The Reaper (The Assassin Series Book #2)

Chapter 5

It was my first and only day of training. I was finally dressed appropriately. I wore a black pants with a white blouse and a black blazer. I wasn't made to wear a tie, which was good, considering I don't know how to tie one. I had a small sickle strapped to my belt, which Grell had explained was just a trainee death scythe.

Grell had arrived right on time, and I had been a bit early so he wouldn't have anything to yell at me about right off the bat. He put a book down on the table in front of me. "This is the textbook used to prepare mainly for the Ethic Exam and Written Exam. It's not that big, but there is a lot of information crammed into it." The title was Grim Reapers: The Full Story.

No, this can't be the same thing, I thought. I quickly flipped through the pages. "What are you doing?" Grell asked, annoyed.

"I've already read this before," I told him.

"Don't be ridiculous! That's impossible! Only Grim Reapers have them!" he denied.

"No, I know all this information. I've read it. I remember it. The copy I had was a little beat up, but the same nonetheless," I pushed. How could that have been possible? Why did Ciel own that book? How did he even get it?

"What's the first rule of being a Reaper?" Grell quizzed.

I answered, "Never remove your glasses. They are the most important thing. If you do on purpose, you are considered a 'deserter.'"

He looked shocked, but still did not believe me, "It was a lucky guess. You probably read it when you were skimming through the pages. What is our mortal enemy?"

I said, "Demons. They eat the souls we are supposed to collect, interfering with our work and making things more difficult."

"Which side are we on? Heaven, or Hell?"

"Neither. We are neutral beings. We simply collect the souls, decide whether they die or live, and then decide if they deserve to go to Heaven or Hell. I'm telling you, I know all of this," I frowned.

"What happens if we reap souls not meant to die or interfere with the death of a person?" he continued.

"It is forbidden and results in a demotion or confiscation of the Reaper's death scythe," I said.

"Well, this does make things incredibly easier. I don't know how you've even glanced at this book before now, but I really don't care. The only thing you really need to know is practical skills. You should consider yourself lucky. I got an A in that category," he smirked. Yes, yes, I have been incredibly lucky lately. It's all anyone tells me, I mentally rolled my eyes.

I asked, "So, this is about learning how to collect souls?"

He nodded, "Exactly!" He seemed nicer now that he had figured out that he didn't have to do as much work. "Take out your death scythe. This should be easy considering your background."

I did as told, holding the wooden part. I held it almost like a knife. "I'm surprised you're holding it right," he said as he moved a stuffed dummy made to look like a human a few feet away from me. He laid it down. It didn't have a face, which I found a little disturbing. Maybe that was better than having eyes that followed me.

"So, what am I supposed to do?" I asked, a little confused.

"If you hadn't noticed already, there are many different platforms of different heights in here. Pretend you just checked your Death List on top of a building, and it says this person," he pointed to the dummy, "is about to die in the street. He falls over in the street of a heart attack. How do you collect his soul?"

I jumped up onto one of the taller platforms. "Okay, I'm ready," I called to him.

Grell allowed, "You may begin, but remember, you are also being timed. If you take too long, a demon might swoop in and eat his soul before you can collect it."

I examined my surroundings. If I simply jumped down, I could get hurt. Even if I was immortal, I knew I wasn't completely immune to pain. That was hard concrete underneath me. The only thing I could think of was to simply jump down to other platforms until I was low enough to jump.

I hopped down to the platform next to me. That lowered me a few feet. I had to work fast, though. I tried to imagine that I was still an assassin, and there were many guards there trying to protect their boss. I had to be quick so they wouldn't see me. Anything that could get me to move faster.

I jumped down three more platforms in a row, not a second of hesitation. Finally, I was close enough to just jump down. I did so and ran over to the dummy, piercing him with my death scythe. I looked up to see Grell smiling, "Not bad. You realized jumping from that height would have hurt yourself. You could have been quicker after the first jump, but still, good overall."

"Do you think I can pass these exams?" I wondered.

"As an honest answer, probably. We could still work on a few things, but at least you're not an idiot like I thought you would be," he shrugged. I took it as a compliment.

"Well, I thought you would be difficult to work with, so it seems we were both wrong," I stated.

"Oh, it'll be wonderful to have another woman in the Division! I love working with all the men, but I can't talk to them about everything. It'll be so much fun!" he squealed, getting very excited. My eyebrows pulled together. Why was he calling himself a woman?

I smiled anyways, "Glad you feel like that. Now, what is it that I need to fix?"