As Ves continued to design his dwarven crown, he began to think about the aning of his work.
He was a ch designer by profession. Although he created a lot of other products lately, he never forgot his true purpose.
Even Star Designers, who famously branched out and created all kinds of other products, never abandoned the field they were best at. Designing chs was the root of their passion and the purpose of all of their hard work.
Although Ves could not even co close to approaching the majesty of a Star Designer, his current activities put him on a similar path.
It was not unusual for ch designers to branch out early and work in other industries. Specialist ch designers often spent ti on designing and building specific products or parts that had a relation to their design philosophy.
For example, Ketis mainly focused on designing swordsman chs, but it was not a waste of ti for her to focus specifically on developing swords. The gains she made after creating the Decapitator was great and not much less than if she built a masterwork out of an entire ch!
In that context, what Ves was doing should also be considered an extension of his work.
Similar to how Ketis improved her ability to design swordsman chs by focusing specifically on swords, Ves realized that he could evolve his ability to design living chs if he explored the depth of spiritual engineering in different circumstances.
Creating totems was one of the ways he could apply his design philosophy to products other than chs.
Unlike designing chs, designing totems was less cumberso and took up way less ti. A serious ch designer never wanted to cut corners when he engaged in his primary work, but that could be quite troubleso at tis.
If Ves wanted to experint with his specialty or explore a new avenue without dedicating months of design ti, then it might be a good idea for him to experint with developing totems.
"What I'm doing right now is an opportunity to learn more about my specialty! I can try out new ideas, I can place my work in a different context and I can implent solutions I wouldn't dare to use on a ch design. As long as I don't take too much ti away from ch design, it is quite worthwhile to devote my ti to creating totems!"
As Ves continued to design the crown for his current client, he found that he enjoyed this process a lot. Unlike the previous tis where he either developed excellent totems for himself or disposable totems for others, he began to think of himself as a true craftsman.
He had the illusion that he had beco a venerated master artisan who received commissions from all kinds of powerful people. Even a dwarven emperor wished to receive his services!
"This could beco a profitable side business for ." Ves murmured as his eyes shone brighter. "Not everyone is a ch pilot and not everyone needs a ch design from . If I start to offer powerful and highly customized totems to wealthy individuals, I can earn a lot of money in the Red Ocean!"
Only the powerful and those attached to them had the qualifications to enter the Red Ocean at this early stage. Ves might not be able to compete adequately against all of the powerful Masters who had already set up shop in the new frontier, but he was pretty certain that no one could create artifacts like his upcoming crown!
Spending several uninterrupted hours on trying to rack his mind on how to best tailor the crown to an ambitious dwarven ruler caused him to think about his work from different angles.
A crown was not a ch and therefore had a different dynamic with its user.
Though Rion used to be a ch pilot in his past life, getting shot in the head before getting pieced back together by the MTA caused him to lose his ability to interface with chs.
Therefore, Ves couldn't treat the intended user of his crown as an ordinary ch pilot. He had to configure his product in a way that made it powerful without relying on the strength of its wearer.
"Part of the reason why chs are powerful is because they are a part of a greater whole." Ves reminded himself. The union between a ch and ch pilot produces one of the strongest combinations known to humanity."
This was why the Olympus Mons was so ridiculously strong in direct combat. Ves even guessed that Saint Mayorka and her ace ch could even beat up the Unending One in a direct battle!
Unlike his other clients, Ves could not impart that kind of power to Emperor Rion Aaden.
First, the resurrected dwarf was not a ch pilot anymore.
Second, a crown could not compare to a ch.
All of this ant that the crown he was trying to make would certainly pale in comparison to his ch.
If Ves was able to design a first-class ch under similar conditions, then whatever machine he would be able to make at the end could easily overpower any crown he made today!
There was nothing he could do about this disparity, but that didn't an that Ves was resigned to make a weak product.
"Can a crown be as powerful as a ch? No, but I can leverage my advantages to close the gap as much as possible!"
As Ves set this goal in mind, he beca more driven as he refined his crown design. He not only developed many new ideas, but also sublimated his thinking towards his own work.
"Whether I'm designing a ch or a totem, I should always maximize the value that I can provide to my custors!"
The premise of his design philosophy centered around maximizing the synergy between a ch and a ch pilot.
Ves believed he could generalize this relationship and do sothing similar with any product and any client.
Ves made a fairly obvious realization but one that he never explicitly thought about.
"Why should I limit myself to the properties of a ch? I don't need to rely on a neural interface to establish a bond between a ch and a ch pilot!"
