The Oracle Paths

"Is this fight really necessary?" Jake scolded hideously as he saw the Alpha Were-eagle descend majestically towards him, beak up, and wings unfurled to better display his contempt.

Deep inside Jake only had one desire: to fly to the rescue of his comrades. Since they had been kicked out of the formation, he hadn't received any news from them.

He wasn't too worried about Carmin and her sister, but Trash had been hit pretty hard. He didn't dare assume the worst, but the kid was probably dead. If his wounds hadn't killed him, the fall would have taken his life.

Scanning the ground, Jake confirmed that Carmin and the others were still alive, but they were in bad shape. The Avians were the least of their worries after landing, but they also had to deal with an army of 60,000 Undeads, a Lich with unknown abilities, and fake reinforcements whose intentions were unclear.

Trash's life signature was nowhere to be found. Without knowing why, his heart sank as he found no trace of the teenager. He'd known him for less than 24 hours, so it wasn't quite apprehension and even less sadness. There was some of that of course, but if he had to choose two words to define what he was feeling, it was closer to anger and remorse.

His inability to protect a simple child, no matter how useless and foolish, brought him face to face with his own powerlessness. That horrible feeling of inadequacy that had plagued him for so much of his life because of the comparison with his cousins threatened to overwhelm him once again.

If he couldn't even save a simple kid, how could he save Anya, his uncle Kalen, his family, his friends? It sounded like an unhealthy heroic savior syndrome, but Jake currently needed that certainty of power, that unwavering belief in himself in order not to flinch.

His sanity and self-confidence were at stake. These pseudo-experts could say as much as they wanted about a healthy mind in a healthy body, but Jake couldn't care less who came first between the egg and the chicken.

Without his power, without his recent achievements, he was nothing.

Xi, who shared her consciousness with Jake, could clearly feel his inner turmoil, but other than silently supporting him, she couldn't lift him out of this permanent feeling of insecurity. His Myrtharian Bloodline only mitigated, hid his neuroses, but whenever a drama forced him to confront them, they came back stronger than ever.

[As long as you keep fighting like you do, one day you'll see the light.] She claimed with absolute conviction.

"Beat that cross-eyed pigeon!" Jeanie yelled as she waved her little fists, her adorable poppy red face sticking out of the pocket as she glared hard at the imposing Were-eagle.

The Were-being, who until then had shown a wonderful composure, stiffened slightly upon hearing the Minmin's insult. Just you wait! Once he was done with this Mutant, he would gobble this fairy up like a peanut, starting by ripping off her wings first.

"Beat me up? You really don't know who's in front of you, or the mess you've gotten yourself into." The Alpha Eagle sneered.

Just as the last word echoed through the air, the Were-being flapped its wings and shot like a bullet in their direction. Jake, who was conflicted between concern for his companions and self-loathing, barely had time to raise his sword before he was smashed into the distance.

Crack!

His forearm snapped as he blocked the blow, the vibrations of his saber stemming from the impact rattling him all the way to his shoulder. Before he could even process the pain of the first hit, a flurry of talons, wings, beaks and wind blades rained down on him, trying to rip him to shreds.

Jake was so shocked by the sheer speed and power of the bird that he momentarily forgot about his friends, too focused on trying to stay alive. Supersonic booms continued to sound several times a second, their silhouettes seemingly teleporting across the airspace above the plain.

For a fleeting millisecond, Jake even caught a glimpse of Ruby covered in silver blood, fiercely fighting the other two Were-beings. She had grown chitin wings on her back and had almost doubled in size, now looking more like a horned demon spawn than a human.

Refocusing on his own opponent, Jake activated Bloodline Ignition, his physical and mental abilities increasing substantially, and taking advantage of his slower reaction time and better computational skills he meticulously controlled his Strength, Agility and Constitution Aether to augment his injured arm.

The Alpha Eagle's second talon strike scraped against his blade, setting off a spray of sparks. This time his arm didn't budge one bit. His enemy showed a slight surprise at the strong resistance, but it only strengthened his resolve to eliminate this Mutant.

