“It’s pretty crazy, isn’t it?” Roy said, kicking a pebble on the ground. He hunched over, hiding his hands in his winter jacket.

“What is?” Nathan replied. “Straighten your back, by the way.”

“Oh, yeah. Sorry.” Roy fixed his posture before he continued. “I’m still not used to walking so. . . upright, I guess, but you’ve got a point when you say it makes you a lot more confident.”

“A good posture is the starting point,” Nathan said. “No matter how buffed you are, if you’re hunched, you’ll look like a moron.”

“I’ll try not to take that to heart. You should be more careful with your words, dude.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

“Aren’t you cold?” Roy asked, eyeing Nathan’s thin jacket.

“I have always been resilient to extreme temperatures. I mean, I can’t go about walking naked when it’s minus twenty, but I can handle zero degrees in a light jacket. It’s mostly the wind that makes things complicated.”

“Okay, now I’m jealous. You and your bloody assassin genes. Honestly though, ever since you told me about the gene thing, I felt so discriminated against. I mean, what is this shit? I want to have superior genes, too.”

Nathan laughed wholeheartedly.

“That’s not funny, you idiot. It’s unfair, that’s what it is.”

“Like hell it’s unfair. While you were still sucking your thumb, I was already pummelling RTDs into the ground.”

“Those bloody robots don’t count.”

“Oh really? How come anytime I ask you if you wanna come and train with those bloody robots, you say ‘I’m not ready for that yet…?’” Nathan demanded, his voice a squeaky impression of Roy’s.

“Wh—you know what? Fuck off! It’s you who said that I’m not ready yet, and I just repeated your words back to you.”

“That was three months ago and after our first sparring session where, let me remind you if you’ve forgotten, I kicked your ass in less than ten seconds without using my hands. You’re a lot different now.”

“Really? And how’s that? You still kick my ass.”

“Of course I do. What sort of an assassin would I be if a slightly muscular skeleton were to beat me?”

Roy had been going to the gym three times every week—sometimes even four or five. He had gained weight, but he was still far from muscular. He had only just put a stop to the “malnourished chihuahua” taunts of his classmates.

“I now need to use at least one hand if I want to beat you in under ten seconds,” Nathan said.

“Oh, isn’t that great. I’ve ascended!”

“I’m surprised you even know what that word means.”

“I’ve been studying, you know. I don’t want to be an idiot.”

“Good luck with that. You really do choose the most arduous of tasks. Becoming an assassin and not being stupid.”

“I have no idea what that means, but I’ll have you know I’m not as stupid as you think.”

“’Arduous’ means really hard. Like a task can be arduous. You becoming an assassin is an arduous task. Me losing to you is an arduous task. You—”

“Okay, I get it, I get it. Now shut up.”

“And I’ll have you know, I don’t think you even have the mental capacity to imagine how stupid I think you are,” Nathan went on.

“Oh yeah? Then I’ll have you know, that. . . that. . . ” Roy looked around but couldn’t think of anything intelligent to say, so he grasped at the only straw he could find. “I’ll have you know that you can fuck off. That’s what I’ll have you know.”

Nathan had a habit of laughing out loud whenever Roy incoherently told him to fuck off.. “Sure thing. . .” he said, trying to stifle a chuckle. “Anyway, where’s this restaurant you’ve been talking so highly about?”

“Dude, you’ve got no idea. It’s called Spicyflame and it’s fuckin’ crazy, I tell you.”

“Spicyflame? I presume they offer mainly spicy food there? Aren’t you scared it will burn through your feeble body?”

“Like hell it would. I might be a wuss, but I can handle spicy food like nobody else. I eat ghost peppers with ghost peppers for breakfast.”

“We’ll see about that.”

“Sure thing. But don’t back out later once I’ve got you pinned. Wanna have a contest?”

“Why not?” Nathan smirked.

***

“You. . . fucking. . . monster,” Roy gasped, collapsing down on his seat after eating the last spicy rib.

Nathan took a napkin and nonchalantly wiped the corners of his mouth. “That was pretty tasty. It could’ve used a little more spice, but other than that, it was definitely a banger.”

Roy chugged a whole glass of milk before he could speak again. “It’s gotta be the genes. You’re not normal. I swear to god, you’re a fucking monster. A freak.”

“A freak who won a contest that you suggested. I’d feel ashamed.”

“Yeah? That won’t be happening. I’m not ashamed, I’m disgusted.”

“I could argue that that’s kind of harsh, but coming from an inferior being such as yourself, I’ll take it as a compliment.”

“Blah, blah, blah. . . would it hurt you to respond with a simple ‘fuck off?’”

“Of course it would.” Nathan drained his soda glass. “I won’t be here for the next week.”

“Why? A mission?”

“Something like that. It’s hard to explain and I can’t really say much. I think you can understand that.”

“Yeah, I know.” Roy’s shoulders dropped slightly. “You’ll be fine, right?”

“Of course. But you won’t be if you start slouching like that.”

“Ah, sorry.” Roy hurriedly fixed his posture. “Oh, by the way, have you heard from your father?”

“I haven’t. He’s apparently on a long mission somewhere in Rhitrea. Infiltration of some sort.”

