The Mech Touch

Over several weeks, the Swordmaidens gradually began to stand out from the immense crowd of foreign competitors.

Plenty of strong and powerful swordsmen and mech pilots from different states managed to attract an abundance of attention during the boisterous festival. The allure and benefits of performing well in the Great Omanderie Festival were so great that a lot of foreign delegations trained just as hard as the seeded participants from the Heavensword Association!

Hundreds of notable competitors turned into stars overnight. Hundreds more faded into obscurity as soon as they faced defeat.

As the Swordmaiden competitors progressed through the tournament, the weakest amongst them already began to drop off. In the face of a huge number of well-trained and well-prepared competitors, the shortcomings of the Swordmaidens became increasingly more obvious.

Though the greatsword-wielding women always attracted a lot of attention due to the characteristic weapons they wielded, there were still adversaries who exerted enough control when facing such intimidating weapons.

The disparity became especially obvious during the mech combat matches. The Swordmaidens were still just getting started with the Diligent Mark XXIV while many other competitors had already mastered the ins and outs of this basic swordsman mech model.

Aside from standout mech pilots such as Commander Sendra and the rest of her five-woman team, every other Swordmaiden mech pilot ended their runs in the individual and group tournaments.

"These damn mechs are restraining us too much! It's too hard to swing a large sword with these weak-armed Diligents!"

"We still have Sendra to carry us forth in the mech combat tournaments."

"Don't count on her to go much further. She barely overcame her last opponent in the individual mech combat tournament. Her last group match was even more tragic. Only her own Diligent remained standing at the end of the match, and it had lost an arm and nearly its entire frontal armor in the process."

While the tournaments were about to reach their middle stages, the Swordmaidens already lost hope of reaching it for the mech combat tournaments.

If the Swordmaidens prepared for them a year in advance, then they might have been able to make it further. Even if they did not choose to wield shorter and more nimble swords, they could have still mastered the Diligent Mark XXIV's to a much greater degree!

"We came too late." Venerable Dise said to the glum Swordmaidens after the end of another disappointing day. "A year ago, none of us thought we would be taking part in the greatest swordsmanship tournaments in Majestic Teal. We were still piloting third-class mechs back then while either hanging out in Cinach VI or struggling to defeat Nyxian pirates. We have come far since then. This is our true victory. As for the Greater Omanderie Festival, this is just a recruiting venue to us. Let the Heavensworders obsess about reaching the finals. We have no need to earn supreme glory."

The Swordmaidens slowly cheered up after hearing this. Over the past few weeks, everyone slowly became immersed in the competitive atmosphere of the Omanderie System. The planet they were on along with the rest of the state had seemingly transformed into a huge celebration. No matter where people traveled, there was no way to escape all the news and gossip about the tournaments!

Venerable Dise looked expectantly at Sendra, Ketis and the rest of the elite personal combat team.

"That said, we still need to work harder in order to attract promising recruits. So far, the quality of swordswomen who applied to join our sisterhood is still on the low end. If we want to attract a greater quantity of promising mech pilots and infantry soldiers, we need to stand out from the crowd of other notable foreign competitors. At this point, we can only place our hopes on reaching the middle stages of the personal combat tournaments."

Ketis looked up at that. "Will you finally grant us permission to carry our Unending greatswords in the field?"

Several other Swordmaidens showed eager looks. While they understood the need for discretion, they long yearned to prove to the Heavensworders that they could compete on them on an equal basis!

The women had much greater hopes for their performance in the personal combat tournaments. While the Swordmaidens primarily centered around piloting swordsman mechs, they never slacked off when it came to pushing every single sister into becoming a great swordswoman in their own right!

The drop-out rate of their grueling training program was horrendous for that reason, but this was the only way to ensure that every woman that remained was fully qualified to fight side-by-side with other sisters.

This was also why it was so important to recruit a lot of swordswomen during the festival. If the Swordmaidens missed this opportunity, then there was no way to replenish their depleted numbers in a short amount of time.

With the other mech forces of the Larkinson Clan such as the Flagrant Vandals and the Penitent Sisters planning to bolster their ranks by adding at least a thousand mech pilots each, the Swordmaidens feared they would become completely irrelevant if they continued to be restricted to fielding a single mech company!

Venerable Dise exchanged glances with Commander Sendra. It was clear that they had already discussed their options beforehand.

Sendra took a deep breath. "After weighing our options, I believe it is best to keep our Unending armaments under wraps. There are two reasons for this. First, the Larkinson Clan is not on solid footing at the moment. That might make it seem we are vulnerable. I don't want to tempt fate even if the Heavensworders are doing a good job in maintaining order. We have already seen how that can go wrong in the Life Research Association."

"We have the backing of Miss Harcourt." Another Swordmaiden noted. "Won't she be able to cover for us even if we pull out weapons made with first-class materials? We are not the only competitors who have brought remarkable weapons to the arena grounds."

She was right. One of the reasons the seeded competitors managed to overcome many opponents with ease was because they relied on the power of their weapons to achieve crushing victories.

