The Mech Touch

Chapter 6237  Empty Courtyard

As long as Ketis gained prominence due to her own merits as opposed to leaching from Ves, she would rise to become a new power centered around herself.

What this meant was that Ketis had the potential of becoming the second strong pillar that propped up the Larkinson Clan!

Even if Ves became utterly disgraced and ruined one day, so long as Ketis remained clean and proper, she could easily take over the burden of supporting and sustaining the Larkinson Clan by herself!

The ability to breach dimensions was just too valuable for her importance to be any less.

While this meant that Ves would not be able to command her as directly as before, it was worth it as he could shift more responsibilities over to her, thereby relieving himself of some of his undesirable burdens.

All in all, helping Ketis grow up and become a powerhouse in her own right was incredibly beneficial to his own interests.

She would at least be able to divert a lot of unwelcome attention away from him, allowing him to work in peace.

After the two mech designers explored almost every part of the System Space, they finally came to the summit of the mountain.

"This is the Sacred Temple." Ves said as they stepped foot on the clearing. "This is the place where you can find out stuff about yourself. It is a key place if you want to figure out how to develop yourself and improve your cultivation."

The swordmaster looked a bit puzzled at the sight of the temple. It possessed an obvious ancient religious atmosphere that seemed completely contradictory to the previous facilities.

"Why does the Mech Designer System host such a strange structure?"

"It is because I selected a specific upgrade track that is centered around spiritual development." Ves responded. "Everytime I complete a big Mission and feed a very valuable material to the System, it will grow stronger and gain powerful new capabilities. It used to be a lot more limited in the past. In fact, I am actually expecting to complete another big Mission in the near future. If the Red Tide Offensive hasn't caused any undue delays, a provider will deliver a very special material that will allow me to upgrade the System for the third time. We can discuss what upgrade track we should pick once we meet together inside this System Space."

"Wait." Ketis suddenly raised her palm. "I just realized this possibility. If we can both enter this System Space while we are located in two separate locations, we should be able to do more than talk to each other in total confidence. Since we can bring our stuff inside this place, can we transfer it to each other?"

Ves blinked. He hadn't realized this yet! How could he have overlooked such an amazing possibility?!

"We should try it out in order to be sure, but I see little reason why it isn't possible. So long as we transfer our goods to each other directly or deposit it into the Vault of Eternity first, I believe the System may very allow us to effectively transfer items from one star system to another without the need to physically ship the materials across this distance!"

Now that he thought about it, this was actually one of the original plans he had in mind when he sent Veronica to his parents in the old galaxy.

Since Veronica managed to deliver the coffin that held the bones of a primordial human, Ves speculated that he would be able to facilitate instant trans-galactic trade using the System as the effective transportation channel!

Although the Great Severing caused Ves to become so far removed from Veronica that the Mech Designer System was no longer able to facilitate this trade anymore, perhaps the story was different with Ketis!

At the very least, Ves had great confidence in the ability to swap goods between himself and Ketis so long as they remained in the same dwarf galaxy!

"We should definitely test this out." Ves strongly urged. "Once we confirm that it is possible, we can use this to smuggle goods to each other in total secrecy. It is best if we don't use it to exchange stuff that we can already ship to each other using regular transportation channels."

Ketis nodded in agreement. "We're partners."

"We're partners."

The two proceeded to venture deeper into the Sacred Temple. Ketis admired the various sights as they crossed a mostly empty courtyard.

"What is this place?"

"It's the Courtyard of Envoys. Supposedly, it is a place where we can place our Chosen Envoys."

"What is a Chosen Envoy?"

"It is an individual that has completely pledged his or her life to me… or you. I'm sorry. The description is rather vague, and I don't have any first-hand experience to share with you. I have never made use of this function."

"Why not?"

"The System told me that Chosen Envoys are completely incorporeal." Ves responded. "That implies that they are either dead or born this way. Whatever the case, the only people I can invite to become my Chosen Envoy are powerhouses who have just perished or are on the verge of dying. They need to be willing to completely surrender their lives to me, which basically means that they will become my undying slave. For as long as I live, they must dedicate their new form of unlife as my totally devoted servant. They literally cannot disobey my orders as they serve as my ghostly champions of sorts."

Ketis' expression grew ugly when she heard that. "That… is too much to ask of most people. The only worthwhile individuals to turn into your Chosen Envoys are high-ranking mech pilots. However, they are all strong-willed without exception. They would rather suffer an honorable death than to live on as a cowardly servant. The only reason for them to choose undying service over the alternative is if their trust and loyalty in you is great enough for them to disregard their own desires."

"I think so as well. Do you see my problem now? I can't recruit any random expert pilot or ace pilot. I have to wait until one of our own is on the verge of death. I really don't want this to happen. I will not order the expeditionary fleet to take greater risks in the hopes that one of our champions will fall on the battlefield. They are family. I admit that I will not hold back if I see an opportunity, but given how methodically our troops fight, this may take a while."

