For four days, K-10 frequented Brennar’s forge.
He finished his contracts early each morning and went directly to the workshop afterward. What had begun as a simple visit to oversee the construction of his new equipment had gradually become something else.
K-10 was learning.
Brennar didn’t mind.
The smith had discovered that K-10 asked questions that most customers never considered. He wanted to know why a particular joint was shaped a certain way, how the Lunarium responded to stress, how weight distribution affected movement, and how different materials interacted when struck.
More importantly, K-10 understood the answers.
Their conversations became increasingly technical.
K-10 would identify a problem with the design.
“The shoulder restricts upward movement.”
Brennar would study the armor.
“It does. But changing the angle will weaken the joint.”
“Then reinforce the joint.”
Brennar would stare at him for a moment before grunting.
“That’s easier said than done.”
Then he would return to the forge.
K-10 watched.
Sometimes he made another suggestion.
Brennar would explain why it might or might not work, and together they would modify the design.
Seralyth found the entire process irritating.
For four days, she had watched K-10 disappear into Brennar’s forge whenever he wasn’t completing a contract.
By the second day, she had started complaining.
By the third, she had stopped pretending that she wasn’t keeping track of how long he stayed.
On the fourth morning, K-10 returned to the guild after another visit to the forge.
Seralyth looked up from her seat.
“You’re going there again?”
“Yes.”
“You were there yesterday.”
“Correct.”
“And the day before that.”
“Correct.”
Seralyth narrowed her eyes.
“You know, there are other things to do in Linden.”
K-10 looked at her.
“I am aware.”
She sighed.
“Of course you are.”
By late afternoon, Brennar finally sent word.
The equipment was ready.
K-10 and Seralyth arrived at the forge.
Brennar stood beside a large workbench.
The completed armor rested on a wooden frame.
It was dark, functional, and compact compared with traditional heavy armor. The plates covered the vital areas without unnecessary bulk. The joints had been carefully articulated, and small sections of Lunarium reinforced areas most likely to receive direct impacts.
Beside the armor were two Kodachis.
K-10 picked up the first.
He checked the balance.
Then the second.
He rotated both weapons in his hands before setting them down.
Brennar folded his arms.
“Well?”
“Acceptable.”
Brennar stared at him.
“Acceptable?”
K-10 nodded.
The smith shook his head.
“Four days.”
He pointed toward the armor.
“Four days of redesigning half the bloody thing.”
K-10 looked at the armor.
“It meets the requirements.”
Brennar muttered something under his breath.
Seralyth stepped closer to the weapons.
“They look good.”
“They should,” Brennar said. “They’re Lunarium.”
Seralyth smiled.
Her own sword rested at her side.
It was also forged from Lunarium.
K-10 looked at it.
Then at the two Kodachis.
“That will be useful.”
Seralyth raised an eyebrow.
“For what?”
“We need to conduct a stress test.”
“A stress-what?”
K-10 turned toward her.
“A stress test.”
Seralyth waited.
K-10 continued.
“It is a controlled evaluation of equipment under conditions that simulate or exceed normal operational use.”
She stared at him.
“Why?”
“To identify weaknesses.”
Brennar’s expression changed.
“And how do you intend to do that?”
“Combat.”
Seralyth’s eyes brightened.
“Combat?”
K-10 nodded.
“A mock battle.”
Brennar leaned forward.
“With her?”
“Yes.”
Seralyth drew her Lunarium sword several inches from its scabbard.
“Now I’m interested.”
K-10 looked at her.
“I need to test mobility, durability, weapon performance, and how the armor affects my fighting system.”
Brennar caught the last part.
“Fighting system?”
K-10 didn’t answer immediately.
He picked up the armor.
“You’ll see.”
They left the forge and traveled to an open field outside Linden.
Brennar followed.
He wanted to see what his work could actually do.
K-10 began equipping the armor.
The process was methodical.
Chest.
Shoulders.
Arms.
Legs.
