Edgar started to daydream about what he would do when he returned to Telvaria, crackling with the power of a nascent god. The first thing he would do would be to get revenge on the beings who had sent him here. After that, he had no idea.

Jonathan cleared his throat next to him, and Edgar jumped, startled. Jonathan pointed at a shadow on the ground rapidly approaching, and a few moments later, a monster emerged from the gap between the nearest mountains. It was not a creature that either of them had ever seen before. The thing looked like a mix between a bird of prey and a lion, and it walked on two massive avian feet, tipped with long talons that looked capable of rending stone.

The creature was about thirty feet tall, which was not that large in the grand scheme of things, but it looked to be quite fast. With a screech, it raced across the ground, its talons tearing up the earth beneath it effortlessly. The creature moved with the speed of a bullet, flashing towards Edgar faster than the man could move.

Jonathan grabbed him and rolled out of the way just before the beast could reach them. It lashed out with one of its feet as it passed, creating a vortex as its foot smashed past the sound barrier. The sonic boom heralded the arrival of the monster, and it whirled around, kicking Jonathan in the back.

He was accelerated to high speed, and he fought to keep Edgar safe within his grasp. Landing a few hundred feet away, he glared at the avian monstrosity that was even now running towards him. Edgar started to summon his mana to his hands, and as the creature neared, chains of ethereal energy latched onto its legs, tripping the creature. Such was its speed that twin cracks rang out as its delicate leg bones were broken by the motion, and it fell to the ground, hissing in rage.

The leonine ruff around its neck began to glow with power, and a moment later the wind began to pick up around the creature. It looked like it had a similar set of magical abilities to Edgar. A moment later, a supersonic omnidirectional jet of pure energy shot out, heading in all directions at incredible speed. Any obstacles in its path were chopped in half, and Jonathan flattened himself to the ground as it passed overhead.

Edgar was almost too slow but he flattened himself to the ground with a quick use of his wind powers before he was sliced in half. The bird monster let out a triumphant screech, and then tried to rise, finding that it was unable to do so. With another hiss of rage and pain, it fell over, briefly vulnerable to Jonathan.

He darted forwards and brought the side of his fist down on the creature’s flailing head, slamming it into the ground. The earth cracked underneath the blow, and the bird reeled, its eyes unfocused. Edgar nailed it with a powerful blow as its head lolled around, cracking something in its skull. Jonathan leaped upwards a moment later, driving his fist into the bottom of the monster’s head. Its beak shattered, and the surprisingly light monster was lifted off of its feet, and was briefly suspended in the air. Although it possessed a lot of tricks, it was still a bit weaker than Jonathan was, and perhaps even Edgar as well. This would take a bit longer than they had thought.

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The monster finally succumbed to a spike of power from Edgar that hollowed out its skull, but the essence that it provided was not enough to grant the man another level.

Jonathan was a bit anxious of leaving the city behind for so long, but in the time that he spent waiting for another monster to arrive, he found that his faction interface, previously unexplored, allowed him to monitor what was going on back in the city.

Ash Heaps Liberation Front

Tier 2 Faction(Adjusted to highest level)

745 Members

It was a small interface, but still valuable, as if any of the members disappeared, then Jonathan would know that something was amiss. Obviously, he did not wish for it to come to that, but it was better than nothing.

Some time later, Jonathan renewed the Divinity in the rune, empowering it further, as no more monsters were being drawn in by it. However, he might have been a bit overzealous in his application of power.

A deafening roar echoed through the surrounding land, one that Jonathan remembered from his first weeks in this world. His mouth dried up as he remembered the sight of that monster, but then he calmed himself. He was a different person to who he had been then.

A few minutes later, the ground started to shake, and a massive form lumbered into the plain. It was the same sort of monster as the titanic reptilian creature that the System had sent after him when he had first discovered runecrafting.

In fact, the faint blemishes on its face told him that it was the same creature. It still bore the marks of his Rune of Hatred. As soon as it saw Jonathan, its eyes lit up with hatred, and it charged. The monster was just as imposing as he had remembered, dozens of feet of pure muscle and reptilian bulk. It was longer than it was tall, but it was still far taller than either of the men. Jonathan gathered power to his fists, and beheld the monster fully, sending off an analyze skill at it. His Basic Truesight ability allowed him to see the level of the monster this time, as opposed to before.

Desolation Pseudo Drake(Boss)

Level 145

Jonathan shivered. No wonder he had almost died last time. The monster was incredibly powerful. However, with the demerit to the power of Tier 2s in this world, it was not actually as strong as it looked. He had noticed that he was apparently 1 percent inhibited, but he could not notice the difference, as he had gained more power than he had lost during his upgrade to Tier 2.

However, he would need to find a solution to that problem before long if he meant to survive. He assured that Granath had some sort of way to bypass this, as the giant worm should have had almost three quarters of his power suppressed by the effects of the lower Tier mana. In fact, the worm should have been almost as weak as Jonathan. However, his remaining power told Jonathan that preserving his own was possible. He was not going to let such a seemingly random thing as lower tier mana stop him.

In any case, the more pressing matter was that of the drake, which was rapidly closing the gap. It was likely one of the strongest beings in this entire world, and even though it was weakened somewhat, Jonathan knew that it would still be an almost impossible fight. He briefly thought of running, but then realized that he would simply lead the monster back to his city. Besides, it was sure to provide enough essence to level up Edgar to Tier 2. Jonathan would have to be far more careful than he was normally however, as he could no longer heal. This would be tough indeed. He really needed to find a healing skill.