Then again it should be evening by now outside, maybe Roland will wait till the morning to speak with Zimmy. By then it might just be possible for the scouts to have reported back, with luck. I guess all I can do is just wait and see, whatever happens next will determine my actions.

Since I have nothing else to do I decide to meditate and pour all my sacred power into my core. Then I start trying to figure out how to send my power into my core as it recovers. I can do it manually, but what I want is for it to be an automatic process so I don't have to interrupt my meditation.

My meditation currently speeds up the recovery of my sacred power but only when that is my only focus. In essence I am trying to change my meditation to allow more options. I want it to recover my power even while I am focused on other things.

This of course is beyond the current scope of the skill, so I am basically trying to evolve the skill by force. Unfortunately, by the time morning comes and I receive another visitor I have not succeeded. My visitor is Shard and despite my current situation he has a smile on his face when he comes in and sits down.

"Hi, Shard. You look happy about something."

Shard says "Ah, it's because of the news I received just before I came here."

"Oh, what news?"

Shard says "Apparently, last night Kriton, Drake, and some of their noble friends went out drinking to celebrate your fall."

"What happened?"

Shard says "As they were leaving the bar they were stoned by a large group of people. They weren't seriously injured but now they are hiding in the court."

"Heh, they didn't think the people's anger could touch them. Typical arrogance."

Shard says "True. Word has already spread, none of the nobles are leaving the inner castle."

"Any response from the king?"

Shard says "Only that he ordered the royal guard to increase security."

"I take it people aren't buying his claim that I cheated?"

Shard says "Nope. In fact it has only made people more angry. Wait, how do you even know about that?"

"Oh, Roland told me when he visited last night."

Shard says "Roland visited you? That's a surprise!"

Guard says "You have five minutes left!"

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"As much as I appreciate the news, is that why you came?"

Shard says "Ah, no. I came to ask if there was anything I could do for you."

"Actually, there is. Can you stop by the alchemist's guild and see if my order is ready yet?"

Shard says "Sure, I can do that."

"Good. If it is ready, take it to my troop. They are to take the cleansing pill on the first day, the restoration pill on the second day, and the nutrient pill on the third day. After taking the nutrient pill they should train hard for the rest of the day and then rest the next day."

Shard says "Okay, got it. Anything else?"

"Nope. That's all I can think of."

Guard says "Time's up!"

Shard quickly says goodbye as the guard forces him to leave and he promises to visit again. Once he is gone the guard brings me my breakfast which is better than I was expecting for prison food. After I eat, I immediately return to my meditation and continue trying to improve the skill.

I've only been working on it for about an hour when I am interrupted by yet another visitor. This one, however, isn't a friend and he comes in with two guards to protect him. It is a noble and he is holding a handkerchief to his face as if just being here is offensive to him.

Noble says "His Majesty has found you guilty of all charges. As such you have been sentenced to death. You will have a public execution in one week's time."

After saying his piece he turns to leave and all I can do is start laughing. Hearing my laughter he turns to give me a look like I am already insane before leaving the cell. The guards on the other hand look extremely nervous, rush out of the cell, and slam the door closed.

Knowing the king he is just dumb enough to have my sentance announced publicly. He is just asking for a rebellion at this point and if it wasn't for the invasion I would totally give him one. However, things still need to develop on their own, it isn't time to break out yet.

So I return to my meditation and continue trying to figure out how to make my meditation skill evolve. It has been a really useful skill up until now but the fact that it is max level and can't grow anymore is too limiting. As I am examining the skill and trying to think of a solution I am interrupted again by the cell door opening.

This time two guards with crossbows enter and aim at me while a third comes in with a tray of food. The third guard quickly puts the tray on the floor and then all three retreat as quickly as they can. What surprises me is the fact that the tray is overloaded with food, enough to feed four or five people.

Since my meditation has already been broken I grab the tray of food and start eating. While the food isn't great, it is decent and filling, so I eat every scrap of it.

*DING*

You have been poisoned!

Poison Damage: 152!

*DING*

Congratulations! Skill Poison Resist has progressed to level 6!

Poison Resist

Level 6

End +6

You take 30% less damage from poison.

'Wow, it's been a while since I was poisoned!'

Other than a little bit of damage the poison doesn't do anything to me, it doesn't even upset my stomach. Apparently someone has figured out that me being executed publicly is a really bad idea. Too bad the poison they used is far too weak to seriously hurt me.

Although, they can't possibly know that, maybe I can use this somehow. So I clutch at my stomach and start rolling around on the ground as I cry out in pain. The guards check on me and then summon a cleric who comes in and examines me.

Cleric says "He has been poisoned!"