You have successfully harvested Lesser Mithril Vein. 247 ounces of Mithril ore extracted.

Vitality check made.

You have achieved Tier 1 Mithril Saturation. +4 to all skill checks to mine and manipulate Mithril ore. Do you wish to compress saturation?

You have deferred Tier 1 Mithril Saturation at this time.

Arcane Manipulation is now Apprentice Rank 5!

Jack couldn't help flashing a satisfied smile at the incredible fortune of magical ore now in his hands, for all that he felt both utterly drained and so full of energy that it was shivering through his soul. Changing him, the essence of who he was. What he was. And as terrifying a prospect as that might sound, Jack took singular comfort in the knowledge that he was in control. That the sweet budding core of power and potency he sensed blossoming in his soul was his to mold and shape as he saw fit.

He took a deep breath, sparing a moment to smile at his friends, Barlton and the boys lost in the dream of mining, Veti peering down so intently at their captured cluster of fish as she diligently cast banes and heal spells both against living targets, and Jack was almost positive that practicing in such a mana saturated environment was securing gains for Veti she would be hard pressed to secure anywhere else, all of them doing their utmost to take advantage of the opportunity before them as one day bled into then next his friends now seemed almost to glow with a silvery hue, until at last, the cavern rang with Barlton's triumphant roar just as Jack crashed to his knees, lanced by a headache that almost blinded him.

"Crikee we did it! Tore our first piece o' the mountain free of its bosom, and what a sweet prize it is!"

Jack was only peripherally aware of his friends' excitement and cheers as the blood pounded in his skull, near overwhelmed by a sudden terrible pressure as he attempted to pit his will against yet another deposit, now unable to deny the interface messages flashing across his mind's eye.

Arcane Manipulation is now Journeyman Rank 1! (Perk Deferred)

You are now at the cusp of Tier 2 Mithril Saturation.

Your Reborn Soul is already at maximum compression!

Mithril potency needs outlet to avoid self-immolation.

Paths Available: 1. The Path of Magic: Mithril is magic and magic is the gift you would advance beyond all others! Each Tier of Mithril Potency will increase your Mana by 60 Points!

2. The Path of Physical Enhancement: Channeling the power and potency of endless potential has infused your body with the might of legends. All 4 physical attributes will increase by 2 points per each rank of Mithril Saturation achieved.

3. The Path of Balance: You have forged a true communion with the flow of liquid magic caressing your soul. All primary attributes increase by 1 Point. Mana & Health Increase by an additional 10 Points.

Jack grimaced through the sudden sharp, crushing pain he felt, ignoring the excited shouts he was only peripherally aware of as he put all his focus into truly understanding the choices before him.

The Path of Magic was the obvious choice, as he could think of nothing more important than increasing his mana pool, but he understood as well the inherent vulnerability of that choice, that it somehow left him unbalanced, both powerful and a tiny bit less resilient than he would like. He winced, sensing that there was definitely a price to be paid for that quick infusion of power. As much as he hungered for that mana, he sensed that with the added harmony the other choices promised would come added resistance to the increasing arcane pressures that he was sensing.

The Path of Physical Enhancement was the one Jack sensed Barlton and his friends somehow taking, and he knew it to be a sturdy, resilient option. Yet one that did nothing for any of his magely traits, yet at least he sensed that his resilience would increase, at least a bit. His hunger for magic wouldn't be limiting just how deeply he could embrace Mithril's song.

And finally, there was the path of Balance. In some ways the least impressive, with a mild bump to everything and no specialization at all. Yet Jack could sense how perfectly this would acclimatize him to Mithril's resonance as a whole. And whereas most wizards could only dream of being exposed to the tiniest amount of mithril, and would no doubt harness whatever they could access to the utmost, hungry for even a single point of mana growth... Jack had before him a fortune kings would envy, and he was absolutely determined to make the absolute most of it that he could. Determined to tear free every last drop of ore from the mantel before him.

No matter what it took.

You have chosen the Path of Balance! All Primary stats have increased by one point! Mana and Health have increased an additional 10 Points each!

Note! Your balanced path has granted you added affinity and understanding of the mineral you seek to master! You now enjoy an additional +2 to all skill checks to manipulate Mithril via Arcane Manipulation!

By the time Jack pulled himself free of his trance, the celebration had wound down, but Barlton was still gazing at Jack with a triumphant grin, stored flask of mead in one hand, a chunk of glittering ore in the other.

