For countless seconds, Eric was trapped in endless darkness, ears ringing with whispers of oblivion before the true nightmares began.

What greeted him when he finally manifested was even worse than he had feared, the darkness ringing with Richard’s desperate cry and the shrieks and groans of his friends.

It was a horrific moment before Eric could even act, beholding their would-be paladin’s chalk white skin, hollowed eyes giving testament to how hard he was pushing himself, keeping a veritable swarm of howling specters at bay with his shuddering ward.

Clearly, the delve had completely restored and recharged after being anchored back to Earth, shrieking specters doing all they could to burst through his ward while Yuki cried out desperately. “We’re out of healing potions, Rich! That fucking goddamned Goblin sniper critically hit our healing pouch! We’re losing Emily, and I don’t know what to do!” She sobbed while Steven desperately squeezed the gaping hole in a panicked, dying Jack’s throat as he wheezed and choked on his own blood.

“Hold it together, Jack! You know the drill! Head below chest so the blood flows out of your lungs! Try to meditate. Keep it chill… an hour and you’ll reset entirely! Come on buddy, you have to do this. We have no other options!”

Yet all Jack could do was give a desperate dying wheeze, eyes rolling in the back of his head as the cavern flared with a furious barrage of lightning that tore through specters and phantasmal ruins alike.

“Sanguis Fulmen!” Eric screamed, too panicked for his friends’ sakes to even savor the sweet hot rush of power and potency surging into his body with every crimson fork of lightning tearing right through wispy specters that were otherwise near immune to any other attack he had tried so far.

“Richard, let me in! I can help! Let me help!”

Richard’s eyes widened with awed disbelief, gazing through the rainbow-hued field that looked as fragile as a soap bubble to Eric’s senses. A weary smile flickered across the wounded Chevalier’s features. “By heaven’s grace, you’re actually alive. We thought… We were almost certain you had...”

He looked choked up with emotion, Eric quickly waving away his concern, only then noticing the dark blood pouring from the blaster hole in his chest.

“You got to hold it together, Rich!”

Richard choked back a sob. “The second I lower this field… I’m out.”

Eric shuddered, forced to appreciate just how perilous their situation was, even as his thoughts raced to a fever pitch, desperate for any path forward that wouldn’t see half his friends in the grave.

“Blood, lightning, essence. What do my enemies hate the most!?” He hissed.

His eyes widened, on the cusp of an idea as he jerked his wrist against the bitter sharp blacksteel axe he had claimed from Calvin’s corpse, a true Prize of War, its sharpness enchantment serving well enough for Eric’s bright red arterial blood to bloom in a gentle spray that went exactly as he willed, a bright rich ribbon of color circling the chevalier’s shimmering ward.

Blood Mastery in effect. Your blood effortlessly follows your will!

Eric took a deep breath, lashing out with another half dozen quickly cast bolts of crimson death echoing with the crack and boom of thunder as another 20 spirits perished. And suddenly the area near them was a bit less perilous. But Eric knew it would be only a matter of minutes, perhaps seconds, before a fresh contingent of ghosts floated their way.

Blood Mastery skill check made! You have infused your blood with the Fire’s Echo!

Eric flashed a fierce smile as his blood immediately heated to an absurd 4000 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that was near effortless at this point, and in absolutely no danger of going too far. It wasn’t the madness of rift-rupturing fully Essence-Fused Fire Fist… but rather was an echo of that pristine form… much like a magnifying glass setting paper on fire, as opposed to actually bringing down the sun.

And it was a fire that would never run out, so long as Eric willed it.

But it wasn’t enough. Eric knew that as well.

He took a slow, steadying breath, now daring what he never had before.

Now that he was burdened with a fourth Node power that was the farthest thing from balanced… it behooved him to attempt its mastery. Not only to see if he could find a path forward that did not spell his eventual stagnation, but also to unlock the true devastating power that Essence Fusion promised. Only now he wasn’t seeking to infuse his blood with a higher order principle directly. Rather, he was seeking to infuse it with the echo of not one but two essences. Flame that was not only incredibly hot, but nearly impossible to quench, by anyone save himself.

Eric’s heart began to pound as the pressure mounted, feeling himself stretch, both spiritually and mentally in ways that were a strain, desperately tuning out Jack’s fading wheeze, Yuki’s growing panic, focused only on what he was doing. Before he was struck by sudden epiphany, suddenly understanding exactly what he was doing wrong.

He was fighting incorporeal spirits. He didn’t need his fire to be so hot it would burn only them, but rather bindings tailored specifically to the spirits that would kill them all.

Find Weakness perception check made: Critical Success! You’ve fought these creatures multiple times before, and consumed their essences in the hundreds!

