The Oracle Paths

If that was really the case, this island was not as simple as it seemed. This Naequat ore had exceptional properties from which he had already benefited greatly. Even if his Spirit Body was 100 times stronger, the aura emitted by the Green Soul Stone would still nourish him even though it was just a gem packed with impurities. He dared not imagine what incredible energy such a large nugget could harbour.

Although he was impressed by Sarah's meticulousness and boldness in finding such a solution, Jake was nevertheless glad to have found a much less restrictive alternative.

After hearing the solution found by the young woman, he listened to Tim's solution which was very close to his own, except that instead of finding a Green Soul Stone, he had simply found a clearing with vegetation growing on a soil very rich in this mineral. He couldn't be certain, but after his recent findings and deductions it was more than likely.

Tim having kept the secret of his Beskyrian bloodline, Jake could only conclude that the child was incredibly lucky, although he still didn't know if such safe havens were rare or not within the island.

He then told them about his own experiences, as he pointed to the stone embedded in the pommel of his new machete. Tim, who knew nothing about the magic behind these safe zones, was shaken to learn that all these miraculous phenomena were due to mere stones, but Sarah's focus was elsewhere.

Far from caring about the Soul Stone, which she could simply take the time to find now that she knew what to look for, the machete in Jake's hands was far more interesting.

"Did you forge that weapon yourself? "She inquired with some disbelief. Even though she had seen him manipulate and melt the earth before to make a container, forging a weapon was a whole different story.

If that was the case, she had to make sure that he would craft one for her.

Seeing her excited reaction, Jake smiled. Not particularly showy and always keeping a low profile, he wasn't averse to showing off once in a while. Raising his hand in front of him, palm facing the ground, a pile of sand rose up, spinning faster and faster until it collided with each other.

His veins began to glow and an intense heat began to radiate from his body before concentrating at the palm channelling his power. Soon, the sand began to melt and a rudimentary machete with a glass-like appearance began to take shape. Feeling that the weapon might be too brittle, he added the dry jungle soil to the mixture so as not to stray too far from his previous recipe.

He then controlled his Aether to maintain the cohesion of the lava in its new form until it cooled sufficiently. Like Jake's machete, this gladius-shaped sword was as black as obsidian with a rough texture and no semblance of professionalism, but once he infused it with 100 points of Grey Aether, the sharpness and sturdiness of the blade instantly reached the level of his own machete.

" There, it's done. "Jake laughed as he made the sword float to her with a leisurely wave.

"Thank-"

"It cost me 500 Aether points though to produce all that Sharpening Aether, so don't forget to pay me back when you can. "Jake interrupted her words of thanks with a tone of urgency as if he feared that she might forget to repay him for his Aether in the future.

Sarah, who was about to express her heartfelt thanks, felt deeply stifled inside and regretted having thought for a single moment that he was caring for her. Like Will, Jake seemed to follow the adage "short reckoning makes long friends" and only on rare occasions would he appear to be generous.

"All right..." She mumbled with a dry throat as she placed her bracelet against his to complete the transfer.

Seeing that his 500 Aether points were back, Jake nodded in approval. Now that he knew she was reliable, he wouldn't mind assisting her further in the future, even lending her larger amounts of Aether.

Upon seeing his relieved face, as if she had just returned his family heirloom to him, a sudden urge to kick his face again took over her mind.

Jake then gently asked Tim what kind of weapon he wanted with a caring tone totally absent from the one he had for Sarah, and after hearing his requirements, he made a heavy double-edged axe for the child. He was more than reluctant to forge such a weapon for a kid of this age, but the child insisted that it was the weapon he was most comfortable with. His first Ordeal being different, he could only take his word for it.

After all, there were all kinds of different civilizations and it was quite possible that the world he had landed in favored this type of weapon over swords or spears.

"So... what's the plan now? "Sarah asked with raw resentment as she saw that Jake had not asked the child to pay.

This was not because Jake did not want to charge him, but because he subconsciously saw the child as someone incapable of taking care of himself.The latest evidence was his call for help.

As an orphan, he was sympathetic to the plight of the child who had lost his mother so dramatically and tended to be more empathetic to him. However, if he knew what the child was really capable of, he would surely have argued otherwise.

Faced with the young blonde's legitimate question, Jake shrugged before opting for a step-by-step plan. Hunting in the water was risky, so was hunting on the island, and they were almost naked. Their Oracle Rank was also far from being on top, and they had no measures at their disposal to hide their existence from other Oracle devices.

In this case, it was enough to ensure that none of the Players had the courage to attack them or to arrange that only head-on confrontation was possible. In any case, the plan could be summarized under four key aspects: Gearing up, getting stronger, earning points and completing Feats.

The timing was right, there were quite a few feats that seemed to involve crafting. It was as if the creator of this Sanctuary Bubble knew from the beginning that each individual was different and foresaw a vast array of feats to be accomplished to cover everyone's specialties.

Thus, no participant was truly disadvantaged, since there was always a way to earn points or rewards by using one's strengths. If someone was a mason for example, there were plenty of construction challenges to grasp and the ultimate reward was a "?".

Familiar with this kind of description, Jake knew that this was probably a reward comparable to the Soul Glyphs he had received. He didn't know what kind of Titles and Glyphs making a jungle hut could bestow, but based on his experience it could only be worth it.

No sooner said than done, Jake immediately took action and accompanied by Sarah and Tim, they tracked down a group of rabid raptors under the influence of the Red Stone. The dinosaurs were almost two meters high and four meters long, even more massive than the Utahraptor mascots in Jurassic Park.

Nevertheless, the trio had already faced T-Rexes or worse and they quickly wiped the floor with this pack. In their berserk state, these creatures' instinct to flee was non-existent and exterminating them proved to be ridiculously simple now that they were all carrying weapons.

Telekinesis did not work directly on these dangerous dinosaurs, but compressing the air or manipulating the earth around them was simple enough. Jake had never had the opportunity to practice these techniques, but now that his Spirit Body was strong enough and the Green Stone was replenishing his Soul energy, it was the perfect opportunity to let go.

With the phlegm of a gamer spamming relentlessly the same buttons to combo his foes to death without showing the slightest creativity, Jake was content to levitate some dirt, melt it, and then propel the new lava projectile with a wave of his hand at very high speed. The accuracy was average at first, but it quickly became as accurate as a rifle bullet and then exceeded it.

At level 1, his Telekinesis could only exert by default a force representing only 50% of that of his real body. But that was without counting on his Spirit Body lvl4 and his Myrmidian bloodline. By combining all of these factors, his telekinesis far exceeded the strength his muscles could exert. Coupled with the fact that he could apply this intangible force to a very small area, it was completely normal for him to be able to speed up projectiles at such a high speed.

But these precise manipulations resulted in headaches, as the effort was close to the concentration required to achieve an Aether Core. Jake couldn't shoot like this indefinitely, but he was satisfied that he had obtained a new trump card.

Moments later, the furious raptor pack of several dozen individuals had been completely eradicated and the trio collected the Aether before bringing the bodies back to the beach to be skinned. Their partnership was just beginning and Jake still had a lot of techniques to try.