The Discovery of an Assassin

by Brian Keller

  The following morning during breakfast, he spoke with Birt, “When I first got here you had mentioned that there were underground levels to the Guild grounds.”. Birt got a concerned look and started ‘shushing’ him. Cooper held out his hands, palms towards Birt, “Alright, I just wanted to make sure you knew it was something that you needed to keep quiet about. It looks like you already know.”.

  Over the next few weeks, the class continued to copy pages from their textbooks; practiced strikes, kicks and block until they had bruises, and then continued on; and Loryn had accompanied Cooper on enough deliveries to merit making deliveries on her own. He had felt like protesting that she may know her way around but it was not safe for her to be on her own in the city, Aden looked like he was prepared to pick up that banner as well. Master Worthan calmed their complaints with a single sentence, “Do you boys assume that you are the only ones to watch over her?”. He felt better after that, in fact, if anyone else was watching over her they were probably better qualified for that task than him.

  Soon after Loryn began her solo deliveries, Mister Skran had decided the class was ready to start practice fighting. He said, “I fully expect many bumps and bruises, and perhaps some broken bones. These injuries will be because of your skill, or more correctly stated, your lack of skill. Now, before you all complain and regale me with tales of all the dragons you’ve slain and your many victories on the field of battle and such let me say this…. I’ve been watching all of you. I’ve been teaching all of you. You don’t yet know how to fight, but I will teach you.”.

  Cooper figured that he was as fast as any in the class, but in a continuous fight other factors than speed came into account. Strength began to play a bigger role. Endurance would surely be a factor as would tactics. Strength was his disadvantage compared to about half the class. He know he’d need to use speed and tactics to his advantage. If it came down to endurance then he could be in trouble. Being larger and stronger, the other boys only had to get it right once and they’d beat him. He had to get it right every time in order to avoid getting beaten. If only he hadn’t been forbidden to Channel! Then winning would be easy! Some of his classmates should be Manifesting soon, what then? What if Boyd had Manifested but was concealing it, waiting for his chance to spring it on him? Ok, now he was just getting paranoid. Well, maybe he was, but did that mean it couldn’t happen?

  Mister Skran divided the class into three groups: Advanced, which was for students showing potential to continue in combat related specialties; Adequate, which were those that learned the lessons and could become Advanced if they applied themselves. It was expected that they would pass the fighting exam but might be better suited for non-combat specialties, unless Manifested Talent sufficiently makes up for shortfalls; and Misfits, who couldn’t, wouldn’t or simply hadn’t absorbed the lessons so far. If they worked at it, they could become Adequate.

  Mister Skran went on to explain that when evaluations were conducted at the end of his class, anyone remaining in the Misfit category automatically failed the evaluation, they would not even be tested. There were some complaints but Mister Skran explained further, “During testing it could be possible, though highly unlikely, that a Misfit could score an extremely lucky hit. Any student scoring a qualifying hit receives a passing grade. The grading criteria is clear on this. I will not allow someone to pass on sheer luck, and then continue to take the time and attention of combat instructors from deserving students. Before you think that this is arbitrary, I suggested this policy years ago, and I have the full support of the Guild Council on this matter. It also prevents lazy students from performing with minimal effort and then squeaking through the exam.”.

  Cooper looked around to see where everyone had been placed. He was surprised and disappointed to see that Aden had been classified as Adequate. Loryn was there as well, but that was not so surprising. He expected that both of them would join him in the Advanced group in a few weeks. Loryn’s technique was improving but she was still learning how to put combinations together.

  Half of the class was in the Advanced group. Cooper, Birt, Neril, Boyd, the other boy Cooper had practiced with who’d never offered his name, Habbon is what Birt said the boy’s name was, and several others were there in the Advanced group.

  A scribe was walking through the room, adding each child’s name to a list. When the scribe came around to him he could see that the list he was making had three columns, one for each group. Seeing the roster had given Cooper an idea. If he did what he was thinking he knew there would be trouble, but he’d need a little time to think further about how it might play out in the longer term.

