The Mech Touch novel Chapter 359

His mouth gaped open as he called up his Status page. Much of it remained the same so he skimmed over them entirely. Instead, his eyes narrowed down on his Intelligence score.

Intelligence: 2.1

"Just 2.1?"

The difference of 0.1 at this level actually produced a sea of change. Obviously, the Attribute scores didn’t follow a linear pattern of growth.

For example, someone with an Intelligence of 2.0 wasn’t twice as smart as someone with an Intelligence of 1.0. Each increment of 0.1 provided a different amount of improvement.

Reaching a score of 2.1 was a vast gulf of difference, especially when it had reached a stable state. Ves once reached a height of 2.2 in Endurance, and that had transformed his body in many ways.

It was a pity that he gained such strength from Dr. Jutland’s insane experiments. Jutland hadn’t actually been able to break the human limit, so the abnormally high Endurance actually started to break down down his body. If the CFA hadn’t reverted some of the changes, he would have died when he reached fifty years old.

"It’s far too soon for me to die at fifty years!"

Let alone fifty years, Ves believed he could easily last more than five-hundred years!

Once Ves understood his changes, he didn’t hesitate to integrate the immense amount of knowledge provided by Senior-level Physics. What previously took months to digest now took up just a week.

For the next week, Ves did nothing but sit behind a desk while casting his mind inward. An extreme amount of theories with regards to fundamental Physics became understandable over time.

Much of the knowledge enabled him to understand and work with various types of exotics. Before mastering this level of knowledge, the only way that Ves could integrate exotics into his own design was if he obtained a readily available license.

For example, the Veltrex armor system with its three layers of armor plating that withstood different damage types came with several ingenious formulas. The research institution poured a lot of resources into developing these formulas that combined several exotics into special alloys that provided a wondrous effect.

Previously, Ves was purely a consumer of these formulas. Now, he gained the minimum qualifications to produce his own formulas.

"Still, it’s not that simple."

The Senior-level Physics only provided him with a broad but fairly shallow foundation. If he wanted to develop an actual formula, then he needed to supplement his Main Skill with several Sub-Skills raised to a certain height.

Right now, Ves didn’t hold any ambitious of developing his own component designs. Even though it cost him a lot of money or merits, making use of existing licenses saved him a lot of time and energy.

"A mech pilot doesn’t have to know how to build a mech. A ship captain doesn’t have to know how to build a ship. A doctor doesn’t have to refine his own medicine."

Ves believed that it should be enough to focus on his core job of designing new mechs. Even if the System easily allowed him to unlock a myriad of specialties, he did not have any intentions of imitating the Polymath.

"I have my own way of making mechs come to life."

Even without the relevant Sub-Skills, the Main Skill alone provided a lot of benefits to Ves. He easily understood the heart of each phenomenon and became more proficient in handling advanced technology.

In particular, he gained a comprehensive boost in understanding laser weapons. If before he could only design an average gamma laser rifle design, now he would easily be able to improve the Tainted Sun by more than twenty percent!

Once a week went by, Ves fully integrated his long-awaited boost. Now, he directly met one of the criteria to advance to Journeyman Mech Designer. According to the demands set by the MTA, he only needed to formulate his design philosophy and pass some tests before he could officially leave his Apprentice days behind.

"I still have to design a number of original mechs."

The MTA set a strict bar for anyone who wanted to be acknowledged as a Journeyman Mech Designer. They had to design five original mechs. Naturally, the designs also had to meet a minimum performance standard. In that regard, the Blackbeak already passed the test, so Ves wasn’t worried about failing to meet the standard.

Ves first checked his messages again on the isolated terminal. Nothing special had happened although the amount of raids by the Vesians had increased. He figured that the LMC could last a little longer without his presence.

"I’ve been delaying my next project for too long. It’s time for me to make the first step."

He finally felt ready to embark on his next design project. His inadvertent adventure with the crystal ruins had given him a lot of inspiration on how his next design should look like, and he was eager to turn his ideas into reality.

Immediately, he faced an important choice. First, should he collaborate with someone on this project, and second, should he log his every action in detail?

Different from designing his first original mech, Ves faced a lot less constraints this time. He already went through his debut and proved that he could design an original mech without any outside assistance. Now that he gained the mech industry’s acknowledgement, he enjoyed a lot more freedom this time.

Ves thought about his gains from the crystal ruins. Once he began to design his mech, it would become obvious that he incorporated alien insights into his work.

"When the MTA checks the logs, they won’t care about these matters."

To a behemoth like the MTA, they wouldn’t lift their brows if Ves applied some of the principles that powered the alien ruins. His recent upgrade in Intelligence and his acquisition of Senior-level Physics had vastly improved his understanding of the crystal builder’s technology. Even if he still couldn’t unlock the secret behind the circuits, he still harvested in many other ways.