As the set of hills appeared before them, Jonathan started running, prompting the others to follow. The massive centipede was likely still there, and only the fact that he had been gone for a day was enough to deter it from lying in wait.

He channeled his stamina into himself, and raced ahead, scouting out the land for a decent farming spot. His crude club and mace were still equipped, and he used every step to fuel his mastery by focusing on how the weapon felt in his hands.

To his surprise, rather than another bland expanse of monster ridden landscape, he found what looked like a road crossing the plains. And not just some simple, run of the mill road, but an actual highway, well marked with the patterns of travel. It was made out of rock that had clearly been shaped by magic, as it was uniformly smooth. It looked to be the work of Uthraki.

The three Uthraki caught up a moment later, and gazed at the road.

“This is undoubtedly the work of our kind,” Tukar said. “I can detect the resonance within the rock from here.”

“Should we wait for someone to come down the road?” Jonathan asked. “If they’re friendly, then perhaps we can learn more about this realm.”

“I see no reason not. We have enough strength to defend ourselves, and whoever comes will be favorably inclined, given our race,” Maranta added.

The Uthraki formed seats of rock beneath them and Jonathan, both forming a place to rest, and an instant reminder to whoever came of their provenance.

The road was surprisingly empty, but the realm was far vaster than the previous layer of Tartarus, and as such was more desolate. Some time later, a faint stomping noise began to echo down the road, and a platoon of Uthraki came into view. They were dragging their heels, clearly injured and fatigued. Only, the marks on their bodies seemed to have come from weapons rather than the attacks of monsters. The implications were intriguing, especially considering how professional the platoon looked compared to the Uthraki fighters from the first layer.

As soon as the newcomers saw Jonathan and the others, they stopped, unsheathing their weapons. Another difference was that they seemed more disposed to armor than their weaker brethren, and some of them even carried shields. In the center was a palanquin, borne by ten of the Uthraki. On it lay a heavily wounded woman in more ornate armor than the rest. Clearly, she was some sort of officer.

“Halt!” One of the Uthraki called out, despite neither Jonathan or the others moving. “You trespass upon the lands of Maloran Wyrmeater, servant of the Lord. What is your business here?”

“We seek the mandate of the Primal God,” Tukar said. “Our wanderings have taken us far.”

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“The Primal God? Ah, so you’re cultists,” the soldier said.

A look of shock stole across Tukar’s face.

“Cultists? Do you not also follow our people’s religion?”

“I’ve heard enough,” the other man spat. “I would advise not spreading your filth among our people. The true lord of this realm does not allow it.”

With that, the soldiers started marching more, with a few of them spitting at Jonathan and the others. All three of his Uthraki companions seemed shocked at what had just happened.

“What have we walked into?” Bordeg exclaimed. “How can our people have forsaken our traditions?”

“Who is the true lord that they speak of?” Tukar asked. “I assume they have all the answers. For there to be one single ruler, that ruler must be powerful indeed.”

“Well, perhaps that can be part of our quest here. Such a line of inquiry will likely lead to rich rewards in the form of essence,” Jonathan said.

“Very well. We must discover how my people have drifted so far from the light,” Tukar said.

They waited for a few minutes, and then got up and followed the Uthraki procession. Jonathan was able to track them even from almost a mile back, and he was out of perception range of them. Just to be safe, he used his cloaking skill.

The road continued on straight for a few dozen miles, and there seemed to be some sort of glyphwork etched into the sides, as no monsters dared to come near. The procession continued at a somewhat funereal pace, at least for their level. However, Jonathan used that time to experiment with his Runic Augmentation skills.

He had so far only used it on his projectile skill, but it could be applied to anything. Actually doing so was a far different story. Using his runes required some sort of resonance within the skill, which seemed to be the rune of Consumption for most of his skills. However, it was far more difficult to imbue the skills without a life or death struggle to hone his focus. Still, he was able to create a Void Drill attack that was empowered by the rune, but all it really did was act like a weaker version of Maw of the Void.

He still gained a mastery level out of that though, which was good enough for a few hours’ work. Eventually, the road began to curve, and the destination of the soldiers came into view. A small fort, at least compared to a more permanent dwelling place, came into view. It was about five hundred feet wide, and made out a patchwork of obsidian, and a strange, fiery red rock that Jonathan had never seen before. A shimmering field of energy extended upwards in a dome, preventing any flying enemies from entering.

“Any of you know what that rock is?” Jonathan asked.

Tukar turned to Jonathan. “The red one? Yes. It’s Chthonite. An extremely rare version of ruby that is more durable than most things within the same Tier. For it to be present here means that this realm is far more blessed than our own.”

“So someone here has a higher degree of elemental mastery, it seems,” Jonathan replied. “I don’t look forward to meeting whoever was able to work with rock like that.”

“Are we to follow them in?” Maranta asked. “Is this cloaking skill powerful enough?”

“It should be. It would be a great way to find out more about this place.”

“At least until we get through the door. We should be fine, but you will stand out. The only reason those soldiers didn’t say anything about you was because of their obvious fatigue, Lord,” Bordeg added.

Jonathan sighed. “Yes, I suppose that works. Maintaining the skill will be annoying, but I can manage.”