Iron Prince: A Progression Sci-Fi Epic (Warformed: Stormweaver Book 1)

by Bryce O'Connor

  “Yeah,” Rei answered just as cautiously.

  “Huh.” Catcher looked to contemplate this new tidbit. “Which means the staff know…”

  “Some of them,” Rei clarified. “I think it’s only the higher-ups. I’m almost positive our sub-instructors don’t. It’s one of the reasons I’m tiptoeing around the bush with this, man. I’m sorry.”

  Catcher didn’t look away from him. “And you wouldn’t tell me what was going on even if I asked you straight up?”

  Rei shook his head. “No. Not now, at least.”

  “But eventually?”

  Rei considered, then deciding to try for a grin that he was pretty sure came out stiff. “Yeah. Definitely. Though if I had to guess, you’ll figure it out before I’m ready to share.”

  “Along with everyone else and their mothers,” Viv muttered. Her eyes were on Rei, and she looked worried. “You need to get stronger. And fast. Before you become more of a target for the class dickwads then you already are.”

  Rei nodded again. “Dent told me the same thing, after she threw Grant into that wall.”

  “I’m sorry?” Catcher looked taken aback. “The captain threw Logan Grant into a wall?”

  “At about a hundred miles an hour,” Viv confirmed cheerfully. “Then had him tossed in the brig for most of a week.”

  Catcher blinked at her, speechless. Then, apparently deciding his brain couldn’t handle more than one dose of insanity at a time, he looked back to Rei. “Just judging by the hints you’re dropping, I think I have a good guess at what’s going on with your CAD. If I’m correct, not only do I finally get why you’re here at Galens, but I also understand why you’d keep something like that so close to your chest. But you’re right. You’re both right.” He glanced between the pair of them. “There is no way in hell you’re going to be able to keep your head down with your new kicks, man.” He indicated Rei’s armored forelegs with a wave. “Come tomorrow, that’s gonna be the hottest topic in every ear of every student in the school, and you were only just starting to fly under the radar a bit.”

  “Maybe in 1-C and the other classes,” Viv quipped with a snort. “Not in ours. Dent turned Grant into a temporary wall decoration because he went at Rei after the match was done. Even ignored Sergeant Major Gross telling him to stand down.”

  “Damn. Seriously?” Catcher looked shocked, his speech derailed. “What the hell was he thinking?”

  “I’m not sure he was,” Rei was the one to answer, frowning. “The guy looked… demented. I’ve never seen anyone that mad. I’m just remembering that he said something weird during the fight, too. Something about how I should have the dignity to ‘die with the rest of them’?”

  “He did?” Viv asked, surprised. “I missed that. Whatever his deal was, he definitely looked pissed. I thought he was going to kill you.”

  “You and me both,” Rei muttered, suddenly glad their lecturers hadn’t yet taught the first years how to make a true-call.

  “I told you before that dude is bad news,” Catcher said darkly, looking between the two of them. “If anything it’s even more reason to listen to Dent and Viv, Rei. You definitely need to get stronger, or some people might start going out of their way to break you down. Once they realize how fast your CAD is catching up to all of us…”

  “Yeah,” Rei nodded, having already considered all of what the boy was saying. “Yeah, I know. Which is why I have a favor to ask.”

  It was Viv and Catcher’s turn to blink at each other before looking at him again, apparently not having expected this.

  “If you’re gonna suggest we sneak into the brig to shank Grant in his sleep, I’ll need to change my clothes first,” Catcher said with feigned gravity.

  Rei stared at him blankly until the boy raised his hands in surrender.

  “Okay, okay. No killing off of fellow classmates. Heard.” He dropped his arms, managing a smile again. “What do you need, then?”

  Rei answered with his own grin.

  “Either of you have plans after dinner tonight?”

  *****

  “That’s it! Now keep the gap between the two of you tight! Don’t let him back away!… Good! Yeah! Just like that! Catcher, speed up a little more. I think he’s getting the hang of it.”

