Order of Moonlight

Aze was wrong. Kavil did care. He cared very much about the challenge. The thought of fighting the one who was seeking to challenge him honestly scared Kavil. Not that he would show his fear to anyone. Not even himself.

"The Angel of Death is responsible for the most difficult contracts the Order receives," he stated in reply to the man's first question. "No others ate permitted to take such contracts, seeing as there is a high chance of failure for those who are not qualified. The Angel of Death is also responsible for enforcing the Order's rules. If a rule is broken, in the Guild Master's absence the Angel of Death has the authority to decide the nature of the punishment and carry it out." And the punishment was usually death. It was why so many in the guild were uncomfortable around Kavil. It was his job to kill them if they messed up.

Kavil shook his head when Aze asked if he should leave. "Stay," he said. "It would be good for you to watch." He walked over to a table where an array of knives rested. The table was oriented so one could simply stand behind it and throw knives at the targets from there. No need to keep walking over to grab more between throws.

He threw the first knife at the target without any hesitation, or even seeming to aim. The knife stuck in the very center, making a thud as it hit. The second knife found itself buried in the center of another target, thrown with the same ease as the first.
 
It seemed the Angel of Death had all of the responsibilities. It was a job that likely would wear down anyone who had the title for too long, but Aze couldn't tell such by looking at Kavil. Unfeeling and removed were the only words Aze could associate with his mentor so far, and he couldn't help but wonder what a regular mentor might have brought. And indeed, what did the Guild Master expect to accomplish by giving Kavil a distraction before a challenge? Maybe it was the Guild Master who wanted Kavil out.

When Kavil asked him to stay, Aze passed the table of knives and went to stand against the back wall, but even before he settled into a spot, Kavil had thrown the first knife. Aze's head whipped around as he heard the thunk of the knife hitting the target. He watched as the second was thrown and expected it to show up on the same target, but nothing showed with the second thunk. His eyes traveled down to the next target and there he saw the knife -- smack in the middle again. The only thought that kept him from being utterly terrified now was that Aze already knew he walked in a world of assassins. It had already been a reality when he had woken up, and everything he saw was simply confirmation of that reality. What he didn't know was whether he could expect to himself become so good or if it was skills like this that separated Kavil from the rest.

Aze waited for a lull before asking, "How long did it take for you to be able to do that?"
 
Kavil threw a few more knives with the same perfect results of the first two before answering his unwanted student. "Under a year," he said. Far shorter than it would have taken most others in the guild. Kavil had a natural talent with knives, which had become very obvious very early on. He was practically self-taught, his skills coming from instinct alone. Talent like Kavil's was rare, even in this place. Though there were some others who boasted natural talents for bows or some other manner of weapon used here.

He picked up another pair of knives and held one in each hand. The fight knife he threw was with his left, and he purposefully didn't throw it exactly at the center of a target. But that hardly mattered. He'd thrown the second knife immediately afterward, with a harder throw and higher velocity. The two struck in midair, their paths altered just enough for both to sink into the centers of different targets.

"That took two," he said, figuring that Aze would want to know how long it took him to learn how to do that, too.
 
Two years? Aze fought the temptation to let his jaw go slack, and found it easier to think about trying to match his mentor's expressionless face than to do it on his own. Certainly, Aze had never trained in throwing daggers and thus had no comparison to know whether or not that was a short time or a long time, but two years seemed hardly long enough to master any skill let alone one that required such precision. He looked to the targets and saw that the last two daggers had sunk home in the center. It made those street entertainers look unskilled.

"Is that what I'll learn," he asked, trying to clarify just what would training look like. "You'll teach me to do that?"
 
"It depends," Kavil stated, throwing another knife. No tricks on that one, though it very easily struck the center of another target. It all seemed so effortless for Kavil, and he had a very natural way of throwing that looked so easy. Like he'd been born with a knife in his hand, or something ridiculous like that.

He looked over at Aze, giving him a quick once-over before saying, "If you seem to have a preference for knives, then I will teach you how to use them. If you prefer some other weapon, I will do what I can to teach you with that." Knives were Kavil's speciality. He wasn't all that proficient with other weapons, but he knew the basics with them. What Kavil would train him with depended on what Aze preferred to use.
 
Aze nodded. It certainly made sense to teach a student what the student preferred, though he had seen plenty of apprentices learn only in their master's style and never straying far. That had never quite been his style, though he had certainly gotten in trouble for it. Granted, the best work always came from masters and apprentices who worked in the same style. And in the same vein, it would probably be best if Aze happened to naturally took to Kavil's preferred weapon. That he couldn't say, though, until he knew more. "What other weapons are there?"
 
"Large weapons are not useful for assassins," Kavil stated as he went to retrieve his knives from the targets. "They are difficult or even impossible to conceal, and their weight and bulk cause other problems best avoided." He plucked the knives from the targets one by one, walking along the line of targets to retrieve them all.

He waited until he was walking back toward Aze to continue, "Knives and daggers are the main weapons we use, and most of us are at least passable with those. They are the easiest to hide. Some of us favor swords. Those of us who favor ranged killing use bows. There are some of us who prefer the use of poisons, and they use darts to administer the toxins." There was a wide range of weapon choices for Aze. Kavil had only been naming the main ones that the assassins there used.
 
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