The four monsters regrouped, growling low in their throats as they did so. Jonathan shook his head, and advanced, feeling weaker with every step. The monsters weren’t in much better shape either, but the injuries that he had inflicted on them were all in non vital places, as opposed to his wrist wounds. One of the monsters broke formation to snap at him, and he quickly snatched its front paws out of the air, flipping it upside down, and using his redirection skill as he did so. He swung with all of his might on top of the skill’s effect, and when the monster struck the ground, it did so with bone breaking force. With a brutal strike, Jonathan broke its spine, killing the creature.
The other three were already upon him however, and it was too late for him to repeat the same maneuver. He went down beneath the snapping jaws of the monsters, and he felt them tear deeper into his skin and bone as they assaulted him. He lashed out with his gauntlets, feeling bones breaking and the sizzling of flesh as his reward. However, he was unable to fully dislodge the monsters, and they continued to injure him as they attacked. Finally, he was able to kill one of the monsters, and he was left with only two to deal with. That would have been within his capabilities before, but now he was far weaker than he had been at the start of the fight.
He snatched at the air, grabbing one of the monsters’ throats by sheer luck. He clenched his fist as tightly as he could, and he was rewarded with the feeling of a collapsing windpipe under his hand. Finally, there was only one monster left. This one was the strongest of the lot, and it was able to overpower Jonathan, forcing him into the ground. He punched at his stomach with his failing strength, unable to get it off him. With a final surge of energy, he pressed his hands together, and summed more mana that he had ever before, breathing a soccer ball sized orb of light. The attack burnt through the thing’s stomach like an ax through human skin, and it recoiled, howling in pain. Jonathan stumbled to his feet, and finished the monster off with a blow from his right hand. As the essence entered his body, he collapsed, completely spent.
“Oi, Jonas! He’s getting up!” A reedy voice came from somewhere behind Jonathan’s head, and he jolted awake. He was sitting in a cart, one with bars on its windows and a lock on the door. He was surrounded with other lost souls, each of whom looked dejected. Behind him was a scrawny rat of a man, missing most of his teeth. He was the one who had remarked on his awakening.
“Where am I? Am I a prisoner?” Jonathan asked the man, confused as to what had happened. He had just been fighting those Ash Prowlers, before he had collapsed. A few notifications were waiting for him, but he ignored them. He had healed, which meant that he had gained at least one level for his troubles.
“Ya don’t know? You were captured by slavers, just like the rest of us. Yours is a life of pain and misery now, just like ours,” the man replied. “Anyway, let’s not dwell on that. I’m Danny, and this here is Jonas.” He pointed to a small doll lying on the floor. It was a uniquely ugly creation, made out of matted straw and what looked like human sinew. Jonathan frowned, and gave the man a look.
“You mean that doll?”
“Shh! Jonas doesn't like it when people call him a doll,” Danny replied. Jonathan sighed. The man was clearly insane. The other prisoners ignored his prattle completely, and Jonathan soon followed them. However, it seemed that Danny would not be satisfied by that.
"So, where do you come from?” he asked Jonathan. When Jonathan did not answer, he prodded him with his hand. It was meant to jostle Jonathan, but he didn't move an inch. Danny gasped.
“Damn, you're like a rock! What level are you?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
“What level are you?” Jonathan asked in turn. He would not give out any information to any of these people, let alone Danny.
“Level 4. I managed to kill a few monsters before the slavers picked me up. What about you though?”
“Higher than that.” As Jonathan looked around the carriage, he scanned the other prisoners. They were all incredibly low level. A spark of hope surged within Jonathan’s chest as he realized that this carriage was likely made for the weak, and would not hold up to him. He got to his feet, noticing that his armor was missing, and walked over to the bars. They were quite thin, but still too strong for any normal human to bend. However, Jonathan was far from normal. He took a firm grip of the bars with each hand, and began to pull. Laughter erupted behind him, but it quickly turned to shocked silence as the metal warped underneath his hands. With a rage fueled jolt, he tore the bars out of the brittle wood underneath. A blaring alarm started up, and he walked out of the carriage.
There were a dozen other carriages arranged in a neat line, traversing the ash. The one that he had been in was part of a convoy, and it seemed to be filled entirely with slaves and their guards. Every two carriages, two guards rode on strangely mutated horses. As soon as they saw Jonathan escaping, the nearest ones whirled around and charged at him.
"Stop right now!” One of them bellowed, his voice stern. Rather than run, Jonathan held his ground. He would not leave this place without freeing the other slaves. He had come here to destroy the Hells, not contribute to their injustice. As the guard neared him, with no intention of stopping, Jonathan twisted to the side and grabbed his lance. With a quick heave, he tore the man out of his saddle and sent him crashing into a nearby carriage. Smiling, he raced towards the other guard, leaping at the last moment. The guard swung their sword in slow motion, and Jonathan plucked it out of the air, clipping up and over it, unbalancing the guard. With a quick kick, he staved in the woman’s head, killing her instantly. The guards were quite a bit weaker than him, but they were still both level 17. He was just an anomaly in the grand scheme of things. Some of the slaves were beginning to spill out of the carriage that Jonathan had left, and were starting to run.
‘Stop!” Jonathan called out, but they ignored him. A moment later, a guard skewered two of them on his lance. Jonathan roared in rage, and pushed his speed to its maximum, briefly moving at upwards of a hundred miles per hour. He only moved at that speed for a few seconds, but it was enough. Before the guard could strike again, Jonathan crashed into his steed, knocking the horse off its feet.
The guard crashed to the ground, and Jonathan was on top of him in an instant. He raised one fist and brought it crashing down, the light of mana suffusing his form. Gore splattered the ash as he splatted the guard’s head, and before the guard’s partner could strike, he rolled forward, getting out of the way of an ax strike. Placing his hand on the ground, he pushed himself up into the air, leaping over the guard’s head. He flipped around in the air, and drove his heel into the guard’s head, killing him instantly. It had barely been thirty seconds, and four of the guards were already down.
A moment later, pain tore through his right arm, and he looked down to see a gaping hole in it. A spike of energy had just passed straight through it. He looked around, and saw a robed man stepping out of one of the carriages towards the front of the convoy. He raised a staff, and sent another spike of energy towards Jonathan. Jonathan dodged and began to make his way towards the mage, zigzagging to avoid the attacks. Despite the other man’s obvious power, his coordination was lacking, and he was unable to land a single strike on Jonathan. However, even as he reached the man, the mage did not seem perturbed. Jonathan punched forward with all of his might, aiming for the mage’s head. A blue shield snapped into existence as soon as he punched, and his fist crashed into it, bouncing off. One of his knuckles cracked, and Jonathan roared in rage.
“Not so confident now, are you, you filthy beast?” The mage scoffed, readying another attack. This one felt far more powerful to Jonathan, and he knew that he would not be able to get out of the way in time. Instead, he summoned his own mana, forcing it towards the burgeoning clump of energy. The mage’s eyes widened as Jonathan's tendril of energy passed through his shield and pierced into his hand. There was a massive explosion that was thankfully contained by the shield, and as the dust cleared, all that Jonathan could see was a pool of blood where the man had been. A few notifications pulsed in the corner of his mind, but he pushed them aside for now.