The Oracle Paths

Without giving them a moment to respond, Cekt exploited their surprise and vanished before them immediately after detailing their first objective. An invisible dome-shaped barrier that unknowingly isolated them from the Magnetic Resonator dissipated with a hum, the air subtly distorting where it once existed.

Caught entirely off guard, non-combatant disciples like Syrbarun and Lyra displayed desolate and gloomy faces following their master's abrupt departure. The task of their initial test was a nightmare to them, while conversely, others rejoiced internally.

Lucia, for instance, had completely regained her self-confidence.

What of slaying a swarm of Digestors? Hadn't she been doing this daily for years? Fighting monsters was straightforward and fun, fitting perfectly within her area of expertise. It was ten times better than competing with these disciples over their mastery of Aether.

Jake, Hade, and Epsilom remained unflustered, Ulfar seemed profoundly bored, Siri silently calculated their odds, while Rigel, with his stone-like appearance, made his emotions unreadable.

Lucia broke the silence first by clapping her hands. "What are we waiting for?" She exclaimed enthusiastically, unsheathing her sword. "These Digestors won't kill themselves!"

Ulfar grumbled realizing she was absolutely correct, "Damn, you're right..."

Yet he hadn't given up on his easygoing nature. Aware that Cekt was watching them from the shadows, he decided to contribute.

Albeit lazily.

Wordlessly, he summoned a beautiful white bow with metallic reflections and a heavy quiver far too wide to sling over his shoulder.

The bulky quiver crashed onto the steel ground with a dull noise, the vibration indicating its substantial weight. The equipment was filled with strange steel arrows, their heads resembling warheads more than sharp points. There were several thousands, at least.

"What's that?" Syrbarun asked with ill- intentioned curiosity, sensing something ominous.

Lucia wasn't surprised, having seen many times what the King of Beskyr was capable of, but it was the first time Jake and Hade saw him in real combat. Of course, his quick duel against Jake didn't count. That was more of a test and friendly battle than anything else.

Jake had already recognized this long white bow as the Reverse Fate Bow, the only Oracle-grade Aether Artefact he'd ever encountered. Oracle Aether Artefacts were those unclassified Artefacts above Diamond grade. Such artefacts could influence the destiny of entire worlds, and their effects were incredibly hard to counter or reverse.

"What do you plan to do?" Jake asked, raising a wary eyebrow.

"Just shut up and watch." Ulfar chuckled ominously.

Suddenly brandishing his bow above his head, the King of Beskyr drew the bowstring to its limit without nocking a single arrow. Jake had personally experienced this technique and backed away cautiously.

Swoooch!

His fingers and the bowstring began to vibrate at a supernatural frequency as thousands of intangible, invisible projectiles erupted in all directions. They dispersed along unpredictable trajectories as if their targets were predetermined.

This was currently the case. No sounds of explosions or impacts broke the silence, leading the other oblivious disciples to believe that Ulfar's initiative was a dud. In comparison, Jake, Hade, and Lucia were much more solemn.

'Poor Digestors.' They thought in unison, showing a trace of pity towards these unsuspecting, creatures.

Every victim of these ghostly projectiles was now temporarily cursed, fortune and misfortune swapping roles in a dance as old as time. Ulfar's aim appeared random, yet with his divine luck, there was no doubting that the majority of his arrows found their targets.

The function of the Reverse Fate Bow was no secret to the high-ranking officers of the Myrtharian Nerds. As one of their ultimate trump cards, Ulfar had relinquished the exclusivity of his bow once its capabilities were laid bare. Still, the bow remained with him, every use of it bound to his approval - all the more crucial given he alone possessed the luck required to wield such an artifact safely.

"Is that it?" Lyra coughed out, her voice raspy and edged with disbelief, thinking Ulfar's technique had missed its mark.

Drakon, Rigel, and Epsilom exchanged knowing looks and, not waiting for the outcome, chose to tread their paths, opting to be rivals over allies. But before they had time to make three steps, Ulfar clutched a hundred arrows, filling his quiver, and notched them gracelessly onto his bow. Brandishing the bow once more, he let loose another volley of projectiles, this time very much visible and real.

