Jaded Series (Books 1-2)

Jin's spear was in her hand with a single thought as she sprinted toward the woman she was fully committed to erasing from existence. She didn't even fully register that she was already pulling on her [Poker Face] Talent to help her focus on the singular goal of killing the monster before her.

The seconds seemed to stretch out as she closed the distance. Jin couldn't spare the glance to check on Basima as she slid off the blood-soaked dagger and collapsed on the ground. She needed to trust that Karam would do his job while she did hers.

The first thing she aimed for was Jilani's fucking smile.

A dagger moved to parry her in a fluid motion as the other sliced under Jin's thrust in an attempt to disembowel her. She managed to twist in time to avoid that, but it still grazed her hip, just below the blood red leather protecting her torso. Whatever pain there might have been was drowned out by her anger.

She jumped back while pulling her spear back for another attack, thrusting lower to catch a leg. It quickly became apparent that they were easily matched for speed as Jilani dodged the strike and moved in again. This time, a flicker of blue appeared as Alim's [Mana Barrier] surrounded her but it shattered a moment later with the next attack that made Jilani grunt in frustration. Thirty seconds until Jin could get another one, but it didn't seem like the Fighter planned to wait for that as she continued the assault.

Another slice against her thigh let Jin know she was probably outmatched for skill this time. The only saving grace was that there didn't seem to be any Banes from the hits like Jin's ability could inflict.

Another small jump back to disengage began to drag them away from where Basima lay on the ground, thankfully with Hadia and Karam reaching her now. The pale green mist infused with Life magic began to spread around them, which was a relief. The momentary distraction of them in the background cost Jin this time.

Jilani started laughing as the twin blade sunk into her flesh. One hit low in her abdomen and the other in her shoulder, which definitely hurt more than the earlier cuts, but it was the ripple of Fire magic that followed that caused Jin to cry out in pain. Whatever ability Jilani had triggered instantly cauterized the wounds and made it feel like flames were running rampant through her veins.

Jin reflexively kicked out, pushing both the enemy and painful daggers away from her.

The way Jilani staggered clued Jin into the advantages she did have over the Fighter. She was definitely stronger, had a longer range, a fiery rage that refused to stop until this monster's own heart stopped beating, and most of all… she wasn't alone.

Jin felt the effects of the [Last Stand] Boon from Alim's [Last Bastion] infused her with increased resistances and the healing boost from Karam's [Refreshing Mist] finally reached where she had backed the fight to.

To Jin's right, a wide spray of slime coated the ground, limiting their movement in that direction, and Hadia's movement to swing at the Fighter's head from behind also provided the distraction Jin needed. As Jilani ducked to avoid the attack she heard coming, Jin swung low, using the weight of the whole spear to take out Jilani's legs.

The enemy hit the ground hard but immediately began to roll. Fortunately for Jin, Jilani was pincered in and had decided to roll toward the longer spear instead of the mace ready to bash her head in. The movement didn't save her.

Jin swung the spear around in an arc to adjust her grip and slammed the tip downward. True to its name, the [Silent Spear] made no noise as it sliced through the Fighter's guts, pinning her to the ground. Jilani did make noise however as she gasped before screaming out, "Fucking bi—"

Not letting the Fighter even finish the thought, Jin triggered [Piercing Thrust] as she yanked the spear out of Jilani's torso and slammed it down again directly in her mouth, silencing the words. She knew instantly that she had severed the spinal cord as Jilani's body instantly went limp and face froze in a rictus of pain and shock.

Her anger wasn't satisfied yet. She lifted the spear again and shoved it into the eyes next even though the corpse wouldn't see it happening. The adrenaline and rage still wasn't cooling as fast as the body below her was. Over and over she slammed that spear into the face that had smiled while stabbing her heart.

It was Karam's choked sob that finally pulled Jin back to awareness. Her whole body was trembling, and her chest heaved from the exertion, but she turned to see if maybe… just maybe that was a sob of happiness.

Her legs felt like lead as she stumbled the few yards to where Alim and Liraz were standing behind Karam as he knelt beside Basima's still form. She barely registered Hadia walking beside her, saying words that her mind couldn't process. All of her focus was on Basima and the dread pooling in the pit of her stomach when the seconds passed without her chest moving to pull in air.

Jin fell to her knees across from Karam who looked at her with tears streaming down his face… the frown made it clear they were not happy tears. She didn't want to hear the words he spoke. "I'm sorry… Jin—Sh-she… I can't heal someone who's already…"

She knew he had tried his best to heal Basima. Her entire chest and throat was covered in the silky threads of his [Regenerative Cocoon] but she still wasn't moving. Basima looked asleep at first glance, but Jin knew that it wasn't the same… there was no breath, no color in her cheeks, no life left to heal.

