"Glacio Effusorium!"

Jack's voice rang out amidst the backdrop of mining picks clanking merrily away as a burst of razor sharp 3 foot long icles burst from Jack's fist and went racing across the still waters of the underground basin, Jack pleased to see the magic flowing much more smoothly, more naturally, than it had the first couple of times he had practiced his newest spell. Instead of having to spend long moments thinking of freezing his Water Spout, now he just filled his arm with a certain chilly feel and ice shards that had originally begun to descend and splash into the water at just twenty feet were now soaring a good forty feet before dipping down and crashing into the basin waters.

Frozen Spout is now Apprentice Rank 1!

Jack blinked at the notification, both surprised and pleased to see it had advanced so far in just the single day his friends had been mining. The novice ranks were the easiest, but even a single rank of apprentice should have taken the potency of a kill to evolve, or dozens of hours of practice. Even for him.

Then he turned around and gazed at his friends, expressions almost dream like in their hunger and joy as their bodies seemed to move with the flow of waking dream as they ever so slowly began to coax at least the smallest piece of one of the silvery rivulets free of the rock pinning it in place, after countless hours of work. And he couldn't hold back the tiny twinge of envy he definitely did feel, all but sensing the potency now saturating his friends. And if the slightest twinge of that potency had leaked to Jack and Veti, both now intently practicing their spells, then Jack knew he should count it a blessing.

Because all that mattered for himself was his own personal improvement. So instead of envying the sweet boon others enjoyed, he could take advantage of the lesser boon that could also be his. If anything, he should be grateful that his friends had stumbled into such fortune. Because their strength was his strength, and anything that allowed them to better survive the depths was of benefit to them all.

"Ventus Zephyrus! Ignis Sanguis!" Jack roared, making use of what he thought would be a cornerstone of his elemental attack spells, a stream of crimson flame given a massive boost in intensity by the gust of air entwined with his spell that both acted as bellows and helped push his foes back. And considering that even primitive fireplaces of brick and mud could generate temperatures hot enough to met iron ore from rocks with the proper ground air vents in place, it was no wonder his spell was now enjoying an additional 50% damage bonus, multiplicative of everything else.

And after nearly losing control and suffering a very bad accident, the Journeyman perk for his air spell had been cinch to pick.

Wind Gust now benefits from the Synergism Perk! You now understand the flow of air better than ever, and enjoy synergistic effects when this spell is combined with any other spell or effect! Cost to cast synergized spells has been reduced. Critical failure risks of casting this spell simultaneously with another has been minimized!

"That is a sweet combo you got going there, Jack!" said an admiring Veti as Jack's roaring stream of air and fire blazed across the lake's surface. "I can't believe you're generating that much heat with just a pair of first level spells."

Jack nodded. "Bloodflame is now an Elite tier spell and it shows with all the perks I've thrown in there, not to mention the base damage bonuses for Elite rank, Tier 1 affinity and the fact that, well..."

"You're pouring your own blood potency into the flame?"

Jack nodded. "Though it doesn't cost me life force now, it just doubles the mana cost. Another perk. And since the mana cost is so low now..."

"You've got a killer go-to fire spell. And the way you can just squeeze your will around it and keep your target burning even after they retreat from the initial flame burst or phase back out of existance..."

Jack nodded. "I have to pay mana upkeep, but it's just a little more than a point a second, and yeah, that's mostly how I was able to take out the phase spiders your boyfriend didn't manage to kill. I blasted them with fire the instant they phased back in to attack, then held tight to the flame burning them from the inside out when they tried to phase away." He then flashed a bleak smile. "And with Bloodflame's Deathpyre perk, any phase spider who thinks they can ambush us like they did before is in for a very nasty surprise."

But Veti was blushing, glaring daggers at Jack. "Barlton is not my boyfriend! He's just a very charismatic dwarf."

Jack grinned. "Who said I was talking about Barlton? I thought Drake did an excellent job, his shouts effecting even the phased spiders, even if he couldn't see them."

Veti's flush grew.

Jack held up his hands with a chuckle. "Alright, I'm teasing!" He then flashed a bemused grin. "But I saw the way you looked at him after his rescue. I think he's taking a shine to you too, and he certainly has an impressive physique, doesn't he?"

Veti smiled. "He certainly does," she said, biting her lip, and once more Jack wasn't certain if he was supposed to overhear that or not. "But enough on those over-muscled oafs. Show me how to cast those elemental spells again, Jack?"

