The Oracle Paths

A slit throat was nothing to Jake. As soon as he activated the Vitality Link, Maeve's wounds were instantly transferred to him, but as before with Svara, he received only a milder version because of his high Constitution.

The deep gash that had sliced open her throat and severed muscles, arteries, thyroid and trachea became a simple incision only a few millimeters deep. Jake had thought at one time that the injury transfer was identical, but this Vitality Link obviously had his own way of quantifying vitality and damage.

His common sense dictated that it had to do with the law of conservation of energy. The energy required to slit or repair Maeve's throat was most likely insignificant compared to that required to achieve the same result on him.

Nor had the extensive blood loss had any substantial effect on his body. The scorching heat of this arid land compensated for the little bit of vitality lost, his bone marrow churning out new blood cells like a tireless factory.

Jake groaned as he felt his throat chafe, but his regeneration did its job and his skin soon healed to leave only a slight redness, then nothing. As for Maeve lying across from him, her heart was now beating normally and her breathing had become peaceful again.

Alas, he could not let her sleep. He needed answers. By observing the scene, he had already gathered some unsettling clues, and he didn't like where this was heading.

He wanted to hear the truth from her own mouth.

BANG!

Jake was startled and turning in the direction of the disturbance saw a Fourth-Ordeal Evolver pounding away at his Oracle Shield with a huge war hammer forged out of a mysterious metal. With each impact, space distorted in an unnatural way, twisting the Oracle Shield and whatever was around it.

The alien resembling a pale, hairless Minotaur seemed possessed, his bloodshot eyes filled with an unbridled rage that begged to be vented.

With a sneer, Jake beckoned to the warhammer's wielder with his right hand, but when he reeled his fingers in, the frenzied Evolver was forcibly pulled forward and his head smashed violently against the energy shield.

Giving him no respite, Jake lunged at him leaving an afterimage behind and withdrawing the Oracle Shield to his skin walloped him with a spectacular uppercut, which propelled him swiftly into the ceiling of the floor's cavern.

"Have a good nap."

After this interruption, Jake knew that questioning Maeve was likely to be complicated. He would postpone her interrogation until later.

He hadn't given up hope of saving Kyle. As long as he didn't have confirmation from Maeve and Will that his soul had been wiped out, he would keep his faith. Coming from a man like him, that could be regarded as a rare display of optimism.

The reason Jake wouldn't give up was because Kyle had been challenging himself so much after his recent failures. If Will, Mufasa, and even Maeve were still alive, why not Kyle?

There had been many deaths, but the many wandering Souls around him vouched for the fact that there was a good chance his spirit still lingered somewhere.

Placing the unconscious young woman on his back. He fiddled with a piece of metal to form a steel wire which he used to tie her firmly to his body.

Then he turned off the Oracle Shield for good.

As soon as the protective force field disappeared, his presence flared up again for the other Evolvers and Digestors and a group of bloodthirsty beasts pounced on him.

Impassive, he drew his saber and calmly leapt off a few meters, bending his legs to avoid being tackled. Then he whirled around with a neat somersault as he swung his saber and heads and limbs rolled to the ground releasing multicolored sprays of blood.

Jake coolly let the blood rain down on him, as if he hoped to wash away his failures, but that was obviously impossible.

He sidestepped abruptly and a flash of green light liquefied the ground where he had been standing. Shifting his body from side to side, he dodged a volley of projectiles and other ammunition, parrying and throwing back with his saber what he could not avoid or withstand with his own body.

Activating his Myrtharian Eyes, the Evolvers' and Digestors' movements around him slowed to a crawl, and his figure waltzed like an ethereal shadow among the crazed brawlers, his fists and blade spreading death around him.

Jake tried to spare the Evolvers when possible, but soon noticed that every saved fighter was immediately finished off by nearby Digestors and creatures. Sometimes an alien who was supposed to be on the same side would deliver the final blow.

He also tried to communicate with the aliens and humans attacking him, but their aggressiveness knew no bounds. It was as if they couldn't hear him.

'This is a mindless fight. If I keep trying to reason with them, I'm the one who might lose my life.' Jake faced the facts.

[That thing making those roars could come at any second. Even if everyone else has to die because of it, you must survive.] Xi didn't mince her words, showing for the first time that she didn't care about the fate of the whole Mirror Universe as long as her protege was okay.

'I get it... But I have to at least try to save Will and the others.' Jake clenched his fists. When he was determined, he could be pretty damn stubborn.

[Of course...] His Oracle AI fell silent after that. Whatever she was going to say, she knew it wouldn't change his decision.

With one goal in mind, it wasn't hard for Jake to slash his way through all those crazed enemies. As long as he stayed especially careful of these clones and a few other Evolvers and Digestors with powerful Aether signatures he had little to fear.

A few finger snaps later, he stood in front of Will, who nearly had a heart attack when he popped out of nowhere.

The businessman was so freaked out that he cast his best Bewitching Spell, infusing his voice with all his Charisma Aether in an instant.

"STOP!"

The thunderous voice echoed straight to his face, shaking his skull and without even realizing it his body had momentarily stopped, subjugated against his will by this unnatural command.

Simultaneously, a Soul Spear shot by Fumdalf struck his mind from behind, and the little multicolored snake that Will was wearing as a scarf threw itself at him with its jaws wide open. The giant eight-legged Chimera protecting him also spat a jet of acid in his face.

Jake roared as he contracted all his muscles, his body and aura bursting with mighty power, and a telekinetic sphere stoically withstood all the attacks. The Soul Spear passed through the barrier intact but he was prepared for it and a Soul Beam radiated from the back of his skull, halting, and then dispersing the projectile condensed with Soul Energy to the Spirit Mage's great stupor.

A quarter of a second later, Jake took a step forward as if nothing had happened, but inside he was deeply shocked.

Any expert knew what a quarter of a second of immobility meant on the battlefield. It often meant the difference between life and death.

If Will had given a more specific order, such as "Don't resist," perhaps his remains would have been plastered over the ground, waiting to be spooned out.

As Jake had long suspected, he wasn't the only one harboring secrets. If he had some, so could the others. All the more reason to hope that Kyle was still alive somewhere.

"Jake what are you doing here?!" Will shouted with a hand soothing his racing heart. "I told you not to come!"

"Yeah, so what? Are you my leader?" Jake smiled sadly. "I saw your message. I know about Kyle, but I had to see it for myself."

The businessman's face went blank when his friend awakened this painful memory, but he quickly regained his composure.

"Mufasa and Shere Khan have lost their minds." He blurted out quickly.

"I know. I saw them fight." Jake cut him off when he saw that he had more to say, then declared, "We have to leave. Now."

Seeing the compunction in Jake's eyes, Will gave up his questions. Thinking fast, he synthesized the situation in his head and announced,

"I can bring Mufasa and Shere Khan to their senses, if you let me get close to them."

"Why didn't you try to placate the other Evolvers?" Jake asked.

"I already tried." Will shook his head. "It works, but none of them trust me. They haven't gone crazy, it looks like the Corruption of our Third Ordeal, but it's something else."

"The work of a Digestor?"

"I wish! No, it was the veiled woman. This girl is pure evil. She's the one who caused Kyle's death."

"You saw her kill him?" Jake inquired in suspicion.

Will paused for a second, fighting a chill as he replayed the event in his mind, then stated with certainty,

"No, but I'm sure she had a hand in it. The general chaos is her doing.. She has placed a spell on all of us."

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