The Oracle Paths

Recognizing that whiny, drawling voice, the Oracle Guardian, lying motionless in his own blood, burst into a thunderous laugh before quickly breaking off into a painful coughing fit that caused him to spit out a gush of dark, partially clotted fluid.

When the cough subsided, Citro inquired with a snort of sarcasm,

"To what do I owe the pleasure of a Rank 3 Aetherist's visit? I do not believe you are here to enjoy the scenery."

The Rank 3 Aetherist giggled happily in response, then with a somersault landed squarely onto Citro's chest. Looking up, the Oracle Guardian was able to confirm who he was dealing with.

The humanoid creature using his armor as a welcome mat was a small alien reminiscent of a gremlin. An ungainly mix between a koala, an imp and a lizard, its bulging yellow eyes and large elephant ears gave it a funny look. Greenish, wrinkled and wearing only a worn-out toga, this thing was not exactly a model of elegance and loveliness in the Mirror Universe.

The good thing was that there were no two creatures like this one on B842. Wendoks were a species that was virtually extinct in the Mirror Universe.

Identifying it was a breeze, especially since this wasn't the first time they faced each other.

"I see your manners haven't changed Cekt. You're still as well behaved as ever..." The Oracle Guardian snarled with displeasure.

Ignoring his whining, the alien patted Citro with the tip of his wand, which also served as a cane. Because he was too small, the role of this accessory had deviated from its primary function.

Legend had it that the wand had once belonged to a powerful wizard somewhere in the Mirror Universe, or that Cekt had made it himself for a customer, but for some reason the customer had never come to pick up his order.

Surprisingly, the usually proud and gruff Oracle Guardian let himself be patted without protest, letting the Wendok grope him as he pleased. When the little alien stopped examining him, Citro probed anxiously,

"How is it?"

"You're a lucky one. This poison is unnaturally potent, but it's still within my capabilities. I'm still curious as to who could have poisoned you like this."

Citro raised an eyebrow under his helmet.

"I thought you already knew it was a rookie that got me into this state..."

"Hehe, I just heard you whimpering to yourself, thinking no one could hear you." Shrugging his narrow shoulders, Cekt explained more earnestly, "I just arrived. So... Who did this ?"

"Kokoon..."

The Oracle Guardian repeated what had just happened on the Oros mothership and the purge that had just taken place there, then the orders he had received to destroy the many Dungeon Digestors popping out all over the place and to rescue any survivors inside.

Cekt Mogusar listened intently, interrupting him just when he needed a clarification. Meanwhile, the alien also attended to his wounds.

Raising his staff, a concentrated stream of Green Aether spilled out of the artifact, then with the expert strokes of a conductor condensed a complex Aether Symbol of millions of Aether Runes whose brilliance soon enveloped the body of the poisoned warrior with benevolence.

As this comforting light washed over his cells, Citro let out an involuntary groan of pleasure as the poison corroding his insides melted from his system.

"Grade 6 Vitality Aether..." Citro commented enviously. "You Aetherists don't know how lucky you are."

Indifferent to his fluster, the Wendok retorted nonchalantly,

"There is no luck in the Mirror Universe, only survivors. If you survive as long as I have, obviously anything I can do will sound unfair and lucky to the ignorant and envious neophytes. Grade 6 Vitality Aether, you should be more than clear about the difficulties involved in making it, even if it comes from a renowned Aetherist like me."

Letting out a long, dejected sigh, Citro replied with a crooked smile,

"Sure, but complaining is good for my mental health. What can you do about it?"

Considering the question very seriously, Cekt stroked his chin thoughtfully before spouting off,

"An amnesia spell would definitely work, giving you the opportunity to start over. A spell of debility is not bad either. As the saying goes, happy are the simpletons, right? I can also use a calming or mental stability spell to keep you from being impulsive. I can also..."

A vein of annoyance soon swelled on Citro's forehead, but knowing the little alien's temperament he forced himself to keep his sharp thoughts to himself. At a certain point, he couldn't take it anymore and shouted,

"Okay, okay! I get it. Now, can you please finish the healing?"

