The Mech Touch

Chapter 7163: Ves the Spearman - Mass Release Day 3/5

Although the so-called starter vessel encountered problems when trying to merge with Blinky, the Star Cat easily solved that problem when he proactively facilitated this process.

It took a bit of problem solving, but the vessel finally integrated with the companion spirit, causing him to change in a subtle way.

The best way that Ves could describe the changes was that Blinky gained additional ’ports’, in a manner of speaking.

In fact, Ves felt he had gained additional ways to draw upon the vast reserves of the Blinkyverse.

In the past, one of the limitations that made Blinky less effective as a combat supplement was his small throughput. The ’portal’ that connected the Blinkyverse to the real universe was too small to channel too much E energy at once.

The so-called starter vessel that just merged with added a new interface that significantly eased this constraint by opening up new ways for him to channel E energy to fuel a powerful demonic technique.

"Fascinating."

As the changes to Ves as well as Blinky began to settle, they both remained still as they came to terms with their new selves.

"Are you okay, Ves?" Gloriana asked with concern.

"I am, dear. Just give me a few more moments. The enlightenment fruit was a big one alright. The magnitude of changes is far greater than with the previous fruit. It is as if I have just swallowed a meal that was as big as my true body. There is no way I can digest it all right away. There is only so much the enlightenment fruit can grant me instant mastery over the entire package."

"It sounds as if you managed to get enough value out of the radiant lottery ticket. How much would you estimate its worth?"

"Fairly high. Maybe 500 AP, but not that much more." Ves loosely guessed. "It has a solid foundation, deep theoretical basis and a fairly complete initial framework. The only problem is that it is a bit lacking in specific applications. It is up to individual practitioners of this Demonic Possession Spearmanship to convert theory into practice based on the individual traits of their innate demons. Considering that Blinky has received the ’innate demon’ hat, I will have to make even more improvisations in order to make it all work."

"Innate demon?"

"Ah, let me send you another information package. I won’t send everything since there are many parts of this knowledge that are dangerous in unskilled hands, but I will send you a description as well as the basic theory."

Both Ketis and Gloriana fell silent as they perused the information package that they just received with their cranial implants.

They grew increasingly more fascinated as they understood how this new fighting method worked.

"I have a better idea why this fruit is worth so much. If I understand this correctly, you became both a spearman and a demonologist, is that correct?"

"Yes." Ves nodded. "Technically speaking, I can treat them as two separate disciplines. I can do stuff related to demonology that is completely separate from swinging a spear around. I can also fight like a competent spearman without channeling any demonic power. However, the issue with that is that I cannot rely on one or the other to win the upcoming duels. Only when I combine the two together can I exert much greater power in the field. The potential is great, but much of the challenge lies in figuring out how to leverage the power of my innate demon through my spear techniques. This requires a considerable amount of time investment on my part. Well, perhaps not me. I can shove most of this work onto the Dark Apostle. He will be the one that must rely on the new fighting method to defeat a bunch of Ascended Giants."

"Wait, Ves." Ketis said. "Earlier, you mentioned that Blinky has somehow become the innate demon that this method is based upon. The Red Collective is working on a means for you to be able to shift your consciousness to Blinky when the Dark Apostle assumes control over your true body. Does that mean that you effectively become his ’demon’ under these circumstances?"

The thought had not yet crossed Ves’ mind. "That is a good question, Ketis. I truly don’t know. We will have to experiment with this at least once. In my opinion, it may very well be true that I may be able to exert partial control over his power moves. I can make it weaker, stronger or change its elemental alignment. I am looking forward to seeing how I can influence the ongoing fight."

If Ves was able to take more active control of how the Dark Apostle fought, then he would gain more power in his uneasy relationship with his other self.

It was better to have more leverage than not. Ves did not want to give too much freedom to the Dark Apostle, because he definitely came across as a personality who would break a deal the moment it was no longer convenient.

"Let’s leave the demon stuff behind for a moment." Ketis said as she scrutinized Ves with an evaluating gaze. "Do you think your spearmanship has improved enough to the point where you can rely solely on your new martial skill to keep up with those human phase lords?"

"...I don’t know." Ves said. "Probably not, but I think the gap has definitely closed by a much larger margin. I don’t just know how to throw a spear really good. I also know how to grip it in different ways, how to maintain my distance, what stance I should choose, how to lunge with it, how to parry and redirect the enemy’s weapon and etc. While my lacking combat experience will probably hold me back, that is a shortcoming that can be remedied over time."

"Then let’s test that out right away."

"Now?"

"Better do this sooner than later. It is not every day that you can spar against a swordmaster like myself." Ketis briefly grinned. "Let’s prepare our practice weapons first."

Ves picked up the rod that he used earlier while Ketis found a smaller rod that could serve as a general longsword.

