The Oracle Paths

"Im-impossible!"

"What the heck is this insane power!"

"If it were me instead of Simgut..."

The adventurers forming a ring around them shuddered in utter dread as they realized that they had just brushed against death out of sheer greed. This handsome rookie was not a naive greenhorn at all, but a tyrannosaurus posing as a chicken in a barnyard.

Both waddled on two legs and couldn't fly, but it would be a stupid mistake to think they were of the same kind!

Leaning on the fourth-floor balcony, the seasoned adventurers of Lodunvals who happened to be watching were equally astonished. Elduin, the dazzling Dawn Elf, bore a constipated expression, while the dwarf Bhammod had dropped his beloved beer pint.

At odds with the rest of the crowd, there were also several warriors like their leader and one of the scarred women who merely frowned, but if there was one among them who wore an icy expression, it was Ruby.

'How did he improve so fast? I would understand if he had rushed his Ordeals at the risk of his life, but like me, he took his time to hone his skills and maximize his rating. I ended up winning my Third Ordeal and should have been miles ahead of those Evolvers with no background.'

Then, she froze, realizing she had overlooked a crucial detail.

'Wait a second... He's on Quanoth. How did he get here? That should be reserved for exceptional Players.'

Sure, Jake could have gotten his ticket by sucking up to a more talented Evolver, but they weren't common place among humanity, and having such an acquaintance in his social circle was a feat in itself. The thing was, his temperament and the power he had just demonstrated didn't really match that of an obsequious sycophant.

'No way! He won his Third Ordeal?!' She finally understood.

Even if he hadn't won his last Ordeal, he had impressed someone high up enough to be sent here.

'All the more reason to kill him.' She concluded truculently.

Suddenly, a conflicted grimace distorted her face and she felt a twinge of regret and shame, as well as a pang of sadness. Her amethyst eye glowed brighter, and her pent-up emotions were immediately soothed.

'He must die.' She repeated internally like a mantra, but her killing intent had unknowingly weakened by half.

Meanwhile Jake had not changed his posture since his last punch. He was still amazed at the sheer power and intricacy of his opponent's strikes. This last one was much weaker than him, but each of his hammer blows contained deep mysteries and were imbued with an indescribable will, but perfectly compatible with the intents of these attacks.

'I won because ultimately these ghostly illusions stemmed from his spiritual aura and his... hammer intent? I guess I should call it that for now... didn't have enough energy.' He calmly analyzed the unfolding of this brief battle. 'In the end, raw Spirit Energy cannot compete with matter. It would have been different, however, if I had been hit directly by his hammer.

His final conclusion was that at level 51, a normal person's Spirit Body could only generate 60-70% of his current physical strength (without telekinesis, Aether Control or Skills). No need to freak out. The lesson for the future, as it turns out, was the incredible versatility and unfathomability that these spiritual techniques could generate when combined with a proper Soul Class.

Spirit Body and Spirit Energy alone were pointless, but combined with a Soul Class synchronizing the entire Soul through a single calling, an insane amount of power could be unleashed.

Now Jake wasn't so keen on responding to provocation. Keeping a low profile was by far the best strategy when one lacked information. He wasn't weak, far from it, but now he knew he couldn't underestimate the natives of this world.

And neither could he underestimate the Players in this world... Jake didn't know exactly why he had been sent to Quanoth, but he had enough insight to guess that this world was not normal.

Coolly striding over to his passed-out adversary, whom his comrades had just nursed back to health, Jake casually rummaged through his pockets and found his identification papers. The other adventurers didn't dare stop him.

"Rank-B only?" Jake was disappointed.

He did a quick mental calculation and came up with a theory. The adventurers' Rank was defined in relation to their achievements and the difficulty of completed missions, but if it was also correlated to their levels, then each rank could be interpreted differently:

Rank G for adventurers like Trash from level 1 to 10, Rank F from 11 to 20, Rank E from 21 to 30, Rank D from 31 to 40, Rank C from 41 to 50, Rank B from 51 to 60, and Rank A or higher from level 60?

