Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Initiation
I woke up in the middle of the night, unsure of what time it was. Opening my eyes and seeing my surroundings came as a shock, until my memory finally flooded in with the events and occurrences that recently took place. I sat up from the bed, rubbing my eyelids with the palm of my hands. I averted my gaze towards the window, which still portrayed a dark sky. To my surprise, the moonlight shone into the wood-themed room, resonating on a girl who peacefully slept on the table with crossed arms. Mia Rose Rias. It was funny to me because she would joke about me being her angel, when it was her who looked more like one than I did. The light reflected off her white clothing and made her slightly sparkle. Her chestnut hair gently fell to her side, making her face visible. She had such flawless skin. I swear... You would really think she was an angel if it was her who wounded up in my world. Suddenly, I stopped admiring her position and realized that it must've been hard falling asleep on a chair and a table. Mia probably tried to watch over me, but was too bored to stay up. Or maybe she was truly just as tired as I was. I didn't believe that she didn't need rest. I respect her relentless effort, but even the strongest people need a break sometimes. Especially after what she's done for me, I think she deserves to rest not just peacefully but comfortably. I walked towards Mia and poked her on the cheek. "Hey, you awake?" A soft puff of air came out of her mouth as she sighed; it was so cute. But, she didn't respond. I gently moved the seat back & carefully picked her up. Carrying her in my arms, I tried to drop her on the mattress of the bed as softly as I could. "There you go, sleep well Mia." I whispered, knowing she wouldn't hear me anyways. I yawned, made my way to the chair and sat down. I watched Mia doze of sweet and soundly. The subtle sounds of her breathing echoed in the room. I felt a feeling I've never experienced before. A feeling I've never experienced for a long time. I felt, at peace. I haven't had this comfort since that thing that happened to my family. For once, I've felt a feeling of security. I continued to thoughtlessly watch over Mia until I slowly fell back to sleep.

October 27, 2032. Town Central Palace, Fiefa.

"Uuuuuuuhh!!" yawned a voice that suddenly woke me up. Mia stretched her arms on the bed as she sat up on the mattress. Her eyes were half-open and a clueless expression filled her face. She opened her mouth wide as she let out another yawn. "Good morning," I replied, as I stood up to stretch my own body. She slowly moved her eyes to look at me and a short pause followed. All of a sudden, as if something hit her, a shocked & embarrassed emotion was evident in her facial reaction. "H-How did I--" "I carried you over to the bed last night," I smiled. "Surprise." Mia blushed, "Why? You didn't have to..." "You let me sleep long enough, so it was your turn." I walked towards her bedside. "It was your turn to sleep while I watched over you." "..." Mia shyly smiled. "See? You really are an angel!" She bounced right out of bed and stood beside me. "Thanks Gabe, I haven't had that kind of rest for a long time. I've always been busy with my job and I never found the time to do that. I appreciate it!" She let out a big smile and opened her arms for a hug. It caught me off guard, but I hugged her back and then said, "well, sometimes you need to learn how to relax and have fun. Don't be so focused on Life to the point where you start to forget to live. Enjoy the little things." She let go of me and stared into my eyes with an impressed look. Afterwards, she finally answered, "I'll have to remember that." As she smiled and let go of my body, she began to pull my arm. "Where are you taking me?" I asked. "To the Board of course! Let's go!!" She replied, dragging me out the door of our room.

When we finally reached the front of the Board of Fiefa, Mia and I went through the doors and talked to a man at the front desk. "May I help you?" He asked. "Uh..." I turned to look at Mia who picked up on my cue. "Yes please, I would like to go through the initiation process." She answered, pulling me behind her. "Ah, Mia Rias. Have you not gone through it already in the past? I remember you coming with your royal family." "I have, but this one is for Gabe." She answered, patting my shoulder as she said this with a smile. The senior looking man put on his specs and scanned me with his eyes. "I see. And what might he be applying for?" "Initiation as a Fiefan Target." She answered. "Well, follow me right this way." The man led us through a series of corridors and hallways until we finally reached a large room. "He will perform the ceremony in a moment. Please wait while he is ready and have a good day." The man announced, leaving the room to attend back to his desk.

A few moments after, a wise looking man walked into the room. "Ah! Mia, welcome back." An esteemed elder had said. "Reidor, it's nice to see you again as well" She replied. "I've come back to have my friend initiated as a Fiefan Target." Reidor wore a grey robe and held a large steel staff in his hand. He had a long white beard to match his white hair; the typical appearance of a mage. He must've been from the Magic class and now works performing the Initiation Ceremony. "It's nice to meet you," he said to me. "What is your name young one?" "I'm Gabe, Gabriel Delfin." I responded. "It's nice to meet you too." "Now, unfortunately, for you to become a Target you must be sponsored by one that--" "That's why I'm here," Mia interrupted. "I'm his sponsor." "Hmm..." Reidor began to stroke his beard. "That does work. Does he have enough skill to become a target?" He asked. We looked at each other. Then, Mia answered "yes, I've tested him and he's eligible." Truth was, she didn't test me in anything. I haven't even received the tiniest bit of training with a sword or any other weapon. I was actually starting to get a little bit nervous. "..." Reidor stared at me, making me feel even more uneasy. "Very well then, let me begin."

