Chapter 25: C25 - The Capital

After I obtained the new skill, the rest of the day went smoothly. We had a pleasant lunch and dinner, though I could tell Anna had a bit of cabin fever. Anna was only allowed to leave for the academy and then had to return immediately. This was part of the high-alert status that father mentioned to Mona. Because the family was together in one place we were more likely to be targeted; hence the need for increased protection. Anna was thankfully offered a measure of protection when she went to the academy, as it was technically illegal to target a student of the academy when they were in their uniform. They could only wear the uniform on the way to and from the school and obviously while there. Once a student arrived back at their family villa, they became fair game.

We apparently had to wait for our designated day in open court, which was held five days of the week at the third bell to lunch time; or around the fourth bell. You had to petition ahead of time to be allowed to appear in court at all. If your petition was approved, you would then be assigned a day to come to open court. I assumed this was so that everyone who had their petition granted would be seen on their assigned day. If it was just a line of people, then whoever held the most power would be first and so on. We had apparently been assigned a slot on Isfetday which was supposedly three days away. I had yet to learn the details of the calendar of this world so I was still trying to grasp what I could from conversations happening around me.

Two days before our court appointment, on Enkiday. I was practicing magic in the quiet of the night, after being put to bed and reflecting on the things I had learned, when I received a chilling notification.

Quest Received!

Survive the assassination attempt!

Reward: 50 EXP, Increased chance of new skill formation

What?! Assassination attempt?! I quickly focused on my mana sense and sure enough, someone had just entered the room from the ceiling. The person was climbing down the walls. I immediately screamed out as loud as I could muster, hopefully calling the pajama brigade into the room. The man cursed and lunged at me with a dagger. Luckily, I did indeed know the dagger basics. I thanked Shani I had been so insistent on watching Fazio train. I tried to dodge my small body to the right and out of the way. I wasn't successful in dodging completely, but it did miss my neck. The dagger dug into my left clavicle.

You have taken 5 damage!

You have been poisoned! Taking 1 poison damage per second!

HP: 29/35

Poisoned?! I channeled the pain I felt to scream out again, even louder this time. Before I could even form a retaliatory spell, the door burst open. I saw my parents, Anna, Selahe, Fazio, and the guards on duty. The assailant dove for the window, attempting to crash through it and flee. Duchess Calo was the first to act. I could feel her shove a massive amount of mana into the protection spell of the house. The spell seemingly reinforced the structure; causing the assassin to bounce off it like it was made of stone. The assassin was seemingly stunned for a moment. Thankfully, a moment is all that Selahe required. The goatman had tackled the assassin to the ground before any more damage could be done.

The Duke, focused on the struggle, commanded, "Don't let him commit suicide!"

Fazio's priority was me, however. He rushed over and, with panic in his voice, cried "Dam is injured! He doesn't look good!" Over the course of the short skirmish with the assassin my HP had fallen to 16/35. The Duchess ran over to me and in my dazed, ill state, I couldn't focus on the spell she was casting. I received a notification to spell it out, but my poison-addled mind was having trouble parsing it.

The poison's spread is being staunched by a spell! Taking 1 poison damage per hour!

The Duchess turned to a guard and yelled, "Get a healer!" He nodded and sprinted out of the house. After an hour, the guard returned with a familiar older woman. She accompanied the High Priestess both when I was summoned and when she came to check on me. I was so dizzy it was hard to focus. I could feel intense pain in my clavicle as the poison worked its way through my body. I was crying uncontrollably as well. Despite most of the time thinking I was merely pretending to be a child, there were other times the instincts were too strong. This was one of those times.

Fazio looked distraught and said, "It'll be okay, young master. We'll all be fine." I heard shuffling behind us where Selahe had downed the assailant. I turned around and saw him standing over an unmoving assassin. My father had also joined Selahe in the struggle but was standing now as well.

Selahe said guiltily, "Sorry sir, he must have had a capture spell cast on him. It activated before we could dispel it as your wife was tending to your son."

The Duke's head jerked up, only now coming out of get-the-assassin mode, and said, "My son!" He turned to the rest of the troupe huddling around the priest who was examining me.

The elder priestess's gruff voice said, "Do not worry, your quick thinking slowed the poison. Had you not, young Damiano here would already be dead." The thought sent chills down my spine as I quietly resolved to get even more powerful at a faster rate than I was.

I was dizzy and my head was throbbing, but I focused on mana sense to not miss this opportunity to see healing. What I saw was hard to describe. Everyone around me was a normal concentration of mana, having more or less than others but more than the background. If you didn't know any better, you might mistake them for just denser areas. The priestess had mana like everyone else but in her chest, near her heart, she had something else. I focused as hard as I could, trying to blot out the pain. There was mana coming out of it like a fountain. I couldn't tell what kind of mana because I still only had basic mana sense. But the mana emitting from this thing mixed with her own as she began casting healing spells. She cleansed my body of the poison which didn't seem to use the mana fountain. Once the poison was gone, I got inundated with notifications from the system.

Congratulations! Quest Completed!

Reward: 50 EXP, Increased chance of skill generation!

You have reached level 1!

As a result, Basic Mana Sense has increased to Rank 8!

As a result, Magic Basics has increased to Rank 8!

As a result, Basic Active Mana Absorption has increased to Rank 2!

As a result, you have been granted 2 unspent ability points!

Congratulations! You have generated a new skill! View it under the skill window!

Congratulations! By taking repeated damage and surviving your Fortitude has increased by 1!

I couldn't look at my new skills right now. The old priestess healed my wound, which did use this strange mana fountain in her chest. With the crisis over and my healing completed, everyone returned to their sleep. The assassin's body was removed from the nursery and my crib was moved to Fazio's room for an additional layer of protection. As I recovered from the assassination attempt, I drifted back into a restless sleep.