The Mech Touch

"I think you are wrong about the pacts." Ves claimed.

"Oh? What did I overlook?"

"Sharpie has formed a Life Sword Pact with the Bloodsinger. That still leaves you free to form your own pact. You thought you only had one slot available, but you actually have two. Now that I think about it, everyone with a companion spirit should have access to two slots. This is an incredible advantage. You can still bind yourself to another sword... or mech."

Though Ketis realized the significance of this claim, she did not look particularly enthused.

"I am a swordmaster and a Journeyman Mech Designer. It makes little to no sense to me to bind myself to another sword in my capacity as a mech designer. I do admit that there is a slightly greater reason for me to form a Blood Pact with a Carmine mech. I can have my cake and eat it too. I can develop as a swordmaster, but also enjoy the advantages of scale and superiority that a mech can provide. It is just..."

"You still think it is inappropriate?"

Ketis let out a sigh. "I do not believe in the polite fiction that companion spirits are separate entities from their principals. Sharpie is me, and I am Sharpie. Sure, I treat her as if she is a separate individual, and my companion spirit is more than happy to play this role, but it is just that. A role. There is something about splitting up a piece of my mind to form a companion spirit that makes this come naturally, but I haven't forgotten that we share the same base. Besides, I truly think that it is unnecessary for me to rely on a Carmine mech to make a difference in the Red War."

"That s easy to say for the latest holder of the Heavensword."

"Just because I am on guard against its influence on me does not mean I hate it." Ketis retorted. "Now that I have spent more time with it, I have become a little more reassured. I have not been able to decipher its true intentions, but I think I have a much better idea on what it wants. So long as our goals do not collide, there is no harm in spending time together."

"Let's talk about how your work may benefit other people. Ves changed the topic. "Will you permit other 'reformed sword practitioners' to pilot Carmine mechs, with or without companion spirits?"

"I personally have no objection to it. I will not hold others to the standards that I set for myself. I am well aware that my conditions are much different from that of other people. The reason why we practice swordsmanship should never be for its own sake. A sword without direction is a danger that can cut off your own head. We practice swordsmanship in order to become strong enough to defend ourselves and the people we care about against those that wish us harm. If I impose too many restrictions on others, then they will abandon the sword for a rifle or better yet a Carmine mech."

She sounded cognizant that reformed swordsmanship did not exist in isolation. It existed in a reality where people had the ability to master other weapons.

Reformed swordsmanship needed to be competitive enough to attract people to practice it on a large scale. Otherwise, Ketis.

In the Age of Dawn, it was impossible for her to disregard the existence of Carmine mechs.

One of the motivations why mech pilots practiced swordsmanship so earnestly was because many of their skills transferred over to piloting swordsman mechs.

Now that a much larger population of people gained the opportunity to pilot their own Carmine mechs, interest in classes related to swordsmanship, spearmanship, marksmanship and more had exploded in popularity!

Even if people could not afford to buy their own Carmine mechs or enroll into one of the many new Carmine mech pilot training programs, they could still afford to sign up for those weapon training classes!

Who knew whether they would be able to put their fighting skills to use in a Carmine mech one day.

It was for that reason that the Red Swordsmanship Federation had become a lot busier than before. It even had to go on a hiring spree just to be able to handle all of the extra work related to founding more sword schools and certifying new sword instructors. "When a reformed swordsman pilots a Carmine mech and manages to break through, will he become a sword initiate or an expert candidate?" Ves asked an important. question.

"I have an idea what might happen." Ketis shrugged her shoulders. "My hypothesis is that it is dependent on how the swordsman sees himself. Willpower cultivation is all about the cultivation of the self, correct? I would imagine that if the individual in question sees himself as a sword practitioner first, then he will evolve into a sword initiate and subsequently a swordmaster. If he sees himself as a Carmine mech pilot first, then he will become an expert candidate and subsequently an expert pilot."

"That makes sense. Your logic is extremely sound. I think this is a safe assumption to make. You should make the life-changing consequences of this distinction clear to everyone."

"I have attempted to do so in the manual, though I do not strictly think it is necessary. Instructions are redundant. By the time a breakthrough has come, they do not need to use their logic to justify a decision that they have already made with their hearts." Ves proposed another interesting scenario. "What if the swordsman and Carmine mech pilot had a companion spirit? Do you think that both of them can become willpower cultivators that pursue godhood with different bonds?"

This was too much for the ambitious swordmaster. She let out an exasperated breath. 'I have no idea. I can only speculate on whether it is possible, which means I have no

Confidence in my answer. It is better to just wait and see what will happen in reality." "That is reasonable, Ketis. I think I am pretty happy with your answer. The swordsmanship community will react well that your new approach towards swordsmanship does not reject Carmine mechs, but accepts their usage as another factor that falls under the Earth category."

