The Mech Touch

Each time Ves entered the System Space, he gained the realization that he possessed a fragment of one of human civilization's greatest and arguably the most powerful artifacts.

If not for the fact that the System limited the usage of its powerful features by demanding payment in the form of Ascension Points, Ves would have long been able to take off and become at least ten times as powerful!

"Well, maybe not that much."

He had to remind himself that it was easy to attract too much unwelcome attention if he displayed too many abnormalities.

The completely unexpected visit by the Polymath already warned him that the Metal Scroll and anything related to it was still extremely hot in the highest circles of human society.

If Ves hadn't restrained himself to his current extent, then perhaps the Polymath or the Five Scrolls Compact would have long deprived him of his freedom or his life!

His heart raced as he looked back at everything he had done in recent years. His performance already far exceeded that of a typical Journeyman Mech Designer. It did not take much effort to conclude that there was something fishy with Ves!

Though he managed to fool Master Willix and by extension the MTA that he had become a secret apprentice of the mysterious 'Mr. S.', who knew how long this fictional excuse might hold.

Fortunately, Ves had an easy way of making Mr. S. more tangible.

"I need to make his presence felt throughout the years!"

Ves understood that he needed to take advantage of the Time Gate's function to drop a few traces here and there. It did not even have to be anything big. Just a small hint here or there was enough to lead the Mech Trade Association on a wild goose chase throughout the centuries!

"I have to make sure that the clues I leave behind match the identity of a suspected Master Mech Designer or Star Designer."

Years ago, Ves managed to fool Master Moira Willix that he was in contact with an extremely impressive mech designer by making use of his Superpublic ability.

Since the System managed to improve the exquisite design solutions of a Master Mech Designer by roughly 10 percent, Master Willix clearly leaned towards the theory that Mr. S. was a Star Designer!

This was the only answer that fit the circumstances. Willix simply couldn't conceive of another Master who could comprehensively improve every facet of her work by such a substantial margin.

The only troublesome aspect about the fictional identity of Mr. S. was that he might be associated with the Cosmopolitan Movement.

Ves never had a clear idea how reprehensible cosmopolitans could be until he freed Lord Pearian Yorul-Tavik at the end of the Battle of Ramage Repulsor.

Finding out that the cosmopolitans not only made contact with the indigenous aliens of the Red Ocean, but actively provided them with human technology and secrets had completely sunk his opinion of this group of alien sycophants!

It even caused him to question whether it was wise for him to reinforce the impression that Mr. S. was a cosmopolitan.

There was no other way to explain why a suspected Star Designer did not enter the MTA in an open manner and immediately obtain an immense amount of power and influence by virtue of his ability alone!

"Maybe… I don't need to be so rigid about it." Ves decided. "It's much better to remain as ambiguous as possible. There are more secretive groups out there that are not integrated into mainstream human society."

He even wanted to make a game out of it. The thought of teasing the most brilliant investigators of the Association caused him to develop a number of crooked ideas!

Of course, if Ves wanted to do a good job at convincing the MTA that Mr. S. had been around, he needed to scatter a few powerful or mind blowing clues.

"Since the Ouroboros that I had designed back then has impressed the mechers so much, I can rely on other living products to fool my audience."

The principal advantage of living products was that they grew over time. It might take decades or centuries for his creations to ramp up, but at a certain point their strength and capabilities exceeded every existing boundary!

"I hope I can travel a bit further back in time."

Now that Ves had a more solid idea of what he wanted to do for this time jaunt, he directed his attention to the activated Time Gate.

This time, the mystical relic undeniably waited for him to issue his demands.

The System had already told him what he could do. Ves could exert much more control over his upcoming Mastery experience as long as he was willing to pay enough Ascension Points to lock in different variables.

"I still have well over 1200 Ascension Points, so I can spare a bit more this time."

He concentrated his mind and thought deeply on what he wanted out of the Time Gate.

"Put me in the head of a mech pilot of a second-class heavy artillery mech. This pilot should be part of a unit that is actively fighting in a contested warzone."

He wanted to add a few more specifications, but refrained to mention anything else in order to save up on Ascension Points. He could already feel that the Time Gate deducted 15 AP from his account in order to meet his request.

It cost 5 AP to activate the Time Gate. If he did not issue any other request, then it would throw him into a completely random situation!

It cost 5 more AP to narrow the selection to a mech pilot that was paired with a second-class heavy artillery mech.

Curiously enough, this specific parameter encompassed both the mech type along with its class, which saved Ves the trouble of paying more AP to narrow his selection further.

It finally cost him an extra 5 AP to narrow the Time Gate's selection to a mech pilot that was incredibly good at his job.

He hesitated whether he should issue this request at all. Ves had previously entered the minds of good mech pilots such as Eloise Pelican, but he also suffered a lot when he mixed up with awful dummies such as Axelar Streon and Rion Aaden.