"We've done it, boy! We're now so infused with the blessings o the earth that we can finally claim her prizes!"

Jack couldn't help flashing a fiercely satisfied smile at that. "I know," he said. "I feel it too."

Aroust, furrowed his brow as he sipped from his own celebratory flask, taking his ease and sitting beside the wall along with everyone else. "You look different, Jack!"

Drake blinked, nodding in concert. "Jack?"

But Barlton was giving Jack a knowing smile. "You've become one with the Mithril, haven't ya boy?"

Jack grinned. "I guess you could say that. What gave it away?"

"The silvery tint to yer eyes, maybe. Or the way you now look just a bit larger than life, like yer the star of yer own play."

Jack smirked. "I don't know about that, but it is a rush, feeling the mithril potency flowing through our blood, isn't it?"

Barlton chuckled in agreement. "Indeed it is, lad. Indeed it is." He turned to the others. "And you'll note our Jack didn't waste his gifts on any unnecessary level-up, but instead consolidated his blessings into a gift that will stay with him always."

Drake grinned and nodded. "You're looking good, Jack!"

Jack laughed at that. "You too, Drake. And don't think I'm blind to the light in your eyes, the way you move, the pressure of your gaze." And it was true, Drake looked more in tune with the world around him, somehow more real, than he ever had before.

Aroust laughed at that, and Jack was momentary nonplussed at the lightness in his friend's expression, a mischievous quirk to the duelist's smile, as if his eyes danced with merry secrets he alone was privvy to. And Jack was pleased to see the weight of melancholy at last slipping free of the duelist's manner.

"I'm getting the feeling that we're all beginning to feel Mithril's promise saturating our souls," Jack said at last.

Before wincing as he caught Veti's strained smile, and the angry scowl Elof momentarily flashed.

"Not everyone," Drake said softly.

Jack winced. "You're right."

"Not that our young friend here should be complaining a lick," Said Barlton, radiating his own impressive mantel of charisma and fearsome confidence. Radiating the essence of what it meant to be a miner, Jack supposed, as he gave Elof a pat on his shoulder. "Because against all odds he now has a class and a future, with a fortune to his name."

Elof gave a halfhearted smile. "You're right. It's just that..."

"Give it time. We're surrounded by ore, boy. You just need to give it more time ta saturate ya, body and soul." He then gazed sadly at Veti. "My greatest regret is that we can't give this gift ta everyone here."

Veti shrugged. "Don't worry about it, Barlton. You're all doing your best, and it's not like I can mine." She sighed before giving a satisfied nod. And with the air this saturated with magic, it's not like it's without benefit to me. Fact is, I never thought I'd be ranking up these bane spells this quickly. Depending on how many weeks we actually end up staying here, I might get at least a few of these spells strikingly close to journeyman status."

Drake whistled. "Journeyman in less than two months? Wow, Veti. Soon you'll be almost as absurd as Jack... Jack?"

But Jack was no longer paying attention, struck by an epiphany so profound, yet so obvious... why hadn't he thought of it before?"

"Jack, what's wrong?" Asked Drake.

Jack turned to Barlton. "So the focal point for all of this, our advancement, our growth, is feeling the mithril infuse us, body and soul."

"More or less, lad. A gross oversimplification... but more or less," agreed Barlton.

Jack slowly shook his head, pulling out one of the dozen sizable lumps he had gathered over the past week. Recalling exactly how it had felt to pull them free, as much liquid as solid in those moments, bending to his will.

You are attempting to cast Artisanal Manipulation upon Magical Ore!

Artisanal Manipulation has been successfully synergized with Arcane Manipulation.

You have successfully manipulated Mithril Ore!

Underlying affinities detected.

Artisanal Manipulation Journeyman feat has been chosen. - Limit Breaker in effect! - Normal Limits superceded.

You may now shape Mithril (and magic in all its forms) as you see fit without having to save versus oblivion!

Jack couldn't help cracking a half-smile at the gasps of awe and hot whispers of his friends as he slipped into a dreamlike daze that nonetheless had him feeling more invigorated and alive than he recalled ever feeling outside the desperate crucible of combat. It was pure contradiction, exhilaration, euphoria, terror, and fiercest resolve that had him actually pitting his will against insurmountable odds and arcane physics that all but laughed in his face almost as loudly as Barlton's bemused chuckle as Jack glared at the pile of ore before him, trying to shape it with the force of his will alone.

