Jaded Series (Books 1-2)

Jin was trying her best to keep her heart from racing and her legs from shaking as she dragged the unconscious guy outside and dropped him at the edge of the protective circle she could just make out as an iridescent dome around the cabin. It didn't extend very far but gave them about thirty feet from the porch. They might be able to train in relative safety there she idly thought.

First, though, it was time for her to become an actual murderer.

The knowledge that it would inevitably happen had always been at the back of her mind since learning about the tower and her going into it, but she had expected it to be in the heat of battle, not executing a guy because the risks were too great.

She knew this was the best choice… was the only choice she could stand making. She wouldn't regret killing the guy who had tried to assassinate them all, but she knew that she would regret it if she let him go only to get the others killed from that misplaced mercy. This guy was trained to kill them for their kindness.

Jin could make it quick though. She knew enough about human anatomy for that. Hell, he might be dying already with the current dent in his skull from Hadia's brutal mace strike. She could at least try to convince herself that she was putting him out of his misery.

She laid him on his side and conjured her [Silent Spear]. Placing the tip at his temple, she took a deep steadying breath, closed her eyes, and shoved the spear down toward the ground.

Nothing but silence met her.

Looking down was a mistake that cost her the little breakfast she had managed to eat before entering the tower. He was definitely dead now.

Her whole body trembled as she braced her hands against her knees and kept heaving even after there was nothing left in her stomach. A gentle hand on her back surprised her but she relaxed a mere moment later when she realized it was just Hadia.

The rough-looking woman rubbed circles on her back in silence until she got better control of herself. "You know, I'm actually a bit relieved to see you hurling your guts up," Hadia quietly told her. "I'm not sure I would have been able to ever sleep in the same house with you if you were completely unaffected by that."

"Glad to see I'm human?" she retorted, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

Hadia chuckled. "Well, I already know you're not human, but I'm glad you're not completely heartless either."

"I've never killed anyone before," Jin quietly replied. "I've never… never hurt anyone like that. Never seen so much blood before…"

"I have," Hadia muttered but didn't elaborate further. Instead she said, "You should loot the guy and come back inside. Get some more sleep before the dawn arrives and more Champions start exploring the floor."

Jin numbly nodded and brushed a hand against the corpse's leg, trying not to look at the destroyed head.

She nodded without thinking too much about it and was surprised by getting another pop-up.

Jin nodded again, hoping for something good enough to make it worth not storing up even more. She was surprised when what looked like a mangled and writhing ball made of chains appeared at her feet. With a furrow brow, she bent down to pick it up and almost cheered at the display.

Jin almost accepted the prompt but paused as she saw Hadia watching her with a soft smile. She hadn't defeated that enemy. Sure, she dealt the killing blow, but she got the points from that despite not actually being the one to fight the guy.

Hadia had been thinking about the group. What would help them all survive more. Jin getting the points meant rewards for them sooner. She hadn't thought about making them wait longer so that she could get more power.

"You should use it. Alim can probably do that absorption ritual inside, right?" Jin told her, offering up the Aspect towards her.

"What?" Hadia replied. Narrowing her eyes, she asked, "Are you serious?"

"You were the one who fought him and I'll get something different from the points, right? You earned it."

The older woman gave a huff of disbelief before nodding and taking the item from her. "You're crazy, but I'm not gonna say no to another Aspect. What is it anyways? Chain?"

"Chaos," Jin replied with a smirk. "I think it'll suit you."

Hadia snorted a laugh as they headed back into the cabin, pointedly not looking back at the body they had left behind.

Jin was glad to discover that Alim did know the proper ritual for them and that it only took a bit of salt which they had managed to find in the fairly barren kitchen. While Hadia and Alim were focused on that, Jin, Basima and Karam were squeezed together on the sofa looking at her bracelet display of the shop as they explained how it worked to her.

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She had a total of fifty-four points to spend which gave her three options to choose from at the moment. Tilting her head at the number, however, she asked Hadia from across the room, "I know I'm not great at math, but didn't you say player kills were worth only thirty points? I got forty more than I had before."

"Player?" Hadia asked in confusion.

"Er, I mean, Champions. This is basically a game in my head—a very deadly game—so I'll probably keep saying that accidentally, but I mean the other Champions like us."

"Oh! That's the first kill bonus!" Basima answered. "It's not much, but as an extra incentive they give some bonus points to the first person to kill another Champion."

Jin blinked at her before grumbling, "Have I mentioned how messed up this whole thing is?"

"We know," Hadia replied, refocusing on Alim as he finished using his [Mind of the Magister] Talent to draw the ritual with glowing blue mana and activated the ritual for her.

The ball of chains seemed to unwind itself and wrap around Hadia's arms, crawling up them before melting into her. She gave a shudder before pressing the Display rune on her bracelet to verify the information for her new abilities.

"Song damage?" Jin asked curiously as Hadia moved to show them all the display.

"Yeah, basically anything that has to do with sound or rhythm falls into that magic type," Karam explained. "A lot of the Lovers usually end up with Boons infused with it. Some Fighters might get it too, like Hadia did."

Jin nodded along and glanced back at her own display before asking, "So what should I spend my points on? Or should I save them up for some armor? Is what I get chosen at random or can I pick? And can I give whatever I buy to one of you instead if it is random and I can't really use it?"