At their level of training and preparation, there was no need for the young Heavensword swordmasters to wield ordinary weapons in order to attain more practice.

They could easily obtain this training on their own terms. If they deliberately wielded ordinary weapons and happened to face off against a dark horse with unusual advantages, then these promising warriors might get knocked out of a tournament early, which would be a huge shame!

Commander Sendra sighed. "While there are certain groups of foreigner competitors who have shown swords that do not lose out to ours, their origins are much greater than ours. They come from powerful state-backed institutions or belong to a powerful noble house and such. Our Larkinson Clan can't compare to those big players at the moment, so if we pull out several powerful greatswords at once, we will only draw the wrong kind of attention. Miss Harcourt is a helpful host, but don't forget that she is just a Journeyman. The degree of cover she can provide is only so much."

Although her words sounded reasonable, the Swordmaidens were not resigned to this outcome. Why must they fight with one of their hands tied behind their backs while all of the others could bring all sorts of amazing weapons into the arena?

"She's not finished yet." Venerable Dise quieted the unruly Swordmaidens. "Let her continue."

Sendra smiled. "Do you really think we would decide to keep our heads down completely? Then you are wrong. While I still think it is best to keep our best weapons under wraps, I think we can still afford to show off one Unending greatsword. As long as one of us is able to make it further in the personal combat tournament with the help of this fantastic weapon, we will definitely be able to attract a lot of attention without drawing too many repercussions."

Ketis and the rest widened their eyes. This was quite a good solution to their problem! If they suddenly unveiled multiple Unending greatswords, then many people would think that the Swordmaidens must have more.

However, if they only pushed out a single sister with an exceptional weapon, then the public would just think that the Swordmaidens had already done their best to obtain it. This was not that unusual actually as multiple notable groups of competitors poured the bulk of their funding and resources onto their champions.

Many groups believed it was much better to field one excellent champion rather than five warriors who were merely 'very good'.

The Swordmaidens quickly looked amongst themselves. Who would be their lucky champion? After a few moments, their gazes soon shifted back to Commander Sendra.

Aside from Venerable Dise, no one was stronger than Commander Sendra. She was the natural choice to represent the Swordmaidens in this regard. The fact that she led their sisterhood made it even better. A strong leader always attracted a lot of interest in the organization they led.

Commander Sendra smirked. "I know what you are thinking. I don't think that any of you object if I become your champion, but I have a different idea. Ketis, what do you think about earning greater glory than the rest of us in the arena?"

"What?!" Ketis looked astonished. "You want to pick me? Are you sure? I can't beat you in a fair fight! I'm just a mech designer!"

"It's exactly because you're a mech designer that I have decided you are our best choice. If you think about it, what kind of champion is more remarkable, a dedicated mech pilot and warrior like myself, or a rare swordswoman who also happens to be a very competent mech designer?"

"That… is…"

It was difficult to argue with Sendra's logic. Ketis had already attracted some fame due to her unusual combination of competences.

Even though she didn't really feel she had become a true mech designer, that was only because she constantly compared herself to Ves. Having been stuck in her mentor's shadow for so long, she really didn't feel proud of all of the swordsman mechs she designed up until this point. Their quality was so much worse than the products of the LMC that she didn't even want any of her Swordmaidens to pilot her work!

"Don't look down on yourself." Venerable Dise softly said. "You are still young, and becoming a Journeyman is not too far away for you. That is already a remarkable accomplishment. From what I understand about mech designers, it takes a lot of work, effort and talent to become an Apprentice of your caliber. Many mech designers, including second-class ones, have to work full-time to reach your height, but you managed to do it while at the same time keeping up your swordsmanship. In any other state, you might sound like a fool, but in the Heavensword Association, you are the envy of many local mech designers!"

That was true. Angelique Harcourt frequently expressed her admiration and incredulity at Ketis.

Ketis looked a bit conflicted. "I'm not sure, commander. This is a major responsibility. While I am glad to receive this opportunity, I am afraid I won't be able to make it far enough than if you take my place."

Sendra stepped forward and patted Ketis' shoulder in a reassuring gesture. "It's okay. It doesn't matter what ranking you will reach. Just enjoy the experience and broaden your horizons. Dise and I have seen how much you revel in the personal combat duels. Each match not only makes you a better swordswoman, but also a more insightful mech designer, is that correct?"

"That's… right. Sometimes, I gain new ideas. Other times, I realize that some of my old ideas need adjusting."

"Then fight with your heart's content. We will all support you, Ketis. If you can make use of this opportunity to improve your ability as a mech designer, then we will all benefit a lot more when you finally design exquisite swordsman mechs for us. With all of the experience you have gained by competing against some of the rising young swordmasters of this state, your work has the potential to transform how we fight in the future!"

This was an ambitious vision! Ketis did not dare to think that she would be able to improve so much during the festival, but her eyes already started to burn with desire.

In order to avoid letting down the expectations of her fellow Swordmaidens, she was determined to make it into later stages of the personal combat tournament! As long as she was able to break into the top 1000, she would definitely be the first Apprentice Mech Designer to earn this honor!