The Mech Touch

Andraste adopted a stern expression as she stood in front of a challenge course.

The training ground possessed a standard feature that enabled its controller to dynamically arrange all kinds of interesting obstacles and adversaries.

Usually, there was no need to arrange anything deliberate. The randomization function worked well enough, especially if the controller set the appropriate parameters and limitations.

Given that Andraste was still a growing child, the challenge course had to make accommodations for her size and physical stature.

"Are you ready?" Saintess Ulrika Vraken asked as she stood in her impeccable Hexer uniform.

The young girl nodded. "Ready!"

"Then begin on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark!"

The cute red-haired girl in a training suit shot forward at a remarkable speed!

The devious training course immediately presented Andraste with a puzzle. The way forward was split up by three branching routes, each of them separated by thick stone walls.

There was no way of determining which one belonged to the most optimal route. It could be that one or two of them led to dead ends. Perhaps all of the three routes would enable her to move on to other challenges, but the length and difficulty would vary drastically depending on her choice.

Instead of using regular means to determine her choice, Andraste made use of a rare capability that not every human possessed.

A black translucent kitten dove out of her head and immediately started to explore one of the routines!

"Maaw."

Yaika flew quickly and managed to make it all the way to the limit of how far she could travel away from Andraste.

Once the cat had gained a quick impression of the first route, she phased through the wall and explored the second one. After that she phased through the third wall and took another look at her surroundings.

Andraste made a quick judgment and took the center route.

The path happened to be the shortest of the three, but it also demanded a bit of physical exertion to get through.

She agilely dropped to the ground and squeezed through the low opening that trickly curved upwards.

She jumped over a wide pit and just managed to catch the bar hovering in the center, using it as a fulcrum to acrobatically leap her way up to a higher floor.

The girl started to breathe harder as she exercised her body, but her excited grin and her wicked eyes showed that she was enjoying herself!

After Andraste demonstrated her acrobatics in several more ways, she finally entered the next section of the challenge course.

With Yaika scouting the way forward, Andraste already knew what to expect when she turned around the corner.

A large square ground came into view. A dozen humanoid bots that exhibited the reaction speed of well-trained but unaugmented humans turned around to spot the new intruder.

The few bots that were facing the entrance from the start raised their stun rifles first and started to pull the trigger without regard for Andraste's tender age.

The girl's eyes narrowed, but showed no panic.

From the moment Yaika scouted the situation, she already formed an action plan.

Now was the time for her to execute it. Her short legs sprinted across the ground with certain steps.

She just managed to make it to the first humanoid bot and did not hesitate to leap and kick at the arms holding the rifle!

The bot lost control over its posture, giving Andraste an opportunity to skillfully disarm her opponent and grab the rifle that looked oversized in her small arms.

In the meantime, the other bots had turned around and taken aim by now. The bots showed no regard for their artificial brother and mercilessly opened fire, causing the weaponless bot to get hit by stun rays that quickly disabled its systems.

Andraste used her small size to her advantage and deliberately propped up the back of the fallen bot so that its torso turned into an improvised form of cover.

With Yaika giving her a bird's eye view of the terrain, the girl skillfully peeked out and opened fire at one of the bots that were moving to flank her position.

Despite not spending any time to properly aim her weapon, her stun ray precisely struck the exposed neck area that functioned the bot's weak point!

Andraste did not dare to take another break. The bots did not act like stupid dummies and were actively moving to flank her from both sides. She continued to alternate between making rapid snap shots and returning to cover before any retaliatory strikes could hit her back.

With two different perspectives, she could already determine whether a muzzle was aimed at her body or her weapon!

She could even tell when the bots were about to pull their triggers!

So long as she paid enough attention to this information and made the corresponding movements, the young girl could eliminate her current adversaries with impunity!

The dozen bots did not last more than a minute.

Once the final ones had fallen, she discarded her current weapon and picked up two other ones from her first eliminated targets.

She skillfully checked the state of the weapon and confirmed how many shots it could fire.

Andraste knew that a lot of weapons came with heavy restrictions and were almost always locked to their designated users.

However, there were still ways to hack or circumvent these locks as long as she possessed enough means.

Andraste had yet to learn how to do that, so the weapons in the challenge course were unlocked by default.

She attached one of the rifles on her back and held the remaining one in her hands. They were both sized for adults, so she couldn't carry them as well as real soldiers.

Still, this was not the first time she handed such large weapons. She adjusted herself as best she could and moved forward with determination.

As she entered the next tunnel, she continued to rely on Yaika to scout the way forward, only to get surprised as a pair of turrets descended from the ceiling!