  Rei would have protested, but at Viv’s command from the edge of the Dueling field Catcher’s longsword began to dance and prod faster, the yellow-and-white blurring of the steel streaked with purple light. Rei—who had indeed just been getting a handle on the Saber’s speed and openings—suddenly found himself putting all of his focus in nothing more than defending himself, block or slashing away the threatening blade every time it got too near. Before he knew it he was being pushed back, until within 10 seconds Viv was shouting once more.

  “Stop! Stop! Rei, you’re out of any practical range again.”

  Rei blinked and looked over the steel shielding of his left arm he’d just been using to defend his face. Sure enough, Catcher was smiling cheerfully at him from some 6 or 7 feet away, Arthus—his Device—held perfectly parallel to the ground at arm’s length, the tip hovering inches from Shido’s guard.

  “Dammit,” Rei cursed, dropping his arms to take in the distance he’d been driven back, rending Shido’s Brawler-like manifestation useless. “It’s his Speed! I can’t keep up!”

  “Of course you can’t keep up.” Viv approached from the sideline. She, like them, was in her combat uniform, having switched out with Catcher a quarter-hour before to act as match arbiter and feedback-provider. “Catcher’s probably close to C-Ranked Speed—”

  “D7,” Catcher confirmed for her, tossing Arthus over one shoulder to wait.

  “—which puts him a full tier and a half higher than you,” Viv finished, motioning to Rei insistently. “We’re not here so that you can beat us, right? We’re here so that you can get to the point of beating us.”

  “Maybe,” Catcher added with a grin, and Viv shot him a glare this time.

  They were all three standing near the middle of one of the many Dueling fields available for students in each of Galen’s two 24-hour training facilities. East Center—the one closest to Kanes—was a modest structure of steel and polished stone until you entered the building. Inside, smart-glass walls made up every surface, kept at a standard-translucence so that newcomers could take in each of the dozen fields that comprised the first floor. There was no staffer, only automated registration systems on pads outside the entrance to each chamber, as well as a trio of dedicated medical drones docked at the end of the hall that divide the fields into two rows of six. The ceiling was only ten feet above their heads—hardly the clearance of a standardized combat-space—but since the facility wasn’t designed to hold sanctioned matches it fulfilled its purpose as a training gym perfectly. Even at that moment Rei could hear other pairings and groups in other chambers, hidden from view since the three of them had elected to make their walls an opaque white before getting started.

  His consideration of those other noises was interrupted when he flinched as text began to spill down the frame of his NOED.

  ...

  Processing combat information.

  ...

  Calculating.

  …

  Results:

  Strength: Lacking

  Endurance: Adequate

  Speed: Adequate

  Cognition: Adequate

  Offense: Adequate

  Defense: Adequate

  Growth: Not Applicable

  …

  Checking combat data acquisition.

  …

  Adequate data acquirement met.

  Device initiating adjustments to:

  Strength.

  …

  Adjustment complete.

  Strength has been upgraded from Rank F9 to E0.

  “Oh, sweet!” Rei exclaimed, completely interrupting Viv, who’d apparently continued to berate him for his self-depreciation.

&
nbsp; She forgave him, though, as both she and Catcher stiffened in excitement at his words. “What? What is it?”

  “E0 Strength!” Rei answered eagerly, lowering his voice a little in case anyone accidentally overheard them.

  Catcher groaned, closing his eyes and tilting his head back in jealousy. “Don’t get me wrong man, I’m excited for you, but the envy is real. That’s the second spec you’ve had boosted tonight!”

  “Complain when I catch up to you, Mr. D7 Speed,” Rei snorted, but he didn’t argue further. Indeed, his lagging Endurance had upgraded to F7 about an hour into their session. At the thought, though, his excitement sobered a little. “I really appreciate this, guys, but are you sure you don’t mind? I can’t be much of a challenge for your spec levels…”

  Viv waved his uncertainty off. “Not yet you’re not, but it’s only a matter of time, right? Besides, this is good for us, too. We should have started taking advantage of our leisure hours weeks ago, especially if we seriously want to catch up with the summer group.”

  Catcher nodded, looking Viv up and down. “Some of us more than others. You’re not that far behind them, entering with a D7…”

  “And getting closer to D8 every day.” Viv grinned at the pair of them wickedly. “Rei, your specs might be trash, but this is still training. My Endurance jumped to D4 a half hour after yours.”

