Ves grew a lot more reassured now that he knew what his expert pilots had in mind. A few expressed the desire to stick with the second-class members of the Larkinson, but most couldn't resist the allure of piloting powerful first-class versions of their living mechs! The expert pilots were more concerned with the journey rather than the destination. The next decade was crucial to them as they sought to make the most out of the time they had left by pursuing as many meaningful battles as possible. The situation with the Larkinson mech designers was different. Ves offered every lead designer the opportunity to make use of the EdNet. The only condition was that they needed to wrap up their ongoing design projects first before they became indisposed for a few years. Unlike his expert pilots, the Journeyman Mech Designers of the Design Department were much less conflicted about this decision! "I would be stupid to reject this offer." Sara Voiken plainly stated to Ves as he visited her personal design lab. "It has been my dream to design first-class mechs. That is not to say that second-class mechs are worthless, but even you should recognize that they are only strong enough to fight against the rabble among the aliens. These alien raiding fleets are only there to make up the numbers. The real war between red humanity and the native aliens will be decided by first-class mechs and warships built by the major alien races." Mech designers could make a much greater impact on their society by designing one of the many first-class mechs that would soon decide the fate of the Red Ocean Dwarf Galaxy. Everything else simply wasn't important enough anymore. Ves smiled and patted Sara's shoulder in an encouraging manner. "I will welcome your arrival at the Premier Branch. I just hope that you won't get too upset if you need to take a lot more time to advance to Senior." "It is better to get this over with sooner rather than later." Sara argued. "If I try to make the transition when I have become a Senior or a Master, I will need to absorb an exponentially greater amount of knowledge. It will take much more time for me to work towards my breakthrough, so it is better if I do this as soon as possible when the damage won't be as great. Besides, we have just switched over to the Age of Dawn. Our technology is undergoing a rolling reset. There is no better opportunity to start over than now when the introduction exotic radiation and hyper materials is changing every aspect of the landscape for defensive systems." She had properly considered the pros and cons of this impactful decision. Ves admired her willingness to bear a significant amount of short-term pain in order to attain a better outcome in the long term. "What about your brother?" Ves asked. "Pure spearman mechs aren't as common anymore in the first-class mech community." Sara shrugged. "He will manage somehow. He is quite good at adapting to changing circumstances. Besides, even if he decided to stick with second-class mechs, he will still want to make use of an EdNet quota, if only so that he can master a lot of powerful technological principles and receive a host of powerful first-class augmentations for free." Though Ves briefly felt upset about a mech designer wasting an EdNet quota just to become a better second-class mech designer, it didn't sound so bad after he thought about it a bit further. The departure of a lot of second-class mech designers meant that it became important for the remaining ones to make up for the shortfall. Even then, if the Larkinsons lost too many second-class lead designers all of a sudden, Ves could always hire a bunch of second-class Journeyman Mech Designers to occupy essential positions again. Ves was no longer as picky as before when it came to their recruitment. So long as they could do their jobs adequately enough, it did not matter whether they had what it took to realize their design philosophies. It would be even better if a number of assistant mech designers advanced to the rank of Journeyman Mech Designer in the next few years. He was still waiting for Maikel and Zanthar to hurry up and reach this stage. The two had even sought Ves out in order to convey a request. "Can we get an EdNet quota?" Ves frowned. "You can, but it will have great consequences for your life. I won't hand them out to you for free. As assistant mech designers, you will have to compete against the others who are in a similar position as you. I won't play favorites just because I taught you for a while. I am sure that it shouldn't be too difficult to win those quotas fair and square as long as you have worked and studied hard enough, but the question is whether this is the right time for you to promote to a first-class mech designer." "What do you mean by that? Are you suggesting that we should wait?" "I do." Ves replied. "The two of you are pretty good second-class Apprentice Mech Designers. I don't know how long it will take, but I don't think it will take more than a decade for you to attain your breakthroughs. If you try to become a first-class Apprentice at this junction, you will not only have to throw away a lot of progress and start at the beginning, but you will be at a heavy disadvantage because it will be difficult for you to match the graduates of proper first-class mech design universities. The transition from Apprentice to Journeyman is one of the most important transitions of your career. You are not a true mech designer unless you settle on a valid design philosophy. Don't diminish your chances of becoming a Journeyman by messing up your entire life beforehand." That caused the two young Apprentices to frown. They had already