"Ya got's ta shift left when the word is given, Elof!" Barlton gently scolded the blushing youth who had pivoted in the same direction as the dwarf three times in a row, narrowly getting jabbed two of those times by the increasingly impatient sisters, Veti only managing one bane spell and Drake not a word.

"I'm sorry, sir. I just get startled with Jack's orders and I freeze up." He blushed in embarrassment. "But I know that's the worst thing I can do, that I have to move, so I move! I just end up, well, moving in sync with you... maybe because I'm so used to fighting by your side."

Barlton gave a sympathetic sigh, exchanging glances with Aroust and Jack both.

None of them wanted to risk Elof's own fragile state of mind, knowing how important it was for him to feel like a valued member of the team. But now, with three increasingly impatient new members of their group, who's skills would be so useful in tandem, and put them in peril if they dared go it alone, that it was imperative that they did all they could to jell as a group as soon as possible.

Even if that meant Elof giving them all resentful glares before finally sighing and nodding his head when his de facto mentor finished his fatherly chat.

"Alright, Barlton. Spear it is." Elof flashed a bitter smile even as he held one of their backup spears in a surprisingly competent grip. "My old drill sergeant said we wouldn't amount to anything more that front line fodder, but at least that bastard taught us to hold ranks and thrust in unison."

"There's a lad," said Barlton with an approving grin. "And unlike your slug of a sergeant, yer actually darin' the deep! And the most important role any delver can take isn't the one that pertains to his own personal glory or fantasies. It's the role that helps him keep his teammates alive."

He then flashed a smile Jack's way. "Just like our would-be mage is gonna be forced to take front line for a bit. He might want to play the clever mage in back, out of harms way, but you and I both know that between his mithril infused jack-o-plates and the Crimson Armor he can cast right on top o' his gambeson, he's more a well-padded turtle than anything else, so he gets to waddle in front with me and taste the blows o' our enemies, whether he likes it or not."

Jack sighed and nodded, taking his position by Barlton's sighed as if it's the last place he wanted to be. As if he hadn't done all he could to sell it to his friends, despite his lack of levels, emphasizing just how potent a combo Blood Shield, Crimson Armor, and what amounted to a jack of mithril plates underneath the linen now anchoring his Crimson Armor spell.

Sure, a deadly enough beast would no doubt penetrate all of that and make quick work of Jack, if he was an idiot daring a truly perilous zone. But at that level, they'd all either be dead or well over tenth level. As far as Green, maybe even Yellow, and most certainly White tiers of dungeon difficulty went, Jack's triple combination would allow him to stand as a front line tank, even if he was technically a level 0 nobody. He happened to be a level 0 with 184 Health.

Or at least... that was his hope, takin advantage of his now larger pool of mana than ever to include a gorget to protect his neck, along with all the other standard pieces he wore. Of course any foe could kill him with a thrust to the eyes or and those parts of his face not protected by helm and cheek plates, his helm a cross between barbute and open faced, allowing him to take full advantae of his peripheral vision and breath without strain, but cross bow bolts, streams of arcane acid, or spider spit to his eyes, and he was done for as quick as any other low level noob.

Still, he knew his odds of survival were a damn sight higher than level 1 Elof, who's core had been so strained he didn't even dare use mithril infused armaments, with stats far closer to normal than Jack's own.

And best of all, taking the front, he had access to the abilities that he hoped would make all the difference, spells which he would otherwise be unable to get off in the handful of seconds Veti and Drake would do their thing before they closed ranks once more.

But Elof wasn't fooled, no matter how carefully they had worded it.

"Seriously? Jack is taking my place?"

"Yes," said Aroust, voice clipped and hard. "Jack is taking your place. Because this isn't a competition, boy. This is about doing what it takes to survive."

"He's not even holding a sword," Elof grumbled, though at least Jack could sense him getting in position."

"Do you really think he needs one?"

Elof had no answer to that as Jack shouted out "Split!"

And smooth as clockwork, Drake popped just between Jack and Barlton as they each took a full step to the side, the air ringing with the words of the single shout his friend had practiced beyond all others.

"Brista!"

A shout that had Jack's ears ringing, but far less by the time a full half hour had passed and Drake excitedly declared that he had earned another rank in his favored shout and could now control its pitch better than ever. Which filled Jack with a certain amount of relief, because with the way the final spider carapace had ruptured under his friend's final shout, Jack was beginning to think that those shouts were the keys to some extremely powerful magic, once one trained up ones skills.

Of course, Veti's own series of curses had done a hell of a lot to cripple, weaken, and hinder their prey, and only when they had reformed ranks did Jack bother launching any of his own spells.

"Glacio Effusorium!" Jack shouted, right fist jutting forward just under the rim of his shield, and the cracked carapace was suddenly ruptured by almost a dozen deadly icy shards, finally feeling comfortable with the fluid use of his newest attack spell at a moment's notice. He couldn't help flashing a pleased smile at the message popping up on his interface reinforcing the added sense of competence and control over this confluence of water and cold.

5 Mana spent. Congratulations! Frozen Spout is now Novice Rank 5!

"That takes Jack two long seconds to fully cast," a disparaging Elof declared. "Does he really think he'll be able to manage that parrying blows left and right in the heat of combat?"

Jack smirked, though didn't bother looking behind him. "You're right, Elof. It's a hell of a lot easier to cast spells I'm coming pretty damn close to mastering, and that I've cast dozens of times before in combat. Like Blood flame, Acid Arrow, or Dissolution Orb. But there are times when a dozen sharp spikes blasting forward like icy crossbow bolts is just the thing to quickly take out our foes, without risking everyone stepping in acid or setting the whole place ablaze. Which is why I spent the past half hour practicing this spell, so I know it well enough to actually cast in combat."

