When Jack tried to sit up, he stumbled back on his rear, surprised to find himself so damned dizzy that he could barely stand.

Mitch’s solemn gaze left Jack feeling momentarily confused and flustered as the man gently helped him into a sitting position before solemnly handing him a flask full of watered wine, Jack drinking deep of the refreshing brew.

“Thanks,” Jack said. “I needed that.” Then his eyes widened as he caught sight of the wicked burn scars both men had also suffered, the way that even the powerfully built Mitch winced and hissed as he moved, despite Jack’s best efforts. Jacob looked little better. At least his face, cherry red with first degree heat burns, looked far less like charred flesh than hit had before. No doubt his own Paladin virtues were coming to his aid.

Jack winced, catching sight of his breastplate, visibly dented by the blows of stony fists. For all that Jack despised how poor their tactics had been, he, frozen for far too many seconds, had been little better. And they had suffered in the girl’s places as much as they could, shielding them with their bodies when the burning horrors had closed, padded gambesons and armor protecting them from blows and burns both, but only to an extent.

Mitch shook his head. “It’s we who should be thanking you.” He held out a massive paw of a hand. Even when Jack gripped it tenderly the man still winced, Jack noting his now completely seared leather gloves. “If you hadn’t been there...” he paled and shook his head.

The paladin nodded. “Thank you for saving our asses back there. Seriously. We owe you a major solid.”

Jack grinned, only then realizing they were all speaking a dialect of English last spoken long, long ago. “Long time since I heard expressions like those.”

Jacob frowned, looking strangely crestfallen, even as he winced from his burns.

“Wait, what do you mean a long time? We’ve only been playing for a couple of weeks,” said Mitch.

Jacob, the paladin, shook his head sadly. “It doesn’t matter, Mitch. You know how lifelike these NPCs are supposed to be. Damn, but I wish we could meet someone else who was real!”

Jack paused his eating, gazing carefully before the pair of suddenly awkward looking men. They had paused for some quick food and drink, Jack getting strange looks at the direction of his waist before squinting eyes and rubbed brows had pulled their gazes away.

He hadn’t hesitated to share, his companions eating his pre-cooked dear meat with ravenous abandon.

“NPCs?” he finally said, carefully gauging their reactions.

Mitch frowned, shaking his head, glaring at Jacob before owning it. “It means your just an algorithm the AI’s cooked up. You’re not real. None of this is real, I know, but I’d like to think that there are at least a few more beta testers trapped in this game besides us.”

Jack gazed open-mouthed at the pair of men, momentarily speechless. His mind racing as fast as the howling wind bringing in stormy weather.

“Wait… so you guys…” he shook his head. “You were beta testers? For the original game?” He couldn’t suppress the wide grin on his features, for all that their very appearance gave credence to the AI’s dire warning, assuming his own dream had been anything more than that.

Jacob nodded, flashing a relieved smile. “Wow, you can actually say that? So you must be real then, if you understand that this is just a game. All of it.” He swallowed, gazing down at his feet. “So you aren’t any sort of emergency AI protocol equipped to save Beta Players before they get killed in game?”

Jack slowly shook his head. “Nope. Pure chance I was in just the right place at just the wrong time.”

“Well shit, guess we really did come close to kicking the bucket,” Mitch said, a concerned frown upon his features. “I hate to ask, but with sensory modes at 100%, just how painful are respawns in this game?”

Jack locked gazes with Mitch. “Path of Immortality, or Path of Peril?”

The two players looked at each other and grinned. “Path of Peril, of course. Who wants to play a full immersion VR game they can’t level up in?”

Jack’s lips pressed in a thin line. “How about the girls?”

“We all just hit level 2,” Jacob said proudly. “Of course, that was mostly thanks to training and a few fetch quests for the Bronze Eagles back in Greyspeak. Took us a good two weeks of solid work every day, but the girls wanted to take it slow.” He gazed sadly at Lauren. “And I didn’t mind it a bit, especially when I found out just how close a party we’d become.”

“Except for Sin. What an ass,” said Mitch.

