Gabriel knocked on the door of his father's study, nervous and excited, the earlier incident all but forgotten. Gabriel wasn't sure what to expect from his Portfolio. He knew that his Primary abilities had seen a massive increase. Outside of that, he had no knowledge of what powers a Hero would gain. More than that, he didn't know how his Celestial Hero modifier would affect him. It was all a big mystery. Adding to all of that, it was a novel experience to be actually excited to see his Portfolio. Over the last year or so, he had begun to view the experience with something akin to dread.

"Enter." He heard through the door, prompting his excited thoughts to halt, and his anticipation to multiply. He pushed the door open a little too hard, flinging it into the wall. Both the door and the wall, being magically reinforced, were fine, but it did make a thunderous bang. Gabriel jumped a little. "Oh, uh, sorry, Father. I'm much stronger than I'm used to." Gabriel explained. He rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed.

"Never mind, my son, you came to have your Portfolio assessed, yes?" Mahun waved away Gabriell's concerns. "Come then. A teacher has been arranged for you. You will be meeting with him after this."

"Oh, ok." Gabriel wasn't expecting to have a teacher already. Then again, just because he was unaware of what skills a Hero typically had, didn't mean that was true of his father. He held out his hand, as he had many times before, and his father gripped it so that the back of Gabriel's hand was facing upward. Then, Mahun laid two fingers on the back of Gabriel's hand, and a translucent window popped up, hovering between them.

Gabriel Godson

Calling: Hero

Abilities

Low Strength 50

Low Speed 50

Low Dexterity 50

Low Constitution 50

Mana Capacity N/A

Middle Cognition 25

Least Perseverance 1. Greater Celestial Affinity 50. Middle Death Resistance 1.

Skills

Advanced Cooking 4.

Called Skills

Summon Celestial Familiar. Angel's Awakening (Sealed). Heaven's Fall. Light. Flare.

"Hmm. That's an unusual spread for your primaries." Mahun stated, referring to the first six abilities that were listed separately.

"Unusual how?"

"Traditionally, Heroes have been a primarily physical class. For your primary abilities to lean toward Cognition is different. However, your Called skills reflect that. Four magics and a sealed one. Hmm…" Mahun stared at the Portfolio intently, like he was trying to solve a complicated puzzle.

Gabriel would have normally been much more inquisitive, but he was very thoroughly distracted by the second screen he could see, superimposed over the first.

Gabriel Godson

Calling: Celestial Hero

Abilities

Low Strength 50

Low Speed 50

Low Dexterity 50

Low Constitution 50

Middle Mana Capacity 75

Middle Cognition 25

Least Perseverance 1. Transcendent Celestial Affinity 100. Middle Death Resistance 1.

Skills

Advanced Cooking 4. Summon Celestial Familiar. Neophyte Elemental Light Magic 1.

Called Skills

Angel's Awakening (Sealed). Heaven's Fall. Display Portfolio.

He had completely forgotten about the very first condition of his Calling modifier.

Inform no other planetary residents (Divine or Mortal) of this agreement unless otherwise notified by Atay.

He was glad he hadn't accidentally broken that agreement already. Although, he wasn't sure how he was supposed to go about training if he had to hide the differences in his Portfolio. More than that, though, he marveled at the power of the World Spirit. Called skills like Display Portfolio that his father had just used, and he apparently now had, were derived directly from the god who had bestowed them after all. This was essentially directly showing that Atay had more power than Balthazar.

More than that. The true weight of the situation dawning on him. Atay basically hijacked my Calling out from under Balthazar. And he didn't even notice. That was scary powerful. Added to that thought, he now had even more questions and no one to ask. He wasn't sure what would happen if he broke the no-tell condition, but he wasn't looking to test it.

I'll just let Father talk. He'll tell me what he can. At least Skylar and I can try and work out the rest. Gabriel was becoming more and more grateful for his new companion as the day progressed.

