Gabriel woke, excited for the new day. Possibly for the first time that he could remember. He had a skill! More than that, a skill that had given him a useful and rare familiar. Hopefully, he would get some quests soon so that he could gain even more skills. More than that, maybe now that he had a Calling, he could train his own skills like a normal person. Gabriel desperately hoped that the whole process he had gone through that had filled him with so much power would break whatever curse prevented him from learning a single weapon skill in four years of rigorous training. It's not like he had any guarantees, but he just felt so powerful now. He didn't know what his primaries were at now, another thing to look forward to today. He should be getting a look at his Portfolio. Admittedly, he could always just ask his father to look it up for him, any priest could, but both his parents were so busy he never wanted to take up any more of their time than what was set aside for him.

Looking around the room, Gabriel finally located what he was looking for. Skylar was sound asleep, curled up on the pillow next to him. It was interesting to watch them sleep. The constant shift their form went through seemed to slow down significantly compared to when they were awake. He could truly appreciate the beautiful variety that Skylar embodied. He was so glad that they were the familiar he had gotten from his skill. He already appreciated the constant stream of happy thoughts coming from them.

Deciding to let his familiar sleep, at least for a bit longer, Gabriel moved to get dressed. He didn't know what exactly to expect from today, so he went with some simple pants and a shirt. They were both white with gold trim. The colors were practically a uniform in Light's Aegis. As the premier family in service to Balthazar, it would be strange for them to be seen in anything other than his colors. Fully dressed, he looked at the clock on the small table beside his bed. It was still plenty early. Gabriel had been raised to adhere to a strict schedule, and at this point, he woke and slept like clockwork.

Realizing he didn't have anything to do other than find out what his new schedule was going to look like, Gabriel went over and tapped Skylar lightly while attempting to push on the familiar bond he could feel inside himself to wake them gently. It worked easily enough, Skylar rising, yawning, and stretching before leaping into the air, multicolored wings blooming into existence. They then proceeded to rabidly circle Gabriel. He got the distinct impression that they were critiquing his choice of clothing.

Finally coming to a stop, They looked at him, rubbing their chin before nodding slowly, then pointing in front of him, where an illusory copy of himself appeared. The primary difference being that the clothes they wore now held extra accents in blue and silver. Gabriel thought it looked rather nice, but he didn't make clothing decisions. There were other people with that job.

"I like it, but we're stuck with what I have. Sorry." He told his familiar, shrugging. Then something else caught his eye. Namely, his copies' eyes. "Skylar, is this what my eyes look like?" He whispered, incapable of anything more. Skylar nodded. He felt confusion and concern from them. "My eyes didn't look like this yesterday." He explained.

Instead of the bright teal he had inherited from his father; his eyes were now golden. Not yellow, but golden, with white rings resting in the irises. They glowed ever so slightly. "Beast bloodline." He said reverently. He had no way to be sure, but eyes changing was one of the most common indicators of a magically oriented Beast bloodline. His oldest brother Halis, who had control over his own highly acidic blood, had had his eyes turn red when his bloodline awakened. Eventually, his hair had transitioned as well, another common indicator.

"I need to see my Portfolio," Gabriel said, a new fire burning inside him. This could change everything. He had wanted this for so long. Now, with everything else going on, it finally showed itself. It just kept getting better and better. With an extra pep in his step, even beyond what he had woken up with this morning, Gabriel headed out of his room. Skylar followed closely behind. Almost immediately, they encountered one of his siblings.

"Hey, Gabriel. What's up? What class did you get? You did get a class, right?" A slightly snide voice called out. Gabriel looked up. Floating above him was a blond-haired, brown-skinned girl, only a little older than him.

"Good morning Qeta. Yes, Balthazar saw fit to make me a Priest." Gabriel said cordially. Qeta could be a bit precocious.

Qeta giggled. "Of course, he made you a Priest. It's not like he would make a goody goody like you a Paladin. You couldn't hurt a fly, even if you tried. I suppose that's for the best." She nodded assertively. Qeta had a bad habit of acting like she was an authority on everything. Suddenly, she squealed before zooming through the air. Gabriel marveled at his increased abilities. He could follow his sister's flight easily, whereas she would have been borderline invisible to him previously. He saw she was making a beeline for Skylar, who had flown over to stare at a random painting on the wall of one of Gabriel's distant ancestors.

