"I love you, papa. Don’t lose." Marvaine said as he hugged his father’s leg.
Ves grinned and picked up his son. "I am not planning to. I haven’t spent the last few days in vain. Nobody should underestimate a mech designer who is given time and resources to prepare for his next challenge."
"Meow."
"Lucky says that you will regret saying that when you crawl back as a loser." Andraste cheekily said as she pressed the gem cat against her chest.
"I think that papa would not undertake a challenge that he is destined to lose. I believe in papa." Aurelia voiced her support as she held hands with her new ’best friend’ Marigal.
The humanized form of the former Flower Parasol did not voice any opinion, but her shining eyes betrayed ample confidence in the mech designer who reinvented her and gifted her with a new identity.
"How is the latest phasewater organ settling in, Ves? Are you still feeling off-balance after the surgery?"
Ves wearily smiled as he rubbed his side. "The new lesser Marigal organ is probably the single biggest upgrade a lesser phase lord can obtain. The difference between phase lords who have this organ and not is much more significant than I expected. It should be up there with a Phasewater Production System in terms of importance as far as I’m concerned. This organ has most certainly done its job of increasing how much of my true body can be folded into extradimensional space. If I maintain a compact size, my density and physical strength has increased by a sizable margin. I’ve become much tougher than before."
"How much taller have you become?"
"Probably around 7 times the height of a mech." Ves loosely estimated. "There are other consequences to my heightened body mass. A lot more phasewater is circulating through my true body now, though the exertion needed to maintain my extraordinary condition has grown drastically as well. I have received a modest amplification to my spatial abilities, and I am better able to resist hostile abilities. However, it is the physical upgrades that matter the most. A denser and heavier true body is simply better at absorbing hits and carrying heavy stuff around."
The Marigal organ was one of the key phasewater organs that any martial phase lord had to acquire.
It was because of this reason that it was quite a popular early upgrade for the human phase lords.
Trying to fight them without this phasewater organ was like fighting with a single arm. Ves did not have the luxury to secure victory with this handicap.
This was why he agreed to the Red Collective’s urgent suggestion that he leveled the playing field by integrating this phasewater organ.
The surgery proceeded smoothly. Ves did not undergo any weird personality changes, though he could feel his phasewater concentration rising by a minute amount.
His adaptation period was also much faster than usual. Normal phase lords would still feel under the weather by this time as their bodies required a lot more time to adapt to the changes wrought by the Marigal organ.
Ves was an anomaly. The collies increasingly believed that he was truly ’blessed’ by the heavens.
Of course, they were well aware that the Red Ocean’s blessings always came with strings attached.
The alternate personality formerly known as Sev must have gained slightly greater purchase on Ves’ true body.
The being who now accepted the identity of the Dark Apostle had been looking forward to this historic day.
While that sounded great, if the Dark Apostle made any mistake, Ves may be the one who paid the price!
Gloriana grew concerned as she pressed her hand on his shoulder. "Try your best to rein in your dark side. As far as I am aware, the rules never accounted for your split personality, so if you concede the duel, then that should constitute a valid declaration on ’your’ end. The fighting must stop. If that does not happen, then the Ascended Giants have violated the rules."
Ves hadn’t thought about that, but now that she brought it to his attention, he realized that she was correct.
This might save his life or at least the existence of his true body during a critical moment.
"Thank you for the idea. I will make sure to keep it in mind." He softly responded as he leaned in to plant a kiss on her cheek. "The Dark Apostle may be too much of a muscle-brained honor-bound idiot to contemplate the idea of surrender, but I am different. I will make sure to do what is necessary."
After inspecting the gear for a final time, he commanded it to get shipped to the surface of the frozen planet.
The dueling ground was not very clearly defined, but from what Ves could understand, the fights must always start on the surface of Jotunheim.
If necessary, they could fly upwards and finish the fight in space. It all depended on how the duel unfolded. They could last up to an hour at worst.