"Let's see..." Jack thought aloud. His eyes were scanning the five glowing options.
He recalled his past life, before he died and woke up in this steam-powered, monster-infested alternate Earth. In that life, as a content creator specializing in myths, horror, and conspiracies, he had spent hundreds of hours... researching bizarre creatures from various world legends and mythologies.
He remembered spending several nights learning about Japanese mythical creatures. He couldn't remember many details. But he recognized the names mentioned in the choices. He needed to evaluate these choices carefully.
First was [LIGHTNING RAIJU]. He remembered that in Japanese lore, Raiju was the beast of lightning. It often took the form of a blue wolf, a weasel, or a cat during storms.
It should be a loud and highly aggressive creature. One that possessed overwhelming speed and destructive power.
If he chose this, his kamaitachi form would likely mutate into a speedy and heavy-hitting creature. A purely offensive powerhouse. It would be a good choice.
Next was [SHADOW ONMORAKI]. Onmoraki? If he didn't remember it wrong, it should be a demonic bird with a human face. One that wailed with the voices of neglected corpses. A creature of dark magic and spiritual corruption.
"Too creepy, and honestly, a bit redundant." Jack muttered.
From the name, this creature should possess shadow power. A stealth specialist with curse-like additional power.
But, he already had Jack Mystery, his specter form. The one who handled stealth and mystic power perfectly well. He didn't need another dark, spooky avatar with overlapping power.
Jack shook his head and immediately moved on to [FIRE KASHA]. The Kasha should be a Japanese cat demon. One that descended from the heavens amidst burning Chariots to steal the corpses of sinners.
It was often associated with hellfire and swift movement. But, was this swift movement equal to a kamaitachi's speed? He doubted it.
He could guess that this choice would provide him with thermal damage and fire control. It sounded incredibly potent. But Jack already had access to hellfire through his [Chains of Vengeance] and Judge Jack's [Naraka Armor].
Judge Jack might not be pure fire control specialist. But, he didn't need to be one.
As for his current incarnation, he didn't want to overspecialize in fire either. Wind and speed were already perfect as the primary combat styles for Racer Jack.
He immediately shifted his attention to [ARMORED TENGU]. This creature was a famous one. It should be a legendary mountain goblin or bird-man known for their martial arts, wind control, and trickery.
An armored variant would likely turn him into a highly defensive, airborne combatant. One with great physical strength and decent speed.
But Tengu should be normal-sized, or even tall humanoid.
Jack liked that his original kamaitachi form was small, super fast, and incredibly hard to hit. Becoming a large, armored bird-man would ruin the speedster combat style he loved about this particular incarnation.
Finally, his eyes settled on the last option... [STORM KAMAITACHI]. His original kamaitachi was a wind weasel that manipulated wind current and moved extremely fast. Cutting and slicing the targets with his sharp blades so fast that they might not even feel the pain when being cut.
By upgrading to the storm variant, he should retain the core anatomy of his small, agile weasel form. He would keep his insane speed and wind-cutting capabilities. But now they would be supercharged with nature's most volatile element... lightning and thunder.
It was the perfect synergy. He wouldn't just be fast. He could be highly destructive. Not much that different from the Raiju choice.
Jack pondered his choices. Onmoraki, Kasha, and Tengu were out. Now, he had to choose either shifting into a Raiju or staying a Kamaitachi.
"I'm staying a weasel." Jack finally decided with a smirk. "Racer Jack is too good to give up. Besides, who knows what would happen to my Phantasmal Rogue class if I evolved into a different race. Now, let's see what to do..."
Before initiating the evolution, Jack looked around the dusty, cursed throne room. Despair Valley was a hostile place. And unlike Jack Mystery, Racer Jack would be considered a living being.
If he evolved that incarnation here, it would definitely attract the nearby undead creatures. And the [Yrenlobeng Pearl] might also activate its black hole in response.
He definitely couldn't make his choice here. But, it wasn't a big problem. He could use his Mirror Mansion instead.
Jack couldn't pull out a hand mirror he previously used to enter the mansion. He had dropped it and left it with his crew, back in the meadow when he let them out. But again, it wasn't a big problem.
He didn't need a perfect mirror. He just needed a reflective surface. And creating one for him was pretty simple.
He immediately decided to cast a very simple [Water Splash] and [Glowing Stone] cantrips. Creating a small puddle of water that was reflective enough to be used.
And then, Jack activated his [Mythical Mirror Realm] and phased through the rippling and glowing puddle. Instantly entering the pristine, safe interior of his Mirror Mansion.
Once inside the quiet, luxurious halls of his safehouse, Jack started to take action. He focused his mind on the floating level-up screen and mentally pressed the last option.
[STORM KAMAITACHI CHOSEN...]
[INITIATING INCARNATION EVOLUTION...]
Immediately, a violent surge of energy erupted from his core.
Jack's spectral form shattered. He was forcefully transformed into his kamaitachi form. And the transformation didn't stop there...
First, the small, sleek form of his kamaitachi incarnation appeared. A cute but deadly bipedal weasel with scythe-like blades jutting from his limbs. His white-and-grey body was suspended in a sphere of crackling, golden lightning.
