The Oracle Paths

As the Keeper of the Archives for the Radiant Conclave, she knew every replica of every chapel, church, and cathedral in the Lustra Plains like the back of her hand. The one in Lustris had just been stolen by Nathan, but he and his faction would soon realize it wasn't the original.

If she tried to palm off their second-best replica based on the one just stolen, Jake would undoubtedly feel duped upon realizing it. The last thing the Radiant Conclave wanted was to hand over a precious replica only to be attacked again by this foreigner under the pretext of being swindled.

On the other hand, Lady Lyria hadn't forgotten the Celestial's instruction to satisfy all his requests to make him leave. She mulled pensively over which replica to offer but, in the end, decided to contact Valandar through Anthace. One of her wooden earrings had been extracted from the Titan Tree and could be used to transmit what was being said here.

Before she even had to report their conversation, her earring vibrated on its own, the ancient and raspy voice of the plant monster reverberating in the room to convey the Celestial's offer.

"A Goblet… of Ethershine… replica… enchanted more… than 20 times… Take it… or leave it."

Jake scowled discontentedly, evaluating the proposal. An enchantment of +20 was indeed incredible for mere mortals, but for him, who wanted to collect water from the cascade itself, it was probably inadequate.

He had already experienced for himself while ascending the Lumyst River that one had to traverse numerous kilometers of tributaries before the purity of the water began to increase significantly. He had to cross half of the Lustra Plains to face only his fifth baptism. But the closer he got to the Heaven Cascade, the more the water exponentially grew in concentration and purity, leading to his Life Enchantment at +14, which had nearly cost him his life.

Before River's Bane's death, Jake had managed to scan the kraken with his Oracle Scan. Not the one from his bracelet, but the one generated by his own mental sense through Artefact Incarnation.

The result was astounding.

The cephalopod, besides its Lumyst cultivation, had enchanted its physique to +31. He couldn't perform a soulsearch on it, but even without that, he could imagine that initially, this titanic kraken was nothing more than an ordinary octopus or squid before surviving all those baptisms.

After this series of miracles defying the ridiculously low probabilities of all lotteries, the creature's destiny had completely changed, making it extremely talented in cultivating Lumyst, perfecting its genome, and endowing it with great potential for growth and evolution.

According to information Jake had gleaned here and there by questioning the inhabitants of Lustris, this kraken had been a thorn in the side of the Radiant Conclave for an eternity, the main reason being its tendency to consider the waters at the foot of the Heaven Cascade as its turf.

In another register, the only Abyssal Revenant whose spiritual enchantment level he knew for certain was Ledger, thanks to his Snitch Ring. And that one was even more terrifying, having successfully endured 35 Spirit Lumyst baptisms.

If Jake based his estimates on these data alone to gauge the purity of the water at the foot of the cascade, then he would need to be able to survive at least thirty baptisms to hope to bathe there. He believed in his resilience and his incredible talent for forcing the hand of fate, but pushing his limits from 14 to over 30 baptisms was a bit too insane, even for him.

Thus, a Goblet of Ethershine enchanted at +20 was far from sufficient for his ambitions.

"A Goblet of Ethershine enchanted at +20 is worthless to me," Jake finally responded with a sneering look on his face. "If that's all your sincerity amounts to, then I'm afraid negotiations end here."

"Laplaplap…" Crunch lifted his head from his bowl with the crooked, sly smile of a corrupt mafioso upon hearing his master's adamant answer, immediately chiming in cheekily, "Boss, I think what they meant to say was that this Goblet is what Lord Phenix should receive as compensation for not attacking them again. You and I are still due to receive ours."

Jake and the two women froze, but the former, familiar with his cat and just as corrupt inside, didn't call out his lie and wisely played along.

"Ah, if it's compensation for my comrade, I indeed misjudged you," Jake apologized with a modest bow, where only his head moved a little bit. "Lord Phenix, thank the Lady Lyria and the Celestial."

