The Oracle Paths

Approximately three hours later, the shadowy and sinister outlines of a city loomed in the distance. The officer leading the procession abruptly ceased his chanting and halted. Clad in his distinctive armor, he was easily recognizable.

To be precise, his equipment was a hodgepodge of rudimentary designs, mismatched, and failing to fully cover his body. But Jake, with his experience as a blacksmith and keen eye for quality materials, knew its strength was exceptional. Compared to their tattered rags, it was like night and day.

The helmet, in particular, intrigued him. At first glance, it appeared an ordinary steel helm, but with his heightened senses, Jake felt a mysterious spiritual resonance vibrating from the object. It hinted at something more, something that would not be easily marred or broken.

'Must be some form of enchantment, indigenous to this world,' Jake deduced, recalling that his mission briefing mentioned the term Spirit Enchanter.

After observing this helmet, he was almost certain that their enchanting methods differed from his own, rooted in the etching of Aether Symbols and Runes. Whereas smaller Aether Symbols allowed him to add functionality, the power of his enchantments relied on the available energy source, such as an Aether Core or ambient Aether.

The enchantment behind this helmet was of an entirely different nature, more spiritual. It was as if the object, not initially at its full potential, had its spirituality awakened, transcending its initial limitations. Aether played no part in it.

Discovering an enchantment method he did not know, one that did not conflict with his Aetherist ways, immediately piqued his curiosity.

'I need to meet one of these Spirit Enchanters at the earliest opportunity,' Jake reminded himself, tearing his eyes away from the officer's helmet to refocus on the landscape.

The journey thus far had been peaceful, but Jake, who fancied himself well-versed in the wonders of the Universe, was nonetheless taken aback several times while crossing the desolate, grim gray lands of the Duskwight Lands.

The soil was parched and cracked; vegetation was limited to a few withered shrubs and sickly, dark plants; now and then, unnerving peaks, ridges, and hills swarmed with wandering souls in endemic quantities.

These wandering souls were visible to all, sometimes even passing through them, though most kept their distance from the regiment. It was the Soulmancer, floating in the sky above, that they seemed to fear, emitting an aura that simultaneously attracted and repelled them.

There were also more tangible souls, emitting a spectral, oppressive aura. Unlike the aimless and harmless wandering spirits, these stared with evident greed. Once again, it was the presence of the Soulmancer that held them at bay, but their overt hostility indicated that they did so begrudgingly.

Beyond these wandering souls, they crossed paths with numerous other soldier processions. Most were conscripts heading in the same direction, but occasionally, they marched the opposite way, escorting wagon convoys laden with rarely intact corpses.

These grim sights and the stench of rotting flesh assaulting their senses were but a foretaste of what awaited them. If the officer hadn't made them sing along with him, the terrified conscripts would have fallen silent much earlier.

For that same reason, as soon as the officer ceased his song, the rest of the barbarian cohort quickly and thankfully followed suit. Jake, weary of humming the refrain, was more than happy to mimic them.

At that precise moment, the Soulmancer, who had been hovering high above and never paid them a glance, descended toward the halted regiment like a phantom and spoke,

"We are about to reach Grimstone Keep. Further North runs the Lumyst River, while 60 kilometers to the east lies Havocspire Citadel, and even farther east, the Ironsoul Rampart. Beyond that, we enter a vast neutral zone about 5000 kilometers wide that separates Twyluxia in two and serves as the border between our Duskwight Lands and the Lustra Plains. The battlefields where you'll be dispatched are located there. Grimstone Keep and Havocspire Citadel were hastily constructed for this war and serve as headquarters, resupply points, and rest for our wounded soldiers and troops on leave. All the facilities you may need are there, but staying isn't cheap. For those who survive to their first leave or are tempted to fall back, relying on their meager savings, know that the currency accepted here is your merit points. Every deed and contribution you make during this war will be recorded by the badge in your pocket."

The old man, draped in a luxurious satin black robe, waved his hand to punctuate the end of his speech, and suddenly Jake and the others felt a hard object in one of their pockets.

Reaching in, they pulled out a tiny black skull the size of a die, with twelve spikes forming a crown of thorns around its head. Wisps of blue fire burned ominously in its eye sockets, giving the illusion that the skull was meticulously monitoring their every move.

'That's a clever trick,' Jake chuckled inwardly, instantly deducing how this "badge" had appeared so suddenly in his pocket.

He had distinctly felt the presence of an invisible spectral entity placing it in his pocket, and if he was not mistaken, it could phase through space, an ability he was temporarily deprived of.

[This guy doesn't seem any more powerful than you, so if he can use these powers, you should be able to as well,] Xi said, echoing his desire.

Jake said nothing, but his gaze was fixed on the dense cluster of evil spiritual energy enveloping the old man. Through his Cosmic Eye, he discerned it as a form of solidified killing intent—but it was more than that. It was mainly the astronomical mass of vengeful souls fused to this aura that made it so terrifying.

Terrifying enough to partially resist the limitations affecting all living beings traversing Twyluxia. It was an aura he and the other conscripts lacked entirely, while the officer had one of negligible quality compared to the old man's floating in the sky.

Still, this came as no surprise to Jake. By probing the brains of his future comrades-in-arms, he'd already learned what it was and how to obtain it.

In Twyluxia, the leveling system was straightforward. The laws of this world made Aether inaccessible and magic nearly impossible, but the Aether did not simply vanish; life would be impossible if it did. Instead, it entered matter and energy, enhancing their stability and tolerance to the Aether.

That's why these natives were all so strong and robust, to the point that even mere peasants could endure such gravity. As for magic and how to lift the intrinsic limitations imposed on them by Twyluxia, the Duskwight Lands and the Lustra Plains had their own methods.

The energy needed to fuel their spells was replaced by Lumyst Water, but its properties differed depending on which half of the river it was harvested from. That from the Lustra Plains was called Life Lumyst Water, while that from the Duskwight Lands was directly opposed and named Spirit Lumyst Water.

Each side wanted what the other did not have, but while Life Lumyst Water benefited the living, it had no harmful effects on their spirits. Conversely, Spirit Lumyst Water was like an elixir of youth for wandering souls and spirits in general, but it was entirely toxic to the living.

Jake found the Underworld Barbarians to be strong, but the truth was that their constitution had gradually adapted over millennia by enduring the spectral aura emitted in small doses by their side of the Lumyst River. In reality, they were pitifully weak compared to the Light Warriors of the Lustra Plains, as well as having a considerably shorter lifespan.

But the Spirit Lumyst Water wasn't all downside; those who survived its prolonged exposure, at the cost of their life expectancy, would ultimately develop unmatched mental agility and ethereal strength.

The first to bathe at the foot of the Underworld Cascade had paved the way for the professions of Soulmancers and Spirit Enchanters. It also provided a practical solution to make the Underworld Barbarians more powerful and enable them to live longer.

After a painful baptism with Spirit Lumyst Water—which wasn't always necessary if they had been extensively exposed to its aura—a Soulmancer or Spirit Enchanter would bless them by imprinting an eternal mark upon their soul.

It worked somewhat like a Soul Glyph, Jake immediately thought, and once activated, each Underworld Barbarian would become capable of cultivating their spectral aura, fusing souls and killing intent by slaughtering their enemies on the battlefield.

The more they killed, the more Twyluxia's limitations on them would diminish, until they ultimately regained their connection with the Aether, and with that connection, an infinity of possibilities.