5025 An Old Soldier Ves almost completely froze as he continued to hover in front of the chest of the Dawn Star Project. The Golden Cat did not make any movements either. She was powerless to help Benjamin Larkinson restore his fighting intent and will to survive. Both of them could only pin their hopes on Emma, the companion spirit and second personality of Divine Irene Mox! The new cat clearly did not like being summoned to this strange workshop on a strange ship just to complete an errand that was completely unrelated to her life. Nonetheless, she was still willing to lend a hand, if only because she had been summoned and could help out an old man. Emma disregarded the lack of a neural interface and the oddities surrounding the Carmine System and focused solely on the essence of Benjamin Larkinson. She could instantly tell that he used to be a proud and motivated expert pilot. I lis fall from grace happened a long time ago and his body deteriorated ever since. Though the aspect of Emma possessed a lot of powerful capabilities for her size, most of them involved empowering projectiles and amplifying destructive forces! Destruction was always easier than creation. The Destroyer of Worlds never really dealt with situations like this in the past. Even she could not put a broken will back together. That didn't mean that Emma was helpless, though. She decided on a different approach. Instead of mending Benjamin's broken will directly, she instead began to commune with the old man's unconscious mind. Power steadily flowed from the possessed fragment to the sleeping but connected Larkinson. This power did not infuse Benjamin with any power. He wouldn't be able to absorb any of it as Emma's divine strength belonged exclusive to her and her principal! Anyone else who attempted to absorb this highly evolved form of willpower would instantly blow themselves apart! Instead of risking a nasty head explosion, Emma made sure to keep tight control over her power. She only exerted herself in order to exchange her own thoughts and memories with the dormant Larkinson. Emma began to share portions of Divine Irene Mox's legendary career. Spanning over two impressive centuries, Irene Mox rose up to become an expert pilot, an ace pilot before ultimately making the ultimate breakthrough after passing several life-and-death tests! She had been born as a second-class citizen of the Quillim Principality, but once she proved her strength and talent in spades, the New Rubarth Empire took her in and invested a huge amount of resources in her development to facilitate her eventual evolution to god pilot. The battles she fought with the Rubarthans along with the generosity they extended to her caused her to develop a strong affection for her adopted first-rate superstate. Even after she reached the ultimate rank and attained godhood in a special form, Divine Irene Mox continued to respect her vows and promises to the New Rubarth Empire and served as its protector in the times to come! There was no way to properly describe and summarize the career of such a powerful and long-lived human legend. Where there were other god pilots who lived much more eventful lives than Irene Mox, she had definitely experienced more than her fair share of hardships! The arduous battles, the camaraderie that she built up after fighting alongside many friendly mech pilots, the support she received from the mech designers responsible for designing her powerful machines and other factors had enriched her life and fulfilled her ambitions as a mech pilot! Though Emma only shared a fraction of Divine Irene Mox's life and career to the ailing Larkinson, no one in the Larkinson Clan had ever experienced anything close to such a long and fulfilling journey! The life of a god pilot was indescribably glorious to other people, but had an especially strong effect on people who possessed the ability to pilot mechs! A small flame began to ignite in Benjamin's heart. Though he understood on a fundamental level that he was nothing like the Destroyer of Worlds and had no way of replicating her impressive life trajectory, he couldn't help but envy the life of a much more successful mech pilot. Even when Benjamin remained functionally unconscious, his heart could not be denied! As the old Larkinson continued to get immersed in Divine Irene Mox's impressive life experiences, the man no longer felt content to remain envious. Benjamin may have retired a long time ago, but he still retained a fraction of the pride as an expert pilot. He did not want to imitate or copy the Destroyer of Worlds. He wanted to forge his own legend! His body grew hotter as his mind began to become more active. "Mieew!" Emma became encouraged by his progress. Her fiery eyes glowed brighter as she continued her efforts to revive the burled strength of a fellow mech pilot! For the first time in many decades, Benjamin started to feel young again. His eyelids shook as his consciousness not only began to rouse to life, but also developed a strong desire to return to the glory days when he was fighting his enemies in the cockpit of his Ember Star! The more he became exposed to the priceless experiences of a god pilot, the more he thought that he too possessed the potential to serve in a similar capacity! "Grandfather..." Ves whispered as he could sense a fundamental change taking place inside the cockpit. "Nyaaaa!" Goldie grew more encouraged to the point where her tail started to swish as fast as a propeller! Once Benjamin reached a critical point, he fully regained his consciousness and opened his eyes! No longer did his eyes look placid and gentle. The stimulation he received from the Carmine System and the powerful Emma had completely ignited a fire in his heart! It was a fire that he always thought had become extinguished from the moment the doctors informed him that his brain had become incapable of interfacing with any