“Why are you here?” Armand asked, not bothering to open his eyes, sensing another presence in the room. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he appeared to be meditating on a platform similar to that of the training hall, albeit smaller. “I already told you to call me only when he’s ready.”

“Dimitri’s ready for the next set of training exercises.” He heard Mikhail’s voice say.

“Impossible!” Armand kept his eyes shut, his tone derisive. “It’s only been less than three hours since he started. No one has been able to complete the combat simulation program in less than a week, much more so in less than a day.”

“Apparently, it is possible to complete all 100 levels in two hours and fifteen minutes, to be exact.” Mikhail stated matter-of-factly.

“Impossible!” Unable to concentrate any longer, Armand opened his eyes and glanced at the clock on the wall. “Dimitri’s best time for Level 50 was three days and for Level 100, a little over a week.”

“After completing Level One, it only took him less than 30 seconds on average to defeat his opponent at each level.” Mikhail, standing just outside the small platform, summoned a few virtual screens in between them. The screens all displayed Dimitri in various simulated combat program levels. “Why don’t you see it for yourself?”

“What’s going on here?” Armand carefully observed each virtual screen, shock clearly plastered on his face the more he watched each video. “How can he possibly know where the opponent would strike next? Each level’s style of attack is randomly chosen and rarely repeated.”

“I have asked him the same question.” Mikhail, already standing on the platform adjacent to Armand, adjusted his spectacles, his eyes also glued to the screens. “He merely shrugged and attributed it to instinct and gut feel.”

“Impossible!” Armand frowned, still unconvinced of his rival’s new feats. “Dimitri and I are not at that level yet.”

“Well, the evidence before you proves otherwise.” Mikhail turned to Armand and smiled, his tone gripping with mockery. “What more can we infer?”

“But this is absolutely beyond reason.” Armand uncrossed his legs and stood up, ignoring Mikhail’s blatant provocation, still scrutinizing all of Dimitri's videos. “What is he doing now?”

“He is sort of polishing his skills by going through all 100 levels again.” Mikhail grinned with a proud look. “Although at a much slower pace this time.”

“I see.” Armand drew in a long breath and nodded with a composed expression. Despite his calm demeanor, his hands tightened into fists, betraying his threatened interior. “Just proceed with the next set of training exercises without me.”

“Call me when he’s done with everything.”

***

“Level 100 - Complete!”

“Just as I guessed.” Dimitri exhaustedly sat on the floor, panting hard, wiping off the beads of sweat on his face. Having completed all 100 levels twice with some trial and error, Dimitri finally figured out one of the core features of the mysterious system.

“It looks like the combat simulation program really got hacked by that black ball.” Dimitri concluded despite the absence of any visible wires connected to the platform. “Those faceless figures merely act as guides or cheat sheets. But I still have to do all of the heavy lifting myself.”

Despite feeling tired, Dimitri knew he had gained a lot from this whole experience. At this point, he could genuinely fight with anyone without relying on sheer luck or his erratic memory fragments.

“I could probably escape if the situation is not in my favor.” Dimitri crossed his legs, closed his eyes and began to meditate. He took long deep breaths, inhaling and exhaling very slowly, clearing his mind from all of his thoughts.

“I wonder what else that black ball can do!”

***

“You have successfully completed the combat simulation program.” Dimitri, still sitting on the floor resting, heard Mikhail say, disrupting his train of thought. “Let us proceed with your next set of training exercises, shall we?”

“What?” With a questioning look, Dimitri turned to the AI butler, still hovering outside the semi-transparent barrier. “You mean there’s more?”

Mikhail simply rolled his eyes. “Do you think that a mere combat simulation program would instantly transform you into a professional assassin?”

“I should hope so.” Dimitri countered, exhaustion becoming more apparent on his face. “So far, your training did not allow me any other choice, but to kill, did it?”

“Well, you are quite ill-informed.” Mikhail started to explain. “Being an assassin is not just about killing people. It is the art of intricately manipulating the situation to shift the blame to someone else or conceal the real cause of death, making it appear either natural or self-inflicted.”

“It all boils down to murder, does it?” Out of sheer exhaustion, Dimitri lay down on the floor and closed his eyes. “Whether it’s me or the target, someone ultimately dies at the end, right?”

“You can call it whatever you want, but isn’t it simply cold-blooded murder?”

“Of course, it is.” Mikhail agreed. “The Council has been established for centuries mainly to eliminate any internal and external threat.”

“How do you expect those threats to be eliminated without killing them?”

“As long as the weeds are not pulled out from the ground, they will continue to grow, depriving the real plants of their rightful space,” Mikhail continued, adjusting his spectacles. “It is your job as an assassin to skillfully uproot all those pests, preserving society’s equilibrium.”

“But, of course, I am just an AI.” Mikhail merely shrugged “So what do I know about human affairs, right? I am only here to fulfill the orders of my maker.”

“What a bunch of psychopaths!” Dimitri murmured, shaking his head. “Fine! So what’s next?”

Dimitri knew full well that he no longer had the moral compass to distinguish between what’s right or wrong. His past actions had already shown that he himself was indeed a cold-blooded murderer, with or without his amnesia.

“Strategy and tactics!” Mikhail declared before his figure vanished into thin air.

“This again?” Dimitri immediately stood up as the familiar heavy fog gradually engulfed the edge of the entire training platform. Unable to see beyond the barrier, he simply listened to the sounds of metal clunking underneath him, his expression filled with curiosity.

“I wonder if the black ball also hacked the succeeding training exercises!”