The Mech Touch

Chapter 7155: Bargain Bin Fruit - Mass Release Day 1/5

Ves believed that the Tree of Possibilities was the most useful facility of the Mech Designer System.

The other two users readily agreed with him. The ability to infuse knowledge, reflexes and to a lesser extent muscle memory into his mind, body and spirit was an incredible time saver.

Humans were tool users, which meant that mastering knowledge was one of the best ways to enable its soldiers to gain strength.

Ves had received countless benefits from the knowledge infusions acquired through the System. It had saved his hide more than once in the past. He hoped that it could do so again.

When he appeared at the clearing that hosted the magical tree, his gaze immediately fixated on an enlightenment fruit with a very specific shape and coloration.

He had dreamt about it so often that he was able to recognize it instantly among hundreds of other dangling fruits.

Gloriana quickly noticed his interest in this particular offering.

[Divine Blacksmith Records]

Price: 975 Ascension Points

Imparts a large collection of related smithing recipes and techniques developed by a Divine Blacksmith. The majority of techniques consist of special hammering methods that can impart metallic and organic materials with special properties. The smithing recipes contain many combinations that enable a craftsman to forge powerful materials with the infusion of special energies and materials into a work.

"I can see why you are attracted to this fruit." She said in a mild tone. "How long have you been pining for it? You only need to earn 934 more Ascension Points to afford this fruit. You need to work much harder and refrain from spending your points elsewhere if you want to acquire it. Can you even persist?"

"...Probably not." Ves admitted with a sigh. "There is just too much stuff that is more affordable and more useful to me. I know that the System is generally stingy, but it never truly underpriced its own goods. I have a strong belief that absorbing this enlightenment fruit can completely revolutionize my craftsmanship and my works, but..."

Ketis shook her head. "It is too expensive. This is a high-end enlightenment fruit that is clearly aimed towards users that have already become good enough to earn hundreds of AP with relative ease. I have been eying this particular fruit as well in order to learn how to forge the best sword artifacts, but there is too much stuff I need more. I still need to spend my AP on basic enlightenment fruits that can strengthen my foundation as a mech designer. I also need to earn 400 AP on a regular basis in order to create portals that lead to the Blue Dimension and hopefully other dimensions. There is no way for me to justify an expenditure as large as this at this time."

They all turned away from the Divine Blacksmith Records Enlightenment Fruit in order to avoid its temptation.

Ves could almost swear that the System deliberately dangled it from the Tree of Possibilities in order to tease him and encourage him to earn more AP!

"Let’s look at stuff that can strengthen my spearmanship." He said. "There is a lot of useful stuff here, but we should focus on strengthening my foundation rather than learn exotic new powers. I need stuff that can hold up in a battle between two physically imposing phase lords."

They did just that. It took time to go over every individual fruit and figure out whether they fit the criteria or not. Many of them sadly did not. Most of them were either unaffordable or did not impart the right set of skills and knowledge.

That did not mean that Ves ignored all of the unsuitable fruits. He still took note of ones that looked interesting but always fell way outside his meager budget. Perhaps he could aim for them when he used up his radiant lottery ticket.

[The Stormlord’s Spear Inheritance]

Price: 350 Ascension Points

Imparts the inheritance of a peerless warlord who used to be hailed as the Stormlord. The inheritance imparts a full set of qi techniques, thorough understanding and initiation of how to summon the power of storms along with its constituent concepts such as lightning and wind while wielding a spear in battle.

The Stormlord’s inheritance possesses a strong offensive focus and centers around launching continuous attacks. Each strike of the spear builds up a charge in the surrounding environment that can slowly turn into a raging storm that can overwhelm champions and sweep apart entire armies of enemies. The Stormlord’s approach towards combat excels at breaking down the protection of particularly resilient opponents, but performs poorly when the practitioner is forced to defend against incoming attacks.

Since this enlightenment fruit contains a complete inheritance, it also contains a remnant of the Stormlord himself. Aspiring inheritors must pass its test and earn its approval in order to access its most powerful finishing techniques.

"Damn. This is the first time I have seen an enlightenment fruit that contains an inheritance as luxurious as this." Ves said as he studied the Stormlord’s Spear Inheritance Enlightenment Fruit. "If it truly contains a remnant of this Stormlord fellow, I may be able to take it out and turn it into a design spirit."

His wife did not like the sound of that. "It is best to let the dead enjoy their rest. I do not think it is a good idea to revive an ancient warlord, even if he is human. Who knows how much his values clash with modern human civilization. He may have more in common with the Ascended Giants than us. Will he be willing to help you defeat them if that is the case?"

"Hmmm, you’re probably right. It is best not to take the risk."

He went back to his search.

A moment later, Gloriana encountered another desirable enlightenment fruit that was unfortunately outside of her husband’s spending range.

