Jaded Series (Books 1-2)

Captain Gerrik currently stood at the edge of a balcony overlooking the raucous festivities below him in front of the tower. It would be a week-long party as the entire city watched the initial first-floor encounters.

Little pillars were now littered throughout the stands, every street, and inside every home for people to activate and cast their votes for their favorites during a round. The Fox's Illusion Network covered the entire city in one of the most intricate and advanced enchantments known to the world. The enchantments within the tower itself were secrets beyond them.

Every person could watch as the honor and fate of their Sect was fought for… or more often died for.

He tried not to let his anger leak into his aura as he watched the crowd laughing and betting on who might live or die for their continued comfort. If the Servants had been allowed to keep watching with them, he was certain they would all be praying or grieving right now.

Half a team lost in less than six hours… It was absurd.

By the end of that first day, a sixth of the Champions had been culled. It felt so… pointless.

Gerrik tried not to glare up toward the top of the tower where he knew the gods were watching from, nestled in their little paradise. He was one of the few who had actually laid eyes on it before over a decade ago when he had reached the top of that accursed tower.

"How's my Champion doing so far?" a gruff voice asked as Buster clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Wishing you weren't a Caster already so you could join them?"

"That is a tasteless joke, even for you, General."

Buster raised her hands in mock surrender and leaned against the balcony to better look at him. She was an Emerald now but brought up mostly on Monster Seeds that he himself had helped collect during his Season as a Champion. While he was still only Sapphire, he had earned every one of his levels through combat against monsters.

"I know how angsty you get around this time," she said. "You were practically an unapproachable wild animal last Season when you had to watch them all instead of fight alongside them. Your dedication to the gods is commendable."

It took every ounce of willpower in his soul not to scoff or snap at her for that. If anything, he had wished that he had the nerve to do what the Wayfarer did and tell the whole lot of them to fuck off. As far as he was concerned, the gods were a blight and the tower an infection that needed to be cut out from their society if they could ever hope to heal.

Instead of voicing any of the traitorous dissent, he asked, "I'm surprised that the Speakers thought the Wayfarer fearsome enough to place a Bounty so soon. I think they just made a new record for the earliest one."

"Queen Theris was indulging her son again," Buster admitted with a wrinkled nose. "She spoils him far too much, in my opinion, but at least I don't have to worry about Prince Theodred becoming king in a few hundred years."

"I don't think Prince Thame needs to worry about losing his heir status, from what I've heard," he replied, then decided to prod for information. "The Queen seems to be proud with his handling of the recent uptick in rebels causing messes. Did they ever discover who painted the Lover's clinic wall?"

Gerrik actually knew exactly who had done that bit of vandalism, but he wanted to know if the Speakers had been able to sniff out any of Petal's little artists. He had been doing his best to keep the Fighters under him and aligned to their cause out of that mess and away from arresting any other rebels, but it was growing increasingly difficult with the crown prince now stepping in to investigate further.

"They arrested a Servant by the name of Marcus, who happened to be there at the time. I'm not too sure about that, though. While he did make contact with the Wayfarer, if you took one look at the way he holds himself, you'd know he didn't have the balls to do it," she replied with an annoyed huff.

"They're also still investigating the death of Lord Nabil that the Wayfarer, oh so coincidentally, walked in on. Smells like a steaming pile of camel shit to me. Did you know Alaina's actually claiming that she has a rogue Whisper on her hands rather than admitting that Wayfarer has guilt written all over her?"

"I hadn't heard," he dutifully lied with a shrug. "Perhaps she does, and that's why the Whispers seem so disorganized this year," he suggested and gestured toward the hovering illusions showcasing the latest excitement.

"Well, if she doesn't get them all under control soon, she's going to be replaced as the Silence Sect leader by Queen Theris. You know she hates chaos that might upset the proper order of things."

Gerrik simply nodded in agreement. Most of the Speakers didn't want the "proper order" of things to get disturbed. They had luxury and power. Why would they want anyone to threaten that? Especially by those they considered so far beneath them.

"I'll admit I'm surprised that you haven't commented on my newest star this Season."

"Antoni seems like a competent Fighter," Gerrik assessed, looking thoughtful for her sake. "His skills with the sword seem formidable indeed, but I'm not entirely sure about his leadership skills yet."

Buster laughed. "Coming from the man who led our Sect to victory two Seasons ago, I'm sure your standards are rather difficult to reach."

"We'll see soon enough if he can reach them."

"Indeed. I do wonder if you—" her words cut off as a collective gasp echoed through the crowd below, and both of the Fighters instantly looked at the display highlighted in red. Above it was a glowing announcement indicating the latest kill that had just taken place, and Gerrik felt a tremor of both fear and excitement course through him. The rebellion had truly made its first move, and that crimson lettering proclaimed it to the whole city.

Whisper Necla has been slain by Whisper Pax.

Pax wondered if he had made a mistake by suggesting to the rest of the Whispers that they should disperse and focus on early unexpected assassinations instead of claiming their base. The others had easily agreed, but it had made his job so much harder. Still, while he might have been one of the most skilled Whispers of the group, he didn't think he would have survived taking on the other nine right out of the gate.