Elof snorted. "They're just shards of ice, Jack. Not actual steel-tipped crossbow bolts! They won't do shit against a man wearing steel or even bronze armor. And it's not like you can actually rank up any skill in just a half hour's time."

Veti just sighed and shook her head. "If only you knew, Elof. If only you knew."

"Careful, lad," Barlton cautioned in a voice that was meant to be soft, but they could all hear perfectly. "It's one thing ta give feedback, and ya always should. But jealousy is a right ugly beast, and ya shouldn't be given' it the time o' day. Yer features are too handsome and noble fer that bit o' fallacy, lad!"

Jack took Barlton's words to heart as well, curbing his own tongue since he had effectively taken over the role Elof had been taking such pride in attempting to master. But at his present state, doing so would only get the boy killed. Besides, with the way Chu Hua was now gazing at him making his heart skip, he didn't trust his tongue to say anything at all.

"You are very skilled manipulating the elements, Jack Evergreen," the girl softly said.

"To say nothing of his impressive healing skills," said Ah Lam, flashing a grateful smile Jack's way.

Jack cleared his throat. "Alright, I think we got the basics down. What's say we clean this place out and welcome everyone in need of shelter?"

"Thank the heavens, I thought we'd never be done with this!" said an increasingly impatient Su Li, before a soft, perfumed hand, despite the armor she wore, brushed Jack's surprised cheek. "Not that I have anything but the greatest respect for your diligence, hero, but every minute we delay..."

"Someone dies," said Chu Hua, and Jack couldn't help wincing at those words.

Before gazing down the dim corridor just beyond what Jack now understood to be the central antichamber, all of them having no doubt that things would only get more challenging from here.

"Alright then, shall we?" he said, before he and Barlton led the way into the chambers beyond.

The corridor itself was lined with sticky webs, but the arched ceiling was relatively low, and Jack saw no sign of trap or trouble, but he kept his mana-enhanced senses sharply attuned to trouble, just in case.

A precaution that might have just saved his life.

Magesight skillcheck: Success!

Because he didn't see so much as feel the hot presences of perfectly silent, scurrying beings scuttling right behind them as they all made their way into a second domed chamber that looked like a massive cavern transformed into a cathedral-like affair, for all that the reinforced pillars and sky beams were now covered in shadows and webbings, not a single sound or flash of movement detecting anything at all.

Aroust frowned. "I don't see anything here. We should take a careful look. After that, let's head to the second..."

Finesse check made!

But Jack was already spinning on his back foot, just barely raising his Blood Shield in time as a massive phase spider crashed into him, sinking its venom covered fangs into Jack's shield and hissing its displeasure before instantly fading out of sight.

You have successfully countered Phase Spider Ambush! Critical Wound and Toxic Strike mitigated to superficial injury!

"Phase Spiders!" Elof screamed in absolute terror.

And Jack didn't blame him a bit. They had struck with devastating effectiveness before, magnified all the more when ambushing their prey.

Still, he couldn't help but flash a fierce smile, eager to put his evolved skill to the test, and teach these monsters that there was a price to be paid for daring to attack his friends.

"Ignis Sanguis!" Jack roared, striking out with a stream of liquid flame that somehow transcended normal heat, even his friends crying out when their armaments did nothing to protect them from the sudden surge of radiation that scalded their skin as if they were naked.

And just an instant later, the phased spider about to pop out and strike Elof's too vulnerable neck burst into flame.

"Get down, Elof!"

But the boy had already crouched down, spear thrusting at something he couldn't touch but much to his wide-eyed horror could see, they all could, the silhouette of the phased spider blazing like an inferno under the light of a fearsome fire that no longer cared about such things as phase states and overlapping dimensions when it came to claiming its prey.

And Jack realized their sudden peril when over half a dozen pairs of awed eyes locked with his own. "Eyes on all sides! It wasn't alone!" Jack cried, but it was already too late.

A half dozen of those horrid creatures were now striking in tandem, and were it not for the mithril armaments worn by his friends and the near inhuman grace the exquisitely coordinated trio of sisters brought to bear, at least a few of them would already be dead.

As it was, Veti was screaming in terror as a spider suddenly phased into existance, fangs scrabbling to pierce a quilted cap that would have parted effortlessly, had it not been infused with mithril and was now harder than steel.

Harder, certainly, than the scrabbling spider's fangs as it began yanking a screaming Veti back and forth, as if eager to snap her neck, before Barlton's fearsome pick blasted through the top of its cephalothorax in an explosion of ruptured eyes and gore, before pulling a terrified Veti free of the now deathly still spider.

"Ignis Sanguis!"

But Jack allowed himself only a moment to assure his friend's survival before blasting his fiery regard on another predator launching through the etherial onto the back of Chu Hua, who was cursing when her naginata passed through her prey again and again.

"They hide in the etherial!" Jack shouted as a second, then a third spider burst into flame under his fiery caress, his flames forcing his friend's to back up with strange frowns before the terrible heat, before it seemed to fade as the spiders desperately thought to flee, only for the fire to continue to consume them just a glimmer of light and a world away.

And as much as he knew the peril of them breaking formation, he had no choice.

"Then how do we kill them?" A wild-eyed Su Li screamed.

"First make sure you don't kill any of us!" Jack snapped. "Use careful strikes only! It's vulnerable while it's attacking one of us. Best to just knock it off someone the moment it hops back out of phase!"

