The Oracle Paths

936 Unpleasant Surprise

"There's no debate. Cosmic D Starfeyrves Spirit Body is the far wiser choice." Asfrid declared with conviction. "The Grade 10 Energy attribute is present as well, though I'm uncertain of its efficacy. However, it's the ability to rapidly recover from any spiritual injury that makes this skill invaluable. No matter how powerful our physical bodies, if they're destroyed, our spirits still have a chance to survive. Freed from the mortal coil, a strong spirit is no longer bound by physics and can flee with astounding speed. In some respects, its survival rate even increases.

"On the other hand, regenerating a body from scratch isn't impossible by employing a Green Cube. It's costly, sure, but compared to the price for healing the soul or Spirit Body, it's inconsequential. Conversely, if our Souls are severely damaged or disintegrated, it's likely the end. Even minor damage can significantly impact our mental faculties, with symptoms ranging from temporary amnesia to an IQ drop so profound that we would become as lifeless as anemones."

In a softer voice, she concluded with a shrug, "I'll be the first to lament the loss of the Myrtharian Body Skill, but it's just common sense."

Hade remained silent. He was broadly of the same mind although any choice suited him. It was Will and Lucia who were more indecisive.

Logically, from the merchant's perspective, the Spirit Body Skill should have appealed to him more, as his specialty was intelligence and charisma, two stats with an undeniable spiritual component. However, he had other considerations.

Will's dream wasn't merely to become the most charismatic, attractive, or popular Evolver in the Mirror Universe - in that case, he would have pursued an acting career. He still chased the same dream of becoming the most successful entrepreneur, and for that, he needed a lot of money. A lot, indeed.

Without even needing to check, he knew that the Grade 10 Energy Body would possess far superior properties when attached to tangible cells rather than an ethereal spiritual shell. Unless one was a powerful spirit or ghost whose Spirit Body quality surpassed that of physical bodies of equivalent-level Evolvers, the resulting passive Aether production would undoubtedly be much lower.

With higher passive Aether production, one could buy more things. Things that could, for example, nourish, strengthen, or accelerate progress related to the spirit. With abundant Aether points, one could even afford the services of a Green Cube, regardless of how damaged our souls were.

As for Lucia, her reasoning was entirely different. Originally, her bloodline possessed some Eltarian traits, with Cekt even naming it the Myrtarian Bloodline. Jake owed his telekinesis, supernatural instinct bordering on prescience, and the convenient innate ability of his mind to maintain relative calm and strengthen itself to Lucia's blood.

Cekt had extracted the quintessence of Lucia's and Gerulf's Blood Essence to produce Jake's first Bloodline, but even so, Lucia could have developed all those abilities if she had wanted.

Reality turned out to be quite different. The path she chose focused on the concept of "Victory" from her Myrmidian Bloodline, and all subsequent choices to expand her skill tree were made in that direction, be it her Neithnikidian Divine Bloodline or her Soul Class Divine Princess of Victory.

Every victory rewarded the attributes involved. Since Lucia was more of a warrior than a strategist, or a psychist like Asfrid who dominated her enemies with spiritual pressure, her physical stats had surged ahead.

Her Spirit Body level was a mere 38, yet with the average Fifth-Ordeal Player at only 22, Lucia soared well above the norm. Many Sixth-Ordeal Players even trailed her in this regard.

Nonetheless, it was true that Evolvers specializing in psychic abilities with powerful minds were her weakness. For this reason, she had chosen to temporarily maintain the Digitization granted on Quanoth.

Separating her spirit and body would be more difficult, but as they became one, they would mutually reinforce each other, creating a more stable whole. It wouldn't be too late to change her mind in the future.

Her focus also meant that although Lucia could still use her telekinesis, and thus fly, her flight speed was inferior to her running speed.

Hence the enormous craters left in her wake when she attempted to catch up to Jake with the Transportation Power.

As they debated, Jake listened calmly, arms crossed, just like the Oracle Guardian standing motionless behind him. The alien was still in shock after hearing about Jake's absurd fortune.

The passive Aether point production of an Oracle Device depended primarily on three criteria: the amount of liquid alloy, the Oracle Rank, and the local Aether density. In Systems A, the average Aether density was so high that producing 300T Aether points per second wasn't so rare.

