Jack checked the illuminated corpses again. For loots. But he soon got disappointed. These people were not stupid. They didn't bring their wealth with them to a risky battle like this.
He activated his [Eyes of Judgement] to check once more. He could see some used or broken vials of potions. And some bound personal artifacts, or eldritch contracted objects. Things only the original owners could use.
He couldn't use them. And they were not valuable enough to be considered a treasure for his human's Treasure Hunter class. Thus, he could not turn them into spell cards.
He sighed and was about to leave. But then, Jack saw a [Spatial Satchel], beneath Flame Overlord's fallen body. He quickly flipped the sorcerer's corpse and took it.
It was locked with several layers of protection runes and trap runes. Jack wasn't really worried. He was confident he could open it safely. Given enough time.
He glanced toward the direction of fissure portal. The sounds of distant, intense fighting were still slightly audible. But the illuminated beings were far gone toward the exit. They wouldn't be back. At least immediately.
Still, the Valley of Despair was not exactly safe. The demigod Saint of Joy had been here. And his presence seemed to leave bitter taste and lingering dangers. He needed to exit immediately.
Jack darted back up the cliff face. His current kamaitachi form made the near-vertical climb effortless. He shifted back into the tough human form of Jack Night the moment he reached Reina and Rune.
"Did the 'shopping' go well, Dear?" Reina immediately asked.
"Excellent haul, Love." Jack replied. "I've got what we came here for. And more."
Jack took a moment to look over the ruins one last time. The Valley of Despair was still vast and dark. But the center stage was now eerily quiet. Save for the movement of a few surviving, scavenging undead attracted to the residual energies.
"Wait a moment." Jack instructed. "We need an emergency exit route back here. Just in case."
He touched the [Nine-Anchor Portal Ring] on his finger. Focusing its potential energy on the ground of their current location. Locking the coordinates of their hidden cliffside vantage point.
The ground glowed slightly. And the ring pulsed once, confirming the lock.
Jack reviewed the current, existing anchors he had set. Sapphire City. Prehistoric Realm. Tideless Island. Lonestone City. Strange Realm. And now... Valley of Despair. Six out of nine slots. Good enough.
Jack then moved to Reina, pulling her close. He nodded to Rune, who immediately perched on his shoulder.
"Let's go home, Love." Jack said. Wrapping his thick arm around her slim waist.
With a final, decisive surge of energy directed into the portal ring, the world around them dissolved. Turning into a dizzying swirl of color and transit friction.
The next moment, they reappeared in the comfortable bedroom of their Lonestone City home. The transition was flawless. A bit disorienting. But still clean and silent.
For a few moment, the comfortable house felt utterly alien. After the desolation of the valley. But, they soon adapted back.
Reina smiled. "A successful mission, Dear. And entirely undetected."
Jack grinned and summarized. "The factions ruined each other. The demigod got his target. And we got our rewards without firing a shot. Now, I'll just need to completely convert these rewards into power."
He was not entirely worry-free though. The political landscape of the Elrush Kingdom had just been violently reshaped. The [Forbidden Chalice], whoever finally acquired it, would definitely affect the kingdom.
And Jack knew that the quiet life they had built in Lonestone City was about to be severely tested.
...
Weeks blurred into a quiet rhythm after their return from the Valley of Despair. Lonestone City hummed with its usual industrial clamor. A stark contrast to the distant, earth-shaking events they had witnessed.
Jack and Reina settled back into their established routines.
Reina returned to her myriad charity activities. These activities used to be a redemption effort to neutralize her negative karma. Now, Reina genuinely found satisfaction in alleviating others' suffering. She found her passion through channeling resources, gathering information, and solidifying her network within the city's unfortunates.
Jack's schedule was more fractured. Broken into puzzle pieces of personas and projects.
By daylight, or at least during certain daylight hours, he was Racer Jack. A swift vigilante speedster. The kamaitachi form, small and blurring, dealt with minor criminals, small accidents, and inexhaustible street gangs that preyed on the weak.
He acted with unnatural speed and precision. Mostly using non-lethal force to disrupt and dismantle. He was an annoying showman, a silly flash, a ridiculous creature... One that sent shivers down the spines of petty criminals.
By night, he was Jack Mystery. Invisible. Incorporeal. He drifted through the city's shadows. Observing, judging, punishing, and occasionally, rewarding. Through his trademark nightmare and sweet dream.
His third incarnation, Jack Night, spent less time in his workshop these weeks. The current project, [Hoi-poi Capsules], remained an elusive dream for the steamrune engineer.
He had managed to create prototypes. Small metallic spheres, powered by the [Spatial Amber]. It could store some simple, small to medium size objects. But the miniaturization rune system that allowed for the storage of large objects was proving infuriatingly more complex than what he had expected.
Turning his [Steamrune Compression] ability into normal runes was not as easy as he hoped. He encountered more and more unexplainable failures.
Each failure seemed to mock his expertise. A constant reminder of the gap between his ambition and his current understanding of dimensional folding runes.
Thus, he shifted his primary focus. These weeks, he focused on power ups. First, by integrating and refining the raw power harvested from the Valley of Despair. The skills he plundered from various fallen combatants were potent. But they were temporary. He needed to change that.
For Racer Jack, he selected three particularly useful abilities from his temporary pool... [Shadow Escape], [Fire Burst], and [Knight Charge]. And turned them into permanent abilities. These weren't mere enhancements. They became fundamental extensions of his being.
The [Shadow Escape] found its permanent home as an intricate, golden mark across his furry upper chest. It depicted stylized wings, with feathers seemingly dissolving into wisps of smoke.
When activated, the tattoo would glow faintly. And Jack would unravel and meld into nearby shadow. Able to fuse with natural shadows or slither on the ground. Slipping through tiny cracks with terrifying speed and silence.
