The gorilla monster was next on his list, but he saw that Edgar was already taking care of it, taking advantage of the lull in the fight. The monster was writhing underneath the man, trying to get to him, but it was futile. Spikes of wind drove further and further into the flesh of the monster, creating massive wounds. Even worse for the monster, the spider was still attacking it, using every advantage that it could get. It looked like the simian monster was a bit more intelligent than the spider was, because it seemed to be trying to reconcile with the monster, so that they could attack the invaders. However, with every other monster dead, there was no hope left.
The gorilla soon died to Edgar’s attacks, coupled with the damage that it took from the spider, leaving the final monster standing over the corpse of the gorilla. It hissed, before gathering energy around its mandibles. Webbing started to spray out of its body, cloaking the ground in its crystalline embrace. A beam of light shot out of the monster’s mouth, refracting along the crystal strands. As it passed through the webbing, it gathered strength, until a mighty beam of power surged towards Jonathan. Even with all of his strength, he could not dodge light itself. Instead, he read the motion of the beam as it moved through its path, and threw himself to the side at the last moment.
The attack screamed through the air, ionizing the gas as it went. It slammed into the cavern wall a moment later, burrowing into the wall of the dungeon. Before the monster could attack once more, Jonathan raced towards it, burning energy swirling around his hands. He leaped towards the creature, helped by a gust of wind from Edgar, and came down on its head with a lightning fast punch. His attack sent cracks racing across the spider’s body, but it was quite a bit more durable than the other monsters had been. It recoiled and swiped at him with its legs. He redirected the force with his skill, and then struck again, digging his fist into the monster’s crystalline flesh. More cracks followed the first set, and chunks of crystal started to fall. A moment later, the body of the spider was coming apart underneath him, and a tide of essence propelled him to the next level. He stepped off the mound of discorporating crystal, and wiped his hands free of the dust.
“Well, that was a bit underwhelming,” Jonathan said.
“I agree. None of the monsters were especially hard to deal with, at least with my skill set, and your presence. Perhaps you are just too far ahead of the curve for the System to deal with.”
“I think my threshold helped a lot. I took a few hits during that battle that would have been devastating otherwise. Now, all they left were some minor bruising.”
“Your progression rate is like a cheat,” Edgar said, shaking his head “Now, I’m not complaining, as I have ridden your coattails to glory, but it’s still sometimes hard to wrap my head around.”
Not sure what to say to something like that, Jonathan settled for a simple nod.
A few minutes later, they were standing in front of the crystal that the boss had stood in front of. It glowed with a faint white light, and if Jonathan peered into its depths closely enough, he could see a faint figure there. He laid out one hand, and scanned the crystal.
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
Martial Remembrance
Untiered
This crystal contains the martial technique of Jerron Almades, a Master Rank swordsman. Using the crystal will allow the user to gain a fraction of his skills, in whatever area that they choose. There is far more to gain from it than simple swordsmanship however. Choose wisely.
Remaining uses: 2
The crystal was clearly made just for him and Edgar, seeing as there were only two uses. With a nod at Edgar, Jonathan let the crystal take effect. Darkness spread across his vision, and he could feel his body falling backwards.
Light shone out of the darkness, tearing him out of the blackness. He was standing on a battlefield, facing off against an army of demons. In his right hand was his trusty sword Windrazor. Jonathan frowned. How did he know the name of the sword? Memories started to rush into his mind, memories of a life that was not his own. A life dedicated to the blade. Sword forms danced through his mind, but he paid them no heed. Instead, he focused on the footwork techniques and the martial skills that his new body possessed. A lot of the motions implicit in swordsmanship could easily be repurposed to martial arts, and Jonthan began to do so. With a smile, he sheathed his sword and faced off against the demons with only his fists.
Power unlike anything he had ever known coursed through his veins, and his very first punch sent a shockwave across the ground for miles in every direction, simply as a byproduct of the strike. His hand snuck past the guard of one of the demons, and buried itself in the creature’s gut. There was a brief pause, and then the creature was turned to dust around his hand. Jerron was at least Tier 5, if not even more. Although this was just a vision, the tiny fraction of true power that Jonathan could feel was exhilarating.
He tore his way through the demons, using them as training devices to meld the techniques that he had learned with his real world fighting style. He could feel his mind and body aligning, allowing him to retain the information. By the time the horde of monsters had died, there was only one last threat. A hulking beast, hundreds of feet tall, raced across the plain. It had three heads, and a reddish, scaled form. Each mouth bellowed in rage at him as it ran.
The monster gathered energy around itself, and then leaped into the air, turning into a meteor of demonic flesh. As it came down, Jonathan drew back his fist, sending a wave of power into it. As he fully integrated the memories with his own, his fist blazed with purple light, as he drew upon the power of the Void. His fist streaked up like a comet, lancing into the monster like a rocket.
A spear of light manifested itself around his hand, created from the pure power that he was channeling. It shot up into the sky, impaling the monster. The force of the punch shattered the ground for a dozen miles in every direction, sending cracks racing across the earth. With ease, Jonathan let the monster slide off his hand. The blackness returned, and he found himself blinking in his real body. A host of messages waited for him.
You have reached Journeyman Rank 5 with Martial Arts!
You have reached Journeyman Rank 4 with Flowing Hurricane!
You have gained a new skill!
Void Piercer: Mythical
Summon the power of the Void to combine with your martial mastery and strength to propel a lance of pure energy through the body of whatever your strike. This skill is highly energy intensive, given that it is the relic of a technique learned from the remembrance of a far more powerful fighter.