The Oracle Paths

939 Sorry. Don't Mind Me.

"You decide, Jake." Hade relented.

To him, vacillating in uncertainty was worse than making a wrong decision. Asfrid and Lucia seemed to share this belief, for they fell silent at once, turning to Jake as if awaiting his verdict.

Will's lips twitched with dissatisfaction, but ultimately he wasn't the leader of the Myrtharian Nerds. Jake offered a wry smile upon seeing his sullen expression. The merchant had strained to persuade them to choose either Faction Citizens or Faction Territorial Aura, to no avail.

None of them were fools, and they had no trouble discerning his intentions. By offering asylum to as many Civilians as possible, then providing them with work and decent pay, they could be exploited for a steady and continuous flow of profit through low-cost labor.

Without one of these two Faction Skills, it was entirely possible to house these refugees on their territory and even grant them citizen status in a fabricated nation of their choice, but this status would confer no advantages or guarantees. Only the promise of safety would remain valid, but Jake and his faction would be under no obligation to honor their commitments.

Viewed in this light, joining the territory of a malevolent Evolver could be akin to leaping into the jaws of a wolf. That's why, apart from a few naive or desperate individuals, most people preferred to live miserably in an Oracle Shelter rather than migrate to a Floating Island of an Evolver who refused to admit them into their own faction.

If Jake had chosen Faction Citizens or Faction Territorial Aura and paid the 10 quadrillion Aether points required to activate the permanent faction skill for each of these Civilians, he would have provided an absolute guarantee in the first case and evidence of his good faith in the second.

After all, while Faction Territorial Aura did not make these Civilians full-fledged faction members, who would be willing to spend 10 quadrillion Aether points for each of them? If Jake were genuinely prepared to pay such a sum, Will was certain that he would only have to spread the news via the Oracle System across B842 to see billions of desperate humans and aliens flocking to the gates of their Yellow Cubes.

Unfortunately for the merchant, Jake, like Hade, Lucia, and Asfrid, didn't care about welcoming all these refugees to put them to work. These Civilians could seek shelter under their wings and search for their protection, but they only wanted truly useful Evolvers in their faction, worthy of investing in.

The refugees Jake had recruited before his Fourth Ordeal during the Dungeon Digestor incident were exceptions, benefiting from unique circumstances. Some had proven their worth, like Nicolet or Ingranus The Bold, but even if the majority had shed their cowardice, their level and character still left much to be desired.

After Lucia, Asfrid, Gerulf, Rogen, Ulfar, and their elites joined the Myrtharian Nerds, the contrast between these refugees and them became even more pronounced, with their performance during the Fourth Ordeal being subpar.

Although Jake didn't intend to refuse all the Quanoth natives they had saved, he was already considering expelling those who were unqualified in the future. Of course, his goal wasn't to abandon them. By then, a second or even a third faction would have been created to care for them. This could be seen as the second or third division of a soccer team.

In that case, it would only take the appointment of a trustworthy Myrtharian Nerd veteran, no longer intending to partake in the Ordeals, to lead them. One of his abilities would then become the new Permanent Passive Faction Skill for these new vassal factions. As long as the Myrtharian Nerds and these vassal factions were bound by a legitimate Oracle Contract, there would be no issue.

Seen this way, Faction Expansion was not necessarily a better choice, as the 50% nerf and the requirement for these subordinate factions to have the same faction skills could, in fact, hinder them.

Thus, since Jake only planned to recruit talented members in his main faction, capable of performing highly during the Ordeals or outside, there remained only three valid choices:

Megafaction, Faction Diplomacy, and Warrior Faction.

As Faction Diplomacy did not allow for overcoming the inherent member limit, Jake automatically excluded it from his selection list, reducing the number of options to two.

One could argue that for a faction composed almost exclusively of fighters, the ability to access the Faction Skills of an allied faction, even nerfed, was an intriguing advantage. The snag was that the benefit compared to the massive number of members they could recruit with the other two skills was clearly insignificant.

That is, unless they allied with an extraordinary faction like Demiurges or Lost Divinities, but even these superfactions favored the other options. In the long run, more population was always preferable.

