The Oracle Paths

"We get payback." Jake finally replied with bone-chilling detachment.

Aisling gulped as she felt the stifling aura welling up from him. In that moment, she almost forgot she was supposed to thank him for his help. The whole emotional roller coaster of meeting her father again, being freed, and then having her father recaptured in the process of rescuing her hadn't made things any better.

Right now, her mood and thoughts were a bit unsettled and messy. The strong, charismatic leader had been pushed into the background, momentarily replaced by a young woman as distraught and hopeless as a child lost in a supermarket.

Wyatt, by contrast, viewed Jake's words as the light at the end of the tunnel. His heart ached for vengeance and he was willing to stake his life to save Carmin and get revenge for his tortured comrades that Jake had previously freed.

Alas, he could not accompany him in this madness. His angst stemmed mostly from what he had recently learned in the Lost Divinities' dungeons, his cold rationality turning against him.

"I won't be able to fight with you this time." Wyatt shook his head, his face apologetic.

"Why is that?" Jake raised a displeased eyebrow. He didn't expect this guy to be such a scaredy-cat. "Isn't Carmin your childhood sweetheart?"

His chiding may have sounded blunt and scornful, but he could understand his reasons. With the exception of Carmin, who was still Lost Divinities' hostage, the other Vampires of his faction imprisoned in the Dracul clan's dungeon had been released. At least the ones that had not been killed before their capture. As a leader, he had to consider the opinions of the other members.

Jake didn't know much about this handsome Vampire who carried the burden and responsibility of several hundred Vampires, but from what little he'd gleaned from Carmine and the intelligence his faction had garnered, Wyatt had, despite his immense strength and noble origins, a refreshingly kind and anti-violent temperament in addition to being prudish, overly polite, and prim.

Hurting and killing, even when it meant drinking blood for nourishment, were for him vile and barbaric acts that went against his principles. To make an apt analogy, he was what one might call a vegan Vampire. His pursuit of virtue and benevolence to the point of denying his physiological urges was only possible because as a Vampire Progenitor he was not obligated to consume blood for sustenance.

His pursuit of goodness and his refusal to drink blood, nonetheless, had taken a heavy toll on his development. Despite his fantastic bloodline, he was much weaker than the other Vampire Progenitors of his age. His clan thought poorly of him, so he founded Pureblood with Carmin and a few other Vampire Nobles of his generation to prove his worth to them.

The raw power and savagery he had shown at the end of the Third Ordeal against Jake had only been possible because of the Corruption. His true nature was much gentler, and even to save Carmin he had not completely forgotten his morality.

Against enemies weaker than him it was inconsequential, but once one put unscrupulous opponents of his caliber in front of him, his character flaws became obvious.

On many levels, Wyatt was responsible for the capture of Carmin and his former companions, but also for the recapture of Grimwald by the enemy. The latter, realizing that Wyatt was not ready to perpetrate a massacre, had taken it upon himself to attract the attention of the enemy players with the unfortunate outcome that followed.

That was what Jake assumed he knew and understood about Wyatt, and he wasn't entirely wrong. However, the reality of the situation was a tad more complex.

As confident as Wyatt was in his personal strength, he at least had the foresight and composure to get his hands dirty when there was no other option. He may have been reluctant to use violence, but as a Vampire Progenitor he had a whole host of abilities that allowed him to hypnotize, manipulate, and even enslave the minds of his enemies. To find Carmin in those labyrinthine dungeons he had not hesitated to abuse his powers.

These Lost Divinities Players were undoubtedly very tough, but subduing one of them in order to interrogate him and search his soul was within his power. Having a good instinct in this respect, he had ambushed one of the hooded Player wearing a crude copper mask and searched his memory without the slightest qualms.

Although he had easily completed the first stage of his infiltration and obtained Aisling's location, but not Carmin's (the interrogated Player knew nothing about it), he had also learned the cruel truth about this mysterious faction.

As he sank his fangs into his captive's throat, Wyatt had already become aware that it would not be enough to kill him. At best, it would only incapacitate this Player for a few days.

