4 Short training Arc

"Urgh..." Albert groaned.

His eyes were currently closed, due to falling asleep from the synchronization.

Slowly opening his heavy eyelids, Albert expected to see the forest where he slept at.

'Huh?' However, to his surprise, things were completely different.

Slowly standing up from his sleeping position, he looked around. "Where... Am I?"

All Albert saw was an endless white plane. Everywhere he looked, there was only white.

"Where is this place?" He asked, though, there was no one to respond to him. "System?"

The system did not respond. "System? Are you there?"

Still no response.

Seeing that the system won't be responding any time sooner, Albert started getting wary. "Just where the heck am I?"

However, in the next moment, something happened in front of Albert.

A figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere. The figure was a middle-aged male wearing a dark hood. Though, his figure seems to be some kind of hologram of sorts.

'Isn't that... Ezio?' Albert immediately recognized the man.

The hologram, which was the perfect replica of Ezio, looked at Albert.

It then started walking and circling Albert.

The hologram then sighed.

Albert, who saw this, felt the disappointment from his sigh. 'Sorry?'

However, soon, the system's window appeared in front of him.

[Welcome to the Synchronization Zone]

[In here, skills shall be passed down onto you through training]

[Please note that time works differently in this realm. An hour in the real world is a week in here.]

'Synchronization...' Albert clearly remembered those words before passing out.

"You there." Suddenly, the hologram Ezio started talking. "What are the three tenets of the brotherhood?"

'The tenets? Oh! I remember those!' Albert thought before slowly nodding.

"Stay one's blade from the flesh of the innocent;"

"Draw not attention to oneself whenever possible;"

"And never compromise the brotherhood."

Three simple tenets yet complex at the same time. It was the oath of the Assassin Brotherhood.

The first one was to prevent assassins from senselessly killing the innocent. The second was to never garner any attention towards oneself. And the third is to never betray the brotherhood.

Hearing Albert's recitation, Ezio nodded. "Good. What I shall teach you now is the second tenet."

Suddenly, the surrounding started changing from white space to that of a roman cathedral surrounded by knights.

The sky changed and turned to night.

'Wow...' Albert thought as he looked around

Standing in front of Albert, Ezio spoke. "Your objective is to infiltrate the cathedral and take the Apple of Eden hidden inside."

"What?!" Albert exclaimed out loud when he heard the objective.

An Apple of Eden, in Ezio's world, is an artifact from an ancient civilization that grants its wielder the ability to command other humans.

A war interrupted between the Assassins and the Templars for the possession of such artifacts that would soon for thousands of years.

Hearing Albert's exclamation, Ezio scoffed. "What? Did you think you can inherit my abilities doing nothing?"

"N-No... It's just that... Hah... Nevermind." Albert wanted to rebuke but he knew that it would be pointless.

"So, how should I do this? Should I secretly go in or just barge right in there?" He asked Ezio

However, Ezio did not reply and just crossed his arms.

'Great.' Albert thought to himself before attempting to enter the cathedral grounds.

"Halt!" A knight said as it pointed at Albert

"Huh?" Suddenly, Albert was teleported out of the cathedral.

Looking around, he saw a small smirk on Ezio and immediately knew what was going on.

A heavy sigh escaped from his mouth. "This is gonna take a long time, isn't it? Hah..."

And so it did.

Again, again, again, again, again, and again. Albert tried many methods to enter but he didn't even manage to enter the entrance of the cathedral. Just the outside.

Albert didn't know how many hours had passed since he started. During this time, Ezio would occasionally throw some hints, but to no avail.

Finally, after a few more hours...

"What are you doing?" Ezio asked.

Albert, who looked like he gave up and just laid on the floor, answered. "Resting."

"Hmm..." Ezio hummed. "Tell me, what do you understand from the second tenet?"

"Isn't that simple?" Albert replied. "Hide in plain sight and never be discovered."

"Yes, that is it." Ezio nodded. "However, do you truly believe that is the only way?"

Albert stood up and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Ezio pointed at the crowd of people walking near the cathedral and the knights. "Notice. If you just 'hide', you shall be immediately discovered."

"But if you blend in with the crowd and act as if you are truly one with the crowd, then what is the difference between you and the crowd itself?" Ezio vaguely said.

"But I already tried th—" Albert wanted to say something but he stopped midway.

"Wait..." Albert said as if realizing something. "You don't mean..."

Seeing Albert's reaction, a small smile appeared on Ezio's face. "Correct."

