With his various bonuses, his Strength was now boosted by over 1.6 times its normal amount. This would not make too much of a difference immediately, as it was applied on stat allocation, an oddity of this title, but it would be useful later on. A new notification appeared a moment later, one that seemed to glow with power.
The Watchful Eye of Angranor gazes upon you!
You have gained the attention of the Lord of Hell, Angranor, for your feat in ridding this realm of an angelic interloper. He looks favorably upon this action.
Rewards: Tartarus Entrance Token
A small disk of dark metal appeared in Jonathan’s hand, etched with a pentagram. He scanned it, intrigued.
Tartarus Entrance Token
Unranked
This token allows the bearer to enter and leave a realm of Tartarus matched with their Tier once per day. You may only leave after having been out of combat for a minute. Tartarus is the training ground of the lords of the hell circles, and is a place of great danger, but also of great promise. Kingdoms have been made and lost here, and it is the source of the circle lords’ great power. Your possession of this item means that you have been deemed worthy by Angranor of assuming such a lofty position.
Jonathan stared at the token for a few moments, before being greeted by another message. There was still more to read in the token description, but this message was almost aggressive in its desire for him to read it.
Greetings, Jonathan.
I am Angranor, the god of this world, and I am impressed with your aptitude. It is rare that an Outsider enters this universe, and rarer still that one finds its way to the Infinite Hells. However, you seem to be of an even rarer sort. One with the potential to usurp the natural order of the Hells. Good. My servants need some exercise. They have grown fat and complacent. Try not to die, will you? Entertainment is hard to come by in this place.
The notification disappeared without his input, and Jonathan was left looking off into the distance, stunned. So much had just happened, and the implications were wide reaching indeed. It seemed that Angranor knew about him, and not only that, he wanted Jonathan to actually beat Granath. Well, he wasn’t going to deny free power, even if it came from a dubious source. He could tell from the letter that Angranor did not see him as anything other than a momentary distraction, and that he would never come close to being able to defeat him. However, Angranor would regret underestimating Jonathan. He would use the man’s own gifts against him. He was supposed to beat hell. He could do the same for Tartarus.
Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
Some time later, he stood outside the gates of the city, having assuaged some of his wounds by allocating some stat points into Resilience and Constitution. Not much, just ten into each, but it was enough to help him. Still, the remainder of his broken bones lingered within his body, and as they healed, he could feel the pieces drawing back together within his body. That monster had been so strong that every time it had landed a serious hit, it had turned the bones in that area into powder, which took a lot longer to heal than a simple clean break. Still, Jonathan had gotten out of it alive, which was all that really mattered. In addition, he had gained something that could potentially prove to be invaluable, if he used it right.
As the gate guard recognized him, the gate started to swing open and Jonathan half strode, half hobbled into the town. He was able to keep most of the limp out of his stride, but he was sure that it was still noticeable. Walking up the gentle slope to the base of the mountain, and ignoring the platitudes of the passersby, he made his way towards the cave. He was going to need to have a long rest after that battle.
Edgar was meditating in one of the corners, and rather than bother the other man, Jonathan simply walked into the back section of the room and sat down, letting out a sigh as he relaxed. His body was in rough shape, but it was nothing that a bit of healing could not fix. As he did so, he pulled out the Tartarus token once more, and read over the full description, which he had not been able to do out in the wastes.
Tartarus Entrance Token
Unranked
This token allows the bearer to enter and leave a realm of Tartarus that is matched to their Tier once per day.You may only leave after having been out of combat for a minute. Tartarus is the training ground of the lords of the hell circles, and is a place of great danger, but also of great promise. Kingdoms have been made and lost here, and it is the source of the circle lords’ great power. Your possession of this item means that you have been deemed worthy by Angranor of assuming such a lofty position. Upon entering the world of Tartarus, you will be assigned to a realm that is linked to your Tier. Surviving there will be impossible for all but the most talented of individuals, and the level range goes from the mid range of your Tier to the very peak. Tartarus is an entire world, and there will be ample opportunities to increase your power and interact with the friendlier locals in order to gain the ability to take power back in the real world. Good luck.
The token description gave him a little bit of an idea about what he was going to be walking into, but it was quite vague, which he was sure was intentional. In any case, he would have to have a long discussion with Edgar about the best time to use it. Any time that he was away from this city was a time when it was more vulnerable. He could probably leave for a few hours, but seeing as this token promised that the world on the other side was incredibly violent, it might take a lot longer than that.
Still, there was no harm in checking it out for a minute, seeing as the token said that he could simply leave whenever he wanted. With a quick glance over to the other side of the room, where Edgar was still at rest, he held the token and used it. There was a whoosh, and he was folded away into darkness, transported to some unknown realm.