  Once the scribe finished making the roster, Mister Skran addressed the class, “You will practice with students within your groups. Pair up. If there is a student with no partner, that student will work with Mister Strawman. Cooper figured Boyd would rush to pair with him, he was wrong. Boyd immediately paired with Neril. Another boy paired quickly with Birt. In seconds, Cooper realized that Mister Strawman was his partner. Mister Skran said, “We’ll change partners after each session. For now, each session will last five minutes. You are not to deliberately harm one another. Bumps, bruises, a few scratches will heal back to normal. I am not worried about that.” Mister Skran stopped talking and was deciding whether to say more. He spoke again, “I will be watching. If I see a student trying to injure or disable another, I will call a stop to the session and that student will become my partner for a few minutes. If that doesn’t correct the behavior, well, there may be other classes for you to attend in the Guild. The Guild’s intent is to build the organization with Talented, disciplined members who can make valuable contributions. If a Scribe recruit cannot resist the urge to deliberately harm a fellow student, perhaps putting them in with The Brutes will either prove to be a better placement for them or it will cure them. I will say that at this point, none of you would enjoy being placed with The Brutes… I cannot confirm that it’s true, but it is said that every six months they eat their weakest member.”.

  Skran walked around the room, watching students pairing up, while thinking, ‘About two dozen kids in here and not even a third of them worth the time it was going to take to train them.’. He always felt rewarded when he saw students excel, or at least exceed his initial expectations. He’d learned to recognize certain traits over the years. He could usually identify which students would make good fighters within the first few days. Sometimes he was pleasantly surprised, but more often he ended up disappointed. He had already identified the boy called Aden, he’d make a decent fighter but something was holding him back, probably had seen someone important to him beaten, perhaps even beaten to death. He had placed him in the Adequate category to give the boy time to sort things out. The girl, Loryn, was definitely a fighter, but she had a lot of emotions to contend with before she could excel. Putting her in the Advanced group too soon would only put her at risk for injury. She needed some time to develop her skills and come to terms with whatever was in her past. He felt confident that she’d do fine here. He’d seen it enough times. He knew that in a few months about two-thirds of this class would be in the Adequate group and a few of them would be barely clinging to that status, being one bump or bruise away from tumbling into the Misfit group. The largest boy, Boyd, was lazy and cruel. He’d likely drop into Adequate unless he decided to shape up or if he became competitive. Birt was pretty good but Skran got the impression that his heart wasn’t in it. It seemed like he was doing well because he knew it was expected of him. He would most likely excel as a Thief, but not an Assassin. Dailen could become a decent fighter, but training would be required in order to overcome his blunt instincts. At least that’s how he saw it. Rukle had good potential. Depending on how he Manifested, he could even be selected to enter training as an Assassin. Kolrem was the second or third biggest boy in the class. He was strong and fairly fast but unfortunately rather clumsy. As he reached his full growth, Mister Skran felt certain that this would resolve itself, b
ut in the meantime Kolrem had to work at keeping his balance. The boy, Cooper, was a great concern to him. There was the occasion when he’d demonstrated incredible speed. It was so unexpected Skran almost couldn’t believe what he’d seen, but the students had seen it too and reacted. The boy didn’t even seem to be aware that anything unusual had happened. It had concerned him enough that he’d spoken to Master Worthan about it immediately after class. Master Worthan assured him that he’d look into it himself. The boy had seemed normal ever since, but there was no ignoring what he’d seen. Everything about the boy suggested that he was had great potential as a fighter but also seemed to have developed a protective bond with a few fellow students. If something happened to one of his friends, it was difficult to say how Cooper would be affected. The fact that the boy had eyes dark as the pits of Hell had no bearing on it. That boy could be the most dangerous of the lot. Skran knew he’d have to watch him.

  Mister Skran reminded the students to use proper technique and focus on trying to find weaknesses in their opponent’s defense. This is where the students would learn about timing. Mister Skran called out in a clear, loud voice, “When I tell you all to stop. You will stop immediately. You will not finish a strike or kick. After I call for you to stop, the only movements I expect to see are defensive movements and those movements required to retain your balance. Any strikes or kicks that continue after I call ‘Stop’ will result in punishment. Understood?”. This last word came out almost like a bark. Students replied almost in unison, “Yes, sir!”. Skran continued with a single word, “Begin.”