Before cracking a grin of his own, realizing he was being a fool.

It wasn't about forcing near indestructible ore to move to his will, no more likely than a bullet to mar the pristine mithril finish of any armor it shot at when Jack was already convinced it wouldn't leave a scratch.

It was about compelling the magic within.

And if the breathless gasps of his friends were anything to go by, Jack thought as he trembled with effort, visualizing what he wanted to occur so viscerally he could almost reach out and touch it...

"Jack, what the hell did you just do?" whispered a hot-eyed Elof, gazing at him with some odd mixture of wonder and horror.

Jack groaned and robbed his throbbing head, picking himself up from the ground.

"I'm not sure what I did. What did I do?"

Then he saw it.

The dozen rough balls of mithril ore he had gathered over countless days that had blended into weeks that had actually netted him and incredibly sweet boon to his stats had transformed.

Where before there had been twelve nearly indestructible globs of metal there was now a shimmering pool of mercury like liquid. At that moment truly like a liquid... about to dribble into the lake.

"Oh laddy, no!" Whispered a panicked Barlton at the thought of their precious fortune dribbling into the lake, not that that would be any sort of permanent loss, but it didn't matter.

Dipping a single finger into the pool of metallic liquid, Jack instantly stopped its spread.

Even as he effortlessly scooped out what had been hard stone with his other hand, soon forming a convenient two by two foot perfectly smooth hole in the ground, before compelling his priceless fortune into the stone, locking eyes with an awed-looking Aroust and a positively beaming Barlton.

"Ya are just full of surprises, aren't ya, friend Jack!" The massive dwarf declared, nodding with approval at Jacks creation. "I'm not sure why ya melted it, but if ya ever wanted ta prove to the elders of our tribe that ya deserve to be counted among our number... that certainly did it."

Jack grinned, turning to an awed looking Veti. "I think all of us being directly exposed to this ore are growing in ways that are beyond profound and it occurs to me that there might both be a way to assure our sixth benefits from the same boons that the rest of us are, to say nothing of giving us an added edge against foes that will be all too eager to kill us once we finally leave this sanctuary. Because we did dive headfirst in to madness," he said with a pointed smile Barlton's way. "Not that I will ever begrudge you finding us this fortune! But as beginners who still dared the Green... every advantage counts."

Aroust nodded. "Our only hope is that we can successfully scout out the terrain we will be entering and arrange for encounters that won't overwhelm us... while earning us sufficient potency to jump up not one but several more levels... so that by the time we escape this place, we'll actually at a level where survival isn't absolutely absurd."

Jack nodded. "My hope as well. But without the best armor imaginable, we're still all screwed."

Aroust grinned. "That won't be a problem once we leave here, Jack. The best masterworks that mortal or low level artificers can forge will be wwell within our budget. Even legendary tier treasures, should we actually be able to set up accounts with our windfall and make our way to Erovering where the Guild is more prominent and adventurers are more abundant, so many treasures making their way to Guild hall vaults, halls that would no doubt be more than pleased to sell us pretty much anything for access to what is effectively magic in physical form."

Drake nodded. "And I'll make sure that we're credited with the worth of everything we find." He flashed an apologetic smile. "Though I can't promise we'll be permitted to exchange our ore directly with the Guild beyond our borders, perhaps we can get a letter of dispensation so long as we trade with guild branches in Erovering only, a nation which has always respected our nation's borders, happy to have us as a buffer zone against their sworn foes."

Jack smiled and nodded. "Great plans for the future. But our biggest issue isn't surviving future delves where we might do the sensible thing and stick with the White, at least until we're all level 6. It's about us even surviving long enough to escape this place with our incredible fortune in one piece."

Veti bowed her head. "That is the problem, isn't it?"

Jack grinned. "So, I thought, why not put my apprentice tier smithing skill to good use and kill 2 birds with one stone?"

Barlton raised a curious eyebrow, before his eyes widened in sudden understanding. When Jack raised his now more muscular arm Barlton's way. "If you would be so kind, my friend?"

Barlton gave an awed shake of his head. "As I live and breathe, lad. If this actually works!'

Everyone else was gazing in bemused confusion as the powerfully built dwarf slipped free of his massive mail hauberk and handed it to Jack, who, grimacing only momentarily at the off-balancing weight, slowly dipped it in the pool of metallic liquid before him, making sure to coat each and every link in the mail shirt with syrupy consistency mithril liquid before carefully lifting the hauberk free with muscles that were strained despite the +1 to strength, vitality, and finesse, as well as all his other stats that the Mithril saturation had blessed him with.