Jacob shrugged. “He made it clear he wanted a ‘leet run, free of any deaths.”

“Which still begs the question, just how painful is dying?” Mitch said to Jack, who held their gazes and said nothing.

“Well shit,” Mitch whispered. “It’s really that bad?”

Jack shrugged. “Look at it this way. The pain’s not going to haunt you, no matter how bad it is. Anymore than if you were killed back on Earth.”

Jacob furrowed his brow. “What the hell does that even mean?”

“It means that if you die here, you won’t come back at all, unless you can actually survive a hell-run and escape whatever horrors are waiting for our souls below. My understanding is that people now almost never make it back at all, no matter the designer’s original intentions. So, once you croak, that’s it.”

“Shit,” Mitch said. “Sounds like no matter what we’re do, we’re screwed. So the immortality path really would have made us unkillable, even if we couldn’t level?”

“Not exactly,” Jack explained. “You can still die. But if you chose the Path of Immortality, you’ll eventually come back, or at least your memories of who you once were will. Some of them. It’s sort of like reincarnation, really. But you’ll only start to remember who you were after you’ve had 18 years to grow up in your next life. But if you chose the Path of Peril, you only get one life to live. Ever. So once you die, that’s it."

Jack frowned thoughtfully as the armored pair blanched.

“Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that. A clone of you might come back years from now, but it won't be you."

"Come again?"

"The system stored the brain maps of all the original up-loaders. I think all the NPCs are just as real as you and me, all of them evolved from us basically injecting our very souls into the code of this universe. For all we know, every sentient NPC is a descendant of the Originals. But only those Originals who walk the Path of Eternity will reincarnate with memory links to their previous lives, their sense of self remaining intact. Previous Path of Peril incarnations, on the other hand, suffer a complete memory wipe. The new you is no more you than a clone or a twin.”

Jacob frowned. “What the hell are you saying?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” whispered a now very awake Sharon. “We chose the Path of Peril. And we’ve wiped before.”

Mitch’s look was one of horror. “So that means… shit. You’re saying this game’s been up for, well, years. Only we don’t remember a thing.”

Sharon nodded. “For all we know, we’ve been trapped here for ages. Only we have no memory. Not of anything before we first came too, two weeks ago. Because we must have already wiped and died. And it wasn’t even us. It was a template of us. A mirror of us. Gone for good.”

She began to tremble. “Oh, no. Please tell me time dilation is a thing. Please tell me you’re just messing with us. Because if you’re not...”

“Our bodies are long gone,” Lauren whispered. “And here we were, thinking everyone we met was an AI when, in fact...”

“It’s us,” Mitch said, a ghastly pallor coming over his features. “We almost died, and it doesn’t even matter, because we’re not even real!”

Sharon broke down in tears. “I want to go home. Why did I ever volunteer for this shit? I just wanted extra grant funding. I didn’t think I’d get trapped in this game… die in this game… I can’t even find the exit commands. There has to be an exit command! Please tell me they put our bodies in suspended animation! Why the hell can’t we go home?”

“I’m sorry,” Jack whispered, flashes of his final day of hope and terror forever doomed to be the first memory to blaze upon his psyche each and every time he came back to his true self on his 18th birthday. “But there’s no home to go back to.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” said Jacob.

Jack sighed. “I don’t know how long this AI construct, Sanctum 2.0, has been under construction. What year were you guys put under? Have you heard of something called the Big Rip?”

“What year? Oh, you can’t be serious. This whole conversation is absurd! We applied together less than a month ago. We’re all taking the same advanced AI doctorate program! This is supposed to be our fucking group project!” said Jacob.

But Sharon was looking at Jack in growing horror. “The Big Rip. No. That’s impossible. That would mean… No. If that had actually come to pass, everything would have been destroyed! The best one could hope for is that the rupture of each quark would catalyze the birth of an entirely new universe. Infinite big bangs, and the absolute death of our old home. None of what you’re saying cane even be true, because not even the smallest AI construct could have survived if the entire universe was torn to oblivion!”

