Ves basked in the glory of his sessful advancement to Journeyman. After several years of toiling, he managed to seed just before he reached thirty years old!


    "While it’s rather close, the fact that I seeded will mark me as a notable Journeyman!" Vesughed while he held Lucky above his head.


    "Meow."


    For once, his cat did not show any annoyance at being handled like a doll. Lucky shared his jubtion and his tail yfully whipped about as if he already envisioned Ves bing rich enough to feed him billions of credits worth of mineral.


    The only snag was that even though he advanced for real, the Mech Trade Association would not see it that way. They maintained a very strict demand that mech designers should design at least five original mechs before they applied for recognition.


    The professor exined the reasoning to Ves sinctly earlier in the day.


    "The process of bing a Journeyman is very opaque. You happened to have the benefit of a Senior like me being present to confirm your breakthrough, but what about other mech designers? There are many Apprentices who get high on stimnts and mistake it as a process of grand enlightenment. All of these Apprentices can’t approach a Senior so easily, so they go on and knock straight at the doors of the MTA, who have to waste the valuable time of their own Seniors to confirm whether they were really serious or simply crackpots who didn’t know any better."


    "There are Apprentices who actually do that?" Ves frowned. It sounded absurd!


    "Enough that the MTA has implemented a strict policy." The professor smiled. "Design at least five original mechs of significant importance before you apply. This rule alone stops most arrogant Apprentices from trying because the original mechs need to meet a minimum quality standard that only serious Apprentices can surpass."


    "Why five? It sounds a bit arbitrary."


    "It’s actually well below average. Most Apprentices need to design more than a dozen mechs before they even get close to advancing to Journeyman. You’re something of an anomaly that you’ve designed four original mechs before you broke through. This is quite remarkable and speaks highly of your adaptability. Cases like yours happens every now and then, but not enough to make the MTA change their mind about this rule."


    "So what do I do?"


    The professor shrugged. "Just design another mech. You don’t have to be too thoroughpared to the effort you put into the Aurora Titan design. As a Journeyman, you will find all of your design capabilities improve in a significant capacity. I’ll let you explore that on your own. The point is that de facto Journeymen like you really shouldn’t have any problems designing another original mech."


    The professor was right. Ves shouldn’t be making a big deal out of the fact that the MTA wouldn’t recognize his new status yet. Due to the role the MTA yed in verifying Journeymen, the Bright Republic also didn’t recognize him either, at least in a formal and legal sense.


    If Ves wanted to be recognized as a true Journeyman, then he needed to quickly design another serious mech. He also needed to do it in a few months before he turned thirty so that he would still get that achievement under his belt.


    There was a difference between a Journeyman who advanced before their thirties and those who advanced after their fifties. Though both mech designers should be somewhat close in skill by the time they advanced, what about the next step?


    Time was a very valuable resource for a mech designer. Each year missed meant one or two mech designs less! Added up to twenty years, then that meant the older Journeyman in his fifties would miss out on designing twenty mechs before he reached the end of his lifespan!


    That twenty-mech disparity might mean the difference between advancing to Senior or dying as a capable but bottle-necked Journeyman!


    The mech industry’s approach to talent also yed arge role in evaluating mech designers. Those who advanced to Journeyman early in their career could be expected to advance to Senior fairly early as well.


    For example, it would be a great achievement for Ves if he managed to advance to Senior within fifty years!


    Those who took a long time to advance to Journeymen might not necessarily take a long time to advance again. There were plenty of examples ofte bloomers in the mech industry. Nheless, the odds of such cases happening was not veryrge. Therefore, it was almost always better to advance sooner rather thanter.


    While Ves disliked the idea of rushing his next mech design, he disliked finishing it before he reached thirty standard years even less!


    "I guess I’ll have to whip up something quick and dirty." Ves sighed.


    So far, Ves designed four original mechs. The MTA officially credited him in ying at least a major contributing role in the ckbeak, the Crystal Lord, the Enduring Protector and now the Aurora Titan designs.


    This was an important distinction as ying an assisting role in the design process like Ketis had done for the Aurora Titan’s sword didn’t count.


    Nheless, even if Ves did not receive official recognition, he received plenty of unofficial recognition! The press and the mech industry already recognized him as a de facto Journeyman!


    Ves already received hundreds of letters of congrattions from the various Journeymen and Seniors of the Republic!


    He evenughed a bit when he received a letter from Professor Norman Pendleton as well. The Ansel mech designer’s gesture showed that despite their differences, Ves’ ascension to the ranks of Journeyman was still a good addition to the Bright Republic.


    "We can stille together despite our differences."


    Ves felt as if this was a recurring theme in the Bright Republic. Even though different factions constantly struggled against each other, they could still join hands in order to present a united front against theirmon enemy.


    This stood in stark contrast to the Vesia Kingdom, where infighting reigned supreme!


