After finishing up breakfast Aldren asked Wallace to escort Asher to a place called the Sanctuary. Wallace simply nodded at his master and gestured for the young boy to follow him.

“Do I need to bring anything with me?” Asher looked up at the butler as they made their way to the door.

“No Young Master, everything will be provided for you there.”

“So what am I going to be doing exactly?” an excited anxiousness could be heard in the boy’s voice.

“I can’t say, they prefer to stick to tradition. Secrecy is a core tenet of this facility and isn’t it always more fun to experience things first hand?” The moustached butler beamed a smile at the boy, the slight wrinkles formed on his face giving away the excitement and happiness the man had towards the topic.

They walked out the front door of the mansion and for the first time since arriving in this world, Asher felt at ease. There were no dragons or any immediate threats in his vicinity and with the help of his new looks, he didn’t feel the need to look over his shoulder worrying about city guards. They walked through the main bazaar where all the various wares were being peddled, the look and feel of wealth slowly fading out as they made their way into the more rundown parts of the city. Asher could feel the difference in atmosphere as he noticed the expressive faces in the part of town where the mansion was, were replaced with gaunt faces. People who looked tired, those who looked like their life was all about making ends meet, and the eyes of people always looking for an opportunity. Eyes similar to those of businessmen and merchants, but Asher felt like he probably didn’t want to be mixed up in the types of business these seedier looking people would be involved with. He could feel the hair on his neck stand up, but for some reason nothing happened. If Wallace had the same feeling of anxiety, he did a good job of hiding it because the boy never noticed anything other than a pleasant smile on the old butler’s face as they walked.

Finally, the duo came to a stop outside of a rather run down looking building. A sign hanging off of it, with words on it in a language that he couldn’t read. Asher looked up and down the two-story building and when he noticed a man stumbling out of it who was obviously drunk, everything clicked. They were outside of a tavern.

“Come, we’re here for what’s inside.” the butler said as they made their way in.

The tavern had quite the amount of customers in it despite it being fairly early in the morning, regulars and common drunks Asher assumed. Behind the bar was a rather husky looking man with a keg of a stomach and barrel of a chest. He had a respectable beard and wore an apron, he appeared to be wiping off some glasses as the two of them made their way towards him.

“Morning Wallace, it’s a bit unusual seeing you around these parts.” the bartender said.

“Good Morning Mr. Bartholomew, I’m here on business. The Master asks that you give this boy Sanctuary.”

The bartender raised an eyebrow “Sanctuary, requested from The Master himself? This one must be special.”

Asher didn’t really understand the conversation taking place, so he just decided to sit back and observe.

“Indeed, a very special one. The Master’s son in fact, so teach him well.”

“Well I can’t refuse a request from The Master now can I?” the bartender let out a hearty laugh. “We’ll start today then.”

“That would be best, I’ll be taking my leave then.”

Wallace looked towards Asher, “You’ll be in Mr. Bartholomew’s care for now. Learn everything you can, this will be very important for your future. Also the Sanctuary can have some rather interesting teaching techniques, but don’t fret. You won’t be the first to go through them and you most certainly won’t be the last. Do the best you can and I’m sure you’ll be fine. We’ll come get you when the time is right.”

“It’s about time I started learning something, don’t worry, I’ll try my best.”

“As you should, well I need to return back home. Enjoy your time here Young Master, welcome to your new life.” The butler proceeded to leave the building leaving Asher with the bartender.

They both looked at one another as the bartender made his way to a door next to the bar counter.

“Come.” he said without looking back and opening the door. Asher followed the man into a room that was most likely used for inventory storage. Kegs of ale lined the walls, he took this moment to see that some wheels of cheese and dry aged meat found themselves at home on a few of the shelves. The bartender looked at the boy curiously. “Tell me what you see.”

It was clear that the man wasn’t asking for the obvious but Asher figured he should include them into his answer just to cover all his bases. “I see some kegs, cheese, meat, a few loaves of bread that may or may not be moldy..uhmm” he began to focus on the room and investigate. It seemed like he had listed everything until he looked at a spot on the floor towards the center of the back wall. It was very faint but he noticed a spot on the floor that was a bit peculiar. Whereas everywhere else had a thin layer of dust which would be commonplace in a room like this, this spot on the floor had a thin line on the ground where dust was absent. He pointed at the area, “I don’t know what’s up with that spot…but something is there.”

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

The man smiled at the boy, “Good, good. Looks like your eyes work a bit better than most. Now watch and follow me.” The man approached the section of flooring and began knocking on bricks in a pattern. Once the last brick in the pattern was touched, the bricks began to all quietly shake and suddenly they disappeared revealing a tunnel system. Right at the entrance of the tunnel was a torch that seemed to be emitting some form of magical light that glowed with a blue haze.

“Come.” The man said and they both entered the tunnel, the entrance rebricking itself as the two walked further into the underground system. Asher followed the man as he guided him through the area with practiced steps. “This here is called The Underpass, think of it like veins that spread throughout the city and The Sanctuary is the heart where all those veins connect to. The Underpass also acts as a maze and deterrent to keep out unwanted guests.”

“How often do unwanted guests come down here?”

