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7.57% The Oracle Paths / Chapter 90: The Seventh Stat

Kapitel 90: The Seventh Stat

The Violet Aether. The Seventh Stat. Following the logical order of the rainbow colours, it was an expected revelation. The pure Aether that was absorbed and then compressed upon the death of a creature was white. In other words, an amalgamation of the different types of Aether.

However, it should not be forgotten that the colors and different types of Aether did not really exist. A body was by default imbued with a certain amount of Aether depending on its world of origin. There was no distinction between strength, constitution and agility.

The encoded Aether simply attached the Aether to our bodies by encrypting it. This forced it to follow certain routes and behave in a certain way that amplified the desired faculties. So what could this Violet Aether possibly be ?

Jake had his own thoughts on the matter. Generally speaking, Red, Orange, Yellow and Green affected the body, Cyan and Indigo affected the brain and sensory organs. In other words, our consciousness, our perception of the world.

These colors were connected to each other. The nervous system was modified when one gained in strength or agility, became more resilient when one gained in constitution or vitality.

The first six stats, despite the distinction between the physical and the mental, were still based on the human body itself. The Aether only amplified existing functions. Therefore, the seventh stat had to touch the mind and spirit, but without this direct connection to the physical body. More simply, the soul.

"Does it concern the soul, or the psychic realm? " Jake investigated, deciding to test his hypotheses.

Lu Yan, who hadn't spoken much so far, tapped his brother's shoulder to let her take over.

"The Violet Aether is called Extrasensory Perception by the Oracle System. " The shy young woman merely stated. "At first glance, its effect is not much different from classical perception. To be honest, in my case, it's even less effective. »

"What do you mean? »

"First of all, I' d have to explain why I unlocked it so early and you didn't..." Lu Yan stammered, suddenly looking at her feet in embarrassment.

"I'll take care of it, sis. " Her brother intervened to help her out of the predicament with a conciliatory smile. He knew exactly what was bothering her.

Lu Yifeng stared at Jake and Kyle in turn, feeling awkward about it as well. Finally, after taking a deep breath, he resolved to spill the beans.

"Simply put, we're idiots. All of us. Lu Yan has been an exceptional genius since childhood. A genuine one. An IQ higher than 210, perfect pitch, 25/10 of visual acuity (it really exists: the person in question can read newspaper characters of 1mm at a distance of 5m), and can see Ultraviolet (the normal human has 3 cones to see colors: blue, red and green, some very rare have a 4th one. So they see colors you have never seen before).

"Basically, her intelligence and senses are unique. Her Body Status indicated 21 of intelligence and 20 of perception as soon as she received her Oracle. It is suspected that these are the or one of the conditions required to unlock Extrasensory Perception. »

Jake's ego had just taken a hit. Even though there were many gifted people in his family, it was still classic giftedness. 150 or 160 IQs for the best of them. Impressive and unattainable for most, but in the realm of the possible. In comparison, Lu Yan was a real oddity.

"I don't think that's enough to unlock the seventh stat, otherwise our robots equipped with a quantum computer processor would have long since developed psychic abilities. " Jake pointed out a flaw in Lu Yifeng's explanation.

"Indeed. "The young Asian boy nodded." Even on earth you may have heard of mentalists, psychics, fortune tellers, people who are luckier than others, or who claim to have excellent instincts. »

"Mmmm..." Jake didn't dare contradict him, even though it was superstitious bullshit to him.

"Of course, all these people are fakes. " Lu Yifeng immediately explained himself when he saw Jake and Kyle's puzzled expression in front of him. "Most of them are quacks, and those who formally believed it cannot pass the test of a serious double-blind study. »

"So?" Kyle interrupted him, not sure what he was getting at.

"And so, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist or that it never existed. There really are some strange phenomena. It's just that most of the time it acts below the level of evidence required to be authenticated. Lu Yan is one of those cases.

" We realized at an early age that she won abnormally often at games of chance and that her decisions were often correct when instinct or luck was the only decision-making element present. »

"Couldn't it just be a subconscious instinct? "Jake immediately disputed in good Cartesian.

"After all, if her brain processes information faster and her senses are much more developed, she may be absorbing and processing a lot of information she is not aware of. Body language, the look, a texture, the smell of the wind, instinct may seem supernatural, but it responds to a logical explanation. »

"Hmm, you're not wrong. "Lu Yifeng admitted it was a valid argument. "But we think it's just the second condition. With great intelligence and sharp senses, we can develop a kind of sixth sense, which synthesizes the information recorded by our senses and interprets it. According to Lu Yan, this would open the door to Extrasensory Perception. »

Jake wasn't at all convinced by that speech. Artificial intelligence on earth was well developed in the 22nd century. It was perfectly possible to create a robot more intelligent than Lu Yan and capable of perceiving much more information in its environment, such as electromagnetism or X- and gamma rays. This probably had to exist, at least experimentally.

Lu Yan suddenly realized that they were mistaken about Extrasensory Perception, as was his brother. She tried to clarify her brother's words in her small voice.

