It was the equivalent of a baby that was born way too prematurely!
The reason why Ves had no choice in the matter was because he did not have much time to design a Carmine mech for his grandfather who was dying at the time.
If Ves had followed the normal design process and spent up to a year to design a proper expert mech, the only way he would have been able to interact with Benjamin was by visiting his grave!
Although Ves was not proud at his rush job, he possessed a lot of gratitude towards this humble Carmine mech.
While it may be lacking in power, sophistication and refinement, it was the mech that literally gave his grandfather a second chance at life!
When Ves thought about how his grandfather had lived his life before he formed a Blood Pact, he always found it tragic that Benjamin had lost his original passion and drive.
As a service provider, Ves felt an undeniable obligation to fulfill Benjamin's needs. Successfully doing so by supplying him with the original Blood Star was a lot more satisfying than selling millions of ordinary mechs!
The original Blood Star had saved Benjamin's life.
The next version of this Carmine mech would revive his career as a high-ranking mech pilot!
This was the only way for his grandfather to safeguard his life over the long term. So long as he managed to attain the breakthrough that he did not dare to dream about, he would be able to strengthen his body further and fight against the ravages that time left on his aging physique!
"C'mon, Blood Star. Let us work together and preserve my grandfather's vitality as much as possible."
The precarious state of his grandfather was a persistent cause for concern for Ves.
It was one of the reasons why Ves had yet to bestow a companion spirit to his grandfather. The older man's willpower had only recovered relatively recently. Who knew how much all of that progress would get lost if his spirit got operated by Blinky.
Time was running out, though. Ves did not have the strength to bestow a companion spirit to an ace pilot.
If Ves wanted to grant his grandfather the same advantages as other Larkinson expert pilots, he would have to take action while Benjamin was still a high-tier expert pilot.
It would be too late to augment his strength further once he broke through!
As Ves continued to think about the various ailments of his grandfather, he began to place more hopes on the Blood Star Mark II.
The deep integration between pilot and living mech had produced many wondrous effects that benefited them both, but most particularly Venerable Benjamin.
How extensively would the mutual exchange of blood and the magical Blood Pact be able to strengthen Benjamin even further?
The second generation Blood Pact was a modest attempt to promote these beneficial interactions, but it did not go far enough if Ves was being honest.
There had to be a lot more ways for the Blood Star Mark II to boost Benjamin's health and other aspects!
Ves just hadn't discovered and implemented them yet. While he did not have any ideas in mind, what about Vulcan?
As a design spirit who had gotten started in a more traditional form of creation cultivation, Vulcan was not unfamiliar with the concepts of bonds between user and product.
In ancient times, it was possible for artifact cultivators to form a bond between their souls and the 'souls' of high-level artifacts.
What was interesting was that it was usually possible for a cultivator to form a soul bond by dripping a drop of blood onto the artifact in question!
As long as all of the conditions were met, the artifact cultivator would become permanently bound with a weapon or another object that possessed an artifact spirit!
The benefits of these soul bonds were myriad.
The cultivator would be able to control the artifact a lot more proficiently.
The artifact would become inoperable when used by other people.
The cultivator would be able to communicate with and observe the surroundings of the artifact if the two had been separated.
Of course, soulbounds also came with downsides.
The two parties could restrict each other's growth if any of them failed to improve as quickly.
If the artifact broke or the soul bond got severed for any reason, then the artifact cultivator in question would suffer severe damage!
The stronger the artifact, the greater the harm!
The sequelae of breaking a stronger and deeper soul bond were also more severe.
The most optimistic outcome was for the cultivator to suffer serious damage to the soul.
The worst outcome was for the artifact cultivator to die outright.
When Ves briefly examined the strong and intimate Blood Pact between his grandfather and the Blood Star, it did not seem likely that this was a fairly shallow and weak bond.
The Blood Pact in its most primitive form already possessed the properties of a fairly deep and intimate soul bond!
Though the benefits of an active bond were undoubtedly greater, Ves could not get rid of the heavy consequences if anything ever happened.
Though Ves was not happy with this, he already accepted this danger as a necessary price to bestow greater power to his grandfather.
What mattered now was what Ves could do with this additional insight. Was there a way for him to upgrade the Blood Pact further based on Vulcan's knowledge?