Eric glanced sideways at his companion. The boy was sitting casually back in his seat. Seemingly not noticing the glares directed at him.

“ You did not tell us, we would be receiving another “guest,” Their leader said. Eric looked at her nonchalantly, as if the accusation and threat in her tone, did not affect him in the slightest. He waved at the boy, and then realized he did not actually know his new apprentice's name.

He quickly said, ¨ Introduce yourself, boy.¨, as if he himself couldn't be bothered.

The boy nodded and after a slight pause said “ I go by Jace.”

The leader studied the boy for another moment and then turned back to Eric.

“ You may call me Alease and my to companions Luke and Jason.” She gestured toward the larger man and then to the smaller one. Luke, grunted in greeting, and Jason nodded politely.

Eric nodded: ” I go by Naro.”

It was the name of a dog he had owned when he was younger. When Eric became an assassin he used the name on a whim, and now it was one of the most well known and feared names in the city.

Currently, Naro was ranked the 5th best assassin in the capital and surrounding cities and towns. He was good, hell he was better than good. Eric wasn’t the modest type, but the other 4 those ranked higher than him.

They were monsters.

Alease pulled out a sheet of paper and handed it to Eric. He looks at it and saw a drawing of a lovely young elf girl wearing a flower crown. He knew that face, he’d seen her through the halls often, even shared some classes with her. Sylvia Greenwood, his next target.

Written under the picture was a description of the job. The client was unknown, but they wanted a gruesome death with a single dagger to be embedded into the princesses chest. He looked up and Alease guessing his question pulled from her sleeve a small dagger. She tossed it to him and Eric caught it easily. He studied the dagger as his new apprentice, Jace picked up the discarded paper.

It was beautifully made, gold entwined around the hilt of the shining metal. He looked closer and then his eyes widened.

“ Dwarf made….” He commented, an idea of just what was happening beginning to form. Alease nodded a glint in her eye.

“ When this is found in the princesses corpse, the blame will be put onto the dwarfs. Alliances will be brought forth…..this could start an all-out war!”

Taking the dagger back from him, Alease nodded looking intently at him as she said,

“ And it's our job to make that happen.”

Eric sat back his face, thinking. While he didn’t care much for this country, he had to wonder if his own family and countrymen might be pulled into it.

“ 100 thousand gold….” Jace mumbled. Eric wiped around and grabbed the paper out of his hands. He scanned the appear again, finding what he had missed the first time.

“ Holy Shit…” he said. The reward was astounding. Enough to make the son of a Duke drool. Even split between them it was still a nice sum of money.

Screw the risk!!!

Well, there were 5 of them and presumably, the Alease and her team would take the majority. Alease seems to know what he was thinking.

“ We were prepared to give you 30% of the payment but we hadn’t expected you to bring a friend.” She made a pointed look towards Jace. Eric didn’t bother, the boy had asked Eric to take him on as an apprentice. Eric didn’t need to pay the boy, it was already an honor to work with the 5th best assassin in the guild.

“ I don’t need the money,” Jace said. Alease looked at him strangely and then shrugged.

Eric blinked. The boy was constantly surprising him. But his mind quickly went back to his own profit.

“I want 50%”. He said. Starting high, so when he conceded on a slightly lower price they would be relieved and hopefully not notice his trick.

“ That's ridiculous!” Jason yelped. Alease gave her companion a stern look.

“ 30.” She said, staring at me.

“45” I respond.

“ 35 ” She says, giving in a little.

“ 40” I cross my arms, unyielding.

Alease looks away and nods.

“ Well then, how about we get started?” She said.

----------

It's not a horrible plan, she considered. Evia might even call it “good”. Of course, this was considerable praise, considering that she was used to playing against Athena, the Goddess of battle strategy. Evia followed her new mentor, Naro out of the bakery/assassins den. Naro. What a silly name. She almost laughed. Evia wondered what his real name was. An amusing thought struck her. What if Naro wasn’t even a guy, what if like her he was hiding his true gender.

Evia eyed Erics very male physique. She remembered his handsome face. His ice blue eyes and strong features. He really was a fine human, the kind she and Aphrodite loved to play with.

Evia ’s light mood faded as she thought about her friend. Aphrodite’s appearance changed with every person. When one looked at her, they say whatever they thought was the ideal appearance. Aphrodite's favorite shape to take was a chocolate skinned woman. Curvy but not too curvy. Tall but not too tall. With long curly black hair that fell in waves down her back. She remembered her friend dancing with a Greek prince, while the music played. She turned and spun, her laughter so beautiful it made even the trees stop and listen.

Warmth swept through her heart at the memory.

Naro cleared his throat.

“ So you want to learn the art of killing? ” He asked. She shrugged, allowing a wicked grin to slide across her face.

“ Why else would I become an assassin's apprentice?” Naro nodded, giving into an evil grin of his own.

“ Well, then I guess we should start training right away.”

She barely had time to move, before he flung a knife at her head.

------------------

“ YOU COULD HAVE KILLED ME!” Jace shouted narrowly avoiding the blade. Watching his switch and fluid movements as he dodged Eric's attacks. He muttered, “ I think it would take a bit more to bring you down”

Eric began to move, throwing punches and kicks trying to get a feel for Jace’s fighting style. At first, the boy’s movements y=were fluid and aggressive. He was swift and silent. Unlike Eric’s fighting style which was graceful and fast. Jace was aggressive and fierce. However, as the fight progressed Jace’s movements became sloppy and he made more and more mistakes.

It took less than 2 minutes for a knife to be at the boy's throat. He pressed the dagger, enough to draw a drop of blood. For a moment the liquid looked golden in the sunlight. He blinked and the golden blood was gone.

He must have imagined it….