[Ves Larkinson has won the first match of the design duel!]
The first match ended in a clear victory for Ves. Captain Alazar Ipsich rode the emotions induced by his Bright Warrior and thrashed the Epsilon Mosar piloted by Kelly Gidon.
Even though the two ch pilots ca from different backgrounds and pursued different careers, their skill in battle was roughly even.
The variables that decided the match ca down to the qualities of the chs and how well they cooperated with their pilots.
The strength of the chs were roughly even. They had to be in order to make the match fair. What differed was where they focused their strengths, which in turn provided different possibilities to their ch pilots.
It was still a bit of a gamble to determine whether the ch pilots were able to utilize the strengths of their chs to their best effect.
This was an area that Ves focused on a lot in his work. His ongoing partnership with Gloriana had steered him into becoming even more s.e.n.s.i.t.i.v.e towards increasing the fit between ch and ch pilot.
Yet the problem of doing so in this design duel was that both participants went in blind during the first phase of the design duel!
Neither of them knew exactly who would enter the c.o.c.kpit, so they had to keep their dueling chs open to many different personalities and fighting styles. This entailed making lots of unpalatable compromises.
Yet Ves had an advantage in this aspect. The malleability of a ch’s spiritual foundation granted him a unique advantage.
It was a realization that he had always been aware of before but never utilized to the greatest degree.
He was able to alter a ch while it was in the middle of a fight!
It sounded so obvious to him, but that was exactly why he overlooked its value!
Any other ch designer would have beco green with envy if they learned what Ves was capable of doing. Other ch designers such as Dr. Navarro, Gloriana and Ketis had no choice but to sit around and do nothing while their products were put into action, whether on the battlefield or in the ch arena.
In fact, Ves didn’t have to intervene in person just then. He could have programd an automatic routine that would have released the right design spirit in the right situation. It was just that he lacked the ti to set it up and wanted to exert more control of the process.
What many people didn’t realize was that the Bright Warrior responsible for delivering Ves his first win had a lot more under the hood than everyone thought!
The Bright Warrior didn’t just have two design spirits. It actually held five in total!
This was one of the new concepts that he had co up with. While it was not to allow multiple design spirits to inhabit a single ch design all the ti, what if Ves set up a rotation?
This could be a ga changer!
Of course, this did not work for every ch. The Valkyrie Redeer for example was so female-centric that it would definitely reject a macho design spirit like Bravo. It might tolerate a female design spirit like Qilanxo, but only reluctantly.
This was where a relatively open ch design like the Bright Warrior ca in. Due to its overall design direction, the ch was inclusive. This turned it into a universal platform that could play host to many different design spirits as long as they weren’t too extre.
This enabled him to implent his newly-invented carousel and spin it around whenever he judged the ch was better served with a different design spirit in a given situation!
Although the alternate design spirits weren’t able to exert that much influence through a ch that was not designed to take advantage of their unique traits, the base effect of their glows was already enough to change the situation!
This was why Gloriana began to look at the Bright Warrior design in a new light. "This has a lot of potential. If we ca up with a ch that is specifically designed to take advantage of this possibility, then..."
Her body shook with excitent. She ravenously turned to Ves and grabbed him by the arms!
"THIS IS PERFECT FOR VENERABLE JOSHUA! HE’S SUCH A VERSATILE CH PILOT THAT HIS EXPERT CH HAS TO BE VERSATILE IN ALL ASPECTS AS WELL! YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE CARE OF THIS, WON’T YOU?!"
"Yes, yes, yes, whatever you say, honey!"
She was probably revising the outline and ch concept for Joshua’s expert ch design!
Ves could only shake his head at her single-minded behavior.
anwhile, the public could barely process how the first match had ended.
The Bright Warrior that was slowly flying off the stage under its own power had already switched back to the Golden Cat. However, the mory of the ch displaying unrelenting aggression just a mont ago was still seared in everyone’s mind!
"How can this be? The Epsilon Mosar model is way stronger than this! Its regeneration ability barely had ti to show its value!"
"That’s what made this loss so bad for us. Captain Ipsich is one of us, rember? He knows what biochs are good at, especially uncovered ones like the Epsilon Mosar. Since he is piloting a tal ch, he can’t adopt the sa approach anymore. He needs to finish the match quickly before the match goes on for too long."
The first match ill.u.s.trated the classic considerations of battles between classical chs and biochs.
The latter generally fared better in attrition battles. Depending on their properties and how they were used, biochs could last for quite a long ti. Their physical restoration capabilities were much more practical than the self-repair chanisms of classical chs.
