The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1162

The much-anticipated mech duel between Axelar Streon and Waltz Nexbern, the team leader of the Haspel Asps, was about to begin.

Nexbern previously piloted the heavy cannoneer, but that was not all he was capable of. Every professional in the Terran mech games circuit tended to be allrounders.

Adaptability was a requirement in order to pilot hundreds of different mechs a year. They also needed to learn how to cope against a thousand different mech configurations as their adversaries.

Whereas the mech duelists in the Bright Republic like Jarl Brenthill and Raella Larkinson often stuck to a single mech which gained fame alongside of them, the Terrans played a very different game!

"In the Bright Republic, both the mech and mech pilots are the stars." Ves mentally noted as Axelar was about to enter his new mech. "In the Terran Confederation, the mech games are only stages for mech pilots to show off their versatility and their ability to outplay the endless amount of confounding challenges in their way."

In the Terran dueling circuit, It was rare for a specific mech configuration to last more than a single match, much less use it in another match. Once a dueling mech entered the arena, its strengths and weaknesses all became public knowledge. An opponent could easily tailor their mechs to counter a specific configuration as long as they received advance warning!

In the Bright Republic, the mech athletes adopted different customs. Everyone’s specialty was known and it was extremely rare for a mech athlete to pilot a different mech type. In addition, they usually stuck to a single specific mech model in all of their matches in order to develop a deep familiarity with their fighting machines.

"Each side knows everything there is to know about their opponent. That often leads to interesting dynamics and mind games."

That said, while the mech athletes were loath to switch to a different mech model, they accepted the need for modification. Mech designers who specialized in modifying and customizing dueling mechs knew the mech models intimately and could implement preplanned modifications within an hour as long as the team stockpiled the necessary spare parts.

When Ves designed the Ouroboros, he knew it would be useless to predict what Waltz would bring to the next fight.

Rather than obsessing over Waltz’s next mech configuration, Ves instead turned his focus towards making the Ouroboros as strong as possible while relying on only two weapon systems.

Right now, Axelar beheld his mech with stumped amazement as he entered its cockpit and booted it up. He couldn’t believe Benny’s claim that he designed such an abnormal mech!

"I already know I’m insane when I’m sober, but I’ve gone completely off my rockers this time! How can I design something as stupid as an antiquated hero mech! Two weapons! Just two weapons! That’s five times less than what I normally put into my mechs!"

Anyone who designed a hero mech these days in the Terran Confederation was mad enough to be put into a psychiatric treatment facility! Axelar ought to be visiting one right now instead of using a hero mech to fight against a mech athlete!

"Waltz is going to kick my butt!"

Although he may act like he was hot stuff, Axelar was very cognizant about his fighting ability. His high genetic aptitude carried him far, but he hadn’t been keeping up with his training lately.

He also possessed very little combat experience, which stood in stark contrast to Waltz who survived through thousands of matches over his long and illustrious career!

When comparing mech pilots, Axelar was clearly inferior to Waltz. As for comparing their mechs, it was an utter disaster to Axelar! A mech with just two weapons was about to step into battle against a mech with at least a dozen different solutions!

"There’s no way I can win!" Axelar despaired!

Yet when he finally interfaced with the Ouroboros, his panic suddenly became more muted. A sense of intimacy and connection welled from his mech. It felt as if he reconnected to a piece of himself!

None of the mechs he ever designed made him feel this way!

From the corner of Axelar’s mind, Ves’ consciousness observed the interaction closely. Although the materialization process significantly weakened the presence of the X-Factor in the Ouroboros, it had not disappeared entirely.

Somehow, the design spirit of the Ouroboros managed to power through the obstacles and make its presence known in the only existing copy of the mech!

That wasn’t all. As Axelar began to deepen his connection with his mech, Ves inadvertently felt a pull on his Spirituality.

The X-Factor of the Ouroboros reacted to his presence in Axelar’s mind!

"The Ouroboros carries my spiritual imprint as well! It’s not surprising for the mech to recognize its maker!"

This was the first time that Ves charged the X-Factor of his mech with his spiritual energy. It was also the first time he rode in someone’s mind as they interfaced with a mech he designed himself.

All of these changes led to several new interactions that Ves had never witnessed before!

For now, Ves couldn’t quite figure out the purpose of his connection to the Ouroboros. He wasn’t the mech pilot, nor did he interface directly with his mech like Axelar. The connection was rather weak as well so he doubted he could influence the mech’s performance in his current state.

"There’s something else going on as well."

His design seed had always been radiating spiritual waves without rhyme or reason. Ves was getting rather concerned about it because it seemed as if it was signalling its presence to dangerous predators like a lantern in the dark. _{ƒrēewebnovel.com}

Now, he found out that the Ouroboros was actually absorbing the spiritual waves! Despite the very close proximity, the mech didn’t absorb all of the waves put out by his design seed, but it was nonetheless eating up a considerable amount!

"What is the purpose of this interaction?" Ves questioned. "Is this something unique to my design philosophy or does every Journeyman’s design seed interact with their mechs in this fashion?"

For now, Ves believed that this phenomenon along with all the other novel interactions would lead to some pleasant surprises.

As Ves mused about the possible effects, Axelar tentatively flew out of the gates and into the three-dimensional arena battlefield.

"Light atmosphere. One solid meteorite landmass. No gravity." He silently muttered immediately after passing through the arena shield boundary.