The Mech Touch

It made him feel as if the System had been listening to his feedback all the time and completely addressed all of the points of critique in a massive update.

"This is good customer service!"

A part of Ves found that to be strange as he was not accustomed to seeing the System as an existence that was attentive to the needs of its users.

His impression of the System had always been that it was an aloof, rigid program that strictly executed its instructions without leaving any room for flexibility.

In a way, Ves found that to be reassuring.

The more inflexible the System, the less initiative it possessed.

The less initiative it possessed, the lower the chance that it could actively hatch its own schemes.

Now that Ves could see that the System was not only adept at marketing, but could make far-reaching changes in order to meet his needs, he became quite scared at what else it may be able to do within its power!

The System was already attached to him. Ves had no idea how he could even get rid of it other than asking nicely.

That was bad. He was always aware that the System most likely had the power to kill him or deprive him of power whenever it wished.

Ves just didn't think about it most of the time. In order to preserve his sanity, his mood and his sense of security, he simply pretended that the System was merely a tool that only existed to serve its users.

Holding this attitude was better than the alternative!

However, Ves found it difficult to maintain this sentiment when he saw that every part about the new version of the System became so much more useful to him. While the cost of utilizing the new functions had also grown, all of it looked fair as he could obtain way more value with his Ascension Points.

The new and powerful possibilities opened up by the System directly wiped out his earlier determination to no longer become dependent on its features.

Ves would be a fool to neglect all of the fantastic goodies that he could obtain from the Divine Bazaar and the Tree of Possibilities!

It didn't even matter to him that most of the items and knowledge provided by the new channels either came from or were derived from the Five Scrolls Compact.

Just like how Ves accepted goodies from the MTA in order to progress his mech design capabilities, he was willing to treat the Compact in the same fashion in order to advance his spiritual engineering!

He completely disregarded any taboos and prohibitions attached to the new spirituality-related goods. It did not matter to him whether any of the stuff were the treasured heirlooms or sacred traditions of any cults.

To him, they were just materials that could finally allow him to expand his spiritual engineering into a proper discipline. As long as he worked sneakily enough, he doubted that any of these hidden cults and fringe organizations would realize that he had taken advantage of their hard work!

"The only painful part is that I don't have enough Ascension Points to satisfy all of my needs!"

He took one last look at the Time Gate. It could have been so much greater if Ves selected a different upgrade track, and probably cheaper as well.

Whether it was worth it to pay a minimum of 20 Ascension Points to go on a trip that used to cost him only tens of thousands of Design points in the past was still a question.

"Maybe I'll make use of you again once I have the Ascension Points to spare."

He left the site and returned to the steps that continued to lead upwards.

At this point, Ves could clearly see that he had almost reached the summit. As he took one step at a time, he could feel that the air became charged with energy.

Familiar energy.

The atmosphere became more pure and sacred as he neared the final step. The strangest part about all of this was that he did not feel as if he was approaching a brand-new place.

He felt as if he was returning to a familiar home.

From the moment he could climb no higher, he beheld an expansive temple ground.

Several massive white stone structures completely dominated the plateau. They were large and possessed an ancient aesthetic, which strongly contrasted against the modern metal architecture that people like Ves were accustomed to seeing.

The sense of sacredness grew stronger as he looked at the largest and grandest temple structure.

What was strange was that instead of feeling repulsed by the sight, Ves became drawn to it. He grew disturbed by this impulse. What had the System done to make him develop the compulsion to embrace this temple?

He had a suspicion that he had finally come face to face with the primary addition of the new upgrade track.

"The System was truly being serious about Spiritual Ascension…"

As Ves stepped closer, he finally received a description of the new area.

[The Sacred Temple is your personal sanctum. It plays an indispensable role in your ascension to godhood. It is divided into three subsections. The Pantheon is where you can manage your divine incarnations. The Courtyard of Envoys is where your Chosen Envoys will reside until they are called. The Sacred Hearth houses and nourishes your Divine Cores.]

"..."

The System had dumped so much new and unexpected information on his lap that he didn't know where to begin.

Sacred Temple? Pantheon? Courtyard of Envoys? Sacred Hearth?

None of this sounded like it had anything to do with the original Mech Designer System!

He seriously doubted that any mech designer had to work with similar structures in order to advance up the ranks. The new additions were solely related to the upgraded System's effort to help Ves ascend to godhood!

It was at this moment that Ves recalled that the Mech Designer System was a shell built around a fragment of the Metal Scroll.

