Jaded Series (Books 1-2)

Jin woke up in a room that looked too clean and familiar. She briefly wondered if the weeks of slaughtering goblins and trudging through a swamp had been some freakishly long dream, and she was still in the first floor's treasure room. Then her eyes landed on Alim, standing near her feet, still dressed in his conjured matte blue armor and writing in the air to someone she couldn't see from her position in a wall alcove.

"I don't remember if there was a time when a group got split up like this when entering the treasure room, do you? I only really remember them showing each Champion claiming their prizes during the replays. You know they don't really bother showing the boring moments in between unless you specifically request them."

She blinked at the words, wondering how a system like that worked. It sounded a lot like television from what she had talked with the group about before, but it wasn't like she ever emailed a streaming service and requested movies that weren't available normally, or called up a local news station to ask for the full recordings of an event. Phoenix would probably go crazy with wanting to learn how it worked; she was always like that with tech or toys, wanting to figure out how it actually worked.

Jin shook her head, trying to get the memories of her best friend out of her head and focus on figuring out what was actually happening. With a groan, she pushed herself up, using the wall as a support to stand. She didn't feel any physical pain, like she probably should have after a fight like the last one she remembered before blacking out. However, she did feel like her head was pounding with a headache, and she wondered if this was what it felt like to be hungover.

"What did I miss?" she said out loud, then repeated the question in Whisper signs when Alim looked at her after Karam and Rayyan moved to look at her.

"Oh, Miss Jin! I'm so glad you're awake again," Karam said as he moved to pull her into a one-armed hug. "You had us really worried there."

Jin groaned again from the squeeze but patted his large back. "There, there, big guy. It's gonna take more than a sword through the chest to take me out," she tried to joke. Her voice got softer as she muttered in his ear, "Plus, I got you to watch my back. Thanks for keeping my ass alive."

As Karam finally released her, she turned to the others and asked both aloud and with signs, "Catch me up? Looks like we're alive and beat the boss. I'm going to assume this is the second-floor treasure room, 'cause we can't go back into these once we've moved on to the next floor, right?"

"That is correct," Rayyan answered, looking at her without actually meeting her eyes. "From here, we can go back to the second floor and retrieve things." He nodded towards the portal on his left and added, "But once we go through to the third, we won't be able to come back here, and we'd lose the chance to get our rewards and shop."

"So what's the plan? Go back to our base and wait for Hadia and Liraz to get back?" Jin asked, then paused as she took in the room. "Wait, why did we even come in here?"

"That's the other problem—" Karam began to say, but they all turned as the light from the portal to the second floor grew brighter for a moment, and Hadia, holding Liraz's hand, walked in. "You're alive!" Kar yelled, rushing over to hug both of them as well.

"The fact that you seem shocked doesn't make me feel better about agreeing to that plan," Hadia retorted, but still hugged him back. "You all ran away from Pax's base, which I have to admit was awesome." She leaned to the side to look around the large boy and added while signing for Alim, "We need to go now and get ours moving. He thinks it can go to the next floor with us."

"We don't have enough points yet," Jin pointed out. "I mean, we're super close, if I remember what Alim told us last. I thought we were going to try looting the goblin's tree base for their hoard of treasure to get that last bit." Her eyes flicked to Alim, raising an eyebrow in question.

He nodded and wrote, "That was the plan, but the tree turned into this portal, so this is the only thing we get to loot."

Jin looked from him to the pedestal at the center of the room and asked, "Can we still claim the reward, do the shopping, and hint thing, and then go back to the base? Maybe we can use the info to know what upgrades to give the base, and maybe we can buy the points we need from the shop now?"

Alim nodded again, but Karam spoke up. "Yes! I remember a few times when the Champion teams did exactly that, grabbing specific supplies they thought they would need before moving to the next floor."

She nodded and walked over to the pedestal. "Well, let's do this then, since everyone's here, and I'm sure we want to move fast before the Fighters try camping this portal too." After glancing at the others to confirm they were good with that new plan, she pressed her bracelet to the rune atop the waist-high marble obelisk.

A large holographic display appeared above the pillar itself, declaring their victory.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

Congratulations on clearing the second floor!

Time spent on the floor: 10 weeks, 4 days, 12 hours, 55 minutes.

You may now claim your clear reward below, then use the terminals to access the third-floor preparation store and upgrade the functionality of your Bracelet of External Insight.

May the gods smile upon you and the greatest Sect be victorious!

Jin pressed her bracelet to the pillar once again, like she remembered Alim doing before, making the more familiar display appear above it.

Congratulations on defeating the second-floor boss!

Your extra treasure reward consists of a Divine Tower Token worth 100 tribute points and your choice of Crystal Caste Spirit Gem from the list below, or you may forgo the Spirit Gem for an additional Divine Tower Token.

