"How many," Mitch asked in the curt taciturn voice of a commander, for all that Jacob was nominally the one in charge when shit hit the fan.

"Even dozen. Led by... something."

"What the hell's a something?" Lauren asked, before shaking away the question and beginning a low chant that thrumbed through Jack's bones.

"Shit!" Sharon hissed. "I still can't even see them. How the hell are they able to lock onto us?"

"That hardly matters, now, does it? Boyscout at least gave us a few seconds to prepare. More than we had last time," Sin said as he drew his blade and seemed to somehow blend among them, even though he was still in plain sight.

Jack did his best to tune them out, making use of the precious seconds remaining as the swarm of spectres loped through the forest like a pack of wolves, led by a creature that looked as much an emaciated living corpse as the rest of him, save for eyes bright with flame. Eyes locked right onto Jack's own.

Which suited Jack just fine.

"Sagitta Acidum!" He roared, tapping into his mana as he fired one Acid Arrow after the other, no longer aiming for individual targets so much as the center mass of the swarming hoard.

And to his fierce satisfaction, one revenant after another fell to his bolts dissolving torsos and limbs as multiple globes of acid had slammed into undead flesh that dissolved far more easily than the living, tough as it otherwise was.

You have successfully struck and killed 4 Lesser Revenants.

Acid Arrow is now Apprentice Rank 4!

His only regret was the globe of acid that had completely missed the fiery-eyed abomination in the lead, his ball actually whipped out of the air by the sudden appearance of a whip of flame now in what Jack thought must be undead necromancer's hand.

"Sharon!"

"I know!" She screamed. "I'm on it!" She cried as the swarm of howling ghasts broke free of cover at last, charging into them like a ravenous hoard.

And then there was no more time for anything save survival as over half a dozen revenants burst out of the gloom in one howling leaping hoard of slavering undead madness, and never would Jack forget the hate-filled yellow eyes peering hungrily at his own, the eyes of maddened predators who cared nothing for their fallen, only eager for the kill... before their leaping forms, so eager to swarm and slaughter Jacks friends just as fast as they could, were instead caught in a sudden whirlwind of howling air, as Lauren clenched her jaw and squeezed her fists tightly together.

"Spirits of air, head my call! Sweep away my enemies, banish them all!"

Jacks ears roared with the howl of the storm, the whirlwind, he safely hid in the eye of as the whirling revenants were whipped through the air before being sent slamming into the nearby trunks of trees with such force that, had they been living mortals with no special powers, Jack was sure at least a few of them would have broken backs, or necks.

As it was, even the undead spent long moments regaining their rotting senses before their hot eyes once more glared their way, all of them gazing at Lauren with killing intent.

Most particularly the largest of their number, the decrepit looking corpse opening wide a mouth full of vicious fangs before summoning forth a deadly whip of flame.

Lauren gasped. "Oh no."

Jack's heart began to pound. If Lauren was frightened, their had to be a very good reason for it. And when the undead mage hissed and lashed out with his whip of flame, Jack swore he could hear the air itself scream.

AS if the creature wasn't striking at them, but the spirits serving their witch. And once they fled...

"Sharon, on three! One... Two... Sagitta Acidum!"

"Sublimato!" She cried, Jack grateful she had instantly understood what he had meant and needed as the undead mage, sensing Jack's attack, filled the air with his awful undead chuckle as Jack's ball of acid was effortlessly ruptured, just a foot past their rapidly dissipating air defenses.

Before blood red eyes blazed with the undead equivalent of horror when the monster crashed to the ground, disintegrating when massive balls of arcane solvent smashed into his torso dissolving everything but the hate-filled heads in seconds.

But not before lashing out one final time, the lethal whip of crimson flame drawing blood in the air as an unearthly scream and Lauren's startled cry made it clear that the enemy mage had struck true.

Their defenses collapsed just as fast as Lauren did, the surviving revenants charging forward and striking as one.

