The Mech Touch novel Chapter 125

Emstar’s higher than average performance when piloting his gold label mech propelled his sales past the ten thousand mark. Ves owed a lot of DP to her free advertising. Her influence in the Republic’s gaming circles might not be the best, but her endorsement was worth a lot more than a hundred ineffectual commercials to an ad-weary society.

Ves even sent her a thank you note, though he doubted she could dig it out from her fanmail.

During the first week of the Young Blood’s release, Ves made the rounds in the Clifford Society. He talked with a few of the knights who hung around the Moon Library. He found out that the Society was split up into numerous factions led by different Masters.

As an apprentice aligned to the Vermeer Group, Ves respectfully declined when he received invitations to attend their meetings. The factions open to cooperation with outsiders persisted with their attempts to draw Ves in but he kept his mouth shut.

Instead, he found some kinship with some of the neutral Knights who admittedly had little prospects of advancing. One older gentleman called Lavrey gave him some perspective.

"Master Olson walks with a particular crowd of people called Unionists. She represents a set of interests that seeks to integrate the Friday Coalition into a single, cohesive state. As you can imagine, not everyone seeks to have their culture and way of life subsumed in a tide of conformity."

"For all the effort I spent on staying out of politics, it turns out I’ve inadvertently joined one of their camps." Ves lamented. He didn’t regret the apprenticeship even if he hadn’t benefited from his master’s personal guidance yet. "So are you suggesting that I should be more proactive?"

"No. You’re still too young. Nobody is interested in an Apprentice Mech Designer. You still have a long way before you turn into a Journeyman Mech Designer. That’s when the industry considers you mature enough to exert some influence."

None of this was his business anyway. He instead asked him how he could earn a lot of merits.

"Besides the Mission Hall? There’s no other source than trading something valuable with your fellow Society members. You can also donate knowledge and research that our library lacks, though don’t get your hopes up on that."

Ves already lost faith in getting an easy mission from the Mission Hall. Emergency missions were too scarce to come by, and it seemed that the most prominent Knights received a warning beforehand should any such mission crop up soon.

"So, there’s no other way than to trade something valuable."

"Why do you think there’s so many stores down in the city? Those Knights who opened storefronts have all found a way to earn what they need through leveraging their own assets."

He already had a backup plan. If he still couldn’t find a mission, he’d open a store and try to peddle some of the exclusive items from the System’s Store or Lottery.

The DP the System charged for most of its goodies was high, but anything became less of a problem when you had enough wealth. Ever since his Young Blood became a regional hit, Ves held on to his DP and started scouring the Store for anything rare and unique he could trade for lots of merits.

He could even buy entire machines like an alloy compressor or a CTM, though he had to pay millions of DP to afford the cheapest systems. The System was a downright snob and refused to sell any products that fell short to its expectations.

Even if he bought something precious, Ves had no doubt people would start asking questions if he tried to exchange them for cash or merits. Something as unique as Lucky’s gems could spark a galaxy-wide manhunt for him due to their impossible effects.

Due to his increasing paranoia and his need to protect the System, Ves bought an upgrade to his comm that could help him keep his secrets.

[Comm upgrade - Privacy Shield - Level 1]

Price: 10.000 Design Points

Insert this datachip into any comm to upgrade its ability to block all manner of electronic surveillance, such as sensors, recorders, implants and other devices. This function will only work upon activation, and can only be sustained as long as the comm supplies sufficient energy.

The first level of the Privacy Shield emits an obscuring field of interference that blocks out any emissions from a 2-meter radius from the comm.

"Ten thousand DP. I can upgrade four skills from Apprentice to Journeyman with that much points." Ves regretted a bit, but he reminded himself that the Privacy Shield was essential going forward.

Even his workshop ceased to be a bastion to him. With Sanyal-Ablin’s upcoming upgrades to his security suite, he could pretty much say goodbye to whatever remained of his privacy.

It also didn’t help that Ves found out that the Konsu Clan hosted the security company’s headquarters. It explained why SASS enjoyed a good reputation for honesty and adhering to the rules. The people living under the rule of the Konsu Clan always kept their promises, so Ves did not tear up his contract yet.

