Chương 83: Assassination Attempt

"We need to get to a secure location," Melody said as she entered my room.

"What is happening?" I asked as I turned away from the textbooks and stood up. Healer Melon came out of his room after taking an afternoon nap.

"Terrorists are attacking. They instructed me to bring you to a safe location quickly." I grabbed my sword as we both followed her. My spatial pouch was always with me. There was no need to leave it behind inside the College. I felt the ground shake and a wave of Mana coming up from below.

"That isn't good," I muttered.

"Don't worry, once we get to the safe location, The Mathemancer will handle everything." I nodded, but something felt wrong. The danger I felt kept increasing as we quickly rushed through the College, and the shaking grew more intense.

"Here, this building," Melody said, but something was definitely wrong. I activated Shadow Vision and Mana Vision. There was a strange distortion over her body. I should have done this at the start. I didn't know if Melody regularly kept a layer of Mana distorting things over her body, but that seemed highly suspicious.

"Who is in charge of this place?" I asked as I drew Beginner's Blade.

"What are you asking that for? The Mathemancer, of course." Not the Dean, but The Mathemancer. This being in front of me wasn't Melody. That was all the confirmation I needed.

"Healer Melon, be careful. You aren't Melody, are you? What do you want?!" Healer Melon quickly retreated backwards while I scanned the area for other threats.

"You just had to be clever, didn't you? Well, no matter. The Dark Cabal needs you. We are going to put your soul in a monster to make your mother suffer!" Melody's voice changed to something far more sinister, and she drew a long, serrated blade out of a spatial storage item while giving me a deranged grin.

"Justin, we are surrounded," Healer Melon said, and seven other dark-robed figures approached us from the shadows of the nearby buildings. Each of them had drawn weapons as well. No one else was nearby. Hesitation was death. I rushed forward. The person pretending to be Melody casually blocked me, and I struggled against their strength as we traded several blows.

"Weak. Kill the Healer, then help me subdue the target."" Light Burst!" There were screams of pain as a blinding white light appeared behind me, where Healer Melon was." Sleep! Sleep!" I gathered my focus. Now wasn't the time to exchange blows. I needed to end it and believe in Healer Melon. He was a healer, and I was a fighter. I needed to kill as quickly as possible. All the lessons I had learned in the dungeon with my mother came to me.

Not just about how to swing a sword, but how to handle a fight in a team and when outnumbered. While it hadn't been a focus of my education, I had the skill Combat Tactics for a reason.

Deflecting the serrated blade to the side, I drove it into my gut. My sword was out of position. My left hand shot forward." Soul Strike!" My palm hit the face of the assassin, who looked like the kind woman who had shown me the College. The assassin collapsed to the ground, screaming, ripping the serrated blade out of my gut. Even with Pain Immunity, it wasn't enough. The pain almost blacked me out. Stumbling, I looked around. Three of the assassins had collapsed, but the remaining four had reached Healer Melon.

He had received several wounds and had collapsed to the ground. He was keeping himself alive, but he wouldn't last long. The four dark-robed assassins rushed at me. I brought up my sword, but they easily knocked it to the side and out of my hand. While I had killed my opponent, Healer Melon wasn't able to heal me up, so I could kill the rest of them. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. They dragged me into the building, and I was bleeding out.

There were two large circles on the ground, and an egg was in the center of one of them.

"Quickly, start," one assassin said as he punched me in the head several times. Everything spun about as I collapsed, unable to think clearly. Two assassins stood on the outside of each circle. They began chanting in a low voice as Mana started building up around me and the egg. I tried to crawl out of the circle, but I had no strength left, as I kept bleeding out.

"I won't die!" I screamed, but nothing happened as I struggled to move. As the Mana built up, I could feel my mind blur. Was I a creature trapped in an egg? Was I Justin Burnstock? My soul screamed danger to me, but I couldn't do anything. I witnessed an empty void. Colors filled my vision, like a kaleidoscope. I witnessed the brightening of dark gas swirls. It wasn't long before I was in my body again. However, it was spinning now. My name…what was my name? Justin, I was Justin. I would never give in so easily!

