Chapter 7 - Test

Corvo stretched, yawned as he climbed out of bed. He went to the bathroom and completed his morning ritual.

He exited his room in his normal attire and began to take a stroll around the grounds of the Fortress.

As he explored, he managed to find the lobby again. He began thinking of what Jakob said, regarding training. Corvo hardly thought he needed any training. He'd protected Jessamine for years, and their daughter even longer, the only thing that got the drop on him was a witch, and those were far and few between.

As he continued exploring, he noticed that something was off. Corvo was exploring for nearly half an hour and had hardly seen anyone. In fact, he had not seen a single person. Not any of the maids, (other) bodyguards, or butlers. He came upon the dining room, which had a large table in the centre, chairs made of the same cherry-wood colour adorning each side, two at each of the ends and three in either side.

Movement in the corner.

He took note and proceeded to rest his hand on the chair at the end of the table. I'm about to be ambushed Corvo thought as he counted down until the shifting in the back of the room became loud footsteps. The Royal Protector turned quickly to see Jakob charging at him, tossing knives his way. He leapt out of the way, causing the knives to dig into the table and chair. Placing a hand in his pocket, he grabbed his blade and flipped it, causing the blade to show itself. The butler stopped upon seeing the blade and replaced the throwing knives in his hand with a slightly larger one. Close quarters then.

The white-haired man charged forward, the knife held expertly at his side, he swung at Corvo who parried the attack just in time for his free hand to punch Jakob in the face. He failed as Jakob was quicker than the Royal Protector anticipated, he jumped back, handspringing himself back onto his feet.

"So, this is your training?" Corvo said, his sword at his side. The retainer kept silent as his eyes focused on something behind Corvo. He had just given away his allies' attack. Corvo lunged to the right, away from Jakob and the new challenger. After rolling back to his feet, Corvo saw a woman with pink hair sat in the spot he had just dodged from. She wore a maid's outfit, which seemed ridiculous now that she had a combat knife. She nervously shifted after standing upright,

"Uh, hello. I don't believe we've met."

"We haven't." Corvo said, readying himself for another strike

"Oh, well, I'm Felicia! Hi…!" she said with a nervous smile, she tried to wave with her free hand but it knocked the knife out of the other, she made a small yelp as it fell. Corvo turned to Jakob,

"This is the kind of protection that you give your prince?"

"I assure you she-"

"I promise I'm more reliable in combat!" She interrupted. Jakob glared at her, as if speaking with his eyes, Felicia responded accordingly,

"Right! No cutting people off when they're talking!" She itched her head with the handle of the knife. Jakob turned back to Corvo and sighed,

"Let us continue."

He lunged forward at Corvo with Felicia throwing daggers as ranged-support. Smart, Corvo dodged Jakob's knife as one of the throwing knives grazed his arm, he was now falling to the floor, his back against facing it. Using this angle, he kicked Jakob in the chin and sent him to the floor, disoriented, at least for a short while.

Corvo looked at Felicia and ran at her, sword at the ready. The girl took out her knife and began fighting him. She was on the defensive, giving Corvo control over the fight. She was quick but so was Corvo. As she dodged, Corvo kept it going, each strike being as quick as the last. Eventually, she was not on the defensive anymore. They traded strikes and Corvo almost felt that he was training Emily again. They locked blades, giving the bodyguard time to glance over his shoulder.

Jakob was back in the fight.

The man jumped high in the air his weapon readied behind his head, held backwards, he left hand reaching for Corvo to grab him and keep him in place.

Corvo saw no other way out of this predicament in between the two retainers. He removed one of his hands from the handle of his short sword and clenched it into a fist. The Mark of the Outsider glowed a bright blue and he disappeared in a wisp of blue. Felicia and Jakob gasped as they collided with one another.

"Where did he go?" Felicia asked, the question on both their minds.

A figure stepped from the shadows.

They readied for a fight, their knives held in a defensive stance. But when they looked at his face, they were met with a cold, metal one instead, in the shape of a skull. The bottom portion of the mask almost looked like a smile, the eyes looked unforgiving, as if they were being judged by an executioner. Jakob spoke after examining his outfit and did indeed see that this was the man he and Felicia were training. Why he wore a mask was beyond him. To strike fear into them? To mask his fear? Jakob could not tell what the mask was for, and neither could Felicia. The butler spoke in his posh voice,

"Is that meant to scare us?" the masked man just cocked his head to the side, not giving a 'yes' or 'no' to the question.

