The Oracle Paths

In addition to his significant growth gain, Tim was rewarded with an upgrade to his Aether Skill: Danger Sense. He could sense danger from farther away and could even sense upcoming attacks and anticipate them like his Shadow Guide did.

This was an incredible ability, but could be fooled by Aetherists with precise control of their Aether or through the use of specific Aether/Oracle device Skills.

His Ordeal had actually taken place in a different place. It was still a peplum, but at no time had a deity or hero been named. The setting for his Ordeal had been very strict, in a city resembling ancient Sparta.

The children, most of whom had an Aether Skill similar to his to increase their likelihood of survival, had undergone a rigorous education called agoge. This involved the art of fighting and survival in an environment where these children were constantly competing.

Towards the end of their Ordeal they had been dropped somewhere in the Wilderness to survive a year without human assistance. His Ordeal had indeed lasted over five years, with a real risk to his life only in the last few months. In the end, he had survived, but in a pitiful state.

Kyle had also received diluted Myrmidian bloodline as a reward, but unlike Jake and Sarah who had chosen to wait to eliminate the inconvenience or increase the purity of the blood, the Playboy had decided to assimilate the Myrmidian bloodline directly.

So he had already become Myrmidian. As he grew, his hair would become golden and this was already the case at his hair roots that had grown over the last week. His hazelnut eyes had gained a golden hue and with time this shade would only become more pronounced.

Apart from that, there was no visible difference at the moment. It was clear that he hadn't received the same pure blood as Jake as a reward, which was after all quite normal.

As for the two princesses, he already knew their rewards, while Anya and the other two soldiers refused to share their experience. As far as he could tell, Alima and Patrick were rather uncomfortable talking about their first Ordeal, which indicated that theirs had not gone so well despite their military background.

Anya didn't have the same discomfort and only showed sheer curiosity when listening to their adventures. Her first Ordeal probably went well, Jake happily judged. As long as his cousin wasn't suffering, he didn't care about her Ordeal results.

Will and Sarah already knew about his Ordeal rewards and his encounter with the Digestors, but when it was his turn to tell, he stayed as vague as possible to avoid attracting attention. There were other Evolvers in the tavern able to hear their conversations.

By habit, Jake checked with his bracelet which direction Yerode and Lamine, his two nemesis, were in, but he received no feedback.

'Hmmm? Have they activated their Oracle Cloaking or are they doing an Ordeal?' Jake hypothesized coldly.

Upon realizing this, he was given an electric shock and rose abruptly to his feet startling everyone.

"I've got to go. " He said in a stern, placid tone. I just came here to warn you that I'm going to New Earth on business and to attend my Second Ordeal. If you want to follow me it's now or never. "

For a few seconds the people around the table were baffled, but soon they understood the meaning of his sentence and made their decision.

"I'm coming! "Tim shouted with determination, and then he remembered the sad reality. "But, I don't have enough Aether to pay for the Yellow Cube..."

"...I'll pay for the ride, no worries."Jake exhaled, already regretting his outpouring of generosity.

"Yay! "

"We're coming too. "Enya confirmed with a gentle smile. "... If it's not a problem, of course. "

Jake turned to his cousin for confirmation. She assured him that aliens were welcome as long as they stayed within the perimeter of the Oracle City, the capital of New Earth, and that they respected the laws. The force field had been set up in such a way that it was impossible to enter or leave the capital without being an Earth citizen or a person specially authorized to move around.

In the end, everyone decided to go with him except Alima and Patrick, who were still on duty. Everyone paid their bill, then the group left the tavern to go to the skyscraper in the center of the main square at the top of which stood a huge Yellow Cube.

It was a real building with automatic doors and windows on every floor. Several elevators in the center were available to take them to the top and a map was available, pointing to the Cubes to borrow and their price to get to their destination. Of course, with a Yellow Cube, the price was set at 50 Aether points as long as the trip was limited to B842.

Following Anya, who acted as a guide, the group climbed to the top of the skyscraper to access the Yellow Cube. At first they intended to take the elevator like civilized people, but because of the felines they were forced to take the stairs.If they had been mere humans, they would have been exhausted, but instead it only took them a few minutes at a moderate pace.

Numerous drones were protecting the Cube, but they moved aside to let them through after a quick scan like the one on his bracelet to authenticate their identity. According to Jake, this wasn't necessary with the Oracle System already knowing everything about them, but it was especially careful this time. Maybe Digestors had already managed to fool the drones in the past.

One by one, they pressed their palms against the surface of the Yellow Cube, which radiated an intense golden light. The usual notification informing them of the price, then asking for their destination appeared and all confirmed "New Earth" without hesitation.

As for the felines who could not speak, Jake had recommended that they choose the same destination as he did. The Oracle System would do the rest of the work to teleport them to the right place.

They then moved forward one by one, their bodies disappearing inside the Yellow Cube until there was no one left in their group at the top of the skyscraper.

As they opened their eyes to the other side, a modern, albeit clearly futuristic city appeared before Jake. From the top of a skyscraper similar to the one he had just left a gigantic city filled his entire field of vision. He had arrived safely on New Earth.

At first glance, the city had all the buildings and Cubes characteristic of an Oracle City, such as the Pyramid, the Pentagon, or the Cylinder, but the similarities stopped there. For the rest, it was a very " Earth-like " city, reminiscent of some cities of the end of the 21st century such as Tokyo or Shanghai.

The architecture was heterogeneous, mixing Western and Eastern styles. Some iconic monuments, such as the Seven Wonders of the World had been reproduced on miniature scales, but the most striking was the huge marble epitaph in the central square where they stood.

Although there were Oracle drones on site to accommodate them, there was also a human military presence. A dozen soldiers armed to the teeth and holding strange assault rifles awaited them there with a bird of prey look.

A lawful search ensued, which placed particular emphasis on the two non-Terran Velsyan princesses. After confirming that they were harmless, they were given a pass to allow them to move freely.

For the other humans, showing their old Earth identity card was enough. Jake still had it, but this caused some problems for Tim, Kyle and Sarah who had to redo their papers. Miraculously, Will had also kept his. He even had a few dollars left over.

Once they were free to leave the landing craft, they were finally able to take a close look at the marble epitaph, which was about thirty meters high and twenty meters in diameter. Many names and surnames of various nationalities were engraved on it and Anya told them that they were all those who had died on B842 since the arrival of the Earthlings on the planet. At first glance, there were several million dead people.

Jake didn't care about visiting, so he urged Anya to take him directly to the Earth Government's Aetherist Geneticists, whom Anya thought would be able to perform a bloodline transfer. If it turned out they weren't up to the task, he would immediately go to Thelma to negotiate with the Gremlin. It was out of the question for him to participate in his second Ordeal without a well-deserved power-up.