Chapter 3
A silk blindfold wrapped around Mark's eyes. Someone hit him in the knees with a sword hilt and he crumpled to the floor. Two hands grabbed him by the legs and another two grabbed him by the hands. The air changed and Mark guessed he just exited the house. The kidnappers tossed him in a box and closed the lid. A few holes let spots of light shine on the blindfold.
The box began to move and Mark guessed he had been loaded on a wagon. He struggled frequently to loose the ropes, but they had been magically reinforced. The bonds could be as strong as The One for all I know, Mark thought. Hours went by. Once, the movement stopped and someone opened the box lid. He touched Mark and instantly his hunger vanished and his thirst became quenched. Then, the lid closed and the movement increased again.
Eventually, the wagon stopped after about a day of travel. Two men started talking.
"How does the ritual go again?" A shrill voiced man asked.
"First, you cast this," the husky voice stopped and Mark heard the sizzle of fire. "You conjure this," the voice stopped again and Mark heard the cackle of lightning. "Finally, ring this and it will fuse the two aspects." A soft, pleasant ring resonated from the bell and the fire and lightning sounds stopped. Suddenly, a new sound formed. Mark related it to a sucking, like a man who had almost drowned gulping for air. The two men went back into the wagon and the world exploded and nothing existed. Mark, in this infinite eternity of nothingness, thought that they had entered a portal.
Quickly, the world reformed and Mark's senses readjusted. A man grabbed him and tossed him on the ground. He slashed the blindfold off, slicing a gash diagonally across his face. The man smeared a healing salve on the wound instantly before the pain could start and a scar formed instantly. "Your scars will show your rank, recruit." The man told. He cut off the ropes and removed the gag. Mark stood up and tried to punch his kidnapper in the face with his left hand. For the first time, Mark realized that his hand felt like a sac of bricks and he could barely lift it. The man noticed his struggling and a smile crossed his face.
"Don't you remember, we helped you win that fight!" The husky voice flashed blue and Mark's hand became lighter than the air. Then, with a wave of his hand, the hand dropped to the earth, creating a dent in the earth.
"What…? Didn't I destroy their magic?" Mark grunted in exertion as he got to his feet. The metal arm hung loosely from his side. The man's eyes flashed a rainbow color and Mark's hand glowed with every color known to man.
"That charm is one of the basic defenses they teach in the academy." The man laughed at Mark's ignorance. "You rookies always crack me up!" Mark stood in shame.
The two men that kidnapped him lead him towards an establishment. The usual The One's insignia was engraved into the gate. As soon as the three men approached the gate, two angels dropped from the sky in front of them. Their bodies were a solid white and quite shapeless. Only the beings' weapons could be clearly seen. The two men touched their chest and their clothes dissolved. Carved into their chests was the face of The One. The tattoos glowed in the fiery power of The One, obviously increasing their power by connecting them with The One. The angels shared a look and pointed their silver blades at Mark's heart. He jumped back and felt his heart skip several beats. Sweat instantly coated his face. Then, the angels brought their blades back and stabbed at Mark.
As the blade slid into his body, Mark began to see his entire life. He didn't even feel the burning kiss of the blade when it pierced into his soul. He watched the visions that the angels' extracted from him. The beings watched all his memories and the present. Then, with a pulse of rainbow color from the angels, the blades formulated Mark's future.
The One stood before him, a watchful stare fixed on him. A man approached Mark put his hand on his shoulder. Mark gently dropped to his knees and the man unsheathed a sword. This special sword had two blades placed parallel to each other on an extra long hilt. Preparing the blade, the man dipped the rightmost blade in a whitish fluid. Although the fluid burned the sword to a blunt edge, Mark could smell the healing magic in the fluid. The man gestured Mark to remove his shirt and he gladly did. The man placed the sword gingerly onto Mark's back and then poked through the skin, deep enough to scar, but shallow enough to only cut capillaries. The second blade swept over the wound and instantly healed it, but left a black scar.
The vision faded and the blades retracted out of Mark's body. The weapons left no injury and the angels flew into the sky, disappearing from sight. Mark collapsed on the soft earth and passed out. Then, a sharp pain came from his side and he awoke quickly. "What happened?" Mark asked. One of his kidnappers grabbed him by the hair and leaned down, staring into his face.
"You were weak and gave in to exhaustion." The man hissed. He slammed Mark's head onto the ground, causing a bump to form on his forehead. Slowly, he got to his feet and looked at his two kidnappers.
"Sorry… that… "experience" was really… weird." Mark told.
"Yeah, I remember that first time I met the angel guardians." The shrill voiced man touched his chest and his shirt reappeared. "It wasn't pretty," he smiled.
"Come, lets go!" the man with the husky voice waved his hand for them to follow.
Mark examined the small town. Directly in front of them was a huge building, over thirty floors high. The husky voice man stopped and pointed, telling Mark the building is the dormitories. They followed a path past it and around the building. They passed small arenas and the shrill voice man told Mark that they were training grounds. Mark saw a new building that glow with divine magic. The husky voiced man grabbed Mark's shoulders and stared him in the face. "Your in too deep to turn back now. You're about to join the prestigious ranks of The One's assassins. In the academy, you will learn to cast magic; you will receive the boon of The One. You have seen our boons. They were the tattoos. Do you have any questions before you see The One?"
