence in his own abilities as a mech designer kept him stable. No matter what others thought about his work, he knew he was able to do his work well.
Different from his wife, Ves did not shun the crowd and the ceremony. His spiritual senses received more stimulation than usual due to the raw emotions the spectacles evoked.
With each speech, with each sword that struck its mark and with each instance where a Swordmaiden vanquished her foe, the rousing emotions of tens of thousands of Larkinsons spiked.
Even the most spiritually dull individuals would be able to feel a hint of the human energy generated from the collective!
As someone who possessed a lot more sensitivity than that, Ves experienced the celebration of life in a deeper and more profound fashion. In fact, his deep connection to the Larkinson Network amplified this sensation as he was able to perceive the overflowing enthusiasm on a more direct level.
He worked a little harder and he became infected by the glee around him. He did not want to disappoint the crowd and aimed to inject more life in the parts he made.
Ves ultimately did not undergo any radical shifts. The output of his work was a little better than when he worked on the Vanguard Project but not by much.
He enjoyed the spectacle, but its theme and focal points did not center around himself. He was a side character today as the rituals and the current audience were overwhelmingly pinning their hopes on Ketis.
“Well, it’s fine. The Decapitator Project is Ketis’ pet project. It is only right for her to grab all of the attention today.”
Just as expected, when Ketis was finally working on a mech that completely conformed with her extreme specialized, she transformed into a substantially different mech designer.
The air around her became fully charged with her own will as she had taken back Sharpie from Bloodsinger.
Ketis kept Sharpie separate from her mind most of the time for various reasons.
Whenever the companion spirit occupied Bloodsinger, her personal greatsword constantly accumulated strength. Though the pace was slow, as long as Sharpie kept occupying it over time, the weapon would likely complement Ketis much better in a couple of years.
Second, she entered a much more serious and absolute mindset when she adopted her full swordmaster guise. Though she became the indomitable swordswoman that she had always yearned for, the lack of levity caused her to come across as far too serious for her liking.
Ketis did not want to turn herself into an inhuman warrior who only thought about training and killing all the time. Her sharpness orientation compelled her to hone her blade and self-developed sword style so she would become even more ready to defeat her next challenging opponent.
While she did not object to working hard to improve herself, she did not want to lose too much of her humanity in the process.
Her relationship with Joshua and her love for the Swordmaidens were just some of the relationships that brightened up her day and made her feel fulfilled. When she took Sharpie back in her mind, her affection still existed, but they became overshadowed by her overarching ambitions.
She certainly didn’t aim low. She not only vowed to become the best swordsman mech designer in existence, but also wanted to become a sword god in her own right.
It was already nearly impossible to reach the top of one profession. To aim for the top of another profession at the same time had never been done, at least when it came to this unique combination.
Ketis was not ignorant of her low odds. In fact, it was exactly because she recognized how many challenges she needed to overcome that she was so driven when she adopted her full swordmaster persona.
Ketis the woman was an optimistic mech designer who believed she would be able to reach her goal by working diligently and waiting for the right opportunity to arise.
Ketis the swordmaster was a driven warrior who only believed in her own strength and abilities! Instead of waiting for serendipity to arrive and allow everything to fall into place, her unyielding persona instead wanted to create her own opportunity!
“I shall craft the weapon that shall make Venerable Dise stronger with my own two hands!”
Her aura grew so strong that even Ves was able to feel it despite standing more than fifty meters away. Her will honed her concentration to such a degree that she was able to fabricate parts that were so good that even Gloriana wouldn’t be able to issue a word of complaint!
As Ketis began to work, she did not forget that she was forging a weapon for another person and not herself.
Sharpie’s native domain centered around absolute sharpness. While this completely complimented Ketis whenever she worked on a mech that needed a sharp blade, in this particular instance it was not the best fit.
Though Ketis and Venerable Dise were both products of the same environment, they had diverged substantially when it came to developing their own sword styles.
Whereas Ketis obsessed over sharpness, Venerable Dise was a warrior who fought to protect and shield her fellow Swordmaidens against threats that they could not defeat on their own.
The tragic battle against Venerable Foster was one of the most terrible disasters the Swordmaidens had ever suffered. The inability of Commander Lydia and her fellow sisters to overcome the powerful Belisarius piloted by the talented Vesian expert mech had led to a trauma that still haunted every surviving Swordmaiden.