Looking falsely surprised, Cekt poked his breastplate with his cane and revealed with a blank face,

"Oh, I finished a minute ago."

Jumping to the side to let the Oracle Guardian stand up, Cekt gradually looked up to maintain the eye contact with the warrior. It wasn't until he was on his feet that Citro became aware that the Aetherist who had just healed him was barely larger than a fat rat.

Returning to the main topic, the Oracle Guardian asked more sternly,

"Thank you for the care, but you still haven't answered my question. What are you doing here?"

After being betrayed by Kokoon, he was now wary of this kind of reinforcement, even if his savior's reputation preceded him.

Having nothing to hide, Cekt explained simply,

"I heard what had happened and ran to save my disciples."

It was only then that Citro noticed that the Wendok was not alone. A little farther away, at a distance of several hundred meters, stood a horned alien with articulated mechanical arms protruding from his back and a bizarre young woman with white skin, but in the literal sense.

If Jake had been present, he would certainly have recognized the two individuals standing just behind.

The first one was a square-faced, hyper-muscular human measuring almost 3 meters, with dark bronze skin and a long silver mane hanging freely down his back. His jaw and translucent fangs protruding from his lips were impressive, leaving no doubt about his diet.

The second person was an elegant young woman in her early twenties with tanned skin and long, wavy Venetian blonde hair that fell to the middle of her back. Her golden eyes gleamed with a mysterious wisdom and the blood-red sword at her belt emitted an unusual murderous and sinister aura.

These two individuals were indeed Gerulf and Lucia, old friends from his first Ordeal that had changed his future. For better or for worse, Jake had also changed theirs forever and they had done everything to find him since their arrival on B842.

Not being stingy with explanations, Cekt succinctly introduced the four individuals.

"The first two are my disciples, the other two I met by chance. They had just came out of a Yellow Cube and the magic of fate had it that we were looking for the same person. Now that you are here, I am much more serene."

Abandoning his light-hearted, prankster tone, the Aetherist flashed a certain badge in his possession and solemnly ordered,

"I'll take it from here. I charge you to protect these four people until I return."

"But, I have orders from-"

"I'll explain the situation to Oros. He will understand."

The sturdy warrior instantly cringed at these words.

"As you wish, Master Mogusar..." He obeyed with a distressed look.

"Good!" The gremlin clapped his hands cheerfully, beckoning his disciples to come closer. Not knowing what to do, Gerulf and Lucia followed the other two.

The next thing they knew, Cekt was shooting off inside the mountain, his little lizard body flying through all the Dungeon Digestor walls as if they didn't exist.

This was not brute force or matter manipulation like most Evolvers were capable of, but a real phasing. He was genuinely passing through.

At his level, scanning the floor of a dungeon like this one was child's play and tracing the trail took only a moment. Within seconds, he identified the traces of Jake's passage, then using some mysterious techniques that only he had the secret of, he set off after him.

Five seconds later, he reached the room where the four factions under Urul's leadership had been ambushed by an army of goblin and orc Digestors and he frowned disapprovingly. Still, as an optimist he persisted in his search for clues and discovered that his disciple had survived.

Like a homing head, he flew through the galleries at lightning speed, but the strangest thing about it was that there was no sound or air movement after he passed. Despite its insane speed, the alien was as silent as a ghost.

When he reached the Second Floor' forest, Cekt detected signs of life and expanded his vast consciousness to encompass them all. Finding physical characteristics in some of them similar to his own disciple, he flew to the one with the most powerful Aether signature and met Svara.

The Valkyrie hadn't wasted her time and had managed to gather about twenty refugees during this period. By protecting them, most of them had made good progress even if it was at the expense of her own.

Cekt asked her some questions, then gave her the position of the other survivors to help her regroup everyone. To eliminate any risk, he cleared all the Digestors on the floor with a snap of his fingers before continuing on his way.

The alien did the same on the third floor, then trying to repeat the feat on the fourth floor, he soon realized that there were no monsters left to kill. Detecting several large Aether signatures in the distance, he headed in their direction.