Back at the High Tide Tournant, Ves let out a deep breath as he neared the end of his productive fabrication session.
None of his fears ca true in the last three hours. Despite operating a powerful superfab in reality for the first ti, the preparations he made and the strategy he adopted ultimately minimized the risk of failure.
The assistance he obtained from Vulcan was greater than he expected. He did not expect his incarnation to help him gain a more intuitive understanding of the high-tech production machine he was using to fabricate his lancer ch.
With this unexpected boost, Ves did not grow arrogant and tried to push against the limits of the Korok Alpha. He stuck to his current strategy and made sure to keep his output stable and free from any undesirable variance.
As a result, the lancer ch that was being finalized inside the Korok Alpha was quite respectable in terms of quality. Despite the rushed and imperfect design, Ves could have hardly delivered a better result under the circumstances.
Overall, Ves was happy with the realization of this copy. Though it hadn't beco anything as outrageous as a masterwork ch, he bet that the craftsmanship that he displayed probably ranked at the top among his competitors. If nothing else, that should be enough for him to stand out from the crowd.
A few more minutes passed before his work finally erged from the superfab.
The people in the audience who had been paying attention to his work all gasped as they admired the surprisingly pretty lancer ch that Ves had managed to develop in 12 hours.
There was hardly anything unrefined about its aesthetics. Ves had deliberately invested a bit of ti to decorate its exterior.
With its gleaming white exterior, the ch already sported a holy and pristine look. Instead of using gold, Ves opted to apply a subtle green shade to the decorative flourishes on the exterior.
Since it was technically an Ylvainan ch, Ves added abstract iconography that resembled Ylvainan symbolism to strengthen its identity. Those familiar with his other Ylvainan chs such as the Holy Soldier and the Transcendent Punisher should instantly be able to recognize the connection.
The difference between his previous Ylvainan chs and his current competition entry was that the latter was not as exclusionary.
With the cooperation of a design spirit that had already acquiesced to his demands before he even uttered them, the lancer ch turned into a rare religious-thed ch that was not exclusive towards worshippers.
The lancer ch was essentially the missionary version of an Ylvainan ch. It put on a friendly coat towards non-believers and welcod any ch pilot in its cockpit.
The hope was that the ch pilot's direct exposure to Ylvaine's blessings might cause this person to grow closer to the Ylvainan Faith.
The lancer ch was not obligated to convert the beliefs of its ch pilot, but the two should at least develop a mutual understanding with each other.
The greater they aligned with each other, the more Ylvaine was able to provide guidance to the ch pilot!
This was key to achieving success in the ch arena. In the short period of ti when the lancer ch charged towards its opponent, the decisions made by the pilot could make or break a victory!
As Ves inspected the ch with his own eyes, he beca happier and happier with how it turned out. Sure, the design still had many imperfections and suboptimal design elents, but that was already a given considering how little ti he spent on designing it. The rougher elents didn't matter. As long as the ch's physical construction was sound, it would hold its own in battle!
"I'm not sure whether it will last after a dozen bouts, but that's irrelevant. It only needs to show up three tis in total before it has served its purpose."
Three opportunities to win. Three opportunities to bond with its ch pilots. Three opportunities to spread the Ylvainan gospel.
As the ti limit of the design and build phase of the tournant ca to an end, a loud buzzer rang throughout the entire competition stage.
[Ti is up! All of your equipnt is locked down at the mont. Please follow the projected guide to the side where we will proceed to match up your newly-produced chs with our candidate ch pilots.]
Every participants moved away from the center while a large amount of heavy equipnt was being moved.
All of the desk terminals along with the Korok Alpha superfabs simultaneously sunk underneath the floor.
Bots erged from above in order to clean up any miscellaneous materials and other junk that so of the ch designers produced for whatever reason.
anwhile, all of the competition chs began to hover in the air. They slowly gathered together until they were all placed in several rows before the main presentation stage.
At this ti, nurous ch pilots stepped forward. One of the most important monts of the High Tide Tournant had co.
A ch was nothing without a ch pilot. It was essential to pair the newly-made competition chs with the appropriate people.
Hysphalin Industries supplied all of the ch pilots for its own tournant. It employed a lot of ch pilots, so it was not that difficult to bring a couple of hundred of them to this event.
There were more ch pilots than chs. This was because not every ch pilot was suitable for every machine. The tournant organizer had to bring in plenty of spares in order to prevent an unfortunate mismatch between piloting specializations and ch types.
Even then, not every ch pilot was the sa. Even if Hysphalin Industries tried its best to select those of equal strength, their skills, their combat experience, their habits, their faults and other variables differed remarkably from person to person.
For this reason, the tournant adopted a matching process that accounted for this inherent inequality.
Every ch pilot was ranked by comprehensive strength. Those who ranked higher could make their selection first. Of course, if they didn't like any of the competition chs, they were allowed to step back and let others pick a ch.
Fairness could not be guaranteed, so this step was ant to reward the contestants who worked harder and put more effort into their work.
