The Oracle Paths

Jake's first instinct was to pick up the severed arm to absorb the liquid alloy.

"Tsk, wrong arm. "Jake tutted in a grumpy mood.

[You just can't get lucky every time.] Xi stated the obvious without the slightest hint of sympathy for his setback.

Luc Wam was apparently right-handed and it was regrettably his left arm in his hands. He then proceeded to check the blunderbuss from all angles, but found that the weapon was nothing special. Compared to his own assault rifle, it was a primitive shotgun.

"They were good..." Jake declared as he looked down the path they had escaped to.

Whether it was Luc, Avros or Hephais, they were top tier players. Their agility, coordination, reflexes, strength, and accuracy were excellent compared to the majority of contestants, while their mental state left nothing to be desired either. If it had been a different person than him, like Sarah or Kyle, they would have died without a doubt.

Above all, they had all managed to escape. Jake was now sure, Hephais and Avros were using an Oracle Cloaking or their Oracle Ranks rivaled his. Despite his advantage in speed and strength, he had never really managed to gain an advantage over these two. As for Luc, he was slightly below them, but with the help of the other two he had put in a decent performance.

Hephais, was an Egaean assassin specializing in the shadow element, while Avros kept his true abilities concealed behind his dynamite. Even though he seemed to have won this first exchange, Jake knew how close this fight had come.

Still, he had won the first round. And that was a good starting point for winning the next.

"Let's get back to the hunt. "Jake whistled blithely. He recalibrated his Oracle Path and his Shadow Guide started running in the direction of the footprints.

Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Less than a minute later, the robotic voice put a hasty end to his project.

[ Hephais Vist, Luc Wam and Avros Valruc have qualified for the next round and have decided to assert their rights. They will be transported out of the Village in 5,4,3,2,1...0.]

*****

A few minutes earlier, someplace on the other side of the mountain.

Luc Wam collapsed against a fir tree, his face drenched in sweat. He was missing his left arm, cut clean off at the shoulder. He was short of breath and his crooked face betrayed the immense pain he was in.

"Fucking hell! That bastard didn't miss me!" The gentleman cowboy began to spill out all the insults in his arsenal before running out of breath. He wanted to continue, but stabilizing his wound with Aether was already getting his full attention.

Once his wound was bandaged, he growled, "What was that freak? We're supposed to be the Monsters here, right? Why am I more afraid of him than you? "

"You are mistaken. "Hephais gave him a sympathetic look. "You, are scared of him. And on the other hand, I am not a Monster. "

"Yeah, you picked the Assassin's Role, so what? In the end, you kill one person every night. Just like us. "

"Wrong. " The Shadow Mage quipped with his finger. "I don't have to kill anyone. I kill because I want to. "

Faced with his companion's shamelessness, the one-armed man snorted and decided to pretend he didn't exist. Turning to Avros, he asked,

"What do we do now? If he can find us once, he can find us again. Sure, you can abandon me, but I doubt you have enough Aether to keep the Oracle Cloaking until nightfall. "

The Australian, who was smoking a cigarette nearby, threw his butt into a bush and watched the fire start with great fascination before sighing,

"We have no choice. We' ve got enough Fluid already. I was hoping to accumulate more, but it's a sin to be too greedy. "

Hephais and Luke facepalmed. Avros could have left since the 5th Cycle, but he had stayed there to get more. Right now, he was probably the richest Villager in this Round.

"How does a sociopath like you stay so calm?" Luc made no secret of his awe. "If I'm not mistaken, you haven't committed any infractions so far, have you? Are you more sane than all of us put together or do you just have better self-control?"

"Hmmm? " Avros lost interest in the burning bush and cracked an evil smile. "I'm not sane. I'm insane. I always have been. But unlike the rest of you, I'm used to it. I don't live in denial of my vices. "

All of a sudden, Avros and Hephais looked up in the same direction and their expressions changed.

