The world suddenly broke into pieces. Just like a fallen mirror.
One moment, Jack stood in the mist-shrouded emptiness. Contemplatively evaluating his failure. The next, everything cracked like fragile glass. And stone appeared all around him. Heavy and ancient.
Damp, cold air filled his nonexistent lungs. Chains hung from the ceiling. Scraping against the stone floor. Thick and rusted.
His surrounding was no longer mist. But a cell. A prison cell. Grim. Confining. Dark and gloomy.
The familiar voice, deep and resonant, boomed once more.
"Inheritance Trial for the Great Cloudfather. Final Phase - Freedom Trial. Escape from the Underworld Prison!"
The announcement hung in the air. Thick with finality.
"Warning! Rune Warning Devices and Traps were set all over the prison. The prison guards were not human. But creatures with various mystical abilities. Proceed with caution."
That was it. No map. No objective marker beyond 'escape'. No guidance. Just a sudden drop into a hellhole with a simple, brutal instruction. Prison escape.
Others might find this trial insurmountable. Locked in a cell. Surrounded by inhuman guards and magical traps. Jack, for a fleeting second, felt a surge of... well... anticlimactic expectation.
Compared to the previous trial, this was a piece of cake. For him, at least. Escape? He had a form specifically designed for ignoring physical barriers.
He immediately thought about [Incarnation Shift]. Previously, during the Trial of Strength, he hesitated using this ability. It was in the middle of the trial after all.
He was worried that his different incarnation would be considered a different entity. And the trial would reset.
But now... It was the beginning of the trial. Resetting would not matter much.
He activated his [Incarnation Shift]. The heavy, armored mass of Judge Jack wasn't suitable. Neither was the robust, weapon-laden frame of Jack Night.
No, this called for the most adaptable adaptable form for stealth and escape. His mysterious specter form.
Slowly, Jack's current human form dissolved. Turning into the wispy, shadowed figure of Jack Mystery.
Within a minute, the human form was replaced by a specter. The tattered, masked stage magician. Spectral and translucent.
Invisibility settled over him like a second skin. The familiar shield against physical sight. Intangibility followed. The ability to pass through solid matter.
Escaping this prison should be a formality. A literal walk through the wall. Right?
Jack drifted towards the thick, iron-banded stone door of his cell. He extended a hand, testing the barrier. His molecules shifted, preparing to phase through.
As his spectral form touched the stone, a faint energy flared along the surface. Not visible to the naked eye. But a distinct ripple in the magical currents of the prison.
A low hum resonated from the wall. And a dull, pulsating red light appeared above the door. Embedded in the stones.
Rune Warning Device. Active. And it had sensed him.
Jack paused. Intangibility usually meant you didn't interact with the physical world. Or its mundane defenses. But these weren't mundane. These were rune devices. Magical. And designed for this place.
His spectral form was non-physical. But it was still a concentration of energy. A unique magical construct. These runes weren't sensing flesh and bone. They were sensing the presence. His presence.
He withdrew his hand. The red light above the door faded. Though the low hum persisted. A constant underlying thrum in the prison's structure. This wasn't going to be a simple phase-through.
He had the passive trait [Mysterious Nature]. This trait enhances stealth. And it should render him unrecognizable. By any form of divination, scrying, or magical analysis.
He could bet on it and continue phasing through the door. If his guess was right. He would indeed be detected while passing through. But the detection method wouldn't be able to follow and track where he would go next.
Or... he could try finding another way. Less riskier one.
Okay. Plan B. Or maybe just 'Plan: Be Careful'. Invisibility was still active. He was still unseen. But if the runes could sense his subtle energy signature, maybe other things could too.
He drifted away from the door and towards the opposite wall. A solid rock face. Presumably the outer boundary of the cell. He tried phasing into it.
Again. The soft shimmer. The low hum. The sudden, aggressive pulse of red light above the door opposite him. The runes weren't just local. They were tied into a network. Touching any warded surface triggered a general alert or detection ping.
This was more interesting than he anticipated. Intangibility wasn't a free pass. It was like being a ghost in a house specifically haunted-proofed. Challenging.
Jack intentionally passed through the wall. To the empty neighboring cell. The humming sound turn louder. Into roaring alarm. The red light above the door turned much brighter.
He retreated to the center of the cell. Becoming as null and void as a ghost could be. He needed to observe. What happened when the alarm got activated? Did guards come? What kind? How did they detect?
He waited. After a minute... The roaring alarm and the red light above the door died down completely.
