The design phase finally ca to an end.
For three straight days, Ves and Jovy both stayed awake and spent all of their ti on designing their chs. Even when they ate or visited the bathroom, their minds were still preoccupied with designing their respective competition chs.
There simply wasn't enough ti to fit in everything they sought in a proper ch!
Despite their formidable design ability that allowed both of them to stand on top of other Journeyn in their generation, the quality of their chs did not even co close to their proper ch designs.
They didn't need to be. A design duel was a contest of judgent, skill and speed. All of these aspects were critical to the success of a ch designer, whether they founded a business, worked for another company or served at a governnt institution.
If a ch designer couldn't design anything decent in three days, then how would their products amount to anything in three months? The competition would always be able to offer sothing better in the sa amount of ti!
Only a couple of exceptions deviated from this pattern. Gloriana for example physically abhorred rushed ch designs. She only participated in design duels and competitions if she had to, and most of the ti her performance wasn't very stellar.
Ves took a very brief nap before he spent two days on fabricating his striker ch at a very rapid pace.
In contrast, Jovy simply uploaded his design schematics to the materializer aboard the Ubiquitous Force before pressing a single button.
Though the frigate's materializer couldn't compare to industrial fabricator, a third-class ch made predominantly with simple materials only took less than half an hour to finish!
Even Ves felt envious when he heard how quickly Jovy created his ch! Of course, to him, nothing beat the act of building up a ch step by step.
When Ves t with his girlfriend at a closed arena set aside for the duel, she offered him a strained smile.
"Your design choices are very… interesting." She began. "You sure like to play with fire, do you?"
He shrugged. "Striker chs don't offer much room for versatility, and with such a low budget I had to make so very hard choices. Piling up on armor is prohibitively expensive, so I focused on offense and a little mobility instead."
As a result, he ca up with a fairly mobile striker ch, though calling it mobile was stretching it. While it was capable of outmaneuvering other defensive chs, his machine could forget about outracing a light ch!
The two chit chatted a bit before Jovy arrived at the balcony overlooking the dueling arena. The MTA ch designer seed no worse for wear, as his many augntations allowed him to forgo sleep for several days with ease as well.
Ves nodded towards Jovy in respect. "How was your experience designing a third-class ch?"
"It has been very… illuminating." The young man grimaced. "Third-class chs are so limiting, and the ch type and budget that you have set doesn't help matters either. I enjoyed the novelty, though. At the start, I thought the design process would be child's play, but pretty soon I discovered there is a surprising amount of depth despite the lack of options at my disposal."
"When it cos to lesser chs, you don't have as much choice, but each of them becos a lot more aningful."
"Well said, Mr. Larkinson! You can't imagine the sheer variety of weapon systems, defense systems, mobility systems and utility systems that ch designers can fit in first-class multipurpose ch designs. We approach limitations in an entirely different way because there is always a solution to a problem. The central question we have to grapple with is choosing which solutions to include in our ch fra. For example, the lack of capacity in third-class chs can easily be solved by adding dinsional storage modules."
Sothing like dinsional storage modules that effectively added pocket spaces to chs were completely unthinkable to third-class ch designers!
Such an expensive piece of high technology not only required a lot of expensive exotics, but also a very extensive understanding of multiple physics-related fields.
"The strengths and weaknesses of third-class chs are almost always set in stone." Gloriana comnted. "Shoring up their weaknesses isn't as worthwhile as enhancing their strengths. The custors in third-rate states already take these weaknesses into account by adjusting their tactics and ch rosters accordingly."
"It's certainly different from what I am used to back at the MTA. There, every ch can fulfill several roles at a ti. They're not called multipurpose for nothing."
The transition from narrow roles to omniversal configurations still proceeded to this day. The Big Two and the first-rate superstates pioneered this developnt, and over the next couple of centuries, the second-rate states would slowly follow suit.
As for the third-rate states, Ves wasn't sure if he could even witness their transition to multipurpose chs in his lifeti. The impoverished states simply had too little access to the fancy tech and materials required to fit so many features in a single ch fra.
Soon enough, Master Willix and a few mbers of her entourage arrived from behind.
"Master Willix." Everyone greeted and bowed.
She smiled. "Gentlen. I hope you have put your full effort into designing your respective dueling chs. Mr. Larkinson, I see you have enjoyed yourself during the process. Will we be witness to sothing remarkable in the upcoming match?"
"I hope so. I ca up with so new tricks and decided to try them out on the spot."
"There is not much assurance in that answer."
"Even I don't know how my latest tricks will perform." He shrugged.
The Master turned to Jovy. "As for you, Mr. Armalon, it is clear that your familiarity with third-class chs is quite shallow. Do you have any intentions of designing more third-class after this experience?"
This was a difficult question to answer for Jovy. He didn't dare to lie to an eminent Master.
"While I wish to broaden my horizons, I can't lose sight of who I am and what I would like to pursue. Just like third-class chs, it is better to deepen my strengths than to compensate for my weaknesses. Perhaps later when I have made more accomplishnts in my primary fields will I have the ti to address the limitations I've experienced in the last few days."