  Cooper was paired with a dummy. His partner wouldn’t be attacking him so couldn’t resist watching the class start fighting, at least for a second or two. Everyone started moving at once, some were rushing each other to get in the first strike or kick, some simply circled each other warily not willing to commit, others were striking and counter-striking just as they’d been doing for the last several weeks. One pair ended up rolling on the floor, still fighting. Mister Skran was moving to separate them and get them practicing again. Cooper thought he heard Mister Skran say something like, “Not yet. Ground fighting is later.”. Had they all been mobbed together closely, it would have been sheer chaos, but being spread out as they were, in that single glance Cooper seemed to learn a great deal about his fellow students. He turned to Mister Strawman and began his combinations.

  After five minutes passed, Mister Skran shouted, “Stop!”. Everyone froze, only a couple students had to catch themselves and get their balance under control. It appeared that no one wanted Mister Skran for a partner. Even Cooper had frozen in place. Mister Skran directed students to change partners and swapped out those who were working with the dummies. Cooper was paired with a boy he’d never practiced with before. He was taller than him, but then almost all the boy’s in class were. He had light brown hair that looked a little sun bleached. This seemed even more apparent since his eyebrows were just a shade darker than his hair. He had a thin face, a slightly long chin, pointed nose, thin lips and a light scattering of freckles around his nose. The boy said, “You’re Cooper, I know. I’m Dailen.”. Cooper nodded, “Good to meet you, Dailen.”, and he dropped into a crouch. He relaxed himself and had to make a conscious effort not to search for his Flow.

  He watched Dailen adopt his stance and they waited for Mister Skran’s cue. They didn’t wait long. “Begin”. Dailen shifted to his right and started to advance toward Cooper at an angle. Cooper didn’t step away to align himself he just shifted one foot and rotated on the other. As he shifted, Dailen stepped rapidly to close the distance and launched a strike at Cooper’s face. Cooper doubted that his opponent actually intended that strike to connect and that his actual attack was still coming. He continued to shift his body, this time to avoid the incoming strike as well as to set him up to counter the actual attack. It became apparent that he’d overestimated the boy and the strike was his actual attack. He’d also over extended himself and Cooper launched a counter attack, punching the boy in the chest and stomach, then quickly withdrew before the boy shifted to face him fully.

  Upon calling out, “Begin.”, Mister Skran focused on Cooper and Dailen. If the boy had somehow Manifested some Talent, as he suspected was the case, then the boy was either a few years older than he looked or he was some kind of fluke. The boy had told him that he was nine, almost ten. To Skran, to boy looked more like he’d just turned nine, or maybe even ‘eight going on nine’. He observed the exchange between the boys. There was no doubt that the boy was fast, Talent or not, and he was doing well at reading his opponent. He was positioning himself to take advantage of openings before they occurred. Skran wondered if the boy was doing it instinctively or if he had some kind of Insight. Skran’s observations got interrupted when he realized that two students were grappling rather than kicking and striking and he moved to correct them. Once those students were back on track, Skran returned to watching Cooper and Dailen. He still couldn’t identify whether Cooper was planning his movements or simply acting by instinct, either way, the boy was a pleasant surprise. Speed… not much power, but that would come as he grew and gained strength. Still, there was enough snap to his strikes and kicks that Dailen would massage the part that had just been hit and he started circling Cooper with an expression of frustration mixed with respect.

  Skran heard something that sounded like a war cry from one of the boys and he looked over to see one of the students had tried something that looked like a bear hug and was trying to get a hand free to continue striking. Skran moved to them to break them up. By the time he’d gotten that situation fixed he looked back over the class and saw Boyd holding his partner by gripping a handful of hair. He’d already delivered one punch to the side of the other boy’s head. The boy was dazed and Boyd was pulling his fist back for another strike, this time to the boy’s face it seemed, if Skran were reading the movements correctly. “Stop!”, he shouted. Boyd managed to stop his punch but only just barely. He flung the boy away by pushing his head as he released his hair. An idea formed in Skran’s mind.

