After dinner had been served and eaten in the grand main hall of the Assassin’s Guild castle, the High Matrix had once again taken Alexei away from his two companions and deep down into the bowels of the castle itself. She had taken him to a room that he thought looked to be a lot like the rooms the Mage Temple had used to check whether Neave had any potential in magery.It was a space that was clearly suited for one person, not two, and so the fact that both he and the High Matrix were standing in it made things quite cramped. It was a dark and cylindrical room with only a dim torch sticking off from above the door frame. Intricate writings lined the walls and all led down to a slight dip in the floor where a knee pillow had been placed. “You haven’t explained what exactly I’m doing here,” Alexei said. “To put it simply, Alexei, while you have the potential to be a great warrior you simply are not one yet,” The High Matrix said, “You rely on trickery and subterfuge to win all of

Alexei’s training at the hands of the Assassin’s Guild continued for weeks that stretched into months. Every day he became a little bit faster and a little bit better at allowing his weapon to make key decisions at key moments. He found that his weapon was a lot more adaptable than most others, pulling from a wider range of forms. The High Matrix said to him one afternoon in the depths of winter, on a day when the sun barely crested over the horizon, that most people’s weapons eventually found three or four forms that they liked better than any other and then stuck to them. She called them the weapon’s bread and butter transformations. Alexei’s weapon took longer than most to settle into them, but eventually, it did. A light blade that could slash through seemingly any substance that was put before it depending on how high the dial was turned. A projectile thrower, that Alexei had discovered was called a gun, which could fit in one hand and spit out bullets at an incredible rate

The front of Alexei's shield rocketed across the street toward his target. He had no idea what the boys powerset would be. He had no idea what level of training the boy had. All he knew was that the boy had to go down hard and fast, and a surprise attack was the best way to go about that. Of all the things he had been expecting, what happened next wasn't among them.The boy stood stock still as a writhing pillar of ants clambered onto of one another to stand strong a few feet in front of him.The shield ploughed into the stack and discharged its energy blast. It fried every insect in a one foot radius, but it wasnt enough to reach the boy.Instead his shield retracted back into place, the front panel covered in a smear of insect blood and still twitching body parts. "You control insects?" Alexei retorted, he couldn't help himself. "It's rich to talk about weaklings when your own Power Divine is so pathetic."The boy smirked, "You've no idea what an insect controller has the poten

If a mountain could be said to have a heart, Alexei was sure that was where the High Matrix was taking him. They’d gone down corridor after corridor, staircase after staircase, until the carved walls of the castle gave way to what was essentially just a cavern tunnel. And yet still they walked, their path only lit by the flickering blue flame of the High Matrix’s weapon as she forced it to shift over and over. “We don’t usually come down here,” The High Matrix remarked, “Usually there is no reason. As you have long since found out, the Assassin’s Guild is not usually a group for taking prisoners… however, in the event that someone did need to be contained for whatever reason, we have built an ultimate prison deep under our castle.” As the High Matrix had been speaking Alexei had noticed that the temperature had been steadily increasing. The High Matrix allowed her weapon to sink back under her skin, and Alexei prepared himself to be awash in darkness, but after a moment for his e

Alexei slumped down to the ground, his back pressed against the trunk of an old oak tree. He was no hero. An entire city had been wiped out, and it was all his fault. If he’d done anything differently and finished the job instead of taking her captive, then maybe none of this would have happened. Thousands of people, if not more, would still be alive. Neave sat down next to him and leaned into his side. It was a small comfort, but comfort nonetheless. “You shouldn’t be blaming yourself for this,” Risa said, her voice hollow. Alexei looked up at her and saw tears rolling down her dirt-stained cheeks. “It’s not your fault,” She went on, “It’s that bastard Administrar and the ones who he sent after you that are to blame, not the other way around. He’s the one you should be directing your anger at.” “I don’t have anger right now, Risa,” Alexei sighed, “All I’ve got is sorrow for those who have died, so many innocent lives.” “Aye, and so you should,” Risa agreed, she crouched down