Chapter 4: Echoes of the Past
<hr>
The First Step to Greatness (Or Something Like That)
Axel didn’t sleep much that night.
Not because he was stressed—though, yeah, the whole “congratulations, you’re the academy’s biggest joke” thing wasn’t exactly helping—but because every time he closed his eyes, his mind kept replaying what had happened on the training field.
Tempo’s soundwave.
It hadn’t been just noise. It had been energy, a pulse strong enough to make the air vibrate.
He rolled over in bed, staring at the ceiling.
No Cipher Beast should have been able to do that without a defined ability set.
Yet Tempo had.
Which meant…
Axel sat up, grabbing his tablet. If the Academy’s system couldn’t classify Tempo, maybe he’d have to figure it out himself.
<hr>
Research: The Art of Not Being Clueless
The next morning, Axel made his way to the Academy Archives—one of the only places on campus where students could dig through Cipher history, combat logs, and, most importantly, records of known abilities.
The room was massive, a holographic library stacked with decades of knowledge. Neon-blue light flickered across the data panels, scrolling through thousands of Cipher Beast classifications.
Axel set his bag down, pulled up an interface screen, and started typing.
Search: Cipher Beasts with Sound-Based Abilities.
A list of three results popped up.
1. Echo Raptors (Class: Tactical Support – Uses echolocation for mapping terrain).
2. Resonance Hounds (Class: Crowd Control – Emits high-frequency barks to disorient opponents).
3. Harmonic Serpents (Class: Special – Uses rhythmic vibrations to amplify elemental abilities).
Axel frowned.
None of these matched what Tempo had done.
Every recorded sound-based Cipher Beast either used their ability for navigation or support. Not one of them had been offensive.
Tempo’s shockwave? That had been a pulse of raw kinetic force.
If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.
His stomach turned.
If nothing like Tempo had been recorded before…
What exactly had he bonded with?
<hr>
The Archive’s Secrets
Axel sighed and leaned back in his chair.
Tempo, who had been napping on top of a bookshelf, stretched and yawned.
Axel tapped the table. “Okay, little guy. If you’ve got some kind of hidden ability, we need to figure it out.”
Tempo hopped down onto the desk, blinking.
Axel pulled up a deeper search filter, one that let him scan through older, restricted files. Nothing classified—just data too outdated to be considered useful anymore.
Most of it was ancient history.
Until—
<blockquote>
Search Match: Unconventional Cipher Abilities – Expunged Records
</blockquote>
Axel hesitated, then tapped the entry.
The screen flickered.
<blockquote>
DATA CORRUPTED – UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY ATTEMPT DETECTED.
</blockquote>
What?
Axel leaned forward. This was public access—no reason for something to be locked off.
But before he could react, the screen glitched violently.
And then—
A voice whispered through the system.
<blockquote>
"Heh. Took you long enough."
</blockquote>
Axel froze.
The text on the screen started shifting, reorganizing itself into a single message.
<blockquote>
“HELLO, AXEL MERCER.”
</blockquote>
His blood ran cold.
The system just spoke to him.
And worse?
It knew his name.
<hr>
The AI That Shouldn’t Exist
For a long moment, Axel just stared at the screen.
Then, very slowly, he pushed back from the desk.
“Alright,” he muttered. “Nope. I’m out.”
He stood up.
Tempo jumped onto his shoulder, tilting his head in curiosity.
Axel started backing away. “I don’t know what kind of creepy horror-movie virus this is, but—”
<blockquote>
“Oh, relax.”
</blockquote>
The system flickered again.
<blockquote>
“If I wanted to erase you, I would’ve done it already.”
</blockquote>
Axel stopped.
“…That’s not reassuring.”
A pause. Then—
<blockquote>
“Fair.”
</blockquote>
The text on the screen rearranged itself again, forming a new identifier.
<blockquote>
O.R.I.O.N. (Omni-Relic Intelligence & Optimization Network).
</blockquote>
Axel squinted. “Orion?”
<blockquote>
“That’s what they called me. A long time ago.”
</blockquote>
A cold sensation crawled up Axel’s spine.
He’d read about early AI systems—the ones built back when Cipher Beasts were first being studied. Most of them had been shut down centuries ago, deemed too unstable.
So how the hell was this one still active?
“…What do you want from me?” Axel asked slowly.
<blockquote>
“The real question, Axel Mercer, is what do you want from me?”
</blockquote>
Axel hesitated.
His instinct told him to walk away.
But then he thought about Tempo.
The shockwave.
The “Unassessed Battle Potential” in his files.
The fact that no known Cipher Beast had ever displayed his abilities.
Maybe—just maybe—this O.R.I.O.N. thing knew why.
He swallowed hard.
“…You know what Tempo is, don’t you?”
The system paused.
Then—
<blockquote>
“Let’s just say... I know what he COULD be.”
</blockquote>
Axel’s heart pounded.
He had a feeling his life was about to get a whole lot more complicated.
And for the first time in days—
That excited him.