“It could have,” said Jack, “If we found a way to inject an AI construct into the fundaments of an overlapping universe, using the destruction of our own to generate power sufficient for it to either alter reality or shift us to a version of reality that mirrored, of all things, Elerium 2.0.”

“Shit!” Mitch whispered. “So you’re saying, assuming you’re not completely full of shit, that we actually infected another universe with what amounts to, well, an AI version of a higher power?”

Jack shrugged. “Call it what you will. Whether we’re self-aware programs in some digital universe we perceive as being real, or really ‘real,’ whatever that even means, does it even matter? We now live in a world, an entire network of realms, actually, overseen by sentient caretakers that control the local laws of physics. And for those of you who chose the Path of Peril, this one life is effectively the only one you got.”

Sharon crashed to her knees on the thankfully soft loamy ground and broke into tears.

“Is that what happened to you?” Lauren whispered. “Did you wake up like we did, out of the blue, two weeks ago?”

Jack shook his head. “No. Originally I chose the Path of Immortality. Almost all of us who rushed to upload ourselves before the universe completely self-destructed, knowing that this was the closest we’d get to an afterlife, did our best to assure ourselves as safe an eternity as possible. I most recently lived the normal life of a farm boy who enjoyed spending his afternoons hanging out with his friends or reading his mother’s tomes, before coming into, well, myself." He chuckled softly, giving a rueful shake of his head. "I never even thought I’d end up leaving my family farm until a little over two weeks ago.”

Jack peered carefully in the direction of the cave entrance, relieved to be out in what was now a chilly rain if that meant those horrid Flamers were kept from spilling out once more. “But then I woke up on my 18th birthday flooded by fragments of past lives that came to the fore whenever I applied myself to practicing anything that day, learning several years worth of lessons and skills in a single day.”

Lauren trembled. “And we don’t even get that. Two weeks of life, thinking we’re volunteers testing a fully immersive AI interface, and then we’re getting our flesh seared from our bones by creatures that belong in a horror movie.”

“Believe it or not, there’s actually an upside,” Jack said.

“An upside? What the hell would that be?”

“Well, remember, you don’t actually have to adventure. You can live peaceful sedate lives working at whatever craft or talent you might have a knack for. And since at least a couple of you can cast magic, who knows how far you can go, how much you can learn, how far you can grow even as level 2 characters? You already trump most everyone else stuck at level 1, or even, well, what’s technically level 0. You might not learn quite as fast as Originals who chose the other path, but who cares! You’ll learn as fast as anyone else gifted with odd talents and abilities, and best of all, you have a blessing absolutely no one else has who wasn’t an Original and didn’t dare the Path of Peril.”

Jack grinned at their doubting gazes. “I’m serious. You’re going to love this part, at least. The one foe you need never fear is hoary decrepitude itself. You will never grow withered and old. You will always appear as you do now, in the absolute prime of your lives. Healthy, attractive-looking adventurers who don’t look a day over, what, 22?”

He grinned at Sharon and Lauren both. “I know you’re both some type of mage class. I’ll bet you could spend centuries in some cushy arcane academy, engaged in teaching or research positions, respected and beloved by all your students and peers, and never have to worry about old age, retirement, or death taking away the life you find so sweet as a twenty-something.

“You could all have as big a family as you wanted, whenever you wanted, and never have to worry about putting it off too long. Hell, with so many centuries at your disposal, you’d have time to learn whatever profession you wanted, maybe becoming as rich as lords, or lords yourselves, one day. Who knows? The point is, dangerous a path as you’re on, you still effectively have a shot at immortality with very low risk, if you don’t mind starting at the bottom of whatever field or position interests you and working your way up."

He smiled and shrugged. "Of course, you can always take the bolder path of an adventurer, questing just as you are right now, putting your lives on the line for a shot at leveling up and shooting up the ranks of power in a matter of weeks or months. It’s possible you’ll acquire power that it might take a dedicated arch mage decades centuries to acquire, centuries he’ll only gain with the help of really, really powerful, dangerous magics I vaguely recall reading about, once upon a time. And when your competition is old and grey, you’ll all still be looking a ripe and healthy 22.”