He then quickly placed the massive shirt of chain links that went down almost to Barlton's knees upon the perfectly smoothed slab of stone beside the pool he had given the slightest of angles to, such that any excess droplets of the mercury-like liquid dribbled back into the pool as he sharply increased the viscosity of the mithril dribbling off the shirt while carefully checking all the rings of the mail to assure they were all coated evenly and equally, making sure none of them were sticky, and smoothing out any lumps or bare patches with the slightest pressure of his will and his fingertips.

Such that by the time 20 careful minutes had passed, he was able to hand his friend back his hauberk that was now completely covered in a thin layer of mithril, Jack's final surge of will assuring that the coating was now as hard as it was physically possible for any material to be.

He gave an exhausted smile, feeling momentarily dizzy and ignoring the messages flashing across his mind's eye, informing him that he had just leveled up 3 skills as Barlton shook his head in awed disbelief.

"If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldna' believe it! What you've done... pure miracle worker you are, Jack!" He immediately wrapped Jack in a massive bear hug that left him breathless. "Oh, you've gotta let me introduce you to my people, Jack! I can think of no less than a dozen dwarven maidens who would love ta make you their own! Though my sister's the cutest of them all," he said with a whisper and a wink as Jack flashed an exhausted grin.

"I'm just glad it worked!" he said, gazing with bemused awe at his own creation.

Drake was gazing at Jack with something beyond awe, though Aroust's brows were furrowed.

"Best we not get overconfident," the duelist said. "Even with a mithril coating... I fear it might not be as strong as we would hope. I fear that our clever young friend did no more than plate it and that might look beyond pretty, but I fear a Green tier beast's claws will shred it as easily as any mundane steel."

To which Jack gave a confident shake of his head. "I don't think that's going to happen," he said.

Aroust furrowed his brow. "Jack, you dipped it in a melted pool of liquid like a smith plating armor in gold. Pretty, but that's not especially durable."

Jack flashed a hard smile. "Then how about you try to shatter the links?"

This stipped the Duelist cold.

Jack frowned at the ground as a human sized and shaped dummy of stone formed before their awed eyes, and Jack wasn't sure why his friends were gasping or hissing with such surprise.

After Jack had actually managed to fuse his skills and manipulate liquid magic with his will alone, shaping mundane stone was now as effortless as waving his hand through smoke.

"Barlton, if you would be so kind?"

The bemused dwarf gave a chuckle, gamely draping the stone manequin with his now mithril coated hauberk, earning more than one admiring whistle at the way the metal caught and reflected the crystal light overhead.

Jack grinned. "Now if you would be so kind, Aroust?"

Aroust frowned, though he had gamely summoned his enchanted glaive. "Jack, I don't want to tear massive rents through our friend's armor just because I pricked your well-inflated ego."

"Go ahead and give it your best shot!" Barlton demanded. "They're standard 4 in 1 links. If ya break a couple o rings, we'll be all the wiser and I have extra wire just in case it's ever needed. Repairing mail is common enough in the field as you should know, duelist."

Aroust smirked. "If you insist..."

"I do. And rest assured, after ya give it yer best strike, I'll be doing the same! And if we actually manage to pop more than one link a piece... Jack will give us each an additional stone beyond our share, won't you Jack?"

Jack smirked, juggling no less than three of the priceless inch-wide jewels flashing brilliantly in the crystalline light overhead. "You mean one of these pretty baubles? You're on, friend dwarf!"

But Elof was frowning. "But Jack, you put quilted padding between the stone mannequin and the armor. Won't that cushion the force of their blow, and have the test go in your favor?"

Before Jack could answer, Drake gave a curt shake of his head. "That's to prevent damage to the weapons themselves, Elof. And we ourselves aren't stone. Were soft, meaty creatures who will still be giving under the force of the blow far more than the stone will, so it's actually very realistic and still in the weapon wielder's favor. Because placing links against stone is a good way to damage mail and weapons both, for no good reason."

Jack smiled and said nothing. In truth he had been worried about the blades, not the armor, though in truth he hadn't been factoring in the fact that his friend had an enchanted glaive, and the dwarf, now grinning evilly Jack's way, was actually holding his warhammer of a pick! One of the few weapons that might puncture a hole even in plate and was called a mail killer for a reason.

