The Oracle Paths

Jake smiled warmly, then swept his eyes leisurely over the crowd of knights and Dragonids. To him it was just a casual glance, but to these natives it was as if they were a bunch of mice spotted by a big cat. The overwhelming feeling of fear was visceral and it was only when the gaze shifted to someone else that they resumed breathing properly.

'F-fucking terrifying.' One of the knights thought fleetingly before passing out quietly. He was the youngest knight in Lucia's army, a recently promoted squire.

Seeing no one else faint, Jake was greatly pleased. The average strength of these warriors was on par with A-Rank Adventurers of level 60 to 70. Their captains were above level 70, making them elite even in Laudarkvik.

One Dragonid in particular was almost twice as massive as his brethren, and his scales were a breathtakingly pure sapphire blue. Its long, membranous wings were folded behind its back, their glistening black edges ending in razor-sharp spikes. Its level was an impressive 81.

"Who is that?"

Following Jake's gaze, Lucia identified the one he was referring to. Smiling, she introduced the person,

"This Dragonid is the general of this army. He pledged fealty to me after I defeated him in a duel. His name is Temra."

Jake found it hard to hide his amazement this time. If Lucia could defeat such a high-level Dragonid beyond level 80, then her power wasn't too far off from his before his recent power-ups. The current Lucia was probably more powerful than him at the beginning of the Ordeal.

"By the way Jake... Isn't there something you should tell me?" Lucia asked with a grimace, her face twitching as if she were suppressing some kind of discomfort.

"What do you mean?" He asked, clueless.

"Why has the Myrtharian Body passive suddenly become four times more powerful? I can feel my bones, muscles and skin rebuilding every second as if someone is tickling me from the inside. Extremely unpleasant."

"Tsk! And you dare to complain? Many Players would pay to receive such a blessing. You should be thanking me instead." Jake smirked. "Now you can also use lightning to train your physique."

"Peh, only masochists like you and Gerulf would subject themselves to such torture. I prefer to fight new foes."

"What's your bloodline anyway? Still the Myrmidian bloodline?" Jake asked curiously. After four Ordeals, there should be some change.

"Nope. Now, it's a Grade 10 Hybrid-bloodline called Neithnikidian." She bragged coquettishly. "Don't worry, I'm strong."

"I never doubted it."

Jake would have liked to accept every member of this army into the Myrtharian Nerds, but alas he didn't have enough spots available. At best, he could still accept just over 400 new members. Aware of this limitation, Lucia invited only Temra and the other captains above level 70. In all, 23 people.

"Let's go see Hade, shall we?." Lucia said as she hugged his arm. "I missed you, you know."

" I missed you too. " Jake rolled his eyes laughingly.

The pair flew to Sigmar's metal fortress. Jake was shocked when he saw the huge dragon up close. Next to this creature, the Dragonids were like worms.

As soon as Jake and Lucia landed, the sleeping dragon cracked open one of its orange eyes and its vertical pupil narrowed in surprise.

"Brat, you're not weak at all." The giant lizard complimented him before closing his eye. "You must be the leader Hade told me about. No wonder Hade chose to join your faction. If you're looking for him he's inside."

Jake had given permission to all the faction's upper echelon officers to invite new members, but they were to use the privilege sparingly. Sigmar was obviously one of those officers and knowing his character Jake wasn't worried about him abusing that power.

There were no visible doors in this steel fortress, but Jake didn't need a door. He waved his hand casually and the solid metal wall parted in two, the liquefied metal forming two rollers flowing in opposite directions. Lucia was silently awed, but she simply followed him inside.

Sigmar was already waiting for them inside, comfortably seated in a padded leather chair, fiddling with what appeared to be some kind of black crystal ball.

'A palantir?' Jake muttered in his head, thinking of a particular worldwide known fantasy saga.

Seeing Jake's keen interest regarding the item in his hands, Sigmar composedly explained,

"One of my first Fluid Artifacts repurposed as an Aether Artifact. I use it to communicate over long distances and augment my mental sense to monitor what's happening on the continent."

