Philip

The years since the financial crash have seen the realization dawn that the great promise of modern civilization will go unfulfilled. Study hard, work hard, buy a house, retire happy. It's all a lie, spun for the benefit of a tiny elite. The richest 85 people on earth have as much wealth as the poorest 3.5 billion. Each month, the numbers change, but they never improve. Magical and spiritual discourse has failed to keep up with this new reality. The Chaos Protocols aims to fix that.

Enemies emerge everywhere. Stagnation starts seeming standard. Results require Ruthlessness. Joe has been moving deeper into his study of ritual magic and further away from his combat team. He's learning more and more, but more often than not needs to choose between his research and squad leadership. Improving the town is a huge help to the guild, and they have been pushing to increase their power. Their rapid increases have not gone unnoticed. The guild receives an ultimatum, delivered by assassins and signed with blood.