“That kid is a force of nature.” Revenant said candidly to Felix while they were relaxing in Revenant’s office.

“I told you..he’s not normal” Felix said, stretching out on a chair scratching his chin.

“He learned Skip-Step quickly, not as fast as Seventeen, but immediately after, he proceeded to use the skill more times than I’ve seen even actual members of the Syndicate being able to produce. He can keep up with me in sparring, his rate of growth is absurd.”

“What have you two been working on anyways?” Felix asked “It’s been a slight chore having to manage all the recruits and train them up.”

“One of the other masters made a request for the boy to complete, he’s pretty much the buzz of our Syndicate branch so others have taken an interest in him. The task is difficult so I saw it fit to at least prepare the boy for it.”

“What’s the request and who made it?” Felix said suddenly, very intrigued.

“To take down Dominick Black. Master Evans, codename Fist, was the one to put in the request. The Guild Master heard the request and approved it.”

Felix let out a low whistle. “Damn, Dominick Black? He’s been a pain in our ass for a few months now...why would the old man give that job to a recruit?”

“That’s what I’m wondering about myself, but either way the task has been given.”

With Asher being able to learn the ‘Shadow-Skip’ skill, their training sessions became focused on the usage of it. With any skill, there was a chance of failure. If one lacked the stamina necessary, the skill would be a dud, while also burning up the stamina you used trying to activate it. This could leave someone exhausted and as helpless as a fish out of water. This of course was an issue shared by spellcasters as well. Although the resources they used up were different, mainly being mana, it was all the same. Resource management would always be key in surviving a fight.

It did seem like those using physical skills could use their abilities more in a fight than say a spellcaster, but those who used magic had access to spells that could clear out a room full of enemies, whereas Asher would have to do so one-by-one. Having an education in military strategy everything boiled down to the same concepts in a fight: use your pieces at the right time and don’t pick fights you can’t win. Being clever can always sway a battle in your favor, but it’s typically best practice to just choose your fights wisely.

“We’re going to be working on your final skill. With it, you’ll be able to have a chance at completing your task.” Master Revenant said as he assumed a fighting stance with a wooden dagger in his hand. The dagger was coated in wet, red paint. “Pick the weapon you feel most comfortable with and dip it in the cauldron of paint while I explain.”

Asher did as he was told and grabbed a wooden dagger, dipping it in the red paint that was sitting in a cauldron in the room.

“The human body has many weak points. The neck, head, and heart are the most obvious.” Master Revenant said as he gestured to each with his dagger. “But the human body is full of them, tendons and ligaments can all be cut to disable a person. You can also cut arteries to deliver deadly blows to your foe.”

Master Revenant proceeded to show on his and Asher’s body the different places you can slash and cut to tilt a fight in your favor. The achilles tendon was one Asher had already known, but overall the lecture was very informative. He’d never taken the time to learn the different areas of human anatomy which could be exploited. Some of the things he’d learned were akin to those he’d heard of Apache warriors from his old world, slicing the back of knees to reduce enemy mobility to zero. Master Revenant also taught him about how the armpit was a nerve center, which was extremely interesting.

“The training we’re going to be doing will be exploiting these very weaknesses. I’ve said it before, we don’t fight honorably, we fight to win and get the job done. I’ll be leaving ‘openings’ during our sparring. I want you to attack them as soon as you recognize them, hence why we’ll be using the red paint to show your strikes.”

Sure enough their exchange of blows began instantly. They became a flicker in the room, the sound of dull woods colliding with another reverberating off the walls. In the middle of their exchanges, Master Revenant would leave very slight openings, sometimes he didn’t have his guard in the exact right area, other times vital areas would be exposed. By the end of their ‘fight’ Master Revenant was covered with red slashes across his neck, wrists, ribs, and any other opening he had chosen to give to Asher.

Their sparring continued like this for another few weeks until a notification popped up.

— Skill Learned! —

Skill: Cheap Shot

You notice the chinks in your enemy’s armor. Use stamina to recognize and deliver a debilitating blow to enemy weak points. Damage while using this skill is increased.

“I got a skill!” Asher yelled out mid-fight. “It’s called Cheap Shot.”

“That’s the one,” Master Revenant said. “This skill and variants of it are pretty common among rogues and all adventurers at large. They typically get it after extensive practice or work out in the field. Common, but extremely necessary.”

“So when can I be an adventurer?”

“Worry about becoming a Syndicate member first, but I will say, it isn’t uncommon for members to do both. There’s perks to being in the Adventurer’s Guild.”

“Like what?”

“Well for one, it’s legal work. Easy way to have a source of legitimate income, while honing your skills.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” Asher sighed. “So what now?”

“Now, it’s time for you all to be given your assignments.”

The children found themselves lined up in formation on the training grounds. In front of them stood Master Revenant, flanked by his two assistants.They had all been briefed the day before that today was the day they would be receiving their final assignments. This assignment would be one the one that determined whether they would be recognized as full fledged Syndicate members.