Jake had yet to verify his hypothesis, but he had a hunch it wasn't that far off the mark.

'If that's how it works, Rank A is my limit. S-rank adventurers or above if they exist can match my physical strength with their Spirit Body alone. At this level, their every thought is capable of hurting me.

[It would have been too easy if these natives had no innate talent.] Xi sighed with a surge of sympathy towards these natives. [Their bodies are weak and their Aether stats limited by the Aether density. They can only rely on Digitalization and their Soul Class to pave their way. Their strong Souls are their only real asset. This is not necessarily an advantage for them. Since they are dependent on their Soul Classes, the personalities of the most powerful Quanoth natives are likely to be irredeemably twisted. I don't like prejudice, but this time I advise you to treat each and every individual as an enemy if their Soul Class or the way they dress and behave seems suspicious. Their spiritual presence should also give you strong clues.]

Jake nodded quietly. Basically, if he couldn't determine their Soul Class, anyone with a kitchen knife could be a Cook as well as a Serial Killer or an Assassin. In between, they could be a Knife Wielder with a passion for knives. By changing their clothes and the way they acted, it was easy to pass themselves off as someone else, but the nature of their spiritual aura would not change. This was a flaw of the Digitalization.

Their Spirit Bodies couldn't hide from his eyesight, but it was also a disadvantage for him. Some adventurers who had seen the fight and had special abilities might already be trying to unravel the mystery surrounding his Soul Class.

With a grim look on his face, Jake coolly swept his eyes over the adventurers around him with his Apex Predator Glyph, and most took a step back, but not all of them. Fortunately, those who were blocking his path to the exit had quickly scurried away, picking up their fainting comrade.

As Jake was about to fade into the crowded streets of Lodunvals, his gaze landed fleetingly on one of the Guild's fourth-floor balconies and in a split second he tensed up.

He had just caught sight of a sublime young woman with long silver-white hair, lovely arched eyebrows of the same color, exquisite turned-up nose, pink moist lips, and pale, glistening skin in the sunlight. With her shifty eyes and anxious smile, she gave the false impression of being introverted and insecure, even compliant, but Jake knew how fake it all was.

Those amethyst and marine blue eyes, that adorable but oh so devilish face, how could he have forgotten them after that treachery!

"Rub-"

As he was about to roar out of anger, even considering attacking her on the spot, a cruel smile crept onto the young woman's face and she suddenly let out a shrill scream out of terror.

"A G-Guilty!"

In an instant, her voice overlaid his, echoing throughout the city as if she had just screamed into a megaphone. In a flash, the Guild, and then the whole city, erupted into a state of war, its highest level of alarm triggered.

Jake was so taken aback that he forgot to even voice his indignation or protest.

"What the f-"

Just as he was taking in what was happening, a barrage of light projectiles rained down on him, including a strange white beam of light that encompassed the entire Guild and its surroundings. These spells did not hit only him, but none of the adventurers present suffered any damage. However, there were other, more annoying complications that clouded the picture.

"I can't teleport!" Jake exclaimed in shock as he realized he couldn't avoid the beam in time. Looking up in the beam's direction, he saw Ruby proudly pointing her two illuminated palms at him.

"Anti Aether Magic Spell." Jake read her lips as she silently articulated to taunt him.

The effect of this anti-magic spell didn't stop there. The Aether Symbol of Miniaturization keeping his body in human form broke apart in a heartbeat, and from a six-foot tall handsome man, he transformed into a glowing titan over four meters tall.

Worse, the pavement beneath his feet instantly liquefied and a searing heat and gamma radiation powerful enough to give cancer to an ordinary human in half a second erupted forth from his huge body. His silver and gold hair shimmered like polished swords, his translucent fangs and claws reached their maximum length, and his muscles swelled disproportionately.

In the blink of an eye, Jake had transformed into a true monster, a Silver Myrtharian in all his glory. All his efforts at self-control and undercover work had been undone.

"RUBY, I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"