Jack smiled and nodded, slowly going over the forms of all the tier 1 spells he knew, he and Veti having agreed to make the most of their time, sharing at least the basics of the spells they both knew, even if Jack could only learn Tier 1 spells to start, and the same was true for Veti as she had put her points into a unique specialized school dealing with banes and hexes, the school itself a carefully forged contrivance linked specifically by its focus on hindrance alone. Yet its versatility and scope left Jack more than impressed.

"That is one impressive school, Veti!"

"I know, right? Even if it was artificially forged, the Bane school allows one to learn spells of every level that hinder and impair the enemy in a dozen different ways. Best of all, a mage can specialize his efforts into that one school of magic and get so much out of it! Which sort of makes up for the fact that most mages have to pay full cost for access to any magic sphere they're interested in, so why wouldn't grandmasters have helped to formulate a handful of specialized schools tying together selections of wonderfully useful spells together? It's the only thing that gives basic mages a chance against more exotic advanced and adept classes that can rank up a handful of magical schools under one class sphere, like Witch magic involving hexes, storms and air, the forest, and just generally everything to do with coaxing the spirits of nature, as opposed to channeling all the energy yourself."

Jack smirked. "I don't think my girlfriend would quite agree, but that is generally what a witch is about, sure."

Veti blinked, eyes widening. "Oh, that's right! You're the newblood who Captain Stormy took on as a lover, right?"

Jack flushed. "I wasn't aware that my personal life was making the rounds."

Veti smirked at that. "Well, it has. You now stride among the creme of Greycliff society, and Stormy is both an enigma and a hero of sorts that the de Leone clan is clearly pinning their hopes on, with all the resources now being sent the way of her platoon, so it's no wonder so many eyes are on her. And by extension, you as well." She flashed a teasing grin. "Also, Jake's friends are terrible gossips, and most of them are my students whom I tutor in the mornings, making sure they all have the talent to successfully cast their spells even when off campus grounds, so they aren't completely hopeless when school isn't in session. So of course I end up hearing absolutely everything, and weren't my ears just filled with interesting tidbits when I saw you and Drake actually coming to my table?"

She shook her head. "I just feel a fool for it taking so long to click, but let's be honest, it has been a very interesting day so far, has it not?"

She said the last gazing at the glittering cavern wall their friends were even now pouring their all into plucking free of its prizes, to surprisingly little avail.

Jack frowned. "They've been hammering away at that same chunk of mithril for the last eight hours."

Veti chuckled throatily. "The wealth of an entire nation is before us, Jack, or it's equivalent. So what if it takes a bit of time to pry any of it free? Even if we can realistically only claim the tiniest fraction, our fortunes are made. We all know that."

She then cleared her throat, features taking on an oddly professorial cast. "And now I think it's about time we got back to our own instruction, don't you, Jack? Let's go over at least the basics of the spells you saw me using today, and with luck, you'll have the aptitude to learn them all by the time the academy semester starts."

Jack grinned. "You know what? I'd love nothing more. Please, show me what you got!"

And in very short order, Jack was grinning with pleased satisfaction at the messages streaming across his interface while Veti was looking at him with something close to awe.

Congratulations! You are benefiting from an instructor with the Skilled Mentor Perk! Perk bonuses magnified by party link and natural proclivity!

You have learned the Tier 1 version of Hex! You may hex a single foe. High chance of foe suffering flat-footed and off-balance penalties, and dropping anything being held in limbs or digits. Duration is skill rank squared in minutes.

Note. This spell version does not include bonus chance of being hit by enemy projectiles, as is the case with the witch version of hex.

You have learned the Tier 1 version of Brittle Armaments - All mundane armaments of inert wood, bronze, steel, or stone upon 1 opponent may be rendered brittle with a single casting of this spell. (Metal may consequently be heat treated and quenched by a Rank 1 Adept or better smith to restore full functionality. Wood and stone implements are permanently flawed.)

You have learned Tier 1 Weaken Bone. 1 Target's bones (or carapace / shell ) and all non enchanted armaments made of bones, carapaces or shells, will be rendered brittle with the casting of this spell. Brittle bones within living targets will heal naturally over a period of weeks or months.

You have learned Tier 1 Sap Vitality! Foe's stamina reserves will be greatly reduced! You will enjoy damage bonuses with all attacks as exhaustion penalties reduce opponent's ability to dodge and parry at full strength. You will suffer less damage from foe's physical attacks! Foe is able to recover fully depleted stamina at the normal rate for its race after skill rank squared in minutes.