mech. Yet as he began to regain more and more awareness of his own condition, he could feel through the newly established Blood Pact with the Dawn Star Project that he could actually exert control over the latter! Even if this new control method was anything but perfect, it still possessed enough similarities to the man-machine connection to convince him that it was possible to resume his mech piloting career. As soon as elderly Larkinson recognized the new possibilities that he had been given, the fire in his heart grew hotter! He yearned to attain the same level of strength! He yearned to attain godhood and obtain the power to completely impose his will on reality! He yearned to become the ultimate projector of the Larkinson Clan just as Irene Mox had become for the New Rubarth Empire! Emma retreated at this time. She sensed that her assistance was no longer needed. All she had to do was to remind Benjamin that he possessed the power to fight and overcome insurmountable challenges. It was up to him to complete the rest of his Journey. As Emma consciously retreated to give Benjamin room to process his own thoughts, the Dawn Star Project began to grow more active! Ves and Goldie gained more hope as they noticed that the new mech wasn't taking on its own, but had responded according to the instruction of its pilot! It looked as if Benjamin still needed to obtain one more piece of proof to confirm that he could pilot a mech once again. As the arm of the offensive knight mech slowly raised before lowering again, it became undeniably clear that Benjamin's damaged brain no longer hindered him from piloting a mech anymore! He became fully convinced by the technology invented by his grandson! Nothing could hinder his revival except for Benjamin himself. The old Larkinson gradually realized that he regained control over his destiny. He had two choices before him. The former war hero could either stick to his original decision and surrender to the ravages of time and regret, or he could return to his old profession and restore his long-buried dreams! As his control over the Dawn Star Project increased, he felt as if he too could perform miracles on the battlefield, just like how Divine Irene Mox had dominated the battlefield across unimaginable distances! As Benjamin developed the desire to make his mark on the battlefield and protect his grandson and his other descendants, his broken willpower began to piece back together! A glowing corona started to form around the Dawn Star Project. The mech and mech pilot were beginning to resonate with each other for the first time. The more Benjamin reforged his willpower, the more extraordinary it became! Soon, his willpower not only broke past the mortal limit, but continued to grow more condensed. His restoring strength not only manifested in a growing desire for life, but also caused the Dawn Star Project to exude more and more power! "Impressive!" Even though the Dawn Star Project did not contain any resonating exotics, the Blood Pact along with Benjamin's exceptional mental state caused the machine to resonate in a similar fashion to forced resonance! This phenomenon was usually associated with breakthroughs as newly ascended pilots burst out with a lot of excess power. Though Benjamin Larkinson had already experienced apotheosis in the past, his incredible restoration generated a lot of strength at once, enabling him to experience the addictive nature of wielding a lot of power! At this time, Benjamin felt he had the strength to defeat most of the Vesian expert mechs that he once fought against in the past! The resonance between himself and his new mech grew stronger and stronger until it had reached a limit. Though Benjamin wanted to summon even more strength, his restoring force of will could only do so much. Ves quickly called up the readings of the resonance meters. "45.3 laveres!" That was a lot more than Ves expected from his old and feeble grandfather! As Benjamin noticed that he had reached his current limit, he no longer forced the matter any further. Regaining the ability to pilot a mech was already enough! ·?θm Even if he was unable to express the strength of an expert pilot, he would be willing to train every day in order to build up his strength again! This was the difference between an ordinary man and a demigod. Now that Benjamin regained his strength as an expert pilot, he also regained the mentality and dignity of a powerful champion! As Benjamin's aged body slowly lifted up from the high-tech treatment bed, his skin and flesh slowly seemed to nourish under his revived force of will. Though it was impossible for him to return his physical condition to his prime, he was still able to borrow and digest the vitality contained within the vigorous blood of the Dawn Star Project! Through these basic measures, Benjamin no longer felt as if he was only a single step away from moving on to the afterlife. He had firmly chosen to commit to his present life now that he gained a chance to make up for most of his past regrets! He sent a brief look of gratitude to the extraordinary companion spirit hovering inside the cockpit before he made a decision that would define the rest of his life going forward. As he managed to reforge his willpower, he gained an opportunity to reorient his life by making a new vow that superceded all of his old ones! There were many possible reasons why he chose to return to this difficult and dangerous life, but Benjamin was mainly driven by one overpowering motivation. "I... shall do my utmost... to protect his family for as long as I can possibly manage! Family... is everything to me. For as long as my descendants live, I will watch over them and protect them from any threat! THIS IS MY PROMISE!" The Dawn Star exploded in red as Venerable Benjamin Larkinson dedicated his life and strength to protecting his bloodline! An old soldier had found new life!