"Which one?" With three options, Gabriel wasn't sure which of his new summons he was most excited about.

"Start with the Worker, and we'll go up one by one."

Gabriel nodded excitedly. He didn't actually care which he summoned first; he was excited to see all of them. "Ok, I'm starting." Then he focused on the skill he could feel in the back of his mind. It was surprisingly easy and intuitive. All he had to do was focus on which summon and where he wanted it to appear. He felt some of his mana leave him. Gabriel had never used magic before, but he could just tell that the pulling sensation running up his back was what using mana felt like. As best he could tell, the amount of mana he used to summon a Worker was insignificant. He felt like he could do that hundreds of times without running out of mana.

The Worker itself came into existence with significantly less fanfare than Skylar had. There was no light show and manifestations of mana. There was a slight flumph, and then Gabriel knew it was there. Unfortunately, the Worker was apparently invisible. Gabriel could feel it because it was his summon, but there was nothing where he felt the Worker. No lights, no distortion of air; it was like he hadn't summoned anything.

"Interesting, that's actually decently useful. Really useful, to be honest." Bazelphios stated.

"You know it's there?" Whatever mana signature the Worker had, Gabriel couldn't feel it.

Bazelphios nodded. "Yeah, these are common in the Heavens. It's what you would consider a minor spirit. No combat ability at all, unless you want to get really creative. But they are smarter than you would expect for their abilities, and they are usually skilled. Worker is honestly an apt description." He teleported a large broom. "Here, give it a mental command to clean the gazebo."

Gabriel gave Bazelphios a skeptical look, but he did as he was told. Gabriel pulled on the bond he felt. It wasn't the same as his bond with Skylar. He felt like trying to convey any information beyond orders wouldn't work through this bond. He also felt very little from the Worker. Unlike Skyler, who he could feel their general emotional state, and some of their thoughts, all he could feel was an acknowledgment of the orders he had conveyed.

He could feel the Worker speed on over to the broom Bazelphios was holding. It was much faster than Gabriel would have expected from what he could feel of its abilities. It moved as fast as he could at a dead sprint. When it reached the broom, a haze of gold, white, and blue sparkles manifested around the broom, and it started sweeping the floor swiftly and efficiently. There was no sound associated with the small sparkles, and they weren't especially bright.

"Now, have it attack me with this knife." Bazelphios held up a small dagger.

Now more alarmed than skeptical, Gabriel gave the command, trusting the ancient space mage to know what he was doing. The floating broom paused in its sweeping, and Gabriel felt a strong negative. The Worker was either refusing the command or couldn't do it. The broom went back to sweeping.

"Yup, that's the downside."

"What do you mean? Why didn't it listen?"

"It's a Celestial. They are beings made of order and purpose. That also applies to your summoning. This spirit was summoned to be a worker, and it will fulfill that purpose to the best of its ability. If you ask it to do anything outside that capacity, it won't do it. I have no doubt that the spirit can fight. It just won't. More accurately, it could fight if it wasn't summoned as a Worker, but now that it is, it loses all combat ability."

"That's too bad. Still, having these guys around will help the staff a lot. How complex can I get with the commands? Do I have to be the one to order them? How long will they stay summoned? How much weight can they lift? Do you think they can-" Gabriel rambled excitedly, his mind filled with ideas for how he could use these Workers to help the staff of Light's Aegis.

"Whoa, slow down, kid. That's questions you'll have to answer through your own research. For now, let's take a look at your other-" Bazelphios cut off mid-sentence, his head turning toward the far side of the gazebo. "Cancel your summon. Right now."

Gabriel didn't hesitate. He had never heard his teacher sound so serious. He hadn't even known Bazelphios could sound serious. Not even a few seconds later, his oldest brother walked around the side of the structure, coming from the portal.

"There you are, brother. I have need of you for a task Father has assigned the both of us. Come along."

{}

Halis barely restrained a sneer. He had no idea why his failure of a brother was out here in the Wilds with some random vagrant. He was supposed to be training. Halis had no idea what their father was thinking. Well, it won't be a problem for long. He will be gone, and our house will no longer have to support this dead weight. That thought brightened his spirits.

"Oh, of course, Paladin Halis," Gabriel said. At least he remembers to be respectful of his betters. "Teacher, we can continue tomorrow, right?"

That dirty vagrant is his Priest teacher? I don't know him. Halis was confused, Which made him aggravated. He felt like he was missing something, which was unacceptable.

"Yeah, kid. Don't worry about it." The vagrant waved casually.

Halis nearly popped a vein. Referring to a member of Light's Aegis' main family so casually! He couldn't believe his youngest brother had not corrected this random person's lack of reverence. For all his failures, Gabriel had at least managed to maintain the proper respect for their esteemed family and their glorious god, as he should.

"Yes, come. We must be off quickly. A vehicle is already waiting on another floor." Halis decided he might have to have this supposed teacher dealt with after Gabriel was out of the picture. While it wasn't worth dealing with right now, considering he had more important things to deal with, such a disrespectful person was surely a sinner worthy of discipline.

