Jack paled at the last message flashing across his mind's eye.

You are now at 53% of experience needed to reach Level 1!

A blanch that didn't escape Sharon's now concerned gaze. "What's wrong?"

Jack swallowed, licking his lips. "I, um... I sort of lost experience."

Everyone's gazes suddenly locked onto Jack with looks ranging from pity to horror. For a gamer it was almost the equivalent of acknowledging leprosy.

Lauren looked ready to give him a hug. "Jack... heaven's mercy, I'm so sorry. What happened?"

Jack grimaced. "You'll recall the kickass flame that absolutely torched those fuckers like napalm?"

Jack recieved a couple solemn nods in response. "Yeah, well, bloodflame comes at a price. I'm literally burning away my potential whenever I use bloodmagics." he winced and shrugged. "In the past, already being at Max experience for level 1, I didn't worry about it, more concerned with maximizing my spells however I can and, well, survival. But against these monsters, and they just didn't stop coming..."

Solemn nods filled with acknowledgment, even gratitude, which left him feeling just the slightest bit uncomfortable.

Even Sin's soft chuckle caught him off guard. "You know you're an idiot, right, boyscout? Giving so much of yourself away to near-strangers who, for all you know, could be manipulative assholes who will laugh at your own unflinching generosity and strike you when you least expect it," said the man who appeared out of nowhere.

Sin gave a deprecating chuckle. "And I'm the fool who couldn't even spot those horrors coming." He smirked and folded his arms, looking just too cool with his sleek frame in his dark leathers. "Damn, but I'm not looking forward to when you eventually collect on those markers, growing bigger all the time."

This earned a few bemused smiles, but Lauren's gaze was solemn. "You're not kidding, are you, Sin? You can sense our obligation. It's growing."

Sin dipped his head. "I'm surprised you can spot it, but then I guess I shouldn't be, seeing as you're a witch. Still, it's subtle."

She furrowed her brow. "Then how the hell is it... oh, that's right."

Sin nodded. "A rogue's luck is different than a noble's luck, where things tend to work out in ways that assure his own betterment and the doom of his enemies. For us? It's all about survival. And I refuse to spit in fate's eye, ignoring a growing bloodmark."

Jack, suddenly feeling distinctly uncomfortable, quickly waved his friend's concerns away. "No, seriously, Sin. We're working together as a party, and even if we are a PUG group, of sorts, we synergize well together. Hell, if we just end up as solid friends by the time this is all over, I'll count it more than a win in my book." He flashed an encouraging smile. "I mean, look at me. I have no reason to complain. Less than a month ago, I was a farmboy content to do my chores and read tomes from my parent's massive collection, dreaming of adventures I would never live. And now? Now I am truly living life to the fullest!"

"But Jack, we're all about to hit level 5. And you've done nothing but lose half your Level 1 experience!" said Lauren.

Jack locked gazes with the striking redhead gazing at him with such sisterly concern. "Ask me what level my flame strike is."

She smirked. "So Jack, tell me..."

"Rank Five."

The entire group just stared. Sharon swallowed, gazing carefully at Jack. "Rank five Apprentice?"

He shook his head. "Journeyman. And Adept mastery? I can all but taste it. Just a breakthrough or two away. A deadly fight or two away."

"Jack, I'm sorry, that's just, that's just. That's fucking absurd!" Sharon said, and Jack could all too well sense the odd mixture of admiration, relief, and envy in her gaze.

He flashed a bleak smile. "So, yeah. I'm still level 1 while you guys are now chaining multiple stagger-strikes, or casting Tier 3 spells with your badass selves, but I'm not hurting nearly as much as you might think, with my go-to spell now 4 times more powerful than it was the first time I ever cast it."

"And just how much hotter does your bloodflame burn?" asked Lauren, gazing at his ruby colored shield with something close to awe.

Jack smirked. "Hot and sweet, but the cost of fuel is far too dear, so... I'm not touching it unless I need it."

"But Rank 5 Journeyman," she said breathlessly. "Jack, do you have any idea what happens when you hit Adept rank with a spell?"

"Which normally never happens for those who haven't been adventuring for years, if our instructors are anything to go by," murmured Sharon.

Jack gazed intently at the now shy looking witch. "I'm all ears."

She positively beamed. "You can learn the next tier of spells! Even without having an adventurer's ability to level up the underlying schools of magic, you can still use your insights to forge spells of the next tier!"

Jack couldn't wipe the excited grin suddenly plastering his features. "Are you serious? That's fantastic!"

