Tehran tilted his head to the side, unsure of what exactly an assassin was. He wondered if they were some sort of special soldier, stronger, or faster maybe? He hadn't heard the term since arriving in the Order of Crows, so all he had to make of it was what his imagination could produce. "Sir Elder, what exactly is an assassin?" Tehran asked.
The Elder leaned forward, his mouth slightly ajar in surprise before turning to look at the nearby Thane. It seemed that he hoped the Thane could explain the boy's lack of understanding. The Thane, Aaron if Tehran remembered correctly, simply raised an eyebrow at the boy, then shrugged helplessly back to the Elder. "Elder, you did say that he was raised in a Tulken village before being captured and sold. Unlike most people here, it's possible he's just never heard of them. We also do, after all, obscure what we intend to do from most recruits here."
"I suppose that is possible, and easily remedied," The Elder said as he turned back to Tehran. "An assassin is specially trained, not a soldier, they're different than that; Faster, smarter and most importantly, much more deadly. They are born and bred to kill others, they're murderers who create something like art from flesh and blood," the Elder said, his voice becoming more heated and excited as he went on. "The greatest changes our land has seen did not come about in the light, it is the workings that you don't see that shape the annals of history and, more often than not, an assassin's blade was bloodied in the process." The Elder was obviously enjoying his explanation, he was now leaning over his desk, hands on the table for support as he stared directly at Tehran. "Boy, we are world-shapers in the truest sense. We guide entire countries to glory, or to complete ruin, based on as little as one action. Now tell me, does that not excite you? Potentially-"
"Elder," The Thane interrupted, "I find my blood boiling in excitement each time you give this speech, no matter how many times, but there are some things better left unsaid, at least for now." Tehran sighed in disappointment, their energy was contagious. Even if he didn't quite understand everything just yet, he found his heart beating faster and faster throughout the Elder's impassioned words. Even he was getting excited, the thought of being strong enough to defeat anyone that stood against him, sword in hand, imposing armor covering his body and his enemies either laying still at his feet or awed at his might.
The Elder grunted in displeasure as he flopped back down into his chair. "Quite right, sadly," the elder sighed, "but you understand what it is you'll become now, given some dedication and luck." Tehran nodded in response, he was sure that he could make more sense of everything later.
"But let us continue, we still have a couple of questions to go over." Tehran remained silent while the Elder took another drink from his cup. "Given the opportunity, would you take revenge on the people who captured you? Hurt them, capture and enslave them, or even kill them. What would you do?"
Tehran thought for a moment, but he honestly didn't feel much about the time he spent with his captors. He barely remembered it, in fact. The only thing he wanted was to maybe find his mother. She wasn't there with him when the village was attacked, she had gone to a nearby settlement to trade for food and other wares. He was left in the care of another Tulkan family. "I… don't really care, I think? They never really hurt me, they just kept me locked up and fed until I was sold. If anything, I just want to know what happened to my mother."
"I see. That's easy enough. The ledger, according to the reports on that outing, simply stated that they captured only Tulkan - there wasn't a single human, let alone any women, among those captured or sold," The Elder stated matter-of-factly. Tehran though was disappointed, but that also meant she hadn't been taken. Maybe if he went back he could find her?
The Elder wrote something down on the papers in front of him before continuing. "Next question. Have you killed anything before? Human, Tulkan, animal, or otherwise." The way the Elder asked this so calmly left Tehran feeling somewhat hesitant to answer, but he still responded quickly, "No, Elder. I haven't"
"That will change shortly." The Elder turned to the nearby Thane, "Aaron, make arrangements." The Thane gave a shallow bow, placing his fist to his chest in a brief salute, "Of course, Elder."
"Have you sustained any injuries that cause you pain on a regular basis? Sharp pains, stabbing pain, or otherwise? Do not include pain from training, but if you have been injured I must take note of it. Anything that may inhibit your training will be addressed."
"No, Elder," Tehran responded, the elder following up with a swift swipe across the page in front of him.
"Good," The Elder nodded. "Lastly, of all the neophytes you have met here, who do you feel the closest to and, adversely, who do you dislike the most?" The question was asked calmly and with barely any emotion, but Tehran had seen something behind the Elder's eyes, something… dark. Though, for some reason he wasn't appalled by it, his curiosity was instead kindled.
"I don't talk to the others much, they like to exclude me because I'm… I'm not human like them. Riven stood up to them once for bullying me, but that just got him beat up later. As for who I dislike… It's got to be Johnathan, no, his whole group. They're mean to everyone and it makes me angry. He stopped bothering me once I beat the shit out of him once, though," Tehran smiled up to his eyes remembering that moment, that was the most satisfying thing he'd ever felt. "Now he can't even look me in the eyes."
The Elder smirked, just barely lifting the corner of his mouth. The dark Tehran had seen before was spreading to his smile now as well. "Very, very good," the Elder said again, once more adding to the notes on the pages in front of him.
