Warfare Augmented Intelligent Frame Unit

Chapter 116 - Beast Transformation

The aftermath of the raid against the Neo Terrestrial Reich left me utterly drained—physically, mentally, and even emotionally. It felt as though I had pawned off every last drop of energy just to survive that harrowing night. The following weekend, I didn’t even bother pretending to be productive. 

I stayed in bed the entire time, wrapped in my blanket like a cocoon, letting the hours pass in a blur. The only reason I ever got up was to join Neil for meals—though he looked just as worn down, barely able to lift his chopsticks. The apartment was eerily quiet, as if the silence itself were trying to help us recover. Nothing eventful happened. No emergencies. No surprises. Just long, heavy stillness.

So, it was no wonder that Monday crept up on us unnoticed, like a thief in the night. We didn’t even realize it was already a week before the Finals until we were inside the simulation room for our Level 10 Clearance under the Weaponry Enhancement Engineering Bios System.

The simulation room was massive—an industrial cathedral of steel, wires, and glowing panels. Rows of students stood at attention, the hum of machinery pulsing beneath our boots. Professor Bao’s voice cut through the ambient buzz, commanding attention.

“This will be your final lecture for this subject,” he declared, hands behind his back. “Next week will be the Final Examination. However, unlike our previous clearances, today’s Level 10 will not involve any practical trials. The Finals will be purely written.”

A wave of relief washed over me. I clenched my fist in a small, subtle pump, trying not to draw too much attention.

“Alright!” I whispered under my breath.

“Yes!” Fei Xian, my WAIFU partner, mirrored my motion with perfect timing.

Our eyes met—hers shimmering with quiet joy, mine likely just as gleaming—and we both let out a soft scoff. It was a shared moment of mutual understanding, a spark of synchronicity that made the exhaustion of the past week feel a little more bearable. As if, even for a fleeting second, we were thinking the exact same thing.

The truth is, Fei and I were terrible at practical examinations. Put us in a sparring simulation and we’d probably trip over each other before even engaging the enemy. But hand us a test sheet with theoretical schematics, equations, or weapon design philosophies? We were unstoppable—an academic tag team of destruction. Our synergy in combat may have been subpar at best, but in a written exam setting, we were the undisputed champions. If this Final was going to be all on paper, then our grades were basically saved.

I shifted my gaze to the front of the assembly line, where Myrrh stood—my old WAIFU partner during midterms. She was scratching her head with such intensity, it looked like she was trying to sandpaper her scalp off. I could almost see the stress oozing from her pores. 

Unlike Fei, Myrrh thrived in hands-on combat drills and practicals. But when it came to written exams, especially advanced calculus, she was a disaster in a frilly dress. I’d bet anything she’d pull a single-digit score again—possibly in the negatives if our terror professor was feeling spicy.

If only we had been paired up again, with me running support and her doing the frontline stuff, like during midterms. We would’ve crushed every requirement, no question. But alas, not every day is Xyraxian X-mas, and reality doesn’t gift-wrap miracles.

A deliberate cough snapped us all to attention. Professor Bao stood tall at the center of the simulation room, her authoritative presence silencing the low murmurs and shuffles of students. She cleared her throat once more before addressing us with her usual no-nonsense tone.

“For your Level 10 Clearance,” she began, eyes scanning across the rows of cadets, “you will be testing a different kind of weapon today. Your curriculum is only the second batch to receive this special upgrade. Usually, you have to be second years to have this special clearance, but the new curriculum has changed everything.”

With a flick of her wrist, she tapped on her tablet. The air shimmered slightly as our WEEB System interface blinked to life before us in glowing holographic text.

[Clearance Level Up]

[New Weapon Unlocked]

[Level 10 - Beast Transformation]

“Beast Transformation?” A chorus of gasps escaped from the support unit students around me, the disbelief almost tangible.

Professor Bao nodded, a sly smirk tugging at the corner of her lips like she had just unveiled a secret weapon. “That is correct. Beast Transformation. This form used to be exclusive to Level 20 WEEB operatives, but under the revised curriculum, it has been deemed advantageous for first-year students like yourselves to unlock it early. Consider it... an accelerated evolution.”

A murmur rippled through the crowd like a static current.

“Now then,” she continued with a commanding gesture, “WAIFUs, assemble on the red line and prepare to activate your Frame Units.”

Without hesitation, all WAIFUs marched forward to the red line with fluid, battle-hardened precision. Each of them produced their morphers—compact, high-tech devices that shimmered with latent energy. The air around them began to crackle, charged with anticipation.

And then, in perfect synchronicity, they raised their morphers to the air and shouted:

“Frame Unit, Awaken!”

Blinding rays of light engulfed the WAIFUs as their bodies were engulfed in armor plating and mechanical parts that materialized from thin air. Within seconds, twenty-meter-tall Frame Units towered over us—each a shining avatar of destruction and grace, customized with sleek curves, weaponized limbs, and radiant core reactors. Their eyes glowed like stars through the haze of digital particles that floated in the simulation room. The ground trembled with the collective weight of steel titans, each one ready for war.

“Support units,” Professor Bao said, voice unwavering amidst the mechanical hum, “activate the Beast Transformation protocol from your WEEB Systems.”

My heart raced as I tapped the holographic interface floating before me. The [Level 10 – Beast Transformation] option pulsed with an eerie, inviting glow. As soon as I pressed it, a surge of warmth and static electricity raced through my veins. My hands shimmered with intricate cybernetic circuit patterns, wrapping around my skin like glowing tattoos.

