The corpse of the centipede was still imposingly large, and Jonathan had to walk around to its side in order to see its full bulk. It lay there, hundreds of feet long, and even in death, its diamond hard plates glistened in the light of the lava.

Some of them were missing, from Branth’s looting of the corpse, but most were still there. Jonathan then spotted something unusual, with his highly advanced perception. There was a glint of what looked like crystal within the monster’s flesh, and he moved over, sending a small amount of Void energy into it. The flesh burnt away, revealing the tip of a massive red crystal. Behind him, Hushar let out a small gasp.

“Chthonite!” He exclaimed, racing over. “And a huge vein at that. This monster must have been partially elementalized.”

“Elementalized?” Jonathan and Branth asked at the same time.

“Some monsters reach a naturally high level of elemental mastery by fusing their bodies with their element, rather than mentally controlling them. Usually this is because of a lack of intelligence on the part of the monster.”

“I’ve heard about this Chthonite stuff before,” Jonathan mused. “What exactly do people use it for? The other Uthraki told me that it was far rarer in the realm of Tartarus that you came from.”

“It is similar to diamond. Harder than most things at its tier, and it can channel elemental energy very efficiently, as long as it is of Earth, or Fire.”

Jonathan raised one eyebrow and sent another pulse of Void energy into the monster’s flesh, fully excavating the gem. His fine control over his element had grown greatly with the acquisition of his Energy Manipulation skill, and the gem was completely unharmed. He pulled it out of the monster’s body, and dropped it on the ground before himself. It was about three feet wide, and brilliantly facented, looking like a polished diamond rather than a rock that had been pulled out of the innards of a monster.

“We could sell this for tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Leviathan Marks in the Trading Hub,” Edgar said. “Or we could use it to make the mother of all elemental foci.”

“Who would do that for us though?” Jonathan asked.

“I can. With materials like this, you hardly have to express any sort of advanced mastery. They simply leap to the task. I might even gain the Pathway Skill for it.”

Jonathan handed the gem to Edgar. “Well then. Here you go.”

The man simply smiled.

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Leaving the corpse behind, they trekked off into the wasteland, avoiding the places that bore the marks of the realm lord’s passage. In coming here, he had left vast craters on the ground, spaced out every few hundred feet. It seemed that those were his footsteps. They stopped suddenly about a mile out, as if he had simply disappeared.

All of the weaker monsters in the area were gone as well, scared off by the monster of a man’s presence. Of the stronger ones, they seemed reluctant to fight, probably after witnessing the dismantling of the centipede. Even though Jonathan had only seen the Uthraki ruler briefly, he knew that he was still far beyond himself. Centuries of living within the personal crucible of the circle lords would imbue anyone who could survive with peerless strength, at least for their level. Jonathan was sure of his ability to catch up, if he was able to reach the requisite level.

It took them an hour of wandering to finally find another monster that was willing to fight. A small hill of cooled lava rock jutted out of the ground, and a grotto lurked beneath it. Within it was a strange series of serpentine coils and heads, seemingly sleeping. As they neared though, the monster woke up.

The coils left the cave in the blink of an eye, and a far larger body followed it out. It looked like a hydra, which perhaps was exactly what it was. Seven massive heads on top of long, sinuous necks, all attached to a bulky body covered in scaly armor. Once again, Jonathan wondered why so many of the monsters here were similar to those of myth and legend from his home.

A sibilant hissing rose up from the monster as it emerged, and molten hot drool dripped from between its teeth. Coming from seven heads at once, the fluid melted the rock beneath the monster.

The creature growled low in its throats, and advanced, each head twisting and turning around one another in an elaborate dance. It stood about fifty feet tall at the shoulder, but was far longer, easily stretching out for three hundred feet, if not more. It was somewhat thin for its size, and most of its bulk was concentrated in the front, where the heads were. However, Jonathan did not make the mistake of assuming that this meant any part of the creature was not a deadly threat. Its tail was coated in barbed spines, and looked as if it could snap out like a whip at any moment.

He started to gather energy to himself, scanning the creature a moment later.

Minor Volcanic Hydra

Level 277

Health: 128565/128565

Status: Healthy

“Does anyone know why the health values seem to be so random among monsters?” Jonathan asked.

“From your scanning skill?” Edgar asked, not taking his eyes off the target. “That’s because monsters gain an innate bonus to Constitution depending on their size. To balance that out, they gain a demerit to Dexterity. Usually a large monster will have more health than most at that level, unless you solely focus on that stat.”

“I see. That makes sense.”

Before he could speak again, the hydra lost its patience and raced forwards. Well, race was hardly the right word. It seemed to wobble from side to side as it walked, the result of its front heavy body.

Despite this, it moved quite quickly for its size, and each step caused the ground to shake. All four of its legs were located at the front of its body, which made its tail end drag behind it. Its mouths began to glow with heat and the trickle of lava dripping down turned into a deluge. The waterfalls of lava etched into the ground beneath it, leaving seven distinct trails in the stone.