"There's no time. He's on his way. See you later. "

After that, they confirmed their choice through their Fluid Card and the robotic voice announced their departure to a disgruntled Jake.

*****

Before returning to the Village, Jake first inspected the last place where the three Players had stayed. There he found the Bailiff's spare keys, abandoned in the grass next to a burnt bush that was still smoking. The runes had apparently stopped the fire from spreading.

Jake then walked back the way he came and a few moments later arrived at his house. He was surprised to find a group of people in front of his home. Remembering what he had requested of Kewanee and Svara, he determined that they must have succeeded in persuading them, but the reality was entirely different.

The negotiation had been a failure, but the departure of the three Players had changed everything. The remaining villagers had finally found their hero. Before that, they had pinned their hopes on Drastan, the black man in armor, but he had been disappointing so far.

Now, the said Player was locked up in his house and was content to wait for the end of the Round. Some said he was afraid of Avros and the other Monsters, but the truth was that he too was trying to resist the Corruption. With no better solution, the best thing to do was to maintain his peace of mind, preferably in an unstimulating environment.

Nevertheless, Jake didn't care about his mishaps. With the marketing done by the two women and the recent publicity the robotic voice had brought him, he had no trouble extorting the residents.

Except for Peter Brady, Drastan, Ostrexora, Kewanee, Carmin and Svara, all the remaining villagers were natives, namely 14 natives and 6 Players. Unlike the Players' Contracts, it was harder to negotiate with these people without a proper Role.

Having the dominant position, Jake asked to be paid up front as proof of their good faith. His argument was that if he felt like killing them and stealing their Fluid, he was 100% confident that he could kill them before being sent back to the Pit.

The memory of how he had escaped his first punishment was still fresh in their minds, so his argument hit home.

In the end, all the natives except Gordon, Laksmini and Carl accepted his protection. Gordon hesitated for a long time, but his fear finally won out over his reason. After his bad behavior toward Jake, he feared retaliation.

Laksmini was an unimportant recruit, but according to Kewanee she had spent most of her time with Ostrexora and they could be considered friends. Ostrexora was extremely mysterious and reclusive and it had been a surprise to everyone when she had accepted the native by her side. More than one thought that she was secretly a lesbian, being bitter and cold only towards men.

As most of the natives had given up on earning 50M, they all agreed to pay him the 5M fee for protection, for a total amount of 55M units. Some grumbled a little, but in the end the fear of being the next to die convinced them all.

At that moment, Jake realized that he would have in his house tonight 14 of the 20 remaining villagers, including Kewanee, Svara and Carmin. The vampire had agreed to join them, but had not asked for protection. Knowing her abilities, Jake didn't refuse.

Statistically, there was a significant chance that one or more of these people would be part of the Monsters, but that was exactly what he wanted. What had tipped him off was Gordon and Carl's refusal to mix with the other natives. Their backgrounds were not a good enough reason to explain their reaction.

So Jake played along and accepted everyone without exception. He returned to the forest to collect some herbs and finish his preparations, then returned home at dusk.

Getting everyone into his tiny building proved to be a challenge, but with a little bit of stuffing, they all managed to fit inside. However, Jake had to reposition them personally, to make sure he was able to intervene immediately if anything went wrong.

In the end, he managed to keep them all in the same room with at least a meter of distance separating them from each other. Everyone was leaning against the sides of the wall, forming a square in the center of which stood Jake, Carmin, Svara and Kewanee.

This was the first night that Jake did not go into his fireplace to practice. He didn't light it either, and kept his eyes wide open and his mind alert. With his Myrtharian Eyes, nothing could escape him and the darkness would blind his enemies.

For the first few hours, except for the groans of pain from the Villagers and the floor squeaking as they shifted positions to relieve their backs or legs, nothing disturbed them.

Just as Jake was beginning to entertain the idea that the night would pass without a hitch, someone banged on his door.