The Mech Touch

Chapter 6073  Response to Failure

The former citizen of the Ylvaine Protectorate had completely changed after returning from the Emperor Tree.

The old Taon was dead, and so was his living mech.

What remained was a fallen expert pilot who had become defined by his traumas rather than his virtues.

Though Ves and Ketis attempted to talk sense into the morose expert pilot, 'Venerable' Taon remained completely unmoved by their arguments.

Just like Lanie, Taon expressed an extreme degree of mule headedness when it came to his new beliefs.

Ketis found it unbelievable that just because an enemy took advantage of Taon's faith, the expert pilot immediately turned against Ylvaine and every other 'false god', whatever that meant!

The expert pilot and his owl-like companion spirit became completely out of sync with the rest of the Larkinson Clan. Venerable Taon's trust had been struck so hard that he found it difficult to trust others anymore.

It was deeply depressing to see a once-promising champion and example of the Eye of Ylvaine fall to ruin due to honest mistakes on the battlefield.

Was there a way to treat Taon's severe traumas and restore his mind to a healthier state?

Possibly.

Was the Larkinson Clan capable of performing such a difficult transformation?

Maybe.

Turning Taon into a productive expert pilot was doubtlessly a herculean task. The Larkinson Clan owed it to its own mech pilots to honor their sacrifices and invest a good amount of resources to treat the injuries they accumulated over the course of their service, but… there was a limit to how much the clan was willing and able to spend.

Was it really worth it for the clan to redeem Taon? Did he even deserve this treatment?

Ketis could not make up her mind on this matter. She was not suited to this sort of decision making. She was a mech designer and a swordmaster. She possessed a lot of expertise in the fields she was passionate about, but she still had much to learn before she could excel as a leader.

The fact that the latest mission spun out of control in such an extreme fashion clearly taught her a few painful lessons about relying too much on assumptions.

"Ves is right." She muttered to herself as she strode into one of the large training compartments of the Wild Torch. "When you play with fire, you will eventually get burned."

It was the job of a good leader to take these potential scenarios into account and prepare enough contingency plans to mitigate the damage.

Ketis had not arranged enough redundancies and backup measures that could have stopped the two newly arisen expert pilots from developing a deadly feud with each other.

Now, she feared it was already too late to repair the damage. Taon and Lanie had become completely hostile towards each other. There was no way the Larkinson Clan would be able to remain in harmony anymore!

Ketis stopped glowering when she began to sense Venerable Dise's powerful sword intent.

The high-tier expert pilot had taken refuge in the training chamber shortly after Ketis recalled her and her expert mech back to orbit.

The dark-skinned Swordmaiden clearly turned introspective after her turn from her encounter with the Emperor Tree. She barely spoke with the other Larkinsons and hardly registered what was taking place around her. She had practically closed herself off from every external stimuli.

This was why Ketis decided to go through the trouble of talking with Dise in person as opposed to talking to the expert pilot by remote.

As Ketis entered the sparring ring, she did not choose to confront Dise directly. The Journeyman Mech Designer instead warmed up her body by jogging in circles while swinging her personal greatsword in a relaxed and graceful manner.

The wind whipped as Ketis steadily built up her momentum. The Bloodsinger began to exude more eagerness as Sharpie began to look forward to locking blades with Dise's own greatsword.

Dise finally snapped out of her stupor and looked up at her fellow sister.

"Ketis."

"Dise."

The two did not exchange any further words until Ketis finally completed her warmup. Her athletic form shone as a sharp sword aura covered her body like a small protective layer.

Though Ketis was not able to pilot a large and powerful war machine like Dise, an orthodox swordmaster still possessed her own tricks!

Dise did not possess the ability to generate a resonance shield outside of the cockpit of her mech, but she carried a personal shield generator that could offer similar protection.

Not that the two Swordmaidens cared about that. Both of them had become so skilled in their swordsmanship that they were confident they could avoid accidents!

As Dise rose to her feet and gripped her Unending alloy greatsword, her demeanor changed as her instincts as a warrior took hold again.

The vulnerability she exhibited a moment earlier had disappeared, but Ketis knew better.

Dise still couldn't get over the mistakes she made during the last mission. She just hid her feelings behind her habitual combativeness.

"Hah!"

Ketis decisively stepped forward and chopped her Bloodsinger at her fellow sister!

Clang!

Naturally, Dise easily blocked the incoming strike, but did nothing more.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The two extraordinary swordswomen proceeded to exchange blows. They started out at a slow pace, but steadily escalated their speed. They exerted themselves increasingly more, causing their blood to pump faster and their body heat to rise!

"It's not your fault." Ketis said. "Accidents happen. No one knew that the Emperor Tree was that smart and powerful."

Dise snarled and began to channel greater power into her greatsword, causing her next swing to unleash a blade of sword energy that Ketis easily deflected.

"You do not get to say that! I failed, plain and simple. I am an expert pilot. I should be better than this. People call me an ace pilot candidate because I have reached the ceiling of my current rank. I used to believe in their words, but it is only now that I have woken up to the truth. I do not deserve to break through to ace pilot and catch up with Tusa. I still need to develop my swordsmanship."

