The Mech Touch

Chapter 6116  Let It Go

"If you do not have a strong preference from the beginning, you may be able to maximize your benefits by focusing on function first. Do you want your fire to become inexhaustible? Visualize a sun or a power reactor. Do you want your fire to spread much easier? Visualize a wildfire that has engulfed an entire forest. Do you want your fire to heal those you deem friendly? Visualize a rejuvenating flame that can make people whole again."

Isobel looked surprised when she heard that last example. "Flames can heal?"

"It has been done in the past." The official claimed. "This is the exception rather than the rule. Willpower is the basis of your strength. As long as it is strong enough, it can turn the behavior of fire completely upside down. Instead of harming people, it can heal people. We do not recommend you go through such extremes, however. It is much harder to go against the properties of fire than to work with them. The Association heavily discourages such headstrong behavior."

"Why so? Isn't it beneficial for expert pilots to become healers?"

"Not necessarily. The results are not proportionate to the effort that you have put into it. Fire is inherently more prone to causing harm than reversing it. In the end, it is your choice on how you want to shape your flames. Remember that willpower is everything. As long as you want an outcome hard enough, then you may be able to attain it regardless of how impossible it sounds. Just be aware that you will waste many more years on trying to reinvent your fire into something unrecognizable."

Venerable Isobel got the message. "Just because I can do what I want with my flame does not mean it is a good choice to pursue anything that is too weird. The greater the distance between an image and my fire, the longer it takes to level up. I may end up squandering my prime years as a pilot if I try to bite more than I can chew."

"It is good that you understand. By all means, break the rules if you so desire. Do not let our advice prevent you from developing your power in the direction that resonates with you the most. God pilots break the rules merely by existing. The same is valid to expert pilots, but to a much smaller extent. That does not change the fact that both groups share a common trait. The more powerful you become, the more you must think like a god as opposed to a human."

Isobel was not entirely comfortable with this idea. Why must high-ranking mech pilots weaken their connection to their own humanity in order to become more powerful?

"Do we all have to become increasingly more inhuman?" She questioned. "Can't we choose to preserve our original selves?"

"You can, but according to our own studies, the results are always less than satisfactory." The mecher responded. "The only true success case is the Chosen Human, but he is the only god pilot who did not have to struggle in order to attain his power. He did not have to sacrifice any of his humanity to break through. He took advantage of that to become the most exemplary representative of our race." Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Isobel's expression worsened. Her genetic aptitude did not reach the mythical S-grade. There was no way she could coast along and effortlessly break through to the rank of god pilot like the Chosen Human.

"It sounds as if I must get ready to make a few sacrifices if I want to become much stronger in the future." She concluded in a resigned tone.

"High-ranking mech pilots are the heroes of the human race. How can they stand above every other human if they did not struggle to overcome the weaknesses and frailties of their own race? It is a fact of reality that god pilots are no longer human in the strictest definition of the word. That does not affect our recognition of their humanity, but we are all forced to adopt a looser definition in order to make it all work."

In other words, god pilots may as well be monsters that just happen to retain a human facade.

Isobel struggled to accept this reality.

"You do not need to embrace this necessity right away, Venerable. Acceptance comes in time. Once you have tempered yourself as an expert pilot and witnessed the power of an ace pilot first-hand, your desire for power will determine whether you have the determination and conviction to do what is necessary."

Venerable Isobel pretty must set aside these words after she had concluded her pilgrimage to the MTA.

Years later, all of that far-sighted advice provided by the mechers suddenly came back to the forefront of her mind yet again.

Now that she was able to review the conversation as an ace pilot candidate, she found that the guidance she received at the time happened to perfectly fit her needs.

Though it was not the only way for her to overcome her bottleneck, leveling up her fire by making it conform to an image was a tried and true formula.

Venerable Isobel was not egoistic enough to believe she could blaze her own trail as an expert pilot.

Since this approach worked fine for the likes of the First Flame, she should be able to make it work.

The big question now was what sort of image she should fixate upon. What did she desire to accomplish the most? What part of her flames was she most satisfied with, and what annoyed her the most about them? What sort of function did she wish for them to fulfill, and how well were they able to do their jobs?

"What I like the most about my flames is that they can burn stuff that is difficult to catch fire. What I dislike the most is how everyone wants me to restrain my flames for fear of making their plunder worthless."

She did not hate the fact that her flames completely totaled everything that it managed to take root in. She just disliked how other Larkinsons wanted to hold her back for this reason.

