244 Can I just gather clues in peace?

There was definitely something wrong with these three minerals or the Oracle System would not bother mentioning them so often. It was more of a correlation than real evidence at this point, but Jake felt it was not unlikely that this Orxanium was involved in his two previous deaths.

Indeed, it was more than likely that he lost consciousness during the night and the fact that he was unable to realize it suggested that he was indeed hallucinating or that it was so fast that he could not have realized it.

However, there were flaws in this hypothesis. If Jake had actually been drugged to death by inhaling Orxanium particles or some other poison, analysis of his own Status or the composition of the surrounding air would certainly have allowed him to detect these anomalies in time.

The other troubling point was that he was perfectly aware that he had been poisoned when he had been in contact with the snake's blood. The loss of consciousness was certainly sudden, but it was preceded by distinctive auditory and visual hallucinations. The physical sensations were confusing enough for anyone to realize that they were no longer in their normal state.

In contrast, his two previous deaths were a real mystery. If he had really been the victim of a hallucination that sent him into a lucid dream, the hallucination must have been so flawless that there were no signs of the transition from a normal state to a sleepy one. Only the approach of death in the last few seconds had driven his body to panic, but at that very moment he was probably just choking.

The last and most important point was that being sprayed with blood was not enough to take his life. Jake had taken a long nap, but he had already fully recovered. Clearly, Orxanium in these quantities did not have what it took to deal with him.

In any case, it was a first clue and Xi's recommendation made even more sense. The sooner he would find samples of these minerals of sufficient size, the sooner he would get more detailed information about them.

His scan was currently lvl 3. This function being unlocked at Oracle Rank 3 of Private 1st Class and being currently only at Rank 5, his scan should only have been lvl 3, but thanks to the bracelet he had absorbed during his first Ordeal the function had been improved once again.

During this brief moment, the sun had finished setting and Jake found himself in almost total darkness. The light from the few fake stars in the simulation was completely blocked by the trees' canopy to the point that he could barely see the tip of his nose.

He thought he would have to depend on his Extrasensory Perception to carry on his exploration, but at that very moment two strange phenomena occurred.

First, the red crystal containing the soul of the T-Rex and the blue blood of the snake scattered on the ground began to glow. Like phosphorescent stones, a soft red and blue light radiated faintly over a few meters of radius.

And secondly, restless roars began to resound from all directions. These roars, squeals, and chirpings were heavy with threat and carried an unbridled rage within them, as if each of these animals had just met its nemesis.

Hardened by his battles in the ocean, Jake only raised a troubled eyebrow, but there wasn't much he could do about it. He still didn't know how he was going to survive that night and all he could do was bite the bullet and move on.

HIHIHIHIHIHI!

As he picked up his new machete and the T-Rex crystal to conserve a source of light, a four-legged creature with the distracting snicker of a hyena pounced on him out of nowhere.

The monster was fast and the contrast between the darkness and the crystal's brightness prevented him from clearly distinguishing its features. As a result, Jake only had time to raise his weapon to intercept the attack and the momentum of the creature's charge toppled him to the ground.

The shock of the tackle momentarily took his breath away, but the monster's fangs missed their target as they cracked on contact with his blade. Yelping, the rabid animal began to scratch and lacerate him in a frenzy to overpower this miserable human who dared to resist him.

Jake ignored the blood-stained scratches and focused on the creature's eyes. Its eyes glowed with a light comparable to the crystal in its free hand and it could not have been a mere coincidence.

With his free hand holding the crystal, he punched the beast in the face which momentarily stopped the creature's frenzied attacks, then with his mind he launched an assault on the monster's nervous system.

With the current level of his Spirit Body, Jake thought he could do it easily, but it turned out that the beast's uncontrolled rage made it almost completely immune to his attempt to control it. The Aether inside the monster rendered its body unbreakable.

The mind struggle between man and beast seemed to last an eternity, but actually lasted less than a second. When Jake realized that the monster was impossible to control, he immediately switched to telekinesis, then whipped the air bilaterally to send a violent blast of wind through the monster's ear canals.

The fury that inhabited the creature vanished instantly under the effect of the shock wave as it staggered back and forth. With no more need to defend himself, Jake wrapped himself around one of the clawed legs like a ground combat specialist, and then with a twist broke its paw.

ROAAARR!

Not allowing himself to be distracted, he did the same with the other front paw, then finally free to use his telekinesis freely he managed to crush the monster's heart with a snap of his finger.

In disbelief, the beast stopped struggling, then the frenetic glow in its eyes disappeared along with the reddish light possessing it. The monster stood for a short while before collapsing on its side.

"Pfew..."

The fight had been more dangerous than he had expected. None of the sea creatures were able to interfere with his telekinesis, and he had just learned from the front lines that not all life forms were vulnerable to it.

If the spirit was strong enough, or if the monster possessed an innate control of its Aether or a passive ability protecting it from such influences, internal telekinesis could fail.

Jake differentiated between internal and external telekinesis. All of his Aether Skills were based on manipulating the Aether under his control. If his mind was strong enough, he could easily control the Aether in another person's body, thus leaving them completely at his mercy. Even without telekinesis, he could easily command that person's heart to stop beating or interrupt a vital function such as breathing.

On the contrary, if the enemy had strong control over their own Aether or the space around them, it became virtually impossible to use telekinesis directly on them. In this case, external manipulation would be required.

Fortunately, this hyena could only protect its body from internal influences. The surrounding Aether was perfectly controllable and this was what Jake had used to blast its eardrums.

Upon closer inspection, he was able to ascertain that the beast did indeed look like a hyena, except that it was as massive as a grizzly bear and had the fur of a woolly rhinoceros. The teeth, the stains, the Iroquois mane and the laughter were very similar, however.

Except that in his memories, hyenas were not solitary animals and hunted in packs. They were shameless animals that would not even refrain from biting private parts to subdue their prey. Even a solitary lion or elephant was not immune to these gluttonous predators.

As he was about to use his scan to verify his theory, multiple HIHIHI echoed a few meters away from him, interspersed with barking. Numerous pairs of red eyes pierced the darkness one by one, slowly shortening the distance. The rest of the pack had already surrounded him.

"This... Can I just gather some clues in peace?" Jake proposed with a constipated smile.

Of course, only the laughter of the hyenas answered him and seconds later, the whole pack pounced on him, throwing him into another fight to the death.