The Oracle Paths

The Soul Stone was valuable, but so were his subordinates. If they were willing to sacrifice half a Bloodline level for the Myrtharian Nerds' sake, he had to be equally prepared to lead by example.

Either way, the Eltarians were the most important cornerstone of his faction. There were only 238 of them, but without them Jake would not be able to guarantee the mental safety of his troops.

The slaughter in the Myrmidian ranks had made him realize how important their presence was. Without them, these fierce warriors were just pawns at the mercy of enemy Spirit Mages.

"Thanks, boss." Asfrid thanked him with sincere gratitude.

Until now she didn't know if she had made the right choice in joining his faction. It was only because of her complete trust in Lucia that she had agreed to take the risk.

Now, however, she had no regrets. This Soul Stone was precisely what she and the other Eltarians needed to recover in a few weeks and even transcend their former limits.

Seeing her eager gaze, Jake feared the worst and hastily added,

"Once you've recovered, give it back to me. It's the only one I have..."

Asfrid gave him a weird look.

'Forget it... A leader like this is still better than nothing.' She shook her head as she put the Soul Stone away.

After getting her promise to return it to him as soon as the Eltarians had regained their strength, she scrambled away before the urge to take it back crossed the stingy man's mind.

Having a bad feeling, Jake suddenly wondered if he had made a mistake, but in the end he grimaced bitterly and turned his attention to the shell in his hands. He nicked his finger and let a drop of his blood drip onto it.

The artifact glowed for a short second and then became inert again. However, he felt a connection between himself and the object that had not existed before. When he responded to this strange connection, his mind was drawn into a much larger network and he perceived a vast constellation in which new stars were constantly lighting up. He understood that it was the Eltarians and the Myrtharian Nerds having soul-binded their shells.

His attention focused on several lights brighter than the others and his mind made contact with them, merging slightly with them.

At this moment, he was overwhelmed by all sorts of emotions and he felt suffocated by the sheer depth of feeling that this soul seemed to hold for him. Nervous, he stole several glances at Lucia who was staring at him calmly and he eventually looked away.

"Now you know how I feel about you." She mouthed boldly.

Seeing the two sisters and Aisling stare at him excitedly, Jake cleared his throat and preemptively cut the mental link to his Spirit Shell before too much love overwhelmed him. He wasn't ready for the responsibility.

When he pulled back from the spirit shell, he noticed Esya and Enya's distraught looks and a rueful smile appeared on his face.

'After this Ordeal, I will give you an answer,' he promised telepathically.

Lucia would never take no for an answer. She was a Myrmidian to the bone and she would never accept defeat. Unless she fell in love with someone else, she would not give up.

As for the two sisters, he had a harder time gauging the sincerity of their emotions. Their interactions were limited, and he feared that they might be confusing love with a mixture of admiration and infatuation. Their father's urging had undoubtedly influenced their feelings.

Finally, there was Aisling... For now, no need to worry about her. The Dhampir-Succubus had only known him for a few days and felt at most some gratitude and vague interest in him.

To clear his mind, he took the opportunity to scan the artifact.

[Spirit Shell: An artifact that looks like a shell, but is actually a masterpiece of engineering. The main material is the shell of a common ocean crustacean from Quanoth known for its long-range telepathic abilities. This Spirit Shell has been pre-synchronized. Ability 1 : Spiritual link between Spirit Shell holders belonging to the same network. Ability 2: Soul Energy Transfer. Ability 3: Spirit Merging]

Jake expected this, but the item was not recognized as an Aether Artifact by the Oracle Scan. The Spirit Shell qualified as a Soul Artifact, but did not offer any bonus stats. Its role was purely functional.

Yet in terms of pure utility, this artifact was in some ways even more useful than a Bronze Aether Artifact. For future Ordeals, these Spirit Shells would no doubt save countless lives.

After personally testing his Spirit Shell, he felt a little less regretful about having lent his Soul Stone to Asfrid. It was worth the investment.

Once each Myrtharian Nerds had received their Spirit Shell, the crowd dispersed and the camp became quiet again, everyone returning to their training.

Jake retired to his tent and patiently excreted Adamantium with his Gold Stone Skin ability. On the afternoon of the following day, Hade delivered the Aether Artifact he had promised him.

The Myrtharian had provided the Adamantium and the former Fluid Grandmaster had honored his promise by crafting him a luxurious portable fortress.

[Advanced Aether Artifact: Portable Adamantium Fortress: A 500m² villa luxuriously furnished with all the facilities required for a comfortable life. Recycling water, oxygen and energy, the fortress is capable of withstanding a multi-megaton nuclear attack]

Scrolling further down the list of specifics, Jake was pleasantly surprised. The artifact contained far more Adamantium than he had provided. Several dozen tons in fact, and hundreds of tons of other less valuable magic metals.

But as he held the black sphere in his hands, a disturbing insight flashed through his mind. He was about to go to Hade's house to tell him about it when he received a notification from Lucia.

"Rogen and Gerulf just arrived."

Jake was immediately distracted and left everything in a hurry to go greet his first mentor. He didn't have to look for them long to find the Kintharian.

In the center of the camp, an almost eight-meter-tall flame giant was arm wrestling with another equally muscular giant radiating an icy aura that rivaled the temperature of his opponent. A circle of about 20 meters in diameter had formed around them and was rapidly expanding.

Half of the ice giant's side was completely frozen, encasing the latter inside. Half of the side of the flame giant had long since turned into a pool of lava. Most impressive was the demarcation in the center of the circle that delineated its two conflicting environments. Along this line, fire and cold clashed continuously, forming a tumultuous stream of energy that was only waiting for an adverse slip-up to rush forth.

Behind the ice giant, a crowd of Throsgenians were yelling their encouragement. Likewise, behind the flame giant, a crowd of Kintharians were roaring at the top of their lungs to support their champion.

Of course, the table chosen for the arm wrestling between the two rivals was long gone...

"Hey, Gerulf! Rogen!" Jake greeted as he caught sight of the two bullies who had grown even taller.

When Rogen briefly turned his head in his direction, Gerulf curled his lips, showing his translucent fangs, and his biceps tripled in size.

BANG!

Rogen's arm was violently pressed into the ground and the imposing Throsgenian slammed into the thick layer of ice he had himself produced. A small crater instantly formed underneath him upon impact.

"Cheater!" Rogen bellowed as he drew a huge war hammer with a steel head as wide as a car.

Gerulf grinned victoriously as he drew his own giant sword.

"Bweweweweweh! The victor is always right. This is an undefeated Gladiator champion telling you that." The Kintharian guffawed loudly.

"Eat my hammer!" Rogen roared in response. Eloquence had never been his strong suit.

SMASH!

Gerulf was nailed to the ground up to his neck and an icy shockwave blew half the tents in the camp over, turning the entire clearing into a frozen tundra.

"Shit!" Jake cursed as he watched the two brutes brawl as soon as they met again. The two bullies were both friends and rivals and spent their time challenging each other to any kind of challenge. Because of their propensity to cause trouble, Lucia and Asfrid usually limited their competitions to harmless games like video games or dancing...

But this time, they were too late. Having not seen each other for several months, the two Players were eager to show their progress and prove that they were definitely the best.

Lucia and Asfrid appeared at Jake's side just in time to see the hole in which Gerulf had been hammered suddenly explode. A mighty geyser of lava shot up from the ground, raining magma down on the camp as the smug Rogen was lifted off the ground by a monstrous uppercut.

A little groggy, Rogen growled angrily and retaliated with a massive headbutt. Gerulf's head was knocked hard and the giant staggered back two steps before stabilizing.