Baptism

On Alex's 5th birthday, he went to the temple for his baptism. Major cities and towns across the world all have a central temple. Gods have their own personal temples but they're located on Caelum. Because mortals usually cannot reach Caelum, the numerous gods decided to share one and put it in major locations.

Before sunrise, he found himself staring at a pyramid. More than 100 meters high and made out of iron, Alex looked dumbly at the spitting image of one of Egypt's most famous structures.

"That dumb Ra, just because he's a little good at poker, he got to pick the design of this one." Ares muttered under his breath. "It's so stupid looking too....hey bud, you ready to go in?"

"Ah, yeah dad let's go."

They walked in and Alex was stunned once again. He looked straight ahead and could see no walls. He looked upwards and to the sides and saw none of the metal he was expecting. Instead he could only see the sky. He could hear the ocean crashing into the rocks beneath his feet. He could smell the salt in the air. They walked in through a metal door and now they were standing on a cliff with the door nowhere to be seen.

A strange man dressed in black robes stood at the very edge of the cliff. With the hood over his eyes he turned and grinned. Normally this would have a very sinister feeling to it and yet Alex felt no malice.

"Hey Ares. This your kid?"

"Yup! The little man turns 5 today."

"Awesome, good thing he got his looks from his mom. Hey bud, you got a name?"

"Hey-"

"I'm Alex."

"Nice name. You ready to unlock your skills, Alex? Just take a few steps forward."

After Alex walked forward, the man stuck his right arm straight out and pointed at Alex. He murmured a few words and then he pointed towards the sky.

The beautiful, clear sky turned grey and the clouds swirled, converging into a single point. A pillar of blue flame burst forth from the heavens and crashed down onto Alex.

Alex could feel something within him click. He felt liberated, as if the chains holding him to the earth had been broken. Then he could feel an immense power flowing into him, as if it had always been his own.

Alex yelled, "Status!"

A status window appeared in front of Alex.

Alexander Vir

Demi-god

Skills:

[Bare-handed Combat Mastery] - Initiate

[Fire Mastery] - Initiate

[Water Mastery] - Initiate

[Earth Mastery] - Initiate

[Wind Mastery] - Initiate

[Summon(Matthew)] - Initiate

[Strengthening] - Initiate

Abilities:

War God Divine Blessing - Blessing of Ares; Physical combat skills grow more quickly; Grants skill:[Strengthening]

Elemental Sage - Heightened Magic Power; Loved by the Elements

Martial Proficiency - Heightened Strength; [Bare-handed Combat Mastery] grows explosively

Blazing Glory - Pet Bestowal: [Dragon]

Trinity Divine Blessing - Blessing of Earth's God; [Summary Hidden]

And just as suddenly as it had happened, it was over. Alex let out the breath he didn't even know he had held.

"Hey man, why'd you have to go and scare my kid like that?"

"I don't know what you mean…" said the man with a smirk.

"We both know all you have to do to unlock his shit is snap your fingers."

"That's no fun!"

As they continued to banter, the adults neglected to look Alex's way. Perched on his shoulder was a baby dragon. With big eyes as blue as the sea and skin as black as the night, Alex stared at his cute new friend while wrapped in thought.

"I'm gonna call you Seph"

"Huh?" said the men in unison.

"Well I'll be, I've never seen someone get a pet at their baptism before, and I sure as hell would never have guessed it would be a damn dragon."

"My kid's gonna be great. Heed my words. Anyways we gotta go, Emilia made a cake. See ya, you idiot."