His spirit energy and killing intent erupted forth and Jake suddenly beheld the illusion of a gigantic behemoth identical in every way to the Alpha Eagle standing in front of him instead of his opponent. The reverse wing slap that slammed into him was like a kilometer-high tsunami and he felt half his bones shatter as his body flew through the air leaving a trail of blood in its wake.

"Jake?!" Jeanie screamed in panic. On impact, Jake had shielded her with his free hand to keep her from being blown apart.

[He is coming again.] Xi remarked soothingly, but by the subtle tremor in her voice she wasn't as calm as she was trying to pretend.

Still dizzy, Jake grunted as the humanoid eagle streaked down on him like a cannonball. His broken bones were nothing. With his Vitality, Constitution and Digitalization, any non-lethal injury was negated in an instant.

Jake was in a quandary, however. He had already realized after these three exchanges that this fight in the air would be his downfall if he kept fighting on his opponent's battlefield. To fly, and especially to fly fast, he had to harness his telekinesis and sometimes even heat and plasma blasts when he needed a burst of explosiveness.

While he flew like this, his mind and his Aether Core had very little energy to spare and even fewer options to deal with the Alpha Eagle's daunting assaults. In contrast, his opponent was a super-powered monster at full capacity.

His physical strength and basic speed were about half of Jake's, which in itself was a feat, but when combined with his Soul Class and skills, the eagle totally outclassed him.

His talons, wings and beak seemed to be wrapped in a strange energy comparable to Sharpening Aether but much more condensed, making them capable of slicing through his skin and bones despite his 5200 Constitution and Silver Stone Skin.

The overwhelming spiritual domination that his opponent exerted over him through his lvl 79 Spirit Body resulted in his perception of reality being twisted every time the Were-Eagle got too close to him. This psychic energy also permeated his every attack and movement, giving them considerable power of a quality Jake could not clearly define.

On the sixth talon strike, his forearm fractured again, and on the ninth, his shoulder was dislocated. On the tenth move, realizing that Jake was not nearly about to fall, the Alpha Eagle's beak began to vibrate at a frequency close to ultrasound and the next moment Jake felt as if he had been rammed by a truck.

The Oracle Shield saved his life and he was blasted for several kilometers before he was able to stabilize. If the Shadow Guide had not warned him in time, he would have been seriously injured.

Stunned by the failure of his killing move, the Alpha Were-Eagle massaged his sore beak with confusion, then with a flutter of his wings launched another attack. A barrage of deadly, insane techniques crashed into the protective barrier surrounding his body. Jake finally understood how Ruby must have felt when she was used as a punching bag by Laudar and his carnivorous pegasus.

Remembering the move that had worked against his clone, Jake didn't wait for his bracelet to overload before counterattacking. With a thought, he activated two successive layers of Oracle Shields, one deployed at the maximum range of 10m and mercilessly trapped the eagle inside with perfect timing.

The two indestructible energy barriers then smashed against each other at almost instantaneous speed and the Alpha Eagle was flattened like a pancake.

At least, that's what Jake hoped. When he looked at his handiwork, he saw only a single barrier and no trace of blood nor squashed flesh trapped inside. When he gazed into the distance, he saw the Alpha Eagle sweating profusely, but unharmed. His Spiritual Aura had weakened by half and was no more than that of a level 40 native.

"What was this move?" The Eagle Warrior inquired with a shiver of fright. That was close.

"You don't need to know." Jake scowled, trying to hide his disbelief. "On the other hand, I'm really curious to hear how you dodged my trap."

"You don't need to know either." The Alpha Were-Eagle snorted contemptuously. "Such a trump card, I refuse to believe you can use it more than once."

"Then try me." Jake bared his teeth, a defiant glint gleaming in his pupils.

The terrifying Were-being wavered imperceptibly at the sight of his confidence, but the gaping hole in Jake's torso rapidly closing convinced him that it was all a bluff. And still, the scare of that unbreakable compressor trap continued to haunt him.