Swoooch!

Their trajectories were easily traced by the naked eye, and as thousands of arrows scattered across the sky, cleaving the air like a firework of shooting stars, Drakon and Rigel paused. Only Epsilom continued, levitating above the ground at a steady pace.

When the projectiles struck their distant targets, the results were deafening, impossible to ignore.

BOOOM! BOOM! BANG!

A series of ear-splitting explosions formed blinding spheres of violet light, each several hundred meters wide, illuminating the surface of the Magnetic Resonator around them, triggering an earthquake measuring at least 20 on the Richter scale. Had the earth been bombarded by such warheads, apocalypse would have ensued, with lava eruptions and crust shattering extinguishing all life within weeks, if not months.

Fortunately, the steel or alloy forming the surface of the Magnetic Resonator was of extraordinary hardness, effortlessly withstanding this barrage of explosions. However, the ensuing shockwaves and detonations eventually gave birth to cataclysmic winds.

These gales would reach them soon. The other disciples glared at Ulfar, their expressions filled with reproach. 'Damn it, if you want to kill yourself, there's no need to drag us down with you,' was the sentiment their eyes conveyed.

Regrettably for them, Ulfar was far from done. Alternating between intangible volleys and real warhead-tipped arrows, he continued firing relentlessly for several minutes until he finally decided he'd had enough for the day.

At that moment, a shockwave boasting a temperature far surpassing that of the sun, propelled by winds many times the speed of sound, descended upon them, chilling the hearts of Syrbarun, Lyra, and Rigel. Even Siri held a pessimistic view of their chances of survival.

Ironically, these superheated winds posed no threat to Lyra, whose body was a mere cluster of light, yet the sight was terrifying enough. Epsilom was nowhere to be seen.

"Tsk! Happy now?" Lucia rolled her eyes at the sight of Ulfar stowing away his quiver (still full, by the way), a smug smile etched onto his face.

"Very happy," the Beskyrian chuckled, stretching his aching fingers with satisfaction. It had been a while since he had indulged in such a satisfying bout of archery, heedless of the consequences. "I'll leave the rest to you."

His companions would be the ones to clean up his mess. Jake, fully understanding the type of character Ulfar was, couldn't help but snort as he watched him cross his arms behind his head, as if preparing for a leisurely nap.

"You or me?" Hade queried, locking eyes with Jake in a casual manner.

"Well, I'll take care of it," Jake sighed, raising his hand.

He was prepared to neutralize the imminent blast when it suddenly disintegrated as though it had never existed, leaving him utterly perplexed.

"Who did this?"

In response to his query, Rigel calmly commented, pointing to a distant speck of light with his stony finger,

"Epsilom has made his move."

Casting their gaze in the indicated direction, Jake and the others indeed recognized the silhouette of Cekt's prime disciple, situated some tens of kilometers away from them, swirling around their location while moving at near-light speed. An odd fluctuation accompanied his movements, transmutating the energy of the overheated winds in his wake into a readily available energy for Epsilom, fueling his own light transmutation and his surreal speed.

In the end, seeing the prime disciple neutralizing the fallout of Ulfar's attack with ease, Jake lowered his hand without a hint of resentment, indifferent to the fact that Epsilom had stolen the spotlight. Still, having observed Cekt's favored disciple in action, he had now gained a new understanding of his abilities.

Evidently, the title of Oracle Knight was not unearned. The prime disciple of Wendok unsurprisingly had a plethora of tricks up his sleeve.

Yet, Jake observed an intriguing paradox. Once flung into the dance of light speed, Epsilom seemed chained to its relentless rhythm. The ethereal alien persisted in his orbit, tracing a luminous embroidery in the air, each pass birthing another halo of pearly light - the ghostly echo of his unyielding velocity. Only when he had devoured the last vestige of the detonations' energy did he snap the chain, relinquishing his luminary guise.

A hint of embarrassment tainted his demeanor, and he thus resolved to continue in this newfound direction, not turning back.

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