Quickness check made!

Jack didn't hesitate, forcing his legs to move when everyone else, even the highly trained fighters, froze for that crucial instant as everything changed.

So that he was just where he needed to be to slam into the closest revenant with his bloodshield, sending it reeling back as a second then dove for Jacks throat.

Finesse check failed!

Bowling him over with the weight before a third and yet a fourth Revenant leaped upon him, doing all he could to hunch his kneck as powerful jaws locked upon his helm of stone and clay.

He howled in guttural fury as he sensed mocking death's laughter closing in, an eternity of possibility about to be abruptly and forever cut off after less than a month in a world definitely eager for his blood.

And blood he would give.

No matter the cost.

"Ignis Fons!" He roared no longer holding back, not daring to as crimson flame that glowed hotter than the flames of purgatory burst from his hand in a spray of hot, caustic blood, sizzling and blazing into the now shrieking revenants as Jack poured as much of his mana and potency into his spell that he could, before abruptly clenching his fist and locking the flow, three shrieking abominations of nature now blazing and dissolving before their very eyes as a shaking Jack struggled to his feet, wild eyes looking for the fourth revenant that had clamped into his helm... only to find a heaving Mitch gazing anxiously his way, his deadly axe dripping ichor over the revenenant he had decapitated in the nick of time.

"You okay there, Jack?"

Jack didn't even know how to answer that, right fist still holding onto that font of deadly flame blazing in his soul hotter and brighter than it ever had before, feeling on the cusp of something both terrible and wondrous.

Knowing he had come incredibly close to death. That he had, in fact, utterly depleted his experience pool, despite all the revenants he had slain.

And he didn't even care.

All that mattered was that his roving eyes detected no other revenants, sentinels or other undead horrors, save the three shrieking crippled wretches caressed by the liquid naptha like spray that was dissolving them with hot, sulfur-like flames.

"Hold on, Jack. You've been hurt. Let us take care of these," Jacob said, his now glowing sword held high."

"No!" Jack said, and perhaps it was the desperation in his gaze, but a frowning Jacob slowly lowered his sword. "Jack, I don't think..."

"It's okay, babe," Sharon whispered. "I think Jack's on the cusp of something."

And he was. Humbled and awed that his shield and armor now both were blessed by a crimson tint. Yet knowing as well the terrible cost he had paid, would pay, every time he used those spells.

But the fire in his hand, that flickering heat, fed by the potency of his soul as much as by his hot, fiery will... how far could he go in manipulating it? Mastering it? Making it his own?

He sensed that, for that single precious moment as he rode the peak of a breakthrough... he could go very far indeed.

You have successfully immolated one Revenant, paying double normal potency cost. Never has your flame been hotter. Never has the price been so dear.

Experience earned!

You have scorched one Revenant, controlling your flame to an unprecedented degree. Never has a revenant howled so loudly in a torturer's vice, as it has, a victim to your deadly Bloodflame! Potency cost 1/2 standard. Damage done 1/2 standard. Flames of Torment discovered!

Experience earned!

Jack frowned, at that moment ignoring the terrible cost in his own potential he was paying, experience pool dropping to the level it had when first he had dared this path.

But still, there was one final step he could take. One final way he could manipulate and control the flow of Blood, Potency, and Arcane Might through his body and soul.

He did not hesitate to act when inspiration struck, slashing the palm of his own hand, the slightest of scratches, blazing the feeling of his skin ripping in his mind, the injury going no deeper than that, as a few drops of blood became a roaring inferno as he poured his mana reserves into his spell, forgoing his potency pool entirely, save for the trace linked to his blood, and injury he could heal at will, so long as he was willing to pay the price in pain.

Bloodflame has successfully burnt Final Remnant to a crisp.

You have survived Undead Hoard! You have successfully altered your spell for double mana cost & 1 health point! (blood loss)!

Congratulations! Firestream is now Adept Rank 1!