  “Stop! Rotate!”, Skran moved across the class and paired Boyd with Cooper. He saw that Boyd was unable to keep a gleam of anticipation from his eyes as a smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. Skran had decided that by pairing these boys, one of a few possibilities would occur. It was possible that Boyd would start simply beating Cooper, which would give Skran excuse to punish Boyd. It was more likely that Cooper would defeat Boyd and in doing so, humiliate the larger boy. Cooper might also demonstrate Talent in order to accomplish this and that would answer the question that continued to be an itch in the back of Skran’s mind. All possibilities appealed to Skran.

  “Begin.”. Boyd surged forward with his hands extended to try and simply capture him. Cooper had expected Boyd to attack him aggressively, but not like this. There was no technique at all. Cooper brought up his hands to deflect Boyd’s grasping fingers stepped to the side and launched a short, fast kick into Boyd’s gut. It connected firmly, bringing a grunt from the larger boy. Boyd turned to face Cooper and drew back his right hand as he stepped toward the smaller boy to launch a powerful punch. Afterward, Cooper would think back on this moment and remember how long it seemed to take and how obvious Boyd’s movements were. He was completely relying on his strength as the means for his movements. As Boyd’s fist drew back Cooper started to move in close. Just as Boyd began to release his punch, Cooper was punching him straight in the throat. Boyd’s fist continued forward, even as he had started to gag. Cooper sidestepped and ducked under Boyd’s arm as it came forward. He had to duck a little more than he’d first expected since Boyd had started to lean forward as he was gagging. With Boyd’s arm going forward and him being bent slightly at the waist, Cooper bent his left arm, bringing his left fist to his shoulder and rotated his torso whipping his elbow around in a short, quick arc to connect just in front of Boyd’s right ear. Boyd dropped to his knees, dazed. Cooper backed away and dropped his hands, uncertain what he
should do now. Cooper looked at Mister Skran and wondered just how much trouble he was in. Mister Skran moved swiftly to Boyd and lifted the boys chin to look in his eyes. Boyd was aimlessly pushing at Mister Skran and looked like he was flailing his arms to defend himself. Mister Skran looked over his shoulder at the class and yelled, “Stop!” and then turned his attention back to Boyd. Cooper looked around the class and saw that all eyes were going from him to Mister Skran and Boyd, then back to him. Comprehension dawned on everyone’s face, and then everyone suddenly displayed different expressions which ranged from simple shock and amazement, anger, joy, relief, and fear.

  Skran knew he’d need to pay close attention as he called out, “Begin.”. He watched the scene unfold. Boyd was a fool, but it still looked like he might simply overwhelm Cooper. The smaller boy took a step back, then brought his hands up and kicked forward, just as Skran had taught him. Boyd slowed, turned and raised his hand to punch. Cooper moved only a small step toward the larger boy and punched him directly in the throat. Boyd’s forward momentum coupled with the smaller boy’s punch would multiply the force of the blow. Marvelous. Boyd’s eyes bugged out as he realized his throat had spasmed. Cooper ducked under Boyd’s arm and he seemed almost casual about launching a sharp elbow to the side of the boy’s head. As Skran saw Boyd’s head snap to the side in response to the strike, he realized that he’d need to check the larger boy for injuries and started to move forward. He was a little worried that Cooper would take advantage of his opponent’s vulnerability and continue to press his attack, but he saw Cooper back away. The larger boy remained on his knees but his eyes were completely unfocused. As Skran knelt in front of the boy, he placed a hand under his chin and raised it so he could take a look at the boy’s eyes. The boy’s eyes reacted to light the way they should but Boyd began flailing aimlessly at him, thinking that Skran was some kind of threat. This was going to take a moment. Skran called out, “Stop!” and noting that all had gone quiet, he turned his attention back to the stunned boy. Skran noted that Cooper had done all this without displaying any hint of Talent. He knew that he had seen Cooper display Manifested speed before, but maybe it was just a one-time thing. Surely that wasn’t unheard of. He would need to ask some of the Masters about that.