Jovy truly vexed his opponents with his vague and mysterious design philosophy.
Ves began to feel what it was like to stand in the shoes of his competitors when they became confused what metaphysical man-machine symbiosis actually meant.
"It's finally time for you to get a taste of your own medicine." She quipped.
When it came to luck, Ves wasn't sure how he fared. In fact, he didn't really believe this concept even existed. It might be that he had completely mischaracterized Jovy's design philosophy.
However, he didn't dare to rule out this option. Even if Jovy's specialty applied to mechs in a much more mundane fashion, manipulating luck might be one of his 'superpowers'!
Every mech designer seemed to develop some sort of ability related to their specialization. Ves was able to communicate with all forms of life. Gloriana possessed a very keen eye for flaws. Ketis could make her blades sharper.
As for Jovy… who knew.
With so many difficult choices to take into account, Ves felt as if he was stuck at a crossroads!
Which of the roads led to glory and which of them led to his doom?
"Maybe I should take advantage of my own design philosophy." He muttered. "If Jovy can abuse his superpower to his advantage, then so should I!"
Knowing that Master Willix likely kept a very close eye on him, Ves had never shed his crazy hat. He still wore it, and right now it induced him to kneel onto the floor and clasp his hands.
He concentrated his mind.
"Prophet Ylvaine, please enlighten me. What design choices should I make?"
Though he made contact with Ylvaine's spiritual fragment, it didn't really answer his prayer. The fragment merely replied with a muddled impression before cutting off the contact!
Though vague, Ves understood the answer. Ylvaine basically told him that predictions couldn't be made on demand! It was pointless to come to Ylvaine in order to ask the winning numbers of a lottery!
Ves felt the urge to vomit. Was this the best that the Great Prophet could do? Where was its vaunted prediction ability? For all of the hype surrounding Prophet Ylvaine, it turned out that his spiritual fragment could only catch uncontrolled glimpses!
Why the hell couldn't this design spirit tell him what Jovy had in mind?!
He sighed. It was just a fragment after all.
His expression hardened. "I can go round and round in circles, or I can just make a choice."
Ves decided to turn to his heart. What kind of striker mech did he wish to design?
He already knew the answer. Ves wanted to design a mech that practically embodied heat! He wanted to design a mech that not only spewed out copious amounts of heat, but also bathed in it! This was the competition mech that his heart yearned to design!
"I've made my choice." He stated.
His intuition wasn't very helpful in these circumstances. He had no choice but to go in blind and hope that Jovy did not come up with a shotgun-wielding mech clad with heat-resistant armor.
Now that he had passed this hurdle, it was time for him to formulate a vision.
"I already have something in mind." He grinned.
He wanted to design a mech that revelled in heat! No matter what kind of probability shenanigans that Jovy's mech employed, as long as the battle devolved into a contest of heat, Ves did not think his mech would lose out!
That said, Ves needed to add some extra oomph to his competition mech. His strength had always been his glows.
He needed to add the right one to his mech!
The next question he faced was whether he should incorporate a design spirit or hold himself back by employing a weaker image.
Ves had no illusions that this design duel presented an opportunity for Master Willix to see him in action in a serious setting. He might expose something he didn't want to if he made too much use of his specialty!