As Ves continued to put his effort into both his studies and his mech design projects, he grew more and more discontented over time. His performance was beginning to fall behind. The problem hadn't been that obvious back when he stayed in Davute or in the expeditionary fleet. He was by far the best and most competent mech designer in the Design Department. Other second-class mech designers such as Gloriana, Sara Voiken, Cormaunt Hempkamp and most recently Beatrix Hendrix simply could not keep up with his workpace. Each of them grew up under excellent conditions and became excellent Journeyman Mech Designers despite their relative youth. Their cranial implants played a major role in boosting their work efficiency. Nonetheless, there was a vast gulf between second-class cranial implants and first-class cranial implants. These crucial devices combined with complementary gene treatments could transform any ordinary human into a partially digitized powerhouse. The total fusion between human ingenuity and advanced processing allowed mech designers and other engineers to work on the most advanced technologies without getting lost. The better the cranial implant, the higher the increase in productivity! There was an astronomical price gap between a second-class cranial implant and a first-class cranial implant. The latter encompassed an enormous price range. The cheapest ones usually cost a few thousand MTA credits while the most expensive ones that were exclusively designed for high-ranking mech designers and such could cost hundreds of times more than the price of a typical first-class multipurpose mech! The increase in performance was nowhere near as exaggerated, though. Paying 100 times more for a cranial implant may very well only increase a mech designer's work speed by only several times. While it was somewhat possible to combine the inherent processing capabilities of a cranial implant by linking it up with lots of external processing banks, there were many limitations and complications to this approach. The security of this approach was dubious. The tiny but still significant lag between transferring signals between two radically different computer systems made it impossible for the human mind to completely merge with the data systems of a starship or a well-equipped design lab. In fact, Diandi Base actually came with a respectable centralized processing room. It featured a decent general computer core as well as enough processor banks to exceed the total processing power of the Spirit of Bentheim! Unfortunately, neither Ves nor Gloriana could make use of their respective cranial bioimplants to intuitively connect with the external processors. This meant that the pair could only make limited use out of the powerful processing capabilities. Tasks that required a lot of number crunching but little ingenuity such as running simulations, solving problems by relying on brute force and performing a dizzying number of repetitive calculations was the extent of what mech designers could do with all of this processing power. While that certainly made their jobs a lot easier, it still fell short of equipping themselves with a cranial implant that stuffed all of that processing power directly in their heads! Of course, the advanced technology and extremely powerful exotics needed to create such an amazing cranial implant rapidly became increasingly less accessible! The effect of the law of diminishing returns had become extremely strong at this point. The complexities involved with trying to cram more performance in such a tiny and interconnected package became exponentially more difficult to handle. Nonetheless, a lot of rich and wealthy people continued to invest lots of wealth into their development. The market for high-end implants was constantly booming. In an environment where every rival and competitor did their utmost to snatch up the limited opportunities that were available, anyone who refused to invest enormous sums in themselves would inevitably get pushed out of power! Ves did not experience this pressure that much back when he was hanging around in the middle zones, but now that he had entered the Agamemnon Upper Zone, he became surrounded by excellent first-raters whose cranial implants impressed him on a daily basis! From Jovy Armalon to the wealthier students who attended his classes, Ves constantly became reminded that his 'hardware' could no longer keep up with his new peers. In order to get a better sense of difference between himself and the Terrans, Ves planned an exercise during a practical class of his Advanced Manual Superfab Operation course. He stood in front of the 100 awed and respectful fourth and fifth year mech design students. Being able to teach them in the flesh as opposed to doing so by remote had only increased the attentiveness of his classes. Even though Ves was still a second-class mech designer, it was a big deal to get taught by a tier 3 galactic citizen! Ves did not even have to resort to parlor tricks like unveiling his glow or channeling any of his design spirits to keep these Terran students in line. He activated a projection that depicted a scaled-down version of a generic second-class mech. It was roughly the size of a person, which meant that it looked similar to a suit of combat armor. "Each of you have spent enough weeks on familiarizing yourselves with the operation of a superfab. You have learned how to configure its settings to your liking. You have learned a repertoire of fundamental skills. You have gained proficiency in fabricating many of the common parts at an acceptable degree of efficiency. Today is the time to test how much progress you have made. I want each of you to fabricate a copy of this simplified design for the remaining duration of this class. While the scale model is only a simplified second-class machine, I have made sure to add plenty of tricky nuances in its design. If you think you can rely on automation to do all of the work, then you will be sorely disappointed." Although the Terran mech