The Oracle Paths

Jake became pensive upon hearing these words. That they had within them an Aether Code that intrinsically differentiated them from Digestors and other Mirror Universes was not surprising. If the Corruption of Digestors could not be purged by the Oracle, it was because the compression level of its Aether Code, or in other words, its Grade, was unfortunately higher than that of the inhabitants of the Mirror Universe.

His master Cekt had once mentioned that a Wilderth, the creature with the most powerful bloodline recorded, namely Grade 17, was supposedly capable of resisting this influence, but that did not mean it was unaffected.

And then it was one thing to increase the Grade of an individual's bloodline, but it was a whole different ball game to increase the Grade of the Aetheric signature of the entire Mirror Universe.

How did the Oracle plan to accomplish this feat by throwing them into these incredibly deadly Ordeals? He had a vague idea, considering his Aetherist knowledge, but that was not the case for all the Players present in this room.

Aslael could recognize with a single glance those who were lost by his revelations and he set out to explain in a way that everyone could understand,

"I know that not everyone among you is destined to become an Aetherist, but for your own good, I invite you to at least memorize the contents of the Novice Aether Manipulation Manual. Exceptionally, I will give you a quick summary. Unclaimed Dream Aether is an infinite resource, but that doesn't mean it is automatically available to us or to the Mirror Universe. For the Aether density of a world to grow without any external intervention, there must be life, or more precisely, spirituality. The complete name of Dream Aether should give you a clue, but it is our minds that attract Aether from the infinite void to the worlds in which we reside. Thus, the more Evolvers with strong souls and lifeforce in the Mirror Universe, the more it thrives. Numbers make strength, and to increase the Aether density of a world, increasing the overall strength of a large population, even just a little bit, is enough to provoke profound changes in a world's ability to produce Aether.

"Until now, I don't think I'm telling you anything new. What you probably don't know, however, is that the more powerful a Player and their soul are, the easier Aether enters our world and the Mirror Universe. But it's not a simple matter of addition, it's an exponential matter. An Evolver with a Spirit Body level three levels above another Evolver may not be much stronger in single combat, but its mere existence allows the Mirror Universe to take in 10 to 20 times more Aether than the other Evolver with only three levels less. And I'm only talking about Spirit Body here. Soul strength, abilities, bloodlines, life force, everything has an impact.

"To sum up the situation in one word: experts. The Mirror Universe and the Oracle only need to produce one invincible expert to turn the tide. The Ordeals that pit multiple Mirror Universes against each other are not just a smart and calculated way for the Oracles to bet energy or territory, but also a way to regulate the battles so that their proteges have a fair chance of survival. This means one thing: the Oracle doesn't care about sacrificing millions of stepping stones in each Ordeal. Even if the death rate is 99.9999%, as long as it gives birth to one invincible Evolver, it's worth it. By coincidence, it turns out that to become more powerful, a Player has every interest in raising the Grade of their bloodline as high as possible. I'll spare you the explanation, but this is also how the Mirror Universe could one day overcome Corruption and evolve."

Aslael paused to gauge his audience, but at this point, everyone was extremely calm. What he had just told them actually contained very little new information. At least, nothing that gifted Players like them couldn't have guessed.

However, it was one thing to have guessed it and another to receive confirmation from the mouth of an Oracle Instructor. Interpreted differently, his words literally meant "These Ordeals only exist to find and train THE right person."

Everyone else was just cannon fodder, sacrificial stepping stones, catalysts to pave the way for the designated chosen one. Deciding to strike while the iron was hot, Aslael finally attacked the real reason for his visit.

"Usually, you are left in complete ignorance of your next Ordeal, but the Fifth is an exception." He recited solemnly in a professorial tone that didn't suit him at all. "So I will tell you what I am authorized to reveal. The Fifth Ordeal always proceeds in the same way: Players from one Mirror Universe against another. The two Oracles put up territory, Aether or Artifacts and the winner takes all. The method of confrontation chosen is always the same: a straightforward, bloody and brutal frontal war. The chosen world and setting may vary, but the way the Ordeal proceeds is always the same. The Ordeal only ends when one of the two sides has been completely exterminated or beaten into retreat."

Aslael had been as succinct and neutral as possible, but most of the Players felt a knot form in their stomach. It explained the ridiculously high death rate. Still, even so, wasn't the death rate too high?

Aslael nodded, "As some of you have correctly guessed, over the last thousand years our Mirror Universe has lost over 90% of these wars, and this has recently become more pronounced in the last few centuries. In other words, the quality of our Fifth-Ordeal Players has consistently regressed."

"Which brings me to the main mission of your Fifth Ordeal. In addition to your individual main mission, you will also receive a global main mission. Often, these two missions will be closely connected. The global main mission is always the same: win the war. Its failure will almost always lead to your death, and even if you survive, the price to pay will often be worse than death in most cases."

Sensing the pessimism of his audience, Aslael smiled and nuanced his previous statement,

"Despite this, do not despair. If we only take into account the Ordeals that our Mirror Universe has won, the death rate drops to 72%. It's still very high, but your chances of survival become much more reasonable."

All the Players in the room were speechless. 72%? That was less than one survivor for every three participants, even in the most favorable scenario. How much had the Players in previous Fifth Ordeals struggled to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?

Once again, Aslael could easily read their thoughts and clarified their doubts,

"The particularly high death rate has to do with one of the rules established in these Ordeals to make the confrontation fair. You are well aware that Quanoth only gathers outstanding Players and their factions. Any one of you, placed in a normal Fourth Ordeal, would have steamrolled over all your opponents without too much difficulty. What would be the point? And how would that be fair to the other participants?

"There is a scenario that the Oracles fear more than anything in these Ordeals, and that is that a single all-powerful Player from the opposing camp massacres all their Players on his own due to his overwhelming strength. For this reason, rules have been established. They were supposed to be fair, but they have recently become a disadvantage for us. This rule is actually a rule of participant distribution: Each Player camp has exactly the same number of Players.

"Wait, I'm not finished!" The instructor raised his hand as he saw them frowning. "Each camp has exactly the same number of Players for each Oracle Rank. What does that mean? In simple terms, it means that if one camp has a Rank 17 Oracle Colonel, then the other camp of Players will have one too. This ensures that the forces of each Mirror Universe are balanced. At least it should be.

"Recently, many smart alecks have used all sorts of methods to artificially and quickly increase their Oracle Ranks. Others have climbed the ranks honestly, but their power has not followed suit as quickly. The consequence is that our Ace Players with the highest Oracle Ranks cannot keep up with their equivalent in the opposing camp. They even get killed, which often...leads to the immediate loss of the war and the death of their entire camp."

This time, even simple-minded individuals like Gerulf and Rogen could vaguely understand the reason, and they all leaned forward in their seats, their gazes intense. Jake had recently realized this phenomenon while giving orders to his subordinates. Alas, because his rank was lower than that of the higher-ups in Lost Divinity it had backfired and his friends had all been ambushed.

Aslael immediately confirmed their suspicions,

"You guessed correctly. Managing the Oracle Rank is the key element of this Fifth Ordeal. When a high-ranking Player gives an order to lower-ranked Players, they are covered by the Oracle Rank of that Player as long as they strictly follow the order given. The opposing Players become unable to calculate an Oracle Path concerning them unless they possess an Oracle Rank higher than the one who gave the order in the first place."

It was exactly what Jake and the other Players in the room feared.

"In other words," Aslael concluded with a grim expression, "if the highest-ranked Player of one camp gets killed, and the one from the opposing camp is still alive... then it's checkmate."