The Mech Touch



Why had Ketis never heard about these supposed heroes and villains?

When had traditional swordsmanship ever been ubiquitous enough for skilled practitioners to exist in every state?

Ketis grew confused. Though she was not particularly well-versed in the history of the traditions of the Heavensword Association, traditional swordsmanship had never entered the mainstream of human society as far as she was concerned.

What Director Astoria Kelric just said did not seem to add up. Had someone censored the history books?

"I understand your confusion." The woman in charge of the resort floating above the streets of Kotor City spoke up. "It is difficult to reconcile what I have said with the information you currently possess. This is not a deliberate attempt to distort the history of our civilization. It is instead a consequence of trying to reshape humanity into a better and brighter future."

This caused Ketis to look offended.

"Are you saying that swordmasters are a bunch of murderous thugs?!"

"They are not necessarily detrimental, but they can be, just as any soldier or mech pilot." Astoria admitted. "In truth, it is the environment that shapes the warrior. In a distant past, there used to be many more swordmasters and swordsmen in general. This is a time where firearms and such had yet to become a prevalent weapon among our race. Limited technology combined with primitive societal norms have produced a culture where drawing one's blade against others used to be more common. Any human with a sword can pose a threat against another. A swordmaster is at least a hundred times as dangerous."

Although Ketis found it odd that Astoria remained a bit fuzzy about the period of history where all of this was supposed to take place, she could indeed imagine a primitive society where swordsmen and even swordmasters did as they pleased.

"We don't live in those ages anymore." She retorted. "I admit that swordmasters can do a lot of damage if they have grown corrupted, but we live in a better society now. Expert pilots copy many of our methods and most of them are honorable and upright soldiers as far as I have seen. The Heavensword Association has been working hard to foster a disciplined and law-abiding society where swordmasters can utilize their skills for productive ends. Many swordsman mech pilots flock to the state in order to learn its many remarkable sword styles."

Director Astoria remained impassive as she heard the response from the swordmaster.

"The Heavensword Association is tolerated exactly because its leaders and swordmasters go above and beyond to maintain a positive and peaceful environment for their national obsession. Think about it, Ketis. The state is literally founded around traditional swordsmanship. Every layer of society and every rule is related to it one way or another. It is only through so many measures that this practice has remained well-controlled and well-regulated."

All of this sounded a bit woozy to Ketis. She was not a leader and she knew little about how to run a state. She could only take Asteria's word that it took so many measures to keep sword practitioners in line.

"Fine. Let's assume this is the case. Is there really no way to spread traditional swordsmanship throughout the Red Ocean?"

"We can tolerate a small degree of dissemination." Director Astoria replied. "It does little harm to start a single school and allow for low-level swordsmen and swordswomen to teach their sword styles to others. The Heavensworders are also allowed to do that to a degree as we are aware that the threshold to become a swordmaster is unreachable to many people. It is only when swordmasters begin to get serious about passing on their practice to students on a wider scale that we begin to have issues with what is happening. They are unable to control so many disciples. Any one of them can turn into deadly criminals that can pose a significant threat to both the common folk and more important figures."

Ketis chuckled at that."Is there any need to make a distinction between the two? People are people. Everyone is equally vulnerable to get killed by a swordmaster as long as the distance is close enough. For example, you have always stayed within my lethal range. I only need to make a single move in order to chop your body in half. That doesn't mean I would go through with it. I can assure you that I and every swordmaster will only draw our blades against those who are asking for it. I am not different from a sniper, except I can't kill from a distance."

"That is where you are mistaken, young woman. It appears you truly do not know the implications of your own existence. Swordmasters such as yourself can perform feats that are impossible to perform by anyone else. Only high-ranking mech pilots can match or exceed your capabilities, but as we have discussed earlier, they are constrained by highly complicated mechs rather than a sharp lump of metal."

"Swords are more than a simple metal chunk with an edge." Ketis sardonically said.

"I do not mean to cause offense, but you should understand my meaning." Director Astoria bowed her head in apology. "I cannot go into too much detail about the historical context of swordmasters and why our Association does not want them to become too prevalent in today's society. You can go over what I have shared and draw your own conclusions. We merely wish to inform you of the sensitive nature of your profession and provide you with an understanding of what is permissible."

Permissible. Such a domineering word. The swordmaster in Ketis hackled at the MTA's attempts to impose limitations on a warrior such as herself.

She was a Swordmaiden!

Swordmaidens never bowed down to tyrants!

Unfortunately for her, the mechers were the biggest bully on the block, so she had little choice but to acquiesce to these bastards.

She now knew what it felt like to be in Ves' shoes. He most definitely had to work under a lot more restrictions than that given what he was capable of with his inventions.

The conversation turned into a more pleasant direction after that. Ketis still didn't understand the MTA's problem with traditional swordsmanship, so she tried to weasel out more information from Director Astoria.