Jin's eyes widened at the long list of different Spirit Gems to choose from, and she actually felt a little overwhelmed by all of them, not sure what some of them even were, with monster names she didn't recognize. She knew she wouldn't be passing up on choosing one, but it was hard to guess which might be best for her. Should she just go with something she actually recognized, like Blood or Dragon?

"Looks like we each get 100 tribute points and a Spirit Gem as the boss kill reward. I also need to go back out there and loot the boss and the other goblins we killed," she informed the others. "There's a shit-ton of gems to choose from, though, so why don't you all go ahead and let me know which you think might be best for me?"

Alim and Hadia both moved in silent answer, and the others crowded around as they looked through the list. Muttering to each other as they called out promising ones and debated with each other.

Jin only half-listened as she wandered over to the alcove she had awoken in and pressed the rune for the next floor's hint, curious about what nonsense it might try spouting this time.

"The higher you rise, the colder the truth.

The storm from above has already seen you.

An old tree will not outlast the dark.

Only the forest may speak to the sky."

She groaned at the hint that also felt like a trap. Just like the first one, she probably wouldn't really understand what it meant until after seeing it and figuring out what the challenge was. Would their bases really go with them, though? The fact that they were rewarded with more tribute points definitely did make it seem like it would be a continuing thing for this Season. But if that's true, did that mean they wouldn't be going to look for their new base first thing on the next floor?

"Do you think they mean our bases when they say old tree?" Rayyan asked from right behind her, which made her start in surprise. He gave her a little smirk and said, "Sorry. Thought you would have heard me walking up." Looking back at the hint, he added, "Cold, storm, and dark seem like pretty obvious environment clues, but I'll admit that each of those words can have other meanings."

"Suddenly, you know how to decode cryptic clues?" she retorted, narrowing her eyes at him.

He tilted his head as if he was indulgently dealing with a toddler. "I said I was skilled at Monarch's March when we first met, remember? Despite what you still seem to believe, I'm not an idiot." His expression softened into something a little more uncertain than she normally saw on him as he asked, "Why did you do it?"

That confused her completely; what did she do this time? "Do what exactly?"

"Take that sword for me?" Rayyan replied, looking away again. "I know you don't like me. You could have just let that goblin finish the job and keep your hands clean without angering your teammates," he quietly pointed out.

Jin didn't answer immediately; honestly, she hadn't exactly thought about that point and had simply moved to do her job to protect them. She hadn't really had time to think about a passive betrayal like that. Her goal had been to protect her teammates, and that's exactly what she had done. Thinking about it now, though, she wondered if she would have let it happen if the thought had occurred earlier. Could she have lived with herself for letting Rayyan get killed and not risking herself in the process? She had let others die for her before, like Kian and Mary. She had killed monsters and Champions and probably would have put Rayyan down the day they had first met if the others had agreed to it.

So why did she risk herself like that for him this time?

Instead of anything noble or heroic like she had read in a book or the latest protagonist Phoenix liked to gush over with whatever her latest obsession had become, Jin knew she would never be like those righteous heroes.

"You said you play Monarch's March, and from what I gathered listening to you and Kar talk about it, it sounded similar to the game of chess from my old world. With a king and queen and pawns, right?" she asked, getting a look of confusion from Rayyan at the sudden shift in topic.

"Um, yes, I guess. It does have pawns. Instead of a king or queen, though, it has a monarch and consort pieces. Plus the assassin, mage, knight, monk, paladin, and cleric. You win by either killing the other person's monarch or capturing their consort."

"So a little different from the chess I know, but still requires strategy and weighing which pieces to move where and which ones to potentially sacrifice, yeah?"

He nodded, still looking a little confused. She clapped him on the shoulder and said, "Well, let's just say you're a useful pawn I wasn't ready to sacrifice yet."

Rayyan grimaced slightly, then dryly admitted, "I guess it makes sense for you to see me as such." His lips turned up into a smile as he said, "I think that would make Karam your cleric, Hadia your paladin, Liraz your mage, and Alim your knight."

"Hmm, I guess Pax would be the assassin piece too if he ever joins up with us. He mentioned some other person, but I don't think I remember the name or know which Sect they were part of. Maybe they'll be that monk piece and we'll have a full set," she said, trying to enjoy the little game.

He gave her a mischievous grin that she didn't normally see directed at her as he suggested, "We'd still be missing the consort. Maybe his friend can fill that role for you, since you're obviously the monarch in this scenario."

"I thought I was the player who was moving all the pieces. Going totally meta with the analogy," Jin retorted, then looked back at the next floor's hint again. With a thoughtful hum, she relented and asked, "So what else do you think it means? Should we be looking to pack for cold weather?"

Rayyan looked between her and the hint a few times as if trying to decide if she was mocking him somehow with her question. Eventually, he offered a tentative smile and said, "I think we'll also need to pack for climbing."