The Oracle Paths

In the wake of that emotionally charged moment, Jake yearned to preoccupy his mind, hastily returning to his Floating Island before his comrades could detect his disquiet. Considering their keen eyes, it wasn't unlikely that several friends en route to the same Transportation Tower had glimpsed part or all of the scene.

The mere thought of it already induced the beginnings of a headache in Jake.

No sooner had he touched the Yellow Cube and paid the required Aether fee than the view before his eyes transformed. The dark gray skyscraper summit was replaced by a flat, metallic disk spanning just over 3,000 meters in diameter.

The small island was divided into distinct compartments of varying architectural styles, with a central area spanning several tens of meters in diameter, isolated by a force field that served as his private quarters and training zone.

Directly opposite the Yellow Cube, and right next to the central area, Melkree's giant tree form towered over the other structures by a good third, casting its shadow over a quarter of the island.

Its massive, pale pink trunk, wider and taller than a sequoia, now boasted dense, brilliant auburn foliage, incomparable to the day Melkree had first rooted herself at the island's heart.

At least, that's how Jake remembered it. He had forgotten that before his Ordeal, he had taken with him the sole Aether Sun Core once in his possession, which also served as an artificial sun for his island. Deprived of light and warmth, the island had been plunged into darkness, and Melkree seemed somewhat... disheartened.

Because the Myrtharian Body passive had also vanished from the Faction Skills list, Melkree had lost most of her ability to withstand the conditions of the vacuum of space. If Jake hadn't programmed an artificial atmosphere in advance, it wouldn't have been long before the Dryad began to wither.

Fortunately, although Jake hadn't seen her for over a year, it had been just a little more than a day for the Dryad.

Upon spotting Jake, her leaves quivered with excitement, her branches and trunk bowing as if to greet his return. Melkree's humanoid projection, or rather her Dryad form, emerged from the trunk and ran towards him.

"Please Boss, turn the light back on as fast as p- Holy shit! Enemies!"

She wanted to ask him to restore the Aether Sun Core to its proper place, but before she could finish her sentence, four towering humanoid creatures over 4 meters tall appeared abruptly behind Jake, nearly giving her a heart attack.

Having been labeled an enemy by the Dryad, the dignified Oracle Guardian remained stoic, allowing Jake to make the introductions.

"Relax. It's just an Oracle Guardian and some androids assigned to watc- protect me." He quickly corrected himself. "From now on, they will be in charge of protecting this island."

"Oooh." Melkree nodded, easily accepting his explanation. For a plant-based life form, the concept of lying remained incredibly abstract in her mind.

However, her growing vital needs for light, water, and nutrients constantly occupied her thoughts, and when it came to these, she knew precisely how to express them.

"So, about the artificial sun... Can you...?"

Jake rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"Sure..." He replied, pretending to search for an Aether Sun Core in his Space Storage.

Then, his face froze.

'Wait. I don't have any Aether Sun Cores at all.'

They had all been assimilated at the same time as his Grade 10 Aether Core and everything else when he had digested his previous Oracle Device. Having no use for them anymore, he hadn't felt the urgency to create new ones.

"Hmm. Is there a problem?" Melkree's youthful elven face grew anxious, her long ears suddenly drooping like those of a sad or frightened cat.

Jake immediately felt uneasy.

"Cough, there's no problem. Just wait a brief moment," He lied without batting an eye. Luckily, he was talking to a tree and not Lucia, or he would have been exposed quickly.

If it were his former self, creating an Aether Sun Core from scratch would have taken several days or months to recreate an artificial sun like the old one. But now? With his Grade 10 Energy, he could accomplish this feat in mere seconds.

With a snap of his fingers, he condensed the required Aether Symbols and showered them with a beam of Aether akin to a laser using his free palm. Because he had perfect control over his Aether, Melkree could only see it by deploying her mental sense.