Barlton flashed an evil grin. "I'm both admirin' ya, friend Jack, and lookin' ta test yer skills ta the utmost!"

"And a couple less gems will be good for our too gifted friend's humility!" Aroust said with a grin before blasting off his backfoot with a shout that echoed through the air with the potency of his class feet, lashing out with such force and fury that the stone mannequin actually crumpled under the force of his blow.

All of them gazed in no small amount of awe at the crumpled pile of shattered stone loosely draped by a pool of dust coated armor, a testament to just how powerful their duelist companion truly was when he wasn't holding back.

Drake whistled. "I felt the surge of his feat echoing through the ether. You are a strong one, friend Aroust!"

The duelist flashed a hard smile. "There's a reason why I put so many perk points into Lancing Strike and Cleaving Blow every level, no matter how many defensive perks I was determined to master."

Drake nodded, flashing Jack an almost sympathetic smile as Barlton carefully freed his armor from the pile of shattered rubble. "Strong defenses are vital for any duelist, but you didn't forge your class to slip free of a mortal fencer's traps, but to put down inhuman monsters in realms of Living Nightmare. Since you're not a tank class, powerful DPS and wicked finishing moves are everything for you."

Aroust smirked. "Hardly everything, but damn important, yes."

Elof was gazing at his friend in awe. "That was... the way your glaive flashed through the air, so fast I hardly saw it. And the stone exploded!"

Aroust winced apologetically. "And I should have controlled the blow better. I'm lucky the mail hauberk caught the stone shrapnel. Otherwise one of us might have lost an eye with that foolishness."

Drake grinned. "Now the only question is, which stone are you picking out of Jack's hoard?"

Even Jack laughed at that, before catching a frowning Barlton's gaze, carefully going over the armor.

"Aroust!"

"Yes, friend dwarf?" said the duelist, immediately turning around to catch the dwarf's furrowed brow.

"Now I'm not a fool. I know just how hard ya hit that armor, and with a feat I doubt any Green monster will have."

Aroust smirked. "Still within the terms of our little... contest."

The dwarf nodded. "Indeed it is. So show me the rent."

Aroust frowned, quickly taking the armor, wiping free traces of dust with his leather glove, his careful perusal of the armor soon turning to a disbelieving shake of his head.

He turned around, catching Jack's gaze with his own.

"Jack."

"Yes, Aroust?"

"How?"

Utter silence came over the others as they all gazed Jack's way.

Jack shrugged. "I might only be an apprentice when it comes to hammering steel, even if my interface just declared me Journeyman rank, but Mithril's different."

Barlton nodded. "It is indeed different. Takes a skilled dwarf a decade ta master it's ways at the least, and that's without adding an artificer's skills on top o that!"

Jack nodded. "Unless you're totally in tune with the ore. And though I doubt I'll ever be more than a novice with steel without putting years of honest effort in, whatever my interface says, I can feel the mithril flowing when I touch it just as well as I can feel my lungs tingling with the air I breathe."

Aroust frowned. "Jack, what does that even mean?"

"It means that when I willed the mithril to take on liquid form and flow into the pool right there, it did so without complaint," he said, pointing at the small pool still mostly full of mithril, though a fair amount was now coating Barlton's shirt. "And it also means that when I compelled it to form a rigid, crystalline lattice over the steel links, it did so. And you'll note as well that I spent almost half an hour making sure that none of the rings were clumping together and all were covered evenly, so... yeah. Good luck ever breaking that shirt."

He grinned at his awed-looking friends. "So! How about we maximize our bling and become the prettiest adventurers every to dare a Green delve, wearing mithril covered armor that might actually see us surviving till we finally make our escape?"

And in very short order Jack found himself in charge of covering everyone's armor with a near indestructible coating of mithril that even Barlton's fiercest Ore Strike failed to penetrate, which didn't surprise Jack at all, considering the weeks it had taken them building up momentum and mithril potency just to mine the mithril vein behind them, his sole concession being to not use the pick so infused with mithril essence at that point, but a normal steel one that actually broke under the force of his blow, before Jack used his increasing mastery over manipulating earth and magic to both fix and cover in a coating of Mithril, along with the guys other picks that he hoped would increase their ability to mine the ore at an even faster pace.

"Should have thought of that meself!" declared Barlton with an approving nod before they got to work once more, Veti spending those days sitting in a lotus position lost in breathing exercises and cycling her mana while draped in Barlton's heavy shirt of mithril mail, and much to Jack's bemused wonder, he could actually sense the mithril essence beginning to saturate her soul.

