*Hey everyone, back with another chapter, hope you enjoy it!*

"Ryo was murdered by Hans Roth on the contract."

Kingston's eyes widened and he couldn't say a word for a good few seconds. The rest of the group stayed silent and let Luka speak.

"By Hans Roth? Do you mean Noah Roth?" Kingston's expression turned into a confused one as he realised what Luka just said.

"No, I don't mean Noah Roth." Luka inhaled deeply as he paused between his sentences. "Hans Roth. The leader of the Roth family. He was there."

"That's impossible! We gathered intel that he wasn't supposed to be there..."

"And yet, he was." Kingston's sentence was cut off as Luka's voice became very rough. "He fucking was."

"I did my research, Cvitković, don't you dare put this on me!"

"Who the fuck else am I supposed to put it on?!" Luka was shouting at this point. "And you clearly didn't do enough fucking research."

Kane and Hugh looked at each other with concern, but they silently agreed to not get involved in this. If either of them stepped out of line, they'd stop the argument, but as it was, they understood Luka's pain.

Frustrated, Kingston looked at Hugh and Kane to try and read their faces. He quickly realised he wouldn't be able to get them on his side. "Where's Galler now?"

"Ryo's body is with Barton. He said he'd take care of the body until further notice." Luka tucked his hands into his pockets, lowered his head slightly and closed his eyes as if he was waiting for Kingston to continue the conversation.

Eventually, Kingston spoke up. "Do you mind explaining what the hell happened? What's the status of Noah Roth?"

"Noah's dead. I shot his brains out whilst he tried to pull a gun on Ashley. A few short seconds after that Hans Roth broke the door down and shot towards me. Ryo pushed me out of the way and took the hit. That's it." Luka opened his eyes and glared through Kingston. The room became silent for a few moments.

"Oh, and also..." Luka spoke up once more. "He mentioned a name very familiar to me with his last words. He told me to protect her."

Everyone in the room looked at Luka with curiosity.

"Nicole Kaiser."

The only person who seemed to recognise the name was Kingston. His eyes widened as Ashley turned her head slightly and questioned. "Who's she?"

Luka turned his gaze towards Ashley. He exhaled deeply once again. "Nicole was a templar girl who Ryo introduced me to when I was 19. Well, she wasn't a Templar, but she came from a templar family. She had to move away after a few weeks of staying in Croatia, though."

Kingston confirmed with a nod. "Ryo brought her to me and I explicitly raised her to be an assassin. She got her alias because her parents and grandparents all served the Templar order. Her alias is The Rogue. Some of you might have also heard about her family surname." Kingston paused for a few moments. "Kenway."

A mutual shocked expression came across Hugh and Kane's faces while Luka's expression remained intense and Ashley's stayed confused. "Hold on, I thought her surname was Kaiser?"

"It is. She changed it at a young age after her parents died. She didn't wanna associate herself with them in any way, shape or form, so she took her mother's maiden name back. Her father was a pure Kenway, though." Kingston briefly explained.

Kane tightly gripped his chin as he looked deep in thought. "Kenway? Isn't that family known for flip-flopping between the Templar and Assassin orders throughout the years?" Kane crossed his arms and spoke up.

"The Kenway family are mostly known for their contributions to the Creed, but for the last few generations, the Kenway family has been serving the Templar Order." Kingston remained calm and casually explained.

"Nicole's not a Templar." A serious sentence came out of Luka's mouth as he nodded his head towards Kingston. "You should know that firsthand, shouldn't you?"

"I haven't heard from her in a while. For all we know, she could have compromised the situation." Kingston's expression and tone changed to a serious one.

Luka's eyes darted towards Kingston's face. "You're suggesting that Nicole went back to her family roots?! She would never do that, she hated her family!"

"And you know that how?"

"Aren't you fucking paying attention? Ryo's dead, his last words were telling me that I should find Nicole and protect her. Why would he ever trust her if he knew she was a Templar?!" Luka stepped forward and started shouting.

"Maybe he didn't know she was a Templar."

