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This also included the Apprentices who assisted the Journeymen of the Design Department for numerous years.

"Good luck, Catherine."

"You too, Moltar."

"Would you like to team up, Mayer? I still need a teammate." Vela Tovar asked.

Mayer Torto shook his head. "I am flattered, but my specialty does not lend itself well to any competition. It is not as if incorporating better communication systems will directly make my mechs stronger in a mech arena. You should ask Estelle instead. I hear she is looking for a partner as well."

As the registrations increased, Ves did not stop them even if he had little confidence in their ability to do well. Each of them had failed to keep up with the likes of Miles Tovar and Merrill O\'Brian.

Regardless if the remaining assistants possessed spiritual potential or not, they wouldn\'t be able to take a step further if they did not shake up their routines and open themselves up to radical new experiences.

Besides, even if the Larkinson Apprentices performed shamefully, it didn\'t matter too much as nobody begrudged them for failing. Low-ranking mech designers were afforded a lot more leeway, especially when they were young.

Ves only paid a bit more attention when Maikel Larkinson and Zanthar Larkinson walked up and informed him of their request to compete.

"You don\'t need to ask for my permission." Ves told the pair of young trueblood Apprentices. "The two of you are no longer under my tutelage. You are your own person now. If you want to sign up for one of these competitions, then be my guest. The two of you are old enough to weigh the pros and cons of performing in public."

"We are certain, sir." Maikel seriously said. "When you were our age, you already competed in a few tournaments yourself. You managed to grow a lot from that. I think we need to go through this process ourselves. We never competed in a serious tournament in front of a live audience before. The most we have been able to do was sign up for those cheap virtual tournaments that aren\'t a big deal because everything is fake."

Mech design tournaments were not for everyone. Ves never forced his former students to sign up to them. There were multiple ways to become successful. Gloriana for example did just fine even though she never competed in any tournament in her life.

However, Maikel and Zanthar both took after Ves more than Gloriana. They possessed plenty of bravery and they did not exhibit any fear of the possibility of stumbling and falling.

"We can\'t shy away from challenges if we want to advance to Journeyman as early as you, sir." Zanthar Larkinson said. "Besides, our mech designs shouldn\'t be weak. We have learned so much after our graduation and our designs have been getting better with every year. I want to show everyone that you are not the only expert in luminar crystal technology anymore."

"Hehehe, if that is the case, then I wish you luck. I truly hope you will perform well enough to make the public remember your name."

"Do you think that my work will be allowed within the rules of the tournaments?" Maikel asked.

Ves shifted to his other former student. "That is a good question. From what I know about your progress, you have been moving further and further in the direction of autonomous and dual-controlled mechs. I am afraid that all tournament organizers have never thought about your specific case. If they adopt the standard competition rules formulated by the MTA without any modifications, then you will have to restrict the autonomy of your mech below a strict threshold. Most people regard self-piloting mechs as cheating."

That bummed Maikel out for a bit, but he already knew that he had a tough struggle ahead of himself.

"I will do my best to work within the confines of the rules."

Ves grinned and patted Maikel\'s shoulder. "It may seem that every mech designer is like Ketis, but in practice it is a lot more complicated than that. Not all of us have to narrow our focus and limit our work to our direct specialization. I think it would be a good idea if you branch out and study another field in order to expand your range and versatility."

"I am not sure I can do that, sir… It takes a lot of time to become proficient in a different field. I am already spending a lot of time studying subjects related to autonomy and AIs. I don\'t think I can handle more without taking time away from developing my main specialty."

Maikel was in a difficult situation. Perhaps his dilemma could be alleviated if he implanted himself with a fancy first-class mech design-oriented cranial implant. His learning speed would gain a massive boost, allowing him to pay a much lower price to master lots of new knowledge!

This was an advantage that many first-class mech designers enjoyed. Knowledge came so easily for them that on average, each of them probably learned and mastered at least ten times as much theory as a second-class mech designer!

In fact, this was one of the main motivations why Gloriana wanted to replace her old second-class implant for a first-class version endorsed by the MTA!

She was being truthful when she claimed she felt it was unlikely that she could keep up with Ves if she continued to suffer a handicap in this aspect.

Ves talked a bit more with his two former students. He not only advised them on the tournaments they should apply for, but also offered general advice on how to proceed with developing their respective specializations.

Neither of them had made enough progress to advance to the rank of Journeyman Mech Designer, but Ves was not in a hurry. They would naturally advance when they had earned the right to do so, and not any sooner.

What gratified Ves a lot was that both of his former students managed to develop spiritual potential sometime after their graduation.

He hardly noticed that Maikel and Zanthar had invisibly cleared one of the most crucial requirements to become a high-ranking mech designer!

