The Larkinsons formulated a new plan. There were too many advantages to killing the third orven phase lord, but doing so quickly enough to prevent other aliens from intervening was difficult. The fact of the matter was that the Saint Commander had little faith that it could be done unless Joshua broke through. The new plan therefore centered around the highly optimistic assumption that Joshua would find a way to break through somehow. This was easier said than done. The Bitter Scimitar still held no goodwill towards him, while the Eight Lord of Takansha continued to play so passively that he denied Joshua the stimulus needed to trigger a breakthrough. It was clear that if Joshua wanted the situation to change, he had to start with himself. "You need to make a couple of hard decisions." Ketis said. "I roughly know what kind of ace pilot you want to become. You want to leverage the power of your intangible friends. This way, you will not only leverage your affinity for the life element, but also expand your versatility by giving you the option of borrowing the power of other spirits. This is a suitable approach to you, but unless you can make the Bitter Scimitar cooperate with you, I do not see a way for you to succeed in the short term." "Then what do you suggest I do instead?" "I don’t have all of the solutions." Ketis admitted to her husband. "However, I can tell you what I would do if I was in your situation. As a swordmaster, it is intolerable for me to wield a blade that is not under my control. I will either threaten it and coerce it into cooperating with me, or I will take a chance and open myself up to the weapon in the hopes that we can form a mutual accord. These are the only solutions that I can make use of when I am on a time limit." Venerable Joshua furrowed his brows. The two options presented by Ketis made sense, but each of them came with their own problems. He had been thinking about trying to browbeat the Bitter Scimitar into submission ever since he first grappled with the disobedient weapon. The D-arm was too spoiled, willful and violent. Joshua often thought about treating the weapon like a disobedient pet that needed to be disciplined before it finally began to behave properly. Though he frequently rejected this solution due to the fear of ruining his chance to form a genuine relationship with the Bitter Scimitar, he might not have another choice if he wanted to leverage its power without facing constant resistance. Still, Joshua instinctively rejected the decision to apply coercive means. He instinctively felt that as long as he resorted to this means, there was no going back. Continue reading on freewebnovel.com This may be one of the most important character tests of his career. His decision on how to deal with the Bitter Scimitar may have far-reaching effects on his future as a champion! Joshua did not dare to be careless on this matter. "What about the other option?" "You have read my new manual, haven’t you? Of course you have. I even lectured you about the most important theories just to ensure you can properly benefit from my ideas. While I haven’t lectured you about this topic, have you read and studied the chapter on Sword Pacts." The expert pilot nodded. "I did, though mostly out of curiosity. Your theories do sound rather interesting. They sound very similar to the patriarch’s Blood Pacts. I suppose this may be a good way for a sword practitioner to raise his Earth score according to your model, but… wait. Are you telling me… to form a sacred Sword Pact… with the Bitter Scimitar?" Ketis’ projection began to smile. "I see you have figured out what I was about to propose to you. It is risky, and it may very well drive you crazy if you are not careful, but I think you have what it takes to pass this test. I know it doesn’t sound very appealing to you at this moment, but I truly did forge the Bitter Scimitar exclusively for your use. That’s why it comes in the form of a scimitar and not a straight blade as I know you will do better with a weapon that just expects you to slash." "You can’t be serious, Ketis! If I recall the words you wrote in your book, you strongly emphasized that a sword practitioner should only form a Sword Pact with a blade that calls or sings to you. All the Bitter Scimitar has done since it came into my possession is to insult and belittle me before trying to escape my grasp." "I know what I have written, but those words are meant for typical sword practitioners who can devote plenty of time to commission or purchase the sword artifact of their dreams. You on the other hand can only make do with the D-arm that you already have. Look, this will not be easy for you. It may very well be life-threatening to you, but I would never make this suggestion if I believe that you will fail. As strong as the artifact spirit of the Bitter Scimitar may be, do not forget that you are an expert pilot that is on the verge of becoming an ace pilot. I have enough confidence in your ability to overcome the hostility of the Bitter Swordsman and form a partnership with your D-arm." "I am not a swordmaster. I am an expert pilot. Is it even possible for me to form a Sword Pact with the Bitter Scimitar?" "You can." Ketis confidently stated. "It is not even necessary for you to drip your blood on it, though it will help if you can do so. I am already in the process of developing a custom ritual for you that will allow you to use your companion spirit as an initial medium to make contact with the Bitter Scimitar. It will be based on the default