design students were too polite and well-educated to groan, Ves could clearly sense that the brats were anything but amused! Kelly McAfee raised her hand. "Is this a graded test, professor?" "Yes." This time, a couple of the students couldn't help but show their frustration. Ves did not make an announcement about this beforehand! None of the students had been able to refresh their knowledge and practice their fabrication skills prior to this class as a consequence! Even Axela Striker did not expect Ves to conduct a surprise practical exam today. "I am aware that this is not an ideal circumstance to students such as yourselves, but that is exactly why I have decided to impose this test on you today." Ves spoke to them all. "Any mech designer can do a decent job if they have made thorough preparations beforehand. However, if you want to become more than a cog in a giant machine that is called the mech industry, then you must be able to do more than that in order to be remembered." His words resonated with the hearts of all of these fourth and fifth year mech design students. They were just one or two years away from graduation. Once they exited the Eden Institute with a diploma, they had to enter a highly competitive mech industry where all of their high-ranking peers already dominated much of the market! "It takes greater effort to internalize all of the skills and accrue enough practice to become an experienced fabricator." Ves continued. "One of the traits of a good fabricator is the ability to do a good job on the fly." After he explained the parameters of the graded test, the energetic students quickly approached their assigned superfabs and went to work. By this time, the students had already moved on from practicing with virtual superfabs to operating the real deal! It was impressive to see a hundred superfabs entering into operation. Even if they weren't top-of-the-line, the Eden Institute still invested a hefty sum of money into their acquisition. As the students all became engrossed with studying the scaled-down mech design, Alexa Striker quietly approached her professor's side. "This was supposed to be an ordinary practice session." She quietly transmitted to Ves. "Your spontaneous decision to turn it into a graded test will cause numerous problems. We will have to file new paperwork with the school administration in order to account for all of the ripple effects of this change." Ves shrugged. "Then do so. I am sure that this is a trivial problem to the Eden Institute. How well do you think these students will do, Alexa?" The young lady's expression loosened up. "I think that each of them will perform satisfactorily. Given your rapidly rising reputation, none of them wanted to leave a bad impression of themselves on you. They have all made sure to dedicate additional time on learning and practicing what you have taught." "Good. I hope I won't see anything ugly today. I expect much from these fine Terrans. By the way, has there been any progress on my latest offer?" Alexa's eyes grew murky. "After my last talk with my grandfather, I have been trying to get ready to join your clan. It is not simple for me to leave the ancient clan where I have been born and raised. The bureaucratic procedures are cumbersome. Our elders must also convene and personally pass judgment on my case. My grandfather should be able to make it happen, but he prefers to do it slowly in order to avoid attracting too much attention. I should be able to apply to join your clan before the end of this semester." Ves nodded in understanding. "That sounds good. It doesn't matter if your entry gets delayed for a few months. It is more important for you to adopt the right mentality. I have already told you that it isn't enough to become a Larkinson by name. You need to show enough sincerity and commitment to earn everyone's trust." "Your famed kinship network has been frustrating many spies as of late." The well-informed teaching assistant commented. The two eventually split up and walked along the hall. They supervised the students as they started to fabricate the parts needed to assemble a person-sized mech. Normally, Ves and Alexa would come close and either correct an operation or provide helpful advice. They did not offer any help this time as this was supposed to be a serious test. Every student concentrated fully on their own tasks. The speed and efficacy of their work varied considerably. There were many variables that affected the speed of their work and the quality of their output. As Ves looked over Klaus Robar-Fulton's shoulders, he became mildly impressed by how far the civilian Terran student had come. Having enrolled in all three courses taught by Ves, Klaus had become a fan. The fourth year mech designer invested more time in them, even when it came at a detriment to his other classes. Klaus had already come far since his starting point. His craftsmanship was still fairly basic and sloppy, but he at least made much fewer mistakes than before. Now that he had gained a decent amount of practice, Klaus had already begun to express a distinct style. He only needed to grow more comfortable with his work in order to develop his personal style further. That said, despite all of the work that Klaus put into improving his fabrication skills, his overall improvement could only be described as below average compared to his other classmates. His low-tier augmentation package was holding him back. If his cranial implant belonged to a higher tier, Klaus should have easily been able to rank in the top 30 of his class! Ves shifted his gaze to another nearby student who was descended from a clan. The clansmen easily performed better than Klaus even though his motivation and diligence might not be as great. His superior cranial implants and other augmentations boosted his performance to a much larger extent! As long as the clan student did not do anything outrageous and slack off, he could easily remain ahead of a hard worker like Klaus. This was the power of a superior cranial implant!