Chapter 6765 The Importance of Convictions

After a fruitful talk, Saint Stark gained a much better understanding of the difficulties she needed to overcome to become a peak ace pilot.

More importantly, she also gained a slightly greater understanding of how hard she needed to work in order to raise her chances of making it past the chasm that separated ace pilots from god pilots.

From the moment she gained a powerful Saint Kingdom, Davia Stark already had to begin her preparations to successfully complete the infamous Mech Body Merger Process.

Just thinking about the depressingly low success rate could drive any ace pilot to despair.

Making an attempt was no different from trying to win the lottery by using their lives as payment!

So many heroes in the past had tried their best. Their preparations were excellent. Their ace mechs had received improvements that put them several generations ahead of the prevailing standards. Everyone thought that they must be the exception to the rule.

Yet no matter how confident they were and how strong their willpower had grown, they picked a fight against reality, and reality won out in the end.

"Becoming a god pilot is not an entitlement." Aloretzi Chevor summed up in a grave tone. "It is a reward for all of the pain, hard work, successes and strokes of luck that you have experienced over your active career, Blind effort alone will not get you very far. You need to be thoughtful of your words and deeds, and you must constantly stay true to your convictions. Nobody else is forcing you to impose inhuman demands on yourself. Only you must do the job of motivating yourself to suffer in pursuit of greater strength. Your progression as an ace pilot is a long rehearsal and practice session for the time you step on the road to no return."

That last remark was an interesting opinion.

"Are you saying that the Mech Body Merger Process is like trying to grow from a junior ace pilot to a peak ace pilot all over again?" Stark questioned.

"Partially, my guest. Obviously, the duration is not nearly as long, but therein lies the challenge. You must do everything I have mentioned before in a highly compressed timeframe. Speed is of the essence, but you must produce results as well. You must produce a lot of results. Not only must you confront any of the remaining illusions and falsehoods that you have overlooked, you must also prove your convictions in the most dramatic fashion possible. Your feats must be far beyond the realm of mortals in order to prove that you have the makings of a god."

Stark picked up an unusual piece of information. "Wait. Is that why all of those god pilot candidates attempted to complete legendary deeds? It is not the acts themselves that matter, but how extensively they advance your goals and ideals that is important." Jeri Chevor clapped in response. "Exactly, Davia! You are picking this up quickly. That makes this conversation easier for us. When you tread on the road to no return, you should not think of remaining cautious and trying to play it safe. From the moment. you take this fateful step, you must cast aside all restraints and do whatever it takes to reach your goal without compromising your morals and principles. You must set an impossibly high demand for yourself, and try to meet it in a timespan that is so short that no mortal or halfgod can make enough progress."

"And do not try to game this process." Alo warned Stark. "The few ace pilots that tried to set a challenge that sounds difficult but is actually easy for them to solve by relying on loopholes have all become fallen heroes. God pilots cannot lie to themselves. Trying to become one while engaging in self-deception is the height of stupidity. You will know in your heart what challenges you set are difficult enough to prove your conviction."

That was important information. Saint Stark would have learned it sooner or later, but it was best to understand it early so that she could make advance preparations.

As she processed the information, she gradually began to frown when she stared at the twin saints.

"Since the ultimate challenge is related to your convictions, what sort of test do you intend to subject yourselves to, if I may ask? Unlike most ace pilots, you have made a vow to never kill again. How are you supposed to complete a deed that exemplifies your principles? Will you try to convince the Rubarthan Pact to embrace peace? Will you convince the aliens to stop fighting against red humanity?"

"Those are fine goals, but the standards you have set are too high," Jeri chuckled for a moment. "The test should be difficult enough that only god pilots can pass it. That is enough. You do not need to go any further. The road to no return is all about proving you deserve to become a god by achieving the results of one while you are still an ace pilot. You need to punch above your weight in such an impressive way that reality itself is willing to bow down to you to facilitate your breakthrough."

"Think about the feats that other god pilots have accomplished in order to trigger their third breakthroughs." Alo said. "The Light of Sol is one of the simplest examples that you can find. Speed is his obsession and conviction. It is clear that his aspiration is to move as fast as the speed of light in realtime. No mortal pilot or machine had done it before. The Terran used the utmost of his exceptional god mech candidate and leveraged his willpower to the utmost in order to break the barriers that stood in his way. From what we can gather, he was literally burning his own life in order to produce enough speed to break reality to such a strong extent. That has sublimated his willpower so much that he managed to pass the impossible threshold. That chance

was enough for him to complete the Mech Body Merger Process and successfully become a human god."

