Aldren along with the rest of the Syndicate members present stared at the perfectly preserved hand. It was one that had the tattoo of a serpent on the back of it, the hand of Dominick Black. Whispers could be heard all throughout the group of people present.

“Who is this child?” one person said.

“I heard it was the Guild Master’s adopted son,” another replied.

“He got rid of Dominick Black AND Fist in a single day..”

The whispering ceased when Aldren cleared his throat and all eyes were on him.

“Good, Asher, good.” The man said as he beamed a smile filled with pride at the boy. A person could be seen scrambling back into the group of people, it was the same man from earlier who was tasked with preparing the ritual that Aldren had mentioned. A chasm in the crowd opened up allowing the man to easily pass through, a chair in one hand and a small leather bag in the other. The man set the chair down and gestured for Asher to sit. Asher looked up at Aldren who nodded in agreement. Seeing the approval from Aldren, Asher decided to sit.

“What’s in the bag?” Asher said to the man, who had begun sifting through it.

“It’s a component pouch,” as the man finished sifting and bringing out a thin brush with long bristles, as well as various types and colors of ink. “It’s a special pouch that holds all of the material components needed when casting a spell.”

“What makes it special?” Asher said looking at the man.

“Well the fact that I decided to put all my shit in it, to be honest it’s just a basic, watertight, leather pouch.” The man then looked at everyone, Asher, then finally at Aldren. “Preparations are complete, we can begin the ritual, Guild Master.”

“All of you, prepare to bear witness at the induction of The Syndicate’s newest and youngest Eye.” Aldren said loud enough for all those present to hear. He then looked at the man, who had completely emptied out his component pouch, “Proceed.”

“Yes sir,” the man said as he dipped his brush into a tincture bottle filled with black ink. He then proceeded to carefully, and skillfully draw the outline of a hand on Asher’s pectoral muscle that was opposite of his new scar. Asher could see the man draw intricate patterns inside the hand that reminded him of henna tattoos from his old world. The man then began painting the hand in different shades of blue and violet. The drawing was beautiful and as he was looking at it, Asher felt like he was being whisked away into a hazy dream. The man then drew an eye in the palm of the hand. The lack of designs in it was a stark contrast from the rest of the hand and made it stick out from everything else, ironically, it drew one’s gaze to it. The eye was then colored in with shades of grey and black, it felt like the abyss was staring at you. For some reason, Asher couldn’t help but think of Sauron’s eye, due to the piercing gaze and intensity of the stare that the drawing gave off. The only difference was that the pupil was the same as a human’s and not like that of a serpent’s or Sauron’s. The man glanced up from his work at Aldren.

“Rank, sir?”

“Well, seeing as how he managed to beat Master Evans, who was ranked one.” Aldren looked around, “It’d only make sense that Asher takes the rank he has rightfully earned.”

“As you command, Guild Master.” The man then painted a number one, in white paint, directly in the center of the pupil. “It is done.”

“Finish up the ritual.”

“Yes sir.” The man said and began chanting. Due to the ‘Tongue of Babel’ skill he’d been given, Asher could understand the words that were being spoken, but they still sounded like gibberish to him.

Passive Skill: Tongue of Babel

The person with this skill has the ability to speak and understand spoken languages. This does not include coded languages or other forms of ciphered speech. The Tongue of Babel only helps with the verbal component of language, this skill does nothing for the written form.

As the man finished his chanting, Asher felt a searing pain in his chest. He looked down and watched as the drawing seemed to burn itself into place. Bright wite lines traced everything the man had drawn and the ink seemed to sink down into his skin. Asher gritted his teeth as the pain grew. The number one that was inside of the pupil was the last thing to burn itself into place. The smell of burnt flesh rose up and made its home inside of Asher’s nostrils.

“Aw man, gross. At least it wasn’t burning hair,” Asher thought to himself.

“The ritual is done, Guild Master.” The man said as he began cleaning his brush and putting the various components back into his leather pouch. Aldren stared at the tattoo and nodded in approval, seemingly satisfied with how everything turned out.

Revenant and Felix stared at the entire spectacle with a seemingly lost expression. They had seen the boy’s rapid development since the first day he had entered into the training program. They knew the boy was talented, but they had no way of ever knowing that he’d go from a nameless recruit, to being the top ranked Eye of their Syndicate Branch. The whole thing seemed like a divine comedy. They knew he was a monster, and now that monster had the tools to do whatever he wanted. A shiver ran down Revenant’s spine. “Should I have trained him, or tried harder to have Master Aldren pull him from the program?” Thoughts like these ran through Revenant’s mind as the ceremony took place and finished up. It was too late now, the reins were off the horse, and this boy would soon be allowed to run free.

“Everyone welcome the new Eye.” Aldren said to the group.

“Welcome Brother.” The entire crowd said in unison. All eyes were on Asher at this point.

“If you doubt my judgement in the decision to make him ranke one, I ask you to remember the look that was frozen on Master Evans’ face. The boy has proven his capability throughout the training program, and gone above and beyond. He’s dealt with Dominick Black, who has been a thorn in our collective sides for the past month, and managed to kill one of our most talented members after they illegally attacked him during his final test.”

