The Mech Touch



Master Goldstein had been generous to Ves and answered a good amount of sensitive questions.

However, both of them understood that this could not go on forever. The Mech Trade Association accumulated an unimaginable amount of secrets. There was no need for Ves to learn so much information that had little relevance to his current work.

Ves was only supposed to obtain an introduction to the Kingdom of Mechs and a few related matters. He obtained far more than that today. It would take a long time for him to digest all of the secrets that he learned.

After asking a few more questions, Master Goldstein no longer had the patience to indulge Ves any further.

"You said earlier that Star Designers can step out of the Kingdom of Mechs. Does that mean that they have chosen their own way? Have they become untraceable? Has any of them attempted to create another kingdom, either as a substitute to the original or an attempt to elevate another product category? Has the Common Fleet Alliance ever attempted to create an equivalent 'Kingdom of Warships'? Is the progression path of mech pilots based on older warrior traditions?"

Goldstein raised his palm. "Enough. I am happy that you possess the curiosity of an inquisitive mech designer. Asking questions is always a good sign of your willingness to pursue and embrace new information. However, you do not need to delve too deeply into the affairs of Star Designers. Pay attention to your own work first. As a Senior, your main priority is to work towards realizing your design philosophy. Do not allow yourself to get drawn away from this goal due to a misguided belief that the entire cosmos revolves around you. There is more than enough time for you to undertake greater responsibilities once you have advanced to Master Mech Designer."

The man was right. Though Ves still felt bummed that he couldn't gain any further answers, he accepted this advice.

"Very well. What is next?"

"You have brought up the subject of teaching earlier. Let us discuss that instead. Follow me to my main office."

Master Goldstein and Ves slowly left the ceremonial hall after taking a final glimpse.

Ves still did not understand the full meaning of this space. He hadn't even figured out whether this was a standard feature in every major MTA location or whether Goldstein built it on his own initiative.

In any case, Ves immediately felt as if he had returned to modern society. The hypermodern interior of the Antazella de Osiris put him in a more forward-thinking mood.

A lot of stuff happened in the past. The tumultuous creation of the Kingdom of Mechs produced a massive amount of ripple effects that ended up changing human civilization forever.

However, what did this have to do with Ves? Four centuries had already passed since the start of the Age of Mechs!

All of the people who fought to secure a better future for humanity succeeded for the most part. As a child of the Age of Mechs, Ves had no need to trouble himself over these old affairs.

Instead, he should take advantage of the prosperity built by his predecessors and do whatever it took to enrich the Kingdom of Mechs with his contributions!

After walking through a lot of corridors and halls, the two mech designers eventually reached a large and well-furnished office.

Master Goldstein pursued efficiency and did not add too many distractions to his office. Aside from looking nice and befitting the status of an MTA Master, it lacked a lot of personal touches.

Neither of the two cared about that. A device quickly brewed a pot of tea. Goldstein poured two cups and gestured for Ves to take a sip.

"Whoa. This is actually really nice!" Ves uttered with surprise as he felt a lot more refreshed and energetic than before!

The strange tea not only tasted like the best mint tea in the cosmos, but also cleansed his unstable Spirituality in a manner that he could not understand!

Ves guessed that the function of this tea was to suppress the negative side effects of igniting his design flame.

He hadn't really noticed it before, but his noticeable growth in power and the shock of listening to so many mind blowing revelations had completely thrown him off-balance.

Though Ves was not a mech designer who became paralyzed so easily, he still became a little frayed and nervous due to all of the new concerns swirling in his mind.

He had remained in ignorance for too long. He dedicated over half of his life to mech design, but never in his life did he notice that he became inextricably connected to the Kingdom of Mechs!

He inspected his own mind and Spirituality a dozen times over and did not spot any unidentified spiritual connections.

The only possible explanation was that it was tied to the design seed that erupted into flames recently.

Ves theorized that the interior design of the design seed was far more complicated than he could hope to understand at this stage. There must be an internal component or mechanism that was responsible for maintaining a strong but invisible connection to the Kingdom of Mechs.

He really wanted to get his hands on an intact design seed and slowly crack it open to see what was inside. It was unfortunate that he had already fractured Lady Aisling Curver's design seed into several pieces and used them as spiritual ingredients without examining them first.

"This is good tea." Ves stated the obvious.

Master Goldstein smirked at the younger mech designer. "Do not think about it. You will not be able to find it on any of our Association's exchanges at your current access level. This tea is part of my own private collection. You will get in touch with it once you have entered a higher layer of society. If you wish to procure this tea or similar products on your own, then work hard to realize your design philosophy and earn the recognition of my peers. As one of the two dominant protectors of human civilization, the Mech Trade Association has access to many treasures. This is but the least of what we have obtained."

