There were a lot of effective ways to make use of the previous two gems. Though their properties limited the range of mechs that they could be utilized to an effective degree, Ves still had a lot of freedom and choice in the specific mechs he could choose to impart with additional effects. Ves did not have the impression that he possessed the same freedom of choice with the third gem. [Shield of Sacrifice] The dying wish of a powerful soul is contained within this gem. Increases the damage resistance of a mech up to 100 percent in proportion to the damage it has incurred. It was already obvious from the start that there was only one possible mech that was destined to bear the Shield of Sacrifice gem. "I can't justify the decision to put it in any other mech than the Dullahan Project." He sighed. The Dullahan Project was not only Venerable Jannzi's next machine, but was also a living mech that would either become a descendant or a continuation of the late Shield of Samar. No matter what, much of the spiritual foundation of the upcoming expert space knight would be based on the Shield of Samar. If Ves added a gem that was undoubtedly related to the same living gem to the new Dullahan Project, then an unexpected event might take place! The uncertainty of what would happen if he combined these two elements did not make him feel apprehensive. Instead, he became excited at the idea! Every gem that he utilized before were derived from existences that Ves had never encountered in person. He suspected that many of them were powerful alien personalities that had died long before he was even born. This was different. It was a lovely coincidence that he had just started a design project that was centered around designing a direct successor of the Shield of Samar while also obtaining a gem that shared the same origin. It would be unreasonable if the completed Dullahan Project did not produce a special reaction once it integrated this gem! Ves happily put away the last gem. If nothing went wrong, he would probably be able to witness this event in a year or so. Even if it did not produce any dramatic results, the effect of the gem alone was quite powerful under the right circumstances! "If I am interpreting its description correctly, then the more the mech incurs damage, the harder it is to destroy the remainder!" This was a rather troublesome effect because mechs like the old Shield of Samar performed at their best when they were in their most complete and undamaged state. Once an enemy pressed them to the point of breaching their armor, the damaged machines risked getting crippled or destroyed after every subsequent attack because their internals got exposed. "What is the use of amplifying the defense of a mech by 30, 50 or even 80 percent if the Dullahan Project is already full of holes?" Ves wondered. Even if the Dullahan Project received a lot of internal strengthening, there was only so much that these measures could stop a serious attack from affecting crucial mech parts that were essential to the functioning of a machine. "Still, it is better than nothing, I suppose. If the Dullahan Project is able to redirect incoming attacks from its exposed internals to its remaining armor plating, then that would vastly increase its longevity in battle." Ves suddenly thought back on the recent Maiden of Adversity that had become a popular mech model among the Hexers. Its iconic Battle Skirt System was an amazingly effective modular external armor system. It allowed the new hero mech model to always have access to additional armor plating that it could position where they were needed the most. "There's no reason to leave this option off the table." Adapting a higher-end version of the Battle Skirt System to the Dullahan Project added a lot of complexity and additional cost, but Ves thought it was worth the price. He already intended to make the Dullahan Project lighter, slimmer and more offense-oriented than the last iteration of the Shield of Samar. Adding the Battle Skirt System to the upcoming expert space knight was a way to maximize the value of the new gem. This was because if the Dullahan Project ended up in a difficult battle against a powerful enemy, it would constantly be able to take hits without succumbing entirely with the help of the Battle Skirt System. Even if the condition of the Dullahan Project deteriorated to an awful level, as long as enough of the modular armor plating of the Battle Skirt System remained intact, then the improved defense power of these movable plates would become increasingly more effective at blocking attacks! Of course, it was extremely unlikely that the Dullahan Project would be able to remain operational when it was 70, 80 or 90 percent damaged. That was usually the point where a mech turned into a powerless and lifeless wreck! This was why Ves felt a bit ambivalent towards the effect of the Shield of Sacrifice gem. That part about 'increasing the damage resistance of a mech up to 100 percent' was a bit of a bait because there was no way the Dullahan Project would ever come close to reaching the upper limit of this effect. If Ves had a choice, he would rather obtain another gem like the Lament of Exod that increased the defenses of a mech against physical damage by 50 percent. In fact, Ves originally reserved the Lament of Exod gem for the Dullahan Project shortly after he came up with the design project, but that was no longer the case now that he obtained the Shield of Sacrifice gem. "Oh well. At least I can save up the Lament of Exod gem for another defensive mech." It was about time for the Larkinson Clan to add another powerful defensive mech to its lineup. Venerable Jannzi shouldn't be shouldering the burden of