No immediate response. Maybe the runes just registered 'something was here'. Without specifying what or where. Waiting for confirmation. Or maybe the guards were just slow.
Jack passed through the door. The red light and alarm were activated again. Jack turned his invisibility to max level.
He was now in a corridor. Stone walls lined with cells on either side. Torches flickered with unnatural green flames. Casting long, dancing shadows. The air was somehow colder out here. Carrying the faint scent of decay and something acridly magical.
Immediately, a different sensation prickled at his non-existent skin. Not a visual detection. He was still invisible. It was... a feeling. Like being watched by something blind but incredibly aware.
Down the corridor, hunched figures shuffled. Prison guards. They weren't human. Twisted forms. Grey skin was stretched tight over sharp bones. Eye sockets were empty but somehow conveying malevolent attention.
Cave Goblins? No. It was something older. More malicious. The bluish runic lines on their skin?
He had read about them. They were Abyss Trackers. The descendants of ancient goblin race bred for scouting purposes.
One of them suddenly stopped dead. Its head snapped up. Sniffing the air with a snout full of needle-sharp teeth.
It turned its empty gaze directly towards Jack's location. It couldn't see him. But it knew something was there. Its ragged claws twitched.
They were obviously not relying on sight. Scent? Of a ghost? Or maybe they sensed the minute temporal or spatial distortion caused by his passage? Whatever it was, they were effective.
Jack froze. Moving would likely confirm their suspicion. He held his form utterly still. Minimizing any ripple in reality. Minimizing the detection his presence might cause.
The Abyss Tracker shuffled closer. Sniffing, a low growl rumbling in its chest. It reached out a clawed hand. Testing the empty air directly in front of him. Phasing through Jack's invisible form.
He resisted the urge to flinch. His experiences had honed his control. Stay still. Be less than air.
The Abyss Tracker pawed at the air for another moment. Then growled in frustration. It turned away. Resuming its slow, shuffling patrol. With its companions.
Jack let out the spectral equivalent of a held breath. Okay. Lesson learned. Invisibility and intangibility wasn't complete foolproof.
These creatures had senses keyed beyond the physical. And the prison itself was laced with various detection methods.
He needed to move carefully. Identify patrol routes. Avoid lingering near guards. And definitely avoid touching any warded surfaces if possible.
He drifted silently down the corridor. Keeping to the center. Away from the walls. The green torchlight didn't illuminate him.
The shuffling steps of the Abyss Tracker didn't register him physically. But he knew they were listening. Sniffing. Feeling for the subtle wrongness of an intruder.
He reached the end of the corridor. Finding a stairwell descending further into the prison's depths. Great. Deeper into the Underworld.
Logically, this should be the wrong path for escape. But Jack had a strange feeling that this was the correct one.
He once had an idea to phase through the solid stones above. All the way up through the prison ceiling. Until he reached the surface world up there.
But his instinct screamed that it was the wrong idea. He would never be able to escape using such simple way. And he would be in a grave danger. Even in his specter form.
He had to follow the rule of the game. Even though he didn't exactly know what it was.
Somehow, his intuition was the one thing that guided him. Telling him what could and could not be done in this prison.
Going downstairs seemed to be safe.
Downstairs, the air grew colder. Heavier. The hum of the runes was louder here. A constant pressure against his senses.
He left the stairs. Now, he was one level below the previous elevation. Drifting along the corridor, he immediately sensed it. A new trap was activated. Triggered without any obvious reasons.
A sudden pressure enveloped him. A tightening in the air that tried to press his spectral form down to the ground. It felt like being drowned in the sea while wearing full iron armor.
Mental Gravity Ward! Jack swore internally. A runic array designed to bind mental power. Seriously weakening any user of magic and sorcery. And it was terribly effective against non physical entity like him.
Jack gritted his invisible spectral teeth. The ward wasn't strong enough to stop him completely. Thanks to his maxed out [Essence] attribute.
But it was still uncomfortable. Inhibiting. And worse yet, it was affecting his speed and agility.
A team of Lizardman Guards were patrolling nearby. They were attracted by the activated ward. But they could not see him. His Invisibility worked on them. Fortunately.
He floated forward sluggishly. Pushing himself through the warded zone with focused effort. The pressure receded as he moved past the affected corridor. He needed to be mindful of these kinds of wards.
He reached the end of the stairs and found a larger chamber. Not cells. But a vast underground hall.
With a single guard. A dragon. One that was much bigger and stronger than the one he faced in the Trial of Strength.
And this dragon was in perfect health.