With a squeak, Skylar disappeared. Then, another Skylar appeared several feet away. Gabriel noticed he could tell that this one was an illusion through the familiar bond. Qeta immediately flew after the fake Skylar while the real one popped back up, clinging to the back of Gabriel's neck. When the other one disappeared, Qeta spun around in the air until she noticed the little winged figure hiding behind Gabriel.

"There!" She shrieked. "What is that!"

"Ahh." Gabriel was thrown for a loop. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on. "I gained a summoning skill with my Calling. This is my familiar, Skylar." He said slowly, waving vaguely toward where they rested.

"She's soooo cuuute! Give her to me!" Qeta yelled, making grabbing motions with her hands.

"What? No! I'm not giving you my familiar!" Gabriel exclaimed. What was she thinking?

"Oh, come on. I'm sure being that tiny and being your familiar; she can't be anything too special. Just give her up. She's too cute for you anyway." Qeta griped, crossing her arms and frowning. Gabriel frowned.

"Actually, they aren't a she. More importantly, they are very impressive, really." Gabriel stated, defending Skylar.

"Oh really? What exactly does the little flying cutie have besides being very fast?" Qeta said snidely. Gabriel was confused for a moment until he realized that Qeta had mistaken Skylar turning invisible and making an illusion for extremely fast movement.

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"No, you got it wrong. They're not-" He started to explain.

"Wrong! You think you know better than me now, just because you got a calling?! You're still the weak little brother you've always been! Don't try to tell me I'm wrong!" Qeta raged. She shot out a bolt of raw force straight at Gabriel. She usually ended up doing this if he managed to make her angry. However, this time Gabriel wasn't a Callingless child with no primary abilities worth mentioning. He might still be a kid, but he was leagues stronger than he had been yesterday.

Previously, if he had been hit with that force bolt, he would have been flung into the wall with bruised ribs. Now, it knocked him back a few inches. He might have a slight bruise later. Qeta floated there, stunned. Usually, Gabriel would be on the floor now, trying not to cry at the pain. Instead, he just had a slightly surprised smile on his face.

"You know what Mom says about wasting prepared spells like that, Qeta." He admonished. All he got in response was a shriek of anger. Qeta started chanting out what sounded like a much, much more powerful force bolt. Gabriel stood there, not sure what to do. He could run away, but despite his increased abilities, he knew there was no way he was faster than Qeta. In regards to speed, she was better than several of their older siblings. He also didn't want to get hit by whatever she was cooking up. What his sister had thrown at him before was intended to incapacitate a normal adult. The next one looked like something intended to seriously harm someone in the middle range of their abilities.

He was more than a little scared. He had seen Qeta throw out force bolts that could shatter huge boulders and sheer through magically reinforced metal like paper. Without any other solutions coming to mind, he resolved to do his best to dodge it. It was a long shot, but he genuinely couldn't think of anything else in the three seconds it took her to chant.

With a subtle but bone-shaking boom, the new force bolt shot from Qeta, aimed right at his chest. Gabriel did his best to dodge around it. He was partially successful, which he was sure he would celebrate later. A day ago, he wouldn't have been able to so much as twitch in the time it took the bolt to travel the five or so feet between them. That was later, though. Right now, he was struggling not to scream as his left arm shattered, the bone fragments digging their way out of his flesh, tearing rents out the back of his arm.

"Hmpf. I don't want your stupid little thing anymore. Next time, maybe you'll learn to shut up and give me what I want first. Then I won't hurt you." Qeta pouted before flying off. Gabriel lay on the ground, bleeding out. Once again, he felt the vast gulf of power between him and the rest of his family. He might be stronger than some adults now, but his family, and indeed, anyone they worked with, made most people look like blind babies by comparison.

Gabriel felt his still bleeding arm begin to correct itself, the bones straightening, the felt repairing. Looking up, he saw Skylar staring at him tearfully. He felt remorse and guilt flowing from them. He smiled. "Oh, come on now. That wasn't your fault. Qeta is just like that. Admittedly, she doesn't normally go that far, but I think me not being affected by the first hit made her angry." He said, feeling much better already. Skylar's healing was top-notch. His arm was back to normal in only a few minutes.

