"So this is what other people call a living sword, huh?"


    Ves did not look impressed at all. He was bewildered more than anything.


    As Ves and Master Benedict Cortez studied the scanning data of the sma sword, they found it was a well-designed product of high technology.


    Though the principles of sma technology were rather clear, it was not that easy to weaponize it in a way to make it functional in mechbat.


    sma was hot. It could melt through all kinds of alloys if it was applied to a target long enough, but no mech pilot was stupid enough to allow a sma de to melt through his mech with impunity.


    Therefore, sma des needed to possess a high degree of output, but that introduced all kinds of technical challenges.


    How to maximize output, how to prevent the internals from frying, how to manage the extreme heat generation and how to stuff it all in a package that was small enough to be usable in mechbat were all requirements that had to be met in order to make a sma weapon viable in abat setting.


    The high thresholds of military sma technology ultimately meant that it was mostlymon in first-ss mechs.


    Though it was definitely possible to equip second-ss mechs with sma weapons if the client was willing tomit more funding and resources, it simply didn''t make sense most of the time.


    The Neo Amadeus was different. As an ace mech, its design budget was so high that previously unattainable technology became a lot more viable all of a sudden.


    Ves was not surprised at all that the Gauge Dynasty was willing to invest in a sma sword as well as other weapons such as an anti-resonance sword and a transphasic sword for a new ace mech.


    Saint Jeremiah Gauge definitely possessed the strength to make good use of these armaments!


    The leadership of the dynasty must feel extremely pained right now. Not only did they lose a rtively young ace pilot that could have gone on to guard the Gaugers for at least a century, but they also lost all of the investment they poured into the development of an ace mech that only participated in one actual battle.


    The estimated production cost of the Neo Amadeus and all of its armaments definitely amounted to millions of MTA credits!


    Ves wouldn''t be surprised if the total cost, which included the amount of hours that Master Mech Designers and other personnel worked on the design project, exceeded 10 million MTA credits!


    No other kind of second-ss mech coulde close to this extravagance. Spending at this level was mostly associated with first-ss mechs more than anything.


    Now, all of this value had fallen into the hands of the Cross n. Master Benedict would probably be able to derive an enormous amount of gains from studying the frame of the Neo Amadeus.


    Even though he wasrgely responsible for designing the initial version of the Mars and upgrading it to ace mech standards, it was undeniable that he wasn''t exactly the most qualified person to fulfill these responsibilities.


    The former Skull Architect only realized his design philosophy a few years ago and could still be considered a baby among Master Mech Designers.


    This meant that there were huge and profound differences between the Mars and the Neo Amadeus.


    Though the former actually possessed more phasewater and high-grade exotics than thetter, Ves actually found that the Neo Amadeus possessed a clear and decisive edge in technological sophistication.


    This should not be a surprise.


    Several Masters contributed to its design, and the famed Multi-Armed Designer himself led the design project.


    Not only that, but the Gauge Dynasty was able to mobilize its best and most aplished R&D institutions to develop all kinds of custom high-end mech parts and mech systems for the ace mech, making it so that nothing about its design consisted of stockponents.


    Though Ves hadn''t been able to study the frame of the Neo Amadeus in detail as of yet, its sma sword ought to be a good representation of the entire package.


    Master Benedict grew curious at what the younger mech designer could pick up from the sma sword.


    "Leaving aside the abnormally hidden deep within the structure of this weapon, what is your impression of the overall design style and direction of the sma sword?"


    Ves understood that this was probably a teaching moment. He did not mind being patronized because his experience with design work at this level was severely deficient.


    A former Fridayman mech designer and newly-advanced Master most certainly knew more how works like the Neo Amadeus and its luxurious equipment came about!


    Since Ves did not want to sound too ipetent, he took his time to evaluable the sma sword and formte a proper answer.


    "The sword is… a coborative work." Ves spoke as he drew from his own experiences. "I can tell that someone with a good understanding of swords and swordsman mechs took charge of the design of this weapon. Every aspect about the design lines up with a single and coherent design concept. Though its performance is incredibly high, it is not extreme to the point ofpromising its robustness and structural integrity. It is truly a powerful and reliable sma sword that won''t easily malfunction during ace mechbat, and that is the most important requirement."


    Fragile products had no ce in ace mechs. Saints pushed their machines harder than any expert pilot by a huge margin. This pretty much made it impossible to equip halfgods with cheap and shambling ace mechs.


    "Do you think it is a good weapon?"


    Ves shrugged. "I''m sure the Multi-Armed Designer wouldn''t have allowed it to exist if it didn''tplement Saint Jeremiah and the Neo Amadeus. The existence of this weapon provides the Neo Amadeus with the crucial capability to deal thermal energy damage, thereby adding more diversity to the ace mech''s damage profile. The only major shoring is that this sma sword is a power hog. It can''t be utilized for longer periods of time because the burden to its energy reserves is just too big."


    "Are you suggesting that the sma sword is incongruous to the total package?"


