The Oracle Paths

"Verxes..." Jake muttered with a grim look on his face.

Vexa's face scrunched up slightly as he heard the name.

"A particularly dangerous Seraphim Digestor skilled in Time and Space Magic." Prysm spoke in his stead. "He is indeed one of the main suspects in the corruption and switching of allegiances of these Schwazens. Whether it's him or another Digestor of the same order, if they're behind this we won't be able to stop them unless Aurae or another Ancient Designer interferes directly. Mind you, there's no way they would personally oversee such an Ordeal."

Jake suddenly gazed at the flower woman very oddly, as if he had just figured out what was amiss all along.

"But... Aurae is here." He objected hesitantly, "When I left the planet a few weeks earlier, I beheld it create the Mana Storm that is quickly blanketing the planet with my very own eyes."

"No, it's not that guy. One of its countless clones at best, but its consciousness and main body are elsewhere." Vexa replied flatly.

"I know what I saw." Jake insisted with a cold voice. "This isn't the first Ancient Designer I've met and I wouldn't mistake this aura for any other. Its size alone is enough to make it an indomitable Evolver in this Ordeal."

The two Mirror Vanguards Players exchanged a musing look, both trying to wrap their heads around this unlikely option, then Vexa ordered darkly,

"Wait for me here."

Several Yellow Cubes surrounded him, overlapping each other and emitting a dazzling radiance. When the light faded, the cubes were still there, but Vexa was gone.

The Myrtharian Nerds and Mirror Vanguard members present waited in silence, then a few minutes later the Yellow Cubes lit up again and a disheveled Vexa whose aura was saturated with unstable Mana reappeared before them.

The microscopic cubes beneath his skin were chaotically changing color, their molecular structure constantly altering as millions of Mana Spells randomly ravaged his body. One moment his hand was deformed, covered in slimy scales; the next moment it was a hoof covered in wool.

Indifferent to his alarming symptoms, Vexa snapped his fingers and the array of Green and White Cubes that had saved his life earlier reappeared, purifying the Mana that was wreaking havoc on his body.

"Am I dreaming or did you go through the Mana Storm head-on without an Oracle Shield?" Jake blinked in bewilderment.

"I had to taste that Mana Storm personally." Vexa coughed sourly before adding, "It's not Aurae. Just a lesser clone."

Jake was taken aback by his confident tone.

"Are you sure?" He asked with his forehead knotted with uncertainty.

"Absolutely sure. I don't joke about such important matters."

The cube man obviously noticed that Jake wasn't convinced, but he didn't hold it against him. He thought he could call it a day, but the Myrtharian asked seriously,

"Can you take me there with you?"

Vexa had no desire to do so, but as he met his determined gaze he let out a sigh and agreed. A moment later, the duo appeared in the middle of the Mana Superstorm where Vexa's Yellow Cube orbited. Of course, Jake was not suicidal like the leader of Mirror Vanguard and he had preemptively activated his Oracle Shield.

They quickly passed through the storm and a few minutes later Jake found himself back in space, a dark and empty environment devoid of sound and life. Not having forgotten why he had come, he immediately looked for Aurae.

He found it. The Ancient Designer was as titanic and fear-inspiring as ever, its hands as dark as a moonless night holding Quanoth like a basketball. But Jake and Xi sensed immediately that something had changed.

The entity was still as unfathomable as ever, but it no longer felt like the presence that had terrified him when the thing had looked in his direction. He knew he wasn't crazy and concluded that Aurae had either left or decided to lay low.

''Strange.''

The duo silently returned to the bunker and as they arrived Vexa patted his shoulders with a laugh,

"Convinced now?"

Jake frowned, but answered ambiguously,

"That thing was not Aurae."

With the Myrtharian admitting his mistake, Vexa told them to rest while he contacted a number of allied factions and subfactions for reinforcements. He had already promised to train Jake and the other Myrtharian Nerds personally after that, aware that they were his only fighting forces but totally useless against the Schwazen threat.

Once he had some peace, Jake conferred with his companions and finally decided to contact the rest of the Myrtharian Nerds.

