The Oracle Paths

A while later, Cekt brought out the Nexus and handed it directly to Jake.

"There are no procedures required for it to recognize your authority," the small alien clarified, under the envious gaze of the others, including Saros' hologram.

"It's not bound to you, but as a sentient being, you only need to communicate your commands to get it to obey. My contract will take care of the rest."

"Okay, got it," Jake agreed, accepting the enormous prismatic gem, which was surprisingly warm to his touch, setting it apart from an ordinary jewel apart from its size and propensity for levitating above the ground.

To test the waters, Jake mentally reached out and touched the dormant consciousness of the Nexus. The comatose spirit of the Dungeon Digestor was immediately stirred and spoke in a surprisingly childish voice, 'Master.'

Jake was taken aback by the innocent and immature tone, expecting something more chilling: gruff, raspy, and undeniably inhuman. Still, he rapidly regained his composure and started awkwardly communicating with his new 'toy,' while Cekt explained further,

"Even confined to its Nexus, the Dungeon Digestor can still control its territory from afar, since it's been thoroughly imbued with its spiritual energy and can be considered an extension of its physical body. If you have the patience and enough Aether to waste, the Dungeon Digestor can even compress the portion of the Magnetic Resonator it controls into its Nexus.

"However, you need to understand that the Magnetic Resonator is only valuable due to its location. If you wish to relocate the Nexus, which I encourage you to do, you'll need to find an equivalent energy source or you can kiss its outrageous time dilation/ acceleration capabilities goodbye.

Time Spells of this magnitude consume too much energy to be sustainable in the long run, even for someone of my level."

Jake nodded once more, listening to the Dungeon Digestor list its abilities in detail while already foreseeing such a drawback.

Keeping the Magnetic Resonator as his Dungeon Digestor's core territory would only be worth it if he could take the immense black hole with him, which was impossible.

Even if he could, the continuous Corruption wouldn't allow the sustainable use of the Dungeon Digestor as a time chamber for training or research purposes.

He'd been tempted to devour the Nexus before, and the temptation lingered, but his common sense constantly reminded him that swallowing the core of a creature continuously passively producing Corrupted Aether was certainly not a bright idea... The best use of a Dungeon Digestor was...

"...Once you've relocated it close to your own territory, or even to another dimension, all you have to do is advertise its existence to increase your territory's renown, then charge entry and/or tax the gains within for Evolvers who wish to venture there. In this way, you can easily obtain a plethora of artifacts and ingredients, depending on how the Nexus is configured. Usually, the majority of Dungeon Digestor owners have no contact with the Nexus, just benefitting from its presence by regulating and taxing its exploration.

"With my special contract, you won't have any of these problems. You can confer with the Nexus at any time to decide on the type of spawn and artifacts it can produce. You can even decide on its layout, and climate from one floor to another. Providing it with an energy source can increase its productivity, but be careful; it also helps it to grow and mature faster.

The Corruption it produces, the size of its territory, and the level of the Digestors it spawns will all increase accordingly, which could backfire on you if you let your guard down. Even with the contract's brainwashing, never forget that this Digestor remains your enemy. No matter how obedient and naive it may seem, it's all an act.

"Now, if you have no further questions, you can order it to activate maximum temporal acceleration on its territory for a year and a half, as planned."

Without a second's hesitation, Jake commanded the Nexus in his hands to execute the order.

'Done, master.'

He instinctively thanked the Dungeon Digestor but felt a pang of disappointment when he realized he'd felt nothing.

When time distortion affected such a large area, the spatial changes were so minute and immediate that those inside wouldn't notice any difference, like frogs slowly being boiled alive, unless they deployed their mental sense across thousands of kilometers from the start.

From this, Jake realized just how abstract Time Magic was compared to other elements.

"Do we need to get back up to the surface now?" Lucia immediately asked, her mood instantly plummeting. She wanted to spend more time with Jake.

Cekt wasn't born yesterday and naturally knew what was bothering her. With a not-so-subtle wink, he declared ambiguously, "You have twelve hours."

But before that, the Wendok asked Jake to temporarily deactivate the temporal acceleration within the Dungeon to give them time to ascend to the surface and contact their loved ones as promised.

Jake could only grimace wryly, wondering why the alien hadn't simply waited. Maybe he wanted to verify something?

'Never mind... It seemed to work just fine.'

Upon hearing they could reach out to their friends, Lucia and Ulfar's spirits noticeably lifted. It was the first real piece of good news of the day. Ironically, just that morning, they were recovering from their Fourth Ordeal, basking in the afterglow of a well-earned reprieve.

Surfacing took merely a moment with the Nexus creating a direct path to the funnel. The barrier, which had so vexed them mere hours ago, recognized them now, allowing passage without resistance.

"All right, let's see how many Aether Points it's going to cost to ring up your friends, now that the Aether Network is ancient history...

Who's up first? I'm already bracing for the worst." Cekt inquired, his strained smile more forced than enthusiastic.

'You know, master, I'm not exactly broke...' Jake couldn't help but think, uncomfortable at letting his mentor foot the bill for a simple call. Instead, after a wordless exchange with his companions, he said,

"Call Will Hopkins, Vice-Leader of the Myrtharian Nerds." Just after uttering those words, he mentally patted his sweaty forehead and his quick thinking for not blurting out this fact aloud when the connection was established and the piercing scream of the Wendok made them all jump.

It was a high-pitched cry of agony from the heart, even worse than if someone had just slain his parents before his very eyes...

"Hello? Who's on the line?" Will's suspicious voice echoed in their heads, Cekt having already initiated the call as a group.

Simultaneously, they could see the consumption of Aether Points per second...

-836 Quintillion AP...

-847 Quintillion AP...

-839 Quintillion AP...

'Psst, why's the price fluctuating?'

Lucia mentally whispered to her friends, thinking she was discreet.

Alas, she'd forgotten it was a group call, and hearing her innocent question, the old alien nearly fainted, then sobbed in a choked voice.

That was nearly a Sextillion AP per second, damn it! Even Jake barely had over 90 at the end of his Fourth Ordeal. And that was with his cheat of a Grade 10 Energy Body, Spirit, and Soul running non-stop for a year!

"No, it's way too much! Something's wrong." Cekt suddenly exclaimed, his alarmed expression revealing a concern far graver than his impending financial ruin.

Lucia and the others' mood, briefly uplifted by the sound of Will's voice, plummeted again as they observed a chilling change overtake the old Wendok's features.

"Lucia?" Will had recognized the young woman's voice earlier. As for the raspy voice hitting high notes... It must be some sort of old coot. Knowing the current number of Aether Points required for a call on B842, he quickly deduced a suspect.

"Jake's master? Jake, are you there too? And Hade? And Ulfar? Are you okay? Why haven't any of you tried contacting us? We were worried sick. You need to get back asap-"

When the hyperactive merchant questioned them with questions, Jake and the others eased up and verified their presence.

"We're all okay," Ulfar chuckled before correcting himself, "Well, mostly..."

The atmosphere rapidly soured after his attempt at humor, a brief silence marring their reunion.

Sensing something amiss, Will inquired tentatively, "What's wrong?"

Noticing the gremlin's countenance deteriorate further, they didn't beat around the bush, rapidly relaying their predicament.

When Will learned that only a few hours had passed for them, he was floored, having difficulty to wrap his head around the news.