The Mech Touch

Contingents of the Avatars of Myth, the Flagrant Vandals, the Swordmaidens and the Penitent Sisters came together.

Much of the gathered mechs consisted of melee mechs. Ranged mechs tended to suffer from a disadvantage in the current battlefield, though they could still be useful in certain situations.

Nonetheless, Legion Commander Melkor was happy with what he got. The mixture of premium second-class mechs and considerably more powerful quasi-first-class mechs should be enough to close the gap in equipment.

"Captain Koltov, which alien leader unit is leading the phasefighters allocated to this area?"

"We have identified dozens of elite phasefighters of puelmer design that are coated in dark yellow and bear purple markings. Typical of the puelmer race, each phasefighter is made out of highly saturated transphasic materials and possesses different pieces of advanced technologies. Our Light Hunters have only been able to collect enough readings to identify a portion of them. The only confirmation we have is that the puelmer phasefighters are definitely equipped with imitations of modern human hyper technology."

"Great." Melkor frowned. "What is your judgment on their combat power, captain?" "I would say that they are tougher and more difficult to take down compared to our quasi-first-class mechs. Their power reactors are definitely more powerful than ours as we are still restricted by the limitations imposed on second-class mechs."

This was not the first time Melkor cursed the artificial rules and restrictions that ensured a strict separation between tech levels.

All of the quasi-first-class mechs fielded by the Larkinson Clan could have easily become at least twice as powerful if only they were able to upgrade their power reactors to proper first-class machines.

However, unlike ordinary grunts, Commander Melkor understood the reasons why the Red Three had never rescinded this restrictive policy.

The Red Ocean was already suffering from a shortage of resources, especially first-class materials that were strong enough to withstand the rigors of high-end warfare.

Letting second-raters make use of first-class exotic materials would instantly cause their prices to skyrocket!

Many first-class mech forces would instantly experience a lot more difficulties in replenishing their losses as their mechs cost 50 or even 100 percent as much to

The clear demarcation of tech levels also had a guiding function to the native aliens. While the Red Cabal and the major alien races never divided their own heterogeneous tech development into numerous distinct classes, they quickly learned from their hated enemies and adjusted their own troop deployments accordingly.

Both sides developed a tacit agreement where they only sent their best units to the Upper Zones, their more disposable cannon fodder to the Middle Zones and their trash to the Lower Zones.

Even the aliens struggled to deploy enough high-end warships and phasefighters to the front in a short amount of time. Their production was gradually ramping up, but the losses inflicted by red humanity was also considerable.

Just the hardware being lost to rampaging god pilots alone had reached an astronomical figure!

This made it so that the native aliens preferred to concentrate their best assets and distribute their lesser units to war theaters with lower strategic value.

That did not mean that all of the alien units sent to the Middle Zones were garbage. Just like how every significant human troop concentration hosted champions and elites, the native aliens also made sure to do the same.

These powerful combatants were not necessarily meant to carry the entire fight. They instead acted as force multipliers that could easily amplify the combat power of

Regular units due to their special characteristics.

"Puelmer phasefighters are rare, but they are definitely among the most troublesome to fight against." Commander Melkor frowned.

"The yellow ones that showed up this time look like their alien pilots are trying to prove themselves. Captain Koltov commented, "Our scouts haven't made enough observations to provide enough proof, but when I look at the images, I can't help but suspect that they are trying to lure us into a trap so that they can annihilate us in one fell swoop. Call it a gut feeling"

That was an interesting opinion to share.

Captain Sara Koltov was a veteran Flagrant Vandal pilot that had managed to keep up with the growth of the Larkinson Clan.

She began with piloting the old Hellcat model of the original 6th Flagrant Vandals. Over the course of numerous years, she switched over to specializing in the Ferocious Piranha while working her way up to the rank of mech captain.

As a former Brighter and third-rater, that was quite impressive, as she constantly had to improve and learn in order to keep up with the rising standards of the clan. Second-raters and first-raters that were born as designer babies and received further

Although former third-raters such as Melkor and Sara Koltov still managed to maintain their current positions by virtue of their dedication and contributions, they still had to work hard in order to meet the minimum standards required to do their

Jobs.

For now, they were doing fine, but what about the future?

Systematic cultivation allowed the people of different classes to close the gap between each other, at least on the surface.

The argument was that qi cultivation methods provided the exact same benefits to first-raters, second-raters and third-raters.

They should therefore benefit first-raters the least and third-raters the most.

However, the availability and affordability of cultivation resources could easily cause these people to grow apart from each other.

First-raters earned more and had much more money and resources at their disposal. It was much easier for them to acquire powerful elixirs and helpful artifacts that could speed up their cultivation progress. They also had easier access to high-end cultivation methods and could easily afford the expensive resources to get started in these advanced scriptures.

