The Mech Touch novel Chapter 7164

Chapter 7164: Short of True Mastery

After concluding an exploratory spar, Ketis developed a good understanding of Ves’ upgraded combat prowess.

The swordmaster was a scary opponent to fight against.

Perhaps Ves could crush her if he unfolded his true body and tanked her powerful blows, but he saw no way he could beat her if he restricted himself to infantry scale.

Ves always heard many praises about her combat prowess, but it was only when he faced her with a weapon of his own that he understood the gulf between her and other fighters.

Swordmasters were serious business.

Even if they had become mostly obsolete by the time humans adopted mechs and warships as their preferred combat platforms, that did not diminish the lethality of swordmasters in the slightest.

Ves could not imagine how much scarier it would be if he faced her while she was wielding her Bloodsinger or her Heavensword as opposed to a random metal rod!

He gained a lot more respect for Ketis for this reason. Now that he had gained the fighting skills of a Demonic Possession Spearman, he understood a lot better how much time and dedication it took to become so good at swordsmanship.

And she still had enough time left over to become a Journeyman Mech Designer.

He knew that it was almost impossible for him to defeat her in terms of pure skill anytime soon, if ever.

His new fighting method did not rely at all on developing superior weapon handling skills, but instead took a detour and relied on the unconventional magic of demonic possession to surprise and overwhelm opponents.

It followed a completely different philosophy that could no longer be regarded as a pure martial pursuit. The inclusion of demonology elements irrecoverably tainted it and turned the art of wielding weapons into a vessel to channel the power of potent demons.

Although victory could justify all means, as long as the enemy managed to counter his demons, or he lacked access to powerful enough ones, his ’ordinary’ spearmanship skills would not carry him far against truly challenging opponents.

The feedback issued by Ketis basically confirmed his own evaluation.

"You have become a serviceable fighter. Your technical fighting skills alone are equivalent to that of a professional spearman mech pilot with several years of training and preparation under his belt." She gently praised. "You are probably good enough to join an elite mech unit as a fresh recruit. Your foundation is solid, and you know your theory well."

"I sense a ’but’ coming..."

The female Journeyman gave him an encouraging smile. "You are not a true fighter, Ves. I do not mean this as an insult. I am just stating the truth in my professional capacity as a swordmaster. Technical skill alone is not enough to become a qualified warrior. While I know that you have shed blood in person on multiple occasions, you lack the killer instinct, the drive to defeat every opponent, the determination to master your weapons to the limit and so on. Since you have gained these skills through an enlightenment fruit as opposed to working for them the hard way, you lack true appreciation of how far you have come."

A more vain and prideful person might feel insulted by her criticism, but Ves did not feel much hurt.

She was right.

Ves still did not think of himself as a true fighter despite gaining the skills to qualify as one.

"That is fair." He said. "I absorbed this powerful enlightenment fruit to turn the Dark Apostle into a competent fighter. The fact that I have mastered the same skills as well is just a bonus as far as I am concerned. I will definitely be able to design better spearman mechs in the future."

"I would not say that you have attained true mastery over your technical skills." Ketis shook her head. "Let me put it this way. As a chef, you have learned how to execute the standard recipes to a high degree of proficiency, but that does not necessarily turn you into a master chef. A true pursuer of the culinary arts has developed his own style or signature, his own taste as it were. He also knows how to adapt the static recipes to the actual circumstances. For example, variations in ingredients and differences in climate may compel him to increase the proportion of vegetables and decrease the amount of seasoning applied to a dish. The end result clearly deviates from the standard recipe, but customers undoubtedly prefer its taste over one that has rigidly stuck to written instructions. Do you understand?"

This was a simple enough analogy to understand for Ves. "I understand. The enlightenment fruit has only given me instruction on how to execute the most standard and impersonalized form of Demonic Possession Spearmanship. It has not given me any assistance when it comes to bridging the gap between standard practice and personalization. I still have a long way to go if I want to adapt and optimize this art until I have developed my own fighting style."

Ketis smiled and nodded in approval. "You have the right idea. This is a lesson that every Swordmaiden and Heavensworder receives early on. We have never insisted that sword practitioners must rigidly adhere to the exact specifications of every sword style or technique. That is folly. We are not raising bots. We are raising warriors. There is good sense in drilling the basics without too much deviation, but past an acceptable level of proficiency, sticking to rigid standards will do more harm than good as far as I am concerned. Mind you, not every fighter agrees with this stance. There are outfits that have made a strong focus on standardization work. They mostly filter out fighters who deviate too much from the uniform standards. Do this often enough, and you are only left with those who work well following the exact same standards."

"I do not think I can stand such treatment." Ves threw out a guess.

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