  “What?!” Rei and Catcher exclaimed together, and Viv nodded.

  “Yup. This might be skewed in your favor for now, but it’s not like it’s hurting us. And besides—” her smile widened, and she turned on Catcher in a snap to shove him closer to the center of the field “—today gave me a bad taste for Sabers, so I’m glad I get to pick on one for a bit.”

  “Oh you’re on,” Catcher announced eagerly, catching himself and bringing his sword off his shoulder and at the ready.

  Rei let the pair of them go at it for a half hour or so, taking his turn to stand match-side, shouting criticisms where he could. Viv might have been the stronger of the two when it came to rank, but Catcher had learned a thing or two in his 4 years at an ISCM prep. His skill was undeniable, and while Viv could outpace him, he rarely gave her an opportunity to take advantage of her better Speed and Offense. While Arthus’ main form was the longsword, the Device also covered Catcher’s left arm from elbow to fingers, and he used the purple claws there to much greater efficiency that Selleck had earlier in the day. In the end the two of them were roughly matched at an even level, though Rei did think he might have placed his credits on Viv if someone had put a knife to his throat about it.

  After Catcher called for a break, Rei stepped in, and Viv gave him the thrashing of his life on repeat. Again he focused on keeping Shido within a usable range, but again he kept getting rebuffed. Gemela had less reach than Arthus did—Viv’s sword was about 6 inches shorter than Catcher’s longer blade—but her two weapons were their own beast to handle, and over and over Rei kept finding himself repelled by the barrage of vysetrium-edged steel.

  “Break!” he wheezed after about 15 minutes of near-nonstop fighting, throwing his hands up as he found himself utterly unable to penetrate Viv’s slashing defenses no matter how hard he tried. “Break!”

  Viv lowered her blades, looking a little disappointed, but when Rei half-dropped, half-collapsed back to the projection plating, she sniggered a little and recalled Gemela.

  “I say we call it for the night?” she asked Catcher, who himself was cross-legged nearby. “I think our resident runt is going to pass out if we keep him at this much longer.”

  Rei didn’t have the breath to answer her, so he just held up both middle fingers in response and he tucked his head between his legs, trying to recover.

  “Sounds good,” Catcher agreed, but he sounded a little disappointed. “Bummed I’m the only one who didn’t see any spec improvement, though.”

  “It’ll happen,” Viv assured him automatically, wiping sweat from her brow with the back of one hand as she tugged her ponytail free of its hairband with the other. As always, her brown locks fell around her shoulders in perfect form.

  “Seriously, how does it do that?” Catcher demanded, taking in her curls with genuine amazement.

  Viv wiggled her eyebrows mysteriously at him. “If I told you I’d have to kill you.” She looked at Rei, then. “You ready to head back?”

  It took a moment for him to respond. “Only… Only if you guys promise to come back… tomorrow,” he got out through gasps, head still bowed.

  Viv and Catcher looked at each other, then shrugged. “We’re game. You sure you won’t get wiped out for classes, though?”

  Rei grinned as his breath finally started to even out. “Even if I do, it’ll be worth it in the end.”

  As he answered, he lifted his face, revealing the flare of the neuro-optic that had just informed him his Endurance had upped again, reaching F8.

  Catcher was swearing under his breath the entire way home.

  CHAPTER 23

  Early September, 2468 - Two Weeks Later

  “This is the basis of all SCT mechanics at any level.” Lieutenant Major John Markus, Head of the Device Evolution department, was pacing back and forth before the layered amphitheater seating of his class while he spoke, as was his usual fashion in the man’s infrequent morning lectures. “Through selective targeting and light-speed electromagnetic pulses, the phantom-calls of your CADs are able to interrupt standard activity in both the short and long axons of an opponent’s neurological systems. While this is obviously primarily used for the benefit of combat tournaments, it also allows Users to apply non-lethal force beyond such settings when needed. Yes, Kallum.” The young, yellow-haired instructor paused to point somewhere over Rei’s head. “You have a question?”

  “What sort of setting would that be, sir? I thought calling on our Devices outside of sanctioned areas was a criminal offense.”

