He managed to speak all of this in the time that Jonathan was moving. He had never really realized it before, but his perception had sped up with his increases in Dexterity, and as a result he could both speak and comprehend things faster than before. Only now that he was witnessing the monster speak in the span of a few milliseconds, he realized that he was far beyond what he had used to be.

It did make sense though. Higher level beings could hardly be forced to live their lives in what would feel like slo-mo. Jonathan was able to deal with moving at a normal speed constantly, but it would soon be too annoying to contemplate. However, in a battle when all of the fighters were already operating at top speed, it was a lot more noticeable.

Jonathan cocked back his fist to add more power to his strike, and then sent his stamina rushing in, surprising the Uthraki with his turn of speed. His fist rocketed forwards, and slammed into the demon man’s gut, this time breaking the skin. The explosive mix of energies detonated there and then, blowing a chunk out of the man’s stomach.

As he flew backwards, Edgar sent a ball of conceptual energy into his back, reducing his weight to nothing. The demon floated up into the air, unable to get a grip on the ground. Jonathan started to spray the air with Void Rockets, and a dozen of the purple projectiles came flying out of his hands, striking the fighter in an instant. None of them did much damage, but they were still noticeable, propelling the man even higher.

Edgar started to build up a massive attack between his hands, using his wand as a focus. The man then banished the energy holding the demon up, letting his attack loose as he did so. The spear of concentrated wind was sent flying up, straight into the demon’s already weakened stomach, tearing all the way through. The man let out a roar of rage and pain as he fell, and energy began to gather around his form.

He dropped the atlatl and grabbed one of the spears from his quiver, sending roiling energy into it. The spear lit up with power and the Uthraki threw it with a grunt, sending it hurtling down at high speeds. It impacted the ground like a meteor, and the rock was blasted apart, leaving a large crater. A shockwave carried further on, sending Jonathan and Edgar off their feet. With a grunt, the fighter landed, holding one hand over the gaping wound in his abdomen.

“You both fight with strength far above your level. Perhaps you do deserve to be here after all. However, I will be your end.”

The Uthraki took one step forwards and drew another spear, starting to funnel more power into it. Jonathan and Edgar got to their feet, slightly dazed, and prepared to fight. It was time to show this demon their real strength. Edgar cast his movement speed enhancing skill and Jonathan felt his limbs blossom with newfound speed as the effects of the skill landed on him. Edgar started to float into the air behind him, gathering up the power within him for a powerful strike. Meanwhile, Jonathan sent his stamina to his legs, allowing him to flash forwards into the path of the demon. He moved so fast that it almost felt like he had teleported, as his mind was not fast enough to keep up with his movement. However, he was moving a bit too fast to fully prepare a punch, and it was more like he fell into the Uthraki at high speeds rather than punching him. Despite this, he still bowled the fighter over, and he sent the man flying.

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The Uthraki sank the end of his spear into the ground, preventing him from falling off the edge of the mountain. However, that left him vulnerable to the next attack from Edgar which nailed him in the center of his forehead, a shocking display of aim from the man. With a roar of pain, the Uthraki fell off the edge, falling down towards the ground.

Jonathan rushed over and saw that he had landed on a spike of volcanic rock hundreds of feet below, and he was slowly bleeding out. A few moments later, essence entered him, netting him another two levels. It was very welcome. Behind him, Edgar floated back down, landing with a grunt. The man was mostly unharmed, but his mana pool was likely nearly empty. In addition, he was taxed from using so much of his elemental abilities.

“That was a difficult fight, but highly profitable. I just gained two levels,” Edgar said.

“So did I. This is a dangerous place, but it seems to be very good for powerleveling. No wonder Granath is so strong,” Jonathan said.

On that note, the two men started down the mountain, interested in what else there was to find in this land of twisted rock and volcanic might. The mountain was tall, but not overly so, and it took them about half an hour to descend. Of course, they both could have simply leaped off of the side at any point, but Jonathan took the opportunity to look out over the landscape and see things that he would have missed otherwise.

Every few dozen miles, there was what looked like a village of some sorts, surrounded by a palisade of obsidian in some cases. He couldn't really make out the finer details from here, but he was almost sure that he could see houses and even slightly trodden roads connecting the two areas. It did make sense, as the monsters that they had fought were called Uthraki Villagers after all, and there had to be some sort of settlement to give them that name.

In addition, a few hundred miles away, there was a faint smudge that almost looked like the outline of a city. It was almost ten times larger than the villages, but it was so far away that Jonathan could barely make any of it out. He only let his gaze linger on that for a few moments, before letting it see the other sights of the realm.

Massive monsters trudged across the blasted rock of the realm every now and again, creatures that looked to be almost the size of small mountains. Their skin was covered in patchy lines of molten rock, and their bodies were made out of matte black obsidian. If he was close enough to scan them, he would have, but his skill had limits and he was too far. However he had no doubt that they were at the peak of Tier 2. Those were not monsters that he had any intention of fighting.