As soon as Ves noticed that Gloriana worked like a woman possessed, he wanted to make absolutely sure that nothing interrupted her exceptional state of mind.
As soone who experienced these magical monts himself, he knew how precious they were and how hard it was to regain them once he let them go. It would definitely break his girlfriend's heart if soone ruined her special mont!
During one of their brief, five-minute breaks, Gloriana approached a dining table where so food had already been laid out. She picked up a tray and literally gobbled down the contents of a nutrient pack within a matter of seconds!
Normally, she abhorred eating sothing as low-class as this. This was not the ti for her to be picky about her food, though. As soon as she filled up her stomach with nutrient paste, she quickly grabbed a glass of water and emptied it just as fast.
After that, she imdiately returned to work!
Ves could only shrug when he saw his driven girlfriend finish her lunch within a minute. He approached Calabast, who had been observing the entire fabrication session since yesterday!
"How long until the ch is complete?"
"Three days, maybe less." Ves quickly estimated. "I'm sure you've noticed that Gloriana's productivity has skyrocketed. Even though I'm relegated to serving as her gopher, she is outputting as much work as both of us on a normal day."
Calabast instantly noticed his emphasis. "I take it this is not a normal day."
He nodded. "I think.. the best-case scenario is within our reach."
"I see."
He did not need to explain what that ant. Calabast was well aware of how significant it was to make a masterwork ch.
"What do I need to do?"
"Pass on so of my instructions to the Avatars and the Battle Criers." He told her. He transferred so ssages from his comm to hers. "Tell them to mobilize as much chs as possible and guard the site around this workshop as extensively as possible. For a possible masterwork, it is worth rousing them all! I don't want to take ANY risks."
"Understood." Calabast nodded seriously. "I'll make sure my Black Cats and the Swordmaidens are on full alert as well. What are the odds of success?"
"I truly can't say. There are so many variables at play that you can't perform a simple prediction. Even if Gloriana pours her entire heart and soul in our first production model, it is still up to us whether she'll be rewarded for her extraordinary effort. All I can say is that there is a non-zero chance that we'll deliver a masterwork ch at the end of the session."
"Can you give a range at least?"
"No more than twenty percent."
She looked impressed. "That's already pretty decent considering how rare it is to encounter a masterwork."
"That's why I'm quite hopeful for this ch. I have to return now."
"Good luck, Ves!"
The work resud. As Gloriana began to fabricate the larger parts such as the thick armor plating of the Blessed Squire, she focused so much on minimizing as many irregularities as possible that so of the plating rolled off the production line as works of art!
While Ves continued to perform his role as her dutiful squire, he constantly sighed in admiration at the excellence she displayed.
Thinking that the Superior Mother herself was watching her every move, Gloriana pushed herself again and again.
Normally, a highly-controlled ch designer like her would never take so many risks.
In order to build up and sustain her montum, she needed to work quickly.
In order to produce the highest quality components that she could make, she needed to ticulously.
Oftentis, she preferred to lean towards the latter rather than the forr.
However, masterwork chs were products of energy, luck and passion. They could never be made by ch designers who plodded in their work and constantly calculated every single move.
Drawing from his personal experience, a ch designer would only be able to produce a masterwork ch if they surrendered to their passion and worked with their hearts rather than their minds!
As long as he was skilled and confident enough, Ves could rely on his instincts and intuition to perform a difficult task.
However, that was easier said than done. In most cases, Ves slipped up. Only during exceptional tis would his instincts and intuition be raised to a level where he could rely on them to carry him through an entire fabrication session!
During this session, Ves did not even co close to reaching this level.
He didn't have to. Gloriana exhibited so much spirit and motivation that he felt that she might actually have a decent shot at producing a masterwork on her own rits!
This was one of the hidden advantages of collaborative ch design.
The chance of producing a masterwork did not solely rest on the shoulders of a single ch designer. Every lead or contributing designer involved in the design process had a chance to get inspired.
Of course, in practice, such situations were so rare that ordinary ch designers had a better chance at winning the lottery.
This was different. Ves already had two masterwork chs under his belt while Gloriana crucially claid credit for one as well.
That last detail was extrely important! Though she gained only a modest boost in her affinity for chs for participating in the creation of the Quint, this was still a crucial developnt to her as a ch designer!
ntally, a crack had opened in her mind. She beca aware that producing another masterwork after the Quint had already beco possible! Even if the chance was small, it was a lot better than other Journeyman at her age!
Spiritually, the formation of a masterwork had imprinted onto her spirituality. Her design seed rembered what the experience was like, therefore making it easier for Gloriana to seek it out again!
ch affinity was sothing precious and sothing that every ch designer chased after. Though the MTA claid that possessing a high affinity for chs wasn't essential to becoming a good ch designer, it made many actions related to chs a lot easier!