"Just knock them free of us! Veti snapped. "Drake and I can't do shit when the spiders are in close combat with us!"

"Which is why they're launching themselves right on top of us," Ah Lam said even as her naginata lashed out with such speed and grace it seemed a living thing as ittore a suddenly manifesting phase spider right off the back of Drake's head. "I fear these creatures are hardly as stupid as one would prefer."

Drake snarled and spun around to face the spider. "Brista!" He roared, and Jack swore he heard the crack of bursting shell as the spider collapsed...before turning transluscent and a furious Drake found he could effect it no further.

Jack's eyes widened, sensing his friend's imminent peril.

"Duck!" He screamed, as the largest phase spider he had ever seen launched for Drake, bracing himself to cast right before a sudden lurching stumble and needle-hot pain made it clear who the real target had been all along.

You have been critically struck by Phase Spider! Phase Spider finds weak point within Crimson Armor.

Mithril armaments partially protect!

Fatal Wound reduced to Medium Wound. You have suffered 1 infusion of Toxic Venom!

You have been paralyzed!

The words blazed through his interface as a hundred pound weight of arachnid fury slammed into him from above, vicious fangs piercing the back of his neck, looking to tear his throat out.

Before being caught on the mithril laced threads of his reinforced gambeson collar.

Saving his life, though flexibility had been chosen over defense, his life hung on the compromise he had reached with himself for all that his spine came a hairsbreadth from cracking, his 16 Vitality sparing him that horror even as a clinical part of his mind realized he had to improve his spell's gorget.

It was shit against ambushing spiders from behind.

And it was all he could do to bring his stunned brain back into focus amidst the furious and panicked shouts and cries of his enemies while his foe tried its damnedest to gnaw through armaments and inject him with toxic levels of venom... before looping strands of silk around his legs and scuttling away from the desperately fighting party, and Jack, who was finding it increasingly hard to breathe, already knew just how fucked he would be if this horror actually managed to slip into the shadows during the desperate moments his friends fought for their lives.

Desperately he strove to focus, to embrace his recently elevated skill, choking back a desperate cry as his nerves blazed to agonize life up and down his spine, having far more poison than any healer could possibly want to boost the effectiveness of his one and only healing spell.

Willpower check failed! Pain and terror of imminent death have distracted you!

Jack choked back a whimper as his heart began to pound, now utterly surrounded by shadows...and hearing his doom rapidly approach in the form of countless scuttling arachnids who had hidden so silently, so well, that even his infravision had failed to pick up their presence.

Spiders that were about to to swarm every inch of his exposed skin.

Unless he acted NOW!

Transforming all his terror, all his horrified disgust, into one singular moment of focused intent, feeling his own healing energies turn inward, freeing countless cellular receptors of deadly effluvia that had come so close to suffocating him, forcing trembling muscles to stillness even as he sensed the swarm of death rapidly close, and he could swear he sensed sentient glee in the clicks of the giant phase spider, before channeling his rage into one pristine moment of action.

"Inis Ventus Sanguis!" Jack screamed, unleashing a roaring maelstrom of impossibly hot, oxygen boosted liquid flame the color of his blood, hot with the fires of his furious vengeance, instantly obliterating the tittering phase spider and countless scores of others as it blasted through the chamber...

Before abruptly cutting off as Jack's mana plummeted to near zero before he finally cut it off with a dizzied hiss.

Congratulations! You have successfully obliterated 1 Queen Phase Spider & 10 Adolescent Phase Spiders.

Experience Earned!

Windfire is now Apprentice Rank 4!

(10 out of 190 Mana remaining.)

Desperately, Jack tried to stumble back to his feet, his ears ringing with the shouts and cries of his friends.

But he wasn't a fool.

He was dizzy, disoriented, and his mana had taken a massive hit. He was just grateful that he had managed to keep his Crimson Armor and Blood Shield up, and that his immediate foes were little more than ash, an entire quarter of the chamber now ablaze with thick black smoke and crackling flame.

He didn't hesitate to pull out one of Drake's priceless mana potions, hating the thought of wasting it, and knowing that there was no better time to use it than now.

You have taken one sip of Medium Mana Restoration Potion. 50 Mana restored!

You have taken two more sips of Medium Mana Restoration Potion.

You are now at 161 Mana.

Thankfully his mind snapped back into focus supernaturally quickly, thanks to the healing artifact his friends had insisted he wear under his armor, since he was actually taking a front line role and he was also their designated healer.

And the very thought of his friends being consumed by the spiders he could sense bringing down two of their number at that very moment through the interface, he knew he didn't have a second to spare.

But this time he took that second that he should have taken but had gotten out of practice in the countless weeks they had mined for their fortunes like a fooli.

the commands and they spent the next half hour getting their tactics down cold before daring to risk their lives in the chambers beyond.

"Voco Apis Sanguis!"

"Ventus Zephyrus Sanguis!"

Summoning both his blood bee and the strangely sentient air spirit serving as his Wind Ward, their summons both brought to added life and potency with the gift of his blood. And how foolish he felt not having cast them long before, knowing that if his wind ward could force any crossbow bolt or arrow off flight within 5 feet of him while hindering him and his friends not at all, pushing aside a fat predatory spider slowly falling into him should have been nothing. Or, at the very least, would have shoved it enough inches over it wouldn't have scored a critical hit on the back of his neck!

And waisting no more time for recrimination, Jack was already acting, his wobbling gate turning into a focused sprint as he beheld the now swarm of spiders crashing into his friends, refusing to hold back for even a second as he filled the air with the flames of his wrath, and the roars of his commands.

