"So we really are moving?" Noa asked Griselda, feeling much better after the small discussion he had with Sister Elle.
He suspected that she was an Angel. The triple boost of [Angel], [Pure and Just Faith], and [Lawful Good] probably resulted in that result. Unfortunately the only Angel he remembered in the anime was Michael.
But his belief in the Affinity boost from Protection of the Faith changed. He now just saw it as a way to get a step in the door, not something that automatically granted him entry. It was up to him to keep the relationship.
That made him feel much better about his relationship with Griselda.
Griselda nodded after she quickly finished the tour of the Vatican. While there are training grounds inside Vatican City, it was more convenient and more secretive to train in separate institutions where there was less population density in the case of collateral damage.
Also, Vatican City itself was very public, with it being a Tourist Location, and more of a Honorary Headquarters more than having any useful facilities.
Unfortunately, the Church had decided that the Institution for training Exorcists was close enough to Rome, only being on the outskirts and as such, didn't have a Teleportation Circle to the location, arranging for transportation instead.
So Noa, Lavinia, and Griselda were on their way to the Church's Affiliated Institution in a car driven by a random person.
"So what's our schedule?"
"Well, today's just meeting the people in your 'Class'. Well, that was what was supposed to happen for normal people training to become Exorcists." Griselda explained to Lavinia and Noa, looking at the papers in her hands.
"However, the Church wants the both of you to get specialized education with consideration to your Longinus along with Combat Training with Ewald Cristaldi training alongside Dulio Gesualdo."
"Who's Dulio?" Lavinia asked, tilting her head at the unfamiliar name.
"He used to be the only Longinus Wielder the Church had until you two came. Zenith Tempest, which allows the user to control the weather and all it's attributes."
"Weather Report is that you?" Noa interjected, to the confusion of Lavinia and Griselda.
"...What? Nevermind..." Griselda was getting used to Noa's random unknown references. It was better to just skip over it.
"So the Church wants us to... I don't know, push each other to our limits or something like that?"
Griselda paused. Yes, that was exactly what the church intended when they placed Noa and Lavinia with Dulio, as he used to train by himself or when Cardinal Cristaldi and Vasco Strada was available, having surpassed his peers and even older students.
"...Yes."
"Heh, knew it." Noa chuckled smugly, having an extremely hittable expression on his face.
Well, to be honest, he was looking forward to training with Dulio, mainly in part due to his newly created Monthly Quest.
[Monthly Quest - Defeat Dulio Gesualdo in a Spar 20 Times - +20 General Free Pulls - Incomplete]
He also had 10 General Free Pulls already saved, but he was going to be saving it for a chosen Specialized Character Card.
Seeing as his biggest weakness as of now was actual Combat Ability, the skill that Noa was aiming for was Eternal Arms Mastery, the Personal Skill of Lancelot and Minamoto no Raikou.
However, Lancelot, as a Knight of the Round Table, majority of his Class Skills and Personal Skills along with his Parameters were all desirable.
During the rest of the ride to the Institution, the three just made small talk, and attempted to play a game of 3 way chess, which devolved into just saying random Chess Board Locations once more, since Lavinia's control over her Sacred Gear wasn't precise enough to create constructs such as chess pieces.
When they arrived, Griselda explained the actual schedule.
"We'll see your aptitude in Swordsmanship and Magic along with Holy Power, and then the Trainers will create a specialized schedule from your aptitudes. However, every day 3 hours before dinner, you two will have to train with Cardinal Cristaldi along with Dulio in General Combat. After dinner and before you sleep will be the only time to rest."
Griselda read off the paper again, looking more concerned. While she thought her schedule was pretty bad, it seemed Noa and Lavinia had it even worse.
"Also, you will need to pray and memorize scriptures in the morning and before you go to bed along with General Education such as math, science, language arts, strategy, and..." Griselda trailed off.
Lavinia already looked exhausted, while Noa looked like he gave up on life.
"Maybe I just shouldn't have joined..." Noa mumbled.
Griselda could do nothing but awkwardly laugh. Was this the fate of the strong?
--+--
Unfortunately or fortunately, Noa had no aptitude for Magic in DxD but had a lot of aptitude in Holy Power and a little in Swordsmanship.
Oppositely, Lavinia had no aptitude for Swordsmanship and Holy Power, but the proctors had said that she had an extremely high aptitude with Magic, having statements that even if she didn't have a Sacred Gear, she would still be a formidable Magician.
Noa, while having Mana to use, used Mana completely differently than the Magicians of DxD.
In DxD, Magicians use Mana stored in the body which was absorbed from Atmospheric Mana to actualize spells through Formulas and Calculations, while Magus in Fate use the Mana in the air to actualize spells through Incantations and Mysteries.
So in a sense it was like trying to use a completely different school of Magic.
This was because Noa had Magic Circuits, an organ that generates Od and Magical Energy, and something the people of this universe didn't have.
So when Noa tried to use Magic, it was rather... lackluster.
Well, the less classes Noa had to take the better it was, seeing as he was pretty fucking bad at math.
