The Oracle Paths

SPLASH!

After a lengthy freefall, the trio crashed into a huge body of water with a resounding splash. At their speed, the landing created a small tidal wave, but the force field released by Cekt Mogusar neutralized any residual energy. The waves violently lapped at the invisible shield as if it were a steady, rock-like cliff.

Under the small Aetherist's protection, they then visited the Fifth Floor, an ocean world of storms, tempests and tsunamis. Except for a few patches of land that were frequently flooded and struck by lightning, there was no place to set down.

Underwater, they picked up gigantic presences, but fortunately the old alien was there to rid of them. As with the previous floors, he purged the floor of its monsters with a flick of his finger.

On the Fifth Floor, the ordinary Digestors were at Rank 8, while the Elites and the Floor Boss were above Rank 9. At Rank 9, even the most incapable Digestors had average Aether stats of around 34,000 points, enough to rival and outperform an average Sixth-Ordeal Evolver.

If they were anything like these successful Jake-based clones... their actual fighting ability would become much trickier to gauge. According to Cekt, many factors affected the power of Evolvers and Digestors beyond a certain level, and there could be drastic gaps between Digestors and Evolvers of equal rank.

Listening intently to their report regarding the Fourth Floor's Boss, Cekt thoughtfully smoothed his goatee while still looking for the entrance to the Sixth Floor.

"Hmm, weird..." Cekt huffed as he stopped yet another kilometer-high tsumani about to engulf them. "I've already scanned the entire floor, but I can't find the entrance to the next floor."

The huge wave parted in two, rolling on to either side of the trio, safely tucked under the shield. Somewhat awed, Will hesitantly suggested,

"Since we have to go down anyway, wouldn't it make sense that the entrance to the next floor is at the bottom of this ocean?"

"Of course, it is..." The little alien sneered vexedly, "But there's nothing down there but sand. If I were a pessimist, I'd say the entrance was sealed off by someone..."

Jake and Will exchanged a dispirited look, then asked,

"What do we do now?"

"We ask the survivor." Cekt crooned playfully as the intangible shield carrying them shot out of control like a cannonball aimed at the ocean itself.

As with the tsunami, the ocean split in two to clear the way for them and it wasn't long before they could see the bottom of this massive pool. Jake and Will were appalled at the real depth of this ocean.

This expanse of water was at least fifty kilometers deep! This Dungeon Digestor had literally created its own watery domain.

On the way down, they also had the chance to check out some of the local Digestor corpses and noticed that there were many whale-like creatures that shared many similarities with Crygo.

There were also hybrid aliens resembling large prehistoric lizards, but also other monsters with more familiar features. Drifting through the storm clouds, they had seen several flashes of lightning blur into the outline of huge felines, while in each tornado lurked the shadow of a lion or a titanic dragon.

Jake and Will didn't need to be geniuses to understand that this floor was based on Evolvers and beasts capable of manipulating the climate or thriving in this aquatic and inhospitable habitat. The sky and these islands would have been perfect for Mufasa, and Shere Khan, but there were more than just felines on this floor before Cekt wiped them out.

When they reached the ocean floor, they met the survivor Cekt was talking about. It was the arrogant White Drake from the second floor, who looked like a fifty-meter-long horned dragon stripped of its wings.

The huge reptile was still breathing, but its abdomen had been gutted from the genitals to the chin and its internal organs had spilled out onto the floor. Its situation was extremely critical but because of its formidable vitality, the beast was still alive.

This kind of huge creature was usually much tougher than other Evolvers with similar Aether stats, but healing from a serious injury required an incomparably greater amount of energy than for a human. In this case, the blood loss alone was measured in tons.

"Hey can you hear me?" Cekt gently sat down on the monster's nose.

Improvising as a doctor, the alien lifted the creature's heavy eyelid and flashed the tip of his cane like a flashlight to check the beast's ocular reflexes. Seeing the vertical pupil reflexively constrict, the gremlin clapped ecstatically.

