The Oracle Paths

Chapter 1194  The Calm Before The Storm

Not a single skirmish broke out that night. The calm before the storm. But beneath the veneer of peace, the undercurrents in each camp had never been so turbulent.

Whether they were licking their wounds or grinding to get stronger, Players and natives alike could feel that the stakes of this war had shifted. The escalation had been too damn fast. Unnatural.

The breach in the northern membrane had unveiled a malevolent scourge that far outclassed their petty ideological war. For the greedy top brass waving the unification banner to hoard more land and resources, they'd first need to stay alive to enjoy their spoils.

And those territories needed to still be worth something. Without inhabitants to serve them, did this war even make sense anymore?

Meanwhile, credible witnesses had reported the moon's explosion before Amaris had time to cast her mass illusion. Her forgetfulness spell had inevitably missed a few. The big shots in every region were in the loop, and the news spread like wildfire.

From the standpoint of both the Radiant Conclave and the Dusken Throne, it was a bad omen—the worst kind.

The membrane had also been urgently investigated after the previous day's breach, revealing its critical fragility. The Lumyst-devouring invaders spewed from it had been halted through the combined efforts of both factions and the draining of an entire tributary of the Lumyst River, but the losses were off the charts.

The Players who'd fought to contain these monsters had suffered heavy casualties too. Very few low-rank Evolvers survived, and those who returned to tell the tale were livid as ghosts.

The three northernmost fronts had already called a truce to handle the threat.

During that eerily calm night of ceasefire, massive troop movements—on an insane scale—unfolded in both camps. No one bothered to hide these deployments.

Generals, armies, and garrisons scattered along the front lines all converged toward the center of the continent, deciding to settle the score in one final showdown. The two self-proclaimed new Soulmancer Kings, the Radiant Conclave, Abyssal Revenants, and Titans were all slated to join the fray.

Meanwhile, the citadels and bastions guarding the entrances to their respective territories had slashed their garrisons to the bare bones. These troops, meant to serve as a second line of defense if the front lines fell, had all been relocated to their respective capital regions.

From these two moves, it was easy to predict how to win this war: capture the enemy's capital or force the defeat or surrender of one of the armies. Taking out their leaders and figureheads was also an option, but no one was banking on that.

Not only were they all insanely powerful and tough, but they rarely dove into the thick of battle, and the soldiers guarding the command centers and these VIPs were the continent's elite. Still, with the urgency to crown a victor and the Players' unpredictable antics, their tried-and-true turtle tactics might not cut it...

*****

The first rays of dawn lit up Jake's tired but satisfied face, delivering a warmth that felt somewhat... lacking. Looking up, he wondered how many people realized that the blazing red sun in this fake sky was nothing more than an empty shell.

The night had been productive. The pressure radiating from his mere presence was denser and more oppressive than ever.

It was the result of his four new Graces—the same two for each type of Lumyst: Lumyst Baptism obtained at his fifteenth enchantment, and Lumyst Sea at his twentieth.

The effect of the first was minimal for now, but it was possibly the most precious Grace he'd snagged so far—a permanent blessing of sorts. Its function was to continuously subject his body and soul to a Lumyst Baptism.

Sounds like no big deal, but that would be a huge mistake. This baptism was gentle, like a caress, fine-tuning his attributes and those of his Lumyst without putting his life on the line. It was a slow but steady process, sparing him the need to risk his neck in the river by instead imposing a constant but manageable stress. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

That explained how the aquatic Titans and Abyssal Revenants, soaking year-round at the base of the waterfalls, had reached such crazy levels of enchantments. After hitting a certain awakening threshold and living so damn long, he'd often wondered why they were willing to risk everything on a coin toss. Now he had a solid answer to that puzzle.

If Jake had to put it bluntly to describe the genius of this Grace: having it was comparable to owning a Grade 10 Bloodline or even better. Because it guaranteed that just by staying alive, he'd grow stronger in all four Aspects.

Not all Grade 10 Bloodlines were created equal. Some races, like vampires, could get stronger just by getting old, but that took centuries.

Plus, without taking the initiative, the bloodline would only strengthen unilaterally. A Vampire Progenitor like Wyatt, if he ever wanted to wield heat instinctively like a Kintharian, would have to consume large amounts of that species' blood.

In contrast, Bloodlines below Grade 7 could evolve crazy fast if the conditions were right. The lowest-class vampire could level up rapidly if he devoured the blood of vampires and humans more powerful than himself. Unfortunately, that was only if such blood was up for grabs. In reality, why would a superior being willingly hand over his blood to a weaker vampire?

The Lumyst Baptism also guaranteed slow but unconditional growth, but it required the previous Graces as prerequisites. It also had the perk of layering over existing bloodlines and cultivation. From that angle, it was easy to see which was superior.

His second new Grace, Lumyst Sea, offered more immediate benefits while also answering another burning question: Why did high-enchantment-level Chalices of Nethershade and Goblets of Ethershine have such massive internal spaces?

Jake had chalked it up to the materials and methods used in their crafting, but now he knew it was thanks to the properties of this Grace.

Simply put, it granted an ability usually reserved for Lumyst cultivators at the Celestial tier or higher, ahead of schedule. Once the Lumyst Core was sufficiently upgraded, it would undergo a qualitative change, allowing it to contain a vast space to store his liquefied Lumyst when further compression became too costly.

Filling this Lumyst Sea was tough to pull off without a few thousand years of cultivation, and the rest of that space became an area where you could stash whatever you wanted. However, it was limited to inanimate objects—the conditions inside didn't play nice with living beings due to the insane Lumyst density.

Chalices and Goblets got around this risk by adding a compartmentalization feature to that space during their forging, though it was still a pretty rare practice. And at the end of the day, an artifact wasn't a Lumyst Core but an object, which significantly reduced the danger.

Even for the Lumyst cultivators who had already opened one, obtaining this Grace would not be useless. It would only make it more vast and sturdy.

Jake's was, for now, closer to a pond than a sea, but he was stoked. It gave him another way to stash his stuff. Using the Lumyst inside even sparked some new ideas. Refining artefacts, for example.

In case anyone was wondering, the Sun and Moon Spirits also had their own versions of a Lumyst Sea—something even more advanced. According to the Soulmancer King, Klayr's Inner World, which served as the foundation for the membrane, was its final form.

Exciting prospects for the future... If he managed to survive all this.

When Jake reached his camp, not a soul was left. The structures and tents had been left untouched, the soldiers taking only what they absolutely needed. The troops once stationed here had already joined the site of the final battle during his absence.

Aware of the looming showdown, he entered his tent and found a letter left for him by Ceythie. His personal army was ready to roll...

He then turned to the slightly darker, elongated shadow under one of the chairs and retrieved Hephais's coded message hidden within. He hadn't been slacking off last night either.

The shadow dispersed along with its message, reverting back to an ordinary chair's shadow. Before heading out, he pulled out his Spirit Shell and contacted one last person.

"Asfrid, how are the preparations I asked for?" Jake asked calmly once the connection was established.

"Everyone's in position. Whatever they try, we won't let anything slip by. You can go all out without holding back."

"And our two prisoners?"

"Released and fed some 'crucial intel' as you ordered. Even if they don't bite, it'll stir up some chaos."

They were the two Players he'd spared during his previous nighttime manhunt: Glutton and Torak. A Rank 16 and a Rank 14.

He'd almost forgotten about them, not knowing what to do with them, but he'd finally found a use for them: to piss off Cho Min Ho.