"Barlton! Aroust! Moving retreat back! We're going to torch this whole place down!"

"Jack! We can't! Half of us were bitten, and only Ah Lam and I are immune!" Sobbed a panicked Su Li.

"Then get down!" Jack roared, even as he blasted the air waist high and above with Bloodflame in one hand and an oxygen rich version of Wind Gust in the other, flashing a fierce smile as the air vibrated with the shrieks and squeels of dying spiders, all scurrying desperately to flee the center of the room Jack claimed over the asphyxiating bodies of his friends.

"Sublimato!" He roared, massive globes of dissoluent so potent even stone would dissolve blasted into hoards of desperately scurrying spiders. But for the pair of friends Jack sensed were missing who's heat signatures he spotted being dragged across the far side of the chamber he switched for a precision striking spell even as he raised his left hand up and blasted the ceiling above him with flame.

"Sagitta Acidum."

"Ignis Fons Sanguis!"

He flashed a bleakly satisfied smile as burning spiders crashed all around him before quickly kicking them away, far smaller than the handful of Phase Spiders that had first grabbed their attention, but no less deadly for all that.

"Jack!" Veti's desperate wheezing voice, and Jack clamped down on the fury he knew was just covering his terror for his friends, looking desperately around as he sensed so many slowly asphyxiating via his party link.

Shock and awe and his insanely leveled spells were the only things that had bought them respite. The moment he went chasing after the pair slowly being dragged off... the everyone else now wheezing in the middle of the chamber, with only two terrified sisters ready to defend, and Barlton who flashed a fiercely determined smile but was wheezing himself. they were all as good as dead.

"Bullshit! Formo!"

Pausing only long enough to compel the ground to flow upwards like an igloo melting in reverse, Jack formed a thin dome of stone no more than an inch thick, pausing only an additional second to form a double score of air holes with a thought as a modest amount of mana melted away, ignoring the startled cries of his friend before dashing for the two in greatest peril.

Eyes widening at the sight of his now tightly webbed friends being hoisted for the ceiling.

Swallowing down his panic as he pointed his fingers at first one friend... then seconds later, the other.

"Sagitta Acidum!"

Finesse check made!

Heart pounding with panic and relief as he caught Elof before he could crash to the ground headfirst, though groaning when his back wrenched, as his friend was still in full armor, and Jack knew he'd be out for the count if his Strength wasn't 14, and his Vitality even higher.

Wincing for the pain he knew he'd feel, he repeated the feat, this time crying out when he felt muscles tear under the strain of catching his friend while the spiders hissed in arachnid fury above as Jack's orbs effortlessly melted through their carapaces and the strands that had been holding his friends in place, Jack now dragging the pair in their cocoons with desperate haste for the center of the room, his mini stone igloo melting open for him to pass through and he collapsed with a groan as it closed once more, now absolutely covered with a swarm of hissing, clicking, scurrying massive spiders.

"Jack! You made it!"

An impossible profusion of emotions flittered across Veti's face as she hovered over a wheezing, wide-eyed Barlton, and Jack wasted no time, the wrench in his back already mending thanks to the power of his artifact.

"Here! Put this on the sickest! I'm going to do my thing!" Jack shouted, thanking all the powers above that the poison he struggled to cleanse from his wheezing friends was the exact same one he had used before.

And for Drake and Chu Hua, who he somehow knew would die before he finally got to them as no less than four of them stopped breathing with final rattling sighs, Jack embraced the madness of the moment, daring to use and abuse his party link in ways he knew damn well were remnants of hacked games in a world long since torn to oblivion.

There was no way it could possibly work here.

You are accessing party link! You are attempting to share your potency in the form of regeneration with: Chu Hua, Drake de Leone, Elof Grey.

Chu Hua and Drake de Leone have accepted the boon of your life force! Toxic levels of Spider Venom has been mitigated to temporary paralysis. - You have spent 252 experience points.

Elof Grey has refused the boon of your life force! (Recently damaged core is presently saturated with 5675 experience points. Any forced infusion before leveling up will result in catastrophic discorporation!)

Jack spent only a moment blinking in stunned disbelief before jumping over the wheezing but very much alive and kicking Barlton and Aroust, racing to slam his now naked palms against the spasming Elof's swollen neck, smiling into his young friend's terrified eyes as he filled the youth with all the warmth and healing he could.

Boosted Healing skillcheck: Success! You have successfully saved the life of: Elof Grey!

And the seconds seemed to blur and stretch endlessly as he used every iota of skill, and potency that he could, to bring each and every one of his friends back from serious injury, or in at least 4 cases, back from the brink of death, regardless of the potency cost. A thought that earned a bleak chuckle.

For truth be told, he was so saturated with potency he couldn't transfer to leveling that he felt ready to burst himself, channeling it all into the spells he was using and the lives he was saving, until at last, he was done.

Drake was looking at Jack with something close to awe when he finally caught his breath, a look shared by pretty much the entire group. "Thanks, Jack," his friend said with a rueful chuckle. "I think I just might owe you one." He swallowed. "Again."

Aroust nodded. "That we do." Intent eyes held Jack's own. "We were as good as dead." He looked up at the now pitch dark dome, the double score of holes now absolutely buried in spiders. "Hell, if it weren't for this mad warping of the earth using magic that I know damn well you used no spell to cast, we'd still all be dead." He bowed his head. "Whatever wealth we find from this point on? It's yours, Jack, as far as I'm concerned. And yours alone." This earned solemn nods from everyone, even Elof, flashing Jack a strangely apologetic smile.