"They usually let you pick from a list but you can't see that list until after you spend the points on the category. Sometimes they'll also include additional items under that category that would cost additional points but usually come with better effects," Hadia explained as she and Alim sat in two of the open chairs by the fireplace across from them.

"So we're gambling twice? First for the randomized list and again to hope we have enough extra points for a better thing?"

"Basically. I'd vote on buying that Knowledge Tome though before anyone else does. Especially, when none of us have any combat training. The Fighters and Whispers might not need it, but we could definitely use one or five."

Jin absorbed that information for a moment before asking wide-eyed, "Are you saying that a Knowledge Tome could teach me kung-fu instantly?"

"I'm not sure what kung-fu is, but it does instantly teach you something. We might get super unlucky and have a list of rather useless skills to pick from, but there are usually combat techniques included in the list."

"You could wait until the Midday tally though," Basima suggested, continuing her explanation when Jin raised an eyebrow at her. "They update the shop points as soon as you make a kill, but the other things like claiming bases or solving puzzles or providing entertainment don't update until the Midday and Midnight tallies. You can actually earn some extra points from the people watching voting on you as their favorite for that half-day round."

"So this is also a popularity contest?" Jin asked incredulously. "How does that even work? There were thousands of people watching and there's definitely not that many points so far."

"It's ratioed," Hadia supplied. "Each person can vote for their favorite, but only the top six will get an extra point. The basic idea is that each Sect will end up having a favorite Champion, but…"

"There's nothing forcing people to vote within their Sect?" Jin guessed and Hadia nodded.

"But you were amazing out there today! Plus you got the first kill," Basima pointed out, but Hadia shook her head and interjected.

"That wasn't exactly a thrilling kill, plus the Midday and Midnight tallies are also when the shop refreshes. The Knowledge Tome might not be an option then and we'd have to wait for it to cycle back around again."

"Well, I think that might settle it more than anything else," Jin replied. "We need more knowledge if we want to be more powerful right now. If one of us can fight better that means more points and loot in our pockets." She glanced back at the display and asked, "So, how do I actually select the thing?"

"Just touch the Covenant rune on the bottom and say the name aloud," Karam said, having been mostly watching along with Alim.

Jin touched her finger to it and clearly said, "Knowledge Tome."

A new display came up listing her options.

Jin knew exactly which one she wanted for herself, but glanced at the others to see if any of them wanted to give an alternate opinion. Cautiously, she asked, "Why is the meditation tome more expensive?"

"Meditation techniques are usually needed to reach Sapphire Caste at a reasonable pace. They're how we cultivate our abilities more efficiently. While it's not really a requirement for Sapphire, it definitely is for Emerald," Hadia explained. "I would actually recommend skipping that for now. It's useful for the long run, but I think we're more worried about just surviving to reach Crystal when meditating actually becomes semi-useful."

Jin noticed Alim leaning forward to get a better look at the display, and she moved it closer to him as she partially signed while speaking slower to enunciate, "Would the Rituals or Potions be better for you than the Piercing for me?"

He shook his head and signed back, "I know the basic stuff already and I won't be able to perform the Crystal ones until I'm Crystal Caste myself. I also know a lot of plants from working with Lady Shahara, but it might be useful for surviving if something happens to me."

"I'm not going to plan around any of you dying," Jin firmly retorted. "Don't any of you try to jinx it either." After a few chuckles, she added to the whole group, "If nobody objects, then I'm going to hope the Power of Piercing teaches me some Spear techniques… and isn't talking about body jewelry."

Hadia snorted a laugh, and both Basima and Karam giggled at that idea as the latter unfortunately informed her, "No promises that it won't. Magical piercings and tattoos are a thing here, but it should also include how to enchant the jewelry that goes with that too."

"Should I not risk it then?"

"Nah, the chance of that actually being in this list this early on is pretty low," Hadia said. "While the gods are definitely all assholes, they don't do a lot of weird 'gotcha' tricks like that when it comes to the loot options. They want people to spend the points just as much as they want them to earn more."

Jin nodded and tapped a finger to the Covenant rune again as she said, "The Power of Piercing," and was mildly shocked and relieved when a heavy book with a spear and a jian sword on the cover appeared at her feet where loot normally did when she used her power.

"So how do I use this?"

"Just read the trigger sentence on the first page," Karam informed. Excitedly watching her, he added, "I've never seen one of these actually used before."

She flipped open the cover and read out loud, "The Powerful Piercing Techniques will enhance the agility of your spear thrusts and power of your double-edged sword strikes." Then she gasped as the book seemed to begin to disintegrate in her hands. A cloud of inky letters seemed to swarm off the pages and attack her, burying themselves into her skin and worming their way through her clothing. It was more painful than she had expected and instantly gave her a headache as it felt like her mind was getting stretched and folded.

Jin was glad she didn't pass out from it, but she immediately told them, "I think I need to go back to sleep now. That took way more out of me than I thought it would."

Hadia chuckled and replied, "That's fine. I'll stay up still and crash in the morning after you wake up. We'll probably want to figure out some kind of watch routine between all of us, though, so we're not down for as long."

Jin nodded as she stood to head back up the stairs. "We'll plan more tomorrow then. Thanks for taking the watch."