388 - The Specter and the Kamaitachi

Jack dropped a piece of [Blood Ruby] to the ground. Then, he took a deep breath and willed his body to shift once more.

The massive, muscular bulk of the rakshasa dissolved. Collapsing inward into a swirling vortex of cold, pale mist. The armor, flesh, and bones vanished. Replaced by a floating silhouette.

A chilling, eerie aura settled over the clearing as Jack assumed his specter form. Top hat, featureless mask, billowing cloak, fitting tailcoat. Everything in transparent and translucent form. Emitting purplish glow.

Jack Mystery had taken the stage...

Floating a few inches off the ground, Jack looked down at his ghostly hands. In this state, he had no physical body. But picking an object was a trick he had learned long ago.

Using his [Mysterious Anomaly] power, Jack reached and gripped the sparkling [Blood Ruby] on the ground. For a fraction of second, the gem seemed to glow with a deep, crimson light. No longer just a simple gemstone.

Holding the ruby suspended in the air with his telekinetic grip, Jack glided effortlessly. Back toward the obelisk.

He wasn't sure whether it would work or not. He was not a physical, biological entity in the form. But, there was no harm in trying.

He pressed the glowing red gem against the dark, ancient stone.

Once again, the obelisk reacted violently. This time, a cold, crimson light exploded from the monolith. Wrapping around Jack's spectral form like a protective cocoon.

The notifications flashed across his vision again...

[ANCIENT WONDER DISCOVERED!]

[EXPERIENCING BENEFICIAL POWER EVOLUTION...]

[UPGRADING POWER CLASS: MYSTIC SCHOLAR...]

[SUCCESFUL UPGRADE...]

[ACQUIRING A UNIQUE POWER CLASS: SPECTRAL ARCHMAGE]

And then...

Jack's [Spirit Torch] and his self created spectral grimoire appeared outside his control. Both objects glowed in purplish and crimson hues and melded into one.

A new and more spooky grimoire appeared in their place. It was still translucent and ghastly like the old spectral grimoire. But this new one had crimson runic patterns on its cover and pages. And it seemed to be eternally burning in purplish flame.

[FUSING EQUIPMENT: SPECTRAL GRIMOIRE AND SPIRIT TORCH]

[ACQUIRING PERSONAL ARTIFACT: GHOSTHEART GRIMOIRE]

[ENHANCING ALL KNOWN SPELLS...]

[SUCCESSFUL ENHANCEMENT]

Afterward, the notification went on...

[MYSTICISM AND PASSION GAINED MAXIMUM INCREASE]

[ALL AVAILABLE ATTRIBUTES REACHED THE MAXIMUM TRESHOLD]

[REACHING THE BOTTLENECK OF POWER...]

[REQUIRING BREAKTHROUGH TO 'ILLUMINATED' LEVEL...]

Jack floated in silence as the cold power of the upgrade settled into his soul. His mind felt sharper. Expanding easily to grasp complex magical equations in a fraction of a millisecond.

He pulled up his status panel for his spectral persona.

[CHARACTER STATUS]

[Persona: Jack Mystery]

...

[Power Class: Spectral Archmage]

...

[Attributes: Physique (00) Mysticism (99) Passion (99) Essence (99)]

...

[Personal Artifacts: Ghostheart Grimoire;...]

[Mystic Spells: Minor Cantrips - Enhanced Fire Spark; Enhanced Dreamy Mist;...]

[Mystic Spells: Grimoire Magic - Enhanced Layered Wards; Enhanced Mind Piercing Missile;...]

Just as before, all his available attributes were locked at the maximum threshold of 99. His Physique remained at a flat 0. Obvously. After all, in this incarnation, he was a specter who possessed no physical flesh. He was a pure entity of soul, magic and mind.

He focused on the new details.

[Spectral Archmage. A legendary, transcendent class representing a specter who has mastered the ultimate secrets of mysticism and high-tier spellcasting. The Spectral Archmage can cast complex, versatile spells while remaining entirely phased out of the physical plane. All spells cast by this class use only a half of the required mana for the original cost.]

This chapter appeared on the NovelPhoenix site through copying without the author's permission. Reading the author's work there helps.

Nice! Jack grinned behind his featureless mask.

He had already possessed a massive amount of mana in this form. And the effectivity had already been optimized by the [Fruit of the Mystic Spirit] he had previously consumed. Now, with the class, he would basically be a tireless spellcasting nightmare for his opponents.

He checked hin new personal artifact...

[Ghostheart Grimoire. A personal artifact born from the fusion of the Spectral Grimoire and the Spirit Torch. This spectral book was bound directly to the owner's soul. It acts as an automatic magic multiplier that increases the magnitude of the known spells, and power to directly channel purifying or destructive spiritual flame without using any spell. Other than that, it drastically reduces casting time and cooldowns, and even completely eliminates them for lower-tier spells.]

This one was also nice. The grimoire retained the [Spirit Torch] ability to freely channel purifying or destructive spiritual flame. One function he had almost never used previously, and might not use too often in the future. But, it was still nice to have the option.

