With a startled yelp, Gabriel leaped backward, only for the light to immediately fade, just as he was collapsing onto the bed behind him. Straightening up immediately, Gabriel nervously glanced around the room, not exactly sure what he was expecting to see but expecting to find something. However, there was nothing at all. The room had not changed, nor was there anything new. Letting out a sigh, he was a bit embarrassed. He wanted to be a Hero, and he nearly jumped out of his skin at a bright light. Honestly, he had a long, long way to go. He hung his head, only to almost cry out again. Hovering in the air, practically in his lap, was a small golden rectangle. Controlling his response this time, Gabriel started to examine the floating two-dimensional object.

It was roughly the size of both his hands held together and genuinely seemed two-dimensional. In fact, looking at it from above at a certain angle, it completely disappeared. Looking at the face of it, Gabriel noticed there was actually writing on it in big, blocky script.

Atay recognizes (reluctantly) the designated Hero of native Deity (Balthazar). Due to the dire nature of current threat, Atay has deigned to (reluctantly) offer assistance. Please acknowledge conditions to receive assistance.

Gabriel was stunned. Atay, the world itself, was actually offering to help him. Reluctantly, apparently very reluctantly, but it was still offering. Gabriel knew about the World Spirit, the guiding force for all the World Principals that determined how the planet functioned. But it was more like a bedtime story than something he ever thought to actually encounter. In fact, all those stories had more talked about the World Spirit like some sort of whimsical, incomprehensible force. Not exactly something that would send him what amounted to a letter with a contract attached. Not that he wouldn’t accept the help. However, it did make Gabriel wonder about the implications. What exactly was going on that the world itself felt like it needed to interfere?

Shaking his head, Gabriel focused on what was in front of him. He wasn’t anywhere near strong enough yet to be worrying about World Spirits and gods. And if he focused on the incredible scope of it all, he would probably never get there. Plus, it was scary. He continued to read the rest of the… letter… from the planet… This had been a really weird day.

Inform no other planetary residents (Divine or Mortal) of this agreement unless otherwise notified by Atay. Undertake mandatory quests given by Atay. Save me (Please?)

So, the planet was asking him to save it. Not good. Very, very, very not good. For a long few moments, Gabriel couldn’t think about anything else. Then he read the list. Then he read it again. The more he looked at it, the more it looked like Atay was doing something it didn’t want anyone to know about and was desperate. Desperate enough to offer help to a seven-year old boy.

It had asked him to save it.

Gabriel could only think of one answer.

“Of course I’ll save you.” He said without even thinking about it. The words coming out with a level of confidence he only wished he felt. The screen blinked, and new words appeared.

Atay expresses gratitude. Please select Calling modifier.

Hero of Light Hero of Humanity Celestial Hero

Gabriel wasn’t really sure what to make of this. The list itself didn’t give him anything beyond a name. He wasn’t sure what each option entailed or what made them different from each other. Although, the first two obviously had to do with his god. Balthazar was the god of humanity after all, and he also had deep historical associations with light. It held a special place in the church, as far as Elemental magics went. Even compared to Human, considering how much rarer it was for someone to comprehend Human as Elemental magic.

“Can you tell me more? I’m not sure I understand.” Gabriel said to the screen. It couldn’t hurt to ask. The bottom of the screen blinked.

Incapable. Apologies

Gabriel paused, thinking, then nodded. “There are rules for this, aren’t there? Things I can’t be told?” It made sense to him. After all, Gabriel had heard from one of his uncles that was a very accomplished mage, that letting a person know more or less about a spell could change how powerful it was. No reason it wouldn't apply here. The flash from the screen basically confirmed his thoughts.

Incapable. Apologies

“Ok, so I’m just guessing? Hmm.” Gabriel muttered, staring hard at the list in front of him. He couldn’t make a choice based on his own skillset since he didn’t really have one. Although that also meant he didn’t have to worry about the content of the callings conflicting with preexisting skills. For once, Gabriel was a little happy that he was so terrible at everything. Having nothing meant there was nothing in the way.

Really considering that he knew essentially nothing about what a “Calling modifier” actually entailed. He had never heard of it before. For all he knew, it wasn’t much of a change from the original calling. Although considering the source, he doubted that.

“Ok, break it down.” He whispered to himself.

