Days moved on. The Lonestone Capital City hummed with its usual industrial rhythm. Smoke plumes were rising from factory districts. The clang of hammers echoing from the port. Alongside the distant cries of gulls. Life continued its unyielding march.
Jack and Reina, however, had added a new research topic to add in their mostly mundane life. The Valley of Despair. Information about the spatial realm had disseminated rapidly among transcendent circles. Even outside the three conflicting factions.
The Saint of Joy's pronouncement had ensured that. Before, nobody cared about the Valley of Despair. Now, it was a destination. Albeit a dreaded one.
Their research confirmed the necessary information. The Valley of Despair was a singular spatial anomaly. Geographically isolated. Opening its portal only once every decade.
Its name was not poetic. It was literal. The very air within it seemed to suffocate hope. Few had ever willingly entered. And fewer still had returned unchanged. The common rating among those who ventured in was a simple... terrible.
There were no treasures to speak of. No veins of rare minerals. No hidden caches of ancient artifacts.
The terrain was barren. Choked with skeletal trees and petrified flora. Undead monsters roamed its blighted landscape. Their forms were twisted and grotesque. But their bodies held no valuable components for alchemists or mages.
No clean water flowed. Only brackish, corrosive puddles. Edible vegetation was nonexistent. Safe havens were a myth. Resting was a constant risk.
Survival there was a struggle against the environment as much as against its monstrous inhabitants. It was a place designed to wear down mind and body. To induce true, soul-crushing despair.
Before the Saint of Joy's stunt, no one cared when the gateway to such a place would open. It was simply a date on a calendar for a few specialized scholars. Ten months from now, it was irrelevant.
Now, the Forbidden Chalice locked within it. The opening of the Valley of Despair had become the most anticipated event in the transcendent communities across Ourean Continent.
Every major faction. Every determined individual. Every curious scholar... They began preparations. They might hate the place. But the prize outweighed the suffering.
Other than that particular change, life in Lonestone City held a predictable routine for Jack and Reina.
Reina remained deeply engaged in her charity projects. She even now worked outside the charity organizations she joined in.
She established small soup kitchens in the poorer districts. Funded basic medical clinics. And organized literacy classes. Her efforts were meticulous. Practical. And surprisingly effective.
Her motivation was not pure kindness. It was the neutralization of previous karmic debts incurred as Queen Mirage. But, results did matter more for karma compared to intention. At least, in the system of their current world.
Jack's days were split between two primary functions other than the usual practice and daily chores. They were his 'vigilante activities' as Racer Jack during daylight, and Jack Mystery at night. And his increasingly ambitious steamrune projects.
As Racer Jack, he continued to be a blur of motion and sharp wit. A floating, chattering enigma with blades for limbs.
He stopped muggings. Dismantled small-time criminal rings. Rescued a cat from a tree. And occasionally, to the delight of the city's children, performed slowed-down acrobatic move in public.
His fame, or infamy depending on the observer, continued to grow. Lending him more power. It was a satisfactory arrangement.
His nights as Jack Mystery went on as usual. Wandering around. Delivering judgements. Using nightmares to punish the guilty. And sweet dream to reward the worthy.
Whenever he wasn't in the two incarnations, he spent his time in his personal workshop. Gears, wires, and glowing steamrune schematics were built and compiled there.
His current obsession had been the mechanical hawk project. It was one of the most complex devices he'd attempted. Blending advanced mechanics with steamrune enchantments. And, crucially, a fully working AI.
The core component, the [Blank AI Chip], had been instrumental. He'd acquired it from the Head of the Sentient Scout. A bizarre, disembodied mechanical head he'd encountered in the Treasureland Junkyard.
The chip was a marvel of pre-Industrial Revolution technology. Capable of processing complex data. And learning at an exponential rate. It was blank though. He had to set its parameters and main functions.
Combined with his own design, the result was the Silver Hawk. It was a mechanical bird. Roughly the size of a golden eagle. Crafted from arcane silver, complex rune arrays, and intricate clockwork system.
Its eyes glowed with a faint, steady light. Its wings contained an advanced propulsion system. Allowing stable flight without direct external wind. The hawk could fly at remarkable speeds. Its movements were fluid and precise.
Its primary function was reconnaissance. Its integrated optical sensors was far more advanced than any conventional telescope. Allowing it to scout vast areas.