"It's working…" Felicia mumbled, which earned a look from Jakob

When he turned back, Corvo was still there, but he was walking in a slow manner. Creepily, he spoke, his voice muffled by the mask,

"Where are the others?" He asked holding his hand out in question, "I know there are other retainers, you aren't the only ones. Are they hiding? Waiting to test me?" Jakob ignored his questions,

"How did you do that? I had you in my sights but when I reached you, you disappeared. How?"

"My secrets are just that. My secrets, none of your concern."

"We do not keep secrets from each other."

"Judging by our conversation last night and your attitude, I would say you do not consider me a part of this 'we' you speak of."

"Trust is earned over time. As of now, I do not believe you are fit to be Lord Corrin's bodyguard."

"I am not your bodyguard, it is not your decision."

"You are correct, it is not up to me…" Figures stepped out from behind the pillars, revealing another maid with blue hair and the Gunter. Corvo recognized them from the night prior and saw that they had their weapons drawn. The older man sported a spear, and the girl stayed in the back, her hands glowing a faint blue.

"… It's up to all of us." Corvo looked at his odds, he did not want to use up any resources, so no gadgets would be used, save for a few sleep darts, he only had five, but he knew how to concoct the serum that is used. He decided to use at least two and along with the Mark of the Outsider, he should be able to win this easily. The Mark not only gave him supernatural abilities, but also gave him slight enhancements, such as jumping twice, giving his strength a boost so he could lift heavy objects and of course make his reflexes sharper than they already were.

Upon seeing the mask, Flora and Gunter were battle ready, they had thought that there was an intruder on the grounds until Jakob explained that it was he was a recently recruited retainer. They understood, but Gunter spoke,

"There is no need to hide your face, Corvo. We know who you are." He said, his stiff military voice reminding Corvo of the captains of the Watch in Dunwall. Corvo did nothing but turn his attention back to Jakob, who began speaking,

"You may use all your equipment and abilities - disappearing acts or otherwise - as you see fit to incapacitate us, or make us unable to fight, we have a healer on standby, so no one will be fatally injured. Do you understand?"

Corvo flipped his blade, unfolding it, and caught it with the same hand.

"Let us begin."

Gunter was the first to strike, Corvo dodged the blade of the spear easily, positioning himself to his attacker's right. Swiftly, Corvo disarmed Gunter and threw his spear to the other side of the room as Jakob made a follow up attack, his knife grazing Corvo's side, underneath his armpit, making a long gash across his ribcage. He grunted and used his blade to strike back, interrupting Jakob's follow up attack, forcing him to block instead. Gunter resorted to hand-to-hand tactics while Felicia threw knives from behind and her sister was throwing… Ice particles?

Corvo was seemingly trapped, but his enemies did not know of his powers.

He casted a minimized Windblast to the ground and forced his attackers to back off. The masked man began running onto the table, trying to draw them out and split them up. If he did that and quickly dispatched them one after another, then he would be able to win this without using too much energy. However, he was prepared to do so. Corvo saw Gunter's spear, he knew that the armoured-clad man would try to get to it, so he ran towards it. To try and use it against him, as a projectile if need be. However, the ground was glazed over in ice and he slipped and fell. Corvo tried to get back to his feet, but he could not get a grip in the ground. Jakob was running on the table pursuing Corvo. The assassin's left hand started glowing a faint blue and he disappeared in a flicker of blue.

Gunter and Flora were surprised, but Jakob and Felicia were expected this and kept their weapons up. Gunter finally retrieved his spear and was running on the ground which the ice had now disappeared from. A faint sound could be heard from the shadows and Felicia fell to the floor with a needle sticking out of her lower back. Flora called out "Sister?!" as the shooter materialized from the shadows and grabbed her, putting her in a chokehold. She was knocked out in seconds as Jakob and Gunter were trying to figure out where he was shooting from.

They finally saw him as Felicia and Flora were both unconscious on the floor. The assassin reached into his pocket and flipped the handle of his sword again, the blade emerging from the parting halves.

"Sorry about the mess." Corvo stated glancing at the two sleeping sisters. Jakob and Gunter were ready to fight once more as the masked man ran and jumped at them, his sword above his head before he struck down with all of his force, making the butler stumble. Corvo body-checked him into the table, making him fall to the floor, but he recovered quickly. He and Gunter were side by side and Corvo did the same he did with the bandits. They could not attack at the same time, the nature of their attacks differ too much and they would endanger each other. Jakob was short ranged so he would get in the way of Gunter's long-ranged aiming. Corvo had see this happen too much with the watch officers, who wound up shooting each other aiming for him.

