The Oracle Paths

Lucia and Gerulf, who had been listening quietly on the side, were having a hard time following this conversation, but witnessing a blood sample deal while hearing the talk about Bloodlines was intriguing.

This discussion reminded them of a significant event that had occurred two years ago, just hours after Jake's disappearance. It had affected them so much that the memory had become ingrained in their minds.

Jake didn't notice their strange behavior, too focused on challenging the Aetherist's logic.

"I don't get it. Digestors or not, they're living beings like us. Biologically speaking, I don't understand what makes them different from other aliens." Cekt's last disciple began to object with several very rational arguments.

Syrbarun and Siri were not the Aetherist's disciples for nothing, and they nodded as if in support of what he said. Anyone with a functioning brain and a minimum of knowledge on the subject must have been wondering about this.

Cekt remained silent, refusing to answer, but that only fueled Jake's determination to get an honest and sincere reply, not just an excuse pulled out of a hat.

"I'll understand if it was a strange bloodline based on an alien species radically different from my own, but I've already ascertained that my Myrtharian Bloodline is an auxiliary support bloodline. If only the most essential component of it is used, it can be integrated with any alien or creature. "My faction's Myrtharian Body Passive skill is an application of this, and all of those Digestors on the Fourth Floor are an even more glaring example. Among these Digestors, there were even plants with my powers. I refuse to believe that an Aetherist would be more incompetent than a fucking Nexus that's only a few days old, right? Unless I was wrong about everything and a Rank 3 Aetherist doesn't amount to much..."

Syrbarun and Siri inhaled sharply as they listened to his litany. The seventh disciple of their generation was a little too sharp-tongued for his own good. Once started, Jake was unstoppable and his spittle of certainty and righteousness drenched the face of an increasingly grim gremlin.

An expression of pity dawned on the faces of the spectators. Syrbarun sighed in sympathy, while the android Siri simply closed her eyes, refusing to see what was about to come. Even Garrow, who was straining his ear lonely from a little further away, stiffened as he saw the infuriated aura building up behind the Wendok.

'Jake, it's a good thing to have a keen mind, but having brains is also knowing when to shut up.' The Demon Slayer lamented as he too looked away from what was to come.

Contrary to what they had feared, Jake did not get a cane stroke this time. The Aetherist's bad mood only worsened, but it didn't explode.

After letting him spill his breath in an interminable pamphlet about why he should consider his idea, Cekt waved his wand and a complex Aether Symbol pressed against Jake's mouth like a strip of tape before disappearing.

Jake's speech came to a premature end as he became unable to open his mouth. His angry, indignant gaze soon rivaled that of his master.

"Listen to me, Jake. I won't say it twice." Cekt said with a warning tone, while erecting a sound barrier around the group. "It's possible, and it's not complicated. But don't do it unless you want to betray the Mirror Universe and lose your humanity."

Staring at the others present, including Lucia, Gerulf, his two followers, Will and Svara, the little alien stated darkly,

"Normally, we don't discuss this kind of sensitive subject with low-rank Evolvers like you, because it doesn't benefit you in any way except to flood you with despair. With two exceptions, you have all completed your Third Ordeal. So you must have personally experienced the dangers of Corruption in one form or another. The Digestors' Corruption is far more insidious. You don't see it, it doesn't change you immediately, not even in the mid-term, but you can't get rid of it. It's not just a curse or a spell affecting your emotions and desires, but something that rewrites your very nature on a level I can't even remotely explain.

"The reason you are not being briefed on this danger is because you can't protect yourself from it, and neither can I. The Mirror Universe is losing the war against the Digestors not just because of our numerical inferiority, but because simply fighting them is like slowly becoming one of them. This is an insidious Corruption, which surpasses any form of persuasion. Eventually, even by doing nothing, we will probably be annexed, simply because the remaining survivors will be Digestors themselves."

There was no censure from the Oracle System this time. The authority of a Rank 3 Aetherist was sufficient to reveal this information to them.

