“The night I inherited his name was my greatest achievement… and our greatest tragedy.”

The dimly lit lamp illuminated the blood that splattered on the wooden floor. At the darkest night of the month when the moon was absent, we completed our job. My master cut their throats clean. Not a single squeak was heard from the targets’ mouths. Every member of the family that lived in this house died. Quick and clean, that was how it’s done.

I did not know what they did wrong but a job was a job.

We trashed the place and took the valuables before we left. For this mission, it must look like a robbery. We studied this family’s daily life for the past month. Master knew what to take and where to find them. He already took them out and spread them on the living room’s floor. The loot had bundles of money, various jewelries, and some documents. I packed them and left them by the front door. The handler and the cleaners handled the disposal of those items after.

Clang-!

I heard a loud sound of something metallic falling by the kitchen area.

Everyone was supposed to be dead. Master did not count wrong.

“Khali-!” Master’s voice rang from one of the bedrooms.

“I’ll check on it.” I responded softly.

I swiftly slid towards the direction of the sound. Behind the dining table, I saw the silhouette of a young girl hiding. She must be around my age. I went around with steps devoid of noise. After getting close enough behind her, I proceeded to cleanly cut her Achilles tendon. She struggled while losing balance. Her body dropped with a thud, and then I choked her while she was down on the floor.

No witness.

She was not on the list but we cannot let her live. I was going to stab this pocket knife down that vein in her neck. She was struggling to breathe while I pin her down with the weight of my body. She grabbed the sleeves of my sweatshirt while I raised the knife that was about to take her life.

“Re… na…” She muttered; her voice cracked.

“Ah- This is not good.” I thought before crashing her throat.

I made a small ki orb to have a little light. She coughed gasping for air as I pulled her by the leg to where Master is.

I recognized the girl.

She tried to talk but she could not anymore.

Master and I were what they call a “Ki Master.” We have the ability to control this raw destructive power. However we were careful in using it. This power may leave traces that other people with ability can detect.

Fast and Clean. No overkill.

“What is that?” Master asked.

“A friend.” I answered while I pushed her forward. “She’s not in the list but she is also the childhood friend of one of the targets.”

“You recognized her in this darkness.”

“She called my name.”

“Your name?”

“The made up one I gave her when we used to meet and talk about random stuff. Some conversations are quite informative.”

“Do you like her?”

“I guess.”

“How unfortunate.” He said while handing me his hunting knife. “What is she doing here at this time? No luck at picking a good time to stay over, huh.”

I accepted the knife. Despite the darkness I felt her gaze, pleading for her life.

“I’ll finish packing. You finish your business with her.”

“Understood.”

I turned my sight back at her and then kneeled leveling our eyes. She was mouthing something. I heard inaudible noises so I had no idea what she was trying to tell me. Maybe she was begging for her life, or maybe she was cursing me. I will never know, and it did not matter even if I do. Whatever it was, it’s none of my concern. At this point her death is inevitable.

I brought her close to the door. It was to make it look like she was caught while running away. The family members were killed in their respective rooms so that the robbers have more time to search for valuables.

“The times I spent with you, I do see them as something valuable. It was not a waste.” I said while pointing the blade of the knife at her neck. “I will treasure those memories. ‘Rena’ is not my real name. Master and I do not officially exist, so I do not have a real name. But my master calls me Khali. If you need to know what your killer is called, you can have that.”

She grabbed onto my arm but she did not have the strength to stop me. The blade dug deep in her neck cutting into her throat. Her strength gradually faded as more blood spilled on the floor. I watched as the life in her slowly drained away.

The scene reminded me of my childhood training and master’s lessons. I have always known what master’s job was like because I was being raised to become like him.

One day, master brought home a little bunny. He said I could take care of it. I was happy. I thought it was very cute. I took care of it like a parent would to her child. Then a year later, while in the middle of my combat training, master handed me a real knife.

“Kill it.” He said while pointing at the rabbit.

At first I did not know how to respond.

“Those things are weak and they live a very short life.” He lectured while taking me closer to the little animal. “It’s going to die anyway. Don’t you think it’s better if you do it yourself?”

I had never defied my master’s orders.

For me, this kind of life is normal. There was no me before being a killer.

I checked one last time if she was dead. She was no longer breathing, her arms limp, and her eyes devoid of light.

My job was done; time to catch up with master.

I was still an apprentice. I did not usually do the killing but in case of unexpected events I was obliged. These events include taking care of a running away target in case master’s hands were full. There were times I took care of the witnesses. I learned a lot and even though I think I already had the skills necessary to become an assassin, I was still not allowed to take on missions alone. I was master’s replacement once he died, so for now, I cannot take his place yet.

“Is it done?” Master asked while carrying two duffel bags.

“Yes.”

“Let’s go.”

He dropped the duffel bags by the entrance as we left that house.

The next day, the police could only conclude that this crime was a simple case of robbery with murder. Even if the evidence can tell otherwise, they have no way of finding out about us. We will be gone from here, and no one can trace our non-existent tracts.

Master had no real name either. But in the guild, he was called “Senza.” However a long time ago he also used the name “Datark.” I did not know how he became an assassin. He did not talk about it. Though sometimes he told me stories; things that happened in his job before he got me. He said I should learn from his experience so that I would not repeat some regrettable stuff he did. When he was very drunk, he would sleep-talk about the things that haunted him. Because of that I got to know a bit more about him. The things that he did not want to tell me if his senses were clear.

What he openly told me was the story of how I came under his care. Master pleaded to train a successor which is something that the guild had not done before. It seemed that the high command became interested to try it out. One day after he completed a job, master picked a house in the slums. He killed both of my parents and took me. Since then he had been carefully raising me to replace him in the future.

That was like the bedtime story he used to always tell me.