The Mech Touch

Seeing that his clever daughter had become stumped by his inquiry, Ves did not hurry up to rush her. He also struggled over this issue for a long time, so he knew what it was like to find a hobby that he could devote himself towards.

Even now, Ves had never really found another hobby outside of his work. Perhaps he was able to find enjoyment whenever he worked on an off-beat project that was not directly related to mechs, but these moments were few and far in between.

There was just so much work for him to do. He did not mind his high workload at all because mech design was his passion and his love.

He did not want his firstborn daughter to develop a strong passion towards scheming and plotting overly complicated machinations. That was how other politicians and administrators tended to lose sight of their original responsibilities.

"Have you thought of any good ideas as of yet, Aurelia?"

His girl shook her head, causing her braided black hair to fling in a cute manner.

"No. Can you help me with this, papa?"

"Sure. Let's start with examining your companion spirit, shall we? Mana is a partial reflection of yourself. Her advantages are yours as well. It would be great if the two of you can compliment each other and make attainments that other kids like you cannot possibly match. If you are able to break into the upper echelon of your profession, you will be able to help our clan grow stronger even if 1 am not around anymore."

"Mrow mrow-"

While Ves spoke to his daughter, his companion spirit easily picked up Mana by the scruff of her neck and dragged the kitten closer.

"Mew-"

The differences in strength and development between the two companion spirits was massive. Blinky had particularly grown a lot stronger ever since he started to practice his Imaginary Universe Method.

While the Blinkyverse was still in a relatively poor shape after expending so much accumulated energy in the previous battle, its foundation was still intact. It would not take too long before it returned to its old state and continued to form a complete imaginary planet.

Mana was much weaker but also a lot simpler in comparison. Her head and eyes glowed a little brighter than the rest of her spiritual form. This indicated that she had managed to activate the buried potential of multiple organs, granting her an immediate affinity towards light and purity.

Aurelia could do a lot with these attributes.

She could become a singer that could soothe the minds of her listeners.

She could become a proselytizer that promised salvation to a lost flock of people.

She could become a director of entertainment shows.

Ves did not approve of these choices, though. They were either too mundane, too troublesome or too time-consuming.

He wanted his daughter to find a way to channel her passion in a more relaxed and healthy pursuit. It also needed to be valued by a community in order for it to become a viable commercial activity.

He began to think about whether she could imbue Mana's attributes into her works. Perhaps she might be able to use it as a form of creation cultivation. If her works provided solid benefits to people beyond their artistic qualities, she might be able to build up a lot of reputation and earn more money as a consequence!

"I know a lot about different arts and crafts." He told his daughter. "Even if I don't have much personal experience myself, Vulcan can get you started in nearly anything. We can hire tutors if you decide to choose a different kind of hobby. What matters is that you spend your time on an activity that you genuinely enjoy. Don't worry too much about making the wrong choice. You can always switch to doing something else if you find no more enjoyment in your current hobby. Life is about exploration. Everything you do will enrich your life one way or another. Listen to your heart. What does it tell you? What would you rather like to become if you were not born into the Larkinson Clan?"

The girl on his lap closed her eyes and tried to do what he suggested.

"Mew..."

Mana had also closed her cute little eyes while Blinky licked her pristine white fur.

It took a minute or so before Aurelia opened her eyes again. "I think I have found a possible answer."

"And what is that, my dear?"

"I want to train cats!"

"That's great to hear, Aurelia! So you want... to train cats?"

The eager girl nodded. "Let me show you what I mean. Clixie! Lucky! Can you come over, please?"

The two pets had been lounging on a nearby couch for a while. Upon hearing Aurelia's call, both of them raised themselves from their comfortable perch and moved closer with their tails raised in the air.

"Meow meow."

"Miaow-"

"How are you doing, Lucky? Have you recovered yet?" Aurelia asked with concern as she picked up the gem cat and examined his transformed body.

"Meow meow meow."

"I hope you recover quickly. It's no fun to stay sick for long!" She said before she put down Lucky in order to grasp the other cat. "How are you doing? Have you learned any new tricks as of late?"

"Miaow miaow miaow!"

Clixie grew oddly enthusiastic all of a sudden. The Rubarthan Sentinel Cat turned to face Lucky before she started to rub her jeweled collar with her paw.

"Meow...?"

Lucky started to have a bad feeling about this. Just as he was about to phase through the deck for safety's sake, the other cat had already made her move!

"MIAOW!"

A small cone of purifying light escaped from her maw and began to cleanse Lucky's unsuspecting body!

"MEEOOOW!"

The unexpected move completely took Lucky by surprise!

The gem cat jumped into the air and quickly inspected his own metallic body for any damage.