"Ah, just one thing left before you go. While it is not necessary in order to be an assassin, magic is more often beneficial than not. We will test your affinities before you leave." Before the Elder had even finished speaking, the Thane set down a small chest in front of Tehran. It was made of two carved sections of wood, brass hinges kept the top and bottom pieces together and a golden crow painted with utmost care was embossed on the lid. The Elder rose from behind his desk and walked around it towards Tehran. "Inside this box here, are several hollowed chunks of nearly transparent opal. Each opal is filled with so much mana of a specific type that they have solidified into their own element." As he finished speaking, the Elder lifted the chest's lid to reveal six gems of varying colors. From the left, they were red, blue, black, white, clear, and brown. "As you may have guessed, they represent the six recognized elements that make up our world. Fire, Water, Darkness, Light, Wind, and Earth." Tehran nodded, they had been taught of magic in their classes, but nothing about how to use it. Not yet anyway, Tehran hoped silently that their class' lessons involving magic would go over how to use it as well.
"These gems are simple. You hold one in your hand, close your eyes, and attempt to feel the power stored within the gem. If it glows or reacts in some form, then you have an affinity for that element. Go ahead and start."
Tehran reached out and took hold of the fire element gem, feeling it first with his hands and examining it. It was warm to the touch and the gem itself was exceptionally smooth. Closing his eyes, Tehran started to try and feel the element inside but didn't have to wait even a moment. He could "see" a spark in his mind and he reached out for it. A sharp pain struck his fingers and he could now feel the heat radiating away from the gem, no longer contained like before. "A very strong affinity for the fire element, very good," the Elder commented, swiftly moving to append his notes. "Continue with the next element." Doing as he was told, Tehran placed the previous gem back into the chest and reach for the gem filled with the water element. Try as he might, he felt nothing from this one. There was no spark, no nothing, so he set it back down and moved on to the next gem, darkness.
As Tehran touched the gem he could see the area around it… shift. It was like it was sucking the surroundings into it, or, maybe it was just the nearby light? He picked up the gem and brought it closer to himself and closed his eyes. "Amazing. Aaron, have I gone senile, or is that the strongest reaction you've ever seen to the darkness element?" The Elder, though Tehran couldn't see him at the moment, sounded equal parts surprised and excited. "That's is probably the strongest reaction I've seen to any element at this point, Elder. This could be interesting."
"Agreed," the Elder replied before going silent, likely looking back to Tehran in anticipation.
The moment he looked for the same spark he felt in the fire gem, Tehran was met with complete and utter darkness. His eyes were closed, sure, but it was as if he had been submerged into a darkness so black that light itself simply ceased to exist. There was nothing, no sound, his sense of touch was absent and there was no taste or smell, it was complete and utter nothingness. Though surprised, the feeling was beyond comfortable. He felt as if he was wrapped within a heavy blanket representing an area of complete safety. He tried to hold onto that feeling as he opened his eyes and looked at the gem - or more precisely - where he thought the gem should be. There was nothing. The gem, his fingers, and his entire forearm were simply gone. But he could feel them. There were there, he knew, he just couldn't see them. It was as if, halfway down his arm, everything started fading away into nothing.
He looked at the Elder, then the Thane, to see if they had any explanation, but they looked just as surprised, if not more so, than Tehran himself was. Then he heard something snap, and a gust of black wind exploded out from where the darkness gem should have been before dissipating throughout the room. At the same moment, the gem, Tehran's fingers, hand, and forearm snapped back into view. The gem had cracked in half, now empty and lacking any color that was there previously. Tehran paled, realizing that he had just inadvertently destroyed the gem. He knew punishment would follow, there was no way something like this wasn't important.
"I-I didn't mean t-" Tehran began, before being interrupted by the Elder. "Test your remaining affinities. Now, boy." His command left no room for objection, so Tehran began trying to use the remaining gems. Fortunately, after testing the remaining gems, there was no reaction from any of them. It seemed that at least for now he wasn't going to be destroying anything else that would earn him new scars.
"Thane Aaron," The Elder stated with a dark undertone, "what did you see this afternoon?" The Thane stiffened and went pale before he responded without hesitation, "Several students were tested for their affinities, though most all were rather disappointing. Nothing of note occurred today." Tehran understood rather quickly what was happening. His performance while testing his affinities was anything but normal and "unworthy of note." This was either very good for him, or very, very bad. Tehran swallowed what little saliva remained in his now desert-like mouth, his entire body shaking in fear of what might be coming.
"Well then, Tehran. It seems that we finished up everything without problem today." The Elder smiled brightly towardss Tehran as he spoke, "You may leave, but be sure to come here tomorrow morning at the same time. I feel that we have much to discuss at a later date. For today, report to your Thane that you have been accepted into the advanced classes and he will organize the remainder of your day."
The Elder was smiling. He was smiling, but there was nothing happy or friendly about his face. Tehran saw a predator ready to consume the prey it had cornered, fangs bared and ready to sink into his flesh.
"Y-yes, sir Elder," Tehran stuttered, getting up and heading to the door as quickly as he could. Another moment here and he felt that he would never leave.
"Oh, and Tehran?" Tehran froze in place before turning around and addressing the Elder once more,
"Yes, sir Elder?"
The Elder smiled once more, but it didn't reach his eyes, and the darkness Tehran saw before covered his entire face like a mask.
"There are… always some things better left unsaid."