Six months. That was the time span that had passed.
Six months since the dust had settled in the Mist Palace. Since Count Bellcroft's grotesque transformation. Since Queen Mirage had become Reina Night under Jack's decidedly unique 'treatment'.
Six months had passed since the Rhythmic Oars carried away the remnants of the archaeological expedition.
Jack watched them go from a shadowed cliff. A ghost in the morning mist. Invisible even to the sharpest spyglass. Only twelve people survived from the expedition. Not including himself and Reina.
He recognized a few faces. Dr. Crafton, the archeology professor. Leon Drake, the inheritor of fate. And Chloe Chase, Jack's teenage friend. The inheritor of fortune.
They were gone. Back to civilization. Either to Sapphire City or Lonestone Capital City.
Jack hadn't gone with them. He had other plans. More pressing matters than returning to the relatively mundane civilization. Tideless Island was a natural training ground.
He had a new companion. A volatile element he had to deal with. And there were three incarnations of himself. Each was screaming for refinement. This isolated, hostile island was perfect to do so.
The months that followed were not a vacation. They were a crucible. Jack's plan had been simple... Train. Refine. Conquer. And Reina, his new permanent companion, was an integral part of that plan.
Their existence mostly revolved around Jack's Nine-Anchor Portal Ring.
Tideless Island had rugged terrain and pockets of lingering magical residue. It served as a primary training ground.
And when it was necessary, the ring also allowed Jack to bring Reina for instantaneous jumps to the Prehistoric Island. A primal, otherworld untamed land teeming with prehistoric monstrous beasts and ancient energies.
Back and forth they went. A relentless cycle of combat. Magical practice. Brutal physical conditioning. And leisure moral indoctrination.
Reina. Her transformation was… thorough. Not just a change of allegiance. But a complete restructuring from the inside out. Molded by Jack's relentless 're-education'.
He had used his [Eyes of Judgement] to access and evaluate her status panel – a ghost's privilege, seeing the raw data of a soul. The changes were clear...
[Name: *Reina Night]
[Codename: *Queen of Hearts]
[Age: *25]
[Affiliation: Jack Night]
[Karma: Evil]
[Power Level: High]
[Power Class: Supernatural Sorceress, *Mystic Scholars]
[Power Traits: Short Distance Teleportation, Illusion Magic, Fog Magic]
[Power Traits: *Cantrips, *Grimoire Magic]
[Personalities: *Practical, *Affectionate, *Clever]
[Attitudes: Obedient, Devoted, Loyal]
[Current Status: Very Healthy]
[Crimes: Murders (162), Betrayals (12), Frauds (57),…]
[Inheritance: Law of Illusion, Law of Fog]
The 'Queen of Hearts' codename was her own choice. A sardonic nod to her past reign and her current, peculiar devotion. She had turned twenty-five just weeks ago. A small, quiet acknowledgment of time passing.
He taught her the discipline of Mystic Arts. Guiding her to understand the deeper currents of her Illusion and Fog Magic.
He made her build her own Grimoire. Meticulously inscribing spells. Training her to cast with intent and precision. Not just instinct. Now, instead of conjuring a generic illusion or a quick fog screen, she could do much more.
She could weave complex illusions. Conjure different types of fogs. Cast precise, controlled cantrips for everything from lighting a campfire to mending torn clothes.
However, out of many of her changes, the personality shifts were perhaps the most striking.
Her [Selfish] personality was somehow replaced by [Affectionate]. Jack had treated her not as a hated prisoner or unfeeling subordinate. Instead he treated her as a trusty partner, and a passionate lover.
He had given her a taste of what it meant to be genuinely cared for. To have a protector that would keep her safe. Something the former Queen Mirage had never actually experienced.
He hadn't just shown amorous carnal desire for her, but also genuine companionship and trust. He had shown her his two other forms: a mysterious specter and a hulking rakshasa. Framing it as his Supernatural Power, just to make it easier to explain.
He had shown her his principled consistency. A stark contrast to the shifting loyalties of her old life. And in doing so, he had, perhaps unintentionally, cultivated genuine affection.
Her other dominant personality traits, [Opportunistic] and [Cunning] had also changed. They had been softened into [Practical] and [Clever].
Jack's moral lessons, blunt and often cynical, had chipped away at her pure self-interest. He hadn't made her good. Not by any stretch.
She was still 'evil' in some sense. But he made her his kind of evil. An evil that targeted specific 'guilty' individual. That understood loyalty. That valued a strong partnership. And that focused on efficient, effective solutions rather than gratuitous cruelty.
She was still lethal. But she was lethal for him. Her devotion was absolute. Her obedience unquestioning.
Jack's own development had been equally rigorous. He cycled through his forms. Pushing each to its limits. Exploiting the unique environment of Tideless Island and Prehistoric Land.
As Jack Night, his human form, a Steamrune Engineer, he had integrated a new rune... [Expansion]. It was the perfect counterpoint to his existing [Compression] rune.
Where [Compression] allowed him to shrink objects down without altering their weight, Expansion allowed him to enlarge them. Also without affecting their weight. This was a game-changer for his power class.
