As he weaved around the spear thrusts of his foes, using his element to imbue his fists with devouring power, he exulted in his strength and speed, using it to its fullest potential. As he fought and adapted to this world, his body grew more used to using his full power. Some vestigial remnants of his time on Earth still remained, remnants that screamed abuse at him whenever he tried to use his supernatural abilities. There were still moments when primal terror gripped him upon dropping from a great height, only to fade when he landed safely.
He was slowly growing out of them, but it was still a problem, compared to people who had lived in this world for their entire lives. The Uthraki snarled at him as he proved impossible to strike, and he slowly wore them down with his skills. He withheld from going all out, as every battle that was not life or death was nothing more than a training opportunity at this point.
He was slowly eclipsing the power of almost everyone within the Ash Heaps, and soon only Granath would be left, the last obstacle to his rise. These thoughts swirled through him as he parried and struck, sending tremors through the bodies of his enemies.
Edgar sent deadly spikes of wind hissing through the air, impaling the villagers like they were rods of sharpened steel. Soon the fighters breathed their last, dropping their spears to the ground as they collapsed, gurgling in death. Essence rushed into him, barely enough to grant him another level. The amount gained was slowing down.
Jonathan picked up the spears and put them into his storage device. They would be useful for arming the guards back in the city. Even though the weapons were primitive, they were still Tier 2 weapons, which meant that they were superior to most other weapons that the inhabitants of the city would have access to. Although the Ash Heaps were technically the domain of both Tier 1 and Tier 2s, it was almost entirely made for Tier 1s, from the mana density, to the resources available.
Most of the higher tier goods came from the dungeon, which showed why the place actually existed. It was meant to supplement the resources that could be found in the world. Perhaps the dungeons of the later circles would be fixed in level, rather than adaptive.
In any case, Jonathan had a dream of conquering the dungeon, and using it to raise the levels of his guards. Perhaps it was just a pipe dream, but if it worked, the levels of their people would skyrocket.
With the spears tucked away, the two men picked up the corpses, Jonathan with his hands, and Edgar with the wind, and carried them towards a nearby lava drift, throwing them in.
While the lava in the Ash Heaps, the natural lava, that was, was too cool to harm Jonathan, the lava here was more than capable of melting his flesh from his bones. Edgar had tried to explain the concept to him, something to do with energy investment, but most of it had gone over his head.
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The basic premise was that the higher the concentration of mana in a world, the more the natural world took on the Tier of that mana. On Telvaria, the planet, not the universe, the mana was not equally allocated. Some places had higher concentrations, and some had lower ones. Someone from a high Tier mana realm would burn the world around them if they went to a lower Tier one without restraining their power. On the other hand, someone going from a low Tier zone to a higher Tier one would find their bodies breaking down if the difference was too high.
Logically, such a phenomenon occurred in the later hell circles as well, as they were bigger than entire solar systems in their own right. The planet of Telvaria was almost impossibly big, at least according to Edgar. Nobody in his weak region knew much about it, but it was at least large enough that it would take a Tier 10 hundreds of thousands of years to cross it. For a being that strong, circumnavigating the Earth on foot would be a journey of mere minutes. Thus, Telvaria was beyond the scope of Jonathan’s limited understanding. The only reason that it did not collapse into a black hole was because of the will of the gods.
As the corpses turned into scraps of ash and then nothing, Jonathan sighed. Without a further glance at the lava, he turned his back on it and headed back towards the village. Edgar followed suit. They were a long way away from conquering Tartarus.
A few minutes later, they were back in their hiding place, waiting for more of the Uthraki to come their way. However, these beings were far more intelligent than mere dungeon creatures, and when the next patrol came, it was over a dozen strong. That was a number that was beyond the capability of Jonathan and Edgar to fight. It looked like it was time to leave this place.
Both men seized the token, and winked out of existence, appearing back in the cave. Someone was waiting for them there, standing outside the entrance. It was one of the many merchants that sold their wares down in the city below. However, this one seemed to be excited about something.
“My lord,” the skinny beastman said, sinking to one knee. He looked like a cross between a hyena and a human. “I bear great news. One of the merchants recently gained access to the Universal Trading Hub, the reward for some achievement that they gained. She wishes to meet with you.”
Ignoring the fact that the man had addressed him as ‘my lord’ Jonathan raised an eyebrow.
“The Universal Trading Hub?” He asked, unfamiliar of the term.
“It is one of the key skills in any self respecting merchant’s arsenal. Most gain it at some point between Tier 1 and Tier 2. It is what makes up for our weakness in combat. It will all be self-evident once you see it.”
Jonathan nodded and as the beastman merchant walked out of the cave, he followed. They made their way through the city, and Jonathan noted that the streets seemed almost deserted. His advanced senses picked up a commotion coming out of the center of the merchants’ district, and he picked up the pace.
A large crowd was gathered around a shimmering disc of light that spun in the air. A woman from a species unfamiliar to Jonathan stood by it. She had reddish skin, with a mottling of scales across it. A single horn protruded out of her forehead. One hand was pointed towards the disc of light, keeping it open. Jonathan pushed through the crowd, and stopped in front of the woman, Edgar standing behind him.
“My lord,” the woman said, bowing her head. “I wished for you to be the first to see the fruits of my labor. All you need to do is step into the portal.”