Closing his stat sheet, Jonathan remembered something. His mana had been tainted with the energy of the void, and he could possibly use this to upgrade his skills. Channeling the power into his hands once more, he beheld the purple void aspected orbs that had taken the place of his normal mana balls. It was surprising that it wasn't see through like the actual void, but such a thing would be confusing in battle, so it was just as well. He thrust his fist into the wall, and found that the energy cut through the wall like it was nothing, leaving a smooth hole there. There wasn't even dust left, simply nothingness. A notification pulsed and he smiled.

You have upgraded one of your skills!

Mana Drill:Rare->Void Drill:Legendary

The power of the Void suffuses your mana, rendering it highly dangerous to everything other than itself. This skill gathers the Void aspected mana into a tight ball, which can cut through most things of your tier with ease.

He now possessed a second Legendary skill, and one that seemed quite strong at that. It was weaker than Smite, but that was to be expected, seeing as the previous skill relied on Divinity. As he contemplated the beginning to his apparently divine nature’s expansion, a new notification appeared, one that brought troubling questions.

As a god, no matter how weak, you may not surrender yourself to the will of another god without permanently joining their faction and being beholden to their will.

Do you wish to pledge your undying allegiance to Sarnakthros, Sovereign of the Apocalypse?

Y/N

Jonathan read over the notification for a few seconds, before instantly hitting no. He had nothing against Sarnakthros, but he would not slave himself to the god’s will. They were already sharing a body, which was enough for Jonathan. As soon as he hit no, a strange black energy was forcibly expelled from his pores, coalescing on the ground. The energy twisted and turned there for a moment, before evaporating. Another message repulsed briefly on his interface in response.

You have altered a title!

Chosen of Sarnakthros:Unique->True Unbound Spirit:Unique

You are no longer beholden to any divine beings, only following the tenet of your own path. You are the first being to truly free themselves from the influence of the gods, and have established yourself as a new force within the universe, one that, if the gods discover, will stop at nothing to eradicate.

Bonuses:Immunity to Divine Possession, better class options and dramatically increased power while facing a servant of a hostile god.

It was an impressive title, if Jonathan was reading it right, and one that actually meant something, unlike the original title, which he had received without his knowledge. There was no change within him, and the runes on his side remained intact, which told him that his actions did not affect Sarnakthros himself. The god or rather, spirit of a god, still slumbered within Jonathan, undisturbed by the turbulent outer world. Many things had changed within the last few minutes, and Jonathan had become far stronger, without gaining a single level. True, he was now in a highly precarious situation, but it was worth it. One who aspired to claim the mantle of the Hellbreaker would have to be willing to face off against all forms of danger.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Jonathan started on his way down the borehole after those thoughts, and gradually neared whatever the source of the heat was. There were still no monsters in sight as far as he could tell, but the environment wasn't exactly conducive to their existence. For example, many monsters craved hiding places, either because of their nature, or because it allowed them to get the jump on anyone who came near.

There were no hiding places in this borehole, and not a lot of space either. It seemed that this was more of an intermediary step between the cavern and whatever came next within the dungeon. The heat ramped up as Jonathan traveled further and further, and soon it was noticeably hotter than before. If he had possessed the strength of his previous form, he would have been in quite some pain by now.

The air temperature was probably over a hundred and fifty degrees fahrenheit at this point, which was hotter than any natural temperature back on Earth. There was definitely some giant heat source down there, and judging by the faint orange glow that reflected up the smooth walls, it was a pool of lava, which would fit in with the subterranean theme of this dungeon. A few minutes later, Jonathan found the end of the borehole, and he stepped out into an inferno.

A mile wide lake of searing lava stretched across a titanic cavern, with a few rocky islands providing risky stepping stones for crossing. Monsters writhed within the lava, strange, sinuous beasts that seemed to be more elemental than natural beings. Jonathan knew that even with his massively inflated stats, diving into lava would still be dangerous. However, he believed that he could survive it at this point. It would burn him, but he wouldn't die, or even suffer debilitating pain.

There were only a few feet between the cavern wall and the beginning of the lava pool, and Jonathan tentatively walked over, and bent down. The heat wafting off the pit was quite powerful, but not painful. With a strange desire to prove his strength, he dipped one finger into the boiling rock. His finger immediately began to burn, but it was barely painful. It only became so after ten seconds of prolonged exposure, after which he was forced to take it out. His finger was reddened beneath his gauntlet, but only on a superficial level. He really was a superhuman now.

The real danger in this place were the monsters, which likely had all sorts of fire related abilities that would be sure to affect Jonathan. The lava was mere mundane molten rock, but the monsters would have access to conceptual abilities that would cut through his resistances like they weren't even there. The first rocky island was about twenty feet from the edge of the lake, an easy jump for Jonathan. However, the lava boiled up around the island, heralding the presence of monsters there. There were no other islands within reach however, and the only thing more dangerous than jumping over a lava lake infested with monsters was swimming in that lava lake filled with monsters.

Sighing, he tensed his legs, and leaped as high as he could. A twenty foot long eel-like monster leaped out of the lava to meet him, its skin a glowing scaly morass of almost liquid flesh and glowing lava. He cooked back his fists, and empowered it with his heightened Divinity pool, sending the monster flying back to where it had come from. The monster was knocked back under the surface of the lava, and Jonathan landed safely. There was a faint barrier around the island, which seemed to keep the monsters out. It looked like the design of this level was for the challenger to have to cross the lava, while being harassed by monsters. However, there were occasional safe spots for them to rest at. There was still most of a mile left until he reached the other side however, and he knew that it would only get more dangerous from here.