"Hey, hey, Kaires… wake up~"
A gentle voice drifted into Kaires' ears.
His eyelids slowly opened, still heavy with sleep. For a moment, he felt something soft beneath his head—warm and strangely comfortable. When his vision finally cleared, he realized what it was.
He was lying on someone's lap.
The faint scent of wildflowers drifted past his nose.
For a brief second, the bracelet on his wrist pulsed faintly—warm… almost like a heartbeat that wasn't his.
"What the—?!" Kaires immediately shot up from the bed. "Hey! How did you get in here?!"
Mirable sat calmly on the edge of the bed, smiling smugly.
Her long hair fell loosely over her shoulders, swaying slightly as she tilted her head.
"What? You know I'm the principal's daughter," she said proudly.
Kaires sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Right… I forgot you're Mr. Xander Kaelthryx's daughter."
He exhaled before sitting down again.
The small dorm room was still dim, lit only by the pale blue glow of early dawn leaking through the window.
"So why did you wake me up, Mira?" Kaires asked, walking over to the small attic window and pulling the curtain aside.
The sky outside was still dark. The sun hadn't even risen yet.
Only a thin line of pale light lingered on the horizon beyond the mountains.
"Nothing," Mirable replied with a mischievous grin.
"I just wanted to wake you up."
Kaires stared at her in disbelief.
"...You broke into my room before sunrise… just to wake me up?"
"You're impossible."
"Hehehe."
Two hours later, Kaires walked through the school hallway, yawning loudly.
Morning sunlight now poured through the tall stone windows lining the corridor. Students moved past him in small groups, chatting excitedly about the upcoming Gumun Awakening Test.
His eyes were half closed as he dragged himself into the classroom. Without hesitation, he sat down at his desk and immediately rested his head on the table.
Maybe I can get a few more minutes of sleep…
But just as he was about to drift off again, the classroom door opened.
Mr. Halberd entered the room.
His heavy boots echoed against the wooden floor.
Kaires groaned internally.
Great… there goes my nap.
Since sleeping was no longer an option, he simply kept his head on the desk and listened half-heartedly.
"Gumun," Mr. Halberd began. "Does anyone here know what Gumun is?"
A hand shot up immediately.
It belonged to a boy with white hair and black eyes. He wore glasses along with a sweater and jeans, giving him a quiet and studious appearance.
Several students glanced at him. He was clearly one of the smartest in the class.
"Yes, Mr. Ronald," Mr. Halberd said. "Please tell us. What is Gumun?"
"Gumun is a supernatural power that appeared after the Fogalypse," the boy answered confidently.
Mr. Halberd nodded.
"Correct. Good answer, Mr. Ronald."
Kaires rolled his eyes.
Everyone already knows that, dumbass… This class is full of morons. He said in his mind.
Mr. Halberd cleared his throat before continuing.
"But today, I will explain what Gumun truly is."
The classroom became quiet.
Even the students who were whispering before now turned their attention to the teacher.
"Simply put, Gumun is what many people call magic. It is a unique power that awakens in humans once they reach the age of fifteen."
Several students leaned forward with interest.
One girl in the back of the room even clasped her hands together excitedly.
"Gumun manifests differently in each person" "And sometimes," Mr. Halberd added, his tone lowering slightly, "awakening doesn't go as expected." Before continue his lecture "The ability you gain often reflects your personality, desires, or inner nature. For example, someone might gain the ability to fly like a bird, while another might develop poisonous fangs like a snake."
A few students gasped in amazement.
Kaires lifted his head slightly, finally paying a little attention.
"Gumun is divided into five primary types,"
Mr. Halberd continued.
He wrote on the board.
The chalk scraped softly across the blackboard.
• Physical, this type is usually dominated by Openness to Experience.
• Mental, this type is usually dominated by Extraversion.
• Spiritual, this type is usually dominated by Conscientiousness.
• Psychic, this type is usually dominated by Agreeableness.
• Magical, this type usually dominated by Neuroticism.
"These five types exist within everyone. However, one type will always stand out more than the others. That dominant type is usually influenced by your personality."
He turned back to the class.
"For example, if your dominant type is Physical, it means your Gumun excels in strengthening the body—speed, strength, durability, and so on. But that does not mean you lack the other types."
He paused briefly.
Several students hurriedly wrote notes in their notebooks.
"Now we move to the next concept: Sub Types."
Several students whispered to each other.
"Sub types are derivatives of the five main types," he explained. "They represent your unique specialization."
Mr. Halberd tapped his chest.
"For example, my dominant type is Mental. My sub type is called Listener. It allows me to access memories more efficiently and understand information with minimal explanation."
The class murmured in interest.
"So even complex knowledge can be processed quickly," he added calmly.
"Because sub types are influenced by personal desires, the possibilities are nearly infinite. However, each person can only possess one sub type at a time."
Kaires stretched lazily in his chair.
Sounds complicated… he said murmurly.
Mr. Halberd clapped his hands.
The sharp sound snapped several students out of their thoughts.
"Alright. That should be enough for today."
The students looked up.
"But tomorrow, all third graders must gather in the main hall. We will be conducting your Gumun Awakening Test."
The class instantly buzzed with excitement.
Several students began talking at once.
"So prepare yourselves," he continued. "Class dismissed."
"Thank you, Mister!" the class responded together.
As soon as school ended, Kaires stood up and walked straight out of the classroom without looking back.
Instead of returning to his dorm, he made his way toward the school garden.
The Rustvale garden was unusually quiet compared to the rest of the academy. Tall trees stretched overhead, their shadows falling across the stone paths, while the wind moved gently through the leaves, filling the air with a soft, constant rustling.
