The Mech Touch - Chapter 6929 - 6929: The Astral Mirror
The formation master that already earned the moniker of Farseer possessed amazing capabilities.
She casually demonstrated her ability to observe distant locations by using a mirror made out of high-grade hyper materials to conjure up a view of an ongoing conference of a large industrial company taking place in a meeting room in Sandan down on the surface of New Constantinople VIII!
Ves looked impressed as he looked at what was basically a live feed of a sensitive corporate meeting!
“It even has sound!” He gasped in surprise. “Can you transmit messages through this mirror?”
“No.” Andrea Vos shook her head as she maintained her concentration to keep up the ‘live feed’. “Scrying is the act of glimpsing events from afar. My Astral Mirror can channel what I am able to sense on a surface that can be watched by others, but I am not able to establish a two-way communication channel. That requires a different set of techniques and spell arrays that I have yet to master.”
She maintained the scrying feed for a dozen more seconds before she cut it off. What she had done was technically a violation of privacy laws, but neither of the two cared about this little detail.
Ves thought of all of the implications of having a formation master who specialized in scrying in his crew. The Farseer had immediately demonstrated her value to him. He immediately concluded that he had to secure her allegiance.
Information was power. Being able to spy on unsuspecting people and aliens from afar was a fantastic capability!
Her addition to the Bluejay Fleet alone made up for the absence of a couple of human phase lords.
While those big boys from the Flesh Chopper Phalanx could help the Premier Fleet win battles that it otherwise should have lost, a strong intelligence asset such as the Farseer could help the Larkinsons avoid those costly confrontations in the first place!
The superior intelligence gathering capabilities of a specialized scryer was just what the Premier Fleet needed to navigate the dangerous new frontier!
It was not just the talented and capable formation master herself that caught his attention.
Her artifact also stood out to his senses. The ‘Astral Mirror’ was a highly decorative head-sized artifact that possessed a powerful presence on its own.
Although he was not entirely sure whether it could be classified as a high-level artifact, it was definitely a lot stronger and more special than the more mundane variety of artifacts.
Whoever designed and created it knew his way around with metals and materials. The masterwork artifact blended hyper materials and transphasic materials in a way that created a mirror with the express purpose of facilitating the Farseer’s scrying capabilities.
Ves’ sharp senses detected the typical signs of a formation anchor. The Astral Mirror was embedded with a permanent spell array that could save a formation master a lot of time and effort into performing the act of scrying.
What was more was that the artifact held a strong core of power that went beyond normal E energy manipulation.
Whenever he tried to probe it further, he felt a strong repulsion from the artifact. That was not normal, especially for an object that lacked the accumulation of growth.
“This mirror…”
The Farseer proudly smiled. “I exchanged a large amount of merits and savings to commission the creation of this Astral Mirror. The Industrial Department obliged and assigned this task to the Silver Artisan, one of its famed master goldsmiths and gemcutters. Together, the Silver Artisan and I have designed this artifact to not only facilitate and partially automate my scrying, but also increase my ability to overcome interference.”
“Is that a big problem?”
“Yes. As magical as my methods may seem, scrying is akin to creating an invisible but enormously lengthy telescope that is precisely focused at a distant location. It is not only difficult to pinpoint the right coordinates, but also overcome any factors that can disturb the scrying attempt. Excessive energy releases, cosmic radiation, stellar radiation, thruster discharges, electromagnetic jamming, E energy distortions, spatial distortions, true resonance and so on all degrade the ‘signals’ that I can project to the surface of the Astral Mirror.”
That caused Ves to frown. Scrying did not sound as reliable as he initially assumed. If regular sources of interference could degrade the quality of the scrying feeds, then the Farseer might not be able to observe as much as he hoped.
“So the artifact helps with counteracting all of this interference?”
“Yes, but only up to a point. The strength of my cultivation, the effectiveness of my spell arrays and my understanding of the relevant concepts are the key determinants to the range and fidelity of my scrying attempts. The Astral Mirror serves as an amplifier. It can make good scrying attempts better, but it will not help an incompetent formation master succeed. This is why no one else in the Moloch Squadron is effectively able to make use of it aside from myself.”
Ves looked closer at the Astral Mirror. The silvery and decorative artifact still possessed greater metaphorical weight than it should.
He had a feeling that he was missing an important detail.
“This artifact…”
“There is another important reason why this is a priceless artifact to many.” The former academic said. “One of the steps to crafting this mirror involves the ritual step of quenching it into a solution that blends phasewater, liquid hyper materials as well as a single drop of blood from the Spacelock.”
Wait, what?!
Ves looked at the woman in shock!
“You guys actually managed to request a donation of blood from a god pilot?!”