"And you fucking do?! Where the hell is this coming from? Do you not have any faith in the fucking person you've raised yourself?!" Luka slammed his fist on the table in front of him.

Hugh raised his voice. "Luka, take a breather. Go outside and get some fresh air."

Luka looked at Hugh and realised he wouldn't get anywhere by having a one-sided argument. "Fine." He stormed out within seconds after grabbing his jacket. The room fell silent once again.

Kane turned towards Ashley. "Grab your coat and follow him, would you please?"

"On it, Kane." Ashley proceeded to sprint out of the apartment.

Kane turned towards Kingston. "Brian, let's chat. Why's Nicole Kaiser so important?"

Kingston sat down in his chair, as did Kane and Hugh.

"Where do I begin?"

"At the beginning." Hugh joked as the men shared a laugh.

...

"LUKAAAAAA! Wait up!" Ashley desperately tried to keep up with Luka who was now sprinting down the lonely, cold and empty road.

"Go away, Ashley, I wanna fucking be alone!" Luka shouted back at Ashley for the first time in his life. "Just leave me be!"

"But, someone needs to look out for you! Would you slow down for a minute, please?!"

The high-speed sprint now turned into a parkouring session as Luka jumped over several tall fences in a row and began climbing an abandoned factory. He didn't shout anything back this time. Ashley kept up, however. He wasn't gonna be able to shake her off that easily.

"You know I'm faster, right?!"

No response.

"I don't want to cause you trouble, I just want to talk...or even listen, whatever you want!" Ashley's voice suddenly became desperate.

Nothing.

"I just want you to be okay, please!" She shouted at the top of her lungs with tears forming in her eyes.

They were on the flat rooftop of the factory at this point.

Luka stopped dead in his tracks and clenched both of his fists, his back turned towards Ashley. His head began shaking slightly as he clenched his teeth and slammed both of his fists onto the floor. He kneeled and let out a ferocious scream. Within a split second, Ashley crouched down behind him and hugged him from behind. Her arms were tightly wrapped around his shoulders and chest now. The only noise that could be heard on that depressing night on the dirty and abandoned rooftop was Luka's tears hitting the solid concrete beneath him and his quiet whimpers.

A single word came out of his mouth.

"Ryo..."

...

"I guess I should start from what Galler told me before." Kingston cleared his throat as he began his monologue. "Nicole Kaiser Kenway. She was 18 years old when I met her after she travelled to England along with Galler. He told me her backstory briefly."

Hugh and Kane became intrigued.

Kingston began quoting Ryo.

*"Nicole's one hell of a teenager, Brian. She's Austrian and she ran away from her Templar family. According to her, she didn't want to be associated with Templars as soon as she met me. To be honest, it's obvious she's admiring me in some bigger way than just basic respect that she could have for me. I was most likely an innocent crush or just someone she admired a lot when we first met. Although, that kinda changed quickly."*

"That quickly changed?" Kane questioned Kingston's story.

"Nicole had an eye on another male assassin that's currently in the Creed." Kane and Hugh's expressions slowly evolved from confused and intrigued faces into shocked ones.

Both of their eyes suddenly widened as they looked at Kingston. "Wait..."

"Yup, it's Luka."

...

"Nicole was the first woman I fell in love with. It was insane to think about at the time when my priorities were far from being in a relationship. I was too busy with my parents kicking me out of my house, joining the Creed and training myself to death to become a good assassin. I've never even considered falling in love..." Luka paused for a moment. "Until she showed up, of course."

...

*"She travelled to Croatia, and I was doing contracts over there at the time. I was mostly hanging out with Luka, so I introduced the two of them to each other. They immediately got along and after a few weeks, they did the deed! It felt so quick and yet so natural due to their relationship being so good."*

"That makes sense. You'd have the same reaction as Luka if your best friend died and your first and most important relationship partner could have been behind it all." Hugh crossed his arms and leaned back. "I'm fairly certain that's his only relationship, as well."

Kane nodded, silently agreeing.