“Do you know when he’ll be coming back?”

“I . . . I have no idea.” Nathan’s shoulders dropped this time. Rafael had always implied his father was fine and on a lengthy mission, but he had never explicitly stated it. Despite Rafael’s artful dodges around questions, Nathan believed him. He wanted to believe him. He had to believe him. Why would he lie? But then, was it lying to be evasive? Nathan fought anxiety every time he thought of his father, but he had decided long ago not to think of the worst-case scenario.

“Oi, oi, oi! What’s with that posture?” Roy crowed.

Nathan straightened his back immediately and released some killing intent to silence Roy’s mockery. Roy gulped and fell silent. Nathan chuckled and asked the passing waiter for the check.

“H—hey! That’s not funny. Do you have any idea how it fucking feels?” Roy protested, hugged himself and shook. “It’s like you’ve got needles on your skin and somebody’s pouring boiling water down your throat. You can’t just do that.”

“Of course I can,” Nathan smiled. “I finally learnt how to control it to a certain extent, so why not use it? If you think about it, I am essentially practising so that I can teach you better.”

“Could you please practise it on the idiots you’re killing, not on me?”

“I’ll consider it.”

“Thank—”

“The answer is no.”

“Fucker. Just you wait, I’ll kill you one day.”

“Good luck with that. You wouldn’t be able to kill me even if I were already dead.”

“What if I were to order an assassin to kill you? Huh? What would you do then?”

“First of all, you need to be eighteen to do that. And second, by the time you’ll be eighteen, I’ll be strong enough to kill any assassin you’d send after me.”

“Ooooh, if it isn’t Mr. Confident.”

“What else should I be if not confident?”

“Humble, perhaps?”

“You can be humble when you’re dead. The time to brag is now.”

The waiter approached with the check. Nathan quickly picked up both tabs.

“Do you want me to pay you something?” Roy asked when the waiter left.

“All good. You’ll pay next time.”

“Okay.”

“With you, I never know if you’re paying the check or buying the whole restaurant.”

“Why the fuck would I do that? Are you jealous or something?”

“Not really, no. I’m good. It’s not like I have no money myself.”

They walked in silence for a while. Nathan didn’t particularly care, but Roy apparently couldn’t stand it.

“So, ehm. . . any news on the anti-assassination movement? How has my mom been doing? She doesn’t tell me anything.”

“I think she does that for a reason.”

“Don’t tell me—”

“Don’t worry. I have no problems with telling you,” Nathan said, revelling in Roy’s dependence on him. Information about his mother was like a drug to Roy—a drug only he could supply. “I haven’t been able to get much information lately. There are some internal struggles that I’ve reported to your mother and Dayla that could prove useful, but it’s a very thin line currently. I proposed we wait for a while, not only to see how the situation develops, but also so that I can make it higher in the hierarchy and possibly offer better information to them.”

“So you’re admitting that you’re not the biggest assassin, huh?”

“I never once said that, you moron.” Nathan gave Roy’s head a light smack. It would have been inconvenient to hit harder and kill him. “I only said that I will be the best assassin. Give me four or five years.”

“You didn’t have to smack me on the head. Now it’ll be your fault if I remain stupid forever.”

“I won’t even bother refuting such a demented statement.”

After seeing Roy off to his place, Nathan went back towards the station. It was a lengthy walk, but it gave him time to sort his thoughts and finalise the plan he had devised. He still had to call Rafael, which he decided to do right away.

“Hey, Nathan,” his voice crackled through the line. “How did it go?”

“Decently. I told him I’d be gone for a week and he was happy with me saying I’d be on a mission. But that’s not why I’m calling you. I wanted to ask you something. It’s about my plan.”

“So you already have a plan? It was only yesterday that we spoke about it.”

“My mind works pretty fast,” Nathan said matter-of-factly. With Rafael, he felt no need to brag or present himself strategically. “It’s not the final version, and I will most likely have to devise several contingency plans and alter it on the go since I can’t foresee everything. Especially in a foreign environment.”

“Understandable. So what do you need?”

“Do you have a map of the island where the second part of the exam will be taking place?”

“As a matter of fact, I do. Can I e-mail it to you?”

“Sure. As long as it’s readable, I don’t care how you send it.”

“Do I want to know why you need it?”

“Don’t worry, it’s nothing dangerous. Well, other than my neck being on the line a couple of dozen times in the span of a few days.”

“Oh. So not too dangerous.”

Nathan had expected a different answer and was disheartened at the lack of concern, but it somehow gave him a lift, too. Everything hinged on whether Rafael was confident in his skills or simply indifferent. Nathan had a hard time ascertaining that over the phone.

“In that case, that’s all I wanted. I’ll talk to you in a week.”

“Good. I’m looking forward to the spectacle. You know I’m in charge of recruiting new assassins, along with Pyke. We’ll be watching everything.”

“I’ll make sure the exam is anything but dull.”

“I sure hope so. Entrance exams are getting pretty boring since there’s so many of them. Hopefully, this one will be a little different.”

“It will. Talk to you later, Rafael.”

“Have fun, kiddo.”