After a short delay where the announcers and comntators hyped up this montous occasion, the first ch pilot finally stepped up in order to announce his choice!
[Hestinia Claes is the top-ranked ch pilot among this gathering. With twenty years of experience, she has fought nurous skirmishes and is a veteran in both the arena and the competition stage. She is a rare all-rounder who is highly proficient in piloting most ch types, though she possesses a general preference for well-armored machines. Now, let us hear which of the 94 competition chs that our contestants have produced today has earned her favor.]
Just like the hundreds of other ch pilots, the uniford woman had observed the design and build phase from beginning to end. Though she did not possess a technical background, she could still figure out which competition ch was stronger and what kind of properties they possessed.
"I choose the Dominant, the ch designed by Ereben Seinlin." She announced.
The crowd did not react with too much surprise at her choice.
[As expected! The work of Ereben Seinlin is one of the best chs produced in this tournant. The Dominant possesses nurous appealing properties. Its theoretical performance is excellent. It is an offensive knight ch that possesses both superb defense and surprisingly strong mobility for its ch type. Its design is elaborate and incorporates many additional features that are lacking in other competition chs such as secondary ranged weapon systems. The other knight chs developed by Mr. Seinlin's rivals may be strong in their own ways, but they aren't as multi-dinsional as the Dominant!]
Ves and many of his other competitors regarded Ereben Seinlin with a great amount of dread. It would be suprely unlucky for them if their own works got matched against the Dominant!
"What a strong ch."
Even though Ves had been absorbed in his own work for a long ti, it did not take an extended inspection to recognize that the Dominant was truly deserving of its na!
Its design was highly advanced and looked as if a Journeyman had spent twenty or thirty hours on it! It was not only more refined, but also incorporated powerful systems that were difficult to integrate in a ch design in a short amount of ti.
Ves directed his glance towards Ereben Seinlin. The man was clearly a centrist, soone who grew up in the most prosperous region of human space.
Although people were regularly befuddled why second-rate states even existed in such a hotspot, there were slums and run-down areas in every part of space. If mansions could exist alongside slums, relatively downtrodden states could also exist next to the borders of the Greater United Terran Confederation or the New Rubarth Empire!
Sotis, these states were based in relatively resource-poor regions that did not have the potential to support a first-class population.
Other tis, these weaker states served as buffer territories that put a healthy amount of separation between multiple first-rate states.
However, just because people like Ereben Seinlin didn't grow up in a first-rate state didn't an he was as poor as a second-rater in the galactic rim!
"This guy's augntations is probably at least three tis more capable than mine!" Ves muttered.
He was envious towards these ch designers who possessed a better starting point. Ereben Seinlin was much more productive than others due to his powerful augntations.
Once Hestinia Claes confird her choice and moved to a preparation area in order to familiarize herself with her selection, the second-ranked ch pilot announced his choice.
Ves and many other contestants grew uncomfortable as the best ch pilots all chose chs designed by their most formidable rivals.
The competition chs made by centrists such as Ereben Seinlin and Katien Tievos were selected nearly right away. The next batch of ch pilots mostly opted for the strongest-looking chs designed by the Journeyn with the brightest prospects.
For example, the 9th ranked ch pilot settled for the Hell Raider designed by Michael Arven Emistes.
[The Hell Raider is a fine ch that exemplifies the experience of its maker. Though it is not the most brilliant ch, its design is highly refined and incorporates nurous elegant design solutions. This hybrid ch will do no wrong regardless of the opponent it matches up against!]
If any of the contestants had reached 99 years old like Mr. Emistes, they could have easily designed a similar machine!
As Ves feared that all of the better ch pilots would settle for the works of heartlanders, the 16th ranked ch pilot finally stepped forward.
"I choose the Pontifical Lance, the ch designed Ves Larkinson."
What?!
[What a surprising choice.] A comntator remarked. [There are four lancer chs in this tournant, and the Pontifical Lance is not an obvious first choice. It is the only lancer ch designed by a ch designer from the galactic rim, but it appears that Gregory Haloscar sees more in this fine-looking machine.]
Gregory Haloscar was indeed a lancer ch specialist, so he surely knew what to do with the Pontifical Lance. It was just that he could have easily selected three other lancer chs, none of whom looked weak.
Ves was happy that he managed to hook a fairly strong ch pilot. The guy might not have reached the top 10 among the gathered ch pilots, but he was definitely the strongest lancer ch pilot!
"It looks like I did a good job at making my ch more attractive." He grinned.
One of the openings of this selection process was that the ch designers didn't necessarily have to choose the strongest chs.
They might have preferences for specific configurations that did not show up in the chs designed by the favorites of the tournant.
They may be more attracted to better-looking chs as opposed to the machines that looked like semi-finished lumps of tals.
The glow of the Pontifical Lance may have already played a role in winning over a stronger lancer ch pilot.
Whatever the case, Ves was a lot more optimistic about his chances. The Pontifical Lance was in the right hands as far as he was concerned!
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