Jonathan crowed in victory as he raced through the village, only taking a moment to study the makeup of the small settlement. There were only a few dozen houses, and none of them were over a story in height. It looked like these Uthraki were more of a settler force than anything else. However, there were likely far larger settlements further into this world, and entire cities. There were sure to be more challenges in this world, and more powerful fighters.

Everything here was Tier 2, and that included the civilians, if there even were any. Perhaps all of the Uthraki were fighters.

Behind Jonathan, the towering monster whipped its tail through the village, scattering rocks and turning bodies to molten slag. A wave of its hot breath came roiling out of its mouth every few seconds, baking the ground with its heat. However, the Uthraki were far from defenseless, and they were starting to wear down the monster. There were hundreds of them, and although a few died now and again, there was strength in numbers.

A few houses to the left, a hulking fighter burst out, holding a massive ax in two hands. The Uthraki was almost a dozen feet tall, and covered in rippling red muscles. With a roar of rage, he threw himself towards the encroaching monster, activating a skill that sent shockwaves through the air. Dust scattered everywhere as the man, undoubtedly the leader of this village, soared through the air towards the monster.

Raising his ax high, he sent mana pouring into the weapon, bringing it down like a thunderbolt on the eel’s head. The monster hissed and surged upwards, opening its mouth wide. As the two collided, a blast wave shot outwards from the collision, sending a dome of energy crackling through the air. The eel struggled for a moment and then was pummeled into the ground, weakened by the continuous strikes from below.

Jonathan kept running, wary of reprisal from the villagers, to whose village he had led the beast. He did not look back. A few miles away, he stopped to gather his breath, and Smite wore off, filling his body with fatigue. It was a far cry from unconsciousness, but the effects did scale somewhat with the amount of Divinity he placed in the skill, which meant that the aftereffects did as well. He sat down, taking a few deep breaths, and Edgar hopped off his back.

“That eel almost had us,” the other man said, seeming a little shaken by the experience. “Only your quick thinking saved us. I have grown quite cocky with my Tier 2 power, but it means little in the face of overwhelming might.”

“That creature might have been strong, but it was little in the face of Granath’s might,” Jonathan replied, trying to keep his mind on the end goal. “We need to get more power, and quickly at that. With my new runic abilities, I have a few ideas that I want to test out. But first, let’s get out of here. We’re too close to that village for comfort. I’m sure that powerhouse Uthraki spotted us.”

Without further ado, Jonathan used the token, teleporting himself and Edgar out of Tartarus. It was time to engrave one of the Mana Magnet Arrays on his friend, and the guards. In an effort to conserve Divinity, Jonathan decided to wait until he could gather as many people as possible. it would be more efficient that way.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

Before Edgar could question anything, Jonathan raced out of the cave, waving his hand for the other man to follow. They both dashed down the mountainside and into the city, where Jonathan started rounding up everyone that he could see over level 75. He wanted to save this array for people who actually mattered in the grand scheme of things. If he went around granting it to everyone, the city would quickly turn into a mana desert, which would serve nobody. He knew little about the ways of mana, but there was likely something on it within the diary.

Jonathan had found it suspicious that there were so many anecdotes to things only slightly related to the ostensible meaning of the book, almost as if Patrulanus, the mysterious man who had penned it, was trying to prime somebody to take up his position. In any case, it hardly mattered now.

By the time that he was done, Jonathan had gathered over a dozen guards, as well as Eva. Other than that, there was nobody else at that level. Noncombat classers were too weak to try to gain essence through combat, at least in this region, and hardly needed to at any rate. Other than stats, they mainly used their Pathway skills. Because the System of this world did not excessively gatekeep skills or experience behind levels or Tiers, this was fine.

Jonathan quickly gathered up his slightly confused charges, and took them back to his cave. He could only imagine what they were thinking at this point. He also noticed that Edgar had drifted back towards Eva, and now had his arm around the woman’s shoulder. She was smiling brightly at the contact. Jonathan only hoped that no tragedy would break up the couple. Their relationship was still in its infancy, but he knew that Edgar genuinely cared about the woman. The only problem was that she was nowhere near as talented as Edgar or Jonathan were. She would undoubtedly fall behind eventually, and in a realm spanning quest, that could not be tolerated. Still, Edgar could enjoy his bliss for now. Jonathan was not so hardened that he would deny him that. Edgar was wise enough to not take it further than was necessary. They eventually reached the cave, where Jonathan paused.

“I know you all must be confused as to why I brought you here, other than Edgar, but rest assured, it is for a good reason.” He peeled off a plate of his armor, showing them the array on his skin. “This is a spell construct that I recently learned to create, one that will increase your mana regeneration rate. it is only a small amount, but I believe that it might be beneficial.”

He had expected scorn, or perhaps a slight feeling of gratitude from the others, but he was not prepared for the stunned silence that ensued. Eva broke it a moment later.

“Is this for real? You managed to create a permanent glyph construct?” She asked, seeming incredulous. Jonathan frowned. Had he inadvertently created something too powerful to be plausible?

“Uhh… yes?” Jonathan responded.

“Well, I never took you for a glyph master, but you must have hidden depths,” Eva replied, looking impressed. “I look forward to helping you test it out.”

Jonathan nodded, relieved, and started to draw the array on the ground to show the others what it did. it looked like none of the people here were experienced enough to tell truth from fiction in the advanced applications of glyphs.

“I designed this to alleviate the negative effects of the low mana concentration in this realm. However, it can be used to power machinery, and bolster the regeneration of those under Tier 2. It is something that I cannot use too often however, as the mana concentration in the city will dip.”

“If that is true, faction leader, that is something that will greatly increase the power of this city,” one of the guards said. “Not that I doubt you, of course!” He hurriedly added.

“Relax. I’m not going to bite your head off for a turn of phrase,” Jonathan replied, smiling.

The man, and indeed a lot of other citizens, were used to the fickle temperaments of higher level beings, many of whom were insufferably arrogant.