Chapter 6683 Testing the Improvised Cultivator Mech The upgraded and modified Fey Fianna largely worked as Ves and Melkor hoped. At the start, Melkor found it difficult to control the formation anchors. It turned out that surrounding the objects in a metal shell and adding extra modules onto it caused numerous disturbances that had to be corrected one by one. Many of the changes did not require a lot of work. Ves was able to perform corrections by changing the settings and programming of the Fey Fianna. Once the drone mech's configuration received a round of corrections, Melkor finally became satisfied with the current machine. "I have to say that your work is excellent as always." Melkor said. "It is uncomfortable for me to lose access to the regular set of fey, but being able to control the formation anchors directly is a fantastic benefit. It opens up new possibilities that I haven't thought about before. Instead of sending the coordinates to other mechs in order to tell them where to plant the formation anchors, I can do it directly, saving valuable time and reducing errors. While I am concerned that the new formation fey may get intercepted along the way, I already intend to provide them each with an escort that includes at least one space knight." "That's a good idea. The native aliens won't let them fly without interruption." "There is another advantage to this new setup." Melkor added. "I can pre-prepare the qi formation by moving all 25 formation anchor fey roughly in the places where they are supposed to be. Once my fey and I have moved close enough to a group of enemy phasefighters, I can make fine adjustments that will allow me to find the optimal positions for the formation anchors in any environment, including open space. I can subsequently activate the spell formation with minimal delay." "What does this mean?" "The upgrades you made to my Fey Fianna has made it much easier for me to deploy the confinement spell array reactively rather than proactively. Do you understand the difference, Ves? It means that I don't have to plant the formation anchors at the chosen sight in advance! I can use them offensively by bringing the new fey to the front and deploy them while the fighting has already erupted. So long as the escort mechs do a good job of protecting the formation anchor fey, they should definitely be able to occupy the right coordinates. If not, I can make last-minute adjustments based on feel and judgment. This should allow me to activate them quickly enough before our enemies shift their priorities and attack the formation fey" This was an important gain for Melkor. He previously viewed sealing spell arrays as metaphysical traps. They had to be set up in advance on a site where he guessed the enemies would pass through. This could easily work if he fought on land, but out here in space there were many places that were completely empty! Most places of the Viola Magnifica System did not host convenient asteroids which could be used to hide the precious formation anchors. Perhaps stealth technology could be used to hide the planted formation anchors on a temporary basis, but there was too little time for Ves to implement this elaborate function. In any case, Melkor possessed all of the flexibility he needed for the moment. He could bide his time and wait for the native aliens to advance to the main fortress planet. It was difficult to guess how the native aliens intended to assault the defenses. Their angles of attack, their formations, their force divisions and so on could take on many different forms. If Melkor planted his formation anchors at a certain site in advance, then he may come to regret his decision when the native aliens decided to attack the stronghold planet from the opposite direction! The new setup helped him a lot by reducing this possibility. He could wait until the enemy committed to an assault and take the time to choose where to activate his spell array based on the maneuvers and disposition of the enemy forces. "I have a few more questions, Melkor." "Ask away." "Do you feel as if the formation anchors have gained life? Are you able to control them better with the help of the neural interface?" "I do." Melkor responded as if he did not quite believe in his own answer. "It is really strange. Your prediction that I do not necessarily need the formation control artifact anymore is partially correct. I think I can activate the formation anchors directly through the living mech. It's not ideal for me to do so because the formation disk contains a lot of easy controls that are specifically designed to activate many specific functions." "I see." Ves rubbed his hairless chin in thought. "Next time, I will look into designing a formation disk holder that can allow you to integrate the artifact with your living mech. This should enhance your control over the spell array even further. I can even make room for multiple different formation disks." He continued to generate more ideas on what his next cultivator mech should look like. Ves became more and more interested to explore the new possibilities and design the best possible machine for Melkor! As the testing process wound down, there was only one more matter that needed to be tested. "I've invited Saint Commander Casella Ingvar to hop into the cockpit of the Minerva and test whether she can successfully empower you through her Command Field. In order to conduct this test in greater confidence, we'll need to move to a more private location. Can you shrink the size of your spell array?" "I can, but there is a limit. These formation anchors are designed to transform a large amount of space. Trying to go against that will cause them to work less effectively. If the size of the spell array shrinks too much, they will start to interfere with each other, making it impossible to form a proper spell array. I have to make use of a smaller set of formation anchors that are designed to operate on a reduced scale." That was interesting to hear to Ves. "Can you deploy your formation anchor inside a large mech depot? The local garrison has recently abandoned one of the many warehouses where they used to store mechs and massive spare parts reserves for repairing damaged gun platforms and orbital fortresses. It's not as spacious as I would like, but it is buried deep underground in order to shield the warehouse against orbital bombardment and starship crashes." Ves sent the data on the location of the abandoned warehouse and how much space Melkor would have at his disposal. "This warehouse is bigger than I expected. It should