FISTBOUND. I Ascend With Every New Upgrade.

Levi woke with his knuckles wrapped in bandages and his ribs still bruised from the Trial. The mattress beneath him was hard as stone, and the air inside Unit 9C was laced with disinfectant and steel. Morning light filtered through a narrow slit of a window, bathing the room in a pale gray.

[System Update: Core Integration Sync - 64%]

[Healing Factor Active - Juggernaut Passive: Boneknit Lv.1 Initiated]

Every breath still hurt, but it was a clean hurt. Productive pain. Levi swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stretched, feeling the sore tension roll through his shoulders like a tide. The Core pulsed faintly in his chest. Not just alive now. Awake.

A chime sounded from the embedded wall panel.

"Initiates 9C through 9F, report to Arena Annex Delta. Immediate compliance required."

He threw on his uniform, now stained with old blood and half-repaired at the seams. As he stepped into the hallway, the others from his unit filed out. Rellin was there, hammer bruises still painting his jaw. The violet-eyed girl, Aera, moved like smoke beside him. No one spoke.

The Arena Annex was smaller than the Trial pit, more like a sparring cathedral. Polished stone, reinforced viewing platforms, and energy barriers that shimmered like rain. Standing in the center was Instructor Arkan.

Tall. Still. A storm trapped in human shape.

His silver mask reflected the overhead lights. One red eye blinked.

"Form a line."

They did.

"You all think because you made it through the Trial, you belong here," Arkan said. His voice cut across the room like a whip. "That was the beginning. This is the forge. And forges don't forgive."

Levi kept his gaze locked forward.

"Each of you has a system," Arkan continued, pacing. "Each of you is bound by code, pain, and potential. But systems without discipline? Without purpose? They collapse. Just like people."

He stopped in front of Rellin. "What's your type?"

"Bluntcore," Rellin muttered. "Heavyweight path. Dual augment chains."

"And your weakness?"

Rellin hesitated. "Speed."

Arkan didn't blink. "You die in four seconds flat in a Phantom-tier ambush."

He moved to Aera. "You?"

"Nerveweaver," she said coolly. "Signal disruption and precision strikes."

"Weakness?"

"Low physical resilience."

"Meaning a stone like him," he nodded at Levi, "could pulp your lungs with a sneeze."

He stepped in front of Levi.

"Juggernaut. Viktor's favorite toy."

"I'm not his anything," Levi replied.

"Good. Hold on to that. Hate keeps your spine from snapping."

Arkan raised a hand. A square platform rose from the ground, revealing a set of gloves, rods, and neural-band training weapons.

"Today, you learn to fight your weakness."

He pointed at Levi and Aera. "You two. Ring now."

Aera didn't blink. Levi stepped forward, fists tightening.

The room dimmed. Barriers sealed. A countdown began.

[Combat Simulation Active — Opponent: Aera Lin - Nerveweaver]

[Augment Trait Scanned: Phantom Reflex, Synaptic Flash Lv.2]

The moment the buzzer sounded, Aera vanished. Not literally—but to Levi's eyes, she blurred like a heat mirage. He spun on instinct. A strike clipped his jaw.

[Focus +1. Reaction Time Improved by 6%.]

She darted left. Right. Then jabbed toward his pressure points.

He grunted, enduring the stabs of pain in his shoulder and leg.

Then, she made a mistake. A half-second delay.

He caught her wrist.

[Augment Activated: Momentum Lock - Grapple Hold Stabilized]

He twisted and slammed her down, just hard enough to assert dominance without crippling her.

The buzzer ended.

Arkan raised his hand. "Match over."

Aera stood, brushing hair from her face. Her eyes met Levi's, unreadable.

"You didn't go for the kill," she said.

"Didn't need to."

She looked at him again, and for a heartbeat, something shifted.

Arkan stepped between them.

"Progress, but too soft. In the field, you hesitate, you die."

He turned away.

"Clean yourselves. We move to Memory Training next."

Levi blinked.

"Memory what?"

Arkan didn't stop walking.

"You want strength? Then face your past. Or it will own you."

[System Alert: Memory Archive - Fragment 04 Pending Access]

[Would you like to proceed? Y/N]

Levi stared at the prompt.

His finger hovered.

He pressed yes.

The room melted away. Heat rushed into his skull like boiling water.

Suddenly, he stood in the ruins of an alleyway—the same alley where he first broke a man's arm in a street brawl to protect Lilith. He could smell blood on his knuckles. His younger self stared up at the fallen thug, breathing hard, shaking.

"You don't touch family," the boy whispered.

The vision ended.

[Memory Archive Unlocked: Fragment 04 - "The Alley Lesson"]

[Resolve +1. Passive Unlock: Ironblood Trigger - Minor strength boost when defending an emotional anchor.]

Levi gasped back to the present, sweat soaking through his shirt.

He looked at his hands, then the dark ceiling.

"Keep pushing," he whispered. "Keep surviving."

But the system wasn't done.

[System Note: Core Sync Progression – Threshold Approaching 70%]

[Warning: Next Memory Node will initiate a locked fragment.]

Levi frowned. A locked memory?

Before he could question it, the system flashed another alert:

[New Directive Available: Optional Duel - Aera Lin has challenged your performance rating. Accept Y/N?]

He blinked. That hadn't happened before.

A soft knock echoed on the dorm wall. Aera's silhouette waited in the hallway.

"Take the duel," she said through the glass. "I need to know if I was wrong about you."

Levi stood. His body ached. His mind burned.

But deep inside, something grinned.

He pressed Yes.

The countdown began again.

[Combat Simulation Active — Challenger: Aera Lin][System Rule: Emotional Anchor Enhancements Active — Both Initiates Approved]

Levi stepped forward, the floor vibrating beneath his boots as the barrier locked them in. Aera mirrored his movement, her posture lighter now, but not weaker. Intent coiled behind her eyes.

The buzzer sounded.

She struck first—faster than before. A feint, then a sweeping kick aimed at his knee. He dropped his weight low, absorbing the impact, and countered with a forward lunge. Their bodies met in a clash of instinct and timing.

Aera twisted, flipped, and landed behind him.

[Core Stat: Dexterity +1. Adaptive Muscle Trigger Engaged.]

Levi didn't hesitate. He spun on his heel and unleashed a hammering backfist—missed by inches. Aera darted around, fingertips brushing the pressure point on his neck. Pain flared.

Still, he grinned.

"I see you," he whispered.

And she faltered. Just a blink.

He didn't capitalize. Not yet.

Instead, he stepped back and raised his fists again, nodding once. Respect. Recognition. Readiness.

The chamber lights glinted off their sweat. Off their scars. Off what they were both becoming.

This wasn't just a duel anymore.

It was a signal.

They were no longer survivors. They were contenders.