My Hitman System

In the scorching heat of the sun, four figures were running one after another. Their pace was slow, but their eyes looked determined.

A month had elapsed since the Assassin Training Academy had started.

After the first week was over, Brown finally explained to them the intricacies of the movement skill, Swift Steps.

Thanks to Jin's help earlier, most of them had a basic understanding of the skill.

As a result, they benefited even more from Brown's explanation, and the picture in their mind became clearer.

What followed next was the change of their shoes. They were handed much bulkier ones and had to pave double the distance starting then.

Today was the last time they were running in this desert together.

When they were nearing the twenty-kilometre mark, instead of exhaustion, excitement was on all their faces.

The reason being that they had all learnt Swift Steps to an appropriate level.

When they reported back, they all were given a lunch they had long grown used to.

After finishing it, Brown addressed them with a somewhat proud expression.

"Your batch has gone beyond my expectations. Normally, it's only one or two among many who reach this stage in Swift Steps in the Academy…"

Brown paused and continued.

"...and honestly, I was also expecting at least one of you to drop dead because of the heavy doses of poisons I've been subjecting you to," Brown chuckled at his words, "Good work on staying alive."

In this period, the four of them had long grown used to Brown's jokes and had formed a love-hate relationship with him.

Hearing him praise them after a month of extreme torture for some reason felt very rewarding.

"I may have praised you, but don't let it get to your head. You'll still have to devote yourself to practising throughout your life if you want to see pivotal improvements in your Swift Step."

Brown added a warning before finally ending his address.

"Go rest. In the evening, I'll address the details of your next month's training. Oh, and you may keep those shoes with you. They will be a huge help in the future when you'll be practising by yourself,"

With that said, Brown went back to his hut and busied himself.

Meanwhile, Jin and the rest merrily made their way back to their shelter.

"I finally don't have to drink poison every day!" Shadow cheered.

"True, never did I imagine that after scorpions he would make us catch snakes and make us drink their venom," Specy thought back on their plight.

"I'm telling you that old man has a screw loose," Shadow whined thinking back on the torture he had endured last month.

Hearing him, a smirk formed on Jin's face as he asked, "Aren't we the same?"

His words made the two of them pause for a second before finally bursting into a laugh.

"That's right! We are the craziest ones who ended up doing exactly what he asked us to do."

"The crazy four," Specy added while laughing.

Ice, too, was giggling. During this short period of collective suffering, they had all grown much closer and open with each other.

Looking at the three of them, Jin too felt warm inside.

'Just who could have imagined that I'll end up becoming so close to a bunch of killers,' Jin thought in amusement.

When they reached their shelter, they didn't dawdle anymore and went to rest.

They had a crazy instructor, and they didn't know what might happen tonight; therefore, rest was necessary.

In the evening, after everyone was finished with dinner, Brown finally began his evening address.

"Starting tomorrow, you'll be entering stage two of your training here. Stage two will involve gaining expertise in five essential areas, and an assassin must be good at.

There is, of course, plenty more, but what we have chosen will ensure a holistic development of an assassin who is just starting.

The five areas are as follows:

1. Stealth

2. Cyber Operations

3. Marksmanship

4. Close Quarter Combat

5. Concealment

All five of these, you'll be practising every day. While doing so, find the one area that suits you the most.

In the third and the last month, you'll be solely training in that area, and your final evaluation will be based on your mastery in that area."

Brown explained.

Throughout his monologue, everyone was listening to him with rapt attention.

Seeing as he named each new area by bringing out one of his fingers, a wave of excitement and anticipation washed over Jin and the rest.

'Things are finally getting exciting!'

'No more physical torture…I'm glad,'

'Interesting,'

'I must do my best and get stronger,'

Shadow, Specy, Jin and Ice thought respectively. They all had different thoughts, but their end motive was the same: to become even stronger.

Seeing the glimmer in their eyes, Brown felt satisfied and said, "You may go and rest now, cause starting tomorrow, there's going to be breaks and it's only going to be an uphill battle, understand?"

"Yes, sir," They responded in unison and returned in excited moods.

"Gosh! I never expected he'd let us rest tonight," Shadow said in joy.

"Same…but what should we do now. I'm not sleepy at all," Specy said. It was the first time they had been granted free time.

"Let's catch some snakes and barbecue them!" Shadow presented an idea.

"It's a good way to pass time, I guess," Jin agreed.

So the four of them caught snakes for the last time together and showed off their movement skills to each other.

This helped with creating enough space in their already filled stomach.

A while later, outside their shelter, they had made a huge campfire, and four snakes were being cooked under the fire.

They were sitting around the fire with several thoughts in their mind and waited for their snakes to get cooked.

At first, they were talking randomly about things, berating Brown and some interesting things they encountered during missions, but soon they all turned silent and just gazed at the flames.

A few minutes passed like that. Several thoughts were going around in everyone's mind that they had always kept to themselves.

In that silence, Shadow suddenly asked, "So why did you all choose to join this profession? In my brief time together with you guys, I've observed enough to know that you all are not merciless killers who just want to kill people."

Shadow's question brought a sudden drop in the atmosphere, and everyone's face turned grim. It was as if they were all ruminating about their pasts.