Skylar gave him a look that said no, duh. Ignoring the look, Gabriel focused on his clothes. Luckily he had been wearing short sleeves, so the only real damage was the bloodstains, and it wasn't like this was the first time he would be walking around in bloodstained clothes. Even as he looked though, water appeared out of the air and started to wash away the blood, leaving the clothes looking pristine once again.

"Well, you are just all kinds of helpful, aren't you?" Gabriel looked to Skylar. They smiled proudly, posing heroically, hands on hips before raising their hand toward him. Laughing a little, Gabriel reached up with his repaired arm and completed the high five." We better get going. That was a waste of time." Skylar nodded, and they were off once again, headed toward his father's study.

{}

Mahun bowed his head respectfully in his small, chapel-like study, using one of his multitude of Called skills as an Archpriest to pull the attention of his god to him. Within moments, a pillar of white and gold energy formed before him.

"Yes, Mahun. What could possibly require my attention so soon after our previous meeting? I saw you only yesterday. I have other matters to attend to. Gun's move on that failure of a champion has caused me to have to accelerate some of my other plans, and he seems to be starting some more skirmishes at the border." Balthazar's voice boomed out, his aggravation obvious.

"I apologize, my god. I have some mildly concerning news regarding our new hero." Mahun stated calmly, unperturbed by Balthazar's apparent anger. He had seen worse from the deity.

"Oh? Already. That's surprisingly fast; what has he done?" Balthazar's anger vanished, replaced with curiosity.

"He has done nothing untoward so far, my lord. It is from my oldest that the concerns arise. It seems he has engaged some force from the negative floors to kidnap and then kill Gabriel. It seems his naming has incited some hatred in him." Mahun commented. He would rather none of his children took such drastic measures. Killing each other limited their usefulness to the theocracy and their god.

"Oh-ho! Perceptive as always, Mahun. I have never once regretted bestowing you with Clairvoyance. I don't think I've ever had a Called that used it quite as effectively as you." Balthazar praised. "Still, this shows further degeneracy than I think either of us expected. Halis is strong indeed, but I think his character is edging too far into arrogance and envy. We may need to bring him in line."

Mahun nodded. "I can interfere easily. I have had plans in place for some time should Halis's more… objectionable proclivities need to be curtailed."

"Hmm. Perhaps…"

Mahun looked up toward the pillar of divine essence before him. "What is it?"

"I am contemplating allowing this," Balthazar stated plainly.

"To what end?" Mahun asked, concerned. It was unlike Balthazar to contemplate what could only be a waste of valuable resources.

"I placed a not inconsiderable amount of power into young Gabriel. Considering his nature, he should have had quite the gains from it. I find myself unconcerned about his safety in the presence of some trash from the negative floors. If he cannot withstand that, he will never become a tool worthy of using." Balthazar said, his tone contemplative.

Mahun nodded. "Perhaps we would be better suited to make this decision after I have observed his Portfolio. That would give us more perspective."

"Mmm." Balthazar let out a pleasant hum. "Yes, that's more suitable. After all, knowing you Mahun, this could be handled at a moment's notice." The Archpriest simply nodded in confirmation. "Yes, in that case, we will revisit the topic after he has been assessed. It will be interesting to see how he develops. Heroes always had more freedom in their power growth. A worthy trade, I suppose, for the behavioral modification. You have arranged a teacher for him?" Balthazar questioned, snapping out of his Idle speculation.

"Actually, Jacob procured a capable third party. It will add no burden to our current resources."

"That's quite perfect, considering the leash we hold on the boy."

Mahun nodded. "I believed so as well. I approved it when he approached me last night."

"Rather fond of the boy, isn't he?" Balthazar said, a hint of disapproval in his voice.

"Gabriel has a good, kind heart. The staff appreciate it." Mahun explained.

"Hmph. Well, it's to my benefit, so I'll leave it. Until next time, Mahun."

Just as the pillar faded out of existence, there was a knock on the door.