"Your developnt is completely in your hands. We at the MTA do not force Journeyn like you down a proscribed path. We rely point out the different ways you can arrive at your destination and let you decide from there. Let just tell you that being in a hurry is not always beneficial to your chances of advancing to Master."
"I understand what you are conveying, but I respectfully disagree, Master."
It took a lot of courage to stand up to a Master, but when it ca to their own progression, ch designers such as Jovy had already made up their minds!
Master Willix rely nodded in acknowledgent before turning to one of her subordinates. "Please inform the champions to enter the arena."
Everyone at the balcony watched as the striker chs designed by Ves and Jovy finally entered the arena grounds.
Both chs glead in the light as their bare tal surfaces lacked any adornnts. Even coating the ch was a waste of ti, especially when the enemy ch would certainly be able to ruin it all within minutes with their wide area weapons.
Due to its advantage in mobility, the ch designed by Ves reached its assigned spot first.
The ch had beco a bit leaner than Ves initially sketched. While it still looked fat and heavy compared to an average ch, it was clear to everyone that his striker ch unavoidably sacrificed protection.
"What's its na?"
"The Purgatory Envoy." Ves answered.
Master Willix raised an eyebrow at that. "In so legacy religions, purgatory is a state of afterlife that sits between heaven and hell."
"Isn't that where people go who aren't evil enough to go to hell, but don't quite qualify to go to heaven?"
"Correct, Miss Wodin. It is in perjury where this group of deceased are gradually purged of their sins. Once their souls are purified, they are ready to pass through the gates of heaven."
On the surface, the ch appeared as if it was the one doing the purging rather than being subjected by it. With its thick arms that was largely made up of embedded flathrowers, the Purgatory Envoy looked more than ready to purify anything in its way with cleansing flas!
Jovy's ch took its place as well. When Ves studied what his opponent had designed, he reacted with surprise.
Of all of the possible configurations he could have chosen, Jovy opted for a ch that was similar to the Purgatory Envoy!
The large, flathrower-wielding ch was capable of dishing out plenty of heat while resisting it in turn.
Different from the Purgatory Envoy, Jovy's ch obviously sacrificed firepower and mobility for defense.
The ch itself was substantially more massive. Due to budget constraints, Jovy opted to clad his ch with very thick armor plating. All of this mass not only granted his machine a high heat capacity, but also offered decent protection against physical damage.
The ch's mobility did not appear to be very great, but Ves noticed that Jovy had implented a very unusual-looking pair of legs. Alongside this change, the ch's lower torso was almost completely circular, and Ves noticed sothing peculiar about the skirt of armor placed around the lower belly.
Underneath this loose skirt was a partition that allowed the ch to rotate its upper body!
"The torso can spin 360 degrees!" Ves gasped.
This ant that even if the ch wasn't able to traverse distance quickly, it could nonetheless keep rotating its upper body so that its front always faced a ch that tried to circle around its flanks!
This change partially countered the increased mobility that Ves imparted to the Purgatory Envoy.
He had actually hoped that Jovy would design a relatively immobile ch. If that was the case, then Joshua could circle his Purgatory Envoy around the enemy ch and savage the more vulnerable rear with flas!
Now, it beca clear that this wasn't possible when both chs were in peak condition.
Jovy looked proud at what he managed to accomplish. "I had a hunch you would co up with a ch like the Purgatory Envoy. While I could have designed a ch that expressly countered yours, I wanted a challenge, not a beatdown. I designed the Fortunate Devil in order to beat you fair and square!"
What Jovy claid was that he did not wish to exploit the advantage of natural counters. If he truly knew that Ves would design a flathrower-wielding heat-resistant ch, then the MTA ch designer could have paired his ch with a shotgun instead!
"Are your hunches that strong?" Ves narrowed his eyes at Jovy.
"If my hunch is wrong, then so be it. I can't be right all the ti."
After a final check, both chs were cleared for battle. Everyone fell silent as the Purgatory Envoy and the Fortunate Devil faced each other.
Within the cockpit, Joshua Larkinson had initially been a little nervous, but beca increasingly more excited.
"What an amazing glow!" He gasped. "So this is what the patriarch has achieved with his ritual!"
The Superior Mother's glow imdiately shed with the young ch pilot. Though it took so ti for Joshua to tune his mindset, his research on Hexers along with the advice provided by Ves allowed him to find the best way to imrse himself in his ch.
"I am the son, and the ch is my mother! Together, we will cleanse this devil of its sins!"
To Ves, the glow of the Purgatory Envoy had gradually grown stronger. Though Ves did not add a third eye to the ch, he would have imagined it glowing like a beacon as Joshua beca increasingly more intertwined with the Superior Mother!
"Comnce the duel!" Master Willix finally announced!
The fighting phase began explosively! Both chs approached each other while already firing their flas at full blast!
The Purgatory Envoy's flathrower spewed torrents of blue, while the Fortunate Devil responded with flas of red!
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