After Ves courageously asked for other challengers to co forth, around 50 or so ch designers or representatives eagerly wanted to enjoy their mont of fa as well.
Yet not every ch design was suitable to challenge the recently unveiled Fey Fianna.
"I challenge your Fey Fianna with my Honest Arx! Do you dare to put your drone chs up against my axeman chs? If you are confident in the defenses of your chs, then my Honest Arx will be happy to put them to the test! Let's turn this into a tovsio group match. Combat chs like ours are not ant for dueling. Only a big battle can their teamwork shine!"
Everyone including Ves could see that the Fey Fianna was at a disadvantage against an axeman ch like the Honest Arx.
The offensive lee ch possessed a good balance between physical power, defense and mobility. It was only ard with a large axe and a backup pistol, but it did not require any more complicated weapon systems in order to function as an excellent breakthrough machine.
Such a ch was sturdy enough to resist a lot of attacks on approach. Once their enemies were within reach, the power of their continuous axe blows could disable nearly any form of defense, including energy shields!
Although the hyper energy shield field fey was able to leverage a large amount of water-attributed E energy to amplify its defenses, there was a limit to this process.
Ves perford a lot of quick ntal calculations in his mind. He carefully estimated the specifications of the Honest Arx based on his observations and felt that its offensive power was not weak.
The only part about this ch that was weak was its mobility, but he was pretty sure that his challenger took this into account. The Honest Arx should have a ans to close the gap.
Another unfavorable point was the group match. If Ves had a choice, he would rather opt for a one-on-one duel than a more chaotic group match.
lee chs working as a team could easily box in their opponents from multiple sides, thereby negating any advantage in mobility to an extent.
It was not possible for a ranged ch to kite nurous lee chs, especially in a fairly restricted environnt such as a ch arena.
In short, the Fey Fianna had to give up so many advantages that the only way for it to win was to overpower the Honest Arx on a qualitative basis!
Yet this was exactly the trap that his latest challenger had set. If Ves refused this challenge, he implicitly conveyed the suggestion that his Fey Fianna were not that special.
This would neutralize a part of the montum that Ves had managed to build up during his previous presentation.
So what?
The Fey Fianna possessed clear strengths and weaknesses. Though its ability to cope with different situations was greater than usual if it was able to pick and choose the right combination of fey, that still did not take away its vulnerability at close range.
Though Ves had designed the Fey Fianna in a way that it was able to put up a 'decent' fight when ard with a lee weapon, a dedicated offensive lee ch was so much better at the forr would only be able to buy a dozen seconds more ti before it inevitably got crushed!
Though Ves could think of a few ways for 10 Fey Fiannas to perform a miracle and sohow defeat 10 axeman chs after paying a grievous price, it was not worth it to take on this punishing challenge.
He plainly shook his head. "If you wish to put your Honest Arx to the test, then I suggest you approach a ch designer who has recently designed a comparable lee ch. I am not afraid to admit that my Fey Fianna will not fare well in this matchup, but only for the ti being. If you are willing to wait for a year for the first batches of Fey Fiannas to grow and for our ch pilots to beco much more proficient in piloting them, then I am more than willing to accept this challenge. Even if my drone chs are still disadvantaged on paper, I am more than willing to bet that the precipitation of ti has benefited my Fey Fiannas a lot more than your own products!"
Ves smirked as the opposing Master ch Designer looked upset.
It took a bit of quick thinking, but Ves had successfully mitigated the damage of refusing the challenge. He not only emphasized that this was a lopsided matchup to begin with, but that his Fey Fianna could still defeat a bunch of threatening axeman chs so long as they had developed their individual powers long enough!
This was a capability that virtually no other standard ch model possessed. Ves essentially communicated to everyone who was watching this Q&A session that as long as the Fey Fianna grew old enough, it could transcend any weakness that restrained it in the past!
The Ouroboros was the most impressive example of this, but it was a pity that Ves was not able to explain that it was 'his' work.
He hadn't even been born when the Ouroboros initially ca to life!
"Next." Ves said as he let the randomizer pick another challenger.
A small light soon shone on a woman who sat near the back of the hall.
"Thank you for unlocking my voice. I am Master Ginevra Hubert-Colmain from the Greenwich Middle Zone." A woman introduced herself while she projected her newest work. "My ch company has recently designed the Montebera GHCMQ-3. It is a second-class hyper lancer ch that excels at charging but can purge its armor and competently fight hand-to-hand with short spears. I would like to compare its performance against your Standard Fey Fianna. Their ch archetypes may be completely different, but we can learn the most about our works when they are put into atypical combat scenarios."
Few if any people imagined a matchup between a drone ch and a lancer ch. The two were so far apart that it seed that they belonged in different galaxies.
Their roles were very different on a fundantal level.
