Jonathan nodded, and bent down, looking over the others. All of them had mortal injuries, and Jonathan was saddened to find that out of them, only two still had pulses. Jakarthi and Ragar still breathed, but the motion was weak and Jonathan did not see their chances as being especially high. He turned around as Eliza started to root around in her satchel, pulling out a ruby flask. It was filled with a glowing red liquid, and as it sloshed around, tiny specks of gold were visible in the mix.

“Here. Feed this to Jakarthi. It’s a health potion. The only one we have left in fact,” she said, a look of sadness on her face.

“What about Ragar?” Jonathan asked.

“It’s too late for him. He already drank a health potion during the fight. Their effects cancel each other out within a certain time period. In addition, they can only do so much. Besides, Ragar would understand.”

Jonathan nodded and took the flask, taking it over to Jakarthi. Opening the man’s mouth, he poured the fluid down it. Steam billowed up from Jakarthi’s mouth and he started to jerk. Jonathan quickly grabbed him so as to stop him from injuring himself. A minute later, his eyes opened.

“I-is it done?” He stuttered, pain filling his voice.

“Yes,” Jonathan replied. “It is.”

Jakarthi tilted his head upwards and looked around him,noticing that everyone else,except for Eliza, was either dead, or going there quickly. A tear leaked down his cheek, and he sighed in a melancholic manner, almost collapsing. Jonathan held him up however, and the man eventually recovered enough to speak again.

“What of the city? Are there any survivors there?”

“Not as far as I could tell coming in. That piece of shit did a real number on the city. I don’t think anyone survived except the three of us.”

Jakarthi snarled suddenly, and pushed Jonathan away, with a look of pure rage on his face.

“This is your fault, you bastard! You brought this down upon us!” Jakarthi broke down into a storm of coughing after this statement, blood spewing up from his mouth as he did so. Jonathan took a step back to avoid the splatter, and then sighed.

“Yes. I killed Ralnax, leading his brother to come here to seek revenge. What else was I supposed to do however? Simply let him kill me so that this town would be spared? I care about the lives of others, but I am not going to sacrifice myself for something that is not important to me.”

“You are nothing more than a self serving wretch, who cares nothing more than for his own life and progress. No wonder you are so strong. You must have committed great atrocities to get here. Never come back to this city!" Jakarthi screamed, his voice hoarse.

Jonathan nodded, saddened, and started walking away.

“Wait!” Eliza shouted. Jonathan kept walking.

Jonathan strode through the ruined streets of the devastated city, trying to ignore the weight of the corpses that he saw. Indirectly, he had led to their deaths. However, he had avenged them by killing Ralnar. It was not much of a way to make up for what he had done,but it was a start. Unbidden, a new notification surfaced, prompted by his realization of what he had done by killing Ralnar.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

You have gained a new title!

Avenger:Epic

You have avenged the deaths of over 100 sapient beings on your own, slaying the being who killed them. Sometimes, justice is best served bloody.

Bonuses:+5 points to Resilience, +5 points to Constitution

Jonathan, unlike with the previous title, could get behind this one. It lent some legitimacy to his purpose, however small, and it also added a significant amount of power. He only had the one title, Nascent Divinity, that gave him a stat multiplier, but for now, increases were fine. He would eventually outgrow such paltry increases, but he was content with them in his current state.

As he made his way towards the broken gate, he saw a flash of a face that he recognized. Looking to the right, Jonathan saw, to his horror, that Petrag and Beatrice were curled up next to their shop, dead. It looked as if Petrag had been protecting Beatrice, and his body was nearly chopped in half. Beatrice was less marked, but she was still clearly dead. Both of them had looks of utter terror on their faces, and Jonathan clenched his fists involuntarily, drawing blood from his hands. His bones started to creak as he almost lost himself to a mindless rage. As he came to his senses, Jonathan was met with a new quest prompt.

You have gained a new quest!

Complete Vengeance:SSS

You have witnessed the travesties committed by one of the servants of Granath. Such beings cannot be allowed to exist, at least in the same world as you. You must eradicate every last trace of Granath’s influence within this circle of the Infinite Hells to find true vengeance.

Reward:10,000 Leviathan Marks, one time boost to a skill of your choosing.

Jonathan absently closed the notification, noting that the interface seemed to change based on how he received a quest. If he prompted it on his own, it would say that he had gained a new quest, but if someone else prompted it, it would simply say that he had gained a quest, or had been offered one. Jonathan shook his head, disgusted at the senseless carnage around himself. Sickened, he turned his face away from the corpses, and left the city behind.

A few hours later, the city was far out of sight, and thankfully, out of mind. Jonathan leant on his Warrior’s Trance skill to keep his mind away from darker places, forcibly stabilizing himself. He trudged aimlessly across the ash, unsure of what he should do next. He had dallied in cities enough. It was time for him to focus on getting stronger. He had enough levels, but his pathway skills were lagging behind. Quickly opening them for reference, Jonathan checked how far along he was.

Mana Manipulation:Student 4

Mana Manipulation is one of the most basic skills in the universe, and you have shown a strange aptitude for it. This skill influences your ease of manipulating the mana within your body, and gives bonuses as you progress, like all Pathway Skills.

+3 to Intelligence, +2 to Wisdom

Next up was his martial arts skill, which was proving its worth, but so far, it had not leveled up. He was not using it to the fullest within his fights, which meant that he wasn’t gaining any additional expertise.

Martial Arts:Student 4

You have dabbled in the ways of martial prowess in a past life, and some of that wisdom still remains within you. Your expertise is crude and basic at best, but it is a sturdy foundation for greater heights in the future.

+3 to Strength, +2 to Dexterity

After those two were his Runecrafting and Truesight abilities, which were his most important ones.

Runecrafting:Student 3

Build off your forbidden Truesight skill to not only understand the runes that make up the world around you, but edit them as well to your own desires. There are runes for every concept in existence, and finding them will be a monumental task.

+5 to Intelligence

Despite his efforts with using his runes to empower his gauntlets, he had not gained any additional points, likely because he had been using the same runes that he already knew. He could use that method to get to the next level, but it would take a while. For now, he was content with his new gauntlets. Finally, there was Truesight.

Truesight:Student 1

You can see between the cracks in reality, utilizing your divinity to access the same interface as the System itself. As of now, you can comprehend tiny fractions of the universal sigil code, but who knows where this skill might lead?

+5 to Wisdom