" Great! It's not dead."

Jake and Will were speechless. 'Can't you just heal the poor dude?'

The wingless dragon was so vigorous that its heartbeat was generating ripples on the surface of the frozen water around them. It was impossible not to notice that the wretched beast was still alive. Clearly, the little alien was just having some fun.

As with Citro, a filament of Green Aether burst from the end of his cane and entered the body of the beast after forming strange symbols. The gaping wound that had nearly eviscerated the White Drake closed with a snap like a zipper being pulled up in one go.

The intestines and other organs that were spread out on the ground but still connected together were sliced clean off by this new layer of flesh and skin, but new organs inside had already replaced them.

"Thank you." The White Drake growled gratefully as it regained consciousness. To prolong its survival, it had voluntarily placed itself in a state of stasis.

Although the beast was usually arrogant, it knew how to be indebted and answered the trio's questions honestly. When the wingless dragon told them that it owed its injuries to a veiled young woman, Will hollered in rage,

"Damn it! I should have known! She's the one who caused Kyle's death! This woman has screwed us all up!"

Jake shared his hatred, but the businessman had yet to explain exactly what the circumstances of the incident were. His choice of words implied that she hadn't killed Kyle directly and he wanted to know the whole truth before passing judgment.

Having no particular connection to the Playboy, Cekt had other considerations in mind and he proceeded to ask the necessary questions.

"What? You say there was another Evolver armed with a sword chasing her?"

Will's eyes widened in surprise, then he slammed his fist into his other palm as he recognized the individual.

"It's that guy! You know the one who got into a fight with the necromancer at the Dungeon entrance." Will clarified as he saw Jake's confused expression, "He's the reason we're still alive. He forced the veiled woman to flee, but it was too late for Kyle by then."

Unfortunately, the White Drake didn't know any better. Crygo and the Taotie named Gargasos had snuck into the underwater tunnel leading to the sixth floor before him and he was already in bad shape after a fight with the Taotie.

It was only after exploring this Dungeon that he realized his inabilities. Compared to these prodigies, this Sixth-Ordeal Beast was mediocre at best.

Like other Evolvers and beasts, White Drake had first been beaten badly by the Fourth Floor Boss and had been left to wait for an opportunity to sneak further down.

From what he had seen, Gargasos and Crygo were the two bullies of the Fifth Floor, but while Crygo was diligently searching for the entrance to the Sixth Floor, the Taotie was devouring every monster he came across, including Digestors and Evolvers.

Except for him, all the other opportunists who had taken advantage of the departure of the Fourth Floor Boss had been devoured by the Taotie. The White Drake ironically owed his life to the arrival of the young woman who had precipitated things.

The funniest part of the whole story was that neither the whale nor the Taotie had noticed the group of hooded individuals that had blithely passed under their noses.

"Who killed the Floor Boss of the Fifth Floor?" Cekt inquired next.

"I don't know. It was gone when I got there." The lizard answered truthfully.

"Last question. Who sealed the entrance to the next floor?"

"No one... The tunnel collapsed on itself a few seconds after the swordsman passed through."

The trio frowned upon hearing this. Whatever the case, they now knew where the entrance was. They thanked White Drake and set off again. The lizard offered to accompany them, but Cekt refused, advising him to join the others with Citro on the surface.

The trio then rushed to the theoretical entrance, which was now just smooth sand, but it wasn't enough to fool the Aetherist's alert senses. He lazily waved his wand and the sand began to swirl, the tunnel rebuilding itself before their eyes.

"Let's go." Cekt said with a frustrated expression that began to betray his impatience.

This tunnel was as twisted and dark as the others, but it was originally a tunnel submerged in water. When they saw the end of it, Cekt released his control over the water above them and they fell from the sky followed by a pressurized waterfall.

This new place was pitch black and Will shivered involuntarily as he landed and felt a warm, viscous liquid engulf his legs up to his knees. Before he could react, he was already drowning.