The following morning, Piera and the others found themselves sprinting toward a pyramid-looking structure that towered like a mountain of diamonds. By the side, blue lines ran to the top of the pyramid.
"Why did you not wake us up, Mr. Leader?" Syris growled between gulps of air.
Piera winced. "I did wake up. I just thought someone else decided to use their brain well and set an alarm."
"I did!" Shiriah snapped, shouting at Piera like he had personally insulted her. "But that doesn't mean the others did!"
"I'm a heavy sleeper," Auren shouted back.
"Exactly!"
Behind them, Lex ran like someone who wasn't used to running. "This is... beneath my intellect," he gasped. "I should not be punished for the academy's poor room acoustics and zero snooze settings. This is injustice—"
"Shut up and run, Lex!" Auren yelled.
Ahead, the Pyramid's blue gate creaked open, revealing rows of students sitting inside the vast, cathedral-like hall. A digital clock displayed numbers counting down, from one minute to 50 seconds, and lower, and lower until... 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
*Slam*
A quiet, disappointed voice resounded from the center of the room.
"You made it… barely. Nice for you. Let's begin the classes."
"Since all of you are finally here," she said, her tone strict, "we'll begin."
Now, the room was built strangely. The seats wrapped around a wide, circular podium—no stage, no obvious front or back. At first glance, it felt like a gladiator pit designed by someone who liked geometry too much.
But soon, they came to discover the reason the room was built that way. Circles of glowing light began forming across the platform, slowly lifting multiple black rectangular boxes from the ground, one for each student.
The boxes were small, about the size of a normal gift box, glowing faintly at the seams. There were no hinges or labels. There was just a smooth, obsidian-like casing. Some boxes crackled with electricity, some were practically "mute," as they made no noise, simply sifting to the place where their "owners" were.
"Tap on them twice," Kaelyra said, her gaze sweeping across the room. "They will reveal your weapon. Remember, no one knows what is inside, but whatever weapon is inside was created just for you, and is forged either by what you have done or what you will do in the future. They will grow with you and will be your best companions. They will tell you their names once acquired. Now, open them, and face your destiny."
Piera's box slid into place before him. It didn't thud or click—it just stopped in front of his face. He reached for it but paused, his heart beating just a little faster than it was supposed to.
All around, students stared at their boxes, some hesitant, others diving right in.
Lex studied his box from every angle. "It seems like this box has no seams, nor does it have any trigger. It looks fascinating. A containment-class material. Well, let's dig in."
His box revealed a single cane-like weapon, until it snapped open to reveal a thin blade hidden inside, coated in some strange purple sheen.
"Oh. That's tastelessly elegant, it shall be a perfect fit for an assassin like myself." Lex whispered with a grin.
Karren rolled his eyes and tapped the box without hesitation. It flashed, light bursting out from the sides, before unfolding like petals. In his hands appeared… a pair of steel gauntlets. Sleek and light, with small runes etched into the knuckles.
Uriah stared at his box like it might bite him. "Do we… all just tap on them?"
Shiriah had already tapped hers. A soft sound followed as her box melted away and formed into twin daggers. They were not simple ones either, they were thin, sharp, curved slightly like a crescent moon, with edges that shimmered like starlight.
Piera took a breath and touched his.
The moment his hand connected, the box lit up, not with blinding light, but with a quiet glow, soft and sleek like a cosmic tide. It hissed as it unfolded.
Inside… were two weapons.
A sword, sheathed in a scabbard, and a gun, a sleek sidearm with strange markings carved along the barrel. Neither felt normal.
But that wasn't all. Just behind the weapons, something else slid forward, a mask.
It was simple. Silver and dark, no mouth hole, and two thin eye-slits glowing faintly with shifting colors. It felt light. Cold. Almost alive.
Across the hall, other weapons appeared—some classic, some… not.
A girl two rows down received a longbow that shimmered like it was made of liquid glass. Another student's box opened to reveal a chain-sickle, coiled like a serpent.
Auren ended up with nothing at first. His box simply refused to open. He stared at it, expression blank, and the box exploded in silence. When the smoke cleared, a floating orb hovered above his hand. It blinked once, then vanished into his chest.
"...the hell was that?" someone whispered.
Kaelyra waited for the murmurs to die down before raising her voice once again.
"Now listen carefully," she said. "What you hold are not tools. They are not ornaments. They are extensions of yourself. But they are still dormant, they are asleep."
She raised a single hand, fingers stretched toward the ceiling.
"They have no names, because they are not yet alive."
A few students blinked at that.
"Your next step is simple," she continued. "You must name them. Speak it aloud. Not something random, something that will stick with them. A name they'll recognize. A name that binds you."
Shiriah held her twin daggers and closed her eyes. "Stella and Luna," she whispered. The daggers pulsed, and glowing runes appeared along their edges.
Karren looked down at his gauntlets. "Breakers," he said. The runes on his gauntlets lit up with a soft crackle.
Lex tapped his cane-sword on the floor. "Velveryn," he declared with a small smile. The staff brightened as if it approved the name.
Piera stepped forward. He stared at the sword and gun before him, then whispered, "Veyla." The scabbard pulsed softly. He looked at the gun and added, "Feyla." The markings on the barrel lit up in response.
Then, he looked at the final object, the mask.
It was simple. Silver and dark, with no mouth hole and two thin eye slits that glowed faintly, the colors swirling. There was a button that, if pressed, removed the part that covered the eyes. It didn't feel like the sword or the gun. It felt "quieter". Like it was meant for something else entirely.
Piera reached out and picked it up. Cold pulsed through his fingers.
"...Velin," he said softly.
The mask pulsed once, and then his entire box trembled.
Without warning, the casing collapsed inward on itself, shrinking and melting like it was being consumed. Within seconds, the entire box was gone, leaving only the three items: the sword, the gun, and the mask resting in his hands.
Whispers broke out nearby.
Even Lex turned his head, eyebrows raised.
But Piera just stood there, calm, the mask cradled in one hand like he had known it would happen.
Auren, still puzzled by his own weapon, sighed and said, "You're in there, little guy, so I'll call you 'Resonant.' " After a moment, a small chill ran down his arm, and a pair of guns manifested in his arms.
"Sweet."
Kaelyra nodded. "Good. Now you are bonded. Your weapon will grow with you. When you level up, it levels up. When you pause, it pauses. But if you rise, it will rise with you."
She let the silence linger a moment longer, then added, "There's one more thing."
"Your watches, the ones you received during induction, they're more than timepieces or tracking tools. They connect you to Krandar and Vieldar, the two entity beings."
She paused, letting the information sink in before continuing.
"Through them, you may receive blessings, titles, or even missions, although missions are rare. These will never be random. They will be offered to those whose actions align with the gaze of either entity. And in return…" She glanced at the students' weapons. "You may earn rewards and gain tremendous power."
Kaelyra's tone sharpened, just slightly. "This weapon bonding system you just experienced was born from the mixed efforts of lords Krandar and Vieldar in order to make the use of weapons more seamless, and this system is being used all over the world."
Her eyes swept over the group. "Treat your watch, and your weapon(s) with the respect owed to divine intention."
She looked around the room at the glowing weapons and serious faces. "You have five minutes to get used to your new weapons. Then, we begin combat basics."
Lex sighed dramatically. "What a stressful way to start a day."
Shiriah muttered under her breath, "バカ,"
Lex needed no translation to get furious.