His Steamrune Engineering crafting method had become an intricate dance.
First, he would use [Fusion] to merge raw materials into superior materials. Creating objects tougher or more powerful than anything found naturally.
Then, he would use [Expansion] for a piece of the fused material. And swell it up, allowing him to work on its surface with greater ease.
He would use [Enchantment] to meticulously inscribe intricate rune arrays onto the enlarged surface. A process that required absolute precision. And became much easier due to the larger size.
Once the runes were set, he would revert the material back to its original size. Consolidating the complex runic patterns into a compact space.
Finally, he would use [Compression] to further miniaturize the finished component. Making it incredibly dense, potent, and practical size-wise.
He experimented with his Steamrune Shotgun. Turning it into more complex and deadly weapon. Greatly improving its quality and functions.
He did the same for all his existing devices (spare handguns, hoverboard, mercenary outfits). And all his new tools (hoverbike, mechanical traps, sniper rifle, utility belts, etc.).
As Jack Mystery...
For the ethereal specter of a masked magician, Jack focused on his mastery over Grimoire Magic Spells. He dedicated hours to arcane studies. Deciphering spell runes and transcribing them into his own spectral grimoire.
He had mastered four new, potent spells:
First, [Chain Lightning] was his answer to greater number of enemies. It would convert arcane energy into lightning element. Lashing out from his spectral form. Striking one target. Then arcing to another. And another. Until it had zapped all targets he had previously determined.
It was quite effective against multiple weak opponents. He had tested it on swarms of mutated insects that infested the island's interior. He casted the spells, and watched them sizzle and drop within seconds.
For single-target obliteration, he inscribed the [Void Cut]. A spatial spell. A sliver of pure nothingness. A tear in reality. It would manifest as a sword-cut-like space gap at his command. Slicing through armor, flesh, and even some magical defenses as if they were made of mist.
It was silent, precise, and utterly devastating. He had used it to kill a particularly resilient predatory beast in the island. Leaving behind surgically clean, gaping wounds. Cutting through its strong thick shell like soft tofu.
Next, Jack made his defense into an art with [Portal Wards]. Instead of defending against attacks, the pair of black-hole wards would absorb and redirect ranged attack. Arrows, spells, energy blasts... all could be caught with one ward and flung back through another ward.
The [Portal Ward] wasn't a shield. It was a trap. Making an opponent's own power their undoing. He had practiced deflecting Reina's [Magic Missile]. Marveling at the sheer defiance of magical physics.
And for short-term crowd control, or just for the sheer black humor of it... Jack chose [Forceful Frog-morph]. A grotesque green energy would engulf a target. Swiftly transforming them into a squawking, emerald frog.
The effect was temporary. Lasting only a few seconds depending on the target's resilience and willpower. But it was enough to incapacitate a major threat. Turn the tide of a skirmish. Or simply... humiliate an arrogant foe.
Reina found this spell particularly amusing. Often urging him to use it on the more aggressive local fauna.
Finally, for Judge Jack...
Perhaps the most agonizing, yet rewarding, development came for Judge Jack. He had sought a way to push his Black Buto form beyond its already formidable physical limits.
The recipe for the Primordial Warrior Concoction was his answer. It took time to gather the ingredients. And he failed many times in concocting the potions.
His {Eyes of Judgement] helped him a lot in refining and revising his failed concoction. And he finally made it. The completed concoction.
The concoction was a thick, volatile liquid. Shimmering with an unsettling purple glow. He remembered the particular scene. As if he could see it in third person view...
He stood before it. In his Judge Jack form. Reina watched. Silent. Her expression unreadable in the flickering light.
He gulped it down.
He remembered the experience. The first sensation was fire. Not just heat. But an inferno erupting in every cell. Every nerve ending.
His bones felt like they were calcifying. Then shattering. Then reforming. His muscles felt ripped and reknitted themselves with agonizing slowness. His vision blurred. Then sharpened. Colors was intensifying to painful degrees.
He could feel the chaotic energy. Ancient and untamed. Surging through him. Threatening to tear his mind apart. Images of primordial landscapes. Volcanic eruptions. And titanic beasts flashed before his eyes.
He remembered how minutes seemed to stretch into an eternity of torment. Sweat, mixed with blood, poured from his armored hide. His muscles convulsed. His body shuddered uncontrollably.
He recalled how Reina, for once, showed genuine concern. Her hand was hovering. Unsure if she should intervene.
Then, as abruptly as it began, the most intense agony subsided. He clearly remembered that. The relief. The refreshing feeling.
He survived. He was still... sane. And he was empowered. His senses were alive. Every sound was magnified. Every scent was distinct. He felt like he was a powerful ancient beast. Raw, untamed, but also incredibly potent.
Judge Jack was now a Primordial Warrior.
He had tested it. He could channel chaotic energy within himself. A destructive force akin to raw, untamed ki. Into his every movement.
He made a simple swing of his Judgement Warhammer, imbued with the nascent primal energy. It ripped through the air. Creating a turbulent vortex.
And when it hit a boulder. It created a quake that shattered the boulder into dust. His strikes now carried not just the weight of his weapon. But the destructive potential of a miniature cataclysm.