BOOM!
The slug exploded as it hit the Tyrannosaurus' head. The beast's massive head snapped back. A small chunk of its hide was charred.
Roaring, it fixed its eyes on Jack. The challenger.
It took a slow, deliberate step forward. Its focus was entirely on the lone figure who had just shot near it.
Jack didn't wait. He turned his hoverboard and zoomed away. Deeper into the ancient, perilous jungle. Drawing the deadly threat away from the survivors.
The earth trembled behind him as the T-Rex began to follow.
Jack's hoverboard hummed beneath his feet. It was a low thrumming pulse against the earth-shaking thunder of the beast behind him.
The T-Rex wasn't slowing. It was the brute fusion of teeth and muscle and primal fury. It crash-charged through the ancient fern forests and tangled vines.
Its massive head was snapping. Its eyes were locked onto the small, flying speck. The one that had dared to get its attention.
Jack gripped his Steamrune Shotgun. Reloading it in scattershot mode as he kept flying. He didn't look back. He didn't need to. The roars were enough to inform him of the beast's chase. The vibration told him exactly how close the predator was.
He lifted the shotgun. Aiming blind over his shoulder. And he pulled the trigger.
The weapon bucked. Spitting out a scattering of rune-enhanced slugs. They hammered into the T-Rex's thick hide. They didn't pierce deep. Not against that prehistoric armor.
But they stung. They annoyed it. That was the point. He wanted to make it chase him. Not the injured group he'd left behind.
The T-Rex bellowed. Releasing a sound that peeled paint off sanity. It lunged. Surprisingly fast for its size.
Jack swerved the hoverboard left. The air rushed past him. A massive jaw slammed shut where he'd been a moment before. Rows of dagger-like teeth snapped loudly. The wind from the near miss whipped his cloak.
"Come on, you overgrown chicken!" Jack taunted annoyingly. However, his mind was a cold, calculating engine. Evasion. Attraction. Survival. He needed to get far enough away. To give Bill and the others time.
He urged the hoverboard higher. The ground fell away. The dense canopy of the jungle spread out below.
It was a lush green ocean. Occasionally broken by the jagged peaks of ancient trees. Maybe he could gain some altitude, get out of its immediate reach, then lure it further?
A screech ripped through the air from above. Not the T-Rex. Something else.
Shadow fell. Instinct screamed danger. Jack whipped his head up. A Pterosaur was plunging down from the sky.
Its beak, long and sharp, was aimed directly at him. It was big, too. With wings like leathery sails. It was not as big as the T-Rex. But large enough to snatch him right out of the air.
He cursed. The sky wasn't safe either. He jammed the controls down. The hoverboard dropped like a stone. The Pterosaur's talons whistling past his head.
He dropped back into the upper layers of the jungle canopy. Weaving between thick branches and giant leaves.
This complicated things. Now he had a ground predator and an air predator. Great. Just what he needed.
He hugged the terrain. Keeping low. Using the trees and uneven ground as cover.
The T-Rex roared behind him. Still crashing through the undergrowth. The Pterosaur circled above. Occasionally making diving runs that forced him to swerve violently.
He fired a couple of scatter-shots at the Pterosaur. But it was fast and agile, easily dodging the spread.
His primary focus remained the T-Rex though. It was the bigger. And more immediate threat to the others if he failed his distraction job.
The chase continued. It felt like hours. Though it was probably much less. His senses were hyper-alert. Every muscle was tense. Every thought was focused on evasion and direction.
He needed to keep moving. To keep putting distance between himself and the direction he'd come from. He needed to find a way to break line-of-sight. And then, to find a safe sanctuary, even for a moment.
The roar of the T-Rex seemed to echo off something ahead. He broke through a dense thicket and saw it. The glint of water.
A wide, slow-moving river snaked through the jungle. Its surface reflecting the dappled sunlight filtering through the canopy.
Perfect.
He didn't hesitate. He steered the hoverboard towards the riverbank. Slowing just slightly.