Of course, the Oracle would take into account the geographical circumstances of its Evolvers and Players. The prices displayed in the Oracle Store for certain items were adjusted for these Players, as were their Ordeals. Despite this, natives of these Systems had a certain advantage over those from newer Systems.

The flip side was that they participated in a different kind of Ordeal, far more dangerous. Most of these old Systems had been at war with the Digestors for millions, if not billions, of years. From birth, the local Aether density granted them immense power and intelligence, but they rarely had time to enjoy it.

Enclaves like those created by Xion Zholvur for the Zhorions, with lower Aether density, were an indirect way of increasing their chances of survival, although it could seem like a punishment at first glance.

Returning to Jake's case, such Aether point production in young Systems was typically found within powerful factions with the resources, power, and technology to produce Grade 9 or 10 Aether Cores. Due to the associated risks, handling them required great caution, and it wasn't easy to profit from their existence.

The most problematic aspect was that a Grade 10 Aether Core absorbed Aether from the surrounding atmosphere so quickly that a vast area of zero Aether would instantly be created, usually spanning millions, if not billions, of kilometers. To counteract this constraint, the Aether Core or the object it was installed on had to be in constant motion at extremely high speeds, several times faster than light.

The Oracle and some famous Aetherists had their methods to solve this issue, but they required a monstrously advanced understanding of Aether. Then, how had Jake managed to accomplish such a miracle.

As the Oracle Guardian was lost in thought, the debate over which passive Faction Skill to choose seemed far from over. On the contrary, the discussion was becoming increasingly passionate, and the tone began to rise.

Jake decided to calm the situation. Stepping in, he said,

"Clearly, each of my two abilities has its pros and cons. If I let you argue about it, I'm afraid we'll still be here tomorrow morning."

Pausing, he looked at each of them in turn, his gaze only stopping for a brief moment on Lucia before moving on to the next, and he suggested,

"If you can't come to a decision, why don't you just ask the other Myrtharian Nerds? After all, it concerns them too. Voting will be limited to regular members only."

The 500,000 natives of Quanoth who had just joined or were on the waiting list might not grasp the nuances between the two skills. Among them were ordinary natives who had never fought.

Hearing his suggestion, his friends ceased their quarreling and seriously considered the option.

"That's a good idea," Hade agreed.

"Let's do this," Asfrid nodded.

"We should have started with this from the beginning," Will said with a wry smile.

Lucia merely grumbled. Admitting defeat in the debate wasn't easy, but since the suggestion came from Jake, she had no choice but to concede the point.

With his companions' support, Jake drafted the message in the Faction Chat and shared the details of his two bloodline abilities. The reactions from the keyboard warriors lurking in the chat quickly blossomed.

[Nicolet: WTF?! These abilities are totally OP!] [Aurum: Grade 10 Energy Body?! My Midas Bloodline will become invincible with these skills.]

[Tim: Boss... Still interested in trading a drop of Blood Essence with me?]

[Peter Brady: It massively increases passive Aether point production?! All the precious drugs in the Oracle Store will be mine!]

Jake was speechless as he scrolled through the thread of responses. Fortunately, though the Myrtharian Nerds loved to comment on everything, they didn't forget to participate in the poll. Fifteen minutes later, the voting ended, and they got their answer.

"Yay! I won!" Lucia immediately jumped into the air with a triumphant fist, her exuberance infectious.

From her elation alone, it was clear that Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body had won. Hade and Asfrid could only gaze at her with a mixture of resignation and disappointment. As for Will, deep down, he was rather pleased.

'More money' He thought happily.

With the choice made, Jake selected his Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body as the first permanent passive Faction Skill, expecting it to go just like last time with the Myrtharian Body passive.

But this time, an unpleasant surprise awaited him. A notification from the Oracle System suddenly popped into his mind, and his vision blurred as he read its contents.

[Permanent Passive Skill Iv112: Cosmic D Starfeyrves Body (45% (40>65% or +5% per level) of the leader's capacity)...]

[Upon analysis, the bodies of faction members cannot withstand the energy cost of transformation required to generate a Grade 10 Energy Body (65%). This can be compensated for by an adequate sum of Aether points. The Aether point cost per member is estimated at 1 Septillion Aether points per person. Do you wish to proceed with the transformation?]