Her vision blurred as she bent over to try and hug Basima one last time. She knew it wouldn't change anything… she knew Basima wouldn't feel the warmth of her touch… but she didn't want to let her go yet. She would let Basima know her feelings in this moment.

A cry filled with all the agony her soul couldn't hold back with a simple Talent ripped from her throat, burning her lungs as she screamed at the sky clinging Basima to her chest as if she yelled loud enough the gods might take pity on her. Might accept the silent prayer that they would be willing to trade Jin's soul for Basima's, the one who deserved to live and continue smiling.

As if in mockery of her pain, the gray clouds above rumbled a moment before pouring rain upon them.

Jin let the rain hide her tears.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed. It could have been seconds or hours with how consumed by grief she became, not allowing the mask that Basima disliked to cover her face. Jin would give her this last moment of honest emotion.

Then never again. She pulled her [Poker Face] back on, the magical control over her body overriding the emotions that threatened to consume her. A cool distance granted to help her mind function clearly again.

Eventually, she set Basima back down and lifted her gaze to Karam's agonized face that mirrored hers a moment ago. She swallowed to clear the lump that had been lodged in her throat and managed to tell him, "It's not your fault, Kar. She was dead before she hit the ground. You can't heal the dead."

She carefully stood, noticing the tears streaming down Liraz's face, splotched with purple across her cheeks and around her eyes. They had only been together a week, but Basima had spent plenty of time making the smaller girl feel welcome among them.

Jin glanced over at Alim, who seemed to be struggling to keep his own emotions under control, but as their eyes met, his frown deepened, and she knew what he was going to sign. "You need to loot both—"

"Fuck. Off," she said, letting her middle finger translate for her, as the thought made her mask slip.

Turning away to move back toward the only person she could bring herself to loot at the moment, Hadia called out to her, "I don't think she was alone."

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That was enough to make her pause and look back. Hadia's hand was pressed against that solid black sheet of darkness separating them from the cave's interior. "We can't get in, which means someone is still in there," Hadia explained.

"Then we'll just kill them when they come out," Jin flippantly replied.

Hadia glanced back at the darkness and said, "Actually, if there's only a couple, we should question them first, otherwise we may want to leave. This was one Fighter out of ten that—"

"Will die the same as this one," Jin interjected firmly, feeling her rage threaten to break through again at the idea of more people like Jilani being allowed to keep on breathing.

Aquamarine eyes narrowed at her as Hadia snapped, "I know you're angry and grieving, Jin, but we can't take on nine trained Fighters." She glanced back at the entrance and said, "If you're alone in there, though, we'll let you go peacefully if you just answer a few questions. Otherwise, we can camp out here and see who starves first."

Jin was about to retort that there was no way she was letting any Fighter leave peacefully, but was stopped short by a pair of hands reaching out of the darkness with the palms facing out in a gesture of surrender.

The face of the woman Jin remembered was called Nawal stuck her face out like an eerie wall decoration and said, "I told Jil not to attack you all, but when the bounty was called she knew it was an order from our Sect Leader. I swear I'm not like Jil or Toni. I just wanted to scout the boss, not kill Servants."

Well that confirmed that Antoni was still set on killing all of them. Still, she didn't trust this woman in the slightest. "Why should we believe you? Why should we let you run back to them and tell them anything? I'm sure they'll be furious as soon as they see the next Tally and find out a Fighter is dead."

"Probably," Nawal muttered, and Jin could at least give her the point for being honest. "I… I'll give you everything on me. Just… Please let me go back to my Sect. I'll tell them to stop chasing after you. They'll see Jilani attacked and killed one of yours first, and if I'm alive I can attest that you're not actually after us—"

"But I am," Jin interjected, the new conviction settling firmly in her chest. "I'm going to hunt your Sect down and make every single one of them suffer the same fate as her," she said, tilting her head toward Basima.

"For fuck's sake, Jin," Hadia huffed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "You are not helping right now."

Jin gave a sarcastic smirk. "You're right. I shouldn't have said that part aloud. My bad." She turned to look at the Fighter. "Please, come out from there, strip down, then be on your merry way."

Nawal rightfully looked nervous as she glanced from Jin back to Hadia. "Yeah… I'm not so sure I believe that one," she said, pointing a finger toward Jin as she spoke to Hadia.

"Smart," Jin quipped, but quieted at the withering glare Hadia shot at her.

"Well, the only way I know to ensure trust is through an Oathbond. Are you willing to do a mutual one with Jin?" Hadia asked the floating head. She glanced back at Alim, though, and signed to double check, "Mutual Oathbond will work, yeah?"

Alim nodded and signed, "Just make her swear silence as well and only for us to let her leave peacefully. Don't let her loop-hole it to attack us and not let us defend."

