When Jonathan came to, he found himself lying flat on the top of a mountain, one that seemed to exude heat. He was in a titanic cavern, one that was filled with lava flows and various other forms of subterranean activity. It looked exactly like what he would have expected Hell to look like based on the stories back on earth. Massive creatures roamed the land, and even a few flying ones as well. With his superior eyesight, he could see that the vista extended for thousands of miles in every direction, and likely even more than that. A notification greeted him a moment later.

You have entered the second circle of Tartarus.

Average level:175

Size:100,000,000 square miles

The notification was basic, but also valuable as well. If he assumed that this realm was a rough circle, then it was about ten thousand miles wide. In addition, the level told him that the token description had been accurate. It was roughly in the midpoint between level 150 and level 200. If that was the case, he would have to be careful in the fights that he picked. Likely, some monsters would be at the base of the level range, and some would be at the peak, like in the dungeon.

Now that he had gotten a good look at the world, he stood up and seized his token once more, preparing to leave. A moment later, before he could do so, a spear arced up over the edge of the mountaintop and almost skewered him. It was made out of a bone-like material. However, it seemed to have been thrown as more of a warning shot than anything else, as it had been barely aimed. A strange demonic figure riding a skeletally thin mount flapped up into sight. It wielded a strange weapon that looked somewhat like an atlatl, one made out of polished bone. It was already slotting another spear into the firing slot. Jonathan fired off a quick scan, wanting to get an idea of the types of monster in this world before he left.

Ukrathi Villager

Level 156

The rider was apparently a sapient being, going by its description, but the mount was only a beast.

Lava Pterodon(Basic)

Level 157

Its name certainly fitted its appearance. Before the creature could fire off another shot, Jonathan used the token, which had not counted the warning shot as the initiation of combat, and winked back into reality in the cave. He had only been gone for a bit over a minute.

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Edgar had not even moved in that time, and Jonathan quickly made his way over to the man. It might have seemed to be unfair to be able to simply leave the world, but it seemed that was balanced out by the fact that one could only enter once per day. Anyone using the token would have to balance their potential gains with their potential losses if they choose to leave in the face of a powerful foe.

Jonathan was sure that he could have beaten that mounted demon back in Tartarus, but not in his current state. As he was, he would need to rest up more before he attempted anything of the sort. Still, he would be in fighting shape in a day for sure, just in time to enter the realm once more. As Jonathan approached Edgar, the man opened one eye, noticing his companion for the first time.

“Any luck with the monster hunting?” Edgar asked, getting to his feet.

“You won’t believe what happened,” Jonathan said. “A goddamn angel attacked me when I was in the middle of hunting down some Ash Prowlers.”

“An angel? Are you sure?” Edgar asked, his voice suddenly far more serious than before. “What did it look like?”

“A floating ball of light and feathers, with two arms.”

“How in the world did something like that get here?” Edgar mused out loud. “You haven’t pissed the gods off personally or something, have you?”

“Uh… no,” Jonathan said, not very convincingly. Edgar narrowed his eyes, but ultimately left it be.

“Well, what happened with the angel then? I assume that you defeated it?”

“I did. It gave me a very strange reward though. Here, Have a look.”

Jonathan pulled the token out of his storage device and showed it to Edgar, who promptly analyzed it. The man pored over the description for a few moments.

“Huh. This is certainly a strange item. I’ve never heard of anything like it before,” Edgar said, frowning.

“It certainly is. I already used it, so it can’t be used for another day. However, it seems like a great training opportunity. The realm that it transports you to has a lot of higher leveled monsters, and even seems to have some sort of native species that can be used to progress. They’re called the Uthraki, or something like that.”

“Uthraki? I’ve heard that somewhere before…” Edgar said. “Where was it? Oh, right. Did they look like demons?”

“Yes. How did you know that?” Jonathan asked the other man.

“I read about them before. They were one of the first species in the realm of Telvaria, but they were apparently too bloodthirsty for the gods to let live. They would have spoiled it for the others. In addition, they only cared about progression and bloodshed. They were wiped out eons ago, but it seems that some of them have survived.”

“Hmm. That seems to track with the other things that I saw. There was a dinosaur there as well, a pterodon of some kind. I don’t know about Telvaria, but where I came from, they were extinct.”

“Dinosaur? You mean a Precursor Drake? Scaly, lithe body? I think I’ve seen drawings of them before,” Edgar said.

“Yeah, that sounds about right. Perhaps Tartarus is populated by the various extinct creatures of Telvaria? It would make sense, I guess,” Jonathan replied.

“If so, that is pretty strange. I can understand the presence of sapients that have gone extinct, but not of beasts. They do not come to the Hells after death. This must have been some pet project of Angranor.”

“Well, I don’t know about that. But, it’s helpful, so I won’t complain for now. I just hope it won’t backfire on me.”