The Farseer’s smile grew wider. “Yes, but it is not I who made the request, but the Silver Artisan. His works have impressed several god pilots. The Industrial Department is filled with talents. Every cultivator has a use for powerful artifacts, which is why it has become one of the most profitable departments of the Red Collective. Multiple impressive master artisans have taken it over and turned it into a center of extraordinary artificing. I had to empty two centuries worth of savings and investments just to commission a scrying artifact that is strong enough to accompany me for many years.”
Ves looked impressed. He did not think she was lying because he had experienced the Spacelock’s immensely powerful presence in the past.
Although the Astral Mirror had only come into contact with a small portion of his blood, it still carried the echo of that signature.
That instantly made the artifact a lot more valuable!
The Astral Mirror was a specialized tool that could only demonstrate its true value in the hands of a formation master that specialized in scrying.
If Avatar Commander Melkor Larkinson got his hands on it, he would not be able to use it for anything aside from using it as a food platter.
That was because Melkor specialized in employing sealing-type spell arrays!
Scrying fell under the category of utility spell arrays, which encompassed a large and disorganized collection of qi formations that did not fit into the standard categories.
The value of scrying was undeniable to any competent military force, but not that many formation masters were willing to specialize in this esoteric field.
Not only was it a lot harder to master, but it also did not produce any dramatic effects on the battlefield.
That made the Farseer all the more precious. Ves was surprised that the Red Collective was willing to add her to the Moloch Squadron. He assumed that the RC would merely send a bunch of Journeyman-level qi cultivators that were only somewhat useful without possessing great strategic value.
He was wrong.
The willingness to send Formation Master Andrea Vos and her precious Astral Mirror showed that the collies were truly willing to invest in him and his future.
“So how does it help to quench this mirror in the diluted blood of the Spacelock?”
“It is considerably easier for me to use the Astral Mirror to scry past spatial disturbances.” The woman responded. “This is important considering that many alien starships rely heavily on phasewater technology. I am also able to spy on enemy phase lords, though depending on how perceptive they are, they may be able to detect my attempt and take measures to disturb my observations.”
Strong and perceptive cultivators generally developed senses that naturally made them more sensitive to unusual phenomena.
Scrying was a particularly targeted act of privacy invasion that had a greater likelihood of tripping alarms.
“So any strong cultivator can detect and interrupt your scrying attempts?”
“Yes, but as my techniques and mastery improves, I can lower the detection rate, thereby allowing me to spy on powerful individuals without getting caught.” The woman explained.
This reassured Ves. The Farseer might not be able to spy directly on powerful individuals in the present, but she should be able to improve that so long as she continued to progress as a formation master.
“What sort of people are more easily able to detect your scrying attempts?”
“From what I have been able to ascertain, most general qi cultivators of middling strength are not able to detect my scrying attempts unless they have been forewarned. It is much harder to remain undetected when they know what they are looking for. Aside from that, expert pilots and especially ace pilots can detect my scrying attempts right away. Their instincts are too sharp. Even if I do not dare to harbor any hostile intent, the mere act of intruding on the sanctity of their privacy already constitutes a hostile act from their perspective.”
It was a good thing the native aliens did not engage in willpower cultivation.
This also told Ves that there was peril in trying to scry other human forces.
The most important human command centers and headquarters tended to be guarded by ace pilots. They were too useful at preventing infiltration due to the effectiveness of their Saint Kingdoms.
“What about body cultivators such as alien phase lords? How well are you able to spy on them, madame?”
“The Astral Mirror is designed to counteract their spatial distortions more effectively.” The Farseer answered. “Even so, I cannot guarantee that my attempts will succeed. The human phase lords that I have practiced on are sharper than usual due to possessing companion spirits. Yet even without them, these superhumans possess expanded minds and greater awareness. If they are complacent, then it is easier for them to overlook suspicious signals. If they are aware of the possibility of scrying, then it is harder to catch them off-guard. The more powerful the phase lord, the more energy I need to expend to overcome their passive resistance. This subsequently makes it easier to detect my scrying attempts. I will still need to verify this in reality.”
Ves frowned in thought. “I see. What you said makes sense. I hope you will be able to improve your performance over time. Phase lords are by far the most important enemies that our Premier Fleet needs to guard against. The more intelligence you can collect on them, the better. In that sense, the Astral Mirror is precisely the right tool for the job.”
“Rest assured that I am actively in the process of improving and refining my scrying methods in this direction.”
“What about the other way around? While I don’t think the native aliens will be able to spy on us from afar, since you are able to do it, there has to be other formation masters that can do the same. How well will you be able to protect our fleet from unsolicited scrying?”
The Farseer smirked. “Since I am a competent scryer, I am also adept at preventing it. I may need the help of artifact makers, but I can design and make spell arrays that can block most common scrying attempts. Even if a more competent scryer than myself is able to overcome the blockade, my qi formations should at least be able to trigger an alarm that can notify you of a possible intelligence breach.”
“That sounds extremely useful. I will make sure that the T Institute and the rest of our clan will give you whatever support you need to put up these safeguards.”
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