The Oracle Paths

"Jake, reinforcements are gonna find us any second now." Hephais telepathically warned him, as if reminding him that if he intended to do something about the deaths in their regiment, he had to act fast.

Somewhat mentally foggy after his incredible exertion, Jake frowned, mulling over the issue before forcing himself to snap his fingers. The mutilated body of Sank-Uk instantly reassembled as if time had just been rewound.

The expressions of the commander and other recruits witnessing the scene couldn't have been more dumbstruck. Ironically, the fact that Meribelle had just reverted from a shriveled old hag back to a dark-haired, ageless beauty didn't even faze them.

The female Soulmancer was also utterly shocked, staring petrified at the skin of her dainty hands that had miraculously regained their elasticity. Unlike these clueless conscripts, she knew enough to realize that without the help of an artifact, this kind of miraculous ability was solely the domain of the most powerful Lifemancers.

But if such a Lifemancer did exist, their spiritual strength should have been lagging. Even if their souls were far more potent than their peers, they'd be lacking compared to a Soulmancer.

That was not the vibe she got from this foreigner at all... His life force was an aberration, but his Spirit Power was even more so!

If before the Oracle Shield conjured by Hephais had blocked her from sensing his aura, now that it had been dispelled, the new Lumyst Aura radiating from Jake was visible and perceptible to all.

And it was just... terrifying.

[Aura of Lumyst: Enemies Killed: 2,756,893, Souls Harvested: 439,854. Stat boosts: 28,792%]

A boost of 28.8% wasn't that impressive, but this was Jake we're talking about. He was just built different.

The number of enemies he'd have to kill to advance his aura to the next stage was off the charts. The limitations that the laws of this world imposed on him were still almost as strong, barely weakened, while such an aura would have allowed any rookie to lift all their constraints.

[That means it's easier for weaker Players to regain their full strength.] Xi deduced cautiously. [Depending on the number of stages this Lumyst Aura has, a few thousand kills might suffice for the weakest among them.]

Jake rolled his eyes upon hearing her latest warning. Weakling be weakling. Even if they were given back their full powers, he wasn't afraid.

'Too bad, it seems I've accidentally devoured or refined all the wandering souls belonging to other victims on the battlefield.' Jake sighed inwardly on his end, feeling a tad guilty as he checked his status. The compact and bright blue-black spectral aura covering his skin was irrefutable proof.

Only Sank-Uk seemed to have had enough spiritual strength to barely resist his subconscious omnidirectional pull.

[Well, your Cosmic Fairy Hatchery will offer them a second life.] Xi half-joked, aware that this argument was shaky. [Only as your Familiars, though.]

'True.' Jake chuckled awkwardly upon hearing the bluntness of her words.

Like Jeanie or Trash Runt, these poor recruits sacrificed for not much had indeed a shot at a second life as long as the data of their souls had been correctly assimilated by his cells.

He managed to console himself by thinking that none of his Fairy Spirits seemed unhappy. As to whether they were genuinely their own selves or only had the illusion of it, that was an entirely different debate...

"Wh-How is this possible? I'm sure my brains were splattered all over the place," Sank-Uk exclaimed, dumbfounded, even pinching his leg to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

But the stunned expressions of the seven other surviving recruits were irrefutable. The demoted commander had undeniably been resurrected.

"If you value your lives, tell no one what has just happened here," Soulmancer Meribelle sternly warned the seven remaining recruits, locking eyes with each of them.

Her pupils flashed a spectral light of pale blue as if to gauge their inner reaction to her command. Without hesitation, she crushed the souls of two of the remaining seven, reducing their number to five.

Seeing the shocked and frightened expressions of the remaining recruits, she shrugged matter-of-factly, "They were planning to snitch."

"What a shame…" Ekho snorted regretfully, noticing that one of the two executed recruits was a woman. The other male barbarians seemed to share his sentiment, based on their disappointed sighs.

So now, only Ekho, the mummified soldier, the bourgeois with the enchanted axe, and two women—one ugly and one not so ugly, depending on taste—remained among the recruits. Much to the remaining recruits' dismay, it had to be the prettiest of the three who intended to betray them.