You have SUCCESSFULLY formed a second ring of blood! Blood Ring follows Basic Warding Pattern! (Rituals of Summoning and Binding) Blood Ring enhanced by Rank 30 Spirit Mastery! (Forced Obeisance.) - You follow the Path of Dominion with both skills, and so have EFFORTLESSLY Infused Dominion’s Echo within your ritual circle!

Critical Success! Your Barrier is immune to all spirit intrusion below Bronze Tier!

Congratulations! Spirit Mastery is now Level 31!

Eric blinked, snapping out of his daze with a look of awe at his own construct as first half a dozen then a full score of snarling specter’s approached, before the black holes that were their eyes widened in horror they gave a single silent scream as they began to fade to utter translucence before fleeing for all they were worth.

Eric shook his head in relief and rue, once again humbled by just how much he was lacking in practical application of his gifts as a necromancer. If only he had thought to use the incredibly potent skills that were his birthright and trained to such a strong degree as a raiser of Revenant Armies… yet he had thought only with his fists and his fury, crimson lightning to wash all sins away, when the simple ritual circle that his young mentor Jacob had first taught him could have avoided the need for a rift-disrupting disjunction entirely.

Eric flashed his friend a triumphant smile. “I did it, Rich!”

But Rich, to Eric’s horror, had already collapsed, Yuki’s eyes now filled with unmitigated panic as not one but three souls began to shudder with imminent death.

“Fuck no!” Eric cried out, desperate hands smacking against the blood-soaked ground before his friends, claiming those crimson gifts as his own.

Blood Claimance in effect! You have claimed all blood present!

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Lesser healing in effect! You have categorized, cleansed, and sorted blood!

It was effortless to stop the bleeding from all three of his friends, now that the ward was down.

Yet it wasn’t enough. Not nearly enough, even when multiple skill checks allowed Eric to patch Jacks muscles, arteries and throat, crimson patches held in fierce place by an Elite tier Blood Mastery skill with a Lesser Healing boon on top of it.

Because too much blood had already been lost. So much blood that even borderline level 50 brains where in peril of perishing as breathing wheezed to a halt, death only seconds away.

For perilous awful seconds, Eric allowed the flames of his own resolve to purify the pristine source of life and hope before him… before gently sending each stream back where they belonged, even as he shouted terse words to Yuki.

“Yuki! Chest compressions on Emily, now! Don’t worry about inhaling! Diaphragm compressions will keep the lungs oxygenated and the blood flowing! I got Jack! I’ll alternate in twenty seconds for Richard!”

Yuki didn’t say a word, could only let out a panicked whimper, but much to Eric’s profound relief, didn’t argue at all.

Not even when the revenants gathered up their courage and began flooding toward the ward that dared to twist the ether to Eric’s will alone.

And how those specters screamed their hate, when they sensed the affront to all of them, struggling mightily to burst through and obliterate all the warm-bloods, several mocking the delvers with silent screams, reveling in the imminent deaths of Eric’s friends…

But they could not get through, no matter how they tried.

And as the minutes past, and Emily gasped for sweet life, awake and screaming before collapsing with a groan as Eric passed her one of Grim’s sandwiches absolutely brimming with rich blood-building goodness, the specter’s fury increased in pitch.

All the more so when neither Jack nor Richard responded to Eric’s chest compressions, Yuki exchanging a nod with Eric before taking over for Richard.

The minutes droned endlessly on, neither young man showing any signs of life beyond Yuki and Eric’s CPR, the pair refusing to stop. Even when the crack of ribs made it clear that a price was being paid.

Emily, clearly exhausted and still weak despite the emergency rations Eric had handed her began to wail. “Richard! Please wake up, Richard!” While the mindless shrieks of the damned became taunting whispers understood by all.

“Your friends have perished. Their souls join us even now. There is nothing you can do. Nothing!”

The air rustled with their mocking laughter.

Emily’s eyes lit with sudden fierce heat. “Bullshit, you goddamned bastards! I’ll kill you all!” She snarled, stumbling to her feet, about to charge them with her staff blistering with sub-zero frost.

Quickness check made!

Yuki didn’t have to say a word, lost as she was in keeping Richard’s blood flowing with oxygen. Even if it was less than optimal, even if he would be beyond doomed as a Terran mortal with their strength flagging… it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that they never surrender. Not their friends hovering on death’s doorstop, and not ones about to be goaded into a far more immediate demise.

“Stop it, Emily!” Eric snarled, grabbing a fold of her enchanted garments and hoisting her up like a mewling puppy or panicked child. “They’re trying to goad you into leaving my circle. Now keep fucking still and let me work!”

His voice was a cold snarl as he shook her once before flopping the sobbing girl on top of a stunned Steve, before racing back to Jack’s side, having only lost a handful of beats, but determined to lose not a single heartbeat more as he ignored Emily’s despairing wales and continued his machine-like chest compressions as his friend fell ever deeper into what Eric sensed was a vegetative-like state from which there would normally be no recovery.