Ves was quite confident that he could create a chanism where Rion was able to 'interface' with his crown and thereby gain so control over it with his mind.
Of course, such a bond wouldn't be as good as the connection between a ch and a ch pilot, but it was better than nothing.
As long as Rion was able to bond with his crown, then he would be able to develop a friendship and a cooperative relationship with both the crown itself and the design spirit it hosted.
Ves briefly directed his eyes towards the brownish bone like material that he had set aside on a work table.
"With a pri material like Galenta Bone at my disposal, I can create a powerful living totem that is the equivalent of a pri ch!"
It didn't matter if Rion was the weak link of this three-way relationship. A weak ch pilot normally couldn't exert a lot of power when piloting a ch, but making the latter more powerful was a good way to compensate!
This was why Ves ca up with an ambitious concept for his dwarven crown.
He wanted it to form a deep connection with Vulcan.
Initially, Ves wasn't that ambitious. At the beginning of this design session, he beca profoundly affected by Rion's relationship with the Banner of Vulcan.
Although the banner initially started out as a weak artifact, it absorbed a lot of spiritual feedback from an innurable amount of dwarves. Not only that, but Rion spent a lot of ti bonding with it. This enabled the banner to provide powerful benefits such as miraculously restoring the mories that the dwarf had lost on his first death.
Ves could do a lot better this ti. Why rely on growth to make the crown more powerful over ti when he could invest a lot more resources at the start and make it powerful straight away?
Rion shouldn't have to wait half a century before his crown fully ca online!
By leveraging the spiritual storage properties of Galenta Bone, Ves could infuse the crown with a lot of spiritual energy derived from Vulcan. This would turn the crown into a dium in which the dwarven design spirit could channel a lot of power and exert a lot of influence!
Rion likely wouldn't mind as his crown would gain a lot of power. Ves didn't mind either because Vulcan was effectively in control over the crown.
Anyti Rion wanted to channel a specific power, he essentially had to request Vulcan to make a move.
Also, since Vulcan was an incarnation, Ves would ultimately be in control of the crown!
Ves wondered if he could effectively influence Rion or whoever wore the crown by controlling it in secret. Even if it wasn't possible, he would still be able to extend his influence in a distant dwarven empire that was distinct from human society. This might be a great way for Ves to diversify and do business with people who usually weren't included in his custor base!
The only issue was that Ves needed to make sure that Rion didn't reject his crown design.
Though the old and wizened dwarven emperor was incredibly astute, Ves was confident that he could accomplish this much at least.
"I genuinely think this solution will provide the most value for Rion." He convinced himself.
Although the part about needing to rely on Vulcan sounded a little iffy, this was definitely a great way to empower a crown in the short term.
Ves didn't think that Rion had the patience to slowly grow and develop his imperial crown in the span of a couple of generations.
If the ambitious dwarf wanted to set up a prosperous dwarven star empire in his lifeti, then he needed to implent his masterplan quickly. He couldn't afford to lay low and build up his influence step by step, not when the Big Two continued to grow more powerful as well!
Therefore, Ves staked his entire crown design on what amounted to a devil's bargain.
Rion would gain the power he needed to unite the dwarven people. Ves subsequently gained influence over whoever wore and used the crown.
This was a win-win arrangent as long as Ves didn't abuse his access to the crown.
Ves had no intention of doing so as long as Rion wasn't malicious towards him. This was also one of his insurance policies. If Rion ever broke his promise and killed Ves after he obtained his crown, then Vulcan would certainly not be rciful!
"Saint Mayorka should be able to read my intentions, I think."
Although Ves wasn't exactly sure what ace pilots were capable of, they were all known for their incredible intuition and their ability to perceive threats and malicious intent.
Ves didn't dare to set any traps for that reason. He always set his mind to fulfilling the wishes of his client as honestly and as effectively as possible.
If the most effective solution just happened to co in the form of turning the crown into a direct of Vulcan, then that was fine as long as the design spirit wasn't hostile towards Rion!
"I'm sorry Rion, but you can't bla for being weak. The only way I can grant you a lot of power is by borrowing it from an external source."
Slowly but surely, his design began to reach completion. Ves had spent a lot of ti on expanding and refining its spiritual foundation so that it beca a more excellent vehicle to channel Vulcan directly.
As a result, the crown would ultimately beco a 'divine vessel' that allowed the dwarves to directly get in touch with Vulcan!
The basis of the dwarven emperor's power would subsequently be derived from his ability to invoke Vulcan and his powers!
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