"Hmmm? What?!" Jake sprung from his seat when he heard Xi whisper a disturbing development to him.
"Is something wrong, Jake?" Will asked in a worried tone as Jake began to react so alarmed for no reason at all.
They had only been sitting around a table talking for a few minutes and had barely managed to break the ice by forcing Vincent to sit with them with difficulty.
His pale blue skin contrasted sharply with the more tanned skin of the others present, but no one seemed to care except Jake. His friends were already used to having him around.
Despite his unwillingness, Vincent had taken it upon himself to apologize for his past behavior and thanked him for accepting him into his faction.
As a result, Jake's shocked outburst, which was completely out of place, had them all deeply puzzled. Sarah and the two sisters gave him a curious look, but they let Will act as a go-between.
With the exception of Vincent, Tim, Will and Kevin, no one had spoken to Jake. Even Will was uncomfortable with their attitude. When the girls came to him and offered to help, he had willingly accepted without further thought, but now he would be an idiot if he didn't notice that they were avoiding Jake.
Jake, who had already stood up from his seat, threw an awkward smile at Will and apologized,
"I'm sorry but I have to go. Something happened on my island."
Vincent wanted to retort that they had been waiting for him for ages, but when he saw his firmness he realized that his cousin would not change his mind. Will knew Jake well, and finally he got up too, picked up his things and said,
"I'm going with you. "Will then turned to the others and added, " Please make yourself at home, there's food in the fridge. As soon as it's settled, we'll be right back."
"I'm coming too. "Vincent grunted categorically. "We'll talk on the way."
"Meow!"
Jake didn't even have to turn his head to recognize this meowing. Although it was now closer to a barking than a meow, it was undoubtedly his cat.
Indeed, once out of the villa Crunch and the other felines trotted up to him as if it was the most natural thing to do. Seeing that his express trip would not be as lonely as he had envisioned, he paused in front of the Yellow Cube and waved his hands to signal them to stop where they were.
"My Yellow Cube is locked for now. "He explained meaningfully. "There's a problem with the temperature on my island. As soon as it's fixed, I'll let you in and inform you with the radio transmitter. "
"Ugh, we got all excited for nothing…" Kevin complained with an annoyed look on his face before returning to the villa eating some snacks. Vincent sighed and returned to sit inside as well.
"I'm waiting for your call. "Will, who was more cool-headed, complied quietly.
Jake nodded and disappeared. A blink later he was back on his Floating Island and a scorching breeze clouded his vision.
Earlier, Xi had suddenly informed him that the ambient temperature on his island had begun to skyrocket alarmingly. Whether it was the 2000°C inner training circle or the lukewarm outer circle presumed to be inhabitable by humans, the temperature was rising steadily.
The habitable zone had already exceeded 200°C and the temperature was still rising. At this rate, the whole island would become an inferno before long, but the main issue was that the inner circle where he had been training had already exceeded his threshold of tolerance.
Unfolding a telekinetic force field to disperse the swirling hot air, Jake immediately spotted the culprit.
"How, how is that possible?! "He stammered with utter shock on his face.
The modest sphere of white light had been replaced by a real sun during his short absence. Looking directly at the sun, his eyes got burned and he had to avert his gaze so as not to damage his retinas.
"Fucking hot! "he cursed as he tried to fly closer.
But after getting within 50 meters, his already tanned skin began to smoke and a sizzling noise broke the silence. He hastily retreated so as not to end up charred.
[(Someone has modified your Light Symbol.] Xi informed him gravely.
"To harm me? "Jake couldn't understand who could have so much time on his hands to use such a wacky method of revenge.
"No, it's to help me. "He soon realized. The temperature and radiation issue could easily be solved by rearranging the force fields dividing his island.
[This Aether Core is ten times more powerful than the Aether Core in your belly and your Light Aether Symbol has been recombined with a considerable number of Aether Spells.] Xi concurred cryptically. [ Only a top Aetherist or Evolver can accomplish such a feat in such a short period of time. By elimination, it can only be…]
"Cekt Mogusar! "Jake exclaimed in disbelief. The alien had come here a few minutes earlier.
He had tried unsuccessfully to meet him many times and when the alien came to visit his island, it was conveniently the moment when he was away. Clearly, Cekt was avoiding him, but his visit had just proved to him that the master Aetherist was keeping an eye on him.
If the alien did not wish to be met, so be it. Jake thanked the Aetherist in his heart for this unexpected gift and proceeded to reorganize the force fields.