“Eric!”

“I know!” Jack snapped, glaring even a shaken Yuki’s way. “You don’t see me stopping, so don’t you dare quit now!”

Those were the last words he bothered with, his glare silencing anyone who even murmured a peep of bullshit defeatism as one minute bled into his next and their two doomed friends sunk ever deeper into the depths of dying neurons and no return.

Until the instant Eric’s internal timer dinged that a full hour had passed.

And between one heartbeat and the next, a pair of glassy-eyed vegetables took wheezing breaths, before lurching up as one.

Eric couldn’t hide the fierce sense of vindication he felt, knowing even Yuki was awed to see their entire brains and bodies reset before them.

But after what he had experience just outside, taking down a Contender that had clearly been hand-picked to kill him… he knew there were far more awesome and terrible things than the miracle before them.

Even if he was blinking back tears of his own.

“What happened?” Jack asked, a look of dazed incomprehension upon his features, perfectly mirrored by Richard.

“Sweetheart? Weren’t we going to jump through?” Richard’s confused look elicited a cry from Emily who held him tight, weeping her eyes out. And this time Eric didn’t glare a bit, merely sunk his head in genuine relief, before sharing a look with Yuki.

“It really was a complete reset.” She shivered. “I don’t… I’m not even sure they’re the same people as were here just two minutes ago.”

Her words earned a solemn nod from Steve and a scowl from Jack.

“Shit, what are you guys talking about, and why is my chest so fucking… his frown grew. “My chest feels fine. What am I even talking about?”

Yuki smiled through her tears. “Ambush. We suffered an ambush and you and Richard...” she swallowed and shook her head. “Let’s just say it was close. Too fucking close.”

Richard scowled, shaking his head. “But I don’t… damn, I should remember something, shouldn’t I?”

Eric flashed a sad smile. “I’m afraid not. Not if you’re so far gone that the System Reset basically had to reset, well… your entire prefrontal cortex.”

Richard’s eyes bulged in horror. “You’re kidding! I died?”

Eric quickly shook his head. “No. Most definitely not. You were both alive in the one way that matters. I made damn sure of that.”

Jack frowned. “Forgive me, Jack, but how do you know that we didn’t actually, well, die?”

Eric smiled. “Because I’m a level 31 Master Necromancer. Believe me, I would know.”

Richard froze at those words, staring intently at Eric. “You’re what, exactly?”

“Just someone looking out for his own. Now if you’re all feeling a hundred percent, just stay here and chill while I check outside, and make sure that there are no more fucking ambushes being set up.”

Eric flashed a bleak smile. “Mollet roboro sanuis herbam unus dies!” He whispered over a slow twenty second chant as a crimson shield covered in runes and echoing the power of resilience formed in his hand. “Thinking ahead, this time.” He then whispered another stream of words, surrounding himself in a whirling barrier of constantly generated fresh air, realizing he had done nothing to put out the furiously burning Hell Vines, the massive tree-sized and very hungry traps would hopefully act as the perfect deterrent against both mutated bears, gnoll champions and goblin snipers.

There. He had infused the spells with as much potency as he could, praying that this time the spells would survive the transfer. It was one thing for half-assed spells not to carry between realms, sure. But if sniping truly was a risk all delvers had to face, then he could only hope that overcharging his own enchantments with his personal mana while returning back to his home planet that anchored his magics would increase the odds that his spells would actually stick.

Eric braced himself with one final look back. “Alright, if everything’s okay, I’m going back out there. If I don’t come back… wait a day. Fuck it, wait three days… maybe longer,” he said, presenting them with a massive quantity of sandwiches, beer casks, and longer lasting rations. “Then high tail it for Freetown, Blue Quarter, as fast as you damn well can while messaging a Blue Corp representative named Morlekai. Tell him I’d like him to look out for you, as a courtesy to me. My quarters in the Blue Quarter are now yours, and you have free use of the Tier 2 pod and delves.” He hastily scribbled a note in his own blood on a flap of minotaur hide before solemnly passing it to Richard.

Yuki glared at him. “You’d better not die on me, Eric. Not until I have a chance to show you up with the awesome class I’m going to get.”

Eric chuckled. “Sure, Yuki. I’ll do my best to stay firmly in the land of the living.”

Richard bowed his head in solemn gratitude. “Thank you, Eric. We’re eternally grateful to have you by our side.”

Eric hid his smile and bowed his head in turn before hopping out of the crimson ward and sprinting for the gate, hearing Jack finally asking the question that he himself had been afraid to ask when everyone had been in crisis, desperate just to survive. Too many lives had been in the balance to morn.

“Ron! Fuck, guys, where the hell is Ron?”

Jack was answered by Emily’s sobs, Eric sighing for the loss as much as any of them, before turning all his focus into surviving yet another ambush against his foes.