Sharon swallowed, flashing a shaky grin. “It doesn’t sound so bad when you put it that way,” she said.

Lauren nodded, gazing down at her destroyed garments and the shiny scar tissue where once her flesh had been pristine and unmarked. “But we still pay a price, whatever we do,” she whispered, wincing as she stretched her limbs.

“Stretching is a good idea for now,” Jack said, gazing at the group’s multiple burn scars. “There are ointments you can put on those scars, should probably put on those burn scars every day, and you’ll have full mobility. But don’t worry. If things are anything like what they used to be, there are at least a few holy temples in the major city that house competent healers that can repair most any damage you’ve suffered, though it may cost you.”

All of them jerked their heads when clapping could be heard at the cave entrance.

“Nice moves there, boy scout,” said none other than Sin, eyes twinkling with cold mirth. “Well look at that, Jacob. We finally got ourselves a group healer. If you guys are done stretching out your shiny new burns? We still have a mission to clear.”

Lauren glared daggers at Sin. “You asshole, you abandoned us!”

Sin’s mocking smile didn’t waver, though his icy gaze hardened. “You sure about that, princess? Way I saw it, everyone was about to get deep-fried. I, unlike you and Sharon, am not warming anyone’s bed, so no one’s going to lay down their thick armored bodies to keep me from frying like a crisp.”

Lauren’s cheeks reddened, though her glare didn’t abate. “You left us to die.”

Sin snorted. “What the hell did you want me to do, Lauren? Way I see it, I was only in the way. If I had stayed, I’d probably be dead right now and of use to no one. As it stands, I’m injury free and our poor novice healer didn’t have to push himself any further than he already has, trying to bring me back to health. And before you accuse me of abandoning you, you better make damned certain of yourself. Are you sure I wasn’t looking for a weapon a hell of a lot more effective than short swords for dealing with those Flamers?”

He raised a flanged mace with a cold smile, emphasizing his point. “From the horses we have picketed outside this pocket of Regio.” He bowed slightly towards Mitch. “Old Conan 2.0 there gave me the inspiration. Though I don’t have Shield Smash or Mighty Blow combat feats, I was more than ready to see if I could morph my Fatal Strike feat to incorporate skull-crushing finishing moves. But it seems that our fortuitous encounter with a novice elementalist, who just happens to have a spell perfectly suited against any and all fire elementals or similar creatures, eliminated the need for me to put this toy to use.”

He shrugged, casually flipping the weapon up in the air, catching it without his dark gaze shifting in the slightest. “Don’t be giving me that look like I’m excess baggage either, Mitch. Just the other day, you were all raving about how my Shadowstrike moves make me the hidden trump card of our party.”

Jacob winced. “He’s right, you know. He saved our asses with that fucking goblin ambush, and we had nothing but praise for him then, when we found he could teleport even up those tree branches and didn’t those goblins get a bit of a surprise then! It’s not his fault his shortsword can’t pierce a flame-covered stone golem any better than my aura-boosted sword could. I’m not going to hold it against him for not wanting to get pointlessly fried to a fucking crisp. And Mitch, you and I did promise we would cover for him as the group tanks.”

Sin smirked. “Finally, someone giving me some fucking credit. Now, are we going to have a long drawn-out bullshit session where people pile on me for not being a tank, not being a hot chick currently warming someone’s bed, and not wanting to die? Just because we encountered foes immune to my backstabs? Or are we going to sack this dungeon for all it’s worth and make a shit-ton of coin? Because whether or not I shine like our paladin glory-hound there, you all still need a scout, someone who can spot trouble coming while remaining completely undetected, and hey, on the off chance we actually find a trap, you don’t want your first time to be your last time. Capiche? Unless boy-wonder here can do all that too?”

“Uh… no,” Jack said. “I can’t.”

Sin nodded. “Guess it’s settled then. You guys might want to rub some of our cooking grease on those scars, by the way. The tissue will be less likely to tear.”

Jacob blinked. “How the hell do you even know that?”

“Do you really want to know?”

Something in his gaze sent a shiver down Jack’s spine.

Jacob quickly shook his head. “Naw, man. It’s all good. Let’s get going.”