Drone chs were generally versatile, but lacking in strong specialties and hard power.
Lancer chs were highly specialized and only excelled in a very specific role.
Of course, the Fey Fianna and Master Hubert Colmain's Montebera were hardly typical to their ch types.
This made this potential matchup a lot more interesting.
Would the Fey Fianna have the hard power to defeat these formidable-looking lee chs?
Would the Montebera have the flexibility to overco all of the difficulties imposed by the fey and defeat the drone chs themselves?
No one was able to co up with any definitive answers to these questions!
That was a strong indication that this challenge was aningful. Neither side was at an overwhelming disadvantage, and the variables were tricky enough that neither side could complain about the unfairness of this matchup.
That was good enough for Ves.
"Terms."
"Fight in space if preferable. The Montebra needs enough free space to build up its montum and perform a proper charge."
"Not necessary." Ves rejected. "The Fey Fianna is not a heavy knight ch. Your Montebra doesn't have to build up so much montum to breach the defenses of my machine. It is best to limit these challenge matches to Phoca Arena. It is large enough that your lancer chs should still have enough room to perform adequate charge attacks. Do not forget that the limited range in the arena grants my Fey Fianna less ti to shoot at your Montebra."
Master Hubert-Colmain conceded this argunt. "Very well. Then let us turn it into a match that involves the least amount of chs as possible. A single duel is most preferable. The mass of our chs may be far apart, but their prices are in the sa range."
That was an interesting choice. Her request essentially signaled that she had greater confidence in her Montebras if they did not have to fight against many ranged chs at the sa ti.
Ves had a guess why this may be the case. From what he could surmise from the appearance of the Monebra, the lancer ch was fairly heavily armored in its base configuration.
Once it purged its armor, its physical defenses plunged while its mobility skyrocketed.
Though it would be far too exaggerated if its speed and maneuverability matched the standards of a light ch, the liberated machine should still be fast enough to quickly catch up to the Fey Fiannas.
However, his latest works were not slow. It would still take a bit of ti for the Montebra to catch up to the kiting Fey Fiannas.
This gave his drone chs enough ti to pelt the Montebras with a continuous stream of attacks of multiple ranged weapon fey!
Master Hubert-Colmain had clearly witnessed the offensive prowess of the Fey Fianna during the previous demonstrations. If dozens of fey focused their fire on the relatively fast but fragile Montebras that had purged their armor, then the latter would quickly be defeated in detail!
"How about a small team?" Ves suggested. "A one-on-one duel is too simple. I think a two-on-two match is more interesting for everyone. If one ch makes a mistake, there is still an opportunity for the other one to redeem itself in the unfolding battle."
"That is acceptable."
They continued to discuss the terms of this challenge. They were nothing special and contained all kinds of common sense rules that were ant to prevent cheating and gaming the system.
"See you tomorrow afternoon." Ves eventually concluded his talk with the Master from the Greenwich Middle Zone. "It is nice to compete against an actual second-class ch designer. I am curious to see how my Fey Fianna will fare against a pair of lancer chs."
"Do you have enough Fey Fiannas and ch pilots to fight multiple challenges on the sa day?"
"We do." Ves smiled back. "We do not have many Standard Fey Fiannas left that are paired with ch pilots who have been able to train with them for longer than a week. By the way, we still have three Elite Fey Fiannas in stock that are also open to challenges. If anyone else has a collection of transphasic hyper chs, feel free to issue your challenge."
The randomizer picked a bunch of people who issued unacceptable challenges. Ves did not think too much about these developnts and simply refused any obvious unfair matchups.
Soon enough, a man who almost looked as young as Ves stood up when he was lucky to be selected.
"Everyone has learned that you are a prodigy and a genius. You have feats on your na that no other ch designer of our generation has co close to accomplishing by themselves. You are a hero of our tis."
Though Ves felt flattered by the praise, he knew that this was useless talk.
"The Q&A session does not last all-night. Please be succinct so that we can spare as much ti as possible."
"I have also earned the reputation as a genius!" The young ch designer quickly said. "I might not be able to match you in the quantity of my inventions, but I am utterly convinced that their quality exceeds the quality of your own works! Please accept my challenge and agree to put your Fey Fianna in a duel against my latest hybrid ch!"
When the boastful ch designer finally projected an image of his proud work, all of the other ch designers exhibited a unified reaction.
They grew disappointed.
Ves did not bother to hide his contempt. "Is that it? Let guess. You are still a Journeyman ch Designer, right?"
"So only you are allowed to accept leapfrog challenges? Do not underestimate , professor. I am a genius! I have won design duels against Senior ch Designers in the past! My latest hybrid ch is more than able to push your Fey Fianna to its limits."
11 n
Ves' response to this extraordinary claim was to transmit a command that opened a hole beneath the Journeyman's seat.
"Bye bye."
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