"Look over here, Ves. This is exactly what you need, I think."

[The Lonely Spearmaster Manual]

Price: 150 Ascension Points

Imparts the technique and philosophy of the Lonely Spearmaster, a famed duelist who has developed a self-made spear style. While his self-made techniques lack the elemental refinements of many other weapon styles, it possesses excellent basic spear-wielding techniques that are versatile and can be applied in many different combat scenarios.

The Lonely Spearmaster’s combat approach possesses a strong emphasis on survival and counterattacks. A practitioner of his spear style primarily focuses on blunting an enemy’s offensive and waits for the right moments to parry and counterattack. This spear style performs well in most duels against single opponents, but fares worse when fighting against multiple enemies.

"Hm, you’re right. It does look appropriate for my current needs."

Ves could see the attraction in this fruit. It was quite reasonably priced. If he was able to scrounge up 110 AP, he would have felt tempted to redeem it right away.

Unfortunately, he could not even muster up this amount in a short amount of time. He had no choice but to turn away or hope that one of his golden lottery tickets could deliver it to him later today.

Perhaps he could use his radiant lottery ticket to aim for this enlightenment fruit, but that would most certainly waste the potential of the former!

Radiant lottery tickets could yield prizes of much greater value than an enlightenment fruit that Ves could readily obtain for 150 AP!

Ves shook his head. "The value of this enlightenment fruit sits in an awkward range. It is too cheap for a radiant lottery ticket, but it is too expensive to fall within my meager budget. I probably won’t be able to learn the Lonely Spearmaster’s tricks anytime soon."

They continued their search. There were not a lot of enlightenment fruits that primarily taught weapon fighting skills, and there were even less that imparted spearmanship in particular.

While there were a number of cheap enlightenment fruits that promised to impart knowledge on how to fight with knives, swords and so on, Ves deliberately ignored these offerings.

He would rather master a single weapon than become mediocre in wielding two different weapon types.

He admired the strength of Venerable Davia Stark, Venerable Rosa Orfan and Saint Dise. They were the most solid proof of how mastery in a single weapon type could elevate them to success.

That did not mean that wielders of multiple weapon systems were inferior, but Ves knew that he could not allocate enough time and resources into mastering so many different combat methods.

It was better to tighten his focus and ensure that the Dark Apostle possessed the qualifications to become a real champion.

[The Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method]

Price: 35 Ascension Points

Imparts a technique and weapon design developed by a forgotten spear tribe that can inflict great damage at a cost.

By concentrating fire energy into the tip of a specially made spear or other polearm that is already attuned with the fire element, the weapon can explode upon impact with an obstacle.

The higher the quality and the more fire energy it can accommodate, the greater the blast radius and blast power of the explosion. It is advisable to throw the spear as opposed to holding it in order to avoid getting affected by the violent discharge.

The spear used to launch this attack will be destroyed after releasing a blast. Only fragments of the weapon can be salvaged.

"This may be just what you need to finish off an opponent during a close fight." Ketis said with clear interest in this fruit. "You will need to design and make a spear or javelin that is specifically designed to work with fire energy in an explosive capacity. That might eat away at your mass allowance, but the power of this may be strong enough to make it worthwhile."

Ves felt a little more conflicted. "I have a suspicion that my mastery of the fire element will have a great influence over the potency of this technique. My comprehension of the fire element is not that impressive to be honest. It is considerably worse than my understanding of the water element, and it is far below my affinity towards the darkness element."

"So you will turn away from this fruit?"

"Maybe. Let’s keep it in reserve. It can still be useful if I can put my own spin on the technique. Let’s look at the remaining fruits. If there is nothing better, I will think about redeeming it. Using it may be costly, but the Red Collective has promised to supply me with most of the raw materials I need. I am more than willing to sacrifice a good weapon if I end up as a winner in the end."

They continued to examine the other enlightenment fruits that fell within his budget. Only a handful more promised to teach him how to impart one skill or another related to spearmanship, but they were all lacking in potency.

Ves already knew that what he would get out of these fruits would overlap with the spearmanship that he had already acquired from a previous enlightenment fruit.

He eventually decided to turn back to the Sacrificial Spear Throwing Method Enlightenment Fruit.

"Sacrificing an artifact for a momentary boost in power is a legitimate tactic." Ketis said as she understood Ves’ dilemma. "You are not used to treating your works as consumables, but there are times when there are no better options. Regardless if you attempt to pull a better enlightenment fruit from the Wishing Fountain, you should at least secure this method so that you have at least one strong finisher at your disposal. The lack of finishing moves can very well spell the difference between victory and defeat in duels."

She should know considering that she was far away the best fighter out of the three mech designers.

Ves hesitated for a dozen or so seconds, but eventually decided to redeem the enlightenment fruit.

"Here goes nothing."

He bit into his newly acquired fruit.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!