"Help! Someone please help!"

The desperate plea tore at Jack's heart as he dashed back as fast as he could, thighs burning with his exertion. He would have found it strange, how he could push on past the pain so well. Having barely paused a second to vault over his rampart and kick past the now empty trench, his muscles blazing but never quite reaching the point of exhaustion, if he hadn't been consumed by fear.

Dread, for what he would see when the golden gate once more snapped into focus as the corkscrewing passage once more snapped into clear view.

He didn't even pause a moment to wonder at the fact that he detected not a whiff of the caustic fumes that should have still laced the air, for all that Airy did a wonderful job of keeping odors below the point they could cause him harm. Because air, no matter how clean, carried the fresh shrieks now cutting through the ether as he squinted at the five figures lit up by the brilliant backdrop of light behind them. Four of them crumpling with desperate sobs and howls.

A man groaning with pain.

A woman shrieking that her arm was turning to a snake. Pseudopod, I think she means.

A young girl sobbing for her mother, who's baby blue eyes caught desperate hold of Jack's for a single second, as she melted before his eyes.

"No!" Jack screamed, desperately stumbling forward.

But it was already too late.

Where there had been five terrified innocents, there were now four quivering pools of slime covered in cilia and whipping pseudopods.

Trembling, as if in horror of what they had become.

And one terrified looking boy, who's silver-blond hair and bright green eyes were those of a youth who would never be innocent again.

Stumbling back from the now slithering piles of slime before falling on his rear.

The youth now scrabbling back on legs clumsy with dread was too terrified to even regain his footing, unable to do anything but whimper and sob as the air filled with ugly mocking laughter from above.

Jack felt his blood boil with rage, horror, and regret mixing with fierce resolve to do what he must at that moment, hands filling with crimson fire.

And then the boy screamed.

Saving throw versus stunning blow: Failed!

Stumbling to one knee, suddenly dizzy, as the slender boys terrified features filled with fury echoing Jack's own.

A banshee wail that seemed to cut through the air, the nearest jelly's quivering pseudo-pods actually rupturing in the air.

But it wasn't enough. Not quite.

For all that two slimes rapidly slithered away, leaking translucent fluid, the farthest two now approached. Silver blue eyes opened wide on long stalks as they approached the boy now two exhausted and shaken to do anything but stumble desperately back.

Before being bathed in bright hot, obliterating flame.

You have successfully combined Wind Gust with Bloodflame! Area of effect has doubled! Damage increased by an additional 100% above all other multipliers! Finesse check made! You have managed to keep your flame under your control without backlash or damage to bystanders or party members!

You have obliterated 4 Creeping Slimes!

Experience Earned!

Blood Fame is now Adept Rank 5!

Wind Gust is now Apprentice Rank 4!

Jack gasped and lurched back, after sinking for long moments in the sheer primal fury of obliterating the four blackened pools of char that had been deadly slimes, just seconds ago.

And only moments before that, sobbing captives gazing Jack's way in desperate hope of mercy or succor.

A panting Jack gazed for long moments at his own trembling hands, too stunned by the horror he had witnessed to revel overly in what had been a magnificent bit of spell synergism, boosting his range and damage by a full 100%m much like adding air to any fire jet would do. And it hadn't cost him any more mana than using both spells simultaneously would have, as the sweet rush of power of killing four creatures saturated with way too much potency for simple slimes, however deadly, should have given him.

Because they had been living, breathing people, just seconds ago.

Jack sobbed in horror even as the air rang out with fresh laughter, for all that it sounded strangely tinny and distant, like the sparkling light that gave no clear details beyond the shimmering gate.

"Any of you fools alive? All of you slimes, then? Better answer if you're still alive. Hell, better be racing down that corridor and grabbing your class, because if I come down there and see you wetting your pants when you should be moving, I'll gladly lop off all your heads and call it a day!"

Jack's eyes widened at the sheer cold-blooded callousness of that statement. it was all he could do not to howl his fury at the vile monster above, now wanting to do nothing more than ascend those stairs and tear that bastard limb from limb.