“Often enough that back in the day the old leadership commissioned the work to be done. That was a few generations ago, nowadays the current master is more concerned with streamlining the work that gets done around here. More efficient and all that, better for business.”

“And what type of work do you all do?”

The man put his hand on the boy’s head and ruffled his hair, “You’ll learn soon enough little one. Don’t worry you won’t be alone, there are always potential recruits, and journeymen in and out of the Sanctuary. The two of them came up to a dead end in the tunnel with a sturdy wooden door set in the middle of the wall. Bartholomew knocked on the door and a peephole slid open revealing a pair of eyes.

“What business do you have here Bartholomew?” a raspy voice came from the other side of the door.

“The Master has asked that this child be given Sanctuary.”

“The Master?” the voice giving away a hint of surprise at the statement. “Fine. Enter.” The man grunted as the peephole slid shut and a series of locks could be heard from the other side. The door swung open revealing a withered old man. Bartholomew knelt down and looked at Asher, “This is where we part ways little one, I have a business to run.” Bartholomew pushed Asher into the doorway towards the old man. The next thing he knew, he couldn’t see anything and the door slammed shut.

“The bag stays on your head, if you remove it, I’ll be forced to use more coercive methods.”

The man clamped a gnarled hand down on Asher’s shoulder, rough with years of calluses, hard work, and age. They walked for what felt like a long time and finally he felt the man stop. The bag was suddenly removed from his head and Asher found himself standing in a large chamber among a group of children, all roughly the same age as him. Some kids seemed nervous, others stood still, and others seemed excited about the situation they found themselves in. It was one of these excited and braggadocious kids that found themselves wandering towards Asher’s direction. The boy bumped into Asher hard, almost knocking him over and a devilish grin appeared across the boy’s face.

“OOPS! Sorry there pipsqueak, didn’t notice you standing there. Maybe you should watch out next time huh?” the boy said to Asher. He stood about a head taller than Asher but the size difference didn’t bother him much. Asher gathered himself and simply looked in the boy’s eyes. Some of the other kids were laughing while others began to jeer at the situation and egg it on.

“Apology accepted, don’t do it again if you like being able to walk. I’m not a fan of assholes, so the next time you do something like this on purpose…I won’t be as nice.”

“What did you say you little shit?!” A vein began to bulge in the boy’s neck, his teeth baring in anger as he grabbed Asher by his shirt. Asher gauged the situation and looked around quickly, all eyes were on them. He couldn’t allow himself to be punked in this situation, and maybe he could use this boy as an example to the other kids to reduce any chances of future conflicts.

“Damn, I really don’t want to hit a kid though…” he thought to himself “Well I guess I’m a kid right now too, so no issues right? Oh well.”

Asher quickly sent a left hook into the boy’s liver, doubling him over. The second the boy bent forward from the pain Asher sent another hook into the boy’s temple, completely laying him out on the ground groaning in pain and holding his side. A silence fell over the group of kids at the completion of the fight. Some of the boys who were egging on the fight began taking on a more aggressive posture and walking towards Asher. “So much for sending a message” Asher mumbled. The boy on the ground laughed in between pained groans.

“Dumb ass, do you know who my father is, you’ll pay for this!”

“Do you know who mine is? No? Then I guess it doesn’t really matter” Asher said as he put up his fists and faced the group of five boys making their way towards him.

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

“That’ll be enough of that” a loud voice rang all around the cavern. The origin of it coming from a man now standing in front of the large group of children, with a person standing on each side of him. He looked at Asher with a piercing gaze. “So you’re the one the Master sent to us? A little feisty, but don’t expect any special treatment, boy. There are rules here.”

The man suddenly leaped forward before Asher could react, and slammed his face into the ground.

“Because without rules, there would be chaos.” He let go of Asher and made his way back to where he was originally standing. “And chaos doesn’t make for good business.” The man made a large sweeping motion towards the group of children. “All of you are potential recruits for the Violet Hand Syndicate, all of you are property of the Syndicate!” The man began walking back into the group of children, making his way back towards Asher and the other boy. Asher was still a little dizzy from the sudden assault, but began to stand back up. Just as he was about to stand the man punched him in the face, sending him back to the floor.

“You’re here to learn a trade.” He kicked Asher in the stomach.

“You’re here to learn how to be a rogue.” He kicked Asher again.

“There will be no infighting.” He kicked him again.

“You are either of use to The Syndicate, or not. I will be your teacher” He kicked him again.

“Who you were doesn’t matter anymore, you are nobody. You will only ever be referred to as a number that I assign to you” He kicked him again

The children were all in shock at what they were seeing, their mouths hanging open, eyes wide. The man stopped his attack and pointed at Asher, “You will be number one.” He picked Asher up off the ground, a bit a spit mixed with blood dripping out of his mouth. “What’s your name?”

“Ash–” he was immediately punched in the face, blood and spit flying on to the children nearby.

“What’s your name, boy?”

“On–One, my name is One.” Asher said.

“Good, you learn quickly. That’s a good trait” the man said and delivered one final deafening punch completely knocking Asher unconscious.

“Welcome to The Sanctuary.”