Chapter 3

As we walked down the quiet halls, I began to notice that the building was arranged in a symbol, although what symbol it was or what it represented was beyond me. Eventually, after wandering the building for about ten minutes, we found a door with a sign labeled "Testing Room." Collin opened the door and what I saw amazed me.

The room appeared to be an open field, but I saw no one else. All of a sudden, I felt a change in the air, and I spun around, trying to subdue whatever was behind me. I threw a fist into the spot where the air had moved, but all I felt was something touch my hand, and I just collapsed, holding my now limp left hand.

"Don't worry. You should regain the use of your hand in about two minutes. However, please refrain from attacking your teachers in future," I heard a young but harsh voice. When I could finally get up, I saw a man, no older than 30, standing near me. He was wearing civilian clothes, but for some odd reason, I couldn't quite focus on him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Collin trying to look at the man.

"Oh, right, forgot about the perception filter," he mumbled as he messed with his watch. After he finished, I could look at him, but he just looked us with a look that I thought was either intrigue or hunger to see our abilities.

"Sir, is this the training area?" I asked nervously.

"Yes, this is. Now…what are your names?"

"I'm Wyatt and this is Collin."

He just looked at me, and I just caught him muttering, "Well, what has Marsh dragged in this time? They don't look like they could even take out one guard."

"Sir, we may not look like much, but just give us a chance. We will prove we know what we're doing," I retorted. I could tell that Collin was confused about what had fueled that outburst, and the man just looked at me with some odd type of stare-down.

"Ah, not just pathetic-looking, but observant as well. Okay, then. Well, I suppose I should introduce myself. I am Major Pellham. I run all training courses, and if you ever need extra help with a skill, I'm the one to ask. Now, please step into this chamber, and we'll get started."

We walked in, and the room's door sealed behind us. The room was plain white, with no control panels or plugs anywhere.

"What are we doing-" was the only thing I could choke out before a sudden burst of air sucked the air from my chest. We had somehow been transported to another time, or so it seemed. I just shrugged it off and began to check for weapons and armor. I had a decent set of metal armor on and was wearing some kind of robes, which were all white and seemed to be made just for me. I saw a pile of weapons laying about ten feet away. I ran for the weapons, and Collin was right behind me. I picked up a metal bracer, which had some sort of insignia on it that I couldn't identify, and began to look at it. I thought it was extra armor, so I slid it onto my left arm. I tried its fit, and when I flicked my wrist upwards, a small blade came out of the bracer! It was small, but long and looked lethal. I left it on, and grabbed a dagger and pistol from the pile. I saw Collin pick up the same weapons I did, and a message flashed to life right in front of me. It read, "Mission: Assassinate your target. Use any means necessary to complete the mission." Based on Collin's reaction, I guessed the same thing had happened to him.

"Well, let's go," I said quietly. We both went in different directions, heading for our targets. I found I could call up a map of the area, with my target marked by a gold diamond. I followed the map until, about 30 meters from my target, I ran into a group of guards, who were blocking the only entrance to the city. Then, I saw a beam jutting out of the wall of the city. I ran to the beam and using my speed, ran straight up the wall and grabbed the beam. I pulled myself up and jumped to the next one, continuing to hop across beams and grab loose stones to get over the walls. I got over the wall in about 2 minutes, finally reaching a rooftop. After looking around, I jumped down to another roof and started to run. After 20 seconds, I heard a warning. Instinctively, I ducked behind a chimney and reached for my pistol. Silently praising the gods that it had a silencer attached, I lined the guard up in my sights and, slowly pulling the trigger, shot him in the head. His head literally exploded after the bullet made contact. Not sparing him a second glance, I continued for about 20 meters along the roofs of houses and shops, shooting any guards I saw. I reached my target and, moving back ten meters; I dropped down to the street and slowly walked up to him, unsheathing the blade in my bracer. He questioned my presence, but I didn't give him a chance to draw his weapon. I stabbed him in the throat, making sure to cover his mouth to keep from alerting any guards. I slowly laid him on the ground, closed his eyes, and ran for the city entrance. However, what I saw after getting to the entrance worried me. The guards were gone, and I was free. I pulled up my map, and saw a new marker: a red one, in the shape of the same symbol I kept seeing. Selecting it, I saw that Collin was in trouble. A message then flashed in my vision: "Mission complete. Report to base immediately."

Completely ignoring the message, I ran for Collin's position, drawing my dagger. I finally reached his position. He was being overwhelmed again. Just like before, I grabbed one and threw him into the rest of the guards, incapacitating them, and once again unsheathing my blade, stabbed the final guard in the back, killing him. Next thing I knew, the landscape dissolved around us and we were back in the training room. All I could see was Pellham, and he looked ready to burst.