As soon as Ves noticed that Gloriana worked like a woman possessed, he wanted to make absolutely sure that nothing interrupted her exceptional state of mind.
As someone who experienced these magical moments himself, he knew how precious they were and how hard it was to regain them once he let them go. It would definitely break his girlfriend's heart if someone ruined her special moment!
During one of their brief, five-minute breaks, Gloriana approached a dining table where some food had already been laid out. She picked up a tray and literally gobbled down the contents of a nutrient pack within a matter of seconds!
Normally, she abhorred eating something as low-class as this. This was not the time for her to be picky about her food, though. As soon as she filled up her stomach with nutrient paste, she quickly grabbed a glass of water and emptied it just as fast.
After that, she immediately returned to work!
Ves could only shrug when he saw his driven girlfriend finish her lunch within a minute. He approached Calabast, who had been observing the entire fabrication session since yesterday!
"How long until the mech is complete?"
"Three days, maybe less." Ves quickly estimated. "I'm sure you've noticed that Gloriana's productivity has skyrocketed. Even though I'm relegated to serving as her gopher, she is outputting as much work as both of us on a normal day."
Calabast instantly noticed his emphasis. "I take it this is not a normal day."
He nodded. "I think.. the best-case scenario is within our reach."
"I see."
He did not need to explain what that meant. Calabast was well aware of how significant it was to make a masterwork mech.
"What do I need to do?"
"Pass on some of my instructions to the Avatars and the Battle Criers." He told her. He transferred some messages from his comm to hers. "Tell them to mobilize as much mechs as possible and guard the site around this workshop as extensively as possible. For a possible masterwork, it is worth rousing them all! I don't want to take ANY risks."
"Understood." Calabast nodded seriously. "I'll make sure my Black Cats and the Swordmaidens are on full alert as well. What are the odds of success?"
"I truly can't say. There are so many variables at play that you can't perform a simple prediction. Even if Gloriana pours her entire heart and soul in our first production model, it is still up to us whether she'll be rewarded for her extraordinary effort. All I can say is that there is a non-zero chance that we'll deliver a masterwork mech at the end of the session."
"Can you give me a range at least?"
"No more than twenty percent."
She looked impressed. "That's already pretty decent considering how rare it is to encounter a masterwork."
"That's why I'm quite hopeful for this mech. I have to return now."
"Good luck, Ves!"
The work resumed. As Gloriana began to fabricate the larger parts such as the thick armor plating of the Blessed Squire, she focused so much on minimizing as many irregularities as possible that some of the plating rolled off the production line as works of art!
While Ves continued to perform his role as her dutiful squire, he constantly sighed in admiration at the excellence she displayed.
Thinking that the Superior Mother herself was watching her every move, Gloriana pushed herself again and again.
Normally, a highly-controlled mech designer like her would never take so many risks.
In order to build up and sustain her momentum, she needed to work quickly.
In order to produce the highest quality components that she could make, she needed to meticulously.
Oftentimes, she preferred to lean towards the latter rather than the former.
However, masterwork mechs were products of energy, luck and passion. They could never be made by mech designers who plodded in their work and constantly calculated every single move.
Drawing from his personal experience, a mech designer would only be able to produce a masterwork mech if they surrendered to their passion and worked with their hearts rather than their minds!
As long as he was skilled and confident enough, Ves could rely on his instincts and intuition to perform a difficult task.
However, that was easier said than done. In most cases, Ves slipped up. Only during exceptional times would his instincts and intuition be raised to a level where he could rely on them to carry him through an entire fabrication session!
During this session, Ves did not even come close to reaching this level.
He didn't have to. Gloriana exhibited so much spirit and motivation that he felt that she might actually have a decent shot at producing a masterwork on her own merits!
This was one of the hidden advantages of collaborative mech design.
The chance of producing a masterwork did not solely rest on the shoulders of a single mech designer. Every lead or contributing designer involved in the design process had a chance to get inspired.
Of course, in practice, such situations were so rare that ordinary mech designers had a better chance at winning the lottery.
This was different. Ves already had two masterwork mechs under his belt while Gloriana crucially claimed credit for one as well.
That last detail was extremely important! Though she gained only a modest boost in her affinity for mechs for participating in the creation of the Quint, this was still a crucial development to her as a mech designer!
Mentally, a crack had opened in her mind. She became aware that producing another masterwork after the Quint had already become possible! Even if the chance was small, it was a lot better than other Journeyman at her age!
Spiritually, the formation of a masterwork had imprinted onto her spirituality. Her design seed remembered what the experience was like, therefore making it easier for Gloriana to seek it out again!
Mech affinity was something precious and something that every mech designer chased after. Though the MTA claimed that possessing a high affinity for mechs wasn't essential to becoming a good mech designer, it made many actions related to mechs a lot easier!
At the very least, the mech industry had come to a general consensus that only those with a high mech affinity were capable of creating masterwork mechs!
Right now, Gloriana exhibited the tell-tale signs of leaning onto her mech affinity. She worked both fast and with care. That could only be sustained by much higher-ranked mech designers or those who were able to express the utmost of their affinity!
As the assembly stage finally wrapped up, they moved on to the crucial assembly stage.
Ves worried for a moment whether his girlfriend would be able to sustain her momentum. The Blessed Squire was a true second-class mech design that not only featured bloated internals, but also a lot of sophisticated parts developed and built to military standards. Fitting them all together in a harmonious fashion was quite challenging!
However, it turned out that he worried in vain. Unlike him who would definitely show some struggle at first, assembling a second-class mech was already familiar territory to Gloriana.
She studied and graduated from Kelma University, one of the most prestigious mech design institutions in the entire Hegemony!
From the very start, she learned the ins and out of advanced second-class mech design until she practically breathed it in her sleep!
When she graduated, she started a small but successful mech boutique and designed high-performing custom mechs for many upper-class clients. Perhaps she had already designed and fabricated mechs that were several times more powerful and complicated than the Blessed Squire!