The Oracle Paths

"Jeanie, stay with Wyatt and Carmin while I tend to Haynt." Jake mouthed softly as he cupped the sleepy little fairy in his hand.

On the one hand he was flattered to see her feel safe enough in his pocket to fall asleep while on the other he couldn't help but feel worried about her future with such poor common sense.

Snuggled asleep around his thumb, which she was using like a large duffel bag, the Minmin mumbled unintelligible words when he asked her to stay with the others. It took a couple of gentle flicks to wake her up from her nap.

After being awakened, she continued to yawn with her eyelids barely open and didn't even notice when Jake dropped her into Carmin's open palm, whose eyes sparkled in wonder like a cat lover in front of a super cute kitten.

'Good luck, Jeanie. You can do it...' Jake gave a contrite smile as the Vampire began pawing at the fairy who had already fallen back to sleep.

The fairy's exhaustion might have seemed worrisome, but once one remembered that her Constitution was only 0.1, ten times less than a human adult, then it all made sense. Since their meeting, Jake had never seen her sleep and he deduced that she had reached her limit.

Now that they were safe, he could just let her sleep to her heart's content.

'Our turn now.' Jake thought unmotivatedly as he flicked a finger to lift the Astral leader off the ground with his telekinesis. Seeing him walk away alone into the forest with the passed out Astral, several of the Elite Mutants as well as Rifalen wanted to stop him, but Wyatt stopped them coldly.

"If you want Haynt to heal quickly, trust him. If you insist on following him, I won't stop you, but I can guarantee you'll regret it." The Vampire Progenitor warned them in a scathing tone.

Sensing his determination and the hint of threat in his voice, the Mutants hesitated for a brief moment but eventually complied.

"Very well. But if they're not back in an hour, I'm going to go check on them." Rifalen promised sternly as he gripped the hilt of the sword at his belt.

Carmin, who was fiddling with the fairy next door, rolled her eyes dismissively at the old Half-Elf's false bravado. It was clearly to pacify the restlessness of the other Mutants.

Jake, on the other hand, began to dash as soon as he blurred into the forest. Sprinting at full speed, his body sank into the ground and he reappeared a few moments later in an underground cave that he had previously located with his Oracle Scan. The cave was as spacious as several soccer fields, exactly what he needed for what he planned to do.

"I hope I'm not wrong." Jake grumbled as he gently placed the Astral on the floor in the center of the cavern.

[This will work.] Xi comforted him encouragingly. [The Astral feeds on star energy, and your Aether Sun Core is like an artificial sun. Besides, you too need to recover your strength.]

"You're right..." Jake grimaced with a sullen face.

He may have regrown his arm and torso, but they were now weaker than before, as if his Bloodline had regressed by half a level. The rest of his body was also a little weaker and that was the result of being smashed to mush by that Were-Eagle asshole.

Even reduced to a pulp, Jake could easily regenerate by relying on this biomass for energy. It was more complicated when a piece of his body had been utterly annihilated.

"After I heal Haynt, I'm going to need several days to cultivate, I'll return to Laudarkvik later." He finally decided after sitting cross-legged in front of the Astral.

If the Aether Sun Core didn't work, Jake still had the Purgatory Dream to heal Haynt, but he hoped he wouldn't have to resort to that. His savings had already suffered too much.

With a thought, the Aether Sun Core appeared in the air above them at a safe distance, and Jake carefully monitored the Astral's fluctuations, looking for any change. At first he was pessimistic, but within seconds of the artificial sun's appearance, Haynt's jerky breathing stabilized and his light stopped dimming.

'It works!'

[I told you it would work.] Xi chuckled, just as pleased as he was.

Haynt, who had been consuming his energy, finally regained the upper hand, and as Jake brought the Aether Sun Core closer, the concentration of the solar rays increased, further speeding up the healing process. With a steady stream of energy, there was no need to extract or purify these foreign energy filaments. He could simply cancel them out with his own life energy, just like when an atom of matter collided with an atom of antimatter.

These collisions of different energies caused a second round of damage to his body, but the Aether Sun Core's rays immediately compensated for the lost energy. Within minutes, Haynt won this internal battle, but his recovery did not end there.

