Jaded Series (Books 1-2)

It was the last day of her bounty, and Jin was actually feeling stir-crazy. Which was crazy on its own considering monsters awaited her beyond their little circle of protection. It was odd to be surrounded by such danger and yet these last few days had been some of the most relaxing she had experienced in a long while.

She felt closer to the group as a whole as they began to fall into an easy rhythm. They spent most of their time simply chatting about the differences between Jin's world and their current one. They also dedicated time to learning more Whisper signs, and Jin tried teaching some of the more general training techniques her Knowledge Tome had imparted.

Alim had been focusing on getting a garden going. It was slow going but he did confirm that he could indeed make it rain via a ritual that used a decent portion of their Mana Bits. Jin enjoyed their silent chats in the evenings when they took the first watch together. He was pragmatic and insightful and enjoyed conversing about anything it seemed like.

Karam was quieter but his presence helped keep everyone calm and happy. He had even spent the severe mana cost to let each of them pick what scent they wanted to permanently smell like. That had been a fun day, and now Jin smelled like spiced apple cider everywhere she went.

Basima smelled like chocolate chip cookies, and it made Jin's mouth water in an embarrassing way. She was mildly surprised to find out Bas was roughly the same age as her, likely only a couple of months apart if she had been born on Earth. The more days that passed with her bright smile attempting to cheer everyone up, the more Jin was reminded of Phoenix and the more pangs of homesick-like longing she kept having whenever Basima laughed.

Hadia wasn't necessarily quiet in the way that Karam was, but she rarely instigated conversation. She never seemed to relax either, which Jin thought was the wiser choice. Hadia was only a little over eighteen by Earth sensibilities but acted more like an adult than any of them, it felt like. She hadn't been as open about talking about her past like the others had been, but she was more than willing to talk about their societal difference and how she would love to see it all burned to the ground.

If anything, Jin knew she had found Pax a willing rebel eager to join his cause. She wasn't exactly against the idea of rebellion. Every little new thing she learned about what the Servants suffered made her fully support the idea of tearing it all down. Still… she was just one person who barely understood this world. What did the rebellion expect her to do about any of it?

"We should go hunting again today," Hadia said, breaking Jin from her thoughts as she sat on the edge of the wooden porch.

"You think it's worth the risk instead of spending points on the Rations option?" she asked, already understanding that the food was getting low.

"Yeah. I do," the mace-wielder answered as she sat down next to her. "We've been left alone by the other Champion so far, though maybe we've just been lucky, and they haven't found us yet. Either way, we'll need more points, too, if we don't want to get overwhelmed by them once they do find us."

Jin paused at that and looked into her eyes. Hadia hadn't really pushed much about actually trying to compete and gain points. The way she had said that though made her ask, "You think we need to push and stay ahead just so they won't kill us for the points?"

Hadia nodded. "I think us being seen as a legitimate threat of death will keep us safer than trying to stay out of their way. I know it sounds counter-intuitive, but if they stop seeing us as easy points, maybe we'll actually live to see the second floor."

"Careful there, Dia. You're starting to sound slightly optimistic. What will the audience think?" Jin teased.

She was gifted with an annoyed huff and a roll of aquamarine eyes as Hadia retorted, "You think you're going to get bonus points for that lame joke, Sky Girl?"

"Well, we haven't been entertaining enough lately, and Basima's getting all the popularity points from our Sect."

Hadia snorted a laugh. "Yeah. Makes sense, though. Everyone likes the cheerful, pretty ones." She gave Jin a sidelong look before adding, "Especially the one that keeps sharing a bed with her, I think."

Jin blushed despite knowing the truth of it. "Nothing is happening. She's just been scared to sleep alone since that first night. I'm basically just a stuffed animal to get her calm enough to sleep."

"Mmhmm," Hadia hummed, making her disbelief obvious. A moment later, she prodded further. "Do you wish something was happening?"

"It doesn't matter if I did," Jin replied firmly. "If even you are noticing the way I respond to her, then I'm sure she has. I'm not going to do anything without her asking first, though. I don't think anyone would want to do something like that in this stupid tower with everyone watching, anyways."

"Well, the partying has likely died down by now on the outside. Most will go back to their daily lives and duties and check the Network in their off hours for highlights or to catch up on their favorite Champions. There's a dedicated channel for the kind of entertainment you're talking about, though. You can even gain points from it."