"Isn't it? It's how mages with any potential manage to advance in their craft if they walk any path save the one we do," she said. "I think there might be few exceptions at the academy, but for the most part, mages only advance if they've mastered a spell to adept rank. Then they can learn the spells directly tied to that spell, and the process begins anew."

Jack nodded. "I think I get it. So if you're an adventurer, the path to power is to rank up your underlying schools of magic, and Rank 3 in any magical art will allow you to cast Tier 2 spells, Rank 6 will allow Tier 3, and so on, with each rank costing one more character point than the one before. So, purchasing Rank 6 in your Resilience/Corrosion sphere which, since you're an advanced class, consists of not just one but several schools of of magic, would cost you 6 character points. Additionally, each rank you purchase increases your damage and potency by an additional 33%. So at Rank 6, your spells are 200% more powerful than they would be for a novice casting the same spell, and that total is then multiplied by whatever percentage gain your skill rank in the underlying spell gives you, which can really add up.

"But if you're a regular mortal with a bit of magical affinity but can't level up any underlying school of magic, all your focus and additional damage comes from training your favored spells. And if you train all the way to Adept Rank 1, then, what, you can research new spells? Or you spend your perk point on learning the next tier spell?"

Sharon shrugged. "I think maybe both? Most mortals don't have an interface... anyone that does, well, they're candidates for the Path of Peril, whether they know it or not. So for most mages, it's research. But if you can spend your perk point on instantly learning a higher order spell, that might save you months of research time, or longer, since it's not like any of us are enrolled at any sort of wizard's school right now. And that's assuming we could learn it at all without studying the fundaments of magic for months or years like most would-be wizards do!"

Lauren grinned at that, shaking her head with bemusement, crimson locks bouncing with her movements. "That's one advantage the sphere of witchery has over other arcane paths. Since we commune with the spirits of nature as a medium, our spells are a bit more intuitive. We learn the rhythms and songs from our clan mothers or the tomes they scribe, and it is up to us to feel the flow of life and energy in the song, until we can feel it thrumming through our bones. Then, when we're ready, we embrace the flow of spiritual energy all around us, making that song, that spell, our own."

Sharon chuckled ruefully. "You got that right. The path of enhancement is all about understanding how magic interacts with the mortal realm, and how best to strengthen or hinder those connections. I'll probably be happily spending months or years studying at the academy, just getting the foundation I'm guessing most wizards receive as apprentices, once me and Jacob settle down." She flashed a happy smile. "And then I'll pursue my studies in the sphere of Enhancement. it will be just like getting my degrees again, only this time with a focus on magical engineering."

Jack smiled, warmed by his friend's joyful grin and clear hopes for the future, clearly as excited about the prospect of embracing the life of a student and researcher once more as she was about pursuing the sweet but perilous path to power they now walked. And the way Jacob held her close and kissed her made it clear her beau wasn't totally opposed to the idea of settling down either.

"One day soon, babe, we'll do just that." Jacob flashed a teasing smile. "I was going to try to try to tempt you with the joy of accelerated learning that Delving gives us, how incredibly epic it would be to achieve level 10, or 20, or hell, who knows how far we can go, and settle down somewhere, living like kings and queens. But after all the shit that went down the last few days..." He turned to gaze at the churned earth and blackened tarry marks where dissolution spells and bloodfire had make short work of the undead that had nearly killed at least one of them. "Yeah, I'm feeling a lot better about taking things easy, sticking to the easiest, most stable dungeons every once in a while, and who knows? Maybe study at the academy as well."

Jack grinned at that. "Hell, if you all join up at that arcane academy, I'm definitely joining you. In the mean time, since we're still in the fighting for our lives stage of, well, our lives, there's a particular perk I'm really, really hoping will populate when I finally hit adept rank. But still, it's nice to know I can choose a research type perk as well."

Sharon laughed. "Spoken like a true gamer. Well, good luck getting the perk you're hoping for." She flashed a heartfelt smile. "And thanks for, um, you know..."

Jacob squeezed Sharon close while pinning Jack with his gaze. "I owe you one, bro. I hope you know that. If you ever need a paladin by your side, you reach out."

Jack smiled. "You're more than welcome, guys. I know you'd do the same for me."

Sharon dipped her head, her glossy hair shimmering slightly with the reflection of the still blazing ghouls, those that weren't already piles of ash. Her happy smile was replaced by a look of grim determination. "But for now, we still have a quest to complete. And as perilous as this whole damned adventure is turning out to be, after that poor man sacrificed whatever remnants of youthful vigor had been keeping him going, it would be a crime to let that go to waste."

