“Welcome, recruits.” Aldren said to the children. “The fact that you are standing here today means you’ve proved your worth as a potential asset to The Syndicate.”

Aldren gestured towards Revenant who took his place standing before all the children.

“Seventeen, step up.” Master Revenant said and the boy did as he was instructed. He stood in front of Master Revenant, in front of the children, and had the eyes of the Syndicate Members on him. Master Revenant began to speak as if he was reading off a sheet of paper.

“Seventeen, completed his first test despite receiving serious injuries. First to learn the ‘Quick-Step’ skill in the training group. He has demonstrated the capacity for being a quick learner and has shown signs of being one of the most skilled children in the training group. He has also shown talent with the dagger, he listens and learns. He completed his final task admirably, the task of pushing out unwanted visitors from Syndicate territory. His preliminary training is complete as well as the tests administered to him, he has earned the right to be accepted as an apprentice in The Syndicate.”

Master Revenant finished up his speech about the boy standing by him. Aldren then looked towards the group of Syndicate members, four of them to be exact.

“Which of the housemasters are interested in taking this new apprentice under their wing?”

Two hands raised into the air.

“House Lion and House Snake, you two have shown interest. According to tradition, you will explain briefly what your house specializes in and the apprentice will choose where he goes.”

Both of the members nodded at Aldren. It was at this point that Asher finally took note that one of the members vying for Seventeen was a woman, the same woman who had done the ritual to change Asher’s hair. The woman was the first to speak up.

“Master Alaria of House Snake. We specialize in the study, production, and distribution of poisons for The Syndicate as well other disciplines involving herbalism, alchemy and so forth.”

The other member then spoke up. A large muscular man, with a huge frame standing well over six feet tall. His voice was deep and matched his appearance quite well.

“You can simply call me Master Lion of House Lion. We are the strongest house in The Syndicate and the backbone of its operations. You can consider us the muscle behind ensuring operations and deals run smoothly, as well as settling territorial disputes.”

Both of the housemasters finished their pitches and Aldren looked at Seventeen.

“You’ve heard your options, now choose.”

The boy stood there for a moment, considering the different outcomes of his choice. Which house he decided to belong to now would determine how his life would be for the foreseeable future. He didn’t really feel like dealing with territory disputes anymore,so the choice seemed simple.

“House Snake.”

“The apprentice has chosen House Snake. Go stand next to your new housemaster, Apprentice Seventeen.” The boy did as he was told and took his position behind Master Alaria.

This repeated for each and every child as they stood before the housemasters, and basically bid on by the ones who wanted them. Asher learned that House Raccoon specialized in all forms of thievery and dealt with a bulk of The Syndicates jobs around stealing. This was the House Four and Five decided to go to since it was the only one willing to accept them as a package deal. He also learned that House Ant was a house that basically did the grunt work for The Syndicate, they were the ones primarily in charge of building up and maintaining the physical infrastructure for the organization. They also were the ones who were mainly involved with setting up the various “legitimate” businesses that operated in the city. Asher would have to ask Bartholomew about what house he belonged to when he had the chance.

“Apprentice One, step up.” Master Revenant said. Asher did as he was commanded.

“Apprentice one has shown a monstrous level of growth with anything that is introduced to him. He broke the record for the amount of gold brought in by a team during the first test, single handedly. While he wasn’t the first in the group to learn the ‘Quick-Step’ skill, he has quickly become the most proficient and skilled with it. He learned the way of the dagger quickly, has talent in hand-to-hand combat, and was able to keep up with me in private sparring sessions. He completed his final task with unparalleled skill, the execution of the traitor Dominick Black, he carried out his task so well that the guards still have no clue how it was done at all.”

“Which house is interested in taking him in?” Aldren spoke up. All of the housemasters’ hands shot up into the air. Aldren then looked at him and repeated the same thing he’d said a few times earlier.

“Choose.”

Asher had no intentions of being a grunt. He was already better at stealing than all of the kids in his training group, so the appeal of House Raccoon also faded. House Lion just seemed like a bunch of strong arms and he doubted he’d get along with any of them, plus from what he’d guessed about his position of being an Eye, he was already going to be an enforcer. At his core, Asher was someone who loved learning new things. The choice was obvious.

“House Snake.” He said proudly.

He saw a smile on Alaria’s face, while the other housemasters grumbled in dissatisfaction. He then took his place behind Master Alaria, next to Seventeen. They were the only recruits she’d shown an interest in and she got them. Seventeen also seemed happy about Asher’s choice since he’d giddily whispered “Looks like we get to keep hanging out” in Asher’s ear.

Aldren began speaking once again.

“Now that we’ve finished putting the apprentices in their respective houses, I’d like to welcome you to our family as your leader. Engrave these rules into your heart.”

Never steal from The Syndicate or one of its members. Never steal from the poor. You are not authorized to kill when undertaking a contract, use violence as a last resort for escape. Never attack your brothers and sisters in The Syndicate. Treat your superiors and the orders they give with respect. Never betray The Syndicate and the secrets it holds. Membership is for life.

“That concludes today’s ceremony. Once again, welcome. Follow your housemasters and enjoy your new life as a fully recognized member of our organization. Our family.” Aldren said to them and exited, leaving everyone else.

