The Mech Touch

At least half of the fish in the illusionary pool of the projected environment consisted of duds. That was his conclusion after brushing through most of the fish in the pool with his intuition.

Of course, his intuition might be mistaken, but he had a good feeling that his odds of drawing a consolation prize was truly fifty percent.

\”If I didnʼt rely on any judgement and just caught a random fish, then my chances of catching a better fish is small!\”

A considerable amount of fish that fell outside the dud category didnʼt appear much better. They looked fairly plain and gave Ves the impression of basic and serviceable mechs.

They did the job, but that was it. They didnʼt excel too strongly in their categories and they didnʼt bring anything remarkable to the table.

Removing them from consideration narrowed the pool of eligible further even further.

Of the fish that remained, Ves did not spot any major quality differences between them. All of the fish exhibited something remarkable. This suggested that he either failed to spot the grand prize or it didnʼt exist in this prize draw in the first place.

\”Maybe itʼs invisible or buried underneath the soil or something.\”

He didnʼt spot anything that suggested that he missed a fish. Ves experimentally dipped his hand into the pool, but couldnʼt reach further past a certain depth. He couldnʼt inspect the underlying soil.

\”Whatever.\”

If he couldnʼt find a fish that slipped through his detection, then so be it. Ves just wanted to move on and obtain his prize quickly.

\”Letʼs see. Which fish is the best?\”

If his suspicion was right, then no fish among those that remained in his consideration possessed a clear advantage over the other. It was just like how different mechs of radically different mech types and configurations were all for sale at the same price level.

Their valuation may be the same, but their actual value differed according to the needs of the customer.

For example, if Ves wanted to form a scouting unit, then he would rather procure a bunch of light mechs instead of a clunky heavy mech!

No matter how expensive the latter one sold for, it was virtually worthless for scouting purposes!

If Ves applied this perspective to his current situation, then he may be able to determine the nature of his own prize.

For example, the brown, thick-scaled fish might offer him an object with defensive capabilities. The slimmer fish with the most fins perhaps represented an object that enhanced his mobility.

The question that followed was which fish suited his purposes better than the other fishes?

He frowned. \”What do I need?\”

He needed a lot of things. Too much, in fact.

He wanted to strengthen his design capabilities. He wanted to grow his spiritual strength. He wanted to increase his ability to hide himself from his enemies. He wanted to find some way to screw over the Five Scrolls Compact. He wanted to progress faster than Gloriana.

He found it difficult to decide what he wanted the most!

\”Even if I pick a priority, thereʼs no guarantee that the fish that Iʼve picked will truly address my need.\”

An element of uncertainty still remained. His intuition towards mechs might be strong, but it was not invincible! Trying to shoehorn his intuition towards mechs towards fish of all things doubtlessly resulted in many interpretation problems!

All in all, Ves had to manage his expectations.

\”Lotteries are inherently fraught with uncertainty.\” He muttered. \”Even if my intuition gives me the illusion of choice, absolute certainty doesnʼt exist! Iʼd only be deluding myself if I believe too much in my own judgement!\”

He began to pull back from his obsessive need to overanalyze his selection of fish. Though it sounded like a bad idea, why not just narrow his selection to a bunch of fish that appeared useful to him and rely on his gut feeling to make the final choice?

\”Whatever prize Iʼll draw through this method, I will not have any regrets!\”

He calmly began to consider his needs and selected the most acute ones he wanted to address. Once he drew up a list of priorities, he began to study the eligible fish and noted ten that conformed to his demands.

Once he finished his selection of fish, he began to shift his gaze back and forth. All of them looked great for his situation. No matter which of the ten fish he caught, he shouldnʼt have much to complain about. A radiant lottery ticket was not for show!

\”Iʼve wasted enough time. I should just grab a fish.\”

He did not think any further on his choice and just stretched out his hand towards the pool of water. He randomly hovered his hand across the surface until it came close to one of the fishes in his selection.

Splash!

His hand instantly darted beneath the surface and grabbed hold of his targeted fish. As soon as he squeezed the slippery fellow in his fingers, he quickly pulled back his arm and put some distance between him and the pool in case he dropped the fish!

Soon after, he found out that his precaution wasnʼt needed as the fish instantly turned docile in his grasp. When he unfolded his fingers, he studied the fish he caught.

The fish resembled a small and slim herring. It glistened with a grayish reflective exterior but generally did not possess any large fins.

Ves licked his lips. \”I wonder how it tastes. Can it be eaten raw?\”

The fish abruptly exploded in a whoosh of confetti and festive smoke! In place of the herring-like fish, he instead held a vial containing a glowing liquid.

As he studied the object, he did not even notice his illusionary surroundings fading away. Now that he completed his prize draw, the System automatically deposited hm back to the bathroom.

Lucky, who treated the washbowl like his bed, perked up a bit and glanced at Ves.

\”Meow?\”

Ves did not hear what his cat had meowed. His full attention was transfixed on the reward he received after the fish he caught had disappeared.

