So, are we ready to do this?" Jack couldn't help but nod in agreement with the powerful baritone voice washing over them, Jacob now truly looking every inch the paladin. Though Jack was certain points had been put into Vitality and Charisma both, perhaps appearance as well, he could still feel the pull of the man's charm, the power he now sensed radiating from the man was unmistakable.

Mitch smirked, his axe instantly unsheathed and whipping through the air with chilling speed. The warrior of their group was even more powerfully built than their paladin, who was himself a fearsome close combatant. But the deadly efficiency with which Mitch moved his axe and body, as if flowing to the rythm of the deadliest of dances reminded Jack once more of why that man had managed to stay on top of the killboards for so long. "Would love to say I was in perfect shape to melt through these asholes. But Diamond skin populated early, and I'd be a fool not to take it and risk it never showing again for who knew how many levels, he said, grinning wickedly when his axe-head started to glow a deep red. "And you and I both know what would happen if I didn't lock in Vampiric Blow with a level up."

Jacob frowned. "Wait, you didn't hit Rank 5 in any of your combat feats?"

Mitch sighed, shaking his head. "Yeah, I know that was the plan, but we knew we'd have to be flexible if perks started populating in unexpected configurations. And unlike the game, we've both heard what happens if you don't grab them while you can. But it's not all bad. Investing my own points in Vampiric Blow served as the keystone for another tier of abilities!" He gave a pleased smile as the light around him seemed to dim ever so slightly. "I just locked in the feat: Absorb impact! I can feed off the force of another's blow! Works best with blunt, concussive force, but should help with everything, just a little bit, and, over time, will synergize quite nicely with Diamond Skin. Because god knows we need a tank as well as a pure melee fighter.

Jack frowned at this even as the rest of the party congratulated a beaming Mitch, focusing on exactly what he had said. "Wait, so the talents available to us with the level up skill points we earn... if we don't pick them, those opportunities are gone forever?"

Sharon solemnly nodded. "Not always, but sometimes. It's almost as if we're telling fate, or the universe , that no, this potential affinity with a certain spell school, perk, crafting specialty, or type of magic was never meant to be, and then when our level up is finished, it's as if it never was. The talent might pop up the next level as if we hadn't turned it down, or never populateagain because we don't have it. Not even the potential for it." She flashed a wry smile. "AS if the system is agreeing that the earlier offer never happened." She quickly raised a reassuring hand at Jack's alarmed look. "Relax, Jack. That's not true for basic class abilities, of course. I'll always have access to my class spheres, specialist Enhancer perks, and I'll probably always have access to mana enhancement perks, though I did take a few, just to make sure I wouldn't be one of the odd tragics who are so focused on leveling up a few arts quickly that they end up crippling themselves forever," she said, with a pointed look Lauren's way.

The redhead flushed and chuckled throatily. "Don't worry. I didn't make that mistake this time, sister. In fact, I double invested in my mana pool and used a further two points to select an extra pair spells!"

Sharon frowned at this. "Lauren, it's one thing to diversify and grab rare perks, but spells..." she let the words trail off. Something in her friend's eyes made it clear she knew exactly what Lauren was going to say, and still felt confident enough to grin.

"Alright, what gives?"

Lauren's grin widened, seeming to glow with a few power. Never had she looked so beautiful, or so deadly as she did at that moment, bright green eyes flashing with hidden secrets, fiery red locks of hair flowing in a breeze affecting her alone. "The two spells I picked? Weren't part my free spell-up options."

Sharon blinked. "Wait, seriously? How is that even... that's never happened to me, before.

Her friend chuckled softly. "It seems Elerium is classifying Witchery as an extremely ancient school of magic, full of secrets and ancient tomes lost to most modern witches. Which, on the downside, means we have to pay points to get anything more than whatever standard spells might be used by witches today, which I suspect are fewer than what's available for most other classes."

Sharon grinned. "But on the other hand..."

