The world of Odessia was a vast and pious place. The people were all filled with purpose and drive, along with a good dose of belief. It would be hard not to believe, when every single person on the planet had been touched by the God-dess itself. No matter where they existed on this wide stretch of earth, everyone lived with a confidence that when they grew to the age of 7, they would be blessed by the hand of the God-dess with a [Gift] of their very own. It was always a momentous occasion, something that every child, and even everyone who knew them, would look forward to and celebrate. The first major milestone in anyone's life. A gigantic, defining moment. Who you’d be was decided here.

In this particular country of Enradica, it wasn’t uncommon for someone of humble birth to reach the age of 7, go to the church to have their [Gift] divined, and have been given such an amazing [Gift] that they were told they’d be promoted to a noble upon their 16th birthday. It was that big of a deal. It was also possible that the [Gift] you had received would be perceived as a [Curse], and that your life would be forevermore ruined and terrible, but that’s just the gamble that one had to accept.

There was some overlap with [Gifts] of course, as is bound to happen when there’s billions of people roaming around. It was entirely possible that what would seem like the same [Gift] was actually a slightly weaker or stronger version. Perhaps one person receives [Good Strength], and the other person receives [Great Strength]. Clearly one is superior to the other. The decision of whether a [Gift] was high tier enough to be a noble was completely up to the church’s discretion, however. Having no king and being a theocracy, the pope was the highest authority in the land. Of course, to become the pope, the only qualification was for one to simply be given the [Gift] of [Pope].

In such a country where a simple whim of the God-dess could change one’s social standing in a single birthday, there would understandably be some who drew the short end of the stick. A noble title was not passed down through family here, so a child’s nobility was only achieved by themselves. However, there was the belief that a [Gift] could be hereditary, and many nobles would marry only each other in the hopes that their children could possibly take after one of them. It’s not like there wasn’t a prior precedent, which made many hopeful, although there was every possibility that a long line of, say, [Earth Mages] could be suddenly interrupted by a [Carpenter].

Typically in the case of a noble family’s lineage being interrupted there was the usual response of lying in wait, and hoping that the right to nobility had just skipped a generation, as was also deemed possible. Or, perhaps, they’d just have more children, and therefore more chances. But, in typical cases, just having a ‘lesser’ [Gift] was not enough to deter the family from treating their children with at least some sense of care.

There was, as always, an exception to the rule, always a chink in the chainmail of the system. Amongst the entire population, regardless of status or position, regardless of [Gift] or [Curse], there was one such existence that everyone loathed. The forsaken ‘giftless’ people. Of course those with a [Curse] were at least seen as pitiful, unlucky, or like they’d made some kind of mistake towards the God-dess. But the ‘giftless’? In all minds they were the dirtiest of dirt. The greatest of sinners. They had drawn the God-dess’s ire so deeply that she didn’t even bother to give what she gave so freely to every other soul on the planet. The church told them so, so it must be true. In such a devout world, being a proven sinner was the worst thing you could be.

Noth was one such ‘giftless’ sinner.

Noth Kieran was only 7 when his life took a drastic change. He came from a nice noble family, an Earl’s son, the lineage of whom had been going strong for a long long time. The family had been predominantly Greater to Superior [Warriors], and were darn proud of it. Noth’s mother was a commoner from birth, but had later achieved a soft title of Baroness at 16 due to her [Gift].

Noth’s father, a silent and serious man, had not given much time towards his son, seeming to not really care about the boy so long as he fulfilled his familial duties. In fact, the time spent together between the two was so little and far between that the child didn’t even really know what colour his father’s eyes were. All he knew was that the man was a beastly tall tower, and that his hair was the complete opposite of Noth’s black. To counter the complete lack of love he got from his father, Noth’s mother loved him deeply. The two spent every day together, doing any kind of fun activity they could think to do that day, and if ever something were to go wrong, Noth knew his mother would be there for him.

Then the day came where something did indeed go wrong. Horrifically wrong.

At Noth’s much awaited 7th birthday, the whole residence was decorated to the nines. Every servant he passed by smiled, bowed, and wished him the best, and whenever this happened his mom would squeeze his little hand and beam down at him. He felt so stuffy and giddy and happy and nervous; He was just a little bundle of emotions. But overall, he was sure today was going to be an amazing day. He was sure he’d finally be recognized by his aloof tower of a father on this day, and finally feel accepted instead of softly shunned.

When the carriage he and his mother had been riding in made it to the church, his heart skipped a beat. This happened once again when he was helped out of the carriage, and even again when he walked through the entrance. His mother could feel his small body shaking and stopped them for a moment, taking him to the side of the walkway and crouching down so that she could see into his eyes.

