With his advanced senses, Jonathan could see the micro adjustments that the melee fighters made on the fly as they were forced to change their targets once one of the monsters died. Had there been targets designated at the beginning of the battle, it would have already been over. Jonathan wasn’t the most comfortable with leadership, but it was a role that had been determined for him as soon as he stepped upon the winding path of the Hellbreaker. Naturally, as a beacon of strength and ambition, others would follow in his path, needing guidance.

  The battle continued for another few hours, thousands of monsters lured into the clearing by Jonathan’s periodic blasts of the Void. A few times, he had been forced to step in, taking out enemies too strong for his followers to deal with. There had only been three Tier 4s to arrive, but they had been immensely potent, at least compared to the average strengths of Jonathan’s followers. All of them had been around level 425, needing an extra bit of oomph to take them down. In this case, a judicious application of Jonathan’s Primal Skill, Maw of the Void. Eating through flesh and bone like butter, the skill seemed to infinitely scale to Jonathan’s level, always devastating except against the direst of foes, like circle lords and their ilk. Even then, though, it was strong.

  The fight had brought everyone a few levels, except for Arkanon, who hadn’t participated. The man had cited being strong enough already, and not needing a few levels to make up for any sort of gap in strength or expertise. To be fair, he did have a Master Rank pathway skill, and was stronger than anyone there save for Jonathan himself.

  Jonathan had gained two levels from his slaying of the Tier 4s, netting him a comfortable influx of points with which to boost his strength. He was in good shape for where he was in the world, but the Stillborn Hegemon loomed on the horizon, a formless avatar of death that would take him into its cold embrace if he faltered. But he would not falter. I’ve come this far. The only one who can determine where I fall is me.

  ***

  The days rolled by, passing like hours. Without a sun, the vast cavern was almost completely without time, seemingly only containing legions of monsters and pools of stagnant water surrounded by trees. After the first week, all of the Tier 4s in the cavern had fallen to Jonathan and Arkanon. Edgar and Hushar had reached Tier 4, and Tukar was closing in on that rank.

  Piles of rank smelling corpses had gathered in their wake, a macabre testament to their strength. Piled in some places even higher than the trees, the stench was palpable from everywhere in the cavern. Thankfully, though, the party was kept there by a perfume far greater than that smell, that of power itself.

  At that moment, the group had made camp near one of the cavern walls, and were relaxing. Jonathan sat cross legged before a crackling fire, his helmet off, allowing his face to feel the light breeze of the cavern. He wore his armor so often that he rarely experienced such a thing. With his high stats, there was no discomfort. It felt like a second skin.

  Jonathan was level 413, a marked rise from before. Dozens of Tier 4 beasts lay dead in his wake, and Arkanon was not far behind. His pathway skills had seen a decent boost as well, with him purposefully training them against the monsters. Runecrafting Expertise was now at Expert 2. Unfortunately, his martial skills hadn’t budged much. Most importantly, Energy Manipulation had finally reached Expert Rank.

  You have reached Expert 1 with Energy Manipulation!

  The trifold boon you have crafted from your various energy reserves continues to serve you in battle. Now possessing enough mana, stamina and elemental power to level cities, who knows what heights you can reach when they are combined?

  Bonuses: +55 to Intelligence, Wisdom Strength, and Dexterity.

  There had been no skill notification to come with the upgrade, but Jonathan could feel a large increase in his abilities. More importantly, a new Domain was now added to his arsenal. For the first time in days, he opened his status sheet to behold the new scope of his might.

  Jonathan Harlowe

  Tier 4

  Void Human(Exalted)

  Divinity Aspect: Void Hegemon

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Elemental Mastery: 14%

  Elemental Juggernaut: Tier 4 Legendary

  Active Blessings: The Third Eye of Exal’drin

  Level 313

  (336 free points)

  Health: 66780/66780

  Stamina: 92295/92295

  Mana: 69255/69255

  

  
• Titles


  

  True Unbound Spirit: Unique

  Second Circle Breaker: Unique

  Nascent God: Transcendent

  Supreme Initiate: Ancient

  Prodigy of Fusion: Mythical

  Lesser Xenocide: Legendary

  Greater Giantslayer: Legendary

  Iron Will: Epic

  Leader of Men: Epic

  Refined Form: Epic

  Avenger: Epic

  Lineage Hunter: Rare

  Righteous Killer: Rare

  

  
• Skills


  

  Maw of the Void: Ancient

  Aegis of the Void’s Dichotomy:Ancient

  Ephemeral Trifecta: Mythical

  Greater Smite: Mythical

  Void’s Grasp: Mythical

  Void Piercer: Mythical

  Void Missile: Mythical

  Runic Overcharge: Mythical

  Flame of Judgement: Mythical

  Rune Savant: Legendary

  Void Drill: Legendary

  Channeled Basic Truesight: Legendary

  Sense the Weave: Legendary

  Fists of the Maelstrom: Legendary

  Minor Enlightenment: Legendary

  Void Slipstream: Epic

  Warrior’s Trance: Epic

  Battle Focus: Rare

  Impact: Rare

  Focused Scry: Rare

  Runes of Power: Rare

  Redirect: Uncommon

  

  
• Pathway Skills


  

  Blunt Weapon Mastery(Advanced): Expert 3

  Runecrafting Expertise(Advanced): Expert 1

  Energy Manipulation(Advanced): Expert 1

  

  
• Martial Path


  

  Flowing Maelstrom: Journeyman 9

  

  
• Weapon Domain: Expert 3(Advanced)


  

  Metaphysical Domain: Expert 1(Advanced)

  Energy Domain: Expert 1(Advanced)

  

  
• Quests


  

  The Strongest: ???

  Hellbreaker: Impossible

  Pathway of the Titans: Heroic