The Oracle Paths

Jake's memory of the bone-chilling cold that had initially seized him when he first touched one of the Steles had become a distant memory. Though he still felt the cold, he no longer feared it. After absorbing Digestor Ruby, he could even draw energy from it, as absurd as that might seem.

The next moment, his consciousness was sucked into the Stele before he could even process what was happening to him. Having experienced this twice before, Jake didn't panic and allowed himself to be taken.

The irresistible force pulling at his soul disappeared almost as quickly as it had appeared, and he knew his mind had arrived at its destination. Here, in this place where the very fabric of reality seemed to be in flux, Jake's consciousness was but a single ember in an ocean of darkness.

He felt like a woodlouse in a microwave. If the owner of the device decided to press the button, his soul would have no chance of escaping.

But amidst the darkness, there was a glimmer of light. Billions of specks of light populated this void, forming a network of interconnecting filaments that shimmered like a galaxy of constellations. It was as if the very essence of Jake's soul had been projected onto the canvas of this alien landscape.

Compared to the last time, the number of dots and bright filaments had increased exponentially, but they were also much darker. That was why Jake had thought he was plunged into darkness when his consciousness had been forcibly brought here.

Strangely, there were also places in this dark void that were truly empty, forming a discontinuity with the rest of the network of light. Either these sections of his soul were unexploited, waiting for their time like the space on an empty hard drive, or the specks and bright filaments at these locations were a little too dark for his own good.

If his instinct was correct, these were parts of his soul related to his Digestor nature, and neither the Oracle nor a powerful Ancient Designer like Aurae could peer into their secrets.

Why was he so sure? Because when he scanned these empty areas with his mental senses, he detected their existence. This apparent void was not emptier than the seemingly luminous places.

When Jake scanned these other bright areas, he similarly detected a second invisible network intertwined with the first, forming an inseparable duo like light and its shadow. His entire Soul was "corrupted."

As he fell deep in thought, a long stream of information was suddenly downloaded into his brain. Like the two previous times, it was neither images nor text, but he could understand their content.

[List of available Soul Classes:]

[Tier 1: Sprinter, Swimmer, Flyer, Puncher, Kicker, Headbutter, Screamer, Grunter, Eater, etc...]

[Tier 2: Carpenter, Warden, Miner, Farmer, Hunter, Technician, Ranger, Acrobat, Barkeeper, Herbalist, Torturer, Tamer, Psychologist, Actor, Astronomist, Moneylender, Butcher, Tailor, Tanner, Brawler, Engineer, Mechanist, etc...]

[Tier 3: Gladiator, Blacksmith, Barbarian, Swordman, Marksman, Assassin, Spy, Monster Hunter, Pyrotechnician, Enslaver, Artist, Soul Torturer, Fire Mage, Light Mage, Earth Mage, Spirit Mage, Lightning Mage, Slayer, Destroyer, Mentalist, Illusionist, Gearmaster, Technomancer, etc...]

[Tier 4: Body Enhancer, Designer, Alchemist, Berserker, Terraformer, , Survivor, Geneticist, Savior, Survivor, Hero, Challenger, Inventor, Master of Arms, Monster Slayer, Clone Slayer, Mage, Beast Master, Curse Breaker, Lightning Shaman, Cosmic Mage, Chaos Mage, Luckbringer Battlemage, Mystic Gambler, Hybrid, Transhuman, Metamorth, etc…]

[Tier 5: Spellcaster, Rune Engraver, Warmage, Elementalist, Clone Slayer, Arcanist, Ruler, Sunlord, Paragon, Chameleon, Ordeal Player, Myrtharian, Myrmidian, Kintharian, Eltarian, Fortune Hunter, Charmcaster, Lucky Berserker, Starry Wanderer, Starlight Sentinel, Astrolancer, Cosmic Pyromancer, Gene Master, Molten Thunderlord, Hexslinger, Lucky Enchanter, Metamorphic Master, Cosmic Mutant, Cosmic Voyager, Gravity Bender, Void Master, Biomancer, Xenomorth, Force Bender, Arcane Machinist, Technomage Smith etc…]

[Tier 6: Harbinger of Chaos, Plot Armor Wearer, Ordeal Ace, Immortal, Sower of Chaos, Daemonifier, Rune Warrior, Rune Master, Knowledge Thirster, Unperishable Soul, Lucky Star, Lucksmith, Starforged Champion, Genetic Paragon, Evolutionary, Chimera, Adaptive Metamorph, Elemental Fusionist, Void Diver, Dimensional Shifter, Cosmic Sage, Cosmic Engineer, Sun God, Flux Master, Cosmic Weaponsmith, Celestial Armorer, etc…]

[Tier 7: Aetherist, Archon, Frost Titan, Solar Titan, Fortune's Favored, Fatebreaker, Starcaller, Stellar Summoner, Omnigenic, Star Devourer, Nova Master, Lifereaper, Evolver, Black Lightning Thunder God, Mana Storm Devourer, System Ace, Energy Syphon, Cosmic Dynamo, Artisan of the Divine etc…]

[Tier 8: Intersystem Ace, Starforged Juggernaut, Starweaver, Star Conqueror, Starborn, Protean, Energy God, Cosmic God, Celestial Cyborg Architect, Cosmic Mechanotron Designer, Apex Predator, Energy Nexus, ect…]

[Tier 9: Transcendent, Cosmic Metamutant, Ascendant, Aetherborn, Infinite Channeler]

[Tier 10 : Hyperion, Awakened, Everflow Aethermancer.]

