It was a level of difficulty that he was unused to, but it seemed to be a decent quest. It was something that he was planning on doing anyway. With a quick flare of his will, he accepted. One more notification appeared, about the nature of combined Pathway skills.

There are five levels of Pathway skills authorized for you to see. Firstly is the most basic level, that of a simple Pathway skill. Next comes Advanced, which signifies a skill made up of three constituent Pathway skills or more, with a degree of resonance. Each constituent must be a minimum of Journeyman Rank to advance. After Advanced is Profound, the combination of three or more Advanced Pathway skills. Each must be a minimum of Master Rank. The next stage is that of Exalted, which is a combination of three or more Profound Pathway skills, and requires a minimum level of Sage Rank in each. Finally comes Transcendent, which requires three or more Exalted Pathway skills and a rank of Avatar in each. There are more ranks, but as no natural born mortals within this universe have achieved them, none are eligible for explanation. Each skill rank grants an increasing bonus.

As he ran, he flared all three energy sources at once, finding power rushing through his veins. With a sharp crack, he blasted forwards, outpacing Branth with ease. The ooze beneath his feet solidified from the sheer heat he channeled through it, and he came to a stop nearly a mile away, stunned by his new power reserves. Each energy source that was not the main one being used seemed to contribute about half as much power per point as the central one. This meant that he could double the effectiveness of any skill if he wanted to. That was an incredible addition to his arsenal. If not for the penalty, he had no doubt that his skill would be of a higher rarity than Mythical.

He waited for Branth to catch up. The man had a look of surprise, mingled with a bit of annoyance. As they started running again, he asked Jonathan a question.

“What was that supposed to be for?” The man said, clearly thinking that Jonathan had tried to make fun of him by belittling his strength.

“I apologize. I just got a new skill. It was a bit more potent than I expected.”

“Damn, it must have been for it to take you that far under the mana density of Mire.”

“I have some powerful skills.”

“Must be, for you to have defeated a being thought invincible. My highest skill is Legendary. I assume you have ones greater than that.”

“Yeah...”

Jonathan was starting to hear the noise of feet slapping against the mud far in the distance, and knew that they were being pursued. Both men picked up the pace, with Branth using a movement skill of his own.

The mud was churned up beneath their feet as the miles flashed by, and with their headstart, they were able to lose their pursuers by ducking into a copse of gnarled trees.

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The trees were covered in twisting cobwebs, and the mud underneath was placid and still. Jonathan took a deep breath as they progressed further into the treeline, before using his cloaking skill on both of them. A skein of the Void formed around them, hiding their forms from sight. For the next few hours, they stayed silent, heading further into the surprisingly massive patch of woodland.

At this rate, Jonathan was beginning to suspect that this was some sort of lair for a powerful monster, given the lack of basic enemies, and the size of the copse. However, it was better than facing off against four fighters who were probably over level 260, as well as almost a hundred Tier 3 warriors and mages. No longer being at the top of the realm was an interesting experience, one that Jonathan found to be somewhat liberating, if a bit stressful.

Eventually, he and Branth exited the treeline, and found themselves standing before a mossy tower, stretching up through the trees and into the sky. It was colored green with algae and vegetation, but it was still standing strong. Made from a gray stone, it seemed to be the abode of a powerful mage.

Hesitatingly, the two men walked up, and towards the open archway of the tower. It didn’t seem overly dangerous, but neither of them truly knew. As far as they could tell, it was abandoned.

They walked into the tower and up the winding stairs that lined the walls, not seeing anything of note. Jonathan’s mind felt oddly empty and focused towards this task, but he couldn’t bring himself to pay it much heed. A subtle sense of wrongness tugged at his mind, but he banished it, too concentrated on his objective to think about it.

As they reached the top, they emerged into a room, dominated by a large stone throne. On it sat a withered corpse, surrounded by a potent aura of undeath. The corpse began to twitch as soon as they came into view, and Jonathan blinked. What exactly had he been doing for the last few minutes?

Branth was still under the influence of whatever spell had been used, and he started to slowly walk towards the undead as it rose. Jonathan snarled, and reached out, pulsing his elemental energy. A tiny thread of putrescent power that stretched between the undead and Branth snapped, causing the man to stumble.

“Worthless prey,” the monster hissed through paper thin lips. “Cannot even deliver yourself to my hunger correctly. No matter. I must feast myself, it seems.”

Purple energy blossomed around Jonathan, and Branth readied his armaments, both men wary and ready to fight. The monster parted its parchment like lips, and a mist of pestilent green fog spilled out, and into the room. Jonathan held his breath, feeling his Void energy resonate with his action. Branth did the same, before both men threw themselves at their enemy.

The undead chuckled and raised both hands, conjuring bolts of searing green fire. Branth was struck head on by the blow, catapulting him backwards, a circle of dark rot etched into his armor. Jonathan meanwhile was able to parry the strike, using a hand wreathed in the purple light of the Void. It was eaten away at by the elemental energy, and deflected by his strength. As he did so, he fired off a quick analysis on the monster.

Zakelios, Ancient Remnant

Revenant

Level 266

Health: 75045/75045

Interestingly enough, this one seemed to be counted as enough of a sapient individual to be given the analysis sheet of one. Jonathan remembered when Edgar had explained the tiers of undead, and a revenant was near the bottom. Still, the level was quite high.