Surprisingly, it was Sin who's nod looked most heartfelt. "An oath was made and must be kept." He then flashed a hungry smile. "Besides, I'm looking forward to just how sweet a rush it will be, when we slam down the essence of a desperate man's final years once we hit 'quest complete.'"

The girls paled at that, and Mitch frowned. "Poor choice of words, Sin," he said as Jacob checked his armor, Mitch doing the same, tightening one loose leather strap for their paladin. Before turning back and flashing Sin a dark smile. "But you're damned right. It really is all about that sweet, sweet rush of power. And the last thing I want to do is spend the next three years listening to professors drone endlessly on about boring shit, just like during my undergrad years."

Sharon frowned at those words. "But Mitch, you were a brilliant programmer!"

"Yeah, and the only way I survived undergrad was by maxing my independent studies and maybe a couple favors for a few key people thrown in, here and there."

Sin smirked as they finished re-gearing themselves before heading back down the trail. "Because you're no more a saint than I."

Mitch shrugged. "Never said I was." He then gazed pointedly at the girls. "And though some of us may be lost in dreams of future scholarly glory, I'm living out my dream here and now!"

He clenched his powerful fist, the pewter mug he had been drinking water from crumpling in his grip. "Because this isn't just a game. We're not ranking up in a digital world, achieving imaginary honor and glory, only to log off to race to class, hoping we can impress enough teachers and kiss enough ass to graduate to a bottom-feeder position at some souless corporation, one day."

Mitch then flashed a fierce smile that would have done any Viking ancestor proud. "Here and now, we ARE the characters, who we most want to be, living the life we spent countless hours playing at online. And here our efforts actually mean something! The lives we save, the foes we slay, the power we accrue!"

Sin laughed. "Right on, brother. I knew there was a reason why we do so damn well whenever we're tag-teaming idiots, even if half the time we couldn't fucking stand each other in the world we left behind. But that world is gone. And the game we loved has become our world. So why the hell shouldn't we adventure together and power up for all we're worth now?"

Jacob nodded as if in heartfelt agreement to their words, before wincing at the glare Sharon shot him. "And in the meantime, we're risking our lives, walking into what could be a deathtrap for the sake of honor, and we only hope that we can spot any future ambush in time."

"Let me see what I can do about that," Jack said, all his focus now on the trees above, planning on doing all he could to focus on mastering his Arcane perception, hoping he could spot the sense of not exactly wrongness but an odd twisting of life and death magic that was the hallmark of the undead. Something we was determined to focus really really diligently on, because it just might save their lives.

And as the day wore on and the mist seemed to thicken, Jack found himself flinching at every cracking branch, every rustling of the leaves, though he detected nothing odd in the arcane eddies all around them. He was surprised by how clearly he could now make out everyone's voices, catching the sharp scents of forest pine in addition to the rich earthy scents of rotting leaves and loam. Until he began to feel the entire group as an extension of himself, learning to take in the movements and rustle of the trees and branches, to parse the norm from the unexpected, until the only thing that threw him off was the message blinking across his interface.

Potentials long lost have come to the fore again. Habits that served you well a lifetime ago are yours once more.

Congratulations! Perception is now 13!

Arcane Perception is now Apprentice Rank 1

Arcane Perception now incorporates Magesight! Sense magical treasures and unnatural life with greater ease than ever before!

And then he felt a chilling rush of exultation as flickers in the distance suddenly lit up in his mind's eye and he could sense them.

Patches of twisted grey and black, swarming in the mist just a short distance up the forest road.

"Mitch! Trouble!" Jack hissed, his words causing the entire party to freeze as quiet animated murmurs turned to deathly silence, a handful of quick glances shot his way before they all turned to scan the woods for all they were worth, almost impossible in the ever thickening mist.

"Report," said Mitch.

"A handful of undead, just up ahead and, wait... something we haven't encountered before."

Jacob frowned at that. "Can you be more specific?"

Jack slowly shook his head. "Maybe when Arcane Perception ranks up more. Right now, I just sense swirling patterns of grey and blackness, one of them different from the others."

Jacob nodded. "Well done, Jack. Alright, guys, you know what to do."

And within seconds, the group was protected by a paladin's blessing, an enhancer's buffs, and a witch's wind ward, planning their next move.

Jacob turned to Mitch, a hard glint in his eyes. "What do you think about circling around and ambushing those bastards for a change? Between Holy Smite and you chaining Slams, Shield Smashes, and Mighty Blows, we'll make short work of those bastards for a change."