It had only been a short time, but Ves already accepted Ketis' new theoretical model as factual truth.

"I do not think that reformed sword practitioners should attempt to challenge a phase lord with just a sword and a few pieces of cloth on their bodies." Ketis said. "We are not primitives. We have access to advanced technologies. It would be foolish not to make use of them f we can afford it. As long as the gear is compatible with swordsmanship, then I see no reason to prohibit its use. What worked in the past may not work in the present. What works in the present may not work in the future."

"Well said! I agree with you. From what I can gather, ancient cultivators lived in a time where the Milky Way was powerful enough to produce a high-energy environment. The power of Heaven was so strong at the time that cultivators could easily destroy planets just by knowing how to harness the power of E energy in the environment. It is clear that this is not possible in the Red Ocean where we are only receiving a fraction of the exotic radiation that is saturating Messier 87. In these cases, it is important to rely on the power of Earth and the power of Man to make up for the shortcomings."

"I suspect that it isn't entirely necessary for sword practitioners to score well in all 3 categories in order to make further progress." Ketis proposed. "Just as you believe that mech pilots can become stronger by pursuing qi cultivation, I think that there is room in our society for swordsmen who forgo the development of Man because of an inability to transform their willpower and go all-out in developing their attainments in Heaven and

Earth."'

That was an interesting proposal. Ves paused in thought.

"That might work, but... they will have to do much better in these areas than typical swordmasters. Willpower makes it so much easier to amplify the performance of gear, and also allows you to harness E energy radiation by force, thereby forgoing the need to understand an E energy attribute to a deep extent. However... the advantages are also clear. It is much easier to keep track of your progress in these areas. Qi cultivation is usually split up into well-organized phases, while the performance of your gear can be measured with objective criteria,"

The development of Man in the form of willpower cultivation was the most difficult and demanding condition to meet.

There was no way to cheat the process of becoming a willpower cultivator. Perhaps people might be able to invent elixirs or special artifacts that may make it a

Little easier, but willpower was inherently a quality that could only be born from hardship

And strong personal qualities.

Every swordmaster and expert pilot was a hero in one way or another. They earned their

Transcendence.

"I think I know now why those who have reached the first major cultivation rank are called foundation builders." Ketis said. "It is because they are literally engaged in the process of building the foundation of their future domain and ultimately their godhood. At this stage, they still have the ability to change or tweak their development. Once their foundations are strong enough, they can finally welcome the birth of a domain that is based on the choices they made."

Her words rang with universal truth. Her description applied to way more cultivators than swordmasters.

Whether it was expert pilots or Senior Mech Designers, all of them were still foundation

Builders!

Before they developed their own domains, they could still influence its development!

Ves gained a greater appreciation towards the transition from the first major cultivation

Rank to the second one.

Ace pilots became drastically more powerful after the acquisition of their Saint

Kingdoms.

Master Mech Designers successfully realized their design philosophies and managed to

Make their gains accessible to other mech designers connected to the Kingdom of

Mechs or Red Kingdom.

What would sword saints gain? What sort of transformation would they go through that caused them to take a significant step closer to attaining godhood?

One of the quirks that Ketis was not aware of was that mech pilots received a lot of

Hidden care from the Kingdom of Mechs or its offshoot.

Sword practitioners lacked this benefit, so the breakthrough experience of Ketis and

Other swordmasters may not be what they imagined.

"What is a domain, in your opinion?" Ves inquired.

He wanted to know how she interpreted from the lens of her Heaven Earth Man Trifecta, She had put so much thought into it that she definitely developed her own ideas. "That is a good question, Ves. From my experiences, a domain is... an expression of a more powerful version of yourself. In the mech community, a domain is referred to as a Saint Kingdom or a God Kingdom. I think that it is a deliberate choice to refer to it as a kingdom, as it is literally a volume of space that is under the dominion of a single ruler. Every Domain Shaper is the founder and the ruler of their own personal kingdoms. I can't say anything more than that. I don't have enough information to form any further

Conclusions."

Ves smiled. "That is okay. Your answers are already illuminating enough to me. I think I

Have a better idea on how to help mech pilots breakthrough. I have always wondered what exactly limits the effectiveness of the transcendence glow on expert pilots such as Venerable Joshua and Uncle Ark. The theoretical model that you have devised just now can be used as a tool to figure out their shortcomings and advise them on how to

Improve their breakthrough conditions." "You... may be right."

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