The Astral abruptly opened his eyes, looking up to gaze thoughtfully at the bright mini sun above him, and then his ageless gaze met Jake's.

"Guilty, are you the one who saved me?" He asked calmly, his face relaxed.

"I am, or should I say my Aether Sun Core is." Jake nodded, pointing to the sun. He wasn't really surprised that the Astral leader had guessed his identity.

"In that case, you have my eternal gratitude." Haynt bowed in sincerity. "If you need a favor, just ask and if it's within my capabilities I'll grant it."

Jake was taken aback by the Astral's solemn pledge, but on reflection it was no surprise from a level 91 native who was almost 1000 years old. Preventing the warrior from completing his bow, he hurriedly said,

"Senior, you don't have to bow to me. I treated you as I would have treated anyone else. Another of my companions is also taking care of Aisling."

Haynt was momentarily taken aback by his reaction, but with unruffled equanimity he finally agreed and straightened up as if nothing had happened.

"I have a question." The Astral suddenly spoke. "Where has the Spirit of your sun gone? I don't feel any connection to it."

Jake put on a puzzled face as he heard the question. Probably an Astral thing that only they understood.

'Xi, does this ring a bell?' he asked mentally to his reliable AI.

[Hmmm... I'm not sure.] Xi admitted honestly. [It is said in the Oracle System records that the Astrals form connections with certain distant stars and constellations and derive their energy and abilities from their link with them. This connection transcends time and space and their Constellation Magic is shrouded in secrecy. The Astrals are considered an esoteric species in the Mirror Universe. Very few Aetherists have delved seriously into their mysteries and most have kept their discoveries to themselves.]

[If the stars they link with have a Spirit, then it becomes easier to explain. Although a star is a giant ball of inorganic gas, they exist for billions of years, permanently bathed in the Dream Aether and nurturing many myths. The thoughts of those who believe in these myths and legends accumulate, stagnate and simmer in the Dream Aether, resulting in unpredictable effects. I believe that if enough people believed in the existence of an imaginary being, they might eventually come to exist for real. Never underestimate the word Dream that goes with Dream Aether. We tend to forget it quickly, but it is just as important.]

[Perhaps under certain specific conditions a star can indeed develop a Spirit, but it would take a relatively high Aether Density and a lot of time. Such a miracle could never have occurred in your home universe.]

'I see.' Jake thought he understood, but it was too abstract and remote for them to dwell on.

Xi's theory, nevertheless, opened up an infinite field of possibility. Jake already knew that the Oracle could draw on the history and folklore of the contestants to design its Ordeals Worlds. He didn't know if the Oracle picked a suitable world from a very long list, but according to Xi, like the Fluid fabric in his Third Ordeal, the Dream Aether fabric linked them all together.

In this context, it no longer mattered who came first between the chicken and the egg. Imagining something most likely meant that it already existed somewhere and vice versa.

In this case, could gods and other fantastical beings exist, born of the beliefs and imaginations of different peoples? There was only one step to take to believe it.

Now that he had roughly grasped the principle, he could answer Haynt. Referring to Xi's theory, he explained in simple words the origin of his Aether Sun Core, and the Astral appeared to accept his explanation.

In fact, the Astral was amazed to learn that this mini sun could shine like this until the end of time. If he had owned such an object the day he started training, heaven only knew how much power he would have achieved today.

"Can you make me one? I'll pay any price." Haynt vowed feverishly as he suddenly summoned dozens of shiny weapons and armor out of thin air.

Jake's eyes widened at the sheer amount of weapons. Each one was at least an Advanced Aether Artifact!

'How rich is this guy...'

Sadly, although he was dying to collect all of these weapons, he was unable to accept the offer.

"I can't do it, my master customized this one for me and it's not for sale." Jake apologized awkwardly before elaborating, "But I'm hopeful that I'll be able to make one myself within the next few months. If you're willing to wait, I am open to selling you the next one."

"Deal!" Haynt jumped at the offer without hesitation.

And so ended the first meeting between Jake and Haynt. On a deal.