Edgar caught on quickly, and sent blades of wind towards the monsters, cutting their heads off rapidly. Jonathan banished the Mana Saber, and instead brought loosely controlled Void energy to his fists, using it like fire. Every time a head fell to the ground, Jonathan was there, ready to burn the stump into oblivion. More than a few strikes got through to him, given how close he was getting, but they simply slipped off his armor, leaving disgusting trails of slime.

As he worked his way through the tide of living corpses, he slowly sank into a rhythm, able to ignore the grotesque task that was before him. By the time the battle had ended, he was covered in filth from the beasts, but they were still dead. More essence entered him, finally enough to gain a level. Those lizards had not been especially strong, but their regeneration abilities would have rendered a normal fight almost impossible without a mage.

Jonathan stumbled back, trying to get away from the pile of rotting corpses. The smell still lingered on his armor, and he found Edgar backing away as he approached. Stopping, he raised his hands in a begging gesture. Edgar shook his head in amazement at the muck covering Jonathan, before summoning a gust of wind. With the wind, he blew the viscera off of Jonathan’s armor, finally rendering him clean. However, he still felt dirty. As he left the small pile of gore behind him, he sighed, taking a quick look at his stat sheet. It had been some time since he had last done so.

Jonathan Harlowe

Tier 2

Void Human(Potent)

Divinity Aspect: Void Hegemon

Elemental Mastery: 10%

Elemental Juggernaut: Tier 2 Legendary

Level 162

(72 free points)

Strength

1285

Dexterity

1041

Constitution

676

Resilience

752

Intelligence

712

Wisdom

705

Divinity

10

Health: 10140/10140

Stamina: 28913/28913

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Mana: 10680/10680

* Titles

True Unbound Spirit: Unique

Nascent God: Transcendent

Forceful Initiate: Mythical

Hasty 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 2

Martial Arts: Journeyman 2

Truesight: Journeyman 2

* Martial Path

Flowing Hurricane: Journeyman 2

* Quests

The Strongest: ???

Hellbreaker: Impossible

Complete Vengeance: SSS

His stat sheet looked to be in order, and he enjoyed gazing upon the list of his achievements. It was a tangible indication of how far he had come. Many of his stats were starting to approach the second threshold, and the number of free points that he had was rising. He gained nine per level, which meant that by the end of the Tier, he would easily have passed all of his thresholds. For now however, he saved them. For this dungeon, he hardly needed them. He closed the sheet, and looked over at Edgar.

“I hope there aren’t more of those monsters here,” Jonathan said, knowing that there almost certainly would be.

“At least we drastically outlevel them. Reminds me of this hunting trip that my father took me on one day.”

Normally Jonathan would have been too focused on their task to engage in idle chatter but he needed something to distract him.

“Hmm?”

“When I was but a young prince, about sixteen years old, my father decided to show me the dangers of hunting monsters. Remember, this was the man who forced me to execute a criminal when I was even younger.” Jonathan started walking, and Edgar hurried to catch up. “Anyway, he left me in the middle of nowhere, near a nest of massive ants. They scoured the land for any food sources, and they were far stronger than me. My father rode off, leaving me there, to what I assumed was my death.”

“Your father sounds like an asshole,” Jonathan said. “Sorry if that’s a bit harsh.”

“No, I’ve called him worse things in the past. However, that is neither here nor there. When I was out there, waiting for what I assumed was my death, I cursed my father, and everyone else that I could think of. The ants came some time later, attracted by my noise. As they scurried towards me, faster than I could track, one of my father’s guards came hurtling across the land, his sword ablaze. He destroyed the ants in the blink of an eye. That reminded me that no matter how terrifying a monster is, strength is always more important. I would rather face a thousand of the most grotesque monsters in existence, than the most beautiful one imaginable, if those grotesque ones were below my level.”

Jonathan could appreciate the sentiment, and he simply nodded. By that time, they were approaching another nest of the lizards, which were quickly dealt with. Using Edgar’s wind to blast the filth off him felt just as unsatisfactory as before. However, there was little that could be done about it. Instead, Jonathan consoled himself by blasting apart the corpses with his Void Cannon skill. As the monsters were reduced to ashes, he finally smiled. Leaving the blasted corpses behind, he moved on.

He and Edgar butchered their way across the cavern with ease, not taking any wounds at all. It would become harder and harder as they ascended the tower, but it was still incredibly easy as of now. By the time they reached that level, their own levels would match it.