Chapter 2594: Controversial View (1/2)

”Where is Lucky?” Maikel curiously asked.

”He has a day job now. Don't worry about him.” Ves dismissively answered. ”Anyway, let's talk about your recent progress. I've studied your test results and looked at your practical performance. First, let me say I appreciate your progress. Your coursework is very onerous. Compared to what I had to learn, your workload is at least eight times higher. According to Gloriana, a typical mech design student at Kelma University has to maintain a similar pace as yours.”

”Does this mean I'm the best?”

Ves softly knocked his fist against Maikel's head.

”Ouch!”

”Don't be arrogant! Gloriana achieved much better scores and completed many more courses than you did in the same amount of time. There's a reason why she has managed to become a Journeyman so early. If you want to become just as good as her, you need to motivate yourself to work harder. I can't push you along. Do you understand?”

”Uhm, I'm already studying as hard as I can manage. If I increase my workload any further, I think I'll burn out. The other mech designers I've spoken to have told me that it's better for me to maintain my current balance.”

Ves looked closely at his student. The adolescent Larkinson did appear a bit more frazzled than before.

He inwardly sighed. He was demanding way too much from his underlings. Ves was so used to working harder that it was hard for him to understand the limitations of those who didn't enjoy his advantages.

Ves remembered that he used to be much worse than Maikel at the same age. Back before he obtained the System, he was nothing more than a baseline human with average intelligence compared to his fellow classmates. He did not even come close to matching Patricia's brilliance.

It was different now. The Attribute Candies obtained from the System along with his Archimedes Rubal implant had completely transformed his learning ability. What took years for other mech designers to absorb only took a couple of weeks for Ves to internalize. This was not rote memorization, but true mastery.

If not for the fact that Ves had his hands full with his design projects, he would have reserved some time to supplement his knowledge base by reading some of Aisling's excellent textbooks.

For a moment, Ves thought about bestowing the same advantages to his students. While he boosted their Intelligence to 1.6 by feeding them some candies, he didn't want to improve their cognitive abilities too much for fear of distorting their personalities.

Already, Ves was able to ascertain that Maikel and his other student Zanthar experienced some personality changes. Their constant exposure to other mech designers along with all of the knowledge they learned had made them more eccentric. Already, they developed obsessions related to their chosen specializations.

That last part gave Ves a bit of a headache. While Zanthar's interest in maximizing firepower was easily satisfied by allowing him to observe a Transcendent Punisher up close, Maikel was not as easy to develop.

The Larkinson Clan possessed plenty of living mechs. Even though the various mech forces had retired all of their third-class mechs, they hadn't gotten rid of them all. There was ample space to store some obsolete mechs as backups or as future museum exhibits.

Ves even allowed Maikel to examine excellent living mechs such as the Quint and the Shield of Samar up close. Both mechs were spiritually enhanced to over 150 Ves, which meant that they possessed more life than any other machine that Ves had seen!

Despite exposing Maikel to mechs that were brimming with life, his student didn't seem to have gained much insight from these sessions.

Apparently, blindly showing Maikel around was not the right approach. If Ves wanted his protege to make some progress in his formative years, then he needed to find a more effective solution.

”Maikel, how much progress have you made on your personal framework?”

”Uhmm…”

Ves looked sharper. ”I hope you haven't spent all of this time on your studies and on drooling over my products. No matter how much benefits you derive from the work of others, you are ultimately only copying someone else's work. A true mech designer can never be a true professional as long as he keeps admiring existing work. The whole point about our profession is to generate new work. We are creators, not gawkers.”

”I-I-I'm aware of that, teacher, but it's hard to get started on this topic. I know what I want, but I don't have a starting point. I have spent hundreds of hours with your mechs, but I still haven't figured out why they are alive. When I compare any LMC mech to a comparable mech designed by a competitor, I haven't identified any components that instill any special qualities to your products.”

”The applications of design philosophies transcend material reality. This is especially the case for a design philosophy as abnormal as mine. You are looking in the wrong places if you think that my mechs are alive because they possess a unique physical component or something.”

The young student lowered his head. He looked frustrated. ”Then what am I supposed to do? I have tried to study your work from multiple angles. I even borrowed some biology textbooks from Dr. Ranya in order to understand how traditional life is put together. None of it has worked so far. I'm just as clueless as before.”

What a thorny issue. Ves had no choice but to take a step back and think about this situation.

Maikel wanted to design the same kind of living mechs as Ves, but that was not practical. Unlike Ves who possessed spiritual perception, Maikel was practically blind to spirituality, which meant he would never be able to manipulate spiritual energy with precision.