Then, the wind inside the Mirror Mansion began to howl. Dark, miniature storm clouds materialized near the ceiling of the room. Swirling in a tight vortex directly above him. Sparks of static electricity danced across his fur.
Jack gritted his teeth as a sharp, tingling sensation washed over his entire body. It felt like thousands of tiny needles were pricking his skin. Redefining his compact muscle fibers. And infusing his spiritual pathways with high-voltage energy.
His fur, which had been white-and-grey color, darkened to a sleek, metallic charcoal color. Bright, jagged streaks of electric gold ran down his spine. Glowing like neon lights, before bursting into power... and turned the fur color into dark gold one.
His claws and scythe-like blades also changed. They were previously simple bone-like blades. But now, they were lengthened and turned into translucent, crystalline edges. One that vibrated with high-frequency waves.
At that exact moment, a system notification flared again directly in Jack's perception.
[RACIAL EVOLUTION DETECTED!]
[ADJUSTING POWER. CHANGING STATUS EFFECT...]
TRANSFORMING [WIND CHILD] INTO [STORM CHILD]
Jack immediately checked his status panel.
[Status Effect: Storm Child. A permanent innate connection to wind, lightning, and thunder. These allows host to sense and manipulate air currents, control electricity, and produce sonic blast.]
Nice! It was definitely a great improvement to the [Wind Child] status effect.
And then, the notification appeared again...
[ADJUSTING POWER. EVOLVING PHANTASMAL SKILLS...]
[SHADOW ESCAPE] INTO [WIND ELEMENTALIZATION]
[FIRE BURST] INTO [SONIC BLAST]
[KNIGHT'S CHARGE] INTO [LIGHTNING CHARGE]
[LIGHTNING WEB] INTO [STORM PRISON]
Jack checked the upgrade one by one...
[Phantasmal Skill: Wind Elementalization. Set as an upper chest phantasmal tattoo. An active skill to temporarily turn into wind elemental. It provides complete immunity to physical and elemental damage. However, in this form, hosts cannot use any physical and elemental attack either.]
Another nice upgrade. From a skill to meld into shadows... into a skill to transform to wind element. It was still an ability to escape a physical or elemental attack. But it didn't depend on the existence of shadow. Great change!
[Phantasmal Skill: Sonic Blast. Set as a left forearm phantasmal tattoo. An active skill to deliver a sonic blast, either as a single-target attack or as an explosive area attack. Causing significant sonic damage.]
Jack nodded without much excitement. It was basically changing the skill from fire damage to sonic damage. Was it better? He wasn't sure. He needed to test it to know.
[Phantasmal Skill: Lightning Charge. Set as a right leg phantasmal tattoo. An active skill to turn into a lightning construct and charge in lightning speed to strike the enemy. Causing significant physical and lightning damage to anything in a straight line.]
This one was nice. He no longer needed to turn into rapidly rolling armadillo. He could just become a lightning coated beast that destroy anything in his path. The question would be whether the charge also damage himself or not.
[Phantasmal Skill: Storm Prison. Set as a right forearm phantasmal tattoo. An active skill to temporarily cast a disruptive storm that shackles any target within the wide target area. It can paralyze, slow, and confuse multiple targets.]
Great! It was no longer just a [Lightning Web] that paralyzed the targets. It can slow down the opponents and provide confusion status effect to the targets now.
It was definitely a great improvement... if the duration of both latter effects were longer than the paralysis one. If the duration was the same, it would be a pointless upgrade. He needed to check it later.
Jack looked at his reflection on the mansion's mirror. His body was slightly bigger. But, he was still small, sleek, and low to the ground. He was still a bipedal weasel wearing goggles and short fur coat.
What made him different was his fur. It was now dark-gold in color and seemed extremely tough. With lightning sparks dancing all over. He was like a Super Saiyan of the bipedal weasel.
And there was his scythe-like blades. Jutting from his arms, legs, and tail was crystal gold blade. Semi transparent, exquisite, and very sharp. It looked incredibly artistic yet deadly.
"Oh, yeah!" Jack grinned wide. His squeaking voice vibrated with a characteristically annoying flair. Showing off his well-thought persona for the incarnation. "This is going to be fun."
He took a few experimental moves to check his speed. With a single tap of his legs, he crossed the wide living room in a microsecond. Appearing on the opposite side of the room almost instantly. No windup. No friction. No teleportation. Just pure speed.
He spent the next few hours in the Mirror Mansion, specifically in the recently fused grassland. Testing his new limits. Learning the rhythm of his current abilities. And refining his control so he wouldn't accidentally damage anything in that evolved form.
By the time he was satisfied, he checked the steamrune clock he set up in the mansion. It was still two hours before midnight.
Jack took a deep breath. He deactivated his storm kamaitachi form. Reverting back to his mysterious specter form.
He adjusted his spectral top hat and stepped back out into the desolate throne room of Despair Valley.
The Yrenlobeng Pearl was still on the place he had left it. Dark and useless in a land with no life to steal.
"Two hours to explore this valley..." Jack hummed. "Let's do it!"