"Why does The One need assassins? Aren't the angels enough?" Mark asked. The shrill voiced man shook his head.
"The angels can't be assassins. They are summoned creatures, and even if The One did summon one, they are stuck within the influence of spell range. I'm sure you have seen spell range's application before. A spell can only go so far before the power that made the spell vanishes. Well, summoned creatures can't leave a certain area where they were summoned without fading. Assassins must be trained to seek out the targets of The One." Mark nodded. He understood the task before him. He must defend his God.
"I have one more question. Why me?" Mark asked.
"You show prowess. You successfully broke out of a high level charm and you have a lot of talent. Your will be a powerful agent one day." The husky voiced man explained. Mark began to smile. He wasn't a worthless commoner anymore. He now was somebody.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mark followed the men towards the glowing building. As they approached it, the smell of fire, water, medicine, plants, and death assailed Mark's senses. He started to see hallucinations in the glow. At one moment, an apparition of a man planning to steal a noble's wallet and the next moment a man murdering someone. The hallucinations were always of crimes, maybe they function like a bulletin board would, Mark thought.
For the first time, Mark noticed what the two assassins wore. Black shirts, coats, pants, gloves, boots, and glasses were both worn by them and seemed to be the standard of dress. Hundreds of people, always dressed in solid black, seemed to meander around the campus. Finally, they entered the building. "We must go, we have work to do." The shrill voiced man said and gave Mark an inspirational push.
The inside of the building seemed to be every color and none of the colors at once. When Mark focused on one spot, it seemed translucent, but when he looked away the spot glowed with colors. A man approached Mark. "Hello, I see you're a recruit." The man pointed at Mark's face. His hands felt the scar that had happened earlier. "Follow me," the man walked around the corner and Mark followed. At the end of the hallway, the man showed Mark into the room. Three other people sat in seats, all with the same scar across their face, like Mark. The real assassins had three scars, two diagonally and one vertically through the nose. No one seemed to have two scars.
A man beckoned for Mark and gave him a slip with a number, four. The man's eyes flashed blue and a chair appeared next to the other three. Mark sat in it and looked over at the fellow rookies. All of them wore clothes of commoners, worn shirts and faded pants. Mark thought about it for awhile then fell asleep. For the first time in his life, he had a dream.
Mark… you are under my care now. The One's image swirled into view of Mark. Nodding, Mark bowed before him. You will be powerful one day. My power will help you become stronger. Do you accept my boon? Mark nodded.
"Number four, get up!" the man shook him. "You need to follow me." Mark stretched his legs and arms then followed the man. The dream lurked in his memory, The One's face vivid and clear. Its eyes convoyed the love and caring a mother gives her child. Does this happen to all the recruits? Mark thought. The man led Mark to the center of the building. He opened large translucent doors with the insignia of The One. The room was mostly hollow and filled with a shapeless void. "Now, jump into it, don't be afraid." The man placed a hand on Mark's back and pushed.
The void never ended. Mark eventually stopped screaming after a minute and the image of The One filled his vision, with those love and caring eyes. The fear melted away and a booming voice filled his head. Mark, I am your creator, your master, your guardian. I am what you call The One. The void you are falling through is a magical realm. Humans cannot look at my brilliance without dying. Now, onto the matter at hand; what does you talent suggest you should do. You're filled with strength and a weapon for that strength. There is a spark of magic in you, one inherited from your father. Minutes pass and Mark waits patiently for The One's decision.
Mark, you wonder why I need assassins, don't you? There are people powerful enough to kill me. I cannot interfere in the lives of the citizens of this world. I have very little actual power. Mark gasped. "You're a God!"
No, I am a demi-god. I am powerful enough to sustain this world, but can do very little else. However, my assassins are the extensions of my will, a will that can possess more power than I can, without abandoning the world.
"What do you want for me to do?" Mark asked. Suddenly, he was on his feet and a man stood before him. He took out a blade and sliced Mark across the face four times. Each searing cut quickly healed from an applied salve. Mark, you are now a mage assassin. Mark felt his three new scars. Two new scars were perpendicular to his nose, one above and one below the eyes and parallel to them as well. The other two new scars vertically sliced his nose and diagonally across his nose. Suddenly, magic pumped through Mark's bodies and his mind exploded with spells. He knew how to cast thousands of them.
The man looked at Mark, "Its time for the boon." He touched Mark's shoulder. He slowly went to his knees and the man took out a special sword, the one seen in the angel-induced premonition. The event happened exactly as the angels saw it. The whole ceremony took four hours, eventually creating a scar pattern of The One's face. The boon focused and caused a surge of power to flow through Mark. He turned around and presented his chest for carving. Another two hours pasted and an identical scar pattern eventually formed on his chest.
Mark's eyes glowed with the divine power of mana and The One. "I am ready!" He yelled and a pulse of energy swept through the cavernous room.