Chapter 2887: Ketis the Skeptic (1/2)
The proposal that Fred Walinski put on the table offered a lot of potential benefits to the Swordmaidens.
Currently, Ketis and the rest of her sisters were merely foreign participants in the tournaments organized under the umbrella of the Greater Omanderie Festival.
This was a low identity. Regardless of their accomplishments in other battles such as the highly notable Battle of Reckoning, the Heavensworders hardly heard of it. They were much more preoccupied with domestic matters and only cared about news that was directly related to swordsmen and swordmasters.
Only a small proportion of the domestic audience knew there was more to the Swordmaidens than other foreign participants. The Heavensworders and tourists that applied to join their ranks were always those that had done their research or knew of the Larkinson Clan beforehand.
The numbers were too paltry!
Even though hundreds of women had already sent in their applications, their overall quality fell short of what Commander Sendra was looking for. Her plan called for attracting a huge crowd of aspiring recruits, employing harsh criteria to filter out the elite among the hopeful women before putting them in a hellish bootcamp that would quickly mold them into proto-Swordmaidens.
It didn't matter if few of them were accustomed to wielding greatswords. Commander Sendra felt it was okay to diversify a bit and begin to field swordsman mechs that wielded lighter and more flexible blades in order to cover different roles.
For example, the Swordmaidens were very lacking in terms of defense. It might be helpful if they could field knight mechs that also happened to be decent at leading charges.
Light mechs also paired badly with large, two-handed weapons. It would be handy if the Swordmaidens acquired some mech pilots that specialized in wielding shorter blades. It was an extremely bad idea to equip greatswords to slender mechs that tried to maximize their speed and acceleration!
While diversification was definitely on the agenda, Commander Sendra never lost sight of the core identity of the Swordmaidens. All of these extra additions should never come at the cost of losing their main purpose as an assault mech force. They were the sword of the Larkinson Clan!
All of these women had to come from somewhere, though. The most important requirements for this recruitment plan to work was to raise the quantity and quality of applicants.
The more women applied, the greater the probability of encountering compatible warriors!
The greater the average qualifications of the crowd, the easier it was to meet their quotas!
Ketis thought that the approach that Venerable Dise and Commander Sendra adopted before would have been sufficient. They could have done better, but their shaky foundations and lack of backing in the Heavensword Association caused the leaders to err on the side of caution.
Yet the ambitious new direction that Commander Sendra just presented increased the risk factor by at least ten times!
”I can't believe this.” Ketis uttered with a shocked expression. ”Are you mad? Not even Ves is this crazy. We are only capable of fielding a single mech company at this time. How can we possibly digest thousands of Heavensworders and other foreigners at a time? Our stomachs will burst apart from overeating!”
”Don't undersell yourselves. While I have only come into touch with you Swordmaidens for less than a day, your rustic martial tradition is quite solid. With an expert pilot presiding over your organization, no Heavensworder will dare to act too presumptuously.” The old man reassured.
Ketis frowned deeper. ”Why don't you put Venerable Dise in charge of your crappy sword school, then? She's a much more impressive swordswoman than I. As far as I'm concerned, I'm the last person who should be put in charge!”
”It won't work.” Sendra shook her head. ”Fully-realized expert pilots and swordmasters aren't allowed to compete in the tournaments. The events are held in order to put the focus on the younger generations of swordsmen who have the most to prove.”
Fred Walinski nodded in agreement. ”It's not that wise for swordmasters to show off too much. Also, I have briefly experienced Venerable Dise's swordsmanship. While her martial prowess is truly comparable to some of the swordmasters that I know, her style is not a good fit with the Annihilator Sword Style. I vowed to my dying brother that I would seek an inheritor that can further his legacy, and throughout my three-decade long search, you are the only swordswoman that has ever come this close to matching our style!”
”I already have a sword style! It's the same one that every Swordmaiden trained in! I will not give up the teachings I grew up with in order to adopt something completely different!”
”Ketis.” Venerable Dise gently spoke up. ”While I appreciate your loyalty to our sword style, you don't have to be so possessive about it. It is a standard style that is plain and distilled to a repertoire of essential moves. You can do far more with a sword than what we have taught. Every Swordmaiden expands her initial repertoire with additional techniques that suit their own physiques and preferred approach. You don't have to abandon the Swordmaiden Sword Style to adopt another one. Who said that swordsmen and swordswomen are only allowed to practice a single style?”
”My brother's wish is for his style and teachings to be passed on to the younger generations.” Walinski said. ”While I would prefer it if the Annihilator Sword Style is able to continue in its purest form, after waiting so long for a successor, I can live with a future where you incorporate the most useful essence of my brother's sword style in your own fighting style. As long as his legacy continues to be passed on in some form or another, his existence and hard effort is not wasted.”
Ketis still did not feel comfortable with the situation. Both her leaders and the old man were putting a lot of pressure and responsibility on her shoulders. She had never participated in an undertaking as massive as this! How could she possibly bear all of this weight on her shoulders?
”I'm not a full-time swordswoman. I'm a mech designer.”
”That doesn't matter to me.” The old man shook his head. ”According to Miss Harcourt here, you are a rare multi-talented individual. With the talent and ability that you have already shown, I am sure you can learn the essence of the Annihilator sword Style in a short amount of time.”