The Mech Touch

Venerable Joshua and the Everchanger both grew dejected from their failure.

The Everchanger lamented that his outdated tech and materials held his battle partner back from winning this crucial test.

The First Sword was in a similar position, but she was still able to give her pilot just the right amount of support to facilitate her breakthrough.

The direct comparison between success and failure made the living mech's lack of positive results a lot more glaring.

Was it because of the Everchanger's messy configuration of Ascension Runes?

The First Sword only ever specialized in one mode of combat, so all of her Ascension Runes were focused on making her armor tougher and her attacks hit harder. This was how the expert swordsman mech effectively channeled the growth of its spiritual foundation in a useful direction.

The Everchanger pursued a different strategy from the onset. As a mech that was able to change his design spirits on command, he had given up on pursuing maximum combat power and instead went all-in on maximum versatility.

This was why the growth of his spiritual foundation became dispersed as he invested a handful of Ascension Runes into a dozen different Ascension Paths.

For example, the Everchanger had invested 5 Ascension Runes into the Path of the Illuminator.

This not only increased the firepower of his Vitalus luminar crystal rifle by a small margin, but also made it easier for Venerable Joshua to resonate with the weapon, thereby amplifying its damage even further.

Yet in the recently concluded duel against the Teenage Swordswoman, the highly damage-resistant properties of heavenly energy almost completely negated the damage potential of the Vitalus!

This not only invalidated the Everchanger's ranged capabilities, but also wasted the Ascension Runes invested in this area!

The Everchanger had always been designed to function as a quintessential hero mech.

He was never designed to function as a pure swordsman mech like the First Sword or as a pure rifleman mech like the Promethea.

Stripping the melee or ranged capabilities from the Everchanger resulted in a half-baked expert mech whose remaining combat power could never match up against a proper swordsman mech or rifleman mech.

This shouldn't have been a disqualifying factor. The original intent of a hero mech was to utilize its strength to target an opponent's weakness.

In the years since Venerable Joshua began to pilot what he considered to be his ultimate dream mech, he had always managed to make use of this advantage to make himself at least somewhat effective on the battlefield.

Even if he was not able to gain the upper hand in a fight, he was still able to hold his own on the battlefield. Powerful hero mechs rarely fell into a heavy disadvantage.

None of that happened today.

The Everchanger failed. This was indisputable. Venerable Joshua failed as well, but his mech certainly did not help to bail him out this time.

Should most of the blame fall upon the Everchanger, whose pure melee combat capabilities were clearly below standard?

Or should Venerable Joshua bear the greatest guilt for his refusal to sufficiently prepare himself for this rare accident?

There were no simple answers to these questions. Everyone had a different opinion on this matter.

Not that it mattered to the enemy. A defeat was a defeat. No explanation could make that go away.

Venerable Joshua and his battle partner were rather 'lucky' that they discovered this major shortcoming and encountered a setback during an artificial trial rather than in the middle of a real battle.

The native aliens would never withdraw and allow the ineffective Everchanger to get away intact!

Yet this outcome brought even greater shame to Venerable Joshua.

The Teenage Swordswoman never went all-out into trying to destroy his mech and take away his life. The thought that she could have fought more effectively and defeated the Everchanger a lot faster damaged his confidence even further.

It was not good for an expert pilot to lose his confidence, yet Joshua could not maintain the illusion that he was strong for his rank.

In other words, Joshua recognized that he was not ready to ascend to a saint.

Unless he managed to overcome the weakness that left him helpless in his duel against the Teenage Swordswoman, he would never be able to enter the proper mind state that would allow him to advance to the next rank!

Though Joshua had lost much of his pride and confidence in himself, he still kept his Everchanger in the vicinity of the lone combat carrier.

No matter what, he still had an obligation to protect Ketis against threats that she could not handle by herself.

If the Heavensword's next move was to force his wife to become its Heavensword Saint, then Joshua could not stand by even if he knew he stood no chance against the relic sword!

"Ketis." The depressed expert pilot contacted his wife.

"What is it, Joshua?"

"Why do you think I lost? Am I not versatile enough, or did I spread out too much?"

"...Do you want me to tell the truth?"

"It would be better if you did so. As an expert pilot, I need to be able to face the truth no matter how unpleasant it may be. I need to do better next time, but I don't know what I should fix if I haven't properly diagnosed my own problem. I need an outsider's perspective to set myself straight."

Ketis looked surprised. "That is a remarkably thoughtful and sober response towards your defeat. A little humility can never do a mech pilot harm, so long as it remains temporary. Well, if you want to hear my thoughts, then I will share them with you. Just be aware that my verdict may not be correct. I am just telling you your deficiencies from the perspective of a swordmaster as well as a mech designer, understand?"

"I get it. I trust your judgment."

Ketis briefly paused before she voiced her opinions, aware that she may end up leading her husband astray if her judgment was wrong.