It was only when he truly felt like he was finally getting a handle on the process as days bled into weeks, carefully ignoring the too distracting interface messages, lest they throw him out of a zone so intense that the mithril ore would now flow effortlessly over the armor in question in a perfectly even coating with just a thought, that he finally felt that he had sufficient mastery over the flow of both the mithril and the arcane currents within that magical metal to embrace the next step.

Though when he asked his friends for their armor with the shiny mithril coatings they were presently admiring their images in using the mirrors Jack happened to have in storage, he was surprised by their recalcitrance.

"Wait... you want the armor back, Jack? After making it so nice and pretty?" A crestfallen Elof asked, his tightened knuckles gripping his shiny mithril covered helmet in a near unbreakable grip.

Jack nodded. "I finally feel ready to take the next step." He flashed a cheeky grin. "If you think Your mithril covered armor is impressive now, wait until I've forged Resilience blood runes in perfect sync to the pulse of magic within the ore."

Elof's brow was still furrowed, for all that Barlton's eyes widened. "Lad, do ya even know what yer sayin'? You should never mix mithril with magics. Not unless yer a master o' yer craft!"

Jack shrugged as everyone stopped what they were doing and stared intently at Jack. "I'm not worried about the skill ranks, Barlton. All I can tell you is that right now, I am so in the zone that whether awake or asleep, I'm dreaming and thinking of mithril, and I feel connected to it like I never have before."

But Veti was shaking her head, soft brown eyes locking with Jack's own, for all that she was adorably draped in Barlton's armor. And did her brown eyes now have a touch of silver? Jack was pretty sure they did. "No, Jack. Barlton's right. Unless you've gained Elite tiers in multiple..."

She paled, gazing too long at Jack's confident smile. "Bastard. You actually got your Artisanal and Arcane Manipulation skills to Elite ranks in just a couple weeks?"

Jack grinned and shrugged. "When you think about it, we've been here a lot longer than a couple of weeks, and thank goodness all that spider meat keeps perfectly preserved in my soul pouch, and that we have, literally, hundreds of pounds of it."

Veti's eyes widened, her pale, freckled skin taking on a definite pallor. "Jack... did you just say soul pouch?"

"Well, at least now we know which horseman he descended from," said Aroust as an aside, words Jack very deliberately ignored.

"Look, Veti. All I'm saying is that I mastered the art of forging one particular blood rune in conjunction with two other enchanters months before any of you had even met me, forging the strongest shields and swords you can imagine... or at least that I could imagine, before encountering this mithril. Is it so hard to believe that I can bring those same skills to bear with the mithril I've come to know so well, at least with the one particular rune that I specialized in?"

"Actually Jack, it is. It's nothing short of absurd." Veti's hard tone was lightened by her smile. "And it's a godsend. Thank you, Jack, for being so bloody absurd, and watching our backs." With those words, she was the first to surrender her prize.

Wordlessly, Jack took Barlton's mithril covered shirt and with nothing more than a sure of effortless will, so contrasted by the way his muscles trembled under the wait, the previously unbreakable mithril coating poured right into the two foot bowl carved into the stone by his feet. Wordlessly he looked at the others.

With sighs, chuckles, and bemused shakes of the head, Jack found himself with five sets of once more mundane armor and a full pool of mithril once more.

Mithril soon dyed the color of blood as Jack cut open his wrist and poured his lifeblood into the now seething mixture of magic and metal, ignoring the alarmed curses and shouts of his friends as he plunged his fist into the roiling mixture.

"Resilience!" He cried, near collapsing with the surge of potency pouring from him into the roiling mixture before it settled once more.

You have saved versus oblivion!

You have successfully invested 1000 potency points in: Mithril Pool.

Congratulations! You have successfully infused Mithril Pool with Master Tier Blood Rune! Mithril arms and armor forged from this pool now enjoy the Indestructibility Perk!

Artisanal Manipulation is now Adept Rank 1! In addition to being able to manipulate magical ores at close range, you may now effortlessly shape up ten cubic feet of mundane material at range within seconds! Range and amount will increase with increased ranks. (This counts as Elemental Magic)

Arcane Manipulation is now Adept Rank 1! You now understand the flow of arcane energies within any magical item or source of magic essence, and may manipulate the arcane flow of magical energies within any unfinished essence. - Note. Arcane Manipulation fully encapsulates and supersedes the Artificer Skill!

