Ves stood up and straightened up his posture as the connection went through.
A faint aura of sharpness and unyielding determination radiated through the remote connection as the physical projection of the Bloodsinger beca visible first.
The floating greatsword that looked sharp enough to easily split a human from top to bottom floated up and down in a friendly gesture.
"Sharpie! Heaven! Heaven! Sharpie!"
"Hello there, Sharpie. Are you still in your 'heaven' phase?"
"Sharpie!"
A hand smacked the floating greatsword back. "Behave, Sharpie."
"Hello again, Ketis. It's been a while since we communicated more directly. I apologize for not getting to you sooner. I got dragged into a lot of affairs as of late, as you may have heard."
Ketis rolled her eyes. "You an you willingly threw yourself into one pit after another."
"Hey! The public inquiry was not my fault!"
"Says the founder of the Red Collective."
"An organization that does not exist at this ti."
"I might not be the brightest politician, Ves, but even I know that it is dood to take its place alongside the Red Two. There is even talk about putting you in charge of it, especially after you sohow upgraded the Dominion of Man into a living dreadnought. I am curious how you managed to do that, but you probably aren't allowed to share those secrets."
Ves nodded and started to pace around his office. "You are right about that. A lot of changes are in store. My latest business trip has yielded many results. Let tell you the details that I am allowed to share."
He briefly summarized what he had done and what he had managed to obtain. Though he cut out a lot of portions of his story, he made sure to put extra emphasis on his many gains.
"I already heard about the first-class support ch, the Destroyer spear and the juggernaut." Ketis said. "Personally, I wouldn't have gone for them. They are too costly and impose far too many requirents in order to put them to good use. What purpose does the juggernaut serve, anyway? Did you just want to secure the bragging rights for owning an enormous ch?"
"I bought it for research purposes." Ves claid with a straight face. It was emphatically not a toy for boys! "You should know what I an. We can deepen our understanding of chs if we step outside familiar ground and work on stuff that is different from what we handle on a daily basis. I already harvested a lot of insights when I participated in the transformation of the Dominion of Man. I think I can make similar gains when I start working earnestly on the Otalon Sprius."
"And when will that happen?"
"Not now." He admitted. "Maybe in a decade. There is way too much stuff I need to take care of first. My to-do list is so long that it can practically be turned into a book."
"Then you should delegate more. Haven't you always taught that no ch designer can shoulder everything alone? You can easily shift more responsibilities to Gloriana and Alexa. I have spoken with that new student of yours a number of tis. She has a bright head on her shoulders. I am not ashad to admit that she is much more intelligent and sociable than . Those Terran ancient clans sure know how to raise excellent descendants."
Ves approached and raised his arm to pat Ketis on the shoulder. "There is no need to denigrate yourself. ch design is never about being the smartest. It is about serving ch pilots to the best possible extent. As a Swordmaster, you enjoy a unique advantage that makes your ch designs much more suitable for your target audience regardless of the imperfections they might have."
The swordmaster smiled. Ketis did not need any affirmations, but it was nice to receive a complint.
They soon began to discuss the ch designs that Ketis had been working on in the past few months.
"I have been working hard to complete the Storm Sword." Ketis explained to Ves as she pulled up the design schematics of the quasi-first-class hyper transphasic swordsman ch. "It is by far the most powerful ch that I have designed so far. It is also by far the most demanding and complicated one. Not even the original First Sword can match the Storm Sword in terms of technological sophistication and material value."
That sounded like an absurd statent at first. How could a standard ch exceed the value of an expert ch?
However, Ves did not disagree with his forr student. One glance at the design schematics already told him that the disparity had grown big enough to make such a statent.
The First Sword was an old ch design that originally contained no phasewater. It was only later on that the Larkinson Clan tacked on a number of transphasic parts, but the scope of incrental upgrades remained limited due to a reluctance to ruin what was already working.
Her best gimmicks was the fact that she wielded the masterwork Decapitator ch sword and enjoyed the protection of Unending alloy.
That was more than enough to allow a skilled expert pilot such as Venerable Dise to challenge and defeat a myriad of challenging foes!
Though the First Sword was able to accompany Venerable Dise a lot further due to the living ch's inherently high skill ceiling, the living expert ch ultimately showed her age, just like all of the other early generation Larkinson expert chs.
This was how such an absurd situation ca to be. Compared to a quasi-first-class ch design that incorporated a hefty amount of hyper technology and phasewater technology, the Storm Sword model indeed outperford a second-class low-tier hyper expert ch on paper!
That did not an that a Storm Sword or even 10 Storm Swords could defeat the First Sword in actual combat.
The combat power of a ch should never be evaluated in isolation. This was especially relevant in the case of high-ranking chs.
The current Venerable Dise had evolved so far past the limits of mortal ch pilots that she could handedly thrash a squad of Storm Swords without much suspense!
