The monster fought desperately, but it eventually faltered before the power of the combined assault, and Jonathan ended its life with a single punch that caved in its skull. As the monster fell to the ground, bleeding heavily, essence entered the two men in a wave, propelling Jonathan up to level 95.

The injuries that he had taken through the fight, a few broken bones and torn up skin, healed over somewhat from the levels, but he was now sure of the fact that the overall efficacy of his levels was diminishing. His natural healing would still carry him back to full health, but if he was in a battle he could not count on easy healing anymore. Still, it almost felt liberating in a way. The training wheels were finally coming off.

Because of his abnormal power, it was easy to forget that he was not even out of the first tier yet, and that there were many more to go. The heights of power in this world were simply staggering.

Jonathan walked over to the monster’s corpse, and began to dig into its flesh with his gauntlets, breaking off a piece of bone. He smeared some of the blood on his armor, watching it glow slightly as it absorbed the fluid, empowering it. He then placed the bone on his gauntlet, and the weapon absorbed it, causing it to glow even brighter than before. Finally, he placed some of the bone on his armor, and it was absorbed as well, finishing off the upgrade from this monster.

Edgar moved in a moment later and did the same thing for his armor as well. Now all they needed were the third reagents. However, Jonathan had no idea where they were supposed to get the minerals required. It wasn't like there were simply walking concentrations of the substances like there were for the blood and bone. Likely they would need to head back into civilization to find them. Jonathan limped over to Edgar, his injuries beginning to heal over, and sighed.

“Looks like I won’t be healing from leveling up after a bit,” he said, showing the other man his twisted arm.

“I’ve heard about that. Apparently at Tier 2, you stop healing from levels. Some sort of way to keep it more fair. After all, if you could simply murder your way through an army, and keep healing, it would be a massacre, especially at the higher levels.”

“You didn’t think to tell me any of this?” Jonathan asked, a little bit annoyed.

“Well, I thought that you already knew. I could see that you were healing less after every battle for the last few weeks, and I did not want to insult your intelligence by intimating that you were too blind to see such an obvious sign,” Edgar replied in an even voice.

“I did notice that. Sorry for snapping at you. I am a little on edge right now,” Jonathan replied, lowering his gaze.

As he headed towards Tier 2, he could feel himself stretching out on account of the stress that contemplating such a huge leap in power brought. He was impatiently awaiting the opportunity to bridge the gap, but the monsters remained stubbornly sparse in this area. It would take more than just a single Ash Prowler Patriarch to take him over the edge. He did not know what exactly the process would even entail, but he knew that it would bring a sizable increase in power, power that would allow him to survive longer against the armies of Granath.

With a sigh, he left the body of the monster behind him, and jugged back towards the cave, with Edgar in pursuit. There were no other sufficiently powerful monsters in that area, and Jonathan was not exactly on top of the world at the moment, as his injuries were still healing.

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Edgar had not suffered any injuries, but his mana abilities were overtaxed somewhat. It was wiser for them to simply retreat back to their base. As they headed for safety, the rocky land around them began to diminish, and the ash started to come back in force, pervading the land for miles in every direction. By the time that they were coming close to the cave, Jonathan began to notice something strange. The noises of people talking were drifting on the limp wind towards them, only audible because of his enhanced senses.

“Do you hear that?” Jonathan asked Edgar softly.

The other man shook his head. Edgar might have passed all of his thresholds, but stats still played a role in the field of sensory perception.

Jonathan edged forwards, fearing the worst. From the sound of it, there was a small army camped outside of their cave. It was because of this assumption that Jonathan was so surprised by what was actually there.

A small group of what looked to be low level people, none of whom even looked like fighters, were sitting on the ash beside the cave, not daring to go near. As Jonathan entered their line of sight, the people began to murmur to one another, and one by one, they started to bow to him.

Jonathan stood there, confused, and then recognized a few of the people. They were the citizens of the village that Edgar had rashly entrusted with knowledge of Jonathan’s mission. He sighed. He had known that this would come back to bite them. Giving Edgar a dark glare, he made his way towards the crowd.

“Our savior,” a few people in the crowd murmured as he approached. Jonathan studiously ignored them.

“Why are you all here and how did you find us?” Jonathan asked, confused as to how these random citizens had located them, while the armies of Granath had not. Not that he was complaining about that, of course.

A woman stepped forwards, presumably some sort of leader figure as her level was higher than that of the rest, save for those who were clearly guards. In addition, she was dressed in battered leather armor, and had a short sword attached to the side of her belt.

“We are those who are discontented with the state of affairs in this realm. We wish to join your cause. You are by far the strongest being other than those under the service of Granath in this world, and you are a symbol of hope to many. Your exploits in the Ashen Citadel, stealing from under the nose of that damned worm, and more, made its way around the realm. We are few, but more will be coming over the next few months.”

“Where do you think you will stay out here? We cannot protect you from the monsters of the wastes,” Jonathan replied. “Also, what if we do not want you here? Such numbers will draw the forces of Granath like flies.”

“We have that covered.” The woman pulled an older dwarven man out of the crowd by one arm, and smiled at Jonathan. “This is Granj. He is one of the finest architects in this world, in a way that has nothing to do with levels. If you permit us, we will build proper fortifications in this place, and create a citadel here to defend against the enemy. More importantly, we are willing to pledge our allegiance to you in order to show our sincerity.”

Jonathan raised one eyebrow. He did not admit it openly, but he was impressed. A moment later, a notification appeared.

Alana Sarj, Representative of the Ash Heaps Liberation Front, wishes to pledge the support of her faction to you, and name you as its leader. Doing so will allow you to ensure that none of its members will betray you or other faction members through System intervention.

Do you accept?

Y/N

Jonathan pressed yes as soon as he had read it through, and was met with another notification.

You are now the Faction Leader of the Ash Heaps Liberation Front.

You have gained a new title!

Leader of Men:Epic

You have taken control of over 500 beings, taking them into your faction. They have placed their trust in you and your rulings. Be sure not to betray it.

Bonuses:+10 to Strength