“Noth. My lovely boy. Are you scared?”

The way she patted his head after he shook his head and teared up a little did in fact help his shaking to subside, if only a little.

“My Noth, please, don’t be worried. No matter what happens today or what [Gift] you’re given, I will always love you. You could become, oh, a [Chimney Sweep] and I’d still look at you with the same loving eyes that I do now. You’ll always be my baby boy. Understand?”

Noth had no choice after hearing that speech, no choice at all. There was only one thing he could do. He grossly sucked up all his snot like he was trying to even suck back in all the tears he leaked, scrubbed his little face, and gave his mother a determined look. With a pleased coo, his mother kissed the boy’s forehead and sprung up, leading him back along the path. Even though Noth’s little legs desperately wanted to shake, he did his utmost to stride along with the most confident steps he could muster.

The priest awaiting them was nice. He would smile, Noth would smile, Noth’s mom would smile. The priest even offered Noth some candy once they made it into the secluded divining room, making Noth certain that this must be a very good person. With his mother holding one of Noth’s hands and the priest holding the other, the divining began. He was surprised there wasn’t more pomp and circumstance beforehand, like he’d thought there would be. No astronomically complicated ceremony that had to take place to summon up the God-dess’s will and peek into what was given. In fact, part of him was a little disappointed that such a big day would be done so simply.

It was warm for a moment, then cool. His heart felt a little different maybe, like it had changed from the previous way it used to beat into an entirely new routine. How odd. His little doe eyes that had been staring hard at the hand being held by the priest looked up to see if maybe this was a sign, and when he made eye contact with the priest he was immediately frightened. The priest was giving him the most murderous glare he’d ever seen in his life. Sensing the sudden hostility, Noth’s mom quickly snatched up her son and backed away, holding him tight and mustering up as commanding a tone as she could manage.

“What is the meaning of this? How dare you look at my son in such a way.”

Without answering her, the priest reached down next to him and picked up a piece of parchment and a quill. He hurriedly scribbled something down and shoved the completed note towards the two, standing up abruptly and marching himself out without a word, not even waiting for either of them to so much as touch the parchment. Noth’s mother, scared and baffled though she was, eventually tore her eyes away from the door the priest had left through, and picked up the note almost like she was afraid to even see what it said. When her eyes had finally wavered their way across what was written, she almost collapsed, catching herself at the last moment. The note, now uselessly fluttering to the ground, landed at Noth’s feet, and this time it was his turn to pick it up. His fearful little eyes scanned the page, and not understanding why it had upset his mother so, he tugged on her dress, stood on his tippy toes, and waved the paper up at her.

“Mama, what’s [Choose Your Own Path]? Is it my [Gift]?”

Swallowing a lump in her throat, Noth’s mother sunk down and tightly hugged her son, tearing up at his adorable unknowing question. When he heard a small sob leak out of her mouth he pulled back, looking worriedly at her. The complete and utter desperation and distress on her face was a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life. He was so stunned to see his loving and caring mother have such a foreign look on her face that he even stopped breathing for a few seconds.

After a small while of letting the dismay sink into her in the small quiet room they were in, Noth’s mother finally wiped her eyes and stood up with a purpose. She took the note from Noth and ripped it to shreds right in front of him, doing as thorough a job as she could so that no one would ever be able to make out what was once marked upon it. Then with the shreds tightly clenched in her hand, she led Noth out as quickly as she could and hustled them out of the church. He tried his best to keep up with her long, fast strides, sometimes stumbling a little as he was tugged along. Every priest they passed along the way seemed to have a look of dismissal and contempt on their face, although he hoped that he’d just been imagining it all.

Noth felt all but tossed into the carriage, followed quickly by his mother and a swift yell to take them both home. Still confused and worried, the quiet and sombre ride back to the estate did nothing to allay his fears. When they arrived back in front of the mansion, his mother picked him up and all but sprinted to a smaller villa that existed a bit of a ways behind it. There was a lovely attached greenhouse that almost made up half of the building, and it was full of trees and almost every kind of flower money could buy around these parts, cultivated expertly and beautifully. It was a wedding gift, given by Noth’s father 8 years ago. This, of course, included the attached villa as well. It was meant to house Noth’s commoner grandparents from his mother’s side, but they’d died only 2 years into his life, so he’d never remembered them. Empty as it was, it was a perfect place to hide him for now.

“Noth, sweety, I need you to listen to me and do exactly as I say right now, okay?”

The urgency in her voice made him look serious in an instant, his eyes as focused as they could be, his little hands balled into fists.

“I’m going to go and do a few things. I may even have to have a talk with your father. No matter how long I’m gone and no matter what happens I need you to stay in this greenhouse. You can even go into the villa and see if there’s anything to eat and drink, but do not leave here unless I say it’s ok. If someone tries to come and take you I need you to run and hide, alright?”