\”...radiant lottery tickets are completely worth pursuing!\”

If radiant lottery tickets continued to provide him with the opportunity to win prizes like these, then Ves eagerly wished to obtain more!

\”System, will I win another radiant lottery ticket if I craft another masterwork mech?\”

This time, the System answered immediately.

[Yes.]

Anytime the System responded to his inquiries, Ves knew it was important! The uncharacteristic lack of reserve on its part signified that the System strongly desired him to create more masterwork mechs!

The more he repeated his latest feat, the more he strengthened his affinity for mechs!

Still, that was asking a bit much from him. Despite turning his Devil Tiger into a masterwork mech, Ves did not delude himself that heʼd be able to craft another masterwork mech on demand.

At the very least, he had to go above and beyond again and rely on serendipity to put him in the right condition to create another masterwork copy of his own designs.

He did realize one basic factor that affected his probability of forming another masterwork mech and thereby winning another radiant lottery ticket.

\”The more I fabricate, the higher my chances that one of my mech becomes another masterwork.\”

In rare instances, professional fabricators who personally fabricated the same mech over and over again to the point where they knew its parameters by heart managed to form a masterwork mech.

Even if they hadnʼt been involved in designing the mech in the first place, they still entered this magical moment where they became unprecedentedly good!

These masterwork fabricators were highly sought after by every mech manufacturing company!

Ves reread the system description of the vial for the umpteenth time.

[Grand Dynamo Elixir]

Rank: Supreme

This ingestible elixir is a powerful substance that enhances the production rate of mental energy. This increase in production does not come with additional burdens, costs or negative repercussions aside from introducing a foreign substance in the mind.

Its name is derived from its effect. Upon consuming the elixir, the substance will accumulate in the mind and form a dynamo that is slightly sensitive to the vast forces being exerted by the closest galaxy.

If no galaxies are physically in proximity to the Grand Dynamo, it will cease all production.

\”How powerful! Worthy of a supreme-ranked prize!\”

The herring-like fish delivered something that suited one of his needs exceptionally well!

His most important priority right now was growing stronger. In order to do this, he had to design a lot of mechs.

However, as he thought about all of the new spiritual techniques he invented, he winced at the costs that some of them demanded. Some techniques such as spiritual restoration only worked if Ves invested at least some of his precious spiritual energy.

He might be able to bear the price if he designed a mech once every six months or something. If he wanted to be more productive, then he would likely bump into a very awful problem.

His turgid spiritual energy regenerated at the pace of a snail! His mind could only convert so much of his thoughts, emotions and other mind matter into spiritual energy!

Spiritual restoration was not the only technique he utilized over the course of his career.

Perhaps he wanted to empower an image with a substantial amount of spiritual energy in order to give it a lot of strength.

Perhaps he insisted on invading the spiritual presence of a notable creature or individual in the imaginary realm at all costs.

Perhaps he desired to form an incredibly strong spiritual barrier that could mask an enormously-powerful spiritual entity from detection!

\”And this isnʼt all! The more spiritual techniques I come up with, the more I have to stretch my supply of spiritual energy!\”

If he wanted to take advantage of all of his spiritual techniques, then he would quickly drain his mind until he turned into a bot in human skin! Yet if he waited until his lazy mind made up for his previous losses, months would have already passed!

To a mech designer who wanted to make the most of his time, this sluggish regeneration rate was unacceptable!

Before he won the Grand Dynamo Elixir, Ves only came up with one possible solution to increase his regeneration rate.

\”Ordinarily, I should focus on raising my Spirituality Attribute, and the only way to do that is to progress my career and develop my design philosophy further.\”

However, a chicken-and-egg situation occurred where he wouldnʼt be able to progress his career quickly unless he designed more mechs.

To design more mechs, he needed to spend more spiritual energy.

To increase his budget of spiritual energy, he had to design more mechs.

While there was nothing improper about furthering this cycle by making the best out of his current circumstances, it was far too slow to his liking!

The more he delved into the possibilities his Spirituality opened up, the greater his greed. He had so many ideas in his mind, yet far too little spiritual energy to address more than a couple of them at a time!

The Grand Dynamo Elixir was like a welcome flood of rain after an enduring drought. It addressed one of his greatest shortcomings in a sustainable way.

\”Unlike the Amastendira, the benefits of this elixir will remain with me in perpetuity!\”

The two were both rated as supreme, but one was an object with a finite lifespan, while the other improved one of the most important functions of his mind.

The benefits of the Grand Dynamo Elixir couldnʼt be lost, broken or stolen! Unless someone invaded his mind and messed it up somehow, the spiritual dynamo would always serve as the goose that laid the golden eggs!

His grin grew wider. \”I canʼt wait any longer! Bottomʼs up!\”

Ves removed the stopper and instantly raised the open vial to his lips. A searing liquid poured along his tongue and dropped through his throat before entering the insides of his stomach!

As Ves tried his best not to spit out the contents of the vial due to its acid, burning taste, his stomach quickly transmitted a bloating sensation.

The elixir was taking effect!