Aldren began to pace back and forth.

“Consider this his formal induction into The Syndicate. The ceremony in a couple days for the rest of the recruits will just be a matter of keeping in line with tradition. I expect all of you to treat him with the respect that his rightfully earned title demands. Any questions?”

A few hands popped up including the hand of the tattoo artist. Aldren decided to acknowledge the artist’s question first.

“Sir, will he be inducted into a house like any other recruit?”

“Good question, yes he will, but he will be granted all the freedom that is permitted to a full-fledged member. He can come and go from The Sanctuary as he pleases.”

With that question answered, some of the hands went down. Aldren acknowledged another one of the people with their hand up.

“Sir, are we supposed to acknowledge this child as an equal? A child who hasn’t put in the years of dedication to The Syndicate?”

A flash of anger appeared in Aldren’s eyes. “If we’re being technical, you are to acknowledge him as a superior. The least you can do is treat him with the respect of an equal. No more questions.”

Aldren waved for Revenant to come over.

“Inform the boy, Two, as well as the rest of Master Evans’ family of his death. No details, just that he has passed in the line of duty.”

“Yes sir.”

“Asher, you’ll spend the rest of your time recovering, and return on the final day of the test.” Aldren said to the boy who was still sitting on the chair, feeling his new tattoo.

“Sounds good to me.”

Two was sitting with his fellow teammates in the barracks room.

“My father said he was going to deal with that smug asshole, One, during our final test. That’s probably why he hasn’t returned yet.” The boy said with a toothy grin. The other children were laughing along with him.

Seventeen had been the first from his team to return from the test. He had been so worried about what he would do that he ultimately ended up settling on a basic solution. He had maimed some members of the enemy faction that were encroaching on Syndicate land. Once some of the members had been rendered unable to fight, he proceeded to follow them back to their hideout. Once he had learned where their hideout was, he waited for his opportunity, and lit the place on fire. With their hideout and whatever their build-up of reserves gone, as well as having hurt members, they simply disappeared from the area. Message received. Four and Five returned soon after, also completing their task. They didn’t want to resort to violence so they opted for extreme persistence and annoyance. The first few days, the people that they’d been told to collect money from, simply ignored them. After days of being bothered about it, the men tried to resort to violence, but they couldn’t lay a hand on the boys while they used their ‘Skip-Step’ skill.

Skill: Skip-Step

Use stamina to quickly cover distances in a single step. The amount of stamina used is affected by the distance traveled. Skip-Step is limited to eyesight. Can NOT phase through solid objects using this skill.

When the men continued to refuse to pay, Four and Five simply stole everything from their homes, essentially turning the entire ordeal into a war of attrition. Once that happened the men soon caved in and paid their debts in exchange for the many things the two boys stole. They’d returned immediately after with smiles on their faces.

They had been waiting for One to return for two weeks, and still nothing. The three boys had grown worried once the deadline for the test had grown near. They’d also heard Two bragging about how his dad had probably taken care of him during the test. The final day of the test came and the three boys had lost hope. Then Four’s face perked up and he began pointing.

“Look! Look, there he is!”

Seventeen and Five turned their heads and sure enough, One was there walking alongside Master Revenant. The boy’s all ran up to him yelling and cheering.

“You’re back!” The two brothers yelled.

“Welcome back!” Seventeen said as he hugged him and flashed him a grin. Asher smiled back at all of them, happy that they’d returned from the test safe.

“Did you guys really doubt me?” Asher said in a faux tone of disappointment.

“Not at all!” Four said.

“Maybe.” Five replied

“You definitely had us worried.” Seventeen said. “You cut it pretty close.”

“Yeah, some things popped up, but I got the job done.” Asher said.

Master Revenant clapped his hands together getting the attention of all the children in the barracks room. Two was staring at Asher from a distance with a look of disgust and agitation on his face. The rest of the children were standing upright and giving their undivided attention to Master Revenant.

“All of you, follow me. It’s time for you to become true members of The Syndicate.”

The children lined up and began to follow Master Revenant. They walked to the training grounds and finally used the passageway that was previously only used by Master Revenant and his assistants. They walked through the tunnels, making lefts and right until they finally spotted an opening. As they crossed the threshold, what they saw amazed all of the children.

It looked like a miniature city. There were multiple buildings as well as people walking all about and interacting with one another. For an underground hideout the place seemed quite lively, there were waterways that intersected all throughout the little city, some of the buildings even seemed to be only accessible via waterway. Little boats were being paddled by people, making Asher think of the place as some type of sewer Venice. Asher wondered if the water was sewer run-off. “Gross..” he thought to himself. Despite being wholly subterranean, the place was extremely well lit by tons of magical torches and other various light sources. Blues, pinks, purples, and reds gave the city a distinct dystopian punk vibe.

“I said this before, but this time I mean it,” Revenant looked back towards the children. “Welcome to Sanctuary.”

The children continued to follow him on the various walkways until they wound up in the center of Sanctuary. A group of people were there waiting for them. Above all of them stood Aldren at a podium made of some type of smooth stone.

“Line up, all of you.” Master Revenant said to the children. The kids did as instructed. Aldren took this as his moment to begin his speech.

“Welcome, recruits.”