"Be one with your surroundings. If you are in a crowd, you are the crowd. If you are hiding in a tree, then you are the tree."

"If you truly wish to obtain stealth, then become stealth itself." Ezio said before crossing his arms again

Albert looked at him and finally realized. "I see..."

Standing up, he finally realized what to do.

Before going back to the challenge, he bowed in front of Ezio before going back.

This time, Albert tried a new method.

Instead of finding a hidden corner to hide, he decided to openly walk in the cathedral with a crowd of people.

He acted as naturally as possible. At that moment, he told himself that he was just a normal person going to the cathedral and nothing else.

And to his surprise, it worked.

For the first time in God knows how many times, he finally entered the cathedral.

'Hide in plain sight.' A saying that he had forgotten. It was something that the first Assassin's Creed protagonist, Altaïr, did.

He would blend in with the crowd and disappear from his pursuer's eyes.

Entering the cathedral, Albert did not dare go break his momentum and sat down.

And that's when he saw it. The Apple of Eden. Resting on the Altar of the cathedral.

'This may seem easy, but...' Looking around, things got even more complicated.

'There's so many people now.'

"This is where you shall be tested." Suddenly, Ezio's voice was heard beside him.

Looking beside him, Albert saw Ezio's hooded figure suddenly appearing beside him. "What will you do now?"

"..." Albert stayed silent and looked at the Apple of Eden at the altar.

After a few moments, a scoff escaped his mouth. "Heh, isn't it obvious, already?"

Standing up he calmly walked towards the Altar.

Seeing his actions, a small smile appeared on Ezio's face.

Albert continued walking to the altar calmly. In the eyes of other people, he may look like a devout follower that is about to offer offerings and prayers to the church.

However, things were much more complicated than that.

Arriving in front of the Altar, Albert took in a deep breath.

He then started stepping off the limits of which people can approach the Altar.

However, because his movements are so fluid and calm, none found his actions strange. Not even the knights.

Arriving in front of the Apple of Eden, Albert raised both of his hands and picked it up.

Just as he picked it up, the surrounding scenery started changing. The walls crumbled as the whole place slowly turned back to an endless white plane.

"Congratulations." Ezio said as he clapped. "Tell me, what was on your mind when boldly walked like that?"

Albert looked at the disappearing Apple of Eden in his hand before looking at Ezio with a smirk.

"The contradictions." Albert said. "The Master Assassin, Altaïr Ibn-L'Ahad, mentioned that even though we should follow our tenets, contradictions may happen."

"The Assassins seek to promote peace, but commit murder."

"The Assassins seek to open the minds of men, but require obedience to rules."

"The Assassins seek to reveal the danger of blind faith, yet practice it themselves.

Albert recited the three ironies Altaïr had once written.

Looking at Ezio, he spoke with a smile. "Even though we created our rules, we ourselves are the ones that bend them."

Hearing Albert, Ezio once again smiled with satisfaction. "It seems that you have learned a lot these last few days."

"I do— Wait hold on, days? It took me that long?" Albert said before sighing with a wry smile

Ezio nodded. "Now that you have understood the tenet of stealth and the three ironies, it is time for me to teach you the most important tenet of all."

"What is our first tenet?" He asked as he turned around Albert

"Stay one's blade from the flesh of the innocent." Albert replied quickly.

Ezio nodded as he looked at Albert once more. "Remember..."

"We Assassins fight not for chaos, but for just." As Ezio said this, small bits of him started disappearing. "And I already know that you will not harm the innocent."

"As for the art of assassination..." Ezio said. "As long as one master the art of stealth, one can easily assassinate a person with ease."

Ezio then touched Albert's forehead. Suddenly, loads of information entered Albert's mind. "Use them well."

"Now then." He said with all seriousness. "What is our maxim?!"

Albert, who was trying to recover from the sudden surge of new information about the art of assassination, answered immediately. "Nothing is true; everything is permitted."

Ezio nodded with satisfaction as a smile appeared on his face. "I trust that you know of the true meaning of this... my disciple?"

"Yes... Master." Albert bowed.

Ezio saw this as the smile on his face turned gentler. He looked at Albert and was reminded of his student that came all the way from China that he personally taught.

With a warm smile, he slowly disappeared.

Seeing this, Albert remembered the teaching he had received from Ezio. Both from the transferred memories and the hints.

He then bowed. "Thank you... Master."

[The synchronization shall now end...]

[The host shall now wake up.]

[Congratulations to the host for obtaining two skills]

[Congratulations to the host for raising the progress bar]

[Current progress: 36%]

[Stats have been updated]