"We have access to Elite versions of spells, lost for centuries! So long as we're willing to spend the points needed to make them your own."

Mitch gave a powerful clap. "Fantastic, babe! Unorthodox builds for us both, and we'll blow our competition off the charts! So, what did you pick?"

She flashed a teasing smile. "You'll see," she said.

Mitch blinked at that, while Jacob squinched his brow. "Lauren, I have to—"

"Spirits of wind, sacred and pure, grant me the falcon's grace, swift and sure!"

And before he could say another word, Lauren had launched herself into the air in a massive gust of misty air ruffling the hair of all them gazing up in slack-jawed wonder at the redheaded witch grinning so mischievously down at them all. Jack could only wonder if he looked as slack-jawed silly as Mitch did right then, gazing helplessly up at his girl, only now coming down in a spinning pirouette, though their was a dull roar to the air as she didn't land, but seemed to hover just above, the air blasting at their feet and blowing back the grass and leaves at the side of the road.

"You can fly," Mitch whispered, before giving a whoop. "Hell, yeah! My girl can fly!"

Sharon gave a congratulatory nod, one caster to another. "How much?"

Lauren's eyes positively twinkled. "Thirty to lock it indefinitely. And it will improve as I rank up this spell!"

Her friend blinked. "Thirty? Not sixty for a tier 3 spell? Lauren, that's half the starting..."

Lauren chuckled throatily. "There's a reason why I hardly bothered with putting points into witchery this level. A perk came up. One that reminded the world of just how very much air spirits like me. Enough that all wind spells now only cost me half standard mana! And that includes mana reserved spells like the defensive wind wards I use all the time."

Jacob chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Well that sure as heaven above is a game-changer, Lauren. Maybe, if we're really lucky, we'll have a chance. Even if the town has been completely swarmed."

Jack winced. Because of course that was when the dirt road broke through the trees revealing the sight of a ransacked town, with window shutters torn free and once thick stout doors ripped from their hinges. Jack smelled smoke and knew their were fires blazing out of controll somewhere. But the worst, by far, were the scenes of desperate struggle, upon the blood soaked boulevard.

Jack's belly heaved at the sight of bodies broken like crumpled dolls, eyes gazing with unspeakable horror at whatever lay for them beyond, one or two with mangled hands and arms covered with defensive wounds, all of them over abdomens that had become gory holes with a few bloody ribbons of entrails all that remained of their innards, the rest scooped clean.

Jack's heart began to pound, the blood roaring in his ears. "Bastards. Fucking bastards!" he hissed.

"Damn right, and we're going to make them pay for that. I promise you that, Jack," said Mitch, shield and axe in hand. And the look Jacob gave them both, his blade now flaring with a flourescent luminescence, made it clear there would be no forgiveness for the monsters who had committed this atrocity.

He turned to a pale-faced Lauren, as horrified as Jack was at the sight of so many broken bodies strewn along the streets, sweet peaceful lives broken by the most brutal of nightmares, fleeing for their lives in terror before meeting the most horrific of ends. An awful truth written upon countless faces of the dead.

"Lauren? Are you with us?"

The witch's eyes blazed, her clenched fists trembling with what Jack was now certain was hot-blood fury. Jacob spoke on, in his soft, melodious voice, finally shaking her out of her furious daze.

"Focus, Lauren." Jacob flashed a gentle smile when Lauren shuddered, emerald green eyes locking with deepest blue. "We need you to fly up and do a quick reconnaisance. Can you tell us where they're located, what they're doing? Do you see any survivors? The sooner you can do that for us, the better."

Lauren jerked a nod, eyes flashing. "I'll do you one even better than that. Whatever damned necromancer did this is going to see what happens when he crosses a witch!"

Jacob frowned at those words, but before he could do more than blink, he was shoved a foot back by the sudden blast of air as their redheaded witch flew straight up, fifty feet high if she was a foot.