"Your swordsmanship is fine." Ketis spoke between blows. "You are the most skilled swordswoman in the Larkinson Clan. Even I struggle to keep up with you due to your superior resonance strength and the time you have invested in your training. How many powerful sword techniques have you learned?"

"Too many, and that is precisely what is holding me back!" Dise declared as she executed a Bladestorm.

A storm of sword energy attacks swept across the sparring ring, striking the energy shields protecting the venue bot got dispelled by Ketis' exquisite defensive move.

"Your techniques set you apart from the other melee expert pilots, Dise. None of them can win a duel against you because their mastery over their weapons can never catch up to yours. Even the stronger and newer expert mechs are unable to overpower your First Sword most of the time."

Dise used to take pride in that. For example, the First Sword was pretty much two mech generations behind Venerable Benjamin Larkinson's Blood Star Mark II, but it was not uncommon for the former to defeat the latter in a practice spar!

Dise's extraordinary sword style and mastery was much more sophisticated than the more practical swordsmanship mastered by Ves' grandfather.

Of course, the old veteran and former retiree possessed his own bag of tricks that allowed him to defeat the Swordmaiden expert pilot so long as he was allowed to utilize the full range of the Blood Star Mark II.

The more modern expert mech's superior defenses, mobility and ranged armaments easily allowed Benjamin to employ a kiting strategy! n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

As long as his Blood Star Mark II utilized his superior mobility to maintain his distance from the First Sword, the former could easily take potshots at the latter with impunity!

Benjamin only admitted defeat when his expert mech was forced to fight against the First Sword by exchanging blows with their blades.

He readily admitted that he was completely outclassed when it came to pure swordsmanship!

All that should have given Dise an ample amount of confidence. Yet it was only after her First Sword became entangled by the roots of the Emperor Tree that she recognized her own arrogance.

Vainglory did not equate to strength!

The sparring session heated up as both swordswomen began to strike harder and faster!

"I failed!" Dise recriminated herself. "It was my duty to look after Taon and Lanie, but I could not come to their aid during the time they needed it the most!"

"You are not a nanny, Dise, and the two are not children. The two former expert candidates are soldiers who volunteered for a dangerous mission. They sought a challenge in order to find their breakthrough chances. From the moment they decided to confront the Emperor Tree, they should have already taken into account that they might not be able to return alive."

"I know that, but I shouldn't have gotten stalled for so long! My mech and I should have been able to slice our way through all of those roots, but we failed to get out by relying on our own power. We had to wait until the orbital strike interrupted the Emperor Tree to finally get loose. That was not supposed to happen!"

Dise's frustrations caused her to channel more power into her greatsword. Her sword strikes gained more momentum, making it difficult for Ketis to stand her ground.

"I see that you are not resigned to your current state." Ketis spoke as she continued to keep up with Dise's forceful sword techniques. "That is good. Anyone can fail. What matters is what happens next. That is what separates the winners from the losers. What do you intend to do now that you have understood the gap between you and the truly strong?"

"Get stronger." Dise responded. "I will never let myself get trapped by the likes of those roots again. I have identified two fundamental problems that hinder me from doing what is necessary to win every battle."

"And those are?"

"First, my defense is too inadequate. Much of the reason why I have to restrain my blade and forgo opportunities to attack is because the First Sword cannot withstand too much damage. Sure, my mech has the protection of a resonance shield, but it is far from the strongest among the other expert mechs. I increasingly feel as if I am piloting a mech made out of glass."

"You are piloting an outdated offensive expert mech. No one expects your First Sword to endure as many attacks as the Bastion." Ketis pointed out.

"I am not claiming that the First Sword should be converted into a defensive mech." Dise responded. "I am not blaming my failures on my battle partner's lack of major upgrades either. It is my approach to swordsmanship that is the problem. I have lost focus in my pursuit of strength. I learned and created too many sword techniques. I have an entire library of them, but I wasted so much time on coming up with new ones that I have never seriously improved my execution of any of them. That needs to change. I have decided to limit my repertoire and develop a more concise sword style that truly encapsulates my will and conviction."

As Dise shared her intentions, her swordsmanship shifted in real-time. Her greatsword slowed down, but struck with increasingly greater force. The expert pilot no longer thought about pulling off all kinds of fancy moves, but tried to stick to the fundamentals whenever possible.

Only occasionally would her greatsword light up as she executed a sword technique that she favored.

Dise utilized her swordsmanship to communicate how much she committed to her new plan!

Ketis welcomed this change. Her eyes lit up as she felt that Dise's sword heart was quietly sublimating into a more condensed and solid form.

It was as if Dise was forging a renewed inner sword for herself!

As the expert pilot continued to enact her new plan, her strikes gained so much force that Ketis could no longer keep up with the increase in strength. She continually had to step back in order to unload the forces impacting against her Bloodsinger!

Dise used to borrow a lot of concepts on sharpness from Ketis, but she had chosen to set much of it aside in order to pursue her own approach towards swordsmanship!