With a mental command, Rhyse hid the azure System interface, its light fading from his perception. He was still too shook to focus on the rewards.
The combat hall stood transformed—where blades had clashed moments earlier, disciplined security measures now took precedence. Synkar soldiers worked with methodical expertise, sealing off the area while investigators pored over the corpses of the attackers. Nearby, a guard with medical training tended to the wounds of the two Loyalists—Guard A and B in Rhyse's thoughts. The acrid scent of expended magical energy and the faint, metallic tang of blood hung heavy in the moonlit air.
"No identifying marks, no guild insignia, standard infiltration gear, magically nullified to resist scrying," Marek reported.
Valerius's face was grim. "To make such a move within the Manor itself… the audacity is as alarming as the skill, Captain." He turned to Rhyse, his usual composure strained. "My lord, you must retire to your most secure quarters. I will double the guard rotation on your wing. This changes everything."
A deep exhaustion settled into Rhyse's bones as the adrenaline from the desperate fight faded, leaving behind a cold, lingering dread. His reinforced ward still hummed faintly before dissipating, but the unsettling truth remained—rank four assassins had breached his ancestral home with terrifying ease. With a flick of his wrist, his summoned construct dissolved into nothingness, drawing curious glances from the surrounding Core Guard.
Captain Marek's sharp gaze lingered momentarily on the dissipating remnants of the ward and the fading glow of the summoned construct, his expression tightening imperceptibly beneath his disciplined exterior. Though he'd served House Synkar long enough to witness countless marvels of Synkar artifice in action, seeing them wielded by the supposedly magically inert heir stirred silent questions. The construct's precise movements and the ward's flawless activation spoke of technical mastery beyond mere emergency trinkets—even by Synkar standards.
Yet decades of military discipline kept his tongue still. The Synkar vaults were legendary, and it stood to reason that Lord Corbin, anticipating his son's vulnerability, might have left him protected by some of Theron Synkar's creations. There were whispers of prototypes locked away in the family's deepest archives. The boy's survival tonight only reinforced that belief.
Marek gave the faintest approving nod as Rhyse passed, more reassurance to the shaken Core Guard than acknowledgement of the display. A Synkar heir with unexpected defenses was far preferable to a corpse. For now, speculation could wait—securing the heir took precedence.
"Captain, Master Valerius." His voice was quieter than he'd intended, but there was steel beneath it now. "Lock the information. No word about this night gets out."
He held Marek's gaze a beat longer than necessary, searching for hesitation—for anything out of place. The Core Guard had detected Livia's transmission, but how deep did their loyalty truly run? And Valerius, trustworthy as he seemed, still moved within the shadowed halls of Synkar politics.
A net needs to be cast, Rhyse thought grimly. And tonight's events might be the perfect bait.This would further serve as a test for the Core Guard. If Rhyse could somehow spread a net through the system he might also use the events of this night to catch a few traitors.
The System's new quest—[Identify the Assassins' Handler]—pulsed at the edge of his consciousness like a persistent whisper, a reminder that this was far from over. Rhyse clenched his jaw, feeling the weight of this new burden settle onto his shoulders. Surviving this night's ambush had been only the beginning; now he stood at the precipice of something far more dangerous—a hunt for shadows within shadows, for the puppetmaster who'd dared strike at House Synkar's heart.
Moving through the dimly lit corridors, Rhyse allowed Valerius to escort him, the elder man's hawk-like eyes sweeping every alcove and intersecting hallway as if expecting another blade to materialize from the darkness. Behind them, the two Core Guardsmen Marek had assigned—whom Rhyse now recognized as Lieutenants Veyne and Cort, veterans handpicked by his father—followed in perfect synchronization, their polished boots striking the marble with soft, measured clicks. Their presence was no longer concealed, no longer merely precautionary. They flanked his every step now, speartips of the Core Guard's elite, their armored forms a deliberate declaration to any who might still be watching: The Synkar heir would not be taken so easily again.
Back in the heavy silence of his father's study – a room that now felt both more secure due to his earlier System intervention and yet profoundly violated by the night's events – sleep was an impossibility. His mind replayed the fight in sharp, jarring fragments: the glint of dark blades, the desperate summons, the shattering of his ward, the grim finality of the assassins' suicides. The adrenaline still sang in his veins, a high-pitched thrum that made his thoughts race and his limbs ache with phantom exertion.
He sank into the large chair, the System interface appearing before him almost as a reflex.
[System Quest Updated: Secure Loyal Protection - Sub-objective: Survive Ambush - COMPLETE. Bonus Experience: +5 System Advancement.]