Third-raters could only make do by relying on their own talent and efforts.

Melkor was glad that he was no longer in the latter position anymore. As the Avatar Commander, he had earned enough salary and merits to afford many expensive cultivation resources.

In fact, he already ordered a bunch of them in order to get a better feel and understanding of their associated qi cultivation methods.

He already acquired access to three different methods that had caught his interest.

One of them had been developed by the T Institute while he redeemed the remaining

Two from the Repository.

Each of them made large promises. They were especially designed for military commanders that were looking to make a greater impact on the battlefield.

He actually considered two more promising qi cultivation methods, but he ultimately

Kept them as reserve options.

The reason for that was because they promised to help him empower his subordinates in a similar way to Saint Commander Casella's famous Command Field.

Melkor instinctively rejected the decision to imitate Casella.

It was not that he thought that he placed a lower value on the direct empowerment of subordinates, but he simply did not want to be known as an imitation of the Saint

Commander.

It might not be much, but Melkor was determined to make it grow, and to do that, he

Needed to become stronger in his own way.

He briefly went over his options so that he could make up his mind. The most obvious cultivation method for a Larkinson in his position was the

Larkinson Design Spirit Contract Method.

Developed by the T Institute with input from the patriarch himself, it was a cultivation method that made the practitioner powerful by forming a mutually agreed contract with a more powerful entity, which in this case happened to be one of the design

Spirits of the Larkinson Clan.

The T Institute actually told him that it was primarily a form of 'contract cultivation' due to the fact that Melkor would mainly be able to develop his strength by absorbing the strength of another entity.

It actually had a lot in common with the Blood Pacts that became more prevalent these days. Both cases involved two different parties signing a metaphysical contract with each other that imposed certain rights and restrictions.

The design spirit could not unscrupulously try to manipulate the contract cultivator.

The practitioner also had to abide by any specific demands or requirements the design spirit might impose in exchange for donating a portion of his or her power. Both parties had the right to unilaterally dissolve the contract at any time.

If that ever happened, the practitioner would get to keep his cultivation progress, but would not be able to form a new contract with another design spirit for around half a year due to mental stability considerations.

There were several pros and cons associated with this new contract cultivation

Method.

The obvious advantage was that it imposed very low requirements on the part of the practitioner. It did not require any talent to get started, though having it would certainly make it easier to absorb and digest the strength of compatible design spirits. The practitioner also did not have to spend much of his time on meditation, mental exercises or constructing an extremely complicated artistic conception. The design spirit already did the heavy lifting. Melkor only had to focus on assimilating the

Foreign energy.

Depending on how quickly he was able to absorb the strength of a design spirit, Melkor could grow powerful at a rapid speed.

Personally, one of the reasons why he liked the Larkinson Design Spirit Contract Method was because it fit the theme of the Avatars of Myth extremely well!

As long as Melkor absorbed enough power from a design spirit such as Titania to the

Point that his domain was nearly identical to her own, he could one day have her descend into his body or maybe his companion spirit, thereby turning one of them

Into her avatar!

Titania would subsequently be able to channel her strength and fight against enemies like a real qi cultivator for as long as Melkor was able to sustain her presence! This ability promised to become more powerful as his own cultivation advanced. Perhaps one day, he would be able to replicate the effect of a battle formation, but allowing it to last a lot longer without requiring the assistance of others! However, as much as Melkor found this method to be attractive, it also came with

Obvious downsides.

For example, there was no way to avoid contamination. The more Melkor absorbed

The strength of a design spirit such as Titania or Qilanxo, the more he would come to resemble them. His personality, his behavior and his perspective would all come to resemble his contracted design spirit!

Melkor was not very willing to sacrifice his humanity in exchange for power. Another disadvantage was that the lack of personal effort required to progress in this method caused him to lack self sufficiency. The only reason for his power was because he begged another design spirit to donate a few scraps.

If the contract ever expired, Melkor would lose much of his capabilities. He would just degenerate into a qi cultivator that was lacking in personal abilities.

What also bothered Melkor was that the hard limit of this contract cultivation method

Was that his strength would always be limited by the strength of a design spirit.

If the latter was no longer able to grow, then he would remain limited as well.

Perhaps he could mitigate this problem by forming a contract with a different entity, but that came with a lot of compatibility problems that would set him back for a long

Time.

Despite all of these factors weighing the Design Spirit Contract Method down, Melkor still liked it because it was by far the least difficult cultivation method in his consideration.

As long as he made a deal with the right design spirit, there should be no chance for

Him to fail in his contract cultivation.

After spending several decades fruitlessly trying to advance to the rank of expert candidate, Melkor deeply appreciated the certainty and ease of this Larkinson-exclusive method.

"Do I take the easy way out, or should I take a chance on a more challenging

Cultivation method?"

That was because it was centered around the use of qi formations on the battlefield.

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