Now that he decided to design a lancer ch that was oriented around Ylvaine, Ves made an earnest effort to translate this idea into a workable competition ch.
Designing a competition ch was a lot different from designing a proper mass market ch. Ves had to change his approach in so many different ways in order to adapt his work to the tournant setting.
For example, his lancer ch did not have to last a long ti in the field. Duels generally didn't last a long ti and the extre fighting mode of his particular machine ant that Ves could forgo designing for longevity.
There was also another variable that caused him to deviate from his regular design approach. The fact that his lancer ch would be repaired after every match ant that it could be pushed beyond its limits.
As long as the ch didn't go too overboard, it was fine if it overloaded its systems for a dozen seconds or so! It would all be fixed after the match anyway, so Ves did not have to worry about excessive stress creating accumulated cracks and other damage to the internal systems.
He could easily increase the effective performance of his lancer ch by 20 percent if he disregarded its longevity and pursued the greatest possible short-term gains!
"Even if the repair systems can't fix every consequence of accelerated wear and tear, it shouldn't matter too much. My lancer ch only has to fight three short matches before it has served its purpose. There is absolutely no reason to account for any further use after today."
Ves believed that every other ch designer in the tournant opted to design their competition chs in the sa way as well. It would be stupid of them to forgo all that potential power just so that they could design their chs as normal.
A good ch designer always adapted his work to the situation. That was a lesson that he had learned in many different instances. Working alongside Gloriana who paid a lot of attention to this aspect allowed him to fully realize how much of a difference it made.
For this reason, Ves had to fight against his habits and drop his usual insistence on designing a durable, long-lasting ch.
Although he designed such chs before in past competitions, it had been a long ti since he truly let himself go like this. He had to put more effort into making design choices that deliberately shortened the lifespan of his lancer ch in order to obtain modest boosts in several different performance paraters.
After several hours of design work, the divergence between his normal products and this competition ch beca increasingly more clear.
A part of him felt pained for designing a living ch that was only ant to last a single day. This dayfly would barely have the opportunity to enjoy what it was like to exercise its prodigious power!
Ves wasn't sure what would happen after the competition chs had served their use. He hadn't heard any ntion of it in the rules. In general, they were usually broken down again so that the materials they were made of could be recycled and put to use in another competition.
However, there were also instances where the chs would remain intact. Strictly speaking, the tournant organizers owned the chs. It was up to them to decide whether they wanted to keep the machines for themselves or give them to the participants as extra gifts.
"There's little point for to keep this ch, though."
Space aboard his fleet was limited. Taking up one extra ch slot just to hold a lancer ch that was completely impractical in real battles sounded like a vain and stupid decision.
"Well, if no one else wants it, then so be it. You'll just have to be content to shine brighter than any other ch in the short ti that you're alive."
His lancer ch was like a supernova.
In cosmic terms, supernovae or exploding stars were incredibly powerful. They were not only capable of wiping out planets, but could also affect other star systems in the vicinity!
The downside was that they lasted only for an instant relative to the history of a galaxy. Still, their impact on the environnt was huge despite lasting such a short ti.
With these thoughts in mind, Ves embraced this taphor as one of the thes of his ch design.
Working with thes was a recent addition to his design approach. Starting from the Bulwark Project, Ves sought to imitate the higher-level design thods that he had derived from his observations of the Olympus Mons.
The Shield of Samar and the Everchanger were the first two beneficiaries of his deliberate incorporation of thes into their designs.
The results were quite good. Not only did working with thes cause the living chs to focus their strength and power in the desired directions, they also helped the expert pilots channel the various resonance abilities of their powerful machines with greater effect.
This was the first ti he applied a design thod to a standard ch, though.
Thes beca more relevant when the chs and ch pilots beca more powerful and remarkable. They deeply influenced the performance of an ace ch and also could also play a role in concentrating the strengths of expert chs.
What about normal chs? How would thes affect a ch that did not possess any pri or resonating materials and would only be piloted by an ordinary person? Was it even worthwhile to bother with thes if there was no basis in power for them to act upon?
"No." Ves shook his head. "It's not useless. My last two expert chs have already shown how thes can affect my own work."
Living chs were inherently complicated and multi-dinsional. Any form of intelligent life was complex to a degree. By designing them according to certain thes, Ves was basically influencing the way these complex lives expressed themselves.
It was not a particularly new technique, but working around the frawork of thes helped turn it into a fixed thod that could beco a regular staple in his expanding toolbox.
As Ves worked the supernova concept into his lancer ch, he did not have the impression that his efforts were useless or counter-productive.
Instead, he could feel the life that he was shaping with his design efforts embrace and shape itself according to this the.
