The most skilled and powerful ch pilots of the Larkinson Clan each entered the Scarlet Rose's conference room.
It was rare for the expert candidates to actually gather in a single room. Usually, they were confined to their own cliques within the Larkinson Clan. Aside from their elevated piloting ability, they didn't share much in common.
That said, they weren't strangers with each other.
In addition to the expert candidates, Ves also invited Venerable Jannzi to attend the eting.
Her presence instantly dominated the conference room upon entry. Even if she didn't deliberately exert her force of will, her aura worked similarly to glows. No matter who was in her presence, people couldn't help but beco affected by her strong will.
Norms with weaker, unempowered wills were most susceptible to this effect. If most expert pilots weren't so noble and principled, it would have been easy for them to abuse their auras for unscrupulous purposes.
In fact, so people argued that the expert pilots of Vicious Mountain had already crossed this line. Their obsession with earning glory in battle had warped the lives of everyone who lived in the star sector.
Fortunately, the people attending the eting all possessed strong wills of their own. As expert candidates, Joshua, Tusa, Commander Orfan and Commander Dise all possessed the ability to remain true to their own selves when faced with external pressure.
Ves may not possess the empowered wills of the rest, but he was a Journeyman with so very strong ideas of his own. ch designers at his level never lost sight of their ambitions.
"Please take your seats." He spoke.
The three chosen of Qilanxo opted to sit together. For so reason, Orfan and Dise both sat besides Venerable Jannzi as if they were flanking the expert pilot.
Though this seating arrangent made sense from a ch piloting standpoint, the differences in age was difficult to accept.
Joshua and Tusa both sat in their own corners of the conference table. While they were acquainted with each other, they weren't particularly close with each other either. Their lives hardly intersected and their interests diverged.
Curiously, Joshua did not sit next to his supposed girlfriend. Perhaps this might be due to the professional context of this eting, but Ves couldn't help but be concerned.
Joshua was one of the most valuable ch pilots to Ves. With his rare life domain, his compatibility with LMC chs was nearly perfect. Keeping him happy and ensuring he remained committed to the clan was an important priority.
If Ves wasn't so swamped with responsibilities, he might have chosen to ddle with their relationship.
"Alright, everyone is here, so let's begin. The reason why I have invited you to this eting is because I want to make sure that each of you are at your best when we confront the Allidus Alliance. I am sure that you have witnessed or heard about the experint that I have conducted on the Bright Warrior chs of the Avatars of Myth. Though the tests haven't entirely gone smoothly, I have gathered enough data and proved enough theories to support my next initiative."
It didn't take much thinking to realize what he was talking about.
"Are you applying this new invention of yours to our chs?" Commander Orfan asked.
"Not exactly. You are correct that I will be making full use of my latest innovation, but I won't be applying it to most of your chs. One of the conditions of my newly-developed trick is that I can only apply it to my own chs. Venerable Jannzi doesn't strictly need any help, and Joshua's Quint has already received the necessary treatnt."
"I don't entirely know what has changed, but from what little I've experienced, it's as if the ch that I was familiar with has truly co alive." Joshua remarked. "I just feel so frustrated that my session was cut off!"
"It's for your own good, Joshua. I don't want you to release your pressure prematurely."
Joshua let out a frustrated grunt. "I'm pent up, sir! I feel like I'm backed up! Do you know what kind of torture it is to look at the Quint but be prohibited from piloting it? And why did you take away my permission to pilot other chs? I'm so itchy!"
Ves threw a flat look at the young man. "Hold it in. Don't you dare let go. If it helps, I can allow you to pilot so of the salvaged pirate chs we have picked up from the previous battle for so reason. Only the cheaper ones, though. I don't want you to pilot anything too powerful."
"What?! That's hardly better! Most of them are trash!"
"That's the point, Mr. Joshua. Piloting a bad ch may be a better way for you to keep your skills sharp. You've been too pampered by the Quint and my other excellent ch designs. While I am glad that you are able to master each of my products, you should broaden your horizons."
Joshua's horrified face expressed everything he thought about this suggestion.
In truth, Ves wanted to use this thod to build up Joshua's desire to pilot the Quint again. The greater his yearning for the masterwork ch, the more impressive his eventual breakthrough would beco! Frustrating him a bit by forcing him to pilot awful pirate chs with not a glimpse of life within them was a good way to build up the anticipation.
Ves wanted Joshua to explode as violently as possible.
He smiled at Joshua in a patronizing manner. "It's for the good of the clan. We need you at your absolute best, so don't be in a hurry to obtain your satisfaction. I promise you that your release will be greater than ever! While I can't make too many modifications in a month, I will be sure to upgrade several key aspects of your ch so that it can fully support your efforts in the battle that will decide our fate."
