Ves and Ketis finally exited the System Space, but not to return to their old routines, but rather gather the necessary materials for their collaboration project.
It must have been weird for the people around them to notice that Ves and Ketis abruptly changed their deanors.
They had worked continuously for 9 months. It was natural for them to co out with completely different attitudes and mindsets.
They could not hide the weariness radiating from their expressions and body language, but they were able to mask it to a degree by focusing on their current priority.
Soon enough, they used their contacts and spent their money and rits to quickly secure a batch of materials that they could use to forge the Bittersword.
They ordered a greater variety of materials than needed in order to retain a bit of flexibility and choice.
The two had yet to design the new weapon, so it was best to be safe and build up a generous stockpile.
Ves intended to craft a lot more D-arms in the future. He could use anything left untouched in his future Demoncasting projects.
Now that they gathered an abundant amount of phasewater, exotics and hypers, they obtained all of the building blocks they need to design a good D-arm.
They soon stumbled upon an imdiate problem.
"We can't control the final form of the D-sword." Ves said. "Whatever we design, the appearance as well as the performance of the weapon will undergo a comprehensive transformation after we Demoncast it. While the weapon is bound to beco stronger, it will also spend its energies on useless additions and elents that pose a greater threat to the wielder. Anything can happen, which is what makes Demoncasting so interesting. If our luck is bad, then a lot more energy will be spent on detrintal changes. If our luck is a little better, then the changes will mostly be helpful and productive. We only have a single attempt, though. We cannot impose strong enough control over the process with our current understanding and mastery of Demoncasting." Even if they accrued a lot more experience and learned a lot more how Demoncasting changed an object, Ves doubted that the situation would be much better.
They could control the variables before Demoncasting in an attempt to guide the process within a specific range of outcos, but that was like training a cat to spy on
enemies.
"You're right." Ketis said as she furrowed her brows. "There are many variables that go into forging a good sword. A weapon as high-end as a first-class transphasic hyper ch sword has to et high criteria in order to avoid misusing all of the phasewater and
other expensive materials. If the regular Demoncasting process is similar to the transformation of the Maiden Knife, then I fear what may happen to our potential masterwork. The influence of the Bitter Swordsman on the weapon will be completely out of our control. We do not have a good idea of the principles and patterns of the transformation, so the sword can grow serrated teeth or maybe even turn into a trident." The awareness that the final outco would ultimately look far different from their initial design made it difficult for the two ch designers to start their work.
They were accustod to having as many variables under their control as possible. Even if they could not account for slight variations in material, quality and so on, at least their end products were near-perfect matches of their designs!
In a reality where the deviation between a ch design and a fabricated ch was normally below 0.01 percent, a variation as large as 30 percent or more was a catastrophe!
Even Ves, who fell in love with Demoncasting and liked the surprises troubled on how to approach the current project.
could offer, felt
However, he eventually shook his head and decided to soldier on even if the circumstances were anything but ideal.
"It is useless to cry about factors that we can't control. We should just design the best. possible sword based on the materials we have gathered for the Everchanger. I know that once we Demoncast the Bitter Swordsman into the weapon, everything will change, but at least we have done the best we can by providing a good base. Think of it as raising a designer baby. We can decide on the genes and augntation package in advance, but once the embryo is synthesized and eventually gets born, our ability to control the properties of the growing child progressively drops over ti."
This was not a perfect analogy, but it was enough to convince Ketis that she could still work under the circumstances.
He was right. The initial form of the weapon might not resemble the final form, but at least there was a strong degree of correlation between the two. A normal sword was unlikely to transform into a spear after it got Demoncasted.
The two soon began to design the initial form of the sword.
Even if it wouldn't remain in this form for long after forging it, Ketis still intended to make it fit Venerable Joshua and the Everchanger as best as possible.
She possessed a thorough understanding of the expert pilot and his expert ch, so she did not need to collect additional data to create a vision of a new weapon. "The Everchanger currently has access to two swords." Ketis explained. "The Heartsword is an old and reliable weapon, but it is sadly outdated even if I have maintained it and applied minor upgrades to it over the years. Designed in the style of an arming sword, the Heartsword is a handy and reliable weapon that fits well in the hands of the Everchanger. Joshua doesn't make use of it as often as before, though. Its offensive
potential is lacking. The only good thing I have to say about it is that Joshua is able to rely upon it at all tis. He has trained and fought with it for many hours and knows it like the back of his hand."
"And the Scarlet Ember?"