[Jake: Everything okay on your end?]

[Asfrid: Like clockwork. The Ret'Asi Empire's army has engaged the Shrons, drawing most of their attention, and we're taking advantage of their sacrifices to move forward safely. Lucia, Gerulf, and the others are fighting on the front lines.]

[Jake: Great, how are you doing, Hade?]

[Hade: The Portable Fortresses are finished. We can get Laudarkvik civilians and any willing Myrtharian Nerds off the planet as soon as we reach a cloud-free zone. By the way, Craig is back with New Earth's soldiers. What do you want to do with them?]

There was a short pause, then,

[Jake: If they still want to save Ruby, they can join us at the Serinese Theocracy, but tell them it will be dangerous and they're likely to die. That's why I'm contacting you. If you can afford it, I would like Lucia and the other promising Myrtharian Nerds to join us for Mirror Vanguard training. Hephais' presence is mandatory].

[Hephais: no problem, boss.]

Jake then told them about his first encounter with the Schwazens to get them to understand his reasons and Asfrid, Hade, and the other Myrtharian Nerds online agreed with his plan after learning how dire the situation was. Hephais would leave to meet them right away and the others would be dispatched depending on how the situation developed.

The next morning, Vexa and Prysm visited them to announce the start of their training. They were escorted to an underground base hidden dozens of kilometers below ground by a futuristic elevator. Jake and the others didn't understand how they could train properly in such an environment, but they got their answer a few moments later.

The highly pressurized, glowing rock that was supposed to be waiting for them downstairs was replaced by a small, dimly lit room of cubic metal. In the center stood a human-sized Orange Cube.

"After you." Vexa gestured for them to enter with a smiling face.

Crunch and Lord Phenix glowered at him in frustration, but the cube man had also arranged an alternative for the two large creatures.

The group then traveled through a dozen Orange Cubes in succession, losing their sense of direction before landing in a strange place that didn't look anything like Quanoth.

A complex of metal buildings with unusual geometric shapes and tapered edges stretched as far as the eye could see under a fake purple sky filled with dark green stars.

"Welcome to one of Mirror Vanguard's many training camps." Vexa proudly introduced. "Don't waste time trying to figure out how we could build such a place in an Ordeal. This place is just a knock-off of the original version, but it's still a Gold Aether Artifact named Purple Hell. The first half of the name is self-explanatory but you'll understand the second half as you train there, hehe."

Jake swallowed all his questions as he heard the word Gold from Vexa's mouth. It was two tiers above his Purgatory. As they walked towards one of the buildings they spotted one of the prisoners they had rescued the day before, which helped them understand where they had gone.

The most surprising thing was that this man had all his limbs back, but his haggard face was still a bit traumatized from his recent experiences at the Schwazens' hands. With this insight, the group of Myrtharian Nerds vowed never to let themselves be captured by these sadistic angels. It was safer to commit suicide.

Once inside the building, a new world opened up to them. The hall was clean and modern, and there were many consoles granting access to individual training rooms. Vexa and Prysm ignored them and went straight to the registration desk where a receptionist more hideous and muscular than an orc in heavy armor was dozing.

"Hello, Gixy." The flowery woman greeted with a loud palm strike on the desk that jolted awake the alien she was addressing.

"Oh, Prysm that's you. Ah and Vexa too. This must be my lucky day." She giggled awkwardly as she rubbed her eyes. "What do you want from me?"

"I want to reserve a tier 5 training room for each of them. They're not from Mirror Vanguard so deduct it from my quota."

The alien named Gixy looked surprised, but quickly pulled herself together and confirmed,

"It's done, but since they are not from Mirror Vanguard they will have to pay for their use.

"Deduct the cost from my contribution points." Vexa ordered impassively.

This time even Prysm was surprised, but seeing her reaction the cube man simply shrugged,

"I have a good feeling about them. Besides... I'm still upset that none of the other super factions agreed to help us. They want revenge on Lost Divinities and if I can get back at them even a little bit I'm willing to give them a fair chance."