Jonathan could see the excitement on the man’s face as they walked. This was not an opportunity that many were able to avail of. It looked like being friends with Jonathan had some perks. Of course, Jonathan knew that Edgar was not simply in this for the power that he could gain. If that had been the case, he would have cut ties with the man long ago. No, he could tell that Edgar was a genuine friend, someone who would stand beside him to the end. He intended to be the same. Of course, both men had their own, selfish reasons for banding together, but over time, those would be eclipsed by friendship.
Jonathan wanted a companion that could keep him company over the long years that he would live, if he continued leveling at this pace, and Edgar wanted someone to watch his back in this dangerous world.
Judging by the history of the Ash Heaps, Jonathan was possibly the only person strong enough to have the potential to defeat Granath. His first class had been absolutely absurd, and although he was back on the normal track now, he still had access to another powerful class. He guessed that a Legendary Tier 2 class straight off the bat was not something that many achieved, especially considering that both of the Legendary class options that he had been given seemed to have been tailor made for him. Perhaps his achievements were such that he was already considered to be a Legendary being.
By this point, both men were already at the gate, and ready to embark upon a journey that would hopefully carry Edgar up to new heights of power. The gate to the city was a squat construction that would not be winning any aesthetics competition. However, it was clearly sturdy enough, which was all that mattered. Made out of solid metal, it looked as if it could withstand a meteor strike.
With a single wave at the gate guards, they were off, heading for a nearby plain, a few mountains away. This would be a good place for them to gain some hard earned essence.
By the time they reached there, it had been about thirty minutes, as both men had been walking at quite a leisurely pace, at least for their levels. They had actually traveled over a dozen miles in that time, which was quite slow for Jonathan. He assumed that the later realms would be larger in scope than this one, or else powerful beings could simply run from one side to another in a matter of hours, or perhaps even minutes. However, those thoughts were neither here nor there for now.
They ran into the center of the plain, and Jonathan began to draw out a massive rune circle, one attuned to the Rune of Beckoning. A moment later, he started to pour Divinity into it. The results were immediate. Howls of rage and longing began to drift up from the surrounding wastes, and packs of Ash Prowlers began to surge in. Those beasts were not what the two men were looking for however, and Edgar dispatched them with a tornado of swirling wind, sharpened into blades by his power. The monsters were shredded into a fine mist of blood and bone by the attack, leaving the ground nearby painted with their viscera.
A few Fetid Oozes came trundling into the plain as well, moving far slower than the Ash Prowlers had been. Jonathan dashed forward and closed the distance in a matter of seconds, cocking back his fist as he ran. As he punched, the nearest Ooze raised its single, massive arm, but it was of no use.
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His fist pulverized its flesh, and turned the creature into an explosion of viscous slime. The other Oozes died soon after, and Jonathan ran back to Edgar’s side. Heavy steps began to echo through the land as more powerful monsters approached, and a few minutes later, an Ash Prowler Patriarch stomped its way into the plain, growling in rage as it saw the shredded bodies of its kin. Jonathan slammed his fists together. Now this was a fight that he could get behind.
He rushed forwards, and towards the monster, intending to cripple it so that Edgar could tear it apart with his skills. This was the plan that they had agreed on beforehand, and it seemed sound enough to Jonathan. It would allow for Edgar to gain most of the essence from the fight, which was their primary goal.
With a roar of his own, Jonathan launched himself off the cracked hardpan ground of the plain, and towards the Ash Prowler. It bared its fangs at him, glowing with fiery light, and sent out a fireball from its open maw.
Jonathan drove his fist forward, and imbued it with the Void, unbinding the energy with his Hungering Decay skill. It was a hasty use of his most powerful skill, but now that he was in Tier 2, he could feel that his overall power had increased by enough to make it worthwhile. It was not mentioned on his status sheet, only in the Tier up notification, but he felt somehow more durable and more connected to his own body and power than he had during Tier 1. There was some sort of auxiliary benefit to his ranking up, it seemed.
In any case, this monster was only Tier 1, and as such he was more than a match for it. He parried a swipe from its wicked claws, and countered with a straight left, slamming his fist into the underside of the monster’s chin. That was another change in his body since ranking up, as well as from his investment into his Dexterity stat. Both of his hands were now equally easy to use, even though he had been right handed before he had come to this world. Now he was fully ambidextrous, to the point that he could use them independently of one another. That was likely helped by his high stats in other areas though.
Because of this, as the monster reared back onto its hind legs to mitigate the force of his punch, Jonathan sent his other fist, crackling with dark power, into its exposed underbelly. That seemed to be a universal weak spot among the mammalian monsters of the ash, and this one was no different.
The creature vomited up blood as the strike ruptured its internal organs. As it fell to its feet, snarling wildly, Jonathan pummeled it in the side of its head, breaking its jaw. As the monster stumbled around, stunned, Edgar began to get to work, sending in lances of wind.
Each strike tore through the monster's flesh, and soon it was unable to move, its front two legs in ruins from Edgar’s attacks. Edgar closed the gap, and sent one of his tornado skills at the monster, as Jonathan retreated. He had no idea how the man was able to make such powerful attacks with a simple elemental channeling ability, but his mastery of his element was much higher than that of Jonathan, which meant that such things were evidently possible. Soon the monster died, to a spear of compressed air straight through its eye socket.
Essence entered Jonathan, a comparatively small amount to what entered Edgar. The man glowed faintly as he leveled up, and he smiled. He was getting closer and closer to his target. For someone who had always been at the very bottom back in Telvaria, this experience was intensely satisfying for Edgar. He had gained more power in his months here than he had during his entire life back in Telvaria. Obviously, it came at a high price, but one day it would all be worth it.