The Oracle Paths

By taking Isdar's life, Jake's Lumyst Aura, adhering to the laws of Twyluxia, absorbed the damaged soul and a slice of his lifeforce, sparking a qualitative evolution. A notification from his bracelet echoed in his mind, but the deadly rising waters quickly drowned out this mental ping as his least concern.

Perhaps due to Isdar's vindictive streak, or because the puppet Corvac instinctively sensed Jake was the deadliest of the four, the onslaught of Lumyst Water targeted him first. Without a chance to catch his breath, the roots lining the walls hollowed out at their tips and locked onto him in unison.

The Treant's pores then began to siphon the pure water from outside, and all those massive tubular roots transformed into formidable water cannons. The pressurized water gave him no quarter, barraging him from every direction and cracking the air like thunder with its speedy aquatic bullets.

"Shi—"

The timing was impeccable. Having released all his Lumyst in the attack and shielded his companions and himself from the fallout, his energy was at an all-time low. Teleporting would take too long. Caught off guard, Jake didn't even have the chance to curse his luck before getting drenched.

"Jake!!"

His friends' eyes widened in horror as they saw him swallowed up so abruptly by Corvac's retaliation, but his impatient voice echoing in their heads snapped them out of their daze.

" Guys, how's it going with our ark? I'm getting hammered here!"

"We're ready!" Hephais shouted, signaling Jake to hustle over.

At that moment, the trio was packed tight as sardines on a large plank of bark serving as their raft. The lethal purity of Lumyst Water raining down on them from all directions was halted by hastily stacked bark shields and root barricades, but their craftsmanship was amateurish at best.

Fortunately, this abundance of raw materials was more than enough for Jake. All nerves on fire after enduring his fifteenth baptism—miraculously going better than expected—he ignored the notification of an imminent sixteenth baptism and dashed off through the water cannons to his companions' 'raft.'

Once aboard, Jake immediately brought out his Goblet of Ethershine and teleported his friends, their cargo, and himself inside, leaving the artifact alone against the waves. It was immediately submerged, its surface starting to glow dangerously under the influx of enchantment energy.

Seeing the quartet reappear safe and sound, the survivors left in the dark inside burst into cheers. Amy, Ekho, and the other natives even wanted to talk to them, but when Jake immediately set to work assembling, weaving, and gluing bits of bark, roots, and sap together with urgent, focused movements, they swallowed their excitement.

Without a doubt, they weren't out of the woods yet. There was one last storm to weather before they could see the sun again.

Luckily for them, Jake's crafting talents were far from amateurish like his three companions'. The materials from Treant Corvac's body had an enchantment level ridiculously high, preventing him from manipulating them with his Life Lumyst, but nothing stopped him from working them by hand.

And so, he did. Jake first handled the sap collected by Hephais, filtering out the residues with his telekinesis, then heating it to reduce its water content and finally cooling it to form sticky resin.

Barehanded, Jake then crushed some of the bark and roots, mixing them with the freshly made sticky resin to create a thick, adhesive paste that could serve as a binder for their bark ark, aka submarine number 2.

When he had enough, Jake quickly carved the rest of the bark into planks tailored to size, then stripped fibers from several roots to procure an abundant amount of twine. He then skillfully assembled the whole into a plant-based submarine resembling a rugby ball.

Finally, after gluing and solidifying the assembly with twine and sap turned into sticky resin, he used his hybrid paste of bark and resin to coat his creation in several layers of sealant to ensure its watertightness. He heated the ensemble one last time to evaporate any remaining moisture, then, satisfied, prepared to seal the last plank before suddenly realizing a problem.

'Shit, how am I going to fit everyone inside?' Jake grimaced, realizing their submarine was just big enough for a dozen individuals.

They were already inside his Goblet of Ethershine, and if he recalled it now, they'd be submerged in water before they had the chance to seal the vessel.

Thankfully, it seemed others had foreseen this problem too, as several, including Ceythie, offered to use their Chalice of Nethershade or other storage artifacts to temporarily transport them.

Jake accepted without hesitation. He had a decent Chalice and even his Purgatory as a last resort, but it was better if he could let others feel useful.

A breath later, Jake sealed the last plank of his boat, realizing the coating, then the interior assembly, and waited for the inevitable. He wished to recall his artifact to save it from the Lumyst Water outside, but his face revealed a delighted surprise when he realized it no longer responded to his commands.

This could only mean one thing: His Goblet of Ethershine had survived its 26th baptism.

"Wow, don't tell me I'm going to end on a lucky note after all these mishaps..." Jake whistled cheerfully. To reclaim the artifact, he just had to re-establish his spiritual connection with it once this was all over.

Just after finishing his sentence... Crack!

"..."

[Murphy's Law in full swing.] Xi greeted with delight, breaking her silence only to twist the knife a bit deeper.

"Thanks for that invaluable remark, Xi." Jake grumbled sardonically.

[You're welcome. If you want more brilliant insights like that to brighten your day, just call me.]

"I'd rather have you tell me how to avoid such a loss in the first place, but oh well... We make do with what we've got."

[Hey! You don't seem that sad about it. No need to take it out on me.] Xi pouted in a mockingly offended tone before letting out a laugh more true to her nature. [I guess all's well that ends well. This battle could have ended much worse. We got off lightly. Once again.]

"And let's hope it stays that way." Jake sighed as he heard his precious Goblet of Ethershine disintegrate, failing its 27th baptism. His artifact wouldn't have lasted long...

The next moment, their submarine number 2 hit the water, but unlike the first, the Lumyst Water outside, with a purity leaning towards 27, left its surface unaffected. The structure creaked slightly, but by then, Jake had already cultivated some Metal Lumyst to reinforce the vehicle from the inside.

With Xi, Hephais, Crunch, and a few other comrades for company, Jake waited a few more hours until the purity of the Lumyst Water outside dropped to tolerable levels, then exited their submarine just in time to see the dome keeping them prisoner turn off. The Lumyst Water fueling the Light Sanctuary Array had been consumed to the last drop.

Water was everywhere, the region unrecognizable and completely drenched, but the purity of its Lumyst had fallen to more tolerable levels. These levels would continue to drop, enchanting everything it touched until it became almost ordinary water.

Once in the open air, Jake and his friends surveyed the apocalyptic scene with complicated expressions.

No one had managed to endure the 27 baptisms. Apart from their group of survivors, there were no other survivors.

But more specifically, a certain Treant was missing — the one they were supposed to be inside. Corvac was gone.