The stunned silence that followed paled in the face of the traumatic shock that had just struck the audience dumb. Syr and Siri were livid, Will was bewildered, Lucia and Gerulf were confused. The only ones who had any semblance of composure were Fumdalf and Garrow, the only ones who had completed their Fourth Ordeal.

However, Garrow in particular was frowning as if this pessimistic version differed from what he had been taught in the past.

The only one who had a strong desire to speak, but was unfortunately unable to do so, was Jake. The Third Ordeal Corruption had not managed to drive him mad, so why worry about a long-term Corruption. Until then, he had plenty of time to find a solution.

Of course, he didn't dwell on the fact that the Mirror Universe had been around for trillions of years and that countless talented geniuses had tried to overcome the fate that destiny had in store for them all, to no avail.

Seeing Jake's jaw muscles clench with all their might to such an extent that a network of lava veins began to glisten around his lips, Cekt's face twitched in annoyance, but out of spite he waved his hand, dispersing the Spell of Silence.

"What more do you want to say my dear disciple." The little alien asked with a sinister gleam in his wide, bulging yellow eyes.

Ignoring his master, Jake massaged his jaw with a relaxed expression, grunting in contentment,

"Ahh, it feels good to be able to speak again."

"If you don't have anything more interesting to say, I'm leaving!" Cekt bellowed loudly, this time giving him the second cane stroke he deserved.

Bam!

"Ouch! Damn it! What the hell, fucking old coot! Did you forget to take your meds this morning?"

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Sigh... Syr, Siri and Will facepalmed, while Gerulf nodded approvingly, with a look like,

'That's how you teach discipline.'

Lucia and Svara gave the "undisciplined" a sympathetic look, but neither stepped in between the master and disciple to get him out of trouble.

A few moments later, a breathless Cekt and a Jake whose head now resembled a bunch of flowers glared at each other. At the same time, and contrasting with this perilous tension, Lucia was smearing the ointment on the bumps of a Jake meekly letting her do the work.

"If you had let me talk instead of hitting me for no reason, we wouldn't have wasted so much time." Jake lectured the old man righteously as if his master's violent outburst was merely a forgivable symptom of his impending senility.

Naturally, Cekt had no trouble guessing what was going on in the back of his disciple's head, and he gritted his teeth angrily, barely restraining himself from delivering a far more lethal caning blow.

"Then say what you have to say!" The alien bellowed like a deaf man.

"Very well." Jake smiled with a holy, laid-back disposition, acting as if the beating he had just taken was a distant dream. With his cauliflower head, all his efforts at poise were of course doomed to failure...

Noticing that his master was about to cane him again, he stopped quibbling and got serious again.

"I will follow your instructions." Jake promised solemnly. "But if what you say is true, why go on living. If we're doomed to become Digestors or die resisting them, why not hasten things? The ones I met didn't seem so unhappy."

Garrow, who had been standing back with his arms crossed, suddenly snickered,

"Because that's our instinct. If I tell a farmed calf that its only fate is to end up as a hamburger steak at the slaughterhouse, what options does it have? It can either commit suicide right away, or continue eating. Except that the more the calf eats, the bigger it becomes, getting closer and closer to the day of slaughter. To survive as long as possible, the calf can choose to eat less to delay the inevitable, but it cannot starve itself completely. If by some miracle it decides to fight, then perhaps it can become a Corrida bull, but the same end awaits it at the end of the line. That's the situation in the Mirror Universe today."

"Good analogy!" Cekt gave a thumbs up in approval.

Jake refused to relent.

"Instinct or not, I believe that as long as there is life there is hope." He asserted with conviction, his Myrtharian nature spurred by this never-ending challenge. "The Oracle still stands, so Corruption or not, there are still people in the Mirror Universe who haven't given up. Xion Zolvhur is at least a billion years old and he was still himself. If he can do it, so can I!"

This was Jake's indomitable determination. The will of a Myrtharian.