Saint Stark envied the Light of Sol. The famous Terran god pilot did not have to deal with so many choices and confusion.

His conviction was really simple, so it was rather simple to devise a challenge that was beyond his ordinary capabilities, but could still be overcome if he just pushed himself a lot harder than before.

Others did not enjoy this privilege. Davia Stark and the Stewards Siamesia were both driven by far more complex social goals and convictions.

What they sought was to produce a profound change in human society.

It was one thing to play into the values and beliefs that people actively supported.

It was another thing to enlighten people who were unwilling to change their minds! Stark frowned deeper. She gained a much better understanding of how difficult it would be for her to complete the Mech Body Merger Process.

The twin saints clearly sensed the changes in her mood.

"Do not assume the greatest burdens right away." Jeri advised. "Take this one step at a time. Planning is important, but it will take at least several decades before you must seriously consider these matters. For now, you must invest much more attention on growing your resonance strength. This is essentially increasing your combat power in a short amount of time."

"There are several ways to grow your resonance strength as an ace pilot, much of which you should already know." Alo continued. "What is different from back when you were still an expert pilot is that your growth no longer affects your resonance shield, but your Saint Kingdom. Since it covers such a large volume around your ace mech, it is far more than a defensive tool. It is the domain in which you have much greater control over the space. The extent that you can manipulate reality inside your domain is directly tied to your resonance strength. Your resonance strength is directly affected by the strength of your convictions and how your understanding of yourself

has grown."

The female twin spoke again. "Convictions do more than raise the numbers of your resonance meter. They shape your domain field according to your beliefs. You should already be able to feel it yourself. Our domains should make you feel more at peace. Your domain makes us feel that you are willing to use the power of light to take lives in order to save lives. These short and overly simplistic descriptions are enough to describe the essence of our existence. Our domains literally announce who we are to the outside universe. The greater our confidence in our convictions and beliefs, the stronger our domains become."

It all came down to convictions. The rules and goals that high-ranking mech pilots

strove for were all means to refine their willpower and prove that they were worthy to

ascend to godhood.

Saint Stark's heart grew heavier when she made that realization. Quitting was not an option. Once she made a vow, she had to see it through for the rest of her life.

That may not be a problem for some high-ranking mech pilots, but what if her conviction involved tearing down the hypocritical mechers and fleeters? Perhaps it might not be a problem to pursue the downfall of the RA and the RF in an age where aliens became irrelevant, but this was different!

If she tried to topple them both when they were the best bulwarks against alien aggression, then Saint Stark could not bring herself to make life worse for human

civilians!

Fortunately, all was not lost. She did not have to complete a goal that was too

immense in scope. Perhaps she might be able to get away by assassinating the worst

of the Red Two.

Of course, there was no way she was willing to share these thoughts to others. Saint Stark quickly set aside these subversive ideas and focused on the present. "My domain is rather rudimentary at the moment." Stark said. "Do you have any advice on how to develop it quickly enough to make a difference in the next fight?" "If you want to produce quick results, then figure out how you can best mirror your strongest purpose and convictions into your domain field." Jeri suggested. "Yours involve a combination of light, killing and salvation. We cannot share any insights related to the concepts of light and killing, but we do have an extensive understanding of the concept of salvation."

Alo shook his head. "Let us not share too much, sister. Everyone's understanding is different, and that is how it should be. Even though we are not completely aligned with each other. It is the slight differences that make our long-time cooperation all the more stronger and fruitful. Davia, we can share tips and reference information to you, but you must never blindly copy our methods and approach. You are a very different ace pilot, so you must devise your own solutions."

"I understand, Alo. I am already accustomed to doing so in the Larkinson Clan. I am still curious to what you have to say about salvation and how you can possibly apply it

on the battlefield."

"Due to our vow to cease taking lives, we cannot achieve an impact on the battlefield in a direct manner by killing enemies such as yourself. We have to be more indirect about making a difference. This is why we are deliberately piloting an ace support mech." Jeri stated. "The amount of enemies we have killed is an invalid measure of our combat results. We can only measure our success by counting how many friendlies we have saved from worse fates. Our Lamia Kailamassu is therefore equipped with a rich suite of non-lethal solutions that can enhance friendlies and disrupt friendlies. What we have sacrificed in killing potential, we have gained in our ability to support our own side better than most of our peers."

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