They had so far been left undisturbed by the forces of Granath, as they had fled far beyond the space of the normal patrols, but Jonathan was sure that they were still being pursued. Granath was not a man to give up.
As they walked, Jonathan flared his aura, creating a faint purple dome of power that spread out in all directions. Edgar did the same, sending out a slightly dissipated cloud of wind related energy that seemed to tell a tale of swift and bloody violence. However, they went for some time without a single response. It seemed that the more powerful monsters were even rarer than Jonathan had thought.
They traveled through the rocky landscape of the outer rim of the Ash Heaps, climbing over hills, clambering down valleys, and even making their way through tunnels in the side of taller mountains. Those tunnels were invariably infested with monsters, but they were generally quite weak.
They butchered their way through these obstacles, drifting further and further away from their cave in search of worthy pretty. However, Jonathan remembered the exact way back, and he was sure that Edgar did as well, on account of their enhanced memories.
The landscape started to grow even rockier as they kept moving, and soon it was an endless pile of scree that seemed to be endlessly drifting slowly up towards the foothills of the giant mountains in the distance.
A few forlorn shapes twitched amid the rocks, but they were too far away to be worth investigating. Instead, the two men made their way towards a large shape resting on the rocks about ten miles away. It looked like another one of the Ash Prowler Patriarchs, but this one was even larger than the first had been.
As they approached, the monster started to snort, and the noise was audible even from miles away. As they drew closer and closer, Edgar and Jonathan began to see that this monster was quite a bit more powerful than the first member of its species that they had fought. It had a ridge of spikes running down the middle of its back, and its mouth was filled with fangs that glowed with a fiery light. Its body was bulked out with layers of muscles, and it was not half starved like most of the Ash Prowlers that Jonathan had seen.
All around it a small pack of lesser monsters cavorted, all of which were around level sixty. By the time that Jonathan had gotten within a mile of the monster, it had gotten to its feet, and was snarling at the approaching threats, letting out a low growling noise with every exhalation.
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Jonathan sped up, starting to cycle his mana into his hands, and sent off a few Void Rockets as he closed the distance. The streaks of purple energy shot off across the sky, heading for the monster.
The creature hissed and swiped at the air, creating a series of fiery claw marks that raced toward the Void Rockets, canceling them in midair. The monster then let out a huff, and expelled a large fireball from its mouth that arced over the rocks towards Jonathan and Edgar.
Edgar raised his hands and sent off a pillar of condensed wind that shot through the middle of the fireball, causing it to dissipate midair. By that point, Jonathan was only a few hundred feet away from the monster, and he closed the distance rapidly, eager to sink his fists in the creature’s flesh.
The monster tried to send off another fireball, but at this range it was easy enough to dodge, and Jonathan made his way past the attack in the blink of an eye. A few of the lower level monsters rushed him, baying wildly, but he threw them to the side with ease, each strike breaking their bones.
The Patriarch growled in rage and leaped towards Jonathan, moving far faster than any monster of its size should have. This was a true Tier 2 monster, and the means of gaining the material to upgrade his weapon and armor.
His gauntlets seemed to pulsate with hunger, as they had already gone through a third of the ritual necessary to rank up. All they needed now was the Tier 2 bone, and the Tier 2 Dark Iron. However, as Jonathan entered the fight, he cleared his mind of the distraction, and leaped, drawing back his fist.
The monster swiped out with its paw, meeting his strike midair, and the two forces clashed against one another for a moment, before exploding against one another, tossing the various parties backwards. The monster’s paw was mangled from the explosion of Void energy, and Jonathan was tossed into a nearby rock face, his flesh bruised from the impact.
Behind him, Edgar began tossing off piercing arrows of wind at the lower level monsters, ending their lives with ease. The larger monsters bounded across the rocks towards Edgar, but Jonathan recovered before the creature could reach his companion, and he threw himself onto the Ash Prowler's back, starting to lay into its spine with his fists.
The creature’s body was cloaked with a thick layer of muscles and fur, and it was hard to make any sort of meaningful impact, but Jonathan was strong enough to send the shockwaves from his punches deep into the creature’s back, disrupting its movement. The monster growled in pain and started to roll, trying to dislodge Jonathan.
He jumped off and simply landed on the beast's belly, bringing his fist down, and imbuing it with power. It detonated against the soft underbelly of the monster, blasting him backward in an explosion of light and gore. The monster roared in pain, and Jonathan landed next to it, breathing heavily.
The creature got its feet a moment later, bleeding heavily, and stared down its assailants, with a seeming look of disbelief on its face that two beings that small could have caused it so much pain. Jonathan smiled at the monster, and moved in for the kill, with Edgar supporting him with his ranged attacks.