Chapter 23: Forged for War
"Begin sparring."
Shhhiiink!
Timmy's sabers scraped together. The bot squared up.
'Start slow.'
Levi moved.
Light steps. Sidestep. Feint. Testing and watching.
Timmy tracked him. No wasted motion. No reaction baited.
'Good.'
Levi circled. Stayed just out of range. Muscles coiled. A shift—fake step in.
No bite.
Then he struck.
Low lunge. Blade up—deflect high. Second knife—straight for the core.
CLANG!
Blocked.
Timmy adjusted, second saber dropping—Levi twisted, blade hissing past his shoulder. He sprang back.
Breath steady. Grin sharp.
'Expected.'
His Fingers flexed, mesh tightened. The arm felt right.
He vanished.
Clash!—parry, slide, pivot. Blade shot for the core—
Blocked.
Levi's grin widened.
'Faster.'
Rufus watched, arms crossed, boot tapping slow against the metal grating. His red eye flickered, the patch retracted. A faint glow in its depths, tracking every shift, every twitch.
Levi was quick. Damn quick.
Rufus nodded.
"Yeah… kid's got somethin' now."
Rufus watched the kid work—testing, feeling it out. Smart. No reckless charges, no wasted movement. Just measuring his opponent.
Kid was having a hell of a day when it came to earning his graces.
"He's fast."
"Son'bitch! What's wrong wit' you?!"
Rufus damn near jumped out of his skin.
Edmond stood next to him, arms crossed, looking more serious than his half-ruffled hair should've allowed. Kids must've been a handful.
"He looks warmed up now."
Back down below.
Levi pressed the attack. Feet light, movements sharp.
He slipped between strikes, pivoting, twisting, keeping Timmy chasing air.
'Faster.'
He weaved low, shot past the bot's guard—steel met steel.
Blocked again.
He twisted, forcing Timmy's blade aside, but the bot adjusted, matching every shift, every step.
He pushed harder.
'Faster!'
Too hard.
His foot caught, weight shifted wrong—
WHAM!
His back hit the ground.
"Well, he's fucked."
Rufus didn't even flinch, arms still crossed, watching Timmy raise his saber.
Levi smirked up at the blade.
His arm snapped up, aiming for a nearby stone column.
Click.
A slot in his forearm lifted.
THMMP! CRACK!
A steel line shot out, hit its mark.
Timmy's saber came down—
Levi was already gone.
"Woohoo! Mag's saved the day!"
Rufus let out a laugh, clapping his hands together.
Edmond leaned in, eyes narrowing.
"Seems she outdid herself."
Rufus huffed, rubbing his chin.
"Wonder what else she did."
Levi stood up against the pillar.
Click.
The cable snapped free, reeling back into his arm, a hiss of steam venting from his elbow.
His grin sharpened.
"Betcha didn't guess that, Timmy. Or this."
Twist. Click.
He threw his blade and charged with it.
Knife met saber— SHHSSST! A burst of steam. The capsule fired, knocking Timmy's blade off-course. Levi slid in under—
SHHINK!
Sparks burst as he skimmed past, stopping just in time—
Catch.
His falling bowie met his grip, and he dashed at Timmy's back.
The bot head twisted unnaturally to face him.
CLANG! CLANG!
Blocked again.
Levi's blacksteel hand snapped back, his knife knocked loose—
'Shit.'
No time.
He squeezed. Twisted. Click.
His transforming arm came up.
CLANG!
Saber met blacksteel.
From above, Rufus and Edmond stilled.
Both men leaned forward, eyes locked on the same thing.
Levi's arm.
It changed.
Levi's free hand snapped up, fingers clamping around Timmy's other wrist.
Locked.
The bot struggled, sabers pressing in, but Levi held firm. Steel strained against flesh and Vaporguard.
His grip didn't budge.
So Edmond and Rufus could see it, plain as day.
The blacksteel tips of his fingers had sharpened—clawed now, each digit tapering into lethal points.
Spikes rose from each knuckle, a line of them tapering back along the back of his hand, ending at his wrist. A predator's arch.
His forearm—different now.
Along the back, hooked serrated ridges jutted from the plating, each one angled backward, designed to catch, to tear.
The amber veins brightened, steam venting through the segments, pulsing—
Like it was breathing.
A surge of strength. Jaw clenched. Teeth grit.
Levi shoved forward—then kicked.
DUUNG!
Timmy launched.
BOOM!
Like a loosed bolt, he crashed spine-first into a stone pillar. The impact cracked through the mine, shaking dust loose from above.
Now they saw it. All of it.
His sleeve hung in tatters, the arm beneath it fully transformed.
His scarred face looked... different. Dangerous. Violent.
His eyes burned a deep amber glow, steam hissing from his forearm vents like an overheating furnace.