"I unlocked the seventh Aether stat when I received my bracelet, but that doesn't mean you don't have that stat too. Like the other Aether stats, we all had 10 points by default on earth. It's the same with the violet Aether.

"I only unlocked it because the Oracle System deemed the requirements were met. All the missions and quests that I've done in Trial Worlds have given me a lot of points, making me rank 3, almost rank 4. This is a special reward. And my real feeling was that the Oracle considered that I had already participated in several Ordeals. Some kind of bug, even though I don't think this artificial intelligence can bug. »

It was plausible, thought Jake.

'What do you think, Xi?'

[It is likely.] She confirmed in a dull tone.

[ The Ordeals are extremely important to the Oracle. Conflicts between Universes are resolved in part through these Ordeals, and they are very important to the Oracle's growth. If the Oracle has deemed that she has exceptional talent to succeed in these Ordeals, and meets the necessary conditions, a reward like this makes perfect sense].

'I see...'

"Lu Yan, were you the best at Trial Worlds, or were other people better than you? " Jake suddenly changed the subject.

"I don't know about that. There were only a few thousand players playing at that time. " She tried to remember the events not without some difficulty. " I think I was average. I was finishing the levels, but my final score wasn't exceptional. I don't think I was even in the top 2000 ranking of professional players. »

That was good news and bad news. It meant that mankind had many more prodigies than he had imagined and that their odds were not so bad. Even at the beginning of the 21st century, the absolute IQ record was 234, but many thought that this was incorrect, that IQ tests were simply inadequate. If that was true, it changed many things.

Most of these geniuses had undoubtedly been approached and then recruited by the Earth Government. Others like Lu Yan had probably refused, because they were too young or wanted to keep their freedom.

That was the bad news. If he met such people in his Ordeal, he would surely be a pawn at the mercy of their schemes. He could only hope that they were as far away from him as possible and that his Ordeal would not be affected.

It was the first time he had ever felt helpless. He felt like a kindergarten child having to prepare for a big debate on General Relativity against Einstein himself. A painful experience. Especially for Einstein...

In conclusion, he absolutely had to get smarter. The problem was that it would take a lot of Aether to do that. A lot of Aether.

He realized then that the most important question had not been asked.

" What does Extrasensory Perception do?"


AUTORENGEDANKEN
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It gives you extrasensory perception. Next question. I'm kidding.

No mass release finally because I'm saving them for a TGIF event. Webnovel organizes them almost every week, and it gives a better exposure for my webnovel, so be patient for a few more days. :)

Kapitel 91: Beginning of a new alliance

Lu Yifeng appealed to his sister on this matter. Who better to answer than the one who had experienced its benefits first hand. The young woman in question shrugged her shoulders while rubbing her chin as she contemplated her explanation with some degree of frustration.

"It's not that simple to explain. You have to live it to make the difference. "Lu Yan attempted a timid, hesitant response. " Basically, the answer's in the name. But I wasn't lying when I said it was of little use to me now. »

"What do you mean? " Jake asked, inviting her to elaborate further.

"Well, what is not perceivable by our senses or our technology?" She addressed him with another question, whose answer was quite evident.

There were only two things he knew that technology could not detect. What had to do with the soul or the spiritual realm. That was why it was called the paranormal. If it was normal, it wouldn't be so hard to verify.

The other thing their technology couldn't detect was the Aether. We could detect gravity waves, the Higgs boson or Quarks, but Aether was out of their reach. Other things might have been undetectable that he didn't know of.

" This is exactly like that. And that's why it's useless to me right now. " The reserved young woman confirmed her deductions after reading his expression changes.

" Because the Oracle device already allows us to see the Aether? " Kyle made his first and last intelligent remark of the entire conversation at that very moment.

"That's right! "Lu Yan validated his theory, the Playboy feeling like a schoolboy who just got a good mark.

"You can't really see the Aether, but you can feel it. " The older brother added his own personal touch.

"Yeah, that's the most important thing. I can feel the Aether flow very faintly as it passes through me, and the one in the air that comes into contact with my body and that I breathe. Unfortunately, I can't do anything with it. »

Jake meditated on this fact for a brief moment, untying his crossed legs, then straightening up to get the blood moving.

"I can think of only one reason for this. "He suddenly theorized out loud, to make his point. "Aether only amplifies the capacities of our bodies, just like the properties of matter or energy.A simple multiplier. Our muscles are stronger, an object will be sturdier, and so on and so forth. I suppose the reason why the effect is so limited is because our bodies are missing a crucial element.

"A soul. »

The two siblings looked at each other for a brief moment before turning their attention to Jake. They had made the right choice for their alliance. Now they had to hope it wouldn't backfire.

"My sister and I feel the same way. But Lu Yan has an interesting theory. You may have noticed that among the sub-attributes of intelligence is 'control'? »

" Yes, indeed... " Jake had repeatedly wondered what the differences were between the control provided by agility and that of intelligence. It was obvious by now.