Rune Forging is now Master Rank 1! - Masterwork Perk Chosen. - You may now forge Runes to enhance any essence source. Thanks to your understanding of the flow of arcane energies within any artifact, you may additionally enhance already forged magic items with your blood runes! (limitations may apply).

For long moments Jack just stared at the pool of shimmering crimson potential before him, only jolted out of his daze by the concerned murmurs of his friends long enough to cast his basic healing spell on his still bleeding palm before focusing once more on the interface messages he could no longer ignore, awed at what he had forged despite himself, for all that he winced at the cost, so much saved potency that had almost allowed him to lock in a second rank of Mithril Saturation. Yet to find himself with 2 more Adept Rank skills and with Rune Forging actually hitting the Master Ranks... he couldn't deny for even a heartbeat the monumental scope of his accomplishment.

Before brushing all such thoughts away and focusing on what truly mattered... dipping the armaments in the pool of blood infused mithril ore once more.

Now finding it even more challenging to coat the armaments in his solution of blood and magic, but persevering nonetheless. And when it was finally done at the end of a week, while everyone else was either mining ore or meditating on the ore the donned and held so tightly in their hands, everyone, even Veti, now possessed crimson armor that was utterly impervious to even a scratch, no matter how many perks his friends chained together striking them, even with Bartlon's mithril capped warhammer, and how fierce a grin his friend flashed him.

Best of all, to Jack's mind, he had also achieved Tier 2 Mithril Saturation, choosing the Path of Balance once more.

He let his friend's words wash over him for a few moments, finally allowing himself the luxury of looking at an abbreviated version of his interface sheet, focusing only on his stats, awed to see all the ways his stats had increased with all the trials he had endured, and all without gaining a single level.

______________________________________________________________________________________

Jack Evergreen Class: Undecided Level 0

Primary Attributes

Strength 14 (Exceeds 90% of base population)

Vitality 15 (Exceeds 95% of base population)

Finesse 16 (Exceeds 98% of base populationd)

Quickness 15 (Exceeds 95% of base population)

Perception 16 (Exceeds 98% of base population

Scholarship 17 (Exceeds 99% of base population)

Willpower 16 (Exceeds 98% of base population)

Charisma 16 (Exceeds 98% of base population)

Insight. - Gold Tier

Health 10xVit+Str+(10xlevel) = 164 (+20 for Tier 2 Path of Balance) = 184

Stamina 10xVit+Str= 164 (+20 for Tier 2 Path of Balance) = 184

Mana = 170 (+20 for Tier 2 Path of Balance) = 190

Base Appearance 13 (Exceeds 83% of base population.)

Virtues

Rapid Learner

Explosive Growth

Plane Walker

Flaws

Painful Healing (This perk has been mitigated as you transcend all previous limitations! You now have the Knowledgeable Healer Perk instead!)

Secret Identity (Mild) Half-elf. Mutated ears are hidden by thick hair & friendly air sprite. General appearance is otherwise within human norms.

Dark Secret (The blood of Elven Grey Witches flow through your veins. If any Mind Mage discovers this, your life will be imperiled.)

Perks Earned in Game

An Ear for gossip

Knowledgeable Healer: You may now use magic to heal internal injuries as readily as flesh wounds and bloodloss.

Tier 2 Mithril Saturation: (Path of Balance) +1 to all attributes per tier. Additional +10 to Health/Stamina/Mana per tier.

Green Delver: Your Soul thrives on Darkest dream! +20 to Mana Pool

Rank 2 Diligent Arcanist. +30 to Mana pool.

Rank 1 High intensity training. +10 to Mana pool.

Forged in Battle +1 to Perception & all physical stats.

Rank 1 Fire Affinity / Rank 1 Earth Affinity / Rank 1 Water Affinity / Rank 1 Blood affinity / Rank 3 Soul Weaver Affinity! - Spells associated with those schools are cast as if wielder has additional ranks in underlying arts = to affinity. (Each affinity rank in a given school grants 33.3% Potency bonus. All school rank bonuses are added before being multplied by any skill rank bonuses for any spell's final potency modifier.)

Elemental Resistances. - You are able to partially mitigate damage suffered from spells or effects belonging to any elemental sphere or spell school, depending on Ranks earned in any underlying school or elemental affinities you might have... or for every spell learned at Adept level or better.

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