The Mech Touch

The fruit that Ves bought was disgustingly cheap, but offered so much to Ketis.

The knowledge was overwhelming. Ketis had never received such a massive infusion of theory and insights before. Her brain came under a huge amount of strain as the fruit forcibly infused it with so much information that it felt as if her head was about to burst!

Fortunately, the enlightenment fruits never actually exceeded her limits. It appeared that it was specifically designed to accommodate its eventual beneficiary to the best possible extent.

Since Ketis was not only unaccustomed to enlightenment fruits, but also possessed a lower brain development, it took a lot of time for her to 'digest' its contents.

Senior-level Mechanics ceased to be a big deal to Ves a long time ago. Let alone this enlightenment fruit, he was easily able to digest a more expensive fruit that contained a lot more theory.

"Are you okay now, Ketis?"

"I am… fine, I think. This is a huge rush for me. Give me a moment to catch my breath. I am used to exhausting myself in physical training sessions, but I never exposed my brain to so much mental drain. I cannot imagine how much worse it will be if I try to absorb one of the more expensive fruits…"

"It is not as bad as you think. If you cannot digest all of the knowledge in a single go, then the fruit will hold most of it back and feed you bits and pieces over weeks or maybe even months. It may take a lot longer before you can grasp all of the contents of an enlightenment fruit, but at least it wont drive you crazy or anything."

Ketis grew relieved after she heard that. That meant that she did not have to refrain herself from targeting the more expensive and desirable fruits.

"If I can eat a dozen or two dozen more fruits like this, I am confident that I can become a Senior Mech Designer much faster than before. I don't have to work hard for two decades or so before I can find my breakthrough chance. As long as I absorb enough Senior-level knowledge in the most important fields of mech design, I am confident I can come up with a powerful design application that can take my work to the next level!"

Ves chuckled at her enthusiasm. "That is the spirit. The Tree of Possibilities can help you as a mech designer in two different ways. It can help you skip years of painstaking study by quickly absorbing the knowledge that mech designers of a higher rank are expected to know. It can also give you access to exotic new technological applications that you can use as inspiration to develop your own powerful design applications. However, you should be careful not to become too dependent on these fruits to fuel your progress."

"I know. I have not forgotten your warning, Ves."

"There's more to it than that. Ascension Points are scarce resources. It takes a huge amount of work to earn a lot of it, so it is not cost-effective for you to spend all of it on stuff that you can acquire yourself through other reasonable means. Your brain can also only absorb so much information at a time. There were times where I felt my brain was close to bursting. I think that the height of your Intelligence Attribute determines how much knowledge you can absorb from enlightenment fruits at a time. You will need to augment yourself further or find a way to trigger a mental evolution that raises your Intelligence limit. All of these limitations mean that you need to make a careful selection on what sort of fruits you intend to ingest. It is best to make a priority list and formulate a strategy in advance."

"I see. That is indeed a strict limitation."

Ketis understood that she was not able to make unlimited use of the Tree of Possibilities. Even if she earned a huge amount of AP, it was not wise to spend it all on a lot of enlightenment fruits.

The two mech designers eventually turned away from the Tree of Possibilities and moved to the next stop.

"Well, you have been wondering what other way you can rely on to earn a lot of Ascension Points. The Mission Hall is your answer. This is the place where you can choose to accept the Missions that the System has put on rotation from time to time. None of them are easy, and many of them demand a serious time commitment from you, but the AP they award you is always considerable."

After witnessing what places like the Divine Bazaar and the Tree of Possibilities had to offer, Ketis possessed a strong interest in earning lots of AP right away.

She quickly browsed the Missions that the Mission Hall made available this time.

Many of the Missions were somewhat familiar to Ves. The details may have changed, but the nature of the requests were roughly similar to the Missions that showed up in the past.

Ves briefly looked surprised when the Mission Hall suddenly started to offer Missions that were definitely drafted with Ketis in mind!

[Teach Swordsmanship to 10 Disciples]

Mission: Teach Swordsmanship to 10 Disciples

Difficulty: B-Rank

Description

One of the duties of swordmasters is to pass on their legacies and keep their inheritances alive. In order to become a better student of the sword, a practitioner must also become a better teacher.

Accept at least 10 nominal or direct disciples and teach each of them one of your core sword styles and techniques. This Mission is deemed a success when 5 of your disciples have advanced to sword initiate as a direct result of your teaching.

Reward: 100 Ascension Points

Time limit: 3 Years

Penalty for failure: Lower your Strength by 0.2.

"This Mission…" Ketis spoke in a daze. "100 Ascension Points is a lot for a Mission, correct?"

"It is, but don't underestimate the challenge of completing a B-Rank Mission. I am sure you can teach a bunch of swordsmen and swordswomen well enough that they can break through and become the equivalent of an expert candidate in their profession, but… you only have 3 years to complete it. If you end up failing it, you will suffer a major penalty that is difficult or costly to recover from. Are you sure you want to accept such a difficult Mission right out the gate?"