In the end, Faction Diplomacy was best suited for those small factions of only a few individuals for whom an extra skill could directly reflect on their combat prowess.

After checking the information on Megafaction and Warrior Faction one last time, Jake spoke aloud, "I won't repeat everything we've discussed previously, so let's focus on Megafaction and Warrior Faction. Megafaction is the default, balanced choice. There are no loopholes to exploit with this skill, but it also has no real flaws. Its reliability and predictability make it appealing."

Will reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"On the other hand," Jake continued, "Warrior Faction allows for temporarily recruiting more members at equal faction level but has more drawbacks. However, as long as we're not in a total and ongoing war with another faction, we can maximize its benefits. For example, by planning our Ordeal days or missions. The problem is that we cannot predict the future. If tomorrow we're invaded by an infinite horde of Digestors, or worse, other factions, our temporary army of a few months would become our weakness.

"At first glance, one might think that Warrior Faction is more interesting in the long run. For each additional level, the duration this temporary army can be maintained increases by over nine days. Assuming our faction can reach a high enough level, this army could then be maintained indefinitely, outperforming Megafaction by a factor of 50.

"But that's a sham. To accomplish this feat, we must raise our faction level to 37. Not to mention the amount of Aether points required for all these upgrades, the real obstacle is the Oracle Rank. The highest Oracle Rank I know of, thanks to my Al, is General, corresponding to Oracle Rank 21. We must not be misled by my Oracle Rank 17 of Colonel. Even though only four ranks separate these two grades, I am certain that climbing so high in the Mirror Universe hierarchy is not so eas-"

A cough interrupted his speech. All eyes turned to the culprit, Will. Nonetheless, Jake noticed that Lucia was also trembling with surprise. He could see that her gaze burned with a mix of pride and competitiveness...

"Sorry. Don't mind me." Will awkwardly apologized, rubbing his sore chest. "I was just surprised. And to think I was proud of reaching Grade 13 of First Lieutenant..."

It was no small feat for a merchant like him.

Asfrid gently patted him on the back to console him, but though she wore a calmer facade, deep down she was just as disheartened.

Hade was undoubtedly the most disappointed, especially after Lucia lifted her chin, boasting through gritted teeth, "Hmmph! You've bested me by one rank, Jake.

I'm merely a Lieutenant Colonel..."

Her face softened, and she added cheerfully, giving him a playful wink, "I wouldn't expect anything less from my boyfriend."

Jake just wanted to vanish into the earth. Where was the shy, introverted princess he had met in a dingy antique infirmary four Ordeals earlier?

In the end, he was saved by Hade and Asfrid, who also shared their Oracle Ranks. Both were one rank below Lucia, as Majors. Asfrid was just at the beginning of Oracle Rank 15, while Hade was only a few Ordeal Credits short of reaching Rank 16. That amounted to nearly an 800 Credit difference.

Alas, only the results mattered. Hade had indeed been outclassed by Jake and Lucia, despite his vast experience and an overwhelming advantage during his first three Ordeals.

"Cough, to return to the matter at hand..." Jake raised his voice to conceal his embarrassment. "Even if there were 16 Oracle Ranks existing beyond General, which I highly doubt, even including nobility ranks, it's so remote that if we ever reach that Rank, the advantage of Warrior Faction over Megafaction would likely no longer matter. And who knows if by then we won't be able to choose another Faction Skill in that vein, like at level 20 or 30?

"Consequently, I advocate for choosing Megafaction." He concluded calmly.

This time, no one, not even Will, contested his decision. All that remained was to select the final Faction Skill unlocked at level 12, which was more conventional.

Following the Fourth Ordeal, where they were often separated, sometimes by vast distances, United We Stand could not always be utilized to its fullest extent. When the Lost Divinities tested them after their conquest of Laudarkvik, the Myrtharian Nerds were, in fact, scattered across Quanoth to pilfer the liquid alloy from stray Players under Jake's orders.

These vicious deities had indeed exploited their isolation into small squads to ambush them simultaneously and teach them a lesson. Thus, in the spirit of Vitality Link, Jake and his friends decided on another Faction Skill from the same series: Space Link.