defending against powerful attacks alone. Maybe Ves should pay more attention to the training and guidance of defense-oriented expert candidates. Now that the expeditionary fleet was heading into dangerous regions, the demand for additional defensive assets would only grow higher. "I'll think about this later." After he was done with analyzing the properties and possible uses for his new gems, he went back to working on his mech design projects as there were no ways to make use of his new gains right away. Lucky soon recovered from his weeks-long ordeal and became healthy again. The cat seemed to have gained a new appreciation towards life and began to play and wander around a lot more in the following days. He had especially taken a liking to playing with Andraste. The energetic little girl regularly accompanied Lucky to one of the open parks aboard the Spirit of Bentheim in order to play various games. "Fetch, Lucky!" Andraste called as she threw a small frisbee in the air. The device did not follow a simple trajectory but began to make various loops and turns as its integrated antigrav module controlled its flight. Despite the frisbee's crazy maneuvering, Lucky accurately predicted its trajectory and flew at just the right spot to catch and bite the object between its teeth! "Meow." Lucky arrogantly flipped his tail when he returned his prize back to Andraste, this time with a couple of extra tooth marks onto the composite surface. Andraste merely giggled at the sight before she threw the frisbee out once again. Meanwhile, Marvaine began to spend more time with Ves in the design lab. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦 Though Ves needed to devote a lot of time to his design work, he was willing to spend half an hour on shaping his boy's views towards mech. It was never too soon to indoctrinate his own child. "Aren't mechs like these fun?" Ves grinned as he placed a few mech figurines of his models on a table. "Pick one of them up if you want." Marvaine lifted one of them up with a bit of difficulty. The metal figurine was a bit large and heavy for a boy of his age. "Ohhh." He said as he took a closer look at a reasonably accurate scale model of the Bright Warrior Mark II. "So warm! Feels like Goldie!" "That's right." Ves smiled. "Now take this other mech. Is this one just as good?" He picked up a mech figurine that he had bought in Davute a few years ago. Its design and appearance was exquisite, but Marvaine did not pay much attention to these elements. He frowned and began to hug the mech figurine of the Bright Warrior Mark II in his arms. "Not good! It's too cold!" "That's because this mech isn't alive." Ves explained as he shook the third-party mech figurine. "This is what makes my work different from everyone else's. My mechs are warm while the mechs designed by others are cold. You like the mechs that feel warm and fuzzy to you, right?" Marvaine eagerly nodded. "Warm mechs feel so nice to me. I don't want to play with colder mechs." Ves reached out and rubbed Marvaine's head. "I don't want you to play with cold mechs either. They're no fun to me and you. The reason why my mechs feel warm to you is because they are alive. Do you know what that means?" "It means… I can talk to them, right?" Marvaine tentatively replied. "You can do much more with them, my son." Ves replied and held another living mech figurine in his hands. "Mechs like these are similar to pets like Lucky and Clixie. They're alive even if they don't look like it at first. However, each of them have the potential to become your friends and companions in the future. Doesn't that sound nice, Marvaine? As long as you inherit my design philosophy in the future, you can make as many friends as you want! It will be a lot more fun than if you learn from your mother instead." Marvaine's eyes lit up at the mention of friends, but they quickly became confused when Ves mentioned his wife. "Why not learn from mama?" Ves lifted up the third-party mech figurine again. "Because her mechs are almost as cold and lifeless as this machine. Her works are still strong, but what is the point of making them when they are just as cold and unresponsive as simple dolls? The best toys are always the ones that are able to interact with you. The same goes for mechs. Let me show you one of the projects that I am working on and tell you how I plan to make it alive. It is a lot easier than it looks. Maybe you can do this as well one day." He lifted his son onto his lap and began to work on a couple of ongoing projects. Marvaine curiously watched and listened as his father explained a few simple actions. Though it was impossible for a child of his age to understand anything about actual mech design, the boy enjoyed all of the personal attention that he was receiving. Ves tried his best to plant a seed into Marvaine's mind that tied living mechs to all kinds of positive associations. Living mechs were warm. Living mechs were fun. Non-living mechs were cold. Non-living mechs were boring. Perhaps he was going too far in his effort to 'encourage' his son to inherit his design philosophy, but Ves genuinely believed that he was doing Marvaine a huge favor. It would be an awful waste if Marvaine opted to become a mech designer but ended up pursuing a relatively ordinary design philosophy in the future! So far, Marvaine absorbed everything like a sponge. The kid's frighteningly effective designer baby genes had massively improved his learning abilities, which meant that he was even more susceptible to indoctrination than the average human child! Ordinary children forgot most of what they heard in less than a minute. Marvaine could recall at least half of his father's words in the same amount of time!