The creature roared, expelling a cone of pure force towards Jonathan, stirring up dust and volcanic ash. Jonathan roared back, projecting his aura outwards. The aura met the monster, causing it to shiver.

Jonathan raced in, burning stamina like gasoline to fuel the fires in his muscles. The distance vanished like it had never been there, excised from reality by his strength and speed. He drove his elemental energy into his fists, and pummeled the monster into the ground, each punch sending shockwaves of purple fire surging through the creature’s scaly flesh. It roared at him and reached out, grabbing onto him with all four arms. To his surprise, he found the momentum of his strikes halted, and he was forced to withdraw.

The monster thrust him away and beat at its chest, sending surges of reddish energy through the air around it. Then it got to its feet and leaped at him, each fist shining like a red star. Even though it was barely sentient, it still possessed enough wherewithal to use elemental energy.

With a snort, Jonathan raised one arm and summoned a black hole into reality, layering his Rune of Consumption upon his Void projectile. The beast charged straight into the attack, and its skin was flayed from its body as the strike imploded, blasting it apart. Essence poured into Jonathan, and he leveled up twice for his efforts.

For the first time since coming to this realm of Tartarus, he checked his stat sheet, knowing that he had a plethora of free stat points to allocate. There were almost two hundred points waiting for him, but he decided to keep them until he found a foe that posed too much of a threat to him for his current stats and abilities to overcome. More importantly, now that he had plenty of time on his hands, without having to worry about the safety of his city back in the Ash Heaps, he resolved to train in earnest. His first priority was getting Stamina Manipulation up to Journeyman Rank, hopefully receiving a skill for his efforts.

Leaving the shattered corpse of the monster behind, he continued along the slot canyon wall, looking out for more of the Wyrmkin. However, either they were quite rare, or they had witnessed his fight with their sibling, and decided that he was too far beyond their reach.

The patchwork of ground and chasms continued for another dozen miles, and when he reached the end, he found a highway stretching off into the distance, warded against attack by a long line of glyphs extending along its edge. A faint wall extended into the sky, and he could see lines of traffic filing along it. The Uthraki rulers of this world were a lot more disciplined and cohesive as a society than in the previous one.

Opting not to engage with forces far beyond his current abilities to face, he instead burned his stamina to race along the side of the road, seeking deeper truths about his pathway skill as he went. Stamina was a mysterious force, far more mysterious than mana was. He had no idea where it came from, save for the fact that it was a byproduct of his Strength. The other physical byproduct resource, Health, was a lot more straightforward, measuring the current state of his body. However, Stamina nominally was meant for measuring his fatigue, but it also had a more magical purpose as well. It was a means of channeling the entirety of his strength, and its future potential, into one singular expression.

Closing his eyes, he watched his stamina core flare within him, pumping his body full of its power. Every movement of his body caused the stores to deplete, and then regenerate just as quickly. Concentrating, he flared his powers more, and he sped up, his body flashing across the ground. Now the drain was noticeable.

He sent his vision deeper into his core, and watched as it was replenished by his mana enhanced strength. He actually had no idea how his physical abilities worked, save for the fact that he was many times stronger than he had been on Earth. Perhaps he was being imbued with mana, or something of that nature.

A few hours later, he felt something click, and he was met with a notification.

You have reached Apprentice Rank 9 with Stamina Manipulation!

He was standing on the cusp of Journeyman, but before he reached that level, he wanted to explore the realm a bit more, and use his battles to increase his mastery in a more organic way.

About a day later, Jonathan had fought his way through a small host of monsters, sending his level skyrocketing up to 210. The amount that he gained wasn’t that high, but it was still significant, especially with how many stat points he gained with his new class. More importantly, he managed to rank up his mastery of Stamina Manipulation.

You have reached Journeyman Rank 1 with Stamina Manipulation!

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The rarer cousin to Mana Manipulation, this skill is one only attained by the most consummate of warriors. In reaching Journeyman Rank with it, you have shown your mastery over your body and strength.

+15 to Strength, +10 to Dexterity

You have access to a skill!

Surge of Strength: Epic

Project your stamina into your body to increase your strength for a short amount of time.

Accept?

Y/N

It was basically the same thing that he had already done, but seeing as it was a System skill, it would be a lot more refined. With all of the bonuses from his recent level ups and his rank up, he opened his stat sheet, eager to bask in the glory of his strength.

Jonathan Harlowe

Tier 3

Void Human(Exalted)

Divinity Aspect: Void Hegemon

Elemental Mastery: 12%

Elemental Juggernaut: Tier 3 Legendary

Level 210

(363 free points)

Strength

1653

Dexterity

1392

Constitution

1169

Resilience

1295

Intelligence

1170

Wisdom

1178

Divinity

20

Health: 26303/26303

Stamina: 37193/37193

Mana: 26325/26325

* Titles

True Unbound Spirit: Unique

First Circle Breaker: Unique

Nascent God: Transcendent

Supreme Initiate: Ancient

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

Maw of the Void: Ancient

Greater Smite: Mythical

Void’s Grasp: Mythical

Mantle of the Void: Legendary

Rune Savant: Legendary

Void Drill: Legendary

Channeled Basic Truesight: Legendary

Sense the Weave: Legendary

Surge of Strength: Epic

Void Slipstream: Epic

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

Martial Arts: Journeyman 5

Mana Manipulation: Journeyman 4

Runecrafting: Journeyman 4

Truesight: Journeyman 3

Stamina Manipulation: Journeyman 1

* Martial Path

Flowing Hurricane: Journeyman 4

* Quests

The Strongest: ???

Hellbreaker: Impossible