Grade 1, Grade 2, Grade 3... Grade 6. In less than five seconds, Jake recreated the once-precious Aether Sun Core that had posed so much difficulty for him. Before the radiation and heat from the false sun began to scorch Melkree, he projected it far above the island using his telekinesis. Accessing the mental interface of his island, he set an automated orbit for this new sun, aligned with the Earth's day-night cycle.

"Satisfied?" Jake smiled.

Melkree wanted to say yes, but the invigorating warmth she hoped for didn't come. Instead, she felt a slight pain from her leaves and the smell of smoke lingered in the air.

"I'd like to say yes, but I'm burning..." The Dryad pouted.

"..."

It was high time to replace the missing Faction Skill, Jake thought with a sigh. Without the Myrtharian Body passive, Melkree had only her high Constitution from her post-Fourth Ordeal Evolver status to withstand the radiation.

In the meantime, Jake adjusted the force fields enveloping his Floating Island to filter some of the radiation down to a tolerable level. Otherwise, apart from the Kintharians and a few other members with heat- or light-related powers, the others would have been forced to move elsewhere.

As soon as the new settings took effect, Melkree's tense face melted with happiness. That's it. This was the comfortable warmth she remembered!

While Melkree returned to sleep in her tree, basking in the long-awaited photosynthesis moment, Jake began modifying his island before the return of the other Myrtharian Nerds.

Most now had their own Floating Island, and apart from a few Kintharians who already found the environment perfect for them, but mainly too lazy to move, most other members tended to gather on Will or Lucia's island.

Will's island because it was the headquarters of his subfaction, the Myrtharian Scavengers. Ordinary-talented members with little interest in combat, like Secyone, a former lawyer, had long since joined his island to make themselves useful and earn some contribution points.

Lucia's island because she had also created her own subfaction, Myrmidian Nerds, copying the format of the main faction as a good admirer of Jake that she was before understanding its true meaning. He sometimes wondered if she had come to regret this hasty decision...

Before commencing the expansion of his island, Jake cast a glance at the current price per square meter, approximately 3,000 Aether points, then at the balance in his own Aether Storage, releasing a self-satisfied chuckle.

[Aether Storage: 90,689,728Qa Aether pts]

"Haha, with such a sum, increasing my island's size by a factor of several trillion should pose no challenge," Jake couldn't help but remark, anticipation shining brightly in his eyes.

The Oracle Guardian, standing just behind him, could only sigh and look upon Jake with pity. The alien's face conveyed the condescension of a wealthy, civilized aristocrat observing a country bumpkin visiting a modern metropolis for the first time.

To a Fourth Ordeal Player, a few trillion Aether points might make them believe they could purchase the Oracle Store itself, but reality was often harsh. The cost of each additional square meter on a Floating Island being slightly more expensive than the last, the alien estimated that even a fabulously wealthy Fourth-Ordeal Ace might, at best, increase their island's size by a factor of a thousand.

The price climbed steeply at first, then less sharply, but over time, it became a financial chasm for any nation. This was why a planetary nation like New Earth had intentionally limited the size of its Floating Island to that of England.

With all the talented and loyal Evolvers working for it, expanding further wasn't impossible, but it simply wasn't worth it. A larger island also meant increased maintenance costs for its shield, artificial atmosphere, and defense systems. With Earth's population now only a fraction of its original size, the Earth Union government had to make compromises.

Meanwhile, Jake had already begun spending his Aether points to enlarge his Floating Island. Swiftly, the disk's diameter of about 3 kilometers began to double, then triple, and quadruple...

The Oracle Guardian was already gleefully anticipating the disappointed, crestfallen, and angry expression on Jake's face when the outrageous price would force him to abandon his initial ambitions.

But soon, his gloating smirk faltered, and the alien's visage turned solemn and then pale as the island's surface continued to expand exponentially far beyond the 1,000-fold increase he had initially predicted.

10,000 times, 1 million times, a billion times...