I see. _{[The subject of artes surprises him a bit. They're not something that's present in too many other worlds, at least as far as he can tell from his conversations.]} So I suppose you don't have much in the way of hand-held firearms? Those are becoming increasingly common in my world because of their ease of use, ranged capabilities and the powerful ammunitionless settings we've developed in recent years. Or 'hot' settings, to use the common parlance. People used to argue that artes and swords didn't need reloading, you know. But now that we've pretty much solved that issue with firearms, I'm rather convinced that they're the way of the future there.

Oh, ja indeed. _{[Yeager's seen it too, though he can't claim to be even near that level of skill.]} I find it always fascinating to watch talented individuals fight. Amazing what kind of virtuosity years of practice can produce.