The data it collected was wirelessly transmitted to a tablet-like monitor Jack had also constructed. Providing a clear real-time feed. He could zoom, pan, and designate targets with ease. It was basically a powerful drone.
Beyond basic scouting, the Silver Hawk possessed an advanced light-distortion mechanism. When activated, the air around the hawk shimmered momentarily. Then it would simply vanish from sight. Visual invisibility.
The Silver Hawk itself was powered by a small, self-recharging beast core. Inscribed with multiple runes. It could stay for four hours.
After this period, the hawk would find a place to perch automatically. And enter a self-charging mode. Requiring six hours to replenish its internal energy. Before it could be deployed again.
Jack admired his finished work. It was a testament to the advancement of his Steamrune Engineer transcendent class. He ran a hand over its smooth metallic feathers. This was a great artifact that he created.
He didn't actually need it though. His specter form, Jack Mystery, already provided him with superior stealth and scouting capabilities. Without any time limits or charging periods.
He was already a pure, unhindered phantom for scouting. So, he made a practical decision. He gave it to Reina.
...
The night after the Silver Hawk's completion, Jack decided it was time for his regular 'quest check'.
He shifted into Jack Mystery. His spectral form. A translucent, masked stage-magician specter. He drifted through the city's moonlit streets. His destination was the Academy District. The luxurious home to Adam and Alice Lingreen. The strange twins.
They were children, no older than eight. Fateless characters like Jack. With unsettling ability to perceive the supernatural. And a super sensitive sense for malevolence and danger.
Jack had found them useful. They had provided him with a vague 'quests' twice. A premonition of some impending darkness that he, in turn, would investigate and quash. And those quests were... quite 'profitable' for Jack.
The first one gave him his first personal artifact. The second one gave him the underwater form: Voldyanoi.
Thus, Jack regularly visited the twins. But other than those two quests, they hadn't issued any other missions. Most nights, they just sat. Waiting. As if they had known he was coming. No matter what time he went there.
...
He phased through the wall of their bedroom. The twins were awake, as usual. Sitting cross-legged on their beds. Staring blankly ahead.
Jack appeared. Dissipating his invisibility.
The twin's eyes were immediately fixed on him. Not with surprise. Not with fear. Just… acknowledgment.
"Evening, Kids!" Jack's voice was a low, resonant whisper. He floated slightly above the floor. "Any new problems I can help?"
He anticipated the usual silence. The continued blank stares. The shrug of shoulders. Or the shake of heads. But this time was different. Adam, the boy, shifted slightly. Alice, the girl, blinked.
It was almost imperceptible. But it indicated a change.
"Indeed. Lonestone need your help." Adam's voice was flat. Devoid of expression or childish inflection. "Potential problem."
Alice followed. Her voice mirroring her brother's. "Noble Cemetery. Big problem about to appear there."
Jack tilted his head. His masked face was unreadable. This was unexpected. "Big problem? What kind of problem? Is it a cult? A monster? A… disgruntled ghost?" He ran through the culprits he could think of.
The twins looked at each other. Then back at him. Their faces remained perfectly impassive.
"Potential damage." Adam stated.
"To normal people." Alice added. Her gaze was unwavering.
Jack sighed. A soundless expulsion of air from a specter's form. "Yes, I gathered that. But specifics, Kids. Details. What am I looking for?"
He tried to coax more information. It was always like this. They provided just enough to point him in a direction. But never enough to give him a full briefing. It was infuriatingly inefficient.
Adam and Alice simply stared. Their eyes gave away nothing. They had delivered their kind of prophecy. Their job was done.
"Right. Of course." Jack let out another sigh. He knew this routine. Pushing them was pointless. They would give no more. "Lonestone Noble Cemetery, you say?"
He got two synchronized, near-imperceptible nods.
"Very well." He turned. His form began to dissipate into the faint moonlight filtering through the window. "Consider it checked."
Adam and Alice continued to sit. Watching the spot where he had been. Even after he was gone.
Jack drifted swiftly through the night sky. A ghostly blur above the city's industrial sprawl.
The Lonestone Noble Cemetery. It was an old, sprawling place. Filled with ornate mausoleums and weathered tombstones. Reserved for the city's elite and their ancestors. A quiet, solemn place.
Or, it was supposed to be. If the Lingreen twins were right. It wouldn't be quiet for long. He would find out what kind of problem lurked among the dead.