Skillset
After a long, long time in line, Fate finally was allowed to enter the city. He thought about making a beeline for the castle in the distance but decided to stop on the way when the smells from a street vendor's stalls drew him in. The stall was manned by a large man with an even larger gut, with a face that suggested he had just stepped in dog shit.
"Either buy or move along," the large man said gruffly.
Fate scrutinized the food on the stall's surface. The majority of the top of the stall was a large grill, currently holding some kind of strange blue meat. The edges were normal metal, stacked with large, smooth sticks, and various spices.
"What kind of meat is this?" Fate asked.
"What are ya, daft? It's kungiri, the best meat we get around here. If youse worried about the safety of it, then rest assured it's perfectly safe. The esteemed Avatar Gregovich himself eats it every Flagarsday for lunch."
"It's actually really good," said Robna, who seemingly materialized behind Fate. "Worth the price, I'd say."
Fate glanced at her, then at the sign on the front of the stall. "Kungiri, 3 Sticks for 500 Dangans," it said. He grimaced; that was an eight of what he was paid to kill Trithmund. 'It does smell good, though… Fuck it.'
He pulled five hundred Dangans out of his money pouch and paid the man, receiving three servings of Kungiri, skewered on smooth sticks. He turned to leave, spotting Robna, who was looking between the sticks and him with puppy eyes. He sighed and handed her one.
"Yay!" She said, proceeding to devour the blue meat with zeal.
Fate walked off, heading to the castle. He had to admit, the kungiri was delicious. It was a nice mix of salty and savory, with a strange bit of sweetness as well. He finished his two sticks and chunked them in a trash can on the street.
Robna continued to trail along behind him, which complicated things. He felt a bit bad, but he had to ditch her. He used Null and jogged off, ignoring the confused Robna he left behind.
He jogged past the castle guards and into the fortress, jogging through the many hallways in search of Gregovich. He loitered around any servants or guards he saw, hoping they would say something to make his job easier. They didn't, so he kept searching.
Eventually, he found the Avatar, eating the same kind of blue meat Fate himself had partaken in a few minutes ago in a grand dining hall with a table dozens of feet long and lined with hundreds of chairs. To Fate's left was a large window overlooking the city, and to the right were five doors.
Gregovich was a lanky man, with long brown hair and a brown beard that tumbled out of his lap and onto the floor. He was dressed in the same frilly clothing other nobles wore, with the overcoat being blue and his pants light brown.
Having learned his lesson from last time, he kept Null active as he stalked forward. He slipped a Breach knife out, positioning himself behind Gregovich. He raised the blade up to the man's throat…
And fumbled.
The knife slipped out of his hand, clattering onto the plate below and startling Gregovich. The Avatar dropped the kungiri leg he had held up to his mouth and rushed to a stand. The man cast his eyes around the room, oddly calm. Finding nothing, he narrowed his eyes and yelled "CAPTAIN TAGGANT!"
An armored man hurried into the room from one of the many doors and saluted. Gregovich raised Fate's knife up. "Someone just tried to assassinate me. Your men are failing at their job," he said. "Search the castle. Now."
The armored man, Captain Taggant, nodded quickly and practically sprinted out of the room. Gregovich settled back into his chair and resumed eating, placing the knife within eyesight on the table. Fate narrowed his eyes.
'There's no reason for me to have dropped that knife. I've never fumbled like that before. Must be his Manifestation. Guess he's able to affect me even with Null. No doubt because he's an Avatar.'
Avatars, on top of once more receiving a buff or removal of a detriment to their Prodigy power, also have their Divine Energy gain properties of their Manifestation. As Exemplars and Prodigies, one's Divine Energy is completely neutral unless used to fuel a Prodigy power.
Once one becomes an Avatar, their Divine Energy becomes another medium of their Manifestation, allowing one to extend their Prodigy power to other things, passively use whatever Prodigy power they have, or even infuse an object or person with their Divine Energy, enchanting it with certain characteristics.
Gregovich no doubt was exercising the second of these new benefits, allowing him to use the influence of his Prodigy power even on things he is unaware of, like Fate. Fate knew what Manifestation Gregovich had from Avatar Renli's briefing, that Manifestation being Guilt.
It seemed Gregovich somehow used this power to make people miss their attacks. Fate pulled another knife out, aiming to confirm his suspicions. This time, he aimed to strike in a way that should be impossible to miss. He positioned the knife's tip an inch from Gregovich's back.
He pushed it forward, and it diverted to the side. He didn't even feel some form of resistance. He tried again and achieved the same result. He started stabbing at Gregovich, thrusting the knife over and over, and each one missed.
'What an annoying fucking power,' Fate thought bitterly. Then he had an idea.
While Gregovich continued to stuff himself, getting breadcrumbs in his long beard, Fate went off in search of the man's bedroom. If he couldn't kill the man like this, maybe he could do so indirectly. He hoped that his trap-making skills were up to the task.
When he found the bedroom, he started searching for anything that could form a trap. 'This could either go very poorly or very great,' he thought nervously. Being unable to use his greatest strength was a massive pain in the ass. It was even worse that all of his skills were rendered useless. But instead of being angry, he decided to use this as a learning opportunity.
It never hurt to expand one's skillset.