The Oracle Paths

Jake stopped convulsing and slowly stood up, lifeless. His eye turned amethyst purple for a fleeting second before a burst of black and silver light shot out of his pupil and returned it to its normal color.

Xi replayed the movie of his own life in Jake's mind like a mantra, gradually stabilizing his psyche. When he was back to himself, she stopped on her own but continued to watch him with uneasiness.

"I'm fine." Jake reassured her in a hoarse voice.

It wasn't a lie. He was certainly different from before in so many ways that he wasn't the same person at all, but he hadn't forgotten what really mattered to him.

As the sole victor in this final battle, he felt wonderful. Seeing that there was nothing left but nothingness around Celestial City - the only proof that the planet Quanoth had ever existed - Jake felt a guilty satisfaction, close to exhilaration, but he could still tell the difference between an abnormal emotion and what morality dictated he should do.

He was hungry. A compelling hunger that was very different from the one he could feel before. It wasn't that he wanted to devour everything in his path, but rather that he wanted to taste everything. He had this instinct to expand a genetic and Aetheric database to which he had subconsciously gained access. It was a very difficult feeling to define.

Just as he was about to turn his attention to his Status, he remembered that he still didn't know where his bracelet had gone. Xi's thoughts kept surfacing from his own mind, as if their minds were one and the same.

"If our minds weren't so intimately connected thanks to the help of Xion's will fragment, I don't know what would have happened." She admitted in a gentle voice. "I really thought I was going to disappear earlier, but strangely enough I haven't. I still feel your presence. I still feel the presence of your Oracle Device, but in a more diffuse way. Something has definitely changed. For example..."

"For example?"

"I'll show you later." She murmured, suddenly silent, her attitude highly suspicious.

Jake was about to grill her more earnestly when the Celestial City began to shake, a deafening thrusting sound making him forget his previous intention. The energy shield that insulated the grandiose complex of castles, palaces and high towers that made up the Divine Academy expanded without warning at the speed of sound.

Jake was not afraid and crossed his arms with the firm intention of not moving, but-

BANG!

He was slammed away, thrown back like a tree leaf hitting a high-speed train. He suffered no damage, but at this rate, he would be driven out of Celestial City. Understanding Aurae's intention, he teleported in front of his assigned building and calmly went inside.

Between now and the last time he had visited it, the interior had changed drastically. Gone were the lava and radiation, the walls were black, rivers of liquid silver running down the walls. The interior of the room was filled with a dark liquid in which strange particles of light and blue-black lightning coexisted peacefully.

As he came into contact with the liquid, Jake immediately felt incredibly good, the chitin scales forming his skin tingling with happiness. He wanted to study this unique energy source in more detail when an elderly voice echoed loudly throughout the Celestial City as if through a loudspeaker.

"Ahem... congratulations to the 578 final winners of this Ordeal... You... truly didn't have to fight so hard. You will be allies from the next Ordeal, so I hope you can let bygones be bygones. This is my humble request..."

The introductory congratulations from this unknown speaker were different from what Jake imagined. There was a tone of reproach and obvious displeasure in his voice. He could almost guess at whom these criticisms were directed. Namely, Psykow, Neri, Vhoskaud and Digestor Ruby. Well, only Psykow, Neri and Vhoskaud now.

At the same time, Jake sensed a surge of information in his mind. He couldn't pinpoint its origin, but the data packet was easily intercepted by his mental sense. Somehow, the Oracle System was still able to contact him.

[Special Ordeal Mission (completed): Prevent Ruby's Digestor half from entering her building. Failure will result in -1000 points in your final Ordeal Rating and a demotion of 2 Oracle Ranks. Rating: ???]

Jake's gaze lingered on the ??? of the rating and all sorts of thoughts came to mind. Had he failed the mission or had he succeeded beyond all expectations? He would only know for sure when he returned from the Ordeal.

Meanwhile, the unknown speaker carried on with his introductory speech,

"You are free to end the Ordeal and collect your rewards at any time from now on. Those who wish to do so, may visit the Divine Academy and stay to study with free access to all our facilities for one year. The buildings you have so valiantly earned belong to you and can be taken away. As the Divine Academy principal, I, Grigori Tyrastus, Rank 4 Oracle Overseer, Oracle High-Duke and Rank 20 Oracle Lieutenant General strongly encourage you to attend tomorrow's debriefing in room 207 of the Divine Academy on the second floor. Critical information for your next Ordeal will be presented. For those of you who are in a hurry to end the Ordeal, don't forget to visit the Aurae Stele near the Academy fountain to select a new Soul Class. After you've made it this far, you should have some new options... Also don't forget to..."

For someone wanting to cut his welcome speech short, this principal was unusually talkative once he got started. It sounded like someone was threatening him, and he was now doing everything he could to convince them to stay on Quanoth a little longer by praising the qualities and services of the precious Divine Academy for which he was responsible.

And indeed, when it was free, this Divine Academy was indeed a great opportunity to become stronger and to enrich one's knowledge. Unfortunately, not everything was.

Jake already knew enough about this Divine Academy thanks to the "lucky" Ulfar, who had the nerve to pop up right inside it at the very beginning of the Ordeal. The King of Beskyr had complained so many times in their Faction Chat that all the Myrtharian Nerds still alive could take a stroll with their eyes closed in this maze of towers.

In this Divine Academy, everything, even eating, sleeping and attending class required contribution points. If a student's or Player's point count dropped to zero, they were immediately expelled from the school. In the case of Players lucky enough to appear there without going through a rigorous selection process, expulsion was tantamount to failing their Main Mission.

The Oracle was fair and would not let these lucky Players off the hook. In desperation, 100 million Aether points could be exchanged for 1 contribution point.

This Grigori Tyrastus was clearly trying to extort their Aether. Especially now that the winners had spent all their Aether points to survive all those fierce battles.

"... Aurae has finished dispelling the Mana Storm and any companions you may have hidden... in outer space are free to join you here and can also access the services of my academy as long as they belong to the faction of one of the finalists. Another thing... Because of the actions of a certain Player, the sun of this solar system has been destroyed. It will be dark for the duration of your stay here until Aurae deigns to make another one. That will be all for today. On that note..."

Silence returned and Jake wore an indifferent expression, though a slightly proud smirk curled up his lips. It was really over this time. Aurae had no more bad surprises in store for them.

Jake was tempted to stay in his building for a year, but concerned for his companions he went out of his own free will before he got demotivated. He could feel that his sense of empathy was not quite what it used to be. He worried about them out of a sense of responsibility and habit, but inwardly his heart was a tranquil ocean.

As he left his building, a dark sky, thankfully brightened by many stars, greeted him. Aurae had indeed not replaced the missing sun. The Divine Academy's energy shield now extended to the entire Celestial City, but with his mental sense Jake found that it now functioned as a filter. Authorized people could enter or leave at will.