Jack quickly smiled back, assuring there were no hard feelings. He could only imagine what Elof had been going through all those weeks, such highs and lows, and Jack knew he should only be grateful to find himself blossoming here in darkest peril beyond anything the lazy dreamer could have possibly imagined back while daydreaming in his mother's library back on their manor-sized farm, what now felt like a lifetime ago.

"That still doesn't help us escape this death trap though," Chu Hua said, before immediately bowing her head low." But we do owe you our lives, Jack." Soft brown eyes locked with his own. "And it's a debt I intend to repay."

Jack flushed, heart hammering with something besides terror when Drake chuckled softly. "Yeah sweetest rewards and all that. Assuming we can get out of here alive! I mean, those fuckers are all covering the air holes even!"

"No need to worry about that, at least," Jack assured. "My air ward spell isn't just spinning the air too fast for any projectile to hit, lest it's gun fire, of course, but it's also cleaning the air, which is why neither spider drool nor smoke is bothering us."

Jack flushed and lowered his gaze at the intent stares this received. "And yes, I'm an idiot. I should have had the spell up from the second we left our earlier find. It might have saved us from at least a couple of the ambushing fuckers dropping down on us from above. I was out of practice and it completely slipped my mind. And I apologize for that, from the bottom of my heart."

"Don't ya dare beat yerself up fer forgettin' things none of the rest of us bothered ta remind ya of either!" said Barlton. "I think we all were a bit rusty, and thank goodness we spent half a glass refreshing our memories and blendin' our styles, or I fear we'd be in far worse shape than we now are!"

This earned several nods, though Jack still felt a twinge of shame with his lapse. Which was probably a good thing, he thought, not hiding in the arrogance of his own increasing abilities, able to accept that he made mistakes and resolve to forgive himself his failings as he continually strove to better himself and become the person he most wanted to be.

The kind of person he most wanted to fight besides. Competent, focused, and compassionate. Determined, yet always placing others at least on equal footing with himself. Neither a fool, nor a callous asshole. Just the best person he could strive to be.

A person who could protect, he thought, catching Chu Hua's look of fear when the skittering fury swarming about them grew in intensity and pitch, the spider's clicks and whistles almost making Jack think the horrors were communicating with others of their kind or tribe deeper in this so-called sanctuary, the farthest thing from isolated rooms or micro-territories that monsters rarely stepped out of, according to chance bits of conversation and Delving lore that Aroust had regaled with them more than once during their many weeks, or perhaps it had been months-long adventure tearing free the solidified magic of wonder and dream from the bedrock of nightmare.

Because these horrors sure weren't obeying any laws of delving or acting within the realms of expectation at all, if the looks on Aroust and Barlton, who Jack was increasingly sure was no beginning rank miner, at least not completely, were anything to go by.

Now, more than ever, he needed to be the person he most wanted to be.

Strong enough to protect the vulnerable.

Strong enough to defend his friends.

Decisive enough to embrace whatever opportunity was placed before him, to turn even dire peril into fiercest victory.

Bold enough to embrace the darkness, if it let him fill the story of his life with the cleansing flame of transformation, like a phoenix rising from the ashes of all his fears and doubts.

Reborn anew in flame.

"Jack, what the hell are you doing?" Drake asked in wide-eyed disbelief when Jack both willed an opening on one side of their protective dome while closing all the air slots in 180 degrees after carefully instructing the sentient spirit that was his blood-infused wind ward to generate as much new air as it could, preferably cool as a howling mountain top, to wick away the heat of what was soon to come.

Jack flashed a fierce smile, not letting the pain of a dozen spiders suddenly pouncing and tearing at his arm when he jammed it through the whole that barely fit phase his intention in the least.

Infused Gambeson & Crimson Armor mitigate multiple Crippling Wounds! You have suffered 3 Light Wounds & 12 injections of Toxic Spider Venom.

Your Artifact is fully attuned to this poison!

Jack let the roar of his voice and the sudden flash of heat serve as his answer, howling the words to his deadliest spell.

"Ignis Ventus Sanguis!"

And the world beyond their stone dome became one of searing flame, Jack near overwhelmed by the sudden terrible flood of power and potency crashing into his soul far more than his armored limb was the sudden infusion of heat he was already growing resistant to.

But the looks of horror on his friends made it clear he was playing a very dangerous game indeed as his mana plummeted to zero, Jack crashing to his knees and barely able to slip his arm back inside as he panted for breath, infravision making it clear even the stone had grown fearsomely hot, and he really should have warned Veti and Su Li, who jerked back from the now blisteringly hot stone wall with hisses and curses, for all that, thankfully, his wind sprite was pouring forth a constant storm of air that was both clean and cool, the remaining air holes serving as pressure vents, and Jack could only hope that the stone wouldn't crack and burst apart under that drastic shifts in temperatures.

"Jack, what the hell was that?" snapped an alarmed Aroust.

Jack flashed a fierce shaky grin as he let the storm of potency flooding through his soul, pushin aside the multiple messages flashing across his mind's eye.

Veti's eyes were a look of awe and alarm as Jack stumbled to his feet and made his way to the other side of the stone dome. "Jack, you're mana depleted!"

Jack coughed, taking a swig of luke-warm water. "Not any more," he assured before closing his eyes and doing what he should have done from the get go.

"Resilience. Pertinax!" He whispered after closing some air holes and opening a new set by their feet, the blood runes shimmering momentarily before obtaining a sudden metalic sheen. He gave a satisfied nod. "There. No risk of it breaking under the strain.