The reduction of the casting time and cooldowns was the game changer. After all, being able to spam spells was definitely a great thing to have.

Jack looked at the list of spells he had in his repertoire. All of them had an additional word 'Enhanced' in front of their names. He tried to check one...

[Minor Cantrip - Enhanced Fire Spark. A low-tier instant-cast spell of the cantrip level. Instead of a tiny spark of fire, this spell now unleashes a concentrated spark that could easily catch fire when it hit many different types of objects, bypassing the object's conventional heat resistances.]

Jack quickly looked at the other 'enhanced' spells. They were pretty much the same. Either stronger effect, longer time, or greater magnitude. Definitely... big profit!

"Two down." Jack said calmly. His voice was echoing eerily in the silent place, with a hollow, spectral resonance. "Two more to go."

Without hesitation, he transformed again. This time, his spectral body began to condense into smaller figure. The misty essence wrapped inward. Shrinking, shifting, and hardening.

In less than a second, the floating specter was replaced by a small, sleek creature covered in dark, golden fur. This was his storm kamaitachi incarnation. The speedster vigilante that had just recently evolved himself. Racer Jack.

Jack immediately accessed his [Spatial Belt] and randomly took out a gemstone. It was an [Arcane Diamond] this time.

He walked back toward the towering, enigmatic obelisk. Lifting the [Arcane Diamond] and letting it directly touch the cold, dark surface of the stone.

The diamond flared with a blinding, pristine white light. The light didn't just illuminate the chamber. It sank directly into the kamaitachi's body. A second later, the familiar, cold system interface flashed directly in his field of vision.

[ANCIENT WONDER DISCOVERED!]

[EXPERIENCING BENEFICIAL POWER EVOLUTION...]

[UPGRADING POWER CLASS: PHANTASMAL ROGUE...]

[SUCCESFUL UPGRADE...]

[ACQUIRING A UNIQUE POWER CLASS: PHANTASMAL STORMBEAST]

And then...

[RETAINING AND ENHANCING CORE ABILITY: POWER THEFT]

[MODIFYING CORE ABILITY: PHANTASMAL TATTOOS...]

[ACQUIRING AN UPGRADED ABILITY: PHANTASMAL STORM MARKS]

The notification continued...

[PHYSIQUE AND MYSTICISM GAINED MAXIMUM INCREASE]

[ALL ATTRIBUTES REACHED THE MAXIMUM THRESHOLD]

[REACHING THE BOTTLENECK OF POWER...]

[REQUIRING BREAKTHROUGH TO 'ILLUMINATED' LEVEL...]

Jack immediately checked his status panel. Focusing on his new and changed entries, he called up the screen.

[CHARACTER STATUS]

[Persona: Racer Jack]

...

[Power Class: Phantasmal Stormbeast]

...

[Attributes: Physique (99) Mysticism (99) Passion (99) Essence (99)]

...

[Class Abilities: Power Theft; Phantasmal Storm Marks]

Jack again noticed that his attributes were all indeed locked at (99) points again. Just like his rakshasa incarnation, the kamaitachi one also received a drastic increase in [Mysticism]. Improving the number from the fifties directly to the max.

"What a dear Grandpa Obelisk!" Jack muttered in a low, nasal sound. "Maxing out all the stats in one go. Why didn't I find you sooner?"

He quickly focused his mind to read the detailed descriptions of the upgraded class and skills. Checking them one by one.

[Phantasmal Stormbeast. A unique, legendary evolution of the Phantasmal Rogue class. This class grants the ability to seize and utilize the skills and innate abilities of others, by creating phantasmal marks on the host's body. The skills and abilities will be automatically modified to fit into storm-element category. A Phantasmal Stormbeast is limited to a maximum of nineteen permanent skill marks.]

"Excellent!" Jack thought.

This class had now allowed him to steal and store nineteen skills. More than double than the previous class.

Well... limiting the category to storm elements made the power less versatile. But, storm itself should have the elements of lightning, thunder, wind, and water. Enough to make this incarnation very powerful.

As for the skills...

[Power Theft. The core defining trait of the class remains, but its efficiency has been vastly optimized. The user can use this power to steal the targeted skill from the opponent. The weaker, or incapaciated, target will offer higher chance of success.]

Now, this was highly practical. A wide grin appeared on Jack's weasel face. The skill wasn't just retained. It was upgraded. Now, it was not randomized skill anymore. He could choose a targeted skill to steal.

Finally, he checked the last modified ability.

[Phantasmal Storm Marks. An advanced evolution of Phantasmal Tattoos. Each mark signifies a phantasmal skill and will only be visible when the skill is used. There are nineteen positions of the marks in the user's body.]

Jack's golden tail twitched with satisfaction. The synergy was perfect. Now, he just needed to collect the skills. But, it wouldn't be completed soon.

After all, he would not randomly steal from anyone. He had his standard. He would only steal skills from those who didn't deserve it.

But now, for the next upgrade...