The bird, becoming the center of attention, stiffened, shooting a hateful glare at the black cat for stealing his opportunity. If he was receiving this replica, Crunch was sure to negotiate an even better one for himself.

'That damn cat… !!!'

Of course, Lord Phenix was savvy enough to know when the game was up, so after promising to get revenge later, he swallowed his frustration and burst into theatrical tears, exclaiming,

"Thank you, Lady Lyriaaaa! Your generosity touches my heart! I accept your invaluable gift with the utmost gratitude! Now… Ahem… Where is it?"

As he began to look around in every corner and check under the table without any decorum, even Jake was tempted to roast the turkey for his next breakfast. He was just that detestable.

If Jake, somewhat accustomed to his vices, was itching to skewer him, it goes without saying that the two women wanted nothing more at that moment than to wring the neck of this obnoxious creature. They had to mobilize treasures of self-control to not reveal their ugly side to their problematic guests.

As for Valandar, when he heard the turkey's words reported by Anthace, a vein as big as a small snake swelled on his forehead, a silent fury starting to boil within him. Despite this, he had suspected that it would not be enough to convince them to leave and had given himself some leeway with his first offer.

He indeed had better replicas in his vault. After a brief contemplation, he relayed his second offer to Anthace, who promptly reported it back to Jake and the odious pets accompanying him.

"A Goblet of Ethershine enchanted at +22 for the… cat… And another duplicate enchanted at +25 for Jake Wilderth. This is my… final offer."

Upon hearing this second offer, even Lady Faye and Lady Lyria were left gobsmacked, swallowing hard. Publicly, the best replica of the Lustra Plains, the solitary from their capital just pilfered by Nathan, manifested only enchanted to +19.

Alas for them, Jake had no idea. Having no reference point to base his judgment on, he resorted to the very pertinent 'third time's the charm.'

"A generous offer… Still falling short of my expectations," he contested calmly. "If your goblet cannot contain the purest Lumyst Water, it's of no use to me."

He was, of course, lying. A duplicate would be more than enough for what he intended to do with it: analyze it thoroughly, then devour it… Nevertheless, if the relic suited his intended use from the start, it would save him a lot of trouble.

Unfortunately, this time his bluff didn't work. Before Anthace even informed him of the Celestial's final decision, Lady Faye acted first, estimating that her pheromones must have started to work.

It must be said that she had reasons to think so. Compared to her previous targets, she had multiplied the concentration of pheromones by at least a thousand, and she knew precisely what to expect from their physiological effects on males inhaling them.

The cat and bird had stopped lapping their drink for a while, their bloodshot, lustful eyes and the way they were rubbing their crotches indicating they were having the hardest time controlling themselves. Knowing they were just indirect victims of her magic and that they were of a different species in the first place, solitary could imagine the mental hell Jake manifested going through.

When the two troublemakers pretexted a reason to wait for their boss outside, Lady Faye understood the moment had come to reel in her net. Without a word, she waited for the despicable cat and bird to leave the room, then puffed up her well-endowed chest and licked her lips in anticipation.

When her target's gaze fleetingly met hers, she suggestively ran her hand through her long auburn curls, her right ear and a portion of her graceful neck tantalizingly revealed, inviting exploration.

"Jake Wilderth, why not make a more reasonable request." She whispered sexily, blushing just enough to appear shy and vulnerable. Almost all men fell for this trap. "I would be immensely pleased…"

"…"

Lady Lyria finally realized what her vixen colleague manifested trying to do and held her breath, hanging on Jake's lips, dreading the words that were inevitably going to come out. If he realized that the man-eater was trying to enslave him, the negotiation was likely to go south!

However, to her great chagrin, exactly what she feared happened. Jake lewdly ogled the scantily clad beauty for a brief moment, making her momentarily shout victory in her head, then reality caught up with her as his face twisted in contempt and he coldly threw out,

"Pheromones... Did you really think such a primitive method would work on me?"