First, Hero of Light. He knew more than a bit about Elemental light, considering several members of his extended family could use it. Nothing that helped him here, though. He had just seen them make light take various shapes, which wasn’t much to go on. That, and he had a hunch that this modifier might have more to do with Ethereal Light. Gabriel had no aptitude for magic, so he had never studied it much, beyond learning that Ethereal magic made Elemental magic look like a toothpick next to a greatsword. It would be amazing to wield incredibly powerful magic. However, that thought led him to the next item on the list.

Second, Hero of Humanity. If he was right, and these two modifiers would grant him access to the magic type in the name, then he was almost certainly better off going with this one. Human was a much, much more potent concept. He could do things with Human magic that would make light magic look hilariously underwhelming. Gabriel had actually seen a Human mage once, demonstrating his abilities. He had been able to change his body at will and compel other humans to act on his commands. It was exhilarating and terrifying to watch. If it came down to choosing between Hero of Light and Hero of Humanity, he would pick Humanity. That left only two options to consider.

Lastly, Celestial Hero. This one was the odd one out for a lot of reasons. Gabriel knew next to nothing about Celestials. Beyond that, they were beings that lived in Heaven and would visit Atay through the various portals to that plain scattered across the world. There wasn’t one of those portals nearby, and he had never seen one. Also, unlike the other two, Celestials had almost no association with Balthazar. This option felt deliberately different than the others. Like Atay was trying to get him to pay attention to it. Plus, something about it felt… right.

“I choose Celestial Hero.” Gabriel once again spoke without thinking. He thought he saw the screen flash good choice for a brief instant before it vanished entirely. Gabriel stared at the space the screen used to occupy, stunned. “Oh, no! Gahh, what was I thinking!” He whispered furiously to himself, smacking his forehead. “Stupid, stupid, stupid! Hero of Humanity was the obvious choice! I don’t know anything about Celestials, and I can’t tell anyone about the new Calling. How am I supposed to train whatever powers it gives me? Idiot!” He said, bemoaning his impulsive decision.

Before he could further lament his actions, another screen appeared before him, refocusing his thoughts.

Celestial Hero

Focused primarily on summoning Celestials from the Heavens, this Calling modifier has reduced returns compared to the base Calling in individual strength

Summon quality affected by Hero’s latent Celestial affinity

Summon quantity affected by Hero’s latent Celestial affinity

Well, that was nice. It also lessened his fears somewhat. Having a little bit of direction was so, so much better than having no direction. Feeling much better, Gabriel read through the information again. This was… not what he had been expecting. Summoning in and of itself wasn’t rare. Many Callings had one or two examples. But to focus on summoning was not something he had ever heard of. Although, thinking about it, this was probably a good choice for him specifically. Seeing as he had no personal proficiency in anything combat related, relying on summons at a reduction of his own power wasn’t much of a loss. After all, no matter the boosts his Calling provided, his own affinity would make or break how fast his skills would grow from that point on. Gabriel knew for a fact already that his affinity for any kind of martial or magical skills was so close to zero that it might as well not exist.

Nodding his head, Gabriel felt much more confident about his choice now. After all, if he had picked either of the other modifiers, and he was right about them giving him automatic access to Ethereal magic, he probably would have had a horrible time trying to grow that skill. This was much better. Even if his affinity for summoning was also garbage, at least the things he summoned wouldn’t be as limited as him. Satisfied, Gabriel looked at the bottom of the screen, where a small arrow pointed to the right. Making an assumption, he reached out and tapped it. Instantly, the information on the screen shifted.

Choose Initial Ability

Summon Celestial Sword

Summon Celestial Armor

Summon Celestial Familiar

Well, this was interesting. Most of the time, choosing a new skill or ability was tied to completing a quest given by your god or goddess. As far as Gabriel knew, when you started out, what you got was what you got, no options. Having a modifier was already showing its benefits.

Moving on to the options themselves, Gabriel felt like the choice was pretty obvious. To the point that he wondered if Atay was shaping his options to push him in a specific direction. After all, the modifier description specifically stated that it reduced his own personal Calling gains to enhance the summoning aspect. Getting a sword and armor would be good, no doubt, but that went against the whole purpose of his new Calling. He chose Summon Celestial Familiar.

