Jonathan set his feet and grabbed the man’s hand out of the air, relying on his Martial Arts skill to carry him through. With a surge of motion, he twisted the Uthraki through the air, slamming him into the ground. The obsidian exploded upwards, and Jonathan felt bones break as the Uthraki met the Tier 2 obsidian. The man got to his feet a moment later, and twisted out of Jonathan’s grasp. His eyes were only growing brighter as the battle went on.

Jonathan sighed, and flitted between the man’s wild attacks. Whatever technique he was using was not doing much for his battle intelligence. Concerningly, those attacks were growing faster and faster. This battle needed to end quickly.

Jonathan summoned his reserves of the Void, and coated his fists in thick layers of the elemental energy. With a roar, he blasted his fist forwards, towards his foe. The Uthraki met it with a strike of his own, slaver dripping from his mouth. When the knife and the gauntlet met, there was an explosion of light as the two rival energies fought for dominance. However, Jonathan’s eventually won.

His fist smashed the dagger out of the way, surging forwards like the herald of the Uthraki’s doom. The man tried to get out of the way, but the strike was moving too rapidly. It caught him in the face, and flattened the Guildmaster’s visage like an industrial press crushing a stick of butter.

As the Uthraki flew backwards, his face in ruins, Jonathan flicked his legs, propelling himself forwards. He appeared above the Uthraki, and flipped around in midair, driving his heel into the man’s already devastated face. With a crunch, the man’s skull broke, finally killing him. Essence surged through the air, and into Jonathan’s body, sending him up another level. As the bloodied corpse dropped to the ground, he turned around to see Edgar fighting off a steadily increasing number of guild members.

He ran to the man’s aid, noting that Edgar barely needed any. A disc of swirling wind floated in front of him, blocking the entrance to the throne room. Behind him, tentacles of air kept the other Uthraki at bay. Every now and again, the shield would erupt with power, and a spike of energy lanced out, blasting through many Uthraki at once.

Jonathan simply watched as his companion made short work of the opposition. It was staggering to see how much Edgar had grown, even without the bonuses that Jonathan had. Of course, much of that was to do with the fact that both men had different specialties, but the fact remained that Edgar was impressive against large groups of enemies. He would have faltered against the Uthraki Guildmaster, but against the guards, he was flawless.

Jonathan decided to simply watch, and intervene if it was necessary. As tornadoes of power swept through the throne room, eviscerating the guards, he sat down, watching with interest. Their revenge had been a lot easier than he had expected. In fact, it had almost been no difficulty at all. Jonathan had not taken a single injury, and Edgar was on track to do the same. Still, the aspect of the fight that mattered, their revenge, was just as sweet. They would have to be more careful in the future though, as many of the Uthraki elders would likely know about their weakness. To get to the peak of Tier 2, they would undoubtedly have to fight some of those supremely powerful fighters, as well as the monsters that made this realm kneel to their power.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

It would be a mistake to assume that Granath was any less powerful than he would be at the same level. Although he possessed many benefits, his rise to power had been a lot hastier than the worm’s had been. No doubt Granath had spent his time gathering strength, rather than idly sitting in his city. Although his levels had stagnated, his growth most certainly had not. Jonathan would need to be ready for that.

As the last of the guards was obliterated by Edgar’s magic, Jonathan stood up. It was time for some hunting. They departed the city, caring little for what would happen now that the city lord was dead. As they strode out through the obsidian gates, the world of Tartarus extended in front of them. Only this time, they were the predators.

Jonathan was now faster and stronger than almost all beings at this Tier, save for true monsters, or those who had specialized in those stats. As the two men walked out into the world, they both grinned in unison. This would be fun.

Rather than heading towards their more familiar hunting grounds, they instead turned towards the center of the world. It was time to see what the fabled interior had to offer in terms of essence. The monsters there were incredibly powerful, and Jonathan was salivating at the thought of testing himself against them. Ancient Uthraki cities that had survived the departure of Granath, filled with beings at the very peak of their Tier, ones that had been given millennia to train. It would be a good warm up for Granath, if nothing else. Jonathan had another forty five levels to go until Tier 3, and it was time to start gathering them.

Over the next day, the two men made their way across the world, seeing things more incredible than anything that had witnessed in the Ash Heaps. Erupting volcanoes that covered entire country sized areas with lava, their peaks standing dozens of miles in the air. The roof of the world seemed to grow higher and higher the closer one got to the center, and they would likely find that it extended up further than the eye could see once they reached the very center. The fact that this realm was nothing more than the dregs of a world made on a whim of the System did not fill him with confidence about his ultimate fate, but such things were neither here nor there. The System was biding its time, but until then, Jonathan was safe.

Instead, he allowed himself to be taken in by the sights. Herds of mountain sized monsters galloping across the plains, causing the world to shudder in their path. Flying creatures so powerful that they simply flashed across the sky like bolts of lightning. Jonathan was still not at that level yet, but he had plenty of time to reach it. Every sight of a far stronger being simply filled him with more and more resolve to finish his quest.

Along the way, they were harassed by powerful monsters, but these were low enough level to not be too much of a problem. The higher level beasts were not interested in the relatively weak duo, simply ignoring them. They would feel Jonathan’s wrath eventually, but for now they were safe.