The First Sword would get upgraded sooner or later. Ves and Gloriana just needed to modernize the Dark Zephyr first before they could tackle other upgrade projects.
Ketis understood this well, so she suppressed the urge to inquire about how much ti needed to pass before the First Sword got her turn.
The current spotlight rested on the Storm Sword model. It was her latest pride and joy. She had worked hard to understand both phasewater technology and hyper technology to ensure her latest prestige project lived up to her growing reputation.
"How well did you cooperate with your collaboration partners?" Ves inquired.
"Well, you did not pitch in as much as you promised, but this is not necessarily a detrint to the design." Ketis said. "The Storm Sword is still a living ch, but I do not believe it has to evolve into a third order living ch to earn back its value."
"I know, but I think it is best if I make a final pass on your Storm Sword design." Ves responded. "Living chs is a near-universal feature among the chs fielded by our clan. Your Swordmaidens will feel as if they are missing out if they are the only ones who are piloting chs that aren't as alive as the others. Aside from that, my contribution also ensures your Storm Swords co with the Energy Weaver ch Ecosystem. This is a powerful force multiplier. The more Larkinson chs are able to combine forces and form a pseudo-domain, the greater the advantages they can gain just by relying on numbers."
The swordmaster's expression changed. "I have witnessed the EW in action plenty of tis during this mission. The Fey Fiannas and the Transcendent Punisher Mark III's are making many Swordmaiden ch pilots jealous. Those currentgen chs are able to conjure firestorms or surround the battlefield with mist as long as enough of them have gathered together. They can even interfere with the special abilities employed by mutated beasts."
The introduction of proper hyper technology already made the two quasi-first-class ch designs stand out from their peers.
Adding the Energy Weaver ch Ecosystem on top of all of their other advantages allowed them to make an outsized impact on the battlefield!
The greater the ch army, the more dramatic the EW beca!
If not for the fact that the pseudo-domain was weak and easily overpowered by entities with real domains, the EW would have given living chs a power boost akin to half a battle network!
Ves was pleased to learn that Ketis had no objections to turning her Storm Sword into proper living chs embedded with the Energy Weaver ch Ecosystem. This would ensure that the high-end machines could fight alongside other Larkinson chs without looking out of place.
Maintaining unity was paramount for morale and coordination. ch ecosystems existed precisely to allow different ch models to fight alongside each other with minimal friction.
Ves studied the Storm Sword design closer. By default, they ca with a blue coating, but were embellished by jagged purple patterns that represented lightning bolts.
"I already have a good understanding of the Storm Sword's defenses and mobility, but tell about the weapons. Have you added anything special to them since the last ti we discussed this project in depth?"
Ketis started to smile. "The Stormbreaker Greatswords that are paired with this model perform better than expected according to testing data. However, the effectiveness of this ch weapon is heavily reliant on the swordsmanship of the ch pilot. In the hands of Venerable Dise, the sword can be used to perform the Phase Cutter technique and break down transphasic shields with ease. In the hands of an inexperienced Swordmaiden ch pilot, the Stormbreaker does not fully live up to its na."
That caused Ves to furrow his brows. "Does that an that only a small proportion of ch pilots are qualified to pilot the Storm Sword?"
"The Storm Sword is a swordsman ch that is solely designed for elites. Only the very best Swordmaidens can earn the privilege of piloting one. Compared to my original plan, I have made many design adaptations that have raised the skill floor of the Storm Sword. That makes it so that only advanced and highly trained ch pilots can effectively control my new ch, but given how much funding and resources I have channeled to the Swordmaidens, I expect them to step up and keep up with the growth of our clan. I do not ask them to beco as good as genuine first-class ch pilots, but it is not enough for them to be simple second-class ch pilots anymore."
"How high did you raise the skill floor of the Storm Sword, exactly?"
"Very high. Maybe too high." Ketis responded. "To be honest, there are not enough ch pilots who are capable of piloting the Storm Sword properly, but I expect that to change in the following years. I can be patient enough. I do not want the Storm Sword to get overtaken so soon by a more recent ch design in the future."
Ketis may care a lot about the Swordmaidens, but that did not an she wanted to pamper them. Her fellow sisters needed constant challenge and stimulation in order to sustain their growth and give them enough reasons to expand their limits.
This did not co without a cost. Many of the old veterans from the early days had already given up on this rat race. An increasing proportion of Swordmaidens from the younger generations began to surpass the old veterans.
The second-raters who attended excellent ch academies simply possessed better qualifications than a bunch of forr third-class pirates!
"It is all worth it, right?"
"That, and more." Ketis viciously grinned. "A squad of Storm Swords piloted by skilled and experienced Swordmaidens will be a sight to behold. An entire company of them should also pose a fatal threat against any enemy sub-capital ship. Combined with their space suppressor modules, their Stormbreaker Greatswords will easily rip any transphasic energy shields to shreds. It can take only seconds for my most powerful swordsman chs to pass through the energy shield layer under the right circumstances!"
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