"Wait a minute. If you don't want more people to become swordmasters, do you have a problem with the swordsman mechs that I have designed as of late?"

"What do you mean exactly, Ketis?"

"I have designed swordsman mechs that help mech pilots master powerful sword styles with much greater ease than if they learn from a teacher. My Monster Slayer allows my customers to master a style centered around greatswords while my Needle Dancer teaches a style related to fencing. Each of my mech designs have proven to be effective at passing on different sword styles, many of which are not that much inferior to the styles where entire sword schools have been built around."

"Ah. That." Director Astoria smiled. "We have no issue with that. The reason why that is the case is that the beneficiaries of your work are mech pilots. We see great promise in what you can do. If you are able to polish this design application further, you will likely become a popular mech designer among the pilots that specialize in wielding bladed weapons. I can also imagine that many swordsman mech specialists will be able to advance to the rank of expert pilot with the help of your teachings."

Ketis frowned in confusion. "I don't understand. Even if the ones that end up getting stronger are mech pilots, won't they be able to teach the same sword style or a different one that they have invented based on my teachings? I would imagine that you would grow a lot more concerned about the rapid spread of swordsmanship."

"Not so much, swordmaster. First off, we are talking about expert pilots. These are highly driven individuals who are mainly concerned with spending their time on developing their own strengths. Sword styles designed for mechs are not exactly the same as sword styles designed for humans. If they are in the mood to teach their skills, they will only think about passing on their skills to other mech pilots. Norms who are unable to interface with mechs do not fall under their consideration."

Ketis grimaced. That was quite true. It was a fact of life that mech pilots thought that they existed on a higher level than everyone else. The MTA's favoritism towards mech pilots exacerbated this phenomenon.

She felt rather relieved that the mechers put so much trust in mech pilots. It sounded as if it allowed Ketis to get away with her actions.

"I appreciate your tolerance, then." Ketis remarked. "Not all of the swordsman mechs that I intend to design in the future will come with free lessons, but I do intend to turn it into a signature feature in most of my mechs. Many ordinary mech pilots seem to appreciate it, and they can sorely use better instruction from a teacher who knows more about how to handle swords than any of the teachers they had before."

"And we look forward to your expansion. Just because we do not want ordinary people to learn powerful sword styles does not mean we hold the same stance towards mech piloting. It is one of the many reasons why we tolerate the Heavensword Association."

Ketis sighed. "This again. If you people are so afraid of traditional swordsmanship, why haven't you attempted to prohibit it completely? It seems you only want mech pilots to learn the stripped-down versions of swordsmanship that do not come with any bells and whistles."

The other woman took a sip of her cocktail as she thought about how to provide a satisfactory answer to the swordmaster's persistent question.

"Let me put it in the following terms. Swords are designed to kill, correct?"

"Yes."

"Swordsmen and swordsmasters dedicate their lives to mastering the ability to wield these weapons, correct?"

"Yes."

"There is no better method to mastering a powerful sword style than to use it in actual combat, as it was always meant to be used. In comparison, swordsmen who continually practice their drills in their practice yard or strike their weapons against each other during highly regulated competition environments do not experience as much improvement. Is this correct as well, Ketis?"

The younger woman glowered at the mecher. "You are not wrong in that. The same applies to mech pilots. They improve much faster when they go through real fights. That doesn't turn them into murderers. Swordmasters are the same."

"You underestimate the moderating effects of piloting mechs." Director Astoria said. "Fighting opponents by piloting a mech is a vastly different experience than killing people with a sword. The former is more impersonal because the pilot is mostly struggling to fight against large but sterile machines. The latter is more visceral because the wielder of a blade spills blood at close range. Can you see how the psychological impact of these two actions are far apart? Tell me honestly, Ketis. Have you ever developed the desire to keep killing once you have started to take numerous lives? Have you ever struggled to keep your cool during the heat of battle?"

"...I do." Ketis admitted. She had no choice but to tell the truth because that was the sort of person she was. "That is how true battles are like. Rationality takes a backseat while emotions drive you forward."

"That is what we fear, Swordmaster Ketis. Swordmasters are killers. Swordmasters are exceptionally good killers. Their training and life's mission inevitably revolve around the use of swords, which automatically means using it for its actual purpose. Do you know why many swordmasters in the Heavensword Association have never reached the rank of sword saint? This is partially the reason why. Swordmasters must step onto mountains of corpses in order to develop their sword styles further. You are no exception to this rule. I fear that there may come a time where once you enter into combat once again, you are unable to control the demon deep inside of yourself."

"A demon?"

"A demon." Astoria confirmed. "The more you kill, the stronger it becomes. We have… sources that state that many swordmasters do not end up well after killing one too many enemies. The psychology of killing so many organisms at close range is so corrosive that it can destroy even the mightiest of warriors. Take care not to fall into this abyss."