You may now choose 1 additional Perk transferrable to all future varients and derivatives of this spell. Your brilliant flash of insights into the fundaments of your spell may also be used to forge new spells (with the advantage of Added Potency) into an exact Tier Replica or Tier 1 varient!

And as much as Jack reveled in the thought of one day forging masterwork spells of ungodly tiers of power even if he never advanced a level at all, using the Path of Peril as a back door hack into quick spell mastery instead... he already knew the path he would take with this spell. The path he had been intent upon since the moment he sensed just how effective a tool it was.

Perk has retroactively chosen! You have chosen to Master the Path of Bloodflame. Your Firestream has evolved into Bloodfire! Potency cost has been mitigated! Cost to use Bloodflame (Intensified damage, caustic liquid components, opposing mages must succeed in contest of Wills to successfully counter) is now 1 Health point and double standard Mana costs!

And Jack couldn't help but laugh with exultation, feeling a shiver of fiercest vindication and absolute glee as the terror of perilous battle, horror, fighting for his life, all transformed into an epiphany so profound he knew there was no limit to how far he could go.

Assuming he could survive the journey.

And the excited jubilation he felt only slightly soured with the odd looks Mitch and Jacob were giving him, slowly getting drenched by the drizzle all around them.

"Jack?"

"Yeah, Jacob?"

"What the hell did you just do?"

Jack couldn't hide his beeming smile, as Sin chuckled softly.

"Damn, you're not even hiding how much you enjoyed torturing those bastards, burning them to a crisp," Sin said, giving a bemused nod of approval. "If I had taken the path of the shadowmancer, you damn well better believe I'd be doing the same," he said to the pair of warriors now frowning at them both.

Jack chuckled. "No, that's not it. Though I'm glad those horrors are dead. It's just, my spell!"

Sin frowned. "What about your spell?"

But Sharon and Lauren were both gazing at him with open-mouthed disbelief.

"No, Jack, don't you dare say what I just know you're going to say!" Sharon said.

Jack grinned. "I hit adept level! I actually hit adept level with a spell!" he crowed.

And much to his surprise and relief, Sharon just grinned, Lauren pumping her fist. "Way to go, Jack!" the redhead said before flashing a smile at the rest of their party. "So, who here besides me has just hit level five?" Her smile grew wide as everyone gave satisfied nods.

"Awesome!" She chuckled nervously. "Well, now we know that these monsters are not fooling around. I'm no longer holding back, I'm locking in my seventh Rank of the Witchery school and grabbing a certain Tier 3 spell that I've been eager to claim since I started this build!"

Sharon hugged her friend. "Fantastic! Honestly, I'm surprised you held off from grabbing it when you hit level 4, pushing as hard as you were for the first three levels."

Lauren flushed and smiled, stealing a glance Mitch's way. "There was sort of a perk that I um... you know how non class perks are never guaranteed, that when they pop up, if you want to define your soul in new directions, you have to take them or risk never having the chance to grab them again?"

Her friend smiled and nodded. "Of course. I got a couple beauties myself. Cheap, too. Which is why I picked them up and wasn't quite as fast at ranking up my class's arcane arts as you were."

Luaren's flush grew. "Well, let's just say witchery can take some very interesting directions, and I really, really want to keep a certain path open to me for, well, you know."

Sharon's eyes widened, a light flush tinting her bronze cheeks before she flashed an impish grin of her own. "I know exactly what you mean." then she winked. "Good luck."

Mitch frowned. "Everything alright?"

Lauren quickly nodded. "Absolutely, babe. And thanks for covering our butts back there. Me and Jack both."

Jack, realizing he had been spacing out, just gazing at the candle-like flickering flame of deepest burgundy blazing in his hand, jerked himself back into the moment, bowing his gratitude. "Thank you, Mitch. I think you definitely saved my ass back there."

