It was time to shift.
Jack activated his [Incarnation Shift]. The transformation wasn't instant. But it was significantly faster than before.
The immense, hulking form blurred. Shimmered. And shrank. Flesh and bone dissolving into swirling spectral energy.
The change took a full minute. Faster, yet still not fast enough to do during combat.
The transforming shape finally settled into the familiar form. The ethereal form of the mysterious specter. Jack Mystery was back.
He looked like a ghost wearing a vintage stage magician's suit. Complete with a top hat and masked face. His preferred form for observation and infiltration. Especially when invisible.
As the transformation solidified, Jack checked his status panel. The translucent screen flickered into existence before his ethereal eyes.
[CHARACTER STATUS]
[Name: Jack Night]
[Incarnation Type: Spirit]
[Persona: Jack Mystery]
[Race: Mysterious Specter]
[Class: Mystic Scholar]
[Archetype: Supernatural Entity]
[Power Source: Spirit of Judgement]
[Attributes: Physique (00) Mysticism (82) Passion (63) Essence (99)]
[Karma: Positive]
[System Sight Modes: Information Panel; Fear Detection; Aura Detection; Karma Detection]
[Supernatural Traits: Mysterious Dream; Mysterious Lullaby; Mysterious Control; Mysterious Mirror World; Mysterious Fragrance; Incarnation Shift; Grootslang's Gemstone Detection]
[Permanent Traits: Mysterious Survival Sense; Mysterious Nature; Devourer Physique]
[Status Effect: Battle Spirit (inactive)]
[Personal Artifact: Spirit Torch, Spirit Cape, Nine-Anchor Portal Ring, Artifact Seeds (2)]
He scanned the details. Yep, still Jack Mystery. The attributes were basically the same. High Mysticism, decent Passion, and maxed Essence. Physique was zero, naturally.
An interesting he noticed was that his Class in this form was a Mystic Scholar. Made sense. He did use a lot of Mystic Arts in this form.
Then he saw it. Something really different... [Status Effect: Battle Spirit (inactive)].
He hadn't seen this before. Yet, an intuitive understanding appeared in his mind. It was linked to his personal artifacts. The ones born from the evolution of the Grim Reaper set. In this incarnation, it became [Spirit Torch] and [Spirit Cape].
Jack mentally prompted the system for definitions.
[Battle Spirit (inactive). A dormant state of spiritual fusion. Activating Battle Spirit allows the wielder to fully merge with the essence of the Spirit Torch and Spirit Cape, sacrificing the ability to become invisible or fully intangible in exchange for a significant boost to Mysticism, Passion, and Casting Speed. This state is optimized for direct offensive combat.]
Sacrifice invisibility? And intangibility? That was a big drawback for this form. It basically relinquished his ghost power to be a normal Mystic Scholar.
As for how bad that would be... Well, it depended on how big the boosts were.
Jack checked his new personal artifacts for this incarnation.
[Spirit Torch. A legendary spiritual weapon. Forged from the essence of death and judgement. This torch grants heightened spiritual power, illuminates hidden truths, and channels purifying or destructive spiritual flame.]
Legendary spiritual weapon. Nice! Heightened spiritual power was necessary for a mage type this form focused on. Illuminating hidden truth and channeling spiritual fire were great.
Next artifact...
[Spirit Cape. A legendary spiritual defensive artifact. Woven from shadows of death and judgement. This cape provides immunity against physical attacks as well as strong defense against spiritual and mystical attacks. And can shroud the wielder in spiritual darkness.]
Legendary spiritual defense. Also good. The immunity against physical attacks was a little redundant. But it could probably be great when he activated [Battle Spirit]. Without intangibility, he had no immunity against physical attacks.
He decided to see what the active state looked like. Jack focused his will. Drawing the latent energy of the Torch and Cape towards him. Even though they haven't been physically manifested on his spectral form.
The spectral suit blurred. The clean lines of the magician's attire dissolved.
He became a shadowy spirit with a distinct, glowing white outline. His masked face melted away. His entire head and whole body had become a shadow. With intense white glow where eyes should be.
His top hat didn't vanish, but its brim grew wider, more dramatic. Less a hat and more a part of his new, imposing silhouette.
The stage magician suit gave way to a gloomy, flowing dark cape. One that seemed to absorb the faint light of the chamber.
The [Spirit Torch] artifact disappeared from his mental inventory display. It was no longer a separate item. Instead, his hands seemed to blaze with intense white fire.
That form felt very powerful. A surge of mystical energy coursing through his being. The form itself looked imposing, unsettling. Cool, in a dark-villain sort of way.
He called his grimoire and tried to call Vine Entanglement. It worked. His casting speed did feel faster. Almost instantly.
He tried to fade in that node. To become invisible as he usually could in the specter form. Nothing. Just a faint rippling in his outline.
The system definition was accurate. No invisibility in this mode. And no intangibility. He had became a normal Mystic Scholar. Well... one who could fly. And supercharged with magic, in power and and speed.
Er... that didn't sound normal. He was still incredible in this mode. But...
He didn't need raw combat power right now. He needed to see. To assess. Without being seen. Checking the current situation outside, whatever it was, demanded stealth.
Jack deactivated the [Battle Spirit] state. The white outline faded. The blazing hands cooled. The wide brimmed top hat and gloomy cape retracted back. Into the familiar spectral form of Jack Mystery. He could fade again.
