Chapter 2713: Regulating Input (1/2)

The mood in the workshop became more tense as a critical moment took place.

When Ves conceived of this experiment, he knew there was an element of risk involved. Each time he performed experiments that tied spirituality and the human mind together, the latter always had an annoying tendency to explode.

Right now, the signs looked concerning. While Imon Ingvar's life signs were only slightly elevated, poor Lanie Larkinson's head must be enduring a great amount of pressure!

Still, Ves wouldn't have selected her as his test subject without some assurances that he'd be able to keep her safe.

Even though he could have put another random kid or mech pilot, she was the ideal recipient of this new technique for several reasons.

First, she was young. Her mind was more malleable and could bend under stress to a slightly greater degree.

Of course, her lack of mental development and piloting conditioning also meant her mentality wasn't as strong from the outset, so she experienced strain at a considerably lower threshold than mature pilots.

Second, she was talented. Lanie's genetic aptitude was B-, which didn't sound high but ranked in the top out of all of the potentates in the Larkinson Clan!

It wasn't easy to encounter someone with a genetic aptitude of A- or higher. The Hafner Duchy wouldn't have invested so much in Venerable Relia Foster if mech pilots of her talent were common in human space.

Genetic aptitude was not the sole factor used to judge mech pilots. Anyone who did would be making a very serious mistake that could prove fatal in battle.

This talent indicator merely denoted the maximum load a mech pilot was able to endure and how easy it was for them to pilot mechs as extensions of their bodies.

They needed to invest less time in order to master piloting skills, allowing the hard-working ones to become a lot better than those with lower genetic aptitude grades.

That didn't mean they were assured of victory all the time. There were plenty of stories where those with less talent prevailed due to a combination of hard work, luck, calculation and circumstance.

All the talent in the cosmos wouldn't save a mech pilot with great talent from getting defeated by ten poorly talented mech pilots if all else was equal!

Another factor that gave average mech pilots hope was that talent no longer became as relevant at the expert pilot level. While a good genetic aptitude still made it easier to advance up the ranks, the gulf between the top and the bottom narrowed.

This was mostly because those with limited genetic aptitude always gained a huge boost in every piloting attribute. Large and complex mechs they couldn't pilot before suddenly became easy as their stronger minds and will were much more able to bear the strain.

Ves personally paid a lot more attention to spiritual potential than genetic aptitude. As long as the latter was higher than a D-grade, then a mech pilot was already good enough to pilot his mechs!

Lanie happened to be one of the few mech cadets who possessed spiritual potential at a very young age. From what Ves observed from many different mech pilots and other people, it was much more common for the lucky ones to develop spiritual potential in their twenties.

The young woman was an abnormality in this case. Ves believed that she could one day bloom into a great mech pilot. If he helped her along when she was still in her academy days, then she would get a head start in becoming an even greater mech pilot!

”Whether the knowledge transfer is permanent or temporary, I hope she's able to take something away from this experience.” Ves muttered.

He had become more obsessed with the possibilities of Ancestral Possession now that he revisited the idea with a fresh perspective and greater insight into spirituality.

As Ves kept his attention on Lanie's various body and health parameters, he made sure to keep his finger on the abort button.

While he had already programmed the prototype Bright Warrior to shut down on its own accord once its mech pilot underwent too much strain, it might be too late at that time.

Ves witnessed plenty of head explosions throughout his experiments. Even though they happened rather abruptly, he believed he developed an intuitive sense of when something catastrophically wrong was about to occur.

Whether his judgement was reliable or not remained to be seen. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to put his assumption to the test.

”NNGG! It hurts!” Lanie cried out.

Though Lanie currently experienced a greater amount of mental strain than she had ever experienced in her life, Ves judged that she was still able to endure the pain.

Her life signs were growing more volatile but it had not yet reached any of the safety thresholds. Still, they were getting closer, so Ves might be forced to shut down this attempt before long if nothing changed.

He frowned a bit. ”The bond is formed and the spiritual constructs of the two mechs have become active. Why hasn't the next phase commenced?”

The spiritual construct he rebuilt from the ground up was built by relying on his incomplete spiritual framework, his strong intuition and a heavy dose of intent. This construct was responsible for performing the various steps he conceived to enable Ancestral Possession.

With Goldie's help, his two test subjects successfully established a direct spiritual bond with each other. This new channel was not completely open. Otherwise, Lanie would get overwhelmed straight away by Imon's considerably more powerful spirit.

Instead, Goldie continued to pay close attention to the new bond and carefully limited the signal transfer so that Lanie would only receive the input that was necessary for her to improve her mech handling ability.

Yet nothing seemed to change. Lanie only became more and more pained as the new bond wasn't doing its job.

Ves figured out a possible reason. He neglected the role of the source. He quickly turned his attention to the other mech pilot.