"More Mana! He is too resistant!" I heard shouting in the background. I wanted to be free. Free of this egg. Free of weakness. I needed to become stronger. Suddenly, the Mana disappeared along with the mental pressure. A gasp escaped me as immense pain hit my body. My hands gripped my sides as I screamed. Blood kept oozing out between my fingers. It had been a stupid idea to take that attack head-on. I gambled and lost in trying to end the fight quickly. Everything hurt. It hurt so much.

I felt like my insides were about to rip themselves apart. I could feel my Poison Resistance skill activating and trying to suppress whatever had been on that serrated blade that had been driven into my gut. I slowly looked around while waves of pain hit me repeatedly from the wound in my gut. It was only because the pain was less severe than when my mother took me to the Five Star Institute of Healing that I didn't pass out. All four assassins were lying dead on the ground.

The egg remained, and I felt a presence emanating from it. Struggling, I slowly stood up and made my way out of the building. Slowly, I limped over to Healer Melon, and I took out a healing potion. I tipped him over and made him swallow it. Next, I repeated the action with a mana potion. He looked up at me gratefully.

"Justin," he said, while panting.

"I need healing," I gasped out. I saw his eyes go to my wound, which was dripping blood down my left leg. My healing points had bottomed out a while ago." Greater Cure." I let out a gasp as I could block out the pain as the severity of my wound decreased. It wasn't gone, but it wasn't pouring out blood either.

"Another healing potion and mana potion." I quickly pulled out two and poured them into his mouth." Greater Cure." He slowly sat up. He looked quite pale, but at least he wasn't about to die. I walked over to where my sword had fallen. I picked it up and looked at the assassins Healer Melon had knocked out. None of them was breathing, they were all dead.

"I thought we were finished. What did you do?" Healer Melon asked as he slowly got to his feet.

"I didn't do anything. They all just died instantly." I then glanced up and didn't see any clouds. There were always clouds and mist swirling about the College, at least that had been the case until a few minutes ago. That was weird. The ground wasn't shaking anymore, at least.

"No one move! Hands behind your heads!" Guards rushed over dressed in the College's uniform. Healer Melon and I both put our hands behind our heads. They checked our IDs, and then they quickly transported us to the hospital here at the College.

"No potions! My Alchemical Toxicity is too high," I said when potions were brought out.

"You shouldn't let it get high! Pushing your body is risky," a Healer said while looking aggravated. Healer Melon just chuckled.

"I am his retainer for a reason, Sam."

"Melon? How did you end up like this?"

"Assassins of the Dark Cabal. They are clearly trying to stir things up by targeting Justin."

"Attacking students inside the College? Insanity. The Dean won't stand for such things."

"See to Justin first. I have patched myself up enough," Healer Melon said, and Healer Sam turned towards me.

"The blade poisoned me. I can feel my Poison Resistance skill fighting it. I can suppress my Healing Resistance."

"Don't. Since you have those skills, it is better to let the poison burn itself out. Anything else?"

"They dragged me to a room. There was a circle…an egg. I can still feel the egg with my mind. I know where it is."

"Was the ritual started in any way?"

"Yes, it went on for a bit. I don't know how long?"

"About two minutes," Healer Melon said.

"This…this is very bad. An interrupted ritual is beyond my expertise. I am going to grab a couple more people," Healer Sam said and rushed off.

"Sorry," I replied weakly.

"It isn't your fault. I know this is going to be a lot of trouble," Healer Melon said.

"You did a lot better than I did."

"I have higher stats and more experience in fighting. Also, my opponents were further away. I am no good at close combat," Healer Melon said.

"Thank you for coming back."

"You didn't run. You could have."

"Running was also an option for you. I know you took that blow to rush the fight. That was foolish. How is your soul?"

"Stable, but shaky. It feels like something has been hammered several times, causing damage.

"A ritual will do that. It is a brute-force method, but it is also incredibly versatile. A shame there are no good rituals," Healer Melon muttered the last bit.

"What? Wasn't a ritual used to help my mother bring me into this world?"

"Some things are better not questioned, Justin. In time, you will learn. Rituals are a dark path. Although people can use them for good, rituals are inherently bad. If you ever learn more about them, this will become obvious. Your soul should stabilize in time, hopefully."

"The welcoming ceremony is tomorrow, and then classes."

"You will rest as long as you need to rest. Healer's orders," Healer Melon said. It was then that I felt a curse skill shift in a way that baffled me.