Aroust's eyes widened. "Jack, what the hell are doing?"

"Exactly what you think I am." Jack locked gazes with the man, a quiet part of his brain not roiling with the sure of potency, power, and fury ricocheting through his soul surprised by the way his friend blanched and lowered his eyes.

Before turning back to the wall, now having to expend considerable effort to slip his hand through what now felt like stiff clay once more, though still bending to his will.

And it said something, he thought, that this half of the dome was still covered by skittering death, as if hungry to punish the interlopers for daring to encroach upon territories these arachnid horrors had made who knew how many seasons ago.

Before being eliminated by a swirling vortex to deadly flame.

"Ignis Ventus Sanguis!" Jack Roared, this time pulling back before his mana completely crashed, knowing how perilous life would suddenly become, at least for his friends, if he tapped into the reserved mana stabilizing his wind-sprite, the only thing keeping the air fresh and almost cool in what was now effectively a stone kiln.

And this, Jack thought, was just the beginning.

He didn't dare hesitate, embracing madness once more as he found himself increasingly able to tap into the flood of potency roaring into his souls and skills, using it for his own immediate ends as well.

Congratulations! You have successfully deduced how to tap into earned potency for mana!

Mana Tap is now at Novice Rank 1!

Infravision skill check: Failed! Resilience-boosted fire kiln is too hot to detect heat radiation beyond!

Mage Sight perception check: Successful!

You sense the flood of spiders approaching to assure your demise!

You sense the presence of a Greater Spider Queen!

Warning! Spider Queen is at least 20 levels!

And the startled curses and desperate sobs echoing through their tiny stone fortress made it clear that his friends had very much picked up on that much of the interface message now blaring through Jack's skull.

"Bloody hell!" Aroust cursed. "This started dungeon is a death trap!"

"We're dead!" Veti sobbed, trembling in a grim-faced Barlton's arms. "It doesn't matter one bit, our damned mithril. We're as good as dead!"

And Jack couldn't help flashing a fierce smile, readying himself for the delicious madness to come.

Something in his eyes, he supposed, the wide-eyed looks his friends were giving him.

"You got a plan there, Jack?" asked Drake, gazing desperately at his friend. "Please for fuck's sake, tell us you got a plan!"

To which Jack answered with a single whispered word.

"Formo!"

Pleased despite himself to see the tunnel slowly forming in the stone floor, sensing how perilously close they were to the realm of dream and madness, for all that this sanctuary only touched that realm sufficient to serve as a ward... only a few feet underneath... so Jack very, very carefully made the first ten feet of his tunnel with his will alone, sensing that where it ended up might not at all be where he expected it to go.

But if worst came to worst...

Jack shook away his worry, turning up to gaze at his anxious friends with a killer's smile.

"Now? Now's when things get interesting!"

Ah Lam's eyes widened. She cursed softly under her breath in her native tongue that his interface didn't both interpreting.

Aroust furrowed his brow. "And what the hell does that mean, Jack? We have a Greater Spider Queen coming our way, even I got that message!"

"It means this," Jack said, sticking his arm back through their protective rock dome once more.

"Sublimato! Sublimato! Sublimato!" Jack roared, over and over, jerking his arm at all angles and even he felt the blazing heat of the stone, taking a single Light Wound as he did all he could to cover a good portion of the ceiling, walls, and floor, with caustic death.

Before closing the hole and walking to the other side of the dome while shouting out his much reduced spell another dozen times, utterly covering the grand cathedral-like chamber with liquid death.

Sensing the death of so many spiders...

And knowing it wasn't nearly enough.

Warning! Tier 2 Caustic agents have no effect on Spider Queen! Mage Sight detects Indestructible Armaments! Magesight detects Mithril latticework in Spider Queen Carapace!"

Jack did his best to suppress the shiver in his words, Jack catching just a glimpse of the massive monster of an arachnid now approaching, possessing a carapace the color of rot and death, with eight limbs each ending in razor sharp talons that did indeed glitter with mithril edges.

And from the eight jet black eyes Jack sensed an unmistakable malevolent intelligence, thanks to his mother's gifts.

All but tasting the furious genocidal hatred the creature had for Jack's kind.

Most especially for the interlopers it would take great delight in shredding with its limbs before devouring with mandibles almost mammgalian in their flexibility, unlike her lesser spider kin.

Jack laughed at the thought of even his reinforced stone igloo doing anything to halt the death slowly making its way across the vast chamber.

He then turned to his friends, his intent gaze freezing the frustrated curses from their lips.

Jack tasted their sudden fear, no less than three of them risking burns as they peered through the holes, Ah Lam choking back a cry.

"There's a giant spider monster coming this way!" She visibly shook. "I can sense its malevolence. It radiates the aura of a queen, and it hungers for our deaths."

Veti paled. "She's right, that horror's at least level 20!"

Jack shook his head, focusing only on what mattered.

"Okay. In about ten seconds... you're going to want to enter that tunnel."

Barlton's eyes went comically wide with alarm. "Jack, lad, what are ya about ta..."

Jack flashed a fierce smile. "Go, now! Go, go, go!" He roared even as the horrific monster closed the distance, raising a pair of scythe like forelimbs to tear right through Jack's desperate attempt at a shelter.

Before being covered in liquid flame.

"Sublimato!" Jack screamed. Leading with his beach-ball sized orbs of caustic death that failed to penetrate the spider's incredibly tough carapace, save for the bits that splattered across fangs and eyes, rewarding Jack with the tiniest sizzle.