    A day after the product reveal, Ves decided to hold a private celebration at an upscale restaurant in Dorum’s entertainment district.


    As food and drink kept pouring into the luxurious dining room that the LMC reserved, Ves celebrated his sess with some of his friends and family.


    Aside from bringing Lucky and Gavin, Ves also invited Marce Bollinger. In addition, he also arranged for Rae and Melinda Larkinson to be present.


    While Lucky blissfully munched on a bowl’s worth of low-grade exotics, the two female Larkinsons stared at each other with visible animosity. They followedpletely opposite career trajectories and if they weren’t family, they would have never tolerated each other’s presence.


    "A Journeyman is a big deal." Melinda said while smiling to Ves. "Having worked on Bentheim for a couple of years, I’ve learned how important they are to the Republic. There’s way too many Apprentices, but so few of them managed to be a Journeyman. The family will get a massive boost now that you’ve be a big deal!"


    "Bing a Journeyman is just the start." Ves boldly imed. "Although I won’t make any promises, I don’t think advancing to Senior in a couple of decades is out of reach!"


    He had the confidence to make such a im due to the possession of the System. Although Ves was confident that he could advance to Senior even without making use of the System, making use of it would likely speed it up, thereby saving him a lot of valuable time!


    Out of all the people in the crowd, Marce looked the most sober. She was the oldest adult in the room, after all, and she had interacted with many different mech designers.


    "I wouldn’t rest on myurels so easily, Ves." She said even as she sipped a ss of wine. "This is a great moment for you, but you need to temper your confidence. There are so many Journeymen who have gone so caught up in their new status that they stopped putting their full effort into designing mechs."


    Ves nodded seriously. "My motivation for designing mechs hasn’t abated. I’m very much aware of the pitfalls of neglecting my job."


    He could not forget the instance where Professor Velten shared her many regrets in her life. The old and decrepit Senior Mech Designer presiding over the grant Vandals could have achieved much more in her illustrious life if she didn’t waste so much time on distractions.


    "I have to admit your advancement still surprises me." Marce continued. "When I initially decided to work with you and invest in you, I never conceived you would grow this quickly. In the span of five years, you’ve grown from a pipsqueak who needs my help to sell individual mechs to a respectable Journeyman who can sell a 100 million credit mech with a wave of your hand!"


    "Does that make me your main client?"


    Marce chuckled. "All my other clients are Novices and Apprentices. I’ve partnered with some of them for over twenty years, but none of them have thebination of drive, talent and capabilities that you possess!"


    At the start of his mech design career, Ves used to look up to Marce as a giant in the Bentheim mech scene. Now that he advanced to Journeyman and his LMC grew into a behemoth, he realized that Marce wasn’t such a dominant entity anymore.


    Even though Ves no longer needed her, he still intended to retain their business rtionship. Not only were theirpanies intertwined with contractual obligations, but Ves also appreciated the help she provided him when he was still young, ignorant and poor.


    Marce was a true friend, and a useful one to boot. Her extensive connections to the local Bentheim mechmunity made life a lot easier for the LMC.


    "I think you should consider moving yourpany to Bentheim." Rae suddenly suggested. "Not only will I be able to visit my favorite cousin more often, but I can also get the Blood ws to put yourpany under their wing. Nothing will happen to the LMC while it’s here, I swear!"


    Melinda snorted from the side. "So Ves is your favorite cousin all of a sudden? I’m sure the main reason for that is the free mechs he gave you. Don’t think theary Guard is aware where the three new Crystal Lord mechs the Blood ws have been untingtely came from. Ves is not a mech dispenser that spits out free mechs whenever you want to cozy up to your bosses!"


    Ves held out a palm in a cating gesture. "It’s fine, Melinda. I didn’t give away my mechs for free. As long as Rae gains some benefits, I will benefit as well. As for the topic of shifting mypany’s operations to Bentheim, I don’t have anypelling reasons to do so. While such a move would definitely simplify the LMC’s logistics, a lot of other burdens will weigh down thepany instead. At its current scale, the LMC is doing quite well on Cloudy Curtain."


    "I think Ves has a fine point." Marce said in support. "Just the taxes alone on Bentheim will negate most of the gains made in streamlining thepany’s supply chain. Frankly, there are too many mechpanies based in Bentheim. The local government eagerly takes advantage of this by jacking up the local taxes, knowing that there will always be a new crop of mech designers who set up theirpanies here."


    The small gathering continued to throw out ideas on what Ves should do next. He heard plenty of interesting suggestions, though he already had a firm n in mind for the next couple of years.


    "If only Melkor, Calsie, Carlos and Jannzi could be here." Ves sighed.


    He only received a few sporadic messages stating that Jannzi required an extensive period of recuperation. Ves worried about her health. The unusual nature of her breakthrough left a lot of mental and spiritual scars behind that would take months or even years to heal.


    Hopefully her continued exposure to the Shield of Samar would help her recuperate from all of that damage.