"Alright, you got the basic premise of the story. Now, let's get into the detailed version." Kingston took a sip of his drink. It was probably alcohol. "Ryo was doing a contract..."

...

Flashback.

It was a quiet and lonely night. Back then, the world was a simpler place and people got along better. The Templar revolution was just starting, so the world was starting to change in many different ways. We still find ourselves in Croatia, but we're back in Osijek this time around. A very tall and fit young man was just finishing up a contract. He swiftly pulled out a phone after escaping the local police and dialled a number.

"Luka! Are you around tonight?" A cheerful voice with an accent could be heard speaking into the phone.

"Ryo. Depends, what're you up to?" Luka answered whilst catching his breath and sitting down for a second. He just finished a workout.

"Just finished up a contract." Ryo quickly had to flee the scene, so he quickly shouted to Luka over the phone. "Gotta go, though, come to our spot once you're done, I'll wait for a while!"

"Have fun." Luka hung up and put his headphones back in.

After an hour or so, Luka climbed up a small abandoned tower. It was used as a storage facility for a long time before it became another piece of metal left to rot on the depressing streets of Osijek. These kinds of buildings never got revamped, changed or deconstructed in any way. It was probably for the best since the town's funds could not cover it all. Therefore, Osijek became an unofficial 'abandoned' city.

Luka only waited a few minutes before Ryo arrived.

"You okay?" Luka questioned as Ryo hastily looked around him to ensure he wasn't followed.

"We good, we good." He stretched and sat on a nearby box.

"Is there something you wanted or did you just want to chill?" Luka crossed his arms, leaned against the wall and looked out of the massive window of the tower.

"I have someone I've been meaning to introduce you to since yesterday." Ryo quickly stood up and leaned over the edge of a window opposite Luka. "Go on, climb up!"

Luka became intrigued as he eased up his stance. A short, but agile figure slowly revealed itself under the bright moonlight. It was a teenage girl, but she was beautiful. Curly orange hair, a fashion sense similar to an assassin and a great body to match it. Luka blushed a small bit, but he quickly shook it off.

"Luka, meet Nicole Kaiser! She's an Austrian girl wanting to enrol into the Creed!" Ryo presented Nicole to Luka as she bowed slightly. "Her family's full of templars, but she still wants to become an assassin, ain't that great?"

"Oh, shit. That so?" Luka questioned as he crossed his arms tightly once more.

Nicole quickly nodded. "Yeah, although I don't wanna associate myself with my family too much."

"Understandable, really glad to meet you." Luka winked and smiled nicely.

Nicole blushed a little bit as she lowered her head. "Same here!"

...

"That was a fated night. I didn't realise she would mean that much to me at that moment, but I knew it was the start of something special." Luka rested his hands in Ashley's as she tightly gripped his.

"I know how relieved you are that she's alive, but still so hurt because you haven't seen her in so long." Ashley calmly relaxed her voice as she supported Luka thoroughly.

Luka slowly nodded several times before continuing with the story.

...

A few days of training and hanging out went by. Our trio went through many adventures and moments together in such a short period. Ryo kept doing contracts for the Creed, so he was a little bit busier than Luka, who had only just joined the brotherhood. Both of them still found time to talk to Nicole, however. They quickly formed a bond between themselves, but an even stronger bond quickly poked its head out as Luka and Nicole became closer and closer.

It was a typical afternoon. Ryo was focused on contracts, so Nicole and Luka spent the afternoon together. They sat on top of a billboard advertisement.

"You haven't told me much about your past, have you?" Nicole placed both of her palms on her chin and playfully looked at Luka.

"I guess it never came up." Luka leaned back and stared off into the sky. "I was raised by heavily political parents. They kicked me out due to my 'normal' opinions that every human being should have. That was 4 years ago."

"You were 15? That must have been rough." She gently brushed Luka's shoulder.

"It was rough until I came across Ryo and Hugh."

"You talk a lot about Hugh. What's he like?" Nicole stared towards the busy highway beneath them.

