Two hours later, Jonathan was regretting not picking up any food or water from Dreg. Then again, it had been unlikely that any of the people would have given him any, after what he had done to Jorg. Besides, the water that Kyra had given him filled the hole within him enough. His higher stats were starting to have a noticeable impact on his hunger and thirst, and he had not had to use the bathroom since arriving here. A blinking notification that he had chosen to ignore waited for him, and by the way that it appeared, he knew that it was a title. He also knew what the title was for. Finally, he resigned himself to opening it.
You have gained a new title!
Righteous Killer:Rare
You have slain another sapient being, although with just cause. Continue to convince yourself that you are not just another murderer, and you will keep the demons at bay.
Rewards: +2 to Resilience, + 2 to Wisdom.
It was a strange distribution of stats, but it was still stats nonetheless, and Jonathan wasn't going to disparage them, no matter how unsavory his means of acquisition were. To survive in this place, he would need every edge that he could get. If that meant slaying marauding orcs, so be it.
He closed the notification and studied the land ahead of him. The ash drifts were starting to become larger, and the landscape was no longer so monotonous. He could see two lights in the distance, likely the site of other towns. The fact that one of them looked larger than the one piqued his interest if nothing else. He needed to find out more about the world that he was in, and now that he knew about the existence of sapient beings within this place, he needed to seek them out. However, judging by the brightness of the light, it was quite a ways away. That was just as well, as Jonathan had no wish to be assaulted by another person again without the means with which to defend himself. He was already nearly the same level as the Ash Prowlers, and many times more powerful too, and he wanted to at least reach level 10 by the time that he got to the city. However, the knowledge of how many levels were left until he could even match Granath, the monster he was supposed to kill, was staggering. At this rate, assuming that leveling got harder and harder as time went on, he could be in this one circle of hell for years, if not decades. That was assuming that he could even find Granath in the first place.
Still, the same fire burned within him that had been kindled by thoughts of revenge, and he knew that he would never willingly give up on his quest. He would climb the mountain in front of him, and all the mountains past that as well. The only thing left to do was continue to study his Pathway skill as much as he could. Only this time, he would try not to get lost in it.
Splitting his focus between his whirling core and the ashy wastes around him, Jonathan began his trek towards civilization, or at least a small town where he could get some food and information. As he walked, he sunk into a trance-like state, but not one that was too deep for him to keep track of the outside world. Instead, his core was superimposed over his vision, allowing him to manipulate it as he walked. Jonathan wasn’t sure whether this was the effect of his advanced intelligence, but he was able to concentrate and split his focus far more easily than ever before, allowing him to make headway in a manner that would have been impossible to him before he had come to this world.
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After a few hours, the chime of another notification alerted him to the fact that he had reached Novice Rank 4 in his mana manipulation skill. Now that he had made some headway, it was time to see if he could do anything more than just creating balls of energy with which to fight. It was probably a long shot, but he had a craving for some sort of ranged skill to allow him to avoid at least a part of the pain of melee fighting.
However, he was interrupted by a baying howl from the distance, calling across the ash. Jonathan removed his mind’s eye from his core and got ready for a fight. What came padding around the corner of a ruined cathedral however was not any mere Ash Prowler. This one was clearly of the same pattern, but it was double the size, and liquid flame dripped from its jaws. He scanned the beast, finding out that it was a new type of monster, and with a new designation as well.
Alpha Ash Prowler(Elite)
Level 17
It was an elite tier monster, meaning that it was more powerful than its brethren, probably in every way. In addition, it was the highest level thing that Jonathan had ever faced. Perhaps it was now time for him to run. He might have been hungry for more power, but he had no wish to die in a futile fight. With a sudden grunt, he was off.
The baying howl returned, and he looked around just in time to see the Alpha Prowler leaping for him, moving far faster than he was. He ducked under its strike, and watched as it landed gracefully in front of him. The creature was far too fast for him to escape. Instead, he would have to make a stand here and now, despite the fact that he was drastically under-leveled. He would have been confident had this been a normal Ash Prowler, but the elite designation was giving him pause. If this was anything like a video game, and all things pointed to it being so, then this monster likely had more power than a normal one of its kind at that level. It was similar to him in many ways, having greater power than its level indicated. However, it had ten levels on him as well.
He growled at the creature, trying to intimidate it. Of course, his efforts were met without response, and the monster began to charge once more. Fire built in the back of its throat, and it disgorged a large blob of liquid heat towards Jonathan. His eyes widened, and he leaped to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack. Then the beast took him full in the face with its claws and he went down.
A memory from Earth suddenly surfaced, of the year-long stint he had spent studying martial arts. It had been recommended to him by his boss, in case of any would be truck robbers. With a grunt, he gripped the creature’s paws with both hands and flipped it over his shoulder, using its momentum against it. The monster landed heavily on the ash, and he quickly hyperextended its paw. Of course, the range of motion for this monster was different to the humans on which Jonathan had trained, but enough force applied to a body part would get the job done regardless. And with four times the strength of a normal human, Jonathan could bring some serious force to the table.
The bone snapped audibly, and the monster roared in pain, readying another fireball in its mouth. If Jonathan stayed in this position, it would be impossible to avoid. Instead, he withdrew quickly, narrowly missing the glob of fire that seared past his head. He didn’t know what would happen if that attack hit him, and he didn’t want to find out either.
He came in for another pass, and grappled with the monster, trying to overpower it. He had underestimated its strength however, and it quickly had him on the back foot, tearing at his skin with its claws and jaws. As blood ran down his front, Jonathan winced. He really needed to get some armor before long.
He quickly summoned his energy balls to his hands, and pumped more energy into them than he had ever done before. The balls started to unravel and come apart, and he had the distinct feeling that they would detonate soon if he did not use them. That was actually quite useful in this situation. He waited for an opening and then thrust his hands into the Prowler’s mouth. Before it could bite down, he sent more mana into the balls, causing them to destabilize. The flesh was flayed off his bones, and the Prowler’s head exploded.