He opened up his SDP and in his empty hand appeared a diamond-coloured, rectangular prism. It was the Initialization crystal. "I present this crystal to the sponsor of Gabriel Delfin, who sees the potential and skill fit for a Target." Reidor then handed Mia the crystal and it began to glow. "I, Mia Rias, believe that Gabriel Delfin is qualified for the responsibilities as a Fiefan citizen, the challenges ahead as a Target and the journey that awaits him on Cloud 9." I watched as she recited those words. She then held my hand with her free one and pressed the Initialization crystal on my chest with the other. "Now, just say your name" Mia whispered with a smile. After a quick pause, I mustered up my confidence and shook off all the anxiety as I said, "I, am Gabriel Delfin."

The crystal began to evaporate, and the entire room lit up. I started to clench Mia's hand a little harder as I felt my body burn up, especially the part of my chest. I resisted, but my vision and awareness was still off balance until a few minutes later. Once I regained myself back to normal, I felt exactly the same. I looked at Mia who was smiling at me, so I couldn't help but crack a smile back. "You okay?" She asked. "Yeah, I guess" I answered. "Well you sure were holding my hand pretty hard a while ago," she winked. We looked at each other's arms, still linked together by our holding hands. It made me feel a little embarrassed and shy, but I secretly enjoyed it. We both decided to let go as Reidor approached us.

"And that marks the end of the Initialization Ceremony." He announced. "Did you feel any pain?" "Nah, just the slight burning that's all," I replied. "Nothing big." "Hmm? That's odd..." He murmured. "You felt something burning?" Mia asked me. "Y-Yeah, but nothing serious? I thought it was part of the process?" "Where did you feel this burning sensation?" Inquired Reidor. "Right around here," I pointed at the left part of my chest. "Take off your top." He commanded. "What?!" Mia & I both responded. "Take it off, let me see your chest." I did as he asked, first removing my black jacket followed by my Short-sleeve shirt. I noticed Mia flushed in a dark shade of pink as she checked out my body. It wasn't ripped, but I kept myself healthy and on the athletic side. Body image was still something I cared about. All of a sudden, Mia's blushing face turned into a face of shock as she pointed at my chest. There was a mark. A subtly visible rune. "That's..." Mia started. "A legendary rune." Finished Reidor. "What..." I whispered. "And from where it's positioned, I would assume that it is a hero rune. The Heart of Minas." He continued. "Although I have began to study and research runes more often, I know for sure that the Heart of Minas is not classified. Such a rune isn't even in the list of discovered or recent runes. You, Gabriel, will have to figure out what power it holds yourself." "I-I can't... I mean, why me?" I wondered, so confused as to why I received such a rare blessing. "A person can't inherit or choose the rune. The rune chooses the person." Mia and I tried to make sense of what he said. It was deep and meaningful, but hard to logically understand. In the end, I accepted who I was and thanked Reidor as well as the man at the front desk on our way out.

"Open up your Soul DP," Mia insisted. "Just strongly visualize it in your head and let your fingers do the rest!" I listened to her advice, but didn't know what to think of; I mean, I've never opened a Soul DP before nor do I know what to expect once I did. However, I simply thought of wanting to see what it looked like and with a swing of my fingers, a blue transparent window began to enlarge and materialize in the area of where my hands were positioned. I thought of my identity card and scrolled down a list of panels on my Soul until I came across a tab labelled "Profile - Gabriel Delfin." I tapped it with my finger, in which a new window popped up. At the very top was the heading, "Identity Card." "Let me see!" Mia screamed excitingly. She opened her Soul DP and stood beside me. "To share information, simply slide the box to my surroundings." "Okay..." I tried to somehow grasp the Identity Card window and flicked my wrist in her direction to slide it towards her. I was amazed to see the box actually disappear from my surroundings and enter her matrix of vision. Of course, I could still see it myself, but now it revolved around her, in her own point of perspective.

We continued to stand alongside each other, still near the entrance of the Boards building while many of the townspeople walked in different directions carrying on with their lives.

Mia began to read the information out loud, going through the entire Identity Card: Name: Gabriel Delfin Sex: Male Age: 18 Nationality: Fiefan Classification: Target Sponsorship: Mia Rias Class: Processing... Title: Processing... Guild Group: None Frequent Party: None Current Family: N/A "It looks good!" Mia said. "Once you start training, honing your skills and working on your strengths, your blank categories will automatically update." "Alright," I told her. "I guess the next thing I need is some pointers on how to protect myself." "Hehe, silly angel" she laughed. "Before you do that, the next thing you need is a WEAPON to protect yourself." Mia smiled. We both closed our Soul DPs and began to walk. "Follow me!" She said. "We're going to the marketplace." "Lead the way Rose." I winked. She turned her head to look back at me, a devious smirk appeared on her face.