"Hugh's a huge lad. He can be gentle as much as he can be a pain in the ass. He's a good teacher, though. Without him, I wouldn't be here." Luka proudly smiled.

"Is there a reason you haven't introduced me to him yet?" Nicole nudged herself a bit closer to Luka.

"As much as I'd want to do that, both me and Ryo know things wouldn't go well if he found out you're a part of a Templar family," Luka said with disappointment in his voice. "I'm sorry."

"Don't mention it. You've apologised enough lately. I get the tensions between the guilds." She sighed. "Let's go do some parkour to clear our minds, yeah?"

She gently touched his hand until he grabbed it a few moments later. "Sure, love."

Nicole was skilful at parkour, and Luka's natural endurance was there, of course, but he has had little to no training up until this point, so he had trouble keeping up. Nicole has incredible potential, similar to Ashley and Ryo. She's always been agile and stealthy, but powerful, a natural Templar. They kept a good rhythm up for a while, passing lots and lots of buildings, stores and fences. Nicole looked like a well-oiled machine, jumping and leaping over anything in her path, while Luka seemed more human than her, tripping over more objects and slowing down at appropriate times. After a bit of time, they paused near a bridge.

Luka panted for air a bit before steadying his breath. "Goddamn, you're really good at this, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I was naturally blessed." Nicole cheerfully smiled. "Parkour and freerunning are similar to other hobbies in the sense that it has its little quirks to it that you could master." She began gesturing with her hands, indicating she was explaining something. "Say you're running up to a fence or trying to grasp the edge of a building. If you're well prepared or you're born with lots of talent, you will know the timing of catching onto that ledge or the perfect time, momentum and strength you'd need to use to leap up that fence depending on how tall it is. It's just things you get by practising a lot or being born with it. In my case, I was born with it, but I have been working hard to make up for my talent's shortcomings."

"I can't exactly relate. I was born with very little talent for anything, but you're right. I only started training boxing a few weeks after joining the Creed and I understand your point. Boxing has the same type of thing you're describing." Luka straightened himself out and leaned against the bridge. "Ryo's a lucky bastard, he has a natural talent in both boxing and parkour."

Nicole smirked and scoffed quietly. "Yeah, Ryo's amazing. He's a great mentor figure and a wonderful influence."

Luka chuckled. "I guess he's a better idol to have than most of the guild. Ryo's incredibly important to me, we're brothers for life, even if we didn't come from the same womb. I will never treat him like an idol, but more like a rival. I'm hoping in the future I can catch up to him, or who knows, I might even surpass him in some way." Luka turned around towards the setting sun and relaxed his body. Nicole couldn't help but smile happily.

...

"She loved Ryo. In many ways, actually. As an inspiration, a friend, a brother, a mentor. Hell, it sometimes seemed like she was in love with him, not me." Luka laughed through his sentence. Ashley chuckled as well. A few seconds of silence went by.

"Can I ask you something, lovely?" Ashley asked in the friendliest way possible. Luka nodded firmly. "Do you think you've surpassed Ryo in some way, then?"

Luka's eyes widened. "Huh...now there's a question. Hm." He pulled his legs closer together and sat in a more comfortable position as he stared up at the night sky. "No, probably not."

Ashley lowered her gaze and smiled with appreciation. "That's not even you being humble. I know it isn't. Was Ryo genuinely that strong?"

"Oh, yes. You saw our spar. I wasn't able to land a single solid hit on him." He paused for a few seconds. "However, I was starting to catch up to him. At least in terms of boxing, that is. If it was a legitimate fight, it would have been one hell of a fight."

"That's true. You've also been doing great work on our contracts, but neither of us has yet to unlock our true potential. We've got a long way to go, but we're slowly making progress." Ashley proudly stated with her head lifted slightly.

"I get what you're saying, but in terms of being an assassin and being an important asset to the Creed, I don't know if I'll ever surpass him," Luka said in a depressing tone, but followed it up with a more positive statement. "But I'll keep training and becoming stronger. Now I have a reason to fight even harder than before."