“Wait until we’re all ready!” Lauren said, she and Sharon stepping back out of Regio, and it was the strangest thing seeing the pair of them stretch in ways Jack's eyes couldn’t quite follow, before fading into mist and they were gone.

Jacob whistled. “That’s the strangest sight, I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it.”

“You’re telling me,” Jack said. “I didn’t even realize I had stepped back into Regio.”

Mitch grinned. “And we’re damn lucky you did. So, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name and class? As if it isn’t already obvious with your water spell.”

Jack smiled. “It's Jack. And as for class? I haven’t actually chosen one yet.”

Mitch whistled. “Seriously? That’s crazy. Don’t you want to level up? Wait, we didn’t even ask… which path?”

“Same as you, actually. First time for me though, obviously. I’m still not quite sure which class I want to take, so I’m dabbling in whatever skills and spells I can pick up until I know what I like.”

“Wait,” Jacob said. “You mean you never played Elerium back on Earth?”

Jack gazed at the brooding clouds above, letting the drizzle wash over him, not at all cold in his expertly quilted gambeson. “I used to play a lot, back in the day. I vaguely remember that, now. But it was lifetimes ago, and honestly, this world doesn’t exactly mirror the game. It’s far more detailed. It’s now a reality in and of itself. And with so many choices, I want to make sure I find the one that’s right for me.”

Which was a diplomatic way of saying that he didn’t want to lock himself in a basic class, especially when he suspected that at least half of his de-facto party was just that.

“Makes sense,” Mitch said. “I’m a fighter myself. I know, it’s a basic Tier 1 class. But you know what? I used to rule the PvP boards, back in the day, mastering my class and all its skill trees, knowing just the right perk combinations to stun-lock my opponents and bring them down.”

Jack nodded his respect. “I hear that. Fighters get a rap for being an average class any Joe can walk into, but for elite players who know exactly what they are doing and can read their opponent’s feat-trigger cues, they suddenly go from boring middle-of-the road to a class to be feared. Wasn’t Hexxar at the top of the Kill-boards for 6 months running? He was the only fighter for like 40 spots, though.”

Mitch flexed his bicep with a chuckle. “Thanks for the compliment, kid. And you’re right, some things have changed, because I no longer have that automatic universal disruption bonus like I did back in the day. But the system compensated me in other ways. When I saw how my base stats would be modified if I chose a class I already loved? I couldn’t even dream of turning it down. My physical stats are insane! Originally, I thought the AI was just adapting to our predispositions, but now? Now I’m not so sure.”

Jack’s eyes widened. “You’re Hexxar? Holy shit, man, it’s an honor to meet you. You wiped my ass so damned efficiently whenever we crossed paths in the Death Zones. Though I did learn a thing or two. No one ever got a chance to stun-lock me after that, I’ll tell you.”

“Glad to hear it,” Mitch said, locking gazes with Jack, his powerful hand firmly clasping Jack’s own. “And seriously, thanks again for saving our sorry asses. Without you? We really would have been toast.”

“Literally,” Jacob said with a chuckle. “Paladin, if it wasn’t already obvious. Also my favorite class from back in the day.” He took a reflective sip from his flask. “When I got offered my old favorite, along with a free bonus aura, I couldn’t say no any more than Mitch could. I think it was the same for the girls.”

Jack nodded. “Sweet! I have a couple classes to choose from myself, but no promised bonuses yet. It can’t hurt to see what else I might be able to unlock before I’m forced to make a choice, so I’m happy to see what else is out there. What’s everyone else playing?”

“Enhancer,” said Sharon, now wearing backup woolens and linen that hugged her curves, showing no discomfort for the scars he hadn’t been able to completely remove. Her dusky features were free of any scarring, kohl-lined eyes gazing his way with an odd mixture of challenge and gratitude, and never had he felt his efforts so well spent as when he had sacrificed his entire healing potion to rescue her.

Jack couldn’t help admiring the view before him. Even with the burns she had suffered, she moved with a confidence and determination he hadn’t seen when she was pinned by terror.