Again, the screen winked out of existence. In its place, a small dot of golden light remained. Slowly it grew, gaining hints of white and rich, dark blue in its color as it did. Finally, the ball of light stopped growing when it was roughly the size of Gabriel’s clenched fist. Then it started to strobe, the colors in it shifting ever more rapidly, until finally, it settled into a uniform sky blue, with little specks of gold twinkling all over its surface, like stars in a sunny sky. Gabriel thought it was incredibly beautiful. Slowly, the shape of the sphere began to change. Collapsing in on itself slightly, it began to widen in some places and shrink in others. After perhaps half a minute, it had completely shifted, resulting in a tiny figure curled into a ball, little arms wrapped around little legs, head tucked into its knees. Then the figure stopped hovering and started to fall into Gabriel’s lap. Reaching out instinctively, he cupped his hands and caught the tiny person before they could slam their head into his crossed legs. They weighed almost nothing at all. In fact, Gabriel could barely tell he was actually holding something in his hands. It was like this little glowing person wasn’t even there.

After a brief moment, just long enough for Gabriel to start to wonder if there was something wrong, the figure started to stir. It stretches its arms out, yawning expansively. Instead of the normal sound of a yawn, there was a slight tinkling noise, like bells. As it did, Gabriel felt something shift in him. It was a sensation unlike anything he had ever felt before like someone tapped him on the back, but also touched his brain and something else that he could feel was a part of him, but he had never felt before. It wasn’t uncomfortable by any means, just surprising. Then sensations started to reach him from that third place. There was a sense of excitement and surprise, as well as a pervasive and neverending sense of joy and fun. It felt like everything was ever so slightly amusing. Then there was a sense of welcome and a desire to learn more. Learn more about him in particular. Realizing he had been staring blankly at the wall when these new sensations started, Gabriel looked back at his hands, where the small figure was now sitting cross-legged, much like how he was, facing him and waving with a big smile on its face.

“Ahh, hello. I’m Gabriel. Who are you?” He asked awkwardly.

Immediately he felt a massive spike of excitement from that new place inside him, which he was now almost certain was his link to this small person in his hands. This was immediately followed by the impression of clear blue skies and sunshine.

“Ok, so I’m guessing you don’t have a name in English, yeah?”

He felt a sense of affirmation, and the little figure nodded its head.

“Well, I can’t very well address you as, well ‘you all the time, that's just awkward. Have any ideas?”

They just shrugged, and Gabriel got an impression that they couldn't care less. Then, like a light flick on, a thought hit Gabriel through the link, and they pointed aggressively at him.

“Really? You want me to give you a name?” Gabriel replied skeptically.

They just nodded rapidly, and Gabriel felt a strong sense of agreement.

“Ok then. Give me a moment.” Gabriel wasn’t about to argue. Though he didn’t want to just give them any random name. He started looking closely at the tiny person in his hands, looking for inspiration. Noticing the attention, they leaped to their feet, legs apart and hands on their hips, standing proudly. Gabriel had to agree with their opinion. They were impressive to look at. For one thing, they had much the same coloring as the energy they had come from, bright blue, with hints of white and sparkling gold. The other part of it was their appearance. Or rather appearances, since what they look like changed second to second. Even the clothes they were wearing changed. One second they had a freckled chubby face and a shirt and pants, blue eyed with short gold hair. Then they grew about a half an inch, their face narrowed, and they had a long dress down past their knees. They grew long white hair and had golden eyes. Then that appearance top was gone, replaced by eyes so light blue they were nearly white, and mid-length aquamarine hair. The shifting never ended, and no one appearance was like the other.

“Are you a boy or a girl?” Gabriel asked. With the shifting appearance, he couldn’t tell.

All he got back was a sense of confusion to match the look on their face. Then they snapped their fingers, and he felt a sense of understanding, followed by them rapidly shaking their head and a strong negative.

“So neither, huh?”

They nodded once, sharply. Then Gabriel got the sensation that that was an unfamiliar concept.

“So Celestials don’t have genders, huh?”

Their face scrunched up, and they waved their hand back and forth, then shrugged. This was followed by a confusing burst of emotions and sensations.

“Well, I didn’t really follow that, but I’m getting the idea that it's complicated,” Gabriel said dryly.

They winked and shot finger guns at him, and he got a firm positive.

“Well, in that case, let's go with… Skylar.’ Gabriel nodded.

With that, Gabriel felt a strong burst of agreement, joy, and excitement. Then the newly named Skylar leaped into the air. Immediately, wings that looked like little rays of sunshine shot out of their back, and they held their hand out in front of them.

Gabriel got the sensation of what they wanted, and he laughed a bit before reaching out with his own hand, hive-fiving his new familiar. “I feel like we are going to get along just fine.”

Skylar nodded rapidly, bobbing in the air with excitement practically radiating out of them.