[New Quest Issued: [Identify the Assassins' Handler]]
[Objective: Uncover the individual or faction responsible for the assassination attempt.]
[Rewards: Significant System Advancement, Unique Skill/Schematic, Increased House Loyalty.]
The +5 System Advancement from surviving the ambush was a cold comfort. He focused on the [ACQUISITION - TIER 1] menu, specifically the Consumables:
[ACQUISITION - TIER 1]
Consumables (Tier 1):
[Greater Nutrient Paste Concentrate (Full Day Sustenance)] Cost: 50 Gold
[Minor Revitalization Draught (Reduces Fatigue)] Cost: 300 Gold
Minor Revitalization Draught. The description was exactly what he needed. The gold cost was insignificant.
Acquire Minor Revitalization Draught, he commanded mentally.
[Confirm Acquisition: Minor Revitalization Draught? Cost: 300 Gold Sovereigns. Funds drawn from Synkar Network Account.]
[Y/N]
Yes.
A small, ethereal vial materialized from the depths of the System's interface, its glass-like surface swirling with veins of cerulean energy. For a suspended heartbeat, it hovered weightlessly before Rhyse's lips before he Rhyse drank it. As the liquid touched his tongue, a shockwave of cold fire raced through his body, branching along every nerve. The tremor in his fingers stilled first, muscle by muscle, as if invisible hands were smoothing out the tremors left behind by adrenaline and trauma. The leaden exhaustion clouding his thoughts fractured like ice giving way to spring, replaced by a razor-edged awareness that left no room for lingering panic. His breathing steadied, syncing with the newfound rhythm of the draught's magic—measured, deliberate, restoring equilibrium not through dulling his senses, but by sharpening them. The Minor Revitalization Draught hadn't erased the night's brutality, but it had forged his reaction into something he could wield.
His Masters had always insisted that true restoration required an excess of mana, that exhaustion could only be undone through channeling external energy through practiced pathways. Yet this System-crafted concoction bypassed those constraints entirely—a paradox wrapped in sapphire light. For a boy who had never felt the flow of magic through his veins, the draughts' efficacy was its own quiet marvel.
With a clearer head, he revisited the Tier 1 [ACQUISITION] list, his priorities sharpened by the night's brutal lesson. The passive skills he'd already integrated – Elementary Cryptography and Basic Leadership Aura – felt more vital than ever. The [Skill: Rapid Assessment (Personnel - Rank 1)] had also proven to be effective in battle, being able to quickly and more accurately assess individuals, and the [Sensory Enhancement Suite (Rank 1)] enhanced his ability to detect lingering arcane traces or hidden listening devices, but somehow he felt that was still far from enough;
Then, he turned his attention again to the [ANALYTICAL AIDS & DATA ACCESS] category.
[Analytical Framework: Hostile Faction Profiling (Basic)] - Cost: 4,000 Gold
[Data Access: Synkar Archive - Historical Hawthorne Cipher Keys (Outdated/Partial)] - Cost: 3,500 Gold
Before, he had hesitated. Now, after assassins had breached his home, potentially aided by internal information, these tools felt less like strategic options and more like essential weapons. Lyra Meadowlight would need every advantage, and he needed to understand the enemy. He acquired both, the System confirming the expenditure and the integration of the profiling framework into his thought processes, alongside granting access to the specified archive data through the Network tab.
Finally, he looked at the Schematics. [Schematic: Minor Alert Rune] and [Schematic: Personalized Warding Amulet (Rank 0 Defense)]. With Aris Thorne arriving tomorrow, having schematics ready for defensive crafting felt like a proactive step. He acquired them both. Each acquisition felt like adding another layer to his currently threadbare armor.
Dawn crept across the study, grey and hesitant, as if hesitant to illuminate the night's grim revelations. The Minor Revitalization Draught had burned away the worst of his fatigue, but it couldn't erase the mental toll—strategizing, calculating threats, anticipating betrayal down to the smallest inflection in a trusted voice. Reluctantly, Rhyse retreated to his bedchamber, the weight of exhaustion finally pressing down as he dismissed the System interface. Yet even asleep, the hum of its latent functions pulsed beneath his thoughts, an ever-present sentinel against the encroaching dark.
He knew sleep would be shallow, filled with shadows and the glint of blades. But he also knew that when he woke, his new team would be assembling. Vance, Lyra, Thorne. The first pieces he would place on the board in this dangerous new game. The assassins had accelerated things, but they had also inadvertently accelerated his resolve, and his System progression. The cost was high, but the fight for House Synkar had truly begun, and Rhyse, armed with ancient legacy and newfound power, was finally ready to meet it.