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Alaina had given him an impossible list of targets to kill while trying to ensure his own survival within the tower teeming with monsters, but the impossible had never really scared him before.

He had thought a girl falling from the sky was impossible a week ago.

The world continued to surprise him like that.

Alaina giving him this insane job wasn't much of a surprise, though, and she had given him the chance to decline or attempt to change it. He decided to accept the challenge and the forfeiture of his life as he knew it.

When she called out his name upon that dais, there was no longer any turning back for him. He was extremely grateful and surprised by the offers the gods had made him. While the Rabbit had been sorely tempting to accept, he knew that relying on luck rather than his skills would likely get him killed in the tower. Nobody was ever that lucky in here.

Pax had chosen the Chameleon and would be eternally grateful for that choice as his newly cultivated Talent helped him blend into his surroundings.

It truly was the best blessing he could have hoped for. He already had a number of other useful Talents that had ensured his place within the Whispers. The ability to see the true intentions of a person within their aura with his [Truesight] Talent had been absolutely invaluable to both him and the rebellion he had joined.

Alaina had almost killed him on the spot when he had revealed the capability to her after he had escaped from his insane father. Luckily, he had managed to convince her of his own sincerity and determination to help others.

The Whisper leader had taken him under her wing but hadn't been able to stop his father from having more children. His half-sister had also suffered from the madness of their father's research.

The crazy scientist had done some truly outrageous things before, but it had been difficult to prove the man had been experimenting on his own daughter, who he had with a more-than-willing Worker, and on his son, who had been conceived in secret with a very unwilling Servant.

Perhaps that was why he had behaved so recklessly when he had seen Marcus quivering in the corner after killing Lord Nabil for Jin. The trembling man had reminded him of his own mother.

Alaina had yelled at him for letting a witness live, even an innocent one like Marcus, especially when it could threaten the best hope they had in over a thousand years to disrupt the Seasons. He wasn't entirely sure he was sold on the idea of this sarcastic girl from another world being sent to save them all, but he had to admit that he had admired her bravery when he had stood before her.

It had pleased him to see that determined look in Jin's eyes… it was just too bad that she was a woman; otherwise, he might have actually been attracted to her for that.

It wasn't like he had time to think about things like romance, though, while murdering nobles and following after her in the hopes of her not dying or getting sent into the tower this Season. Both Alaina and Petal had told him that they wanted to keep her out of it until the next Season instead, hoping to buy time to actually train her and convince her to join their side first.

Now, they were relying on blind faith in beings beyond the gods that Jin could be the inferno of change they so desperately needed.

To that end, Pax knew that his next action would be the first spark of it all.

As he crept through the underbrush, he was insanely grateful that his blessing was adding to the [Diminished Presence] Talent he already had to make himself less noticeable as he laid eyes on the first target on his list.

Whisper Necla was a loyal informant directly reporting to Crown Prince Thame. She had also been too close to discovering both Petal and Alaina's involvement with the rebellion. She needed to die.

Finding her again after they had agreed to split up at the entrance had been the trickiest part and the reason he had bemoaned doing so. It was necessary though. Alaina had also informed him of why Necla needed to die first.

Alaina had been forced to give Necla her own kill target. One of the very few Speakers they had managed to get on their side. His first goal was to prevent that assassination and make first contact with the Speaker's own traitor inside the tower.

He watched as Necla looked around nervously as she approached one of the bases. The one they had both seen the team of Speakers enter just a few minutes ago. Necla wasn't stupid enough to try and take out her target with nine other Champions surrounding them that would immediately retaliate purely for the points if not to avenge one of their own.

The Speakers had moved exceptionally slow through the forest to get to their base, even braving the night with the primary goal being caution over speed. It seemed to have paid off considering they didn't lose any lives during that first day.

Pax had actually grinned at his bracelet when he had seen that Jin had killed Arno. She was helping to cross off his list for him.

At the sound of the cabin door slamming open in the distance and the sight of a young woman storming off toward the outhouse, Necla smiled as the opportunity presented itself to her.

It was her reaction that confirmed who the target was for Pax. Despite knowing the name of the Speaker he had needed to contact, he hadn't actually seen her before today. She had even worn an elaborate costume that hid her face, just like all the other Speakers who had entered. It wasn't like he could judge them for it, though, when every Whisper had been wearing their own masks.

He knew it had been pointless, considering those faces would be displayed to the city via the illusion network, but they did enjoy putting on a show.

Before Necla could take a step beyond the tree line, he made his move.

Pax had tested his newly awakened abilities beforehand and knew exactly what he needed to do. Coming up behind her and placing his palm directly against her temple in a fluid movement, he triggered his ability before she could even gasp.

Necla's head became unrecognizable as red mist exploded from the opposite side of where he had attacked. The ability wasn't meant to be used that close to someone, and for a Half-Caster who hadn't been lucky enough to have their Aspect bond to Fortitude, it meant instant death.

Hopefully, the show had been worth the raucous he was sure would happen outside the tower in the wake of his betrayal. He was a traitor now and knew his life was over outside the tower. He didn't think he'd manage to leave it in the end, but he was determined to finish crossing every name off his list, finding and protecting his half-sister, and then helping Jin or another rebel reach the top.

It was slightly depressing to know that only a wish from the gods could save his life now.