Jake's consciousness was engulfed by an avalanche of data, automatically translated into a massive list of Soul Classes of varying tiers. The list was endless. Even after several minutes of reading, he still hadn't finished reading all of the Soul Classes at his disposal.

Soul Classes from Tier 1 to 5 counted in the tens of millions, most of them having names with very similar meanings like Fire Mage, Pyromancer, Fire Wizard, Fire Sorcerer, Fireweaver, and so many other variations.

Not so long ago, Jake believed that a Tier 5 Soul Class was something incredible, but now he was just numb as he scrolled through this never-ending list.

Starting from Tier 6, the number of Soul Classes decreased sharply, but the number of options still remained stupidly high. While he believed at the time that it couldn't get any cooler than Harbinger of Chaos or Unperishable Soul, he now had to admit that it was just his own lack of imagination. The Oracle System was clearly not as limited as he was.

Seeing some of these Soul Class names, Jake couldn't even identify with certainty what the conditions were for them to appear on this list. For some like Sun God, he didn't need to rack his brain too much. It was probably because he had devoured Shamash's Divinity, another Sun Deity.

At Tier 7, the list of options decreased even more, but the number of choices still remained very high, encompassing or pushing to the extreme one or more of his abilities.

Some of these sounded like enhanced versions of lower-tier Soul Classes, such as Omnigenic, which outperformed Genetic Paragon. However, a mere Tier 4 Geneticist could already in theory freely modify an individual's genes with enough means and time. A Genetic Paragon seemed incredibly mysterious, and for a Soul Class like Omnigenic to appear, there must have been a major gap between the two.

From this Tier onwards, all the Soul Classes listed, even those with cringe-worthy and difficult-to-pronounce names like Magma-Fueled Thundergod, could not be underestimated. Because even these Soul Classes with long and pedantic names were in the same list as a Soul Class like Star Devourer. In the case of the latter, Jake knew exactly how this choice had appeared on this list.

At Tier 8, the number of options was almost divided by three, but the list still offered several dozen. Gerulf's Sunforged Juggernaut was included in it, but a higher-end version named Starforged Juggernaut was also offered among the first on the list.

The one at the top of the list, "Intersystem Ace," was probably related to the Tier 7 System Ace and the Tier 6 Ordeal Ace, but how? He could only make assumptions.

These Starweavers, Starborns, and Star Conquerors all sounded extremely powerful, but he had a hard time determining how they differed from each other. The same went for Celestial Cyborg Architect and Cosmic Mechanotron Designer.

Bloody hell! What on earth was a fucking mechanotron?

Conversely, Jake wasn't even surprised to see Energy Nexus or Energy God appear on the list. Yeah... he had become a frigging generator.

[Don't complain.] Xi couldn't help but laugh, trying to console him. [I think a lot of Players would love to have the same "problems" as you.]

"Same problems your sister!" Jake retorted aggressively before quickly backtracking and apologizing. "Ahem, sorry."

[Hehe, it's okay.] Xi chuckled again.

When Jake finally reached Tier 9 and 10, both he and his Oracle AI stopped fooling around and got serious. There were only 5 and 3 choices left in these two respective lists, but their name alone was enough to convey how extraordinary they were.

Just to put it into perspective, a Soul Class like Aetherist was two to three Tiers below the offerings of these two lists.

"Terrifying..." Jake muttered heavily.

Transcendent... Cosmic Metamutant... Ascendant... Aetherborn... Infinite Channeler... Jake had a feeling that whichever Soul Class he chose from this list he couldn't go wrong.

However, he had already subconsciously crossed Aetherborn Soul Class off the list of choices he was wavering between. Why? Because the only creatures he knew of that were spontaneously born of Aether were Digestors.

Perhaps it was a mistake on his part since the Oracle had no problem putting it forward, but deep down Jake preferred to avoid reinforcing a trait related to this alien invader.

After a long pause spent mulling over the five Tier 9 options, Jake finally zeroed in on the three Tier 10 Soul Classes. Hyperion... Awakened... And Everflow Aethermancer...

The list was short, but making a choice had never been so difficult.

SHRRRRRKRRRKRKRR!

As Jake was about to discuss his options with Xi, the list of Soul Classes on display in his mind suddenly blurred like a jammed TV.

A deafening buzz shook his soul, throwing his consciousness into chaos. The filaments and light dots coursing through his Soul projection faded away as if the power had been switched off and a new, much shorter Soul Class list entered his mind, replacing the old one.

[Tier ???: ???]