As soon as Ketis adopted a serious sword stance, her entire demeanor changed. Her willpower and intensity had become so much more pronounced that Ves immediately felt intimidated.

Much of the confidence he gained from his massive increase in martial strength suddenly deflated.

Compared to a real swordmaster, an artificially produced Demonic Possession Spearman like Ves was probably a pushover!

Fortunately, this impromptu sparring session was never about winning and losing. It was about familiarizing himself with his new fighting skills and testing it to see how it measured up against other opponents.

Since Ketis did not do anything aside from trying to pressure Ves on a mental level, he decided he had to take the initiative.

He shuffled forward at a slow but steady pace. The tension in the air increased until Ves suddenly threw out a lunge!

Clang!

Ketis easily batted aside the incoming rod with her own makeshift weapon, yet did not jump forward in order to press the attack.

She instead shuffled back, giving Ves an opportunity to recover and launch another attack.

He did this repeatedly. He tried his best to catch Ketis off-guard and attack from different angles, but she was too sharp and fast.

This prompted Ves to change his combat approach. He began to shift his grip and press forward in order to exert more leverage and force against the swordmaster.

He introduced more movements. He put more of his weight behind his thrusts. He attempted to test her reaction speed by launching a flurry of spear attacks.

He soon found out that Ketis’ skill and combat awareness were amazing, as expected.

Yet Ves was also not surprised to find out that his physical strength and condition were far superior to his sparring partner.

This was pretty obvious as Ves was a phase lord while Ketis was still a human.

For all of her transcendent skills and abilities, Ketis’ frail human body held her back.

It was not until she was able to break through to a sword saint that she would truly be able to exceed the limitations of her relatively weak physique, but even then the strengthening effect could not turn her into a human equivalent of a mech. There was only so much that her willpower could do to amplify the strength of her body. The base was too low.

This was in sharp contrast to ace pilots, whose ace mechs were much stronger.

Perhaps the sparring session might favor Ketis slightly more if she was allowed to equip herself with her superdimensional combat armor, but Ves could strengthen his capabilities by relying on his own gear.

Whatever the case, Ves gained enough skill and understanding in spearmanship to know how he could leverage his superior strength and physicality to his advantage.

Even if Ves was not able to call upon the bulk of his physical might and mass when his true body was in a folded state, he was still able to summon a fraction of a percentage of his total strength.

This proportionately miniscule boost still amounted to being able to apply thousands if not tens of thousands more Newtons of force!

Ves grew bolder and launched swinging attacks that occasionally went as far as attempting to smack Ketis from the side with the other end of his rod!

Ketis tried her best not to meet force with force, knowing that she suffered a disadvantage in this aspect. She instead moved to evade the attacks, which she could do with greater ease.

The swordmaster became a lot more difficult to hit. Ves grew frustrated as his skills and reaction speed were not enough to improve his performance.

While he was able to move faster than Ketis, he needed time to go into motion and rely on his superior leg muscles to build up speed more quickly.

If it came to making short shifts in different directions, Ves did not feel that there was a significant speed advantage between himself and his adversary.

Ketis was just as fast as him when it came to the initial movements!

The swordmaster cleverly figured this out and circled around Ves in order to deny him the chance to ever build up speed.

He was even forced on the defensive as Ketis amped up the aggression and constantly tried to smack her rod against Ves’ body.

While Ves was able to keep up and block every incoming attack, his few attempts at parrying had failed when Ketis rapidly darted away.

The sparring session turned into such a challenging experience to Ves that he felt he was reaching a limit to his patience.

"ENOUGH!"

Ves spontaneously called upon Blinky, who readily supplied him with a burst of darkness energy.

He proceeded to take this darkness energy and channel it through his limbs and his rod in a specific way.

Although the improvised weapon was a terrible carrier of darkness energy, its small size along with Ves and Blinky’s formidable control managed to make it work, if only barely.

The end of the rod suddenly turned dark and thrummed with power.

As Ves thrust this empowered weapon forward with a surprising burst of speed, Ketis widened her eyes and hastily blocked the incoming strike.

She even channeled the power of Sharpie, causing her own rod to resonate very minutely.

CLANG!

A small dark explosion set off on collision, causing both combatants to uncontrollably take a few steps back.

"Ah, I’m sorry, Ketis! I instinctively called upon my new powers when this should have been a test of my pure fighting skills."

"It is okay, Ves. I can handle surprises like these." The swordmaster reassured him while making it clear that she remained unharmed. She stared at her own rod. "Whatever you did just then is certainly effective. Look at what you did to my makeshift weapon."

Parts of her rod had become weakened and corroded by dark splotches. While it had not snapped in half or anything, it most definitely looked like it had seen better days!