Just before the world beyond, and most especially the spider, erupted in liquid flame.

"Ignis Ventus Sanguis!" Jack screamed before frantically rolling back as the monstrous horror shrieked as all the countless gallons of impossibly corrosive Dissolution liquid Jack had deliberately poured through the room caught with a heat that would have made exploding sulfur envious.

"Move! Move!" Jack screamed at Chu Hua, and Veti, the last three to make it to the tunnel entrance, all but tackling them and shoving them down the tunnel that was even now lengthening and widening under the force of his will as his dome cracked and burst under the weight of the shrieking Spider Queen.

And even Jack, despite his reinforced armaments and growing heat resistance, felt the wave of fiery heat blazing across his legs and backside as he scooted further in his tunnel, ignoring the anxious screams and cries of his companions as he sealed up the exit behind them with a single desperate surge of his will, but not before his mind was rocked by messages that sent him reeling, blazing across his mind's eye as his friends panicked cries became shouts of wonder or, in some cases, screams of pain.

Congratulations! You have successfully obliterated 12 Phase spiders, 57 wolf spiders, 153 lesser spiders of mixed decent, and 1 Greater Spider Queen!

You have saved versus Interface Rupture!

Potency has been successfully channeled into spells!

Dissolution Orb is now Adept Rank 3

Wind Ward is now Adept Rank 2

Artisanal Manipulation is now Adept Rank 5!

Windfire is now Journeyman Rank 2! - Choose your perks!

And for an endless moment, time seemed to slow and stop as reality itself paused to allow him the endless moment to define himself, the path of evolution his skills were to take, that, upon the instant he made his choice, would have been the only choice he could have possibly made, no time passing at all.

And even as Jack sensed the flow of limitless possibilities his 3 skills could evolve, he trusted his instincts, more interested in choosing that path that seemed somehow the most visceral, the most real, in that instant sensing that there was an intensity, a resonance with certain choices that far transcended the abstract theorycrafting that was the hall mark of so many hypothetical character builds.

Builds that had never been stress tested, never put in the crucible of combat.

Builds that had never dared mold reality itself in the image it would take.

And for all that he could visualize his Dissolution Orbs as manifesting perks that would allow him to shoot them for 50% reduced mana, or with an additional 50% multiplier to damage, or manipulate their shape and movement with greater mastery than ever before, the option that seemed most visceral, most real, truest to the causality he understood, was one that allowed him to shoot them forth with a single surge of will. An eye blink of time that would require no casting time at all.

The spider had come too close to cleaving right through his arm before he had launched caustic death. A casting that, in that instant, he had chanted no words for at all. Merely thought the word allowed in his mind.

Of course.

Because the retroactive perk had taken effect even then as he chose the perk already destined to be his own.

You have chosen the instant casting perk! You can now instantaneously cast Dissolution Orb!

Jack flashed a fierce smile, imagining chain-gunning countless orbs to rain down upon his enemies without having to say a word or make a single gesture that would give away his intent or location. Best of all, he took full advantage of his endless moment of insight, even as the world above his quickly closed of tunnel continued to burn at heats and pressures he sensed were near unfathomable, potency continuing to flood into their souls as he reinforced their now 30 foot long tunnel with a desperate surge of potency and will.

You have successfully stabilized Midnight Mantel Tunnel! Your Tunnel is now Impervious to Outside Forces!

Because just glimpsing the myriad ways his Dissolution Orb could have evolved gave him insights he would meditate at length on in the future. How to make it even more potent, how to manipulate it to an exquisite degree he had just scratched the surface of, how to cast it even more efficiently, for all that his added ranks now made it so affordable he really could shoot it off like a machine gun.

But that wasn't the only way he had evolved himself via his spells, he thought, sensing the sentience of his air spirit filtering and cooling their air more intently than ever, not even needing to see the prompts to intuitively know how he would evolve his Wind Ward spells, sensing that spirit's sense of gratitude and self-awareness blossom like never before as it somehow evolved into his very own familiar, now flittering about the party, no longer on Jack's shoulder alone as the strangely winding tunnel Jack now wasn't sure if he had truly forged or just stumbled into like Barlton so often stumbled into wonder and peril, became pleasantly cool and filled with fresh air.

Wind Ward has evolved into True Familiar evolution! Your Air familiar has been forged in the fires of conflict and enjoys perks far beyond any Tier 1 spell! All mundane missile weapons including ambushing predators and excluding gunfire will be blown off course, air will be cool and clean and damage from fire or heat attacks will be lowered by x tiers (dependent upon Elemental Tier)! Your sentient spirit can take orders and will continue to perform its base functions even while you are asleep or otherwise incapacitated!

You have dared to forge your connection in the heart of dream, before the Midnight Mantel itself! How deep a dream do you dare to weave?

Warning! Each tier chosen incorporates increasing costs!

Lesser Air Spirit Familiar! - Perks as stated. - Permanent 10 Mana cost.

Potent Air Spirit Familiar! - Perks as stated. Wind ward has twice the area and potency of basic Wind Ward. Increased ability to ward against attacks of heat & cold. Increased ability to differentiate between hostile and friendly targets and fire! - Permanent 20 Mana cost.

Greater Air Spirit Famliar - Perks for Potent Air Spirit Familiar + additional perks (unknown until bonding forged) - Permanent 40 Mana cost.

Jack froze for long moments, even in the timeless instant he lost himself in, all too aware of the profound ramifications his choice would have.

