Chapter 704. Frontier Fairness (1/2)
Two days later, Ves sat at an observation chamber at the upper decks of the Temple. It was built out of one of the eye sockets of the leviathan remnant's skeleton, and so could easily accommodate a small crowd of guests.
Ves tiredly wiped his face. He worked for two days straight, neither sleeping nor ever lowering his guard against the potential antics the cultists might be up to. Sometimes, Ves heard awful noises and screams from the other side of the mech workshop. Other times, the chamber descended into a place of worship as every mech technician spontaneously put down their tools and kneeled down to pray to Haatumak.
Suffice to say, the sooner he got off the Temple, the easier he could breathe. The constant staring and the all-encompassing strangeness grated on his nerves, eating away his sanity every second he spent aboard this massive vessel.
The Temple of Haatumak represented one of the ugliest facets of the frontier. She was one of many starships in the Faris Star Region that played host to exiles too extreme to conform to the rules and customs of civilized space.
In the lawless environment of the untamed stars, the worshippers that ran the ship exhibited a complete lack of restraint. With no one to stop them, they did whatever they thought that Haatumak approved.
This cruel and sadistic Redemption Duel counted as one of them, and a milder one at that. The MTA would have a heart attack if they witnessed it, but Ves fortunately diverged his values from theirs long ago.
The observation chamber became host to a number of middle-ranked Living Altars and their Acolyte followers.
From what Ves picked up during his time aboard the Temple, the Living Altars each different substantially in their beliefs and their teaching. While they all venerated Haatumak above anything else, they expressed them in different ways.
The various Acolytes of the Church either chose a Living Altar to follow or were assigned to them by a Priest. Each Acolyte had the potential to become a Priest or Living Altar themselves, which represented an opportunity to escape their humble status at the bottom of the totem pole and become a figure of stature within the Church.
However, attrition among the Acolytes constantly took a toll on their numbers. Dangers roamed aplenty aboard the Temple, and those who met an unfortunate end from a ritual gone wrong happened quite a lot.
Still, some of this was pure speculation on his part. He hadn't been able to decipher why people felt drawn to the Church in the first place, and how the cultists selected their new entrants.
”Mr. Larkinson!”
Ves turned his head and saw to his surprise that Mayra had arrived. Her Acolyte minder guided the Swordmaiden mech designer towards the empty seat next to his own. Clad in savage, tribal-like armor, she looked as valiant as any other Swordmaiden.
She was everything Ketis tried to be. Sitting so close to her made him feel as if he sat next to a dormant exobeast. Yet Ves was well aware that Mayra's fighting prowess paled in comparison to her ability in mech design.
Perhaps the mech designers back in civilized space might scoff as a savage calling herself a Journeyman, but Ves considered her the real deal.
”Mayra! Why are you here?”
The middle-aged woman grinned at him. ”My mech is about to take part in a duel. What about you?”
”It's the same for me! Wait a second.. How many duels are taking place today?”
”Only one Redemption Duel is on the agenda for today.” Acolyte Villis helpfully informed him, causing Ves to look distressed.
”What?!” He sat up straight in his chair. ”I've been matching my design against yours!? That doesn't make any sense! I'm still an Apprentice Mech Designer while you're a Journeyman Mech Designer!”
Acolyte Villis released a sadistic cackle. ”Did you think this competition was fair? Hah! Naive! The frontier is never fair to its people, and neither is Haatumak! We must all deal with the hand we are dealt!”
Mayra placed her gauntleted hand on his own that rested on the seatrest. ”Calm yourself, Mr. Larkinson. What's done is done. The worshippers of Haatumak delight in getting a rise out of their guests. It's one of the few sources of entertainment they are allowed to enjoy.”
She was right. An outburst changed nothing, so Ves pushed down his alarm. Still, his bones cried out against the unfairness of matching up an Apprentice against a Journeyman!
No matter how highly he thought of his ability, he never considered himself to be superior to a genuine Journeyman. Their degree of utilization and their condensed design philosophies gave them a solid edge of Ves whose true strength still remained rather brittle and ephemeral.
In the mech industry, Apprentices were children and Journeymen were adults. The latter always won against the former in a direct battle.
Ves had no choice but to prepare himself for defeat this time.
As they waited for the spectators to catch up to the event, the two guests began to talk about Ketis.
”How is my protege fairing so far in your care?” Mayra asked.
Ves was struck as her bearing as a Swordmaiden and a mech designer. It contained the best parts of both, having discarded the uncontrolled wildness that was inherent in a Swordmaiden and the physical insecurity of a mech designer. Best of all, Mayra managed to do so without revealing a hint of instability.