The towering spires of Yatagarasu Institute loomed like obsidian fangs against the morning sky, their gleaming surfaces catching rays of gold from the rising sun. Around the campus perimeter, nature wrestled with civilization—cracked biotech walls overtaken by ivy, training fields bordered by towering trees that had once devoured a forgotten world. Somewhere in that chaotic wilderness, rogue Tools roamed, feral and hungry.
To Kazuo Rengai, the spires looked more like a cage than a sanctuary.
He tugged at the collar of his new charcoal-black uniform, the crimson stitching running along his sleeves catching the light like veins of magma. His jacket bore no rank glow yet—just a dull matte fabric marking him as a Novice. Students bustled past him, laughing, shouting, their Tools humming faintly from holsters, belts, and backpacks.
Everyone seemed excited. Everyone but him.
Kazuo's fingers brushed against the worn handle of the Chimera Knife, tucked safely in a custom sheath along his leg. It hadn't made a sound. No pulse, no echo, no flicker of life. Just cold, silent metal.
Figures. Even now, you're playing dead.
"Hey, Kazuo!" a voice snapped him out of his brooding. "Don't just stand there like you're waiting for a beast to eat you. We're gonna be late!"
Kazuo turned to see Jin Asakura, his blonde hair sticking up like he'd challenged lightning to a duel and won. The copper coils wrapped around his waist sparked with residual static, tiny arcs leaping across his Tool—the Copper Snare, laced with the soul of an Electric Eel.
Kazuo exhaled. "Yeah, yeah. I'm coming." Despite himself, a smirk crept onto his face.
The duo moved toward the Central Spire, the heart of the campus. All around them, groups of students trained openly, Tools clashing in simulated duels. A girl with a folding chair launched another student across a sand pit. A boy snapped a tape dispenser, unleashing a whip-like strike charged with illusion energy. The air was thick with competitive tension, charged like the moment before a lightning strike.
Kazuo flinched as a nearby spar ended with a sonic boom. His instincts tensed—but his Tool remained dormant.
They didn't get far before a sudden thrum swept through the courtyard.
"First-year students, gather around!"
The voice boomed like a command from the heavens. Standing atop a high podium was a woman in a long coat with glimmering hexagonal patterns stitched into the fabric. Her dark violet eyes scanned the courtyard like a hawk.
Professor Yuna Kaede.
Whispers spread like wildfire. The Beast Whisperer. The Prime Warden. Some said her Tool could subdue a wild Spliced with just a look. Others claimed she once tamed a dragon soul and sealed it in a fountain pen.
Kazuo didn't know what to believe—but he did know she was powerful. And very, very serious.
"You will begin your preliminary assessments now," she announced, her voice sharp enough to carve silence from the crowd. "These tests will determine your unit placement—Claw, Fang, or Pelt."
Students stiffened. This was the first real step toward becoming a certified Mechanic.
"Instructors will be watching. Tools will be monitored. Any attempt to force Awakening or trigger OverSync will result in immediate disciplinary action—or worse." Her gaze lingered on a few students—Kazuo among them. "Let's not repeat last year's incident."
Kazuo swallowed hard. He remembered the footage—blurry, muffled screams, and a clawed silhouette losing control. A failed Synchronization attempt. The student had vanished afterward, his name struck from all records.
"I'll never let that happen to me," Kazuo muttered under his breath, gripping the Chimera Knife tighter.
But will you let me happen to you?
The voice wasn't real—not exactly. It was more like a flicker, a gut feeling, a shadow slipping through his thoughts. The knife was stirring.
That was new.
Professor Kaede continued, "Approach the Sync Pads when your name is called. Place your Tool on the scanner and await resonance. Your Soul Compatibility and initial Sync Phase will be calculated. Unit leaders will take you from there."
Names began to echo across the courtyard. One by one, students stepped forward. Some were met with flashes of light, their Tools reacting instantly. Others saw nothing but sparks or silence.
Kazuo's name was called.
He stepped forward.
Whispers followed him. No one knew exactly what kind of Tool he carried. Not even the instructors.
He placed the Chimera Knife on the scanner.
Silence.
Then—a pulse.
The scanner flickered violently. A low growl rolled from the speaker. The screen began glitching, unable to display a Sync Phase. The ground beneath him vibrated.
Suddenly, the blade shuddered. The handle cracked open, revealing a second, serpent-like edge coiled within. Kazuo's hand snapped back instinctively, but the knife hovered—briefly—before clattering back to the scanner.
Gasps echoed.
The screen sparked. A single word flashed in red.
UNCLASSIFIED.
Professor Kaede's eyes narrowed.
"Well then," she said. "Claw Unit."
Kazuo blinked. "Wait, what? Isn't that—"
"The front line," Jin whispered beside him, wide-eyed. "They're sending you into the fray."
Kazuo stared down at his Tool as it settled back into its dormant form.
Why now? he wondered.
The Chimera Knife didn't answer. But for the first time… it felt awake.