Mitch laughed. "You know I did, kid. And I still owe you two lives. More if I count you sticking your neck out for my girl, which I do. And it's like you said. We're a team. We stick out for eachother. It's not about keeping score."

Jacob, however, was gazing intently at Laura. "Is there a way you can get a stronger Wind Ward this level? Not that I'm knocking it," he said gently, though his gaze remained intense. Focused. "Bust our lives are on the line. And if it fails like that again in the future because enemies overwhelm it..."

Lauren flushed under Jacob's regard.

Mitch frowned. "Easy, man."

Jacob just raised his hands. "Hey, you know my priority, here. Us getting out of this alive. By whatever means."

Mitch furrowed his brow, then shrugged. "True enough."

Lauren looked ready to crumple. "I don't know why it failed. It's the strongest of all the Tier 2 spells a witch has at her disposal. And I... I even have a free knack with it, a personal affinity. It was practically a Tier 3, if it was any other class! There's no way it should have failed. No way!" She swallowed. "If it had held just a little bit longer... I was getting ready to cast my Tier 3 Hex spell but..."

"It's not you're fault," Jack hastily assured, catching her gaze. "It was that undead necromancer. He wasn't targeting you with that flame whip. He was smart enough to target your windwall. Or, more specifically, the spirits inhabiting your windwall."

Lauren paled. "It knew how to do that? But that means... shit. I was given to believe... I didn't think the spell had any weakness at all!"

Sharon's brow furrowed. "And how the hell do you even know that, Jack?"

Jack shrugged. "It was as clear as day. At least for me."

The enhancer just chuckled ruefully, shaking her head. "Only you, Jack. And you already managed to do in what, days? What it would take any Academy mage Years to accomplish? Raising a spell to Adept Rank without any instruction or teachers at all?"

"Yup," Jack agreed. "Just channeling the potency we earn when forced to fight for our lives, winner taking all, even the locked potency of everything we were or could ever be. And, instead of levels, I channeled that into perking up a few of my spells."

"Good point," she said at last, her gaze turning from bemused envy to genuine curiosity. "So. What Tier 2 spell did you pick?"

Jack shook his head. "None."

Her eyes widened. "Wait. You forewent the research path, which would have guaranteed you, and would be perhaps the only way a level zero could possibly hit tier two spells without spending years in research with a background in arcane studies that none of us have?"

Jack's grin widend, his hand now blazing with a roaring crimson flame.

Sharon frowned. "I take it that bloody looking flame is the result?"

Jack grinned. It is indeed.

But Lauren paled. "Jack, that's no normal flame."

He shook his head. "You're right, it isn't."

She swallowed. "I don't have your magesight, but the spirits around me... that spell links right with your soul. When you cast that... all the dozens of times you cast that?" Her eyes welled up with genuine pity. "Oh, Jack."

Jack laughed, waving her obvious worry away. "Don't worry. It didn't eat my soul, only my experience pool."

"Same thing," Sin declared. "At least as far as we're concerned, since this system clearly doesn't give a shit for our souls, but we can stay young and level for eternity." He shrugged. "Or not."

"Either way, it no longer matters," Jack assured. "The perk I chose assures that Bloodflame is now a core element of this spell path. It now costs double normal mana and 1 health point per casting, but my experience point total will never be touched by it again!"

Sin nodded his approval. "Sounds sweet. And don't think I saw how well that flame burned through those zombies."

Jack nodded. "That's because the blood, once sprayed, sticks and eats through targets like naptha. My damage is effectively doubled, and I can cut off the spray and just concentrate on the burn and it will burn indefinitely, as long as I can afford to hold the focus."

Sharon, however, was shaking her head. "Double the normal cost. Don't you understand how foolish that is?"

Jack frowned. "Okay, I'll bite, How so?"

She sighed. "You really know nothing about spell tiers?"

"Obviously not, or we wouldn't be having this conversation out in this misty drizzly shit with a dozen rotting corpses all around us."