Mitch cursed and shook his head. "She better not get herself killed flying so high. Not when there's a damn storm brewing!"

Jack frowned, only then noting the steely grey thunderclouds overhead as the mist at last began to fade.

Sharon's eyes widened. "Shit! All the statistics about lightning killing almost no one is only true when you're ground level with buildings all around. Sharon's now the highest point in the sky. She'll be a fucking lightning rod!"

Mitch paled. Jack winced before the powerfully built man's look of helpless horror. "What the hell do we do?"

"Pray that she knows what she's doing," Sharon softly said. "That's all we can do."

"She'll be fine," Sin declared with uncharacteristic firmness. "She's a fucking weather witch, isn't she? Save for one hexed golem, all she's ever done was play with air." Words that earned a killing glare from Mitch. Sin snorted. "Easy, tiger. All I'm saying is, look at the chick flying. In the air. With spirits at her command. Do you really think lightning's going to strike now, of all times?"

Of course that was the moment when the sky lit up with a brilliant flash.

Followed by another.

And another.

Mitch's features took on a ghastly pallor.

And then Jack heard the sounds of shrieks and deathly moans deeper within the town, past a number of still intact buildings of stout wood, slate roofs and delicate trim. "Come on, I think I hear people. At least someone's alive! Let's get there and take out these fuckers once for all," Jack roared, racing ahead and completely ignoring Jacob's hissed order to weight, having seen the killing glare Mitch and Sin had exchanged, eager to keep their focus back where it belonged.

Taking out the undead hoards and, if possible, saving this broken town.

"Jack, weight up!" Words spoken for no real benefit as Jacob's level-enhanced physique was now the equivalent of many a professional athlete, Jack was sure. So he paid no mind, keeping his ears sharp when he could hear nothing over the howling wind and the storm... and then suddenly he did.

Before a powerful hand gripped his shoulder. "Jack, where the hell do you think you're going?"

Magesight Skill check successful!

Arcane Perception is now Apprentice Rank 2!

Jack immediately pointed down the road instersecting the boulevard. "The shouts and screams. Their this way!" Jacob frowned but soon waved everyone over, taking Jack's word, or perhaps the sudden surprisingly clear perception he had of brilliantly burning souls that couldn't possibly be the undead, though he somehow knew they were, his certainty immediately justified when they turned the corner, saying only. "See that massive building up ahead?"

Jacob snorted, the rest of their party just a footstep behind.

"Yeah. Definitely where the undead are," Sharon said as they collectively caught sight of the swarming mass of snarling, roaring, feral bodies slamming themselves against the reinforced doors of the town hall which was thankfully for those inside, built more like a keep or medieval fortress than a building rich in symbolism alone. Guilding the massive, imposing building might have, but it also had stout oak doors and mere stone slits for windows for the first floor, Jack impressed to see that the rooftop parapet was actually reinforced with a crenelated walls from which at least a few brave souls were taking potshots at the undead horde below with a pair of crossbows, though Jack couldn't see that they were doing a lick of good.

But what truly struck Jack speachless as Jacob and Mitch talked in harsh whispers for just a minute before preparing themselves for battle were the swarms of will-o-whisps hovering over the hoard of ghouls, lazy loops and swirls in the air getting more and more frantic, and Jack tasted a sudden charge in the air.

His eyes widened, finally understanding the sources of those flashes of light.

"Mitch, Jacob, get back!"

This earned him a pair of frowns. "You finally with us, Jack? Good. You and Sharon are going to—"

"Get down!" Jack said, surging past them with his shield raised, knowing he was being a fool and it would do no good when the gloomy day light with the flash of lightning once more. And by the time Jack blinked away the last of the after images he noted that the ghoul hoard was just a bit smaller than it had been moments ago, and at thirty paces, no lightning was forking in his direction at all when there were so many juicier targets, quite literally, in the form of undead all around.

