The increase to his stat bonuses was quite significant, but it was not anything special, at least compared to some of his titles.

Jonathan closed the notification, and started to root around within his core to try and find a new skill waiting there somewhere for him. He did not know how ranking up one’s pathway skills usually worked, but last time he had been granted a skill, one based on his prior experimentations. He was hoping that there was some sort of time limit between ranking up and finding some innate talent to catalyze the creation of a skill. If not, he did not really care, seeing as the rank up itself was the main reward, but he did want to get something else out of the bargain too.

Jonathan summoned mana to the world in front of himself, and rather than turn it into a ball of energy that could be used for attacking, he tried to manipulate it into a different shape, one that could be used as a shield. He tried to force the mana to lose its corrosive aspect, and become tough and flexible instead, acting as a shield against any attacks that came his way, magical or physical. All that he achieved for his efforts was a tiny blot of mana hovering in the air in front of himself that was faintly transparent.

Sighing, he banished the attempt at creating his new skill. If there had been a time limit for such a thing, it had long passed by now at any rate. He could simply form the skill through hard work and effort instead, as had done for most of his skills.

Jonathan sighed once more, and got to his feet, before running off towards the dungeon once more, keeping to his original goal.

The ash flashed by as he ran, extending into what looked like a monochrome world of blackness, interspersed by ruins and the occasional city in the distance. Boredom would have threatened the Jonathan of Earth, but now that he had his meditation related skill, he could simply while away the hours as he manipulated his mana within himself. He could sense that he had reached a qualitative threshold within himself, in terms of his mana manipulation abilities, and he didn't even come close to reaching the next tier of his skill by the time that he was nearing the dungeon.

Jonathan heard the dungeon before he actually saw the thing. The sounds of hundreds of monsters baying in unison drifted up from behind the horizon, coming from where the dungeon had been marked on his map.

Over the next few hours, Jonathan neared the dungeon, and he eventually saw the first trace of its existence. A gigantic beam of rainbow colored light shot up into the sky from the top of a large mound of earth and stone, the first he had seen of both materials naturally. It jutted out of the ash at an angle, and there was a massive cave at the front, gaping like a toothy maw.

All around the dungeon, monsters prowled, all of them trying to get near enough to the dungeon to get inside. The dungeon itself was protected by hundreds of soldiers,each of whom wielded bows and crossbows, keeping the monsters away from their prize. Watchtowers dotted the land around the dungeon, and Jonathan could tell that this would not be easy to infiltrate. He scanned the soldiers, finding that their average levels were around 20. They were quite weak compared to him, but there were a lot of them. He would have to break through their lines as quickly as he could, rather than risk a protracted battle against so many.

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Jonathan quickly edged towards the back rows of the monsters, who were so engrossed in their assault that they didn't even notice him. He snuck around them, using their bodies to hide himself from the watchful eyes of the soldiers. There was a small gap in the defenses around the back of the dungeon, where there was a natural fortification, a small hill of stone that seemed to be a part of the dungeon. None of the monsters had bothered to try and climb over the hill and towards the dungeon, meaning that it was perfect for Jonathan.

He scampered over there as quickly as he could without drawing attention, and he soon found himself standing behind the hill. He quickly found out why it had been abandoned. The walls were beyond sheer, actually going out at an angle. No monster, no matter how strong they were, would have been able to climb that wall. They simply lacked the correct appendages for such a task. Jonathan on the other hand…

He clambered up the wall at record speed, digging his incredibly strong fingers into the rock, his gauntlets acting as a gripping device for him with their spikes and hard edges. He climbed up almost backwards, finding that it was far easier than he had expected. He was so strong that his weight was negligible to him, and he found it just as easy as walking. He quickly reached the top of the hill, and was about to crest it. However, it seemed that fate had different plans in store for him.

There was a strange noise from the base of the hill in front of him, and a man jumped up from the bottom, straight to the top, landing in front of him. He was dressed in half plate armor, with the lower part of his body protected by leather, interwoven with strands of metal. The man wielded a large poleax, the weapon resting on his shoulder easily as he surveyed Jonathan. Jonathan could tell that this man was the real deal, at least level fifty. However, he did not have the air of a true elite around him that people such as Ralnax or Ralnar had possessed. In addition, Jonathan knew that Granath could have appointed a far more powerful fighter to guard this dungeon, but had likely thought that nobody would dare to attack it. After all, everyone was too afraid of the accursed worm to do so. That was why the other man had such a profound look of shock on his features, visible through the front of his helmet, which was open for some reason.

“Who in the Infinite Hells are you? Do you not know whose protection this dungeon is under?” The man asked, almost sounding shocked.

Jonathan ignored him, and flashed forwards, sending his fist on a collision course for the other man’s skull. He had deliberately reined in his power, wanting to get a good idea of the other man’s capabilities. The poleax wielding fighter whipped his weapon around, and batted Jonathan’s hand out of the way, knocking it off course.

The other man seemed to gain some sort of confidence from that, and he stomped his foot, activating a skill. His armor began to glow with an ethereal red light, and his poleax glowed as well, limned in the same reddish light as his armor. He slashed through the air, projecting a crescent of energy towards Jonathan.

Jonathan sighed, and sent a tendril of his mana into the attack, causing it to collapse in on itself and detonate midair, blowing chunks out of the ground beneath it. As the dust settled, Jonathan was already at his opponent’s throat, thrusting his gauntleted hand into his neck. The man’s eyes bulged outwards, and Jonathan kept going, beheading the man with his hand. It was a gory way to kill another person, but it had been the most expedient. Jonathan flicked off the blood, and stepped over his enemy's corpse, heading towards the dungeon.