The Mech Touch

Though Ves questioned whether it was a good idea to pair the Monster Slayer design with a large, heavy and unwieldy greatsword, Ketis remained unmoved.

"I know what I'm doing, Ves. I planned out my Monster Slayer years ago. Every design choice I make is deliberate to a degree you can't imagine."

"You say that but you are still proceeding with a swordsman mech configuration that only a minority of mech pilots will adequately be able to pilot!"

Greatswords were difficult weapons to wield! Not only were they slow, heavy, and ponderous to move, they could also cause accidents because they were difficult to control!

The Swordmaidens may be able to wield them with great proficiency, but that was because they poured years or decades into mastering this difficult weapon!

Generally, mech cadets who trained in swordsmanship started off with familiarizing themselves in the use of one-handed blades. If they chose to specialize in this field, then they may train in other forms of swords, but rarely one as big and exaggerated as a greatsword!

This was why Ves grew concerned about Ketis' design direction for a mech she invested a lot of emotional attachment to. He knew that she treated the Monster Slayer Project as her baby and her passion project, so he did not want her to go down a path that led to a dead end.

Still, he underestimated her resolve.

She interrupted her work and turned to her former teacher. "I said I know what I'm doing. Do you think I don't know that most swordsman mech pilots aren't trained in greatswords? It's fine. My mech can handle a sword of this size and mass with greater control than other machines because it is the only weapon it is optimized to wield. Novices will find that it is easier to control the greatsword in battle as long as it is being wielded by my Monster Slayer."

"I can see how that works out, but that only addresses a part of the issue. All of that mechanical control won't mean anything if the mech pilot doesn't know what he is doing!"

"Are you sure about that?" Ketis smirked.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, come on, Ves. Have you already forgotten what I did with the Heart of Victor? It doesn't matter if my customers can't wield greatswords as good as my fellow sisters. As long as I employ my own techniques, I can embed the Monster Slayer design with a shadow of my swordsmanship skills!"

Ves widened his eyes. "Will this actually work? Instilling a whole new sword style to a mech pilot shouldn't be easy. Can your mech truly teach generic mech pilots to wield a greatsword as proficient as a Swordmaiden?"

Ketis shook her head. "I'm not that ambitious yet. The Swordmaiden swordsmanship style is too demanding and intricate to the uninitiated. Even if my Monster Slayer can act as the most direct instructor to its mech pilots, it will still take years before they actually master it in depth. This is why I plan to instill my mech design with a more simple and condensed set of techniques. The foundational greatsword style that I have constructed for my Monster Slayer is easier to learn and faster to achieve results. Even those who are already trained in wielding greatswords will receive a lot of help in shoring up their fundamentals."

This sounded a lot more reasonable. Ves realized that she had truly put serious thought in her passion project.

Still, Ketis was taking a major risk here. The Heart of Victor may have worked out, but that was with considerable support from his own design philosophy.

He wasn't sure whether the Monster Slayer could truly ‘teach' its mech pilots how to wield a greatsword to the point where they could confidently fight in actual battles.

It all depended on whether Ketis had sufficiently developed her design philosophy and more importantly her techniques. If she was overestimating her current capabilities, then she was heading straight towards disappointment if she proceeded on her current course!

Yet when Ves observed Ketis, he did not see a hint of worry, regret or uncertainty. She was so confident in her design direction that she did not think she was wrong in any of her assumptions!

In the end, he decided to trust her judgment. Ketis was a Journeyman who was not as ignorant about herself as before.

Even if she fell flat on her face, she would learn a valuable lesson about overestimating her capabilities and making promises that she couldn't deliver.

"What's the reason why you want to go down this route?" He asked.

Her eyes turned wistful. "I want to design a mech that can recapture the brilliance I experienced when I fought a duel against a monstrosity in the past. That life-and-death battle was one of the best fights in my life. I truly felt alive and inspired in a way that I can't replicate. The Monster Slayer is a way for me to commemorate and revisit this brilliant battle. Not only that, I hope to share at least a portion of what I experienced back then to my customers. I hope that they too can find meaning in their lives by fighting the most thrilling battles with my Monster Slayer. I can realize this effect a lot more effectively if I arm my mech with a greatsword than a weapon with better handling. Every move you make is risky. That makes every action more meaningful."

He understood what she was referring to. A light mech that was able to dart in and out did not need to commit to a confrontation. Its superior mobility along with its fast attack speed meant that it could launch a lot of careless attacks without suffering too many consequences as long as the techniques weren't too poor.

The Monster Slayer was more deliberate. Its margin of error was lower because a bad sword swing could easily expose a lot of openings that an enemy mech could exploit in order to inflict crippling damage!