"Alright, I believe I have the gist of it." Mahun interrupted Gabriel's thoughts. Immediately, the boy focused on the Archpriest. He wasn't about to miss out on any advice. Talking to people about how best to use their Callings was literally part of a Priest's job, and Mahun was one of the best.

"Yes, Father."

"Firstly, your primaries show an obvious bias toward magical skills. You are certainly above average for an initial Calling across the board, but not outside of expectations for a Hero. It's your Cognition and these skills that show your magic inclination." Mahun lectured, gesturing toward Summon Celestial Familiar, Heaven's Fall, Light, and Flare." I am assuming you have kept up on your studies, but tell me in your own words what exactly Cognition is."

"Yes, Father," Gabriel replied Immediately, unphased. The motto of Light's Aegis was 'stand at the front', but Gabriel swore that if they had a second one, it would be 'surprise! Here's a test.' "Cognition is the primary ability that deals with the mind. As it increases, it becomes both easier and faster to think. Like all primary abilities, it is important to increase it to the best of one's ability, but it is essential for those that primarily use magic since it can decrease casting time for unprepared spells, as well as allow one to react more flexibly to a situation."

Mahun nodded along." Indeed. Do not forget, though, that Cognition is just as valuable to more physical fighters for much the same reason."

"Yes, Father."

"Moving onward. You have already used one of your skills, I see." Mahun looked directly at where Skylar was floating, invisible. Again, Gabriel was unsurprised. His Father saw everything. He had learned that years ago.

Skylar, however, was supremely startled. They appeared, a comically shocked expression on their face, and recoiled dramatically through the air. Then they proceeded to circle Mahun, staring at him intently.

Mahun, for his part, stared right back. After a long few moments, Mahun clapped. "Magnificent!" He said, a large smile on his face. "A Celestial fairy. One of the clear blue skies, if I'm not mistaken?" His last sentence, a question directed at Skylar.

At that, Skylar stopped midair, their expression reserved, before slowly nodding.

"Impressive. Most impressive indeed. This is exceedingly rare among the exceedingly rare. Even among the few who can summon Celestials, fairies are a rare find." With a long stride, Mahun walked over to his desk and picked up a tablet. Tapping it several times, he frowned slightly. "It seems that we don't have a book on Celestials in the family library. We'll have to pull from the Theocracy vaults. Hopefully, we have something comprehensive enough to assist you. I believe that if one of your first Called skills is Celestial in nature, others will be. Have you received your first quest?"

Gabriel shook his head.

"It shouldn't be too long. Remember, most starting quests are simple things to allow you to adjust to your Calling, so do not be discouraged by the lackluster nature of the reward."

"Yes, Father."

Mahun gripped Gabriel's shoulder. "I have faith in you, Gabriel." He smiled gently. "You have been studious and persistent. These qualities will carry you far. Hold strong to them." Gabriel nodded seriously.

"Now, it is time for you to meet your teacher. Jacob has arranged it, and they will be made aware of your true class."

Gabriel jerked a bit, before he realized his father was talking about him pretending to be a priest, not him being a Celestial Hero. This is going to be confusing. He wasn't exactly a good liar.

{}

They walked out the back of the manor into the training yard. This was not Gabriel's favorite place on the compound, truth be told. Most of his memories of this place involved him being beaten up to some degree. He was hoping to put that all behind him now.

The training yard was a bit misleading, as far as names went. The area spanned miles and miles of terrain. It covered multiple types of landscape one could encounter across the theocracy and beyond. It was one of the main expenses for Light's Aegis, and covered most of the floor they occupied. The whole group, not just Gabriel's immediate family, used it for training purposes. Right behind the house were the areas for more specific skill and ability training. Walking past members of the Aegis hard at work, Gabriel was as impressed as ever with the wide breadth of skills at work around him.