“Enhancer’s a subclass of enchanter.” She flashed a brilliant smile. “If you've played before, then you know how powerful that class can be. Able to craft artifact-level items at end game, you can make an absolute fortune, if you belong to a powerful guild.”

Jack nodded. “The cost being that you’re using your one true character slot for a crafting-oriented character, not using your zero level assistant slots.”

“Correct,” she said. “Which is why I chose the enhancer. We’re not quite as powerful as those who master the artificer branch, but were almost as good. We can make basic arcane constructs, though our strength lies in modifying any already crafted artifact and boosting it to a degree you wouldn’t believe! And unlike the other subclasses, we actually have a fair number of offensive and defensive buffs we can cast on the party and, unique to enhancers, a handful of direct damage spells! Basically, our active combat magic revolves around enhancing your defenses or hindering an enemy, up to and including physically dissolving it, as you saw with my spell earlier.”

Jack nodded. “So you chose a class that promises to be in demand the world over, specializing in magics you can actually use to play a buffing and damage dealing role within the party. Smart. Very smart.”

Sharon grinned. “I thought so. Now, can you guess what class our other spell-caster plays?”

Jack gazed intently at a happily beaming Lauren who didn’t hesitate to wrap him up in a fierce hug, squeezing him as tightly as she could through her linen dress, and Jack would be lying if he said her soft warmth wasn’t having an effect on him.

Green eyes met his own as her soft warm lips caressed his mouth.

Before pulling away with a dimpled smile, so strikingly beautiful Jack’s heart ached.

“Thank you for saving my life, Jack. Even though we just met, I can already tell you’re one of the good ones.” She flowed over to the powerfully built Mitch’s side, gently grasping his thick hand with her two far smaller ones. “You saved the man I love in a world I had only thought of as a game until I was screaming my lungs out, afraid I’d be burned alive.”

She shuddered, sinking into Mitch’s gentle embrace.

“You saved us, Jack, and I’m never going to forget it.”

Mitch nodded. “Agreed.”

Her solemn features turned playful once more. “I’m a witch, in case you’re wondering, which means I have access to all sorts of schools of magic. A bit esoteric, our offensive abilities are more about cursing or hindering our enemies than direct attack damage, but our power over wind, storms, and when we get powerful enough, lightning, makes us a force to be feared.”

Jack nodded, recalling that in the original game, Witches were a pretty weak class to start, but with their ability to create wards, hexes, fly, and summon anything from wind walls to tornadoes to lightning storms at the highest levels, they could quickly evolve into a force to be reckoned with. They even had access to the plant and animal spheres, though not to the degree a Druid did, and to a very minor extent, they could make use of the healing sphere. But that was more in terms of being able to craft a limited selection healing potions without any magical plants needed to catalyze the brew. Best of all, they only needed to increase one class potency skill to boost all of their disparate magical arts. For that reason alone, he was pretty sure they were either an Advanced or perhaps even an Adept class, but he wasn’t positive. Either way, they were considered one of the weakest, if not the weakest classes at the start of the game.

“And as soon as we get established, we are totally setting this boy up,” Lauren declared.

Sharon chuckled. “Sure we can. Assuming any of the others are actually ready to leave the starting zone and adventure, why not?”

Jack blinked. “There are others?”

“Of course,” Jacob said. “Ten of us were part of the original beta test, though for some reason, only 8 of us came online. The others were a little bit reluctant to get their feet wet. They’re more interested in running experiments and collecting data than adventuring just yet. I think one or two were also undecided about what class they wished to play, so held off on choosing.”

“Idiots,” Sin said. “Once you leave the character forging zone, your class selection is limited by what skills you have gained experience in. Those fools shot themselves in the foot. They can now only start as basic classes with none of the bonus stat boosts or perks we received.” He flashed a cold grin. “They’re eating crow and pouring all their resentment at their own stupidity on us.”

Sharon frowned. “Not everyone’s played before, and our professor did make a point that none of us were to choose a class yet, that technically this was a research project, and though he didn’t say it outright, I don’t think he ever expected us to leave our origin city.”