Jacob blinked. Getting it. "The thunder clouds, the rain, the damned lightning! This is all Lauren, isn't it?" She flashed a bemused smile, glancing a nonplussed Mitch's way. "It's just like Sin said. Lauren's pretty much a Weather Witch, for lack of a better word, and thunder and lightning, wow." He chuckled softly. "Your girl's definitely a badass. She's single-handedly taking out those ghouls by herself!"

Sharon nodded. "Now I see why she was willing to invest so much of her potential in buying spells. I have the feeling she's not using common magics. Soaring through the air and unleashing lightning storms? And will-o-whisp magic to mark the targets direct the charge? That sounds a lot closer to tier 4 than tier 3 to me."

Sin furrowed his brow. "Regardless, it looks like our princes is fading fast. Look above."

And it was true. Above the shrieks and howls of the living dead, the brooding dark clouds of moments before were definitely fading as the howling wind all around them faded to sporadic gusts, the wind long since depleted.

Then Mitch's eyes widened. "Shit, that's Sharon, isn't it? I think she's loosing altitude guys..."

He didn't bother saying anything else, merely racing at an olympian pace as Sharon slowly sank to the ground just a hundred feet back down the road, collapsing in Mitch's arms.

She flushed when she noticed five pairs of concerned eyes looking into her own. "Shit. That wasn't supposed to happen. I was supposed to kill them all in a blaze of glory."

Sharon chuckled softly. "Hardly, sister. You did manage to take out a good chunk of them, though. She frowned clinically. "How much of your mana did you tap?"

Her friend winced. "All of it?"

"Not good, Lauren."

Lauren flushed, lowering her gaze. "I know," she said softly. "I was just so mad at those bastards, I couldn't help it!"

This earned a nod. "Love how you linked those will-o-whisps to your other spell. Let me guess, let's you magically find your target, and then hone in on them?"

"More or less. More like..." Lauren yawned. "More like it can locate a type of creature. And even with it at rank 1 Novice, spotting the undead, utterly alien and enethma to the lush ecosystem of the forest or farms, was about the easiest demand I could possibly have made of it."

Sharon nodded, looking Jacob's way. "We're damned lucky Lauren didn't injure herself badly with that stunt, one way or another. Hell, she might even get a potency boost from that stupidity. But we're still going to need ten minutes for our Witch to recover from mana depletion, before we can play hero. Either that, or someone's going to have to watch Lauren while the rest of us fight it out with that massive swarm.

Jacob's expression tightened. He gave a curt shake of his head. "No. That swarm is three times the size of what we fight last time. We are not splitting our forces."

Jack winced, turning towards the sudden sharp cry that of course caught his ears just then.

The panicked cry of a young woman, and the screams of a child.

Heart pounding, he took that first irrevocable step towards disaster. He knew that. As he was sure the laughing fates above knew it. But he had seen too much. Done too much. Endured too much in too many lives, including his very first, to ignore the cries of a woman and child now.

Even if he wiped.

He couldn't hear Jacob's shout over the blood pounding in his ears as his eyes darted forward with desperation, finally sensing the source of those screams, grateful it wasn't the keep itself.

Instead, it was a beautiful little cottage surrounded by a lush miniature garden just past a guilded gate, tucked between several larger well-tended buildings. A perfect little paradise in the heart of the town.

Only now it was overrun by ghouls that had just torn open the stout front door and lunged for a shouting man with the look and bearing of a merchant bravely trying to fend off a pair of snarling gouls with nothing but a short sword and buckler.

Despite the terror, Jack sensed the desperate focus and determination of the middle-aged man, and all he had to do was catch a glimpse of the young wife and child in her arms to know why.

Jack's heart lit with fierce exultation when the merchant lashed out with a soldier's never forgotten instincts, scouring an eye out of now stumbling back ghoul.

And before the man could so much as take advantage of his opponent's disorientation, the other ghoul snarled and lashed out with lethal looking talons more than capable of tearing out an unarmored man's throat.

miraculously blocked by a perfectly timed shield block.