The butler attacked first making Corvo jump back and was now on his one knee, ready to lunge until he looked up to see that Gunter was charging at him with his spear. Corvo opted to roll to the left instead. Corvo ran at Gunter, parried the blade of his lance and got it under his right armpit, rendering it useless to him. Jakob was about to strike when he saw that Corvo had his sword in his left hand now, holding the point at Gunter's throat, his right holding his wrist as well as the armoured man's weapon. The butler lowered his knife.

"Yield." Corvo said, slightly out of breath. Jakob put his knife in it's sheath, sitting on his right hip. A smile found it's way to the butler's face. Approval? Admiration? Corvo had no way of telling what the man felt aside from the fact that he was happy – or at least satisfied – with the recruit's performance. Corvo lowered his blade, removed his mask and shook hands with his conscious examiners. They both turned around to see Felicia faced-down on the floor snoring lightly. Her sister doing the same but quietly. The door at the end of the hall opened as a teen-aged boy stepped through.

"Lord Corrin, you're up!"

"Yes," He looked at the state of the maids, "Um… what happened exactly?"

"They were training me. So, they wanted me to 'make them unable to fight' as Jakob put it." Corvo said, turning to the butler.

"Lord Corrin, I believe this man to be a capable bodyguard for you."

"Oh, well that's good, but…" he looked at the maids, "Will they be all right?"

"Yes, they'll be fine. I just used a serum to put Felicia to sleep and her sister I just choked her out… for lack of a better term. They'll be fine."

"Oh, good!" Corrin said relieved, "So what are we doing today? Is Xander going to come train me?"

"Lord Corrin, you aren't doing anything." Jakob said as he walked over to him taking him and setting him down in the chair at the door's end of the room. "But why?" Corvo spoke,

"I think Jakob is right. You and Elise were kidnapped last night, you need some rest. Half of the day at least, if you want to train in the evening I will oblige."

"Indeed, Xander has to admit all of the bandits to the Nohrian guard. They were held in the dungeons of the castle from this morning today. As an unfortunate result, he and your other siblings will not be able to come by for at least a week." Corrin looked down at the table in front of him.

"I see." The prince stood up, "But I don't want that to bring me down. I want to train and surprise Xander when he comes back!" Jakob slowly brought him back down in the chair "What…?"

"Breakfast first." he simply said, "Right." Corrin replied. Jakob rose from the floor,

"I will prepare it, seeing as how our kitchen staff is… busy" He said as Corvo was picking up the maids to put them in chairs of the dining table.

As Jakob left, it was just Gunter, Corrin and Corvo in the room, save for the unconscious maids. Gunter spoke,

"Your moves are impressive. Very quick. Not something seen in men our age."

"I've been told I'm deceptively quick in that sense"

"By the by, how did you disappear? I was looking right at you and there was a flash of light and you were gone! How did you do that?"

"I was summoned into a realm outside the one's which we humans live called the Void and I met a being called the Outsider, whom is thought to be evil and conniving. He gave me supernatural abilities, so that I could save my daughter and the entire empire from turmoil." Corrin and Gunter had faces like they believed it. Corvo thought they did. Until Gunter grinned and Corrin laughed saying,

"All right, fine, don't tell us!" Gunter's was merely a quick chuckle. He spoke,

"Were you… serious?" Corvo held up his arms and waved off the question,

"I just know a few spells here and there. I dabble, never really stayed committed to that like I did combat and swordsmanship." He lied. Corvo was not about to tell them that he was from another world, where advanced weaponry exists and magic is as rare, with only a select few people in one's lifetime being Marked by the Outsider.

Jakob came back with food and refreshments for Corrin. Corvo told the prince to find him later for light training, but he insisted on training as hard a he could. Corvo agreed and left him to eat. Corvo resumed his stroll around the Fortress, he began wondering how Emily was doing. If she was holding up all right without him by her side. He began thinking about what could possibly go wrong. With the Duke Luca Abele out of the picture, there was little to worry about in regard to magic. Even if there was anything to worry about, Emily had her skills with a blade and her abilities to fall back on. Daud was dealt with. Corvo probably was never going to see him again. He could live with that. Could he not?