After a few moments and with Xi's help, the shields and force fields had been repositioned and their thickness and intensity was altered to effectively filter out heat and radiation.
The new Sun had also been moved higher after being wrapped in several layers of shields. Even with these precautions, the habitable portions of his island were still hot, but for a Mirror Universe Evolver it was nothing at all.
Nevertheless, there were not only drawbacks. The Aether he originally spent to maintain the temperature of his island was no longer necessary, quite the opposite. The shields absorbing and filtering the temperature and the radiation were now getting their energy from them.
The Floating Island seemed intrinsically equipped to produce Aether from any energy source. Not only did he no longer have to spend any Aether points to support his island, but the island was now even generating a profit of 100,000 Aether points per day.
"It's crazy… Jake muttured as he saw his number of Aether pts rising at a glance. With his bracelet's inherent output, he was accumulating more than 160,000 Aether pts a day without doing anything.
[Cekt Mogusar was generous. By creating these Runes, you may have unknowingly passed one of his tests.]
As always, Xi was thinking ahead, but he shared that opinion. When the problem was finally solved, he granted access to Will and the others and contacted them with the transmitter to give them the green light.
"It's safe, you can come."
A few seconds later, a huge ball of golden hair with a thick dark mane emerged from the Yellow Cube. It was neither Will, nor his cousins, nor his cat who had come to visit first, but the giant lion.
Each of his footsteps left deep footprints in the earth, but the feline roared with contentment after having circled the territory in a few leaps. The animal then lay down in a venerable posture, its head straightened up and its front paws crossed over each other and conveyed its admiration,
"This island is a little empty, but there is more space. The other felines should like it here."
"Glad to hear it…" Jake said, for lack of a better answer. He wasn't interested in running a zoo of any kind.
Crunch and the other felines arrived next, one after the other, and then it was the turn of Will and his two cousins. The three humans were genuinely shocked to discover the complex play of force fields and the lifelike sun shining above them.
"Did you do this? "Will asked stunned.
Jake was about to explain, but sensing that the explanation would take time, he simply replied with a "Yeah."
It was a semi-truth. He had laid the foundation and he could definitely learn these new Aether Spells in no time after that first success. The only thing he couldn't match in a short period of time was the Aether Core's power.
"I recognize your style. "Kevin chuckled as he patted his shoulder.
Empty as can be, but highly functional. Kevin didn't miss the lava basin in the island's center. With the Myrtharian Body, it was the ideal environment. During this month, his cousin had definitely not taken it easy.
Vincent, who had also just joined their faction due to his mother's pressure, finally understood why she had insisted so much. On reflection, he didn't know his cousin all that well.
"So, tell me Vincent why is this third Ordeal so urgent? "Jake finally tackled the subject for which Will had urged him so much.
Vincent, who was staring at his Sun with a blank stare, broke out of his trance and put on an extremely solemn expression.
"I won't mention the matter of Aether density and gravity. That's one of the reasons, but since the Ordeals' Aether density is fixed it's not really an issue as long as you stay safe on B842."
Jake nodded, he was thinking along the same lines.
"But what if B842 is no longer safe…" Vincent sighed long and hard.
Jake frowned as he took the full extent of this bomb.
"The Oracle Shelters?"
"Several of them have stopped emitting and they are unreachable by Yellow or Orange Cubes. These Oracle Shelters are just simple shelters built on B842 and concealed by the camouflage of a Black Cube. I learned from my mother and grandfather that they can be destroyed and that this is not the first time it happens."
'Is it possible Xi?'
[ I'm afraid he's telling the truth. ] His Oracle Ai hesitated briefly. [ No shield is truly invincible. It depends on the Aether Runes and the Aether Core powering them. If the energy of the enemy's attack surpasses the capabilities of the Aether Core powering the shield… No need to draw a picture.]
A heavy atmosphere settled in the middle of the group and Jake interrupted his cousin. He didn't need to hear any more. Because of the too rapid increase in Aether density, the Digestors were progressing exponentially fast. When the Aether density was around 12 or 13 points, there were already Digestors of Rank 4 and 5 in abundance.
It was only now that he realized that the Oracle Shelters were only temporary shelters, existing only to give them time to spread their wings rather than being nipped in the bud.
"Let's go play that third Ordeal. "Jake sighed with a fatalistic twinge. "Go get the others. We'll take it from here."
