The Oracle Paths

"Is it really okay to let Epsilom roam freely?"

Hade inquired, his features folding into a frown.

"We don't know the rank of the Digestors teeming here, but we are near a black hole. The creatures that can spawn and survive in such a place will be far from ordinary. A single misstep could spell our doom."

His concern was as deep as it was genuine, and it gave the others pause. Despite this, there were some among them who remained undeterred.

"I won't stay with you lot." Drakon grunted, stalking off in a direction opposite of Epsilom.

"This is a test, after all. We can communicate through our bracelets anytime, and I am sure Cekt is watching us from the shadows. Knowing him, he won't truly let us die if our lives are in danger."

"Makes sense," Jake and the others reluctantly agreed after a moment of consideration, giving up on trying to convince him.

However, that didn't mean the rest of the disciples were ready to go their separate ways.

It

was one thing for Drakon and Epsilom, two Oracle Knights, to split off, but the others weren't exactly fighters. They held more confidence in their ability to craft Aether Cores than in combating Digestors.

"Our master didn't specify whether we need to exterminate the Digestors on the Magnetic Resonator before or after we begin producing Aether Cores," Rigel mused out loud, his hand pensively stroking his goatee, a chiseled formation of quartz stalactites. "Before we tackle these Digestors, we should first determine how we're meant to utilize this Resonator to produce these Aether Cores."

"I agree," Hade nodded.

"Me too..." Lyra chimed in, albeit timidly.

It went without saying that Syrbarun and Siri, the two weakest fighters of the group, fully supported this idea. The only one visibly disappointed was Lucia, who began to grumble, her sword furiously scraping against the unforgiving ground.

"Tch! Just how fucking hard is this ground?"

Jake overheard her muttering under her breath, her

gaze casting envious glances towards Drakon who was rapidly moving away from their "peaceful" group.

"Does anyone have any suggestions?" Syrbarun asked hopefully, expecting someone amongst them to have a clue on how they might harness the Magnetic Resonator.

At first glance, their master's explanation of this giant energy generator's operation seemed crystal clear. In practice, it was woefully vague. They were still unsure where the energy produced by the Magnetic Resonator was stored or even where it was absorbed and created.

On paper, harnessing the black hole's energy through magnetic reconnection would naturally produce unthinkable temperatures and radiation, and potentially eject plasma at terrifying velocities.

If the entire Resonator served as a converter, they'd already be dead, swept away by physical constraints far surpassing those of a star's core.

It wasn't just a matter of temperature or radiation, but also the destructive forces at work stirring the resulting plasma with such violence it would likely be impossible for them to survive.

Neither Jake nor the others feared an invasion of Space Digestors. If that were to happen and those creatures could survive, their only mission would be to flee this Resonator as quickly as possible.

Hence, logically, only a tiny portion of the structure would directly handle this task, while the rest of it served as reinforcement and support to all the Aether Arrays strengthening the conversion chamber where the Magnetici Field Disruptor was placed.

Jake, Hade, and Rigel harbored their own theories, but when all was said and done, deeds held more weight than words. Why waste time pontificating when they had the perfect compass within their grasp?

"I've already tried," Lyra interjected anxiously, following their discussion. "No matter how I frame my wish, my Shadow Guide offers no direction. The Oracle Scan is equally useless, hampered by the metal veiling the Resonator's surface. At any rate, it could mean we are already in the right place or that my Oracle Rank is inadequate for information regarding this Magnetic Resonator."

"Or that this place is teeming with Digestors." Syrbarun nonchalantly shrugged, clutching a blaster tightly against his chest.

Jake had to admit that this was also a plausible argument. Still, he had another kind of compass in mind when held raised the idea.

"Ulfar... Get to work." Lucia patted his back with a charming smile, delighting in his exasperated expression.

Why strain their brains when they could simply ask Mr. Lucky to arbitrarily point towards the correct path? The other disciples were skeptical, but after his otherworldly archery display, they set their doubts aside and chose to trust the Beskyrian.

"I get the feeling this jaunt is going to be a real pain in the ass..." Ulfar sighed listlessly, trudging joylessly eastward.

The group followed suit behind the king of Beskyr, and Jake, bringing up the rear, jumped as he felt a delicate hand intertwining his fingers before he could react. Turning his head, he met

Lucia's wordless warning glance.

Her message was clear: "Don't you dare let go of this hand. They've already stolen one chance for me to fight, so at least allow me this pleasure."

Whether they were in hostile territory swarming with Digestors or amid the end of the world, she was determined to make their relationship official and push Jake to fall into step.

"Are you sure this is the right place for that?" Jake stared at her more calmly than she had anticipated.

"Why not?" She retorted, playfully pinching his hip. "If things get dangerous, I can easily protect you."

"I would have thought the reverse." Jake chuckled, starting to walk again, drawing her along by the arm before she could protest.

Lucia exhibited a fleeting expression of surprise, then a broad smile lit up her face, and she clung to his arm like a koala, ensuring that even if he changed his mind, it would no longer be possible.

Jake could, of course, guess at the sort of thoughts running through her mind but had no intention of challenging her on this slippery battlefield. Unbeknownst to him, his reluctance was already beginning to ebb away. If it were the Jake of yesterday, he might have pulled back to maintain some distance between them.

Within a few minutes of walking without any monster encounters, delighted surprise flickered across the faces of Syrbarun and Lyra.

"It seems Ulfar's arrows were more effective than I'd imagined." The Vrusug offered the warrior a thumbs up. For once, he was genuinely glad the man was accompanying them.

Strangely, instead of appearing flattered, Ulfar and his companions wore frowns. He had faith in his archery skills and his supernatural precision, but he doubted that the number of arrows he ld released could have eradicated all the Digestors.

If it were that easy, Cekt wouldn't have made it such a pivotal component of their initial test. Given that there wasn't even a trace of any bodies, he started questioning whether he had hit anything at all... It was utterly perplexing.

"Something's off." Rigel warned them. "If Cekt wasnt bluffing to scare us, these Digestors are

not where we thought they'd be."

"In that case..." Hade's eyes abruptly narrowed, focusing on a distant point towards which Ulfar was leading them.

They would have their answer once they reached the entrance to the generator proper. Based on his expertise, Hade had already hypothesized that the Magnetic Field Disruptor must be nestled within the Resonator, oriented in the same direction as the Resonator's orbit for its magnetic fields to efficiently collide against those of the black hole.

Jake had temporarily configured the Oracle Device as his Artifact Incarnation and deployed his mental sense akin to a boosted Oracle Scan to confirm this. The probe couldn't penetrate the ground's surface, seemingly shielded by a highly efficient Aether Array, but scanning the Resonator's surface posed no problem.

Thanks to this, he had a sound understanding of where Ulfar was leading them. He had already relayed what he saw to his companions, but consciously decided to keep the other disciples in the dark.

He didn't like what his Oracle Scan-boosted by his Grade 10 Energy Body and powerful mind- was showing him. It wasnt that there were no Digestors; it was that these creatures were intentionally maintaining their distance, evading their path but responding to their every action as if they could see them directly.

Jake, feeling no spiritual fluctuations and not feeling watched, was understandably baffled.

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