Jason Newborn(2)

On the day of the mock trial, Jason's eyes flitted across Tara's body as they waited for the core eligibility exam. She was so-so on Earth, sporting a mediocre body and an equally mediocre dream of becoming a small-town veterinarian. But in combat leathers… Jason looked up. "Your progress has been incredible," he said, making the brunette turn away with rosy cheeks. "I have high hopes for you."

"It's nothing special," Tara whispered, rubbing her toe in the dirt. That shy lack of confidence… It was kinda cute. He could get used to that. "Anyway…." she said. "I should get ready."

Jason smiled gently. "Of course. I look forward to seeing your performance."

Tara smiled and rushed away. Thinking last second, he called out. "Oh, Tara."

She stopped dead in her tracks, turning back hesitantly as if he would find some flaw in her and take it all back. "Yeah?"

"Have a little more confidence in yourself. You're doing amazing." Jason watched her eyes glitter as she smiled. "And try to smile more. You look better that way."

Tara's smile faded as if his words were bittersweet. That kinda ticked Jason off. He'd never understand why women were so sensitive to that phrase as if it were a code word to put on an apron and bake up a child. I mean, he just complimented her smile, right? It was annoying. Still… that semi-wounded look in her eyes as she looked at him told him, I'll do better. That was the type of mindset that brought people to the top. And she'd be back, anyway. He had a sneaking suspicion that women kinda liked men being more confident than them. Why else would they go after douchebags that wanted to use them? At least he was one of the good guys.

"I'll try," Tara said with a slight smile.

"Maybe smile wasn't the right word," Jason said. "Happy. You look better when you're happy, and you've been looking better all the time."

Tara's smile returned with interest. Success.

"Thank you. Bye, Jason!" Tara waved and ran away before anything else could ruin that feeling.

I love making people's days, and he thought, sneaking a longing glance at her ass as she ran away. Yeah, she looked good in combat leathers.

"Yo. I thought that you were still into Sara, man," Raul said, clapping him on the shoulder. His face was smiling, but his eyes weren't smiling. Jason could tell from the moment that Sara threw her fit that he was on her side as if he, the kid humiliated in front of a class without warning or provocation, was in the wrong. Ever since, he had continued justifying her every word and statement under the guise of being an impartial mediator. He was obviously into her. Two-faced asshole.

"Do you have a problem, Raul?" Jason asked.

"Problem? Dude. What's up with you, man?

"What's up with me? I can't even encourage a teammate without you questioning my fidelity, and you're asking what's up with me?"

Raul frowned and looked at Tara. She looked like a soldier, targeting Jason with blushing glances while using her friends for cover. "That's not all you were doing, man."

Jason scoffed, looking away. "So you have a problem."

"Nah, man. I'm just saying—"

"Hey! Have you guys seen Sara?" Emma asked, her red hair fluttering as she ran toward them.

"Nah. I haven't," Raul said.

Emma developed a grimace. "You haven't?"

"No," Jason confirmed. "Why do you even care? She's been avoiding you like a Covid ward."

Emma's grimace deepened, carving sad lines in her face. "I…."

Jason rolled his eyes at Raul's mocking smirk. Annoying. "Besides," Jason said. "She was probably just up late realizing you can't learn magic by swinging a sword."

"No, that's the thing," Emma said. "Aelia said that things suddenly changed and she might not be joining us."

Jason's eyes snapped open. "Wait, what?" He couldn't believe it. She was probably embarrassed and didn't want to show her face. But that was even more annoying. This was the day she'd have to admit how wild her behavior was. And she knew that. So was that what this was? Worming her way out of giving him the satisfaction? That had to be it.

But how could she pull it off? It didn't make sense. Sara was fawned over by Edico and the other sycounts for swinging that fucking sword. And as much as he hated to admit it, after swinging a sword, he could recognize that she was really good at it. But you can't learn magic or fighting by doing sword swings. Unless…. Maybe that's what it was. Sara found something that she could do better than him and was using it as a shield, worming her way into good graces to get special treatment. What a sneaky bitch!

Jason was livid. This whole time, she was playing games to get her way. It made him ill. Thankfully, the Golden Trial was a week away. For now, he'd develop the strongest core. Then, right in front of the most prominent people in the Escaran Kingdom, he would shame her ruthlessly.

4

Sara was glad that she didn't have to go to the core eligibility exam. She already had to do all her training and learning at night. Otherwise, Jason would try to drag her into a competitive death spiral that would ruin everyone's life, and she was way too old for that shit. Besides, what she needed more than anything else was muscle memory, and three hundred vertical, horizontal, and thrust swings (each) were doing the trick.