Unfortunately, the first match proceeded way too intensely for Kelly Gidon to cope. Even though it was not a big deal when she held the initiative, the mont she lost it, her ch failed to stall out the assault or escape from it. If it was able to buy so ti, the Epsilon Mosar could have gained a small reset which allowed it to resu the fight with renewed power!
Avid and experienced fans of competitive matches knew that the initial result was rarely indicative of the final outco. The design duel had only progressed by 10 percent! Anything could happen in the remaining 90 percent!
"Just wait. We know what the foreigner’s chs are capable of now. If this is all his chs can do, then we can definitely beat the next ones!"
The amateurs ca up with all kinds of explanations, so of which were quite reasonable.
Yet Ves wasn’t interested in their random opinions. Even though he was looking elsewhere, his ears were closely tuned to whatever sounds the six Masters of the LRA were saying.
Sadly, they just sat there sipping their tea or other favorite drinks. None of them spoke up. Either they were communicating through their implants, or they were simply being pretentious.
Ves currently favored the latter theory. Their expressions were all tranquil and calm as if they were sages who disdained to intervene in a trivial Journeyman-level design duel.
He felt soone’s gaze on him. Ves turned his head to see Dr. Navarro nodding at him. The bioch designer acknowledged his loss.
"Good show." The challenger spoke. "Even though I do not agree with the premise of your design philosophy, its value is not in doubt. However, it takes a lot more than a single match win to prove that your chs are truly alive."
Ves rely smiled back. "We shall see. I’m quite interested in what kind of ch pilots will show up next. The ones we have seen so far are certainly colorful, though I find it odd that only one of them has arena experience."
Dr. Navarro did not agree with him. "Miss Gidon’s experience as a ch athlete did not avail her in the end. Besides, it doesn’t matter too much if there are differences in strength. She will pilot your ch during the second phase."
That wasn’t entirely fair, still. If Dr. Navarro always received the stronger ch pilot during the matches in the first phase, then his biochs would incur less damage due to better performance! This in turn ant that it was a lot less c.u.mberso to repair the organic machines after the end of the first phase!
Ves didn’t bother to quibble over this matter, though. If the bias was too obvious, then Ves wouldn’t be the only person who understood the implications. The LRA would lose a lot of credibility if such a plot existed and beca exposed!
Once the downed Epsilon Mosar was carted out of the arena, the second pair of chs and ch pilots entered the stage.
[Our second match is a clash of warriors, literally this ti! Two defensive chs will be attempting to wear each other down. Which armored colossus will fall first?]
The two knight chs that appeared in view might possess the sa role, but functioned very differently!
[On the left, we have yet another Bright Warrior ch, but this ti outfitted in its knight ch configuration. On the right, we have Dr. Navarro’s impressive-looking Dragonscale Warrior. Both chs are made to withstand imnse punishnt. This will be a real slugfest!]
"Ugh, I hate this boring matchup." Vincent complained. "Whose idea was it to pit one defensive ch against another defensive ch? These clashes last forever!"
However, the match quickly revealed sothing that introduced so much-needed excitent.
It turned out that both of them were young!
[Now this match is a breath of fresh air! The next match will be fought between two rising stars. The ch pilot of the second Bright Warrior is Trip Oxxon. He is the 17th ranked elite graduate of Greenstar Academy. The ch pilot of the Dragonscale Warrior is Zenon Dia Bavros, who is also an elite graduate, this ti from the Dorman Piloting Institute. He is the 14th ranked ch cadet of his class!]
Ves frowned a bit when he heard that. He only relaxed when soone ntioned that Greenstar Academy was slightly better regarded than the Dorman Piloting Institute. Of course, the differences were minor and subjective. The two were pretty much even in many aspects, and so were the ch pilots.
"Why choose younger ch pilots this ti?" He questioned.
"It could be to test whether your chs are easy to pick up or not." Raella guessed. "It could also be a way for the LRA to showcase their comprehensive strength to the public. The Lifers must be quite confident in the performance of these rookies if they chose this pair to fight the second match."
Vincent did not think much of these so-called elite graduates. "These fellows have to work for it if they want to screw up in front of a crowd. Anyone can pilot a knight ch. They’re easy to learn and easy to master. Even soone who has lost half a brain can still be useful with a knight ch!"
"Don’t let Jannzi hear you saying that!"
While Vincent had a point, knight chs were capable of performing in many different ways. Their mission might be simple, but a creative ch pilot could always find new ways to leverage a knight ch’s capabilities!
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