In the end, a majority of his training would be regarding combat. He already had common sense, and you only really needed to know addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. Science was the devil's scriptures and language wasn't that bad.
The trio made their way to where they would stay with Dulio.
Rather, they would be staying in something similar to a share house.
Opening the door, they saw Dulio laying down like he was drained of all his energy, blankly staring at the ceiling, mumbling: "Cardinal said the training would be short today..." repeatedly.
Griselda looked at the prospective Strongest Exorcist blankly, before coughing into her hands. "Ahem!"
Dulio jumped in fright, almost instinctively bowing.
"This guy really has that PTSD, huh," Noa offhandedly commented.
Dulio felt relieved that the person in the room wasn't Cardinal Cristaldi. He was notified yesterday that he would have 2 more peers to train with, and instead of being nervous, he could only be grateful. The more people to spread out Cardinal Cristaldi's wrath, the better it would be for him.
"Ah, you must be my new peers," Dulio gave a sheepish smile. That was kind of embarrassing.
Noa raised his hand in greeting. "Yo. My name's Noa. 9 years old. Orphan."
Lavinia inwardly smirked at the familiarity of the statement before also introducing herself. "Lavinia Reni. 9 years old. Also an orphan."
Dulio looked extremely confused at the random introduction. And why was the information that they were orphans important...? "Uh... Dulio Gesualdo, 9 years old, also an orphan...?"
Griselda sighed in exasperation at the familiarity of Noa's and Lavinia's introduction.
Noa held out his hands for a handshake, which Dulio reciprocated, but instead of letting go, Noa looked to his right and gestured towards absolutely nothing. "Smile for the camera," Noa smiled at the wall.
Dulio, caught up in Noa's momentum, followed his steps before having a sense of realization as he heard Lavinia's laughter.
"Hey!" Dulio couldn't help but complain, turning back to Noa.
"Hmm?" Noa looked at Dulio as if he really did see a camera. "Do you really not see it?" Noa looked back to the nonexistent camera, giving a small wave.
...Was there really a camera? Dulio looked at where Noa was looking, scanning for a possible hidden camera until he heard an interruption. "Just kidding." Dulio froze, even hearing Griselda's giggles.
He turned his head to a smiling Noa, glaring at him, before sighing with a resigned expression.
"Sorry bro. You're just too gullible. See? It's written on the ceiling." Noa looked up, and Dulio followed, seeing nothing on the ceiling.
"..." Dulio froze once more.
Even Noa started laughing, clutching at his stomach, and Dulio couldn't do anything but watch Griselda giving him a look of pity, wiping off her tears from her laughter.
"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to try," Noa continued laughing, pointing at Dulio. Dulio's face darkened, before rushing at Noa at an attempt to tackle him. Unfortunately, Noa's combination of Instinct and Furthest Earth automatically dodged the attack, appearing behind Dulio.
But Dulio didn't crash into the floor, rather having 1 year of experience under Ewald Cristaldi's personal training let him instinctually follow the momentum and get up with a roll.
Now instead of animosity, Dulio looked at Noa with curiosity. Didn't the information say that Noa only had Incinerate Anthem? What was that movement? Teleportation? Pure Agility?
Noa knew Dulio was relatively trustworthy, his opinion of Dulio already being pretty high from Protection of the Faith, being on the same level as Vasco despite only being 9 years old, and the same age as Noa, it was similar to how he trusted Lavinia.
Noa noticed Dulio's curious gaze. "Pause. Can't we just fight tomorrow? Let's just do some team bonding for now!" He raised his hands in semi surrender.
Dulio paused, before begrudgingly nodding, leading Noa, Lavinia, and Griselda to the living room.
Well, they tried to include Griselda, but she shook her head, saying that she needed to leave.
"Normally, I shouldn't be here, seeing as I was green lit for Exorcist Missions. Also, due to the shortage right now I've already been assigned a new mission tomorrow." Griselda explained. "But when I have time I'll visit."
Lavinia looked sad. Even if they started rather rocky, as fellow girls, it was much easier to bond, and she didn't want to see a friend she made so recently leave so soon.
"Then good luck." Noa gave a thumbs up. While it was unfortunate, goodbyes were a natural part of life. As someone without parents and living in Foster Care, it was normal to say goodbye. Rather it was better not to be all emotional about it.
"See you later." Dulio felt the same. But his case was that he couldn't really get particularly close to his peers due to his status as the future powerhouse, changing relationships from possible friendship to admiration or jealousy. It was another reason why he was excited to have 2 more Longinus users to train with.
Lavinia gave Griselda a hug, and reluctantly waved as she left.
When Griselda, left, the three naturally got into their own comfortable positions.
Noa sat on the edge of the large couch leaning back, with Lavinia laying down on his lap, and Dulio sat on a smaller couch next to it, looking at the two strangely.
"...Are you two dating?"
"No? We're partners! It's even better than marriage!" Lavinia countered. She had been with relatives who had rocky relationships with their spouses, making Lavinia unconsciously think being in a romantic relationship resulted in fighting. To her, the more neutral sounding partners make it sound like she would stay with Noa forever.
