Derrick followed Joshua to the entrance door of an abandoned mill.
"So this is the base for hunters?" Derrick asked with disappointment evident in his tone.
Joshua didn't respond to him.; rather, he touched the handle of the door and muttered something that felt like an incantation.
"The uplifting of heaven: the decay of hell.
Even among all the stars, there's no greater majesty than within.
When I've come to sleep; my soul to rest
A single thing I request
Take me to The Garden."
A ray of golden light shun from beyond the door. When Joshua opened the door, Derrick was shocked beyond words. He had expected to see the inside of an abandoned mill but what he saw was a walkway with a beautiful lawn on both sides of it and a magnificent 20-story-structure erected majestically at the end of the walkway.
"This is amazing." He blurted out. "That was a doorway right?"
Angelina had mentioned something about them. They were like passages to take someone from one marked location to another. It could be through a door or a window or even an attic latch.
"Yeah." Joshua responded to Derrick's question. "Welcome to The Garden."
Without allowing him to enjoy the scenery, Joshua dragged Derrick into the building and up to the seventh floor. There was a doorway from the ground floor which they used to get to the seventh.
Joshua led him to a large round room with a large and clearly expensive chandelier in the center of the room and what looked like hanafuda cards hung everywhere on the ceiling.
"So, where's your teacher?" Derrick asked.
"Over there." Responded Joshua pointing to the ceiling.
Derrick followed the direction of Joshua's finger to a spot on the ceiling where a man of average height with silver blonde hair defied gravity by standing on the ceiling.
"Professor. I'm back" Joshua said.
The man, finally taking notice of Joshua's presence, looked up then gracefully pushed off the ceiling with his feet, twisted in the air and landed on his feet softly.
The man was Remus Finch, the person in charge of recruiting young awakeners, training them and announcing missions.
When he had come down to the floor, Derrick finally got a good look at his intense silver eyes that almost looked like they were glowing.
"How did the mission go?" He asked, hurrying to his desk.
"A partial success sir." Joshua said in such an unfamiliar business tone that Derrick was shocked.
"Partial?"
"The demons have been slayed but it was by him." Joshua said, pointing to Derrick.
Finch's next expression made it clear that he was just noticing that Derrick was in the room.
"What's your name?" He asked Derrick.
"Angels. Derrick Angels." He responded
"Someone from the Angels' family. I shouldn't be surprised." He said with a smile. "What's your relationship with Angelina Angels?"
"Umm…She's my sister." Derrick said in response.
At this point, Finch squinted in his direction then muttered something that sounded like "suspicious."
"Derrick, what is your heavenly pact?" He asked.
When Derrick didn't answer, he immediately asked; "You don't have one, do you?"
"How do you…?" The words slipped out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying.
"I know your family. Your parents had three children: two of them born with abilities and one born ordinary. I've met the other two, which could only mean-" Finch stated factually before Joshua cut in to complete his statement.
"-You're the one born ordinary" Joshua cut in.
"Five points for intuition." Finch said and to that, Joshua exclaimed, rejoicing; then he added with a smirk, "Minus ten for cutting in when I speak."
"Now Derrick, how did you defeat those demons?" Finch asked sternly.
"I don't know. I fell unconscious and next thing I knew, they were all dead and apparently I had killed them." Derrick said honestly.
"How did you feel when you fell unconscious.?" Finch asked. Derrick couldn't help but notice how accurate his questions were. It was like he was seeing through Derrick with those questions.
"I don't know. I can't explain. I just felt different, weird, like I was leaving control of my body." Derrick did his best to explain.
"I see." Finch said and after that, there was silence.
"Professor, what do you think?" Joshua asked, breaking the silence.
"It could be a heavenly pact." He said
"You think so?" Derrick asked with expectation.
"I have a way to find out." Finch said then suddenly disappeared from Derrick's line of sight. Next thing he knew, Finch appeared at his back with a hand on his head.
"Has your sister ever told you what my heavenly pact was?" He asked, leaning in on Derrick's ear
"No. Not at all." Derrick responded, trying his hardest not to pass out from the cringe.
"My heavenly pact allows me to decipher the truth of time." He said
"What does that mean?" Derrick asked.
"You'll see." Finch said.
Derrick felt a sudden pulse surge through his body.
When the feeling stopped, Finch said softly, "Undefined."
"What?" Derrick asked?
"I don't get it. You certainly have the build of a hunter with a lot of mana but no defined pact." Finch said. "You are an anomaly."
"Is that good or bad?" Joshua asked.
"That depends entirely on him." Finch said sternly then to Derrick, he asken, "Do you know what my job is?"
"No. How would I?" Derrick asked in response.
"My job is to recruit those with heavenly pacts and train them to become hunters and right now, I'm interested in recruiting you." He said with no hint of a smirk or anything to indicate that he was joking.
"But I don't have a heavenly pact." Derrick retorted, not wanting to get his hopes up.
"I know; but I see potential in you." Finch responded. "Besides, I have a feeling you'd be in trouble without us. "
"What's that supposed to mean?" Derrick asked.
"It's your choice. You could join us or you could do your own thing." Finch pitched. If at all he heard Derrick, he had completely ignored him.
"My own thing, huh?" Derrick murmured to himself in a low tone.
"So, what will it be?" Finch asked.
Derrick thought for a moment about what his life had been like, abused by his uncle, unnoticed by his grandfather and always having to rely on his younger sister to save him.
Now, all that could change, but what happens next. To be a hunter meant he would have to sacrifice his life for others and he wasn't sure he was ready for that.
He thought for a moment that if he said no, he could walk away from all of that and just live a peaceful life. Then a scenario appeared in his head: What if a demon attacked him when he was alone; would he cry for his uncle, sister or grandfather for help or rely on a power he couldn't control and barely understood.
Or maybe something happened like the new year incident again where demons attacked a group of normal people and he was there, with a heavenly pact but unable to do anything. He was never really good at watching people die. It wasn't in his nature.
At the Garden, he could train to become stronger, but he would be at the risk of dying on missions or watching his comrades die. Did he really want that life?
He was about to refuse when a memory came back to him suddenly. It was the last statement his mom made to him before she died.
He was so much younger then and he had just told his parents that he wanted to be a superhero.
"You're strong." She said as she tapped his shoulder with a warm smile plastered on her face, "Protect everyone."
Who was he not to uphold her last wish.
"Screw it," he said internally. There were many ways to protect people but right now, this one felt more soothing.
Derrick exhaled softly. It wasn't much of a debate. "I want to become a hunter." He said
Finch smiled boldly as he came face-to-face with Derrick.
"Derrick Angels. Welcome to The Hunters."