Ves became thoroughly impressed by Kalister Devos.
Although his spirituality was much more average compared to a natural talent like Klaus Robar-Fulton, the former member of the Devos Ancient Clan not only possessed a considerably stronger foundation in mech design, but also pursued a strong vision.
Ves really could not fully wrap his head around the concept of a living mech that always followed the exact same growth trajectory no matter the circumstances.
The mere idea of it completely contradicted several important principles of Ves’ design philosophy!
However, this was why Ves developed an enormous appreciation for Kalister.
The young Apprentice not only demonstrated courage in defying the pattern set by his teacher, but also proved his willingness to dedicate his career to an idea that might not work as well as he hoped.
Aside from that, when Kalister showed off his portfolio of mech designs and fabricated mechs, he also showcased another advantage.
Ves turned to his wife, who previously appeared content to watch and listen with a smug expression on her face.
"You must be quite happy to pick up this talent, am I right?"
Gloriana smirked. "I am. Your design style and design philosophy is… chaotic. Whimsical. Improvisational. Far be it for me to criticize your approach towards mechs. Your many boundary-breaking works serve as infallible proof that your… eccentric style and work methods can be successful. However… I still have a number of issues. For one, you are too inconsistent. I can never fully predict or anticipate what you will deliver. I am even questioning whether you will do the work you are supposed to do. You have the most frustrating tendency to get distracted and pursue completely unrelated side projects at random times."
"There is no schedule to my inspiration! When the right moment and ideas fill my mind, I have a limited window of opportunity to investigate them further. It is only when inspiration strikes that I am in the most passionate mood to pursue a fantastic new design application. Many of my greatest works are products of my inspiration! I would rather gamble on these ’distractions’ than ignore them and risk losing an opportunity to expand my toolbox with another fantastic invention!"
His wife did not appreciate his explanation at all. She only looked more and more frustrated by his stubborn stance.
"This is exactly why I cannot stand you at times!" Gloriana dramatically threw her hands in the air. "Another long-standing issue with your work is that your approach towards raising the quality of your mech designs is partially contradicting my own. All of our collaborations result in additional work on my part because I have to struggle to balance your sloppy design work with my more flawless results without causing the two to conflict with each other."
"It is the intersection between two different interpretations of quality that we are able to produce so many high-quality works." Ves said. "The extra effort adds to your workload, but it is all useful in one way or another. You definitely wouldn’t have been able to make so much progress in improving the quality of your own works if you did not have to overcome so many challenges all of the time. I am not deliberately trying to make life difficult for you, but you have obviously benefited a lot from studying and adapting my design solutions."
His wife grimaced at that. She could not deny his argument. Despite her constant complaints about how slapdash Ves designed his mechs, she never once made the decision to quit because of this reason. Find your next adventure on Freewebnovel
She was addicted to his work!
She depended on it to exercise her skills and improve her quality!
She also took inspiration from his solutions, thereby allowing her to widen her horizons and become more creative in her own mech designs!
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All in all, Gloriana enjoyed a lot of advantages whenever she worked alongside Ves. She just had to put in the work to harvest all of these gains.
"Alright, I admit that trying to correct your design solutions has constantly made me better at improving the quality of my own designs." She said in a slightly unwilling tone. "That does not mean I am happy to wrestle against your work every day." There are instances where I just need reliable design solutions in relation to living mechs. Mr. Kalister Devos over here has the potential to meet my demand better than any other living mech specialist."
"Because he is a strange fusion between me and you." Ves observed.
"You can say that. I have already spoken extensively with him about how he approaches his mech designs. Kalister has grasped the basic principles of living mech design, but he is also a man who is accustomed to prioritizing precision, consistency and uniformity. His vision on living mechs is completely unlike yours in this regard, and I think he will be able to establish a new niche in the field of living mechs that is more… palatable to my sensibilities."
If Kalister developed the right skills and specializations, he could help Gloriana design living mechs that needed to be reliable rather than unique pieces of art.
His wife also looked forward to designing living mechs where her vision and design philosophy gained a lot of dominance.
The trouble with working with Ves was that his vision was often strong as well.
The collision between two very different visions quickly got old at times.
In any case, Kalister Devos most definitely deserved a place in the Design Department.
Ves ultimately turned to the last figure. "Tarsa Merovik, right? If I recall, your performance in my Introduction to Living Mech Design and Advanced Mech Fabrication courses was not too exceptional. You basically did not stand out as far as I remember. It appears that you have become a lot more successful after your graduation. How did you manage to pass through all our screening?"