“I’ve done what I can for you, the rest is up to your own efforts.” Master Revenant said to the children as he also made his exit.

“Come, let’s show you the house.” Master Alaria said to the two boys. As they followed her, she pointed out the entrances to each of the houses. She also gave a brief explanation of everything they were seeing.

“What you’re looking at is the real Sanctuary of Benetia, the place you’ve grown accustomed to is simply a sectioned off area large enough to house new batches of recruits.”

They crossed over one of the many small bridges in the small city. Asher looked down in the waterway and saw a small school of fish swimming in the subterranean stream. Seventeen seemed to be eyeing the many buildings.

“Here in Sanctuary you have access to many of the same amenities that would be afforded to you above ground, and some that aren’t. We have a tavern, some shops…you get the idea.” Master Alaria said as she waved off the rest as if it were nothing more than an annoyance. They made their way to a large wooden door that had the relief of a snake above it. The snake’s mouth was open as if it were striking, its fangs in full view. The door opened up to a large shared space. The lighting inside of House Snake was a haze of greens and reds all around, which reminded Asher of Christmas, much to his amusement. The space had three hallways attached to it. Master Alaria pointed each one out.

“Apprentice and Journeymen dormitories. The other hallway has the various masters’ offices. There is also a small library where we have a collection of books on herbalism, alchemy, potion and poison brewing.”

“So we have a few beds waiting for us down there?” Seventeen said, pointing down one of the hallways.

“You have a bed in the dormitory,” Master Alaria said to Seventeen. “One has been promoted to the rank of ‘Master’ already. He can live out in town, should he choose to.”

“How - How is that possible? I knew he was talented but we’re still from the same training group.”

“Some stuff happened during my final test,” Asher said with a big smile. “Then poof, promotion. It all happened pretty quick.”

“Either way,” Master Alaria chipped in “Don’t question the decisions of the Guild Master. You two most likely won’t see each other much outside of lessons.”

“Lessons?” Seventeen said with clear confusion in his voice. He sat down at one of the lounge chairs in the shared living space. He looked back and forth between Asher and Master Alaria. “What lessons, all of this is a lot to take in.”

“Do you know anything about poisons?” Master Alaria said to the boys, who promptly shut up. “Potions? Plants? The different effects these things have and how they interact with each other? How to make it, how to grow it, where to find these things?”

“Nope. Sure don’t.” Asher said confidently. “That’s why I picked this house, so that I can learn something new.”

Seventeen nodded at Asher’s statement. “Same here.”

“Good, and you will, which is why there’s lessons.” Master Alaria looked at Asher, “It has also come to my attention that you don’t know how to read or write.”

Asher simply whistled softly and twiddled his thumbs, “Yeah, that would be accurate.”

Seventeen looked at One with a surprised expression. For someone so talented and quick at learning, how could they not know how to read or write? It appeared that One did have some weak spots after all, but not for long. If anyone knew how much One could obsess over something single mindedly, it was Seventeen. He had watched the boy practice day in and day out. Any weaknesses he had would be shored up in due time.

“Then it’s settled,” Master Alaria said. “Both of you will be learning the basics of our house and how we operate inside of The Syndicate. This is especially important for you One, since you’ll be overseeing the houses as one of the Guild Master’s Eyes.”

Asher simply nodded in agreement.

“Plus it helps being able to read and write orders.”

“She really likes pointing that out huh?” Asher thought to himself. Although he couldn’t blame her, she was right. Can’t exactly take jobs on when you can’t even read the details revolving around it, can you?

The two boys separated when Master Alaria gestured for one of the other apprentices to show Seventeen his new home; the boy was promptly whisked away to his dorm room. Master Alaria took the time to show Asher the small library and the other various resources down the Masters’ hallway. She also brought him to his office. It was set up in a way that it could double as his living quarters. When you first walk into the room, it has the look of a basic office: A desk, some empty book shelves, and a few strange looking tools and a stand.

“What’s that?” Asher said as he pointed out the foreign objects.

“This is your Poisoner’s Kit.” Master Alaria said candidly. “Typically it’s something reserved for only the Journeymen and Masters once they save up enough gold to purchase it..” She kind of rolled her eyes as she continued. “But since someone managed to steal more gold than they thought was possible in a day, it’s coming with your office since you’ve technically already paid for it.”

Asher ran his hands over the equipment and pulled up the general information of the bundle of items. The information pulled up was general information and sometimes a small backstory of items in his possession.

Item: Poisoner’s Kit (Skill Level: Novice)

A poisoner's kit includes the vials, chemicals, and other equipment necessary for the creation of poisons. Increasing your skill level with the Poisoner’s Kit will reduce the amount of resources consumed in order to create a poison. Increasing your skill level with the Poisoner’s Kit will increase the potency of a poison created.

“Neat.” He mumbled.

“Yes it is,” Master Alaria chipped in. “As you can see this is your main office, but it is connected to another room that can function as your bedroom.”

“What if I don’t want to use the bedroom?” Asher asked.

“It’ll still be there in case you need it, but you can move out in town as I said earlier.”

“Sweet! I’m going home!” Asher said as he promptly walked out of the office/ two bedroom apartment. A few moments later he promptly returned with an embarrassed grin on his face.

“Can you show me how exactly I can get back above ground?”

“Gladly.”