Ten minutes later, Jonathan was making his way towards the city gates, with all of his belongings with him. He had stopped by the archives and the smithy on the way out, and had briefly thanked Janessa and Petrag. Now that he was leaving however he felt like there was a great weight off his chest. He was stronger than ever before and he had some free stat points in the bank, and he even had some new armor too. In addition, his newly empowered gauntlets would work wonders for his overall combat efficiency. As the gates slowly opened in front of him, the gate guards saluted as he went by, and Jonathan waved in return. He stepped through the gates, and out onto the ash a moment later. Sparing one glance back at the city, whose name he still had not learned, he walked off, into the distance.
Half an hour later, Jonathan was quite some distance away from the city. As he crested an especially large heap of ash, he heard a faint explosion from behind himself. Jonathan quickly turned around, and saw a pillar of smoke rising above the city.
“Shit!” he shouted, running back towards the explosion. He had thought that he would be able to keep the city safe by leaving, but it seemed that somebody was attacking the city in lieu of himself. He had a good idea of who that was too. The forces of Granath had likely learned of his slaying of Ralnax, and had sent somebody to investigate. Upon seeing that Jonathan was gone, they must have decided to attack the city. Seeing as the defenders had been much weaker than Jonathan, they would stand no chance.
Jonathan moved far faster than he had before, and reached the city within a few minutes. The gate was twisted off its hinges, and was lying on the ground a few dozen feet away. The buildings near the gate were now nothing more than heaps of rubble, and Jonathan could hear screams coming from the center of the city. He saw a few blasts of mana rocketing across the streets in the distance, but they quickly faded away. Jonathan tore through the city streets, ignoring the bodies lying along its length, and he reached the city center in record time. The five defenders were desperately fighting against a towering beast of a man, clad only in dark furs. He wielded a massive greatsword, and moved it as if it were a toy, swinging it like it weighed nothing. The two fighters were on their last legs, and it looked as if the other man was typing with them, rather than go for the kill. As Jonathan ran into the square, the man turned around, parrying the attacks coming from behind himself without even looking.
“Well, there you are. I was curious as to what had happened to the man who had slain Ralnax. It couldn't have been any of these peons. I looked forward to testing myself against you, Jonathan Harlowe.” The man started towards him a moment later. “I am Ralnar, Ralnax’s half brother. I have come to avenge his death. You will not find me an easy fight, I am afraid. My brother was powerful, but I am beyond even him.”
Jonathan did not reply, instead summoning his mana drills to his hands. He kept a close eye on his stockpile of saved points. Depending on the talents of this man, he might have to adjust. For Ralnax, he had been forced to add to his Resilience, but this man might have a different set of abilities. That was the reason that Jonathan was saving points in the first place, rather than allocating them immediately.
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Ralnar laughed and began to stride forwards, his footsteps shaking the earth. He moved incredibly slowly, but as he moved, Jonathan could see a red haze building up around the man. His aura began to grow outwards, and Jonathan quickly dashed in, wanting to disrupt whatever was going on. As he came in to punch, Ralnar held out one arm. As Jonathan’s fist came in, he stood still, ready to take the hit. Jonathan’s fist connected, and Ralnar took a single step backwards, almost completely unaffected by the attack.
“Weak,” was his reply.
He slashed out with his greatsword, and the red aura dissipated. The weapon accelerated far beyond what it should, and it slammed into Jonathan’s chest. The edge of the sword was more like a bludgeoning than a sharpened edge, but it still hit hard. Jonathan’s ribs cracked and he flew across the ground, crashing into a pile of rubble. Jonathan was already trying to parse what he had just witnessed. It seemed that his enemy had two modes, one where he was fast, and another where he was incredibly durable. However, to use one, he had to cancel the other.
Jonathan watched as the city defenders tried to attack Ralnar, but they were quickly incapacitated and sent out of the fight. Ralnar paid them no heed after that, instead striding towards Jonathan again, building up his power. The red light started to glow around his form again, and Jonathan got to his feet. He had a plan, but it would require almost perfect timing. He ran forward towards Ralnar, as if he was about to strike, but as he neared, he slowed down a little bit. Cocking back his fist, he punched at about half power, landing a glancing blow on Ralnar’s arm. As the man dismissed his durability aura, Jonathan snapped back his fist and punched as hard as he could, right as the greatsword came flying in. His fist thudded into flesh, and Ralnar gasped, spitting up blood. However, he kept his greatsword going, and although the trajectory was changed, it still caught Jonathan, albeit at lower power. He rolled backward, as his collarbone cracked. However, the microtears were already starting to heal slightly, the effect of passing his thresholds in Constitution and Resilience. Ralnar grimaced, and snarled at Jonathan.
“You’re certainly better than I thought. I understand now how you were able to beat my brother. You may be low level, but you possess a strength beyond most. It will be a pity for me to kill you.” Ralnar took a deep breath, and then slammed his sword down into the ground, cracking it. “DANCE OF THE BERSERKER!” He shouted, before starting to glow with a deep red light. Bloodred energy coated his form, and actual blood started to course down his face. He howled in wordless rage, and dashed forwards, his speed immense.
Jonathan barely had time to block before he was sent skipping backwards like a ragdoll, breaking bones and tearing skin. Ralnar was upon him a moment later, and he swung down with his greatsword, slamming it into Jonathan’s leg. He screamed as his leg bone shattered into a pile of dust, and only his sheer willpower kept him going past the pain. Jonathan scrambled to his feet, using his muscles along to keep him standing. He was so strong that he could tense his leg muscles to the point that they were as hard as rock, meaning that he could, albeit awkwardly, still fight. It was beyond agonizing however, and he almost collapsed from the pain. Jonathan quickly hobbled around a swift blow from his enemy, and tried to dodge. However, his leg would not move quickly enough, and he was struck by the greatsword yet again, flipping him up and over, onto his back. Ralnar laughed, and leered at Jonathan, spittle flecking his teeth.
“You won’t find me that easy of a target. I am far stronger than you. You might have been able to get off a lucky blow, but there won't be another, especially with the state that you are in.”