"I never really considered it a part of the Everchanger's permanent arsenal." Ketis admitted. "We stole the plasma sword from the Neo Amadeus and repurposed it into an alternative weapon for the Everchanger. Since it was originally designed to be wielded by an ace ch, the Everchanger cannot keep it active for long without draining his energy reserves. I have mitigated this problem by upgrading the Everchanger's energy cells, but it is still too powerful for the expert hero ch. I also think it is a poor fit for this particular machine. It should be wielded by a ch that is designed from the ground up to wield high-intensity energy swords."
The swordmaster never developed a liking for plasma swords and other energy-type
swords.
They relied a lot more on technology rather than solid alloy to form the blade. Wielding them also required a radically different approach and set of sword skills.
Joshua only ever really used it if his Everchanger needed to inflict high damage up close and did not mind if he expended a lot of energy in the process.
In any case, it was clear to hear from Ketis' tone that she wanted to decouple the Scarlet Ember from the Everchanger.
"I think we can design a proper replacent for the Scarlet Ember, Ves suggested. "The Heartsword should be reserved for general usage. Maybe you can upgrade it later on to strengthen its alignnt towards the tal elent or another E energy attribute. As for the D-arms, I think we can rely on the power of the Bitter Swordsman to give the weapon a more damaging edge, especially if we make use of the right Demoncasting
Mold."
The two ca closer to figuring out what kind of sword they wanted to equip the Everchanger.
Ves and Ketis both took the current and future state of the expert hero ch into account when devising the new D-arm.
It had to be usable by the Everchanger Mark II while also keeping up with the vastly improved performance of the upcoming Everchanger Mark III!
The two kept drafting several proposals and considering their design choices for their collaborative project.
"Do you want to integrate stormblade technology into the D-arm?" Ves asked. "No." Ketis imdiately shook her head in refusal. "Stormblade technology can be a boon for Joshua, but we are not designing this D-arm to increase the Everchanger's combat power. We are also trying to promote the growth and evolution of my husband. I fear that if I bestow his expert ch with an electrified D-arm, he will learn the wrong
lessons from it and develop an unnecessary affinity for electric power. We need to design a sword that is conducive to promoting the power of cooperation and symbiosis." Ves gained a good idea. "Why not make a sword that you can precharge with energy or another special resource and have it discharge it over use? The weapon will be far more effective when it still retains a charge. Once the Everchanger has exhausted it, the ch can return it to its sheath and go back to using the Heartsword. This way, Joshua still has a reason to use both weapons."
Ketis liked the sound of that. Even though the Heartsword truly needed a comprehensive upgrade, she did not want her husband to phase out the weapon
entirely.
Adopting Ves' suggestion pretty much ant replacing the Scarlet Ember. The two weapons occupied the sa role, though the D-sword would hopefully rely on a sharp physical edge instead of a burning plasma edge to inflict damage!
The next major decision they needed to make was what kind of resource they would rely upon to give the weapon a high but temporary boost of damage.
Plasma was out of the picture. They would just be recreating a different version of the
Scarlet Ember if they selected this option.
"What about phasewater?" Ves made another suggestion. "Now that our clan has beco more successful in battle, we can always harvest a steady amount of phasewater from the spoils we gain from the battlefield. Our inco is much greater these days and we have gained access to so many high-end trading channels that it is very possible for us to buy additional phasewater from our closest friends and allies. We can design a weapon that exemplifies a transphasic sword."
"Are you suggesting that we try to develop a superdinsional weapon of our own?"
"That's beyond our capabilities, Ketis. I don't know how the native aliens and the cosmopolitans have managed to make those Saint Piercer arms, but there are rumors that they are made with the help of ancient phase whales. I don't think we can replicate their incredible power and mastery of spatial abilities, but we don't have to. D-arms rely on different principles to beco more powerful. What I want is to make a phasewater-charged sword that is specifically designed to tear through transphasic energy shields and spatial barriers as if they are paper. This must be a weapon that is specifically designed to counter phase lords."
This was a weapon that the Everchanger needed the most in the current day and age. The Heartsword and the Scarlet Ember were both fine weapons, but neither perford well against transphasic energy shields or azure energy shields. This was a major shortcoming that only beca more severe in the future.
The future Everchanger Mark III update would definitely address all of these shortcomings, but for now the phasewater-charged sword concept sounded like an excellent stopgap solution!
"Joshua will like it." Ketis predicted. "He has always felt that his Everchanger is lacking in offensive power compared to the other expert chs of our clan. With a more powerful sword, it will beco much easier for him to regain his relevance and make him feel as if he is making much greater contributions than before. We should make sure to set a quota on how much phasewater he is allowed to use, though. He will probably burn through our entire stock within a month or two if he is allowed to make use of his new weapon at will."
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