The Mech Touch

"Auntie Ketis!"

"Oh hey, little girl."

Andraste slipped her tiny hand out of her father's grip and ran over to the edge of the sparring ring.

She pressed her cute nose against the safety screen as Ketis corrected the stance and repetitive sword motions of another woman by striking the limbs with a metal rod.

The strikes were hard and brutal, but the trainee endured the hits without releasing a grunt of pain.

Ves reached his daughter's position as he watched the ongoing spectacle with a bit of fascination.

It wasn't until Ketis stopped her corrective lesson a few minutes later that Ves finally opened his mouth.

"I didn't expect to see you here of all places, Jannzi."

"What I do with my time is not your concern, Ves."

The expert pilot in question glared at Ves but did not do much more. She was awfully winded and her entire body was covered with bruises.

She would definitely need to dive into a recovery pod to be ready for training the next day!

When Ves looked down at his daughter, he saw that she did not get repulsed by the rather brutal training session.

Instead, Andraste looked at Ketis with stars in her eyes. The little girl truly meant it when she claimed that the swordmaster was one of her idols!

Ves had to admit that his former student did look particularly striking at the moment. Her tall, athletic body conveyed an impression of tightly controlled aggression.

Though she had set her iconic Bloodsinger aside, she looked valiant and heroic in an exotic sense as she made sure to maintain a combat-ready stance with her practice rod even when there was no obvious threat in the vicinity.

The duality between her sharp mind and raw combat power made for an odd but effective combination.

Even people who weren't familiar with Ketis at all would be able to tell from her aura that she was an extraordinary individual!

It was no wonder why Andraste became so enthralled by Ketis. The Journeyman and swordmaster was the most ideal warrior in the Larkinson Clan who was not a mech pilot!

As Jannzi moved to a corner to internalize her latest lessons, Ketis moved closer to the newcomers and regarded both Ves and Andraste with an evaluating gaze.

True to her intelligence, she already figured out the purpose of this visit.

"You want me to train your little squirt?" She gruffly asked despite the fact she already knew the answer.

"I'm not a squirt!" The little girl complained! "I'm much tougher than I look! Just gimme a sword and I will show you what I've got!"

Naturally, none of the adults took Andraste's requests seriously.

"The Swordmaidens and I don't object to running a special training program for your daughter, but you've come far too soon. Training her when she's barely better than a rugrat will do more harm than good. Come back a few years later."

Ves shook his head. "Andraste will cry if we turn away right away. I promised her to give her a fair chance. Don't forget that she is anything but an average designer baby. Her mind, spirit and most interestingly her body are much more special than you can imagine."

This caused Ketis to take a closer look at Andraste. She already knew that Ves had subjected his own children to weird experimental treatments that caused them to develop their own miniature companion spirits.

How that was even possible, Ketis couldn't begin to understand. All she knew was that Ves might be right that she couldn't judge Andraste according to common sense.

The last time Andraste played with Kirian, she already noticed that her son was having trouble keeping up with Ves' daughter despite the fact that their ages were similar.

She checked her schedule and confirmed there was nothing urgent on her agenda for the day.

"Okay. If you think that Andraste deserves a shot, then I will see what she is made of. I still think she should be playing with her dolls, though."

"I don't have dolls! I have action figures!"

Ves held his daughter's arm and led her away. "Hush, now. Let's bring you to the changing room so that you can get ready.

He and his daughter reappeared a moment later. Andraste had changed into a special training outfit that covered her entire body including her head. It looked like a slightly fortified vacsuit with thin but decent padding.

The expensive suit also contained a host of other protective measures, but they should never kick in if everything went right. Ves just wanted them for his piece of mind.

Though Andraste was not used to the suit, she adapted remarkably quickly to her restrictions.

Her range of motion was still high and Andraste could easily run and perform acrobatics in the specialized training suit.

She was already skipping as she passed through the entrance of the sparring ring. Her red hair was tied into a cute ponytail that specifically poked out of her suit.

"Come on, auntie Ketis! Teach me how to fight with a sword!"

The swordmaster smiled indulgently at the little girl. "I haven't even begun to teach my moves to my son. No matter how much you have developed your body, I will not turn you into a warrior just yet. Building up a proper foundation is important. I need to learn more about how your physique works before I can determine a more precise training plan."

To that end, Ketis raised her arm to a large weapon rack that was placed against the bulkhead in the distance.

Moments later, the smallest and lightest training rod detached from the rack and flew all the way over until it landed in Ketis' hand.

She fiddled with the weapon for a moment, causing it to become more compact and manageable for a little girl.

Once she was done with the adjustments, she tossed the cute little training rod at the girl without warning.

Though Andraste flinched, her instinctive reaction was quite on point. Her little hands grasped the spinning rod by the grip!

Both Ves and Ketis looked impressed at this feat.

"Okay. I am beginning to see what you are talking about." Ketis remarked as she held her rod in a defensive stance. "Andraste! Attack me with all you have got!"

"Uh, are you sure, auntie Ketis?"

"You can't hurt me even when I'm asleep."

"I don't know any fighting styles."

"You know how to hurt someone by swinging a stick, right? That is all I want from you today!"

"Okay…"

"Don't try to pull off anything crazy. You are liable to get into an accident."