"Weren't you the one that said an Oathbond was a death sentence in here?" Jin interjected, not liking the idea of letting the Fighter they had alone right in front of them keep living. The first time she ever killed was to avoid letting a threat live; why would she grant that mercy to someone who definitely didn't deserve it?

"They can be. But other times they are the only thing that will overcome an impasse. It's a last resort." Hadia looked back at Nawal and said, "You swear to leave everything on you, and never speak about what happened here and Jin will swear to let you leave this clearing peacefully and not attempt following you for at least an hour. That should give you plenty of time for a head start."

"Why the fuck am I the one swearing—"

"'Cause you're the idiot who keeps threatening her!" Hadia snapped.

Jin rolled her eyes and wanted to grumble further, but Nawal spoke up first. "Fine. I swear on my magic that I will leave all of my current possessions here and never speak of the last hour, save for making this oath, and forfeit my life should I not, unless any of you attempt to attack or follow me in the next hour."

All eyes turned to look at Jin next.

She glared back at all of them, stubbornly refusing to speak.

"This isn't how Basima would want you to behave," Alim signed to her. Looking down once more at their dead friend. "She would want us all to keep living for her. Just like Daren and Celia. Just like Kian and Mary. We keep living for them, Jin."

The tears threatened to burst beyond her control again at his words, but Jin yanked that cool control from her Talent back to settle over her heart. "Fine. I swear on my magic that I won't attack or follow you for the next hour unless you break your oath or my life is forfeit."

She felt a tingling sensation around her right wrist and glanced at it, pulling the sleeve of her Sliksilk shirt back to see the circle of rainbow runes tattooed around it. Her [Aetheric Transmigrator] Talent translated the runes for her: Oath, Bond, Peace, Nawal, Hour, Death.

Jin lifted it for the others to see and asked, "Happy now?"

The others all visibly relaxed, and Jin decided to ignore them as Nawal left the safety of the cave, which Jin was definitely thinking of as an instanced dungeon from many of the video games she had played before. She didn't think she'd survive watching the Fighter simply walk away. Instead, she focused on speeding up Jilani's decomposition.

She stared down at the body with a head that wasn't even recognizable as human anymore. Jin felt like it still wasn't enough. She wanted complete annihilation—for this body to become nothing, less than the ashes that even the worst monsters left behind.

A hand on her shoulder pulled her from her spiraling thoughts, and she looked back to see Alim's hardened face. His hand gestures were firm as he signed, "You should loot Basima's essence first. Like our other allies."

Jin managed to keep her face impassive that time but was sorely tempted to punch him for the suggestion. Despite no outward reaction, he seemed to read her thoughts as he added, "You can hate me for it, but you know I'm right. Unless you want to be haunted by the item she gives or the knowledge that she would hate you not honoring what she has left to give you—give us—then you will fucking loot her, Jin."

She blinked in surprise. Her anger diminished as she signed, "I don't think you've ever spoken to me like that before. I didn't even know you knew how to sign expletives."

"You never needed me to before." His gaze was fiercer than she had ever seen, unwavering as he asked her to do something she saw as completely disrespectful to the woman who had brought her so much happiness in this abyssal world.

He seemed so different now and she couldn't help but ask, "What happened to the boy who was cowering in a corner while a woman half his size beat him like a dog?"

"He met a stubborn Wayfarer who showed him how to stand in defiance no matter how many times the gods or fate tried to knock her down."

Jin snorted a laugh but didn't feel the humor reach her heart. Instead she shook her head and gave a heavy sigh. Staring up at the sky for a moment and letting the light drizzle of rain try to clear her mind more. A rainy day to use her [Rainy Day] Talent on…

She gave a single curt nod and turned back to walk over to Basima. Not sparing a glance at Hadia and Liraz dealing with stripping the Fighter, and trying not to think about what she was doing. Brushing her hand along Basima's cheek for a final time, she barely focused on accepting the prompt to loot the corpse essence.

Not waiting to see the body start to break down, she quickly turned and strode past Alim once more to finish her initial task. It would be some kind of karma or irony, she wasn't sure which, to use Basima's final gift to empower her murderer's reluctant sacrifice.

Jin bent and touched a single finger to the armor protecting Jilani's chest, which was enough to trigger her Talent. She mentally accepted the prompt to use the essence from Basima and an item appeared at her feet. Well, less of an item and more of a sphere of blackness so dark that it seemed unreal. Like a black spot painted atop reality rather than a part of it.

Picking it up, she was surprised by the description that appeared in the hologram above it.

For the first time, Jin accepted the prompt. Allowing the void that Basima's death had created in her heart be mirrored within her soul. Knowing that all of this was completely unnecessary, that Basima could have lived if it wasn't for being thrown in this tower, that if she wanted to ensure the others survived she had to become the ruthless killer the gods wanted her to be… well, she would go willingly into the void if it meant stopping any more of her friends from suffering the same fate.