However, just like how Ves modified the Holy Soldier's external appearance to make it more appealing to the Ylvainans, not every cosmetic addition was useless!
Another way to look at it was that Vincent was a client who adhered to a religion. His religion centered around himself and his perceived manliness! The more his mech conformed to his ideals, the greater his fighting spirit!
Ves frequently studied the actual battle performance of the mech pilots of his products. He already collected an abundant amount of proof that the mech pilots of his products fought substantially harder than usual!
They fought as if their mechs were several times more expensive! The glows of his mechs achieve a similar effect to the confidence that mech pilots gained from piloting very powerful machines!
He sighed. "I'll do my best, though I won't make any promises."
"Good!" Vincent grinned, happy that he managed to get his way. He activated his comm and projected a very crude sketch. "This is what I've been working in my free time. What do you think?"
Both Ves and Gloriana tried their best to suppress their reactions.
As mech designers, Ves and Gloriana both learned how to sketch and draft a mech design.
Vincent lacked this training. What was worse was that he didn't possess a technical understanding of how a mech was put together.
The abomination of a sketch that Vincent showed off was incredibly skewed and uneven. The mech wasn't symmetrical. Its proportions were skewed. The codpiece looked out of proportion compared to the rest of the mech.
Perhaps the only point worth praising was that Vincent somehow managed to transpose a wireframe image of his well-defined chest and abs onto the front torso of the mech.
Other than that, the crude sketch was anything but a proper draft design.
Ves coughed. "We shall use your requirements as a starting point and a source of inspiration. Due to the complexity of your proposal, we will require a few days to interpret your description into a more refined draft."
"Fine." Vincent lazily waved his hand. "Don't take too long. The sooner I get my Adonis, the sooner I can beat the sandmen to a pulp!"
The discussion continued for a bit as Vincent added some other inane demands. Ves patiently endured this moment before Vincent finally said his piece and left.
Once Vincent and his entourage left the office, Ves sank down on the couch and let out a deep breath.
"What an infuriating man! What do you think, Gloriana?"
She smiled and stroked his hair. "I've encountered worse at Centerpoint. Vincent is just a boy pretending to be a man. The harder they try to show off their masculinity, the more insecure they really are. You don't have to compare yourself to Vincent. You're much more capable than him. According to his record, he's not even a good mech pilot."
That caused Ves to think over the mech that Vincent wanted them to design. "That's going to be a problem. If we leave out the cosmetic design of his custom mech, its technical makeup is already going to be complex. The hybrid mech he's asking for is going to be very difficult to design. He wants to stuff his mech with multiple weapon systems as well as strengthen its defense!"
"It'll be easier with our higher budget." Gloriana confidently stated. "In fact, I think this is a good opportunity to practice some of the second-class mech design principles I've taught to you. A lot of second-class mechs are similar to the mech that Vincent wants to design. The internal architecture of a second-class mech design is always more complex than the simpler ones that you're used to. Learning how to integrate many different components in a single frame is an essential skill for any second-class mech designer."
"I guess so." Ves sighed. "I just feel that Vincent doesn't really know what he's asking for. He needs a good dose of reality."
"It could be worse. Even without our generous budget, I think we could still make his mech work."
The so-called Adonis that Vincent demanded was a medium ranged hybrid mech that was suitable to be employed in assaults.
Vincent basically wanted to pilot a much better version of the Dawnbreaker and Novabreaker.
If not for the codpiece, Ves wouldn't have so many objections to this commission.
Seeing that Ves still had mixed feelings over Vincent's demands, Gloriana giggled and ruffled his hair some more.
"Don't worry, Ves. I'll take the lead in this design project. You should direct most of your time on designing your Ylvainan marksman mech. You're clearly more passionate about that project."
"Will you be fine with working with Vincent?"
"Designing the perfect vessel is my passion, Ves. I can handle a boy like Vincent."