"In my opinion, you have two major problems. First, your fundamental fighting skills are too poor. I know this is not necessarily a demerit when piloting a hero mech, but not every enemy will fall into the category of being vulnerable to your sword or your rifle. Your recent duel has proved that you are completely vulnerable to opponents who are powerful and skilled enough to withstand both of your armaments. At that point, you have no choice but to rely on the tools you have available and use whatever strengths you have to overcome the enemy's own advantages by force. This is why Saint Dise was able to win her duel while you did not. If you invested more effort into polishing your swordsmanship, you could have at least forced the Teenage Swordswoman into a draw."

Regret suffused Joshua's mind. He thought back on all of the training and sparring sessions organized by his wife.

Ketis enthusiastically tried to pass on her love of traditional swordsmanship to him, but he had always rebuffed her attempts because he had no passion for this discipline.

Joshua should have forced himself to take her lessons more seriously and improve his ability to defeat difficult opponents with the sword alone.

It was too naive for him to assume he could solve every opponent by relying on his admittedly middling attainments in swordsmanship and marksmanship.

"Before you think about taking remedial classes from me, I personally do not think this is the right approach for you." Ketis surprisingly said and interrupted his thoughts. "Anyone can change, but I think it is too much to ask you to completely transform your approach towards swordsmanship and become a weapon maniac."

"Then… what do you suggest I do instead?"

"You need to play to your strengths, Joshua. As a mech designer, I admire what Ves had done to make the Everchanger. There is no other mech like your machine. The Everchanger is never going to become as good in performing swordsmanship techniques as the First Sword, so don't even bother. While I still think you need to shore up your fundamental weapon skills, don't spend too much time on it. You are better off trying to plumb the depths of your expert mech's ability to change and adapt to different circumstances."

"I tried, but that clearly did not work this time, Ketis. There is a limit to how versatile my Everchanger can be. The patriarch will probably have to turn my battle partner into a smart metal mech or a biomech to allow him to change into more effective configurations."

Ketis shook his head. "You are not necessarily wrong, but I think a hero mech configuration already grants you enough possibilities. Don't obsess too much over the faults and limitations of your battle partner. Dise has never obsessed over the known shortcomings of her First Sword, and look where she is now. The Everchanger is not a modern mech anymore, but his performance is still decent enough to remain useful on the battlefield. It is a luxury to ask for anything more. What you need to do instead is to focus on the variables that you control, and one of them is to explore how you can expand the versatility of your existing expert mech and your own abilities."

An avid mech pilot such as Joshua could never stop thinking about piloting a newer and more powerful machine. This was a universal desire that was intrinsic to the piloting profession. Find exclusive stories on мѵʟ

However, the Larkinson Clan is still at least a solid year away from upgrading the Everchanger, if not longer.

Instead of wasting his energy on a factor that could not be sped up no matter what he wanted, it was better for Joshua to focus on improving the conditions that were within his control.

Perhaps he might not be able to do much under his own power, but Ketis believed that he could still drag himself into breakthrough territory if he worked hard to squeeze out his existing potential.

"You need to be more focused and purposeful in your training plan." She continued to advise him. "At the same time, you need to open your horizons and think about how you can make your Everchanger deal with less standard and more abnormal opponents that can circumvent your existing strengths. If you have been able to prepare for a weird enemy such as the Teenage Swordswoman in advance, then your duel may have produced a different outcome. Do you understand?"

"I… understand. I think I know what to do from now on. Thank you, Ketis. I… might have failed today, but that doesn't mean I will repeat this outcome. No matter what, I don't want to turn myself into another Ark."

General Ark Larkinson was his senior and became an ace pilot candidate years before Joshua.

Yet the man who was older than Ves' father still remained at the exact same level as Joshua!

Meanwhile, men and women who were an entire generation younger than Ark had surpassed him and entered the ranks of saints, thereby creating new legacies for themselves that had little to do with the glory of the old family!

Before they could speak any further, the Heavensword finally changed its pattern!

It no longer floated in space as if it had gotten stock in a logic loop. The grand work slowly shrunk in size until it returned to its original dimensions.

The sword then proceeded to fly straight towards the combat carrier where Ketis could be found.

The Amphis Extremis and the Everchanger hastily moved and put themselves onto the path of the relic weapon, but the Heavensword simply disappeared before it crashed into the machines.

An instant later, the Heavensword directly appeared inside the hangar bay of the starship and appeared in front of Ketis yet again!

The Heavensword thrummed with heavenly energy. It looked a bit more active than usual, and was probably ready to take action!

Ketis grew a lot more nervous, but she still held out hope that the Heavensword would see reason this time.

"I am impressed by what you have managed to do, but that is no reason for you to impose yourself on me. I already have a sword, and I am committed to developing my own swordsmanship even if it cannot measure up to yours. Nothing you do or say will persuade me to give up what is mine."

The swordmaster gripped her Bloodsinger in a stance that was poised to attack.

She had gained a bit of inspiration from observing the swordsmanship of the three energy manifestations.

The swordmaster did not mind showing the Heavensword how she thought of applying what she gained if the two came to blows!