"Well, so the whole idea is that it's about mind control, brain control. First of all, it increases willpower, emotional or attention control. Kind of like an advanced meditation practitioner. But on a higher level, we think it's about accessing and controlling this Aether flowing through us. Without perception, there's no control. The seventh stat opens the door to control not only our mind, but our environment.

"If we can influence and use this Aether as fuel with our minds, then we will have a stable soul, even if our bodies wither away. That's the key I think to evolving beyond our limitations. »

This was opening up brand new perspectives. The discovery of the violet Aether's role as well as the existence of thousands of prodigies eclipsing it intellectually had altered his plans dramatically. Of the 21 Aether points he had left, he immediately spent 16 to increase his Aether Intelligence by one point.

He suddenly felt the clarity of his mind improving, as if the fog was gradually dissipating. He was not yet as clear as he had been before his transformation into a Throsgenian, but it was already much better.

When he suddenly became clever again, he realized that one quickly got used to being stupid. Maybe that explained why so many people thought they were always right, or why so few thought they were dumb. Yet it was well known that we were all someone's fool.

Gaining control over one's emotions and focus made a very real difference in a context where spikes in Throsgenian hormones made him moody.

"It's our turn to ask one last question. "Lu Yifeng abruptly changed the subject, calling the debate closed. " You're from another Red Cube right? So I'm guessing you know some of these slaves. Is there anyone we should be wary of? »

Jake pointed his gaze at Yerode and Lamine who were eating silently crouched against another column. They too had chosen to keep a low profile.

"The tall one with darker skin and a sharp body is Yerode, the leader of a mercenary group and a criminal. The man standing next to him, who had lost his long beard at the barber's earlier, is Lamine, a skilled marksman. He can see in the dark and never misses his target. It's not good to be a woman with them around. »

As he said this, Jake glanced insistently and meaningfully at the shy young woman, who from the beginning had not spoken much, often leaving her brother to answer in her stead. He hoped for her that her talent in Trial Worlds wasn't limited to virtual reality.

Hearing Jake's warning, Lu Yifeng's eyelids suddenly contracted, before relaxing again. The Chinese man cast a vicious glance at the African guy, as if to warn him that if he came near his sister he would pay the price. Naturally, Yerode couldn't care less, continuing to gulp down its foul porridge with little spirit.

"My turn to ask one last question and it will be the same one. Do we have to pay attention to anyone in particular ? »

Lu Yifeng pointed straight at the taciturn Middle Eastern man. The same man who had received, like Jake, a teasing wink from the wife of Servius Cassius. After having his head and body shaved, it had become almost impossible to determine the ethnicity of the participants.

"He was in the same camp as us. He's Lebanese, former firefighter. His wife and daughter were devoured before his eyes by Digestors, hence his expression of 'I have a grudge against the whole world'. I think he's a good guy, but in his current state I think it's better not to provoke him. We've seen him in action, and he's surprisingly powerful for an ordinary fireman...

"Apart from him, that fat guy over there with the freckles is Hugo. Kind of goofy, not mean. The skinny young lady at the next table is Miya.She doesn't talk, but nobody in her original group dared to bother her. »

The woman in question could not be considered pretty, or even charming. Being only skin and bones and with her short hair, she could have been mistaken for a man with an androgynous morphology.

After that, the siblings said goodbye to them, returning to their spot. There was no point in rushing their collaboration. As long as they didn't harm each other and shared their information, it was good enough.

Jake and Kyle who were done eating waited patiently for the dinner to finish so they could get back to their room. The gladiators bearing the mark of Servius Cassius were taking a wicked pleasure in feasting as slowly as possible, laughing and commenting incessantly on how delicious their meal was.

At last, when they realized that their playact had left the new recruits completely indifferent, they quickly finished eating before returning to their quarters, leaving the recruits to their own devices.

Priscus appeared out of nowhere, clapping his hands to guide them to the dormitories. It went exactly as he had described to them earlier in the day.

The nicest rooms with windows had been occupied by the first arrivals, but he mischievously reminded them that it was up to them to agree on who would sleep where. Once the veteran gladiator was gone, the tone quickly rose, soon turning into heated disputes.

Minutes later, the first fights broke out. The more aggressive and confident ones tried to impose themselves, throwing out the belongings of the previous occupants of the rooms they had chosen. The Throsgenians' short fuse temperament came to the fore at the worst possible moment, the situation escalating in a snap into a full-scale brawl.

As for Jake, he just threw himself on the first straw mattress at the entrance of the corridor, falling asleep immediately. He would have plenty of time to fight in the days to come.


AUTORENGEDANKEN
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I plan to rework the first chapters (especially the first 30-35) in the coming weeks to make them more fluid, even if it means deleting some passages. I would appreciate if you could give me your feeling on what bothered you in the beginning of the story, since the main criticisms I get are in the beginning. You can give your opinions in comments or via discord.

Thank you for those who will take the trouble to answer, it will help me a lot.

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