Jonathan appeared in Tartarus a moment later, standing within the village that Tukar had led. He left the village behind in moments, racing out into the volcanic plains of the realm. He had some big game to hunt. Spotting some likely prey a few miles away, a small herd of massive mammalian creatures, he raced towards their position. With his new Strength, if he really let it loose, he could propel himself forwards far faster than ever before. It functioned similarly to his Stamina Redirection skill, in that he moved faster than his conscious mind could track.
He flashed across the ground, covering the distance in less than fifteen seconds. The monsters didn't know what hit them. They looked like bison, with long, shaggy fur that sparked occasionally. Embers fell from their long, matted manes of fur every now and then, flaring on the ground. Large tusks curled out of their lips, and their bodies were covered in dense muscle.
Jonathan registered this all in the blink of an eye, before his fist hammered forwards. He let loose as much of his strength as he could, without using any other abilities. Before, the beasts would have likely been bruised by a punch from him, but the results this time were very different. Bones shattered, and the monster was torn off its feet, slamming into the ground a few dozen feet away. Jonathan’s hand ached, but his regeneration reversed the muscular damage soon enough.
The monster that he had struck struggled to move, but he had broken enough bones to make that impossible. The other monsters charged him, roaring, but he ignored them. Pumping his stamina into his body, he moved so fast that the air imploded behind him. He raised one fist, imbuing it with the light of the Void, and then brought it down on the monster’s brow. Its entire skull caved in, and gore splattered everywhere, painting his armor red. Essence rushed into him, sending him up another level. After the battle at the city, he had been hovering on the edge.
A wave of power washed through him, but it was nothing like the power that he had gained from his threshold. Compared to that veritable mountain of potency, this was like a tiny stream. He kept moving, knowing that his durability was lagging well behind his strength. Although he could kill these creatures with ease, they could kill him if they got a solid hit in.
He could scarcely imagine just how durable he would be if he reached the second threshold of Resilience. His skin would be like metal at that point, and with his boons, perhaps it would be as hard as diamond. That was an intriguing thought, even more so than how strong he was in Earth terms. However, he had a battle to fight before he could indulge.
With a quick flip, he vaulted over a charging beast, slamming one fist down into its spine as he went. Bones buckled and vertebrae snapped, paralyzing the monster. He landed on its back a moment later, before raising one hand high above his head. With a devastating karate chop, imbued with the power of his mana and elemental energy, he split the monster in half, sending two ragged chunks of flesh falling to the ground. Essence poured into him, but it was of a negligible amount. He pushed it aside for now, and kept going.
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The remaining beasts were pawing the ground anxiously, knowing that he could kill them in the blink of an eye. Neither were they running however, which was strange. Perhaps even prey animals in this world thought like predators. Jonathan stepped forwards, landing on the ground next to the severed corpse of his latest kill. His aura surged outwards, almost unbidden. With his new increases in strength, it was like an almost solid force, and for the briefest of moments, he felt a small connection to the world around him. Then it was gone as the dome of purple light rolled out.
The hair on the monsters stood on end under the force of his aura, and they almost broke there and then, running away. However, one of them, some sort of alpha figure, roared in challenge, bolstering their wills. It was a lot larger than the other ones, standing about five feet higher at the shoulder than its brethren. This one was the true danger here.
Jonathan had barely noticed it however, so absorbed was he in his fight. He cracked his knuckles, and started running towards the latest challenger, his eyes blazing with power. The monster roared again and charged, a bloody red light limning its form. All of the monsters here seemed to draw from the same palette of magical abilities. Either they were Earth related, or some sort of empowerment skill.
The charge left craters behind it as the beast broke the sound barrier, and Jonathan changed his course slightly. A full on collision from the monster would likely break his bones to dust. Instead, he slipped by, raking his gauntlet along the length of the beast's body. As he did so, he used Mana Saber to create a long blade of energy that ripped through its skin, aided by his strength. At this point, his physical might rivaled that of a being many levels higher than himself, and it was showing. A mere Rare ability should not have been able to pierce the skin of such a high level monster, not without a truly egregious expenditure of mana. However, his physical might allowed him to push it in, cutting through tough flesh with ease.
The monster roared in pain and whirled around, trying to dislodge the blade. However, it was made out of pure energy, and it was not as easy to break away from as a more mundane weapon. All that happened was that it dragged the blade through its body, cutting even deeper.
Behind it, some of the other monsters seemed to gain courage, and charged, seeking to protect their leader. Jonathan eyed them warily, and banished the blade, leaping up onto the back of the alpha. One of the other monsters flashed through the space that he was standing in, leaving craters in the ground. Before he could be bucked off, he started to whale on the alpha’s back, sending tremors racing through it.
However, this beast was on a different level to the others, and the strikes did far less damage than they had dealt to the other beasts. Instead of paralysis, all they resulted in were a few minor bone fractures, and profuse bruising.
The monster reared up on its hind legs, and started to tip backwards, a mainstay for beasts when another was on their back. Jonathan knew how this rodeo went, and leaped over the monster’s head just as it reached the point of no return. With a grin, he slammed mana down into his fist, and hammered it into the beast’s underbelly. Blood and flesh exploded outwards, and organs ruptured under the apocalyptic strike.
A desperate lowing noise rose up from the mouth of the bison like beast, and it rolled to the side, getting to its feet. At this point, its body was in ruins. The only real challenge to Jonathan at this point was avoiding its hits.