Ashley smiled happily at Luka's comment, as did he. "You wanna continue with the story?"

"Right." Luka snapped out of his daydreaming and continued. "After some time, Ryo and I had trouble keeping her away from the guild's contracts and duties, so Ryo offered to take her to Kingston. He quickly contacted him and informed him of the situation. Kingston agreed to see them in exactly a week, so that's how much time we had left together." He paused for a second before reverting to a more depressed expression. "Neither of us realised that would be the last time we would speak to one another for a very long time..." He continued after a brief moment and deep inhale. "She's been stuck in the back of my mind for a while. To tell you the truth, Ashley, throughout our relationship I've had several flashbacks to Nicole. There were a few moments of anxiety or fear that something would happen to you. It's an eternal fear I've had since I've met her. That's also the main reason why I hesitated to ever take our relationship to the next level. I love you, you know that, but I couldn't afford to get romantically involved..."

He slowly exhaled as he stopped talking. Ashley spoke up briefly. "You're too precious for this world. You know that, right?" She moved her hand forward as he grabbed it and squeezed it tightly.

"I know."

A few slow moments went by.

"Once we knew we had a week left before she had to head out, we made the most of it. We talked every day and hung out a lot. It was only a matter of time, to be honest." He smiled happily once again.

"A matter of time?" Ashley confusingly asked.

"Come on, Ashley."

You could almost see gears turning inside of Ashley's head. She suddenly gasped. "Oh, you did the deed!"

"I'm so proud of you."

Ashley cheerfully smiled with pride. Luka chuckled as they both stared off into the distance.

...

"So, Nicole's a natural? No wonder Ryo took such a liking to her." Hugh relaxed his body as he leaned back on the couch.

Kane got up to make a coffee. "It sounds like training her wasn't the easiest task ever."

"Training her wasn't easy, but keeping her identity a secret from everyone was another beast in its own right." Kingston shifted in his chair and crossed his arms. He quickly looked at the clock. "Gentlemen, I believe it would be for the best if we all got some rest now. Tell Cvitković to give me a call in the morning. I'll discuss a few things with him privately. I'll keep you posted on updates for Galler's funeral."

"We appreciate you, Brian." Hugh winked weakly as if he was exhausted.

"Night, Brian." Kane waved goodbye as Kingston hung up.

The only sound that could be heard between the brothers was a heavy sigh from Kane and a big yawn from Hugh.

...

It was a rough night for Luka. He couldn't fall asleep for a while until he was physically tired enough to pass out. There were several things on his mind, but only one sentence he formulated that night made any kind of sense.

"At least Ryo is talking to his sister in heaven now."

Only a few short hours after he managed to drift away, Luka got a sudden call. It was from Kingston, so Luka sat up and straightened himself out. He answered the phone.

"Master?"

"Do we clear things up?"

Luka sighed. "Sure."

After a bit of a long conversation very similar to last night's story, Kingston brought up an important topic.

"I do know something about Nicole's whereabouts. I'm probably the only one who knows about her, apart from a handful of assassins."

"Do you know exactly where she is?"

"Not necessarily, to be honest. I know she's in Italy right now." Kingston paused for a moment. "I've been meaning to introduce you, the White brothers and Richardson to an assassin for a while."

"Must be someone important." Luka got up and started brewing a cup of coffee.

"You know about Grandmaster Ezio, of course, but do you know of Gabriel Auditore?" Kingston questioned in a serious tone.

Luka thought for a second or two. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"He's a direct descendant of Ezio, currently performing contracts in Italy." Kingston paused once more. "Alongside Nicole Kaiser."

Luka's movements froze up for a few long moments. "How do I contact this man?"

"Are you aware of our Creed rankings, by chance?"

"Creed rankings?" Luka finished grabbing a mug as Ashley was starting to wake up. He prepared another mug for her. "I remember Ryo mentioning something along those lines to me at one point. I think he got into the top 10 or something? I don't know, I've never looked into it properly."

