The Mech Touch

"So how are you doing as of late, Ketis?"

"I am doing well enough. I settled down a lot in Davute." Ketis calmly replied as she strode alongside Ves as they walked down the corridor. "I never imagined that I would start a family with a man like Joshua when I was younger, especially not in a place as far away as the Red Ocean. Everything has been a dream to me in the last 5 years. In hindsight, I truly needed this for myself. While I haven't been able to improve my swordsmanship as much, I had a lot of time to stabilize my foundation and teach other Swordmaidens. Aside from that, I also fixed my biggest shortcomings in my mech design career. My knowledge base is no longer as shallow and my design experience is finally catching up to yours."

Ves smiled. "Hmm, it sounds like you have made good use of the time we stayed in Davute. It's the same for me. While I haven't been able to come up with too many paradigm-breaking inventions, I'm a lot better equipped to design mechs at my current level."

Ketis turned her head towards him. Her lips slowly curled into a grin.

"It's not enough anymore, isn't it? The calm and peaceful life we had before sounds like paradise to so many people. Even the people around us think that there is nothing wrong with staying in Davute forever. It's different for us. We are people who are born for the wild. The more things remain quiet, the more we become restless. Those of us who live for the thrill can never become satisfied with the status quo. Even our families can't hold us back."

"Hehe, I can't hide it from you, Ketis. At certain times, I thought about cutting our recuperation period short. Davute is a great place to start a family, but it's not that conducive to accelerating my progress. It's no wonder that so many Apprentices, Journeymen and Seniors need decades to make substantial progress. They have all become stuck in their own little comfort zones that are many light-years away from the conflicts where their products get embroiled in life-and-death struggles. It becomes frustrating to talk to those soft mech designers who have never spilled blood or witnessed death up close."

Perhaps other people might consider Ves and Ketis to be mentally ill or damaged in their heads for harboring this mindset, but neither of them thought that there was anything wrong.

Not even having kids could tame their restless hearts. Their desire to protect their children and raise them in a safe and comfortable environment could not beat their ambition to grasp greater opportunities.

Nothing as exciting and rewarding as the Purgatory Campaign had occurred during the time they resided in the middle of a booming and increasingly more prosperous port system.

Attaining more market share and earning the respect of their colleagues in the local mech industry was nice, but both Ves and Ketis had always understood that their true worth lay in the power of their mech designs.

Seeing their progress slow down year after year due to lack of inspiration and pressure was intolerable to them. Becoming a father or a mother did not change the fact that both of them had evolved into transcendent humans whose lives became intertwined with mechs.

Their urge to design better and more useful mechs was grafted into their spirits. It was an addiction that they could never cure because it had become the center of their lives.

Though both of them were fine so far, as long as their design work stagnated for too long, they would undoubtedly become lesser beings. Their passion and love for mech design literally kept them alive in their truest sense.

Both of them shared an understanding glance. Operation Saturday Market had successfully stoked the flames in their hearts. It only took a single major battle for Ves and Ketis to get fired up again!

The resuscitation of their passion along with the immense amount of gains they harvested from the previous battle fully vindicated the decision to move away from a peaceful environment like Davute.

"Are you working on any big plans now that you've gained a lot of insights from the last battle?"

"I do have a number of ambitious projects on the agenda, but I am not certain they are viable yet. I still need to flesh out my ideas and find out whether they are worth my time before I go through with any of them. I don't intend to stay still, though." Ketis replied.

"Can you share the most interesting idea that you are entertaining at the moment?"

The powerful swordmaster and Journeyman paused for a moment. She had built up plenty of interesting proposals over the years, but it was not easy for her to determine which one would excite Ves the most.

"I've been making preparations to found a new swordsmanship school in the Red Ocean." She finally decided to share.

"Huh?" Ves directed a confused look at her. "Aren't you already in charge of the Annihilator Sword School?"

"The Annihilator Sword Style is strong, but it has never fit my own personal brand of swordsmanship." Ketis replied while shaking her head. "Don't get me wrong. It is highly destructive and I am certain that I can advance it further if I spend more time on deepening its sword techniques. I just don't think I am the right person to do so. I plan to resign as the head of the Annihilator Sword School so that there is nothing holding me back from starting my own sword school. It won't be limited to our clan either. I plan to set up branches in Davute and more places so that many more people can learn how to fight without relying on mechs and guns."

This sounded a lot more serious to Ves than founding an online tutoring class. Sword schools were serious businesses and organizations if they were set up according to the traditions of the Heavensword Association.

From what Ves knew about them, sword schools were the equivalent of clans and families in the swordsmanship-obsessed state. Every member's status and decision-making power was based on their mastery of swordsmanship rather than their bloodlines, which turned sword schools into surprisingly effective meritocratic organizations.

Talents were much less likely to get buried as long as they had hope of advancing to swordmaster and beyond!