At the very least, the ch industry had co to a general consensus that only those with a high ch affinity were capable of creating masterwork chs!
Right now, Gloriana exhibited the tell-tale signs of leaning onto her ch affinity. She worked both fast and with care. That could only be sustained by much higher-ranked ch designers or those who were able to express the utmost of their affinity!
As the assembly stage finally wrapped up, they moved on to the crucial assembly stage.
Ves worried for a mont whether his girlfriend would be able to sustain her montum. The Blessed Squire was a true second-class ch design that not only featured bloated internals, but also a lot of sophisticated parts developed and built to military standards. Fitting them all together in a harmonious fashion was quite challenging!
However, it turned out that he worried in vain. Unlike him who would definitely show so struggle at first, assembling a second-class ch was already familiar territory to Gloriana.
She studied and graduated from Kelma University, one of the most prestigious ch design institutions in the entire Hegemony!
From the very start, she learned the ins and out of advanced second-class ch design until she practically breathed it in her sleep!
When she graduated, she started a small but successful ch boutique and designed high-performing custom chs for many upper-class clients. Perhaps she had already designed and fabricated chs that were several tis more powerful and complicated than the Blessed Squire!
As Gloriana fluently slotted the parts in place, Ves had the illusion that she was composing a grand symphony.
No matter how many instrunts were in play, she maintained control over the performance of every single instrunt! With her exquisite ability, she managed to make sure to maintain as much harmony as possible.
If the old and new assistant ch designers could see Gloriana at work right now, their jaws would drop to the floor. There was no way they could conceive that a ch designer could make and fit together the parts of a ch with such an inhuman level of skill and judgent!
The steps perford by Gloriana had already surpassed the level of mortals. She had reached a realm beyond where her extraordinary judgent found solutions to problems that weren't even noticeable in her original design!
Ves had gradually realized that the direction of her design philosophy empowered her montum in a very useful way!
The more she got caught up in her work, the more she was able to draw upon the strength of her specialty.
In this case, that just so happened to minimize flaws and correcting errors! Perfection was closely associated with masterwork, and her choice of design philosophy finally paid off at this mont!
When Gloriana finally slotted in the final parts and put the finishing touches on the Blessed Squire, Ves had basically been reduced to a total bystander.
Forget acting as here squire, the knight he served had beco so competent that Ves had been fired!
He didn't mind, though. He had already contributed to the fabrication run in his own way. Aside from facilitating Gloriana, he also made sure to shape and correct the spiritual component of the ch.
This was one aspect that Gloriana could never achieve on her own. If not for his crucial combination, her chances of fabricating a masterwork would probably be a tenth as much!
As Gloriana mounted the last parts onto the ch, the results beca clear.
The strong glow exuded by the finished Blessed Squire was practically a mirror of the glow propagated by the statue of the Superior Mother!
Both the statue and the ch had already begun to mingle and overlap their identical glows. This caused the air in the secure workshop to bear the oppressive presence of the Superior Mother!
As Gloriana slowly descended from the air until she landed next to Ves, she slowly turned around and stared at him in the eyes.
Her orbs burned with the intensity of stars. She had stayed awake for four days straight, working non-stop to complete the first Blessed Squire as quickly and as perfectly as possible.
She stretched out her hand.
Ves looked at her smooth and delicate palm and reached out into his uniform pocket. He drew out a Synthra Umbra pouch and rummaged through it. He eventually pulled out a gem he did not expect to employ so soon.
[Mother's Love]
The love of a mother towards her offspring resides within this royal gem. Increases the allure of a ch by 100 percent to females.
There was no other choice, really. The description of the gem matched perfectly with the Blessed Squire design!
It was not a waste to affix it to their current ch. After putting so much effort into her work, the quality of the end product had co within reach of masterwork!
Gloriana just fell short to an extent. Though she worked like the Superior Mother blessed her every move, she was just a Journeyman, after all. Even if she had reached her absolute best state, she was still too weak to produce a masterwork by relying solely on her efforts.
Fortunately, Ves possessed a ans to cheat the process, and Gloriana knew it. This ti, he felt no pain at giving up a gem.
Once he handed over the gem to Gloriana, she slowly turned around and took one step at a ti. It seed that with each passing step she took, she ca one step to fulfilling one her cherished ambitions!
When she ascended into the air and entered the cockpit of the ch, she steadily socketed the Mother's Love
The Blessed Squire pulsed! Ves, who had been preparing himself for this mont, finally witnessed the effect of installing one of Lucky's gems once again. The quality of the Blessed Squire abruptly surpassed the threshold of masterwork, transforming its whole fra into sothing exceptional and subli!
"Masterwork!"
Though he always hoped to repeat this feat, he never thought this day would co so soon. If the creation of the Quint had sent the entire star cluster talking, then the creation of another masterwork ch less than a year later would definitely ripple further!
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