Ketis did not hesitate and accepted it right away.

"This Mission is tailor-made for me. I was meaning to become more serious about passing on my swordsmanship to other aspiring swordsmen. Andraste and my children are only the first who have truly received full attention and guidance. The issue is that they are still too young to become sword initiates, so I better get to work by seeking out older and more practiced swordsmen and swordswomen as my disciples."

She would have no difficulty in finding willing pupils. Despite her relative youth, she was a genuine swordmaster that was comparable to an expert pilot! Lots of people would sell everything they possessed just to obtain a chance to become her disciple!

Ves felt a little mixed about this Mission, though.

"Teaching is a serious obligation, Ketis. Do not be half-hearted about this. You must make sure to allocate enough time on teaching and guiding your disciples so that they can continue to make progress over time. The System can be pretty strict about its wordings and requirements. A disciple is more than just a student. You can't get away with completing the Mission by taking on hundreds of students and teaching them in one big classroom for a couple of years in the hope that 5 of them will get lucky somehow."

The swordmaster's expression turned serious. "I am aware. I have no intention of going against the spirit of this Mission. The Mech Designer System clearly wants me to develop as a proper swordmaster. I will not disappoint its expectations by resorting to cheating or by relying on exploits."

"It is good that you know."

Ketis continued to browse for more Missions which she had a good chance of completing. The Mission Hall offered a few more that were clearly related to swordsmanship, but the problem was that they were much less… tasteful… than the prior one she accepted.

[Cursed Sword Birth]

Mission: Cursed Sword Birth

Difficulty: C-Rank

Description

When a swordmaster desires to wield a more powerful weapon that cannot be acquired through normal means, then he or she can choose to conduct a bloody ritual that can artificially empower a sword with the power of a curse.

Collect 999 innocent intelligent beings and immobilize them in a ritual circle according to a design imparted by this Mission. Gather other special reagents and plant them in the ritual circle. The stronger and more valuable the sacrifices, the greater the effect of the ritual.

Once the preparations are complete, wait until total night has fallen on the planet and location of the ritual before using the sword to inflict pain and suffering on each unwilling sacrifice. The greater the outburst of extreme negative emotions, the stronger the outcome. Chop off the heads and stain the blade of the sword with blood after the sacrifice has reached the limit.

Once the last and final sacrifice has fallen to the sword, throw it into the middle of the ritual circle and allow it to absorb the strong and lingering resentment of all 999 deceased sacrifices. If the ritualist has performed all of the steps correctly enough and harbors a strong desire for greater power, then the curse will successfully be born inside the blood-stained blade.

The birth of the Cursed Sword is the first step to nurturing a supreme god-killing weapon that can shock the weak into utter terror while polluting the strong with distracting mental anguish.

Reward: 250 Ascension Points

Time limit: 6 Months

Penalty for failure: Lower your Endurance by 0.1.

"This Mission… is abominable." Ketis uttered as she tried her best to suppress her indignation. "How can the System possibly encourage me to become a mass murderer? This goes against everything a swordmaster should stand for! A criminal who has shed so much innocent blood would never be tolerated in the Heavensword Association or the Larkinson Clan for that matter!"

Ves did not look too surprised that the System would present such a nefarious Mission.

"Don't be angry. This is just the way the System is made. Have you forgotten my theory on who originally created it? One of the… inventors of modern mechs likely built this System as a desperate means to come back to life again. This fellow was definitely a high-ranking member of the Five Scrolls Compact. Even if he was one of the least objectionable cultivators among the cadre of this infamous secret organization, his morality is nowhere comparable to that of modern humans."

"But still!"

"The System is pretty neutral in my opinion." Ves patiently explained. "It doesn't judge you at all. No matter whether you are a devil or a saint, it is accommodating to everyone. While it offers plenty of options for you to become one or the other, the ultimate choice is up to you. Unless it imposes a Mission onto you for some reason, you have complete freedom to decide how you want to develop with the help of the System. 250 Ascension Points for a single Mission is a really great reward, and obtaining a Cursed Sword sounds like a fantastic way to become exposed to a new and exotic means of empowering swords."

In other words, completing this Mission was bound to provide massive gains to Ketis in her guise as a Journeyman as well as a swordmaster!

Ketis did not feel tempted at all. She felt sicker and sicker as she continued to stare at its horrible demands.

"No thanks. I am eager to become stronger, but I will never corrupt my soul in the pursuit of power."

"Don't be in a hurry to dismiss it. Read carefully. Have you found any mention of humans in it? There isn't any. The System won't make such an obvious oversight if the purpose is to work with human sacrifices. This means that it is completely acceptable for you to create a Cursed Blade by spilling alien blood instead. You only need to ask the expeditionary fleet to capture enough alien POWs to conduct your ritual. Doesn't that sound like a good plan? Think about all of the cool stuff you can exchange for 250 Ascension Points…"

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