The T-Rex was close behind. Its heavy footsteps shaking the ground. The Pterosaur shrieked airborne.
Jack crouched on his hoverboard and lowered it slightly above the river surface. He didn't look at the monsters. He looked at the water. The still, reflective surface.
He focused his will. And touched the water. Activating his supernatural trait...
[Mysterious Mirror World]
Jack and his hoverboard completely disappeared. Into the safe sanctuary. Of his personal Mirror Space.
The roar of the T-Rex. The screech of the Pterosaur. The humid jungle air... It all vanished.
...
Jack sprawled on the floor of his Mirror Space. His hoverboard and shotgun lay nearby. He took a deep breath. Feeling the tension drain from his muscles. His adrenaline receded. He was safe.
He checked his physical condition. The escape had been costly in terms of stamina and mental focus. But he was intact.
But then, something else registered. It was a subtle shift inside him. A sense of completion. Of integration. He leveled up.
Not the usual level up involving his system notification. It was his human form's transcendent class that advanced. The Steamrune Engineer.
He felt that he had completed his integration with the first Steamrune, 'Fusion'. It was either due to constant practical application. Or simply because of continuously using the steamrune products in a challenging environment.
Whatever it was, he could now absorb and integrate his second Steamrune.
Jack's lips curved into a satisfied smile. Finally. He had felt this sense of close to complete integration for a while. And now it had truly happened.
Complete integration with 'Fusion' wasn't just a milestone. It unleashed the next stage. He could bond with a second rune. This was a significant power boost.
He sat down, cross-legged. And started thinking. He needed to choose his second rune carefully.
Steamrune Integration wasn't like inscribing standard magic spells onto grimoire pages. They used the same symbols of fundamental concepts. But it was inscribed into his soul.
His new rune integration had to link, conceptually and graphically to the first rune. Or it would simply fail... if he was lucky. Integrating non-matching steamrunes could end up in death or insanity.
Jack was in deep thought. His first rune, 'Fusion', was about combining elements, merging properties, creating synergy. What rune linked well with that?
He ran through the runes he knew. The common and the rare. The practical and the theoretical.
'Ignition'? It was related to energy release. Could fusion and ignition be linked? Yes. but would it be too simple?
'Stabilization'? It would be good for anticipating fusion failure. Or handling unstable result. But it seemed too constricted and situational.
'Transfer'? Nope.
'Form'? His 'Fusion' was already about combining existing forms.
Then it hit him. A core principle fundamental for creating something great yet manageable. A principle often required before or after fusion.
The basic function related to density, potential energy, and structural integrity.
'Compression'.
Compression took things and made them smaller, denser, stronger. It packed energy in. It made materials incredibly robust. It perfectly complemented 'Fusion'... which took different things and brought them together.
He could fuse components. And then compress the result for incredible density and power. Or compress raw materials before fusing them into exotic alloys.
The concept felt right. The symbol was a set of converging lines with a central point. It could be drawn to visually link with the radiating outer lines of the 'Fusion' rune. Yes. 'Compression' was the logical. It should be the powerful next step.
Jack quickly focused on the concept of 'Compression'. He drew the symbol in his mind. Feeling its principles resonate with the 'Fusion' rune.
It was easily integrated into his very essence. It was like slotting a complex gear into a perfectly designed machine.
He felt the new rune's power flow into him. Settling alongside 'Fusion'.
It wasn't a painful process. But it was definitely an intense one. A rewrite of fundamental laws within his being.
After some time, the integration was done. Jack's steamrune energy seemed to grow more solid.
Jack accessed his Status Panel mode. Specifically the Steanrune Skill. He was right. There was another skill appearing...
[Steamrune Skill: Steamrune Compression. The art of using 'Compression' steamrune to shrink materials into its most condense form. The compressed materials will be much denser, more stable, and more solid. But they will retain their mass and proportional form. Compression permanently alters the target's size and density.]