Sin laughed at that. “But leave we did! With advanced classes and sweet bonuses and that fool couldn’t do anything to stop us, especially when Lauren flashed that brilliant smile of hers, going on about field research. Since 70% of the player base adventures, the data wouldn’t be worth shit if we didn’t incorporate that in. So we left those fools with their mouths open, and best of all, this is all real! They can spend the next ten years trying to find something they have the least amount of affinity for, while we’re walking around like lords.”

He flashed a cold smile Jack’s way. “And in case you haven’t already figured it out...”

“Nightstalker, right? The ultimate rogue assassin class. Adept caliber, and favored by PvP gankers everywhere, if they’re willing to go through all the hoops with a basic character to earn it.”

Sin nodded. “Correct.”

Mitch and Jacob exchanged grins. “I hate to say it, but it was kind of funny seeing those tightwads put in their place. And it’s not like we did them any wrong. Hell, they’re almost as lucky as we are, even if they fumbled at the starting gate. They still have a lifetime, a dozen lifetimes, to do whatever they want on this world, when everyone else back on Earth...” He paled and looked away. “Never mind. Let’s just get going.”

Sharon shivered and swallowed, soft brown eyes locked on the mine entrance. “Do we really want to do this, guys? I mean… we did come damn close to dying back there, and this isn’t even part of the main quest. We just stumbled upon this rift by accident!”

“Which is all the more reason why we should finish what we started,” said Mitch. “We now have our party healer, and since this is just a burr in local reality, it shouldn’t be too hard to clear whatever sentient nightmares formed in the cavern and claim whatever prizes or secrets it's holding.”

Jack nodded, odd bits of memory coming back to him. Whenever pocket magic realms intersected with their own, there was almost always a reward commensurate with the challenge. Whether it be precious magical blossoms guarded by guardian bees or boars, or fissures filled with magical gems glittering with stored arcane potential guarded by sentinels determined to protect their prizes, the risk and reward balanced almost as well as physical law.

Of course, one never knew how perilous or benign various pockets were, at least not until they were mapped or explored. Such maps could make a cartographer serious gold, at least in the original game, the maps not losing their value even when adventurer's explored the sights, as those pocket realms would often reset. Though whether they would reset every night, every new moon, or with the solstice was anyone's guess.

Jacob frowned. "Guys, remember, those creatures ambushed us. This isn't one of those rifts that plays nice and resets, full of fresh resources a month after it clears. And I don't think it's low-tier breach in Regio, like a stable one would be, this close to civilization." He gazed intently at his friends. "Which means we have to be careful. Damn careful, if we're actually going to take this thing on, after nearly getting wiped before we even get inside."

Mitch glared at the cave entrance. "Which means we have to clear it, or packs of flaming golemns will set this wood ablaze. And considering the towns nearby with their wooden palisades and buildings..."

Sin's gaze narrowed. "Explain to me again why should we risk our necks clearing a dangerous anomaly? One that nearly killed two thirds of our now six-man party?"

Sharon's troubled gaze was fixated upon the entrance. "I kind of agree with Sin on this one. We did nearly wipe, guys. Why can't we just tell the local town militia's to be careful, or alert the city guard when we get back to our base?"

Jack almost nodded himself, sensing the subtle pressure of peril from the cavern entrance, recalling that even in the game, some rifts were actively dangerous, like pustules upon the world, frequently rupturing with packs of denizens that would threaten nearby areas. Those rifts wouldn't reset, but rather had to be cleared, only collapsing after one had performed a special action. Yet he couldn't for the life of him recall what that action was.

But Mitch was also right. Assuming adventurers who dared the Path of Peril weren't that common, the local towns would have no good way to stop the golems, let alone close the source. Jack hated to admit it, but if they walked away, dozens or perhaps scores of lives might be lost. Maybe not today, but most definitely in the weeks and months ahead.

Jacob's solemn gaze held them all in place. "Because countless lives in the nearby communities, and perhaps this entire stretch of the forest, are at risk. Because, unlike the game this reality was based off of, there aren't countless thousands of adventurers running all over the place. Because if we don't clear it, no one else will."