The initial discussion with the Stewards Siasia had been incredibly enlightening to Saint Davia Stark,
She had never spoken to high-ranking ch pilots that share similar goals as hers. The Chevor twins were among the few people in human civilization that not only found war distasteful, but dedicated the rest of their lives to making it less prevalent than before.
Above all else, the Stewards Siasia fought for a future where humans no longer needed to kill each other in wanton violence in order to gain purpose in their lives. It was very clear that the two Rubarthan saints clearly focused their thinking and ideology on humans. Alien lives did not enter into their consideration at all. Their advocacy only extended to human-on-human conflicts.
The Red War forced them to confront situations and dilemmas that involved races other than humans. This introduced a whole new set of problems, but also allowed the twins to think about the sa topics from different angles.
This was actually good for the Chevors. By thinking about these problems and figuring out satisfactory resolutions to them, they steadily closed the loopholes in their conviction and were able to bring their ideals closer to reality.
Even so, it was clear that there was still a considerable distance between the two. Reality was never simple. No ace pilot or god pilot for that matter had the power to reshape society by themselves.
Perfection was not necessary. What mattered was that the high-ranking ch pilot remained true to his purpose and never made any compromises on what truly mattered.
In other words, the journey was more important than the destination.
Every purpose and conviction presented a challenge to expert pilots and ace pilots. How well they navigated these tests determined how well they tempered their willpower and how much they increased their qualifications to reach the ultimate rank.
The indisputable fact that only a hundred or so god pilots erged among an uncountable number of ch pilots proved that the standards of passing were exceedingly high!
It was already hard enough for ch pilots to trigger their apotheosis once or twice. The requirents were high from the beginning and beca more stringent at higher ranks.
Yet the chasm between a peak ace pilot and a god pilot was so much more
insurmountable that only the most exemplary and legendary ace pilots were able to
cross this impossible divide!
Saint Stark already had a basic understanding of how much ace pilots needed to work in order to cross the road to no return, but when the Stewards Siasia frankly described their own journey and struggles to attain their current strength, she was able to learn a lot of lessons of wisdom.
This was an important part of the ntorship process. Ace pilots could learn from other ace pilots. All that was required was for the ntor to trust the pilot of the younger generation.
This was why compatibility was such a big deal.
HHC did not try to match Saint Stark with the Stewards Siasia out of superficial reasons.
They genuinely calculated that the two senior ace pilots would take a liking to the newly ascended saint.
Stark learned more in an hour than she did in years.
Her eyes changed as she beca more cognizant of the challenges ahead.
There was no hard bottleneck preventing a starting junior ace pilot like herself from reaching the limit of a senior ace pilot.
However, there were still plenty of pitfalls that could cause an ace pilot to stumble, slow down or even stop progressing entirely!
"When you beco an ace pilot, your Saint Kingdom has beco the primary ans in which you impose your own will onto reality." Alo Chevor explained. "Its qualities are directly related to how well you have abided by your convictions and how extensively you have solved the issues surrounding them. You must understand yourself if you want to alter the universe around you. This ans that you must also have the courage to confront yourself and ask the questions that you would rather avoid."
Saint Stark grimaced. "I know what you an. Confronting ourselves is one of the most difficult things to ask from anyway. Every human prefers to cling to his or her delusions."
The male twin nodded in a sagely manner. "Yet it is this mortal instinct that is hindering us from growing our willpower. No saint is perfect. We are all human enough that we depend on lies, ignorance and misdirection to maintain our pride and self-esteem. This may sound detrintal, but it is actually not. These lies and false platitudes are like clothes that keep us warm on a winter's night. If you try to strip yourself naked in a single instant, you will quickly freeze to death."
Davia Stark caught on the implications of his words.
"Are you saying... that we should not be so eager to engage in introspection and
avnose the truth about ourcalves?"
"Yes," Alo grimly said. "Why do you think that ace pilots spend decades or even a century to reach the peak of their ranks? It is because we cannot bear to strip our clothes too quickly. The parts of us that are still mortal remain our greatest weakness. It is an even greater vulnerability than our mortal human bodies as far as we are concerned. If we tear our clothes from our body too quickly or in a clumsy manner, we risk doing more damage than we can tolerate. We may even die if we do not take any safeguards."
Stark shuddered when she learned of this possibility. She had never heard stories about ace pilots thinking themselves to death, but she figured that there were too many people that had a vested interest in maintaining the heroic reputations of those
saints.
She did not think that Alo was spreading falsehood. It was difficult to imagine that an ace pilot of his caliber would still engage in deception. He wouldn't lie even to his
enemies.
"Is... this a warning about the consequences of rushing my progression?" Stark asked in a slightly uncertain tone.