"What about us?" Orfan asked.
"Those of you who don't pilot an LMC ch can keep using your current machines. Just keep in mind that you won't be piloting them in the decisive battle. Unless sothing has gone wrong, I will be passing heavily-modified Bright Warrior chs to the three of you. Each of them will be upgraded and customized to fit your preferred fighting style."
The three expert candidates who were the targets of this program looked surprised.
"Are you crazy, Ves?!" Orfan erupted. "Switching chs isn't trivial! Even if we're expert candidates, we still need a couple of hundreds of hours of drilling and practice to understand how to use our new machines to the fullest! Without this preparation, we'll never be able to perform at our best!"
"I understand the downsides, but I am confident that you'll be able to adjust quickly. The performance of the custom Bright Warriors will definitely exceed that of your existing chs. They're still third-class chs, after all. The base model of the Bright Warrior design already exceeds most of their paraters."
Commander Dise frowned. "There is more to a ch design than the numbers on the spec sheet. So designs simply don't match my fighting style. I don't want to pilot a ch that is too awkward for to employ my sword style."
"Ketis will assist in customizing your new ch. The two of you can work closely to make sure that the modifications complent your fighting style rather than detract from it. Will that assuage your concerns?"
The Swordmaiden leader visibly relaxed. "I trust Ketis. As a fellow sister, she knows exactly how I prefer to fight. Just make sure to listen to her recomndations. The Bright Warrior in its swordsman ch configuration is decent, but… it's clear you only possess a superficial understanding of swordsmanship."
Ves accepted her light critique. "I'll address this shortcoming in due ti, but I am inclined to let Ketis handle everything related to swordsman chs."
"What about my machine? You haven't made any spearman chs." Commander Orfan stated.
"Your ch requires a bit more work. Are you comfortable with piloting a lancer ch?"
She shook her head. "Lancer chs are too inflexible. Now, don't get wrong. I love how they can punch through anything with their charges. It's just that it is not my style to conduct hit-and-run attacks. I like to get into the fray and dual my opponents up close."
"I see. Then just like Commander Dise, I will start with the swordsman ch configuration and work my way from there. I understand that wielding a spear is different from wielding a sword in battle, so don't hesitate to review my work and tell what aspects need to be changed."
"If this is the best that you can do, then okay. I can live with this as long as my new ch is good enough."
With Commander Orfan placated, Ves turned to the final expert candidate. "Tusa, your case is the most difficult of all. I truly don't have a suitable light ch in my ch catalog, so I can only take a Bright Warrior and overhaul its structure and armor sche."
The light ch specialist looked ugly. "These conversions rarely succeed. dium chs are simply built differently from the ground up. Even if you remove a lot of fat from a Bright Warrior, the bones can't be thinned so easily."
"That is.. correct."
"I have witnessed these situations several tis." Tusa smiled sardonically. "So ch designers believe that all you need to produce a light ch in a hurry is to tear out a lot of armor and other parts from a dium ch. It never quite works out because the chs often end up in between."
"I'm aware of the challenges. Although I haven't designed any serious light chs, I am confident I'll be able to work sothing out. The light ch that I'll deliver to you next month will certainly satisfy most of your demands."
"Just make it fast. I don't care about armor or weapons. As long as its acceleration is top notch and its agility is good, I can cope with the rest."
This was not a light demand especially due to the situation that Tusa had just described. Ves would have to perform so pretty deep modifications to Tusa's custom ch in order to fulfill this major demand.
Ves believed he was up to the challenge.
"Gloriana will be assisting our efforts by remote. With her participation, each of your chs will be sound. Aside from that, these chs will be more responsive, more complentary and more welcoming than your current chs. You can just ask Joshua or the other Avatars if you want to hear the benefits of my latest innovation."
"What is this exactly supposed to do for us?" Tusa asked.
His reluctance to this initiative was the greatest. He possessed the least amount of confidence that his new custom ch would et his requirents.
Seeing that the other expert candidates needed so convincing as well, Ves decided to be open about it. "Each of you is on the cusp of breaking through. What if I tell you that I think that pairing you up with your new custom chs can guarantee that you'll be undergoing apotheosis?"
Everyone except Joshua looked shocked!
Even Jannzi looked a little startled!
"Is that true, Joshua?"
"I don't know. All I can say is that it works for , but then again the Quint isn't a normal ch. I've already bonded a lot with it. Who knows whether this will work when you pilot your new chs for the first ti."
"He's not wrong." Ves admitted. "There is no guarantee that this asure will work the way I intended. Still, it's better than letting you keep your remaining chs. A small chance of breaking through is better than no chance. Now, do you still doubt the necessity of replacing your current chs with my customized works?"
No one raised any more objections.
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