The Lirian Academy gardens were usually peaceful.
Today, they were not.
A magical beast—a corrupted mana hound, horned and salivating purple mist—burst through a training ward during enchantment class. It wasn't supposed to be active. It wasn't supposed to be here.
Screams followed.
Rin Asterwind stood her ground between the beast and a group of frozen students, gripping a barely charged barrier talisman. Her fox ears twitched, her tail low—instinct ready, but her breathing shaky.
"Stay back!" she shouted.
The hound growled, mana crackling off its hide like static lightning.
> One more second and it'll pounce.
But then—
"Rin, move!"
A voice.
A blur.
Kaleid Ashvale launched from the garden hedge like a spring trap, eyes glowing faintly blue.
The beast lunged—
Kaleid moved faster.
No weapon. No magic.
Just instinct.
And the system pulsed.
---
[Emergency Protocol Triggered]
Protective Instinct Override: Activated
Condition Met: Soul-Bond Threatened
Unlocking Sync Skill: Echo Technique I
— Project adaptive reaction from future combat echo.
— Briefly surpass current limitations.
---
Time slowed.
Everything vibrated like glass under pressure.
His muscles moved beyond what his stats should allow. His mind played a move he hadn't learned—one he shouldn't know.
He slid low, pivoted, and drove his elbow into the beast's jaw just as its mouth opened for the kill.
A surge of invisible force snapped its neck mid-air.
It dropped—twitched—then went still.
Silence.
A heavy silence.
Everyone just… stared.
---
Seconds Later
Rin dropped the talisman, wide-eyed.
"You—how did you…?"
Kaleid turned toward her, breath heavy but focused.
"I don't know," he said honestly.
And yet, somehow, it felt familiar. Like something that had been buried in his bones all along.
He looked at his hands. Still trembling slightly.
> That wasn't normal. That was… a combat skill. But where did it come from?
The system answered before he could ask.
---
[Echo Technique I – Acquired]
> You have unlocked the first layer of your true self.
Allows brief access to combat skill echoes from your hidden memory.
Cooldown: 3 hours
Duration: 3 seconds
Damage Scaling: Adaptive (based on enemy threat)
You have protected a bonded individual.
+1 Sync Point
Sync Progress: 4%
Rin Asterwind's Bond Level increased to 2
> She now trusts you implicitly.
---
From the crowd, whispers rose.
"Did Ashvale just…?"
"He took that thing down barehanded."
"He's magicless, isn't he?"
"No one moves like that—not even Rank C students."
From the rear, Gavin Velross frowned deeply, clenching his jaw.
Even Professor Malven had stepped into the garden with stunned silence.
He looked at the corpse. Then at Kaleid.
"This… was not expected," he murmured.
---
Later That Evening – Infirmary Garden
Kaleid sat on a bench outside the infirmary. Rin lay inside, recovering from mana drain—she'd overloaded her body trying to shield others before he arrived.
He didn't blame her. She'd done more than most.
The sky was painted crimson with sunset.
The system pinged again.
---
[SYNC PROGRESS: 4% → 5%]
You have achieved your first Minor Awakening.
Memory Fragment I – Unlocked
> Would you like to access it?
⟶ YES
⟶ Not now
---
His breath caught.
> This could be the first step to knowing who I really am.
YES.
---
[Memory Fragment I – Playback Initiated]
> A boy stood beneath a shattered sky, alone. The world had ended once before. And he… had restarted it.
"Why me?" he asked, eyes glowing silver.
A voice replied from within—soft, female, ancient.
"Because you created everything."
---
Kaleid gasped.
Reality snapped back.
He gripped the edge of the bench hard.
> That… wasn't just a metaphor. That was my soul.
The system confirmed:
---
[Soul Memory Unlocked: 0.5%]
> You were once a being of creation.
But that truth is sealed far beyond the mortal frame.
Recover more to shape the world again.
---
A soft voice broke his thoughts.
"…You okay?"
Rin stood at the door, swaying slightly but smiling.
"You saved me."
He looked up, nodding quietly. "You were about to be eaten. It wasn't optional."
She walked over and sat beside him.
"Still. Thanks. That beast had high magic resistance—I don't know how you moved like that."
"…I don't either," he said honestly.
Then, more softly: "But I'm going to find out."
She glanced at him, curious. "You're changing. Fast."
"I have to."
Her gaze lingered on him a little longer, thoughtful and bright.
"Then I'll watch. Closely."
---
[Bond Status: Rin Asterwind – Emotionally Invested]
> Soul Thread has stabilized.
Hidden Resonance Perk Pending Future Awakening.
---
Far off, bells rang.
The academy had taken note.
And Kaleid Ashvale—once a nobody—was no longer invisible.
He just didn't know that this was only the first of many awakenings to come.