Only for the buckler to be torn out of of the man's hand before and ugly claw tore into the now gasping merchant's abdomen.

"Raphel!" Shrieked the girl, as death closed in for the small family, the groaning husband and wife collapsing to the ground, and it was only a pair of ghouls looming over the small family, hissing their infernal hunger.

Before stumbling upon headless feet, collapsing to the ground.

"Sagitta! Sagitta Acidum!" Jack roared, having had to hold back until that very instant, terrified of just how deadly his acid bolts would be if he hit a friendly, having waited desperately, perhaps too long, for a clear shot.

And then it was over, save for desperate sobs and panicked looks as the young woman squeezedg her wounded man as tight as his injuries would allow, pleading with him to get up, to move, frantic hands then gently, so gently, pressing a hand against his perforated abdomen.

"Are there any others?" asked a gasping Jack, having run full tilt, earning a pair of startled cries and a groan when panicked yes lurched his way... before the woman sobbed in relief, the baby now screaming in her arms.

"Oh gods, what's happening, what's happening to the town? Please tell me you can help us. Please!" The young woman sobbed, gazing down at the pair of ghouls even now fizzing and sizzling away as if seltzer tablets in water, the acid arrows that had near instantly dissolved their heads slowly working their way downwards.

Solemnly, Jack nodded, not wasting time on further words, merely looking the pale-faced merchant in the eye and giving him an encouraging smile. "That was some pretty impressive fighting back there. Let me guess, soldier turned merchant?"

The man grimaced but nodded. "Yes... and thank you," he gasped. "I... I recognize a battlemage's spell. Thank the duke you came. I'm only sorry it wasn't sooner!"

Jack flashed a sad smile. "I am too. Hold on, this is going to hurt like a bitch," he said, before placing his hand on the man's abdomen and pouring his will into the wound as the surprisingly well furnished cottage rang with the screams of the wounded, and the bitter tears of one would feared he'd always pay a price in pain to embrace this particular spell.

Even as he slumped over, desperately catching his breath and trying to fill up his mana as fast as possible, his mind flashed with the dying screams of men and women all around him. Innocent souls that had suffered so severely in the war that had swept over their land that he had feared he would be haunted by the lifeless eyes of all the women and children shoveled into massive trenches outside all the cities by the invading forces intent on racial genocide, for countless lifetimes to come.

And he had been right.

"Sir battlemage, are you alright?"

Jack cried out and lurched to his feet, heart hammering with the pounding screams of... nothing. Just the wide eyed gazes of a merchant and his family, their eyes filled with both gratitude, and yes, a trace of fear. Jack forced himself to smile, for all that it felt like a tight rictus. "Sorry. Sometimes when I heal, or after battle, I..."

The former soldier gave him a sympathetic nod. "No need to say a word, lad. It happens to all of us who served. I'm just sorry to see eyes so young as war-weary as any 20 year legionnaire."

Jack didn't no what to say to that, so he just dipped his head. "I'm glad you're okay. Can you tell me what happened to the town?"

"No time for that, Jack, we have to move!" This from a sharp-eyed Sin, appearing at the doorway as if by magic. "Playing the hero? good. It will help us quest complete and get some EX, but Jacob isn't happy, and I'm tired of his shit. So let's get going already!"

Jack forced himself to stand, grateful to find himself rock steady once more, the mad fury and despair of minutes ago now no more real than a half-forgotten dream.

Reminding him once more of the cost he paid for using healing magic, even if the spell had just hit Apprentice Rank 3.

"Sure, but what about these folk?"

The former soldier flashed a tight smile, quickly rearming himself with blade and buckler and a single pack before gathering his wife and child beside him. "Not soldiers, but Delvers who dare to walk the Path of Peril," he said, bowing his head. "Then I'm twice over blessed to see you, and I thank you for saving our lives. If you would be so kind as to lead us to the forest edge, we'll happily go on our way and tell all who ask of the heroism of the...

