Jake had no expectations in looking for them, since their Oracle Ranks surpassed his own, but if they wished to be found it was possible. If they were smart, they would have made it as close as they could to make it as easy as possible for him. Anyone still alive would have understood the true nature of this labyrinth long ago. It was the lack of Soul Stones that was the issue.
He wished to locate Ruby and Bawopi, but it turned out that the Nosk did not wish to be found. Luckily, his Shadow Guide gave him a direction when he tried to locate the young woman.
Once the target was pinpointed, Jake set off immediately. After almost two weeks of slow recovery, he needed to keep his mind busy. His Aetheric and physical stats had increased slightly after all the fighting and he was close to creating his Aether Core. He felt stronger than ever.
Chapter 4/4.
This Ordeal is coming to its end. Depending on how I cut it, there's two or three chapters left before the closing.
I am aware that for some, this Ordeal has lasted too long. It was not intentional on my part. I just followed my initial outline, but I had initially estimated the duration of the Ordeal to be between 70 and 90 chapters.
Maybe if I read it again in the future, I will be able to condense and eliminate certain sections to make it more impactful, but I doubt it will be possible to reduce it that much. The Ordeal was quite complex, and it was even more difficult to write because I had so many options to choose from.
The lesson for the next Ordeal is that I will plan my outline more precisely to avoid spilling over from one chapter to the next, but unfortunately, this is also what negatively impacts the desire to write. For those who are not aware of it, Webnovels are essentially first drafts with the exception of some Chinese translations of completed and edited web novels. It's, I think, impossible to make a perfect score in these kinds of circumstances where I try to publish every day. Some may succeed, though.