  “Extenuating circumstances such as self-defense can be applied,” Markus answered. “There have been a number of assaults on popular SCT combatants in the past, none of which have been documented to have gone well for the offending party.” A smattering of laughter from the class. “There is also a dedicated unit of Users in the Military Police branch whose sole task is to handle CAD wielders the other disciplinary teams would have no ability to manage. Does that answer your question?” Joshua Kallum—one of 1-A’s Sabers—must have nodded, because Markus pressed on. “Good. Then returning to the topic at hand, it is important to discuss the varied lengths of interruption as controlled by Arena fields and—”

  As the lieutenant major continued to drone on about the physiological impact of a phantom-call on the human body, Rei tuned the man out, content pretending to be scribbling notes on his pad as he and Viv used it to secretly watch Oraculum taking on Hanson Frost somewhere on Venus. The Intersystem pro match was one of the most highly anticipated of the year—two Rook-Class S-Ranks going head-to-head—and more than once Rei had heard someone suppress a yelp or hiss behind them, not to mention he knew for a fact that Sense, Kay, and Leron were sharing a screen two rows below.

  “Oh watch this, watch this!” Rei whispered energetically just in time for Oraculum—a Brawler in mostly green-and-black full-body armor—to punch at Frost from nearly 10 yards away. There was a rippling distortion in the air between the two opponents, and Frost didn’t move quick enough to dodge the wave of energy. It struck the white-and-silver Lancer full on, slamming him back to bounce off the thick trunk of one of the tall pines that made up their Woodlands field. “Directional Repulsion.” Rei could hear the excitement in his own voice. “It’s not User-Unique to him, but Oraculum’s like one of a hundred registered Users to possess it right now.”

  “That’s a pretty potent Ability to combo with,” Viv answered quietly, glancing up like she wanted to make sure Markus hadn’t caught wind of their lack of attention. “An S-Ranked Brawler with a ranged attack? That must make him a nightmare to deal with.”

  “O
h it does,” Rei agree, watching Oraculum follow up his Directional Repulsion with a Break Step—a common short-burst Ability that allowed for an extreme boost in speed—to close the gap between him and his fallen opponent in a flash. Hanson Frost went flying as a leg armored in green-and-black took him in the side before he could find his feet again.

  Pleased with the direction the fight was going, Rei looked up so Markus wouldn’t get suspicious of him staring at his tablet for too long.

  It was rare for them to have lectures in the Device Evolution building. Most of their course work was held in the Combat Theory or Tactical Studies departments, but this was the third class by the lieutenant major they’d been made to attend so far that term, and Rei supposed he could see the sense of it. There was value in knowing the why and how of a thing, especially if said thing had as many questions to be answered about it as a CAD. The talks may even have been interesting—and probably were for a number of people in the class—had Rei not made a study of 95% of the content already.

  At the thought, Rei looked over his shoulder, wondering how many eyes would actually be fixed on the instructor.

  For once, he didn’t catch a single glare thrown in his direction.

  Shido’s second evolution had, it turned out, had the fortune of being made public on the same day that Leda Truant—one of the Phalanxes, and a class gossip that spent most of her time hanging around with Logan Grant’s group—made it known to the whole of 1-A that Aria Laurent had ranked up from C0 to C1, re-solidifying her position as the highest level among the first years. As a result—while Rei’s new armor had certainly not gone unnoticed—many of the curious had been quick to nod along and move on when he played the “an E-Ranker will improve a lot faster” card once again. He got more than a few lingering stares, however, and over the last 2 weeks of class felt like the 1-A cadets had polarized, most finally leaving behind their flame of interest in him at the start of the term, while a few seemed to have suddenly made it their business to watch his every move. To exactly no one’s surprise, Grant was among this latter group, his original distaste for Rei having morphed into something altogether more hostile—if also more subdued—ever since their altercation. Stranger, however, was the fact that not only was Leron Joy a part of those watching him like hawks—it was Viv who’d bothered to figure out the boy’s full name—but he’d been joined by Kay Sandree. Rei’s infrequent interactions with the top-ranked Lancer were still pleasant—he was pretty sure Sense was always putting in a good word for him with the blue-haired girl—but he’d caught Kay studying him on more than one occasion, studying him with something between keen curiosity and suspicion.