Jonathan shot his hand forwards once more, spearing into the monster’s copious gut. It chortled, a long, burbling sound, and then sucked in its flesh, wrenching the weapon out of Jonathan’s grip. He stumbled backwards, narrowly avoiding another strike from the massive arm. Some of the blood landed on his bare flesh as its arm swung, and he hissed as it burnt through his flesh. The iron rod was buried deep in its stomach, and fluid dripped out of the open wound. If he could tear that out of its flesh, he could severely injure the creature. The only problem was getting there. At this point, he was in too deep to retreat. Even if he survived, the next monster would kill him in his current state. He needed desperately to level up, and heal. Hopefully the healing effect would be enough.

Somewhere within him, a fraction of the old Jonathan Harlowe was screaming in abject terror, but he buried that pitiful creature down as far as he could. That would not serve him now. He ran forwards, ducking under a ponderous blow, and seized the end of the iron rod with his hand. Planting his feet, Jonathan yanked on it as hard as he could. There was a wet tearing noise, and the bar came free, sending a torrent of fluid over the ground and Jonathan’s hand. He screamed in agony as his flesh sizzled away, but the noise that the monster made distracted him from it. It was already dead, and it just didn’t know it yet. That did not mean it wasn’t dangerous though.

Before Jonathan could even blink, a red light erupted from the beast, and it swung its singular arm at far higher speeds than before, sending it hurtling towards his head. There was no dodging that strike, no matter what he did. Jonathan got his hands up in a futile gesture, and he screamed in defiance. A golden light erupted out of him, and his hands pulsed with power. Suddenly, he knew what to do. Seizing the monster with a strength beyond anything he had felt before, he wrenched off its arm, sending a welter of foul fluid everywhere. The creature wailed, and slumped to the ground. Something within him cracked, and he spat up blood before collapsing backwards, completely spent.

Jonathan woke to the sound of snuffling coming from next to his ear. He cracked open one eyelid, seeing another of the Ash Prowlers nosing at his hair. It obviously thought that he was dead, with the lack of caution that it was exhibiting. Jonathan rolled over and punched it full force, eliciting a yelp from the creature. It bared its fangs, but something in Jonathan's eyes caused it to back down. With a whimper, it backed off and fled. Jonathan had a host of notifications waiting for him, and he quickly opened them after seeing that he was in no further danger.

You have killed a Fetid Ooze!

You have leveled up! (x3)

The trio of levels had healed his body almost to perfect condition, but his left arm still felt tender. Still, it was better than nothing. There was another notification too, one that seemed more urgent somehow. He opened it without any hesitation, curious about what it had to offer.

You have gained a new skill!

Smite:Legendary

Use your inner divinity to imbue your body with your godly power, increasing your power by a significant amount. However, this has an immense toll on your body.

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

That must have been what he had used against the Fetid Ooze, whatever had created the golden light. It was an incredibly powerful skill, but not one without drawbacks it seemed. Also, it told him how he was supposed to gain skills here. Clearly, there were no handouts. It had to be something that he had created himself.

Jonathan got to his feet and dusted himself off, reveling in his newfound power. Those levels had created a cumulative effect with his stat multiplier, meaning that he had gained a larger number of stat points that he would have otherwise. Rather than gaining six points to each stat, he had gained eight. It was only two more points, but he knew that he was beyond the realm of human capability at this point. If he had to guess, ten was the average, and twenty was the upper limit. He was like a real life superhero now, albeit quite a pathetic one. There was one more message as well waiting after that one.

You have gained a new title!

Underdog:Rare

You took out a monster over ten levels higher than you. That is quite an impressive achievement, albeit not one that is especially so. This title can be upgraded.

Bonuses:+5 points to Strength

It was a decent boost, with his stat boost making it even more so. In addition, it revealed a bit more about how titles worked. They seemed to follow the classic rarity scheme from games back on Earth, with a few outliers like his Celestial Rarity title. In any case, it was likely that only titles above a certain rarity would give multiplicative bonuses, rather than a one time boost. Still, any boost to power was always welcome.

He closed his notifications and took stock of his more physical changes. His muscles were all toned now, and clearly defined. In addition, his mind felt clearer than it had ever felt before. Who knew that going to Hell would feel so good? Clearly, this version of Hell was different from the one back on Earth. There certainly were damned souls, being punished for their sins, but there seemed to be an actual world down here, populated with monsters. Were there any sapient beings here as well, or was it just an endless land of beasts? Well, the few levels that he had eked out were the start of his journey back to wherever he had come from. He had no idea how to get out of this place, but he would certainly try. As he thought that, a chime interrupted him.

It seems that you have run into a spot of trouble. If you are receiving this message, either you have been imprisoned, possessed, or sent to the Infinite Hells. I sincerely hope that it was not the last one. If so, hopefully this can help.

Sarnakthros

It was another message from his mysterious patron, promising aid. Jonathan wasn’t sure what to think about the man, or god he supposed, that had brought him here. On one hand, he had been wrenched away from his life, while on the other, he felt better than he had ever felt before. Another prompt opened up on his interface, and he read it.

You have gained a quest!

Hellbreaker:Impossible

You have been imprisoned in the Infinite Hells, a world that certainly lives up to its name. However, there is a way out, if not one that anyone has ever reached before. You must descend through the circles of hell, and kill each one’s guardian to progress. Finally, you must reach the very center and kill the Devil himself. This, however, is a long road, one that will take an eon. That is, of course, if you do not die along the way.

Current Objective: Defeat Granath, Overseer of the Ash Heaps

Rewards: Tier 2 Weapon, Armor or Miscellaneous Item

Ultimate Objective: Defeat Angranor, The Lord of Hell

Rewards:Freedom, ???