Over the course of two weeks, Jonathan was able to recruit another five Uthraki fighters to his cause, boosting the city’s stock of Tier 2s by a sizable amount. So far, the mana suction effect of the runic arrays was not causing any problems, but Jonathan knew that if he kept using the array while the city remained at its current size, it would eventually run out. The entirety of the Ash Heaps contained more than enough mana to support thousands of his arrays, but mana did not easily make itself available to the wills of mortals. Mana tended to clump in certain places, mainly those where there were a large number of System initialized beings. Because of that, the city was already a mana hotspot, and it would take time to increase its footprint.
Jonathan continued to train his skills throughout this time, working on a new array now and again. Seeing as it contained his new rune, the array was taking a lot more work to bring into being. However, he could tell that the rewards would be well worth the effort. On a more positive note, he had managed to make progress in both Martial Arts and Mana Manipulation, bringing them up by a rank each. Mana Manipulation’s rank simply came from watching the interplay of mana at the borders of his body, while Martial Arts came from dedicated practice. Both were welcome.
One morning, Jonathan found himself standing on the city walls, looking back over his domain. Tens of thousands of souls lived within the city now, every one of them a source of pride for him. The city was a dozen times larger than its first form, stretching for miles from the base of the mountain. A massive, fifty foot tall wall guarded it from all but the most dedicated of invaders, and turrets covered that wall as a further deterrent. Trenches were dug into the ground around the wall, extending down for dozens of feet.
The guards now numbered in the thousands, many of whom were in the upper reaches of the first Tier. Of course, this was nowhere near enough to threaten the forces of Granath, but it was enough to defend against the local monsters. With a pleased sigh, Jonathan stepped down from the wall and landed in his city. There were only a few more things that he had to do before fighting Granath. Firstly, he needed to cross his final threshold and reach the peak of Tier 2. Even with his array, crossing over to Tier 3 would burn it out. Secondly, he needed to upgrade his skills, and create a dedicated attack skill that would be able to match the power of Granath.
Jonathan walked up the city streets and towards his cave. Edgar was off with Eva somewhere, so he had nobody to distract him. His token seemed to burn in his storage pouch as he moved, waiting for him to use it. He entered his cave some time later, and pulled out the token. With a slight smile, he used it.
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Jonathan appeared in the midst of a small Uthraki village, the domain of the last Uthraki leader that he had tried to recruit. However, they had refused, and the village now lay in ruins from their battle. With his new power, he was able to beat almost anyone in Tartarus into submission, and as such this town was almost as large as a city. It was nearer to the center of the world than anything except for the city that Jonathan had liberated from the Uthraki warlord.
He headed towards the center of the world, guided by the power density there. He had heard rumors about what was located there from the few Uthraki that he had listened to, and he knew that there was some sort of System powered monster spawning ground there. In addition, the capital of the disparate Uthraki domains was also located there, a shadow of its former self. Under the rule of Granath, the Uthraki had spread far across the realm, and the capital had housed many millions of Uthraki. Now, it had barely a tenth of that number, and much of it was in ruins. The only legacy of Granath’s departure was the presence of his three lieutenants, who still ruled over the land. Jonathan only knew of them from the conversations of the Uthraki, but they were supposed to be quite powerful. He had no idea how he would stack up against them, but was sure that when he crossed his final threshold, they would be, if not trivial, an easy fight.
Besides the threat of the Uthraki residents, the center of the realm was filled with pinnacle strength beasts, monsters powerful enough to devastate cities in a matter of minutes. All that Jonathan could see was a source of training. Danger was just another currency of power in this world.
At this point, he was well on his way towards his goal. The vast expanse of cooled volcanic rock and lava stretched out before him, a vision of a classical hell. Jonathan often wondered why the System hadn’t used Tartarus instead of the Infinite Hells, but he supposed that the various concepts imbued into the circles worked better.
As he walked, he idly poked and prodded at the ambient mana with his will, trying to get some training in. With his level of power, his aura dissuaded any weaker monsters from coming near, which was just as well. All they would serve as would be wasted time. On the flip side, it also challenged higher ranked beasts to a contest of strength.
About thirty minutes into his journey, one such beast answered the call of his aura. A titan of a monster, it was of a kind that Jonathan had never seen before. It looked like some vague corvian analogue, with a long, curved beak and wings made out of darkened rock. The monster was easily thirty feet tall, and almost fifty in length. It was a sort of golem, but it was far more lovingly hewn than the crude monster that roamed the volcanic plains. It almost looked like it had been crafted, such was its beauty. Jonathan almost felt sorry for what he was about to do.