His first strike splintered the rock in front of him, only revealing more rock. He kept at it for a few minutes, digging out a large hole into the wall in front of himself. He sensed that he was getting closer to his target, but he had no idea of how far away it actually was. It could be a few more feet, or more than a mile. Jonathan decided to keep at it for another fifteen minutes, before giving up and leaving.
Pistoning his fists in and out, Jonathan picked up the pace, caving through the wall with every punch. Every few strikes, he added in some mana or Divinity, which gave some extra oomph to his attacks.
Finally, he could sense a greater concentration of the nothingness in front of himself, and he drew back his fist one last time. Sending it forwards with all of the strength that he possessed, he broke through the wall, revealing a stretch of nothingness. It was the same sort of nothingness that he had experienced upon coming to this world, and it gradually began to seep into the dungeon.
Jonathan reached out one hand to touch it, and found that it did not feel real. If he closed his eyes, it was as if nothing was there. As he stood there, tendrils of the void began to drift his way, as if curious about why this human did not succumb to their encroachments. Jonathan stood there for a bit longer, trying to see if there was anything else he could gain out of this. Sensing that this was nothing more than a novelty, he began to turn around.
Just as he did so however, one of the tendrils sunk into his flesh, sending a deeply unpleasant sensation rocketing through his body. It was as if he had lost all sensation in the area that had been affected, and it felt as if it simply was gone. Jonathan started to pick up the pace, but more and more tendrils of the void started to enter his body, and he gradually lost all sense of himself. His last thoughts before the hungry nothingness claimed him were cut off by its rapidly spreading lack of sensation.
The void kept coming, even after he had fallen unconscious, entering his body in a steady stream of nothingness. Over time, his body began to break apart and reform, taking in the energy of the void like it was the water of life itself. Eventually, the flow ceased, leaving Jonathan lying there senseless as his body grew used to the new changes. Some time later, he woke up, and upon finding himself completely unharmed, and the tunnel wall behind him unscathed, he almost disregarded the experience as a mere dream. However, he felt different, and there was a strange energy lurking within him, near his mana core. It was as if this energy was flavoring his mana, and when he summoned a ball of his mana to his hand, it had changed in hue, to a deep purple, and projected a profound sense of nothingness. Multiple notifications began to pop up within his System interface, and he quickly opened them, not sure what had prompted such a surge. The first one answered his question immediately.
You have formed a True Affinity!
Void:1% Mastery
True affinities are one of the rarest powers available within the universe, only formed when a person is so steeped in the power of their chosen element that it becomes one with them, body and soul. Such as the route to great power, but also to potential weakness, as one cannot use any sort of affinity other than their chosen one in the future. In addition, weaknesses might be incurred based on the elemental nature of your chosen affinity. As the bearer of the Void affinity however, you gain resistance to all other elements, and power against them as well. However, the Void is a deeply corrupting force, and only those with a true iron will can hope to marshal its abilities.
So that was what had happened to him while he was unconscious. He had been infused with the power of the Void, and was now the bearer of an elemental affinity. Seeing as he hadn’t really been aiming for one, it was better than nothing. In addition, it felt right to have the power of the void within him. It was as if his body resonated with the concept. The other notifications waited, and Jonathan opened them in sequence.
You have developed a Divinity Aspect!
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
Void Hegemon
Gods eventually end up picking one element over all others to use as their chosen weapon. When a god bonds with an element, they gain sole access to its abilities among the rest of the pantheon. As nobody in history has ever been stupid enough to expose themselves to the power of the raw Void, your claim is uncontested. From now on, all aspects of your Divine power will be flavored with the consuming energy of the void. This is the first step on the long road to true godhood, and one that you have taken far ahead of schedule.
Jonathan grinned at the idea that he now possessed something unique among the gods of the universe. His hunch had been right, and he had lucked out in this situation. Two more notifications waited for him, and the next one was not as important as the others, but still quite welcome.
You have gained three points in Divinity!
He now had five points in the stat, more than double what he had possessed before. That would allow him to experiment more with his runes in the future and empower them beyond their previous limits. The next notification was for a new title.
You have upgraded one of your titles!
Nascent Divinity:Celestial->Nascent God:Transcendent
You have gained unprecedented power within the sphere of your godhood, gaining a unique affinity within the span of a few weeks. Do not expect such easy advancement in the future however. From now on, the road to godhood can only be traveled through hard work.
Bonuses:+50% to all stats.
Now this was a title worthy of a god. It had increased his stat multiplier by more than double, and now, if he was not mistaken, he could gain more points in a stat by dumping free points than if he used his little trick from earlier to do so. Finally, there was one last notification, that he opened eagerly.
You have upgraded your race!
Void Human(Advanced)
You gain an additional stat point per level on account of your upgraded body. In addition, your senses are greatly improved. Because of reaching this level before level 50, as well as the great personal suffering that you went through, you have retroactively gained the points from your previous levels. In addition, you have empowered your body with the energy of the void, further upgrading your natural abilities. You now gain an additional point per level, for a total of 2 extra points from this race. These points will not be gained retroactively.
Opening his stat sheet, Jonathan took in his new gains.
Jonathan Harlowe
Tier 1
Void Human(Advanced)
Divinity Aspect:Void Hegemon
Elemental Mastery:1%
Outsider:Tier 1
Level 47
(80 free points)
Strength
283
Dexterity
186
Constitution
194
Resilience
252
Intelligence
191
Wisdom
191
Divinity
5
Health:2910/2910
Stamina:4245/4245
Mana:2865/2865
* Titles
Chosen of Sarnakthros:Unique
Nascent God:Transcendent
Lesser Xenocide:Legendary
Iron Will:Epic
Refined Form:Epic
Giantslayer:Epic
Avenger:Epic
Lineage Hunter:Rare
Righteous Killer:Rare
* Skills
Smite:Legendary
Unravel:Epic
Warrior’s Trance:Epic
Mana Drill:Rare
Battle Focus:Rare
Focused Scry:Rare
Runes of Power:Rare
Redirect:Uncommon
Identify:Common
* Pathway Skills
Mana Manipulation:Apprentice 1
Martial Arts:Student 8
Runecrafting:Student 6
Truesight:Student 4
* Martial Path
Flowing Hurricane:Novice 9
* Quests
Hellbreaker:Impossible
Complete Vengeance:SSS