The Oracle Paths

"If I'm right, what you're assuming Jake, would be that the presence of a semi Digestor alongside us was preventing Lost Divinities from properly predicting our movements and intentions. Am I wrong?" Asfrid asked with her arms crossed, her forehead scrunched with perplexity.

Those who were slow-witted finally figured out where Jake was going with this. Lucia and Enya's faces lit up and they said excitedly,

"That means if we find Ruby and keep her by our side, we can attack Lost Divinities without them suspecting anything!"

"No. It won't be that easy." Hade rebutted mercilessly, cooling their enthusiasm. "You seem to forget that Lost Divinities has already ambushed Asfrid and Ruby for this very purpose. In the worst case, Ruby is their prisoner, just like Carmin or Vincent, and I don't think I need to explain why attacking their main headquarters is a bad idea. In the best case, Ruby has broken out and is somewhere on Quanoth but that doesn't make it any easier. Until proven otherwise we don't know where she is and that continent is vast."

"Hade is right." Jake corroborated in a somber mood. "We can't use the Shadow Guide to locate her because of her Digestor condition. If it was Ruby's human part that had control we would still have a chance, but Lost Divinities made sure that it was the Digestor that had the upper hand.

" Still, Ruby is currently my slave. Through the Oracle Contract I should be able to sense her presence if I'm close enough, but after tracking her down last time with Craig I think she'll have learned her lesson and will take precautions."

"There's another issue." Hephais interjected for the first time. The assassin spoke little but everything he said was always relevant. "If it is the human part of Ruby that predominates, being able to locate her would mean the Oracle Path is working. Since we want to find Ruby to get revenge on Lost Divinities, our hostile intentions would be revealed to them immediately. In other words, if our plan is viable, by that I mean it would succeed in a few weeks or months, then Lost Divinities would have already pre-emptively attacked us again."

Jake and the others reverted to the gloomy state they had been in at the beginning of the conversation. The Egaean assassin had made a crucial point. If Lost Divinity hadn't attacked them yet, it could of course mean that they didn't care about them at the moment, but it would be unwise of them to think so.

It was on the same level as smokers who smoke three packs of cigarettes a day thinking they would never get lung cancer. While it was certainly possible, it was unlikely.

" If so, this confirms that Ruby is indeed under the spell of her Digestor part, which would be good news for us." Xaverie giggled, also actively participating for the first time in their interactions. At her playful smirk, she was apparently reveling in all this chaos. "The not-so-good news would be that her human part is dominating right now and Lost Divinity not having attacked us yet would mean that our plan is doomed to fail."

"Hmmph! All the more reason to have a shot." Kenway growled icily, exposing his canines with a vengeful scowl. "They need to pay for what they did to my brother and my clan one way or another."

"I'm all for it too. To stand by this defeat would only damage our self-esteem." Haynt agreed quietly. After weeks of recovery, he had regained the size of a nine or ten-year-old.

A heated debate ensued, after which a show of hands was taken. Against all odds everyone voted to find Ruby first.

"All right." Jake nodded. "We're sticking with our original plan to help the people of Laudarkvik get off the planet. We may even try to save more. These enemy factions have taken an average of 10-20% of the liquid alloy we've collected, but mercifully they haven't taken it all. For that alone, we can be grateful. That should be enough to get us off the planet, but it leaves us with less time than we expected.

"The ship Hade and I were building was destroyed and it will be difficult to build another one of this size in time. The dark clouds and the Mana Superstorm are already too dense over Laudarkvik for our Oracle Shields to last the entire crossing. It's a good thing, the Ret'Asi Empire has also decided to migrate to the Shatug Empire. For this reason, we will begin the migration on foot in three days and merge our armies with theirs at Borquime, on the border of the Mirik Maze. I will leave you to inform the people."

His companions, including Laudarkvik faction leaders like Xaverie, Melion, Jen(Remus Dracul), Aisling, Kenway and Haynt nodded solemnly. The logistics of such an operation were a pain in the ass.

"Let Lucia and I handle it." Asfrid promised earnestly as she patted her bountiful bosom.

Jake thanked the Eltarian whose tireless perseverance and reliability he appreciated. No matter what unglamorous task she was given, she would carry them out without faltering.

"At the same time, another team will be assigned to find Ruby." Jake then announced. "This team will consist of five people, Tim, Skorgeld, Trea, Fo, and me."

"Why just the Beskyrians? I don't want to sit around here twiddling my thumbs..." Lucia pouted, giving him a jealous look.

Jake didn't budge and replied unflappably,

"Because Luck is the only tool we have to locate a Digestor that doesn't want to be found. We'll converge our Luck Aether on Tim or Skorgeld, the ones with the purest Beskyrian Bloodline and rely on them to show us the way. It's not really a plan, but it's all we have.

"While we're away, I don't want you to spread out anymore. I'm allowing you to activate United We Stand under any circumstances. All in all, you have managed to collect 3148B of Aether points and 31 tons of liquid alloy. This is less liquid alloy than I expected, even without counting Lost Divinities' surprise offensive, but this amount of Aether is still like sending us coal in a snowstorm. Before I leave, I will upgrade our faction to level 8 and the rest will be used to strengthen us as much as we can before the final battle."

No one showed the slightest objection. Even Lucia accepted his arguments without complaint.

A few hours later, Jake, Tim and the three Beskyrians found themselves at the north gate of Laudarkvik, ready to set off. The boy was happy to finally be of use, and deep down he was more than thrilled to have Jake's reassuring presence at his side.

Skorgeld, Trea and Fo, the three Beskyrians were also relieved to get an opportunity to shine. So far, this Ordeal had been a total bust, their cheeky luck turning against them.

Skorgeld was a bearded man of about 2m50, the unorthodox mixture of an Asian and a Viking. From the back, he looked like one of those legendary Nordic warriors, with his long brown shaggy hair, his thick braids and his huge axe. Because of the Myrtharian Body passive, the natural brown of his eyes and hair had an eye-catching silver and gold sheen.

He was one of the three sons of Ulfar, the king of Beskyr and as such his Bloodline was one of the purest. Alas, he was nowhere near as talented as his father. Like Tim, his luck had allowed him to appear in the Celestial City, but his insufficient strength had not allowed him to take advantage of it.

Trea was a rather tall woman relative to an Earthling, but small compared to human Evolvers of their stature. She only reached Skorgeld's shoulder. She had traded in her primitive bow for an enchanted composite bow whose firepower far surpassed that of any artillery shot. She too had appeared at the edge of Celestial City, but instead of hiding there, she had fled to the Wilderness, an environment more suited to her Ranger skills.

As for Fo, she was a pretty brunette of noble ancestry, who without the destruction of her home world by the Digestors, would probably have lived a life of idleness and opulence. In the end, life had decided otherwise. Standing out from the other Beskyrians, she was armed only with a knife, but her leather armor was emblazoned with a variety of strange amulets and talismans. Slung behind her back, she carried a long scepter resembling a dead willow branch.

Along with Tim, these four Beskyrians had their own areas of expertise, and each was eager to prove their worth to their leader. Jake made small talk with his new teammates to familiarize himself with them and lighten the mood, and moments later they hit the road.

As they were about to enter the Wilderness, a huge black cat and a flaming orange turkey blocked their path.

"We're coming with you." Crunch and Lord Phenix trumpeted in unison. "Hade told us you would need us."

The vein on Jake's forehead throbbed, but in the end, he consented with a sigh.

'I'll remember that, Hade. But fine... it's not like they would have been more helpful here.'