While Jannzi committed to reinventing her swordsmanship, Ves spent his time on completing his commitments to the various pioneering groups that had concluded a trade deal with his clan. He hadn't forgotten about all of the high-quality mech equipment that were stored inside their own separate containers in an enclosed and guarded cargo bay. The guards and specialists accompanying the extremely precious expert mech and ace mech gear had been issuing more and more complaints about the lack of progress. Ves had several reasons to stall his work on them. He wanted to buy more time so that he could think about how to modify them. He wanted to benefit from the implicit protection they provided so long as the trade agreements remained unfulfilled. He also felt the need to supplement his knowledge by learning high-level theories that could better explain what was going on with all of the highly advanced gear. While Ves wanted to stall his work for a few more days, he was afraid that pioneering groups such as the Gemini Family or the Adelaide Mercenary Company would accuse him of reneging on his promises. He did not want to damage his credibility. It had played a helpful role in convincing his trade partners to get in bed with him, and he was sure it would help him close additional deals in the future. "Oh well." This was why he reserved a week in his schedule to complete this chore. In truth, he didn't have to spend so much time on upgrading all of the mech weapons, but he wanted to spend enough time with each of them to properly appreciate their individual properties and design elements. The expert mech gear was only mildly interesting to him. They weren't strong or advanced enough to maintain his interest for long. No matter whether they were melee weapons or ranged weapons, they were not necessarily any better than the products designed for his own expert mechs. The only gear that truly merited his full attention was the ace mech weapons entrusted in his care. "Well, let's start." Ves had to bring in the gear to his personal workshop one by one. Each time, a different group of guards and technicians closely accompanied the valuable pieces of equipment. Though it was rather annoying for Ves to do his work in front of complete and total strangers who possessed no understanding of his craft, it became a lot tolerable when he told his guests to shut up and do nothing. The first ace mech weapon that he chose to examine was the spear of the Royal Jeem. At first glance, the weapon looked fairly standard if well-constructed. It did not possess a telescoping shaft or a wicked-looking speartip. It was only after Ves inspected it up close that he was able to figure out its nuances. "Its gimmicks are relatively subtle." He was able to deduce that Saint Kalasandra Boojay wanted to wield a solid and reliable spear that would not break or falter no matter how much stress it endured in battle. It had to be strong and solid enough to stay in one piece when the Royal Jeem fought against an opposing expert mech, so its shaft was thick and heavy. While it initially looked as if the shaft was solid and uniform, deep scans revealed that it actually featured a much more complicated internal structure. Ves couldn't decipher much of its functions. There were circuitry, capacitors, heat sinks and other components that were all designed to enhance the lethality of the weapon in different ways. The only certainty he gained was that at least a part of this inner structure was devoted to enhancing the transphasic properties of the weapon. "Dulo Voiken should be able to tell me more." Ves remarked. "He would probably go crazy if he was able to see this excellent weapon up close." It was too bad that his deals with the various pioneering groups included strict secrecy clauses. Ves wasn't even allowed to describe what he learned to other people. This prevented him from consulting a real spearman mech specialist like Dulo Voiken. It was not a crippling hindrance. Ves could still derive a decent amount of insights from studying all of the ingenious and brilliant design solutions that he was competent enough to understand. What Ves found even more interesting than the technical design was how Saint Kalasandra Boojay shaped its spiritual foundation. Just as with the Thunderer Mark II, the powerful Saint Kingdom of an ace pilot altered and transformed every property of the mech spear, even the areas that the powerful Saint never thought about. Of course, the spiritual foundation of the mech spear was also lacking in structure and sophisticated. To Ves, the spirituality of the weapon gave him the impression that it was more than just a tool to stab an opponent. It was a scepter and a symbol of authority. Whenever the Royal Joom held this spear, Saint Kalasandra Boojay channeled her desire to rule over the battlefield. Her desire to beat her enemies into submission was stronger than her desire to take their lives! It took greater skill and majesty to force an opponent at the same level to kneel as opposed to driving them to their deaths. Of course, given how proud and stubborn high-ranking mech pilots tended to be, Saint Kalasandra had never managed to force an equal opponent to kneel. Her dream therefore remained unfulfilled, and the spiritual foundation of her weapon picked up on her regret. "It's strange." Ves rubbed his clean and hairless chin. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 Ever since he evolved to a higher life phase, he was able to exert greater control over his body. Something as simple as commanding his face to stop growing a beard only took a single thought. He no longer had to order a shaving bot to keep his face as smooth as a baby's bottom. His eyes lingered at the enormous spear that resembled a tree trunk when he was in close proximity to the weapon. The mech spear and by extension the Royal Jeem was designed with dueling in mind. It would have fit right at home in the mech arena if ace mechs were allowed to fight in public exhibition matches. Though Saint Kalasandra Boojay had lived a long and fulfilling life, her love and passion for combat remained as strong as ever! This presented Ves with a difficult decision. "Saint Kalasandra is too confident in her own strength. She won't be able to tolerate an equal partnership." This meant that she might not be able to work well with the Phase King. It also meant that she would not be able to treat her living weapon as a valued battle partner. "Saint Kalasandra is another Patriarch Reginald." He concluded. If this was the case, then it was not appropriate for him to adopt the same approach that worked so well for the Larkinson Army. Ves started to frown. "I can't turn it into a traditional living product, then. I don't want to make this spear alive only for it to become a slave to its master." This meant that he had to turn it into an empty shell that Saint Kalasandra could seamlessly occupy with her powerful Saint Kingdom. He couldn't come up with an alternative solution! Once he figured out a plan, he proceeded to go to work. He began to modify the shaft of the spear by adding additional decorative elements to it. They hardly interfered with the technical performance of the weapon, but made it look a lot more regal and imposing. As Ves gained more ownership of the weapon through these modifications, he was able to exert more influence onto the spiritual foundation of the weapon. While he slowly started to use his touch to make the weapon alive, he also leveraged his formidable Spirituality to prevent any distinct and coherent personality and consciousness from taking shape. He did not want to 'kill' a life that he had just created through his own efforts, so he made sure that the mech spear would essentially be able to function as a second skin for its user. "Just like the Mars." One of the few upsides to how Patriarch Reginald treated his own living mech was that Ves no longer dared to fool around too much when ace pilots were involved. Their willpower and Saint Kingdoms were so strong that they could forcefully alter the spiritual makeup of any product in their reach! Once Ves was done with his effort, he beheld the end product. The mech spear gained a vibe that was highly reminiscent of the Mars. It had come to life, yet did not react to any outside stimuli. It was like a clone that possessed all of the right organs but didn't possess the spark of life. "Gloriana could probably make a product like this." Ves determined. Creating the spark of life was an ability that was exclusive to Ves. The best his wife could do was a pale imitation that lacked the most crucial ingredient. It just so happened that a hollow life suited Gloriana the best. It perfectly matched her design philosophy as her vision of mechs was substantially different from that of her husband. He could already tell that Gloriana would be proud with how he tackled this upgrade project. The only incongruity was that Ves had tied the weapon to the Phase King. Ves didn't know how Saint Kalansadra Boojay would be able to cooperate with the Phase King, especially when the latter had recently devoured the spirituality of a corrupted phase whale. He shrugged. "Well, I did warn the Boojays beforehand. I'm not at fault if their arrogant ace pilot fails to cooperate with the Phase King." After inspecting the weapon several times, he carefully put it back into its protective container before shipping it back to the secure cargo bay. He proceeded to employ the same approach to the subsequent ace mech weapons. Each powerful item told a vastly different story to Ves. He had no need to ask for any clarification as to the design of the products and the treatments of their powerful users. The weapons of the Infinite Gear were very utilitarian in nature. Saint Robert Montagne had so many of them that he wasn't able to build a strong connection to any of them. Only the mech sword and the mech rifle possessed a stronger imprint from him, and that was solely because he utilized them little more than the rest of his arsenal. Ves opted to make them alive because he genuinely believed that Saint Montagne was open-minded enough to handle this additional complication. The ace pilot of the ace modular mech platform was a lot more open-minded towards new innovations than his peers due to the nature of his employer. The Lehrer Foundation regularly came up with new and interesting products, and regularly tasked its pilots to put the inventions to the test. Ves figured that as long as Saint Montagne was able to accept the weirdness of wielding mech weapons with independent personalities, he would be able to benefit from this change by developing powerful synergies. Of course, if Ves had misjudged the situation, then the Lehrer ace pilot might decide to pull off a 'Reginald'! "I really hope that doesn't happen." Ves prayed. He encountered an unexpected surprise when he was done with his work. When he packed up his most recent work, the newborn living weapons had already begun to communicate with each other! Their many shared traits caused them to treat each other as siblings. They became quite intimate with each other. Not only that, but Ves also saw hints of resonance between them! It was as if they could generate true resonance without the active involvement of an ace pilot! "That's new." The reason why the weapons were able to do this to begin with was because they had all been baptized by the domain field of Saint Robert Montagne. He left behind enough remnants of himself in his mech gear that the individual weapons were close to imitating a part of his capabilities! This presented Ves with a lot of interesting ideas.