His decision to let Daud go has never sat well with Corvo. He kept wondering if he made the right choice, will he ever kill again? Not likely. He was wrecked with guilt when he fought him in the Flooded District. The odds of him attacking Emily were slim to none at best. Then there's the boat captain that Emily told him about. She had something to do with Jessamine's murder. Billie Lurk was one of Daud's assassin's. His black-hearted band of mercenaries that killed for the highest bidder. Emily let her go. Her explanation was that suffering has a way of changing people. Guilt can make someone break. Her father knew that. He saw Daud. Even overtime, after seeing Hiram Burrows in Coldridge Prison, he saw it in him as well. How many people had they killed? How many lives were ruined because of coin. Daud and Billie Lurk saw the dark side of the world. Hiram Burrows did not see things as they were when you were the one that spilled someone else's blood. For him, Jessamine's murder was a means to an end. A way for him to get what he wanted. And once he had it, he suffered the consequences. He was afraid of the people around him falling to the blade of an assassin who, with each falling target, was getting closer and closer to him. Hiram Burrows was not afraid of guilt, or making people suffer.

However, the man was afraid of death. Not only that but losing everything he had worked to create.

Now the shriveling old man was rotting away in Coldridge Prison, reflecting on his life's decisions. At least Corvo knew where he was. Daud, however, remained a mystery. The longer he stayed that way the better. In fact, it's been sixteen years, he may already be gone.

Enough dwelling on the past.

He did not realize it, but it was already noon. Corvo must have slept in longer than he thought.

The time to train Corrin had come quickly, they were to meet on one of the Fortress' watchpoint, which were connected with all the others, creating a large platform for one to traverse. From these towers, one could see the vast forest which surrounded the Fortress. Corvo climbed the long staircase that preceded it carrying two practice swords he received from Gunter, who remarked that it was more appropriate that Corrin would be trained by a sword user. It would be more beneficial, seeing that Xander's weapon was of the same nature.

As he reached the final step, he opened a trap door to see Corrin standing looking out at the forest. The sun was in the sky, but it would set in a few hours. The prince turned at the creaking of the door to see Corvo who only nodded as he closed it. Gunter was standing by a table which Corvo placed the two training swords on. The Royal Protector nodded to the retainer, who did the same. The swords were not the same size as Corvo's, they were more akin to the swords used by the City Watch in Dunwall. Longer and thinner, but still a sword. Corvo spoke, his gruff voice piercing the silence of the world around them,

"You have trained before, correct?"

"Yes, Xander trains me when he comes to visit."

"Good, then you should know the basics."

Corvo picked up the training swords, the wood feeling slightly awkward in his hand, he was more accustomed to the metal ones, but he still could fight.

"Shall we begin?" The Royal Protector said,

"Yes." replied the prince.

Corvo handed him one of the wooden swords and they both assumed their positions on the battlefield.

"Show me what you can do." Corvo readied the sword held in front of him, in a defensive stance, "Attack me."

Corrin held his sword in front of him and ran, holding his sword at his right side both hands on the handle. He was going to strike horizontally, an easy enough dodge. Corvo did such as to his left, rolling out of the way just as Corrin released his energy into the swing. Corrin felt the light tap of Corvo's sword in the back of his right leg, he turned to see Corvo on one knee his sword stretching from his right hand to the trainee's leg.

"You made your approach too obvious. Try again" He ordered in a cold manner,

Corrin assumed his position once more and readied himself for the strike. Corvo nodded at Gunter said "Ready, and… Start!"

Corrin began running again, but his sword was held above his head. So, he was going to try for a powerful strike, but Corvo could dodge easily again. Maybe he was trying something else? Was it a double-strike? Corvo's questions were answered when Corrin reached him, the Prince swung down, slightly to the left and then he quickly struck horizontally, slashing rightward. Corvo predicted the downward slash, but not the side strike. Corvo tried to block the downward strike head on, but he was not ready for the horizontal strike. Despite this, Corvo dodged by lunging backwards. "Better," he said, standing up "Again."

Corrin slightly more satisfied with himself, jogged back to his spot and made himself ready once more. Corvo did the same. "Attack me." the Royal Protector repeated. Corrin complied with the man's order and ran forward but was surprised to see that his target began moving as well, darting towards him. His guard was off and he was disarmed, Corvo holding his sword at Corrin's throat.

"You need to be ready for anything. You never know what your enemy will do. Always assume they will be ready, so you must be the same." He lowered the wooden blade, "Again."