"I see."

Ves looked a little bummed when he heard this reply, but he quickly regained his mood.

He just recalled that Master Benedict Cortez had picked up the odd hobby of tea cultivation.

Perhaps the former Skull Architect's purpose for doing so was not just about brewing nicer-tasting teas.

Once they finished their first cups, Master Goldstein addressed the final major topic of this momentous meeting.

"I have already touched upon the subject of teaching earlier. Now that you understand the guiding principle of the Kingdom of Mechs, it is not that difficult to explain the mechanics. First, the kingdom pays attention to how diligently and how much effort you have put into teaching the next generations of mech designers. It has done so since you first became a Novice and initially contacted the Kingdom of Mechs."

"Oh?"

That already assuaged one of his concerns. Ves had been worrying about whether this mystical kingdom credited him for investing his time on teaching Ketis, Maikel and Zanthar. He was glad to hear that he did not waste all of this past effort.

"It would be too exhausting to explain the precise rules and criteria to you, so I will be brief. The Kingdom of Mechs provides greater rewards to teachers whose students have enjoyed greater success in their professional careers. For example, if you have raised 100 students of which 10 manage to advance to Journeyman, you will receive a small benefit. If 5 of them advance to Senior, then you will receive a substantially more noticeable benefit. If 1 happens to be good enough to advance to Master, then the rewards that you will obtain from the Kingdom will be rich."

In other words, the higher the attainments of the students, the more the kingdom fed back to the teacher!

"Mech designers rarely learn their craft from a single teacher." Ves observed. "How does the kingdom handle attribution to multiple teachers?"

"The Kingdom of Mechs will apportion its rewards in proportion to how much the student has benefited from the teachings of every teacher. A Master who has taken in a student as a direct disciple can earn the greatest share of the reward. An ordinary university professor who only taught a single class to a student will only receive a tiny proportion of feedback."

Ves already guessed that this might be the case. "So teachers can essentially earn rewards from the kingdom in at least two different ways. They can invest a lot of attention to a single talent and hope that this fellow becomes incredibly successful and advance to Master one day. They can also teach several large classes of mech design students and hope that their collective accomplishments will add up and provide a large amount of feedback."

Quality or quantity.

The potential rewards of raising a small number of talented mech designers were greater, but the results were highly variable.

Teaching regular classes to hundreds of mech designers was not as fulfilling at first, but the accumulated benefits steadily built up as long as Ves persisted in this job!

Still, no matter what, it took a lot of time for his efforts to bear fruit!

If Goldstein was right that teachers received the greatest rewards from the Kingdom of Mechs when their students realized their design philosophies, then Ves would probably have to wait a century or longer for Ketis, Maikel and Zanthar to become Masters!

"How does the Kingdom of Mechs reward teachers for passing on their knowledge and helping mech designers become successful in their careers?"

"As I have stated before, it is not as direct as you think." Goldstein responded. "Becoming a good teacher does not necessarily turn you into a good mech designer. You must still build up your foundation, conduct successful research and design groundbreaking mechs by relying on your own efforts. What is different is that if you are a highly successful teacher, all of your activities and interactions that are related to the Kingdom of Mechs will yield noticeably better results. I cannot go into the specifics, but it can potentially save you many detours."

Ves did not like that the answer was so vague. It prevented Ves from conducting a proper cost-benefit analysis on how much he should spend his time on teaching a bunch of brats.

"Does it make a difference when a mech designer advanced to Master Mech Designer or Star Designer?"

"Yes. This is also the primary reason why Seniors and Masters undertake this responsibility so seriously despite the fact that it reduces their time to engage in their personal design and research projects. When these mech designers attempt to advance to the next rank, they cannot do without relying heavily on the Kingdom of Mechs. Think about it, Mr. Larkinson. If the kingdom believes you are a positive influence because you have successfully strengthened the continuity of the mech industry, it will treat you with greater appreciation. Any problems you may have become less important whereas any contributions you have made will have greater weight."

This was no different from playing favorites!

Ves' image of a solemn construct that rigidly followed a set of rules had collapsed!

"You make it sound as if… the Kingdom of Mechs is alive."

"This is a part of the original design of the kingdom. The Star Designers that emerged later saw no reason to question the wisdom of the Progenitors of Mechs. As a matter of fact, they all support this policy. No Master or Star Designer can easily emerge from nothing. It takes a large and complete educational complex to produce so many qualified high-ranking mech designers."

So this was why there were so many mech design universities and other related schools in human space.

They mainly existed so that a lot of Seniors and Masters would get into contact with enough students of their own!

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