Each section locked into place.
Brennar watched the joints as K-10 moved.
K-10 rolled his shoulders.
He rotated his wrists.
He crouched.
Stood.
Twisted his torso.
He moved through a series of controlled motions, gradually increasing speed.
The armor followed him.
No hesitation.
No binding.
No restriction.
Brennar’s eyes narrowed.
“Move again.”
K-10 did.
“Faster.”
K-10 accelerated.
He dropped into a crouch, pivoted, rolled across the ground, came up on one knee, and immediately transitioned into a standing position.
The plates moved with him.
Brennar stared.
“That’s what you wanted.”
“Yes.”
Seralyth drew her sword.
“Enough inspection.”
She raised the Lunarium blade.
“Let’s test it.”
K-10 drew both Kodachis.
The weapons caught the afternoon light.
Seralyth smiled.
“Ready?”
“Yes.”
She attacked.
The first strike came high.
K-10 raised one Kodachi.
Lunarium met Lunarium.
A shower of brilliant sparks erupted between the blades.
Brennar’s eyes widened.
The sound of the impact echoed across the field.
K-10 stepped inside the attack.
His second Kodachi swept toward Seralyth’s ribs.
She twisted away.
Her sword came around again.
K-10 blocked.
Another explosion of sparks.
Then another.
The fight accelerated.
Seralyth’s swordsmanship was precise and fluid. She changed angles constantly, attacking K-10’s head, shoulders, torso, hips, and legs.
K-10 moved differently.
There was no wasted motion.
He didn’t attempt to match her style.
He used his own.
His feet constantly repositioned.
One Kodachi defended while the other attacked.
He slipped past her sword, closed distance, and used the shorter blades to maintain pressure at close range.
Seralyth immediately adjusted.
She retreated.
K-10 followed.
She attacked his shoulder.
The Lunarium sword struck the armor.
The plate absorbed the impact.
K-10 continued moving.
Brennar watched closely.
“Again,” he muttered.
Seralyth struck his side.
Then his thigh.
Then the shoulder again.
Each impact produced a heavy metallic report.
The armor flexed at the joints.
It did not crack.
It did not deform.
And K-10’s movements didn’t change.
Brennar slowly began to understand.
The modifications K-10 had requested weren’t random.
Every alteration had a purpose.
The shoulder articulation allowed him to raise his weapon without restriction.
The hip design allowed him to pivot.
The knee construction allowed him to drop his center of gravity.
The armor wasn’t simply protecting K-10.
It was moving with him.
Seralyth attacked again.
K-10 caught her blade with one Kodachi.
The second hooked around the outside of her sword.
For a moment, the weapons locked.
K-10 stepped forward.
Seralyth’s eyes widened.
He released the blades, drove his shoulder into her center mass, and forced her backward.
She recovered immediately.
Her sword flashed.
K-10 ducked beneath it.
The blade passed over his head.
He pivoted behind her.
Seralyth spun.
K-10 was already there.
She barely caught his next strike.
Sparks erupted again.
Brennar stared.
“What in the…”
The fight continued.
Seralyth changed tactics.
She began deliberately targeting the armor.
She struck the elbows.
The knees.
The sides of the torso.
The gaps between plates.
K-10 didn’t simply accept the blows.
He moved.
He evaded some.
Blocked others.
And allowed several strikes to connect.
Brennar noticed.
“He isn’t trying to avoid everything.”
Seralyth heard him.
“No.”
She smiled.
“He’s testing it.”
K-10 suddenly changed direction.
He accelerated forward.
Seralyth raised her sword.
K-10’s two Kodachis struck from opposite angles.
She blocked the first.
The second slid along her blade.
Sparks erupted.
K-10 stepped inside her guard.
His elbow stopped inches from her chest.
Seralyth froze.
K-10 stepped away.
“Mobility is sufficient.”
Seralyth frowned.
“Sufficient?”
She attacked again.
This time, she didn’t hold back.