Due to the great responsibilities thrust onto her shoulders as well as her bond with Qilanxo, Venerable Dise’s strength revolved around her determination to guard her fellow Swordmaidens and other Larkinsons against enemy champions that were too powerful for them to resist!
Ketis extensively sparred and compared notes with Venerable Dise. This allowed her and Sharpie to shift their mindset and think like a protective guardian who guarded her own tribe.
The air around her took on a different vibe as she and her companion spirit both lost their sharp edge. Instead, they gained a more protective and challenging air as she looked ready to draw her blade and put her life on the line in order to guard those she cared about.
For the moment, this mood only affected herself, but when Blinky invisibly emerged from Ves’ mind and began to weave his design network, the minds of the other three Journeymen became infected by a powerful will!
“This is different!” Ves widened his eyes as he tried his best to prevent the changes from ruining his current work assignment.
The design network was only capable of filtering a minute portion of Ketis’ empowered will. Under normal circumstances, this amounted to only a tiny amount of influencing that barely affected Journeymen.
People like Ves and Gloriana were already strong-willed in their own right. Even if their wills had not undergone any profound transformations, they were anything but average as their design seeds functioned as powerful bastions that preserved the essence of their design philosophies and their most important personality traits.
Even so, now that Ketis channeled her full strength as a swordmaster, her unyielding spirit as well as her interpretation of Venerable Dise’s conviction hit the other mech designers harder than usual.
It took a few minutes for every other mech designer to adjust to the changing circumstances.
Every Journeyman took to Ketis’ influence rather differently. Ves was the most open about welcoming her powerful influence. His adaptability and his experience in working in wildly different circumstances enabled him to roll with the changes and adjust his own approach without too many issues.
Juliet and Gloriana were less able to adjust their own approach. They partially blocked Ketis’ influence as they were unable to cope with such a powerful will that did not match with their own temperaments.
Instead, the two women merely took Ketis’ enhanced presence as guidance on how they should orient their own work. It became a bit easier for them to fabricate their parts in a way that conformed more closely to the intent of the Decapitator Project.
While Ketis guided the work of the other three Journeymen through the design network in various ways, outside of the open workshop the first great ritual was about to commence.
After conducting scores of duels against impressive exobeasts of different sizes, the veteran Swordmaidens who displayed their hunting prowess in full splendor had all retreated towards the middle of the arena grounds until they surrounded the open workshop in a loose circle.
The victorious Swordmaidens held their bloodied blades vertically in front of their heads and faced outwards.
The giant chalice in front of the highest stage was filled with the blood of scores of different exobeasts. Due to the blending of so many different blood types, the soup had turned into a sickening shade of murky brown. The smell emanating from this massive pool alone was probably enough to poison a human to death!
Soon, a Swordmaiden wearing the uniform of a commander floated onto the stage and unsheathed her personal Unending alloy greatsword.
Commander Sendra raised her weapon high. “To wield a sword is to spill the blood of others! The greater the blood, the greater the warrior! We Swordmaidens shall never stop until we have flooded the entire galaxy with blood! Let my sword bear witness to our vow!”
When she reached the lip of the chalice, she bent down to dip the blade of her weapon into the pool. Once she drew it out she resolutely struck the side of the container with her blade!
Cracks started to form and spread from the impact site. The chalice, which once appeared grand and noble, now started to fall apart as the spreading cracks practically disintegrated its entire structure!
The blood that the giant object previously contained plunged to the ground and began to flood in many different directions.
However, the audience soon noticed that the blood did not spread indiscriminately. Instead, the dark and muddy blood began to branch out in different winding channels that had apparently been dug into the ground but had been kept obscured until this moment.
The seemingly-random patterns slowly turned into elaborate constellations. Each bright star represented by buried luminar crystals were connected by channels of mixed alien blood.
Soon, the luminar crystals shone until they unleashed light beams that stretched high above! It wasn’t until they hit the luminar crystals that had cleverly been embedded into the high ceiling that encompassed Twilight City that the beams traveled no further!
At this moment, the entire arena ground surrounding the open workshop had turned into a forest of light beams!
