> Why is it that my party can handle level 7 fairly easily but level 8 poses way too many dangers for them? Is there some sudden jump of difficulty between those two levels?

There is, actually. The monsters get both stronger and more numerous on level 8. You'll typically need some sexy new spells, as well as extra HP and speed. Don't worry, these things happen.

I guess level 8 has to be that much harder than level 7, cause there's no physical barrier to entry.

The best thing to do is fight one level 8 battle at a time, and just lay into the biggest group of most dangerous monsters with all the SP you can muster. If that doesn't work, then you have no choice but to level up a tad. Don't worry, from level 17 on your characters won't have trouble with very many individual battles.

Why am I telling you this? You're in the Hall of Fame.

^v^:)^v^
FB