The Oracle Paths

Several hours after returning to his island, Jake was still shaken. There was a supreme creature in this vast Mirror Universe with his last name! Such a coincidence? It was just insane to even think about it.

In the end, the bloodline transfer proceeded without a hitch, but only after a plot twist with not-so-small consequences.

Jake had taken the opportunity to mention the survivors from Lucia and Gerulf's world that his faction had recruited, and as expected the alien showed great interest in their unique bloodlines.

It was not out of loyalty to his master that he had sacrificed his subordinates to the old Aetherist, but because Tim's future was at stake. The child had chosen to assimilate his Myrtharian Bloodline to supplement his overly impure Beskyrian Bloodline.

Tim had tried to obtain purer blood samples, but soon after his First Ordeal, the price in the Oracle Store skyrocketed, as if it was out of stock. Subsequent Ordeal rewards had not been to his satisfaction either.

It was only for this reason that the child had reluctantly set his sights on Jake's bloodline. With Ulfar and the other Beskyrians, it was an unsolvable problem that now had a simple and straightforward solution.

The only catch was that they had to be convinced to donate their Blood Essence. After several Ordeals, they were all able to control the quality of the blood drawn, and this required their consent.

Following this logic, baiting Cekt by stirring up his fanatical interest in new bloodlines was the ideal plan. The Aetherist had many faults, but if he had one redeemable quality, it was that he was loaded. If he was bent on it, buying their Blood Essence for an adequate amount of Black Aether Crystals to compensate for the weakening of their Bloodlines was entirely conceivable.

Except that in the end, Tim had still opted for the original plan, which was to assimilate Jake's Myrtharian Bloodline. Of his own volition, he had forsaken the path of ultimate luck and taken a more winding path instead.

From this alone, one could imagine the admiration he held for Jake and his powers. Tim's explanation on the way back when Jake brought up the matter was pretty plain, but the firm conviction behind it was undeniable nonetheless.

"I want to be stronger to protect Lily and the others. I don't want to see what happened to my mom happen again." The prepubescent teenager had righteously justified himself as he clenched his fists, "If I just rely on my luck and it's no longer enough I'll be powerless. I'd rather be strong and have my fate in my own hands than pray for a favorable outcome that I don't fully control."

It was a respectable choice. Given the choice between a pure Beskyrian bloodline or his Myrtharian Bloodline, Jake would still have made the same decisions. Given the alternative of being strong or having strong subordinates granting our wishes at their whim, the first option would always trump the second.

Once back on his island, Jake informed Will of the results of his meeting with Cekt, who then took it upon himself to inform the leaders of each community of the upcoming visit of the Aetherist and his blood collection objective. Ulfar, Asfrid and the other leaders were not very enthusiastic about this news, but when they were assured they would be compensated, they agreed.

Who knows? Maybe they too would need the Aetherist's expertise one of these days. When in doubt, it was best to lay the groundwork for a solid trusting relationship now while they still could.

Jake was done with Cekt, and immediately went back into seclusion to continue his training. Ironically, because of the rapid rise in Aether density, there was no need to increase the room temperature to further optimize his training.

The lava temperature may have been the same, but each day the heat perceived by his body grew markedly higher, even with his meteoric progress.

His mind clear and refreshed, he let himself sink back into his lava pool and immersed his consciousness seamlessly into the Purgatory. His endless quest for Soul Glyphs resumed and he completely forgot about the bloodline transfer he had just undergone.

His appearance had not changed, nor had the name of his Bloodline, but in his Body Status, there was now an additional stat at the bottom.

[Luck: 10 points]

As with the other Body Stats, under the effect of the lvl 3 Myrtharian Body passive each point was worth eight. With these 10 points, regardless of his Luck Aether, his luck would now be at least eight times that of a normal human.

His Aether and Body Luck would grow along with the rest of his stats according to the evolutionary principles of his Myrtharian Bloodline, making him progressively luckier. The consequences this would have in the distant future were impossible to predict, but the short-term ones became apparent as soon as he resumed his training.