Nothing looked amiss. His newly obtained archemetal construction did not deteriorate in any way.

In fact, it was the opposite. Although the differences were small, Lucky grew amazed when he noticed that his joints felt smoother and that the internal stresses induced by overloading his body had faded to a small extent!

"Meow...?"

"Miaow." Clixie smugly responded as she planted her rear onto the deck. "Miaow miaow."

"Mew---"

Mana managed to escape from the clutches of Blinky and pressed up against Clixie. The two began to cuddle.

The relationship between the two cats was not normal.

Ves had already known that Clixie liked to hang out with Aurelia the most. He did not find it too surprising that they became so close that they developed a direct spiritual bond with each other.

What he did not expect was that this bond was able to do more than increase their intimacy.

Clixie had actually channeled a part of Mana's power as well as her own in that brief instance!

Although her technique was rough and not that strong, she had still displayed a capability that was similar to a cultivation spell!

The furry cat managed to do all of this without learning any formal cultivation techniques!

"Hihihi! Good job, Clixie!" Aurelia clapped her hands in delight.

At this time, Ves was no longer as casual as before. He examined his daughter, her companion spirit and Clixie with much greater scrutiny than before.

He made several new observations now that they were close and interacting with each other beyond a physical or emotional level.

The biggest finding almost shocked him to the core!

He found out that Aurelia had somehow been able to engage in a form of deity cultivation without really knowing anything about cultivation science!

The reason why she was able to do so had a lot to do with all of her blessings and gifts. Her abnormally strong spirituality and spiritually sensitive body had brought her a lot closer to the original state of a primordial human than other children.

While there were many advantages to this, one of the potential dangers was that gifted people like Aurelia were already capable of distorting reality without intended to do so! This could potentially lead to a lot of accidents if their whims took a darker turn!

What Aurelia ended up doing was not as concerning. Her studies along with her intimacy with Clixie caused her to subconsciously develop a spiritual bond that actually looked quite familiar.

The simple explanation was that Aurelia had turned herself into a design spirit!

A design spirit for cats!

This was quite absurd, but it made sense considering what she experienced in her life up to this point.

Aurelia had often been told that she was destined to become a leader, and her studies only reinforced that further.

She was also a Larkinson who inherited a strong liking for cats, not just Clixie.

Both of these traits combined into an expression that caused her to become a patron of cats, if only a prototypical one.

What Aurelia had been able to do was not that impressive, but this was just the start.

What would happen if she grew stronger? What would happen if exotic radiation had boosted everyone's strength?

Her deity cultivation was bound to produce more dramatic results by that time!

"There's also you." He said as he shifted his attention towards Clixie.

"Miaow?"

The Rubarthan Sentinel Cat was a biologically impressive creature, but she was originally not supposed to be gifted in a spiritual capacity.

That had slowly changed over the years, but Ves mainly chalked that up to her constant exposure to spiritual phenomena in the Larkinson Clan.

Now, he was able to see that Clixie had gained a lot of benefits from her active relationship with Aurelia!

Clixie had become an unintentional contract cultivator. She did not appear to possess any talent in cultivation, but she acquired extraordinary power by borrowing it from other sources!

What a mess.

This was the consequence of gaining power without knowing how to exert control over it. Ves became reminded of his mother's warning about how it was far too easy for people to suffer from cultivation deviation if they got too sloppy.

Fortunately, neither Aurelia nor Clixie were prone to doing this. They only acted what was natural to them, so their crude and unsophisticated methods did not entail much risk.

He decided to set his daughter straight after he came back from the conference. It would be a lot better if she practiced a proper cultivation method as opposed to channeling her power without proper awareness of what she was doing.

"Aurelia?"

"Yes, papa?"

"Do you truly like to play with cats?"

The girl nodded. "1 do! They're so cute, and they all like me as well. It doesn't take much to befriend them and have them follow my instructions."

Ves thought for a moment. "Would you like to turn it into a more serious hobby? We could have you train cats more seriously if you want. Once they have completed whatever training that you have set, you can sell them or gift them to other people that appreciate these kinds of pets. Does that sound fun to you, sweetie?"

Her eyes sparkled in a way that Ves had rarely seen from his daughter in the past.

"Ido! Ido!"

Aurelia genuinely developed an interest in this side occupation!

Although she found singing and dancing to be fun as well, nothing delighted her more than to spend her time with loving and attentive cats!

"You can try to be more serious about training cats, then." Ves said as he kissed his daughter's cheek. "Let's see whether you will continue to hold your interest in this activity in the months and years to come. Pets have always been an indispensable addition to human civilization. If you are able to excel as a cat trainer, you can build an entire army of superpowered cats!"

"Miaow!"

"Meow..."

"Mrow."

"Mew!"