In order to eliminate the possibility of repeating this torture again, he felt it was best to deprive the System of an opening to screw him over yet again!

Of course, mech pilots who were typically assigned to heavy artillery mechs tended to be well-trained and carefully chosen. Only responsible people who knew what they were doing could be trusted to control mechs with this much firepower at their disposal.

It would be too easy for heavy artillery mechs to produce excessive collateral damage or go as far as harming friendlies if handled by improper mech pilots!

Ves did not think this last specification was a waste of AP, though. He would be able to make many more gains from this Mastery experience if he hung back and observed the operation of a prodigy pilot!

Thrrrruuumm!

The Time Gate became more volatile now that Ves had locked in his specifications. It became increasingly more activated until a bright flash blinded his vision!

An unknown amount of time passed by. Ves had almost no awareness of what was happening to him! The only reason why he was vaguely able to sense that he was in transition for a lack of a better word was because his Spirituality had grown a lot stronger!

If he attuned his extraordinary senses, he could even pick up hints of… stuff.

He couldn't describe what he was picking up. It went beyond anything normal and felt extremely abstract to him. It was as if he had inadvertently trespassed a domain that was completely incompatible to humans!

After an unknown period of subjective time had passed, Ves immediately felt he had reached his destination!

Before he did anything else, Ves made sure to retract his presence and hide himself to the best of his abilities!

"Huh?!"

It had been a while since he last went on these special trips, but he still remembered what it was like for his consciousness to get dumped in another person's mind.

Much had changed since then. Whether it was because of his own astonishing growth or because of the additional functions introduced by the Time Gate, Ves immediately perceived that much more of himself had made it through the passage of time and space!

For one, it wasn't just his consciousness that came along for the ride this time. A large part of his Spirituality had also made it through!

This had massive implications to Ves!

Mrow?

With the addition of his Spirituality, the companion spirit that was attached to it had also managed to hitch a ride!

"How come you're here as well, Blinky?" Ves mentally asked his other personality.

The purple Star Cat looked completely confused.

Mrow mrow mrow?

There was no way for Ves to obtain a clear explanation, so he quickly accepted the changes and tried to study what else had changed since his previous Mastery experience.

Normally, dumping a powerful foreign spirit in another person's head would definitely cause it to burst apart or inflict a lot of mental pain!

That wasn't happening this time. Ves noticed that Blinky and his Spirituality were slightly out of phase with the current reality.

This out-of-phase effect not only hid his presence better, but also made it harder for him to affect the current reality.

As Ves explored this strange but convenient state a bit further, he felt that he could counteract this effect by exerting more power.

This pleased him as there might be times where he wanted to intervene more actively.

If the Time Gate limited his interactions with the people of the past by turning him into a pure observer, then he might not be able to harvest as many gains from this trip as he wished!

It took around 20 minutes for Ves to understand his new condition and ensure that his presence remained unnoticed.

Ves only dared to extend his awareness outwards and figure out the details of his new host.

"A woman this time, huh?"

He did not have any special preferences for gender, though he knew it would make bathroom trips a little more awkward.

It did not take much time for Ves to notice what else was unusual.

The female mech pilot wore a notably decorated piloting uniform and was in the process of reading through reports at a rapid pace with the help of her cranial implant and powerful augmentations!

Ves soon discovered that it had been incredibly prudent for him to focus on hiding himself.

This was because the mind he occupied at the moment was home to a powerful force of will, one that could only belong to an expert pilot!

"What?!"

Had the Time Gate improved so much that it was able to dump him in the mind of an expert pilot of all people?!

Just as Ves became consumed by the enormous implications of riding in the mind of an expert pilot, the door to the ready room slid open.

A mech officer stepped inside and respectfully saluted the only occupant.

"Venerable Irene Mox, your presence is requested in the main briefing room. Your expert mech is ready for deployment. Our best maintenance crew has repaired the damage and replenished all of its supplies."

Though the name sounded as if it could belong to any random human being who had lived in the vastness of human space, the name nonetheless sounded familiar to Ves.

Though he had lost access to his cranial implant and all of the data that he had dumped inside, there were certain sets of names that Ves had memorized before he became an expert pilot!

"It can't be… can it? This is impossible… right?"

However, once Ves cautiously explored the mind of his current host and managed to pick up a few more pieces of information, his alarm instantly skyrocketed!

"This can't be… it's impossible… how could I have ended up in the mind of Divine Irene Mox, the Destroyer of Worlds!?"

In his present time, Ves only knew of one woman who went by this legendary name!

He knew her as Divine Irene Mox, the Destroyer of Worlds!

"SHE'S A GOD PILOT!"

THe System had managed to screw him over yet again!