It seemed safe enough, so Jonathan took a bite. The fruit was soft, and tasted vaguely metallic. He choked down the rest of it, and felt his fists begin to burn. He looked down, and saw that his armor was creaking as his fists expanded and contracted. The fruit dissolved in his stomach, sending tendrils of energy to his arms, which quickly were converted into layers of diamond hard skin on top of his fists.
Jonathan clenched his teeth as the burning intensified, but it stopped after a few moments. It had been nothing compared to the pain of his thresholds. Jonathan peeled off his gauntlets, noting the changes to his hands. His skin looked the same, but it was clearly thicker, and it almost seemed to have a crystalline structure to it now. It was hard to see, even with his advanced senses, but he could detect that the molecular structure of his skin had tightened. With a grin, he walked out of the cave, ready to test it out.
He stood in front of the rockface a few minutes later, and began to whale on the mountainside with his fists. The damage that they dealt was almost as much as his gauntlets had done before. Not a single bit of pain radiated out from his fists as he struck, which meant that he would be able to use his new strength more effectively in the future. With a smile, he put his gauntlets back on. He was making a lot of progress. Perhaps he would be ready for the forces of Granath when they came.
The next few days passed in the blink of an eye, split between training and recruitment missions in Tartarus. Jonathan found two more Uthraki conscripts, both of whom were weaker than Hushar and Tukar. Still, they would be useful in the end.
Maranta and Bordeg were a brother-sister pair who governed a large village together. Individually, their power was lacking, but they had honed the art of cooperation over their many years in Tartarus. They would be a great asset to the cause. More importantly, Jonathan had eked out another five levels from the monsters of Tartarus, once more allocating his points into Dexterity. Combined with the natural treasure, his threshold enhanced strength was no longer as much of a concern. He was as ready as he could get for the oncoming onslaught.
As well as that, the city had prepared in earnest for the battle, reinforcing their defenses. All of the able bodied fighters had leveled up with the help of Eva and Edgar over the last few days, bringing them closer to the top of Tier 1. Still, they would be greatly outnumbered, but that would not matter much. Jonathan was a match for an almost unlimited number of Tier 1s at this point. The same went for the other Tier 2 fighters of the city. No, the main problem was going to be the enemy Tier 2s.
When the assault finally came, it did so with a sense of collapsing anticipation. An echoing hum rose up over the ash, the sound of tens of thousands of feet marching in unison. A tide of silver coursed across the ash, covering the horizon in front of the city. The artillery of the city began to fire as alarms blared. Streaks of energy and more mundane projectiles flew towards the oncoming army, the superior construction of the siege weaponry allowing for their loads to travel miles through the air. A catapult on Earth would have been hard pressed to clear a half mile. These ones could go over ten times that distance.
As the attacks hit, the enemy mages started to create a glimmering force field over the bulk of the army, resisting the strikes. A moment later, the Uthraki, who were waiting on a large tower of rock outside the city walls, began to combine their forces. A massive spike of rock rose out of the ground, trembling as it broke free of its earthly constraints. Faces pursed in effort, the Uthraki lifted the spike into the air, before launching it towards the enemy army. As if planned, a cannon on the wall shot a projectile after it, exploding behind the spike.
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The explosion launched it like a meteor, sending the fifty foot long projectile hissing through the air. Jonathan watched eagerly as the spike impacted the force field. The field flickered and failed as the Uthraki exerted their will upon their creation. A moment later, the spike hit, sending a mushroom cloud of dust up into the sky. However, the main bulk of the army was undeterred. A few seconds later, they charged, heading towards the city walls.
Behind them, a storm of magical projectiles rose up, launched by the Tier 2 mages of the Dread Legion. Arcing over the heads of the other soldiers, they flew towards the city walls. The mages on Jonathan’s side created their own shields, but there was a clear difference in power between them and the enemy. Each shield shattered after even a glancing hit, allowing the strikes to enter the city.
Houses were blasted into ruins by the strikes, but eventually, Edgar managed to create a swirling tornado of elemental energy that sucked up all of the projectiles. The Uthraki then layered their elemental mastery on top of the walls, creating bulwarks of stone. Those walls of rock caught the incoming projectiles, keeping them away from the city. They were quickly ground down to nubs by the barrage, but they held for long enough to be useful.
By this point, the front lines of the enemy army were halfway across the plain, and Jonathan got a good look at the leaders. Three fighters were at the head of the army, all of whom were crackling with dark power. A man, clad in midnight plate, wielding a sword that flickered in and out of reality was at the head. Next to him was a woman, holding a long crystalline staff. She was surrounded by a glimmering force field that was just barely visible from the walls. Finally, there was a red skinned man wearing no armor at all, with his muscular body exposed to the world. He wore only a loincloth, and wielded a massive club made out of volcanic rock.
All of them radiated power, but only the leader felt like a threat to Jonathan. The other two were on about the same level as Yaltan had been. However, the man with the strange sword was even stronger. Despite this, it had been a while since the last time Granath’s dogs had come calling to this city, and Jonathan had grown exponentially in power since then. He was not the same man who had almost died to that elven warrior all those weeks ago. He was stronger than that now.
With a grin, he leaped from the walls, and started running towards the three leaders. Behind him, Edgar began to lay down supporting fire, creating a storm of wind blades that arced towards the front lines. As the tide of men and armor raced towards the city, Jonathan charged out to meet it, one man against a tide. He only had eyes for the leaders however.
With a roar, he leaped the last hundred feet or so, using his new strength to propel himself at high speeds. The enemy leaders stopped, and prepared for impact. The woman extended her shield around the two warriors, beginning to charge up a spell with her staff. Meanwhile, the dark armor clad man eyed Jonathan up, and started to imbue his sword with energy. FInally, the brute grinned, and began to charge, his club raised high.
Jonathan stood his ground, watching as the behemoth of a man bellowed a challenge. He was of the same demonic hybrid race as Ralnar had been, the race that Jonathan now knew was the product of breeding between Uthraki and normal people by Granath. Before Jonathan could do anything however, a flash of red streaked by him, impacting the warrior in the chest. Hushar was revealed a moment later, his ax buried in the hilt of the club. The warrior pushed the Uthraki away, looking at him in surprise.
“A progenitor?” He asked in confusion, before Hushar struck again.
“Do not sully my ears with your words, abomination!” Hushar shouted in response, before whipping his ax back. He was more than evenly matched with the brute, as he had both a higher level, and no mana inhibition.