The Oracle

Two Warrior Monks stood on either side of the monastery entrance.

Yi walked over and bowed slightly in greeting.

"May I ask if any elders are inside the monastery?"

The Warrior Monk looked Yi over, then glanced at Jia Ruo and Neeko behind him before replying. "There are four elders inside. Oh, right—the Oracle returned a few days ago. She's there now, too."

"Oh. Then would you please inform them that Yi wishes to see them?"

"You're the Wuji Sword Saint?"

"Yes."

"We'll go at once." The Warrior Monk had no fear that Yi was lying.

No one dared attempt a fraud in front of Placidium's Holy Land. No one could afford the consequences.

Years ago, the Noxian General had lost a hand here.

Placidium in Ionia would not tolerate desecration.

One of the Warrior Monks climbed the steps and entered the monastery's hall. Before long, he returned.

He bowed and said, "The Oracle invites you all in."

Yi nodded his thanks, then led Jia Ruo and Neeko up the steps.

"What a magnificent place," Jia Ruo muttered under his breath.

He hadn't thought much of it when he'd seen it from a distance, but the monastery's sheer size struck him once he stepped inside.

Like the other buildings in Placidium, the monastery had a giant tree at its center, serving as its main support beam. Jia Ruo spotted it in the middle of the vast, open hall.

The entire monastery had been built around the tree, though its walls and ceiling were different. They were constructed from neat White Stone Bricks.

Speaking of the ceiling, the monastery was immensely tall but had no other floors. When Jia Ruo looked up, he could see the dome, some fifty or sixty meters above the ground.

Built in harmony with nature.

Ionian architecture was filled with the graceful elegance of nature, reflecting the ethereal beauty of the land.

Huge Floor-to-Ceiling Windows lined every wall. The broad, open spaces ensured that anyone inside could always feel the vigorous pulse of life.

A tall, beautiful woman approached. Behind her head, the emerald Twin Dragons that symbolized Ionia coiled like a halo.

It was the Oracle herself, the current Karma.

Karma was the incarnation in the present world of an ancient Ionian Soul. As a beacon of the Spiritual Realm, she guided generations of those who came after.

The most recent time she had taken form was in a twelve-year-old girl named Darha.

She had spent her childhood in the highlands north of Shon-Xan, strong and independent, always dreaming of life beyond her village.

But Darha had begun to see strange visions, now and then.

They were uncanny—like memories from the past, though the girl was certain she had never experienced those things herself.

At first, she could still deceive herself, but the visions grew worse and worse until Darha thought she was slowly going mad.

Just as she began to believe she would spend her whole life in a sanatorium, a group of Monks came to her village.

They were from a place called the Hall of Eternity, where the Holy Master Karma had passed away a few months earlier.

The Monks were searching for the old woman's next Reincarnated Incarnation, and believed she was somewhere in this village.

They put everyone they met through a series of tests, but in the end, they could only leave empty-handed and disappointed.

As they passed the sanatorium, Darha leapt from her bed and rushed out to stop them.

She tearfully told them about the visions she'd seen, and said that the whispers in her mind sounded like the Monks.

They recognized the signs at once.

This was their Karma.

Visions from countless past lives poured into a new vessel.

That moment changed Darha's life forever.

She said goodbye to everyone she had ever known, then went to the Hall of Eternity to study under the Monks.

Over the years that followed, they taught her how to communicate with her Ancient Soul. The girl discovered that her own voice was drowned out by the voices of thousands of Past Life Incarnations, each calling out with the wisdom of ages.

Karma had always championed peace and harmony, teaching that evil deeds brought their own punishment and need not be answered.

But even after she had become Karma, Darha could not help questioning those principles.

Some of her followers were perplexed.

She had already accepted the most sacred spirit of the First Lands—the "Spirit of Ionia."

Why, then, would she question these self-evident truths?

As expected, those convictions faced their true test when Noxus invaded Ionia.

As Noxus pushed farther inland and tens of thousands died beneath its iron-shod hooves, Karma was forced to confront the brutal reality of war.

She could feel the boundless destructive power buried within her soul swelling, and began to wonder what good it was to leave such power unused.

The voices of the past urged her to remain in the Hall of Eternity, to comfort the people and let the conflict die down on its own.

But a more profound truth compelled her to act.

The thought tormented Karma until she could bear it no longer.

She confronted a commander aboard a Noxian Warship and unleashed Holy Wrath.

But it wasn't a measured attack aimed only at one person—she wiped out the entire crew of the warship in a single heartbeat.

Though the Ionians cheered this apparent victory, the Monks believed she had made a grave mistake.

She had disturbed the harmony of the land's Spiritual Realm, brought shame upon every Karma who had come before her, and tainted her own Immortal Soul—not to mention the souls of her followers.

They all urged her to stop causing harm, even though they knew it might mean a lifetime of solitude, meditation, and repentance.

Karma raised a hand, and everyone fell silent.

Though she could still hear the voices in her mind, the Spirit of Ionia in her heart was what truly guided her... and even the First Lands themselves stirred with the will to defend themselves.

She didn't know whether she had been chosen for her courage and strength of will, but she knew that sometimes harmony came at a great cost.

Their world was changing, and true wisdom lay not in refusing change, but in accepting reality.

Though the war with Noxus had long since ended, many in Ionia had grown willing to use violence to settle scores—and even to turn on their own neighbors.

Karma was determined to do everything she could to guide them toward a more enlightened way—toward peace if possible, and action when necessary.