The creation of a standalone expert mech sounded incredibly interesting to Ves. Theoretically, it should be possible, but in practice Ves would have to solve a lot of problems.

"This is probably something I should look into when I advance to Senior or Master." He muttered.

Aside from learning how to design expert mechs, Ves had to figure out how to impart willpower in a mech.

James mentioned that spiritual energy and willpower came from the same source. The first was more common and versatile while the latter was difficult to nurture and not so transferable.

Spiritual energy centered around thought and emotion. Willpower came from the self. This difference implied that transferring someone else's willpower onto a mech may not be viable.

Design spirits couldn't help. All of them were entirely based on spirituality and did not possess any exceptional willpower.

Perhaps theoretically, they might be able to nurture willpower through some unusual methods. Maybe they could even piggyback off his mechs to accomplish this feat.

However, at the end, the strengthening of willpower demanded the destruction of spirituality. Didn't that mean these spiritual entities had to kill themselves in order to turn into a lifeform composed entirely of willpower?

Ves believed it was a bit more realistic to encourage a living mech to develop a will. No matter what fortune or misfortune took place over the course of its evolution, every consequence would be confined to a single copy.

This was still a very distant prospect, however. Ves barely understood anything about the nature of the power of will. He only recognized it as a distinct source of power just recently.

For now, it was best to focus on his immediate problems rather than let his ambition run wild.

He turned his attention back to the Sword Hunter. For a converted Bright Warrior, Ketis was doing a good job transforming it into something unique. It might even be her first real variant design.

After discussing a number of issues about some of the trickier changes that Ketis wanted to implement, they eventually met with Commander Dise.

The strong Swordmaiden expert candidate and leader greeted Ves with a ramrod straight back and her feet planted solidly to the deck.

"Welcome to the Jaded Sword." The dark-skinned woman spoke as she gazed at her Sword Hunter. "Will you be giving us the same treatment as the Penitent Sisters?"

"Not exactly. The experiment that I wish to perform on your Swordmaidens is different in nature. Let's head somewhere private so I can explain some of the nuances to you. In order to make this work, I need your cooperation."

He knew that a Swordmaiden like Dise was not interested in the mechanics behind what he was trying to achieve. She mainly cared about the results. Therefore, he condensed and dumbed down his explanation as best as possible so that she knew just enough to know what she might be getting into. With something as new and unknown as this, the risks were considerable.

"Do I have your consent to proceed with my experiment?" Ves asked after he finished outlining his plan.

Commander Dise frowned. She turned to Ketis, who shrugged.

"Ves usually means well. I don't claim to know how this battle network will affect you and our other Sisters, but I think it is definitely useful. However, I'm concerned about a couple of details. This network is different from that of the Penitent Sisters."

He nodded. "The Penitent Sisters can easily sync up to each other by praying to the Superior Mother. You Swordmaidens are different. I think it is much more suitable for you in the long run if you stay true to your current heritage."

Commander Dise clenched her fist. "I agree! We Swordmaidens aren't in the habit of relying on others like weak women! We are more than capable of fighting our own battles!"

"This is why the battle network that I'm preparing for your troop won't center around a powerful entity that graciously does much of the heavy lifting. The Penitent Sisters may be strong in their own way, but their mentalities are too.. prone to submission."

This was what he disliked the most about the Penitent Sisters and any other group of religious nuts. While it was convenient for Ves to command them as long as he found the right handle, he ultimately believed it would have been better if they weren't so gullible.

The Swordmaidens, who survived and thrived in the brutal frontier, were much more sensible and guarded in this regard. They lived alongside numerous weird cults such as the Temple of Haatumak. They personally witnessed the depravity of all of the cults that for one reason or another had been chased out of civilized space.

Ves admired the independent mindset of the Swordmaidens. Even when they had joined the Larkinson Clan, they were still determined to cling to much of their old ways. They compromised just enough in order to fit into their new circumstances. Perhaps that might not be so good from an integration standpoint, but Ves cherished the diversity these women added to the clan.

It took some time before Commander Dise eventually agreed with the experiment.

"I trust Ketis and I trust you." She plainly said. "Our Swordmaidens truly need strengthening, and barring some new mechs this seems like the only way. From all accounts, the enemy we are about to face is so strong that my fellow Sisters can easily lose their lives in an instant. I don't want to see that happen."

"I can't guarantee that your Sisters will all make it out alive, but I can at least assure you that they'll be able to put up a greater fight."

After that, Ves proceeded with creating his new battle network.

First, he needed to add the capability to Commander Dise's spirit. This was a fairly delicate operation because she wasn't as strong as the Superior Mother.

Ves had to resort to using up a drop of life-prolonging treatment serum in order to create a living spiritual construct for Commander Dise.

This new construct was a hybrid between a battle network and a mind sword. It essentially tried to fulfill both functions at once.

Nothing went wrong. Ves already knew what to expect from creating his first mind sword and his first battle network. The only complications resulted from the fact he tried to merge two different roles into a single spiritual entity.