"Who was that man?" Halis decided to ask as they walked to the transfer matrix on their family's property. All he needed was a name, and the man would be handled. Halis wouldn't even have to be directly involved.

"He is the teacher that was arranged for me, Paladin. Jacob recruited him. They are friends from some time ago." Gabriel supplied easily. So naive. Not a Paladin at all. “His name is Bazelphios Adalmantous.”

"I see." that name sounded vaguely familiar, but Halis could not place it. Oh, well. It wasn't important; he could look into it later.

{}

They walked down the back street toward Halis's contact point. He had planned this out relatively well. He wasn't so impressed with his execution, but he was more relying on no one caring that Gabriel was gone. He had been a waste of resources since his training began, and his Calling as Priest was the last straw. They had even abandoned his teaching to some unknown vagabond. The man's only reference was a butler, after all. Halis expected that when his parents heard of Gabriel's kidnapping, they might not even try to raise a bounty. He certainly wouldn't in their position.

The plan was simple, which appealed to the perfectionist in Halis. It wasn't overly complex, which meant less opportunities for failure. He had been assigned to one of Light's Aegis' outreach programs for those on the lower floor, from one to two hundred. Unlike the negative floors, conditions here were merely poor, instead of being essentially a hellscape. He would inform his parents that Gabriel had begged to tag along, and Halis had reluctantly agreed. Then Gabriel had run off and disappeared.

The only person who could possibly contradict him was that teacher, and Halis planned to have him disappear regardless. It was an easily believable story, especially since Gabriel had always been annoyingly sincere about helping the 'less fortunate'. Halis understood the necessity of cultivating a positive image with the public, but there was a limit to how much one needed to care about these common folk. They provided valuable services, certainly, but they were also generally lazy and unreasonable. Sometimes even disrespectful, considering all the Theocracy did for them. Especially the non-human population. They should be grateful Balthazar suffered them to live.

Still, Halis had done more than his share of work on the lower floors, and the people here knew and liked him. All around, there were smiles and appreciative comments from people towards him for his various charitable works. They had even walked by a playground he had given up some of his own personal resources to help construct. It was gratifying to see all his sacrifices recognized by the common folk and validated his actions. Halis came here to remind himself why Balthazar allowed these people to exist in his Theocracy, and why he ordained that so much be given to them. Happy people gave more of themselves for the cause.

Which ultimately led back to his brother. Even the lesser folk living down here had more to offer than his useless brother. Halis believed that his change of names was a divine sign. Balthazar was highlighting just how far the family had fallen from its glorious past by giving their most useless child the name of their most hallowed ancestor. Halis was simply carrying out divine will.

Sharply, he turned a corner and jumped onto the roof of the adjacent building. The construction down here was much more mundane than on the upper floors. Instead of the multistory highrises and massive industrial complexes, they had wooden construction with only a single floor. Two for the most influential citizens. It was a simple matter for him to land among the wooden shingles. The district they were in was comprised mostly of smaller workshops and craftsman's quarters. In fact, large sections were abandoned due to the adoption of some new technology being adopted from Cathor that made the production of many simpler goods more efficient.

Halis looked down, watching his brother turn the corner, looking around confusedly, before two figures wearing dark clothing leaped out, one of them throwing a bundle into Gabriel's surprised face. It exploded into a yellowish powder, and the boy instantly dropped. Expensive stuff, but Halis felt it necessary. His brother had been Called after all. As a Priest, it was unlikely his Constitution was past the first two ranks, but Halis was not in the habit of betting on things going in his favor. Hubris was a quick killer. So he had provided his associates with some Chlorian sleeping powder. Even someone with a Constitution in the Middle rank would be instantly knocked out.

Next to his brother, a small figure appeared out of thin air and fell to the ground. What's this? Halis jumped down, examining the tiny humanoid. It appeared similar to several varieties of fairy Halis had seen in his Beast hunting excursions. Fairies were common as bonded familiar's for scouts and information gatherers.

"What is that?" Asked one of the black-garbed men.

"Some variety of fairy. Take it with you, for now, I don't know why it was here, but it's probably bonded to someone and watching my brother. Killing it before he is secured could be just as bad as letting it go free." Halis ordered. This was unforeseen but still fit within his narrative.

The man shrugged. "Fine by me. Is it dangerous?"

Halis held back a snort. It would have been undignified. These uneducated lowlifes always managed to surprise him. "No, they are usually offensively weak. Good at evasion and trickery, but helpless when confronted directly. Now hurry up. You have places to be." His irritation leaking into his tone.

"R-right. Sorry, sir." Properly cowed, the man pulled out a sack, bundled the unconscious boy and fairy into it, and ran off with his companion.

"Well, that went nicely," Halis spoke into the empty backroad, feeling accomplished. With the capture handled, this situation was all but done.

He had no idea how wrong he was.