Her sword became a blur.
K-10 met it.
Lunarium struck Lunarium.
Sparks filled the air.
The sound of steel on steel became almost continuous.
Brennar could barely follow the movements.
K-10’s style had become clearer with every exchange.
This wasn’t traditional swordsmanship.
The Kodachis were only part of it.
K-10 used them to control distance, redirect attacks, create openings, and protect his hands while moving into close quarters.
His movements transitioned seamlessly between swordplay and hand-to-hand combat.
A parry became a strike.
A strike became a lock.
A lock became a throw.
The armor never interfered.
Brennar’s expression slowly changed from concentration to disbelief.
“Now I understand.”
K-10 glanced at him while maintaining his stance.
Brennar pointed toward the armor.
“Every change you asked for.”
He watched K-10 move.
“You weren’t designing armor.”
K-10 said nothing.
“You were designing an extension of the way you fight.”
K-10 returned his attention to Seralyth.
“Correct.”
Seralyth attacked again.
K-10 met her.
Their Lunarium weapons collided.
A brilliant burst of sparks filled the air.
Then Seralyth changed the fight again.
She lowered her sword.
Magic gathered around her.
Brennar took a step backward.
“Oh.”
K-10 watched the energy build.
Seralyth smiled.
“You wanted a stress test.”
K-10 raised both Kodachis.
“Continue.”
Nature magic surged through the field.
K-10 moved.
The mock battle became something else entirely.
He sprinted.
Dodged.
Rolled.
Changed direction.
Blocked.
Countered.
Seralyth’s magical attacks struck the ground around him as he moved through them.
When she caught him with a direct attack, the armor absorbed the impact.
K-10 kept moving.
Brennar watched in silence.
The armor was doing exactly what it had been designed to do.
Protect.
Move.
And endure.
Finally, Seralyth stepped back.
She was breathing heavily.
K-10 was not.
The armor showed several marks from the battle.
But there were no cracks.
No structural failures.
The joints remained intact.
The Kodachis were undamaged.
Seralyth lowered her sword.
“That’s enough.”
K-10 looked at her.
“Agreed.”
Brennar approached.
He examined the armor.
He ran his fingers over the impact points.
His expression became increasingly astonished.
“These should have been damaged.”
“They aren’t.”
“No.”
Brennar looked at K-10.
“They aren’t.”
He examined one of the Kodachis.
The edge was still perfect.
He looked at his own work.
Then at Seralyth’s Lunarium sword.
Then back at K-10.
“I’ve forged Lunarium weapons before.”
He shook his head.
“But I’ve never seen someone use them like that.”
Seralyth sheathed her sword.
“I have.”
She looked at K-10.
“That’s what makes him dangerous.”
K-10 said nothing.
He simply began removing the armor.
Brennar watched him.
For four days, the smith had believed he was building exceptional equipment.
Now he understood something.
The equipment wasn’t exceptional because it was strong.
It was exceptional because it had been built around a warrior who knew exactly how he intended to use it.
Brennar examined the armor one last time.
The plates showed the marks of the battle, but there were no cracks, no deformation, and no structural failures. The joints remained perfectly functional.
He looked at K-10.
“For four days, I thought I was building you armor.”
K-10 waited.
Brennar shook his head.
“Now I realize I was building equipment for a fighting system I didn’t understand.”
K-10 said nothing.
Seralyth sheathed her Lunarium sword and walked over to the armor.
She ran a hand across one of the plates.
Then she looked at Brennar.
“I want one too.”
Brennar’s face broke into a wide smile.
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
Seralyth looked pleased with herself.
K-10 removed the last piece of his armor and handed it to Brennar.
“I’ll be back tomorrow.”
Brennar nodded.
“Tomorrow, then.”
K-10 turned and began walking back toward Linden.
Seralyth watched him leave.
Then she looked back at Brennar.
“Make mine better.”
Brennar laughed.
“Now you’re speaking my language.”