Or more specifically—
He was heading toward Mirable.
"Hey, Mira," he called out as he approached. "Were you waiting for me?"
"Of course, Kai," she replied with a small smile, though her eyes briefly flickered to his wrist.
She was sitting on a low stone bench beneath a large oak tree, but unlike usual, she didn't look completely relaxed.
Kaires noticed.
Without saying anything, he raised his arm slightly, glancing at the bracelet.
The metallic surface reflected the sunlight faintly, calm… almost too normal for something that talked inside their heads.
"So…" he said, his tone quieter now, "what are we going to do about this?"
Mirable lowered her gaze to her own wrist.
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
"We should ask it," she finally said. "What was its name again?"
"I don't remember," Kaires admitted.
"I think it said something like… Bonded Promise Bracelet," she replied, though there was a slight hesitation in her voice.
"Oh. Right."
Silence settled between them again.
One minute passed.
Then another.
A bird chirped somewhere above, breaking the stillness for a second before it faded again.
Kaires shifted slightly.
"This is… really awkward."
"Yeah…" Mirable murmured.
Both of them stared at the bracelets like they might suddenly do something on their own.
After a moment, Kaires slowly reached out, then paused.
"You think it's safe?"
Mirable didn't answer immediately. Instead, she glanced at him, then back at the bracelet.
"I don't know," she said honestly. "But… it hasn't done anything yet."
"That's not very reassuring."
"I know."
A brief pause.
Then, almost at the same time, they both touched their bracelets.
A faint humming sound filled the air.
Both of them flinched slightly.
Light pulsed from the bracelets, and a translucent holographic screen appeared between them, floating silently.
Two buttons formed on the interface.
One on the right.
One on the left.
Kaires leaned back slightly, eyes narrowing.
"...That definitely wasn't there yesterday."
"No, it wasn't," Mirable said quietly, her posture stiff.
"Hey, Mira," Kaires said slowly, not taking his eyes off the interface, "do you know what this does?"
"No," she replied immediately. "And don't touch anything yet."
"…Right."
He stared at the buttons for a second longer.
Then—
He pressed the one on the right.
"KAIRES, STOP—!"
Too late.
The moment his finger made contact, the interface reacted, and a familiar voice echoed inside their minds.
[System online.]
[Connection established.]
[Awaiting input, Masters.]
Mirable immediately turned to him, eyes wide.
"KAIRES, YOU IDIOT!" she snapped, grabbing his arm. "What if that was the wrong one?! What if something happened?!"
"Alright, alright! I'm sorry!" Kaires said quickly, raising his hands. "I just wanted to see what it does!"
"You always 'just want to see' things!" she muttered, crossing her arms and looking away, though she didn't let go of his sleeve completely.
There was a brief pause before the voice spoke again.
[Observation: Elevated stress levels detected.]
[Clarification: No immediate danger is present.]
Kaires scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
"Uh… yeah. About that."
Mirable let out a small breath, still clearly not convinced.
"...You better be right about that."
Kaires glanced at her, then back at the floating screen.
"So… we called it, right?"
[Affirmative.]
He hesitated for a second before speaking again.
"We want to know who you really are."
A short pause followed.
[Previous introduction has been logged.]
[However, clarification will be provided.]
Mirable leaned forward slightly, still annoyed.
"Is your real name really… Bonded Promise Bracelet?" she asked, her tone still carrying a hint of suspicion.
[Affirmative.]
[That is the original designation assigned to this system.]
Then, after a brief pause—
[However, renaming authority has been granted to the Chosen Two.]
Kaires blinked.
"Wait… we can do that?"
[Affirmative, Master.]
He rubbed his chin, thinking.
"First question… do you even have a gender?"
[This system does not possess a gender.]
"Hmm… okay."
He turned to Mirable.
"Hey, Mira. What should we name it?"
She crossed her arms, thinking more seriously than expected.
"How about… Mirares?" she suggested.
"Mirares?" Kaires frowned slightly. "What about Kaimira?"
"Oh, that's actually good," she admitted. "But if I say that out loud, it'll sound like I'm calling you. There are too many 'Kai' sounds."
"True…"
Kaires looked down for a moment, thinking.
Then—
"How about… Keimi?"
Mirable tilted her head.
"Where did that come from?"
"K from me. Mi from you," he explained. "And the 'ei' sound… that's from your birthday, right? March eighth."
Mirable blinked.
For a moment, she just looked at him.
Then a small, genuine smile appeared.
"...That's actually kind of cute."
"Right?"
She nodded.
"Okay. Let's go with that."
The interface flickered slightly.
[Confirmation required.]
[Do you wish to update designation to: "Keimi"?]
Kaires and Mirable glanced at each other.
There was still hesitation in their eyes.
Still uncertainty.
But this time—
They answered together.
"Yes."
A brief pulse of light ran through the bracelets.
[Designation updated.]
[Identity acknowledged: Keimi.]
[This unit will now serve the Chosen Two.]
Silence followed.
Kaires slowly lowered his hand.
"...Still feels weird."
"Yeah," Mirable admitted quietly, glancing at her wrist again. "Like… it's real, but also not."
Kaires let out a small breath.
"Guess we're stuck with it now."
Mirable didn't argue.
But she didn't look fully convinced either.
Her fingers lightly touched the bracelet again—careful, like it might react at any moment.
And even as the garden remained calm and quiet around them—
Neither of them could shake the feeling that they had just accepted something they didn't fully understand.
Something that might change everything.