Now, I’ve never been a fan of standing out. Hell, I work my ass off to be average so that I blend in perfectly. So you can imagine how much I’d enjoy being singled out by the first Gray Clansman I’d ever seen, and to have it done in front of a large group of my new colleagues.

“Aww!” the idiot exclaimed. “He’s so scared, he’s speechless!”

He looked like a normal guy, about average height and thin in build. But his silvery-white hair and his bright red eyes discounted that theory. Though I’d never seen one, I knew at once that this was a member of the Gray Clan. Odd that they are called that when the predominant color on his figure was sheet-white. I’d seen pictures of albino people before, and he seemed to match that description.

Well, apart from the fact that he knew I was a Reaper and the fact that I could feel spiritual power rolling off of him in waves. Why hadn’t the Reapers who left before taken care of him? Weren’t all Gray Clansmen supposed to be evil? Glancing around, I noticed that many of the other Reapers hadn’t even bothered shifting out of their normal appearance.

“You want him?” One of the Reapers near me asked. He was a surly-looking brute, with massive muscles and, by appearance, not much brain. “Or you want me to take care of him?”

Now, in any other situation, particularly before I’d become a Reaper, I would have jumped on his offer, and run in the other direction as quickly as possible. But I also believed that if I agreed to do a job, I might as well give it my best effort. As uncomfortable as I was with the idea of killing someone, I knew that this was the exact thing I’d agreed to. So I shifted out of my normal clothes.

“No,” I said. “I’ll take care of him.”

An approving mutter ran through the Reapers watching, thought the one who’d asked looked slightly disappointed. They backed off several feet to give me some room, and I pulled the scythe into my right hand. Another mutter went through the crowd at the side of the weapon, and I could see some in the crowd turn to each other, whispering something to their neighbor.

“Come on then,” I said to the Gray Clansman. “Let’s get this over with.”

He looked a little thrown by my sudden agreement to a fight. He took half a step back, and, glancing around at the Reapers nearby, sneered.

“I thought you Reapers weren’t allowed to kill us unless we were a threat?”

I paused, thinking that over, then looked behind me. I started to ask the nearest Reaper if that was true, when, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of movement. The bastard had waited until I’d looked away, then lunged at me! Luckily, the training Mikel had put me through was still fresh in my mind, and I had aura around my body with plenty of time to spare. The spirit’s punch stopped mere inches from my face, and I turned slowly to face him.

I have to admit, I felt quite a bit of satisfaction when I saw the confidence drain quickly from his face. The sneer changed into a grimace, and the cocky light in his eyes quickly dimmed to doubt, then fear. I didn’t give him a chance to consider it further, in any event. My right hand came up with as much force as I could muster, slamming into his unprotected jaw. I’m pretty strong, but even I was surprised when my attacker went flying back several feet, landing on the ground with a grunt of pain.

“That’s it?” I asked aloud, turning again to a nearby Reaper. “I thought my first fight would be, you know, harder.”

The Reaper I’d turned to, a tall blonde man in khaki shorts, grinned. “What, you thought they were all ultra-powerful evil spirits?”

Laughter broke out among the crowd, and I felt my face flushing. “Well, yeah.”

“Take this as a lesson, young Reaper,” the man said. “We train not only to be the elite but also to beat the elite. Thousands of years of ancestors have come before you, and you build upon their strength. A weakling like this cannot hope to defeat you.”

I glanced back at the Gray Clansman laying on the ground, clearly stunned and unable to get to his feet just yet. “Ah. Sorry, Mikel just made it sound like a difficult job.”

“Not all Gray Folk will challenge you right out of the gate like that,” he explained. “But you still have to be careful, and quickly finish any that do. Particularly before that happens.”

I followed his pointing finger and took a step back in shock. More aura was building in the Gray Clansman on the ground, and he was getting to his feet. His entire appearance had changed, too. His arms had gotten bigger, but also longer, and his mouth now showed long fangs. His fingers were lengthening as well, sharpening into long claws that looked wickedly sharp.

“He’s channeled,” the blond Reaper said. “Hope your reflexes are sharp.”

With a loud screech containing more bass than the average trap song, he was charging me again. He made two vicious swipes at my face, and I was forced to jump back to avoid them. Then I stepped to the left, swinging the scythe in an awkward sweep. He dodged it easily. God damn, this weapon was awkward. Instead of trying to recover and swing again, I just let go of the weapon. It faded into nothing as I dove forward.

Remembering my sparring with Marish, I knew that somehow, shots to the stomach seemed to deplete aura faster. So I punched and kicked for all I was worth, aiming at his stomach. There was no grace or form to it, but I added more power to each hit, and I could see my fists getting closer each time. Then I swung one more time and felt my hand connect with brutal force and knocked him back once more. This time, he was up in a flash.

“He won’t be stunned anymore, little Reaper,” I heard one of the crowd call. “There’s only one way to finish this now.”

Batting the Gray Clansman away again with a kick, I realized that he was right. No matter how hard I was hitting him, he kept getting back up with no sign of exhaustion. I could break through his defense easily, but he just kept coming, screeching louder and louder. Letting out a growl of exasperation, I took a step back once more and felt the scythe appear in my hand as if it knew what I wanted.

I couldn’t quite remember what happened next. I was only aware of my brain going a little foggy, and seeing a flash of silver in my field of vision. Then my mind was clear again, and I saw my attacker dissolving into a silvery-white mist. I could still hear its screeching lingering on the air for a few more seconds before my legs gave out, and I sat down on the pavement hard.

There was a few seconds of silence, then the Reapers around me started clapping. There were a few wolf-whistles that broke out, then a few laughs. The blond Reaper walked over and offered me his hand to stand up, which I accepted.

“Not bad,” he said. “Your a pretty good instinctual fighter, and your ancestor looks mean.”