The training went on for another two hours until the sun was lower in the sky, making the sky turn black at the opposite end. Corrin had made progress. He was a little faster than what he used to be. Using tricks and teachings he had taught Emily not too long ago; the Royal Protector was able to get the prince to land a few strikes on his opponent. Jakob had appeared from the trap door in the floor saying that they had just received word that his royal siblings would be coming tomorrow morning. Corrin acknowledged this message and he disappeared again. Corrin turned back to his new bodyguard, who was now holding the training sword by the blade in his left hand. He pointed to Corrin's and he handed it over.

Training was done. The three men believed that the prince would be ready for Xander through more training as the week progressed.

All his retainers congregated in his chambers to wish him a good night. He had to get up early - before the sun rose to train. Corvo would train him, he was his bodyguard after all. Everyone bid the prince a good night's sleep and Corvo began walking to his room. He was joined by the two sisters he had fought earlier.

"Hello, sir!" the pink-haired one spoke, nervous for some reason. The bodyguard nodded and held their eye contact. The blue-haired one spoke, in a much more calm and composed voice than her sister,

"We just wanted to say that you are a skilled fighter and we are glad to have you on our side." Corvo nodded and replied with,

"Thank you. You two are skilled as well. Your knife throwing is accurate, and your magic can disrupt the enemy. It's useful."

They walked in silence for a little while, until it was broken by the nervous sister,

"So…" Corvo and the other maid turned to her, "How did you move that fast? It was like you disappeared!" Corvo replied,

"I just dabble in a little bit of magic here and there. Most of my skills are focused on the sword."

"Ah, I see…" Silence fell on the conversation once more until Corvo reached his room and pushed open the door, "Have a good night." He said to his companions who bid him the same.

Closing the door behind him, he was finally alone, Corvo drew the bath and removed his clothes, as he sunk into it, allowing his thoughts to collect.

When that was over, he went to the bed to sleep.


A week had passed, allowing Corrin to receive training and Corvo to bond with his fellow retainers. The prince was now able to fight and hold his own against his retainers. Corvo was told not to hold back, so that Corrin would be ready when facing Xander. On the final night of Corrin's training, the Fortress had received word that Xander would ride here in the morning. To ensure that everyone was well rested, they were sent to sleep early. As Corvo fell asleep, he felt that the prince would be ready for his brother.

Corvo woke up to see the same place he had fallen asleep in, but it was different. He was in the Void again. He knew it. The Royal Protector took off towards the door to find it locked from the outside. He turned around to see that his bed was gone. In fact, the entire wall was gone, leaving the room open to the Void. There was a clear path for the assassin to follow, so he did.

It led him up to a larger rock, big enough to be a platform. As soon as he stepped down onto it, he appeared. Dark energy enveloping him as he formed in front of Corvo.

"Greetings again, old friend." Corvo sighed,

"Why am I back here?"

"I just wanted to give you a forewarning, you'll see why Corrin is so important to this world on the days that approach. A choice needs to be made by him, and depending on the choice he makes, the world will change in accordance." Corvo thought about this for a few seconds,

"Since he's so important, why haven't you given him your Mark? Why must I be here?" The Outsider let out a chuckle, echoing in the Void,

"I can't give him my Mark. If I gave him that much power along with the power he already has, the poor boy would not be able to handle it. He would either kill himself or rule the world. There is no in-between." Corvo could not sense any overwhelming power from the prince, even when they trained. Could he not detect it? Is it hidden power? Does Corrin even know about it?

"If he's so powerful, then why do I need to be here?"

"I knew it would be interesting." He held his arms up and spread them out, "You have exceeded my every expectation. I live for the moments you created back in Dunwall. The man who murdered the woman you loved in front of your daughter, you let him live. Anyone else would have cut his throat and went on their way." The Outsider floated towards the ground and stepped onto it. "Hiram Burrows, who orchestrated the entire thing and even who brought destruction to the city. The plague that destroyed everything that Jessamine Kaldwin had worked so hard to build. Yet, you let him live as well." It was true, he did let them live. But not a day goes by that he does not question his decision. He was slightly angered, Corvo had wanted his life to be quiet and uneventful from the point that Emily was on the throne. He wanted to leave the life of fighting and assassination in the wind. From this desire, his anger rose. However, he remained silent. Corvo was always good at self-restraint.

The Royal Protector blacked out and awoke with a start to see the stone ceiling of the Fortress staring back at him.