"The rankings are one of many ways for an assassin to evaluate themselves in the Creed. It counts things such as how many years someone has been active and doing contracts, the number of contracts finished, the amount of time they've been in the Creed and their overall position, whether it's a lower-tier assassin like you and Richardson, an elite like Galler or Kaiser, or veterans like the White brothers." Kingston inhaled a drag of smoke from his cigar. "Technically speaking, Galler finished the contract of murdering Noah Roth. That boosted his ranking a small bit. His years of serving the Creed and contracts finished will remain at a standstill, but he will remain on the leaderboard. His current rank is..." Kingston searched for the ranking written on a big list. "#4."

"Goddamn, that's pretty good!" Luka finished up both of the cups of coffee as Ashley joined Luka in the kitchen. He handed her the mug with a wink and she blew a kiss at him.

"Indeed it is. If you're curious about the White brothers, Hugh is #6 and Kane is #7, with Hugh having completed a handful of contracts more than his brother." Kingston scanned the list once again before speaking up again. "The #1 ranked assassin, and by a longshot, that is, is none other than...Gabriel Auditore!"

Luka's eyes widened for a split moment as his expression changed. "Well, he's a direct descendant of Grandmaster Ezio, but still...what a fucking beast of a man..."

"Quite, so it's not easy to get into contact with him, especially when he's out on very sensitive contracts that require small amounts of communication. However, I do have direct orders for you and the rest of your group." Kingston laid back in his chair as he finished his cigar.

"I'm listening, Master."

"You will travel out to Italy alongside someone from your group. I am unaware of when you shall be leaving or who you will be leaving with. These are all just plans to be made." Kingston quieted down for a few seconds.

"Everything okay, sir?" Luka questioned with concern as he sipped on his coffee.

"I am not going to be the one that makes the plans this time, Cvitković. These will be my last orders as the current Master of the guild." Luka's expression turned into a confused one, but it quickly relaxed. "Talk with the White brothers, they'll tell you more."

"Sir...I'm sorry."

"There's nothing to apologise for. No grudges or hard feelings. I have things to attend to, and I don't wanna keep you busy. I'm truly sorry for your loss."

"Oh...thank you, Master."

Kingston hung up shortly after. He left Luka with a confused expression. This wasn't the type of call he was expecting to get fresh in the morning.

...

"Kingston is being replaced?" Luka asked with confusion in his voice.

"It was only a matter of time. We told you that. All we know is that Barton will be the interim Master, meaning he'll be filling Kingston's shoes for a couple of weeks before a new Master is picked." Kane dragged some smoke from his cigar and blew them into various shapes.

"If anyone can do that, Barton can," Ashley stated firmly as Kane and Hugh nodded in response. "I bet he'd be a great replacement!"

"Let's hope you're right, love," Luka responded with a bit of heaviness in his voice.

"Alright, so what do we plan to do?" Hugh sparked up a conversation. "As much as we wanna mourn Ryo's death, we gotta start thinking about the next step."

Kane nodded. "To be honest, I don't know. Osijek might be too hot to go back to right now, seeing as Hans Roth knows about our existence now." Kane stopped talking for a few moments. Everyone darted their eyes towards him one after the other. "If Ryo was around, he'd know a place where we could go."

"As if Ryo knows more about my motherland than me." Luka stood up firmly and clenched both of his hands into a fist. "I know a guy an hour away from the capital. He owns a farm. I bet he'd be willing to let us stay for a few weeks while things die down."

Everyone's expression lifted. Kane stood up alongside Luka. "Give him a call, would you? I'll inform Barton about this."

"Yes, sir!" Luka exclaimed as he rushed back to his apartment.

...

A day or two later, the assassins find themselves on a farm owned by Luka's friend, Peter.

Peter's cheerful demeanour cheered them all up a small bit. He was a typical village boy and farm owner.

As poor as some of Croatia's farmers can be, Peter had a lot of land at his disposal. He was living quite comfortably.

"Welcome, welcome! I hope the travels didn't cause ya too much trouble!" A Russian accent was heard from the young lad.

