"You're in doubt." Gloriana cleverly observed as they nearly completed the first iteration of the Adonis Colossus. "Do you have second thought on the defensive augments we've chosen?"

Ves wrapped his arm around Gloriana's taut waist and took in her presence. There was just something about her scent that made her even more alluring.

He never got tired of how she smelled. Every so often, she switched up her perfumes, giving his nose yet another delight that he inevitably associated with his girlfriend.

He had a sense that Gloriana was training him to adore her by keying him with her distinctive perfumes!

Was this one of the devious, underhanded ways that Hexer women kept their boys in line?

If so, Ves understood how effective the women had been in staying in charge!

"Hello?" Gloriana snapped her fingers in front of his eyes. "I'm speaking here!"

He quickly recovered. "Ah, sorry. I was just caught up in how lucky I am to be with you."

Gloriana's face bloomed with warmth. She partially melted in his embrace. "Aww. I love you too, Ves, but this isn't the time to get all lovey-dovey with each other. We're almost done with the initial version of the Adonis Colossus and I don't want anything marring our first proper custom mech!"

"Isn't the Resentful Soldier our first custom mech?"

She scowled. "That's not a proper custom mech! From my perspective, it's merely a variant that is heavily customized to accommodate a specific mech pilot. We were working against the constraints and design choices meant to serve the general public."

"And it's different this time?"

"Yup. Our Adonis Colossus is completely designed for Vincent Ricklin from the ground up. Its mech concept, its vision, the selection of component designs and the design choices we've made along the way are all geared towards designing the perfect vessel for Vincent or close to it. The fact that two Journeymen and a small design team spent over a month on this project is a considerable investment that is very extravagant service for any mech pilot! I normally charge several billion hex credits to design a custom mech from the ground up, you know!"

Ves widened his eyes!

Whereas most mech designers struggled to earn a few scraps, Gloriana could easily bag herself the equivalent of the price of a modern second-class corvette like the Barracuda!

Of course, Gloriana was a Journeyman with a reputation for designing custom mechs. Not every mech designer from the Hegemony received the same offers.

She earned a lot, and for good reason. Ves knew better than almost anyone how much her mother and her dynasty invested in her upbringing. If she wasn't competent in designing custom mechs, she would have never been able to run a business regardless of her background.

"Mechs designed this way can't be adapted into a commercial mech because they are too narrow in focus by their nature." She continued. ��In mech design, if you want something done right, you have to do so right at the start."

He agreed. "Variants are most appropriate to design when you need to fulfill a similar but slightly different role."

"Anyway, back to the topic, do you have any questions about the Lasponge module?"

"Hmm.. not that much. I admit that it's an appropriate augment considering the likely battles our Adonis Colossus is about to face."

"It's just right for a man who loves himself more than anyone else." Gloriana affirmed.

Out of every possible defensive augment they could have picked, they went with something that offered temporary but supreme defense against lasers.

The so-called Lasponge module was a defensive system integrated in the frame of the mech. Ordinarily, it remained dormant, but when the mech received critical damage or upon the command of the mech pilot, the module activated, causing a lot of foam or liquid to pour out of special cavities in the frame.

This foam or liquid substance would quickly harden in seconds, forming a large shield-like obstacle that the mech could hide behind.

As its name suggested, the Lasponge shield absorbed laser beams and many other types of energy weapons like a sponge. It was extremely effective in shielding the mech behind it from a considerable amount of damage!

This sounded very great, but there was a reason why this wasn't a common defensive augment among mechs.

First, the Lasponge system spent money like running water. Every Lasponge substance had to be good enough to mitigate a substantial amount of laser fire, and that could not be obtained on the cheap.

For the Lasponge system that Ves and Gloriana selected for the Adonis Colossus, it cost as much as a single budget mech to replenish enough Lasponge substance to sustain a single activation!

Second, Lasponge was not as effective as genuine armor in withstanding enemy fire. It was formed out of foam or liquid that hardened in seconds, and this made it inherently more unstable.

Third, it took quite a lot of room to store the module and the containers necessary to store all of the Lasponge. The Adonis Colossus didn't have any room left once Ves and Gloriana integrated the system into the beefy mech.

While all of these disadvantages sounded bad, Ves thought it was worth it due to the importance of preserving Vincent's life.

It was an addition tailor-made for Vincent's inclinations and his importance to the Bright Republic. So what if using Lasponge was expensive? Vincent's life was much more valuable in comparison as long as he did what the government wanted!

Ves expressed his doubts. "From a technical standpoint, our mech design is functionally and mechanically sound. I doubt any mech designer would begrudge our design choices too much, at least if stylistic concerns are taken out of the picture. I'm quite proud of what we managed to accomplish. Mostly."

Indeed, the Adonis Colossus was a technical highpoint for them both within the category of third-class mechs.

While Gloriana ordinarily designed better machines, she was still able to bring out much of her expertise in this project.