You have learned the Tier 1 version of Slow. - Target's reflexes and actions will be slowed down, increasing your ability to counter all attacks and successfully maneuver around and strike your opponent in turn! Duration is Rank in minutes.

All bane spells have been learned at Novice Rank 1.

"So, how is your newest student doing, Veti?" teased Drake with a grin some hours later when Barlton and his crew rested at last after countless hours mining in perfect concert.

For all that her friend was smiling as he ravenously tore into hunks of fried spider meat that Barlton really did know how to prepare quite well with the dried spices he kept in his own storage pouch, Veti's demeanor was utterly serious, her gaze one of profound disbelief.

"He learned five spells in the span of five hours, Drake. So you tell me."

Drake abruptly stopped eating, as did Aroust, both gazing a bit too intently at an increasingly discomfited Jack who was just trying to tuck into some surprisingly tasty meat.

"You don't mean the dream of spells, like they teach you all at the academy, do you, Veti?" said Aroust, peering hard at Jack.

Veti slowly shook her head. "No, Aroust. They don't work here, in any case, as you well know. I mean the actual spells themselves, from which the Academy dreams of pristine magic are derived."

Drake blinked, swallowing the spicy spider meat in his mouth and taking a long drink of a flagon of something that clearly wasn't water before speaking. "But Veti, even a prodigy at the school would be spending at least a full day trying to learn the dream of a single spell." He flashed a bemused smile. "And no one I know, not even Sophia or Felix, are capable of such, and they've never bothered studying the complex mathematical underpinnings of our arts, or tried tapping into the chaotic maelstrom of elemental forces from which all magic bubbles up, their realm of expertise being the glorious realm of Etherial magic alone. And your saying my brilliant shield brother managed to learn not just one, but five spells in full? Their mathematical underpinnings as well?"

Here Veti gave a soft chuckle, and shook her head. "Our friend here is shit for math, that's clear as day. Any mention of Alcodian's theorems flew completely over his head." Her gentle bemusement turned solemn. "He just feels the flow of magic coursing through the earth. Coursing through his soul, and unleashes it, no mastery of theorems needed to visualize what takes us a hundred hours to capture."

Aroust frowned thoughtfully, taking a crackling bite of his own fried spider leg. "So what you're saying is that our ace-in-the-hole is a true idiot savant."

Jack laughed at that. "More savant than idiot, I hope. But yeah, I'll be the first to admit that Veti's theories made absolutely no sense to me, and I don't know who the hell Alcodian is."

Veti nodded. "Pretty much, Aroust. He just shook away all my attempts to explain it. Just insisted I cast it over and over, party-linked to him as intently as I could." She flushed. "At one point I was whispering the words while we were pressed forehead to forehead."

She stole a shy glance Barlton's way, but he seemed oblivious, chomping his food and staring at the glittering rocks. "And after a while he would just nod and say he had it, and cast it on the poor fish we caught."

All of them then looked at the tiny little inlet pool Jack had used Artesenal Manipulation to carve into the rock, just adjoining the lake, from which a very bedraggled-looking fish could be seen swimming around.

Jack winced, genuinely feeling sorry for the fish, but these were spells that needed a living target to master. "It's not like I didn't cast my Lesser Healing spell when I was done, and I don't even know why I feel guilty, since we're eating phase spider meat I fried to a crisp, and I didn't give a damn about the bugbears I corpsicled."

Drake grinned. "Corpsicled. I like it." He shrugged. "At least we know you aren't all savage killer."

Aroust nodded. "Only about 50%"

"Pretty much," agreed Drake. "But seriously, it's like you said. When you're fighting for your life, revel in it, because your enemies will definitely be reveling in your death. Save your compassion for times of calm when your life isn't endanger. And since that sad looking fish is pretty much harmless, you can afford to be merciful without putting yourself in peril, so you are. Showing us all that you're both compassionate and ruthlessly practical." He flashed a teasing smile. "A strong man who's ruthless to his enemies and tender to his friends...and random fish. Just the kind of hero Stormy needs in her life, am I right?"

"So not listening..." Jack said, taking another bite of his surprisingly well cooked meal.

Aroust, however, was gazing intently at Jack. "How do you manage it?"

Jack met the man's gaze, surprised to see him flush.

"I... once upon a time, I might have spent a semester or two at the college. And maybe I did try my hand at mastering the arts Etherial, but I found it damned hard to grasp even the tiniest flickers of dream."