She smirked. "Fair enough. Okay, to make a long story short, each spell tier can increase the magnitude of those effected by one category, such that a spell with a focus of person becomes equivalent to a small group... and so on. As for power, intensity, and cost, the basic rule is cubed over squared. If we're talking exactly the same framework as the spell it's closest to, it will be 3 times deadlier and twice as expensive.

Jack frowned, then blinked, instantly getting it, realizing why Sharon was gazing at him with such pity. "And just how much experience did that experiment cost you?"

Jack winced. "Pretty much every last experience point I had. But my skills have only grown, and now my deadliest spell does over 860% base damage, as in 430% doubled, and I'm still only paying around a fraction of the original price, and I no longer have to tap into my EX pool to cast it."

Sharon, however, was still shaking her head. "That sounds like double cost for double payout. If you had evolved your understanding into a Tier 2 spell, even if you had to rank up your skill again..."

"I know. Double cost for triple damage."

Sin spluttered, gazing incredulously at the pair of them. "Wait, our level zero sidekick has powered up a Rank 1 spell to an almost 900% damage modifier, which is equal to a freekin' tier three spell, at least at baseline, and for just a fraction of the cost of a Tier 1 spell. And you're actually criticizing him for it?"

Sharon's gaze darkened. "You don't understand, Sin. If he was able to evolve his spell that far, he could have easily flash-learned at tier 2 spell."

"Sure, but would that Tier 2 spell carry all the perks he's tied to his spell so far?"

She huffed, inhaling for a quick rejoinder before frowning thoughtfully. "You know? I'm not really sure."

"Didn't think you were," he smirked. "Because to either answer, you know what his best move forward would be. Remember, Sharon, I was studying the code of this game, or hell, world, long before it became our reality. Even if fractal imperatives now allow for infinite growth and diversity, if the underlying forces, fields, and programming of this reality is anything like what I think they are... and if he's actually mad enough to keep pushing his one spell..."

Sin chuckled softly, an odd light to his gaze as he stared a bit too intensely Jack's way. "I can't wait to see just how far you can take that one bloody spell. Even if you never get beyond level... whatever the hell you are as a Jack-of-all-trades."

"That makes two of us," Jack concurred. "Even if it was a bit foolish to push so hard to master this single Tier 1 spell, when I actually had a chance to make my way up to higher tier magics."

Lauren flashed a sympathetic smile. "I think you did good, Jack. It is a damn useful spell that's already saved our lives at least once, maybe twice, and min-maxing the numbers means absolutely nothing if we're not alive to do it."

Jack nodded in heartfelt agreement. "Bloodfire certainly has it's perks. And I'll happily use it if we're in a tight spot, no matter how much of my potential it costs me. But this way the cost is coming straight out of mana, no hit to my experience bar at all."

Sharon exchanged a look with her friend, before giving Jack a reluctant nod. "I certainly can't fault your reasoning, and that spell did save our asses back there," she admitted. "And as much as I hate to say it, Sin's absolutely right. At adept rank, with all your modifiers, you're pretty much doing the damage of a Tier 3 spell anyway, at least one cast by a wand mage. Which is pretty damn impressive, when you think about it." Giving his shoulder a squeeze, she then turned to her friend. "You ready to do this?"

"You better believe it!" Lauren declared, the pair of them getting thumbs up from the boys as they both arched back, radiating an intense silvery glow that seemed to burn away the fog, looks of indescribable ecstasy written upon their strikingly beautiful features.

Until at last, with replete sighs of sweetest satisfaction, they stood upright once more, glowing with a blush that was both incredibly enticing, and mute evidence of the points placed into Vitality, Charisma, and Base Appearance, among others, Jack was sure.

And he didn't blame them a bit.

Because Vitality was absolutely everything in a world where death was forever. And in real life, where you were your character, and not just a bunch of numbers you show off to your friends, who wouldn't want to look as beautiful as possible?