The female Apprentice used to be a middle-class citizen of the Terran Alliance. Her background was better than that of Klaus, but couldn’t compare to that of Kalister.
Tarsa Merovik also did not possess an inherently high spirituality like Klaus.
The latter was able to make much better attainments in many forms of qi cultivation due to his gifted spirituality.
As for the former, her spirituality may have been good enough for her to surpass the extraordinary threshold in the previous age, but it was nothing special either.
Her fabrication work was also decidedly average. Back when she attended his fabrication classes, she completed all of her assignments without any fuss, but failed to develop a distinct style or personality. Even when he encouraged her to be more adventurous, her work still remained boring and without any strong personal touches.
So what caused her to earn Gloriana’s approval?
"Hello, professor." Tarsa Merovik stepped forward and presented herself. "I have been working hard to become proficient in designing living mechs. I am far from the only student of yours to do this, but I have made my own attainments in my specialization. To be honest, skills are not as good as that of Kalister, and my intuitive comprehension of E-technology is not as good as that of Klaus. My design philosophy is still a work in progress. The reason why I am here is due to the potential of my research."
"What is your design philosophy?" Ves asked. "According to you, that is your main selling point. What are you working on that has earned my wife’s approval?"
She responded by projecting her portfolio.
Ves fell silent as he studied her mech designs. They immediately stood out for multiple reasons.
"I have never… seen anyone design mechs quite like this…"
"Perhaps it would be better if I clarify my works." Tarsa gained a bit more confidence after she saw that she bewildered the Father of Carmine Mechs. "When I first began to study living mechs under your tutelage, do you know what I saw in your examples? I saw metallic shells that contain artificial souls. Much of your teaching emphasizes the need to develop a special mindset to ’breathe life into mechs’. That life is supposed to come from us, but what if that is not necessarily the case?"
"Are you saying you want to rely on external sources to breathe life into your living mechs?"
"Exactly, professor. My premise towards living mechs is this. Rather than design them with the intention of filling them up with artificial souls, why not keep them empty and make them open to absorbing human souls?"
"...What."
Tarsa gained more confidence as she continued to speak. "What I see is an opportunity to save the lives of many people, especially those who are fighting and dying in the frontlines. You should know better than I how many brave mech pilots are dying on the frontlines. Suppose that my living mechs happen to be present on the battlefield. When they rolled off the production lines, my machines will start off devoid of any life. This allows them to pull the souls of deceased mech pilots into their structure and take their place as the spirits of my mechs. They will be reborn and gain the chance to fight again!"
That… sounded crazy!
Ves had never conceived of such an idea! Trying to mess with souls to this extent could be regarded as an act that desecrated the dead!
Yet as long as he overlooked the very obvious ethical concerns, he could figure out numerous benefits to this kind of living mechs!
The most obvious one was that people could still be saved. Even if they lost their human bodies and identity, they could still live on and accompany their family and comrades in another way.
Ves wondered whether Tarsa’s unique take on living mechs could have saved the life of Venerable Imon Ingvar without all of the brainwashing.
He had a feeling that it shouldn’t be so easy to make that happen.
"I am… impressed." Ves said. "Your design philosophy will most certainly receive a lot of objections from the mech community during ordinary times, but now… I do not think anyone will begrudge you for trying to save the dead, even if the results are not ideal."
"It is not just about saving the soldiers who are fighting on our behalf." The female Apprentice said. "As long as the repurposed souls are able to adapt to their new ’bodies’, they should be able to provide much more relevant and knowledgeable assistance to the living mech pilots. In fact, it may not even be necessary to put any human in the cockpit. The living mechs should technically be able to pilot themselves as long as their new souls have retained most of their piloting skills. This can serve as a flawed but effective means to solve the shortage of skilled and experienced mech pilots."
It became clear that Tarsa had worked long enough on her insane design philosophy to fully justify her research direction!
She cleverly framed her work so that it solved several major problems. If successful, her work could urgently fulfill the needs of red humanity and give them a way to put more mechs in the field!
"You are the expert on E-technology and cultivation science in the Design Department." Gloriana said. "Do you think that Miss Tarsa’s vision on mechs can be realized? Can she truly give the soldiers who perish on the battlefield a chance to live a second life as a living mech?"
Ves frowned. "I don’t know. I may be able to design it myself. The idea just never crossed my mind. I believe that the strength of the spirituality of the deceased is a major variable. If it is too weak, it will not survive long enough to complete the transition. If it is too strong, her living mech will not be able to accommodate it all. There should be many other limitations to her work. Still, if all the circumstances are ideal… then I see no reason why it would fail."