The Oracle Paths

Even more baffling, not a speck of dust had sullied their hair or dirtied their armor. It was as if the earth and rock upheaved by the explosion had magically avoided them.

This was especially striking with the two young women who had been buried alive. Even unharmed, their skin and clothes should have borne the mark of rotting six feet underground just seconds earlier.

"What sorcery is this?" The Vitalist grumbled in a wrathful voice, tinged with an involuntary fear.

The warrior was not the vice-commander of his company for nothing, and his gaze quickly shifted to the identical armor and weapon materials each of the four surviving recruits wore. It was all the more eye-catching because Jake had made no effort to embellish his creations, focusing solely on functionality. Thus, for the wary Vitalist, these plain weapons and armors forged from the same black steel seemed all the more suspicious.

'If I get my hands on these artifacts, a promotion is surely mine.' A flame of ambition blazed in his eyes. Forgetting that his commander—a Light Paladin much stronger than him—had just perished, he lunged at the nearest recruit.

Seeing the giant, wrapped in a thick film of light, charging back with the clearance of an elephant, Claire's legs involuntarily trembled. Despite her fear, she did not succumb to despair and tried to thrust her lance forward as taught, but she was hopelessly slow compared to her opponent. She had barely raised her weapon when the light giant was already upon her.

Perhaps because his first assassination attempt had failed, the Vitalist attacked seriously this time. Within arm's reach of the tiny woman barely up to his waist, he swung his massive mace backward and struck with the velocity of a thunderclap.

BANG!

A shockwave more deafening and devastating than before tore the ground from beneath Claire, creating a crater a meter deep and several meters wide, making her appear even smaller.

But her body... was still there. Not pulverized into a bloody pulp as everyone anticipated.

"Cough!!!"

Instead, jets of blood spurted from the various orifices of the Vitalist who had struck her with all his might, as he stared in horrified disbelief at his broken hands holding a mace reduced to its handle.

'…what the hell just happened?!'

The first to be surprised was Claire herself. As the massive mace descended on her at breakneck speed, she thought she was done for, but instead, it was her assailant who was on the brink of death. What had happened?!

She could swear that just before the mace hit her, her armor emitted a dark metallic aura that completely absorbed, amplified, and then infused the kinetic energy of the attack back into the enemy's weapon, leading to its annihilation. This aura reminded her unmistakably...

"Black Metal Lumyst," Jake commented in a flat tone. "The spirit of her armor is not yet conscious, but with 14 Spirit Enchantments, its instincts are already there. If I go by the personality of Ledger, an inert artifact that is spiritually awakened will tend to hold its primary function dear as its raison d'être. Armor exists to protect its wearer, and even I, its creator, forged it with that purpose."

It was just the beginning. Rather than awakening, it was more accurate to say that Breath Of Awakening bestowed a soul upon these initially inert objects. For now, even for Jake, a promising Aetherist, it remained a high magic trick he was far from unraveling.

Understanding how a soul emerged in an item with no neural network or electrical activity capable of supporting a proto-soul was a mystery that eluded him. No doubt, a more learned Aetherist might provide an answer, but for the current him, it was beyond his grasp.

As Jake let his mind wander, thinking of all the mysterious magics waiting to be discovered, Claire recovered from her surprise. Taking advantage of the Vitalist's stupor, she dared a counterattack.

"Die."

At that moment, her face and tone were as hideous as they were indifferent and cold. The spear in her hands came to life on its own, like a serpent awakening. Claire only had to wield her spear, and its tip pierced the radiant-haloed giant in the blink of an eye, extinguishing his inner light.

Her immature Lumyst Aura intensified dramatically, going from invisible to almost palpable. A commanding murderous aura then radiated from her being before being quickly subdued.

"C-congratulations, Claire," Scelacabe congratulated her with an uncertain pat on the shoulder. "Your Lumyst Aura has taken form."

In terms of Aura alone, the influence and spiritual pressure she now exerted over several meters' radius and infused into each of her movements were enough to rival a Pulsar from the Lustra Plains. An ordinary Light Warrior would not be completely incapacitated, but their movements and reaction time would be drastically affected.

'So this is what a fully formed Lumyst Aura looks like,' Jake realized with a feeling of impatient anticipation.

The difference was indeed spectacular. Until now, he had been under the impression that natives of the Duskwight Lands were at a disadvantage in the initial stages compared to the physical advantage and powerful defensive, offensive, and regenerative capabilities provided by Life Lumyst Aura and Life Lumyst, but this world was fair.

Claire's physical constitution hadn't changed much, except for the expected stat boost from her Lumyst Aura's advancement. However, the danger she posed to her opponents was incomparable to before. If before, she was a non-venomous grass snake, she was now a cobra capable of killing with a single bite.

After the death of the Vitalist—also the vice-commander—the little discipline left in his fleeing company completely dissolved, and the relatively orderly rout turned into chaos, each running for their life.

The other recruits in Jake's squad, eager to imitate Claire's power-up by condensing their own Lumyst Aura, became like mad dogs, chasing the fleeing soldiers with the desperation of starving lions. The other conscripts in their platoon didn't have as good weapons but couldn't miss the opportunity to score some kills and accelerated their pace not to be left behind.

In less time than it takes to say, the two or three platoons leading the counter-offensive had moved far away from their own lines. Jake, Hephais, Amy, and the other Players fighting among them immediately noticed the problem but did nothing to stop them.

'The enemies are retreating too quickly and leading us in a specific direction,' Jake noted with a concentrated frown, scanning his surroundings for a sign corroborating his suspicions.

Far behind enemy lines, he soon spotted a series of white and yellow flags aligned and raised in a certain sequence. Now that he had spotted these flags, he couldn't help but notice the numerous similar-patterned banners relayed by other visible officers of the enemy army.

Thump… Thump…Thump…

Listening closely, Jake felt more than heard the rhythmically precise clash of war drums. Combined with the flags, it must surely mean something. Of course, he could have soulsearched a major officer, but that would force him to reveal his role too soon.

'I can't go to that high hill without orders...'

But that was fine, Ceythie and all her superior officers were under his control.

"F-freaking hell! What are these abominations doing here?!"

"I-I can't believe it! M-MUKAKS!"

"Hmm?" Jake noticed the wave of panic sweeping through his camp almost immediately, but it was already too late.

While he analyzed the enemy army's means of communication, the few surviving enemies had managed their retreat, leaving their pursuers exposed and vulnerable far from their own line.

'So, counterattacking with these things is what those drums and flags meant,' Jake realized without any stress, seeing abominable war beasts emerge from previously dug tunnels, pulling enormous armored chariots behind them.

Each of these chariots was piloted by a Radiant Mage.