Asher had been anxiously waiting for this moment, he’d only ever gotten vague hints about his assignment from Master Revenant, and all those hints pointed in the direction of it being difficult. If there was anything that made Asher feel nervous, it was the idea of being a hard job, without any concrete information to form plans around. Information was a resource whose value was incalculable on any battlefield. Having no information whatsoever was practically begging to fail. While Asher didn’t have any aversion to improvisation, making things up on the fly tended to work best when one had a solid foundation they could take different pathways from.

“This will be your final assignment. None will be privy to what is asked of you besides us trainers,” Master Revenant gestured to himself and the two assistants “And those of your fellow recruits, should you decide to include them.”

Master Revenant began calling up the children one by one. They would receive a scroll sealed with wax and return to their place at attention, quietly awaiting for the rest of their brothers and sisters to receive their final orders as recruits. Asher was called up last, receiving his scroll from Master Revenant. The wax seal on the scroll had the imprint of an open hand with an eye in the center of the palm.

“One, your task is yours, and yours alone.” Master Revenant said, loud enough for the other children to hear. An audible ‘tsk’ could be heard coming from Two, his eyes filled with annoyance at the obvious special treatment. The other children simply looked at Asher, curiosity in all of their eyes.

“You’ve received your orders. Look them over, and get the job done. The duration of this test will be exactly one month from today. If you can get it done today, then do it, but if it isn’t done in the allotted time frame…well. That’d be a shame.” Master Revenant said coldly.

A chill went down the spines of the children, the gravity of their situation sinking in. No one knew what the consequences would be, but that didn’t stop a child’s imagination roaming.

“You have your orders, you know the way out. Get the job done. Dismissed!”

“Yes sir!” All the children replied back in unison.

The kids split off into their teams and cliques as they walked back into their barracks. All of them unsealing their scrolls as they made their way to their beds. Some were sitting and reading the scrolls, while others had visible looks of confusion on their faces. Asher opened up his scroll and was hit by a sledgehammer of a realization.

He didn’t know how to read.

The foreign characters made no sense to him. He wasn’t even a few minutes into his test and he was already facing a massive roadblock that could risk failure. “Well, it’s worth a shot,” he mumbled to himself as he ran back into the training area. He saw Master Revenant and the two assistants conversing candidly as they were close to exiting the area.

“W-Wait!” Asher yelled out.

The three people looked at him, Master Revenant having a slightly puzzled expression on his face.

“What is it One?”

Asher looked down, his cheeks flushed red, slightly embarrassed about the situation. He showed the scroll to Master Revenant and the two assistants.

“I…I can’t read. Or write, can you please tell me what it says?”

One of the assistants let a small chuckle slip out, while Master Revenant simply sighed as he grabbed the bridge of his nose.

“So even you have your limits huh?” Master Revenant said. “Usually I’d say figure it out on your own, but your task isn’t of the ‘usual’ nature. This will be the only help you receive for this test.”

Target: Dominick Black

The recipient of this scroll has been tasked with the immediate dispatch of Dominick Black. Dominick has stolen from the treasury of The Syndicate, Benetia branch. He has renounced his membership, bitten the hand that feeds him, and has taken an active role in helping city officials capture or kill his fellow brothers and sisters.

Dominick Black is a skilled former member of the Syndicate and has thwarted two previous attempts of other members carrying out this task, resulting in their deaths.

He is to be considered dangerous and should be approached with caution. It is also very probable that he may be under a security detail, due to the information he has of Syndicate operations, and prior attempts to silence him.

Male

Mid - Late Twenties

Brown hair with Green Eyes

Upon completion of this task, bring back an identifier that can be tied back to Dominick in order to confirm that the job has been completed.

“So an assassination contract?” Asher simply asked out loud.

“It would appear so,” Master Revenant replied “And a rather difficult one at that.”

“And what exactly do the other recruits have to do?”

“As I said, I’m not at liberty to discuss it. Their tasks are theirs to share or keep. Will that be all?”

“Yes, Master Revenant.” Asher said as he began walking back to his barracks.

As he made his way back into the recruits’ quarters he was rushed by his teammates. Four and Five excitedly talking, too fast for Asher to even try to understand them. Seventeen simply looked at him with a smile.

“We have to go collect some money from people who’ve skipped out on a few payments” Four and Five said. “We’ll do ours together, since it looks like they assigned us people in the same area.”

“That would probably be the smart move,” Asher said as he let out a laugh “What about you Seventeen?”

“I have to send a message to some people who’ve been trying to encroach on Syndicate territory. The scroll was pretty vague on what I actually need to do, but I’m guessing I just have to make them back off.”

Asher nodded in agreement. “Maybe you could rough some of them up, or take all their stuff?”

“I don’t know, I got a month to figure it out.” Seventeen said as he scratched the back of his head.

“Want any help?” Asher asked as he looked at Four and Five then back to Seventeen.

“No, I think I’ll be fine on my own for this one. What about you, what's your task?”

“I’m not supposed to talk about it, but it seems like a pain in the ass. Let’s just all be safe and do our best alright?”

“Right!” The two brothers said while Seventeen nodded in agreement. His gaze stayed on One as the boy went and laid down on his bed, seemingly lost in thought. “What did they ask you to do, One?” Seventeen said in a low tone, before his mind went back to planning how he’d complete his own task.