The Oracle Paths

"Move ahead." Jake instructed Hephais, as he appeared like a ghost before the shocked young woman, who jolted back and lost her balance.

The assassin gave Jake a knowing glance, then vanished as quickly as he came with just a whisper of a sound. He already knew what his boss had in mind.

"Hey, you alright?" Jake inquired, more out of courtesy than genuine concern, regardless of how sweet and innocent this stranger seemed.

Seeing him extend a hand to help her up, the young woman froze in terror, throwing a wild punch at him. Jake caught her fist effortlessly, looking perplexed. Trying to break the tension, he remarked,

"Nice swing. What's your name?"

"N-Nuwa. Y-you're not an enemy?" She finally realized, although she continued to eye him warily.

After all, she was stark naked and completely defenseless against this guy who just took down the same monsters that overpowered her team. Though she had been fortunate so far, like many other weak female Players, she too had faced her share of traumatic events.

Under normal circumstances, she would've had a weapon on hand to end her life, but access to her Space Storage was sealed, and she'd just lost all her gear while bathing in the river.

"Chill out, I'm not here for that," Jake rolled his eyes, gesturing at the fallen bodies on the ground. "Which ones are with you? I can still bring them back if you want."

He wasn't lying. These Players were mere cannon fodder in this ordeal.

Although their Souls and Spirit Bodies had survived their physical death, they were powerless to do anything. To them, dying, even if it wasn't the end of their consciousness, felt like being trapped in perpetual darkness, paralyzed.

Given the Aetheric laws of Twyluxia and the spectral energy permeating the Duskwight Lands, their spirits would be sustained, but their personalities would deteriorate until their primal instincts transformed them into mindless wandering souls like the others. Jake could easily prevent this by restoring their bodies to their original state before their consciousness faded beyond recovery.

Seeing the sincerity in the eyes of the dashing young man before her, the young woman momentarily set aside her fear and skepticism, nodding hopefully,

"J-just Chromy and Chewy," she stammered, pointing to two large squashed creatures resembling otters. "Those four too. They were in the same regiment as me, but I don't really know them well."

"No problem." Jake acknowledged, waving his hand casually.

In no time flat, all the mangled corpses were restored to their original condition, except for their clothes if they still had any. Now with intact brains to house their consciousness, they woke up almost instantly.

"I-I'm not dead?" The metallic silver-white otter named Chromy squeaked in disbelief, vividly remembering a massive paw squishing his guts into mush.

"I-I'm pretty sure my skull was smashed," remarked another otter, distinct for its common brown fur and pronounced jawline, clearly taken aback.

The other four resurrected Players were just as stirred up and puzzled, the reality of their not being dead sinking in when pinching themselves repeatedly did nothing. The youthful woman, deeply grateful, turned to express gratitude to their savior but froze upon finding he had already left.

Unbeknownst to her, a dark cloak to preserve her modesty had also appeared in her hands. Scanning the fabric with her bracelet, her mouth dropped in astonishment, realizing this simple cloth was at least ten times more durable than her previous armor.

"Thank you so much..." She whispered softly before taking off with her companions.

For Jake, gifting such a cloak was like a billionaire tossing a nickel to a beggar. He barely noticed the dent in his savings. All he had to do was exude Chitin Scales from the desired metal and then craft it into any attire.

This "cheap" fabric he just conjured up by blending Adamantium, Orichalcum, and Oranium was actually very akin to chain mail, but the links of this mesh were much finer than a micrometer. For Players like them, it was more than they could ever dream of.

Once on his way, Jake nonchalantly saved dozens, hundreds of similar Player groups, cutting down everything in his path like the Grim Reaper. At the same time, he casually resurrected all the allied Players wiped out in his wake.

In fact, the latter task was more the focus, as he was simply retracing the path taken by Hephais. Judging by the cleanly decapitated corpses, all with surgical precision, the assassin was on top of his game.

In mere minutes, the duo had already saved/resurrected thousands of Players. Simultaneously, they had wiped out just as many foes, the catch being their Oracle Rank was generally one or two notches higher. This was because only foe Players confident in their strength had the guts to venture into hostile territory and hunt them down one by one.

Thing is, Jake and Hephais weren't the only ones who saw the threat. Other high-ranked Players had also made their path to the river, preemptively taking out any that dared to come too close to their side.

On a different note, some of these Players had chosen to retaliate in kind: by invading the Lustra Plains. If Jake had encountered them, he might have recognized a few...

*****

"Crunch, I've got a good feeling about this one." An obese, orange turkey-phoenix squawked loudly into the ear of an even fatter black fluffy cat.

"Shhhhh! Keep it down, we're not alone here." The chunky feline shushed the airborne companion perched atop his head. "It was a damn hassle sneaking out of my enclosure. Don't want to end up back there too soon."

Far from the towering giants they once were, these two mischief-makers had employed a miniaturization technique to shrink down to the size of ordinary house pets. At the moment, they roughly resembled the size of an adult cat and turkey, albeit on the chubbier side.

Not too far from their hiding spot in the bushes, a clear stretch of water shimmered in the night. It was the same Lumyst River that Jake and Hephais traveled from one tributary to another, saving folks along the way. However, the energy leaking from it was the exact opposite.

Anyone nearing it could feel their fatigue melting away and their cells buzzing with delight. But this "fountain of youth" was not without its dangers.

"Aaarrrggghh, fuck!!"

Before their mischievous eyes, a Player from the Lustra Plains had just stepped into the river. Boasting a morphotype of a giant spider-man - not the superhero type, but rather a hairy humanoid monster with eight eyes and eight dorsal legs - he looked formidable. Yet, apparently not formidable enough to survive a simple dip in these clear waters...

Instead of disintegrating upon failure, as would've been the case with Spirit Lumyst Water, his cellular and genetic balance spiraled out of control. The once-balanced spider-man's short, shiny fur started growing wildly due to the overwhelming influx of life energy, followed by his skin, muscles, and entire skeleton undergoing chaotic growth and mutations.

Moments later, his body, overwhelmed with life force, collapsed into a mass of bloody goo that mixed with the clear waters of the river.

Gulp!

"P-pumpkin, I'm starting to think bathing here might not be a good idea." Crunch nervously shuffled, instinctively retreating into the bushes.

Smack!

"It's Lord PHENIX! P-H-E-N-I-X!" The fiery fiery turkey spelled out irritably, smacking the feline's head with his wing.

"Sorry, Lord Faux-nix!" Crunch quickly replied, feigning innocence.

"Did you just call me a fake phoenix?" Lord Phenix's expression darkened upon seeing the cat's cheeky grin.

Compared to the apprehensive Crunch from moments ago, he now sported the smug look of a cocky, laid-back jerk. Blame it on his ridiculous multiple asshole personality syndrome.

It was a convenient excuse! The fiery turkey that he was still couldn't figure out how much truth there was in this syndrome, or if it was just some theatrical bullshit to mock him with impunity.

"PHENIX!" The fiery bird screeched on the verge of having a meltdown.

"Hey, I ain't deaf, Tango!" Crunch snorted, plugging his ears with his paws, now wearing a grumpy expression, albeit still as cunning. Sensing the turkey was about to blow a gasket and ruin their first scouting stroll together, the plump cat skillfully redirected the conversation, "So, are we taking a dip or not?"

"Of course we are, damn it!" Lord Phenix exclaimed in frustration. "We didn't come for nothing!"

And to hell with the thousands of foe Players lurking around with the same goal as them. As for whether their swim would succeed or end as dramatically as the unknown spider-man, unfortunately, that would be for Jake to pick up the pieces...