The Oracle Paths

"P-pardon?" Lady Faye froze, her brain taking a moment to catch up. She couldn't believe what she had just heard.

"Aaah, it's actually for the best. It makes things a lot easier for me." Jake suddenly caught her off guard, thanking her with sincere gratitude, albeit tinged with contempt. "Thanks to your pettiness, it will be easier for me to achieve my goals."

Lady Lyria had already sensed trouble brewing as soon as he showed his immunity to her colleague's unstoppable charm, but Faye was too deep in denial to accept the turn of events.

"I don't understand what you're insinuating." She tried to play innocent, but her look of ridiculous disbelief in 'keep talking, I'm amused' mode finally eroded her cool facade. "Aren't negotiations almost over? I just politely asked you to make a more reasonable request. I don't see what this has to do with pheromones? What is that, some kind of perfume?"

Jake stared at her intently, with a peculiar smirk lingering on his face as she awkwardly tried to absolve herself. When she thought he would leave it at that after catching her red-handed, his smile curled up into a sneer, and he declared to the Keeper of the Archives,

"Lyria, right? Inform the Celestial that I accept his offer. Faye here has decided to compensate for the rest."

Both women froze, not remembering giving him permission to be so casual with them. As far as they remembered, they hadn't revealed their true identities either, but that he guessed wasn't so surprising coming from someone as abnormal as him.

Then, Faye stiffened a second time, as her mind grasped the full extent of what Jake had just announced.

"I'm going... to compensate you?" She repeated, half bewildered, half incredulous. The slight enchanting smile lighting up her pretty face quickly twisted into an ugly grimace. "And exactly how do you plan to induce me to show such... generosity?"

Faye still harbored a thin hope that he was under the influence of her pheromones and would end up demanding sexual favors from her. At least that would prove he wasn't totally immune to her charms, although in a twisted way.

Unfortunately, his response hammered the final nail in, extinguishing her last flicker of hope.

"Very simple." Jake shrugged enigmatically. "The same way you tried to manipulate me. By charming you."

This time, even Lyria's mouth, who was holding her breath in the chair next to her, dreaming of disappearing, dropped to the floor in disbelief, let alone the subject of his remarks.

"You... You're serious?" Faye articulated slowly, looking at him with mock-pity as if she had just realized he was completely insane. This level of delusion shouldn't be allowed to exist.

Crunch and Lord Phenix, who had sharp hearing, had overheard their exchange and exchanged a furious look. The black cat and his turkey pal had nearly fired their guns with the first thing they found in the nearby street, and to say they felt defiled was an understatement.

"Damn it! I knew something was off with me. Master, show her who's boss!" Crunch meowed sadistically, one of his cold and anti-hedonic personalities saving him just before cheating on 'Duchess,' the one and only sweetheart of his little heart...

Lord Phenix had purified his fogged mind with his flames just before committing the irreparable, but he had already half-dipped his biscuit into a female pigeon in heat when he realized it. The poor thing stared at him expectantly, making him want to vomit.

"I swear, if our boss doesn't strip her of every last artifact, I swear to do the same to her one way or another." The bird croaked hatefully, knocking out the love-struck pigeon that refused to leave him alone.

He meant, of course, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Feed her a powerful aphrodisiac and throw her to the crowd. The orange turkey had always been a sociopath with a particularly vengeful temperament.

His redeeming quality was that once vengeance was served, he genuinely forgave, holding no more grudges. But could the victims of his vendettas say the same?

Nothing was less certain... Since his first Ordeal, the phoenix in the making had accumulated a considerable number of sworn enemies, to the point where his proclaimed immortality and rapid growth curve were the only reasons he was still alive.

Back to Faye, at first, she perceived Jake's proud declaration as mere bluster, but soon the thrill of discovering how he planned to accomplish his ends began to pique her interest.

"So? When are you going to charm me?" She teased him, crossing her arms and legs with a condescending look that said 'whenever you're ready.'

Lyria was also intrigued but didn't believe for a second that such a feat was possible. Otherwise, no woman would be safe from this man.

Instead of responding, Jake decided to ignore her sarcasm and spoke to the Keeper of the Archives, who had so far made a good impression on him.

"You don't know much about us foreigners, and that's why you can't conceive of being charmed without realizing it." Jake expounded her, pointing at Faye as if she were a bad student. "In reality, every concept can be quantified and embodied through Aether. Charm, charisma, these are abilities that go far beyond our physical appearance or scent. Taken to their extreme and with enough belief and power, just like luck or karma, they can become real, tangible weapons. Some races have made it their spearhead, the main talent on which they rely to thrive, dominate, hunt, or coexist with their prey, rivals, and peers. Succubi, Incubi, Vampires, the examples are endless.

"What you couldn't know is that the race of which I am now the sole specimen is also one of those species relying on their charm to assert themselves."

"What race?" Lyria asked, curious despite herself.

"A Fey." Jake grinned succinctly.

He wasn't lying. Most fairies did indeed have a supernatural charm, although it was usually not for harm. It was the kind of charm meant to soften and endear those around them, with most fairies detesting conflict and more prone to flight.

Except Jake wasn't just any fairy. His Cosmic D Starfeyrves Bloodline had come into existence in a very particular way: the voluntary sacrifice of Jeanie and the act of devouring Digestor Ruby.

Ruby also possessed the Charm attribute thanks to one of the components of her current bloodline. Whether this trait came from her innate abilities as a Digestor Trojan, her Myrgenian Light Alf bloodline, or the most recent addition, Angel of Aurae, was irrelevant. All abilities and properties of the prey and objects he digested automatically became within his reach.

Digestor Ruby had also devoured other Evolvers with various attributes and abilities, including at least one with the precious Charisma on which Will heavily relied with his Dragon Soulspeaker Soul Class.

In summary, Jake possessed both the Charm and Charisma attributes. And at a very high value, aligned with his other stats. The only reason his Oracle Status didn't display them was that he detested manipulating others in such a way.

He doubted the feelings of others enough not to artificially amplify them with supernatural charm and charisma, of which he had no idea of the limits and long-term side effects on those around him. Consequently, these two attributes were by default... muted.

But today, exceptionally... He was going to make an exception.

"Faye, be ready to resist my charm." He issued provocatively at the vixen. "You can't say I didn't warn you... I'll start in three, two, one... Now!"

Impassive as someone already knowing the outcome, Jake bestowed Faye one last falsely sympathetic look, then emitted an invisible pressure that went far beyond pheromones. This energy resonated with every part of his being, every photon, wave, particle, and movement related to him and what he represented, snowballing in unfathomable proportions in less than a blink of an eye.

Each of his expressions and movements, even a repulsive nose picking, was now imbued with charm capable of dazzling crowds and melting the hearts of the most frigid noble ladies.

Lyria, not being his target, felt no difference unlike Crunch and Lord Phenix, who had become collateral victims of Faye earlier. This already indicated the difference in skill between the two.

Confused, she commented a bit embarrassed, "I don't feel anything particular !!"

She didn't complete her sentence, her eyes almost bulging out of her head at seeing the soulless witch sitting next to her turn beet red to the ears, her heart racing and her gaze shy as an innocent maiden meeting her charming prince.

Love at first sight! The irresistible Faye had shown incapable of resisting his charm!