[1-200] THE MECH TOUCH

Chapter 105: Meeting

When Ves stepped into the floating room, he encountered a plain white room. Far from the luxuries he imagined in his mind, the room only contained two comfortable chairs facing its each other. The only other thing that broke up the room's monotony was a floating piece of ore.

The mineral must be something interesting to be worthy of display. Ves tried to dig through his head of any exotics that matched the ore's appearance. After a couple of seconds of fruitless searching, he gave up guessing and followed his new master to the chairs.

"Please take a seat." Master Olson gestured as she took the seat closest to the floating chunk of ore. Her admiring gaze suggested that she'd sell out her parents in an instant in order to secure it. Sadly for Ves, she felt no need to explain the origins of the ore.

After a minute of silence, Olson finally redirected her attention. With an emotionless expression, her eyes ruthlessly scanned his body and his average clothes. Compared to the finely detailed layered dress that Olson wore, he might as well look like a pauper.

"Tell me in your words why I have decided to take you on as my apprentice."

The master obviously gave him a test. Ves already expected something like this, so he simply answered as honestly as possible without pause.

"I have a solid foundation and while my skills aren't impressive, my highly developed mechanics is most compatible to your specialties. In contrast, most of the other designers chose to specialize in more exciting fields first, which won't make them good seeds for a specialization into engine design."

Olson idly tapped her chin with the tip of her finger. "You are partially correct. While your foundation is comparable to a top alumni from Leemar, your mathematics is woefully underdeveloped. No, underdeveloped is putting it lightly. It is abysmal."

The master slammed her palm onto her seatrest, expressing her dissatisfaction quite firmly to Ves. "Math is the true foundation of our profession! Do not think you can get away with outsourcing all of your computing to automated processors! While they may be able to simulate any model, it is you who will have to construct the models in the first place!"

While Ves could reply that he could hire a mathematician to do all the heavy lifting, he found it prudent to remain silent. In truth, he prioritized the development of skills that provided a more immediate return on investment.

"I will provide you a list of recommended textbooks that you can browse in the Clifford Society's virtual portal. As my apprentice, your starting rank in the Society will automatically be set to Knight. As a Knight, you are entitled to expanded access to our internal library."

Ves silently sighed in relief once Olson referred to him as her apprentice. He hadn't screwed up in any way or made some kind of faux pas that caused the master to reconsider her choice. Right now, he only wished to keep his mouth shut and survive this meeting with his new status intact.

"As you can see, your skills and knowledge are insufficient. There are several other young mech designers who can easily outrace you in that aspect. So tell me, what else distinguishes you from those more talented than you?"

"No matter how impressive they are, most of them have lost. I'm one of the only three who made it past the finish line. Perhaps I'm lucky, but my decision-making has brought me this far. I might not be the smartest designer, but I'm confident that I can match the best of them in terms of wits."

"That is a bold statement." Olson nonchalantly replied. "Whether it is true or not, it is something you should consider for yourself. Let me ask you another question. How many mech designers are stuck in the novice phase?"