"Team Troll-Killer" Sin said.

"Of course," the man said, not missing a beat.

Jack blinked. "Team Troll-Killer?"

"Not my idea. I got outvoted. Now let's go."

And in less than two minutes, they were before a scowling Jacob, taking shelter in an abandoned house with a thick, still intact door, who definitely looked less than pleased. "Jack..."

"People were in trouble. Mortal peril," he said, looking back at the bedraggled family, their faces a mixture of desperate hope and fear, the drying blood all over the merchant's attire attesting stronger than words ever could just how perilous their plight had been. "So your damn right I acted." He turned, catching Lauren's sympathetic gaze, and Sharon's quick grin. "And I'm not going to apologize for giving a shit... but I am sorry I didn't do a better job of letting you know before I dashed off. Then again..."

"Had you got there even a second later, I would surely be a corpse right now," said the former soldier, bowing his head before the group. "Please know that the Galor clan will always honor and revere the heroes of Team Troll Killer."

Sharon's eyes crinkled, snickering at those words. "Told you we shouldn't have been doing the local equivalent of absinthe."

Lauren blushed. "I knew that was a stupid name."

"Oh you loved it, babe! Jacob agreed it was a win." Mitch declared, giving her a hug.

She rolled her eyes before squeezing him back. "I was busy letting you get me drunk so we could revel like we were 18 again. I was pretty much willing to agree to anything, at that point."

Mitch looked crestfallen. "Shit. I knew we shouldn't have gotten so loaded. Morning regrets, babe?"

She flashed a wicked grin. "Only about the name."

Sharon nodded. "We all love to party, and we like it when our men our happy. But still..."

Jacob flushed. "Yeah, it's all real. We'll talk about it later."

Jack winced, catching Sin's smirk. He could only wonder what the small family gazing so quietly at them thought of their conversation, but saw only gratitude and polite, perhaps too polite, indifference on their features.

Which made sense, he supposed. If the people who looked most capable of survival began talking in gibberish, best to smile politely and stay close, until the danger had passed. No matter how strange your heroes happened to be.

Jacob cleared his throat. "Anyway, we got a problem. Nearly a score of ghouls and at least one of those necromancers are still among the living." He frowned thoughtfully. "Unliving? Anyway they aren't dead. Or, at least..."

"We get it love," Sharon said with a smile, turning to Jack. "Okay, here's the plan. Sin scouted out a good sniping perch. You and me, we take out as many of those assholes as we can, hopefully before they batter down the keep door. No doubt we're going to draw some of those assholes our way, so the boys will be playing guard duty ambushers, waiting to kill any who come this way to respond. We'll shout out how many are coming. If it's a swarm? We retreat by the rooftops. if it's a small handful? The boys slice and dice and we aid from the rear and it's rinse and repeat."

Jack thought about it for a second, then gave an approving nod. "Sounds good to me."

"We're so glad you approve," she said with a teasing smile. "Now come on. Time to set up and put these horrors in their place."

"What about Lauren?"

"Still recharging!" she said brightly, eyes twinkling, though Jack saw the bone-deep weariness behind her cheerful grin. "Seems like channeling 3 Tier 3 spells at novice Rank 1 can take it out of a girl and her mana pool in unexpected ways, so I get to enjoy the wonder of a focus penalty until I get a full 8 hours sleep."

Jack winced. "Ouch."

"Hardly, I killed half a dozen of those fuckers, maybe more, and ranked up all 3 of those badass spells, and my focus skill! Even if they were novice rank 1 before."

Jack grinned. "That's how you do it. Nothing seems to rank up skills quite like risking your life, at least in this universe." he then peered thoughtfully at the doors, noting his own shimmering and once more nearly full potency bar, having once more been forced to fight for his life against things far above his weight class. "But before we get started, mind if I try something?"