Raising one arm toward Fei, I locked eyes with her as we both uttered the command.

“Beast Transformation—Activate!”

In a sudden cascade of whirring gears and shifting metal, all the Frame Units began to reshape themselves—armor panels sliding, hydraulics compressing, and cores pulsing as they reconfigured into a stunning array of mechanical beasts.

My eyes locked on Fei Xian’s Frame Unit just as it dropped to all fours with a powerful thud that sent subtle vibrations through the floor. Her sleek, humanoid armor twisted and refit itself, revealing reinforced limbs, curved saber-like claws, and a long mechanical tail. What emerged was a majestic sabertooth tiger—her orange-and-white armor now streamlined into predatory elegance, with twin glowing fangs extending from her snout.

“That’s cool!” I shouted, unable to hide my excitement.

“M-Meoooow!” Fei Xian roared.

I blinked. Did she just—?

I felt my face heat up. Something about the way she delivered that roar—half fierce, half playful—hit me square in the heart. “Uh… Fei, you’re not a house cat,” I muttered, trying to rein in my embarrassment. “You’re a tiger.”

“Oh, um—Rawr!” she corrected, baring her shimmering saber fangs with all the seriousness of a kindergarten play. “Did I do it right?”

I wanted to say something cool. Or logical. Or even mildly coherent. But all that came to mind was:

Damn… she’s adorable.

Like, dangerously adorable.

But before I could let myself sink into that feeling, a wave of déjà vu hit me like a neural flashback. This transformation—it wasn’t new. I’d seen something like it before.

Back in the Licensure Examination Tournament...

The memory came rushing in: Myrrh and I, standing in the sand-scarred arena, facing off against a senior WAIFU in her final form—a monstrous, electrified crab mecha with pincers that could slice steel and legs that crackled with every step. That fight was brutal, unforgettable. The way Myrrh dove into danger without hesitation, and how we synced up like two halves of one rhythm...

The thought brought me back to the present—and right on cue, my gaze darted to her.

Soaring through the simulation room’s open-air dome was a massive, radiant bird cloaked in divine beauty. It was Myrrh’s Frame Unit, now reborn as a colossal white phoenix. Her metallic feathers shimmered with gold accents, while greenish-blue flames trailed behind her wings like enchanted contrails. She looped and twirled with grace, executing barrel rolls and spiraling dives like a dancer of the sky. It wasn’t just impressive—it was mesmerizing.

Below, her partner Kian stood frozen, his mouth slightly agape, awestruck by the aerial display.

So was I.

Curious, I scanned the rest of the simulation room to see how the other students fared with their Beast Transformations.

The results were… diverse.

To my left, a towering giraffe Frame Unit craned its neck awkwardly toward the ceiling, its steel-spotted skin gleaming under the lights. Beside it, a burly gorilla pounded its metal fists on the ground with bone-shaking force. A silver-armored bear stood upright, snarling with glowing red optics, while a porcupine bristled with plasma-tipped quills like a walking minefield. I spotted a rhinoceros ramming its horn into a reinforced wall, and even a majestic reindeer whose glowing antlers sparkled like fiberoptic trees.

If I hadn’t known the context of Beast Transformation, I would’ve thought the WEEB simulation room had been rebranded into some kind of cyberpunk zoo.

But then things got… unsettling.

Toward the far end of the room slithered a segmented centipede—each plated leg tapping with an unnerving metallic rhythm. A jet-black cockroach with razor wings scuttled across the wall like a nightmare given form. An angler fish hovered low, its bio-lantern glowing ominously like a deep-sea warning. And to top it off, a translucent jellyfish drifted midair, its neural tendrils trailing behind like living fiber cables.

Suddenly—

“Oink.”

A loud, echoing snort rippled through the room. Heads turned in unison. And there, stomping into view with heavy mechanical steps, was a crimson Frame Unit shaped like a boar. Its tusks curled outward, its snout smoking faintly from heat exhaust.

“W-What the hell is this!? This is so lame!!” the mechanical beast roared—though the familiar irritation in her voice gave her away immediately.

“Cindy? Is that you?” Fei Xian asked, still crouched in her sabertooth tiger form, blinking in disbelief.

“Fei!! W-Why do I always get the short end of the stick!? First, my Ultimate turns out to be a self-destruct button—and now I’m a pig!?”

“Uh,” Myrrh chimed in delicately, “you’re a wild boar.”

“Still a pig,” I muttered under my breath, smirking. “Just… a more violent, forest-dwelling one. Honestly? Kinda suits her.”

Neil, standing beside me, let out a snort of laughter. “All those late-night gym selfies to flex her ‘beast mode’ muscles, and it turns out her true beast is a dirty bacon.”

“She really should cut down on those protein shakes and maybe skip a few beers,” I added, not realizing my voice was just loud enough for our classmates to hear.

They laughed. Even Professor Bao cracked a barely-visible smirk.

I blinked. I wasn’t trying to roast her publicly—but hey, at least I earned some charisma points.

But then…

“Who said that!?” roared the crimson mecha-boar, its glowing red optics scanning the room. Cindy’s tone was unmistakably furious—and highly target-lock capable.

Her sensors swept across the gathered students… until she turned sharply and stomped toward Neil, each step shaking the ground like a mini-quake.

“You! You stupid emo gayshit! Was it YOU!?”

Neil flinched. “I’M NOT GAY!! And I didn’t say anything—it was ZAFT!”

My heart froze.

Oh shit.