Before turning to the panicked sobs of the boy gazing at him, tears running tracts down his grubby face as he gazed at Jack with a painful mixture of desperation and horror. "Please! I feel... I'm starting to feel sick..."

Jack swallowed the lump in his throat, already knowing what he must do.

Had to do.

If this poor kid was to have any chance at all.

"No time. We race to the end of the corridor. You'll see a shimmering portal in a frame of stone shining like mother-of-pearl. You're going to touch that stone and pick a class! I think...no, I'm positive it's the only thing that will keep you from becoming..."

The youth gulped and nodded. "Okay. Yes. yes, please! I don't want to become..."

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Jack winced at how hoarse the boys voice now sounded. Before recalling the effect it had had on those slimes.

And on him.

It was clear that the kid had some gift. Some potential.

Potential that just might keep the boy alive down here for a few more seconds, even if he wasn't twice-born.

If they were lucky.

But Jack wasn't going to take any chances when the boy wheezed and gasped by his side. Especially when he heard more awful laughter at his rear.

"Well? Answer me, maggots! Or I'm coming down!"

Jack, of course, did no such thing. He wasn't stupid. He already knew he had stumbled back onto that damned quest without even studying his interface.

Which, the way his luck was going, meant that his foe was at least level 10.

Jack's guts roiled with a wave of fury and fear.

Because there was nothing he wanted to do more than turn around and wash the bastards above in liquid flame.

Nothing, except survive the encounter and rescue the exhausted boy who really wasn't looking too good that Jack was now carrying in his arms as dark laughter washed over his back.

"Well, isn't that sweet. A fresh round of potency to fuel my growth."

"You'll hold, Vidrig!" Snapped a voice Jack realized he had heard once before. "My father is paying you to forge him slaves that will grow in power and obey him in all things for eternity. Not to grow fat on our purse while feeding upon their pathetic remnants!"

"Of course, master," said the suddenly deferential monster. "It will be as you say. How long shall we wait before cleansing the dungeon of their filth? You know as well as I the peril we face if anyone— "

"No one is coming here today, idiot! I checked the schedule. Why do you think I sign up for this asinine shift, getting the barest recompense in school credits on the infinitesimal off-chance that actual Guild representatives will wish to use our dungeon on a day it's not open to the public? The damned Guild has forsaken Greycliff altogether!"

The monster known as Vidrig chuckled softly. And how odd it was that Jack could hear them both so well while racing down the corridor as fast as he could, the now wheezing boy in his arms hardly weighing anything at all.

"They have indeed. How convenient it is that the Lord's Council and college still insists upon holding to traditions. Two free days every week where only formally inducted Guildmembers may enter. And since the only adventurers here hide in the Silver Wand inn to avoid paying your Council's taxes ... no one touches the dungeons on End Days."

"Exactly! And if those pathetic excuses for Delvers think Father and the rest of the Lord's Council will ever let them leave the city without paying all the back taxes they owe our duchy, those fools have another thing coming. And if father pushes through his edict to enforce penalties... hell! If fortune favors us, they'll be wearing slave collars and calling my father master before the year's out!" said the disdainful voice with a smugness that made Jacks' skin crawl.

The pair roared with laughter.

"Now give the filth below at least another quarter glass before you go cleansing. If even one of those fools hiding in terror manages to make it to the portal stone, that alone will be worth the cost of all the wasted chattel this year."

"It will be as you say, master."

Fifteen minutes.

Jack could only prey it would be long enough.

He gazed down at the gasping boy. "Don't worry. I'm going to get you to that pillar. If my hunch is right..."

The youth choked a despairing sob. "Please! Just help me get back home. I don't want to have to be their slave!"

"Then don't!" Jack hissed, eyes flashing. "Pick whatever class you can. Pick the most powerful class you can imagine!"

The boy furrowed his brow. Before he blinked, eyes widening in surprise and with a trace awe despite his horror. "Wait... I'm... I'm surviving! Despite the awful weight..." The boy swallowed. "Does this mean I'm a Delver? Like in the gaming halls?"