On the other hand, Ves had never designed something so supreme, expensive and high-performing aside from his Transcendent Messengers, and even then those weren't truly custom mechs.

He witnessed plenty of excellent mechs, of course. Expert mechs such as Venerable Foster Belisarius or Venerable O'Callahan's Parallax Star made a very powerful impact on him in the past.

The custom mech that was most equivalent to the Adonis Colossus was Lord Javier's Loquacious Raphael.

Ves still remembered how the skilled Vesian noble and his excellent custom mech terrorized the Flagrant Vandals in Vesian space. The combination of an excellent mech pilot and an excellent custom mech achieved a result that was halfway towards the performance of an expert mech!

Sadly, he didn't expect too much from the Adonis Colossus.

The Loquacious Raphael and Transcendent Messengers were hero mechs which offered a great balance between speed, firepower and protection. Their combination of armaments allowed for a lot of skill expression, which was great for their elite mech pilots who possessed the sheer talent and ability to make the most out of their machines.

Vincent on the other hand was clearly a mediocre mech pilot who wasn't really passionate about his profession. His sloppy, inconsistent training forced Ves and Gloriana to dumb down much of the functions of the Adonis Colossus in order to avoid overwhelming its intended mech pilot!

Still, no matter what, Ves and Gloriana eventually managed to design the Adonis Colossus in a way that fit its mech pilot, and that was what mattered in the end. Vincent Ricklin would never be able to pilot a better machine at this point of time than their work!

"Since the problem you have isn't technical in nature, it's the divine aspect, right?" Gloriana eventually figured out.

Ves reluctantly nodded. "We've come close to the point where we ought to infuse our design with a spiritual component. I'm just unsure of whether it is the right choice."

"You're very decisive normally. Almost all of your prior mech designs are the results of predetermined planning. It's not normal for you to change your mind or be unsure of what you want your mech to be like in the end. Am I correct?"

He nodded.

Gloriana smiled and patted his head, ruffling his dark hair for a moment. "You're so cute, Ves. What you are just experiencing is what many other mech designers are forced to grapple with as well. Even Masters aren't so hung up on their predetermined plans. Sometimes, the vision we created at the start can't keep up with newly-introduced variables or discoveries. The more advanced the mech, the greater the room for doubt."

"I.. see. You have a point. It's just that uncertainty is normally very bad for my design philosophy. The only reason I've managed to hang on up to now is because my doubts are very narrow."

"Care to share, Ves?"

"You have probably guessed what I'm concerned about. It's the nature of the design spirit that I'm doubtful of. I have held off on creating it up until now but I can't stall the decision any longer."

He brought out a container and opened it up, revealing a P-stone that already contained a spiritual fragment of Nyxie which he carved out a few months ago.

Perhaps due to storing it for so long, the fragment felt unduly subdued. It hardly reacted to his proximity as if it was still asleep.

That wouldn't last once Ves processed it so that he could create his third spiritual product.

Gloriana glanced at the P-stone with fascination. Though her spiritual senses weren't as acute as his, she spent long enough in his presence to exercise her senses and judgment.

"Is it about the masculinity issue? I thought we already settled it, remember?"

He sighed. "I know. I don't regret the design choices we've made. It's just that I'm trying to figure out how to execute our decisions."

"It's simple, right? You just do your magic and create a proto-god that matches the divine nature of the mech and voila! We have a complete custom mech!"

"It's that matching that is the problem, Gloriana. Don't forget that we each imposed our own views of Vincent's masculinity onto our mech design. However, creating its design spirit is something that only I can do. If I create it as normal, then the spiritual product only inherits my view of masculinity. If I instill it as the design spirit of the Adonis Colossus, then it will slant more towards one aspect of masculinity while neglecting the other aspect that comes from you. That will unbalance the entire glow of the mech and lead to potentially disastrous results!"

In the worst case, the X-Factor of his Adonis Colossus would be in such an awful state that Ves would be forced to wipe it out entirely!

It was extremely difficult for him to correct a mistake made during the design process. The only way to salvage a mech design after that point was to employ the spiritual equivalent of an eraser to strip out the malfunctioning spiritual component of his design.

That basically meant that much of his work concerning his specialty would have gone to waste, which was a huge shame!

"What do you need to do to address this problem?"

"I have to find a way to integrate your view on Vincent's masculinity during the creation process. The spiritual product has to be a joint effort of both you and me, and I'm not sure how to do that. The only idea I have is…"

"Just tell me, Ves."

He sighed. "The most direct way to accomplish my goal is if I enter your mind and draw out your thoughts on Vincent and our design project and integrate them into our spiritual product during its formation. This is extremely dangerous and I've never really attempted this before. The entire reason why I'm so reluctant is that in the worse case, you might end up like Silent William or worse…"

Silent William's example clearly showed how perilous it was to tinker with spirituality inside someone's head!

Nonetheless, Gloriana did not look concerned at all. She continued to face him with a loving expression.

"I trust you, Ves. I'm not afraid of what you need to do to turn the Adonis Colossus into a success!"