    "It is fine if it is regarded as a contingency option." Ves answered. "The cost of using it is too high under normal circumstances, so there is no reason for Saint Jeremiah to employ it unless he encounters an enemy that is highly resistant to physical damage or has used up his other two swords, which was the case during the previous duel."


    Master Benedict nodded in agreement. "Those are my thoughts as well. The sma sword is a luxury option. Its inclusion means that the Gauge Dynasty has spent rather generously to equip the Neo Amadeus with the weapons it needs to tackle both human and alien threats. Now, what do you make of its abnormal feature?"


    The design of the sma sword waspletely logical and in harmony aside from only one ring addition.


    Ves turned his gaze back to the secret chamber that had been built inside the weapon.


    "This ''thing'' looks like it was jammed into the sma sword after it was already designed. There are clear signs that the designers had to resize and shift around a lot ofponents in order to make room for thisst-minute demand. While the people who worked on the design have done an excellent job in integrating this chamber without sacrificing too much performance, there is still a clear incongruity in design style and intention."


    Master Benedict smirked. "Do you think it is worth it for the Gaugers to jam this extra element into the sma sword? After all, it was only added to the weapon during ater phase of the design process. Mech designers ordinarily try to avoid feature creep as much as possible."


    This was the tricky part about the abnormality. Ves didn''t think that Saint Jeremiah Gauge requested such a change. It was simply too macabre to be associated with an ace pilot who developed a reputation for being noble and upright.


    "It depends on who is in charge and who is setting the goals." Ves eventually said. "Normally, the ace pilot should be the person that ultimately dictates what should be put into his machine. The lead designer is the person responsible for tranting the demands of the ace pilot into concrete design work. However, this weird attempt to turn the sma sword into a living weapon looks like it is an attempt to perform an experiment. If I didn''t know any better, then I would have used Master Toqueman Huron for misusing the Neo Amadeus for his own ends. He has coopted his design to pursue his personal goals and ambitions."


    Master Benedict sighed and shook his head.


    "You think too simply, Ves. Ace mechs are literally life savers to a state. The Gauge Dynasty is only capable of fielding an extremely limited amount of these powerful machines, so the design of each of them is subject to rigorous political oversight in order to ensure that none of them are found wanting."


    Ves furrowed his eyebrows. "Too much meddling from leaders rarely leads to good results. Don''t those Gaugers know their actions are counterproductive?"


    "Maybe yes, maybe no. Whatever the case, it is impossible for Master Huron to fool around with the design of the Neo Amadeus. For him to be able to make this drastic change to not just the sma sword but also the other two main armaments of the ace mech means that he has most definitely convinced the leaders of the Gauge Dynasty to allow this experiment to proceed. This is an exceptional result considering how radical and unorthodox it is to insert the decapitated head of a living expert pilot inside a mech sword."


    Ves finally realized how unusual it was for such an abnormality to exist.


    "Wait a minute… what about the MTA? Isn''t it taboo to desecrate expert pilots by using them as test subjects in sick human experiments? Why haven''t the mechers arrested Master Huron and worked harder to prevent this travesty from happening?"


    Didn''t the older man standing next to Ves get in trouble in the past because hemitted aparable crime in the past?


    Master Benedict remained silent for a few seconds.


    "I have a theory on that, but I think that you can deduce one as well. You know what has happened. You know that the MTA apparently hasn''t sanctioned Master Huron despite knowing that he is responsible for conducting an egregious form of human experimentation. What does that tell you, Ves?"


    Numerous thoughts began to well up in Ves'' mind. Many of them could stir a lot of controversy and condemnation if he tried to publicize his ideas.


    "It tells me that… the MTA or a faction of it is likelyplicit in this taboo experiment." Ves ultimately concluded. "The MTA monitors everything and there is no way the Association would miss the fact that the Fridaymenmitted this act not once, but thrice. Three different expert pilots have lived a tortured life while locked inside the massive structure of different ace mech weapons. The only exnation that makes sense is that Master Huron has either received the active support of a powerful MTA faction or that he has been permitted to conduct his experiment with the implicit approval of a bunch of bigwigs in the MTA."


    "Why would the mechers support this experiment or permit it from happening?"


    Ves frowned deeper as a number of unsettling answers came to mind.


    "Because… there is at least one group of mechers that may be jealous at my living mechs. So far, I enjoy a monopoly on living mechs. It is bing increasingly more known that my contributions to the mech industry are extremely helpful. My bestmercial offerings have be the market leaders in their respective categories. Thepetition is bound to hate my work. The only ways to cope with my increasing sess is to ban my work or find a way to develop a superior alternative to the value proposition of my specialty."


    "In other words, Master Huron is but the first among many mech designers who are seeking to rece ''your'' living mechs with their own versions. That is probably not a surprise to you. What is truly important this time is that we have obtained proof that those mech designers are pursuing their goal with the implicit or explicit approval of a portion of the MTA. That is much more significant news."


    Ves understood exactly how scary it was to receive so much ''care'' and ''attention'' from the MTA!


    He was being targeted!