Ves had long treated it as an aid to designing mechs, but the truth was that anything related to one of the five Sacred Scrolls definitely had more in store!

"It could be that helping its users ascend to godhood is its primary purpose and that designing mechs is just a sideshow."

This was a disturbing thought if this was the case. The System had presented seven different upgrade tracks to him, and only one or two of them explicitly claimed to help him transcend to a divine existence.

How could the System be certain that he would have chosen Spiritual Ascension or Personal Piloting Cultivation?

Ves could have opted for Mech Pilot Cultivation instead. He had actually set his mind on it due to how much it complemented his existing work.

It wasn't until he talked to Gloriana that he changed his mind and decided to double down on spiritual engineering.

Had the System schemed to give Ves the illusion of choice only for him to pick the option that he was meant to select in the end?

A chill ran through his false body.

"Am I being set up to become a Holy Son?"

The more he looked at the sacred temples and their ancient architecture, the more he developed the impression that he was pulled into the orbit of the Five Scrolls Compact against his will.

The reason why he chose Spiritual Ascension was to supercharge his spiritual engineering capabilities. He did not sign up for the other crap that came with this choice.

Ascending to godhood might cause other people to leap with joy, but Ves remained completely unimpressed by the possibility.

He had already seen plenty of self-proclaimed gods to know that they were pretenders at best and complete farces at worst.

Every god was merely a spiritual entity with delusions of grandeur. Their extensive detachment from mortality and reality caused them to develop false and distorted ideas. The extremely skewed nature of their spiritualities did not help either. They became overly biased towards their spiritual attributes and lost the ability to keep an open mind.

This was concerning because Ves worried whether this progression track conflicted with his attempt to become a Star Designer.

From what Ves had witnessed during his remarkable meeting with the Polymath, a Star Designer shared many resemblances to powerful spiritual entities, but possessed a lot of distinctive traits that set them apart.

"Well, I won't be able to figure anything out by milling about. Let's see what this Sacred Temple has in store."

He strode forward and entered the boundaries of the Chosen Courtyard. It was pretty much laid out like a town that surrounded the grander and more proper temple structures.

Ves had the impression that he had entered an empty holiday resort. Though the entire place was empty and lifeless, he could easily imagine a crowd of tourists taking up residence in the bungalow-like houses.

"So what am I looking at, System?"

[The Chosen Courtyard is the site where you can host and manage your Chosen Envoys.]

"...What is a Chosen Envoy?"

[A Chosen Envoy is a powerful incorporeal existence that has completely and utterly submitted to you in exchange for longevity and the opportunity to serve you. When a Chosen Envoy is in your service, he or she can fight against your enemies or engage in productive activities depending on their capabilities. Each Chosen Envoy can supply you with a fixed income of Ascension Points depending on their strength and devotion towards you. They will remain attached to you unless you have chosen to dismiss them or you have met your downfall. Chosen Envoys cannot survive after their bonds to their gods have been dissolved.]

"What?!"

This was completely new to Ves! It made the meaning of godhood more literal now that he actually gained the option to build up a collection of powerful supplicants!

The entire setup of the new System Space made a lot more sense all of a sudden.

Ves realized that the reason why the System created this elaborate mountain top was not to dress up its functions, but to provide an environment that multiple people could live in. This was why the space was so large and expensive.

As Ves thought about the many implications of Chosen Envoys, he wondered what it would take to add one to his Chosen Courtyard.

"So how will I be able to recruit Chosen Envoys? Do I have to pay Ascension Points to pull someone to this place?"

[The relationship between a divinity and a Chosen Envoy is sacred. Viable candidates must not only be spiritually powerful, but also willing and able to give up everything they have in life to serve you after death. They must sincerely be willing to commit the remainder of their existence to your cause.]

Ves frowned. This did not sound easy! He knew quite well how rare it was for people to be completely willing to become another person's slave or subordinate.

However, the higher the requirements, the higher the benefits to retaining a Chosen Envoy. He was completely convinced that all of the trouble was worth the effort.

After all, what was a god if he did not even have any angels or divine warriors at his side?

"What do you mean by viable candidates? Are expert pilots and ace pilots eligible to become Chosen Envoys?"

[Expert pilots and ace pilots both meet the requirements to become Chosen Envoys.]

That was just what Ves wanted to hear!

Of all of the spiritually powerful people that he was familiar with, he had the most interactions with expert pilots. His chances of converting one of them into his Chosen Envoys was the greatest if he kept his eye out for an opportunity to recruit the expert pilots under his command!

"Wait… Chosen Envoys have to be dead, right?"