The Esoterist entertained a minute of silence as the Human Summit processed what they just saw. They just saw an Apprentice brawl with a Squire, tank his blows, and even deal damage of his own through his CHA weapon.
Unless this Martial Apprentice was a talent as extraordinary as the Dawnbringer himself, this battle was truly stunning.
"I can assure you…" the Esoterist remarked knowingly. "That this was an average Apprentice, an average CHA, and an average Squire. As I have stated, I have had the opportunity to conduct many studies on CHAs, including to asure their power. I will be publishing them in renowned peer-reviewed journals for all of you to pore over."
The Esoterist's words broke the stupor that much of the Human Summit found themselves in, returning their sense of awareness back to the conference at hand.
"I have presented you with the revolutionary strengths and power of CHAs, and now it would be remiss of as a scholar to not delve into its categorical shortcomings," he continued. "Of which there are more than I would like to admit."
His words grounded them.
Of course, there were shortcomings and caveats.
There was no way that CHAs could grant so much power without equally large shortcomings.
"The first and most self-evident shortcoming would be the high material requirents for CHA Martial Artists and corps." He raised a single finger. "One of the greatest advantages of Martial Artists is that they are not resource-intensive compared to beasts and siege weapons despite being the strongest forces in the world. This advantage is completely non-existent for CHA Martial Artists. Not only does each CHA require a sizable amount of resources, but they will also require technicians for maintenance and repair. In addition, you will need developnt teams of CHA designers, a new field of esoteric engineering that I have invented, to develop CHAs in the first place. You will also need heavy industrial capital to manufacture CHAs."
This dampened so of the enthusiasm among the human leaders who grew excited by the power they witnessed in the duel.
These were indeed heavy shortcomings that normal Martial Artists didn't possess. Even the most powerful Martial Sages could be sustained and maintained with low-middle class inco while it beca clear that CHAs were going to be extrely taxing on capital.
"In addition, weapon Martial Artists often progress a little slower due to an additional elent of mastery—their weapon—causing their training to be more ti-consuming," the Esoterist continued. "This problem is highly exacerbated in CHA Martial Artists. CHAs are far and away the most complicated and sophisticated Martial weapon that has ever been created in the history of humankind. It takes an imnse amount of ti and training to master piloting a CHA. About five years until one achieves preliminary proficiency and can be trusted to be able to pilot a CHA outside of a controlled environnt and supervision. A few more years before they gain any combat effectiveness at all."
This dampened the enthusiasm for CHAs even further.
It ant that even if all human nations began implenting them today, it would take years before they could make any difference on the battlefield at all. No normal human weapon took four years for basic mastery!
"Fortunately, I am developing special training thods with my colleague, the Psycher, to accelerate the training process, but even then, it will most certainly be much slower than normal weapons."
It was only a fair trade-off considering the sheer power that CHAs gave relative to swords or spears.
A CHA pilot would be able to mow down an army of spearn or swordsn from the looks of it.
"Additionally, and this is a disadvantage for CHA Martial Artists, but their individuality can only occur as long as their CHAs are customized to suit their Martial Path just like the Martial Body is. This ans that in order to progress, CHA Martial Artists will need to depend on CHA developers, they cannot progress without them."
This would also dampen enthusiasm for CHA among prospective Martial Artists, but not by too much.
Ultimately, CHA Martial Artists would most certainly be the absolute very strongest of the strongest in each Realm that they touched.
"There are a myriad of other smaller advantages and disadvantages that would take forever to cover, so I have included all of them into the docunts that the Beggar's Sect will distribute around the world." He smiled. "Be sure to deeply familiarize yourself with all of it. And for now, that brings to an end of the final solution I have prepared for human civilization."
He waved his hand, shutting off the projections and the screen. "I believe that CHAs are the future of Martial Art. All this ti, Martial Artists and technology have been in a silent competition. I'm sure that many of you have suspected that my ambition was to crush Martial Art with esoteric technology and frankly…"
He shrugged with a mischievous smile. "I most certainly did. In fact, until a year ago, I most certainly still harbored the goal of crushing Martial Art with the power of esoteric technology."
His smile disappeared and his eyes grew serious. "That was until the first CHA pilot broke through to the Apprentice Realm and I witnessed their unrivaled dominance and the unfathomable potential of CHA Martial Artists. What was rely just a side project of intellectual curiosity and academic pursuit showed a new world that I simply could not deny. I realized that esoteric technology would never be able to outcompete CHA Martial Artists. The sa could be said for normal Martial Artists. I truly believe that CHA will be the future and rest assured…"
His eyes flared with determination. "I will exert every ounce of my mind to ensure that no other future is possible. I would advise all human nations to adopt CHA or eventually fall behind those that have. You would be foolish to deny power due to your fear of the unknown. Power is power. And we are in an apocalypse that could wipe us all out if we don't muster every ounce of power we have."
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