What made it more amusing was that the Soulmancer King was likely hiding among these five and was renowned for being exceptionally beautiful. Except now, it was clear that the beauty of these five clowns was at best mediocre, with only the blue-blooded recruit qualifying as passable.

'Does he really think we can't find him if he changes his appearance?' Jake and Hephais couldn't help but be speechless, contemplating the futility of such a disguise.

If this Soulmancer King wasn't too disappointing, he should already know that his identity had long been exposed by the two foreigners. His disguise was merely to fool his own people.

Although Jake readily admitted that the latter's ability to completely suppress his fluctuations was nothing short of impeccable. It wasn't his acting skills that gave him away but Meribelle's lack of composure.

The footsteps of the approaching reinforcements, which only Jake and Hephais could hear, soon became audible to all. Meribelle shot them a final glare, making a "zip it" gesture.

"I talk, and you just nod enthusiastically," she summarized in a thinly veiled menacing tone.

The five remaining recruits frantically nodded in agreement, and the next second, thousands of barbarians in tight formation emerged from the fog. Their commander and his steed led them, surveying the field of corpses with extreme solemnity.

He was an even taller and more muscular barbarian than Sank-Uk, with a skin tone darker than most of his kind. With his long mane of gray braided hair and constantly pursed but gaunt cheeks, he looked utterly unapproachable. His massive mount, whose hooves were as wide as a mammoth's feet, only accentuated this first impression.

Spotting the nine survivors, the stern gaze of the horseman was immediately drawn to Jake's stifling aura (which he had already retracted) and to a lesser extent, those of Hephais, Sank-Uk, and Meribelle. These four had a lot of blood on their hands.

The other five recruits weren't bad either—at least for conscripts who had just been thrown into their first battle without proper gear. With just a glance, he could tell they'd also racked up some kills.

The stark contrast between the majority of corpses littering the ground being of the same race as him and the scant number of enemy dead made this band of survivors all the more suspicious. Faced with this, the newcomer grimly narrowed his eyes and demanded in a no-bullshit tone,

"State your name and rank. What happened here? If I don't like your answer, you're coming with me."

Soulmancer Meribelle, who had already prepped her lines, confidently stepped forward, clearly unfazed by this tough guy, and opened her mouth.

"Soulmancer Merib—"

But just as she was about to spill the beans, a message dropped from the sky into the hands of the commander of this new regiment. Unfurling the scroll to read its contents, his expression changed. The chilling trumpet of a retreating Vorzhul also echoed from somewhere above them, indicating the origin of the message.

"No need to say more... I know what happened," the barbarian commented, his face unintentionally twisted in disbelief. "The reconquest of Havocspire is... complete."

*****

Two days later, Jake and his motley crew finally crossed the towering Ironsoul Rampart alongside millions of confused conscripts to join the official battlefield on the other side. The wall was as awe-inspiring as they'd imagined, towering over 5 kilometers high and with stones so smooth that climbing it was virtually impossible.

Due to many units barely escaping annihilation, it was decided that all these troops would first pass through the wall under the watchful eye of a squad of Soulmancers before being reassigned to a appropriate regiment on the other side.

So, all these barbarians marching eastward with haggard faces in a long, chaotic procession had at least one thing in common: They were no longer greenhorns.

They had thrown themselves heart and soul into their first battle and lived to tell the tale. They should've been proud and happy, but alas, most had ended up distressed by the experience.

PTSD in all its glory.

In the end, the commander who stumbled upon them two days ago had bigger fish to fry, and Meribelle didn't have to justify their deeds. For unspoken reasons, Sank-Uk had to claim most of the kills, with the rest being evenly allocated among the recruits to allow Jake and Hephais to stay incognito. Or almost.

Officially, they were all now 10-man commanders, aka squad leaders or second-rate lieutenants. The paradox was that everyone had already chosen to join Jake's squad for the upcoming battle.

An unknown 10-man commander with a former 3000-man commander, a admired female Soulmancer, and six soldiers of the same rank... That was bound to draw attention.

Exactly five days after Jake's arrival on Twyluxia, he and his squad finally sighted the fortified camp where they were supposed to receive their new gear and assignments. The hazing was finally over.