"Babe, how are you feeling?" said Mitch as his girl took a deep shuddering sigh and finally coming back to herself.

She flushed and gave a throaty chuckle under his bemused gaze. "Like I just had the best fucking sex of my life, with a ring on my finger and you in my arms." She smirked at his flushed cheeks. "Seriously, babe. Leveling up is the greatest guilt-free high in the world."

"That it is," A beaming Sharon concurred. "Add to that the sweet, incredible rush of a year's worth of dedicated study with all it's breakthroughs and triumphs, blazing through our souls in the eternal blink of an eye, as we power up and claim yet another Tier 3 spell at Apprentice rank."

She gave a bemused shake of her head, crossing her arms and gazing into the concerned green eyes of her paladin. "I meant what I said, Jacob. From now on, after this mission, I only want to take the safest beginner missions, do the gentlest delves imaginable. But at the same time, I can't deny it. There's no other rush in the world quite like this, and even if I cloister myself in an ivory tower filled with arcane manuals and diligent professors..."

Lauren nodded. "We'll always miss it, always hunger for, it, in the back of our minds."

To this, Mitch laughed, wrapping Lauren in his arms. "Well the solution's obvious, babe. We just do exactly what we're doing! Level up, embrace that sweet sweet rush and get stronger, faster, deadlier, so our foes don't stand a chance!"

Jacob nodded, the fire in his eyes, that all consuming hunger no less intense, for all that he wore the cloak and grandeur of a holy order. "So why stop now? Why stop even for a second?" His golden laughter soothed and inspired, almost as if that were one of his class gifts. "We've woken up in a land full of pitfalls and peril, death around every corner, and a virtual paradise of adventure! So let's not stop. Hell, let's never stop!" He raised his hands, as if to forestall objection, melodious voice soothing, his entrancing green eyes catching Sharon's own. "It will be just like you said. Just like we agreed! Safe, low key quests, delves, and adventures. So we can savor the rush of being heroes and growing in power and skill. Not just for it's own sake, but the higher a level we achieve, the harder it will be for life's random pitfalls and tragedies to take us down. And hell, once we've claimed our guildhall and have our base of operations, nothing says we can't savor the joys of a comfortable life just like in an Isekai novel, just as much as we enjoy adventuring and leveling up in what was once the greatest game ever made."

Jack furrowed his brow. "Isekai novel?"

Sin caught his gaze and smirked. "Yeah, once upon a time there was a genre of novels where the heroes would get hit by Mr. Trucksan and wake up in a perfect world where, after taking care of a threat that had no chance against them, they'd savor the thrill of starting off as hundredth level characters more interested in enjoying life and inevitably capturing a prince or princess's heart and savoring the glory of being a medieval megastar. Any arch villain that showed up would be smacked down so fast is was more a comedic farce or an enjoyable romp than any sort of challenge."

Sin chuckled softly, and Jack could swear the sleek, deadly looking rogue was getting misty-eyed. "I used to love those fucking novels. A perfect beautiful world, free of the stress and bullshit of our own. But hell, it's not all bad," he said, grandly gesturing at the world all around them. "We're in the other sort of storyline where we're forced to start at level one, and have to struggle for every scrap of power we manage to achieve. All the while knowing that our lives could flicker out in a heartbeat, at any time. But damn if I won't savor my growth, every step of the way!"

With those words Sin arched his back and shuddered as if caught between sweetest ecstacy and agony, Mitch and Jacob exchanging bemused looks as he did so.

"And Mr. Dark and Badass went to every Comic-Con convention in town," said Mitch.

Jacob smiled and nodded. "Dragging us both along for the ride." He turned to his friend. "Shall we?"

And Jack couldn't help but grin with bemusement when the pair clenched their fists and howled, shuddering as they seemed to blaze before his eyes.

And a second later, three more reborn souls had forged themselves into level 6 heroes, ready and willing to do whatever it took to survive the perils to come.