He and Jake were not friends, not even allies, and they didn't trust each other. At best they were rivals, respecting each other. Nevertheless, his ethics prevented him from keeping such information to himself. If Jake tried to exact his revenge without being properly informed, all that awaited him was the extermination of him, his faction and possibly his entire home planet.

"Jake, before you decide to take your revenge, I need to tell you something about Lost Divinities." Wyatt stated gravely, ignoring Jake's condescending rebuke, "These Players, they are..."

Jake stopped him with a gesture.

"No need, I have a rough idea of what you intend to tell me." Jake laughed in dismay. "But, my decision won't change. I'll get my revenge or I'll go down trying. If I don't stand up to them in this Ordeal where it's nearly impossible to die, my rating will be affected. This deficit will impact my future Oracle Rank, my Oracle Skills' level and my power. If I or my companions die in the Fifth Ordeal because of my cowardice today, I will never be able to look them in the face again. Even if everything goes well, if I meet Lost Divinities again, my chances of resisting them will be even lower and I will be once again forced to back down. Because of my bloodline and my character, it is simply not possible.

"Your bloodline?" Wyatt muttered with confusion.

"You need blood and time to grow stronger, I need to win." Jake explained with a glittering cold light in his resolute eyes.

The Vampire remained lost in thought for a moment, before asking with a determined expression,

"If, and I mean if, I agree to fight by your side, how are you going to pull it off? In case you haven't noticed, these Players are unkillable. It won't be easy to defeat them, and even if you succeed, they will come back to life sooner or later. The Ordeal is still long..."

Wyatt had already made up his mind, and he had come to the decision not to reveal what he had discovered. Subconsciously, he feared that by sharing the revelations Jake would lose his courage. If he gave up, then his fragile resolve would instantly wither.

"Now we're talking." Jake smiled a toothy grin. "First of all..."

The two Players began to discuss their scheme for revenge in the presence of Aisling, who grew more and more shocked as she listened to them unravel their nefarious plan. A few minutes later, Wyatt bid them farewell and they set up a meeting point in the underground cavern where Jake had been training for the past three months.

Even if his enemies knew its location, without the power to pass through earth and metal, it was nigh impossible to reach. As for Aisling, she stayed with Jake.

The duo flew to Jake's hideout and the Dhampir Demon nearly died of a heart attack when he took her by the hand and shot down to the ground like an arrow. Although the expected gruesome death never came, when she opened her eyes a few moments later she was greeted by a blast of scorching, sulfurous, low-oxygen air that made her almost regret being still alive.

When she saw where she was, for a brief second she wondered if she was actually dead and sent to hell to pay for her crimes. It wasn't until she found Jake's relaxed, stoic company and heard Jeanie's playful hum that she finally managed to relax.

Aisling was not at all surprised to see Jake acting like a fish in water in this environment, but seeing the little fairy close her eyes and sigh with satisfaction as if this was the coziest place in the world threw her off greatly. Unlike her, there was nothing special about the Minmin's constitution and vitality.

And yet the facts were right before her eyes.

Once they arrived, Jake formally invited Aisling to join the Myrtharian Nerds. Because of the Oracle System's censorship, she hadn't understood all of his conversation with Wyatt, but she had figured out enough to know that these Guilties ran different factions and that accepting his invitation would mean pledging allegiance to him.

Deep down she was hesitant. She knew she owed much of her freedom to this Player, but if it meant forsaking the Mutants of Laudarkvik, then she couldn't bring herself to do it.

Jake could sense her reluctance and he clearly explained the pros and cons of joining his faction. Aisling finally learned why Jeanie was so at ease in this uninhabitable environment. As a gesture of good faith, he offered her enough liquid alloy to create another bracelet, thus officially making her a Player.

Or in her own words, a Guilty.

With her own Oracle Device, Aisling was no longer treated by the Oracle System as a native but as a full-fledged Player. Jake could now explain his plans, his objectives and his origins to her without being hindered by any censorship, unless the restriction came from the Oracle Rank.

After finally getting a full picture of the situation, Aisling stopped hesitating and accepted his invitation. With the recruitment done, Jake logged into the Myrtharian Nerds public chat and began to type a message...