Of course, the flaws of valuing an individual's swordsmanship ability above any other qualifiers came with its own set of flaws. Scientists, engineers, mech designers and other intellectuals simply didn't gain the respect they deserved.

This was also what made Ketis so special in this highly martial community. She was both a powerful swordsmaster and a clever Journeyman Mech Designer. She was a completely unprecedented existence that had a higher chance of accomplishing even more impossible feats in the future!

Ves already guessed that this new sword school of hers might be of great significance to her future growth.

"I can understand it if you want to start a formal sword school so that you can teach our Swordmaidens and Heavensworders how to cut through solid metal, but why go further than that, Ketis? Is there any special reason why you want to set up branches throughout the Red Ocean?"

"It's a complicated story."

"I can handle complicated stories."

"Well, to keep it short, I have always been thinking about passing on my responsibilities as the director of the Annihilator Sword School back to Fred Walinski. He has worked almost his entire life to catch up to his late brother, but never managed to become a swordmaster due to his lower talent and lack of help. This is why I have tutored him in the past few years. I've taught him and guided his efforts in deepening his mastery of the Annihilator Sword Style at least once every week."

"Oh? Has your efforts yielded any fruit?" Ves curiously asked.

In his impression, Interim Director Fred Walinski was an old man who had already exhausted all of his potential and busied himself with administrative affairs. He served as a competent manager who could exert a semblance of control over the rowdy Heavensworders in the clan.

"It took more time than I initially thought, but Fred has finally come close enough that he is able to figure out how to complete the final steps himself." Ketis swelled with pride. "At this point, any further teachings from me are counterproductive. He needs to step out of my system and be able to stand firm on his own. He won't be able to transform his willpower if he keeps looking up to me and his late brother."

Certain people could easily break through this barrier while other people found it a lot more difficult to stop relying on others. Fred Walinski's problem sounded similar to that of Legion Commander Taon Melin. Both of them were too accustomed to relying on the help of others.

Ves politely smiled. "Well, I wish him good luck. So what will happen when he finally overcomes this hurdle?"

"I will place the mantle of the Annihilator Sword School back to its rightful owner where it belongs in the first place. After that, I will work together with the Heavensword Association to formally found my own sword school and register it at all of the appropriate institutions. Once that is done, I will work closely with the Heavensworders to train new sword initiates that can serve as instructors before sending them off to the new planetary branches."

Those were big moves, but Ves grew skeptical whether those schools had any appeal.

"You're not operating in the Heavensword Association here, Ketis. The culture is completely different in the Red Ocean. In fact, there is no unified culture here because everyone comes from many different places of the old galaxy, but I'm pretty sure that not a lot of people are interested in traditional swordsmanship."

"I don't expect our branch schools to become instant hits. It is enough for them to attract those with discerning tastes and wish to learn deeper swordsmanship than the ones that are taught in mech academies. Don't forget that every serious sword style can display a lot of power in mech combat. This is why I initially plan to market my new school to mech cadets and mech pilots who specialize in swordsman mechs. Once they catch on to how my sword style can truly help them increase their ability to cut through tough and resilient mechs, I think that will be the point where my sword school will truly become a popular institution in the Red Ocean!"

Ves finally understood what Ketis was going for to an extent.

The motivations that drove her to start this new initiative were similar to the ones that prompted Ves to start the First Star Mech Academy and get into the educational sector.

There were many advantages to teaching future mech pilots! Ketis could not only market her distinctive commercial swordsman mechs to her own 'students', but she could also spread her influence in this frontier-wide subcommunity and slowly grow into one of its leaders!

Of course, Ketis wasn't the only one who benefited from this development.

"It sounds like the Heavensword Association is doing a lot to help you realize all of these plans." Ves spoke.

"That's correct." His former student frankly admitted. "We agreed to work together in order to advance our common cause of spreading traditional swordsmanship to the masses. You might not know this, but the Heavensword Association attaches a great degree of importance to reverse the decline of traditional swordsmanship. The Red Ocean is still a fresh environment and everything is still in flux. It is much easier to revitalize traditional swordsmanship in the new frontier than back in a stuffy place like the old galaxy."

"If that's the case, then why aren't the Heavensworders doing this already? They have plenty of Swordmasters."

"They have already done that, but the new sword schools they have founded in the Red Ocean have failed to attract enough interest. This is why the Heavensword Saint himself is so eager to cooperate with me. I am a part of the mech community and my products are already being used by many mech pilots. That will help a lot in making my new sword school popular."

"I see. So you're playing the role of a celebrity spokesperson, am I right?"

Ketis smirked at him. "Don't compare me to those useless influencers who can't do anything but act cute in front of a recording device. I can cut through solid armor with my Bloodsinger. My martial strength is enough to earn the respect of my target audience."