Jack grinned. Permanently altered the object. Retaining mass and proportional form. This was exactly what he'd hoped.
He could take something huge. Something unwieldy. And he could shrink it down to a manageable size. Without losing its weight or structural integrity. The applications were immense.
Training weights. Impossibly heavy bars or plates in the form of gauntlets, belts, or boots. Strengthened structures. To make a flimsy material as strong as steel. By compressing its molecular structure.
He could also make his gadgets and tools compact. Miniaturizing complex machinery without losing power.
And grenades. Oh, the grenades.
An idea formed instantly. A super grenade. Not just explosive, but physically devastating due to the compressed shrapnel.
He could make an extreme explosion. First, he could combine multiple explosive compounds through Fusion. Then he could build huge grenade pieces, powered by huge rune powered inscription.
Finally, he could use Compression to shrink them into a tiny, throwable, dense sphere.
What would happen when that sphere exploded?
...
Jack began to work in the Mirror Space. He still had plenty of fused materials kept there.
He designed an explosive core. And infused it with energy-releasing runes. Around it, he planned a shell made of numerous small fragments. Each fragment would be inscribed with explosive, kinetic, and force runes.
He worked quickly, his Steamrune Engineer knowledge flowing. He inscribed the necessary runes onto each piece with focused energy.
The total size of the main explosive sphere plus the many fragments of the outer shell was about as big as a single basketball.
Then, he applied the new skill.
[Steamrune Compression]!
He didn't dare to target every parts at the same time. As it might be too taxing. So, he targeted the core first.
Focusing the converging rune energies, he felt it shrink. The fist-sized sphere became smaller, denser. It shrank until it was the size of a golf ball. Although it felt way heavier than that. And more solid. Unyielding.
He repeated the process on the fragments. Each piece was compressed down to the size of a pebble. But like the core, they retained their original mass.
Finally, he assembled them. He placed the compressed core inside the cage formed by the compressed fragments. It was now roughly the size of a Ping-Pong ball.
It was black, heavy, and completely inert. Until activated by his will or a timer he could set. It was a small ball of pure, condensed destruction.
He held it in his hand. Marveling at the density. This wasn't just a weapon. It was a testament to the power of integrated Steamrunes. 'Fusion' to combine and 'Compression' to pack.
He made a few more. Storing them carefully in his Spatial Bag. Each one was a miniature apocalypse. He spent what felt like several hours doing that.
Eventually, he was ready to go out. He had left Bill, Danny, Sam, and the girl in a dangerous place. He needed to get back.
He held the heavy small ball grenade in his hand. He was ready.
[Mysterious Mirror World]
The safe and comfortable Mirror Space disappeared. The primordial jungle was again became the setting.
He stood on the clear riverbank. The river still flowed slowly. The sun still filtered through the leaves. The air was still heavy with the scent of damp earth and ancient vegetation.
But the T-Rex was gone. The Pterosaur was gone. The roars, the screeches, the shaking ground. All of it was absent. Silence had returned to this spot.
He checked his internal clock. It was more than three hours. He had spent in the Mirror Space for more than three hours. Long enough for the creatures to have moved on, lost his trail, or found something else to occupy their attention.
Disappointment was a fleeting thought. He was ready to test his new toy.
Jack quickly recovered. Survival came first. He needed to get back to the space crack entrance. For his safety. And to check the others' situation.
He took his Steamrune Hoverboard. And hopped on it. He rose into the air. Heading back the way he had come. Back towards where the space crack should be.
He flew carefully. Scanning the jungle below and the sky above. The T-Rex and Pterosaur could still be around. And probably other threats. This jungle was vast and full of threats.
There was suddenly a mighty roar. A thundering explosion. One so bad that it could even make the sky to change color.
Jack saw it in the distance. A towering column of grey ash and red-hot rock erupting into the sky.
The volcano. The one the main group of mercenaries, led by Big Boss Lodegrey, had headed towards.
It wasn't just smoking anymore. It was fully erupting.