Jayden

Biography

The gifted freshman

Jayden enters Abyssal Bone Forest Academy with fifth-grade aptitude, giving him an exceptional chance of becoming an official Magus. The grade lets him establish a Level 1 acolyte's mind runes in days rather than the weeks, months, or years lower aptitudes require. His talent immediately separates him from the other new acolytes and earns Professor Dorotte's personal attention before the group even reaches the academy. (Chapters 15–22)

Dorotte gives him a green badge Magic Artifact that a Level 1 acolyte can activate despite not yet knowing ordinary spells. Jayden deliberately provokes Kaliweir and uses summoned vines to bind and crush him, making his artifact-backed superiority public. Dorotte then formally accepts him as an apprentice. The episode teaches Jayden that rare aptitude and patronage can convert potential into immediate authority, reinforcing the pride with which he already treats his peers. (Chapters 18–25)

Rapid advancement and warning

Jayden reaches Level 2 within months, although even fifth-grade aptitude cannot remove the years normally needed to cross the later Level 3 bottleneck. At Level 2 he can cast Rank 0 spells independently, and his spiritual force, vitality, and artifact make him dangerous beyond his limited field experience. When he meets Leylin Farlier, he uses a probing spell before warning him to leave the academy. (Chapters 27–40, 54–71)

The warning is guarded and partly self-protective, but accurate. Favored high-aptitude acolytes receive advance information about the academy war while students without important mentors remain exposed. Jayden's willingness to alert Leylin shows that pride has not erased every old connection; his refusal to explain openly also shows how institutional privilege encourages secrecy even among nominal allies. (Chapters 39–40)

Bloodbath survivor

By the academy war's secret-plane bloodbath, Jayden has reached Level 3. His vines can serve as armor, restraint, and lethal force, but Torash defeats and tortures him over an earlier blood debt. A disguised Leylin attacks Torash for unrelated strategic reasons, leaving Jayden unconscious but alive. Jayden wakes with his badge and supplies intact and assumes an unknown expert saved him. (Chapters 88–98)

The political consequences remain even though Jayden survives. An opposing official Magus believes him responsible for Torash's death, while Dorotte spends influence and claims part of the contribution reward to shield his apprentice. Jayden emerges with resources and Level 3 status, but also with a pursuer strong enough to make ordinary travel dangerous. The resulting pressure helps explain why he risks another secret expedition rather than patiently waiting at the academy. (Chapters 96–104)

The Serholm expedition

Jayden purchases a damaged map and organizes an expedition with Leylin, Bosain, Shaya, and Roth. He needs a Potioneering specialist to interpret or preserve likely resources and recruits Leylin because the academy war has sharply reduced his alternatives. The party kills witnesses to protect the route, locates Dylan Gardens, and learns that its ruins connect to Great Magus Serholm. (Chapters 104–110)

Against the Black Horrall Snake, Jayden channels magic power and spiritual force through the badge to create nets and layered restraints while others attack. When normal output fails, he feeds it blood, changing the vines from green to red and sharply increasing their strength. This helps pin the creature long enough for the group to kill it, but leaves Jayden pallid, exhausted, and with a heavily depleted artifact. Shaya and Roth die during the expedition, further narrowing the survivors who might share the legacy. (Chapters 111–115)

Betrayal at the inheritance

At the heart of the remnant, Bosain decides that Norco Curadu Sfar's inheritance is too valuable to share. Jayden correctly understands that alliance with Leylin is his best chance and calls on him to attack, but Leylin feigns fear while allowing both rivals to expend their remaining strength. Jayden's isolation is a direct consequence of assembling an expedition around ambition without securing trust or enforceable cooperation. (Chapters 115–116)

With his badge almost empty, Jayden offers blood one last time and forms a massive red vine shield. Bright Silver divides into a rain of metal needles, penetrates the weakening barrier, and kills him. His fifth-grade aptitude had made official advancement likely under safer conditions, but potential, patronage, and one versatile artifact cannot compensate for exhausted reserves and a stronger companion's betrayal. (Chapter 116)

Appearance and personality

Jayden is pale and habitually dressed in black, carrying himself with the isolation and aloof pride of someone praised as a genius from the moment he enters the Magus world. Near the bloodbath he appears exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes; during the later expedition, pressure and blood loss progressively strip away his composure.

He is intelligent, decisive, and capable of warning an acquaintance about danger. He is also status-conscious, impatient, and willing to kill outsiders or risk companions when advancement is at stake. His confidence is strongest when aptitude, mentor, and artifact all favor him; once those protections are depleted, fear and mistrust make coordinated survival increasingly difficult.

Magic, bloodline, and abilities

Fifth-grade aptitude and acolyte progression

Jayden's fifth-grade spiritual aptitude gives him the fastest normal meditation rate among his cohort and an estimated ninety-percent chance of eventually becoming an official Magus. He reaches Level 1 in days, Level 2 within months, and Level 3 after the usual later bottleneck. Aptitude accelerates spiritual-force growth; it does not supply battle judgment, Grine Water, an official defensive spell, or guaranteed survival of advancement. (Chapters 15–27, 39, 54–71)

Rank 0 spellcasting

From Level 2 onward Jayden can learn and cast Rank 0 spells without relying entirely on his badge. He demonstrates investigative probing and contributes ordinary magic during extended fights. His independent repertoire is much narrower than the badge's visible capabilities, and heavy expedition combat drains both spiritual force and magic power. (Chapters 39–40, 104–116)

Green vine badge

Dorotte's low-grade Magic Artifact summons controllable vines. Jayden shapes them into coils that bind and crush individuals, nets that restrain large creatures, armor around his body, and broad shields against projectiles. The artifact permits spell-like effects even at Level 1 and activates faster than preparing separate incantations, making it the center of his combat style. (Chapters 18–25, 88–116)

Its energy reserve is finite. Repeated restraint, armor, and shield use weakens the vines until they shrink or fail, while effects strong enough to hold the Black Horrall Snake demand substantial input from Jayden's own reserves. The badge offers temporary resistance to spirit attacks but is not a dedicated soul-defense artifact like Leylin's Fallen Star Pendant. (Chapters 91–97, 111–116)

Blood-fed red vines

Jayden can smear fresh blood on the badge while chanting an older activation formula. The sacrifice turns the vines red, increases their size and toughness, and allows them to restrain stronger targets or form a last defensive wall. The amplification consumes blood directly, leaving him pale and physically weak; repetition cannot continue once blood loss and artifact depletion converge. (Chapters 111–116)

Combat application and limitations

Jayden combines restraint with allies' attacks, using nets to reveal or immobilize an otherwise difficult target. This makes him effective in a coordinated party but vulnerable when companions turn hostile. Bosain knows every major badge function, waits until its reserve is low, and saturates the final shield with adaptive metal projectiles. Jayden never develops an answer independent of the artifact before his death. (Chapters 107–116)

Power progression

Relationships

• Leylin Farlier: Fellow freshman whom Jayden warns and later recruits; Leylin declines to save him during the final betrayal.
• Dorotte: Personal mentor who favors Jayden, supplies his Magic Artifact, and supports his rapid training.
• Kaliweir: Freshman rival publicly defeated by Jayden's vines.
• Bosain: Expedition companion who kills Jayden when the Serholm inheritance is within reach.

Items

• Green vine badge: A rechargeable low-grade Magic Artifact from Dorotte that summons configurable vines and can be overcharged with Jayden's blood.
• Damaged remnant map: The costly clue with which Jayden organizes the expedition to the Serholm inheritance.