We set out for the dungeon Laqueum early in the morning the next day. Dane said we would arrive in front of the entrance by the end of the same day. Laqueum was a relatively new dungeon that appeared six months ago. The first floor of the multi-leveled dungeon has already been mapped out by the discoverers and I was given a copy of that map to examine during our trip there.

The map was accurate, pointing out monster nest locations, trap locations, and the types of traps. There was a large staircase down to the second floor located in the center of the very maze-like first floor. I was responsible for guiding the group safely to the second floor. Once on the second floor, I would then be responsible for mapping the rest of the dungeon we explore.

The formation was sensible. In front will be Salek and Dane, they were warrior types who excelled in defense and offense respectively. Next is Yuma, she is a mage who excels in water and ice magic, and would primarily be using ice magic because water and earth could cause the dungeon to become unstable, while fire would consume the precious amounts of oxygen within the dungeon.

Next would be Varnun and myself. Varnun excelled in both wind and healing magic. He would conserve his mana solely for healing unless the rear guard gets into a pinch. The rear guard was Aiko. She is nimble and quick, which makes her ideal to dispatch any unexpected guests from our flanks. She primarily used daggers, but she also used throwing knives, and as I thought, poisons which she coated her daggers in once she knew the enemies’ constitution. It seemed I was expected not to fight. Well, I have been given my orders.

During the trip, I chose to ask Dane one thing that has been on my mind.

“D-Dane… Why am I not expected to fight as well?” I was hesitant. I still have said very little to anyone of the group thus far, and often when I did, Yuma would squeal, which was somewhat nerve-wracking. I managed to ask Dane quietly enough that Yuma did not hear.

“Because we hired you solely to map out the dungeon. Besides, I aint keen ta’ throw someone I just met into battle. Mayhaps, later you can fight, but as of now, I want to be sure of our ability to handle the situations we run across. Although… I’m not normally one ta’ pry, but you got me curious, laddie. What is your profession that makes you carry yerself with such confidence?” Dane responded in a rather wordy manner, attracting the attention of the others to our conversation.

I hesitate to answer because of the fierce training I had in maintaining silence during torture and mental resistance against mind magic. In addition, if my personal resistance failed, there was a particular rune carved into roof of my mouth that I could invoke at any time, effectively exploding, obliterating my head along with any pertinent information I had. It also activated upon the assassin's death and was a standard feature of the assassins in Sicarius. Although, there was no information to hide, so I fought against my training to answer.

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“Well, I started as a thief on the streets around the age of eight. At around the age of ten, the Sicarius assassins found me and pressed me into service. I learned from them for five years before their recent destruction, so effectively, I am an assassin.”

“The Sicarius organization, huh. I heard some nasty rumors about their training from some people who were freed after their destruction. Is it true they had you kill people in mock assassinations? Is it also true they torture you and fuck wit’ yer head?”

“Yeah, I ‘assassinated’ others, though it was a set-up mockery, so it was more like murder. And yes, assassins are trained to withhold any and all information under mental and physical interrogation and torture. I also have training in alchemy to make poisons and bombs, training in cartography and forgery, deceit and disguise, and they especially trained me in a natural ability I have to blend in with the shadows.”

At this, the group grew relatively silent, but one person spoke up.

“So you are ‘Kage-blade’, the shadow blessed child.” Aiko’s sweet soft-spoken angelic voice was music to my ears. Kage-blade? What is that? Some sort of nickname I was given unawares?

“Kage-blade? What’s that?” Salek was next to speak up, voicing my very own question.

Aiko cutely fidgeted for a moment before she answered, “Well, I also used to be a thief back then, I was ten years old at the time when a young thief showed up on the streets. That thief was skilled to the extent that he could never be caught, becoming one with the shadows to lose his pursuers. We called him ‘Kage’ at the time, which means shadow, which is a nickname given to the few thieves who possess such a unique ability. When we discovered he had been taken by an assassin organization, we took to calling him ‘Kage-blade’.”

Ah, so that was it. I was famous amongst thieves, huh? So that means Aiko is seventeen, if she was ten back in my appearance as a thief.

“Well, none of us are the type ta’ judge a fellow adventurer’s past, Scio, and you seem able ta’ handle yerself. Tell you what, I’ll give you the additional duty of rear guard with Aiko.” Dane spoke for the party. Everyone nodded their head in assent, and the party moved on once more.

The rest of the trip was as quiet as before my conversation, with the occasional jest or quip from one person to another. The sun was on the setting on the horizon, dying the sky orange, when we at last approached what appeared to be a simple cave in a mountainside.

“Right-o, let’s prepare camp and go over our formation and duties one last time before we enter the dungeon at dawn.” Dane spoke, and everyone busied themselves with setting up the tents, collecting firewood, preparing food to go over the fire once it is built, and drawing water in buckets from a nearby river flowing down the mountainside.