"But—"

"—Stop!" Ketis barked. "I know what you were about to say. You wanted to say that your protective suit will help you prevent yourself from getting hurt by your own mistakes, is that right?"

Andraste's little head nodded.

"That is exactly what will get you killed in a real fight! If you want to train as a Swordmaiden, then you need to develop both strength and control. I will not allow anyone under our tutelage to become a danger to herself. If you cannot demonstrate enough discipline and control to me, then I will turn you away even if you have impressed me on a physical level."

Though Andraste was an overexcited girl who wanted to impress her idol with the flashiest moves she could manage, she was still smart enough to take the warning seriously.

The young girl forcibly calmed herself down to the point where she had reached a more reasonable level of excitement.

It didn't look as if she would ever be able to become calm and poised like Ketis, but that was pretty much a lost cause.

Andraste looked up at Ketis for a few seconds before she charged forward with as much speed as her little legs could allow!

She cleverly used her diminutive stature to her advantage and swung her thin and relatively rod at Ketis' ankles.

Though the swordmaster could have easily evaded this attack, she opted to deflect the attack by swiping her larger and lengthier rod downwards.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Andraste complained as her tiny body wobbled aside due to the force exerted onto her weapon.

"You are smaller and weaker." Ketis said. "Using your wits is an essential part to winning a fight. If you cannot be bothered to use your mind, then you will get killed sooner or later."

Andraste let out a cute but frustrated noise. "I can be smart as well!"

She no longer charged forward. Instead, she cautiously slid closer before she tentatively thrust her rod forward.

Though she had to get quite close in order to reach Ketis to begin with, the little girl was able to pull back in time before her weapon got struck a second time.

Of course, Ketis deliberately held back a lot of her strength in order to give Andraste a chance to perform her moves in the first place.

There was no way the little squirt would be able to get away with launching such pathetic attacks if Ketis was truly serious!

Andraste repeated her earlier move as she steadily circled around the swordmaster. She managed to learn a lot about Ketis' current strength and parameters, though the reverse was also true.

"Is this all you have got? Your lack of reach is your biggest disadvantage. You won't get anywhere by poking me from what you consider to be a noticeable distance."

"I-I was just planning out my attack strategy!" Andraste insisted. "I will show you my true power, now!"

Andraste let out a completely pointless war cry before she advanced at a brisk but reasonable pace.

She built up enough momentum to put actual force behind her next swing.

Though Ketis blocked the strike with casual ease, Andraste had already pushed her body against the seemingly immovable obstacle at an angle so that she was able to circle around and launch an attack at a more awkward angle!

Though Ketis blocked this strike after she smoothly turned around, Andraste had already used her smaller and more agile body to her advantage by continuing to circle around.

Her attacks were rough and devoid of any proper form. She swung her rod as if it was a club rather than a sword and she made a lot of wasteful and excessive motions.

Andraste's technique was not particularly important. Ketis paid much more attention to the little squirt's body strength, agility, reaction speed, observation abilities, decision-making skills and other relevant indicators.

Surprisingly enough, Andraste still remained a bundle of energy after several minutes of high intensity movement.

The strength of her strikes hardly dropped and her technique was improving at a remarkably impressive rate.

Andraste was passively learning how to wield her rod after her opponent deftly exploited her greatest mistakes!

"Is that all you have got?" Ketis asked. "You're good for your age, but that does not mean you are ready for real swordsmanship training. This is not a game or a sport, Andraste. A real swordsman or swordswoman must be able to fight with the intent to kill. So far, I have sensed none of that from you. This is why you are not ready. How can a silly little girl understand what killing even means?"

Andraste grew more frustrated. She had already been enduring negative feedback for a while now. It became so bad that she no longer looked up to Ketis anymore!

"You're wrong! I know how to kill! Yaika, come out and show her your new trick!"

Maaw!

A black spiritual kitty emerged out of Andraste's head and dove into her little rod.

It was obvious that Andraste was copying one of Ketis' signature actions.

While Yaika was nowhere near as powerful or competent as Sharpie, both Ves and Ketis reacted with considerable shock as Andraste's little weapon became surrounded by a faint dark corona.

Yaika somehow found a way to put her recently developed death affinity to good use!

Now that Andraste had 'blessed' her own weapon with her companion spirit, she charged forward with greater focus and determination than before!

Ketis narrowed her eyes.

Before the empowered rod could come close enough to inflicting an attack that was slightly more dangerous than before, a much larger weapon struck it with such great force that it spun out of its wielder's grip!

Maaaw!

Ketis had even managed to push Yaika out of the spinning weapon!

"Ouch! That hurt!"

Andraste looked dismayed as she turned away from her current opponent to track the flight of her weapon.

That was a big mistake, but Ketis wasn't in the mood to admonish the young lady.

Instead, the swordmaster turned to Ves.

"Andraste needs training before she kills someone." She stated.

Ves tentatively nodded. "Yaika's power is too weak to kill someone outright, but she can still inflict harm on people's spirits. I would be happy if you could teach her restraint and control."

"Oh, I can teach her more than that." Ketis replied. "If she continues to maintain her interest in swordsmanship, my fellow swordsmen and I can train her to the point where she can develop her own sword style."

As far as the swordmaster was concerned, Andraste deserved nothing less with the power bestowed by her companion spirit!