The Mech Touch novel Chapter 1291

Ves could have worn one of the masks he prepared as a backup, but his intuition advised him against doing so. Masters emerged from the most capable, hardworking and smartest Seniors.

Each Master was an exceptionally grand figure within the mech industry. Though Star Designers still hovered above their heads, a Master wielded enough clout to influence the political direction of an entire state!

Such eminent figures did not get to reach their current rank by being easy to fool.

There was another reason that restrained Ves from resorting to his usual antics. Of every mech designer he met, Master Olson was not a bad person by any means. She never mistreated or exploited any of her Apprentices and subordinates that he knew of. Oleg and Horatio seemed very happy to serve their Master.

Master Olson had already reached a very enviable height in her career by following her own path. Even if she suspected that Ves benefited from some unusual help, which successful mech designer didn’t enjoy some advantages?

Ves decided to be a little bit more forthcoming this time. He knew he couldn’t hide his secrets completely as he continued to rise up the ranks, especially if it happened quickly. To do so against an eminent Master Mech Designer who devoted her full attention to Ves was folly!

"To be honest, I received a little push. At the start of my career, my father left me.. a little gift of sorts. The gift pointed me in a certain direction and I followed it, hence why I developed such an unusual design philosophy."

All of this was true, but Ves employed as much vagueness and misdirection he thought he could get away with. None of his words hinted that the ’little gift’ was the monumental Metal Scroll of the Five Scrolls Compact!

A few seconds of silence ensued as Master Olson’s incredible mind started processing and extrapolating his words.

This was what Ves wanted to see. He knew that overly-smart people tended to overthink and come up to conclusions that weren’t necessarily true. He himself engaged in this behavior plenty of times when his paranoia got the better of him at times.

Master Olson probably figured that Ves received a dead Senior’s legacy or something that gave him a head-start.

Gloriana’s patient explanations helped a lot in helping Ves come up with this solution. She helpfully informed him of Seniors who wanted to pass on their unrealized design philosophies to a younger mech designer in order to leave a legacy behind. Ves realized that he could take advantage of an ambiguous explanation to send Master Olson in this direction, thereby avoiding more radical possibilities such as the existence of the System.

As a mech designer, Ves firmly knew that mech designers often applied Occam’s razor in terms of probabilities.

What was the chance that Ves received and took advantage of a dead Senior’s legacy? Maybe twenty-five percent.

What was the chance he received the presumed-destroyed incarnation of the Metal Scroll in the form of the Mech Designer System? How could his father, a space peasant and a nobody on the galactic level, obtain such a miraculous asset?

The chance was probably less than 0.000000001 percent! With such low odds, any calculating mech designer should never arrive at such an inane conclusion!

Indeed, as the seconds went by, Master Olson calmly nodded. "I see. That explains it. Whatever aid you have received seemed to be very helpful. Even if mech designers receive a formidable amount of assistance, those who reached Journeyman all do so by their own efforts. No mech designer has ever reached this height by riding on the accomplishments of others."

Ves sighed in relief. Though Master Olson hadn’t been explicit, it seemed she had indeed come to a less drastic conclusion about the secret behind his rise. As long as her guesses did not stray anywhere near the System, everything else was fine!

"I know. Although I’ve been given a push that set me on my current specialization, all of the progress I’ve made since then has always been my own. The help that I’ve received mainly came in other forms, such as improving some of my mental attributes and to accelerate my learning of the fundamentals of mech design."

Naturally, Ves vastly understated the assistance he drew upon from the System. A Senior may be quite generous when they passed on their legacies, but even that had limits!

Fortunately, Master Olson did not seem to be interested in the specifics.

"Very well. I’m satisfied with your forthcoming. Admitting that your rise is not solely due to your own effort is important for your mentality. I have seen too many mech designers who enjoyed various advantages stall in their rise because they mistakenly believed they are heaven-sent prodigies. Misjudging their own capabilities has left many of my former rivals and peers far behind as they are unwilling to adjust and work harder to do what is necessary to progress."

Ves nodded, accepting the wisdom in her words. "Nothing comes for free. The more you depend on outside help, the less you are capable of climbing up yourself. To reach Journeyman and Master, nobody can help you climb the last steps."

"That is very much true. It’s a shame that too many mech designers have yet to realize this truth." She smiled. "Still, mech designers aren’t able to get off the ground without at least some assistance. You are a good example of that. While I wanted to give you space to develop your personal design philosophy, in hindsight, I could have done more for you. Now, I feel I have contributed very little to your growth. That is my failing as your Master."

"I disagree." Ves shook his head. "The help you have given me might not be enough, but I already enjoyed plenty of help. Giving me more would only coddle me and make me complacent. I’m very thankful for benefiting from the umbrella of your name and reputation. It probably helped me out of numerous sticky situations."

Master Olson curled her lips downwards. "It is still not proper. To be frank, I estimated that you would take much longer to grow. I planned to leave you to your own devices since you were already doing well enough. I would have confined myself to occasionally giving you the guidance that you needed the most. You upended all of that by advancing to Journeyman before I could even give you your second tutoring session."