"If you go through with this mech concept, you're going to make a lot of customers frustrated at first." Ves pointed out. "While I recognize that your mech has value, it takes time and constant piloting in order to see substantial improvements. All of those mech pilots who quickly try to make a name for themselves with the Monster Slayer will probably embarrass themselves and get defeated with ease. This will build resentment among your early adopters and will definitely reduce the perceived value of your first commercial mech design!"

This was a highly undesirable consequence because the Monster Slayer had to be profitable enough to be worth the effort of selling it. If it received too many negative reviews and if the word of mouth surrounding it was bad, then the mech market would quickly turn to more practical alternatives!

This could make a good product sink into the dark pretty quickly. Even if a small number of mech pilots gained a lot of benefits from piloting the Monster Slayer model, the overwhelming amount of negative word of mouth would make it difficult for the mech community to acknowledge the positive feedback!

Ketis finally showed a bit of uncertainty, though she soon steeled herself again. "You might have a point, but I believe in my vision. My Monster Slayer will be exactly what it needs to be. It will be my debut commercial mech design, so I want to send a message and turn it into a representative example of my future work."

"What message are you trying to convey, exactly?"

"That the customers of my mechs can learn new sword styles or master their existing ones as long as they use my products." She stated. "The effect of my message will be stronger if I start off with a swordsman mech configuration that is well outside the mainstream configurations. Think about it. If my Monster Slayer wields an average arming sword that is familiar to all melee mech pilots, how can my customer see a clear improvement in their skills? They will only grow a bit more skilled under the guidance of their mechs. Perhaps they won't even notice any difference!"

"I see."

By deliberately going out of her way to focus on greatswords, the Monster Slayer should be able to create a much bigger contrast between an uninitiated mech pilot and one that has piloted it for several months!

Once people repeatedly encountered instances where mech pilots who had no history with greatswords suddenly became deadly with them, then the mech market would fully realize the Monster Slayer's actual value.

Not only that, but a lot of mech pilots would also look forward to piloting the next swordsman mech published by Ketis!

This was actually quite a deep and intricate scheme. Though the failure points that Ves had pointed out were still concerning, the payout was immense as long as Ketis succeeded!

Ves had a misconception about the Monster Slayer. Ketis didn't intend to design an arena mech.

Her real purpose was to design a training mech!

By using its potent arena fighting capabilities as a disguise, Ketis sought to lure a lot of mech pilots into utilizing a mech that could turn them into mini-Swordmaidens over time!

Certainly, her ambition was light, but he liked that. As long as Ketis knew the risks, then he was okay with her plan!

"I like it." He said. "Your Monster Slayer will not only have a lot of value, but it will probably be utterly unique. No other mech will be able to do what you have accomplished. If everything goes right, your debut commercial mech design might even make history!"

Ketis grinned at his praise. "Hehe. I'm glad you think so. I've been thinking hard on what my work should be. While I will be making sure my Monster Slayer will be wielding a sharp blade, that is not enough to make my work stand out from yours. I want to prove to myself and to you that I can design a bestseller of my own design that is not any weaker or less useful than your Desolate Soldiers, Ferocious Piranhas or Valkyrie Redeemers!"

Though her Monster Slayer Project was still in its early stages, Ves was inclined to believe that she would succeed.

She was completely right. If the Monster Slayer became exactly as she envisioned, then it would truly be able to stand equal to his own bestsellers!

This would be the point where the student had truly caught up to the teacher. Ves would not be able to look down on Ketis as much as he did before.

Sure, Ketis cheated a bit by limiting her scope to swordsman mechs, but it was still a great accomplishment for her to be able to design mechs at this level so soon.

Ves was much less certain whether the other Journeymen of the Design Department could achieve this level of success.

Maybe Gloriana might be able to give him a surprise, but the rest were relatively ordinary mech designers with normal design philosophies. The chance that they would be able to design anything special without his assistance was low.

The two mech designers continued to discuss the other design characteristics of the Monster Slayer.

Ves mostly pointed out various specific design choices and challenged Ketis to provide him with reasonable justifications.

He was testing whether she had truly thought out all of the consequences of her decisions.

There were very few areas which she had failed to consider every variable. She knew swordsman mechs like the back of her hand and she only faltered when Ves brought up certain elements that were not a part of her core interests such as power reactors and sensor systems.

Aside from that, Ketis had already developed great ideas on how to design the proportions and the mechanical layout of the Monster Slayer.

"If you look closely, the Monster Slayer is actually modeled after my physique." Ketis pointed out. "I know my own body the best, so I can be absolutely sure that my mech will be able to wield its greatsword as well as possible!"

"That's… quite impressive." Ves remarked.

This was a design choice that only an anomalous mech designer like Ketis could make!