"It's nice out here, isn't it, Ves?" "It is." Ves gradually smiled. "I have enjoyed too few moments like this. Is this what you seek in your life?" Venerable Stark let out a soft snort. "I wish I could embrace peace, but there is only war in my heart." Ves frowned at her words. "We talked about this, Davia. Years have passed since the sandmen have been wiped out by the Big Two. You need to move on. Everyone else has already done a good job at that. The Red Ocean offers a new start to everyone including you. There is no need to hang on to old and forgotten grudges anymore. "I WILL NEVER FORGET THE DEAD!" Venerable Stark burst out as her force of will briefly pressed upon the lake environment! Ves almost recoiled from her and quickly raised his palm. "Calm down, please! You don't need to raise your voice!" "My apologies." She spoke as she quickly reined in her fury. "From the moment my people died en masse, I have given up on living a normal life. Not a day goes by where I wish death and suffering on those that have callously allowed my former friends and many other innocents to get slaughtered by the sandmen without lifting a finger." Her words still remained acrid despite lowering her voice. The pure resentment in her words remained just as intense as in the past! This told Ves that Venerable Stark had not really experienced any change of heart on this matter. "The Larkinsons never forget the dead. Isn't that supposed to be the case?" Venerable Stark referenced one of General Verle's previous funeral addresses with her words, which made it impossible for Ves to refute the statement. "Uhm, yes." He said. "Those words express a determination to never forget the contributions our fallen have made to further the survival and growing prosperity of our clan. The meaning they convey is that we, the surviving Larkinsons, should not shy away from doing our duty when our fellow clansmen are backed into a corner. General Verle encourages our mech pilots to focus on protecting those who are still alive. It is not our intention to encourage the mindless pursuit of vengeance. We prefer to spend our lives productively rather than pursue a road that only goes downhill." If Venerable Stark understood his underlying meaning, she showed no indication of agreeing with him. She instead opted to adjust her fishing pole as if that would help with catching a fish. Ves quietly sighed. Of all of the expert pilots in the Larkinson Clan, Venerable Stark was certainly the one that was most out of place. This was an undesirable situation because the Larkinsons had to rely on a guest pilot to supply a large chunk of firepower at the expert mech level. Ves always held out hope that the Larkinson Clan would eventually succeed in assimilating Venerable Stark in its ranks. Unfortunately, the guest pilot remained as unmoved as ever. She remained as dead as a rock towards any friendly entreaties from the clan. The Larkinsons that had been tasked with warming Venerable Stark's heart all returned in failure. The clan eventually figured out that active persuasion was useless at best and counterproductive at worst. In order to avoid annoying Venerable Stark too much, the clan stopped disturbing her and left her to her own devices. Whether this was the right decision or not, Ves found it difficult to accept that such a powerful expert pilot with excellent growth potential would slip out of his grasp almost a century later. Ves had taken the time to study Venerable Stark's record and documentation during the shuttle ride to the Wild Torch. Her strong conviction, her constant dedication and her excellent cooperation with her masterwork expert mech enabled her to grow just as fast as Venerable Jannzi. After she consolidated her gains from the Battle of Pima Prime, her resonance strength measured at 38 laveres on average according to the logs of her most recent live practice session. The best Larkinson expert pilots still struggled to reach half this number, which meant that Venerable Stark was still on track to become the first high-tier expert pilot among her peers! There was also an excellent chance that she would take another step and become the first ace pilot that was at the Larkinson Clan's disposal! This turned her into an indispensable asset to the Larkinsons. Even if she promised to stay in the clan for a single century, it was better to enjoy the protection of an ace pilot for a couple of decades than to have nothing at all. Ves could not afford to compromise the safety of his clan by adopting a harder attitude towards her obstinacy. It all came down to leverage. Ves needed Venerable Stark's combat power more than she needed his mechs. She was perfectly capable of leaving the clan and hiring herself out to another employer if it came down to it. The main reason why she continued to stay was because she still believed that sticking with the Larkinsons offered her the fastest way to grow stronger. She was right about that. Ves could at least count on her to abide by her promise. He only needed her to watch over the clan long enough to eventually replace her with its own cohort of Saints. "So why did you visit me this time?" Venerable Stark asked as she finally broke the silence. "If you wanted to talk to me, you could have contacted me over the comm." Ves nodded. "I wanted to talk to you about a new technological development that I want to apply to your expert mech. Let me share the details." He spent a bit of time on giving her a simplified explanation on blessed equipment and what it might mean for her Amaranto. He also gave her a few samples of handheld blessed weapons and gear that his bodyguards had brought for this trip. "I see." Davia Stark said as she understood how much this new type of equipment could help her during combat. "You're saying that this is essentially a way to borrow a greater amount of power from a design spirit, is that right?" "That is correct. I have already struck a deal with the Phase King that ensures that he will do his part to empower our mech equipment." The female expert pilot frowned. "I am not familiar with the Phase King. The only design