And before Jacob could do more than frown, Jack had already sliced a shallow cut on the ball of his thumb, marking the frame and lock rail with crimson sigils that seemed to glow and shimmer, feeling a strange thrill of exultation and loss as he felt the smallest potency of his hard-fought potency drain away, even as he sensed the power of those sigils thrumming through his blood like never before.

Maybe it was the weight of so many lives being in peril, or of pitting his will against the expected outcomes of a tragic tale. Either way, he was covered in sweat and trembling when he was done. Still, he couldn't help flashing a satisfied grin at his friends.

"Jack?"

Jack grinned Jacob's way. "The door is now as strong, or almost as strong, as the support beams in the mine we cleared. And the obscuro rune means that even if they do swarm this way, I think they might just pass right by us. Or at least, some of them will. Which means if we do don't have to worry about being overwhelmed quite so badly, or at least, we'll have more time to flee or kill them on our terms.

Lauren beamed, giving Jack a thumbs up. "Well done, boyscout!"

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Boyscout?"

Sharon winked. "It does kind of fit, though there is one tiny flaw in your brilliant expenditure of potency and life force. And please don't tell me you ranked up again?"

"Actually I did…"

"Because that would be absurd. But clearly not for you. So, Jack. The door might be strong as steel, but what about the windows?"

Jack winced, gazing at the two modest but still large enough for an undesirable to squeeze through windows.

Before the merchant's wife darted forward, fiddling with a pair of latches and the sudden slamming down of half a dozen bars a single latch secured into place just below each window. She flashed a weak smile, flinching before the intent gazes of the six adventurers. "Forgive me, lords. But in the finer houses of a town this size... well, no one likes to say it, but rogues and ne'er-do-wells always hunger for what's not theirs, so we do take steps. Even here."

She winced and glanced Sin's way. "Present company excepted, of course."

Jacob smirked. "Told you the all dark leather look wouldn't blend in."

Sin smirked, waving the comment away. "I happen to think I look badass." He flexed his arm. "See that definition? Enchanted leather armor as a system starting gift means not having to go boiled rawhide. And my gear still protects me almost as well as, well, steel."

Mitch nodded. "Because whereas rawhide plates boiled in glue will stop any mortal's dagger thrust or sword blow, supple treated leather like yours should be a breeze to cut through."

"Only it isn't," Sin noted. "And, like I said, I get to look badass."

"He does look pretty badass," Lauren agreed. "Kind of like my ex." She shrugged. "Probably why I can't stand him, half the time."

Sin laughed at that. "Love you too, flametop. And look at our boyscout go." He then frowned, peering thoughtfully at Jack's work. "Though how the hell bloody runes marked with his thumb turned to his etching them in with a blowtorch? That I don't quite get."

But Jack had already tuned them out, lost in the moment, awed to find that he could synergize his skills in way he would never have thought possible if he weren't actually living this life, struck by sudden revelations regarding the flow of magic and all it's possibilities in ways that sent shivers of wonder down his spine.

So when impulse struck, he didn't hesitate to forgo pricking his finger yet again to infuse his runes with the fuel and potency they needed to linger, thinking that maybe, just maybe, there was a better way.

Why not use a spell, or skill, saturated in his own bloodmagics, his now extremely efficiently cast blood magics, to catalyze the rune and save himself some experience as well?

It took some moments to throttle the flow of crimson flame to the tiniest of trickles, but Adept rank had given him incredible control over the flame.

And he didn't let himself stop, no matter how bad a failure he just knew this first attempt of smoking embers and half-burned wood would be.

And when the charred blackened mass of lines actually flared to life, glowing a faint crimson, no one was more surprised than he.

Congratulations! You have successfully synergized elements of two unrelated arcane arts!

New perk unlocked! Bloodfire runes may now be forged!

Bloodfire runes enjoy 50% of the potency of standard bloodrunes for 1/4th the experience point cost of standard Bloodrunes. Note. Bloodrunes may only be forged upon organic surfaces subject to burning.

Runeforging is now Journeyman Rank 3!