'Dang! That's cheating!' Jake's eyes bulged with jealousy.

"That sounds cool. If you have another one I'll take it." He tried his luck anyway.

"Oh, you're interested in this bauble? Take this one, I've got plenty more in my Space Storage. It will be easier to talk to each other in the future."

Lucia remained silent, but from her pouting face she wanted one too. Noticing her envious expression, Hade chuckled and tossed her another one. A wide, joyful smile immediately broke out on the young woman's face.

As with the other members when he first arrived, the former Fluid Grandmaster immediately warned him of his name change,

"By the way, don't call me Sigmar anymore. Now it's just Hade."

Jake was taken aback, but he accepted without overthinking it. When they first met, he had introduced himself as Hade and to be quite frank he was more used to that name.

With a snap of his finger, Hade conjured up two more chairs for Jake and Lucia along with three cups and a steaming pot of tea and they began to catch up.

"Is this fortress also a repurposed Fluid Artifact?" Jake guessed as he watched the walls with his Myrtharian Eyes.

"It is. Except I made it after your third Ordeal ended. I realized that I don't like sleeping under the stars. I look young and cool like this, but I'm over 150 years old. I'm an old man and I have to take care of my back." Hade jested, though his smooth skin didn't show a single wrinkle.

Jake was more interested in its defensive qualities and the fact that he would be able to access a sizable amount of metal at any time to launch attacks or speed up his recovery. Once again amused by his new leader's interest in his trinkets, he said,

"If you want one, I can make one in a few days, but you have to provide the materials. I can emulate ordinary alloys, but the defensive capability of the final artifact will suffer. For housing though it's more than enough."

"No problem. By the time the others arrive I'll gather the materials. Make me a list."

"Okay."

When Jake skimmed the list of required materials, he chuckled unintentionally when he saw an Aether Core somewhere in the middle.

"Is a level 5 Aether Core good enough?"

"Pfffft! Cough, cough, where in the world did you get that?" Hade spat out all his tea, losing his composure for the first time since they met.

Jake motionlessly erected an invisible barrier to intercept the tea drops and after evaporating them away with a thought, he told the Fluid Grandmaster what he had been doing for the past few days. At the end of his tale, a stifling silence settled over the room.

"You... Okay, I'm bowing out. I'm not as young and carefree as I thought I was." Hade moped theatrically as he suddenly felt very tired.

"No, no, I'm younger than him and he's definitely not normal." Lucia shook her head, glancing speechless at Jake, "Though, next time let me come with you, I've never seen a star up close."

"I'm more interested in this Ancient Designer, Aurae right? I met Xion Zolvhur too during my Second Ordeal, but he looked hostile, like he was holding back from killing me. I chose to end the Ordeal before getting the promised rewards." Sigmar gave them a wry smile as he recalled the incident.

Jake was shaken by this anecdote. The Xion he'd met was a kindly old Zhorion, but the latter had explained that he was just one of many avatars of the real Ancient Designer and that they operated independently from each other. He immediately thought of the Corruption when he heard Hade's story.

"I can take you to him now, but I have a feeling we'll see him again sooner or later." Jake eventually offered, but without enthusiasm.

"No need, the encounter with Xion was enough for me. I'd rather avoid these primordial beings as much as possible. If this Aurae is as incredible as you described, I'd rather keep my distance."

After that, Jake gave an Aether Core and an Aether Sun Core each to Lucia and Hade. Their bloodlines were not based on these elements, but with the Myrtharian Body passive they would still benefit somewhat. At this point, Lucia revealed to him that her bloodline had some affinity with the sun and light, so it was a much more fitting gift than he initially anticipated.

They talked some more, but this time Jake explained who their foes were and what his intention was. They expected their enemies to be strong, but not that strong. The threat was not only the Players of Lost Divinities, but also the Undead army that Vhoskaud had concealed somewhere.

Upon learning that Lost Divinities' players were impossible to kill, Hade had no explanation to offer, but against all odds Lucia exclaimed,

"I have a pretty good idea how they do it."