The Oracle Paths

pαndα`noνɐ1--сoМ

The cube man then linked several training rooms together, then had everyone pick one to set up their own environment. Jake waved goodbye to the others, then went straight to the room on his right.

Once inside, the Myrtharian didn't instantly create his ideal environment, an ultra-hot radioactive hell scorched by lightning and stormy winds of rock and steel dust. Instead, he sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate.

His battle with the Nullifyer flashed through his memory, followed by all the times he had witnessed or been in the presence of a True Will manifestation. This included Vexa when he had protected them from that Schwazen Power, Vexa again when he had just effortlessly sliced through that block of Gumdolite, or Prysm and her never-ending petal barrage.

These were different uses of True Will, but they all had one thing in common. They defied common sense.

Jake didn't think he had inferior stats to Vexa or Prysm, and he was undoubtedly one of the tankiest and most tireless Players in this 4th Ordeal. Yet he knew in his heart that he could never have withstood the full power of this Corrupted Power's attack.

It was also impossible for him to come even close to 1% of Prysm's matter output with his Gold Stone Skill. This was the main reason why the Portable Fortresses and their ambitious spaceship had been delayed. If he was like her, he could have produced all the magic metals he needed in a matter of minutes.

It was important to know that the flower woman did not produce ephemeral energy-based spells like light or fire, but real matter. Her petals were not illusions. They were real.

'True Will of Infinity? Multiplication? Or maybe Abundance?' Jake immediately refuted that guess. It was too advanced and akin to an Intent or Enlightenment. 'In that case, it's a simple spell, which she practiced tirelessly.'

At that moment, he had a flash of insight.

'Wait. I haven't been idling around either. All that metal I conjured with my Stone Skill, all those months of roasting my Soul under the rays of my Aether Sun Cores... Shouldn't I have awakened a True Will of Something at some point?

Xi's hologram unexpectedly materialized before him. Her stunning figure never changed, and neither did her look. It was the same jet-black mid-length hair falling to her shoulders, the same red and black eyes, and the same tight-fitting black armor molding the curves of her body.

Riveting her gaze straight into Jake's eyes, she said,

"You may not have reached the level of True Will, but some changes in your Soul Power have taken place. Did you think that your increased pain tolerance brought on by your burning Soul was only due to the swift growth of your Spirit Body? It definitely weighed in the balance, but not to the point of making you numb to prolonged Soul and Spirit Body ignition over several months. No matter how tough you are, no one can adjust to that."

"So you already figured that out?" Jake winced with a slight tone of reproach. "Too bad it can't be used in combat..."

"Not yet." Xi smiled. "As for all the Adamantium you created with your Gold Stone Skin, you did it mechanically by splitting a sliver of your consciousness. Your body was fully committed, but your mind was elsewhere. Multitasking becomes a drawback when it comes to True Will, unless you want to awaken a Soul Class like Multitasker or some kind of Multitasking True Will, but that would be a long and hazardous process. Because how do you want to focus on your intent to multitask when your mind is already split to focus on different tasks? To succeed, you would then have to multitask, separate your mind for the sake of...multitasking? Not very helpful, right?"

"Okay, Xi. You seem to understand this stuff better than I do." Jake surrendered at once. "In that case, why don't you tell me what kind of True Will I can use against a Player like Vexa or the Nullifyer? Especially the Nullyfier. Vexa is strong, but I don't feel hopeless like I do with this alien."

The young woman considered his request seriously for a short while, then gave him an apologetic smile,

"I don't have a quick fix to defeat the Nullifyer. If you let the next fight go the way the first one did you will lose again unless he is trying to kill one of your friends at that time. But either way, I don't think he was serious. He took huge risks to push you into a corner. If a sniper beyond the range of his domain had shot him with a fast enough projectile, he would have been taken down with a single bullet.

"The best plan is to kill him before he decides to use those unstoppable moves like Nullify Intelligence, Nullify Instincts and Nullify Memories. Remember, True Will protects itself. The memories, instincts and powers associated with a True Will cannot be altered until that True Will has been consumed. Start by creating one or two Killing Moves as suggested by Vexa and diversify your arsenal as you progress. This Killing Move should be something easy and spontaneous to use, so that even under the influence of its Nullification you can somehow employ it."

Jake's eyes snapped open, struck with realization.

"The simplest moves..." He thought aloud. "Something even a baby might be able to use? A punch? No, babies don't punch. Before that, they just grab whatever captures their attention."

Everyone had seen a picture of a baby's tiny hand clutching onto a parent's big finger. It was a reflex that emerged a few days after birth. A delay in its appearance or its absence could be an early sign of mental impairment.

"A Grabbing move so? Smart." Xi chimed in approval. "If you create such a Killing Move, that move would be likely to occur in a fight even after your intelligence, memories and instincts have been nullified. However, I doubt it would be very useful in other circumstances. Besides that, you are wrong. The first instinctive ability a baby acquires develops in the womb and it is the ability to perceive. The sense of touch is awakened first, followed by taste, smell, hearing and finally sight. Your defeat against the Nullifyer was pretty much set in stone from the moment he deprived you of your senses."

Jake had not thought of it that way. Indeed, being deprived of all his senses went beyond being cut off from the world. Perception preceded control. How could he move his arm or leg if he couldn't feel it?

If he created this Grabbing Move, he might be able to use it under certain conditions, but deprived of all his senses he would be unable to feel his target anyway even when that target stabbed him in the heart.

"Xi... It's not that I haven't thought of this myself, but this kind of True Will must be difficult to awaken, right? After all, I've been using my senses since I was born and no True Will stemming from it has ever materialized."

The young woman rolled her eyes and corrected him teasingly,

"I didn't say you had to awaken a True Will of Sight or Touch right away. I just wanted to emphasize that anything you do subconsciously or instinctively prevents you from awakening the corresponding True Wills that could have made a difference. From now on, live in the moment. Pay attention not only to what you perceive or do, but also how you perceive or do it. Do you understand the nuance?"

Jake stiffened. It wasn't as easy as she wanted him to believe. It was akin to becoming a spectator of one's own body, constantly self-analyzing while being aware of psyching oneself out. It was a height of introspection and extrospection that he had never entertained.

"I... I'll do my best."

"That's all I wanted to hear." Xi's voice echoed in his head as her hologram faded away, leaving him alone in the huge chamber. "Now you can start working on that Grabbing Move."

Now that Jake knew how much mental commitment mattered, every move he made felt different. The vast, empty, metallic-gray room, the ambient Aether, the gentle caress of the air, the throbbing of his heart and breathing, the tingling in his fingertips...

Not only did he have a heightened awareness of these things, but from now on he would also have to condition himself mentally to seek out these signals, these sensory influxes, as if these senses were no longer something granted to him.

With a degree of focus that he never thought he could muster one day to power his Gold Stone Skin, he began to produce different items of diverse shapes and substances. Patiently, he produced thousands of them, until he was wading through them. By the time he finished the task, Jake was flushed and dripping with sweat.

[Now, you just have to grab and grip.] Xi whispered to him in jest.

And that's exactly what he did. He grabbed and gripped.