He activated his invisibility. His translucent form shimmered for a second before vanishing completely from sight.
Invisible and intangible, Jack flew upward. Straight through the solidified magma ceiling above the chamber. It offered no resistance to his spectral form. He ascended through the volcanic cone. Past layers of ash and rock. Ignoring the residual heat.
He emerged high above the caldera. Into the open air of the prehistoric realm.
The scene below was a chaos. Though less frenzied than it had been.
There was Big Boss Lodegrey, was still in his steampunk mech-armor with oversized, piston-driven arms. And Lady Gemrose, was still in her compact steampunk armor with huge, articulated metal wings.
They were locked in battle with the Blazing T-Rex. Its fiery form flickered. Clearly it was weakened, compared to the former rampaging monster that had leaped into the volcano.
The Blazing Triceratops lay unmoving not far from them. Dead. Its head was mangled badly.
The remaining mercenaries were spread across the scorched earth around the volcano's base. They fought pockets of dinosaurs that hadn't charged the crater.
The earlier, suicidal frenzy was gone. The creatures seemed confused. Some were still milling about. Others distinctly attempting to put distance between themselves and the smoking mountain.
Many dinosaur corpses littered the ground. So did the bodies of several mercenaries. Their sacrifice hadn't been in vain, though. The tide had turned. The dinosaur charge had been broken.
Jack observed from his vantage point. Invisible in the prehistoric sky. He saw mercenaries in skirmishes. Supporting each other. Their ranks thinned. But cohesion holding.
He saw the two Mercenary Union leaders press their advantage against the weakened Blazing T-Rex. Its roars were less thunderous now. Its movements slower. Less coordinated.
It didn't take long. With a final, coordinated assault, Big Boss Lodegrey delivering a crushing blow with his oversized mechanical fist. Simultaneously, Lady Gemrose unleashed a focused shot with her morphing runic Gatling gun.
The Blazing T-Rex stumbled. Its internal fires sputtering. It collapsed onto the ash-covered ground. Twitching for a few seconds. Then, not moving anymore. Dead.
Big Boss Lodegrey stood over the fallen beast. Chest heaving, sweat mixing with ash on his mech-armor. Lady Gemrose landed lightly beside him. Her expression was a mixture of relief and exhaustion.
Big Boss Lodegrey let out a guttural roar. Not of battle. But for assembly. "Mercenaries! Gather!"
The survivors, scattered across the landscape, began converging on their leaders. They moved with weary determination. Some limping. Others supporting injured comrades.
They started pulling their fallen comrades from the ground. Grimly preparing to carry them back.
Lady Gemrose wasted no time. From a pouch at her waist, she drew a large, intricately folded parchment. It shimmered with arcane power. It seemed that she was both a Steamrune Engineer and a Mystic Scholar.
She unfolded it. Revealing complex runes and glyphs that pulsed with soft blue light. Raising it high, she began incanting. In a fluid, ancient tongue.
The air warped and shimmered. About fifty yards from where she stood. A tear appeared. Widening rapidly into a massive, rectangular portal.
It wasn't the chaotic swirl of energy from wild dimensional rifts. This was stable. Controlled. And clearly designed for transit. A dimensional gate, opened by a powerful scroll.
"Through the gate!" Big Boss Lodegrey bellowed. Pointing towards the shimmering opening. "Injured first! Carry the fallen! Move!"
The mercenaries obeyed. It was a weary, resolute procession. They helped those who couldn't walk. They carried the dead on their shoulders.
Their faces etched with the horrors of the last few hours. They filed into the shimmering gate. Disappearing one by one.
Big Boss Lodegrey and Lady Gemrose waited. Until only they and the two gigantic corpses of the Blazing creatures remained. They used their combined strength. Dragging the immense, heavy forms towards the gate.
It was slow work. But they managed. Pulling the trophies. Or perhaps evidence of their victory into the portal.
As the two leaders, along with the massive corpses, passed through, the dimensional gate began to shrink. The blue light pulsed one last time. And then it snapped shut. Leaving only the disturbed air and scorched ground where it had been.
Jack remained high above. Invisible and observing. He hadn't joined them. He had his own way out of this bizarre, prehistoric realm. His Nine-Anchor Portal Ring.
He could directly teleported to the anchor he had set near the Sapphire City. Anytime. He could even set an anchor point here and return whenever he wanted. And he might need to.
His mind drifted back to the drawback of his Black Buto form. He needed to consume at least one Hostile Beast per month.
If he couldn't find suitable 'Hostile Beasts' back in his original world. Or on whatever world he ended up in... This prehistoric realm was certainly full of them. Hostile dinosaurs qualified as a hostile beast after all.
This place could be a hunting ground. Stored for future need. Plus, this place was interesting. Maybe worth exploring further when he needed some vacation time.
He lingered for a moment longer. Setting an anchor point near the pond of sulfuric water close to the peak of the volcano.
Once it was done, he focused once more on his Nine-Anchor Portal Ring. There were two anchor points he could feel. The one near Sapphire City. And the one he had just assigned.
He quickly selected the anchor point near the Sapphire City.
The air around him shimmered. There was no dramatic portal tear. Just a silent dissolution of his form.
One moment he was there. Invisible against the backdrop of the prehistoric volcano. The next he was gone completely. Leaving only the silence.
His journey in this realm was over. For now. But he had left a door open...