"Who does she think she is? Making me to a recruiter…I mean, sure I haven't had much success lately, but that's no reason to demote me, wouldn't you agree?"

"Mhm yeah." Came the flat reply from the lilac-haired mage in front of me. Her nose was buried in a book, as usual. She had told me before it contained ancient water spells that could be used to wreak havoc in battle. Though, you'd figure that she should have at least memorized everything in it considering the amount of time she spent reading…

"Look, Kuhla" I said impatiently. "I'm sure your book is extremely important, but I'm pouring out my problems to you, so could you at least give a proper reply? Why did you call me to the library anyway?"

Her "response" was simply handing me a book and saying, "Read. Page 56. Now Shhhh."

I figured conversing with her further would be pointless, so I sat down and began to read. We were in her "domain" after all. Kuhla had proposed the addition of a library to Maxwell's temple the day she joined the God's Army. Maxwell, being her usual, stingy self reluctantly approved the project, and a month later it was completed in the west wing. It was a small circular room with a low table in the center surrounded by rows of shelves. Most of the shelves were stuffed with books and scrolls, as Kuhla had spent no time in filling them with sacred writings she had "collected" from passing water mages.

I was never one for reading, and Kuhla knew that, so anything she willingly handed to me needed to have some significance, least it be ripped to shreds like the Song From the Seabed fairytale. In fact, none of the other loyalists bothered to come near the library at all. Ulkina was in her laboratory 90% of the time, Tia always tended to her animal friends outside the temple, Rowgen obsessed over his power on a daily basis, constantly going out hunting (much to Tia's dismay), and Narza, well, for all I know he could be sitting alone in a room talking to his sword.

I sat down and quickly flipped to page 56 and stared at the image printed on it. The image showed the outline of a massive fortress with what looked like a deity floating in the middle. Spikes protruded from every imaginable angle, and there were what appeared to be two smaller figures in front of it. The text at the top of the page read "Skramya: the Ice Vermin". Faded writings were scrawled at the bottom of the page, and I could barely make out the words "bind", "new world", and "frozen" out.

"Hey Kuhla, whats-"

"Your target."

I blinked. Now that she mentioned it, this did seem like the type of beast Maxwell was describing to me. But how did Kuhla know about this? Had she been informed of my new mission already? "How did you-?" I began.

"Maxwell." she answered simply

I felt the anger return to my body, "Oh she did, didn't she? Maxie couldn't help but inform everyone of my faliures! She makes me sick do you know that?"

Kuhla simply sighed and returned to her book

"Is this too haaaard for you Master Assasin?" I imitated her, interlocking my hands and putting them beside my head. "If you fail I'll terminate your contract and make you my enemy oooh noooo…"

Suddenly Kuhla stood up and shakily put her hands on my shoulders. Her eyes met mine and I could see her worried look. "D-did she really say t-that?" she stammered.

"Kuhla what-"

"DID SHE SAY IT OR NOT?" Kuhla exploded, her voice suddenly serious

"T-the contract elimination? Yeah, she said it, but it was probably an empty threat."

"No…" Kuhla said quietly. "She wasn't kidding."

Fear suddenly struck me. If she eliminates my contract, then that means she can kill.." I shook my head, that wouldn't make sense. "Can she even do something like that?" I asked worriedly.

"Yes" Kuhla answered "She has been talking about doing it in the meetings we hold while you were away. She was gonna have Rowgen do it…"

"Rowgen…" I spit "That skull-faced coward? Like hell he will. I'll be sure to-"

"SILENCE!" Kuhla interrupted again. "That isn't important right now, what's important is your ability to complete this recruitment mission. Once you do, Maxwell should reconsider the option of terminating it."

"Hey no problem Kuku" I said putting my arm around her "I'm the Master Assassin, I got this!"

"W-well yes I…suppose" she said looking down suddenly. "J-just don't fail or else you'll…" She trailed off.

"Hey, I said I got this right? I'll be back for you, I promise." I added.

"O-okay, whatever you say K-kuda…" she shakily replied. Suddenly, she squiggled out of my arm and ran out of the library. "S-sorry Kuda. But I have something to…uh research! Yeah that's it, research!" She exclaimed rather anxiously as she took off. Her words continued to echo behind her in the corridor until I was left in silence.

"Man, she gets weirder and weirder every time I talk to her." I laughed to myself, ripping the page about Skaramya out of the book and stuffing it into my pocket. "Was that pink on her cheeks when she ran out?" I thought to myself. "It almost seemed as if she..." I shook my head, an assassin never, EVER bothers with romance. Love weakens you and bthe object of your desires can be used against you. "Just a friendly gesture" I said to myself as I closed the library doors behind me. "Just a friendly gesture".

I don't know about you guys, but I always thought of Kuhla to be like Tabitha/Charlotte from Zero no Tsukaima. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! I know it's mostly dialogue for now, but the story should pick up after this. Please feel free to comment if there is anything you want me to work on :)