Jin blinked at her for a few moments before asking incredulously, "Are you serious?"

"There's an entire team of Lovers that get sent in here, remember? I think the fact that they provide that kind of entertainment instead of hunting monsters is the reason why the Sect as a whole often gets thought of as just a group of whores instead of talented artists and healers."

She observed Hadia for a long time, debating on poking about her past among them, taking in the scars on her face and wondering how she got them.

Hadia seemed to be reading her curious gaze and simply shook her head, preemptively saying, "Maybe some other day I'll tell you about them. For now, I just want to make sure you're not going to treat Bas like most people treat the Lovers. She's not a happy toy to play with."

"I never thought she was," Jin replied. "I don't plan on gaining points that way either. I'll make sure anything that might go that direction stays hidden under the covers."

Hadia snorted another laugh. "Yeah. Well… I hope so for her sake. You good to get the others and make a trip to those closest berries we found? We can murder bunnies on the way."

Jin grinned. "Sure, we'll take a different route back, too, if everyone's good with that. We need to start mapping this place if we're going to actually compete."

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Basima practically skipped through the misty forest as she kept her eyes peeled for potential food.

The group made it to the berry bushes in under an hour and grabbed quite a bit from it. Alim had even made the bold choice of using his pack to turn it into a makeshift pot and put the smallest bush completely within it in the hopes of replanting it at their base.

They had only run into a single Slorrel so far that she had managed to take out with an arrow. It was a slow moving creature that made it much easier pickings than anything else they had ever run into within the tower. She was in an exceptionally chipper mood after that, becoming more comfortable in the forest with her team around her and the points slowly going up.

She was hoping that she would have enough to buy something soon. Hadia had announced that she would be saving her own points for some armor, which she agreed made sense for someone who fought in melee like she would. Basima wasn't sure what she wanted to buy first.

The dimensional bag had shown up a couple of times, and she thought that would be the most useful for their group once they needed to go to the next floor, but it wouldn't help them fight monsters in the meantime.

Basima glanced over to Jin, who was smiling at her. The Wayfarer had been doing that a lot more lately and it reaffirmed her own decision to try and keep the mood from spiraling downward. Talking with Karam about the other Servants they had lost had helped her process the grief she was feeling a lot, and Jin's reassurances had helped keep her calm about the future. Even if she didn't have much to offer the group, her happy songs seemed to be helping them feel better.

The only thing bringing her mood down currently was the slightly unpleasant scent Karam had temporarily put on all of them while they were beyond their safe haven and hunting. Jin had insisted on it and nobody wanted to argue that logic. It didn't seem to be bothering Jin, though, as her green eyes followed after her.

Basima had noticed they had matching eye colors before and had felt a special connection to the girl who fell from the sky because of it. Realizing that Jin was actually watching her and being reminded of someone else had actually been bothering her more and more lately. Was she just a replacement friend? Did she remind Jin so much that she was getting a crush on her, too? Or was she just reading into those longing gazes too much?

Did she want Jin to be interested in her like that?

She had never really thought about romance with another girl before. Not that it didn't happen in the city frequently enough, but she had always pictured herself taking after her mother and someday having a child of her own. Now, she would be lucky to simply escape this tower in one piece.

Basima shook her head, willing the negative thoughts away. Refocusing on her initial internal dilemma, did she want to spend the potential years she would be spending in here alone and unloved? Plenty of past Champions had formed relationships in the tower, especially if the years began to drag on. The time limit for the eighth floor was an entire year on its own. It simply took that long for Champions to get strong enough to keep pushing forward.

Another stolen glance at the lithe woman from another world had her wondering what her touch might feel like under the covers tonight… would Jin be as strong and rough there as she seemed here in the forest?

She tilted her head when she noticed something strange in the brush behind Jin. The angle had been just right to see the flash of milky white stone, and she stopped in her tracks, gasping when she realized what it might be.

Her odd actions made the others tense in response, but she loudly whispered as she passed them, "I think I saw a Trial!" She wasn't sure how to sign that for Alim.

Jin did it for her though as she turned toward the others and signed while she spoke, "What's a Trial?"