"Nothing we couldn't handle, Peter, once again, I appreciate the favour." Luka walked up and shook the man's hand firmly.

"Nah, don't ya worry about it! Anything for someone like you! You've helped me out a ton back in the day." Peter began walking towards his property.

Luka chuckled as he remembered. "You're damn right I did." After a few moments, Luka spoke up once more. "You sure we can stay for as long as we need to?"

"Absolutely, Luka, absolutely! I got a few rooms for all of ye, and I made sure to tidy them all up!" Peter was a man of his word. Once they arrived at the rooms, they looked very comfortable. "You can eat whenever ya want, sleep whenever ya'd like, anything! Your wishes are fine as long as you're staying with me!"

Ashley quickly pulled Luka to the side. "Are all Croatians that reliable?"

"He's one reliable fellow." He winked at Ashley. "I wanna say most of us are at least a little bit generous, like Peter here."

"Now, I'm sure ye all are hungry enough. I've prepared some hefty lunch, though! Follow me if you don't wanna starve!" Peter's positivity was unmatched.

...

A few weeks went by.

The assassins still worked hard and did a ton of basic training. Day in and day out, they became stronger. Their skills have improved significantly, as well as their minds and bodies. Ashley was starting to form quite a ripped physique, while Luka built up more and more muscle. His back, shoulders, arms and legs all grew a size larger.

Hugh joked around whilst he was training with Luka. "You ain't a featherweight anymore, I'll tell you that much. You've probably moved up at least 2 classes."

"You're saying I'm a lightweight now?!" Luka exclaimed happily. "That's a big step forward! And I don't feel sluggish at all, if anything I'm more agile."

"Good! It means the training is working! Now, come at me! We have a few rounds to go!" Hugh was holding up some mitts as Luka began punching them again and again. Persistence was something Hugh wanted to increase whilst training his pupil, and he has definitely succeeded.

"Come on, harder, faster, watch out for random blows!" Hugh repeated as he punched towards Luka a few times, but Luka evaded all of the blows. An alarm went off, indicating that the current set of mitt training was over. "Alright, take a break, good work!"

Luka panted for breath as he walked over to his phone. He turned his alarm off and quickly set the phone down, but it rang as soon as he let go of it. He picked it up once more.

"Barton!"

"Long time no talk, Luka!" Barton sounded happy. "I got some major news for you, lad!"

"What's up?" Luka curiously asked.

"It's been a few weeks since the Noah Roth contract, and it seems like everything has quieted down enough. You're allowed to go out and perform some contracts once more!"

"Oho! That's some very exciting news! Do we got a specific task?"

"You do, indeed! Brace yourself, this is huge news!" Luka patiently waited as Barton loudly exclaimed. "You'll be travelling in pairs to two different countries! Kane and Ashley are tasked to go to France to help out with some important contracts over there. Your primary objective will be finding The Rogue, aka Nicole Kaiser, alongside Hugh!"

Luka's eyes widened and his heartbeat got faster. "Didn't Kingston say he had no idea where she was? How are we supposed to track her down?" Hugh walked over to Luka and noticed he was telephoning.

"I'll give you a pointer, brother." Barton ruffled through some papers as he stood up loudly from his chair. "Find Gabriel Auditore!" Both Hugh and Luka heard his name clearly. "Do that and you'll be able to find Nicole, as well."

Luka's eyes filled with determination as he proudly looked over at Hugh. Hugh deeply exhaled through his nose and crossed his arms with a cheeky smile.

"YES, SIR!" Luka shouted over the phone. Hugh looked up at the beautiful morning sky, still smiling.

"I'll call Kane and inform the other pair, as well! Happy hunting, and make sure to stay in touch!"

"Got it, Master!" Luka proudly yelled as Barton laughed and hung up after a few seconds.

"Luka!" Hugh shouted at his pupil as he pointed towards Kane who was receiving a call. "Let's do our best!"

"RIGHT!"

...

*End of Chapter 10.

Thanks for reading, sorry for the lengthy chapter without much substance in it. It was mostly dialogue. Hope you enjoy your day!*