Ves stretched his arms after logging out of the Society’s virtual portal. He stood up and briefly checked on Carlos, who seemed to have progressed halfway into mastering the Marc Antony. After patting his employee’s back, he sauntered over to his bathroom and sat down on the toilet.

He activated his Privacy Shield, which caused a hazy electromagnetic storm to buzz from his comm. It no doubt scrambled any micro-cameras that might have been sneaked into his bathroom stall.

Once SASS brought their security suite online, he had no doubt that they’d catch bugs like these. For now, Ves could only rely on the System.

"Finally, some peace and quiet. Okay System, show me the money. Status."

[Status]

Name: Ves Larkinson

Profession: Apprentice Mech Designer

Specializations: None

Design Points: 40.210

Attributes

Strength: 0.8

Dexterity: 0.7

Endurance: 0.8

Intelligence: 1.3

Creativity: 1

Concentration: 1.7

Neural Aptitude: F

Skills

[Assembly]: Apprentice - [3D Printer Proficiency II] [Assembler Proficiency II]

[Business]: Apprentice

[Computer Science]: Incompetent

[Electrical Engineering]: Apprentice

[Mathematics]: Apprentice

[Mechanics]: Journeyman - [Jury Rigging II] [Speed Tuning III]

[Metallurgy]: Journeyman - [Alloy Compression I]

[Metaphysics]: Incompetent

[Physics]: Apprentice - [Lightweight Armor Optimization I] [Mediumweight Armor Optimization III]

Abilities

[Superpublish]: Available. Can be activated once a year.

Evaluation: An apprentice at the start of his true journey to greatness.

Every time he sold a copy of the Young Blood, he earned five DP from the System. With his current sales, he should have earned more than 150.000 DP. Instead, his DP stopped growing when it reached 50.000 DP.

"You cheapskate System. You didn’t mention anything about a limit."

The System capped his point earnings for every single virtual design. For a 1-star mech design, that roof was set at 10.000 DP, while a 5-star design reached the limit at 250.000 DP.

If he received all of the DP he rightfully earned, then he could have strengthened himself enormously. It cost 100.000 DP to upgrade a Journeyman skill to Senior-level, though he also had to fulfill some other demands such as completing a special quest.

Still, leaving aside his previous purchase, Ves already raked in a fortune by accumulating 40.000 DP. He didn’t expect to earn so much points again. Only a combination of factors such as the interview, the trending market page and the endorsement from a streamer allowed his product to gain such prominence.

"I’ll have to make the most of my current points."

Ves had a tendency to go crazy whenever he earned a windfall of DP. Having learned his lesson, this time he waited for an entire week before he began to spend his precious points. He extensively studied the Skill Tree and Store and constantly weighed his options without committing to any purchase. It took a will of steel to keep his shopping cart empty.

First, he resolved to maintain a minimum balance of 10.000 DP. He could purchase a lot of gadgets with this much DP that could get him out of trouble. Having endured two pirate attacks already, Ves no longer thought that only others suffered accidents.

Ves previously skewed most of his spending towards skills, and while they remained essential, it was too unbalanced. He had other needs as well, and with the recent upgrade to his System upon his advancement, the Store sold a lot more useful products.

He therefore split the remaining points into three separate pools. He reserved 10.000 DP for upgrading his skills, 10.000 DP for upgrading his attributes, and the remaining 10.000 DP for purchasing other goodies.

First, he went for the easiest purchases. There wasn’t much choice in upgrading his attributes, so he mainly bought intelligence candies.

[Intelligence Attribute Candy]: 1.300 Design Points

[Intelligence Attribute Candy]: 1.400 Design Points

[Intelligence Attribute Candy]: 1.500 Design Points

[Intelligence Attribute Candy]: 1.600 Design Points

[Intelligence Attribute Candy]: 1.700 Design Points

[Intelligence Attribute Candy]: 1.800 Design Points

"Is this how those geniuses felt when they designed their mechs? I feel so powerful." _{freёwebnovel.com}