Her words were scaring him, and his trembling came back. He could feel his little nails making marks and trying to cut his hands from how tightly he had them clenched. He was so confused and concerned, but the way his mother was looking at him allowed no resistance. He grimaced for a moment and tugged on her dress, choking out a quick question.

“...Are we gonna be ok?”

His mother’s stern face fell at that, and she scooped up both his little hands, brought them up to her face, and squeezed her eyes shut.

“Yeah…Yeah, I’m gonna make sure we’ll be just fine. I’m your mother, I’d never let anything bad happen to you. I love you. We’re gonna make it through this. Trust me?”

She stared into his eyes, smiled cheekily, and kissed both his hands. He nodded along, the look on his face ever so lightly being rewritten with determination not to let his mother down. Noth’s mother reached out to ruffle his hair, but then paused. After a little moment of consideration, she pulled her prized blue bracelet off from her wrist and gingerly handed it to him.

“This’ll be yours until I come back, so you have to keep it nice and safe for me, my love. I’ll be sure to come back and retrieve my bracelet from you once all this is done.”

Noth knew how special this bracelet was to his mother. The marbled, ring-like, blue tube was a family heirloom, passed down on his mother’s side for generations, and she took very much pride in keeping it with her and safe at all times. If he had the bracelet there’s no way his mom wouldn’t keep it safe, and by extension, he was also sure to be safe. He hugged the bracelet to his chest and bowed to his mother in an approximation of what he’d seen the knights do. She gave him a sad little smile and hugged him close, before standing up tall and strong and leaving with a determined stride.

An hour passed, and child that Noth was, he was feeling a little hungry and increasingly drowsy from boredom. He made his way into the villa and checked through the cupboards. The building was well maintained and cleaned as an homage to his mother’s parents, but it wasn’t particularly well stocked, since it was rare for the building to actually have any visitors. He’d managed to find some crackers in a small paper wrapping, probably forgotten by some maid at a tea time long past, and ate a few of those as he sat at a table in the kitchen and fiddled with the bracelet his mother had left with him. The waiting was weighing on him greatly, and with nothing too terribly entertaining to do, another hour later he fell asleep, his head resting in his arms on the table.

A sudden bang woke the child up, and as he jumped and looked left and right, he could hear a commotion coming from the greenhouse through the doorway. He leapt up from his chair and quietly made his way to the doorway, peaking through the crack at the scene beyond. His mother and father were both in the greenhouse, yelling at each other, and the entire image felt incredibly threatening to Noth. He could hear his name being mentioned a few times, and curiosity won over his fear, convincing him to sneak closer and closer towards them until he could discern their words much better.

“No child of mine would be born a sinner without a [Gift]! How could you bring such a disgrace back home to me?!”

“Just because he was forsaken doesn’t make Noth any less your son!”

“Don’t say his name around me right now. For all I can tell he might not even be my son! He takes after you far too much, how would I be able to tell, Natalia?”

“WHAT?! You would dare consider such a thing about me? To suspect my virtue, all because you can’t accept your own blood over something so trivial! How weak of you!”

A sudden slap rang out, and the sound of a slender body slumping onto the floor followed. Noth’s father practically growled out his reply.

“I will not have such blasphemous words spoken on my property. Sinners are anything but trivial, and I refuse to accept such a thing into my own family. They warned me about taking in a wife from such humble origins, they told me to find a much higher ranked noble to link myself with, someone who matched my prestige. I should have listened to their words. I should have known better than to choose some random tramp from off the street, regardless of whatever [Gift] you’d been graced with.”

His hand’s grip on his sword was gaining more and more strength, statement by statement. Meanwhile, Noth’s mother’s glare was increasing just as steadily. Both of them had the most contemptuous faces that Noth had ever seen from them. He wanted to run over to them and convince them to stop this awful fight they were having right this instant, but his little legs refused to move. All he could do was watch on with horror.

His mother was the one to break the silence of their glare-fight.

“Fine. If you think so poorly of me and our son, then we don’t need someone as disappointing and heartless as you. My son certainly doesn’t need this kind of neglectful and hateful father, nor do I need that kind of husband.”

Apparently this wasn’t the right answer, because even as she slowly stood up and made her way away from him while holding her throbbing cheek, Noth’s father was gnashing his teeth with fury. The next thing she said was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“I can’t believe I was such a fool not to see how unworth it all you were, Ruth.”

There was a loud but brief ringing sound that usually accompanied rapid unsheathing.

Noth sprang up.

His mother turned.

There was a slash.

A splash of blood.

Her head and hand

fell

o

f

f.