Life Sword Pact and the Spirit Sword Pact. Wait. I just came up with a better idea. Please hold for a few seconds. I need to consult with Ves!" His wife fell out of contact for a while. Venerable Joshua could only wait while trying to wear down another spatial barrier with his recalcitrant Bitter Scimitar. Soon enough, Ketis spoke over the communication channel. "Ves and I have put our minds together and came up with an idea that is much more promising than what I devised before. The two of us have cobbled together a pact that is highly suitable for you. The idea is for you to form a Blood Pact and a D-Sword Pact with the Everchanger and the Bitter Scimitar at the same time." "What?! How is that possible?! My Everchanger doesn’t even have a Carmine System! Besides, won’t the two fight or interfere with each other somehow?" "It is possible because you and your Everchanger are already able to exchange a type of E-energy that possesses many of the same fundamental effects and meaning as blood. Life energy. Ves theorizes that it is entirely possible for you to overcome the lack of a Carmine System and so on by using life energy that you already have access to. While the main goal of this plan is for you to form a Life Sword Pact with the Bitter Scimitar in the hopes that this intimate contract will cause the two of you to get along, bonding with the Everchanger in a similar fashion will yield many potential benefits. One of the advantages is that the Everchanger can serve as a neutral middle ground that can ease the tensions between you and the Bitter Scimitar." Though Joshua never came up with the idea, he quickly realized how using the Everchanger as a buffer between himself and the Bitter Scimitar may ease the tension in their relationship. "If what you say is true, then trying to fulfill it will forever turn the Everchanger into my sole machine. I will not be able to pilot any other mechs from that point onwards. I… I am not ready for this! Aren’t there new versions of the Carmine System in development that comes with much fewer restrictions?" Ketis sighed. "As I said before, if you want to advance to the rank of ace pilot today rather than the distant future, then you need to pay attention to your communications. You cannot wait until you have enough time to sort out your relationship with the Bitter Scimitar. You need to take action now, and that means working with what you got, even if they don’t look too impressive or suitable. This is a huge and monumental decision for you to make, so we don’t blame you if you do not want to try out this unproven and potentially dangerous ritual. Personally, I think you should do it. As long as you are strong enough, I know you will be able to persevere." She framed this crazy proposal as a challenge, one that was dangerous but also rewarding enough that he may be able to advance to the rank of ace pilot! It was working. Joshua was not entirely sure, but he felt that Ketis’ speculations may be right. There were many reasons to believe it would serve as a very challenging test for himself. He would have to make sacrifices, the most significant of which was to say goodbye to piloting any other mech than the Everchanger! By swearing off the use of other mechs, Joshua would become vastly more committed to piloting the Everchanger and nothing else going forward. The two of them would grow a lot closer in response until he turned into a pilot who was similar to Jannzi! Though Joshua did not foresee any danger in trying to bond with a living expert mech that he had been piloting for multiple years, the opposite was true in the case of the Bitter Scimitar. He possessed strong enough willpower for his rank, but the problem was that the Bitter Swordsman was an artifact spirit that possessed strength in his own measure. Joshua the ace pilot may be able to subdue the Bitter Scimitar and force a Life Sword Pact upon the D-Arm. Joshua the high-tier expert pilot still fell short in this aspect! The consequences of failure would be dire. Not only would he drive the Bitter Swordsman crazy, but he may also suffer a severe blow to his mental power and spirit! Yet if Joshua showed enough sincerity to lower the hostility of the D-arm and earn its reluctant acceptance, then he could definitely find common ground with the mech scimitar and utilize its full power against his foes! As Joshua continued to weigh all of the options available to him, he ultimately sighed as he had already made a choice that aligned with his heart. "Do it. Give me the instructions for this weird new pact. I hope it will work, because I probably won’t be around if the ritual is botched. If I fail or become braindead, the responsibility will lie with you and the patriarch. Just so you know." "The theory is sound, though it has never been put to practice in such an unorthodox way." Ketis defended herself. "Don’t be nervous. It will work. I think you are on the cusp of greatness. A few unexpected transformations and changes may occur in the process of forming a three-way pact with your expert mech and mech weapon, but this may be exactly what you need to trigger your long-awaited breakthrough!" Once Joshua received the instructions for the convoluted ’D-Sword-Mech Pact’, he quickly memorized it. He learned that blood was not a necessary meaning if the cultivator was already strong enough to manipulate E-energy to an extent. The true challenge lay in getting the Bitter Scimitar to agree to form a pact with Joshua. He already had an idea on how to make this happen. "We need to talk."