Mitch flashed a fierce grin. "Sounds good to me, bro." He then turned to the others. "But this is team play. Thoughts, guys?"

Sin smirked. "Well, since you were nice enough to actually ask, my plan was to hang back in the shadows so I'm not a target of opportunity for when those predators swarm a pair of charging idiots, and if they were living critters, I'd sense their weakness and pierce their hearts the moment their backs were turned. Same as always."

Mitch, far from being offended, actually laughed. "Yeah, you are good at that. Too bad these fuckers aren't alive, or your ambush strikes would have made short work of any stalker focused on us and not on the shadows behind them."

Sin cursed under his breath. "If I had known we'd be encountering nothing but undead and elemental abominations, I would have picked the fucking Shadowmancer class!"

Lauren and Sharon exchanged a look, before turning to Jack.

"What do you think, Jack?" asked Sharon.

Jack blinked, his focus almost entirely on the swirls of grey light, ebony darkness he sensed in the gloom. "Wait, seriously? I'm flattered you asked, but..."

Sharon smirked. "It's okay, Jack. Lauren and I like it when the boys get it all out of their system. Then we can parse together what really works and tell you the final plan."

Jack frowned, recalling the madness and chaos in the Delve they had just barely survived, and how everyone had either done what needed doing or looked to Jacob, unless Jacks odd gifts or insights were in play. But a quick glance toward a glaring Jacob instantly stilled him from making an incredibly stupid blunder. Instead, he turned to a frustrated looking Sin.

"Nightstalker Class, second best stealth specialization and the 'leet class for critical strikes and deathblows. That's what you are now, right?"

Sin grinned, giving a mocking bow. "The class of choice for alpha striking your enemies. So long as they're human."

Jack laughed. "That it is. Shadowmancer has nothing on it, so I don't know why you're stressing an arcane subclass when you've already got all the tools you need.

Sin frowned. "What the hell are you talking about, noob?"

Jack pointedly looked at the foot long blade of shadow doing everything it could to evade his gaze. "It seems to me you already have the winning formula for taking out these walking corpse-bags. The spirit inhabiting the skull still needs to send signals to the limbs to move, right? Even if those limbs are fueled by magic, not glucose and oxygen. We already know your stealth is legendary. While Mitch is taking the berserker path to glorious heights slamming into them and tearing them apart, you're the last thing on their radar. And with your class perks in play, a slice to the neck should be game over, whether they're living or dead. They may not need to breathe, so it's not about cutting open their windpipes. It's about using your perks to sense the weakest points in their spines, and doing what you do best."

Sin furrowed his brow, gazing at his shadow dagger. "It's not a kukri or a gladius but... fuck it." He suddenly grinned. "Assuming they follow any rules of nature or logic at all, once I cleave through the vertebral column, they should go down, just like snipping the strings of a marionette."

Jack grinned. "I sure as fuck hope so. As for our charging in using the shock and horror route..." he turned to Sharon. "We could soften them up first, artillery style."

Sharon nodded her approval. "Lovely idea. Only problem is, I don't know where they are, anymore than they can see us."

Jack frowned in thought. "Just what is the range of Acid Arrow? I haven't really tested it."

"Pretty damn far," she smirked. "I'm not going to lie. Enhancer has some pretty sweet low level DPS spells. If they didn't, I probably wouldn't have dared such a craft-oriented class in a world as hostile and deadly as this...even if I had, at first, halfway thought it might be a game."

She exchanged a pointed look with Jacob. "Even though, I think in our hearts, we knew it wasn't."

Jack nodded at that. "Awesome. If I can actually get a bead on these guys and send one or two to their makers, do you think you can dial in to my strike point?"

She frowned thoughtfully as Jack pointed in the direction of where the targets were hiding. "I'm not sure, to be honest."

Lauren chuckled softly. "But one thing we are sure of is that you are absolutely teaching us that absurdly useful skill just as soon as we clear this mission."

Jack grinned. "Happy to. If I knew how. But sure, I'll try."

Jacob frowned in thought, before at last giving a satisfied nod. "Alright. How about this? Jack, you'll be our sniper and spotter. Take out as many as you can, arm as straight as you can make it, assuming that helps with your spell. Sharon will line hers up right over yours. Hopefully you two will makes some kills. Mitch and I will be ready to cleave the fuck out of them once you let us know when their about to break cover, Jack."

He turned to Lauren. "Important question I should have asked you ages ago. How badly will Wind Wall mess up our shots?"

