The attack struck home with the cataclysmic roar of a hurricane, and started to burrow into the monster’s abdomen. It tried to twist away, but then the technique detonated, sending every last drop of its power into the monster’s torn stomach. With a titanic burst of wind, it was blasted into the air, with chunks of flesh splattering the ground around it.
Jonathan spotted his opportunity, and as he hit the ground, he started running, ignoring the pain shooting up and down his legs as he ran. He drew upon his heightened Divinity, increased by reaching Tier 2, and triggered Smite, imbuing himself with golden power.
Tearing across the cracked earth, the air around him shattered as he breached the sound barrier, and he came flying in towards the reeling monster, leaping up towards its form as it was suspended midair. Cocking back his fist, Jonathan forced his elemental energy, mana and Divinity into it, also drawing upon his minor stamina manipulation abilities. A vortex of light formed around his fist, and then it struck the monster. Nothing happened for a moment, and then the world broke around him.
As his fist crashed into the monster, a shockwave of light exploded outwards from it, heightened to its utmost by all of the abilities that he was using simultaneously. As a result, the damage was increased exponentially, and such was its scale that even with the majority of it facing away from him, Jonathan was still blasted away from the dragon, his fist broken. However, the effects on the monster were far more pronounced.
Its entire stomach had been torn apart by the attack, and it lay on the ground, unmoving. It was still breathing but it was almost dead at this point, and its abdomen lay in ruins, with a massive hole blasted through it. Jonathan lay on the ground for a few moments, catching his breath. The aftereffects of his Smite skill still raged through his system for a brief few moments, and then they were gone, swept away by his high stats. All that was left was his broken hand and some minor burns that had not healed yet.
A few moments later, essence poured into him in a surging tide, but he could feel that the amount necessary to level him up had already increased, by what seemed like almost double. He still leveled up, but this time there was no sensation of warmth, no healing power. Only a sense that he had increased in terms of might.
He slowly got to his feet, and saw that Edgar was twitching on the ground, likely going through his Tier 2 ascension. Jonathan walked over to the man’s side and sat down, standing sentinel over the man’s prone form. As he did so, he began to work on his mana manipulation abilities to pass the time.
Some time later, Edgar awoke, with a wide grin on his face, and the power of the wind burning in his eyes. For the briefest of moments, his eyes looked like orbs of cloudy white light, and then they went back to normal.
“Finally!” Was the first thing that the man exclaimed. He looked exultant in his new power, which Jonathan supposed was to be expected, given that he had lived for years without coming anywhere near Tier 2. Now however, he was a new man.
“How does it feel?” Jonathan asked, mirroring what Edgar had asked him earlier.
“Like I’ve become a new being. The power that I can feel coursing through me is… significant, and the bonuses that my new class will bring will likely be even better. I know that I have been here for some time, but would you mind watching over me while I choose my class?”
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As soon as Jonathan nodded, the other man fell back onto the ground, going through his class selection ceremony. This time, the man was only gone for a few minutes, and when he got up, he was deep in thought, likely about the meaning of his new class. He got to his feet, and started walking back towards the city, still frowning about something. Jonathan hurried after him, letting the man parse his own thoughts in silence. However, Edgar eventually turned to Jonathan.
“Did you get a wide selection of classes from both sides of the martial spectrum?” He asked.
“Yes. Some were magical in nature, and some were purely physical.”
“Interesting… Out of all of my options, only one was even vaguely physical in nature, and it was still nothing like an actual martial class. It seems that your path of toeing the line has led to you being able to cross the divide between magical and martial classes somewhat.”
“What did you end up picking?” Jonathan asked, intrigued.
“Just the upgraded form of my basic class. I was trained from birth to step upon this path, and when I reached Tier 2, the next stage was already waiting there for me. It simply provides more stat points than the previous one, and a bonus to my connection to the wind.”
“So a pure elemental class then? The one I ended up picking was more of a hybrid between my two fighting styles, the magical one, and the more physical one.”
“Yes. It should increase my fighting prowess significantly though. It was the highest rarity class that I was able to access, at Epic rarity. I know that it is a lesser class to yours, but it is still more than most people get, I assume. It hardly would be called Epic if it was something that everyone was able to get.”
“No, it certainly isn't. Even with my many achievements, I was still offered a Rare class, which meant that the System was hard pressed to give me things above that, even though I was eligible for them. Your fighting prowess will likely increase in leaps and bounds from here on out.”
“Good. We’re going to need it.”
The rest of their trip was taken in silence, and no monsters dared to attack the two men, sensing their power. In these parts, only the greatest of monsters were above Tier 2, and they viciously guarded their territories. Anything weaker than that didn't even come near Jonathan and Edgar as they traveled. It was certainly nice to feel ahead of the curve. However, Granath still lurked at the very end of Tier 2, and there was no way that he would leave his city, which meant that they would have to deal with his full power without any sort of restrictions on the part of the mana density of the world.
Jonathan remembered the worm’s overbearing might, and there was simply no way that his power was being restricted in any way. Still, with his Legendary class, he was well on his way to maxing out his potential in terms of power. That was the very highest that he could go, and it meant that even Granath was still limited by the constraints of his class. Perhaps this was possible, perhaps it would not, but before he could even take the first step on his quest, he would need to defeat Granath to free the first circle of the Hells. Once that was completed, then the rest of his quest might prove to be possible after all. He might even end up being able to get his revenge on the gods afterwards, with all of the power that he would gain.
Still, that was likely eons away, and for now, he had concerns on a far smaller scale. Mostly what he would do with the citizens of his city if Granath’s forces ever came calling. The walls that they had built were impressive, but it would ultimately be down to Jonathan and Edgar to do most of the fighting, as the citizens were universally low level. Perhaps that would change in the future, but for now, not a single one of them was over level 30. This whole city building business was alien to Jonathan, especially in the real world.