The next few moments went by in a blur. The person-not to Ailith’s surprise was skilled. Very skilled. The only advantage that Ailith had over him(assumed from his strong build) was that he was injured in the leg whereas she was at her strongest state. Had he not been injured, she would have been dead minutes ago.

He threw a dagger meant for her heart. She barely dodged and it scraped her arm. Ailith hissed in pain but continued moving. She couldn’t stop. No the second she did, she’d be dead from one of his knives. Her best bet would be to hope he ran out of daggers and resorted to hand to hand combat, getting close enough for her to strike him and run. So she did just that. As soon as he was out, she lunged at him. Shocked at her sudden attack, he froze. That cost him. Ailith managed to grab a hold of him and slice her dagger clean through his neck. His head rolled off his shoulders and she nearly gagged at the sight.

‘run’ ‘run’ ‘run’

These were the only words going through her head as she dashed into the street.

Ailith risked a quick glance at her treker. ‘9:30. Only 30 minutes.’

‘I need to go faster’

The entire way, she was praying not to attract any attention. She needed to get to the other side of the city, and fast. Any unexpected attacks would not only be extremely risky to her as she was dead tired from her previous fight, it could also mean the difference of whether she made it to the building or not. Something in her sparked and she urged herself to run faster. Surprisingly, she did make it to the street on which the building was located. And without getting ambushed.

‘Don’t get ahead of yourself Ailith. You still need to make it to the 5th floor of that building.’

Luckily those people had not attacked this part of the city.

When she arrived at the building, Ailith forced herself to run up the stairs, now the only barrier between her and whatever test was awaiting her. It was only 5 stories. She’d run more before. To add, the elevator line was too long.

‘9:57’ ‘faster, faster’

Panting, she burst through the door.

‘10:00’

“You’re late.”

Clarice.

“Actually, I’m on time. You didn’t exactly specify that you wanted me here early.”

She looked unimpressed.

With them in the room were 3 other people. 1 girl and 2 boys. Man would be a better suited word for one of them as his build was spectacular.

Clarice caught her gawking and spoke, “ Ailith, these are your team members. You’ll be working with them in the future so I do hope you get along well.” Clarice's treker buzzed and she looked down. “Evan, I expect you to inform our new recruits of their job.” A command more than a question. “I’ll leave you guys to yourselves then.” With that, she left the room.

The thinner and less muscular of the 2 boys spoke first. “Hi, I’m Alexander but you can call me Alex. That’s what everyone else calls me at least. You must be Ailith?”

She answered with a simple, “yes.”

“Is it brash of me to assume that you are new here as well?”

“Yes, I’m new here. I hope to work well with you guys in the future.”

The girl just smirked.

The muscular guy-Evan glared at the girl whilst speaking to Ailith. “We look forward to working with you as well. I’m Evan and this,” he motioned towards the girl, “is Amber.”

‘The person Clarice phoned on testing day…’

Her looks would be considered average be it not for her striking amber eyes. They were swirls of golden orange, yellow, and black. It made the rest of her features stand out.

Evan continued, “As for the ‘job’ mentioned by Clarice, you’re an assassin.”

Her jaw went slack.

Evan finally faced her. His gaze felt piercing as he looked her up and down. “Our instructors will get you started on the basics but by the end of the first month, I hope that you will be fit to start training with us.” He faced Alexander. “Same goes for you.” “You’ll be staying in the training wing from now on. All clothing and other necessities will be provided to you. You are forbidden of owning anything that is not absolutely necessary. There should be no reason for you to head home from today onwards as people will be sent to clean it out in your stead. Expect Amber to show you around the building and to your dorms. Don’t bother me unless there is some urgent matter.” He turned around to leave, looking exhausted, as if that little talking had burned him out.

‘Man, what a fun bunch of people they’ll be.’ she said to herself.

Halfway to the door, he stopped. “Ailith, next time you try to sneak daggers into highly secured areas, try not to let it out of your line of sight.”

Shocked, she roamed her hands inside her pockets, looking for a dagger that wasn’t there.

‘When had he taken it?’

He-Evan held her dagger in the air, as if mocking her and said, “I’m confiscating this.” as he shut the door and left.