The [Fire Burst] coalesced into a fiery golden design around his left forearm. It was an abstract dragon. Or perhaps a coiled phoenix.
A flex of the muscle mixed with a surge of will... and the mark would flare. Releasing a scorching wave of fire burst. Intense enough to deter most pursuers or to clear a path.
Finally, the [Knight Charge] etched itself onto his right leg. This tattoo was a stylized mark of abstract lightning.
It represented raw momentum. When it was activated, a powerful energy armor would briefly appear covering all of his body. His body itself would turn into a kind of armadillo ball. And then, he would be launched in a straight dash that could shatter lesser obstacles or deliver a devastating impact.
The permanent integration was not as easy as the temporary one. It was painful. For several minutes, he was tortured with a constant burning and reshaping of his very essence.
But the results were undeniable. These powers were now instinctual part of his physical language. It was now like a natural ability for his kamaitachi form.
Beyond the three integrating new powers, Jack also made a significant discovery. A sacrifice for Racer Jack's skill development. He found out that he could 'sacrifice' his [Shadow Spike] and [Shadow Armor] traits.
These two skills were useful, undoubtedly. Allowing him to launch shadowy spikes and generate temporary armor. But they didn't fit his Racer Jack fighting style.
He was about to discard them. But, he found out that he could sacrifice them into his newly integrated [Shadow Escape]. It was not a difficult decision. But, it wasn't a walk in the park. Jack had to experience more torturous pain to fuse them to his [Shadow Escape].
However, the effect was immediate and profound. His [Shadow Escape] no longer just allowed him to vanish and meld into shadow. It became deeper. More intrinsic.
When he now dissolved into shadow, he became partially insubstantial. Physical, mental, and elemental attacks wouldn't be as effective against him. Reduced to less than half of their real power. Other than that, the effectiveness of his stealth against many types of sensory detection increased several folds.
During these weeks, Jack also devoted significant time to Jack Mystery's arcane arsenal. His grimoire spells. Following Rainsister's clues, he seriously modified his spectral grimoire. Especially the obsolete spells in it.
Obviously, Jack made sure that the spell upgrades would be logically efficient. He could make a massive rune modifications and turn a simple [Magic Missile] into something like [Meteor Strike]. But it would require excessive mana drain. One he couldn't afford at present.
Therefore, he chose moderate upgrades.
His [Lesser Ward] was the first to undergo modification. It used to be a basic magical shield. Capable of deflecting a single attack. Jack meticulously modify the spell runes. Layering them. Interlocking them like a complex, calligraphic, runic poetry.
The result was [Layered Wards]. It wasn't a single, fragile barrier now. Activating this spell now summoned multiple, overlapping shields of force. Depending on the mana poured to the spell, it could provide up to seven overlapping wards.
Each layer could still only deflect one attack. But, it was still a significant upgrade in defensive capability. With multiple layers, there were more rooms for mistakes when he tried to protect someone.
The simple, projectile-based [Magic Missile] was next. Jack found it too weak and straightforward. It was accurate but, most of the time, unable to penetrate the defense of many tough opponents.
He modified the spell runes. Not exactly strengthening it. Instead, he weaved in runes for subtle mental distortion and illusions. The [Magic Missile] now transformed into [Mind Piercing Missile].
It was not stronger in raw physical impact. But it now carried a disconcerting psychological damage. When it struck, it didn't just damage the body. It assaulted the mind. Inducing disorientation, fear, and even temporary sensory overload.
Against lesser foes, it could incapacitate them. Against stronger ones, it could create crucial openings. A truly useful upgrade.
Finally, his [Healing Chant] was re-engineered. While its healing power was useful, Jack's new [Arcane Healing Lullaby] was much more effective and efficient.
Jack decided to change its main functions. He imbued the chant's runes with a few connecting runes related to nullification and counter-spell constructs. He expected that it would be a healing spell with additional de-buff nullification. Well, the result was slightly different than what he expected though.
It was actually... better for him. Now, [Healing Chant] became [Curse Repelling Chant].
This new version no longer provided any physical healing. Instead, its primary function was to nullify and expel magical afflictions and curses. Its incantation became quite different. It was less a soothing balm and more a forceful expulsion of foreign energies.
With [Curse Repelling Chant], [Arcane Healing Lullaby], and [Cleansing Mist] in his repertoire, Jack Mystery now actually had the basic set of abilities for a Healer. He could dispel curses, heal injuries, and cleanse diseases or poisons.
These upgrades weren't just mechanical changes. They redefined Jack Mystery's approach to combat and support. He was becoming more dangerous, and more versatile.
Other than these personal power-ups, Jack also dealt with the the other loot from the Valley of Despair. The [Spatial Satchel].
After being tinkered for several days, the satchel had finally yielded its secrets. The intricate runic seal that had protected it eventually succumbed. Fallen against a combination of focused magical energy and Jack's innate knowledge of runic mechanisms.
The small, unassuming pouch, contained a significant treasure trove. Among the most useful contents were countless [Monster Cores]. Crystallized essences of hostile monsters. These were quite useful for most transcendent individuals. Providing raw energy they could use for physique training, essence cultivation, and mysticism upgrades.
Jack, with his unique system-based power development, had no direct need for them. He simply passed them to Reina.
Also within the satchel were several bundles of [Starlight Leaves]. These delicate, phosphorescent leaves shimmered with an ethereal glow. Emanating a palpable sense of calm. Jack immediately recognized their value.
They were an extremely rare and potent mana recovery item. Consuming even a single leaf could replenish a significant portion of his depleted mana. A critical asset for many situations.
He carefully stored them in his own [Spatial Belt]. Knowing they would be life-savers in future engagements.