Jack frowned at that, before grinning, somehow finding the energy to reassure even as he raced forward at a sprint, with all the boy's weight in his arms. "Yes, yes! Think of it exactly like a game of placards with your hero and all his powers as part of your hand! Is there a favorite class you'd like to play? Favorite tactics you prefer to use?"

The boy gave an excited nod, eyes gleaming with something besides fear, and Jack couldn't help grinning back. He was almost certain that no game, especially not a crude card game version of Delves and Dragons could possibly emulate the best path forward for any Delver. And Jack had absolutely no idea what options would be available, if anything. But at least if the kid was thinking tactically, not making impulsive choices he would be stuck with forever...

Jack flashed a relieved smile as he approached his trench and rampart, knowing they were more than halfway there.

Then the kid's eyes widened in panic as he began to wheeze.

Terror and adrenaline had Jack racing over the barrier faster than he would have thought possible, making full use of his increased Strength and Vitality as he forced the kid above the parapet before straddling it himself and scooping up the exhausted boy even as he stumbled over. Jack winced at the bruises he feared his charge had received, but he knew they didn't have a second to waist.

"Please!" The child's panicked wheeze tore at Jack's heart.

But at least he wasn't turning to Jelly. Or at least, not yet.

Then Jack hissed, thinking of the obvious.

"Hold out your arm!" He snapped, before slipping on his too large wrist bracer covered in blood runes that now fit the youth perfectly.

And much to Jack's awe, the kid's breathing eased. His look of awe turned to a bright smile.

"Thank you! I think you just saved my life."

Jack grinned. "All in a day's work. Now let's get you that class. Just remember, you want an advanced or better class with as many powers or spell schools open to you as possible... unless you're offered a fortune in bonus stat points or other perks for choosing a basic class," he said in between what were now increasingly ragged breaths as he ran at an all out sprint, recalling the conversations of his deeply missed friends as he continued to race forward as fast as he could.

Because the sooner they got done... the sooner they could prepare for the monster behind them. Whom Jack would do everything in his power to kill.

Even if that cutthroat he now knew to be named Vidrig was 11 levels higher, and would happily force Jack to be take on the class of Drone Slave, if he could.

"Ten rounds of a mayor's clock, and I come for your souls, worms!" The air roared with the madman's twisted laughter that somehow carried through the entire vast hallway even as its length twisted and corkscrewed, light bending at unexpected angles past fifty paces as Jack desperately raced ahead, knowing all too well that they were running out of time.

And then it all snapped into place, the boy in his arms gasping not with terror but with awe as he caught sight of the golden plinth holding ruby talismans just before the swirling gate radiating absolute blackness... even as the frame shimmered with endless possibilities.

Jack stumbled to a stop, taking great, heaving breaths as he gently put the boy down.

A boy who squeezed Jacks arm and bowed his head in gratitude, before turning to face the portal before him.

"This is it. Isn't it?"

Jack nodded at the boy's back. Then smirked to himself, realizing there was no way the youth of anywhere from 12 or 14 summers could see that. "It is," he said. "The crimson talismans will mark you as Guild associated, or at least, Guild worthy, and that will make it damned hard for any corrupt council member to claim you as chattel."

To this, the boy gave a bitter laugh. "As if that would do a lick of good."

Jack frowned at that, but before he could comment, the boy had grasped a one of the crimson talismans, shuddering with an odd look of fury and triumph upon his youthful features. "I'm claiming my class now," he said, the air seeming to thrum with his broken whisper.

Jack nodded. "I've got your back."

This earned a strangely sad smile before the youth turned to the gate once more, hesitating only a moment before placing his palms upon the pearlescent frame that was now crackling with faint purple discharges as the spinning black portal at its heart seemed to twirl even faster.

Jack's heart lurching in his chest before his ears rang with a fearsome shout...

And then he heard nothing at all.

You have been struck by Deafening Roar!

You have failed to save versus ruptured eardrums!

Disorientation results in -3 to all Finesse and balance checks.