Today, I knew, was the day that I finally did some one-on-one training with Master Mikel. After four exhausting sessions with his former students, I faced this prospect with some dread. A logical progression of thoughts showed that, after how difficult the week had been so far, my training with Master Mikel would be excruciating.

He wasn’t in the large training area when I arrived. Instead, there was a small group of Reapers in basic clothing training there. They were practicing sword combat, with one man in the center, repelling the attacks of those around him. I stood, transfixed in the doorway, watching their jabs, cuts, and swift movements. The steel of their weapons blurred with the speed of their attacks. Cool.

I retraced my steps to the elevator and headed for Master Mikel’s office on the ground floor. As usual, the lobby was full of Reapers. It blew my mind how many Reapers there were in the world. I’d learned, by talking to others, that the Nook Inn, the hotel that covered our organization, served as the only entrance between our world and the Gray Plane.

There was at least one Reaper headquarters in every country, located as close to the center as possible. In reality, it was all the same building, called the Gray Keep, but it had many different entrances. When you wanted to leave the building, you had two choices. You could either exit on the right, which would lead you to the outside of the real world, in whatever city you chose, or you could exit to the left, and find yourself on the Gray Plane, within the Keep’s safe walls.

It didn’t take me long to find Master Mikel’s office. Despite only having been a Reaper for about a week, I knew the route to his office, the bathrooms, and the training room well. I gave the customary nod to each Reaper I passed, gave Meredith a small wave, and found myself in front of Master Mikel’s door in no time at all. I knocked on the dark wooden door.

“Enter,” Mikel’s voice sounded from inside. “You’re late, Silas.”

“My apologies, Master Mikel,” I said as I pushed the door open. “I went to the training gym first, but found out you weren’t there.”

“He probably witnessed Itadori and his students, then,” Master Tamotsu’s voice sounded from a shadowy corner of the room. “I imagine he stood and gawked for a good while.”

I didn’t respond to his jibe, as true as it was. Instead, I let my gaze sweep around the room. As I’d expected, Masters Selena, Gene, and Ivan were also there. They didn’t stand stiffly behind Mikel’s desk as they’d done before. Instead, they all lounged around the large office in soft chairs. I returned Selena’s smile and Ivan’s nod then stood at stiff attention in front of Mikel’s desk.

“Well, then, that’s fine,” Mikel said. “A display by Master Itadori is a spectacle. I cannot shame a recruit for stopping in awe.”

“What is the plan for today, Master Mikel?” I asked. I wanted to get the day going, not hang around and banter. “Am I going to learn your technique?”

“Yes, I will teach you how to Pulse today,” Mikel said. “But first, I must bring you up to speed on some news I received this morning. Take a seat.”

I started to look around for an empty chair, but Tamotsu spared me from the effort. He made a small wave with his hand, and another soft armchair appeared out of thin air behind me. It slid forward and knocked into my knees, plopping me down with a violent move. Then it slid over next to Selena’s chair, dragging me with it. I heard Master Ivan snicker.

“Right,” Mikel said. He also gave me the impression of wanting to move things along quickly. “There has been a change of plans with the Crucible.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“Will you not be sending me as your apprentice after all?” I said, my stomach twisting into a knot. “After all my training these past few days?”

Mikel held up one hand to reassure me. “I still intend to submit your name for participation. Gene and Tamotsu have told me that your progress with them is satisfactory. You have the basic skills necessary in those fields to compete.”

“Oh,” I said. It was quickly becoming my most commonly-used word. “Then what’s changed about it?”

“The Council,” he explained, “has moved the date forward two weeks. They have not given a reason, of course. But the fact remains that the available time we have to train you has effectively been cut in half.”

“Why would they do that?” I blurted out. “That’s going to make my training even more intense.”

“He already said they didn’t give a reason, dolt,” Tamotsu threw in. He obviously couldn’t resist the chance to catch my blunder. “It’s cute how you can just ignore the important parts of a sentence.”

“Shut up Tamotsu,” Selena said conversationally. “Don’t listen to him, Silas. It is surprising, but not unexpected. The Council often does things like this. My personal theory is that they do it just to keep us on our toes in tense times.”

“I… see,” I said, not sure that I did. “Does this have anything to do with the rift between Master Mikel and the Council?”

“Caught onto that, have you?” Selen grinned. “You sound like Marisha. No, this event is too big for them to change just to spite Master Mikel. It’s just a whim of theirs.”

“Okay,” I said, turning back to Mikel. “So what’s the plan now? I can’t manage to complete training under all five of you in the time we have left, can I?”

“No,” he responded with a sigh. “So our only option now is to focus on your obvious strengths, and hope that your talent as a natural can carry you through the Crucible. At the very least, we want you to perform well. You may not win, but you’ll have a good standing.”

That didn’t sound all that fun, I had to admit. I’d always had a competitive spirit in wrestling, and that had only gotten stronger in my life as a Reaper. I knew that I was months behind in the training that a normal Apprentice would have before competing, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t want to win. I still wanted to come out on top. Nothing Mikel said would change that.

“But, of course,” Selena added. “We know you won’t accept that. So we’re going to ramp up our practices.”

“Okay,” I said again, grinning now. “So what’s the plan then?”

“Gene and Tamotsu have told me that you are exceptionally talented at control and sense for your skill level,” Mikel said. “Those will be your two best assets. Tamotsu will work on your stealth, and Gene will give you more combat experience with control.”

“That’s it?” I said, sure it wasn’t. Nothing was that easy here, I thought.

“Oh,” Selena said slowly. Just her speaking seemed to cement my suspicion. “I’ll also be clobbering you with my staff for the next two weeks.”

“That figures,” I told her with a grin. “But what about passing everyone’s basic expectations before the decision is made? You only said that Gene and Tamotsu passed me.”

“I also passed you,” Selena said. “At the basic level, mind you. Ivan hasn’t said yes, but he understands the urgency here. We need to put up a strong show for your first Crucible, no matter how new you are.”

Ivan nodded in confirmation. I could feel myself getting excited. This meeting had started slow, and I’d thought I was failing. Nope, it was even better news than I’d expected. Not only did they approve of me as the choice, but I was also going to get to prove myself even sooner. I couldn’t help myself feeling hyped up, nor could I stop the broad grin spreading across my face.

“Oh, look at him,” Tamotsu said with a laugh. “He’s practically shaking with excitement. Looks like you joined the right team, little Reaper.”