As a defensive spell, it was incredible, and he already expended at least 10 points whenever he cast the spell, to say nothing of potency expended with its blood enhancement. And he couldn't downplay the worth of having an even greater area of effect for his wind ward, now it would truly be reaching the range and versatility of Lauren's own spell. And if it could force bursts of flame off target, even help mitigate the damage of direct heat blasts, maybe even chill rays... that defense would synergize perfectly with his others, so gaining at least a Potent Air Familiar was a no brainer as far as he was concerned.

It was whether or not he'd actually be so foolhardy as to invest a full 40 points of his mana fool in an added enhancement hidden by question marks.

But if there was any chance...

He swallowed his suddenly parched throat, sensing time about to speed back up again, knowing he had a choice to be made.

Suddenly sensing the anxious childlike spirit now linked to his mind, sensing its desperate hope as well.

Jack clenched his jaw and made his choice, hoping he wasn't playing the fool.

Congratulations! You have forged a permanent bond with Greater Air Spirit!

Greater Air Spirit is now soul linked to your own! Should your familiar perish, a saving throw versus oblivion will bring you both back to the realm of the living!

Jack's eyes widened in sudden horror, wondering if he truly had played the fool.

Before sensing the sudden flood of warmth and gratitude as the air spirit before him took on a distinctly feminine outline, fey features so reminiscent of Stormy's own now gazing back at him with gratitude and unmistakable affection.

And the crimson tint to her hair and skin, that could all too easily be mistaken for the flush of healthy cheeks and fiery hair so like Lauren's own made it clear just how profound their connection now was, if his suddnely plummeting potency pool didn't make it clear enough.

She wasn't just tied by bonds of Spirit and Familiar, they were now bonded by blood as well. Jack could only wonder at just how potent a summoning he had wrought, and if it was truly worth the cost.

But just one look at her crestfallen expression made him smile into the face of a very alive faerie, or so it seemed to him, her soft cloudy hand still managing to squeeze his own.

And Jack didn't dare waste another endless moment, quantifying the remainder of his growth in the heartbeat of time left to him, before the opportunity faded away forever.

Windfire has achieved Journeyman Ranks! Perks available to you at this level include Additional 50% Potency, Instantaneous Casting, Reduced Casting Cost, Deathpyre, and Deeper Understanding!

Jack furrowed his brow. He understood the virtues of almost all those perks, save one. And in an eyeblink, he understood. Deeper Understanding would allow increase his understanding of the element of flame as a whole, with the practical benefit of allowing him to cast the spell as if he had already met all the prerequisites, sheering off the cost of multiple penalties.

Which made Jack smirk, because he was no fool. As tempting as it was, he knew as well that all he had to do was rank up Wind Gust just a bit and evolve it to a second tier variant, same with Blood Flame, and once those both hit Journeyman Ranks in Tier 2 Spells, Adept at most, he could cast his Tier 3 spell with no mana penalties at all. In short, he could waste a perk in a short term band aid before ranking up skills he intended to skill up anyway, or be smart and pick a perk that would actually have permanent long term benefit and maybe, just maybe, carry over to the Tier 4 version of Flame Jet, and truly be tapping into sweet, deadly power.

His mind's eye then froze over the reduced mana option, realizing he was being an idiot.

This wasn't a game, this was his life.

And the perk wasn't just offering a shortcut... it was implying a deeper understanding of flame itself.

Because this interface was a proxy, showcasing concrete perks and benefits earned... but what could be better for an intuitive caster like him than increased comprehension of one of the four elements he desperately sought to forge into a class? How would it effect his rate of learning new spells, or just his simple ability to understand the dance of flame that was now the cornerstone of his art?

And if being able to cast an impossibly deadly Tier 3 Flame blast spell that had helped him obliterate a swarm of enemies at a decent mana rate was available to him, he would be a fool not to take it, even if Reduced Mana would have cut the cost to a little over 30 per second and would continue to benefit him years into the future, and he was effectively giving up a future perk in order to gain full comprehension of the spell right now.

Because the most priceless prize of all that he had was his life. And every tool at his disposal that increased the likelihood that he'd survive whatever additional nightmares would head their way was a tool he should embrace, regardless of armchair theorycrafters who never had to worry about getting their throats torn out while watching their friends dying in droves in the crucible of mortal peril.

He clenched his jaw and made the only choice he dared, after washing a Level 20+ abomination in liquid flame.

Congratulations! You have achieved a Deeper Understanding of Windfire!

Thanks to daring to embrace a spell many levels beyond you in the crucible of conflict, you now understand the matrix of essence infused oxygen and Elemental fire that makes Windfire among the deadliest of all Tier 3 Spells! You may now cast this spell at standard cost, as if you were actually an elementalist with access to spells of this tier!

Modified cost to cast at Journeyman Rank 2: 4.03 Mana per second.

Congratulations! Your basic understanding of the flow of Fire and Air has improved!

And it was true, Jack realized, as he slumped over in utter exhaustion, he and his band of panicked friends saved from the absolute madness of destructive death above, thanks to Jack's Pertinax and Resilience Blood Runes, and the fact that they were so close to the Midnight Mantel, daring to tunnel under the bedrock between the barriers of mundus and dream. All of them now breathing cool clean air that helped alleviate panic as Jack sensed all his friends quietly linking interfaces and conversing, thanks to his very much self-aware Greater Familiar as he surrendered to sleep at last, dreaming of the endless storm of white hot fusion that was the sun itself, massive solar jets shooting brilliant plumes of blazing plasma that was the epitome of the elements of Fire and Air fused into one glorious whole.