Somewhere within Jonathan’s soul

Sarnakthros drifted through the ethereal veils of Jonathan’s innermost soul, drawing power from his surroundings. The fallen god was in a curious state of being. He had ranked up from being within Jonathan’s soul as he had ranked up, but there was little he could do with the power. He was still weaker than a new Tier 1. There was nothing he could do, save for guiding Jonathan in the realm of Divinity. Even making his presence known took a lot out of him, and it would be a while until he recovered fully. He was stuck here until Jonathan reached a level of power sufficient to allow him to leave.

Even then, he would be bound to Jonathan until he reached a level of power high enough to survive on his own. His existence was in jeopardy, at the complete mercy of his host. If Jonathan died, so would Sarnakthros. If at any point, it was decided that Sarnakthros was an unwanted parasite, he would be expelled. After all, he was taking a portion of the essence that Jonathan was earning. It was a small amount, but noticeable. It was lucky that Jonathan had no idea what he was supposed to be earning in terms of essence.

In any case, Sarnakthros was able to make it worth Jonathan’s while in terms of the power that he offered. Besides, if nobody found out, then there would be no problem. Smiling slightly, Sarnaktrhos let sleep take him, and he simply floated through the streams of colored light that surrounded him. He would be out of commission for a while.

In Tartarus

A few days later, Jonathan found himself in Tartarus, hunting monsters with Edgar. The other man was gaining power almost as rapidly as he was. Jonathan’s leveling speed had slowed down even more, as he was not yet confident enough to challenge the strongest beasts of this realm. Edgar was doing better however. The man was only a few levels below Jonathan at this point, who stood at level 141. Both of them were far stronger than they had been upon entering this rank. By the end, Jonathan hoped to have crossed most of his thresholds, if not all of them. Only that would grant him the power he needed to defeat Granath.

He was nearing the second one for Dexterity, which would allow for him to balance out his prodigious strength. He was sitting around the middle of the eight hundreds in the stat, so he would need a bit more in terms of levels before he could reach his goal. He was looking forward to the leap in strength that he would gain from this.

As he and Edgar slowly and monotonously slaughtered their way through the weaker creatures of Tartarus, he was granted quite a bit of time to reflect on his plans for the future. In the near future, his most important task was gaining enough strength to defeat Granath, and free the Ash Heaps. That would mean finding more powerful skills, and boosting his stats to the maximum. Ranking up his pathway skills would be useful, but not entirely necessary, or indeed feasible.

Taking his Journeyman rank skills to the next rank would take months, time that he did not have. His momentum was the only thing keeping him moving, and if that disappeared, then he would be left bereft of purpose.

He kept fighting alongside Edgar for a while, using his faction sheet to keep an eye on the status of his city. Time seemed to blur as he fought his way across the plains. A wake of corpses was left behind him, creating a trail across the area. They had covered hundreds of square miles in search of prey, and the area was starting to grow bare. However, as long as Jonathan was able to keep apprised of the situation in the city, he was happy. Time was of no consequence to him for now, as there was no upcoming attack. Like before, any decrease in the number of citizens would mean an attack.

Luckily for him however, no such attacks came, and he was able to stay in Tartarus, leveling up to his heart’s desire. He had a very solid base now, and the only thing to do was to add more to it. If his titles, elemental energy and pathway skills were the foundation, then his levels were the building that he built on top of it.

Eventually, the weaker monsters simply stopped giving enough essence to be worthwhile, and he was forced to reevaluate their path.

“I think it’s time to go further afield in search of enemies,” Jonathan said, as Edgar came to a stop next to him. As the man floated down from the air, he nodded.

“Do you think we’re ready to take on one of those cities? Both of us have increased a lot in strength since we first came to this world.”

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“I believe that might just be the case,” Jonathan replied. “Let me check my stat sheet. I might be hovering on the edge of another threshold. If that is the case, I might as well do it now. I’m fine with you seeing me crying like a baby. I’m not sure about the Uthraki.” Jonathan laughed at the end, trying to console himself with the light bit of humor.

Before starting, he steeled himself for a possible threshold ceremony. Without waiting any longer, he opened it.

Jonathan Harlowe

Tier 2

Void Human(Advanced)

Divinity Aspect: Void Hegemon

Elemental Mastery: 10%

Elemental Juggernaut: Tier 2 Legendary

Level 149

(45 free points)

Strength

1220

Dexterity

903

Constitution

611

Resilience

659

Intelligence

647

Wisdom

640

Divinity

10

Health: 9165/9165

Stamina: 27450/27450

Mana: 9705/9705

* Titles

True Unbound Spirit: Unique

Nascent God: Transcendent

Forceful Initiate: Mythical

Lesser Xenocide: Legendary

Greater Giantslayer: Legendary

Iron Will: Epic

Leader of Men: Epic

Refined Form: Epic

Avenger: Epic

Lineage Hunter: Rare

Righteous Killer: Rare

* Skills

Hungering Decay: Mythical

Greater Smite: Mythical

Rune Savant: Legendary

Void Drill: Legendary

Void Cannon: Legendary

Stamina Redirection: Legendary

Channeled Basic Truesight: Legendary

Sense the Weave: Legendary

Warrior’s Trance: Epic

Fists of the Hurricane: Epic

Battle Focus: Rare

Impact: Rare

Focused Scry: Rare

Runes of Power: Rare

Redirect: Uncommon

* Pathway Skills

Mana Manipulation: Journeyman 2

Runecrafting: Journeyman 1

Martial Arts: Journeyman 1

Truesight: Journeyman 1

* Martial Path

Flowing Hurricane: Journeyman 1

* Quests

The Strongest: ???

Hellbreaker: Impossible

Complete Vengeance: SSS