Jonathan suspected that fighting opponents higher in level than yourself had an outsized impact on Pathway skills, even if you didn’t exactly come to any new understandings. Perhaps the essence from the kills helped to fuel the growth. In any case, he didn’t really care how it worked, as long as it did.

His weapons howled through the air like the heralds of the end times, and the Krakyzes instinctively attempted to escape. However, it was on the back foot now, and Jonathan was faster.

His mace and club slammed down into the hole in its flesh, and he grinned as a detonation of dark energy blasted apart the monster’s body. The strange crab centaur reeled as the front half of its chest cracked wide open, straight into another strike from the remaining two fighters that cut its leg off. Dazed and bleeding heavily, the creature collapsed, only for Jonathan to slam the remainder of his tattered weapons into its flesh, using them as conduits for the Rune of Hatred. They both detonated with a thunderous explosion, and ruptured the creature's internal organs.

The Krakyzes fell to its side, broken and bleeding. Jonathan leaped up to its massive head, and finished it off with a single void enhanced punch. As the monster fell, essence rushed into him in a torrent, sending him up yet another level. Notifications waited for him, and he opened them eagerly.

You have reached Apprentice 8 with Club Mastery!

You have reached Apprentice 7 with Mace Mastery!

Because both weapons had been used to their fullest potential, he had gained quite a bit of power with them. He smiled, and imagined what sort of advanced skill he could gain from merging his weapon masteries.

He had quite a bit of stat points to allocate as well, and he pulled up his status sheet.

Jonathan Harlowe

Tier 3

Void Human(Exalted)

Divinity Aspect: Void Hegemon

Elemental Mastery: 12%

Elemental Juggernaut: Tier 3 Legendary

Level 224

(122 free points)

Strength

1819

Dexterity

1705

Constitution

1445

Resilience

1591

Intelligence

1627

Wisdom

1308

Divinity

20

Health: 32513/32513

Stamina: 40928/40928

Mana: 36608/36608

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

* 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

Ephemeral Trifecta: Mythical

Greater Smite: Mythical

Void’s Grasp: Mythical

Void Piercer: Mythical

Mantle of the Void: Legendary

Rune Savant: Legendary

Void Drill: Legendary

Channeled Basic Truesight: Legendary

Sense the Weave: Legendary

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 7

Energy Manipulation(Advanced): Journeyman 6

Runecrafting: Journeyman 4

Truesight: Journeyman 3

Runic Augmentation: Apprentice 6

Club Mastery: Apprentice 6

Mace Mastery: Apprentice 4

* Martial Path

Flowing Hurricane: Journeyman 6

* Quests

The Strongest: ???

Hellbreaker: Impossible

Pathway of the Titans: Heroic

At his current level of power, all of his stats seemed roughly equal to the amount that he used them, and he wanted to start doubling down on some stats over others. If he followed in the footsteps of his current path, Strength would be the first stat to cross the third threshold. Perhaps it would have been wiser to use Resilience, but he had changed since his last threshold ceremonies. By the time he reached the next rank, he would have changed even more.

Now that he knew of the existence of special potions to alleviate the pain of thresholds, they no longer filled him with such dread. However, a nagging sense of unease told him that he would be missing out on potential benefits if he did so. He had already gained a title from the effort, and he knew that the third thresholds would bring even greater rewards if he went through them without aid. They would likely come at some point during Tier 5, which was some time away.

With a quick effort of will, he split up 99 stat points into groups of three, supercharging the stat.

Edgar and Hushar approached a moment later, smiling broadly. Their levels had most certainly increased from that battle.

“No wonder there were so few monsters in the area,” Hushar stated. “That brute must have scared them all away. For more people, that would have been a brutal fight.”

“What luck it is that we have Jonathan here,” Edgar said, smiling slightly. Jonathan couldn’t tell if he was actually being sincere.

“I’m just glad that we weren’t female Krakyzes,” Jonathan joked. “The analysis page of that monster said that it was in an amorous state, and I have to say, any sort of interaction with that creature in that way must hurt.”

“That thing looked like a spiked battering ram,” Hushar said, grinning. “Maybe that’s why it was so unlucky in finding a mate.”

With the ribald jokes over, they continued to roam, leaving the massive corpse for scavengers to feed on. Jonathan was so close to making another advanced pathway skill that he could taste it.

A day later, as he stood over the corpse of an Alpha Muck Muncher, the rest of its coterie lining the swamp with their bodies, he was met with the messages that he had been waiting for. In that battle, he had gone beyond his limits in terms of mastery, treating his weapons like extensions of his own body rather than implements. At the end, he swore that he could feel just as well through the weapons as with his own hands. He had gone through a few clubs and maces in his journey, but he had achieved his goal. The only downside was that in focusing on technique, he had missed out on some essence.

You have reached Journeyman Rank 1 with Club Mastery

Refusing to admit the accusations of brainless butchery that many wielders of this weapon are subject to, or perhaps, even reveling in them, you have propelled your craft to a significant point in your journey of power. A weapon is only as useless as its wielder.

+15 to Strength, +10 to Dexterity

You have reached Journeyman Rank 1 with Mace Mastery!

This slightly more refined cousin of the club is the respectable choice for any who care about appearance, while still wishing to preserve a sort of martial dignity. However, you care little about such notions. A weapon is a weapon.

+15 to Strength, +10 to Dexterity

Now that he had the constituent parts, all he needed to do was to find the insight that would combine them into one cohesive whole.