Basima just moved back to grab her hand and drag Jin to the object she had spotted. Sure enough, a smooth marble shrine was nestled against the base of a large tree. It had a slightly curved roof looking back despite being a mostly flat slab atop a square base. The rectangular slab had words carved into it describing the challenge it held, and the base had a single rune for a bracelet to press against it.

"It's a tower challenge that can give us points and prizes for beating," she quietly explained to Jin. Pointing at the writing, she read it aloud. "Harken Champions of the Tower of Polarity! Here lies a Trial of the Aspects that shall test the trinity. The battle of the body prizes power above all else. For matters of the mind, only wit leads to success. If all lack the will to win, no soul shall ever reach the end."

Jin looked around the area before turning back to her and asking, "Is it some kind of riddle we need to solve?"

She shook her head and pulled Jin's bracelet forward. "No, it's a Trial that's going to give us three tests within."

The Wayfarer tugged her arm back but not completely from her grasp as she asked, "What are you doing?"

Basima gave a huff. "I was trying to be nice and let you get the bonus points for discovering it."

Jin's eyes went wide in surprise, and just like Basima expected, she shook her head and argued, "But you found it. Those are your points, Bas."

"Yeah, but I thought it would be nice to see one of us get back in first place on the ladder. Antoni keeps climbing up even after overtaking you again a couple of days ago. Plus, you might have enough to buy some armor now. You and Hadia need it more than I do. I'm just hanging in the back, shooting things from a safe distance."

She smiled when Jin gave a huff and already knew her logic had won the argument. "Fine, but I might just give the armor to Hadia instead. She gets closer to the action than I do, too."

Jin pressed her bracelet to the rune which began to glow softly. The light swiftly spread to cover the entire tiny shrine and then began to grow. Basima almost laughed aloud at the shocked look on Jin's face as the small slab turned into a large marble doorway about ten feet high and half as wide with a lit brazier at each of its four corners. It was an obvious marker now to call every Champion to try the challenge that lay within.

"There's no punishment for failing," Basima continued explaining. She had enjoyed watching past Champions going through these, and they were often featured for the kids to watch. "You can't even die inside them," she added, further enjoying Jin's surprise. "The magic inside teleports you back here to the entrance if you would take a killing blow. It's usually more about puzzling out the problems, though sometimes there are exceptionally strong monsters to fight inside, but you still won't be risking death."

"They're worth doing for the rewards at the end," Karam said from behind them. "Sometimes there's an attempt limit, and you can't go back in, but that's usually stated in the challenge wording," he explained, pointing at the much larger copy that was carved into the door.

"Should we try it now?" Jin asked, looking to get everyone's opinion. That was something Basima had come to appreciate about Jin the most… Even if she took the lead in most things, she was always willing to listen to them and get their input into account. Jin didn't try forcing them to do anything unless their lives were clearly at risk. It was so different from the normal way people treated the Servants.

Alim wrote his response in the air for them, which Basima was grateful for as she still struggled to remember all the different hand signs. "We should come back later. You've already claimed the discovery points, so there's no rush. I want to get this bush replanted quickly. Plus, we can trade the location information to the Workers tomorrow if they go through with meeting us."

"Oh! We should team up with them for it!" Basima exclaimed, smiling giddily at the idea. "It's usually better to go in with a full team. More minds to solve whatever puzzle awaits usually benefits everyone!"

"If we can trust them not to kill us for whatever rewards we get," Hadia bitterly added.

Basima turned to Jin, who was obviously their de facto leader, and gave the cutest pout she could manage. "Please, Jin? We could use more friends to trust and trade with. They'll probably help us even more after getting the Aspects from here."

"Aspects?"

She snorted a laugh. "Right. I forgot you didn't grow up watching these on the Network. A Trial of the Aspects means that's the reward. There are other types, but this kind always gives an Aspect to anyone who beats it. Everyone will win if we work together!"

Jin gave a sigh, and Basima returned it with a brilliant smile; once again, she had won. Perhaps she would think of a good way to reward Jin later for agreeing…

"Fine," the Wayfarer replied. "I'll ask them if they're interested in a temporary alliance for it tomorrow."

She squealed in delight and hugged Jin, getting a smirk from Hadia, who teased her by muttering, "Cheater." Basima didn't even care if she was cheating if it meant making everyone smile like they were right now. Her friends deserved to be happy for a change.