set their minds on becoming first-raters. The advice given by the man they looked up to directly contradicted their own plans and desires. "Isn't it better to advance to Journeyman as a first-rater? Our potential will be much higher." "That's nonsense." Ves shook his head. "Back when I became a Journeyman, I was still a third-class mech designer at the time. Now look at how far I've come. The foundation is what matters. So long as you have built up a solid foundation, your futures will be limitless." He did not say much more than that to them. He left the decision up to them. This was a difficult decision, and they needed to settle it on their own. There would still be opportunities for them to be promoted to a first-class mech designer in the future. Unlike many other people, Ketis had already made a clear decision about her own future. "I think I won't make use of the EdNet right away. I am a parent, and I don't want my children to go without their mother for up to 4 straight years. I will reconsider this decision when they have grown up, but even then I won't spend all of my time on becoming a better mech designer. To be honest, I want to take the time and read a lot of old scriptures, manuals and modern academic articles related to swordsmanship. I don't want my swordsmanship to regress while I am stuck in a simulator pod for four years. This is the only way for me to prevent my skin from stagnating. My physical condition will probably decline, but my understanding of swordsmanship will probably progress by leaps and bounds." Ves looked surprised. "That is... an ambitious lesson plan. Do you intend to join the Premier Branch after you are done?" "It depends on whether I have learned enough about first-class mech design. Once I exit the EdNet, I might not have mastered all of the knowledge and skills for me to feel confident enough to promote right away. I don't mind staying behind in the main fleet for a longer time. I feel most at home when I am with the Swordmaidens. I think I will continue to support and accompany them until they have successfully become warfighters and earned enough war merits to be promoted to first-raters." He understood her message. Ketis wanted to stay close to her children as well as the core group of Swordmaidens. Her transfer to the Premier Branch was therefore dependent on the outcome of the Larkinson Clan's participation in the upcoming deep strike operations. "I think that is a wise decision." Ves said in approval. "You'll also be able to raise your family with your husband Joshua on an uninterrupted basis. How are Kirian and Mayra, by the way?" "They are growing more energetic by the day." She smiled. "I hope to arrange first-class augmentations for them so that they can attend first-class virtual schools just like your own children. They don't have the same advantages, so I can only think of this to give them a better future." "I am sure that I can exchange a few favors with the Terrans-" Ketis vehemently shook her head. "Stop it, Ves. I am not a kid anymore. I can't keep relying on your handouts all of the time. I can take care of my own business. I have my own plan. You might not be aware of this, but Swordmasters like myself have become a lot more important in this new age. I am already in talks with certain organizations about assisting in research and providing guidance for people who want to follow in the footsteps of the Heavensworders." Ves slowly nodded in acceptance. "Since you have a clear plan in mind, I won't interfere with your activities. You sound like you have a solid idea on how to improve by yourself. Just make sure to keep the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the loop. You don't just represent yourself, but also the Larkinson Clan." "I know, Ves. I don't intend to go solo. Once I think I am ready to move on to this Premier Branch of yours, I'll make sure to reduce the gap between the two of us. I will become a Senior Mech Designer one way or another." He liked her ambition, though he wasn't sure whether she could make good on her promises. Her decision to split her time between mech design and traditional swordsmanship had produced fantastic synergies but also came with serious consequences. Time was never on her side. Once Ves had checked up with every mech designer of the Larkinson Clan, he no longer dealt with this matter any further. He could leave the remainder of the work to his subordinates. They had already begun to explore where they should base the Premier Branch at the start. He already moved on to other priorities. There were currently three major issues hanging over his head. First, he needed to check up on Alexa Streon to determine whether she was open to becoming his apprentice and whether the Terrans wanted to make a more extensive deal. Second, he needed to prepare for his talk with the Inferno Prince. This represented a formal opening of relations between the Larkinson Clan and the Rubarthan Pact. Third, he needed to be ready to deal with the crown at any time once his mother completed a brand-new cultivation method that was specifically tailored to Vulcan. There were other priorities as well, but Ves could deal with them easily enough without requiring any special effort. "Let's see. I'm due to teach my next few classes at the Eden Institute very soon, and I'll be talking to the Inferno Prince shortly after that. I need to find a way to keep both of them happy at the same time." His relationships with these two groups were out of balance at the moment. He was already favoring the Terrans by teaching at the Eden Institute, so he had to figure out an arrangement that would placate the Rubartahns.