spirit that I have worked extensively with is the Illustrious One. Can't you make a blessed weapon that is tied to him instead?" "It's not that simple." Ves regretfully shook his head. "I already thought about it before, but the empowerment he is able to provide is too insignificant. It has to do with his traits and his abilities. The reason why the Phase King works especially well with blessed gear is because he can take transphasic products and manipulate their power in much more efficient and effective ways. The Illustrious One doesn't have that much room for manipulation because he does not have many ways to draw more power out of luminar crystal weapons." The full story was too technical and complicated for Venerable Stark to understand, but Ves told her enough to understand that the Phase King was their best option going forward. "So we will all be relying a lot more on phasewater." She remarked. "That's correct. Maybe you don't entirely approve of this measure, but blessed gear are still strong even if the supporting design spirits have withheld their assistance. The extra power boosts should only be employed in situations where they are truly needed." "I can understand that. It is still undeniable that the power of these blessed equipment will change the way we fight. I will also have to adjust my approach and take this new complication into account." "I wouldn't call it a complication, Davia. It's a boon. Think about the difficulties you've experienced in the last battle. The Star of Liberation wouldn't have been able to suppress your Amaranto that much if you had the ability to bite back harder. Blessed weapons exist to solve these kinds of problems, and right now the Phase King offers the greatest and most accessible form of empowerment." 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂 This would definitely change in the future when he found more sympathetic materials that worked well with different design spirits, but for now their options were limited. Venerable Stark eventually relented. "Very well. Let us go with the Phase King then. What is your plan?" "It depends on your wishes. You can choose from two general solutions. The first one is that I will develop a brand-new transphasic rifle from scratch that incorporates all of my latest advancements in luminar crystal technology. It will be larger, heavier, more powerful and more capable of penetrating existing targets than with your current Instrument of Vengeance rifle." That definitely sounded good to Venerable Stark. "What about the other plan?" "If you are highly attached to your existing weapon, then I can work on upgrading it instead. Much will change and become unrecognizable to you, but the weapon will ultimately come close to matching the performance of the new rifle that I intend to build if you choose the first plan." Venerable Stark understood why Ves presented these two plans for her. No matter which one she chose, she would inevitably have to make a tradeoff. "What do you advise, Ves?" "Both options are good." He replied. "If you go for the first plan, then your Amaranto will have two different weapons at its disposal, which ensures that you will not be rendered useless if the enemy happens to disable one of them. Preserving the Instrument of Vengeance rifle will also ensure that all of the effort you have put into learning how to utilize it in its current configuration will not be wasted. However, do take into account that your existing weapon will be the only one that has integrated Opticonium, the resonating alloy that is responsible for allowing you to bend your energy beams." "Hmm. I understand. What if I go for the second plan?" "Then you will not have as much choice as before." Ves replied. "The upside is that your Instrument of Vengeance rifle not only keeps its old advantages, but will also gain new ones as I convert it into a weapon blessed by the Phase King." Venerable Stark grew concerned about a potential consequence to embracing this plan. "My current rifle is already heavily associated with the Illustrious One. Will that relationship worsen if you bring in the Phase King?" "That…. Is difficult for me to give a precise answer. I estimate that there will certainly be problems considering that the Illustrious One has to give up space to accommodate the Phase King. In essence, it is up to you to decide whether you want your Amaranto's first weapon to keep its focus on energy manipulation or put more emphasis on spatial manipulation." This would have massive implications in the future when Venerable Stark came a lot closer to becoming a god pilot. She closed her eyes and kept her silence for a couple of minutes. Venerable Stark ultimately made her choice. "I don't particularly like phasewater technology to be honest." She told Ves. "Maybe I'm being old-fashioned, but the way that transphasic weapons and armor is changing the mech landscape and making it harder for grassroots forces to defeat stronger armies is disgusting." Ves slowly nodded. "You're right about that, but feeling this way won't change anything. Times are changing and everyone else around us is adapting to this new era. If we want to ensure that we retain our agency, we can't fall behind this technological development. So what will you choose, Davia?" "I… would like you to make a second rifle for my Amaranto." Venerable Stark announced. "I can definitely do that. I'll work on it right away since our clan urgently needs this boost of power. I expect I will have a blessed weapon ready for you within a month. Can you tell me why you went for this option?" "I'm not giving up on the Illustrious One." Venerable Stark lips curled into a smile. "You explained to me earlier that you will continue to find ways to allow you to make blessed weapons that are tied to other design spirits, correct? I will be waiting for you to succeed with the one that I am most familiar with. Once you do, I hope you will upgrade the Instrument of Vengeance as soon as possible." Ves grinned back. "No problem, Davia. I can promise you that your original weapon will be among the first to benefit from this development."