"That is the right attitude to take. I completely approve of your approach, Ves. I can see how the option to turn a dying comrade into a Chosen Envoy can be good for both us and them. I am already thinking about whether it is possible to turn my fellow Swordmaidens into Envoys…"

"They will need to be strong enough in spirit." Ves reminded her. "Having companion spirits should help a lot with that, but given that Chosen Envoy is clearly a status reserved for the powerful, the candidates should at least reach the rank of a swordmaster or expert pilot."

That was a massive constraint. It ended Ketis' hopes of saving every Swordmaiden who fell on the battlefield.

"I think it is completely okay for you to make no use of the Chosen Courtyard. You already enjoy many forms of protection, and you can even turn into a phase lord if you are locked in a hard fight. I… don't have so many luxuries. I am a swordmaster. Even if I have the option to become a phase lord, I will not take it because it conflicts with my path. I have a much greater need for Chosen Envoys, especially if I am still allowed to fight the aliens from time to time. You never know what you may encounter on the battlefield."

She made a good argument. The life of an active swordmaster was indeed perilous. She could use a trump card like this to guard herself against unreasonable opponents such as mechs or giant beasts.

"Anway, let's continue. This over here is the Pantheon. This is probably a place which you will visit frequently after this, because it is the place where you can find out your Attributes and many other useful information."

He led her to a set of statues inside the Pantheon. A few of them looked familiar, but one of them had been added very recently.

Ketis recognized Ves and Blinky easily enough, but she grew puzzled when she caught sight of the statue of a completely different individual.

"This dwarf looks familiar…"

"It's one of my external incarnations." Ves coughed.

"Pardon?"

"It's not important. I brought you here because you can summon your Status which gives you a detailed quantitative breakdown of yourself. Here is mine."

Specializations: Mutual Growth

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Senior Mech Designer

Specializations: Mutual Growth

Ascension Points: 40 AP

Attributes

Strength: 22

Dexterity: 4.3

Endurance: 27

Intelligence: 6.4

Creativity: 9.1

Concentration: 18.2

Spirituality: 35

Genetic Aptitude: F+

Skills

[Superpublish]: Available.

[Inventorize]: Available. Can be activated a single time.

[Time Gate]: Unavailable.

Evaluation: A renowned Senior Mech Designer who has begun to master the mysteries of life, mechs, synergy and the occult.

Ketis momentarily looked overwhelmed, especially when she saw the giant list of Skills and Sub-Skills.

"Don't read too much into Skills and stuff." Ves advised. "The most important pieces of information you can gain from this Status are your Attribute scores. You will need to know how you stand on them in order to safely ingest certain enlightenment fruits that impose additional requirements."

"These numbers… what are they based on? Who determined the scale?"

"I don't know." Ves shrugged. "I can make a few guesses, though. I suspect that an Attribute score of 1.0 conforms to average humans. An Attribute score of 2.0 represents the normal limit of ordinary humans. This applies to every Attribute aside from Spirituality."

"Why the exception?"

"Because modern humans are spiritually deficient." Ves answered. "It's a long story, and it is not that useful to explain it to you. For now, you should keep in mind that normal humans can only improve their scores to 2.0 at most. It may be possible for baseline humans or lightly augmented humans to score a little bit above that, but that is the exception rather than the rule. Implants, genetic modification and breakthroughs in cultivation are all ways to raise your Attributes far beyond those limits. As you can see, I have grown a lot stronger in every way."

Ketis did not really understand the significance of his Attributes because she lacked context.

"Let's go take a look at your own Status page instead. You will understand a lot better what these numbers mean."

[Status]

Name: Ketis Larkinson

Profession: Journeyman Mech Designer, Swordmaster

Specializations: Sharpness, Unyielding

Ascension Points: 0 AP

Attributes

Strength: 2.6

Dexterity: 2.1

Endurance: 2.9

Intelligence: 2.2

Creativity: 1.3

Concentration: 3.0

Spirituality: 13.2

Genetic Aptitude: F

Skills

…

Abilities

Abilities

[Superpublish]: Available. Can be activated once a year.

[Time Gate]: Available. Can be activated once a year.

Evaluation: A promising young Journeyman Mech Designer and a Swordmaster who is only beginning to combine her two professions to develop unprecedented advantages in the field of mech design.

The Status belonging to Ketis was inferior in every way. Her Attributes were a lot lower. Her set of Skills and Sub-Skills were a lot less numerous and developed. Perhaps the only consolation was that she gained access to the same System-granted abilities as Ves.

Ketis immediately glowered when she compared her Attributes to that of Ves.

Even though Ketis was the only professionally trained combatant among the two, if she assumed these Attribute scores were accurate, it was impossible for her to defeat Ves in a straightforward battle!

Ketis was definitely a lot more skilled in combat than Ves, but the latter's crushing physical Attributes alone could easily stomp her flat!

She truly felt for the first time that swordmasters were weak!