"But eventually you managed," Veti softly said. "Because you practiced diligently every day after class, when others lost themselves in games, revels, sports on broomsticks and adventures in the hidden realm, pretty much everything except mastering spells everyone admitted made them feel a bit strange. Not quite themselves. A tough sensation for first-years to master. But you never gave up."

Aroust flashed a bitter smile. "We were in the same class, weren't we, Veti? You were a natural, and I, for all my efforts, never even got good enough to cast a single Etherial spell off academy grounds."

Veti grinned at that, pointedly looking at his main gauche. "But you were so determined to push yourself, to master what you could. Giving challenge to anyone and everyone, mastering the one talent you definitely have, which is parrying the spells of others." She chuckled softly. "Oh I can still see the look on Brutus's face when he laughed at your challenge, only to find that no matter how much better a caster he was, you still managed to parry his every spell, until he threw down his wand to grapple you directly, and then you really put him in his place, even if he was thick as an oak."

Aroust flashed a hard grin, though his eyes were soft with reminiscence. "Because the one thing I could do, even then, was fight. And fight well, even if he had been a squire for a year before enrolling at the Academy. But even then the contest was considered a draw because I could never get a single one of my pathetic little etherial spells to transform him in the least."

He sighed and shrugged. "And after my daring bout of madness, even more foolish than yours, Veti, because at least you thought to prepare yourself for a summer that went on far longer than you had thought... I dared the deeps because I knew I was worthless as anything else. The fact that I actually survived that horrible ordeal before touching the portal frame and the crushing weight and horrible stench suddenly became sweetest nectar to my soul? A miracle I will never forget."

He furrowed his brow. "Yet never have I been offered any spell casting options with my level-ups, or anything more magical than what a rogue/warrior hybrid will normally allow. And a single perk to better parry even Low Magic just as well as Etherial was the only arcane perk I ever had the option to buy." He shrugged. "Not that I'm complaining, not after being given a second chance to tell the tale of my life anew, with this magnificent treasure the sweetest of all prizes I could imagine, save the miraculous recovery of my wife, but all the same..."

Intent brown eyes met Jack's own. "But I too would love to know how our young friend here does it. If I can figure out the answer to that mystery... well, who knows where it could lead?"

Jack shrugged under his friend's regard. "Honestly, there's not really that much to it. I just focus on Veti casting the spell, let her words wash over me like the notes to a song, and I try to look past it, feel past it, to understand the essence of what she's trying to tell me. Then I ask her to cast it again and again, and once I think I feel the flow of magic through her, I try to replicate it. Only when it works do I truly think I've learned the spell, and I know it will take a hell of a lot of effort to get anywhere close to mastery. I have yet to master a single spell."

"But you actually have two Elite spells. And that, Jack, is absolutely absurd," Veti said, her expression caught somewhere between admiration, disbelief, and envy.

Jack grinned. "Three, actually, but that's not what matters."

"What matters then?"

Jack held her gaze for long moments. "Have I mastered my spells well enough to keep us all alive with whatever else comes our way?" He then waved at his friends, covered with sweat and grime after hours of mining. "We already know that most of you will soon be saturated with potential. Hell, I feel the thick potency radiating of some of you, even now. If you're smart, you'll use that to better yourself in whatever way will help you and the party survive. And sure, I'm a little envious, but I'll get over it. The important thing is that we're a team. What benefits one, benefits us all."

"Boy's right," Barlton agreed with a pleased nod, before glaring at his de facto miners. "And you idiots best take my advice and hold tight to the pressure you feel. Not only will it lead ya down a path that will make ye stronger than any low rankers like us can dream, it will also let us better mine the ore tomorrow!"

Elof's eyes widened at this. "Really?"

The dwarf nodded. "The more ya can saturate yourself with the ore's essence, the easier she is to manipulate," he said.

Jack frowned thoughtfully at that, the dwarf's words echoing in his head long after the others had gone to sleep and Jack had placed runic wards of protection and warning all around their party, spending another hour casting spells on his poor fish, making sure he could cast all 5 bane spells with ease before finally calling it a night, his goal being muscle and mental memory more than increased skill ranks, at least for that first day.

Because if his plan tomorrow actually worked, this might be the last time he was practicing any spell but the one he'd be using for quite awhile.

Even after lying down, he spent many long moments staring at the cavern walls holding a glittering treasure almost beyond comprehension, a fortune of which they had yet to claim even a single ounce, before closing his eyes and drifting off to sleep at last.