The Oracle Paths

"Explain." Jake frowned. "The order to report to the Ironsoul Berserker army quarters only came yesterday. Could Cho Min Ho have interfered to assign us here? I thought Ceythie was surprised to see me here this morning. And before bumping into his subordinates yesterday, he shouldn't have had any idea where I was, which would explain why he distributed sketches of me to all his officers."

"Unlikely," the Soulmancer refuted firmly. "He might be the official stand-in for the Soulmancer King for now, but even the real Soulmancer King has limited authority over how each Great General runs their army. If your assignment here this morning isn't a coincidence and your identity hadn't yet been exposed, then it must be Ledger who's tugged strings for you, recommending you according to the criteria she set herself."

Jake felt a headache coming on. He'd almost forgotten that his Snitch Ring recorded everything about him and that Ledger was compiling it all impartially in its database. The awakened artifact served the Dusken Throne above all and could indeed have recommended this army if it was the best way to protect the nation's interests.

If the Ironsoul Berserker Army was involved in the bloodiest battles, then without even mentioning Contribution Points, it was a safe bet that the vast majority of foreigners would end up in Ceythie's army without any other factors changing the game.

If it's just Ledger's algorithmic initiative, then I'm fine with that, Jake finally estimated, deciding not to worry about it anymore.

[Still, keep an eye on that Ceythie.] Xi interjected in their conversation to deliver this single warning before falling silent again.

Clearly, she was still a bit upset about his words from the day before, but she was still closely following everything he did. In truth, she couldn't stay cold towards him for long.

'Relax, I think it's a good thing to have a Great General fighting directly with us,' Jake reassured her, not denying her efforts to reach out to him.

On that note, he was partly telling the truth. Great Generals were inferior to the Saints of the Radiant Conclave, but their strength was the closest thing to it outside of the Soulmancer King and the Abyssal Revenants.

What Jake was still wary of wasn't the three Rank 17 Oracle Knights wanting his skin, their power being nerfed as much as his, but the natives in full possession of their means. If the Celestial and his Titans decided to land on his battlefield this morning, he wouldn't rate his regiment's chances highly.

In fact, if that really happened, he'd probably have no choice but to flee, moving the battlefield elsewhere to avoid endangering his companions.

I hope they'll at least leave me alone for a few days. Jake's face darkened sinisterly at the thought of this grim scenario. If they really attacked him with force, it would mess up his perfect plans, but they would be the ones to regret it.

While Jake was mulling over various scenarios and adjusting his plans accordingly, the recruits had begun to gather in groups to form their own squad of 10 infantrymen. His own group, unwilling to part with him, automatically made him squad leader.

Sank-Uk, Hephais, Crunch, and Lord Phenix were strong enough to have their own squads, but they rejected to split up, claiming that once the next battle was over, they'd all have enough Contribution Points for multiple promotions. If Jake rose in rank, they would naturally rise with him.

"Fine, stay with me," Jake chuckled wryly, deciding to wash his hands of it. They were free to do as they pleased.

With Hephais, Crunch, Lord Phenix, Sank-Uk, Ekho, Jashuzen, Thonzo, Claire, Scelacabe, and himself, they were exactly ten people, as required.

"The count's good, boss," Ekho exclaimed, standing to attention, too anxious to see himself replaced by a more competent recruit.

He had observed all those officer-less commanders eyeing the new squads like vultures, making him particularly uneasy. The other greenhorns in their group didn't feel much better. Apart from Sank-Uk, who was himself a former commander, the others indeed owed their lives only to their ride on his giant shoulders.

Thankfully for them, Jake made no distinction between them and those squadless commanders. However, there were indeed many candidates who applied to join his squad, and he identified himself embarrassed to refuse some of them: Amy, Lee Yoon, and a few other Players whom Hephais and he had saved the night before.

He wasn't sure the two women would make it, but they had apparently been in the crowd from the start like them. Not daring to deploy their mental sense as blatantly as him, they had found his group only now, and that was only because they had identified Lord Phenix's bright orange plumage.

In addition to Amy and Lee Yoon, there was the petite Nuwa and her two otters named Chromy and Chewy, who had moped in endless gratitude for saving her the night before. For resurrecting her two otters, she had practically elevated Jake to the status of an all-powerful deity. Joining his squad was a sure bet.

Senet, the half-demon with ice-blue and blood-red heterochromatic eyes who had gotten by without their intervention, had applied more by chance. With his special vision, he had observed what he had done with his Charm on the Great General and was completely humbled.

Venuwen, a Lunarian endowed with hereditary lunar magic as her race supposed, was capable of spiritism, blessings, buffs, spirit summons, and incidentally manipulating water. Hephais had indeed saved her in extremis the night before.

The two remaining Players who had requested were Ari Windwhisper, a Sylphid archer and swordswoman who could control the wind, and Zerei, an Aerelian who could also call the wind, but specialized in sound attacks and illusions.

All these people, the infernal duo of Hephais and Jake, had saved, resurrected, or at least spotted them over the previous night, but had only learned their names today when they came to apply. Surprisingly, except for Ari and Senet, who were members of King's Idol Alliance like Amy and Lee Yoon, the others were factionless, a status quite rare after five Ordeals.

Regrettably, Jake had no choice but to refuse them all. He did, however, offer them an alternative,

"As soon as I've been promoted, I'll incorporate your squad into mine."

It was a sufficient promise for now that satisfied everyone. As a result, these rejects determined to form another squad together and, against all odds, appointed a stranger they'd met by chance as their leader. Jake later learned that her name was Lysandra Moonaris, and apparently, Hephais and he had also met her.

Like Senet, the heterochromatic-eyed Player, she had bathed in the Lumyst River early in the evening before hostilities began and had managed to withdraw without being harassed. Jake identified this suspicious, and scanning her in Oracle Device mode with his mental sense, he discovered that she was much stronger than she appeared.

No wonder the enemy Players had left her alone with Hephais and him rampaging in the same area. She might have just been lucky, but her strength certainly played a role.

Nearly a quarter of an hour later, 2,500 newly formed squads were waiting at Ground 3 for Ceythie's next orders. The Great General was generally pleased with their attitude, and without them having to report anything, she began to scroll through the information of the new squads, referring to the data recorded by their Snitch Rings.

Her soul was powerful, but compared to Jake, her reading speed hadn't yet transcended the limits of her species. It still took a few minutes for her to get through all that information. Once finished, she immediately announced the commanders of each regiment, companies, and platoons, finally ending with the squads forming the latter.

As luck would have it (unless it had nothing to do with it?), Amy's and Jake's squads not only ended up in the same regiment but also the same platoon. The density of powerful Players in such a small number of troops would make them virtually invincible in small-scale battles.

"Well, well, well… Seems like our platoon is overpowered," Crunch smirked smugly.

It had to be acknowledged that with their two squads of high-rank Players, the Light Warriors soon to face them might just regret having gotten out of bed this morning... or curse their rotten luck.