And here Lauren positively beamed. "Not at all. Thus showing one of the advantages a Witch has over an Air Elementalist. We don't manipulate the air directly, the spirits that become one with us do that instead. And that means they can sense when friendly magic is blossoming into a spell and open a window sufficient for you to cast through." She tilted her head. "Of course, there is the one in a hundred chance an enemy sniper takes that moment to shoot a crossbow bolt through your momentarily opened defenses, but other than that? You're good to go."

"Good thing ghasts don't use crossbows."

Lauren laughed. "Isn't it? And once they close, I'll be able to bowl them over with blasts of winds or, once their all clustered, my Tier 3 curse."

"Sounds brilliant babe," Mitch commended.

She flushed and grinned. "Isn't it? Witches are the best. And the cutest! It's why I picked it."

Jack smiled at that, but wisely said nothing, as the momentary bonhomie and cracked jokes eased the tension, it wratcheted up to full once more as Jack slowly tuned himself with his spell, doing all he could to focus, build up his mana, and shoot a bolt of acid with an absurd degree precision.

And just a second before he released, he had the odd sensation that his position was slightly off, shifting his hips and shoulders and slowing down his breathing, shifting his body as he suddenly tasted hot dry air, felt a glaring bright sun blazing high through the forest mist that now seemed little more real than a dream, doing all he could to absorb the lessons of the anxious-looking instructors who had rounded up every recruit and would-be adventurer they could, in a desperate effort to repel the invaders at their borders. "You're doing fine, Jack," smiled the strikingly beautiful girl by his side, a chocolate colored hand gently shifting his stance as she teased him with amber eyes that twinkled in memory of the night they had shared together, Jack knowing so well the secrets hidden beneath her battle-leathers. But the glint in his lover's eye had brought his attention back into the moment. And the weeks that had turned into months as he sought to learn all he could by her side as they helped defend their adopted city had forged him into as powerful a caster of Tier 1 spells as any mage could hope to be.

The moment the siege had finally been lifted, he had proposed to the retired adventurer who had captivated him so utterly. And when she said yes, their celebration lasted for far more than a single passionate night, becoming the joy of a lifetime, with half a dozen beautiful children they had loved and cherished who grew up happy, healthy, and loved by their whole community, for all that their mother never aged a single day. And the memory of their smiles and laughter over countless birthdays and celebrations blazed across Jack's suddenly tear-filled gaze... and then it was gone as if it had never been.

Leaving only a pang of loss, and ancient skills his body somehow remembered still.

And no one was more surprised than he, when he actually hit his target.

For all that, once upon a time, he had utterly mastered the spells of war that any good battlemage should know.

You have successfully cast and targeted Acid Arrow at Extreme Range! Benefiting from lessons learned a lifetime ago.

Lessons that are now your own.

You have gained the Feat: Arcane Marksman! You now enjoy a bonus to striking your targets with pinpoint accuracy!

Acid Arrow is now Apprentice Rank 3!

You have saved versus temporary melancholy.

"Yes! I felt the surge. We got the experience of a kill!" whispered Sin, flashing Jack an approving, if predatory smile. "Well done, noob."

Jack said nothing, merely focusing on his next target, taking a deep breath, and releasing as yet another bolt of acid streaked between the trees, striking yet another one of the half-dozen hissing and snarling wights and ghasts, double hinged jaws opening their diseased human faces wide in a hissing display of fury as a second shrieking wight melted into the ground when it's center hissed and bubbled and dissolved under contact with the arcane caustic, like alkaseltzer in soda, Jack thought, or elite enemy infantry units shrieking and fleeing terror when their attempts to use shield turtle formations to protect their battering rams resulted only in their bubbling screaming deaths as Jack and Aurina's acid bolts effortlessly streaked between the gaps in their foe's shield formations, or just melted the shield before a second one took out the shrieking soldier already out a half-dissolved arm.

Aurina.

That had been her name.

The name of the woman he had fallen in love with and lost, a lifetime ago.

Only then did Jack's arm start to shake, blinking away unexpected tears, shaking away the last remnants of bittersweet dream left him. He had no time to reflect upon the wonder and horror of his revelation, and the price he had paid. They had more immediate problems, as the roars and howls in the distance made it clear that the horrors had finally decided on a direction.

And only now did his Arcane Perception review how many of those undead abominations had been hidden in the milling mass. Not a small handful of enemies were charging, but an even dozen.

"Brace yourself guys!" Jack roared. "We got company!"