The bladed ridges along his forearm, amost hidden. The clawed fingers flexed.
And now—his shoulder.
The plating had risen, shifting, interlocking, forming a jagged pauldron that cut into the air like a blade.
Timmy stirred, rubble sliding from his blacksteel cable frame. Joints whined, servos realigning, its Pneuma Core roaring back to life.
A bit dented—but still operational.
Levi shook out his foot.
Hopping a few times, shaking off the pain.
Then he crouched—muscles tensed—ready to—
"End sparring!"
HISS-CLUNK.
Timmy froze. Deactivated.
Levi nearly tripped forward.
"What the fuck?!"
Jumping down from the metal landing, Edmond hit the ground with a solid thud. Rufus followed, boots crunching against the dirt. Both men advanced toward Levi, their faces unreadable.
"What's the problem?"
Levi felt hot all of a sudden. Not from exertion—but from their looks.
Edmond stopped in front of him, hand outstretched.
"Show me that arm."
Levi hesitated. A prickle of irritation flared in his gut.
"Sneaky little bastards."
Rufus clicked his tongue, shaking his head.
Edmond didn't wait. He grabbed Levi's arm, turning it over, inspecting Maggie's work up close. His fingers traced the plating, the ridges—features that hadn't been part of the original plans.
"This is not what was on the board."
Guilt twisted in Levi's gut. Then, just as quick, annoyance.
Why the hell should he feel guilty?
"Look, do I gotta do this with everybody?"
Levi snapped, yanking his arm back.
"Gotta justify myself every time I breathe? Trust goes both ways, doesn't it?"
He clenched his fist. Click.
The transformation reversed—seamless. Blades retracted, spikes dissolved, the plating folding back into its smooth, interlocking segments.
HISS.
A final burst of steam vented from his elbow before sealing shut. The amber glow vanished.
Silence.
"You're right."
Edmond nodded, eyes still on the arm. He exhaled through his nose, slow and measured, then met Levi's gaze.
"Tell us where Crimson Song is."
Levi blinked.
"Wait—wha—"
"Fuck yeah!"
Two reactions. Wildly different.
Rufus let out a hoot, grinning like he'd just hit the jackpot. Levi stood frozen, staring like he'd seen a ghost.
"But I ain't passed the test. I told you—I'm not tellin' nothin' unless I go."
Edmond didn't flinch.
"You are going."
His tone left no room for argument.
"After a couple days, we head out. So—where is she?"
Is this it?
His heart kicked up—not from excitement.
From worry.
Not fear of failure, not the unknown. But because—this was the moment.
If they were gonna betray him, if they were gonna take what they needed and leave him behind—this was it.
He felt stupid even thinking it.
But he couldn't stop the thought from creeping in.
Then, looking at Edmond, at the measure of the man in front of him, that burn in his chest flared up again.
The same one he'd felt with Sister Moira.
Shame.
A slow breath. His pulse steadied.
"When I escaped, I made my way south. 'Bout fifteen miles north of Clearwater, there's a crest of bluffs that stick up like fingers."
"I know 'em."
Rufus, normally grinning, looked dead serious.
Levi continued.
"Well, I found this path that led up one of them. Took me to a shack—just a front. Real place was behind it, in a cave. That's where I found her."
A beat.
"Well, where she found me."
Rufus scoffed, crossing his arms.
"Then how're you talkin' right now?"
Levi shrugged, ripping off a loose thread from his sleeve.
"Pretty sure she made me before I even stepped on that path."
His fingers rolled the fabric between them, twisting, tight.
"She coulda killed me. I was wrecked. Exhausted. I couldn't fight, couldn't run."
His jaw tensed. He could still see her.
"But she just sat there. Creepiest damn thing I ever saw. Red hair like blood. Eyes to match. She didn't move. Didn't speak. Just breathed."
Edmond straightened.
"Sounds like her. They say she's lost her mind."
Levi exhaled sharply.
"That's for damn sure. If it weren't for the need, I would've left the second I realized she wasn't gonna kill me. But waiting for that moment… I fell asleep."
Rufus let out a low whistle, taking his hat off, rubbing his bald head.
"God-damn, boy. You're lucky."
He tapped Edmond's shoulder, nodding toward him.
"Four-star bounty. Just waitin' for us."
Edmond didn't answer. His face didn't change. He turned for the stairs, gripping the railing before stopping.
"Take the rest of the day. Rest. Eat. I'll head to market, get some meat for dinner. Tomorrow, we start your training."
Levi's pulse picked up.
Real training.
Before he could answer, Rufus clapped him on the back, leaning in with a grin.
"I'll get us some drinks too. Just a lil' celebration."
This was it.
His moment.
…Wait.
His brow furrowed.
'What am I excited about?'
This wasn't right. Something was off.
Wasn't he supposed to be escaping?