When he began a training module in the Purgatory Dream, there were always tasks he did not perform correctly or words he should not have said to the artifact-modeled instructor. Whether it was a master blacksmith, a farmer, a rancher, an architect, a mechanic, or a doctor, they all had their own character and requirements, and only they could grant the precious Soul Glyphs he coveted.

In order to obtain them, Jake had to satisfy each of their wishes, even those that were not clearly expressed. Often this meant reaching a certain standard in the profession or field being taught, but there were often other, more subtle conditions to fulfill.

In the case of his Blacksmith Soul Glyph, for example, he had been required to successfully forge an Inferior Aether Artifact out of ordinary scrap metal. Every step counted, from refining the materials, tempering them, to the final quenching of the weapon.

Aside from the excellent Aether Control and mastery of an obscure technique involved, the success rate for a beginner was ridiculously low, even with Jake's intelligence, perception and dexterity.

With luck, as long as that success rate wasn't zero, he could drastically increase that probability. With luck guiding his actions, he could achieve his goals faster and earn more Soul Glyphs in the same amount of time.

As the months and weeks went by, all his stats continued to improve, and his Body Luck also began to grow, albeit at a snail's pace compared to the other stats. Nevertheless, even this small progress eventually led to big changes.

Three months into his second seclusion, Jake had collected 21 different Soul Glyphs, ranging from Bronze to Silver. Four months later, that number jumped to 33. Five months later, 45.

At the same time, the Purgatory never stopped producing Aether. A billion points were added to its savings every day, making it richer and richer without him even caring about it.

Will did not squander the trust placed in him either and continued to expand the business and financial capabilities of his subfaction. The daily activation of United We Stand was soon extended to 12 hours a day instead of 8, then 14.

This virtuous circle further boosted the efficiency of his training and that of all other members. In the sixth month, the businessman went into seclusion as well, but his baby dragon Charizard, who everyone thought was dead, made a comeback.

Jake had long ago learned that the dragon's soul was housed in a crystal, like all the genetically modified creatures in his Second Ordeal. So he wasn't surprised when it returned, but for the others it was as disturbing as seeing their dead grandmother knocking on their door.

While everyone was practicing, their Floating Islands coalition became unnaturally quiet. The lively activity faded completely, but the Aether signatures of their inhabitants became more and more radiant.

At the same time, the Aether density also kept rising above 290, as if the Mirror Universe itself was bent on nullifying any progress they had made. With the Aether density growing faster and faster, all of the Myrtharian Nerds began to train desperately, all wondering when their leader Jake would give them the green light for the next Ordeal.

Yet, despite their impatience, none of them gave in to the temptation. Even Peter Brady, the unreliable drug addict from their Third Ordeal, who rarely showed up, chose to wait. The only one who never showed up during this long period was Sigmar, but his Aether donations to the faction never stopped rolling in.

Finally, nine months into Jake's second seclusion, or a year after his long training began, he opened his eyes.

As if on cue, all the other Myrtharian Nerds came out of their seclusion as well. With nothing to hide, their Oracle Device had predicted the day his training would end.

The two sisters, Will, the felines, his cousins, Ulfar, Asfrid and all the other members had been ready for a long time. They were just waiting for him to brave the danger again.

They patiently put on their armor with slow, measured movements, and then as one they all made their way to Jake's island. When he left his training area, he was taken aback by the sight of them all waiting in good order in front of his lvl 2 Red Cube.

Understanding their intentions, Jake asked Xi for the time, then realizing they still had a few minutes to spare, he paid the Aether required to upgrade the Red Cube to the next level after taking a stunned look at his new fortune. He also expanded his island to accommodate the size of the building.

The ten-meter red cube magically swelled to a huge block ten times larger. Understanding his intention, the other members calmly positioned themselves around the Red Cube, waiting for the official start signal of their Fourth Ordeal.

As on previous occasions, the Red Cube began to flicker and they strode resolutely inside. A darkness smothering their very sense of existence engulfed them and they were instantly cut off from the rest of the world.

Their Fourth Ordeal had officially begun.