The range was full of target crystals, brightly glowing chunks of bluish crystal that could travel short distances at incredible speeds, making for a complex array of constantly moving targets moving freely through the air at unpredictable angles. There were a wide variety of ranged combatants practicing hard, using bows and guns to shoot the targets as fast as they could move.

The physical fighting area was enchanted to prevent permanent damage to anything inside. The instant anything, living or not, left the zone, it was instantly restored to whatever state it had entered in. Gabriel watched as two skilled Sword Masters traded blows, sometimes even killing each other, only to drag the corpse of their opponent out of the zone and start again when they revived.

The magic portion of the yard was smaller than the others, most of Light's Aegis was Called after all, and Callings didn't typically have access to elemental or Ethereal magic. Still, there were several members of the organization, hard at work summoning up a multitude of phenomena. It was the loudest and most colorful area in the yard by far.

They walked past all of it. Previously, Gabriel would have been in the physical area, with his mother trying to teach him the basics of sword fighting. This time, they were going farther out. This would be Gabriel's first time leaving the yard and going into the multitude of magically maintained environments. The whole area was collectively called the Wild, or the Beast Den. There was some space magic involved that kept the environments separate from each other. It used a principle similar to the floors the city used, layering vast areas of land on top of each other in the same space. The city even maintained the magic itself.

It was all tied together by a small pagoda at the back of the yard. Through the various arches, Gabriel could see many different environments. One even looked like the burned-out and destroyed husk of the floor containing Balthazar's temple. The one they went to, though, was a simple forest environment. Mahun just gestured Gabriel on ahead rather than joining him and walked off without a glance. Apparently, the teacher would introduce themselves.

Walking through, Gabriel immediately noted the increased heat and humidity. It must be a more tropical forest. He reasoned. He wasn't familiar with plants, so he hadn't known just by looking through the portal. Turning around, he saw that the portal was in a small clearing on the outward-facing side of its own pagoda. He didn't immediately notice anyone waiting for him, so he assumed they were probably in the structure. Walking around the portal, he was proven right. At least, he thought so. There was, in fact, a person in the pagoda, but Gabriel had no way of knowing if they were supposed to be his teacher, seeing as they were asleep.

Approaching slowly and quietly, Gabriel got a better look at the person sprawled on one of the white stone benches. It was an older man; Gabriel couldn't even begin to fathom his age. He had long, unkempt white hair and beard, and he was resting relatively comfortably in a massive, voluminous set of ragged robes. As far as Gabriel could tell, his hair was white from age instead of any beast bloodline. One of his sisters' hair was white for that reason, and it looked different. Though that could just be because of how poorly maintained this man's hair was.

Waving to Skylar, Gabriel did his best to convey his desire for them to heal the man. He had noticed one other thing during his observations. The man was incredibly drunk. Gabriel could smell it coming out the ragged man's pores. He wasn't sure what kind of Constitution he was working with, but that much alcohol couldn't be very healthy. Lucky Skylar caught his meaning and flew over from where they had been touching various plants to lay their hand on the passed-out drunks' forehead. A brief glow of white-blue light later, and they nodded at Gabriel before heading back over to touch more random things. Gabriel got the sense they enjoyed this new environment much more than his home.

The man snorted, smacked his lips, and then yawned so hard, Gabriel heard his jaw crack. He then proceeded to sit up and stretch, still yawning. Long, skeletally thin arms appeared from within the endless folds of the billowing robes, stretching long, equally skeletal fingers wide into the air. He's just skin and bones. Gabriel thought, concerned. Was this man sick? Being that skinny couldn't be healthy.

Thoughts of the wizened old man's health fled as his eyes snapped open. Piercing, glowing violet orbs snapped their gaze to Gabriel's own newly golden irises. "Hello, boy. You must be my new student. Interesting eyes you have there." He spoke in a biting, dry tone.

Atay grants (Bazelphios Adalmantous) Access to (Gabriel Godson) complete Portfolio

Bazelphios smiled, Bright white teeth barely visible through his hair. "Atay sent me."