With that avenue of inquiry over, Jonathan slipped back into mindless training, whiling away the hours until he could depart for Tartarus. There was no increase in his skill, but such increases only came with time. He had to be patient.

By the time he was done, he was itching for a change in scenery, and when the subtle mental hint that his token had recharged entered his psyche, he pulled it out and used it. He could have brought Edgar along, but for a mission like this, more people would have made it harder. Besides, that would require him to strand the other man in Tartarus, as the token could only take one additional person with it.

With a whoosh, he was transported to the subterranean hellscape of Tartarus, exiting outside of the village where he had met Hushar. The nearby Uthraki snarled upon seeing the unexpected intruder, but then seemed to recognize him, and stopped. One of them stepped forward, a grizzled, bearded Uthraki who was far older than the others.

“Where did you bring our leader?” He asked, peering at Jonathan through rheumy eyes. Either he was extremely old, or was a mage of some sort. High stats should have prevented such things.

“Back to my world. He is safe for now.”

“I warn you, if something has happened to Chief Hushar, you will not survive the wrath of our people,” the old man said, mustering conviction that belied his appearance.

“He is integral to my plans. Why would I betray him?” Jonathan said, scoffing.

He had to make it look like he was a lot more confident than he was. He was surrounded by beings that drastically outleveled him, after all. He could easily dispatch one or even a few of them, but all of them together? There was no chance. He would have to run, and then waste a token charge.

Evidently satisfied, the Uthraki walked away, leaving him in peace. Jonathan shook his head, and walked off. He would need to find another village for the next stage of his plan.

The plain of smooth volcanic rock, interspersed with lava flows and small hills, extended out into the horizon, providing Jonathan with little guidance, and even less direction. He would need to wander until he could find another village, it seemed. Before, he had scouted the land from the top of a hill, but now that he was on the plain, he was not sure where exactly the nearest village was from here. It wasn't that they were especially distant from one another, with each village only being a few dozen miles apart, or even less in some cases. Rather, it was quite difficult to spot the relatively tiny settlements amid the cavernous expanse of Tartarus.

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As he wandered, he attracted the attention of various monsters of the realm, ranging from elementals to scaly beasts that crawled out of the lava. The first encounter was with a twisting pillar of flame that hissed across the ground, turning the rock that it touched to a smooth, glassy substance. It looked like a fire tornado, with a vaguely anthropomorphic head, made so by a pair of glowing red eyes, made out of condensed fire. As it moved, it created an unearthly howling noise, as the air around it was burnt away to sustain its infernal heat.

The creature seemed to be little more than a simple automaton, only capable of chasing its prey. However, as it possessed little to no weight, it could move quite rapidly, which meant that Jonathan had to stand and fight. Physical attacks were useless against a creature like this, which meant that he would need to use his energy abilities.

The creature whipped forwards, sending a tendril of fire rocketing in from the left. Jonathan ducked the blow, and responded with a swift punch, empowered by the energy of the Void. It was only a minimal amount, in order to test the strength of his enemy. His fist made contact with the flame, sending its charge of energy into the elemental. Where it struck, a disc of dark energy shot out, consuming the flame like a bucket of water had been dropped on it. The elemental severed the tendril at the root, causing the tentacle of flame to be eaten up completely by Jonathan’s hungry elemental energy.

He smiled at this. It looked like his attacks were anathema to pure energy beings. He moved in, rocketing forwards with a quick application of his stamina redirection ability. Leaving twin craters from his sheer speed, he hurtled towards the elemental, his fist blazing with light.

A whip of flame slashed across his side, leaving burns down his abdomen, but he tanked the hit in order to get a more advantageous position. His fist sunk into the center of the elemental, blasting out a portion of its incorporeal form into the ether.

A shockwave of darkness spread outwards, which the monster barely sequestered in time. Despite its vulnerability on account of its form, the creature also had natural advantages that made this fight not entirely trivial. It could separate its form in any way that it wanted, only limited by its reaction time.

As Jonathan drew back, the air started to heat up, as the monster unleashed its full heat. Waves of broiling heat spread out from the creature, and a moment later, the air ignited as the oxygen burst into flame. A dome of fire rocketed outwards from the elemental, and picked Jonathan off his feet, blasting his skin with pure heat. Blisters formed over this front, his armor doing little to protect him from the heat. Such were the weaknesses of metal armor. Metal armor was great at redirecting force, but it acted like an oven if enough heat was pumped into it, roasting its wearer alive. However, Jonathan was tougher than that.

He caught himself a few dozen feet away, and raised one hand, sending a pulse of Voidlight outwards. His Void Cannon skill went off with a bang, and the lance of energy tore through the elemental a moment later, ripping its form in two. An explosion of energy finished the job, blasting the monster into a few embers drifting in the air. Essence rushed into Jonathan, taking him up a level to 124.