Yet as much as her purple flames were able to turn advanced alien warships into blackened husks, she was unable to burn anything of significance to the Emperor Tree.

She hated the fact her fire failed her during this crucial battle!

Was it because her fire did not burn hot enough, or was it because her flames spread too slowly?

"Neither. It is because the burn rate never manages to exceed the Emperor Tree's regeneration rate."

As long as she attempted to spread her flames onto the main trunk or the ebony mechs, the damn Emperor Tree channeled a huge amount of wood energy and tree sap to put out the fire.

The fact that Isobel was unable to counter this response frustrated her to no end!

She learned the hard way that she was not as strong as she thought. She was still too weak despite becoming a high-tier expert pilot.

Back in the Sentinel Kingdom, high-tier expert pilots enjoyed exalted status. It was very different for high-ranking mech pilots of a third-rate state to grow to that point while piloting third-class expert mechs under fairly impoverished circumstances.

Venerable Isobel managed to reach this point much faster than any of the heroes of her former home state. She should have felt proud of her progress and satisfied with how much more effective her flames had become.

It only took a single encounter against the Emperor Tree to ruin it all. She felt weaker and more inadequate than she ever felt during her run as an expert pilot. It was profoundly painful for an enemy to pop her bubble and expose how weak she had been all of this time.

She knew that as long as she fought against true powerhouses who possessed enough extraordinary strength to defend against her flames, her so-called King Killer Flames failed to do the name justice.

Was this what she wanted?

"No."

A sense of desperation filled her. She did not choose to embrace and develop her talent because she wanted to become good at abusing cannon fodder.

Any ordinary mech unit could beat alien phasefighters and alien warships.

What Isobel truly wanted to attain was the power to burn the gods themselves. If she wasn't able to effectively burn the likes of the Emperor Tree or the Eminence of Torment, then how was she supposed to realize her ambition?

"Maybe… my flames failed to live up to their potential because I am too used to holding back." She guessed.

She already held this suspicion, but now that she was under the influence of the transcendence glow, she became increasingly more convinced that this was one of the key factors holding her back!

The more she fought against the natural state of fire, the more she stalled her own progress by forcing it to behave in an unnatural manner.

As the advisor from the MTA once said, the more she tried to defy the reality surrounding her flames, the more time and effort she wasted on a result that was not worth it in the end.

"Should I… stop holding back entirely?" She questioned.

So what if the Larkinsons did not like her to spread her flames around willy-nilly? Shouldn't they appreciate her capacity to destroy so many powerful enemies that threatened their lives?

Perhaps it may have been more excusable for them to demand her to hold back before the Great Severing, but now that the Red War was about to heat up in a big way, red humanity needed her flames more than ever!

"The Larkinson Clan can't tell me what to do. If becoming a pyromaniac is what red humanity needs, then I shall fuel my fire to the greatest possible extent!"

As she became more fixated around this change in mentality, her willpower began to heat up the air in the cockpit.

The robust life support systems built into her cockpit needed to work harder in order to maintain a comfortable temperature!

Isobel paid no attention to these changes. Instead, she tried to work out her demands in order to figure out how to make her flames more effective.

"I have taken to calling them the King Killer Flames, but they do not deserve this name. If I want to rectify that, then I need to stop holding back and bring up the heat even if I lose control over my flames."

Control was an important demand to every high-ranking mech pilot. The entire rationale for their existence was that they were much more precise and environmentally friendly alternatives to crude weapons of mass destruction.

The moment she decided to eliminate control as an essential component of her strength, Isobel could not imagine how much more dangerous her flames could become!

At this time, she was still able to exert enough influence over her resonance-empowered flames to weaken them and put them out entirely from a distance.

What if she lost the ability to do so? What if she lost the ability to end her flames on command?

The collateral damage that she would inflict during every battle going forward would probably multiply by an order of magnitude!

Trillions of MTA credits worth of exotics, hypers, phasewater and other spoils would burn down without anyone able to douse her ferocious flames.

Previously, Isobel would have felt repulsed at this outcome. She was loyal to the Larkinson Clan and did not want to create any more problems.

This time was different. Her attitude had changed. In the face of her own weakness, Isobel felt more than ever that she needed to let go in order to truly make her flames live up to her expectations.

"My fire exists to burn the enemies that others cannot defeat. Only kings, emperors and gods are worthy to die to my flames!"