Ves actually found it rather suspicious at how easily the two cleared this secret hurdle. His intuition faintly suggested to him that it was not a coincidence that the pair both developed spiritual potential in roughly the same time frame.

The problem was that there could be many possible external factors that could have provided the two a crucial boost. The Larkinson Clan was toying with so many different spiritual influences and forces these days that it was impossible to isolate and test whether any single variable was responsible.

In any case, participating in a mech design tournament should be considerably more fruitful to the two Apprentices as a consequence. The excitement, pressure and strong emotional mood swings provided so much stimulation that their spiritual potential should definitely experience a decent amount of growth!

As word about the lively events continued to spread, more and more Larkinsons applied to join the party.

The upcoming festival also hosted many other tournaments that were targeted towards other people than mech designers.

The most popular of all were mech tournaments where mech pilots became the sole stars of these bombastic and gratuitously violent events.

Many mech pilots of the Larkinson Clan had already signed up for one of the many solo or team competitions held across the surface of Davute VII.

These affairs were bound to be expensive due to all of the real mechs that would get destroyed, but Davute could easily cover these costs.

Besides, the extremely high amount of guests pouring into Davute ensured that every tournament should be able to earn a fortune in ticket sales!

Few Larkinson mech pilots thought they would do badly in these tournaments. They had tussled against professional military mechs, alien starfighters, alien warships and even monstrosities such as the unclean whale in the last few months.

Dueling a bunch of competitors in a safe competition venue sounded like a milk run to them. How hard could it be to beat a bunch of pansies who had never faced the barrel of a warship main cannon in their lives?

One of the mech pilots who applied to join a tournament was Lanie Larkinson.

The young mech champion possessed a lot of confidence in her skill and potential, but so far she had yet to achieve a breakthrough.

Lanie felt that part of that had to do with the nature of the last battles. The opponents the expeditionary fleet fought against were so massive and overwhelming that it was difficult for a single ordinary mech pilot to make a meaningful difference.

Since that was the case, she would have to find her chance in a different venue.

Breaking through in tournaments was one of the time-honored traditions of the Larkinson Clan!

"Are you sure you want to sign up for this tournament, Lanie?"

The young woman formed a puzzled expression. "What\'s the matter, Melkor? I\'m still young enough to qualify for the Rising Prodigy Tournament. With my skills, I should definitely have a good shot at beating all of the other young mech pilots and winning the top prize! I will definitely be able to bring home a lot of glory for the Larkinson Clan!"

The Avatar Commander thought for a moment. "You\'re right, Lanie, but… do you truly think it is worth your time to beat up a bunch of brats, many of whom have yet to fight a serious battle in their lives?"

"That makes them easier to defeat."

Melkor frowned. "You are not thinking this through. I agree with you that you have a large chance of winning the Rising Prodigy Tournament, but so what? The prestige of his contest is not that much as it is mainly organized for recent academy graduates to showcase their potential. It\'s a kid-level competition in the eyes of the higher ups. Most of the opponents you will duel against will be so weak that it is a waste of time to fight against them. Only the final contestants can give you a run for your money, but that is far too little to satisfy your appetite."

"What do you suggest, then?"

"Sign up for the Davute Star Tournament."

"What?!" Lanie reacted with shock. "That\'s the top solo mech tournament organized by the government! It lasts for the entire duration of the festivals. I also heard that the qualifiers will be long and brutal due to the huge number of mech pilots who want to fight in front of billions of viewers!"

The Avatar Commander smirked. "That\'s right. The Davute Star Tournament is a contest that is on an entirely different level than the Rising Prodigy Tournament. It will test you mentally and physically. You may get eliminated during the qualifiers due to unfair circumstances. Every day is a struggle for you, which is exactly what you need to ignite your potential. Now that you have heard all of this, are you interested?"

"...Hell yeah! Sign me up, sir! I am not going to miss this for anything else!"

"That\'s the Lanie I know." Melkor smiled as he felt proud for the young trueblood Larkinson that he had tried to mentor over the years. "Be prepared and spend more time in the MSTS. Once you have registered for the Davute Star Tournament, you will fight the toughest and most experienced veterans in Davute outside of high-ranking mech pilots. There\'s a good chance that you will not only fight a lot of foreigners who come from places you have never heard of, but you may also stand on the opposite side of Larkinson, a Glory Seeker or a Crosser."

The possibility of competing against the pilots of her own side did not discourage Lanie.

"Great! On the battlefield, I won\'t hesitate to fight by their side! In the mech arena, I will never let my camaraderie get in the way of winning! Larkinson or not, I am the best, and I will prove it with my skills!"