What interested Ves a lot was that the supernova the was not well-defined. Compared to other concepts such as hamrs, physical force and so on, a supernova could not be linked to any aspect of his lancer ch's performance.
The connection would have been more obvious if he designed a ch ard with an energy weapon. However, the only obvious energy elents his ch contained was the power reactor and the flight system.
"I'm not sure if sothing as abstract as a the can even affect the performance of these systems in any way."
Ves was basically flying blind in this regard.
What he did know was that his thes were definitely influencing the character of the living ch. His lancer ch's spiritual foundation beca more extre as it veered into a specific direction.
The supernova the was only a part of the equation.
As a ch that was ant to rely on an external factor to guide its attacks, Ves also incorporated Ylvaine as a the!
To be more precise, he split it into two different forms in order to finetune the character of his living ch even further.
Divine Guidance was a relatively straightforward transplantation of the Guided Aim ability of the Transcendent Punisher.
Unlike with his heavy artillery ch, Prophetic Guidance was more than just a triggered ability. His lancer ch embodied this concept down to its very roots!
Even without actively channeling this ability, his lancer ch should still convey at least so hints from Ylvaine. This was mainly ant as a backup solution if the ch pilot resisted Ylvaine's presence.
The relationship between the ch pilot and his competition ch was a persistent concern to Ves. How well would they be able to get along? How open-minded was the ch pilot towards religion and towards Ylvaine in particular?
If he had the bad luck of getting paired with a militant atheist, or worse, a strong believer in a different faith, then the two might object to each other to such a strong degree that they created anti-synergy!
"I have to mitigate this risk as much as possible!"
His solution? Design his competition ch in a way that did its best to appeal to the ch pilot!
Perhaps in another context, what Ves was attempting to accomplish might be construed as brainwashing, but he didn't think he was doing anything of the sort. He rely sought to facilitate a friendly exchange between a strongly-opinionated ch and the ch pilot it was interfacing.
If the ch pilot wasn't receptive towards the gospel conveyed by the ch, then he or she could block it whenever he wished.
Ves didn't want that to happen, though.
"The more the ch and ch pilot diverge from each other, the harder it is for them to cooperate in battle."
In order to encourage a ch pilot who was completely unfamiliar with the Great Prophet to embrace this holy figure, Ves adopted a third the that was completely geared towards addressing this priority.
He called it Submission to Ylvaine. It was a rather clunky and unpleasant-sounding label for a the, but Ves couldn't co up with anything better.
Submission to Ylvaine certainly described what a part of his lancer ch was all about.
It wasn't only about exerting as much power in an instant as possible.
It wasn't only about guiding its lance to the right target either.
The third the that affected the character of his competition ch centered about converting strangers to the Ylvainan Faith!
By embracing it as a core the, Ves not only made sure that it beca a strong influence on the ch pilot of his competition entry, but also tried to expand it so that it could affect others!
More specifically, he wanted to turn Submission to Ylvaine into a detrintal influence towards the opponent of his ch.
"It's like a suppressive glow."
To be honest, Ves didn't think it would work. It was impossible to convert a ch pilot to a faith that was wordlessly being espoused by an enemy ch!
What Ves was actually aiming for was disturbing the opposing ch pilot's ntal balance.
Just like how constant nagging could disrupt soone's concentration, Ves hoped that the proselytizing glow of his lancer ch would act as a negative influence on his opponents!
"It certainly works on , so why can't it work on other people?" Ves chuckled.
If the annoying Ylvainan glow caused an enemy ch pilot to perform just 1 percent worse than normal, then it was already worth the effort of incorporating this the into his lancer ch design!
Slowly but surely, his lancer ch's spiritual design gained definition. The interplay between the three different thes produced a spiritual character that was a lot more complex than any single the.
Ves deliberately didn't exert much control on how they blended together. He felt it was better to let them find a balance on their own. He did this to retain the organic nature of his living ch.
Soon enough, his design neared completion. Ves glanced at the clock and saw that he was still on schedule.
"I need to finalize this ch quickly."
He wanted to take one additional step before he moved on to the fabrication stage.
He looked down to his side, only to observe an empty tool belt.
"Of course."
Just like any other contestant, he wasn't allowed to bring any weapons or gadgets onto the competition stage.
There was no way he could pass his Hamr of Brilliance through the security checks, so he simply passed it and the rest of his gear to Nitaa for safekeeping.
Nonetheless, Ves still began to smirk.
"I don't actually need a hamr."
He concentrated on his permanent spiritual connection to Vulcan and drew onto his power!
He slowly raised his fist, which faintly began to glow to bronze.
Without thinking about how silly he would look, Ves decisively punched his own head!
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