Noa nodded. He also wanted to say the same thing, well, not the better than marriage part, but it might be better for Lavinia to have that misunderstanding.
Dulio scratched his head in confusion. Is that so? Well maybe his experience was wrong. As an orphan who immediately started training after his Sacred Gear was discovered soon after his newly minted orphan status, he was rather ignorant of the world.
It was why he was looking forward to being greenlit for missions, even though in his case, when he wasn't doing missions he would have to train until the Church was satisfied or until he was strong enough to the point the Church couldn't control him.
"Let's do an actual introduction then,"
"My name's Noa. I don't have a last name. Like I said earlier, I don't have any parents. They died before I ever met them so I don't have much of an opinion on them. Right now... I'm kind of craving some fried chicken. My dream... I don't really have a specific dream, but since I'm here, I might as well try to do things that my future self would be proud of." Noa shrugged.
While he felt like it sounded kind of corny, it was this corniness that built comradery in his rather humble opinion. "You don't have to go as in-depth as I did if you aren't comfortable by the way." Noa added.
It was because he really didn't have an opinion on his parents, both having died before he could even meet them. His mom died during childbirth, and the dad committed suicide soon after.
Did he resent his father? Not really. Rather it was hard to form an opinion on the man even after he learned of this information.
"...That's a nice goal," Dulio commented, tactfully overlooking Noa's opinion on his nonexistent parents. Lavinia nodded while on Noa's lap.
"Thanks. Maybe in the future I'll have a real dream." Noa shrugged.
"I think it's a real dream though," Lavinia added, trying to comfort Noa.
"...Maybe it is."
Lavinia went next.
"My name's Lavinia Reni. My parents died not that long ago, or rather earlier in the year. My Sacred Gear made it hard for me to get taken in by my relatives, but I met Noa so it wasn't that bad! Right now I'm craving some seasoned hare. My dream is to prevent children from facing the same problem I had!" Lavinia held out her hands in exclamation.
Noa and Dulio nodded.
"That's a pretty nice dream," Noa commented, stroking Lavinia's hair, as she hummed in satisfaction.
"I agree." Dulio nodded, it was similar to his own dream.
"My name's Dulio Gesualdo. I'm a war orphan from a civil strife around a year and a half ago when my Sacred Gear was discovered and was brought here to train. While I haven't had really good food in a while, I am kind of craving a lollipop. My dream is similar to Lavinia's, trying to prevent children from facing the same problem I faced and protect them."
Noa and Lavinia clapped.
"That's pretty admirable!" Lavinia exclaimed, with Noa agreeing.
"Wow, now my dream looking kind of selfish," Noa joked.
Dulio and Lavinia both shook their heads. "It would be selfish of me to project my own wishes onto you, seeing as we have completely different life experiences." Dulio countered.
While Noa could say 'what life experience, you're only 9,' each person here had to grow early in their own separate ways.
But all three had the inevitable experience of separation.
"That's true," Noa hummed.
The three made some more small talk, but as the sun set, their conversations came to a close.
"It would be good to sleep early. I had a rare break time today because I had to meet you guys, but normally I would still be training." Dulio shivered. As someone with a naturally carefree demeanor, his training schedule was torture. "The only break is Sunday, but even then we to memorize scriptures and pray..."
"Damn..." Noa sighed. "So where do we sleep?"
"Oh. There's two floors, and each floor has their own bathroom. Just in case new people come here, there's extra rooms. The second floor is for girls, and the first is for boys. I already chose an empty room. The Vatican provides everything from clothes to a toothbrush. They also clean while we train."
While Dulio didn't like how much training he had each day, he had to admit that the Vatican did their jobs correctly.
Noa and Lavinia nodded.
They quickly chose their own rooms before heading to bed, already weary of their schedule tomorrow.
--+--
A/N: Another short chap. Getting used to this. Also, I finally decided on the ages of possible relevant characters!
Asia is 17 when Canon Starts. 2 Years Old.
Kiba is 17 when Canon Starts. 2 Years Old. - Devil at 12.
Valerie is 17 when Canon Starts. 2 Years Old.
Xenovia is 17 when Canon Starts. 2 Years Old.
Freed and Lint Sellzen are 19 when Canon Starts. 4 Years Old.
Jeanne is 19 when Canon Starts. 4 Years Old.
Siegfried is 22 when Canon Starts. 7 Years Old.
Noa is 24 when Canon Starts. 9 Years Old.
Dulio is 24 when Canon Starts. 9 Years Old.
Lavinia is 24 when Canon Starts. 9 Years Old.
Griselda is 28 when Canon starts. 13 Years Old.
Accuracy don't matter. It's how this fanfic is going to work by.
--+--
A/N: Also, I really didn't expect Noa to have such a sad backstory like that's crazy...
--+--
We have Powerstone Goals!!!
I don't have confidence for my first book so doing this for fun.
500 Power Stones in the beginning for an Extra Chapter and then every 300 Power Stones for another chapter after that!
So...
500 PS - Extra Chapter (Complete)
800 PS - Extra Chapter
1100 PS - Extra Chapter
And so on.
Also, comments, powerstones, and reviews are always appreciated.