Aloretzi Chevor shook his head. "Not entirely, my guest. My description applies to the Milky Way. Things work differently in the Red Ocean. The exotic radiation from ssier 87 has changed the rules sowhat. If we use the earlier tafor, then you can believe that the reason why we must strip down our clothes at a slow pace is because we need to give ourselves ti to adapt to the colder and harsher environnt. E energy radiation accelerates this process. It passively makes us stronger and more resistant to the cold, so we can safely strip down our clothes several tis faster than before. It will not take long for new ace pilots such as yourself to reach the threshold to god pilot. This is a blessing as well as a curse."
"I can understand why you would call it a blessing, but why is it a curse?" Davia Stark frowned as she couldn't figure out the reason.
"That is because being able to train yourself to survive the cold air when naked is
never our final goal. Each of us are not satisfied with remaining stuck as saints. We all desire to beco god pilots. That requires us to pass a more extre test. You can think of it as diving into an ice lake and trying to survive in the water on a permanent.
duration."
"It is impossible for humans to do that unless their bodies are highly augnted!"
"That is correct, Davia" Alo Chevor affird. "This is why we must grow strong enough to do the impossible. We must ascend our humanity and turn into a higher existence. We cannot do this by our willpower alone, but it is vital to our transformation. What actually helps us transform are our ace chs. In this taphor, you can think of it as the chanical shell that will contain our minds. The process of transferring ourselves to the chanical shell is extrely painful and difficult to complete. We must temper and grow our willpower to such a strong extent
that we can endure the suffering and remain cognizant enough to complete the steps. Oh, and we must do all of this while diving into the cold and deadly lake!"
In this tafor, the act of jumping into the freezing lake was equivalent to stepping on
the road to no return!
It was no wonder that not a single god pilot candidate could co back after starting the ch Body rger Process!
Saint Stark learned a lot of insights from this taphor and warning.
First, exotic radiation from ssier 87 evidently made it easier and faster for expert pilots as well as ace pilots to realize their potential and grow stronger.
This was probably because the Heaven component of the Heaven Earth Man Trifecta was a lot stronger in the Red Ocean than in the Milky Way.
Yet high-ranking ch pilots never relied on external conveniences to beco strong unless they were ch commanders.
Their willpower was the ultimate source of their strength, and was inherently
focused on the self.
God pilots had taken this to an extre. They were able to tolerate the least amount
of flaws or weaknesses!
This was why being able to progress faster did not necessarily translate into being able to survive the road of no return,
Second, a good ch could substantially increase the success rate of the transformation process. Stark needed to raise her Earth score to the highest possible level in order to provide adequate support during the most difficult test of her career. In the past, the most successful god pilot candidates of the Milky Way relied entirely on the excellence of their ace chs to ascend to godhood!
It was exceedingly difficult to make an ace ch that had the makings of a god ch.
Super-class materials were too scarce, and only the very best ch designers were able to draw out their greater strengths by making use of the most advanced high
technologies.
Ever since the Great Severing occurred, the Red Ocean gradually beca more rich in resources. Even the Kayana System beca a lot more valuable due to the ergence of many hyper materials.
Did this an that it was easier for the ch designers residing in the Red Ocean to design qualified god ch candidates?
Stark certainly hoped so. Ves and Gloriana were still awfully young. While they were
most definitely talented and innovative, they were too far away from becoming Star
Designers.
That ant that when Saint Stark would finally be ready to start the ch Body
rger Process, the main designers of her battle partner would likely still be Master
ch Designers!
Most peak ace pilots that were finally ready to make the attempt tended to make use of chs that were at least partially designed by Star Designers these days. This slightly contributed to a higher survival rate for those who tread upon the road to no
return. Stark hoped that with all of the wonders introduced by E energy radiation, the Miracle Couple could transform the Amaranto into a work comparable or greater than the ace ch piloted by the Stewards Siasia!
"We can't do this alone. Stark concluded. "We can only rely on ourselves to polish our willpower. It will be our fault if we do anything wrong. When it cos to our ace chs, we have no choice but to rely on the work of ch designers. If they make a mistake, we will be the ones who will suffer the consequences."
"That is why it is vital that you work with ch designers that you can trust and believe in." Alo said as he nodded in agreent. "You must seek out those who understand your needs and possess the competence to design machines that match or exceed your expectations and maintain good relations with them. This cos easier to so ace pilots than others. From what I have learned, you are quite lucky in this
regard. You enjoy the privilege of piloting a remarkable ace ch designed by one of the leaders of his generation."
Stark couldn't help but swell with pride. "Professor Ves Larkinson is a madman that knows how to produce results. His wife is also a perfect assistant."
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