In order to accommodate all of the necessary functions, he built a multi-part spiritual greatsword. While its shape was largely identical to that of Ketis, it possessed its own unique touches.

When Ves finally relaxed his mind, he let out a deep breath. "It's done."

Commander Dise, who lay on a treatment surface, slowly began to rise up to her feet. "I feel.. As if my mind has become busier."

"You'll get used to it." Ketis spoke. "Your new sword intent is alive, just like mine! If it bothers you, then just tell it to be quiet. Don't let your sword run amok."

One of the principal lessons the Swordmaidens learned was to always maintain control over their swords. It didn't take much time before the Swordmaiden Commander quieted her own mind.

With Ketis present, Ves let her guide Commander Dise on how to handle her new gift.

"You should give it a name. It's alive, after all, and it will respond more readily to you if you call it out."

"You're right." Dise paused for a minute while she began to consider names. "I'm thinking of calling it Lydia, but our old commander wouldn't have wanted me to name my sword intent after her. I think I'll call it Respa."

Ketis shared a knowing look with the Swordmaiden Commander. Obviously, there was an inside story behind the name. It was none of his business, though. He suppressed his curiosity and clapped.

"Alright, seeing as you still need to get used to your new mindsword, I will leave you with Ketis. Tomorrow, we'll proceed with the experiment."

They conducted the experiment a day later after Ketis extensively taught Commander Dise how to manage the new addition in her mind.

They encountered a bit of difficulty because of their different professions. The way Ketis interacted with and made use of Sharpie was based around treating it as a living pet.

On the other hand, Commander Dise felt much more comfortable with wielding her mind sword directly. With her nascent force of will, she was able to resonate with her mind sword to a modest degree. Though she was very clumsy in controlling Respa, Ves figured that was mostly because she was just an expert candidate at the moment. Her force of will possessed no substance at this stage.

Once Ves gained enough confidence in Commander Dise's ability to keep her mind sword under control. They quickly commenced the experiment.

Ves first established some connections between a squad of regular Swordmaiden mech pilots and Respa. This went smoothly.

While Respa still remained active as a mind sword, her battle network aspect hadn't been activated yet. As long as this remained true, nothing flowed through the connections. At most, some of Dise's residual force of will might leak into her fellow mech pilots.

"Are all of you feeling okay? Tell me if there are any abnormalities."

The first batch of Swordmaiden mech pilots all shook their heads.

"If that's the case, then head to your mechs and wait your turn to deploy into space."

A squad of Swordmaiden mechs launched from the Jaded Sword. Commander Dise followed shortly after with her current mech.

Though it would have been interesting to see how her battle network interacted with the Sword Hunter, the mech was in no state to launch.

The experiment soon commenced. Just like before, Ves asked a group of Avatar mechs to spar with the Swordmaiden squad and put them under pressure.

This time, the Avatar mechs significantly held back in their attacks. Unlike the second-class mechs of the Penitent Sisters, the third-class mechs of the Swordmaidens were much more fragile.

Even so, being surrounded by forty hostile mechs at closer ranges imposed a very powerful psychological effect on the Swordmaiden test subjects.

It was easy to forget that they were taking part in a controlled test when their mechs were being pushed around like bully victims!

"Enough! We are not weak!"

Ves watched closely as Commander Dise finally managed to find out how to activate Respa's battle network functionality.

The Swordmaiden mech pilots began to feel odd as Commander Dise reached out to them. While they had trouble getting in sync with each other, the problem wasn't as bad as Ves initially feared.

Every Swordmaiden admired Commander Dise! She not only succeeded Commander Lydia as their leader, but had also advanced to expert candidate. Her superior skill, strength and battle acumen had long earned her the respect of all of her subordinates!

With such a heroic figure at the center of the battle network, the Swordmaiden test subjects finally managed to sync up with each other.

"It's happening!"

The mechs spontaneously moved into a distinctly narrow formation. Ves imagined that they were forming a large sword.

Unfortunately, the attempt seemed to fail. The mechs didn't radiate any form of radiance, so no energy silhouettes appeared. Their formation had no substance!

Ves shut down the experiment. "That's enough!"

Ketis and the other Swordmaidens manning the various consoles and workstations looked disappointed. They expected to witness a powerful burst of strength. Instead, their Sisters hadn't accomplished anything!

"Did something go wrong? Have we failed?" Ketis softly asked.

"Calm down. To be honest, I expected this result."

"What? You planned for us to fail?"

"Not like that." Ves hurriedly shook his head. "It is just that I haven't hooked up the network to a powerful energy source. How can something powerful emerge from nothing? Commander Dise isn't strong enough to power any formations."

"Then what is the point of this experiment? Were you stringing us along all this time?!"

"No! Look, this experiment may have failed, but the framework is still sound. I checked it myself. We just have to wait for the right opportunity for this battle network to show its value. I'm sure that it will give all of us a pleasant surprise once Commander Dise advances to expert pilot!"

As long as Commander Dise broke through in the upcoming battle, the effort and resources that Ves put into creating Respa would finally pay off! Ves was willing to bet his life on this outcome!