do fine." "Then let's go." Twenty minutes later, the Fey Fianna accompanied by 25 formation anchor fey entered the large and rectangular-shaped hall. Melkor automatically directed his mech to deploy the 25 formation anchor fey. The resulting spell array should cover at least half of the underground warehouse. Soon enough, Melkor's breath hitched as he felt a powerful presence descending down to the warehouse. This was hardly the first time he came into proximity to the Larkinson Clan's third ace pilot. Unlike other ace pilots, the Saint Commander's Command Field lacked the oppressive and domineering qualities of the domain fields of other ace pilots. Perhaps it was because Casella Ingvar already considered the Larkinsons to be friendly and trustworthy by default, but her Command Field always felt very inclusive to other Larkinsons. Now that Melkor had broken through to a real qi cultivator, he was able to sense the Saint Commander's domain a lot better than before. Casella Ingvar was powerful. Incredibly powerful. Her Command Field may be accommodating, but it was still based on her extraordinary willpower! That potent willpower not only made it difficult for Melkor to observe the Saint in charge! As the Minerva entered the warehouse and gently flew towards the modified Fey Fianna, Melkor slightly came under pressure as he found it difficult to put himself on the same level as Casella Ingvar. Their strength diverged too much. If Melkor was like a dim star, then the Saint Commander was like a bright and scorching sun! Melkor had a strong feeling that this wouldn't change too much if he ever broke through to the next major cultivation rank. "I have come." The Saint Commander announced while restraining her presence as best as possible. "I have already been briefed on the purpose of this experiment. Let us proceed without delay as I am needed elsewhere." As one of the few ace pilots remaining in this strategically important star system, Casella definitely gained a lot of responsibilities. From trying to boost the morale of the defenders by holding speeches to meeting up with strategists to understand which enemies she should prioritize on eliminating, the Saint Commander was doing her best to raise the odds of victory! The only reason why she agreed to come was because Ves and Melkor believed that this experiment would definitely produce a positive result. If that was the case, then the Larkinson Army gained another trump card that it could spring against the native aliens at the worst possible moment! "Alright." Ves transmitted to the two Larkinson mechs. "Please send me confirmation that you are ready to start. Received. Since both of you are in good condition, then let. us proceed with the first step. Casella, I want you to try and Commandeer the Fey Fianna. Melkor, do not resist. Try to accommodate the Saint Commander as best as possible." Both mech pilots did as instructed. The Commandeering process usually took place in an instant for Larkinson mechs and mech pilots, but Casella had to take her time. "I am encountering more resistance" She remarked. "It is easy enough for me to Commandeer the Fey Fianna itself, but when I try to Commandeer Melkor, I feel the similar sort of resistance when I try to Commandeer a fellow expert pilot. The only high-ranking mech pilot that I was able to Commandeer successfully was my late brother. Once he died, I haven't been able to empower any other expert pilot and expert mech." That meant that this was a new result. Saint Commander Casella looked stumped for a moment. "Melkor, are you resisting her efforts?" Ves asked. "Yes, I mean no. I feel like I really can't let her inside me and take control over me." Malkor ranliad with a hit of distrace in his tone. "Chcello is so nowerful that if I let har into my mind, her power would shatter my cultivation. That is why there is a new part of me that is actively resisting her entry." That sounded like a serious problem! Casella immediately ceased her attempts to Commandeer Melkor. "Being able to empower your mech and not yourself is not ideal, but it is safer." She succinctly explained. "It may not be a good idea to assume direct control over you. I am not versed in qi formations and wouldn't know how to manipulate a spell array such as you. It is better to let you stay in control. I can even feel that I have gained control over the fey as well." 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮 That last part was an important observation! "What about Enfeoffing?" Ves asked. "It works through slightly different principles, correct?" "I was just about to try it out, sir." When Casella switched from Commandeering to Enfeoffing, the differences became a lot more apparent. Not only did the Fey Fianna gain access to true resonance that it was able to use as if it belonged to itself, but the same effect applied to the formation anchor fey, thereby making them a lot more resistant to damage at the very least! "This is much better." Melkor said with relief. "I don't feel as if Casella is trying to force me to surrender control over my own body to her. I now feel as if I have entered into a more casual employer-employee relationship with her. This gives me enough agency for me to deploy and control my spell array!" "Hmm, the conditions of the formation achor fey have not deteriorated now that they are exposed to true resonance." Ves observed. "These are good signs. Let's proceed with testing the spell array under these circumstances. You can start whenever you can, Melkor." "Well, here goes nothing." The familiar white mist of the confinement array began to appear as it went active. A huge amount of E energy radiation got sucked into the active qi formation in order to sustain its effect. What was different from before was that Casella had Enfeoffed Melkor and his Fey Fianna so that they constituted a Baron, which in this case corresponded to a low-tier expert mech! Casella widened her eyes when she felt as if her true resonance was taking effect on the spell array. "This is amazing!" Melkor said with growing excitement. "It actually works! The effect is not as strong as I expected, but Casella's true resonance has indeed made the qi formation stronger and more resistant to faults. I can even feel that the durability of the formation anchors has increased. It will take much more damage for them to break!" The experiment was a success! The test definitely proved that it was possible for Saint Commander Casella to empower qi cultivators under certain circumstances! This opened up an entirely new set of possibilities!