Though at present, the exam, trial, and Jason Newborn were the furthest thing from her mind. She and Edico were riding montas, a fast animal similar to a horse but with a calcified shell over their head, heading south on a trodden path in the Lycian Forest.

It was a breath of fresh air. Ever since she declared she was protecting Daniel, he was wearing her reputation like body armor to stave off Jason and the gossip hounds, and it was getting annoying. The last conversation she had with him had been particularly ridiculous.

Have mercy! Daniel had said, clasping his hands melodramatically when he learned she was leaving.

I'm not your queen. And if I were, I'd make whining illegal. While he didn't need it, Sara protected him around the clock. It was unfair that he'd guilt trip her.

At least tell me where you're going!

Sara turned to him with a serious expression. To meet a beggar.

—and that's exactly what she was doing.

Kinda. That was the end goal. But first, they were heading to the Tyrina region in search of a silvermoon bloom, an exceedingly rare flower that only bloomed under a full moon. As for why she was doing it, it started on the fifth night she was in the castle. She had followed proper procedure to request an audience with King Escar, and when she was in the room, surrounded only by his most trusted guards, she had explained something profound: I think… I'm an oracle.

Sara would never forget the look of shock on King Escar's face when he heard her say she was an oracle. It was as grim as it was sublime, much like eating bad food loaded with so much Tabasco that it only tasted like vinegar and endorphins. Foresight magic was a myth loosely fabricated through stories, so when she name-dropped Emanasa, the god of wisdom and a deity she shouldn't know about, and claimed he gave her the gift of foresight, King Escar turned pale.

Prove it, King Escar said.

Yes, My Liege, Sara replied, milking his ego by kneeling like a sycount. Though, I believe it'd be best to discuss this in private.

The guards were apprehensive, but after one look at Sara's repressed mana channels and feeble body, they relented. Once they left, she said, There was a woman in my dreams last night. Lena Robolt. I don't know who she is, but this is what I saw. She recounted a "dream" in which one of his economic advisors was running a human trafficking operation in Lemora—the capital city they were in—and how she was laundering the money through the royal treasury. Sara then explained who else was involved and how it would lead to a scandal later on, sprinkling in juicy details about how her "innocent" king would get slandered and raked through the muck.

King Escar pressed her for a description of the auction house. She gave it to him. Two days later, the predatory bitch was arrested and hanged, and Sara was promoted to Oracle.

Double win.

Sara needed the Oracle title because she'd be suspected of being a spy or reincarnation. And while the man who sent her back in time was great at hiding his talents, she couldn't get halfway through a patronizing conversation before she told someone to fuck themselves. So covering her ass was a necessity. Besides, as an oracle, she could manipulate politics behind the scenes. It was only a matter of time before the heroes' power became insuppressible and King Escar's paranoia took over. In her last life, he jailed Jason and watched the heroes like a hawk, eventually leading to Jason's coup. Sara needed contingency plans in case King Escar acted before she got Qualth—the God Slayer sword—and made herself too dangerous to oppose. Sara wanted no part in politics—the best way to do that was by making a confrontation with her suicide.

There was only one problem with being an oracle: It was fucking exhausting.

King Escar was always summoning her for this or that. He'd ask her about certain nobles and told her to watch out for them. She could tell that he enjoyed his new weapon, dreaming of destroying his enemies with foresight. It was unsettling. But aside from that and the workload, being an oracle had profound benefits.

King Escar hid her talents from the other heroes, trained her in secret, and gave her body tempering substances. Getting trained by Roman Mournings, the head mage, allowed her to explain her abrupt growth in magic and arraycraft, and taking private sword-fighting lessons from Aelia explained her combat skills.

Besides, she was genuinely learning from both. Roman took her back to the basics and taught her the profound usefulness of lower-level spells. Once he started training her, she realized that she relied too much on her overwhelming mana pool when there were certain attacks and techniques that were more effective small than at scale. Perhaps it was Sara's age, but she appreciated it more. Moreover, while Sara regularly recreated and used high-level arrays for a wide variety of practical implementations, she didn't actually understand how they worked other than modifying them. Studying under Roman, she quickly learned how flexible they were and also understood the grim level of talent and experience necessary to make the array in Agronus's ballroom.

Just as with magic, having Aelia as a sword-fighting teacher was immensely valuable. Edico trained her in her last life, and he died before she reached proficiency in a sword. Since Qualth, the God Slayer sword was extremely overpowered and required very little skill to use, she never reached her full potential with a sword. She aimed to rectify this cycle.

Between her shocking "talent" and the one-on-one lessons, Sara was miles ahead of the other students. Combined with her political clout and connections, everything was in place. So, the night before the exam, Sara requested an audience with King Escar and set her plan into motion.