When Tusa Billingsley-Larkinson broke through, everyone knew it. The manifestations were just too obvious.
"The resonance meter is spiking! 70 laveres! 90 laveres! 100 laveres! 105 laveres! 110 laveres! 113 laveres and holding!"
Although the numbers had more than doubled, Tusa's actual willpower had grown exponentially stronger!
The lavere scale was not linear, but instead followed a more complicated formula for reasons that took a long time to explain to a layman.
Whatever the case, the only rule that mech pilots and other people needed to know was that once a pilot was able to generate true resonance that exceeded 67 laveres, he had definitely transcended into a saint!
It was not just the resonance meter that made it clear that Tusa successfully overcame the bottleneck that halted his progress for a time.
The most visible manifestation that Tusa's strength had transformed on a quantitative as well as a qualitative level was the evolution of the Dark Zephyr's resonance shield!
A resonance shield was often treated as the seed form of a proper domain. Now that Tusa had advanced to the second major cultivation rank, he finally gained the qualifications to form his Saint Kingdom for the first time!
As one of the most powerful combat domains known to red humanity, the Saint Kingdom of a junior ace pilot was already oppressive and domineering to the vast majority of people.
Ves experienced its rapidly strengthening reach and intensity the most due to his proximity to the Dark Zephyr and his high spiritual perception!
A grin appeared on his face as he witnessed the emergence of the Larkinson Clan's first true ace pilot.
The Larkinson Family long dreamt of spawning an ace pilot among their ranks, but it had never succeeded since the Larkinson settled down in the Bright Republic.
It was only now that Ves had founded the Larkinson Clan and led his clansmen to a much greater height that he was able to create the conditions that were conducive to the emergence of ace pilots.
Ves felt incredibly fulfilled that his many contributions allowed an expert pilot in his 40s to break through to ace pilot at such an exceptionally young age!
As a mech designer, he loved nothing more than to see the users of his products prosper.
For an expert pilot to actually overcome the difficult hurdle that blocked many of their peers for a long time was the ultimate vindication that a mech designer could obtain!
Combined with the successful tests of the Dark Zephyr Mark III's many powerful features, Ves could feel that his design philosophy had made another stride forward.
This was the most obvious indication that Ves had become a substantially better mech designer than before!
The wildly successful outcome of the Dark Zephyr Mark III proved that Ves had truly managed to develop his living mechs to the sixth generation!
Ves briefly lamented the fact that far too little time had passed before he could fully refresh all of his old living mech designs to the very recent fifth generation, but it didn't matter.
He refused to hamper progress just because it did not conform to a consistent update cycle!
So what if he could have milked fifth generation living mechs for at least half a decade before rolling out sixth generation living mechs?
If Ves had to choose between maximizing his business interests and maximizing the progression of his design philosophy, he would always prioritize the latter!
An honest mech designer should always put the interests of the mech pilots first. Ves believed he had done so in a brilliant way by designing an innovative new high-tier expert mech and stimulating Tusa by presenting him with a challenge.
When Tusa had successfully managed to defeat the phasewater circulating in his body, Ves already had a hunch that his cousin was close to breaking through.
This was why Ves readily accepted the offer to fight a duel. What better way to stimulate Tusa further than a hearty fight?
This was also why Ves chose to employ a powerful Worclaw energy attack!
He knew that only an attack of this magnitude would truly cause Tusa to become desperate to attain greater power!
The fact that Tusa met all of Ves' expectations was like a dream come true.
It usually took a lot more accumulation for expert pilots to break through. The more talented ones were at least twice Tusa's ace.
For example, powerful heroes and champions such as Patriarch Reginald Cross fought way more and endured a lot more hardships before he managed to trigger his own second apotheosis.
It was not unusual for high-tier expert pilots to break through after a century of living, but at that stage their bodies and mental acuity had already declined to an extent.
Although breaking through to ace pilot was a surefire way to rejuvenate them and extend their lifespans by reshaping their bodies with their willpower, these late bloomers often exhibited less potential.
Tusa did not have to worry about that. While much of the reason for his breakthrough could be attributed to getting paired with an excellent expert mech, it was undeniable that the new Saint had worked hard and proved that he deserved to advance to his impressive new rank!
Ves was especially glad that Tusa managed to break through without relying on a crutch like the transcendence glow.
In fact, Ves had secretly been thinking about borrowing Lufa for a moment in order to give Tusa a firm push in the right direction.
He was glad that he did not. Tusa's pride and confidence in himself would have never reached their current height if he had to rely on external help to break the barrier. This way, he gained more potential and his future became brighter.
Although it was way too premature to make this claim, Ves already began to regard Tusa as a potential god pilot candidate!
As long as Tusa used this powerful early start as a Saint to develop his strength and grow his domain, he would be in an excellent position to step onto the road to no return!
This was especially the case if he continued to pair up with the Dark Zephyr.
As a mech designer, Ves did not miss out on the many changes experienced by the high-tier expert mech that he had just overhauled.
In many cases, an expert pilot accumulated over multiple decades before managing to break through. Although their resonance strength stalled due to reaching the upper limit of what his rank could bear, that did not mean that all of their growth had stopped.
It was only when they broke through that all of that hidden energy got unleashed!
Tusa's breakthrough to ace pilot was actually weaker than other cases because he accumulated a lot less energy.
This meant that the Dark Zephyr's current forced resonance state was not as exaggeratingly powerful.
When factoring in the surprisingly robust and resilient first-class archemetal mech frame, the high-tier expert mech did not exhibit any signs of excessive stress or strain.
Ves was confident that the Dark Zephyr was strong enough to bear the temporary explosion in power! The machine should not be fragile enough to end up in a heavily damaged state that happened in other breakthrough situations!
"What a powerful growth surge."
Expert mechs always received substantial boosts when their pilots evolved into halfgods.
Although Tusa's weak accumulation substantially weakened this effect, the Dark Zephyr's efficiency in absorbing the excess breakthrough energies was much higher!