Before they opened fire on her, Andraste displayed her lightning fast reaction speed. She had already tilted up the barrel of her stun rifle and pulled the trigger two times, eliminating both turrets while firing from the hip!

She proceeded in the next area which appeared to be an obstacle course.

She had to climb over walls, walk across a tightrope and leap over gaps while keeping hold of her weapons.

Each time, she had to remain on alert and be ready to fire her weapon whenever a bot or turret showed up from different angles!

It was not until she reached the end that her weapons automatically locked themselves up, signifying that they could no longer be fired.

Andraste tossed aside her almost spent weapon but did not get rid of her spare.

Instead, she flipped it around and held it like a club!

This proved to be a wise decision as the next chamber was filled with a group of bots armed with swords.

The bots did not move to intercept Andraste when she appeared. They instead formed a half-circle formation that allowed them to threaten their adversary from multiple angles while still remaining close enough to cover each other.

This was a tricky situation, and her earlier exertions tired her little body out to an extent.

She could not afford to squander her stamina, nor leave herself open to attacks.

Andraste did not delay too much and moved to the far left in order to pick off her first target!

The swordsman bot responded to her approach by chopping down its weapon!

Metal crashed upon metal as Andraste successfully slammed her rifle stock against the side of the blade, causing it to go off-target and leaving its wielder open for a brief amount of time!

The other bots were closing in on her position, so the young girl used her rifle to slam against the weak point of the bot, causing it to weaken so much that she successfully managed to hijack its sword!

Despite the fact that it was disproportionately large and heavy for her size, Andraste demonstrated higher than usual strength and managed to slash her new prize across the bot's neck.

A cruel smirk appeared on her face now that she managed to take hold of a proper weapon.

She did not turn around but instead moved past her first victim just as three other swords attempted to strike her body!

Now that she had moved past this dangerous hurdle, she briefly circled around before moving in to attack the bots!

Her opponents were not slow. They turned around and moved to adjust their formation so that they could leave her with no way to defend from every direction.

However, the adult sizes of the bots made it a little more awkward for them to strike at a shorter enemy!

Andraste took advantage of her small stature and her agility to skillfully evade the first sword strikes.

Once she managed to come close enough, she stabbed out her sword with both of her arms without hesitation!

The sword flew past the armored chest and struck the bottom side of the robotic jaw.

The tip of the sharp weapon easily penetrated the head from below!

After that, she pulled out the blade and leapt away before the other bots could strike at her vulnerable body.

What happened next was a thorough display of skill and power. Andraste effortlessly handled her dwindling adversaries by relying on skill and agility.

She was able to read the sword techniques of her adversaries and find the most efficient ways to block, parry or evade the attacks.

By the time she confronted her final opponent, her sword smoothly parried the incoming overhead chop and struck the bot in the neck!

Andraste did not drop her vigilance and kept on scanning her environment with her eyes and the senses of her companion spirit.

It was only after she passed through the exit of the course that she finally lowered her guard. She placed her stolen sword onto a nearby tray and cheerfully skipped her way to her father!

"How did I do, papa?! I murdered those bots as fast as I could! Was I a good girl?"

Ves responded with a proud but slightly uncomfortable smile. He caressed his second daughter by the head.

"You have learned faster than 1 or anyone else has expected. You're a natural at combat."

Andraste giggled and basked in the warmth and love of her father.

"Hehe, that is because I want to become the strongest mech pilot one day. Ever since I saw all of those god pilots thrash those giant whales, I knew that I would have to improve more than any other kid my age. I can already beat all of those other Terran kids at school, no matter whether we are sparring with swords or firearms."

"1 am so proud of you, my little pumpkin. However, there is no need to train yourself to death. You will only break yourself down if you keep this up. You need to maintain the right balance between work, leisure and rest."

His daughter petulantly rolled her eyes. "God pilots aren't ordinary people. They are soldiers through and through! My goal is to become as strong as the Fist of Defiance or the Huntsman! I won't be able to get there if I spend too much time playing silly games. I am already working on honing my willpower in advance!"

Her words might sound inspiring if she was ten or twenty years older, but she only made herself appear cuter when she expressed her ambition!

"Oh, dear..."

Ves felt rather conflicted about putting his daughter through all of this training. It appeared that she inherited the workaholic habits of her parents as well, because she hardly played with her toys nowadays!

The main reason why Ves did not object to Andraste's demanding training regime was because the Red Ocean would soon become caught in the throes of war.

Peace would become a luxury in the coming years and decades.

Ves profoundly understood that weakness was the original sin in the frontier.

Out of his three lovely children, Andraste had the highest hope of navigating her way through tougher times.